Melinda was on her routine night patrol over Metro City. She always felt it her civic duty to watch over her adopted city like a protective mother. Melinda was originally born in Mexico City to a renowned trapeze group – The Flying Gazpachos. The Gazpachos was a three-member troupe known throughout all of Central America for their feats of daring. The troupe featured Melinda’s father, Renaldo his brother Juan and Renaldo’s, wife Cisne. Cisne was unusually tall for a trapeze flyer, at 5’9” she towered over her husband and partner Renaldo. She had jet black hair and an athletic figure. The troupe traveled year round throughout Latin America.
Melinda always wanted to be like her mother, the “Sensational Cisne”. Cisne was the embodiment of grace; hence her name, which translated into English meant swan. Cisne would always wear a sparkling white leotard with shiny rhinestones and completed the look with a pair of shiny footed tights. Cisne was always training to be the first woman to complete the infamous “quadruple somersault” through a ring of fire. She practiced night and day for almost two years straight against her husband’s wishes. Cisne was determined to complete the trick. After relenting, Renaldo broke down and helped his wife train. Finally, the Gazpachos were ready to unveil their new routine. Cisne was atop the trapeze and gazed with intent on her catcher and the ring of fire in front of her. Cisne took a deep breath and leaped of the scaffold. After several pumps on the bar, Cisne dismounted and began to perform her revolutions. She mentally counted off each turn in her head. Everything around her was moving in slow motion, but all the crowd saw was a white blur spinning at a tremendous rate. Cisne began to straighten out her body as she approached the flaming ring. She managed to get halfway through the ring but her legs clipped the ring as she exited. The searing heat threw off her timing and she completely missed Juan’s steel grip. Cisne descended to the netting below at a horrific rate. The audience gasped as they saw Cisne fall toward the nets. Time was still moving slowly around Cisne, there was nothing she could do to stop the inevitable. Cisne plunged into the netting and instantly fractured her collarbone. She shot back up into the air and felt a wave of sickness wash over her. As she descended back down, she noticed that she was falling at a bad angle. She was moving so fast that her momentum had carried her past her target, she falling away from the netting. Cisne crashed into the unforgiving dirt of the circus tent and a loud crunching sound could be heard from as far as the first row. The Ringmaster and paramedics rushed out and formed a ring around Cisne. She was lying awkwardly on her side and moaning in pain. Her costume bore the brunt of the fall. Her white leotard was torn across her midsection and covered in blood. Her once shiny tights were full of runs and dirt. Her jet-black hair, which was once in a neat bun, now hung carelessly about her face. The paramedics gingerly turned Cisne over onto the wooden stretcher. She yelled out that she could not feel her legs. She was placed into the back of the ambulance and sped off to the hospital. The surgeons did their best but Cisne would never walk again.
It took a while for the Gazpachos to recover from the brutal accident, but Melinda was determined to honor mother’s legacy. Over the coming years Melinda trained with Renaldo and Juan and became good enough to tour with the troupe. Her father and mother were proud of the strides that Melinda had made. She became an “overnight success”, but something was missing. One day while reading the paper she saw a picture of a beautiful Latina in a colorful costume equally as elaborate as her mother’s. The picture was of the Song Bird waving to the crowd as the police were placing another costumed criminal into the back of a police wagon. Melinda felt a great sense of pride seeing someone that looked like her doing something for the community. She could see that even behind the mask that the Song Bird was of Latin descent. Melinda had finally found her calling – she was going to be a superheroine.
Melinda decided to honor her mother’s memory by fashioning a costume based Cisne’s old outfit. Melinda chose a white short sleeved leotard with a plunging neck line in the front that ended at her navel. A sheer flesh colored fabric that gave her the appearance of being fully exposed covered the v-shaped area. Synthetic rubies and rhinestones were strategically patterned in an ornate manner over the rest of the leotard. She also wore white satin opera length gloves and completed the look with a pair of super shiny heavy opaque footed tights and a white domino mask studded with costume diamonds. Melinda chose to call herself the Sensational Silver Swan in memory of her mother. She left the troupe after 8 years as a circus flyer. Her family was initially reluctant, but once they saw Melinda’s determination they were compelled to let her live out her dream.
Melinda eventually settled in Metro City. She figured that she would not stand out in a city filled with costumed crime fighters and evildoers. There was enough evil to go around for everybody and she could still make a difference. Over the next several months, Melinda would use her graceful acrobatic agility to swing from rooftop to rooftop thwarting various B-List costumed criminals. She was slowly starting to build a reputation in Metro City and the media, to a small extent, took a liking to her flashy style. Melinda was 22 years old by this time and supplemented her crime fighting by working as a personal trainer at the Metro City Flex gym. During her time in the circus, Melinda had befriended a blind knife thrower by the named of Valent. Valent trained Melinda on how to see not with her eyes but with her other senses. She had developed a type of “Sixth Sense” that allowed her to sense or feel an individual’s movement in complete darkness. Valent had also taught Melinda the martial art of escrima. Melinda was extremely dangerous with a specially designed white stick roughly one foot long. The tip of the stick could detach and expose a 30-foot wire cable. Melinda used this as a weapon as well as means to traverse the rooftops of Metro City. At 5’4” and 125 lbs, Melinda was more compact than her mother, but was stronger and faster; though she still had her mother’s raven black hair and facial features.
One day Melinda was at the gym late, reading the Metro City Gazette. In it, there was an article on the growing presence of graffiti and trashing of property in the posh Weston Hills district of the city. City council members were outraged that this pristine section of town had become the target of vandals. Vandalism had all but disappeared in Metro City – now there was a rash of high profile buildings being tagged. The paper had speculated that a new gang had arrived in town and was trying to send out a message. Others thought that it might have been teens just rebelling, while others felt that due to the area of the attacks a mystery group was trying to send a “message”. The messages were placed high on the buildings, which added to mystery of how they got there. Signs read “who is...” and “FML”. Melinda was somewhat ticked off by the fact that this story was getting so much run because it was in a fancy district. If it had happened in the St. Paul district, where she lived, it would not have gotten any press. Still, she was dedicated to her new adopted home and was curious to find out the source of these “tags”. Melinda got on her bike and raced back to her apartment. A short time later, Melinda arrived at her modest studio apartment. She threw down her duffle bag and ran to her closet and pulled out a black footlocker. She removed the lock and opened the heavy lid. Inside was a picture of her mother and father in costume and several articles of clothing. Melinda reached all the way down to the bottom and pulled out a smaller, sleeker metal case with a combination lock. She quickly dialed in the combo and opened the case. In it was her costume. Melinda’s heart always skipped a beat when she gazed into the case. Melinda quickly changed out of her sweat suit and was now wearing only a g-string. She held up the leotard against her chest looking down, admiringly at her form. She walked over to the sofa and sat down. She held up the shiny tights and carefully placed her right hand down the silky garment gathering up the leg, she then proceeded to dip her right leg in the tights and repeated the process for the left leg. She stood up and shimmied waistband of the tights over her firm backside and snapped the waistband over her waist. She then stepped into the leotard and gingerly pulled it up over her chest and placed her arms through the openings. Next she slid her gloves on and finished off by placing the mask over her brown eyes. Her hair was slicked back in a ponytail and a thin wisp of hair hung over her right eyes. Melinda looked in the full-length mirror making final adjustments to her costume. She grabbed her collapsible club and tucked it down her right glove. She walked over to her window and peered out before opening it. She made one last check before she leaped out and made her way into the night.
Melinda felt at home swinging through the canyons of Metro City. She was finally living out her dream as a superheroine. She was not naïve by any stretch; her time in the circus made sure of that. She was well aware of the fact that she was not a target and that the life was a costumed heroine was filled with peril. But Melinda was used to life on the edge and this was where she was most comfortable. She patrolled the city as usual but decided to make a special detour to the Weston Hills section to investigate the rash of vandalism and to look for some leads. The first several nights of patrolling went about without incident, but every morning Melinda read in the paper of another tag appearing in the same area. She was totally confused as to how she could patrol the area for three consecutive nights without any leads and still have tags crop up in the “Hills”. She thought long and hard about her tactics and tried to figure out this baffling mystery. After several hours of racking her brain over every scenario, she decided to call one of her friends for some advice.
Donna Tan was in her loft meditating when her phone rang. She was deep in a trance and let the call go to voice mail. Once she heard Melinda’s voice, she quickly snapped back into the present and ran to the phone. She picked up and said “hello”. The two had met several months earlier while Donna was working out and Melinda’s gym. Donna saw Melinda sparring and noticed something peculiar about her fighting style. Melinda appeared to be anticipating her opponent’s every move – even the feints. Donna approached Melinda and asked if she would be willing to go a couple rounds. Donna and Melinda stood in the ring and began to feel each other out. Then Donna decided flick a jab towards Melinda’s head. Before Donna even unleashed the punch, Melinda was rolling to her left. Donna was stunned…she had not telegraphed her movement so Melinda could not possibly have known what was coming. This basically went on for the remainder of the round. After a bit, the two began to discuss Melinda’s ability to anticipate and slip punches so well. Melinda explained that she was in the circus and received some “training”. One thing led to another and the two became friends, though neither knew of the other’s secret identity. Donna’s keen ability to spot details in Melinda’s story combined with the sudden appearance of the Sensational Swan set something running in Donna’s mind. Donna was now listening to Melinda talk about the mysterious tags now appearing in the “Hills”. Donna was also aware of the recent rise in vandalism, but she was still hesitant about donning her Dragon persona as she was still dealing with her encounter with Serak and the Red Mist. She was plagued by nightmares of Serak falling to his death as well as the slaughter of the Mist’s teammates. She still sensed something about Melinda and her line of questioning. Donna knew that Melinda may be investigating this story and may even know something about the Swan. Donna offered some sage advise about civic duty and searching for the right leads…She wanted to help, but not let on that she knew the Melinda had ties to the Swan or even let Melinda know that she was the Emerald Dragon. The call concluded and Donna told Melinda to take care. Melinda noticed that she said it in a serious tone. Melinda briefly toyed at the thought that Donna may know her secret identity, but then quickly laughed it off.
Melinda decided to take a couple nights off and go over her strategy. She knew she was missing something, but she thought she had all of the bases covered. Melinda was watching the evening news and they were covering the whole vandalism story again. The reporter was interviewing Raymond Thorpe. Thorpe was the richest man in Metro City and owned several building in the area. Melinda noticed in the background a strange flashing light almost like someone with a mirror into the sun. Melinda finally had her first lead. She wanted to get to the Thorpe building as soon as possible so she decided to ride her bike over. She quickly changed into her costume and threw on a sweat suit over it so as not to draw attention. Melinda made her way through cross-town in record time and parked her bike in the parking deck of the Thorpe Building. She ran towards the stairway and made her way to the ladies room on the first floor. She took off her backpack and stuffed her sweats into it and then hid the pack in the raised ceiling of the stall she was in. Melinda had two options for access – she could let the security in the lobby know she was there or scale the building and work her way through the floors looking for clues. Melinda decided against the direct approach. Several minutes later, the Swan was on the roof of the Thorpe Building. Naturally, it was the tallest structure in Metro City. She could see for miles in every direction. She gingerly made her way across the rooftop and approached an access door in the southwest corner. She picked the lock and carefully made her way down the stairwell. The Thorpe Building had 97 floors, there was no way she would be able to search each floor. It was 1 am at this point; all of the clean crew and the workaholics had left. Only the night guard in the main lobby was present.
Melinda though back to her training with Valent – see with your other senses. She gingerly made her way down the stairwell guided by an unseen force. She finally stopped on the 84th floor. She cracked the door open and peered through the crack. Once she saw the coast was clear she entered. There was a strange vibe in the air and Melinda was apprehensive with each step she took. She sensed the presence of another life force but could not see anything. Suddenly she heard a noise behind her and she spun around. It was probably her mind playing tricks on her. Then out of the blue, Melinda noticed a strange glow at the end of the corridor. As she got closer she saw a figure materialize before her. Melinda was not sure if it was real or an apparition. The figure was apparently female and tall and slender. She was approximately 5’10” and 121 lbs. She was of a darker complexion – she looked like she had just stepped off a runway. She wore a yellow tunic that stopped mid thigh with a plunging neckline in the front and back exposing her chest and back. Her back was covered with an ornate tattoo of an eagle flying into a sunset. The sleeves of the tunic were long and flowing in a bell-bottom pattern. She completed the look with shiny opaque nude tone footed tights and gold slides. The beautiful adversary took a step towards Melinda, Melinda instinctively tried to back up but found that she couldn’t move. It was as if she was rooted to the floor. For the first time in her life, she was experiencing fear. The yellow warrior introduced herself as Autumn Cloudkicker daughter of Points to the East. Melinda immediately assessed that her opponent was a shaman with mystical powers. “Do not be alarmed, I will not harm you,” exclaimed Cloudkicker. “You are currently under my control”. Melinda bit her lower lip as she tried to budge from the spot where she stood but to no avail.
Autumn was a descendant of a long line of shamans that used to reside in the region that became Metro City. Her father taught her all different types of chants and spells, but she was born with the natural gift to alter one’s perception of the reality about them. She could make a person think they were on fire when they really weren’t and other such unexplained phenomenons. She could also place people into a deep trance where she could control them. Apparently Autumn was the mastermind behind the attacks. She was bitter at the fact that big corporations had turned her peoples native land into a smog filled mega-city with ugly structures. She was determined to make them pay for their neglect of the land and make them see their “evil” ways. Originally, Autumn attended the local state university where she double majored in Anthropology and Archaeology. She had even taken a couple classes with a young student named Donna Tan. Neither The Dragon nor Cloudkicker were aware of the others existence.
Melinda asked if Cloudkicker was responsible for the recent rash of vandalism in the Hills. “Not directly, I had help…just random kids under control”, explained Cloudkicker. “You know what you’re doing is wrong?” asked Melinda. “No, being ignored after petitioning the City Council is wrong. Not having a voice is wrong…the only way these people understand anything is if you hit them where it hurts”. Melinda carefully took in Cloudkicker’s words. Somehow they made sense, but defacing public property was still illegal and it could lead to worse. Melinda tried to reason with the yellow shaman but Cloudkicker was beyond reason. Tears began to well in her eyes. “I think you need to see things from my perspective”. With that, Cloudkicker reached into her pouch and pulled out a handful of red dust and blew it in the direction of Melinda’s face. The dust did not scatter randomly, instead it appeared to dance and move in the air as if it were sentient. Finally, Melinda inhaled the dust and immediately she began to uncontrollably convulse and cry. She could not control herself and finally broke down and collapsed on the floor. Cloudkicker stood over her with a faint trace of concern over her face then kneeled down and stroked Melinda’s forehead. “Don’t worry, it will all be over in a bit”. With that Cloudkicker stepped over the unconscious Swan and disappeared into the darkness.
Melinda came to and found herself in what appeared to be a sublevel of Thorpe Building. She was not sure were she was to be exact and her “senses” were not working properly. She stumbled around for a bit before coming across a red door. She opened the door and stood in a corridor with a strange red glow and a series of doors running down either side. She checked several of the door but they were locked. After walking down the seeming endless hallway she came upon an unlocked door. She twisted the handle and got a quick shock. Shrugging off the slight numbing sensation in her hand she carefully entered the room. Suddenly the door slammed shut behind her. Instantly she tried to open it, but it was locked. She tried to remain calm and investigate her surroundings. Then, without warning, a loud piercing alarm went off. Melinda instinctively threw her hands over her ears and tried to find a way out. She took off down another long corridor and realized that she was stuck in a maze with her senses shorted out. Behind her she could hear what sounded like a pack of angry dogs. Sure enough, three large canines unlike any Melinda had ever seen began to chase after her. In her mad dash to escape she tripped over her own two feet and fell to the ground. She struggled to get up, but she had twisted her ankle. The dogs descended upon her with a savage fury. She threw up her right arm in a vain attempt to block the onslaught, but was of little use. The dogs attacked Melinda shredding her costume and sinking their fangs into her flesh.
A foghorn blew and Melinda was awoken from her slumber. She realized that what she had just experienced was nothing more than a nightmare. She tried to sit up and gather her faculties, but a wave of sickness overtook her and she threw up – the after effects Cloudkicker’s “dust”. She looked down and noticed that she was still in costume. She quick felt her face and was relieved to see that her mask was still on. She gingerly rose to her feet and figured out that she was in an abandoned warehouse in the meat packing district of Metro City which was on the west side of town. She had no clue how she got there or what had happened to her bike or backpack. It was only several blocks to Donna’s apartment, but Melinda was in no condition to swing there, so she decided to walk. She finally arrived at Donna’s apartment and knocked on the door. Donna was at her computer going over some files. She opened the door and was utterly shocked to the Sensational Swan on the other side of the doorway. Donna looked at the Swan in shock and she saw that she had been through hell. Although there were no physical bruises on the Swan her costume was had been put through it’s pace. Her left glove was rolled down to her wrist and there were several patches of dirt on her leotard. Her slicked back hair was now hanging carelessly about her face and covered her eyes and she had one long run down the right leg of her tights. Before Donna could utter a word, Melinda collapsed in her arms.
Donna quickly dragged the Swan into her apartment and kicked the door closed. She took Melinda into her bedroom and gently laid her on the bed. Donna could tell that the Swan had been through a lot and but was going to be ok. Donna was not a doctor by any stretch, but as a heroine, she understood the telltale signs of psychotropic hallucinogens on the system. Melinda’s body was fighting to purge her system of the toxin Cloudkicker had unleashed on her. Faced with a larger dilemma was the fact that she would have to reveal the Swan’s identity in order to clean her up. Melinda was in no condition to give permission. Donna thought hard and decided that she had to remove the mask She carefully removed the Swan’s gloves followed by her leotard and tights. Finally, Donna took a deep breath and removed the mask from the Swan’s face. Her suspicions were correct - the Swan was indeed Melinda Gazpacho. Donna proceeded to clean Melinda up and allow her body to continue to fight the toxin. Over the next several hours Melinda would sweat and vomit in an attempt to get rid of the dust in her system. She was forced to relive her mother’s accident over and over. She had dreams where she was the one that was falling from the trapeze. The ordeal was very harrowing. Finally, after another several hours, Melinda slowly opened her eyes and then sat up in a panic. She looked down and saw that she was no longer in costume and that her mask was missing. She got out of bed and tried to take a step but fell back onto the bed. Donna heard the commotion and came running into the room. “Good to see you back amongst the living” Donna blurted. “Wha…how…where?” Melinda was perplexed. Donna explained to Melinda everything that had happened over the last several hours and that she was in good hands. Melinda did her best to recollect what had happened to her, but everything was a fog. Melinda noticed a grave expression on Donna’s face. Donna handed Melinda a copy of the Gazette. Apparently she was missing for over 48hrs and was now a prime suspect in the graffiti attacks at the Hills. How could this have happened Melinda wondered? Donna had a theory. She figured that Melinda was under some type of hypnosis or drug and did indeed tag some of the buildings over the last two days. She thought Melinda would be furious because she revealed her secret identity. But Melinda was more grateful that someone was there for her in a time of need. Melinda then asked how Donna knew so much about what was happening. She hesitated and then walked over to her computer desk and flicked a switch revealing her Dragon costume. Melinda was shocked. She had no idea that Donna was the Emerald Dragon. The girls sat and talked for hours over their past experiences and adventures and Donna even explained at great length her most recent mission and why the Dragon has been on hiatus. Melinda tried to process all of the information and began to wonder if being a heroine was all that it was cracked up to be. Donna told her that she should take a couple of days to fully recuperate before going back out after Cloudkicker. Donna assured her that she was doing the right thing and that she was going help Melinda clear her name and stop Cloudkicker - but from a distance. Donna still was not ready to don her verdant costume.
“I hope you don’t mind, I took the liberty of washing out your costume…it’s hanging in the closet. I had to throw your tights in the trash though as they were full of runs. She handed Melinda a package of unopened tights identical to what she wore with her Swan costume. You should really consider having several backup costumes just in case. I’ve had a couple of mishaps in the past and was left in just my bra and tights”. Finally, Melinda cracked a smile. Several days had past and Melinda was trying her best to describe Cloudkicker’s appearance and abilities to Donna and sure enough, Donna’s keen eye for memory and details kicked in. She vaguely remembered a Native American in one of her classes from seven years earlier and she began to put the pieces together. She ran to her bookcase and cross-referenced the material with some data she was tinkering with on her computer. Cloudkicker was indeed the daughter of a shaman and her tribe was virtually wiped out at the turn of the last century as commerce began to take root in Metro City. Cloudkicker had a legitimate gripe, but there was no telling how far she would go to prove her point. Donna explained to Melinda that Cloudkicker was a dangerous adversary because she had the weight of a nation on her back. She could snap at any moment and truly wreak major havoc on Metro City. Melinda took Donna’s words very seriously. As Melinda changed into her costume, Donna went over the plans on how to deal with Cloudkicker. Melinda’s “senses” had finally been restored and she was at 100%. She processed all of the information that Donna was rattling off and took a deep breath as she looked into the mirror making final adjustments to her costume. Donna gave Melinda a few final words of encouragement and winked as if everything was going to be ok. Melinda spun around and took off out of Donna’s bedroom window.
Approximately 40 minutes later, Melinda was back on the rooftop of the Thorpe Building. She made her way done the same stairwell back to the 84th floor. She had a strange sense of déjà vu. Then, just like their first encounter, Melinda saw Cloudkicker’s form materialize at the end of the corridor. This time, the Swan kept her distance. “What’s the matter sweetie, not happy to see me?” cooed Cloudkicker. “Not funny, Li’l Bear” returned the Swan. “Where did you hear that name?!” shot back Cloudkicker. Apparently, Donna’s Intel was accurate. “Look, I didn’t come here to fight you,” informed the Swan. Cloudkicker looked somewhat puzzled. She began to walk closer to the Swan and was shocked to see the Swan respond to her movement. No one had been able to resist Cloudkicker’s hypnosis. She reached for her pouch and the Swan was able to snap her stick at the pouch knocking it from Cloudkicker’s hand. Cloudkicker was stunned and took two cautionary steps back. For the first time, Cloudkicker was on the defensive. “We don’t have to do this. I understand about your people and I want to help”. “How can you help, my people and their culture are gone”. “Just trust me, Cloudkicker…give me a chance and I prove to you that your peoples memory and legacy will be honored.” Cloudkicker was not sure what to think. How could she believe some costumed trollop to rectify the wrongs of her people? Melinda extended her hand towards Cloudkicker, the gesture caught Cloudkicker off guard, and she did not accept the handshake. “It’ll take more than that to solve our problems,” whispered Cloudkicker. “I know, just give me a chance,” returned the Swan.
Several days later, Donna had used some of her clout as the Emerald Dragon to have the City Council launch an investigation into the “Niota” tribe indigenous to the area that surrounded Metro City. After a long and exhaustive investigation a report was released documenting the tribe of being wrongfully displaced from their land. Reparations were set up and a very large settlement was awarded to the last heir of the Niota tribe. Autumn was still surprised at the turn of events. She was prepared to go to prison for her people and now Metro City was announcing plans to break ground on a new Niota Museum. Her people would final have their memory honored and their legacy would be shared by all citizens of Metro City.
Quite so time later, Melinda and Donna were talking in Donna’s loft. Donna learned a lot from Melinda’s commitment and dedication. She indicated that it felt good to back in costume at the groundbreaking ceremony and that she may be ready to jump back into active duty. Both heroines indicated that they worked well as a team and that maybe they could get together in the future.
100.jpg)