Chapter 2: Mayoral Visit

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC.

After a while more of flying, Jingle, Jangle, and Vixen arrive in South Town, USA. After searching, they found a group of children and started to talk to them.

"I beg your pardon, young man. May we have a word with you?" Jingle asks, approaching one of the boys.

Turning around to face them, the boy replies, "Sure. Hey, you're dressed up like a couple of Christmas elves. Haven't you heard the news? Santa's taking a holiday."

"You don't seem very upset about it." Jangle observed, exchanging a nervous glance with Jingle.

The boy quirked an eyebrow. "Upset? Why should I be upset?"

This causes both elves to gasp. "You mean you don't care if Santa Claus comes or not?"

"Of course not, it's none of our business. Besides, believing in Santa Claus is for little kids." the boy replies, waving his hand dismissively.

"This is serious," Jingle whispers to Jangle nervously.

Nodding, Jangle replies, "It's worse than I thought."

Interrupting the duo's conversation, the boy says, "If I were you guys, I wouldn't waste my time worrying about Santa Claus. You got a bigger problem."

"Whaddya mean?" Jangle asks, scratching the back of his head.

"The dog catcher's got your pooch." the boy points out.

The two elves turn to see Vixen being shoved into a dog catcher's truck. "Stop thief! Reindeer napper!" the two elves cried as they chased after Vixen who was in the back of a dog catcher's car while the group of children laugh and point.

North was walking around looking for Jingle and Jangle when he came across a young boy. "Pardon me, young man. Can you spare a moment?"

"Sure," the boy replies good-naturedly. "My name is Ignatius but everybody calls me Iggy. What's yours?"

"Claus," North said, running a hand through his beard and smiling at the cleverness of his fake name.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Claus?" Iggy asked, unable to put two and two together.

"I'm looking for two friends of mine. Tiny fellas with red suits." North replies, holding his hand at level with his knee to illustrate just how tiny his friends were.

Iggy's eyes widen with recognition. "Oh, you must mean the two guys I met at school. They were asking us about Christmas and stuff."

Suddenly North sneezed and the window to the house opened and a woman leaned out. "Ignatius, was that you I heard sneeze?"

Shaking his head, Iggy corrects her. "Not me, mom. It was my friend, Mr. Claus."

"Well why don't you bring him inside and talk and I'll give him something for that cold." his mom suggests kindly.

They walked inside and Iggy introduces the trio to one another. "Mom, dad, meet my friend Mr. Claus."

"How do you do?" Iggy's father asked, standing up to shake North's hand.

North sneezed in response, causing Iggy's father to yank his hand back down to his side. "Oh, you poor man. Drink this, it will make you feel much better."

"Thank you, thank you," North said, taking a sip. "You say my friends were asking you about Christmas?"

Nodding, Iggy replies, "Yeah. They wanted to know if we kids still believed in Santa Claus."

"And what did you tell 'em?" Iggy's father asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Heck, I don't believe in Santa Claus anymore. That's kid stuff. Isn't it?' Iggy asked them. "You don't believe in Santa Claus, do you, dad?" Iggy asked his father, turning to look at him.

Shutting his eyes, his father replies, "Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

"How about you?" Iggy asked of North.

North looks taken aback at being asked. "Me? Why of course I do," he replied fervently.

"I guess if you're not too old to still believe then I guess maybe. . ." Iggy shook North's hand as he trailed off.

After another moment, North inquires, "By the way, when my friend's left the schoolyard, did they say where they were going?"

"Oh my gosh! I almost forgot. They were chasing the dog catcher's truck!" Iggy exclaims, having completely forgotten about the episode from earlier.

"They were what?" North gaps in shock.

"He was taking their dog away in his truck and they were trying to catch it." Iggy reiterates.

"Their dog? Vixen!" North cries, realizing with urgency what had exactly happened.

Iggy's dad gave North instructions to the dog pound before North hopped on Dasher and flew off.

"Gosh, did you see that?" Iggy cried, watching North fly off.

"I certainly did." his father mused.

A knowing smile blossoming on her lips, his mother adds, "I thought there was something different about that man."

"Mr. Claus. He must be. . ." Iggy trails off, not seeing any other possible explanation.

"Wouldn't surprise me a bit. At the moment, nothing would." his father replies, ruffling his son's hair.

Eyes widening, Iggy adds, "Then his friends must be real elves. And that dog. I bet that dog wasn't even a dog. I bet it was a baby reindeer."

"They won't know how to take care of a reindeer at the dog pound." his mother worriedly points out.

Hanging his head, Iggy sighs, "Gee, I wish there was something I could do."

"Well, you've got a big problem, son. It would pay to go to the top; the mayor. Why don't you stop by the mayor's office, tell him the whole story? He should be able to help." his father suggests.

"Hey, good idea, dad!" Iggy ran off, heading for the mayor's office.

Once at the mayor's office, Iggy ran into Jingle and Jangle. Together they entered the mayor's office. The trio told him the story and awaited his response.

He laughed at them. "You two are elves and that dog at the pound is a reindeer and you want to take him back to Santa Claus?"

"At the North Pole," Jingle added.

Clearing his throat, Jangle says, "You see, your honor, we're here on a special mission."

Jingle cuts in then, saying in a hushed voice, "A secret mission."

"A secret mission. I shoulda guessed." the mayor sarcastically quips, holding in his laughter.

"Cause North isn't coming this year. He wants to take a holiday." Jangle insists.

At this, the mayor can't contain his laughter anymore. "No more, please, I can't take it. Reindeer, Santa Claus, elves. . . hahaha!"

"But we are elves. We're serious. How can we convince you?" Jingle begs, imploring the mayor to hear them out.

Shaking his head, the mayor snaps, "Aw, come on, son, what kinda fool do you think I am? You ain't got the chance of a snowball in South Town of convincing me that one-tenth of your story is true."

"A snowball in South Town? What kinda chance is that?" asked Jangle curiously.

"Not a very good one. It never snows here." Iggy replied with a frown.

"Not in the last hundred years. Hey, I got an idea. You elves can work magic and all that. You conjure up a good, old-fashioned white Christmas for us right here in South Town and I'll buy every word you say." the mayor promises, smirking slightly.

"You will?" Jingle asks, his eyes lighting up.

Smirking at the trio before him, the mayor announces, "I'll spring your reindeer from the hoscow. I'll call all the mayors in the US o fA. and we'll give Santa an official, national holiday this year."

"It's a deal," Jingle says, shaking the mayor's hand.

Waving, Jangle adds, "Goodbye, your honor. We got lots to do."

"Yeah, see y'all along the ski slopes, Mr. Mayor," Iggy added as the trio walked out the door to the sound of the mayor's laughing.