cafeteria, ready to be opened.
"Today's my day," he says to the entire school. "My helper is... well... it's Marigold." He waits for the shock to die down before going on, "Marigold is a big supporter of the U.S. Military--which I'll admit, makes her a teeny, tiny bit more tolerable in my eyes. What she suggested, and I--reluctantly--admit is pretty awesome, is making gift boxes for some of the soldiers overseas. They're the guys that won't be home with their families for Christmas. She's supplied a lot of stuff to put in boxes for them, but said we can put whatever we want in there with it, as long as it doesn't hurt morale. So if you want to draw pictures, or write letters, or maybe we can take and print out some pictures--" he looks at Nico.
"Yeah, I can put together a printer for that," Nico says.
"Then I figure we should get to work," Rocco says, opening the boxes. He runs into a box of cardboard pieces that fold into shoebox sized boxes. "Looks like we fill these," he says. "So grab a box and start filling it, then we'll take some pictures and put them in--think a school group photo would work?"
"We should wear our uniforms for it!" Carla says, placing her tenth box into a pile, all of them filled. Rocco hasn't even put his first box down yet. With the rest of them working, all of the boxes are filled in a short amount of time, but left open for the extra things. Ace is put to work placing illusions of drawings on paper for the others to trace. Jack is put to work making tiny metal Christmas tree sculptures for each. The rest of the kids settle down to write letters.
When that part is done, everyone changes into uniform, setting up for a quick photography session. The villains get one picture, the heroes get another, and then the various goofy pictures happen. Rocco's favorite is the picture of Trent and Max almost hitting each other--but he's pretty fond of the picture of him stepping out of a wall, too. The one of Emily and her doppelgangers posing together is pretty awesome, too, he admits.
They fill the boxes with random (signed in some cases) pictures and close them up. "So... how much is this going to cost to send?" Max asks, looking at the massive pile of boxes. They've been put in larger boxes, which are stacked until they tower into the sky.
"Marigold said she'd be here soon to help with the delivery part," Rocco says, looking at his phone.
"She's here," Nico says, tapping on the air before heading to the top of the canyon and walking out. A few seconds later he comes back in with Marigold, who gives him a dry look.
"Really... interesting security program," she says.
"I'm fond of it," he says. "Who will you need for this?" he asks.
"Who wants to help me?" she asks as they come down. "We have a lot to deliver, so no weaklings invited," she declares brassily, placing her hands on her hips. "Well, other than Rocco, there. We need him to take us."
"Thanks for your honesty," Rocco drawls. "So you're going to take the Shadowlands the entire way?" he demands.
"Are you too weak?" she asks.
"Well... no, I think I can do it, but you could have WARNED me--"
"So who wants to visit our troops?" Marigold demands of the group. "Speak up! Don't be shy!" Trent raises his hand high, quickly followed by Emily and her doppelgangers. Soon a third of the school has volunteered, even Jack. Marigold looks at him, and he proudly shows her his watch.
"Watch this," he says, tapping on it. His norm version stands there. "Besides, I can transport more boxes than most of them," he adds as his surfboard floats over.
"Fine, but keep it out of sight," she says. "Now how do we do this shadow-thingy, anyway? I've got the coordinates here," she says to Rocco, holding out a piece of paper. Soon, with some of the teachers' help, they're out of the school and grabbing boxes.
Rocco grabs Marigold's arm, to her surprise. "Everyone grab someone else," Rocco calls over his shoulder, hauling all of them and the boxes through the shadow.
"Today's my day," he says to the entire school. "My helper is... well... it's Marigold." He waits for the shock to die down before going on, "Marigold is a big supporter of the U.S. Military--which I'll admit, makes her a teeny, tiny bit more tolerable in my eyes. What she suggested, and I--reluctantly--admit is pretty awesome, is making gift boxes for some of the soldiers overseas. They're the guys that won't be home with their families for Christmas. She's supplied a lot of stuff to put in boxes for them, but said we can put whatever we want in there with it, as long as it doesn't hurt morale. So if you want to draw pictures, or write letters, or maybe we can take and print out some pictures--" he looks at Nico.
"Yeah, I can put together a printer for that," Nico says.
"Then I figure we should get to work," Rocco says, opening the boxes. He runs into a box of cardboard pieces that fold into shoebox sized boxes. "Looks like we fill these," he says. "So grab a box and start filling it, then we'll take some pictures and put them in--think a school group photo would work?"
"We should wear our uniforms for it!" Carla says, placing her tenth box into a pile, all of them filled. Rocco hasn't even put his first box down yet. With the rest of them working, all of the boxes are filled in a short amount of time, but left open for the extra things. Ace is put to work placing illusions of drawings on paper for the others to trace. Jack is put to work making tiny metal Christmas tree sculptures for each. The rest of the kids settle down to write letters.
When that part is done, everyone changes into uniform, setting up for a quick photography session. The villains get one picture, the heroes get another, and then the various goofy pictures happen. Rocco's favorite is the picture of Trent and Max almost hitting each other--but he's pretty fond of the picture of him stepping out of a wall, too. The one of Emily and her doppelgangers posing together is pretty awesome, too, he admits.
They fill the boxes with random (signed in some cases) pictures and close them up. "So... how much is this going to cost to send?" Max asks, looking at the massive pile of boxes. They've been put in larger boxes, which are stacked until they tower into the sky.
"Marigold said she'd be here soon to help with the delivery part," Rocco says, looking at his phone.
"She's here," Nico says, tapping on the air before heading to the top of the canyon and walking out. A few seconds later he comes back in with Marigold, who gives him a dry look.
"Really... interesting security program," she says.
"I'm fond of it," he says. "Who will you need for this?" he asks.
"Who wants to help me?" she asks as they come down. "We have a lot to deliver, so no weaklings invited," she declares brassily, placing her hands on her hips. "Well, other than Rocco, there. We need him to take us."
"Thanks for your honesty," Rocco drawls. "So you're going to take the Shadowlands the entire way?" he demands.
"Are you too weak?" she asks.
"Well... no, I think I can do it, but you could have WARNED me--"
"So who wants to visit our troops?" Marigold demands of the group. "Speak up! Don't be shy!" Trent raises his hand high, quickly followed by Emily and her doppelgangers. Soon a third of the school has volunteered, even Jack. Marigold looks at him, and he proudly shows her his watch.
"Watch this," he says, tapping on it. His norm version stands there. "Besides, I can transport more boxes than most of them," he adds as his surfboard floats over.
"Fine, but keep it out of sight," she says. "Now how do we do this shadow-thingy, anyway? I've got the coordinates here," she says to Rocco, holding out a piece of paper. Soon, with some of the teachers' help, they're out of the school and grabbing boxes.
Rocco grabs Marigold's arm, to her surprise. "Everyone grab someone else," Rocco calls over his shoulder, hauling all of them and the boxes through the shadow.
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