Axel's 12th birthday party on this day, December 23rd, was a small one. He was, after all, hardly known to any of the Vanguardians, so those who showed up briefly enough did so out of their respect for Dr. Henry Quantos, who had become the boy's unofficial guardian ever since he showed up. And Axel himself found it difficult to relate to such different individuals all at once, so he wasn't bothered by the fact that the Vanguardians who showed up for his birthday party did so only briefly before going on with their own personal lives. He was pleased by an unexpected gift, however:
"Hey, Axel," said Tayden, carrying a box with wrapping-paper and a ribbon around it in his arms, Drake Marshall standing next to him, "the team pitched in and picked this up for you."
"Wow," the boy replied, genuinely surprised by the notion. "Thank-you! Thanks everyone! What is it?"
"Just open it up," Drake said, a few other Vanguardians stepping over to watch.
Axel quickly tore the wrapping paper open and found a short box with a lid and holes on each end to carry it. He pulled the lid off and found that the box was full of comics. The 12-year-old picked out one comic at random and said, "COOL!
Disco Steve Adventures!" He quickly flipped through several issues and said, "Holy cow -- the whole series is here!"
"Heh, yeah," said Drake, "Doc told us you were a fan of the show, so we figured we'd track down the comic based on the series for you at the local comic-shop."
"There's even a
Dynamiteens mini-series in there, featuring Disco Steve, Trivia Lad, and... uh..."
"Timmy Trust, the Time-Boy!" Axel finished. "Wow! Thanks! There's even a
LocoMotor Golden Age Special and even one featuring
Giovacchino the Super-Cat, too -- cool!"
"Don't mention it," said Drake. "Well, I hope you had a happy birthday, Ax. See you later, pal."
"OK, bye."
Dr. Henry Quantos walked up to Axel and whispered, "That was nice of the guys, wasn't it, Axel?"
"Yeah," the boy replied. "I guess I misjudged some of them a bit."
"Now open up
my present, Doll-Boy," said a pretty 12-year-old African-American girl who stepped up next to him and was an inch or so taller than him.
"H-hi, Denyce," Axel said, blushing. He took the present she gave to him and opened it up. "Hey, it's a couple of Walkie-Talkies -- cool!"
"Yeah, just give one to me, and we can talk whenever we want," Denyce said. "Latisha got something for you, too. Here." She gave him a small box, which he unwrapped. He looked at the blob of dried clay, not sure what it was he was looking at. Denyce whispered in Axel's ear, "She made it herself in school -- it's supposed to look like your dog."
"Oh. Ohhhh... it -- it looks just like Mandy!" Axel said loudly, looking at the 8-year-old Latisha Piper, who was standing just behind her dad, Kit Piper, and smiling shyly. The boy walked over to them and said, "Thanks, Latisha. I really like it."
Latisha looked at him once then looked down at the floor, still smiling but remaining silent as always. It was almost a year ago that she had seen her mother die right before her eyes, and she hadn't spoken a word since.
"Thanks to you, too, Mr. Piper," Axel said.
"Hey, kid, call me Kit," the man said. As Axel walked back over to Denyce, Kit leaned over to Priest and said, "Now there's something I'm not too sure I like."
"What?" Priest asked him. "Because she's too young to date?"
"Well, yeah, but it's also the other thing..."
Priest didn't understand.
"The boy! He's a bit... y'know..."
"Short?" Priest said, still looking confused.
"He's white!"
Priest laughed. "Oh, that. Y'know, I hadn't really noticed. It's not much of an issue where I come from."
"Hey, it's not an issue with me, either," Kit said defensively, "except when it comes to my little girls, y'know? I don't really want any blue-eyed, blonde grandchildren runnin' around when I'm an old man."
Priest just laughed again and took another sip of fruit punch.
Denyce was still talking with Axel. "Hey, aren't you gonna open up that other gift over there?"
It was the present that Marc had given him. "Uh... no, I'm saving that one till later."
"Okay, whatever."
"It's getting a bit late, baby," Kit said to his oldest daughter as he tapped his watch. "We gotta get you back home. It's a busy couple of days ahead if we're gonna be able to reach your grandma's place in time for Christmas. The flight's early tomorrow morning."
Denyce sighed loudly and said, "Fine! I guess I gotta go, Doll-Boy. Take care, huh? Have a great Christmas."
"You too," Axel replied as he watched the Piper family leave.
"Dad, why can't we just live
here?" Denyce could be overheard as they left the room. "Like Axel does?"
Kit Piper laughed and said, "No chance o' that, baby... no chance o' that..."
"I guess the party's over now, huh?" Axel said, looking at Dr. Quantos.
"Well, almost, but not quite..." Dr. Quantos said with a wink.
Axel began, "What do you m--?"
"HO-HO-HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!" a booming voice shouted from the corridor beyond the door.
"HA-HA-HA! IT IS BEING A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, DA?" another voice sounded, equally as loud.
"What th--?!"
Suddenly, the double doors to the lounge flung open, and in stepped two large, beefy men in Santa Claus suits. One had a golden beard that appeared to be real, and the other had purple skin and an obviously fake beard.
"We two kings of La Perdita are..." the first Santa sang in a stiff, formal manner.
"...being bringing gifts we be traveling far!" the other Santa added in a thick Russian-like accent.
The first Santa shook his head and said, "It's 'bearing gifts we traverse afar,' you dunderhead."
"Who is being calling a dunderhead, comrade?" the second Santa said. "It is YOU who are being the dunderhead."
"I don't know whose idea it was to pair me up with an immigrant who cannot speak the English language, but it speaks volumes of the ineptitude of this organization."
"Mason?" Axel said, recognizing the first Santa Claus.
"Aye, lad," the first Santa said, his irritation quickly washing away as he saw the 12-year-old boy. "I wouldn't miss your 12th birthday for all the riches in the world!"
"Awesome! Now my birthday really
is complete," the boy said, taking a gift that Mason Templar handed to him. Axel looked up at the man with obvious hero worship in his eyes. Templar, an adventurer and expert on ancient artifacts, had come across a cult several weeks ago and rescued Axel from their clutches after he discovered the boy's existence. Axel had been kept a prisoner by the cult for more than a year by that time and was eternally grateful to the man he considered his hero. Mason Templar, however, was not a father-figure like Dr. Quantos was for Axel. Templar had kept a professional distance from the boy, preferring to hire others, such as Mrs. Guadalupe, to take care of Axel.
"I'm glad to see you've been reunited with the Dr. Quantos you spoke of earlier," Mason said, stepping up to the Canadian doctor and shaking his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Doctor."
"And I you," replied Henry Quantos. "Thank you for all you've done for Axel. He owes you his life."
"Oh, that!" Mason laughed loudly. "It was nothing I couldn't handle with the sharp end of my sword! Deuced strange that I've never been able to track those cultists down ever since, though."
Drake Marshall stepped back into the room for a moment, saying, "Sorry to interrupt, but I forgot my jack--" He looked surprised as he looked at the first Santa. "You! What are YOU doing here?" He and Tayden had met Mason Templar several weeks ago when the adventurer had hired a group of Vanguardians left behind in La Perdita while the rest of the team had been at E.P.S. Headquarters in Chicago. Templar had shown himself to be arrogant, rude, and utterly lacking in respect for others, but he had paid the team well.
"Why, if it isn't the fluffy white dragon himself -- Drake Marshall," Templar laughed loudly.
"Well, technically, I'm not the dragon -- that's Drax -- but, well... what
are you doing here, anyway?"
"First and foremost, young man, I'm here to attend the celebration of my young protege's 12th birthday," Mason Templar said, winking at Axel. He then addressed the group that was still in the room (all of whom had stopped talking amongst themselves and were watching and listening to this loud man whether they wanted to or not) and said in a loud (as usual) voice, "Secondly, I've come to become one of you! Ha-ha! I've come to join Vanguard International!"
"Oh, that's just great," Drax mumbled inside Drake Marshall's mind.
"Just when things were starting to get peaceful around here, we have to sign up another 'Jerk Bell'..."
Quote:
As Mason Templar enters the scene, here ends Axel's part in the Christmas Special. Please read AXEL MAGUS AND THE HEIR OF NOSTRADAMUS to follow Axel's 'solo' adventures (filled with lots of guest-stars)...
