Secret Santa for lamanzanabella! You asked for Holiday Fun with Saphira… Here's how I imagine Christmas going, assuming she's on good terms with Alcor, and… yeah. Hope you like it!
-Sophia
"Deck the halls with blood and gore, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la," Saphira sang, as she toggled her controller, causing about fifty zombies to blow up. "Splatter blood across the floor, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!"
"That's not how you kill zombies," a voice came from behind her. "You need two other people for it to work."
She turned around, curls bouncing, and flashing a shark-toothed grin. "The old-fashioned way is more fun! More SPLATTER!" she cackled as her avatar ripped the eye out of a wall, leaving a bloody mess. "Just don't tell mom, okay?"
"You got it, kid," the infamous demon smirked. "So, do you want to use the harmonizing option, or no?"
"We'd need a third person…" she bit her thumbnail, drawing blood with a smile. "Or can you do that double-voice thing? That could definitely trick the game."
"̠You͡ ̺̭̀ͅm͉̖̩̟̺͖e̗̲͍͕͈̜ͅan͎̹,͖̘̝̯ ͙͕̥̭̣̠͇t͏h̀is̮̟̀?̬͞"̸̮̬͈̺̣̹
"Precisely!"
"Sure thing, kid," he laughed, as Saphira tapped on the microphone. "̘̝͖̰͇̪̲͞J̷̣̳̘̻̞i̻͠ņ̹̙̟͉̭͓g̺̘̹̟l͡e҉̺̻̺̘̩ ̢̦̮͍͓̩b̴͓̳̖e̘̞̕l͏̱̭̫͇̤l͔̖̯s̮͍̲,̱ ̼̗̘̮̥͉̻j҉͇̻͕̦̹͚̺į̭̜̟n̸gl̷e̙̝̥͜ ̴̣̞b̯̱̦̣́e̥͠l̯̼͉l̺̯̪s̜̹͕̟̠̹, ̴̮̮̜̟̰ͅl͇̫̟̲͕e̸̗̲͓̬̞̹t͚͇͓͕͇̪'̤̜͖̦̰͇̞́s̳̬̮̞̩̙͔ ̣̲ḅ̷̻͍̜l̨o̶w͏̘̝̰͓̙̭̺ ̺̟̤̗̫͡ͅuͅp͟ ҉ͅș̸̬̭o̻mé͍͇̮̭͙͓ͅ ̟͈̳̯͚b͙̻̫͍̜͉͘r̛̬a̞͘i̕n̳͇s̛!͍̮͚͉͓"
"Crush their guts to bombs of blood and make it look amaze-ing!"
"͇̯̣̟̠̣Jįn̞̭͍̤͇͎g̰̟̬ḽ̨̣e̳̙̳̮̫̲ ̡b̩̜̞e̛̥̯̣͍͓͎ll͖s̮̳͠,͘ ̘̰j̱̳̰̭̤̗ͅí͉n̺͓͖g̜͖̰̳̖̤l̛͓e̹͕ ̴̥̰̺̮b͙̮̝̭̬͜el͇l̮͙̝̗̗̦̻͞ş̙͚,͘ ̱͓l̙̳͙̲e̩t'̶̳̻̣̗͉̰s̬̲͚ ͈̤̫͔̞͈̦͡b̸̹̜͕̯l̘͠o̡̙̗w͜ ̵̯̩̻̼̭̣u͕̮͇͚̩̗ͅp͓͉̰͍̯͔̀ ̦̼̘s̡̯̹̙̦o͓̼̟̕m̗͓̺̮͕̤̣e̕ͅ ̟̙̘̮͍̘b̩͍̲̯̖̮̫ra͚̪̗̻̯i̯̰̺̙ṉ̰͕s͕̼̘!̛̤̜̙ ̰̤̟̠̀C͚̙̟r͙͖̥̱͘u̕s̥̦̲͉͔h̫̳̯̠͈̫̠ ̡͔̭̱t̰̲̹͖̮h̖̗̲̙͓e̪͈̣̮͙i̬̣̼͞r͈̗ ̛̠͔̟̩̩̬g͚uͅt̞̠s̮̗̣̭̯ ̴̭t̼̝̮͈͇o͚̯̬̖͉ͅͅ ̥͘b̗̗̠͝o̷͍̜̰͔̻̻m̠̝bs̟̹ ͎͍͖̼̠͍̹o̴f̠̺̘̹ͅ ̷̻͓͚̟̝̦b̞̺l̻͚o͇̲̝͉̙o̮͈̪̻d҉͉͙ ̶̫̠͚̮̜̲a̘͚̟̩͈͇n̡d̖͠ ̮̯̘ͅm̶̯ák̶̯̪͈̠̞̠e͍̹̪̰̼̼ ̣̟͔̮̜̰͖i̴͓͈t̺̗̟͉ ̘̩̮l̞̠̳̳̝ơo̖̣̕k̞̭̞̯̮͍ ͈̩̕lik̳͔̣͈̪̯e͎̲̪̼͍͇͡ ̢̭͇̰̰͙ͅP̲͙̝͇͜A͏̝͈̠̜̣̠I̪͙N҉͇͈̹̙̘͓̜!̧̞̭̣̮͕"͎̗̳ they harmonized.
The explosion was instant, and gruesome. The zombies on screen jiggled, and then flew apart, gore splashing across the screen, evoking laughter from the players.
"That's not what it looks like," the demon laughed. "First off, the blood is green. Also, only the HEADS explode. This is basically just gore for the sake of gore."
"Like everything you do?"
"Don't forget it, kid."
She tapped her skull with a sharp fingernail. "Mind like a- what was it you said last time? Stolen trap?"
"Steel trap. Steel as in the metal, not theft," he corrected her. "And you clearly don't have one, if you forgot that."
"Yeah, yeah, sure," she rolled her eyes. "Merry Christmas, by the way."
"Merry Christmas, kid."
Saphira turned back to the game, only to hear a knock at the door of her room… an incredibly impatient knock.
Clicking the game off, she swung open the door.
"Saphira! Saphira! It's Christmas! Mom said we could get presents! C'mon, come on!" Valliant grabbed her arm.
"Okay, okay," she smiled, ruffling the red curls of her brother. "You're going to have to chill eventually, you know."
"No I won't!"
Okay, maybe he was right, Saphira thought as he yanked her down the hall into the room where presents were stacked in huge piles around the tree. She grinned as he tore into the red and black wrapping adorning his box, and her mom passed her a yellow box with a black ribbon.
She undid the bow, and carefully pried the package apart, revealing…
"Mom? What exactly is this?"
"It's a candle set. You used to love candles as a kid," she laughed. "I had to keep you from burning yourself more times than I can count."
"Burning myself?" she thought aloud. "Huh. What would that feel like…?"
"Pain?" Valliant guessed, looking over the MagiTech games he'd gotten. "And really hot?"
"Probably," she grinned. "Thanks, Mom!"
The look on her mom's face said very clearly, 'I did not think this through.'
Saphira, turning to the rest of the gifts, suddenly felt… off. "I… I'm getting some cocoa, okay?" she muttered.
"Sure thing, sweetie," her mom smiled.
The girl headed to the kitchen, and poured some chocolate drink, making sure it was steaming hot… before slamming her hand into the heat, burning herself. She giggled, and pulled her hand out, drinking the cocoa, letting the heat tingle over her lips and tongue. "Ow," she whispered.
"I can heal that," Alcor popped up behind her. "It's Christmas, after all."
"I don't mind. I did it on purpose," Saphira grinned. "It's kinda funny. Anyway, you wanna commit random violent acts of pixel?"
"Right. No. Not happening, not twice in a day, not even on Christmas," the demon smirked, before blipping out of there.
"Oh. My. God."
Valliant was staring at where the Dreambender had so recently been hovering, his eyes huge.
"You saw nothing," Saphira told him. "I certainly was not summoning a demon to play Splatterhouse 2 with me, and if I was, you have no proof."
"Mom!"
….
"But Mom, Alcor's cool, you've gotta believe me!" Saphira pleaded, as Valiant sat with his arms folded and a smirk across his face.
"… You're lucky it's Christmas, and I'm sick of dealing with this," her mom sighed. "What happened to your hand, Saffie?"
"Hot cocoa… spilled."
"You…" she sighed. "I'm going to choose to believe that."
Saphira grinned.
…
That night, she snuck out of the house, and…
There they were… the forgotten kids.
"Hey Saffie," a tall guy with reddish-brown dreadlocks smiled, tossing her a box. "Merry Christmas."
She tore open the paper…
"You didn't."
"Yup."
"Is this legit?"
"Yep. It's a real lighter. Ancient. You like it?"
"Yes!"
Then the clock hit twelve… and it wasn't Christmas anymore.