CHRISTMAS SPECIAL! Pretty much a little side story from the actual story. Merry Christmas to you and best wishes my readers!
From his spot on the doorway of the living room, Diamond stared at the Avengers with a blank face.
"What are you doing?" He asked curiously.
In the dead center of the room, a huge and fluffy pine tree stood tall and proud. It was so tall, in fact, that its peak almost touched the ceiling. And gathered around it were the six Avengers with ornaments or little figures hanging from their hands.
"What does it look like, caterpillar-brows? We're decorating the tree," replied Tony sarcastically from his spot on Thor's shoulders. He was currently hanging the golden and red ornamental balls on the tree's highest branches. And since he was rather short, he had to ask Thor to help him reach all the way up there.
"Tony be nice. It's Christmas Eve," reprimanded Pepper from her spot on the couch. Instead of helping the others, she was checking Stark Industry's stock. Nodding her head in approval, the redhead gently lowered her tablet to rest on the couch cushion next to her before turning over to look at the jester. "They're decorating the tree for tonight," her answer more cheerful and polite than Stark's had been.
"Don't people start decorating the tree at the beginning of the month?" Questioned the still bewildered Diamond.
"It's a tradition we have here in Stark Industry."
Before Diamond could respond, Clint snapped,"Don't you have jester stuff to do?" Beside him, Natasha nodded with steely eyes despite the cheerful mood and air.
'Still sore about yesterday it seems.' mused Diamond. The Briton tsked and glared at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He was half-tempted to snap his fingers and turn both into little insignificant sewer rats, but he had made a promise (as well as the other three) to not us his powers in front of them, no matter how annoying they were. The jester spun on his heel with one last glare and stalked away to the shadows.
"...You couldn't have been any more rude?" Murmured Steve as he wrapped the golden 'skirt' around the tree's base.
A childish 'nope' from the archer was the only reply he got.
~~~~~On The Hall~~~~~
England paced the length of the corridor slowly, running the tips of his fingers against the cream colored wall. Something nagged at the back of his head, and it was driving him insane...well, more than he already was but you get the point.
The Englishman sighed and banged his head on the wall in exasperation. He knew he had seen something like that scene in the living room before but he just couldn't remember! He stayed in that position for a while, sometimes moving his head back a bit before letting it collide with the wall again. It wasn't until he felt another familiar presence next to him did he remove his poor aching head from the wall.
"I didn't know you liked to bang your head for fun," chirped Spain innocently. He was holding his axe behind him in both hands, and it seemed to be covered in a suspiciously red metallic liquid. Said liquid was also smeared on his cheeks and cloth.
Raising a thick eyebrow at the sight in front of him, England shook his head and muttered under his breath,"I'm not even going to ask."
The Spaniard tilted his head in confusion before he realized what the other jester was talking about.
"Oh don't worry! I was chopping tomates!"
"Suuure you were. And since when do tomatoes smell like blood?"
"...always?"
Blank emerald eyes stared at sheepish lime-green. The owner of the former eyes face palmed. "Just...follow me," said England with weariness lacing his voice. In the snap of fingers, he was gone.
"Eh? Esperame!"
Another snap, and the hall was vacant.
~~~~~Outside the Living Room~~~~~
Both jesters appeared out of thin air next to the doorway of the cheerfully decorated living room. Diamond turned to Club and hissed, "Follow my lead."
Not waiting for a reply from the now blood free Club, the Englishman walked in the room nonchalantly. His and Club's black boots made little pitter-patter noises as they stepped on the smooth marble floor, calling the attention of the chatting Avengers and Pepper.
Two sets of green eyes stared briefly at the now fully decorated tree before they turned in unison at the group.
"Ms. Potts," called out Diamond.
Pepper noticed the weary look on the black and white jester's face and she immediately stood at attention. "Yes?"
"You have a rather important call ma'am," finished Club.
"From?" Barged in Tony suddenly. Dual green orbs slid to the corners of their sockets and glared at defiant brown.
"We do not know Mister Stark. It may be true that we are curious about stuff, but when it's information about others, we respect it unlike you." Countered both jesters in perfect synch.
Clint couldn't help it (again) and he let out a long, "Ohhhhhh."
Tony didn't notice it this time, however, since he was too occupied glaring daggers at two of the Jokers, too which they responded equally. You could practically see the lightning cracking in the air between them.
"Hey hey hey, why don't we all calm down, huh?" Asked the peacemaker known as Bruce. He placed a hand on Tony's shoulder and shook it a bit. The inventor complied reluctantly and leaned back on the couch, grumbling curses under his breath.
Soon enough, the chatter started back up as Thor cried out "What is this sorcery?!" at the IPad in his hands as it started to make noises that belonged to the app he had accidentally clicked.
Pepper quickly stood up and walked to the two unmoving jesters.
"Where's the phone?"
Without looking up at her, they replied, "Kitchen." Then they turned on their heel and walked out like wind up toy soldiers; back straight and their gait swift.
~~~~~In the Abandoned Ball Room~~~~~
France trotted back and forth, causing the three balls that were on his hat to bounce slightly. Coming to a sudden stop, the Frenchman stomped his foot like an unhappy child. He then proceeded to grab fistfuls of his blond hair and yank his head back like a mad man before letting loose a scream better reserved for a prisoner awaiting trial.
From atop the lone chandelier, Prussia winced as the blond jester's scream echoed through out the giant room. "France! Calm down, will you!? England and Spain said they'd be here any moment now!"
France spun around and with crazed eyes, he glared up at the albino, "THEY SAID THAT AN HOUR AGO!" He roared in a shrill voice.
And in that precise moment, the other two Jokers appeared.
"Sorry for being late," laughed the Spaniard nervously, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Beside him, England nodded curtly as well.
However, France twitched violently. He slowly, really slowly, turned. With an ominous face, the blond hissed like a demon, "Sorry? For what?"
All of their jesters gulped. Prussia hopped of the golden chandelier and cautiously approached the Frenchman. "France, calm down," he said in a tone that resembled that of a trainer soothing a tiger.
"Don't touch me," growled the blond.
Prussia froze. 'Oh fuck...'
"I give you three seconds to get as far as you can from here before I go out, find you, and then kill you in the slowest and most painful way possible."
In the next .385 seconds, the room was vacated sans the pissed and twitching France. He took a deep breath and started counting.
3...
2...
1...
With an animalistic roar, France ran out of the ball room with so much speed that if he crashed into you, you surely wouldn't get out of it without a few broken bones.
~~~~~Living Room~~~~~
"Why do you hate them so much Tony?" Asked Bruce all of the sudden.
Tony jumped. He had completely forgotten about his 'Science Bro' being there with him.
"Hate who, Banner?"
"The jesters."
Stark immediately scowled at the mention of those 'idiots'.
But before he could reply, terrified screams pierced the air. Every Avenger immediately stood at attention. They all stared at the door, waiting for something to happen.
And happen it did. Three jesters ran in, quickly followed by the fourth one.
"Heart! Stop, ¡por favor!" Cried Club.
With a shrill screech that made everyone wince, Heart tackled Spade, who unfortunately was the closest to him. Both jesters tussled on the ground like wild animals until Thor had enough common sense to separate them.
"Why are you two brothers in arms fighting? Especially in this wonderful eve!" Bellowed the demigod.
Heart and Spade winced at the volume of Thor's voice. Both were hanging a few inches off the ground since the god of thunder was taller than them, and he was currently grabbing them rather painfully from the scruff of their outfits.
When Heart was about to snap back, a clock on the coffee table chimed thrice. Both the hour and the minute hand were poised at 12:00, which meant midnight. And since it was Christmas Eve a minute ago, now it was...
"MERRY CHRISTMAS SUCKERS!" Cried Clint in joy. The other Avengers soon followed suit with the cry.
Rather unceremoniously, Thor dropped the two jesters he was holding and they fell in a heap onto the floor.
Amidst it all, nobody noticed the two jesters scrambling up and bolting out. Both Jokers ran until they ended up outside in the courtyard. Diamond and Club were already waiting up for them there by the weeping fountain.
"I think I get it know," muttered England as France and Prussia approached. His head was tilted back, staring at the full moon with half lidded eyes.
"Get what?" Asked France.
"This morning, I was reminded of something. I couldn't place my finger on it until now," answered the Briton.
"And what was that?"
"Remember that night in the facility? When He gave us a free night on this day?"
The other three shuddered as they thought of the facility. But as fast as the memories had come, they were quickly pushed away. One by one, the three jesters eyes lit up as they recalled the treasured memory.
"Of course we do," they replied in unison, grins slowly forming on their faces. But this one wasn't their usual crazy or maniacal grin, but a small fond one.
Recalling the memory too, England chuckled and turned to face the others. Spreading his arms, he chirped, "Merry Christmas guys."
They all spread their arms and hugged each other in a small yet gleeful group hug.
"Joyeux Noël."
"Frohe Weihnachten."
"Feliz Navidad."
Overhead in the night sky, the stars twinkled bright. One twinkled brighter than the others, and even though it was now falling down to the land below, it still added a great deal of beauty to the inky night sky.
~Even though you may feel alone in the world, remember that you will always have friends beside you that will support you through good and bad. Even if the bad is something horrible, they'll be with you in every step of the way...
Hello dears! Once again, Merry Christmas! This one is really long, but I made it that way specifically for you all as my Christmas gift! By the way, sorry if its a bit confusing, I wrote it throughout the day in my free time and that was very little so yeah... （＾∇＾）