SHONEN ALLIANCE AND THE ULTRA ALLIANCE
THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL
Part 2
OPENING THEME: Limit-Break x Survivor (Dragon Ball Super)
Vine had been proven correct. For the most part, the rest of the team had all been excited by the idea of the festival. Even Vegeta had agreed, though no one was entirely certain whether he was genuinely interested or had only agreed because Bulma and Trunks had liked the idea. Whatever the case, less then an hour after Kyoko had said she wanted to go to the festival, the heroes had returned to the world of Magical Girls and Witches. Now, Welkin Gunther, along with Alicia and Isara, was knocking on the door of Largo and Eleanor Potter. To their surprise, it wasn't Largo who opened the door, but Bridgette "Rosie" Stark, another former member of Squad Seven.
"Well, well, this is an unexpected surprise," Rosie said as she saw who was at the door. Curious, a little girl, no older than five, peeked around the door.
"AUNTIE ISA!" the little girl shouted excitedly when she saw the three Sevens, running to Isara who happily took the child in her arms.
"I haven't seen you in so long, Rose. You've gotten so big," Isara said happily.
"Ah come on, kid. I know Auntie Isara's great and all, but how come you never get that excited to see your Auntie Rosie?" Rosie heckled the little girl.
"I see you all the time, Auntie Rosie," Rose responded matter-of-factly, "Auntie Isara doesn't come visit that often."
"I'm sorry Rose, I wish I could come more often," Isara apologized as she pulled a capsule out of her shawl, "but I brought you present."
"Ah ha, the truth comes out. Auntie Isara buys the kid's love, I shoulda known. Well, what're ya all standin' around out here for? Come in, let's get outta the cold." The three Sevens followed Rosie inside.
"Hey, El," Rosie called out, "we got visitors!" Soon Eleanor Varrot Potter emerged from the kitchen, wearing an apron and coated in flour.
"Well, this is a pleasant surprise. It's been awhile you three," El said, smiling.
"It's good to see you again, Captain," Alicia said happily.
"Alicia, I'm not a captain anymore," El reminded her, "you can just call me El now."
"Where's Largo?" Isara asked Rosie.
"The old man's helpin' out at a local toy store for the holidays," Rosie revealed.
"Daddy's dressing up like Santa," Rose said smiling.
"Really? That sounds like fun," Isara said.
"He enjoys it," Eleanor revealed looking a bit depressed, "and I think it takes his mind off of what happened to the Festival of Angels."
"Hold on, what happened to the festival?" Alicia asked.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
At a snow covered park in the middle of town, Kyoko was lookin' around as Vine, Ed, and Mami approached her. She was smiling from ear to ear as she spoke. "This is definitely the place. It's just like I remember."
"A bit odd though that it doesn't look like they've started decorating yet, if the set up is as elaborate as you say it is," Ed admitted.
"No kiddin'. This close to Christmas, this place actually looks kind of depressing," Vine added in, "there's not even a ring of holly on the lamp posts."
"That is really odd. This place used to be covered in lights and decorations. What's going on?" Kyoko wondered as well.
"Say cheese, dearies," a voice called to them before they could think any more. The four heroes turned, just in time for a camera flash to indicate they'd been photographed. Holding the camera was Edy Nelson, another member of Squad Seven, accompanied by fellow Seven, Susie Evans. "Perfect."
"Uhhh, do you know these two?" Kyoko asked Vine and Ed.
"Yes, though there are days I wish I could say no about the camera girl," Vine sighed in reply as Edy and Susie approached them.
"Vine, Edward, we haven't seen you dearies in forever. How are you!?"Edy asked happily as she threw her arms around the two Alchemists.
"Same as ever," Vine replied as Edy let them go.
"It is so great to see you dearies again. What brings you here?" Edy asked, "visiting for the holidays?"
"Something like that," Ed replied.
"Our new friend Kyoko wanted to go to the Festival of Angels so we all decided to stop by," Vine revealed.
"Oh no, you guys came all the way back here for the festival?" Susie said in dismay
"'Oh no'? What's that mean?" Kyoko exclaimed, her previously joyful mood now replaced by frantic worry.
"The town council released an article in the papers about a month ago," Edy revealed, "announcing that the Festival of Angels was officially canceled. They didn't give a reason why and a lot of people were really upset about it, but even after a month of complaints, the Festival is still canceled."
"You gotta be kidding," Ed said in dismay.
"But why," Vine wondered aloud, "if people'd lost interest, that'd be one thing, but it doesn't sound like that's the case if they're getting complaints."
"This is horrible," Mami complained, realizing Kyoko seemed to be in shock about the revelation, "Kyoko…" Vine and Ed both turned their attention to the red headed Magical Girl as well who responded by trying to act cool, though her distress was obvious.
"Hey, if it's cancelled, then it's cancelled. Nothin' we can do about it, right. I just hope everyone isn't to disappointed we came all the way here for nothin'. Come on, let's get outta here," she said, trying but failing to hide her disappointment as she walked away.
"I'm sorry Vine," Susie apologized, "I made your friend really upset. I shouldn't have said anything."
"No, it's a good thing you did," Ed replied, "Twenty days until Christmas. What do you think, Colonel?"
"Hmmm, could be a financial problem," Vine speculated, "or maybe logistical. Hard to say, but whatever it is, we've got to get to the bottom of it. We've got our work cut out for us on this one."
"Then we'd better get to work," Ed declared confidently, causing Vine to nod in agreement.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
The news hadn't gone over well, and with several team members whose usual strategy for solving problems was to hit things, it'd been unclear for a few hours whether or not the town council would end up vaporized, but finally, cooler heads prevailed and the nuclear option was shelved, though there had been a particularly tense moment when Plutia had gotten pretty upset and even four hours later, no one could convince a sobbing Satelizer out from under Largo's dining room table as a result. Goku had even gone Blue, ready to pin Plutia down if Iris Heart decided to unleash her sadistic fury. Mami had returned shortly after Kyoko, but Vine and Edward hadn't returned with her, leaving everyone to assume that the two alchemists were already looking into the situation. Kyoko was outside, sitting on Largo's porch with a pile of Alicia's cookies, looking up at the sky, lost in thought. She didn't even hear the door open as Alicia walked out with a mug in her hand.
"Here you go, Kyoko," Alicia said as she put the mug down next to Kyoko's plate of cookies, "those cookies go great with a mug of warm milk."
"Thanks Alicia," Kyoko said before downing half the milk in one gulp, "everyone must be pretty upset we came all the way here for nothin'."
"That's… putting it pretty lightly," Alicia admitted, "Luffy wanted to go kick every member of the town council's butt until they uncancelled the festival. I thought he and Natsu were going to do it before Shantella put her foot down."
"I'm sorry. I wasted everyone's time," Kyoko apologized, her cool demeanor beginning to crack, "we should just go back to the castle and forget about it."
"Nothing about this was your fault, Kyoko," the motherly Valkyria declared firmly as she sat down next to the young Magical Girl, "and don't worry. If the town doesn't want to do the festival then we'll just get everyone together and do our own." When Kyoko didn't cheer up, Alicia realized that it wasn't the festival itself that was bothering her young friend. "Kyoko, what's really wrong?" she asked, causing Kyoko to flinch a bit.
"L… the last time I came here… it was just before… before I met that bastard Cube… just before I became a Magical Girl. It'd been a rough year for all of us, and… and I was scared. I didn't know what was gonna happen. But… when I was at the festival… everything felt… different…"
CUE BACKGROUND MUSIC: Let it Be Christmas (Alan Jackson)
"…the park was all lit up. Every tree was covered in red and green lights and glass orbs that reflected the lights that a hundred red and green diamonds. Everything was so beautiful but that all paled compared to the Christmas angels at the top of every tree. I remember thinking 'this must be what heaven is like' and for the first time in so long… I wasn't scared. It sounds cheesy, I know, but… it felt like Christmas. Then… I met Cube, and everything went wrong. The next Christmas, my mom, dad, and little sister… they were all gone, and I was scared again, and now… everyday we seem to fight something more terrifying then the day before and I don't think I'm ever anything but scared." Tears were rolling down Kyoko's cheeks by now, but she continued, "when Vine said we could go… I remembered how that'd felt, and I wanted it again. I wanted to feel happy. I wanted to see all the lights and the angels and think, just for one night, that everything was alright, but that was just a foolish, childish dream. Everything doesn't magically become alright for one night just because it's Christmas."
"I… I disagree," Alicia replied, causing Kyoko to look up at her in surprise, "Largo told me a story once about a night during the first Europan war. They'd been fighting intently for days over a fort in northern Gallia in the middle of a particularly harsh winter. Then one night, an Imperial officer approached them, waving a white flag. He proposed a temporary ceasefire and Largo's commander agreed. That night, Gallia and Imperial forces ate, drank, and sang together as if they'd been friends for years and for just one night, it seemed like the war was over. That night… was Christmas night. It doesn't matter what world, what universe, or even what dimension you go to. Christmas is always something special," Alicia promised, placing a comforting hand on Kyoko's shoulder, "and as long as we're all together, this one will be too."
Kyoko was speechless for a moment, then a big smile crept across her face and she threw her arms around Alicia. "You're right, Alicia. It'll be alright."
"Of course I'm right. Now, let's go inside. It's freezing out here," Alicia suggested.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Mustang soon tracked Vine and Ed to a local library where they were sorting through a pile of old newspapers apiece.
"I can guess what you two are up to," Mustang declared as he approached them, but how does this help?"
"These are all papers that contain articles about the festival," Vine revealed, "I was hoping that maybe something in here could give us an idea why the festival would be cancelled, but so far, all I know if that an 85 year tradition has been cancelled and no one has been told why. And I thought nothing was sacred to Gallian politicians.."
"You here because you've got somethin' important Colonel, or are you just here to distract us," Edward asked indignantly.
"And what've you found, Fullmetal?" Mustang asked, ignoring Ed's question entirely.
"Well, Kyoko wasn't wrong. I found a photo gallery from 60 years ago and even then, everything looks incredible. Take a look," Ed ordered, offering Vine and Mustang the paper he was holding. There were at least two dozen black and white photos of the park with the trees covered in lights and decorations and as Kyoko had said, the trees were all topped with beautiful Christmas angels. Even in black and white it was breath taking. The three alchemists could only guess how beautiful they would have been in color. One particular image caught Vine's eye. It showed a little boy and girl skating on the frozen pond.
"Heh, they look like they're having the time of their lives," Vine admitted, pointing the image out.
"I don't get why anyone would want to cancel this," Ed sighed.
"Greed can be a powerful motivator," Mustang declared, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a flyer, "to answer your previous question, Fullmetal, I found this." Vine and Ed both looked over the pamphlet, which was for a new hotel being built by a real estate tycoon named Toshiro Hounda.
"Looks expensive," Vine declared, sizing up the pictures in the pamphlet.
"Construction hasn't even started on it yet. What's that gotta do with…," Ed began, but was cut off as Mustang pulled out another sheet of official looking paper and handed it to Vine who quickly looked over it.
"I found that in the city's public records and had a copy made," Mustang revealed.
"What is it?" Ed asked.
"It's… a bill of sale," Vine revealed, "the town is selling the park land… to Toshiro Hounda. Your thinking the park is gonna be the sight of this new hotel?"
"What else would someone like that need with the land?" Ed asked, "that's gotta be it. The festival was cancelled so they could sell the park."
"The good news is that the sale isn't official for another week yet. We have time to stop it if we bring it to the public attention," Mustang revealed.
"No… something's not adding up," Vine declared, "why build such a large and expensive hotel in such a small town? It makes no sense."
"We wait to long, we'll run out of time to stop it," Mustang declared, "so what do you suggest."
"I told Ali I'd take her to dinner tonight and I don't plan to break that promise," Vine revealed, standing up and beginning to gather his materials.
"You're kidding right," Ed protested.
"Hear me out," Vine replied, "tonight, we'll find out where this Mr. Hounda does business, and tomorrow, we'll go pay him a visit and see what we can learn. I want to know exactly what's happening before we do anything rash."
/\/\/\/\/\/\
When they had returned to Largo's, Alicia had immediately asked them what they'd found out. Vine had told her that they were following up a lead, but that they couldn't say more until they knew more. True to his word, Vine left to take Ali to dinner and Ed was left looking over the bill of sale they had discovered while researching the buyer on a laptop.
"How did we ever get by in a world without the internet? Maybe Vine's right, but… I don't know. This guy's more or less got his own little empire of hotels and apartments. What else could he want the park for," he wondered aloud as he worked.
"Who wants the park?" Largo asked suddenly, startling Ed who hadn't heard him come in, "sorry kid, didn't mean to startle ya. What've ya found?" Ed responded by showing Largo his computer screen which showed an older, silver haired man in his late sixties cutting a red ribbon at the opening of a fancy new hotel. "Who's that?"
"Toshiro Hounda," Ed replied, handing Largo the bill of sale, "he owns about two dozen hotels across the country, and according to this, the town is preparing to sell the park to him."
"You gotta be kiddin'" Largo said as he looked over the bill, "is this why the Angel Festival was cancelled?"
"I can't see any other reason," Ed sighed in reply, "but Vine wanted to look into it a bit more before we said anything."
"I don't think that's Raging Blast's call to make," Largo declared sternly, "we don't have time to wait. We gotta stop this. I got a friend who writes for the daily newspaper. We get her this evidence now and she can have an article ready for tomorrow's paper. Everyone'll know why the festival was cancelled."
"I don't know," Ed replied.
"Just puttin' it out there, Son," Largo declared, "but we should at least talk it over with the others."
"I… I guess your right," Ed declared, "it's better then waiting at least."
/\/\/\/\/\/\
The conversation went about as well as could be expected. Kyoko had only been stopped from destroying the copy of the bill of sale because Ed had reminded her they needed it as evidence of the sale.
"Vine wanted to wait and look into things a bit further, but…" Ed revealed, "I don't know. I don't see any other scenarios."
"It does make sense," Yugi admitted, "what else would someone like that need with so much land."
"I don't know, Yugi," Yami replied from the Millennium Puzzle, "but Vine's point is valid as well. This is an odd location for such an extravagant hotel. We need to handle this carefully."
"Why build such a big hotel in such a little town. That doesn't really make any sense," Noire protested.
"Maybe he's building a smaller hotel? One better suited to the town," Uni suggested.
"Who cares what he's building," Sayaka pointed out, "whatever he's building, it's because he's buying the park that the festival was cancelled, right? So if we want to get the festival to happen again, we've got to find a way to stop the town from selling the park."
"That's right," Kyoko declared firmly, "I say we go with the old man's plan. Tell everyone exactly what's going on."
"And what exactly is going on?" Vine asked suddenly. No one had heard Aliasse and him slip in, but he had been hiding in a doorway for awhile, listening in, "you must have found something pretty interesting in the less than an hour I've been gone, Short Stuff, cause I distinctly remember telling you to keep quiet until we knew more."
"What more do you need?" Kyoko demanded.
"Something more then a 'fill in the blank' session by an angry mass of knuckleheads would be a good start. Would anyone care to tell me exactly what we know, and I mean facts, not theories," Vine challenged.
"I see what you're gettin' at," Largo realized, "we know the festival's been cancelled and we know this Hounda guy is going to be buying the park."
"What we don't know is how or even if the two things are connected," Noire finished, "that's the point I was trying to make earlier. It doesn't make any sense."
"So what does make sense?" Kyoko demanded.
"I don't have an answer to that yet, kid," Vine admitted, "but I'm not willing to jump to a nonsensical conclusion because I don't have one that makes sense yet."
"I don't know, Vine," Alicia protested, "I don't see any other reasons why this guy would want the park."
Vine sighed in defeat. He still felt something was off, but at the same time, he knew it was impossible for him to justify his hesitation, even to himself. After all, the story of a selfish, greed driven man hurting others to benefit himself was a story far older than any of them, but then, was it really that simple? Was anything ever that simple?
The debate was ended by a knock on the door.
"Wonder who that could be," Largo wondered as he left to answer the door.
"Alright," Vine sighed, "I still feel uneasy about this, but…" he turned to Kyoko, "…at the end of the day, Kyoko, you're the reason we're here. I'll let you make the call."
Kyoko was hesitant for a moment about being put on the spot like that, but quickly regained her composure. "There's only call to make," Kyoko declared, "we stop this sale any way we can." Vine nodded in defeat.
"Then we get in touch with Largo's friend tonight and with any luck, the article revealing the truth goes out tomorrow. Once word of this deal gets out, the town council will probably have no choice but to cancel, even if they only do it to save their own hides," Vine responded.
"Yeah!" Kyoko exclaimed happily.
"But…" Noire protested.
"Oh, come on Noire, we all know how this works," Neptune declared, "the big, mean, corporate Grinch tries to ruin something special, endangering everyone's Christmas joy in the name of the almighty dollar, but then the plucky, never-say-die heroine, or in this case the downer, super lonely heroine who eats all of Nep's pudding even though it has my name on it…"
"Hey!" Kyoko shouted angrily
"…shines the light of Christmas on the Grinch's evil plans, the Grinch scurries off in defeat, and Christmas is saved!" Neptune finished.
"I know that's how this is supposed to play out, but…" Noire sighed.
"Uh, I think it's for you guys," Largo declared, surprising the heroes and ending the discussion. The heroes went to the door to see who had arrived for them, but no one expected what awaited them.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" the new guests shouted in unison. Standing at the door was a woman the heroes recognized as the Supreme Kai of Time and behind her were the heroes of Ultradimension and the Elite Time Patrol. The Ultra Alliance had come to Hyperdimension for Christmas.
ENDING THEME: CONNECT (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
For anyone who needs a refresher, the heroes of Ultradimension are the heroes of Blue Exorcist, Familiar of Zero, High School DxD, Sailor Moon, Sekirei, Digimon, Senran Kagura, Sword Art Online, Ookami-San and her Seven Companions, and the Ultradimension versions of Blanc, Noire, and Vert from Neptunia.
The Elite Time Patrol consists of my OCs, Saiyan Vine, Kaya, Apuu, Uupa, Batu, and Freedge, Arisa and Natsumi (OCs of friends on DeviantArt), Future Trunks, and Future Yamcha.