Fun fact: I was originally going to finish this one-shot for Christmas LAST year, but got too lazy/distracted...XD

Undyne shut the front door behind her. Stuffing her scarf in her coat pocket, she carefully hopped down the steps and into the driveway

"Hey, Mad!?"

There wasn't any response, but Undyne could see the dummy in the distance. He was merely standing in the middle of the yard, not even flinching when his name was called.

"What the heck…?"

Of course, Undyne was already used to Mad standing around in the yard. However, there was something about now that stuck out. Instead of moping around or grumbling to himself, Mad simply stayed in place, staring at the sky. In fact, upon taking a couple steps forward, Undyne noticed he was actually smiling.

"Well this is certainly new!"

Mad jumped, obviously not expecting company.

"Are you actually taking a liking to this winter weather?" Undyne crossed her arms.

The dummy's smile immediately vanished. "Don't get me wrong—I still hate it," he grouched. "But it's just…different when everything's so calm, you know?" He glanced around the yard. "The wind isn't blowing cold air and snow everywhere, and the snow isn't freaking 5 feet deep…"

Undyne took a moment to look around as well, although she mostly just stared at her punching bag. She couldn't remember the last time she had ever seen Mad Dummy so calm, either. It was really odd, but seeing how rare the sight was, she decided not to mess with him today. "Well anyway, I was just gonna tell you that Alphys and I are heading to Frisk's for the Christmas party. You sure you're not coming?"

Mad snorted. "This is my first family reunion in over a decade," he muttered. "It'll be a miracle if I come back tonight, so I'll probably see you tomorrow."

"Alright, well I hope you have fun, punk!" Undyne patted him on the back. She turned around once she saw Alphys walk out. "Ready to go?"

"Yup!" Alphys stepped over to her, careful not to slip on any ice.

"Awesome! I want to be the first to give Frisk my awesome present!" Undyne grinned. She grabbed Alphys's hand and dashed across the snow like an excited schoolgirl, nearly dragging the scientist with her.

Mad smirked as he watched them in amusement. Once the crunching of their footsteps began to fade away, he sighed as he took a seat by his bush. Digging through a little toolbox he kept full of personal items, he pulled out a watch.

1:42.

Mettaton had a Christmas performance at MTT resort, so he had called Mad ahead of time and claimed he would pick him up for the party around 2. Normally, Mad would take this time to warm up inside Undyne's house, but for once, the snow was actually quite bearable to be around.

Another smile reached Mad's mouth as he watched the trees gently sway in the wind. Instead of looking so prickly and dead, the snow covering the trees actually made them look quite beautiful.

"Of course—the weather finally decides to be nice on Christmas." The dummy rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if we get a blizzard or something tomorrow." He dug through his box a bit more, pulling out some playing cards to entertain himself with.

Crunch…crunch…

Mad twitched at the distant footsteps, but didn't turn around. (Undyne probably forgot something. Like that's surprising at all…) He shuffled a few cards.

The footsteps continued behind him, rather uncharacteristically slow for Undyne. Mad fully expected to hear her voice, but there was only silence. Curious, he finally turned his head just a smidge.

His body immediately stiffened.

It wasn't Undyne. It wasn't Alphys, or Frisk, or anyone he had expected to see on Christmas day.

(Oh no. No no no—)

Surprisingly enough, it was none other than King Asgore.

Now, Mad Dummy knew full-well that Asgore was one of the kindest, if not the kindest monster in all of the underground. Everyone loved him, and Mad could certainly see why, even if he had never met the king face-to-face.

But, ironically enough, that kindness was exactly the reason why Asgore was so darn intimidating to him.

Shutting his eyes, Mad practically stopped breathing. He partially released control of the dummy, that way it wouldn't look to be alive. He almost thought to retreat completely, but immediately dismissed the idea, not wanting to humiliate himself.

The footsteps stopped in front of him. "…Excuse me," a soft, but deep voice spoke.

Mad Dummy almost choked on his own breath. Why was Asgore talking to him? How did he even know Undyne's punching bag was alive? Accepting his defeat, Mad's eyes slowly opened to give the former king an awkward stare.

Asgore's eyes brightened. "Ah! I see Undyne was right," he chuckled. He was wearing a bright red Santa suit, obviously worn from years of use. "I do hope I'm not bothering you."

"Undyne's not home." Mad finally found his voice. He lowered his head, wondering why he was suddenly shaking. Maybe it was the fact that the large boss monster seemed to tower over him.

"Oh, I've already spoken with her beforehand, my friend; I'm well aware of that." Asgore gave him a friendly wink as he knelt down, setting down his sack. "But I believe everyone deserves a visit from 'Santa', do they not?"

Mad Dummy snorted, still not looking at him. "I thought 'Santa' only visited the 'nice' people," he muttered.

Asgore laughed heartily as he reached inside his sack. "That is true. And in this case, this is also a very special request."

And? That definitely caught Mad's attention. "No. No no…you've got the wrong person." He frowned, finally raising his head. "If there's anyone who's nice, it's not me—believe me."

"My friend…let me tell you something." Asgore took out a red gift with a silver bow. "A 'nice' person is not defined by the quantity of their kindness. The smallest act of kindness can be worth more than even the grandest intentions."

"I—" Mad shut his mouth as realization swept over him. It was evident that someone had tattled to Asgore about the recent incident with Gyftrot, and he made a mental note to scream at Mettaton later. "That was—I was just—that doesn't mean I'm—" He tried to rack his brain for any other argument, but couldn't.

"Please," Asgore chuckled, "it's nothing to fret over. Here you are." He held out the gift, but Mad only stared at it.

"I…I really don't want anything, honestly," he stammered, purposely looking away.

Rather amused by the dummy's modesty, Asgore smirked. "Well…perhaps I should've rephrased my earlier statement—not only is this a very special request, but it is a token of my thanks as well."

Mad was puzzled. "…Thanks? For what?"

Asgore couldn't suppress a smile. "Let's just say…a certain 12-year-old girl used to tell me all about the 'coolest punching bag ever' during our old training sessions." He set the gift down in front of Mad, who was speechless. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mad Dummy." Asgore took his sack and winked before he turned around to leave. "Thank you…for being there for her."

Mad Dummy stiffly watched Asgore trail through the snow and out of sight. Silently, he peered down at the gift below. He didn't touch it.

About two minutes passed by before more footsteps were heard, and this time, Mad recognized them immediately.

"I'm here, Maddy!" Mettaton shot his cousin a dazzling grin as he hiked through the snow. Behind him was Napstablook, who was situating his winter hat as he flew after the robot.

"Oh, hey," Mad mumbled, not quite able to focus properly.

Mettaton raised a brow. "What's wrong? Aren't you excited to go to the reunion?"

"I'm fine. I just—I got a lot on my mind right now." Mad shook his head as he stepped forward, unintentionally nudging the present aside.

Napstablook eyed the gift curiously "Oh…is that for Undyne?"

"No, it's—er, it's for me, I guess…" Mad's voice grew quieter as he gently picked it up. "It's…actually from Asgore."

"That's very nice of him." Napstablook smiled.

"Well? How about you go ahead and open it before we leave? I want to see what it is!" Mettaton squealed.

"I guess…" Mad mumbled as he plucked the ribbon off. He tore away the wrapper, revealing a small box that was taped shut. Once he opened it with the help of his trusty knife, he stared inside. He blinked.

"What is it?" Mettaton bounced up and down eagerly.

A small snicker escaped the dummy, surprising his cousins.

"What's so funny?"

Napstablook peered inside the box. "…Oh!" He laughed.

Mad Dummy pulled out a small teacup that was meant to resemble him. The fact that it had a smiley-face and stitches all around was actually pretty adorable.

"I…honestly don't know how I feel about this," he stifled a laugh, not expecting anything like this.

"Now we both have teacups that look like us," Napstablook giggled.

"Hey…no fair! I never got a teacup!" Mettaton pouted.

Mad rolled his eyes. "You hate tea, remember?"

"Well…it's the thought that counts, anyway." Mettaton shrugged, and Mad smirked as he put the cup back inside the box. "Let's just go to the limo already. I've got hot chocolate waiting inside!" The robot grinned as he hurried through the snow. Napstablook followed close behind.

Mad Dummy took his time, careful not to break the fragile cup inside the box. As he hopped across the snow, his mind began to wander yet again.

The fact that Asgore, someone he barely knew and had never even met, was willing to put time and effort to create and give him such a gift was just…unbelievable. Normally, Mad was extremely wary when it came to 'nice' people. Being one who wasn't exactly shown much kindness most of his life, the idea of it was incredibly outlandish, even to the point where random acts of kindness actually scared him.

But today, Mad finally understood. This wasn't just some random act of kindness; Asgore had genuinely wanted to thank him. And it was all because someone had actually managed to spot a side of Mad Dummy that most others couldn't see. It felt awfully nice to have good rumors spread around rather than bad, for once…

"Maddy! Are you frozen back there!? Come on!" Mettaton hollered.

Mad looked up and shook his head. "Yeah, yeah…I'm coming!" He finally managed to catch up with his cousins, and he couldn't help but smile more.

Having the first Christmas on the surface was already unforgettable, but this genuine act of kindness had definitely made it all the more special.