Disclaimer: All the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series belong to Square-Enix. The characters Lann, Reynn, Tama, and Aya Brea belong to Square Enix also, and the original character, Johnny Thunder, belongs to me and appears in Kingdom Hearts III Online HD.
-SquareEnix City-
Adventures on Christmas Day
-Part 1 of 3-
xXx
We're now at Square Enix City and the Christmas season is upon us.
The SquareEnix cast of characters was finishing up decorating the halls and the many rooms of their large glass-made 14-stories high skyscraper they called home. That skyscraper was smack dab in the middle of SquareCity and was only known as Edenhall. It was the only place where these SE colorful characters could hang out, laugh, cry, and share tender moments together.
They were now at the Edenhall Main Quad, finishing up decorations with a large Christmas tree.
"Ahh... I just love the holidays..." said Serah Farron with a sigh, "Hanging out with family and friends, sharing presents and warm snacks, decorating the tree..."
"...shutting up so that people can concentrate." her sister Lightning mumbled, flipping through her military magazine.
"Lightning." Ventus, also known as Ven, sighed, "Would it kill you to be in the Christmas mood and help us out for once?"
"Yeah, girl!" Snow said with a grin, "And besides, it's your turn to put the Christmas Star on top of the tree this year." he playfully waved the Star toward Lightning. Lightning shot Snow a dark look, like a starving predator about to jump on its prey. Tidus snatched the star from Snow's hand, "HEY!"
"I don't think Light is in a good mood... or ANY kind of mood to put the Star where it belongs." Tidus remarked nervously.
Ventus noticed the flat screen HDTV displaying the building's front lobby, "Hey. Mailman's here." he said.
"I'll get it." Tidus screamed. He saw Chocobo who was sleeping peacefully on the couch and jumped onto its back, jerking it up from its sleep.
"It's Blitzball Champ Tidus, ready to tackle on Edenhall's front door with his trusty ride Chocobo on what could become the ultimate future Chocobo Racing in the world! Ondalay, Chocobo! ONDALAY!" Tidus screamed and slapped Chocobo like a horse.
"SKReEEEEWW!" Chocobo screamed and took off from the Main Quad like a mad horse with rabies. Tidus and Chocobo dashed down the stairs, crossed past a grand hall, wavered through dozens of hallways, leapt over balconies, crashed through secret passages… both Tidus and Chocobo were screaming: screams of joy and agony. Finally they reached the front lobby where the front glass double doors were. There was a mailman Moogle coming toward the doors. The receptionist saw him and just as he was about to waver to him to enter, Tidus and Chocobo shoved him out of the way and crashed through the double doors. Chocobo collapsed, exhausted and out of breath. So did Tidus…
"Kupo-po! What the pom-pom was that?" the Moogle asked.
"Just… wheeeeeze… tell us what we got…" Tidus gasped, his chest heaving up and down.
"You got packages!"
"Cool…" Tidus said with a big grin, before his eyes rolled up like slots machine and he fainted. Sazh Katzroy came into the lobby and saw Tidus and the Chocobo then saw the Moogle Mailman, "…what's the delivery, dead teenager and a Chocobo?"
"Kupo, just sign here." The Moogle handed Sazh a paper clipboard and a pen, "and here, here, there, there, initial here, initial there, print here, there, here-there, print there, sign here, and... Stamp with a Kupo!"
Sazh dropped the pen after signing the clipboard eternally to rub his fingers, "Dang, that package better be good, cuz I might lose my fingers from all that writin'!"
"Bring them in!" the Moogle shouted. A truck backed up to the front door, opened its rear doors and dumped about a hundred of wrapped gifts on Sazh, Tidus and Chocobo. Snow and Serah who were coming to the front lobby saw the infinite gifts pouring down on the characters.
"Whoa! Somebody's been good this year." Snow remarked.
"Yeah, Kupo! And it ain't you." the Moogle mailman replied, "It's some girl named…" he enunciated the name on the invoice, "Lightning Farron?"
"What?" Snow and Serah yelled.
Sazh pulled out of the gifts and screamed, "What?"
Tidus then followed, "WHAT?"
Chocobo then followed, "KWAAAT?"
"Somebody called me?" Lightning came to the scene.
"Your Santa gifts have arrived, Kupo!" The Moogle mailman replied.
"My what?"
"Have a good fete, Santa's pet! Teeheehee." the Moogle mailman took off, laughing. Lightning stared speechlessly at the gifts. Ven along with his lookalike friend Lann came down the lobby and saw the gifts, and they too were speechless.
"Wow…" Ven's eyes sparkled.
"Ohh DUDE! Look at all them gifts!" Lann laughed out loud, "Man! Has somebody's been Santa Claus's favorite child or something?"
All fingers pointed at Lightning. Lightning glared at Lann like a predator ready to jump on her prey.
"Oops..."
The main receptionist sniggered behind his post. But Lightning, having good ears, heard him and pointed the finger at him, threatening, "You laugh, you die!"
The receptionist got quiet.
xXx
Kingdom Lounge, a lounge in Edenhall where all Kingdom Hearts characters hang out. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Lea (previously called Axel), and their new friend Reynn and her Mirage companion Tama were watching a holiday movie when…
"EEEEAAAAAAAHHHH!"
"Sigh... Just when you think that you can enjoy your movie..." Riku mumbled.
Dark-haired girl Iris Amicitia crashed into the lounge with panic-stricken look on her face. Following her was Tifa Lockhart.
"Iris..." Tifa tried to talk to her friend, but Iris hushed her.
"This is important!" Iris said.
"This is dumb." Tifa sighed.
"You guys!" Iris yelped, completely ignoring Tifa, "My boyfriend Noctis is coming by for a visit tonight, and I've got NOTHING to wear!"
Kairi fake-gasped, "This is a fashion disaster!"
"I KNOW!" Iris yelled in response, "You gotta help me!"
"Iris, you'll be fine. You're like King Noctis and Queen Lunafreya's best friend! AND Gladio the King's Shield's sister!" Sora said, "You basically got all the perks of a rich girl."
"That's what I've been trying to tell her all day!" Tifa said, "Oh, and by the way, Noctis is NOT your boyfriend."
"Can't a girl dream?" Iris huffed.
"Anyway," she went on, "since it's all true that I got all the perks in the world, how about we go do some holiday shopping together? Just us girls! And any girls! It's girls-only shopping spree!"
Iris then faced Kairi and Reynn who all shook heads and responded with different excuses. The boys just said they're not girls.
"Awright fine! It's just Tifa!"
"Do I get a say in this?"
"After saying Noctis is not my boyfriend? No. Let's go!" Iris took off, dragging Tifa with her.
The KH gang returned to their movie when…
"Breaking! Breaking Exciting News!" the TV news reporter blared on the screen.
Tama groaned, "Why do we have to the-show the news NOW in the middle of a good movie? That's what the-10 o'clock... the-4 o'clock... the-6 o'clock news are for!"
"Oh come now, Tama. Maybe it's good news." Reynn said.
"No Reynn." Riku disagreed, "Breaking news is never good news."
"Are you ready for the holiday season?" shouted the announcer.
"Guess I was wrong." Riku said as everyone sat up with excitement.
"Well then if you are ready for the holiday season, you better get ready for our 13th Annual Winter Fantasy Skating-Style Competition! Bring your dancing partner to the ice field for a fantastic time on ice this weekend-only starting Thursday afternoon at Mt. Crystallis just in time for Christmas!"
Sora sighed and sank back to the couch, "Lame…"
"That sounds like fun!" Kairi said, all smiles.
"OH!" Sora sat up again, "I TOTALLY agree!"
"We'll be giving away dozens of Christmas gifts—"
"Did you just say gifts?" Everyone exclaimed.
"That's right! Gifts!" The announcer guy said as if in response, "Dozens of them, to our famous couple competitors, courtesy of your favorite boutiques like B&W Outfitters, Migelo's Sundries, and Aerith's Flower Shop!"
The gang felt hypnotized when they saw the gifts displayed on TV. "Whoa... Seeing these feels like Christmas Day in Heaven..." Sora mumbled.
The announcer went on, "You can even get a lifetime supply of ASSORTED ICE CREAMS delivered to your home, fully paid for by Huey Duck's Ice Cream Shop at Disney Town!"
"ICE CREAM!" Lea gasped at the sight of the ice creams displayed on TV. The KH Gang couldn't get their eyes off the assorted ice cream also.
"Will you be getting Double Crunch On Monday?"
"Ohh..." everyone gasped.
"Spark Lemon Tuesday?"
"OhHhH..."
"Goofy Parfait on Wednesday?"
"OHHH..."
"WHO KNOWS? Just sign up for your chance to compete! And remember, have fun and happy holidays!"
"Aw, man! THIS IS AWESOME!" Sora exclaimed, "I gotta say, I wasn't down for it, but the gifts and ice cream won me over!"
"I know right?" Tama exclaimed before her face contorted with utter confusion, "Wait!"
"What?" Reynn asked.
Tama cocked her head on one side, "Who eats ice cream in the Winter?"
"Guys we should totally compete!" Kairi proposed.
Riku shook his head, "Yeah, no. Not me."
"Why not Riku?" Sora provoked, "Are you chicken?"
"Just so you know, Sora, I had my share of competition in the rink for the past two years. So that makes me more male than you are."
"No way Riku!" Kairi exclaimed, "You were in the competition too?"
"We both were!" Reynn revealed, "But Riku was the best! He actually taught me everything about skating: techniques and tactics!"
"We won the competition by landslides..." Riku explained, "Well, except the last one. That prize was totally stolen from us by the so-called Sky-Pirating Duo of Balthier and Fran. That Balthier guy is such a smug. And have you seen his partner on ice Fran?"
"Ha-Ha! Fran..." Lea laughed at the name, "What? She old?"
"No she's hot!" Riku said, "She ain't human but she like a model."
"Too bad you can't compete Riku." Sora said with a haughty grin on his face, "But don't worry! Kairi and I will totally—"
"Say, I have an idea." Reynn interrupted, "Why can't you two be the skating duo this year?" she pointed at Kairi and Riku.
"Wait, whoa, what?" Kairi gasped.
"What, wait, whoa?" Riku gasped.
Kairi tried to protest, "I don't think I—"
"Oh come on guys!" Reynn said with a smile, "It'll be totally fun!"
"It will be totally awesome!" Lea agreed, "Riku could compete once again as a champion, and Kairi being a princess and a fast-learner, can get all the fame!"
"Hey, I'M a fast-learner!" Sora barked, trying to get attention. "And I got a Keyblade!" But the group was too busy talking to each other.
Lann suddenly crashed through the lounge, catching their attention, "Hey guys, word of advice: next time you see Lightning, compliment her shoes. And you didn't see me OR heard from me."
xXx
Lea, Lann and Tama were in the kitchen. The kitchen was so large; it was like the type of kitchen you could find in restaurants.
"Guys, I am SO excited!" a cheerfully glee Lea said, "The thought of Riku and Kairi winning lifetime supplies of ice creams makes me wanna create my very own ice cream line! Heck, we could even serve our creation at the event!"
"Seriously, who eats the ice cream in the Winter?" Tama said, "I'm still so the-CONFUSED!"
"I think that's an awesome innovative idea." Lann replied, "Let's get to it!"
xXx
Edenhall Royal Archives Library. A magnificent library located at the mid section of Edenhall, was where Terra and Aqua were hanging out. That was before Johnny Thunder entered in.
"Whatchu readin', Terry?" Thunder said to Terra.
Terra put his book down, "It's Terra."
"Whatevs." Thunder jumped on a recliner and magically made a bag of popcorn appear to his hand.
"It's this book called 'The Grimoire" Terra explained, "I find its scripts and its lore fascinating."
"What's it about?" Aqua asked.
"I dunno."
Then Ven entered the library, alongside twins Mysidian mages Palom and Porom. "Man, you guys have no idea how excited I am about Christmas. What I'm most excited about is Santa Claus! He's coming by Christmas Eve to give us presents! You know. If we've been good."
"And I think we all know who's been NOT good." Aqua said and all eyes turned to Thunder.
Thunder shrugged, "What? I'VE been good!"
Porom shrugged, "…I dunno. I think Santa Claus is a myth."
"I agree." Palom nodded his head.
All heads turned to the twins by surprise. Ven quickly approached them, his pupils dilated, "I…I'm sorry, did you just say a myth?" his voice went low and shivering. "What do you guys mean he's a myth?"
"We mean he doesn't exist." Palom answered, "Hellooo…."
Ven shook his head, "Ohhh, no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no. You guys are kids. You suppose to believe in Santa Claus to get presents."
"Do you?" Porom asked.
"Of course I do!" Ven exclaimed, feeling offended.
"This oughta be good." Thunder made himself comfortable on his recliner chair, still eating popcorn.
"Think about it, Key boy." Porom marched toward the chalkboard and, waving her staff to it started magically drawing her logic down, "How possible is it, for an old man… so close to his time… to leave presents in every home in this world, of every land, and of every states, and of every nations of every continents, and every single world that exists in the Final Fantasy and beyond in just one night?"
"He has Magic." Ven argued.
"But magic is limited." Palom countered.
"TIME Magic." Ven argued back.
"Too much Time Magic can disturb the rifts of time and space." Porom argued back.
"Arcane?"
"Only manipulate the negative status."
"HE'S A GOD!"
"Gods are invisible." Porom said.
"Except to the chosen ones." Palom added.
"Which explain WHY he never shows up to us, cuz we gotta believe in Santa Claus cuz we're the Chosen!" Ven screamed, "HA!" He gasped, out of breath.
Everyone in the room looked confused.
"Chosen for what?" Parom exclaimed.
"He doesn't show up to us?" Thunder gloated, "Dude! We see him all the time in these thrift malls!"
"Shut up!" Ven barked at Thunder.
"What sad moment for our dear Ven." Terra commented before heading back to his book. Ven noticed the book and quickly snatched it from Terra's hands.
"HEY!" Terra barked.
"He could be using this book! The Grimoire!" Ven exclaimed, "Ooh! He could teleport! Or pass through keyholes!"
The twins simply shook their heads.
Ven angrily slammed the book on the ground and approached the kids, "AUGH! YOU KNOW WHAT, KIDS! YOU BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS OR ELSE—!"
"He's watching you." Porom added.
"You don't wanna be on his naughty list so close to Christmas, right?" Palom taunted.
Ven stopped. He giggled mirthlessly. "Okay. Ohh…kay."
Aqua whispered to Terra, "And I thought you were the one with the Darkness within."
"I know. How embarrassing." Terra muttered.
"YOU KNOW WHAT?" Ven barked again, before he quickly restrained himself and cleared his throat. He pulled out a big fake grin, "You know what, kids. How about we do this. We'll fix ourselves some fresh milk and warm cookies. Chocolate chip. We'll leave them at the table…" he then looked at everyone in the room, "Nobody touches them."
He then faced Thunder, "And I do mean… nobody."
Thunder frowned.
Ven faced the twins again, "…and we'll wait."
The twins looked at each other then back at Ven, "Wait for what?"
"For Santa Claus of course!" Ven responded, "According to myths— REAL life stories— kids always leave a little treat for Santa before his usual visits. His favorite: milk and cookies. We'll wait around midnight until he shows up to eat the snacks, and then we'll see who's wrong about Santa. Deal?"
"Uhh… Ven." Aqua said, "You didn't make the bet."
"Allright fine." Ven sighed, "I'll bet…" Ven looked around his pockets and pulled out something valuable, "…my Wayfarer's Charm—"
Terra and Aqua looked up, eyes widen. "What?!" Aqua gasped.
"—that Santa Claus exists." Ven finished, "Deal?"
"All right." The twins responded on cue.
"And we'll bet…" Porom said.
"…our little Black Magic." Palom responded.
"…a little?" Porom frowned at her brother. Palom sighed, "…fine. I'll give up ALL my black magic."
"Deal!" Ven and the twins shook hands, and the twins left the library.
Terra and Aqua quickly approached Ven, still bug-eyed, "What madness did you do? I gave you that Charm!" Aqua angrily said to Ven.
"You're not ACTUALLY gonna go for that bet, are you?" Terra asked, panicky.
"Oh, trust me guys. I will. Now to make us some milk and cookies."
ZiNg!
Ven, Terra and Aqua turned around and saw a plateful of fresh batches of cookies and a vase of milk sitting at a table right next to Thunder.
"Y'know." Thunder spoke, now chopping on a cookie from the batch he just conjured up, "You guys should REALLY learn to do things the easy way instead of the old boring mortal way. It's so much fun."
Aqua gently took the half-bitten cookie from Thunder's hand and put it back on the plate. "Unh-Unh! No cookies for you pal." she said.
And so here's what we've learned on this season of hope:
Lightning apparently has received surprise gifts from above… an infinite supply it seems.
Riku and Kairi are entering the Winter Fantasy of Mt. Crystallis, unaware of their jealous friend indeed.
And Ventus apparently wants the little Mysidian wizards to at least believe!
Ah yes… this Christmas season was just getting started.
xXx
Back at the Main Quad, Lightning's gifts were just too much that they took over most of the quad. Snow and Serah walked through the gifts, while avoiding destroying them. I mean, who knows what valuable things could be hiding under these gift-wrapped boxes?
"Lightning?" Serah called out to her sister, unable to locate her through this flood of boxes, "Are you in there?"
"Yoo-hoo, Lightning?" Snow teasingly called out, "This isn't the time to be playing hide-and-seek!"
Suddenly Lightning emerged out from the sea of gifts and grabbed Snow from behind in a chokehold. Serah gasped, "Lightning!"
"You laugh, you die." Lightning threatened Snow, choking him.
"Gassp… gasp…"
"Lightning! Stop! You're hurting him!" Serah pulled Lightning away from her boyfriend. Snow gasped from breath.
"This is the Christmas season, not the hunting season!" Serah exclaimed, "We should be happy. You should be happy. Look at all the gifts you have!"
"I should be happy?" Lightning snapped, "Do I LOOK happy to you?" Lightning pointed her serious bitter face to Serah to make a point.
"Apparently not."
"Face it, Serah…" Snow said, clearing his voice from the choking, "…your sister's been so used to being naughty all her life, that she ain't happy to switch side for once…"
Lightning jumped on Snow again who was laughing but Serah quickly stopped her sister, "Whoa hey!" She screamed, barring Lightning and Snow's paths, "BACK OFF, Lightning!" she then faced Snow too, "And you too Snow! This ain't funny!"
"Aw come on! No sense of humor?" Snow exclaimed, "You know, I bet that this whole gift delivery thing might be a prank. I mean, who on their right mind would wanna spent millions of Gil on gifts to give to a bitter woman like Lightning?"
"Snow boy got a point." Spoke the voice of Terra as he joined in the conversation, "The only person who could pull off such thing wouldn't be sane… whether it's a prank or not."
All heads turned to face Snow, whose eyes narrowed, "Terra…" he said his name in vain, "Got someplace to go play in the darkness, dark boy?"
All heads turned to Terra. "I don't know." Terra responded, "Is your light a little too bright to face a little dark room in a pantry for a change? And by bright, I mean chicken."
All heads turned back to Snow. Snow cracked his neck, and then cracked his knuckles before pounding his fists together. Terra rotated his shoulders and stretched a little bit.
"Uh-oh. Looks like we're gonna have a prank war." Sazh announced.
"Well, not on my gifts they ain't!" Lightning yelled, "Cuz if I hear a single crack of broken box, I'll go Odin on all of you!"
Snow and Terra looked at Lightning, then back at each other, "Good point." Terra said. "Let's move this event down Edenhall Coliseum."
"Here's an idea." Snow added, "How about we do this all across SquareCity?"
"Oh it's on." Terra grinned, "You and me, SquareCity, for an all-out prank war. Oh. And bring your posse with you. Unless you're too… bright."
"Grr…"
"Oh! Here's an idea!" Serah quickly jumped of joy, "How about prank winner takes all of Lightning's gifts?"
Lightning glared back at Serah. Serah got reluctant all the sudden, "Or… maybe 30% of her gifts…?"
Lightning rolled her eyes, "Fine, whatever. Just make sure you don't break them." She turned to leave the room, but then stopped. She glanced at a small silver-wrapped box two feet from her and drooled a bit. She quickly grabbed it, glared back at everyone who was staring, and left without another word.
xXx
Mt. Crystallis. A massive dormant volcano right behind SquareCity, which always looked beautiful when covered in snow during the wintertime. It was there that stood a fancy sky resort at the very top which looked just as luminous and populated as Nautilus the City of Dreams.
The resort was filled with an overwhelming crowd, all bundled up in coats and gloves in the chilly afternoon. Everything, decorations, competitors, even news crew were set for the Winter Fantasy Competition.
"Welcome to our 13th Annual Winter Fantasy Skating-Style Competition! I'm Ifrit! And this is ma' gurl Shiva!"
"Hello my beautiful ice sculptures." Shiva waved to the camera, before turning to Ifrit, "…um, are we supposed to talk to that thing pointing at us?" she pointed at the camera, "What's it supposed to do?"
"I dunno. It looks like it's about to shoot some weird blast on us or something."
"I know… freaky right?"
"But people in this place call this thing a camry or something…?"
"It's called a camera, Kupo!" the cameraman, an annoyed yet lazy-looking Moogle with tired eyes, corrected them, "And yes it shooting at you. Only a pictured reflection of yourselves to thousand of TVs."
Shiva and Ifrit turned back at the cameraman, panic look on their faces.
"It's shooting at us?" Ifrit yelped.
"Yeah, but…" the cameraman's eyes suddenly went wide all of the sudden, then his voice raised to almost a high pitch sound, "No, don't… DON'T DESTROY IT WITH YOUR—!"
Ifrit shot a blast of fireball through the camera, exploding it from the Moogle's hands. Debris fell on the ground. Silence fell across the skating rink as all eyes stared at Ifrit.
"Oops…" Ifrit grinned.
Shiva quickly resumed hosting to the readers, "Uhh… I hope you are all excited about this year's Winter Fantasy! Cuz it's gonna be a blast!" she quickly whispered to Ifrit, "…just play along."
"Oh, um…" Ifrit nervously face the readers, "yeah! A real blast!"
"Oh! And make sure you look out for Terra and Snow of the Christmas Prank War special during the competition! You don't wanna get prank no?"
"I sure don't! Let the competition begin!"
The competition went underway: some couples performed the tango; others flipped each other up in the air like acrobats, and other did European dances, hip-hop, meringue, jazz, even some combo and creative freestyles. The crowd was amazed by some of the dances, but for some competitors it felt amateurish. One such competitive duo are Balthier and Fran.
"Would you look at this, Fran?" Balthier said to his partner, "It's as if they are practicing for 'Dancing with the Stars'. No talents like those as-if celebrities, wouldn't you agree?"
"Hmph. Like I care." Fran dismissively said, "We'll sweep this one again anyway like a scoop full of Gil."
Not far from Balthier and Fran, Sora, Riku, Kairi and Reynn were watching and saw the sky pirates also.
"That's them. Balthier and Fran." Riku said, "Didn't I mention that Fran girl was quite hot?"
"You might have… 30 times." Sora mumbled, "And yes, I've been counting."
The latest couple just finished their routines and the crowd cheered for them.
"And that was Trisha and Roy, the Gleeful Twoful! Give 'em a big round of applause! What fabulous performance!" Shiva said.
The duo left the rink.
"Now ladies and gentlemen, welcome next to the stage, newcomers Kairi and Riku, the Graceful Twos." Ifrit said and the crowd cheered out loud for them as the duo stepped onto the ice.
Kairi appeared nervous.
"Break a leg Kairi!" Reynn cheered.
"Break a leg?" Kairi freaked out, "Is that a death wish?"
Reynn quickly shook her head and tried to explain herself. "No, no! It's…"
"Break a leg means good luck, Kairi." Riku said to her with a reassuring smile, "Just hold my hand and everything will be fine."
Kairi did so. The moment she held his hand, her fear of the ice vanished and she felt safe. Sora rolled his eyes.
The music finally played. It was 'Hikari' by Utada Hikaru. The duo moved in rhythm of the music, with some awesome style moves, like Riku carrying Kairi's stomach with only his hand and a foot over his head; as Kairi let herself go like a swan. The music was beautiful and the performance was amazing. So amazing that it was hard to describe their rhythm at each step. Even some of the crowd watchers were moved, like they were watching a forbidden love story. Reynn shed a couple of tears. Sora grumbled some more.
The music ended and the crowd applauded.
"Wow! What a fabulous performance!" Shiva said.
"I know! This music almost made my cry!" Ifrit said.
"Judges! Reveal your scores!"
A Moogle, a Chocobo, and a Chirithy revealed their scores "9! 9! 9!"
"Wow, that's a 27 out of 30! An A+ I must say! Congrats duets!" Ifrit said.
Kairi and Riku got off the ice to join Sora and Reynn.
"Oh my gosh, y'guys! That was awesome!" Reynn exclaimed.
"Yeah… awesome indeed." Sora said, trying to be happy for the duo, but he wasn't.
"You know you can do better than that when making snide remarks, kid." Spoke Balthier. The KH gang turned to face Balthier and Fran.
"I would've said that that performance was amazing, but I'd be lying." Fran said.
"Balthier and Fran." Riku said, his eyes narrowed and his head shaking, "When are you going to stop being such a bully and be friendly competitors for once?"
"Kid, it's a competition, not American Idol." Balthier said, scratching his nose, "I wouldn't be too close to gloating if I were you. We're taking this prize again this year."
"And you're getting nothing." Fran said, "Sorry kids." The duo passed right by the gang.
"Are they always like this?" Kairi asked.
Riku sighed. "Always."
"Now ladies and gentlemen, welcome next to the stage, returning champions, Balthier and Fran, the Skypirates of Ice!" Ifrit said and the crowd cheered out loud for them as the duo boldly stepped onto the ice. The music turned on. It was 'Trouble', by Pink.
Trouble! Yeah, Trouble now! I'm Trouble y'All! I disturb my town, I'm trouble!
Fran fake-slapped Balthier then Balthier jumped behind Fran and the duo moved in rhythm. They separate, still moving in rhythm. Then they joined up again and flashed their arms up in the air.
Riku, Reynn, Sora and Kairi's jaws dropped at the sight of Fran and Balthier's dance. "My gosh, they got skills!" Reynn gasped.
"For how long did they practice?" Sora asked.
"I dunno but I wish Reynn had her paintbrush with her now and draw an Anvil above their heads." Kairi said, picturing that moment in her mind. Riku laughed and so did Reynn. Sora chuckled, thinking of that moment differently, "I wish Reynn would've drawn an Anvil above your head, Riku." He mumbled.
Fran jumped on Balthier and both turned their heads. Their expression looked quite serious. Fran did the slide and Balthier helped. The duo both turned facing each other again. Fran bended forward, Balthier leaned back, and vice-versa. They did the Cancan next and hereafter Balthier grabbed Fran's hand and the princess twirled towards him. Both duo twirled and formed a tornado. What seemed like snowflakes blew out from them, mesmerizing the audience. Finally they flashed their arms up the air again for the big finish. The performance had the crowd on their feet.
"UNBELIEVABLE! UNDESCRIBABLE! MOVING ON THIS ICE IS LIKE THE DANCE FLOOR FOR THOSE TWO!" Ifrit said.
"JUDGES! SCORES!" Shiva said.
The Moogle, Chocobo, and Chirithy revealed their scores
"Triple 10!"
"WHAT?" Riku, Kairi and Reynn gasped.
"Wow, that's a perfect score right there! If there was another 10! That would've been an A-plus PLUS!" Ifrit said.
"Great… now we don't have any chance." Riku sighed, defeated.
xXx
"Beautiful! I think we've done it!" Lea marveled at the latest Ice cream creation that he, Lann and Tama just made.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Feast your eyes on the everlasting Peppers Puffs Ice Cream! Hot and spicy on the outside! Cold and chilly on the inside! Like me!"
"Yeah!" Lann said, "Cold on the inside! Like your heart!"
"Whaaa?" Tama gasped.
"HEY!" Lea angrily snapped, "Why do you have to be so mean to me?"
"Wuh—mean?" Lann muttered, "I didn't—what are you—?"
"I think he was the-trying to compliment you, Lea!" Tama said.
Lea was eerily silent, "Ohh…kay. Well! Should we taste it first to see if it's good?"
"It's fine the way it looks." Lann replied.
"Great!" Lea said, "Now let's give these babies away to our spectators... for a fee."
Lann and Tama took off with their ice cream creation.
"Hey, where are you guys going?" Lann asked.
"Do make the-prof… I mean, PROFIT!" Lea said before turning to Tama, "I can believe I almost talked like you."
Tama ignored him, "You just stay here to clean up the kitchen Lann! If you don't mind."
The duo left the kitchen. Lann let out a disappointed sigh, "aw, I wanted to make profit too." He went to grab a mop and a water bucket.
Ven came in to the kitchen along with Thunder.
"Hey Lann!" Ven greeted.
"Hey! what's up bro?" Lann greeted his friend.
"Got any more cookies? Or those ice creams you were makin'?" Thunder said with a fast-alerted tone, "Gotta get more of those, man!"
Ven shook his head, "Ignore him. He just finished a whole bowlful of cookies he conjured with his Keyblade Magic and now he's all hyped up on sugar!" Ven angrily faced Thunder, "Didn't Aqua said no more cookies for you?"
"Cookies huh?" Lann said, "At least they're safe to the mouth unlike that thing Lea came up with. I'm worried."
"Yeah... we need more cookies..." Ven said to Lann, "Well, not for me and definitely NOT for this guy. It's for Santa. See, I wanna prove to those two annoying wizard kids from Mysidia that Santa Claus DOES exist."
Lann furrowed his brow, "Oooh... I dunno if you'll be able to do that, knowing that you're not going to win this bet."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ven muttered.
"Oh! So you really don't know?" Lann almost sounded impressed, "All right here's the dirt: Santa Claus doesn't exist."
"There's a shock." Thunder mumbled, chewing through a peppermint cookie he had just conjured up.
Ven gnashed his teeth, "agh, YOU TOO? You pathetic."
"Yeah? Say that to the one person who once made a bet on Santa's existence: me." Lann pointed at himself, "You see, it was with my friend Pompulous Snorty. He didn't believe in Santa Claus either. So I proposed to him that we go to the North Pole together and meet him in person."
"And?"
~Flashback…~
"Excuse me?" said little Lann to a couple of Eskimos, talking penguins, polar bears and winter dogs in the North Pole. Little Lann and his friend Pompulous Snorty who looked like a geek were both freezing from head to toe, even though they were completely covered in high-quality winter coats.
"This is the North Pole right?" Lann said, "Can you please tell us where Santa Claus lives?"
"Santa Claus?" one Eskimo said.
"You mean that chubby guy we hear about in fairy tales?" One penguin giggled.
Suddenly the whole crew laughed out loud. "…well, good luck finding him bub!" a winter dog howled in laughter.
"We may be going extinct but we ain't goin' crazy!" a polar bear burst into tears.
Lann's heart broke at all the intense laughter. Pompulous Snorty faced him, "See? *snorts* I told you. *snorts*"
~Flashback Ends~
"And what's worse is that that night, Christmas Eve, I waited from midnight till it was 9 in the morning! No Santa! Just my dad carrying the gifts as if HE was Santa."
"Ouch, that must've hurt." Thunder mumbled.
"I know right?" Lann replied, "The laughter still haunts me in my dreams every Christmas Eve."
"No I'm talking about that snorting your friend made." Thunder corrected, "Yeech. Talk about nasty."
Ven shook his head, trying not to believe Lann's lies, "That's impossible. I should go to the North Pole myse—!"
Lann showed him the picture he took of the laughing Eskimo, Polar Bear, Wolf and Penguin, "Here's proof. Laughter in my face."
Ven snatched the picture at stared at it in disbelief, "Oh my gosh… it really is true."
Lann continued to clean up the kitchen when he came across something even more disturbing. "And if that's not the least of my worries, look at this!" Lann showed the duo a small bottle of red substance, but it's the picture on the bottle that was the most disturbing.
"A skull with crossbones?" Ven exclaimed, "POISON?"
"Worst. Flaming peppers." Lann said, "You're supposed to take only one drop… ONE DROP… of that thing in every dish to have a medium-hot peppery taste! Too much of it, and it's death! By peppers! And that idiot Lea took too much of it!"
"How much?"
"Like a cup! ON EVERY PEPPERS PUFF!"
"Aw, come on, how hot can it be?" Thunder giggled before he scooped up a sample of the pepper with his finger and licked it.
"NO DON'T EAT THAT!" Lann screamed, "It's like wasabi with a 6 pound combo of habanero AND ghost peppers combined!"
Thunder's face turned bright red. His cheeks puffed up and his eyes rolled up like slots machine before shooting out waterfall of tears.
"AAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!" he screamed, flames literally shooting out from his throat. He ran to the freezer and ducked his head there, trying to cool off the intense heat from his mouth, but his flaming mouth melted everything in the freezer.
"HEEEEELP! HEEELP! HEEEEEAAAAAAALLLP!"
The fire alarm suddenly went off. Lann and Ven ran around trying to find something to calm Thunder's throat. Lann grabbed a hose and Ven attached it to the water faucet. He turned on the faucet and Lann shot from the hose a stream of water into Thunder's mouth. But the flames wouldn't just go away. Thunder's body literally swelled up like a massive balloon, but his face was still red of peppery fury and his mouth were shooting more flames then ever.
"IT'S LIKE IT'S IMMUNE TO THE WATER!" Lann screamed.
Tama entered the kitchen to see the disaster happening. She quickly flew to the fire extinguisher behind a glass and broke the glass.
"GRAB THE EXTINGUISHER!" Tama screamed.
Lann grabbed the extinguisher and shot it into Thunder's mouth. Thunder kept swelling up and up and up and up…
"STOP THE EXTINGUISHER!" Lea screamed at Lann.
"YOU STOP THE EXTINGUISHER!" Lann shouted back, "IT'S NOT HELPING!"
"HE'S GONNA THE-BLOW UP!" Tama screamed.
xXx
"We have got to find a way to prank this Terra guy." Snow was saying to a couple of Moogles as he was walking down the corridor, "Gosh I hate him so much right now, you don't know…"
BOOOOOOMMMM!
The entire hall just shook up violently, as if a bomb just went off. All heads turned to the source of the explosion: the kitchen!
Snow and the Moogles ran into the kitchen to find a large black burnt stain on the ground and a torn burnt shirt. Tama, Lann and Ven remained frozen from that trauma. The fire alarm stopped ringing.
Snow noticed the skull-crossbones pepper bottle and formed a menacing grin, "Excellent."
xXx
SquareCity Central Mall was packed with holiday shoppers, all rushing in and out of stores to bring cheers to all on this Christmas endeavor.
Iris and Tifa entered the food court. Tifa was carrying tons of heavy shopping bags and looked like a mess, while Iris was only holding on to one small bag.
"sigh… don't you just love Christmas? Especially with this time of year bringing joy to all shoppers with its biggest 5AM store sales yet?"
Tifa dropped the bags down, "Yeah…" she growled, "…About that, next time, why don't you just remind me that all 5AM shoppers are CRAZY LIKE MOBS!"
" 'Cuz warning you won't make the shopping fun." Iris said.
The girls spotted a couple of familiar faces at a food court table: Tidus and Terra Branford, Vaan and Penelo, Squall, and Cloud.
"Hi guys!" Iris approached the gang, who greeted back.
"Oh, you're getting your holiday shopping done?" Terra B. asked.
"You better have gotten me something!" Tidus exclaimed.
"…unless you wear a skirt, then yeah we got you something." Tifa snidely said.
"This isn't for you guys. It's for me!" Iris said cheerfully.
"Wow, how thoughtful." Vaan said, rolling his eyes. The guys chuckled.
"Hey, this is serious!" Iris said, "I got me lots of cute outfits to wear for Noctis to see me in when he comes to SquareCity to visit me for Christmas."
"Noctis huh?" Penelo said with a smile.
"Well, you better wear something fast, 'cuz he went to the restroom not long ago." Cloud revealed.
"We just picked him up from the aerodrome." Squall pointed out.
"WHAT?" Iris freaked out. At that moment, Tifa spotted Noctis not far from the crowd approaching the table. "Uh-oh. Here he comes."
"I CAN'T CHANGE FAST!" Iris freaked out, before facing Terra B. and Penelo, "Girls, do something! Teleport me to the nearest changing room!"
"I can't. I don't have my staff." Terra B. exclaimed.
"I'm all tapped out of white magic helping the poor and needy for our Christmas charity run." Penelo explained.
"I'm back." Noctis spoke, startling Iris. Iris turned to face him and grinned nervously, "Noctis! You're here!"
"Hi Iris." Noctis said without a smile. That got Iris even more nervous. "Oh no! What's with the dull greeting! I look hideous don't I? DON'T I?"
Noctis shook his head, "No, you look beautiful." He then dismissively looked back to the table, "So, are we gonna eat or what?"
"Seriously Noctis, what's with your moping?" Tifa curiously asked, "It's the holidays."
"Yeah, you won't believe it," Vaan pointed out, "But prince-a-lot here never had a Christmas before in his life."
"Never?" Iris exclaimed.
"Ever." Tidus then confirmed, with Vaan nodding his head.
"Guys, I've had Christmas back home." Noctis clarified, "but, it's just like a big major birthday for humanity. And I don't know what the big deal is."
"What the big deal? It's Christmas!" Iris exclaimed and the whole table except Noctis agreed, "It's a time for giving and sharing and like you said, it's a birthday for everybody…"
Vaan was about to make a snide remark based on what she said but Iris pointed the finger at him, "Don't push it."
"…and it's also a time to spend with family and friends." Terra B. pointed out.
"And gifts!" Tidus exclaimed.
"So," Noctis said, "I guess Christmas ain't my thing… and I'm not in the mood to start one now…"
"How about we help you start one now?" Iris cheerfully said before facing the guys.
"What did I just say?" Noctis complained.
"Guys. Go order some foods. Delicious ones even." Iris said to the guys.
"I'll have some spicy chicken!" Terra B. gleefully said.
"All right, but can we make it fast?" Vaan moped, "We gotta watch that movie in less than an hour. We won't have enough time to care for the grumpy and the bah-humbug!"
"Yeah!" the guys all suddenly agreed.
"What movie?" Tifa curiously asked.
"Assassin's Creed." Squall said, "It's action-packed. No girls allowed."
"Well, this is gonna have to wait." Penelo said to the guys, "First priority is to cheer up Noctis."
"What?" the guys exclaimed.
"Since when do you change plans? We were supposed to watch that movie together as a coup—err… as BFFLs"
"Since Squall said that the movie's no girls allowed." Penelo replied.
The guys groaned. Tidus glowered at Squall, "Thanks a lot, Squall!"
Squall just shrugged. The guys went to one of the food stands of the food court.
"Come on guys. The faster we do this, the better time to can watch half of the action." Cloud said. "We order the same thing, but Terra gets the spicy chicken."
Mog, the moogle appeared on the stand, "Kupo-po! Welcome to Kupo Chow! May I take your orders, Kupo?"
"Yeah, give us Teriyaki for eight, and spicy chicken for Terra." Squall ordered.
Snow suddenly appeared from underground manga-style, freaking the guys out, "Did you just say Terra?" he exclaimed.
"Uhh, yeah." Squall said, "And put a side of fried rice on that, and make it quick."
Snow grinned evilly, "You got it." He blew a whistle and all Moogles including Mog gathered around him like a football huddle, "You know what to do right?"
Mog showed Snow the dangerous pepper bottle they snatched from Lann back in the kitchen. Snow's grin grew wide, "Beautiful…"
Snow, Mog, and the Moogles quickly served the foods, and poured half a bottle of the pepper on the spicy chicken, and handed the food over to the guys,
"Here you go. That'll be 45.50 Gil." Snow grinned.
"Wow, that's expensive." Cloud said before paying the amount. Vaan glowered at Snow nervously, "Can you stop with that freakish smile? It's scaring me."
Snow stopped smiling, "Sorry."
The guys left with the foods and went back to the table, unaware of the scheme Snow was about to pull on them. Snow and the Moogles secretly high-fived each other. "We did it! I can't believe it, Kupo!" Mog giggled.
"I know. And pretty soon, Terra's mouth's gonna be on fire so much, they'll be calling the fire department!"
"Yeah, great… except…" another Moogle watched as the guys served the food at the table and served Terra B. the lethal spicy chicken, "…that's not Terra!"
Mog saw Terra B. and gasped, "THAT'S TERRA BRANFORD! The GIRL Terra!"
"WHAAAT?" Snow screamed. He jumped over the stand, pushing customers and passersby out of the way, trying to reach the table, "NO, DON'T EAT—!"
Terra B. took a bite out of the chicken. Snow froze. "…t…that…"
Her face turned red, and tears came pouring out of her eyes like waterfall.
"AAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!" she screamed, flames literally shooting out from her throat.
Her body suddenly shot off from its seat and flew around the food court, out of control. Everyone freaked out as she morphed into her Esper Form and turned violent from the peppers. She shot flames around like a dragon, destroying Christmas decors hanging from the ceiling and burning down a nearby Christmas tree, even almost struck down a Mall Santa Claus. Everyone went screaming and running for their lives.
"Terra! TERRAA!" Vaan called out to her, "Calm down!"
Terra's eyes glowered at Vaan, like a robot who just found its target. She shot another flaming beam and it struck the table. Everyone jumped out of the way unharmed. Terra closed in on Iris and was about to finish her. Noctis jumped in, grabbed all the shopping bags and tossed them at Terra, creating distraction. Terra shot the shopping bags down with her flames. Noctis quickly seized his chance and waved his hand toward her, freezing Terra on contact. The frozen Esper fell on the ground, subdued. Everyone went to see if she was okay, and security and paramedics went to seek her medical attention.
The destroyed shopping bags rained around Terra and the mall. Noctis noticed Iris's face, looking like she saw a ghost.
An angry Cloud ran up to Snow, and Squall followed him. "What did you gave her?" he screamed.
"I… kinda gave her something… like this?" Snow nervously showed Cloud the bottle. Cloud angrily slapped the bottle from Snow's hand and pointed at him.
"You gave her Flaming Peppers?" Squall yelled.
"WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL?" Cloud barked.
"I'm sorry!" Snow exclaimed, "I thought she was… someone else…"
"We demand our meals free for the damage!" Squall growled, "Give us back the money. Now."
The moogles quickly paid Squall and Cloud back their Gils. Cloud and Squall left Snow to see if Terra B. was okay.
"But I thought she was somebody else." Snow mumbled. He angrily faced the Moogles, "That guy said Terra! TERRA!"
"But he didn't say Terra Branford!" Mog shrugged.
"But what kind of psycho would give a girl the name TERRA!" Snow snapped.
"…somebody called me?" Terra, the BOY Terra, suddenly appeared from underground manga-style, freaking Snow and the Moogles out. "AaUGGH!"
"You!" Snow growled.
"Hey, I gotta give you props. You wanted to prank someone who looked like me, but you fail to identify someone with the same name as me. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Rookie mistake. Here. Have a cookie for your effort." Terra offered Snow a cookie. Snow glared at it, then back at Terra.
"It's Macademian."
"Ooh!" Snow quickly grabbed the cookie and took a bite.
SNAPS!
"AAAUGGGH! MY MOUTH! MY MOOOUUUTH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OHHHFFF!" Snow's lips got trapped by some metal. The moogles quickly rushed to his aid and removed the cookie from his lips.
"A mouse trap!" Mog screamed, upon uncovering a small trap buried in the cookie.
"Hey, pranks can get ugly right?" Terra winked and quietly left the food court.
Meanwhile, Noctis approached Iris, "Hey, don't feel bad. You can return to the store and show them the receipt for refund."
"…th-th-the receipts…w-w-were in the bag…?" Iris mumbled, "…and the gifts were 100,000 Gil total… …and I used the Royal Court's cuh-cuh-cuh…credit…card."
Noctis's eyes and jaws widened in horror.
xXx
Back at Edenhall, was a troubled boy; conflicted he was, from all the tales of nonbelievers yonder, was still on the quest to make believers and himself witness Santa Claus.
Ventus was heading off the Library with the milk and cookies on hand. Terra who just arrived from the mall saw him.
"Ven. Still up to your old tricks?" he smiled at his brotherly friend.
"I just want those kids to believe okay?" Ven snapped. "I just learned from Lann that Santa Claus doesn't exist. I mean, what kind of craziness is that? What about all those gifts I got from under the tree when I was a boy?"
"You know, I was a boy once." Terra said, "And I believed."
"Oh, fantastic." Ven grumbled, "That's two nonbelievers I see. No, make that four."
"Hey, wait a second." Terra stopped him. Ven sighed, "You gotta know that Christmas isn't just about getting presents. It's about spending time with the people you love. Family and friends."
"Yeah?" Ven smiled.
Terra nodded.
Ven's smile quickly vanished, "Well, what's the point of Christmas if kids don't believe in Christmas miracles? I'm outta here." And he was off.
Aqua saw the whole thing and approached Terra. "Still don't wanna listen huh?" she sighed.
"Yeah… but he'll find out sooner or later." Terra said.
"Speaking of Christmas present, I couldn't resist." Aqua handed Terra a gift. "I made you something."
"Oh, sweet." Terra ripped open the wrapping and opened the box.
BOOOOMMM! An explosion singed Terra's face. The smoke cleared up and Terra's hair looked wild and his face was charred.
"HAAAH! HAHAHAHAHA!" A cackling laugh was heard. It was Snow, pointing and laughing at Terra. "Psych! Explosive Christmas Present! Works every time."
Terra glared back at Aqua, growling under his breath. Aqua shrugged nervously, "I'm sorry Terra, but Snow promised me 200 Gil if I helped him prank you."
"Here's your payment as promise." Snow tossed Aqua the Gil, "Get yourself something nice, ya naughty girl."
"Don't push it."
"Sorry."
Aqua left happily with the cash. Terra grinned back at Snow, "Well played, my young protégé. You singed my face and destroyed my beautiful eyebrows." His grin faded to a menacing glare, "But this isn't over… somehow, someway… I… am gonna get'cha." He approached Snow till they were nose-to-nose.
Snow smirked, "…yeah, like you will get me before I do."
"Well, bring it on then."
"Oh, I'll bring it. By the way, what's it?"
"I dunno. But I… will bring it. And make sure you don't prank another Terra next time, like I dunno, the world Terra?"
"Grr…"
The two boys left.
xXx Next Chapter xXx