The week passed, and each of the Vanguardians did a hell of a lot of nothing. There was nothing to divert their attention from the Christmas holiday, and even the anti-meta faction on the island had been laying low, especially since a new Vanguard International "fan base" had begun to grow to offset the minority on the island who hated metas.
The fact was that La Perdita was crawling with metas, and everyone knew it in a "wink wink, nudge nudge" kind of way. Jake's Meta Bar was the most visual representation of this fact, of course, but there were many "teetotaling" metas on the island who had never been to Jake's but lived and worked at various ordinary jobs on La Perdita. Most metas had very minor powers, such as the ability to speedread or project their voice elsewhere, et cetera, and thus were hardly a threat to anyone. It was true that there were a tiny minority whose powers were fairly substantial and even dangerous, but they were few in number both in La Perdita and in the world at large among the metahuman population of Earth.
To celebrate the metahuman population of La Perdita (and specifically the island's unofficial protectors known as Vanguard International), a New Year's Eve Party was to be held at and around an old building in the village of Del Mar known affectionately as the "Fish Factory" (since that was what it originally was), and anyone who wanted to come was invited. It was planned as a New Year's party that would rival the other traditional large New Year's Eve parties that were held on the island each year in Puerta Mibela's larger public marketplace and private clubs.
Kit Piper found himself busier than ever as he organized the party with Vanguard Fan Club president Angela Sapperton, an attractive, thirtysomething small business entrepreneur and single mother with one young child.
And the rest of the team was completing the setting up of all the party paraphernalia in the Fish Factory, as the party would begin in only a few hours. It was hoped that this would be a New Year's Eve party to remember...
