Avengers High - Part 3 (FINAL) (Patreon)

 The bell happened to be the source of the final reality tremor, sending shockwaves all throughout the many corridors of Avengers Tower. As it so happened that there were a number of people within those corridors.

In one of the many training rooms, the legendary God of Thunder Thor was facing down the nigh invincibly Hulk in a friendly sparring match. The two were close to a stalemate, each grabbing the other’s hands as their feet began sinking into the ground. “Truly, you are…a worthy opponent, green one!” Thor grunted as the two struggled against each other. “But I will not be bested by you once more!”

“Tough words coming from the puny man that’s losing,” Hulk smirked as he applied even more pressure, managing to tip the scales just a little bit in his favor, burrowing the god even further into the ground. “Let’s see much further until you fall into the next floor!” The bell then sounded off, yet the scene remained largely the same.

“I’ll let you know the Goddess of Thunder does not back down so easily!” Thorna exclaimed as she continued pushing against her opponent. With her silky locks of brilliant golden hair, the Asgardian princess wasn’t going to lose a fight so easily! She let out a warrior’s scream as she pushed even harder against her sparring partner, lightning crackling all around her toned, leotarded body and levitating her bountiful bosom. “How about we turn things up a notch?”

“Oh, I’d love to see you try, Goldilocks!” Hulk grinned before finally taking a step back and reeling in the sparkling princess, only to smash her against the ground with a single swing. The green brute let out a hearty laugh, her massive muscled body rumbling with glee. Hulk was without a doubt the strongest woman in all of Avengers Academy, a seven foot amazon that towered over the school’s literal goddess. Dressed in her usual torn uniform that barely covered her beautiful, boisterous body, the girl was an absolute powerhouse. “How’s THAT for a notch?!” She continued slamming Thorna around with reckless abandon. So much abandon that she didn’t notice the thunderclouds forming above her.

“Heh…” the thunder princess chuckled lightly, her confidence hardly faltered despite her new bruises. “You might wish to look above, Banner-chan. I have been working on a bit of a strategy.”

Out of morbid curiosity, Hulk peered up, only to see the thunderclouds. “Ha! You really are an idiot! The cold water’s only gonna make me stronger!” However, once the clouds burst and rain descended onto the amazon, it was not cold. In fact, the water was unnaturally hot, causing the girl to rightfully panic. Almost immediately, Hulk began to shrink, losing all of her precious muscles and a good four feet of height. “No no no no no!” Her cries fell on deaf ears, sadly, as her massive breasts became little more than lumps, her skimpy clothing shrinking back into its more conservative default state. Even her unwieldy mane of green hair receded into a cute brown bob cut. Before long, there was no longer a hulking amazon, but a tiny shortstack of a girl. “Oh dear…”

“Ha!” Thorna wasted no time tackling the defenseless Bridgette Banner, bringing her into a chokehold. “I have been working on the temperature of my precipitation in an effort to make it hot enough to revert you to your human state! Is that not wonderful?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s great!” Bridgette Banner exclaimed while tapping on the floor. “You win! Uncle! Uncle!”

Steve Rogers was working up a nice sweat doing his usual laps around the tower’s massive training room in full Captain America gear. He’d been working on his running speed for a while, specifically hoping to increase the rate of his superhero activities. With a little hard work and elbow grease, the boy scout was sure he could eventually catch up with the likes of literal gods and high-powered suits of armor! Although, the tower admittedly wasn’t the ideal place for track and field, what with its grass and…track and…field?

Stephanie winced as the school bells rang against her ear drums. Yeesh, was it first period already? Oh well, she was already mid-lap, so there was no use in stopping now! Besides, she was already decked in her full costume, the very same blue blouse with a cute star in the center and red and white skirt she’d worn since the 1940s! Though the girl wasn’t the most technologically or culturally contemporary gal, especially according to her peers, Stephanie Rogers was never one to let an inconvenience like being frozen in ice for 70 years bring her down! After all, to falter in her conviction would be a stain on her reputation as Captain America, America’s cheerleader that everyone strived to be!

Despite not even knowing how a smart phone (or any digital device) worked, her natural beauty and sheer stick-to-itness made her popular enough to be elected student council president of Avengers Academy a mere two months after thawing out. Stephanie was the pinnacle of the academy, a model student, the girl everyone strived to be. It got to the point where everyone started calling Stephanie Strange just Strange despite the sorceress having been enrolled long before the young soldier. Of course, Rogers was much too modest to let the popularity go to her head, which only served to make her even more popular.

Naturally, some resented the girl for how perfect she appeared to be. One of those people happened swoop wearing their robotic suit and a very smug grin. “Heya, Pin-Up Gal!” Toni teased as she hovered next to the girl, effortlessly keeping up with her pace. “Trying to work on your speed, huh?”

“Yep, pretty much!” Stephanie was more than happy to reply with her always friendly grin. “Honestly, it’s super hard keeping track of you in your awesome robot suit! And you know how I hate being a burden, so, even if it takes forever, I’ve got to at least try reaching at least half your amazing speed! It seems unlikely, but I gotta try to keep up with everyone else, ya know?”

“I-I…” Dang it! Toni came all the way over here to insult the girl about how she was more likely to learn how to use a cell phone than outrun her Iron Girl suit. Then she had to go and be all nice and genuine and GAH! Why did every encounter with Rogers end with Toni blushing like mad? “I…I guess I’ll leave you be then! Gonna take a lot to outrun my machines after all.” Great, now she was probably looking too insecure. Darn that Cap-chan! “I’ll just…see you in first period!” With that, Iron Girl rocketed into the school proper. Something she was told many times not to do, but she really didn’t want Stephanie to see her flustered.

“You requested my presence, Mr. Fury?” T’Challa asked as he was welcomed in Nick Fury’s personal office at the tower. The Wakandan king was practicing his agility in one of the facility’s many obstacle courses before an agent mentioned that the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted a word with him. Of course, the king was nothing if not skeptical. “Is this regarding Wakandan technology again?

The eye-patched director simply smirked before leaning closer to his desk. Looked as if negotiations were going to take a while. “Look, I know you’re adamant about keeping Wakandan technology secluded and out of private military hands, but-“

“There is no but,” the king replied, his voice exuding resoluteness. “I simply refuse. Do not think that you can ‘haggle’ me in any way. Your persuasion is ultimately meaningless.”

“Look…“ RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! “…Princess T’Shala-sama, I admire your commitment to your family’s tradition and heritage, but you can’t just wear…that.”

“With all due respect, Principal Fury-sensei, I simply cannot call myself Neko Noir without wearing the ceremonial garb of my ancestors. I refuse to defile all the Neko Noirs before me by taking the name without the proper ornaments.”

“Yes, but…the ornaments are a little…uh...” Nicole Fury examined the magical princess exchange student before her, specifically her costume that was somewhere between a catgirl maid and a stripper in a cat costume. T’Shala’s face was barely covered by a black cat-eared domino mask, what could generously be called a bra, what could almost be described as a very short frilled skirt that acted almost like a leotard, and a pair of heeled thigh-high boots. The teenage princess also wore a pair of gloves and a choker with a little bell that also came with a short cape. These extra articles arguably made the bare skin even more noticeable. “…distracting.”

“And what other option do you present me?” T’Shala asked, holding her gloved hand to her mostly bare chest in indignation. “Betray the sacred rights of the Neko Noirs dating back thousands of years? I shall let you know, even the males are expected to wear the traditional-“

“JUST put a uniform over it, alright?” Nicole suggested with furious exasperation. “It’s not that hard! You’re not defiling anything! Just put something over yourself whenever you’re not heroing, alright?”

“I suppose that is manageable…” the magical princess muttered as she tapped her chin with one of her glove’s retractable vibranium claws. “I will accept those terms.”

“Good!” the principal sighed in relief as she slumped back in her chair. Why she accepted the job of principal to a bunch of superpowered hormonal teens was beyond her. Howard Stark definitely owed her another helicarrior for this. Nonetheless, she reached under her desk to grab a fresh new uniform before chucking it at the student. Naturally, T’Shela’s catlike reflexes allowed her to catch them. “Put this over yourself and go to class. Bell already rang.”

“Yes, Principal Fury-sensei!” the magical girl exclaimed while bowing in retribution. “I apologize for wasting your time!”

“Yeah, yeah…” God, she needed a drink.

The bell managed to snap Penny back into reality, making her excited for yet another day of superheroing! With a thrilled expression, she took off her Sailor Moon backpack and took out her suit. “Man, we cut it super close there, huh?” she giggled lightly as she very quickly slipped on her Spider-Girl outfit. Strange had it so lucky, having her superhero costume be sentient and all. At least Penny had gotten her costume game down to twenty-three seconds! Not ideal, but she was getting better at it over time. Soon enough, there was the Spider-Girl, ready to take on the world!

All the other superheroes began filling the halls, coming back from whatever they were doing beforehand. Thorna and Bridgette chatting together, as they were surprisingly prone to do. She still wasn’t sure how one of the smallest, nerdiest students was best friends with possibly the greatest airheaded musclewoman in existence. All it took was the always dashing Black Weaver passing by to turn the girl into a nervous giggling wreck. Of course, Weaver was always hanging out with the always cocky Hawkeye, primarily because they were probably the least super-powered teens in the entire school. Of course, Hawkeye was able to compensate her lack of powers with her generous “talent” and wearing sunglasses indoors. Bridgette had no idea what Weaver saw in that girl.

“Ah, if it isn’t my fellow princess in arms!” Thorna boisterously exclaimed as she greeted T’Shala with a good glomping. Normally, the goddess’s hugs would kill mere mortals, but the African princess’s vibranium “armor” thankfully protected her from such harm. “I see that Fury-sensei has restrained your natural charms. A true shame!”

“Y-Yes, it is quite unfortunate…” Neko Noir admitted with a solemnly before perking back up with her usual charming smile. “But I will not let my pride for my heritage go unannounced! Though I must conceal the sacred robes of Neko Noir within these walls, nothing shall stop me from embodying its core values!”

“Haha, I like your stuff!” the thunder goddess laughed as she slapped her fellow princess on the back. “It is most important to stay true to our roots even within the midst of this exchange program.” She then peered over to Penny, who was awkwardly trying to inch her way into the group. “Ah, Girl of Spiders! How are you this morning?”

“Oh, you know…the usual…” Penny awkwardly giggled as she twirled her pigtails around. “Almost arrived late, but got my butt saved by Stephanie-chan.”

“Ah yes! I have found that Captain America to be quite helpful to her fellow man and woman!”

“She meant me, Thunderthighs,” Strange remarked with a flat look as she invaded the group as well, all of them heading off to homeroom. “I was here first! How come I have to change my name for her?”

“Yeah, she’s totally overrated, isn’t she?” Nearly everyone else jumped and turned around to find Toni having somehow included herself into the conversation. “What? She is.”

“Sounds as if thou art jealous~”

“Yeah, everyone can see it, Toni-chan,” Bridgette smugly added. “I mean, you were talking about her nonstop during robotics last week.”

“H-Hey, I’m not jealous!” Iron Girl insisted, even if her flustered cheeks suggested otherwise. “Besides, I’m so much cooler than her. I keep inviting her to my parties and all she ever does is sit in the corner drinking water and chatting with people! Like, how lame can you get?”

“Then why do you keep inviting her?”

“Because then everyone would ask where she was!”

Penny couldn’t help but giggle as she walked along with the group. Although her life appeared to be characterized by a lack of luck, there were times she wondered how lucky she was to be where she was: surrounded by the greatest friends and coolest people in the world. Life at Avengers Academy wasn’t a breeze by any definition of the word, but she wouldn’t trade it for anything. All was as it should be.