A Merry New York Christmas: Skating

[Sasha Sadovsky]

                    ''Hopefully Omega Red won't cause trouble, Alison.'' He glanced from Omega Red to Harley. ''His skating partner is probably encouraging him to do additional naughty things. I'll have to keep my eye on her as well. We should be lucky Omega Red doesn't have to drain life forces to survive now. His coils and cruel nature could still be problems.''

              Sasha's eyes widened behind his mask. He saw a variety of people. He smiled. ''You're correct. People are kind now. That's good.''

           


 

[Captain Jasper Hook]

              Jasper viewed Brigid motioning for him to follow her. ''I am eternally grateful, madame,'' he said. His tone was sincere. Jasper usually didn't like others, but it was Christmas. He followed Brigid to the Sea Grill. He tilted his head to one side at the sight of a man dressed in red.

           Jasper frowned. ''If anyone is going to harm my younger brother, it's going to be me. Just not right now. I intend to attend the Hook family reunion.'' Jasper turned to Brigid. He smiled. ''Many thanks again.'' He entered the restaurant.


            TBC - Jasper Hook in Sea Grill thread.

[Shinigami]

"Yo! Cuz!" Ichigo yelled to Brigid as he, his sister Kei and their adopted brother Yukio walked over toward the front of the restaurant. "Where's the gang?"

"Follow me, Itchy," Brigid said as she lead her cousins back to the rink area.

"Don't call me that," Ichigo muttered as he nodded to Sasha and Alison. "You two going out skating?" he asked as Harley whizzed by again at the end of the whip. "Remind me not to skate near her! She's skating way too fast!"

[Omega Red]

          Omega Red stepped on the ice with extreme caution. His eyes became wide as soon as it slipped a little. He placed his foot back on the ground. Omega Red viewed Harley continuing to skate. *How long did it take her to skate? Perhaps I'll inquire later.*

           Omega Red saw the new trio. He nodded at him. Part of him was tempted to drain life forces. *I'm not that man any longer.* Omega Red smiled. *I still wish to end Wolverine's life. Eventually.*

[Sasha Sadovsky]

               Sasha saw Ichigo, Kei, and Yukio. He began to nod at them. ''Greetings. I am Sasha.'' He bowed near them. Sasha heard what Ichigo asked about. 

               ''I'm not sure if I'll ice skate. Maybe.'' Sasha shrugged.

[Dazzler]

"I'm not so sure I'll go out skating myself," Dazzler replied as the trio of Ichigo, Kei and Yukio joined her and Sasha. "Where are your, uhm, companions, Kei?"

"You mean Stitch and Pikachu?" the girl asked as she pointed to an oversized bag hanging on her shoulder. "Right here!"

"You better keep them in the bag," Alison said as she looked at Sasha and rolled her eyes a bit. "We remember Pikachu from movie night, but I swore Jubilee called him Pikaboo."

"That's Ichigo's fault," Kei said as she poked her brother in the ribs with her elbow. "He's always getting people confused about them!"

"I see!" Alison replied with a giggle. "Still, I don't think we want to run all over Manhattan trying to catch them, right, Sasha?"

[Sasha Sadovsky]

             ''Pikachu?'' Sasha asked. He smiled as his eyes widened behind his mask. ''Pikachu from movie night! I remember him! You're correct about Jubilee. She did refer to him as Pikaboo.''

        Sasha still smiled. ''If Pikachu and Stitch flee, we may never catch them.'' His eyes were wide with confusion for a moment. ''Stitch? I'm not sure if I saw this Stitch. I definitely remember Pikachu.''

        Sasha glanced at Harley and Omega Red. ''I still can't believe Omega Red refuses to ice skate.'' He shook his head. 

        Sasha approached the bag. He poked it. His purpose was not to cause Stitch and Pikachu to emerge from the bag. ''Pikachu? Remember me? I'm Sasha. Hello, Stitch.''

[Doctor Nemesis]

"Oh no! Do not let that blue critter out of the bag!" Dr. Nemesis shouted as he came running up to where Sasha was looking into Kei's bag.

"Doctor Bradley, you are scaring my protectors!" Kei yelped as the bag slipped off her shoulder and Stitch came tumbling out. Pikachu was close behind. "You two OK?" Kei asked as she looked down at her little companions.

"We do not want some kid with a telephone snapping pictures of those, well, whatever-they-ares!" Nemesis replied as he watched Pikachu look up at Sasha and start softly saying "Pika pika!" to the Russian X-Man. "Well I'll be! He likes you!"

[Benihime]

"Contrary to what Dr. Bradley says, Pikachu and Stitch are not troublemakers," Kei said to Sasha with a big smile. "They do like to be with people, and they do like candy and other snacks. I hope Pikachu didn't interrupt your movie too much. He loves popcorn!"

By now Stitch was looking up at Sasha as well and starting to mutter in some strange language. "Stitch, remember what we talked about?" Kei said as she dug into her bag and found some dried fruit. "Not everyone is going to give you candy, even if it is the holiday season.  He likes these dried apricots, Sasha. Would you like to give him some?"

[Sasha Sadovsky]

                Sasha gasped after Dr. Nemesis ran to him. ''You startled me!'' he informed Dr. Nemesis. He stepped back after Stitch tumbled out of the bag. His eyes widened. Sasha focused on the creature's face. He smiled.

             Sasha squealed in a high pitched tone. ''STITCH IS SO CUTE!'' 

              Pikachu was not forgotten. Although Sasha was a hit man, he still liked cute creatures and his mother.

             ''I remember movie evening,'' Sasha said to Kei. He viewed her removing dried apricots from the bag. He took them. Sasha began to kneel by Stitch. ''We'll be good friends,'' he said to Stitch. He hoped it wasn't just because he was going to feed Stitch.

[Omega Red]

              Omega Red heard a familiar voice. His eyes became wide. ''Doctor Nemesis!'' He saw exactly where Harley was. Omega Red didn't wish to create a scene. He also didn't wish for Doctor Nemesis to see him.

               *I must go to Harley* Omega Red thought. He forgot about the ice as he ran. His eyes widened again after he slipped and fell forward. Omega Red winced the minute his body contacted the ice. He slid to where Harley was. ''Harley! Harley! Doctor Nemesis is here! He might try to return us to prison!'' he said in a somewhat quiet tone.

[Sasha Sadovsky]

                Sasha still smiled at Stitch. He turned to Pikachu. ''I didn't forget you.'' He faced Stitch again. ''Again, you are cute.'' He considered infant noises, but decided not to. He was in public after all.

               

[Jubilee]

Jubilee's head was starting to spin as she tried to keep track of all the students who were skating, but then she turned to see Sasha talking to Stitch and Pikachu and couldn't help but smile. Kei had always wanted people to befriend her little companions, but most people who were not part of the X-Men's world flipped out when she said they were demons in disguise. Her brother Ichigo often bugged her about it. They were cute and friendly and that was all that mattered.

"Hey, Sasha, you finally got to meet Stitch," Jubilee said as she heard noise overhead and frowned a bit. "Oh, that can't be good," she said as she saw the SHIELD ships surrounding some flying pirate ship above them. "Guys, we may need to cut this short if that thing lands. We do not need to be a part of whatever that is."

"Let's not worry about whoever is piloting that ship for now," Alison added as she got out her phone to take a picture of Sasha, Stitch and Pikachu. "Sasha, you are great with those guys!"

"You really are," Jubilee added as she noticed Harley finally coming toward the group to talk to Omega Red as he took a tumble on the ice. "Oh geez. Do you need Doc to check you out, Omega Red?"
 

[Harley]

"What the..." Harley said to herself as she saw Omega Red make his way onto the ice and then take a spill for his trouble. Then she realized he mentioned good old Doc Nemesis and knew why he was freaking out. "Arkady is fine JuJuBee!" she shouted to Jubilee as she raced over to Omega Red and got him on his feet. "I don't trust that old codger any more than you do," she said quietly to her friend as she scoped what was going on around them. "I owe you a hot cocoa. Let's go get one now," she said as she motioned to a vendor's cart on the far side of the rink. "There's an exit over there. We can split if Doc gets crazy. I am not going back to his cells ever again. I'd rather eat fire ants."

[Sasha Sadovsky]

                ''I wish you could be my pet,'' Sasha said to Stitch. After hearing Jubilee's voice, he turned to her. He began to smile behind his mask. That was when he heard Alison. He was more than happy to be in a picture. As long as he still wore his mask. Why cause multiple nightmares with his skeletal face?

             Sasha turned to Omega Red after the latter fell on ice. He winced. Although Omega Red was a villain, he still had quite a bit in common with him. Sasha turned to Stitch. ''Do not go anywhere near the ice. If you're harmed...''