Friday, December 19, 2087

"Oh, crud!" Rheeci cried, pushing her way into the busy W.O.M.P. HQ. It was about three o' clock in the afternoon, and she was almost late for her shift in the W.O.M.P. daycare center.

She skidded past the people mulling about in the main lobby and hurried off to the main elevator. Once inside, she tore off her mittens, shoved them into her coat pocket, and took that off as well. By that point, the elevator opened on the fifth floor, and she dashed to the huge office room that acted as the building's daycare.

When she arrived at the room, she was greeted by Clara-Marie Hoffmann, the coordinator of the daycare. "Good to see you today, Therese," Ms. Hoffmann called out. "I was starting to worry you forgot about your shift today."

"Oh, me? I didn't forget," Rheeci assured her superior as she hung her coat and backpack up and put on one of the daycare aprons. "I just got a bit busy with the chores at Aunt Felicity's place that I didn't notice what time it was."

"Oh, don't apologize to me, hun," Ms. Hoffmann said. "Just hurry on in. The kids are eager for their story."

"Their story?" Rheeci gulped when she heard the statement. "That's right! I was supposed to tell a story today, and I forgot my book!"

"Just pull a book out of the pile of donations," Ms. Hoffmann said, pointing to a box that was sitting in the corner. "If you're lucky, there might be a Christmas themed book in there somewhere. Goodness knows, that's all a lot of the tykes can think of right now."

"Thanks!" Rheeci called out. She turned to the box and started digging in to see what was there. "Let's see, a lot of old ones in here…huh…no…not this…maybe, if I can't find anything else…a ha! This one!" She snatched up a small paperback book titled Clara and the Nutcracker. "There's a Christmas book if I've ever seen one. I love that ballet!" Flipping through it, she checked to make sure it was appropriate for the age range she was going to be reading to. Finding that it was a short chapter book based on the ballet, she nodded happily to herself before tucking it into her pocket.

As she stepped into the playroom, she was greeted as a small girl ran up to here and tossed her arms around her legs. "Miss Weeci hewe!" the little girl called out. "Hi! Hi!"

Rheeci looked down to greet her charge and realized it was Kitty Cortes. "Well, hello, Kitty," she laughed, patting the toddler on the head. "What are you doing here?"

"Mama at wo'k an' Josie is playin' at a fwiend's house an' Will go tah he'p hewe wiv Penny an' t'e ot'er guys, so me an' Izzie get ta pway hewe!" Kitty answered.

"Ah, yes, I remember now," Rheeci replied. Of course, the other teens would be in training. This volunteer work was the only reason she wasn't.

"Now, kiddos, come on, come here!" she called out, taking Kitty by the hand and guiding her to a carpet square around the big story-time chair. "It's time for a story!"

Of course, it took a few minutes to get the kids to settle down and sit on the carpet squares, but with the help of the other teen and adult caretakers, they achieved their goal. "Alright, everyone, we've got a great story today," she said, pulling the book out of her pocket. "We're going to read Clara and the Nutcracker. Does that sound good?"

There was a mixed reception to the book among the kids. Many of them cheered at the prospect of the book, but another set of about equal amount made disappointed sounds. "Not that book," a little boy in the front groaned. "It's so girly."

"So, why don't you want to hear this story, Freddy?" Rheeci asked.

Freddy groaned again. "It's just dancing and kissing and stuff. I wanna hear a story with fighting, and a bad guy who has to get beat up! Like a story about Inspector Gadget!" Several of the children agreed with his sentiment, calling out their own opinion.

"But I wanna hear this one!" a little girl named Olivia called out. "It's really good, and we're gonna do this dance for my ballet recital!" Other children piped up with her in agreement, and soon, there was all out dissent in what made a proper story.

While the clamor was going on, Rheeci flipped through the book again to see which version of The Nutcracker it was. To her disappointment, it seemed heavily based on the ballet, where the fight with the Mouse King is largely glossed over and more focus is given to the individual dancing tribes.

Deciding on a course of action, she turned back to the kids. "Alright, I've made up my mind," she said. "We will be telling The Nutcracker." At this announcement, half the room cheered and half the room groaned. Giving a smile, she went on. "But, we won't be reading this book version."

"We're not?" a little girl in the front called out.

"T'en what we gonna wead?" Izzie Cortes asked.

"I've got a special version of the story in mind," Rheeci replied, giving a broad grin. "It's got not one, but two nutcrackers: a nutcracker prince and a nutcracker princess."

"Why t'ewe two nutcwackahs?" a boy in the back asked.

"Just listen," she replied, giving a wink. "The story starts out one Christmas Eve, in the house of-"

"I know! I know!" Olivia called out. "It's Clara's house!"

"Not this time," Rheeci replied. "This time it's the house of a boy named-"

"Will!" Kitty called out.

Rheeci placed her hands on her waste. "Now, who's telling the story, you guys or me?"

"You are," the daycare said out in unison.

"That's right," Rheeci nodded. However, the sudden interruption gave her an even better idea. "But you are right. This story starts in the home of a boy named Will…"

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It was late afternoon in the Cortes household. They were a relatively well-off family, and like everyone else, they were currently busy putting the finishing touches on the decorations around the house in preparation for the Christmas Eve celebration.

You see, it was tradition in their household that the primary celebration of Christmas happened in the evening, when they would throw a grand party for their friends and family. It was then that a grand celebration would occur, and even the children would be allowed to stay up late and open their presents.

At that moment, the eldest son of the family, a boy named William, had been finishing the last decorations on the tree, while his younger sisters were setting up (or really playing with) the pieces of the Nativity scene. He was climbing down off the step ladder when they came to be a knock at the door.

"William, could you please get that?" his mother called out. "It's probably one of the guests."

"Yes, ma'am," he called back before turning to the door. He smiled, as even though he couldn't see who it was who knocked, he had a good idea of who would be there so early.

"Merry Christmas, Aunt Brenda," he greeted as the woman came up to the door.

"And a merry Christmas to you, William," the tall woman greeted. Brenda Bradford wasn't really the children's aunt, only William's godmother, but she was around enough that they considered her to be their aunt.

"Aunt Brenda's here!" Josephina, the eldest of the girls, cheered. She raced over to the woman. "Come in! Look at the tree! And the Nativity scene! And the hearth! We've been working hard on it!"

"I see you have," Brenda said with a laugh. "It's quite beautiful. You have certainly outdone yourselves, and the ball tonight will be simply wonderful."

"Auntie Brenda, Auntie Brenda, did you bring us gifts?" one of the younger girls, Caterina, asked.

"Yes, yes!" her twin, Isabella, agreed. "Can we see them? Please?"

"Caterina, Isabella," William scolded. "Don't be rude. Aunt Brenda came to celebrate Christmas with us, not just give presents."

There was an amount of protest from the younger girls, but it was cut off as their mother entered the room. "Now, now, girls. Listen to your brother," Margarita called out. "Aunt Brenda is a guest; we need to be politer than this."

"Sorry, Mama," the twins said in chorus.

Brenda, however, laughed in response. "Oh, it's Christmas, and they're excited," she said with a laugh. "No harm done."

At that moment, the woman began to chat about things that were going on and moved to the kitchen to see how the food was coming along. After a few more minutes, more and more guests began to come to the house, and the party began in full swing.

There were children there, so the youngsters had someone to speak and play with, but there was no doubt that the first part of the party was primarily for the adults. Mostly, they mulled around, speaking of things that had been going on in their community or in the government while the children ran around and played. After about an hour and a half of this, the party goers moved in to the feast.

And what a feast it was! There were all sorts of good foods available. Fresh baked rolls and breads were out, with butter and jam to pile on top. Potatoes that were mashed, roasted, shredded, fried, and seasoned in every feasible way. Salads with fresh, tender greens or plump, juicy fruit were sitting in pretty silver bowls. Cheeses of a numerous variety sat on platters with knives lying across them, their pretty orange-yellow color just pleading for one to taste it. Crowning over it all was a marvelous Christmas ham, which had been cooked to perfection.

The guests all took to the feast with a gusto, and by the time the dinner was finished, there was hardly a crumb left. A number of people stayed behind to clear the dishes away as the children and elderly went into the main parlor to talk. Once that was all finished, then came the time that all the children had been waiting for.

While most of the presents were to be opened on Christmas Day, the next morning when they returned from mass, it was permitted that every child in attendance open one present on Christmas Eve. Of course, once the dishes were all done, the children sprang into the room and selected the package that seemed the prettiest to them.

For the Cortes girls, that, of course, meant the gifts their Aunt Brenda brought. She had, in the past, brought many fascinating gifts from her travels, and they couldn't wait to find out what tonight's was.

The presents didn't disappoint. For the twins, each box contained a small wind up toy soldier. They were near identical, with the only difference between the two being the color of their uniform. Caterina's wore a handsome orange uniform and Isabella's a blue one. The soldiers were so skillfully done that it appeared as if they were ready to march and use their rifles at a moment's notice.

Josephina's was beautiful, too. It was a little yellow stuffed dog with a red bow around his neck. Even though he was a plush toy, the dog had such a stern, serious look on his face that it was almost humorous. Of course, the look on his face was the only thing hard about the dog, as his fur was wonderfully soft, especially on the ears, and Josephina wouldn't place the little dog down for the whole evening.

William did not intend to open a present that night, since he was fifteen now and far too old for such things. However, Brenda had other ideas, and she approached the boy with a box in her hand. "Here," she said, handing it to him. "I have one for you, too."

"Thank you, Aunt, but I can wait for tomorrow," he replied, though an intense curiosity filled him the moment the box was in his hands.

Brenda seemed to sense this curiosity, and she gave her godson a grin. "Come now, have a little fun. I can guarantee that what's in this box is very special."

William was going to protest again, but the spark of interest became unbearable, so he did as he was bidden. Inside the box lay a pretty nutcracker doll. It was shaped like a girl with long blonde hair that was tied back with a red ribbon. She was wearing a red and green dress with a white velveteen sash around her waist, and on her head, was a golden tiara. Her eyes were turned down to a little blue book that was in her right hand. The only sign that the pretty doll was a nutcracker was two lines that traveled down her chin from the corners of her lips, showing the path her mouth was to take.

There was no questioning the doll was beautiful, but it still seemed like an odd gift. "Are you sure this is for me?" William asked, taking the nutcracker out of the box as he asked. "This seems like something more for Josephina."

"No, she's for you," Brenda replied with a nod, "though she does go with the other gifts as well. I found them in a toy store on one on my trips, and I have a feeling this little princess is much more than she appears."

"Oh!" Caterina exclaimed when she spotted the doll in William's hand. "It's a dolly! Let me see!" The little girl then raced over to grab the nutcracker.

"Wait! She feels fragile!" William called out, but it was too late. The young girl had already grabbed the doll by her legs, which came off in a moment.

"I broke her," Caterina said, looking down in horror at the damage doll. "I'm…I'm…" tears started to well up in the little girl's eyes as she realized what had happened.

"Oh, come now, it's alright," Brenda said. She took the two halves of the damaged nutcracker and, taking a small bottle of glue out of her purse, put it back together. "There, good as new." She then turned and handed the doll back to William. "All the same, you'd to well to be careful with her in the future. Promise me you'll protect her."

"I will, ma'am. Thank you," William replied as he took the little doll back. He was still curious, though, as to why the nutcracker doll might be meant for him or what danger could be necessary.

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As Rheeci told her story, the kids sat, listening with rapt attention. It would have taken an explosion to shake their focus on the story at hand.

Since this was the case, no one noticed when one of her coworker pulled out their phone. "Oh, this is so going online," she said to herself. "A Gadget story, told by one of Penny Gadget's team! My followers are going to eat this up!"

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After the party, the guests filed out one by one for the evening. Before long, only the little family was left. They worked to make sure that everything that had been left from the party was tidied up and put away, and then everyone hurried off to bed.

William was the only one of the children to have a room to himself, considering he was the only boy. Thus, he was allowed to stay up for a short amount of time after bedtime, provided he wasn't too tired the next morning. As was his tradition, he stayed up for about a half hour reading before turning out his lamp and going off to bed.

Before turning the light off all the way, he cast one more glance over at the nutcracker doll, which had been placed on a high shelf for safe keeping. The gift still seemed rather odd to him, though he was able to overlook that for his godmother's sake.

Turning his lamp off, he turned over and started to go to sleep. However, sleep seemed to evade him no matter what he did. He tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable, but no matter what he did, he couldn't quite figure out what the problem was.

After a half hour of this, he just held still and tried to see if that help. Sleep still refused to come to him, though, and he ended up holding still and listening to the silence of the room.

In the stillness of the room, however, he heard a scratching sound coming over from the direction of the shelf. Moving as silently as he could, he reached over and retrieved his glasses from the nightstand by the bed and turned to see what it was that was making the sound.

To his surprise, the nutcracker was moving. She had left her position on the shelf and had edged to the other side. At the moment, she was bending over, looking to see if there was some easy way down.

She hadn't noticed that William was awake, which meant that he could watch in silent amazement as the little girl straightened up and began searching for something to help her get down. She was so intent on finding a tool, and he in amazement of what he was seeing, that neither of them noticed the dark shadow that was approaching until it was too late.

A dark-robed figure appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the nutcracker by her hair, yanking her back and forcing her to look him in the face. "Well, Princess Penelope, imagine finding you here."

"Let go of me," the nutcracker said with a scowl. She swung at her captor, both with her free hand and with the book. "Let go of me now, you filth!"

The figure tutted at the comment. "Really, Penelope, is that a way for a princess to talk? Especially to your future husband?"

The nutcracker, Penelope, finally succeeded at making contact here, saying nothing but nailing her captor in the face with her book. He was forced to release her, and she staggered back away from him, as far from him as the shelf would allow. She them glanced behind herself, as if judging whether she'd rather take her chances with the newcomer or risk jumping to her doom.

William could now see the newcomer more clearly now. He looked like a small, flesh and blood human, though he was a little taller than the nutcracker doll. He had a cruel look in his eyes, like he was fully enjoying the distress the nutcracker was in.

"You know why I came here, Penelope," he said. "I'll be bringing both you and that book back with me, and there's nothing that uncle of yours or his silly guard can do to stop me."

"Stay where you are!" Penelope called out. "I'll jump before I ever give you this book."

"Oh, really?" The newcomer seemed to change his shape, and he rushed on the doll. True to her word, she attempted to leap off the shelf, but the newcomer was too fast, and seized her by her wrist, dragging her back onto the shelf.

Once more, William got a clear look at the newcomer, and this time, what he saw horrified him. The figure wasn't a human, but some sort of rat monstrosity. "I didn't want to ruin that pretty body of yours," the rat creature snarled, "but you've left me no choice." In a moment, he brought her write to his mouth, and it was clear he intended to gnaw the hand that was holding the book off.

It was at that moment that William remembered his promise, and he realized he couldn't remain an observer. Reaching down, he snatched up one of his boots by the laces and flung it as hard as he could at the rat creature. His aim was true, and the boot hit home, knocking the rat creature back and forcing him to release the nutcracker.

The force of the blow, however, also cause the doll to stumble back, and she fell off the edge of the shelf. Moving as fast as he could, William dodged in and caught her before she could hit the ground. "It's alright, I've got you," he said.

"Thank you," the doll replied, giving a look of relief. In a moment, however, she looked frightened again. "Hurry, we must get out of here."

"Alright, but I don't think he's going to be bothering you any time soon," William replied.

"You underestimate the abilities of a rat warlock," the doll replied. "That will have injured him, but he's far from finished."

William was skeptical of this claim, but he listened to the doll and hurried over to the door. However, he moved too slow, and out of nowhere, a black bolt struck him in the back, knocking him down. An odd feeling came over him, and he cried out. It felt like he was being compressed on all sides, and when the feeling faded and he could stand on his own, he was only slightly taller than the nutcracker!

He had only a moment to process this, however, as the nutcracker was soon trying to help him to his feet. "Come on," she said. "We must hurry, before he catches up to us!"

It took William a moment to reclaim his footing, and as soon as he was up, he and the doll began running for the door. They had good reason for the hurry, too, since a dark figure had arisen from the shelf and was moving towards them at a rapid speed.

They had only run a few feet when the rat creature caught up to them. He grabbed William by the back of his nightshirt and pressed him against the wall. He found himself facing the beast's teeth, when suddenly, the nutcracker came in. Moving fast, she tackled the beast, ramming her shoulder hard into his stomach and knocking him back.

The wind was knocked out of the rat creature, which gave the nutcracker time to grab William again and take off running once more. "Come," she said. "We need to meet up with my friends; there's safety in numbers."

The head start the sudden attack had given them was enough time for them to make it out of his bedroom. The rounded a corner into the hall, and waiting there was the two wind-up soldiers and the dog.

"Private Fidget! Private Digit! Brain! Over here!" the nutcracker called out.

"It's Princess Penelope!" the orange soldier exclaimed.

"Your highness, what's wrong?" the blue soldier asked.

"The Rat Prince followed us here," the nutcracker replied. "He would have had me, too, if it wasn't for William here."

"We'll have to do thanks later," the blue soldier stated. "Looks like the Rat Prince has caught up with you."

Sure enough, the hulking beast had recovered from the blow, and was at that moment charging out of the room at them. "We'll hold him back, your highness," the orange soldier said. "You get to the tree. Your uncle and Sergeant Connelly should be there, and we'll catch up after you."

"Alright," the nutcracker replied. She hurried over to the stuffed dog, who was now the size of a horse compared to the two teens. He crouched down, allowing her to climb on. "Thank you, Brain," she said, rubbing the dog's head. She then turned to William. "Come on, Brain will bring us to the tree. We should be safe there."

William wasn't quite sure what to think, but the gunfire from the soldiers' rifles told him that this wasn't the time to argue. Taking the nutcracker princess' hand, he was pulled onto the dog's back.

In a moment, the dog hurried off, taking the teens away from the fight between the soldiers and the rat thing. They charged down the remainder of the halls and down the stairs, past the kitchen and into the living room with the tree.

When they arrived, however, they found their destination was far from safe. The entire area was swarming with more rat creatures, and they were all eyeing the dog and his two riders.

To be continued…

Author's note: This is my new Christmas special, written to match into the ReInitiated story. I will give warning that this will contain spoilers for any RI chapters set before December, but still, I wanted to have this story up by Christmas. If you want to avoid spoilers, I would reccomend waitng for RI to reach December and then read this, but if you don't mind the spoilers, than read on!

I hope to hear from you!-SilverWarriorWolf.