Twelve Years Later
The bell rang signaling the end of the school year for Sarna, Howard, and Peggy.
Almost fully grown now: Sarna had an athletic build and at 5’11 toward over almost everyone and the clothes ze wore depended on how ze felt at the time as did hir gender. Today, ze wore hir long black hair shaved on the right and let it flow down her left. Ze was in a forest green knee length dress with hir usual combat boots. Ever present around hir neck was the golden necklace with a pendent shaped like Mjölnir.
“We are officially high school graduates guys!” Sarna grinned, pushing hir hair out of hir face.
“Yeah, you’re high school grads,” Peggy huffed, ruby lips in a frown, “I still have two more years with these morons!”
Peggy had grown up a lot in the last twelve years too. She contained her wild brunette hair in her favorite white beanie. She wore black leggings, a plaid button up, and red flats, underneath her plaid shirt she wore a t-shirt with her father’s arc reactor printed on the chest.
“Wow, you must be fun at parties,” Sarna said rolling her ocean eyes, “But shit! I thought the year would never end, I already have my speech ready!”
Katniss sighed, “I told you the conditions of being co valedictorian with me: I write the speech, you give it.”
Still soft spoken, but never backing down from a fight, Katniss’ strawberry blond hair was always in a messy curly bun at the top of her head, usually held in place by a pencil. She was in a simple white blouse tucked into a simple black mini skirt.
Sarna smirked, “Oh, but I already have whom I want to give shout outs to!”
Ze stood like ze was behind an imaginary podium and started pointing, “Fuck you, fuck you, go fuck yourself with a cactus, fuck me, fuck me, oh definitely fuck me.”
Sarna looked at Howard and winked. Howard was now 6’2, lanky, but still had some remaining childhood chubbiness in his face. Since he couldn’t find a black barber he trusted enough, Sam was the one to keep his hair in order while he was trying to grow it out into an afro. One thing that never changed is that he could never keep a straight face around Sarna.
Whooooooooosssssh. Whooooooooosssssh. Wheeze. A familiar blue box began to appear a few feet in front of them.
“No fucking way,” Sarna and Peggy said.
The blue phone box fully materialized and from its depths stepped out the same strange man and woman that crashed through Howard’s house twelve years ago.
“Now that’s how it’s done!” the man said straightening his blue bow tie with as much swag as a man wearing a bow tie can muster. Sasha stared daggers at him.
“NO FUCKING WAY!” Sarna and Peggy shouted, running towards him. The other two sighed and took off after them.
“You came back!” Sarna could barely contain hir excitement, Peggy wasn’t even trying, going inside the blue box. Like Tony she had a passion for the inner workings of stuff.
“Well I said I would didn’t I?” the Doctor laughed.
“Rule one,” Howard said, “the Doctor lies.”
“Looks like you guys did your homework!” the Doctor smirked.
Sarna and Howard nodded. After the Doctor had left and everyone collected themselves, the trio begged Steve, whom was happy to oblige, to show them everything. Peggy followed suit a couple of years later after hearing it talked about so often.
“Doctor,” Sasha groaned.
“Oh right! Here’s why I came. I need your help, well we,” he said gesturing towards Sasha, “Two planets are in trouble! I can handle of them, but I need you to help with… negotiations.”
“Negotiations?” Katniss questioned.
“Well when I say negotiations I mean-“
“YO!” Peggy called running out from the TARDIS, “You guys should see it in there! It’s so fucking awesome-”
“Oh, we do not have time for sugar coating, Time Lord!” Sasha growled, “Listen you brats, my planet is about to attack yours because we did not appreciate you savages landing your, your probes on our land. Especially since it brought your diseases with it! The Doctor here thinks your parents, you know actual superheroes, should stay in retirement and that children should take their place!”
The three humans and Sarna stood in various expressions of disbelief. Sarna with crossed arms and raised eyebrow, Katniss staring back and forth between the two trying to detect lies, Howard and Peggy struggling not to laugh at the bullshit they just heard. Sarna, as usual, was the first to recover.
“You want us, three humans and me to save the world, and by world I am sure you mean New York because that is all aliens seem to attack, us? Three high school grads and a junior with no training.”
“Oh you have a week before they get here!” the Doctor reasoned.
“A WEEK?!” shrieked Katniss, “YOU EXPECT US TO BE BATTLE READY IN 7 DAYS??”
“Stop your whining you privileged brats! Your parents did just-” Sasha started.
“Do not!” Katniss snarled, “Do not compare us to our parents. I am so sick and tired of that!”
Howard, Sarna, and Peggy exchanged a look, Katniss rarely became enraged but when she does it’s never pretty.
“Our parents are the ones with the super powers! Not. Us. My mother is the one with the martial arts skills not me. Howard’s and Peggy’s dad is the super solider plus they are adopted. The only special one is Sarna! And that’s only by default, it’s not like ze actually uses hir powers!” Katniss was nose to nose with Sasha, “So do not imprint our parents’ powers on us. We are not Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Thor, Hawkeye, Captain America, Spiderman, or even the damn Winter Soldier. We are Howard, Peggy, Sarna, and Katniss and we are on our way to celebrate our first day of summer, so good day.”
Katniss started to storm off. Sasha blinked. She couldn’t believe the nerve this girl had; maybe the Doctor was right about them.
“Are you just going to let your self-righteousness doom your entire planet?” Sasha called after her.
Katniss stopped. Sasha grinned, if she knew anything about the children of the famed Avengers it’s that they would not, they could not, leave Earth to fend for itself, “I mean can you imagine the disappointment.”
Katniss didn’t say anything, but she didn’t walk off either. The Doctor knew he had the kids’ support now.
“I want you lot back in this spot at 8 pm sharp! Lots of training and explaining to do!”