Kevin and Chelsea walked into the church as there was a choir singing, seeming to have set the mood for them and Kevin instantly felt more safe. Not to say he didn't with Chelsea, but something about the song and the atmosphere made him feel a little more calm and confident. Chelsea took Kevin to sit down. She saw Marley and offered a tiny smile. Kevin noticed him too, but looked slightly frightened.
"May I sit down?" Marley actually spoke up and asked them.
Kevin, deciding not to be rude, allowed him to.
Marley had a small smile and sat down with the two of them, then studied Chelsea. "You seem familiar..."
"Merry Christmas, Uncle Mar." Chelsea says quietly, calling him by the nickname she did when she was younger. She knew he would never hurt them.
Kevin glanced between the two. "You guys know each other?" he asked softly.
"Oh, yes," Marley smiled fondly. "Chelsea used to visit all the time," he looked back to the choir. "That's my granddaughter, the little red-haired girl..."
Kevin looked to her and she seemed to look back at them for a moment, but never broke out of her song.
"She's about your age," Marley told Kevin. "Do you know her?"
"No..." Kevin replied softly.
"Kevin's too smart to be looking at girls yet." Chelsea smiled softly, obviously not insulting his granddaughter just trying to keep the mood lighter.
Marley actually had a chuckle to that, he was trying to make Kevin feel comfortable, he then had an idea of why the little boy was probably barely talking with him. "You can say hello when you see me. You don't have to be afraid. There's a lot of things going around about me, but none of it's true. Okay?"
Kevin looked to him, but gave a small nod.
"You've been good this year?" Marley then asked.
"I think so..." Kevin avoided his gaze.
"You swear to it?"
Kevin looked guilty then. "No..."
Chelsea looked up at the cross and wrapped her arms softly around herself, over her stomach. Marley couldn't believe they would cause trouble.
"We've been kind of pains lately..." Kevin admitted since a church was a good place to be if you felt bad about yourself. "We said things we shouldn't have... But... Mostly me... I really haven't been too good this year to anyone besides Chelsea..."
"Hmm..." Marley seemed to understand where they were coming from.
Chelsea put an arm around Kevin. "We love our family... Even if we say we don't like them sometimes..." she says softly. She wondered if what happened at the thieves' place was her fault.
Marley gave a small nod. "How you feel about family is a complicated thing. Especially with an older brother. Deep down, you'll always love him. But you can forget that you love him. You can hurt them, they can hurt you. That's not just because you're young."
Kevin couldn't feel the same way about Buzz, maybe when he got older, but right now, he couldn't say he even liked him.
"You want to know the real reason why I'm here?" Marley asked them, then looked to his granddaughter again. "I couldn't come hear her tonight... I'm not welcome."
"At church?" Kevin asked, a little surprised.
"You're always welcome at church," Marley had a small chuckle, but looked a little painful on the inside. "I'm not welcome with my son..."
Chelsea used her spare hand and took Marley's hand to comfort him. Marley gently squeezed Chelsea's hand, they had gotten along well as neighbors, a lot better than anyone else he probably had ever met. Kevin looked very curious of what probably happened, but he wouldn't force it out of the older man if he didn't want to talk about it.
"Years back, before you and your family moved on the block, I had an argument with my son." Marley finally explained.
"How old is he?" Kevin then wondered.
"He's grown up. We lost our tempers, and I said I didn't care to see him anymore. He said the same, and we haven't spoken to each other since..." Marley sounded a little sad that had to happen now.
"If you miss him... You should call him." Chelsea says gently.
Kevin agreed to that idea.
"I'm afraid if I call, he won't talk to me..." Marley replied.
"How do you know?" Kevin then asked.
Marley glanced to them and looked away again. "I don't know... I'm just afraid."
Kevin didn't think someone older than him could be afraid of anything, but then again, Chelsea must have been afraid when they were separated, he then thought back to his former fear of the furnace when he did laundry the other day. "I was afraid of our basement. It's dark, there's weird stuff down there, and it smells funny, that sort of thing. It's bothered me for years. Basements are like that. I made myself go down to do some laundry and I found out it's not so bad. I worried about it, but if you turn on the lights, it's no big deal."
Marley looked curious, though that was a mature response. "What's your point?" he finally asked.
"My point is that Chelsea is right, you should call your son." Kevin insisted.
"And even if he doesn't talk to you, at least you'll know, then you can stop worrying about it and then you won't have to be afraid anymore." Chelsea says softly.
"No matter how mad I was, I'd talk to Dad," Kevin added. "Especially around the holidays..." he gave a small shrug. "I dunno, just give it a shot... For your granddaughter anyway. I'm sure she misses you. And the presents. I send her a check. I wish our grandparents did that. They always send us clothes and dresses."
Chelsea nodded and then closed her eyes a little and let the music of the choir wash over her. Marley found Kevin to be quite amusing, the choir ended their one song and moved onto Carol of the Bells.
"You two better run home where you belong," Marley advised the kids. "Think about what I said. All right?"
"Okay." Kevin agreed, then tried to wake Chelsea up.
Chelsea opened her eyes slowly and looked around quickly, but then relaxed.
"Come on, Chelsea, let's go home." Kevin told her.
Chelsea nodded and stood up with Kevin. She gave Marley a hug. "Merry Christmas, Uncle Mar." she smiles gently.
"Yeah, Merry Christmas." Kevin nearly echoed, he now had a good feeling about the man and they were going to be friends from now on.
Marley nodded to them with a small smile. "Merry Christmas." he then told them.
Kevin then went with Chelsea to their house, they had to protect it, he was now more serious and more motivated now, ready to take down the bullying robbers and force them to spend their Christmas behind bars.
"This is our house, Kev... We have to protect it." Chelsea tells him.
"Yes..." Kevin agreed, he then started to work on a very well thought out battle plan, showing he was very wise beyond his years and he was going to set traps. "Be very careful, Chelsea... I don't want you to get hurt..." he said to her, sounding a little older than her.
Chelsea kissed his cheek. "I will, Kev." she promises.
Kevin went to set traps such as mousetraps in the basement with a few loose bits, a bucket of paint, various toy cars spread across the floor and glass balls by the window in case they tried to come in and it would break Harry and Marv's feet. He had electrified one of the handles, warning Chelsea of the obstacles and memorizing where they would be.
It was getting closer and closer to 9:00, but luckily for Kevin, he was almost done with his little traps and he even got out a toy gun to look very serious. They had a little time left to have a late dinner until those bad guys would come along. Chelsea popped them something in the microwave. Kevin carefully lit candles for them to make this a very special Christmas Eve dinner, even if it wasn't big and fancy like a turkey with various people over, but it would do for now. After lighting the candles, he set the lighter down and didn't burn or catch anything on fire, then waited for Chelsea to come with their dinner.
Chelsea came over with the plates and set Kevin's in front of him. "Enjoy, Squirt." she says softly.
Kevin hid a chuckle, feeling pretty hungry. Before they ate though, he put his hands to a praying position and bowed his head with his eyes shut. Chelsea did the same too, but gave a slight addition to Kevin's though mentally.
"Bless this nutritious, microwaveable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale... Oh, and Chelsea for preparing it for us..." Kevin did a quick prayer so they could eat sooner. "Amen."
"Amen..." Chelsea repeats, quietly.
Kevin nodded, then started to eat his late dinner with Chelsea. Chelsea ate a bit, but not much.
Kevin got a good amount since he had a little bit extra, but he jolted slightly once the clock tolled. "I'm sorry, Chelsea..." he said to her, then blew out the candles as it was now 9:00, Harry and Marv were now on their way. "This is it..."
Chelsea had nodded and took her place. Kevin got to his by the unneeded doggy door and had a weapon to use against the crooks.
Harry got out of the van. "We'll go to the back door," he said. "Maybe he'll let us in. You never know."
"Yeah, he's a kid," Marv scoffed. "Kids are stupid." he then added, a little hypocritically.
Harry knocked on the back door. "Merry Christmas, little fellow. We know that you are in there, and that you and your sister are all alone." he says.
"Yeah, kid, come on, open up," Marv added, thinking of a way to fool Kevin. "It's Santy Claus and his elf! We're not gonna hurt you or your lovely sister!"
Kevin got the doggy door open slightly, but none of them noticed and he pulled out his toy BB gun swiftly and quietly through the door and made a steady aim at one of them.
"We're not going to hurt you." Harry agreed.
Chelsea stood on guard in the living room.
"No, no, got some nice presents for ya," Marv grinned. "Be a good little fella and open the door."
Kevin shot one of them in an uncomfortable place and it ended up being Harry. Harry moaned and hopped away, holding his crotch. Chelsea stayed there as that was one of the places they could try next.
"What?" Marv didn't see the shot and wondered why Harry was acting like that. "What happened?"
Harry couldn't answer, but gestured to the dogflap.
Marv went down and popped his head through the door, noticing Kevin with his gun. "Hello..." he greeted with a cheesy grin to both Kevin and Chelsea.
"Hi." Kevin greeted him, then shot him too.
Chelsea had popped her head around to check Kevin, but made a quick 'retreat' back into the living room. Kevin had a silent cheer in victory as he went off himself, avoiding his little traps.
"That little jerk is armed!" Marv grunted to Harry, this was no ordinary kid.
Harry went quickly around to the front of the house, but slipped on some ice and fell on his back. Chelsea giggled quietly and shortly as she saw that. Marv went for the basement while Harry would go to the front door. Kevin chuckled as Harry was going to the front door, he had electrified it. Harry got up and used the railings to get up the steps. However, he ended up slipping again and falling back down them.
Marv braced himself before going down the steps, he took one step and slipped himself, but ended up falling down the stairs. He kept a crowbar handy and wasn't going to let slipping and falling stop him and used the crowbar to pull himself up. He looked through the door window, but couldn't see much due to the curtain, but it caused him to fall back down with his crowbar hitting him on the way down. Harry was knocked out cold due to the fall. However, once he got back up and tried to get to the door, he fell right back down.
Marv tried to pull himself up, his feet skidding from the icy ground in front of the door. He tried so hard to open the door with his crowbar, but he saw it was actually simply unlocked. He shut the door behind him as he tried to look around in the dark, either for something to steal or the kids, whichever would come first. He tried to click the light on, but this broke off the string and the light bulb attached and made a laundry iron fall from the laundry chute and fall right on his head and made him fall again. Harry then woke up and pulled himself up to the front door and gripped the handle. He held on until he heard sizzling then slipped back down the stairs and stuck his burned hand into the snow. Chelsea winced at his pained screams.
Kevin was just cheering at the misfortune of the ones who truly deserved it and not him and Chelsea like with the family. He had watched Harry get his hand burned and was cooling it down in the sand. Marv took his shoes off to creep up the stairs and be very, very careful. However, his shoes and socks were off because the steps had been glued down and had taken them off for him, making him go barefoot, he screamed though once a nail went right through his foot and he fell back on the hard, concrete floor.
Harry ran up to the back, grumbling to himself. He then checked the dog flap and doorknob were safe and forced the door open. "You're both dead!" He shouts. He then entered only for a blowtorch to burn his head and he ran out, screaming and dove into a pile of snow.
Chelsea waited in the living room nervously. Marv picked his crowbar up again and limped slightly as he opened the basement door and suddenly fell.
"Don't worry, Chels..." Kevin soothed his sister, thinking she was probably worried about the bad guys going to get them and punish them for their misdeeds.
Harry touched the top of his sizzling scalp. He became infuriated, then ran back towards the house. He kicked open the door. "Where are you, you little creeps!?" He shouted.
Chelsea offered a weak smile to her brother.
Marv climbed up and it was harder to go by barefoot with the snow and the ice and was even worse than with shoes or boots to cross. He trudged through the snow and saw an open window with the Christmas tree showing and glowing brightly tonight. "Harry, I'm comin' in!" he called and rushed to get in through the window, unknowing of the shattered ornaments that would sting his feet.
Kevin laughed a little from Harry's yells. "Oh, no, we're really scared!" he called, obviously not.
"It's too late for you, kids. We're already in the house. We're going to get you." Harry says as he walked towards the dining room door.
Chelsea had rolled them under the window. She then waited a safe distance away.
"Okay, come and get us!" Kevin tempted once he got the fan ready that was behind a large, messy pile of pillow feathers. Right after he said that, he had went off and let Harry to a classical punishment of being tarred and feathered, only, not really any tar involved.
Marv didn't think to look down and he felt it was too easy to get into the house, but took it anyway and set his feet down, only to feel a worse pain than metaphorical pins and needles. It even made him fall and grab his feet, he really had enough of these shenanigans. "I'M GONNA KILL THAT KID!" he snapped.
Chelsea gasped and tried to bolt past to get to Kevin. Harry wiped the glue and feathers from his own face. Marv stood up and grunted as he walked over more fragile and easily harm inducing ornaments. That was when the two crooks got together and saw each other since they first came to the house. Kevin was placing toy racecars down on the floor to make the bad guys slip and fall even on the inside and not just the outside. Chelsea stood at the top of the stairs with Kevin.
"Marv?" Harry asked.
"Harry?" Marv asked himself, curious of the feathers.
"Why the Hell did you take your shoes off?" Harry asked.
"Why are you dressed like a chicken?" Marv then asked.
"We're up here, you morons!" Kevin called as he sat at the top of the steps with Chelsea. "Come and get us!"
Harry ran with Marv,only for them both to slip on the toy cars. Chelsea hid a small smile.
Kevin was smiling more and looked more evil than they were right now. "You guys give up, or you thirsty for more?" he taunted. "Come on." he then told his older sister and went up the other set of stairs to get the paint buckets.
Marv was struggling to get up, but eventually found his feet and went to follow Harry. Harry got up, stepping on Marv as he did so. He headed up the stairs. Chelsea let the first paint can swing down.
"Heads up!" Harry shouted to Marv, before ducking.
Marv wasn't as lucky, the paint can hit him clear against his forehead, making him fall backward, he really was the unluckier of the duo. Kevin waited a moment before releasing the other one.
"Don't worry, Marv, I'll get them for you." Harry says, only to get hit by the second one the moment he turned around. He then fell landing on Marv.
Chelsea pulled Kevin futher up the corridor.
"They're only kids, Harry," Marv grunted slightly with a small, dazed smile, but was still determined. "We can take 'em."
"Ahh, shut up, will you!" Harry huffs, angry.
Marv noticed that Harry was missing some teeth, more importantly, this gold tooth.
"My gold tooth. My gold tooth. I'll kill them. I'll kill them!" Harry screamed in anger. He then ran upstairs and tripped on the trip wire.
"This is fun." Kevin giggled like the child he was as he escaped more with Chelsea.
Chelsea nodded. "Kevin, go call the police... But don't give your real name." she whispers to him.
"Of course..." Kevin understood that and went to quickly do it and was going under the pseudonym of Murphy and even lowered his voice to sound like a grown-up and not some little kid.
Chelsea waited for him. She then sent him ahead to the attic. Buzz's tarantula was crawling across one of the steps then. Kevin hung up the phone and rushed to go with Chelsea as Harry and Marv were dangerously and closely behind them. He was closer to the door after the bad guys fell down and Marv had grabbed his ankle.
"I got you!" Marv laughed in victory. "I got the boy, Harry!"
Harry was flat on the floor. Chelsea pulled Kevin free, letting him get the tarantula to put on Marv.
"Harry, gimme a hand!" Marv grunted as Kevin was now free.
Kevin tried to be brave and catch the fuzzy arachnid which was more afraid of him than he was of it and he gently placed it onto Marv's face. When Marv saw this, he screamed like a little girl, being deathly afraid of those things and tried to shake it off. The spider landed on Harry's stomach. Chelsea got Kevin to move ahead first. Marv couldn't stand the 'bug' anymore and wanted to get rid of it, he grabbed his crowbar, ready to hit at it.
Kevin was a little nervous when he got to the window, he made a way to get from the attic over to the treehouse by making use out of bike handlebars. Harry was hit on the chest. He grabbed the crowbar off Marv, hitting the taller man three times. As it could only carry one person at a time, a long bit of rope was attached so it could be pulled back up. Chelsea pulled it up and took the long rope off the handlebars. Marv was looking for the tarantula, but he was told to go right upstairs with Harry behind him to get those kids.
Kevin was still nervous about hovering over to the treehouse, but he would be in an even scarier position if he didn't move along. Chelsea managed to undo the rope and then was about to do the same as Kevin. Marv and Harry were coming their way. Kevin waited for Chelsea after he made it safely to the treehouse. Chelsea glanced back and jumped just before they got too close.
Marv looked around first as Chelsea was on her way to join Kevin in the treehouse. "Maybe they committed suicide?" he speculated.
"Down here, jerks!" Chelsea calls, safely in the treehouse with Kevin.
"Come and get us before we call the police!" Kevin also called out.
"Let's get 'em!" Marv was ready to continue the chase.
"Wait, wait, that's just what they want us to do." Harry said.
Chelsea went and got the garden shears.
"But they're gonna call the cops!" Marv reminded him.
Kevin followed after her.
"From a treehouse?" Harry asks, like Marv was dumb. He started to shimmy along the rope.
Chelsea watched and waited until both were a third across.
"O-Out the window?" Marv got nervous suddenly. "I-I'm not going out the window..." Next to spiders, he did not like heights, but he had to go along with it, trying to ignore how sick to his stomach he felt about this and how it felt like a very long way down.
Kevin came back with hedge clippers and put them across from the rope. "Hey, guys!" he mocked the bad guys. "Check this out!" he was going to cut the rope with the clippers and make them fall flat on the ground.
Chelsea smirked and cut the rope. The two men hit the side of the house, before landing in the snow.
Chelsea then helped Kevin get down from the treehouse, letting him go first, following to make sure they didn't get Kevin. "Go to the Murphy's place, Kev." she whispers.
Kevin nodded, he carefully and quickly went to Mitch Murphy's house since he had placed the phone call there for the police to go after Harry and Marv. He had to run, but still be careful from the slick and misplaced ice that could be anywhere on the ground if he wasn't too careful. Chelsea didn't notice the criminals getting back up, but passed by them anyway, glad Kevin was going ahead first. Harry got up.
Marv tried to get up with him, not slipping as much, but still struggled.
"Hey, I'm callin' the cops!" Kevin continued to taunt them with that as he was closer to the Murphy's front door.
"Wait, he wants us to follow them. I got a better idea. Come on." Harry says, leading Marv off.
Chelsea tried to buy Kevin time by throwing a snowball at each man. After Kevin left the front door, he went to the doors that were in the back of the house and opened them the best he could. Once he got one door open, he hopped down and it was flooding in the basement for some reason, but he just kept walking and made it up the stairs. Marv growled at the snowball throwing and glared to Chelsea. Harry went on, grabbing Chelsea and shoving her to Marv as they made their way into the kitchen to cut Kevin off.
Chelsea yelped, when he was angry Harry was quick. Marv actually seemed surprised at the force as he looked down to Chelsea and found himself temporarily in another world. He shrugged it off briefly and grabbed Chelsea's arm to make her go with him and now they had to get her 'baby brother'. Kevin carefully went up the stairs, unaware of what had happened to Chelsea with the crooks, but he opened the door and was given a surprise in which he would not ever want for Christmas. Chelsea was surprised at the look he gave but she was also terrified to be near him again.
"Hi pal. We outsmarted you this time." says Harry, as he grabbed a hold of Kevin. He then hung Kevin up on the door hook.
Kevin was downright horrified, especially with Chelsea taken in as a hostage.
"What're we gonna do?" Marv asked as he didn't let go of Chelsea, he seemed redder than when the iron hit him.
Chelsea was trembling, looking worried to Kevin.
"We're going to do exactly what they did to us," Harry smirked. "We'll burn his head with a blowtorch."
"Smash their faces with irons!" Marv sounded really scary then. "I'm gonna make the girl pay for runnin' away!"
Little did they all know, someone was coming to their rescue. Marley had come and he was carrying his shovel in his hands and he was being very swift and quiet. Kevin was just really scared and worried what was going to happen to him and Chelsea right now to notice Old Man Marley. Marley knocked Marv head on the head first with his shovel, making him let go of Chelsea and he then came, knocking Harry out, so he could save the innocent children. Harry was about to bite off one of Kevin's fingers but was knocked unconscious. Chelsea flinched away from Marv and instantly covered her ears and closed her eyes. Kevin was still shocked, but a little relieved.
Marley came to the two of them and helped them out of their scrape. "Come on... Let's get you two home."
"Chelsea... Chelsea!" Kevin was worried about her, she seemed not well.
Chelsea remained silent, but relaxed very slightly as she followed Marley and Kevin back home.