Field Trip

" Is that the best you can do?" Orion asked Iron fist as the two sparred. " I think my Iron fist, might just be better than yours." Orion joked as he and Iron fist traded blows with one another.

" You are good. A little too good. I think Shang might have hit his stride with you." Iron fist praised the boy as he ducked under the oncoming fist. He then swung upwards, but Orion used his hand to push off the ground and spun around in the air and kicked at Iron fist. Iron fist blocked the kick and was pushed back a few feet. " All right. I think that's enough." Iron fist said to the boy.

Orion nodded and brought his hands together and the two bowed respectfully at each other.

" Well done. Everyone." Hank said to the students as the last match finished up. " Thank you, Iron fist for coming here today." Hank told the man.

" No, thanks necessary. I look forward to seeing great things from the next generation. With that being said, I believe it is time for me to take my leave." Iron fist said to the man.

" Yes. And it is time for us to leave for the trip to the raft as well." Hank told the students.

Everyone quickly made their way to the quinjet as Hank explained the rules to them. " Okay, one more time. Do not touch anything. Do not speak to any of the inmates unless instructed to. Do not look at the purple man's face or read his lips. Especially the girls. If you hear voices in your head or feel strange urges, alert us immediately." Hank explained to the students.

" Yeah, yea. We all saw silence of the lambs." Striker replied.

" This is not a joke, boy. They have to keep a muzzle on him to prevent him from using his teeth as projectile weapons. You will listen and do as you're told." Quicksilver explained aggressively to Striker.

Orion looked up from his book and saw that Veil had a strange expression on her face. Taking intrigue, he leaned over and tapped her on the shoulder. " What's wrong?" Orion asked the girl.

" I... Nothing. Just not excited about taking a trip to a supervillain prison." Veil replied.

" I can understand how you feel. But maybe this trip won't be so bad." Orion told the girl.

" Maybe. But I still don't like it. And... Well, nothing." Veil spoke before boarding the jet with Orion and the others.

The trip to the raft was a quiet but pleasant one, as Orion continued reading from his book, trying to keep calm and prepare himself mentally.

" All right, everyone. We're here." Hank told the students as they landed the Quinjet on the Raft's landing pad. " Remember the rules and try to have a good time and learn as much as you can." Hank told the kids before opening the hatch and leading them all outside.

Standing in the rain, Luke cage was waiting for Hank and the others

" Luke." Hank greeted the man.

" Hank." Cage replied.

" Shall we do this?" Hank asked.

" Damn right. Follow me." Luke told the group. He turned around and the guards standing at the door gave way to the man as the giant door to the raft started opening up, letting them all inside. " Welcome, kids to the raft. Supermax prison for the superpowered criminally insane." Luke explained as the group walked by the many prison cells.

" Hungry... Please... They looks so tender." One of the prisoners growled.

The group ignored the man and continued walking.

" Um... Mr. Cage, are you positive they can't get out?" Veil asked.

" Yeah, I mean let's be real. This place kind of has a reputation as a revolving door for these freaks." Striker added on.

" That was before." Luke replied.

" I can make women do anything I want. Little girls, too. You, redhead." The giant monkey man spoke directly to Veil. " When I get out, I'll come looking for you."

Veil looked visibly disturbed by the man's intent. Orion stood between the girl and the monkey, and then turned and growled at the monkey.

' Yes. That's it. Tear his eyes out. Rip him in half. Unleash destruction upon these animals.' Cyttorak ordered.

Orion shook his head once violently. " No, I am not your pawn." Orion mumbled

" Hey, fall back in line, boy." Luke told Orion.

" Come on, don't worry about him. He's stuck in there and isn't getting out anytime soon." Veil told the boy.

Orion nodded and continued walking with the others.

" I told you not to talk to them." Hank whispered to the boy angrily.

" I wasn't talking to him." Orion spoke.

" Now, back to what I was saying." Cage spoke up. " Whole Island's surrounded by a force field. We got power dampeners specially tailored for each inmate. Plus A.I. Controlled guns." Hank explained the island's defenses. " And we learned a lesson from Electro's little coming out party back in the day. Backed up the high-tech with low-tech. Nobody's getting out of here. Not in one piece anyway." Luke explained.

" Amen." Hazmat replied.

As they walked the group studied and observed each member of the prison until they finally got back outside.

" I know. Don't be ashamed. I've been around a long time, and there are days I don't wanna set foot in that place. But there's a reason I stay." Luke explained. " The thunderbolts program's always been about redemption. These days, it's a chance for inmates to turn their lives around. Don't matter how messed up they are or what kind of hell they been through. Only thing that determines where they go from here is them." Luke explained.

" Aren't we subtle." Striker stated bluntly.

" Gonna let you talk to a few of them. Aske them anything you want. Just make sure you're ready for the answers." Luke told the kids.

Up first, was the Ghost. Who seemed a little on edge. " Prison is an unpleasant place. Imagine being surrounded by your inferiors, persecuted for your intellect, for being a free thinker. Of course, that's what the prison industrial complex does. Perpetuates and enriches itself by incarcerating anyone who challenges the power structure. Who profits from all this? Well, if we examine Tony Stark's involvement in the Bilderberg group and the Illuminati." The ghost was explaining when Luke suddenly grabbed him.

" Okay, that's enough. Someone hasn't been taking his meds." Luke stated as he carried the man away.

" Can't you taste the mind control drugs in the food? How many vaccines have they given you? Henry Pym is shrinking to microscopic size and rewiring your brain." The ghost shouted.

" Dude." Mettle exclaimed nervously.

" Sorry about that everyone. Maybe not the best person to start off with. But then again this next one ain't exactly a saint either." Luke explained to the kids. He led them back inside and towards the room of the one and only Juggernaut. When the door opened Orion and Juggernaut both turned towards each other.

" You?! What are you doing here?!" Juggernaut asked the boy as he was familiar with the presences of Cyttorak.

" I don't know you." Orion replied.

" Wait... You aren't him. You're... No way." Juggernaut exclaimed. " I see. I gotta say kid, I thought I drew the short stick when it came to parents." Juggernaut told the boy.

" What do you mean?" Orion asked.

" Well, kid. My old man didn't drink coffee. He woke up by beatin the hell out of me. All I ever wanted was power. Enough power so no one could ever push me around again. I got it, and it didn't change a damn thing let me tell you that." Juggernaut explained to the boy. " I know what you're going through kid. I suffered that way for a while. Guys like him. My brother. My dad, the punks who run this place... They been using and abusing me all my life. When you're wired to think like a victim. That's all you'll ever be. I don't care what you've been through. You let fear pull your strings, decide what you do... You're as much a prisoner as anyone here." Juggernaut explained to everyone but spoke specifically to Orion himself. He then leaned down and whispered to the boy. " Fight it. Fight him. Show him you're in control of your own life and he won't be able to hold power over you ever again. You just have to find the strength and courage to fight him. He may be your father, boy. But he ain't your daddy." Juggernaut told the boy.

Orion listened carefully to the man's words.

' Foolish boy. Don't listen to the words of cur who only possess an eighth of my power.' Cyttorak stated.

' No! He's right. I'm not giving in. Not now! Not ever!' Orion thought.

" Do you have a codename kid?" Juggernaut asked.

" No, I don't. Haven't been able to think of one." Orion replied

" Well, I got the perfect one for ya. I'm thinking the title Juggernaut fits you more than it will ever fit me. So, how about it?" Juggernaut asked.

" The Juggernaut." Orion spoke and then smiled. " I like it." Orion stated.

" Do the name justice, kid. Make up for the mistakes that we did." Juggernaut told the boy.

" Wait? So, you're going to go by Juggernaut now?" Striker asked.

" Why not, there are about four different spidermen. There were at least four Captain America's. I think two Juggernauts is just fine. Besides, I like the way it sounds. It describes me perfectly" Orion explained to the boy.

" Hey, can I ask you a question sir?" Reptil walked up to Juggernaut and asked.

" You don't have to call me sir. Or ask? If you got a question just ask it." Juggernaut told the boy.

" Um... Could you say nothing can stop the Juggernaut?" Reptil asked.

Juggernaut took a deep breath and sighed." Sure." Juggernaut said lazily. " I'm the Juggernaut! And nothing can stop the juggernaut!" Juggernaut yelled exactly as he used to.

Orion turned to Veil as Juggernaut droned on and suddenly, Hazmat used her powers to turn the lights off.

" The hell?" Luke yelled. " Marko! You take one step and I'll." Cage was threatening the man.

" Keep your pants on, Cage. If I wanted to leave, you couldn't stop me." Cain told cage.

During the black out, Orion now the new Juggernaut watched as Mettle's red outline slipped away from the group. ' Where is he going?' Orion wondered. A nagging feeling nipped at the back of his head and Orion decided to follow Mettle just in case.

" Crossbones." Hazmat called out to the man as she, Veil, and Mettle approached his cell.

" Ain't you cute. My girlfriends about your age." Crossbones said to the girl.

" Where's Osborn?" Hazmat asked

" Why?" Crossbones asked in return.

Hazmat looked at the man and her hands started glowing.

" One floor down. Third cell on the left." Crossbones told the girl. " Do me a favor huh? Leave the doors open... So, I can hear the screams." cross bones said to the girl.

She and the others quickly walked down the stairs towards the next level with Orion following behind them.

They continued their search until they arrived at the cell of Norman Osborn.

" Well, aren't you a sight." Osborn exclaimed as he looked upon three of his test subjects. " They didn't know you could generate an Electromagnetic Pulse, did they?" Norman asked Hazmat. " I did. Well, I knew you'd learn. But even I'm surprised by how soon. I couldn't be more proud." Osborn praised the young girl. " You do realize they have emp-shielded backup systems that'll go online withing minutes?" Osborn asked the group.

" That's okay." Hazmat replied. " You'll be dead by then." Hazmat exclaimed.

" Wait- You're going to kill him?" Veil asked in disbelief. " Hazmat you said we were coming here to make him fix us. Tell us how to get back to normal."

" Grow up, Veil. If Dr. Pym can't fix us. Nobody can." Hazmat told the girl. " This is about making him pay."

" Hold on, I never- I didn't sign on for this. Mettle tell her." Veil asked the boy to stop Hazmat but it didn't work.

" HRRAAAGGH!" Mettle growled as he tore Osborn's cell door off. He then grabbed Osborn in a rage and slammed him up against the wall.

" Mettle-- Ken-- Don't do this!" Veil yelled as she struggled to hold the boy back.

" Why?" Mettle asked. " He deserves it. You're gonna die, Veil. Just drift away like a cloud. Dr. Pym says I could live forever like this. Can't touch. Can't feel, A face that makes my little sister scream." Mettle explained. " Do you know what you did to us, you bastard? Do you have any idea?!" Mettle asked Osborn.

" Yes, I made you magnificent." Osbron cackled. " I gave you the tools to rise above the sheep. And I don't mean your powers. Yes, I augmented them. But power without direction is just sound and fury." Osborn explained to the teens." What I provided you is the means to control your own destiny. The strength, the motivation, the example."

" You ruined our lives!" Mettle yelled. Mettle pulled his fist back to punch Osborn, but found his hand was stuck and he couldn't move it. He turned and looked back to see that Orion had grabbed it and was holding it in his hands.

" Orion? How did you?" Veil asked.

" I saw, Mettle leaving. I've been following his red outline ever since. And I am sorry, Veil. I had no idea you were slowly falling apart." Orion told the girl. " And I'm sorry, Mettle. But I can't let you make this mistake. Because once you take his life, there is no coming back from it." Orion told the boy.

" What would you know?" Hazmat asked.

Orion sighed and looked down. " When I was fourteen, two armed men broke into my house and killed my mother. I snapped. And in a rage, I killed them both. I beat them both with my fists into bloody puddles. I left nothing remaining, not even bones. I was uncontrollable. I couldn't move my body. But I was aware of everything I did. That night I fought Dr. Strange, and I would have killed him if he wasn't trying to subdue me. Strange thinks I don't know this. But I do. And I remember the way those men screamed in terror and pleaded with for their lives. And let me tell you, Mettle. Hazmat. I went to sleep every night for two years reliving that night. And it was only recently that I finally stopped having them so consistently." Orion explained to the three teens who looked at him a little sad.

" I told you I was a monster. But you all... You're not." Orion finished.

" Oh, how touching you make me sick boy." Osborn said to Orion.

" Careful, Osborn." Orion warned the man.

" Hahaha! Well, I must say this is all very entertaining. But killing me isn't what they want anyway. I know what it is. More control over their powers? The freedom to have awkward, inept sex with their inferiors without killing them?" Osborn asked.

" You're lying. Pym's smarter than you and he can't." Hazmat was arguing.

" Pym is shackled by closed mindedness and fear. What he would no doubt call professional ethics. He never could have brought you to this point but seems to have no problem exploiting you now that I've done it." Osborn explained. " And it occurred to me he may already have the answers, but is withholding them to give you leverage over you? I could give you everything you want. I would have, given time. Unfortunately, I hit a bump in the road." Osborn explained to the teens.

" Wait. Are you saying?" Veil was asking.

" Fix you? Yes, I can." Osborn told the girl.

" He's trying to manipulate us. Manipulate us into breaking him out of here before the power comes back on." Hazmat explained.

" Ph, it's too late for that. The alarms have already sounded. The backup systems will kick in at any moment." Osborn explained. " No, I'm afraid it won't be today. It will be someday soon. And I would so like to finish what I started with you. Show you the unlimited potential that lies within you. The greatness." Osborn explained. " You should go. We don't want Pym and his cronies thinking we're too cozy. But know this. I am very proud of you. Run along now." Osborn told the kids before sitting down in his cell.

Orion grabbed Mettle's shoulder and nodded.

The group all quickly left Osborn's cell and made their way back to the stair way to return to the group.

" Well? What do you think about what he said?" Veil asked.

" Don't tell me you believed him." Hazmat replied.

" I don't know!" Veil yelled. " I just don't want to kill anybody." Veil exclaimed. " You left him there too."

" Yeah, and I want to punch myself because I don't know why." Hazmat replied.

" Because we're all drowning, and he might have a life-preserver." Mettle stated.

Orion was going to say something, but the wall in front of them exploded and powder keg along with Soeedball, Justice, and Tigra came crashing through.

" RUN! This is powderkeg! Anything he hits explodes!" Tigra yelled to the kids.

Just as Orion recomposed himself, Powderkeg punched him in his face causing an explosion to go off. When the dust cleared there was a silence and then...

" RAAAGHHH!" Orion's eyes snapped open, and he attacked powderkeg. He raised his fist and punched the man in his stomach and drilled him straight into the floor of the stairway, causing it to collapse, making everyone still in it to fall with them to separate levels. Orion crashed down on top of Powderkeg and lifted him up by his throat and squeezed.

" Orion, stop!" Veil yelled as she ran up to the boy.

Orion was angered. For the first time in years, he felt his rage starting to pile over. But as he looked into Powderkeg's scared eyes and heard Veil's yells he slowly started to breathe again.

" Put him down. This isn't you. You don't have to do this." Veil pleaded.

' HEhehe! Yes, you do. You want to. He attacked you without reason. That makes him an enemy. And we crush our enemies.' Cyttorak told the boy.

" Orion, please. You're not a monster. I know you aren't. This is your chance. Just let him go." Veil told the boy.

Orion's grip on the man's neck slowly started to ease up and eventually he just dropped him.

" Sorry, I'm just a little on edge tonight." Orion told the girl.

" It's okay." Veil replied.

" Glad to see you're not gone, kid. Now go join your friends and get out of here." Juggernaut told the boy as he came storming through with Man-Thing on his shoulders.

Orion and Veil nodded and followed the path of destruction the Juggernaut left behind towards Hazmat and Mettle. When the two arrived, the teachers had already stopped the remaining escapees and were in the process of tying them up. After the cleanup Cage and Hank grilled the teens on their reckless behavior.

" Sweet Christmas!" Luke yelled. " You wanna kill Osborn? Get in line! Ain't no excuse for bein stupid! You coulda set him free or got who-knows-how-many people killed! Not to mention yourselves!" Luke yelled.

" You don't know what he did to us." Hazmat replied.

" Yeah? He put a bomb on my heart! Came after my wife! You see me tearing off his cell door?" Luke asked. " You have got to be the dumbest mother loving... Pym, take over before I start cursin for real." Cage told the man.

" Luke, I'm sorry. You're right. It was reckless and dangerous. And I share the blame. Given their history, I should've thought twice before bringing them here." Hank explained to the man. " Students, I understand how you all feel but you need to understand the magnitude of what almost happened here. Answer me honestly did you have anything to do with the blackout?" Hank asked the kids.

" No, we didn't." Orion replied. " I was with them the entire time and when the lights went off, I guess they just decided it was the right time."

" But we couldn't hurt him." Mettle spoke up. " Even after everything he did to us. We... We just couldn't." Mettle explained.

" All right. You made a mistake and you'll be disciplined for it, as you should be. But I want you to know... What you didn't do today is as significant as what you did." Hank told the kids. " We all understand why you wanted to kill Osborn. But when the time came you walked away. That speaks to your character. To the kind of people, you are. I don't want to minimize what you did; how wrong it was. But that you made the right choice in the end. It gives me hope for everything we're doing." Hank explained. " Now, get on the jet."

The teens nodded and all boarded the jet.

" Why did you do that?" Veil asked Orion.

" Do what?" Orion asked in return.

" Why did you just stick your neck out for us?" Hazmat joined in.

" I... I don't know. I didn't want you guys to be like me. Constantly haunted by your demons." Orion explained before turning to look out the window.

Veil placed her hand over Orion's as the boy looked out the window. " Orion, you were angry and yet you didn't kill that guy. You're physically the strongest of us all and yet you still held back. If that doesn't say something about who you are I don't know what does." Veil told the boy.

Orion glanced at the girl out the corner of his eye and cracked a small smile before turning back to the window to see Cyttorak grinning at him.

' Yes, you held back. But think how much you had to strain yourself to do so. Doesn't it hurt fighting it back all the time? Just go ahead and cut loose. Give in to your inner beast and show the world just how powerful you really are... Juggernaut.' Cyttorak sneered as he talked to the boy.