The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

[cityship]

The plantsuits and space age clothing are so warm they almost forget they're in an environment that's negative seventy degrees Fahrenheit, (-21 degrees C). This would likely explain the snowball fight right in the middle of the mission. The mission that they've all forgotten. Remember the mission, guys? The mission to revive the Spirit of Giving? That mission?

They have to revive the Spirit of Giving hidden away in its own pocket dimension, accessible only by a portal they probably can't find. Where could this portal be? It could be anywhere! It could be under the ice, under the sea, at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.

The portal could be... suddenly wavering in the sky above them, like the aurora. Yes, there it is up in the sky, pushing the clouds out of the way to expose the sky overhead, caught in its three-month night, the stars sparkling in the frigid air. The sweeping colors probably remind them of the view from Obs Deck, and as it descends down from the sky closer to the snow, it bathes them all in a curtain of flickering pinks, greens, and blues. The edges of it burn white and then the portal opens up to a white space, that they can't see into. There is the delicate sound of bells coming from somewhere.

Their snowball fight did this.

The spirit thrived on joy, after all. What else would be the key to its home?

Well, what are you waiting for, folks? Dive in.

[ooc: tag away.]

Comments

Stepping Through

[cityship]

Well? Go on. If you dare.

Re: Stepping Through

[ihasvision.livejournal.com]

Shawn pauses in the snowball fight to wipe snow out of his hair, and looks up in the process. "Yo guys! Isn't that the portal thing we're supposed to be looking for?" He calls out.

Re: Stepping Through

[enter-aeneas.livejournal.com]

Aeneas's head popped out from the middle of the field, suddenly aware that there is something glowing above them.

A very big something.

"I...hmm," Aeneas trilled, unearthing himself and taking a moment to shake out the frozen bits of snow stuck in his fur, "That would certainly make sense."

He looked around expectantly. Well? Who's first, eh? Aeneas certainly isn't.

Santa's Workshop It Ain't

[cityship]

There's a castle. They find themselves in a valley of snow, and there is a castle there, made of ice, or perhaps crystal that merely looks like ice. It's beautiful, but cold and lonely looking. When they step inside through the main doors, they'll see beautiful floating candles that have flames that burn all different colors, that reflect on the crystal, creating prisms and kaleidoscopic arrays of light.

Eventually, as they go deeper, they'll walk into a wide open hall, full of warm fires that display different sites from all different places in the world. None of them are particularly reassuring. There is war and poverty, hunger and apathy. This world has fallen so far, and its people have grown so distant from each other.

The room is, oddly, empty, even though there are chairs and the like all over. But they'll likely get the distinct feeling that they're being watched.

[ooc: Keep this one thread, and it'll be very short and just involve whoever gets to it first, because we have to whiz through this.]

Re: Santa's Workshop It Ain't

[so-pregnable.livejournal.com]

"Hellloooo?"

Kon's voice echoes a little.

"Anybody here?"

The Spirit

[cityship]

They're being taken to the spirit, down the long, cold halls, and into a room with a pedestal. There, buried under the ice, an old man sleeps. Or maybe it's a young woman. Maybe it's not even human-looking at all. Despite being cold and frozen, despite its deep sleep, it seems to shift and change before their eyes.

Re: The Spirit

[is-the-ultimate.livejournal.com]

Shadow couldn't help but blink as he saw the Spirit. This was it. It was odd though. They said they were going to save Santa, and yet, it changes from the jolly old man to someone else. Shifting and changing all the time.

"This is it, huh?" Shadow said, a bit awestruck.

Re: The Spirit

[demon-alessa.livejournal.com]

Odd. Not surprising, but certain not something one saw everyday. Alessa got closer to the ice, putting her hands it and stretched herslf against it. She closed her eyes, and for a moment to looked as if she were falling asleep, or at least trying to listen to the Holiday Spirit. She didn't make a move, and if anyone was going to say anything, she ignored him.

She opened her eyes. "Fine," she said aloud. "I'll help."

Gear

[cityship]

It's time to gear up and head out. Some can stay behind to work on more complex toys and devices, but the rest are given gear.

"They're magical sacks," says the imp. "They'll produce anything you need--it's the last of his magic that still works. Now lemme show you the garage."

There are no reindeer, not anymore. No, instead there are countless classic cars, capable of flight.

"They've got built in GPS and GLS--that's Giftgiving Locating System, that will help you find people to give gifts too. They're charmed to fly ten times faster than the speed of sound without exerting any G forces on the passengers or disturbing the atmosphere in any way. They also have built-in cocoa makers in the dash. There should be enough to carry all of you where you need to go."

"Oh, and before I forget--the sacks can give you your costumes of choice."

Re: Gear

[starlightace]

Nanoha reaches into her sack, curious ... and pulls out a headband with a little pair of reindeer antlers on it, which she promptly puts on.

"It's kind of cute, don't you think?"

Re: Gear

[lackofdarkwings.livejournal.com]

Matt went straight into the sack eagerly, and pulled out a bright red santa suit complete with all the trimmings. "SWEEEEEEEEEEEET!" he drawled, putting it on hastily and holding his arms out. "How do I look? Good?"

Re: Gear

[gogopowersuit.livejournal.com]

Samus is kind of a tall woman, she reaches into the bag and pulls out the only female costume that would fit her. It may or may not look just like this (http://i49.tinypic.com/rldvyt.png).

She is just kind of staring at it at the moment.

Toymakers

[morphitudinous]

Back in the workshop, the chime of metal on metal is heard.

There's Billy hard at work on some 'geeky' toys: ones that hover, measure, transform, and crack nuts with the sleekest of designs. The sort of toys he'd always wanted as a child, made possible by the bountiful supply of the workshop.

He's planning to follow the others out soon. He's already dressed himself in a blue and white outfit reminiscent of his Ranger uniform, topped with a simple blue hat. Before he goes, though, he'd like to make sure he can brighten an inquisitive kid's day.

Maybe, he hopes beyond hope, that mini-planetarium or complex pattern generator will inspire the receiver to explore their world and make it better.

Re: Gear

[bonnypiperlad]

While Jamie takes a sack, he's a little too busy watching the others to immediately open it up. Some of those outfits are very amusing - Roxie's, in particular. He's having a hard time not laughing outright at her expression as she comes back in.

So it's rather fitting when he does decide to take a look, the first thing he pulls out a slightly different version of an elf outfit. There's a somewhat strangled noise that comes from his direction, and he attempts to stuff the outfit back in before anyone sees what it is.

Re: Gear

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara loved all of the outfits: they looked fairly colorful, and she wouldn't have minded trying a few on herself! However, Sheeana had been quick to tell her that where she was going the dress was considerably less forgiving (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/elpedrososama/Muslim_girl_karachi1870.jpg). That was fine with her though: the outfit was still nice, and when did she get the chance to have her hair curl in the front?

"All set!" She said, grinning.

Re: Gear

[runnerwithagun.livejournal.com]

Ronon was itching for a real mission and all he got was this. He didn't want to give out gifts, he wanted a fight. Oh well. He'll take whatever off-ship action he can get, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Why would I want to wear a costume?" He mumbles to himself after recieving a sack. Ronon didn't understand this Earth tradition at all.

Re: Gear

[beyondgotham.livejournal.com]

Terry thought about donning a Santa suit... but then again, his Santa (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cf/MartianManhunterRossAlex.jpg)'s costume would probably be a bit... chilly. And he didn't really feel up to painting himself green.

"Y'know, I think I'm just going to stay with the Batsuit," he said to no one in particular, pulling his cowl on. Besides, he already knew that the suit could function in the artic... now, here's hoping this artic trip was better then the last one with the Justice League.

Besides, he was more interested in the cars then the costumes. He couldn't afford a flying car of his own back home, but he knew how to drive them, and had always wanted one. He was also willing to bet he was one of the few people here with experience driving one of these.

Re: Gear

[compromise-wolf.livejournal.com]

Leaf isn't quite sure what to make of this entire thing-human traditions are more than a little bizarre to her-but since she's here, she'll assist. Even if she'll be mildly confused while doing so.

She sticks her head into her sack to give it an experimental sniff. When she pulls her head back out, she finds she's gotten reindeer antlers stuck around her head. A shake fails to take them off, as does pawing at them. The Talon heaves an annoyed sigh and tries to ignore the jingling of the bell hanging from one of the antlers.

Re: Gear

[nothawkingbird.livejournal.com]

"Anything in purple?" Kate wondered as she fished around in the sack. She wasn't sure completely on what the attire of choice would be for the particular holiday. Probably something a bit more modest than the others.

Re: Gear

[not-prncss-tldr.livejournal.com]

Lafiel pulled her ambassador's uniform (http://safebooru.donmai.us/post/show/274269/blue_hair-cat-diaho-highres-lafiel-long_hair-point) from the sack, let it hang from her hands and smiled at it, the first time since landing. She had disliked this idea of "elves" as slaves, been ready to give a piece of her mind (and possibly her fist) to whoever was running the operation...but there didn't seem to be any here. Stacy had estimated wrongly, it seemed.

Re: Gear

[goddamnwingman]

Seeing some of the other outfits people were getting, Dick's a little apprehensive. Not that he hasn't worn his share of potentially embarrassing costumes--the less said about Tamaranian clothing, the better--but he's not exactly looking forward to it.

He reaches into the bag and pulled out...his costume. The Nightwing costume, only the colors were wrong. The blue across the chest is a deeper blue and the black has been changed to white. It even came with a mask. Blue, thankfully, not white.

Dick snorts and shakes his head. "I guess you guys can just call me Snowwing for today," he says with a laugh, carefully enunciating each word.

Re: Gear

[actuallyahero.livejournal.com]

"Choose our own costume, huh?" Shadow Link muttered, looking into a bag. What sort of costumes were they talking around.

Putting his head into the bag might not have been the best choice. For suddenly he felt a pull and was in the bag.

And then spat right back out, in a full Santa's Elf outfit.

"...the green I can deal with, but the bells...." Yeah, he's twitching.

Re: Gear

[indigoblueberry.livejournal.com]

Indigo slides her hand along one of the cars. Ten times the speed of sound... She couldn't maintain a speed like that. It would be necessary. Besides, the lovingly polished car (http://www.cargurus.com/images/2009/07/21/14/37/1958-chevrolet-corvette-convertible-roadster-pic-12190.jpeg) seemed to draw her. She smiles as she slides her hand across the leather seats. She hefts the sack up and pulls out her uniform for the mission (http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/78078543.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF193AC1AEE55EEB657A5EA65E7B80B462E12A7CFF610D5B4FC25) and gives it a critical eye before nodding.

Adjusting the cap on her head first, she slips it on, then slides behind the wheel of the car, starting it up. With a small smile, she revs the engine. "I could get used to this."

Re: Gear

[sexygman.livejournal.com]

Booth is rather amused by the costumes, but he decides to forgo one for now. He's worried that somehow embarrasing pictures will get back to Brennan or maybe the lab (though he's not sure how that would happen). Besides, the classic cars are getting his attention at the moment anyway.

"Man, these are awesome! I'd love to take one of these back home with me" he remarks.

[livestoannoy]

Costume? No way. You were not getting Marco to dress up in any of the ridiculous outfits he'd seen the others getting into. He had his dignity. Well. Some dignity.

...Except his sack was moving. And something was clearly trying to get out of it.

"No. Way." Marco said, when a reindeer poked an antlered head out of the sack. "You have got to be kidding me."

He tried to push the reindeer back into the sack - "I am so not acquiring you," he muttered under his breath as he battled with it's antlers - but without much success. For all that Marco wanted the reindeer in, it clearly wanted out.