The Boys Are Back     

[scilicet]

If Mark and his friends lived through this quest, he made a mental note to show them around Los Angeles. He'd lived in the city for most of his life, and there were a million and one things to do there. Every summer, he'd walk these streets and hit up his favorite restaurants, head up to Disneyland, and do a bunch of things. The only thing that changed about this summer was that he could die at any given moment.

He, Kaden, and Reese had embarked from Mark's father's hotel in search of supplies; they were running low and if five teenagers were going to be satisfied, they had a whole lot of grocery shopping to do. So the boys had left Tessa and Dale to their girly outing to the beach and headed off to do some chores.

"So, how are we going to execute this shopping trip?" Reese asked as they reached a street corner. The son of Apollo jabbed his finger at the button and the three boys waited for the light to change. "Three demigods in one place are bound to make some monsters notice us sooner or later. We've gotta be quick."

Mark leant against the pole, folding his arms. "We can always do it Paper Towns style."

Reese knit his eyebrows. "Say what?"

Kaden looked at Mark in amusement. The two boys shared a knowing look. "Tessa got to you?"

"Of course she did."

"Will someone please explain to me what this secret paper code is about?" Reese voiced.

The light turned red, and the three boys meshed into the group of pedestrians as they walked across the street. "It's one of Tessa's favorite books, she made me and Kaden read it. Basically, in one of the scenes, the characters have, like, two minutes to buy a bunch of stuff from a mini mart and it's all really hectic but well thought out."

Reese considered it, running a hand through his blond hair. "So we all divide up what to get and meet up when we have it all?"

"Exactly," Mark clarified.

"We should also keep track of how much money we have." Kaden noted as they walked down the Los Angeles streets.

Reese opened his mouth to speak, catching Mark's gaze. The son of Iris knew what he was about to bring up, and with the slightest shake of his head, the son of Apollo clamped his lips shut.

Kaden glanced at his friends and knit his eyebrows together. "What just happened?"

Reese blinked. "Nothing. I was going to suggest we smuggle it all out in our backpacks to save money."

"And I gave Sunny a look because we all know that he can't get away with anything illegal." Mark countered.

"It's not my fault I'm a law-abiding citizen."

"You mispronounced 'pansy'."

Kaden held up a hand, laughing. "Alright, I get it." He said. "Now, where's the nearest grocery store?"

The boys continued walking, and as they did, Mark got lost in thought. That was a close one. If Reese brought up his winnings from the casino, Mark wasn't sure what he'd do. Sure, he wanted to brag about having won a bunch of money and not getting caught, but it was how he acquired it that made him antsy.

The mysterious man never left Mark's head, his foreboding promises of payment giving the son of Iris anxiety. What did he mean? And what was with that door he was guarding? Who was he in general?

Mark huffed a breath. Stay tuned for more of My Life as a Teenage Demigod, he thought.

The boys crossed another street, and Mark forced himself to focus on little things to distract himself. Perks of being an ADHD demigod, that part was never difficult.

He focused on the rays of sunlight beating down on them, the masses of pedestrians moving down the streets. He noted the vibrant colors of the people around them, the shimmer of Kaden's golden ring that hid his sword, the piercing sky blue color of Reese's eyes. As they turned another corner, he noticed the cars and the plants and the man leaning against the wall across the street, watching them from under his sunglasses.

Mark skidded to a stop, causing Reese to run into him. No way.

"Dude, what the heck?" Reese grumbled from behind him, but Mark was frozen in place.

He didn't wanna believe it, but the guy watching them now looked identical to the one who had watched him in the casino back in Vegas. Same stance, same aura, same odd sunglasses. The only thing that was different about him was the location.

How had he followed them to Los Angeles? If he had helped Mark, why stalk him?

"Mark?" Kaden asked. "You good?"

Mark turned to answer, but movement caught him off guard. He glanced back at where the man stood and found that he was walking away, down the street across from them. Mark surged forward, blitzing across the streets.

He heard his friends call after him, and they would no doubt follow, but Mark didn't turn back around. He built up speed, sprinting down the sidewalks and shoving past people in his warpath. He couldn't exactly see where he was going, but as long as he got some answers out of that strange guy, he'd go home happy.

"Mark, wait up!" He heard Reese call from behind him, but Mark kept running. Eventually, he slowed to a stop to catch his breath. With a quick scan around, the mysterious man was gone.

Mark cursed under his breath, straightening back up. Kaden and Reese joined him soon after, catching their breaths and watching Mark strangely.

"What was all that about?" Kaden asked, running a hand through his hair.

Mark bit his lip. He needed an excuse and thankfully, found it in the form of a Wal-Mart right before him. "Found it." He smiled impishly, despite the anxieties filling his heart.

The son of Aphrodite didn't look convinced, but if he was suspicious, he wasn't about to bring it up. "Alright then, what's the plan?"

"I've got drinks," Reese declared. "Kaden, you grab snacks. Mark, supplies?"

The boys nodded, shouldering their backpacks. With the earlier presence of the mysterious man, Mark's money seemed to weigh a lot more in his backpack than it had earlier. He forced the thought away.

With that, the boys dashed off to their respective assignments. Mark snatched a basket and bolted for the opposite side of the store, where the shelves were filled with things like toothpaste and deodorant, and in the demigods' case, first aid supplies. The son of Iris skidded to a stop in front of first aid kits and the like, scanning the sizes and contents.

Seeing as how Mark had thousands to spend, he grabbed five first aid kits, bandages, disinfectant spray, essentially five or more of everything in the aisle. He dumped it into his basket, trying to think of anything he'd missed from his list.

The sound of a scream tore him out of his reverie.

Mark whirled around, the weight of his basket nearly dragging him to the ground. His senses sharpened and cautiously, he made his way out of the aisle. He looked around, but didn't need to look very far.

A hellhound the size of a small vehicle prowled the aisle across from him, sniffing the ground. It hadn't seemed to notice Mark yet, but the son of Iris knew it would.

Slowly, Mark backed down the way he'd come. He knew he'd have to fight, but he couldn't access his weapons by lugging a heavy basket around. On second thought, the basket could do some damage, but he was about to call that Plan B. He had no choice but to steal the stuff he needed—what was he gonna do, look for a checkout lane with monsters from the Underworld in the vicinity?

The hellhound disappeared behind another aisle, and Mark used the time to bend down to the ground. He swung his backpack off his shoulder and unzipped it, shoving the contents of his blue Wal-Mart basket into the pockets. His heartbeat became his timer, and he hoped that he wouldn't run out of time anytime soon.

Finally, the last of the supplies were in his backpack, and Mark kicked away the basket. He zipped up his pack and shouldered it before taking off.

More screams filled the air, and he saw masses of customers and workers alike bolt for the nearest exit. Had he been sane, he would have followed them, but he had to fight his friends.

"Kaden? Reese?" Mark shouted. The din of the evacuation drowned out his voice so with a curse, Mark clambered atop a nearby display of women's shirts. He scanned the crowd for his friends, and thankfully, didn't have to look too far.

There, in the middle of the fresh produce section, were Kaden and Reese, back to back with their weapons drawn. A squadron of hellhounds surrounded them, and Mark knew that even if his friends were strong, they'd need backup sooner or later.

Mark tapped his ring and watched as his knife materialized. He leapt off the display, bolting for his friends. The adrenaline in his veins mixed with his momentum made for a great takeoff as he leapt onto a fruit stand and over it, landing on top of one of the monsters. His knife sank down into his fur, making the monster disintegrate into golden dust.

"Glad you could join us," Kaden grunted, kicking away another one of the monsters.

"I was otherwise held up." Mark said calmly. He slashed at one of the hellhounds, and with a final arrow from Reese, they scattered.

"Think they'll come back?" Reese asked, catching his breath.

Mark stared in the direction that the monsters had run. "We've got five minutes, tops."

The three demigods headed out of the demolished produce section, searching for a plan. "We've gotta destroy them before the authorities show up. With the Mist, they'll think we're apart of some sort of terror attack or something." Mark noted.

The boys kept walking, weapons drawn. Soon enough, they reached the gardening section, and Kaden stopped in his tracks. "That's our plan."

Mark followed the son of Aphrodite's gaze and made a face. In the kerfuffle, people had abandoned their carts among the high-powered lawn mowers and such. Garden hoses were strewn haphazardly along the floor as well, a labyrinth of green rubber.

"Kaden, normally I'd trust your battle strategies and sense of judgement, but what the heck are we looking at here?" Mark said, clapping the son of Aphrodite on the back.

"We power up the lawn mower and tie a hose to one end of it and the other to a cart. One person drives, two people fight, like parabatai in a chariot. Think of it as a more yeomen-like chariot race." Kaden said quickly. "Don't question it, just help me."

And so they did. As confused as Mark was, he scoured the nearest aisle for the gasoline needed to power the lawn mower. When he returned, the cart and the mower were hooked up via bright green garden hose. Reese had already hopped into the cart, stringing a bow. Kaden sat in the seat of the mower, looking frazzled but determined.

Together, he and Mark filled up the tank. Once it was decently filled, Mark discarded the carton of gasoline and hopped into the cart. He drew his knife, waiting.

Apparently, the surviving hellhounds from before had called in reinforcements, because now, they showed up with a whole vanguard of them.

"Floor it, Kaden!" Reese called, firing an arrow into the wave of black fur.

The son of Aphrodite shifted the lawn mower into gear, and Mark made two discoveries in the next few seconds. Firstly, that lawn mowers could go pretty damn fast if they wanted to, and secondly, that he and Reese were bound to fall off the cart at any given moment if they weren't careful.

As Kaden sped them down the aisles, Mark and Reese executed their battle strategies. Reese fired his arrows at the monsters, watching as they disintegrated into golden dust. The monsters that survived the son of Apollo's attacks were swiftly taken care of by Mark, who stabbed and slashed at any of the hounds that approached the cart.

"So do we want to take a guess as to why these lovely animals decided to attack a Wal-Mart?" Mark called.

"Pretty sure it wasn't to save big on the bargains." Reese answered, another arrow blurring past them.

The vanguard of monsters was thinning down, but only barely. It seemed like they were multiplying with each of their fallen, and if Mark wasn't mistaken, he could hear sirens in the distance.

"Guys," He shouted warily. "Plan B."

"We're gonna have to run." Kaden shouted back. "Get ready. As soon as I stop this thing, we're booking it."

Mark and Reese nodded, lowering their weapons. They looked about ready to surrender, until they slowed to a stop and flew out of the cart.

The three boys hit the ground running, the barks and howls of the hellhounds in the distance. Mark, Kaden, and Reese sped around a corner, searching for the nearest exit. The sirens were growing louder in the distance, and Mark's first fear was how angry Tessa would be if the three of them got arrested. That was one fate he didn't wanna witness.

"There!" Reese shouted, speeding up. He pointed to an open door with an exit sign hanging above it, sunlight filtering in through the doorway.

Kaden and Mark kicked up their heels and followed the son of Apollo. The sleek flooring of Wal-Mart turned to blacktop, and the boys reared back to slam the heavy door shut on the monsters on their tails.

Then, the silence.

"Did we really just ride a lawn mower into battle against an army of hellhounds in the middle of a Wal-Mart?" Reese wheezed, catching his breath.

"Sure did, bro." Kaden grinned. The kid didn't even look to be tired, if only slightly out of breath.

Reese shook his head. "Wow." He said incredulously.

Mark pushed himself off the wall and looked around. They were in a small employee parking lot that filtered into another small line of shops. However, what caught his attention was the man standing at the end of the parking lot.

Calmly, Mark walked towards him, leaving his friends behind. Ten yards turned to five, and soon enough, the mysterious young man was standing before Mark.

"So we meet again, Mark. How have you been?" The man smiled.

Mark narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?" He asked.

The man shrugged, like he genuinely just wanted to chat. "Nothing...yet." He smiled his devil's grin and the reminder of the mysterious payment hanging over Mark's head sent a shiver down his spine. "You've done well."

"Thanks." Mark said coldly. "I try to please strangers with my attempts at not dying."

"Yes, I can see that." The mysterious man chuckled. "Now, is there anything you would like from me? I see the money hasn't been spent yet."

Mark thought. There were a lot of things he wanted: safe transport back to the hotel, glory, fame, a long life. But the first thing he thought of was more important than all of that combined.

"I want you to leave me and my friends alone." Mark spat, stepping away from the man. He turned on his heel and marched back off towards his friends.

"We'll see about that, Mark Akagi." The man called. "We surely will see."

Mark continued walking, but when he turned back around, the man was gone. He turned back around and hastened back to his friends.

"Where'd you run off to?" Kaden asked, taking a sip from a water bottle.

Mark shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He mumbled. "Let's go before the cops decide to check the perimeters."

The three demigods started down the sidewalk, and despite the summer sun blazing down on them, Mark couldn't shake the chill spider-walking its way down his spine.