Title: American Ninja Warriors
Author: lildreamer
Rating: K+
Summary: There will be pain. There will be glory. And just maybe, for the first time ever, there will be an "American Ninja Warrior."
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers, they belong to Marvel and Stan Lee. Darn! I also do not own American Ninja Warrior. That show belongs to G4 and NBC. The cover photo belongs to them, too. So don't sue me!
A/N: This is my first Avengers fanfic, so please be kind with the reviews. I saw the show this summer and thought it would be fun to imagine how our favorite heroes would do on it. Would their "powers" give them an advantage or would the obstacle courses be an equalizer? Read now, to find out.
All right, on with the story…
The tower buzzed with excitement the day the invitation came.
The Avengers were invited to compete on American Ninja Warrior.
Actually, the producers were only interested in Steve, who knew absolutely nothing about the show. But the others—with the exception of Bruce (one misstep and the "Other Guy" was liable to appear)—couldn't pass up the opportunity to enter the competition, too. It was a chance for them to show the world and each other what they were really made of.
Tony immediately gathered all the information he could about the show and, with help from JARVIS, created a holographic training program for them. It had a little bit of everything: a climbing wall, a salmon ladder, balance-testing apparatuses, things to swing on, etc…
Training began the next day and continued whenever they had downtime between missions. It was brutal. But it was nothing Steve, Clint, and Natasha couldn't handle. The three prided themselves on their physical condition, though the captain did have an "advantage" over the two assassins. Thor, though not the most graceful, did well enough—once the others explained how everything worked. Tony, on the other hand, was a work in progress.
Without the Iron Man suit, the billionaire wasn't as strong or agile as the others. But he wasn't weak. He just didn't have the SHIELD training or superhuman strength that the others did. He was the normal one of the team, aside from his IQ, of course. So, all the training for ANW was harder on him than anyone else.
While Natasha scaled the climbing wall in a way that would make Spiderman proud, Tony's progress was slow and full of missteps. By the time he reached the top, he was completely drained. Steve maneuvered around and over obstacles as if he'd been trained in parkour. Tony just stumbled all over the place, his legs feeling like jelly by the time he was finished. Thor, with his unwavering optimism, did his best to encourage him and so did the others. He needed it. The hours of rigorous training and the aching of every muscle in his body gave new meaning to the adage, "No pain, no gain."
It was a good thing the team had their own built-in doctor. They all kept Bruce busy, if not annoyed. As if he didn't have enough to deal with when they got injured during missions, now, he had training-related injuries to deal with, too.
Nevertheless, he faithfully continued to tend to them. They were his friends, after all.
They trained for months.
As the competition drew closer, the training intensified.
And so did the anticipation.
When it finally came time to leave, they were ready. More than ready. They'd all grown stronger and more fit than they were before. Tony actually felt good enough to give the others some competition—something he hadn't thought possible just a few months ago. All the hard work and encouragement from his teammates had paid off.
They were all giddy with excitement as they hopped aboard Tony's private jet and headed south to Baltimore...
So, whaddaya think? Intriguing? Want more? Review! Also, for all you Loki fans out there, I couldn't decide if I wanted to put him in the story or not. If you want me to add our favorite god of mischief to the team, I'd be happy to do it. Just let me know!