They sell everything...

  Awesome Mart had set up a Santa's Village event, so all the children in Weston could come and sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.  Unfortunately, Awesome Mart was NOT big on spending big money for security.  They were only a store.  The Japanese Mafiosos decided to get a little of their own in, and set up a bomb.  SOMEWHERE.  In the village.  Then they faxed it to the news, radio, and police stations from a public library fax machine.

Ozzy had been planning on going to Awesome Mart anyway to get something for Iris and Chuck, not to mention the rest of the N.A.D.s, for Christmas. Fortunately, he'd been listening to the local Hard Rock and Metal station on the FM radio that was built into his MP3 player when the bomb threat came through. Ozzy grumbled before he ducked into a nearby alleyway to change into Painter, who then continued to the store.

"Frakkin' criminals. Christmas is in two days! What part of 'peace on earth' do these wackjobs not understand?"

This message was deleted by the player at 21:18, Tue 26 Oct 2010.

  Andy had slept in the NAD HQ, unless someone demanded he stay with them, and heard it on the radio too.  He simply appeared by the doorway, and waved to Painter when he arrived.  He'd picked up a set of mirrored shades somewhere, and they sat on his face, hiding those inhuman eyes from stray stares.  He sent to Ozzy {{If it requires one of us get hurt?  Let it be me.  Or Meg.}}

{{No arguments here, bro. My armor's not bomb-proof, though I could probably set up a decent shield around the bomb if we find it without enough time for the bomb-squad to defuse it. Don't wanna bug Megs just yet, I think she was planning on dropping her figurative bomb this morning.}} replied Ozzy via mind-worm, keeping the last bit private.

"Yo. Have you gone in, yet, or am I in time for the 'party'?" he asked, waving back to Andy as he skated up. As he did, he looked inside the store, to see if anyone was still inside.

  Andy said "I haven't gone in yet, I wanted to wait for my backup.  I mean it, Painter, if we have to have it detonate, let me deal with it.  Registration may consider me human, but I know better now."  He gave a darkly humorless grin, and ducked through the doors, adding by mindworm {{Like I said, I already know where my road ends, it's all about the journey between now.}}

>>>>>>>Timeskip

Jeff had gone Christmas shopping both for his family as well as his friends in the NADs and his new girlfriend.

But trouble seemed to follow him, no matter what time of year it was.

Ducking into a maintenance hallway, he then shifted to his "snowman form."

OOC: Wasn't sure if Candy was with Jeff. If she is, she could provide a distraction.

  Candy distracted everyone by making ten foot tall candy canes appear  against the walls.  That caused a stir that made Jeff's change totally unnoticed.

Icepick ran by Candy, and nodded. If he had features in this ice form, he would be grinning. The girl was already skilled in the art of distraction.


"Hey guys," Icepick said to Painter and Andy. "Been a while....back now...long story....what's the scoop?"

{{Doesn't mean I can't try to help make that road longer, bro. Heh, or should I be calling you 'sir' now?}}

"Let's start looking. Time is of the essence, after all."

With that, Painter headed in, and Tats emerged from the armor and dropped down onto the floor, and began crawling around to look.

When Jeff came up, Painter grinned behind his helmet, "Nice. So does your wintry new form come with the ability to erect Christmas decorations, or is there someone new we don't know about?"

Icepick couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sorry...no Christmas decorations...but definitely a new friend that I will tell you about...she's cool...anyhow, what's happenin'?"

"Y' mean other than the bomb threat? Not much, bro. Grandpa said something about a dead parahuman arsonist, but apparently he's helping Dragon Fist with that.  So did you find your mountain-and-monastery in Nepal, man? I figure this new form has something to do with your trip." asked Painer as he made his way towards the Christmas Village, keeping a lookout for customers. If they were exiting the building, then good. If they were more interested in the giant candy-cane, then he'd have to get 'em out.

Iris and Chuck had absolutely no reason to know that there was trouble. Not that they weren't there; in fact, they were. Chuck stood out like a sore thumb among the smaller children waiting to sit in Santa's lap. He slouched, his hands in his pockets, occasionally muttering embarassedly to the smaller girl who didn't look all that out of place. Twelve... bordering on that 'too old for Santa' age, but Iris had never seen him before.

She danced as she stood in line, getting funny looks from parents who were clutching their own childrens' hands, "So let me get this straight... I sit on the old man's lap. He asks me what I want and then gives me candy... Isn't this the sort of stuff the counselor at school warns us about?"

"Er..." Chuck suggested, "No?"

"So if I ask him for, say, a Homestar Planetarium, a EXFO FTB-200, and an easybake oven. Do I get it?"

"No, you get a dollar-store Christmas coloring book."

Iris looked pensive, then asked, "Do crayons come with that?"

In reply to Ozzy Gysbourne (msg #13):

"That's one of a lot of things I discovered, bro. I'll have to tell you about it once we get this crazy stuff wrapped. Oh...and I have someone I'd like you to meet..."

He briefly glanced back at Candy to make sure she was OK.

  Andy slid his shades down to get a better look at IcePick, then slid them up after his eyes glowed for a second.  He said dryly "Guess more than one of us has had some changes.  You SURE I wasn't gone ten years here too?"

Icepick shook his head, and replied, "Let's just say the place I went to, had a funny effect on the temporal side of things."

  Andy nodded, and said "Yeah.  Listen for a bomb."  He looked half abstracted, his head up like he was looking for something.  His body perfectly still amongst the crowds.  Not even breathing.

Icepick looked up, seeing if he could spot anything out of the ordinary.

  Andy began to wander through the store, moving slowly, ignoring frantic people rushing around and bouncing off of his heavily muscled frame, his ponytail swaying with his movements.  His gaze panning back and forth like a predator's as it surveyed the african savanna.

  Andy seemed to catch something, and his head snapped around.  His lips curled, and Jeff could see fangs behind the snarl, just before he vanished.  All of the NAD's heard, on a broadcast {{Ladies and gentlemen of the New Age Defenders, we have a bomber in sight.  I can smell it on him.  I'll bag him, then go looking for the bomb.}}

Iris looked up sharply from where she stood on line to see Santa, "Wh-" She stopped, then looked around, narrowing her eyes, {Bomber where, Andy?}

{{The bomber and I are currently somewhere around forty thousand feet and falling fast.  The bomb itself is somewhere in there.  We find it, and I move it.}}

Icepick nodded and then turned to Iris.

Any idea what the bomb looks like, or anything that might be able to help us find it?

Since the bomber had been found, Painter was glad he hadn't yet tried to evacuate the store. However, he did want to get the civilians out once the bomber had been nabbed.

{{Good job, guys. Nab him, and then lets evacuate the store. Iris, Andy, you two are probably our best bets for finding this thing. Keep looking. Jeff, you think you can help me clear the crowd once we've bagged the bomber? I'd like to clear the area, just in case, and it doesn't look like anyone here's heard the news.}}

Sure thing, Ozzy. That would be good..and that way my friend can also get clear as well.

Iris looked incredulously towards where the others were, {Dude, this is the first I've heard of a bomb. I know what one looks like, sure, but this one in particular? Not a clue. In the store?} Turning to Chuck, she advised, "I... gotta pee. I'll be right back." She ran off.

"Iris! Iris, don't leave me by myself in this line! People will think-" But she was gone.

Iris ducked behind a display and changed into her outfit at superspeed - nothing to see here! She ran out, a blur of color, and swept around the store, single-handedly checking every nook and crany she could access for anything that looked like it might explode.

  It was hidden in the 'elf house' behind Santa.  And it was as big as a 55 gallon trash barrel.  Ticking.  There was no way she could haul that thing out by herself, but Andy had said something about moving it once it was located?

{Found it!} Iris sent a short time later, {Dude, it's huge! He's trying to take out Santa and, dependant on the explosives involved, either the rest of the store or the rest of the city. Don't cause a panic, but it's in the fake building situated behind the chair that Mr. Claus is sitting in. If he blows up Santa, that's going to make it very hard to have Christmas; there'll be noone to deliver presents!}

  Andy and a VERY terrified swarthy skinned fellow simply APPEARED next to Icepick.  He pushed the fellow toward Icepick, and said "Take him, he's too scared to fight."  Then over wormnet, Andy said {{I'll move it.  I'm a little bigger than I used to be.}}  And he blinked to the location Iris had given, taking the image out of her head.  He wrapped his arms around it, and blinked again.

Icepick grabbed a hold of Andy's prisoner.

"Gotcha covered, And..." and then Andy was gone, just like that.

Painter blinked, looking somewhat confused.

{{Soooo... crisis over? We win? Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0? Cool. I'mma call the cops, let 'em know that Andy and Iris got this already so they don't waste money sending the bomb squad.}}

With that, Painter did indeed go to call the cops, to let them know that the NADs had saved the day once again.

From above, what sounded like a stupendous thunder clap sounded.  The building shook a little, and then all was quiet.  And nobody knew where Andy was, or what he did with he bomb.

Icepick heard the ear shattering explosion that had just taken place.

Andy? Andy..please tell me that you weren't anywhere close to that?

  A strange sound from behind him, and he heard Andy's voice in his head.  {{Sorry, not going to lie.  That hurts like a bitch.}}  The crackle of SOMETHING behind him continued, and if he looked, it seemed that Andy, or something like him, was forming out of shadows and fog.  With sunglasses, black jeans, engineers boots, and a black muscle shirt.

Icepick looked around. His new form didn't have any facial features but if they did, his eyes would be wide and his face would have a shocked look on it.

"Damn dude...what did you do?"

Painter was on the phone with the police when the bomb went off, and clapped his other hand over his ear when the bomb went off.

"Oh wow. Yeah, did you hear that? That was the bomb going off. Everyone's fine, though that shook the building a bit. Damn, man. Well, good thing we were here, yeah? Anywho, just send someone down to pick up the bomber."

He then turned to where Andy was re-forming behind Icepick, and cringed.

"Ow, dude... man. Ow. That cannot be fun. You gonna be all right?"

  Andy finished forming, and then cracked his neck before he said "Fine.  Just hungry.  Takes energy to reform myself that way.  Hurts like a mad bastard too, but I'm still here."  He actually chuckled, and it was a very dark sound.  He took a deep breath, and added "I'm a little different than I used to be."

Icepick replied, "Well...I'm glad to see that you're OK."

He almost facepalmed himself.

"Hang on guys, I'll be right back..." He then went over to where Candy was.

"Are you all right, Cand....er....Ma'am?"

  Candy had been watching with wide eyes.  She asked him "What happened to that guy, and what did he do?"

"It's a long story," Icepick replied. "He's been through some...changes...like me. But rest assured he's one of the good guys."

"Cover for me so I can change back..."

  Candy grinned, and simply walled him in with a line of candy canes that were eight feet tall.

Icepick then shifted back to the human form of Jeff Yoshida. The change was becoming easier, it would just take more practice.

"Um...thanks...appreciate it...are you OK?"

  Candy nodded, and snagged a three foot candy cane for Andy.

"Arright. I'mma wait for the cops to get here. Gotta do that before I go grab my stuff."

And wait he did, watching the prisoner to make sure that he didn't try to escape in the confusion.

  Andy leaned against the wall, beside Ozzy.  The guy they'd taken prisoner kept giving Andy these really frightened looks as Andy devoured the candy cane that Jeff's girlfriend had handed him.  He told Ozzy "I'm certainly not looking forward to returning to Hell, but I learned a lot while I was there."

"Yeah, man, that sucks to be sorta stuck like that. Of course, I think you're technically not mortal anymore. I dunno. We'll see, I guess. At the very least, it looks like it'll take a hell of a lot to send you back before your time is up. Well, barring me *having* to send you back again, that is. So, you know, don't. Why didn't you mindworm us when they captured you, anyway? Did they put you under some kind of charm spell or something?" asked Painter, kind of curious. According to Hotwire, the mindworms were supposed to be the best thing in communication, so he wasn't sure if a bunch of cultists could've blocked them.

  Andy nodded, and said "No, I'm not Mortal anymore.  Lost that when I hit Hell without dying first.  It's changed a few things.  I didn't page, because I wasn't coherent.  They gave me some sort of stuff that just . . . really fucked my mind over.  You'd have needed more than 'I'm all tied up and in the dark somewhere' to find me."  He glanced sidewise at Ozzy, and said quietly "I guess in some ways, it's a good thing I ended up in Hell.  I met my father.  He's a pretty good guy, although he has his enemies.  I doubt he'll have survived to the next time I'm there.  Which, yes, may be a very long time.  And I'm much harder to get rid of now."

Jeff nodded at Andy's explanation. Then, noticing he wasn't in his ice form, he played the role of an innocent civilian.

"Uh..thanks guys for helpin us out. New Age Defenders are good peoples."

He turned to Candy.

"Guys...this is Candy."

  Candy smiled at them, and waved, blushing.  She said "Hi.  Don't worry, I'm discreet."

"Nice to meet you guys. Good to know some people appreciate the work we do. I swear, ever since the whole thing with Ex and Fluid coming out, all we ever hear is bitching about how parahumans should just leave their personal lives at the door or whatever, like we're getting paid for this. I'd like to see them save the day and leave enough time to write a decent book report, yeah?" said Painter, offering a hand to both of them.

"Good to meet ya, Painter was it?" Jeff replied, with a bit of a smirk.

  Candy shook Painter's hand, and when she let go, he had a half dozen cinnamon candy canes there.  She said softly "I do understand.  Heroing doesn't pay cash, but it's well worth it, and for those who do it, they should be commended.  Personal preferences aside.  That has nothing to do with if they can do their jobs or not."

"Thanks. Yeah, Ex and Fluid are good people." he said. When Candy popped the candy canes into his hand, he grinned under the helmet.

"Wait, your name is Candy, right? Man, God *does* have a sense of humor. Or whoever the hell's been handing out these powers."

Jeff couldn't help but be amazed at the insight of his new girlfriend. Then again, she was two years older than he was, and had travelled all over the world.

"Yep they are....so, did you need us to stick around, Painter, or do you guys have this covered?"

"Eh, I wouldn't mind going to go get my stuff, but the cops are still en route, so I don't wanna roll out before they get here, and my stuff is being guarded by someone I trust. Besides, this guy's dangerous, who knows what he'd try. I think it's best for us to watch him. Thanks, though." replied Painter, smiling.

{{No offense, bro, but you're in your civvies, and that would look bad, me leaving this guy with a random passerby. Not to mention suspicious, because who the hell would do that?}} he sent over the mind worms.

Jeff nodded at Painter and gave a thumbs up with a grin.

"Carry on then. You guys rock!"
He then looked over at Candy.

"I know things have been a bit..um, exciting. Did you still want to continue shopping?"

  Candy nodded, and said "Yeah.  If you want to hang around, I'm game for it."

Jeff smiled, and extended his arm to her.

"Well, let's continue then. I've still gotta find something for my sister *sigh*"

  "How old is your sister?  I can give you some ideas for a good gift."  She slid her arm through his, and smiled.

"My sister is 14, and a perpetual pain in the ass.."

  Candy nodded, and said "Oh yeah.  I remember being fourteen.  Let me see here . . . does she like to read?  Is she fond of music?  Either of those would make a gift card to a music and book store good.  Or if she likes a more personal touch, you could always get her an Itunes card if she has an ipod."

"Yeah, she likes reading those Twilight novels...and maybe the ITunes thing sounds good...she's ALWAYS on her IPod..."

  Candy grinned, and said "Perfect.  Give her an Itunes card, then if she doesn't like what she got, she can only complain to herself because she picked what songs to get."  She offered him a mint chocolate stick.

Jeff smiled as he accepted the mint chocolate stick from Candy.

"Sounds like a good plan," he said grinning.

In reply to Ozzy Gysbourne (msg #56):

the Police soona rrive and relieve Painter and Co. of the bomber.

Iris changed back and appeared beside Chuck, who was standing red-faced before Santa and explaining in a stutter to disgruntled parents that he was waiting for his little sister. Iris appeared and took Chuck's hand, looking around. Chuck looked relieved, "You're here!"

"Right! I told you I'd be right back." the twelve-year-old commented blandly, "What do we do now?"

"She's never seen Santa before." He explained to a cross looking elf standing to the side.

The elf looked Iris up and down incredulously, "Really? Didn't think they could get that old without seeing Santa. Well, you go up there while your parent - er brother, I guess - fills out some paperwork with our photographer."

Iris nodded and hurried up to sit on Santa's lap. "Have you been a good little girl?" Santa asked.

"I suppose that it depends on what you mean by 'good'. I kept sneaking out of school and our group home, but it was for good reasons. I did it in order to save the world, you know. And I always came back before they caught me."

"The answer is 'Yes, Santa, I've been good!" Chuck called from where he struggled over a form with the photographer. The photographer sighed and took over, asking questions and writing the answers down.

"He says that I've been good." Iris advised, "I do a lot of good stuff. I'm making all A's in school. And we saved a friend from hell, I think. It gets complicated."

Santa blinked, put on his best 'I can't understand a word your child is saying' face, advised Iris to smile for the calendar, and accepted her gift requests with the addendum, "But if all you can bring is a coloring book, that's okay, but can I please have crayons, too?" He sent her on her way quite happily with a holiday coloring book, a four-pack of crayons, and a tiny candy cane.

Iris helped Chuck finish all of his holiday shopping. She had ordered hers off-line and had them piled in her wagon at home. They went from there to find Meg.

>>To whereever Meg is>>
This message was last edited by the player at 20:10, Sat 30 Oct 2010.

When the bomber was taken into police custody, Painter grinned and took off, heading back to where he'd hidden his messenger bag with Tats as a guardian.

A few minutes later he returned as Ozzy, grinning. He didn't want to go looking for Jeff, since he didn't want to intrude on Jeff and Candy's little date. He did, however, offer Andy a fistbump if he was still there.

  Andy was.  And he was amused, Ozzy could tell.  He said "I think we're about to have a second couple on the team, Ozz.  Jeff's got himself a girlfriend."

Jeff picked up an ITunes card for his sister.

"Thanks Candy...I guarantee that my sister is probably the hardest in my family to shop for. Did you...um...talk at length with them when you were here the first time?"

  Candy said "We talked quite a bit over dinner, although it sort of more resembled an interrogation from your Dad than anything  else.  I ended up telling them I'm a para too."

"That sounds like my Dad," Jeff said. "Damn..we sure do have a lot of stuff to plan out. Graduation...just getting through the semester...there's a lot I have to deal with. But...if you're here...my life will be A LOT easier..."

  She arched her eyebrows, and asked "How will just me being here make that much difference in how hard things are?"

Jeff simply shrugged. "Well...y'know what they say...with every great man is a great woman....and with you, I feel like I can do anything. Yeah...I know..it sounds majorly corny, doesn't it?"

  Candy smiled, and tipped his chin up to kiss him deeply.  Then she said softly "Fire and ice make a good pair."

Jeff found himself lost in the kiss for a moment. He had hardly ever been kissed like THAT before. But he liked it.

"You're right about that....they sure do..."

  She smiled, and said softly "So . . . want to help me with a couple things, then see if the rest of your friends want another member of the group?"

"Um...sure.....but, uh...what can I help with? Aside from making some pretty neat things out of ice.."

  She said "All of you have those fancy code names,  but I don't have one . . . :

"At least not yet..." Icepick said. "Hmmm...let's see...Pyra...Volcana...Flametongue....Firebolt..."

  Candy grinned, and said "Red Hot?"  And offered him a palmful of cinnamon red hots.

"Well, if she can do more than just make candy, I don't mind." said Ozzy, shrugging as he started eating one of the cinnamon candycanes he'd been handed earlier.

"Not to rag on her or anything, I just don't want her getting hurt because she 'feels like she has to' or whatever to hang with us. I mean... what's she gonna do, give the bad guys diabetes? It's like this one guy I know online, his power lets him be in two places at once. It's great for multitasking, but everything that happens to one body, happens to the other. He's literally in both places at the same time. I'm not trying to be mean, just trying to stay practical, know what I'm sayin'?"

"There's more to Candy than meets the eye...but that's stuff that we'd have to show later...out of the public eye, Ozzy."

  Andy grinned, as his belly growled, and he said "Okay, I'm off to the HQ, I think there's food there, and I'm going to wrap myself around it."  And vanished.

Jeff did a doubletake at Andy's disappearance, then turned to Candy.

"Well..now that we have most of the shopping out of the way, it sounds like some of our teammates are throwing a party. Wanna tag along?"

  Candy grinned, and said "Sure.  Let's go.  You know I never forget a place."  She had a gorgeous smile.

Jeff was delighted to hear that, and absolutely dazzled by her smile.

"Cool..we are off then.."

>>>to New Age Defenders HQ>>>

Now that Iris and the others were gone, Ozzy could get his shop on with no risk of being found out. He was the sort of person who liked to live on the edge, and as such he always bought Christmas presents at the last second. Of course, it wasn't exactly like he'd had oodles of time to get presents, since the team hadn't been together all that long, even though it felt like almost a year had passed.

Presents were purchased and put into gift boxes if necessary, which Ozzy would 'wrap' in his own special way later. Wrapping paper was so overrated when you could paint each box individually.

Bill hopped off the bus and made his way through the throngs of people searching for presents for his family.

Bill soon exited the department store carrying one of the few christmas cards left and a litlte something each for each parent. He hopped ont he bus and headed home.

>>TO DERRING CONDOMINIUMS>>

Ozzy landed near the Awesome Mart, grinning as he said, "You know what I just thought about, love? This place has pretty tall ceilings, too. I should be fine in here!"

  Clarissa giggled, and said "That they are, love.  But I have to push the buggy, because it's about knee height on you."  She patted his chest, and giggled as she pointed to a buggy to snag.  It WAS about knee height!

Ozzy smiled and said, "Works for me."

He then set her down near the cart, before a thought grabbed his attention, and he chuckled as he put a sign on his back, almost like a 'Kick Me' sign. Instead, however, it read 'Just Married'.

  Clarissa giggled, and wrapped her til around his wrist as she led the way into the store.  She said "Anything that you want to add to the shopping list?"

Ozzy shrugged and said, "Not that I can think of. We've got chocolate and strawberry syrup, love, as well as the other stuff. Whipped cream should be about all we need."

  She giggled, and said "Sure you don't want a bunch of strawberries too?  So we can share them?"  She walked with a sassy hipsway that just did not quit, and he could see SEVERAL people already staring.  Some of them were just amazed, but it seemed to be a high proportion of young, hormonal men.

Ozzy nodded and smiled as he said, "Sure, love. Sounds delicious. And, fair warning, gonna pick you up."

He then picked her up and gave her a good, long kiss, before looking at the oglers and saying, "This one's mine, guys. Got a ring and everything. I suggest you find someone else to ogle."

{{Sorry, but I can SMELL the lust on them from here, love. I just figured I'd make it clear that the sign on my back is NOT a joke.}}

  She kissed him back with clear pleasure, and when he mentioned she was his to the oglers, she said "Damn right I'm yours.  And that's NEVER going to change, my Ozzy."  She perched on his arm, pretty as a picture, and he heard {{You could carry the buggy, if it's not too awkward?  Balance it on your hip like a hip basket and do it that way?  Then I can stay here perched on your other arm until we get to the dairy aisle, and the fresh produce.}}

  The oglers stared, and one of them asked him "Dude, what cattery did you get her out of, I want me one of those!"

Ozzy frowned and narrowed his eyes at the ogler, "SHE is a paraHUMAN, and not from a cattery. You say that again about my wife, and you WILL regret it."

He then picked up the shopping cart and carried it, and her, towards the dairy section in the back.

  She glanced back, and said "Idiots at six oclock.  Do you want to snag the whipped cream and the berries?  I can stay perched here on your shoulder while you do, if you're worried about the dick brigade back there.  They can't reach me on your shoulder."

  The idiots were still following him.  He saw some other fellows wave, and could recognize a whole slew of other anime geeks coming out from the video aisles to watch them pass with obvious awe.

Ozzy did indeed carry her the whole way, and while they irked him somewhat, he couldn't help but grin with pride. Part of him couldn't blame them, after all. HE'D been a lonely, pizza-faced nerd before, and seeing a real-live cat girl would've probably made him drool a bit, too. Especially one as dead sexy as Clarissa.

Still, he kept them well away from his beautiful bride, using the middle bits of his tail or his wings to gently push them back if they got too close.

  Clarissa giggled.  The crowd of anime geeks just watched in awe, they didn't try to get close, but one of them called "Hey man, you're living the DREAM there, you REALLY are!!  AWESOME!!"

  {{Do I want to know?  Are they cheering for us, or just for you?}}  He could clearly FEEL her amusement, and her total comfort at riding on his shoulder right now.  She KNEW she looked hot (brides always did), and that he would be sending any idiot who laid a hand on her NOW through the ROOF.  Or the nearest wall.  Whichever.

Ozzy grinned and said, "Damn straight! Married and everything. It's a damn good thing I'm this size, too. Some idiots don't know the meaning of 'hands off'."

{{Not sure, love. I think they're congratulating me. They're attracted to you, I can tell, but it's not as... thick as the other guy's. Sort of like they see you, and think that you're hot, but they're not gonna do anything. Some of them are even friends. Nowhere near as close as the Defenders, but... hey! That's that guy I lost that bet against! You know, the one where I had to wear the Cardcaptor Sakura costume?}}

  Clarissa giggled, and said {{That's awesome, love.  Probably like the 'babes on Baywatch' type of lust.  They know they'd NEVER get a chance, but they can DREAM.  And here you are, with the girl they all dreamed of getting.  Even though it's only today that I've become so exotic, love.  Yesterday, they wouldn't have paid me much attention.  But I'm YOUR catgirl, forever.  Grandpa confirmed it.  It's permanent.}}

  The anime-geeks grinned, and several of them came over.  Holding their hands out so they could shake his.  "Man, you got all the damn luck.  A gorgeous woman to love you and make you one happy man, para powers, you could fall in a cesspool and find the Lost Ark!  Or the damn Holy Grail!"

Ozzy smirked as he started shaking hands, "Okay, yeah, I'm a lucky guy, I know. But with the awesome wife and powers comes a lot of responsibility. Not a week ago did I duel an infernomancer within the bowels of Hell itself. And don't get me started on the various flavors of 'World Ending Super-Entity' I've had to help fight. I swear, Galactus was less of a pompous ass."

{{I'm good with that if you are, love. And I don't know why they wouldn't have. You were hot in your old form, too! Especially to geeks like us. You obviously never spent much time around us. The one girl in Anime Club gets treated like freaking royalty.}}

  Clarissa smiled at them, and answered him {{Well, I wasn't ALLOWED to hang out with the folks Dad considered 'the wrong crowd'.  Nevermind that anime geeks and computer geeks and all are the movers and shakers of the future!  If I had been . . . maybe I never would have had to turn to drugs, and you'd have gotten to notice me a long time ago.}}  He felt her lean against his ear, her hand on his impala-horns as she watched his admirers grin at them both.

 One of them said "I swear.  You do have the luck, Ozzy.  You got the cardcaptor Sakura outfit, and now you got a wife like HER?  Man, you got the MIDAS touch!  Shake my hand and bless me!'

Ozzy chuckled, "You do know how that ends, right? But, hey, if you want it..."

He then shook the boy's hand before saying, "And nobody better compare us to Romeo and Juliet. We're not planning on committing mutual assisted suicide anytime soon."

  Clarissa laughed, and said "Wouldn't we be more like Shrek and Fiona?  Or better yet, like Harimad in The Blue Sword."  She kissed Ozzy's temple, still laughing, and spread her wings wide, making his anime-geek friends gasp in wonder.

  One of them said "Ozzy, are you sure you didn't do some unspeakable favor for the goddess of luck to get a real woman like all of our wildest fantasies, but even better, because she can FLY too??"

Ozzy chuckled and said, "I like that. Shrek and Fiona. I do look like an Ogre now, anyway. And I dunno about any LUCK goddesses, but one of our friends is Zeus' daughter. Heh, maybe he put in a good word for me?"

  Clarissa blinked, and said "Seriously??  I didn't know that, Ozzy.    That's some pretty potent parentage.  You really DO have friends in high places!"  She leaned over and snagged several extra cans of whipped cream, getting more chocolate, french vanilla, and regular whipped cream flavors.  She grinned.  {{Might want to get a small fridge for the bedroom, just for the whipped cream cans.}}

Ozzy nodded, "Yeah, it's Meggers. Her mom's an immortal Chinese sorceress, and her dad's the Incarnate of Zeus. Yeah, Megs is as powerful as she is for a reason."

He did indeed snag a small fridge from the housewares department before going to produce, and getting them some strawberries to share.

  Clarissa shook her head, and said {{Wow.  Room mates with a demigoddess billionaire, and she doesn't tell a soul about it.  Holy crap.}}  She ruffled his braid tip up, and tickled his cheek with it as she laughed, adding "I'm almost curious what the anime club would do if the two of us came to one of their meetings NOW!"

Ozzy laughed as she ticked his cheek with his braid, then replied, "Hmm... probably stare at you some, but let us watch. Like you said, I don't think they'd actually DO anything. They definitely get the hint that you're mine. Not to mention waaay out of us nerds' leagues."

  She said softly "But you're MY Nerd-Anarchist-in-battered-skates, Ozzy.  So how could I possibly be out of your league?"  She leaned around, as he was approaching the checkout, and asked softly {{I think I've had a crush on you for forever.  When you saved me, from that drug?  I fell for you.  I've been yours since then.  I was just praying you wouldn't blow me off as a fangirl.  You're MY Hero, and I've always been a zero to everyone else.}}

Ozzy kissed her and said, "Because you'e an amazingly hot girl, and you were before you got transformed, too. I'm just DAMN lucky."

{{It's too bad your dad wouldn't let you hang out with the 'wrong' crowd indeed. We're the ones who tend to do LESS stupid stuff, since we don't much care about fitting in or looking cool. We are who we are. And I'm lucky I didn't. I almost did, to be honest. Would've been the biggest mistake of my life.}}

  She smiled, and kissed him deeply.  The cashier said "Sir?  I have your total.  I read your sign, I'd like to add my congratulations, and wish you a happy honeymoon."

Ozzy smiled and said, "Thanks. Sorry, just, you know, newly wedded bliss and all that."

He then handed the cashier his card, smirking as he thought about how much of a workout he'd given that poor card, lately. Of course, it was hardly like he couldn't afford it!

  Clarissa smiled, and said softly "I'm in the arms of the 'happily ever after' that every girl wants, and so very few ever get to have.  Let's go to our wedding reception, Ozzy."

  The cashier finished ringing him up, and then handed him his receipt and his card.  He asked "Mind if I tell folks I just saw the cutest couple in town today?"

Ozzy grinned and said, "Oh, sure. Go for it. We want the world to know."

He then grinned and said, "Yes, dear. I'll fly us to the reception."

And, once he got outside, their purchases in tow, he did indeed take to the skies towards the Kattakara Estate.

  Clarissa wrapped her arms around him, hugging him all the way to the reception.

--------------->> Kattakara Estate

Ozzy cradled her in one arm, and carried their purchases in the other. That was one of the great things about the new form, he could lift some heavy stuff like it was nothing, now!

---> Kattakara Estate