Hey-o!

So, quick note here for you guys, updates will more than likely start slowing down. Why, you ask? Because I start SCHOOL next week, yaaaaaay! XD

*cries*

Also, SO many costume descriptions in this one, oh my god! I feel like I'm in a fucking 'My Immortal' chapter! Yaaaaaay!

Also also, Lock, Shock, and Barrel are garbage! And, go figure, Jack Skellington is ALSO hard to write! YAAAAAAAY!

. . . Idek guys, I'm so tried.

Enjoy.

Obligatory Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OCs.


Care for a Holiday?

Before descending to the next world (a good week after I'd woken up, because everyone insisted that I get some rest before we headed out), Sora called a quick meeting in the cockpit for reasons as of right now unknown to me.

Really, I hoped that whatever it was, it was quick. I was aching to get off this stuffy ship and stretch my legs, no matter where we went, because I could only take being cooped up and mommied for so long. And a distraction would be nice, in the long run. The ship was too quiet at times, especially at night. And quiet often led to thinking. And thinking often led to me falling asleep and suffering through dreams-nightmares-of a deep, drowning darkness that I could not escape from . . .

I blinked and forced myself to relax before anyone noticed the way breathing had gotten a little quicker.

"So . . . why are we here?" I asked, looking from one face to the next.

"Well . . . I kinda wanted to talk about that guy before we left," Sora explained, and Donald and Goofy both nodded alongside.

I quirked an eyebrow, "What guy?"

The three shared a quick glance before Sora explained, "The . . . guy who saved you."

Oh shit.

"Oh . . . what about him?" I asked, choosing my words carefully. They couldn't know that I knew him, could they? I hadn't blurted anything out in my half-awake state, I was sure! But . . . should I just tell them? Now that they all knew, it meant I couldn't keep them out of it. But . . . no, no, I couldn't tell them yet. I barely knew anything about him myself, what would blurting out I already knew the guy accomplish? Except make myself look bad and untrustworthy, and I didn't want to do that to them right now. Not after so bad a scare . . .

"Well, when he came by, he said he knew our names," Goofy said, "And then we started thinkin'-"

"That it might be the same guy you guys saw at the Coliseum," Sora cut in, looking at us in earnest, "He matched the . . . description you gave us, Mari, but was it really him?"

Mari looked at me and I looked at her, while secretly hoping she would take up the burden of explaining. I did not feel like accidentally slipping up and revealing what I knew.

Thankfully, it seemed Mari heard my telepathic emanations, "Yeah. Yeah, it was definitely the same hottie from the Underworld. But-"

"I knew it!" Donald shouted, eyes narrowed, "He is following us!"

"But why, though?" Goofy asked, looking puzzled.

"But is that a bad thing?" Mari interjected suddenly, and the boys all turned their expectant (and slightly stunned) gazes on her. Twiddling her fingers, she looked down and started to explain, "Maybe it is a little creepy but . . . but all he's done so far is help us out. Me and Hikari would have been in big trouble back at the Coliseum, and if he hadn't been following us, Hikari might have . . ."

She trialed off, but she didn't have to say anything for everyone to know what she was talking about.

" . . . I'm not saying he's a bad guy," Sora said after a grim moment of silence, "I don't want to think that, anyway, because he did help us. But, ever since the Organization . . . I don't, maybe I'm just being paranoid."

Wetting my lips, I decided to finally speak out, "Well, I think you're right to be. He's obviously following us, and he's not exactly forthcoming when it comes to what he wants. Suspicious, if you ask me."

"Exactly!" Donald said with a short nod.

Goofy tapped a finger to his lips, eyes narrowed in contemplation, when he looked up and said, "Hey, I've got it! Why don't we just keep a lookout for him for now!"

Sora nodded, "That sounds like a good idea. Who knows, he might even be here on this world too."

"Probably . . ." I muttered just under my breath. Bastard had a knack for showing up wherever I was. 'Keeping an eye on me' and all that.

A bastard . . . who had saved my life, yeah, but that was beside the point.

Donald crossed his arms and grumbled to himself, clearly more in favor of a 'capture-and-interrogate' plan but knowing he was outnumbered in this regard. Next to him, Mari smiled, "That sounds fair! If he is here, maybe we can ask him what he's doing!"

I only shrugged my shoulders, already knowing that he would not but saying regardless, "Fine, whatever. Can we go now?"

I was eager to do stuff, okay? And this world looked interesting.

"We probably should, but . . ." Sora looked at me then, and I fought back the urge to groan. Here we go . . . "Are you sure you're up for it? I mean, you can stay here , if you want."

"Sora. I'm fine. You and I had a sparring match just yesterday, you should know that I'm not about to faint the moment we step off the ship," I told him bluntly, arms crossed and eyes narrowed in a flat, no-nonsense stare.

Abashed, he rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess. Okay, if you're sure."

"Don't worry guys! I'll keep an eye on her!" Mari added with a smile, and she only waved me away when I shot her a sour look.

Everyone nodded, and I, eager to be gone, said, "Alright. Then let's do this!"

{******}

When the light at last cleared and I stepped forward to test my bearings, I looked around to see that we had materialized in a forest of some sort. A very dark, piney forest full of almost dead-looking trees, the thin, naked branches scraping against each other and producing a rattling din that was equal parts creepy and eerie. A full moon was framed behind the skeletal trees, washing the ground with pale, pasty light, and in the distance, I heard a wolf howl. Several of the trees had odd doors carved into their trunks, with the centermost pine having a very out of place Christmas tree on it. Stranger than even all of those things, however, were the many, many, many vibrantly colored presents laying strewn about the forest floor, a sharp, almost disturbing contrast to their starkly bleak surroundings.

"Ooh, presents!" Mari squealed, sounding delighted despite their absurdity, "Are they for us?"

"I doubt it. But . . . why, though?" I asked, looking the shiny packages over curiously. Seriously, what were they doing here?

Then, Mari squealed again, but this time for a far different reason, "OOH, costume change! Look, Hikari, look! Look!"

Look I did, and for a moment, all I could do was stare with my mouth open before snapping it closed and rolling my eyes when I realized what was going on, "Transmutation magic again? Fantastic."

As opposed to fins, this time Mari was very much bipedal. However, her wardrobe had been altered quite dramatically. The generic shape of the outfit was the same, as far skirt and top and shoes went. But other than, she might as well had pulled on a different set of clothes entirely. Her bolero jacket was gone and in it's place was a short orange cape that was clasped around her neck with a lacy black choker, a frill of sable lace decorating the silken edge. A black corset tied up with orange lace wound around her torso, the black fabric shimmering as if it had been spun from spider silk, and a pair of orange gloves with a laced up trim adorned her hands. Her skirt was now slightly longer and pinstriped with orange and black, while at the same time poofing out around her hips like an old-fashioned hoop skirt that bounced around with her every energetic movement. Black and orange striped stockings ran up her legs before cutting off just below her skirt, and her shoes remained largely the same save for orange and black color scheme that had banished the white. Upon her head was a large, pointed, wide-rimmed witch hat that covered up one of her ponytails, half the hat crippling over as if the fabric had been bent in half with the very tip ending in a twirled coif. Tied to it was a small orange mask carved to resemble a laughing jack-o-lantern, the tiny piece fully completing her spooky ensemble.

"I. Look. Awesome," was all Mari had to say to it, eyes roaming over every inch of the outfit with glowing admiration.

"Ya sure do!" Goofy said encouragingly, smiling widely and greatly creeping me out when he did so.

Because he had changed too. They all had.

Goofy's jacket and pants were now a mismatched set of hastily sewn together patches of different material, ranging from various hues of gray, brown, and green. A light brown sweater was beneath his jacket, and a pair of suspenders ran up around his shoulders though I was unsure if they were there for actual support or just decoration. A pair of socks were on his feet, though the toe part of them had completely burst open as if they were several sizes to small and couldn't contain what was within, which happened to be a set of black-furred toes with really, startlingly sharp-looking claws on each digit. His face was paler than normal, the skin tone even more stark against his now black fur, and a small pumpkin sat on the end of his nose. Also, a huge, huge screw was literally jutting out from the top of his head, I feel like I should mention that. I really, really hoped that was supposed to happen.

"Yeah, it's my transmutation magic," Donald added, looking at me with a smug look, "Like it?"

I didn't answer because I was far too busy looking at the empty, gaping space where his stomach should have been, watching in nothing short of morbid awe as the two halves of his body remained in perfect sync with the other despite the blatantly missing appendage. The rest of him remained much-less dismembered, although he was covered in cloth bandages from practically head to toe, so it could be possible for me to have missed something else. Though honestly, if that was the case, I'd rather not know.

Donald braced his hands against his hips, tapping his foot impatiently and demanding, "What?"

I held up a hand and looked away, not deigning to answer. What would I say, anyway? I already knew it was the magic at fault for his . . . yeah.

"Thanks Goof! You guys look fab, too!" Mari said, grinning from ear to ear as she skipped around the clearing, hat bobbing up and down.

Sora rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks."

Sora's outfit looked mostly the same save for all the color being leeched out and replaced with some more black as well as a pair of rather pointy shoes, but there were also some notable differences. Like the stark white gloves on his hands that ended in curved claws, each one with a gray X on the back of each hand, and the small gray torque around his neck that sloped down his shoulders and was held in place by a silver, bat-shaped clasp. Also, he had wings. Small, tiny, wouldn't-be-able-to-carry-his-body-weight black bat wings that actually looked like they were physically under his control, because when Mari came over to pull on them, he jerked them away before she could so much as touch. Much to her disappointment. He also wore a small orange mask over one side of his face, the creepily grinning plastic hiding one eye completely from sight while at the same time leaving the other in dark shadow, making the blue of it seem strikingly bright in comparison.

He glanced over at me and smiled, revealing a pair of rather sharp-looking canines, "You look great too, Hikari!"

And of course. Of course.

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself for what was inevitably to come and looked down.

At first, I was taken in by only black until more details became clear. My top had been replaced by tight corset the color of deep violets, which was tied up in the back with two strings of jet lace. A strangely noir crop jacket was pulled over that, ending just above my stomach and sporting a deeply sloping, arched neckline that ceased just above the two buckles that snapped it closed. The sleeves of it were short and smooth, ending halfway down my arm and with a fringe of dark purple. My gloves remained the same, expect they now lacked the sun symbol, and the very tips of each finger was missing, leaving my (rather pale) fingertips to peek out of the leather. My waterfall skirt was largely untouched, as in it was exactly he same shape as before, save for the fact that it was now completely black with only a few faint hues of the original color left within the rippling fabric, and the ends were all tattered and torn. My shoes were also mostly the same as well, save for a slightly higher, more pointed heel than what I was used to, but hopefully I would get used to that. Even my bag hadn't escaped alterations, the dark fabric having taking on a tattered, patched-up appearance for the sake of the world. However, my bracelet remained unaltered, which I found myself quite grateful for. All in all, a pretty cool outfit honestly. Better than fins, in any case.

I nodded, "Okay, this is actually pretty awesome."

"Isn't it?" Mari said, coming to my side and throwing an arm around my shoulders. Looking me over in approval, she stopped suddenly and glanced at my head, eyes narrowing before widening in surprise, "Hey, you've got little horns!"

I stared at her for a moment before reaching up, almost subconsciously, to the top of my head, feeling around only to hiss and pull my hand back when I pricked the tip of my finger against something sharp. Trying again, a bit my carefully this time, I looped my finger around the small protrusion coming out of the top of my head and gave it a slight tug, very quickly noting the way my head went with it.

Eyes narrowing as I came to terms with the fact that I hadn't completely escaped bodily changes, I dropped my hand and looked at the others, "Okay. I have horns."

"Yeah you do!" Mari said before running around behind me, suddenly looking very intent.

"What?" I started, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Holy crap!" she shouted as she came to a stop behind me, eyes sparkling. She reached over, and I jumped when I felt her grab something and tug on it, the skin right next to my left shoulder blade greatly protesting against the action as she crowed, "You've got little wings too! Aw, dere so cute!"

"What?!" I shouted, trying to crane my head over shoulder to see. No way, wings?

"Yeah, little bat wings! They're so adorable!~"

She pulled a little too hard that time, eliciting a pained 'ow!' from me and making my body jerk away on reflex.

Fwip!

Something dark flicked passed my field of vision and smacked Mari right on the hand, and she jumped back with a yelp, shaking her hand as if she'd been stung. Wing free, I gave it a flap (huh, I could control these things apparently) to shake away the pain before looking over to see what it was that had hit her.

The dark thing I had seen was now resting by my right leg, and it twitched when I saw it, flicking out from the shadow of my skirt and into the pale moonlight. And it was then I saw what it really was.

God damn it . . .

Goofy saw it too and, true to fashion, didn't keep quiet about it, "Hey, ya even got a tail!"

Rolling my eyes, I reached around and picked the appendage up so everyone could see it, nearly wincing when I actually felt my fingers brush against the skin. Yep, a tail. I had a tail. A thin, black, whippy tail that ended in sharp, arrowhead point, and all I could do was wonder why. Just why.

Looking at Mari, I said, "How come I'm the only one who gets the body alterations? Why not you too?"

"Hey, I got stuff like that, you know," Sora cut in, fanning his wings out as far as they could go and gesturing at them with his thumb, "See?"

I gave him flat look, "Yeah, I know. I'm asking her. You know, the one whose also visiting this place for the first time. And besides, you don't have this."

I held my tail up once more before letting it fall back to its normal position, and, as if I should have expected any different, Sora's only response to that was to grin and rub a finger across the tip of his nose.

"I dunno!" Mari replied with a chipper grin, lacing her hands behind her back, "All I know is you're lookin' like one super-mega hottie!" Leaning back, she looked me over with an appreciative stare, eyes sparkling with delight, "Really, this outfit is just so perfect for you! You look like a little demon!" Smiling growing cheeky, she added, "Its very fitting for your personality!"

I raised an eyebrow at her, not bothering to turn my head even when I heard the others laugh, "Flattering, Mari, thanks . . ."

Smile only growing bigger, she pressed the tips of her fingers together so they formed the shape of a heart and said, "You're welcome!"

A soft thud distracted me, and everyone, from the topic at hand as we all turned to face the path leading out of the spooky hollow we were in.

"Huh?" Donald hummed, bandaged head tilting slightly to the left as a shape emerged from behind the trees.

A very . . . interesting shape. At first, I thought it was just a very tall person, but looking closer, I saw that it was, in fact, a skeleton of some sort. A skeleton that was walking on it's own, a thing that skeletons shouldn't be doing, and giving more than one uncomfortable flashback to Port Royal. However, Sora and the others didn't draw their weapons, so I assumed we were good for now. Not that I could blame them, considering the skeleton was . . . wearing a Santa outfit. Like really, a legit, honest-to-god Santa Claus outfit, with bright red colors and white pom-poms and even a fake beard that hung quite a ways from his chin and looked like it could fall off at any moment. The whole works.

The skeleton was currently picking up some of the presents scattered along the floor, but as soon as he spotted Sora and the others, he held up a loaded hand and waved at them, "Perfect timing, gentlemen! Lend me a hand, won't you?"

Of course he knows them.

The skeleton caught sight of me and Mari right after, hollow eye sockets somehow widening in surprise even though they really shouldn't have been able to as he stepped towards us, "And you've brought company! Even better!"

Sticking the present he held into the crook of his other skinny arm, he began to speak in an exuberant, over-excited tone, "These presents must belong to Sandy Claws! So I thought I'd better return them!"

Sandy Claws?

Sora pursed his lips and gave the skeleton a once-over, crossing his arms and tilting his head to one side in a thoughtful manner before asking suspiciously, "You just happened to find them?"

A hurt look crossed the skeleton's face as he leaned down to be eye-level with Sora, "Of course, Sora!" he very lightly tapped the tip of one bony finger against the boy's nose, "I'm done with the whole Christmas fantasies. You know that."

Standing back to his full height (he really did tower over us all), he cupped his arm around his burden of presents almost protectively. Okay, now seemed like a good time to ask, "Okay, so . . . who are you?"

The skeleton looked my way, and I had to suppress a shudder when I saw his empty eye sockets. Hey, they were creepy, all right?

"Ah, and just where are my manners? My name is Jack Skellington! Though my friends simply call me Jack," The skeleton replied (another Jack, wowza), "You're friends of Sora's, I take it?"

I nodded, "Yeah. My name's Hikari."

"And I'm Mari!" Mari but it, jumping against me and pressing her hands against my shoulders, "Howdy!"

"Well then, Hikari and Mari, a pleasure to make your acquaintance! As its representative and current lord of terror, I welcome the both of you to Halloween Town! I'd give you a tour, however . . ." he held up his loaded arms, "My hands are a little full at the moment."

"I see that," I replied. Also, Halloween Town? Just what kind of wacky world had we fallen into now?

"So . . ." Sora said, arms still crossed and eyes still staring at the presents in Jack's arms, "You're done with Christmas . . . but you thought you'd keep the suit?"

"What, this?" Jack asked, nodding his head down to the effervescent outfit, "It's just a costume. And Sally worked so very hard making it!"

Walking ahead of us, he gestured as well as he could to the remaining presents scattered around the woods, "Come on! We have work to do!"

The trio shared an exasperated glance but bent to help Jack collect the rest of the presents. Grabbing one of the vibrantly wrapped packages myself, I leaned down next to Sora and asked, "So, what's the story here? Halloween Town?"

"Halloween Town is where we're at right now, and I guess you could say Jack's in charge of it," Sora explained as he attempted to stack another present on top of the one he already carried.

"So is this a holiday-themed world?" I asked, glancing at the row of trees close to the heart of the hollow and the painted doors set into them.

Sora pursed his lips and thought for a moment, "I . . . guess you could call it that. The people here make sure that when Halloween happens, everything run's smoothly. At least, that's how I understood it."

"So this place literally is in charge of Halloween," I said to myself in wonder, looking at my surroundings again. How interesting . . .

A thought occurred to me then, and I held up the present in my hand, "So wait a second, is Sandy Claws-?"

At this, bright grin appeared on his Sora's face, and a childlike sparkle appeared in his visible eye, "He's actually talking about Santa Claus!"

My mouth dropped, as did my arms, totally oblivious to when the corner of the box in my hands hit the ground, "Are you serious?"

Sora nodded enthusiastically, "Totally! Isn't that amazing?"

"NO WAY!"

I winced as Mari came barreling over to us with the force of rampaging rhinoceros, practically throwing herself onto Sora as she begged at full volume, "You totally, truthfully, swear-on-your-heart, swear-on-your-life, that you are not joking with me right now?"

Panic was on Sora's face as he struggled to keep the presents he carried from toppling over, nearly crushing the wrapped boxes against his chest in his efforts, "N-no, I'm not!"

"YEEES!" she screamed, throwing her arms up into the air with an exuberant spin of pure delight. Stopping, she suddenly pointed at me, "See Hikari! I told you I was right, and you didn't believe me! Well haha, who's laughing now? WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?"

"Huh? Hikari doesn't believe in Santa?" Sora asked as he rearranged the presents in his arms, and he truthfully, honest-to-god sounded surprised at my lack of faith.

"No, she doesn't!" Mari huffed, crossing her arms, "But that doesn't matter, because she's totally wrong!"

"Hm," he hummed, pursing his lips together, "Kinda sounds like Riku . . ."

"Oh, another non-believer?" Mari asked, and she and Sora began to blabber about belief and Santa's awesomeness or some such like that, I really didn't pay too much attention by that point.

Rubbing the ear that had taken the brunt of Mari's yelling and rolling my eyes as the two became sidetracked, I turned to Donald and asked, "So, can you fill me on what you guys did here? Since the other one is occupied?"

Donald glanced at the chatting due before rolling his eyes and waving a hand, "Yeah, sure."

So that was how I learned of Jack's past Christmas obsession, Oogey-Boogey (yeah, really), and a few of the little details in-between, all while carefully stacking Christmas presents in my arms ready for transportation. Where, you might ask? Through the Christmas tree, of course. The Christmas tree that led to Christmas Town, otherwise known as Santa Clause's domain . . . and where my sanity was doomed to take a turn for the worse.

{******}

"I cannot believe this."

"Hikari, just chill out, you look good . . . my little an-"

"Call me that again, Mari, and I will break you."

The blonde-haired girl only held up a hand (the other laden with presents), giving me an innocent smile as we continued to trudge through the snow towards the workshop. Yes, snow. Yes, workshop. And yes, we got another costume change the very second we stumbled out of that stupid tree.

And this one, I felt, wasn't nearly as cool. Pun completely unintended.

Mari's outfit herself hadn't really changed at all, besides replacing all the orange with red and the black with green and adding little fluffy white pom-poms to the tips of her hat and shoes. Her now green cape and gloves also had a fringe of fluffy red fabric sewn to the edges now (very chic) and her jack-o-lantern mask was nowhere to be found, replaced by a large sprig of mistletoe instead. She kinda looked like a candy cane. A very festive candy cane. Also, her ears were pointier . . . like an elf's, I guess, and her eyes definitely held a tinge more green than was normal.

Sora was also mostly the same, having simply stripped away most of the vampire-ness and replacing it with a lot more white fluff. He had a santa hat on his head, bordered by white and ending with the typical pom-pom, pulled close enough to his face so that it still succeeded in obscuring his right eye. A collar of white fur wound around his neck and draped just above his shoulders, and the edges of his shirt's sleeves and bottom were trimmed with equally snowy fur as well. His black gloves (still tipped by claws, for some reason) also had white fluff sewn along the wristband, but other than that, the rest of his outfit remained wholly untouched.

Donald and Goofy were the worst and weirdest by far. In Donald's case, he was basically a living snowman. Snowduck? Probably more appropriate. His body was entirely composed of snow sectioned into three parts merely stacked on top of each other, and every now and then the light would hit him in such a way as to make the snow particles glisten and shimmer. It would have been pretty if it wasn't . . . his body. His arms were also sticks (like, literally, they were sticks. With fingers), and on his feet, which were thankfully still normal, he wore a pair of little red feet warmers. Two little buttons were pressed into a vertical line into what I guess would count for his chest, and a striped scarf of red and green was wrapped around his neck. He also had a bucket on his head, for no discernable reason other than to just break me.

Goofy, on the other hand, had basically transformed into a reindeer. With brown, course fur, hooves on his feet, the whole deal. He even had a pair of curled antlers coming out of his head! In terms of clothing, he wore a red crop jacket lined with white fur, a pair of fluffy red gloves, a large belt with a golden buckle, and a green collar tied up tight with a yellow bow. Snazzy, to say the least.

And in my case . . .

Everything was also . . . mostly the same, although my black corset was now more in line with a tube top devoid of any lace and my crop jacket could definitely be considered a bolero jacket now. A bolero jacket line with white fluff along the collar, sleeves, and bottom, but I digress. On my usual pair of gloves was the symbol of a snowflake embroidered into the leather, the white of it sticking out quite dramatically. My skirt was lined with white fur, and it was also clean of any tatters or tears, unlike before. My boots remained unaltered save for a leaf of dark green holly attached to the buckles, bouncing up and down with every step I took. One good thing to come out of this change? My horns and tail were gone! No, not my wings!

My wings . . . ugh, at least the bat ones had looked cool. These feathery little tufts sticking out of my back hardly looked intimidating at all, black or not. But, until we left this place, I was stuck with them. Along with Mari's most unwelcome nickname . . .

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, we're here! We're here! Angel, let's go see Santa!" Mari squealed, running towards the bright red door Jack had opened as the boxes in her arm toddled precariously in her hold.

I glared at her retreating back, growling to myself, "I swear, Mari, I will . . ."

"Hey, wait up!" Sora shouted after her, and no one missed the gleam of excitement in his eyes as he ran passed us. He was such a child sometimes . . .

Well, guess he'd be wanting these back, I thought, looking at the colored packages in my arms, Best hurry, I guess.

I walked over the door and made sure to stick close to the others, occasionally catching glimpses of small, brightly dressed creatures running from here to there or working on one toy or another or making sure every decoration in the place was in perfect order. Santa's elves, I supposed.

If I was honest, I still found the whole 'Santa being real' thing hard to swallow, and it wasn't until we rounded a corner and entered a small, cozy little workroom that it finally started to dissipate.

It was a comfortable looking place, with a desk right at it's heart, the walls all decorated with festive decorations and lists, the floor lined with small presents, some wrapped, others not. Near the small fireplace, which gave off a cheery glow that offset the cold outside and suffused the room with the rich scent of cedar, was a large, red, leather backed chair, perfect for sitting in for a long time in order to do paperwork or read a good book over a mug of hot chocolate. Which was an actual thing, because I could see a mug sitting on the corner of the desk and I could catch a whiff of chocolate even from where I was standing. Pacing about the room, hand laced tight behind his burly, broad body, was a man dressed entirely in red, a beard of purest white flowing down the length of his chest and nearly touching the ground. A santa hat was perched on his head, the red of it nearly matching the color of his round and crinkled cheeks, and when his tired eyes landed on us, they creased together with his gentle smile, soft and warm despite the weariness on his face. It was one of those moments of realization that just hit like a bolt of lightning. Right then, I knew exactly who this was, as if some long-forgotten instinct I hadn't felt since I was small told me point blank.

This was Santa.

Holy . . . shit.

Beside me, I heard Mari internally explode as she attempted to restrain her excitement before her beloved childhood icon, succeeding insofar as she only made weird, squeaky noises like a mouse before a square of cheese. I knew, I knew, that all she wanted to do right then was hug the man like no other, so I was actually quite impressed when she managed to halt herself.

The old man's eyes then beheld the gifts in our arms, and his mouth fell into an astonished 'o' shape, tottering towards us over the oaken floor of his office, "Oh! Wherever did you find these?"

"In Halloween Town," Jack supplied, holding out the coffee colored package in his hands.

Santa plucked the proffered package, holding it up to the light and examining it with a studious, practiced eye as Jack continued, "You'll be needing them for Christmas, right Sandy?"

Santa nodded, "Of course. But . . ." gently setting the present next other ones on his desk, he turned to us, "These are just a few of the Christmas presents that were stolen."

"Stolen?!" Sora shouted as everyone started in shock.

"Who would do something so rotten?" Mari demanded, horror quickly replaced by anger at the deed.

On an unspoken cue, the trio (and Santa, I noticed) all turned to stare at Jack, and it wasn't hard for me to figure out why. Given what he tried to do in the past, it honestly made me a mite suspicious of him too.

Jack ran the tip of one bony finger against his head before stepping forward, placing a hand against his chest as he asked with no small amount of hurt, "Oh Sandy . . . you don't think it was me?"

Santa was not moved, which I found a little odd for a guy who was supposed to be jolly all the time, "Still wearing the outfit, I see."

"I just thought I'd dress for the occasion," Jack said defensively, eyes narrowing as he placed his hands on his hips, "But if you don't believe me . . . then we'll just have to find out who really did it!"

Everyone stared at him in surprise, taken aback by his declaration while Santa merely tapped his chin, face thoughtful. Then, he straightened and nodded, "Very well, I'll leave it to you."

"Alright!" Jack cried, holding a victorious arm up when he suddenly pointed at each of us in turn and shouted, "Sora! Donald! Goofy! Ladies! We're off!"

We all watched him trot off, a resolved push behind every step, when Sora, Donald, and Goofy practically fell over in exasperation, groaning deeply and fingertips touching the ground as all they shared a moment of very profound facepalm.

"Oh boy . . ." I mumbled, crossing one arm across my stomach while I pressed my remaining hand against my face. This was going to be fun . . .

Mari, on the other hand, had sidled up closer to Santa, twiddling her fingers together like a shy schoolgirl as she mumbled, "H-Hi."

"Oh, hello there, miss. I apologize for the mess, but I've been under some stress lately," Santa said apologetically.

"Oh, you don't have worry about that!" Mari said instantly, waving her hands in front of her body. She crossed her arms behind her back, digging the toe of her shoe into the floor boards as a faint hue of red crossed her cheeks, "I-I get you must have a lot of work to do! I just . . ." her voice rose a pitch, "Really, really, really, really wanted to meet you!"

An amused glimmer appeared in the old man's eyes, "Now now, no need to act so shy. I'm not going to bite!"

"Y-yes!" Mari squeaked, then she cleared her throat and spoke again, this time more clearly, "I mean, yes sir!"

Santa chuckled softly, a sound that reminded me of a cross between a jingling bell and a grandpa's laugh. A brief flicker of realization appeared in his eyes, and he said, "Oh, but silly me, I have yet to ask for your names."

"O-oh, my name's Mari. Mari. With an i. Hi! And this-" she grabbed me by the arm and tugged me over to stand beside him, "Is my friend Hikari! My best friend! Hikari!" voice dropping, she whispered to me, "Go on, say something!"

"Uh . . . hi," I said, holding up a hand in greeting. This was getting awkward . . .

"A pleasure to meet you ladies," was Santa's only response to the weird introduction, "I trust you've both been good girls this year?"

Mari nodded enthusiastically, and when I didn't do anything, she reached over, grabbed the back of my head, and began nodding it for me.

"Ow!" I hissed, pulling my head out of her reach. Behind me, I heard the trio start to giggle, and I shot them a look just in time to see them try to cover up their amused smiles. It didn't work.

"Um . . ." we both turned around to see Jack stick his head around the corner again, one hand having slipped beneath the rim of his Santa hat in order to scratch his head, "Are you all coming or not?"

Crash!

Everyone started in surprise and rounded on the one closed door recessed into the corner of the room, but the only sound after that was the faint tickling of glass. Alarm welled up inside me. Something was wrong.

"That's our cue!" I said, gesturing for everyone to head out.

"This just might be our culprit!" Jack cried, long legs clearing the room on about one second and flinging the door open to reveal the workshop beyond.

"Hurry guys!" Sora shouted as he ran over the threshold, everyone else hot on his heels.

"Don't worry Santa! We'll sort this out!" Mari yelled over her shoulder, winking and giving the old man a thumbs up before rushing through the door.

Beyond was a large, spacious workshop done up with conveyor belts and large machinery, all done up with festive decorations and gaudy colors. Rows of desks were arranged along the walls, all layered with a multitudinous number of incomplete toys and paper wrappings, glittering motes of tinsel covering the floor and some even hovering in the air. At the base of the stairs leading up to the second floor, a group of elves had assembled, all twittering anxiously to each other as they pointed up towards the door, eyes and voices all colored by alarm and worry.

"Hey, do you know where that crash came from?" Sora asked.

The elves stopped talking at once, turning their large, overly bright eyes on him until one, a young girl, finally stepped forward from their ranks. Pointing up the stairs, she said in a sharp, bell-like voice, "It came from upstairs! Please sir, can you go make sure everything's okay? We'd do it, but . . . "

She wrung her petite hands together, and the elves behind her shuffled on their feet, casting fearful glances at the door where the noise had come from.

Sora smiled at her, nodding, "Don't worry about a thing! We can take care of it! You all just wait right here."

The little elf girl looked up at him and gave him a somewhat shy, but grateful smile.

"Alright! Everyone, move out!" Jack shouted, pushing passed the assemblage of elves and hurrying up the stairs as we followed close behind.

Jack reached the door first and, after quickly pushing a fingers to his lips(?) for silence, he very quietly turned the knob and pushed it open, the well-oiled hinges not even producing a single creak.

"No!"

That was the first thing I heard as we carefully assembled onto the walkway above the tiny workshop. It sounded like a young girl . . .

A present suddenly flew up into the air, evidently having just been thrown, before it hit the ground and slid across the linoleum floor, the wrapped corner lightly touching the wall as it came to stop before it. Looking down, I found the one responsible almost immediately. In fact, make that three.

They all looked to be about the size of children, each one wearing an outfit made to resemble a certain monster; in this case, a witch, a demon, and skeleton. The skeleton kid and the demon kid were clearly both boys, their faces obscured by grinning masks that went with their costumes, while the only girl in the group wore a short pink dress and witch hat. She, too, wore a mask, and it was the only one lacking a painted smile. Wait, hadn't the guys told me about them . . . they all had really bizarre names . . .

"This looks good!" The skeleton boy said, holding up a small, plushy teddy bear.

"No!" the girl snapped.

"Boooring!" the other boy taunted.

Throwing the teddy bear aside, the boy tried again, this time with a toy truck, "This one?"

"No!"

"No way!"

Eyebrows beetling together, I could help but wonder aloud, "So . . . these are the culprits? Really?"

"Looks like," Donald said, looking convinced as he stepped forward, "HEY!"

The kids all froze, jumping back in shock as Sora pointed at them, "So you three took them!"

"Took what?" the girl demanded defensively, squaring her small shoulders as she stood in front of her companions.

"You stole the presents, didn't you!" Jack demanded in return, pointing a damning finger at her and glaring at them through narrowed eyes . . . sockets.

"It wasn't us!" the demon boy shouted, shaking his head.

"But . . ." the skeleton boy drawled, looking around the workshop and eyes pointedly lingering on the toys.

"It really sounds like fun!" the girl cried, pulling her mask off for just a moment to reveal the thin, pale face beneath.

Popping it back on, she and her fellows turned around and bolted off in random directions, all screaming in tandem, "RUN FOR IT!"

"Hey, get back here!" I shouted, jumping down from the raised platform we stood on. I ducked the second I hit the ground as a wrapped present came flying at me, the glittery package shooing over my head and bouncing off the edge of the platform. Summoning Dawnstar to my hand, I glared at the brats, "Okay, you wanna make this difficult? Fine!"

They responded by hurling even more toys at us, and I knocked a few out of the air with a few well-timed blocks.

"I got projectiles too!" Mari shouted, firing a few arrows their way. As one, Sora, Donald, Goofy and jack all jumped down into the workshop and began running at them

The kids shrieked and ducked, running this way and that and making it so difficult for the boys to catch them.

"This isn't working!" Sora shouted as the girl ran right between his legs, laughing all the while even as he turned and chased after her.

"Don't be afraid to rough 'em up a bit!" I shouted, throwing Dawnstar and smirking in satisfaction as it bopped one of the brats in the head.

"Ouch!"

"But what do we do after that!" Goofy asked as a present rebounded off his shield. Donald attempted a sneak attack, jumping off the conveyor belt of the lone machine in the room and diving at the two boys who'd taken up shelter behind a pile of toys, shrieking, "WAAAH!"

"AAH!" the kids screamed, peeling off in two separate directions. Donald landed at the spot where they'd been, eyes livid, when his face suddenly morphed into shock as his feet slipped on jacks that had been left behind by the boys, the tiny toys flying everywhere as the duck tried to maintain his balance. He stayed upright for only a few more precious seconds before hitting the floor with a harsh thud, groaning in pain as the two devils laughed and high-fived each other.

I ducked as another present was lobbed at me, growing annoyed as I watched the girl spin around and run away, "Alright, really! How hard is it to coral a couple of kids?"

Pain flared in the back of my skull as a light object bounced against it, making me stumble forward in surprise. Bringing a hand up to rub the aching spot, I spun around and glared hard when I saw who the culprit was, "MARI!"

"Sorry, I couldn't resist!" she defended, holding up her hands and smiling at me nervously, "It looked like fun."

"Well, don't do it again!" I snapped, then, after a quick thought, I added threateningly, "Or else I'll tell Santa."

Her eyes widened in horror, "You wouldn't."

"I would."

"Okay, I'll behave!" She shouted frantically, "Just don't tell him!"

"Hey, quit yappin' and help us!" Donald shouted angrily, glaring at us as another present sailed over his head, missing him by a margin.

"Okay, seriously, we need to do something else, because this is ridiculous!" Sora yelled as he missed one of the boy's by a hairs breadth, the children all making ample use of their size to duck into small spaces and corners to evade us.

Jack paused, eyes narrowed in profound concentration as he watched the little monsters run around the workshop. Then he snapped his fingers, "I've got an idea! Mari, you help the guys round them up! Hikari, I'll need your help!"

I nodded, "Got it! What's your plan?"

"First, I'll need you guys to keep them still for just a moment!" Jack shouted to the trio and Mari, who nodded in reply. Turning to me, he pointed to a large box sitting in the corner, "Help me move this!"

I nodded, deciding to trust him because so far everything else was ending in failure, moving the box in position as Jack hurriedly explained to me what he planned to do with it. It was a little risky . . . but it might just work if we timed it right. I looked to see how far the others had gotten in their own efforts to cage in the little demons and seeing that they'd actually done a decent job, having cornered the trio and slowly circling them to keep them from escaping.

"Jack?" I urged, lowering Dawnstar into place.

He held up a finger, "Not yet."

"But wh-"

An explosion drew my eyes back to the group, confusion racing to my core as white, smelly smoke bloomed outward from the center of the room like a rippling cloud that smelled a bit like rotten eggs. Wonderful. Within, I could hear the group cough as they inhaled the smoke by accident, choking out various exclamations as they stumbled blindly out of the cloud.

Nearby, three other shapes detached themselves from the smoke, standing side by side and laughing as they pointed at my friends.

Right in my line of fire.

"Now," Jack said.

I didn't even give them a chance to retaliate. With a quick, strong swing, the flat side of Dawnstar's tip struck the wooden side of the box and sent it flying, wooden lid flying open as it twirled through the air.

The three troublemakers turned their heads when it's shadow passed over them, and they all screamed and tried to make a run for it. Unfortunately, they were a tad too late, and I felt satisfaction burn in my heart as the box came down with loud, angry thud, painted edges slamming around the trio like prison bars around an inmate.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy immediately jumped on top of the box, pinning it down right as the kids inside attempted to lift it off their scrawny little heads.

"Hey, no fair!" one shouted in complaint.

"This stinks!" another one added dismally.

"You stink!" The girl snapped back, and I could hear even from where I stood the three start to bicker amongst themselves.

Rolling my eyes, I rapped Dawnstar against the side of the box, "Oi, pipe down in there!"

The only response I got was a series of unamused grumbles.

Soon after, the three were arranged side by side next to the wall, ready for interrogation.

Which, after the trouble they put him though, Sora didn't hesitate to start, "Where'd you put the presents?"

"We told you!" The girl (who's name was Shock. I told you, stupid names) shouted, throwing her arms up in the air in exasperation ,"We don't have 'em!"

"Then why are you in here?!" Donald demanded, plainly unconvinced of their innocence.

"We're looking for parts for the experiment!" the demon boy, who's name was apparently Lock (they were really stupid) explained.

"Experiment?" Jack asked, looking intrigued.

"Dr. Finkelstein's making us a friend!" the skeleton boy, Barrel (stupid . . .) exclaimed in excitement.

"One we get to boss around!" Shock added.

Placing a hand on his head and another on his hip, Jack mused, "It's true the doctor's been hard at work on something lately . . ."

The three mischievous children stood up with Lock proclaiming, "Besides, Christmas presents are boring! Not scary or gross, so what good are they?"

"Yeah!" Barrel shouted in agreement.

Mari took exception to this, bracing her hands on her hips as she scowled at the kids, "Hey, for your information, Christmas presents rule!"

"Yeah, maybe for losers!" Shock taunted, and Barrel laughed.

"There's nothing fun here!" Lock said to his friends, "Come on, let's go back to Halloween Town!"

With that, the three scampered out the door, sure to cause trouble somewhere else, given the pandemonium they'd caused here.

But at least I didn't have to put up with it.

We all hurried back to Santa's office, eager to be away from the still malodorous room (and warning the elves about it on the way) so as to deliver the news.

The red clad man was all to eager to know what had happened, "So, were those pranksters responsible for taking the gifts?"

Jack shook his head, looking dismal, "It doesn't look like it."

"Then that means . . ." Santa started, tapping a finger to his chin.

Footsteps suddenly rounded the corner of the room, and I turned to see that someone had entered.

In shape and size, she resembled a young girl. However, it was also pretty damn apparent that this girl was not a resident of Christmas Town. For starters, it looked like her entire body had been sewn together fro various body parts, the black stitching on her arms very obvious against her pale skin. The dress she wore was just as haphazardly sewn as her body, made of different fabric and material of all shapes, sizes, patterns, and colors. Her long red hair, which was surprisingly normal-looking, fell down her back in a single, smooth swoop, and her oval face, with painted red lips and large, gleaming eyes, was full of anxiety and even fear.

"Sally!" Jack shouted in surprise, turning around in full to face her.

Relief crossed her face the moment she saw us, but her anxiety did not clear away entirely, "Oh, thank goodness! You're all here!"

"Is something wrong?" Sora asked as she trotted over to us on her sewn legs.

"The Heartless are back in the town square!" she informed us, a tinge of fear coloring her voice, "I thought you should know."

Sora nodded to her before looking at us, "That's our cue!"

"Hey, that's my line," I protested, placing my hands on my hips.

Sora only shot me a teasing smile as Donald stuck a stick-fist in the air, "Back to Halloween Town!"

And cooler clothes! I inwardly cheered. Hey, not to be a girl about it, but I liked my Halloween Town get-up. Sue me.

"But wait!"

Everyone stopped and looked to Jack, who seemed hesitant to leave, "What about finding the gift-napper?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Really, that's your priority right now?"

"Actually . . ." Sally mused softly, placing her hand to her chin as her eyes fell to the floor, deep in thought, "The Heartless were playing with some presents when I saw them . . ."

"Aha!" Jack cried, "We have our culprits!"

"Sure," I said, thumbing to the door, "Now let's hurry up before someone gets hurt!"

Everyone exchanged a nod of agreement before heading toward the door, feet pounding against the oaken floor as he raced back to Halloween Town.

So everyone missed it when Santa held up his arm for just a moment before pulling it back, pressing his hands together in indecision as he stared down at the list of names that lay strewn across his desk.


Uuuuuuugh, stressing myself over things I can't change is so dumb but I can't STOP!

I am glad I got this up before the grind starts again, though.

Rate and review if it pleases you.