Something to Fight For (Percy Jackson and the Avengers Crossover)

Chapter 4 - Echion the Giant

Percy coughed as the dust scattered into the air like small insects. He waved his hand, trying to clear the air and see what was going on. 

"Captain! Your shield!" someone screamed nearby.

The dull ringing of metal rang out, and Percy guessed that Steve had gotten the shield, whatever that was. 

"Why does everyone like shields?" he muttered under his breath. Someone laughed, and Percy assumed that was Steve. The air smelled strangely of wet paint and plaster, and he wrinkled his nose in distaste. 

Booming footsteps shook the ground. Percy bent his knees, pulling Riptide out and uncapping it smoothly. There was a gasp. Scratch that, there were multiple gasps. 

"Percy! Is that a sword? Wait, it's a baseball bat? No, it's a sword again." Steve exclaimed in astonishment. 

"Yeah, it changes sometimes," Percy stated. 

The ground shook so hard that the table toppled to the ground and the mirror shattered into fine shards. Percy was launched into the air and managed to land somewhat gracefully on two feet. Steve didn't budge. 

"Gosh man, are you made of metal or something?" Percy asked, shaking his head. 

Steve simply shrugged, keeping his eyes on the broken wall. A shadow was emerging slowly, like the dramatic entrance you see in movies. Percy also turned his attention to the gaping hole in the wall. He tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes to get a better look. 

"Is that...is that a giant person?" one of the agents asked hesitantly. 

No one replied, they were too busy gawking in astonishment. 

For Percy, he was surprised that a giant had managed to make its way to this place. For Steve, he had never seen anything as shocking in his life. For the agents, it was their greatest threat, well...apart from HYDRA. For Fury, well nothing surprised him anymore, so it was just a bucket load of information. 

"That's one gigantic giant," Percy muttered wryly. The dust settled onto the ground, and they were able to get a good view at the enemy. 

He was roughly double the height of Steve, and his arms were as thick as pillars in a mansion. Unfortunately, the giant wore nothing but a dirty loincloth, and they were all subjected to the terrible view. 

"Jesus, why doesn't he cover himself?" Steve groaned, turning away in disgust. 

"I guess it's a fashion statement," Percy replied calmly. He rolled his shoulders, trying to stretch his muscles before he leapt into action. He swung Riptide around experimentally, remembering the feeling of adrenaline from just hours ago. "Let's do this." 

Percy ran at the giant, easily covering the short distance between them. They were near the door, and the giant had broken down the wall directly opposite, so it was quite a confined space. That being said, the giant was bending slightly to avoid slamming his head on the roof. They weren't that dim. 

The giant, clumsily swiping at Percy, roared in anger when Percy slashed at his leg. "I will get revenge!" he boomed loudly. 

"Yeah, go ahead and try!" Percy retorted as he ran up the wall to gain leverage. He almost panicked when the scraping sound of metal rang out but realised it was the shield Steve was wielding. 

The giant let out another cry of outrage when the shield hit him, but then laughed when it had no effect. He picked up the shield and tossed it back at a startled Steve. 

"What...?" he muttered in confusion.

"Only special metal can hurt it!" Percy shouted. 

"THIS IS SPECIAL!" Steve shouted back, jumping back when the giant tried to hit him. 

Percy tossed another sword at him. "Take this!" The pin he threw at Steve morphed into a sword, and the soldier caught it quickly. 

"Thanks!" 

Percy kicked off from the wall when he was almost sideways and cartwheeled expertly through the air like a gymnast. He saw an upside down image of Steve, and the blood rushed to his head, before he was upright again, landing squarely on the giant's shoulder. Not hesitating for a moment, Percy plunged the sword into the giant's shoulder, slicing easily through muscle and tissue. 

"I AM ECHION!" shouted the giant angrily as he pulled the sword out. 

"Great, thanks for the introduction," Percy said grimly as he jumped off and landed in a roll. 

The sword clattered to the side, and he sighed in annoyance. Steve slid under the giant and cut along his legs. Unfortunately, the loincloth fluttered to the ground as well, the string having been cut. 

Percy reeled backwards in shock, his hands flying to his eyes and a scream erupting from his throat at the horrific sight. "DAMN IT STEVE!" 

Steve also retreated a safe distance away, his face pale and his hands shaking slightly. "Sorry, sorry, not my intention." 

By this point, the other agents had run from the room, escaping the terror that lay inside. In all honesty, Percy was ready to go to the Lethe river and forget all his memories. Seriously, it was that bad. 

Echion roared again and charged towards the two. Percy grimaced and ducked to the side to avoid a grubby hand. "I'm so done with this," he said as nausea rose up his throat. 

"Me too," Steve replied. 

They looked at each other, seeing the despair and pain in each other's faces. Coming to an agreement, they silently counted to three in their heads. At an invisible signal, Percy took off running along the wall and Steve faced Echion head on. 

"Come at me you nasty brute!" he shouted bravely. Echion turned to him and took the bait. 

Steve ducked and raised the sword above his head to slice the giant's hand. Percy, racing as fast as he could to the corner of the room, scooped up Riptide and turned to assess the situation. 

"Steve!" he shouted as he took off running. 

Echion turned in surprise at the noise, just in time to see Percy slide underneath him and take off running towards Steve. The giant turned again and was hit in the face with a sword. 

Percy was boosted into the air by Steve, the shield acting as a launchpad. He backflipped when he reached the highest point and was soaring above the giant's head. Trying to orientate himself and not lose concentration, Percy aimed carefully and took a deep breath. 

Just as Echion turned to see him, he swung Riptide with all his might and whacked the giant in the face. Not pausing for a second, he stabbed Riptide into Echion's neck. The giant gasped, and crumpled to the ground, dead. 

Percy jumped off at the last second, landing in a crouch on the floor. The giant erupted into golden sand, leaving no trace of blood at all. He stood and brushed the sand from his hair, shaking out the shiny particles. Steve handed him back the sword, and Percy tapped it to return it to its pin form and clipped it back on his shirt. 

Steve looked utterly shocked.

Turning to the doorway, Percy raised an eyebrow and pointed to the sand on the ground. 

"Told you I wasn't lying." 

Fury could only stare, finally speechless for once. 

Sorry for the late (and short) update, it's 10:17 pm here. There probably will be another update this week (I usually get a stroke of creativity when I finish an exam) so keep an eye out for it!

Thanks for reading, I'm surprised how many people found this story seeing as there are tons of Percy Jackson and Avengers stories. 

Catch you later! 

~Silver