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.}}