Marvel Avengers Fan Fiction ❯ Talia's story ❯ 1: A hero in progress ( Chapter 1 )

Ding!

“Lia! The toaster’s done!” An middle-aged African American lady called out to the teenager who sat at the back of the kitchen doing calculus. Wired earphones plugged into her ears, keeping her from hearing anything around her. She had her chesnut-coloured hair tied up into a messy bun, keeping it out of her face. 

“Lia!” The lady pulled the earphones out of the girl’s ear, “I said the toaster’s done. Come on, someone’s gotta serve these hungry folk.” The girl looked up, showing her grey eyes that twinkled ever so slightly. She nodded, quickly arranging the neat name tag on her uniform which spelled her name: ‘Talia’. She made her way to the toaster and pulled the bread out, making an avocado sandwich in record time. “Oh Lia, the customer doesn’t look happy that it took so long, you better hurry up and hand it to him.” The lady said, placing a hand on Talia’s shoulder. 

With a quick smile sent to the lady, Talia rushed out of the kitchen and called out, “Who ordered an avocado sandwich?” A man in a suit stood up from the tables around the diner, straightening his jacket, a grumpy frown on his face. “Could you BE any slower?” He snapped at the girl, snatching the paper bag containing his sandwich. Her eyebrows furrowed and she asked, “Did you just quote FRIENDS?” The man scowled and left the diner, almost forgetting his briefcase. 

Talia sighed. Seeing that the customers were satisfied, she returned to the kitchen, sitting down and resuming her thought process of the worksheet. She didn’t mean to be doing it in the kitchen, but she found the worksheet abandoned by the sidewalk. Someone must have dropped it, and that someone certainly did not have the patience with calculus, judging by the pen scribbles on it. 

Talia always found mathematics amazing, and yet, she could not afford to attend a school. The middle aged lady leaned against the wall, watching the girl scribble down the equations and workings, “Talia..” She looked up at the calling of her name. “The diner is our priority, remember?” The lady emphasised. Talia looked down in embarrassment, “But Momma Donya–” 

“No ‘but’s, young lady. You gotta work to cover expenses, darling.” Momma Donya replied, a little hint of empathy coating her words. Talia sighed for the second time that day. Momma Donya had taken her in about a year back, and Talia promised to work at the diner for her to cover her expenses. “Yes ma’am..” She replied, remembering her promise. 

Talia proceeded to put away the worksheet and stand behind the counter, ready to take orders from potential customers who stood outside, contemplating whether to enter. Talia looked down and started calculating their earnings for today, but she looked up when she heard faint screaming. 

People ran hysterically down the street, and the people in the diner started to panic. “What the..” Talia muttered… “Lia? What’s going on–” Momma Donya asked as she walked out of the kitchen, the words getting lost asd she watched people run from the left to the right, screaming. 

“Momma…stay in here..” Talia muttered as she slowly walked out from behind the counter. “Lia!” Momma Donya grabbed the girl’s wrist, causing her to turn to the older lady. Momma Donya smiled at the girl, a mixture of pride and concern, “Be careful.” With a small nod, Talia exited the diner, treading her footsteps carefully as she noticed the small alien flying crafts that flew overhead. She ducked as debris fell from the aliens blasting the buildings. 

Talia didn’t bother to stop the horror-stricken expression that came onto her face. Screams were heard and Talia saw a little girl, probably at the age of 4, cowering away from an alien that cornered her against a bus that had flipped over. Talia sprinted to the girl, a familiar white blur covering her eyes. 

Talia stood in front of the scene and saw herself holding the girl and the alien stood in her blind spot and swung his fist to punch Talia, something the teenager didn’t see. Talia fell as the fist came into contact with her cheek, still holding the girl, protecting her from the fall. 

The white blur disappeared and Talia found herself still sprinting towards the girl and the alien, like no time passed. Talia slid on the road, sticking her legs out and tripped the alien. The alien fell onto the floor and groaned, slowly getting back to its feet. But Talia didn’t bother watching it get up, she got to the little girl. 

“Hey sweetheart, you okay?” She asked with a gentle tone. The girl nodded her head fearfully. Picking her up, Talia rested the girl on her hip, balancing her with one hand. The alien had gotten up. He stood in her blind spot and swung his fist to punch Talia, but this time she knew. 

Talia leaned left, dodging the punch sent by the alien. In a flash, she sent a roundhouse kick to the alien’s head, rendering it unconscious as it dropped to the ground. Talia sent the girl down and smiled at her, “Sweetheart, what’s your name?”

“M-Mia..” She stuttered out.

“Well Mia, that was so brave of you! Do you know where your parents are?”

Mia shook her head and Talia silently cursed.

“Alright Mia, I need you to do something for me, is that okay?”

Mia nodded her head vigorously.

“You see the diner over there?” Mia’s eyes followed to where Talia was pointing and nodded her head slowly. “Well, you’ll find a very kind lady there called Momma Donya. I need you to stay with her, is that alright?” Talia explained. 

Mia nodded her head and with a tiny push on the back, Talia watched as the girl ran straight to the diner. “Well, now that that’s settled…” Talia muttered to herself, “Time to deal with the rest.” 

Talia ran around aimlessly, searching for people in the mess that was once known as New York. Helping a man out of debris, she directed him to the diner and watched as he ran there. “Well, that’s four people I saved…” She said, “and not one ‘hey! Thanks for saving my gluteus maximus!” She threw her hands up, sighing, “Yeah, go on and live your life without thinking of your amazing saviour!” 

Grumbling, her eyes were covered by a white blur again. 

“How did you..?” A star spangled man stood in front of her, gaping at her, looking back and forth at the dead alien on the ground. Talia shrugged and smirked, “Nice to meet you, Captain America.” He mumbled, “Oh man..” 

When the white blur disappeared, Talia thought for a second before she muttered, “Oh my days, I’m gonna meet Captain America!” Though she was interrupted by an explosion above her. “Okay okay, work first.”

Talia continued running along the streets, searching for survivors and helping them to safely enter shops to be away from the streets. 

Talia stood next to a man in blue, white and red. The sound of a blast came from behind them and since they were too distracted to hear it, it knocked them both off their feet. Groaning, Talia turned to see an alien with his damn alien gun that he just shot them with.

Talia ran for about ten minutes until she saw the star spangled man. Shrieking silently, Talia ran up to punch an alien that he had missed out that was about to stab him. Elbowing him in the gut, she stomped on his foot and kicked him away. Captain America turned, expecting to find an alien, but found a teenager that saved him from being hit. “Erm, hi?” He said.

Talia heard the sound of a blast being fired and with split second reflexes, she tugged the Captain to the right with strength that Steve did not expect, avoiding the blast. Kicking an alien weapon on the ground and flipping it into her hand, she threw it like a javelin and it stabbed the alien in the chest.

“How did you..?” He gaped at her, looking back and forth at the dead alien. Talia shrugged and smirked, “Nice to meet you, Captain America.” He mumbled, “Oh man..” 

Oh, this is gonna be fun..