Awaiting Discoveries {HOO, KOTLC, Avengers Crossover}

Remember that time Frank almost killed himself with a stick?

"This is bad. This is really, really bad." Hazel muttered, keeping her eyes on the sky where we saw- actually, I have no idea what I saw. It was a blurry shape coming straight toward us. Hazel did have better eyesight than me, though, so maybe I was missing something. She bit down on her lip. She was super anxious already about Percy and Nico being missing, but now she also had to prepare for an attack.

"What is it?" I said, curiously. Hazel studied it closer and grimaced.

"To me? Looks like a plane. I wouldn't worry, though. If it comes to it, I'll get an archer to shoot it with an explosive arrow. I don't know if they'll be any survivors after the explosion and the fall, though, and we want to avoid that." Hazel said, her grimace widening. "I don't know what I should do, though. I know nothing about modern planes."

"It might just be a civilian plane going over our camp. It doesn't look that big, but I don't want to hurt anyone in it if that's true. Plus, even if it is the avengers, it'll have a pilot and copilot that are completely innocent and don't need to die." Frank said, walking up to the two of them.

"However, if it is the avengers, we might need to shoot it down. Those guys have fought in a ton of wars and battles. They could kill some of our campers. Who do we care more about, two people we don't know that may not even be in the plane or the campers that it's our job to protect?" I said, eyeing the plane. I hated being the voice of reason, but I knew I was right.

"We still don't know if it's them," Frank argued. "We are not destroying a plane unless we know it's them, and even then we should be cautious."

"It's them," Leo said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "The tracker Annabeth put on them leads right to that helicopter. Not a plane. In all honesty, though, I don't even know why they bothered to show up. They should have thought Annabeth threw away the tracker since it was not moving. They're insane if they think she's been just standing in place for that long."

"They probably want to think something is blocking the tracker, but we're in the area. They're desperate." I thought out loud. Leo nodded.

"Yep, that's what I thought. Doesn't matter now, though. They're coming, and at this rate, will be landing in around thirty seconds to a minute. Hazel?" Leo asked. Hazel shook her head.

"Don't shoot it down. Wait for it to land, and if they attack, kill them. If they don't, hear them out." Hazel called out to the legion, her voice wavering when she said the words "kill them." The army nodded.

"Got it." Leo nodded. "So, you're going to go talk to them? I bet me and Annabeth aren't exactly the people who they want to see right now." Leo smirked. "We still will, if you want. I love annoying superheroes."

"I'll talk to them. Frank, stay here." Arion pulled up beside Hazel and she climbed on, effortlessly. I was horrible at riding horses bareback, so I watched curiously. Hazel grabbed her sword and rode to where the helicopter had landed. The redhead got out, followed by a tall, muscular blonde man. I scowled and moved closer to overhear, disguising myself in the army of legionaries awaiting orders to attack.

"Hello," Hazel said, not pleasantly. "You're trespassing. Leave, please. Or, at least, tell me why you're here." She continued, her voice confident with an undertone of boredom.

"We're looking for an escaped criminal, Annabeth Chase, and the five people that broke her out of our prison. What-" The redhead looked around, startled. "Is this a roleplay of a Roman Army, or something?" Hazel smirked sourly, the expression odd on her usually kind face.

"Does my sword look fake?" She said, her unsheathed sword pointed straight at the redhead's face. "My armor? This isn't whatever cosplay is. This is an army. Leave, please. You aren't welcome here."

"Are you the leader? You can't be more than fifteen." The redhead said, ignoring the last part of Hazel's sentence. "How have we never heard of this place? Shield should know about people building an army of teenagers. I'm pretty sure that's illegal." The redhead said. The blonde guy hadn't said a word. He was wearing an outfit that resembled an American Flag and had a giant star in the middle of the front.

"My name is Hazel, I'm one of the two praetors. I'm nineteen, by the way." This is my horse, Arion." Arion whined at the mention of his name. "This place is kept secret from mortals and usually protected from them as well."

"What do you mean by mortals? By the way, I'm Steve. This is Natasha. We never introduced ourselves." The blonde guy said.

"I mean exactly what it sounds like. Now, if you don't mind, please leave." Hazel looked Natasha in the eyes, her sword still hovering by her face "Or you won't be going back home. The underworld always loves new souls. I hope you have money for the ride there because Charon doesn't accept new souls for free." Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"You believe in the Roman Gods then?" She said, curious. Hazel snorted.

"I wished I didn't. My life would be so much easier." She mumbled, just loud enough to overhear a few rows of legionnaires away. Louder, she continued. "You aren't arresting or taking any of our members. Leave. Now."

"We can't. Not without Annabeth and, at least, the leader of the group who rescued her." Natasha said, with hostility. Hazel sighed and opened her mouth before I decided to do something that Seaweed Brain would approve of. I walked right up to Hazel, stood next to her, and unsheathed my bone sword.

"Nobody is going to kill anyone. Not yet." I said, glaring at Natasha and Steve. "First, we need to clear something up. I'm not coming with you. Nobody on my rescue team is coming with you, and you can't force us to without getting a sword in the stomach." Natasha raised her eyebrows.

"You couldn't kill me last time, why do you think you could now?" Natasha said, confident. I smirked.

"You know Roman traditions, right?" I asked. Natasha nodded, confused.

"Great. I'm calling a spolia opima. Me versus you until someone can't stand anymore." Natasha's eyes widened. Hazel frowned.

"Last time we did one of those, Frank basically died. If Juno weren't feeling generous, he'd be dead right now." Hazel said, concerned. I shrugged.

"Frank killed himself with a stick. I do not need to sacrifice myself bravely like that." I replied, sarcastically. Frank, from the back of the crown, glared at her. "Plus, no need to worry about Hera. She hates me with a burning passion." Natasha and Steve watched the exchange curiously. "Anyways, they've been here long enough. We aren't going to be interrogated by two mortals who have the idiocy to attempt to attack a two-hundred-person-strong army."

"I wasn't going to attack all of them if you came with me. What do you mean by mortals?" I knew what she was thinking. I said it like I wasn't one, and she, being a clueless mortal, didn't understand. I wasn't about to explain, anyways.

"I win? You leave us alone. You win, I'll come with you." I said. The redhead and the blonde guy exchanged an odd, silent conversation. Natasha sighed and looked in me in the eyes like she was issuing a challenge.

"Fine, but don't complain when you're sitting in a cell with a stab wound." Natasha pulled out a dagger from her belt. I tied up my blonde hair, sheathed my sword, and gave the sheath to Hazel. I pulled out an imperial gold knife, shorter than Natasha's but also wickedly sharp.

"I won't have to. Ready?"

Word Count: 1308

Everyone is nineteen or twenty, by the way. I changed Hazel's age because I wanted Frazel but hate the age gap. I was going to write this dramatic battle scene, but all my drafts were horrible. So, instead, you get this. By the way, chapter updates may get less frequent as I get busier. Sorry.

Question of the Chapter: Does pineapple belong on pizza?