20 New recruits!

Two weeks had passed since he had awoken in the medical wing of the school's new headquarters on West coast Island, the former home to the west coast Avengers. Orion had been bound to his bed to finish healing the wounds the serpent had done to him as though his burn marks healed quickly, even his healing factor couldn't completely fix the damage done to him by the serpent directly. For the most part, Orion spent his time in his room sulking over his unfortunate breakup, only ever leaving his room to Shower and to have his bandages changed by Hank.

Orion was sitting on his bed staring at the floor, when he heard a knock on his door.

" Orion? I'm coming in." Hazmat spoke. She opened the door and walked in to see the mess he was sitting in.

" What is it, Jenny?" Orion asked.

" I came to see how you were doing." Hazmat told the boy. " We've hardly seen you around the past two weeks."

" Sorry but being forced to sit things out because of these wounds and... Well, you know. I just haven't had the motivation to do much." Orion told the girl.

" I'm sorry for that. After everything between you two, you put your life on the line, and she leaves without saying a word to you. I can't imagine how much that hurts." Hazmat told the boy softly. " But you need to get over it." She suddenly straightened up and spoke sternly, surprising the boy. " You should be lucky. You get to be a hero and be with anyone you want. Me, my powers are always active, I leak radiation. I can't stand near anyone, I can't touch anyone, I can't kiss anyone without killing them." Hazmat told the boy.

Orion listened to the girl and knew that she was right.

" So, get it over, and come outside. We miss you. I miss you. Things just haven't been the same without you." Hazmat told the boy.

Orion gazed into Hazmat's eyes, her stubborn and brash personality showing even when trying to be nice and Orion cracked a small smile.

" Alright, I guess you're right. I can't sit and waste away in here, right?" Orion told the girl.

" That's what I'm talking about. Now, come on. We're gonna be late for class today." Hazmat told the boy. She grabbed him by his arm and started pulling him towards the door of his room.

" Wait." Orion told the girl.

" What?" Hazmat asked.

" I have to shower and change my bandages first." Orion told the girl. Hazmat seemed skeptical at first, but quickly nodded in agreement.

" Okay, just don't take too long. And you better show up or else." Hazmat told the boy she then turned back and walked out of the room.

Orion sighed heavily as he rubbed his head, the feeling of exhaustion still weighing down heavily on him.

' Having second thoughts?' Cyttorak asked.

" No, actually. Jenny made a lot of sense. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be." Orion replied. " Not like you really care though." Orion grabbed his things and quickly cleaned up and got his bandages changed. Once he was done, he made his way outside to join the rest of his team during their training.

When he got outside, he saw that his teammates were watching as one of their teachers, Tigra, fought a young girl with metal claws coming out of her hands and feet.

" Interesting. I automatically want to go for disembowelment with my foot claws. But you use yours for killing strikes. The major organs." Tigra stated.

" Your instincts are those of a cat whose claws won't penetrate to the heart. I was trained as an assassin to kill as quickly and decisively as possible." Laura explained to the woman.

" Well, I'm Impressed. You obviously don't need combat training. I hope you can learn from us in other ways. As I'm sure we'll learn from you." Tigra told the girl. She wrapped her arm around Laura's shoulder and walked her up to the others. " Class, meet your newest member, her name's Laura... You may know her as X-23." Tigra explained to the class. " And this is good day for you to have joined us, Laura, as I see another one of our members who was on bed rest has finally returned. Orion, welcome back to the team."

Orion was greeted back by his teammates with a round of applause, even the new ones he didn't recognize clapped for him.

" Thank you, everyone. I'm happy to see you are all okay." Orion told the others.

" Orion, since you been bed ridden, we've opened up our doors to more students. Please allow me to introduce you to your newest teammates, White tiger." Tigra told the man.

" Nice to meet you. Heard about what happened in New York. Nice!" White tiger told the boy.

" Thank you. It's nice to meet you." Orion replied.

Tigra stepped up and introduced the next young lady, " This is Lightspeed."

The young blonde in the rainbow-colored suit stepped forward and waved. " Hi, you can just call me Julie." Lightspeed told the boy.

" A pleasure." Orion replied.

Tigra then grabbed Laura and brought her up to introduce the girl. " And as I'm sure you just heard; this is Laura."

Unlike the others, Laura didn't introduce herself. Instead, she locked eyes with Orion, her bright emeralds gazing deeply into his blue orbs. When Orion looked back, he related her stare as that of a predator trying to size up its prey. So, Orion gazed back just as strongly, not showing any signs of weakness.

The others backed away as the tension between the two seemed to grow deadly, however, just as they thought Laura was going to strike; Laura smiled ever so slightly at Orion.

Orion nodded at the girl and Laura nodded back.

" Excuse me... Dr. Pym would like me to join you. I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter." Laura spoke. " Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Laura Kinney. I was cloned from Wolverine's DNA. Raised in a lab. Trained to kill with maximum efficiency and no remorse. I began showing emotion, hesitation. My trainers responded by creating a trigger scent that sends me into a murderous rage, overriding all higher thought. As of age twelve, I worked as an assassin. I have murdered men, women, children, and animals. I killed everyone at my birth facility, including my own mother. I have little understanding of normal feelings, relationships or behavior. And to this day, if I smell the trigger scent, I will slaughter anyone in sight." Laura explained to the others everything from her origin.

The others all looked at each other before turning back to Laura.

" So, they forced you to be like this? Cool you'll fit right in." Mettle told the girl.

Everyone seemed to be welcoming, Laura with open arms.

" I have difficulty with emotions as well. I've constructed flashcards." Finesse told the girl

" This trigger scent... It doesn't smell anything like axe body spray, does it?" Striker asked the girl.

" Hahahah!" Orion laughed. He extended his hand out to Laura and smiled. " Sounds like you'll fit right in." Orion told the girl.

Laura nodded and shook the boy's hand the first step for both towards the future is a big one.