Build La Build

Chapter 21: Carol of The Bells

"You're really… Santa Claus?" Sento wipes his eyes, "But such a thing is a childish delusion! Delivering presents to every single house in one night? That's physically impossible! You'd have to have-"

"A quantum-temporal warp, combined with a ludicrously accurate wormhole to transport me. I know, I do the math every year. I check it twice, too. Personally, I find the Morris-Thorne model works best." Saint Nicholas rolls his eyes at the amnesiac as he rolls a rock aside, "C'mon kids, what're ya doing? You really wanna be on the naughty list?"

Parad quickly dashes over, hoisting rubble aside, "Amazing… This is really…"

A large wooden sleigh, age visible yet still its brilliant red coat still sticks even to the broken wood. The golden bars that stretch around the sleigh shine brilliantly, and are clear enough for Parad to see his own reflection, "Santa's sleigh… My heart is racing!"

The jolly old man pushes Parad aside, "Alright, that's enough out of you! Too many Hallmark movies these days where kids spend five minutes staring at a hunk of wood. It gets old, y'know?"

Sento's eyes drift to the front, "Uh… Mr. Claus?"

"Just call me Santa. Everyone else does." He shrugs and lifts a piece of concrete out of his seat, dusting it off, "Oh, that's gonna need a steam cleaner."

"Er… Santa, what about your… reindeer?" The portly man's head whips up, as he looks to the front of his sleigh, "Oh by gosh, by golly. Where'd they go? Where'd my boys go?" He looks around, before groaning and slapping his forehead, "Oh, that's what happened!"

Parad looks around awkwardly, "Er… what happened?"

"That… portal thing!" He waves his hands around the air, "I was doing my practice rounds when this… thing just up and swallows my sleigh whole! Oh my bucks must be scared senseless! They have no idea what's going on!"

Sento and Parad look to each other, "Well… what're we supposed to do?"

"Ah, for right now all we can do is just get the sleigh out of this rubble. C'mon, you're tough boys! Help me push!" Santa gets behind the sleigh, pushing it into the warehouse, "C'mon! Can't leave it out for any old schmuck to find!"

"You better be ready for pain, because you made me skip out on a date!" Fourze slams his fist against the orange protrusion on his Driver.

ROCKET, ON!

An orange projection appears over his arm, forming into a giant rocket, "Rider… Rocket Punch!" Fourze is propelled forwards, and he slams the rocket right into the Scorpio Zodiarts, before he quickly disarms the Module and activates another.

CHAINSAW, ON!

Fourze does a reverse jumping roundhouse, slashing into the Virgo Zodiarts that attempts to ambush him, "Keep it up! I ain't even close to done yet!

LAUNCHER, ON!

The cosmic Rider stomps his foot, the rockets on its side barraging the Cancer Zodiarts attempting to body slam him, "You think that was gonna work?"

SCISSORS, ON!

He pins the Libra Zodiarts' staff, and head butts the monster back, "Shove off!"

ELEC, ON!

As Fourze's body glows golden, he swings the rod in his right hand, bashing several of the Zodiarts and knocking them back, "THIS AIN'T NOTHING!"

A blast from Aries sends him flying into a wall, "… Okay maybe this is something."

As Banjou, Emu, and Ryuko charge through the facility, they come across a large room where the man in white is sitting in a meditating position, his purple Steam Gun over his lap.

"You took your time getting here, didn't you?"

"Cut the crap! Who are you, and what're you doing with our world?" Ryuko levels the Scissor Blade at her foe, "C'mon, be quick about it!"

The man chuckles, "I am Mogami Kaisei, and I am interested in your world… because my other is interested in this one."

"Eh?" Both heroes tilt their heads, "What's that mean?"

"Your world and mine are parallel. Certain events… link together. Your Skywall brings my Bugster. My Zodiart Switches assimilate your Nebula Gas. Your version of Kaisei Mogami contacts me." He raises the gun up, "I help him perfect this weapon!"

"What?" Banjou readies his Driver, "There's another you?"

The man raises a small item with a red gear sticking out of it, "Funky, isn't it?"

GEAR ENGINE!

He switches the gun to his left hand, pressing it to his temple, "KAISER!"

FUNKY!

The moment the trigger is pulled, a dark mist envelops his body, and from the right side of his head, red gears burst out, hovering in the air. Some clash against each other, grinding before redirecting and attaching to the man.

ENGINE RUNNING GEAR!

The mist dissipates, revealing a figure in a suit of leather and steel, "You may call me 'Engine Kaiser'. This is the power of Nebula Gas and Bugster… combined into one! It's truly… Funky!" Kaiser dances around in joy before suddenly leaping and twirling in the air, taking a potshot at Banjou, "GOTCHA!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The Rider tumbles back, falling back into a pit, as Emu reaches out and catches his hand, "Got you!"

Ryuko gawks, "Banjou! Why, you… Henshin!" She turns towards the Kaiser, snarling loudly.

LIFE FIBER SYNCHRONIZE, KAMUI SENKETSU!

"Liking the look there, girly! How do you deal with the snow though?" Kaiser leaps back, blocking her swings with the grip of his gun, "Can't be easy!"

"SHADDAP, SHADDAP, SHADDAP! I'M TIRED OF HEARING YOU AND YOUR STUPID LAUGHING!" Ryuko swings downward, knocking concrete and stone away. Engine Kaiser uses the shockwave to backflip away until he reaches a large safe behind him, "You wound me, Ryuko-chan~ If you don't want to hear me though, how about you handle my friends?" He smashes the safe open, "Come out, Greeed!"

From inside the safe, hundreds of small, silver coins launch themselves out, pouring like a river until they coalesce into multiple puddles, with specific colored coins forming at their centers. The masses rise until they reveal a variety of animal-like monsters.

"More monsters? Seriously?" Ryuko backs away, raising her Scissor Blade, "Hojo! Get Banjou up already!"

"I think… I'm gonna lose him!" Emu's fingers gather sweat, his grip loosening on the draconic Rider, "GRK!"

"GOTCHA!" Another hand closes around Banjou's wrist, "As long as I can reach you…"

A man in dirty, old clothes smiles as he pulls Banjou up, "Come on, easy does it now…" Emu helps him hoist Ryuga from over the edge, laying him down, "That was close…"

Ryuko turns around, "Oh who's this guy?"

"Hino Eiji. I've been looking into this guy for a while now."

"Aw, crap! You again?" Kaiser slaps his forehead, "Damned inconvenience!"

"Finally managed to find you. You won't be hurting anyone anymore!"

"GET HIM!" The monsters rush forwards, as Ryuko bats them aside, "Get back! Get back!"

A red creature with bird designs leaps at Eiji, pinning him to a wall by the throat. The impact blasts open the wall behind Eiji, revealing the open sky.

"Ankh? Ankh, is that you? GRK- it's me! Ankh, it's me, Eiji!" The monster growls, tilting its head curiously at the human, who raises a cracked, red medal at it, "Look! It's yours, isn't it?"

"Eh? What's going on? GET HIM you waste of space!" The Engine Kaiser shouts at the beast, "I didn't put in all this time and money for you to just stare at that hobo!"

The Greeed looks at the broken coin, which suddenly begin glowing and shuddering.

Emu ducks under the swing of a dull gray monster, "Eiji, what're you doing?"

Banjou slaps on his Driver, "I got him!"

WAKE UP! CROSS-Z DRAGON! ARE YOU READY?

"Henshin!"

WAKE UP BURNING! GET CROSS-Z DRAGON! YAY!

Cross-Z leaps forwards, delivering a wild haymaker at the Greeed, and freeing Eiji.

He grabs Cross-Z's shoulder, "What're you doing? Don't hurt him! He's my friend!"

Cross-Z turns to Eiji, "Eh? He is? But he was attacking you! Don't-"

"-Don't what? Take back what's mine?" The monster reshapes into a man with flared, pointed hair, wearing a jacket and red pants, "Eiji, you really know how to insult me. First you leave me in that broken coin, then you go ahead and get yourself some random idiots that smack me for no reason!"

"Sorry, Ankh. Didn't have enough time…" He bows, an enormous smile on his face as he does so, "I'll explain later, but for now you mind giving me a hand?"

The monster shrugs, "Don't got a choice, do I? Well if I gotta do it, I better be paid in ice pops!"

"I know, I know!" Eiji rolls his eyes, before settling into a smile, "Ready?"

"Always, partner." The two charge at the monsters, aiding the Kamui wearer and the Rider.

"What's your deal anyways?" Ryuko ducks under the wild swing of the yellow Greeed, slashing its stomach and sending coins rolling everywhere, "You were freaking out at him just now, and suddenly you're buddies?"

Ankh slides along the ground, grabbing at a yellow medal from the pile, "The Core Medal Eiji was carrying contained my memories. Without it, I was a mindless beast."

Eiji roundhouse kicks the blue Greeed before it can strike Emu, "Greeed all have one Core Medal that houses their personalities. Foundation X jumped me a while ago and took all but Ankh's Core Medal. Without them they could make obedient servants."

Cross-Z swings the Closer, cutting open the green Greeed's chest, "So what about these guys?"

"Their personal Core Medals were erased a while ago. They're as good as dead." Ankh snarls as he picks up a green Core Medal, "If you erase them then it's no skin off my back. OI, EIJI!" He raises the red Taka Medal, the yellow Tora Medal he stole from the yellow Greeed, and the green Batta Medal he took from the green Greeed, "Catch!"

Eiji grabs the tossed Medals, and attaches a small device to his waist.

"HOW MANY MORE OF YOU AM I GONNA DEAL WITH TODAY?" Kaiser stomps around, before falling to the ground, crossing his legs and pouting, "This is so not funky."

Eiji puts the red Medal into the first slot, then the yellow into the middle, and finally the green one into the right slot, and then turns the Driver until it's tilted to the right. He grabs a small circle-like object on the side of his belt, swiping it over the Driver. It pings as it passes each one, glowing in their color briefly.

"Henshin!"

TAKA! TORA! BATTA! TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!

Giant images of animals drift around Eiji, as a black suit forms over his body. The images solidify as they're called out, and then attach to his chest through the song. His head now has the image of a hawk stamped onto a helmet, with bright green eyepieces. His chest has yellow sleeves with large claws folded backwards at the wrist. His legs are green with a carapace design layered over.

Cross-Z gapes, "Cool…"

"OOO. Kamen Rider OOO."

"If you embarrass me now I'll throw out all of your shitty underwear." Ankh poorly fights back a smile at the comment before turning back into his monstrous state.

"Ankh! That's not fun to say!" OOO pouts at his Greeed ally before returning his attention to the other monsters, "Let's just get this over with…" He charges at them, wrist gauntlets unfolding and revealing the Tora Claws. A single slash sends most of them stumbling back, just in time for his legs to glow green as he leaps into the air.

The sound of jingling bells throws off everyone's concentration, "Eh?"

Suddenly, through the opening made by Ankh, multiple brown shapes dash through the room, knocking the Greeed over and gathering up the heroes. Before the monsters even hit the floor, they're already gone, soaring into the sky and leaving a trail of powdered snow.

Engine Kaiser looks around, "Eh? Eh? EEEEEEEHHHHHH? WHAT THE FUNK JUST HAPPENED?"

"So... My reindeer are gone." Santa wipes his forehead, "Oh, I'm sweating. Shouldn't have eaten all those cookies. Every New Year, the Missus reminds me to cut down on them, but do I listen? Nope, and now I'm having a heart attack!"

"Eh… please calm down, Santa." Sento reaches for the Saint, patting his shoulder, "We can fix this, right? After all, if you can pull off a wormhole and a quantum-temporal warp-"

"You don't understand, kid! I can only pull this off on Christmas Eve!" Santa throws his hat down, "It's the magic, is all! That's how I pull it off! The wormhole, quantum-temporal warp… I bend the rules with Christmas spirit! But if it's too low, I'm out of luck!" He groans into his gloves, "What's an old man to do?"

A sudden rumbling interrupts them, "Eh?"

Santa groans, "Oh, boy. The guy who's definitely on the naughty list for life. You know, these villain types always manage to somehow compete with each other to see who gets rock bottom spot. It's irritating. I'm running out of quills to keep up with it! Nowadays I just wait until the 23rd to finalize the Villain section of the Naughty List. It's a headache and a half."

"So what's going on?"

"That, young man, is Enigma." Santa points out, "I bet my britches old Kaisei is gonna send it after you boys. He thinks Build is the most dangerous thing on the block. It's funny, when he was five he wanted a chemistry set for Christmas, but he broke a vase and blamed it on his cat." He chuckles as the rumbling gets closer, "Well, I guess this is the end of Christmas. Crushed by a giant evil death machine."

The sound of a zipper rolling catches the attention of the three, and they turn to see a man in a bright orange jacket running towards them, "Eh? EH? EH?"

Sento reaches for his Driver, when the man leaps over the three, approximately fifty feet in the air, and delivers a flying side kick, crashing into a large wavering chunk of air. The man lands against the ground, as the wavering air reveals a giant machine, shaped like a hand. A single red eye glares out from the hand at the heroes and their mysterious savior, "Eh? Who're you?"

"Kazuraba Kouta." The man raises his hand towards the three, "I got this, guys!"

"AN UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT." A broadcasted voice emerges from the machine's interior, "BUT ULTIMATELY WORTHLESS. KAMEN RIDER BUILD MUST BE ELIMINATED. STEP ASIDE AND YOU WILL BE SPARED A PAINFUL DEATH!"

"You really wanna try? Alright, then! Show me what you've got!" Kouta smirks and adjusts his jacket.

"YOU WERE WARNED." The voice turns spiteful as the broadcast cuts, and the Enigma opens up, launching dozens of Guardians from within itself.

Kouta draws a device from his jacket, slamming it to his waist. On one side, a large yellow knife jiggles from the impact, and on the other the image of a samurai's helmet appears.

"Oh this kid. Well, call it in boys! We're saved! HA-HA!" Santa laughs, falling back into his chair, "WHOO-HOO! YEAH, BABY! WE'RE ROCKING AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE TONIGHT!"

Kouta holds up a small orange lock, and pushes a button on the side.

ORANGE!

A giant circular zipper opens from the sky, and a metal orange drifts down above Kouta.

Sento and Parad look to each other, "Eh? Orange?"

Kouta swings his arms, and then clicks the lock into his Driver and pushes it closed.

LOCK ON!

Japanese horagai music blares out, as Kouta grips the knife and his smile turns malicious, "Henshin!"

SOIYA!

As soon as the knife drops, opening up the lock, a blue suit forms around Kouta's body. The metal orange lowers down, slamming into his shoulders and opening up, revealing a samurai armor.

ORANGE ARMS: HANAMICHI ON STAGE!

"Kamen Rider Gaim! Koko kara wa ore no stage da!" He raises two swords, one shaped like an orange slice, and the other a more regular-looking katana. He dashes through the horde, dicing and slashing them apart, before turning his attention to the Enigma machine.

"I HAVE SEEN ENOUGH. 'KAMEN RIDER GAIM', I AM AWARE OF YOU. YOU MAY WIN THIS LITTLE SKIRMISH, BUT ENIGMA'S SYNCHRONIZATION IS ALMOST COMPLETE." The machine fades away, dissipating entirely.

Gaim turns and looks over his shoulder, "Guys, I've got these chumps! I can send you somewhere safe!" He waves his hand before blocking some stray bullets, causing a zipper to open up in the air in front of the sleigh. It opens up, revealing the bridge to Honnou City.

Parad and Sento look to each other before nodding. They run behind the sleigh, and start pushing the thing through the stretching portal, sending jolly old Saint Nick with it.

"WHOO HOO! YOU'RE ON THE NICE LIST FOR ETERNITY, KID! YEEHAW!" Santa pumps his arms, not even bothered by the motion of the sleigh, even as the zipper closes behind them, "Oh, sweet candy canes! That was an amazing save! Hee-hee~" Santa giggles to himself before rising up, "Ooh… Well, with that out of the way, I think I need to give you heroes a hand. Because if'n I don't, well Christmas may as well be cancelled." He reaches into the large bag in the back, "And before ya ask, I ain't gonna give ya yer Christmas gifts early!" He turns around and hands a wrapped box to Sento, then a larger one to Parad, "Open 'em quickly."

"… Why're they wrapped?" Sento mutters as his fingers dart around the packaging, looking for an opening.

"Probably magic." Parad mutters back as he opts to tear his own opening.

The wrapping papers fall, and reveal two different items. In Sento's, there's a small box with a clear plastic cover. Inside are two Fullbottles. One is red with a hat and beard shape, and the other is a light pink with a cake inscribed.

"Fullbottles?"

Parad's gift contains a single green token, bearing the icon of a character wearing a Santa hat and holding up a present.

"An Energy Item?"

Santa nods, "Yep. A little of my power, in a way you can use it. Now, don't let Mrs. Claus know I said this, but once you find Mogami, I want you to kick his ass up and down the road, ya hear?"

The two grin sheepishly, as Santa nods, "Okay, then! Now, one last special present!" He reaches into his bag, "Almost… got it… YES!" He holds up a GPS, "This'll tell you where Mogami's hiding. I was picking up the signal while I was laughin' at Kouta."

Sento picks up the GPS, "This is the best!" His hair pokes out, "Thank you, Santa!"

"Yeah… That's what I normally hear on the 25th. Weird to hear it beforehand. Ah well." He nods, "You kids go do your thing. I'm gonna call Triple E."

The Riders double-take, "Triple E?"

"Triple E. Eminent Elf Elevation." He snaps his fingers, and a whirlwind of rainbow-colored sparkles surrounds the sleigh, raising it into the air, "Ho-Ho-Ho! Wish you luck, kids!"

The two nod as he vanishes, then turn their attention onto their new toys, "Cool! I wonder if these are a Best Match!" Sento shakes the Bottles excitedly, "This is so exciting!"

Parad flicks the coin in the air, "My heart is racing! Come on, Sento! Let's go get Mogami! Get that GPS out!"

Sento reaches for it, before patting around his jacket, "Something isn't right…" He reaches into his coat, "Oh no…"

Parad leans in, "What?"

"My power-up item! I think I lost it…" Sento's mind races, "Where'd I last leave it? I took it with me to the pier! I should still have it! Unless… The portal! That means it's with Banjou and Ryuko!"

LINE

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! I WANT OFF THIS WILD RIDE!" Cross-Z screams, as he clings closely to the creature underneath him, "… Eh? What's this thing? Antlers? Was I rescued by a flying moose?"

"NO YOU IDIOT!" Ryuko shouts from atop the beast carrying her, "It's a reindeer! Like the ones Santa uses to pull… his… sleigh…" She turns her head down to the harness on her ride, "This has a name on it…"

Emu looks down to his, "Eh? Mine too… Eh? EH? EH? 'Blitzen'? This says Blitzen!"

OOO looks at his, "And mine says 'Vixen'!"

"Ryuko, I can't read English. What's this say?"

"It says… D… O… N… N… E… R… Oi, anyone here know what that is?"

Cross-Z points, "Donner! That's Donner, Ryuko! You're riding Donner! And I'm on… 'Cupid'! I'M ON CUPID, EVERYONE!" Cross-Z looks around, "We're really riding Santa's reindeer! Look!"

OOO chuckles, "This is awesome! Oi, Ankh! Which one are you on? Ankh? Where is he?"

They stop when they notice a large, glowing red spot to their side, "No way… Ankh, are you really riding Rudolph?"

The Greeed's scowl is plain to see, "I don't care."

"But Ankh! He's the red-nosed reindeer!" OOO waves his arms at his feathered comrade, "Look, it even glows, just like in the song! Oh, this is the best day ever! How are you not more excited, Ankh?"

"BECAUSE I CAN FLY!" Ankh spawns giant red and green wings, "What's so special about these things?" He hops off of the famous buck, drifting by their side.

Ryuko's jaw gapes, "What's so special? They're MAGIC reindeer, who can fly all around the world in one night! They're the coolest animals ever!" She pets Donner, which whinnies in approval.

Cross-Z shakes his head, "Alright, can we sit down somewhere? This is way too much to take in right now…"

The reindeer suddenly swerve, charging down into the woodlands, and parking themselves near an open space, where a bright red sleigh is waiting, with a portly figure sipping from a cup. He looks up and waves at the reindeer as they come down.

Ryuko gapes, "Is that Santa Claus? Oh my god, it really is Santa! Guys we're about to meet Santa! Oh, how's my hair?"

Cross-Z turns his head, "Your hair? Ryuko, he sees you when you're sleeping, I don't think you can impress him now." He climbs off of Cupid, stroking the buck's chin as he removes the Dragon from his Driver.

"BANJOU I WILL GO OVER THERE RIGHT NOW AND-" Ryuko hops off and stomps over, huffing and snarling.

"-And what, exactly, did you have in mind young lady?" She finds herself staring into a bowl full of jelly, which appears in front of her instantly. Ryuko looks up to see Santa's inquisitive frown.

"Er… I was just gonna…" She retreats at this, while her Kamui looks back and forth between her and the Saint.

Santa clicks his tongue, "Hmm. So good this year, too. Don't want to blow it last minute, missy. I always check my list twice."

Banjou rolls his shoulders, "Er… Santa? Not to rain on your parade, but what exactly is going on here? First we're in another world, then there's a hundred other Kamen Riders, and now there's this? When does it end?"

Santa rolls his eyes, "Well, to make a long, long story short, a man named Mogami Kaisei found out how to use the Skywall in your world to connect to this one. The freaky guy with the white hat is the Mogami from this world. The two are gonna work together to crash these two dimensions together and use the power to become immortal overlords. They're using a machine called the Enigma. See, I just got back from chatting with Sento and Parad-"

"Sento?" "Parad?" Emu, Ryuko, and Banjou lean in closely to Santa, "Where are they? Are they okay? What happened to them?"

"They're fine! I just made them look like idiots, is all. But right now they're trying to track down the Mogami in the World of Build-"

"World of Build?" Senketsu speaks for the first time, "Is that what you're calling our world?"

"Well… yeah. Build's in it." Santa shrugs, "Too many universes for me to give creative names, alright? Anyways, those two are tracking that Mogami down. You guys just had a run-in with the Kaisei of this world, the World of Ex-Aid."

The present heroes nod, "Okay, we got it." "Mm-hmm." "That makes sense to me."

Santa chuckles, "Anyways, I just wanted to let you guys know that Enigma's almost done synchronizing the two worlds. Once it's done, then there won't be any stockings left to stuff." He sighs and pulls out an old pipe, stuffing it into his jaw and reaching for a bag of tobacco.

"So what're we supposed to do?" Banjou tenses up, "We need to stop them!"

"Calm down, kid! You're making it hard for me to light this!" Santa's hands shudder as they try to align his lighter to the pipe. The Cross-Z Dragon sings a holiday tune before spitting a flame into the pipe, "Thanks, Dragon."

"Why should we be calm? I don't wanna die!" Banjou huffs.

"Well, if you'll let me finish-" Santa blows a puff of smoke into the air, shaped like a candy cane, "-I have a present for you kids." He reaches into his bag, and pulls out a GPS, "I just gave Sento and Parad one- it'll help you find Enigma. Blow it up and everything should return to their respective worlds. If not, well… I can always pull an all-nighter. Oh, wait!" He slaps his knee, laughing aloud, "Ah, I crack myself up. Anyways… Hey, you lazy bucks!" He snaps his fingers at the reindeer, "Get over here! C'mon kids! Help me strap these guys in! I'm running late as it is!"

The heroes rush over, coaxing the reindeer to the sleigh, patting and easing them into the proper setup as the sleigh's harness reappears with a golden glitter.

"Amazing… This is magic!" Senketsu's eye widens, "It's beautiful…"

As soon as the reindeer are strapped in, Santa laughs, "Thanks, kids. They don't wanna listen to me anymore unless I get snappy, and I don't wanna get snappy in front of young'uns like yerselves. I'd have to use my angry words, and you shouldn't be hearing- or USING-" He directs a glare at Ryuko and Banjou, "any angry words."

Banjou sighs and shoves his hands in his pockets, "Alright, Santa. Whatever you-" He draws his hand out, holding something in his hand, "Uh…"

Santa looks over, "What's that?"

Banjou's jaw drops, "OH NO! It's Sento's power-up item!" He holds up Rabbit-Tank Sparkling for the others to see, "Oh this is bad! How am I gonna get it to him? We're across worlds! He needs it to fight that Kaiser guy!"

Santa takes off one glove, and uses it to reach out and smack Banjou, "Ease up, kid! I'll get it to the little smarty-pants." He grabs the soda can, "Of all the gimmicks I've seen you heroes use… This has gotta be the weirdest of all…" He tucks it into his gift bag, "Well, if that's everything-"

"Wait, Santa!" Senketsu's eye stares at the Saint, visibly pleading.

"Eh? … What is it?" Santa looks down to the Kamui.

"This may sound selfish to ask… But could something like me… ever be on your Nice List?" The Kamui turns his gaze to the earth, "All of this is so much… Worlds colliding, different kinds of Kamen Riders… A ghost, doctors, an astronaut, animals… All of them were so strong and alive. So without my strength, what am I? A piece of clothing? I have to be more than that! So please tell me that I'm more than just strings, Santa!"

Santa arches his eyebrow, before turning down and reaching for a large, dusty scroll. He cracks it open, and traces his finger along the page, before raising his gaze back to the sailor uniform, "… Code of the Elves. Rule One: Treat every day like Christmas. Rule Two: There's room for everyone on the Nice List. Rule Three: The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."

The Kamui stares, "But… But you just recited something for your elves! What about me? I need an answer, Santa! Please, I want to know that I'm really alive! Do I have a soul, Santa Claus?"

The Saint grins and runs his thumb over his nose, "Sure ya don't got cotton balls in ya?"

"Cotton balls? What does that even-" The crack of a whip interrupts the Kamui, as the reindeer trudge through the snow. The reindeer kick off the ground, rising into the air. The sleigh drags along behind them, before rising into the air, drifting weightlessly. Santa cracks his whip, "HO, HO, HO!"

In front of him, a stretching tube manifests, swirling in red and green. The reindeer charge into it, carrying the Saint with them.

"Did he… Did he really just…" The Kamui goes slack against its wearer, "I'm not alive, after all. I'm just strings tied up to be a weapon."

FWOOSH!

A burst of the Cross-Z Dragon's flame stings at Senketsu, "Ow! What'd you do that for?"

Banjou smiles, "Wow… You must have cotton balls after all if you missed that obvious hint."

Senketsu's eye spasms, "WHAT HINT? ALL HE SAID WAS THAT YOU SHOULD TREAT EVERY DAY LIKE CHRISTMAS, THERE'S ROOM FOR EVERY… one… on… the Nice List." He looks up to the spot where Santa once was, "I'm on the Nice List? I'M ON THE NICE LIST! RYUKO, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?" The Kamui tightens on his wearer, "HE SAYS I'M A REAL LIVING THING! I'M ON THE NICE LIST! I'VE BEEN A GOOD KAMUI! FORGET IT, I'M THE BEST KAMUI! I'M REAL! I'M ALIVE! I'M ON THE NICE LIST!"

Ryuko smiles, wrapping her arms around her uniform, "Yes you are! You're always gonna be the best Kamui ever, Senketsu!"

Eiji gawks, "Doesn't she look kinda weird hugging her sailor uniform like that?"

Ankh rolls his eyes, "Whatever."

"Ankh! Don't be mean!"

Emu walks over to them, "Well… congrats, I guess. So, shall we go then? Let's find Enigma, and save both our worlds."

"Wait, does this mean Santa's gonna get me a present? Ryuko, get some paper and a pen! Tell Santa I want a lint roller, a-and a new iron, and some real fancy soap! Oh, fancy soap would be awesome! You think elves can make special detergent? Oh, I'm so happy I wanna just unravel!"

The Triple E joke reminded me I'm behind on my DMV registration payment.

Now I am sad.

As for the Kaisers, I decided to base their transformations off of blood splatter patterns. They press the gun to the opposite side of where their gears stick out, and thus the gears represent the 'splatter'. For those confused, in the original leaks for Build, it showed concept art of the Transteam Gun users putting their guns to their temples to transform. I still use it with Rogue and Stalk in here. Now I'm just making it funky.

No I will not apologize for art.

Anyways, Merry Christmas to everyone. We're close to the finale of Heisei Generations. I hope to pull off a finale worthy of Kamen Rider and the holiday spirit.

No matter how convoluted. Because it's Christmas, damnit.

Anyways, what's you guys' favorite Christmas movie? I love Elf. My dad and I always watch it every year. It's nice to sit back and drink some hot chocolate with him, and sing 'I'm in a store'.

SANTA! I KNOW HIM!

I'm grinning like an idiot behind this screen and I'm not even ashamed.

With that said, any merry comments? Jolly considerations? Happy consultations? Joyous remarks?

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!