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Posted by Songbird on 6/15/2008, 1:51 pm, in reply to "Songbird #2 (issue 2, vol. 1) - Moonstoned"
68.109.232.53
THAKA-WHOOM
Moonstone's gravimetric pulse blast clears the entire hallway of all AIM soldiers. The Thunderbolts follow it to a large lab swarming with AIM soldiers and scientists. In the center of the lab is a large bomb...
"The G-tac Scrambler," Moonstone says, "That's what we want," she blasts a few soldiers away from it.
As Swordsman and Radioactive Man deal with the soldiers, one scientist sounds the alarm, causing the entrance tunnel to seal off. The remaining scientists scatter and begin to run down two seperate adjacent tunnels extending off the lab...
"Swordsman, take one tunnel," Moonstone orders, "Radioactive Man, the other. I'll get the bomb and find us a way out."
...They do as they're told...though I suspect Chen disagrees with my strategy...but this isn't about Chen...it's about Melissa...Swordsman questions nothing...being a lap dog most of his life...all the players were in place...all but one...
Moonstone dispatches what remaining soldiers are left. She moves to grab the genetic WMD known as the G-tac Scrambler...
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice comes from behind her. She turns to see...
"The Wizard," Moonstone says, "Isn't working for AIM a bit low rent...even for you?"
...The Wizard...real name Bentley Wittman...a brilliant mind for science...and for petty jealousy and self-destructive behavior...
"I agreed to improve the G-tac Scrambler only contingent on it being used against the Fantas-," she ignores his ramblings and instead pulls the WMD from it's workstation, "What are you doing? I told you not to touch that."
"Oh, I'm sorry...here...catch!" Moonstone throws the G-tac scrambler at him.
"Are you crazy!?" Wizard exclaims, diving to catch the weapon, "If that were to detonate...," he looks around to notice he is alone, "...what? Where did she go?"
She phases back into this plane from her gravitational shunt to appear right before Wizard, she smiles sinisterly...
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Meanwhile...outside the AIM facility...
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"This is ridiculous," Songbird thinks to herself, the hard sound shield held firm and steady over the base's entrance, "I've led this team...I've done things I didn't even know I was capable of...and now she relegates me to watching the door," her thoughts are distracted as she hears the familiar sound of helicopter blades, looking up to see, "...the media? Does Norman ever ease up? It's alright...it's not like anybody is getting out of..."
SHUNT
"...there?"
"What the-?" Wizard questions, even more surprised then Songbird at his sudden appearance outside, he clutches the G-tac Scrambler to his chest, "How did I get out here? No matter. I have the bomb and..."
"...a serious headache coming your way!" Songbird says as a large hard sound mallet connects across the Wizard's jaw, "How did he get out?" she thinks to herself.
"Ugh!" the Wizard tumbles downward but keeps his grip on the bomb.
"Songbird!" Moonstone shouts as she bursts through Melissa's barrier, "I told you not to let anyone out! Can't you follow a simple-"
"Shut up and get down!" a sound construct pushes Moonstone out of the way as several of Wizard's anti-gravity disks take to the air, armed with ever-firing laser weaponry. Songbird blasts a few of them from the air, "I don't know how he got out."
"It's called incompetance," Moonstone says, "In front of the media, too," she blasts Wizard with a gravity pulse, dislodging the Scrambler from his arms as Songbird fends off the disks. Moonstone flys over and grabs the weapon as Wizard begins to flee.
"You got the weapon? Good," Songbird says, "I'm going after Wizard."
"We have the weapon, Melissa," Moonstone replies, "Let him go."
"Are you crazy!?" Songbird says, "You heard Osborne. He wants whoever was in control here, too. I'm not letting him get away...not even on your watch."
...You're right, Melissa...
"I said...let him go!" Moonstone stresses, grabbing Songbird's ankle before she flys away.
...Norman did want whoever was in control brought back...
"And I said...let me go!" Songbird punches Moonstone away with a hard sound fist.
Moonstone sells it. Taking the punch better than it hit. Even appearing knocked out. A subtle smile plays dubiously across her lips as she stares up at the news copter...
...The person who has been in control the whole time...
"Norman," Moonstone says quietly, speaking directly to Osborne through a comm unit in her headpiece as Songbird chases after Wizard, "I'm taking out the camera now. They've seen all they need to."
...Has been me...
Moonstone sends a gravity pulse upward, knocking out the news camera and even disrupting the copter's controls. It begins to tailspin, though not dangerously enough to where it won't recover. Moonstone hovers upward into the sky and...
SHUNT
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"I don't know what the hell is going on but-"
WHAM
Wizard's attempt to fly away on his anti-grav disks is abruptly impeded by a wall of hard sound...
"Give it up, Wizard," Songbird says, catching Wizard in a pincer construct and raising him high in the air, covering his head and special helmet in a hard sound bubble, "You have nowhere to go and-"
SHUNT
Moonstone appears before Songbird and quickly, forcefully, grabs her by the throat, cutting off her vocal chords. Wizard begins to descend...
"I said...let him go!" Moonstone says, tightening her grip on Songbird's throat as she shunts Wizard off to God-knows-where.
"...shunting?...," Melissa thinks, unable to breathe or make a sound, "...but...she hasn't done that...since...since..."
"You should be thankful, Melissa," Moonstone says, "I initially wanted you killed in the field..."
SHUNT
"...but then I thought," Moonstone continues as they appear above Lake Erie, a few miles off the coast of Cleveland and a long way from the Rockies, "...it'd be so much better to break you. Destroy all you worked for. Take it all away," applying more pressure on her throat, Songbird barely concious, "The way I see it...the way the world will see it...is that you attacked your leader...fleeing with the enemy. Now you're a fugitive. I'm sorry, Mel. The Thunderbolts are going in a new direction. And we no longer have room for your righteous hypocracy."
As Songbird loses conciousness Moonstone lets go. Smiling a farewell as she watches Songbird descend toward the lake below...
...That's the thing about heroes, Melissa...people love seeing them built up...only to be torn down...Good luck...hero...
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"Goodbye, Songbird," Norman says, clicking off the monitor, "Gonna miss you, kid."
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T-bolt's Mountain...
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He rises from his desk and follows a hallway to a large iron door. He places his palm over the scanner and the door raises up. He steps through onto a lift as the door closes behind him. A retinal scan later and the lift descends. He steps off as it reaches the bottom and follows another long corridor into a darkened lab...
"How are we doing in here?" he says cheerfully.
"...Osborne...," a weakened voice calls out, "...bastard...you never said it would be like this..."
"You're right, David," Osborne says as he steps forward, standing over a large tilted table with a paralyzed Whirlwind strapped to it, "Then again...I never said it wouldn't."
The End
Next Ish: What a way for Songbird to end her long, sometimes triumphant, often temultuous tenure with the T-bolts. That's it for her and the T-bolts, though her and Karla do have some unfinished business (do I smell the plot for this year's Annual?). For now, she's on her own again - in Cleveland no less - and just in time for SHSD's Annihiliation (courtesy of Nova - hey, I can use the idea even if he hasn't finished it). We borrow a song title for our next tale called..."I went to Ohio...And My City Was Gone".
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