Chapter Text
DING! Susan looked at the oven, carefully using her powers to pull the turkey out of the oven, as Herbie floated over,
“Ms. Richards,” The floating robot chimed, “I can baste the turkey and stuffing. Please rest.”
“It’s alright, Herbie, and I know you’re just trying to help,” Susan said as he felt the round bump in her stomach, feeling a kick here or there, “But as long as I don’t overuse my powers, Frankie should be fine.”
“Apologies, ma’am. I’m just programmed to ensure that you and the baby are safe and sound, as Dr. Richards is busy.”
“Speaking of that,” Susan said as she looked down the hallway, “Is Reed coming out here? Our friends are coming soon.”
“I think he’s gonna be holed up in there till Christmas!” Johnny said as he slid into the kitchen, eyeing up some pie, “Oooh, don’t mind if I--” He then felt his face run into an invisible wall as he backed away,
“Nuh-uh! No one touches the food until guests arrive!” Susan said as she looked at her brother, who kept scrounging up his nose, “Why don’t you help Ben with the decorations while you wait for Crystal?”
“She hasn’t responded, saying something about a weather machine going wrong on Jupiter,” Johnny said as he looked at the glass window, “Don’t know, just seems like I haven’t seen her in months!”
“Hey, matchstick,” Ben said with his gravelly voice booming out, “Help me set up this poker table! I wanna get this thing ready for when the gang gets here!”
“Why are you even playing poker? It’s Thanksgiving!”
“Yes, and I’ll thank them for giving me their stacks!” Ben chuckled, cracking his stone knuckles, “It’s been years since these fingers got their hands on a hand! And besides, from what I can tell, it’s gonna be interesting.” Ben smiled, moving chairs over, “Damn, I need more chairs. Reed! Reed! Where the hell is Stretcho anyway?”
“Don’t ask me,” Susan said as she sighed, shaking her head, “He’s been in his lab for weeks. I don’t know what he’s doing, but I think the Watcher’s warning may have gotten to him.”
“What, a giant dude and his silver guy are coming to our planet and eating it?” Johnny said as he chuckled, “It sounds like a half-baked sci-fi story!”
“Yeah, and the cities of half-human, half-alien societies are normal!” The Thing said as he grabbed a couch seat, “Reed’s just worried, is all! Y’know how he is, he sees a problem and wants to solve it! And that sounds like a huge problem!”
“I know,” Susan said, “But we’re supposed to face problems together. He can’t be doing this all by himself!”
“Hey, Xavier’s coming over. Maybe he’ll poke around his mind!” Johnny said,
“Wait, Professor X? Huh,” Susan said,
“What’s wrong?” Ben asked,
“Nothing, but there’s a lot of attention on this party. Ironman and the Avengers, Professor X and some of his X-Men, Doctor Strange is bringing over egg salad, and Reed even invited Black Bolt and Namor!”
“Whoa, Reed inviting Namor?” Johnny said as he furrowed his eyes, “That’s weird.”
“Maybe he wants everyone to be friends?” Ben said, “All the heroes team up, punch the big hungry guy in space, save the world?” The Thing looked over at Herbie, “Hey, Herbie, ya hear what Reed talks about in his lab?”
“I’m sorry, for the past weeks since your return, Dr. Richards has programmed me to only help Mrs. Richards with her pregnancy. I am unsure what he has been experimenting with.”
“What was the thing before our trip to the moon?” Johnny asked,
“Oh, an interdimensional portal, similar to the door of the Negative Zone, but for any universe and timeline. He has since abandoned the project.”
“Could be from our trip to Mars and that weird crap Karnak put us through,” Johnny said, “But hey, Crystal might be here with Black Bolt and Medusalith, right?”
“It might happen,” Susan said, putting Turkey back in the oven as Herbie was done basting it, “I’m still shaky on the internal politics of a solar system monarchy, but Crystal might still be tied up with Jupiter.”
“Who knows?” Ben said as he leaned on his chair at the head of the poker table, “Reed might come out of that fraggin’ lab, Crystal can get here with her teleportin’ dog, and I get to sweep the table and buy a new backscratcher. It seems like Christmas is coming early with a miracle!”
The bell rang, as Herbie’s head began to beep. He then turned to the group, “It appears we have early visitors. One Mr. Stark, one Mr. Rogers, one Odinson--”
“We get it, the Avengers are here,” Johnny said as he opened the door, suddenly being bearhugged by a lumbering Norse God, “Hrg! H-Hi, Thor!”
“Greetings, Fantastic Four! I hear that a feast of celebration is underway, and I brought the barrels!” Thor dropped Johnny as he carried in two humongous barrels of ale into the home of the Fantastic Four,
“Mind everyone,” Tony said as he walked into the room, past Johnny as Steve picked the young man up, “One cup is enough to get you blackout drunk, trust me: I drank three on a dare.”
“Hahaha!” Thor laughed aloud, his voice bellowing as he followed his nose, “Ah, Susan! Do you need assistance with the ham? I made a mean ham in the halls of my father for decades!”
“No thank you, but could you open this jar of cranberry sauce? I asked Johnny, and he couldn’t get it to open. Herbie couldn’t get it to open, and he won’t let me use my powers for the baby, and Ben doesn’t want to break it.”
“Ah, a labor with no challenge! This won’t take a moment,” Thor went to unscrew the jar, but it wouldn’t give. He furrowed his brow and went at the jar again, but it wouldn’t give. “Did… did Loki drop by before us, or am I bewitched?”
“Oh, sorry, it was a gift to us from the Shi’ar Empire. It’s apparently cranberries exposed to cosmic radiation, and Reed said that it was safe to eat! Though, the sauce gets really hard, and Reed has to slice the lid open with a laser that’s used to split molecules.”
“Ah,” Thor said, boasting aloud, “Fear not! I shall open this cosmic sauce and save this day of celebration!”
“You’re going to save Thanksgiving?” Tony said with an arched eyebrow,
“What feast would it be without the Cranberry Sauce, Tony? Think of the damn feast!” Thor said as he took up his spot on the kitchen table, trying hard to pry the lid off the Cosmic Cranberries. Tony sighed, looking around,
“So, where’s Dr. Stretch-Armstrong?” He said,
“In his lab,” Thing said as he stacked the cards. “So, interested in a drink and a game of cards, rich boy?”
“Sorry, not in the mood for a drink,” Tony said as he went down the hallway. “And besides, you always clean me out, rockstar!” Tony then went to the lab door, and to the shock of Ben and Johnny, went inside the lab with an unlocked door,
“What the hell?”
“Whoa!” Susan looked at her brother,
“What’s wrong, Johnny?”
“It’s… Tony went inside Reed’s lab!” Susan gasped, almost dropping a pie as Herbie came in quickly to catch it,
“Oh my gosh, sorry, Herbie,” Susan said as the robot put the pie on the counter. “How did Tony get in?”
“The door opened for him!”
“I understand that’s not normal?” Steve said as he put away his coat,
“Not often that Reed lets someone into his own little playroom,” Ben said, looking back down as he got the chips ready with the help of Alicia,
“He doesn’t let me go in there, and I’m blind,” Alicia said. “I wouldn’t even see what he’s working on, but he doesn’t let me in there cause he doesn’t even, and I quote, ‘want me to hear anything in there.’ ”
“So, secret projects, eh?” Steve asked, “Anything anyone should be worried about?”
“Last time Reed came out with an invention he worked on for weeks, it was Herbie,” Susan said as she looked at the helper robot, “Apparently, he’s almost like a person when it comes to his intelligence, and even Reed’s not sure if he’s sentient or not.”
“While I am aware of my surroundings,” Herbie said, “I suppose the lack of free will is questioning whether my enjoyment of my servitude is of programming or my genuine feelings of helping out my creators.” Herbie then looked at Steve, “Would you like a drink from the fridge, Mr. Rogers?”
“Um, sure. And you can call me Steve,” Steve said as the robot’s head beeped,
“Settings saved. I’ll get you a soda from the fridge, Steve,” Herbie said as he went back to the kitchen,
“I’m not sure if that’s freakier than Hank’s contraption in his lab,” Steve said as he found a spot on the couch. “Wonder when they’ll get here, Janet said that they were picking up her Grandma’s Peach Cobbler,”
“I would kill for some cobbler!” Ben said as Alicia chuckled,
“You mean it’s Cobbler Time?” Johnny groaned, and Ben laughed,
“I’m taking that! Hey, I think we found some merch we can actually sell! I’ll be the Santa of Thanksgiving!” They all then looked at the window, hearing some tapping on the glass,
“H-Hey! I-I brought some takeout!” Spider-Man said, lifting a bag of food from a Chinese restaurant, “I was kinda running last minute, and everywhere’s closed. Can I come in?”
“Of course Pe-- Uh, Spider-Man!” Susan said, the window opening as the cold winter air leaked in. Spider-Man dropped down, shivering,
“T-Thanks, jeezus it’s cold,” Spider-Man then stepped back as Herbie floated over, bringing Steve a drink of soda as he flashed a red light up and down the spectacular hero. Spider-Man sighed, no longer shivering as he stood up straight, “Huh, thanks.”
“No problem, Mr. Parker,” Herbie said calmly as it floated away, causing Peter to look around and laugh,
“Peter? I don’t know a Peter, hehehe…” Peter then looked over at Sue. “Who’s showing up to this party?”
“Well, the Avengers, X-Men, Dr. Strange, and a woman named Clea, some of the royal Inhuman family, oh and Namor of course, are coming over.”
“Huh,” Peter then looked at himself, “So half the people here know who I am and the other half don’t.”
“Who doesn’t know by this point?” Johnny said, “Dude, Shield knows you’re Spider-Man. They’re like the world government or some crap.”
“Yeah, and I hate it,” Spider-Man then clung to the wall, sitting comfortably as he looked at Johnny, “I mean, can’t anyone understand why I wear this mask? To not let people know who I am. Anyways, the X-Men don’t know yet.”
“Huh… You’ve met Dr. Strange?”
“Long story short, he saved me from being a Man-Spider.”
“Well, get used to them knowing who you are. Two of them can read minds,” Ben said as he grabbed a plate,
“Nay!” Thor said, “I shall get this jar lid open, and we all shall enjoy a complete feast!!!”
“Cool, Thor’s here,” Spider-Man then waved at Steve, “Hi Cap!”
“Hello, Spider-Man,” Steve said as he grabbed a plate of Chinese takeout, “Hmm, peanut chicken?”
“It’s so good,” Peter said as he lifted his mask from his mouth and began chowing on a box of Beef Lao Mein, “I snuck a couple on the way, but I brought dumplings!”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Johnny said, tossing a dumpling into his mouth, “So, what’s going on with you?”
“Oh, you know, making sure I get back by seven so that way May’s not alone for too long, but she’s okay with me visiting a ‘friend’s' Thanksgiving.” The doorbell rang as Herbie beeped,
“A Mr. Cage is here with a Mr. Rand.”
“Who are they again?”
“They helped out in the past,” Ben said as he opened the door,
“Sweet Christmas, my man from Yancy Street!” Luke Cage said as his chest bumped with the Thing, smiling as his skin remained smooth and unscratched. Behind him, a blond man bowed with reverence as he took off his shoes,
“Greetings, Ben. Are you still coming to our appointment?” Daniel Rand asked as he stood on his tippy toes, his hand glowed with a mysterious, yellow light, and pinched at a nerve on the Thing’s shoulder,
“Oh yeah, I still don’t know how that iron fist of yours can do that, but that feels great!”
“Your chi points never moved from your body, but their chakra movements have been obstructed. This Sunday, I can realign them.”
“Sure, namaste to you too,” Ben said as he stretched his back. The room echoed with what sounded like the clacking and cracking of stones, with one final, loud SNAP. “Yes! Finally got it!”
The Heroes for Hire stepped in, Luke bringing sloppy joe meat and Daniel bringing rice and curry, who looked inquisitively at the dumplings and takeout. He took a plate, but having spent decades in the mountains of the secret city, Kung Lung, ruined his expectations for American-Asian food when he had the best of the best. However, he did like the peanut chicken and the dumplings weren’t too bad. They then looked on, as the doorbell rang once more.