First Mission

Three months spending most of your time underground with only a brief hour on the surface every day could drive almost anyone stir crazy but even more so for Aurum as he was a lover of nature, he felt most at home in the great outdoors spending his nights under the stars, the life style of a fantasy dwarf was not one for him.

So when it came to sign up for the first school trip he jumped on it like a man possessed, he actually hissed at See-More who jokingly took his sign up form hostage in exchange for his pudding cup at lunch the other day.

Right now Aurum was standing in the entrance lobby above ground looking all grandiose with its large school heraldry hanging along the walls and painted onto the black marble floors. Not for the first time did he wish that more of his classes were taught on the surface, but the surface was not for people like him. Aurum found out that due to discrimination laws the academy can't only accept meta humans so the vast majority of the student body made up regular people who were the ones allowed on the surface. Magic 101 was only taught outside as something to show off for the cameras, to present to the world that yes they do indeed have meta human students and they are teaching them how to control their powers.

Next to Aurum was See-More and Kyd Wykkyd, See-More looked as excited as he was while Kyd's lightly tapping foot was about the only anxiousness the stoic teen showed. "What do you think we'll be doing out there?" See-More asked practically vibrating in excitement.

Aurum shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know I just want to get out and stretch my legs for a bit, what about you Kyd?"

Kyd nodded "same," he said simply.

"Alright kids I'll be your team lead for today." The voice of Jaguar announced.

The three teens turned to their upperclassmen, "O great now we're gonna die," See-More joked, drawing a laugh from Aurum and a quite snicker for Kyd.

"Yeah, yeah get a license first kid then we'll talk," Jaguar retorted.

"What are we going to do today Jag?" Aurum asked.

Jaguar smirked, "glad you asked, follow me," he gestured forward and lead his three underclassmen out of the main building and towards the direction of the parking lot. "We're headed out of town for this one boys, a Hive alumni found some sort of relic or something in the desert a ways away. Problem is that somebodies trying to take it from em and their last check in was yesterday, our job is to find the relic and bring it back here." He informed.

"What about the person who found it?" Aurum asked.

Jaguar shrugged, "The Headmistress said the relic is more important but if we can get one of our own out of danger then we'll do our best." They approached a grey colored SUV, Jaguar pulled a set of keys out of his pockets and unlocked the doors. "Who's up front?"

See-More rushed towards the passenger's side, "shot gun!" He yelled.

"O no you ain't," Aurum protested.

"O come on goldilocks I have to have the front seat I get car sick!" See-More whined.

"I'm not having you puke in my car, See-More gets front." Jaguar cut in giving the final word.

With that they all climbed into the car and started to head east towards the desert.

Aurum was on the left hand side of the car, head against the window using his hood as a makeshift pillow. It had been an hour since the start of their journey, thanks to the poor timing of the trip they hit concert traffic near down town. "Man I wish I could've gone to that concert," See-More complained for the millionth time.

Jaguar huffed in annoyance, "wow really you don't say, hey See-More are you sure you really wanted to go see that concert, I think I need to hear you complain a few more time to really believe you." The sass was so thick in his voice it was almost visible.

"Wow Jag, don't choke on your sarcasm, or was it a hair ball?" See-More quipped back.

"I swear to God I will turn this car around," Jaguar threatened.

"Shut up both of you I'm trying to mediate," Aurum complained, his sentiment mirrored by Kyd who nodded.

"O uhh, yeah sorry about that," See-More shut up right away, glancing up at the rearview mirror in slight trepidation.

He ignored the anxious look from his friend, most people in the academy walked around eggshells with him when word spread about what he could do. Even Jink who was more experienced in magic than him seemed to act off when around him, the only one who didn't seem effected was Kyd but he didn't know if that was just because the guy was so good at hiding his emotions or he genuinely didn't care. Either way for this one time he was grateful for the treatment others gave him, it at least got See-More to shut up, the Cyclopes was definitely better to deal with in small doses.

A record breaking ten minutes of silence passed before See-More opened his mouth again, "hey why can't Kyd just teleport us to the target's last known location?" He asked.

"Because I can only go where my cloak has been," Kyd answered.

"Good, story time's over now let's be quiet, first one to talk first before we reached our destination has to buy dinner," Jaguar challenged.

If there was ever a sure fire way to shut See-More up it was the promise of free food.

With that the car fell into silence once more, Aurum shifted to a more comfortable position on his seat, pulling his cloak over him he leaned back and closed his eyes quietly falling asleep.

Thundered roared loudly in the air, smoke raised from a destroyed city on the horizon, now only a blackened crater that scared the ground, black rain stained by soot and ash fell to from the sky, staining his face black and burning his eyes.

He fell to his knees in shame, hot tears streamed down his face, he could still hear them, all those voices crying out in fear and pain all screaming at once only to suddenly be silence in a blink of an eye.

He looked down and saw a pile of salt blow away in the wind, "what have I done?" He asked, the silence was his answer.

He was jolted awake by Jaguar suddenly hitting the breaks, "look alive boys we're here!" He yelled unnecessarily.

Aurum scowled at Jaguar's snickering face from the rearview mirror.

Everyone left the car with a groan, Aurum could hear his knees and neck pop as he stretched.

"See-More scan the area," Jaguar ordered.

"Hold on hold on I gotta piss," the Cyclops said.

"Yeah me too," Aurum admitted.

Jaguar huffed, "fine piss break then mission."

A few minutes later and the team reconnected at the SUV, See-More already scanning the area with his enhanced vision.

"I gotta be honest guys until night time comes I don't see how we could find the relic, eagle eyes aren't all that good with all this dust in the air and it's too damn hot for thermals." See-More admitted.

Jaguar sighed, "damn, Aurum do you think you can sense anything?" He asked.

The cloaked Hive student gave a so-so gesture, "I'm still not all that good at it yet, if the relic is magical then it'll ping on my radar easily if not then unless the person carrying it is within a thee hundred yard radius of where we are then it's just a waste of energy." He informed.

Jaguar nodded, "get on it but don't over exert yourself, we still have no idea who else could be after this thing."

Aurum nodded in understanding as he sat in a meditative posture on the burning sand, he felt the wind gently caress his cheeks hidden beneath the darkness of his hood. The hot dessert sun burning at his back, he slowly exhaled and stretched his awareness away from himself.

His energies pulsed out in an invisible wave though the dessert, he sensed Kyd first, his magical cloak was like a bright bonfire against a moonless night. His senses passed over the desert like a spirit, searching for their target. The further away from him his energies grew the more hazy his vision became until finally his current limit was reached and the distortion became too much.

Aurum opened his eyes and shook his head, "negative," he reported.

Jaguar nodded, "fine, assuming the person with the relic is still alive and has it then it's a safe bet they'd tried to make their way to the academy. Let's double back in the car, Aurum I want you to ping your radar every mile, See-More keep your eye open." He ordered.

The quartet piled back into the car and began to drive back towards Jump city, Jaguar kept the car at a slow ten miles an hour so that Aurum would have a good six minutes to thoroughly check over each time he expanded his senses. See-More was standing on the center console, half his body out the sun roof acting like a human periscope, he even made submarine sonar noises with his mouth every few minutes.

Four hours passed in this manner and the sun had already set, it was between Aurum's pings that See-More caught something in his vision, "I think I got somethin cap'n" See-More reported in a horribly butchered Scottish accent.

"Where?" Jaguar asked.

"Jag magical presence at our two o'clock" Aurum reported excitedly.

Jaguar hit the gas suddenly, kicking dirt and sand up as he turned the car at a sharp angle, forcing See-More to hold onto the roof for dear life.

"How far away?" Jaguar asked peering his keen night vision into the darkness beyond.

"Two hundred meters and closing, I can sense the person holding the relic, they're life force is slipping." He informed.

"Damn, alright guys our job isn't to fight but to get that relic, Kyd take the person holding it to the medical wing as soon as you can. We'll hold whoever is out there off until you can evac us out." Jaguar ordered.

"Understood," Kyd acknowledged.

Aurum swallowed a lump in his throat, his hands began to shake with anxious energy.

All too soon did the Jaguar suddenly break, "go, go!" The team leader yelled.

Aurum ran towards the direction he could sense the magical signature and fading life force, he came within twenty feet until he was assailed by something hidden in the dark. He dodged just in time to avoid a large blade, seeing a bright red glow of some sort of mechanical optics being his only warning.

"Shit Jag!" He yelled for back up.

In a second there was a spark of metal that illuminated the area briefly, it was just long enough to show that Jaguar had bisected a tall six foot humanoid robot that had large blades protruding from its wrists.

"Ah!" He heard a cry of pain from behind him, Kyd was downed by one of the drones but the Hive student defended himself just in time to avoid fatal injury.

Jaguar kept cutting and kicking his way through the dozens of robots with ease, his night vision allowing him to acquire targets and assist his friends easily. It was because of this that he saw Kyd just barley avoid being gutted but still taking a large gash on his abdomen.

Jaguar rushed to his downed teammate and picked him up after defeating a nearby drone. "Come on Kyd get the target out of here," he said while hefting up his smaller teammate.

See-More fired off a bright beam from his eye boring a hole through five drones at once. " Ha, Ha, like sitting ducks," He laughed.

Aurum lifted his hands towards a row of the red glowing light in the night, "that's my line Yankee!" Aurum yelled towards his friend.

With a concentration of will twin beams of golden energy shot out from his open palms, the energy connected with his target and it exploded in a shower of wires and burnt metal. The beams continued into another robot, and another and another until ten of the drones had become scrap metal in an instant.

Kyd and Jaguar made it to the target, the person was face down in the sand but Jaguar's keen eyes could pick up their faint breathing under the warn leather jacket the Hive alumni was wearing. "Kyd just take the target and don't worry about us, we have a getaway vehicle." The team leader said as he gently laid his teammate next to the prone body.

"B-but," Kyd protested weekly.

Jaguar narrowed his eyes, the effect amplified by them glowing in the night, "you're bleeding out as is, go and don't come back, we'll see you tomorrow." He spoke with finality.

Kyd nodded sadly before he wrapped the prone figure in his cloak and the two of them disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Aurum blasted another drone but was forced to jump out of the way as another slashed at him, he fumbled though as he tripped over a stray robot leg and fell on his back. As if smelling blood in the water the drones began to swarm Aurum, "Shit!" He yelled, focusing his energy, he felt strain as he willed his power though his body.

Like swarm of ants the robots jumped for him all at once, but all came short as in an instant a golden dome of light just large enough to fit Aurum's size protected him from the sharp blades of the drones. Aurum gritted his teeth in stress as of over a dozen robots tried to break through his barrier.

Aurum fought the growing ach in his muscles, his arms began to tremble. "Calm yourself Aurum, in times of stress one must learn to trust in their powers but not let it overcome them." The advice of Professor blood rang in his mind.

He closed his eyes, the sound of the robots hitting his barrier seemed to be far away as he delved his consciousness inward and focused on the light within him. "Breath in deep, then out" he instructed himself.

His trembling arms stabilized as he continued to breath, "breath in….then," his eyes opened, radiant light lit the darkness of the night, "out," with a yell Aurum pulsed his barrier and his powers slammed into hostile automatons that surrounded him. He felt his reserves of energy plummet, his vision became blurred and there was a sound of rushing water in his ears.

Jaguar came upon Aurum's prone form groaning in pain, surrounded by a ring of fine metallic powder, "Come on piss back get up!" He yelled.

Aurum's vision still swam, a pair of glowing blue eyes loomed above him, it was only the bright light from See-More's eye beam which illuminated Jaguar for a brief moment that stopped him from freaking out. "What?" he asked in a daze.

"Come on kid we are leaving!" Jaguar said pulling him up by the hand and leading him towards the car. "See-More clear a path!"

Bzzzz

The eyes beam sounded, destroying eight robots that where between his teammates and their escape route.

Jaguar shoved Aurum into the passenger's side quickly followed by See-More who took his previous position on the center console and kept up the fire on the drones from the sun roof.

The SUV peeled out and turned away from the drones and towards the lights of Jump City. The robots attempted to give chase but they weren't fast enough to keep up and were easily left in the dust.

Both Jaguar and See-More cheered at the quick getaway, "woo," Aurum was just conscious enough to mumble a halfhearted cheer that was muffled into the passenger's seat.

See-More sat down in the middle of the back seat with a pleased sigh, legs kicked up on the console, arms outstretched over the seats, his single eye closed.

Jaguar was smirking to himself as he kept his foot floored on the pedal kicking up a cloud of dust into the desert night behind them. The car was silent for a long moment, their heart beats slowing as the adrenalin rush from their battle began to ebb away.

See-More laughed to himself thinking of a song that was taught to him when he was younger, "pack up your trouble's in your old kit-bag and smile, smile, smile." He sung.

Aurum recovered enough to hear the lyrics, "while you've a Lucifer to light you fag," he sung tiredly into the passenger's seat.

"Smile boys that the style," both See-More and Aurum sung at once, "what's the use of worrying, it never was worthwhile, so pack up your troubles in your old kit-bad and smile, smile, smile." They ended in a laugh.

Jaguar shook his head in amusement, "what the hell was that?"

See-More chuckled, "just somethin my gramps taught me, I'm surprised you know it goldilocks."

"I know everything," Aurum slurred tiredly.

The two other occupants of the car snickered at that before falling into a comfortable silence, the miles being eaten by the tires below them.

Bumbumbumbumbum

A faint sound appeared, "you guys hear that?" Jaguar asked.

"Probably the tires," See-More shrugged it off.

"Check it out just in case," Jaguar ordered.

See-More stood back up with a huff and poked his head back out the sun roof. He peered over the car and looked at the right tires, they seemed good, he looked down at the left tires and they were fine too.

Bumbumbumbumbum

The sound was getting louder, he looked over the horizon and scanned the cardinal directions, nothing.

Bumbumbumbumbum

The sound was even louder now, it was then that realization hit See-More, he slowly turned his head up towards the sky dreading what he would find. "Yeah it's not the tires."

Jaguar looked up annoyed at his teammate, "then wha-"

"Incoming!" See-More yelled pressing his hand to the side of his head and projecting an eye barrier around the SUV.

The missile fired from the helicopter above detonated upon impact with the barrier keeping the vehicle from being destroyed but not enough to keep it safe from the concussive force that rocked the side.

Jaguar struggled to regain control of his car, the tires losing traction for a brief moment and he began to fishtail.

"Shit, we can't keep taking hits like that, you gotta lose em Jag!" See-More yelled.

Jaguar grit his teeth, "I'm trying!"

Aurum was violently jerked around in the car, his head hit the window hard making black spots appear in his vision for a brief moment.

With his enhanced sight See-More could see the helicopter above lining up another shot, making a decision he quickly focused his eye beam on the predicted path of the chopper's tail router and fired.

The pilot however was skilled and was able to dodge the beam at the last second but it kept them from reacquiring their target for a few moments.

"Aurum buddy we need you awake here!" Yelled See-More.

Aurum slowly sat up, attempting to find his equilibrium in a car chase with an attack helicopter firing missiles at your ass was not what he would call a fun school outing. "You know this school trip sucks," he decided aloud.

"No shit!" Jaguar sassed though gritted teeth while desperately trying to regain control of the vehicle.

Aurum rolled down the passenger window, he felt the wind on his face which helped with his nausea , the moon gave away the silhouette of the helicopter chasing them from the air.

With a grunt he leaned out the window, "See-More aim for the top routers, when they duck down I'll blast em!" He yelled above the wind.

"Okay on three,"

"One," the helicopter realigned itself at the same time Jaguar retook control of the SUV.

"Two," See-More's vision let him see the mini guns under the nose of the helicopter begin to spin.

"Thee!"

A concentrated blast of pale green energy shot out from See-More's eye beam aimed like a laser towards the main router.

In that same instant the mini guns fired, the bullets sailing through the air intending on shredding the teens into bloody chunks.

The bullets came within feet of tearing though the car and the Hive students inside until a wave of golden energy disintegrated them.

Without thought the pilot ducked down just in time to avoid the eye beam but it was caught out by the wave of golden light.

See-More watched in awe as the helicopter was hit dead on by the radiant light, the entirety of its being encase in the energy. In seconds the attack helicopter turned to nothing more than a fine dust that blew away with the wind.

Aurum was conscious just long enough to confirmed that his friends were safe but soon the night caught up with him and he promptly passed out in his seat.

Aurum awoke slowly the next day in the medical wing, the symptoms of personal energy overload have unfortunately become familiar to him, but he hadn't felt it on this level since he first arrived at the academy.

"Good morning student, please take these it will make you feel better," the robotic voice of the medical drone greeted.

The drone above him looking like a flying disk with mechanical arms attached, in its robotic hand was two pills and in the other was a glass of water in a plastic cup.

Aurum forced himself to sit up with a groan and took the meds and the water, he downed both in seconds.

"Please rest, I will inform the nearest available nurse that you are awake,"

"The drones still sound like a higher pitched speak and spell when they talk," Arum thought amusedly.

He looked over the wing, he was in the recovery ward, it was a long room with many beds sat next to each other with only curtains that hung on the rail from the ceiling able to be drawn to allow for privacy. Most of the beds were empty save for one three beds down from him on the right, "what's Kyd doing here?" He wondered.

The memories from the school trip, or mission, whatever they want to call it, were kind of hazy from after he pulled up his golden barrier. He vaguely remembered something about a bag and a helicopter but that was it, "was Kyd there in the car with us when we left?" Did the person with the artifact make it?" He asked.

"Kyd," he called out.

He saw movement from the bed, with a quiet sigh the dark clothed teen sat up.

"Kyd what happened?" He asked.

Kyd rubbed his abdomen with a wince, "I was hit and had to get the target out of there, Jaguar instructed be not to come back." The teleporter informed.

Aurum nodded, "where's Jag and See-More did they…" he gulped, "did they make it?"

Kyd nodded, "See-More dropped you off some time last night according to the nurse and Jaguar was needed to report to the Headmistress.

the gold colored teen sat back in his bed in relief, "that's good."

It was in that moment that the automatic doors to the recovery room parted with a hiss, a nurse came striding into the room and checked on Aurum. She made sure that his eyes responded correctly to stimuli, touched his fingers and toes with a pin to confirm that he could still feel them, and checked his other basic functions before she was satisfied and left him to rest.

"When do you get out of here Kyd?" Aurum asked.

Kyd shrugged.

"Yeah same," Aurum responded with a chuckle.

He sat back in his bed, trying to get some rest but the pain he felt all around kept him awake. He laid awake in his bed for a few more minutes, Kyd had fallen back asleep. "What kind of school has trips that make you have to fight killer robots?" He wondered, his friend could have died last night, hell all of his friends could have died last night, "all for what, to find some sort of relic that we have no idea what it is, I'm not a soldier, I didn't sign up to do someone's dirty work. I gotta talk with the Headmistress, no way am I going to fight someone's else's fight without at least knowing what it is I'm fighting for."

He attempted to sit back up, intent on doing just that but a wave of drowsiness hit him as he did so, "fuck forgot about the pain meds," he fell back into the bed, "I'll…I'll talk with her later," he thought before he fell back asleep.

It was the next day, he still felt awful but he was able to stand on his own for a few moments and walk himself to the bathroom. Kyd only had to stay for another day for the nurses to make sure that his wound wouldn't become infected and to make sure no other complications had arisen.

Aurum was still determined to get answers from the Headmistress, he was back in the hospital but this time through no fault of his own, he wanted to know exactly why and just what the hell he signed up for. He could have made some sort of statement by forcing himself into her office and demanding to know what the hell is going on to her face but he didn't have the energy and every time he thought about doing so filled him with anxiety, so he settled for asking the nurses to pass on the message that he wanted to speak with the Headmistress and hope that she wasn't too busy.

The next day came and went without word from the Headmistress, he was starting to wonder if she would even care enough to even acknowledge his request. His recovery was doing better, the dosage of his pain meds went down drastically and he could stand and walk just fine now. See-More showed up in the afternoon to bring him the work he missed for the day.

It was later that day after supper that Jaguar showed up to visit, "hey how you doing?" his upperclassmen asked, sitting awkwardly on the nearby empty bed.

Aurum shrugged, "I'll be fine, this isn't something I haven't had before," he answered.

Jaguar nodded, "that's good, do you remember all what happened?"

He nodded, "yeah See-More helped fill in the blanks, who the hell sends a fucking helicopter after a bunch of kids?" He asked, anger seeping out of his voice.

Jaguar stayed quite making Aurum feel suspicious, "Jag, do you know who sends fucking helicopters after a bunch of kids?" He asked carefully.

The blue eyed teen scratched the side of his arm, looking down, "I'm not supposed to tell you."

Aurum narrowed his eyes, "what does that mean, Jag I didn't sign up to join the army, I signed up to control my powers and get an education, tell me what the fuck is going on here." He demanded, the warmth of his powers slowly bubbled to the surface in response to his agitation.

Jaguar looked away and sighed, "I can't tell you why, only the Headmistress is allowed to tell you, but I can tell you that we saved a person's life that night, they would be dead or worse without our help, just leave it at that."

"Kyd almost died for this," he stated.

The upperclassmen nodded, unable to look him in the eyes.

"I'm not here to join some paramilitary bullshit Jag, I want to know why I'll be putting my life on the line, if you can't tell me then get me someone who can." Aurum turned away in his bed cutting off the conversation.

He heard Jaguar shuffled out of the room a few minutes later, as the automatic door closed.

Aurum laid down in his bed and hid under the covers, he couldn't help but feel like an ass hole, "great going dumbass, you never even told him thank you for saving your life back there." He admonished himself.

He forced himself to try and sleep, cringing each time he relived the conversation in his mind, "I probably just fucked everything up, what the hell am I going to do now?"

Aurum awoke the next morning feeling a lot better physically, there was now just a dull ach over his body which he was able to ignore for the most part. The nurses had said that he could leave by lunch but instructed him to not use his powers for the next few days.

After coming out of the bathroom he was surprised to discover Professor Blood standing at the foot of his bed reading his medical chart. "Good morning Professor," he greeted.

Blood turned to him and gave him a friendly smile, "Aurum I see you've recovered well from your first school trip" He appraised.

He nodded, "yes sir, the nurses said I should be able to leave by lunch."

Blood looked pleased at that, "very good, but I understand you have a few questions don't you?"

Aurum swallowed hard, suddenly feeling like he was the one in the wrong as Blood looked him in the eyes, "yes sir."

Blood nodded and gestured for him to sit in his bed which he did without a second thought.

"Aurum you have the potential to become our school's most prized student, to keep you in the dark for so long was not something I had agreed with but unfortunately my hands were tied. But now I feel like this has gone long enough and even if it may cost me my career here I will not sit idle anymore." Blood was pacing in front of him.

"Sir you don't have to do that, I don't want to cost you your job," he attempted to placate.

Blood shook his head, "no you are worth more than that," he stated.

Aurum felt a lightness in his chest at those words, "I'm worth more than his job...does he really mean that?"

The Professor stopped his pacing and looked Aurum in the eyes, "your fist class trip wasn't supposed to be what it was, but unfortunately your team was the only ones available at the time. Aurum you have to understand that when you join this academy you become a part of something more, this school is like a brotherhood, the outside world rejects us for things out of our control, this school was created in the hopes that one day our voices will matter. But we are no fools, we know that change doesn't just happen, the world fears us and those in power would do us harm if they could get away with it."

Aurum stayed silent as he listened to his mentor.

"Your team was sent out to a dangerous mission not because we do not value you or your team, it is quite the opposite. Like I said before our school is a brotherhood and once you join our school and stick with us all the way though you are forever a member of the Hive and the Hive takes care of its own."

He understood better now but he still felt that something wasn't being said. "But why do we take missions in the first place, why the combat training, why the mystery with our identities?"

Blood knelt down until he was eye level with Aurum and placed a hand on his shoulder, "because the world hates us my boy, we give you the capabilities to control your powers and defend yourselves against those who would seek to use you and abuse you. Do you know how most meta humans ended up before our school was founded?" Blood asked.

Aurum shook his head.

"If they were lucky then the government would pick them up and conscript them into secret military programs, if they were unlucky then they might have joined a local gang or be killed by someone who misunderstood them. Life is a lot better nowadays because of this school and many like it. This school isn't just another academy, it's a community, it's a place where people like you can be safe, but in order to stay safe, those who would seek to do us harm need to be reminded that we are ready, willing, and able to defend our own." Blood looked into his eyes and Aurum felt that he understood everything, it was them against the world, this school had become a second home to him over the last three months, his people were the outcasts, the unwanted, the danger's to society, he would do almost anything to protect his home and the rest of the Hive.

The Professor smiled at him, "I can see that you finally understand, but let us keep this conversation just between us alright?"

He nodded, "of course sir."

"Good, see you after lunch," and with that Blood glided out of the room.

Two weeks had passed by without much happening, life had continued on in much the same way it had been since he joined the academy. Wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, go to English, scramble the half mile walk to Math, die a bit inside, scramble back another half mile to History, say a prayer before sprinting the thee mile journey to Science, and then eat lunch. That was only half the day, he still had to go to Tom, Magic 101, and ET studies, thanks to Tom he almost always had homework, or more accurately named dorm work.

His work load was enough that he barely even noticed the days pass as they all seemed to blend in with each other, and being underground for the most of it didn't help any. He used to at least have the weekends but after rumor spread about what happened on the mission, the teachers all but demanded he join in on the weekend combat tests.

Until this point he had merely been a spectator, finding it more enjoyable to watch the more skilled and intelligent students destroy the academy's training drones than to actually participate.

But now he was amongst the many students on the simulated combat fields driven by desire to make his teachers proud and not wanting a repeat of his first mission where it almost went FUBAR upon first contact with the enemy.

A hexagonal turret raised from the ground behind him, he didn't give its targeting computers a chance to acquire a heat signature as a lance of gold energy pierced right through it.

A flock of small drones detached themselves from the ceiling and dived towards him, stun bolts firing a mass volley towards him. He ducked down under the derby from the destroy turret as cover and waited for the flock to pass over him. A moment later the drones passed by and began to turn to reacquire their target. He didn't give them a chance as a wave of golden energy sent them flying towards a wall and exploding every last one of them.

He was caught off guard when two turrets suddenly sprang up on his right and left sides, each firing two red laser bolts towards him. He threw his hands up, palms facing the turrets just in time to create a domed barrier of radiant energy around him. Aurum held the dome steady as the turrets continued to fire, another turret appeared, in front of him and fired, then another behind him, he began to struggle as four turrets pounded against his shield. He couldn't see an opening, there was no lag in the rate of fire, he either had to maintain the barrier and hope his endurance lasted longer than their ammo or hope another student on the field took pity on him and gave him a hand which wasn't likely considering this was a competition.

He held the barrier for a minute arms quaking and face drenched with sweat as he struggled against the onslaught. He didn't know how much ammo the turrets hand left but he only had enough energy for another minute at best. He breathed deeply, and hoped that this wouldn't land him in medical again.

With a yell of great effort he pulsed the barrier like he did in the desert but held back in the power, the spherical wave of golden energy burst forth and slammed into the turrets. The four ensuing explosions brought Aurum relief, it only lasted as second before he stumble and fell to a knee. "Fuck PEO again, no…I can fight though this, I won't let this keep ahold of me!" He raged inwardly.

Though gritted teeth he struggled to his feet and raised his hand, "alright I-I'm good for today," he called signaling that he was done with the competition. At his call a large screen that took up most of the back wall came online and tallied his score and updated his stats. "Congratulations Aurum you have beat your personal best!" The robotic announcer spoke throughout the simulated combat fields.

He was pleased with that he even let small smile tug at his lips at seeing himself inch ahead in the leaderboards going from twenty eights place to twenty seventh The cloaked teen hobbled off of the combat fields and made his way to the spectator's stands where he saw Kyd and the winged girl, Angle, from his Tom class sitting next to each other.

"Good job Aurum," Angel congratulated in a soft voice.

Aurum was breathing heavily but nodded towards her in acknowledgment, he laid down on the stand in front of the two downing a water bottle he left next to his bag. "W-why don't they make you do this stuff Kyd?" He asked after getting his breath back.

Kyd shrugged, "you have more combat potential."

"Kyd don't count yourself out like that, you could be in the top ten if you really tried," Angel admonished lightly.

Kyd's only response was another shrug.

"Guys, guys, guys,!" See-More came running towards them like a chicken with its head cut off.

"What?" Aurum asked already feeling a headache that heralded whatever had See-More so excited.

"Look at the news we're being invaded!" See-More yelled.

Aurum stood up with a groan, "fuck I knew this day would come, Kyd take me to Texas it's time to succeed."

" Umm Aurum It's not that type of invasion," Angle said looking down at her laptop she pulled out from her bag the moment See-More announced an invasion.

He stood up and walked behind Angle, looking over her shoulder, he saw a news feed of large orange space ship floating above the city when suddenly the ship jettisoned some sort of device. The camera zoomed in on the device when two strange prongs extended from its sides, in a blink a holographic projection of a humanoid lizard creature appeared.

"People of Earth, we are hunting an escaped prisoner, a very dangerous prisoner. Do not interfere and we will leave your city with only minimal damage, but should you assist her, then your destruction will be absolute." The holograph of the lizard man warned before blinking out of existence.

The stands around were silent, Angel looking up at the people around her in worry, Kyd subtly put his hand on her shoulder and gave a small squeeze.

"Why are lizard people threating us, I thought they already ruled the world?" See-More questioned jokingly in an attempt to relief the tense atmosphere of the small crowed around them that had built up during the lizard man's announcement.

"Where fuck is Justice League, ain't they supposed to stop this kinda shit?" Aurum asked, he was angry, no not just angry, he was pissed. Innocent people were being threatened by some high and mighty alien just because they couldn't do their jobs right, he felt the warmth of his powers bubble underneath his skin in response to his emotions.

"What do we do guys?" Angle asked.

"Nothing," Kyd responded.

Angle turned towards him in surprise, "what do you mean nothing?"

"It's like Aurum said, this is the Justice League's job, we would only get in the way if we tried to help."

"Wow okay put words in my mouth why don't you," the cloaked teen thought in annoyance.

"We can't fight them," Aurum spoke, getting the attention of the small crowed of people that had gathered around Angle when the alien announced its intentions. "But that doesn't mean we can't help."

"How do you expect us to help?" See-More asked.

"If the Justice League isn't here already then it's safe to assume they ain't coming, best we could do is help evacuate people out of the city and hope they don't drop a Tsar bomb on us."

"So what we playing hero now?" The unexpected voice of Mammoth from behind him made him jump slightly.

"Yeah piss back you some goodie toe shoes?" Gizmo jeered from beside Mammoth.

"Basic human kindness isn't heroism you Lex Luthor wanna be." Aurum retorted back with a glare that would've been effective had anyone actually been able to see it under his hood.

"You're asking us to enter a city In chaos that's probably already swarming with xenos all to save a bunch of idiots that didn't run a the first sign of danger, sounds like being a hero if you ask me." Jinx stated from his side.

Aurum rolled his eyes, "come on guys you're acting like we're supposed to be villains are something."

Kyd turned to him, "Aurum just because we have powers doesn't mean we are under any obligation or responsibility to serve and protect, one experienced police officer is worth more than an inexperienced a team of meta humans that knows nothing of law and order." Kyd quoted Professor Blood.

He could feel everyone's gaze turn towards him now, they looked at him as if he was crazy, he suddenly felt very awkward and weird about suggesting something so outlandish.

"It's okay Aurum we know that PEO can make people say crazy things, it's not your fault." Angle placated in her gentle voice.

Aurum nodded, "yeah, it's just the exhaustions, shouldn't be talking crazy like that." After all it was crazy to suggest going into a city in distress trying to save people he didn't know and had no obligation to ….Right?

AN: Just to let you all know I've sort of rejiggered the time line of the original story to allow for more creativity, I'm not keeping myself in a small line following cannon events to a T. Also the story will become naturally more and more AU as the story progress so if you're looking for a recreation of cannon with my OC slapped on then you're going to be disappointed.

Also I don't really care for training regimens and power levels, anyone who's read my other work would know that I value characters above all else. Right now I'm still in the introductory phase of the story so the more heavy themes and character stuff will be saved for later. I just wanted to let you all know that action and crazy powers aren't a thing that I care too much about, I use fan fiction to practice writing, it would make my efforts counterproductive if I just made a power fantasy.

That's all I have for today, I hope you all are doing well, thank you for spending your time with my story