The town reeked of cold death.
A lonely place in northern Michigan, it was the kind of town that even Google Maps seemed to avoid—just rows of empty houses with frost-coated windows, a shuttered gas station, and cars abandoned mid-turn. The wind carried a wrongness: sharp, metallic, and so heavy it settled like lead on the lungs.
"This isn't natural," Annabeth murmured, pulling her coat tighter, eyes scanning the snow-dusted rooftops.
"You're saying that now?" Percy gripped Riptide, already uncapped into celestial bronze form. "We passed a playground with claw marks on the swings and no footprints in the snow."
Grover crouched beside a mailbox, sniffing. His normally twitchy demeanor was gone, replaced by something alert—focused. "It's not Greek.The land feels... drained. Like the trees themselves are afraid."
"It's Wendigos," Annabeth said suddenly, sharp certainty in her voice. "Cannibal spirits. North American lore. Not our usual crowd, but divine scent draws hunger regardless of origin."
"Cannibals?" Percy asked, eyes narrowing. "Great. So zombies, but faster."
"And smarter," she replied. "They hunt in packs. Fast, strong, and hard to kill unless you aim right. Grover, how many do you smell?"
The satyr stood slowly, nose wrinkling. "Five. Maybe six. Close."
A sharp screech echoed through the treeline, followed by the rustling of something inhuman sprinting across frozen ground. Percy's grip tightened. Annabeth immediately took charge.
"We need to get them away from the town. Into the forest. Percy—lead them to water. That stream we crossed earlier. Use it."
"Water advantage?" he guessed.
"Exactly," she said. "You control the flow. Hit from one side. I'll flank from the other and cut in close. Grover—crowd control. Break their rhythm."
Grover nodded, his usual nervousness buried beneath hardened resolve. "Yeah. Let's turn the monsters into mulch."
They didn't have to wait long. A shrieking blur of emaciated limbs and torn skin lunged from behind a lamppost, its long jaws snapping with feverish hunger. Percy slashed upward in one motion, slicing across its chest before leaping back, leading it into the trees.
Two more Wendigos followed, claws glinting, tongues writhing unnaturally. Grover met one mid-charge, a sharp goat-kick to its jaw so forceful the bone snapped audibly. The creature spiraled sideways into a snowbank, twitching.
Annabeth darted in, low and fast. Her celestial bronze knife flashed in a precise arc, severing tendons at the knee of another Wendigo. As it collapsed with a bone-rattling shriek, she plunged the blade into its throat with surgical precision. "Behind you, Percy!"
He ducked just as another came from the trees. Water churned violently as he raised a wave from the stream, slamming it sideways into the creature. It screamed as the icy torrent carried it crashing into a tree trunk.
For a moment, the three held formation. Breathing hard. Swords and hooves dripping with monster blood.
Then the forest fell silent.
Too silent.
Branches snapped—not one or two, but dozens—like an army stepping through the woods. Shapes emerged from the fog: not six, but a dozen Wendigos, some dragging half-devoured corpses. And towering behind them, its eyes glowing like coals and antlers like twisted obsidian?
An Alpha.
Its mouth stretched wider than natural, multiple rows of jagged teeth glistening with frost and ichor.
"Oh, we're not walking out of this," Grover muttered.
"Yes, we are," Annabeth said, voice calm even though she was bleeding slightly from her arm. "Same tactic, but we hold position near the stream. Grover—watch our flank. Percy, keep that water moving."
But as the creatures surged forward again, faster now, more coordinated, even Annabeth's plan began to fray under the pressure.
Then everything... stopped.
A presence dropped into the clearing like a stone into still water. Wendigos paused mid-sprint, hackles rising. The air thickened.
A monstrous shape stepped out of the fog—taller than any of them, bare-chested with glistening blue scales, fins along his arms, sharp claws, and fangs bared in a grotesque grin.
The Deep Sea King.
"What... is that?" Grover whispered, awe and fear in equal parts.
Percy's eyes narrowed. "Definitely not one of ours."
The creature didn't speak.
It simply roared.
And the forest exploded into chaos.
A Few Hours Earlier — Aqaba
"So, Raphael, got any idea how I can open up a Cyborg Tube to the US?" he asked, glancing around the fading light on the beach of Aqaba. "I like this place, really… but I'm guessing it won't be long before someone asks for an ID or passport or whatever. And, y'know, I've got none of that."
[Affirmative. Returning to your home country would be ideal as you are familiar with its culture and systems. However, it also carries significant risk, as most Marvel-related events occur there. To open a Cyborg Tube to the United States, you will need to connect directly to a power grid. This should provide the necessary energy.]
"Yeah, yeah, I get it—everything world-ending happens in the US," he grumbled. "But I'd rather be there stopping it than hiding out elsewhere waiting to be nuked by Galactus or something. Besides, once we're there, we can probably hack a few systems and whip up a fresh set of documents."
Decision made, he flew off toward the nearest power plant under the cover of Cyborg's stealth mode. The invisible flight was smooth, but the moment he began absorbing energy from the grid, everything went sideways. Sirens blared. Red lights flashed. Guards who had just let him slip by earlier now poured in from every angle, shouting in confusion.
They froze when they saw him.
A half-human, half-machine being, embedded into their main power system, crackling with energy like something out of a sci-fi apocalypse.
Before they could react further, he disengaged and launched skyward. The sun dipped below the horizon as the city behind him went dark. And then—with a whirring hum and a flash of light—a booming tunnel of energy spiraled open in the air.
Cyborg Tube initialized. Destination: Michigan, United States.
The energy surge blasted through the quiet terrain, loud enough that it probably triggered another round of panicked sirens. As he stepped through the portal, the desert heat faded instantly, replaced by a biting chill. He stumbled out onto cracked pavement in what looked like an abandoned town straight out of a horror film.
[Warning: Up to 20 unknown life forms detected in proximity. Likely Wendigos—northern mythological creatures, created via cannibalistic rituals. Recommendation: Immediately seek high ground and remain hidden. H-Omnitrix cooldown in effect. Current Cyborg transformation will expire in approximately 3 minutes.]
"Whaaaaat... you've got to be kidding me," he muttered. "Wendigos? In Michigan? I'll be cooked alive without the Omnitrix."
The ghost town around him offered little in terms of shelter. Most buildings were falling apart, and high ground was rare—except for the forest lining the far end of the town. He sprinted for the trees, eyes scanning for any thick-limbed giants.
Finding a sturdy one with decent footholds, he climbed up quickly and settled onto a large branch. With a deep breath, he let the Cyborg form fade, his body shrinking and reshaping to its human state. He pulled out a half-functional phone—stolen earlier—and booted up a game to pass time.
It wasn't much, but the old-school RPG interface gave him a sense of nostalgic calm.
Then movement.
Raphael had upgraded his senses far beyond average human standards. He could see clearly even through the dense evening haze. Three figures entered the town: two teenagers and... a goatman?
"Wait—Percy, Annabeth... and Grover?"
[Confirmed. Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood identified. Conclusion: This Multiverse contains aspects of the Riordanverse, including the Percy Jackson Universe.]
"That's... actually kinda awesome," he murmured. "So that means Magnus Chase is out there somewhere too, huh? Have the Norse gods just been vibing on Earth this whole time? Does Loki have a kid named Alex around here? That'll be interesting when the whole Thor movie happens… wait that has probably happened already, so maybe the New York attack?"
His thoughts were interrupted when an unnatural silence fell over the forest.
The Alpha had arrived.
Down below, the trio was surrounded. They fought valiantly, but the Wendigos closed in fast. Just as they were nearly overwhelmed, the H-Omnitrix on his wrist emitted a faint glow.
Cooldown complete.
"Perfect timing."
He tapped the dial, cycling through available forms. Homelander and Cyborg were grayed out—24-hour cooldown. He hovered on Endeavor for a moment but shook his head.
"Too risky. One fireball and I'll torch the whole forest."
Instead, he selected: Deep Sea King.
The transformation hit him like a tidal wave. His body stretched, doubling in height. His skin turned a slick sea-green, muscular and gleaming in the moonlight. His jaw extended, rows of sharp teeth forming, and his eyes adjusted to the dark like a predator from the deep.
This time, unlike the partial transformations of Cyborg or Homelander, his entire being was alien—monstrous, regal, and deadly.
He dropped from the tree, landing with a quake. In an instant, he was at the Alpha Wendigo's throat, lifting the beast into the air and slamming it down with such force that the ground cracked.
One blow. Instant kill.
The rest scattered—but he didn't let them go.
Water from Percy's earlier attacks still covered the battlefield, and it gave him the edge he needed. He tore through the Wendigos like a hurricane of limbs and power. Each punch exploded in sound and fury, each kick breaking monsters like dry twigs.
When the dust settled, the trio stood frozen.
Percy gripped his sword tightly, but his uncertain stance gave away his thoughts. Annabeth tried to mask her fear behind calm eyes, though sweat betrayed her nerves. Grover was openly panicking.
"Relax," the creature rumbled in a guttural, bassy voice. "Not here to kill you."
No reaction.
"Y'know, a thank-you wouldn't hurt. I did just save your demi-butts."
Annabeth slowly stepped forward. "What... what are you? I've never read about a creature like you."
"World's big. Bigger than your Camp books let on. You'll find all kinds of freaky stuff if you look far enough." He cocked his head. "So what's a satyr, a daughter of Athena, and a son of Poseidon doing in the middle of nowhere?"
Annabeth hesitated. "We're searching for someone. Or something. Do you know any way to the Underworld?"
He smirked. "I mean, I could kill you all and that'd be a direct ticket."
They all took a step back.
"Joking! I'm joking. Jeez. You'll find the entrance in Los Angeles. But trust me, don't go unprepared. Getting out is the hard part."
Annabeth gave a slow nod. "Thanks… may we go?"
He studied them for a moment. Oddly, in this universe, they looked older—late teens or even early twenties. That made things easier, though his monstrous form was doing him no favors in the trust department.
Since he still hadn't figured out how to manually revert transformations, he gave up trying to explain further.
"Yeah. Go. Just… don't die."
As the trio made their way out of the clearing, he turned toward the north, sighing.
Time to find a real town. One with people.