The masters of evil!

Standing in the atrium, surrounded by statues of the first avengers, Hank gave his welcoming speech to the first seven members of Avengers Academy. " Your future starts today, and so does ours. I helped found the Avengers. I've seen our best moments... And our worst. We're coming out of a dark period. We fought amongst ourselves and let Norman Osborn use the dissention to seize control. But that's over and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say we're entering a new golden age. You are a crucial part of that. Osborn sought out dozens of young superhumans. Of them you all are the elite. You show the greatest potential to become the heroes of tomorrow. Avengers Academy exists to show you how." Hank explained to the group of teens. " Tigra is a veteran of the Avengers, east and west coast, as well as the initiative and the police. No one's more qualified to teach all facets of law enforcement. Justice and Speedball founded the new warriors when they were your age. They've been down this road. They'll help you replicate their successes and avoid their mistakes. And Quicksilver is one of our most senior Avengers. Just as Osborn tried to shape you in his image, the villain Magneto did the same with him. But also like you Quicksilver refused to be used. He joined the Avengers and trained under Captain America. Training he'll pass on to you. Starting right now." Hank explained.

The team was led to the training room by justice and Speedball of the new warriors.

" All right, we're gonna take things easy to see where you are skill wise. And non-lethal's only." Speedball explained. He turned on the room and many green androids appeared and started attacking the students and Speedball.

Orion watched as the drones circled him. One of the drones approached him from his side ready to attack " Dooraya!" Orion yelled as he back handed the machine into the ground, destroying it with ease. Orion then raised his hands and watched as each drone moved around him, until one tried approaching. " Hiyaagh!" Orion drove his fist into the drone's chest and punched right through it. He then turned around quickly and side-stepped an attacking drone. " Hraaaa!" Orion slammed both of his palms into the machine's torso and the force pushed its core out through it's back. Orion looked up and jumped to attack the drone above him, hitting it with an uppercut that destroyed its head. When Orion landed, he was swarmed by the remaining drones. He threw his fist back over his shoulder and punched the first one away. He then thrusted forward and slammed his right hand into the next one's chest. He quickly threw his right hand back over his shoulder and punched the next one away. And then kicked the last one in its chest. " Rah!" Orion stomped the ground and posed like a beast.

" Well, done everyone. I'm turning up the difficulty." Speedball explained as he dialed up the difficulty of the training room.

The students began getting pressured more by the training drones. Hazmat in particular found herself becoming more and more overtaken without the use of her powers.

" Okay, fine. You want to take the gloves off?" Hazmat asked. She then flipped over the attacking drone " They're fucking off!" Hazmat yelled as she blasted the drone with a radiation beam.

Speedball then immediately subdued the girl with his energy balls. " What the hell's wrong with you?" Speedball asked the girl. " That was a radiation blast! We said nothing dangerous!" Speedball chided the girl.

" The name's hazmat. As in hazardous materials. It's what I do." Hazmat replied.

" There are non-lethal options. Until you have total control of your powers, that's all you use." Speedball told the girl. " You want to kill someone? You want to go in to take down some psycho and accidentally incinerate a bus full of kids?" Speedball asked, obviously still reeling from the events that happened in Stamford that led to the first superhuman Civil War. " You want to wake up every night hearing screams and smelling burnt pork?" Speedball asked the girl.

At this point Justice approached his teammate and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Robbie, it's okay. I've got it from here." Justice told the man.

" Man, pop a pill." Hazmat said to Speedball.

" Take a break, now.' Justice ordered Speedball.

Speedball huffed and walked away. " Yeah, okay." Speedball spoke as he left the room.

" Everyone else good job for your first, training exercise. Orion, nice spacing. Your technique was flawless. Overall, you handled yourself well." Justice told the boy. " Veil, it was smart using your gas to aid your allies. But be mindful you don't blind them in the process."

" Yes sir, Justice." Veil replied.

" Finesse, good job, you handled yourself well. Mettle, you and Reptil as well. That's all for today. Feel free to eat and wash up. We'll continue training tomorrow." Justice told the class before leaving the training room.

The teens all nodded and quickly left the training room.

" Yo, Rion." Mettle called out to Orion as they walked.

" Hm?" Orion turned to the boy.

" Dude, what was the kung-fu you were doing earlier man? That was so cool!" Mettle exclaimed.

" Oh, it was a style I thought of while I trained. I call it the The Tekken style." Orion answered the boy.

" What's that mean?" Veil asked.

" It means Iron fist." Orion replied.

" That's cool dude. Can you teach it to me?" Mettle asked.

" No, it wouldn't be beneficial for you. You're too weak." Orion replied bluntly.

" Harsh dude." Mettle mumbled.

" I meant that you aren't fundamentally built for the style. You're too slow." Orion explained. " If I were you, I'd focus more on wrestling. It fits more a guy your size. And it would help you open up your stance more." Orion stated.

" You think so?" Mettle asked.

" I think... Ugh!" Orion suddenly grunted and grabbed his head in pain.

' Stop wasting your time with these weaklings. Just kill them all.' Cyttorak whispered.

" Hey, Orion are you alright?" Veil asked as she approached the boy. She stuck her hand out and Orion jerked away.

" DON'T!" Orion yelled making the girl and the others all flinch slightly. Orion looked at the girl's scared expression and took a deep breath. " Sorry. I'm fine. Just need a moment." Orion told the girl.

" Well, aren't you jumpy? What afraid of women?" Striker asked.

" None of your business." Orion replied.

" Oh, come on man. Let's not be a bunch of downers. Let's change the subject. Who's got an interesting to share?" Reptil asked.

" Well, I think I've got something." Finesse spoke up drawing the intrigue of her teammates.

" Well, what is it?" Striker asked.

" Well, I happened to catch the teachers talking about us. Speedball said they had to lie to us. And that if we ever found out the truth... And that was all I could get before they turned away. But they were talking about some big secret being kept from us." Finesse explained.

" What, you a lip reader?" Mettle asked.

" Since I was five." Finesse replied. " I'm a polymath, Mettle. I acquire skills and knowledge at an accelerated rate. I drink them in." Finesse explained. " I graduated M.I.T. at fourteen. I was training for the Olympics when Osborn found me. I don't make mistakes. And I know what I saw." Finesse explained.

" Well, there's one way to find out what he meant. They'll have files on us, right?" Striker asked. " Our permanent records? Well, everyone's away tonight except Pym, and he's locked in his lab making sweet love to test tubes. Let's hack into the systems." Striker suggested.

" I'm sorry, did MacGyver join up and I missed it?" Reptil asked. " This is the Avengers. They have security. Who here knows advanced computer programming and counter-espionage?" Reptil asked.

Finesse raised her hand and Striker smiled.

" All right. This is what we'll do. Veil and I will help deal with any locked doors and I'll short out any security devices. And then Finesse will do the rest. How's that sound?" Striker asked the group.

" I don't know guys." Veil spoke.

" I agree. Maybe we shouldn't." Orion spoke.

" Oh, come on, guys. Don't you want to know what they're hiding? I know I do." Striker told the two.

Veil hesitated for a second before nodding.

" Very well. But be sure to mind your own business." Orion told the boy.

" All right. Hold tight guys. We'll be right back." Striker told the group before running off with Veil and Finesse.

" So, while we wait for those guys, how about telling us more about you man. We've all prety much been messed by Osborn. But where did you come from?"

" I was trained by Dr. Strange and Shang-Chi. That's it." Orion replied.

" Dude. That's awesome." Mettle said to the man.

" So, what? Were you an Orphan or something?" Hazmat asked.

" Yes. No, I'd like to change the subject." Orion said to the girl.

' You want to shut them up? Then just kill them boy. Do what you were created for.' Cyttorak ordered the boy.

Orion winced in pain. But was able to once again push back the feeling. ' Getting stronger. Gotta stay calm.' Orion thought to himself.

Orion took the time to compose himself and when he looked back up Striker and the others were returning signaling that some time had gone by.

" So?" Mettle asked.

" So, Y'know what they've been telling us? About how, out of all of the young superhumans, Osborn tracked down, We're the best? The ones with the greatest potential to be heroes?" Striker asked the group.

" Yeah. I can hear in this suit ya know. What about it?" Hazmat asked.

" It's a lie." Striker stated bluntly, shocking the teens.

' What?' Orion wondered.

" We're not the most powerful. We're not the smartest. We're not the most highly trained. We're the ones Osborn tortured the worst." Striker explained to the group. " The ones whose psych tests set off alarms. We're not here because they think we have what it takes to be the next Captain America. The next Avengers. We're here because they're worried we'll be the next Red Skull. The next Masters of evil." Striker explained. " They're afraid of us." Striker stated bluntly.

The faces of Reptil, Hazmat, and Mettle all shifted between anger and sadness.

" They should be." Finesse stated happily.

Veil, however, seemed to be the one most hurt by this.

Orion reached over and placed his hand on the girl's shoulder. " Don't be upset. I know you aren't a bad guy." Orion told the girl.

" I'm glad to hear you think otherwise. But how can you tell?" Veil asked.

" Because a monster knows another monster when he sees one." Orion told the girl before walking away. " At least now I know they see it too."