Hello there fellow readers! This is NeoNimbus and once again, I have another holiday-themed story related to The Newcomer! This time, it'll focus on Christmas (something I wanted to do for a long time) and since the holiday is around the corner, Sal and I decided to take the opportunity to write this story down for the occasion.
So sit back, read and enjoy!
The Spirits
An Amazing World of Gumball Story
By NeoNimbus
Winter has finally come to the town of Elmore, as the happy citizens were either decorating their houses or preparing themselves for another round of holiday shopping for their loved ones. But for Brian O'Quinn, it would be his first time celebrating Christmas in his new hometown, intending to have a good time enjoying it with his friends, family and his girlfriend. Right now, the purple fox is happily discussing his family plan to his friends, as he, Mike and the Watterson siblings were walking down the neighborhood, with the former wearing a dark grey coat and a green beanie, while the maroon badger had a grey scarf, wore a blue winter coat and black boots, as they admired the latest holiday decorations from each house they passed.
"So let me get this straight, Brian..." Gumball began. "You're planning to invite me, my siblings, along with our folks, Mike's and Rhonda's at your place?"
"That's right," the purple fox happily replied.
"That sounds like a tall order," Mike commented.
"Mike's right," Darwin agreed. "It seemed like you've got everything prepared and ready to go."
"I just wanted to make sure that my first Christmas in Elmore turns out to be a good one, just like the previous celebration back in Folsom."
"Makes sense to me," said Anais, before something dawn on to her. "Are you looking forward to Santa's visit as well, just like me and my brothers?"
The moment the child prodigy asked that question, prompted Brian to stop dead in his tracks, much to the curiosity of his friends, before he turned around to face them with an incredulous look.
"You guys actually believed that he's real?"
"What are you talking about, Brian? Of course he's real," Gumball insisted, causing the purple fox to shake his head in disbelief before he spoke to his friend.
"Guys, Santa Claus is not a real person. He's a fictional character that was designed for consumer purpose. There's no way someone like is capable of accomplishing such feat in real life."
"Agreed," the Watterson siblings turned their attention to Mike, as they listen in on what their friend had to say. "Seriously, how could a large fellow be capable of flying around the world in a sleigh full of gifts? If you asked me, I say it sounds like a bunch of hogwash."
Gumball, Darwin and Anais gasped in astonishment, never expecting Brian and Mike to not believe in the existence of the jolly old man. How could these poor unfortunate souls dismissed him like he was nothing? Whatever it was, the trio wanted answers out of their friends right now.
"Why would you two not believe in Santa Claus?" asked Darwin.
"He gives out the best gift that no money could never afford," Anais added, causing Brian and Mike to sigh, before the former spoke first.
"You see guys, it began six years ago..."
Six years ago...
Six year old Brian was very excited, as he had been on his best behavior throughout the month of December, trying to be a good little boy for Santa Claus to give him the super deluxe Power Bat action figure; after twenty four days had passed, Christmas has finally arrived and the eager and excited little fox rushed out of his bedroom and made his way to the living room, just in time to see a big decorated box, no doubt housing the toy of his dream.
"Oh boy! It's finally here!" Brian happily exclaimed, as he rushed towards the box and unwrapped in a matter of seconds. But when the young boy finally opened the lid, he found nothing but a bare empty space, much to his confusion.
'It's not here! Where did it go?!' he thought, before his parents showed up and interrupted his train of thoughts.
"Good morning Brian and merry..." Annie trailed off when she noticed her son was frantically looking at one of his gifts. "Brian, what's wrong?"
"Why the long face?" Gordon asked out of concern.
"...It's nothing," Brian replied, disappointed that he just wasted waiting twenty four days for nothing.
Present...
"...And since then moment, I realized that Santa Claus was just another fabrication."
Once Brian was done with his story, the Watterson siblings couldn't help but feeling bad for their friend. Having to wait for twenty four days, only to wait and come up with nothing. They began to see why he wasn't fond of hearing the jolly old man's name.
'That's just like the time mom didn't think Santa wasn't real.' Gumball thought, before he, along with his siblings, turned their attention to Mike. "Is there any reason why you don't believe in Santa Claus?"
"Does it happen to be similar to Brian's story?" asked Darwin.
"The reason I don't believe in Santa? Oh that's simple... I have a pesky habit of mine known as thinking," Mike said matter-of-factually, making sure his insult hit home.
"Oh c'mon Mike, there's got to be more than that," Anais demanded.
"Besides, I think I know why you two don't really believe in Santa..." Gumball began, much to his friends' curiosity. "You two must have done a bad deed and got yourselves on the naughty list."
"Yeah, I think that makes total sense now," Darwin agreed, before he and his brother smile proudly.
"...Really?" an unimpressed Brian asked, as he crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow.
"May I punch him?" Mike asked calmly to Brian.
"Mike, just calm down for a moment," said Anais. "You must have another reason for not believing in Santa and I'm sure there's an explanation why Brian's action figure didn't show up when it should have."
"Look Anais, Mike and I don't want to hear anything related to St. Nick," said Brian. "Right now, I need to head back home to get everything ready. I hope you guys would come by this evening."
"Speaking of which, I really need to head back home to get ready as well. I'll see you guys later," Mike informed his friends.
With that, the two went to back to their homes to get ready for tonight's events, leaving the Watterson siblings on the sidewalk, still in shock and disbelief by what they just had learned today.
"I can't believe our friends don't believe in Santa Claus," Gumball finally spoke.
"I know what you mean..." Darwin began. "It was bad enough that Mrs. Mom didn't believe in his existence at the time, but hearing it from our friends is another story."
"We'll just have to prove them wrong!" Gumball said with determination in his voice.
"Right!" Darwin agreed until something occurred to him. "How do we do that?"
Gumball opened his mouth, as if he had found the answer, only to hesitated at the last moment. Soon, he rubbed his chin, trying to come up with something, until he finally let out a sigh and turned to his brother.
"I got nothing."
'I knew that was too good to be true!' Anais thought, as she face palmed at her brother's admission, before she took a deep breath and turned to her brothers. "How about if we call the jolly old man himself and have him show up in person?"
"Of course! It's so obvious!" Gumball exclaimed. "Wait…when did we get his number?"
"Yeah, how are we going to get in touch with him?" asked Darwin.
"Hello, I'm a child prodigy. I'll just have to hack into the mainframe and find it in a matter of minutes," Anais reminded her brothers. "Now come on, we can't waste any more time!"
Nodding their heads in agreement, the siblings head back home, determined to set their plans in motion, in the hopes that both Brian and Mike would eventually be convinced of Santa's existence.
Evening has finally come to the O'Quinn residence, as the moon and stars soon took over the sky. Gordon and Annie were making last minute preparations with the meal that they have been cooking since this afternoon, while Brian paced back and forth, having practice his greetings for quite some time.
'Alright Brian, you can do this!' he thought to himself. 'I'll greet them, let them in and lead them to the dining table. It shouldn't be that hard at all.'
Just then, the doorbell rang, snapping the purple fox right back to reality, as he quickly made his way to the front door and opened it, seeing Rhonda and Max standing in front of him, the former wearing a violet jacket, a pair of orange gloves and a read beanie, while the latter wore a light orange scarf and brown coat.
"Rhonda, Mr. Paxton, it's so good to see you two!" Brian greeted them, as he let the Paxtons inside to his home.
"It was nice that you invited me and my dad here for tonight," said Rhonda, as she and her dad hung their coats on the coat hanger.
"Looks like your folks have been working hard to make this night eventful," Max noted, as he took a quick sniff from the aroma within the O'Quinn residence. "Say, mind if I help them out at the kitchen?"
"Go ahead, Mr. Paxton," Brian replied, as the older mouse made his way to the kitchen, leaving just him and his girlfriend in the living room.
"So..." Brian began, as he rubbed his head sheepishly. "Nice evening, isn't it?"
"I just got here, but yeah, it's turning out good so far," Rhonda replied with a smile.
For his part, Brian could blush in response; since he moved to Elmore, he never imagined that he'll be spending Christmas with the many friends he had made, let alone with a girl. Even so, he was just glad that tonight was turning out to be a good one so far.
'Maybe everything will go out smoothly as-' suddenly, a knocking on the door interrupted Brian's thoughts, snapping back to reality, as he made his way to the front door right away.
"I got it!" Brian called out, before he opened the front door and saw the Badgeros right in front him. Chuck wore a red coat and a black scarf, while Olivia wore a green sweater and a white beanie, as well holding a plate of freshly baked cookies.
"Hi kids!" Chuck greeted them, as he and his family walked inside the O'Quinn residence to get cozy.
"Hey there!" Rhonda greeted the Badgeros, before she turned her attention to Olivia. "I see you made some baked goods for the evening."
"Well, I just want to make sure everyone gets second helpings," Olivia explained to the kids.
"I'm certainly looking forward to them after dinner," said Brian. "You can set them up on the dining table."
"Thank you, Brian," Olivia thanked him, as she, along with her husband, made their way to the kitchen, leaving just the three kids on their own.
"So, any words on Gumball and his family?" Rhonda asked Mike.
"They didn't try to pester you about Santa, did they?" Brian questioned his friend.
"I haven't heard from them since I got back home nor did they talked more about Santa," Mike answered both of his friends' questions. "Actually, I haven't seen them even after I left home. So no, I haven't been pestered as of now."
Once Mike was done finishing his explanation to Brian and Rhonda, the two were understandably surprise to hear this. Sure, Gumball and his family have been known to get into one wild adventures after another, but the fact that they weren't active as much was quite shocking. Something wasn't adding up at all.
"Do you think something bad happened to them?" Rhonda asked her boyfriend.
"I don't know," Brian admitted. "But if they are in trouble, I say we check up on them right away."
"Let's just hope that it isn't something so trivial," said Mike.
With everyone on board, the trio put on their winter clothes and immediately left the O'Quinn residence, but not before Brian wrote a quick note regarding the situation at hand.
It was only a few minutes, but the trio arrived at the Watterson residence, only to see no activity inside the house, at there was total darkness inside. They certainly didn't took the car with them, as it remained parked in the driveway and as far as they could tell, they didn't appear to have come out either. Needless to say, the trio are starting to get rather worried for their friends.
"This isn't good at all," said Brian. "It's like they just vanished into thin air."
"Let's not jump to conclusion..." Rhonda began. "I'm sure that they must have forgot, that's all."
"If that's true, then we should have heard something from Richard by now," Mike stated, prompting his friends to give him an incredulous look. "Believe me, I can still hear him three houses away."
"When you put it that way, I guess that does make sense," Brian eventually agreed with his friend's remark. "Anyway, let's check on them and see what's going on."
Nodding their heads in agreement, the trio cautiously approached the front door, with the purple fox knocking on it, only for it to slowly opened, much to his curiosity.
'Why would they leave their door unlocked? That doesn't seem to be like them,' Brian thought with suspicion, before he, Rhonda and Mike entered inside the house, spotting the fireplace lighting rather dimly, as well as the place looking clean and neat. In fact, it looked like everything inside the Watterson residence was organized and in good condition.
"Looks like this place hasn't been robbed and everything doesn't look like it was out of placed," Rhonda noted.
"That only deepens the mystery," Mike stated. "Why would Gumball and his family just leave the house in this state? That doesn't make sense even by Elmore standards."
"All the more reason why we have to find them..." Brian began. "Let's spread out and look for any clues of their whereabouts."
Agreeing with the purple fox, the trio split up, with Brian checking the attic, Rhonda taking the second floor and Mike having the backyard for himself.
Several minutes later...
After double checking the attic for the last time, Brian sighed in defeat, as he come right back to the living room, where he saw that both Rhonda and Mike with a look of disappointment on their faces, a clear sign that they had no luck on finding the Wattersons. No matter how hard they had searched, they found not a single trace of the family; it was as if they were erased out of existence from a higher power.
"I can't believe that we still couldn't find them," Brian expressed his disbelief.
"Tell me about it," Rhonda said to her boyfriend. "I've searched every bedroom and found no traces of them. I even checked Anais' bedroom, only to be overwhelmed by her Daisy the Donkey collection."
"They couldn't just disappeared like that! There has to be a reason behind all of this," Mike argued.
In the midst of their conversation, a light stomp suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling the trio.
"W-where did that came from?" Brian asked out loud.
As if to answer his question, the stomp made its presence known, but much louder than the last time.
"It came from the roof!" Rhonda shouted.
"So let's go! Whoever is up there is going to get a beating of a lifetime!" Mike exclaimed.
The trio rushed out to the backyard, hoping to find the source of the stomping with their very own eyes; as soon as they got out, however, they were greeted by a rather unusual sighting on the roof. Expecting to see a robber, they instead saw a single, small reindeer, covered in a light brown coat, a white underbelly, dark brown antlers and a red nose, with what appeared to be a red sleigh attached right to its red harness.
"...Guys, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Brian finally asked after a long silence.
"You can't be serious. No way!" Mike stated in disbelief at what he was seeing..
"But how did it ended up there to begin with and where is its owner?" asked a concern Rhonda.
"We're not going to find the answer down here," Brian replied, before he went inside the shed and picked up a ladder from inside. "Let's get up there and see if there are any clues of its owner."
Once the purple fox carefully placed the ladder near the roof, he, as well as his friends, got on top and slowly approached the reindeer, who noticed the trio heading right towards it with an indifferent look.
"Seems rather calm," Brian noted.
"Let's not take any chances. Who knows how it'll react," Rhonda advised her boyfriend.
"Rhonda's right. For all we know, it might try to attack us," Mike cautiously agreed with the mouse.
"Let's not jump to conclusion, Mike..." Brian began, as he finally arrived at the sleigh. "We're just going to examine the sleigh, find out who it belongs to and call the police."
With that said, the purple fox got onto the sleigh, examining any clues that he could find, while Mike and Rhonda looked on, both concerned for his safety.
"Do you think we should be with him?" Rhonda asked her friend.
"Looks like he's handling the situation just fine," Mike replied. "But, if' it'll make you feel better, let's join up with him."
Rhonda nodded her head in agreement. before she and Mike made their way to the sleigh, hoping to make it easier for Brian to look for any clues that might be on it.
"Any luck?" asked Mike, as he and Rhonda got on.
"None so far," Brian admitted. "I just don't get it! How could someone managed to leave a deer on the roof like that?"
As he tried to ponder for the answer to come towards him, the purple fox carelessly smacked the reindeer on its hind, causing it to yelp and startling the trio. Before they knew what happened next, it suddenly reared its front legs and soon sped off towards the sky at the speed of light, while the three hanged onto the sleigh for dear life.
"How the flip did it do that?!" Brian fearfully shouted.
"I don't think this is a good time for questions!" Rhonda scolded her boyfriend, as she clinged onto him.
"This is impossible! A deer shouldn't fly, let alone carrying a sleigh!" a shocked Mike retorted. "It…IT CAN'T BE REAL!" the maroon badger shouted at the top of his lungs in denial.
"It's happening in front of us right now!" the mouse countered her friend's claims.
"What I really want to know is where is it taking us!?" Brian pointed out.
"I don't know and I don't want to know!" Mike replied.
"We'll just have to wait and find out with our own eyes." Rhonda simply said.
With those words spoken, the trio had no choice to be remain seated, all nervous as to where the flying reindeer was going to take them.
If there was anything that was good about the North Pole, it served as the perfect hiding spot for Santa and his workshop, allowing him to peacefully craft every single toys for all the children around the world to receive when Christmas finally came around the corner. Normally, he wouldn't have that much company on this night, other than with the elves that are working their butts off to make last minute preparations, but he decided to make this an exception just this once.
'Blitzer should be back any minute now,' Santa thought, as he looked through the telescope from the balcony.
"Mr. Claus, is there a problem?" a voice asked out of the blue, prompting Santa to turn around and saw Nicole standing right behind him.
"Other than waiting for my faithful deer to show up, I'm fine for the moment," he assured her. "And please, you may call me Santa."
"Sure thing, Santa," said Nicole. "I'm still having a hard time that my family and I are here are your workshop in person. I'm mean, Richard and the kids are practically having a good time."
"Say, how are the four doing?" Santa inquired her.
As if to answer his question, the jolly old man could hear Richard, along with kids, frolicking with joy, with several elves expressing their chagrins, as Santa could hear their footsteps, no doubt chasing after them.
"Hey, don't ride on that!"
"We worked our butts off making it!"
"It took us eleven whole months to perfect it!"
Unsurprisingly, neither Richard nor his children could hear their pleas, continuing to ride on whatever contraptions they were in, while Santa could only shake his head in annoyance.
"That's what I get for unveiling the latest prototype a day earlier."
Just then, both Santa and Nicole suddenly felt a slight breeze out of nowhere, causing them to shiver in response, before they turned to the source of the direction and saw what appeared to be a small object. Suspicious by this, Santa Claus made his way to the telescope to inspect it himself and sure enough, there was Blitzer, his faithful reindeer carry the sleigh with him, as he spotted three kids on board.
"Looks like Blitzer made it here just on time," he mused to himself. "Alright then, let's go down there and greet them. Also, get your family to come with us as well."
"Sure thing." Nicole agreed, before the two head back inside to inform everyone of what had occurred just now.
After what felt like an eternity, the sleigh that Brian, Rhonda and Mike were on finally landed, much to their relief, as the reindeer that carried them landed safely to the ground, before the trio poked their heads to see that they were on land.
"That...was very...crazy!" Brian uttered out loud, as he and his friends got off of the sleigh.
"No thanks to this crazy deer!" Mike angrily exclaimed, as he point his paw towards it. "We almost got too close to an airplane!"
"Guys, I don't want to alarm any of you, but you might want to see this," Rhonda informed her friends.
"What are you...talking...about..." Mike trailed off as he looked at Rhonda's direction and couldn't believe what he was seeing, just as Brian approached them out of curiosity.
"What's wrong? Why are you two gawking like that?"
In response, Rhonda and Mike simply pointed to their direction, prompting the purple fox to look what they were looking at and his jaws almost dropped to the floor. In front of the trio was a large workshop, the entire building made almost entirely of wood, standing at least three stories tall, covered with a Christmas theme, from the snow globes hanging near the balcony to the life-sized nutcrackers statues. This was something that might have as well come out from a children's story.
"Guys, where the fudge are we?" Brian nervously asked out loud.
"Please tell me this isn't what I think it is," Mike prayed, unable to believe what was right in front of him and his friends.
"I don't know about you guys, but for some reason, this place seem safe and interesting," Rhonda said with a smile.
"You're kidding, right?" Brian questioned his girlfriend. "Is it really a good idea to just march our way to that building?"
"Brian's got a point..." Mike began. "We just got hijacked by a mad flying deer that nearly got us killed and we should just head right inside? What makes you so sure of it?"
Before Rhonda could give her friend an answer, she spot something heading right this way; initially, the object in question was small, but slowly, it got bigger with each passing second and it didn't took her too long to realize that danger was heading right their way.
"Guys, look out!"
Both Brian and Mike turned around and saw the large object heading their way, prompting all three to jump out of harm's way. Fortunately, the object managed to avoid them, before the trio could hear what sounded like propellers, as they all looked up and saw a red rocket, too small to be the ones astronauts used but big enough to carry a group. In fact, they recognized five familiar faces on top of it.
"Guys, is that you?" Brian asked incredulously, as he was staring at the entire Watterson family themselves. "And are you on top of a rocket?"
"Hey Brian!" Gumball and Darwin joyfully greeted the dumbfounded fox, all the while ignoring his question, as they, their sister and their parents got off from the rocket.
"We're glad to see you, Rhonda and Mike right here at the North Pole!" the moment Anais uttered those two words left the trio in shock.
"The North Pole?!"
"Why did that crazy deer led us to the coldest place on Earth?!" Mike demanded an answer from the Watterson siblings.
Before either of them could offer the frightened badger an explanation, Richard suddenly spoke up and answer in their stead.
"First of all, that's not a deer, it's a reindeer, Mike. Second, you were dropped here at the insistence of the one and only Santa Claus!"
"Are you telling us that the Santa Claus was the one who sent that deer to bring us over here?" Rhonda asked, suddenly becoming quite excited.
"That can't be right! Santa Claus doesn't exist," Brian disagreed with the older, large bunny.
"Brian's right, there should be a logical explanation about this place and who's in charge," Mike reasoned.
"Brian, Mike, I understand this hard to believe, but Richard is telling the truth for once," Nicole explained to the boys, much to their surprise. "You've rode in a sleigh that was carried by a flying reindeer, saw a Christmas-theme workshop with your very own eyes and we're riding on top of a life-sized rocket. What more do you two need?"
"What we want is proof!" Brian replied. "If we're going to be convinced that Santa is real, we want to see him in person."
"Besides, I think anyone would have made that rocket on their spare time," Mike insisted.
"Only if they take a chance and enjoy what they love most," an older voice that neither of the boys didn't recognized, prompting them to turn around and saw a humanoid with a red nose, a white beard, wearing a red suit, with a matching cap and a pair of black boots. At that point, they couldn't believe who they were staring at.
"Mike, is that who I think it is?"
"Yes Brian, we're looking at the one and only Santa Claus. Dang it."
The boys continued to look at the jolly, old man, still in disbelief that he turned out to be real life person; after what felt like an eternity, Santa finally spoke to the two, only so that the silence between them wouldn't get any more awkward than it already is.
"You boys must have a hard time what you're seeing, but yeah, I'm here and in the flesh. Before you two asked, no, my beard isn't a fake and yes, there are elves working side by side, but don't ask about their age, their quite sensitive about that subject."
"Y-Yeah, sure. We'll keep that in mind," Brian nervously said, still in a state of shock.
"Before you go in any further, just answer this one question..." Mike began, as the shock in him slowly wore off. "Could you explain to us what's going on? Why are Gumball and his family here with you? More importantly, why did that reindeer brought us over here?"
"Well, I can answer that one, Michael," Santa started to explain. "I was still in the process of making final preparations for Christmas when Anais somehow managed to get a hold of me. Once she and her brothers explained the situation, I sent Blitzer to their house to pick them and their parents up and bring them here, before sending him back to their house to retrieve you two, though I didn't expect to see an extra passenger with you."
"Oh my goodness! I can't believe I get to meet you in person!" Rhonda shouted with excitement, interrupting the conversation so suddenly. "I don't know what to say! If I had known something like this was going to happen, I should prepared something special for this occasion!"
"Calm down there, Rhonda. I know it's an honor to meet Santa but lets have him continue with his conversation with Brian and Mike," Nicole reminded the ecstatic mouse.
Rhonda nodded her head, agreeing with older, blue feline, as she remained silence to allow Santa resumed where he left off with the boys.
"As I was saying, you two wanted some answers and I'll answer them honestly," said Santa, before he turned his attention to Brian. "You're wondering why you're favorite action figure didn't show up six years ago."
"Now that you brought that up, I always wonder why I had an empty box," Brian admitted, still a bit irked of that awful moment.
"I'll be honest with you, Brian. I accidentally left that action figure with me when I went out to deliver the gift. By the time I realize my mistake, it was too late. That and you we're on the naughty list."
"Told you," Gumball informed his fox friend, intercepting in the conversation, prompting Mike to immediately punched the blue feline straight in the nose, shutting him up.
"That...makes a lot sense now," Brian accepted the jolly old man's conclusion.
"That's it? You're just going to accept his answer just like that?" Mike questioned his friend, perplexed that he accepted it so easily.
"I don't see why not and considering what happened tonight, this is the only conclusion I can accept," Brian reasoned with the maroon badger. "Besides, what are your reasons for not believing in Santa?"
"Now that Brian mentions it, you never gave us a straight answer about that," Darwin pointed out.
"I can answer that one," Santa spoke out, before he turned his attention to Mike. "Ever since you were a little kid, you've kept hearing about what I was capable from every kid you meet, but dismiss their claims, as you prefer to be logical. As such, I never placed you on the Naughty or Nice list. Instead, you were in the In-Between list."
"In-Between list?" everyone asked in a mixed of confusion and curiosity.
"The In-Between list are for those who are either doubtful of my existence or simply wanted to believe but are in denial. As such, they are simply neutral in their stance regarding me. Though Mike can be a bad kid at times, he still has a good heart."
"Considering Mike's nature, that does seem appropriate to have him on the In-Between list," said Anais. "Anyway, go on."
"Thank you, Anais," Santa thanked the child prodigy, before turning his attention to the boys. "Now that everything is cleared up, is there anything you two wanted to say?"
Brian and Mike looked at each other, uncertain how to answer his question. Up until now, they didn't think Santa was a real person and simply thought he was a figment of every child's imagination. But after what happened to them in the last few minutes, they might as well accept that what they were seeing was indeed real.
Their minds made up, both Brian and Mike turned their attention to Santa, ready to give him their answers.
"Santa, I just wanted to say that first and foremost, it was an honor to meet you. Second, I'm glad you told me what happened six years ago and for that, I accept your apology."
Santa simply nodded his head and smile, glad that Brian gave an honest answer to him, before he turned his attention to Mike.
"Well, I never thought I would say this, but for once, I was proven wrong for the very first time. That and I want to thank my friends for convincing me that you were the real deal."
"I'm glad to see that you two are in a much better mood," said Santa, before he pulled a list from his suit. "Now that we got that out of the way, you and Brian are officially on the Nice list as of now."
Before they knew what happened next, a glow suddenly appeared on blank spot on the list, astonishing everyone who gazed on it and before long, the names "Brian O'Quinn" and "Michael Badgero" showed up, no doubt that they have become the latest addition in the Nice list.
"That...was...amazing," Brian said breathlessly.
"I don't think I belong there after what's transpired in the last five minutes," Mike simply said.
"Don't worry too much about it. Santa had a very good reason to add you on the list," Richard assured Mike. "If you're on it, you're on it. Plain and simple."
"Ask your nose-bleeding son if I truly belong there," Mike retorted.
"Don't worry, dad. I'm fine," Gumball insisted, as he rubbed his nose. "Even though Mike can be a grouch, he's still a good friend to hang out."
"Does that answer your question now?" Richard asked Mike.
"Not really, Mr. Watterson. If Brian and I truly deserve to be on the list, we want to earn it."
"If it'll make you feel better, you two can help me out in the workshop," Santa suggested. "As a matter of fact, I can use all the extra help and I need to get ready to deliver the gifts."
"Sure."
"We'll do it."
With those words spoken, everyone immediately made their way to the workshop, ensuring that the jolly old man gets everything ready just in time for Christmas.
The inside of the workshop was exactly similar to the exterior's decoration: everywhere they look, there was a Christmas theme all over the place, whether it was Christmas lights covering from one pillar after another to several decorative ornaments hanging on the ceilings. But what was even more amazing where the elves all over the place, working hard on each and every toys, making sure that they were in top quality for all the kids to receive when tomorrow comes.
"Wow! I can't believe we're here in Santa's workshop!" Rhonda exclaimed, getting giddy with excitement. "I never thought this would happen in a lifetime!"
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Brian agreed with his girlfriend.
"We need to focus, people," Mike informed the two. "This is no time for gawking. We need to help Santa with the remaining gifts."
"Mike's right, we have to make sure that Santa makes his annual delivery on time," said Nicole.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's do this!" Gumball proclaimed out loud.
Agreeing with the blue feline, everyone went off to the opposite direction within the workshop, each working along side with the elves. For Richard and Nicole, both tried their hands on making some bikes, while Gumball and Darwin attempted to build some cool toys, with Anais heading off to make some dolls. Rhonda decided to survey and test some of the sports equipments, with Brian and Mike making their way to make some game boards. Or at least, that was the plan until a grouchy, old voice spoke from down below.
"Hey you two!" both Brian and Mike looked down and saw an elf with grey hair, wearing the typical elf clothes associated with Christmas, with a slight pouch, as he looked sternly at them.
"You must be the head elf," Brian noted.
"Do you see anyone else?" the head elf sarcastically asked. Mike would have answered that but stopped himself. "But that's not the point. Santa told me what's going on, so I'll respect the old man's words for it. If you two screw this up, you'll be hearing from me."
"Sure, we'll keep that in mind," Mike simply said, before he and Brian are allowed to make their way to the game boards section once more, before the maroon badger whispered to his friend. "I thought elves are suppose to be cheerful and sickly sweet."
"After that meeting, I doubt that's the case," Brian whispered back. "Besides, how hard could it be to make a few game boards?"
"Are you two going to make something or stand around and talking nonsense?!" the head elf shouted behind them.
"Let's get this over with," Mike informed Brian, before both arrived at the game boards sections and began to help the elves out.
Several minutes later...
Making several items on the assembly line proved to be far more challenging than anyone had ever thought of. Both Nicole and Richard were trying to get the right parts for the bike, with their children attempting to keep up with the pace, their bodies slowly tiring and worn out; Rhonda herself was getting exhausted from testing one too many equipments, but Brian and Mike had it much harder.
The moment they began working with the elves to make some game boards, the head elf was always right behind them, barking out orders and scolding them for several tiny mistakes, from the playing pieces having the wrong colors to berating them for adding little to no details on the game boards. Both boys wanted to remain as calm as possible, but having someone breathing over your neck was starting to crawl under their furs.
"This is starting to get ridiculous," Brian muttered under his breath.
"No kidding, Brian. All that shrimp does is barking his mouth off while we're doing our best to make these game boards. I swear, I'm almost compelled to smack him on the face."
"Calm down, Mike. I get it that he's a pain, but we need to keep a cool head. Besides, we only have a few more game boards left and we're done," Brian attempted to calm his friend down
"Alright, I'll try to keep my cool. I hope this is worth it," the maroon badger reluctantly agreed.
"Are you and your buddy slacking off back there?!" the head elf barked out loud, as he marched right up towards them.
"No sir, not at all," Brian replied with a straight face. "We just got a few more game boards left and that'll be it."
"I'll have to admit, I never thought you munchkins could pull it off," the head elf explained, much to the boys' surprise, mostly due to being called munchkins by an elf. "When I first saw you two on the assembly line, I thought for sure you guys would screw the whole thing up."
"Goodie," Mike simply remarked.
"Sure you two would have made some mistakes and I'll admit I should have said that in a different way, but only to get you two motivated. That said, I can see why the old man put you two on the Nice list."
"That's...very nice to hear, coming from you," Brian complimented the head elf.
"Are you alright or something?" Mike questioned the head elf.
"Don't push your luck," the head elf bluntly replied. "Now you two finish up the remaining game boards. We got a schedule to finish."
'I thought so,' Mike thought, before he and Brian went back to finish up the remaining game boards.
Several more minutes would passed and before everyone knew it, they finally managed to do the impossible: despite the challenges presented to them, they were able to finish each and every single product, as the last gift made its way to Santa's already large sack on the sleigh. As far as everyone were concerned, they were just glad that they helped Santa out for his most important task.
"That...was a lot...harder...than it looks," said Richard, barely able to stand up.
"I know...what you...mean," Nicole simply said, still trying to catch her breath.
"But it...was worth it," said Gumball.
"It really...is," Rhonda agreed. "I have...to admit...these elves are...very hardworking."
"At least...you guys didn't...get barked...by an elf," Mike stated.
As everyone continued to converse with each other, Santa made his way to the group, ecstatic by how the night was turning out.
"I wanted to thank everyone for all the hard works. I really appreciate all the hard effort everyone put in."
"Don't…mention it..." a worn out Brian began. "It was...the right thing...to do."
"That reminds me!" Santa suddenly made his way to the sack and pull out two gifts and handed them to Brian and Mike. "This is my way of showing my gratitude. Just promise that you'll open them when you get back to Elmore."
"But how are we going to get back home?" asked Anais. "I don't think that sleigh is big enough to hold all of us."
"Don't worry, I have the answer for that one," Santa replied, before he pulled out a remote and pressed it, as a red rocket made its way towards the group. "Just hop on to it and it'll take care of the rest."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and complied, as they all got on top of the rocket and sat on it, while Santa typed in a few numbers and letters to it. Suddenly, the rocket suddenly became quite active, more than usual when Richard and his family we're on it a while ago.
"W-What's going on?" asked a fearful Brian. "Why is it shaking so bad?"
"I don't know, but this rocket feels like it's about to blow!" Mike exclaimed.
"Just hang on! It'll take you and your friends back home in an instant!" Santa called out.
"An instant?! How is that-" the purple fox soon found himself cut off, as the propeller finally activated and before everyone knew what happened next, the rocket immediately flew upwards towards the sky, carrying its frightened passengers on board, as it slowly disappeared out of sight from Santa.
Gordon and Annie, along with Max, Chuck and Olivia, couldn't believe how their night was turning out. Expecting to have a quiet dinner with close friends and family, they were outside searching for their children, as well as the missing Watterson family, for almost a few hours. They have searched every known places that they could think of and none of them could offer any clues of their whereabouts.
"I can't believe this is happening," Gordon lamented, as the group made their way back to their place.
"I know what you mean, dear. Ever since our boy and his friends left to look for the Wattersons, we searched the entire town for them," Annie sadly said.
"We talked to everyone we've known and all of them offer little help," Chuck commented, frustrated that their search was futile.
"Not to mention of our unfortunate encounter with the Rexes," Olivia noted.
"It's times like this that I pray for a miracle..." Max began with a sad tone. "I don't care what kind, just as long as I could see Rhonda's face.
As the adults continued to bemoan of their situation, all five stopped what they were doing and saw a small object in the sky right above them; however, the object in question was getting larger, quickly passing by them and soon, they heard what appeared to be a series of screaming and before long, they saw eight people landing on the street rather painfully, much to their shock. Even more surprising, the eight turned out to be the Wattersons, as well as Brian, Rhonda and Mike.
"Ow, that was painful," Gumball muttered, as he and everyone else got up from the cold pavement.
"That's an understatement, Gumball," said Mike. "But why do I have the feeling Santa made the rocket do that on purpose?"
"At least we finally got home, even if it didn't turned out the way we he imagined," Brian stated, before he turned around and saw his parents, along with the Badgeros and Max, near his house.
"Brian, it's so good to see you!" Annie shouted with joy, as she and the adults made their way towards the group. "Where have you been?! We looked all over town for you!"
"It was like you guys just disappeared into thin air," Chuck stated.
"...It's a very long and pretty complicated story," Rhonda explained, despite her brief hesitation.
"Whatever it was, you can explain everything at the table," Max assured his daughter.
"By the way, where did you and Mike get those gifts?" Gordon asked his son.
"That's right, I almost forgot about that!" Brian exclaimed, before he and Mike opened their respective gifts. After removing the wrappers, both boys are surprised by what they got: the former got the Power Bat action figure that he wanted six years ago and the latter got a new set of chess.
"I don't believe it." the purple fox mumbled. "It's the toy I always wanted."
"I'm just amazed that I actually got something from Santa," the maroon badger quietly said.
"Boys, are you alright?" Olivia asked, snapping the two back to reality.
"We are now," Brian happily replied.
"Same here," Mike added.
"Now that everyone is here, why don't we go inside and celebrate," Nicole suggested.
"Agreed," everyone said simultaneously.
With that, they all head back inside to the O'Quinn residence, intending to celebrate as they have planned, but for Brian and Mike, it was a night they won't forget for a very long time.
The End
So here it is, folks, another holiday-theme story and to be honest, I wasn't so sure if I was going to make it on time. That said, I hope everyone enjoyed The Spirits and that everyone else has a great holiday and a happy new year!