SHONEN ALLIANCE AND THE ULTRA ALLIANCE

THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL

Finale

OPENING THEME: Limit-Break x Survivor (Dragon Ball Super)

The heroes stood in stunned silence. Vine, Noire, and Kirito had just finished explaining what they had discovered from their visit and no one knew how to respond.

"You gotta be kidding me," Goku finally broke the silence, "so… we really did make the wrong call."

"That's putting it lightly. We really did blow it this time," Ed sighed, "we would've been better off not doing anything."

"Why is it whenever I have a chance to say 'I told you so', it's at a time I know I'll always feel bad about it later?" Vine sighed quietly.

"I've got the perfect plan!" Neptune shouted desperately.

"I'm gonna stop you before this even starts," Ultradimension Vine silenced her before she even began, "this world's time flow is already a complete mess thanks to Homura's constant mucking with the timeline, so before you start suggesting she go back to stop you guys from making this mistake, RIGHT IN FRONT OF SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE TIME PATROL AND THE SUPREME KAI OF TIME, I'm going to remind you that if Homura screws with the timeline again, Hyperdimension is probably going to explode."

"Uhhh… nevermind, I don't have the perfect plan," Neptune quieted down.

"Seriously, that was your perfect plan," Noire sighed in annoyance.

"Ahh, come on guys," Ruby Rose piped up, "so what if we don't get to go to the festival this year? There's always next year, right! This year, let's just all enjoy Christmas together!"

"That's quitter's talk, Red," Natsu declared, slamming his fist into the palm of his other hand before igniting both hands, "here's my plan…"

"Oh, here we go," Vine sighed, facepalming.

"We track down everyone who signed this paper and beat 'em down 'til they change their mind!" Natsu exclaimed energetically.

"That took longer then I expected," Ed sighed, "still, looks like I win," he said, smiling as he glanced at Vine and Mustang. They had a bet going whether it'd be Natsu, Naruto, or Luffy who'd suggest violence first and Ed had picked Natsu.

"Don't choke on your winnings, Short Stuff," Vine cursed, throwing a gold coin at Ed's forehead.

"Huh, I don't know guys," Goku replied, "I mean you know I like a good fight as much as the next guy, but this doesn't feel right."

"Probably because any of you guys against these poor saps would be less of a fight and more of a bullying," Vine sighed, glancing over at Kyoko. He was beginning to worry about how uncharacteristically quiet she was being, and he could tell he wasn't the only one.

"So what!? They started it!" Natsu replied.

"The Fallen One hasn't taken over this world yet so they're still free to do as they please," Ichigo reminded them.

"You takin' their side now, Carrot-top!?" Natsu demanded.

"I didn't say I was taking their side, but that's just the way it is," Ichigo replied.

"Carrot-top's right, dang, that was harder to say then I thought it'd be," Vine sighed, "I get that we're a team that responds to most problems by hitting them, but that isn't going to work here."

"Well what do we do then?" Luffy asked.

"We don't do anything," Kyoko finally broke her silence, "there's nothing we can do. It's over."

"No, it's not, Kyoko," Alicia replied firmly, "we can't lose hope. We'll find a way."

"Alright, so who's ready for the obvious answer?" Vine asked.

"Oooo, I got this!" Sayaka declared, "we do our own Festival of the Angels."

"Hey, that's a great idea! We'll set up our own festival in Largo's front yard!" Goku exclaimed.

"What do you say to that, Old Man?" Vine asked Largo.

"Yeah, I think that'll work just fine," Largo replied.

"But how? Largo's yard doesn't have any trees or anything to decorate," Kyoko protested.

"You can leave that to us," Ultradimension Vine declared as he and Future Trunks stepped forward.

"Uh, alright, but what about the angels for the tree toppers?" Kyoko asked, "they're pretty vital."

"Oooo oooo ooo!" Neptune shouted, "Plutie can do it!"

"Yeah, I can make a beautiful angel," Plutia replied, sounding as excited as Plutia ever did.

"I'll help too, Plutie," Asuna offered.

"Of course Asuna. We'll both make beautiful angels," Plutie replied.

"That takes care of the two most important things, but we'll need more decorations then just the tree and angels," Isara suggested.

"Then we've got work to do," Vine declared.

"Let's get busy then," Ed ordered, smiling.

"What do you say Kyoko?" Alicia asked, causing Kyoko to smile.

"Let's do it," Kyoko replied.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I feel like we've been here before," Tohsaka sighed as she handed Vine up a string of lights.

"At least this time, we don't have to listen to that stupid grandma song while we do it," Vine replied.

"Ah, I didn't think that song was that bad," Ruby protested, "it's… upbeat."

"Yeah, an upbeat song about someone's grandma getting run down by a reindeer," Ryuko replied, "imagine if that was your grandma."

"Bah, that'd never happen. I mean, Santa's not even real, right?" Ruby replied.

"I've met him," Vine revealed.

"Wait, seriously! So he is real!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly, "oohhh, what's he like!? What's he like!?"

"Alright, we've got all the tree decorations," Shantella declared as she sat a box of decorations down next to several other boxes, "now we just need a tree."

"How about two!?" a voice called from above as Ultradimension Vine and Future Trunks flew above the heroes, each carrying their own 10 ft tree over their shoulders.

"What do you think anyone watching us set this up right now is thinking?" Ed sighed as the two Ultradimension Saiyans drove the trees into the ground, planting them in place.

"Relax, Short Stuff, we thought of that," Vine revealed, "Kakashi's got a Genjutsu set up around Old Man Largo's whole house. Anyone who looks our way is just gonna see a bunch of people setting up Christmas decorations like normal, every-day humans."

"So where do you think they think the trees came from?" Ed asked doubtfully.

"Don't ask me, I can't see what's going on in the illusion," Vine replied.

"Who cares," Naruto declared, "that just means we can go all out and get this place decorated fast. MULTY SHADOW-CLONE JUTSU!" he shouted, creating a dozen shadow clones that began carrying boxes of decorations to the tree.

"Alright, this sounds like fun!" Goku declared, ascending to Super Saiyan Blue.

"SECOND GEAR!" Luffy shouted, activating his Second Gear.

"Well, might as well join in," Ultradimension Vine declared, powering up to Super Saiyan 2.

All three vanished from sight, soon followed by three boxes of decorations. Within moments, the contents of the boxes covered one of the tree as the three heroes reappeared, holding empty boxes and powered down.

"We're back!" Lisbeth shouted as she emerged from the house, followed by the Supreme Kai of Time and the Majin Time Patroller, Uupa, each carrying a box.

"So what did you guys go back to get again?" Rin Okumura asked the returning women.

"Check it out," Liz replied, smiling widely as she held up a small, metal wire santa. "Pretty cool right? I made these for the tree in Conton City, but since we're here I thought we could use 'em."

"Huh, not bad, but I've got an idea. Vine, can I borrow some lights?" Ed asked, causing Vine to drop a string of lights on his head. "Liz, can I borrow a few of those?"

"Uh, sure," Liz replied, handing him a santa, snowman, and reindeer decoration. After a quick transmutation with the decorations and the lights, Ed held up the decorations again, only know that were lit up, alternating between red, white, and green.

"Whoa," Rin exclaimed.

"Heh, guess you get some pretty cool stuff when you team up a master blacksmith with a master alchemist," Liz declared, smiling smugly.

"Don't encourage him," Vine sighed, "his head gets any bigger and his tiny frame isn't gonna be able to support it," he said, holding up his arm to block a kick from Ed aimed at his head.

"I swear, call me tiny again and I'll hang you on the tree!" Ed shouted angrily.

"Wow, that was dark," Rin complained.

"Actually, that threat was pretty tame compared to some of 'em," Vine revealed, "he actually threatened to turn someone into a fish once for calling him short. I don't even know how that'd work."

Kyoko was standing on the roof, smiling as she watched the decorations going up. Mami walked up behind her.

"Well, what do you think?" Mami asked, "I know it's not the same, but…"

"No…" Kyoko replied, stopping Mami from continuing, "…actually, I think I might like this better. Everyone's having so much fun, even I'm getting excited."

"Well…" Mami replied, a bit surprised by the response, "I'm glad to hear it, and I'm sure if you wanted to join the 'fun' no one would object."

"Ehhh, I'll join 'em in awhile. I'm enjoying the view for now," Kyoko replied, getting both magical girls to laugh, at least until Jaune came sliding past them on a plastic Rudolph.

"Look out bellow!" he cried desperately as both Vine and Tohsaka yelped and a crash was heard. The two magical girls looked down to see Jaune, dazed and confused, laying on top of the Rudolph statue, which lay on an equally dazed and surprised Vine as Tohsaka sat in the snow next to a fallen ladder, looking completely bewildered at what had just happened. The sight just caused the girls to laugh harder.

"Glad to know everyone still finds my pain funny," Vine declared, chuckling as he pushed the statue off of him, "seriously why did we send D'Arc on the roof again? He already fell off once this year."

"At least this one wasn't a big a drop," Jaune sighed, rolling onto his back, "still hurt though."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

It took a day or two to finish decorating the Potters' yard, but on Christmas eve night, they were all up, with the exception of the angels to top the trees.

"Almost done," Goku declared.

"Now we just need Plutie and Asuna's angels and we've got our very own Festival of the Angels!" Neptune shouted excitedly, "take that random peoples who signed a petition."

"They're done!" Plutie called out excitedly as she and Asuna emerged from Largo's home, each carrying a beautifully crafted angel for the top of the tree.

"Awesome!" Luffy shouted excitedly.

"Let's get them on the tree and party guys!" Natsu shouted excitedly, earning some cheers from the gathered heroes.

"Hold that thought," Vine ordered, "I'm hoping someone will arrive so let's just wait a little longer."

"Someone else is coming?" Goku asked, "but I'm pretty sure everyone's here."

"Not quite. Kirito had an idea for one more person we should invite so, I may or may not have given him a call," Vine revealed, smiling.

"Hold on, do you mean…" Noire began to ask as a car pulled into view, stopping in front of the home. Noire smiled as she, Vine, and Kirito approached the car as Toshiro Hounda exited the vehicle, along with three young women and one young man the three recognized from the photos on Mr. Hounda's desk as the Hounda's children.

"I'm glad you could make it, Mr. Hounda," Kirito admitted as Vine and Hounda shook hands.

"Young man when I heard what you were doing, I canceled all my other plans for the night just to make sure I could be here. I wouldn't miss something like this for the world," the elderly man replied kindly.

"Who's that guy?" Luffy asked.

"I think he's the guy who was going to buy the park," Clare revealed.

"Yeah, he is," Largo revealed, "that's Toshiro Hounda."

"That's…" Kyoko stuttered, her smile evaporating instantly.

"Well, I know it's not the same as the real thing," Vine admitted, welcoming the newcomers to join the gathered heroes, "but even so, I'm glad you came."

The three turned and were surprised to see Kyoko stepping cautiously towards them. Vine folder his arms and stepped aside, allowing Kyoko to stand right in front of Hounda as the two's eyes met.

"M… Mr. Hounda?" Kyoko stuttered, clearly nervous and uncomfortable. It was unclear for a moment if she'd continue as she gave a fearful look to Vine and Noire, both of whom gave her a reassuring nod.

"What can I do for you my dear?" Hounda asked, smiling kindly as he took a step towards Kyoko.

"I… I wanna apologize," Kyoko finally cried out.

"Apologize for what?" Toshiro asked in obvious confusion.

"I… I was the one who told that newspaper about you buying the park. It was all my fault that they printed that article and stopped you from buying the park. It was all my fault that you weren't able to put on the festival of angels at the park this year!" Kyoko cried out, looking at the ground to try to keep anyone from realizing their were tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"I see," Toshiro replied, his kind smile returning, "so it was all your fault then," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her too look up as he pointed to the Potter's yard, decorated with lights and statues with two beautiful trees waiting only for the angels to adorn their tops, "my dear, it looks to me like the Festival of Angels is fine and well without the park. My only regret is that my wife isn't here to see this."

"But…" Kyoko replied, clearly not getting the response she'd anticipated.

"What happened was my own fault. I saw that petition for the ending of the festival and wanted to make sure they wouldn't be able to stop me before there was nothing they could do, but in my haste I neglected those who felt how I did. You wanted the festival to go forward as badly as I did and were willing to do whatever you could to prove it, because you know how important it is. It warms this old mans heart to see that there are still young ones who know that the Festival, and more importantly, what the festival represents is still important. I promise you, I won't forget that again. Christmas is important, and knowing there are still young people like you and your friends who know it warms my heart, so in reality, my dear, I should be thanking you," Toshiro replied, kindly, "two days ago, the town council agreed to complete the sale. By this time next year, I'll own Angel's Park and the Festival of Angels will return there. I hope you'll all be there to see it when it does, but for now, this year won't be without a Festival because of what you've done here. This old man couldn't be more proud."

"We're not quite done yet," Asuna called out, bringing the two angels forward.

"It's not a Festival of Angels without the Angels," Vine admitted, "we all agree that Kyoko should be the one to put up one of the angels, but I think Mr. Hounda should be the one to place the second."

"What? No… I…" Mr. Hounda began to protest.

"Sir, no one has done more for this festival then you did. All we did was decorate a yard," Kirito protested, "you spent a fortune to make sure that even if it couldn't happen this year, this'll never be a problem again. I agree with Vine. No one deserves to put up the second angel more then you do."

"And of course, we wouldn't be here without you," Vine declared, placing his hand on Kyoko's shoulder, smiling at her, "you've earned this, kid."

"Here you go, Kyoko," Plutia declared, handing one of the angels to a bewildered Kyoko, "you've earned it."

"Here you go, Mr. Hounda," Asuna said, handing her own angel to Hounda.

"I… how do we even get up to the top of the tree?" Hounda asked, looking at Vine.

"You're gonna wish you hadn't asked that," Vine replied.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

At first, the heroes were worried that Toshiro would have a heart attack when Goku flew him to the top of one of the trees to place the angel, but before they'd even reached the top, the old man was laughing like a child. With the Ultradimension Vine flying Kyoko to the top of her tree, the two angels were quickly set up and the decoration for the heroes own Festival of Angels was complete.

"ALRIGHT GUYS, LET'S PARTY!" Natsu shouted out as the heroes cheered.

"Hope we don't get complaints from the neighbors," Vine sighed, leaning up against the wall of Largo's home next to Largo.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Largo replied, smiling. Before Vine could ask him what he meant, Largo's neighbors began arriving at the party, all bringing plates of food with them.

"It's the Festival of Angels," Largo declared, "we had to invite everyone."

"This place is gonna be a bit crowded," Vine sighed, laughing happily as the heroes and citizens began mingling at their very own Festival of Angels as the clock struck midnight, welcoming Christmas day.

ENDING THEME: I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY (Casting Crowns)