Time and Time Again [Discontinued?]

17: Training Assessment

"Alright, we're going." Said Clint, stepping out of the elevator and heading down the hallway. The rest of the group followed until they stopped in front of two frosted glass double doors. 

"Tada!" Said Tony, throwing open the doors. From the back, you could hear a sigh. Probably from Nat, most likely from Steve. "How many times, Stark." Said Steve, making Tony shrug. "Sorry old man, hard to break habits."

The Avengers entered the training room first, the teenagers following suit very cautiously. "Okay well, the first part is skills assessment. Anyone wanna go first?" Asked Clint, twirling an arrow in his palm. The group looked at each other before Nico sighed and stepped forward. "I'll go. Just to keep the ball rolling."

He headed over to a nearby bench, removed his aviator jacket and plopped it on the bench, then headed to the central mat. "What type of skills are we even checking on?" Asked Nico, stretching his limbs. Natasha nudged Steve forward, so he obliged. "Any skill you got. Hand-to-hand combat, mid-range, and ranged combat are the main ones." Nico cringed a bit when he mentioned ranged combat, making Steve chuckle.

"For now, we'll try hand-to-hand combat. My other teammates fight your friends, and at the end, of the whole thing, my team will share our thoughts on you guys and vice versa. It's to see if you guys are a good fit for the team." He explained. "So... we just start?" Asked Nico. Steve nodded, feet shoulder-width apart and pulling up his fists, assuming a boxer's stance.

Nico assumed a more simple fighting stance, feet shoulder-width apart, and hands at the ready on his sides. A few moments passed before Nico jerked forward, making Steve flinch.

"Did I scare ya?" Taunted Nico. Steve took a deep breath before answering. "A little bit, to be honest." A small thought passed Nico's mind, making him smirk a bit. "Kind of like when you got scared by a Retriever when you rounded that corner by the diner."

The sudden memory made Steve freeze, giving Nico an easy way to tackle him. In just a few seconds, Steve was in a locked chokehold, courtesy of Nico Di Angelo. Steve tried breaking out of it, to no avail, and after a moment, Steve tapped Nico's arm, signing defeat.

"That wasn't fair." Mumbled Steve. "Sorry, but you never said I couldn't distract you." Said Nico, shrugging and smirking. "Fair enough. Also, you lied." This made Nico raise an eyebrow. Since the others weren't done sparring, the two boys out of time decided just sit on the bench where they waited for the others to finish. "What do you mean?"

"You said that you didn't have any notable powers."

"Yeah?"

"Then how the hell did you know about that?"

Nico shrugged. "I get to keep a few secrets to myself, you get to keep your image as America's golden boy to your teammates. How about that?" Steve mumbled something about a Fury before nodding his head. "Fine."

"Hey, boys! It's time for mid-range. Percy and Clint finally finished." Said Nat, picking up her batons and passing one to Clint. Steve stood up, put some type of device on his arm, and activated it, pulling his patriotic shield to the device.

"That's not fair. I don't have anything." To emphasize his point, Nico stood up and turned around. "Where's your sword? Did Tony confiscate it or something?" Nico shrugged, making Steve sigh. "There should be extra batons here somewhere..." As he said that, Clint tossed a foam baton at his head, which he caught. "Rude." Said Steve, glaring slightly at Clint. Clint just shrugged and grabbed the rest of the foam batons and passed them out to the others.

"Well, guess you're fighting with this flimsy thing." Said Steve, waving it around before giving it to Nico. Nico took the baton and swung it around, making the air whistle. "It'll work." The two faced each other, took their fighting stance, when Steve lunged forward, swinging his shield towards Nico's torso.