CHAPTER 3: THE ARGO II GETS OUTDONE
Oakland, California
As soon as Percy saw the plane, he felt his stomach plummet. Him and planes did not mix. At all. He had so far flown twice in his life on them and they were both memories he'd prefer to forget. Being a son of Poseidon, Zeus would happily blast him out of the sky for daring to approach his domain. The last two times had been emergencies of God-level proportions. Percy wasn't sure this one would count.
It was a cool plane. Wasn't really a plane either, more like one of those stealth jets you see in spy shows, not that Percy had seen many. Even if he hadn't seen the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on it, he knew it was them. He carefully approached, fingers wrapped around Riptide, ready for anything. He'd been in too many life or death situations to not suspect everything.
As he walked up, an agent in a fancy suit exited the plane, coming down the ramp. He had a slick bald head and a pair of glasses that shown in the light. "Mr. Jackson?" he called.
"Yeah," Percy responded.
"Jasper Sitwell," the agent greeted. "I'm to escort you to headquarters. There's a debriefing packet waiting for you inside. Please buckle in, it's going to be a long flight."
Percy gulped. "Ah, wonderful," he said, eyeing the plane. He didn't really have a choice in the matter. Hill had said this was important, or at least implied it. Fury had promised not to call on him unless it was world-threatening. Hopefully Zeus would take pity on him a third time. Maybe he'd see the eagle of the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo and be appeased by his sacred animal. None of this made Percy feel better.
"Problem?" Sitwell asked.
"Not a fan of flying," Percy replied. He took a deep breath and stepped inside. "Just warn me if we're approaching any turbulence or…thunderstorms or something."
Sitwell gave him an odd look but nodded. "Don't worry. The Quinjet can handle any kind of weather."
Not a god, Percy thought as he settled into one of the seats. The plane or Quinjet or whatever had seats lining both sides along with plenty of parachutes. Those made Percy feel slightly better. He buckled himself in and watched as Sitwell stood up behind the pilots, holding a handrail from the ceiling.
"We cleared for takeoff?" he asked.
"All systems are go," the main pilot replied. "We have the green light, sir."
"Good. Take us up."
There was no slow build-up, no going down a runway. One second they were on the ground and the next they were in the air. Percy clutched at the seats next to him for dear life, muttering prayers to every god and spirit he knew. Within seconds, they were up above the city into the clouds, flying high. Forgive me Zeus, Percy prayed desperately, hoping his godly uncle would spare him.
It took a good fifteen minutes for him to begin to relax. He realized he couldn't be acting like this the whole flight and Zeus hadn't killed him yet so hopefully that meant he was choosing not to. Taking that as a sign he was in the clear, he focused back on the mission and took a closer look at the debriefing packet. Once he opened it up, he realized that it wasn't a bunch of files and papers like he thought it would be but just a screen.
"Uh…" he stared at it. "Wha- what do I do with this?"
Sitwell stared at him oddly again then walked over and pressed slightly on the screen. It instantly opened up, showing a bunch of images and video files and texts. Percy sighed. These guys were really not being demigod friendly. He wouldn't be surprised if a flock of harpies suddenly attacked from him using all this tech. But he was committed this far, might as well take it further and see what this was all about.
Since technology wasn't his strong suit, it took him some time to work out how it all worked, but he slowly got the hang of it. Usually assignments like this left him bored and restless, made him think of other things. It was always the case in class and for doing homework. But right now, reading through all the files, he had never been more hooked.
He learned about a famous billionaire who had been kidnapped, made a suit out of scrap metal, and proceeded to kick ass with it, escaping. He then made a better suit and became a hero called Iron Man. Sounded like a son of Hephaestus or at least a descendant. A guy right after Leo's own heart.
He learned about a scientist who had been exposed to intense amounts of gamma radiation and could now turn into a rampaging beast that smashed everything in sight. Percy watched in awe as it tore apart a tank and flattened several trucks. He wished he had had the Hulk with him in the Battle at the Parthenon. He would have laid into those giants and then some. Still, he felt bad for this Banner guy. Unable to control this power, going on the run to keep people safe. Percy could actually sympathize with him. He sounded like a good guy.
He learned about Captain America, the living legend. Of course, Percy already knew about Captain America. One of his escapes as a child was reading old Captain America comics. That guy always stood up for what was right and good, no matter what it cost him. That was inspiring. Percy couldn't believe the guy was alive. And not just alive, but still young. He had apparently been frozen in the Arctic and the super serum kept him alive all this time, perfectly preserved. It sounded to Percy liked the gods had intervened. They had done that to him once, kept him in hold for half-a-year for his destiny to arrive. He wondered if they really had done the same to the Captain. Percy couldn't help but grin. Didn't matter whether the gods did or not, he was about to meet his childhood hero. He instantly smoothed down his hair as best he could.
And he learned about, and this one he especially paid attention to, Thor and his brother Loki. Except the file claimed they were aliens, an advanced civilization that the Vikings had believed to be gods. But that couldn't be true because Percy knew for a fact that the Norse gods were real, and living on Earth. Well, not exactly but close enough. They definitely didn't live in outer space. And the way these two other gods were shown on the screen looked nothing like how Magnus, Annabeth's cousin who dealt with the Norse gods up in Boston, had described them. And the guy would know, having fought alongside Thor and having fought against Loki in a duel of insults (he kind of wished he had been there to see that one). Percy frowned. Something strange was happening here. It was true that gods could change their form into whatever they liked, but somehow he sensed that this wasn't the case here. This was something else.
Pushing that aside for another time, Percy focused on the last file. The Tesseract. A glowing blue cube of endless energy that Loki had stolen and was now going to use to try and take over the world. Sounded pretty straightforward.
Percy grimaced and leaned back. He was being drawn into another godly squabble, only this time he was backed by a government agency and several powerful people. But none of it made any sense. First off, how did S.H.I.E.L.D. even know about the fight Thor had with that destroyer thing? The Mist, or Glamour as Magnus called it, would have obscured everything. Sure, they would have noticed something but certainly not the truth. Secondly, Magnus had said they caught Loki last summer. So was this some imposter? The same Loki who had escaped again? Or something else? Percy hated all this. Hated all this thinking. He wished Annabeth were here. She could help him make sense of it. But he was also glad she wasn't. There was a lot of questions he couldn't ask while hanging out with S.H.I.E.L.D. without giving up information he wasn't willing to give up. But Annabeth was still free. She could go looking for answers when he couldn't.
He nodded his head. Sounded like a good enough plan. Right now, he would deal with the stuff he did know. A guy, or god, named Loki had stolen a very dangerous weapon and was going to use it take over the world. Percy had to stop him, whether Annabeth found answers or not. That all sorted out, Percy put down the screen gingerly and rubbed his eyes. He suddenly felt a wave of fatigue wash over him. He was more tired than he thought.
"How much further do we have?" he asked, repressing a yawn.
"Still quite a while," Sitwell replied. He took a look at Percy. "Feel free to get some rest. You won't find much once we arrive."
Percy nodded and settled back, closing his eyes. He thought it would still take him a while to fall asleep with all the jostling the Quinjet did, causing him to clench up each time. But apparently he was more tired than he thought because he was asleep within seconds of closing his eyes.
And suddenly, he was somewhere else.
Percy found himself standing on a windswept beach, the waves crashing into the sand with a fury. There were storm clouds gathering above him, dark angry ones. He recognized the place. Montauk Beach, one of his favorite places on the planet. He had come here often as a kid with his mom, some of his fondest memories being from this beach.
"Hello Percy."
Percy turned around and started as he saw his father standing there, same Hawaiian shirt, same beach shorts, same neatly-trimmed black beard, same sun crinkles around his face. But his tone and expression were very grim. And his hands was his Trident, the three-pronged weapon practically glowing with power.
"Father," Percy said. "What's going on?"
His father sighed. "We are facing a cataclysm unlike anything we have seen before."
"Based on the things we've seen before, that's really not good," Percy pointed out.
"The Fates have glimpsed the future," Poseidon continued. "They perceive many dark and terrible paths. And all of them sprout from this moment. A great change has occurred, one that has shaken the very foundations of the universe."
"I am seriously disliking this conversation."
"Percy." Poseidon turned to him. "You are already aware of the other gods and deities out there."
Percy nodded. "Yeah, the Egyptian ones and the Norse. Had to share a body with an Egyptian goddess, was pretty nasty."
Poseidon nodded. "We do not meddle in each other's affairs. We actively keep out of each other's way. Our kind were never meant to mix. We prefer to keep to our own."
"Ok, makes sense," Percy nodded. He had gotten that feeling himself whenever he crossed paths with Carter and Sadie or Magnus. The feeling that if he didn't play this carefully, it would be like a bomb going off. A lethal combination if not handled right. "But where is this going?"
"A god, or someone claiming to be a god, has appeared amongst the mortals and stolen a power source unlike anything we have seen before. Now, he threatens to unleash it on the world. This…this is unprecedented."
Only once before had Percy seen his father like this, when his realm was being destroyed in the Titan War and everything seemed lost. Percy hated seeing him like that again. And he also felt terrified. After everything he had survived, everything he had fought, he kept thinking that it couldn't get worse than this. And yet, it kept getting worse.
"Dad…" he said hesitantly. "What exactly are we dealing with?"
Poseidon sighed deeply. "I wish I knew, son. This…Loki is a harbinger of change, bringing forth something truly terrible. He is not a god, or a true god anyway. He is something…other. And this weapon he wields is a power beyond me, beyond any of us. I came to warn you of it, to prepare you. The Fates have gleamed that you have an important role to play. As do others."
"What others?"
"Mortals." Poseidon almost snorted at the words. "Mortals will play a pivotal role as well. You are traveling to them now as we speak."
Percy's eyes widened. So these Avengers people or whatever, they were more important than he thought. If the Fates were right, they could help save the world. "What does this mean?"
"Given the fact that we are facing threats unknown to us, Zeus has decided to take action. Drastic action. He has permitted you free reign through his domain, for one."
Percy's eyes widened. "So, I can fly in planes…Quinjets perfectly safe from now on?"
"That is correct. He has also declared that the Mist be removed from the mortals you are now traveling to."
Percy's eyes widened even further. He was pretty sure his mouth dropped open too. "Are you serious? So, they'll be able to see all the monsters and magic and stuff?"
Poseidon nodded grimly. "I believe he is correct in this decision. If these mortals do indeed have a part to play in stopping what is coming, then they must go forth with no obstructions, seeing things as they truly are."
Percy shook his head in disbelief. He had never heard of something like this happening before. The situation must be really serious for Zeus to allow this. He felt his stomach plummet at the thought. Everything seemed to get more serious. That was his whole life. And it didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. He stared out at the horizon, wishing he was actually here. At Montauk. With Annabeth. And his mom and friends. Wish he could just pretend none of this was happening, that he didn't have to go out and save the world. But that was never going to be his future, was it? He would always be stuck saving the world from some threat. That was just his lot in life.
"Is there anything else you can tell me?" he asked.
Poseidon appeared slightly uncomfortable. "You will need help. New help, from new sources, to combat this foe. That is the way forward."
Percy frowned at him. What the hell did that mean? But before he could ask, the dream began to dissolve around him, the sand and sea rippling away into nothingness, and the last words he heard were "our fortunes and prayers go with you, son. I wish you the very best," before he woke back up with a jolt.
"Mr. Jackson." Percy looked up to see Agent Sitwell standing above him. "We're due to arrive in a few minutes. I was just coming to wake you."
"Thanks," Percy nodded and stood up. Time to go and meet these Avengers. Time to see what his future really was.
Atlantic Ocean
The Quinjet flew smoothly over the ocean, the skies clear without a cloud in sight. "We're about forty minutes out from home base, sir," one of the pilots said to the man behind him.
Agent Coulson took off the headset he was wearing and stood up from his position in front of the monitor, moving over to the Quinjet's main passenger.
"So, this Dr. Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" Steve Rogers asked, staring at the screen before looking up at Coulson.
"A lot of people were," Coulson replied, taking hold of one of the ceiling handles. "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."
Steve stared at the footage of the Hulk attacking the army, shrugging off bullets like they were nothing. This man had tried to remake Captain America and instead created a monster. Steve couldn't help but think of the Red Skull, a man who took an early version of the serum and had his entire body transformed as well, albeit in a different way. At least Dr. Banner seemed to be trying to do some good. If someone like Red Skull had acquired the power of the Hulk…it was too horrifying to even think about. "Didn't really go his way, did it?"
"Not so much," Coulson agreed. "When he's not that thing, though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking."
Steve looked up at Coulson in confusion.
"He's like a smart person," Coulson explained. Steve blinked and then looked back down at the screen. "I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you. Officially," he added.
Steve smiled at him. Even after all the shows he had been on back when Senator Brandt had been parading him around, it was still a surprise to find fans of his. Especially grown-up ones. But a pleasant surprise.
"I've sort of met you," Coulson continued. "I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping."
Steve's smile faded slightly and he looked down, his lips scrunched together. He knew what Coulson meant, but his word choice could definitely use some work.
"I mean, I was…" Coulson stumbled as Steve stood up, trying to undercut the awkwardness, "I was present while you were unconscious from the ice." Then, deciding to just move past it, he said, "you know, it's really just a huge honor to have you onboard this…" he stopped, looking around the Quinjet and then looking at his feet, apparently done.
"Well I hope I'm the man for the job," Steve said, looking out the window at the wide expanse of the ocean. He had seen the files of all the others. A man who built a suit of iron that could fly and shoot lasers. A man who could transform into a massive green goliath. A young man who could control and manipulate water. Against a god from Norse myths, Loki. Steve was just a soldier, a man from another age who had no idea what he was getting himself into.
"Oh you are," Coulson affirmed, nodding his head for emphasis. "Absolutely. Uh, we made some modifications to the uniform." He then shrugged bashfully. "I had a little design input."
"The uniform?" Steve questioned. "Aren't the stars and stripes a little…old-fashioned?"
Coulson mulled that over for a second. "Everything that's happening, and the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned."
Steve looked at him closely, considering that. Honestly, he made sense. After everything that had happened to him, learning he had been frozen for seventy years and almost everyone he knew was gone and he was now trapped in an unfamiliar world, he felt lost and alone. Right now, he needed a sense of familiarity. A mission for him to focus on, to get his head right. Otherwise, he was afraid he would lose more of himself.
And with what the mission entailed and who it involved, maybe they did need someone like him. Someone to keep it all grounded. Maybe.
Location Unknown
Two armed men ran into the chamber, guns shaking in their arms, passing by other mercenaries and scientists that walked around the large set up of crates, boxes, and machinery, all with the purpose of powering the Tesseract and taking down S.H.I.E.L.D. once and for all. Leading the operations was Dr. Erik Selvig who was walking around the main device, a smaller replica of the one in the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, capable of projecting the Tesseract's energy.
In a side chamber, Loki sat quietly on the floor, scepter in hand, staring firmly at the wall. Then, the stone in the middle of the scepter lit up and Loki flexed as he felt the power wash over him, the walls crumbling and fading around him, revealing a different scene as his consciousness was transported across space and time. Within seconds, the chamber was gone, replaced by the Sanctuary, abode to the Mad Titan.
Appearing before him stood the Other, wearing his ceremonial robes, a hood covering his face. The mouthpiece of the Mad Titan and custodian of the Sanctuary. "The Chitauri grow restless," the Other informed him.
"Let them gird themselves," Loki responded, using his godly magic to project an illusion of himself, standing in front of the Other in his complete attire, his horned helmet resting on his head. "I will lead them in the glorious battle."
"Battle?" the Other scoffed. "Against the meager might of Earth?"
"Glorious, not lengthy," Loki said. Judging from his attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, Earth would be his within the week. "If your force is as formidable as you claim," he added, looking back.
"You question us?" the Other demanded in disbelief, turning suddenly. "You question him? He who put the scepter in your hand?" Loki could feel the Titan's presence behind him, staring out into the void of space but clearly listening to everything. "Who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?"
Loki turned at that word. "I was a king!" he snapped. "The rightful king of Asgard. Betrayed." The pain still lingered. Betrayed, that was one word for it. He was denied everything he should have, merely a keepsake from an old war, meant to be content with his life cast in the shadow of his brother. Not anymore.
The Other growled. "Your ambition is little and born of childish need. We look beyond the Earth to greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil." He stared up the stairs towards his master with reverence.
"You don't have the Tesseract yet," Loki reminded him.
The Other charged forward, hand outreached, stopping right in front of the god.
Loki stared back, unimpressed. "I don't threaten," he said. "But until I open the doors, until your force is mind to command, you are but words."
"You will have your war, Asgardian," the Other all but spat. Then he leaned in close. "If you fail," he said, walking around Loki, "if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you." He said all this with relish, as if waiting for Loki to fail. He was behind him now and came in even closer, right to Loki's ear. "You think you know pain?" he asked, almost gently. "He will make you long for something sweet as pain." He brought his hand down on Loki's face, disrupting the illusion and yanking Loki back to Earth with a grimace, still feeling the Other's hand.
He breathed in deeply, regaining his composure. He would not fail. This was his birthright. His destiny. And nothing would stand in his way.
Helicarrier, Atlantic Ocean
The Quinjet came in for a landing on an aircraft carrier, the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo emblazoned on the runway. The jet hovered for a moment before coming down, a crewman guiding it carefully until it landed firmly.
Steve was already moving before the hatch door opened up, Coulson leading the way outside. "Stow the captain's gear," he said to a passing crewman.
"Yes, sir," the man replied, jumping to it.
Steve passed over them, looking around at the aircraft carrier, assessing it.
"Agent Romanoff," Coulson greeted, causing Steve to turn and see a woman with bright red hair and a leather jacket walking up. "Captain Rogers," Coulson continued, gesturing to Steve.
"Ma'am," Steve nodded at her.
"Hi," Romanoff said in response, giving him a quick look, before turning to Coulson. "They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace."
"See you there," Coulson said, moving off.
Romanoff gave Steve another look. "It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice," she told him, both of them walking. "Thought Coulson was gonna swoon." She turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"
"Trading cards?" Steve asked with a smile. He was on trading cards. That was hard to believe. Even after all this time, he struggled with the idea of being famous. In his heart, he was still that kid from Brooklyn.
"They're vintage. He's very proud," Romanoff informed him.
Steve then focused on a man walking around confusedly between crewmen, dressed in a shabby suit. He instantly recognized the man as Bruce Banner, the man who tried to do some good and paid a steep price for it. Too steep. "Doctor Banner?" he called out.
Banner looked up and saw Steve standing there. "Oh, yeah, hi," he said, taking Steve's hand. "They told me you would be coming."
"Word is you can find the cube," Steve said.
Bruce grimaced and turned his head around before looking back. "Is that the only word on me?"
"Only word I care about," Steve told him. He didn't care about the monster. Only the man.
Banner nodded softly, then gestured around him. "Must be strange for you, all of this."
Steve took another look around and saw a group jogging in perfect unison across the runway, overseen by a drill sergeant. "Well, this is actually kind of familiar," he said, his mind taking him back to the long marches under Sergeant Duffy, him always lagging behind the other soldiers.
He became distracted as he saw another Quinjet approaching through the air. He watched as it got bigger and bigger, flying gently over the ship before coming to a landing several yards away. The back hatch opened up and two people stepped out. Steve recognized the kid from the packet, the one who could control water somehow. Looking at him, he seemed somehow…unimpressive, with his scruffy appearance and confused and nervous expression. He didn't look like the kid who had singlehandedly taken down five agents in training or caused the water to form images around him. He just looked like a scared teenager.
Then again, Steve was an expert on getting underestimated. Before Project Rebirth, he had been the little guy, the weakling that everybody picked on. But that had led to him getting chosen. That and a dummy grenade. And here he was. All that untapped potential given physical form. And even Banner who didn't look like anything special on first look was hiding a lot beneath the surface. Steve decided to reserve judgment until he had seen the kid in action.
"Agent Romanoff," the agent leading the kid said. "Captain Rogers. Doctor Banner." He then nodded. "Mr. Jackson."
"Sup," the kid said, taking them all in. His eyes widened slightly at Steve before he looked away. He gave Banner a strange look, not one of pity but more of sympathy. And respect.
"Nice to meet you," Steve said, taking his hand. The kid seemed to gasp before taking Steve's hand. Natasha smirked and rolled her eyes.
"Same," the kid said. "I'm Percy. Percy Jackson."
"Bruce Banner," Banner said, taking his hand.
"Yeah, I know, I read the file," Percy said. "You're the guy who can…um…who…you know," he stammered. "The smart guy," he finished awkwardly.
"Ok," Banner started looking around again. Steve noticed he did that a lot. He guessed it came from habit, from being on the run all the time.
"Have they started the face-trace yet?" the agent with Percy asked.
"Almost," Romanoff told him.
"Better get inside then." The agent walked away.
"Mr. Captain, sir," Percy stumbled again. "I just want to say that it's, uh, a huge honor to meet you." He started to turn a little red. "I, uh, read your comic books as a kid, and, uh, they helped me a lot growing up, so…"
Steve's eyebrows went up. He had comics about himself too? He wondered what else had been merchandised about himself. He couldn't help but feel proud that this kid had found comfort reading stories about him, even if they were probably made up. And, judging from the way he had said it, Percy hadn't had the best childhood. "Thank you."
Romanoff gave him a look, wiggling her eyebrows slightly. Steve decided to ignore her.
"So you're hydrokinetic?" Banner asked curiously.
"Uh…" Percy frowned. "You mean I can control water? Then yeah, I can."
"How? I mean, the way you moved it in the footage was incredible. But also, impossible. Supposedly."
"Um…" Percy hesitated. Steve frowned. He was hiding something. Something about these powers. But before Banner could ask anything else, Romanoff stepped forward.
"Gentlemen," she interrupted, causing them to turn. "You might want to step inside in a minute. It's going to get a little hard to breathe."
Just then, loud mechanical clanking noises echoed. "Flight crew, secure the deck," someone over the PA announced.
Steve took another look around, as if seeing the ship for the first time. "Is this a submarine?" he asked in disbelief.
Banner smirked next to him. "Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized, metal container?" Yeah, the Hulk would love that if he ever got out.
Percy smiled. He honestly wouldn't mind that too much. He would be even more at home.
Romanoff stood behind them as they walked over to the edge, hiding a smile.
They reached the edge of the ship and looked down at the water in time to see in writhe and storm in a circle, as if a whirlpool was forming. Instead, large blades came into view, moving so fast they were a blur, sloshing seawater everywhere as they came to life. At the other end of the ship, another large mechanism was coming to life and Steve had no doubt that there two more on the other side of the ship.
The blades, except now he realized they were propellers, moved faster and faster, lifting the ship up, water gushing out like massive waterfalls. Steve and Banner stepped back as the wind picked up madly, taking their breath away. "No, no, this is much worse," Banner said.
"Much worse," Percy nodded, the twist in his gut tightening. He was going back in the air. In a flying fortress. He was definitely pushing Zeus's hospitality.
Crewmen around them locked in all the jets, closed all the hatches, and placed breathing masks over their faces as the ship gave one massive lurch and pulled away from the ocean and up into the air, ascending at a rapid pace into the clouds.
A few minutes later, Natasha Romanoff led them down a corridor in the interior of the ship right into the main control room. The room had two levels with wide windows covered the front, showing off the view of the ocean and sky. Lines of computer monitors covered the lower section while the upper level mainly consisted of a table with several chairs around it. There were dozens of people, either working on the computers or moving about, rambling off various bits of data and information.
"Hover power check complete. Position cyclic," one man said, looking at his screen. "Increase collective to 8.0%"
Steve glanced up at the ceiling and saw windows lining the walls, all looking down on this room with even more people working from them.
Banner wandered over to the back of the room, staring around in wonder, but then saw two armed guards and turned back around, rubbing his face nervously.
Percy stared at it all, mouth slightly agape. He had only ever seen one ship as impressive as this. But the Argo II, as much as he hated to admit it, wasn't as good as this. It had been made for eight people with the help of magic. This ship was built for probably hundreds of people without any magic, only human ingenuity. That was impressive.
"Preparing for maximum performance takeoff," one agent said. "Increase output to capacity."
"Power plant performing at capacity," a head agent continued, walking over to stare at another monitor. "We are clear," she said before taking a seat.
"All engines operating," Agent Hill announced from her position near the center of the room. "S.H.I.E.L.D. emergency protocol 193.6 in effect." She then turned to the hub of the room where Nick Fury stood, several screens at his fingertips. "We're at level, sir," she told him.
"Good," he replied before staring out the window. "Let's vanish."
"Engage retro-reflective panels," Hill commanded.
Steve took a look at one of the screens and saw an outside camera showing the metal panels of the ship shifting, their grayish color fading into blue and white, reflecting the sky above. In essence, vanishing, like a giant, flying, metal chameleon.
"Reflection panels engaged," a technician announced.
Fury turned to Steve and Banner. "Gentlemen," he said.
Steve reached into his pocket and took out his wallet, removing ten dollars from it and handing the bill over to Fury wordlessly. Fury took the bill, pocketing it with a small smirk. Steve moved over to the hub, Agent Hill eyeing him curiously as he did so.
"Mr. Jackson," Fury nodded. Percy waved back and then walked over to the side, staring out the windows nervously.
Fury walked over to Banner, shaking the man's hand. "Doctor, thank you for coming."
Banner eyed him for a second. "Thanks for asking nicely," he replied. "So, um, how long am I staying?"
"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind," Fury assured him.
"Where are you with that?"
Fury pointed over to Agent Coulson in the lower level in response.
"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet," Coulson told them. "Cell phones, laptops… If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."
As he talked, Romanoff focused on a monitor containing a picture of a man. She flicked the screen, revealing some data and looked it over. "That's still not gonna find them in time," she said.
"You have to narrow your field," Banner agreed. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?" he asked Fury.
"How many are there?" Fury replied, folding his arms over his chest.
"Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays," he said, taking off his jacket. "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." Fury nodded and gestured to Coulson to get started. "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"
"Agent Romanoff," Fury jerked his head, "could you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please?"
Romanoff walked over, leading Banner out of the room. "You're gonna love it, doc. We got all the toys."
Percy then walked over. "Hey, where's the bathroom. Kind of a long flight, you know?"
Fury eyed him closely and Percy had to stop himself from gulping. Every time he met the guy, he swore it was like that eye was staring right through him. Then, Fury nodded to the side hallway. "Third door on your left."
"Thank you," Percy nodded. He found the right door and walked in. He carefully checked each stall and was relieved to find no one else there. He entered a stall and then took out his prism. He looked down at the toilet water and wrinkled his nose. Instead, he leaked hot water out of the faucet and carried it into the stall, splashing it over the prism, causing a small rainbow to form.
"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering," he said, throwing a drachma in. "Annabeth Chase," he said, and the mist cleared, showing Annabeth in her dorm.
"Percy!" she exclaimed the second she saw him. "Where have you been? I've been worri-"
"Shhh!" he shushed. She quieted, frowning. "I'm sorry I just took off like that, but I got a call. From S.H.I.E.L.D."
Annabeth's eyes widened. "Oh," she said in surprise. "What happened? What's going on? And are you in bathroom."
"Yes," Percy nodded. "And as for what's happening," he shook his head, chuckling and rubbing his hair. "I have no idea."
Annabeth stared at him for a long second, becoming more focused. Percy knew that look. She was going into planning mode. "Tell me everything," she said. More like ordered.
So he did. He explained the Tesseract and Loki. He explained his dream with Poseidon and Zeus's decision. She gaped at that. "Wow," she muttered.
"Yeah, it's pretty serious," Percy nodded. "So, anyway I'm here with a couple other people. Captain America for one." He couldn't help but smile at that.
"Captain America?" Annabeth asked, confused. "Isn't he that corny guy from your comic books?"
"He's not corny," Percy defended. "Well, not in real life anyway. Also, there's this really smart scientist guy who can apparently turn into this green monster when angered."
Annabeth tilted her head to the side, looking extremely lost. "What?"
"Never mind, too hard to explain. Look, Annabeth, they said for sure that it's Loki causing this."
"But that doesn't make sense," she argued. "Magnus told us he locked Loki away in an acorn."
Percy didn't understand how a god could be trapped in an acorn but he'd seen weirder stuff so he brushed past it. "Yeah, that's the thing. Poseidon told me this is a different Loki. He said he was something different. Not really a god."
"A pretender?" Annabeth asked.
Percy shrugged. "I guess. But the way my dad talked about it…he was scared. Whatever is happening right now with this other Loki and the Tesseract, it's scaring the gods."
Annabeth winced. "Yeah, that's never good," she muttered, chewing her lip.
Percy nodded. Typhon, the giants, Gaea. They had all scared the gods. But this time, they had actually sent a dream warning to Percy. And they had lifted the Mist from the mortals. This felt so much worse than anything else.
"Ok," Annabeth said, game face on. "You stay there. Work with them. Maybe we'll get lucky and you take down this other Loki and get back the Tesseract easy."
"Yeah, cause things always go our way," he replied sarcastically.
"I know, but we have to try. I'm going to call Magnus. See what I can find out about what's going on about his Loki and who this other one could be."
"Sounds like a plan," Percy agreed.
Annabeth looked at him closely. "Stay safe, Seaweed Brain," she said softly.
Percy stared back, soaking her in. "You too, Wise Girl," he replied. Then he heard the door and quickly swiped his hand through the image, dissolving it.
Location Unknown
"Put it over there," Selvig told two workers who had come in carrying cases. "Where did you find all these people?" he asked, picking up several machine bits.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has no shortage of enemies, Doctor," Barton replied, looking through a tablet in his hands. He held it up. "This the stuff you need?" The screen showed a picture of a strange rock alongside a scientist by the name of Heinrich Schӓfer.
"Yeah, iridium," Selvig nodded. "It's found in meteorites. It forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of," he explained.
"Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D. knows you need it," Barton added.
"But I didn't know!" Selvig exclaimed, throwing his arms wide. He then looked behind Barton and his expression lit up. "Hey!" he greeted as Loki walked up. "The Tesseract has shown me so much. It-it's more than knowledge, it's truth," he said, grinning.
"I know," Loki said, smiling at him, like he was a cute little kid. "What did it show you, Agent Barton?" he asked, turning slightly.
Barton looked at him, completely stone-faced. "My next target."
"Tell me what you need."
Barton walked over to his personal case and opened it up, pulling out a long device. "I need a distraction," he said, snapping the device, transforming it into his bow. "And an eyeball."
First Nome, Egypt
"You have got to be kidding me!" Sadie exclaimed.
"I am afraid not," Izzie told her. "Setne is the only magician who ever sought out other magics."
"Yeah, I know, he nearly killed me and my brother that way." Sadie shuddered at the memory of Governor's Island. If it hadn't been for Percy and Annabeth, Setne would have become a god. That sparked a question. "Hey, he was only using Greek and Egyptian there, not Norse."
Izzie nodded. "I believe he was going to channel Norse magic soon. Since it could not transform him into a god, however, he focused on the Crown of Ptolemy."
Sadie sighed. As much as she hated it, they had no choice. They had to talk to the greasy weasel and see what he knew. Ugh, this was going to be a disaster, no doubt about that. She turned to Amos. "So where is he?" she asked. After Governor's Island, they had handed Setne over to him for safekeeping.
Amos snorted slightly. "As a matter of fact…" He turned to his desk and knelt down behind it. Sadie followed him in disbelief.
"Seriously?" she asked, staring. "You keep one of the most dangerous magicians around underneath your desk."
"This magician is a master escape artist," Amos replied. "I decided to try an unconventional approach."
Sadie saw he was rifling through a mini-fridge. "You kept him in there?"
Amos came up, holding a tub of what appeared to be lasagna.
"You kept him in that?" Sadie asked, staring at her uncle. Had he completely lost his mind? Maybe the pressure of being Chief Lecter had gotten to him.
"Sadie, I have many precious items hidden around. Do you know if you look in the most heavily guarded and warded off area, you'll find maybe a few treasures I've stocked there. The really dangerous items I keep out of the way. Of all the thieves that have attempted to break in, not one thought to check my mini-fridge."
Sadie's mouth dropped. She had never thought of that. And she was completely disappointed in herself for that. That was a totally her move.
Amos opened the container. "I did put a boundary spell over it," he explained. "As well as another spell that will instantly entrap anyone who isn't me or my family with magically strengthened chains. It will also awaken my shabti here." He held up a small ornament of a lion. "I just made the spells so faint so that a magician would easily look over them."
"Gotta say, Uncle Amos. I am impressed," Sadie said as she shook her head.
"Thank you, Sadie. Now let's see what our little friend has to say, shall we?" He lifted up a snow globe from the center of the lasagna. Sadie could see a tiny version of Governor's Island inside as well as an extremely small figure sitting in the middle.
"How exactly do we do this?" she asked. Setne might possible be able to hear them but there was no way they'd be able to hear him unless he screamed really loud.
"Here," Izzie told her and whispered an incantation in her mind. Nodding her head, Sadie took a deep breath and held out her hand.
"No matter what," she said. "He doesn't go free."
"Agreed," Amos nodded.
"Alright." She took another breath and then muttered the incantation. Smoke instantly filled the room, coating them all, and coalescing around the snow globe. Sadie watched with apprehension as the smoke gathered, forming up and up into a figure that became more and more distinct until Setne was standing in front of her in all his evil, Elvis-impersonation glory with the same skinny black jeans, powder blue dress shirt, and black leather jacket with a pompadour hairdo to go with it.
"Well, well, well," he said smoothly, taking them in. "Ms. Kane," he dipped his head in my direction. "What a true pleasure to see you again."
"Wish I could say the same," Sadie replied, glaring at him. Gods, she hated this guy so much.
"Ah, and if it isn't the great and powerful Uncle Amos!" Setne exclaimed, looking at Amos who was watching him apprehensively. "I've heard so much about you. Gotta say, though," Setne looked Amos up and down, "not that impressed."
"Likewise," Amos said in return, eyes narrowed.
"And of course, the lovely Isi- oops, sorry, it's Izzie now, right?" Sadie didn't know how he knew that. He always seemed to know everything.
"Aset to you," Izzie told him, folding her arms.
"Naturally," Setne gave her a lazy grin. Sadie had to resist punching him in the face. It seemed even being imprisoned in a snow globe for the past few years hadn't changed him. Then again, he was still a ghost. He would probably be the same a hundred years from now. "So!" he clapped his hands together. "What seems to be the problem? Cause you wouldn't be breaking you out if there wasn't some sort of problem."
"We're not breaking you out," Sadie told him firmly.
"You're not?" Setne gasped, holding his hand over his heart. "I'm wounded. And here I was thinking you cared. Anyway, if you want my help, it comes with some freedom privileges. Take it or leave it."
Sadie snorted. "You think we're that stupid? We give you anything and you'll just find some way to free yourself."
Setne gave her another smile, except this one was laced with menace, his eyes glimmering evilly at her. "That is my nature, after all," he said. "So, you gonna help out this little scorpion, or you gonna wander around blindly in the face of your new problems until you realize you have to help me to get the information you want?"
"The Norse Gods," Sadie told him, deciding to get straight to the point. "What do you know?"
Setne rubbed his chin. "Ah, the Norsemen! You know, it really is too bad I couldn't get to them. They have such interesting magic. All the stuff I could do if I could get my hands on some of those runes." He shook his head. "You know the price, Sadie. Why do you keep dancing around it? If you want what I know, you have to agree to my demands."
"As Chief Lecter, it is up to me to decide what we do with you," Amos told him. "And there will be no deals with you just so you can twist it around on us later."
Setne sighed. "You all really are making this harder than it needs to be. If you want help taking on the Norse Gods, then you'll have t-"
"What about the other ones?" Sadie asked.
Setne gave her an odd look. "What other ones?"
"The other Norse Gods," Sadie said. "There's this guy called Loki running around except he's not really a god. He's something else, as Izzie here puts it," she nodded at Izzie, who appeared to be getting uncomfortable with the conversation. "What do you know about that?"
Setne frowned at her for a second, looking confused. Then his eyes widened in realization and he threw his head back, laughing loudly.
"What?" Sadie demanded. "What's so funny?" But Setne just kept on laughing, doubling over now. "Stop laughing!"
"Eh?" Setne chuckled. "I am sorry, but this is just so delicious." He shook his head and wiped his eyes. "You know what? I've changed my mind. I will give you the information for free after all."
Sadie gaped at him for a second and saw that Amos was as surprised as she was. "Really?" she asked, disbelievingly. "You're just going to tell us what you know, free of charge?"
"Yep," Setne nodded. "Out of the goodness of my heart."
Sadie snorted. "We both know that's not true."
Setne had the audacity to look hurt. "You wound me."
"Seriously, why?"
Setne gave her a dark look, smiling to himself. "What you're facing is chaos to the extreme," he told her. "Oh, when those guys first came millennia ago, man did they cause some damage. Messed up the natural order of things." He grinned delightedly. "And if I'm right, which I usually am, if they're coming back, things are going to get out of whack again. Somehow, sometime in the near future, I think I'm gonna get out of this little prison whether you like it or not."
"That's never going to happen."
"I don't think you have a say in it. With all the chaos they cause…" he snorted. "You have no idea what's coming your way," he said knowingly.
"Alright, fine, whatever. Just tell us what you know."
He nodded smugly. "You ever hear the theory of the multiverse?"
Sadie frowned. "Uh…a little?"
"It's the theory that there are infinite variations of our universe out there, each one different from the others, either in big or small ways," Amos said.
"Exactly," Setne nodded. "Except it's much more than that. Dimensions of endless possibility. Worlds that would amaze you. That defy all explanation, that break the laws of our reality. I've seen a few. It would boggle the mind."
Sadie felt her mind was getting boggled. A multiverse? Other dimensions. That was way too much for her to handle. And if she was like that, she couldn't imagine how Carter would react to hearing all this. "Just get to the point."
"Alright, well in these other universes, there are countless different versions of you that have all lived different lives to the one you're living, different experiences. Just like there are other versions of dear Uncle Amos there, dear old me, and of course Aset over there. And that's the point. Other versions of the gods."
Sadie's eyes widened. "You mean…this Loki is from another universe?"
"Ah…" Setne tipped his hand back and forth. "Little more complicated than that. His people sure, but I think he was born in our universe. Anyway, for our Norse Gods they have this big world tree thing, Iggy something or other, that connects all their different worlds together. Woven from ancient, primordial magic connecting to the very fabric of our reality."
Sadie frowned. "Ok," she said uncertainly, kind of getting it.
"Well, these other Norse gods are a little different. They're less magical and more cosmic. Space gods."
"Alien," Amos muttered, Izzie nodding in agreement.
"Wait, you're saying these gods are aliens?" Sadie asked.
"What we consider aliens, sure," Setne nodded. "And back in their universe, their version of the Iggy tree was actually a cosmic nimbus, a space cloud, that connected all their versions of the Nine Realms together. You know, Earth, their home Asgard, their underworld planet, and so on. You with me so far?"
"Uh…"
"Good. Now this part's the clincher. Millennia ago, like tens of thousands of years, their universe came under attack."
"The whole universe?" Sadie asked.
"Yep, the whole thing. All of it. Massive assault from something called the Black Winter. Eradicated whole galaxies in seconds. Well, these Asgardians came up with an idea to escape. So they used their space magic to connect their Iggy tree to the closest universe's one, which happened to be ours. Now, I don't really know the specifics, but they used this connection to transport their world as well as the other realms of their tree cloud across the dimensions to our universe. Well, most of the realms. The Black Winter attacked as they did, destroying their Earth as well as part of Asgard. But, despite that, they made it. Transported themselves to our universe and have since settled."
"Whoa!" Sadie muttered, her mind barely able to picture all of this.
"I know right? Like, mind blown!" Setne mimed his head exploding. "When I first heard it, I was stunned. Like, that could make an epic movie, you know?"
"How did you learn of all this?" Amos asked.
"Oh, I found some old space god and tortured him for information," Setne said casually. "He told me everything. Anyway, back to the story, these Asgardian's connection to their tree cloud was icky now because it was missing a realm. Their powers kind of come from the tree and if the tree is down, then so are their powers. So, to fix this, they connected our Earth to their tree. Except our gods didn't like that and a big battle was fought. Especially when some of the races from their other worlds started making war here as well. Eventually, a treaty was made between them. Don't know the specifics of it, but it kind of laid down the ground rules about visitation rights to Earth and so on. Blah, blah, blah."
Sadie shook her head, trying to process all this. It was a lot. Other universes. Alien gods. Black Winter. Treaty. But she was Sadie Kane. She'd dealt with something like this years ago when she first learned the Egyptian gods were real. And she could handle this too.
"Alright, so if this other Loki is coming down here causing trouble, why don't the gods just handle it?"
Setne frowned. "Now that, I don't know. Our gods should have cracked down on him the moment he arrived." He turned to Izzie. "Why haven't they?"
She pursed her lips, turning away for a second. "I believe it is due to the power he wields. The spatial energy."
"Spatial energy?" Setne questioned. "Wait, you don't mean…" he trailed off and then let off another round of laughter. "The Tesseract? He has the Tesseract? Oh that is just too good."
"Hold on, what's the Tesseract?" Sadie asked.
"One of the six most powerful items in the universe. Jeez, no wonder the other gods won't get involved. That kind of power is truly terrifying." He grinned with relish. "Ah, if only I could get my hands on it. All the things I could do…" he stared out with wonder, lost in his own horrid imagination.
"Setne," Sadie pressed.
"Oh, sorry. Lost my train of thought there. The Tesseract is basically an instant teleporter. You can use it to take yourself anywhere in the universe, anywhere at all. For as long as you want. Of course, that's just its most basic use. Its true capabilities are a sight to behold. Only ever seen it once. Now that was a fabulous day." He trailed off again.
Sadie stared at him. "Are you going to tell us?"
Setne looked at her. "Nah," he said. "I'm going to let you figure it out. I think I've said all I need to. You got your info. I think it's my nap time anyway. So, I'll be seeing you. Sooner, than you might think." He gave her a wink and a finger gun. Sadie glared at him and closed off her magic, dissolving the projection, returning Setne to his snow globe. Amos quickly pushed it back down into the lasagna and placed it into the mini-fridge.
"Well…" he started but didn't seem to know how to continue.
"Yeah," Sadie agreed. "That was…a lot." Amos nodded in agreement. "So, what do we do? About this Loki, I mean? Do we just leave him to the Norse guys to deal with. I mean, they must have their own magicians or…rune-users or whatever to handle it, right?"
Amos pondered that for a minute. "No," he finally said. "This Loki is causing too much harm. If they had dealt with it quickly…but they didn't. So, now we have to make sure he's stopped."
Sadie thought about all she'd learned today, the way the gods were scared of this Loki and the Tesseract, the way Setne reveled in their presences and the way he was sure he'd eventually get free from all the chaos. "Oh goody."
Hey, Chapter 3 is officially done. Whew! Sorry for the wait. Been kind of busy this last week. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, but things are probably only going to get busier so, maybe not. Hope you enjoyed Percy's first meeting with the Avengers. I'll be going deeper into their interactions next chapter. That's also when they meet Loki. Things are really going to start going off next chapter. I decided on the Mist thing cause it would get too complicated to write how all the Avengers can't see Riptide or any of the other stuff that's happening. Plus, with this kind of threat, it seems like Zeus would do it after everything that's happened. Also, hope you liked my explanation of the Norse gods. Had to get a little creative there. It's not perfect, but it was the best I could do. The Black Winter idea is from the recent comic run of Thor which I decided to stick in for fun. Thanks again for sticking with me so far and please comment and review when you can. Til next time!