"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."