Down in the castle's Techni-Cave, the ingenious inventor of the Defenders was busy working. He was building a weapon for one of his friends as a Christmas present. It was actually a new version of one of the weapons he had already created, but with a few more features and advantages.

Tinkor was excited about seeing his invention come to life, and seeing the look on his comrade's face after he opened it. However, Tinkor was growing frustrated. This weapon was becoming more and more difficult to create than he had imagined. It kept malfunctioning. It either wasn't able to squirt slime, got clogged up after only two squirts, or burst altogether.

Tinkor took a deep breath as he finished making another adjustment. He then took the weapon in his hands, then aimed at the slime-covered target on the wall.

"Please work, please work," he chanted.

Tinkor fired, and the weapon burst, covering the inventor with slime. Tinkor cried out with surprise and stumbled back a bit. Once he realized what had just happened, he groaned, then wiped the goo off his face. He grunted and set the weapon back down on the table. He stared frustratedly at it. How the heck was he gonna get this thing ready by Christmas? The holiday was only a week away!

The inventor decided to take a break. He thought that a quick walk outside would do him some good. He'd been stuck inside the Techni-Cave all day, anyways. The inventor quickly wiped the rest of the green goo off of him, then exited the Techni-Cave.

Tinkor shivered when he stepped outside. Today was freezing. It was so cold that the surface of the moat was frozen thick enough that one could walk on top of it. The inventor wandered around for a minute or so, then found himself walking across the front wall of the castle. He would of kept walking, but a loud cry of joy from the moat caught his attention. He stopped next to the Defenders' Douse and looked down into the moat.

Kookaburra was sliding across the frozen moat. He had a huge smile plastered onto his face. Skabb was standing on the edge of the Starting Platform, watching him.

After the bird did a few skillful turns, he slid towards the Slippery Slope. He stepped one boot onto its surface, then grabbed the support line and pulled himself all the way to the top. He swayed a little on the edge of the Mace Roll, but was able to keep from falling. He turned towards the Starting Platform.

"Skabb, watch this!"

"I am watching!" the barbarian yelled. "Get on with it!"

Kook took a deep breath, then slid off the Slippery Slope. The next thing he knew, he was "flying" across the glassy sheet of ice.

"Whooooo!"

The bird jumped and twisted through the air, then spun around the frozen Baffling Barrels. Then he gracefully skated underneath the Mace Roll and around the Battle Axes, and twirled over the Rope Bridge of Disaster.

While Skabb was watching, another Defender began marching towards the moat. Skabb glanced at the warrior with the mohawk when he stopped next to him.

"What's bird brain up to, now?" Thorne grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Ice skating."

The alchemist and barbarian watched the Australian bird make a graceful turn across the ice before jumping and spinning in the air. He laughed out of sheer joy as he made a u-turn.

"Ah-ha-ha! Whoo! This is fun!" The bird whirled around, then made a quick turn past his two comrades. "Come on, guys! You've gotta try this!"

Thorne snorted. "Yeah, right!"

The barbarian stared at Kook, then down at the ice. After a long moment, Skabb shrugged.

"Ah, what the heck?" he said.

The barbarian slid off the orange platform and out onto the ice, slipping a little as he did so. After regaining his balance, he slowly pushed himself around, and eventually was moving like the wind.

"Whoo, this is fun!" the barbarian shouted.

"That's the spirit, Skabb!" Kook replied.

Thorne growled and kept an icy eye on the two skating Defenders. Skabb ran circles all over the moat, and Kookaburra kept performing tricks. After he finished three more spins, Kookaburra glanced over at Thorne.

"Come on, mohawk boy!" Kook called, skating past him. "Join the fun!"

The alchemist's gray eyes flashed. "You call me mohawk boy again and I'll smash this moat wide open!"

"Whoa, don't do that, mate!"

Skabb skated over to Thorne. The alchemist's scowl hardened when he noticed Skabb had a big smile on his face.

"You two are acting like little Attackers!" Thorne declared, disgusted.

"Ah, come on, Thorne!" the barbarian cried. "Try it out!"

Before Thorne could protest, Skabb snatched the alchemist's wrist and pulled him onto the ice. He pushed him towards the Slippery Slope.

"SKABB!" Thorne shouted angrily, tripping a little.

Kook and Skabb laughed out loud, then skated towards him. They each took turns helping the alchemist around, even though he didn't appreciate the assistance.

But once he got a handle on it, Thorne actually turned out to be a pretty good skater. He was able to skillfully and even gracefully manuever his way around the moat. He wouldn't have stayed out on the ice, but Skabb kept preventing him from going back inside the castle. So, he was stuck sliding across the frozen moat with his coworkers.

"You're a natural, Thorne!" Kook called, smirking.

"Don't push it!" the alchemist seethed.

"Oh come on, don't pretend you're not enjoying yourself!" Skabb shouted, sliding past the alchemist.

Thorne growled, but didn't make any verbal replies. Whether he accepted it or not, he actually was enjoying it.

Kookaburra finished whirling around the Baffling Barrels, then suddenly noticed Tinkor watching from the very top of the castle. Kook turned towards him.

"Tinkor, come join the party!" he yelled, gesturing him down.

The inventor smiled. "Okay!"

Tinkor quickly rushed down the castle and onto the orange Starting Platform. He then leapt out on the ice and began to skate. He was greeted warmly by Skabb, and the two were soon performing cool turns and tricks together.

Much to his delight, while the inventor was skating, he got an idea how to fix his malfunctioning weapon. He grinned triumphantly as he imagined himself overcoming the problem just in time for Christmas.

A little while later, without warning, the leader of the Defenders appeared on top of the Finishing Platform. She watched the four slide around for a moment, then raised her voice.

"Attention, Defenders!" she cried. "We're going to go look at Christmas lights! Are you coming?"

Thorne came to a screeching halt. Skabb finished doing a figure eight, then quit moving, as well. Tinkor stopped next to his barbarian friend. They all gave their attention to the noble knight.

After doing another twist on the ice, Kookaburra skid to a stop, then turned to his leader. He grinned. "Yeah! We've gotta go splat the houses with no decorations!"

Kook laughed out loud once he finished speaking. Tinkor and Skabb grinned evilly at each other. Thorne's face even had a shadow of a smile on it. He turned to the inventor and the barbarian.

"Right. Tinkor, go get some slime sticks!" he ordered. "And Skabb, you go get some goo grenades!"

"I'll get some splat balls and my Sling Splatter!" Kook declared excitedly, flapping his "wings."

"And I'll get my Mulching Mace," Thorne muttered to himself.

And so, the four male Defenders headed off the ice to prepare for their Christmas light viewing tradition. Oh, the joys of splatting and smashing the windows of unfestive houses and getting furious screams and flying fruitcake in return!

A/N: Yes! School is almost over for the year! More time for Splatalot and writing!

Uh, please note that the last part wasn't supposed to offend anyone. I understand that some people aren't able to put their lights up during the season.