Wow... not much in the way of reviews.
SamandMax0569 - Well, at least you've been reading enough to review the latest chapter.
MooMoo - Well, if you happen to come here, I'm glad you like my other stories.
Now, let's see the outcome of our christmas caper. XD
Holiday Magic
Chapter 6: The Big Guy's Visit
"AELITA"
"CODE"
Xanafied Comet sneered as the glow left the Santa statue's eyes and it collapsed to the ground. He turned his attention to the two lovebirds in denial. "Now for you..." He raised his hoof to strike down Ulrich and Yumi.
"L…
Y…
O…
K…
O"
But, before the blow could be made, the glow left Comet's eyes as well, along with X.A.N.A.'s Eye.
"Tower deactivated," Ricky heard Aelita say as he saw a bright burst of light come from the corridor. After that, the orange glow of the Guardian had gone entirely, and the little genius knew what that meant.
A few moments later, Jeremie had come to, seeing Ricky concernedly staring him down. "R-Ricky...?"
"It's OK," he told him with a slight smile. "X.A.N.A. had you trapped, but we managed to free you."
Jeremie frowned as he said, "Ricky, listen... about a couple days ago, I'm really sorry... It's just..."
But, Ricky cut him off. "You don't have to apologize, Jerry. If you don't believe, that's your problem."
The older boy genius couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, and I should keep that problem to myself."
As the two laughed, Ricky remembered, "Oh, there's a mall with a few million in property damage right now. I should probably... you know, go launch the return trip."
As soon as Ulrich and Yumi realized how close they were to each other, they broke apart blushing. "So..." piped up Ulrich with an awkward smile, "Ready for a return to the past?" As Yumi smiled and nodded, the familiar flood of light surrounded them.
Jeremie leaned back in the Supercomputer chair giving Ricky a skeptic smile. "So, you're saying a group of virtual elves were protecting the candy cane tower used to reanimate the Santa statue..."
"It's true!" countered the little boy. "Cousin, you saw Santa save your life, right?"
Ulrich shrugged. "Well, the Santa statue, at least."
"Which was being controlled, via the candy cane tower, by the real guy," concluded Ricky.
The older boy genius rolled his eyes with a cracked smile. "If you say so, Rick."
"Why not give the boy's story a chance?" asked a jolly voice that seemed to come from nowhere. The kids looked to the far end of the room and saw a large, bearded man in a red suit.
Jeremie stared suspiciously at him. "Who are you and how did you get in here?"
"Who do you think I am, Jeremie Belpois?" As the old man approached the group, he reached into the pocket inside his jacket and pulled something out for him. "I believe this is for you. Better late than never, but I figured the latest version would do."
With eyes as wide as saucers, Jeremie inspected the box he was handed. The front read, in bold letters, proCAD 2005. He gazed up at the man, eyes welling up, and suddenly pulled into a warm embrace. "Thank you... Santa."
Ricky grinned. "What did I tell 'ya?"
The three Lyoko warriors stared incredulously, but Aelita seemed a bit more accepting of the revelation. Finding his voice, Odd stammered. "Y-you mean... this guy's... really..."
Santa Claus glanced over at the purple boy and smiled. "Ho ho ho... if it isn't Odd Della Robbia. I'm a little concerned with your consistent dating of so many young ladies, but you made the nice list anyway." With a wink, he produced a box and handed it to him. It contained a brand new digital camera.
Odd grinned. "Yes! This will really help me film my new upcoming masterpiece, Natural Grandeur! Thanks, big buy!" He gave him a thumb's up.
"As for this lovely, young girl..." Santa turned his attention to Aelita and pulled out a familiar elf plushie.
Her eyes lit up and she hugged her beloved doll. "Mr. Puck!"
"I had my listkeeper, Dewey, patch him up, good as new," the toyman told her with a smile. "Well, I asked Hermey first, but he can only do teeth."
As Aelita snuggled her doll, she smiled up and said, "Thanks, Santa."
"Hey, there's a piece of coal in here!"
Everyone turned to Jeremie who had pulled a small, black stone out of his software box. Santa just smirked. "Even though you somewhat redeemed yourself, you still thoughtlessly tested a little boy's faith."
With a silly grin, the younger boy genius leaned up to the older and suggested, "You know, you could make use of that coal by burning it to roast a marshmallow to make me a s'more."
Pretty much everyone just laughed.
The following night, the whole gang attended the Christmas dance. Ricky came and brought along Hiroki who, in turn, brought their school friends, Andy and Mac. Andy's little sister, Ginger, came was well since her best friend, Sarah--whose parents usually babysat Ginger--was out of town for the holidays.
"Well, of course, the guy at the mall isn't the real Santa!" Ricky told Ginger regarding something an older kid had said to her the other day. "Don't you visit the website?"
She shook her head with a frown. "No, my mommy and daddy say I'm not allowed on the Internet yet."
Ricky sighed and explained somewhat impatiently, "Santa uses syntho-cloning technology to create numerous doppelgangers of himself to represent him in the many malls and post offices around the world! Duh!"
"Oh."
Ricky tore out a piece of notepad paper and scribbled down a web address, and then he handed the sheet to the little girl. "Here. First thing after achieving web privileges, look this site up." He then picked up a cup of eggnog and brought it to his lips, but Andy snatched the cup away.
"Whoa, careful, il mio compagno intelligente," he said as he placed the cup back. "Your cousin warned me about what all that eggnog does to you."
The American boy shrugged. "What? Can I help it if the mix of eggs and sugar goes to my head?"
Jim's shout of, "Hey, you there! Put your pants back on, kid!" immediately put the two boys to the conclusion that Mac was the one giving him problems.
"And, yet it will never make me as crazy as that guy," the boy genius concluded.
His friend just cracked a small smile and warned him, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Rick."
Ulrich had grabbed a punch and had just met up with Yumi. "So... we had an interesting week, huh?" she said.
He chuckled softly. "Yeah... not every day a big reindeer threatens to kill you. I don't even hunt, so 'what goes around comes around' doesn't qualify."
"Oh, cuz!" They turned to see Ricky a short distance away with Andy and his sister. "Watcha standing under?"
I think you know what they saw when the looked up. Yes, a mistletoe. Ulrich glanced back and said, "Oh, very funny, Patrick."
Ricky grinned. Ulrich only called him Patrick when he was in trouble or his cousin was just annoyed, and he knew it was the latter. Nonetheless, Ulrich and Yumi glanced at each other awkwardly, paused for a moment, and then kissed.
As the boy genius' grin grew even further, another boy wheeled up next to him. "So, how long do you think it will be before they go back into denial?" asked Roger. When Ricky gave him a mild glare, he added defensively, "Just asking! Say, could you help me up here?" He held up a crutch and started pulling himself toward it.
After Ricky helped Roger onto the crutch, he supported all of his weight on it and cleared his throat. "Attention, everyone!" he called to get everyone there to look at him. When he knew they were watching, he smiled and said, "God bless us everyone!"
Some people awed while most chuckled, and then everyone went back to their business. As Roger was helped back into his wheelchair, Ricky laughed and asked, "What was that all about?"
Roger shrugged. "Ah, I thought it would be a fun thing to do. You know, 'tis the season."
CODE
END...
So, how was that ending? I thought I'd give my paraplegic character a pre-introduction before his official Season 3 debut. XD Well, that ends my holiday story, and I hope you tune in for my next fanfic... whenever I get to writing one. Well, see you then.