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[ORG] An Arcademan Universe Christmas

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Arcademan:
Writer's note: This is a re-write of a story I started last year however due to an unseen tragedy was unable to complete. This year I hope things turn out better. Enjoy.

Prologue...

Every year since anyone currently alive can remember, the 25th of December
marked a very special day throughout not just the world but the known universe
proper within the confines of The Arcademan Universe...a joyous occassion known
as Christmas Day. Every year on that day, Santa Claus would travel throughout
the Earth delivering gifts to all the children who were good and if for only a
brief instance...peace thoughout the lands. There were times when things didn't
exactly go as planned and once, those who would do everything in their powers to
halt Christmas tried their best. Fortunately for Santa and the gang at the North
Pole, he had friends...very powerful friends in the Arcade Brigade and its
leader...ARCADEMAN!

One such incident took place five years ago when the villainous Orb-Necro
kidnapped Santa and tried to force him into giving him the secrets of his
magical sleigh and using it for his own evil intentions. Not only would the
fiend have a potentially powerful object in his possession but also cause Santa
to miss his annual pilgrimage to all the world, leaving Christmas in absolute
ruins. Thanks to Arcademan, Flora and Mrs. Claus and the elves of the North
Pole, not to mention a young lady from an alternate world named Sakura Kinomoto,
Orb-Necro was defeated and Christmas arrived without any problems.

Per usual, as with every turn of the calendar, business at the North Pole, which
was normally steady, starts to kick it into high gear once the American
Thanksgiving holiday passes. As the days count down toward the 25th of December,
work progresses around the clock. Meanwhile in the back part of the workshop,
Santa looks around his shiny red sleigh. Perfection is a must if he's to deliver
all the presents since he only has a 24 hour window to do so. As he goes toward
the back of the sleigh, his wife Mrs. Claus enters the shop with a plate of
homemade cookies and milk.

"I brought you a snack, Pa." As Santa greets his wife with a kiss, he looks
somewhat dejectedly at the plate.

"Ma...not the cookies and milk again?" he said as he grabbed one of the
chocolate chip ones and nibbled on it a bit. "You know I'll be getting my fill
on those all throughout my Christmas night trip."

Mrs. Claus handed him the milk. "I know but from my view, you need to put some
more meat on yourself. Nobody likes a skinny Santa."

"I know that but if you want some meat on me, try giving me some meat.
Ahh...reindeer steaks sounds pretty tasty right about now!" joked Santa as the
reindeer in the stable next to his sleigh and workshop all popped their heads up
and looked concerned.

"I'm just fooling with you all. HO! HO! HO!!!" His trademark laugh echoed
throughout the building and with that, a comforting sign of the holiday goodwill
was fortified by the father of all Christmas.

"I'll whip you up a turkey sandwich then. How long are you going to be with the
sleigh?" asked Mrs. Claus.

"Almost done. There's one thing that looks a bit loose. I'll tighten it up and
then that's that."

As Mrs. Claus turned to the doorway that leads to their house from the workshop,
she noticed a bright light shine behind her. When she turned around to see what
it was, she noticed that Santa, along with his sleigh...were gone!

Arcademan:
Chapitre I

Meanwhile near the headquarters of the Arcade Brigade...

Flying through the night's sky, Arcademan was thinking about events from the
past couple of years. The eradication of The Darkness and the saving of the
Earth and the universe itself took a toll on many of the heroes. Despite the
victory, there were untold deaths of many who's only fault was being in the
wrong place at the wrong time. Also though none of the heroes lost their lives,
some of them suffered personal and emotional trauma throughot the war, makking a
return to normal or super-normal life difficult at best. Lord Pyrogod and his
group of villains took advantage of the heroes' weakness and came close
themselves in destroying the heroes. Now...several months after the last battle, the
heroes were finally dealing with the normal affairs of civilization like crimes
and natural disasters, which in itself was more than enough to worry about.

Arcademan glided down to the front of the headquarters. A quick scan of its
security protocal and the door opens. As Arcademan enters, he glances over at
the calendar on the wall.

"Already getting close to Christmas." he says to himself. "Can't tell around
here since the temperature still reaches into the 80's. There's no such thing as
a white Christmas here, that's for sure."

Transending the stairs to the computer center, a familiar person was hard at
work at the bench. Not even looking up toward him, he says "Evening, Arcademan."

"Evening, Striker. How's it going?" as he looks over the hero the world knows as
The Midnight Striker. A hero in his own right, he is also one of the
technological brains within the Arcade Brigade. "Are you almost done?" quizzes
Arcademan as laying on the bench, Striker was putting the finishing touches on
what appeared to be a human being but was in fact an advanced automated
being...BattleTech.

"Just in time, Arcade. As you know, he first was severely damaged during our
battle with The Darkness. While going through repairs, we had to press him into
service when Pyrogod's goons launched that surprise attack. Fortunately for us he
saved us from that initial attack but unfortunately he was almost destroyed. And
now...six months later, I'm finally finished. Now let's boot him up and see if
he returns..."

"Almost funny, isn't it?" interrupted Arcademan. "To everyone else, he's only a
machine. To us, BattleTech is a valued member and friend...so much that we don't
call him an 'it'."

Striker nods in agreement as he flips a hidden switch on the android's body.
Scant moments later, BattleTech's eyes glow and then a few more moments' he sit
up on the table and looks at both Striker and Arcademan with a sense of
familiarity.

"BATTLETECH SYSTEM ONLINE...LINKING WITH ARCADE BRIGADE COMPUTER
MAINFRAME...LOADING...LOADING...GOOD EVENING STRIKER AND ARCADEMAN...AWAITING
NEW ORDERS..."

"Sounds like his own self to me, Striker." says Arcademan. "BattleTech, do you
remember the last thing that happened to you?"

"THE VILLAIN DESTRUX ATTEMPTED TO TAKE THE LIFE OF DISRUPTION AND MYSTIQUE
ROSE...I STEPPED IN THE WAY OF THE BLAST TO PROTECT THEIR WELL-BEING PER MY
DIRECTIVE...ACCORDING TO MY INTERNAL SENSORS, THAT EVENT OCCURRED FIVE MONTHS,
27 DAYS, 19 HOURS AND 14 SECONDS AGO..."

"Congratulations, Striker. You did a fantastic job."

Though his face is completely covered by a helmet and mask, one could tell
Striker was smiling. "I also did major improvements on his body armor and
defensive capabilities. He should be able to withstand tougher attack in the
future, mostly because I'm tired of rebuilding him all the time." he said
half-jokingly.

As the three walk to the main room of the headquarters, Arcademan was enjoying
things for a change. Enjoyment was definitely lacking so this really made his
day. "And not a moment too soon. With Christmas coming up, we really could use
the old holiday spirit and start..." BattleTech stopped and turned toward
Arcademan.

"QUERY...HOLIDAY SPIRIT? I DO NOT KNOW OF SUCH A TERM...PLEASE ENLIGHTEN MY
PROGRAM ON THIS..."

"Uh...kind of hard to explain..." Arcademan was stuttering to find the exact
words. "The Christmas seasonis suppose to bring out goodwill toward men, deck
the halls, Santa Claus, Ho Ho Ho...er...a...Wiki it in your program,
rust-bucket!"

Arcademan was flustered as Striker did everything in his power NOT to laugh.
After a minute, BattleTech reached his programmed conclusion.

"I CAN UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF SUCH AN IDEALISM HOWEVER WHY A FICTIONAL
CHARACTER CAN INFLUENCE IT I CANNOT..." This time it was Arcademan who
interrupted.

"Santa Claus is as real as you and I. I have helped him in the past so wherever
you got you information, they got it all wrong." BattleTech looked puzzled,
first at Striker, then to Arcademan. Then a loud, monotone voice came from
him...

"PROVE IT!!!"

Arcademan:
Chapitre II

"You know...I really hate technology!" mumbled Arcademan as he turned to the
automated being known as BattleTech. "The only way I can do that is if I take
you to his workshop at the North Pole...and this is his busy time of year."

"INTERJECTION...THERE ARE NO STRUCTURES LOCATED AT THE NORTH POLE...THUS CLAIMS
TO HIS WORKSHOP THERE ARE NOT ACCURATE. ACCORDING TO SATSCAN A041 NO VISIBLE
ITEMS ARE PRESENT THERE."

"Hmmm...that's where you're wrong, my friend." said Arcademan. "Striker, if you
don't mind?" Striker punched up some information and images on the main computer
screen inside of the Arcade Brigade Headquarters' main room.

"The site itself is not visible or accessible to regular people. It exists in a
slightly different dimension. It vibrates out of the reach of the Earth
Dimension. Only those who can match the frequency of said vibrations can see
anything there. That's why no navigational software can track it." Arcademan
almost smiled as he seemed to one-up the android.

"SUCH A CONCEPT IS INDEED POSSIBLE HOWEVER THE ONLY WAY ITS EXISTANCE CAN BE
PROVEN IS IF WE VISIT THE NORTH POLE."

Arcademan sighed but then said "Agreed. We'll have to download some info inside
of your mainframe so you can duplicate the vibrational barrier which will then
allow you access to the workshop as well as something to prevent your
auto-controllers from freezing in the harsh enviroment."

As the three heroes prepared to go, the heroine known as Eclipse walked in to
the headquarters. She was one of the original heroes created by The White Wizard
hundreds of years before Arcademan and the other heroes and was resurrected
during the war against The Darkness. Though initially trapped for eternity with
a villain to save the Arcademan Universe, she managed to survive the encounter
and help win the war. Afterward, Eclipse left the Earth to explore the universe
as the forces of darkness and light, in which she had powers over, slowly became
to tilt toward darkness and she felt it a danger to everyone on the planet. Now
she had returned.

"How's it going guys?" as she greeted them. "Looks like something important is
happening. Anything I can do to help out in any way?"

Arcademan turns. "Glad to see you returned. How are your internal struggles with
your powers going?"

Hesitant at first, Eclipse filled everyone in on what's been happening. "It's
still a struggle but for the duration, the balance is even. So...about what you
guys were talking about..."

Arcademan answered back. "Well, I'm taking BattleTech up to the North Pole to go
see Santa Claus." Perplexed at first, Eclipse tilted her head.

"Did you say Santa Claus?"

"Yes...yes I did." snaps back Arcademan, his face dead serious when he said it.

"Wow! I wonder how Mister Kringle is doing after all these centuries?" Arcademan
could hardly believe what he heard.

"So...you know him?" asked Striker, who was just as surprised as Arcademan upon
hearing her statement.

"Sure. He was one of the beings The White Wizard introduced to me when I was
created. Such a nice guy...jolly too. Since you two are going to visit him,
would you mind me coming along as well?" asked the young lady, though in this
case appearances are definitely deceiving as she's been around for over 500
years.

"No problem, Eclipse." says Arcademan. "BattleTech is ready for the trip so
let's get a move on. Even at full speed, it'll take some time to get to the
North Pole."

Eclipse's fingertips began to glow brightly. "Perhaps I can assist in the
journey. With the powers and spirits of the Firebird and Shadowhawk within me, I
can take a shortcut through dimensions. I assume you can both handle such harsh
conditions of this kind of travel."

"I can as long as I don't make it a habit." says Arcademan.

"MY ARMORED CASING CAN WITHSTAND INTERDIMENSIONAL TRAVEL FOR BRIEF DURATION
WITHOUT ASSISTANCE." chimed in BattleTech.

"Okay, lady, gentleman and er...a...robot...let's do it!" Eclipse waved her
hands in the air around the three, first bathed in darkness, then in light.
After a few tense seconds, the light faded away and the three were gone, leaving
Striker all alone in the Arcade Brigade headquarters.

Mere moments later, a brightly lit globe appeared at the North Pole, then an
eerie darkness enveloped the light, then finally melted away into nothingness as
Arcademan, Eclipse and BattleTech arrived at their destination. Arcademan shook
for a moment, then looked around.

"Okay...interesting way of travelling. BattleTech, Striker programmed you with
the vibrational frequency that will enable you to see the place. Eclipse, hold
on to BattleTech while he does that and I'll use my own powers to transcend the
barrier." For a brief time, all three vibrate as if they were a film on a screen
growing out of focus. Then suddenly, Santa's workshop and buildings appeared,
first out of focus, then sharper until they were in tuned with the surrounding
landscape.

"Incredible!" said Ecipse as she stared at the buildings. "It's much bigger than
the last time I visited, otherwise it hasn't changed much in over five
centuries."

BattleTech also examined the surroundings. "IT APPEARS YOU WERE CORRECT,
ARCADEMAN....DOWNLOADING VISUAL INFORMATION...SCANNING...NOTE: A FEMALE HUMANOID
IS APPROACHING. AWAITING INSTRUCTIONS."

It was Mrs. Claus coming over to where the three heroes were standing.
"Arcademan? Thank heavens you came. I was about to call you!" Her voice has some
concern.

"What's wrong?" asked Arcademan. "Where's your husband?"

"That's what I was going to call you about. He's gone! Vanished and with only 48
hours until Christmas!"

Arcademan:
Chapitre III

"What an incredible coincidence!" said Eclipse. "For us to appear right when
Santa Claus has disappeared..."

Arcademan interrupted. "A wise woman once told me that there is no such thing as
coincidence in the world...the only thing is hitsuzen! Now Mrs. Claus...take us
to where you last saw your husband please."

The four walked through the light snowy trail leading toward the workshop, more
specifically the back corner near the reindeer stable where Santa's sleigh is
kept.

"He was working on it at the time, getting ready for Christmas and all that
stuff, don't you know. I was heading back to the kitchen to get him a snack.
Suddenly there was a flash of light and when I turned around, he was
gone...along with the sleigh." Despite telling the heroes calmly, Mrs. Claus was
visibly worried.

The heroes looked around the spot where the sleigh once stood. "No fresh track
leading away from here so he didn't leave on the physical plane." said Eclipse.
Arcademan focused his x-ray vision and swept the area. "No signs of anyone else
in here that shouldn't be here and there's no signs of a physical struggle to
boot."

"MASTER ARCADEMAN...MISTRESS ECLIPSE...MY SENSORS ARE DETECTING A UNIQUE POWER
FLUCTUATION...SCANNING...SCANNING...DET ECTING FAINT TRACES OF TACHYON
RADIATION. DOWNLOADING AND CROSS-REFERENCE...LOADING...TACHYON POWER SOURCE
CONSISTANT WITH GALLIFREY TIME TRAVELING TECHNOLOGY...TIME AND RELATIVE DIMENSION
IN SPACE VEHICLE." BattleTech finished with his usual computer monotone voice.

"His sleigh has the limited powers and abilities of a Tardis. Somehow it
activated while Santa was around it and both of them vanished into the time
stream." speculated Arcademan. "Though we're not sure if it was accidental or
not, the real question is how can we track it, especially when you consider the
countless alternate dimensions and time zones? This is much worse than finding a
needle in a haystack. If there was only some clue..."

"ARCADEMAN...ALL VEHICLES WITH THIS PARTICULAR TECHNOLOGY LEAVES AN UNIQUE
ENERGY SIGNATURE PATTERN. IF THERE IS A RECORD OF SAID PATTERN, WE HAVE A
27.34524% CHANCE OF FOLLOWING IT..."

Eclipse added. "I do have a limited ability to transend the curtains between
dimensions, like the way we three arrived though I may only be able to do such a
couple of times so pinpointing Santa's sleigh would be critical in finding him,
especially before Christmas."

Mrs. Claus suddendly remembered. "Our head elf Dingle! He knows many of Pa's
secrets. Maybe he knows something about this energy you're talking about!" She
walks across the workshop to a phone. "Elf toyshop...this is Mrs. Claus. Could
you send Dingle over to the workshop please?"

A scant moment later, Dingle walks in and notices Arcademan immediately. "Howdy,
friend Arcademan. What brings you to the North Pole?" Almost immediately, Dingle
glanced over in the workshop corner when Santa's sleigh should be and noticed it
gone.

"Oh no! Where is the sleigh...and where's Santa?!!" Dingle's voice was very
panicky at that point.

"Calm down, Dingle. That's why we're here and we're hoping you can help us out."
said Arcademan in a reassuring tone. After telling the head elf what thet
believe happened, Dingle rushed over to a desk with a computer. "All the specs
to Santa's sleigh are here since he's always tinkering with it and trying to
make it better. I'm sure the info's in there but I don't have clearance to it
nor do I know the password. Do you, Mrs. Claus?"

"Heavens to Betsy I don't know. Computers aren't my thing. Now what?" asked Mrs.
Claus.

BattleTech sat down in front of the computer, then pulled out a cable from a
hidden compartment on his chest and plugged it into the computer. "ATTEMPTING TO
OVERRIDE ENTRY...LOADING...LOADING...FIREWALL BLOCKING
ACCESS...BYPASS...PASSWORD ACK1NYSSIL...ACCESS GRANTED. INFORMATION PERTAINING
TO POWER SOURCE SIGNATURE TO SLEIGH RECOVERED."

Arcademan turned to Mrs. Claus and Dingle. "We can follow him. We will bring him
back and Christmas will return. Eclipse, BattleTech...let's go!" Eclipse raised
both her hands and released the powers of the firebird and shadowhawk...its
energies enveloped the trio and then in a flash of light swallowed by darkness,
they were gone.

Mrs. Claus whispered a prayer for the safe return of her husband and the heroes,
then turned to Dingle. "Whatever you do, don't tell ANYONE that Santa's gone. If
anyone asks for him, make up an excuse or call me."

"Yes ma'am! Mum's the word! No peep from me, no sirree Bob!" Dingle headed back
to the toyshop. Mrs. Claus retreated back to the house to await news, not
knowing that another shimmering light appeared outside of the gates of the North
Pole...

Arcademan:
Chapitre IV

Like a tunnel carved through the very fabric of space and time, the three heroes
dart through the dimensional stargate created by Eclipse's powers of the
Firebird and Shadowhawk. Both natural enemies, the twin energy beings reside
within the body of the heroine, always an eternal struggle of light and
darkness. Because the dark aspects of the balance was tilting in its favor,
Eclipse left Earth but since returned as she felt the balance was more
controllable however during this trip, some of the strain of maintaining such
balance started to show as Arcademan noticed a visual change around Eclipse's
body.

"BattleTech, do you notice that dark aura of energy around her body?" Though in
interdimensional space, Arcademan could communicate with BattleTech with an
intercom system.

"NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT, I CAN DETECT SUCH AN AURA, MASTER ARCADEMAN. ANY
SUGGESTION ON THE SITUATION WOULD BE ADVISABLE SINCE MAGIC IS OUTSIDE OF MY
PERAMETERS."

Arcademan nudged Eclipse, who looked at him what looked like an evil impression
on her face but then noticing him, nodded to him assurring that she was all
right. Then she said "Looks like this is the spot. Brace for impact!"

"Wait! What do you mean impact?!!" yelled Arcademan. Then suddenly the tunnel
faded from around them and the next split second, all three beings hit the
ground with a thunderous crash...hard enough to leave a nice sized crater.
Moments later, the three crawled out of the hole in the ground created by their
arrival.

"Geez Eclipse! A little more warning next time! I felt that one!" said Arcademan
but then noticed as Eclipse and BattleTech were crawling out, the two were
visibly shakened. The hero helped her up and out. "Are you okay, Eclipse? And
what about you, BattleTech.

"I MANAGED TO ENGAGE MY FORCE SHIELD AT THE LAST MOMENT HOWEVER THE IMPACT
DAMAGED SOME OF MY LEG CIRCUITS. SCANNING...SCANNING. MEMORY INTACT AND RUNNING
CURRENTLY ON 85% POWER. ESTIMATE SELF-REPAIR ON LEG: 29 MINUTES HOWEVER CAN
STILL WALK AND FUNCTION WITHIN SET PERAMETERS."

Eclipse did not respond to Arcademan as she stood with her eyes closed as if in
deep meditation. The dark aura surrounding her was stronger than he had noticed
earlier but after a minute, the energy seem to be absorbed into her body. The
young lady then opened her eyes slightly then collapsed to the ground. Once
again Arcademan helped her to her feet.

"Thanks, Arcademan. As you can see, the Shadowhawk tries to be the more dominant
enery force. It takes comlete and total willpower and the Firebird to regain the
balance. Hence the original reason I left Earth for if I lose that balance, than
darkness will claim me and strike against the Beings of Light." She finished in
a dejected tone but Arcademan held her hand.

"I know how the constant struggle between darkness and light is...believe me.
I'm a Being of Darkness fighting on the side of Light so I do know partially
what you're going through. If you need any help or assistance, please let me
know." Eclipse nods in acceptance.

"Okay...let's see if we can pick up the trail for Santa Claus and get him home
for Christmas." states Arcademan. "For starters, do we know where we are...and
don't say Earth. I know we're on 'a' Earth but which one? It does seem a little
familiar."

Eclipse looked around. "I...I'm not sure. Give me a moment to get my bearings.
What about you, BattleTech? Can you read the vibratory waves of the different
Earths?"

"MASTERS STRIKER AND TECKNIGHT PROGRAMMED ME WITH THEIR KNOWN KNOWLEDGE OF KNOW
EARTHS AND THEIR DIMENSIONAL VIBRATIONS. IF THIS IS ONE OF THE WORLDS, I WILL BE
ABLE TO DETECT SUCH PATTERNS." BattleTech began to emit beeps and lights as he
attempted to find out the answer however Arcademan, who flew up slightly into
the air and looked around appeared to find out the answer himself.

"There's a city about 25 miles due south of here and now that I see a few
things, I know exactly where we are and that is..."

"ANALYSIS COMPLETE. THE INFORMATION DOWNLOADED INTO MY MEMORY CORE SUGGESTS THAT
THIS IS DESIGNATED EARTH-S."

"As I was saying...Earth-S...Shazam's world. Home of Captain Marvel and the
Marvel Family. And the city...Fawcett City. Let's head on over there and see if
I can find out where Captain Marvel is and see if he's noticed anything out of
the ordinary recently."

As the trio took to the air and started their flight toward Fawcett City,
Eclipse looked around and studied the scenery and thought to herself. "So...this
is the home of Mighty Adam...the one who fought along my side during The
Darkness War both hundreds of years ago and recently. I wonder what made him
embrace the side of darkness?"

As the heroes reached the outskirts of the city, there was a sudden loud boom. A
streak of red flew past them, followed almost immediately by a similar streak of
blue. As they looked ahead, they noticed two people striking thunderous blows
between each other: one dressed in red, the other black and both bearing the
lightning emblem across their respectful chests.

Both Arcademan and Eclipse said also simutaneously "Captain Marvel"..."Black
Adam."

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