Chapter 2: Leaping In

(In the observing room (at the start of Spider-Man and White Tiger's 'session))

Nick Fury selected the settings, obstacles, enemies, and danger level on the holographic screen.

'This should show the others how things should be done. I know Ms. Ayala will do satisfactory work as she always does. Mr. Parker might goof off, but he does get the job done well.' The veteran spy thought to himself.

To his surprise the two young heroes weren't doing well so far. Spider-Man wasn't even really paying attention to the dangers around him. White Tiger started off well, but she was getting distracted by her training partner. Nick had noticed Ava had been rather hostile and rude towards Peter Parker since after the event of the Grandmaster's 'grand' games. At first Peter had bragged and gloated about his actions about saving everyone.

'He always did like to talk.' Fury mused in his mind.

But then he recalled he became less energetic and flamboyant as time passed. Ava had been rather disapproving of her leader's actions. She didn't ever like the way he acted around others. Nick agreed with the teenage girl that Parker was a little full of himself a lot. But once he started becoming less 'him' Ava grew rather savage, exactly the way she was during Kraven's arrival so long ago.

'Peter really helped her that night. I could see how she changed when they reported the incident to me. She told me after that madman's attack she understood why I chose him as the leader of the team.' Nick thought to himself.

But as he thought to himself he wasn't pleased with the pair's performance so far. They were his best among the young heroes. He shook his head at the sight.

'I'm going to have to talk with them once this is over.' He groaned in his mind.

Nick shook his head, he was highly disappointed at the two's performance. Before he could say anything over the speaker a scream brought him back to the real world.

"SPIDER!"Ava cried.

Fury looked up and rushed to the controls.

(In the hologram training room (after Spider-Man hit one another in mid-air))

Peter ran towards the holographic hunters. A million thoughts were running through his head. He had made Ava furious when they collided in the air and he was already beating himself up for it.

'Can't believe I hit her. Man that was dumb. Stupid, stupid, stupid.' Spider-Man thought to himself.

White Tiger clawed and kicked at the foes with speed and skill with ferocity. She was furious with Peter, he wasn't taking this seriously. The 'hunters' were sliced into multiple pieces as Tiger's attacks connected with swift accuracy. She would rarely hear the sounds of Peter's fists landing on his foes.

'Is he even fighting?! Am I doing all the attacking myself?! That stupid idiot! He better start getting into the action or I'm going to make him regret it!' Tiger snarled in her mind.

Her angry thoughts caused her to get scratched by one of the knives along her left arm. A red line spread on her arm. The scent of blood caused Ava to become furious. She blamed Peter in her mind for her slipping up that moment.

"Stupid…" She mumbled.

Spider-Man just walked with his head down, still beating himself up about his mistakes. When one of the foes ran at him he just lazily punched them. They were defeated, but there wasn't any effort or skill put into the attacks. He decided to stay out of her way. She looked back at him and growled.

"Are you even trying?!" She shrieked with anger.

At that moment a holographic villain tripped her when her attention was on Spider-Man's actions. More of the 'hunters' pinned her against a rock. She snarled with anger as she saw a holographic model of Kraven ready to impale her with one of his energy spears.

'What did I… Tiger!' Spider-Man gasped in his mind as he saw the scene. "No!" The young hero yelled as he leapt over to her defense. He kicked away the fake Kraven and then followed up by tossing the 'hunters' around like rag-dolls.

He lowered White Tiger to the ground with extreme care.

"Are you ok, Tiger?" He asked, his voice full of concern. "Fine, why couldn't you do that earlier?" She hissed.

He glanced over her body to check for wounds. When he found the gash on her arm, he went to bandage it.

"I don't need your help, just… Pe..." She said, but stopped when something caught her attention.

After he bandaged her his spider sense went off, but he was looking for wounds once more just in case he didn't glance over one. While he was taking care of her, Spider-Man felt this horrible, sharp pain in his right shoulder. The fake Kraven had jabbed the energy spear in his shoulder when his efforts were helping Tiger.

"SPIDER!" White Tiger cried, her voice thick with fear.

(In the observing room)

"Spider-Man!" The heroes cried in unison.

Nick turned off the hologram training room's settings and the room turned back to its dormant state. All present in the observing room ran into the room where Spider-Man and White Tiger were currently in.

"Webs!" Power Man called as he ran over to his wounded friend.

Spider-Man is on his knees. All present saw him bleeding from his right shoulder. White Tiger was horrified and shocked at what occurred. She couldn't think straight because she was trying to stop the bleeding.

"Spider-Man, are you alright?" Fury asked, his voice mostly calm. 'He just…' Nick said to himself in his mind. "Y...Yes… Yes sir…" Spider-Man said. "Spi…" Ava started to say, but Peter interjected, "I'm ok."

He stood up trying to not show his pain.

"See... I'm ok..." He said looking at her. "Good." Tiger said as she hugged him.

The action caught everyone by surprise. Peter's eyes widened. He thought he felt his cheeks warm up. But the comforting embrace didn't last long. Then instantly she let go and hit him in the chest with her fist. The air from his lungs was gone instantly and he fell to his knees again.

"BE MORE CAREFUL YOU IDIOT!" Ava growled with ferocity, before she left the room. "Ow..." Peter whimpered.

Everyone weren't surprised by this, but ran to their leader/friend.

"Man she really isn't happy with you Web-head." Nova joked. "Shut up Bucket-head…" Spider-Man grunted in pain. "Iron-Fist take him to the med-bay. Make sure White Tiger goes there as well." Nick Fury said. "Yes sir." The kung fu hero said, before putting his friend's left arm on his shoulder and taking him to the med-bay.

Nick Fury turned to the others. He glanced over the group who were whispering to one another about the event. The director of SHIELD cleared his throat and the group instantly turned to listen.

"I will explain this to Iron-Fist when he returns. Even though the pair's efforts weren't favorable and what I hoped for... Spider-Man displayed a trait which is very important in the field: courage. He leapt to help White Tiger when she needed it most. Despite the danger that presented itself, Spider-Man leapt in to protect her. While for the most part it wasn't great, that one moment showed his character as a hero. You should all pay attention." The man explained.

The other heroes nodded. Fury nodded back.

"I'm going to check on Spider-Man and White Tiger. I will alert you when you can see them. For the time being discuss your performances and what you've seen and learned today." The veteran spy said before walking off.

Nick could hear the young heroes talking with one another about the day's events. And then his thoughts turned to the young masked heroes who he was walking off to go see.

'Let's see what these two have to say.' The director of SHIELD thought to himself.

To be continued…