With this you know what time it is its christmas! I know its late but for the team it seems some of them are gonna be celebrating with their new friends they have on the scene with someone trying to figure out if she should talke to her mother on her past crimes. Hope you enjoy it! Work belongs to Greg Wiseman and Brandon Vietti.
Chapter 43: Christmas Surprises
December 24th 2:24 pm the cave
It was a long and exhausting day with the team having to make sure their own friends from the happy harbor for some of them did not eat out their own secret identities. With Marvin and Wendy almost about to tweet the whole thing to social media but stopping them was Batman who scared the living daylights out of them warning them as if that got out he would make them regret it but Superman helped relieve them that's just how he is at times. But the two made a bargain for their silence by getting silence with their favorite heroes which was actually batman actually as marvin loved the tech he used with the dark knight not even smiling but he took that as a major win
Though it was christmas eve the day before christmas day as everyone was at their own place celebrating christmas their own way of life. Along with doing their best to keep up family traditions as right now their friends where spending some time here as they heading to some christmas parties later but karen and wendy where talking to m'gann who revealed them she was an alien expecting a bad reaction she got welcomed as laughing right now was karen realizing who did that prank during halloween right now
"Thats was this guy who made marvin almost pee his pants?!"karen asked laughing pointing at marvin who blushed with mal laughing with crossed arm
"Man i can't believe i just got to shake hands with the superman and i can't believe your superboy"mal said to conner who internally scoffed on that notion being called that the man hardly seemed to care for him being his clone
"Big deal though you didn't really do that good as superman being done right"conner joked making mal laugh shocked that his friends where heroes with mari even being asked how she was doing that stuff last night by a confused wally who was fine since m'gann and conner vouched for them being trustworthy but robin and red arrow refused as they went to their own families for the holidays and kaldur remained to oversee things with revenant and charmcaster their to oversee the new faces in the cave
"Man i cannot believe that supey here is smiling because wolf seems to like you guys already"Wally said as wolf had a wagging tail licking the hand of mari right now she stroked his fur
"I've always had a way with animals"mari said as she jokingly howled a little but it sounded like a real one with a nearby artemis eyeing her for a moment
"That sounded like a real wolf….from the report we got you apparently have powers"artemis said as jenna wheeled over to her
"Actually more like the totem my daughter wears, a sacred totem given to us by the gods long ago that were known as the zambezi tribes. This was given to us as a scared heirloom passed down from my mother to me to my daughter it allows the user to harness the strength of the animal kingdom"jenna said
"Is that why she beat mal in arm wrestling a few weeks back?"marvin questioned as jenna and richard eyed mari who smiled at her parents
"Your using it as a plaything again"richard questioned
"Come on, it's just for fun. Besides, I'm glad to meet more teen heroes. I mean this is so cool. I'm meeting the vigilante"mari said to greg who tipped his hat as the forever people remained to experience this holiday with moorider and vykin even their as they were being given coco by zatana as bear was given a large pot of it as the large man guzzled it before stopping howling with a smile
"What is this magical liquid that taste so sweet?"bear asked
"Hot cocoa bear but uh don't drink too much you'll get a sugar rush"jinny warned
"Is this a substance or an addictive drug?"Vykin questioned
"No…no…well if your a little kid then yeah because we aren;t gonna give any to piper she apparently has a sugar rush when we gave her some last night"jinx said as piper was pouting for someone to be here as she was bundled up in a blanket right now upset which a nearby mal noticed
"Whys the kid looking upset?"mal asked
"She uh wants someone here but he can't be here right now"artemis said vaguely not trusting them fully although deliah sat their still rubbing her head waking up that long ago as she groaned clutching her head in pain as concerned for her was m'gann who walked over checking her over
"Are you okay?"m'gann asked as her girlfriend held her head as it felt like it was on fire
"My head hurts…ughhh….and…why am i shaking so much"Deliah asked as she was continuously shaking when she woke up but she wasn't cold it was like she was afraid of something as jericho looked down for a moment as noticing this was wally
"Seems someone brother is hiding things again"Wally said
"But my brother is not"misha replied as he meant the weird mute but jericho scoffed as he used the mindlink
"Sorry kid but those blocks I put on my sister's head for that scumbag dad of mine. If i'm lucky the followers of peace will get here soon"jeircho said as rubbing their head hearing a voice in their head was a confused mal
"I just heard another dudes voice in my head"mal said as a little excited was m'gann
"Oh it's called a mindlink, something I can do but this is so crazy and embarrassing that you're figuring this out. I mean it's just so…uh nerve racking for you to see me as well uh…me…m'gann not megan"m'gann said but eying her for a second was karen who tapped her on the shoulder
"Uh your meagan at school who i met and now know is a cool martian i mean…is that your ship?"karen asked gesturing to bioship as here also to celebrate the holidays with his niece and nephew was j'onn in his human form to make them comfortable
"By a ship you mean she. All forms of our bioships have a gender and are connected with those who first lay eyes on them"j'onn said as they were amazed by the marian lore with richard adjusting his glasses impressed
"Fascinating you view your ships as living being i am glad that my wife was an ex hero before her injuries"richard said
"Injuries?"connor asked as the two parents shared a look with jenna shaking her head
"A sensitive matter but still this is quite the impressive home"jenna said
"Yes aren't you all missing your families"amber asked as there was a pause for a second as wally smacked his face
"Man i gotta head back home soon my folks are gonna kill me"wally said but suddenly the zeta tube began to spin up as some eyed it in shock seeing it as the tube soon had people stepping out of it
"Recognized a-02 phillip bryce, recognized daphne and amy bryce, recognized katherine nikos aka nightshade, recognized rudy west and mary west, paule crook"the voice said startling some of them especially deliah hearing that as stepping through the portal carrying some gifts it seems were the west, crooks and the nikos family. One of them was a caucasian man with brown eyes and hair with a slightly overweight figure with a brown mustache. As he wore a simple grey dress shirt and a pair of blue jeans.
Then it was a woman with a slightly plump appearance with fair skin and green eyes with slightly curled hair. As she wore a yellow button up wool jacket with some tan jeans on. As they were carrying some food it seems with their even being a wagon full of it as staring at them in shock was wally
"Mom?! Dad?!"wally shouted as walking over placing a crockpot down on a table was mary walking over hugging her son who eyed her
"No need to be shouting because someone uncle told us over the phone he was busy making new friends that he be late for christmas eve dinner since we already got your gifts from the family since they visited and we told them you where busy"mary said as wally smacked his face
"Man i missed grandma famous cookies…did you save me some"wally asked hunger like always as his father set a tinfoil wrapped dish out with him dragging the wagon packed with some home cooked meals it seems
"Does this answer your question because you eat like a wood whipper son"rudy said as eyeing all the food shocked was wendy
"Do not tell me this dweeb we met during halloween eats all this for a meal"wendy asked
"No well sort of he has to process a lot of nutrients to keep his speed"artemis said as snapping their fingers was karen
"Like a living battery needing fuel how the human body turns vitamins and nutrients from food into fuel. Sort of like a fuel source for you and the flash that's pretty weird for a body to work and run on food for running based powers"karen said as some found her comment a little surprising
"What you a smarty pants or something?"connor jokes
"Uh conner she gets pretty good grades remember"m'gann reminded as he knew that but walking over placing a tray on a table was katherine who eyed her daughter who glanced at her before she walked off which hurt her heart as noticing that was a suspicious marvin who pointed a finger in her face asking a dumb question
"Are you abusing your kid"marvin asked stupidly with them eyeing him for the first thing he says to that family as smacking their face was wendy and mal as katherine growled at him before instinct took over as she grabbed his wrist before slamming his down hard on the ground in rage as she growled at him
"You have the gall to say that to my face you little….do you want a broken arm and leg for your mouth"katherine threatened scaring him but stopping her was phillip
"Dear! Please calm down your powers and well…the surprise we want to share but…"he paused as the women eyed her two younger kids stopping as daphne walked over holding a wonder women plushie in hand staring innocently at everyone
"I want to hug big sissy"daphne cutely said
"Awww aren't you just cute whats your name"amber asked
"daphne"She answered as paula struggled to move her chair but artemis walked over shocked her mom was even here as she leaned down toward her ear
"Mom what are you doing here i was gonna come for our christmas dinner we planned"she whispered but her mother stared at her
"I came to celebrate the time with some of your friends besides most of my family and your fathers don't talk to us. Besides i made your favorite…"paula said as the tray got placed on a table before it was pulled back to reveal some chicken cobbler as smelling it for a second was wally like he was in love
"Man that smells good thank you"wally said but artemis smacked his hand right now
"Your not taking this you trash compactor go eat the food your parent brought maybe even a whole ham."artemis joked back as he eyed her with paula eyeing the two sensing something here it seems though walking over at the low end coffee table was ghost sniffing eying a juicy turkey that was placed there by revenant earlier as the pup licked its lips before trying to tear a turkey leg off
But he was caught by jinny"hey! Your dogs trying to steal the turkey!"ginny said as seeing his chance was wolf running over snatching the turkey tearing into it as the canines chewed through itn tearing a piece off dropping it on the ground which ghost happily ate and enjoyed as pissed off was charmcaster who spent a week making that
"I spent a week making that nico!"charmcaster shouted as the mexican man smiled at her nervous right now though close by was zatana eying the scene sighing for a moment like something was wrong which a nearby artemis noticed
"Hey you okay?"artemis asked as she really wasn;t
"Not really my uh…this is my first christmas without both my parents…it…it really hurts"zatana admitted as that did sound terrible though for a moment there was a pause as having an idea to get out of this place for a bit was conner
"Why don't we check out the town for a bit there's a christmas lighting ceremony i heard thats going on"conner said as supporting it was karen
"Hey i forgot about that but uh you sure some of you won't stick out?"karen asked
"Nah we'll be fine besides we can just magic the food up if we gotta reheat it"wally replied
"Which sounds awesome"marvin said finding the thought of magic being cool right now though as they were preparing to leave m'gann eyed deliah who was trying to head to her room but she floated over which the school friends found weird
"She can fly?"Wendy asked with conner nodding as the martian got close to deliah who saw her getting in her way
"Hey you okay you seem troubled"m'gann asked as there was a pause for a second before she looked down
"I'm fine i just wanna lay down right now and…"deliah paused glancing toward her mother who looked upset it seems as m'gann knew what this was
"Look, I know seeing your mother do something like that is scary but you need to talk to her. She came her to spend christmas with you"m'gann said but deliah scoffed on the mere thought of her being here for her
"Her being here for me sounds like a load of crap. I;ve just figured out a lie that she kept for years…that my dad was an assassin and criminal. I have three siblings and….my head won't stop hurting it's like she did something to mess with my head it won't stop hurting"deliah said clutching it as m'gann saw how troubled she was before taking her hands as she placed her forehead against her for a second
"I know it hurts but when heading into town you should try and give your mom a chance to explain. I…my parents did their best with me and m'comm to keep us from getting abused but…a parents love knows no bounds you should hear her out"m'gann said as the girl thought for a moment as they got some of the forever people in some causally clothes for the night to not make them stick out like a sore thumb in the crowds.
Though as they headed off into town they had to leave the sphere behind as they had a ghost on a leash with the wolf having to stay back for the time being. But it took them some time to finally reached the seaside coast of the city as snow had dotted the coastline shores with everyone in the town gathered laughing and cheering as the place was covered head to toe with christmas lights and decorations promoting the holiday spirit as whistling at the sight was serifan
"Now this is quite a strange hoedown you all got here"serifan said as bear laughed as they snagged a few hot treats on the way as they where fresh baked cookies from a sweet old couple
"And these….gingerbread men they are quite delicious we should declare to new genesis that we should celebrate christmas"bear said as laughing a little was artemis
"Well that sounds uh nice make sure to be on santa nice list"artemis said as speaking on that was dreamer
"Oh so you mean the great spirit known as saint nicholas he is what he meant by your world having a holiday dedicated to him"Dreamer asked as the humans shared looks wondering if santa was in fact real
"Wait…are you telling us santa is real"wally stupidly asked which made daphne about to cry as she looked up
"Is santa not real"daphne asked about to cry making wally flinch as his parents glared at him for saying that with rudy elbowing his loud mouth son as no one answer daphne who began to cry a little with katherine bending down to hold her shushing her
"Its okay hes lying sweetie he's…he just umm…"katherine said struggling as she kept eyeing her daughter right now who avoided her gaze but stepping forward was bear who knelt down slightly to meet the face of the young human
"Fret not young human the man known as santa is indeed real why i even met the man himself"bear said as the tot slowly began to cry sniffing staring at him as understanding what he was doing was mal
"Uh yeah he's telling the uh truth"mal said as vykin nodded with the new god stepping forward
"Yes the one you called saint nick is real why he travels to apokolips to hand out coal himself to its cruel dictator himself"vykin said making the tot shimmer down as she reached her little arms out to hug bear as the man laughed placing her on his shoulder as phillip sighed in relief
"You all carry some strange company with you though…when is the tree lighting ceremony starting"phillip asked as are they really are gonna go over santa being real
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Are we gonna ignore the fact that the uh…you know told us santa is real"marvin asked as flicking him on the nose was wendy
"We are because unlike some of us loudmouth we won't be telling the whole town besides your making yourself look even crazier"wendy said as he frowned for a second but as they were walking for a bit rubbing her arms for a bit was zatana as it was gonna be her very first christmas without her dad and mom as she sighed for a moment which jinny noticed
"You doing okay partner?"jinny asked as she nodded
"Yeah just…getting used to having the idea of my dad not being here for christmas is all….i need a minute okay"Zatana asked as she nodded but kept an eye on her but as they walked to the center of town deciding to take the moment to check out some nearby stores was jinx
"Hey i gotta check something out be right back"jinx said walking off but eyeing her was conner for a second as the others walked toward the center of town to hopefully make it in time for the christmas lighting ceremony right now
As they did, Jinx walked around the nearby stores looking for anything that could possibly help cheer her friend up. She's been feeling bad since the talk that day as it was thanks to her that she was out of jail. Though how she was treating her was no excuse to be a complete jerk to her she would have been killed after the riot was over for not killing the guards or attacking them. Though as she was walking she spotted some stores that looked to stand out to her though as she was someone tapped her on the shoulder
She yelped throwing a punch back but taking it to the chest was conner with leonid and artemis by his side with zatana even who noticed her wandering off to do something
"Off to talk to someone?"Conner questioned not trusting her since roy said he trusted him and the others but he wasn't so sure for the ex villain but artemis sighed rubbing her face
"Conner give her a break she was sneaking off to try and make amends"artemis said
"Amends?"leonid asked with jinx clutching her right arm for a brief second as she sighed
"What gave it away"jinx asked as it was obvious
"You've been staring at deliah since uh conner and m'gann friends from school spotted us i might go to the school now but…it's obvious you're worried about her because….you don't need to buy something to apologize to her"zantana said but jinx felt like she needed to her family doesn't even talk to her anymore after she lost control with her powers
They never take the time to contact her or even take a chance to see her. All they do is ignore her and pretend she doesn't exist. She reached out to her brother one time who's in college and he said he couldn't talk since he would rather not have their parents over here since they were on a campus tour that day with him which hurt as he never called her back. But with them it feels like she has a true family
"I just…I feel like I should know the money the league gives us isn't much but…god I feel so stupid I treated her like scum since…Rose, her sister always messed with me…I always thought about getting payback against her. Guess me doing this was a sick way of getting it…maybe i can't be a hero…maybe i'm just some villain"jinx said
But seeing her resolve being tested artemis sighed knowing how she feels as she feels like she earned the team trust but looked down
"Look I know you're probably feeling messed up in the head right now but it was an honest mistake. Your powers and…who you are before doesn't make you a villain you decide your own destiny…along with that i think there's a better way to help her out maybe convincing her to talk to her own mom"artemis said as finding that as sucide was jinx herself
"Are you nuts? Her mom probably hates some of us i mean…look at….her"jinx slowly stopped looking over at that women as she noticed how upset katherine looked right now as it looked like she was broken with zatana looking over
"I know that she…killed people but from the stories my dad told me that group she was in is pretty messed up with their members. They raise them from birth and train them to kill whoever they demand her leaving must have been a huge risk to take"zatana said as jinx looked around scanning the place before staring at deliah who was trying to be cheered up by m'gann who was failing miserable as the bad luck girl shared a look with artemis who nodded
As she walked over chuckling walking over was jinny"Well someone seems to have given that girl a pep talk"jinny said
"Right miss i was equally rude you thinking of getting her a gift now or something"Conner asked as she was but she had something else in mind before swapping a small glance with a nearby wendy and karin who eyed mal who nodded
"You can say that"jinny said as she schemed something just now
Although with the alien and human girl couple m'gann was trying her best as she presented ghost who wagged his tail as he always loved the snow during the christmas season
"Come on deliah i know you're upset but this is so amazing i means it's quite impressive but…come on it's nice…please smile please"m'gann said but deliah sighed again for a second as she didn't know if she could ever smile again
"No thanks m'gann i can't even smile after everything that's happened…i might be suspended for life and…i just met my dad and…he…he scared me…he actually scared me alot"deliah admitted shivering still although placing a hand on her wrist made deliah flinch but she saw it was jinx who was dragging a confused katherine by her hand right now
"What are you doing let me go now or–"She was stopped as jinx suddenly dragged delilah with m'gann following them as jinx dragged the two up to a nearby small business that had no one their with the added benefit of their being no cameras as she forced katherine to sit in a chair on the roof that didn't look clean in the slightest but deliah tore away glaring at her
"What are you doing, you weirdo? Here to start to try something"deliah asked but jinx pointed a finger in her face
"I already feel bad for how i treated you and you aren't going to speak over me because both of you zip your mouths or bad luck is coming down to ruin this and i mean it"jinx said flexing her powers as the pink glow came off her hands as it made deliah flinch a little as m'gann eyed jinx confused
"Why did you drag them up here?"m'gann asked as the bad luck teen closed her eyes before staring at the two
"I don't know how I can make it up to you but the least you can do right now is listen to your own mom. I mean…she has to have had a reason to hide everything from you"jinx said but deliah saw what this was as she scoffed at her with disgust
"Really? Your trying to make me talk to…a mur…"Deliah voice hitched not wanting to call her mom that as deep down she wanted to know why…why she did all of that to innocent people and…hide her powers from her seeing what the teen was doing katherine took a breath staring at the crowd of people ready to start the christmas tree lighting ceremony as she spoke to explain
"I..i know there's no excuse for me to tell you what i was doing was right. But…in that group I was saved. I was a refugee, pretty young, and my parents…well…my own father had the same powers as us and he…he trained me to do what I needed to do to survive in the world. But one day we were taken in by the league of assassin i was raised their i lost my mother in a bombing she…she never came back i saw he dead on the ground"katherine started starting her daughter who stared at her mother for a brief second listening to her now
As Katherine messed with her wedding ring of her second husband"back in the league I was told how I was the best of their assassin. Praised by ra's al ghul himself for my handy work said i could even be running it with my drive. But over time i fell for him…that man had a charm to him like a devil"she continued laughing as he was the devil himself in their line of work at times killing anyone who stood in his way for a quick buck
"I met him on a mission and we hit it off, then I got introduced to his other lover. I made a joke about having two powerful women he liked it…had kids with each of us but….god…when you were barely six years old he…he forced you to train…like you where some soldier…it…it scared me…it reminded me of the training the league forced on me. My father…he was against hurting his daughter but you know what they did…they silenced him…but no…no they needed his powers for the light….i don't even know if my father is dead or alive. But…i had to leave…i had to leave i was a wanted killer but…i couldn't do it anymore so one day i left with jericho but he got hurt by grant while we escaped. Those two loved him like some god and wanted his respect"she continued before staring at the stars as she sighed to finish her story
"I ran to Gotham knowing that I could get help from batman…he always had a soft spot for Talia. She helped me. She was a good women…but…when the assassin caught up with me i was saved and i almost died trying to make sure they didn't take you and…i..i got on my hands and knee begging for them to protect us…i passed all their test and…i made your brother put blocks on your mind…after a week of being in their protection you had nightmares and were so scared i didn't know what to do i'm sorry i'm so sorry"katherine finished
With the three superheroines processing this whole ordeal and story with deliah staring at her own mother hearing her story why she joined the league and why she even left. That she was scared for her children as instincts took over as she hugged her mother who was stunned but gently held her for a few minutes as they released
'I'm sorry i…i…i…"Deliah was stopped
"You don't need to say sorry i understand it was scary but…i compromised my deal with the league and come next year i..i have to spend a few years in jail"katherine said to their shock
"What?"m'gann asked in shock but stepping from behind was a familiar face that being a women with a sharp maroon red dress suit with black rimmed glasses on with her hair done into a bun
"You need to understand that what your mother did was against the law. But were willing to overlook some of it as it was in self defense but your lucky batman was fine with pardoning you for the help you've given him on taking the league of shadows down"the women said as they eyed her confused
"Who are you lady"jinx asked as she took her glasses off as she flinched as wonder woman smiled
"Just a heroine here to see how things are going for the holidays since you'll be in a special jail since you're expecting"diana said which made deliah eyes bulge as she eyed her mother who stared down the hero
"You ruined my christmas surprise i was gonna keep it a secret i'm expecting"katherine said as she was stunned
"I'm gonna have another siblings….if its a girl you owe me twenty bucks"deliah said making her mother laugh but secretly sneaking up behind them was karin and jinny which startled them
"What are you two doing up here?"m'gann asked but karin shushed her gesturing to below as wally was talking with mal and marvin while their was artemis talking with mari and wendy as pulling a pole out hanging it above the two where they where was a grinning jinny who tipped her hat
"Mind helping us out with this partner"ginny said to deliah who hummed as she eyed m'gann who waved her fingers as artemis stumbled back as mal turned wally around who went huh before suddenly the two landed into each other. Which made the two teen go red in the face as their lips were locked as artemis shoved herself off with a mad red face panting as wally was left on the ground stunned with the two teens parents watching with paula eyeing her daughter who eyed her before she bolted with a hot red face
With them laughing right now as the christmas tree was lighting up as staring at the tree was deliah seeing how beautiful it was as she was stunned by the news. But it felt nice to hear her mother side of things as she smiled a little as she leaned against m'gann who leaned against her though after some time they regrouped but as they were walking back into the cave to bid their farewell they were surprised by something that being the tree adorned with presents
"Wow red tornado went all out on the decorations" Wally said still flustered from earlier but the bot stepped forward
"I did not do this someone did this while I was talking with league members"red tornado answered but they were confused
"Then who did all of this then?"zatana asked as walking toward the tree noticing a little bit left was Artemis who brushed her hair as it was a red shaped X as she pocketed it
"Probably robin or Batman to wish us a merry Christmas can we just have a nice meal for the night please." Artemis begged
"Nope were messing with you and Wally all night now it's how you say that da?"misha asked
"Yeah that's right"Conner said as the two teens groaned as things were getting excited for them tonight as outside watching from a distance was red-x dawning a Santa hat sighing for a bit as he kept doing his own thing as he glanced back as behind him was the dark knight himself
"Hey ya bats you notice me here I take it thought you and bird brain would be celebrating"red-x asked as Batman stared at him
"Robin told me what you did for him. I'd like you to keep your ear to the ground for any activity involving the light. Can you do that for me?"Batman asked as the thief thought before nodding to him as it seemed it was the start of a brand new year soon.
With this we close another chapter though it seems batman is keeping an eye on red-x and tasked him with keeping his ear to the ground. Although it seems that deliah heard her mother past on how she became nightshade and why she left the league of shadows all those years ago. Though heads up their might be two to three more chapters left before I'm Done with the series and i've seen how its done so far...I'm going to attempt to make series on season 2,3 and possible 4 because heres a hint i'm gonna attempt to make my own season...if i ever decide to continue this. Because once the RWBY series is done I might try my hand at other sources of media. Thanks for reading!