"Ban-chan, Ban-chan," Ginji whispered from beneath his plush monkey costume. "The truck is coming to a stop."
"Good. When the elves open up the back to unload the goods, we'll knock them out, steal their costumes, and infiltrate this place."
"You're always so good at coming up with plans!" Ginji smiled, hiding behind a pile of toys.
As things often do for the Get Backers, however, things went horribly wrong. The truck suddenly tilted sharply to the rear. The boys were thrown off their feet and up against the metal doors. Theycried out with pain from first impacting metal and secondly having a semi-trailer load of toys dumped on top of their bodies.
The truck doors opened with one fluid swoop, depositing both Get Backers on a fast-moving conveyor belt. Ginji sat up, rubbing his head. "Ow! Ban-chan, are you okay?"
"Yeah, the costume broke my fall," he answered, wiggling back and forth. "What's that sound?"
Ginji looked towards the source of the sound, eyes suddenly tripling in size. Ahead of them, the conveyor belt lead to a long series of thin, dangerously sharp looking machines. The machines were swooping down, snatching up toys. Ginji could only watch in a combination of shock and macabre interest as the machines slashed open the toys backs, inserted some kind of small electrical device in the back, and then sewed the toys back up in the blink of an eye. It only took Ginji a moment to realize that if he didn't do something, he would shortly be under the machine's grip.
"Ban-chan, we have to get off this belt!" he cried, leaping to his feet.
Ban thrashed around a bit on the belt. "I can't! The fall messed up the lining of the costume; I can't move my arms!"
Ginji tried to grab his partner, but the thick padding of the fake monkey paws prevented him from doing so effectively. The belt continued to move, carrying the two closer and closer towards the machines. "Can you slither for it, Ban-chan?" Ginji asked, worried as he tried to assist Ban out of the costume.
"I'm trying!" he answered. "Oh, to heck with this…"
"No, Ban-chan! Don't-"
Paying no heed, he ripped the costume wide open, grabbing Ginji by the ear of his body suit and jumping off the belt. The two sailed through the air for what seemed like an eternity. Both wondered if it would be appropriate to scream, as they seemed to be falling to their dooms, or whether that would give away their position should they happen to survive. As it happened, luck was on their side. They landed in a pile of stuffed dolls. Or, at least, Ginji landed in a pile of dolls. Ban… landed on a pile of Lego pieces.
Ginji looked at Ban with big, teary eyes. "Elf-chan is going to make us pay for the costume…"
Ban stood up and began picking Legos out of his skin. He'd hit the pile so hard that he was covered in little dots, almost as if he'd come down with some kind of bizarre reverse pox. "After what we're getting for this job, paying for that costume will hardly matter." He brushed out his hair, a few Lego people falling out and hitting the ground at his feet. "Let's hurry and find Himiko and the missing toys and get out of his place. It's giving me the creeps," he said, looking up and the giant wreaths lining the assembly room walls.
"What do you think they were putting in those toys?" Ginji asked, walking alongside Ban as the two snuck into the hallway.
"I wasn't paid to care about that, just to get the toys back," Ban snapped in response, sneaking down the hallways as Ginji waddled after him. "Why are you still wearing that?"
"It's my disguise!" Ginji answered indignantly.
"Well, take it off. We need stealth right now."
Ginji made a sour face at Ban but removed the costume, leaving it behind a potted plant. "Elf-chan is going to make us pay for that costume, too," he said sadly.
--
Meanwhile, Himiko and Akabane were wandering the hallways, looking for an exit. "There has to be a way out if we came in," Himiko muttered under her breath, irritated. Her stomach was growling so loudly that even Akabane could hear it. She hadn't eaten in awhile, and the fact that the walls were gingerbread scented didn't help the matter.
"You know, Lady Poison, this place reminds me of a Christmas version of that cheap American horror movie we rented. The one with the clo-"
"Don't bring that movie up again! I couldn't see a circus for a year afterwards."
"I apologized, Lady Poison. I did not know you were squeamish about scary movies."
"Well, don't bring it up again and your apologies will seem more sincere," she snapped. She sighed and rested her shoulder against the wall. "Wandering around aimlessly isn't getting us elsewhere. We have to think of a plan."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the building, Ginji looked helplessly at Ban. "Ban-chan, we've passed that same decoration three times. I think we're lost."
"We're not lost, we just don't happen to have a map," Ban answered, looking cautiously around a corner. Not a guard was in sight, so he gestured for Ginji to follow.
As Ginji ran to meet up with Ban, he tripped on something and fell flat on his belly. "Ginji!" Ban cried, running over to his partner. "Are you okay?"
"Mmm," Ginji nodded, looking up. "I just tripped on this present!" he said brightly, lifting it.
Ban rolled his eyes. "Your clumsiness is going to give us away. Now come on, we have to find Himiko before someone finds us."
Ginji shook the present. "There's something inside, Ban-chan!"
"Who cares? Just leave it and let's go. We don't have time to be playing with presents," Ban snapped, heading down the hallway.
Ginji pouted at Ban's back. He shook the present again. He wondered what was inside. There was no name on it, just a tag reading "Do not open until Christmas." Well… what harm could a little peak do? He could open it and follow Ban at the same time.
Making sure Ban wouldn't look back and see him sneaking, Ginji cleverly began to unwrap the present. No sooner had he untied the bow, however, when a thunderous voice cried out "What part of do not open until Christmas don't you understand?" it howled.
Ginji let out a cry as the present burst wide open, growing suddenly larger. When it stopped, it was at least the size and width of Ginji himself. Long, green ribbons draped off the top of the now gigantic present, curling around the white box. It was raised up on the ribbons like a great beast upon four legs.
"Ginji, what did you do?" Ban shouted.
"AAAAIEEEEEEEE!" Ginji cried, diving out of the way as a tendril swung down. It smashed the ground where he'd been sitting into rubble. Ribbons shot out and wrapped around Ginji's ankles, dragging the young blonde back towards the present. The top was open and flapping like a mouth, what appeared to be razor sharp teeth visible inside the box. "TENTACLE MONSTER!" Ginji cried as another ribbon tendril wrapped around his arm.
"Shock it, Ginji!" Ban screamed, deflecting a ribbon that had tried to snatch his glasses.
Ginji nodded. "Right!" He sent a jolt of electricity through the present, causing it to make a violent screeching noise and flail around. A bit of smoke escaped out of the mouth, and in the blink of an eye, Ban realized that it had caught fire.
The present began to go up in flames in mere moments. "Ha, the wrapping paper wasn't flame retardant!" Ban crowed. Ginji waved an arm in a little gesture of victory.
The present, still burning, collapsed onto its side with the ribbon tentacles writhing as the burn consumed it. Within mere moments, it was ashes.
"Wow," Ginji commented, watching it. Without warning, the sprinklers opened up, dousing the two in liquid. Ginji looked stunned for a moment, and then tasted the liquid spurting out of the sprinklers. "Eggnog?" he asked, confused.
"Is everything Christmas-themed in this insanity?" Ban asked, wringing eggnog out of his shirt. "What kind of madman would come up with a place like this?"
"Would you like to find out?" a voice asked over the intercom. "Ho, ho, ho, I spy a couple of bad little boys who snuck into my workshop!" The doors opened up, revealing a good dozen elves holding strangely shaped weapons.
Ban backed up until his back touched Ginji's. "We can take them out," he whispered.
"Right, Ban-chan," Ginji whispered in response. A second later, however, he felt a prick on the side of his neck and the colors of his world began to blur.
Speaking loudly, Ban turned back to face the intercom. "What have you done with Himiko?" he demanded angrily.
"Himiko… oh, you mean the bad little girl we caught earlier? We're taking good care of her. Don't you worry."
"Let her go!" Ban demanded."
"I'm afraid I can't do that. She's integral to my plans, you see."
Ban snarled in response to the answer. "Are you ready, Ginji?" Ban whispered, set to fight. "Ginji?" he asked, turning around. "GINJI!" he screamed, seeing his partner lying on the ground. The elves gripped their weapons tighter. Another elf fired, but Ban easily dodged the attack. "What did you do to him?" he roared, taking out a good half of the elf soldiers in a single sweep.
"Ho, ho, ho, your friend isn't hurt. We just gave him a little something to make him sleep until Santa comes to visit. All little boys have to be in bed when Santa comes, after all! But if you don't stop fighting, I'm afraid he won't get the wake-up cookie, and he'll be dreaming of sugar plum fairies forever."
Ban's hand tightened further into a fist as rage burned in his eyes before he let his fist drop weakly to his side. His head hung, and the remaining elf soldiers surrounded him, weapons at the ready. "Ho, ho. Bring them to me!" the voice over the intercom demanded.
Elsewhere in the building, the intercom began to hum to life. "Attention, my little naughty children. We've got some of your little playmates here." Himiko narrowed her eyes, looking at the intercom. "One has brown hair, the other blonde, and they both look like they've been playing with rubbing balloons in their hair to make it stand up funny. One boy seems to be wearing his father's nice work shirt, and the other one is wearing shorts. In Christmas weather, no less. Poor boy might have caught his death of cold if we hadn't stepped in.
"Ban and Ginji!" Himiko stated in alarm, glaring at the intercom.
"If you don't want anything to happen to your naughty friends, then surrender yourselves," the Santa voice demanded. "I have to make my toy delivery rounds yet tonight, so I suggest you think quickly."
Himiko looked over at Akabane. "That idiot must have come here thinking he could rescue me! Now I'm going to have to rescue him and myself!"
--
Will Himiko be able to rescue Ban? Will I be able to finish this story by tomorrow? Stay tuned for further updates!