(A/N: Okay, so I've already made it to Chapter 4. I've made real progress with this story since I started it. Well, let's see what'll happen!)
It was finally Christmas Eve in the city of Petropolis. Everyone knew that Santa would come tonight. Well, everyone who wasn't a bad guy. There was no telling if he'd be visiting the reformed villains, but maybe he would, for their children. Anyway, we're supposed to be looking for Snaptrap and his henchmen, so let's go find them!
Snaptrap and his henchmen had been up since before dawn, working in the kitchen. They wanted to get up early to work on making a magnificent gingerbread house for Adrian and Adelina, as a thank-you for what they had done. They preheated the oven, greased the cookie sheets, and cut the gingerbread into house pieces.
"I really hope your mom doesn't wake up and ruin this." Francisco said to Snaptrap as they put the gingerbread house pieces in the oven to bake.
"Relax. I got up to use the bathroom around midnight, and I saw that Mom was up late, drinking all the alcoholic eggnog. She's not going to get up for a good while yet. In the meantime, we're going to let her sleep off the bad hangover she's got." Snaptrap assured him.
The scent of baking gingerbread made their stomachs growl, so Snaptrap suggested they fix themselves something to eat for breakfast until the house was baked. And when they were done eating, Snaptrap set the gingerbread off to the side to cool so he and his henchmen could get the kids dressed and fed.
When the pieces had cooled, Snaptrap, Ollie, Francisco, and Larry put the house together and covered it with white frosting (to make it look like it was covered with snow), and they decorated the house with gumdrops, round peppermint candies, red and green M&Ms, and miniature candy canes.
"That looks perfect!" Snaptrap smiled when they finished the job.
"Wait! I've got one more thing I'd like to add!" Larry smiled. He added a little snowman made of marshmallows to stand next to the door.
"Now it's even better." Larry said.
Snaptrap couldn't really argue with that logic. The marshmallow snowman added more of a festive touch to the house.
"We should go and deliver this to Adrian and Adelina." said Ollie.
"We're going to. Let's load up the kids, get their things together, and head on over to Adrian and Adelina's before we go to Snapdance Studios for the day." said Snaptrap.
After bundling up, gathering the supplies the kids would be needing, and putting the kids into the multi-child stroller, Snaptrap grabbed up the gingerbread house, Larry pushed the stroller, and Francisco carried the baby bag. Then they made their way to Adrian and Adelina's house.
When they got there, Ollie knocked on the door.
"One sec!" they heard Adelina's voice call from behind the door as she approached it.
When the door opened, there was Adelina. Today she was wearing a black velvet dress and a Santa hat on her head.
"Oh, hello! Merry Christmas!" said Adelina.
"Adelina, who is it?" Adrian asked as he walked over, dressed warmly in red sweats and also wearing a Santa hat on his head. When he saw the members of D.O.O.M., he said, "Oh, hey! What brings you here on Christmas Eve?"
"We wanted to give you this!" Snaptrap began, holding out the gingerbread house.
Adrian and Adelina's eyes widened at the sight of the gingerbread house.
"For us?!" Adelina asked, unable to believe it.
"Yes! For watching over our children." Snaptrap finished, placing the house in Adrian's hands.
Adrian held the confection carefully and said, "Wow! This is really something! Thank you so much!"
"Yes, thank you! Wherever did you get this?" asked Adelina, impressed with the house.
"We made it." Ollie said.
"You made it?!" the couple asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Do you like it?" Francisco asked.
"Like it? We love it! It's beautiful!" said Adelina.
"Do you see the snowman next to the door? I added that!" said Larry.
"I see it! That's really cute!" Adelina exclaimed.
"It's nice. Thank you all so much!" said Adrian as he watched his girlfriend take in every detail of the confection.
"I'm really glad you like the house. It's also a Christmas present for you guys as well. Enjoy, and have a Merry Christmas!" Snaptrap said.
"Merry Christmas!" called Ollie, Francisco, and Larry.
"Merry Christmas!" Adrian and Adelina called back before closing the door and delicately setting the gingerbread house on the kitchen table. They were going to take some pictures of the house before eating it, even though it almost seemed wrong because the house looked too pretty to eat.
Meanwhile, Snaptrap and his henchmen went to Snapdance Studios for the day.
"Should we open the presents tonight, or save them for tomorrow?" Snaptrap asked as they entered the building.
"I was thinking we could do one tonight and the rest tomorrow. My family used to do that after we got home from church on Christmas Eve." said Ollie as he and the others lifted their kids out of the stroller and let them crawl around.
"I thought it might be nice to open the gifts under the tree tonight, and do the stocking stuffers tomorrow." Francisco said, watching the kids.
"We could always ask Amanda what we should do." Larry suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea, since I'm right here in the room!" my voice said, surprising the reformed villains.
"Boy, that's creepy! Where the heck is she?" Snaptrap asked, looking around.
"Oh, gee, I don't know. Why don't you check the Christmas tree?" I suggested.
Snaptrap, Ollie, Francisco, and Larry looked at the tree and walked around it, seeing no sign of me.
"Amanda, are you sure you're by the Christmas tree? We can't see you." Larry said.
"That's because I'm on the tree." I replied.
"No, you're not. You're too big to be on it." said Snaptrap, crossing his arms.
"I am so on the tree. I'm disguised as an ornament, brainiac." I said.
"Which one are you?" Ollie asked as he and the others began looking at each ornament very carefully, trying to find me.
At that moment, Snaptrap was right in my vicinity. I was an ornament of the Sugarplum Fairy from "The Nutcracker" ballet, and I popped him right on the nose with a tiny fist to teach him a little lesson about personal space, and so he'd realize that he found me.
"Ow!" Snaptrap cried, moving back and rubbing his nose.
"See me now?" I asked, doing a ballet pose.
"Oh yeah, I see her now! She's the Sugarplum Fairy." said Francisco.
"Yes, I am." I told them.
"Now that we've found you, perhaps you can help us out?" Ollie asked.
"What's the trouble?" I asked.
"Amanda, we don't know what to do. Should we open one present tonight, or do all the presents under the tree and save the stocking stuffers for tomorrow?" Larry asked.
"Well, my family used to have a tradition of going to a relative's on Christmas Eve and opening presents at his house that night. The next morning, we'd go home and open the presents there." I said.
"But we're staying here in Petropolis for Christmas." Snaptrap said.
"I'll tell you what: the tradition changed years back. We now open the presents under the tree on Christmas Eve, and save the stocking presents for Christmas Day. Plus, you know what else happens today, don't you?" I asked.
"I think I do..." Snaptrap said.
"You should, and in case you're having trouble, here's a reminder." I said. Then I spread my arms wide and sang as loud as I could, "Oh, Santa's coming tonight, tonight. Santa's coming tonight. Santa's coming tonight, tonight. Santa's coming tonight."
That got the kids laughing, and Snaptrap said, "Oh no, kids, don't do that. You're only going to encourage her."
"No, they're not encouraging me. I just wanted to sing that one part." I said.
"Oh. So, I guess we'll do your plan." Snaptrap said.
"What time should we open the presents?" Francisco asked.
"Let's see. We usually wait until the Christmas lights come on. For us, that's at 6:00 p.m. What time did you set your lights to come on?" I asked.
"6:00 p.m., like your own lights." Snaptrap replied.
"And they turn off at 11:30 at night." Larry said.
"Then you're fine. However, I'm going to recommend you guys find some way to kill time if you're that anxious for presents, because let me forewarn you: Christmas Eve is the longest day of the year. This day will drag on forever if you let it." I said.
"So, how do we kill time?" Ollie asked.
"However you can. You got any video games?" I asked.
"Yeah, we've got those." Snaptrap said, eyeing the NES Classic Edition and the Super NES Classic Edition consoles by the T.V.
"Try playing a long game to kill time. But make sure you also keep your eyes on the kids and make sure they don't get into the presents too early." I said.
"We promise." Snaptrap said, and he and his henchmen proved it to me by putting one hand over their hearts, and holding the other in the air.
"All right. Have fun!" I said.
So Snaptrap and his friends decided to start off with a video game. They wanted to play a long game, but which one would be the best choice?
"Maybe a "Legend of Zelda" game will do the trick." Francisco suggested.
"We could play "A Link to the Past". That one can take a long time when you're playing the little games that involve looking for a Piece of Heart." said Larry.
"It's true. I once played that game in one go to see what number would be next to Link on the File Select Screen if I didn't get killed." Ollie said.
"Did you avoid death?" Francisco asked.
"Yes. The number next to him was 0, and it took me 6 hours to beat the game." said Ollie.
"Six hours? I like the sound of that! Let's play the game!" Snaptrap said.
There was just one problem: that game only allowed one player.
"We'll take turns playing." Snaptrap decided.
So they did. They did experience some frustration, but they still got through the game without dying. And they even let the kids participate every now and again. They helped their children push a button to do something, like open a treasure chest, use the Book of Mudora, pull the Master Sword... you get the idea.
When Snaptrap looked at the clock during the game's staff roll, he was none too pleased to see that no time had passed.
"What the heck?!" Snaptrap said.
"What's the matter, Boss?" asked Francisco.
"The clock is still at the same time it was when we started!" Snaptrap said.
Larry walked over to the clock and noticed that the second hand wasn't moving.
"Oh, no wonder. The batteries in it must have died. I'll fix that." said Larry, taking out the dead batteries and replacing them with new ones. Then he checked his cell phone to see what time it really was. He set the clock so that it showed the correct time, and it was at least 6 hours later than what the clock showed when Snaptrap looked at it.
"There. See what time it is now?" Larry asked.
"Okay. Time has flown. That's good news." Snaptrap said.
They decided to take a break from the Nintendo and re-watch some of their favorite Christmas specials, especially since the kids woke up from their naps.
Later, when the sky turned dark, the lights came on, and Snaptrap and his henchmen were ready for the presents.
They let the kids open presents first, and they played "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock" to decide the order after the kids.
(A/N: The game I mentioned is a funny, expanded version of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" from the show "The Big Bang Theory".)
By the time they were done, Snaptrap, his henchmen, and the kids were all pretty happy with what they had recieved.
"This has been a merry Christmas so far." said Snaptrap.
"But will Santa come?" said Larry.
"I think he will. You know what they say in the song "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", he knows if you've been bad or good. There's a good chance he knows that the 4 of you have reformed, and that your kids are being brought up to be good." I said.
"I hope you're right." said Francisco.
"I can't say I know for sure what Santa's going to do. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning to see what happens." I said.
"Do you think he'll know that we're celebrating Christmas here?" Snaptrap asked.
"He should." I replied.
"I guess we'll have to go home and get to bed, and when it's Christmas morning, we'll see what we'll see." Ollie said.
"Yeah." said Snaptrap decided. After leaving a plate of cookies and a glass of eggnog for Santa, Snaptrap made sure everyone gathered up their presents, and they took them home and hid them in their rooms after making sure the coast was clear. Snaptrap's mom had locked herself in the bathroom with the lights off, so she didn't see them come back.
Tomorrow will be Christmas morning. What will Snaptrap, Ollie, Francisco, Larry, and the children see tomorrow? I won't tell you anything, except to stay tuned!