Back again with another chapter This took me less time to write then expected. I doubt updates will usually appear this fast. Nevertheless, enjoy! Oh, and this chapter, as well as the upcoming chapters feature Percy more, so I hope you guys like that. - Spathi
Percy's P.O.V.
He glanced around, assessing the situation. In front of him, 6 agents stood within 5 feet in a semi-circle, automatic guns pointed at his face. 8 high-ranking agents stood behind them, ready to take action. A couple more people came out of the Bus. He recognized them as Coulson's team.
"That's the Sea Scorpion." One of the high-ranking agents said. Percy turned to her. He realized that he was looking at Victoria Hand.
"That's what they call me." he answered.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
"Well, I didn't mean to land here. I was looking for a location in Alaska, and I screwed up when I traveled." he replied, trying to be vague about it. Hand narrowed her eyes.
"Really?" It didn't sound like a question.
"Can I leave?" Percy asked lightly. Everybody looked at him like he was crazy.
"We'll have to do this the hard way, then." he thought.
Percy took a deep breath. And then, he exploded into action. He leaped into the air, whipping his leg around in a circle, and knocking the automatic guns out of the hands of all six agents. Landing, he immediately threw himself between the legs of one of those six agents, coming up behind the agent, and kicking him in the back. He whirled on Hand, grabbing her arm, and throwing her so that she plowed into three other high-ranking agents, one of which seemed to be Jasper Sitwell.
"Isn't he supposed to be in the Triskelion?" he thought. Percy kept on fighting. After a couple of minutes, the eight high-ranking agents and the six SHIELD agents watched him warily from their positions twenty feet away, all of them bruised and exhausted. At this point, one of Coulson's team decided to act. Three bullets were shot from Grant Ward's gun, which pinged off of his completely bullet proof armor. The specialist charged at him, going for a hook to the jaw. Percy ducked under it, and smacked Ward lightly in the ear. Ward growled and swung again.
Ward was strong, but Percy was stronger. Better yet, Percy was faster. Percy had a field day leaning this way and that as Ward threw all kinds of attacks at him, none of them connecting. Eventually, Percy got bored, and once he saw an opening in Ward's attack, he took it. Percy slammed Ward right above his solarplex, launching him backwards, and knocking the wind out of his lungs. At this point, Melinda May stepped carefully forwards. A memory flashed through Percy's head.
I'm going to teach you a set of moves that someone taught me. It's like I'm fighting you, but in reality, it's choreographed. Once you've learned the entire thing, practicing it over and over again will increase your reflexes and speed. And it looks impressive. The person who taught it to me called it the Dance of Shadows.
This was said by a 24 year old Natasha to a 12-year old Percy. Percy remembered nodding, his eyes shining with excitement.
Percy slid his right foot back, assuming a light sparring stance. He placed his right fist by his jaw, and the other in front of him.
This is the beginning stance. From here, slide your front foot back in a circle, while also moving your left fist back in a wide arc until it is at your waist. Settle into a light back stance. At the same time, slowly move your right fist forward, uncurling your fist until your open palm is facing me."
He breathed deeply as he moved, following years of muscle memory. Melinda May watched him with curiosity. Everybody else stared.
I used to say a phrase in Chinese whenever I began this move set. The phrase is:
Percy smirked slightly under his mask before he opened his mouth to say it.
"We move with the shadows, Qiaolian." he said in Chinese. May's eyes narrowed, and she slipped into a familiar stance. Percy nodded, and she sprung forward.
Block the first 12 punches. Duck under the 13th, then roll forwards as she jumps over you. Spin around.
Percy moved easily through the motions, blocking and attacking the agent seamlessly. He stuck a foot out, balancing on his other leg, and May hopped on top of his outstretched boot, launching off of it to tuck into a front flip. Percy put his hands up in an X formation to block the axe kick, dropping onto his back directly afterwards. May landed on the ground behind him as he immediately bounced back up to his feet, throwing a sweep behind him.
Redirect the incoming fist, and duck under the following butterfly kick. Launch into the air, pull off a triple kick. Jump high into the air again, throw a front kick to the head, followed by a roundhouse, followed by a back kick, followed by a side kick, followed by a spinning heel kick, using alternating legs. Land, and drop onto your back as the scissor kick and roundhouse pass over your head. Kip up to your feet, and then immediately drop down onto your stomach as the double back kick immediately follows.
From his position on his stomach, he easily rolled into a hand stand, hooked May under her arms, and launched her over him, so that he was facing her on his hands, completely upside down. As she attacked again, he took a hand off the ground, and swung his legs around. She cartwheeled over his legs as he switched hands, pushing off the ground as hard as possible. In the air, he tucked into a flip and landed in a crouched position.
Seconds later, they were back to fighting, fists flying at lightning speed, everything blocked or redirected. Percy risked a glance at the SHIELD agents. Most stood there in shock. A couple were aiming their guns, but seemed to be afraid they'd hit May. Coulson's team looked both worried and awestruck. He went back to the move set.
After about 10 minutes of insane flips, contorting in ridiculous ways, and moves from about 15 different martial arts, Percy faced May, who was back in her ready stance. They were both breathing hard, yet they were also smirking, although May's eyes were also questioning. At a nod from Percy, they both relaxed their stances, feet coming together. Both of them touched a fist to the center of their palms, and bowed.
Ward took the opportunity to charge. He tried to tackle Percy around his waist. Percy disappeared into mist just before Ward connected.
Standing on top of Hubbard Glacier, he exhaled. That had been fun, but he had work to do.
Two hours later, Percy vapor-traveled back to the base, having finished collecting all the weapons. He dumped the gigantic bag of shiny golden things on the ground, and turned to Alex, who was concentrating on a manuscript.
"Any luck?" Percy asked the girl.
"Nah, not really. I've managed to locate a large amount of magic in Brooklyn, though." Alex commented.
"Brooklyn... what's in Brooklyn?" Percy mused. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers in triumph.
"Come on! I want to introduce you to another pantheon. In Brooklyn." Percy exclaimed, offering Alex his hand. Alex shrugged and grabbed it.
They reformed in the middle of Brooklyn, in an alley. Percy strode out of the alley, looking for the telltale building that weaved in and out of sight. After about 30 minutes, he spotted it, sitting on top of an abandoned warehouse.
"There." he said, pointing up at the building. Alex turned into a bird, and hovered near him. Percy was about to run at the side of the warehouse to try and scramble up when he got an idea.
"If two thirds of the human body is comprised of water, and there's also water in the air, could I..." He mentally trailed off. He took a deep breath, and expanded his senses, until he could detect the water around and within himself. Then, he focused, and cautiously envisioned the water moving upwards. He moved into the air shakily. Percy imagined going to the top of the building, and he found himself ascending quickly in a rather stilted motion. A minute later, he landed on the roof of the warehouse.
"I essentially have a weak form of telekinesis. That's useful." he realized. Alex touched down next to him, turning back into her natural form.
"Since when could you do that?" She questioned.
"Since now. But I don't think I can actually travel with it." he replied. 'Flying' took too much concentration. However, his realization that there was water in the air had led him to a new conclusion: he could probably move things and create objects using the water in the air. Percy planned to spend some time exploring his new ability later.
He walked across the rooftop and studied the entryway, which was literally a block of wood. Alex trailed after him. After inspecting the wood for a while, Percy decided to go for the nuclear option. He motioned for Alex to give him some space.
"Turn into a bird and don't do anything until I give you the go-ahead. No matter what." he warned Alex, who nodded, and morphed into a raven, flying off.
He encased his fist in a watery shell, and slammed it into the wood, concentrating on his earthquake powers as well. The wood split, golden light shining from the cracks, and then exploded, sending Percy hurtling backwards across the roof. He managed to roll to his feet as he flew back, finally skidding to a stop on one knee, one water encased hand dug into the ground, a long gouge in the cement. The other hand was in the air behind him. He was in the cliche superhero landing pose. The doorway was a haze of smoke, but Percy could make out several silhouettes exiting the house. He slowly straightened up, tensing, ready for action. Because of his rather forcible attempt to enter the house, they'd most likely think he was a threat.
The first person to come out wasn't exactly a person. It was a rather angry baboon. Percy wasn't exactly expecting that. He stared. A loud shriek emitted from the primate brought him back to reality. Percy decided to test out his theory about the water in the air. He made a shoving motion towards the baboon just as the animal leaped at him. There was an almost painful tug in his gut, and the baboon flew back into the smoke.
"Well, that works." he mused.
The next people to run out were a pair of kids. One, who was rather stocky, brandished a curved sword, a khopesh. The other kid, who was a lot smaller, was empty-handed. Sword Kid let out a battle cry, and charged, swinging his sword. Percy simply ducked around the attacks. Suddenly, Sword Kid yelled something out.
Sa-Mir
A heiroglyph appeared in the air, and suddenly multiple copies of the same hieroglyph appeared on Percy's torso and limbs. It started to burn, and Percy gritted his teeth, continuing to dodge and weave. Sword Kid looked surprised, and Percy suddenly dropped low and swept the kid's feet out from under him. Sword Kid's head banged against the cement, and the hieroglyphs on his body disappeared, causing Percy to sigh in relief. The kid was unconscious.
The other kid looked concerned. He cast a spell.
Maw
A ton of water suddenly crashed down on Percy, and he laughed, the water clearing away any residual pain. Then, the kid spoke another spell.
Se-kebeb
The water all around him turned to ice. The kid was trying to restrain him. Said kid spoke yet another spell.
Tas
Ropes appeared around him. Percy decided to keep still. The boy grabbed Sword Kid by the ankle and started dragging him back to the house. A minute later, three figures appeared. One was a tall man with braided hair. The second was a teenage boy wearing a black muscle shirt, black jeans, combat boots, and a golden amulet. The third was a teenage girl with black hair cut at her jawline, with amber eyes, and vaguely Arabic features.
The girl thrust out her hand, and pink ribbons appeared, strengthening his bonds.
"Release your host. Whichever god you are, you should not have broken our barrier. How did you break the barrier, anyways?" she said. Percy arched an eyebrow.
"A god? Yeah, no. Definitely not. I mean, I had the option, but no. Just no." he said. He slowly turned to vapor, holding the form just long enough for the ropes and ice to fall off, and then reformed, tired by the delicate use of his powers. The three people opposing him stared.
"How-" the man started, but cut himself off. The man narrowed his eyes, and a bolt of red lightning flew towards him. Percy rolled out of the way, and then ducked as flames exploded right over his head. A grey blast of power hit the ground right next to him, and a skeleton popped up. Percy grabbed it by the skull and smashed it back into the ground.
"I would advise you to stop your efforts now. You face the most powerful magician in the world, the Chief Lector Amos Kane. He is the Eye of Set, god of deserts, storms, strength, chaos, and evil, if you didn't know all of that already." the girl said, evidently trying to intimidate him. Percy focused on one word.
"Storms?" he asked, pretending to sound afraid, while also discreetly drawing some of the water from the ice on the ground to him.
"I can do storms. If I could just bait him into summoning one, I could take them down." he thought. The water had almost reached his foot.
"Yes. Storms. Very powerful storms." the boy said, nodding.
"You're lying. You can't create storms." Percy accused, narrowing his eyes. He was also replenishing his strength with the water, which was now wrapped around his ankle.
"Can't I?" the man apparently named Amos questioned.
"There's no way. Prove it." Percy challenged, having regained enough energy to fight. Amos took the bait; hook, line, and sinker. He raised his arms into the air, and focused, creating a hurricane which seemed to have a ton of sand in it.
Percy focused on his father's domain over storms, and felt a familiar tug in his gut. He wrested control of the storm from the magician, and the sand disappeared. The magicians looked shocked as Percy made an expanding motion with his hands, causing the hurricane to expand in both size and power, covering the entire roof. The magicians struggled against the winds, trying to stay upright. Then, Percy waved his hands, smirking all the while, and the hurricane dissipated, causing the magicians to lose their balance. Percy took the opportunity to leap into the air, using his powers over water to extend the distance of his jump. He landed right in front of the three magicians, slamming his fist into the ground, causing a shockwave that knocked them off of their feet. The girl recovered as best as she could and sent a wall of flames at him. He moved his arms outwards, using the water in the air to essentially rip the wall apart. The boy lunged at him, armor appearing on his broad frame, and an iron staff shimmering into existence in his hands. The boy went for a strike to his ribs, and Percy blocked the attack, as well as the one following it. Percy grabbed the staff, and wrenched it out of the boy's grip, throwing it across the roof. Then, he judo-flipped him. The boy lay on the ground, groaning in pain.
Fire Girl and Amos had stood up at this point, and were facing him warily.
"What are you?" Fire Girl whispered. Amos had a determined expression on his face.
"You will not destroy this nome, agent of Chaos. I will not allow it." he said firmly. Percy rolled his eyes, recovering his strength by strategically standing in a puddle.
"That's not why I came here. Also, nome? Like, Alaska? And agent of Chaos? That's a really cool name, which gives me an idea..." Percy trailed off at the incredulous expression on Amos's face.
"What?" Amos didn't reply. He simply stared at Percy, eyes narrowed.
"You're trespassing. You should not be here." he finally said.
"I'm exactly where I want to be." Percy replied. Amos shook his head.
"You can't be here." he insisted.
"I will not leave." Percy responded firmly. The determined expression returned to Amos's face. He threw a staff at the ground. Percy only had a second to be confused by the action before it turned into a really strange creature. The creature was about the size of a large horse, but looked kind of like a greyhound, with it's sharp teeth and muscular but lean figure. That is, if greyhounds had ears like a deer, a nose like an anteater, and glowing red eyes. Drool dripped from it's mouth, and when the liquid hit the ground, it hissed and bubbled like acid.
"What the Hades is that thing?" Percy thought. Fire Girl and the boy he'd flipped over threw down their staffs as well. Fire Girl's staff turned into a winged snake, and the boy's staff turned into a gigantic, black jackal. All three animals charged.
The first thing Percy realized is that all three animals were fast. He barely managed to dive to the side as snapping jaws clicked shut in the space he was just standing. The jackal charged again, and Percy caught it as it leapt at his face, and hurled it at the demon greyhound. They collided in a ball of black and gray fur, snapping teeth, and growls. The snake flew towards him. After backing up, and dodging around the attacks, Percy surprised the reptile by suddenly leaping forward and grabbing the snake right below it's head. Percy started to squeeze. The snake thrashed for a while, finally going still and turning back to a staff, which Percy broke.
Claws tore through Percy's shirt, and he spun around, barely wincing at the gashes. He'd fought way too many hellhounds to care about another canine scratching him. He punched the jackal in the face, hearing a loud and sickening crack. The jackal shimmered and morphed back into a staff as it flew backwards, rolling to a stop at the feet of the boy who summoned it. The boy picked up the staff, and watched in bemusement as part of it peeled sideways and fell off.
Now, Percy just had to deal with the demon greyhound. The demon made the first move, dashing at Percy. He stood his ground. Once the greyhound was near enough, Percy twisted to the side, and hit the demon in the knee. The demon tripped and stumbled, writhing as it struggled to stand up. Percy watched from where he stood impassively as the demon finally succeeded. The demon let out a strange wailing sound, and charged at him again. This time, Percy leaped high into the air, and landed with both feet on the demon greyhound's back. The demon took off running. Percy used some water to anchor his feet to the demon's back as he straightened completely, standing completely upright. Then, he raised his hand to the sky, and brought it down quickly, dropping to a knee and slamming the fist into the demon's back, encased in water, and channeling his earthquake powers. There was another crack, this one louder than the first, as Percy shattered the demon's back. Pieces of wood exploded outwards as Percy dropped to the ground, the demon obliterated. Where his knee and fist hit the ground, cracks radiated outwards. Splinters of wood surrounded him. There was silence.
"Are we done here?" Percy questioned sarcastically, standing tall, and making sure not to show any signs of fatigue. He noticed that a large group of people had gathered behind the three magicians, probably having watched the entire showdown.
"What do you want?" Amos asked tiredly.
"I came here for Sadie and Carter Kane. I want to talk to them." Percy explained.
"Why?" Fire Girl asked suspiciously.
"Because I think they can help me with something." he replied.
"Why should we let you see them?" Jackal Boy crossed his arms. Percy suspected the siblings weren't actually present at the time, as they would have come out by now. The magicians were clearly stalling.
"The mortal world's about to go to pieces. I need help preparing to do damage control." Percy said in a casual tone, keeping a calm and confident expression on his face.
"Damage control?" Fire Girl shrieked incredulously. Percy glanced at his surroundings, the rooftop being riddled with cracks, shards of wood on the floor, and the entrance to the house obliterated.
"Yeah. Damage control." he said in a flat tone. A little girl suddenly hurled a wand at him. He caught the boomerang shaped projectile, and immediately regretted the decision, because he had forgotten about the pain that comes with a Greek demigod touching an Egyptian wand.
His grip tightened on the wand as pain shot up his arm. His knuckles turned white from the force. He expected the wand to turn into a kopis, like what had happened the last time he had picked up a wand. Instead, the result was quite different. The wand turned to liquid, and covered his eyes completely. Some of it also went into his mouth. His eyes felt like he had cut onions and chili-peppers and squirted the juice into them, while his mouth was filled with the taste of burning car tires. After about 30 seconds, the taste and pain disappeared.
"How- why did- what just happened?" he wondered out loud. The magicians glanced at each other, confused.
"Stick out your tongue." Amos said suddenly. Percy did so, and Amos inhaled sharply.
"Ma'at." the magician muttered to himself.
"Um, what?" Percy asked.
"You're supposed to be able to speak very clearly now. And also be more eloquent in your choice of words." Amos commented in a dry tone by way of non-explanation.
"Huh?" Percy frowned.
"Apparently not. That's what the tattoo on your tongue is for. As for what it did to your eyes, I'm unsure." Fire Girl explained. Percy looked towards the Empire State Building, concentrating. Mount Olympus became visible. He looked back at the magicians, who looked rather different. Amos had the outline of a red warrior, Fire Girl was surrounded by fire (big surprise), and Jackal boy looked like a mummy with the outline of a jackal around it (again, completely unexpected). Annabeth had told Percy that the Mist was just the first layer of the Duat, and if Percy was able to see into it, he was essentially clear sighted. He supposed that Hazel's mist magic wouldn't work on him anymore. Percy glanced at his necklace, and realized that it looked like he was wearing his armor.
"Wait, so whenever our magical items disappear, we've just been storing them in the Duat? And whenever I hide myself with mist, I'm literally moving through the Duat? That's interesting." he thought. He glanced back at the magicians.
"Yeah, that was weird. So where are Carter and Sadie, if they aren't here?" Percy inquired in a rather cavalier tone. The magicians exchanged glances nervously, which told Percy a lot.
"How do you not know where they are? You can't contact them?" Percy queried, concerned. Fire Girl's expression looked rather vulnerable.
"Ah. So that's the problem. Well, I suppose I'll just have to wait for them, then." Percy said, nodding to himself.
"Alex, you can come out now." he called to the girl. The daughter of Loki flew through the air, and suddenly morphed into a cat, gracefully dropping to the ground next to him. She assumed her natural form after that.
"Showoff." he muttered under his breath so only she could hear. An impish grin spread over her face at his words. She morphed into a copy of Annabeth, and then a snake with wings, and then her father before returning to normal.
"Any better?" she teased. Percy rolled his eyes at her, sneaking a peek at the magicians, who all looked understandably bemused.
"This is Alex. My name's Percy. When Carter and Sadie come back, I'll explain more." He sat on the ground, and closed his eyes, meditating. Suddenly, he got a mind message from his sister. He listened carefully, and then stood up.
"I need to go. Family emergency. I'll be back soon." he announced. Alex looked at him in shock and opened her mouth to say something. But he'd already vanished into thin air.
Natasha's P.O.V.
Staying at Sam's house had been a welcome distraction from everything happening in the world. They'd gotten some sleep, cleaned up, and eaten. And, they'd gained an ally. All good things, as far as she was concerned. Now, she sat at Sam's kitchen table while Steve and Sam went over plans to break into Fort Meade to get Sam's wings.
"Hey, is there any way you can get an EXO-7 Falcon?" she thought to her brother while pretending to do things on her phone.
"I've got a couple back at the bunker. I've also got several bulletproof vans, a Blackbird jet, a stealth tank, a stealth ship, and an electric motorcycle." Natasha blinked.
"Okay, then. I'll need one of the EXO-7s. Where did you get the transports?" she replied.
"I raided Fury's hidden bunker." Percy responded.
"Okay, you are going to tell me that story later. Do you mind making a delivery to my location? Also, I'll need Sitwell's location and a sniper rifle with a red dot sight."she asked.
"Alright. I'll make it as the Scorpion. I'm going to tag you at that point, alright? I've tagged myself already." Percy said.
"Copy that. Give me 5 minutes."
She looked up at Sam and Steve, who were still poring over blueprints of the base.
"I've got a guy making a delivery in about five minutes." she announced. Steve looked at her, eyes wide.
"Who? Can we trust them?" he questioned. Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Of course we can. You've met him before, once or twice." she replied.
"Ah. Is it Clint?" Steve asked.
"No. The last time you met this guy, you attacked him. Don't worry. He doesn't hold it against you. I think." She leaned back in her chair as Steve narrowed his eyes at her. She glanced at the time, and started counting back from 5.
4, 3, 2, 1...
Percy materialized in the kitchen in full Sea Scorpion gear. Steve shot up, and leaped over the table, throwing a punch at his face. Percy grabbed the fist with one hand, and grabbed Steve's bicep with the other, easily flipping Steve over, and throwing him to the ground. He ended up kneeling next to the super-soldier, a knife to Steve's neck. Sam stared. Natasha laughed, proud of her brother.
"Hey, Scorpion." she greeted casually, raising a hand in the air.
"Widow." Percy responded calmly, standing up and dusting himself off. He reached down and offered a hand to Steve, who took it and hoisted himself up.
"Your package." Percy continued, as he slung the winged jet-pack off of his back and dropped it on the table.
"How did you- There was only one of those things in a known location, and it was behind three gates and a twelve-inch steel wall! And I literally told Natasha I needed one about ten minutes ago!" Sam sputtered.
"Don't worry, Scorpion didn't break into anywhere to get one. He had a couple in a bunker of his." Natasha explained. Steve looked at Percy warily.
"You're the Sea Scorpion, huh. I've heard that you work for some type of organization, eliminating people who are no longer useful." he interrogated bluntly.
"No. I work for myself, and sometimes for Natasha. I work to protect, not avenge or kill. And I swear, I had this exact conversation with Maria Hill yesterday." Percy replied. Steve looked very surprised.
"By the way, Natasha, if you're interested, Clint was in Dubai yesterday morning. Tony is still in the tower. So is Bruce. I've gotten some intel about your metal-armed friend. And Sitwell, well. He's got a meeting at Occidental Grill and Seafood on 1475 Pennsylvania Avenue in about two hours. Here's your sniper rifle by the way. A modified Remington MSR, fully collapsible, equipped with a laser sight, and you can switch between normal rounds, armor piercing rounds, ICER rounds, and Stygian-vibranium rounds. Guaranteed pinpoint accuracy for a mile, knowing your skills. At two miles, probably off by a millimeter. By the time you're off by a foot, your target would probably be at least 10 miles away. That's because the upgraded Leupold & Stevens scope can give you a clear image at 100x, so that's up to about 10 miles of magnifying-glass level zoom capacity. Same technology as a deep space technology. I'm pretty sure that with normal sniper guns, your accuracy limit is around four miles. Even better, the normal weight of this gun is 13 pounds, and now, it is only 4 pounds. To collapse this thing, push the grip and the bipod towards each other."
She did as he said, and watched in amazement as the gun folded up like one of Tony's suits, separating into two 2 pound pieces that could be attached to her cuffs. Sam and Steve stared. She brought her wrists together and mimed holding a sniper rifle. The gun automatically reassembled. She shook her head in amazement. Knowing Percy, he'd probably built this thing himself a while ago, and then hidden it until there was a use for it.
"Okay, what?" Sam said. Natasha laughed, and collapsed the gun again.
"Is that how you always seem to have so many weapons on you, Natasha?" Steve asked.
"If you want concealed weapons, Scorpion's the guy to go to. I can hide weapons without tech, but this is so much easier." she shrugged.
"Wait. You said you have some info on a metal-armed man?" Steve remembered.
"Hydra's asset. The Winter Soldier. What of him?" Percy said off-handedly. Sam opened his mouth to say something, but closed it, having no response.
"I don't trust you, Scorpion. I don't believe that you don't have ulterior motives. Natasha, I don't think you should trust him either." Steve said firmly, changing the subject. Natasha's face turned stone cold.
"I trust him just as much as I trust Clint, Rogers. Probably even more. You don't get to dictate who I can and cannot trust." she snarled. Steve crossed his arms.
"How do you know he won't betray you?" he asked. Natasha glanced at Percy, who she could feel was radiating anger. Percy took off his goggles, and she realized that his eyes were darkened in anger, swirling like a hurricane, or a stormy sea. He stalked slowly over to Steve, fists clenched, and the air actually started to feel colder and dryer, as if the moisture was being sucked from the air.
"I would never betray Natasha, because I know that she always has my back. She would side with me no matter what, and I think that I owe her that same respect." he growled. Percy's aura of power was starting to manifest around him, the air humming with power. Steve didn't back down, and Natasha stood. This could escalate quickly.
"Fine. But if you ever-" Steve started to threaten, before Natasha stormed over and shoved him away from Percy.
"I don't need you to watch over me. I've looked after myself for a long time, and I don't need you to waltz in and play big brother. You don't know me, Rogers. You want me to be a friend? Fine, I can be a friend. But you know what Scorpion would have said? He would have told me to be myself." she snapped. Sam bit his lip, looking rather awkward. Steve looked rather ashamed of himself. And Percy had relaxed a bit, but was still tense.
"I'm out, Widow. I've got some missions to complete." Percy said in a professional tone. Natasha nodded at him, and Percy pulled his goggles back over his eyes. An instant later, he was gone.
About two hours later, Natasha found herself on the top of a building, drawing a bead on Jasper Sitwell's tie from several miles away.
They interrogated Sitwell, and learned more about Project Insight. She inhaled sharply when she realized that all of the demigods would most likely be targeted because of their lack of social media. Percy couldn't survive a bullet to the head, no matter how powerful he was. Natasha didn't want anything happening to her little brother.
When the Hydra agent mentioned Bruce, Natasha's blood ran cold. Bruce probably wouldn't die from the bullets, but being shot would most likely set off a fit of rage that would kill more people. And Bruce would blame himself. She couldn't let that happen to him. She wouldn't let that happen to him.
She had to stop Project Insight, for the sake of her friends and her family. And Olympus help anyone who got in her way.
Percy's P.O.V.
When he got back to the rooftop of the abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn, Alex was nowhere to be seen, and two familiar faces were present. The magicians he'd left behind were all still there.
"Carter! Sadie!" he called. Immediately, a large golden warrior appeared, and swung a gigantic glowing sword at him. At the same time, a sheet of wind was sent his way. Percy jumped over the sword, and rolled under the wind. Then, he focused on the river behind him. He caused water to rise out of the river and form two gigantic hands, which mimicked his movements. He wrapped one watery fist around Carter's combat avatar, and turned the other into a large vulture-shaped, bird made completely of water, which he made spread it's wings to block Sadie's attacks. He continued squeezing Carter's combat avatar while also causing the water vulture to form into the hieroglyphs of Nekhbet, only knowing them due to the short amount of time he spent as the vulture goddess's host. Then, he froze the hieroglyphs. Percy's vision swam with the strain of using his powers on such a large scale. Eventually, Carter's combat avatar flickered and died, dropping Carter into Percy's watery fist, which turned into a literal water slide. The Egyptian magician slid down, landing next to his sister, who'd stopped casting to stare at the hieroglyphs.
"Percy? Is that you?" Sadie asked. Percy sighed in relief.
"You recognize me now. Gods, that took forever. It's not easy, fighting defensively. I'm not sure that I could have been any more obvious about who I was." he complained.
"Sorry about that. We came back, and found all of Brooklyn House gathered on the rooftop. Amos told us that an evil foreigner had come and demanded that he spoke to us. Naturally, we assumed the worst. Oh, and the person accompanying you said to tell you that she had a family emergency with her sister when you came back." Sadie explained. Percy nodded.
"Alright. Now, let's talk business, shall we?" Percy suggested. The Kane siblings agreed, and the trio walked into Brooklyn House, the other magicians having no choice but to follow them in.
Steve's P.O.V.
"HYDRA doesn't like leaks." Sitwell commented out of the blue as they drove to the Triskelion. Steve rolled his eyes. He wondered if Sitwell ever stopped talking.
"So why don't you try sticking a cork in it." Sam said harshly, voicing Steve's thoughts.
"Insight's launching in sixteen hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here." Natasha said suddenly.
"I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly." he replied, laying out his plan. It wasn't much, but it was the only shot they had.
"What?! Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea." Suddenly, there was a heavy thump on the roof of the car, and Sitwell was yanked out of the window. Natasha suddenly scrambled into his lap as bullets started punching through the ceiling. Steve switched the car to parking mode, sending a familiar assassin with a metal arm flying forwards off the roof of the car. Said assassin used his metal arm to skid to a stop, before straightening. The car jerked forwards as it was rear ended, pushing them straight towards the Winter Soldier. The assassin jumped back onto the car, ripped out the steering wheel, and hopped onto the car behind them.
Sam swore loudly. The car started going out of control, and Steve hoisted his shield up.
"Hang on!" he called as he broke open the door, holding onto Natasha and Sam as best as he could. They rode on the door like a sled, skidding down the highway and leaving a trail of sparks behind them. At some point, Sam flew off the door, rolling to a stop in the road, thankfully unharmed. Just as Steve and Natasha stood up, a grenade was launched at them, and he pushed Natasha out of the way just before he was blown off the side of the bridge. He bounced off a car and landed in a bus, which flipped over shortly afterwards. He stayed down for a couple minutes, dazed, and aching all over. Once he recovered, he ran through the bus as it was torn apart by bullets behind him, miraculously finding his shield right as he smashed out of it. He quickly took care of the Hydra agents before going to find Natasha.
He caught sight of Natasha just as a bullet ripped through her shoulder, the Winter Soldier only a couple of yards behind her. He sped up, managing to distract the assassin just as his finger moved to take the shot. The assassin's metal arm slammed into his shield, and Steve was surprised by the strength behind the punch.
After a couple of minutes of fighting, Steve managed to catch the metal arm. He tried to break it with his shield, but it wouldn't budge. Instead, Steve brought his shield around and hit the Winter Soldier in the head, quickly twisting and reached backwards with his non-shield hand to wrap his fingers around the assassin's face. He leaned forwards, and threw the assassin over his shoulder, feeling the Winter Soldier's mask slip off in the process. Steve's mouth dropped open in shock as he looked at the face behind the mask.
"Bucky?" Steve said hopefully.
"Who the hell is Bucky?" Steve was so shocked that he didn't react when the Winter Soldier switched off the safety on his gun. He was so distracted, he didn't see the Winter Soldier disappear. And he barely realized that they'd been surrounded by Hydra agents.
"Drop the shield, Captain! On your knees! Get on your knees! Now! Get down! Get down!" Rumlow yells. Steve didn't move.
"Get on your knees! Down!" Rumlow kicked Steve in the kneecap. Steve dropped to his knees, utterly shell-shocked.
"Don't move." Rumlow snarled. The Hydra agent looked up at the sky, where a news helicopter circled. Meanwhile, another agent put a gun to Steve's head.
"Put the gun down. Not here. Not here!" Rumlow hissed. The agent lowered their gun. They were loaded into a black van, and two guards got in with them. But Steve paid them no mind. He was decades away, thinking of a time when Bucky Barnes had his back.
"Till the end of the line." he thought bitterly.
Natasha's P.O.V.
"Status report?"
"Captured by Hydra."
"Really? Hill's literally within 5 feet of you."
" In that case, we are going to need a vehicle. "
"I'll bring one of Fury's SUVs."
"It was him. He looked right at me and he didn't even know me." Steve said bitterly, referring to Bucky Barnes. He looked like his world had been pulled out from under his feet.
"How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago." Sam asked.
"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on 'em. Whatever he did, it helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him." Steve replied, looking down at his hands. Natasha sighed.
"None of that's your fault, Steve." she assured the super-soldier.
"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky." he said mournfully. Sam glanced over at Natasha's wound, which was now oozing blood. She looked down, and blinked in shock.
"That's not good." she thought.
"We need to get a doctor here. If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck." Sam stated urgently. One of the guards suddenly whipped out an electric rod.
"Oh, there's Maria." Natasha mused as the guard jabbed the other guard with the rod, electrocuting them.
"That thing was squeezing my brain." Hill quipped after extricating herself from her helmet. Sam stared at her.
"Who's this guy?" Hill questioned. Nobody answered. Hill shrugged, and leaned back in the seat.
They waited for the vans to slow down, and then Hill pulled out a small device which cut through stone and metal like a hot knife through butter. Their little group of fugitives escaped into the sewers, and found themselves under a bridge.
"This way." Natasha said, turning left.
"How do you know?" Steve asked. She ignored him, and made her way through the streets until she had found the SUV Percy had left for them.
"This is-" Hill started, and Natasha cut her off.
"One of Fury's tricked out SUVs. Yes, I'm aware." she interrupted.
"But- Oh, I see. Not sure how he pulled it off, but that makes sense now." Hill said, nodding to herself. Steve and Sam looked confused. Hill hopped into the driver's seat, and the rest of them piled into the back. The trip was spent in silence.
Once they'd reached Hill's secret hiding spot, everybody hopped out, and Hill led them through the base. The ex-commander of S.H.I.E.L.D. strode through the halls, not even slowing down when a doctor ran up to them.
"GSW. She's lost at least a pint." Hill explained to the doctor once the man had noticed Natasha's wound.
"Maybe two." Sam put in helpfully.
"Let me take her!" the doctor requested.
"She'll wants to see him first." Natasha had about 30 seconds to wonder who the him Hill was referring to was before she found herself facing Nick Fury.
"About damn time." the apparently not dead ex-director of S.H.I.E.L.D. said from the hospital bed he was lying in.
"I'm going to kill you." Natasha thought to Percy.
"What? Why? What did I do?"
"Nick's alive and you didn't tell me????"
"I offered to keep their secret so that they'd keep our secret! I thought it was a good idea!"
"You- what? Dammit. Fine. I can't even argue with that."
" Sorry, anyways."
"It's alright, Lex. Just maybe give me a hint next time?"
"I can't make any promises."
"I suppose not."
"I'll probably stop by soon. I've got some useful stuff."
"See you then, little brother."
"Back at you, sis!"
She tuned back in to the conversation as Fury explained what had happened to him.
"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache." Fury listed.
"Don't forget your collapsed lung." the doctor said helpfully.
"Oh, let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good." Fury snarked sarcastically.
"They cut you open, your heart stopped." Natasha said carefully, keeping up the appearance of being disbelieving.
"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it." Fury said.
Natasha frowned internally. Were Bruce's transformations linked to his heart rate, not just his anger? It explained a lot, like how the lullaby worked, and also why any injury to Bruce brought out the Hulk, but it raised a couple of questions as well. Like, how was Bruce able to bring the Hulk forward willingly during the Battle of New York. It wasn't like Bruce could just increase his heart rate on a whim. And if the Hulk came out when Bruce's heart sped up, therefore being associated with negative things, did letting the Hulk out willingly allow Bruce more control over his alter ego?
Natasha broke out of her thoughts, noticing an EXO-7 backpack lying on a nearby table.
"Scorpion's been here." she said. Steve scowled, showing his dislike for Percy, and Sam frowned.
"Wait, how would you know that?" he asked. She pointed at the backpack.
"It's not like Hill had managed to steal this when they confiscated our weapons. Even Steve's shield is still in their hands. And Scorpion had mentioned that he had talked with Hill yesterday. There's a bullet in the wall, but only one. He probably flew here with the EXO-7 Falcon, and then stepped into this room, causing someone to shoot at him. Seeing as there are only three people here, one of them being extremely injured, and one being a doctor, that leaves Hill as the only candidate for being the shooter." she explained, laying out her reasoning.
"Yes, the Scorpion stopped by. Although, you sent him after us. Why?" Fury asked.
"As far as I could tell, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already lost the director. I was trying to keep tabs on the commander. I don't think it was easy for him, though. Pretty sure he found you by chance."
"That's true." Percy said from the doorway. A slow smirk spread across Natasha's face. This could be interesting.
And cut! I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to review! - Spathi