Demigods Assemble (PJO/MCU)

Chapter 32

Tony

Tony's head was swimming as he tried to keep track of all the names. He had given up trying to remember the names of the Hunters of Artemis, besides Thalia and Reyna, since they all either ignored him or attacked him. It was a relief that he recognized most of the Camp Half-Blood fighters from his brief visit. As much as he wanted to keep Harley out of harm's way, it was nice to see a familiar face. Those from Camp Jupiter, however, were entirely new and most of them had names starting with "L" which made things very difficult. And before he could even begin tackling the names of the Cyclopes, he had to come to terms with the fact that they were standing before him.

With everything he'd learned about Percy and Annabeth's world, he thought he'd be used to it by now, especially after watching the surveillance video of the Cyclopes, seeing Percy and Annabeth kill the Chimaera, fighting dracaenae, and witnessing everything at Camp Half-Blood. Somehow, he wasn't, and the sight of the towering Cyclopes stopped him in his tracks.

All five of them were easily six feet tall, some closer to seven and dwarfing both Steve and Mack. They each possessed bulging muscles, almost like bodybuilders, but Tony noticed the subtle difference. They were forgers, fellow metal-workers. It made Tony think of his days in that cave building his first Iron Man suit.

As their leader, a brown-haired and brown-eyed toddler-looking creature named Tyson, attacked Percy and then Frank with love, Tony studied the others. They were clad in crude armor with huge clubs across their backs and swords at their waists. The single dark eye in the middle of the upper half of their faces was hard to get used to. Tyson was the smallest of them, but Tony remembered Percy saying that he was the General of the Cyclops Army. He also remembered Percy mentioning that Tyson was the one who made his shield-watch, and Tony's respect for the Cyclops grew. Anyone that big and bulky that could make something so complex and delicate was talented in Tony's book.

They were just about to try to figure out how to organize themselves so they could have one giant strategic meeting before the battle when F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke in Tony's earpiece.

"Boss, there's something in the woods."

Tony put a hand up and everyone seemed to sense that something was happening. "Hostiles?" he asked his A.I.

"Multiple," F.R.I.D.A.Y. confirmed. "Not human. They're watching you."

In the blink of an eye, Tony was outfitted in his latest suit. He blasted off towards the coordinates F.R.I.D.A.Y. gave him, barely stopping to grab the back of Annabeth's shirt and take her with him. He ignored Percy's cry of outrage and continued to the target.

Tony was glad he'd taken Annabeth when they landed in front of the group of five monsters and she didn't stop to question him. She just took out her drakon bone blade and went to work, which was good since his repulsor blasts were barely slowing them down, whatever they were.

These were one type of monster Tony hadn't seen yet. For the most part, they looked like regular preppy female teenage cheerleaders. Perfect hair, perfect teeth, makeup, the works. Two were even wearing cheerleading uniforms. What ruined the image, however, were their legs. Each creature had one leg made entirely of Celestial bronze, the same material as Percy's sword, and the other—was that a donkey leg? Tony wasn't sure, but it was freaky nonetheless. And when he blinked, the facade of seduction melted from the creatures' faces, leaving behind fangs, red eyes, white skin, and flaming hair.

Tony wanted to help Annabeth, but she seemed to have it all handled. Three of the monsters were already dead, and as he watched, she stabbed a fourth in the gut and the creature wailed as she disintegrated. Annabeth marched on the fifth and final one, but even before she swung her sword, Tony knew something was different. When Annabeth's blade passed through the woman-donkey hybrid, it exploded into flames instead of dust. Annabeth immediately cursed and brushed the dust off her blade before putting it away.

"What happened?" Percy demanded, crashing through the trees with Steve by his side.

Annabeth cursed again—at least, that's what Tony thought she was doing, since it was in another language—and straightened her clothing before saying, "Empousai. One of them got away."

"How?" Tony asked, still trying to wrap his head around it.

The four of them began making their way back to the group of heroes waiting for them as Annabeth explained, "Some of the older empousai have a form of teleportation using fire, that's why she exploded into flames instead of dust when I tried to kill her. She's probably already back with Echidna, Phorcys, and Keto by now."

"What does that mean for us?" Percy asked.

"They know our numbers, who we have on our side," Steve answered and Annabeth just nodded sadly.

"Okay, so the element of surprise is gone." Percy shrugged. "Big deal, we haven't had it in a long time. We've still got a lot of powerful people on our side."

"Yes, but now that they know exactly who we have, they can account for our forces. They can plan how to take each of us down." Annabeth shook her head, biting her lip in thought.

"But we know about them too," Tony pointed out. "We know exactly who Echidna, Phorcys, and Keto are. We know what HYDRA is, we've dealt with them plenty of times."

"Not well enough," Annabeth muttered under her breath.

"I'm gonna chalk that up to stress," Tony decided to let the jab at their previous failed extinctions of HYDRA go, "and point out that you and your friends know a lot about monsters so you know the best ways to defeat them. They may know who and what we are now, but we know about them too."

Annabeth bobbed her head back and forth, reluctantly agreeing. "I'm just worried it won't be enough."

"It has to be," Steve insisted, "because it's the best we've got."