"What," Percy demands for the umpteenth time, "Is carbonite?!"

Frank sits miserably in his seat, still quite dazed and confused at the past events. Hazel inchs closer to him, furiously trying to untangle her bonds. But everything she got within a feet of him, a blue skinned alien yanked her back in place. And repeat.

Suddenly, Frank shifts his gaze back to Percy, trying to catch his eye. Percy gnashes his teeth, frustratedly kicking at everything in foots reach. Frank coughed loudly and exaggeratedly. Percy lifts his eyes momentarily and Frank flashes him a meaningful look.

Frank mouths 'Shape shifting' , then turns to Hazel, whispering the same thing. She nods back, with a hopeful slight smile.

The alien who kept separating them leaps up to Frank and snarls, "Vhat you say?" His triple clawed hand gripped Frank's shoulder menacingly, digging his uncut and grimy cuticles into the soft flesh of the shoulder.

Frank gulps, "I...,"

Percy nods him along encouragingly, with a determined look on his face.

Frank grits his teeth at the alien round his shoulder, then shut his dyes in concentration.

The next second, Frank disappears and the only thing in left in his seat is a small mouse. The mouse leaps off the seat, (the bonds falling to the floor of the ship) and shape shifts into a bird mid-leap and lands on the bewildered alien as a hippopotamus.

The ship gives a startling lurch as it eases into the new amount of extra weight.

The alien gives a cry for help as Frank squashes his with his large, pink hippo butt. After a few seconds, the alien lies dead of the floor, crushed by the weight.

Percy gives a holler of encouragement, as Frank shapeshifts back into a human and undoes their bonds.

But their victory is short lived. Eight of the rest of the aliens storms into the room, armed with weird looking guns- and relentlessly star shooting.

Frank barely has time to react before a laser blast singes the floor where he was standing a second ago.

"DOWN!" Percy yells, grabbing Hazel and yanking her behind a crate. Frank rolls, shifting into a cheetah to dodge the rapid fire before shifting back into himself and grabbing one of the fallen alien's weapons.

Hazel ducks behind him, grabbing a fallen blaster of her own. "I have no idea how to use this," she mutters, but she still aims at the aliens.

Percy already has Riptide out, cutting through their enemies with quick, precise slashes. Hazel and Frank back him up, taking out two more aliens. But they're outnumbered. More henchmen flood the ship, one of them slamming Percy into the wall. He lets out a grunt as another alien pins him down.

"Not good," Hazel breathes, gripping Frank's arm.

Then, the ship lurches violently. The aliens stagger, momentarily distracted.

"What now?!" Percy shouts, kicking off his captor.

Hazel peeks out the window, her eyes widening. "We're taking off."

Frank stiffens. "What?"

The ship trembles again, engines roaring. Through the viewport, Hazel catches a glimpse of city lights fading beneath them.

One of the remaining aliens smirks, pressing a control panel on his wrist. "Boss wants you off-world. You make trouble on Coruscant, you pay the price."

Frank clenches his fists. "Where are you taking us?"

The alien grins, flashing a row of jagged teeth. "Tatooine."

Hazel gasps.

Percy exhales sharply. "This just keeps getting better and better."

As the ship soars into hyperspace, Hazel, Percy, and Frank exchange worried glances. Annabeth was still missing, frozen in carbonite. Now, they were being shipped off to a planet they knew nothing about.

Frank steels himself, whatever happened, they'd find a way to fight back.