ic Crisis on Infinite Holidays (IC)

[Electra]

"We're superheroes from Freedom City," Miss A assured the small figure with her warmest and most diplomatic smile. "We were told that there was trouble here, and that if we didn't help, the season could be ruined for many children. And of course we want to do anything we can! My name is Miss Americana," she told him, "and these are my colleagues, Jack of All Blades and Jill O'Cure, Victory, Dragonfly, and Avenger." She didn't gesture to anyone in the group specifically, merely nodding in their general direction. "It looks like you're having some trouble with that sleigh?" she hazarded. "Dragonfly and I are engineers, we might be able to help you."

[Avenger Assembled]

For his part, Avenger was more than content to let the others handle this refugee from a child's sugary fever dream. "I am the spirit of Christmas vengeance!" barked the tiny vigilante before them. "I am...the Christmas Crusader! Guardian of the back alleys and side streets of Christmas Town." He threw back his cape, making an imposing silhouette against the white sky behind him...well, probably. If you were an elf. "If you were sent by Eldrich, you must be the allies that he promised us. Well, you're late, the others..." A wolf howled, distantly, and the Crusader shot a look that way. Looking chastened by the noise, when it died down he added, "I know how he feels. Listen. You're going to attract attention stomping around there." He pointed back to the sleigh and said, "It's bigger on the inside than the outside. If some of you can help me fix the gumdrop stabilizers, I can fill you in. About her.: the Snow Queen!"

[Fox]

"Gumdrop...cannot be serious." Dragonfly blinked, working her way around to the open hatch on the sleigh. She blinked, tilting her head. "...you were serious. Colored sugar candy. Cannot even begin to...well, no. Mmh. How would this even...well okay, that could...but then this would have to be...part is kind of similar to...almost could...."

Bit by bit she relaxed, brightening up without seeming cheerful as such. More and more of her focus was on the inner workings of this new machine as she chatted, apparently to herself - and as more and more of her disappeared into the hatch, leaning in to poke around and start giving a hand with some fixes. "Fascinating. Interesting work - expert craftsmanship. Can see how it would piece together but this is placed too close to this over here unless you - ah! - cancels out the side-effects of but can see how the crash didn't help things really ought to replace this with a better-made part breaks too easily on impact can bypass it for now should last until proper repairs never really gave much thought to sucrose-and-starch-based stabilization techniques but it really is...."

She trailed off into indistinct muttering, not all of it in English.

[Gizmo]

Raising one eyebrow inquisitively, Jill stepped around the sleigh to the front hood, hopping up acrobatically to perch cross-legged on the hood peering down after Dragonfly into the hatch. "You seriously know what all this stuff does?" the coltish girl asked, grudging respect and curiosity slipping through the skeptical veneer.

Jack was much more interested in the Christmas Crusader's ominous hinting. "Did you say Snow Queen?" the swashbuckler asked, placing one hand on his chin with a rakish smirk. "Let's not beat around the bush; I've got one vital question for you. How attractive are we talking? Scale of one to ten it for me, CC."

[Fox]

Dragonfly snapped her head up, looking to the side with wide eyes as her brain changed gears back to reality. She blinked. "Most of it. Some of it. Very interesting technology, varied applications but same general principles of--"

Some gears change faster than others. Dragonfly finally caught up to the point where she was listening to herself, wincing and bringing a hand up to reach under her visor and pinch the bridge of her nose. "....sorry. It's...different." She gestured at the 'machinery', as that was fairly obvious. "Very different. But some is familiar, and the rest is...mmh. Can be reverse-engineered by seeing how it hooks together."

She turned back to the work at hand, though she was moving a little slower and somehow resisted the same manic tool-wielding mood as before. "Like a jigsaw puzzle. Start with what you know or can figure out - edge pieces - move to what you can piece together from there - inner pieces. Easier to know what it does than how. With some time and a proper workshop...." She shrugged. "Repair is more important than dissecting underlying science, for now. Should be able to help, at least."

[Gizmo]

Jill leaned back slightly from her seated position as Dragonfly suddenly more talkative, leaning forward again as the mechanically inclined young woman dove back into the sleigh's inner workings. "Don't have to dumb it down for the sidekick," she noted dryly, reflexively grabbing the other girl's legs to steady them as they swung around near her. "I am the brains in the family, after all. More the human machine than, y'know, actual machines, but still."

[JackgarPrime]

Victory has to try not to chuckle at the little man's introduction. Although not laughing is made much easier by the situation, so he's able to keep his straight face on. Victory crossed his arms over his chest, as some of the falling snow melts and turns to drops of water as they get near him.

"Well then...Christmas Crusader...while they work on your sleigh, let's hear a bit about this Snow Queen. ...Or can she hear us talking even now?"

It wouldn't surprise him. Anyone with enough power, presumably magical power, to merit their intervention must have some sort of scrying ability.

[Avenger Assembled]

It took Dragonfly a minute to realize exactly what she was looking at, and then a minute more to realize what she could do about it. She was looking at a guidance and stabilization system for a high-end jet flier and VTOL hoverer, the sort of thing she'd expect to see on a sophisticated craft designed for urban combat and rapid maneuvering. It was just that said system was constructed with gumdrops where the screws should be, peanut brittle for the interior framework, pumping candy canes for the pistons, and what smelled like egg nog as lubricant. It was easy enough to find the leak in the licorice piping and tie it off, and the Crusader showed her how to hook up the auxilary tank. "You like it?" he asked, a note of pride in his voice. "I built it myelf out of stuff we had laying around the workshop. That's real craftsmanship right there," he said with a nod. Turning to the others, he answered their questions as best he could.

"“It all happened just a few days ago, but it seems like forever. The workshop boys were getting things ready for the big Christmas run when she showed up. Came right out of a swirling blizzard, she did, with those wolves and her super-toy soldiers. We tried to protect the Workshop, of course, but she’s a sorceress and her power...” The Crusader shook his head. "She took out Big Red in the first volley, and after that the heart just went out of the others. Santa and the Missus, they covered our retreat as long as we could, but between one thing and another...I was the only one that made it. I hated to run, I've never run in my life, but a last stand alone? A good way for the lights to go out...but not good enough. I've been planning a counter-offensive, but with the Crusader-Sleigh down, I was stuck on foot." He hmmed. "I did manage to synthesize an antidote to her power suppressant, if any of you are having problems." He pulled the bucket from just inside the cabin and handed it out: inside the toy plastic bucket was candy corn, and lots of it!

To the others, he added, "Ice ladies twice as tall as me aren't my type, sonny-jim. This Queen, Desparia, she captured

Santa, and Mrs. Claus. _He_ told us to run, to save ourselves, after she got Big Red. The whole Christmas League, down for the count! We went out into the storm, and all you could hear was her laughter on the wind, mocking us. We need to free Santa, the Missus, and the rest of the League...but I need your help.”

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hmm. Power nullifier, magic minions? Would explain who Eldrich was looking for." Avenger wasn't terribly thrilled at the news that he'd been picked up because his wife was busy, but it explained exactly he was here. Not that Phantom had turned it down; he was sure the Master Mage knew their movements well enough. "As for witch, hmm. Imagine technicians can build heat machines. But difficult to use here." He took the bucket and eyed it suspiciously, then with a sudden movement took a candy corn, popped it in his mouth, and swallowed it whole. He was the least likely one here to be poisoned...and sure enough, he soon enough felt the cold drain away, as the unnatural vitality of the dead filled his body. Hooray! I...wait.

[JackgarPrime]

Victory looked at the bucket a bit doubtfully. It didn't help that he never really liked candy corn. It just tasted like wax to him. But with a sleigh that could fly through the miracle of candy technology, he wasn't about to flat-out doubt it. Although it did still seem highly unlikely. But he shrugged, and took a piece, popping it into his mouth. He tried not to make a face as he chewed it, due to his disgust for candy corn, so he choked it down swiftly.

After he gave it a moment to hit his system, Victory gave his flight another shot. Sure enough, he began to float up, his jets blowing heat across a wider area, melting even more of the snow around them. He shot himself up about 100 feet just as a test, and landed again, grinning.

"Well now, that's some good stuff. My thanks, Christmas Crusader."

[Gizmo]

Jack placed his elbows atop the Christmas Crusader's sleigh, leaning back as Avenger mused grimly on the best way to procure weapons effective against an icy foe. "It's a pickle," he agreed with a sage nod. "If only we knew someone with the ability to, oh, weaponize heat and fire is some fashion. But where could we find such a man?"

Jill shot her brother a flat look as she helped Dragonfly back out of the engine compartment. "I swear, he's only like half as big an idiot as he seems," she promised the group.

[Fox]

Dragonfly wiped eggnog off her hands as she - with Jill's help - hauled herself out of the fixed sleigh. "Could look for the nearest supply of hair spray and lighters," she deadpanned at Jack as she stretched a little. "Am sure the average store clerk would be very helpful."

She frowned, grabbing a bit of candy corn and popping it into her mouth. magic - mmh "Still. Concerning story. Haven't really had a Christmas, would be a shame to ruin my chance now. Will certainly do what I can to help now."

[Electra]

Miss A stood back to let Dragonfly take care of the sleigh's mechanical difficulties, though she stood close to see the intricacies of the candy engine. It seemed needlessly inefficient, but she had to admire the devotion to a theme. She was even more skeptical about the candy corn antidote, but took one and ate it anyway, mostly because it would've looked strange if she hadn't. Despite her expectations, once she'd finished the candy corn, she could suddenly fly again, and shot a bright laser beam into a nearby snowbank. "Looks like we're back in business. Do you have some engineering equipment we can work with?" she asked the elf.

[Avenger Assembled]

Avenger nodded at Jack of all Blades' comment. "Appreciate the reminder. Had forgotten about Victory's pyrotechnics earlier in the year." Ominously, he winked at the master swordsman before turning back to the others, just in time for the Crusader to begin his spiel. The Crusader first pointed out to Miss Americana and the other inventors what equipment he had aboard the Sleigh in the rear storage compartment: it turned out to be a decent portable laboratory and workshop, assuming you were able to adapt your scientific knowledge to candy technology, and your human-sized hands to parts built for a man three feet high.

"I've made plans for this scenario a hundred times," said the Crusader, toying with one of the candy canes he wore at his belt as he spoke. "I never thought I'd actually have to put them into practice. I'll take the Sleigh around the rear, maybe with one or two of your stealthiest, and we go around the back and rescue the League, the Old Man, the Missus, and the rest of the elves. In the meantime, the most powerful of you make a big show and draw out Desparia and her minions for a final showdown. If you win before we're out, we'll meet up then. If not..." He used the candy cane to sketch out a hasty map of the Workshop on the snow in front of them. "We take her by surprise, and with numbers on our side. She thinks we're rodents. Well...some rodents fly!" the Crusader squeaked in a triumphant hiss.

"The old Donner and Blitzen," agreed Avenger, as usual finding it was best to just play into the madness in these situations. He was a little surprised when the pint-sized Crusader actually nodded at his words. "Am the stealthiest here," he said without the faintest trace of bragging in his voice. "Suggest that fliers, at minimum, best at coming in the front way.

[Gizmo]

"Her, I like," Jack smirked, pointing a thumb toward the slight gadgeteer and giving his sister a level look. "You can keep her, but you have to take this one for walks like you promised." Glancing over at Avenger, he offered an exaggerated wince. "You need to leave comedy to the professionals; you're creeping me out."

Ignoring her elder sibling magnificently, Jill's expression was aghast at Dragonfly's statement. "Haven't had-- what? What does that even-- are you serious?" She leaned back slightly, evidently trying to decide whether the other young woman had been joking or not.

"I've got nothing on Mr. Creature of the Night here," Jack continued to the elven hero, "but it makes more sense for me to get in close and personal. I'm on Team Sneaky Sneak." The swordsman caught Miss Americana's attention and jerked his chin toward Jill. "Keep an eye on her, huh?"

[Fox]

The young woman crossed her arms, tapping a finger and frowning. "Suppose I may have had some when I was very young. Long time ago...even perfect recall only covers so much. Decent assumption, though. Not like I'd--"

She paused, blinking, and shook her head. hate this place - hate the cold - hate my mouth "Nevermind. Not important." She clearly moved to get her attention back on the map. "Not terribly stealthy, suppose that puts me on the...mmh." She peered at the layout, frowning. "'Powerful members', though I suspect I'm not. Distraction, maybe. Decent enough at that. Much you can tell us in detail about the enemy? Methods, abilities. All fairly helpful."

[JackgarPrime]

Victory opened and closed his hands, making sure all the joints and pistons stay good and warm. While the discussions go on, he smirks, tightening his fist good and closed.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure about weaponizing it, but...." Victory looked around himself, at the puddle of water around him from the melted snow that never quite makes it to his body. "...I certainly do produce a lot of heat. It's not unreasonable to assume we can find a way to use it against our frozen foes." It wasn't enough by itself to harm someone unless they pressed their hand up against him, and even then it would do little more than annoy. At least the metal parts. The jets themselves, of course, where a whole other matter.

"As for who to go in, well, I'd have to be in the frontal assault no matter what, even if I'm not the most powerful here.. I'm not particularly stealthy, so I'd probably be a hindrance to that team. If nothing else, I can make an excellent distraction. Especially if that distraction involves smacking around ice beasts and their ilk."

[Electra]

Miss A chuckled. "Holding peoples' attention is one of my best things. I think Victory and I can keep eyes on us in the air, and Dragonfly and Jill can provide us with ground support. Dragonfly and I can come up with a few tricks to ensure that nobody's watching for a couple of sneaky folks coming in the back way." She looked at her fellow technician. "So, Dragonfly, any ideas on making flash-bangs out of pop rocks and candy cane shrapnel?" she asked, only half joking.

[Avenger Assembled]

While the technically-minded heroes pored over the laboratory built into the Sleigh, Avenger joined Jack of all Blades in looking over a blueprint of the Workshop (printed on the back of glossy wrapping paper!) Brooding in miniature, the Crusader admitted that he wasn't sure of the quality of the blueprints. "Workshop shifts from year to year. With that witch running the place," he shook his fist that way for emphasis, "who knows what it's like?" The way in did seem fairly straightforward: odds were that the prisoners were in the Visitors Wing, the section of the Workshop where visitors from other holidays came, and thus had the closest thing anywhere in the North Pole to 'real security'." It sounded like something of a sore point for the diminutive vigilante.

"Why not pass through Christmas City on the way?" asked Avenger as they studied the larger map, mindful of the large settlement near the cluster of buildings that made up the Workshop itself. "Recruit allies?" The Crusader's answers to that made sense to Avenger: time was of the essence with the coming 'Big Day', and he wasn't going to expose the non-powered citizens of the Pole to a threat that had disabled the most powerful defenders of Christmas with such ease. "Understandable," replied the vampiric vigilante. "Can't throw civilians to the wolves. Not in the Christmas spirit."

[Gizmo]

"We'll have you roasting chestnuts by the fire yet, big guy," Jack told Avenger absently, the bulk of his attention focused on the workshop floorplans. "What'd she use to take your crew down?" he asked the Christmas Crusader. "Sounds like it was more than just surprise. Messing with their powers?"

Meanwhile, his sibling was taking part in the planning stages of the assault's other half. "If 'Fly stays close by, I can keep us both covered from most stuff, and you guys can fall back if you get hurt. Won't do much for Vic's robo-bit but at least-- I'm sorry, how is 'never had a Christmas before' not important?!" she blurted out, evidently unable to get past the gadgeteer's off-hand comment. "That is so wildly unacceptable."

[JackgarPrime]

Victory went to join the group checking out the map, his eyes taking a good, long assessment of the layout. Trying to find any manner of weak places, easy or concealed entrances, and, perhaps most importantly, choke points that the crew can use if they need to slow pursuers down in order to make an escape. Obviously, the factory wasn't designed with such an operation in mind, so it was rather open. Good for sneaking in, at least.

"I have to agree. While we could certainly use extra help, it wouldn't be right to use the village's denizens. Not to mention that this witch would likely remove any power they may have within moments. I noticed when we lost some of our powers, that my strength and many of my sensors had remained. If it completely nullified us, I would've been little more than a torso trying to pull a big hunk of metal. So it may have reduced effects on all of us."

Victory looked to Avenger, and then Jack.

"Do either of you have any sort of com links or communication devices? It would be helpful if the two teams can relay our situations to each other."

[Fox]

"So, Dragonfly, any ideas on making flash-bangs out of pop rocks and candy cane shrapnel?" she asked, only half joking.

"Hm. Some." She folded her arms, making her way over to the little workshop and taking stock of what was on hand. "Chemical compounds are available, but given supplies and time constraints....would take careful consideration and engineering to be effective. Almost more tempted to engineer protection from the cold - 'Snow Queen' may be literal. Often is - conjecture only. Has the - ah. Have you," she said, turning to address the elf, "seen her fight first-hand? Know anything about what power, if any, she carries? Doubt we'd have the time and supplies to make more than-"

"If 'Fly stays close by, I can keep us both covered from most stuff, and you guys can fall back if you get hurt. Won't do much for Vic's robo-bit but at least-- I'm sorry, how is 'never had a Christmas before' not important?!" she blurted out, evidently unable to get past the gadgeteer's off-hand comment. "That is so wildly unacceptable."

Dragonfly blinked, taken aback a little. "Not certain why. Did say I likely had Christmases when I was very young...low single digits. Most likely enjoyed them, to the best of my ability. Can't go back and catch up for lost time, wouldn't know how." She paused, and tilted her head. She'd already started gathering supplies for...something, pulling a bit of string out of a pocket and measuring her own bicep. "...mmh. Know how, but only literally. Try not to mess with time, anyway. Mostly. Complications, theoretical science, likely to be oversight groups...too dangerous, too much hassle. Seems like a poor project for the time being."

Now that she had apparently decided what it was she wanted to build, the actual building process was almost frighteningly fast. Held back only by her lack of super-speed, Dragonfly's hands moved with the quick and sure motion of someone who's been building strange things for a very long time. In short order she had a matched pair of heavy and solid-looking arm bands, rather ornately made out of steel, gold, and glass, with a generous helping of the tasty-looking materials as tubing and as what looked suspiciously like moving parts under where there were seams or glass bits. With a noise of minor satisfaction, she pulled up her jacket sleeves and clasped them to her arms.

They immediately lit up a soft red in the glass - or was some of that glass transparent sugar? - and seams, and she gave a happy sigh, rolling her sleeves up so the devices were partially exposed to the winter air. The snow around her was undisturbed, but she no longer seemed affected by the cold in the slightest. "Much better," she said, with a tone somewhere between 'victorious inventor' and 'just snuggled into a warm blanket'. "So much better."

[Electra]

Miss A stepped into the sleigh and worked alongside Dragonfly, her movements quick and deft as she sussed out what each piece of candy tech was designed to do. There was a method to the madness, and once she'd figured it out, it was a matter of only minutes to put some of it together into a candy-striped tube that could be easily held in one hand. It smelled very nice, like peppermint, and was absolutely packed full of licorice wiring. "That should do," she decide with satisfaction. "And I wouldn't worry about not having holidays," she added in a low voice to Dragonfly. "The ones when you're a tiny child are the most fun anyway, after that, they're really more of a chore. It's the most wonderful time of the year to have a few days off and relax at home." With a wink, she stepped out of the sleigh for last-minute plans with the others, and managed to smack right into Avenger again. That was going to become tiresome quickly.

[Avenger Assembled]

Eventually, after much preparation, the heroes went into action. Avenger, Christmas Crusader, and Jack of all Blades went around past the empty reindeer pens towards the rear entrance of the Workshop, passing through doorways of cunningly shaped pine trees into a long corridor filled with cells constructed cunningly from Tinker Toys. Before Avenger could do more than speculate about why Santa Clause had a jail cell, suddenly a uniformed, bearded figure entered while dragging a white-faced older woman with chubby cheeks and grey hair in a disheveled bun. It didn't take long for Avenger to recognize the massive figure in blue and red, nor the lady he was manhandling. The Nutcracker's got Mrs. Claus! What the hell, he could roll with this.

"Jack," he muttered to the swordsman, too quietly for the nutcracker to overhear, the wooden soldier busy with telling Ms. Clause how he was going to beat up all the nice children for Christmas, and take their cookies too, "You and Crusader take this guy. I'm the only one of us who can get through those bars without setting off some kind of alarm. I'll deal with the cells." And with that he slipped off to begin working on the cell doors, leaving Jack of all Blades to rescue a lady in peril!

-

Outside, no sooner had Victory, Dragonfly, Jill O'Cure, and Miss Americana entered the airspace over the workshop than a flash of ice and smoke erupted in the air nearby and an ethereal-looking woman in white and blue appeared with a look of sinister malice on her face. Through the snowy vortex behind her came a legion of furry giants on jetpacks!

"Fools!" Desparia screamed. "You'll never have Christmas, never! All you've won is your doooooom!"

[JackgarPrime]

On their way to the planned battlefield, Victory had begun to formulate a plan for dealing with the battle. Considering the sort of being they were fighting, they would be expecting a heavy adherance to a theme. Cold, of course. But also a use of toy-based enemies. And in huge numbers, no doubt. Particularly with the resources a place such as Santa's workshop could provide.

Victory suggests large, sweeping attacks. While accuracy is viable, the use of carpeting blows, at their respective power levels, should allow dealing with huge chunks of enemy casualties at once. And as for the Queen herself? The more powerful the magical enemy, the cockier they tend to be. And they also tend to need concentration. Keep her busy and keep her talking, and they should be able to keep her off-guard enough to either defeat her outright, or for reinforcements to arrive.