A Hellhound. How the hell do we kill one of those! Natasha was screaming in her own mind; her guns weren't working in the blasted creature, nor were Clint's arrows. Thor, however, was dealing with five Hellhounds, apparently godly weapons worked on them.
The Russian thought she saw something flickering from behind Thor, almost like a metal shine. She ran there and let out a sigh of relief, two swords, three daggers and fifteen arrows made of bronze.
She grabbed a sword and ran towards the Hellhound that Clint was dealing with, then jumped on its back and stabbed it with the new sword. The giant dog threw her off its back just in time for it to explode in golden dust.
Thor was left with two Hellhounds and Natasha grabbed the sword once again and headed to her demigod friend. On the other hand, Barton went to the weapons fearing that they would disappear (he didn't know if the Trickster would be more helpful than that).
Clint didn't know what was bothering him more, the Legolas costume or hair. The Barbie voice he could deal with, but the costume and hair? That was too much. But it's not like he could complain when Thor was dressed in a woman's armor with a pink cape. It didn't take long for Natasha and Thor finish the other Hellhounds off, "The arrows and two of the daggers are mine!" Clint immediately said.
"The other dagger is mine as well as this sword," Natasha replied and looked at Thor, "do you mind staying with the other sword?"
"I don't mind, my friend." Thor answered kindly.
The others nodded and kept on walking after getting their new weapons, afraid of what else might show up if they didn't move. Natasha turned to the archer, "Have you tried to contact the others?"
The archer frowned, "No, you?"
They didn't even ask Thor; the Asgardian knew little about Earth technology, so they didn't even bother, "I think I will try to talk to the brothers, they seem to know more about these monsters than us."
"Sisters." Clint correct and the red head snorted.
"Clinton, those brothers, their names are familiar to me, yet I can't recall why. What is the reason of their invitation to help S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Thor asked curiously.
"Well…" Clint rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't really understand why. But I think it was because of their experience hiding from people and to understand a criminal mind?"
The Russian assassin nodded, "At first it was that, but now I think there's more to them than we thought, specially after Holmes's deduction. Apparently they hunt mythical creatures for living."
"Yes! That's it my friends! Heimdall has told me about them! Sam and Dean Winchester, sons of John and Mary Winchester. Vessels of the Morning Star and the Leader of the Host, respectively." The Norse god informed them smiling.
"What?" Romanoff asked. She could never understand half of what Thor said most of the time.
"The brothers are the vessels of the great angels. You must know them for the names Lucifer and Michael." Thor stated. He never quite understood why people from Midgard didn't have much knowledge about things that were so normal to him.
"Angels?!" Clint exclaimed, "You can't be serious!"
"I am serious!" Thor seemed outraged "And I believe we should stop rambling and pay more attention to the beasts ahead." The demigod turned to the direction of a groan, startling his companions.
"Seems like we've got company" Natasha smirked. She felt more confident having a weapon she was sure would work.
They attacked the new comers. More hellhounds.
"This is gonna be a long day" The redhead completed.
Clint could barely stand on his feet after about a hundred hellhounds and some other creatures they couldn't quite name. Well, excuse you, they never thought they would ever face that type of creatures that they thought NONE EXISTANT!
After the last hellhound, at least Clint thought it was the last, the younger man lay on the floor, and said "I'm dead I swear. I can't move a fucking muscle, leave me."
"Stop being such a drama queen." Natasha complained even though it was her way to stop herself from copying him. She wouldn't be able to survive if they didn't find some water.
"We must continue. Lady Romanoff and I are as tired as you and we will not leave you behind." Thor started walking, making Clint and Natasha follow him.
Thor suddenly stopped, making the other two bump into each other.
"Thor, what's wrong?" Romanoff asked as Clint moved forward to have the same view as Thor.
"Oh God" The man looked amazed. "Is that a sphinx?!"
"More monsters?" Natasha asked already with her hands on the sword.
"You could call it that, but I don't believe we have much chance against it using brutal force." Thor commented.
"So what do we do then, Clintpedia?" The woman turned to Barton.
"We answer her riddle." He answered distractedly; he was too focused on analyzing every thing he could about the sphinx.
"You are not demigods." Those were the first words of the monster before them. "Well, at least not the two of you. The other is not my type of demigod. Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Thor kneeled down, "Oh great Sphinx, we wish we knew. My friends and I walked in a trap and now we are lost, we seek help from the glorious creature we have heard so much about!"
The creature stiffened then smiled with flattery, "Oh yes? And what have you heard? Probably about how I outsmart even the greatest demigods and eat them!"
Natasha nodded and kneeled, elbowing Clint to do the same, "We heard stories of the greatest Sphinx in existence and wished to meet you ourselves, just to check."
"And what do you think now?" Was what they got as response, the creature smiled flattered.
Clint couldn't resist, "Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of your enormity, O Sphinx the Smartest of All!"
The Russian assassin glared daggers at him, which was quite terrifying and then gave him a look that obviously said, Tolkien, really? Now?
"I am flattered" The Sphinx finally spoke "But rules are rules and made up, untruly or copied compliments will not make me break them." The beast smirked "You must answer my riddle like everyone else who's ever passed through me and face your destiny."
Clint's face fell, but the beast quickly added, "Don't worry, I'll be lenient with such pretty faces here."
All of them nodded, if they didn't know the answer, they would just run anyway. Besides, Clint wasn't all that worried about the riddle because he already knew, hell, everyone in the world knew it.
"Who makes it, has no need of it.
Who buys it, has no use for it.
Who uses it can neither see nor feel it.
What is it?"
Well, fuck, when did the riddle change? Clint whined internally.
"After troublesome demigods showed up. You have one minute."
That's when Clint started panicking. It is supposed to always be the same riddle. The Riddle never changes! That is not fair.
The Sphinx laughed "But the riddle is also supposed to be impossible." It smirked "Think. You don't have much time."
Clint turned to Natasha and Thor who seemed as confused as him.
"Ok, so any suggestions?" The redhead asked, her hands trembling. She never felt scared before, but now she was weak, she hadn't eaten or drunk anything since they left the Helicarrier. She had fought hundreds of monsters and now she only had one minute to answer a riddle that was supposed to be impossible. You had to excuse her for being nervous.
"No idea." Clint frowned. His mind was working harder and faster to find an answer but the adrenaline only made it harder. He was too worried about the Sphinx ready to kill him and his friends to think straight.
"No, I apologize" Thor knew about the riddle of the Sphinx and he knew the answer to it, everybody knew it. But when the riddle was changed he started to worry.
He was never the most intelligent kind, Thor used to ask Loki for help a lot when he was still having classes with the tutors and even after - when he needed historical information for battle. Loki wasn't here this time and even if he were, he wouldn't help Thor. The thoughts of his brother invaded him and the riddle was forgotten. He had already accepted they wouldn't be able to answer it, he only wished he could apologize to his brother one last time.
As the three Avengers searched their minds a new shape came into form behind them.
It was a young boy about eleven years old dressed in black holding a sword and looking as pale as a ghost.
"The answer is a coffin" The kid said expressionless.
"You weren't the one to answer!" The Sphinx hissed at the boy.
"So what? Are you going to give them another riddle? I'll answer it too." The boy had a menacing look in his eyes. "Let them go." He hissed and a cry of distress left the Sphinx mouth. It ran the direction they all came from and disappeared in the shadows.
"Hey, kid, thanks for the help. What's your name?" Barton asked trying to get closer to the boy.
"Who are you?" Was the boy's come back.
"Hm, I'm Clint Barton and these are my friends Natasha Romanoff and Thor."
The kid's eyes widened then he frowned quite too quickly trying to hide his knowledge and admiration for the Avengers. "Seriously? They're not real. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not falling for that."
Clint elbowed Thor in the ribs, "Make your show, Odinson."
The god of thunder understood what he meant, finally, and raised his hammer and a lightning struck it and the sound of thunder followed right after.
The kid didn't look impressed, "You could be a son of Zeus."
The archer groaned, "How do we prove it to you?"
A smirk in the kid's face grew and showed his teeth, the eleven-year-old looked menacing, "What happened in Budapest?"
Soo…? Long time no see, right? Blame school for that. Any comments?