Avenger Assembled Posted May 29, 2021 Posted May 29, 2021 Fall 2021 California Baptist University Riverside, California It was a few months after Judith Claudia Cahill had finally graduated from high school and gone off to college. California Baptist University was far away from Freedom City, far away from her father’s Presidential Library in Oklahoma, and it was awash in a sea of radio signals from the West Coast. And best of all; it had its very own Gospel Choir. Judy had come out with a a few of her new dorm friends to the first audition, where for the first time in a long time there was nobody watching her, at least nobody getting paid to watch her anyway. When it was her turn to audition, she folded her hands behind her back as she walked up on stage, carefully adjusting the rainbow pin on her white blouse as she smiled at the crowd of her fellow students. She’d thought about her song a lot before coming here, and knew there was only one that really made any sense. “Hi everybody. Ah’m Judy Cahill, and mah song for you all is I Saw The Light.” Without the need to breathe, she opened her mouth and burst into song. And as Judy sang, a remarkable transformation came over her. She glowed first with an inner light that transformed into a spectacular rainbow radiance, a shining beacon that played across the stage as her words seemed to lift her into the air, transporting her towards a brighter future she could almost see… I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin I wouldn't let my dear savior in Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night Praise the Lord, I saw the light [A montage: Judy, screaming in terror on the White House lawn, surrounded by radioactive fire. Judy in a government hospital room, nervously shaking hands with a young-looking Secret Service agent. Judy staring up at the buildings of Freedom City for the first time] I saw the light, I saw the light No more darkness, no more night Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight Praise the Lord, I saw the light [A montage: Judy sits among her friends at Claremont, her face gradually changing to a smile. Judy exchanging notes with Arcane, talking turtles with Chelone, organizing the school prayer group and sitting in at the GSA. Judy blasting Nazis in the face; then heading off into space with Chelone and Pan Judy sitting amid a crowd of puppies at Valentine’s Day, leaning over and giving Micah a kiss on the cheek. Judy and Ashley, sisters, embracing.] Just like a blind man, I wandered along Worries and fears I claimed for my own Then like the blind man that God gave back his sight Praise the Lord, I saw the light [A montage: Judy graduating from college, throwing her hat in the air with a huge smile on her face. Judy and Micah’s wedding day, their Claremont class around them, Ashley in her Patriot costume standing guard. Daystar, a rainbow beacon of hope, passing out food and medicine across the world; Thunderbird at her side. Daystar in battle against a melange of supervillainous enemies alongside Thunderbird, a look of confidence on her face.] I saw the light, I saw the light No more darkness, no more night Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight Praise the Lord, I saw the light I was a fool to wander and stray [A montage: Judy and Ashley sitting together at a state funeral, Judy all in black, weeping with her arms around an grey-haired Ashley who is visibly wearing what looks like Lor power armor, Judy’s sisters visible nearby. Judy sitting at the table of the Freedom League, Micah by her side, along with a collection of faces we don’t recognize, now the elder statesmen of the superheroic community. Judy at the center of a vast and growing family, beaming with her arms around her visibly-aged sisters, her children and grandchildren and theirs crowding the shot. Judy and an ever-aging Claremont class, numbers shrinking, her smile growing more and more strained with each shot, until at last their numbers are a dozen or less. Judy walking away from a funeral, head down, inconsolable - and then a column of rainbow light jetting upward towards the naked stars above, the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery just visible at its base. ] For straight is the gate and narrows the way Now I have traded the wrong for the right Praise the Lord, I saw the light [A montage: Daystar walking beneath the orange methane snow of Titan, a glowing sentinel in the darkness of an alien world, leaving behind a single set of footprints. Daystar in space, face set as she rockets off at interstellar speeds, nearby stars a corkscrew of rainbow light as she heads off into the unknown. Daystar in battle with the Gorgon, blasting the planet-killer in the face with a bombardment of powerful rainbow radiation, a blue-green-white planet visible behind her. A column of rainbow light, Daystar flies through the midst of a vast space fleet, a vanguard leading them onto new adventure and new opportunities. Daystar in space above a night-time gleaming Earth, a vast space station visible to her left, pointing down at the east coast of North America.] I saw the light, I saw the light No more darkness, no more night Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight Praise the Lord, I saw the light [A montage: In a flash of rainbow light, Daystar appears in front of Freedom Hall, the Freedom Legion visible above her. Daystar lays a bouquet of flowers at the feet of a worn bronze statue of a superheroine, hand pointing to the sky. Daystar stands in a vast black-and-gold temple alongside an elderly Chelone, both of them smiling into the camera beneath a half-in-focus fresco of a turtle god. Bible in hand, a smiling Daystar is preaching to a legion of mighty demon lords, a bemused but not displeased grey-haired Arcane watching them as a grey crown crackles on her head. A glowing smile on her face, Daystar addresses a crowd of wide-eyed sentients of all races and species, the old rugged cross behind her, her arms raised as they leap to their feet and cheer, faith rewarded after so long.] When the song was finished, Judy realized she was flying and made an abrupt return to Earth, landing on her feet with a neat little whump. She paused and stared out at the crowd, her rainbow glow fading back to her usual self. Words of apology, of unease, almost came to her lips, before she suddenly smiled and bowed before declaring “See y’all next time!” And with that, she bounded off-stage and headed back to ground level to join her new friends.
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