Demigods Assemble (PJO/MCU)

Chapter 24

Tony

Peter beat Tony to a response with his exclamation of: "Please show us your giant metal dragon!"

Leo snickered. He dug a bright orange safety whistle out of the ratty tool belt around his waist and blew on it, letting out a high-pitched tone that would have bothered Tony if his ears were more sensitive. Peter wasn't so lucky, unfortunately, and flinched at the sound. Steve didn't react since he'd had years to get used to his enhanced senses.

"What did that do?" Tony asked.

"Wait for it." Leo grinned and they waited.

After a few moments, the sound of mechanical whirring and the flapping of giant wings reached them. A few seconds later, a speck appeared at the edge of the woods behind the forges. In an instant, the speck grew as it came closer and Tony's jaw dropped at the sight before him.

"Meet Festus," Leo introduced, swelling with pride, as the not-so-specky-speck landed to the right of the forges with a mighty crash.

The dragon was greater than anything he had expected. When he heard about the mechanical dragon that had taken three demigods across the country, Tony had assumed it was some crude prototype more like a quinjet than a dragon. But this . . . this was the real deal. It was a giant bronze-and-gold-scaled dragon with drill-like razor-sharp teeth and glowing red rubies for eyes. Part of its spine was designed so that at least three people could sit comfortably on it and it even looked like there were hooks for luggage. It was stunning.

"You made this?" Tony marveled, finally finding his voice.

"Well, no. Some of my half-siblings made him a long time ago, and for a while, he went a little haywire before being buried in the woods where Percy and Annabeth found him and activated him, and he went crazy again after that, and then I found him and fixed him up and attached the wings. Later he was destroyed so I turned him into the Argo II, and then back into a dragon, and then he was destroyed again, and I fixed him up again." Leo explained, patting Festus' leg. "We really have been through a lot together, haven't we buddy?"

The dragon tilted its head towards Leo, creaking softly, almost in a pattern. With a start, Tony recognized it as Morse code. "You can talk to him?"

"We don't understand them either," Piper sighed in exasperation.

"He's amazing," Tony said, stepping forward with his hand out.

"Be careful!" Frank shouted.

Ignoring him, Tony stepped closer. The dragon looked down at him with what was unmistakably curiosity. He allowed Tony to touch him, and Tony examined the automaton hungrily. The craftsmanship was beautiful, so well thought out and designed. Tony already had so many ideas for improvements and upgrades, as well as ideas for his own Iron Man suits inspired by Festus.

"He doesn't normally let strangers come this close without attacking them," Leo said, unconcerned. "Why is this time different?"

"He recognizes his own kind," Tony replied, and somehow he knew he was right. "I used to be like him. Shrapnel was trying to reach my heart every day of my life. An arc reactor in my chest kept me alive."

"Okay, I have so many questions," Leo gushed. "Is it true you built the first miniature arc reactor in a cave? Where did you find the palladium? How did . . ."

As Leo droned on, Tony grinned. It seemed like this latest fanboy actually spoke the same science language as Tony. That was rare to come by. Bruce spoke some and so did Vision on occasion. Peter came the closest to mirroring Tony's knowledge, but this Leo kid sounded pretty fluent as well.