ic Incursion: Drop The Needle

[Avenger Assembled]

The little girl raised her head and looked at Midnight, suspicion in wine-dark eyes rimmed with the redness of tears. "Cookies," she agreed. "Don't use your teef." She watched again, carefully, as Midnight opened the box - and snatched up a chocolate mint Oreo before gobbling it down with ferocity. She was very interested in the talking motorcycle - maybe more than she was scared of Midnight. "Gimmie a ride?" she asked Midnight and Redbird both, her voice somewhat muffled by the cookie in her mouth. 

 

"Oh, are you tired of me already?" asked Nina, her voice a gentle tease. 

 

"You can come too," she reassured Monsoon before looking back at Midnight and Redbird. 

[Electra]

Wander and Singularity rejoined the group a minute later, both of them soaking wet from the fire hydrant they'd washed off in, but nether one shivering yet. Wander was dragging her double by the hand, while Singularity held onto a heavy grocery bag marked with a hardware store logo and stared at the ever-growing crowd of people who'd left their homes to find out what all the  commotion was about. Wander, by contrast, didn't look around at all, refusing to allow herself to be distracted and wishing she hadn't taken off her mask. "Okay, we got the stuff on our list," she told Midnight, after giving the kid and the cookie and odd look. "Let's get these people fixed up and get out of here." 

[trollthumper]

It was a long, somewhat laborious search - the half-light of the evening made it hard for him to read certain labels, and there was the occasional puddle of defeated frog monster to avoid. But eventually, Cannonade had managed to gather all the necessary chemicals and bring them back to the rest of the League. He found most of the team helping out the civilians, in between unloading chemicals for Midnight's curative cocktail. "Brought more Christmas presents," he said, pulling out the supplies and carefully placing them on the ground. Well, as carefully as he could when he was carrying six garbage bags full of household goods. 

 

"There's got to be enough in here to whip up what's needed," he said. 

[Gizmo]

Letting a child ride on a motorcycle without a helmet probably wasn't setting the best example, but with Monsoon seated behind her to hold her in place and the chances of an accident significantly lessened by being the only vehicle flying a few dozen feet off of the ground, Midnight felt there was room for an argument to be made. Setting down back at the makeshift barrier just as the others were returning he quickly organized the various supplies into piles based on their chemical composition before drawing a few instruments from his jacket that were easily converted to the task of measuring volume and potency.
 
Frowning in concentration behind his mask as he rechecked his math for the fifth time, the silent hero held up an emptied water bottle now holding enough hypochlorite solution to dose a handful of the affected civilians. They had more than enough raw materials for the whole group but he wasn't so sure of himself and his chemistry knowledge to skip a trial run. "Should work."

[Avenger Assembled]

The osmium cap was just what Edge promised - blue-grey and smooth, it shone with a reflected finish that wasn't quite iron or steel. Inside, the Communion drones were already busy clinking away at the UNISON-marked cap holding them inside the obelisk. "Okay, that'll last for like five, ten minutes, I guess, once they really start going - so get out there into space!" he told Cobalt Templar. "I'll meet you over at the battle site." 

 

- 

 

Edge popped in just as Midnight was administering his cure, which fortunately could be applied through the skin in the same way the original toxin had been absorbed. The greenish stain of the Frog-Bat-Lizard's venom washed away like cotton candy beneath water, leaving the victims faintly discolored but with no other signs of transformation. They stopped their chanting and writhing, and began looking around, exclamations of shock and cold replacing the Communion chant. "My mom and dad!" declared the little girl hanging onto Nina, pointing to one of the groups, and as soon as they were cured she wriggled her way free and hugged her dripping wet parents. "Mommy, Daddy! The robot princess and the warrior princess saved me! And the scary monster saved you!"

 

"Thank Mother Ocean," declared Aquaria as she joined the heroes in getting the civilians treated and freed from their confinement. "No more Lemurian pollution on you nice people, yay! Merry Christmas!" she added, maybe a little too forcefully - it wasn't hard to guess why she might be feeling uncomfortable under the circumstances.

[Electra]

Wander pitched in to help wash off the afflicted citizens, not wanting to expose any of her less invulnerable teammates to the risk of contamination. It was rather gratifying to see how quickly the compulsion wore off, and she quickly set about helping people back to their homes before they caught their death of cold. Trying to play it safe, she kept her face down and tilted out of the uncertain light, and although a couple people may have looked at her twice, there were no more awkward Kathy-type moments. It wasn't until Wander recalled the moment with Kathy that she remembered to look around for Singularity... who was nowhere to be found. 

 

Singularity wanted to help, she really did. And for awhile she managed it, washing people off alongside her double, dragging or sometimes carrying them back into their houses. But when most of the people were taken care of and the danger seemed past, it was hard not to look around. Hard not to remember. She'd walked and ridden her bike down these streets so many times, it was practically instinct to find her feet taking her away from the little clot of heroes on the wet street, towards someplace warmer and friendlier. The lights were on as she approached, and for a few moments it was easy (even easier than usual) to just forget everything that had happened and know she was home. 

[KnightDisciple]

The osmium cap was just what Edge promised - blue-grey and smooth, it shone with a reflected finish that wasn't quite iron or steel. Inside, the Communion drones were already busy clinking away at the UNISON-marked cap holding them inside the obelisk. "Okay, that'll last for like five, ten minutes, I guess, once they really start going - so get out there into space!" he told Cobalt Templar. "I'll meet you over at the battle site." 

 

Almost as soon as the plug is in place, Cobalt Templar is huge once more, using the same construct-body he had before. He easily ripped the needle from the ground wholesale, using some additional constructs to ensure it stayed in place.

 

"Back in a flash."

 

And then he was screaming through the air at top speed, pushing himself as hard as he could. Even with his impressive strength, dragging that giant needle meant it wasn't easy. Still, he was a veteran of war, and a member of the Liberty League; he said he could do this, so he would! But even with that determination it took him a couple of minutes to achieve orbit, even low orbit.

 

At which point he saw how bad things were getting in space. But, knowing the danger of the payload he carried, he grit his teeth and started moving faster than light itself as he beat a path directly for the Sun. His plan was to get about halfway there, then throw the needle right at the Sun as hard as he could, slowing down just enough to not risk any issues with near-light-speed momentum or the like.

 

He just had to hope the needle, and Edge's plug, would hold that long; the last thing they needed was these bugs turning Venus into a death-sphere-station-ship-thing.

[trollthumper]

Cannonade didn't really feel the cold all that much. He acknowledged it, and could register when it was still a crappy day out, but something about getting the ability to shrug off tank shells meant that he really didn't end up shivering in the face of negative temperatures and wind chill. But looking around, it was clear that he was one of the few who could say that - and those who'd been cured were still somewhat damp. Not a good thing to be on a cold December night in the Pacific Northwest. He looked around, trying to find some way to make things better without doing any more damage.

 

Fortunately, the frog-bat-lizard had done enough destruction for the both of them. There were a few trees that had been uprooted entirely by the thing's rampage, fallen into backyards and streets. A quick look told him that, while the thing had pushed them over in the rampage, they hadn't gotten splashed when it exploded. Good, 'cause I don't wanna think about what this stuff does when it's inhaled. Taking a pose like a martial arts master - and realizing he probably looked like a complete jackass - Cannonade brought his hand down on one tree in a bladed motion, impacting with the force of a swung axe. 

 

A few minutes later, he returned to the field, carrying enough firewood to stave off Fimbulwinter. "Just cleaning up the neighborhood," he suggested to Midnight. "Though, since I've got all this wood... maybe we should get a bonfire going. Both to keep them warm, and... maybe give 'em something more festive for the day than an exploding frog thing." 

[Avenger Assembled]

The streets in Erin's old neighborhood were busy, or at least busy for Seattle in winter on Christmas. The battle with the Frog-Bat-Lizard had been clearly visible and audible, after all, and though most people had stayed inside with their families (Seattle not being as accustomed to these things as Freedom City), some had come out to see the show. Erin found Jessie standing on the driveway of the house where she had grown up, talking to someone she didn't recognize. 

 

He was tall, and handsome, his dark skin making him stand out in the whitebread neighborhood where Erin had grown up. He was wearing a Western Washington University sweatshirt, the same place Erin-Prime had gone. "...yes, everyone's here," he was just telling Jessie. "All the cousins came out for the big day. I'm sorry, I don't remember you," he was admitting, "I thought I knew all of them by now. Erin!" he called, turning back towards the house. "Your cousin Jessie is here!" 

 

-

 

"Sounds good to me," said Edge, who busied himself with digging a shallow pit for the bonfire. "Maybe not everybody made it today - but we saved this town and we saved Christmas for all these people, and that's a pretty good day. Cobalt Templar's gonna be back with the fire any minute, he just has to go throw those drones into space."

 

Coming back into the conversation, Monsoon got his attention, pulling him into a conversation with a little girl and her parents. Nina introduced him to Rachelle, the little girl who she'd rescued, and Rachelle's parents, Peter and Miranda Blackstone. "Nice to meet you! Any friend of Monsoon's is a friend of mine!" He added with a grin.

 

He looked down at Rachelle, who piped up with a cheerful, "Monsoon's gonna teach me how to sword bad guys! And I got to ride a robot motorcycle! But now I'm cold!" she added, stuffing her hands under her arms. 

[Electra]

Erin took advantage of the shadows to press her hand flat against her face and shake her head, now that it was too late to do anything else. At least she'd used her new name, at least she'd remembered the cousin thing, but that was still scant consolation when up against the idea of facing the White family on...   Her thoughts skipped for a moment as she remembered the date, remembered what they'd been doing before the alarm went off, remembered what would be happening inside that warm and brightly-lit house. She pressed her hands against her stomach as unaccustomed nausea churned. She couldn't do this. Couldn't be here for this. Not to watch a Christmas from the outside, not to let Jessie do that to herself either. It was too cruel. 

 

Taking a deep breath, Erin pulled herself together and forced her hands to her sides, donned the smile she wore when she wanted to fake her way out of extra counseling back at school. "Hey Jess, I was looking for you," she began easily, strolling up to the pair in the driveway. "Everybody's getting ready to head back, and we don't want to miss our ride. I thought we said we weren't going to stop by since we didn't tell, ah, Aunt Clarissa that we were coming." If her hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides, well, nobody could tell in the dark. 

 

"I had to see for myself." Jessie's voice was low, her eyes too wide as she stared at the house. "It looks the same. Why does it look just the same?" 

 

Erin forced an uneasy laugh. "Well, I guess nobody's decided to paint it since last time we were here," she replied, darting a sideways glance at the now rather confused-looking guy in the driveway. "Which is okay, because it looks totally fine!" She started to give Jessie a "please don't talk anymore, ever" glare, but was brought up short by the lonely misery in her double's eyes. "Look..." she murmured, then couldn't think of a damn thing to say. 

 

"Uh,I hate to interrupt," said Driveway Guy awkwardly, "and I don't even know if this is a rude question or not, but are you guys superheroes?" 

 

Erin and Jessie both looked down at themselves, sodden uniforms and sheathed weapons, then back up to Driveway Guy. Jessie's quiet "no" was entirely covered by Erin's much louder, "Actually yeah, we are. We're with the Liberty League based out of Freedom City. But it's nice to visit our, you know, really distant relations when we're in town." 

[Avenger Assembled]

"Holy crow!" exclaimed the man pleasantly, looking around at Erin and Jessie with a very pleased expression. "I didn't know Erin had any superheroes in the family. I wish I'd seen you fighting that monster, I could have gotten some excellent snapshots." He held up his camera, then went on. "I met her in photography class," he added, "and that's what I'm going to do when we graduate." The Polaroid he was holding was old - the kind of thing that only a photography hobbyist would carry these days. "Eric Buhari," he went on, offering his hand to shake. His hands were cold from the outside, but his long fingers had an artist's strength. "So have you heard the news?" he asked curiously, a smile on his face. When neither Erin nor Jessie had, he went on, a little self-consciously, "just before we left, I, ah, just asked Erin to marry me when we graduate, and she said yes." 

[Electra]

"But I don't even know you!" Jessie blurted out, her eyes wide. 

 

Eric and Erin both stared at her for a second. "Um, we were all really close when we were younger, Erin and Jessie and I," Erin explained hastily. "But then we moved away, lost touch, you know how it goes. It's hard to imagine it's been so long that we haven't even been able to meet her fiance yet. But you seem really nice, so we probably won't have to beat you up, heh," Erin gave a slightly strained laugh, and after a moment Jessie smiled too, too wide to look natural. 

 

"You do look nice," Jessie added, obviously trying to be helpful for once. "You have really big hands." 

 

Thankfully, they were interrupted at that moment by a clatter at the door. Erin, the native Prime Erin, came out, a coat thrown over her pretty red Christmas sweater, and boots that weren't hers on her feet. "Keeley?" she called, sounding confused and already slightly annoyed. "What are you doing here? And who- oh." Jessie and Erin Prime stared at each other wordlessly for a minute. "Wow."

[Gizmo]

Midnight signed too quietly for anyone but Redbird to hear, leaning over the handlebars as he watched Rachelle reunite with here parents. "One of these days get upgraded to 'scary princess'," he deadpanned, tucking the half-empty box of cookies into one of the motorcycle's compartments.
 
"Perhaps I could give you some advice, hah!" the 'robot princess' guffawed in a considerably louder voice, well pleased by the successful end to their mission. "Though that seems a title perhaps better reserved for your shieldmaiden, eh?" Even as an electronically produced voice the autonomic machine intelligence managed to convey a broad, teasing grin.

 

Grunting in agreement, Midnight looked around for Wander, only to find both she and Singularity missing from the crowd. It didn't take much of a detective to deduce where they might have gone. "...damn. Going to be awkward." Without further debate he throttled the acceleration and headed straight for the White family home.

[KnightDisciple]

There was a faint sound not unlike a thunderclap that suddenly echoed across the sky, and then those standing around near the pile of wood could look up into the sky and see a blue streak of fire approaching at no small amount of speed. But then, this improbably-colored meteor began to slow down, the fire diminishing and then disappearing, until it was clear (after the "meteor" moved much closer) that it was a man-shaped object.

 

With a heavy *THUMP*, Cobalt Templar landed in a crouch in his enlarged construct armor. For several moments, he simply stayed put, the construct's shoulders moving as if he was breathing heavily. Then again, he'd just hauled that needle into space and flown toward the Sun, before throwing it in. That would wear just about anyone out! Slowly, the robotic form stood up, and then dissolved in motes and sparks of blue light that floated out over the crowd.

 

Cape flapping in the breeze, armor plates gleaming, Cobalt Templar stood there and gave the crowd a wave and a smile.

 

"Hey folks! Merry Christmas! Just taking out the trash."

 

He wasn't quite Edge, but Templar had his own folksy charm to him, something that at least gave him a slightly "exotic" air (such as it might be) to long-time Coastal residents. He looked around at the cold people, and then at the pile of wood.

 

"Guess it is a mite chilly out. Let me help y'all out!"

 

He's definitely playing the crowd. He flourishes one hand, and a small sphere of flame shoots out to strike the pile of wood, the blue quickly giving way to more natural red, yellow, and orange flames that start to take across the impromptu bonfire. A couple more spheres really get the whole thing going. Meanwhile, CT turns to the crowd with a grin.

 

"How about we get some S'mores going out here, huh?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Eric lit up at the sight of 'his' Erin. From the flash of ready smile and the wide eyes, he certainly looked like a young man very much in love. "Erin, why didn't you tell me you had superhero cousins?" he asked her with a teasing smile. "They were the ones fighting that big fish monster down by the water. I got some good shots for the motion project, I'll have to show you later." He had a faint accent as he spoke, nearly British but not quite. "But later can wait. Come on, Keeley, was it, and Jessie?" he said, gesturing first to the heroines then to the distant house. "Surely they can come inside and warm up, they'll catch their deaths out here in those clothes."

 

----

 

As Midnight and Redbird roared down the short little street that led to the White house, the rest of the heroes were in fine form back in the neighborhood they had rescued. Nina was entertaining Rachelle and a growing group of children with her stories of battling the beast, telling them with great authority, "And this, children, is why you must learn to defend yourselves! The outer world may be full of enemies, but victory comes from within." Edge circulated through the crowd too, helping defuse any tensions right alongside Cobalt Templar, and turning what might have been a panicked retreat into just another Christmas party. Monster attacks were terrible - but superheroes showing up to save the day were pretty great!   

[Electra]

All three young women looked at each other for a second, before Erin and Erin Prime began hastily demurring. 

 

"Oh no, we have to get-" 

 

"I'm sure Keeley and Jessie have a lot of work we don't want to-" 

 

"Yes, that would be nice," Jessie said loudly, overwhelming the other two. "I'm nearly frozen, and my throat is dry. And I want to see." She set her chin and glared at her counterparts, daring them to object. 

 

Erin sighed. "Did you tell your folks?" she murmured to Erin Prime. 

 

"Of course not!" Erin Prime snapped, her voice equally low. "They had enough guilt over one extra kid they couldn't take care of, you think another one would help?" 

 

Erin flinched at that, but shook it off to shrug with assumed nonchalance. "Well, this should be extra fun, then. Unless you wanna explain to your boyfriend why you won't have us in the house." 

 

Erin Prime glared. "He's my fiance," she reminded Erin. "And you can come in, just try not to make everything horribly awkward, okay? Couldn't you have called first?" 

 

"I wasn't going to come at all," Erin snapped, still barely whispering. "I know how welcome I am at family gatherings. But she had to see for herself." 

 

There was silence for a moment as Erin Prime rubbed her face with one hand. When she raised her head, she was smiling, if a bit falsely. "Well, what are we waiting for? It's freezing out here." Sliding her fingers through Eric's, she headed back towards the house.

 

Erin fell in behind, walking close to Jessie. "Can you keep it together in there?" she whispered. "it's not going to be easy." 

 

"I don't know," Jessie replied solemnly. "But I have to see." 

[Gizmo]

With a soft rumble the belied the power of its engine, the Night Cycle rounded the corner onto the White family home's street, Redbird having grudgingly resumed a more terrestrial configuration for the vehicle along the way. Even so the matte black classic motorcycle and its silent rider looked more than a little out of place gliding down the residential street, the layers of dark fabric and dark paint obscuring edges and details to the point that from a distance it was little more than a living shadows moving from streetlamp to streetlamp.

 

Rolling up to the end of the driveway, Midnight cut the engine and placed a booted foot down on the curb, not yet dismounting as he met the eyes of the quartet about the enter the house. There were several beats of increasingly awkward silence before he finally raised one hand in a vague wave of greeting.

[Electra]

The little parade of Erins stopped on the front stoop as Trevor pulled up, Erin looking flustered, Jessie stoic, and Erin Prime as though she were just waiting for the next disaster to come crashing down. Erin put up her hand and waved weakly in return, using all her willpower to keep from throwing in one of their "please save me" secret hand signals. "Oh, you brought your boyfriend too," Erin Prime observed in a voice that was just a bit too chipper. "I didn't realize you two were still together." 

 

"Yeah, we've been living together for the past couple of years," Erin replied, narrowing her eyes slightly. "He lives in a mansion, you know, so there's plenty of room for both of us to have lots of space." 

 

Erin Prime gave Erin a look so identical it was actually a little disturbing. "Well, that was lucky, you managed to solve all your problems at once..." 

 

"Can we go inside now?" Jessie demanded, stepping physically between her two counterparts in a show of great bravery or extreme obliviousness. "Everyone is in there! They're all waiting for us!" 

 

Erin sighed. "Yeah, let's do this." She beckoned to Trevor. "Come on in, don't want to miss all the fun!" 

[Gizmo]

"Think you can make an alarm, act like we need to leave right away?" Midnight asked Redbird under his breath as he lowered his hand and reluctantly dismounted the Night Cycle. The last time he'd visited the White household had been an exercise in awkwardness of an intensity he had trouble putting into words and that hadn't been during what was clearly a holiday family gathering. There were very few places he less wanted to be and he'd just come from having giant monster juices splattered all over him.

 

"I could," Redbird admitted, her projected voice at an equally low volume, "but I believe this encounter may be necessary for the sake of the mind-torn furorsoul, yes?"

 

Midnight sighed and straightened his jacket. "Nnh. Yes. Things we do for family. Alarm is still Plan B." With long, sure strides he joined the uneasy group of Erins at the doorway.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Yes, let's go," agreed Eric, who was looking a little nervous at his fiancee's obvious tension with the new arrivals. But he was evidently too polite to raise that issue right in front of them, so he started the way towards the house, his arm around Erin-Prime. At least until the next new arrival showed up, and at this his eyes lit up. "Midnight! My God, it's raining superheroes in this city." He smiled ebulliently at the hero, albeit with just a trace of uneasiness - which was usually about the best Trevor got in full costume when meeting people unfamiliar with superheroes. "Sir, I am honored to meet a hero of World War II." He turned to Erin's 'cousin'. "And he is your boyfriend?" he asked as they headed inside. "That is...marvelous."

[KnightDisciple]

Meanwhile, at the decidedly less awkward bonfire, Cobalt Templar was helping keep the crowd in good spirits, amusing some of the children with various blue energy constructs. At the moment he had whipped up a couple of those plastic food-driven cars, but done up like the Flintstones vehicles (not that many of the kids got the reference, but their parents had a laugh or two). The blue-clad hero was now sporting fanciful "cowboy" getup, complete with a big, heavy blue duster and a big blue cowboy hat. He chuckled and waved at a couple of kids having fun while their parents roasted marshmallows, then moved over to Cannonade, Edge, and Monsoon in a deliberately casual way. When he got close to them, he kept the smile on his face while he talked in low tones.

 

"We did good out here, but we need to keep sharp. I got a glimpse of some of the stuff going on in orbit and it's a bit hairy. It looks under control right now, but we may end up needing to do fire-fighting elsewhere. Just thought I'd give you all a head's-up on that."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hmm. Well, we'll keep an eye out," said Edge, a momentary concern in his voice that was done by the time he was finished speaking. "But I'm sure it'll be all right," he reassured Cobalt Templar, as ever-worried about his time-lost friend. "Bad guys aren't going to take over the world on Christmas! That'd be terrible!" It was great Corbin had recovered so much from the decades he'd spent stranded in another dimension, kept forever young by his ring, but sometimes it seemed like he'd recovered a little too well. He didn't even change his costume to black in honor of the world he'd left behind him and his lost love! Mark didn't actually know if Corbin had dated anybody back in the dimension he'd left behind, but in his experience that was usually how these things worked. "I'll tell you what," he said, "Nina and I will go pop over and see what Erin and Trevor are up to." 

 

Across the way, Aquaria (though wearing somebody's borrowed parka over her Project Freedom jumpsuit) was doggedly trying to entertain a group of kids, jumping and leaping from wall to wall, her sticky finger and toe pads letting her get around and cling to vertical surfaces. She was enjoying being the center of at least a small part of the attention, her tongue occasionally lashing out as the kids cheered. The Pacific, Mark remembered, generally lacked Deep Ones and other underwater creatures (which made a lot of sense now that he thought about it, if _the Communion_ was under Seattle) which meant that an appearance that would have at best brought fear back in Freedom City meant that here she was the life of the party. 

[Electra]

Erin Prime tried to be the first one inside the house but Jessie was just that much faster and stronger, nipping around the native Erin and bolting inside like a cat getting out of the rain. It didn't matter much though, since the second she was inside she froze, staring numbly around at the brightly decorated living room and the colored lights running up the railing of the stairs. "It's not the same," she mumbled, gripping her hands together so tightly that the knuckles went white. "It's all smaller. And the big wire picture frame is gone. It's supposed to be- it's not- everything..."  she trailed off, beginning to tremble slightly all over.

 

Despite her many misgivings, Erin edged around the others and went over to Jessie, wrapping her arms around the shaking shoulders, subtly pinning her when the move prompted an instinctive attack reaction. "It's okay," she murmured into Jessie's ear. "It's been eight years and things are different here. You'll get used to it. It's not really your house, it just looks like it. Breathe. Again. You know how to do it. You're going to scare them if they see you like this." After a minute, Jessie took a couple of breaths that were more like gasps and nodded at Erin, who released her. 

 

In the meantime, Erin Prime took a look around and breathed a quick sigh of relief. "Everyone else is still down the basement, watching the old home movies," she reported. "Erik just came up because he gets news alerts on his phone. Let me do this." She headed down the hall to the kitchen, opened the basement door and yelled down, "Mom, Dad, can you come up a minute? Keeley and her friends stopped by for a visit!" 

[Gizmo]

Midnight paused for a tense moment in the foyer of the White house, waiting to see whether or not Jessie would be able to calm herself down. Erin - his Erin - seemed to have things under control but it was a close thing. Relaxing imperceptibly he turned to the friendly and cautiously polite man who'd greeted him. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond to the respect based on the assumption that he was his grandfather; it was, after all, a lie of omission that they cultivated intentionally but it seemed somehow inappropriate in this odd social context. "Thank you," he decided on eventually, the hesitation covered somewhat by his filtered voice as he belated offered a gloved hand to the photographer. "Taking this well."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hah-hah, well, Erin and I have had our share of culture clashes. If she can handle an authentic Nigerian Thanksgiving, I can certainly handle a superhero Christmas." Eric was a little unsettled around Midnight, the way most normal people were, but his smile was real and his handshake firm as he returned Trevor's grip. "The Whites have always made me feel welcome. I would be remiss if I did not make you feel welcome as well." He held up his camera, taking a step back, and Midnight realized he was silhouetted by the family Christmas tree. "May I take your picture? Or would that violate your code of secrecy?" he asked, excitement bubbling behind his professional tone. 

 

On the lawn, Edge and Monsoon appeared, turned around the wrong way. 

 

"-be fine, it's Christmas!" Mark was assuring Nina, "Nobody turns away a guest on Christmas." He looked around til he found the house, then hesitated briefly. "Oh crap, we didn't bring anything! Hang on, I'll make them something," he told Nina. "You should get inside and get some cocoa or something. It's cold out here," he told her with a wink.

 

"Well, what are you going to make?" asked Nina curiously.

"Oh, a really big snowman! Something big and Christmasy that everyone can see," said Mark, waving his hands as his breath made puffs in the air, "so everyone knows how awesome today is. Even with all the weird alien stuff, these people deserve a good time. They'll love it." 

 

Nina hmmed, looking out at the snowcovered lawn. "And they'll like that?" When Mark nodded, Nina grinned, "Well, I do like making things that everyone can see, and I've never worked with frozen water before. Let's try it!"