10 Chapter 8

Melizandr sat cross-legged inside a room, in deep meditation. Thwarting the invasion may have been an impulse but it wasn't something she regretted. What she did regret however was not masking herself. After videos of her 'kicking ass and taking names' from the aliens circulated through the internet, it became next to impossible for her to go sightseeing again. Everywhere she went, someone would recognise her and in turn, would attract others until a crowd formed around her. And she had to endure feeling like she was on display as people took videos and pictures of her.

Each person had his or her reason to approach her. Some wanted to thank her. Others simply wanted an autograph or a picture or ask her to take them on a short flight. These, she could handle. And then there were the more problematic ones. Like xenophobic and or religious protesters who wanted to keep her locked up. Aggressive journalists who wanted to know every single thing about her and her home planet and even more aggressive paparazzi who wanted to take pictures of her ranging from her doing mundane tasks, like eating to trying to catch her in a compromising position and finally, perverts who wanted to cop a feel under the pretense of taking a picture or requesting her to take them flying. The last type of people was the worst as she found it difficult to read their intent when they initially approach.

Regardless, this had made it difficult for her to go on any more outings in most populated cities. It didn't help that she was already so eye-catching even before they knew that she was a flying alien princess. Melizandr like her sisters was a beauty that stood apart from most of the women on Earth so it was difficult for her to blend in. Her pride also didn't allow her to simply use magic to alter her appearance.

And so, she now found herself back at the Stark tower, now renamed the Avengers tower taking a seat at the penthouse along with the rest of the Avengers minus Thor. A news channel was being broadcasted on the screen which was talking about the alien invasion as it was still a pretty hot topic these past few weeks. It was mostly about the casualty reports and the matters regarding rebuilding the city before they began talking about the Avengers. Most of the focus was on her, Hulk, Thor , Iron Man and oddly enough Captain America. Then again if she saw one of her people's beloved war hero who was pronounced dead two generations ago suddenly emerge fighting a 'god' and an alien invasion, she probably would have reacted the same way. They mostly hypothesized about how he was alive or whether or not he was the actual Captain America. Some of their possible theories ranged from Steve actually being the super secret love child of the original Captain America to him being a clone created by the government. As for Iron Man, they talked about the whole invasion and superhero team thing would affect his company's stock. Both of their public opinions were mostly positive.

And then there was the remaining trio who were received with mixed reactions. Banner's prior forays as the Hulk had decimated Harlem and some University and as such, he wasn't exactly popular to say the least. Thor had become a controversial figure in the more religious communities because of implications of him being a god. And finally Melizandr who was receiving both positive and negative reactions from the public. Most people were grateful of her efforts in combatting the aliens and several of the people she had personally saved were singing her praises. However, many people were uncomfortable with an alien in their midst due to recently going through an invasion and quite a many people wanted to dissect her to see what made her tick. And then their were the minor ones. Like religious and conservatives ones who said her armor which resembled a bathing suit and as such she was "dressing too provocatively" and not to mention the closeted racists commenting on her skin color or the misogynistic assholes who were butthurt that a woman had so much power.

Eventually, Tony turned off the news before turning to Melizandr and Bruce with a sympathetic look on his face. "Don't listen to them. You guys did good. Your should be proud."

Bruce let out a defeated sigh. "Its fine. I m used to it." Melizandr also shrugged having been subjected to worse treatments and insults when she was enslaved.

"Still, I have half a mind to sue the news agencies. Especially that Jameson fellow." Stark muttered as he leaned back on the couch.

"Its not worth it. Trying to silence them will only give them more ammunition against us." Steve stated.

"Also true." Stark sighed in defeat before turning his attention towards Melizand'r and his face brightened. "But enough about that. Princess Leia, you promised me and Bruce a medical checkup." he said excitedly causing Melizandr to roll her eyes at his antics with a smile on her face. Bruce meanwhile was awkwardly scratching his face while avoiding the gaze of Romanov as the woman in question stared at him with a deadpanned expression.

"You two seem excited to 'Doctor' with a minor. Stark what would Ms. Potts think about that?" Natasha spoke with mock outrage.

Bruce flushed at her words and tried to defend himself only to stammer. In contrast, Tony didn't seem bothered as he knew that she was joking. "Hardy ha ha. You know what I mean. This might be the first time a human gets to medically examine a extraterrestrial."

_____________

Unknown to the group, an African American man with an eyepatch was listening in on them inside the basement of the Stark tower. His usually stoic face broke into a smug smile at Tony's statement. "Bitch please." he muttered as he bade his time to introduce himself to the alien princess. She would make an invaluable asset to humanity. Even if she refuses, this was a good opportunity for humanity to establish an Alliance with an alien civilization with Melizandr as mediator. Then again her powers had similar parallels to that Danvers so perhaps he is a little biased, taking her words at face value. She could be acting for all he knew and maybe waiting for her army to arrive. Or maybe trying to manipulate humanity in to becoming her army to be used as a weapon against her enemies. The possibilities were endless yet Fury's instincts told him that she was genuine,

______________

Back with the Avengers, Melizandr cleared her throat and got the attention of Stark and Romanov. "Friend Natasha. I am biologically speaking around the same age as a 18-19 year old human. Though chronologically, I am around 70 years. Tamaraneans age slower than humans. So, I am not exactly a minor in either sense. (If I accidentally portrayed her at a younger age in the previous chapters, please let me know)

"Huh. How about that? Cap, look there's finally someone else here who's of your age bracket." Tony told Steve who rolled his eyes. The Avengers were a bit surprised to find the disparity in age but considering that they knew Thor who was at the very least, 1500 years old, it wasn't too shocking for them. "But still, you look young for your age." he then spoke to Melizandr.

"Mr. Stark, if this surprises you, just wait until you actually perform the check up." Melizandr chuckled with a flirtatious tone. Behind her, Natasha felt her eye twitch at her tone for some reason.

Melizandr was then taken to a lab within the tower where they tried to perform the medical check ups. Though they found it next to impossible to draw her blood as the syringe is unable to penetrate her skin. And so they performed an MRI, CT scan and took an X ray and was dumbfounded by what they saw. Melizandr's entire body looked like it was on overdrive as a result of the solar energy stored within her yet she didnt seem either tired or even hungry. But what shocked them the most was the fact that Melizandr much like the rest of her species had 9 stomachs.

Melizandr spent the rest of the day aswering the questions of the Avengers and even participated in leisure activities such as playing poker and a drinking game and watching movies in an effort to keep Cap up to date to modern culture. And soon, the time came for her to leave and after bidding the Avengers goodbye, Melizandr walked up to the roof.

"Nice to finally meet you in person." Melizandr suddenly heard a voice from behind. She turned around and saw a man with an eyepatch and dark clothing standing behind her. She raised her guard a little as the man was a stranger to her.

"May I ask who you are?" Melizandr asked.

"My name is Nick Fury. I am the Director of SHIELD. Basically the boss of Agent Barton and Agent Romanov." he said.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Melizandr asked.

"We have been keeping tabs on your ever since the invasion. Yet you are a hard girl to keep track of, considering that you seem to keep appearing and disappearing out of thin air at different parts of the world."

"Well. I am entitled to my privacy. Am I not?"

"Perhaps. But you also belong to the nobility of an alien species and in case you haven't noticed, a lot of people are not take kindly to that these days. We couldn't risk you being hurt and Earth being attacked by your race in retaliation. But that's not why I am here?" he said before taking a few forward.

"I need to know if you will come for earths defence when they return.." he added.

"I thought Loki was already in custody." Melizandr asked.

"True but Loki wasn't the mastermind behind it. That would be the one who provided him with his army." Fury then paused before speaking. This entire world is about to undergo a great change and with change will come chaos. And it is the Avengers who will combat that chaos. And I want you to be a part of it."

Melizandr pondered about Fury's words before replying.

"I won't lie. I am simply staying in this planet until I am able to return home. And while I have no obligation to protect it, I cannot just leave innocents to suffer. So my answer is this. I will aid Earth against foes from the other worlds when the time comes. But I will not take part in any conflict amongst your nations unless the lives of innocents are at stake. Do we have an accord." Melizandr spoke before extending her arm.

"We do." Fury said before taking her hand in agreement.