[b]The RPGC SAGA 2005:
“Xmas Everywhere”
By Wilfredo Martinez[/b]
Note: This story contains links to pictures. They’re included in the story text. To see them, click on the underlined parts.
A DARK MOTEL ROOM, SOMEWHERE IN NEW YORK CITY, EARTH 616:
Wilfredo was sitting on the bed, staring at nothing in the darkness, his face sad and worried. He was naked, covered only by the bed sheet. By his side, the form of a tall woman, also naked, slept on the bed.
He looked at her, barely able to see her in the gloom. For a moment, he smiled; Jenny was beautiful, and not just because of her large breasts. She looked almost innocent, while asleep. That made him chuckle; but then, he became serious again, and turned to look away again.
However, only a moment later, Jen stirred. Had he somehow awakened her? he worried. He had tried not to; but she woke up anyway. She looked at him, and saw him looking grim.
-“Is something wrong, Wil?” she asked, sleepily. Her hair was an unruly mess now, falling around her face in rings, but that just made her look cuter, he thought.
-“Umm? No, no” he quickly said. “I’m just not sleepy. Go back to sleep.”
Jenny made a face, not swallowing his excuse at all. She sat up beside him (towering about a foot over his head) and gave him a harsh stare. “Yeah, right” she said. “Look, you haven’t been your old fun self today. Something’s bothering you, and I’ve been trying to get you to talk about it all day. If you don’t want to, that’s OK, but don’t act like I’m too stupid to tell.”
That made Wil turn around in shock. “Hey! I didn’t mean anything by that!” he quickly explained.
-“…Me either. Sorry, Wil” she apologized, as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes. “I’ve been having some problems of my own, lately… and I’m getting a little tired of the people in my life not being open with their problems.”
Wil thought about that for a second, then sighed. “Sorry, I guess I’m not a lot of fun to hang around with lately. But it’s not like I want to keep my problems from you… I just am not sure of what is bothering me, myself.”
-“Well” Jenny said, smiling, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Why don’t you just say whatever is on your mind? Maybe I can help you find out what the trouble is… that is, unless I’m just a body to sleep with for you” she added, in mock-anger.
-“Right, like I’m not the Guy du Jour for you” he sniped right back. Both laughed.
Again, Wil sighed, then added, “Okay. I guess the first thing that’s bothering me, is that incident I had with the Guardians.”
-“Oh, right, you mentioned something earlier about some… demons that guarded the Dimensional Barriers?”
Wil’s tone turned grimmer. “Yes. Apparently, my years of interdimensional travels- as well as those of many other heroes- weakened the barriers, allowing a truly evil god named Naar to rampage across many Earths- even mine.”
-“But didn’t you say that you and your allies had beaten him?”
-“Yeah, but the fact remains: if I hadn’t been such a blasted gadabout, many worlds wouldn’t have been ravaged by Naar and his forces.”
-“Oh? Do you know that for a fact?” Jenny said, now truly annoyed. “There’s a LOT of planeshifters out there. How do you know someone else wouldn’t have triggered such events? As a matter of fact, my friends in the Defenders told me that something like that had happened to them, a few years ago.”
-“The Six-Fingered Hand Affair” Wil said, nodding. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Still, the Guardian Demons weren’t terribly happy about my part in the Naar business. I was barely able to convince them to allow me and RPGC to continue patrolling the Planar Ways.” For a moment, he was silent. Then he added:
-“…I’ve been thinking… maybe I should retire.”
That comment made Jenny blink in surprise. “Retire? YOU?” she gasped. “C’mon, Wil! I’ve met more than my share of Heroes in my time. And I can tell you can’t quit helping people anymore than I could.”
-“Jen, things have… changed, in my life” he said, bitterly.
-“What do you mean? Are you talking about your epilepsy? Hel-lo, you’re hardly the first hero with a handicap. Remember Professor X? Or Daredevil?” she insisted.
-“It’s not that!” he snapped. “…Well, not just that. I have other people in my life to worry about, now.”
-“Ah, you mean your niece Nelimar, right?” she said, lowering her tone.
-“…And my little nephew, Luis” he added. “He’s only four, and my other sister, Ileana, has to raise him by herself. We’ve grown pretty close.”
-“Now I see. It’s no longer just your life to throw away, is it?” she said, actually smiling. “Now you know that people will miss you, if anything ever happened to you.”
Wil sighed again. “Yeah. It’s not like they depend on me, but… well, all my life, I’ve been a loner, Jen. I never expected the day would come, that I would have a family of my own, to look after. To… miss.”
Jen smiled, and ran her fingers thru his hair. “Well, Wil, if that’s what’s worrying you, I guess that’s something that you will have to find out for yourself: if you’re needed more as a hero… or as a man.”
Just then, a soft glow began to enter thru a window: dawn.
-“Whoops, looks like its morning already” Wil commented.
-“It’s OK, I don’t have any work today. I can sleep in late” Jen said.
-“Then, I woke you up for nothing” he lamented.
She punched him (VERY carefully) on the arm. “Don’t be an idiot. I can go back to sleep very easily, trust me. Unless you have other plans…?” she asked, mischievously.
Wil chuckled. “A tempting offer. But I have things to do” he replied.
-“Well, then. See you again?” she asked, turning to him for a kiss.
-“Sure, next time I’m in the neighborhood” he answered, kissing her right back.
Wil got off the bed, while Jenny laid down again and went back to sleep.
He picked up his clothes from the floor, and dressed up quietly. Again, he stared at her, and couldn’t help but smile: Jen was kind of used-goods, but she was a wonderful person. And a great hero.
As quietly as he could, he said the magic words for “Planeshift” and vanished in a burst on green sparks.
On the bed, Jennifer Walters, the She-Hulk, was already fast asleep.
Next: Will this be Wil’s LAST adventure? Plus, what is everyone else doing? And what else is going on?
Note: Yeah, I’m putting Feet of Clay on mothballs for now. I wanted to finish it first, but since work has interrupted my plans –and I want to finish THIS story in time for Xmas- I’m delaying it for now. But I’ll get to it right afterwards, promise.
Ah, I was wondering when you’d start this, Wil. Nice start. But… Dude, the She-Hulk? I don’t know whether to laugh or punch you in the shoulder for being so damn lucky.
Nice beginning though. ^^
