Chapter Text
It was definitely not looking good. Not at all.
Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Hazel, and Piper were all running in Thanos’ directions, slashing down aliens along the way.
“Get to the gauntlet!” Leo yelled. “Piper, you think you can charmspeak him into giving it to us?”
Piper cut down an alien that had been about to pounce on Hazel. “I can try!”
Hazel stopped in her tracks suddenly. “They’re stones, right? In the gauntlet? They’re stones?”
Annabeth’s eyes widened in realization. “Percy, get Hazel to the stones. Now.”
Percy frowned. “Why—” Then it dawned on him, and with that, he and Hazel were off.
— — —
Peter Parker was surrounded, trying desperately to fight off the scaly monsters.
“Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark, I could use some help here!” Peter yelped over the stampede of aliens.
“I’m on my way, Underoos!” Tony flew over, his repulsors firing every alien in sight. “You good, kid?”
“Yup!” Peter webbed onto the back of a nearby alien, swinging on top of it. “What’s the plan?”
Tony flew towards where Steve and Thor were charging at Thanos. “Keep the bad guys away from the good guys. We’ll handle the big grape. You got it, bud?”
Peter stabbed the alien through with one of his Iron Spider pincers, before swinging onto the back of another alien. “Got it, Mr. Stark!”
Tony sighed. “Stay safe, kid. I can’t lose you again.”
— — —
Stephen Strange was trying his hardest to contain the water from spilling into the battleground. From across the field, he locked eyes with Tony, who’d stopped to fully take in the extent of the battle. Bodies, blood, dirt, ash, fire - it was hell on Earth, a never ending torment that seemed determined to destroy everyone and everything.
Strange silently held up a one with his pointer finger. This was their one shot, their only chance. Tony’s eyes darted to the gauntlet on Thanos’ hand. He knew what he had to do.
— — —
It’d been ten minutes since Percy went flying, and Thanos hadn’t done a thing. Thor, Steve, and some buff kid who could turn into animals kept charging at him, but he’d simply blast them away and then sit on his rock again.
Steve had to admit, the kid was fierce. Seeing a bear trampling through the battlefield had definitely given him some serious heart palpitations, but now that he was used to the various powers he saw across the battlefield from the kids (purple magic, flying, lightning bolts, death plants, rocks and minerals, etc.), he was seriously impressed by the kid’s determination.
“Heads up, kid!” Steve yelled as Thanos’ double-edged sword came down on the elephant. Upon hearing this, the kid promptly turned into a dragonfly, fluttering away from the sword and landing on the ground next to Steve as a human.
He was tall, strong, and wore a purple shirt that read ‘SPQR’ and ‘Camp Jupiter.’ He gave Steve a warm, friendly smile. “I’m Frank.” He stuck out his callused hand for Steve to shake. “Big fan.”
“Hello Frank. You’ve got some nice movies,” Steve shook his hand. “I’m Ste-” an alien jumped on Steve from behind. The super soldier went down, fighting against its relentless clawing. Frank turned into a bull and knocked it away. Steve got up, breathing heavily. “Thanks, man.”
As an alien began to jump on Frank, Steve threw Mjolnir at it. The hammer went straight through the alien and clattered to the ground a couple hundred feet away.
Steve ran over to get it, when it was lifted by a tall, tan boy with messy black hair and an orange t-shirt. The very boy who had been blasted by the power stone only moments ago.
“Is this yours?” he called.
Still stunned, Steve simply stood there.
“Hey, handsome!” the boy called again. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name!”
Frank turned back into a human and scowled at the boy. “Percy, this is Captain America! Show some respect!”
“Uh, yeah, that’s mine, thank you!” Steve stammered.
The boy — Percy — threw Mjolnir back to Steve with ease.
“Well, I’ll be,” Steve murmured, eyes shining.
Percy and an African American girl with golden eyes jogged over to Frank.
“Hazel!” Frank exclaimed, embracing the girl.
“Frank, you have to get me as close to the gauntlet as possible,” Hazel said in a serious tone.
Frank frowned. “No. No, it’s not safe, you saw what happened to Perce-”
“They’re stones, Frank. Stones.”
Frank paused, and then inhaled sharply. “Okay, okay, I understand.”
Steve interjected. “What? What about them being stones?”
As the three teenagers explained to Steve what this entailed, Steve couldn’t help but marvel at the thoroughness of their plan. They were trained soldiers with good battle strategy, and though it was extremely helpful, it worried Steve. They were too young to be experiencing all of this.
Steve still had one concern. “Who’s doing the snapping?”
There was silence between the four of them. Deep down they knew that the effects of the gauntlet would be fatal.
Percy spoke. “I’ll do it.”
Steve shook his head. “You’re just.. you’re just a kid. If anything, it should be me. I have the super soldier serum, I’m more likely to survive this.”
Percy sighed. “With all due respect, Captain America sir, you’re not half-god. And we need you to keep Thanos away from us. And to get back to your friends. Your team.”
Steve chose to ignore the “half-god” comment. He’d had enough brain cell losses this week.
Hazel’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Percy, are you sure you want to..”
Frank’s voice cut in, low and calm. “Perce, this is dangerous. It could.. it could kill you. You don’t have the Curse of Achilles anymore.”
Percy’s expression was grim. “I know. But who else is going to? The mortals? I don’t want to risk anyone else. Never again.”
Frank and Hazel both knew what he was referring to.
Steve broke the silence. “Alright, then. Let’s get those stones.”
— — —
The plan went perfectly. Percy, Frank, and Steve attacked Thanos relentlessly, getting knocked down quite often but also weakening the titan dramatically. Everything seemed on track.
Until it didn’t.
“Frank!” Hazel yelled. She’d lost her sword in a stampede of aliens and they’d surrounded her, hissing and threatening to pounce.
Frank turned to the source of the sound immediately. “Haze! Hang on, I’m coming!” Right as he was about to transform into something that could get him to his girlfriend as quickly as possible, the wind was knocked from his lungs and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Courtesy of the power stone.
Steve threw Mjolnir at Thanos’ head, but it was promptly caught in his large purple hand, and sent hurtling back at Steve’s head.
Percy caught it just before it could make impact with Steve’s face. Percy whistled. “That was a close one, dude.”
Steve took Mjolnir from the teenager and gestured to Thanos, who was once again sitting and watching the battlefield burn. “We have to get Hazel to the stones. Dude.”
Percy’s expression hardened as he noticed Frank’s unconscious form. His eyes darted to Hazel, who was trying to fend off the aliens with whatever rocks she could summon from the ground.
Riptide in hand, he raced over to Hazel, cutting through the aliens like butter.
Hazel latched onto Percy’s arm in desperation. “Percy, is Frank..”
“He’s alive. I promise,” Percy said solemnly.
Annabeth, Leo, and Piper appeared shortly.
“What can we do?” Annabeth asked, determination in her stormy gray eyes.
Percy looked around. The Avengers all seemed preoccupied with other battles; all but for one.
“Iron Man,” Leo spoke, awe lacing his voice.
Percy patted Leo on the shoulder. “Go get the tin man up to speed. Now’s not the time to fanboy, Valdez.”
Excited, Leo and Piper went in Tony’s direction. Annabeth turned to her boyfriend. “Percy, I know what your plan is.”
Percy took her hand. “It’s a shit plan, I know.”
Annabeth shook her head. “No, Percy, the plan is fine.. I just.. ” She took a shaky breath. “I’m not ready to lose you again.”
“You won’t,” Percy vowed. “I’m going to be okay.”
Annabeth didn’t look convinced. “Swear it. On the Styx. Swear it, Jackson.”
Percy dropped her hand. “You know I can’t do that.”
Annabeth swept Percy up in a passionate kiss. Steve stood, awkwardly watching.
“This better work, seaweed brain,” Annabeth whispered.
Percy looked down at Riptide, the celestial bronze shining in the light of the sun. “It will.”