Introduction: The camp

Welcome to Camp Seneca!

This isn't your average run of the mill summer camp, although it sure looks like one with dorms for the girls and boys, a mess hall where the campers will eat all of their meals, a lake where they can swim, canoe and all the other aspects of a summer camp. Oh no, this is a camp where future heroes come and train, some of these kids are children of past Avengers, X-men, and others that have fought to protect the world from danger. Here they will be put to the test to see if they can become part of the team that everyone knows as: "The Avengers."

Not only will they be tested on physical and mental strength, they will also be tested on how well they work with others, strangers that they don't even know. Can they get along? Will they get along and prove that they are worthy of joining the new breed of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Agent Winters is in the main office going through a list of files of campers, as she reads she lets out a small sigh. This was going to be a long summer, some of theses kids are going to make her job a lot harder. Though she always did like a challenge and isn't afraid to take on difficult tasks, she just hopes that they will take her seriously as she isn't much older than some of them. But she won't take crap from any snot nosed teenagers, not once, not ever.

A black SUV pulls into the drive way, and in the back seat sits Arial listening to her iPhone she looks out the window and sighs before looking back at her parents. "I don't know why I have to prove I am worthy of joining the Avengers, hello I'm a demi-god. Isn't that proof enough?" She asked before turning off the music, "seriously I can take these kids on blindfolded." She groans.

"Arial what have I told you?" Thor spoke to her, "being arrogant gets you no where, trust me I've learned from it. Now go on and try to have fun, your mother and I will see you in a few months." He told Arial as she got out of the car, Arial just looked back at them sighing.

"Alright fine, bye guys I love you." Arial smiled before watching them drive off, she let out another sigh and walked towards where the campers would meet. The blonde haired blue eyed teen is wearing a Beatles T-shirt with torn skinny jeans and black and white converse shoes, she finds a picnic table and sits down before waiting for others.

Mary was grinning. She had spent more than half of their journey pinching her brother. Her father barely seemed to notice the golden sparks as they appeared and disappeared on the boy's arms. Either that or he didn't really care, but she doubted that. She thought about where they were going, Summer camp, the thought of it was strange to her, could she fit in with others like her? She knew she couldn't with her brother but maybe others would be different entirely. Of course she knew who the Avengers were, her father had encountered SHIELD once or twice, it was the only reason she was here, they had offered. But why she couldn't go with other mutants was beyond her. It was all her stupid brother's fault. Moving her hand to adjust her hair she focussed on her brother's arm, manifesting her ability and giving a particularly painful pinch whilst pouting to herself.

The journey had been terrible for Sam, he had hated every moment of it, his father ignoring his sister's victimising of him, it wasn't his fault.. well, maybe it was but he didn't deserve this. He had tried paying attention to the scenery but it hadn't helped. It would have been more interesting but for the fact that Mary was an evil witch. 'Well maybe not a witch but.. well she's just evil' he thought to himself with a smile that quickly turned into a grimace and yelp of pain as she pinched him particularly hard. He had had plenty of training to resist pain but his sister knew exactly how to hurt him.

"Quiet back there!" Hellion shouted to his children, "You know better than that, Sam, I thought you could take more." Sam growled to himself and pretended to pat his sister on the shoulder in a gesture of friendship but in reality dropped the temperature surrounding her. Within moments she was shivering, not just from the cold but from anger. Hellion could tell they were about to fight again and rolled his eyes before jerking the car to a halt. He could have flown them all there, by jet or his power but that would have been rather obvious. With a sigh he restrained his children. When the green glow disappeared, the two of them were out on the road, their luggage on top of them. "Now you two be good or else." Mary and Sam nodded and got to their feet, taking in their surroundings while their father left them. It wouldn't be long, but maybe it would be worth it.

Mary smiled to herself as she saw another girl exit a vehicle nearby, she thought she saw someone she recognised, a member or the old Avengers?, but couldn't place the face properly or his name so she let the matter drop for now. For a moment she actually felt quite alone and lost, her brother was the only person she knew. She took a small step closer to him. He might be annoying but she was scared, even though she would never admit it to him.

Sam smiled as his father left, this was brilliant, he was ready for everything, to develop on his own. Be an Avenger or something. He didn't mind, it was going to just be awesome. Within seconds he had frozen, melted and evaporated a small puddle that had been under his right foot. Sam's smile turned into a grin and he looked to his sister, saw she was looking lost and scared and put his hand on her shoulder "Let's go show them what mutants are made of, I hear there were gods in the Avengers, I bet they stand no chance against us!" and he took a confident step forward. Only to fall flat on his face after his sister had been tying his shoelaces together while he'd talked. She smiled and began walking into the camp while her brother laughed to himself and began sorting his shoes.

Arial was holding her phone up in the air, no signal, like at all. The young girl groaned, she really didn't notice the other kids that were arriving she was too busy attempting to get some bars. From the looks of her you would think she was spoiled, and she was a little more so back on Asgard where she could get anything she wanted. But back on Earth it was different, no video games, internet, training with Thor until she did her homework and if she got anything less than an 90% on a test and report card all of that would be taken away from her, though Arial always did get good grades after all she was a genius.

"Why couldn't grandmother and Uncle teach me how to get a damn signal, this sucks." Arial complained and finally looked up to notice the two new comers, "oh..Looks like more kids are showing up, about time someone else came." Arial stood up and watched them, from the looks of them she could take them on.

Alisha continued to watch on, "so the daughter of Thor has shown up. The children of Hellion have just arrived, let's see how the three of them introduce themselves." She thought to herself.

"Hey Buck, I got something for you." It had been a while since Steve visited, what with his fancy new job as a administrator managing super-heroes. Whatever the hell that was. James had made himself at home in the Avenger's tower, but he missed his old best friend. That was why, when the original stars and stripes hero showed up, the last thing James wanted to talk about was some summer camp for heros' kids. He wanted to catch up, talk about their latest missions, that kind of thing. But Steve had something else in mind.

He came over to where James was sitting at the kitchen table and dropped an envelope in front of him. "What's this?" James glanced up at him with a furrowed brow before slowly tearing the letter open. He pulled out a...brochure. His eyes scanned it over for a moment before he looked up at Steve, a 'are you shitting me' expression on his face.
"Don't you think I'm a little old for summer camp?"

Rogers smiled and gave a chuckle. "Didn't you used to say you always wanted to go?" He pulled a chair out and sat down in it. "I thought you might like to be counselor there. You know, a teacher. You could help train them."
"Why the hell would I like that?" James gave him another look, wondering where all this was coming from. He didn't even like kids; there was a reason he didn't have any. He wondered if this was another one of Steve's crazy plots to get him 'back out there and into the world'. The guy just couldn't seem to get that James was perfectly fine sitting in his hideyhole, occasionally doing mission work and then going back.

"Aw come on, Bucky." Steve was one of the few people who still called him that. One of the few people he let still call him that. "I think you'll like it. These kids need someone to look up to. They could use a strong hand to teach them discipline and help guide them. It'll be good for you, too; getting back out there and into the world."
Goddammit, he knew it.
"Steve, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I don't need you setting up playdates for me. I'm perfectly fine on my own."
"That's not what I've heard, Buck." Roger's expression changed to one of concern; pity. "The other guys have told me you've been having those dreams again. Being cooped up in here won't help you."
"And you think this will?!" He suddenly snapped. "What if something happens?! What if I regress and- and kill someone?!" He glared at his best friend with a face of anger before something wet touched his hand. He looked under the table were Lehigh sat. The dog looked up at him with those liquid brown eyes, calm and serene. His shoulders dropped.

"I know you don't have much faith in yourself, Buck, but I do. We do." Steve hadn't even flinched at his outburst. "I've already talked it over with Fury and everyone else, they've arranged to take your workload for most missions if you agree. It's all already set up, all you have to do is go do it."
James was unconvinced. He stubbornly crossed his arms, his face stony. Rogers sighed. "And if you don't like it, you can leave and we can find someone else." James remained silent for several moments. Steve watched him, trying to figure out what was going on in that head.
"Fine. I'll do it. But on the first sign of an episode, all bets are off. I'm not going to put other people in danger."
"It's a deal," Steve grinned as he put his hand out. James rolled his eyes and begrudgingly shook on it.
"The taxi will be here in twenty minutes, all your stuff is already packed."
"Wait, what?"


James found himself looking at the camp's brochure, chuckling at the memory of how he wound up here. He really needed to talk to Natasha about her bad influence on Rogers. James sat out on the front steps of his cabin, which he thankfully had all to himself. His golden lab sat beside him, her head in his lap. He dropped one hand to rub one of her velvety ears. He supposed he was glad she'd come along.

The camp wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be. There were a few brats, sure, but a lot of the kids were pretty decent. He saw a younger version of himself in several of them. He'd somehow managed to go from dreading the idea of staying here to regretfully liking the place. It just...sorta grew on him. It reminded him of the good ol' days, back in the army. Before everything got messed up and complicated.

The shutting of a car door off in the distance caught his attention. James looked up to see yet another kid being dropped off. He supposed it was about time for another round of them to come through and get broken in. Being one of the camp 'counselors', he should probably be over there doing something. James slowly stood, Lehigh's head picking up off his lap and laying back across her paws. She watched as he made his way across the soccer field to the main hall, her tail thumping. It was a pretty hot day out, but yet James was wearing black army pants and long sleeved hunter green shirt. Was he hot? Of course he was. But it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He was used to running around in heavy suit with guns and a shield, after all. He still sported the Captain America hood, refusing to let anyone get a good look at his face. After being off the grid so long, the last thing James Barnes wanted was an incident.

'It's only us...and the long dirt road...'

Gary sighed, adjusting his small, compact white camping duffel bag, the strap digging into his shoulder. The boy wore some clothing he had stolen from an expensive store only a few hours earlier - A black hoodie with a white spider symbol on the back, white jeans, and black boots with mottled white straps. Everything was relatively sturdy and fit for someone of his stature. That is, a homeless, wandering mutant. He could turn his black and white Venom suit into his clothing, but often, when he attempted to do something like that, Venom would take control and play a practical prank - dressing him in really, really tight leather, or incredibly revealing outfits that made him blush by simply thinking about it. So, he opted to simply steal actual fabric clothing instead of depending on his powers.

'It's not like we're exempt from corruption...' The thought passed through his brain without his control, and Gary once again heaved a massive sign, his hooded, shadowed face glancing into the sun before looking back down at the dirt trail in front of him. Ignore Venom's corruption, and focus. Focus. An HD version of a map sprouted in his vision, and the Symbiote focused. The camp was only a few miles down this path...well, 10 miles, but that's nothing he couldn't top in a few minutes or so. It was rather obvious due to the cars, gates, and facilities that would most-likely be set up there. Mentally forcing the image away, into one of his 'filing cabinets', Gary tightened his duffel bag before cracking his neck. It was time to hurry, before it got too late into the day - or was it morning? He had gotten really shit at reading time, after living most of his life on the run. But...he wouldn't have to do that anymore. Actual training, and control over his powers. He couldn't wait.

"Let's get to it..." His voice came out in it's usual stoic, echoing tone that sounded as if multiple people were speaking at once. A sharp-toothed smile overcoming his pale features, Gary raised a hand into the air and clenched it, a thick, extremely durable thread of white webbing blasting from his clenched fist, and darting deep into the air at an almost instantaneous speed. Gary grabbed onto the webbing and swung with the momentum, the swing taking him miles above the air before he discarded the webbing and blasted another one out of his other fist, the swings quickly taking him above the forest and through the air at insane speeds. "We're almost there..." A bubble of excitement began building inside the teenager's chest. He couldn't wait...

---

Gary saw the large, homely camp mid-swing. He was currently miles into the air, amongst the clouds, but one somersault caused him to slice the thread and dive-bomb downwards, right towards the entrance of the camp. His hood was blasted backwards showing his short, rugged black Mohawk, scarred features, and inky black eyes. A fanged grin was on his face, showing his extremely sharp - and extremely lethal shark teeth, as the boy reveled in the freedom of free-falling.

"Hup!"

Exhaling a grunt, Gary flipped upside down once he was an inch above the ground, a thick stream of webbing blasting from his feet and sticking to a sturdy oak, allowing him to nimbly, and safely, land on his finger tips. Flipping back around and dispelling the webbing, Gary coughed lightly, straightening his windblown clothing, and readjusting his bag. He could see other teenagers already wandering around, and his stomach did a mighty heave. This is it. Hopefully he wouldn't have to turn very....heroic and nice. That wasn't his thing.

Not even bothering to hide his exotic features behind his hood, the boy entered the camp, pure-black eyes wandering around the facilities with aloof interest.

Arial took a look at the strange boy with the mohawk that just arrived, he looked like something she would find in the "Dark World." Yet he looked very powerful and could prove to be the challenge she hoped for, finally she spoke up. "So have your parents forced you to come here as well?" She asked looking down at her phone still attempting to get a damn signal, around her neck was a gold pendent necklace shaped like her Uncle Loki's helmet, the once evil god has changed his ways and has helped Arial learn magic, as well as taught her some of his best tricks.

Finally Alisha made her presence known to the children, "welcome kids to Camp Seneca a place where you will learn but also have fun. My name is Agent Winters you will address me as such, she told them. "There are a few more kids to arrive and when they do I will show you all around and explain more about the camp and what it's all about. In the mean time are there any questions?"

Sam had finally finished fixing his shoes and stood up, looking for his sister, he saw she had already started walking, trailing her suitcase behind her. Of course it was floating in the air with a golden aura around it, which caused him to shake his head at her antics. She was such a show off. After a moment, he brushed himself down and sighed, resolving himself to look around and hopefully meet some new people. He saw the girl who looked rather.."upper class", he thought and saw the boy swing in like some kind of Spider-Man. Sam decided not to tell his sister about him. Spider-Man was the superhero she had the biggest crush on and even if he wasn't related and his powers were wildly different, it wouldn't matter to her. He took a few steps towards the girl who appeared to be holding her phone in the sky for no reason. "Oh wait.. signal. DUH!" He thought to himself with a smile before taking out his own phone and checking it. "Aww man, no signal!? What kind of prison is this?" He said out loud before sighing and replacing it in his pocket. He called out a confident "Hey" to the girl "Looks like there's no signal here, unless you're looking for aliens in which case I hope there's none of that either!"

Mary walked on, she knew where her bag was and was proficient enough with her abilities to make sure it avoided any obstacles well enough. The only problem was the golden glow. She would make the world's worst assassin because of it, and she knew what telekinetics could do, she had heard of the Phoenix and Jean, and she had seen some of what her father could do, but with the whole glowing aspect? It totally gave her away. Her best bet, if it came down to that, would be to use the sunlight to her advantage, her own colour wasn't far off and at certain times would be almost invisible. "Hooray science..." she mumbled to herself before stopping to look around herself, seeing the boy with the weirdest eyes walk past her, she shook her head and saw a familiar sight, but not so familiar. She walked towards it, it had to be him, but he looked different. Had she been keeping up with him? No, but still he couldn't be that different, he didn't look as old as she thought though, that's for sure. Stopping in front of him, she let her suitcase fall to her side, the grip in her hand. "C.. Captain America?" She asked, not exactly timidly, but she was unsure of herself here, she was used to being in control and here she wasn't. It was new to her but she would get the hang of it... or just take control. Nah, too much work there, she thought.

Everything, so far, was interesting...to say the least. The few heroes/mutants/super-humans he had saw were sort of fun to examine. One was a rather...high-maintenance looking girl with blonde hair. She had the aura of snobbitude and whiningihilism about her, so the Symbiote instantly turned his eyes towards the next duo. A boy and girl, both looking relatively similar - siblings, maybe. The girl had walked right past him whilst he was acting as if he was examining the beautiful scenery, while the boy, like him, was spending his time observing and adapting. Not a minute or two later, a female, calling herself 'Agent Winters', and seemingly strict, asked them if they had any questions. Not one for talking, Gary merely nodded his head in acknowledgement before examining everything again. Near him was what he assumed to be the 'Mess Hall', while there was other numerous facilities around. He was sure that he even saw an obstacle course, which should be a breeze. He only hoped that he didn't destroy their equipment.

"We believe that we must wait..." Gary sighed out, walking towards what seemed to be a cabin, and effortlessly leaping a dozen or so feet into the air, landing in a crouch on top of the tall cabin. He didn't know what it was - maybe a lounge, or a dorm building for a certain gender? But, it made a nice perch, and the boy simply sat at the tip-top, his legs in the standard Indian-Style, and his hood, once more, back on his head. He rested his hands comfortably inside of his black hoodie, merely observing the rest of the campers as he waited for everyone to arrive. He really wanted the camp activities to start, and he wanted to find where he would be staying - so that he could pack his things and began sniffing out the entirety of the camp. That would have to wait, however.

Gary took off his white gloves, stretching his fingers into massive, extremely sharp pale talons, before stretching the appendages into different shapes and formations to amuse himself while he waited. It was an instinctive habit that he had begun doing once stealing things became a bore.

A sleek black sedan pulled up to the entrance of the camp and let out a tall, tanned boy with reflective raybans that hid his vaguely pissed off expression. He slung a duffle over his shoulder and waved a dismissive hand at the chauffer, sending it off down the road. This shit again. He supposed this shit was better than the shit he had to deal with the other nine months of the year. Still, he would almost rather spend his summer like a normal teenager. The Avengers could wait, but it was that kind of thinking that made his parents worried he would turn into some kind of villain.

He gravitated to Agent Winters and the gaggle of teens around her. He scoffed at what she said. Learning and fun. Those always went well together.

James made his way across the field, his heavy boots making a soft 'thump' each time the hit the grass. He had just reached the unloading area when someone approached him. It was a girl, probably around her late teens. She stopped in front of him, looked up at his face, and seemed a bit confused. James wasn't exactly a stranger to the look; a lot of people didn't recognize him out of costume, and just assume that he walked around with a hood sporting a big 'A' because he was a fan. Hell, even IN costume people weren't so quick to warm up to him. The original stars and stripes had been a little...bright for James's taste. And besides, it was Steve's. He'd had the costume redesigned, a bit less loud.

"Yeah, it's me," He said, rubbing the back of his neck. What exactly was he supposed to say? Rogers probably would have greeted her with that big, stupid grin, given her some spiel about how great the camp was and how he looked forward to teaching her, and then proceed to sign any and everything thrusted at him. James was different. He'd once been great with people, a lady's man, a people's person, the life of the party. Now, every time someone approached him, his first instinct was to look them over for any bombs hidden on their person.

"The girls' dorm is that way," He said, motioning his hand off to the right. "If you need any help signing in, registration's over there." He pointed to the mess hall behind them. He didn't seem all too interested in talking to fans.

Arial laughed, "well damn you guessed my plan. I was about to call home but suppose I can't now," she responded looking at the boy. "Oh well, better luck next time."

Alisha looked at James as he made his way over, "ah Captain I'm glad that you finally showed up. I was beginning to think that you would be leaving me here all alone," Alisha teased. "Yes everyone this is Captain America, you will listen to his every word, and address him as Captain. Now than, I will explain the rules. Boys and Girls have separate bunks, meals will be eaten at the mess hall, lights out at 11 pm. Anyone caught wandering the grounds after that will be dealt with accordingly, no provoking each other, respect each other. If we all follow the rules we will get along just fine."

Arial listened to the woman and rolled her eyes slightly, following the rules..Right, rules are meant to be broken or at least that's what she thinks. Suppose her uncle and father had something to do with her mischievous and stubborn ways.

Arial looked at the boy, he was even smaller than she was and looked sort of geeky. But Arial always treated everyone with respect, she smiled lightly at him, he sure did have a lot of energy. Arial wouldn't normally tell people who her father was but this situation wasn't normal, after all some of these kids had super hero parents too. "Hey Billy, nice to meet you. My name is Arial, as for my parents well my father is Thor and my mother is Jane Foster." She told him.

Gary listened to the lady's commands and rules from his perch on top of a cabin, but his eyes eventually traveled towards the gates as his ESP, and Venom, both warned him of a significant power approaching the gates. A rather short, scrawny boy entered the camp, and Gary's pure black eyes immediately began examining his scent for different types of strengths and weaknesses. He was fast, and strong...and there was a certain scent of thunder - or electricity on his skin. But, other than that, he couldn't sense a thing, although he only had to go off of the things he just learned. The boy was a worthy adversary - and probably someone who could fight him to a standstill...but, at the same time, he seemed to be holding the power back. Gary shook his head. He wasn't a challenge if he limited his powers for some odd reason.

"Are we allowed to go to our dorms?" His disembodied voice finally spoke up, the boy leaping from his perch and landing on the balls of his feet. Although his hands were still resting in his pockets, and his face hidden beneath his hood, it was obvious that he was ready to go into his room for some private analyzing and meditation.

"Sorry I'm late," James said, a bit sheepish. "Time got away from me." His eyes wondered around the crowd of kids, none too impressive so far. Some looked rather familiar. Perhaps he knew the parents. James's mind stopped wandering when Arial introduced him. She explained the rules of the camp, so he supposed he should say something to.
"I'll be leading your combat classes," The Captain said, loud enough for everyone to hear. He had a soldier's voice: strong and clear. "Training will begin at 6 AM on the dot, and I don't like stragglers. Be on time, or don't bother coming." It was hard for him to not treat this place like his old boot camp. To him, training wasn't training if it didn't hurt. Honestly, he thought getting them up at 6 was being too soft. 4 AM was more like it.

Just as usual, James's hard side was coming out again. With every group of kids, he did the same thing. He would become to hardass mentor again. Perhaps he was just a little too tough on them, until he began to like them.

"Six am! You have to be kidding me! That's practically up before the birds, if I wanted to get up early and be treated like a delinquent at a boot camp I would have gone to Asgard and be trained by my grandfather." Arial groaned, "this sucks."

Alisha looked at Arial for a moment, "what the demi-god can't handle a little early morning rise? You know I'm sure your father had no complaints about getting up early to train," she told the young girl. "Now all of you don't be under the assumption that we are here to just roast marshmallows and swim in the lake, this is your chance to prove that you are capable of joining the Avengers, to defend the earth when that time has come. Now you all may go to your dorms and get settled in, meet us back in the mess hall in two hours."

Arial picked up her back and walked to where the dorms were, in a way Alisha did have a point her father always told her about how early grandpa would make him get up to train.