~Black~
Ganondorf was a man who stuck to his beliefs and fought for what he always did, and no silly holiday was going to simply snap him like some useless twig. You could put up a tree, bake a cake, put a wreath of his door, do what you will…! He was the King of Evil, and he wasn't going to change as fast as you flip a calendar. He still preferred to isolate himself from everyone unless it was in battle…and yet he was still nagged to find something about the holiday he liked.
Well he wasn't going to find anything.
As Ganondorf stewed in a silent temperate fury in front of the fire –turned purple thanks to his magic- he noticed Mr. Game and Watch stumble through the door and out into the yard. Intrigued the slightest bit, Ganondorf rose to the window to get a glimpse of what was going down outside. Evidently, nearly the whole stadium had clambered outside and amassed in what appeared to be…a snowball fight?
Ganondorf raised an eyebrow as he watched hordes of heroes shouting at the top of their lungs, appearing to be engaged in a battle to the death. A horrid little spat that involved everyone throwing clumps of snow at each other and causing pain whenever they struck another fight. A jerky smirk did grow on Ganondorf's face when Sonic pelted Link in the face and sent the swordsman to the ground.
But to his surprise King Dedede, Bowser, and Junior had joined in on the merriment, with Junior shouting foul cries of revenge and Bowser specifically targeting Mario. Dedede announced that he was "gonna get that Kirby" but said Kirby simply inhaled the snowballs and gained his Ice Ability.
Still, the prospect of nailing rivals with an orb of ice was a bit of a tempting offer…
As it appeared that the villains were slowly becoming outmatched (and it didn't help that Wario had managed to sell some snowballs to Mr. Game and Watch) the Smashers on the other side were outrageously stunned to see Ganondorf suddenly rise over the wall of the villain's fort, two snowballs perched in his hands that abruptly burst into flames.
"Who's in the spirit now?!"
As everyone ran off screaming to get away from Ganondorf's flaming purple snowballs, the Dark Lord was having a grand old time hurling them at everyone, letting out deep bellows of laughter with every Smasher that fell beneath his might.
Perhaps he'd find a way to be festive after all.
. . .
One of the most puzzling things to Mr. Game and Watch was how Christmas worked. Well, specifically the illusive "naughty" and "nice" list. It had been explained to him that people who were incessantly "naughty" throughout their days were placed on a list that guaranteed them coal for Christmas…but those who were always "nice" were showered with gifts and goodies galore.
Problem was, Mr. Game and Watch didn't understand the difference.
He simply went about his life without ever thinking about the consequences of his actions, and without wondering why he did what he did. He just did what he needed to when he needed to, and some would claim he was a little too mellow in this aspect…and he probably was. Regardless, now that he was aware of the existences of these so-called lists, he wanted to know which one he ended up on. He hoped it was the good one, but how was he supposed to know if he'd been bad…?
Mr. Game and Watch decided to ask around.
"Being bad is doing things that make other people unhappy," Peach had attempted to explain, although she'd been scratching her head. "Being good…is keeping people happy, I think."
"Being bad means letting no one tell you what to do!" Wario had laughed heartily. "Being good means you have no spine and letting people walk all over you, which is no way to be at all!"
"Be kind to others, help out when you can, and please don't be rude," Zelda had sighed with a head-shake. "Don't cause trouble for others, and try not to kidnap princesses…!"
"Strive for a new world order!" shouted Junior, pumping a fist into the air. "Letting people tell you what to do is bogus! Make up your own mind!"
Needless to say, none of that really helped.
Mr. Game and Watch was on the verge of giving up figuring out what his alignment was and decided to wait and see what happened on Christmas, until someone saw him walk by and barked out in rather harrowing laughter.
"You've so been asking the wrong people."
The 2D man jumped upon hearing the dark angel's voice, turning to find him leisurely lounging in a chair. Dark Pit was tapping his foot to some unseen beat in his head before turning to him and frowning.
"If I were you, I wouldn't waste time worrying about being 'good' or being 'bad'. You'll get something on Christmas regardless, won't you?"
Mr. Game and Watch tilted his head curiously at this; that's not why he wanted to know what list he was on…
"If you try too hard to be good, you'll end up doing something bad. If you think you're bad, no one's ever going to see you as good. Facts of life," the angel huffed. "You should be like me and not care. Don't let this dumb holiday force you to choose one thing over another."
He stood up and whirled to face Mr. Game and Watch, not looking the least bit friendly as he handed out his "advice".
"…why do you want to be labeled like that, anyway? You should count yourself lucky that you're not stamped with an alignment; automatically seen one way or another without people knowing the truth."
Dark Pit splayed out his black-feathered wings as he sashayed off, tossing a hand over his shoulder as he waltzed away.
"Be lucky that you can just be yourself without any consequence."
Mr. Game and Watch stared forward with an unsettled air about him as Dark Pit's words sank in; they certainly were different from what everyone else had been saying, and while he felt weird in agreeing with those words, he'd be kidding himself if he said he wanted to pick one way over another.
Maybe he could have his Christmas without being naughty or nice. He'd be willing to try.
. . .
It was no secret that Dark Pit was reasonably tolerant towards Christmas; he had a completely neutral perspective on it. He wasn't throwing himself into it like Peach and Fox were, he wasn't putting his own spin on it like Bowser and Wario, and he wasn't holding it in contempt like Meta Knight and Greninja. He treated the season like any it was any other time, and only discussing it when the topic was brought up to him. It was the results of these "discussions" that ended up…interesting.
Such antics had launched him into an argument over the existence of Santa with Falco, which ended in unintended disaster concerning the female Villager and led to the destruction of Robyn's original decorations. He talked bad about the food the veterans had been kind enough to prepare for the newcomers, nitpicking every little thing. He even shredded the delicate "Naughty versus Nice" debate with Mr. Game and Watch without even thinking…!
And now, on Christmas Eve, he was gone.
Pit was the one who volunteered to search; a trail that eventually landed him outside and following a trail of footprints. He found the dark angel alone, sitting up in a bare tree watching the waning sunlight. When Dark Pit heard snow crunching below, he turned to acknowledge who it was, only to scowl once he found out.
"Pittoo-"
"Don't call me that."
Pit frowned and tried to coax his twin down from the tree, attempting to lure him back inside with promises of cocoa, Rosalina's stories, and basking in the glory that was Robyn's decorations. Pit went on to say that they also needed to head to bed soon in order to see if they got what they wanted for Christmas-
"I already know I didn't."
"…what?"
Dark Pit hooked his legs around the branch and fell backwards, letting himself dangle. His face was expressionless, but it was painstakingly obvious he was feeling something.
"…tell me why I should look forward to a gift tomorrow when what I want can't be wrapped up and placed under that tree?"
"But…what is it you want that you won't get?"
Dark Pit grimaced and raised an eyebrow at Pit. "You already know."
Pit turned away as Dark Pit flipped off the tree and dismounted onto the ground. He strolled up to Pit not looking the least bit happy.
"I came outside to get away from the reminder that Christmas is tomorrow…but of course you'd show up."
"Well yeah," Pit huffed. "You seriously shouldn't be out here in the cold wallowing about tom-"
A look of stark realization crossed Pit's features; Dark Pit's scowl deepened.
"That's why you've been overly pessimistic about everything lately- you're upset because you don't want to be disappointed tomorrow!"
"Wait, what?" Dark Pit hissed, clenching his fist and approaching Pit but the white angel already knew the truth. "How dare you even say that-!"
"Pittoo, you have no reason to be disappointed! Even if you don't get what you want, there are so many other things to be happy about!" Pit explained with far too much pep. Dark Pit just folded his arms and locked his red gaze on the snow.
"Huh, that's a lot of tall talk from you. Are you trying to tell me that you'll be happy no matter what happens tomorrow?"
"Yes!" Pit insisted. "I mean…I might be bummed if I don't get what I want, but there's always still the chance I will-!"
Dark Pit groaned and hung his head, prompting Pit to ask what the matter was now.
"…your naiveté and obliviousness cripple you," Dark Pit murmured. "Reason with yourself. Think about how realistic the things that you want are, and come to terms with the fact that it might not be possible to receive them. You're not bracing yourself for disappointment."
Pit looked absolutely wounded as his enthusiasm deflated. "Why do you have to crush my hope like that? That's not very Christmassy…"
A hand found its way to Dark Pit's forehead; there was no way he'd ever explain this properly, so he stepped directly in front of Pit, looked him in the eye, and jabbed his chest to deliver his point.
"You can't always get what you want, Pit. Sorry I have to be the one to tell you that."
The dark angel then whisked himself back into the stadium to do whatnot…all before Pit had a chance to figure out what he meant.
Why yes, that IS a cliffhanger! Dark Pit's is vague on purpose; context will make more sense after reading Pit's part...in the last chapter!