FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter VIII: Taken by the Reins

Caleb wasn’t sure if it was the fact that they now had a floated, cloaked carrier-class starship under their name, an international mercenary group working alongside them or the fact that GG Guinness hadn’t said anything about the debacle with Trojan but he was actually feeling pretty good. Excited even. Somehow, he knew it was part of Jacob’s plan to dangle the shiny new starship in front of them with promises that they can play with it after Christmas to get them out of their funk after losing so badly to Trojan. Elliot was the giddiest of them all and had dived straight into his new temporal computer. Though he complained about all the data he lost, he was eager to fill up the memory of his shiny new PC. Whether or not it was actual data or just porn was questionable.

Now, he stood in West California Island’s airport which was exclusively used by the rich to charter their private jets. The rest of civilisation used the portal network to get them to their destinations within mere moments as only the wealthy could actually spend the hours it took to travel from one location to the other. They had time to kill, after all.

“Take care honey,” Lillian said, hugging him tightly. “Remember to always brush your fangs after every meal. Avoid the shrimp if possible because the shrimp in New York is probably poisoned. Always keep your wallet secure and I’ve packed you extra slippers so you don’t scratch the floorboards.”

“Mom, I’m staying at a carpeted hotel,” Caleb said, returning the hug. “And we’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

He pulled away from her and moved over to the next Hale beside her which was, of course, his dad. Despite still struggling with his newfound lycanthropy, David had pulled himself out of bed, put on some of his best clothes and stood at the airport in the cold West California Island air, snow descending upon him and his nose runny. He still looked like hell with his features slightly sunken but he was looking better than before certainly.

“Just remember, son,” David sniffled. “You… You’ve got to register with the super office the moment you land. Can’t step on anyone’s…” His eyes drooped shut and Lillian had to nudge him awake. “… Anyone’s toes. I think there was a reorganisation over there recently… I can’t remember what the new group is called…”

“They’re the Titans, dad,” Caleb said patiently. He rubbed his dad’s shoulders to dust off some snow. “We’ve already made an appointment with them to meet us when we land. Don’t worry. We’ll be okay.”

“Good. Good…”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Hale,” Jacob said, stepping forward. “I’ll take Arsenal’s duties while your son and his friends are on holidays. AEGIS will help.”

David stared daggers at him, his eyes momentarily turning red as he growled at the wolf. To Jacob’s credit, he didn’t back down and just smile.

“Dad, come on. Jake’s an ally. He gave us a new place to stay after the Facility… well… You know.”

David nodded numbly and turned away from the black wolf, purposefully ignoring him. “I know son. And it wasn’t your fault. Just… Take care, okay?” He gave Caleb a shaky smile. “I’ll be here when you get back. Better and stronger than ever.”

“Thanks dad.”

He shuffled over to where Lance stood and pulled his brother into a big hug.

“Take care of yourself, bro,” Lance said. “Have fun. You deserve it.”

“Thanks, man. You take care too. Try not to get bitten by the little pups.”

While it was tradition to host a Hale Family dinner, since Lillian had prepared for Thanksgiving, they were heading to someone else’s house this year. Needless to say, Lillian was glad not to be preparing anything but that still meant there would be pups eager to swing from the arms of the more athletically inclined Hales.

“Can’t help that I’m getting so big,” Lance said, bouncing his pectorals teasingly.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Caleb moved on to Abby, standing paw in paw with Arthur.

“You’ve got my list, right?” Abby said. “God help me, Caleb, if you forget anything on that list, I will gut you!”

He gave her a grin. “Yeah, Abby. I have your list and I won’t forget a thing. Merry Christmas.”

Her smiled turned to one of genuine affection and she wrapped her arms around him. She kissed his cheek lightly. “Take care, okay? Don’t get into any trouble. You’re still my maid of honour.”

He hugged her back. “I know, I know. I’ll see you in a week.”

Next was Leon who was still dressed in his police uniform. Caleb held out the keys to Ballistic for him. “Take care of her for me, okay?”

“Always thought your ride was a dude given how your door swings,” Leon said, taking the keys with a smile. “And thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”

Caleb patted his shoulder with a smile. “Make me proud.”

“Okay, let’s go,” David grunted roughly. “We’re holding up their flight.” Clearly, he was still upset about Leon’s career choice. The Hales turned and headed for the car that would take them back to the terminal.

Leon, however, remained for a little longer.

“Hey listen…” murmured his eldest brother. “I heard that the Facility was breached because someone used your phone to hack into the system, right?”

Caleb lifted his eyebrows. “Yeah…”

“Do you think… it was Reggie?”

Caleb pulled his head back in surprise. “Wait… What?”

“Think about it,” Leon said. “Reggie was the one that gave you the hint about the gym. He sent you there. Then Trojan was there and he sprung his trap. You also gave your phone number to Reggie. It’s too much of a coincidence in my opinion.”

Those were some very good points… The events of the Trojan disaster was still fresh in Caleb’s mind even though only a few hours had passed. He was feeling exhausted but he was still lucid enough to draw the pieces together.

“Leon, are you sure you’re not just attacking Reggie because of some bitter rivalry between you two?”

“What?” Leon shook his head furiously. “Of course not! I’m not letting my emotions get in the way here. Cold hard fact, Reggie set you up.”

“I gave my phone number to Matlock too,” Caleb reasoned. “It could be him. He wasn’t there this morning.”

“It can’t be Matlock. He’s a good guy.”

“Yeah but when you think about it, whose more likely to be a Gene Stealer? The horse that clearly has different fur colour who led us to the gym or the admittedly quadriplegic cop who wasn’t there this morning?”

Leon looked conflicted and his brow scrunched up in confusion.

“Look,” Caleb said, gripping his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll look into it when we get back. In fact, tell Jacob your suspicions. He’s looking after the Island while we’re away. Just promise me you won’t do anything until we get back, okay? Trojan is dangerous. He’s smart. He’s got backup plans and he can steal your mass to the point where he’d actually make you as brittle as paper.”

His brother took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Alright, fine. I won’t do anything until you get back.”

Caleb smiled and pulled Leon into a hug. “Take care, man.”

“You too,” Leon sighed. “You too.”

******

New York City.

In the 2700’s, a cultural revolution hit the City that Never Sleeps. Renowned architect Toby Mosley stepped onto the scene and built an incredible, crystal tower that he claimed was not only beautiful but also reflected the beauty and majesty of the city around him. When he launched fireworks out of it on opening night, everyone was instantly enraptured by its splendour. The city hired Mosley to rebuild the entire city to have a new face.

Thus, thirty years later, New York City got a new moniker.

The Mirror City.

“Oh my god…” Lars gasped. He was peering out the windows of the shuttle as they zoomed over the vast splendour of the city. “It’s like looking at the night sky… only on the ground!”

Ben laughed from where he sat in the lavished private shuttle, a glass of wine in one hand and dressed in his best suit. “Well that was eloquent.”

Snow had fallen and the enormous crystal spires that reflected every aspect of the city glimmered in the night sky, rainbow lights flashing off the flecks of snow that descended and making the island of Manhattan look like a marvellous snow globe. Caleb could barely belief his eyes at the majesty of the entire scene.

“Look! It’s Central Park!” he cried. “Amazing how it survived the Four Horsemen.”

“It was so big that it actually overran most of Manhattan over time,” Rhiannon said, having fully recovered in time to take the trip with them. “It’s funny how fate works. Even after a nuclear apocalypse, Central Park remained.”

“Hey Ben,” Mary began. “Where are we landing?”

Ben remained silent as he sipped his wine, a knowing smirk on his face.

Caleb became a suspicious as they soared past Manhattan itself and started heading south. The hour long flight via shuttle would’ve taken about six hours in the old days before low orbit shuttles became available and just a few minutes via portal but Caleb was still a little exhausted from the trip. He just lounged in the luxurious seats and waited patiently while New York was teased to them through the windows.

He closed his eyes briefly as he recalled what Leon had said. Could Reggie be related to Trojan? It felt a little… redundant if the massive equine was indeed Trojan himself. A horse turning into a horse? Then again, the Gene Stealers had become somewhat unpredictable, after all. He pushed the thoughts free from his mind for the moment. The holidays were upon him and it was a time to relax and set aside the troubles of being Arsenal.

It was time for the holidays and he was excited.

When he felt the shuttle start to truly descend, he opened his eyes and peered out of the windows once more. “Ben, where are we?”

“As I said before, since we’re going to NYC, we’re encroaching upon the territory of another supernatural family,” Ben explained. “So we need to pay our respects to them first before heading back to NYC. We’ll land here then take a limo I’m chartered to Manhattan itself, to our hotel.”

“Okay… But exactly where are we? Brooklyn.”

Lars’ jaw suddenly dropped wide open and he let out a venomous his. “We’re in… New Jersey!”

Caleb’s tail fluffed out and he spun towards Ben in anger. “The fuck man!? New Jersey!? The ass end of the States!?”

“It’s where they live,” answered Ben with a shrug.

“Throw me out here now. I’d rather crawl with broken legs to Manhattan than set one foot in New Jersey!”

Lars immediately chimed in. “Dude, cut my balls off now because I ain’t letting my future kids touch an inch of New Jersey soil!”

“I swear!” Caleb growled. “I’ll kill myself right now. I’d rather die than breathe one molecule of New Jersey’s air!”

“The only thing I hate more than New Jersey is a fetid bag of flaming shit and even then, it’s a close call!”

Ben rolled his eyes and turned to Mary with a shrug. “Californians. Caught in the ‘New Jersey Hate’ though they don’t even know why.”

Rhiannon gave a thoughtful noise as both Caleb and Lars began competing for who hated New Jersey more. Like the two jocks that they were, they started to get rather aggressive about it, even getting to their feet and shoving each other. “I never understood that. Why do people hate New Jersey so much?”

“Everyone has their reasons,” Mary answered with a shrug. “For some people, it carried over through their family even before the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse came. Apparently, people back in the 20th Century started the New Jersey hate because of some terrible shows that showed colossal douchebags. More recently, it’s because the idea of ‘Fur Tanning’ started in New Jersey and that generated a slew of horrendous orange-coloured furs all over the world. The craze also spawned the idea of furs starting to start working out and not relying on their genetics to make them look good which got a lot of furs to look like swollen balloons.” She wrapped her arm around Ashton and gave him a little squeeze which the tiger responded with a light smile and a peck on her cheek. “Which is one of the reasons I prefer my furs more compact and lithe.”

“All in all, New Jersey isn’t too bad,” Ben responded with a shrug. “It’s just a culture developed across the States about it.”

“Are you kidding me!?” Caleb cried. “New Jersey smells like cologne and cigarettes!”

“Caleb, you’ve never been to New Jersey before,” Mary accused.

“Yeah… well…” the wolf stammered. “It smells so bad I could get the scent from all the way in West Cali!”

Ben had to admit, Caleb and Lars stuck well to their hate. He waved them down as the seatbelt sign lit up. “Just promise me you guys won’t go spouting your slander in front of our guests. We’re here to pay our respects.”

“What? Like some sort of mafia deal?” Lars asked. “Like the Alpha Pack needs to pay a visit to the mob boss here?”

“Of sorts. Except these guys aren’t really supervillains. They just… have peculiar tastes.”

The shuttle landed easily at the airport, no so much a shudder or a shake. When the seatbelt signs flicked off with a musical ding, the shuttle door slid open. The stewardesses that had been serving them throughout the trip immediately rolled out a red carpet down the steps and flanked the door with pleasant albeit mechanical smiles on their faces. Ben was the first out the door and Caleb was right behind him.

The sun had set but even then, he couldn’t help but see the deeply tanned skin of the people greeting them. Caleb bit back the bile that was forming and had to stand in the doorway for a little longer to collect himself.

Standing in front of them, arrayed in some outrageous outfits were a group of highly sexualised men and women, fur and human alike. All of the men looked incredible fit with biceps as large as bowling balls, necks thicker than the width of their heads and hair spiked or cropped short with ridiculous highlights streaking through them. The women had exaggerated, pouty lips, heavy eyeliner, thickened eyelashes and breasts so big Caleb was fairly sure they could be used as cannons. All wore a large amount of jewellery, even the men who had thick, golden chains wrapped around their necks.

“Ben!” cried one of the humans, striding forward and flashing the werewolf a grin. Caleb noticed the distinctly large canines he had and the thick sunglasses despite it being the middle of the night. The man wrapped his arms around Ben and gave him a big, brotherly hug. It was almost a pity as the human’s tan looked like it could peel off and stain Ben’s pristine suit.

“It’s been so long, bruv!” exclaimed the man, holding Ben out at arm’s length. “How ya been?”

“Just fine, The Event, just fine.”

Caleb couldn’t hold it in anymore.

He nudged Mary who rolled her eyes and opened a psychic link to the rest of his friends.

“His name is seriously ‘The Event’!? That’s his name!? Goddamn New Jersey!”

“Easy mate…” Ashton began. “You’re an Outsider that dealt with a villain who called himself ‘Zigzag Zapper’. You can deal with this guy.”

“I’m sure you remember my bros,” The Event said, gesturing to the two men flanking him, one was a tall stag who looked like he had antler implants to make him look taller and more imposing. The other was an otter who was so bulky and looked like he had his chest hair styled so that each one looked like it was curled into a perfect 9. Both had unnaturally orange-coloured fur. “Cannon and Nine.”

“Oh my fucking god!” Caleb mentally railed.

“Caleb, calm down,” Ben said sharply. “Vampires have mild psychic abilities.”

Mary instantly went rigid and instantly began throwing up mental defences. “Vampires!?”

“What? Werewolves exist. So do vampires.”

“And they live in New Jersey!?” Caleb cried.

Ben, ever professional and dignified, gestured towards his companions. “Allow me to introduce my companions. Here we have Caleb Hale, Lars McLeod, Mary Brightwater, Ashton Marx and Rhiannon. We are all here for a small trip to New York for the holidays.”

The Event and the rest of the gang stepped up towards Caleb and the others, holding out hands and paws for a friendly greeting. The orange man gripped Caleb’s paw with the handshake of one who was trying to overpower the recipient and show off his muscles. Too bad Caleb was all too well aware of the attempt and both men held out their arms in such a way that they could both flex their biceps at one another.

“Nice,” grunted The Event though it sounded more like ‘noh-eese’. “You lift bro?”

Caleb mentally screamed even though he forced a smile. “Yeah. Play football too.”

“No kiddin’. Ya go to the same college as ol’ Benjie over there?”

“Benjie!? He called you Benjie!? Please let me deck him”

“No Caleb,” Ben responded firmly. “The Armello Clan is one of the most prominent vampire clans in the states. They’re the second biggest next to the Tantum Clan down in Florida.”

Before Caleb could spout more New Jersey Hate, Ashton spoke up.

“Ben, mate, why are the vampires living in sunny places? I mean, I know it snows here and all but New Jersey is pretty sunny, right? Same as Florida. Thought vampires burn in the sun. Hell, how are they so tanned.”

“I’m in high school, actually,” Caleb said to The Event. “Ben is masquerading as a high school freshman. Aces all his classes because he’s done it so many times before. You know what it’s like. Once you learned about the molecular realignment of quantum fields required for time-space interdimensional travel, you never forget it.”

“Caleb, stop trying to confuse the vampires with big words,” Ben snarled. “And to answer your question, Ashton, vampires long since evolved a way to withstand the sun. They kind of got addicted to it, in fact. They love getting tanned down. And working out.”

“Do they still drink blood?” Rhiannon asked.

“That’s what I meant by ‘peculiar tastes’.”

“Nice,” The Event said with a nod. “Ya gotta show me how much ya can lift, bruv.”

“I’ll life your ass right into the shuttles fucking engines!”

“God Caleb, what is it with you and New Jersey?” Mary whined.

“I. Hate. New. Jersey!”

“Maybe next time,” Caleb replied pleasantly. “We have a hotel to get to.”

“Bullshit,” The Event said, wrapping a meaty arm around Caleb’s shoulders. The poor wolf’s skin crawled and he instantly felt like he needed to take several showers and perhaps an acid bath. “Benjie, you’re staying the night, bruv!”

Ben laughed softly. “Thank you, The Event, but we do have reservations at the hotel this evening.”

“Then change it! You’re loaded! What’s one night?” He slapped Caleb’s back heartily. “We’ll set up a big fucking feast for ya! Party all night long!” He gave Caleb’s chest a light slap. “Get some booze in these kids!”

“I’m underage…” Caleb muttered.

“Not in New Jersey!”

“I’m pretty sure the drinking age in New Jersey is still 21,” Ben said. “It’s the same in all States.”

“Eh, that’s what they officially say! When you turn eighteen, you drink! Woooo!” The Event thrust his hand into the air and began pulling Caleb towards one of the many limos parked in the airport grounds.

“Help! I’m being abducted by a little orange, blood sucking parasite!”

“Oh calm down you big baby,” Mary sighed striding after him. “You could do with some culture.”

“This isn’t culture! It’s a death sentence!”

“Well, I certainly can’t say no,” Ben said, an evil glint in his eyes. “Lead on.”

“Ben, I will fucking gut you!”

******

Though The Event insisted that the group stay the night, Ben was finally able to convince him that they needed to go as they had an appointment with the Titans and it was best not to keep them waiting. The vampires understood completely but they still had dinner which, despite Caleb’s constant complaints that everything was ‘too bloody’ was quite pleasant.

The vampires, like the Alpha Pack, were long-lived and enjoyed the finer things in life though they preferred to spend their riches through wild parties, raves and basking in the sun. It was a bit of a contrast considering how the Alpha Pack was more dignified and the epitome of the opulent while the vampires were more… modern in their riches. Apparently, their fortune came from wise property investments and several hospitals that they owned which had the added benefit of supplying them with a steady source of blood.

“We don’t drink ‘straight from the vein’ no more,” Cannon explained. “Fer safety. We gots strong immune systems an’ we can’t get really sick but if ya catch sumthin’ from blood, ya still feel it fer a few days. Ain’t cool if ya gotta go to a party an’ yer sufferin’ from malaria or some shit.”

They just grabbed some extra blood packs from the hospitals and drank that or, failing that, just served their meat extremely raw. Apart from urban properties, they also owned large swathes of farmland, predominantly in livestock which they could easily use to feast upon if necessary. Apparently, they also had some hunting grounds up north near Canada if they ever felt like going for the ‘hunt’ but that was rarely used now.

When asked how one would become a vampire, it was explained that the myth that you had to be bitten by a vampire was just that. Vampires were born not made which explained their significantly lower numbers as compared to the werewolves. They willingly advertised that they didn’t have a single group of supers like the Alpha Pack but each head of the family generally had superpowers or had someone loyal to them with superpowers. It kept any one family from ever gaining overarching power over the rest.

By the end of the meal, Caleb had simmered down though a tiny volcano erupted in his mind whenever The Event occasionally started referring to himself in the third person. They thanked the vampires for the meal and Ben offered them a place to stay if they were ever in West California Island. Then they were off in their own limo, heading towards Manhattan.

The drive there was silent as Caleb and Lars were given some time to simmer down. Their hatred all but burned away when they got to see the Mirror City from the ground. If seeing New York from the sky was like seeing the night sky, seeing it from the ground was like being bathed in rainbows. Light fractured and broke from all the street lamps, headlights and other lights that streamed from the buildings, glinting off the reflective walls of the huge, crystal towers and making the streets look like it was in an eternal light show. Even more psychedelic was how the reflections of the buildings bounced off one another, constantly giving this appearance of infinite space as one mirror reflected another and vice versa to infinity. With the holiday season in full swing, the dazzling Christmas lights added to the effect and there were even automated drones shaped like angels whizzing high above, well out of the reach of bystanders but humming Christmas carols in unison. It was like stepping into a Christmas wonderland.

Truly, this was the City that Never Sleeps.

They had to make their stop at Titan Base, before heading to their hotel.

The Elemental Alliance had their Elemental Tower and the Titans of New York had Titan base. Situated on a small artificial island in the middle of the Hudson River and connected by a thin bridge, Titan Base was a large, squat, square military-looking base complete with AA guns, artillery and even their own dropship. Tall, grey walls defended the base from intrusion as did a large, ethereal blue dome of energy that shone even through the night.

The long drive from Manhattan to the island itself seemed to take an eternity but the effect was clear. The Titans demanded awe and respect. For a good ten minutes, all anyone could see was just the enormous Titan Base as it grew closer and closer. That ten minutes worth of reflection that they were approaching one of the bases of an admittedly reformed superhero group.

Caleb ran through what he remembered about the Titans. Originally, they had been another group that he couldn’t quite remember but after a few members decided to move out of New York, they welcomed several new members. The five founding members were all established supers who worked within the New York area but unlike the Elemental Alliance who insisted all supers register with them, the Titans only welcomed members who they deemed worthy of wearing the name. Currently, there were only five of them but there were rumours that within a few months, they would be extending t heir hand to others.

The moment they were let in through the big, red gates, they were met by all five of the Titans’ founding members. Caleb gulped as the limo ground to a halt and Ben stepped outside, confident as ever and looking so in control in his suit.

“Benjamin Connors,” a tall, statuesque tiger exclaimed. Caleb recognised him as Power Paw. On top of greater than average speed, strength and endurance even for a super, he also possessed a myriad of other powers including heat vision, ice breath and lightning generation. He was the figurehead of the Titans. The feline stepped up to Ben and engulfed the werewolf’s hand in one, enormous paw. “The day I’d be welcoming a member of the Alpha Pack into my base was the day I swore Hell would freeze over.”

“Times change, Conrad,” Ben responded.

Caleb gagged.

Ben knew Power Paw’s true identity! Probably a reason why the super had allowed them to step into New York City so easily.

“Indeed they are.” Power Paw’s hazel turned to the rest of the group and he gave them a warm smile. The rest of the founding members approached as well. “And this must be the rest of Arsenal. A pleasure to meet you. I am Power Paw. This is Nightfox…”

He gestured towards a slightly smaller vulpine with an incredibly fit built and dressed entirely in black. Unlike Power Paw, Nightfox wore a big, black cape and looked by far the most intimidating of the group. Unlike the other heroes, Nightfox wasn’t exactly a super. He had simply trained and honed his body to the point of physical perfection and possessed gadgets and technology to take down any super. Supposedly, he had a plan to take down every super out there.

Beside Nightfox was a towering bull adorned in red and yellow, Recharge, the bovine speedster. For a bull, Recharge was quite lean and not too bulky but supposedly, he was capable of running at the speed of light and being gored by his incredibly hard horns at that speed was not on Caleb’s bucket list.

Next to Recharge was a female seal, Water Witch. Dressed in an aqua blue attire with a scaly motif, she was arguably one of the most powerful of the group with her ability to control water including the water that composed of people’s bodies. However, she adhered to a strict code of ethics as a ‘Justicar’.

And then beside Water Witch, standing farthest from the group was Arachnikid. She was original an ordinary human but then she was apparently bitted by a spider that had been infused with an alien symbiote. The symbiote took the data it gathered from the spider and bonded with her DNA, giving her spider-like powers including wall walking, web generation and baseline superpowers. She was dressed in her normal black attire with a web motif.

Caleb greeted each of them and they all greeted him in turn with genuine kindness. Except for Nightfox who seemed to stare at him with cold, icy blue eyes.

“Um… Sorry, did I do anything to offend?” Caleb asked.

Nightfox let out a soft grunt.

“He’s just annoyed because you’re one of the few people that he doesn’t have a plan to counteract,” Power Paw said with a broad grin. “Your powers are entirely random and considering how you can turn anything into a weapon without any indication of what that something is, he’s not too sure exactly how to counteract you.”

“Um… Thanks. I guess?”

Power Paw clapped his might paws together and beamed at the group. “Well, I’ve already gone ahead and submitted the paperwork for your stay here in New York City. All the legalise has been taken care of so you don’t need to worry about that. Our only major issue is that you’re about three hours late and we’re all starved!”

Ben let out a short laugh. “Sorry about that. The New Jersey vampires insisted we stay for dinner. I tried to call ahead but they’re rather… chatty.”

“The Armello Family,” Nightfox grunted. “Of course they are.”

Power Paw placed his paws on his hips and let out a bellowing, hearty laugh. “Ah! And here I had a reservation at the Brooklyn View Restaurant!”

Mary’s eyes widened in surprise. “The Brooklyn View Restaurant!? As in that restaurant that’s but directly over the Brooklyn Bridge! Ooh! I heard that’s one of the classiest places to eat! They even had that five hundred dollar sundae!”

“Why would you pay five hundred dollars for a sundae?” Lars asked.

“Because, it’s made from the best milk around the world, carefully crafted into the most beautiful blend of French vanilla swirled with delicate caramel and added with only the best tempered chocolate money can buy! Plus it’s also served with tiny diamonds, edible gold and the glass it comes in is genuine Chanel crystal!”

“Seriously? All that for a caramel sundae?”

“You get to keep the glass!”

Again, the burly tiger let out a bellowing laugh. “Well, considering you’ve all eaten, we can take care of ourselves. However, I insist you join us for dinner tomorrow at Brooklyn. Our treat.”

“Dining with the Titans,” Ashton said. “Well, that’s a stellar idea if I do say so. Perhaps we should do a cross country trip if all the superhero groups are going to treat us like this.”

Recharge and Water Witch turns to Ashton and their eyes widened in surprise. “Holy crap, you’re British!” they exclaimed in unison.

All of Arsenal gave the two a rather stunned look as they all recognised that as the tell-tale exclamation most of the Hale Family announced when they first met Ashton.

“Why yes, yes I am,” Ashton responded, putting on his British charm. “Would the restaurant be able to serve fish ‘n chips by any chance.”

The two supers just gawked at Ashton for a long moment while Power Paw just laughed.

“It’s been a pleasure meeting you all,” Ben said. “But we really must be getting to our hotel. Thanks for taking care of the paper work, Power Paw. I appreciate it.”

“My pleasure, young Blood Wolf!” announced the tiger who clearly didn’t have an inside voice.

“Pardon me,” Rhiannon began, raising her paw. “Not that I’m questioning your hospitality, but aren’t you in the littlest bit concerned that we are an Outsider group and the general attitude towards Outsiders is that we are two-bit wannabes?”

The rest of Arsenal gave her a venomous look before turning back to the Titans with sheepish grins. Before excuses could be made, Arachnikid spoke.

“If you didn’t notice, guys,” she said, “the Titans aren’t made exclusively of people who were born and trained to be supers. I mean, I’m just a kid that fell into my powers by circumstance. Water Witch’s powers are actually granted by magic enchantments and not her genetics. Nightfox has no superpowers at all and just trained himself to be the badass that he is. And Recharge? He got his powers from a lab experiment gone wrong.”

“I know the Elemental Alliance is rather exclusive when it comes to things like that,” Water Witch said kindly. “If you don’t have baseline superpowers, you’re considered a wannabe and shouldn’t be out saving the world. But in the opinion of the Titans, if you have the power, you should do something with it.”

“No concerns about untrained would-be-heroes hurting people in a misguided attempt to help?” Mary asked.

“We believe that the best training comes from real life. I know many other superhero groups follow the same model as the Alliance and form schools in which they train supers but we feel that the rigidity of that structure do not prepare you for the harshness of reality. You can get the best grades in school but the moment you step into the real world, you could very well be cannon fodder.”

Recharge stepped in with a nod. “We encourage people with powers to help their community as best as they can on their own while we provide guidance and assistance where needed. The best experience and lessons come from actually doing and not sitting in a classroom.”

“We’ve got dozens of little hero teams all of the state!” laughed Power Paw in his bellowing voice. “Each of them have their own abilities, troubles and villains but they are stronger for it. Not all supers either. Sometimes they’re a mix of Outsider, super or just well-trained individuals. Yes, some of them might end up turning to villainy but we feel that is a necessary risk. Everyone can always turn to the right side of justice, after all. They just need the right guidance and motivation.”

Lars’s ears perked up even though his shoulders sagged. “Damn… Wish I was born and raised here…”

Caleb had to admit that New York did seem like a dream. After the strife he had to deal with his own dad and the Alliance this state seemed like a fantasy land come true.

“But with so many supers, crime is proportionately on the rise, isn’t it?” Rhiannon asked. “For every super you create, there’s always a nemesis.”

“Sadly so,” Power Paw answered. “But that’s the same pretty much anywhere. We help keep New York safe just like you keep West California Island safe from all threats.”

Caleb was about to correct him. They only really fought against the Gene Stealers and occasionally against the Genesians. Then he caught himself and wondered… why couldn’t they fight against all threats? They had the power. Why shouldn’t they do what they could especially if the Alliance was too busy caught up in their own petty power struggles.

“Anyway, that’s enough talking shop,” Ben said. “Pleasure meeting you guys. We’ll catch you tomorrow evening.” He nodded to the rest of his team. “Come on folks, if we hurry, we might not miss check in.”

******

Caleb collapsed onto the enormous king sized bed, dumping the bags of clothing and presents that he had collected at the foot. He flopped onto the fluffy mattress, belly down and let out a soft sigh. Though he was all too aware that Lars was right beside him, he was too exhausted from trying to scramble from place to place looking for all the Christmas presents for his family, his extended family and the items on Abby’s list. In the end, it felt like he was carrying a hundred pounds worth of presents back through the crowded streets of New York when everyone else was trying to scramble for last minute Christmas shopping and back to his hotel.

After he spent a good five minutes just with eyes shut, he cracked one eye open at Lars who was lying beside him with an ice pack on his head.

“How was Rhiannon duty?” he asked.

“As well as you’d expect,” grunted the Doberman. “Mary and Ashton were trying to do some ice skating at Rockefeller Centre when she tried to hijack the ice cleaner and run them over. Had to crash tackle her to the ground… Hit my head. Ow…”

Caleb reached over and gently rubbed the Doberman’s belly, feeling the hard abs beneath his thick shirt. “Yeah… Her attempt yesterday to become a real Phantom of the Opera while Mary and Ashton were watching a Broadway show got me and Ben kicked out of the theatre.”

“Why is she so obsessed with wrecking Christmas!” Lars growled. “Or at least Mary and Ashton’s Christmas!?”

“I think she’s just bored. Or wound up with the whole Trojan thing. Seeing as she can’t do anything, she’s trying to vent out here.”

Lars sighed and rolled onto his side, peering at Caleb. “Well, Ben’s got the rest of the night on Rhiannon duty. You and me finally have the rest of the night alone.” He leaned forward and kissed Caleb’s nose lightly. “What do you wanna do?”

“I –”

BAM!

Their door suddenly burst open and Mary came storming in, looking annoyed. Ashton, Rhiannon and Ben were right behind her.

“Settle something for me, boys,” she declared. “It’s Christmas Eve. Ben can get us dinner reservations anywhere. I’m voting we go to Maison de Nourriture Exquise.”

Caleb was too tired to really asked what the problem was as Mary had basically been dragging them everywhere and dictating what they did. After the dinner with the Titans, she had taken over their itinerary. Though it had been settled weeks before, she was like a merciless dictator demanding that they be on time for every activity without exception.

“Translation please…” he mumbled.

“House of Exquisite Food,” she responded. “It’s a marvellous place overlooking the harbour that uses traditional French cooking with a modern flair.”

“Yes but it’s one of those crappy places that serves you a single bite can calls it a ‘course’,” Ben said. “We can get that back home at my place. I say we do something we can’t do anywhere else.” He pulled out a pamphlet and slapped it onto the bed beside Caleb. “Viola! Zero Eatery! It’s this awesome place where you eat your meals in zero gravity like you were in space!”

“Isn’t astronaut food really disgusting?” Lars asked.

“That’s just it! It’s top quality food but it floats around you for you to eat as if you were in space! Just imagine eating the best pork loin you’ve ever had in your life only it floats towards you elegantly through the air!”

“My argument against that is that it’s incredibly messy and you’re dealing with a Hale here!” Mary gestured at Caleb. “You let your food out of your sight and he’s going to gobble it up before you can protest!”

Caleb shrugged absently, too tired to say anything else. “She’s right.”

“And my suggestion,” Ashton began, “is High End Hotdog.”

Lars’ ears perked up. “A good old American hotdog? That sounds nice.”

“Let him finish,” Mary warned.

“It’s not just a normal hotdog, my good man,” the tiger beamed brightly. “I’ve had plenty of those. No. These are three hat meals shaped like hotdogs. Think a beautiful, perfectly cooked fillet minion but in hotdog shape. Or perhaps a warm garden and scallop salad but served like a hotdog! Crème caramel as a hotdog! Split pea soup but hotdogs!”

Caleb frowned. “How the hell do you turn a split pea soup into a hotdog?”

Their British friend shrugged. “I have no idea but I would certainly like to try!”

“And as usual, your ideas are stupid,” Rhiannon said. She swaggered forward with a big smile on her face. “There is only one place that will win over these two’s votes.”

Mary sneered at her. “No. Just no! We are not going there!”

“Going where?” Caleb asked.

The Hound of Destruction just grinned smugly. “Oh, a little place called the Feast House downtown.”

“And what does it serve?”

“Homey, rustic food. Nothing overly exaggerated. Just a nice T-bone steak, fries, salad if you want. You know, typical American cuisine without anything over the top and flashy. It’s underground, dark and away from the lights.”

Lars began to sit up. “Huh… That actually sounds nice. Would be nice to find some place that doesn’t remind me of a rave bar.”

One of the things that the group had quickly noticed was with all the lights everywhere, they could get headaches very quickly as colours bounced off reflective surfaces over and over again. There were actually signs at certain corners warning about epileptic seizures. Everything could be very disorienting especially traffic nights. A flash of green might actually be a light across the street instead of the one you’re waiting for. Natives quickly singled them out as ‘non-New Yorkers’ because they were so easily confused. Times Square was just a nightmare.

“Yeah,” Caleb agreed. “That does sound nice.”

“Wait,” Mary warned. “Tell them about the other thing.”

Rhiannon didn’t seem perturbed. “There is one thing unique about the Feast House.”

A sense of dread filled Caleb’s chest. “And what’s that?”

“You eat your meals off the chiselled, naked bodies of people.”

Both Lars and Caleb flinched.

“Wait… What?” the Doberman demanded.

Rhiannon was licking her lips. “Just imagine pulling a nice, hot steak off the rippling abdominals of a completely naked man, lying sprawled across your table as he whispers sweet nothings to you. Pour the gravy over his delicious pectorals, watch it cascaded down the cleft of his pectorals and the lap it all up while leading towards his nipples…”

“Completely naked?”

“Oh yeah.”

Caleb shook his head. “I have so many questions about that but first of all, no.”

“Yeah…” Lars said, shakily. “I mean, I’d love to suck cock but just the thought of a sizzling steak hovering really close to my dick not to mention people like Caleb being on the table… I’d pity the poor guy.”

“It can be a girl if you want.”

“Even more so, no.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “Then we’re at a standstill. You guys need to pick. Where are we having Christmas Eve dinner?”

Caleb exchanged glances with Lars and the Doberman shrugged in return. “We were just thinking of having a little picnic somewhere so we can see the Christmas fireworks.”

She sighed heavily. “I suppose that’s fine. Where did you want to go? Central Park? Charter a boat so we’re out on the river?”

“Actually…” Caleb began, glancing towards Lars.

“This was just going to be for the two of us,” finished the Doberman. “We were actually thinking of having our picnic atop the Statue of Resolve.”

“The Statue of…” Mary’s eyes suddenly widened. “Oh my god! You’re going to do in on top of one of the iconic symbols of our nation, aren’t you!?”

The two boys grinned sheepishly at one another as the rest of the group took a step back and gave them a disgusted look.

“Dude, come on!” Ben cried. “That’s the Statue of Resolve! It’s the symbol of how America put itself back together after the Apocalypse! Don’t do it on top of her! That’s like fucking right on the White House lawn!”

“Have some class, gents!” Ashton added.

“So says the guy that gets fucked by Mary’s dad while she plays with herself,” Caleb said with a pointed stare. “And besides, apparently a lot of supers do it. And I didn’t say we were going to do it there. Just the picnic.” His paw crawled across the bed and wrapped around Lars’ fingers. “What happens afterwards well… That’s up to us.”

Rhiannon rolled her eyes and turned for the door. “Well, clearly we aren’t going to break the stalemate with these two. We should –” She suddenly went rigid, her red eyes wide. Then she shut them and growled, rubbing her forehead. “Oh great… Of course there had to be someone that attacks during Christmas. There just has to be that one stick in the mud…”

Caleb’s danger senses started to rise. “Wait… What? Gene Stealers?”

“No…” the Hound sighed. “Though arguably just as bad…”

******

Rudolph the Red.

Once, he was one of the guys elected to be Santa for the year. He wanted to surprise his wife as he was delivering presents and as per usual, used the phase device to slip into his house, got himself worked up and then wrapped a big, red bow over his erect dick. He snuck into the master bedroom and began to coax the slumbering form of his wife awake.

Only it wasn’t his wife.

And it wasn’t his house.

Sally Hearthbarrow switched on the light and the little ten year old girl got a face full of precum. It was even worse when her mother, whom she had snuck into bed with because she had a nightmare, woke up at the same instant and screamed her head off.

Needless to say, Rudolph was humiliated and kicked out of the then superhero group. His life went spiralling down from there. His wife left him. He lost his job. The superhero team disowned him and his identity was out to the world not only as a superhero but as a child molester even if he didn’t exactly do anything.

From then on, he became a supervillain.

Rudolph the Red.

And this year, he decided to strike at New York City.

“Merry fucking Christmas, New York City!” shouted the enormous stag dressed in only a pair of red leather straps to show off his bulging muscles and a piece of leather underwear to hide his junk. His nose was painted red for his namesake but that was not his power.

No, it was far worse.

Rudolph stared at a nearby car.

Red beams of light erupted from his eyes and blasted into the vehicle, igniting the gas tank and shaking the entire street with an explosion.

He spread his arms wide and laughed. “Come on, New York! Where’s your Christmas spirit!?”

Lasers blasted from his eyes and tore through the crystal walls of the nearby buildings, sending people screaming and scrambling away.

“That’s enough, Rudolph!”

The bellowing arrogance of Power Paw. Of course it had to be him. Rudolph was more than eager to meet his former comrade as the huge feline came floating in from above in his blue and red spandex suit.

“Well if it isn’t my old friend, PP,” laughed the stag. “Piss off!”

Power Paw hated that expression predominantly because the initials of his name ‘PP’ could be likened to urine. “You’re ruining all these people’s Christmas, Red. Stop this right now and we’ll go easy on you.”

“We?”

A black, throwing knife jabbed into the ground beside him, the hilt shaped like a fox’s head.

“Yes,” growled Nightfox in his typical, gravelly voice. “The Titans.”

The Foxwing, Nightfox’s trademark aerial vehicle, came zooming in from above. The black, wicked looking VTOL craft dropped off Water Witch and Recharge to Rudolph’s right and left. Arachnikid came swinging in from above on ropes of web she shot from her wrists. She planted herself on a nearby lamppost.

“Oh this must really be my Christmas!” Rudolph laughed. “All the Titans gathered here! I’m going to have a blast!”

“You can’t fight us all, Red,” Recharge snarled, lightning bolts dancing around his body. “Just give up.”

“Now where’s your Christmas spirit, Recharge? What’s the matter? Did Harvey kick you out again?”

The bull froze. No one outside of the Titans and a select few knew that Recharge was actually married to a handsome tabby cat named Harvey who served as a lawyer for the city. While happily married, Harvey did occasionally kick out Recharge for one reason or another. Nothing more than a lover’s quarrel. But that Rudolph knew about him…

“Got your attention, did I?” Rudolph snickered. He glanced over his shoulder at Nightfox. “Go ahead and check out with your butler, Bryce. I’m sure he can confirm that Harvey is currently in a warehouse, strapped to a bomb alongside your daughter…” He pointed directly at Water Witch. “… and your classmates!” He pointed next at Arachnikid.

Nightfox immediately pressed a finger against his ear and whispered sharply into his communicator. When he didn’t speak, a sense of dread fell upon the entire group of Titans.

“You’ve all been very naughty this year,” Rudolph laughed. “Now you all better go and save your loved ones. And I do mean all of you except for Power Paw. See, there are four lovely little obstacles in the warehouse for each of you to go through. Obstacles only ones with your specific powers can overcome. Anyone less and your friends go…” He made an exploding gesture with his hands. “Boom.”

Nightfox growled and straightened. “We have to go. Power Paw can take care of this guy.”

The rest of the Titans gave Rudolph a seething look before immediately darting away, leaving the stag with the hovering, muscled feline.

“Dirty trick, Red,” the tiger growled. “You’ve not only ruined our Christmas but those people’s too!”

“Aww, did I make the naughty list? Maybe Santa left me a chunk of coal in my stocking.”

Power Paw snarled and rocketed forward, zooming straight at Rudolph with a fist raised. He didn’t get more than ten feet from him before a seething pain erupted from his chest. All his power suddenly drained from him and he dropped to the ground, writhing in agony. Rudolph laughed heartily and reached towards his crotch. From his underwear, he pulled out a little, red rock.

“Powerite,” the stag said with a big grin. “The only material in the world capable of stealing all of your powers. And you know what the best part about the red variety is?” Rudolph leaned down towards the tiger, resting the stone directly on Power Paw’s chest. The super could only stare up at him with pain in his eyes, unable to move. “After a few minutes, all your power will be in this stone and then whoever hold it will be able to wield that power.”

The villain grinned broadly. “I always thought your heat vision was just a cheap knock off of my powers. But you just had to have all those other powers as well, didn’t you? Well, give it a few minutes, Conrad. Your power will soon be mine.”

BAM! BAM!

Big blue fireballs suddenly crashed around Rudolph and the stag leapt back in surprise. “What the hell!?”

“I don’t think Power Paw likes your present,” Flare Blue said, hovering in mid-air with flames jutting out of his feet and paws. “I think he’d like to return it!”

A slim, black figure wearing a billowing coat suddenly came darting out from his left. He caught the flash of blades and the supervillain darted back in surprise, barely dodging the deadly swords of Blade Babe. The Outsider quickly knelt in front of Power Paw and swiped up the piece of Red Powerite.

“No!” Rudolph cried but could only watch as the Outsider threw it through the air.

A blood red paw seized the stone. Blood Wolf crushed it with ease. Beside him was perhaps the currently most talked about Outsider in the United States: Weapons Master.

“What the fuck are you guys doing here!?” he demanded.

“Oh didn’t you hear?” Ben answered with a vicious grin. “We’re in town to spread some Christmas cheer.” Blood suddenly blasted out of his arms, swarming around him to form an array of wild, thrashing tentacles. “Look out New York. I’m dreaming of a red Christmas.”

Caleb snickered softly.

“Heh,” he mentally said. “I get it. Because you’re Blood Wolf, blood is red and he’s Rudolph the Red.”

“Yes Caleb…” Ben said dryly. “We got that.”

“Just saying…” Caleb glanced around, looking for anything that he could use to help him in the fight. He hadn’t brought anything from West California Island with him that he could use as a weapon so he just needed to improvise. “Ben, grab Power Paw and get him to safety. Lars, Mary, keep Rudolph busy. Rhia, get the civilians to safety.”

His thoughts travelled faster than words ever could and the team was scrambling a second later. Rudolph lunged for Power Paw but Lars was suddenly hurling fireballs at him and pushing him back. Mary grabbed the big tiger’s arm and dragged him off to the corner. As with any super battle, news outlets were scrambling to get the latest scoop but until West Cali which used actual live people in helicopters, here the media sent in unmanned drones to hover and buzz around the battle.

“Huh… They should do that back at home.”

“Different types of exposure and experiences there,” Rhia added. “The drones don’t have the instinct of live people and they certainly can’t feel anything happening in the air. A blast of fire comes rushing at you, you point the camera at it. Drones won’t feel that.”

“Bastard!” Rudolph roared and blasted a beam of light straight at Lars. The Doberman dodged the blast swiftly. The beam cut into a nearby toy store. Something flammable must have caught fire because a second later, the floor erupted into a torrent of flame and smoke. Toys peppered Caleb from above.

Caleb covered his head with his arms, eyes turned upwards to avoid anything falling.

“Speaking of drones…”

He scrambled towards a nearby lamppost and hoisted himself up its shaft. One of the tiny little angel drones flitted nearby and he seized it. Bluish-white light encased it, feathers dancing from its surface. The angel leapt from his paws, its plastic wings fluttering with real feathers but everything remaining oddly plastic.

Caleb watched it for a second, wondering exactly what it did.

But it just stared at him with rather creepy, painted blue eyes.

“Fuck. A dud weapon.”

He slipped down the lamppost. Lasers flew overhead as Lars weaved through the array of beams. Ben let out a ferocious roar and charged straight at Rudolph, blood tentacles thrashing. The stag was quite fast for his size and leapt back with incredible dexterity. The beams from his eyes cut right through the tentacles, severing them and sending them splattering onto the ground.

Caleb lunged for a nearby toy rocket; one of those plastic rockets designed for science enthusiasts to launch from their backyard and watch it soar into the sky. He remembered the days when he and his dad once launched one into the sky. Such simpler times when he wasn’t an Outsider and his dad wasn’t – or at least hadn’t revealed himself to be– Feral Steel. Pushing aside the nostalgia, he channelled his power through the rocket. Again, blue-white light encased the toy, feathers springing from it.

Oddly enough, he heard music rising from the light. It never did that before.

As the rocket stopped glowing, it revealed itself to have significantly morphed. Instead of the overly metallic and Spartan look, it appeared to have a little Christmas tree had attached itself to the upper half of the weapon, the star at the tip blinking with impending detonation.

But the music didn’t stop.

“Here comes Santa Paws, Here comes Santa Paws, firing a tree of flame.”

Caleb jerked his head to the right where that little angel suddenly hovered, its cherubic features adorned with a little red hat with a white bauble.

“I’m sorry, what?” he asked.

“Bringing pain and shards of glass while calling Easter lame!” sang the Angel.

“Huh?”

The angel’s features suddenly took on a demonic appearance, its eyes flashing red and its teeth filled with fangs. “Ears are ringing, people screaming oh what a horrible sight!”

“Uh… Guys,” he began, backing away from the angel nervously. “I think I just created a possessed angel drone…”

“So duck and cover and call your mother for Santa Paws launch tonight!”

Suddenly, the rocket in Caleb’s paw vibrated violently. He was jerked upwards for a second before he was forced let go of the missile. It blasted out of his paws, swerving in the air while its little yellow star began blinking madly.

“Look out!” he cried.

The combatants turned first towards him then the missile streaking towards them. The immediately scattered and –

BOOM!

Were knocked to the ground as a fiery explosion ripped through the street.

“Weapons Master, what the hell!?” Ben cried.

“I don’t know!” Caleb exclaimed helplessly, foregoing the telepathic link.

“Do something that’ll help, damnit!”

Glancing around, he caught sight of a toy gun, the kind that shot little foam darts at foes. He figured it would be a good multi-shot weapon and seized it. Glancing at the Angel of Anarchy as he decided to call the tiny, singing drone, he was glad that it had stopped singing and threw aside the Santa hat. Its features were back to being pleasant and angelic.

Once again, he channelled his powers through the gun.

And the music started.

“Oh no…”

The moment the glow subsided, Caleb was left with a big, shotgun-like weapon only it seemed to have four barrels instead of two and its entire surface was a chilling, icy blue.

“Frosty the Shotgun, is a very scary tool!” the Angel sang. “With a loaded mag and a laser tag, you should run away you fool!”

“This thing has a laser tag?” Caleb asked, regarding the weapon. He pressed a button and on cue, a little laser pointer appeared from underneath the weapon. “Sweet!”

“Frosty the Shotgun, he will blow you all away!”

“Fuck yeah!” Caleb laughed, turning the gun towards Rudolph.

“Fill you up with lead till you all drop dead so get on your knees and pray!”

BAM!

The shotgun went off like a cannon and a thousand tiny, blue pellets went flying straight towards Rudolph. The red-nosed super snarled and ducked behind a car. The pellets peppered it and where it struck, layers of ice immediately began springing over the surface.

“That’s more like it!” Lars exclaimed.

“Some crazy mystic shit must’ve run through this gun one day!” the Angel sang. The sudden use of profanity made Caleb’s heart sink and he turned towards the pesky little drone. Its features had once again become demonic and it had donned a rather cutesy snowman outfit; its entire lower half being consumed by a big, white ball and a top hat sitting on its head. “Cause now when the slugs come firing out they’ll chase you till you say! FUCK!”

“FUCK!”

The sudden cry came from Rudolph and the stag came staggering out from behind the car, ice having crawled across his arm. The villain caught sight of Caleb and his eyes flashed red. Caleb immediately threw himself to the ground as searing red lasers came flying over his head, barely missing him.

“There goes your torso, slamming right against the wall! With a gun this bad, now you won’t be sad cuz the bad guys took the fall!”

Caleb rose –

WHAM!

Only for Rudolph to slam him back to the ground on his belly, one foot pressed against his back and the other on Frosty the Shotgun.

“I know about your powers, Outsider,” growled the stag. “You have the potential to make incredibly powerful weapons or incredibly stupid ones as well.” To prove his point, he seized the Angel of Anarchy, making it squeak. “But you won’t be making any more weapons. Not with your spine broken!”

Pain erupted from Caleb’s back as Rudolph pressed down on him.

“Get away from him!” Lars roared.

“One more move and I’ll crush his fucking spine!” threatened the villain.

Caleb fought through the pain and his eyes settled just a few feet from him, within arm’s reach. It was a little, red, ornamental Christmas ball. He immediately seized it and channelled his power through it.

Then the sound of a guitar suddenly rang out.

Rudolph immediately glanced down in time to see the light face from the ball… only to not appear to have changed. The only change was a little, blinking light where the hook should have been. The stag snorted with confidence.

“Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell bomb!”

Both men froze.

“Did it just say ‘bomb’?” Caleb asked.

Rudolph stared at the Angel with his eyes wide.

“Jingle Bell Ring and Jingle Bell Ding!” the drone sang. “Growing and blowing until it goes boom!”

True to the Angel’s words, the ball in Caleb’s paw began to grow hot and he could feel it starting to force his fingers apart as it grew.

“Now the timer has just begun!”

“Oh shit!” Rudolph cried, immediately pulling away from Caleb. “You made a fucking bomb!”

Caleb scrambled to his knees and stared at the little, growing red ball in his paws. “Fine! You take it!” He tossed it at Rudolph who instinctively caught it.

“Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell bomb,” the Angel sang mirthfully. “Jingle Bell Nuke, you better run you dumb mook!”

“Nuke!?” cried Rudolph in terror. He turn and tossed it over his shoulder.

Ben caught it.

“Why are you giving it to me!?” shouted the werewolf.

“Tickin and clickin, the gages are red!....“It’ll make you dead!!”

Ben gave a cry of terror and threw it again where it landed firmly in Lars’ paws.

“What a fright time, it’s the right time! To panic in the street!”

Lars began juggling the ball in the air as it became incredibly hot to the point where it was emitting a bright, red glow. “Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!”

“Jingle Bell time is-a-war crime! To wipe half the continent away!”

“Lars, get rid of it!” Caleb cried.

His boyfriend immediately tossed it… where it landed right in front of Mary and Power Paw, both of them staring at it in wide-eyed horror.

“Giddy up, Jingle friend! Pick up your feet! Jingle clock’s ticking faaaast!”

“Give it here!” Power Paw shouted scrambling to his feet. “Give me the bomb!”

Mary dove for the device and threw it immediately towards the tiger.

“Twisted and mangled people fill up the street!”

Power Paws pulled his arm back like he was about to toss the ball like a football, aiming straight towards the sky.

“That’s the Jingle Bell…”

The super let out a tremendous roar and flung the ball straight into the air. Caleb watched, his heart frozen like the snow around him, as the ball vanished past the New York skyline.

“That’s the Jingle Bell…”

His throat went dry.

And everything went terribly silent save for the Angel of Anarchy’s voice.

“That’s the Jingle Bell Boooooooomb!”

BOOOOOM!

A tremendous ball of fire erupted high above them, almost big enough to rival the sun. It lit up the city in the middle of the early evening. Caleb braced himself for the shockwave that would flatten him against the ground and disintegrate his very body… but none came. Instead, tiny white flecks began drizzling down from above, raining down upon them gently.

Snow.

Rudolph, eyes wide, fell to his knees while panting heavily. “I’m… I’m ready to go to jail now…”

Power Paw laughed heartily though Caleb could hear a little bit of nervousness in his deep, resonating voice. “That’s okay, Red. I think we’ve had enough excitement today. What do you say you come back to Titan Base for a good old Christmas dinner, watch the Christmas fireworks with us just like old times. Tomorrow we’ll throw you in jail.”

The stag gave him a shaky smile. “Good plan.” Then he turned his eyes to Weapons Master. “Your powers are insane.”

Caleb regarded the Angel of Anarchy that was flittering beside him, looking so innocent and beaming. “You’re telling me…”

The rest of Arsenal gathered around him, nervous smiles on their faces.

“Well folks,” Power Paw said, clapping Caleb’s shoulder happily. “One hell of a Christmas. I’m going to check on how the others are doing. If anything, it was a pleasure fighting alongside you all, Arsenal. I hope to do it again sometime.” He glanced up and held out one of his massive paws, a snowflake landing on his palm. “And look, you made it snow!”

“Ummm… right,” Ben began. “So… Remember how that angel-thing said that that bomb was nuclear?” He pointed upwards. “Anyone think this is actually nuclear fallout?”

******

Thankfully, the Jingle Bell Bomb hadn’t been nuclear after all and the snow wasn’t in anyway radioactive. It was just snow. Of course Nightfox had to do some extensive testing just to make sure but after he confirmed that no one was going to die from radiation poisoning, he let everyone go back to their Christmas. Though he seemed growly about it, he actually seemed pleased about the event. Arachnikid revealed to Arsenal that Nightfox actually had a thing for Rudolph the Red on the account that they once fought one Christmas Eve when Rudolph had snuck into Nightfox’s mansion and caught the superhero unaware. It was toughest fight Nightfox had in his life for the simple reason that he was without his gadgets and Rudolph was a super.

Or so the official reports said.

According to Arachnikid, realising that he couldn’t beat Rudolph in a fair fight, Nightfox did the next best thing.

He seduced Rudolph.

No one knew what happened then but the fact that Nightfox actually cracked a smile when Rudolph came willingly said a lot.

“It’s nice that even Rudolph gets to have a Christmas with friends,” Lars said. “Even if it is former friends.”

With the crisis over, everyone went back to their Christmas plans. Mary ended up convincing everyone to go to her restaurant but Caleb and Lars still had their own little outing. When the sun had long set, Lars carried Caleb in his arms and flew them to the Statue of Resolve. There, they sat atop the enormous, titanium statue sitting on its own island where the Statue of Liberty once stood.

When Horsemen of the Apocalypse came and went, mankind was forced to rebuild from the ashes. Once it was back up and standing with the furs right beside them, the Statue of Resolve was built by man as an eternal sign that mankind will endure. It depicted a woman, much like the Statue of Liberty, standing with her arms spread wide open and her gown billowing out behind her like she was welcoming the challenges of the universe with open arms. Come what may, mankind will endure.

“Kind of says a lot about the inner workings of supers, huh?” Caleb admitted. “I mean, when I was a kid, I always thought supers were these… perfect examples of what the world is capable of producing. They’re flawless. Always doing what was right without any exception. To think that Recharge is actually in a relationship with a male lawyer or the Nightfox might have a thing for Rudolph…” He laughed softly. “Man… it just goes back what Jacob said. There are no gods. Just mortals.”

His hunky boyfriend let out a deep sigh, their paws resting on top of one another on the chequered picnic blanket. Between them was the backpack where they had devoured their burgers. Each had a beer bottle in their paws.

“You’ve been really buddy-buddy with that guy,” Lars said.

“What? Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

Lars rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Nah it’s just… Every fibre of my being is telling me to hate him. He just showed up, showed us up and just told us we weren’t good enough to face off against the Genesians. But then he gets you that sweet job, is really friendly and even gives us a new place as our base of operations.” He growled and rubbed his temples. “Sometimes, it’s really hard with the Aura and shit…”

“Right. The thing you supers have that polarises people and pushes them to the extremes of their emotions.” Caleb took another swing from his beer. “You know, I’ve been wondering about that. I mean… I’ve got to ask. Is what I feel about you actually what I feel or is it just your Aura affecting me? If you were to go halfway across the country, would I suddenly not… like you anymore?”

Lars gave him a startled look. “I…”

“Then I figured it doesn’t matter.” He gave his Doberman a bright smile, one that really lit up the darkness. “I love you, Lars. Took me a fucking long time to realise it but I do. I don’t say it enough. But I do.”

He got a light punch for that. “Dude, you sound like you’re marrying me.”

“What? Fuck no! I ain’t marrying you! We haven’t even done it yet!”

“We could change that,” Lars replied, waggling his eyebrows at him.

Caleb rolled his eyes and shoved Lars’ muzzle away. “Yeah, I know but if you’re the guy I know you are, you’re libido is really shot right now given how we just fought a Christmas themed villain.”

Lars let out a bright laugh and leaned back against the titanium crown of the Statue. “I just don’t know why that’s a mood killer. Just feels like… I dunno…”

“This is a time for real emotions not just sex,” Caleb finished. “Anything we did together… well. I don’t want to force it.”

“Me neither.”

A breeze blew by and Caleb shivered. Lars shuffled closer to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“I never noticed how warm you are,” Caleb murmured, settling his muzzle against Lars’ neck.

“I’m just turning up the heat a little to keep you comfortable.” Lars planted a light little peck on Caleb’s forehead. “I never want you to be uncomfortable, Caleb. I want you to be happy.”

“I want you to be happy to, Lars. If that means you stuffing your dick in me or my ploughing you into next week, I’ll do whatever it takes.” Caleb sighed and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s chest. “You know… I don’t want this to end. Feels like we haven’t really had any couple time since we came here. Between the hero stuff, shopping and then making sure Rhiannon doesn’t kill Christmas, we’ve never really been together for long. Mary is always taking out to places every night and we just collapse in bed at the end of the day… I feel… ripped off.”

Lars was silent for a long moment, letting out a thoughtful hum.

Then, the muscled Doberman said, “You know… I think that’s because we both know that this isn’t real.” He gestured with a paw around him. “We escaped to New York while shit is happening back at West Cali. Anything we do here, it’ll be what Holiday Caleb and Holiday Lars did. It won’t really be us. The real us is sitting back in West Cali, waiting to deal with Trojan, getting used to the Cornucopia and itching to see how a hyena dick or a bull cock would fit in me. We’re… we’re not really here.”

It was Caleb’s turn to let out a thoughtful hum. “You’re right. But you know what?” He turned to Lars with a smile. “Fake or not, I still love you.”

Lars beamed down and pressed their lips together. The soft touch of Lars’ lips against his own, the gentle brush of their tongues together filled Caleb with all the warmth he would ever need. The moment had to end, however, but it was replaced by a better one.

“I love you too, Caleb,” whispered his handsome Doberman.

A soft whirring filled their ears followed by a loud crackle and pop. The sky was suddenly filled with colourful lights, flashing madly left, right and centre in intricate patterns. It was officially December 31st. Christmas Day and the last day of the year. Tomorrow, would be a new year.

“Merry Christmas, Caleb,” whispered Lars.

Caleb closed his eyes and leaned back into the picnic blanket. Lars leaned back as well, resting on the burly wolf’s arms.

Curling an arm around his boyfriend, Caleb said, “Merry Christmas, Lars.”

******

It was Christmas Day. Just an hour or so into the last day of the year but Leon couldn’t wait any longer. He had been itching to do this since Caleb had left. For the whole week, he had been conflicted with what he was going to do but eventually, he settled on breaking into Reggie’s locker on Christmas Day. The reason was that the recruits were not expected in the academy on Christmas. Police was still on patrol, of course, since the holidays gave way to drunken incidents but the Academy was mostly empty.

Leon was adamant that Reggie had something to do with Trojan. He just knew it.

But he just needed proof.

Something… anything. He needed proof that he could take to Caleb to bring Trojan in.

So, early in the morning, while everyone was just heading to sleep after the traditional Christmas fireworks, Leon took Ballistic and drove all the way to the Academy. There, he snuck into the locker rooms and found Reggie’s locker. For the whole week, he had planned this out. He had spied on Reggie and got a good guess on what his password for the keypad lock was. After a few taps, he was met with a hearty beep.

“Yes!” he exclaimed and pulled open the locker.

But his heart fell.

The locker was empty.

“What…?” he gawked. “Shit…”

“Expecting to find something?”

Reggie’s deep voice made him jump and he spun. The big equine was standing on one end of the locker bay, blocking the exit. His massive form almost took up the entirety to the path between the lockers. With his arms folded like that, he looked like he could easily crush Leon with one bear hug.

There was no use lying.

“I know you have something to do with Trojan,” Leon growled. “You’re the one that led Weapons Master to the trap that Trojan sprung. Your act with the protein shake was clever but it didn’t fool me.” He jabbed a finger in Reggie’s direction. “I know you’re with the fucking Gene Stealers!”

Reggie was still for a moment. Then his eyes narrowed. “So… You’re that close to Weapons Master, huh? Close enough to take the failure a week ago personally. Either you’re the Outsider or…” Reggie frowned. “… Caleb is.”

Leon froze. Did he just spill the beans about Caleb’s true identity to a true stranger?

“Of course, I already knew that,” Reggie said with a laugh. “Because you’re right, Leon. I am with the Gene Stealers.”

“I fucking new it!” Leon growled. “You’re Trojan!”

“Me?” Reggie laughed. “Oh man, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not Trojan.”

Stunned, Leon said, “What? Then who is?”

A third voice came from behind him. “I am.”

That voice made Leon’s heart sink. He spun around, eyes wide as Lieutenant Matlock came rolling up to him from behind in his wheelchair. The man’s eyes were hard but he wore a cocky smile that just sent Leon’s heart plummeting.

“Lieutenant… You…?”

Slowly, Matlock pushed himself off his wheelchair, he legs working perfectly fine. “You’re really quite clever, Leon. Smart enough to figure out Reggie’s involvement in the whole plot.” He pursed his lips and tapped the side of his head. “But you weren’t clever enough to figure out that I was Trojan all along. I left you all the clues, you know.”

“Clues…?” Leon repeated.

“Yes. Remember how I had my spine sliced?” Matlock gestured at his legs. “The one that lost me the use of my legs? It was because a corrupt official sent an assassin after me. Who was Smokestack but Ulysses Fu, an assassin? Who was Dalton but a corrupt official.”

Leon’s eyes widened in shock, the realisation dawning on him like a tonne of bricks. “You… You turned them! Why!?”

“Because just like me, they deserve as second chance,” Matlock said, ferocity in his voice. “I lost the use of my legs because I was trying to do the right thing, Leon. But then the higher ups shoved me aside and decided to ignore anything I said because I was stuck in a wheelchair and I refused to get corrective surgery. Chimera gave me a second chance. He gave me a new body.”

As he said this, Matlock began unbuttoning his shirt. He wasn’t wearing anything underneath it. As he peeled off the garment, chestnut brown fur began springing from his skin and every muscle on his body began undulating and bubbling, thick cords appearing across his pectorals like tightly wound rubber bands pressed up against his skin. Thick, black hair covered his chest but as his pectorals grew, that fuzz began shrinking into the folds of his muscles.

“Gave me back the use of my legs.”

Matlock kicked off his shoes and quickly stripped off his pants, leaving him only in a black jockstrap. His thighs widened to the size of tree trunks. Each toenail blackened and fused with one another, forming a distinct hoof at the end of his growing feet.

“Each of those people I turned were people I chose to be granted a second chance to do what was right.”

“What was right?” Leon exclaimed. “You’re turning them into monsters that’re robbing other people of their identity! You’re just experiments to the Gene Stealers!”

“No,” Matlock snarled fiercely. “We’re giving each and every one of them a chance to survive what’s coming. Don’t you see, Leon? Chimera is giving us the strength to transform ourselves to cope with the end of the world! Another Apocalypse is coming and this time, our world won’t be able to survive it without his help. Smokestack, Unicorn, Pegasus and Sleipnir, they aren’t spreading an infection. They’re vaccinating people against what’s coming!”

“What is coming?”

Matlock rolled his shoulders as they broadened into two, enormous bowling balls. He had to take a moment from his speech as his features lengthened, jaw jutting out into the handsome, equine features that belonged to Trojan. Bones crackled softly as the rest of his body ballooned into the enormous Gene Stealer Original.

As his transformation ended, Trojan sighed. “We don’t know,” he answered, opening his eyes. “Chimera isn’t forthcoming with that information. But it’s bad. We’ve seen it. And we follow Chimera willingly because he’s preparing all of Earth, all of civilisation for an end that we cannot survive without Gen 5s.”

Leon took a step back but suddenly found himself blocked by Reggie. “You guys are insane.”

“No, Leon,” Matlock responded darkly. “The world is insane. It keeps itself in denial over what’s plainly in sight! The Gene Stealers aren’t the enemy! Above all else, we’re giving everyone powers and the chance to change the world for the better! All anyone sees is the raving monsters that are a temporary side-effect! Eventually, people will regain their senses and they will be stronger for it! But the world, society just keeps holding onto its pathetic visions of what should be based on old days of glory! Hard core conservatives like Price are holding our society back while bickering liberals do nothing but push for their own agenda! We need a middle ground, we need a vision and we need a purpose. Chimera gives that purpose.”

“You’re following a supervillain.”

Matlock snorted derisively and shook his head. “Villain. We brand those who do not conform with our ideas as villains. The law was made by man, Leon, remember that. Men are flawed. There is only one true rule that is irrefutable.”

Leon suddenly felt a pain erupt from his neck and he glanced over. Reggie pushed the plunger of the syringe deep into his neck.

“Survival,” Matlock growled, a grin on his muzzle. “You may question why we’re using an Original Serum on you and not just infect you, right? Well, infections don’t work on supers, Leon.”

The stunned wolf’s eyes widened.

“That’s right, kiddo. You’ve always been a super. It’s a fact your father has been hiding from you.” Matlock leaned down, his muzzle hovering right over Leon’s ears. “When you see him next, ask him to confirm it. I’m sure he’ll have some explaining to do. Then see if I’m still the villain. But in the meantime…”

Matlock pulled back as an overwhelming heat began building in Leon’s crotch. The wolf looked down in horror as his cock began pressing up against his pants.

“Enjoy.”