The Three Elements #3 (The Avengers)

Chapter 5: Only 3

It was like a message from heaven when Mystique finally got us food and water. But the bread was stale and it looked like it had been nibbled on by more than one marsupial. The water was warm and old but it was amazing. I ate the bread in two mouthfuls and if I could have inhaled the water I would have. Trudy didn’t drink the water but however made an ivy vine crawl into the cup and drain the water itself. Harley never needed water again in his entire life so just ate the bread in silence.

Mystique implanted my blood into the machine. This time she did not get angry and spent a few solid hours typing and calculating. She seemed completely entranced and it was like watched a mathematician under pressure. Fast, pressured and busy. I wondered what could be so amazing about my blood for her to be so interested and dedicated to it. I saw a hologram with a double helix on it and I watched as different parts of the helix glowed different colours. I had learnt that I had gotten different parts from Tony and Enchantress. And together placed with also with my human parts it has created me.

But then I watched closer and I saw that the helix was changing. Different sections were changing. I had never seen this before. It seemed that after the episode with Enchantress my entire genetic make-up completely changed and grew stronger. I saw the same thing happen with Harley and Trudy’s helixes too. It looked like our mood changed our genetic form and altered them. It seemed that pain, anger and fear had unlocked something that had been hiding in us.

Something that only with these emotions could be unleashed. Maybe I was never Priestess. Maybe my mutation was always destined for this, to be the violet flame. Priestess was only a stepping stone…a mask. Trudy was only a bud her fear turned her into a blooming flower. Harley was only a storm cloud and his pain had turned him into a monsoon. I was only a spark and it took the hidden anger in me to ignite the fire that was always blazing deep inside me.

Earth.
Water.
Fire.

Then it hit me.

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‘The Four Elements!’ I blurted out after dark when Mystique had finally left and I knew we were safe to talk.
‘What?’ Trudy was dumbfounded.
‘Don’t you get it?!’ I shouted, ‘Magneto and Mystique are trying to make an element mutant. Someone who can create and control all of the natural elements’

‘It’s the reason they take samples and the reason they are always looking at our DNA, they’re looking for ways to extract our genes so they can implant it into someone’ my ideas were met with silence and then laughter.
‘The malnutrition has gotten to your brain Naveen’ Harley joked.
‘What..?’ I had expected relief when I had told them. ‘But it’s obvious’
‘No Naveen, it’s not obvious’ Trudy interrupted, ‘what is obvious is that you want to believe your wild theories…come on be serious here’

‘I don’t believe you two!’ I screamed into nothingness, ‘you cannot seriously believe that we are in here just by coincidence and that they are examining us just by coincidence…this could change everything, it could mean we could find a way out of here’

‘Is that what you really want Naveen?’ came a voice so familiar.
‘Steve, what are you doing here?’ I whimpered through the darkness.
‘Even if you do get out of here…what do you have back at Stark Tower?’
‘Do you really think you were one of us’ Natasha’s voice echoed through the darkness.
‘You are only a girl, a stupid little girl’ Clint’s voice whispered in my ear, ‘we let you play along because you were daddy’s favourite’

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The nightmare shook me awake screaming. My theory had been met with demons and uncertainty. I guess I had passed out or something. All I remember was the light bulb flicking on then those awful things that were pretending to be my friends.  I saw another platter of food by my feet and I immediately dug into it, within the minute the food had barely touched the sides, but I felt better.
‘Naveen, were you having a bad dream?’ Trudy asked me through the glass. I gave her a sad smile and I thought of how innocent she was. After all she was just a kid.
‘Trudy we need to get out of here…this place is playing with our minds’ I managed.
‘You heard Mystique’ Harley said from the other side, ‘no one can get out’

I racked my brain and I began to fidget and I balled my fists together and thought.
‘There has to be a loophole there always is…villains always miss it’
‘Naveen slow down what is wrong?’
I felt like screaming. The plan was staring them right in the face.
‘They are creating a super, an element mutant, with all of our powers that’s why Mystique has been taking our blood and trying to extract our DNA…they want to implant it into someone else’

‘But that can’t be possible’ Trudy muttered. ‘, mutation doesn’t work that way it can’t be injected, it’s either genetic or by some freak of nature’
‘well maybe not anymore’ I rolled off, ‘I mean technology is changing all the time, and mutants are at the head of it all. But can you imagine it…a super like that is practically unstoppable’

‘Why don’t you do it then?’ Harley laughed, ‘you’re one lab experiment away from becoming a super villain yourself’
‘Listen, we have got to get of here. And we have to get every bit of this technology and destroy it’
‘Woah hang on there purple ectoplasm… we don’t even know if this crazy theory of yours is true’

I tried to calm down and collect myself.
‘What are we, school girls who blabber on and cry in our cells?’ I stood up and faced them, ‘no, we are mutants we are strong and we are capable. Besides since when do superheroes play by the rules?’ I didn’t even notice the smile peaking from under my sullen face. ‘if I still played by the rules I would not have gotten here and I would not be the person I am right now, and neither would you’

My victory speech was met with silence and queer looks of question.
‘Okay that’s great and all coach’ Harley snapped, ‘but even if we are able to get out… how are we going to get out?’ he pointed to the cells around us.

Oh right…that.
‘Nice plan Sherlock, ring me when you figure out how to cure world hunger’ he turned away and slumped down. Alright, okay this was a problem. How were we going to get out, we could bust our way out we couldn’t bride our enemies. It seemed impossible and stupid to even think of, but I had to try.
‘Supernova’ I muttered.
‘What?’ Harley turned towards me.
‘Supernova, a heat able enough to burn the earth’s atmosphere…and strong enough to melt glass’ I already felt the violet fire flick across my limbs and up my neck. I had never tried supernova before. 4, 000 kelvin. Let’s go.

The fire engulfed my body and at first it was cold and weak but then through the darkness of the night the fire started to shake and heat up till it was almost white in colour. I thought hotter and I urged the fire to blaze on and to consume me and everything around me. The cell filled up completely of fire and that’s when I pushed my hands on the surface of the glass and willed the supernova to start to burn through the glass.
‘Naveen you’re going to hurt yourself’ I heard a muffled voice from beside me.
‘I can go hotter’ I said as my voice was stifled by the fire and the heat. I had to get out, I had to burn this cage. That when I saw Trudy. From her body trees branches of strong ironbark began to stretch and twist. She was filling up her cage with earth so as to push the glass to explode from the pressure. And beside her Harley began to fill the glass with raging torrents of water till he was completely underwater and he was lifted up and floating.

Fire. Burn. Melt. The words continued through my mind and I was afraid that my plan was never going to work. I was sure that we were never going to get out. More heat I had to burn this I had to get out. I had to get back to Stark Tower.

The tiny bubble popped on the inside of the glass. It was so beautiful and so small and yet I knew that this was what I need to know that we were going to get out. But then the lights switched on. The blue girl walked in and the pure shock and horror that filled her face was not unlike Bruce Banner’s right before he turned Hulk. It was not a pretty sight.