The Discovery

"Just another day," muttered Werner Maxwell as he entered the Leyline Observatory one chilly morning in late December, "Another humdrum day at work. Now then, where did I leave off yesterday? Oh yes, Leehalt started with me over the examination of the Filgaian energy we'd collected, he didn't believe it contained any supreme powers when cut off from the Guardians. Melody wasn't any help, she had to put on another coat of blush. You know, I wish I could trade places with Elliot, his problems are just a drop in the bucket compared to mine. Even though Malik is always doing his own research on reviving the dead, he does get his work done. And Pete is serious about his job. My team just argues and looks pretty."

He was a man of about thirty two, with short brown hair and vibrant blue eyes. The father of a five year old girl, Werner wanted to make the world a better place for his family. Ironically, he'd met his wife while on the job, when he was studying Leylines near Little Rock. His childhood rival, Leehalt Alchest, was also a member of the team, studying the same science just to get a better job than Werner. Imagine their surprise when they received the same commission. But even though he had many problems with said rival, he had a close friend named Elliot Enduro. They'd met after Werner took the job and were almost brothers.

As he entered the hallway, a small figure ran out at him. It was Elliot's twelve year old son, Jet. The boy, like his father, had silver hair and violet eyes. His mother had died when he was born, so he never met her, but Jet didn't complain. Well, unless Leehalt started with him, the boy's hatred of the man was well known. It came mostly from Leehalt's meaningless grudges against Elliot and Werner, whom Jet thought of as an uncle. For years, Leehalt had let his disdain of the child be well known, everyone said it was mostly jealousy since he didn't have a family. But Jet wasn't below fighting back if needed be.

"Uncle Werner, good morning. Dad told me to give you a message. There's going to be a meeting in the secret room, something to do with that project that you guys are working on. He's going on ahead, but wants you to meet him there. Oh, and Leehalt is in a bad mood, so avoid him like the plague," he said.

Werner thanked the boy and headed off to the secret room. That was where they kept all of their most valuable experiments, such as the energy of Filgaia, as well as irreplaceable research books. After tapping on the wall in a third floor room in just the right place, Werner walked inside. This room beyond the door was the specimen room, for the storage of the monsters they were studying, as well as the previously mentioned energy. It also held some of the books. But down a corridor was another room, which not only held more books but was also the Council of Seven's meeting room. Everyone was there, waiting for him.

Melody Vilente, a purple haired woman with blue eyes of twenty seven years, was sitting in the corner of the room, applying her eyeliner. For what, Werner didn't know. Certainly, he didn't think she would have any need for it while they were on the job. But Melody was the most vain woman he could think of, so it wasn't too surprising. After all, this was how she acted when she was supposed to be working too.

Her foil was twenty five year old Malik Bendict. He was a man with short blond hair and blue eyes who was into the art of necromancy. Technically, it meant black magic that predicted the future by talking with the dead. However, he was into the prediction part of it much less and the dead part much more.

Pete Inkapilia, a thirty eight year old Baskar with dark black hair and brown eyes was the only one who appeared to be paying any attention to the doorway. He was extremely neutral in the conflicts that raged on between Melody and Malik, or Leehalt with Werner and/or Elliot and/or Jet. The only thing he did was to tell whomever started it to stop acting like they were two years old and get back to work. Which, I might add, was usually either Leehalt or Melody. They had hair trigger tempers that always went off.

Duran Bryant, the thirty five year old mechanic, was supposed to be conducting the meeting the second Werner came in. I say supposed, because he was currently reading the Winter Wonderland issue of Sexy Drifters, his favorite pornographic magazine. It showed Drifter women in sweaters that were so low cut that they totally defeated the purpose of wearing one, as well as some naked women playing in snow, modeling scarves. His blue eyes never left the pages, enthralled by the images they saw, and his black hair looked freshly combed, as if he expected to go on a date with them. He was a little crazy if you ask me.

Werner sat down next to Elliot. He was relieved to see that his friend had gotten them seats as far away from Leehalt as possible. The thirty three year old man looked over at his rival, his scowling brown eyes never leaving him as he sat down. What he didn't see, however, was that someone had stuck a wad of gum in Leehalt's long, black hair. But from the way Elliot was pointing, Werner knew it had to be one of the Enduros. Silent revenge was one of Elliot's favorite tactics, and Jet liked to do the same thing as his dad.

Leehalt yelled, "DURAN!!!! Maxwell is here so can we begin? Look at those disgusting magazines on your own time. I swear, you waste more time here than Malik and Melody combined." That earned him hard and angry stares from the aforementioned scientists, and giggles from both Elliot and Werner.

Elliot looked at his friend. "Look whose talking, who begins arguing for no reason when on the job? At least half of Malik and Melody's fighting is done off work, since they're on two different teams. But he starts with you every day, for no apparent reason, if only to annoy you or mess up what you're working on."

"Oh, zorry. I got a little carried away," Duran replied, putting his magazine behind him, "Vell, az I vaz zaying, ziz iz an important experiment, one that might just finish our job. But, ve have got to ztay here for avile, at leazt until after ze Vestival of ze Guardians is over. Zere iz no vay ve can leave ziz unattended, and zoze vho are ztuck here vill be jealous over the onz vho can go. Zo, ve all ztay and get ziz done, it vill be finished much faster if ze vhole team iz here." The announcement done, he turned back to his porno.

"Hey! Duran, can't we wait until the holidays are over? There are so many parties out there that I can go to in order to show off my perfect beauty," Melody commented, looking steamed over his words.

Pete told her, "I also checked out the containment, it seems that if we do not watch over the creature that we are studying constantly, it might break out of the capsule and wreck the lab. But, if we finish all of the experiments, we can let it go and then visit our families to exchange presents and whatnot."

Werner looked at Melody. "If our mechanic says that the machines won't hold him, then they won't hold him. It is safer for all of us. What if it gets out while we're all gone to visit our families? The creature might ambush us upon our return, and then we could all die. However, by keeping constant vigil, we won't have a problem." He was trying to be strong, he would be spending the Festival of the Guardians without his wife and child. This was the first time ever. Virginia would have to be strong since Daddy wouldn't be home.

* * *

Sometime later, during his break, Werner was writing a letter to his wife, Ekatrina, to tell her of the new development. He informed her where he'd hidden the presents that he'd brought, so she could put them out on the Festival Morning in order to make it look like Santa had come. It was an old tradition, then the children opened presents in the morning. The adults also exchanged presents, and children gave them too.

"Well, well, well, Werner is in here all alone," mocked Leehalt, "What, pray tell are you doing here?"

"Writing a letter home, to tell them that I won't be able to come back for the holidays. I don't want my family to worry about me, my sister-in-law tends to jump to conclusions if I come home late," Werner stated. He hoped to avoid this conversation, for he knew what fodder Leehalt had come to look for.

Leehalt stated, "You're pathetic, Maxwell. Can't even spend the holidays with your wife and brat. Now then, if I had married Ekatrina, she wouldn't be left alone. I'd bring her to share the Festival with me."

Werner looked at him like he was insane. "With that monster in here?! If it breaks out, it puts both Ekatrina and Virginia in danger. Heck, we're in danger if it breaks out. I'd pick their safety over my own happiness. Ekatrina'll understand, I'm worried about her. You only think about yourself, that's why she didn't love you like you loved her!" Werner was very defensive over his family, due to the old love triangle.

"How dare you!" Leehalt yelled back, "I care about Ekatrina very much. Your brat no, but then again if I had a child with Ekatrina then I'd care about it. If you care about someone, you always stay with them."

"Safety comes first. Elliot's even sending Jet to stay with Grandma Enduro just so he isn't involved in this mess. I'm sure she can take care of the boy for a week, and if she can't he's given her my address. Ekatrina, Tesla, and Shalte can surely watch over one more if Elliot's mom's arthritis is too bad to take care of her grandson. And you know Elliot never sends Jet out of the lab without him," Werner informed him.

Before this escalated into anything more, in came Elliot himself. Seeing the odds were now two to one, Leehalt left. He knew Elliot would intervene on Werner's side, he always did. Elliot asked, "What was that about? Leehalt just being Leehalt? Or was his visit just another one of his false attempts at peace?"

Werner leaned back in his chair. "Just wanted to say I'm pathetic for not spending the holidays with Ekatrina. Oh yeah, I would, if I didn't mind her dying should that beast escape captivity. I told Duran it was a bad idea to study a Silver Tiger, but he didn't listen to me. Now we're all going to have a lonely holiday."

"Werner, that's it!" exclaimed Elliot, "We're going to have to change our situation in order to not have a lonely holiday. How about the whole council has a party? We can have food, and drinks, I have some wine stocked away. And we can bake cookies. Decorations, I have some left over in my quarters."

"I like that idea. Maybe we can have a fun holiday after all. Let's plan this out though before we start, you never know when something will go wrong. We have to figure out what needs to be done, and who needs to do it," Werner replied. He then walked away to go back to work, but carried his clipboard anyway.

* * *

That afternoon, the others found a sign up sheet near the secret room. It asked for them to volunteer for one of the categories: Decorating, Baking, or Supply Gathering. The final group had to cut down a tree, as well as buy the supplies after inventory had been taken. Being the one with the Teleport Orb, Werner volunteered for that one. Elliot came with him, so he could drop Jet off at his grandmother's, and so did Pete. That left Duran and Leehalt on Decorating, and Malik and Melody in Baking. Against better judgment, Werner and Elliot decided to leave it at that. After all, how much could go wrong if the two of them baked? And no one thought Duran could make a mess out of decorating an entire lab for a party.

But remember, these are not just any scientists. These are some of the loopiest men out there, with perhaps the worlds biggest wacko among the female gender. What didn't seem like trouble, would turn out to be. Elliot and Werner would wish they'd used their better judgment when it was open to them.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

My second annual holiday special. This time, I'll write a few chapters, it seemed much more fun. You know where I go the idea? Well, I was watching "A Muppet Family Christmas" with my family, it's a tradition to do so after putting up our tree. I thought about holidays, and family togetherness, had some warm and fuzzy Jet and Virginia thoughts (imagine what would happen when he fist celebrated the holidays at her insistence), which led me to think about what it would be like if one was away from their loved ones on Christmas. Since this is Filgaia, I created a made up Christmas-like holiday, due to different religious beliefs.