AN: Okay, so yes, I do exist. Sorry about the long wait, but here you go. Another chapter for you guys, and a lot shorter break before the next one for me... Wow, sorry, life is crazy. First off, school is wonderful and I love it, but it leaves no time for writing fanfiction. Sports are wonderful, but when you have three teams, you run out of time and energy for anything. Writing a novel is even better than all that, but it bottlenecks everything else. Having two jobs on top of all that means you have no time for just about anything, then add in extracurriculars and social life. Now you see my dilemma.
Disclaimer: As always, I only get credit for having written this and the way too complex story line. And a few of the characters...
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"He's here," Eris said, smirking.
"Wonderful," her sister replied. "I do believe it's time."
"He's waited long enough for freedom, hasn't he?"
"But first, appearances," the black-haired goddess smirked. With a wave of her hand, the two goddesses were encased in light and morphed. Apate's hair shortened and her eyes changed to a perfect sea green. She changed from a girl to a teenage boy, about the age of eighteen. Her pale skin changed into a deep tan. Eris's white hair turned to a honey blonde and curled itself. Her slight tan deepened. Both of their togas changed into jeans and orange shirts that read Camp Half-Blood. They smiled as they looked at each other.
"Perfect sister," Eris praised, her voice softer and kinder. Her eyes were a calculating gray. "Now let's go."
With a sick, twisted grin, Apate pulled two glowing marbles out of seeming thin air. Eris set a hand on her shoulder and the goddess crushed one in her hand. The world melted around them, blurring together into a multi-colored streak.
When the world reappeared, they stood in a stone hallway. Strange runes were carved into the walls. And along the walls were strange glass-like windows. Many men and strange creatures filled them. As the sisters walked down the hallway many of the prisoners came up to the front to look at them. Some called out to them for help or freedom, but they ignored them. Finally, at the end of the hall, they found the cell they were looking for.
Loki stood within, his hair done perfectly and his attire crisp and clean. A bed sat near a chair and table. There was a small bathroom area in one corner.
"At last, it seems you have come to visit me," he drawled.
"Forgive our tardiness," Apate replied. "We merely waited for the best opportunity to make your escape… Memorable."
"Which is a requirement for a true god, is it not?"
"Of course," she agreed with a smirk.
"We also had a few errands to run," Eris added. "For example, we figured you'd want this upon your escape."
With a wave of her hand, Apate revealed his scepter tucked into her belt.
"Please," he huffed. "You didn't think of anything. I instructed you to get it."
The sisters shrugged. "We don't have to let you out," the Percy look-a-like shrugged.
"Oh? So, you are over your want for war?" he asked Eris. "And you no longer desire to aid your sister? Neither of you want to rule over the mortals without the Fates interfering? Or, I know, neither of you are capable of getting me out, are you?"
"Hardly," Eris replied, rolling her eyes. "We could get you out at any time we so desired."
"Then why are you refusing? What do you gain from holding a scepter a Greek can't work, or appearing in an Asgardian prison? You came to say you can't, didn't you?"
Apate frowned. "Please, we would not even have to break a sweat."
"Prove it. You look like you're about to start sweating now anyways."
With a snap of her fingers, a sword appeared in Eris' hand, which she shoved against the barrier where it met the wall. It took effort, but the sword sunk in and stuck buried into the barrier. Walking to the other side, she did the same thing. Finally, she walked out into the center of the hallway and threw a third sword into the center of the barrier. With a fizzling crack, it shattered. Alarms went off.
As Loki stepped out, Apate tossed two golden drachmas on the floor. She rolled the glowing marble in her fingers and waited. Eris set a hand upon her shoulder, and Loki copied her. Apate crushed the marble and they vanished.
Within moments, guards swarmed the empty cell, finding no explanation except for the small, gold coins.
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Jason kicked the ground, growling in frustration.
"You're not at the battlefield," a voice said behind him.
He whirled around, startled. "Oh, Rachel," he realized. "No, no I'm not. I don't believe in the fight like they do."
"They'll need you," she told him, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. "They don't know it yet, but they can't fight the opponent they're challenging."
He frowned. "What are you talking about?"
She smiled at him sadly. "If they're all going to make it out in time, they'll need your help. I'd hurry." With that, she gave a small wave, turned and left. He followed after her for a few moments.
"What do you mean? Who are they challenging? They can handle S.H.I.E.L.D.!"
"Hurry," was the only reply.
He stopped and stared after her, hesitating for a moment. Then he ran towards the border, sending out his thoughts as he ran.
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Tony was zooming his way toward the building when something smashed into him. They exploded and knocked him off his course. He pulled up and looked around. Two more items smashed into him. This time they did not explode and he recognized them. Arrows. His inspection of the air found three possible enemies, all riding familiar winged shapes and two aiming bows at him. They released more arrows, which slammed into him. Some exploded, others simply smashed into his armor, creating scratches and locating possible weak spots.
Thunder and lightning signaled Thor's arrival to the battlefield. He looked at the opponents before calling out,
"Young Halflings, do not fight us! Let us pass!"
"Keep dreaming, Goldilocks," an adolescent male voice replied.
"You shall not pass!" a girl added.
Tony chuckled lightly, hearing the boy do the same. "Sorry, that doesn't work for us," he called out. "Nice quote though. Very original."
"It's a quote, it's not supposed to be original. At least that was creative, as opposed to Iron Man," she replied.
"What else would you call me, Man of Steel?" he asked.
"Nah, that would be an insult to Superman. Sparky, maybe?" the boy answered.
"No way. Starky," the girl countered.
"Laserbeam?"
"The flying fool?"
"The golden boy?" They both laughed.
"Okay, this just became insulting!" Tony complained.
"Enough talk!" Thor roared. "Move aside Half-Breeds, or I shall be forced to move you!" He twirled his hammer threateningly.
The third opponent moved forward. "Then try. We do not fear you," she said fearlessly. From her voice, Tony guessed her to be a few years older than the other two.
"What're you gonna do? Hit us?" the boy asked.
"Yeah," the first girl snorted with a laugh. "Cause no one's ever done that before."
A screech announced the arrival of a panicked owl, which landed just behind the first girl and changed into a rather bulky teenager. He whispered something urgently to the others before transforming and taking off again, flying towards the sky.
"And they've got a little birdie," Tony grumbled. "Great… Just- just great."
"I won't ask again," Thor boomed, raising his hammer.
"And we won't change our answer," the older girl replied firmly.
"You have doomed- oof!" the god of thunder was cut off as something slammed into him from behind. A large, dark shape turned on massive wings to face him and roared loudly.
"See ya, suckers," the younger girl said gleefully as the dragon lunged at them.
Thor flew upwards and slammed down with his hammer. The reptile wacked him aside with its tail and sent him flying before the weapon could strike its scales. The blonde stopped and twirled his hammer before rushing back at the dragon. He slammed his hammer into its side and knocked it over. He raised his hammer to swing again when another figure crashed into him. He turned and saw a young, blonde girl on a winged chestnut horse. A quiver of arrows sat on her back, the bow clutched in her right hand. A bronze sword gleamed in her left hand, which she swung at him. He blocked it with his hammer. The horse dove towards the water below, just before the dragon batted him to the side.
With a shout of frustration, he gathered lightning around his hammer and shot it towards the reptilian beast. The dragon roared in pain. Multiple voices cried out. Then the creature dropped, plummeting towards the depths below. The girl and her stead chased after it, as did one of her friends. They grabbed hold of its forelegs and gripped with all their might. Although they slowed the beast's decent, Thor could tell they were still falling. It was much too heavy for them to be helping much. He turned on his way and sped towards the base.
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Tony saw the dragon attack Thor and flew to help, only to be greeted by Arrow-Boy and his partner, the Roman Gladiator, along with their mythical flying steeds. The archer, who looked to have short blonde hair and tan skin, shot arrows at him while his partner swooped in with her sword to clash and fight him up close.
An exploding arrow sent him hurtling farther from his comrade. He looked up in time to see the gladiator bash the hilt of her sword harshly against his helmet again and again. He shot off repulsors at her, but she managed to press herself flat against the horse and dodge. She dove beneath him in time to let her partner shower him with arrows. He growled in annoyance and shot at the archer, only to miss in the dark. Suddenly, his female attacker was battering him with her sword. Granted, it only did so much damage, but even his armor took damage from hard gold.
'What kind of gold is hard?' he wondered briefly, before returning to the fight just in time to block another sword strike. A roar made both his opponents turn.
They moved towards the electrified dragon, screaming, "Frank!" The archer raced to its aid as Thor's other opponent did the same. The gladiator turned back to him and attacked with a scream of fury. She battered at him angrily, until she noticed Thor streaking by. She turned to go after him, only for Tony to block her path. She growled at him, hefting her sword.
"Reyna!" the other girl shouted.
His opponent, Reyna, glanced down at the struggling duo and the beast they were trying to hold.
"Reyna, help!" the boy cried.
She hesitated, glancing between Tony and her friends.
"He'll drown!"
She growled in frustration, but dove to help.
Tony watched them, torn between flying to the base or helping them. 'It's a scientific marvel!' he finally thought to himself. 'You can't just let it drown! Besides, what kind of hero would you be? If those Pegasus or whatever get their wings wet, they might react like birds, then they all die.'
"Sometimes, I hate being the hero," he grumbled as he shot down to them. They all seemed surprised when he flew underneath and pushed the dragon up from underneath.
"What're you doing?" Reyna demanded.
"Helping," Tony grumbled as the other girl replied,
"Does it really matter?"
"C'mon Frank," the boy cried. "Change! Anything will do!"
"Don't say that!" Reyna complained.
"The Fates are always listening," the girl agreed.
"Fine," he replied. "But seriously, change!"
A groan sounded from the large beast as it shrank. Suddenly, Tony was holding an unconsicous buff, bulky teenage boy with some nasty burns. Archer-boy took him, cradling his head as he fed him some drink from a flask. The two girls regarded him coldly.
"Thanks," Reyna told him finally with a curt nod.
"You can't thank him!" the other girl complained instantly.
Tony inched back, watching them and listening carefully.
"He helped save the life of a praetor, Rahne, he deserves that much."
"Just because a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent helped us with this once doesn't mean they're innocent!"
"Rahne!"
"No! They can't just get away everything they've done to us!"
"Enough!" the boy said finally. "Rahne, stop. Take him back to camp. We'll handle these two. And their backup."
"But-"
"Go," the older two demanded, Archer-boy giving her the unconscious shape-shifter.
"Fine, I'll-" she froze, looking out towards land. Lightning crackled and thunder boomed.
"He's there," the boy said fearfully. "He'll kill them all."
"No," Reyna rejected. "Look, Will. The distance isn't right. He hasn't reached the base yet."
"Then why…" the boy, Will, let his voice trail off.
"Jason," they all said together.
"We've got Metalhead…" Will started, looking around.
The only sign of Iron Man was the bright trail his thrusters left as he rocketed towards his companion.
"Holy Zeus," the archer growled.
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Jason panted, staring at the blonde figure in front of him with determined eyes. Tempest huffed, shaking his mane. He pawed the air anxiously. Their opponent was a large football player with long blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore armor and a bright red cape. A large war hammer rested in his right hand.
Jason brandished his sword. "I can't let you pass," he called. "You'll have to turn back."
The man looked at him for a second with angry eyes, before launching himself through the air at him. The son of Jupiter blinked and suddenly the man seemed to be in front of him, swinging his massive hammer. He quickly brought his sword up to block him. Sparks flew as the weapons collided. Jason grit his teeth and shoved back. He broke their lock and jumped off Tempest's back, slashing at his opponent from behind. With a simple thought he stood on a platform the air created. His opponent turned and swung his hammer. Jason ducked underneath and stabbed up at him. The man dodged to the right, his arm extended with his weapon out front. He turned and began to fly off. Jason frowned as he pointed his sword at his opponent. Sparks and electricity jumped from the tip and lashed after him. He saw it impact and sighed softly. 'The man might need some medical help after that kind of blast,' he thought. Instead, he shook it off and turned back around. He raised his hammer, lightning flashing through the sky to gather around it. He pointed it at Jason and the deadly light leapt towards him. The son of Jupiter raised his sword in front of him, blocking the electricity.
"If that's how you wanna play it," he muttered. With a jerk of his head, he motioned for Tempest to attack. While his trusty steed distracted his opponent, Jason closed his eyes. The wind picked up, whipping at his clothes. Lightning flashed across the sky and thunder rumbled. Rain began to pour from the dark clouds that gathered impossibly fast. The water below his feet began to clash angrily in the face of the wind. A whistle called his horse back over to him. He settled his left hand on Tempest's head for a second, before they both lurched forward, lightning clashing around both of them.
The blondes clashed, weapons clanging, sparks flying, eyes flashing. Determined eyes met with angry ones. Both shoved forcefully, trying to push the other off balance. The older man grit his teeth and was sent flying a little when Tempest slammed into him from the side. Jason wasted no time in stabbing at him with a sparking sword. Electricity lit up the sky around him. The whizzing of a speedy object flying past him distracted the son of Jupiter for a second. What looked like a metal man raced past, heading for the other half-bloods.
"Hey!" Jason called, reaching his mechanical hand out towards him. The larger man smashed the sword from his grip with a mighty swing of his hammer. The young Roman was pulled back to his fight at the vibrating sensation that shot up his arm when the weapons collided. He vaguely saw the flashing of the gold weapon as if fell towards the water. His eyes widened, watching it fall toward the waves. It quivered before it hit the water and then shot to the side, vanishing suddenly. Sea water sprayed everywhere as something zoomed past. As soon as it appeared it was gone, leaving giant waves in its wake.
Jason shoved off of his opponent, pushing both of them back. Raising his right hand towards the sky, lighting stuck. Glowing with electricity, he shot it off towards his foe. The man spun his hammer in front of himself, dissipating the attack. The half-blood grit his teeth in annoyance, considering his options. 'Really wish Hazel didn't have my sword right now,' he thought in frustration. Don't get him wrong, he was glad she had it, not the ocean, but he still wished it was in his hand. It didn't do him much good if he could not use it. His opponent raised his hammer, then sent it flying towards the young fighter. Jason blocked it with his right hand, feeling it course through him. But it fizzled out, leaving him unharmed.
Weaponless and on even ground regarding powers, Jason launched himself into his opponent, knocking him over. They wrestled heatedly, both throwing and receiving punches. Tempest bit his foe's right wrist, making him cry out in pain. He accidentally opened his hand, allowing his hammer to fall from it. Jason took the chance to deliver a solid punch to his face. His eyes widened when the larger man began to fall, eyes closed. He reached out and grabbed his hand, using wind to lift him back up. The sound of a jet made him turn, frowning. His eyes widened, realizing what Rachel meant. That was a S.H.I.E.L.D. quinjet. Through the glass he could see Clint Barton at the controls with a redhead beside him and black man standing behind them. The half-bloods did not want and were not prepared to fight the Avengers. Glancing down at the man he was holding by the collar, he realized it must be Thor.
"And that means I let Iron Man passed," he grumbled to himself. "Great." He went to stop the jet, but Thor grabbed his wrist, eyes snapping open, and punched him in the jaw. As Jason flew back, he wondered if the Thunderer had ever been unconscious or just biding time.
"Stop the jet," he called. Tempest whinnied his understanding and reared before shooting off after the machine. When he looked back for Thor, he saw him falling toward the water. His hammer was nowhere to be seen. 'Probably sank beneath the waves earlier,' he decided. Seconds before Thor would have hit the water, the heavy war hammer erupted from the water, shooting into his hand. The man twirled it, before shooting back up towards Jason. He slammed into the son of Zeus's stomach, driving him up into the air. Darkness and pain erupted in Jason's mind. Slowly, his storm died. The lightning ceased. The winds calmed. The rain stopped. One more solid hit from Thor was the last thing Jason remembered before darkness.
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For probably the first time in his life, Clint was glad that a ventus was attacking. The constant slamming against the side of the jet, the electrical attacks and the lightning fight between Grace and Thor provided an excellent excuse as for why it took nearly ten minutes to make a four minute trip. It was amusing to hear the thoughts his team mates had on the ventus attacking them.
"That is one weird bird," Steve admitted.
Bruce muttered his agreement, staring at it intently.
Natasha frowned at it. "Is it a bird?" she mumbled to herself, eyes squinted.
Fury just glared at it, grumbling something about sneaky, untrustworthy agents.
Once there, everyone sprang from their seats and raced from the jet. The building looked deserted except for the few lights that still lit the windows. The doors were forced off their hinges and there were unconscious agents everywhere. Tony and Thor were nowhere to be seen. Some of the agents were seriously wounded, others only knocked out, and still more dead.
Silently the five of them walked through the entrance of the building and spread out down different halls. But most were the same, with dead or injured agents covering the floor, blood and bullets decorating the walls and floors. There were arrows sticking out of some agents and the floors, blade marks on walls and bullet holes all over.
Steve walked silently down a hallway, eyes peeled. A flash around a corner made him start running after it. As he sped around the corner, he caught sight of a young boy turning another corner. Naturally, he chased after him. He heard two voices yelp followed by a slamming door ahead and ran faster. He slid to a stop in front of a door with voices behind it.
"-Plan just changed," a male voice was saying. "We leave from here."
"You can't take the both of us," another boy argued. "You're dead on your feet."
"He's right," a girl agreed. "We need to find another way out."
Readying his shield, Steve grabbed the handle and tried to open it. It rattled, locked.
Someone inside threw their weight against the door, for all the good it did them. "You have to go now!" the second boy complained.
"He's too tired!" the girl reminded him.
"Then none of us are leaving! Their outside now! Nico's part of the prophecy and you're the camp strategist. I'm the only reasonably expendable person you've got! Go, and I'll get out on my own."
Steve slammed his shoulder against the door once, feeling it shake and give.
"Hurry!"
"Bye Leo," the girl said softly. "We'll get you back."
"I'll be fine."
Steve threw himself against the door and it shot off its hinges. As he entered the room, he saw two kids, a boy and a girl, in the shadows, and a boy on the floor near the demolished door. He tripped over the kid on the floor, who futilely tried to hold him down. The Captain pulled him off as gently as he could. Flames licked up the boy's body, making him let go. The boy looked to be about fifteen or sixteen with curly brown hair, mischievous brown eyes, and the face of an elf. The other two kids were gone. The boy instantly ran for the door, using the doorframe to make a quick turn.
"Got someone!" Steve called into his comm. as he chased the boy. "He's headed for the door." The kid, however, had other plans. He turned into a stairwell and began to climb up, instead of down.
Steve could vaguely hear him muttering things along the lines of "this had better work" and "they had better be there." The boy raced up several flights of stairs before Steve realized where his end destination was.
"Correction, he's headed for the roof," he corrected. "Stop running, kid."
"Stop chasing me, old man," the boy shouted back. He burst through the roof door and ran to the far side, turning and facing Steve with a determined face. He slipped two heavy hammers from his tool belt as the super soldier finished the stairs and entered the roof. The boy backed up to the very edge of the roof, peeking over the edge. The drop was dizzying.
"Easy kid," Captain America said calmingly, one hand held out in a placating manner. "Don't do anything rash."
The other four S.H.I.E.L.D. members burst onto the roof, Romanov and Fury first, followed closely by Barton, and then a little after that by Banner.
"Rash, huh? You mean like calling your buddies for back up? Like you just did?" the boy grumbled, glaring at them.
"Stand down," Fury demanded.
"And here I thought the words were stand up," he teased.
"Don't play with me boy."
"Who says I'm playing?"
Thunder rumbled and the boy glanced up hopefully. When his eyes landed on Thor, they dimmed. He was obviously expecting someone else.
"I have captured one of the half-breeds," he stated, dropping a blonde boy off of his shoulder and setting him on the ground.
It was like someone flipped a switch. The instant the one they had cornered saw the injured one, his face darkened and his jaw clenched. Gripping his hammers, he launched himself forward. Natasha began to move towards him, but stumbled back when he shot fire at her from one of his hammers. He lunged at Thor, swinging his fiery weapons. The god threw his hammer into the air, following it. The hammers slammed into the concrete where he had been standing, denting it. He turned and growled at the man. He stood over the injured boy protectively.
"So much for pretending to be a hobo," he chuckled quietly to himself. He dropped one of his hammers and grabbed his friend. "You really need to lay off the sweets, buddy," he grumbled, pulling him up. When the Avengers began to close in again, he sent out a ring of fire, keeping them back. Thor watched from above. He slipped some ambrosia from his tool belt. He was glad it held anything he put into it. He fed it to his injured companion.
"Wake up already!" he grumbled, giving the boy a slight shake. Steve watched him trying to revive the boy while keeping the adults back. He suddenly stiffened, relaxed and fell to his knees before falling to the ground. It was then that Steve saw why. A small dart stuck out of the back of his neck. Widow stood behind him, her arm raised in firing position.
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Tony raced after the white vans, following them through the different alleys and through crowded streets. The white vans were definitely not driving safetly. They sped down sidewalks, through alleys, across red lights, everything.
"And people say I break rules?" he snorted to himself. He could not see the license plates, but he could read the giant logos on the sides of the vans. Delphi Strawberries. He frowned when the cars went through a tunnel, but he could already see the exit. His frown deepened when the cars did not immediately reappear. He flew to the other side of the tunnel and looked through, only to see the white vans turn around the corner back the way they had come.
"Why do they have to have a smart driver?" he growled to himself angrily. He sped after them, but they were gone.
"Damn!" he shouted. No license plates, no nothing. The only way to track down the vans were the words Delphi Strawberries. Fury was going to be so pleased.
With a sigh, he turned and headed back toward the wrecked headquarters. Maybe he could find something helpful there.
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A/N: Okay, so tell me what you think. I like to believe that I'm writing everyone in character, but I really don't feel like I am... Especially Leo and Jason. They are hard to write! Leo's snarky, but not like Rahne or Raquel are snarky, and Jason is serious yet silly, like Percy only different... Anyway, tell me what you think! Read and review.
I noticed just before posting this that I have like, 600+ followers, and like 400+ favorites! How cool is that! And hooray to life for giving me 303 reviews! Wait... Over thirteen chapters, with 600+ official followers, I still have 303 reviews... And there goes my excitement...
Anyway, tell me what you thought of this chapter, and tell me who your favorite character in this fanfiction is. Then tell me what scene in this story you find the funniest.
Write you again soon!
-RADyo