Of Pranks and Stolls...With a Pinch of Weasley Part One: Cause

Warning! OOC-ness for a character dead ahead! Malcolm fans beware!

Also this story is set after Last Olympian and, well, this story is if The Lost hero never happened yet, as if instead it took a year or so for Gaea to awaken enough.

It was an early, quiet morning in Camp Half-Blood. Mr. D's loud snoring was still reverberating through his door into the rest of the Big House, and Chiron was still trying hopelessly to go back to sleep, fervently praying for Dionysus to go back to Olympus, soon. Peleus was snorting gouts of flame into the dawn air and terrorizing the world it's self with his magnificent aura. At least that is what his highly prideful drakine mind was telling him as he slumbered.

In the rough Ω of cabins, the only faintest of stirring were coming from the sun-up cabin, none other than the proud sons and daughters of Athena, rivaled in their "top'o'the mornin" attitude by only the children of Apollo. However as they started to wake up and get out of bed, they noticed something. The cabin floor was carpeted with big fluffy carpet of...SPIDERS!

The Wise Girl her self lead the cabin out, running full pelt from the cabin as the black carpet of arachnids poured out after them.

"AHHHHH! GET THEM AWAY FROM MEEEEE!" Malcolm, Annabeth's second in command shrieked very shrilly and began to run away toward the lake, kicking his knees up to keep any spiders from even considering climbing up his legs. His was completely unaware that he was dressed only in his Finding Nemo boxers (Which happened to be a present from Percy!). However a couple of suspicious looking pair of bushes that were sniggering quietly at the chaos, burst out laughing at this, and camera was thrust out of one to save the precious moment for laughing later. Oh, and blackmail. Never forget blackmail.

Next came Wise Girl herself, squealing loudly, but she instead ran for Percy's cabin, wrenching open the door, slamming it very quickly, and next came a very loud "Opfh!" as she jumped on him, shrieking furiously, and quite possibly tried to steal Riptide for protection. She was also wearing her present from Percy, a pair of Little Mermaid Pj's. Something was wrong with that boy, the bushes thought to themselves privately. Yet somehow he was the one who saved them from Kronos. Go figure. Er in Percy's case, Go Fish.

1 hour earlier

Travis Stoll quietly opened the AC vent on the outside of the Athena cabin. This little baby lead directly to a vent on the floor of the cabin, which made it perfect to use for tonight's prank. And this prank was the master plan of all time for when he and Connor had a score to settle with those smart kids. And it was lucky that it was ready this soon, too. Raising three hundred spiders from just two took a while you know, especially keeping the harpies bribed enough not to eat them over winter vacation. Travis let out a small, evil chuckle. This would be fun to watch. He turned around just in time to see Connor approaching, lugging the heavy wooden crate the spiders had been moved to earlier that day. His younger brother dropped the crate with a grunt, and began to stretch out his cramped muscles. "So how's busting that celestial bronze lock coming? You know that one that would take a lot of time, so you couldn't help with the crate?"

Oops."Uh, it's already done, I nicked some Greek fire from the Hephaestus bunch."

Travis turned back around, praying he believed it. Then he felt a sharp slap to the back of his head. "No you didn't cuz we stole their supply last week and they haven't restocked."

Dang. He forgot about that. "What was that for? You know ever since Annabeth caught me filming her and Percy for blackmail, she starting smacking the back of my head for three hours straight, I'm sensitive there!"

"Should have been more careful then."

"Whatever. Let's get this prank started." Dang his little brother was getting smart. "Bring the crate over here." Together this time they dragged the crate to the vent and attached the tube running from it to the vent. Connor leaned over the peep hole they had put in the crate and squinted trying to see the spiders. "OK, looks like they're scenting the Athena bunch. Wow, they're really moving!" He moved back away from the box, grinning ear-to-ear. "Travis, this is going to be great."

Travis smirked at his exuberant little bro. "Of course it will, I thought of it didn't I?"

Two hours later(post prank)

It was only a little after 7'o clock, but the camp was awoken (those who hadn't woke up when the screaming started) by the sound of heavy marching feet. Dust swirled up from the ground, obscuring the source of it and the thunderous pounding. Confused heads peeked from doors, voices shouting out Yo! Idiots! Go to bed! Before I bust your half god, half IDIOT head! (Ares campers), and the dust started to settle. And in the middle of the swirling cloud of dust was...

The entire Athena cabin was dressed in heavy armor, and gripped weapons in their hands. Some were visibly shaking but at least Malcolm and Annabeth had changed out of their gifts from Percy. The spiders, who were still massed around the Athena cabin, all turned as one to the scent of so many children of the foe of their race. For a second or two the sides just stood there, spiders ominously clicking their mandibles and the Athena campers shaking in their armor. Or in Malcolm's case waving around his twin short-swords threateningly and yelling out threats. "Yeah, YEAH! You wanna a piece of me? I'm gonna tear you apart!"

The bushes shuddered, but none of the combatant forces moved. Then a humungous spider ,the size of the average dinner plate, flung himself at Malcolm, shattering the silence. Well the spider didn't shatter the precocious silent, but to be honest, Malcolm doesn't scream very manly. However, one of his siblings came to his aid by the way of a bow and arrow, by calmly shooting the spider clean off of Malcolm's face. She then turned to the mass of arachnids and hissed, "This means war..."

And with those pompous three words all Hades broke loose. Malcolm screamed like a maniac, throwing his head back and just howling, and threw himself into battle, the twin short-swords he wielded forming a graceful dance of deadly symmetry around him. The entire cabin went all out, waving swords, spears, weed whackers, and other various implement of destruction. One boy was hauling a backpack around with him filled with bottles of wine(Dionysus cabin specialty). He was lighting them on fire and tossing them into clump of the spiders to achieve a fine delicacy, Flame-Broiled Arachnid! That is unless you had a muscle clenching fear of spiders. The ripping and shredding sounds proceeded to awaken the rest of the camp not awaken by the aforementioned screaming and marching. And honestly Malcolm was having the time of his life, finally getting back at those eight legged freaks that had haunted him all those years ago to the point he moved his bed to the lowest floor of their house, far away from the spider ridden attic. As he advanced on a group of spiders firing web at some of his nearby siblings he crouched down beside two bushes that were rather convenient for planning an ambush upon the group. He felt what he could have swore that he felt someone tap his shoulder and he whirled around, but no one was there. Except these odd bushes. These odd bushes that appeared to be a mishmash of holly branches and oak branches?

Then he noticed something. The toe of a sneaker poked out from under the branches, a sneaker toe with a tiny caduceus on it. His highly intelligent brain had already made the connections, but his consciousness was still unaware. The pack of spiders he had previously been planning on ambushing, however, were very much aware of his presence.

Two hours & 1 half-hour after prank started

Annabeth's brow scrunched up in thought, her honey blonde eyebrows arched ever so delicately, a expression Percy loved. Her current thought process that caused it was directed at a collection of branches, of holly and oak, sloppily meshed together in an attempt to make a passable bush, lying on a table in the middle of her cabin. Well there had been two bushes actually, but the other had been properly disposed of, not just shoved into a trash bin behind the Athena cabin. As Annabeth put it. Percy didn't care either way, but his girlfriend seemed intent to track down who did the "heinous act of down right treason".

"It might be The Ares cabin, they still want to get revenge after the last Capture the Flag." One of her siblings, Stella proposed as a theory. It was met by the usual, argument and counter-arguments, accusations and agreements.

Percy sighed and let his head fall unto the tabletop. "I thought this was the smart cabin..." He finished the mumbled comment with a yawn. Sharp gray eyes swiveled around to glare at him. Suddenly he felt like a rodent again under the glare of hawks. Even his usual wonderful girlfriend was sending waves of predator awareness at him. Percy raised his hands up and waved them around frantically. "Look! All I'm saying is that, who do we know that loves to prank, uh everyone? It's the Stoll brothers!"

"Well...I feel like a mortal blonde." Malcolm muttered. Annabeth first glared at her sibling, then smiled at her boyfriend. Then she pulled him up to his feet and began to shove him out the door. Percy was very confused, his face scrunched up this time. "Sorry Kelp Head, but this is now the Athena cabin Command One." She kissed him lightly on each cheek. Before giving him a deep meaningful kiss on the lips, causing him to stumble back. Then with a mischievous smile(or smirk), she slammed the door in his Seaweed Brain filled head. "Ugh...well that's what I get for making them feel like blondes..."

Unspecified time, In Woods

Connor strode confidently through the woods, hand on the sword hilt on his hip, a smirk on his lips. It was a one of those awesome days, one of the days where nothing could go wrong. First the hugely successful prank on the blonds. Now a mysterious note, delivered by a dove of all things, telling him to meet a girl by the creek. The note, though signed as just xXx, Connor expected Katie had finally turned around and realized how awesome he was. About time.

He strode around a thick oak tree and finally spotted a form sitting by the creek.

"Hey babe!" Connor called out as he broke into a run. But wait there was something wrong... Katie had brown hair, not blonde. He skidded to a stop. The head swiveled around, and gray eyes glared straight at him. "Stoll."

Several black clothed warriors dashed out from surrounding foliage, seizing him and binding him with magical duck tape. Er maybe it was just duck tape, seeing as that stuff was magical on it's own. One took out a gleaming hypodermic needle,cleaning it with a clothe before positioning it less than an inch from the tender skin under his chin. The figure spoke to Connor through the black cloth over its mouth. "Did you know? Those spiders that were sent after us this morning could be used to create a powerful sedative. Here's some proof." The figure shifted slightly to give him a view of Travis, bound and gagged, with his eyes rolled up into his head. Connor let out a muffled yell for help. Then the needle pierced a vein and he blacked out.

So this ended up needing two parts, with the conclusion up next. Be back soon for more Of Pranks and Stolls!