A/N: Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la la la la la!

It is Christmas Break- and I have successfully made it past the so-called apocalypse! Therefore, in celebration of this, I bring to you a new story.

- actually, no, scratch that. Thanks to school, I've been inspired by Charles Dickens' classic entitled A Christmas Carol. I wrote three essays and went to see it in play and got to see a revival of it in movie form called "Scrooged". So, you can say that I'm quite inspired.

I'll update Child's Play after I finish this petit story, promise!

Let's get crackalacking!

Part 1: The Beginning

Howard was dead: to begin with.

It has been seventeen bloody years, Tony was sure of it. Seventeen years he had been left to his own devices. Seventeen years since that plane crashed into the unforgiving earth, taking his father within the destruction.

Now, he wasn't so sure.

If the unmistakable ghostly figure of his long-deceased father hovering over his trembling form was any indication.

"Tony!"

~.~

"Mr. Stark."

"Yes, Marsha?" Tony responded, exasperated.

The secretary crossed her arms over her clipboard. "Mindy from The Salvation Army dropped by asking for a donation. Should I put you down for $10,000?"

A disbelieving chuckle escaped the billionaire's lips. "And why exactly should I donate that amount of money? I need it."

Marsha cocked her head to the side. "For what exactly?"

Tony raised his eyes to meet Marsha's piercing emeralds, a smile of pure malice overtaking his features. "It doesn't matter."

"If it doesn't matter, then why don't you put it towards the poor? There are many people that are suffering and have no will to continue on with life!" The secretary exclaimed.

"If they would rather die, then they had better do it," Tony replied, standing up to bang his fist on his desk, "and decrease the surplus population!"

Marsha breathed heavily. "Well, then," she huffed and stomped away, her heels clicking loudly as she went. "You don't pay me enough for this."

"Hold your mouth, Ms. K," Tony responded. "You wouldn't want to lose your situation."

Marsha slammed the door loudly behind her, a string of Russian expletives within the billionaire's earshot. With a chuckle, Tony held his hand to his earpiece.

"Please escort Marsha out of the building, she is no longer welcome here," he noted dully.

Seconds later, Pepper burst through the door. "What the hell, Tony?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out," he smirked.

"You do realize Marsha is struggling financially," Pepper raged, glaring at the billionaire. "If you fire her, it'll ruin her life!"

"That's the objective," Tony replied nonchalantly. "Serves her right for talking back to me."

"Why do you dislike her so much?" Pepper exclaimed. At observing the billionaire's face, her mouth dropped open into a disbelieving 'o'.

"Is it because she refuses to sleep with you?" Pepper whispered, her voice pitching dangerously. Taking Tony's silence as affirmation, Pepper stalked over to his desk and slapped him.

"I cannot believe you," she hissed. "You can't try to bed other people especially when you're dating someone."

"Well, I bedded you when I was dating Jastinne," Tony responded, rubbing his still-tender cheek. " So you're not really one to talk. End of convo, baby."

"Fine," Pepper hissed, tears forming in her eyes. "End of relationship."

"Humbug," Tony scoffed. "I won't be the one on the couch anyway."

The door slammed loudly behind the redhead's fleeting figure.

~.~

"I don't believe it," Pepper cried into her hands. "I didn't think he wouldn't care about losing me."

"Nothing about this surprises me," Natasha notes glumly. "I knew he was a narcissistic bastard at first sight."

Steve nods in agreement, an uncharacteristic glare enunciating his features.

"Nay, I did not think the good man of iron was capable of this type of mistreatment," Thor added gravely. "He did nearly give his life for the good of the people. Has he been possessed?"

"He's always like this during the holiday season," Pepper blubbered. "It's as if Scrooge had merged into his body."

"Pity him," Clint muttered.

"May the soul of Jacob Marley be with him," Bruce sighed. "What happened to my science bro?"

~.~

Shutting the door to his office (and gently, unlike its previous treatments), Tony headed to the elevator, a sigh colouring his lips.

Stepping into the elevator, he pressed the button to the penthouse and sat down once the door closed, playing on his phone.

Suddenly, all source of power cut off and Tony let out a startled yell, dropping his phone.

"Tony."

"W-who's there?" Tony gasped, dropping down on the floor to try and find his phone. His hand came in contact with a square object and he pressed the top button to enable some light to flow into the elevator.

Great. Even his cell phone was off too.

"Banner, are you playing pranks on me?" he gasped. "Jarvis? Thor, you bastard, is that you? Capsicle? Natashalie? Barton?"

"Tony."

"WHO IS THERE?!"

"Tooooooooooooooooooooooonyyy yyyyyyyyy."

A/N: So, if you couldn't tell...

Tony = Scrooge

Marsha = Bob Cratchit

Pepper = Belle (Scrooge's love interest)

Howard Stark = Jacob Marley

And... the rest will come. (: