Unpacking

Cedric burst through the door with a cheer.  He was a little surprised when Levi and Daren jumped behind the couch and into the kitchen respectively in surprise.

“Relax fellas!” he chortled as he slung his duffel bag into the living room, “We’re friendlies!”

“Matt came with you?” Jared asked as he resumed playing his video game.

“Yep.  He’s checking Christine right now.”

“Cool.”

“How was the fam?” James asked as he sketched away inside a pad.

“Good.  Good.  Dad’s relaxin’, bein’ an attentive, spoiling father to Angel.  Mom and Roland are startin’ up a restaurant.  They hired Snug.”

“Brackish?” Jared asked, “Big-titted catgirl?  They got her a job?”

“Yeah.  She said she didn’t want to run around beating up bad guys the rest of her life.  She says ‘hi.’”

“Mmm…”

“Jesus, Jare,” James muttered, “Can’t you keep your head out of the gutter?”

“I can’t help it!” his friend said with a grin, “I like tits!  Even if they are a little fuzzy…”

“Not to mention spiky,” Cedric chuckled as he turned to the duffel bag, “Now, let’s see what Santa Sheldon sent you guys!”

“What’re you talkin’ about?” James asked, setting his sketch pad aside and rising to look over the big man’s shoulder.

“Shel gave me a hammerspace bag to bring you guys.  Said it had stuff you could use to set up a new base of operations.  I guess Kip told him to outfit ya or somethin’.”

Grey reached into the bag.  His hands seemed to disappear into darkness as they crossed the threshold of the zipper opening and when he withdrew them, he pulled out a box  of objects that looked like smartphones.

“New Ryat-linked communicators,” he announced as he set it aside, “Guess Kip still wants to keep tabs on ya.”

“Looks like we’re still in Grey’s Army,” James muttered, “Or what’s left of it.”

“Don’t sound so glum.  There are worse things in life than finding out you’ve got friends.”

“Kip thinks he can keep a leash on us.  What happens if we do something high-profile that he thinks is embarrassing?  Or worse, what if he thinks he can just call us up to do shit for him?”

“You wouldn’t help a friend in need?” Cedric asked as he reached into the bag again.

“It’s not that,” James sighed exasperatedly, “Kip…  When he turned to being a full-time hero, he takes the whole ‘meta humans have a responsibility’ thing way too seriously.  He thinks that because he takes things so seriously, he has authority over anybody he knows who isn’t as serious.”

“He’ll come around,” Cedric said confidently as he pulled a cylinder out of the bag, “The fuck is this?”

James looked it over and shrugged.  It looked like a container, but he couldn’t see a way to open it as Cedric handed it to him.  He set it on the counter and helped Cedric unpack.

A couple generators, some sets of tools, a computer and a few other odds and ends were removed from the bag.  Levi and Daren helped sort the objects.

“Hey, check it out,” Levi said as he hefted a pair of what looked like bladeless handles, “I left these in Randy’s base.”

He flicked a switch on them and a pair of blue energy beams extended from the devices.  They weren’t the same as “lightsabers” as seen in movies.  Instead of being simple extended beams of plasma, they were force fields, angled and shaped as broadsword blades.

“Sheldon must have done some more work on them,” he said in surprise.

“Guess some of this other stuff is for Mark,” Daren muttered as he held up some parts and tried to put them together, “Looks like a rifle or something.”

They set the objects on one of the chairs.  Mattock McGinty came in from the garage, wiping grease and grime from his hands.

“Well, Christine’s happy to see me.  Seemed a little upset that I left her in the garage with nothing to do.”

“How did she cope?” James asked.

“Like a cat.  Slept most of the time.  I’m gonna have to take her for a ride tomorrow.  Go on a patrol, I guess.”

“Mind a passenger?” Cedric asked, “I’m gonna need to buy some flowers, see if Elizabeth is getting any better, that sort of thing.”

“Alright,” Matt replied, “How’s the hot water situation?”

Once he was assured he’d be able to take a good, long shower without worry, he headed up the stairs.  Cedric headed into the kitchen to raid the refrigerator and the rest of the boys fell into their routine.  None of them noticed that the container James couldn’t open, the container they’d set next to the easy chair, had opened of its own accord and now its former occupant was wandering about the house.