This is a story I wrote for ChrisW a while back, as an Xmas present. Am posting it here with her permission. I think I tentatively was going to call it "Silent Night". The usual disclaimer of "this fic was not BETA'd, etc," applies to this story. LOL Hope you enjoy! **************************************** The two of them sat sprawled out on the shapeless lumpy sofa at Ken's shack by the airstrip. The picture on the TV before them, sporadically filling with static or occasionally rolling. Neither one of them bothered to get up to adjust the old wire coat hanger that they had fashioned into a makeshift antenna, for they knew it wouldn't do much good. The wind whistled around the small structure, a slight draft coming in under the front door and around the windows. It had started snowing that afternoon, not too heavily, for there was only about 4 inches or so on the ground. But it was just enough to make travel a nuisance and the temperature was predicted to drop well below freezing that night. The remnants of their dinner, (compliments of Joe who had picked it up on the way over--he had coupons), consisted of a loaded pizza, calzone, garlic knots and an order of chicken parmigiana and linguini that had mysteriously wound up in their order (and which they hadn't eaten yet) sat on the yellow kitchenette table. An open case of beer sat on the floor next to the couch, by Joe's side. Sleet whispered against the windowpanes, and Ken snaked a hand out from under the old blue woolen blanket he huddled beneath and turned up the TV volume with the remote. The screechy, tinny sounds of the annual Christmas special, "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" filled the room. "So.... whaddya wanna do?" Joe asked lazily, beer bottle dangling loose from his fingers, his other hand weakly plucking at tuft of stuffing that wormed its way through a hole in the arm of the couch. Ken shrugged, his eyes closed and hands laced across his stomach. "I don't know. It's kind of cold out. What do you wanna do?" An explosive sigh came from his right hand side, and he briefly cracked an eye open. "I asked you first..." then came a pause, before: "Baka." There was a moment's hesitation as he thought, racking his brain. "Movie?" Joe made a disgruntled noise. "What are you? My girlfriend?" Ken chuckled low in the back of his throat. "Mmmm......Pool?" "Too far..." Joe told him, sinking lower into the couch and propping his sock encased feet up on the coffee table. Ken shot him a look but remained silent for the table was old anyway, one of its legs propped up by a faded phone book. "Strippers?" That was it, his last idea. "Too much money." Joe snorted, glancing at him. "Besides, you remember what happened the last time we went to a strip joint." "Hey!"Ken retorted. "That wasn't my fault!" "Yeah, yeah. Says you..." Ken glanced at him, annoyed to see a slight smile curling his friends' lips. "You're never going to let me forget that are you?" he asked, dark chocolate hair falling messily over his eyes. "Nope." Came the immediate reply. He could hear the smile in Joe's voice. "It was all your doing, don't tell me it wasn't." Joe just held up and hand, and said nothing. He sat staring at the TV for a moment, watching the show, then cringed and fumbled for the remote, abruptly changing the channel to some kind of horror movie. Shrieks and girly screams of terror blared from the speakers, followed by the sound of a chainsaw and a car engine that refused to turn over. With a sigh, Joe shifted and reached down to the floor to pull out another beer from the flimsy cardboard box, and handed one to Ken as well. He grunted a "Thanks" and was about to crack the top off it when..... "Merry Christmas," Joe said, unceremoniously thrusting a large white plastic bag at him, where it proceeded to slide onto his lap. He stared at it in confusion while Joe leaned back and took a swig of his beer. Ken arched an eyebrow and studied him for a moment before reaching for the table behind the couch, hand closing over a small brown shipping box, stamped with Japanese writing. "Here Joe, " he said, holding it out toward his friend. Joe looked up, surprise faintly etched upon his features. His eyes flicked from the box, to Ken's face and back again, as if uncertain of the offering. "Merry Christmas." he said, shaking the box at him, indicating that, yes, he should take it. After receiving a mumbled string of words in reply that he thought contained the phrase "Thank You", Ken slowly peeked into the bag, afraid to see what it contained, partially worried that it might explode. But, after realizing it wasn't ticking, he carefully slid his hand inside, and once he sensed no wires, detonators or other accoutrements of destruction, to his astonishment, pulled out a hardcover book. Joe opened the top of the box Ken handed him, the corner of his mouth tipped up as he drew out the item inside. "Hey, a vintage gearshift knob for the G2!" He beamed turning it over in his long fingers. "This is great Ken. Where did you find this?" Ken nonchalantly sipped his drink, "I've got a friend who's got a friend who deals with someone who owns a junkyard. He made a few calls for me." He smoothed his palm across the cover of the book Joe had given him. "The History of Flight." "How did you know I wanted this?" he questioned, a glow in his eyes as he flipped open the cover and leafed through the pages, studying the images on the glossy heavy stock paper. "I overheard you talking about it with Ryu at the Snack a few weeks back." Ken swallowed. "This is an expensive book Joe....how did..." Joe lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "Had some race winnings from the end of the summer that I've been sitting on." "You really shouldn't have....you know...." "Nah," Joe waved a hand at him, almost sloshing beer on the couch. "I owed you one....." Ken smiled to himself, closing the book and put it back in the bag. "Yeah...." He reached down and placed it under the coffee table, pushing it out of the way with his toe, so it wouldn't get ruined. Joe cleared his throat, "Uh... Ken?" "Yeah Joe?" "Ummm....you DO know that what went down at the strip club was actually Jun's idea.....right?"

(continued)....... "Huh? No way." he shook his head, knowing his leg was being pulled. "Yes way." He glanced over at his second who looked pretty serious this time. "Really?" Joe nodded . "Ask Ryu man, he was there when she came up with it." "What? Why?!" he asked, blue eyes growing wide, not wanting to believe it. "You really pissed her off when you....." Their bickering was broken by the abrupt pinging of their bracelets, the bird symbol flashing madly. They traded wary glances, both answering the call within seconds of the other. "What's up Hakase?" Ken asked, as if he didn't already know what their mentor's next words were going to be. "You must assemble your team at once!" Nambu Hakase implored. " A giant Santa Claus mecha has been spotted over the outskirts of Utoland City! It was originally thought to be some kind of holiday decoration or balloon gone astray but it's much too large...." Joe couldn't help but snort at the idea of a Santa mecha, and Ken looked as if he were biting back a laugh himself. ".......has begun unleashing Fruitcake Missiles and Coal Bombs upon the main highway leading into the city..." Ken quickly reached across the couch to slap a hand over Joe's mouth, the blue blanket slithering to the floor. "We're on the way..." " Evacuations have already begun! I'm sending you coordinates to a pick up spot!" the doctor told him frantically. "I pray for your success!" Their bracelets went silent, faceplates gradually growing dim once more. "It figures," Joe snickered, rolling his eyes and shrugging into his coat. "The coldest night of the year, and we get called out for a Santa mecha...." "Yeah it was too good to be true, right?" Ken commented rising from the couch to put on his shoes. He was reaching for his keys, when above the sound of snow and ice, there came a low unexpected rumbling. The ground shook, lights flickered. Ken stared at the ceiling, watching the lighting fixture gently sway, as little puffs of dust fell on his upturned face. Joe ran to the door, yanking it open and stepping out onto the porch. "Shit! Ken, we gotta go!" Ken yanked his coat off the back of the couch, and Joe was already out the door. "Merry Fucking Christmas ! " Joe called out over his shoulder, as he raced toward the G2, keys in his hand. The sound of the car roaring to life split the night and Ken was right behind him. The front door slammed closed, rattling the window next to it. He didn't worry about locking it. Ken wound his scarf around his neck and hunkered down in his coat, as he rushed down the porch steps, sliding across the snow and ice as he quickly made his way across the airfield toward the hangar. His breath hung in the air and he could see the taillights of the G2 already winking out, disappearing into the swirl of snow and darkness down the road. He yanked open the rusty doors to the hangar, cursing as he cut his hand. A thin trickle of blood ran down his fingers, making bright red splotches on the dirty concrete floor. With practiced ease he climbed up on the wing of the Cessna, and pushed the canopy back, sliding into the seat. He could feel the ground shaking once more, stronger and longer this time. Mouth set in a grim line, he made all his preliminary checks and fired up the engine. Within moments a white and red plane came gliding out of the hangar and soared into the air. It climbed higher, into the clouds, clouds that were suddenly illuminated by bright rainbow patterned light. A light in the darkness. On the horizon, a faint fiery glow could be seen in the distance. Utoland City was burning, dark smoke rising into the air. And inside Ken's shack, the TV could still be faintly heard broadcasting the sounds of the horror movie they had been watching. The shrieks and screams falling upon ears that could not hear them.

And I can just hear "Christmas At Ground Zero" echoing throughout the Santa Mecha! (https://youtu.be/It-KcebEfW0 if you'd like to hear it!)

Was nice to read it again! So cute to see them grumbling at one another and yet still giving each other incredibly thoughtful gifts. I wonder how hard it is to be serious when dealing with some of the weirder mechas! LOL EW

But what happened next?

Becky, that's easy! Galactor's mechas go *boom!* and the Science Ninjas go home.