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He was only able to take a brief look to his right and left before jumping onto the road.
The sounds of car horns filled his ears as he ran as fast as he could.
People not being able to see the freaky monster running after him? That sucked, like, a lot. But it was nothing he wasn't used to. It was just another normal day in the life of Percy Jackson. It wasn’t like it was the first time he was running from a Chimera in his life.
It helped that he knew Manhattan and its backstreets so well. California was nice, living there with his smart, gorgeous, know-it-all girlfriend and studying, but it wasn’t exactly great for fighting monsters. He was a simple demigod, he liked to know which way to run in an emergency.
He jumped over a bench with practiced ease as he ducked into a narrow side street, where the buildings seemed to press closer together, almost as if they were trying to block his way.
He really hoped people weren't seeing the huge monster that was chasing him as a chihuahua this time.
It was just another normal day in the life of Percy Jackson, and yet he still felt his heart jumping to his throat as he felt something metal-like pulling him to the the pavement. His shoes screeched against the old rocks of the pavement. He tried to get rid of the hard grip as he finally got a glance of the guy who was holding him.
He looked human-like, which was a good sign. No tails, wings or horns. It didn't prove anything but it was better than being pulled by something gross or slimey like he saw happening in his nightmare the other night.
"You have a sensible reason for running around in the city like a lunatic, kid?" The man asked with a gruff voice. He was wearing a black t-shirt and dark jeans. Looked casual enough, except-
"I," Percy tried to answer as the arm of the man caught his attention. "You got a metal arm?" That was one of the coolest things he saw, excluding the gods and titans and most of the demigods he had met- okay maybe not one of the coolests. But it was still very cool.
"It's actually Vibranium." Another man appeared behind the man with the metal arm. There was something utterly familiar about him that Percy was sure he had seen him before. On news? Or in California? He wasn't sure. "Let go of him, Barnes. I'm pretty sure the kid can not be HYDRA or whatever."
Percy frowned as the Vibranium grip loosened. "I can't be a Hydra? Why would you even say that?" He asked with a confused tone before checking to see if the lion-like monster with goat horns was anywhere close.
The street looked empty, which was a relief.
"Don’t be so offended, dude," the second guy said with a mocking voice. "Just calm down and tell us what's wrong. We can help you." His tone turned assuring but remained strong.
Percy doubted that.
But these guys seemed to know what a Hydra was, so maybe, just maybe he was right about the help thing.
He seemed to consider for a second before the loud, strange voice of the monster brought him back to his senses. "Okay," he nodded frantically. "Run." And he took off without waiting for either of them.
He didn't know who those guys were but them running after him only proved that either they were incredibly stupid or had crazy trust in runaway teenagers.
"This running thing," he heard one of them say as he got closer to Percy. "better have a good reason, kid. I will be pissed if you are just a thief." The one without the metal arm, obviously.
"Is that-" Percy looked back to see the shocked face of the first guy, Barnes as the other one called him, the Chimera running behind him. "What the hell is that?"
"What the hell is what?" The other guy snapped, frustration sharpening his voice. "Am I missing something here?"
"If you are actually missing this, you gotta get your eyes checked, birdman."
The street ended with a wall Percy had been waiting for, it took him only seconds to climb and jump to the other side.
The wall dropped into a slightly wider alley, dumpsters lining one side, fire escapes zigzagging overhead.
He heard two other thuds right before the strangled voice of the monster.
He was only able to silently beg to his father at that moment that the huge monster with the head of a lion and the body of a goat didn’t land on him.
The metal- no, the Vibranium hand once again grabbed him as he felt himself being pulled to the side of the road.
You had to be deaf to not hear the sound of the monster landing on its four feet or death to not feel the wind of it hitting your face.
Or not being a demigod might have helped too.
Not that Percy had any say in that matter.
At least he had the right mind to bring the monster to this certain part of the city though. Annabeth would've been damn proud of him.
A water-filled pond sat behind them, along with exposed water pipelines running along the walls. The wall behind the monster loomed tall.
His plan was working just fine.
He was pulling Riptide from his pocket when he noticed the guy with the Vibranium arm was already trying to fight the chimera.
"Are you trying to punch a dog?" He heard the other guy yell.
The Vibranium fist met the head of the monster. It had almost no effect on the giant beast but at least he was gaining them some time.
The monster roared, loud enough to make Percy feel like there was an earthquake happening. "Run away!" He yelled.
The guy with the Vibranium arm, Barnes, was only a few inches away when the fire came out of the monster's mouth.
"Holy-"
The other man was standing nearby, wearing a deeply confused expression and holding a very familiar shield. "Did it just spit on you?" He asked, his voice carrying both confusement and amusement.
“You’re the new Captain America!” Percy exclaimed, his voice far more energetic than the situation called for. He honestly couldn’t care less.
“I think I can wait to talk about how long it took you to recognize me, even with the shield,” the man said dryly. “Because figuring out why Barnes is trying to fight a pitbull sounds a little more important right now." He shook his head with a weird look. "Seriously, dude, stop it. I will kick your ass if you harm a dog."
Pitbull sounded better than a chihuahua. "I can assure you that is not a dog." Percy said, sharing a look with the captain, trying to sound convincing. "Just don't do anything. Stay away from its tail and, well, just stay away from it. We can only run away from it."
Percy uncapped the pen he was holding as he ran to the monster to help the guy who hadn't spoken more than a sentence to him but had been trying to help him since the beginning. The pen was turned into a sword, just in seconds.
"Where did that baseball bat come from?" The Captain America asked with a voice that grew more confused with each passing second.
Percy had to admit that even though the mist helped them a lot, it was also nerve-wrecking most of the time.
He shook his head to get rid of the image of himself hitting a dog with a baseball bat and focused on the giant monster.
The tail of it with the head of a snake on came close to him as Percy swirled his sword.
"Have no idea what baseball bat are you talking about but I think the sword is the weirdest thing here." The vibranium-armed man answered his friend.
He took a step back as the teenage boy got the monster's attention and started running towards the pond. "Are you actually telling me you don't see that giant thing with a lion head and a weird tail? Seriously?"
Percy ran until he was at the edge of the pond, the chimera right after him.
It wasn't that he would raise his hands and rule over the water, no. Most of the times, he was not even consciously asking for the help of it.
But the waves always answered him. And this was not an exception.
The water in the pond started to raise as the monster came closer to him.
"Okay," he heard one of the guys say. "I've seen some crazy things happen before. I've seen aliens and wizards and had a raccoon trying to steal my arm. But I still feel the need to ask, what the hell is going on here?"
"Whatever you two are on, I want one too."
The pipelines shattered as the water came out of it and found it's way towards the monster.
The waves flew over Percy’s head started to push the chimera to the wall. The monster tried to push the water but seemed to fail.
The Chimera hissed, eyes flashing with fire in them. It snarled once more before retreating.
It turned it's back on them and started to run away, jumping off the wall and disappearing.
The water stopped and acted like it had it's own mind as it went back to the pond and the pipelines.
"What the-" Percy raised his head to find the two super-hero adults looking at him with utter shock. "You know what, I wish you were HYDRA." The Captain talked, rubbing his eyes with his fists.
"I can explain," Percy said as he walked towards them. "Though, I don’t really understand how me being a Hydra would be better than something you can't even see."
"Why can't he see?" The man with the Vibranium arm asked, his eyes tightened. "Why did I?"
Percy took a deep breathe. "Uhm, there is this thing called the Mist. It stops normal people from seeing things like this. Well," he gave a look at the man in front of him. "Usually."
"Normal people? Now I'm offended."
Vibranium-armed man gave the Captain a side eye before turning back to look at Percy. "What do you mean by normal people?"
Percy didn't answer for a few seconds. "I still don't understand why you would prefer me being a Hydra."
"HYDRA. Not a Hydra. Cut off one head-"
"Two more will take it's place. Yeah, I know. I cut off it's heads before." Percy said with a shrug, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"You what?" The both guys exclaimed. "What are you talking about, kid?"
"You are not talking about the nine-headed monster?" Percy asked, the realization hitting late.
The look the guys gave him answered his question.
"Yeah, okay." He sighed as he put Riptide to his pocket, the sword back to it's pen shape. "What do you know about Greek mythology?"
The guy with the Vibranium arm raised one of his eyebrows at the question as the Captain America smirked. "I'm more of a Norse myth guy, myself."
It earned him another side eye from his friend and a concerned look from the teenager.
"What? Thor is a cool dude."
"Percy!" He heard a familiar voice and took a relaxed breath.
The blonde girl ran towards him, wearing a Yankees hat over her pony tail.
"What happened here? I thought we were supposed to meet for a coffee." She asked as she looked around with a worried voice. "Without Falcon-Captain America and Seneator Barnes, I stupidly assumed."
Of course she knew who they were.
Percy winced as he heard Annabeth's tone.
"What trouble did you get yourself into, seaweed brain?" She put her hands on her hips as her sharp grey eyes pierced into his sea-green ones.
"Seaweed brain?" The Captain snickered.
This was going to be a long day.