Chapter Three

Hi guys, I know it's been a while but I've been away from the internet for some time on a trip. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and special thanks to Rune Saint for correcting me - I have already edited chapter 2. Oh, and mr. guest, you'll have to wait until later to find out who the 'powerful enemy' is. So there! Well, I won't keep you any longer. See you at the end!

DISCLAIMER: All character rights go to Rick Riordan and Marvel Comics.

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Pain...

Pain...

Unending, excrucia- Pietro's looping thought process was interrupted by a muffled voice breaking through the layers of agony.

"What is he doing here? He must leave at once, before Lord Hades discovers Thanatos's mistake!"

"I say we leave him here, Alecto. Let that foolish mortal keep suffering and let Thanatos pay for his oversight!"

"Don't be stupid, sister. You know how that would only put Lord Hades in a bad mood, and less free time for us! No, the wise option would be to send him back to Charon before anyone finds out. Besides, I think Di Angelo was rooting for this one."

"My question is, if he's dead, why is he not in Elysium for his heroic deeds?"

"I think Minos has had the solo shift on the judging table on and off for a few years, as punishment for trying to manipulate Lord Hades' son, and he's been in a bad mood since Kronos was defeated."

"Ah."

Pietro tried to concentrate on the voices he could hear, but the pain soon pushed him down again and he stopped trying to remember what they had said. He was in far too much pain to figure out what he had heard and the memory was already fading away along with the rest of his fragile identity, disintegrating like a dying star...

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Nick Fury was really really stressed, and was in great need of a very strong cup of coffee. He liked to show this by seeing how many people he could be angry at/be scary at/fire in ten minutes. He was about to be angry at a young worker and possibly fire him for something unimportant, when the least annoying person on the helicarrier, Deputy Director Maria Hill, came up to him holding what looked like a very strong cup of coffee.

"You looked like you needed it." stated Hill with a slight smile as Fury grunted in appreciation. "We heard about sightings of another anomaly, but it was too far away to get there anywhere near quick enough, and the witnesses seemed very unsure of what they had actually seen."

Fury grunted again, though this time it was not so friendly. This was old news.

There was definitely something going on in the world, and it was the same every time. The only reason they were even paying attention to the 'anomalies' was that impossible occurrence in the Ultron Incident.

The so-called 'anomalies' were SHIELD's name for unusual occurrences, strange happenings seemingly defying the laws of physics. Like, for example, an entire ocean rising in a huge whirlpool to save the world from a giant hunk of rock.

Personally, Fury thought that the name 'anomalies' was ridiculous, and that someone hade been watching Primeval before christening the investigation.

"Also, that nutjob we brought in the other day is finally loosening up. We got him to tell us his name and his psychiatrist thinks we're nearing a breakthrough. He said his name is Octavian and started yelling about highway maintenance tunnels and some kind of mist before giggling uncontrollably. He then started babbling about Greeks and planets again."

"Are you sure that highway maintenance tunnels are an indication of a sane man, Deputy Director Hill?" Fury's temper was not improving with this conversation. Though the coffee was nice.

"No, Director Fury, but his psychiatrist says - "

"Okay, Hill, I've had enough for one report," Fury cut her off, waving his hand in dismissal. "Let's see if Thor's got any info for us." Hoping that she would get the message, he sat back in his chair and rubbed his temples. Maybe he could get in a few more yells at that young worker before lunchtime.

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Bruce was sat in the corner of Tony's lab next to a gigantic toolbox, making small talk with Tony, who was busy working on some project with the help of JARVIS.

"Hey, pass me that wrench, please? The big one," called Tony. Bruce sighed and chucked the aforementioned tool in Stark's general direction.

"All I was saying," said Bruce as the wrench hit Vision, who was observing quietly, on the shoulder, "is that Fury's wasting his time, what with all this 'anomaly' nonsense. He'll never come up with anything. It's pointless." The ever-silent Vision picked up the wrench and held it out to Tony.

"And what makes you say that, Brucey?" Tony dropped the hammer he had been using to pick up the wrench, but the hammer hit his foot. "Shit!"

"Well, they're taking all their info from eyewitness accounts from people who aren't even sure what they saw was real! By the way, what even is that?" Brucelooked at the piece of junk that was slowly turning into... Well, into less of a piece of junk.

"I'm glad you asked! This, my friend, is a super awesome device." said Tony proudly.

"Aaand... are you going to expand upon that?"

"Not yet."

"Okay." Bruce resigned himself to being in the dark about Tony's gadget.

Tony was about to ask for another tool when Bruce's mind was assaulted by an alien force. Tony stiffened, he was feeling it too. Vision's peaceful expression darkened with concentration as he tried to battle the alien presence.

"MORTALS," boomed the voice in their heads, the sound resounding through Bruce's brain. "I HAVE DEEMED YOU WORTHY OF MY ATTENTION. I WILL GIVE YOU THIS WARNING: BE PREPARED, FOR A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT WILL SOON RISE FROM THE ASHES AND YOU EIGHT HEROES ARE DESTINED TO OPPOSE HIM. BE PREPARED FOR THINGS TO COME." And, just like that, the presence abandoned its embrace on their minds. Bruce discovered that he had been shifting slowly to the Other Guy and quickly quelled his turbulent emotions.

"What... was that?" inquired Bruce, hoping that it was just a prank by Tony or Clint. But these hopes were squashed when he saw that Vision's face was as close to astonished as he could get, and Tony was white as a sheet.

Suddenly the roof decided to cave in, and with the rubble fell Thor, who looked to be unconscious and badly singed by something.

Natasha and Clint stumbled into the room, both pale-faced. Thor groaned and groggily got up. Everyone in the room looked disturbed and Bruce suddenly knew, without a doubt, that the voice had spoken to every single Avenger. He ran his hand through his hair, looked around at his incapacitated teammates, and decided that they really needed to get Wanda and Steve and have a discussion over some very strong coffee.

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And that's one more chapter finished! I hope you enjoyed (there will be more action in the next chapter hopefully). Also, from now on, I will be challenging myself to make each chapter longer than the last! Anyway, thanks for reading and please keep reviewing so I can make my story even better! See you next chapter!