Lil' Washu: Hey, look at that, I updated! Be warned, part of this chapter is like something right out of Yu Yu Hakusho. Bonus points to the reviewer who can describe the scene!

Poinsettia: And what exactly do these bonus points do?

Lil' Washu: Absolutely nothing! That's the fun part.

Poinsettia: Ok then...

Lil' Washu: Oh yeah, this is Poinsettia, my OC for this fic. She's a little upset because of what happens in this chapter...

Poinsettia: What are you people lookin' at? Read the fanfic already! NOW!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Start Chapter*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The inside of the Turtle Game Shop sparkled with tinsel and garland. A heavily decorated Christmas tree stood royally in a corner, surrounded by a mountain of brightly wrapped gifts. The entire living space of the shop smelled of cinnamon and gingerbread. Mokuba Kaiba's eyes grew wide with awe.

"It's...its beautiful Yugi! Did you decorate this whole place all by yourself?"

"Nah, Grandpa did most of it. He's really getting into the spirit this year."

As if on cue, Mr. Motou ran by in his Santa Suit carrying a large box.

"See ya later Yugi, I'm going to go put up the lights on the roof now!"

"Okay Grandpa, just be careful with the wiring. Let's try not to make this a repeat of last year..."

Joey grinned evilly. "If everyone's ever wondered how Yugi and Gramps got their hair like that, just watch them try to wire Christmas lights."

"JOEY!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about how you'd prefer not to remember that," chuckled Joey nervously, "Though it's pretty funny how the electricity spiked your hair-"

"So," interrupted Yugi, "What are you and your brother going to do for the holidays Mokuba?"

Mokuba admired the Christmas tree as if seeing one for the first time, then said,

"Well, Seto's usually really busy around this time of year, so I don't think we're doing much..." His voice trailed off suddenly, and he sat down with the others, still gazing at the tree.

'Kaiba's not spending the holidays with his little brother?' wondered Yugi, 'I know that he's not the nicest guy in the world, but I also know that he cares his for his little brother with all of his heart. Why would he leave Mokuba alone at such a special time of year?'

Across town, while Downtown Domino sparkled with it's annual holiday glow, Seto Kaiba's limo still raced through the streets, already late for an important appointment. Needless to say, he was not happy.

"Can't you go any faster?" He asked his chauffer icily.

"No sir, sorry sir."

"Then is there a shortcut you could take? I'm already late."

"Yes sir."

"Where is it?"

"South of Domino Park, sir."

"Then why haven't you taken it?"

"Sorry sir, I will sir."

The chauffer tried to remain calm as he drove the car through an icy forest behind Domino City Park. Snow obstructed his view, and as he tried to keep the speeding car under his control on the slippery road, a flash of chesnut brown dashed across the road. The chauffer slammed his foot on the brake, and with a loud screech the limo swerved dangerously.

"What the hell are you doing?!?" shouted Kaiba.

"I'm sorry sir, I thought I saw something."

That something reappeared, and before the driver could do anything, there was a loud 'THUD' and then all was silent. Two doors of the limo opened, and Kaiba and his chauffer stepped out into the snow.

"Sir," started the chauffer nervously, "We appeared to have hit a small deer."

Sure enough, a Sika doe lay on her side in the middle of the road, thrashing about, vainly struggling to get back on her feet. The ruffled CEO felt a slight twinge of guilt when he saw that it wasn't going to get back on its feet, but he shook the feeling off with ease. 'At least it wasn't a person' he reassured himself, 'a person's family can sue, but nobody cares about some animal hit by a car. It won't be missed.'

"Sir," asked the chauffer meekly. "Shouldn't we call a veterinarian sir? These deer are sacred to some and-"

"Are you suggesting that we waste more time over some creature from the woods? Don't make me laugh. Leave the deer for the carnivors of the park so we can get back to Kaiba corp."

As soon as he finished his words, the tiny doe raised her head, and gave him a long sorrowful stare. Brown eyes met blue, and her gaze rooted the pitiless Kaiba to the ground. He felt as though a trickle of ice-cold water was slipping slowly down his spine. As he watched, the doe made one last feeble attempt to get up, pushing with all of its might on all four of its crumpled legs. Exhausted and mortally wounded, it laid its head back on the snow, took one last shuddering breath, and then ceased to stir. The silence returned again. After what seemed like an eternity, the chauffer timidly spoke up.

"Mr. Kaiba, sir?" He asked cautiously. His words seemed to pull the transfixed CEO back to reality.

"What are you standing around for; I'm five minutes late already!"

"Yes sir! Right away sir!"

As the limo turned back on to the road and sped towards it's destination at doubled speed, Kaiba looked back through a window at the spot where the deer's body should have been. To his amazement it was gone. Kaiba tried in vain to shake of the feelings of bewilderment and foreboding clouding his mind as the snow-frosted forest shrunk in the distance.

Somewhere up in the sky on a large lofty cloud, transparent-white human- like figures rushed hurriedly to and fro, each with either a stack of papers in hand, or just yelling and carrying on like stock brokers during a market crash. In the midst of all of this confusion there stood a tall, important looking pearl-white desk. At this desk sat a dead man.

Dead as a door-nail in fact.

Yet there he sat in his transparent glory trying to answer a number of different telephones at the same time. Several long heavy chains were draped around his body, not obscuring the fact that he was wearing old fashioned British clothes usually possesed by well-to-do businessmen. Anyone fortunate to have come across a certain story by Charles Dickens would recognize him instantly, for his name was in fact, Jacob Marley.

"Hello? Anti-Scrooge inc. this is Marley speaking...We're out of spirits? But I have an enormous case that needs taking care of! And what about the fat guy? Yes, of course I mean the ghost of Christmas past...He's busy? Yes I understand you illiterate pencil pushing.What did you say about my mother? Goodbye!"

Marley slammed the receiver back on its cradle and rubbed his temples in exhaustion. A slim attractive female ghost floated up to him.

"Mr. Marley sir, there seems to be an incredible shortage of eligible ghosts to take the next case, as of now we only have two. You'll have to choose which of the two you want."

"What are the choices?"

"Well, there's a squirrel, and there's that doe that was hit by a car somewhere in Japan."

Marley thought for a moment, "Hmm, I've had bad incidents with squirrels, creepy little buggers.I'll go with the doe. Just give her a human form, the ability to talk, average human intellect, one of our company T-shirts, and send her down to me immediately."

"Yes sir."

The female ghost floated off, and Mr. Marley was left alone again in the chaos.

'I can't believe that there were only two spirits open for this job,' thought Marley 'mortals just aren't dying like they used to. How sad...'

All of a sudden, Marley could hear frantic high-pitched screaming becoming louder from about 20 feet above his desk. He looked up and saw someone plummeting at full speed towards him.

"Oh good, our new spirit is here."

That someone hit the floor in front of the desk bouncing up for a second due to the cloud- covered décor. Marley grabbed a nearby company pencil and gave her face a quick poke.

"Hey you down there, are you alright?"

Marley leaned over his desk, and calmly gazed upon what looked like a young woman with loosely curled hair and very large eyes lying panic-stricken on the ground. Her pale white skirt and blouse were wrinkled, and oddly enough, two fuzzy doe's ears protruded from the top of her head. Slowly, she opened her mouth and in a trembling voice asked,

"Am I dead?"

Marley looked relieved.

"Yes dear, I'm sorry but you were hit by a car about an hour ago. Don't worry, you're not in hell, or heaven for that matter, instead you've been sent here to-" Suddenly the girl sprang to her feet.

"What do you mean 'I'm dead'? I can't be dead yet I'm too young to die!!!"

"Miss, if you would calm down, I'd explain everything-"

"I can't be dead now! I was in the prime of my life! Wait.Why am I a human?!?! This can't be happening to me!" She pounced in Marley in a mad furor. "Hey you! If you're God or something, send me back, 'cause I can't go to hell just because some rich guy hit me with his limo, and I really don't deserve-"

"ENOUGH!" Yelled Marley angrily. "Firstly, yes you are dead, secondly, you're not in heaven or hell, you're at Anti-Scrooge Inc." The ghost-girl had stopped wailing, but looked confused.

"Anti-Scrooge Inc? What's that?"

Marley sighed. "Well I guess I should start from the beginning. Anti- Scrooge Inc is a company started by myself, Jacob Marley, with the help of the wandering spirits of the world around the 1870s. Our purpose is to find and eradicate Scrooge's, or as mortals call them, nasty-snobby-rich-yet- unfortunate-people. We do this by sending ghostly agents down to earth to show these Scrooges their past, present and future to get them to change their evil ways and become jolly, respectable humans. This Christmas, there has been a surplus of Scrooges, so we're completely out of spirits of the past present and future, and we have a Scrooge in serious need of all THREE. "

"And this concerns me, how?"

"Well, you've been asked to serve as a spirit of the past, present and future."

"Sounds difficult...What are the perks?"

"Perks?"

"How high's my salary? Do I get weekends off? Will I get a cute guy secretary? One of Santa's reindeer would be greeeeaaaaat for that job..."

Marley blinked. "...Maybe we gave you a little too much intellect."

"...Will I be required to attend those dumb company picnics that you humans like so much? Can I have a-"

"Alright! Sure! Whatever! Just take a look at your assignment first."

Marley pulled a picture out of his desk drawer, and handed it over. The newly recruited spirit's persona turned a sudden 180.

"Hold everything! There's no way I'm helping him, he was riding in the same car that hit me! He didn't care one bit that I died, so there's no way I'm helping him. Find another agent for this guy, because I'm not going NEAR him."

"Wait! You're the only agent left; you've got to take this case! If you don't, terrible things will happen to this boy, and those who care for him."

"NO! NEVER, NO TIMES A BILLION!"

"But it you do this I can have it arranged..."

"NO! I told you, you bald little man, that I won't do it!

"It's possible that we could..."

"I'm not listening, lalalalaLAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"YOU CAN GO BACK TO BEING A DEER AGAIN!"

All pandemonium in the floating office stopped at once. The ghost girl took her hands off her ears and asked,

"You mean if I do this, I can go back home? Back to my forest, and my friends, and the grass, and the sky..."

"Yes, yes, now let me explain,"

"...And the trees, and the snow, and the raccoons, boy do I miss those raccoons..."

"YES, you will have your raccoons! Now let me explain the ground rules!"

Marley pulled a large flower with pretty red petals out of his pocket. "Rookie spirits can not last for long in the living world, so this poinsettia flower will be your timer. Just get back here before all of its petals turn brown and fall off, and I'll restore you. Will you take the case?"

The deer-girl contemplated her choice for a while, and then finally solemnly nodded.

"Wonderful!" Exclaimed Marley. "You'll need this handbook with the rules, and this book on your assignment's life. It should tell you everything you need to know about his past, present and future. By the way, do you have a name?"

The deer-girl curiously poked at the petals of the red flower Marley had given her. "Just call me Poinsettia." she replied, and then vanished. Marley leaned back in his chair.

"I hope she can pull this off, I've given her quite a hard first assignment."

Suddenly she reappeared with a confused look on her face. Marley was not pleased.

"Yes? Now what do you want?" he asked irritably.

"What do these do?"

"Sorry, what?"

"These?" she asked poking at the soft parts of her chest with an index finger. Marley made a grab for a pair of stray pencils on his desk and jammed them into his nostrils to staunch the oncoming ectoplasmic nosebleed. Poinsettia continued, "I'm not familiar with the human anatomy. Do they store water or something?"

"Yeb, yeb!" Yelped Marley with some difficulty, "Jus, go! You hab your assibment, now GO!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lil' Washu: I'm on my second chapter, and I'm finally getting down to the plot. So what do you readers think of my OC?

OC haters: *Collective Glare*

Lil' Washu: Eeep! Don't worry; there *cough* probably *cough cough* won't be any romance between this OC and any character on the show...

Poinsettia: Oooh, lookit, I can wiggle both sets of my ears!

Lil' Washu: ...For obvious reasons. Well let's see how long it takes for Poinsettia and Kaiba to tear each other apart next chapter. Will update really soon, so please review!

Poinsettia: And don't forget the scene contest-thingy!

Marley: *stuffing tissues up his nose*