A Very HIVE Christmas (HIVE/Open)

Nina soon arrived in a festive vehicle and parked it in an alley next to the building, soon making her way to the top of the building. She was also in festive attire and shivering too "sorry, traffic, I got your text, it kept me warm on the ride here" she said as she pulled her phone out of the only natural pocket she had, seeing that her costume had none and checked her text to stop it from vibrating before returning it to her pocket "I knew I should have brought a coat" she muttered as condensation escaped her lips.

No stars were out tonight. A black cloud had enveloped the city, clinging to its atmospheric boundary like an alien symbiote. From above, the collection of rooftops looked like a level plain, layers of snow smoothing out the surfaces of concrete and tile to give a camouflaging uniformity. As he flew passed, each descending snowflake which caught his skin felt like an insect bite. Hugh huddled up more and braved the weather. He wanted to increase the radiance of his diodes and thus generate himself a bit of warmth, that however would have made him stick out like a sore thumb on this drab evening.

Approaching out the silent night was an apparition which must have seemed to Quinn and Nina like Father Christmas himself, except for a lack of accompanying bells. The pixel construct Pix rode upon was shaped like a sled. And he himself had donned a festive garb befitting the occasion which must have given a disconcerting silhouette.

As the HIVE Leader landed, his rails cut two deep rivets in the rooftop snow. He stood and surveyed his friends, whistling as he did with an impressed air, "Yowzer." Hugh's eye was drawn to their attire. He didn't understand the need to expose themselves to the elements, but he whole-heartedly approved. ^_^ "Good news. I finally decided on a group uniform. You two will be wearing those outfits for a long time."

It didn’t take long before the first arrival had turned up, and it was Nina. A smile appeared across the face of Quinn, glad to see that she wasn’t the only one to get dressed in festive attire. In truth, it didn’t leave too much to the imagination - a good thing. Perhaps the downside here was that the costumes lacked the utility of what they would normally wear. But it’s Christmas, sacrifices need to be made for the benefit of others. “Glad I could help”. The cold didn’t at all bother Quinn, you could see the cold atmosphere having its effect on the World, but Quinn just didn’t feel it – a good trade-off for the fangs.

Soon after it was Pix who arrived on the scene, finishing the trio off with his festive pixelated reindeer costume – nothing quite says ‘Christmas’ like a Christmas Costume from a video game. Pix didn’t do anything to hide his response at seeing the two gals, and it was a rather unexpected reaction. He always seemed to be more composed than that, more professional. But I suppose he can’t do that with the reindeer costume compromising his authority as leader of HIVE. “Well, if we’re going to be doing bad, we may as well look good doing it, no?”. Quinn remarked at Pix’s comment. “You two ready to roll? I’m guessing you’re both a lot colder than me”.

Nina couldn't help but giggle at Pix's reaction "well if that's how you feel I'll come into the base wearing sexy outfits more often" she said as she smiled at her two comrades "so it's just us three then? Eh, all the more loot for us I guess" she said with a grin as she rubbed her arms a little, shrugging at Quinn "try living in England naked all the time...well...with fur but...what I'm saying is I'm use to feeling a breeze in certain areas" she said "so I'm ready when you guys are" she said with a smile.

No one said no. Great! Hugh would draft the command for the communal notice-board tomorrow. He fancied Kris might have some complaints when he returned from being Russian, but they would get a skirt more to his size. Speaking of the Russians - Pix remarked at the tenacity of some people. A country under siege and still everyone was committed to finding an outrageously priced give for their loved ones. It was commercialism at its finest. The Spirit of Capitalism bringing together a people in hardship. There may have been talk of rationing and currency debasement but a shipment of the latest I-pad had made it through the blockade - so spend-spend-spend!

Pix sat back on his pixelated sledge, its sides rising and reforming to that of a toboggan. "I spent all afternoon securing our contingencies if things go south. We're as ready as we can be. Anybody need a lift down?" He patted his makeshift transport.

Perhaps the Russians had come over with festive cheer and embraced the holiday of giving by letting the latest toys, iPads and whatever else pass through. It was a pleasant thought, one that seems hard to believe considering the recent bombardment of Russian forces in Jump City. "Good". A quick reply from Quinn. Who would then proceeded to open the camera app on her phone. She held it in her right hand there after, and looked towards the two as if to say; 'you know whats coming', and they should. Classic Quinn. "But first, lemme take a selfie". Quinn would then happily skip over towards the two and stopped between the two, pulling them both closer before snapping a photo on her phone. A #XmasSelfie that would surely make its way onto Instagram a little later on. Follow @QuinnBee.

Quinn put her phone away now, like Nina, in the only pocket available with these costumes before skipping over towards the edge of the building. A glance down, it didn't appear to be TOO high up. With little thought, the Santa-Snake would leap off the edfe of the building and land, feet first atop a van below, before taking another small jump down to the pavement. She turned and looked up after, expecting the others to have followed. "Uhh... come on!".

Nina shook her head and walked over to Pix, climbing into his toboggan and settling in "I'm a fox Quinn, not a cat, foxes don't land on their feet" she said "and I'd rather not fall on my butt and get wet" she added as she smiled at her friends "lets cause some mischeif" she said with a smirk as she blew on her hands to keep them warm.

As Nina sat down more pixels could accumulate to complete the construct. A large windshield would materialise at the toboggan's nose, tracing backwards until it forced both Hugh and Nina to hunch. There was no back wall, "We don't got seatbelts, which is a shame, because we definitely need them." Pix reached back and guided Nina's hands to link around his waste. Their transportation rose into the air, acquiring colour at the same time, and looking vaguely reminiscent to a vehicle from Tron.

"A mention; I just finished visiting thirty-one locations around Jump City. All of them retail outlets of some description. All of them armed with state of the art security sensors. I am quite familiar with the model - TIBERIUS sells it after all. And though I can not shut it down. I do know how to set the alarms off with nothing but a half dozen pixels." The assault on the Jump City galleria tonight would be complimented by a mass raid of department stores city wide. The authorities would know something was happening - they just wouldn't know where. Pix took a moment of pure concentrate with his pixelkinesis to put his plan into action.

"We're a go!" The toboggan took off like a rocket. Making contact with the ground, the feeble struts disintegrated sending the craft into a long slide across the galleria parking lot. Snow flew from their path until at last the construct made contact with the window - entering the mall with a huge crash which tore apart the fragile craft and sent its occupants sprawling across the lobby until they both stopped beneath a humongous Christmas Tree set up in the mall's centre. Pix smiled up at Nina draped across him, "Also cut phone lines. Neutralise their manpower and we're sitting pretty." (^_^) The mall sirens wailed overhead, a cacophony complementing similar noises spread across the city.

It seemed that the other two had elected not to travel on foot, and instead via Pix’s construct. However now, you could be certain they probably regretted that decision. Quinn didn’t arrive until after the others, stepping through the entrance that they had a created as a result of crashing through the mall. Quinn would skip over to the central area of the mall where the two had crash landed, it was quite the site to see. “…and that’s why we shouldn’t let Pix drive anything, ever”.

Nina gave out a little groan as she rubbed her backside, climbing off Pix and dusting herself off as she stood up "yeah, I've learned my lesson" she uttered as she looked around and sniffed the air a little, she had plenty of options, it was just a matter of picking the most helpful and efficient one, looking up at the alarm speakers she twitched her ears a little, it was already starting to give her a headache, so she decided to head to the security room, yes through the vents, blasting the door open with her fox fire would probably be bad as it might damage the equipment inside.

Using the lingering smell of coffee and doughnuts she made her way to the security room and dropped through the vent, looking around and finding the alarm button she pressed it and switched it off, before helping herself to some deliciously glazed doughnuts nearby, but she then noticed the door was open and blinked "heh, poor guys don't even get Christmas off" she said as she closed the door and turned the inside lock on the door, she also pushed what she could find in-front of the door, table, chairs, the refrigerator.

With a mouthful of doughnut she then pressed the button on her earpiece communicator "hey guys, you might want to move from there, the mall cops are on their way, I've held myself up in the security room but I don't know how long that'll last" she told them as she walked over to an abandoned coffee cup and sipped it, her face suddenly wrinkling "eugh! Espresso..." she uttered as she put it back and ate more doughnuts to get rid of the taste, all that cold outside had depleted her energy levels a lot just trying to stay somewhat warm like any other warm blooded mammal.

"We're ready for them." Pix replied through his communicator, for his part crouched behind a barrier used for forming an orderly queue. He could just about see the strained faces of rushing mall cops dash across the food court before disappearing in a glaze of sweat which demonstrated that they hadn't had to run for some time. Coupled with this their most potent weapon would be something along the lines of 'shaming juvenile delinquents by pointing out the cameras'. Maybe they had a silly name for what they did like - JUSTICITY! or - LAWMANIA! Either way Pix didn't think they would give Nina much trouble. Pix's plan of letting Quinn deal with it was going well so far.

Pix spoke into his communicator again, "Newscast Quinn: You're ready for them. Make it quick. I need to find some kind of shopping trolley." O_O The sprite had risen from his hiding place and paused suddenly when faced with an unexpected audience. A third mall cop has drifted in riding a mobilised scooter. Like one of those things you saw OAPs ride around on, but comically outfitted for pursuing people around a mall.

Pixels coalesced around Pix's hands, increasing them to gargantuan size, "You're gonna want to step off." (◣_◢) In a few short minutes Pix had his shopping trolley.

“My pleasure”. Quinn would say in response to Pix as she raised her right hand to her ear, shutting off communications with her ear piece. That was something that boggled her mind a bit, why did no-one else in HIVE use an earpiece? Its hands free! Who’s got time for lumping around some bulky communicator, ugh.

Regardless, Quinn was located at this moment in time on the upper level of the shopping mall. Peering over the edge, she could see the two security guards patrolling the floor below. In one hand they each had a pistol, in the other a torch. They were moving almost back to back, looking all around them as they shone their light into the darkness. Alas it was time to act. Quinn would leap down from the upper floor, crashing down upon one of the security guards to impale him face first into the floor.

“What th-“. The other one exclaimed, turning around quickly to see where the thudding sound came from. All he would see if the body of his partner, face down in a pool of his own blood. He ran over and knelt down, as he checked on his buddy. Mere moments later, and he too would fall as Quinn slashed across the neck of the second guard with her karambit knife. He fell down gasping for air briefly before dying beside his friend. Quinn then raised her right hand to her earpiece again, now opening up her comms link with the others. “Job done. Keep me posted about anyone else, Tails”. Quinn would say before disappearing into the darkness yet again.

Nina had managed to open up a little supply room by kicking it open after a couple of attempts, her eyes sparkling to a whole supply room of doughnuts and a slushie machine and a coffee machine and a vending machine, it was a mall cop's little lunchtime paradise, it even had a fridge and freezer, it was like a little kitchen. Nina decided to get herself a coffee slushie, adding plain crushed ice from the slushie maker, adding in some cold ground coffee, milk and sugar, putting a straw in it and smiling before she heard Quinn and blinked, rushing back to the control panel "oh, yeah don't worry Quinn I'm on it" she said before sipping her coffee slushie and taking another bite of a doughnut.

Kristen had been patrolling around the Jump City Galleria that evening, and the manifestations of her normal prey seemed to have been dwindling since the vanquishing of the last greater demon. That being said, when she heard disturbances originating from inside the mall, she landed on the roof to get a closer look through a skylight.

Inside, she saw a teen about two years older than her with interesting abilities - he was evidently a meta-human. Further down, she saw a figure skulking through the shadows on the second floor, and nearby the figure were two dead mall cops. These people were obviously quite dangerous, and since there were no previous responsibilities that Kristen needed to attend to at the moment, she quietly opened the skylight and dropped through, landing deftly on the crest of a pillar of the 'Santa's Village' display. She dropped to a crouch and desummoned her wings. The pillar was tall, reaching close to the skylight and particularly wide in diameter, probably by about a metre. She would not be visible to Pix if he didn't have a reason to look up, and Quinn was likely too far away to notice her unless she had a reason to look in that direction.

Kristen was not part of the Titans and had no way to contact anyone; she was in essence, alone in this plight. She realized this was probably the first irrational decision she made in a while, and mentally kicked herself for it. Her plan was, for now, to remain hidden until another hero showed up - certainly some alarms must have been raised by now?

However, she did not know about Nina's position at the security guard post, and if there was a camera that was able to pick up her form on the crest of the tall pillar - however unlikely - she would be detected. She also tried to keep her 'permeating aura' under wraps as well, but a passive effect to her presence could only be suppressed so much. It was likely that anyone sensitive to that sort of thing would pick it up as well.