Major Jackson (PJO/Avengers X-Over)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

They were surrounded; the eyeless inter dimensional alien-things had managed to herd them onto an overpass, over a mile away from Stark's tower, which Loki had hijacked at some point to host his Magic Portal of Death. Tony was kinda pissed about that one. Granted, it wasn't like Loki could use the Empire State Building in fear of the gods smiting him for insolence. But did he have to use his tower? There were other ones!

"Tony!" Widow snapped.

Right. There were more important things. Besides, Pep was secretly a whiz at architecture; she could help design a bigger and better tower after this mess was cleaned up. Gods dam horn-helmeted bastard.

The ground picked at moment to rumble like the Kid's stomach when he hadn't eaten in a few hours. Now what? Nico diAngelo was still sedated in the helicarrier's sick bay and all the aliens flew.

Then he heard it— a war cry without parallel. The cavalry had arrived, it seemed.

There were hundreds of them in all manner of wear, ranging from bronze to leather to loos-fitting pants and little else. He even saw a few silver parkas dotted in the mix, along with the tell-take blue-yellow and X motif the Prof favored. At the lead, a boy astride a black Pegasus, what he assumed was a young Cyclopes, and a silver-wreathed girl with a shock of black hair the same color as Percy's.

Nat choked a little — which he was so hold over her for the next eternity. "What?"

"Oh. I guess Percy forgot something in his explanation. The x-men? It's a conglomeration of all kinds of Legacies, spanning every pantheon. Usually, divine blood is diluted out after a few generations, but it pops back up every now and then. X-men. Not-men, not-demigods. Get it? Percy must've rallied them."

Percy snorted. "Not the time, Tony. This is my cousin Thalia and my brother, Tyson."

Tyson grinned toothily and waved as Thalia's sharp eyes roved over the gathered heroes.

"Go." Thalia gestured towards the portal. "Find Loki; we've got this."

Well, what could they do, but listen to the scary lady? Except the Hulk. Never let it be said the green behemoth bent to anyone's will.

"No! Hulk not leave Baby Hulk."

Tony could see a confused Steve frowning and mouthing 'Baby Hulk?' in the background. Percy only snorted.

"Tyson's a Cyclopes, not a... a Hulk?"

The seven-foot man-child hopped. "Daddy says I have to stay with Percy. We can play later. Do you like fish ponies? My friend Rainbow is one."

"Fine. But Hulk only go so Hulk can smash puny gods!"

Tony blinked, absolutely bewildered. How was this his life now? "That... works, I guess?"

Hulk grunted in assent and went bounding off towards his tower, doing millions in property damage along the way. With a war-cry that would put the Nemian Lion to shame, the green monster flung himself at a passing Space Whale a-la-Transformers. 

Okay then. Down to business.

"We think Loki is using my tower as a base. That's where the portal is located — he probably has a machine or something to keep it stable. No way he would take that energy drain on himself. It'd leave him vulnerable." He gestured towards Stark Tower and the giant tear in the sky above it.

Percy blinked, bewildered. "Why does it look like a llama?"

For the love of— "It's not a llama! That is the most structurally sound design we could think of to land some of my heavier toys."

The son of the sea's shield went flying and something died with a gurgle. "Are you sure? It really looks like a llama."

"Bother it right it looks like a fluffy land-pony."

Mother, why?

Cap finally decided to step in as he passed Percy's shield back to him. "Look, we can argue whether Stark's tower looks like an alpaca after we save the world, yeah?"

Like rangling cats, honestly. Steve didn't sign up to babysit a billionaire and a war hero, nor to break up their spats. He deserved a medal for this stuff.

Percy nodded and shot off like a bottle rocket towards the rift Astride his flying horse, Steve on his tail As best he could. Crashing steps and a stream of profuse apologies told him that Tyson was close behind. (And oh God, please tell him that's not that Ty. The one who wanted to take Percy to see the fish ponies.) It was madness — a hodgepodge of cultures and species, all snarling with the intent to dominate. Percy was so calm about it too; this was just another Friday night for him while Steve had to stamp down the scream in his throat. No. This was not 1944. They were not in Germany. He. Was. Fine.

Then they got word about a nuke.

Tony, bless his freakishly brilliant brain, decided to send through the portal. That was a reckless move of a Percy-level. Maybe they were related...

Nat's voice crackled over the comm, stating that her and a Dr. Something were working to shut down the portal, as Steve slid under the wild swing of one to the aliens. A girl with golden eyes and a growling bear at her side took the thing down with ease, even going so far as to give him a cheeky smile and a wink before disappearing back into the crowd. Her purple toga stood out among the bronze and brown, but Steve had other things to worry about than the lack of apparent uniform.

He'd lost Percy and his giant brother at some point. Wonderful.

Someone pushed him back to the ground and he groaned.

It was a tall, lanky woman with an imperious scowl and eyes like steel. She huffed and and tossed her dagger so that it was clutched in her hand like a ice pick.

"So sorry to interrupt you even stroll, but we're in the middle of a battle here." She slashed the throat of an invader with ease before spinning to lunge at another one. "I'm Elizabeth Kaine, since you didn't ask. You'd better get that rear in gear or Major Jackson's liable to pick another fight with a god all on his lonesome. That tends to happen when he doesn't have adult supervision."

He nodded and took off, following the wake of slaughter aliens and puddles in the general direction of the alpaca tower. And then the Hulk roared.

.

Huh. He alway thought the Big Guy wouldn't care about a mouthy son of Aphrodite. Sure, he burnt his offerings and named his newest satellite after the god, but that was standard fare. His yacht was named Poseidon's Barnacle and the girls' home he started/funded was called Artemis' Sanctuary. He figured that made up for all the wrong he'd done.

But no. Because there was a freaking wind horse that had caught him and was gently guiding him towards the ground. And then there was the teen, who was howling with laughter so hard there were tears in his eyes. He looked like some sort of blonde Superman.

Jason, first lieutenant to Jupiter and a relatively recent addition to the Roman pantheon, if he remembered right.

"Oh gods, you're face! Ha! You look like Thalia."

Still. It was better than dying. Even when Thor appeared out of nowhere to join in the merriment. Stupid Zappy Boys. He'd have his revenge. Somehow.

.

I am alive! And you are all so sweet to put up with my spotty updates. Life happens. Especially in college. So I hope this slightly longer update helps!

Question Time! When will the Demigod Games happen? How will Loki redeem himself? WILL TYSON EVER GET TO SHOW OFF HIS FISH PONIES??? Why did I make this such a complicated mess? What is the average air speed of a swallow?

But in all honesty, folks, would it be helpful for me to make a reference chapter where I explain some of the world building I have done? Some people are confused, and I don't blame them — maybe a referee chapter with chapter and timeline stuff would help make this more enjoyable. Leave your thoughts. And any other questions you might have or plot things you want to see!

Love you all bunches. Stay safe and stay smart.