StrangerSubscriberDec 5, 2020#5,896Sunshine Superman - Auld Lang Syne
The Set of the Tonight Show, NBC Studios, New York City, December 31st, 1963, 23:55 PM
"...well, we've had a wonderful show so far here tonight" Johnny Carson said, placing his champagne glass back on his desk. Seated next to him, his guest, a very pretty woman with short, brown hair, dressed in a red and black party gown decorated with sequins that sparkled underneath the studio lights, as well as a red and black mask covering the upper half of her face, did the same, before flicking her wings, sending some errant confetti floating away into the air "You know, it's not every day the network let's us bring out the champagne on the show!"
"To be fair, it would probably diminish the special feeling of it if you poured out the fancy drinks for every guest you brought out here" The Wasp said with a smile. Johnny nodded in agreement, before turning back to face the camera.
"Too true, Miss Wasp. If you're just joining us there at home for the New Years countdown, this is Johnny Carson, wishing you viewers a Happy New Year, live from NBC Studios in New York City! Our guests tonight include Woody Allen, Rudy Vallee, as well as my current guest, the lovely Wasp, of The Avengers! I do hope we didn't drag you away from anything too important tonight?"
"Oh, don't worry about that, Carson." Wasp answered, her wings fluttering as she shifted in her chair "Things have thankfully been pretty quiet since christmas, so we haven't been needed for any Avenging so far tonight, knock on wood" She said, tapping one polished nail against the desk. "It's been a difficult year for everyone, so we thought it'd be a good idea for the team to spread out over the city and keep a look on things, so the celebrations could go on uninterrupted, just in case."
"And we're about to join one of them now, if I'm not mistaken." Carson said, turning to a second camera to the left "We now go live to Times Square, where our very own Ben Grauer is waiting for the Times Tower Ball to drop and usher in 1964, and he is joined by a very special guest. I'll be right back with The Wasp in just a moment, to celebrate a new year with everyone watching at home. Ben, how are things on your end?"
...
Times Square, New York City, December 31st, 1963, 23:57 PM
"Reading you, Johnny, or as well as I can over the party goers here at Times Square!" An older man, dressed in a thick overcoat, along with a black Stetson hat, said into the microphone hanging around his neck. All around him, the excited noises of the crowd gathered in the streets rose like a wave, their voices getting louder as midnight approached, and the new year awaited. "You know, I've been coming to this celebration for years, but it just never gets old, Times Square is packed, almost literally packed with people here to see the light ball drop here at Times Tower! I've been told the NYPD had been planning to send out about 500 extra men here, just to make sure order is kept, but apparently, things are much calmer than expected, and I think the credit for that goes to the special guest you just mentioned, Johnny!"
Next to him, Steve Rogers, dressed in his familiar costume, his trusted shield slung over his back, smiled at the camera, giving a wave to the viewers "I think you're giving me too much credit, Mr. Grauer. I'm just here to ring in the New Year, the same as the rest of the fine people of New York City! Though certainly I'm glad that everyone is behaving themselves!"
"Speaking of coming to this celebration a long time" Grauer said, moving closer so both of them would be in the shot at the same time "I understand you're virtually a veteran when it comes to the ball drop, Captain!"
"Well, I can't go into details, for security reasons, but yes, I did have the privilege to see the ball drop on New Years for quite a few years, last one would have been back in '41!"
"Has it changed a lot since last time you were here?"
"Not as much as I thought it might" Steve said, craning his head back to look at the sphere above them "Never got this close to the Ball before to see any difference, but from what my teammate Giant-Man has told me, it has gotten quite a few upgrades since my day!"
Grauer nodded "Yes, starting out as a rather simple sphere made of wood and regular lightbulbs all the way back in 1907, this beloved annual celebration has changed alongside everything else in this modern era, keeping up with the times! From what I understand, the current version of the sphere is constructed from aluminium and decorated with modern lighting, though as we can all see, the lights this year have a somewhat different look to them!" Both of them looked up to the glittering ball suspended far above, the lights shining red, white and blue rather than their traditional white.
Steve winced, a flush coming across his cheeks "I prefer to think of it as honoring our nation as a whole rather than myself, Mr. Grauer. Frankly, being invited to attend the party here was more than enough for me! I haven't done anything anyone else in my position wouldn't have, I simply had the opportunity!"
It had been quite a fuss to even get him out here, Steve thought back. The park charity event had been one thing, he was always up for helping the less fortunate, he remembered all too well what it had been like in his old life, long before he'd even heard the word Super Soldier Serum, but this had sounded a bit too much like glorifying himself. He was a soldier, he was no stranger to ostentatious parades or propaganda events, but that was as part of something bigger, helping with the war effort or helping with morale in some of the darkest days of the war. He might have been Captain America by then, but he was still a soldier serving something far greater than himself. This, this just seemed... vulgar somehow. But, as always, Mr. Stark had something to say about it.
"Truth is, wether you like it or not, Cap, when you got those star-spangled pajamas on, you make people want to throw parades for you, hand you babies to kiss, throw red, white and blue roses at your feet, the whole nine!"
"I don't think they make blue rose-"
"Shush, I'm doing a bit! My point is, the American people want to cheer for Captain America on New Years, why not let them? Are you really going to deny this great nation the chance to get black-out drunk on New Years AND feel patriotic about it?"
Johan had, thankfully, a slightly less mortifying argument for attendance.
"You basically came back from the DEAD, Steve. You came back from the dead, and then you saved the President. Trust me, just go along with a few of these big shows, and by this time next year, most people will be used to you again. If you turn them down too often, they might start to feel like you're snubbing them instead."
So, here he was, standing beneath the Times Square Ball, as thousands of people cheered and hollered around them, waiting for the new year to come. Well, it beat out the last new years eve he remembered, which he had spent sneaking into a castle in Germany with Nick Fury and Logan, to keep whatever monstrosities Red Skull had cobbled together from making it outside.
He snapped out of his thoughts as Grauer spoke again "Alright Captain, it is now 23:59 PM, and the countdown is almost about to begin! Do you have any final words before we leave 1963 behind and move into the future?"
Steve thought for a moment, before turning to the camera "No matter how dark things might seem, we can get through anything as long as we work together, as one team, one nation, and one world. We've done it before, and we can do it again. Happy new year, and God bless America!"
.....
A Few Blocks Away
"Alright, Sunshine, it's about to go down, you ready to give the fine people of New York a New Years Eve they'll never forget?"
I pull away from the edge of the roof, staring at the glittering ball of lights atop the Times Tower in the distance for a few more seconds, before I turn towards Tony. He's pulled his old gold-plated Iron Man armor out of storage for the occasion, the bulky size and solid color making it useful for what we have planned. "As ready as I'll ever be. The armor working okay?"
"Yup, old girl's doing just fine" He says, rapping one gauntlet against the chest plate "I almost thought I'd never get to wear this old thing again, it's like putting on a favorite suit you haven't worn in a while."
"Dude, you finished your new armor like two months ago."
"Details, details." He stomps towards the edge, and I can hear the whine of the thrusters in his boots beginning to warm up as he prepares to take off "Alright, just say when!"
I pull back the coat sleeve on my left arm, revealing the expensive wrist watch I borrowed from Tony for tonight. I never was much for these things, and I've been using cell phones to check what time it is for almost 20 years by the time I ended up here, but it'll be a good long while before they're availible again. "Alright, it's 15 seconds to midnight.....nnnnnow!"
Tony nods and takes off from the roof, sending up a swirl of snow as he shoots out across the night sky, the lights of the city below reflecting off his armor. I wait another few seconds, watching as the Times Square Ball is about halfway down before I begin drawing on my power, letting the warmth and light flow along the length of my arms and into my hands.
"Well, New York, I know it's been a rough year, and I doubt '64 is going to be much of an improvement, but still... Happy New Year!"
I raise my arms, fingers spread out, and I let go, letting the light shoot out in thin, rapid beams.
.....
Xavier Mansion, Westchester County, New York, 0:00 AM, 1964
"Goodness, there's something you don't see every day..." Hank McCoy said, staring at the television set in surprise, a glass of cider clutched in his oversized hand.
Professor Charles Xavier couldn't help but agree with him.
It had been quite an enjoyable New Years Eve at the mansion, a celebration they'd sorely needed ever since their tumultuous Christmas dealing with Eric in Santo Marco, and while Mr. Drake had returned home to spend what remained of the holidays with his parents, the remainder of his students had stayed at the mansion, holding a small celebration of their own. It had been something Xavier himself had needed, to take his mind off what Mr. Sunshine had told him before they had parted ways, a meeting that had only been a week ago, yet somehow seemed a lifetime away.
The memories of that dark and horrifying future had weighed heavily on him the following days, getting a first-hand look at his own worst fears come true. Like he had failed the whole world, and he just hadn't realized it yet. And he had felt hope die inside him. All he had done, all he had sacrificed, and the worst still came to pass. Or would come to pass, if Sunshine was right.
And yet... as the days passed, and he watched as his students, his X-Men, recuperated from their battle against the Brotherhood, as they began to warm up to their new guests, as Wanda and Mortimer began to get used to their new home, he started to think, that there might be a chance still. That Sunshine might be right about this too, that the future wasn't written in stone, that it could change for the better.
On the large, antique couch taking up most of the living room wall, Jean and Wanda sat closely together, watching the TV where a shaky camera was following a golden figure flying across the New York sky, shooting stars seemingly flying around it and reflecting off the shiny surface of the armor.
"Isn't that... Iron Man?" Jean said, leaning closer to the screen to get a better look. The figure got close enough to the camera that anyone watching could tell that it was indeed him, wearing the bulky suit of armor he'd once first appeared in.
"I believe so" Wanda said "I've never seen him in person, but I remember seeing him on the news, back in..." She trailed off, looking away awkwardly. Unsurprisingly, the earliest days with the former Brotherhood members staying at the mansion had been a tense affair, his X-Men reluctant to open up to two people they hardly knew, especially not Magneto's former associates, no matter how repentant they may have seemed, and, as much as he hated to admit it to himself, Xavier knew he hadn't been much help, being too far into his own dark thoughts to give the support they needed.
But, slowly but surely, the early beginnings of a friendship had begun to form. Wanda had found herself bonding with Jean, something Xavier had half-expected, as two teenage girls having spent far too much time around only boys, this was probably the first time in years either of them had a chance to spend time with anyone who had the same kind of interests. Not that Xavier thought himself an expert on the mind of the teenage girl, he only vaguely remembered his own adolescence, and even then, he had known that men and women faced very different challenges as often as they shared any. At any rate, he was glad to see that Jean now had a companion she was unlikely to find in a house full of teenaged boys.
What had surprised him was the unexpected camraderie struck up between Mr.McCoy and Mortimer Toynbee, the cruelly nicknamed Toad. While Xavier knew the two shared the painful experiences of physical mutations, something that had marked them as different their whole lives, what was really surprising was that the older man possessed a surprising intellect, almost on par with McCoy's own genius, and had great talents in mechanics and engineering, despite his almost total lack of formal education. He'd already proved his skills a few days earlier when he'd assisted McCoy on some adjustments to the Mansion's Danger Room, and the two had been discussing further upgrades to be done when the spectacle on TV had begun and the conversation paused as everyone in the room stopped whatever they were doing.
It saddened Xavier to think that Eric had ignored Toad's gifts, having treated him as little more than a convenient scapegoat for his anger. The Eric Xavier had once befriended in Israel would never have been so cruel. Or at least that's what he had thought. As of late, he'd begun to wonder if the man he had known had ever really existed at all...
On the TV screen, light exploded outwards from around Iron Man, reflecting off into the sky in dozens of beams of light swirling around eachother before dropping away like falling comets.
"You know, it almost makes me wish I was there in person" Warren said, sitting on a chair with the backrest in front of him, letting his wings spread out behind him "It's pretty and all on television, but I bet it's even better to see it with your own eyes. Sort of loses a bit in black and white, I'm guessing."
Next to him, Scott snorted "Showoffs..."
Xavier smiled "Perhaps so, but it's as fitting close to the year as any, don't you think?" He wheeled himself over to the table, and pulled the champagne bottle from where it had been cooling in a bucket of ice "Scott, if you'd get the glasses, please?" Scott walked up, placing a tray of champagne flutes on the table, and Xavier popped the cork from the bottle. In a burst of agility, Toad lept up and grabbed it as it shot across the room. "Quick reflexes, Mr. Toynbee!"
"Oh, just call me Toad, professor. Might as well stick with it by now."
"Very well..." Xavier carefully poured out the sparkling liquid in the glasses, only filling the ones for the students halfway, while filling up his own and Toad's the whole way, and let Scott hand them out. Wheeling to the middle of the room, he turned to face the group. "My dear students... we've had to deal with a lot over this past year, and there have been difficulties I never expected any of you to face. But you've done me proud, all of you. You've risen to every challenge set before you by a world that hates and fears us, and perhaps, now might fear and hate us just a little bit less. We've faced new enemies, but also met new allies, new friends..." he nodded towards Toad, then Wanda, who smiled back. "The future might be uncertain, but I believe that we are ready to face whatever it has in store for us, as long as we stay true to who we are."
He raised his glass "Happy new year, my X-Men!"
....
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