Crimson (A Marvel Story)

Chapter 3: Tainted Memories

   My back was gently set down in the warm grass. I yanked my eyes open to see Pheonix standing above me. The muzzle was still wrapped tightly around my mouth. The chains were still wrapped around my wrists.
My eyes narrowed as I examined the bruises and cuts around Pheonix's eyes, the bloody gash through his lips.
I could feel my heart tear in two as he turned and climbed a large chain-link fence.
"Pheonix!" I called, the muzzle muffling my voice. "You can't do this! I know you love me too much to hurt me!"
He froze, his back still turned to me. My heart banged against my ribcage as the seconds ticked by. He wouldn't even turn around to look at me.
"Love is weakness," he mumbled. My body ached as a crack ripped through my heart. My chest caved in on my lungs. I watched as he wandered deeper and deeper into the woods. I watched as my best and only friend disappeared from my sight. I forced myself up and ignited my hands with fire. The chain slowly melted off. I furiously tore the muzzle off.
"Pheonix!" I called. My eyes swelled with tears as I gazed out into the woods, unable to find him. I bit my cheek, still trying to comprehend what just happened. How could he betray me like that? How could he tell Doctor? I thought I could trust him. How could everything just fall apart in a matter of hours? I thought he loved me.
"Hey!"
My muscles clenched at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. I slowly turned and the blood drained from my body as I stared into his red goggles. I swallowed the thick lump in my throat, latching onto the closest tree as everything began to spin.
The Falcon stood not ten feet away from me, staring me down. They brought me to the Avengers? This was my punishment? To be murdered by the people that I trained my whole life to stop. I took in a deep breath and steadied myself, collecting my barings once again. I'll show them! I thought. I'll show Doctor and Pheonix that I'm not a runt! That I'm not weak! I'll kill the Avengers all by myself. Then they'll take me back!
"This is a restricted area, kid! How did you even get in here?" he questioned. My training flew through my brain.
Falcon, his strength is also his weakness. Disable his wings. A downed falcon is a dead falcon.
He took a single step towards me.
"What are you doing here? Your friends dare you to jump the fence or something?"
I clenched my fist, feeling the fire rise and fall within me as I took slow, deep breaths. Falcon's eyes narrowed as they drifted down to my hands. My hands were twitching uncontrollably as the fire stirred underneath my skin. He swallowed hard as he took another step towards me.
"Look, kid. This doesn't have to be difficult. If you come with me easy, we can get this over with real quick. Got it?"
I swallowed hard and glared into his goggles, still not saying anything. "Can you put your hands on your head for me?"
I took in a sharp breath and slowly raised my hands above my head. I took in sharp breaths as he got closer and closer to me. I kept my eyes glued to him, waiting for the right moment.
"Located the breach. Bringing her in."
I closed my eyes as he walked behind me. I breathed in and out, feeling the fire rise and fall in my lungs. I could feel the individual pellets of gunpowder in his jetpack. I opened my palms. The fire sizzled underneath my skin. As soon as his finger curled around my wrist, I flipped around and ignited the gunpowder in his jetpack. I used the fire in his jetpack to force him in the air. He yanked out his guns but before he could fire, I twisted my hands and made his jetpack explode. I watched as he shot through the air and dissapeared behind the trees. The whirring of another jetpack filled the air as a flash of red and gold flew in front of my eyes. A loud thud exploded from behind me. I whipped around to see Iron Man standing right there, all of his missiles pointed right at me.
"Last warning, kid!" Stark snarled. I glared into his helmet. Stark was the one who made the weapons that destroyed the cities. He was a monster. Another loud thud rang out behind me.
"Listen to him," came a gentle voice. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see his red-white and blue shield. "Why don't you just tell us why you're here and we can work this out in a civil matter."
Another thud came from my right. My heart dropped like a bomb as I turned to look at who it was. Every cell in my body was telling me to run as I set my eyes upon his face. My eyes caught onto his electric blue gaze. Thor stood right there, the hammer tight in his hands. My muscles clenched onto each other. My lungs froze and the breath fled my body. I was too scared to even move. My skin burned as the memories came rushing in, the memories of my sleepless nights, thinking about how scary Thor, the god of thunder was. I would constantly get nightmares of him coming and destroying the compound, killing me and Pheonix. The fear was coursing through my body, but something else rushed in too, the instinct to protect myself and to stop the Avengers from hurting anymore people. My brows squished together as I glared at Captain America.
"Civil?" I growled. My eyes and cheeks burned fire-red as I glared at him. His eyes widened as the flames flickered on the ends of my hair. "What do you people know about being civil?"
I threw my hands forward and blasted fire out of my palms. My center sprawled with heat. The fire blocked out the sound of everything around me. All I saw in the inferno of orange and red, was the grass and trees turning to ash. I slammed my fists shut. My eyes flickered to behind me as Captain America tossed his red-hot shield to the side. My head snapped behind me as Iron Man blasted into the air and fired missiles at me. I reached out, latching onto the fire within the missiles. I spun the missiles around me and blasted them back towards Stark. He dissapeared in the inferno as the missiles collided with him. A loud clap of thunder rattled my eardrums. My heart stopped as I looked at Thor to see his hammer in the air, lightning diving into it. I took a deep breath and took stance.
"Come on!" I screamed at him, waiting for him to throw lightning my way. He let out a warrior's cry as he pointed his hammer towards me. The lightning shot at me. I placed my two index fingers together and caught the lightining. I winced in pain as it traveled through my arm and collected in my chest. My heart was beating rapidly as the lightning shocked it. I caught Thor's shocked face and smirked. I screamed as I reached out and sent the lightning right back towards him. He braced himself but it didn't stop the lightning from slamming into him. He flew back at least fifty feet. Someone grunted behind me. I turned to see Cap's shield flying towards my face. I held my breath as I leaned all the way back, watching as the shield flew over my face. I jumped up to see Cap and Stark rushing towards me. I knew I couldn't take both of them at the same time. I planted my feet into the ground and widened my stance. I took a deep breath and pushed my hands towards the sky, creating a huge wall of fire between us. My head snapped to the side as Thor stood a few feet away from me. His hand was wrapped around his waist. I could see in his eyes that he was stunned. He lifted his hammer again and shot lightning towards me. I reached out and caught it. I curled my arm in a circular motion, making the lightning dance across my arm, charging it up to make it even stronger. My eyes snapped to the side as Black Widow charged towards me. She stopped in her tracks as our eyes latched. I could see the fear glowing off her face. She knew that all I had to do was send the lightning her way, and she'd be dead. I smiled and twisted around to face her. I shot my fingers her way but in an instant, this...scarlet smoke danced across my arm and forced it upward. The lightning shot out of my hand. The bolt tore through the sky, missing Black Widow. I growled as the lightning escaped my body. I forced the fire up and through my throat about to direct it towards Black Widow when someone dropped in front of me. Before I could even do anything, the Scarlet Witch's hand was on my forehead. I watched as the scarlet smoke flew into my eyes, and then there was nothing.