Demigods Assemble (PJO/MCU)

Chapter 48

Tony

For some reason, the tide had turned. Tony had no idea how or why or how long it would last, but it finally seemed as though the crowd of monsters was thinning. The HYDRA agents were long gone, leaving just the monsters, but even they were running out of fighters. All around him, Tony saw his allies noticing it too. They were realizing that the end was near and they were fighting with renewed vigor. For each monster that was cut down, only one replaced it, instead of two or three. Everyone fought as strongly as they had at the beginning of the fight, defeating opponents left and right. Good was winning.

We can do this, Tony thought, and he knew he was right.

They were so close. From his vantage point above the battle, Tony could tell the monsters' reinforcements had run out. They had finally reached the extent of their numbers. If the demigods and superheroes could just make it through this last wave, it would be over. They would be victorious.

All that was left was Echidna. Tony wondered when she would be showing her face, now that her army was almost depleted. Keto and Phorcys already had, unfortunately for them. Echidna had to do the same. She wouldn't stay away after all she'd done to orchestrate the confrontation. She wanted revenge too much. Soon, she would seek out Percy and they could finally end this. The question was—when? And where?

Tony quickly found out the answer as he heard a sobbing cry on the other end of the battle.

Annabeth, he realized.

Tony punched through a Laistrygonian and activated his thrusters, speeding off towards the sound. He found Annabeth near the Empire State Building, fighting next to her satyr friend Grover. The two of them were hacking through a line of monsters, Echidna at the end of it. Tony landed next to them and started blasting monsters with his repulsors, dazing them and making it easier for Annabeth and Grover to finish them off.

He noticed fierce looks on their faces. Grover's eyes were slightly red and he was using Annabeth's sword. She wielded her dagger, and Tony remembered her mentioning that she only saved it for special opponents. Annabeth definitely knew Tony had joined them, but she didn't even look at him. She only had murderous eyes for Echidna. Tony was missing something.

"What happened?" he asked.

Grover tried to speak but his voice seemed to catch in his throat and he put his reed pipes to his mouth. Annabeth pressed her lips into a thin line and didn't say anything, but her eyes flicked to the side for a split second.

Tony followed her gaze and stopped in his tracks. Percy was completely immobile on the ground, his skin pale and dotted with blood.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y." Tony whispered.

The A.I. already knew what he was going to ask. "Weak heartbeat. Multiple contusions, broken bones, a concussion, ruptured . . ."

F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice faded into the background as Tony turned back to Echidna and her monsters. He couldn't afford to worry about Percy right now. The sooner they got rid of Echidna, the sooner they could save him. But even as he attacked monsters with extreme prejudice, his thoughts drifted to the son of Poseidon.

All of those times Tony had underestimated him or questioned his attitude . . . He even thought back to their first meeting and how suspicious he'd been until they'd learned the truth. He couldn't even imagine Percy as an enemy now. He was just a kid who'd been dragged into wars that weren't his own, forced to fight for his life for years and years. If this had finally finished him . . . he wasn't even eighteen years old yet. There was still a month until his birthday. This couldn't be his end. Tony wouldn't let it.

Tony took one last look at Percy, seeing Thalia kneeling beside him, and tackled a hellhound and gladly held it in place while Grover stabbed it. They'd reached the end of the line of monsters, but Echidna snapped her fingers and more jumped in their way, even though it opened them up to attacks from the opponents they'd been fighting previously.

Tony grit his teeth and kept going, spitting out, "Why do they keep attacking us when they were already fighting someone else?"

"Echidna's the Mother of all Monsters," Annabeth said, slashing through an empousai. "That title isn't actually very accurate, but it's what people call her. I'm guessing she has some sort of control over them. They have to do what she wants."

"We've got to stop her," said Peter.

Tony did a double-take, noticing for the first time that Peter was by his side. From the look on his face, Tony knew he'd already seen Percy.

"Agreed," Grover panted.

Tony set his jaw. "Then get back," he ordered.

The three of them obeyed instantly, giving Tony space to step forward and raise his right arm. A slot in his armor opened and one of his newest toys emerged. It activated, sending a high-powered laser beam straight through the line of monsters, disintegrating them instantly. Tony had created it after learning about the Greeks. It was loosely based on the one Tony had used when fighting Vanko's drones with Rhodey, but in order to generate the power needed to kill monsters, it was still a one-time-only weapon.

With the monsters out of the way, Tony, Peter, Annabeth, and Grover charged Echidna. They were too quick and too close for her to call forth more monsters. She hissed at them, her forked tongue flicking up and down.

Annabeth and Grover struck first, but somehow Echidna caught their blades in her clawed hands and pushed them back. Peter retaliated by webbing her hands together, allowing Tony to fortify his fist and punch Echidna so hard her eyes rolled around in their sockets. Still, she remained on her feet and flung out a hand. An invisible force pushed Tony into Peter and the two of them toppled to the ground.

But Annabeth and Grover were back, Annabeth raking her knife across Echidna's back and Grover playing a quick tune on his pipes. Roots sprouted through the concrete and tried to wrap around her legs, but she just pulled free and roared angrily. She smacked Grover's pipes out of his hand and they shattered on the ground. He was too shocked to dodge her kick and went flying through the air.

Tony was back on his feet, rushing Echidna. A sword materialized in her hand and she swung hard at Tony. The blow caught him in the neck, knocking him to the ground, but his armor was strong enough to keep it from doing any damage to his body. Even so, F.R.I.D.A.Y. reported several suit malfunctions and Tony was having trouble moving in the armor. He wasn't sure what worried him more—the fact that she was using regular steel, or that she was proving to be difficult to defeat.

Annabeth attacked again, backed by Peter. The arachnid-kid was flipping all around Echidna, kicking her and punching her and webbing her up as much as possible while Annabeth sliced at every inch of scaly skin she could. Echidna was covered in ichor, but she wasn't slowing down.

Somehow, she managed to grab Peter and throw him into the side of the Empire State Building, where he cried out and lay moaning on the ground. Tony was still struggling to move, the suit weighing him down like an anchor. It was just Annabeth against Echidna, but she was blinded by fury.

Tony saw it coming a mile away, and he was sure Annabeth did too, but she still couldn't stop it. Annabeth sprung at Echidna but she intercepted Annabeth's strike with her sword and forced her back before kicking her aside. Echidna raised her sword to finish her, but then something happened.

A sword tip ripped through Echidna's clothing, a few inches above the spot where her belly button would be. She wailed in pain and Annabeth took the chance to climb to her feet and drive her dagger deep into Echidna's throat. Echidna howled louder and vanished.

When the light cleared, Tony breathed a sigh of relief to see that Echidna was gone, and he was pretty sure it was permanent. But there was also another happier sight awaiting him.

Supported by Thalia—covered in blood and bruises with a few bones clearly out of place, his sword drooping in his hand—was Percy Jackson.