CHAPTER 10: TO KILL A HYDRA…
Percy cracked his knuckles and then his neck as he stood atop a skyscraper, before speaking into his comlink, "Do I need to remind every one of their roles"
"No" Steve
"Nope" Sam
"Nada" Natasha
"Good… that makes my life exponentially easier"
"Look at you slipping into commander mode" Natasha stated.
"No Nat, this is me slipping into tactician mode, I 'deleted' my commander mode app years ago"
Natasha ignored his comment, "What's the difference?"
"The difference being that Cap is the one calling the shots, I'm just providing plans and backup plans and backing up those backup plans as well, Cap is just being sensible enough to accept them" he responded sagely.
"Correction, he rejected your first two plans and backup plans, the only reason he accepted the third was because it involved a lesser number of intentional acts of manslaughter" Sam butted in.
"Thanks Sam"
"Tch" Percy rolled his eyes.
The others chuckled.
"All bickering aside, I think we should pay attention to the SHIELD agents who are trying to triangulate our position via our communication devices" Percy stated absentmindedly
He could practically feel his comrades tense up.
"You're pointing this out now!" Natasha snapped in a sharp voice.
Percy shrugged nonchalantly, "I blame ADHD…" he began in the same dull tone, "… but judging by their anxiousness to get us to safety – if their heartbeats are anything to go by – then I don't think that they're dangerous to us… at least not yet"
"For fuck's sake Percy, stop speaking so damn cryptically!"
"I think that these are SHIELD agents"
"Last I checked SHIELD is trying to kill us" Sam muttered sarcastically.
"Correction Sam, HYDRA is trying to kill us, these are genuine SHIELD operatives… at least their numbers says so, everyone knows that the number of the bad guys always exceeds the number of the good guys just to create the stupid illusion that the good guys need to face insurmountable odds." Percy intoned wisely
"… I have no idea what you're rambling about" Sam muttered.
"I understood him perfectly well" Natasha deadpanned.
"So did I" Steve supplied a comment of his own.
"You guys are his team mates, it makes sense for you to understand all the crap that spews from his mouth!" Sam rebutted heatedly.
"Honestly speaking, you don't need to be an Avenger to understand what he just spewed, even an occasional reader of comic books will understand him" Steve stated as if it was an obvious fact.
"…"
"…"
"… can we please abandon comic book logic and focus on how we are to approach these agents" Percy stated in a bid to get past the already awkward conversation.
"Focus on what exactly! You haven't really told us where they are" Sam stated in frustration and would probably have continued complaining if Natasha hadn't spoken up.
"I thought that the black van with shaded windows was a big give away" the Russian red head stated rather bluntly.
"… Oh"
"Oh indeed, please Sam, do well to observe your environment the next time you are in a life or death situation, it'll help you avoid making mistakes that'll cost you heavily" Percy quipped sarcastically.
"Can we please plan that method of approach now?" Steve asked in frustration.
"I say we just walk up to them, there is no point in any theatrics here" Sam gave his own two cents.
"SHIELD has CCTV's worldwide, Tokyo included, CCTV's that are more or less controlled by HYDRA, an upfront approach will just lead to HYDRA tracking us all the way to wherever the real SHIELD is hiding out" Natasha rebuffed.
"That would be the equivalent of us spewing blood in the water and expecting the Sharks not to sniff us out… and then gobble us up. I know that I'm probably pointing out the obvious, but I just needed to make sure that Sam was clarified on that" Steve supplied helpfully.
"I never took you as the sarcastic type Rogers" Percy remarked.
"Well, you tend to bring out the worst in me" the Captain deadpanned.
"… I'll take that as a sign of progress." Percy replied after a bout of silence… there was no doubt in the mind of his comrades that he probably had a shit eating grin plastered on his face.
They all rolled their eyes at that.
"Well, now that we are done chattering like school girls over extremely hot, pale, sparkly vampires, can I suggest a solution on how we can get to the van?" Percy questioned in a polite tone, a tone that hugely contrasted with the copious amounts of sarcasm that practically dripped from his mouth as he spoke.
"Yes, great and all mighty leader, grace us with your godly ideas that are simply too divine for our pathetically, simplistic mortal minds to grasp" Natasha replied in (faux) adoration.
"Yeesh. I'm usually the sarcastic one" Percy muttered to himself, but the others probably heard him.
… Seriously though, the sarcasm was strong today.
"We are still awaiting your fantastical idea, your fishiness" Steve stated with a small chuckle.
Did he…?
Did he just…?
Did he just make a pun with his heritage as a punch line?!
"If you ever make a pun like that again soldier boy, I'll give you as a human sacrifice to the goddess Odyne, understand?"
He could practically feel the Captain nodding his head vigorously in compliance.
"It's good that we understand each other. Now that that's out of the way, my plan is quite simple actually…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"… well?"
"Oh! Sorry, that was a really pretty bird"
Their eyes twitched.
"Anyway, I'll just vapour travel us into the Van" Percy stated as if it was the best plan since the fall of Babylon at the hands of Persia.
"… Is there a specific reason why you didn't just do that earlier?" Steve asked in a neutral tone that masked his irritation.
Percy shrugged half heartedly, "It's not often we get the chance to bicker over whose plan is the best while throwing jabs at each other" he commented sincerely .
"… we do that on a daily basis dumbass!" Natasha raged at him over the comlink making the other males and himself as well cringe over the noise.
"While I would love to hear Natasha rage at Percy over the commlink, I believe that there was some talk about vapour travelling right about now" Steve diffused the situation in a neutral tone of voice, even though his tone suggested that he would love nothing more than to throttle the sea green eyed half blood.
"Alright then, I guess that I better get started then"
Without a sound, the son of Poseidon turned into a humanoid shaped mass of water before rapidly evaporating into vapour. One by one, he transported his comrades into the Van and succeeded in frightening the present SHIELD operatives into drawing their weapons before he beat said operatives to the ground.
Natasha pulled his ear for that… and then kicked the agent who had drawn his gun first in the face.
It was wholly unnecessary but after running around for the past few days and being shot at, one couldn't blame her for being agitated at being put at gun point once more.
… She was usually calmer than this though.
Once that was out the way, the Van began to move and then one of the agents decided to fill them in on what was going on.
"Agent Romanov, Agent Jackson, I'm Agent Pierce level 7…" that was as far as he got before he was head butted by a certain demigod.
"Oh I'm sorry…" he drawled sarcastically "… I thought you were someone else, say your other name wouldn't happen to be Alexander would it?"
The agent clutched his bleeding nose, "Son of a…" he was kicked into unconsciousness before he could finish that sentence.
"My mom is NOT a bitch" Percy stated before turning to the other shocked agents, "Now… can anyone fill us in on exactly what the fuck is going on, preferably someone who doesn't have 'Pierce' as a name… I might just kill the next person with that name" He commented idly.
One of the agents gulped loudly, needless to say something about the man in front of them was just… dangerous. Before the agent could speak, the driver swerved to the side to avoid what sounded like an explosion. The sudden movement jostled every one out of their respective seats and at that moment, Percy's demigod sense began ringing.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me" the son of Poseidon growled as he peeled his face from the dented floor of the Van where he had been face planted as he was thrown off his seat.
"Get this Van to a safe location" he ordered the driver and without another word vanished into vapour before reassembling outside the Van.
The sight that beheld him made him pause and then swear in Ancient Greek as he realized the monster that stood before him.
The Lernean Hydra.
Well, it was the Lernean Hydra, but it was different from when the half blood last saw it down in Tartarus.
For one, It was even bigger than before, standing at an enormous height of fifty feet as opposed to its previous height of fifteen feet, and unlike before, it had a certain aura around it…
With a jolt of realization, Percy realized that the malevolent aura surrounding the creature was the exact same aura that surrounded Hyperion when he had attacked Percy almost a year ago.
Before he could ponder on exactly what the fuck was going on, his instincts flared and he rolled out of the way of a barrage of purplish black flames washed over where he once stood, without stopping his roll, he proceeded to evade even more balls of fire as the Hydra refused to let up on its assault.
Seeing that he obviously couldn't keep rolling forever, the demigod quickly dissolved into vapour before appearing right next to the child of Echidna's right leg and then proceeding to slash at said leg with all his might.
To the half blood's credit, the power behind his strike, was enough to cleave right through the entirety of the beasts leg and come out of the opposite end, leaving a few strands of muscle as all that held the monsters leg together.
On the other hand, the force of the strike was enough to make said creatures blackish blood spray out due to the suddenness of the strike. That would not have been an issue in itself (the half blood fancied some blood on himself while fighting, it was a major turn on for him after all) if it weren't for the fact that the creatures blood was so acidic in nature that it melted the blade of his sword off and ate through the right side of his clothes.
Despite his shock, the son of Poseidon was still sensible enough to teleport away from the creatures side and reappear a few reasonable metres away from the Hydra and looked mournfully at what remained of his sword.
"Patrick…" he whispered at the sword sorrowfully, before gaining an angry glint in his eye and turning to face the Hydra…
… only to be knocked away by the Hydra's – which had already closed the distance between them – massive tail. The force of the strike sent him flying for a few feet, only for his short flight to come to an end as he smacked into the pole of a street lamp… actually, his body snapped the street lamp like a twig before his body finally rolled to a stop on the pavement.
Coughing up some saliva, the son of Poseidon picked himself up from the ground before dusting himself and then scowling at the monster as it slowly lumbered towards him with a menacing… scratch that, menacing expressions on all nine of its heads.
'Okay, I have no recollection of the Hydra having acid for blood…' the half blood paused at that particular train of thought and then jumped to the side to evade some acid that the creature spat out before picking up the longer broken half of the street lamp that he flew into and in a great show of demigod strength smack the creature back by a few feet causing said creature to shake its heads to clear out the dizziness that they were currently feeling.
'… Or did it? Ah screw it, I'll wiki that shit later. Now though, I gotta pound this son of a bitch – a literal one at that – into the ground, and then find out exactly why this asshole has an aura like Hyperion's the night that I kicked his ass… on second thought, I'd better stay away from that shit, it's probably Greco Roman trouble again… I wonder who they pissed off just by living this time'. Percy shrugged before chucking the street lamp at the Hydra with a great deal of effort.
His makeshift projectile pierced through the creatures chest, before proceeding to pin it to a nearby building.
The Hydra screeched in agony, only for its screech increase in pitch as one of its heads was lobbed off.
Percy smirked a little as he saw the wound cauterize itself. It had been a long time since the son of Poseidon had used the liquid in a living creatures body against it, and it would be an understatement to say that the half blood was excited about using this nifty little ability of his once more.
Almost effortlessly, Percy commanded the acidic liquid which served as blood in one of the Lernean Hydra's remaining eight necks to super heat itself and then explode outwards.
The result was the same as before, as another head was blown of its neck and the wound cauterized itself.
And then, they were seven…
One by one, the heads on the Lernean Hydra's neck fell as the son of Poseidon repeated the same action sadistically as the creature began to whimper helplessly up until the moment the last (and obviously immortal) head was blown off in yet another spectacular but gory display.
Why was it that the last head to go was always the immortal head?
Deciding not to ponder on that, the son of Poseidon looked at the Hydra which unsurprisingly (to him at least) dissolved into wisps of darkness that melted into the ground, he stared at the point where the Hydra once was before looking down at the immortal head of the Hydra which had somehow rolled to his feet, and the message he saw in its eyes made him pause briefly.
Albeit unspoken, it was the same plea that Hyperion had given him…
'Help Me'
Before the half blood could think about it any longer, the head was bathed in a purple light before its form was warped into something else…
… dual scimitars.
Dual scimitars with venomous green blades, silver guards with scale designs and black hilts with purple highlights.
Without another word, the son of Poseidon picked up his spoil of war (and immediately discarded the remains of 'Patrick') and vapour travelled back into the Van where he was met with awed stares… not that he was interested though, he was more interested with getting to know his new signature weapons better…
AN: How long has it been again? Meh, forget it, I got the job done… 97% of it anyway but that's just unnecessary info. So… thoughts? Criticisms? Anything?
Shoutout to the guest reviewer 'Lady Eowyn', her/his review cracked me up.
PS: My beta reminds me of Lie Ren…