Episode 1: North Pole Down
I just happened to keep on writing the first few episodes while I was bored and decided to post them one by one. :)
It was a day like no other in Knight World. Three certain heroes were currently on a dangerous mission. A knight approached a stone with a sword's hilt sticking out of it, his faithful wizard and elf friends following behind him.
"Guys, I know this mission was real tough," the knight said, reaching for the sword. "But times like this make it all worth it."
He eagerly pulled at the hilt… "Mission accom—" …and was surprised to get a spatula. "What?" He then moved on to the next stone. "OK, here we go. And—" Fly swatter. "—that's not a sword!" Next. "Mission ac—" Bouquet of flowers. "—come on! Why?!"
"Zero! What are you doing?" A fourth hero, a fairy, fluttered over to the red-haired knight. She looked angry.
"What? What? What did I do?"
"Didn't I tell you already? The magic sword wasn't in a stone—"
She was interrupted when a fire almost struck the four of them, burning the flowers. An evil laugh followed, and the fairy and knight looked up to see the evil sorcerer riding his dragon, holding the real sword and gazing down at the young heroes.
"She's right! The sword was in a couch, not a stone!" The knight glared at his enemy. "Open your mind, boy!" He laughed again and flew back to the castle.
"Hey! No one does a sword pull and a dragon barrel roll on my watch!" the knight shouted. "Boone! Wheel me!"
The knight, fairy, and elf all got on a catapult as the wizard used his magic to get it moving. The wheels turned on their own and the three headed straight for the castle.
But as they advanced, the evil troll guards attacked them with flaming arrows. The fairy flew upwards and used her protection magic to block them away. The elf easily caught one arrow, looking ready to kill with it.
A troll zoomed by and the knight got its axe. "I'm just gonna borrow this!" With the elf in the catapult, he raised the axe and sent her flying towards the castle. Using the arrow, she brought the villain's tower down and sent them straight into the moat.
"Go!" the fairy shouted, tossing the knight his shield. He grinned in gratitude before the catapult hit the wall and sent them both flying.
"Just gonna surf on the shield a little bit…there we go! Uh-oh, coming through! Sorry 'bout your face! Ooh, lava! …Stopped a landing and…put the magic sword back."
As soon as he did all those things, the Knight World was restored to its original cute and fluffy state. Evil was defeated. The four heroes reunited, grinning at each other.
"Mission accomplished," the fairy agreed.
"Quadruple fist bump!" They all bumped their fists together.
At that moment, there was a blue flash, the fairy disappeared, and the original knight, wizard, and elf were replaced again, wondering why they were in this position.
Meanwhile, back in their normal world, Penn, Boone, Sashi, and Verge came back in their old forms and clothes, their "boss" Phyllis waiting for them on the other side.
"I'm going to miss my face hair," Boone sighed.
"It's called a beard," Penn corrected.
"It is?" Verge asked. Sashi rolled her eyes at them.
"Yes, good work today children," Phyllis said in a bored tone. "Now get out."
The four friends left the Odyssey, confirming the end of their mission and job. Verge shrunk to a smaller size and fluttered around her friends. "Great mission today, huh guys?" Penn spoke up.
"Awesome," Verge agreed. "Anyone up for pizza? My treat."
"Where would you get the money?" Sashi asked.
"You're right!" The fairy reached into her leaf skirt pocket to reveal nothing. "Zero's treat!"
"Yeah! All right!" Boone cheered as he and Sashi followed Verge.
Penn laughed with him. "…Wait, you were serious?"
~The next day~
As the snow fell outside the window of the young hero's bedroom, Penn Zero was just waking up as he saw the whites fall upon the grounds of his home. He grinned and moved over to his desk to wake up his "little roommate".
Divergent the fairy was sleeping soundly in her little matchbox bed, snoring softly and peacefully in her sleep. There was no room for another bigger bed in Penn's room or in any part of the house so, being the fairy she always was, always slept in her tiny fairy size.
Now, the boy carefully tapped his best friend's soft, brown, pig-tailed hair. "Hey, Verge, get up!" he said.
The fairy only yawned and turned, pulling her handkerchief blanket closer to her body. "Five more minutes, Mrs. Zero," she said drowsily.
Penn only rolled his eyes at her, taking the handkerchief off. "Come on! It's Christmas Eve!"
"Merry Christmas Eve, then…"
Penn picked her up by the collar of her leaf shirt and shook her. "I know you like the holidays so much, so get up!"
Verge yawned again, now half-awake and hovered before her best friend. "Didn't think you'd be so cheerful, Zero. Since your parents aren't here to celebrate with us and all…" She was wide-awake now when she'd realize what she said. "Oh, wings, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
The red-haired boy only managed a small smile. "Hey, it's OK…I knew anyway. I wasn't going to forget…"
Verge frowned. She hated when she saw her friends sad. Especially her best and closest one. She flew to his shoulder and patted his cheek. "I miss them too…"
He chuckled lightly as they did a "tiny fist bump". "I know."
Verge smiled a bit at him. She was about to say something else, when they heard something outside. Penn opened the window and they looked up to see Sashi beating up a stuffed reindeer.
"Merry Christmas Eve, Sashi," Penn greeted. He and Verge jumped back when the reindeer's head fell right before them. Sashi appeared upside down before them and Penn stepped back a bit, looking terrified.
"Sashi!" Verge gasped, flying to the head. "How could you beat up a poor, innocent, reindeer? It did nothing to you!"
"Calm down, Verge," Sashi said, rolling her eyes playfully. "It's just stuffed."
"Excuse us fairies for caring about animals and nature so much." Verge huffed and flew back to Penn.
"Besides, there was something in this reindeer's eyes that I didn't trust. So I cut them out." She proudly handed over the reindeer's plastic eyes.
"Huh," Penn said awkwardly. "Neat."
Verge stroked the eyes sadly. "You had such a bright future ahead of you as a weird Christmas decoration…if only you could see that."
Sashi scoffed. "Fairies." With a smile, she disappeared.
"I'll never understand humans."
Penn lightly poked her jokingly. "Fairies are just as complicated, mind you."
Verge only giggled and flew over to his bed. "Well, since we were just talking about your parents…how's about calling them?"
Penn smiled. "Way ahead of ya." He sat down on his bed and Verge flew onto his lap. He brought his MUHU out and called Brock and Vonnie Zero.
"Hi!/What up?"
"Mom, Dad!" Penn started. "Merry Christmas!"
"We're knee-deep in a blood bath of chaos and fury," Brock said, punching lava sharks. "So we can't come to the MUHU right now."
Vonnie appeared and added, "But if you leave a message after the scream, we'll get right back to you." A shark tried to attack her but she kicked it away, causing it to shriek as it flew.
"That was the scream!" As the scene froze at another shark attacking, the words "Record Message" appeared.
"Hey, guys," Penn said. "Just thinking about you! Verge and I were, anyway—"
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Zero!"
"Yeah, that was her…on Christmas Eve. Not a big deal, just another day, that brings families together…except ours, for the first time…ever. 'Cause you're trapped in the Most Dangerous World Imaginable, which is worse for you than it is for me. Us. Probably. It's not a contest…I just, ah—"
"Get on with it, Zero, I want my turn."
"All right, all right…I just wanted to say—"
Suddenly, something went wrong with the MUHU. It started acting up and malfunctioning, causing the duo's eyes to widen.
"No. Oh, no. No! No, no, no…ah!"
"Well, that sucks," Verge groaned, kicking the MUHU.
"Do you think you can fix it?"
The fairy examined the gadget and shook her head. "Sorry, Zero. Fairies don't work well with technology. You know that, right? Maybe you can talk to Phyllis about it."
Penn only sighed in defeat. Verge frowned again. If only there was a way to cheer him up…
This fairy was not about to give up on her best friend. "I know it may seem bad now," she started.
Penn watched as the small fairy flew over to his closet and brought out his clothes out. "But you don't have to worry."
"Why?"
She set his clothes down and started dusting them. "You just have to remember one thing."
"What's that?"
Verge flew to him, transformed to her human size, and ruffled her best friend's hair. "You still got us!"
The boy laughed in agreement.
He got dressed, and the two of them proceeded to head downstairs. "Uncle Chuck, Aunt Rose," he started. "How's, uh—"
"Ta-da!" his uncle and aunt proclaimed. They stepped back to show Penn and Verge their creation. The two exchanged a glance and raised an eyebrow. It was a paranoma made entirely out of eggs.
"All the wonders of Christmas," Rose said proudly. "Lovingly sculpted in three pounds of scrambled pigeon eggs!"
To prove her point, their pet chinchilla took hold of Egg Santa's head, got disgusted, and spit it out. Penn got disgusted as well, but Verge only got "cuted out" and happily patted its fuzzy little head. When the chinchilla didn't cooperate, she fed it some chinchilla food and it warmed up to her again.
"What's wrong, Penn? Aren't you…egg-cited?!"
"I know I am," Boone agreed, taking a spoonful of eggs and taking a bite. "But I'd be bummed if this were my first Christmas without my parents who were trapped in a lost dimension—Ohhh, gosh! That's Penn's exact situation!" Sashi facepalmed at him.
"Cut it out, Boone," Verge sighed, knocking on his head. "He's had enough of this morning already."
"Ow. OK, but aren't you suffering too, Verge? They were your guardians after all."
"This is why I'm asking you to shut up."
"Eggball fight!" Chuck shouted, throwing a handful of eggs. It hit the chinchilla and it hissed in anger.
As Verge soothed it, Boone bothered to speak up again. "So, since you guys are so down in the dumps, I made a surprise for you, and it's outside the house."
"What is it?"
"You'll see!" The boy grinned as he covered Penn and Verge's eyes, guiding them.
"You guys got the Christmas blues…well, Professor Boone got the antidote!"
"OK, just hurry, 'cause your hands smell like eggs," Penn said.
Boone removed his hands. "Who needs parents when you have…skateboard sleds!" He revealed his creation: two decorated sleds atop two skateboards.
"Most people," Penn replied, testing out the skateboard sled. "Nice."
"The second one's for me?" Verge asked.
Boone rubbed his head awkwardly. "Uh, no. It's mine. I kinda figured you could just fly like you normally do, Verge."
"…Oh." Verge found herself staring down at the ground. It happened again. One of her friends taking advantage of her being a fairy and not treating her like they normally do others.
Penn noticed her sadness and frowned. He knew Verge's little problem. "It's OK, we can share, Verge," he offered, smiling. The fairy smiled back in gratitude.
"What about me, then?" Sashi asked.
"For you…I built a roller-skate ski. But the design proved flaw in testing. You see, it all started at the old testing hill. I initiated a takeoff procedure. All was going well until a slight malfunction. There was a fireball at some unfortunate placement of radioactive waste. And…the puppy monsters destroyed the city!"
"Oh no!" Verge gasped, wings puffing out in shock. "Those poor puppies!"
"You forgot to make her one, didn't you?"
"Affirmative."
"Learn to take a fake story, Verge," Sashi said.
"Fairies don't 'take fakes'."
"All right, I see what you guys are trying to do," Penn said. "But you don't have to worry about me. I'm just gonna, kinda, avoid Christmas this year."
"Consider Christmas erased," Sashi agreed. "With extreme prejudice!"
Verge got a sad look on her face as she faced her friend. "Avoid Christmas?" she asked. "But, even without your parents, didn't we always enjoy the holidays together?" Christmas was Verge's favorite holiday, and that was all because Penn always found a way to make things special.
"Yeah, yeah, of course we did, Verge!" Penn quickly said. "It's just…well, you understand, right?"
"Yeah…right…" She tried to cover up her disappointment. "Let's just get to work."
The other three nodded, got on the sleds, and headed for the Odyssey. "Hey, old man! Lose the Santa beard!" Sashi called out to someone on the way.
Once they arrived, they parked their sleds and looked over at the Fish Stick on a Stick store. Rippen and Larry were also getting ready to do their part-time villain jobs. Penn gave a little mock wave while Rippen only glared.
As Penn went to talk to Phyllis, Verge entered the place with Boone and Sashi. "I still don't get it," she thought aloud. "Rippen and Larry are just around the corner. Why can't we beat them up right now?"
"Oh, how I wish we could," Sashi grumbled.
"You gotta understand how this part-time business works, Verge," Boone said, all cool-like. "That's not how things roll. That's not how we jam. It could mess up some serious 'biz' here."
"As expected from the 'Wiseman'." Boone only smirked and ate more pigeon eggs.
When Phyllis couldn't fix the MUHU, she asked, "You are missing parents on Christmas?"
"What? Ah, me? No." Penn defended.
"Ah, he totally is, Phyllis," Boone said, mouth full. "You sure you don't want in on these pocket eggs?"
"Boone, gross," Verge said, dragging the two to the MUT. "Let's get going, come on!"
"Verge is right," Penn agreed. "Let's just get to work, all right? At least wherever you zap us, I won't have to think about Christmas."
Oh, he was so wrong.
When the heroes arrived at their dimension, Verge examined their forms. Boone was a reindeer and Sashi was an elf. Verge was still a fairy, as usual, in Christmas clothes. She appeared to be a Christmas fairy. (A/N: Just for future clearance, Verge usually doesn't change her form. Fairies like her usually only change their clothes when they travel through dimensions. The forms only change when necessary.) She also couldn't grow to human size at that time, but it was all right. She grinned, turned to Penn, and frowned.
"Uh, oh, boy," Boone said.
He had a white beard. Red clothes. A "big bowl full of jelly". Penn gasped at his appearance and collapsed on the ground.
"Noooooooohohohoho!"
"…Santa!" Verge cheered like a child.
Later, Boone was also giggling like a little reindeer. "OK. I want a magnet that attracts cool T-shirts instead of metal. Also! I want a dog that knows how to fly a jetpack. Also! I need a dog jetpack! Are you getting any of this?"
Annoyed, Penn pushed Boone of his lap, causing him to fall in the snow. "Ugh…of all the places."
"It's not that bad, Zero," Verge said, hovering over him. "At least you get all the cookies!"
"Gee, thanks for looking on the bright side, Verge."
"Penn, are you OK?" Sashi asked.
"I'll be fine, Sash. Can we just—" He moved his body, causing his belly to bump into Sashi and send her flying. "Ooh, sorry."
"Careful, Santa!" Boone scolded.
"What was that?" The same thing happened to him. "Sorry!"
"Hey, hey, calm down!" Verge said, flying to Penn's shoulder to avoid getting bumped. "You need to focus. I know you're stressed, but things will get better in the end. You'll see!"
Penn had to smile. "Thanks, Verge."
"Your fairy guide is always here! Just don't hit me with your stomach."
"OK, let's just get this over with. Sash, check the Specs."
The Japanese elf got out of the snow, rolling her eyes. "All right, you're filling in for Santa. The elves have gone missing, and there's a major blizzard coming at midnight. If we don't get the sleigh launched before then…" She gasped. "Christmas will be cancelled!"
Then, Boone started freaking out. "Christmas…cancelled?!"
When he started hyperventilating, Penn came to the rescue. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, breathe into the Santa hat, Boone. Breathe. There you go, nice and easy. OK, I'm gonna pet you now but not in a weird way."
Verge, being the animal-loving fairy she is, was even "cuted out" by Boone's panicking. She flew right over and nuzzled his head. "Aw, it's all right, Boone! Everything's going to be fine! Carrot?"
"Yes, please." Once the reindeer was relaxed, he sighed and let Verge continue to pet him.
"Where do you keep getting all this animal food?" Penn asked curiously.
"I don't tell you everything! Now, let's get going. I think we might find some clues at the workshop."
The three agreed and they all headed for it. "Watch your backs," Sashi warned. "We don't know what we're gonna find here."
"Ready, Boone?" Verge asked, sitting on his head. The reindeer nodded.
He charged, and knocked the door down. He gasped at what he saw.
The place was a wreck. Toys were scattered all over the floor. Christmas wrapping paper was torn in places. The entire place was completely ransacked. "This wasn't some turtle doves blowing off steam," Sashi said. "We're dealing with pros."
"Says the expert," Verge mumbled, graving over some poor teddy bear that had some candy canes sticking out of it. She looked around and found more stuffed toys and animals broken.
"Mama…" a poor baby doll's voice called out, walking to the heroes to reveal its headless body.
Sashi rolled over to a wall where some icing was stuck to it. She had a lick and sneered. "Peppermint…"
"Who would do such a thing?" Verge asked, flying around and looking for survivors.
"I don't know," Penn admitted. He helped her look around. "Hello? Dumpy? Gassy? Floppy? Snazzy?"
"Those are dwarves," Sashi deadpanned. "Not elves."
"Well, they're still small and adorable."
"So, Divergent?" Verge jokingly added, flying back.
Penn rolled his eyes playfully. "Nice try, Verge."
"Still though. Am I right or am I right?"
Before Penn could respond, he was interrupted by a sound. It was coming from inside a box. It kept jumping, as if whatever was inside wanted to get out.
"Don't open that box," Boone warned.
"I'm opening that box," Penn said.
"Don't open that box!"
"I'm opening the box, Boone!"
And Penn did. What was inside…was a snowman's head.
It screamed. Everyone screamed. It screamed. Everyone screamed. The cycle kept on repeating. Verge and Sashi got out of it first. "This is getting old," Verge said.
Sashi sighed. "Everyone, stop screaming!"
"…"
Boone screamed one last time. "…Sorry."
Penn took the snowman head out of the box. "P-Please don't melt me!" it pleaded.
"No one's gonna melt you," Penn promised.
"As long as you talk," Sashi said, bringing out a hair blower. The snowman yelped.
"Whoa, whoa, Sashi!" Verge said, holding out tiny hands in front of her. "No violence yet! Come on, loosen up." She reluctantly put the blower away.
"I-I'll tell you everything. They came in the night. The menace of the North Pole. The sugary shadows. The rogue…Gingerbread Army!"
"That sounds…delicious!" Penn and Boone giggled. "You were right, Verge, I'd be getting all the cookies!"
"We should get going then," Sashi said. "Let's move!"
She, Boone, and the snowman head went ahead and left the workshop. Penn started to follow, but Verge had other ideas.
She flew before him, stopping him and getting a stern look. "Hold up, Zero," she said. "There's something in this snowman's eyes I don't trust…"
"OK, one, you're starting to sound like Sash. Two, how can you, they're made of coal. And three, what are you talking about? He's going to help us."
"Trust me, Penn, if there's one thing I remember in the past life I don't remember having is to never trust a man without a head. And in this case, a man made out of snow and without a body."
But Penn only waved it away. "Aw, you're just exaggerating, Verge. We'll complete this mission like we always do! What's a head going to do to get in the way of that?"
"Maybe not the head, but think of the body! I think his eyes are not the only ones made of coal!"
"Guys, what are you doing?" Sashi called. "Get a move on!"
"We're coming!" Penn took hold of Verge's shirt collar and placed her on his shoulder. "It's gonna be fine, Verge. Trust me on this."
The fairy stayed silent. She really didn't at the moment, she couldn't argue with Penn at this point.
They arrived at the gingerbread base. As they hid in a pine tree, Sashi inspected the internal area. "Whoa," she said. "They're packing some heavy artillery."
"That's awesome," Verge echoed.
"Don't you mean that's 'bad'?" Boone asked.
"What's artillery again?"
"Let's just break in!" Sashi interrupted.
The five of them managed to get in the weapon's room and started stacking up. Penn and Sashi got everything they needed. Even Verge had a candy cane staff to herself.
"OK," Sashi stood on Boone, ready to give the plan. "We smash through the front door, candy canes a-blazing, and smoke those cookies!"
"Sounds good to me!" Verge said, ready to fly.
"Or," the snowman head piped up. "I know a secret back entrance. We rescue the elves, and take the gingers by surprise!"
"Wrong! Villains always have the back entrance covered."
"Maybe for Christmas, I'll get you a dictionary so you can look up what secret means!"
"Maybe I'll get you a waffle iron and stick you in it!"
"Guys, no fighting!" Verge said, flying in between them. "Save it for the cookies will you?"
Penn nodded. "Guys, I—" he started, but suddenly dropped the MUHU.
As he bent to pick it up, the snowman said, "Don't worry. The elves are the greatest tinkerers in the world. If we save them first, I'm sure they'll have time to fix…whatever that thing is."
Penn hesitated. "You know, I think the snowman's plan makes more sense. We do this right, we fix the MUHU, and save Christmas!"
"Ugh, fine," Sashi groaned, heading out with Boone and the snowman head.
"Penn, I really don't know about this," Verge stated. "What if it's a tr—"
"Come on, we're not having this conversation again!" Penn sighed, brushing past her.
Verge frowned. Penn never ignored her. He was really dead set on fixing that MUHU. She reluctantly followed the others.
They were now at the back entrance, which was guarded by two gingerbread guards, which Sashi immediately got out of the way. By cutting their hands and heads off, they were able to get in.
"Doesn't feel so good, does it?" the snowman sighed.
The team managed to make it in a few steps. But they apparently weren't good at hiding.
Verge heard a voice. "Get them!" Rippen shouted.
The army sprang into action, but so did the heroes. Sashi took down gingers with her candy cane nun-chucks. Boone charged at the cookies. Verge went all ninja-fairy style and hit them with her staff. Even Penn got some soldiers all tied up.
But there were too many of them. They attacked and shot from above, completely outnumbering them. Verge deflected all the shots with her protection magic. "Run!" she shouted,
The heroes took off, staying under Verge's shield. "Take cover, you guys!" Penn shouted, "It's a candy barrage!"
Once they finally got under safe covers, Verge sighed. "Made it!"
"Wait, wait!" Penn suddenly said. "Where's my MUHU?"
"Wait, is that it?" the snowman asked, catching a glint in his eye. "Rolling down there?"
Penn didn't even hesitate. "That's it!" He took off towards the glint, his companions following.
But Verge wasn't fooled. "Penn, no!" she screamed. "We've never even gone down this hall—"
It was too late. She felt cookie-like hands get ahold of her and stuff her in a tiny cage. She pulled at the bars but they wouldn't budge.
She looked up to glare ay her capturer, and saw Gingerbread Rippen. "Hello, little fairy," he sneered. He walked further down the hall.
Verge was horrified to find her friends trapped in a cage much bigger than hers. She was also shocked (not really) to see the snowman's head now with a body. "I see you've met my associate, Mr. Snowman."
"Verge!" Penn shouted.
"Zero!" Verge cried out, tugging at the bars even more. Rippen went a boredly threw her cage through the large holes of the bigger cage. Penn caught her immediately and held her to his chest.
"Your friend was right, you know," the snowman chuckled. "It's not just my eyes that are made out of coal." He reached into his snowy chest and pulled out an indeed, coal-shaped heart. He chuckled again, and then started wheezing. "Bad idea! Leave. Coal. Heart. In Chest!"
"No cookies and milk this year, Santa," Rippen taunted. "Christmas is cancelled."
The gingerbread army left the trapped heroes in the workshop again, the big cage hanging above all the gifts. Verge and Sashi were doing their best to get her out of her cage.
"If I could just…get out…get the keys…" Verge wheezed. She wasn't exactly tired, but flaming angry at Rippen for trying to ruin her favorite holiday and trap her and her friends in cages. "If there's one thing fairies do not like, it's being trapped in a stupid, small, close-cornered—"
"Whoa, Verge, calm down," Boone said. "You're starting to act like Sashi." That sentence received a hit to the antlers."
Penn, however, was suffering more. "I'm a terrible part-time hero. I owe you guys an apology…especially you, Verge. I shouldn't have ever doubted you. And I trusted a snowman's head over you guys because I wanted to get the MUHU fixed."
Verge finally stopped raging and frowned at Penn. "Aw, Zero… That's not…entirely true…"
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Sashi added.
"Yeah," Boone agreed. "There's nothing more depressing than a sad Santa. Expect for like, maybe an Easter Bunny who's lost his hop. Or a Tooth Fairy with a cavity. Or a dead Leprechaun—"
"We get it!" Sashi interrupted.
Penn sighed, which made Verge want to comfort him more. She moved her tiny cage closer to him (tried to, anyway) and tugged at his Santa shirt. "Hey, Zero, it's—"
"I'm sorry, Verge. I couldn't trust you. My oldest friend…I couldn't listen to you. I should've thought about you first…I'm sorry."
That only made Verge feel guilty. "I know what you did, Zero. I'm sorry too. I know you wanted to talk to your parents."
"Don't make an excuse. I was wrong."
"Yes…but, Penn…your parents might not be here…but we still are!"
"She's right," Sashi agreed. "We know it's been hard. But you gotta remember. Your parents aren't the only ones that care about you."
Verge smiled as she propped herself onto Penn's lap. "You don't need a MUHU to know where your loved ones are." She pointed at his chest. "They'll always be in there."
"…My heart?"
"Oh, is that what those cliché movies were talking about? I thought they were just crazy!"
Penn finally laughed. He hugged Verge's cage. "You're the best fairy guide, Verge."
"No problem. Just be sure you actually follow my guidance next time."
"Sure." He turned to Boone and Sashi. "Thanks too guys. I feel a lot better. Except for the part about ruining Christmas for all eternity. That's gonna bother me for a while."
"We've got ten minutes before the blizzard," Sashi said. "We can still get that sleigh in the air!"
"She's right!" Verge said. "If there's one thing I learned for the past eight years is to always have hope and never give up!"
"Well, yeah, but what do we do about the cage?"
"Penn," Boone started. "If there's one thing I learned from watching Christmas specials is that you could do anything if you have enough Christmas spirit!"
Verge suddenly realized what he was going too do and turned her cage to her is horror. "Don't tell me," she graved.
"Yes."
"Don't do it."
"I'm gonna do it."
"Don't do it, Boone, I'm warning you!"
"~Because…~"
"Wiseman!"
~We may be stuck here in a Christmas cage
And Gingerbread Rippen's got us trapped backstage
But there's Christmas magic in the air
And I've got to yuleiest yuletide song to share~
Suddenly, magical green dust started filling the air and bringing the toys around to life. "It's working, Boone!" Sashi exclaimed. "Keep singing."
~Oh, we're breaking out of here for Christmas
This cage has got no sugarplums and dance
It doesn't have Wi-Fi or even have a toilet
It's kinda weird that I'm not wearing pants~
The toys were cleaning up the gifts and tossing them through a Christmas wreath hoop, stacking them up one by one. Verge groaned at all this. Penn patter her cage in comfort. Even Sashi started singing:
~Yes, we're breaking out of here for Christmas
I won't be trapped by cages, bars, or walls
When I get out, I'll make the bad guys pay
I'll punch and fight and kick them in the…knees~
"Come on, Divergent!" Boone encouraged. "You know you want to!"
The fairy sighed. There's no use arguing.
~Yeah, we have to get out of here for Christmas
This tiny cage won't bring my spirits down
But even if this fake magic won't work
At least I still got all my friends around~
The three smiled. "That's the spirit!" Boone cheered.
A Christmas Wreath Man was starting to come to life. The toys were nearly done and it was Penn's turn.
~You can bet we're breaking out for Christmas
It'd be easier if I were in better shape. Ho ho!
So kids you better nestle up snug in your beds~
They all sang together
~'Cause Christmas…'~
The toys finished packing the toys.
~…will be saved…~
The candy cane the Wreath Man had also came to life and made its way to the cage.
~…when we escape!~
The candy cane twisted in the keyhole…and broke. All the toys stopped moving.
"Hm," Penn said. "I thought that would turn out better."
"Told you guys it wouldn't work," Verge gloated.
"Really thought you'd be the happy, singing type of fairy, Verge," Boone said.
"Don't take fairies so lightly!"
"When we get out of here," Sashi said. "I will literally wipe the smiles off their faces!"
"Guys, don't give up yet all right? Think of more ideas. There's gotta be something. Then again, says the fairy in the enclosed cage."
"You'll get out soon, Verge. Don't worry…"
They all hesitated, thinking hard. Penn was looking at something and that seemed to strike something.
"Wait, just wait one minute. OK, when I was little, my parents told me that Santa could slide through any chimney, no matter how small."
"Oh, yeah!" Verge piped. "They told me that too! I didn't believe them."
"I know right?" Boone and Sashi weren't catching on. "Hello? I'm Santa! All we need to do is make a chimney, and I can slide right through it, baby!"
"Worth a shot."
Penn got a roll of wrapping paper from the gift stack and stuck it through the cage hole.
"There's our chimney!" He tried sticking his head in but it didn't work. He prepared to jump. "Santa, away!" No luck. He just landed flat on his face. Verge was trying severely hard not to laugh. "Not funny, Divergent."
"It's not working," Sashi said blankly. "You've looked cooler."
"Maybe it only works if you go full Santa," Boone suggested. "You know, like putting a toy under a tree from your sack. It's like my drama teacher says: 'Commit or quit'."
"Worth another shot."
Penn and Sashi sprang to action. Sashi started to fold some wrapping paper together. Once she was done, she'd made an origami Christmas tree.
"Nice skills," Verge commented. Sashi gave a thumbs up and set the tree out the cage.
"Well, ho ho ho, through the chimney I go!" Penn leaped through the wrapping paper chimney, and it worked this time. He came out a rolled-up Santa.
"That hurt…so much!" he groaned. Puffing himself back to rolly-polly self, he landed on the ground perfectly and placed the gift under the tree.
"Yes!" Boone and Sashi cheered.
"Go Zero!" Verge praised. "Now, get us out!"
Penn got the keys that were hanging from the wall. He opened the big cage and let Boone and Sashi out. Then he got Verge's cage and let her out. The fairy immediately spread her wings and flew out, laughing.
"Freedom!" she cried out, flying rapidly around her friends.
"Trapped like a bird there, weren't you, Verge?" Sashi called teasingly.
Verge only laughed more. No more tiny cages for her. She held her hands up and the green dust from earlier was produced, instead of her glowing golden dust. Her friends gasped when they saw some of the Christmas toys come back to life. Instead of preparing gifts, they formulated their own artilleries.
"Being a Christmas fairy pays off!" Penn smirked. Verge bowed and rejoined the three.
"Quadruple fist bump!"
"Let's do this!" Penn cheered.
Boone then charged for the blocked doors. He charged and charged until he made it through. The gingerbreads gasped. "Don't tell Mom," he said. "But I'm about to ruin my dinner!" He charged again and the gingerbreads screamed and ran away from him.
Verge raised her hands up again, green dust flowing and causing the entrances to open up again. Behind the screens, the nutcrackers had catapults ready to attack. "Fire fruitcakes…at will!" Penn commanded.
The toys obeyed. The gingerbreads got more riled up and started attacking back.
Verge was helping in the fight. She used her candy cane staff and hit gingerbreads back and forth. She was also using her nature magic and flooded the gingers with snow. That's when she noticed something hanging. "Zero!" she called out.
"The elves!" Penn broke out into a run. The gingerbreads tried to stop him but he tripped, causing him to curl up into a ball and knock the soldiers down like a bowling ball.
Sashi went and joined the two but something was blocking them. "Watch out, guys! There's enough frosting in here to blast you all the way to Valentine's Day!" Larry said.
"How are you gonna pull that trigger?" Penn asked. "You ate all your fingers."
While, he was distracted, Verge crept away from them. "Guilty as charged," Larry giggled. "They were all different flavors! Caramel, chocolate, hazelnut—" He cut himself off when Sashi hit him on the back of the head with a candy cane.
"Man, that guy can talk," she said.
The elves cheered once Verge had freed them. "Thanks, Santa!" one elf said. "We were trapped in there for hours—"
He was also cut off and knocked out by Sashi. "No more speeches!" she threatened.
"No more hitting," Verge warned.
"Sashi, you and those little elves get the reindeer," Penn said. "Boone, Verge, and I…we got the sleigh!"
Everyone got moving. But something was blocking the three of them again. Mr. Snowman took his arm off and waved it. "Snowing somewhere?"
Penn went and started rearranging and rebuilding his snow. "Santa power!" When he'd finished, he smirked proudly. "Snailed it!"
"Haha, nice!" Verge laughed.
She and Boone went ahead and Verge used her dust to bring the sleigh out and attach Boone to it. Penn immediately hopped in the sleigh, Verge flying over him.
"You gotta get us to that launch platform!" Penn said. Boone looked up and tried to pull, but the sleigh wouldn't budge.
"I got this," Verge offered. She flew towards Boone again and touched his antlers. The magic flowed, helping him start the magic in him. Soon, he was flying on his own.
"Reindeer up!" Boone cried out. "…Reindeer going back down… Ah, I'm just going to run the rest of the way. Or maybe fast-walk."
"Go, Boone!" Verge encouraged, tiny fist bumping with Penn.
"Christmas!" he shouted. "You. Are. Saved!"
Suddenly, Gingerbread Rippen appeared before them. Penn and Verge gasped. "You forgot your cookie," he sneered.
He tackled Penn, making them roll onto the big sack of toys. "Verge! Take control!" Penn called out as he fought.
Verge quickly flew to Boone. "Can't you go any faster?" she shouted.
"Maybe I could if I had more reindeer! Which I don't! Or, you know, a stronger body! Either way, the answer is no! No, I can't!"
What to do, what to do…Verge went to the road and used her magic again. This time, she made a road of snow and ice among the sleigh tracks. It wasn't too slippery and slidey, which made the sleigh even easier to pull. Grinning, she went back to Boone and used more magic green dust to accelerate Boone's speed.
"Woo-hoo!" he cheered. "This is so much easier now!"
"We have two minutes left!" Verge shouted. "No time for going easy! Giddyup!"
Boone ran faster. They were almost at the platform! Penn immediately took the reins once he'd finished dealing with Rippen. But Verge noticed him hanging by the edges of the sleigh. She flew to him and glared.
"Give it up, Rip," she said. "Christmas will continue."
Suddenly, she saw him take out something buzzing from his pocket. It was the MUHU. Before she could alert Penn, Rippen took hold of the fairy with his other hand. Verge let out a yelp.
Penn turned and gasped at his trapped friend. "Verge!" He also saw the MUHU and his eyes widened.
"Uh-oh," Rippen said, letting the buzzing of his parents' call sound out. "If I drop this, it'll shatter on the ice and you'll never speak to your parents again."
"Let it go, you coward!" Verge shouted.
Rippen just gave an evil smile. "As for the fairy, perhaps I'll pluck both her wings out and make her fall into the snow, along with your silly little gadget."
"You wouldn't!"
"Try me!" He laughed and turned back to Penn. "Forget Christmas. Turn the sleigh around and I'll give you back your precious MUHU and friend."
Penn was alarmed. He'd really lose his family now if he didn't obey Rippen. He hesitated and looked upwards. Sashi had gasped at the scene.
Verge struggled in Rippen's hand. The MUHU continued to buzz. Rippen only sneered when Penn stared in horror. He didn't know what to do.
But the fairy only smiled. "It'll be all right, Zero. Don't worry about me!" With that, she bit into Rippen's hand. Or, more like, she ate it all.
"Gah!" He tried reaching for her again, but no hand.
Penn smirked happily at Verge and turned back to Rippen. "No deal," he declared. "The world needs Christmas."
At those words, Boone jumped. Penn and Verge ducked while icicles attacked Rippen. He fell off the sleigh, yelling. Verge watched the MUHU fall off his hand.
"I got it!" she declared, flying after it.
"Verge, no!" Penn shouted. But it was too late. She and the gadget disappeared within the snow, nowhere to be found anymore. The MUHU was still buzzing.
Until Penn heard nothing at all.
"Verge!" he screamed again. Was she alive? He was too far away to hear the flutter of her wings. Where was she?
He didn't get any response after that.
The sleigh had finally arrived at the launch platform and the reindeer were quickly attached by the elves. A large, dark storm cloud was quickly approaching them. "It's almost midnight!" Sashi cried. "Hit it!"
Boone used to Christmas magic in his antlers as he and the other reindeer took off. At the final edge, they leaped and took the sleigh off into the sky.
But the blizzard was nearing. It came closer and closer. Would they make it? The elves could only stare.
The blizzard slowed down and…
…the sleigh came right out it.
The elves cheered from the North Pole, happy and delighted that Christmas was indeed saved.
"You did it!" Boone shouted. "You saved Christmas!"
"Way to go, PZ!" Sashi cheered. That's when she noticed something. "Where's Verge?"
Penn was too shocked to be sad. "She…she flew after the MUHU…"
"She what?"
"She…she didn't even think…she just went after it. Why would she do that?"
Sashi frowned. "Because she knew it mattered to you."
Her words from the cage echoed in Penn's head. Remember. Your parents aren't the only ones that care about you.
"I…I can't believe it."
Sashi patted his arm. "If we know Verge well, then we know that she wouldn't get killed by snowfall that easily. I believe she'll be all right."
"She's probably gonna zap back home with us!" Boone called out.
Penn only frowned. "I hope you guys are right…"
And they did get zapped. The blue flash came and the three heroes got home.
Once they arrived, they looked around to see if the missing member came back with them. No such luck.
"This is the first time we zapped back home as a trio," Boone said sadly. "Not a quartet."
No one wanted to reply to that. As he and Sashi started going back home, Penn went straight to Phyllis. "Is Verge alive? Please tell me she's not dead."
"She's not dead," Phyllis said bluntly.
That lifted a weight in Penn's heart. "Then why didn't she zap back?"
"That is something I cannot tell you."
"What do you mean you can't tell me? She's my best friend, I need to—"
"Sometimes, hero must make hard choice. That is what makes them hero."
Penn didn't understand what that was all about until he later realized she was talking about the MUHU. At the thought of his parents' call slipping from his fingers, he could only be sadder more.
Back at home, Penn was staring at a picture frame. It was he when he was younger and when he was with his parents.
"Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad," he mumbled.
Then, he reached for another picture. This time, it was he at age ten with a year-younger Divergent the fairy beside him. Or, more like on top of him. Verge was sitting, small-sized, on Penn's fluffy red hair. The two were laughing together, as if they've done this all the time, happy to have each other. Penn had to smile at the memory.
"Stay safe, Divergent," he added.
The boy knew in his heart that his friend was alive. He refused to believe someone like Verge could die so easily. He trusted her.
As the hours went by, Penn didn't realize how late it had gotten. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.
~The next day~
It was now Christmas morning. Penn woke up on the couch in the same position he was last night, the two frames still in his hands. He rubbed at his eye and sat up. There was nothing under the Christmas tree. Then again, what did he expect?
Penn sighed and leaned back. That's when he noticed something else. The origami Christmas tree Sashi made was standing behind the real one. And under it was a gift-wrapped box.
Inside, he heard a noise. Like someone was sleeping. Someone was snoring softly. He knew those soft snores anywhere. He practically grew up hearing them.
Penn eagerly opened the gift and was overjoyed to see lying there in the Styrofoam was a certain brown-haired fairy.
"Verge!" he cried out. The fairy opened one eye.
"Huh? What?" Without waiting for her to wake up fully, Penn plucked her from the box and gave her a big fairy hug.
"Oh, you small and adorable fairy, you!" he laughed. "You scared me to death back there!"
Verge only chuckled. "Missed you too, Zero."
"What were you thinking? You didn't have to follow to MUHU."
"'Course I had to! Otherwise, I wouldn't have talked to the elves and have Santa bring you this!"
Verge picked the box up and held it out. That's when Penn noticed the note attached:
To Penn,
You dropped something.
Santa
"You're the best, Verge," he said, smiling at her. "I was too focused on talking to my parents…I should've remembered you were my family too."
That made Verge grin and grow to human-size. "You're welcome, Penn," she said, hugging him.
As she pulled away, she smirked. "So, we're gonna talk to them or what?"
As if on cue, the MUHU beeped in Penn's hand. He grinned his widest grin.
They sat beside each other on the couch and answered the call.
"Hey, you two!" Brock said through the MUHU. "Glad we finally got through!" Penn and Verge exchanged a happy glance.
"I'll deck your halls!" Brock shouted at a Christmas tree monster.
"Merry Christmas, sweethearts," Vonnie cooed, picking a rock up. "I hope you two have been taking care of each other! Jingle Bell Rock!" She threw the rock at more monsters.
The two laughed. Penn's aunt and uncle came in and gave them both presents. Boone and Sashi also arrived, smiling at them.
As Penn's parents fought, Verge brought out a wrapped gift from her pocket. "Merry Christmas, Zero."
Penn took it gratefully and handed over his own hand-wrapped gift. "Merry Christmas, Verge."
The two smiled as they fist-bumped.
The family stayed together that day, spending their Christmas in peace. And of course, with each other.
Only 19+ episodes to go!