I couldn't think.

Dr. Thorn burst through his clothes, revealing a lion-like body with a human face plastered against a tangled mane. His barbed tail snapped forward like a whip, and we all leapt out of the way to dodge it. Large, bat wings protruded from his back. "That's weird; when we first met Dr. Thorn, he never had wings!" Annabeth shouted, ducking from a rake-full of claws.

Running at top speed, Austin leapt onto a dumpster, then onto the side of a building, lasting a few minutes while launching an arrow at the monster. The arrow was deflected off the manticore's back and fell onto the ground. "Poseidon's swim shorts," He cursed while nocking another arrow against his bow. Lance jumped forward, swinging his sword down at Dr. Thorn's face. Annabeth swiftly parried the tail with her own sword, and pushed it aside to avoid contact with the poison.

I slid under the manticore's stomach, hoping to find a weak spot in the hide. Kicking upwards, I attempted to shove my shoe's blade into the skin. It worked, and sadly, bright red blood fell onto my shirt. He howled, swiping Lance aside and swiftly pulling me out while picking me up by my foot before I had the chance to react. Annabeth held a hand out, indicating to not make a movement.

Dr. Thorn studied me carefully with a slightly pained expression, "So you actually are the daughter of Artemis. I thought that was just a myth."

I smirked while dangling upside down, the blood already rushing to my head, "Well you were mythtaken." I quickly grabbed an arrow and shoved it into his left eye. He dropped me in an instant, shrieking and covering his eye with his front paws. Lance caught me before I could break anything and placed me on the ground. Annabeth reacted speedily by dragging her sword's blade against the monster's cheek. The barbed tail shot spikes with no particular aim, but we did have to move out of the way.

Austin also found a way to annoy Dr. Thorn by firing arrows into his mane. It's hard to look fashionable when you're being stabbed. The manticore roared and turned his barbs towards the son of Apollo. Austin immediately sought protection in a dumpster, which might've been the only possible defense at the time, but none the less disgusting.

"He seems a bit off from last time," I told Annabeth as we stood by each other, "Almost confused. Deranged, even."

"That escalated," Annabeth said as she watched Lance play duck-duck-goose with the manticore, "But true. He is acting a lot more bizarre than usual."

As Lance tried to swing his sword, Dr. Thorn jumped into the air and flapped his disgusting wings. The cuts on his stomach disappeared, but he rammed into the wall and caused the building to shake. Finding the perfect moment, I nocked three arrows against my bow and launched them at the moving target. Only one met its mark, although nonetheless pissing him off even more. The head embedded itself in Dr. Thorn's stomach, and he ripped it out by wrapping his tail around the shaft.

"I WILL SUCCEED!" The monster howled, "THE GODS WILL BE ON THEIR KNEES IN MY PRESENCE." His tail snapped toward a distracted Austin, and tossed him against the side of the hotel. Annabeth ran to his side and sat him upright, forcing his mouth to open and pouring small amounts of nectar in his mouth.

"The only reason why is because they'll keel over from your terrible body odor," I waved my hand in front of my nose, hoping to divert the manticore's attention, "Hades, do you ever give yourself a bath?"

He lunged at me, probably insulted, but I jumped out of the way. He rammed his head against the door, leaving a giant indent behind. Dr. Thorn turned, with his eyes completely bloodshot and twitching out of control. The one I stabbed seemed to have healed, yet looked just as weird as the other. His joints seemed to pop and grow, enlarging and cracking very loudly. "I-, I WILL SUCCEED!" He cried again, and rapidly started to stab at me with his tail. I jumped back again and again, trying to dodge it like a whack-a-mole. It was more like a whack-an-Astra; if you win, you get the immediate gratification of destroying a girl who had the education of a third grader.

Showing off a bit, I decided to do a backflip, with the tail striking between my arms as I turned over. "Holy Hera that was close!" I wiped the sweat off my brow, deciding to never attempt that ever again. Lance flipped over Dr. Thorn's disjointed back and tried to stab his sword into his side. Sadly, the celestial bronze was deflected by the monster's thick hide. He landed in the piles of trash, "Ew! This is even worse than having dish duty with the harpies!"

I smirked while gesturing at the dump, "Aw, Lance, you found your family!" He stuck out his tongue, and performed a handspring to get out of the poisonous tail's path.

We should all join a circus.

"You all are tick-, tick-, ticking me off," Dr. Thorn cocked his head bizarrely like an owl who had too much coffee. He leaned forward on his front leg, but stumbled sideways. He ripped all the arrows out of his mane, with a trail of blood falling down his face. He didn't seem to mind it though, as if he was starting a new fashion trend.

"Please don't spontaneously combust," I clasped my hands together, "Please don't spontaneously combust."

"Something's wrong!" Annabeth shouted from the other end, "He seemed to somehow been surged with an amount of power he can't contain. Try and find the source of it!" Dr. Thorn turned to Annabeth, who barely managed to get Austin on his feet.

"Hey!" I yelled, trying to get his attention again, "Eyes on the prize!"

He judged me with the look in his crazy eyes, "What's there to look at?"

That struck a nerve.

"Oh man, you're just asking for it," I hung my bow on my shoulders and started to pop my knuckles. Reaching for the small sheath hanging on my waist, I pulled out a small knife, twirling it around my fingers. Scanning his body quickly, I tried to analyze where the source of power was coming from. Nothing, nothing at all, I thought, unable to find anything suspicious, Just go for it.

I ran towards the creature, springing up and trying to jab at his skull. Dr. Thorn ran out of the way, but was immediately intercepted by Lance, and made contact with the manticore's head with his blade. It failed, though, because once again the sword was rejected by the hide.

Annabeth left Austin's side, who was already getting an arrow ready, and got her own sword out. She thrusted at the manticore's leg, but was pushed aside. I stabbed at the side of his ribcage, unable to leave a mark. The only way to puncture him was by going under the stomach, but even so, I wouldn't be able to hurt him enough without being trampled to death.

Where the Hera could a source of power come from? Suddenly, I remembered the thought of where Serena touched Dr. Thorn's wrist. That's not possible, right? I made eye contact with Lance, tapping my right wrist and frantically pointing at the manticore. A lightbulb seemed to have flashed over his head, and he made a beeline towards the Dr. Thorn. I stabbed at the creature's backside while playing limbo with his tail.

Austin, who looked a lot better now, started to aim towards his paws. Dr. Thorn seemed to have been dancing to the tango while attempting to dodge the volley. Lance, who was directly trying to aim at at Dr. Thorn's right wrist, was too focused to notice that the manticore was lunging for his neck. As the jaws unhinged, I made a mad dash towards Lance's side, even though I knew I wouldn't make it in time. "Lance! Watch out!"

"Huh?!" Lance looked up as Dr. Thorn aimed for the kill.

Something snapped in my head, and I was in front of Lance before I knew it. My body moved on its own. I pushed Lance aside and shoved my knife inside Dr. Thorn's mouth, wedging it open. His fangs scrapped against my arm, only drawing a bit of blood. I ignored the pain, rather, couldn't feel it at all. He tried to snap the blade in half, but I swiftly drew an arrow from my quiver. Letting out a yell, I drew the silver tip across his right wrist. A burst of water erupted like a geyser, and the manticore let out a bloodcurdling cry while shriveling up like a prune. His skin started to curl and wrinkle, and his fur began to fall off. His wings began to tear and his tail was losing spikes on its own.

"WHY?!" He screeched, pawing at his face. His face looked like it was melting off, "I WAS SO CLOSE!"

"Take this!" Annabeth jumped forward and stabbed Dr. Thorn in the back. He screamed, and Austin started shooting arrow after arrow as the creature collapsed to the ground. A grayish tinge colored the edges of my vision, and I was breathing heavily. Dr. Thorn made a grabbing gesture with his claw before exploding into dust. All that remained of him was a puddle of water, my knife, and the arrows that Austin previously shot. Wow, he made a mess.

"Alright, we didn't die today. I call that an unqualified success," I blew my bangs out of the way, feeling a bit woozy. I stomped on my heel, causing the blade to retreat back to my shoe.

"Astra, you're a monster," Austin laughed while leaning on one leg, still exhausted, "I've never seen anyone move so inhumanly fast before."

Annabeth frowned while putting her bone-sword back in its sheath, "You're eyes... They were silver. Again. Are you feeling alright?"

A small pulse throbbed in my forehead, and I massaged it carefully. "I'm fine. At least I'm still conscious this time!" I tried to push it aside, and giving an enthusiastic smile. Looking up at the sky, I squinted, unable to see anything in the polluted air. "I can't see the stars," I murmured.

Lance, who just got off the ground, angrily stomped towards me while tossing his sword on the ground. "What in Tartarus were you thinking?!" He yelled at me while pointing at what was left of the manticore, "You could've died!" He gestured at my bleeding arm which was starting to dry in the Las Vegas night.

"Excuse me?" I scoffed, sarcastically placing a hand over my chest, "You could've died!"

"I would've been fine! You don't trust me enough to defend myself?"

"Please! You can't even make your bed on your own!"

Austin and Annabeth took a step back, whispering to each other and pretending not to notice our argument.

He shook his head, obviously frustrated with my behavior. Lance raised a fist, holding it close to my face. "You want to see stars? I'll show you at least five of them," He brought it back, preparing to punch me. We tended to do this a lot whenever we teased each other about acting stupid, but it looked like he was going to full out throttle me this time.

I flinched while closing my eyes, still not understanding what I did wrong. As I was cringing, I felt something blow by the side of my face. A hand pushed the back of my head forward forcefully, and I suddenly felt something soft against my mouth. My eyes flying open in shock, I found Lance's face uncomfortably close.

With his lips against mine.

I couldn't move. I was too dumbfounded to say anything. My heart was pounding so loud that it was echoing in my ears. Behind Lance, Austin and Annabeth's jaws dropped open in sync, completely paralyzed. The moment only lasted a few seconds, and Lance pushed me away. "Let's go find Serena and Eris and end this," He spun on his foot, picked up his sword, and headed back to the door of the hotel, pulling it open and entering the building.

The three of us were still frozen, absolutely confused. Austin was stuttering while pointing at me, then at the door. He gave up, following Lance's footsteps. Annabeth studied my face, still a bit surprised herself.

After a couple of seconds, I finally realized what just happened and I felt heat grow in my face. I didn't need a mirror to know that my face was probably as red as manticore blood.

Lance just kissed me.

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I'm not even going to say anything. I'll just wait for the comments.