Avengers Arena (2013 series) #6

16 teens have been abducted by Arcade to his latest Murder World which appears to be an island divided into 4 quadrants. Q1 is occupied by chars from the British Braddock Academy and their guest Death Locket. This issue will concentrate on Anachronism (Aiden Gillespie).

Last issue Arcade caused ongoing environmental disruption and announced that each quadrant has a safe zone on 1 edge. And the unoccupied desert Q2's safe zone contains a cache of much-needed supplies for whoever can take it. Last ish also Anachronism and Cullen Bloodstone of the Braddock team fell into stream at the bottom of a deep ravine, and Death Locket pushed the Atlantean Nara after them.

Now Nara is screaming insults and threats at the young girl above but Aiden Gillespie is grinning although Cullen can't figure out why. Then she senses a flash flood approaching and she grabs the other 2 to swim through it with them. Aiden remembers never learning how to get a girlfriend. Girls mainly treated him as a 'harmless' chubby friend who'd listen to their troubles. But Nara treated him like dirt and he used to hate her for it. But now she's saving him so she must care, at least a little.

Now we have a flashback to Braddock Manor, later than last issue's where something happened to Aiden. We learn that he occasionally got taken over by an immortal psychotic Celtic warlord and gained a lot of muscles, and last issue's fb made the change permanent. Aiden was still in control but had to repress the warlord's urges. Like when Nara said she liked the new him and Kid Briton beat him up (again) for it.

Now we switch to Q4 with the remainder of the kidnapped Avengers Academy kids Hazmat, Reptil and X-23. The 2 girls are trying to get severely burned Humberto Lopez to the cache in Q2 but he thinks he's holding them back. He suggests he'd get there faster if he turned into a dinosaur but Jenny Takeda worries that the strain might kill him. Then she takes her foot off a mine she's stepped on and it explodes ... but only to release a gas ... which turns out to be the trigger scent which turns the junior Wolverine into a feral monster. 'Berto turns into a flying dino and carries Hazmat to safety. An image of Arcade appears in the sky to say that he thinks his version of the scent is even better than the original.

At the border of Q3 and Q2, where snow is replaced by sand, space-suited  Cammi and the Runaways Chase Stein and Nico Minoru can see the promised cache. But Cammi warns the other 2 that she doesn't trust Arcade. They can go get the prize but she's staying here to watch.

Meanwhile Anachronisn, etc have got out of the now-a-river a long way away from their companions. Nara wants to go back for revenge but the other Bloodstone wants to go to the local Safe Zone to wait for things to settle. He also explains a theory to the angry Atlantean. She thinks Death Locket is to blame for her current situation and is now attacking Katy (Apex) and Kid Briton, but he thinks she's got it all wrong. He makes several points:- Katy invited the cyborg kid into the group and has made her a 'pet'. Katy's boyfriend Kid Briton has been secretly having an affair with Nara for 6 months. Katy is manipulative enough to *always* get her way. Nara sees the sense in his words and agrees to go with them away from the cache.

We see Hazmat and Reptil arriving in Q3's Safe Zone.

We see Apex leading Death Locket and Kid Briton through the desert towards the cache in Q2's Safe Zone, passing the wreckage of Juston Seyfert's Sentinel on the way.

In the other direction Nara explains to her companions that KB beats them and others up because his power is confidence-based - feeling big and bad makes him big and bad. But since Aiden's change he bullies *him* because he's afraid of him. Anachronism protests that it's the warlord inside him who sometimes gets out that is the fighter. She calls that rubbish. *He* is now more aggressive and she likes that. She knows what he wants (her) and says he'd already have it if he wasn't too afraid to try.

At which point Arcade teleports them to Safe Zone 2 and declares them the winners. They see Ap, DL and KB approaching and Aiden warns Nara that this is a trap. But he follows her anyway as she accuses Apex of controlling Death Locket. She doesn't deny it (she told KB last issue). Nara punches out Kid, further denting his self-confidence so it really hurts him. Katy tells Becca to blast them. The cyborg girl tries to resist ... and then Bloodstone fires a bazooka that he found with other weapons in the cache along with some cakes. He and Aiden make sure Becca is OK but advise her to keep out of things as Nara beats up Katy who calls for Brian's aid. KidB tries to stand up to Nara but she calls him weak and this angers him enough to cut her with his flaming sword. She taunts him and he prepares a killing blow ... but Anachronism's axe cuts his head off.

And Arcade thinks that's more like it!