Ok, well, 2bblue101 is the winner of the contest. So, 2bblue101, send me your fight and I will place it in the story post-haste. I wonder if anyone knows what that means?(*cough* contest *cough*) Anyways, here's a Christmas Chapter for today. May or may not have a second part. Which brings me to my next point. This the first and probably only Special Intermission. This chapter takes place after the Smash Arc, so try not to confuse things. Now then, read on.


Special Intermission: Christmas in the Prime Zone

"OWWW!" Lan walked into the main living room, holding his eye. "Ok, whoever hung up that wreath needs to hang it higher. I almost lost my eye."

"Sorry about that," Tommy said, walking past Lan with a ladder. "I had to go find a higher ladder. By the way, you may want to duck before you head through the kitchen door."

WHAM

"Never mind," Tommy called to Lan as a string of curses came from the kitchen. "Jeez. Some people are just so grouchy during the holidays."

***

"Ok, is he ready," Max asked.

"Yep," J answered, looking up from the console of the teleporter, currently set to its Zone Mode.

"So, why am I here," Eva asked, currently blindfolded.

"Well, this is kind of an early Christmas present," Max answered. "Alright, bring him here."

FLASH

Now standing on the teleporter pad was…Solo? However, something was different about him. His clothes were much more modern, but that wasn't the most striking difference. His eyes no longer had a glare, but rather a smile in them. Where once his eyes were hard and glaring, these were soft shining. He himself was also smiling.

"Ok, now you can take off the blindfold," J said, as…Solo walked in?! "Oh, hey Solo." Solo, the one who had just come in, was currently looking at the one they had just transferred.

"SOSO!" Eva exclaimed, tackling the Solo on the pad.

"Hey Sugar Reaper," the one who had been tackled answered. "I missed you."

"What the hell is going on," the one in the doorway asked as the one who Eva was attached to held his hands over her ears. "Why would you bring a zone double of me here?"

"So, you're the Solo that they decided to bring onto the team. Hmmmm…hard to believe I was such a stick in the mud at one point in time," the one on the floor commented. "And you can just call me Sol. At least that way we can avoid some confusion. Even if it is just one letter."

"This is kind of Eva's Christmas present from me and J," Max said.

"Why," Solo asked, still not catching onto the obvious just yet.

"We're kind of an item," Sol answered.

"….."

J walked up to Solo, whistling and waving his hand in front of Solo's face. "Hello? Anyone in there? Ground City to Solo…Wake up." J tapped his index finger to Solo's forehead.

CREEEAK…WHUMP

Solo was stiff as a board, his eyes staring straight ahead. "Ok, if anyone asks, he was like this when we got here," Max said.

***

Geo was walking through a door, passing Sonia, who was heading the other way. "Hang on, you two," Omega-xis said, halting Geo, while Lyra stopped Sonia.

"What," they both asked. Omega-xis pointed at the top of the door frame. Geo and Sonia looked up to see the mistletoe that someone had put up. They both blushed, realizing the trap that their EM partners had set for them.

"Come on you two, you know the rules of Christmas," Lyra said, smirking.

"Tell ya what," Sonia said. "We'll do it if you and Omega-xis do it."

"Not in a million years," Lyra said, while Omega-xis gagged, a paper bag held over his mouth. Sonia and Geo pointed above them, upon which the two looked up to see mistletoe hanging over head, Gemini and Taurus on the end of a fishing pole, laughing like a couple of hysterical maniacs.

"I'M GONNA KILL THEM," Omega-xis yelled, flying after the two, who made an impromptu escape, slowing Omega-xis down with a mettena, which was mercifully knocked unconscious rather than torn to shreds.

***

DING-DONG

"I've got it," Will called, although no one was really listening, as they were all doing some last preparation of some kind for tomorrow morning. He opened the door to see a rather large crowd of people, a netnavi with each of them. Will just stood there looking at them.

"Are you going to let us in or not," a boy with long black hair, tied into a tail, a Konoha band on his head and eyes that did show any pupils asked, somewhat annoyed.

"Uh…sorry for being so rude, but what the hell are you all doing here?"

"Naruto invited us," a girl with pink hair answered. "He said that it was okay for us to come."

"I'm gonna kill that short punk," Will grumbled under his breath.

"I'M NOT SHORT!" Will was tackled from behind by Naruto and brought to the ground, a cloud of dust popping up around them.

"Umm, we'll just let ourselves in," the pink haired girl, Sakura Haruno, said. "We'll meet you two inside once you've settled your differences."

***

"Out, out, OUT!" Jen slammed the door in Kyuubi's face after he had tried to sneak a peek at who would be getting what for Christmas the next day. Most of the girls had locked themselves in the room to wrap presents, while only a handful of the boys opted to wrap for the girls. Or, to be more accurate, Sasuke, Netto, and Shinobi, who used various jutsu to get the job done quickly.

"Jeez, she didn't have to slam the door on my nose," Kyuubi muttered, nursing his nose, checking to make sure that it wasn't bleeding.

"That's what you get for trying to sneak peeks at gifts," Kassie said as she walked into the room that Kyuubi had just been kicked from, making sure that Kyuubi was far enough away so that she could close the door. Kyuubi put his ear to the door and heard five clicks, a padlock being locked and three slidebolts closing on the door. Then someone slammed their fist against the other side of the door, a ringing sound now in Kyuubi's ears.

"One day, I'll learn to not stick my nose where it shouldn't be," Kyuubi said, his head spinning from the ringing, "but I don't think that day is today."

***

Everyone was gathered in the main living room, a large Christmas tree in one corner of the room, people mingling, the newcomers meeting the individual members of the team. "Wow. I didn't know we could fit this many people in here," Max said, walking into the room. All of the newcomers stopped mingling and came over to Max, greeting him, some with tears, others with smiles, but all elated that he was apparently alive.

"Do you have that twenty bucks," the boy that had greeted Will earlier, Neji Hyuuga, asked as he walked up to Max.

"Ummmmm…" Max just stood there. "And you are…?"

"Very funny," Neji said. "I'll let you off this time, since it is Christmas Eve."

"Thanks. Sorry, but I don't have anything for you."

"How about a sparring match later?"

"Ok. Tomorrow afternoon then."

"That works for me."

"Well, if you two are done with this…conversation, I think it's time that we all got some sleep," J said. "Christmas is in about an hour."

"Is it really that late," Megaman asked, taking a look at the wall clock.

"Yep."

***

The next morning, there was some yelling, rumbling, and an explosion in the lab. Not different from any normal morning in the lab, except that this explosion was followed by the smell of peppermint and some hacking and coughing. "Ok, we are never making peppermint bombs again. Unless you want to use it as a weapon. But other than that, never again," Will said, leaning against the wall.

"Well, we could use them to wake everyone up," J said, coming out of the pink smoke with a box full of small round glass balls, each of them only half an inch in diameter, and pink smoke swirling in them.

"Ok, we can also use them for wake up calls. But how long does the smell last?"

"Only about five minutes," Sasuke said. "Now then, give me some of those peppermint bombs. I would like to see other people's reactions to these."

The three then split up, taking separate halls, but they did find that some people were already up. J would be inches from being skewered by Solo for the impromptu wake up call, Will would have to deal with another fight with Naruto, and Sasuke would have a very difficult time explaining what the hell they were all doing. An hour later, everyone was finally back in the main living room, exchanging gifts, laughing together, trying out new gadgets and gizmos, some trying on new clothes, but all were having a good time. Even Solo seemed a bit more relaxed than normal, although he seemed somewhat sad, as if remembering something painful in his past. Max looked around him at the large group, thinking back to his own parents. Z walked over and joined him, resting her head on his shoulder, her own thoughts on her parents. "You know," Max began, catching Z's attention, "if you ask a hundred people what they think this holiday is about, of course you'll get a hundred different answers. But if you ask them a very specific question, few will disagree with you. And I think…I think that the question is whether or not you should spend it with loved ones."

"That was close to being poetic," Z said. "But I do agree with you."


I know that it's late and all, but I wish a belated Merry Christmas to everyone out there. I hope you got what you most wished for and I hoped that you were able to spend it with the people that you love most. And you already know what characters belong to what characters. I also hope that you enjoyed this special intermission. And as to the reason that I took so long with this is that I've been caught up with family.