Hi, everyone! Happy Christmas Eve! Maybe I'll get this all up before tonight!
We arrive at the North Pole, right next to a sign that says 'Elf Workshop'. Lloyd suggests, "Maybe our gifts are in here."
Nya snaps, "We're here to save Christmas, not get our presents back!" She sneaks around the side and slips in the door. We follow her in and take in the wonders of the amazingly colorful workshop. People dressed in green and red plow away at building toys and gifts and stuffing stockings with candies of all sizes! But then something catches my eye.
"Guys!" I whisper frantically.
Kai is too busy drinking in the magic of the place to pay any attention to me.
"What?" Jay whispers back.
"Look closely at the little builders—"
"Elves," Cole corrects.
"Right, elves. But take a second glance at them." I squint at one.
"Woah!" Nya exclaims. A little too loudly. She clasps her hands over her mouth. She murmurs, "They're the skeletons!"
"If they're working for Garmadon, something must've happened," Jay reasons. "The toys are normal. Nothing spooky at all!"
I nod. I look around for anything else mysterious.
Cole says, "Look! A door! It says 'Santa's list'."
"Maybe he is sticking to the ol' list myth," Sensei guesses.
Lloyd scoffs, "Yeah, well, he didn't necessarily check it twice."
Sensei shoots his nephew a glare warning him to hush. "Ninjas, go in there. I will distract the skeletons."
Kai laughs, "Wait! So, there really IS a list for Santa? Naw, I'm dreaming. I have to be."
I think that we should try to blend in with our surroundings, so I grab a skeleton's arm and wrestle it to the ground with a deathly silence. I push it behind a wall and disguise myself in its Christmas-themed clothes. I walk out from behind the wall, the clothes seeming bulky over my ninja suit.
"Good idea, Zane!" Kai cheers, tackling a worker to the ground.
"A good idea to go under cover?" I ask.
"No, to dress according to topic!" Kai laughs, coming out in an elf outfit.
"OK," I manage, really confused about his spirit.
"Let's sneak over there and seek out whoever else is not on the list," Jay instructs. He, too, is dressed appropriately.
We grin at the thought of being on such a fun mission! We loop around baskets of balls, trays of boxed toys, and a huge pit of mismatched pieces that elves are quickly putting together.
"Hey, you!" an 'elf' shouts at me.
"M—Me?" I stutter, stopping straight in my tracks.
"Yeah!" Then I realize it is only Nuckal. "You girls need to be guarding the candy supply!"
"'Girls?'" Kai repeats angrily.
I restrain him from punching the fool out of the lightning general. I whisper, "His one eye must make it hard for him to tell our genders, especially in these goofy outfits."
Kai grunts and then nods. "Um… Sure, N—Nuckal. We'd be…" He chokes out the next words. "HAPPY to assist."
Nuckal grumbles something about Garmadon under his breath as he storms away. We creep over towards the lollipop crafting area of the workshop and admire the machine.
Nya examines it closer and states, "It works by turning this lever and pulling this handle." She does a demonstration and a blue lollipop is formed.
Jay snatches it from the conveyer belt and beings to eat it. "It's good! Might be managed by skeletons, but this workshop seems to be in better shape than we'd think."
Jay leads the way to the door, then turns around and sees Nya still at the lollipop-maker. I ponder, "Nya, aren't you coming?"
She shakes her head and works the machine. "No, I have to stay and make candy or the skeletons will suspect something!"
Sensei steps towards Nya. "I will stay and help, too. You boys go and solve this Christmas mystery."
Lloyd lets me get in front. "Here, Zane, you lead," he volunteers nervously. "You're better at sensing trouble."
I grin and take up the front of the group. At the moment, all I sense is gingerbread men and gumdrops being baked. It is really clogging up my sixth sense. We burst into the list room and see rows and rows of one huge list! It is filled with names upon names of children, good and bad. Some names have check marks on them; some have huge red X's to the side.
"Split up and find our names!" Jay barks. He hands us each a pen. "These are for changing the symbols."
I take my pen and nod. I dash around the room, trying to find the 6 names…
"Don't just go around erasing marks on actual villains," Lloyd warns. "That could mean trouble."
"I still can't believe I'm doing this," I hear Kai mutter.
"Me neither," I cheer. He rolls his eyes.
Just then, the door slams open. There stands our enemy, ready to fight. He has half a gingerbread man cookie sticking out of his mouth, so I assume he was in the middle of a snack before we intruded. "Hey!" Garmadon shouts through his full mouth. He tosses the cookie and egg nog aside and is ready to pounce on us.
"Dad!" Lloyd fakes a smile. "Merry Christmas!"
The enemy's eyes soften. "Lloyd," he murmurs. I can sense he is remembering memories of past Christmases with his family. They stare at each other for a while.
"Guys, I can handle this," Lloyd says, a ball of shimmering green light forming in his hands. "Go find Santa."
Lord Garmadon cackles, "You'll never find him inside of the chamber where he keeps trashed toys!"
We all stare at him, half amused. Kai grumbles something under his breath about our author. Sheesh, Kai, give her some slack! Arguing about turtles and tortoises is somewhat tiring. I can sense her frantically working to get this done before—
"Zane! Snap out of it!" Jay screeches.
I shake my head to clear my thoughts. "Coming!" Where will we find the misfit toys?
I hear the falcon's words inside my brain: Woah, so this really is like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! Let's go find the band of Misfit Toys! Wheeee!
"Aw, hush," I plea. "Where are you?" Then something gooey slides down my face. "Never mind…"
Heeheeheeee…
The falcon leads us to the chamber where Santa Claus is being held captive. A candy-coated padlock adorns the chain that runs through the gate. "Great, a lock," I sneer.
"We could just eat through it!" Jay and Lloyd giggle. They are already becoming hyper from the thought of it…
"Last thing we need is a couple of dorks goofing up this plan," Kai sighs. "Look for a key, guys."
After about 30 well-wasted minutes, I come upon a stack of candy canes. A snack would be nice right now, but I have a better idea. I sort through them and find what I'm looking for. This one candy cane has a textured bottom to it. I stuff it into the lock and turn it clockwise. Ah ha! The padlock clangs onto the ground. "Got it!" I announce.
I tentatively step into the cold, moist air behind to gate, not sure what to expect. Kai comes after me, claiming, "Nothing can scare me!" A jack-in-the-box creates eerie music, and a really freaky clown head pops out of the top and into Kai's personal space. "AAAIIIEE!" he screams, spazzing out. I put a palm to my face.
"Ho-ho-who's there?" a weary voice calls.
"We're the ninjas! Who are you?" Lloyd asks carefully, a warning tone in his voice.
The man stays silent. "K-Kai, can you shine us some light?" Cole questions, slightly shivering. He sneezes suddenly.
"Oh, uh, heehee. See, I sort of left it outside." A nervous, stiff laugh escapes from my friend.
It may be dark, but I can feel everyone else desperately looking at me. "Fine," I whine. Opening my arm panel, I slide a few switches and my head gives off a fluorescent glow.
"That's better. Because I'm afraid of the dark!" Jay sighs.
"What?" Lloyd raises an eyebrow accusingly.
"Oops! Um, let's go find Santa!" Jay dashes ahead, tripping on headless dolls once or twice. That boy can be something else.
Eventually, we come across the owner of the voice. He has a long white beard, bushier than Sensei's, and a red suit and hat. Is this Santa? "Oh my gosh!" Lloyd cries. "It's Santa!"
"Ho-ho-ho! You are the ninjas! What're you doing here?"
Lloyd explains our dilemma.
Kai, a guilty clouding in his amber eyes, says, "So, Santa, it seems that you really are real."
Cole sneezes, "Ah-CHOO! Sorry. Guess you were right, Lloyd… We're sorry."
Lloyd sniffs from joyful crying. "It's OK. Group hug!" We engulf him in a doggy-pile.
Back at home it is snowing once more. Lloyd and Kai anxiously pace in circles. "Were we good enough to get presents?" they repeat nervously.
"Oh, no!" Jay gasps. "We forgot to put ourselves on the 'Nice List'!"
I sit cross-legged on a pillow and resolve, "It is the joy of saving the world that puts us on the list. Not a pen and paper. We gave the best gift of all- saving Christmas from Garmadon."
"I agree," Sensei smiles down at me. This was the best first Christmas ever.
YAAAY! Got it finished! Here's my Christmas present to you all! Merry Christmas! DISCLAIMER: I don't own any carols or the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer story or anything. You get it. Have a blessed holiday! 8D
