Crystal Ch. 17

Waving it off, she walked out the bedroom and went to get something to drink. Just before she entered the kitchen, Crystal turned around slowly. One of the cushions on the couch looked like someone was sitting there, but there wasn't anybody there at all. She knew it wasn't Ghost, he wouldn't even think about doing something like that since he had Olivia. It could have been a place where Dark Matter sat in the morning, probably thinking or watching TV before leaving.

Shrugging it off, she went and got her water to drink. As she drank her fill, the water cleared the sleepiness from her mind and she realized that there wasn't a plausible reason why the cushion looked like someone was sitting in it.

She made her ice bat and marched over to the weird looking seat and swung down on it, knowing if there was a person sitting there, they'll have a brain freeze so bad, it'll set a new record.

Surprisingly, it didn't hit someone nor did it hit the cushion. As a matter of fact, it hit something suspended in midair.

Backing away slowly, she looked around her as the heroes and heroines appeared before her eyes one by one around the living room.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRYSTAL!" they shouted as they raised their hands in unison.

"Oh my . . . oh my gosh!" Crystal cried in surprise.

Each of the heroes and heroines were dressed in blue clothes and had on blue party hats. All around the room were blue ornaments, blue balloons bumping against the ceiling, and blue presents near the windows.

"How did I not see this?" she asked.

"Hello, invisible hero standing right here," Ghost answered, pointing at himself.

"But how did I miss ALL of this?" Crystal asked.

"Ghost and I found out we could merge powers just a few hours ago," Commander Shinobay grinned. "As it turned out, anything behind my shield is turned invisible when he and I are touching."

"That is so cool!" Crystal smiled.

"Wait, then how could she see me?" Jasper growled. "I almost got whacked!"

"I couldn't cover everything in the room or else it would've looked empty," Commander Shinobay answered. "She probably would've dashed out the door if it looked like that."

"And besides, we told you not to sit on the couch," Hyper scolded. "It's your fault for not listening in the first place."

"This is so amazing!" Crystal squealed. "Whose idea was it for all of you to come in here?"

"The only person we could permission from that wasn't you," Cherry replied, nodding in Dark Matter's direction.

"Thanks a lot," Dark Matter said. "I was trying to keep her from realizing it but I guess it was too obvious."

"I like the surprise, really I do," Crystal laughed with the others as she gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Good, now let's get this party started!" Zipper cheered.

Quick as always, he rushed around the room, passing out plates and silverware to everyone as Dark Matter brought the candles over. With the help of Jasper, he placed the lit candles in the cake perfectly and gestured for the heroes and heroines to line up in front of Crystal.

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!" they began to sing. "Happy Birthday dear Crystal! Happy Birthday to you!"

"Thanks everyone," Crystal sniffled. "I'm glad I have each and every one of you in my life . . . including you Jasper."

"Phew," Jasper sighed. "I was beginning to think I've been forgotten."

"There'd be no point," Crystal shrugged. "If I did, then someone else is just going to fill the void."

"Time for cake!" the Commander barked.

"Dark Matter could you do the honors?" Crystal asked. "My hands aren't very steady."

Instead of doing it the traditional way, Dark Matter snapped his fingers and thin lines appeared, running through the cake evenly. After they disappeared, Dark Matter lifted a piece and placed it on Crystal's plate. Right after she received hers, other pieces of the cake were lifted and placed on the other heroes and heroines' plate. As everyone began to eat, three knocks on the door informed them someone wanted to join in on the party.

"Door," Commander Shinobay informed, not looking up from his piece of cake.

"Zipper," Jasper demanded lazily.

"Dark Matter?" Zipper asked, wanting permission first.

"I'll be right back Crystal," Dark Matter said as he stood up.

"You don't have to get up," she said, shaking her head. With a little sweetness, Crystal asked, "Jasper, could you get the door since you're the closest?"

For those who were watching him, they saw a look honor spread across as Jasper's face as he slowly rose to his feet. However, the moment he turned, that look of honor was quickly replaced by a seething glare as he went to open the door.

"Who is it?" he asked, despite having a clear idea who would've been knocking on other side of the door on this type of day.

"It's Icicle and the rest of the Superior Six," was the answer.

"Crystal, it's your mom," Jasper called back to her. "Do you want her to come inside?"

"Of course, let her in," she replied. Following orders, Jasper let the Superior Six enter the room and followed them back to the party. "Hey everybody, welcome to my surprise party."

"I knew we should've left earlier," Icicle grumbled as she gave her daughter a hug. "You can thank Raptor for making us late."

"We already talked about this in the car," Raptor sighed. "I have to make sure I'm clean or else I'll smell. Do you want me to remind you what happens when I smell?"

Before a second even passed, everyone suddenly started answering all at once.

"I'd die first," Icicle shuddered.

"No," Reaper groaned.

"We don't need to hear that again," Sorceress sighed.

"No thank you," Osprey denied.

"Spare me," Dr. Walton beseeched.

"Don't do it, Dad," Zipper pleaded.

"No way," Cherry frowned.

"If you do that voice thing again, I'll kill you," Cinnamon glared.

"Hell no," the Commander answered.

"Who'd want to listen to that again?" Jasper scowled.

"I'm good," Ghost responded.

"Please no," Hyper shook her head.

"Not on my birthday," Crystal grimaced.

"No, no, no," Dot said, covering her nose as she moved closer to Shell and farther from Raptor as much as possible.

"I don't that's a good idea," Shell replied as he rubbed Dot's back.

"I think we get the point," Solarium answered.

"Wait a minute, what happened?" Dark Matter asked.

"Ask Zipper when you two are by yourselves," Crystal replied.

"Don't ask me," Zipper shook his head. "Please don't ask me."

"Okay, I won't," Dark Matter said.

"Now that we've avoided that disaster," Crystal exhaled, "it's time for me to get my presents."

"My present is giving you today and next week off," Commander Shinobay said as he reclined in his chair. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Is it alright if I take some people with me?" Crystal asked.

"You can only take three," Commander Shinobay replied. "I'll need the rest for duty."

"Thanks Commander," Crystal hugged him.

Now the big question was, who was she going to take? Hyper was already on the list to go but Crystal realized she had a choice to make: should she have a double date week or an all girls' week?

"I'm sorry Dark Matter," Crystal apologized, "but it's been a while since I've hung out with my girls."

"It's your birthday present," Dark Matter said.

Everyone quickly grabbed the presents they bought or pitched in to buy and stood in a line, the Superior Six in front and Dark Matter bringing up the rear.

"A new credit card?" Crystal asked her mom after opening up the present.

"Of course not sweetie, it's debit," Icicle replied. "The Superior Six and I couldn't agree on a present to get you, and since we knew you're old enough to make your own choices, we decided to let you buy your own stuff. Your spending limit is $500 though, so spend it wisely."

"I will," Crystal said, looking at Hyper with a big grin on her face.

Grabbing the next present, which was a lengthy present, Crystal tore the wrapper off to see the laptop hidden underneath.

"That's from us," Cherry raised her hand along with Osprey.

"Really? Thanks, I've never had one before," Crystal hugged them.

"Yeah, we thought you might want to go back to school one day," Osprey explained, "so we decided to take care of one of the most expensive things you'd need."

"Ooh and it's blue too," Crystal smiled. "I love it already."

Setting aside her new laptop, Crystal grabbed an oddly wrapped present from Dot and Hyper and opened it. Inside was a purse full of shampoos and conditioners, new hair brushes and combs, a deluxe make up set, and a pocket mirror.

"Wow," Crystal said, shocked at all the stuff.

"Did we overdo it?" Dot asked, clinging onto Hyper.

"No, this is perfect," Crystal beamed, giving each of them a hug. "Thank you."

"Let me give you my thanks too," Dark Matter added as well.

"For what?" the girls asked.

"Because when she comes out that bedroom," Dark Matter explained, "after two hours looking like a model, I'll know she was using your present to get that perfect look."

"Well then you better thank us too," Zipper stepped up with Shell.

"You guys pitched in too?" Dark Matter questioned.

"We only got the purse," Shell answered. "But we did a lot of waiting for them to find the right stuff."

"Two days!" Zipper specified. "We answered questions and stood like buffoons for two whole days!"

"You guys have made noble sacrifices," Dark Matter solemnly said. "I'd be honored to call you guys my brothers."

"We humbly appreciate it," Shell and Zipper bowed while the females rolled their eyes.

"Noble sacrifices my ass," Dot glared. "They made us promise them to pay them back when we came back from the store."

Both heroes got a mischievous look in their eyes as they bumped fists while the male heroes gathered around them and clapped them on their backs.

"Since I'm saving the best for last," Crystal said looking to Dark Matter as the males returned to their seats, "Jasper is up next."

Knowing which one was his, Jasper handed her his present, which was revealed to be a CD case, filled with CDs.

"You got me some CDs?" she inquired. "What type of music is on them?"

"Orchestral music," Jasper looked away. "I . . . um . . . saw how you were dancing and enjoying the Los Angeles Philharmonic when they were playing at the ball, so I compiled a list of all their music and put them on some of those CDs. I also put other worldwide orchestral bands on those CDs and some amateurish orchestral music in there as well. And if you find some that I didn't put or want to make and add your own, I got you some blank CDs in there too."

"Wow, that's impressive," Crystal radiated. After some thought, she said, "Come on, you deserve a hug too."

And despite the snickers of some of the other heroes, Jasper received a hug from Crystal. He tried to keep it hidden just how happy it made him by crossing his hands in front of himself.

"And now it's time for the best for last," Crystal announced picking up Dark Matter's present. Opening it revealed an envelope from which four rectangular pieces of paper dropped from. Picking them up, Crystal placed them in the light to see them better. "What . . . are these . . . tickets to . . . ALASKA? You got me cruise tickets to Alaska?!"

"And three other people," Dark Matter nodded. "The cruise ship had two suites left when I called, so I booked those two as fast as I could, even though it ate up all the money I had saved up. It has a whole lot of amenities that I haven't checked out but it should be well worth discovering."

"Did you get all the paper worked out?" Crystal asked.

"No, I didn't know who you'd be taking with you," Dark Matter denied. "Everyone that's going will have to fill out their own paper work, have their own passports, and get their bags packed before next Thursday."

"Well that sucks," Crystal pouted. "I wanted to spend my week with the girls, but now I'm really tempted to spend it with you."

"Don't worry about me," Dark Matter said. "Besides, if you go with the girls, you get to show me all the cool stuff you bring when you come back."

"I know, just let me think for a moment," Crystal told him. A second later, she turned to Commander Shinobay and asked, "Can I split my week in half between who I want to spend it with?"

"As long as there's only three people with you at a time," Commander Shinobay shrugged.

"Yes!" Crystal cheered. "I'll spend the first few days with my girls and the last few days double dating on a cruise. It's perfect."

No one could disagree that her idea was thoughtful as well as clever. Hyper was probably the one who agreed the most especially since she knew she was going on both trips. She whispered in Crystal's ear and they both smiled and giggled at whatever she said.

"Commander, is it alright if I start my vacation next week?" Crystal asked.

"I don't care," Commander Shinobay shrugged.

With all of her friends and family together, and all future plans made, Crystal settled back down next to Dark Matter and enjoyed her birthday party.

"Hey, since we're here eating cake and all," Dark Matter said, "tell us some funny, heroic tales that each of you have done by yourself. You first, Mom."

"Why are you starting off with me?" Sorceress smiled.

"Because you're an illusionist," Dark Matter replied. "There's no telling what you made people see and do."

"Okay, I'll give you that," Sorceress conceded. "Um, I guess a heroic tale of mine would be the first time I publicly used my powers. A very nifty thief was robbing banks and eluding the police constantly, so I thought I should help. What I did was set up an illusion of a bunch of construction workers who were building a new highly securitized bank, because of all the bank robberies of course. Naturally, everyone had to fall for it, so I was hard pressed to stay awake by taking cat naps and consuming caffeine. When it was completed, the very first night, that nifty bank robber arrived and started taking all the money out of the vault. When he was finished, he found out, to his surprise, that he was in jail cell. As it turned out, I had made the newly made jailhouse look like a bank. I could never forget the look on his face."

Each of the heroes and heroines burst out laughing as Sorceress imitated the way the thief shook the metal bars and demanded to be freed.

"Okay, I'm next," Cinnamon nominated herself. "I've been a heroine for almost five decades, but every time I think of this tale, it brings a smile back to my face. Back in the day, there was this really dangerous group of men and women named the Happy Haters. Evidently, it was consisted of a bunch of poor people who thought that their state, city, and district needs were being ignored because they didn't see any progress happening. So they ended up concluding that wealthy people were to blame and started attacking them and looting them of their belongings. When I heard about it, I knew my time was coming, since I was pretty wealthy just like those who were being attacked. So, I decorated my house lavishly for Halloween, since it was October, and waited for them to show up, which they did, exactly on Halloween. I made sure to stay out of sight as I watched them destroy my house. When they were finished and had gathered at the front door to leave, I teleported in front of them in my costume, which made me look like a demon. Since I was mad and pranking them at the same time, I had this sadistic edge in my voice when I said, 'Welcome to Hell.'"

All the heroes and heroines couldn't contain themselves as they hysterically laughed at how Cinnamon said those last words.

"My turn," Icicle said next.

"Go for it, Mom," Crystal cheered.

"Back when I was a roaming heroine," Icicle started, "I found myself on the west coast in Oregon. You know, the state between Washington and California, right? Well, as I was looking for a quick lunch, when I overheard the threat that might hit the west coast. Being a heroine, I listened until I knew enough about where and when the threat was going to take place. When I arrive, I saw a few hungry people standing off to the side as if they were waiting for something and decide to give them my lunch, despite me being hungry myself. Once they ate, I tell them to get somewhere safe and go off looking for this threat I heard, which turns out to be this man making outrageous demands and declaring to anybody who'll listen that he's the god named Poseidon, the one who controls water and makes earthquakes. So you can understand that this is a pretty big deal, especially on the west coast. Since no one is listening to him though, I humor him for a moment and demand he show me some proof, at which he snaps his fingers. The funny thing is that for ten minutes, this dude is standing there snapping his fingers while nothing happens and wondering why nothings happening. As it turns out, the people who I gave my lunch to and told to leave were the super powered people that the man was forcing to help him. So you know what I did? I dusted my shoes off, wiped the sweat off my hands, made a water whip, and spanked him all the way to the police station."

Tears were coming down Crystal's eyes as she and the other heroes and heroines laughed at how Icicle showed how she spanked the man.

"It gets better every time I hear it," Crystal chuckled.

"I guess I'm next then," Raptor announced. "Hey Dark Matter, you said you've never heard of that time I horribly smelled before? Do you want to hear it now?"

Before he could answer, Dark Matter found himself looking at everyone else pleading or threating him while shaking their heads no.

"Uh . . . no?" he guessed.

"Are you sure you're not influenced by peer pressure?" Raptor asked.

"Damn Raptor, he said no!" Cinnamon yelled. "Choose another story!"

"He's a man, so stop trying to goad him and let him make his own decisions!" Raptor shouted back.

"I said not on my birthday," Crystal reminded him.

"Sorry Raptor, I have to listen to the birthday girl," Dark Matter denied.

"Fine, I'll go with my second favorite story," Raptor grumbled. "This happened a couple of years before Dictator Jones had made up his own band of villains. So, when the Superior Six had gotten started and been around for a few months, we found out there was a villain named Friction who had super speed and electric powers. This dude was unstoppable. Everyone knew it was a job that only I could do, but it was apparent, to me, that this guy was faster than I was. And when you have super speed like I do, it's hard to even marginally increase your stamina. But I knew it needed to be done. So for days, I worked my body to move faster and stay accurate. And when it finally was time to get him, I got him and here's how: going at an extremely fast speed means the body burns calories, right? Well, it also means that the body needs to be in sync to keep the speed it is going. So every time he'd snatch something from someone or purposely push people out the way, it helped me get closer and closer until I was able to tackle him to the ground. AndthenhestartedscreamingandcoughingsoIgotagoodsmellofmyselfandIsaid,'WHOOOOOO,boyIstink!'AndthereasonwhywasbecauseIhadn'ttakenashowerbetweenwhenIhadstoppedtrainingandwhenFrictionhadmadehismoveandsoyouliterallyseethetrailofmybodyodorwhereverIhadranandifyoucouldn'tseeit,thensurelyyousmelleditandthat'sthereasnwhyI'mnicknamedtheStinkingSpeedster."

While he was standing there as if it was something to be proud of, everyone else had their ears covered as they tried to block out his voice from their ears. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to hear it since their ears weren't covered until he had finished speed talking.

"I told you I'd kill you if you did that voice thing again," Cinnamon yelled as she stood up. "It's fucking annoying!"

"You'llhavetocatchmefirst," Raptor smirked, gone as he left his voice behind for them to hear.