Warning: contains spoilers for Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #18The iconic Avengers have had countless tragedies happen to them, but one of the worst things to occur in their long history was the kidnapping of several Avengers Academy students by Arcade, forced to fight to the death in Avengers Arena. The monstrous ploy by the twisted game engineer led to several young heroes losing their lives, most notably the brutal and unjust death of Mettle, whose horrible death greatly impacted his girlfriend, the Avenger known as Hazmat.

Thankfully, in a surprise twist, Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #18 has revealed 12 years after his on- death that the metallic Mettle never truly died, and has instead been held captive by the evil mutant Emplate since his "death" in the Arena.

Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #18, from writer Anthony Oliviera with artists Karen S. Darboe and Kike J. Díaz, sees Hazmat venturing into liminal space with Bloodline to rescue a kidnapped Escapade, leading Hazmat to discover Mettle - real name Ken Mack - in his original human form, alive but imprisoned.

Mettle Was Murdered By Arcade Right In Front Of Hazmat

She has struggled with the grief over his death ever since

Ken Mack was an average teen when a surfboarding accident revealed a shocking transformation had taken place... All the flesh in Ken's body was now comprised of red iridium, a metal that made him nearly invulnerable to physical assault. ing Avengers Academy, Mettle slowly developed a friendship and then a romantic relationship with Hazmat, whose toxic emissions meant she could never touch another person. Thankfully, it was revealed that Jennifer's toxicity could not injure Ken, leading to them being able to touch each other, much to her enjoyment. The two were still dating and had actually just slept with each other for the first time when Arcade transported them to Murderworld.

Arcade has traditionally been known as a silly, not very threatening villain, but he wanted this time to be different. He wanted to be the villain he always saw himself as. To that end, he attempted to get the young heroes to sacrifice one of their own. Instead, Hazmat assaults him, prompting him to begin killing her. Intervening, Mettle sacrificed himself for Jennifer's life, with Arcade using a remote control to explode Ken from within, immediately killing the young man... or so it seemed. Many issues later, in Avengers Arena #16, Death Locket is sneaking her way through Arcade's lab and sees Mettle's dead body, seemingly put back together again, a mystery that has never been solved, until now!

Arcade Apparently Sold Mettle To Emplate Ages Ago

The reunion of Mettle and Hazmat was emotional

The new Avengers Academy issue has D.O.A., Emplate's undead assistant, reveal that Emplate bought the young hero from Arcade after the villain was "selling kids wholesale." Emplate's mutant ability makes him "hunger" for superhuman energy, and he has kept Mettle imprisoned in his otherwordly dungeon since buying him, slowly sucking him dry and nearly killing him. The reunion between Hazmat and Mettle is truly beautiful, with Ken's strength returning to him after his hope is restored upon seeing Jen's face. Now seemingly able to transform into his iridium form at will, Mettle takes out D.O.A., and the Avengers Academy students all escape together.

Hazmat was brought into Avengers Academy by Captain Marvel to serve as a mentor to the young heroes being trained there, and hopefully, Mettle's return means he will remain an important part of Jennifer's life. Of course, it may be difficult for Ken to work at another Avengers Academy after just escaping the hell his first experience led to, but regardless of where Mettle ends up, his fans are just happy that this unjust death has been so thoughtfully reversed.

Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #18 from Marvel Comics is available now on the Marvel Unlimited app.