Percy could say he wasn't expecting so many newcomers.
Greetings went around as people met up with old teammates as much as new. Percy couldn't believe how much bigger the Avengers suddenly, even after the split in the events that happened in 2016.
"I'm Percy Jackson."
"Doctor Strange."
"Hey, you're that kid that Tony recruited, huh?"
"Yeah, Peter Parker. I've heard a lot about you, too."
"Bruce! Wow … it's been a long time."
"Yeah … things are terrible right now, Percy."
"I know … we'll figure it out, though, we always do."
"Captain … I see you grew out the beard. Looks good on you."
The Captain smiled at him in response. "It's good to see you too, Percy. You and Wanda stay out of trouble?"
Percy nodded. "Yeah, until these aliens came in that wrecked that up."
"Hey, Tony."
"Hey, kid. How you've been?"
"Kid? I'm halfway to thirty right now."
"You'll always be a kid to me."
So with the new additions and the returning members, the Avengers were back together and bigger than ever. Percy couldn't help but smile as he glanced at all the old and new members in the room. Forget General Ross and his skewed ideals, the Avengers were back in business and they had a job to do.
"So … here we all are together again," Tony said, as everyone found themselves a spot in the meeting room. "As you all know, there were two attacks today. You might have a lot of questions about that, and here is Bruce to answer said questions. Bruce?"
Tony stepped aside as Bruce nervously took the stage. He took a deep breath before speaking. "After what happened with … Ultron … I drifted in space for a long time until I landed in this planet called Sakaar. Frankly, I don't remember much that happened during my time there … because the Hulk had taken over permanently. I just know I was in a lot of intergalactic gladiator matches. But then Thor arrived, and I managed to get control of myself again. He was going through a tough time, because Asgard was in danger. But we managed to get everyone out of there before it was … destroyed."
Percy was taken back by the mention of Asgard being destroyed.
"That's when he arrived," Bruce continued. "Thanos."
"Who is this Thanos?" Rhodey asked.
"A powerful and dangerous alien," Bruce explained. "Loki … that was his doing. He was invading on his behalf."
So … Percy's mom dying … that was Thanos's doing …
"He killed Loki for the Space Stone, and added it to his gauntlet, which already had the Power Stone," Bruce said. "That already makes him the most powerful being in the universe."
Percy frowned. "So … he wants-"
"He wants all the stones," Bruce finished. "He had two of his servants attack Doctor Strange for the Time Stone."
Everyone looked at Doctor Strange as he fiddled with necklace that dangled from his neck, the Eye of Agamotto.
"And he had his two other servants attack Vision for the Mind Stone."
Everyone looked at Vision as he glanced down worriedly, the stone on his forehead lighting up at its mention.
"That's only four stones," Percy noted.
"The other two are the Reality and Soul Stones," Doctor Strange told him. "Those, nobody has any idea where they might be."
"So … he'll be returning?" Steve asked.
"Most likely," Doctor Strange said.
"And since he couldn't do it with his servants, he'll most likely be returning with a bigger army," Tony added.
"We'll need to be ready by then," Steve said.
"But we can dictate this battle," Percy said. "We can choose where the battle can be. Definitely not New York, too many casualties will happen if we fight him here."
Steve pondered. "I might know a place."
"What about the stones?" Peter added. "Obviously, we'll have to take the stones off of him. Then what?"
"That's a good question," Tony said.
"What if we destroyed them?" Percy suggested.
Everyone looked at him.
"You're suggesting we … destroy the Stones?" Doctor Strange asked.
Percy shrugged. "Yeah. Nobody would be tempted to do anything with the Stones after that, would they? I mean what happens if Thanos gets all six?"
Doctor Strange grimaced. "He'd be able to cause damage the universe has never known before."
"Exactly," Percy said. "If it's possible, then … I think we should destroy the Stones."
"What about Vision?" Rhodey asked.
"Yeah, isn't he technically stuck with the Stone on his forehead?" Sam said.
"The Stone would have to be exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something, very similar to its own signature," Vision informed.
"Like … Wanda?" Percy asked.
Vision nodded. "Yes … Wanda."
"But … that would kill you," Wanda said, frowning.
"Percy Jackson is absolutely correct," Vision said. "Eliminating the Stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it."
"Um … there's gotta be a way for you to live without the stone," Percy said, backtracking. "Right? I'm not sure about destroying the Mind Stone if it means killing you in the process."
"Thanos threatens half the Universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him," Vision argued.
"No, like Percy said, we don't trade lives," Steve said.
"Captain, 70 years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people? Tell me, why is this any different?" Vision said.
"He kind of chose to do that?" Percy said.
"Then, it's my choice as well," Vision said. "Do what must be necessary."
"Yes, it's your choice," Bruce said. "But you're not just the Stone, Vision. Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. JARVIS, Ultron, Tony, me, the Stone. All of them mixed together. All of them learning from one another."
"So we could take out the Stone and … there still would be Vision?" Percy asked.
"It would be difficult, but yes. Perhaps, even the best parts would remain," Bruce said.
"Great, so … I guess we're all in agreement," Tony said. "We destroying the Stones?"
Nobody argued, although Doctor Strange looked like he wanted to, but he decided against it.
"We collect the stones, we put them all together in a little pile, and then …" Percy snapped his fingers, "… we destroy them."
Tony nodded. "Sounds about right."
"We can't do that here, though," Bruce said.
"Yeah, Ross isn't exactly just going to let you have your old rooms back," Rhodey asked.
"Wakanda is where we need to go to," Steve said. "It works for all parties. We keep the danger away from civilians and they're also well equipped with weapons and technology. They could even remove the Stone from Vision safely."
"You're in good terms with T'Challa?" Percy asked.
Steve raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Are you not?"
"Well, he gave me this," Percy said, pointing the scar on his face. "But, who knows? It's been two years. Probably all water under the bridge by now."
Steve smirked. "Alright then, Avengers. Let's get right down to business."
Percy looked at everyone as they all made their way to the Quinjets: Wanda, Vision, Tony, Bruce, Strange, Peter, Nat, Sam, Steve, Rhodey and then himself, with the shortly added T'Challa added to the ranks.
The Avengers were back and they were bigger than ever.
Sorry about the hiatus, just needed a little break for my own well-being, but I'm back now, and I'm ready to finish this. Since Infinity War kind of jumps around between space, Titan and Wakanda, there's a lot of content there. But here, there is no Titan. There is the Guardians and Thor in Space but I'm more focused on Percy's POV. So the Infinity War part of this will be rather short. Afterwards, I will have a final Percy original arc before ending it there. So, let's get on with this.