It was now Christmas Eve and it was time to set their plan in motion in bringing down the Christmas demon. Everyone was working hard and the family was trying to struggle with the comfort of having monsters in their home. Yes, they saved Howie from being kidnapped. Yes, they were sent here to help them. But, they just weren't sure how to react in general to this whole thing. Nevertheless, they decided to give them a chance. In fact, Stevie and Jordan decided to challenge Runyat and Raeffael to a wrestling match. Although the girls were tougher than they look (or thought), Runyat was different, unlike Raeffael. Lucky for Runyat, he had taken part in cage fights in the past in which he was able to overpower to duo easily. In Raeffael's case, well...he was neither physically fit nor experienced in wrestling. Jordan got a feel of his skin and it felt slippery and rubbery, almost like that of a fish or a shark. Mezem sat by the fire with Omi, Luz was holding Chrissy in her lap and the rest of the "Suicide Squad" was decidedly assisting the soldiers for preparation.
"Oh my gosh. You had Mom's angel this whole time?" asked Linda, observing a Christmas angel perched on the top of the tree.
"Yeah, I thought you knew." Sarah answered.
"No." Linda disagreed.
"Remember when we used to fight over who got to place her?" asked Linda with a grin.
Those too-hard-to-forget memories flashed across Sarah's brain which made her feel bitter.
"Yeah, we fought dirty." Sarah responded sarcastically. "I still have the scars."
Linda chuckled, "Where do you think my girls get it from?"
Her eyes happened upon a tiny picture frame ornament on the tree of her and Sarah as children.
"You've saved everything."
"Yeah." Sarah said softly. "Figured that's what mom would've done, you know?"
Linda looked at her with a heartfelt stare, almost on the brink of tears. Sarah shrugged and glimpsed at the angel on the tree.
"Hey, lady."
They both turned to look at Lionell.
"You got any eats around here?" He asked.
Sarah stared at him blankly and struggled to respond. Minutes later, the entire family could only stand outside of the dining room and stare in both surprise and disgust to see the monsters seated at the table and just munching away at the leftover food from the Christmas feast. Their eyes watched as they just plowed through the food, stuffing the holiday ham, stuffing, gravlax and the casserole Linda's family made into their mouths like starving animals. All the munching noises, the belching and the crumbs and specks of food that were scattered on the floor. Since there was no powered microwave to heat the food up, Lionell used his pyrokinesis to warm up the food to a desired degree. Even drinks were poured down their throats from the big bottle of soda pop to an entire bottle of wine or chardonnay. Ulrich even grabbed an empty tray and placed some food in it for Azur, since he didn't get any. In their defense, they never had anything this good to eat while in captivity. Linda almost retched while watching them in disbelief.
"It's...been a while since they had anything to eat beside the food they serve back at the P.C.E.D." explained Engel.
"What's P.C.E.D.?" asked Howard.
"That's classified." Engel said.
"Well, at least someone likes your mess of a meal." Dorothy told Sarah in her usual disgruntled tone.
It took every fiber in her being for Sarah to not swipe that smirk of her wrinkled face. So she walked over to the table cautiously with an attempt to smile.
"Uh, so...how's the food?" She asked.
Her first response was a loud belch from Tobias and she stood stiff in her place.
"I can honestly say that it's better than that crap that they give us back at that base of theirs." Luz said.
Ulrich left with the tray.
"What do they feed you?" asked Sarah.
"The regular shit. Chunks of raw meat, bowls of that sloppy mess, livestock, not that he cares." said Raeffael, referring to Tobias.
Once Ulrich left the house, he saw Azur sitting against the tree who then noticed what Ulrich had and he crawled over. Ulrich held up the tray and Azur grabbed with his index finger and thumb before he dumped it down his throat before Ulrich went back inside without even saying "You're welcome".
"Well, you all just enjoy yourselves." Tom said as he left with his wife while Ulrich re-entered and took his seat.
"So what'll it be? Wine, beer, pinot gris, Jack Daniel's?" Luz asked, grabbing some of the alcoholic drinks.
"Give me some spirits, babe." said Runyat with his wine glass.
Luz poured some in. She gave some to the rest before she looked at Tobias.
"How about you?"
"Drink dulls the mind." He grunted out.
"Oh, come on. It's Christmas!" She urged. "Drink with us."
"Beer."
She gave him some.
"Jack Daniel's." Ulrich said.
"Chardonnay." said Ólafur.
"Water for me, thank you." said Lionell.
"Good choice, honey." Luz smirked.
"What am I? 12?" asked Ulrich seeing only a tiny bit in his glass, which made Luz smirk with amusement before she poured him some more.
Then Ulrich raised his glass for a short toast.
"Here's to honor among freaks." He declared as the rest raised their glasses.
They each clinked their glasses together one by one and took a swig of their drinks.
"I'd like to prefer myself as an asset relocation specialist." said Runyat. "I may not look human if you count the horns, but it's good to actually exist."
"They can't tear us apart even if they tried." Lionell joked humorlessly.
"Well, I guess we almost pulled it off, despite what everyone thought." began Ulrich.
"You know they didn't bring us all the way out here to succeed, right?" asked Ólafur.
"Yeah." Ulrich sighed.
"They want us to fail." said Ólafur.
"Worst part is they're gonna blame us for what happened." Ulrich continued. "And they can't have anyone knowing the truth. We are who we are. We're the patsies. The cover-up. Don't forget, we're monsters. All of us."
"Care to tell us what your big deal is in the outside world?" asked Luz.
"If I had my head twisted backwards and my eyes crossed, you think I'd care?" snarked Ulrich. "I would've had the perfect life. The perfect home. The perfect girl. But, to no surprise at all, it's all for naught. The world tends to wrap you around it's finger and unwind you over a pit of snakes. I don't know what to trust anymore. My friends. My family. My own life."
"El dolor es todo." replied Mezem.
Ulrich didn't understand him, so he just smiled unenthusiastically and shook his head.
"You don't know the have of it."
That's when Lionell snapped and smacked the table.
"You can't keep doubting yourself, man!" He shouted. "There's too much to live for! You don't know that?!"
"Bitch, I'm having a drink." droned Ulrich. "That was my last 2 or 5 seconds of inner happiness. I had hope."
"Hope?" Lionell scoffed. "Hope doesn't stop the wheels from turning."
"You preaching?"
"I can see you got played by some prat in school that you loved so much. At least your old girl had something. I've killed women and children. Once."
Everyone looked at him when he said that and allowed him to continue.
"You see, I was born with the Devil's gift. My parents had to kept me hidden from the outside world most of my life, but the older I got, the stronger I got. Water's my Kryptonite. I'd spend most of my days showering, bathing and swimming around in our pool to keep my powers at bay. But later on, I used it for business, you know. They'd cash me the first, I'd roast them the second. It's one after the other. No one tells me no. Except my sister. We'd have a spat once in a while, but I knew she meant well."
He conjured up a small flame in his palm which turned into a feminine figure dancing.
"God didn't give me this. Why should he take it away?"
(FLASHBACK)
Lionell was walking out of the kitchen of his home, putting on it his college jacket in a hasted fashion. That's when his sister, Dolores, entered with a look of fury on her face and holding a box.
"Hey!" She shouted, making him turn his head around to face her.
Dolores furiously dumped the box out on the table which contained a firearm, wad of cash, a pocket knife and even a video camera. She was now fed up with her brother's chosen lifestyle as she flipped her lid at him.
"This is our home!" She roared.
"You put that back where you found it." He ordered with a hiss in his tone.
"I can't take this anymore! I've had it! First thing tomorrow, we're sending you to rehab to get you some help."
With her anger now spend, she turned her back on him and left to go upstairs. But her brother wasn't finished with her yet.
"You ain't taking me NOWHERE!" Lionell bellowed with rage as he chased after her, feeling his core burning up along with his rage.
"So when I get mad, I...I just lose control, you know. I don't know what I'd do." Lionell continued.
(FLASHBACK)
After the exchange of profane insults and snarky comments, Lionell's rage had finally reached it's peak to the point where his powers went full-on out of control. His tense emotions had caused the house to set on fire, killing Dolores in the process. He was now sitting on the floor, cradling his sister's scorched corpse as he convulsed with sorrow and was wracked with guilt at what he had done.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"...until there's nothing left."
Lionell placed his glass over the dancing fire girl in his hand and everyone watched as the tiny flame started to produce smoke and the feminine figure stopped dancing and collapsed, acting as if it were suffocating before it evaporated into more smoke. This tiny act made the rest of the monsters' eyes widen with realization. The entire family was listening from the family room and began to feel sympathy at Lionell's story.
"And the kids?" asked Runyat.
"He burned them all." whispered Luz harshly.
Lionell couldn't even speak right now as tears threatened to leak from his eyelids.
"Oh, you'll get over it." Luz told him strictly. "You own that shit. Understand? You own it! I mean, what did you think was gonna happen? You're dangerous. You're just like us! Normal isn't an option! People us don't get to be normal!"
"Why is it that there's a knife fight every single time you open your mouth?!" Runyat disrupted her rant before he faced Lionell. "You know, on the outside, you're amazing as hell. But inside, you're hideous."
"Yes, we all are. We all are! Expect for him." Luz nodded towards Tobias. "He's ugly on the outside, too."
"Not me, shorty." He snorted. "I'm beautiful."
"Yes, you are." She grinned wickedly at him, but he only hissed and turned away from her.
Then they all turned to see Max in the kitchen staring at them.
"Something you need, little boy?" asked Runyat.
Max sighed before he grabbed a chair and sat with them at the table.
"I didn't have a good Christmas either." He told them. "Before this whole thing started, I just wanted a normal family Christmas. Just once. But now that I think about it, no one really cares. Christmas is like a boring job to them. No carols, no TV specials, no holiday spirit. It's all a phase. My cousins never reset tormenting me, even on Christmas. They read out my letter to Santa to spite me. That was the final straw."
The monsters felt sorry for the boy.
"I can't help but think that this whole thing is my fault." He said.
"Listen, Max, right?" Ulrich said softly. "There's no need to start blaming yourself for this just because you wanted a regular jolly Christmas. Like your grandma said, this Krampus character comes to punish those who have been naughty. I reckon you probably had a fight once for Santa. Maybe ten or maybe more. Every kid nowadays argue over the big man's existence. It's not uncommon. Helps us keep each other in check. You...you still had the most Christmas spirit in you when no one else did. That makes you one of a kind. Santa would know that. Who are they to ruin that for you? You're whole town brought this upon themselves and the same could be said for your family. Everything would've have been peaches and cream if they just believed. Belief is stronger than you think. And if anything, that little ray of belief is what makes you human."
Ulrich's words made Max almost smile. The rest of the monsters shared a wondering look. Meanwhile, Tom and Sarah listened to everything. His words rang in their thoughts and made them wonder if they've been good parents for their son when it came to Christmas.
"We've all made mistakes, kid." Lionell said. "I'll never see my family again, nor my sister. And I'm different. But that's okay."
"Hope may not fix the past, but it's what keeps you going to do better in the future." replied Ólafur.
"Nunca llegué a ver la cara de mi madre a medida que crecía." added Mezem in Spanish.
Ulrich scooted closer to Max and looked him straight in the eye.
"We're gonna get through this alive. We're gonna fix this. Because I believe in it. I believe that I'll see my brother again. My mother, my father. It's gonna be like a chapter in the Bible. Everyone's gonna know what we did. And my mother is gonna know that her son is not a piece of shit."
Max bit his lip and then nodded. Ulrich stood up from his seat and left to go help get ready. Everyone watched in surprise as he left. Luz shrugged and sat up to follow.
"Come on." She told the rest. "You got something better to do?"
She took off, shaking her head.
"Pussies."
Everyone was now ready for action as the squadron got their guns ready, explosives and everything. The neighborhood was getting hip-deep in more snow as the storm progressed and got worse. They overlooked the plan to split up. Howard was assigned to assist the other half of the squadron with Azur. Howard hugged his wife, wearing a more protective snow coat, as they both kissed.
"Don't get killed out there on Christmas, you hear me?" asked Linda.
"Wouldn't dream of it." He told her.
"You ready?" One of the soldiers asked him.
"Ready." Howard nodded, cocking his rifle and started out with them.
But then they all stopped when they saw Tobias following them.
"I'm going with you." He said.
"We don't need you. We got this taken care of." Howard replied.
"I'm not asking, asshole." He snarled. "You got out there, even if you are armed, you just as good as dead. I can survive anything. You all are just preschoolers."
He shoved past them and hopped into the military vehicle, leaving them in disbelief. They had to plan to enact, so they didn't have time to have a say against it. Back inside, Engel laid out a map of the neighborhood.
"So we're going to proceed to the park here while Hopkins, Howard and the entire Blue team will come across here by the local gymnasium. Krampus has an array of demonic toys with him and there's a bigger one that's strong enough to mow down his victims. That's the heart of the group. We will try to find a way to get it to choke on this bomb of ours and blow it to hell."
"What about the rest of the toys?" asked Ólafur.
"They'll try to fight back, but we'll be ready for them. Unlucky for them, with the big one dead, they'll be too easy to eliminate." answered Engel. "As for Krampus, the source of his power is his horns. We'll just keep hammering him until we find a way to slice them off. After that, he'll be powerless. All the horrors he's created will be gone with him."
"I'll get the snow plow here." Tom pointed to one spot on the map. "If it has power, I'll use it to clear a path for you."
"We'll take the kids with us." added Sarah.
"You're not thinking about doing that on you're own, are you?" asked Linda.
"A shepherd's got to protect his flock." noted Tom.