Sarah was a girl like every other girl. Blond, brown eyes, pale skin. Her cheeks rosed up in the summer and when she was feeling shy. She was 25 years old, lived by herself and the only company she had was her dog, Garlic. She seemed really ordinary. But looks can be deceiving, and Sarah was no exception to the rule.
When normal kids were planning to be doctors, lawyers, or maybe engineers, Sarah had already made up her mind on what she would become. She was going to fight against evil and keep the world safe from danger. It wasn't a very popular choice, but she knew what she wanted before anybody else did. She was a very confident young girl, and she grew up to be a strong and independent young woman.
A couple of weeks after her 16th birthday, she ran away from home because her parents wouldn't let her go to military training. They were very protective and conservative, they just couldn't get used to the idea of their pretty little girl fighting. But that's what she wanted, so she knew had to leave in order to pursue her dream.
Now, she was all grown up and ready to face the danger. She knew about Ivan and his evil plans to destroy Iron Man (who was her biggest inspiration) and she had to do everything she could to prevent that from happening. There were going to be tests to select warriors to fight against Ivan and his killing-robot army and she knew her time had come. It was her big chance.
It was her first day in the testing area. Sarah had to prove she had it in her, they would choose only the best to go on this mission. As she entered the stadium, she saw her contestants training with the new suits.
There were teachers, or mentors, as she used to call them. Between them, there was Natasha Romanov, wearing a white shirt and black shorts, sweat coming down her forehead as she worked out with her apprentice. James Rhodes was applying a resistance test on a muscular young man, while yelling at him things like "you can't do it!" or "you're too weak!"
It was harsh, but it was necessary. The danger they were about to face was too serious to be ignored, they had to be at their best physical and mental shape to face it without losing. Ivan Vanko was planning a revenge and he already had his army ready. Tony could easily get rid of him, but an army of more than a hundred killing robots was just too much to handle.
He needed help, it wasn't just his life that was at game. Sarah and other four hundred people were willing to take the risk, but only the best would go on this mission. She had to make sure she was going to be one of the fifty selected. Stark wanted to have half of the number of Ivan's robots, just to show how easy it was. Typical Tony.
Every apprentice would wear a suit and they would follow the Iron Man's lead. Nothing could go wrong, because if it did, the whole humanity would be destroyed. Sarah had always dreamed about one day wearing the iron suit, but her family and friends never supported her. They used to say it was too dangerous, it wasn't worth it. That's why she ran away from home when she was 16.
The big day had arrived and she had only one chance to show what she was capable of doing.
"Easy peasy", she thought.
She couldn't deny she felt a little intimidated by all the mentors there, all of which she had great respect. But there was only one who she really wanted to impress. And his name was Tony Stark.
He was walking around, suit-free, just looking at the young boys and girls who were willing to become part of their suits. They were doing everything to deserve that iron carcass. He liked that. It was a huge ego-boost to see hundreds of people trying their best just to be a little more like him. But he wasn't just looking. He was selecting. It was going to be a tough choice, they were all so good! But they weren't all ready for the danger that only he knew they were going to face.
A young girl walked in his direction. She had a determined, confident walk. She meant business, he could tell.
"Hello, my name is Sarah Rockwell and I've been assigned to be your apprentice."
"Hummm... Mrs. Rockwell, are you sure you wanna do this? It's really dangerous, you know... you don't want an ugly scar on your porcelain skin..."
"To tell you the truth, that's the only thing I'm sure of. I've been a fan of yours for a long time and if fighting alongside you means having a scar on my 'porcelain' skin, then I don't care." affirmed Sarah, with a fierce look upon her face.
"Then why are we still chit chatting? Let's start your training, shall we?"
They walked to a court that took place in the furthest left side of the stadium. There were two bars of steel a few inches apart and a punching bag next to them. Sarah had never trained on those before, she was quite scared. But that wasn't enough to make her give up.
"Get on the bars." said Tony.
Sarah jumped on one of the bars and worked really hard to keep her balance. The bar was really thin and she almost fell. Almost. She arched her back, moved her arms wildly and managed to stand up straight.
"Now what?" asked Sarah, triumphant.
"Now jump to the other bar" Tony's facial expression was impossible to read.
Sarah thought it was hard enough to jump from the floor to the bar. Jumping from one bar to the other seemed impossible to her. She already had to make a huge effort not to fall down from the bar she was standing on. But she had to give it a try.
She bounced back twice and jumped. Her left foot touched the other bar, but her right foot slipped and she fell. The bars were about a meter high and the way her ankle touched the ground caused her a surprising amount of pain.
"Ahhhh" she screamed.
"Told ya it wasn't gonna be easy"
"I'm fine. I'm just gonna..." Sarah tried to get up, but the pain was too intense.
Tony walked to her and offered his helping hand. He pulled her and she got up in one movement.
"You gotta work hard, if you wanna be the best."
"I don't wanna be the best. I am the best" said Sarah, with tears in her eyes. She probably twisted her ankle, but to be selected was more important. Her test wasn't going too well, but she had to do something. She knew what her strengths were and all she had to do was show them off.
"Punch me"
"I'm not gonna punch you! You're a woman!"
"Punch me. I bet you won't get me."
Tony raised his fist and smashed it on her left shoulder's direction. He missed. He tried again. She was just too fast, he couldn't get her.
"Ohhh, you're good!"
Sarah smiled. "Told you so…"
They kept the fighting routine and Stark just couldn't get one punch right. Her reflexes and instincts were of a tiger. She grabbed his hand and twisted his arm, raising him to the top of her head and throwing him on the ground. K.O.
Natasha Romanov's apprentice had already left and she watched Tony fight with Sarah. Rhodey was standing next to her, talking and relaxing. His apprentice was fallen on the floor, completely defeated and Rhodey was waiting for another young, naive boy or girl who'd get a lesson on what's a real fight like.
"She's really fast" said Natasha.
"Do you think she'll make the cut and fight with us on the big day?" asked James Rhodes.
"Fighting like this? Definitely."
Sarah went to the testing area a couple of times before the attack. She trained with Tony and developed her skills. She was becoming a warrior and everyone was surprised to see a beautiful woman fighting like that. All her life she's been underestimated and now she was proving what she was made of.
One day, they were practicing in the stadium and everyone heard a huge explosion.
"Hello, my friend"
It was Ivan Vanko and his artificial army. They were ready for the fight and Tony was afraid that his army wasn't ready yet.
"This is not a drill. Put on your suits and get out of here as fast as possible. Again, this is not a drill!" screamed Rhodes, putting on his suit.
There were only twenty apprentices that day and they had to fight against a hundred robots. They were beginning to feel desperate and some were thinking about leaving. Tony couldn't let them.
"We can do it. Let's go!"
Tony stood in front of Ivan and could feel his terrible breath as he spoke.
"I came back for my revenge"
"I'm sorry, we're out of revenge right now, but if you wait just a few more minutes, there will be one coming right from the oven!" mocked Tony.
Ivan groaned with anger and Tony flew his way to the stratosphere. The apprentices followed him and Ivan flew away too, followed by his robot-army.
They met again up high in the sky and the battle began. They were all wearing iron suits and the identification system was shut down. They didn't know who was who, so they had to stick together and trust each other.
Natasha had already defeated five robots, that fell down in an abandoned field on a property where used to be a farm. Tony had everything planned for this day and he chose a location where if the robots fell down, they wouldn't hurt anybody on Earth.
The apprentices were doing really well, but unfortunately, some suits were damaged by the robots and had to go back to the fixing area. There were thirty-eight robots remaining and thirteen suits intact. Iron Man was using all his power against Ivan, but his battery levels were low. Stark didn't have much power left, and Ivan came prepared.
While worried if he was going to have enough power, he saw an apprentice falling down towards the Earth. He immediately forgot about Vanko and flew in the apprentice's direction. He used maximum speed to get there before the student got to the floor and had a terrible death. He couldn't let that happen.
With a massive crash, the apprentice was in his arms and he activated the jet stream in his feet to soften the impact. When he got to the field right below where the battle was taking place, Tony laid the apprentice on the grass and took off his own helmet.
He wanted to make sure the mysterious fighter was alright, so he took his/her helmet off. Sarah opened her eyes with difficulty and looked back at him.
"So it's you... clumsy!"
"You saved me..."
"Are you alright?"
"I was so scared up there. I knew that's what I wanted to do, but I wasn't ready!"
"Sarah, you are the best apprentice we got. Don't be so hard on yourself! You wanted to be the best, you got it!"
"But I fell!" cried Sarah.
"I fall all the time. It doesn't mean you're a loser"
"Why are you doing this? You're not supposed to be nice to your apprentices!"
"I like you" said Iron Man.
Sarah looked deeply into his eyes. The man she admired the most was telling her that he liked her. She couldn't be sadder, because she fell in the middle of the battle, but with just that phrase, she felt happier than she ever did in her entire life.
"But... but...you're not supposed to..."
Stark interrupted her with a kiss. "But I do", he said between kisses.
She hugged him and they stayed there, while the world was falling apart.
"Now, are you ready to come back and kick some butt?"
"Heck yeah"
They flew back to the stratospheric battlefield and destroyed the rest of Ivan's army. Sarah was feeling better and focused all her happiness on killing the damn robots. Ivan was getting angrier each time some robot got wrecked and at this point, he was completely enraged by the situation.
Iron Man raised his hand in Ivan's direction and showed him all the power of his killing laser, but he managed to keep his balance. Ivan threw his electric chains at Sarah, but Iron Man stood in Vanko's way and punched him until he lost all of his strength. Sarah threw the carcass of a defeated robot on him, making him fall at last.
"You loose! You loose!" screamed the Russian, while falling down to meet his end.
Sarah flew over to Tony and took off his mask. They were more than 50 kilometers away from Earth and that made everything more exciting. The danger was what inspired her the most. She took off her mask and faced her mentor.
"I love the way you killed that robot"
"Learned from the best" said Sarah, right before giving him a long, passionate kiss. They were all alone in that immensity and there was no greater feeling in the world.
"That's the weirdest first date ever"
Sarah laughed. She never saw him like that, like a boyfriend. She had so much respect for him that it never crossed her mind. But he had everything planned.
Since the moment he saw her entering the stadium, he felt something different. He felt like there was so much potential in that beautiful blond, he couldn't let her go. And he wasn't thinking of her fighting potential.
He wanted her to be his partner, to be with him when he needed the most. He knew that her honey-brown eyes were the only ones that could actually understand him.
He found himself anxious to see her again each day in the testing area. She had already become a huge part of his life and he couldn't let anything bad happen to her.
When he saw her falling down, he felt something deep inside of him that made him sure that apprentice was Sarah. He couldn't let her get hurt. Or even worse… just the thought of losing her made him desperate.
Now, she was fine again and he would do whatever he could to make her happy and safe. She was Wonder Woman and he was Superman. Together, they were invincible and their love could save the world.