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A wall of gold tinged shadows smashed into Hades, and he flew through the air, colliding with a tree. He tried to struggle to his feet, but found himself too weak to rise. He slumped down onto the ground, his body slowly losing its godly glow. Everyone stared at Nico in shock. Nico clenched his fingers, allowing the shadows to fade, and held his hand up to his face. For a moment, what looked like confusion flitted across his face, before Gaea's voice disrupted his murky thoughts.
"Kill them Nico, not just harm them. They are your enemies. Turn them all to dust."
Nico's face turned blank again and he shot a huge mass of Hellfire at the Avengers. They all leapt out of the way, and hid behind whatever cover they could find. The Captain cursed as he peaked over the rock he was crouching behind to watch the gods attack Nico. The son of Hades ducked and swerved away from their attacks with none of his usual grace. He moved as if he were a wooden puppet, like someone else was in control of his body.
Steve winced as his communicator beeped in his ear, followed by Director Fury's voice.
"What's happening, Captain?" Fury growled, "We've lost visual and I don't want to risk sending anything overhead."
"Sir, you need to withdraw the soldiers!" Steve shouted, as a massive explosion erupted behind him. "They're gonna get killed if they stay here any longer! The team will help the gods deal with this."
"Deal with what? Is Gaea there? How can you help if it's her? Nico told us that the Greeks would deal with her once she appeared. I'm ordering you to withdraw if that's the case."
"With all due respect sir, we can't leave a teammate behind. She's done something to Nico, and we need to help him."
Fury growled, his voice stuttering for a moment as the amount of power being thrown around in the battle behind Steve increased and interfered with the broadcast. "I knew we shouldn't have involved him." He paused, "Captain, your orders are to neutralize the threat if you can't get through to him. We can't risk Gaea taking the city."
These words pissed Steve off. "With all due respect, Director, I'm not killing my friend. We'll get through to him."
"You'd better hope you do," Fury growled.
As soon as the communication ceased, Steve searched the battlefield, and watched as the soldiers, both mortal and demigod alike, began to retreat, leaving the Avengers, Frost Giants and gods to deal with Nico.
"We need to get through to him!" Natasha yelled from a few metres away, where she was crouched behind a mound of earth, the remnants of an Earthborn. "Make him snap out of it like we did with Clint!"
The others nodded in agreement, eyes alight with determination. "Alright!" Steve shouted, "GO!" They leapt out from behind their shelters, and ran towards the explosions.
Poseidon jumped back as spears of darkness sliced into the ground, exactly where he had been standing. He watched as Nico dodged the arrows shot at him by Artemis, effortlessly avoiding the fast moving projectiles, and lifted a hand. Once again, a wave of darkness flew outwards, but the goddess managed to dodge. Hades had yet to rise after being hit with the last wave, and no one else wanted to sample it. Poseidon summoned water, and sent it crashing at his nephew, watching with satisfaction as the boy was encased. He then froze the liquid, and Athena, Artemis and Ares gathered energy in their hands in preparation to blast the frozen boy into a million pieces.
Before they could, the ice prison exploded with dark energy, and sharp shards of shadow tainted ice hurled towards the gods. Artemis managed to dodge most of them, only getting a shallow gash in her arm, as did Athena, but with a gash to the leg. Poseidon was hit in the chest with a rather large shard, and another caught Ares in the stomach. They all fell to their knees, leaking golden blood.
Athena analysed the situation, even as her body was wracked with pain. She could feel her strength being leached from her, through the wound in her arm. She realised what had happened in a flash. "His power! This is the weapon that Gaea created to make us fade! If we come into contact with this dark energy, there is no doubt in my mind that we will fade. Sister, help me!"
Quickly, Artemis and Athena removed the ice shards from the other two, and winced as their hands went numb, and their wounds began to leak blood faster. They helped the other gods to their feet, and a split second later they were forced to leap into the air to avoid the roaring ball of black flames sent at them courtesy of a now shivering Nico.
A small frown graced Nico's face, and he tilted his head to the side as he studied the weakened gods. He slowly raised the hand that was clutching his sword, and was about to slash it through the air, no doubt with another attack, when a bolt of lightning shot down from the clear sky, striking him. Nico was knocked to his knees, and all the air was forced from his lungs as his body was electrocuted. Thalia had arrived. Another bolt of lightning shot towards him from the side, but this time Nico had time to raise a hand, and create a shield. Thor bellowed in anger as his attack was blocked, annoyed that a demigod had managed to hit Nico, and he could not. He threw Mjolnir at the shield, but unfortunately, it held. He summoned the hammer back to his hand, and the Avengers attacked, along with Thalia, Percy, and the Frost Giants. They attacked as one, using everything they had in their attempts to land a blow on the son of Hades, and knock him to his senses.
This attack gave the gods some time to recover for the crippling blows Nico had dealt them, and Poseidon limped to Hades side as they watched in shock as Nico defended himself against just under two hundred attackers. Nico parried and blocked, stabbed and slashed, and all the while his face remained blank of emotion, his golden eyes glowing sickly. This did nothing to deter his attackers, and all the while they fought him, they talked, trying to bring him back from Gaea's control. They watched as Nico ignored their pleas, throwing back giants and friends alike. Too soon, all the giants had been knocked to the ground, or cast away from the battlefield, where they landed on the ground with an almighty crash. Poseidon flashed to his brother's body, and turned him over to see Hades eyes were closed, golden blood was leaking from them like tears. His glowing form was now little more than a flickering flame, and Poseidon shook the Lord of the Underworld, desperately trying to awaken him. Hades was fading, and Poseidon was scared. It was not possible to kill a god. Was it? He tried sending power into his fellow god's body, but to no avail. They needed a powerful healer.
'APOLLO!', he yelled in his mind, 'Get down here, you coward!'
It took a few moments for the god of the Sun to appear, and when he did, he immediately turned his attention to the fading Hades. He laid his hands on the chest of the weakly glowing god, and his eyes widened behind his sunglasses. "I can't heal him... We were watching from Olympus, and from what I gathered, once you hit with that power, you'll fade. Hades doesn't have much time left, and neither do you by the look of that wound." Apollo held his hand out towards Poseidon, but he swatted his hand away.
"You send you couldn't heal these wounds," he said, gruffly. "If I am to fade, I will do so on my terms. With that bitch's heart turned to pulp in my hand." He gazed down sadly at his brother, before gazing at Apollo, his expression furious. "At least we came to fight her, not hide like cowards up on Olympus. I go to help my son, just as Hades did. Can you say the same for your own children?" Poseidon flashed back to the others, feeling himself grow weaker and weaker.
The fact that Nico wasn't killing his attackers seemed to give the Avengers new hope, and they began to plead with Nico even more. Nico stared blankly at the mortals surrounding him. They had attacked him, and interrupted the task given to him by Gaea. He would have to destroy them... but he didn't want to. Why? He should just kill them all, and then finish off the gods that dared to oppose the Earth Mother. But when he lifted his hand, preparing to destroy them with his dark power, he found that he could not. He knew he should kill them, but at the same time, he didn't want to kill them. His brain was beginning to ache. Why was he here in the first place? Why did his enemies look familiar?
"Death Breath, come on!" a dark haired boy yelled, interrupting Nico's musings. He frowned slightly. Death Breath. That sounded familiar.
"Nico!" the man with the green caped called, "Do not allow her to bewitch your mind! Remember who you are!"
He was a servant of Gaea.
The pain in his head increased, and Nico winced slightly.
"Be quiet," he commanded, monotonously, and summoned the dreaded energy into his hand, vacantly watching the flashes of gold that permeated the mass of shadows. The frown came back. Why was there gold...? He dismissed the thought, and threw it at the mortals. They managed to avoid it, but a few of them were caught in the blast, and sent flying. The giant green monster charged at him, and Nico punched it in the chest once it reached him, dodging its huge fists. The creature was knocked backwards, but got back to its feet immediately, eyeing Nico warily. Nico looked down at his hands, one of which was aching. His arm was broken. Who had done that...?
"Jesus Christ, Emo Ninja! Stop attacking us! We're your friend!" the metal man yelled. Nico paused at the name, his eyebrow twitching in irritation.
Tony noticed this, and smiled beneath his mask. Nico began to advance on him, and Tony backed away, taunting the possessed teenager as he went.
"What's wrong, Emo Ninja? You don't like me calling you that? Is it annoying you?"
Nico paused at the name, his eyebrow twitching again, this time more viciously.
"Guys," Tony said to the others, addressing them through their earpieces. "Nico's still in there. His nickname is managing to piss him off. If you've got anything you want to say to him, say it now. When he gets angry it looks like he breaks the control a bit." Talking to Nico once again, who had yet to move after the last comment, he said, "You know, ever since I first met you, I've wanted to say this. Your hair is ridiculous. I know it probably makes you feel mysterious, but in all honesty, you look like a homeless sheepdog. No offence..."
Nico's signature glare appeared over his golden eyes, which flickered momentarily, and he growled in irritation. 'It's working!' Tony thought.
"And seriously," Tony continued, "Your clothing. Dear God, you need more colour! Everything you own is black! I would know, I searched your room, which contained way too many knives by the way. I get that you're obsessed with death and everything, but a little bit of pink in your wardrobe never hurt anybody."
Nico's lip curled in disgust, and he visibly shuddered, his eyes turning black. His eyes then widened, and he looked around him in confusion.
"Stark? Wha-"
"NO!" Gaea's mind smashed into Nico's, and he fell to the ground with a strangled yelp. He struggled mentally, but he was too weak. She took control of his mind again, and this time she didn't leave. "You try and steal him," Gaea snarled, her voice overlaying Nico's as she used his body to speak, two voices speaking simultaneously, "I will not let you take him! He will destroy you all!" She leapt forward in Nico's body, and punched Tony, causing him to shoot backwards. He landed in a heap, groaning, and sat up, the suit's light flickering before righting itself. Before he could get to his feet, she was on him again, smashing Nico's fist down, and slamming it into his chest. Tony's impact on the ground caused a crater to form beneath him, and Nico's fist just kept increasing the pressure. "You will die here, mortal fool," their combined voices hissed, until a shield crashed into Nico's body, knocking him off of Stark.
Tony sat up, and saw he was surrounded by the rest of the team. Loki held a hand to the suit, and used his magic to repair the damage, as the dents weren't allowing Tony to breathe properly.
Tony got to his feet, and stood beside them, aiming his glowing palms at the snarling form of Nico. Thor was swinging his hammer, Steve had retrieved his shield and was holding it before him, the Hulk was growling menacingly, Natasha and Clint had a gun and bow trained on Nico, and Percy and Thalia had their weapons ready.
Gaea just laughed at them, "Mortal scum. You believe you have a chance against us? Look to your weak gods. They can barely move because of the wounds they have been dealt, and Hades fades to nothing as we speak." Her control over Nico faltered for a moment at these words, but she wrestled it back. "And you mortals dare to challenge me?" The double voice laughed again, and she smiled an evil smile that didn't belong on Nico's face, "Very well."
She held up a hand, and began to charge it with mottled gold and black energy. Her opponents crouched defensively, ready to move when she fired, but she didn't. She was staring at Nico's hand, which was visibly shaking. She tried to struggle against it, but couldn't stop the hand as it pointed itself at its own chest.
"Not a chance, Grandmother," Nico said, darkly, and this time he spoke without Gaea distorting his voice. His face contorted, and blood dripped heavily from his nose, eyes and ears, as he battled desperately against her control. He had already harmed his father. He would not harm his friends.
Gaea's voice screamed in rage, and she tried to vacate his body, knowing what he was planning. But he didn't let her. "A little taste of your own medicine," he whispered, and fired the energy into his chest. Gaea screamed, and this time her voice filled the air as the shadows struck them. Nico heard the distressed screams of his friends before his vision fled him.
Nico became aware of the pain. It was everywhere, burning his skin, crushing his bones, and it was originating from his chest. He coughed, and began to choke on the blood that filled his throat. Hands pushed him over so he was lying on his side, and he coughed up the fluid that was filling his lungs.
"-he alright?" he heard Percy ask anxiously.
"Kid, he just shot himself in the chest... I'm sure he'll be fine!" came Stark's reply. Nico groaned, and coughed some more, opening his eyes blearily. He looked up, and his gaze was met with by those of his concerned friends.
"Nico!" Thalia yelled, and launched herself at him. She was unaware that he was trying to speak to her until she felt something prodding her side. "Huh?" She looked down at Nico, and saw that he was turning blue from lack of air.
"Get off me," he moaned in a hoarse voice. The others laughed, and Nico glared at them. "Why do you all look so cheerful?" he asked, angrily. Their smiles faltered.
"Gaea's destroyed, isn't she?" a newly transformed Bruce asked in confusion.
"Far from it. Nico only banished her from his body. My guess is she has just retreated. Perhaps she was injured," the deep voice of Poseidon came from behind them. Percy leapt to his feet and rushed to his father, gasping when he noticed the wound on his father's chest, and his diminishing glow.
"Father, are you alright?"
"No son," Poseidon said sadly, "I'm fading, as are the others who were harmed by Nico," he stared at Nico, accusingly. Nico stared back at him, feeling guilt gnawing at his heart, but not allowing anything to show on his face. He painfully got to his feet, ignoring his body as it screamed at him to stop moving. He slowly limped over to the Sea god, and held out a hand. Poseidon pointed his trident at him, until Percy grabbed his arm.
"He's Nico again, Dad." Poseidon cautiously lowered his weapon. Nico raised an eyebrow, as if asking for permission, and Poseidon nodded. Nico placed his hand on the wound, and tried to pull his power out of it. He felt the tendrils of darkness tighten their grip in the wound, reluctant to let go, but Nico kept pulling. Finally, after much wincing on both Nico and Poseidon's part, the shadows released him.
And latched onto Nico instead.
Nico gritted his teeth from the pain as he felt the shadows stab into his hand, shooting into his body. It was extremely painful, but Nico didn't allow the pain to show on his face. He removed his hand, and Poseidon gasped in relief, his body beginning to glow once again, and his golden blood clotted in his wound.
"Thank you," Poseidon said gratefully, "What did you do?" He paused, studying Nico's face in concern. "Are you alright?"
Nico ignored the last sentence. "I just removed the shadows in your wound. They were siphoning away your life force. Eventually they would have weakened you enough that you would have faded away."
"Nico," Natasha repeated, "Are you alright."
"Yeah," he replied, shrugging, and suppressing the wince the movement caused, "It was my power. It can't harm me," he lied.
The others sighed in relief, but Poseidon eyed him doubtfully. "Your father is the worst off," he said gravely, "Heal him."
Nico's eyes widened and he sprinted over to where the other gods were crouched, ignoring the pain the movement caused. He skidded to a halt beside his father, and dropped to his knees. His father's skin, usually a deathly white colour, was now practically translucent. It was hard to focus on him, the edges of his form blurring slightly, and Nico knew that if half of the power used to attack him hadn't originated from Hades in the first place, he had inherited the shadows from his father, Hades would already be dead.
He placed his hands on his father's body, dropping his sword, and began tearing the gold tainted darkness out of him. The moment the last one had been reabsorbed back into Nico, Hades began to glow once again, and Nico felt his heart stutter excruciatingly in his chest. Once he saw his father was alright, though he didn't wake up, Nico turned to the other gods and removed the shadows from them too. By the time they were clear, every beat of Nico's heart was causing him intense pain. He ignored his pain wracked body, and stood on shaky feet.
"Gaea set up camp in Death Valley," he tried to say steadily, but he could not prevent his voice from wavering slightly, and his legs were shaking from supporting his weight. "We need to go and finish her off. Whatever the fuck that gold dagger did, I can still feel the powers it gave me. Gaea is a god too, so that means I can make her fade. We need to finish this today."
The others nodded in agreement, and they prepared themselves to be transported back to the desert by Poseidon. The gods were still weak from their ordeal, so they would be staying behind, and Nico had been quick to inform them that he could deal with Gaea without them. They were inclined to believe him, as he had royally kicked their collective asses just minutes before.
Before Poseidon sent them on their way, however, he grasped Nico's shoulder and turned him around to face him. "Are you sure you can do this?" he asked.
"Yeah," Nico said, giving him a weak smirk. "If she feels as crap as I do, this'll be a piece of cake." Poseidon nodded and back away.
Just before they were enveloped in the sea smelling mist, Nico saw his father's eyes open, and immediately focus on him. Nico watched as his eyes widened in horror, and he tried to sit up as he saw Nico's aura. Nico smiled at him sadly before they disappeared.
Because he had been lying. The shadows had harmed him. In fact, they were killing him.
It isn't a cliff-hanger! Don't kill me! Next update will be Friday probably. Review if you want. Thanks for reading