Battle in the museum

It seemed like Zoë didn't want to let Drako inside of the van, as she didn't stopped until they were into Maryland.

Drako saw the group going inside a convenience store. Since he wasn't in need to buy anything, he just waited outside. Near, he sensed the presence of Percy and Blackjack.

Zoë, Thalia, Bianca and Grover come out of the store.

"Grover, are you sure?" Thalia was saying.

"Well… pretty sure. Ninety-nine percent. Okay, eighty-five percent."

"And you did this with acorns?" Bianca asked, like she couldn't believe it.

Grover looked offended. "It's a time-honored tracking spell. I mean, I'm pretty sure I did it right."

"D.C. is about sixty miles from here," Bianca said. "Nico and I…" She frowned. "We used to live there. That's… that's strange. I'd forgotten."

"I dislike this," Zoë said. "We should go straight west. The prophecy said west."

"Oh, the same prophecy that you don't want to follow?" Drako asked.

"Oh, like your tracking skills are better?" Thalia growled.

They both said their phrases at the same time, annoying Zoë a lot.

Zoë directly ignored Drako, like he didn't exist. She stepped toward Thalia. "You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!"

"Oh, scullion. You're calling me a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?"

"Whoa, you two," Grover said nervously. "Come on. Not again!"

"Grover's right," Bianca said. "D.C. is our best bet."

Zoë didn't look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Let us keep moving."

"You're going to get us arrested, driving," Thalia grumbled. "I look closer to sixteen than you do. Drako looks even older."

"Perhaps," Zoë snapped. "But I have been driving since automobiles were invented, and I'm not letting a boy drive. Let's go."

"Can we stop this stupid fights?" Drako muttered while entering the van.

Some time after, they finally reached central Washington. Zoë parked a few blocks near the Washington Monument.

Grover pointed toward one of the big buildings lining the Mall. It was the place that he have 'found' with his strange acorn magic.

Of course, Drako didn't miss the car that had been following them all this time.

.........….

After walking a bit, Grover stopped in front of a building that said NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM.

"It's here," Grover said.

"Are you sure?" Drako asked.

Grover nodded his head. Thalia checked the door. It was open, but there weren't many people going in. Too cold, and school was out of session.

"Come on," Drako said, and the group followed him inside.

Drako knew that someone was following them, and that person changed directions when he saw that the group was inside the museum. He didn��t went to that guy because he sensed Percy following him.

"Be careful, the enemy is here. We are going to have a fight sooner or later," Drako advised them.

"How do you know that?" Bianca asked.

"Have you heard about dragon instinct? It's really powerful."

Of course, Bianca hadn't, but she nodded with her head.

How cute.

Drako ended earning a dangerous look from Zoë when he was halfway of petting Bianca.

"Let's search for them. We have to strike first," Drako said.

"You're not the one in charge," Zoë growled.

"Then, why don't you say anything, young lady? What should we do then?" Drako asked.

"We… we are going to strike first," Zoë gritted her teeth.

They were at the main part of the museum when that happened.

The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowed, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips.

At that moment, Percy ran into Thalia—literally. He was barrelling up the ramp to the top-floor balcony and slammed into her, knocking her into an Apollo space capsule.

Grover yelped in surprise.

Before he could regain my balance, Zoë and Bianca had arrows notched, aimed at his chest. Their bows, just like Drako's, had just appeared out of nowhere.

When Zoë realized who he was, she didn't seem anxious to lower her bow. "You! How dare you show thy face here?"

"Percy!" Grover said. "Thank goodness."

Zoë glared at him, and he blushed. "I mean, um, gosh. You're not supposed to be here!"

"Shut up, I brought him here," Drako said, earning a dangerous look from Zoë. "Let's talk about this later. Now, Percy, tell me what have you seen."

"Luke," he said, trying to catch some breath. "He's here."

The anger in Thalia's eyes immediately melted. She put her hand on her silver bracelet.

"Where?"

Then, Percy told them about what he had seen.

At first, he followed the manticore into a building. There was the General, some mortal guards, two Scythian dracanae, and Luke. He told them about the surprise they have prepared for them, how they wanted to capture Thalia and the soldiers that the General created.

"The General is here?" Zoë looked stunned. "That's impossible! You lie."

"Why would I lie? Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors—"

"What?" Thalia demanded. "How many?"

"Twelve," he said. "And that's not all. That guy, the General, said he was sending something, a 'playmate', to distract you over here. A monster."

Thalia and Grover exchanged looks.

Drako smiled excitedly.

"We were following Artemis' trail,�� Grover said. "I was pretty sure it led here. Some powerful monster scent… She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven't found anything yet."

"Zoë," Bianca said nervously, "if it is the General—"

"It cannot be!" Zoe snapped. "Percy must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."

"Illusions don't crack marble floors," Percy told her.

Zoë took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Drako didn't know why she was taking it so personally, or how she knew this General guy, but he figured now wasn't the time to ask. "If Percy is telling the truth about the skeleton warriors," she said, "we have no time to argue. They are the worst. The most horrible… We must leave now."

"Hey, I want to stay a little bit," Drako said.

"No! You want to get us killed or something?" Zoë argued.

Well, Drako wanted to stay and kill some monsters. He want to get some experience, you know.

"I like Zoë's idea," Percy said.

"I was not including thee, boy," Zoë said. "You're not part of this quest."

"Hey, I'm trying to save your lives!"

"He is now part of it, Zoë," Drako said. No matter what Zoë said, he was not going to change his mind. "If you want to retreat, let's retreat everyone. Let's go back to the van."

"That's not thy decision!" Zoë snapped.

Thalia scowled at her. "You're not the boss here, Zoë. I don't care how old you are! You're still a conceited little brat!"

"You never had any wisdom when it came to boys," Zoe growled. "You never could leave them behind!"

Thalia looked like she was about to hit Zoe. Then, everyone froze, Drako heard a growl so loud that he thought one of the rocket engines was starting.

Huge pression cover the place. This monster was really powerful. Without a doubt, the strongest enemy Drako has founded in his new live.

Below them, a few adults screamed. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"

Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur. Drako had already seen this monster, and more than once. The first time was in the rating game between Sairaorg Bael's peerage and Rias Gremory's peerage.

It was the Nemean Lion.

[Status Inspection]

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Race: Nemean Lion

Strength: 3240

Defense: 6221

Magic: 532

Agility: 2700

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

"Hadn't the Nemean Lion been trapped inside a Sacred Gear?" Drako asked as he stared incredulously at the beast.

"The one who was trapped was the original, the one who was killed by Heracles." Zoe explained, although you could tell from her note that she wasn't particularly happy about something.

"What do you mean? Are there more of these?"

"Of course, but none of them are on a par with the original. Still, they're all far superior to us right now. We have to run!"

The lion roared. Its fangs gleamed like a stainless steel.

"Separate on my mark," Zoe said. "Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover asked.

"Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!"

"What are you talking about? I'm going to fight him!" Drako shouted enthusiastically.

Drako remembered what he had learned before and transformed part of his body (arms and legs) into his dragon form. Thus, he would be twice as strong.

"You're crazy!" Bianca shouted.

"Maybe I am!"

With his own bare hands, Drako jumped to the lion. Without hesitation, he punched him in the head.

Clank!

It looked like he had hit a metal wall! Drako even doubted the lion had been hurt!

Of course, those six thousand points of defense weren't just for show!

"Roaaaar!" The lion roared loudly and struck Drako in the chest, sending him flying through the room.

Fortunately, Drako had protected himself with his dragon arms, or he could have suffered much more damage from that.

Zoë and Bianca climbed the Apollo capsule. They were firing arrows, one after another, all shattering harmlessly against the lions metallic fur. The lion swiped the capsule and tipped it on its side, spilling the Hunters off the back. Grover played frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned toward him, but Thalia stepped into its path, holding up Aegis, and the lion recoiled.

"ROOOAAAR!"

"Hi-yah!" Thalia said. "Back!"

The lion growled and clawed the air, but it retreated as if the shield were a blazing fire.

For a second, Drako thought Thalia had it under control. Then, he saw the lion crouching, its leg muscles tensing. He'd seen enough cat fights in the alleys around his house. He knew the lion was going to pounce.

Without hesitation, Drako threw himself at the lion again. This time, however, his fist was surrounded by a dragon aura.

Drako was using his skill [Dragon Punch]!

This time, Drako's punch had some effect. It looked like the lion had retreated a couple of yards, and now he was looking at Drako with fury.

[Level of normal skill [Dragon punch] was increased from 5 to 6]

Drako remembered why he couldn't level his skills up at home, it was because he needed life and death situations like this!

"Come to me, kitty!"

The monster seemed to have understood, as the lion lunged at Drako.

Drako dodged, and his body began to heat up.

The glow that Drako's body was taking was similar to that of the Nemean Lion in front of him!

Surtr's flame was gathering inside Drako's body! He had activated the skill [Branch Destruction]!

An idea swirled around Drako's head as he dodged the lion's attack.

What would happen if I injected Surtr's flame into Dragon Punch?

And so he did.

He didn't know if he could do that. He didn't know what the result would be. But Drako tried to put the two skills together.

And the result was... success.

Where once a dragon's aura surrounded the fist, now a hellish dragon's aura did.

[[Dragon Punch: Lv 6] has evolved to [Infernal Dragon Punch: Lv 1]

Meanwhile, the lion charged at Drako again!

No matter the Hunters' arrows, or Percy's water attacks, or Grover's flute. The lion had set its eyes on Drako ever since he had pushed him back, and it didn't seem to stop until one of them was dead!