Gold Demona

Chapter XXIV

To All A Good Night

(Gold Demona)

(Couple weeks later...)(December 24, 2110 A.D.)

It was the morning of Christmas Eve, and as it always was this time of year, it was a very busy morning. Everyone was out and about, doing their last minute shopping for Christmas. Even the shady folk of Olive Branch Trail were busy at work today. I did my best to ignore them as I made my way to the Universal Pawn Broker.

I walked in and found the weird-looking man at the counter.

"Good morning, Miss," he greeting with a sloppy lisp, looking at me with his lazy-eyed gaze. "What can I do for you today?"

"I came here looking for a gun," I said.

"Well, I wasn't expectin' that," he said, "Nice-lookin' girls like you usually look for jewelry, not guns."

"It's for my boyfriend, actually," I said.

"Your boyfriend, you say?" he repeated as he reached down under the counter. "Again, not the usual item on the Christmas shopping list."

"Well, he sold it here a couple months ago," I said, "I wanna see about buying it back for him."

"I see," he said as he started pulling boxes out to the counter. "You know what it looks like?"

"Well, I don't remember the exact model," I said, "It's an old revolver, and really big for a handgun. I probably couldn't wield it. It's dark gray in color with a dark brown handle. I think it was from the late twentieth century."

He froze for a moment and stared at me, although it looked to me like he was staring off in two other directions.

"Yer not talking about Jigen's gun, are you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"How do you know Jigen?" I asked.

"JIGEN'S your boyfriend?" he asked, his face twisting into a shocked expression. "Ya gotta be kiddin' me! That guy HATES females."

"No, I'm not kidding!" I replied, annoyed that he didn't answer my question, "How do you know Jigen?"

"My place is where he buys all his cigarettes and ammo," he answered, "Or at least it was until he sold me his gun. He must be getting his cigarettes somewhere else, cuz I haven't seen him since."

"He must be," I said, "Because he still smokes like a chimney."

"Damn," he said, "It was that hard on 'im that he won't come back."

"Well, do you still have it?" I asked. "The gun, I mean?"

"Wish I could say I did, but I don't," he said, "If you'da been here two days earlier, ya might've caught it."

"You sold it?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "One of my better clients picked it up at my New York location. Paid triple what I was askin' for it. Sorry I can't help you more."

"That's alright," I said, "I probably didn't have enough for it anyway. Thanks anyway."

I turned around and started walking to the door.

"He sold it for you, didn't he?" he asked. "That money was for you."

I looked back at him, not sure what to say. Because what he said was true.

"I knew it," he said, "He said I wouldn't get it when he said he found somethin' worth more than his gun, but it's the only thing that makes sense."

I turned around again, and continued to the door.

"Hey, when you see Jigen," he said, stopping me again, "Tell 'im his gun's gonna be in good hands. REALLY good hands."

I nodded and walked out the door, and with that I made my way home.

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(Later...)

"Oh well," I thought as I opened the front door and walked in, "At least I tried."

As I walked in the door, I noticed Vaala hunched over by the Christmas tree.

"What're you doing?" I asked and walked over to her.

"Trying to get this thing set in here so it's out of the way," she answered.

Then I noticed a rather large package between her and the tree.

"And where did that come from?" I asked.

"It came in the mail while you were out," she said. "Grandpa sent it."

"I thought he said he couldn't get anything to us," I said as I sat down on the couch and watched her fiddle with it some more.

"Well, apparently he managed to get this to us," she said.

"What do you think is in it?" I asked.

"Hell, I dunno," she said.

"Well, why don't you open it?" I asked. "Instead of trying to cram it into the tree? It's not like it's addressed to Mac, is it?"

"Well no," she said and pulled the box back to look at the label. "It's addressed to me and you. And it doesn't have any other instructions."

"Well, then let's open it," I said as I picked up a pair of scissors that were lying on the coffee table.

She grabbed the scissors from my hand and cut the packing tape off. She opened the lid. The box was filled to the top with packing peanuts, and lying right ontop was a note. Vaala picked it up and started reading it.

"Dear Vaala and Gold," she read out loud, "I just wanted you both to know that I'm really proud of everything the two of you have accomplished so far. So I sent you a little something to brighten your Christmas mood. And I'm sure your friends will like their gifts as well. Keep up the good work. Signed, Grandpa Alex. P.S. Tell everyone I said hello and Merry Christmas."

"What?" I replied, "Our friends? Everyone? How does he know there's more than just you, me, and Mac?"

"He just knows," she said, "That's just how he is. Sometimes I wonder if he knows everything."

Then we both looked down and saw what looked like the end of a large bone sticking up through the packing peanuts. Vaala reached for it and pulled it out, sending lots of packing peanuts flying into the air. After they drifted back down, we realized that it actually was a bone. A very abnormally large bone. And tied to it was a card labeled 'Krypto'.

"Maybe he does," I said. "What else is in there?"

I jumped down and helped her dig through the packing peanuts. When we were done, we ended up with ten items all together. Except for the bone, each little package was neatly wrapped in fancy wrapping paper and topped with a bow and a card with a name written on it. It seemed there was a gift for everyone, even Blackarachnia.

"How does he even KNOW about all of them?" I asked. "Let alone know enough about them to know what to get them? Do I even WANT to know how he knows all their names?"

"I've learned not to ask how he knows what he knows," Vaala replied. "Wow, we made a mess."

I looked around and noticed that nearly the entire living room was covered in packing peanuts.

"Okay," I said slowly as we both stared at the mess around us. "Do we have enough time to clean all this up AND go Christmas shopping?"

"With the incredibly insane lines we're gonna have to face?" she replied, "Probably not."

"So do we ditch shopping?" I asked, "Or do we leave the mess?"

"Are you kidding me?" she replied, "We need to get all the ingredients for the feast we're making. That alone will take forever."

"And since it's confirmed that I can't buy Jigen's gun back," I added, "We can use the money from that to buy better quality ingredients. And maybe we can stop at the mall and pick up a few things on the way back."

"If we're gonna do that," she replied, "Then we'll definitely have to leave the mess. I'm pretty sure nobody else will care about a bunch of packing peanuts."

"Except Boober," I pointed out.

"True," she said and started walking to her room, "But then, if he's that bothered by it, HE can pick it all up. Cuz we don't have the time for it."

"Right," I said as I went over to my room. "So I say we should get started on it now if we have any chance of finishing our shopping by sunset."

"My thoughts exactly," she replied as she walked out with a thick coat, scarf and hat. "So let's get going."

I laughed as I continued into my room and grabbed my jacket, scarf, and gloves.

"It's a good thing I stuffed that money into our account yesterday," I said as I walked out of my room, "Because it would've been a pain in the butt lugging that metal briefcase around."

"Not to mention dangerous," she replied as we made our way out the door. "At least it's good to know we won't have to worry about our budget for a while."

"Yeah," I agreed, "No kidding."

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(Later that night...)

(Vaala)

The entire apartment was filled with a weird and happy energy. The kind of energy that filled everything on Christmas Eve. There were all sorts of food laid out on the table in the penthouse dining room. Three kinds of pasta dishes, a ham with a few slices already cut out of it, five different kinds of pies, and one huge turkey, plus one more still in the oven.

I'd just laid the first turkey down on the table with the rest of the food when Markl started tugging on my apron.

"Vaala! Vaala! Vaala!" he called in a hyper exciting voice, "Can I please please PLEASE open my present from your grandpa? PLEASE?!"

"Markl, chill out," I laughed as I turned around to see him better. "We're opening presents after dinner. You can wait until then, can't you?"

"Awww..." he whined, "I suppose so."

"Good boy," I replied as I patted him on the head with my still oven-mitted hand.

"Why are you so excited about my grandpa's present, anyway?" I asked. "It's not like you don't have presents from other people, too, ya know."

"I know," he said, "But everybody got something different from him, even Blackarachnia. I really wanna know what I got."

"Believe me, ALL of us are curious as to what he got us," I said as I took the oven mitts off and started walking out of the dining room. "The rest of us have to wait until after dinner. So can you."

"Alright," he said and followed me out.

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(Gold Demona)

"It's so beautiful out here," I said.

"Yeah," Jigen agreed, "But not nearly as beautiful as you."

We were out on the roof, watching the snowfall as we looked over the city. I had my jacket and scarf on and my wings draped over my shoulders like a cape, while Jigen had his jacket closed around me and his wings wrapped around ontop of that. I had my back to him so we could both look in the same direction.

"Are you sure you haven't had enough of this cold?" he asked. "I can feel you still shivering under all that."

"No," I said, "I wanna stay out here."

"Why?" he asked, "It's just snow. Nothing really special about it."

"I know," I replied, "But growing up in Los Angeles, I never got to see any snow. The closest thing we had to it was maybe one day out of the whole year where it would snow for a just few minutes. Just enough for everyone to stop and stare at it. A few minutes of faint and barely visible flakes. And then just like that, it was over. It was never anything like this."

"Hmm," he replied, "You've never been anywhere other than here and your orphanage, have you?"

"No," I answered, "Before coming here, the closest thing I ever had to any kind of travel was any time they'd have a show on TV about interesting places to visit. I've wondered to myself if I would ever get the chance to really see these interesting places for myself. To see the world through my own eyes."

He held me closer as I finished saying all that.

"You'll see it," he said. "I'll take you there."

"What?" I chuckled.

"Whenever this whole thing here is finally over," he said, "I'll show you the world. I know where all the really interesting places are. Places you won't see on any TV show. We'll go everywhere. America, Asia, Europe. It'll all be yours to see. We'll see what there is to see, eat the local cuisine."

"Dodge the authorities," I added, raising a brow at him, "You're a nationally wanted criminal, remember?"

"Kinda hard to forget," he said, "I know how to keep under the radar. You don't have to worry about that. Only cop we'd have to worry about is ol' Pops, and he'd be too busy tracking Lupin down to worry about me."

"Right," I replied as he adjusted his embrace on me.

"Hell, I'd frickin' GIVE you the world if I could do it," he said. "You know I would."

"Yeah," I said, just enjoying the moment, "I know."

"Gold, you mean more to me than anything," he said, "If you want to see the world, then I'll take you to see the world. When this is all over, come Hell or high water, I'm gonna show you the world."

"Jigen," I said, leaning my head back to his chest.

I heard the door open behind us. We both turned to see who it was. Vaala stepped out from behind the door.

"Whoops, sorry for interrupting," she said as she walked up to us. "But the first turkey is done. If you want, we can get started on dinner now so we can get to the presents quicker."

"That sounds good to me," I replied and looked up at Jigen, "How about you?"

"Food sounds good," he said as he unwrapped his wings and unbuttoned his jacket to free me.

We turned and followed Vaala back to the apartment.

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(Boober)

"This is ridiculous," I thought as I moved two feet forward, "I should've known better than to go shopping on Christmas Eve."

I was in line at the cash register, waiting for my turn to pay for the Christmas present I was planning to buy for Red. The line was incredibly slow. I was only two people away from my turn at the register, but I didn't have much time left. If I wasn't out of the store in the next fifteen minutes, I would've had to leave the item and go home.

Gold and Vaala had allowed me some cash to spend. I didn't ask for it. They just gave it to me, telling me that since I took part in some of the earnings, I should have some money to buy Red a nice present. I couldn't argue with that. There wasn't anything I would've liked more than to give Red something nice for Christmas, but with every second I waited in that line, the further away it seemed for that to happen.

At the front of the line was a man buying an entire cart full of items, many of which were toys. The look on his face was more of annoyance than joy, and grew more annoyed with each item scanned as the total went higher and higher. It made me wonder if there was any joy left in this holiday, especially for those of us who can't show our true faces in public.

It seemed society had completely forgotten what Christmas was all about, myself included, and now we had to somehow figure it out for ourselves. So far, the only purpose I could see for this holiday was for people to wait in lines for hours to buy each other gifts that they may or may not like.

Waiting second in line, right in front of me, was a small boy, probably no older than six or seven. His clothes were worn and ragged, and he was filthy. I kept a fair distance while still keeping my place in line. He fussed around a lot, as small boys tended to do. It seemed like getting to that register was the most important thing in the world to him. As he paced around in his spot, I noticed that he was holding two items. In one arm, he had a large jar of pennies. In the other arm, he had a shoebox, inside of which was a pair of nice-looking women's dress shoes.

"Odd," I thought, looking at the shoes, and then at the pennies. "Ugh, those pennies are gonna take forever to count."

The man in front finally finished his order, paying for his items and leaving. The boy leapt up to the counter and placed the shoes at the register.

"Sir, I wanna buy these shoes," he said to the cashier as he lifted the jar up to the counter, "For my mama, please. It's Christmas Eve, and these shoes are just her size."

"Alright, little man," the cashier said as he started ringing up the shoes.

"If you could, sir," the boy said, "Could you please hurry? Daddy says there's not much time."

This had both the cashier's head and mine tilted in confusion. All of us were in a hurry to get out, but it seemed strange that this boy would want him to hurry just because his father said so.

"Not much time for what, son?" the cashier asked.

"Well you see, sir," he said, "She's been sick for a long time, and I know these shoes are gonna make her real happy, and I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The cashier could only nod and pour the pennies out of the jar to count them. The counting went on for what seemed like years, but when it was finally finished, the cashier had a pained look on his face. I knew that couldn't be a good sign.

"Son, I'm really sorry," he said, "But there's not enough here."

The boy was on the verge of tears. He started to panic, searching his tattered pockets. He spun around trying to find something on him. He wound up looking up at me. The look on his face was mortifying.

"Mama made Christmas good at our house," he sobbed, "And most of the time, she never got anything. What am I gonna do? Somehow I gotta buy her these Christmas shoes."

I couldn't stand it anymore. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the cash Gold and Vaala had given to me. It was just enough to complete the total for those shoes.

The boy looked right at me, his face lit brighter than a Christmas tree. I smiled down at him and nodded at the cashier to finish the order. He rung the cash, bagged the shoes, and handed the bag to the boy.

He was jittering with joy, hopping up and down for a moment just before running over and hugging me.

"Thank you, mister!" he said, "Mama's gonna look so great! Thank you! Merry Christmas!"

And with that, he took his bag and ran out the store.

"You ready?" the cashier asked me as I turned back to him.

I looked down at the item in my talon, and then back to the cashier. I placed it down on the counter between us.

"I've changed my mind about this one," I said, "I don't think I want it anymore."

"Don't have enough for it anymore, huh?" the cashier chuckled.

"No, I don't," I chuckled back. "Although I don't think she would've liked it anyway."

"Alright then," he replied and took the item behind the counter. "Have a Merry Christmas."

"Thank you," I said and began to walk away, "Merry Christmas."

I walked out of the store and looked up to the sky. The snow was drifting down. I could feel a lot of the flakes landing on my beak as my head was pointed up. I watched the falling snow, and I smiled.

"That was it," I thought, "That's what Christmas is all about."

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(Vaala)

"That turkey looks really good," Gold said as I pulled the second turkey out of the oven, "Almost looks better than the first one."

"That's only because this one's fresh from the oven," I replied.

"I guess so," she said and pulled a big pile of plates out of the cabinet.

The front door opened and Boober walked in.

"Hey, you're just in time," Gold greeted as he shut the door behind him. "Everyone else is already gathered in the dining room for the dinner."

"It looks good," he commented. "I'll go join everyone else."

"I take it you didn't find anything for Red?" Vaala asked.

"No, I found some things," he said, "But then something else happened that was more important. I'll tell you about it at dinner."

"Alright," Gold replied and handed Boober the pile of plates, "Take these over there for me, will ya?"

"Sure," he replied and disappeared into the penthouse.

"What could possibly be so important that he couldn't buy anything for Red?" Gold asked as she pulled out the napkins and silverware.

"I guess we'll find out, won't we?" I replied as we made out way to the dining room.

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(Blackarachnia)

"That's really something, Boober," Vaala said as Boober finished talking about some little boy and a pair of shoes.

Everyone was sitting at the table, eating from all the different things there were.

"I think it's really cool," Markl said, "That he did something so nice for that boy."

"I'm sure that kid's mom will really enjoy those shoes," Gold added.

"An admirable act indeed," Silverbolt said.

"Agreed," Mac said, "I know I would've done the same thing."

I couldn't understand a word of what she said, but I'd stopped caring about that after she stopped being a priority. The conversation was droning. We were already mostly done eating, but everyone seemed to want to keep talking. I just couldn't understand why it was so interesting that Boober helped some kid buy his mother a pair of shoes?

"Seriously," Red added, "For once, I'm actually proud of you, Boober. That kid's mom might die at any given moment. It's awesome that he was able to give something to her for Christmas."

"How do you know that was his actual intent?" I asked, "How do you know that this kid wasn't just scamming you to buy those shoes for him? Playing at your heart strings with some sappy sob story?"

"If you'd have seen this boy up close, you wouldn't be saying that," Boober said, looking right at me.

"Even I'd like to think people in this country are better than that," Jigen said, "Even if they ARE out to kill us."

"Yeah, that's just depressing," Vaala added. "I think now would be a good time to get to the presents."

"Good idea," Gold replied as she got up from her chair.

"Alright! Presents!" Markl yelled and jumped out of his chair.

We all got up one by one and headed over to the living room.

"And they wonder why I don't talk very often," I thought to myself.

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(Gold Demona)

Aside from the presents from Alex Xanatos, there weren't really a lot under that tree. We had a really hard time trying to find things anyone would like, especially since we waited until Christmas Eve to do the shopping. We ended up just buying a couple of magic toys for Markl.

Everyone was sitting around the living room, each with the presents labeled for them in their talons. I sat on the couch with Jigen to one side of me and Vaala on the other. Silverbolt and Blackarachnia sat furthest from the tree. Markl sat right next to the tree, with his presents from us already opened and his still wrapped present from Alex in his talons. Mac sat on the arm of the couch nearest to the tree. Krypto was lying down under the tree, already chewing on his gigantic bone.

"Well, now we know to do our shopping WEEKS in advance," I whispered to Vaala, who was right next to me.

"Yeah, no kidding," she whispered back, "I kinda feel bad that everybody's just getting presents from my grandpa."

"Well, at least they're getting presents at all."

"True."

"Hey Vaala," Markl called and knocked us out of our whispering, "Since these are from your grandpa, why don't you go first?"

"Okay," she replied and held up the card that was attached to her present.

She cleared her throat and started reading the note on the card.

"My Little Vaala," she read out loud, "Your real gift is on its way. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this first addition to your new plushie collection."

A smile perked up on her face as she tore through the packaging and pulled out a plush doll of something that looked like a pale blue vampire with red, black and gold armor, a white cape, and white hair tied back in a ponytail sticking out from the top of his head.

"OH MY GOD, IT'S SOOOOOOOO CUTE!" she squealed as she hugged the plush doll in her arms.

"Uh, who is that supposed to be?" I asked.

"Only the king of the third race," she said as she held it up for everyone to see, "Behold the mighty Lord Obiwan!"

"Uh, isn't it Oberon?" Boober replied.

"Well yeah," Vaala answered, "But that's what I used to call him as a kid. So who's next?"

"I'll go," I said as I picked my card up and read it.

"Dear Gold," I read out loud, "I've been keeping your mothers up to date on your progress, and they want you to know that they are very proud of you. They sent this with their best wishes so that you'd always remember them, although even without it, they're kinda hard to forget."

"No kidding," I said in response as I opened the package.

Inside was a thick binder, with the words "Happy Memories at the Happy Lesson" labeled on the front cover. I opened it and discovered that it was actually a photo album.

"Oh my God, Gold!" Vaala squealed, pointing to one of the pictures, "Is that YOU in that picture?"

"Has to be," Jigen replied, "She's the only one with yellow skin and pink hair."

The picture she was pointing at was one with me and four other kids at the orphanage, three humans and a gargoyle. I was only six years old in that picture.

"Yeah," I laughed out of embarrassment. "That's me."

"And are those your moms?" Vaala asked.

The picture next to my childhood photo showed the five human women who ran the orphanage: the five Mamas of the Happy Lesson Orphanage. My mothers. I remembered all the crazy times I had there, and the friends I missed so very much.

"Yeah," I said and then shut the binder, "But I think my trip down memory lane can wait until everyone else's presents are opened. Who'll take the next turn?"

"I'll go," Mac said, "And I already know what it is."

"Oh?" Vaala replied, "How?"

"To my friend, the Professor," she read from her card, "Here's to one more year of our long-lasting friendship. Bottoms up."

She opened the package and pulled out a bottle of some kind of liquor. If I had to guess, I'd say it was scotch.

"Scotch?" Jigen commented, "But you HAVE scotch."

"It's a bit of a joke going between us," she explained as she put the bottle down, "He sends me a different bottle of scotch every year to try and find one better than mine. Of course, he has yet to succeed on that."

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Me next! Me next!" Markl said as he yanked his card off of his present.

"To young Markl," he read, "I'm sure you're probably feeling pretty stuck doing the same tricks over and over again, and I'm willing to bet your old master would want you to progress in your studies and training. I hope this will help you do just that."

He opened his present, and inside was a large thick book. With a puzzled look on his face, he opened it up and started flipping through the pages. And with every page he turned, the look on his face got a little happier until he was bouncing with excitement.

"This is a book of spells," he said, "My very own book of spells! And look at this! There's even some blank pages in the back so I can put my own spells in here!"

I smiled as I watched Markl thumbing through his new book, his attention completely focused on it.

"I guess I'll go next," Red said and opened her card.

"To the lovely and talented Red," she read out loud and nodded in agreement, "Your band is definitely a lively bunch of characters. They send their best wishes to both you and Boober, as well as their latest completed project. They miss you both and hope for your safe return to the free world."

"Their latest completed project?" Boober repeated.

She opened the wrapping and pulled out a music disk labeled "Fraggle Rock: Escape From New Liberty".

"Holy crap, they finished it," she said and looked at the back, "Boober, we so have to listen to this later."

"Definitely," he said and took off the card that was on his present.

"Boober," he read, "I'm sure you've been needing this for quite some time now, and I know how picky you are about this sort of thing. So I made sure to only get you the very best."

He opened it and pulled out a box that contained a professional grade hair-dying kit.

"Oh thank goodness," he sighed, "Now I can stop my hair from turning black. He even got it in the shade I really like."

"Hey, what's wrong with our black hair?" Jigen protested.

"Well nothing," he said, "I just don't want my hair to be black."

"Mm-hmm," Jigen replied.

"Yours is pretty big, Silver," I pointed out, "Why don't you go next?"

He nodded in agreement. He pulled out his reading glasses and put them on his canine nose so he could read his card.

"To the brave and noble Silverbolt," he read, "I'm sure times have been most difficult for you as of late, and I'm sure right now you don't feel like you're able to do much. Enclosed is a little something to help you with that. It'll help you hone those fighting skills your father taught you. You never know when these skills might come in handy."

With a confused look on his face, he put his glasses away and unwrapped his present. He opened the box inside and pulled out what looked like a sword, except the blade was somewhat rounded and kind of resembled a feather.

"Magnificent," he said as he held that sword in one talon and pulled out an identical one in his other talon. "Vaala, your grandfather has remarkable taste in weaponry."

"Not really," she replied, "He just knows yours well enough to know what you would like."

"Yeah, but how does he KNOW all this?" Red asked. "We haven't been here long enough for him to know us THAT well, especially since he hasn't MET all of us."

"He has his ways," Vaala replied. "I can't really say how he does it. I just know he does. So who's next?"

"What did you get, Jigen?" Boober asked and pointed to the small box in Jigen's talons.

"Probably something smartassed," he replied, "I've actually have met the guy before on a couple of occasions. He and Lupin have some kind of history together."

He picked up his card and started reading it.

"Jigen, my friend," he started, "You really need to be more--"

He suddenly stopped reading, and his face went stiff as he read the rest of his card to himself. He tilted his head so his eyes were more visible. They were wide and blinking as he looked down at his gift.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Aw, hell no," he said, "It can't be."

"What?" Vaala asked, "Can't be what?"

He unwrapped the box and lifted the lid, but just enough so only he could see what was inside. Then he chuckled and closed it again, shaking his head.

"That son of a bitch!" he chuckled.

"What?" Boober asked, "What's in it?"

"Jigen, my friend," Jigen started reading the card again, "You really need to be more careful with your belongings. If Lupin hadn't tipped me off about this when he did, it would've wound up in the hands of one of New York's most dangerous drug runners. Lupin and Goemon send their best regards and ask that you please try not to lose this again."

"Wait," I said, "You don't mean...?"

He opened the box and pulled his gift out for everyone to see. And resting on his talon was the same dark gray revolver he'd sold at the pawnshop, his Smith & Wesson M19 Magnum.

"No way!" I said, not sure of what else to say.

"Hey, you got your gun back!" Markl

"Jigen, that is so awesome," Vaala said.

"What's so special about it?" Blackarachnia asked, "It's a gun."

"It's not just any gun," Jigen said as he twirled the gun on his claw and slipped it into the holster still attached to his belt behind him on his right side. "Man, it feels good to have some weight in there again."

"You've kept your holster on?" I asked, "This whole time?"

"Well, what else was I gonna do with it?" he replied, "Throw it out?"

"I suppose not," I replied.

"So now you're the only one left, Blackarachnia," Vaala said as we all turned to look at her.

"And what makes you think I want to take part in any of this?" she asked.

"Well, don't you want to find out what my grandpa gave you?" Vaala asked. "The rest of us got some really cool gifts from him."

She looked down at the gift in her talons. It was a wide, long, flat box, the kind of shape usually associated with clothing. She just sat there staring at it for a minute before finally picking up her card.

She didn't read it out loud. Instead, she just opened her present, lifted the lid on the box, and then shut it again. The look on her face was really not a happy one. It showed frustration and turmoil. She stood up from her spot on the floor, turned her cloaker on, and took her card and gift outside without saying a word to any of us.

"Well, that was really weird," Red said, "She acts like she's never gotten a Christmas gift before."

"Maybe she hasn't," Silverbolt replied as he got up and left behind Blackarachnia, leaving his swords on the floor.

"Just what is her deal anyway?" Red asked. "I mean she is majorly overkill on the weird factor."

"I wonder what grandpa gave her?" Vaala asked. "That would make her react like that?"

"I'd like to know what the hell it was he wrote in that card," Jigen said, "Cuz that look on her face appeared the second she started reading it."

"I'm sure she'll disclose that when she deems the time is right," Mac said as she got up from where she sat and walked over to the TV. "Markl, I have something for you in the lab."

"You do?" he replied as he got up and followed her into the penthouse, carrying his large spellbook under his arm. Krypto just stayed where he was, chewing on his bone.

"Does anyone else find it odd that he stayed perfectly calm the whole time Blackarachnia was in here?" Jigen asked, pointing to Krypto.

"Hey, I didn't notice that," I replied, "You're right."

"And he didn't move when Markl got up and left," Boober added.

"I guess that bone must be THAT frickin' good," Red suggested, "If it's making him that oblivious to everything."

"Wait a second," Vaala said as she pulled the card from Krypto's bone and opened it. Krypto didn't seem to notice at all.

"Just for good measure," she read, "I placed a special charm on this bone to keep him calm and quiet for a while. As long as he chews on this bone, he won't notice anything that's going on, and he'll keep chewing on it until it's gone. I made sure to get the largest bone possible to keep the charm going the longest. Don't worry. As soon as he's done chewing it into nothing, he'll be back to normal. By then, things should probably be settled with Blackarachnia. Lot's of love and well wishes to everyone. Signed, Alexander Fox Xanatos."

"How the hell does he do that?" I asked.

"You know, Gold?" she replied, "I have no idea."

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(Mac)

I stepped into the lab and picked up a package I'd wrapped earlier in the evening. Markl ran in behind me, carrying his new book.

"Here, Markl," I said as I sat down on my chair and held the package out for him.

He placed his book down on the table and took the gift.

"This is for me?" he asked.

"Aye, it is," I said, "Open it."

He tore the paper and tossed it aside. He held the item firm in his talons and then he looked at me.

"But this is your chess set," he pointed out, seeming somewhat confused. "The one we play on."

"Aye, that is it," I said with a nod, "I want you to have it."

"Me?" he replied. "But you made this. Shouldn't you keep it?"

"I've kept it for several decades now," I said, "It's time I passed it down to younger talons."

He looked back down to the old wooden chess set in his talons. Slowly, he put it on the table beside his book and then leapt into me, wrapping his wee arms around my waist.

"I love you, Mac," he said with his face planted into my side.

I cracked a smile and placed an arm around him.

"I love you too," I replied, "Happy Christmas, Markl."

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(Blackarachnia)

"How does he know all this?" I thought to myself as I marched my way up to the roof and read the card again.

"Dear Blackarachnia," it said, "I know you're probably having a good bit of trouble fitting in with everyone else due to your particular circumstances as well as issues with your current employer. I'm sure it would make things a little easier for everyone, including yourself, if you looked a little less intimidating."

"This doesn't make any sense," I thought as I paced around outside, trying to figure things out.

I looked in the box again to make sure I knew what I'd seen. And just like the first ten times I looked, there was an entire outfit of designer clothes neatly folded inside the box.

"How would this make things easier for me?" I asked to no one in particular, thinking out loud. "This is just ridiculous. Why am I even debating to myself about this? What do I care what some old man gives me for Christmas? Why do I even care about any of this? Christmas isn't something for people like me. It's for normal people."

"Blackarachnia?" I heard Silverbolt call from the bottom of the stairs.

I rolled my eyes as I turned to see him walk through the door.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I only wanted to find out if anything was the matter?" he answered.

"This is all just too weird for me," I said, "Christmas was never something I cared about. It was always just another day for me."

"Did you celebrate any holidays?"

"Of course not. Why are holidays so important for you people?"

"You can say that it gives us something better to look forward to than just another day," he said, "Or in the case of us gargoyles, an early death."

"Something better, huh?" I replied.

He nodded and smiled at me.

"There are many kinds of holidays that many kinds of people celebrate," he said, "Christmas is a time to celebrate being with one's family. We give each other gifts to show that we care for one another. Whatever it was that you received from Vaala's grandfather, he must've had your best interests at heart. At least that was the case with what he'd given to the rest of us."

"Tell me somethin', Jojo," I started, "Why do you care so much about whether or not I get along here?"

"I simply wish for us all to live in peace," he said, "In harmony. The best way for that to happen is for you to get along with everyone."

"But why do you care?" I repeated. "You can just mind your own business and not have to worry about me."

"I cannot," he said, "It's not my nature. I'm not at ease when there's tension amongst the clan. A trait I'm afraid followed me from when I led my previous clan."

"And acting as a leader should, you try to fix everything," I replied. "Not that it's quite that easy."

"It never is easy," he said as he turned and started walking away, "But it also is never impossible. I know that eventually, I will get through to you that I want what is best for everyone here. And that when I say 'everyone', I do include you."

I watched as he walked through the door and down the stairs.

"Finally," I thought to myself, "I thought he'd never leave."

I turned around and look over to the sea as a screen of snowfall tried to block my view.

"I need to avoid him as much as I can," I thought to myself, "He's distracting me from my mission with all that concern and attention he's giving me. I need to keep myself focused. If I'm not careful, I might end up actually liking him, and if that ever happens, I can kiss my life good-bye."