Avengers Academy

Chapter 2

Quick left jab, quick right jab, followed by a strong left hook. Remember not to lose your stance.

Kate then followed up with a quick right hook, another quick left hook and finished her opponent with a right uppercut.

"We have a winner!" The referee announced as Kate wiped the sweat and blood off her brow and took the gloves off. Her opponent, a man twice her age and three times her size, lay unconscious on the ground.

She stepped out of the cage and walked past the audience to the moneyman's office. "That's the third win this week, girl." The man said and handed her a clip of money, $3000 in $100 bills. Kate simply smirked and walked away. On the way home, she gave $200 to a homeless boy she passed.

"Where the hell have you been?" Her father asked as Kate stepped inside. "And what happened to you? You're all bruised."

"Kid on a bike knocked me over. It's no big deal, dad." Kate said nonchalantly and walked over to her room.

On the way there, she was met by Sarah.

"Another fight? Jesus, Kate, this is the fifth one in a row." Sarah said, a worried tone in her voice. "I worry about you, and if dad knew..."

"Dad wouldn't really care. Or he'd leave me more bruised than I am now, if he ever bothered to care enough about it!" Kate replied angrily and sighed, lowering her tone. "Sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out like that, it's just... It's been difficult these past few months. With you moving out and dad... Ever since mom died, he's been spending more time either at work or getting drunk with his rich friends. And me... I don't know, I feel lost and aimless." Kate's frown then turned into a smile and she looked at Sarah. "But don't let me bring your mood down, you're getting married in the morning!" She said and hugged her tight.

"I know!" Sarah giggled and returned the hug.

Kate's life for the past few months had been awful, it was true. Some parts so bad she hadn't even told her sister about them. But there was no way she did not feel happy for her sister. Still, as she hugged her, Kate did feel the tears come. Sarah was only 21, five years older than Kate, but she'd matured so much since they lost their mother that she'd almost become like a second mother to Kate. But now, it was time for her to leave and for Kate to grow up.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT, YOUNG LADY! YOU'RE NOT JOINING THE AVENGERS!" Maggie Kennedy's voice shouted from the phone so loudly her daughter, Cassie Lang, had to hold the phone away from her ear. Some people on the subway gave Cassie strange looks before turning away as Maggie continued her rant. "I've been reasonable! You wanted to keep the Lang name? Fine! You wanted to move into your dad's crappy New York apartment? Fine! But you will NOT be joining him in the Avengers! Damn it, how many of times has Scott nearly gotten killed out there?!"

"Okay, fine, mom, but I'm 15 years old now! I can handle myself. But I won't join the Avengers. For you. Look, this is my stop. I'll call you when I get to Avengers Tower."

"AVENGERS TOWER?! WHAT THE FU-...!"

Cassie hung up as she picked up her bags, walked out of the subway car and exited the terminal. It didn't take long for her to reach the third most magnificent skyscraper in the city (after the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building, of course), Avengers Tower. Located almost right next to OsCorp Tower, it was the second tallest building in the city and stood as a beacon of hope as much as the Statue of Liberty did.

She hesitantly entered the building and was immediately met by sealed double doors. She looked to her left and saw an intercom. Pressing the button and looking up in the camera, she spoke up. "Hello, I'm Cassie. My dad...Ant-Man...told me to come to Avengers Tower and meet him there."

A few seconds passed, then the doors slid open and she walked in, the doors closing behind her.

"Wow", she thought to herself as she looked around. This was only the first floor but there was a mural of the Invaders covering the right wall from the front door and leading to the elevator. This reception room was bigger than her mom and Paxton's entire apartment back in San Francisco.

The elevator pinged and opened suddenly, causing Cassie to jump and nearly drop her bags, as an elderly man dressed in a gray suit stepped out. "Do not be alarmed, Miss Lang." He said and gave a warm smile. He spoke in an English accent, Oxford, Cassie believed. "My name is Edwin Jarvis, I am the caretaker of this tower and butler to Mr Stark. Your father told me I could expect you, though he also said that if you did, I was to tell you that you should have gone to his apartment instead. It is, after all, rather late."

Cassie pouted. "Great, now he tells me, after all the trouble I went through getting here."

Jarvis chuckled softly and took her bags from her. "Why don't I take you to the spare bedroom? You can stay here for the night. It should be quiet enough, most of the Avengers are out on a mission. The only ones here are Vision and the newlyweds."

Cassie nodded as he let him take her bags. The newlyweds? Oh, of course. Mr and Mrs Barton. Hawkeye and Mockingbird. It hadn't exactly been public, but Scott had told her about Barton and Bobbi Morse's wedding. Apparently, he'd cried so hard at that wedding he'd had to leave because he was embarrassing them.

It didn't take long for Jarvis to fix up the bedroom and before she knew it, she collapsed onto it and fell asleep.

Cassie woke with a start as she heard the ruckus outside. She hurriedly threw on some clothes and ran out of the room to see what was going on.

"...came out of nowhere!"

That was Captain America's voice.

"Bastards had tech we'd never even seen! They could temporarily jam my armor's sensors."

That was Tony Stark, Iron Man.

Cassie could hear the voices coming from the medbay and quietly snuck in. She could saw Cap, Tony and Barton arguing while She-Hulk, the Wasp, Dr Jane Foster and Thor stood over someone. Eventually, Jane shook her head and Thor pounded his fist into a table so hard it cracked.

"Time of death, 04:53." Jane said and Wasp, Dr Janet Pym, widow of the late Hank Pym, looked down. "First Hank, now him. He has a daughter. We're going to have to tell her."

"WHAT?!"

Cassie shouted, forgetting about hiding, and ran into the room. It couldn't be him, it couldn't be him, it couldn't be him! But then she saw the body on the bed.

"DAD!"