Guardhouse. Lockup. The Slammer. House of correction. Roundhouse. Bootcamp. Prison.

It didn't matter what you called it, it was still a reminder that I was never going to be able to leave. But I'm talking about a physical prison. No, I want to talk about the mental prison. The most forbidding aspect of prison life was being alone and locked in a room. There is no end, nor beginning, nor light or anything really. There is only one's mind. Which can begin to play tricks. 

"Was that a dream or did it really happen?" 

One will begin to question everything. You have difficulty remembering anything, or completing your thoughts, if you somehow manage to think of something, it can become dangerously obsessive. You may suffer from hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms as well as long term mental illness, and increased incidences of suicide. Some suffer from depression and schizophrenia. Others become insomniacs, have a passive attitude etc. At some point, I had suffered from all of those. It was scary. It took me years to dig myself out of that hole. I nearly died. I was cut off from my next thought. The familiar sound of the cell door opening filled my ears. Then light footsteps. Someone was in my cell. My body tensed and waited to be woken up with a bucket of cold water. I wasn't allowed to move until I had been doused with it. I didn't know why, but didn't dare to disobey. Icy fingers gripped my arm in the cold and impregnable darkness. I screamed and flung myself into a dark corner of the cell. 

 "Easy love. I'm not here to hurt you." said a voice.

'Not here to hurt me?' I scoffed in my head.

'Pfft. Yeah, right.' 

I glared at the new person. I felt my clothes shift into a black knee length button-up dress, a red leather jacket with black arm bands, the dog tags with my kids names imprinted on them, and knee length lace-up boots. My mind was not my own. My mind had defaulted into a psychotic place. My mind was blank. I couldn't remember anything of my past life, really. I could if I wanted to, or I could choose to remember specific people but I usually chose not to. I was able to take back control for a short period of time, but it was extremely difficult. If I focused on one thought, one person or thing, I could have moments of clarity. Sometimes I could make the psycho in me work in mine or others favour. Usually though, I would wait it out. It could last for months. Maybe even a year or more. 

"Who are you?" I questioned. 

He emerged from the shadows. He was tall and lean. He may have been skinny, but he was very strong. I could tell. He was not someone to be trifled with. He had long raven hair and a golden goat helmet. He donned a black vest, and leather black and green pants with a green cape. Daggers were placed in thigh holsters and his boots were strap on's. He holstered his knives and took off his helmet, slowly placing it on the floor. 

"Are you okay?" he asked. 

I skipped to the most obvious question. "Who are you?" 

He looked a bit startled at my question. My eyes darted back and forth from him to his hands that are brushing against his knives. 

"You don't know who I am?" I shook my head. 

He took a step towards me but I squished myself into the corner even more than I had. My eyes darted around the room looking for a way out. 

"Maybe you should stay? Let him kill you." said a voice. 

I let out a scream and clutched my head. I was terrified. An unknown voice was in my head. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when the door opened and 5 teenagers came pouring in. They looked around the room and let out a breath of relief when they saw me. A growl passed through my lips. I didn't know these kids. Who were they? 

"Mom? Thank goodness you're okay." said one of them. 

He was wearing black jeans and a white shirt with converses. His hair was light brown and had green eyes. He had big ears. It suited him though. What the hell was he talking about though? Mom? I ain't a mother. I think? They ran toward me and pulled me into an embrace. I started to fidget, trying to get them to let go of me. 

"Let go of me!" I shouted. 

They quickly let go of me like they had been burned. I pulled myself off the ground and wrapped my arms around myself. I felt weird. Like, I could trust these people, but I didn't know them. I clutched my head and willed these new feelings to go away. I didn't like it. My head was at war with my heart and I didn't know which to listen to. 

"Go away." I mumbled. "Go away!!!" I shouted. 

The people in the room looked a bit taken aback. I let out a grunt and tried to block out the voices.

"Let them kill you."

"Better yet, do it yourself."

"No. That would be too easy. Get them to torture you, then kill you."

"Do it..." they whispered.

"Do it..."

"Do it..."

"Do it..." the words echoed around my head. I felt fire start to lick my body. 

"Everyone, shut up!!" I screamed. 

The fire left my body in a burst and I felt my hair set on fire. My hair was whipping around my face because of the out of control air I was expelling. 

Screaming. 

Someone was screaming from outside the cell. 

No, people.

People were screaming. 

Elephant ears looked between me and the door before letting out a groan and opening it. People were running past the open door, screaming their lungs out. Ouch. My ears. I walked towards the door and looked to the right to see what people were running from. I couldn't see because there were so many of them. I took a step out the door and pushed through the crowd, trying to see what they were running from. A big grin was on my face when I saw. It was so cliche, it was actually hilarious. A guy was walking towards the screaming and running crowd with some beasts walking beside him. It was so casual, so...well, cliche. I snort left my lips and before I could stop it, laughter. My hands wrapped around my stomach and I collapsed in laughter. He wore black jeans, a purple woollen turtleneck and a blue, woollen jacket. He had some rings on his fingers and an expensive watch. 

He must have been the leader. He stopped in front of my shaking body and looked at me weirdly. I stopped laughing and looked into his eyes from my position on the ground. They were gorgeous. A deep and swirling blue. Hey, here's a joke for ya: Did you hear about the Chinese couple that had a child with blonde hair and blue eyes? Well, I have and I guess two Wongs really do make a white. The joke that I suddenly came up with made me snort before falling into another round of laughter. I didn't even know why I was laughing. 

"Because you're stupid." said Ivy.

 I pouted at her. How rude. I inhaled through my nose to try and calm down and got a whiff of his scent. It was yummy. It was a mix between leather, sea salt and that delicious smelling wood. Spruce, I think. An odd combination, but a nice one nonetheless. I stood up and brushed the dust off my hands and bum. I extended my hand for him to shake. 

"Blue Jones, nice to meet ya. Love your perfume. What is that? The stench of death?" I asked laughing. 

He frowned at me. 

"That's not your name." he stated, oh so sure of himself. 

He was good. Very good. 

"No, it's not. But it's the name you're getting." He let out an inhuman growl. 

"You should get that checked out..." I said patting his head as best I could from my short height.

 "...doggy"

He let out an even bigger growl and grabbed my arm. Tingles shot up it, giving me goosebumps. I wrenched my arm out of his grip and rubbed it pouting. 

"Well that wasn't very nice of you." 

 He was looking at me in shock. Noises came up from behind me. 

"Mama! You okay?" 

I turned around and saw a boy with wings coming out of his back and fire licking his arms, the girl had cars floating above them, the boy with big ears had electricity surging through his body and coming out of his hands, the Colin Ford looking one had bright light coming out of his hands, and the pale one had shadows surrounding him. I cocked my head and waved wildly, with a big smile on my face. I herd a now familiar growl come form behind me and some weird noises. The children all of a sudden looked filled with fear. I huffed and turned around. His face and body was conforming to accommodate something. Something big. His bones were curling and breaking, canines bursting out of gums, nose sharpening, hands enlarging... Then, as soon as it started, it was over. A wolf. A wolf was standing in front of me. A huge wolf. 15 ft tall. At the very least. Fire covered his forehead and jawbones. Lines of fire also wrapped around his bloody and matted fur on his stomach. 

I let out a forced chuckle. 

"Hey..." 

He growled at me and knocked me over with his huge paw, pinning me to the concrete. It didn't hurt. He was keeping enough pressure to keep me still, not to kill me. I saw a car start to fly towards him and hit him in the side, knocking him off me. He tumbled a bit and shook his head. I jumped up and ran towards the kids yelling at them to follow me. I heard a howl from behind me and multiple thudding footsteps. They bolted after me and we took twists and turns before stopping in an alleyway. I quietly pointed to the roof above us and levitated myself to the top. The girl quickly followed but the others just looked lost. They probably couldn't fly. The kid with wings grabbed the Colin Ford look alike's hand and shot up to the roof. I looked down the alleyway and saw a huge shadow start to make its way around the corner of the alley. It was right on the edge. My eyes widened a little and I quickly levitated them towards us using my telekinetic powers. We heard a growl and we quickly ducked and pushed our bodies to the wall, putting hands over our mouths. We heard some sniffing and trash bins being tipped over, but that was it. I slowly turned and peered over the edge. He was gone. I grabbed two of the kids hands and tugged them to a door on the roof in front of us. I tried the handle but it was locked. I punched a hole through the door, right above the handle and stuck my hand through, turning the lock.  I opened the door and shoved them through, taking one last glance at the rooftop before ushering them down the stairs. Our thudding footsteps echoed throughout the empty stairwell. We rushed down and stopped in front of a door labelled 'LOBBY.' The girl turned the locks using her powers and the door creaked open. I stuck my head out the door and looked left and right. After seeing that the coast was clear I gestured for them to follow me. I felt a sudden clarity enter my mind. I remembered everything. The psychotic part of my mind was gone. Not permanently though. I knew that would never happen. I reached back and grabbed Azron's hand and gently squeezed it, smiling at him softly. He nodded. 

"Good to have you back Ma." The others snapped their heads back to look at me and gave me a smile and hug. 

"I'm sorry." I swallowed. "For what I did. You didn't deserve to see me like that." 

"Don't worry about it. Let's just stop this guy." said Knox. 

I nodded and led them to the entrance. We were about to walk through when an alien walked past. We quickly flattened ourselves against the wall and held our breaths. I peeked out and still saw it so I tore it apart with my powers. After double checking that there was no more, I beckoned them to follow me. We walked out the door but were stopped short when we came face to face with the beast. 

"I have eyes on the Alpha." said Cap, his voice coming through the comms. 

He was here. 

"On our way."  replied Natasha.

 I looked the snarling wolf in the eyes and stared him down. He took that as a sign of disrespect. He took a step towards me, but stopped short when a shield hit him in the side of the head. He went to crush it but the shield quickly flew towards us when Evelyn summoned it. I stuck out my arm and it situated itself on me. I threw it to the right, against a building and it ricocheted off, hitting him in the ribs. I ran towards him and as I did Evelyn made the shield sit on my arm again. Suddenly his front right leg was webbed and pulled. He instantly tumbled and fell to the ground on his side. I stopped short, about 4 meters from him. The wolf growled and the flames on his body flared. He tried to get up but couldn't because his left leg was webbed and attached to a building on the right and his right leg was attached to a building on the left. Opposites. Peter swung down to us and landed on the wolf's head. He growled and snapped his head backwards, flinging Peter into the air and headed down, straight to his mouth. Evelyn made a car fly over to him and knock him out of the way. The car was then dumped onto the beast's head to knock him out. It didn't work. He let out a snarl that made the ground shake and pulled on the webs, snapping them instantly. That shouldn't be possible. Those webs were practically indestructible. I threw the shield into the air and did a Dos Santos II, a gymnastic move and landed on his snout. I raised my arm and felt the shield slip onto it. I slammed the shield into his snout and he let out a small whine. I had drawn blood. I smirked a little but stopped when I saw the wound instantly heal. I heard a crushing noise and looked to my left and saw Steve standing on top of a car. He had jumped from the roof. I threw the shield to him and he caught it easily. The beast reared his head and I felt myself fly for a second. My wings came out automatically and flapped strongly, creating big gusts of wind.

 He looked at me in shock. I felt my powers start to expel from my hands, but before I could actually expel it I was surrounded by a beam. So was the wolf and my kids. The wolf looked smug. I went to get out of it, and I started to float against my will. This was in no way my doing. My wings retracted because of the small tube-like space they  were confined in. I was being pulled up to the ship. 

I was going through space. "Help!" I screamed to Cap, as he was talking into his comm. 

"Help me please!" I yelled into my comm. 

"...find...soon...help...panic." were the only words I could make out. 

I guessed that meant "We will find you soon and help you. Don't panic." 

Too late. I was already panicking. 

I looked behind me and saw my kids being beamed up to another part of the ship. They were banging on the beam, but had no luck. They looked at me in fear. "You'll be okay!" I shouted, before being pulled into the darkness.

*****************

How rude. I was being hung upside down with my hands strapped to my sides and my body wrapped in chains being tied to the ceiling. Not to mention, I was in space. A man walked into the room. Even from this angle I could tell he was hot. He looked human. But I knew better. I had encountered the beast inside of him just a while ago. His eyes widened slightly when he caught sight of me. He yelled something in an alien language to my guard. The alien guard looked scared. If an alien would look scared, he definitely was. I felt the metahuman proof chains around me loosen slightly and I snapped them with my right arm and flipped onto the ground in a classic superhero pose. Now that I was out of the metal I felt my strength returning. Using what little strength I did have I flung him and the guard into the wall with my metal arm rendering them unconscious. I could have used my powers, but that was something I wanted to keep secret for now. They wouldn't be unconscious for long. They healed fast. The noise must have alerted another guard because one came barging into the room. "Alpha..." he trailed off in English looking around the room. His eyes settled on me, struggling to pull myself on my feet. He charged towards me, but I passed out before I could see what happened next. Joy.

*****************

Pain.

That was all I felt as I woke up. Random fact, did you know that there was such a thing as Pain Racism? There is a prevalent myth that Black people feel pain differently from white people. Because of this, Black Americans receive insufficient treatment for pain, compared with their white counterparts. For instance, a revealed that half of white medical students and residents believed that Black people have thicker skin or less sensitive nerve endings than white people. The research also showed that these misconceptions affected the medical personnel's pain assessments and treatment recommendations. This indicates that healthcare professionals with these beliefs may not treat Black people's pain appropriately. How rude. Anyway, back to base. I blearily opened my eyes and scanned my surroundings. I was on a bed.

 I swung my legs over the side of the bed and gingerly placed them on the cold ground. I stood and hissed at the pain in my body. Seeing what I was wearing, I almost let out an angry shout. I was in a short, silk red nightgown. My hair was braided down my back, ending just below my butt. Who the hell changed me?! It had better have been a woman. Or anything that wasn't male. With a flick of my wrist I was changed back into my warriors clothes. They worked a lot like Loki's. When I was going to war or on a mission, my hair could be braided or in a bun, or any style really, depending on the outfit I was going to use. They could be removed like normal clothes but with a flick of my wrist I could re-spawn them, per-say. Including the weapons. I was awesome. I put my ear to the door and listened. Nothing. Complete and utter silence. Using my telekinetic powers I burst the door off its hinges and stopped it before it hit the ground and lowered it slowly. This mission was now about stealth. I had to keep my kids safe. That prick of an Alpha male had taken my kids too. Probably to ensure I would cooperate. I had to get them back.

*****************

"ROAR!!"

I covered my ears as the sound reverberated throughout the ship. It was Azazel. He was angry. Once the ship stopped shaking and the sound had dimmed I walked out of the room that I was being held in and took out a dagger from its holster, twirling it in my hand. Looking around I flung a knife at a camera that was in the corner. I walked down a long hall and tried to contact one of my kids. Only Azazel answered. They had probably put metahuman suppressor collars on the others. It didn't surprise me that they couldn't get one on Azazel. 

"Where are you, kid?"  I questioned entering his mind. 

"Mom?" he questioned. "Yes, me. Why do you sound so doubtful?"

There was a pause.

"Tell me something only you would know. In a letter you wrote to me for my first day of high school, what did it say?" 

 That was easy. I remembered every letter I wrote to my kids. Word for word.

"Dear Azron,

I hope this letter finds you well. It's your first day of high school, huh? If you are scared or nervous, don't be. Yes, there are going to be hardships. Yes, you are probably going to get bullied. But don't be afraid. Never be afraid. You have nothing to fear. High school is easy. It's like riding a bike. But with the bike on fire, and the ground on fire and everything on fire because you're in hell. You laughed there. I know you did. I know that I have never been there in person for you and for that I want to apologise. I always will. Believe it or not, I know what it's like to grow up without parents. My mother or father were never around. I swear that I'll be around for you, I'll do whatever it takes, I'll make a million mistakes, I'll make the world safe and sound for you. Man, that was cliche. I want you to know, you are my everything. You are not just my son. You are my reason for living, the love of my life and the king of my heart. I want you to believe, deep in your heart, that you are capable of achieving anything you set your mind to. You will never lose, you will win or learn. Just go forth and aim for the skies. I can't promise to be here for the rest of your life, but I can promise to love you for the rest of mine. I know that me giving you up would make you feel abandoned and angry and betrayed. I was the same when I first found out that the people I was living with weren't my real family, but then I started looking at it from another perspective. Not one where my parents gave me up because they didn't love me, but because they did. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but eventually I learned to let go. I let go of the past and focused on the now. I don't at all expect you to do that, forgive me, even just a little. But I do expect you to move on, forget about me. Please. I have no right to ask that of you, I know. But, please try. Where I am, It's a dark and deadly place. People are being murdered all around me. I know I will probably be next. If I die, I have arranged for someone to let you know. If that does ever happen, don't grieve for someone who was not in your life. You shouldn't. I don't deserve it. Don't cry for me. I'm not gone. My soul is at rest. My heart lives on. Light a candle for me to see and hold onto my memory. But save your tears, because I am still here by your side through the years. I had a great life and you only made it better. You and your sister were the best things to ever happen to me. An old friend of mine once gave me some advice which I now pass onto you: Do you know what the greatest gift anyone can receive in his lifetime? The greatest gift we can have is a chance, just one in our lives to make a difference. So, when you get to that school, rock the boat. Stick up for yourself and others. Be kind and approachable. Go to a party. Ask the hottest and most popular (but not fake) girl to prom. Pull a prank on the most stuck up and grouchy teacher. Get suspended at least once. Live your life. Have fun. But make sure to get good grades and be respectful. Don't be a cliche bad boy, because it ain't as cool as the books make it out to be. Find a medium and stick to it.

I love you, my son. Never forget that.

Love, Ma."

I felt his pain flow through my body. "Mom?"  he questioned, choking up. 

"Yeah, I'm here."  I whispered. "Where are you kid?" 

"I-I-I don't know. It seems to be a prison of some sort. I'm in a fire proof cage. The others are here. They are in cages too with meta-proof collars on."  

I nodded and stalked down a hall, looking both ways before going left. 

"Okay. Don't panic. Can you describe your surroundings?" 

"Uh, yeah. It's dark and cold. There are two sentry guards at the door. And...that's it." 

 I sighed. "Can you describe where you entered the ship from?" 

"Uh...we were pulled up and entered the bottom of the ship where some guards were waiting for us. They tranquilized us and took us to a prison where we woke up. Azron woke up just before they put a collar on him and shifted. That's it."  

It would seem that I needed to get to the bottom of the ship. 

I kept waking and I got to about halfway through the hall before another beast walked past. I pressed myself against the wall and made myself invisible. He walked past without a hitch. I let out a silent breath of relief and continued walking before stopping short. In front of me was an elevator. Probably something to make it much easier to get around the ship. After all, it was literally bigger than a planet. It could take me years to get to the basement. An elevator would shave off some significant time. Keeping myself invisible I used my metal arm to pry open the doors. Once they were open I slipped inside just as the doors slammed shut behind me. I looked at the control panel and let out a growl at the foreign language it was written in. I pressed the one at the very bottom. I suddenly felt myself dropping. It was so fast that I was literally floating. My back hit the ceiling and I grunted. Then, it stopped. I fell to the floor with a loud thud. I let out a small scream and clutched my ribs in pain. Then we were moving again. Forwards, this time. My back got slammed against the back wall and I felt my ribs break. I let out a scream and felt some tears slip down my face. I breathed heavily and tried to calm down. Yet again, the elevator stopped suddenly. 

"ROAR!!"  

I clutched my ears at the loud noise booming throughout the ship. It was so much closer than what it was before. I clenched my jaw as my powers helped me stand up. I felt some more tears slip down my cheeks at the sharp and pulsing pains filling my chest. I let out a gasp of pain as I gently floated down the hall. I stopped at a Y intersection and looked to the left and right. On the right were two guards standing outside of a room. To the left was a long and empty hall. My gut was telling me to go left so I did, knocking out the two guards using my powers. I hobbled to the door that they were in front of and slammed my hand on a button. The doors opened and the sight I was met with made my heart ache painfully and my head filled with thoughts of how I was going to kill this prick.