CH 34: Fluffy
Opening the portal back to the mansion, Lex stepped through alongside Fluffy. Thanks to Raphael's modifications, the portal no longer required someone on the opposite side to open it, making travel between his territories significantly more convenient. The shimmering gateway closed behind them a moment later, leaving Lex standing in the mansion's main hall while Fluffy curiously sniffed the air around him.
The house looked noticeably different from when he had left.
Christmas decorations had spread throughout nearly every visible corner. Strings of lights hung from walls and railings, ornaments had somehow appeared on shelves that definitely hadn't contained them before, and a massive Christmas tree dominated one side of the room. Lex had purchased the tree only yesterday, yet judging by the amount of decoration already hanging from it, the girls had clearly treated the task as a challenge rather than a simple holiday activity.
A low huff beside him drew his attention downward. Fluffy's ears had perked up as he stared around the mansion with obvious curiosity, taking in every scent and sight available to him.
"Come on, Fluffy. Let's introduce you to everyone," Lex said while scratching behind one of the creature's ears.
Fluffy's entire posture immediately brightened at the sound of his name. His tail began swaying back and forth with enough force that it looked capable of knocking over a small table if given the opportunity.
Amused by the reaction, Lex raised his voice.
"Everyone! Come out here for a second. Urgently!"
The word urgently accomplished exactly what he expected.
A few moments later hurried footsteps echoed through the mansion, followed by the appearance of Sharon, Donna, and Kara. Since they were among the few people currently in the house, they were naturally the first to arrive. All three of them looked mildly concerned at first, only for that concern to vanish almost immediately once they spotted the gigantic bundle of white fur standing beside him.
Donna's eyes widened.
"Wow! Who's this big boy?" she asked before immediately abandoning any attempt at restraint and running directly toward Fluffy.
The creature's ears perked up even further as he watched her approach. A second later his tail started wagging so hard that his entire body seemed to sway with it.
Sharon followed at a more reasonable pace, though the smile appearing on her face suggested she was just as interested.
"Is this the surprise you were talking about?" she asked while looking between Lex and the enormous creature.
"Nope," Lex replied, shaking his head. "This is Fluffy. He's a new companion. Kind of a pet, kind of a friend. The actual surprise is for Christmas."
As if understanding the conversation perfectly, Fluffy nodded his oversized head.
The reaction immediately caused Donna to let out an excited noise.
"Aww, that's just a giant ball of fluff."
Without hesitation she wrapped both arms around the creature's neck. Fluffy responded by happily leaning into the hug with enough force that Donna nearly lost her balance.
Meanwhile Kara continued studying the newcomer with visible suspicion.
"Lex..." she began carefully. "Tell me you weren't experimenting on animals and got him from one of your labs."
Lex stared at her in betrayal.
"Come on. Have a little faith in me."
"I mean..." Donna said while continuing to hug Fluffy. "He does kind of look like someone crossed a polar bear with a dog."
Lex immediately pointed at her.
"Species from another world."
The defensive response earned him identical looks from all three women.
Sharon wisely decided to move the conversation elsewhere.
"So what does he eat?" she asked. "Because if he's staying here, we should probably figure that out before he starts eating furniture."
Lex considered the question.
"Fish, probably. His breath smells like fish, so that's my best guess at the moment. Everything else we'll have to figure out through experimentation."
While they talked, Fluffy and Donna had apparently become best friends. The giant creature had lowered himself enough for Donna to climb onto his back, and was now bouncing around the room in obvious excitement while she laughed and held onto his thick fur. Watching the scene, Lex was forced to admit that the Essence had chosen surprisingly well. Somehow it had found a creature whose energy matched Donna's almost perfectly.
Sharon eventually disappeared into the kitchen before returning a short while later carrying several fish.
The moment the scent reached Fluffy, his attention shifted completely.
Donna's position atop the creature ceased to matter.
Only the fish remained.
Lex watched the exact moment the giant fluffball locked onto the target with absolute focus before abruptly abandoning Donna and charging toward Sharon with enough enthusiasm to shake the floor.
"Traitor," Donna declared from where she had been left behind.
Fluffy either didn't hear her or simply didn't care.
Sharon laughed before tossing one of the fish into the air.
The reaction was immediate.
Fluffy launched himself upward with startling speed for something his size and caught the fish cleanly before it had even begun falling. He landed a second later, swallowed his prize almost instantly, and then looked back toward Sharon with the hopeful expression of a creature that had just discovered its favorite person in the entire world.
The fish in Sharon's hands suddenly became the most valuable objects in existence.
After a while, Fluffy seemed to decide that the mansion's snow-covered garden was the greatest place in existence. The massive fluffball had practically buried himself in the snow, occasionally rolling around in it or chasing after drifting snowflakes as though he had been born there. Watching him happily disappear into a snowbank nearly as large as himself, Lex suspected the creature considered the entire garden his personal kingdom now.
“So who's going to handle dog walking?” Kara suddenly asked as they made their way back toward the mansion. She hooked a thumb over her shoulder toward the newest addition to their increasingly bizarre household and grinned. “Because I'm telling you right now, people's faces are going to be absolutely priceless when they see our dog.”
The image alone seemed to amuse her enough that she started laughing to herself before they had even reached the front door.
“Maybe we should rotate it,” Donna suggested. “That way nobody gets stuck doing it every day.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Sharon agreed, already ushering everyone inside before the cold could follow them in any further. The living room looked even more cluttered than it had that morning. Boxes of decorations still occupied half the floor, strands of lights waited to be untangled, and several ornaments remained scattered across the coffee table after Kara's earlier attempt at "helping." Sharon took one look at the mess and immediately started gathering things back into organized piles. “But before we start assigning chores, let's finish decorating the house.”
Nobody argued with that.
At this point everyone in the household had learned that when Sharon entered organization mode, resistance was generally pointless.
Lex found himself carrying another box toward the tree while Donna resumed hanging ornaments and Kara lazily inspected decorations before deciding whether they deserved a place on the branches. The mansion had gradually become noisier over the months. Not in a bad way. Just... fuller. People moved through it constantly now. Conversations happened in different rooms. Someone was usually cooking, training, researching, or planning something.
The place actually felt lived in.
Which was still strange to think about sometimes.
As Sharon began adjusting one of the light strands that someone had somehow managed to tangle around itself three separate times, Lex glanced toward her.
“So who's actually coming for Christmas?”
Sharon paused long enough to think through the growing list.
“Well, other than your surprise guest, Regan is coming. Alison too. Ava and Angela already confirmed they'll be here.” She continued sorting decorations as she spoke, clearly keeping track of everything mentally. “Nanami will stop by, although he won't be staying very long. Derek can't make it. Between everything happening in Japan and all the work they're dealing with over there, neither of them has much free time lately.”
A small flicker of understanding passed through the room.
Nobody really needed the reminder.
Japan was doing better than it had been months ago, but recovery on that scale wasn't something that happened overnight. The Hand's collapse had left behind a vacuum that needed to be managed carefully, and both Nanami and Derek had ended up carrying more responsibility than either of them had originally expected.
“Kitty's spending Christmas with her family,” Sharon continued. “And Donna's friend might come. She's still deciding.”
Donna brightened immediately.
“I think she'd fit in pretty well.”
Kara snorted.
“That statement has become increasingly concerning every time you've said it.”
Donna ignored her.
“Should we invite Daredevil?” she asked instead. “Maybe the rest of his team too. We've worked with them a lot lately, and Ava and Angela are already coming.”
“Worked with them?” Kara repeated while reaching up to place an ornament near the top of the tree. “You mean Matt calls whenever something explodes and somehow we end up doing half the work?”
“Just last week he called because some mutant's powers woke up and the kid started accidentally leveling half a neighborhood.”
“And?”
“And I spent six hours getting people out of buildings.”
Donna looked entirely unconvinced.
“Sounds like a normal Tuesday.”
“Exactly my point.”
Lex couldn't help smiling slightly as the familiar argument developed.
Donna genuinely enjoyed helping people. Even after everything they had been through, even after the monsters, cults, demons and disasters, she still approached hero work with an enthusiasm that most people would've lost long ago.
Kara, meanwhile, complained constantly.
The amusing part was that she always showed up anyway.
“Don't you get bored when nothing's happening?” Donna asked.
“Not even slightly,” Kara replied immediately. “Some of us actually enjoy relaxing. You and Sharon are both terrible examples of healthy work-life balance.”
“That seems a little hypocritical coming from someone who flew into orbit because she was bored.”
“That was different.”
“Was it?”
“It absolutely was….my powers come from the sun after all.”
Before the discussion could spiral any further, Sharon stepped in without even looking away from the lights she was fixing.
“I already invited them.”
That immediately got everyone's attention.
“He's spending Christmas with his own people,” she continued. “The others are too. So they won't be coming.”
“Fair enough,” Donna admitted.
The conversation drifted for a few moments while they continued decorating. Ornaments found their places on the tree. Boxes gradually emptied. Someone turned on music in another room.
Lex found himself watching the growing collection of people around him and thinking about something Raphael had mentioned earlier.
Not because of Christmas.
Because of the future.
The predictions weren't guaranteed.
But when Raphael started assigning probabilities north of seventy percent to major extraterrestrial incidents occurring within the next few years, Lex generally paid attention.
There were simply too many things moving now.
Too many powerful factions.
Too many people looking at Earth.
After Japan, Lex had started realizing that simply becoming stronger wasn't enough anymore. Personal power solved immediate problems, but rebuilding entire regions, managing organizations, creating lasting stability and preparing for threats years in advance required something else entirely. Influence mattered. Infrastructure mattered. Reliable people mattered. A single competent person placed in the right position could accomplish things that brute force never could, and if Raphael's predictions were even partially accurate, Earth was approaching the point where that distinction would become increasingly important.
“Maybe I should summon someone,” Lex said eventually.
Several heads turned toward him.
Donna looked particularly interested.
“Definitely not opposed to that,” she said. “Being summoned is great. You get a second chance, you get a wish, and somehow all the weird stuff becomes normal after a while.”
“That's a terrifying endorsement,” Kara informed her.
“Yet entirely accurate.”
Sharon considered the idea more seriously.
“Who are the options?”
Not should he summon someone.
Who.
Lex noticed that immediately.
Sharon had long since accepted that summons were probably going to continue happening.
The important question was who they were bringing into their lives.
“Well...” Lex set another ornament onto a branch while mentally reviewing the list. “There's Triss Merigold. She's a sorceress from a world called the Witcher. From what I can tell it's a fantasy setting, which is part of why I've been hesitant.”
“Although summons seem to adapt,” Sharon pointed out. “Nanami arrived speaking English. He understood enough of the modern world to function almost immediately.”
“True.”
It wasn't proof.
But it was evidence.
“There’s Fleur Delacour too. She's a witch. Different world. Different type of magic.”
Donna immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“You haven't even heard the rest.”
“Still no.”
“Any particular reason?”
Donna narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“I don't trust witches.”
Lex stared at her.
“Did’nt you say you literally know actual demons.”
“Correct.”
“You've fought gods.”
“Also correct.”
“And witches are where you draw the line?”
“Yes.”
Kara nearly dropped an ornament laughing.
Lex decided not to pursue that line of reasoning any further.
“There's Violet Parr. Superhero. Forcefields and invisibility. Bang, who's apparently a martial arts master. 2B, an android. Regina, a researcher and inventor. Zoë Nightshade, some kind of immortal huntress. Grayfia Lucifuge a Devil Noble and also a maid… for some reason
Kara immediately looked up from the ornament she was holding.
"You definitely sounded more interested in that one.”
“Yup… I can tell from your face you definitely wanna Summon her… is it a maid fetish I smell…”
Lex sighed.
“That's not her entire description.. she's also a Devil Noble.”
“You reacted on the maid part tho…”
“I did not.”
“You absolutely did.”
“Maybe because it's unusual that she's a Noble and a maid too.”
“Mhm.”
The smirk on Kara's face made it clear she wasn't convinced in the slightest.
“Having somebody trustworthy handle household operations would objectively improve everyone's lives,” Lex argued.
“Household operations.”
“Yes.”
“That's what we're calling it now? Well I've heard that in older times the duties of maids did include certain Household oprations…”
“Sharon won't have to hire and oversee cleaning staff every weekend anymore.”
That at least managed to earn him a thoughtful look from Sharon.
The point wasn't entirely wrong.
The mansion was pretty large.
And it would probably will have more and more people too.
“Continue,” Sharon said before Kara could tease him further.
“There's Gwen Tennyson,” Lex said. “Powerful mage. Fights aliens. Has apparently helped save Earth multiple times.”
Donna immediately looked interested.
“Okay, that one sounds promising.”
“She does seem useful.”
“Useful isn't really the important part,” Donna replied while adjusting an ornament that Kara had intentionally placed sideways. “If she's already spent years protecting people, she'd probably understand all of us.”
That was, Lex noticed, exactly how Donna evaluated potential summons.
Not by powers.
As people.
People who might fit.
People who might not.
“There's Merlin too,” Lex continued. “Another mage. Stronger than most of the others from the look of it.”
That one drew significantly more attention.
“Merlin?” Sharon repeated.
“From like Arthurian legends?”
“It does say she's from Britannia,”
“Intersting”
“Then there's Hela, she's a goddess of death or something and she's from this multiverse.. or at least she's from a similar world to this one… like Sharon.”
“A death goddess sounds cool.” Kara muttered as she imagined it.
“There's also Black Widow,” Lex added. “Although since Natasha already exists, that feels like it could become complicated.”
“Oh, absolutely summon her,” Kara said immediately.
“That's the exact opposite of a reason.”
“Which is why it'd be fun.”
Lex ignored that suggestion.
“For me, Regina sounds interesting,” Sharon said after a moment of consideration. “You've accumulated enough projects already that another researcher might genuinely help.”
Donna shook her head.
“Still voting for Gwen.”
“Because she's powerful?”
“Partly.” Donna reached up to place the final ornament near the center of the tree before stepping back to admire the result. “But mostly because she sounds like someone who'd actually fit around here.”
The room grew quiet for a moment as everyone looked toward the completed tree.
The lights reflected softly across the ornaments. Decorations covered the walls. Boxes that had filled the room an hour ago were finally empty.
For a brief moment, with everyone gathered together and Christmas only days away, the mansion felt less like a headquarters and more like what it had gradually become over the past months.
A home.
Which, Lex suspected, was exactly why deciding who to summon next felt increasingly important.
He wasn't just adding another ally anymore.
He was potentially inviting another person into that home.