╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮
EPILOGUE!
high school grads
╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯
───────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────────
It has been almost four years since you last saw our monster hunting team. A lot has changed since than and I mean, a lot.
For one, they were never no longer fighting monsters. They had singlehanded rid their entire city of those flesh eating beasts, allowing their home to be safe once again.
They also were no longer accompanied by their robot friend, Mech X4. The complex of technology had been burnt to a crisp in outer space after the team's intense final battle with their now deceased enemy, Traeger. They had saved the world from destruction and were now ready to make the leap into it as real adults.
Today, six of the members would graduating from high school and moving on into the real world. After their work was done with the robot, each one of the members had decided that it was now time to pursue other passions in life.
Though they will never forgot the experiences they had with the robot, they knew it was now time for them to move onto different paths.
"How do I look?" Natalie questioned worryingly, nervously adjusting her hair in the mirror. She turned around to glance at her best friend, who was just laying on the bed in her formal attire.
"You look amazing. Like an ethereal goddess, really." Hana assured, smiling brightly.
And the girl was not lying.
Natalie Berzatto was always considered the pretty girl of the grade but since becoming older, she truly blossomed into a beautiful young woman. She has grown more into her mature looks but she still held onto the natural features of her youth.
She still had extremely long brunette hair, accompanied by bangs as she never grew out of that style and her eyes had yet to darken into a more mature colour. They were still that same bright ocean blue colour that made her recognizable among the crowd. She had only grown into a new version of herself but was still the same old Natalie.
"Liar!" Natalie exclaimed in a teasing tone.
"I'm being serious!" Hana denied, getting up from her spot on the spot. "I only tell the truth and nothing but the truth." She wrapped her arm around his best friend's shoulder, flashing a big smile.
"Now that's a lie." Natalie pointed out in a playful tone, shaking her head but still allowed herself to fall into the girl's embrace.
After their playful banter had faded out, complete silence had over taken the room. There was a looming presence over the two that was eating away at both of them. Neither girl wanted to face the facts that they were indeed growing up and would eventually, have to leave each other. They had been best friends for more than a decade, practically glued to each other's hip.
Nothing could ever force them apart, not even the ending of the world. But now they were their own people with their own hopes and dreams. And some of those ideas would force them to separate on the path from each other and they weren't ready to face the reality of life.
"Do you remember taking that picture?" Hana questioned suddenly, pointing at something that was pinned to the baby pink walls. The Berzatto girl's attention was drawn to a specific Polaroid and she smiled happily at the sight.
The picture showcased the aftermath of Hana Miyazaki's seventh birthday. The two girls smiled brightly at the camera, both covered in chunks of vanilla cake. They had decided to throw handfuls of the birthday cake at each other for fun before deciding to make their friendship official. It was basically the day that they became best friends.
"Of course." Natalie chuckled. "It was your seventh birthday and I decided it would be funny to smash your face into the cake."
"Yeah, I was covered in frosting, so I decided to throw a slice at your face in retaliation." Hana confirmed, also laughing.
"Our parents were so mad at us." Natalie reminded.
"So mad!" Hana agreed.
"But it was a special day for us as we officially became best friends." Natalie pointed out.
"And we still are best friends to this day." Hana confirmed.
"That's never gonna change, right?" Natalie pondered, finally deciding to clear the air.
"Of course not! We've been through how much shit together?" Hana shook her head. "Like remember when I popped your shoulder into place after Traeger broke it."
"Only you could do that. Harper literally fainted on the spot as soon as he saw the damage." Natalie chuckled.
"Or in grade 11, when you comforted me after my girlfriend cheated on me." Hana continued.
"We ate so much ice cream and watched too many shitty movies together." Natalie confirmed. "My stomach was killing me afterwards but I only continued to eat it as I knew it'd make you feel better." The two shared a genuine smile.
"You see? We've been through so much together. I'm never going away, even if you grow to hate you. I'll always be here for you, don't ever forgot that." Hana reminded.
"I won't, I promise." Natalie assured. "Best friends for life?" She held up her pink for the girl.
"Best friends for life." Hana confirmed, connecting their pinkies together to seal the deal.
"We better get going, we have a graduation to attend." Natalie reminded, noticing the time.
"Hell yeah, we do!" Hana exclaimed. "I'm getting so wasted tonight!"
"As long as I'm not taking care of you then I say do whatever you want." Natalie shook her head.
"You love me though!" Hana reminded.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Natalie playfully rolled her eyes before leaving the room. The other girl followed after her as their parents would kill them if they were late to their own grad.
───────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────────
Despite, the graduation ceremony starting any minute now, the three boys were still together in the back room, fixing each other's appearance. Both wanted to look extremely good for this life changing event. The last thing they wanted to do was look back on the memory and see something that remotely repulsed them.
"Are you sure I can't just wear my hat underneath this stupid cap?" Spyder questioned in annoyance, crossing his arms.
"No, you can't." Harris shook his head, standing on his tiptoes to adjust the cap on the tall boy's head. He may have grown a few inches but he was still short compared to his friends.
"Why not?!" Spyder pondered. He was mostly satisfied with his appearance but he wished that he could wear his usual snap backs. It would be better than this ugly grad cap that he was forced to adorn.
"Because we'll get in trouble by the principal if we're not in our caps and gowns." Ryan explained.
"Who cares?! We're literally graduating. The principal can't do anything to us anymore. We can break a rule or two." Spyder defended. "Also, my hair looks horrible in this hat."
"Your hair has looked bad since you let Hana bleach your bangs when you were drunk." A familiar voice spoke, causing the three boys to immediately turn around and were met with Veracity Campbell.
"It's not that bad." Spyder argued, tucking the bleached blonde curtain bangs behind his ear. He didn't want them getting in his face.
"True, you could look worse." Veracity pointed out, placing her arm around Harris' shoulder. "You've never shaved your head or had a mullet."
"I agree with Veracity on that." Ryan nodded.
"What are you doing here again, other than making fun of my hair?" Spyder asked playfully.
"I came to get you three as they're gonna start the ceremony soon." Veracity reminded. "It would be real awkward if they called your name and you weren't there."
"You're right, we should head back." Harris suggested to the other boys.
"Wait!" Spyder exclaimed suddenly, causing both teens to give him a weird look. "I need to ask you guys for some advice."
"This should be interesting." Veracity pointed out.
"But I'm also a little scared." Ryan admitted.
"Oh, no........how bad of an idea do you have?" Harris pondered worryingly.
"It's kind of insane." Spyder confirmed.
"Spyder, if you moon the audience when they call your name, I will no longer be friends with you." Harris exclaimed.
"I say, let him do it." Veracity argued, wanting to see how that situation will go down.
"We're not letting him do that." Ryan shook his head.
"No, no, no, no, I'm not doing that." Spyder assured, earning a sigh from his friends. "I'm thinking about asking Natalie to marry me." Everyone stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you insane?!" Harris basically choked on air as soon as he heard what the boy was thinking.
"Yes.......but that's not the point." Spyder grinned sarcastically. "I guess I'm just worried. I feel like she might forget about me and find someone better when she goes off to university."
"Nat is not that kind of girl." Ryan reminded.
"Yeah, she would not randomly leave you for some ugly unhygienic jock. She's practically been in love with you since freshman year and nothing could ever change her opinion on that." Harris explained.
"Yeah, you two are like the perfect couple. You've somehow made it work for this long, while the rest of our relationships fell apart. You're so love with each other that it's kind of gross. You two are basically meant to be together for like the rest of your lives." Veracity pointed out.
"You don't have to worry about anything. Natalie will still be there for you, no matter what." Ryan assured. "Out of everything that has happened in her life, she never regretted choosing to date you."
"Are you sure everything we'll be fine?" Spyder asked worryingly.
"I'm 100% sure." Ryan confirmed, earning a nod from the blonde and shorter boy.
"Good." Spyder chuckled happily.
───────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────────
The six teens were able to somehow get to their graduation ceremony on time. They all believed that there were running late but were pleasantly surprised that they weren't.
The ceremony started just as they got there, so they were all quickly ushered by their teachers to take a seat in their designated spots. They had to sit in alphabetical order, meaning they weren't knew each other but this also meant, there was less room for trouble. Currently, the six teens were all waiting to be called up to receive their diplomas.
"Veracity Campbell."
The blonde girl carefully walked up the stairs to the stage, hoping that she wouldn't trip up in her heels. Once she was in the clear, she walked towards their principal, who was holding her diploma. She grabbed it with ease, smiling at the fact that she could see all her friends in the audience, cheering for her.
"I knew I would graduate but I'm surprised you let some of these kids graduated." Veracity pointed out in a hushed tone.
"I had to get rid of them one way or another." The blonde nodded in agreement before stepping off the stage and walking back towards her seat.
The long list of names continued on but the team didn't care until their short friend was called up. "Harrison Harris jr." Everyone cheered for the boy as he walked onto the stage to receive his diploma. He smiled happily at the attention before heading off.
Shortly afterwards, Spyder was be called up to the stage. "Conner Johnson." The boy excitedly bounced up the steps, quickly rushing over to receive his diploma. He was bursting with so much energy that the principal had to basically hold him in place to get his picture taken.
"You did it, dingus!" Mark exclaimed from the crowd, causing the boy to beam happily. His friends all joined in to cheer him on.
Before Spyder got off the stage, he quickly scanned the audience for his girlfriend. Once he spotted her among the crowd, he smiled brightly. "I did it, Natalie!" He exclaimed, loud enough for the girl to hear. He held up his diploma for her to see.
The girl couldn't help but smile. She was really proud of him for actually pulling through and graduating on time.
"Hana Miyazaki." The girl grinned happily, walking onto the stage to receive her diploma.
When presented to her, she harshly grabbed the rolled up piece of paper out of the principal's hand, earning a dirty look. She didn't care as all that matter was that she was finally leaving. Before leaving, she made sure to flip off of the people that she hated the most.
"I'm finally free!" Hana exclaimed happily before sprinting off the stage. A teacher was than instructed to chase after her, causing her to run out of the building. The rest of the teenagers, especially her friends, all laughed at her antics.
"Natalie Mendel-Berzatto."
It was now her turn to get up and receive her diploma. The girl sucked in a deep breath as she gently walked up the stairs. Once she stepped onto the stage, she nervously looked out into the audience, hoping to spot anyone that she knew.
Behind the row of graduates, sat all the important people in her life and her friends lives. There was her mother and her grandmother, holding up their cameras to capture the moment. There was also her friends' families cheering on the girl but the most important of the bunch was Mark Walker, who was basically an older brother to her.
Even her estranged father, Leo Mendel, had shown up for the special event. Despite, them not seeing each other in years, he still made the time to come and celebrate her achievements. That made her heart swell up with joy.
The girl accepted all of their reassuring smiles as she headed over to receive her diploma. "That's my daughter!" She couldn't help but grin at Leo's antics.
"And she's better than all of your children!" Everyone was now giving him weird looks, prompting her mother to pull the male scientist to sit back down. She then walked off to sit down herself.
When she sat back down, she never expected that her boyfriend would be there. She gave him a confused look as he was supposed to be sitting two rows behind her. Apparently, he had bribed the original student beside her, so he could switch seats to be with his girlfriend. She knew he might get in trouble if the staff caught him but she didn't care as she was happy that he was there.
"I'm so proud of you." Spyder smiled, pressing a soft kiss to the side of her head.
"I'm more proud of you." Natalie pointed out. "You always said you'd never graduate and look at you now. You did it." He blushed intensely.
The couple made small conversation as more names were called as they didn't care about said students. They were waiting for Ryan to be called up. He was the last person in the graduating class and even the final member of the team to receive his diploma. After him, this means that all six teenagers were now high school graduates and could now transition into the adult world.
"And finally, Ryan Walker." He was the last person called up. All of his friends got up and cheered happily for their former leader. The boy smiled back before grabbing ahold of his diploma and leaving the stage.
"We did it. We've all officially graduated high school." Natalie breathed out in relief.
"Yeah, we did." Spyder agreed happily.
"It's kind of crazy to think about. We were once all nervous freshman and now we're heading off to university." Natalie reminded, not realizing the frown that was now etched on the boy's face.
"Yeah, crazy." Spyder hung his head low but his girlfriend quickly noticed this action.
"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked worryingly.
"I just feel weird about this whole thing." Spyder finally admitted to her. "We're both going to different to schools and I'm afraid that you'll leave me for someone better. And I don't want that to happen."
"That's not going to happen, Spyder. I still love you and nothing will change that." Natalie assured.
Spyder said nothing in response, he just continued to stare into her ocean blue eyes. He nervously swallowed the lump in his throat as what he was going to do next, would determine what would happen to their relationship. He didn't know if it was too early or if he was about to shoot himself in the foot but he decided to rip the bandaid off and do it. It was now or never.
"You ok?" Natalie pondered worryingly at his silence. She lifted her hand to gently cup his face. She had sense an uneasy feeling in him and became overwhelmed with worry.
Spyder sucked in a deep breath to give himself a confidence boost. "Marry me." He blurted out, not breaking eye contact with the girl.
Natalie's eyes widened in disbelief, feeling her own voice get stuck in her throat. She didn't know if she heard the boy correctly or if it was just her imagination. "What?" She let out in confusion.
"I said, marry me." Spyder confirmed, causing the girl to stare at him with wide eyes.
Before the girl could response, she was cut off by the closing speech. "Now introducing the graduating class of 2022!" The entire auditorium interrupted with cheers as all of the students took off their caps and threw them into the air.
───────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────────
The ceremony had finally ended, prompting everyone in the auditorium to get up from their seats and leave. Many of the dozen families immediately headed outside into the warm weather to get a closer look at the new graduates, who had gone out there.
The auditorium was basically empty within a few minutes but there was still two people that sat in the now empty rows. Natalie and Spyder had refused to get up at the end, needing an extra moment to themselves. Both teens at in silence, unsure what to say to the other.
Natalie was in shock. She couldn't believe what the boy had suggested to her. She had just graduated high school and now she was being hit with the prospect of marriage. It's not like she didn't love him, she just believed it was too early for them to be thinking about major life events like that. They had barely finished high school and he already wanted to get married. She didn't know if he was being serious or not.
"You want us to get married?" Natalie asked in disbelief, breaking the silence between them.
"Yes." The boy nodded, taking one of her hands into his. He gently grasped it.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Natalie pondered as she still wasn't sure about the idea. "I mean, we only just graduated. Like we're eighteen. We have our whole lives ahead of us, so we don't have to rush into this."
"Earlier today, I only was thinking about asking you because I'm afraid of the future and I'm afraid of not having you there. Later I realized that it was stupid after the group basically reminded me that I had nothing to worry about." Spyder admitted.
"They were right. I'm not going anywhere, I'm not leaving you anytime soon." Natalie assured, leaning her head against his shoulder. "You don't have to rush into anything out of fear because I'll still be here, waiting for you."
"Despite, all of that, I still couldn't get that idea out of my head. Like I don't think I'm asking you out of fear anymore. I think I'm asking you because I genuinely want to spend the rest of my life with you." Spyder pointed out. "I can't be without you."
"You do? You wanna be with me for the rest of your life?" Natalie pondered with a smile.
"Yes, we always said forever and I'm not breaking that promise." Spyder nodded happily. "I've never been more confident in this decision. I will admit that I've done a lot of stupid things in my life but I will never regret falling in love with you. That was the best decision I've ever made. There's nothing in the world that could ever change my mind."
"I never regretted being with you either as you are the love of my life." Natalie reminded. "I don't care how young we are, we'll be together forever like we promised."
"So......does that mean you're saying yes?" Spyder pondered in confusion.
Natalie lifted her head from his shoulder, to stare directly into his chocolate brown eyes. "Yes, I will marry you." She confirmed happily, causing a large smile to appear on his face.
"Mazel Tov." Spyder grinned.
He gently cupping her face with both hands before sealing the deal by pressing his lips to hers. She happily accepted it by wrapping her arms around his neck and deepening it. Even after pulling away, the two stayed wrapped in each other's embrace, not wanting to leave.
They only separated when the buzzing of a phone filled the space. Natalie groaned in annoyance, reaching into her gown pocket to retrieve her phone. She glanced at it, seeing that Hana had texted her about her whereabouts as the group couldn't find either teenager.
"We should probably head back outside as everyone is searching for us." Natalie reminded.
"Alright." Spyder sighed in annoyance, not wanting to break up their sincere moment just yet.
The girl shook her head in response, getting up from her seat. She held out her hand for the boy to grab, which he gratefully accepted before the two walked out of the auditorium to find their friends.
───────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────────
It didn't take long for the young couple to find their friends as they were all conversing near the front doors with each other and their families. They were immediately spotted by Ryan, who happily invited them over.
"Where have you guys been? We've looking for you both." Ryan questioned.
"We got lost trying to find each other." Natalie confirmed to the teens. "Turns out, he never left the auditorium since he was waiting for me."
"I didn't know that you left." Spyder argued, continuing with her lie.
"But I'm glad that you're both here now." Veracity admitted happily, getting in the middle of the couple to throw his arms around both of their shoulders.
"Well, we did it, guys! We've officially graduated!" Ryan announced happily, earning cheers.
"Finally." Mark pointed out with a chuckle, no longer feeling left out.
The older male had already graduated high school and was now a third year student in university. He was just patiently waiting on his fellow friends to join him in the real world and that day was finally here.
"It took four painstakingly long years but we did it." Harris sighed in relief.
"We're finally free from hell!" Hana exclaimed.
"Thank god!" Spyder agreed with the girl.
"Yep and now we're all moving onto do new things in life." Veracity reminded.
"Yeah, that's gonna be so weird that we're gonna no longer gonna be together." Ryan pointed out.
They had been by each other's side for so long that it was strange to think they would be tackling these new adventures on their own, without each other.
"Don't say that." Spyder shook his head.
"He's right." Natalie agreed. "We're gonna be going to universities in different cities."
"This is the first time we'll be ever apart." Harris exclaimed. "We've been by each other's side since middle school or freshman year but now, we're going our own ways."
"Yeah like I'm going to university in London." Veracity reminded.
Despite, getting into many universities in the country, the blonde had chosen to attend her dream school in England. She would be majoring in astrophysics with the intention of working with NASA as a lead researcher. It was always her dream to study the solar system.
"I will be in Toronto." Harris confirmed.
The boy had always wanted to go into something science based but decided on engineering after his time at the robot. He realized he had the potential to create amazing technology that could change the world and wanted to do that full time. He got into many universities but ultimately accepted his offer to the most prestigious university in Toronto. He would be pursuing his dream program, software engineering.
"Luckily, Harris will have me." Hana assured, wrapping her arm around the shorter boy. "But we'll be at different schools in Toronto."
Hana will also moving across the country to the largest city but she'll be at a different school. She had decided that she wanted to pursue fashion as a full time career instead of as a hobby. She had submitted a portfolio to like every fashion school but was excited to hear that she was accepted into Toronto's fashion school. She immediately agreed to pack her bags and move out there with the goal of starting her own fashion company.
"At least, a few of us will still be here." Ryan pointed out, glancing over at the young couple.
They were the only three in the group who would be staying in their hometown. They realized that they weren't ready to move to far from home and decided that the school nearby would best suit their needs. Luckily, one of the best universities in the country, UBC, was in their hometown.
This is where Ryan and Natalie would be going. The boy had decided to go into concurrent education with the intentions of becoming a teacher. He had showcased great leadership skills in the Mech X4 team and knew that he could be a great role model for the future generation. This lead him to pursue teaching professionally.
Natalie, on the other hand, was going into engineering. She would be pursuing the biomedical pathway in engineering. It was a very competitive program but her impressive grades and portfolio of inventions had granted her a spot. She had created multiple life saving inventions in the past for the robot, so she decided to apply those skills to a full time career.
"I'm the odd one out here as I'm not going to university." Spyder admitted in a sad tone.
The boy knew that he was not cut out for university. He didn't have the grades or even smarts to pursue that level of education. He knew that he would of been rejected on the spot, so he decided to save himself the hurt by not applying. He was proud of his friends but he was disappointed in himself for not being at their level.
"But you're going to college at least." Mark reminded. "That's still something."
"You're going to be a great electrician." Natalie complimented, earning a smile from him.
Spyder Johnson was not the best at school as he struggled with all of the reading and writing skills that were required. He barely scraped through all of those sort of classes. But the one thing that he found out in high school, was that he was actually a very good student in all of his construction classes.
Despite, giving up on any aspirations to go to school, his friends had seen his skills encouraged him to apply to college instead for the trades. He was definitely surprised when the local college had accepted him but he decided to go through with it, choosing to become an electrician.
"Yeah, you'll do great, man." Ryan complimented.
"You may not be going to university but you're still going to do something important." Harris pointed out. "We can't do anything without your job."
"You're right, I am still cool." Spyder beamed happily.
"This is gonna be insane." Hana sighed.
"Yeah but we'll be able to do it." Veracity assured.
"We saved the world and fought monsters, I'm sure we can handle university." Mark pointed out.
"We might not be together but we're all strong enough to do it on our own." Harris agreed with the older male.
"Yeah, we'll be ready to take anything, no matter what happens." Ryan exclaimed happily.
★ 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐃 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 ! spyder johnson ★
(© 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱)