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"What did she call you again?"

"No, don't start that again" Avory insisted, but Avelyn carried on,

"Her guardian angel!" she giggled, teasing her brother "She's got everyone calling you that!"

He shook his head but couldn't hold back a smile as he toiled away at some of the gear he picked up the day before.

"That's what you should name your next suit! Revert back to the white suit and call it 'Guardian Angel'" she continued, "but surely she must have realized that it was one of the Lightnings who was her 'Knight in shining armour'."

"Ok, enough with the jokes," Avory insisted, inscrewing the small earpiece trapped between two fingers, "I need to focus on this..."

"That's not why you've stopped listening to your girlfriend, what's happened? You think she's dating one of the other guys? Is it that new guy, that enemy?" She continued to tease, trying to get a reaction out of him.

"Har har... she's not my girlfriend." Avory finally relented, emptying his hands onto his desk to spin around in his chair to face Avelyn, "We've never met, and do you think she would even date the person currently spying on her - for her own safety - and is probably the reason why she ran away from her family?"

"Well it wasn't you that she ran because of. It was her father courting our dad," She reminded him, "and even then, how was he supposed to know it was her hatchday? He was just as appalled when he got home as we all were."

Avory paused after listening to her sister before answering her question, "I lost connection."

"To what?" Avelyn asked, confused.

"I lost connection to Tsumé's phone," he explained, "They're somewhere up in the mountains far north-west of here. No signal up there."

"Well let's hope she doesn't get into any danger" Avelyn prayed for them both, "Any idea why they are up there?"

"Nope; by the time I started listening in, they were already half way up so it was just as choppy as the day before. It wasn't worth trying to listen to. I just hope they aren't jumping the gun and getting themselves into trouble."

"You and me both, " Avelyn agreed, noticing the piece of body armour her brother collected from the P.A.C.E operatives the two nights before. She reached over and picked it up, inspecting it, "was this theirs?"

"Yep. Just your standard bullet proof vest," Avory said looking over, "well... not standard. What our suits are lined with inside. Just basic kevlar with steel scales and ceramic plating."

"You think they copied us?" Avelyn asked with a hint of concern.

"No," her brother shook his head. "Dad annoyingly has already employed my idea in TTS."

She tried to look on the bright side, "Well it means protecting more people-"

"-it means more people being ballsy going guns blazing thinking they and the other guy are invincible," Avory glared at her, to show his annoyance, before turning face and showing off, "at least I didn't show him how to get the weave so tight but flexible, and the layers so thin and strong. So I've yet to find anything stronger than our own - even P.A.C.E's here."

Avelyn looked around the desk more to see the flask-sized cylinder, reaching down to pick it up. "And what's this?"

Avory's face quickly lit up again as he turned to his sister, "I am still trying to figure it out but I have a feeling that might actually be a mini matter of ancient novel asteroids frequency inverter!"

Avelyn blinked down at her starry eyed brother. She knew this excited him but didn't know why.

"It's something I theorized earlier this year," Avory turned around in his chair to face his computer screens and brought up a couple of files he had been working on, "Ever since we found that Elcrum Achtbeinig had and then the other four after Hong Kong, I was convinced they all linked together somehow."

Avelyn saw designs of a perfectly smooth, deep purple sphere on the screen with many annotations orbiting it as her brother waffled on.

"I believe that if you are able to chemically fuse them together... you can make what I call 'spherum'," the boy sounded chuffed. "Done right, it could be the best power source this world has ever known. But alternatively if you somehow invert that power... You get the greatest defense against the stones."

Avelyn realized something and looked down at her brother with concern again. "...And the Phoenixes?"

Avory sighed again, defeated, "Yes. And if that is what I believe it to be," he gestured to the device Avelyn held, "then it definitely works to an extent on a small scale."

"Why are you not as concerned about this as much as you should be?" Avelyn asked.

Avory then looked up at her with confidence. "Because you can only start inventing the bullet proof vest once you've first invented the bullet."

Later that day, out in the dense forest...

"Please can you explain to me why we are currently in the middle of the forest, in a reinforced trench, fifty metres away from the thing I was just holding this morning?" Avelyn asked her brother, both in their Lightning suits, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Avory bit his beak and inhaled as he braced Avelyn, "I hadn't understood all of the readings by that point."

The red clad hero then looked in front and behind him nervously before speaking up again, "I think I might have miscalculated the precautions."

"You've overestimated the effect of your bomb?" She asked.

"I hope so." Avory admitted, before continuing, "but I do think I've overestimated how close we should be... maybe a hundred metres?"

"Do you seriously not know how big this thing is going to blow?!"

"I think we should be fine here."

"You think?"

"I'm going to open it."

Avelyn ducked down into the trench, her back against the frozen wall, facing away from the device.

"3... 2... 1..." Avory muttered as he then flipped a switch in his hand.

Fifty metres away, two large arms attached to each side of the flask-sized object, trying to pry it apart. The mechanical arms wheezed and groaned when more power and force was applied. Until, at least, the seal broke.

A huge, thudding, echoing pop erupted from ground zero followed by a high rising woosh into the air that happened in a fraction of a second.

Blink, and you missed it.

Keep your eyes open, and you still see nothing, but the ground around the point of origin seemed to have fallen away and any of the equipment at the center was now gone, as well as the first ring of measuring equipment. Avory's eyes lit up as he leapt up from the trench and flew toward the test zone, seeing it from a height and then landing at the edge before jumping out of his suit to see the results of himself with his own two eyes.

"Yes! This is amazing!!!" He squawked loudly.

Avelyn only realized it was over when she had turned to see her brother had left her side in the trench, peering up over the top to see her brother without his suit. "What the hell was that?!"

"Dark matter!" Avory screamed with glee, "We've just witnessed the creation of dark matter!"

"...What?! That was actually dark matter?!"

"My readings were correct!" Avory cheered like a child on Christmas morning, "The vacuum left inside that mini matter of ancient novel asteroids frequency inverter from when the spherum was completely used up generated dark matter when it was finally allowed to expand!"

"I thought dark matter was only theoretical?" Avelyn suggested, lifting herself up onto the snowy forest floor with her thrusters to join her brother, noticing a large spherical crater of compressed snow and earth where the device used to be, now flattened like tin cans on the floor.. The snow had been compressed so much under the blast that it had crystallized into a super hard ice sheet.

"It's never been proven until now!" Avory said grabbing his sister's armour-clad hands. "We've just discovered dark matter! Think of where we could go from here!"

Avelyn nodded her head unconvincingly, having no idea now of what her brother could be referring to. "I have no idea."

"Exactly! The possibilities are endless!" Avory beamed.

"I mean I have no idea what you're talking about!" Avelyn tried to calm him down, "Besides; if P.A.C.E invented this device, surely they had already discovered the dark matter?"

Avory's face quickly soured. He held his position for a moment before falling to his knees, letting go of Avelyn's gauntlets and looked up into the sky. He sucked in air before screaming into the clouds.

"WHY MUST EVERYONE INVENT THINGS BEFORE ME?!!"

"Bro... you're still only eighteen. You've got your whole life ahead of you."

Two weeks later...

"Merry Christmas!" Avelyn cheered as the two suited figures touched down on the driveway in front of the open garage. Her red thigh-length turtleneck sweater rippled in the wind as their thrusters blasted down on the stone bricks below.

Before her, a tall red and gold metallic suit stood and looked down at her before bowing to her respectively, "W?nshàng h?o, shèngdàn jié kuàilè, Miss _xiao_Lo'Raven," it said in an indistinguishable synthetic voice.

Avelyn bowed back until they both rose again and smiled, "_N? h?o, lao_Dawling."

"G'day, mate!" The other responded in the same synthetic voice. Its suit being plain white and uninspiring, with its only uniqueness being the possession of four arms. "How are you doing?"

"I've been going well, Stripez" Avelyn smirks back at the speaker, reaching in to hug the large figure, finding her arms around its torso below both sets of white arms which found their way around her back holding her close for a few moments before they released her.

"Right! If you follow me, you can get those things off. It must have been a long flight!" Avelyn suggested as she walked into the garage, between the nicely presented parked cars.

"Xièxiè, it was. About six and a half hours," The red and gold Dawling responded.

"And another three and a half for me on top of that!" Stripez responded.

The garage door closed behind them as they passed into the workshop at the end.

"If you park them here, they'll be rearmed and repaired," Avelyn guided the two to a pair of empty suit stations next to the Red and Blue Lightnings, on the opposite side to an empty station, where hangs an American-themed dartboard at head height, with three darts at the top of the middle ring.

Standing in their stations, the suits begin to peel off revealing a tall durian jackdaw with black features and a white back of his head. He was dressed in a smart but casual maroon tang suit jacket and white mandarin shirt, whilst his complexion was revealed to be a tall yellow and black wasp-bee wearing a loose summer shirt decorated in christmas patterns.

"Brrr... it'z cold," Stripez commented, pulling his arms free from his suit to wrap around his body.

Avelyn scoffed and laughed, "What the hell are you wearing?"

"I wear thiz all the time! It'z the middle of zummer down there!" Stripez reminded the girl as he moved his upper arms to place on her sides to lean in to kiss her cheek softly, "I know thiz iz Canada but I thought it would be warmer. I didn't expect znow on the ground"

"Well if you go through the house I will try to see if I can find something for you, maybe a Christmas jumper!'' She teased the arthropoid, giving him a peck on the cheek back before he released her to leave the workshop in search of warmer pastures.

"I knew you said your friend was eccentric, but I wasn't quite expecting him to be quite like that," the jackdaw commented as he continued to look around the workshop curiously, taking another look at the dartboard.

"He has his quirks, but he's smart and lovable," Avelyn assured as she watched the other bird before warning him, "But if you think _that_is eccentric, then you've seen nothing yet."

"Was this...?" He asked Avelyn, pointing at the suit station and dartboard, not wanting to utter the name.

Avelyn quietly nodded. "It was his."

"He has a way of taking out his anger. Mr _xiao_Lo'Raven," The jackdaw inspected the dartboard again curiously, "Although his aim is consistent, shouldn't he be aiming lower, to hit the center of the target?" he asked.

"No, actually." Avelyn corrected, "the 'bullseye might be 50 points, but where Avory's aimed is triple 20; that's 60 points."

"That spot is worth more than the middle? Why do people aim for the middle then?"

Avelyn shrugged. "Beats me, Jack."

"Merry Christmas!" Avory chimed, looking over to see his tall, cold friend approach. "Long time no see! I'll be with you in a second... I'm almost done."

"Merry Chriztmaz to you too!" Stripes buzzed, continuing to walk up to the bird over in the kitchen preparing the last of the vegetables, dicing up some small cubes of pancetta and sprinkling them over a banking tray of brussel sprouts.

But to Avory's surprise, the bug had continued to near until he grabbed him from the side with all four arms, turning him around on the spot and raising one of his right arms to lift the bird's beak and planting a heavy kiss on the beak between the two halves of his beak. Lifting up one of his left hands, Stripez grabbed the knife Avory was using and guided it away and toward the counter top to place down, out of the way.

Avory was stunned in silence as his body was manipulated by the six foot tall bug, who tilted his head and began to pry the bird's beak apart with his tongue. With his amber eyes wide open but entirely blank, he found an arm rest over his shoulders and behind his neck, holding him close as that other hand remained at his cheek, caressing it softly, a black thumb stroking over his grey feathers. Another pair of arms rested around his hips, just above his tail feathers in the small of his back.

He finally realized what was happening, as he felt his tongue coiled and wrestled by Stripez's own. It had been so long since last time, and finally shaking off the shock and coming back to his senses, it felt good.

He decided to place his arms around the arthropod's waist, closing his eyes and parting his beak and accepted the kiss, dancing his tongue with Stripez's, before it grew more bold. The long, thick, black tongue invaded the bird's throat. The raven didn't protest gradual intrusion, as his large avian lungs would allow him more than enough time to savor the act.

Avory let out a blissful moan as he suckled Stripez's tongue, wrapping his own smaller one around the thick black muscle as it bulged the underside of his great feathery neck. The moans caused vibrations in the bird's throat that caressed the tip of the bug's intrusive tongue that stuffed it, like the turkey he would later be serving.

Jack Dawling had left the workshop and looked on at the two from the living room. The kitchen, dining room and living room were all open plan so there was no hiding the make out session going on across from him.

"...Are those two gay?" he asked Avelyn who just came out to join him, just about to run up the stairs to try and find something warm for their other guest.

Avelyn looked over to see what he was referring to, blushing a little and giggling, "Oh. Well they are both bi. I know that for a fact," she revealed to the durian jackdaw, "They were dating back in college but I think they are just friends with benefits."

"What is a friend with benefits," Jack asked, trying to look away, slightly disturbed at the other two males making out.

"That, essentially," Avelyn replied dryly.

It was Stripez who eventually pulled away, owing to his lungs not being quite as large as the avian's. His lips pulling away from Avory's beak for air; but his long black tongue taking its time as it dragged out of the bird's throat and mouth who stood their blushing; his cheeks just as red as the markings around his eyes and feathers.

Stripes gave the raven-hoopoe's beak a long dominant lick, stroking Avory's cheek and side with two of his hands, his over pair still wrapped around his neck as he gazed down at him.

"It'z been a while. Did you mizz me?~" the wasp-bee asked with a smirk, holding the bird posessively.

"Mhm~" Avory nodded, looking up at Stripez, "I certainly wasn't expecting that right off the bat."

"The firzt of many giftz I plan to give you thiz evening~" he buzzed softly.

Avory chuckles and shakes his head dismissively, "You haven't changed have you?"

Turning his head a little to see how much time they would have alone, the raven-hoopoe was surprised to see there was no time at all when Avelyn and Jack were watching them from afar. Quickly letting go of the bug, who failed to realize the urgency and continued to hold and caress the bird when they both looked over at their onlookers.

"Oh! Hi there Jack!" Avory welcomed, trying to push Stripez off him to which he eventually released him, noticing the Hongkongese bird's disturbance , "Merry Christmas! I'm sorry if you saw too much and made you feel uncomfortable"

Jack took a moment to gather his thoughts and say something, "You are full of surprises, Avogadro. It is something I have grown to expect."

There was a pause as Avelyn ran up the stairs and Avory returned his attention to the food, putting the baking tray of vegetables into the oven.

"So, can I get either of you a drink?" Avory asked, heading over to the bar area.

"I'll have a beer, pleaze" Stripes asks, following the bird.

"Fosters?" Avory asked with a smirk.

The Australian then shot him a sour look, "If you pull out a Fozterz I will turn this place upzide down!"

"I'm joking" he reassured, opening a fridge under the counter, "I've only got Molson, Guinness, IPA or some craft beers"

Stripez looked at the collection and reached in with one of his arms for the bottle with a white label and a maple leaf on it. "Iz thiz their local ztuff?" he asked, inspecting the bottle, "a lager? Ok"

"Yeah, it's one of the brands out here. I don't like beers" Avory reminded him.

"I recall" the bug commented as he uncapped the bottle with a bottle opener he found on the counter, "You like your cocktailz"

"I do," the raven-hoopoe chuckled, "You will only find me drinking beer in a Monaco"

"What's different about beer in Monaco?" Jack asked curiously, taking a seat on the large plush white couch.

"Oh no. Monaco is also a cocktail" Avory advised. "It's just beer, grenadine and lemonade. I learnt about it when I visited Nice."

"Hmm... I think I will have one of your niece's Monaco's" Jack decided as he looked around the room, noticing the fireplace off to his right.

Avory smiled and shook his head as he pulled out another bottle of Molson and a large plastic bottle of a perfectly clear fizzy liquid, wrapped in a blue label with lemons pictured on it.

Reaching for a tall tall beer glass and a deep red bottle of grenadine, unscrewing the top and pouring in two measures, before pouring in half a bottle of the beer and then filling up the rest of the glass with an equal amount of his clear lemonade. Stripez watched on curiously as the bird got to work, leaning on the opposite counter and taking a swig of his beer occasionally.

With a long stirrer he made sure the three parts had mixed together before bringing it over to the jackdaw.

"Here you go, one Monaco" he announced, handing Jack the red drink.

He bowed his head in response, taking the drink "F?icháng g?nxiè, Avogadro"

Avory turned his attention up to the follow above him, looking up at the balcony just above the stairs and called to his sister, "Avelyn! Would you like anything to drink?"

"I'll have what you're having!" her voice called back faintly.

"Two Singapore Slings it is then..." Avory muttered to himself as he made his way back over to the bar.

Stripez decided to come over and take a seat on the couch next to Jack, spreading himself out a bit on the large sofa. "What happened to the butler?" he asked.

"He's still back home at Luton Hoo." Avory answered, "it's just me and Avelyn out here. This is our place"

"You own all this?" Jack asked.

"Well technically our dad does. We're slowly paying him back for it" their host replied.

"He still wants to stay here whenever he's got meetings on this side of the world" Avelyn called down as she reemerged, walking down the stairs with a green christmas jumper, throwing it at Stripez who caught it with both hands on one side.

The four armed male lifted up the jumper to see that it was embroidered with a large white snowflake on the front, but most impressive of all was the fact the jumper possessed two pairs or sleeves.

"Wow, you had one that would fit me?" Stripez asked, impressed. Putting down his beer bottle he lifted it up over his head and slid his arms and golden translucent wings into it as he pulled it over.

"No, I had to quickly modify it by knitting two additional sleeves to it from another one." Avelyn explained as she joined the two guests, sitting on another couch around the coffee table in the middle. "So you can have another one the same but no sleeves if you'd like!"

"You are amazingly quick, Ave" Stripez applauded as he felt the soft wool with his hands. "It'z really good!"

"Thanks!" she smiled, "It comes naturally when it's your job"

"You knit for a living?" Jack asks curiously after taking a sip of his drink.

"Kinda" Avelyn shrugged, "I'm a designer for my dad's company, so I can do almost anything with clothing."

"Mhm, Avelyn uzed to modify all my new clothing for me when I waz in college" the wasp-bee explained to Jack. "It's near impozzible to find clothes for four armz! Ezpecially affordable onez." He then turned his attention back to Avelyn, "Hey, any luck with that four-armed product line you zaid you were going to try and puzh for?"

"I think dad might be on board, but it still won't be cheap as we're a designer brand rather than an affordable one." Avelyn admitted, "I've got some designs that I want to finally come out in the spring collection. It'll happily give you some, Stripez." She smiled sweetly.

"Thankz, Ave~"

Avory finally joined the trio, carrying two tall scarlet coloured drinks, decorated with a slice of pineapple and a cherry in each as well as a straw. He carried one over to his twin sister who accepted it gratefully before taking his own place next to Stripez opposite her.

"So what have you been up to since college? Still working on that farm?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"I ztill do help out on the family farm. But I actually work at a big fertilizer firm." the Aussie explained, shifting a little closer to the bird and resting his upper arm over Avory's shoulders. "It payz pretty well"

"Is that doing some sort of product R and D with your chemistry expertise?" Avory pried a little more, curiously.

"Yeah, pretty much" Stripez confirmed as he took another big swig of his beer in his left hand and reached over with his middle right arm to slide behind Avory's back and pulled the bird closer, side by side. The raven-hoopoe didn't protest, and shifted in close and pushed his left arm behind Stripez's back in return.

"Zpoken to your father yet?" the bee asked, turning his head to look at the male hopefully.

"About me coming out bi?" Avory asked agasp, "He would murder me if I did! And murder you too if he thought I was dating you."

"You can't keep hiding in the zhadowz your whole life," Stripez insisted.

"I know..." Avory looked down in sadness, "I love being with you, but we can't be together." he then looked back up at his four armed lover, before resting his head on his shoulder, nuzzling the thick pastel-yellow fuzz around his collar protruding from the green jumper. "I love our moments, and want them to continue for as long as possible. But having a girlfriend would make my life so much easier." he admitted.

Stripez turned his head some more to kiss the top of Avory's beak and held him closer, stroking his side and shoulder with both right arms. "I'm alwayz happy to continue thiz open relationzhip with you, Avi."

"Thanks, Stripez," he cooed happily, closing his eyes, enjoying the comforting embrace with the bug.

Avelyn turned to Jack, drawing his attention away from the couch cuddling couple. "So how's it going back in Hong Kong?"

"Well things seemed to have quietened down since we shut down that laboratory back in June. But there is talk that Beijing is going to hurry up integrating us into China." Jack replied.

"I thought they weren't allowed to do that until 2047?" Avelyn asked, concerned.

Jack nodded, "That is true. But they are breaking that rule anyway. I fear they will go further and tear up the Sino-British agreement fully. I can see more protests happening in the near future like the umbrella movement last year."

"I forgot about that protest," she commented. "It was all over the news in the UK when it happened."

"Just make sure you are not seen to be involved in the suit, Jack," Avory interrupted. "We fight crime, not governments."

"But what if the governments are committing the crime?" Jack asked, arching his eyebrow.

"We don't want to be involved in anything political," Avory insisted. "I am on your and Hong Kong's side in this matter, but we can bring the Lightnings into it. If you get involved, it's without the suit."

Jack clearly didn't like that condition and wanted to argue the point. Instead though, "I agree to your terms, but if innocents are getting hurt, I will use the suit to protect them." he countered.

"You can protect innocents with the suit. Just don't engage the police or government." Avory ordered.

There was a pause as the two avians stared at each other. Stripez, wanting to avoid the situation becoming awkward, spoke up again. "What'z happening about the other guy?"

"Sam White?" Avory asked, taking his eyes from Jack.

"Yeah. The lazt time you zpoke about him, you zaid he waz in a coma."

"He still is... thankfully." he sighed.

"Zo we don't know when he might wake up?"

"His condition is stable, the last update we got." Avelyn carried on form her brother, "We've still got time to figure out what we can do before he wakes up."

"...If he wakes up," Avory muttered.

"Well, yeah, that would be preferred, zurely?" Stripez asks, agreeing with the bird resting on his shoulder.

"Is there a possibility that he has forgotten everything if he wakes up?" Jack interjected.

"That is my preference," Avelyn revealed. "He doesn't not know who you two are, so you're both safe. However he was well aware of us," she gestured to her brother.

"Avi zaid you two were dating?" Stripez asked.

Avelyn looked away for a second in annoyance. "That was true. It was also my call for him to join us."

Stripez looked at her apologetically, "I'm zo zorry for bringing it up."

"Don't worry" Avelyn shook her head, "I'm over it. We just need to wait and see what happens."

The four continued to talk into the evening until the dinner was ready. Avory pulled out all of the food from the oven and plated it up on serving dishes in the middle of the dinning table; adding the few finishing touches such as grating parmesan over the brussel sprouts and pancetta, and carving enough slices of succulent turkey for the four of them.

They all enjoyed the early Christmas meal, spending time together, and like the turkey they ate, becoming well and truly stuffed, commenting on how good their host's cooking was, before returning to the living area and relaxing. They shared a Canadian ice wine the twins recommended to their guests, enjoying a sweet local drink. They all laughed and talked, enjoying each other's company.

"Anyhow... I think this night has gone on long enough without us giving you your presents" Avory revealed before calling out to the house. "A.V.I. Run the presentation protocol!"

"Launching presentation protocol," a synthetic voice spoke in the house around them.

The lights dimmed, leaving the only light in the room the glow from the fireplace and the starlight coming in through the skylight and windows.

"What's this?" Jack asked curiously.

A robotic sound of servos spinning and hydraulics pumping filled the room as four silhouettes trudged in from the room behind the fireplace. They trudged in front of the large cascading window doors that lead out to the snow covered garden. The fireplace light flicking over the coloured metallic bodies of these mechs until they slowly turned around to face the four onlookers.

Without a moment longer, the lights flicked back on and before them stood four brand new Lightning suits, nearly all identical in shape, but unique in colour schemes.

"I present to you, the Lightning 8!" Avory announced, gesturing up at his new creations.

Stripez was the most amazed of the three, letting go of the bird beside him and flying out of his seat to get a closer look at the gold and green suit which was the unique one of the quartet, possessing four arms and a slightly taller helmet featuring two points.

"Crikey mate! Is thiz beaut mine?" He asked, reaching out to touch it, stroking his fingers across it like a brand new car.

"That indeed is yours," Avory replied with a smile, "I nicknamed it 'Outback', but it's up to you what to call it."

"I was thinking 'Lightning Ridge' or 'Drop Bear', but 'Outback' zounds zo much cooler!" the Australian cheered, inspecting every element of it, "Does this mean I get it today too? Have I already graduated?"

"From what Jack's told me, you seem capable enough to grow out of the Spark suit. You can leave it here and take this one when you go."

"Man, that'z great! Thankz Avi!" Stripez beamed from antenna to antenna, running up to Avory and picking him up from the couch to hug him tightly with all four arms and puckered his lips to give the bird the biggest kiss he could muster, prying Avory's beak apart for another kiss.

"Mmmmhppp!!!" Avory muffled in surprise, before moaning blissfully accepting the kiss and returning it happily, cooing as that long black muscle bulged and writhed in his throat, "Mmmm~"

Jack knew what the two other males were doing in the corner of his vision but kept his eyes focused on one of the two red suits. Next to Stripez's 'Outback' stood a bold red suit with a large white five-petal Bauhinia blakeana flower across the chest.

"I see Avogadro listened to my suggestion for the new design." He directed toward Avelyn who looked back. "Removing the gold for China and incorporating the flag of Hong Kong"

"Mhm" Avelyn agreed, "He knows how much it means to you, especially after June."

"Xièxiè" he thanked them before casting his gaze over the other two suits flanking his own and Stripez's, assuming these were the twins'. "I see you two have gone for a darker blue and a darker red?"

"Yeah, we also incorporated white into the designs to try and make them look different from the last suits. Hopefully some people will think we are different to the 'Red and Blue Lightnings' seen in New York." she suggested. "Not sure what people would call them if they thought we were different"

"With those colours it makes you look like 'Captain Canada' and... err..." Jack suggested making Avelyn scoff a laugh, then paused for a second trying to figure out the name, "What's the name of that blue and white France-Canada place?"

"You mean Quebec?" Avelyn answered.

"Maybe? You would know more than me. I thought it began with L" Jack suggested.

"L?" Avelyn pondered, "I'm not sure what you are referring to... unless you mean Saint Lawrence? The river that goes through Quebec?"

"I might be getting confused. I'm not too familiar with Canadian history. I just thought it was a big piece of land France owned." he said as he looked over at the suits again. "So they can move on their own now?" he asked.

Avory finally managed to pull away from his kiss with Stripez to try and answer and be part of the conversation, with Stripez whispering the words 'I love you' to the bird making Avory blush and coo back 'I love you too' before he was released from the hug.

"Not quite..." Avory admitted as he reached for the watch on his wrist to command the suits to open up and peel away to reveal their occupants. "The suits have improved servos to help with movement, but are not quite strong enough still to move the suit on their own. These suits are currently being piloted by some robotic frames controlled by A.V.I."

One of the very basic robots reaches out of the suit to wave at Jack before getting back into position, and suiting back up on Avory's command.

"I am working on the new survos that can support full movement, as well as improving A.V.I's programme to be capable of more advanced and responsive movements. Hopefully enough at least to be able to fly itself to you on command!" Avory suggested.

"I look forward to seeing that," The Hongkonger smiled. "But have you made any other improvements?"

"Yes, actually!" the techie replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out an unusual pale amber crystal and holding it up vertically between his index finger and thumb. "Remember these?"

Stripez looked on curiously at the crystal, but had never seen it before in his life, turning to Jack for answers.

"That is one of the crystals you found in China earlier this year," Jack stated.

"Actually..." Avory paused for a moment to think as the translucent crystal started to glow like an old lightbulb, "that might have accidentally been a trick question... You probably never saw this one before, we found this 'Elcrum' last year before we met. I've been analyzing it since and experimenting on it. The stones you recall were Pyrrum and Galrum."

"Electriczity, Fire and..." Stripez interjected before stumbling on the last one.

"Air" Avory confirmed as the stone glowed brightly like a light; small sparks of electricity began to arch off it. "When fed energy, the stone produces an electrical energy of varying degrees; even something as small as the heat of my body and compression between my fingers is enough to excite this stone."

"So you've used that to power the suits?" Jack asked curiously.

"Almost," the young male flicked the stone up into the air, making it glow brighter and arch larger sparks as the potential energy of the moving stone increased before landing in Avory's palm coming to rest; dimming a bit again before he stuffed it back into his pocket. "I call it 'Mana lensing'."

"Mana, like magic?" Stripez asked.

"I thought it fit." Avory shrugged, "It's an acronym for 'Matter of Ancient Novel Asteroids.'"

Jack spoke up intrigued, "You think they are from space?"

"No. I _know_they are from space" the raven-hoopoe grinned, "I am certain that my readings indicate that these three types of stones, as well as two others, 'Aqurum' and 'Ethrum', landed on this Earth millions of years ago after the creation of the Earth"

"So they are as old as the Earth?" Jack asked, thinking aloud.

"Well, actually these would be very recent in terms of the creation of the Earth. We're talking about millards of years ago compared to millions so it's actually pretty late in terms of the history of the Earth," he went on in a tangent. "But either way... I've managed to use some of the stones to enhance the power of the suits! The reactor core now feeds into an amplifier made using an Elcrum crystal to increase the energy output by multitudes. And for the propulsion I've done similarly by incorporating Galrum into the ramjets meaning you can possibly fly faster than your body can withstand."

"As amazing as this sounds, Avogadro. Don't you believe this could be dangerous?" Jack cautioned.

"It is. So that's why I've implemented limits on the amount of power these can produce; both to gradually increase with further understanding of our and their limitations, and to not burn them out."

"Theze magic rockz deplete like batteriez?" Stripez asked.

"If over-exerted. Yes" Avory agreed, "Me and Avelyn a couple of weeks ago tested out the effects ourselves and they can be pretty implosive. But rest assured, you won't even use a fraction of their power required to get to that point." he insists.

The three of them were silent, gazing over at Avory in shock; even Avelyn who was aware of everything Avory was going to talk about tonight seemed taken aback still.

"You already fly around in a nuclear powered mech-suit that can fly faster than the speed of sound and suit lightning bolts from your hands. And you're now worried by a couple of stones that amplify that power? Trust me, they are fine."

It took a while for everyone to come around again and change topics onto something more light hearted. The suits were walked into the workshop and with A.V.I piloting them, swapped places with the old suits which walked away into storage.

The night grew long and the group began to think about retiring for the evening.

"I would like to sleep now this evening" the jackdaw announced.

"Of course. I think I will join you" Avelyn agreed, getting a concerned look from the male. "Oh no, not as in, sleep with you. I mean I will also go to my own room and sleep."

"Ah. I misunderstood," Jack apologized.

Avelyn stood up from her seat and headed towards the stairs, "if you follow me, I can show you to your guest room."

"Thank you, Avelyn," he replied as he followed the female up to the second floor.

Ascending to the floor above, Avelyn showed him where his guest bedroom was at the end of the hallway, as well as the bathroom opposite.

They bid each other goodnight before she walked back over to the balcony above the stairs to see Avory and Stripez cuddled up together again on the couch in their absence and kissing each other softly.

"I'll trust you two lovebirds will be able to find your own room tonight" she teased, "Goodnight, both of you."

With a wet smack the two males parted their kiss and looked up, wishing her a good night before they watched her leave, pausing for a moment.

"How haz zhe taken Zam?" Stripez asked, laying down on the couch, resting in the corner and pulling Avory on top of him.

"She's over him... if anything I've taken a bit longer to get over it," Avory admitted, laying down on Stripez's chest, finding the bee's four arms wrapped around his back.

"I can imagine... you looked pizzed on the TV," Stripez commented before adding "Rightly zo."

Avory stayed quiet, instead nuzzling the pastel yellow fluff around the bee's neck, trying to get comfortable.

After a while, Stripez spoke up again, "I azzume you've not zpoken to your dad?"

"No..." Avory sighed quietly.

"You zhould, he might be ok with it," Stripez reassured.

"No, he won't." Avory insisted, "He's made his feelings perfectly clear. He's as straight as an arrow and expects me and Avelyn to be the same. Be 'normal people'," he almost spat out. "If he found out that we used to date, and sleep together, he will kill us both."

"He won't. You're juzt exag-"

"Stripez, I do." Avory interrupted, lifting himself up a little on the bug's chest to look at him straight in the eye, "He puts his company ahead of everyone else. Family, friends, himself..." he paused, slowly looking away, leaning himself back down onto Stripez's chest, "He's been like that ever since grandad died..."

Stripez remained quiet, wrapping his arms comfortingly back around the bird.

"I love you Stripez. You've been there for me through college and uni... I wish we could be together, but we can't" Avory let out a long sigh.

"That'z ok" the bug reassured him, "We can ztill be friendz, and keep thiz in zecret."

"I would like that" Avory smiled, nuzzling the yellow fuzz again, "But... when eventually I do get a girlfriend... please don't get mad at me."

"Avi, I can't get mad at you. You're my bezt friend, and you alwayz will be," Stripez reassured him.

The bird lent up again with a warm gentle smile across his beak, "Thank you, Stripez" he cooed, slowly leaning into his lips again for another kiss, holding it delicately between each other, before slowly invading the other with their tongue and deepening the kiss, spending the night together on the couch.

The following morning...

Avelyn had left her room in a long blue nightgown with tired eyes, looking over to her right she could hear the faint hum of the shower in the upstairs guest bathroom accompanied with the soft sound of falling water. Stepping towards the balcony on left and peering down in the living room, she saw the two males wished goodnight to still laying atop each other on the couch.

"I thought you would..." she whispered to herself with a smile and a shake of her head, before turning towards the stairs and walking down them and up to the two.

"Hey, it's morning" she cooed softly, reaching down to gently shake her brother's shoulder.

It took a few moments and a couple of groans but the male raven finally lent up and looked through heavy eyelashes at his sister, who smiled and lent down to his head to kiss it softly before whispering to him, "You might want to get cleaned up. Jack's awake."

He groaned something again and then shifted on the bee, pulling himself free from the arms around him and touching the floor with his bare foot. Avory paused before lifting himself up and hissing in pain at the movement.

Avelyn watched on as her brother sluggishly hobbled over towards the steps and up them slowly. Every other step groaned, rounding the balcony on the landing above them and finding his room, which he disappeared into.

Stripez was already shifting around on the couch below, having felt the weight upon him lifted. "Hmmm... iz it morning already?" he asked. His blue eyes hesitantly peering through his eyelids seeing a warm glow touch the white snow covered garden through the windows before him.

"Morning typically comes after night," she teased him. "I'm sure that's still the same in Oz."

Stripez then sat up right on the couch, looking over to her smiling, "In Auztralia you get a good morning kizz."

"Do you now?" the bird shook her head and smirked, "Well if you get washed and dressed, you can get one."

Stripez stood up and rounded the sofa towards Avelyn, "I'll be a good bee. Can I get one before?" he asked politely, looking down at her but fluttering his eyelashes and gazing back at her with blue blue eyes.

She smiled sweetly back, reaching up with her hand to the back of his neck and directing him down. They both parted their mouths and had their tongues outstretched already before they even made contact, kissing each other deep and passionately, just as he had already done with her brother.

After a while, the two parted, but held onto each other lovingly.

"How come I didn't get that kind of welcome yesterday?" Avelyn asked curiously.

Stripez chuckled, "I didn't know if it waz too zoon. I didn't know if you were over your ex."

"Pffft... yeah, ages ago," she shook her head smiling. "Anyhow... you need to get cleaned up."

"Yeah? And where can I do that?" Stripez asked coyly.

Avelyn giggled, "you can use my shower, silly"

"Oh yeah, of courze. Zilly me," the bee grined, "will you zhow me where that iz?"

"Sure" Avelyn smiled, guiding the be upstairs and into her room.

But the time Avory finally left his room, ready for the new day, he looked down into the living room below him practicing the slow movements of Tai Chi. Crossing the landing he passed Avelyn's room and could hear her shower going before descending the stairs, into the living room and across towards the kitchen, turning on the hob on top ready to cook breakfast.Half an hour later, four large plates filled with back bacon, English breakfast sausages, baked beans, poached egg, grilled tomato, hash browns, black pudding and fried toast were placed upon the dining table with a large teapot of English breakfast tea, cups and saucers, just in time for Avelyn and Stripez to appear around the table, one after the other.

"Zo, what are you doing for Chriztmaz?" Stripez asked, pouring himself some tea with two of his hands, his other pair cutting into the food on the plate before him and eating.

"We've got a flight back to London this evening," Avory started, "We're going to be spending it back home with family, and then probably come back out here after New Years."

"Hopefully we will see our father, if he doesn't end up working through it again," Avelyn commented dismissively.

"How about you guys?" Avory asked.

"It's juzt me and my dad typically," Stripez answered, "have a barbeque. Hit the zurf. Typical Chriztmazzy stuff," he ended with a smirk.

"I will celebrate on my own, as I do not have an family to celebrate it with" Jack commented.

"Oh no, Jack..." Avelyn sighed, putting down her knife and reaching over to hold his wrist.

"No, it is fine." the jackdaw explained, "I do not mind. I am used to it."

Avelyn looked at her brother, and Stripez and back briefly, "One year we will all get back together for Christmas and enjoy it together."

"You do not need to," Jack replied.

"No. I insist," Avelyn said, smiling.

"You're right, we will do that one year," agreed Avory, also getting a nod from Stripez.

With their meal finished, they sat around the table a little longer until the tea ran dry, talking about the year behind them and the year ahead. All fueled up and ready to go home, Stripez and Jack said their goodbyes as they all made their way over to the workshop, where their new Lightning 8 suits were waiting.

Suiting up in what smelt like a new car, Stripez extra giddy having his first official proper suit, they walked through the garage together and onto the driveway out front, where the gold and green Outback suit hugged the plain clothed twins, and the red and white suited Red Emperor gave a simple bow before finally blasting off into the sky, heading southwest on their long flight home.

"So... time to get packed and start thinking about heading to the airport." Avelyn suggested, looking over at her brother, who nodded, stepping back inside, ready to head home themselves.