Fear begins!

" Something shot down from space and cracked the raft in half. The inmates are pouring out like locusts. Scattering to the winds. There are hundreds of superhuman criminals at large in the area." Steve explained to Hank. " Six more of these projectiles have struck around the world. Most of the avengers were deployed to the scenes, leaving us undermanned. The thunderbolts and others are responding to the raft, but too many hostiles are slipping through. You're familiar with the facility and its inmates."

" Say no more." Hank told the man. " I'll scramble the faculty." Hank told the man. " Steve... I'm picking up reports. Paris turned to stone, earthquakes in Brazil. This is serious, isn't it?" Hank asked the man

" You've been an avenger longer than me, old friend. You know it is." Steve told the man. " Hank... We're stretched thin. We're not there yet, but if it becomes necessary... Your students. Are they up to it?" Steve asked the man.

" Steve, you're talking about war. They're kids. Sixteen, seventeen years old..." Hank told the man.

" So was Bucky during World War two. I wasn't much older." Steve told the man. " We've been sending eighteen-year-olds to battlefields throughout history. Hank, if i call on them, it'll only be for civilian rescue. I don't like it either, Hank. But they have great power and avengers training. Lives are at risk." Steve explained to the man. " What I need to know from you is if they're ready." Steve asked the man.

Hank closed his eyes and begrudgingly nodded. " They're ready." Hank told the man. " God help me." Hank muttered to himself. He then activated his communicator and called out to the students and staff.

Meanwhile while the two men were talking Orion and Veil were talking about the days, they both had.

" Are you okay?" Orion asked as he plopped down beside Veil on her bed.

" I don't know. I wish you were there though. Maybe we wouldn't have gotten our butts kicked so badly." Veil replied.

" Sorry, I had my sit down with Strange. I would have been there if I knew the guy was such a jerk." Orion told the girl.

" He was a jerk, but if I'm being honest... A lot of what he said made sense. Using his powers and money to help those who need it instead of being a hero... Maybe he's right." Veil stated.

" Maybe. It does sound good. But there's always some kind of catch. Not everyone does what they do simply just for the sake of it. I have personal experience with that." Orion explained to the girl.

Veil reached up and rubbed Orion's back. " I'm sorry about that. I know you respected him." Veil told the boy. " Guess, we both had a shitty day." Veil stated. " How about we just rest for today?"

Orion cracked a slight smile but before either could lie down Hank's voice called out to the students and staff, telling them all to get suited up.

" So, much for rest." Maddy stated bluntly.

" Yeah. let's go." Orion told the girl as he got up from the bed. The two walked out of the room and headed straight to the briefing room.

" And that's all we know." Hank stated as he finished explaining the situation to the kids. " Jocasta, where's Speedball?" Hank asked the woman.

" I can't reach him. He was near New York; he may already be on scene." Jocasta told the man.

" We don't have time to wait for him." Hank stated. " Quiksilver, justice we're going to long island. Jocasta, I need you here coordinating troop movements. Others might need our dimensional doors." Hank told the woman. " Tigra, stay with the students." Hank told the woman.

" What?" Tigra asked in offense. " Hank, I never would have started seeing you again if I thought you'd get all macho and protective." Tigra told the man.

" If I was being protective, I'd find a nicer way to say this: Your powers are the least effective for containing multiple escapees." Hank told the woman. " And I need you to stay. Remember when I told the kids there'd come a time when they'd have to go to war?" Hank asked the woman. " If things keep up the way they have... This is. Greer, I'm asking you to do everything you can to see to it I'm not sending these kids to their deaths. There's no bigger responsibility I can give you." Hank explained to the woman.

" I... I'm sorry Hank. Of course, focus on your mission, I'll handle things here." Tigra told the man.

" All right, Jocasta, open a door to Long Island, Vicinity of Laguardia airport." Hank told the woman. " Stay in touch. let's be careful out there and." Hank said as he ran through the door with quicksilver and Justice. Hank then yelled out " AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" as the trio started their attack on the escaped convicts.

' You should be out there. Not stuck in here.' Cyttorak told the boy.' I know you hear it. The battlefield is calling out to you.'

A little later the students were going through their daily routine in the training room.

" We never get in on the good missions. It's New York, there'll be cameras everywhere." Striker complained.

" Shut up, Sriker." Mettle told the boy as he punched one of the machines. " Reptil... Did Dr. Pym look scared to you?" Mettle then asked the man.

" What? Over escaped super villains?" Reptil asked. " Come on, Mettle, we call that Thursday." Reptil told the boy. " Why would he be scared?" Reptil asked.

" He was trying to hide it." Finesse stated. " But he was terrified. So was Tigra, once he spoke about going to war and sending us to our deaths." Finesse explained to the group.

" Deaths?" Striker stopped and asked the girl.

" Wait. you read their lips?" Mettle asked the girl. " Why would we be going to?" Mettle was asking when Tigra ran into the room in a panic.

" The capital's under attack." Tigra told the students.

" The capital of what?" Hazmat asked.

" Of the United States of America, Hazmat." Tigra told the girl.

" Wow. So, they're pulling Dr. Pym and the others out of New York?" Veil asked.

" They can't, Veil. Raft escapees would kill thousands. So, we're going in." Tigra told the kids.

" Wait. Against what?" Striker asked.

" The Red Skull's daughter, Sin. She's got some kind of Hammer... Like Thor's. It's put her in his power league." Tigra told the boy. " And there's a battalion of robots, mechs, whatever. Look, Commander Rogers has Avengers on the scene, they're engaging the enemy, your job is civilian evacuation, got it?" Tigra explained to the students. " You fight only to defend bystanders or yourselves."

" I zap things with radiation. How am I supposed to help anyone evacuate?" Hazmat asked the woman.

" Damn it, Hazmat... Jocasta's activating dimensional doors in the area. Your Identicard communicators will lead you to them. Just get people through. They'll end up somewhere safe." Tigra explained to the group. " Get ready, Jocasta's setting this door to take us to the scene. All your training's been for this moment. Remember it and you'll be fine." Tigra told the kids. She opened the door for the kids and ushered them through. The team ran through the door and arrived at the scene of the attack on Washington Dc.

The sight was horrid as giant mechs gunned down any and every person on the streets, Man, woman, and child.

" Get the people out of the way!" Tigra yelled to the students.

Orion grabbed Veil's shoulder and spoke. " Be careful." Orion then jumped at the nearest mech and punched it into pieces. " RAAAAGH!" Orion let out a loud yell and jumped into the air after the next mech and crashed through it and landed down back on the street.

" Dude, that was so awesome." Mettle told the boy. As Mettle praised Orion another mech appeared and gunned down the people near him. " No!!" Mettle yelled. " Stop it! Stop it!" Mettle grabbed a streetlamp and through it into the mech, killing the pilot with it. When the smoke cleared Mettle saw the body of the man and froze. " Oh. Tigra, I killed him." Mettle told the woman.

Tigra walked up to the boy and placed her hand on his shoulder. " You had to. He was shooting people." Tigra told the boy.

" No, the gunner was. He was just the pilot." Mettle told the woman.

"Mettle, listen to me. They were murderers. They chose to slaughter defenseless people who just wanted to get to work or walk their dog. You had to kill a bad guy to save lives. The fact that it bothers you is what makes you different from them. You're a good person, Ken. And I know how hard this is... But I need to know you can do it again if you have to." Tigra asked the boy.

" I... I can." Mettle responded.

" Thank you. I hear gunfire to the south, check it out, okay?" Tigra asked again.

" Okay." Mettle replied before running away.

Tigra turned around and ran towards gunshots with tears in her eyes. ' Damn you, Hank, for asking me to do this. And damn me for doing it. And damn this world for not giving us a choice.' Tigra thought to herself.

Orion watched the two run away and then turned to the others. " It's going to happen. We're gonna need to fight with everything we've got. And that means we kill if we have to." Orion told the others.

' Heheh! That's right boy.' Cyttorak laughed. ' Take charge.'

" But only as a last resort. Take care of each other and stick together." Orion told the group. Orion then turned and leapt into the air. " You wanted a destroyer? Fine, I'll destroy. But not for you." Orion stated. He passed over a group of Hydra soldiers and yelled as he hurtled straight towards them. " RAAAAAGH!" Orion yelled as he slammed his fists into the ground sending the mechs all flying.

Orion proceeded to smash the mechs, destroying their usefulness but sparing those inside.

" Orion!" Orion heard Veil call out to him.

He turned and saw that she had a young girl with her and ran over too them.

" What is it?" Oriona sked.

" The mom. She's stuck inside. I need you to help me move the rubble." Veil told the boy.

" Okay, here." Orion spoke as he started lifting up the pieces of the rubble up, but only slightly so that the rest of the building didn't fall on top of them.

" I got her!" Veil yelled as she pulled the woman out.

Orion slowly placed the rubble back down.

" Mommy!" Katie called out to her mom as se ran up to her.

" Oh, Kattie! Oh thank you, god. Thank you." The woman spoke as she ran up to her daughter

" Okay, that's." Orion was speaking. When out of the corner of his eye he saw another Mech approaching. The barrel of the machine gun started rotating and bullets started racing towards the group. ' Shit! The woman.' Orion cursed. He stepped in front of the Mech and ate most of the bullets. But the woman was still hit in her back. She collapsed to the ground and started bleeding out.

" Mommy?" Katie called out.

" No!" Veil yelled as she rushed towards the woman.

Orion turned back and glared at the man in the machine and jumped at him." HRAAAAGH!" Orion yelled. He reached out and tore through the machine grabbing both the pilot and the gunner.

" No!" The pilot yelled before Orion's hand crushed his skull.

" Eric!" The gunner yelled in terror.

Orion then grabbed the man by his legs and held him over his head.

" NO PLEASE! PLEAA AHHH!" The man yelled as Orion tore him in half. Orion stood there breathing heavily for a moment before turning and running back to Veil and the others. " Is she breathing?" Oriona sked.

" Yes, but she's losing blood quickly." Veil told the man.

" Okay, here. I'm faster. I'll get her to the doctor." Orion told Veil as he lifted the woman up.

" Is my mommy, okay?" Katie asked.

" She'll be okay. Veil take her to the door." Orion told the woman. He then took off with the woman in his arms towards the dimensional door. Once there Orion walked through and handed the woman to the doctors on the other side and then returned to help his teammates.

After an hour of constant fighting and destruction, the team finally dealt with the last Mech.

" Jesus." Reptil exclaimed as the team looked around the destroyed city. " What now?" he asked.

Falcon flew down towards the boy and spoke to him and the others. " We haven't met. I'm the Falcon. Wanted to let you know it's over. Well, here. That was the last of them. The others took off a while ago. I kept an eye on you. You did good. Saved a lot of lives." Falcon told the kids.

" Mr. Falcon. That lady stabbed Captain America. Is he?" Reptil asked.

" We're doing all we can we... I'm sorry your vets and I'm talking to you like kids." Falcon apologized. " He's dead." Falcon told them before flying away to help the Avengers.

James Bucanan Barnes the new Captain America had died during the fight.

" Good news!" Tigra yelled as she ran up to the teens. " The first responders have everything under control here. And there's an initiative sending heroes out across the country. Which means we get to go home. I'm proud of you all. Your first time going to war, and you preformed exactly as you were trained to. You accomplished your mission without a single casualty." Tigra told the kids.

But as Mettle and the others looked back all they saw were responders covering the bodies of the men and women who had died.

Jocasta opened a door nearby, and the team all went back to the mansion.

" Jocasta? Where are you? All your bodies are gone." Tigra asked the woman.

" They are with me in newfoundland on search and rescue duty. The situation is in hand." Jocasta explained. " But Tigra, I must inform you that Giant man, Quicksilver, and Justice have all been injured. They were in Dubai battling Absorbing man and Titania, their powers enhanced by mystic hammers. Dr. Pym managed to send them through a makeshift door to his research base in the arctic. But before they went through, they struck their hammers together. The shockwave rendered our teammates unconscious. They are currently being treated by medics. Given your relationship with Henry, I thought you might wish to be with him. I left a door open to the scene." Jocasta explained to the woman.

" Yeah, thank you." Tigra told the woman. " Kids get some rest. You need anything call me or Jocasta. Your fine on your own right?" Tigra asked the tired kids.

Everyone silently looked at Tigra without responding.

" Good." Tigra stated before running through the door.

" I need a shower." Orion stated as he walked away from the group.

The kids all split up and began trying to relax despite the war going on just outside of their doors.

' You did good for your first real war.' Cyttorak told the boy.' Now if only you'd stop holding back all the time. The deities who are attacking the earth cannot stop you. If only you'd let loose. You could stop this all.' Cyttorak told the boy.

" Since when have you played the role of a supportive father?" Orion asked.

' I've always been supportive. Of you not being raised like a human. Taking control of what is rightfully yours. This planet, any woman, anything. All of it could be yours.' Cyttorak told the boy.

" That would make me no better than the animals we face every day. And I don't want to rule. I enjoy the way things are now." Orion told the man.

' Oh, yes. Sitting on your ass while the world burns from a threat that you could be stopping. Quite the hero.' Cyttorak insulted the boy.

" That's enough from you." Orion stated. He shook his head and walked out of his room and towards Maddy's. When he arrived, her door was open and she was sitting on the bed. Orion knocked on the door, alerting the girl to his presence, and walked in.

Maddy was looking down at her yearbook when Orion arrived. " Hey."

" Hey." Orion replied. He walked over and sat down next to the girl and wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her close to him. " How are you holding up?" Orion asked the girl.

" I... I'm not doing too good. What we did today. That was horrible." Maddy told the boy.

" I know." Orion replied.

" I killed those people, Rion. What does that make me?" Maddy asked.

" You did what you needed to survive. We all did. The only thing that matters is we're here right now." Orion told the girl.

As the two sat together, Hazmat suddenly ran into the room.

" You have to talk to him." Hazmat spoke as she ran into the room.

Orion and Maddy both looked up at the girl as she stormed into the room.

" What?" Orion asked.

" Mettle he's all flipped out because he killed some Nazis. Please, Ken's my boyfriend and I want to help him, but I don't know what he's going through." Hazmat explained to the man. " But you do. You're a killer."

Orion looked at the girl and nodded. " I'll try." Orion told the girl. He got up from the bed and followed Hazmat towards the weight room.

The sound of heavy hits landing against Metal filled the halls. When Orion looked inside Mettle was punching one of the machines as hard as he could.

" Yo Ken." Orion called out to the man. " We spent all day fighting. I think it's time to rest man."

" I don't really get tired." Mettle told Orion as he continued punching.

" Neither do I. But even I know sometimes the best thing to do is just take a step back and try to rest. If we don't, we risk overexerting ourselves." Orion told the boy. " And Jenny's worried about you man."

" Why'd she send you? You Dr. Phil now or something?" Mettle asked.

" Because I killed some of those men too." Orion replied.

" Because they were shooting civilians?" Mettle turned around and asked.

" Because they had and because I thought they deserved it. And... Because it seemed right." Orion replied.

" Oh." Mettle stated.

" Remember when Justice made us write those research papers on post-traumatic stress?" Orion asked the boy. " Well, Maddy and I did ours on soldiers. The strongest predictor of whether combat troops would suffer Ptsd isn't if they got shot or if a friend died. It's if they killed someone." Orion explained to the boy.

" How do they get over it?" Mettle asked.

" Years of therapy." Orion stated.

" Had a feeling you'd say that man. Last thing I wanna do is talk about it. But I mean if you do." Mettle stated.

" Y'Know what I want to talk about man?" Orion asked. " Surfing."

" Surfing?" Mettle exclaimed.

" Yeah man. I grew up in the slums practically. I've always wanted too, but I never had the chance. What's it like?" Orion asked.

" Well, Um... Seeing the sun through the lip of a peeling barrel. Oh and when you catch the wave it's almost like flying. Like time just stops man." Mettle told the boy.

As the two talked Jenny and Maddy watched them through the glass window. Suddenly the whole mansion started shaking violently.

" What the hell?" Mettle yelled.

" We're under attack! We need to call the others." Orion told the boy as he got to his feet. As they dusted themselves off Hazmat and Veil ran into the room.

" Guys. What's going on?" Veil asked.

" We're under attack. Come on. We need to get to the communications room." Orion told the group as he started running down the hall. Veil, Hazmat, and Mettle all followed behind as Orion ran to the communications hub. When they got there, Veil quickly got to work trying to call the teachers. But found out quickly communications were down.

" None of the dimensional doors are working?" Mettle stated.

" The communicators either. I can't reach anyone." Veil stated

" Wait? So, we're stuck here alone?" Hazmat asked.

" Not alone." The Absorbing man who had been taken over by an ancient god stated as he and his partner titania walked into the room.

Hazmat turned and blasted them both in the face. " Get back!" She yelled. When she stopped both of the intruders appeared unfazed by her attack.

" Oh, this is bad." Hazmat stated.

Orion put his hand on Jenny's shoulder and moved her back, he then lunged at the creel. " RAAAAAGH!" Orion yelled. He punched Creel in his face and sent him crashing into the wall.

Titania's eyes turned red in anger. " You ant!" She raised her hammer and set off an explosion right in the boy's face causing him and the others to fall through the floor.

" Ugh!" Orion groaned as he got up from the ground. When he pulled his hand back there was blood dripping from his head. His eyes went wide in shock as this was the first time in his life he had bled.

" Are you alright?" Veil asked as she helped the boy to his feet.

" They're strong, that blast actually hurt me." Orion told the girl.

" Dude, you're bleeding." Mettle stated as he and Hazmat walked over.

" Don't worry about it. We need to move. The ceiling is coming down." Orion told the group. He and the others started running as the ceiling fell. Mettle himself stood behind hazmat and protected her from the Debrie.

"We're going to die! They're going to kill us!" Jenny yelled in a panic as she ran.

" No! We'll get through this." Mettle told the girl.

" How? They shrugged off everything I had! They made our big gun bleed. They're like gods now!" Jenny exclaimed.

" I'm bleeding, slightly. Not dead." Orion told the girl.

" Can you take them?" Veil asked.

" We'll find out." Orion stated.

" Well, what about what happened with Korvac? Veil took over his body." Mettle exclaimed.

" That was my adult body from the future. I don't have the experience to do it now." Veil told the boy.

" You remember some of it. What it felt like. You can do it again or Hazmat's right." Mettle told the girl. And as the team rounded the corner Titania was waiting for them. " We're dead."

" So you are." Titania spoke.

" Rahhh!" Orion yelled. he lunged at the woman and tackled her. " Run!" Orion yelled to the group.

" Get off me!" Titania yelled. She raised her hammer and smashed it into the side of Orion's head, knocking him off of her. She got to her feet and threw the hammer into Mettle's chest and sent the boy crashing into the void outside the mansion.

" Mettle! Damn it. I won't say it again, run!" Orion exclaimed. Hazmat grabbed Veil's arm and dragged her away as Orion stared down the empowered Titania

" You're strong boy. That blow would have been enough to tear a man's head off. Join the serpent as one of our acolytes and we'll spare your life." Titania told the boy.

" Join you? Sorry, not a chance. I already have one egomaniac in my head. I don't need another." Orion told the girl.

" Such a shame. You shouldn't have sent your little friends away then. Because now I'll make sure you watch them die." Titania told the boy.

Orion smirked at Titania making her scowl. " You've had your fun knocking me around. But I didn't send them away to protect them from you. I sent them away to protect them from me." Orion told the girl. " I can tell by the expression on your face you aren't catching on. So, I'll help you out. See, I'm not locked in here with you. YOU'RE LOCKED IN HERE ME!!!!" Orion yelled.

Titania swung her hammer down at Orion, in an attempt to smash his skull. But Orion caught the hammer.

" URGH!" Titania grunted as Orion slammed his fist into her jaw. She was sent spiraling across the hall and landed violently on the floor. As she got to his feet, she felt blood dripping from her mouth. " GRRRR!" She growled in anger.

" And I'm about to run wild." Orion told the woman as he stood over her.