The Day Alpha Flight Died
The Day Alpha Flight Died
A warm lodge stands guarded against snow and approaching night. It‘s a haven from the wintry mix so common in the Sarcee territory this time of year, and inside, soothed by the fireplace light, friends bask in contented solitude.
There is a sense of sadness, however, that permeates the pours of their typical comfort. For, their dear friend, the heartbeat of their tribe, Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, who they’ve known since she was a child, suffers a grief known by far too many souls on this Earth. It is the anniversary of her father’s death, and though their relationship was… rocky at times, she loved him so deeply, as a child should.
Others, too, have made the slow march in for the occasion, heeding Elizabeth’s compulsion, while two in particular, Walter Langkowski and Madison Jeffires have rarely left her side since reuniting last summer.
Outside, the cold nips at Elizabeth’s cheeks and she grasps her fur cloak firmly under her chin. As Talisman she could summon the wind and earth spirits to provide her with a barrier from the worst of it, but tonight she seems to embrace the discomfort… self-inflicted punishment in response to the survivor’s guilt she feels. Still… glad that her extended family remains safe and warm under her watch, a small smiles relieves the frown as she looks on from afar. Then she turns, concentrates, and floats off on a personal mission.
Later, she lands softly, and with grace in a cemetery. She approaches two gravestones.
Elizabeth: Hello Mom, Dad. (kneels, touches etching on stone). Someone's brought you flowers. (smiles) I needed more time... with both of you. (she cries)
Whispers from obedient spirits tell Talsiman that another person is approaching... a friend.
Liz: (turns) Jean-Paul.
Northstar: (standing nearby in the moonlight) Elizabeth.
Liz: It’s good to see you! You and Aurora came to the village last night…
(Northstar frowns)
Liz: The spirits told me. The others may have promised not to tell me, but the Land Spirits could make no such deal with you (smiles slightly with gratitude in her moist eyes).
Northstar: Your compulsion made me angry... at first. But I'm glad that you still see me, us, as part of your life.
Liz: But why didn't you stay? And Aurora? Why did you leave --
Northstar: (turns) It's complicated... I'm glad you're alright now.
Liz: (awkward pause) eh… what are you and your sister doing these days? (she says, more by way of small talk in order to keep the silence broken)
Northstar: That's complicated, too. I'll leave you to your visit, Liz. Take care of yourself.
Liz: Jean-Paul, why did you -- you could've left without me seeing you tonight. Why didn't you?
Northstar: I'm caught between wanting to stay far away from certain aspects of my past, and wanting to reconnect with others.
Liz: Do you feel guilty? For not being there when they died?
Northstar: No. Should I be? I chose not to be with Alpha Flight. They followed their own destiny so to speak. Aurora, on the otherhand, cried for a month.
Liz: And you? I’m sorry... I didn’t mean that. I’m--
Northstar: Still a brat? (smirks at being able to chide his friend)
Liz: (lights up) Ha. Yes...
(They remain in awkward silence)
Hours later, near the village, nestled against mountains and pine trees, with mutual friends at her side, Liz stands outside the entrance of an underground mausoleum. Carefully crafted it’s now ready to be the final resting place of those they lost.
Liz: It is finished. It took great care, but… I've removed the bodies at their original gravesites so that they can be at rest here. Safe.
Marrina: (tears already present before the ceremony has begun) Safe from who?
Logan: Anyone that wants to use them against us. We've seen it happen before, eh?
Liz: (determination in her voice and faith in her role as Master of the Spirits) Not with them. Not as long as I am alive... and then some.
Marrina: Should we wait for Walter?
Madison: He'll be here. Come on, let's go inside.
Snow begins to fall again, and the four friends file inside, candles delicately lighting their way in the warm crypt.
Not far, in terms of kilometers, Sasquatch sits on an overlook alone. The snowfall has reached him now, but, oblivious, the moistened fur around his eyes begins to catch the flakes. He simply stares disbelievingly at the memories in front of his face.
Alpha Flight’s Encounter with the Collective
Responding to an unknown, yet devastating threat, a team of heroes rockets headlong in their sleek jet.
Heather: Right here. It's heading right this way.
Guardian: Okay, set er down, Major. Walt? Anything?
Walt: Not a stinkin’ thing Mac. Too much interference to get a signal from outside agencies at this point.
(sparks shoot from a device inside the ship)
Major Mapleleaf: We're on the ground.
Guardian: Zha Zha, take care of that (pointing to a small flame onboard), keep trying to contact the Avengers, or Fantastic Four, or whoever can help, then take up position behind the second tier. Let's go!
Heather: (running alongside of Guardian) Mac? I'm getting enormous readings here.
Guardian: I know it, hon. We don't have a choice. We have to be the front line. If it breaks through we have to hope others will have time to get ready for whatever it is.
The Present
Sasquatch gets up and lumbers away from the overlook. Still grief-stricken as the memory refocuses, he leans on a tree, crying into his arm.
The Encounter
Puck: Hey Walt. Remember that time we went to that place and took down that clown with the “shoulder pads”? You kept jumping in front of his pulse beams to shield the rest of us?
Sasquatch: You mean Vancouver?
Puck: Right! Don’t do that, eh? Whatever this thing is it’s not -- I mean look! The hairs on my arm’s sticking straight up and that thing’s not even in sight yet. If you weren’t so mangy your hair’s’d be sticking up too, eh.
Sasquatch: Mangy? (smiles) Ha!
Major Mapleleaf: Heather, I’m not sure that I’m ready for this.
Heather: You’ll be fine, Louis. We’ll get through this, just do what you can, and STAY CLOSE. Michael? What’s the word?
Shaman: Enormously powerful. My friends... the spirits do not believe that this bodes well. And they cannot help us.
Heather: Frank and to the point, Michael. Here comes Mac.
Guardian: He’s a few kilometers out and closing fast. We’re right in his path.
Major Mapleleaf: So, it’s a he?
Guardian: As far as I can determine. Humanoid at the very least. We make our stand here, but Michael, be ready to teleport us away if things go badly. If it comes to that though, you must send us east and to the south. We’ll retreat, but only to regroup and try again. We have to stay in his path. Do you understand?
Shaman: Understood.
(Shaman looks away, concerned. He closes his eyes in concentration.)
(Zha Zha exits the jet and stands next to Major Mapleleaf.)
Zha Zha: What’s a-happenin’ Hotstuff?
Major Mapleleaf: What’s happening? I’m trying to keep my knees from knocking.
Zha Zha: (kisses him on the cheek for reassurance) Me too. What’s Michael doing?
Major Mapleleaf: (looking over) I don’t know, but whatever it is I hope it works.
Shaman finishes and a spiritual copy of himself emerges from his physical. They look at each other and smile. Shaman softly says "go" and then looks away toward the oncoming threat in the distance. The copy moves off, pausing to look back as the Collective descends upon them. The copy, face contorted in emotional pain turns away and staggers on to the south along his mystical plane...
The Present
Sasquatch emerges from a clearing and the small village is in view now. He lumbers onward, tormented.
Sasquatch: (internal thoughts) How can I face them? How can I forgive myself?
The Encounter
(The Collective launches his attack, and Alpha Flight takes action.)
Guardian: Full defensive! Then hit him from all sides. Puck, keep his attention but watch his angles!
Heather: He’s got multiple attack patterns! Michael, LOOK OUT!
An arm of blue energy swiftly grabs Shaman and throws him to the ground. Shaman buffers his fall with a cushion, but he’s winded. Sasquatch leaps in front of him, taking the brunt of the follow up attack that would have surely killed Michael. With the seconds awarded him to recover, Shaman summons a counter attack and severs the blue energy tendril, freeing Sasquatch.
Puck bounds in front of the Collective’s face, deftly avoiding the array of energy arms emanating from the villain. The Collective swats him away however and Puck is mired in the snow. Heather delivers a blow to his back that, unfortunately, does little to slow his energy onslaught. With lightning speed he wheels around and hits her with a deadly, electrical blast. There’s a sharp cry of pain, and then she smolders to the ground. She is the first to die.
Zha Zha and Major Mapleleaf rush to Puck’s aid, hauling him up out of the snow. While Puck’s gathering himself, Zha Zha looks up toward the Collective and is swarmed by hideous, stinging insects. Flailing she turns to run but is cut down in her tracks. She stands for a moment, then falls, dead before she hits the ground. Puck and Major Mapleleaf yell out in anguish but fall next, victims of a sonic blast that shreds their senses. They perish instantly.
Shaman is furiously fending off attack after attack when the ground freezes, first around his ankles, then up his legs until his entire lower half is encased in solid ice. His pouch, the source of his power, is trapped. He looks up. He sees the shards of ice that in an instant rip through his body with such force that they even break up the solid block that held him. Lifeless eyes meet the ground.
As the carnage churns in quick succession, Guardian, recognizing the death blows of the ones he loves, dashes around energy bolts to land squarely in front of the murderer. He delivers a full powered punch that snaps the Collective’s head back. Without so much as losing his footing, though, the killer counters with a blow to Guardian’s midsection that penetrates armor and flesh. The two lock eyes, Guardian’s last look one of defiance as electricity finishes the encounter and ends his life.
To the right, twenty feet away, Sasquatch writhes on the ground, his struggle against a lively energy coil nearly complete as the strangle hold begins to fade his view to black. Desperate eyes see the dead lying nearby and his last ounce of strength vanishes with the last bit of oxygen that runs it’s course through his body. In pain he succumbs to darkness, his body now still.
The Collective moves on to the south and to the east.
The Present
Sasquatch enters the warm, candlelit mausoleum inconsolable. Croaking the words "I'm sorry", he reverts to his human form and Liz, Madison and Marrina rush to him. The four are tightly holding each other, sobbing deeply. Logan fights strong emotions, the battle being played out on his face. "You don't need to..." is all he can get out and he cracks enough as he's pulled into the group hug.
Snowbird appears at the door "You are not the only one who needs forgiveness, my friend" she says through tears. They cry out her name and rush to her.
Later, as the raw moments have passed, they're sitting, listening to Madison's story about the time he, Puck and Logan were at a bar in the old days...
Madison: ...so Judd’s really laying into Logan, an’ I’m practically passing out right there at the table from laughin’ so hard. He doesn’t think it’s funny at all so he pops his claws. Now, usually I’d know better, but instead I turn them into forks an’ spoons... right there! You should’a seen his face! Judd... Judd, I though he was gonna explode. I never saw anyone laugh that hard. He falls off the chair and is just pounding the floor... Steve, the barkeep’s lookin’ at us like we were pink little aliens or something. And Logan gets in my face yelling “Put ‘em BACK! Put ‘em BACK!... (between laughter of his own) Genie never let you live that down, man.
Logan: It took you three weeks to get the edges back the right way.
Madison: Everyday I had to tweak them... a millimeter this way, a micrometer that way... Ha!
Outside, the snow falls and stories continue of good times past with friends remembered
Walt: ...and Mike used to conjure up some weird little echo trick and have it say “Judd” just softly enough, and Eugene’d look around like “did someone just call me?” and we’d all act like we were busy and not paying attention....
("Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you there." ~ Isla Paschal Richardson)
-the end
