A Merry New York Christmas: Skating

[Jubilee]

Jubilee was getting a tiny bit peeved at everyone because they were not making it to the rink fast enough. "At least Dazzler is planning to show up, and I hope Sasha as well," Jubilee said to, of all people, Quentin Quire, as he laced up a pair of skates. "Have you skated before, QQ?"

"Yes, once," Quire said through gritted teeth. "Ask Logan."

"You mean Professor Logan, right?" Jubilee said with a wink. "You're just thrilled he's going to be teaching again, right?"

Jubilee stopped and saw Jack Sparrow and his friend James Hook making their way through the crowd above the rink and down the stairs to one of the eateries near the rink. "That can't be good," she noted as Quire looked up and shrugged his shoulders. Some man seemed to be following them. "That dude looks like Santa!"

"Since when does Santa wear a bowler hat with holly leaves in the band?" Quentin asked as Jubilee waved her hands as if to say "I have no clue" about that detail.
 

[Sasha Sadovsky]

             *Hm. I thought Alison was with me* Sasha thought. He walked and adjusted his mask at the same time. Sasha smiled as soon as he saw Jubilee. He approached her. That was when he looked back.

           ''I'm not sure where Alison is now, Jubilee. I thought I saw her earlier.'' Sasha nodded at Quire. He turned and saw Jack with Captain Hook. He also saw a man following them. *Why are Jack Sparrow and Captain Hook here?*

            


 

[Captain Jasper Hook]

               *It's good to be out of the cell* Jasper thought. He smiled. It was a rare kind smile. Jasper saw Jubilee with Quire and Sasha. He ran to them. ''How are you?'' he asked everyone.

              Jasper also wished to be with his younger brother. *It's Christmas. I'll spare my younger brother's life... for now. That will be his Christmas present.* Jasper began to frown. He remembered capturing Captain James Hook's betrothed during one Christmas. Jasper still remembered all of Cecilia's tears.

[Dazzler]

"Where did I lose Sasha now?" Alison said to herself as she ran down the steps to the Rockefeller Center skating rink. "Sasha! I'm sorry. A couple of fans stopped me and wanted to take selfies."

"I'm glad you all made it!" Jubilee said as she looked at Sasha, Dazzler and Jasper Hook. "Quentin said some of the other students will be here soon. A couple of them stopped at that big Pokemon store because they wanted to get a...radish?"

"Rapidash," Quire said as he rolled his eyes. "The horse that has a fiery mane. Not a salad green." 

The fact Doc Nemesis had let his "special guests" out for a Christmas break seemed, to some anyway, to be a bit weird, but everyone seemed to be handling it very well. Dazzler was very happy about that. She also wondered if they had tracking devices on them, but she was not about to ask.

"Sasha, do you want to skate?" Alison asked as she adjusted her scarf. 
   

[Sasha Sadovsky]

                ''Alison!'' Sasha exclaimed in a happy tone. He didn't seem to mind that she wasn't present at first. He turned to Jubilee. He wondered which other students were going to arrive. ''A horse with a fire mane?'' Sasha muttered. There was confusion in his eyes.

            Sasha faced Alison. ''I would love to skate,'' he said. He saw Jasper. 

             ''If you harm your younger brother or cause any trouble here...'' Sasha said to Jasper.

                

[Captain Jasper Hook]

                  Jasper saw Alison and removed his hat. After bowing, he wore his hat again. He glanced at everyone. ''I'm not here to attack my younger brother. I am searching for him,'' Jasper said. He smiled.

              ''Don't worry about anything. I'm mostly here to eat,'' Jasper said. That was when he saw a restaurant. Jasper smiled again. ''If I view my brother, I'll just remember humiliating Hook family moments. This isn't his last day alive.''

[Annaliese and Brigid]

"Oh! We found you!" Annaliese and Brigid said as they ran over toward Jubilee. "We ditched Grandma Siofra at Saks Fifth Avenue. She started talking to some old friend of hers, so we waved bye bye and ran here. She knows we're with you guys."

Annaliese waved at Sasha and Alison and then to Jasper Hook. Brigid adjusted the floppy hat she had on so it wouldn't fly away. Both girls tried to ignore Quentin Quire because he was such a pain.

"Captain Hook, we've had dinner at the Sea Grill before," Brigid said with a smile as she pointed toward the restaurant. "They are supposed to have a very good lunch menu as well."

"Grandpa Otto took us there, and then we went skating," Annaliese added as she went to go get her skates. "This is going to be so much fun!"   

[Captain Jasper Hook]

              Jasper blinked as soon as he saw two girls he was not familiar with. He nodded at them. He wondered how long they knew Jubilee. He stepped back the minute Annaliese waved at him. *Are you eager to wave if you know about my past? If you know what I did to prisoners and my younger brother?* he thought.

             Confused, Jasper tilted his head to one side. ''The Sea Grill?'' He saw the restaurant another time. ''Oh. That.'' Jasper began to smile. ''Perhaps we can eat there after we skate.''

                Jasper looked from Annaliese to Brigid. ''You two seem close. Are there times when you don't get along?'' Jasper frowned as his shoulders slumped. ''I did something very bad to my younger brother recently. I'm looking for him.''

                Jasper's frown remained. ''Tell me. Did you see a man with long white hair recently? He is probably wearing clothing from the 18th century. He may or may not wear a hat. Something a bit more easy. Do you remember seeing my brother's hook where his hand used to be?'' he muttered.
            


  

[Annaliese and Brigid]

Brigid looked at Jasper Hook and thought for a minute. "Sure, there are times we don't get along, like when Annaliese takes my clothes and brings them back dirty. But then our older sister Kendra comes in and reads us the riot act. She can be kind of bossy."

"Before we turn each other into frogs or something," Annaliese said with a big grin. "Mom told us about the time she got into a tiff with Cousin Rhiannon, and they turned each other into..."

"That's enough of that," Jubilee said as she gave the twins a funny look. "Your family has done all sorts of weird things. I know magic is sort of out of the bag now, but do we really need to broadcast stuff like we're on TMZ or something?"

"You mean like this," Brigid said as she snapped her fingers and made a small dog statue in a holiday window display come to life. "Or do you mean like when Cousin Rhiannon rode the dragon onto the roof of the Parliament building in London and fed it wedding cake and Champagne?"

"Make the dog be a statue again. Please," Jubilee said as she kept staring at the window. "Before someone decides to buy it or let it run out the door."

"OK," Brigid said as she pouted a bit. She snapped her fingers again, and the dog went back to being a statue. "And you were mentioning the man with white hair, Captain Hook? I think we saw him with Captain Sparrow before."

[Harley]

Harley was all decked out in a very Christmasy outfit, complete with a belled jester's hat, when she ran past the others, got her rental skates and headed out onto the ice rink. "I hope I don't plotz on my face while I'm skating!" she shouted to the others as she scanned the crowd for Omega Red. "I really don't want to visit the emergency room tonight!"

As she skated, Harley saw some moms and dads with their kiddie-poos and smiled. "That's what Christmas is all about! That and getting tons of presents. And eating pie. And...wait. Is that Deadpool on skates?"

Harley did a double-take but decided the guy was not Wade Wilson. It wasn't that Spider-Man guy either. "Oh! It's just some fashionista, club kid, hipster-type trying to impress his girl! Yeesh! Don't be such a show off!" Harley quipped before getting caught in a whip made by a group of skaters she didn't know. "OK, I'll go with it! Jubilee! Get everyone out here. This is fun!" 

[Omega Red]

            Omega Red smiled at the crowd. *I almost wish I didn't have my C-Synthesizer. One energy buffet!* Omega Red found Harley. His eyes widened as she skated. He wasn't sure if he was able to ice skate.

            

[Captain Jasper Hook]

               Jasper's eyes widened for a moment. ''Oh! I didn't know about your other sister,'' he said to the girls. His eyes widened again. ''Turn each other into frogs?'' Jasper asked. He shook his head in disbelief.

         Jasper gasped after Brigid snapped her fingers and caused a dog statue to become alive. Did he wish to know what else she was capable of? Jasper smiled. He nodded.

         ''Aye. That would be my younger brother. Do you know where he went with Jack Sparrow?''

[Sasha Sadovsky]

               ''It's a good thing you two are nice. I would hate to get on your bad sides. Now that I know what you're capable of,'' Sasha said to Brigid and Annaliese. How could he forget about the dog statue that came to life a few moments ago? Sasha saw Omega Red. His eyes widened again.

          Now that Sasha knew what Omega Red was capable of, he wasn't sure if he wished to have a conversation with him any longer. Fellow Russian or not. He glanced at Alison. ''I see Omega Red now, Alison. Be careful near him in case he decides to start trouble.'' Sasha frowned from behind his mask.


 

[Dazzler]

"Don't worry, Sasha," Alison said as she looked away from Omega Red, "I do not intend to cheese off Omega Red or his, uhm, skating buddy Harley."

Dazzler looked around and noticed that, for once, students with physical mutations were not being stared at by the tourists, and no one was glaring at Sasha or Jasper because of their appearances.  "You know, maybe the surge in mystic and Inhuman activity globally is a good thing. No one seems to be upset by mutants at the moment."

"Mystics have always been around. We just never made it so public before," Annaliese said as Brigid motioned for Jasper to follow her for a minute.

"Brigid, please don't wander off," Alison said as she turned back to see Harley still flying around the rink at the end of the whip.

[Annaliese and Brigid]

"I just want to show Captain Hook to the entrance to the Sea Grill," Brigid said to Alison as she lead the pirate to the main entrance to the restaurant. "I saw Captain Sparrow go in there..." she said as she saw a man in a red coat and bowler hat running into the restaurant as well. "And I have a funny feeling that man wants to see him, too. Maybe you better get to your brother before he and Captain Sparrow get into any trouble, sir."