Merry Christmas, everyone! Following my previous Team Star Breaker oneshot, this is a series of holiday stories about them that take place over the course of the year up to next Thanksgiving. I'm going to try to write stories for most holidays, some will be funnier than others, with maybe one or two more serious ones thrown in. Hope you guys enjoy this, and I'll see you all soon with a New Year's update!

I do not own Metal Fight Beyblade.


Zeo stared up at the massive, heavily decorated twelve-foot tree, still uncertain as to how they'd managed to get it into HD Academy in the first place. On the other hand, the oversized real tree was quite acceptable considering the alternative Jack had initially proposed. Jack had enthusiastically been endorsing a 6-foot light pink and yellow artificial tree with an enormous sequined red bow topper he had come across online that came with a set of rainbow lights. If Zeo had to look at that day after day, he was positive he would've thrown up. Jack's second suggestion hadn't been much better.

Fortunately, Dr. Ziggurat had taken control and orchestrated the majority of the decorations for the holiday season. Jack had been given too much free reign during Thanksgiving, something that came back to bite them all in the end, and thus had to be reigned in slightly. It had taken ages to get all the streamers down.

The thought of Thanksgiving made Zeo grimace. He didn't remember much of the evening, thanks to Damian getting him completely drunk, but it was obvious the event had been nothing more than sheer utter chaos. Dr. Ziggurat immediately steered the conversation in another direction any time the topic came up. He had no desire to discuss the night either.

So, Zeo thought, he was fully justified in his apprehension toward Christmas. There was absolutely no telling what the day would bring.

Still, the thing bothering him most at the moment was not the absurdly large tree that barely fit in the room as it brushed up against the ceiling, nor was it the fact that the holiday was less than a week away. Rather, Zeo's primary stress came from an announcement Dr. Ziggurat had made only days ago.

This year, the three star members of HD Academy would be participating in Secret Santa. At first, Zeo had been filled with excitement at the idea. In the past, he'd done it with friends and it was great, having to surprise one of his best friends with a gift, and then being surprised in turn at who would be giving him a gift. Moments later, reality came harshly crashing down on him. He was no longer at Dungeon Gym, nor was he with his best friends.

Instead, he'd have to purchase something for one of the two loons who ran amok around the academy. That in itself would be a production. Second, he'd be receiving a gift from one of them. Zeo recoiled in horror at the prospect. Anything from either of them was guaranteed to be a nightmare. Jack would undoubtedly come up with the weirdest thing imaginable, and Damian… Quite honestly, Zeo wouldn't be surprised if Damian gave someone a dead rat or something equally as horrifying.

Before he picked a name from the hat Dr. Ziggurat held in front of him, Zeo had hoped he would get Jack. At least he wouldn't be too difficult to shop for. Zeo could pick up some art supplies and call it a day.

But, as luck would have it, fate was against him once more. He'd drawn Damian, and Zeo didn't even know where to begin. What did you get a guy like Damian?

Zeo knew he had to be careful. Chances were, anything that Damian liked would eventually be used against him. Damian reveled in anything that allowed his sadistic side to shine. And Zeo was his favorite target.

Zeo had spent the past few days tossing aside idea after idea out the window. Time was running out, though, and now he had no choice but to buy Damian whatever crossed his mind first as a viable idea.

Zeo hopped into the elevator, on his way out into the city. Being in New York City had its perks. There was no shortage of stores awaiting him outside the doors of HD Academy.


Christmas Eve came faster than anyone would've expected. Snow sparkled outside the window, creating a light blanket on the city streets. The streetlights gleamed in the wintry darkness.

Zeo sighed as he watched the snowfall. He really wasn't sure what to expect out of his first Christmas at HD Academy. When he'd first joined not even two months ago, it was all to help Toby. Masamune was already long gone. He never thought he would've gotten so wrapped up in all of this. Granted, Zeo had known all along he'd have to push himself incredibly hard, that he had to stand at the top of the heap as one of the academy's best bladers to save Toby, but at the time he didn't have a clue what he was getting himself into.

Jack and Damian were something else. Zeo still didn't understand the role he played in all of this. He pushed the thought behind him. It was time to get into a "festive" mood.

All attempts to restrain Jack's creativity had failed in the past few days. While Dr. Ziggurat's guard was down, Jack had managed to cover the halls in a sea of green and red streamers that dangled from the ceiling in every room. He'd also cut out paper snowflakes from construction paper of varying colors and stuck them literally everywhere. Several of them created a path on the floor in each of the hallways. One of them had been taped to the side of a toilet.

Oddly enough, Zeo found the excessive decorations comforting rather than annoying, adding some familiarity to the top floors of the academy that were designed to essentially be a luxury apartment. Sure, they were a bit of a nuisance, but he'd grown used to some of Jack's unusual tastes. At least it wasn't anything designed to harm him personally.

Dr. Ziggurat's Christmas Eve party was about to begin. It was mainly about networking, with him being one of the youngest ones there, but all Zeo cared to do was make a brief appearance then slip back up to his room. Zeo didn't want to meet any of the people funding them and supporting the doctor's research. He didn't know any of them, nor did he care to "mingle" with the adults as he'd been told. The parties were definitely not his scene. Besides, Jack was more than willing to be stand out enough for all of them anyway.

For once, Zeo was slightly envious of Damian. Damian was their secret weapon, and was required to lay low as to not draw too much attention to himself. Zeo also suspected another reason that Damian wasn't to make his presence well known was due to the chaos that usually followed simply by being near him.

Zeo piled up a plate with food from the buffet table. At least the events were always well catered. He definitely wouldn't be starving tonight.

Jack came up to him with a drink, handing it to him as he emerged from the throng of people.

"Zeo!" Jack said excitedly. "Isn't this wonderful? Christmas is just hours away!"

"Yeah, it's great," Zeo muttered, shrugging Jack's arm off his shoulders.

Jack wandered off, cornering some other poor soul, smiling all the while.

"Oh, look, mistletoe!" Jack cried out. Zeo cringed, feeling bad for anyone to find themselves unfortunate enough to be underneath the hanging plant at the same time as Jack. The thought of some poor soul having to kiss Jack was enough to make anyone retch.

Zeo stared at the drink he was now holding. The drink was an innocent pink color. A quick sniff only brought up the aroma of lemonade.

Zeo dumped the drink into a nearby potted plant. After Thanksgiving, he'd never trust another drink anyone gave him again. His cameo appearance made, Zeo slipped away and headed toward his room, plate of food still in his hand.

Snow was still falling when Zeo awoke to the sun shining brightly through his window Christmas morning.

He groaned, stretching as he sat up, preparing to face the day.

It was his first Christmas away from his family and away from his friends, but Zeo was certain he could handle it. After all, holiday or not, it was still another day at the academy and he'd survived every day so far. If he could survive Thanksgiving, Zeo was convinced he could make it through anything. Zeo quickly got dressed and headed for the dining room.

An envelope and small box had been placed outside his door. Zeo brought both of them back into his room.

It was obvious they were a gift from Dr. Ziggurat. Inside was a card and some equipment for bey maintenance. Zeo smiled, glad he'd gotten at least one gift he could appreciate. Leaving the present on his bed, he walked back out and tightly shut the door to his room behind him.

The kitchen was empty, but pancakes, waffles, and an assortment of fresh fruit had been placed on the counter. Zeo barely had time to scarf down a waffle before he heard his name echo from the nearby hall.

Dr. Ziggurat called them all to the tree, requesting they all bring their presents for the Secret Santa gift exchange. Zeo made a quick trip back to his room to grab Damian's gift.

Jack was already sitting on the floor when Zeo arrived, a Santa hat perched atop his pink hair. He wore one of those ugly Christmas sweaters that had become popular, one Zeo suspected he may have made himself. Jack held an oddly shaped present wrapped in no fewer than three different styles of wrapping paper. An enormous sparkling silver bow had been stuck to the top.

Zeo sat down next to him, placing his present next to him. Damian joined them a few moments later with a large box that obscured his face from view.

"Excellent," Dr. Ziggurat clapped his hands together. "Now that we are all here, we can begin. Zeo, why don't you go first?"

"Uh, okay," Zeo shifted uncomfortably. "Damian, this is for you."

Damian snatched the gift and voraciously ripped into it. Zeo had gotten him an assortment of snacks. Truthfully, Zeo had been at a total loss and spent hours wandering the city in search of something that couldn't eventually be used against him. He figured he couldn't go wrong with food when he'd accidentally run into the premade gift basket while in the grocery store.

Damian was eyeing the gift carefully, turning it over and examining the contents.

"All right, Damian, now it's time for you to share your gift," Dr. Ziggurat instructed.

A sinister smile crept across Damian's face. "Zeo, this is for you." He held out his gift with outstretched hands.

Zeo reluctantly took the large present wrapped in tin foil from Damian.

"Wait a minute," Dr. Ziggurat interrupted, a confused look crossing his face. "Damian, if you got Zeo, and Zeo, if you got Damian, who did you get, Jack?"

Jack beamed, cradling the uniquely wrapped gift in his hands. "Isn't it obvious? I pulled my own name from the hat! At first, I wasn't quite certain as to what to get myself, but after some deep soul searching, I had the perfect answer." Jack looked greatly pleased with himself.

Dr. Ziggurat face-palmed. "Jack, the point of Secret Santa is that you give a present to someone else, not yourself. Had we known you had picked your own name, we would have drawn again."

Jack was too busy tearing through the wrapping paper, oohing and ahhing at the bucket filled with rainbow paints he'd unwrapped, declaring that it was the best present he'd ever received to bother responding.

Dr. Ziggurat took a large drink of something in an opaque glass. Meanwhile, Damian prodded Zeo to open his present.

Zeo handled the box with care. For something so large and unwieldy, it was unexpectedly light.

He tore away the tin foil, revealing a cardboard box underneath. Zeo used the box cutter to rip open the folds. Inside the box was a second box, also wrapped in tin foil.

Puzzled, Zeo removed the foil and opened the second box, only to find yet another inside. Zeo continued pulling out box after box until he reached a tiny rectangular one.

Zeo groaned, and opened the seventh box.

Inside was a single pack of orange-flavored gum.

Within seconds Zeo decided he'd be throwing it away the moment he was safe in his room out of Damian's sight. It was too risky to accept something edible from Damian.

"Thanks," Zeo managed to get out.

Damian's grin was disturbingly wide. "I thought you'd like that."

Dr. Ziggurat's mouth was thin. Clearly the Secret Santa idea had not worked out the way he'd intended. Sighing, the doctor left the room, stating he needed to get things ready for Christmas dinner.

Jack had opened up one of the paints and whipped out a pallet and paintbrush from who knew where. He was busy testing out the color on his own skin.

"Such a lovely chartreuse," he murmured.

Zeo stood up, taking his gum with him. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room."

"Nonsense!" Damian jumped up, violently grabbing Zeo's arm and nearly ripping it out of its socket. "Christmas is a family holiday, and we're all a big happy HD Academy family now. We should spend the day together."

Zeo gulped. Damian's smile was far too genuine, and the alarmingly unexpected words that came out of his mouth were spoken with such fervor that Zeo had no plans to stick around for whatever Damian was plotting. He shook his arm free.

"Jack, help me restrain him."

Zeo protested, but suddenly the two boys linked their arms with him and marched him down to Jack's room.

They sat him down in an empty chair. Damian quickly produced rope from out of nowhere and tightly tied Zeo's hands down. Zeo yelped, and struggled against the binds, unable to free himself.

"Now, now," Jack chided. "Zeo, Damian and I have been discussing this, and it has come to our attention that you are simply too unhappy around the holidays. Therefore, we have decided to help inject some holiday spirit into you."

Zeo made a faint keening sound like a dying animal.

Jack took out his paint pallet once more, and got to work. Damian sat on the bed and watched on in amusement.


Dr. Ziggurat stared at his three charges around the table. All in all, Christmas had gone much more smoothly than he'd expected, especially after the Thanksgiving fiasco. For the majority of the day, he'd barely heard anything out of the boys. Now that they'd appeared in time for dinner, he knew why.

Damian and Jack were busily scooping food onto their plates. There was nothing out of the ordinary there.

Zeo, on the other hand, sat on the other end of the table, a defeated look on his face. More concerning than his broken expression were the red and green streaks painted down his arms, and the Christmas tree painted on his forehead. On his left cheek an ornament was painted, and on his right he had a silver star covered in glitter.

Dr. Ziggurat made a mental note to tell Damian and Jack to treat the newest member of their team with more respect in the upcoming year.