* DISCLAIMER * This is a non-profit work of fan-fiction involving characters created and owned by Marvel Comics Group. * WRITTEN BY * Samy Merchi * ARCHIVED AT * http://mash.yok.utu.fi/~samerc/fanfic/index.html * DEDICATED TO * Malea, Terri, Sequoia, Kaleko, Indigo, KayJay, Sabre, my sister and anyone who reads this story! * STARRING * Sunspot! Karma! Magma! Darkchilde! Douglock! Chance! Marrow! The FALLEN ANGELS in ***************** * FIRST AND TEN * ***************** * CO-STARRING * Danielle "MIRAGE" Moonstar Matthew Michael "DAREDEVIL" Murdock Mary Jane Watson-Parker Thor Odinson * ALSO STARRING * Tandy "DAGGER" Bowen Johnson Tyrone "CLOAK" Johnson Peter "SPIDER-MAN" Parker Coy Leong Coy Nga * GUEST STARRING * Edwin Jarvis Anthony "IRON MAN" Stark Natalia Alianovna "BLACK WIDOW" Romanova Father Michael Bowen P. Norbert "FIXER" Ebersol * AND STARRING * Val Kilmer as BULLSEYE * CONTINUITY * This story takes place on a Christmas 1-3 years in the future. The new team of Fallen Angels has formed during this year, and have just met X-Force for the first time a couple of weeks ago. *************** * CHAPTER ONE * *************** The New York sewer system. Not a place where you'd want to spend your Night Before Christmas. Especially in pursuit of a psychopath holding a baby hostage. The eerie red light illuminated the sewer tunnel, little rats and other critters scuttling over to cover from its way, only visible a few eyeblinks on the edges of the light as it sweeped back and forth, before disappearing into the surrounding darkness. "You sure you'll be okay, DD?" "Don't worry, Spidey", the blind superhero answered. "I've been dealing with Bullseye for years now. I can handle him." His voice echoed off the tunnel walls with a very gothic feel of certainty. "And even if I wasn't sure of that", he continued, his hyper-keen senses picking up on Spider-Man's reluctance, "this is personal." "All right", Spider-Man replied, frowning underneath his mask. "I don't like it, but I'll go." He slowly, hesitantly, crawled up the sewer wall and ceiling over to a manhole, and then paused, looking down at Matt. "Be careful." Daredevil smiled, and glanced upwards at Spider-Man, though it was a gesture he did not need to make -- he was blind, after all, and instead of a sense of sight, he had a 'radar sense' which allowed him to see in every direction at once. "I will. Now go on. Tell MJ I said hi, and I'll drop by sometime tomorrow." "Gotcha", Spider-Man replied, and moved the manhole covering aside, and then slipped up thru the hole, leaving the sewers. He quickly replaced the manhole cover, and then looked around the streets silently. The snow. The silence. The lights. All messengers of Christmas, hope, peace, joy. He didn't notice it, but his expression slowly changed from a worried frown into a relaxed smile, and underneath his mask, he looked up towards the glittering stars in the sky and whispered, "For what it's worth, Big Guy -- take care of Matt, okay?" *** "Barkeep! More mead! More wenches! So sayeth THOR, GOD OF THUNDER!" 'Josie's' was not usually this crowded on Christmas Eve. However, with the special guest of tonight, just about any bar would have been crowded way past its maximum limit. And with a noticeably high female content. "So tell me, handsome", a Latina girl sidled up next to the blond, red-caped Norse deity, "is it true what they say about guys with big helmets...?" As if to emphasize her question, she ran a fingertip caressingly along the left wing of Thor's helmet. "Bitch", another woman muttered to herself. "Tramp", commented yet another, looking away. "Gawd I'm jealous", sighed a third one. "Hey Thor", called out a man from the sidelines. "Where's yer hammer?" Indeed, Mjolnir was conspicuously absent from the Avenger's conspicuous persona. "Molly, watsisface?" "Mjolnir!", a woman beside the man snapped, and thwacked him upside his head. "Mjolnir, you stupid-*ss loser! No wonder you can't get a job, Frank, when you can't even remember the name of Thor's hammer!" "Aye, the fair maiden speaketh the truth", Thor intoned after rapidly emptying a beer mug. "Verily, mine hammer doth respond to the name of Mjolnir, and so hath it done since the faraway days of mine youth, when the All-Father had it forged by the master dwarves of Nidavellir." "Nita-what?" someone quirked an eyebrow. "Nita, stupid! That's what Namorita's called for short! He musta meant her." "So where *is* it?" repeated the man who had posed the original question. Thor quirked an eyebrow. "Mjolnir? I...uhh...must have mislaid it." "I thought it returned to your hand when you called it?" "Yes, of course", Thor nodded calmly. "I meant that I...ummm...left it at Avengers Mansion, where my courageous comrades dwell -- for nowhere else could mine awesome weapon be as well protected whilst it doth recharge itself!" "Oh. Okay." "Bummer." "Cool." "Are those biceps real?" "Can I rent you by the hour?" Thor mentally sighed in relief as the topic was dropped. (( That was a close call... )) *** "-- Mr Claremont, what *does* your job actually entail --" CLICK! "-- and they're coming to the Dead Man's Curve at 210 mph --" CLICK! "-- we're content Stark Solutions will be the next year's --" CLICK! "-- Oh, Ridge!" "Oh, Brooke!" "Kiss me!" CLICK! "-- the full ramifications of Desert Fox are anyone's --" CLICK! "-- the Wakandan judge gives an 8.3 --" CLICK! "-- want the truth? You can't handle the --" CLICK! "-- Christmas interview with Johnny Storm of the Fantastic --" CLICK! "-- women who want to have sex while shopping, next on Rick--" CLICK! "-- ight Rider. A shadowy flight into the dangerous world --" CLICK! "-- whether Latveria intends to join the European Union --" CLICK! "-- so this man walks into a bar --" CLICK! "-- Yes, Virginia, there *is* a Santa Claus --" CLICK! "-- yuh haf just been erased --" CLICK! "-- the Genoshan civil war is calming down a bit for Chris--" CLICK! "-- GGGNNNNHHHAAAAAA!!!" "AGGGGGGGGHHHH!!" "*pant*" "*pant*" Chance raised an eyebrow, lowered the remote for a moment, and then shook her head. "I'm not THAT bored..." CLICK! *** Dani had her arm wrapped around Roberto's as they walked out of the theatre among a few dozen other people. She was smiling, content, happy. "So, what'd you think?" she asked, looking at his eyes. "I think I liked it." "I was quite fond of it, yes", Roberto nodded in agreement, and then gave a teasing smirk. "And of Tzipporah. She not only looked like you, but she was just as stubborn as you are. She had your fire." "I don't look *anything* like her!" Dani claimed with wide eyes. "She does *not* look like me! I think you've lost it finally, Roberto Da Costa --" "Does too", Roberto said, sticking his tongue out at Dani. "Does not." "Does too." "Does not." "Does too. And I'll prove it! Hang on a moment --" Roberto turned towards one of the people coming out of the theater. "Excuse me, sir -- you were just to see 'Prince of Egypt', no?" he asked. The man nodded, and quirked an eyebrow. "What, is this some kind of a poll --?" he asked. "I don't really have time, I'm already late for a meeting..." "Just five seconds of your time, sir", Roberto smiled, and then nodded over to Dani. "Now, is this lovely...stunning...*gorgeous* goddess of a woman an exact replica of Moses' wife, or not?" P. Norbert Ebersol blinked briefly at something, and then looked to Dani, and nodded eagerly with a faint smile. "She looks exactly like her. I could easily see her playing the part if they made a live-action version of the movie." Roberto smiled triumphantly, and gave a nod. "Thank you, sir", he said, and turned over to Dani, putting an arm around her shoulders and starting to walk away from the man. "See?" he smiled as the Fixer also headed away from the chance encounter, stuffing the twenty dollar bill into his pocket while wondering why the pair looked so familiar... *** "...and Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there..." "Nga, hush!" Xi'an Coy Manh whispered to her younger sister, who was fidgeting uncomfortably on the church bench. Xi'an was sitting at the end of the bench, then Nga to Xi'an's right, then Leong to Nga's right. "Sit still and listen." Nga bit her lip, and squeezed her legs together, putting her hands in her lap and rocking very slightly back and forth, not stopping her fidgeting. "Shan..." she said after a few moments. "I need to go to the bathroom..." Xi'an closed her eyes and sighed inwardly. "Didn't I tell you to go before we left?" she whispered, getting embarrassed, like she could feel everyone staring at her. "Can you not hold it for half an hour longer?" "I --" Nga whimpered quietly, and bit her lip harder, closing her eyes as she tried to concentrate, but to little avail. "I don't think I can hold it for half a *minute*, Shan..." "Merveilleux!" Xi'an groaned in frustration, and then glanced towards the pulpit where Father Bowen was still speaking, and then back to Nga, and then over her shoulder towards the lobby where the bathrooms were. Then, she stood up, trying to be as silent as she could, and quickly smoothed over her dress before stepping away from the bench, making room for Nga. "Be quiet when you walk, at least", Xi'an said quietly. "Those heels make sound easily." Nga nodded and stood up, then quickly stepped away from the bench, smoothing her dress as well, and then headed towards the back of the room, trying to make as little noise as she could. Then, she disappeared thru the doors to the lobby, and out of sight. Xi'an sighed to herself and shook her head a bit as she sat back down, crossing one leg over another. Briefly, she glanced to Leong, and noticed his attention was somewhere quite different than Pere Bowen at the pulpit. Instead, it was on a blonde woman a couple of rows in front of them and to the right. Xi'an let a slight smile come to her lips, shaking her head a bit, as she returned her attention to Pere Bowen. "...when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, 'a pair of turtledoves...'" *** "-- AND A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREEEE!" The group of carolers took a bow after finishing the song and the children sitting on the floor started applauding vigorously. Only some of the oldest ones, the ones who had started getting into the rebellious teenager phase, refused to clap and instead just sat on chairs near the wall, or were completely absent from the little gathering. The head of the orphanage, Rebecca Livingstone, stood up and walked over to the carolers, extending her hand to the head caroler. "Thank you so much -- the children are certain to appreciate this, my dear. I can not thank you enough for coming by." Mary Jane Watson-Parker shook Rebecca's hand with a smile and said, "It's really our pleasure, Ms Livingstone -- especially mine, since my husband and me lost our baby... At least I can make other children smile", she said with a wistful twinkle to her eyes. "I can understand that", Rebecca smiled, and placed a hand onto Mary Jane's shoulder comfortingly for a moment, before looking from her to the rest of the carolers. "If you'd like some drinks or snacks, there are some set up in the dining room..." "That sounds good", Mary Jane smiled, and glanced over to the rest of her group, then back to Rebecca. "Though I think some of us are getting tired and are just about ready to head home..." "It *is* late", Rebecca agreed. "At least this was the last place on our schedule today", Mary Jane commented, and then glanced towards the doorway leading to the dining room. "Well, I think I'm going to have something to drink, at least, before heading home..." She turned towards her group of carolers, and said, "Those who'll be heading home, I'll see you all on Monday -- have a good Christmas, guys!" Part of the carolers pulled their coats on and departed -- perhaps a quarter remained behind, most of them heading to the dining room for some coffee and cookies. One of them stayed behind. "No, not like that", one of the little girls insisted and showed the caroler woman who was playing with her, how to pat hands together with her. "Like *this*!" she explained. "Here, here, here, here, here, here. See? It's easy?" Illyana Rasputin let out a slight chuckle to hide her tense nervousness, and nodded a bit as she sat cross-legged on the floor opposite the girl. "Okay, let's try again..." She took a deep breath and started patting her hands together with the girl to the rhythm of the syllables. "Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black, with silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back --" She paused her motions. "Ah, spit and hades! I don't remember how it goes after that..." The girl giggled. "You're silly, auntie 'Yana", she smiled, and said, in a very pretend-grown-up voice, like she was teaching a child, "She asked her mother, mother, mother, for fifteen cents, cents, cents, to see the elephants, elephants, elephants, jump over the fence, fence, fence..." "Okay, I think I've got it..." Illyana smiled. "Let's try again..." "Illyana?" Mary Jane called from the doorway. "Are you coming?" Illyana glanced towards the doorway, and grinned. "Just a minute", she said, and then reached behind the little girl's ear, and pulled out a large gold coin. "Here. Merry Christmas." The girl's eyes went almost as wide as the coin was, as she saw it. Tentatively, she touched it, and then took it. She looked at it from various angles, her fingers fiddling with it, trying to pull the gold foil off the chocolate she incorrectly assumed was inside. "Um...how does this open?" she asked after a while. Illyana grinned widely as she stood up. "It doesn't", she simply said, and walked off, leaving a very confused little girl behind. She'd suspect the truth a few minutes later, but never know for sure that it was solid gold, until another Christmas Eve a dozen years later when she would have it analyzed. *** One of the advantages of Amara Aquilla's mutant power was that she never felt cold. Which was proving useful as she walked down Fifth Avenue in a dress and sandals in December. Of course, she drew the occasional glance, but New Yorkers are nothing, if not used to weirdos. She paused in front of a building's front steps, and looked at the doors leading inside. A dark frown slowly rose onto her face, as she recognized the entrance to the Hellfire Club, and she wondered to herself -- had she just happened to end up here during her walk by accident, or had she subconsciously *wanted* to come here? Selene. Her blood enemy. Possibly her ancestor. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm to avoid causing earth tremors in the area. Selene. She tensed up. Her hands clenched into fists. Selene. Selene. Selene. She gritted her teeth. (( In control. In control. Stay in control )), she repeated to herself, as memories flashed thru her easily-angered mind of the time she and Rachel Summers had infiltrated the Hellfire Club in an attempt to kill Selene. She could do it again. Oh yes she could. She could at least try. Selene would deserve it. To die horribly in her flames, be roasted alive in the name of everyone she had ever killed, every life she had ever stolen away -- -- like Mother's. Amara closed her eyes, and bit her lip. Like hers. Amara took a deep breath, filling her lungs with intoxicating air, and then turned her head away from the doors of the Hellfire Club, almost needing to use her hands to accomplish turning her head. She walked away. Selene would live today. And Amara would be alone. No matter what Selene had done, she was the only person outside Nova Roma who had lived in the same culture. Who could...understand Amara, truly. And Amara hated that. It kept her awake at nights, lamenting over the fact that the only person who could really be her friend, was destined to be her enemy. She tilted her head slightly, as her eyes fell upon another building nearby. Perhaps *not* the only person after all? 890 5th Avenue. She only hesitated a few moments at the front door, before rapping her knuckles against the wooden door. After only a few seconds, really, she realized there was a doorbell next to the door, and pressed it instead, and waited. The door opened soon, revealing a butler. "Yes?" "You are Jarvis, the Avengers' butler?" Amara asked with a rather emotionless face, trying to restrain her inner impulses to treat the man as a servant. Over the years she had lived outside Nova Roma, she had learned not to act superior to most other people -- but to those whose position was a subservient one, in this society -- butlers, maids, cleaners -- it was always harder to maintain the illusion of equality around them. "Yes, that is correct", Jarvis answered. "Is there anything I can do for you, miss?" "My name is Lady Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla", Amara stated. "I wish to --" She paused, and started the sentence over. "I am a --" She hesitated over the word. "-- friend of Hercules. I would like to see him, if he is in." "Ah", Jarvis commented, and then continued with, "Regrettably, I must inform you that Hercules is not at residence at the moment. Perhaps you would like me to --" "Did I hear the name of valiant Hercules be spoken?" came a booming voice, and a few moments later, the tall form of Thor, God of Thunder, appeared in the doorway behind Jarvis, towering over the butler. "Alas, faithful Jarvis doth speak the truth. I fear our Olympian comrade doth not dwell at this abode at the present time. Knowest thou him, fair maiden?" "I do", Amara replied. "I have...spent some time with him." "Ha!" Thor laughed, and smacked Jarvis heartily in the back, almost causing the butler to lose his balance and tumble headlong onto the steps. "Truly, my pleasure-seeking Olympian friend doth know how to pick the fairest mortals to dally with --" Amara shook her head, but no other visible reaction came to her face -- no blushing nor any signs of embarrassment. "I am afraid that is not quite what happened...Thor." She hesitated over the name, unsure of how she should react to the Asgardian deity. "We are more...friends. My name is Lady Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla --" "Lady Amara?" Thor quirked an eyebrow, his expression growing serious. "Aye, Hercules hath told me of your time together, and indeed, a wondrous story it be. And I do with mine own eyes witness that his tales of thy beauty were far from false. Alas, I was about to away, to investigate a strange occurrence that hath been brought to mine attention, but perhaps we can meet later, and I shall try to help you to find Hercules?" "That would be -- appreciated, Thor", Amara replied, as a slight shiver ran thru her body as it had evidently decided how to react to Thor with some fear and revulsion, as the Norse god reminded her of her own time in Asgard, when she had magically been made into a faerie. "But that will not be necessary", she added a bit hastily. "It is nothing urgent." "Very well", Thor said, and stepped past Jarvis onto the lawn outside, and then twirled his hammer. "Fare thee well, Lady Amara, and I wish thee well in thy quest to find noble Hercules." With that, he tossed his hammer skywards and flew off, hanging onto it. "-- as I was saying, Lady Amara", Jarvis then said, interrupting Amara's watching after the Thunder God, "if you would like to leave a message, I would be more than happy to deliver it on to Hercules." Amara considered that a few moments, then nodded. "Very well. I would appreciate it if you let him know that I am living in New York now, and can be reached at the Da Costa International building in Midtown." Jarvis nodded. "I shall do so." He glanced briefly at the street, and then looked back to Amara. "Pardon me, but I see no taxi waiting for you, and it can be dangerous for a young lady to wander the streets after midnight. Would you like me to call you a taxi, perhaps?" Amara turned around, and started walking away, then suddenly flamed up, turning into her Magma form, and glanced over her shoulder at Jarvis. "No thank you. I can take care of myself." She then continued to head out to the street, powering back down to her human form. "What an unusual young woman..." Jarvis quietly said to himself before closing the door and heading off to make certain each of the socks was stuffed with gifts. Especially the Beast's. He always wanted to get the most presents.