The Three Elements #3 (The Avengers)

Chapter 4: Equal Parts Bitchiness and Sadness

I told her of my family and who I was with. I was not surprised when she said that she thought she had seen me somewhere on the news. I told her all about the New York attack and about Loki. I told her about my arch-nemesis and how she came for me and I was held captive in a prison for supervillians. I told her about how I was in a dream and did a deal with Loki.

‘once you get past the sexy accent it’s not fun and games like the media makes it out to be’ I continued.

I told her about Enchantress and how my anger and pain changed my powers and diminished others.

‘But you know what the crazy thing is?’ I asked her. ‘Enchantress is my mother’ Trudy’s jaw dropped just like mine had when she told me about her sister, Kitty Pryde.

‘What? She was going to kill her own daughter’ Trudy muttered.

‘Don’t even ask, she was going on about me being tainted or some shit like that’ we both laughed and somehow forgot where we were.

‘Don’t swear’ Harley snapped sourly.

‘And what makes you so precious?’ I shouted back, but wanted to take it right back. I blame Tony for the rudeness.

Tony. Pepper. I wonder what they were doing right now. If they were looking for me or if they had given up? For all I knew this could be another dream. No I mustn’t think like that. I had to get real. My name is Naveen Stark, I battled an alien army with the Avengers. I am no longer Priestess. But being Priestess was all I have ever known. So what am I now?

‘Naveen...Naveen?’ Trudy was trying to get my attention. ‘Are you alright?’

‘No I am not’ said a voice like mine but my mouth did not even open. A duplicate of myself was standing across the room with a dramatic expression. Even though I knew it was Mystique it still chilled me to the bone to know that an exact duplicate of my self was standing on the other side of the room.

‘Because I am a stupid little bitch who practically strolled into a trap, and what an obvious one at that’ the last part she said in her own voice and shifted back to her natural blue form. She pulled out a syringe and put her hand through the glass so that she grabbed my wrist roughly.

‘Since when is Tony Stark never drunk at a party?’ she jabbed the needle end into the crook of my arm like it was metal and not flesh. Pain shot through my arm and I watched as the blood drained into the vile. Even when the vile was full Mystique jerked the needle around in my arm and I would have collapsed but her grip held tight like a vice and I felt bruises blossom under her hand.

She tore the needle out and I stepped down and clutched at the bleeding hole on my arm.

‘Mystique!!’ Magneto boomed from off in the distance. She turned to me and faked a sad face.

‘Oh dear, we’ll have to do this tomorrow’ she sauntered away and flicked the lights off, ‘I’ll call you’

The darkness smelt of blood and sweat and tasted sterile. The oblivion consumed me once more

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The sloshing of water interrupted my shattered sleep. At first I wasn’t sure what was going on. My memory flashed back to the first time I had gone to the beach, it had been with Phil Coulson. Tony was off doing something overseas and I was on my own I think I was fifteen. But then I heard Harley sigh deeply and I knew not to freak out.

‘Why aren’t you sleeping?’ I asked him through the dankness of the lab. The water stopped sloshing and the night, or day, went back to silence.