Percy Jackson and the Forgotten Heroes

22 - Nico embraces his inner geek

Annabeth's P.O.V

I was halfway to the staircase when I heard the shouts. Lucas and Austin sounded fine, for now, but I didn't have long to find Percy.

2 people rushed passed me to where Pippa had started the fire and I froze. I might be invisible, but they could still hear me.

Once I was sure they were gone, I hurtled up the stairs. I passed 3 doors that were wide open, leading into what had to be some of the Avengers bedrooms. The 4th door I passed I dismissed as another bedroom, when I glimpsed a familiar glint of black metal beyond the door. I slid in through the gap in the door, trying my hardest not to knock it open. There was no point being invisible if you went around knocking stuff over, showing everyone where you are.

The room was an office of some kind, a mixture of items from the 1940s and futuristic technology half packed away in boxes. In the centre of the room there was a desk with a hologram computer. Hunched over it was a boy dressed in all black with a mane of black hair. He had an aura of death surrounding him and a pure black sword hanging from his belt.

"Nico, what are you doing here?" I hissed, taking off my Yankees cap.

He didn't take his eyes off the screen "You have your mission, I have mine. Go find Percy."

"I'm not just leaving you!"

"I can shadow travel out of here, but not before I get what I'm here for."

"You want revenge for Jason." I realised. "He wouldn't want that for you."

"You don't know what he would want!"

"Actually, I do. I spoke to him when I passed out. He told you to let go. You can't bring him back by picking a fight with the Avengers."

"I can get him justice!"

"This isn't justice, it's revenge." I placed a hand on his shoulder "Nico... It's okay to be sad when you lose someone. But you can't let that grief rule your life. Trust me. They wouldn't want that."

He turned to look at me, holding back tears "I'm tired of losing people."

"I know. I know." I didn't know what else to see. I knew from personal experience that whatever I said wouldn't make him feel better.

There was an explosion on the floor below us and I heard footsteps stampeding up the stairs.

Reflexively, I put my hat on, and the shadows seemed to engulf Nico, turning him almost invisible. Austin and Lucas careered into the room, slamming the door behind them and leaning against it to hold it shut.

"What's going on?" I asked, forgetting I was invisible.

They both started in shock. Austin peered at the empty space where I was standing "... Annabeth?"

I pulled off my hat. "What's happened?" I repeated.

"Hawkeye, Falcon and Wanda are downstairs trying to deal with Zephyr, Pippa and the fire. So far, the distraction's working but there's still 3 of them somewhere."

"Well we're not going to find Percy by hiding in here."

"He's at the end of the hallway - I think." Nico added "I - I saw the blueprints of this place."

I nodded "Let's go."

We burst out of the room, prepared for a fight, but the hallway was eerily quiet. In the distance we could hear the sounds of battle and fire drawing closer.

Suddenly, there was a roar and a green monster leapt up, missing the stairs completely and landing between us and Percy.

Lucas and Austin already had their weapons in hand and I drew my dagger. Nico, on the other hand, just stared at the Hulk.

"No. Way! That's the Hulk! The Hulk!" He was grinning like an excitable kid "He absorbed too much Gamma radiation but instead of dying he - "

The Hulk roared, cutting Nico off.

"Yes, very fascinating Nico, but maybe now's not the time."

Behind us, a person clad in metal armour landed, his hands held out with blasters on the end of them.

Nico gasped "War Machine! He was Tony Stark's best friend, but then stole one of his Iron Man suits when - "

I raised an eyebrow at him and he blushed.

"I just know some stuff, okay?"

If Percy was here, he probably would have teased Nico about him having 5000 attack power or something, but we had bigger problems right now.

War Machine blasted at us and we both dived in opposite directions. Nico rolled to his feet, drawing his sword as he did so, and charged at War Machine. He hadn't expected him to recover so quickly and so didn't have time to react before Nico carved a gash into the side of his armour.

I checked to see if Lucas and Austin needed any help, but they seemed to be holding their ground. The Hulk was big and strong, but they were faster and he wasn't as good in a confined space.

I was about to go and help Nico when he called out "Annabeth! Go find Percy!"

I hesitated. He was struggling against War Machine as he tried to push his sword closer to him, blocked by the metallic arm.

"We've got this! Go." He insisted "Go!"

I didn't like it but I ran.