Those Christmas Bells

By Zaru

Summary: The Flame Series. It's Christmastime. Snow falling, fireplaces running and dead children? What will the group encounter as they try to uncover the mystery?

Disclaimer: Buffy characters belong to Joss Whedon. TMNT belongs to Nickelodeon. I do, however, own Zaru and other characters not associated with the Buffy or TMNT universes. XD

A/n: My reasoning for an M rating: I put an M rating on this story because there will be some pretty gory violence happening near the end of this short story. And no, there won't be any 'naughty' scenes with the turtles lol. In any case, there is also going to be some bad words, too. You have been told. Thanks. J

Chapter 3

The group was beyond shocked at Michelangelo's suggestion of Santa Claus being the murder suspect. But thinking of all the things taking place, there was a chance it could be someone playing around with the notion of being jolly Old St. Nicholas. Donatello rubbed his chin and Willow's head tilted to the side. Both in deep thought.

"Mikey, are you seriously suggesting that it was someone dressed like Santa Claus doing all the killings of those poor children?" Buffy asked in shock.

Master Splinter rubbed his own furry chin as well. "It seems it would make sense, my children, that such a thing could be a possibility."

Zaru shook her head. "But seriously, come on now. Santa Claus? There's just no way."

Dawn finally made her presence known as she stood behind the couch, arms folded across her chest. "I don't think it's someone dressed like Santa Claus."

"Then who do you think it is, Dawnie?"

"It's not someone dressed like Santa Claus. It is Santa Claus."

The turtles and human allies glanced around at each other.

"Dawn, I thought we've been over this. Santa Claus doesn't exist. He's just a myth. I could have sworn you found out when you were 10." Buffy sighed.

Willow shook her head, still thinking. "No, Buffy. I think she might have the right idea." As the blonde stared at her, she continued. "Remember that one Christmas Eve dinner before Joyce passed away? Anya was telling us about Santa Claus being real."

Buffy licked her lips. "I don't know anything about that. Apparently, I wasn't important enough to be included in such a conversation." Her arm wound around Leo's shell, her fingers picking at the casing holding his twin katana.

Zaru blinked. "Dawn may be onto something. I mean, I heard something like that when I was beginning my study of demonology. Some demon apparently held the appearance of the one idol children loved so much and used it against them brutally by coaxing them to him and gutting them." She visibly shuddered. "What a horrible thing to do."

"That's something like Anya told us." Willow stated, her finger tapping her chin. "But I think it was along the lines of him coming around Christmastime with flying reindeer and going down chimneys. All the fun stuff. But instead of presents…" Her words trailed off not wanting to say that horrible word anymore.

"He gutted them like Zaru said." Her best friend finished for her. "A demon Santa that disembowels children instead of leaving presents under the tree is not the Santa I grew up knowing." Buffy's emerald eyes squeezed shut as she hid her face in Leonardo's shoulder. "How horrible for those poor kids."

If there was one thing Buffy didn't approve of now, it was Santa Claus causing bodily harm to innocent people. Her heart cried out for those who had lost their lives at the hand of the possible lunatic. To think an icon of children's fantasies was real and wreaking such havoc was something she wanted to rid the world of immediately. If nothing else, she would be glad to put an end to his existence once and for all.

Faith's eyes moved around them as she still sat with Michelangelo on the floor. "Well, what are we going to do? Decapitate every Santa ringing a bell for charity? In case you haven't noticed, there's at least a few dozen of them around the city, B."

"I don't know exactly what we're going to do yet, Faith. Especially when we might be jumping to conclusions." Zaru reached into her pocket. "I got an idea. Hold on." She pulled out a cell phone, flipping it open, but averted her gaze to Donatello before pressing any buttons. "Donnie, is reception good down here?"

"I'm not sure. You can try, but I don't think you'll get anywhere." The intelligent turtle shrugged his shoulders. "Unless you go near the satellites located in my lab. That might pull in some reception for you, but I'm not sure."

"Either way, I'm trying." Several buttons were dialed before she set the phone on speaker.

A little static sounded before the ringing was heard. "I think it is good down here." She smirked.

"Who are you calling?"

"The Society of Light. I know someone there who might be able to help us."

It rang a little more before someone picked up a phone.

"Hikari Gakkai. (Society of Light)"

"Kore ga Zaru desu. Watashi wa Ryuji ni hanashimashou. (This is Zaru. I need to speak to Ryuji)"

"Ryuji wa shiyo dekimasen. Ta no dareka ga watashi wa anata no tame ni shutoku suru koto ga dekimasuarimasu ka? (Ryuji is not available. Is there someone else I can get to the phone for you?)"

Zaru sighed heavily. "This isn't good. Shunkan ni horudo. (Hold on.)" She muted the phone.

Raphael rubbed his girlfriend's back. "What's wrong, babe?"

"Ryuji isn't in. And he's the one to talk to."

Faith pushed herself up from the floor with Michelangelo's help. "Well, can't you do something?"

"I'll try." Taking the phone off mute, she asked, "Dare ga akuma ni toku-ka shunkan wa nanidesu ka? (Can you direct me to someone who knows about demons?)"

"Shan Xiang inchi watashi wa anata o iso shinakereba naranaidesu ka? (Would you like me to transfer you to Shan Xiang?)"

"Hai. (Yes.)"

The few closest to the cell phone heard a click, then some more ringing before a voice which spoke English, thank goodness for them, answered.

"Shan Xiang."

"Xiang, how are you?"

His voice raised a little in excitement. "Zaru, is that you?"

She chuckled. "Yep, it's me, Xiang. Listen, I don't have much time. I need you to do a favor for me since Ryuji isn't there."

"Oh, anything you need I'll do."

"Great. I need you to get me as much information as you can about Santa Claus."

There was a moment's pause before he answered. "I didn't know you were still interested in Santa Claus after all these years, Zaru."

She could hear him laughing loudly on the other end. "Very funny, Xiang. You know what Santa Claus I'm talking about. Get the information about the demon and get back to me."

"Right. I'll call when I find anything."

She flipped the phone shut and stuffed it back into her jean pocket. "Okay. Hopefully he'll be able to rustle up something useful for us. Specifically on how to kill this kind of demon."

"And what kind of demon are we talking about here? And how do we know it's even a demon doing all this?"

"Unless this Santa is some kind of shadow warrior who can sneak everywhere without being noticed, I think we should lay out the fact that this is the work of a demon. At least for now."

Before another word could be stated, Zaru's cell rang.

"That was fast." Willow looked at her surprised.

Zaru rolled her eyes and answered it. "Hello?" A moment's pause and her eyes widened. "What? I'll be right there!" The phone snapped shut and the demon slayer made her way for the stairs, jumping over the couch near Splinter in the process.

"Whoa, babe, slow down! What's wrong?" Raphael intercepted her, grabbing onto her upper arms. "What happened?"

Her hands fisted at her sides. "Somebody tried breaking into my club! The police were patrolling the area and luckily caught him before he could do any damage. But I need to go there right now and talk to them. Ugh! I'm so mad!" Pulling away from Raphael, she reached for her jacket and ran up the steps, the lair door opening and closing behind her retreating form.

"Think we should follow?" Michelangelo rubbed the back of his head, Faith's arm hanging freely around his neck.

Faith smirked, pulling her turtle to her for a quick kiss. "Let's do it."

TBC…

A/n2: I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. There will be another chapter after this, probably the last one for this story, but either way, I will finish this one. It's fun. XD

Zaru