Conan sat on a rock that Claus had found. They both sat on the seaside eating a meal of warm milk and miraculously fresh cookies. It was like someone had just taken the milk out of the microwave and the cookies had just been pulled from the oven with really cool looking oven mitts.

"I used to be an aspiring little boy just like you," said Claus.

Conan glared at him.

"I can see that wasn't the best way to start that story. Sorry."

Conan dropped the glare.

"Anyway, I used to live up in the mountains with a family of old toymakers. I grew up to make toys just like them, and I became their delivery boy."

"Interesting," said Conan.

"I think your story is a bit more interesting than mine."

"Where can I start? I don't think you'd understand. You're literally from hundreds of years in the past. I don't even know or understand how we're speaking the same language."

"I don't know either, but I wouldn't question it."

Claus took out a doll and looked at it.

"You turned into a kid, sought the men who did this to you, and hid from your best friend because you wanted to keep her safe? That's not hard to understand."

"I was trying to think about it in the shortest and simplest summary possible," said Conan. "It's a lot more complicated than that."

Amazingly, Santa had a helipad. The black helicopter finally settled down on its perch and the propeller slowed to a stop.

Ai, Agasa, and Gin stepped out of the helicopter and into the magic of Santa's village. Elves welcomed then and they were guided to a familiarly gigantic building with a huge elaborately decorated tree.

"So Shinichi wasn't really lying about this," said Ai.

"I believed him from the start," said Gin.

"Well, of course you did," said Agasa. "I mean, you just saw the ghosts of Christmas, what else was there to expect?"

"Good point," said Gin.

From a stairwell above, a jolly old man in a red coat laughed heartily. He waltzed down the grand staircase and stood in front of the three visitors. "What brings you three to my workshop, and right after Christmas, too?"

"We wanted to see if you were real," said Ai.

"Ah, is that all? Well, I think you've got proof enough now." Santa smiled in a manner that implied he knew more that he was letting on. He actually did know more because he was obviously telepathic and could tell that Gin was itching to get something important off his chest.

"We have more questions than that," said Gin. "I want to know what happened to me on the night of Christmas Eve."

"I granted Shinichi's wish, didn't I? I made sure that you would turn good. Was it dissatisfactory in any way?"

"No, not at all. I just wanted to understand it."

"It's a classic - the Scrooge method. Turns Christmas Grinches into practical angels in the span of a single good night's rest."

"I see."

"Anything else you wanted to ask?"

"Yes, said Ai." "If magic is real, why is it all up here? Where did this magic come from? I've never experienced a bit of magic in my life up until hearing about Shinichi's grand adventure and Gin's new outlook on life."

"That's a long story," said Santa. "Perhaps it'd be better told over some warm milk and cookies."

"Magic is, in fact, very real," said Santa Claus.

"Okay, I understand that," said Ai.

"Magic is a second flow of energy that encircles the Earth. It's the force that some may call luck, some may mysteriously name fate, and others may grudgingly refer to it as bad fortune. Magic has judgement. And it seems to have you in its favor, as magic is the reason that you and Shinichi weren't found out a long time ago."

"But why is magic so influential up here? How come you can use it?"

"The flow of magic has a very unique pattern. It encircles the Earth in intricate movements which end at the North Pole."

"It just ends there?"

"That's why it's my duty to grant people's wishes for Christmas. I have to restore magic to the rest of the world every year."

"That makes sense."

"The reason that you and your friends discovered magic is because I needed your friend Shinichi for his expertise in solving murders."

"There's one thing that bothers me," said Ai. "How did you know about Shinichi?"

"He's an old friend of mine."

"So that's what I do in the future?" asked Claus.

"Yep, you end up needing my help," said Conan. "I solve the case and you turn me back."

"Wow, that kind of magical ability must be amazing," said Claus.

"I don't know how you get it, but that's what happens."

Finally, a great figure rose from the sea in the distance.

"It's the Time Whale," said Conan. "I'm saved!"

Claus watched in amazement as the Time Whale spouted and swam towards them, getting bigger. There was a figure upon it, as if the whale had a saddle to be ridden like a horse. Finally the great sea mammal finally reached the shore.

"Where's Shinichi?" asked the Time Whale.

"He's me," said Conan. "It's not because of time or anything. I just sometimes look like this."

Ran hopped off its back and looked at Conan.

"Shinichi, what are you doing as Conan again?"

"I don't know," said Conan. "I think Santa's magic stopped working."

"Santa's magic made you look like a teenager?" said the Time Whale.

"I'm supposed to be a teenager, this was a mistake," said Conan.

"I see you're being vague, but you can explain this to me later. We're in a bit of a hurry."

"And who's this guy?" asked Ran.

"This is Santa's past self. He likes to call himself Claus."

"Howdy do," said Claus, tipping his hat.

"Don't give me any of that chivalry stuff," said Ran. "Conan, I mean Shinichi, I'm afraid you've done something to the time stream."

"What did you exactly do?" said the Time Whale.

"I didn't do anything," said Conan. "I just met Claus after washing ashore and I talked to him. I didn't change anything, did I?"

"Apparently you did," said Ran.

"The New Years, who have mastery over time's flow, have detected that you've caused a large anomaly in the world's continuity."

"How?" asked Conan.

"We'll just have to find out, now, won't we?"

Conan and Ran got onto the Time Whale's back.

"You stay here for the time being," said the Time Whale to Claus. "I don't want to twist this matter up any further."

Claus nodded and watched as the whale with the clock tail sailed into the distance, disappearing into the folds of reality itself.

Ai, Gin, and Agasa ate their holiday meal as Santa told them of the vast and various wonders of the North Pole. Agasa was restricted from the cookies, though, and sat there drinking water. Gin sipped at a mug of hot cocoa with marshmallows.

"I have never felt so wrong about science until today," said Ai.

"Me neither," said Agasa.

"Science, for that matter," said Santa, "is basically mortal man's attempts to explain phenomena that can only be truly understood with the aid of magic."

"I can see why it's such a hassle, then," said Gin. "Science has been missing the point from the start, hasn't it?"

"Exactly," said Santa.

Suddenly, Santa was gone from his seat. The plate of cookies previously on his lap clattered to the floor. He had utterly vanished.

"What the heck?" said Ai.

"Maybe he had to teleport in a hurry," said Agasa. "A holiday emergency?"

They waited for Gin to suggest something or at least react. They looked over at him. He was clutching his heart and grimacing in pain.

"Uh oh," said Agasa.

"Are you okay?" asked Ai.

Gin looked up. "I think... the magic... is wearing off."

"Oh crap," said Ai. She got to her feet. "That means you're gonna turn evil again, right?"

"Probably," said Gin. "Get me somewhere where I won't hurt anybody..."

The elves, seeing and understanding Gin's predicament (and telepathically hearing the evil thoughts in his head), quickly locked him in a closet before he could make any actions.

"Considering that man's toughness, I can't guarantee that door will hold for long," said a guard elf. "He looks like he could take a bullet or two."

"What's happening around here?" said Agasa. "Everything's changing suddenly."

The elf looked down. "I... I don't know, sir."

The sea of time had changed color. It was darker, murkier, and redder. Conan looked down at it as it flowed past the Time Whale.

"We're going right back to the present," said the Time Whale. "We've got to see how much of reality has been broken by your foolish actions."

"I'm sorry, okay?" said Conan. "I didn't know that time worked like that. I thought it was all closed loops."

"That's not the way it works here in the North Pole. Anything could affect the flow of magic and cause it to intermingle with time. Your little discussion with Claus could have changed Santa. Or maybe Santa missed out helping someone. We just don't know."

The images surrounding the three as they made it through the time stream started to imply that they were getting close to 1994. The Time Whale dived downward out of the flow of carefully molded energy and the waves turned to regular seawater.

"This isn't the same place," said Ran. "Where are we?"

"I know where this is," said Conan. "I've been here. This is the North Pole."

"I took a detour," said the Time Whale.

But it wasn't Santa's workshop. As they got closer to shore and the village began to appear out of the mist, they noticed that the same buildings were there, but they looked darker and almost unfriendly. The lights were gone, the decorations were gone, and the snow was cold and wet looking. The whole place was empty and their voices echoed whenever they talked.

"Disturbing," said the Time Whale.

"Yeah," said Conan.

"You're sure this is Santa's village?" asked Ran. "It looks awfully sad."

"Something happened to it while we were away in time," said the Time Whale. "It's likely that your meddling caused this, Shinichi."

"I get that I did something, but please stop blaming me," said Conan. "I can feel the guilt well enough just looking at this."

"Maybe next time you won't completely wreck history itself."

Conan and Ran got off the Time Whale.

"Be careful," said the Time Whale. "Things may be lurking about in there. I don't know how much Santa's magic kept things together."

"We will," said Ran.

Ran and Conan walked off to the town. The buildings looked run-down and sodden with age and ice. The Christmas trees in the courts were wilted and the ornaments had lost their magical luster. Ribbons and wreaths drooped and the snow was more like slush than anything. It was as if everything that made Christmas good had rotted.

"I don't see a single elf anywhere," said Conan.

"Are they normally out and about?" said Ran.

"This place is usually as bustling as Tokyo. I'm getting a weird feeling about this."

Conan directed Ran to the main hall where the biggest sectors of the toy workshops were located. They walked in through the huge doors.

Some elves were still in there, huddled together, feeling lost and confused without a purpose. The big Christmas tree with thousands of presents underneath had become only branches with not a single wrapped gift in sight. The house's architecture appeared to have aged two hundred years in a very short time.

"I'm not even sure that this is the present," said Conan.

Their question was answered when Ran spotted two very familiar people holding themselves against a door in which something was trying to escape.

"Ran? Conan?" said Agasa. "I mean, Shinichi?"

"I don't know why I'm Conan again," said Conan. "Don't bother asking. Why are you two here? What happened to this place?"

"Santa vanished and everything turned bad very quickly," said Ai. "Gin's behind the door. He's as evil as he was before the Christmas miracles."

"Oh crap," said Conan.

"He's been trying to get out for a while," said Agasa. "I'm not sure how long this door will hold up against his strength."

"At this rate, the building might just turn to dust around him," said Ai.

"Normally these doors would be magically sealed if needed," said an elf, "but something's happened to all the magic around here. Santa's gone and everything will collapse without him."

"We need to get back to the Time Whale and fix all of this," said Ran. "I'm sure Santa's disappearance has something to do with the time anomaly you created."

"You did this!?" said Ai.

"Dang it, Ran, you did it again," said Conan. "Just leave out the fact that this was my fault next time."

"Whatever," said Ran. "Let's get going before Gin busts out."

The four of them left the grand hall quickly. Agasa tried to bring some cookies with, but on second thought, they looked a little worse for wear, what with all the mold. He put the plate back down.

"We don't have time for a lunch break," said Ai. "Get a move on."

They reached the Time Whale.

"I see you've found some comrades," said the Time Whale.

"We know them," said Ran. "They're friends. We already briefed them on the situation."

They all hopped on board and with a swish of his ticking tail, the Whale was off.

"Where's our next destination?" asked Conan.

"We're going back to where you were stranded at," said the Time Whale. "Your actions caused all of this, and we have to reverse it."

"So we have to stop myself from interrupting what Santa is doing?"

"Right."

"But how can we do that if it's a time loop? Shouldn't I remember getting pulled aside by myself before heading off into the wilderness and stopping all this from happening?"

"Your theories about how time works are all wrong," said the Time Whale. "Time's flow is vastly different in the North Pole. There are more loopholes. We can exploit it however we wish thanks to the interference of magic. Therefore, we can go back and stop yourself and nothing will happen to your present memories. In fact, we can close off the entire time branch where this happens and just return safely to the proper present."

"I didn't know solving time travel problems was that simple of a process," said Ai.

"Actually," said the Time Whale, "I asked the New Years to do us a favor and seal up the continuity just so that we don't have any loose ends."

The four of them watched as a second Time Whale swam past them in the opposite direction carrying duplicates of Conan and Ran. The duplicates looked over at the larger party on the present Time Whale in shock.

"I don't remember seeing this," said Conan. Ran nodded in agreement.

"See what I mean?" said the Time Whale. "We don't need to worry. We just need to stop the past you from ever encountering Santa."

The Time Whale touched down on the sea again. Conan looked and saw that his past self was lying unconscious in the snow.

"Wait," said Agasa. "There won't be any paradox if Shinichi meets himself in the past, right?"

"None at all," said the Time Whale. Conan got off him and went over to his own body.

He poked his past self's arm with his shoe. "Come on, get up."

The past Conan got to his feet and looked himself in the eye. "What the heck?" said Past Conan. "Why am I Conan again? And who are you?"

"I'm you from like thirty minutes in the future," said Conan. "Stay here, don't go anywhere. The Time Whale from your timeline will be here to pick you up in a couple minutes, right?" Conan looked over at the Time Whale, who nodded (which shook the other passengers a little).

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Past Conan.

"So that you don't go do what I did. I accidentally caused Santa to stop existing by interacting with his past self, who is relatively nearby but just far enough out of reach that he won't spot you on his way if you stay right here."

"Well, all right then. But does that mean that you're going to disappear like in the movies? And you still haven't told me why I'm Conan again. Shinichi, Shinichi, Shinichi... well, that didn't work."

"Santa's magic doesn't work in the past, and it definitely doesn't work when Santa is out of commission in the future."

"That sucks. Well, be seeing you, uh, me."

"Bye." Conan reclaimed his spot on the back of the Time Whale and the party of five sailed back into the time stream tunnel.

Past Conan watched from the shore as a second Time Whale appeared right as the first was leaving. They collided in a massive Head-On Time Accident.

"Oh crap," said Past Conan.

The Time Whale from the future did a spin-out and disappeared into a different wormhole in the time continuity while the Past Time Whale managed to stay on its path. It and Past Ran approached Past Conan.

"Thank goodness you're here," said Past Conan. "I was worried that that accident would have meant being stuck here forever."

"Why are you Conan?" asked Past Ran. "And who were those lookalikes on the other Time Whale?"

"I'll explain it all on our ride back," said Past Conan.