NOTE: Sorry for the long wait. Needed to make sure I had enough schoolwork done before writing this chapter. Hopefully, you guys are doing fine.
I do want you guys to know that it'll be a long time before we get to Alien Force in Priestess 10. There's a lot that I have to get through first before I can start that. So, don't expect it immediately once this story finishes.
This episode is not a fever dream. Let me get that out of the way now. I was tempted to do that but decided that I can have much more fun having the events in this episode actually happen.
READ THIS - I am doing after this point I will be doing the episodes in the order that I see fit. You will know what I mean once you see what the next episode is. I don't need a repeat of people calling me stupid for writing my story how I want to write it.
Enjoy and Review!
Chapter 41: Merry Persona
The Rustbucket continued its journey through the desert. The insane heatwave was bearing down hard on the Tennyson family. "We are in the middle of the middle of nowhere!" Gwen complained. She, Ben, and Yukiko were trying to cool themselves off. Turning the air conditioner to max and plugging in the portable fan.
"Grandpa! Can't you crank up the AC!?" Ben asked.
Gwen glanced at Yukiko, who was suffering the most from the heat wave. "Yukiko is literally melting back here."
"I-I'll…be fine…" Yukiko was trying to fan herself off. Not even the summers of Inaba could compare to the dry heat of the desert.
Max was handling the heat better than his grandkids at the moment. "I'm afraid it's at maximum right now. We'll stop at the next gas station."
"We'll be grilled cheese by then!" Ben and Gwen shouted.
Yukiko blinked. "B-but…you guys can't…become grilled…pahhhh…" She didn't have the strength to finish her sentence.
"She can't even finish her usual gag, because of this heat!" Gwen exclaimed. The young girl picked up Yukiko's fan and tried to cool off her cousin.
Ben was sick of the heat, activating the Omnitrix. "Time to get small and get cool!" He slapped down the dial.
FLASH!
Yukiko glared at the Galvan. "If only you had an alien that uses ice. Maybe then you'd be useful."
Gray Matter huffed. "Oh yeah? Watch this!" He parkoured his way to the ceiling, crawling into the air conditioner. "Recalibrate the three on the evaporation cycle, expand the expansion valve, and realign these condense cords."
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Gwen asked, skeptical.
"One more second and it's ice cube ci-"
BOOM!
"We should've seen that one coming." Gwen groaned. The air conditioner exploded, filling the RV with smoke and forcing Max to stop the Rustbucket. The Tennysons hurried out of the motor home to avoid suffocating in the smoke. Yukiko held Gray Matter in her hands as they escaped.
"This doesn't look good!" Gray Matter exclaimed.
"You think!?" Gwen hissed.
Yukiko sighed, irritated at Ben for forcing them to stand outside in the heat. She was about to scold him for his actions until something in the distance caught her eye. "Huh? What's that?"
Her family looked in the direction, seeing the similar structure sitting close by in the desert. "What is that doing in the desert?" Gray Matter wondered.
"Whatever it is, can we check it out, Grandpa!? Please!" Gwen begged.
Max smirked. "Sure. Don't sweat it!"
"Pfft! Hahahahaha!" Yukiko laughed at Max's pun. Gwen and Ben didn't share the same amusement for the lame joke.
"I knew that would cheer you up, sweetheart." Max said. Knowing a good joke would cheer his eldest up easily after having to deal with this heat. "Alright, kids. Let's go see what it is."
After crossing the seemingly endless desert, the Tennysons find themselves standing in front of some sort of large gate with giant toy soldiers standing in front of it. "Giant toy soldiers? In Death Valley?" Gwen questioned.
"Must be one of those holiday theme parks here!" Max guessed.
"In the middle of the summer?" Yukiko questioned.
"There was that Halloween tow-"
Gwen cut him off. "I thought we all agreed to never bring that up again?"
Max got closer to the gate. "Perhaps they just forgot to take it with them after packing up?"
Gwen hummed. "I don't know. Something about this door feels off."
FWOOSH!
Suddenly the gate cracked open with snow and icy winds blowing through the crack. The Tennyson family were cooled off by the breeze. "Did you feel that cold air?" The prospect of cold temperatures was enough to entice Ben and Gwen to race to the gate. They pulled the gate open and quickly ran inside.
"Wait, you two! It could be dangerous!" Yukiko quickly chased after her cousins through the gate.
Max slowly followed after; a bit hesitant to enter. As he stepped into the bright light past the gate, he was met with the feeling of snow beneath his shoes. When the light cleared the Tennysons were amazed to find themselves no longer standing in the desert. But in a massive Winter Wonderland.
"What is all this?" Max gasped.
Unknown to the family, one of the toy soldier's eyes glanced down at Max. "Ohohoho! Could it be? Has he finally arrived?"
OP: Ancient Romantic by P-Maru Sama
Ancient Romantic!
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
A rotating shot of the Omnitrix comes into view before latching onto Ben's wrist. He's seen standing with Yukiko, Gwen, and Max in front of the Rustbucket.
For a split second the landscape around them glitches out as purple lighting cracks the sky above.
The miracle of humankind that I met at once was a loss if neither Edison nor Watson knew (Loss!)
Ben stands on top of a broken spaceship, staring out at the clear blue sky above him.
Below him was Yukiko, who stood in the shadows of the ship. Her eyes transfixed on her tarot card.
Mr. N was surprised at such a situation since the earth was created (Unexpected!)
Gwen walked past the two, her eyes focused on her spell book. She shut the book instantly, her eyes glowing with blue mana.
Max stood in the back and in his hands was a broken picture frame.
The ancient civilization and the school playground that I ran yesterday are all connected.
The scenery changed to Inaba. Yukiko is seen running through the town with the rest of the Investigation Team.
SHATTER!
Yukiko was now running around with the Tennysons. Ben, happily leading the charge with the Omnitrix ready.
SHATTER!
Yukiko was smiling brightly, her arms draped around Ben's chest as he proudly stood in front of her. His face is full of confidence and aspirations.
SHATTER!
Older versions of Ben, Yukiko, Gwen, Max, and Yu appeared. The Tennysons were standing around the married couple as Yukiko held a small blue bundle of blankets in her hands. She smiled warmly at her newborn baby.
The invitation to unravel the true nature of this romance is an initiation from ancient times.
Ben sat inside of a blue limousine. In front of him were both Igor and Margaret, the attendant holding a large blue book in her hands.
Sitting next to Ben was Yu, whose tarot card expanded into a blinding flash of light.
All members! Go in! Aye-aye!
Ben charged into battle first, slapping down the dial and transforming into Four Arms. Gwen came in next, hands glowing bright with mana. Yukiko summoned Sumeo-Okami, unleashing waves of fire. Max joined his grandkids, his own personal blaster ready to battle.
Let's dance in such an era! Dancing all right!
Yu appeared next with his sword drawn. Izanagi jumped out from behind him, his blade sparking with white electricity.
Naoto Shirogane dropped down in front of him with her gun pointed at the screen. Her Persona: Yamato-Takeru appeared next to her in a flash of light.
Rise Kujikawa descended downwards gracefully, with her eyes closed shut. Her Persona: Kanzeon had appeared behind Rise. Placing a red-colored headset over her user's eyes.
Rehabilitation! Introspection! I'll do it one after another! The past and the future are all mixed together!
Yukiko had her arms wrapped around Four Arms' neck as the two glided through a massive tornado. Four Arms loudly strummed his guitar.
Kenny and Lucky Girl stood back-to-back, facing off against an army of robots. The elder brother held a baseball bat in his hands, while Lucky Girl's hands vibrated with mana.
Collapse! Situation! Hurry up!
A familiar looking creature appeared dressed in shadows, its purple eye glistening with malicious fury.
The feelings of hundreds of millions of years are romantic over!
Three new aliens appeared on the screen. A Frankenstein's monster, a werewolf, and a mummy all stood in front of a large satellite. Above them the sun transformed into a massive purple eyeball.
March! Send! Do in! Do in Love! There is one love in any era!
The Rustbucket was speeding towards the satellite with its boosters activated. The Tennysons inside were determined to stop whatever was about to happen.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, you can see!
Chie, Yosuke, Kanji, Teddie, Nanako, Rise, and Naoto held each letter as they flashed across the screen.
H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, you caught!
For the last remaining letters were each held by Ben's aliens as they flashed across the screen.
Ancient Romantic!
Yukiko fell through the air, unable to stop herself. Ben reached for her as fast as he could, his hand only inches from her's.
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
"Snow? KUH!" Gwen was pelted in the head by a snowball from Ben. She glared at her doofus cousin for the attack.
"Which means one thing…" Ben held another snowball. "Snowballs!" He yelled before ducking under a snowball thrown by Gwen. The two laughed as they engaged one another in a snowball fight.
"Hey, Yukiko! You wanna-Yukiko!?" Ben's cry caught the other's attention. The Tennysons looked around for Yukiko, but the heiress was nowhere to be found. Instead, standing in her place was a snowwoman. "Uh? Why is there a snowman?"
"Was it always there?" Gwen slowly approached it. The closer she got to it the more it started to resemble Yukiko. "And why does it look like-"
Rumble!
The rumbling noise coming from the snowwoman concerned Gwen. "Wha-?" Before she could blink the head of the snowwoman had fallen off completely, splashing on top of her. The sorceress squealed from the freezing snow.
"Pfft! Hahahahaha!" Yukiko popped her head out from behind the snowwoman. "Y-you should've seen the look on your face, Gwen!"
Gwen hissed at Yukiko. "What the heck!? How did you even build that so fast!?" She was trying to brush all of the snow off her body.
"Magic!"
"An excuse like that doesn't work against me!"
Max chuckled at his grandkids' enjoyment of the snowy environment, a complete contrast to their mood earlier. Though, he was curious about this place. "I wonder where they put the snowmaking machines?" Until he was pelted in the back by a snowball.
"Hahahahaha!" His grandkids all held their own piles of snowballs.
Max didn't make a move or say anything at first. The silence was a bit unnerving to the three. "I am warning you…" Max's tone sent a shiver down their spines. Making the three question if they had done something wrong.
Until Max turned around with his own snowballs. "You're messing with an old pro!" He tossed several at his grandkids, engaging in a four-way snowball fight with them.
After their hilariously fun snowball fight that reminded Yukiko of their food fight back during that makeshift birthday party Max made for her, the Tennysons decided to explore the mysterious town. The atmosphere around it was whimsical as snow littered the ground and large candy canes were stuck into the ground. "Wow! Everything here looks so real! Special effects have really come a long way." Yukiko was amazed. The heiress had never seen anything like this town before back in Inaba. Another amazing discovery she's experienced during this summer.
Gwen hummed a little. "I don't know. Something about this place feels a bit weird to me."
"Probably, because you're a mega weirdo," Ben said.
"It takes one to know one, doofus," Gwen replied.
The family stopped walking when a group of elves ran past them. "Are those…?"
"Elves!" Ben finished Gwen's sentence. "Yeah, I think so!"
Yukiko clapped her hands. "Oh! This gives me an idea! I should find an elf costume for Ben!"
"No way!" Ben refused instantly. "I will never dress like an elf."
"You're already pretty short, so you already have the height down." Gwen teased. Her jab wasn't so amusing to Ben.
"Is that a reindeer?" Max's question brought his kids' attention to the middle of town. Where elves could be seen stacking presents onto a sleigh that was hooked onto a reindeer. A large Christmas tree shone brightly behind them.
In fact, all around town they noticed elves were gathering presents and decorating the houses for what seemed to be Christmas. Toy Soldiers exited the clock tower, lining up in front of the building, and pulling out their trumpets.
The Tennysons were amazed by the scene before them. "You know being here makes me realize that the four of us have never spent a Christmas all together." Max brought his kids closer.
Yukiko hadn't even realized that, because she was too busy admiring everything. Her grandfather was correct that their family hadn't spent a single Christmas together. It made her heart yearn for their family to be whole again, so that they could continue to be together.
"Our families do get pretty busy that time of year," Gwen said. "I mean with all of the holiday parties. Having to shop till you drop and vacations ya know." There was a hint of sadness in her voice as she spoke.
"And now we have Yukiko and her family too. We really haven't been all together, huh?" Ben realized.
Max sighed quietly. "No. No we haven't…not for years."
"T-then we should change that!" Yukiko exclaimed. "This year or next year or even the one after that, we should all be together! I want to spend Christmas with my family! All of my family!"
The fire in her eyes made Max appreciate her presence even more. He had a slight feeling that no matter how her father felt about the issue, Yukiko was going to get her perfect Christmas. No matter what.
Ben agreed with Yukiko, it would be cool if they all spent Christmas together. But at the moment it wasn't Christmas, so he was free to put that thought into the back of his mind. Looking over Ben saw a few elves sliding down the snowy hills. "Welp! I'm gonna go hit the bobsled run!"
Yukiko was pretty sure that Max also wanted them all to explore together. "Uh, Ben-"
"Ice skating for me!" Gwen interrupted.
"Gwen-"
Both kids ran off before she could even finish the sentence. Sighing at their impatience, she turned to her grandpa. "Sorry, Grandpa. I know that you also wanted us to explore around here together too."
Max shook his head. "It's fine, sweetheart. At least you're still-" He stopped once he realized that Yukiko wasn't listening anymore. Max saw that she was staring at the clothes shops that were around them. Yukiko was fidgeting in her spot, obviously wanting to go and explore the plenty of stores. "Go on, Yukiko. I know you want to."
She snapped her head back to him, blushing in embarrassment. "W-what!? No way, Grandpa! I'm fine-"
"Go. I'll still be here when you kids get back."
"I-if you say so…" And before Max could even blink, Yukiko was gone in a flash. The teenager had seemingly teleported into one of the clothing stores.
"Welp. Maybe, next year…" Max sighed.
Ben slid down the slope on his bobsled, plowing past some of the elves and flying face first into a pile of snow. "Oh yeah!" Ben celebrated his epic ride.
Gwen danced elegantly on the frozen river on her skates. She passed up a couple of elves, before twirling with one of them, and sending him flying into a wall.
Yukiko happily enjoyed stacking a multitude of dresses, skirts, blouses, costumes, and other accessories onto the counter. The poor elf employee could only watch as her store was being emptied out by a single teenager.
As his kids were enjoying themselves, Max found a quiet coffee shop to relax in. Pouring himself a cup of mocha. Unknown to him, one of the doll's heads turned to stare at Max. Watching him examine the Santa Claus costume sitting on a rack.
"The laugh is not quite right, and it appears that he's decided to shave! But it looks like it'll be a perfect fit!" A shadowy figure declared, watching Max from a crystal ball.
Max exited the coffee shop only to find his path blocked by a row of elves. "You must come with us." They all said simultaneously.
"O-oh, sorry. I didn't see anybody around. Who can I pay for the coco?" Max asked as the elves began leading him off somewhere. From behind a corner there was an elf watching the scene with a saddened expression.
Max was led into a large room decorated in red and green colors. A single chair sat between two rotating stairs in front of a big green curtain. The sounds of jingling bells brought Max's attention to the stop of the staircase.
Standing at the top was an older looking elf with a full beard. He wore a dark red hat with white lines around it. He wore gold, red, and white colored robes with green shoes that had jingle bells attached to them. "I'm Mr. Jingles. I want to welcome you to Holiday Village. I'm so happy we finally have a chance to meet."
"Nice place you have here." Max examined the room.
"Thank you, so much! I was so worried it wouldn't meet with your approval," Mr. Jingles said.
"My approval?" Max asked.
"Why of course, Mr. Claus! Is it okay if I call you Santa?" Mr. Jingles requested.
Max assumed this was just a silly joke. "I think you got me confused with someone else. Say, you wouldn't know anyone around here who knows how to fix an air conditioning unit? We really need to get back on the road."
Mr. Jingles looked appalled. "Oh my gosh! Heavens no! You can't go anywhere, you belong here. I created Holiday Village just for you!" He jiggled his bells, commanding the elves to get to work.
The elves surrounded Max with rolls of red wrapping paper, using magic to transform the elder Tennyson into Santa Claus.
"There. That's better," Mr. Jingles grinned. He pressed a button on his control panel, forcing Max into the chair. The ex-plumber tried his best to move, but his body was glued to the seat by some sort of force. All he could do was hope that his grandkids would figure out that he was missing soon.
Gwen took a bite out of a giant gingerbread man. "We really need to find Grandpa." She said between bites.
Ben took his own bite. "Why? He's used to not being with us on Christmas. Besides, Yukiko's with him right now."
"Who is with who, right now?" The two looked over to see Yukiko approaching them with five shopping bags on each arm. "You two shouldn't eat too much of that. You'll spoil your dinner."
Ben waved her warning off. "C'mon! Grab a bite! There's plenty to eat!"
Yukiko hummed for a moment. "Well, I'm sure a bite wouldn't hurt." She placed her shopping bags onto a dry spot on the ground. She joined her cousins in taking a bit out of the gingerbread man.
"What did you buy anyway?" Gwen asked.
"Oh, just a few outfits and accessories."
"Better not be an elf costume in there." Ben muttered.
"Somehow I doubt they're looking for me." Max sighed as he continued to struggle. Mr. Jingles walked over to him with a remote controller in his hands, using it to keep Max stuck in the chair.
"I'm so sorry about the joystick controller, but I thought you might have other chores to attend to. And I need to make sure you fulfill your responsibility to me first. Now may I present your workshop, Santa." Mr. Jingles walked over to another control panel.
"I am not Santa!" Max growled.
"Attention my elves! I have the most wonderful surprise!" Mr. Jingles addressed all of the workers. He used the joystick to bring the captured grandfather up to the balcony. Then forced Max to wave at all of the workers. The elves were ecstatic to see Santa watching over them. "As soon as my toys are perfect, you'll have gifts galore to deliver." He forced Max to stop struggling. "Until then, just sit and relax. Oh, and I almost forgot. Thank you so much for bringing those lovely children with you, I could always use more elves. Though, the tall one will have to be reworked. It'll do no good to have a tall elf."
Max glared at Mr. Jingles for targeting his grandkids.
Yukiko watched Ben and Gwen mess around with the gifts that were underneath the town's Christmas trees. The heiress had been trying to call their grandfather, but for some reason he just wasn't picking up the phone. "Oh, I knew I shouldn't have left him alone."
"Eh, I'm sure we'll find him." Ben wasn't worried.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"What the…?" The Tennyson kids looked over to see several giant toy soldiers approaching them with sharp blades in their hands. "I don't think they want to sing Christmas carols," Ben said.
Yukiko dropped her shopping bags, quickly moving in front of her cousins with her fan ready. She was prepared to attack until glass ornaments were tossed at the toy soldiers. The three looked up at the roofs to see a lone elf. "It's Jingles' guards! You must skedaddle!"
"Skewhattle?" Ben was confused.
"He means run!" Gwen exclaimed as the toys attacked. The Tennyson kids quickly ran from the toys as the soldiers fired candy canes at them. The three hid behind a sleigh to avoid their pursuers.
"Woah, mega weird. Ninja nutcrackers," Ben said.
"What are they attacking us for? We didn't do anything wrong, right?" Yukiko questioned.
Ben looked down at the watch. "Well, whatever it is. It's time for those wooden nutcrackers to become firewood." Ben dialed up Heatblast. "Going Heatblast!"
FLASH!
"Oh man!" XLR8 groaned.
Yukiko sighed, whipping her fan back out. "Well, you aren't technically wrong." The flash from the Omnitrix had alerted the nutcrackers of their hiding place. "Maragi!" Yukiko unleashed a barrage of fireballs at their attackers. A few were knocked back by her attacks, while others intercepted the fireballs with candy canes.
XLR8 grabbed the girls and took off to avoid being surrounded. All of the toy soldiers fired simultaneously at the Tennysons. Gwen conjured a shield to protect their backs from the candy canes. The speed alien found himself sliding across the frozen river, slowing down to avoid crashing into a wall.
"Woah! I've never accelerated on ice before!" XLR8 exclaims.
"Maybe, we should've gone left?" Yukiko ponders, holding on tightly.
"No time to worry about that now!" Gwen added. "Look!" She pointed ahead of them, where more nutcrackers were skating in their direction.
"Better time than any to learn how to ice skate!" XLR8 carefully maneuvered his way past the guardsmen to avoid getting stabbed. He lost balance after getting past them all, sending himself and his cousins flying into a pile of snow.
The nutcrackers were undeterred, continuing to chase after them. They shot another round of candy canes that hit XLR8 right in the ass. "OWWW!" He cried.
"Wish I could've recorded that," Gwen said.
"Same, but we'll have the memories at least." Yukiko pointed her fan at the ice. "Agidyne!" Her attack exploded in front of the nutcrackers, drowning the attacking toys into the frozen lake.
Gwen looked over to see more approaching from the side. "Great, there's more!" Her hands vibrated with magic energy. "Appendaga Regoria!" She immobilized the toys in front of her. "Yukiko!"
"Maragidyne!" The nutcrackers exploded into tiny pieces of wood chunks. "There!" Yukiko smirked until more and more nutcrackers began to surround them.
"Where are they all coming from!?" Gwen questioned.
Yukiko unleashed another barrage of fireballs onto the soldiers. "I don't know, but I'm getting sick of it!"
XLR8 came speeding by with a pile of snowballs in his hands. "Yukiko! I got an idea!"
It didn't take long for her to figure out what he was planning. "Let's do it, Ben! Maragi!" She unleashed another wave of fireballs as XLR8 launched his own barrage of snowballs. The combined attack devastated the nutcracker army to the point that not a piece of them was left standing.
FLASH!
"Good plan, Ben." Yukiko complimented her cousin.
Ben held his head, dizzying from all the spinning he had done. "Uh, yeah. Let's never do that again."
"That was really spiffy!" The elf from earlier ran over to them.
"Spiffy? Skedaddle? Dude, don't you know English?" Ben asked.
"Dude?" The elf was equally confused by Ben's slang.
"Do you work here?" Gwen asked.
"Yes! And if you don't leave now then you'll fall under the curse of the village and become one of us as well!" He warned.
Ben laughed, not believing it. "Like, I already told Yukiko. I'm not gonna dress up as an elf."
DING!
Everyone stared at Ben as his eyes, ears, and face changed to that of an elf.
"Pfft! Snrk!" Yukiko put her hands to her mouth to cover her laughter.
"Uh, Ben?" Gwen said, hesitantly. "You might want to check out your ears."
Ben was confused before touching his ears, feeling just how pointy and large they had gotten. "Huh? NO!" Ben cried.
DING!
"It looks like I'm not the only one!" Ben said to Gwen. The sorceress touched her own ears, realizing that she had undergone the same transformation as Ben.
"NO! I can't go elf! Pointy ears will never be in fashion!" Gwen wanted to cry.
Yukiko found both of her cousins cute with the elf look. Then she looked down at herself, confused by the actions. "Uh? Nothing happened to me."
"It's because you're not a kid. The magic of this space only affects children, so unless-"
DING!
"Oh…" He, Ben, and Gwen stared horrified at Yukiko.
"What?" The heiress was confused by what had them so worried. "By the way, did you two get taller?" Yukiko pointed at Ben and Gwen.
Gwen shook her head. "We didn't get taller, Yukiko."
"Huh?" The moment Yukiko looked down at herself, she found that she was now a lot closer to the ground than she was previously. Her clothes also felt a lot bigger and baggy. "What's going-guh!" She tripped over her own dress, falling face first into the snow.
Yukiko picked herself up, wiping the snow off her face. She reached into her bag, pulled out her phone, and turned on her camera. The heiress' eyes almost bugged out of her skull at the sight of her reflection. "I-I'm a kid!?"
Gwen winced. "If I had to guess, I'd say you're around 10-years-old. The same as us."
Yukiko examined her body, noticing that she looked younger in a lot of places than just her face. Not only that, but her face had also been changed into that of an elf. "NO! I don't want to stay like this forever!" She wouldn't be able to graduate high school or go out on dates with Yu if she was stuck looking like a kid!
Ben agreed with her. "We need to find Grandpa and go."
"That might not be possible. Mr. Jingles has him, he believes your Grandpa is Santa Claus," The elf explained.
"Then we gotta save him-guh!" Yukiko tripped over her own clothes again. "After I find some more fitting clothes…"
Mr. Jingles leaped onto Max's lap. "I know why you look so unhappy. You've had nothing to laugh about." He pulled a feather out of his sleeve. "Let me change that." He started wiggling the feather under Max's nose.
"No! Stop that! N-no! N-nehahaha-HOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" Max couldn't stop the hearty Santa-like laugh from booming through the microphone. All of the worker elves were relieved to hear Santa's laugh.
After Yukiko walked out of the store in a dark green blouse and brown skirt, the day suddenly changed from day to night. "Uh? What just happened?"
"We're running out of time! If you don't leave soon then you'll be stuck here forever!" The elf warned them.
"Not without Grandpa!" Gwen responded. Suddenly a strong gust of freezing wind blew through the town, snow falling from the sky.
A large hat flew past them and dropped onto the snow. A second later monstrous snowmen came to life, marching towards them. "Let's skedaddle!" Gwen and Ben exclaimed. The four ran down the street to avoid getting caught by the snow monsters.
"Agidyne!" Yukiko blasted them with a strong fireball, melting them within seconds. However, the endless abundance of snow just allowed them to reform as if nothing happened. "Oh, come on!"
"Quick in here!" The elf opened a door for their escape. The Tennyson kids followed him inside before the monsters could get them.
Once the door shut, the four were now inside of a hallway. Decorated with images of Mr. Jingles and his elves. "Who's that?" Ben asked, pointing to Mr. Jingles' picture.
"Mr. Jingles!" He answered.
"And that's you." Gwen pointed at an old gray picture of Mr. Jingles and a little boy. "When was that taken?"
"Just a few days ago!"
"In what year?" Yukiko asked. That photo looks way too old to just be a couple of days ago.
"1932 of course!" His answer left the three shocked.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
BOOM!
The door exploded into pieces, snowballs flying through the air at high speeds. The four ducked out of the way to avoid getting hit. The elf acted quickly, pulling a lever to activate a trap door in the floor. "Follow me!" He jumped down. With no other options the Tennysons followed after the elf.
"AAAHHH!" Yukiko held down her skirt as they fell down a tunnel seemingly constructed of presents. "GUH!" They crashed into a treasure trove of Christmas gifts.
"How do we get our Grandpa back?" Gwen asked.
"First, you'll have to destroy the Jingle-ator! Mr. Jingles' machine! It's what makes everything here magical!" The elf explained. "But the entrance to his workshop is guarded. You won't be able to get in."
"Oh yeah?" The girls smiled at Ben, who had no idea what they were planning.
"Remember! You're a reindeer!" Gwen whispered to Wildmutt. She and Yukiko were now disguised as Elves to blend in.
"Just stay calm, Ben. You got this!" Yukiko rubbed his back.
Before they could cross the gate, the nutcracker blocked their way with his sword. "Uh? He's from Europe!" Gwen lied. Her lie seemed to have worked as the guard allowed them to go through.
The four noticed a bunch of reindeers standing in front of a dark red train. "The factory is several levels below." Their path to the train was blocked by a reindeer, its nose glowed red, alerting the guards that they were intruders.
"MUSH!" Gwen yelled. Wildmutt quickly jumped onto the train as it took off down the tracks. However, a single nutcracker had grabbed onto the train to stop them. It fired off several candy canes at them. The four ducked down to avoid getting blasted.
"Agilao!" Yukiko fired back, sending the toy flying off the train. That wasn't the last of their troubles as more soldiers arrived in their own carts. Wildmutt gathered the three back onto his back, jumping around to avoid getting sliced apart. When one of the toys attacked, he bashed it away with his large paws.
Unfortunately for them, they were standing on top of a giant jack-in-the-box. It flipped up, sending them flying off of the train and into the factory below. "AAAAAHHHHH!"
FLASH!
Thankfully a massive pile of toys broke their fall as Ben turned back to normal.
"Well, well. It looks like our new elves couldn't wait to get started." Mr. Jingles welcomed them with two large toy bears following behind him. "And Elsgood, you know how I feel about my Elves thinking for themselves."
Mr. Jingles spoke into the mic. "You all remember our motto here in Holiday Village."
"A happy Elf is a busy Elf!" The worker elves answered.
The Tennyson kids ignored him in favor of searching for their grandfather. Looking up at the balcony, they found Max struggling to get out of his chair. "Grandpa!"
Gwen noticed the joystick remote in Mr. Jingles' hands. "He must be controlling him!"
Yukiko growled. "My Grandpa isn't a toy for you to control!"
Mr. Jingles refused to listen. "He isn't a toy, he's a gift. Santa is meant to be shared with the world! Now fall in line with the rest of the elves." Mr. Jingles ordered for his toy bears to grab them.
The Tennyson kids were stuck putting together toys as the bears stood over them to make sure they wouldn't try anything. Ben picked up a doll.
"I'm spit up Sally! Watch me spit up! Spit up! Spit up! Spit up!" It opened its mouth and barfed green liquid into Ben's face. "YUCK!"
"Pfft!" Yukiko tried not to laugh.
Mr. Jingles pushed her out of the way to grab the doll. "How will Santa deliver this if it's not perfect!? My toys must be perfect! Everything must be perfect on Christmas!" The old elf shoved the toy back into Ben's hands and walked away with his bears.
Once he was gone, Elsgood snuck over to them. "That's the Jingle-ator! Time is running out!"
"What we need is a distraction," Yukiko said.
Ben looked over at the reindeers. "I got an idea." He tossed the throw-up doll over to the reindeers. It barfed into one's face, causing the rest to react violently. The giant bears rushed over to quell the animals.
Ben smirked, activating the Omnitrix. "All I want for Christmas is Four Big Arms!"
FLASH!
"Aw man!" Gray Matter crawled onto the conveyor belt.
"Guess you've been naughty this year, Ben," Yukiko said.
The Galvan shrugged. "Oh well. If at first, you don't succeed!"
"But you never succeed with transforming," Yukiko pointed out.
"It's an expression!" He replied before sprinting towards the Jingle-ator.
From the balcony, Mr. Jingles noticed Gray Matter as he looked through his telescope. "STOP HIM!" He ordered his guards.
The bears attempted to chase after Gray Matter, but Yukiko jumped in their way. "You two have been very naughty bears this year! Agidyne!" Both bears were blown through the air by the magnitude of Yukiko's attack.
With them taken care of Gray Matter made his way into the Jingle-ator. He slid down the slide inside of the machine. The Galvan landed inside of a present which was moving on a conveyor belt, each gift getting kicked off by a literal boot. "WOAH!" Gray Matter cried as he was kicked through the air.
Landing on his butt, he finally made it to the power source of the machine. A bright glowing star that one would put on top of a Christmas tree. The only way to get there was for him to parkour his way through a pathway of gifts. The challenge was for him to avoid getting crushed by the gifts as he jumped through. "Heh, almost like a platformer!" Gray Matter grinned as he jumped past the final obstacle. He was finally face to face with the star.
Looking down at the controls, he used his brain to figure out how to disable it. "The amplification of currents suggests a fissure of unstable and undeterminable isotopes. Shutting off the power source now!" Gray Matter pressed a button that caused the star to explode with light, blinding the Galvan.
Outside of the machine, Yukiko and Gwen were fighting off the army of toys. "Blue Burn-Huh?" The girls stopped their combination attack when all of the toys stopped moving. Each one falling to the ground without their main power source.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Jingle-ator was exploding, shaking the entire factory. "BEN!" Yukiko screamed, worried that he got caught up in it.
RUMBLE!
"OH YEAH!" A small piece of wood was tossed away, revealing the gloating Galvan. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"
"NO!" Mr. Jingles cried as his plans fell to ruin. "I need to assure the elves that Santa is still okay!" He tried to control Max using the joystick. "Wave to them!"
The ex-plumber was finally free of his control. "Way to get it done, Ben." Glaring down at his kidnapper, Max grabbed the old elf. "Come here!"
Down below, the Tennysons and elves were surveying the wreckage. "If we destroyed the machine, why are we still elves?" Gwen asked.
FLASH!
Elsgood collapsed under Ben's weight, having had the boy sitting on his shoulders seconds prior. "I don't want to be this size forever! Why is this curse still here!?" Yukiko whined.
"Because nobody will ever be able to experience the joy of Christmas!" Mr. Jingles answered as Max carried him over. "You will all make me new toys! More perfect toys! Without my perfect toys, what will Santa do!?"
Max couldn't believe the old elf. "Christmas isn't about giving the perfect toy. It's about the spirit in which we give, isn't that right kids?"
Yukiko nodded her head, agreeing with Max. Ben on the other hand… "Yeah, but I bet giving me a Sumo Slammers Extreme Slam Down would make me-OW!" Ben held the back of his head.
Yukiko hissed at her little cousin. "Not the time, Benjamin!"
"What our dorky cousin meant to say was: Being together is what Christmas is all about." Gwen approached Mr. Jingles. "Mr. Jingles, look at all of these kids you've kept away from their families all these Christmases. They need to go home."
Mr. Jingles took a good hard look at the elves and realized that the Tennysons were right. He had been one selfish old elf. "Even if I wanted to give out these toys. My reindeer can't fly anymore since the Jingle-ator was destroyed."
Ben smirked. "Who needs Rudolph the red nosed reindeer when you have Stink the Gassy Alien!"
"Only you could be proud of that title…" Yukiko sighed.
After hooking Stinkfly up to the sleigh, the Tennysons sat in the sleigh as presents were being loaded up into the back. "You adjust this dial to go wherever you want on Earth," Mr. Jingles explained.
"So that's how he delivers it all in one night!" Gwen exclaimed.
"Aw… so it's not magic?" Yukiko pouted. She felt Max patting her head softly.
"It's Christmas, sweetheart. No matter what, they'll always be a little magic involved." Max reassured her.
"C'mon! C'mon! We gotta go!" Stinkfly bounced impatiently. The stink bug took off, pulling the sleigh with him into the night sky.
Nanako Dojima stood outside of her home, waiting for her dad to get off of work. The little girl played with her neighbor's cat while she waited for him. The cat stopped what it was doing, looking up into the sky. Nanako was confused until she looked up as well. Her eyes widened in shock.
Presents were raining down from the sky all over Inaba. In fact, there was one that fell right down into her hands. Nanako was confused by the object. Though, she took notice of the tag attached to the gift.
To: Dojima Nanako
From: Santa Claus
"Santa!? But it's summer!" Looking back up, she noticed a large silhouette that resembled a sleigh flying through the air before disappearing in a flash of light. "Santa…?" Glancing back down at her gift, Nanako slowly unwrapped it.
Inside of the box there was a single pair of glasses. She gasped lightly, because the pair was exactly like the ones, she would see her Big Brother wear last year. Except this pair of bright pink with a flower design. Putting the pair on quickly, Nanako giggled. "Thank you, Santa!"
Yukiko giggled after dropping off Nanako's gift. "Merry Christmas, Nanako-chan. I hope she likes it." She looked over to Gwen, seeing the girl holding a gift "What is it, Gwen?"
The girl blushed brightly before hiding the small gift behind her back. "N-nothing! This one just didn't have a name on it for some reason, so I'd figure I could keep it!"
"Maybe the elves forgot to put a name on it. Either way, I'm sure there's no harm in it," Max said. "We need to hurry up and drop off these last couple of gifts!"
With her family distracted again, Gwen pulled the gift back out. She stared directly at the small tag.
To: Kevin Levin
"Maybe, this is a sign we'll see each other again." Gwen smiled softly. She wasn't going to open this present until she was given the chance to hand it to Kevin. It was his to open up after all.
At the stroke of midnight, the sleigh pulled back up to Holiday Village after delivering all of the gifts around the world. Stinkfly turned back to normal after he touched the ground.
"Midnight! I wonder if the curse is lifted!" Gwen and the Tennysons watched the clock with bated breaths.
The family watched as everything started to turn back to normal, going from a winter wonderland to a small town in the desert. Not only that, but their appearances also went back to normal.
"Grandpa! You're back to being Grandpa!" Gwen exclaimed.
Yukiko was hugging her body closely, happy to be 17 years old again. "And I'm back to normal as well! And we got our regular clothes back!"
Ben ran up to a nutcracker. He knocked on it to make sure it didn't come to life. Satisfied that everything truly did return to normal, the family walked through the town.
"Snow machines!" Ben pointed at it. "Guess Holiday Village is normal too."
"Holiday Village is far from normal, young man. It happens to be quite special. Did you know I've been coming here everyday since 1932." An old man said.
"Grandpa Elsgood, can we go to the coco fountain!" One of his grandkids asked.
"Elsgood!?" The Tennyson kids gasped.
"Skedaddle. I'll be right there," He allowed his grandkids to run off.
"Elsgood?"
"Skedaddle?"
Elsgood turned to the Tennysons and smirked. "Thank you for everything." He said before walking away to join his kids.
"Wait, so if we broke the curse then Elsgood was never trapped here in the first place." Ben realized.
"But what about Mr. Jingles?" Yukiko asked.
"This might be our answer," Max walked over to a memorial. "Holiday Village was founded by Thomas Jingles, 1928. It's not what we give, it's the spirit in which it is given."
Gwen smiled softly. "I guess magic has its own way of helping those around us. Even connecting feelings through time."
Yukiko and her family smiled at the statue of Mr. Jingles and Elsgood. It seemed that even in the summer, Christmas was an event that continues to connect the hearts of many. The young heiress could only hope the same for her own family.
"I want to give my family all of the love that I can offer. That would be the best gift of all."
Chapter End
NOTE: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Since I didn't go the route "This entire episode was a fever dream", this event will be referenced repeatedly in the future. The Tennysons did teleport around the world to deliver presents.
I had Yukiko turn into a kid here, because all of the elves were children. So, she got turned into a 10-year-old. This also means that the fountain of Youth won't be turning her younger.
I do have plans to write a "Priestess 10 Christmas" in the future. My hope is that I'll have this story finished before Christmas. If not then... I'll still post it eventually.
A special character will appear next chapter. I think you guys are gonna like it.
Next Chapter - Super Alien Hero Buddy Adventures