--2010--

Face after scarf-ed face passed by the 98 foot tall Norwegian Spruce that stood in Rockefeller Center. Some smiled and pointed, some scowled as they went by without even looking, some even walked right up to the tree and stuck their faces right into the branches to smell the fresh pine scent.

Help, came the tree's feeble whisper.

No one heard.

Person after person, day after day. These people were too noisy to listen to trees; people always had been.

“It smells good!”

“Y'think it's the tallest we've had?”

“Naw, that was back in '99. This one's a hair shorter, what I heard.”

“Mama? Dis Santa Claus bring the tree here?”

“How many lights do you suppose are on it?”

“Sure, it's tall, but come one, half the branches are gimpy. Lookit that whole left side.”

--996--

“Who cares about the branches? It's straight, that's all we need,” growled Leif.

Tyrfingr shrugged. He wasn't the expert on which trees made the best replacement masts, he was but a simple long-boat oarsman and supposedly rowing muscles also translated into chopping muscles which was the only reason he was up on this hill anyway. Who was he to argue with the captain?

He lifted his axe and wound up for the biggest swing he could toward the rough surface of the truck.

THWAK!

Wwwwwwwww....

Tyrfingr stopped his second swing just short.

“Did you hear that?”

The captain raised an eyebrow at him, indicating that he did not appreciate any stalling that kept him from getting his new mast immediately, if not sooner.

“Just... wait a moment.” The young oarsmen balanced the axehead on his foot and reached out his hand to touch the bark where the ax had hit. Instantly his mind was overwhelmed with images, young saplings reaching their first needles toward the sky, peaceful breezes through his needles, the view from the hilltop overlooking the peaceful bay, the pain in his side as the ax bit into his bark.

Tyrfingr blinked up at the captain who suddenly was grasping his wrist, having yanked it away from the tree. Then he blinked at his own fingers. They were green.

--

Once again he was alone. As alone as he had been the day he had watched the long-ship sail away without him. The wind couldn't reach him between the towering steel and glittering glass structures, acres and acres of concrete surrounded him, silencing the clamoring voices of the plants to which he had grown accustomed to hearing constantly. Faces surrounded him, but now all he wanted to do was to return to his roots.

So very --

Alone.

Hungry and tired, Tyrfingr wandered through the new world with only the trees for company. Between bouts of desperate foraging, he would touch their bark and listen to their stories. Eventually bark started growing on his own hands and arms. Eventually he settled on a place to spread his own roots. Eventually the loneliness faded as he grew accustomed to his new life of watching sunrises and sunsets and spending his nights thinking of new stories to tell the little saplings.

--

The little saplings were not so little any more, but they still had not forgotten the stories of their father. When he had been taken away by the humans, they had immediately formed a plan. As impossible as it seemed, they vowed to get him back. Just like Yngvarr and Huldrik, the legendary walking trees from the old stories, they would walk across the land. They would rescue Tyrfingr.

“Holy s***, Marge do you see that? ”

“Chrishmash tree!”

“Walking Christmas trees? Call 911!”

“Look out!”

“Run!”

(Out of character: The planning thread is here if you need it. This thread is open to ALL.)

Why is it that the holidays could never just run smoothly? the question bounced around inside Jorge’s head like an angry bee trapped in a metal pot.

The call had come into the station and been diverted to the MRC division for one simple reason…walking trees. When Jorge had first heard the words he really thought that the person was simply out of their mind and had no idea what they were talking about. Maybe someone had had too much eggnog at a Christmas party or possibly some other hallucination-induced reason, but…this was New York. This place was a Mecca for mutants and it was the whole reason he came here from Miami. And in being that, it meant that all sorts of mutants tended to be running about…that included a possible reason for runaway trees.

But really? This had to happen so close to Christmas? Was not Halloween enough? That night a whole park full of citizens and mutants went absolutely nuts as a single mutant affected the whole populace, forcing everyone to believe that they were their costumes. Even he was a victim to that madness and still he had trouble remembering exactly what happened. But now? Why did someone have to stir things up for Christmas? They might as well have done it for Thanksgiving and summoned some giant turkey to terrorize the city?

The ranting in his mind finally done, Jorge sighed as he glanced over and looked at the man who had decided to join him on this excursion. Ashton Drake. He was another MRC detective…another mutant. Jorge had met the man only once prior and had seen him around the office. He had an attitude but the waterbending mutant still respected him for it. Who cares if you walked around with a cocky grin, so long as you were not stupid to get someone killed.

So far he had no reason to dislike the man. He had a good reputation as an officer that was all Jorge needed to know.

His Chevy Impala tearing through the streets of New York, the red and blue alarm lights flashing brightly from his dashboard, he swerved in and out of traffic. After the first call, other reports began to come in of other “walking trees” so this was now getting serious. The city blurred by as if they were speeding through some impressionist paint of a city. Strings of red, blue, black and white whirled by as his car screamed at the others to move out of the way. Jorge was a good driver and extremely careful though. Which was good, especially considering at the speed he was moving.

Another glance to Ashton and he sighed as he turned his attention back to the streets ahead. “Walking Christmas trees. Ever had to deal with that before?”

Ahh the giant Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Andrew had seen it two years running now and still wasn't tired of coming down to look at it after they put it up. It was a good tree, nice and tall. There were a few branches that weren't quite perfect but it looked great and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. The crowds of people smiled and some even smelled the tree. Andrew laughed at little at that as he wandered through the crowds in his coat, hat, and gloves. In the winter his continued glove wear never attracted attention. People just assumed he wanted to stay warm. In the spring and summer he tended to get a few looks but no one really asked about it often. That was fine by Andrew, it saved him the trouble of coming up with excuses.

However Andrew's good luck couldn't last. He'd gotten there just fine and hadn't had a scrap of trouble. It was only a matter of time. He couldn't have conceived of this sort of trouble though. Walking trees of all things! Why walking trees?! More importantly how to deal with them? The crowds were scattering everywhere and Andrew couldn't even count them all! Had half of the closest forest just decided to march into New York City?! Oh and another thing, what on earth was he going to hold them off with? Andrew had no weapons on him and he doubted that boxing would have much of an effect on wood.

Andrew looked around for something, anything with an edge as several trees bore down on him. There was nothing in his immediate vicinity. He'd have to look elsewhere. As soon as he saw a gap in the mishmash of people and trees Andrew ran for it. Briefly Andrew wished that Kate hadn't had to go to her mother's funeral. A mutant powered flame thrower would be pretty handy right now. It wasn't as though he could make the trees promise not to cause trouble or something. Even if he could, what would happen if they broke the promise? Would their limbs break or something? Why couldn't this have happened closer to a hardware store?

Locke was homesick. He had managed to get through Father’s Day, and with Tarin’s help, the baseball season as well. The twins birthday had been painful, but thanks to the internet and web cameras he got to wish them a happy birthday. His own was probably one of the best that he had had. Christmas was putting a strain on him though. The spiritual aspect of the holiday didn’t make a difference to him anymore. One of the few advantages of being in New York for the Christmas season was that he wouldn’t be dragged to another Christmas Eve church service. It was one of the few times in which Kendra didn’t respect his lack of faith and made him go to church with the rest of the family. He still celebrated the holiday though, and it was not one that you want to be across the country from the ones that you love. Stores had a tendency to play Blue Christmas, which made the guilt of not going home all the much worse, and I’ll Be Home for Christmas.

To combat his homesickness Locke went into the city. The presents for the twins, Kendra, and his buddy Eaan already had been purchased, wrapped, and sent off to San Francisco, but Locke still needed to pick up something for his friends at the school. Chris and Elise were proving to be difficult to find the right gift for. He hadn’t known them as long and Locke was the type who didn’t just buy a gift card. Locke put a great deal of consideration into anything that he gave. Besides which he wasn’t sure what sort of stores the two would go shopping in.

Before he actually saw anything Locke was aware that something was wrong. An army of trees suddenly pulling up their roots and marching tends to cause some shifts in the ground. At first Locke thought that it was an earthquake, since he didn’t know anything else that could cause such a natural shift. The problem was that there weren’t the phantom waves that he felt with the last earthquake. This was more like… more like having a tooth pulled. “What the?” he asked, hitching his backpack up higher on his shoulder. Since Halloween Locke didn’t like going into the city without it. Inside he had a couple of water bottles, in case he got dehydrated like that time he chased Saph. Things often went wrong for the Californian, and he didn’t want to be caught unprepared. The materials for Fluffy were all around him.

Locke started running in the direction that he felt the disturbance. The ground wasn’t happy, and he needed to know why. He didn’t expect to see trees moving, and a curse tumbled out of his mouth. Not good at all.

The first tree walked by at 6:44. It was ten feet tall, and using the sidewalk like a decent human being. That’s how Rupert knew it was from out of town. He poured his coffee, added a dash of depressant, and drank. It was 6:44, and he was working the dinner shift at Insomniacs Anonymous. People didn’t come to a place called Insomniacs Anonymous for dinner.

6:45.

6:50.

7:00, 7:02, 7:03, 7:03, 7:03.

Yep. Those were walking trees, all right. And Rupert’s coffee mug was empty. Two things which just shouldn’t be. He reached for the pot, and poured it half way. He reached for his other bottle, and topped things off. Then he put his feet up on the counter, and watched a taxi hit a light post. The driver caroled his horn, his proficiently sworn song silent through the double paned glass. Rupert lifted up his cup of holiday spirit in merry salute, and drank.

Back at his apartment, a tan and white poodle was eying up a princess pink socking with a dog bone sticking out the top. There was a little plastic Christmas tree in one corner, its bulbs burning a merry few cents into his monthly electric bill. A plate of cookies was in the bathroom under the mirror, next to a box of rat poison with a bow on top, and a Christmas card from his parents in Florida (“Wish you were here!”) sat with the other unopened mail on his kitchen table.

Rupert sat in the empty coffee shop and watched Christmas cheer marching past. Police sirens were already dashing from the distance; good Samaritans were already fleeing or striking heroic poses, as per their genetic disposition. Former MRC Detective Kelley was perfectly, sloshily content right where he was.

Then a tree stepped on his car. Metal crumbled. Windshield cracked.

Rupert poured coffee, in a quarter-cup. Rupert poured something else til it was all gone.

Another tree kicked out his tail light on its way up and over his roof. He’d just had that light replaced.

Rupert drank.

Then, Rupert put on his coat and tucked in his scarf. He flipped the “OPEN” sign to “CLOSED.” He stumbled out the door, caught himself on an errant branch (“ ‘Xcuse me,”) and went to buy a chainsaw.

Kai couldn't help but feel a little lonely as he unpacked the boxes of lights and red and green decorations. He loved Christmas. All the decorations, and the holiday bustle, buying gifts and seeing the looks as the people he loved opened them. And of course there was his birthday. But this was the first time that he was going into the holiday with absolutely no family around. Even when he 'd run away, he'd still had a brother.

But things were looking up. He had to keep reminding himself that things really were looking up. He had friends and a roommate. He was working on getting his store back up and running. Yes, things were getting better.

Kai popped the collar of his coat to guard against the slight wind that made it a little bit nippy on his face. He was happy to be weaving in and out of people with their boxes and bags. It was kind of a thrill, like navigating the hazards and obstacles of a jungle.

He imagined the department stores as towering trees, the racks of goods as undergrowth, and the people as the exotic animals. Of course if they were trees, maybe I would feel a little less lonely. he thought with a sad little smile. They would tell him all the movements of the silly animals rushing around, and how warm the sun was, and sometimes they would share their stories.

The father...

Kai smiled. 'Family trees' were kind of a quaint expression, but trees actually had quite good memories of their ancestors. Even if the seeds were scattered, they knew where they came from. "A scattered seed..." he murmured.

Must help the father...

Wait. Were those voices in his head actually... there? Not just his imagination? And then, out of no where, there was a tree walking down the street.

"Oh, this is not good."

Ah, Christmas Eve-Eve, how merry is thee!

As Adrián walked the festive streets of New York City with his brother, sister-in-law and two nieces, quick Spanish could be heard escaping their lips. They all had white-teethed smiles on their faces and shopping bags in their hands, chattering away as though they hadn't seen each other in ages. Truth be told, ages wasn't such a far stretch.

The Eagle Mutant had dearly missed his older brother and the man's family over the years of only seeing them once or twice here and there as the months dragged into years and this visit was definitely one he'd treasure. His nieces were growing up so quickly; both beautiful in all of their thirteen and eleven year old glory. His brother looked older, too, with specks of silver amidst his jet black mass of spiky hair and a few wrinkles threatening to overtake his once young and boyish face. Antonio Narváez was nonetheless a handsome man – a version of Adrian, merely seven years older. As Adrián glanced at his family, he couldn't help but see all of the years passing by in a big flash – to think he was missing most of it, here in New York City all alone.

Sure, at some points moving back had crossed his mind, even if he'd once upon a time been completely in love with New York City. A large part of him still was, but he also missed back home very dearly... Christmas was very much right around the corner, however, which meant he shouldn't be thinking of these rather solemn and lonesome thoughts. Christmas was a reason to be happy and jolly and as they shopped for presents and enjoyed the holiday spirit the cold, wintery streets had to offer, he knew that he really was. Now that Antonio and his brother's family were all here celebrating with him.

They had just left a little restaurant, stomachs filled with Italian food, when things started to go sour rather quickly. Then again, these days, most things did. Adrián was quickly noticing that nothing could go exceptionally well for too long without something messing it all up. This time? Well, it came in a rather unusually interesting way.

To think he'd actually believed his Christmas would be perfect, what with all of the chaos that had turned his life over a few times these past few weeks. From the bus hijacking to the earthquake Mutant in that cafe, it was a wonder he'd gone nearly three weeks without anything of the sort happening again.

Well, his three weeks of calm and blissful normalcy were up.

It all started when his brother's wife and daughters told the men they'd leave them to catch up a little more, while they went and shopped in some more feminine stores.

Actually, it really started when Adrián and his brother heard a few terrified screams from down the street, only to find themselves being pushed around as people started to run in the opposing direction of the... moving trees... that were... coming their way.

Esto no puede ser bueno...

Hijackers with the ability to control technology with their minds, a rather out of control waitress who made the earth crack under her feet and now massive trees walking among the streets of New York City? Well now, Adrián had been around some Mutant activity for years, but never like this! Maybe it had a little something to do with the fact that for the first time a month or so ago, he had actually decided it would be a good idea to help out. Now it seemed fate was never on his side... People who did good, decent things didn't deserve this!

Maybe he should just go all angry and evil on the world or something – it would be a lot more peaceful that way.

A little voice inside of him beckoned that he should RUN! for it.

The spontaneous hero in him, ignoring his brother's calls, did indeed run, but toward the trees rather than with the crowd. He probably wouldn't be much help but... it was worth a try. He had managed to do quite well with the two other situations he'd gotten himself in, after all. Today would probably be no different.

His brother wasn't fallowing, Adrián noticed upon glancing behind his shoulder a few seconds later; that was a good thing. The Spanish Eagle shape-shifter wasn't about to get his brother into potential harm on his Christmas visit to the Big Apple, now was he?

He jogged for a few seconds, occasionally moving to the left or to the right in order to avoid a random passerby as they ran the opposing direction. What was he going to do once he actually got to that tree a mere ten feet in front of him?

Having been flown into New York at the beginning of December had its obvious downfalls, the greatest being that, though it were Christmastime, the likelihood of Gina getting flown home was slim to none. Initially, Regina had pouted over this, having always been quite the homebody and unaccustomed to being without family over the holidays. In an attempt to shake her sorrow, she attempted to look at the positive. The transition would be easier if she didn't dwell on what she didn't have, and instead dwelt on what she had. At least she had a family to long for, or a home to get homesick for. Some mutants didn't even have that.

Gina huffed. The mantra still hadn't set, as it hadn't been repeated enough for her to actually start believing. She instead opted to distract herself, which would be quicker, even if only a temporary solution to the loneliness that might dwell a little longer. Dressing up in warmer garb, she meandered out into the city-- legwarmers wrapped her clawed feet, her hands were mittened, and a hat was wedged over ears and horns. She even looped a scarf around her neck. She looked cute, warm, and ready to face whatever New York threw at her. Across her chest, the strap of her messenger bag, withing which was a street map for New York, among other things, just in case. Gina headed out boldly, ready to see what homage the city had to pay to the Yuletide season.

She walked aimlessly, allowing her heart to be seized by the season's warmth-- well-lit windows of shop-fronts and buildings lined with Christmas lights. Families huddled together, and familiar Christmas music. Regina hummed, noticeably off-key as she went. She loved Christmas, loved what it stood for. Christmas made Gina feel like there was still some sort of hope for the messed-up world that they lived in, as if humanity still had some fighting chance against shooting itself in its metaphorical, metaphysical foot.

She'd been walking towards where the Rockefeller christmas tree was, and was a good many blocks away, when she noticed the first tree.

Gina's gaze passed over it unflinchingly at first, her brain having not registered that there was indeed a tree strolling down the street. If that tree doesn't look out, it's going to get hit by a car, Gina thought absently, not realizing the absurdity of her thought. She repeated the thought to herself and then shook her head in disbelief, doing a double take. Wait, a tree, getting hit by a car? Had she really seen a tree in the street? Sure enough, a tree was meandering down the avenue, supported by its roots which moved in a spiderlike fashion. Gina gaped, stock still. Unlike the terrified humans that ran past her, she was more intrigued than frightened by the sight. She'd never seen a walking tree, before, and she wondered if it, too, were some sort of mutant.

She glanced back in the direction she'd been walking and noticed that, a good distance up the street, a second tree was walking, and a third. Her face went to a paler grey, lingering in the area of "white". Was this some sort of invasion? Rather than lunge into action, she began to follow them, slowly. Sure, they were stepping on cars and all, but people were getting out of the way. They weren't attacking people-- yet. She calmly navigated the rush of people that were fleeing the trees, walking in measured steps in the same direction as the trees. She wanted to see where they were going, and wouldn't attack them unless given reason to. As she walked, she accidentally bumped into someone, who seemed rooted in their spot.

"Pardon me," Gina said with a faint laugh, a careless hand patting the shoulder of the person as she stepped around them, "Am I going crazy, or am I seeing walking trees? You see them too, right?" She then recalled that New Yorkers were all funny about mutant-human relations and realized that it might be ill-recieved for her to address them, or even touch them, so she began to walk away and follow the trees once again, kind of embarassed.

((OOC Note: In the final paragraph, Regina addresses someone else. If one of you want to be the person she adresses, feel free to sieze the opportunity to enter in that fashion, or just find someone to team-up with.))

It was her first Christmas in New York. Her first Christmas away from... well, nope, she didn't really miss home, but she sure did miss Bo. She talked to her for long hours on the phone (courtesy of the Matchmaker), but she still felt kind of lonely, even with the Csendes family. So today, she decided to sneak out for pure nostalgia, and take a walk in the city.
Looking back at that decision now: when did sneaking out ever, ever end well for her?...
Duh.

Svetlana was probably one of the few people who did not stare in utter shock at the walking trees. She had seen plants move around like that before. Trure, this was much more threatening, as these were actual, huge trees and not mere vines. But at least she didn't think for a moment that she was going crazy.

"Oh dear." she sighed, looking around; if the trees were parading up and down like that, the mutant responsible had to be nearby. There was panic rising on the streets, cars crashing and people, who had been first just staring in shock, were starting to scatter and scream. Sveta started walking, then running; she rounded two corners before she managed to spot the face she'd been looking for.

I knew it.

"Kai! Vat de hell are you doing?!" she demanded as she came close enough to him. There was no need to draw people's attention to the person responsible for the parade. It never ended right for the mutant party. "Vere did you get all these trees?!"

Rhythm (known as Ashley Aran to those that knew and loved her, all who were dead) sat on a dumpster and watched as the trees walked by in the street.

It had been happening for awhile now...well, awhile as far as she was concerned in regards to walking trees, and while she was amazed to the point of her jaw dropping, there wasn't much else she could say in regards to the events going on around her.

After all, she'd only been in New York for a handful of weeks, several months really and didn't know much about the place in general. She'd known, after all, that the place was a mecca for mutants, a literal ground zero for that what's what and who's who of their world. Was this kind of thing normal? If so, how often did it happen? And a follow up question; why walking trees of all things? She assumed, much like everyone else, that a mutant was behind the chaos the trees were brewing up and, like most things that didn't involve her directly, Rhythm couldn't muster up the energy to really care.

After all, it wasn't like she had any real material possessions for the trees to kick around. She had nothing for them to crush or smash and whatever the mutant was after didn't really involve her at all. So, giant headphones pulled tightly on her read mane and trenchcoat slightly open (she was a little hot under her layers of clothes) she watched the unnatural procession walk by with mild interest at this point (the shock had worn off) and sometimes smiled as a car flew by or a random passerby ran into the alley she was currently occupying. Some would look at her like she was crazy, perched up on the dumpster, legs hooked at the ankles as she listened to her music (“X Gon' Give It To Ya” by DMX) and enjoyed the spine tingle that she knew meant that her speed and strength were augmented.

That is, however, until she saw the kitten that was right in the path of one of the trees.

Without thinking (much) she sprang ff the dumpster and dived to the kitten and snatched the poor thing up, before rolling out of the way of the tree that was going to squish the precious little thing. Rhythm clutched the shaking kitten to her chest before hopping backwards to the sidewalk were, surprisingly, the trees either avoided or were too polite to walk on. Rhythm narrowed her eyes as the tree, unbothered that someone just flew into it's path, continued on it's way. She had half a mind to kick the things ass...bark...whatever, but instead looked down at the movement in her hands.

It was a cute little thing, as most kittens were, and it yowled slightly in greeting as the kitten stared right back at the redhead holding it. Ashley tilted her head in wonderment, trying to figure out what to do with the ting when she watched, amazed once again, as the kitten seemingly copied her movement and tilted it's head as well. This brought a genuine smile to Ashley's lips, though the kitten, nor anyone else could see because of the red scarf she usually kept on that covered everything nose down. She took a moment to take off a glove so she could pet the thing (a quick inspection revealed it to be a girl, much to the kitten's protests) and Ashley nodded.

“Duran.” she poked the kitten on the nose. “Your name, for now. I'll find your family. Okay?”

The black kitten mewed a response, something Ashley figured would probably be odd any other day of the week...but then again she had just saved a kitten from being squashed by a tree that was walking down a New York street. She opened up a pocket in the front of her trenchcoat and stuck the kitten in there, surprised when she didn't hear a single meow of protest and was slightly amused as Duran simply stuck her head out, paws peeking out as she balanced herself, and looked out at the scene with Ashley.

“Weird cat.” Rhythm muttered. “Wonder why yer out. Here, anyways. I...”

>>"Pardon me. Am I going crazy, or am I seeing walking trees? You see them too, right?"

Ashley jumped a bit, Duran letting out a yowl again st the sudden action. She whirled around to face the person that had touched her shoulder and took a step back, eyes wide. Ashley did nothing for a few moments but stare at the woman in front of her, eyebrows knitting as she considered just walking away. She didn't, and instead pointed at her headphones.

“Didn't hear.” she said, then pointed at the woman “You, I mean. Didn't hear.”

Let’s put it this way:

You’re a cat. A small cat, a young cat, possibly classifiable as a pre-cat or that ‘k’-word, but a cat none the less. You are a fierce and wary hunter of your domain. Ever alert, ever vigilant. The concrete jungle is your domain.

And then:

There is a tree trying to step on you. (Three words sum up this situation; three words, beginning with “what the—”, but sounding more like “mew mya muck.” You are a cat, after all.)

And then:

There is a large heavy self-projectile object of flesh RAINING DOWN ON YOUR DEAR SWEET HEAD. With a pounce-rumple-roll, you are violently assaulted by this bipedal bludgeon and then—while you are shaking with indignity—the thing proceeds to molest you, rename you, and shove you in a tight leather-bound space.

But, on closer inspection:

You are now in a well-positioned pocket on a red-head of legal age. And you—as you sometimes remember at serendipitous moments like these—are really a twenty year old Italian boy, significant evidence to the contrary aside.

So.

On Christmas Eve Eve, “Duran” peeked from her pocket with a most innocent mew.

Thank you, Santa.

Upon stumbling away from his own near miss with a group of trees Andrew found a spot that was relatively clear. It was still a mess and Andrew didn't know where to start. The sensible thing would be to simply run. There were police officers to deal with this. However on of those officers happened to be a friend of his. Not only that but there were still other people stuck in the middle of this mess. He didn't really see anything nearby him that could be useful to fight the trees off. With luck he'd pick up something on the way. Sighting a group of people that could use some help Andrew headed in their direction, dodging trees and people alike.

It was a family of three: Mother, Father, and a little girl. The father had stepped forward with a tire iron of all things and was brandishing it at the trees as though it would make them stop. Well it was better than nothing. They were backed up against the open trunk of their car, hence the tire iron. Between wrecked cars and trees there was much opening for them and the walking wall of trees looked as though they'd just walk right over them. He probably wouldn't be able to make a hole in the trees but maybe he could help them climb over the car. From there there were plenty of options for them to escape.

The hood of the car was still warm from the running engine as Andrew clambered over it. With the chill in the air it would have actually not felt that bad if he'd had time to enjoy the warmth. Instead it was over the top of the vehicle where he snapped the trunk shut. The family looked up at him with surprised stares. Andrew didn't mince words. He just offered his hand and they took it. All three people were over the car to a safer spot just in time for Andrew to slip off the roof of the car before it was crushed by several trees. The family thanked him hurriedly and then ran. Noting a few road flares on the ground, spilled from the trunk of an over turned car, Andrew grabbed those that looked like they would still light. It was four flares all told. It wasn't much but they would provide enough flame to get a few trees going.

Alexandra slammed her fist on the steering wheel, quite irritated at the fact that the cars in front of her hadn’t made any kind of movement for the past fifteen minutes. Her baby, a red and black Audi R8, wailed in response. Her action, of course, had no effect. The cars surrounding her remained still. The teen in the car to her left continued to stare at her baby in awe. The male in the car to her right continued to stare at her. Alexandra sighed, deciding to turn the radio on instead.

Click.

A Christmas song poured out of the car’s speakers, making her cringe.

Frown.

Click.

Paramore’s Crush Crush Crush filled the silence instead. “Better.” Alexandra simply muttered. Because she wanted to crush, crush, crush something. Or someone. Head rested against the seat. Hands relaxed on the steering wheel. Attention shifted to portion of sky that she could see through the windshield. She might as well accept the fact that she would be spending at least another hour in her car.

She had no idea just how wrong she was.

Paramore’s song had just ended when Alexandra observed a quite large object sailing through the air. Approaching her car. Fast. “Oh no, you do-!”

Thump.

Crack.

Mouth opened. Eye twitched. Several times. The figure of a police officer, middle aged, was sprawled on her windshield and sliding away.

Twitch. Twitch.

The windshield was cracked. She assumed that her car, her baby had quite an ugly dent in it, as well.

Twitch. Twitch.

Whoever had done this sacrilege needed to pay. With its life, eventually.

Mouth turned into a straight line, eyes narrowed, Alexandra removed herself from her car. The owners of the cars around her exited their cars, staring at something. Alexandra, too, stared at that certain something.

And she blinked.

Trees. Friggin’ walking trees.

New York must have gotten crazier with each day. A very long sigh escaped the lips of the goddess of molecules. She assumed that the next thing she needed to deal with was an army of elves. Or something. It didn’t matter. The walking trees had damaged her car. She glanced at the police officer, her eye twitching once more at the narrow trail of blood left on her windshield.

The army of walking trees was preceded by a high number of crazed humans running away. Alexandra frowned once more, looked to her left, looked to her right. People around her were starting to run too.

Very well.

What she did next caused her intense pain. Shoes in hand, police officer kicked out of the way, Alexandra climbed on the roof top of her car. Lucky her. At least today she’d picked to wear pants, unlike last time she got herself involved in strange situations. The cold wind brushed against the bare skin of her forearms and face but the face of the enraged Alexandra remained focused on the approaching trees, her blood heated by the thought of revenge.

She had no idea how she would fight with a tree.

So when the trees were stepping over cars, approaching her location Alexandra did the first thing that crossed her mind.

She tossed her shoes at one. Then, after a jump that would have made any athlete jealous, Alexandra found herself hugging a tree branch as she got carried away to God knows where.

Gina back-stepped hesitantly, both hands risen to show that she meant no harm. The girl that Gina had bumped into, upon being touched, jumped and whirled around dramatically. Upon seeing who had accidentally walked into her, the other girl recoiled, her face adopting the expression of overt fear. The headphone girl's build was rigid, obviously in "fight or flight" mode at this threat. In an attempt to maintain her dignity, the girl quickly explained that she hadn't heard Gina coming. To which Gina only smiled, well-aware of the fact that the headphones-girl was more than just slightly startled.

She'd gotten this reaction quite frequently in her first few weeks in New York, this knee-jerk reaction of fear or disgust. Rather than get embarrassed or angry or even sad at how humans recieved her, she instead found humor in the irony of their snap judgments. Gina didn't really look the part of "tall, dark, and scary". She stood at almost a good foot shorter than the other girl, could have easily been mistaken for a kid, and bore a friendly face. She didn't really fit the "monstrous" bill all too well, even though her mutation had graced her with a monstrous appearance. Humans were so stupid-- the non-human in appearance were probably the least dangerous, while those that didn't seem mutated ought to have been a source of deeper fear. You could see a nonhuman mutant coming from a mile away, but a human-looking one? Any human could be a mutant, your boss, your friend, you significant other. Hell, this girl in the headphones could have been a mutant, for all Gina knew. Her cat could have been a mutant. Gina gave the girl the benefit of the doubt, however, and pretended as though she'd only just startled her, and nothing more.

"Dearie me, I'm so sorry," she said apologetically, hands still raised to show that she meant no harm, "I didn't give you a fright, did I? I was just wondering if you saw those trees that were wandering down the boulevard, wanted to make sure I wasn't tripping or anything, you know?"

The kitten that was in the girl's pocket mewed quite sweetly, its eyes regarding Gina with an uncanny feline focus. Gina peered down at the cat with a smile, casually placing her hands in her pockets. She was a sucker for any animal, but was particularly fond of those that were of the babyish persuasion. If the situation were any less tense, she might have reached out to pet the thing, but refrained. If she even moved as if to touch the human girl again, the girl would probably screech for the cops, or something stupid like that.

"I didn't mean to bother you, honest," Gina commented, attempting to alleviate the tension that had settled between the two strangers, "Your cat's cute, by the way. Sorry 'bout freaking you out and all." With that, Gina began to walk away, sparing the girl any further embarrassment, and continued to pursue the tree in a casual, methodical fashion. She waved over shoulder as she went, without looking back, her tail swishing casually behind her.

Tarin was actually whistling a Christmas carol as he walked down the street. Lee was at home, she’d done some shopping earlier in the week, and was now resting and waiting for him to get home. Tarin grinned, the bag in his hand held a rather large, wrapped box. He hadn’t wrapped it himself, he’d paid one of the volunteer groups to do it for him. It was a little less sentimental than it could have been…but the present looked like someone other than a five year old child had wrapped it. All things considered, it was a major improvement on what he could have done.

Lee was really pregnant, really really pregnant. Tarin grinned when he thought about it. That was a baby in her belly…his baby. It still made him reel a little to think about it, especially with everything they’d been through in the past couple of months. It was definitely time for a happy holiday, and a Merry Christmas. His and Lee’s first normal Christmas. Nothing was going to screw this one up.

Except maybe a giant. Freaking. Tree.

Tarin was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the thing walking down the street at him. The medium supposed he’d seen the thing out of the corner of his eye…but there were tons of trees in New York….they dotted the sidewalks, they were all over Central Park. They were walking down the middle of the freaking street..

The thing nearly stepped on him. The. Tree. Nearly. Stepped on him. Tarin had to dive to the side to avoid getting crushed…and watch the ...foot? (what else did you call the thing the tree was using to walk) crush the bag, box, and everything inside it. He just stared for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and turned his head to watch the tree parade now moving down the road. Yeah..it was real. Or he was nucking futs. The Medium had to acknowledge that it was a possibility…but for now, he was going to believe in the trees. Especially after they walked on a car. Well. There was only one thing to do when giant-ass Christmas trees tried to ruin your otherwise successful Christmas shopping.

He went to get a chainsaw.

The store near Rockefeller square was shockingly deserted, and Tarin wondered if it had to do with the onslaught. ”Excuse me…” he said to the shopkeeper who was staring in a catatonic way out the window. ”Where are your chainsaws?” the kid pointed, not turning away from the window and Tarin made his way through the store. It seemed strange, being able to buy a chainsaw in the middle of New York City…but heck it was convenient. Tarin rounded the corner of the aisle he’d been directed to and walked, eyes scanning the shelves as he went. The Medium wasn’t alone in his quest….a shockingly familiar figure was also perusing the shelves. Tarin walked up next to him and stared at the shelf for a moment.

”Rupert.” Tarin said, reaching out and making a selection from the shelf. ”An effing tree just stepped on Lee’s Christmas present.” That established, the shorter man took his burden and headed for the check out.