...Where did this come from? It's my first Skulduggery Pleasant fic, and a Christmas one? Weird... It was inspired by watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, obviously. Sorry for the weirdness...

I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant. Derek Landly does.

"A Christmas Carol!"

"The Nightmare Before Christmas!"

"Good grief," muttered Tanith as she massaged her temples. "How long have they been arguing?"

"Half an hour," answered Bliss from a near-by armchair. "I've been keeping track."

"At least one of us has..." she grumbled as she pulled her feet up onto the other armrest of the leather couch. She and Bliss had been invited over to Valkyrie's house (the one she had inherited from her uncle, not the one she lived in with her parents, as that would be a bit awkward) under the impression that they would be watching Christmas movies. Of course, nothing was ever simple when both Skulduggery and Valkyrie were involved.

In this case, they couldn't decide which movie to watch.

"There are too many variations of A Christmas Carol," Skulduggery argued. "Everybody's heard that story at least once!"

"And what does The Nightmare Before Christmas have going for it?" Valkyrie returned. "It's just about some skeleton messing up real bad!"

"Hey! Don't mock us skeletons! We're really sensitive!"

"Really? I thought you were the only one."

"Well, I am sensitive."

"In your dreams, maybe."

"Don't you think we should do something?" Tanith asked as she bit the head off of a gingerbread man. Ever since she had read that one story where the gingerbread man had come to life, she had been extra careful when eating them; always making sure that they were dead.

"I have an idea," came a melodic voice from the entrance to the living room. China Sorrows stood there, smile on her face, a purse clutched in her hand.

"What are you doing here?" inquired Bliss. He sounded as if he was merely being friendly, but it was obvious he was worried at his sister's arrival.'

"Come now, brother," she chided him. "It's Christmas. And I have the solution to your problem!"

Bliss watched her with a scrutinizing gaze as she walked over to the two bickering mages.

"Calm down you two!" China exclaimed as she came between them. She sounded as if she was talking to two overly excitable toddlers. "I have the perfect arrangement!"

Skulduggery and Valkyrie stopped arguing long enough to shoot a confused glance at China.

"What is it?" questioned Valkyrie.

China's smile turned sly as she pulled something out of her purse. "It's A Wonderful Life!" she laughed.

The girl and the skeleton stared at her, as did Tanith and Bliss.

"Sit down, sit down." China all but shoved them onto the couch. Tanith was very thankful for her swift reflexes as she moved her legs out of the way in record time.

Still smiling, China popped the DVD into the reader, and sat down to enjoy the show.

That night, Valkyrie sincerely wished that Gordon had left the 52" plasma television screen to Fergus. Maybe then she wouldn't have had to ask them for that damned key…

How was it? Good? Bad? Just plain weird? Please tell me, I would very much appreciate receiving your comments!