Demigods Assemble (PJO/MCU)

BONUS: Freaky Magicians

A/N: I really wanted to include the Kane siblings in this story, but it also would have been a little too much. So here it is as a bonus chapter! Enjoy!

Peter

"Uh, Mr. Stark?" Peter said. "Are you seeing this?"

"Seeing what?" Mr. Stark replied through Peter's earpiece.

Peter squinted at the East River from his vantage point a few buildings away on the Brooklyn side, trying to figure out what exactly it was so he could describe it to Mr. Stark. The thing looked like a bird at first glance, but when Peter studied it, he noticed differences: it was much too big to be a bird, with what looked like a lion's body covered in reddish-gold fur, a falcon's head, a tail bristling with spiky feathers, and long prickly wings that moved so fast they were a blur, like a hummingbird's. Oh, and there was the small fact that it was pulling a boat behind it like a sleigh. Peter couldn't be sure, but it looked like there were two people sitting in the boat.

"Um," Peter searched for the right description, "a giant bird that got messed up in the factory pulling Santa's back-up sleigh across the East River."

Even though Mr. Stark was a mile away, Peter could picture his look of confusion and exasperation perfectly. Mr. Stark sometimes joined Peter on his patrols to "see how he handles things and give pointers"—Peter knew it was just an excuse to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't hurt himself—and today was one of those days. That was probably for the best since Peter had no idea how to handle this situation.

"I'm on my way, kid." Mr. Stark's voice vibrated in Peter's ear. "Keep an eye on it."

In less than a minute, Mr. Stark touched down on the roof beside Peter. Without a word, Peter pointed at the river where the bird-thing was just finishing crossing. It sped off into Manhattan, which left Peter and Mr. Stark with no choice but to follow it.

Mr. Stark hadn't said anything yet, but Peter was starting to understand how he worked in the field. Without asking, he knew that the plan was to follow the bird-creature from afar and learn more information before taking action. Peter was more than fine with that. He had seen many strange things both as Spider-Man and as a New Yorker, but this weird bird-like thing towing a boat through the city—how did that even begin to make sense?

After a few minutes, the bird and boat began descending just above Central Park. Peter and Mr. Stark followed at a distance, careful to keep them in sight. The bird landed in a small secluded clearing in the park, the boat thunk-ing onto the grass ungracefully. Peter and Mr. Stark perched in a tree a dozen yards away.

Now that they were closer, Peter examined the two people who clambered out of the boat, cursing. One was a male with dark skin and curly hair, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and a hoodie. The other was a female with not-quite-white skin and blonde hair streaked with purple dye, wearing tattered jeans, a tank top, combat boots, and headphones around her neck. They were about the same height. The boy looked older than the girl but younger than Peter himself. They both appeared rather unassuming, but Peter had learned to trust his gut, which was telling him that there was more to these two than it seemed—his gut, and, you know, the weird bird and the boat.

Peter watched them carefully. He had no idea who they could be or what they were doing in Manhattan, but they were definitely not normal. That conclusion was strengthened when the boy reached out his hand, which seemed to disappear for a second, and then reappeared holding a turkey. He tossed it to the bird-thing, which snatched it out of the air with a wet gulp and then curled up on the ground to lick its lips.

"They said they'd be here already," the girl said, and Peter detected a faint English accent.

"We're early, Sadie," the boy said. "Besides, they might have gotten held up by one of their monsters."