Chapter 7: Chapter 7
Alex took a deep breath, enduring through the pain of a cut-open arm. In one last brave move, he yelled. "Bring it on!"
The first one pounced. Alex let that internal reflex take over him again. He ducked just as the lion opened its mouth for a bite and he witnessed it fly over him, smacking into the stone behind.
Alex rolled out of the way. The next one went for the same diving bite but he was ready for it. Just before it made contact, using all his strength, Alex came down on it with a hammer fist directly on its head and smacked it into the ground, hearing the beast yelp in pain.
"Boom!" He shouted victoriously. "Who's the big lion now?!"
Not going to lie, Alex felt really proud of that one.
Too bad he forgot the biggest problem of them all. That's what one gets for showboating. Alex didn't realize the largest and tallest of the lions, the one the size of a pickup truck, was already free and was charging towards him.
His reaction time was slow this time. Alex was expecting a world of hurt but a thunderous thwack rang through the air.
Out of nowhere, Coach Hedge swiped the lion on one of the back legs with his bat, which now looked like… a tree stump. He didn't even see where he came from. Neither did he see Grover, who was crouching by his side and lifting him.
And why was his back itchy all of a sudden?!
"Don't get distracted, kid!"
"We have to leave, now!" Grover yelled.
Alex wasn't about to argue with that. After momentarily making the giant best stumble, Hedge caught up to the two and hastily led them out of the gates of Thornbrook and straight to a parked car.
He got in the backseat as Grover took the passenger and Hedge the wheel, who wasted no time starting the engine.
"Holy shit!" Alex exclaimed, struggling to catch his breath. "That was insane! You two wouldn't believe me but those- those THINGS came to life and they- they… attacked me… and I hit one but it didn't do much… and then I started freaking out but I was like 'No Alex, you're strong' and I felt really cool- AND THEN YOU CAME IN AND-"
"We believe you kid," Hedge responded. "but we gotta go!"
The coach seemed to fiddle with the pedals for a bit until he grunted out of frustration.
"We REALLY need to leave, Gleeson!" Grover yelled again, looking out of the window.
"I'm trying- Damn these shoes!"
Hedge ripped off his shoes to reveal… hooves. WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON?
"What the hell, Coach?!" Alex jumped. "Something's wrong with your-"
"Nothing's wrong with them kid! Just buckle up!"
The tyres screeched as he pulled out of the parking spot and drove at a questionably high speed for a high-traffic zone, swerving through it.
"They're just lions, they can't catch up to a—"
Just as Alex spoke, one of the lions, the one with a dented head, appeared out of nowhere and rammed against the side of the car.
"Those aren't just lions, Alex!" Grover said, biting the seatbelt and… chewing it. "The two smaller ones are probably the Lybian Lion and the Lion of Mount Cithaeron! But the biggest of them… that's the Nemean Lion!"
Like the cards?
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Alex was the one who yelled this time before being interrupted by another bang, this time from the other side of the car.
"Listen to us, kid," Hedge said among the chaos. "shit just got real. We'll explain everything later. Right now just let me drive so I don't steer off the road."
Alex looked out of his window and saw the two lions - sorry, mythical lions, apparently - tailing closely behind them at an unnatural speed, whilst the Nemean one was still trying to catch up. The two at the front split up and each took one side of the car.
"You two!" Hedge shouted. "On my mark, swing open your doors as hard as you can!"
""What?!""
"Just listen to me!"
There was no point in arguing, Alex had to trust him. Ignoring the growing discomfort on his back, he focused on the lion that was on his side, watching it create a larger gap between itself and the car. Taking a quick glance at Grover's side, the other beast was doing the same.
"Coach!"
"Just FOCUS Alex!"
The wait was killing him. His lion had positioned itself in line with the back half of the car whilst Grover's lion moved to the front half. They were trying to completely swerve their car. What came next was the violent charge of both lions as they barreled towards them.
Uh oh. Alex gripped the handle of the door as hard as he could.
Then Hedge screamed, "Now!"
As instructed, Alex and Grover swung their respective doors with as much force as possible. The timing was almost perfect. The lion on Alex's side was met with a door to the face. With the combined force of its charge and the car, it burst - not into blood and entrails, but golden dust. The other lion, however, on Grover's side, made contact with the right front side of the car, causing it to drift to the left.
Hedge seemed to know it was coming, as he wrestled with the steering wheel, using the momentum to swing back and slam into the remaining lion beside the one behind.
The coach let out a guttural call, "WHOO! Now that's how you drive!"
Alex just sat there stunned- scared- and pumped- honestly, he didn't know what the hell he was feeling.
"We did it!" Grover exclaimed.
"Did that just happen?" Alex struggled to breathe.
"Just calm down, Alex," Grover reassured. "It'll be fine."
Alex looked down at his friend's legs and was shocked at the same sight of them covered with fur with those same hooves that Hedge had pressing on the pedals.
"Ah! What the hell's up with your legs man?! Why'd you take your pants off?! Are you two, like, half-bison or something?"
"CALM DOWN," Hedge ordered, gripping the steering wheel tightly. "My legs are better than ever, thank you very much, and so are Grover's. And for the record, we're satyrs. Half-goats, not half-bisons!
"The fuck's a satyr?"
This day just kept getting weirder.
"Grover, crash course! Now!"
"Uh- o-okay!" Grover turned on his seat to look at Alex. "Greek mythology is real. Your mother is probably a goddess - a powerful one at that if you attracted THE Nemean Lion. Monsters are also very much real, and they like the smell of demigods like you! And uh… oh, of course, there's a camp for demigods, and that's where we're taking you now!"
He should really learn how to deliver key information because Alex's brain had to do a cold restart.
Also, that day, Alexander would learn not to judge Greek monsters' speed by their size. After all, all it took was a second for the view of the street to flip upside down as the last lion rammed into the car from behind.
==========
His vision was red and his head felt heavy.
Alex could almost feel the blood flowing all over his head as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. When he finally got one of his hands-free to wipe what was probably blood from his face, he finally saw what had happened.
Some way, somehow, that stupidly big lion had caught up to the car and flipped them upside down. The windows had shattered, spreading through the ceiling like thousands of little pieces of frost. Grover and Coach Hedge were, hopefully, unconscious in the front seats, the airbags had cushioned the impact with the sidewalk. But Alex wasn't so lucky, even if he was the only one awake.
His left arm felt numb — he could see it, but couldn't feel it — and he was bleeding a lot, to the point drops of blood had made their way from his head to his lips, making him taste iron.
He had to find a way to free himself.
Alex looked around frantically, hoping the commotion starting to form outside would keep that monster away. There had to be something he could use. Anything would do! He ran his hands across the shards of glass until he nicked himself on the palm. That one.
His heart was thrashing against his ribs. The twisted mess of metal groaned around him. Coach Hedge was slouched up in the driver's seat, and Grover sat there beside him, both heaving shallow breaths. Alex remembered the crash — everything happened so fast, all he remembered was a blur of motion, a deafening roar, and then darkness.
He needed to move, and quickly. He looked around at the coach, who usually didn't care for anything and now was worryingly still, and Grover, completely unaware of the danger. The giant lion was out there, a creature from a card game.
Alex remembered the stories Grover would tell him with those cards of his, of how the lion's skin was impenetrable, how no weapon could pierce its hide. He shuddered. They were supposed to be safe, on their way to wherever that camp was. A camp for people like… him? But all of that was nothing if he couldn't get out of this car.
He finally cut his seatbelt. His fingers were shaking. The door right beside him was jammed, and he couldn't move it. What now? He had to be smart like the heroes in those stories. He edged over the centre console, careful with the two half-goats, and reached for Grover's door. It creaked open with a push, protesting the sudden movement.
Getting out of the car, the scattered debris crunched under his sneakers.
"You alright, kiddo?"
Alex almost punched the new speaker. He whirled around, coming face to face with a bald, tanned old guy, who had a white but dirty apron riddled with with food stains. Alex hadn't even noticed the small deli sign on the shop near the car had landed, but he guessed this was the owner.
The old man wasn't the only one who had gathered around. From new to old, a small crowd had formed. A young Asian-looking woman was on the phone, shouting 'Hurry up!', and a child, definitely younger than Alex, was clutching what could only be their mother's dress, who had a worried expression on her face.
And they were all in danger.
The young demigod(?) felt the tremors of its steps first. Then he heard the low growls coming from a block down. And then, the sun reflecting off its golden fur, the lion finally came into view, locking eyes with him. Alex had a proper look at it for the first time.
It was huge for a lion, roughly the size of a pick-up truck, with shiny silvery claws, fangs that gleamed like stainless steel, and thick, glittering, metallic gold fur. His eyes were the same red as the other two, but Alex felt an instinctual fear the others had not caused. The lion radiated demise.
"Damn," the old deli owner said, scratching his hairless scalp. "That's one shiny truck."
Couldn't they see it? That wasn't a truck! That was the biggest and scariest lion Alex had ever laid his eyes upon, and he had gone a lot of times to the zoo!
"Hey, wasn't that the truck that rammed the car over?" Someone in the crowd asked, but Alex was too focused to hear.
He had to do something. Anything. But what? If he allowed the monster to come near the car, not only would he be in danger, but also the rest of the people, including Hedge and Grover, who still lay motionlessly in the car.
There had to be a way to save them. A way to make sure the lion didn't come close to the accident. And then it clicked. Grover had said monsters were attracted by the smell of people like Alex, right? Then he just needed to lure it away.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
NyanTa
NyanTa Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone