Assembled: Earth's Last Heroes (A Riordanverse and MCU crossover)

Chapter 22: Sam

The door led to a long, dark corridor. In the corner were a pile of bones, neatly stacked up. In front of them, was an enormous nest. Thousands of ravens swarmed around it and in the middle of the nest were two extremely big and black ravens. To his surprise, one of the ravens opened its mouth and said, "Welcome, trespassers, to the gate of Heimdallr. We are Hugin and Munin, Odin's messengers."

"I am Groot?" inquired Groot, pointing at the pile of bones.

"EAT THEM?!" shrieked the other raven. "Why would you dare insinuate...no, of course we didn't eat them! We just like using them to build nice castles sometimes (we have a weird passion for interior design), and Jenga is truly the greatest thing to have been invented since the Bifrost. Anyways, you must have done a pretty good job to get so far because most people just die before they even reach the door. So a pat on the back for you. But too bad, because even if you get past us and them, you still won't be able to open the gate because..."

"Shush!" interrupted the other raven, glaring at the other raven, Hugin or Munin with his beady black eyes. "You can't just tell them why they can't open the gate, they're supposed to figure it out themselves! At least that's what Master said."

"So...I take that we have to kill you and 'them' whatever they are to get to the gate? I really don't want to kill anyone, so can you please tell us where to find the gate so that we can get out of here and fight Thanos?" asked Sam.

"Hmph. You have no idea how many people have said that." muttered Hugin or Munin. "But I must admit that you're more creative than the others, I've never heard anyone use 'Thanos' as an excuse before."

"No, it's true," said T'Challa. "We are not making this up. Thanos is a real person and he has killed half the universe with the snap of his fingers. If we don't go out and stop him, there is no guarantee how many more people he will kill."

"Nice story," said Munin. "The best that I've ever heard in thousands of years. Well... I suppose I can help you, if you prove yourself trustworthy."

"Yes, sure, anything," said Sam eagerly.

"What if I tell you to run towards the red lights over there?" grinned Hugin.

"Uh, ok?" replied Sam and started to walk towards the lights cautiously. When he reached the corner, he suddenly stiffened was lifted off the ground, thrashing wildly. He was then dropped onto the ground and lay there stunned, but not for long.

From the shadows emerged a giant beast. It had no corporeal form, and it just kept shifting into different shapes. Then it split into three. One of them approached T'Challa, and he stiffened with horror as it shifted into the form of a black man wearing a simple Black Panther suit. "No..." he murmured.

"I am Groot," growled Groot as another shadow turned into the raccoon who had appeared with Thor in Wakanda.

"Cap!" exclaimed Sam as the third shadow turned into his best friend, the first Avenger, wearing his Captain America costume, with his shield slung behind his back.

Suddenly, as of on cue, all three parts of the monster moved together, attacking Sam, T'Challa and Groot. The monster portraying Cap unslung his shield and flung it at Sam. Sam having just recovered from his shock, dodged a second late and the vibranium shield made a deep gash on his arm. With newfound fury and certainty that this was not Cap, Sam picked the shield up from the floor and charged at the monster. The monster was fast and nimble, dodging all of Sam's blows and circled Sam, aiming for his weak spots. Soon, the monster was like a whirlwind, circling around Sam, attacking him non-stop. Sam managed to deflect most of the monsters' powerful kicks and strong punches, but was soon overpowered and received a fatal blow on the side of his head. Hot, sticky blood was started to flow down his face and he began to get dizzier and dizzier by the second. Black spots began floating around his vision and he was losing consciousness. The monster loomed closer, raising his fist for the death blow. I will not die here. No. I will not die here, he kept telling himself, and with his last burst of strength, he flung the shield full force at the monster and fell, losing consciousness entirely.