A/N: Who remembers the Fearsome Five heading into the Prime Universe from several stories ago? ;)
When Negaduck had collected the Fearsome Four in the dead of night and dragged them to the Prime Universe, the Liquidator could honestly say this was the surprise twist ending he hadn't seen coming. They'd arrived in this mountain range, had been strategically placed in a small clearing amongst some trees, then had been told, "Stay put. Don't let anyone get past you." Negaduck had then left them.
Alone.
Since early that morning.
And the Four were still here.
Waiting, the Liquidator guessed, for something to happen.
But nothing had.
For the first few hours, Quackerjack had bemoaned his lack of winter wear, and Megavolt had repeatedly countered that he didn't want to hear about it. Eventually, they'd grown bored with bickering and the silence of the forest had taken over.
Bushroot had more or less kept to himself, which was one reason why the Liquidator liked him so much; no fuss, no muss. Oh, occasionally Bushroot would get up and walk around, would reach out and gently touch the nearby plant life, but then he'd settle back down again.
The Liquidator, in an effort to both conserve energy and stay warm, had absorbed into a patch of snow with only his head visible atop the white snowdrift. Being made of water himself, he was able to regulate his body temperature to that of the water surrounding him. He might not be fast-moving, half frozen as he was, but the chill of the snow didn't bother him when he was practically made of snow himself.
He had become the unofficial lookout since he didn't need to eat. The others had gone to find food in shifts, but they always wandered back; none of them would dare abandon the small clearing Negaduck had so carefully placed them in.
It had a perfect view of the peaks and foothills jutting up around them. Their perch was situated halfway up a mountainside with a forest huddled up behind and enviable slopes blanketed in snow before them.
The sun had set an hour or so ago, and Megavolt had started a fire, the Four curled close to the flames.
"So," Megavolt said, glancing around the group. "Anyone got any guesses what we're doing here?"
"Freezing," lamented Quackerjack.
Megavolt glared. "If you mention your lack of coat again—"
"Negaduck was equally vague with all of us," Bushroot interrupted, a weariness in his voice.
"It's not just vague," said Quackerjack. "He hasn't said anything."
"Not even telling us what we're waiting for. Or what's in it for us if we manage to follow his weird orders." Megavolt tossed another log on the fire.
"So, which one of you is going to track him down to ask?" demanded Bushroot.
The Liquidator smirked as Megavolt and Quackerjack exchanged glances before looking back at the fire forlornly.
Bushroot: 1
Quackerjack and Megavolt: 0
Quackerjack hugged his knees and hunched closer to the fire. "Whatever this is better be worth it." He winced, reaching into his pocket and pulled out a toy soldier. Nestling it into the branches of a nearby tree, he turned back towards the fire to sulk.
Intrigued, the Liquidator gathered some moisture and rose out of his snowdrift. Sloshing over to the tree, he circled it before glancing over at the others. None of them were paying any attention to him.
Rising up to his full height, the Liquidator said, "Turn those frowns upside down. 'Tis the season." He slid over to Megavolt and tugged at the string lights he'd gathered from St. Canard on their way here.
"Hey!" Megavolt jerked away, wary eyes on him. "Haven't they been through enough?"
"Light up the night, we'll do the rest." The Liquidator pointed to the tree where Quackerjack's toy was nestled amongst the boughs.
"I never understand what he's saying," muttered Megavolt to Quackerjack.
Bushroot studied the tree before glancing at the Liquidator. "Do you want to decorate the tree?" he asked.
Another reason why Bushroot was his favorite.
Nodding, the Liquidator said, "Christmas gifts, Christmas trees, Christmas is the time to please."
"You want me to hang my freed children on the tree?" Megavolt asked. "I just rescued them from their life of servitude—"
"Oh, pipe down," snapped Quackerjack. "What's the point of Christmas lights if they aren't decorating something?" He leapt to his feet, bells on the ends of his hat jingling. "I'm game." He began emptying his pockets, toys of all shapes and sizes piling atop the snow.
Bushroot, too, stood and walked over to the tree. Pressing a hand to its trunk, he said a few whispered words to it. The tree stretched up, branches extending towards the sky.
Smiling, Bushroot turned to Megavolt. "She's always wanted to be decorated."
Megavolt studied each of them in turn before sighing and grabbing his lasso of lights from where they'd been secured to his belt. "They're still coming home with me." He began untangling them as Bushroot donated some of his vines to Quackerjack who secured them around the toys as makeshift string.
Megavolt twisted the string lights around the branches while Bushroot and Quakerjack followed him, hanging the toys from the branches. When they had reached as high as their arms would stretch, Bushroot extended his arms, growing them to just the right length to continue winding the lights around the tree. Quackerjack bounced to reach the top most boughs.
With a forlorn look, Megavolt produced a light-up star from his pocket which Quackerjack secured to the top of the tree with a gleeful cackle.
Their tree nearing completion, the Liquidator drew moisture out of the surrounding snow, leaving a fine powder rather than a heavy snow on the ground. Gathering the snow in large piles, he swept it up and over their tree, the flakes settling onto the branches and sparkling in the moonlight.
As the finishing touch, Megavolt grabbed the end of the string lights and sent an electric current through it, the bulbs illuminating instantly.
The Fearsome Four took a step back to admire their work.
"For a makeshift tree, it's not that bad," said Bushroot.
"I still think this is enslavement," muttered Megavolt.
"If you don't believe, you won't receive," said the Liquidator.
"I don't know what that means," said Megavolt as Quackerjack dissolved into crazed giggles.
"Be jolly and make good cheer for Christmas comes but once a year." The Liquidator gazed at their tree with pride. He couldn't remember the last time he'd taken part in a Christmas tradition instead of taking advantage of them to commit a crime. He was willing to bet that it was the same for the other three around him.
"Merry Christmas to you, too, Liquidator," said Bushroot with a grin.
Maybe being left to their own devices in on a mountainside wasn't the worst of circumstances that Negaduck had inflicted on them.