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Posted by Songbird on 6/22/2008, 4:49 pm, in reply to "Songbird #3 (issue 3, vol. 1) - I went to Ohio...And My City Was Gone (Annihilation x-over)"
68.109.232.53
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...It's been a while now and I haven't seen anyone...
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Above Downtown Cleveland...
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Melissa's inner monologue would soon shift as her bird's-eye quest for signs of life would prove fruitful as she passes over Cleveland's St. John's cathedral. A large gathering of people masses around it's perimeter...
...Finally...Now I can find out what is going on...
The closer Songbird gets to the street below the more she notices the people. More specifically she notices what they all have in common. Their clothes are ragged. Their faces weathered. They were the downtrodden. The forgotten. They were the homeless citizens of downtown Cleveland...
...Oh my God...these people are all homeless...Why are they all here?...
"Are you here to help us?" a rather chipper, though ragged fellow asks her, the smell of whiskey strong on his breath.
"I...," Songbird pauses, thinking a moment, "I was hoping you could help me. I don't even know what's going on," she looks around at the gathered dregs of society, "Why are you all here?"
"You ain't hear?" he grins a toothless grin, "Whole city been evacced. All 'cept us homeless."
"Why?" she asks.
"Pends on why ya' ask," he begins, "If yer askin' "why has the city been evacced?" it's because of some alien thing. Tore through Canada and now it's makin' it's way here."
...Great...because that's what I need now...
"But," the homeless man continues, "If yer askin' "why did they leave us all here?" it's because they don't care. Heck, not like we got anywhere to go anyway."
"I find it hard to believe they'd just leave you all here," Songbird responds.
"You see through rose-colored glasses," he retorts, "Look around you. All you see is a bunch of people that made bad decisions most of their lives."
...I can relate...
"Heck, most of us understand why we were left," he goes on, "We know we're worth nothing. Most of us got here through drugs, or alcohol, or gambling or some other vice. Over half of us have a rap sheet. Who's gonna stand up for a bunch of lifetime losers and ex-cons?"
Little does the man know but he says the right thing. The words strike Songbird to the bone. She knows her life could have been very similar if not for the chances she was given. Because without the Thunderbolts perhaps her life as a criminal would have continued. People stood up for her and helped her. And she knows what the right thing to do is...
"Alien invasion you say?" Songbird says, "Know where they're coming from?"
"Right accross Lake Erie," he replies.
"Sir," she says as she begins to fly away, "Tell everyone your help is here."
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"So what are we looking for? Maybe you should turn."
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Meanwhile...along Superior Ave...Downtown Cleveland...
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"Will you quit the backseat driving?" Sally Floyd says to the intern riding shotgun in her rental car, "I had to take so many back alleys to get down here because all the highways were blocked. Now that we're finally downtown we're getting the story. This so-called Annihilation Wave."
"That's what we're doing!?" he panics, "You didn't say that earlier! Oh jesus...oh God..."
"Will you relax? I've been through plenty of things like this," Sally says, "Just keep your eyes peeled for anything you can while we head to the lake."
"You mean like that?" he points up to a blazing pink streak heading north through the sky toward Lake Erie.
"I mean exactly like that," Sally peels the tires, turning the car quickly and following the pink trail soaring through the sky.
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...Alright...Alien Invasion...How bad can it be?...
Songbird travels back to the only familiar site the city offers her. Cleveland Browns Stadium. She perches herself upon the highest point of it's northern facing overlooking Lake Erie...
...I've faced numerous threats...I've dealt with Elders of the Universe...I even slept with Baron Zemo...nothing could be worse than-
Her mind trails off as in the distance she can see it approaching. It looks like a tidal wave, though at such a distance she can't gauge it's size. The closer it approaches the larger it becomes. Taller. Wider. It soon blocks out the sun. As it nears Songbird can see that it is indeed a wave, though not one made of water. One made of living, alien insectoids, massive in numbers, single-minded in their goal of destruction. Just off the shore it's height dwarfs Songbird's high position on the stadium...
...It's then that I realize this is like nothing I've ever seen...and that it's just me now...no teammates...the odds are overwhelming...me against thousands...there is a good chance I might die...so what do I do when I look at them?...
...I do what I do best...
...I scream...
TBC
Next Ish - Exciting conclusion! Guest-stars galore! Old and new allies alike as Songbird gets by with "A Little Help From My Freinds". (I promise the song title trend won't continue) See ya next time!
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