Annabeth Chase and the Avengers

Chapter 6

Annabeth

Annabeth clutched her bag tightly as the ship landed on the planet. The door hissed open, and Bruce stepped into his large red suit. Next to him, a dark man with robotic legs was in a similar suit, but gray with rockets attached to his back.

Annabeth stepped off the ramp and onto the soil, and peered up into the sky. Nothing yet.

She crept towards the hut, a hundred feet away, with Tony's friends on her heels.

Bruce tucked himself under the hut, and waited. The dark man and Thor flew fifty feet into the air, and hovered over the hut, his suit's glowing eyes narrowed in anticipation. Annabeth and the others hid themselves right in front of the hut's entrance.

Annabeth glanced at the sky again. Still nothing. She prayed to Athena that her plan would work. Suddenly, bright, neon, multicolored bursts of light shot towards the small hut at supersonic speed, crashing into the hut. Followed closely behind, was a ball of light, shaped in the form of Carol Danvers.

Carol crashed into the hut, and Annabeth heard a struggle inside. An explosion of wood followed, wood splinters scattering all over. Another crash from the roof. Annabeth grinned. So far, the plan was working. Annabeth peered into the sky and saw Thor charging towards the hut at full speed. Annabeth dived out of the way as Thor crashed into the hut. She heard the swinging of an axe, metal clanking on the floor, and a groan of pain.

Annabeth mouthed to her uncle, Steve, Nebula, the raccoon, and Natasha. Now. They stepped out of their hiding place, and entered the hut.

Thanos was a large man, with a large chin and lines streaking down it. His entire left side looked like it had been burned, and his left hand was cut off. The dark man was holding Thanos' right arm, while Bruce had Thanos' left. Carol had her arms wrapped around his massive, beefy neck in a choke-hold, and Thor was standing in front of Thanos, his face haunted.

A golden gauntlet lay off to the side, with Thanos' hand inside it. The raccoon crept over toward it, and rolled the gauntlet over. His face widened in horror. "Oh no." He mumbled. Steve, Natasha, and Annabeth glanced at the gauntlet. There seemed to be six holders, most likely for the stones.

And they were empty.

"Where are they?" Steve asked, slowly turning to meet Thanos' gaze.

"Answer the question." Carol threatened.

"The universe required correction." Thanos said, his voice quiet. "After that, the Stones served no purpose. Beyond temptation." His voice was raspy.

"You murdered trillions!" Bruce cried. He pushed Thanos backwards, sending the mad Titan flying into the ground.

"You should be grateful." Thanos spat. He let out a groan of pain as Bruce punched him in the face.

Natasha was trembling, the tiniest of tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "Where are the Stones?"

"Gone." Thanos said. "Reduced to atoms."

"You used them two days ago." Bruce argued.

Thanos slowly began to rise. "I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be. I am... Inevitable."

"Let's tear this place apart... He has to be lying." The dark man stuttered.

"My father is many things." Nebula whispered. "But a liar is not one of them." She crept closer to her "father."

"Ah..." Thanos sighed. "Thank you, daughter."

Nebula dipped her head slowly.

"Perhaps I treated you too harshly."

"Great. No Stones." Tony said sarcastically. He raised a palm, and in the center was glowing plasma. "I'll have to settle for blasting him into oblivion."

"No!" Annabeth shouted, swatting it aside. She whirled around to glare at Thanos. "He's mine to kill."

"That's not fair!" Tony cried.

"Oh, it is so fair. My family is gone. Half of my friends as well." her voice cracked. "He's mine to finish."

Thanos met Annabeth's gaze. "I feel your pain, child. You are much like my daughters."

Annabeth stared at the psychopathic lunatic coldly. "You could never understand."

She let out a guttural cry and charged, grabbing her dagger from inside her duffel and then tossing the bag aside. She heard a gasp of surprise from Tony, but ignored it. She slashed her dagger across Thanos' chest, cutting through his wool shirt and drawing a line of blood. Bruce and the dark man backed away, but Carol kept her arms firmly in a headlock.

Thanos' eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the celestial bronze blade. "ημίθεος." He managed to gasp. "αίμα μου."

Carol's eyes widened and she backed away in confusion.

Thanos; now free, struggled to his feet. "κάνε το χειρότερο, ημίθεος."

Annabeth readied her dagger. "As you wish."

She let out a cry and charged. She raised her dagger, and Thanos tried to sidestep, but the chest wound had weakened him severely. Annabeth slashed her dagger down his back, near his spine.

The mad Titan let out a cry and fell to his knees, blood pouring from his wounds in cascades. Annabeth leaned closely into Thanos' ear.

Annabeth stared in shock at the mad Titan. She could tell that the celestial bronze wounds were eating away at his soul. Thanos was telling the truth. αίμα μου.

Before Annabeth could say or do anything else, Thor let out a guttural cry. He swung his axe, and cut a clean line across Thanos' throat. The mad Titan's head fell to the floor with a 'thud!' on the floor in front of Annabeth's feet.

"What did you do?" The raccoon asked, his voice filled with horror, the sarcasm gone.

"I aimed for the head." Thor managed to splutter. He turned around, and headed back to the ship.

Annabeth glanced around the room, and saw looks of defeat on the Avengers' faces. Nebula leaned over her father's body, her face covered in his blood. She reached a metallic arm out, and closed his eyes.

Thanos was dead.

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Tony

When Tony and the other Avengers recovered from their shock, he whirled around to face his niece. "What the hell did he say?" Tony demanded.

Natasha frowned. "It sounded greek."

Steve turned to look at Annabeth as well. "What did he say?"

Annabeth hesitated. After a glance at the decapitated body, she turned away. "Nothing of consequence."

Tony frowned. "And a secondly, more important question, how in hell do you have a dagger?"

"To defend myself." Annabeth seemed ignorant to his rage.

Carol groaned. "Save this for after we get back? Besides, we have more important matters."

"She's right, ya' know." The raccoon said. "Thanos destroyed the stones, and half of the universe is gone for good."

"No." Steve snapped. "I refuse to believe that."

"Well, you'd better believe it!" The raccoon snapped.

"We'll regroup; get back to Earth; count our missing, and then we'll figure out our next course of action." Nat said.

Nebula spoke, for the first time since her father's death. "No. There is no hope. Hope is lost. Thanos has won, and everyone we have lost, are gone forever."

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If you were wondering what Thanos said to Annabeth, I have provided the translations below;

ημίθεος - Demigod

αίμα μου - Blood of mine

κάνε το χειρότερο, ημίθεος - Do your worst, demigod