"Tony," a garbled voice registered as Tony's body regained consciousness. His side felt ablaze, raw flesh was exposed, his heartrate was rapid. Immediately he moved his hand to his side and pressed firmly against the pulsing wound. His muscles stiffened in protest against any attempt at movement, however if he didn't stop the bleeding quickly, the next time he passed out may be the last time he ever saw light.
His blurred vision began to clear, a dazed and concerned looking Leo leaned over him, holding a ripped piece of blood coated fabric. Leo's neck was swollen and purple, oozing with a mysterious liquid that seemed to bubble when contacting air. His leg wasn't any better, it was bent in an excruciating position but that didn't seem to be the boy's main concern.
"Don't move man," Leo scolded. "You're bleeding a lot; I don't know how long you will stay if you attempt to get up at this moment." The cloth was once again forced against Tony's side, absorbing as much blood as possible.
"Where did the crazy snake lady go?" Tony murmured, cupping his hand against his side. His breath was shaky and his voice was hoarse.
"A red light began blinking and she slithered out of here as fast as her little tail could move, I guess something else was more important than torturing two geniuses in an old junkyard basement," Leo said coldly. Leo broke off a piece of ambrosia and urged Tony to open his mouth to eat some. Tony sighed happily as the taste of shawarma filled his mouth as the food of the gods entered his mouth.
Tony understood Leo's tone of voice. The only thing that would have caused any distress to the monster would have been more demigods; most likely there was a group sent to recover Leo and Tony and now they had walked into a trap because the two of them had wandered a little too far away from camp. Tony cursed himself for letting his curiosity preoccupy his limited sense of caution. Even for someone as spontaneous as Tony, he had tried to be more alert of his surroundings after the Ultron incidents. Once again he had fallen short of not only his own expectations, but those of others. Now he had gone and put his own half brother at risk, as well as the lives of those trying to rescue two fools in the middle of Maine.
"As soon as the bleeding stops, we got to move. If she's gone, we may have a chance of getting out of here," Leo attempted to sound upbeat, but his thoughts were obviously on the same track as Tony's.
"Right. How did you get out of these bonds?" Tony glanced down at his hand which were still tight and chaffing. Leo's wrists were red with rope burn, but they were free.
"Echidna may be clever, but she's not super graceful. She accidently dripped some of her nasty tail acid on my rope when she was, er, admiring my face. It started eating away at the fibers immediately, I just waited until she left and then I pulled the final few chords apart."
"Yeah, that's great, but how are we going to get me out of here?" Tony flatly stated. The throbbing in his side began to lessen as the ambrosia began to work. Blood clotted on his side and Leo secured a new piece of scrap fabric to his side with the acid burnt rope.
Leo's normally playful eyes were dull and void. "I don't know," he said plainly. "But that is no excuse, Leo Valdez is up for the job," he forced humour into his words.
"Yes you are, I have faith in you," Tony said, his words vacant of any sarcasm.
"I could use some assistance from that genius mind of yours," Leo joked, dragging himself towards the side of the basement.
"Well my view is limited, but what do we have for assets of escaping?" Tony asked, leaning over to see Leo who was attaching a piece of metal to the side of his twisted leg and binding it with some rope from his tool belt which had been partially buried beneath Festus's wing.
"Festus is out for the count, unfortunately," Leo's words were heavy with sorrow. "On the bright side, we have my tool belt, some pieces of your suit, some magic rope once we get it off of you, and our incredibly astute minds."
"You forgot that our minds are trapped in injured bodies," Tony reminded him sarcastically, straightening himself.
"Minor detail, plus that ambrosia works swiftly. I'm guessing we will be gods by the time we get out of this room!" Leo threw his hands in the air, as if waiving over a nymph to take serve him. "Yes, fit my meeting with Zeus in for 2:00, but remember that I need to pick up my Mustang from Apollo at 2:15!"
Tony couldn't help but laugh a little.
"With optimism like that, I'm sure not even Olympus could stand at our feet," he smirked playfully,
Leo beamed genuinely. "You bet! They shall tremble before Valdez and Stark!"
"Stark and Valdez," Tony corrected. He looked at his wrists which were still bound. "All fantasizing aside, let's address the real situation in the room."
"Right!" Leo said standing up, wincing as his leg adjusted to his makeshift splint. He wobbled over to Tony and studied the rope. After a few seconds, he withdrew from his belt a pair of celestial bronze scissors and snipped at the rope. The first few penetrations were sloppy, but eventually the rope submitted to the magical tool and Tony's bounds fell away.
Tony rubbed his wrists and flashed an appreciating glance at Leo who was fastening his belt to him. Leo put an arm around Tony's shoulder and heaved him to his feet. Tony grit his teeth as pain surged throughout his side. The two of them began to move rhythmically towards the door. The dimly lit basement lighting grew even darker as they approached the metal exit which was cracked open slightly.
Tony leaned against the door, forcing it aside as Leo limped into the bleak corridor. The length of the hall was hard to determine in such miniscule lighting, but Tony could make out a few doors scattered along the sides of the walls. After his eyes had adjusted to the lightening, the first impressions of the hall grew bleaker. Not only did old stains decorate the walls, but there was no clear exit anywhere in sight.
"Let's see what's behind door number one!" Leo chippered as he wobbled to the first door on the left. He grasped the metal knob and placed all his bodyweight on the door as he forced open the door. A faint greenish yellow light leaked into the main hallway, allowing Tony to read Leo's expression. He had frozen in the door way, whether in fear or amazement, Tony couldn't discern.
"Leo?" Tony croaked, approaching his friend slowly.
Leo didn't respond. He remained vigil, starring into the room, his face become distinguishably alarmed. Tony stood next to Leo and his face morphed into the same reaction as Leo's. There in the room out of the earth was a massive half surfaced bubble. Inside it, steaming colours of green and yellow misted about a churning object. The thing seemed to be growing, pressing against the sides of the thin membrane. It appeared to have lengthy appendages, with large heads attached to them. It appeared as though it was about to pierce the only barrier between it and the demigods at any second.
"Is that a," Leo breathed, his body shaking.
Tony swallowed and nodded slowly.
"We need to get out of here, now," Tony grabbed Leo's arm and lead him away from the slowly birthing Hydra.
