Merry Christmas everyone!
What I have to say here has nothing to do with this, but it is something I have to say:
As you may or may not have noticed, the one year anniversary for my Mario and MySims story is coming up.
However, I won't do specials for them. Why? Because their both in the middle of a story.
I know, so are some of the other stories technically, but at least I can add a random moment in those stories and not put a pause in the middle of the plot by putting in a random moment or two.
My Mario and MySims stories are literally in the middle of something that can't stop until they reach the end, which is the last chapter.
I might have to update my profile and explain.
So, until I finish those fanfics, I can't do anything special for them. Sorry.
One more thing, this special's put into two parts: four chapters are about a villain, and the other four are for Christmas.
Why? Because I couldn't decide what to do this Christmas.
Either spend eight chapters fighting a villain, or doing something for Christmas. I couldn't decide which road to go down, so I drove right between them.
What villain am I using for this special? The title's a clue.
Enjoy!
#110: A Cold Cold Heart
Happy holidays everyone!
Right now, it's actually nighttime and a week before Christmas, and most of Metropolis is in at a party, dressed formally, and in the huge ballroom with a stage.
And, when I mean most of Metropolis, I mean Aaron and the girls.
Well, kinda.
The boy's in a suit and leaning on the wall, with an iced drink in his hand.
"Aaron!"
He turned and saw Zee coming this way in a dress. "What are you doing? They're about to announce the award!"
"I can see the stage from here, Zee." Aaron said.
"Just barely! Come on! You're brought to-"
"No, I was dragged here. I didn't want to be a part of a ceremony for Lex Luthor."
Yeah, that's what this place is about. Lex Luthor was being honored with an award in one of Lex's owned properties. Zee's dad had an invite and she invited the girls along. Even though with what happened in MegaCity, they didn't know what the worst can happen could be, so they went.
Aaron was the hardest to convince because Lex pretty much put his city and people in danger. After a bunch of haggling, and pleading, they finally got him to come.
"Just come on!" Zee said as she grabbed Aaron by the wrist and dragged him to the stage.
When they got there with the rest of the girls, who were also dressed, Kara being the only one in a suit because she didn't like dresses that much, Aaron got his arm back and crossed them as Lex came on the stage and was handed his award.
Aaron still had a grudge, but he had to give it up at some point right? It's the holidays.
However, this night would make the grudge grow.
In the middle of Lex's speech that he was giving out he shivered out of the blue before saying, "Did someone forget to pay the heating bill?"
Everyone else in the room felt it too, it did feel colder in the room.
Well, Aaron didn't feel anything. His glitches can keep his body temperature the way it is at any time, so he's the only one not getting cold.
Get ready for the conflict in three, two, one-
*BOOM!*
The wall on the back of the stage was blown open by a huge blast of ice and cold air!
Lex and the woman who gave his reward were both blown of the stage right before armed goons in coats and warm pants came in, and aimed at everyone in the room.
"Who the zap is that?" Aaron asked, as another person came in.
Guess he's the one running this popsicle stand...See what I did there?
Can't tell who it is, but it's someone in a mechanized suit with a dome showing his head. There's a big cannon/gun on one of their arms, and they have on goggles with red lenses. And I think it's either the cool temperature, or the dome, but does it look like his skin's icy blue?
The guy in the suit shot the cannon on it's arm, and a beam shot out of it, freezing everything and everyone it touched before he stopped it.
"Bring me Lex Luthor!" he said.
The girls and Aaron looked at each other before going.
They looked around as they left. Lex wasn't in the room anymore.
The seven of them left the room and when they closed the door, Babs said, "Okay, there's a new super villain out to get Lex, no surprise, and he's in this cryopowered mechanized suit."
"Cry-what powered?"
"Cryopowered, Kara." Aaron said, "It's powered by some kind of really cold energy. Like, sub zero cold." "Oh, got it."
Aaron pressed a button on his glasses and said, "M.A.D.I.S.O.N., some dude with cryo-tech's out to get Lex. Got a name?"
"MY DATABASE SHOW THAT THIS VILLAIN IS NEW. I'VE DISCOVERED THROUGH HIS HENCHMEN THAT THEY NAME HIM, MISTER FREEZE."
"Mr. Freeze?" they all asked.
"HOWEVER, THE REASON TO WHY THEY WANT LEX LUTHOR IS STILL UNKNOWN. BECAUSE OF THE CRYO WEAPONS, I SUGGEST THAT YOU ALL SHOULD WEAR THE EXTREME ENVIRONMENT SUITS."
"Wait, when did we get-" Jess was interrupted by Babs getting in Aaron's face and saying, "You made us new suits?!"
"Well, they were supposed to be surprise Christmas gifts." "OH. SORRY, AARON." "The X.E. suits were to help us out whenever we needed them for cold emergencies, but I didn't get enough time to finish them. I didn't think we'd need them today."
"Guys, they got Lex. They're dragging him out of here." Karen said, peeking in the door.
The others looked too and saw the thugs grab Lex by the arms as he struggled to get free. Some stayed behind as Mr. Freeze watched the thugs who had Lex back out through the big opening in the wall.
The seven of them moved back from the door, and Diana said, "Our original suits will have to do for the time being. We need to stop Mr. Freeze before he causes more trouble."
Aaron then called Aarondroid on his glasses and said, "A.D., can you head to base and finish up the X.E. suits while we stop Mr. Freeze?" "Affirmative."
They all got quickly suited and met back at the door. Techno, however was the only one that wasn't shivering.
Just as Freeze was about to leave, the doors blew off the hinges and he heard, "Freeze, Freeze!" from Techno.
Seeing the seven teenage heroes, Freeze readied the freeze cannon on his suit and aimed and fired at them.
Most of them moved in time, but Supergirl and Wonder Woman weren't so lucky. The beam from the cannon shot their midsections, and froze them both to the walls.
"I have no quarrel with you." he said before going through the wall's opening, following the goons that had Lex.
Tech went to pull them free because not their entire bodies were frozen to the walls. These two were shivering a lot now.
The rest were observing the frozen bodies after they dealt with the armed gunners.
"These people are all frozen solid." Babs said with a scanner in her hand, "We can't get them all out safely without breaking something important."
"That cannon's also a problem." Zatanna said, "We can't stop Freeze without getting too close."
"Guys, you might wanna take a look at this."
They came two the hole in the wall where Green Lantern was, and on the other side, you can see ice blasts all over the place.
On the cars, buildings, and even people. But this isn't Freeze's deal.
See that goon over there? He has a pack on his back, and there's a cryo-cannon on it. He's currently blasting stuff with it.
"Looks like Freeze isn't the only one with cryogenic weapons." Tech said.
#111: Trail Gone Cold
A bit later...
The girls and I are on the trail across the buildings.
I'm the one in the lead, and the others are a little behind due to the very cold air because of the ice added to the already cold air.
How are we following the trail, and how is there even a trail? Well, we found another goon with a cryo-cannon, and my techno Vision helped me see that it was leaking a bit. By tracking the chemicals in the dripping liquid, I saw a non-visible trail of the stuff going down the street.
"A-Aaron? How a-are w-w-we looking on those new suits?"
"Give me a second, Kara. *calls Aarondroid* A.D., how are the suits doing? Almost done?" "Nearly ninety-seven percent complete. I shall keep you updated until I have completely finished them." "Thanks, A.D. *hangs up* (to Kara) They're almost done."
We all came to a stop when we saw Freeze get off the back of a van with the goons from before dragging Lex out, and an other coming out with a cryogenic cannon on him.
"Let me go, Freeze!" "Not until you give me what I want, Mr. Luthor."
They were all going into a building. Some kind of lab, I guess.
"Hey!"
The goon with the cannon saw us. He fired at us, and we moved.
Freeze grabbed Lex and pushed him inside before using his own cannon to make a wall of ice to block the entrance, which also froze the two remaining goons in the ice.
All it took was a quick spell from Zatanna to knock the goon of his feet, and for him to loose control of his cannon.
"N-Now what?" Karen said.
Good question. Freeze made a thick wall of ice block the only way inside, and two goons are trapped in it fully, meaning we can't just break it without shattering those punks.
I blast jumped off the building and landed by the thug on the ground, and said, "You can stay loyal to Freeze, or you can answer my question: What's he want with Lex?"
"I don't know! He just hired a bunch of us and gave us these cannons and said he had a job for us!"
"*puts foot on thug's chest* Then what do you know?" I said, as the rest of the girls came over
"I know a way to get into the lab! There's no way you can break the ice, but I overheard Freeze say something about a cryodrill. You can use that! He said it was in his old workplace!"
"Thanks. Enjoy the hospital food."
I then zapped him as I kneed him in the face, which made him black out. I then called M.A.D.I.S.O.N..
"M.A.D.I.S.O.N., one of Freeze's men said something about a cryodrill to get through this ice in Freeze's lab. Got anything?"
"I'M LOOKING INTO IT NOW...I HAVE DOWNLOADED THE PLANS BY HACKING INTO MR. FREEZE'S NETWORK IN HIS LAB. I CAN SEND YOU THE PLANS, BUT IT NEEDS A SUPERCONDUCTING CRYOFLUID TO OPERATE."
"Where's the lab? We can go and get it."
"ACROSS TOWN. SEARCH FOR A LAB OWNED BY VICTOR FRIES."
Uh, that got all of our attention.
"You mean like Mr. Freeze?"
"CORRECT. IT SEAMS THAT LAB WAS SHUT DOWN DUE TO AN ACCIDENT."
"Of course there's more to this. Something happened to Freeze, Lex's involved, and the answers are in that lab."
"BY THE WAY, AARONDROID HAS FINISHED COMPLETING THE EXTREME ENVIRONMENT SUITS. HE'S ON HIS WAY TO DELIVER THEM NOW."
"A-About t-t-time." Kara said.
As I ended the call, we looked up and saw Aarondroid as Ro-Tech flew by and dropped down seven suitcases, which I caught. I waved as he flew off.
I threw everyone a suitcase, and said, "They might look like normal clothes, but they're not. Trust me."
#112: Freeze's Origins
Later...
We see the seven of them in their X.E. suits. Tech's right, they really do look like normal clothes.
Their suits look the same, but with a couple of tweaks.
Being the only two with skirts, Wonder Woman and Supergirl had leggings that went with their look, on that subject, Wonder Woman had more of her body covered up, everyone had lower half masks that covered up their mouths and noses, Techno's suit now had a sewn in hood, Batgirl and Wonder Woman had special grips on their boots to help with walking on ice when they need to, those who didn't have gloves now had some, and the most noticeable thing about these suits was the fact that there were glowing orange outlines all over them. They were heating elements that helped with staying warm, and keeping the cold from freezing up the suits.
To say that these suits helped a lot was an understatement. Kara thanked Aaron twice for them. That cold was no joke.
Anyway, they found the building they were looking for on the other side of town and went inside.
When they walked down the halls and turned the corner, the doorway that led to Freeze's ex-lab was blocked by a wall of ice, and there was a dead guard on the floor.
He had the same blue skin that Mr. Freeze had.
Techno used his Techno Vision before saying, "This guy died from heatstroke."
"That doesn't make sense," Green Lantern said, "How could he get overheated with the air this cold?"
Techno used his Techno Vision again and a scene played.
Through his eyes, a silhouette of a man[the guard] was walking into the room looking unwell before falling on the floor.
His gloves glowed orange as he punched the ice wall three times which shattered it.
Thermal gloves. They're a plus that come with the X.E. suits.
The girls followed him, and Zatanna said, "What is it?" "There was some kind of chemical on the guards foot. I'm following it to the lab."
"No offense Aaron," Bumblebee said, "but we can't all see what you can see."
Techno then shot a wire at each of the girls suits, before using his Techno Vision again.
If Techno and someone else are in contact by touch or something similar and he's using his Techno Vision when their in contact, they can see what he can.
They followed the trail of chemical to Mr. Freezes lab and they looked around.
Aside from now dead guard that's frozen solid, the ice that's all over the room, the huge container that used to be full of cryochemicals, and the tubing from it that leads to a place where a pod should go next to a computer of some kind, there wasn't much.
Next to a window that showed where the guard was, another scene played.
The guard silhouette had kicked someone two the ground before running to leave the lab. The other got up and put his hands on the window while watching the guard die.
"Aaron?" Wonder Woman asked, gesturing him to see who the person is.
After looking, Techno said, "These palm prints are for Victor Fries. He watched the guard die."
The silhouette of Fries then looked around before going to his work desk, which had a lot of stuff on it.
Batgirl examined them. "Weapon parts, hydraulic fluid, cryocolant residue, and a bunch of other thingies."
She then threw a container of the cryocolant to Techno. They need it for the cryodrill.
Techno then turned his attention to the huge container, which had some ice spikes on some of the piping and tubes.
"This ice sealed the outtakes of the containers."
Another scene then played.
"Because of all the pressure, the thing exploded and sent cryochemicals everywhere."
"Is that how this guy died?" Zatanna said, pointing at the frozen guard, "Did the chemicals freeze from the explosion?"
After another scene played, Tech said, "Mm-mm, he was frozen before the tank exploded. Says here it was Freeze's cryocannon."
Another scene then played.
A silhouette of Victor Fries was held by two guards. Another hit Fries with a clipboard, before handing it back to another person. From the hit, Fries accidentally knocked over the prototype for his cryocannon as he stumbled back, making it go off. As it fell, it froze one guard[the one that's now frozen] before blasting the tank. It exploded. The plume of chemicals enveloped Fries and the guard, but the other guard and the other person were far enough to not get affected by it. If anything, the shockwave from the explosion knocked them into the wall before they left.
However, Green Lantern saw that the clipboard was knocked out of the other person's hands. She saw it there by the entrance, and picked it up and showed it to Techno, who scanned it with his Techno Vision.
By using the fingerprints, he found out who the person with the guard was.
"Who was it?" "Lex Luthor. It was Lex."
The girls gasped. So that's how Lex was connected in all of this. But why?
Techno then noticed that there was some kind of wheel track that was made. By looking at it, another scene happened.
While the assault on Fries was happening, another guard was wheeling a pod on a gurney out of the room from where the computer was. They got out a second before the tank exploded.
Curious, Bumblebee went to the computer and checked it out.
"There's a lot of research on Huntington's Chorea on here."
"What's that?" Supergirl asked.
"It's a really deadly disease. But I thought this was a cryogenics lab." Lantern said.
"It says here that test subject was...Nora Fries?"
Batgirl and Techno looked at each other with wide eyes. The two of them found out what happened here.
"What's up?" Zatanna said.
"We pieced it together!" Batgirl said, "Lex hired Fries to make secret cryoweapons for Lexcorp. In exchange, Lex agreed to help him cure Nora, Victor's wife, of her Huntington's." "But, it was a trick."
Everyone watched as a silhouette of Fries was working at the computer.
Techno continued, "Lex was more interested in how Victor put Nora into cryostasis. Victor did that so that the Huntington's would freeze where it was, and put a halt on Nora dying." "So when Victor found out that Lex wasn't gonna hold up his end of the deal, he decided to do the research on it himself.
But, Lex didn't like that very much."
The scene then showed the fight happening: Nora frozen in the pod that was being wheeled away, right before Lex and the guard leaving just before the cryochemicals went everywhere. It then showed Victor and the remaining guard.
Batgirl then continued, "The cryochemicals altered Victor and the gurad's bodies. Lex and the other guard got out in time, and Lex shut the lab down." "Victor survived, but after watching the guard die after leaving, he knew that if he left the super-cooled room, he'd die too."
The silhouette of Victor then went to the work desk.
Techno then concluded, "So, he made himself that mechanized suit with that stuff on the desk to keep his temperature at subzero."
The others then understood the gravity of the situation.
"Mr. Freeze isn't really a villain." "He's not doing all of the violence for nothing, he's just trying to save his dying wife."
#113: Best Served Cold
Back at the other lab...
We made it back, and on the way back, we used the thermal gloves on our X.E. suits to free the people safely from the ice.
thanks to the plans that M.A.D.I.S.O.N. got from Freeze's research on cryoweapons, I could make the cryodrill. It looks like a digging drill. I just gotta put it on the ice and activate it.
As I put it on the ice and activated it, Diana spoke up, "I cannot believe that Lex Luthor would risk the life of someone just for his own greed."
Trust me, I wanted to remind her of what happened in MegaCity, but then I'd sound braggish about being right.
The drill then suddenly dug straight through the ice at a quick pace. There was a huge hole that we could just walk through,
As we did, I explained, "Freeze doesn't want Lex dead, he just needs the security codes from him to get his wife back. Now we gotta stop him."
"Do we have to?" "Do we have a choice, Jess?"
To think this is all happening a week before Christmas.
As we walked, we felt tremors quake the place as we got closer to where Freeze and Lex were.
Behind a big double door with a single glass window, we saw Freeze aiming his cannon at Lex, next to some kind of machine with two pods: one open, and the other with Victor's wive, Nora, frozen inside.
The doors were a little frozen shut, but not completely.
I got back as Kara punched the doors of the hinges.
The second we did, we scattered in different directions as Freeze fired at us.
"Victor! You need to let him go!" I heard Babs say.
"I'm taking my wife. You can't stop me!"
I heard Karen say, "We know the truth. We know what Lex did. We're on your side!"
"...You don't know what you're talking about, it was an accident."
"Did we ask you?!" I said, a little miffed. ...Okay, a lot miffed.
Freeze wasted no time and grabbed Lex by the neck and threw him in the open pod, which closed right after.
"Nothing matters, do you understand? Nothing but my Nora!" he said before pulling a lever which raised the platform he was standing on, and the machine up higher in the room.
"You endangered lives all over the city! Do you think Nora would've wanted this?" I heard Jessica say.
As Freeze walked to Nora's pod, he said, "No. What she wants is to live a long life in the warmth of the sun, *puts hand on Nora's pod* her hand in mine."
He then looked at Lex in his pod, and said with a scowl, "But because of him, she'll only feel the icy touch of a man whose emotions run as cold as the blood in his veins!"
He then blasted the door out of here, pressed a button on the machine, and said as more goons came into the room, "We made a deal. Now get in here and deal with the children."
On my visor, Zee said, "Aaron, what does that machine do?"
"It's a cryostasis chamber." I said, "It's what Vic used to freeze Nora. As much as I don't want to say it, we need to stop the machine before Lex freezes in that thing."
I looked around with my Techno Vision.
"Girls, look around for the cryogenerators powering that thing. Overheat them with the thermal gloves on you suits and it might stop the machine. Kara, with me. We're taking out these bad guys."
"Got it."
As if on cue, I heard a punch and a thug came flying my way. I blast jumped into the air, and kicked it towards the floor right before landing.
"WARNING: Containment breach at cryotank two."
"They're going for the reactors. Stop them!"
Too bad, Freeze. They already got it to stop working.
Right before Babs and Jess could get attacked, Kara and I sped in and dealt with the goons, letting them escape. Yet we had to move because of Freeze's cannon almost hitting us when it fired.
Right after that,
"WARNING: Containment breach at cryotank three."
We didn't have to help with that one. Diana and Zee can handle themselves. But I did glitch them invisible when Freeze fired at them.
"Do not let them disable the last reactor!"
Right at that moment, I saw Karen at the last generator.
"Mind if I help you?" I said landing next to her.
We then used the thermal gloves on our X.E. suits to overheat the generator.
"WARNING: Containment breach at cryotank one."
All the goons were already knocked out. Kara flew over and got us out of there in time to get us away from Freeze's cannon's ice beam.
The tank was already out of order by then and we could hear the sirens, warning Freeze that the machine was failing.
Having enough of this, he said going to the control panel, "Let's see how well you do when the air freezes in your lungs."
The air then started filling up with cryovapor. The air was super cold, and there was ice everywhere now.
"We can't take him head on. We need to surprise him. You two go high, I'll go low."
Kara nodded as she dropped me and I phased through the ground. Right as Freeze was about to leave the control panel, I appeared from the ground in front of him, uppercutted him into the air and Kara came in and knocked him back into the ground.
"Thanks for doing all the heaving lifting, heroes."
As everyone got next to me, we saw that Lex was out of his pod.
"But you really should keep your nose out of other people's business."
He pressed a button next to the machine, and a stream of cryoenergy shot out of it. We pushed Freeze out of the way, but the seven of us were now frozen in ice!
"For a second, I thought I'd have a problem with explaining what happened in your lab. The police won't look at me after this mess, and with them dealt with, no one can say otherwise."
Don't tell me he thought we died.
Speaking of which, I'm starting to feel like the villain here. We got Lex out of there, but we endangered Nora by disabling the machine. To be fair, Freeze tried to attack us, but we still beat him up.
Lex then walked over to Victor who was trying to crawl to Nora's pod. "Please...you can save her. If you could just bypass the-"
He was cut off by Lex ripping a pipe from Freeze's cannon and saying, "No, Victor, She's gone. But I'll keep you alive long enough to see her go!"
He then started hitting Victor with the pipe. Okay, that's it!
I used my energy and charged up all of our X.E. suits.
The heat from them, combined with Kara's eye beams that she's now using, the ice started to melt and crack.
And a second later, the ice broke.
When we were free, I used a wire and grabbed Lex by the arm, yanked it which sent him flying my way, and punched him so hard, that he went flying into the wall!
Do you have any idea how long I wanted to do that?! Man, that felt good! Now I know why Kara always punches her problems into space.
"Merry Christmas, you filthy animal. And a happy new year."
I don't need anything else for Christmas. I'm smirking under the mask right now.
We went to Freeze and I said before going to the cryostasis machine, "Sorry, Vic. We can't give you peace."
"But we can give you justice." Barbra then put a container of cryochemicals into Freeze's suit. When that happened, Freeze got some of his energy back.
I used my glitches to repair the machine.
Freeze was silent, but I can tell he was thankful.
That that Freeze is dealt with, let's move on to the other half of the special.
#114: Aaron's Selflessness
Midday, five days later...
Ah, there's nothing like the holidays and wintertime.
Decorations are up, the snow's falling down, and people are feeling better than normal.
Aaron and Aarondroid are right now leaving A's and locking up for the day. Christmas Eve was tomorrow, meaning that they had to close early.
The two of them were about to go when suddenly, Aarondroid stopped on his wheels and suddenly turned around and went in the other direction.
Aaron looked confused before going in the direction Aarondroid went.
After going down the street for a bit, they found something unexpected.
Seeing the sight, Aaron said, "Excuse me, are you three alright?"
A was a man with light brown hair, along with two kids: a boy and a girl. They were all curled up against the side of the alley on the ground.
The man didn't respond, but he looked away.
"I'll take that as a no."
Without thinking twice, Aaron brought them into A's and into the back room.
He had some leftovers he cooked in some tupperware in a mini fridge that he heated up in a microwave: some spaghetti for the boy, a good amount of soup for the girl, and some grilled chicken and rice for the man.
The kids ate with smiles on their faces, and the man smiled, looking at theirs. Aaron and Aarondroid looked at them across the table as they ate.
"Thank you so much." "It's nothing." Aaron replied, "Anything to help those that need it the most. If my robot didn't know you were in the area, I would've felt even worse for not knowing I could've helped you three."
"Well, thanks to your robot too. I'm Ian, and these are my kids: Gloria and Xavier."
"I'm Aaron, and that's my robot, Aarondroid. Sorry for asking this, but what are you three doing on a cold night before Christmas Eve?"
Ian didn't answer.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" "No, no, it's fine. It's just that, we were having a hard time. My wife left with another man and took the car, and we lost the house two days ago."
"Oh...Sorry to hear that." "It's okay."
Two burps broke the tension. Everyone laughed at Gloria and Xavier.
"Well, thank you Aaron, but I think it's time for us to go. Kids?"
"Thank you, Mr. Aaron." they both said, before going towards the door.
When they left, Aaron felt bad.
There's a big number of people who had next to nowhere to go and were struggling, and in the wintertime, it's even worse.
Sometimes he wishes he could do something to help- Wait, I know that look. He has an idea.
He picked up his phone and had group texted something to the staff at H.O.P.E.
#115: H.O.P.E. for the Homeless
Later, at H.O.P.E...
Here's what I was thinking: you know how some people are pretty much on the street?
Well my plan is to get them off the street and get them somewhere with nutritious, delicious meals, a roof over their heads, and warmth free of charge.
You know that big room that we have at H.O.P.E.? That's what we could use it for! We can make it a homeless shelter! I knew all those bunk beds I had would come in handy someday.
Dude, what?
Don't ask, you don't wanna know.
Let me guess, you lost a bet.
...
...
...
...Anyway, I'm moving said bunk beds into the huge room at H.O.P.E.. I have too much, so it's lucky I have my magic mirror.
There's literally eleven of me moving beds, blankets, and pillows into this room, putting some nightstands and shelves up, and some of me are-
*CRASH!*
-making a mess trying to put a kitchen and restrooms in.
"I asked you guys to make spaces in the walls for the kitchen and bathrooms, not almost level the place!"
"The building's still in one piece, isn't it?!"
*sigh* I know, I can be a handful sometimes.
Why didn't I just get Aarondroid to help me with this? I sent him on a shopping journey. He's out to get stuff I can cook with and make food for the needy. He should be here any min- Oh there he is.
He just came in and went through the now-made door that's in the now-put up wall into the now-finished kitchen, behind the now-put up counter, with a lot of groceries.
As if on cue, I heard tapping from the double screen door across the room that led outside.
It was Pam, Jess, Karen, the staff, and a lot of people. How they found this many people in such short time, I'll have no idea.
Huh. Pam's looking...glum for some reason. Which is weird, because mostly anytime she's here at H.O.P.E., it's not like her to be upset. She's neutral, and sometimes smiles, which is rare.
And with Christmas around the corner, it makes less sense.
Well, whatever it is, I can ask her about it. Right now, I have to let everyone in.
I went to the doors and did just that.
#116:
Thirty minutes later...
Everything's in full swing at H.O.P.E.'s new homeless shelter.
People that came here are all eating what the staff cooked from Aaron's recipes, conversating with each other, or getting settled in their new sleeping spaces.
Everyone's in a good mood...well, minus Pam, who's in the hallway, sitting against the wall next to the doors.
Why was she so upset? Don't worry, ask for answers and you will receive.
"Hey, you okay?"
Pam looked up and saw that Aaron came in to the hallway before closing the door.
Pam looked back at him before looking away.
Aaron sat down next to her before saying, "I don't mean to be pushy, but, Pam I just want to know what's the matter."
"...Everything's fine."
Doesn't look like it.
Aaron then knew a way to cheer her up.
"*gets up* Alright, on your feet."
"Aaron, you know I'm not much of a people person." she said, thinking that he was going to bring her back into the shelter room.
"We're not going in there, I got something to show you." he said before walking down the hall. Pam got up and followed him, a little confused and curious.
They went down the hallway and went to the staircase, passing the second floor, and at the top there was a locked door.
"This was meant to be a Christmas present for you, but hey, you might need this now."
Aaron unlocked the door with a key, and when he opened it, Pam looked around wide eyed and in awe.
The room was full of living plants as far as the eye could see. The big skylight on top meant that this room was a big greenhouse.
There were plants on the tables, the stands, some were growing on the walls. Every plant was in soil that matched the biome they grew in. Some were from jungles, a couple were from the desert, some were even in a swamp-like area.
But the one thing that got Pam's attention, was the round flower stand that grew some flowers.
But not just any flowers. These were some of the rarest flowers ever. For example-
"Is that-?" "The Camellia japonica, street name: Middlemist Red Camellia? Yep." "H-How?! That flower's on the verge of extinction! There're only two left on the entire planet!" "Trust me, I have my ways."
Fun fact: it's true, one of those plants exists in New Zealand and the other's in Great Britain. In the early 1800s, this plant likely existed throughout China. Yet, it went extinct in the wild by the end of the century.
How'd Aaron get his hands on one? Well, do you remember that time machine Aaron had? You can probably fill in the blanks.
"Merry Christmas, Pam." he said as she still looked around.
Pam didn't respond though.
"Pam?"
"*sniff*"
Aaron walked to Pam. "Everything alright?"
When Aaron saw her face, it was revealed that she was crying.
"My mom..." she said.
"Huh?" "My mom...she's gone. And my sorry excuse of a dad's in jail...It doesn't feel good to spend Christmas alone...I know I have Phil and the other plants, but seeing everyone else with their families doesn't exactly make me smile...
...Sometimes I wish I had what you all have..."
I actually went into Poison Ivy's origin story for this.
Well, minus the part where she poisoned her dad when she visited him in her early life.
Search up 'How did Poison Ivy's mother die', and you'll see what I mean.
I'm kinda throwing stuff on the ceiling here to see what sticks.
As Pam cried some more, Aaron pulled a handkerchief out of his bag and gave it to her to dry her eyes.
He then spoke up, "Who said you were alone? You've got us. Sure, we might not exactly be related to you, but we still care about you. Like I said, we're all on this planet together."
That made Pam feel a little better, and she stopped crying.
"Hey, I know you're not too big on hugs, but do you-"
To answer his question, Pam gave Aaron a tight hug. "Thank you..."
"*hugs back* No problem."
After this, the two of them made their way back to the shelter room.
"Aaron?" "Yeah?" "With this new shelter up, how're you gonna deal with " "To be honest, I don't know, I didn't think that far. I'll find a way to manage it all. I always do."
When Aaron walked back into the shelter area, Pam stopped outside. She now felt bad.
Aaron now has to juggle school, A's, H.O.P.E., and the shelter all at once. Never mind the fact that he also had to deal with hero work too.
Aaron said that he'd find a way to manage it, but what if he couldn't? If that's ever the case, he might still say it's no big deal and overwork himself.
Wait a second. 'manage'.
That's it!
#117: Christmas Surprise
Morning time...
I just got out of bed, and got dressed and made my way downstairs to get a bite.
I have a new homeless shelter to deal with at H.O.P.E., which means I have a lot of people to take care of now.
Wait, huh? Why's the living room so dark?
*click*
"SURPRISE!"
Whoa, my entire living room was full from everyone from the other day. Well, not everyone. The staff, Karen, Pam, Jess, Aarondroid, and the only people that were meant to be staying at the shelter were Ian, Gloria, and Xavier.
What really got my attention was the fact that they were in festive wear for the holidays, and the fact that my living room was decorated.
"What's everyone doing here?" I asked, "What's all this for?"
"We felt bad that you had to work on Christmas Eve, so we threw this together." Karen said, who looks really cute in her red and green striped sweater.
"Wait, if you guys are all here, then who's watching everyone at H.O.P.E.?"
Jessica pulled out her phone and it showed her parents who were both at H.O.P.E., caring for everyone there.
"Surprise!" they both said.
"Hey, Mrs. and Mrs. Cruz. What are you two doing at H.O.P.E."
"We heard everything from Jessica, and we dearly appreciated how much you wanted to help our planet." "So, as of today,"
Both: "We're the new managers of H.O.P.E.'s homeless shelter!"
"Whoa whoa whoa, managers?"
"We don't mind." "You might be the owner and founder, but that leaves no one to help take care of everything when you're not around." "We understand that you want to help others, but that doesn't mean that you have to overwork yourself. Sometimes, you just need to except the fact that you're human just like everyone else."
"Huh. Well, thanks you two. Good luck on your first day, I guess."
"Feliz navidad, Aaron! *both end call*"
I then looked at the girls and said, "So, who do I gotta thank for all of this?"
Everyone looked at Pam who looked away with a slightly red face.
"This was Pam's idea?" I asked.
Jess pushed Pam in front of me, and she glared at Jessica before saying to me nervously, "You had too much to take care of...I thought you could have a little bit of help. Merry Christmas, Aaron."
"*smiles* Merry Christmas, Pam. (to everyone) Hey, what are we doing?! I thought this was a party! A.D., hit it!"
Aarondroid came in, played some music, and our holiday party started.
Guess it pays off to have people look out for you.
And that's a wrap!
Well, this was and wasn't a hassle to type.
I hope you guys enjoyed it at least.
With that being said, have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
Peace!