I'm currently commuting, so enjoy :)
Year Four: The Not-Final Exam Part Two
Nineteen Years Ago - Banner House
Four-year-old Daniel approaches the other dads as they chat amongst themselves in the backyard. He was sitting under a tree scribbling in a notepad while Apollo and Xavier were beating each other up and Angela was playing in a flowerbed with James. Emily and Merida were with Clint by the tire swing, the girls taking turns on it. Specifically, Daniel walks up to Thor, fixing his glasses before looking up at him. All the other dads, Tony, Hank, and Steve look at him questioningly, pausing their conversations.
"What can I do for you, Daniel?" Thor asks him.
"Here," Daniel passes Thor his opened notepad.
Thor takes it and is staring at a page of scribbles, diagrams, and messy equations. He shows it to the other dads to see if they could get a better understanding. Bruce and Hank take out their glasses as Tony takes the notepad first to look at it. His brows furrow as he shows it to Steve who's already shaking his head, not bothering to try and comprehend it. Tony flips through the pages to see if there's any more but it's only that one page before he hands it to Bruce and Hank to examine.
"Daniel, what is it?" Bruce asks him.
"So unworthy people can lift Mjolnir," Daniel responds.
Thor's jaw drops as he grabs the notepad to reexamine it. Steve starts laughing to himself, smiling at Daniel as he pats his back.
"Mjolnir doesn't work that way," Thor insists.
"Yes, it does," Daniel corrects, not skipping a beat.
"The scientist in me thinks that this is a great experiment and you had your variables controlled," Thor says, handing Daniel back his notepad. "We'll test it the next time I have Mjolnir on me. I left it on Asgard."
"What scientist?" Tony asks.
"Thor, point out a variable in this," Hank challenges, referring to the notepad. "Any variable."
Thor narrows his eyes. "The god in me feels threatened."
"So threatened you left Mjolnir on Asgard," Bruce tells him.
"Mjolnir's sensitive."
"Just like his wielder."
-o-
Present Day - Academy Training Archipelago - 10:53 AM
Emily opens her eyes and it's so dark that it's like she never opened them. She's lying on her back and feels around her. As she suspected given that she sank in quicksand, she fists some dirt and sand. Emily sits up and brushes herself off, squinting her eyes as if that would help her look ahead. It doesn't. Emily brushes some stray strands of hair to the side and then she notices a small flicker of yellow light flying above her.
"Nice of you to join me," Emily says, smiling.
James grows back to his normal size in front of her. He keeps his hands glowing as she stands.
"The cooler sub-team," James says. "I scanned up and down this sub-terrain. We're in a tunnel that only goes straight. Even the hole we fell through sealed up completely. I say we head south where the team is because we'll eventually cross paths with them."
"What if they turn?" Emily asks.
James shrugs. "I'll blast a tunnel so you won't ruin your nails."
"You're sweet."
They start walking through the tunnel, following James' light. They don't talk at first since they're trying to listen for their friends above ground, but nothing. Emily kicks through the dirt and sand at their feet.
"I was on a study week in school so some of my cohort girls and I went on a trip to Hokkaido," Emily tells him. "It's got resorts with volcanoes and hot springs. A lot of floral fields too."
James nods. "I've only been to Okinawa with my parents for two reasons. My mom was invited to a fashion show and my dad was doing research. I just sat at the beach making sandcastles while my dad was doing field notes. How's your thesis going?"
"I'm tinkering around, making things like the shield for Xavier to test things out. What about yours?"
"I have a field."
They both laugh. James has had a field for about three years now.
"My dad's been calling me more," Emily says. "Like, as much as he did my first year out of the house. Funny enough, he's asking me about all of you."
"I am fun to talk about," James beams.
"Yeah, I kept bringing you up but he wants me to come home. He doesn't think I'm coming back."
"Jeez. Well, are you?"
"Of course I am," Emily responds, shocked he even asked. Although, if she's being frank, she's not that surprised that James or even her father asked. She wasn't even sure of the next time she would see her friends if it weren't for this last-minute Academy evaluation. As for her parents? She might make a quick trip home (or wherever they are) before heading back to Japan.
Emily and James look up when they hear a loud thunk from above ground. Dirt specks fall on their faces but when they face forwards again, agents who are a part of the evaluation charge towards them. James shrinks and zips ahead again, blasting. Since he took their light source with them, Emily's left in the dark. Immediately, she's grabbed from behind and yelps. She drags her heels, jutting her elbows back to no avail.
James grows back to his normal size mid-air and links his legs around another agent's neck to flip them over. He shrinks so his flight could prevent him from falling.
Emily stomps on the agent's foot. When his grip on her arm loosens, Emily yanks it forwards and rolls up her sleeve. An Iron Man glove morphs onto her hand and glows bright blue before blasting the agent back. Emily runs ahead towards James, blasting another as James kicks him over. His hands still glow as he looks at Emily's newly revealed weapon.
"Told you I was tinkering," Emily says proudly. "You think I only gave Xavier something?"
"Do our SOs know you have that?" James asks.
"I didn't have to claim shit like at customs."
"This is why we're friends."
-o-
Xavier, Angela, and Iqadi come out from behind the trees that are now covered in splints from the arrow Merida fired. Once the area is clear of flying projectiles, they run back out into the fight. Iqadi laughs, having way too much fun. She leaps towards a tree to bounce off the side, looping her arm around an agent's neck to circle him and knock him over.
"I left my claws at home," she says with a smirk.
"Should've brought them," Angela responds, roundhouse kicking an agent into another. "Emily was armed. If she asks, I don't know that she is. She doesn't go anywhere without an accessory."
She ducks as Xavier's shield whips over her head. Some branches fall to the ground and Angela picks one up to use as a battering ram.
"This way!" Daniel yells.
The group follows Daniel through the trees. Merida's the last one since she fires an explosive arrow right behind them to draw a distraction and give them more time to flee. Iqadi summons the fogs to conceal them more as they approach an administrative building. They're not sure if this is a part of their exam or if they're supposed to continue outdoors, but Xavier rams the door down with his shield and they head inside. If they fail, they fail.
The inside is like an empty hotel lobby. No people, tall walls, and no windows but glass ceilings so clear they can see the bright sky. The area is filled with the front desk, chairs, and potted plants.
"You think they have room service?" Angela asks, smiling.
"Should we ring someone?" Merida asks, pointing at the front desk with a bell saying ring for service.
"If it's gonna be our SOs, they'd be here by now," Xavier says.
"We could just leave," Daniel suggests.
They turn around but the door that they entered has become a wall. Merida fires an explosive arrow and not a single scratch marks the surface, even when Angela shoots it. Xavier's shield bounces back at him when he tries.
"Something bad might occur, but shall we ring for service?" Iqadi asks.
"You can," Merida responds.
"You asked initially." Iqadi glances at the others who shrug and nod so she rings it.
The bell echoes and they wait. The moment the ringing stops, gears start turning all around them. All eyes dart around the room, weapons drawn and ready to fire.
But the vents above them start spewing water.
Merida groans. "Not again."
She changes her arrow to a putty head to close the vent but when she fires it, it holds for five seconds before sputtering out. Water starts pooling all over the hotel ambiance at their ankles.
"I hate it here," Merida mutters.
"Room's gonna flood," Angela says.
Xavier sloshes around the room but there's nothing but walls and the glass ceiling surrounding them. "Nothing that way."
"Lovely for SHIELD to allocate money on a hotel-styled fish tank," Iqadi states, eyeing the ceiling.
"How do you stop a room from flooding?" Angela asks.
"We're smart. We'll figure it out."
They all look at each other for a plan but the only sounds are water pouring in.
"For some of the smartest people in the whole school, we're idiots," Daniel says.
"My GPA has lowered itself at this point," Merida adds.
Angela looks at Daniel. "Sounds like a Sci-Tech problem."
Daniel narrows his eyes at her. "You're an Operations problem."
"Good one!"
"Glass ceiling. Seems like we'll get up there eventually."
Merida fires an arrow at the glass ceiling and it bounces off only to land in the water that's now at their knees.
"Well, shit," she says.
-o-
Emily and James reach the end of their tunnel and see a spinning hatch above them. James leaps and starts spinning it, stopping when drops of water drip onto his face. He looks down at Emily whose eyes are squinting as she looks at the leaking hatch. When she makes eye contact with James, she shrugs. Water starts seeping out of the edges, creeping along the dirt walls surrounding them.
"I should add a scanner on this," Emily says, concealing her repulser. "You think this is the ocean? An oasis? We're basically on an island."
James huffs. "Either way, hold your breath, grab on, and swim up."
Emily nods, taking a deep breath. James continues twisting the hatch, more water starting to pour out with each turn. Once the door starts shaking, Emily grabs onto James' leg and he opens it. Water flows out like a rushing river. Emily nearly lets go of James since she needs both of her arms to swim. She looks around, only seeing blurs of the water rushing in all directions. When she spots a flicker of yellow, Emily takes out her repulser again and fires it so she can use it as a jetpack. Once she's far enough from the current, she puts it away and swims towards James who's heading towards the surface once he spots her. She knows he would've dived back in to find her.
Together, they break the surface, startling their friends.
Emily coughs as Daniel swims towards her. He hugs and kisses her as she relaxes despite needing to tread water.
"Thank god…" he mutters. "We're trapped."
They're a few storeys from hitting the ceiling and Emily figures they've already tried breaking it given, what looks like, pieces of broken furniture floating around them.
"Impenetrable," Merida says. "I hate this place."
Despite that, Emily and James try blasting that only to no avail.
"Well, this was fun," Merida states. "Nice knowing all of ya."
"Maybe we need leverage to push against it," Angela suggests. "The window is still a window and it has panels. It should pop the glass out if there's too much pressure."
Xavier holds the shield against the window and he and Angela try pushing against it, even with Iqadi and James' help, but nothing. They're slowly reaching the point of their heads bobbing against the ceilings.
"The way Stark and I came in here is acting like a drain but inflow is too fast for the outflow," James explains.
"Iqadi, what about the elements?" Emily asks. "You can grab onto them outside."
Iqadi shakes her head. "Wind did nothing and lightning risks electrocuting all of us."
"Worth it, in my opinion," Merida grumbles.
"What about ringing the stupid bell again?" Xavier asks. "Wherever it went. Actually, we probably broke it trying to break a window with it."
"We're about to run out of air so I suggest we all stop talking," Daniel warns.
"Damn," Emily and James say in sync.
Before their eyes, when they hold their breaths and become submerged, the windows start concealing themselves with dark panels. Emily and James light up but it's not enough in the pitch darkness. There's just enough to catch glimpses of faces and start to see Iqadi shaking her head as she hugs herself. Nobody studied for the part of the exam on what to do if the events of an oncoming claustrophobia-induced panic attack while trapped in a hotel-turned-fish tank.