Chapter 3
Don't worry kids, Ginta and Hakkaku will be alright. But before we return to our lupine duo, I'd like to take a moment to check in on the Christmas party at Inuyasha and Kagome's house. From their perspective, the party had only been going on for about 15 minutes, but that was long enough for Teya and Yumi to start wondering what was taking their mates so long.
Teya was physically taller than both Ginta and Hakkaku, and liked wearing her black hair cut very short. This often led to her being mistaken for a boy when she was little, something she hates more than anything. Not helping this was the fact that she was a natural born rough-n-tumble tomboy; a fighter and hunter who put many of her male pack members to shame. It was Ginta who discovered that there was a sensitive core beneath her tough exterior; and overtime, Teya became more comfortable letting her guard down around him; because he treated her not as a ruthless hunter or a ferocious warrior, but as a regular girl. Nowadays she can still be loud and abrasive, but her feminine side comes through whenever she's near or even thinking about her mate. Yumi by comparison is more subdued and approachable. She has brown hair which she ties up into pigtails which are gray at the tips. Like Ginta, her midriff is bare, and like Teya she has immense love and compassion for her mate Hakkaku. However she isn't as physically affectionate as Teya is with Ginta; most of the time she just wants to talk with him, play with him, or hunt rabbits with him.
Now like I said earlier, both Teya and Yumi were growing increasingly worried about their mates, and the fact that nobody knew where they were, only amplified their anxiety. "I'm sure Ginta and Hakkaku are alright" said Kagome, trying to calm the she-wolves down; "they probably just got tied-up somewhere." Kagome instantly regretted her choice of words; one thing Teya and Yumi had in common was their inability to comprehend idioms and figures of speech. Both girls became even more upset, so Ayame explained that what Kagome meant was that Ginta and Hakkaku were just running late, "possibly in trying to find presents for you" she said with a reassuring twinkle in her eye. Ayame's words were successful in pacifying her friends for the moment, but were unsuccessful in easing their worries. Of course, both Kagome and Ayame were right about Ginta and Hakkaku; although neither of them were aware of how right they were, or that in this specific case, Kagome was being literal.
When last we left our aforementioned heroes, they had been captured by the bad humans in modern day Texas and were currently being held in an interrogation room. "Has it been 20 minutes yet?" Ginta asked his brother in a whisper. "I don't know" Hakkaku answered, "but I'm certain that Krampus will show up before things get too bad. Just put on a brave face and leave all the talking to me." Eventually, two humans in black body armor came into the room. "Alright now, what were y'all doing trespassing on Texas government property?" demanded the guard name Deacon in a thick southern accent. By now the magic that allows Santa to speak & understand any language had kicked in, and thus Hakkaku was able to give a retort in perfect english. "We were just trying to bring some Christmas presents to the children you're holding prisoner here" he answered in a defiant tone. "Those illegal aliens don't deserve no presents!" bellowed the guard name Brooks. "They're criminals trying to invade our country, if they wanted presents they should've stayed where they belong." Ginta was a little confused at the mention of aliens; those humans they were giving presents to didn't look like aliens at all, and they didn't seem like criminals either. An observation Hakkaku made sure to bring up as he continued to speak with the unfriendly guards. "I don't give a rat's-ass if you think they look like good people to you!" Shouted Deacon. "America is for us, and us alone. Not blacks, not Asians, not homos, and definitely not no dirty Latinos, just us real Americans! And I'll be damned before I let a pair of freaks like you give that alien scum any kind of happiness or hope that they can have a better life on my land!" By this point, Ginta had had enough of these assholes, and wanted to spook them a little by telling them about their scary looking friend on the roof who would surely teach them a lesson.
"The boss is going to be very disappointed to hear you say that" he said with a sly little smile on his face. Hakkaku initially objected, but quickly caught on to what his brother was trying to do. "Yeah, our boss hates it when people are unkind to their fellow man, especially on Christmas, '' he added with a knowing smugness. "What y'all talking bout?" Asked Deacon as he slammed his fist on the table between them. "Don't you know? We're Christmas elves" said Ginta, as he leaned forward and wiggled his pointy ears. "That's right" Hakkaku continued; "and our boss will be here any minute now to punish you and your comrades for denying nice children the joy of Christmas. "I ain't afraid of no Santa Claus" sneered Brooks as he pulled out his gun just to cock it. "Let em come. I'll blow his brains out right in front of those ugly beaner brats." "We never said Santa was our boss" said both yokai in unison. Their timing could not be more perfect, for no sooner had they said that, all the lights in the building went out. "What the hell is goin on?!" Said Deacon; both guards immediately noticed that it suddenly got a lot colder as well, to the point they could both see their breath as they exhaled and icicles started to form on the ceiling. Suddenly, Brooks received a transmission from his walky-talky; the voice on the other end was panicked and choppy. Brooks tried to calm him down, but then the transmission abruptly cut off after a brief frightened scream. "You two stay put" said Deacon to Ginta and Hakkaku. "And if it turns out you've got somethin to do with this, we're gonna bust your balls!"
The wolf brothers waited until the villains had left the room before talking with each other. "I really hope this blackout and deep freeze is Krampus' doing" whispered Ginta; "I don't know what it means to 'bust someone's balls' but something tells me we don't want to find out." "I'm certain it is" said Hakkaku, trying to reassure his younger brother. "You noticed how you and I are still comfortably warm despite the obvious cold around us?" Ginta was about to agree with him, but he suddenly felt a chill around his wrists; a moment later, Hakkaku felt a similar sensation. Both yokai's hands were cuffed behind their backs. When they looked behind each other's backs, they noticed that their handcuffs had frozen solid. Almost instinctively, both brothers pulled their chains apart which shattered into a million pieces. Ginta wanted to make for the door and escape, but Hakkaku advised against it. "Let's wait until Krampus gives us the all clear" he said; Ginta nodded in agreement, and the two brothers knelt down with their ears to the door, to listen out for some kind of signal.
Brooks and Deacon walked slowly down the hallway back to back. Both men had flashlights, but they weren't very effective against the surrounding darkness. By now, the enchanted cold had caused a noticeable layer of snow to form on the floor, and both Brooks and Deacon started to hear what sounded like metallic spider legs rapidly scampering about. The nerve of both guards was starting to break, and it got worse when they began to hear distant screaming. They knew all too well who that scream belonged to; it was one of their fellow guards, seemingly getting attacked by the unseen spider-like monsters. Deacon and Brooks tried to make their way to where he was, but just when they were about to reach his location, they heard another scream coming from a different location. As they started to race towards the source of the other guard's scream, Brooks tried once again to contact someone, anyone, so they could regroup and form a fortified front against this mysterious threat. This time they were actually able to reach their comrade in time, in a manner of speaking. He was pinned to the floor by several red white ropes. "Who or what did this to you Wilson?!" Cried Deacon, trying to untie his fellow guard to no avail. "It was nutcrackers, hundreds of them!" Wilson explained; "except these had sharp teeth and rode around on wide-up toy mice with crab-like legs. Our guns were useless against them, they tied me down and dragged Jones off through that door" he said as he turned his head towards his left. Brooks and Deacon looked up with confusion; they both knew this detainment building like the back of their hands, and they were certain that this door wasn't there before.
"I reckon the others behind this door too" said Brooks. "If they are, the three of us together can get 'em back" Deacon replied. "Oh hell no!" Shouted Wilson, "these are supernatural forces we're dealing with. I like Jones, but I love my wife and kids more, and I want to live to spend Christmas Day with them." It was at that moment that the candy cane ropes loosened and Wilson was set free. "So you're Just gonna run away like a yella-bellied sissy, and leave your fellow officers behind to die at the hands of some psycho nicknacks" mocked Brooks. "You both know that door didn't exist until tonight!" Said Wilson defiantly, "whoever or whatever's behind all this is clearly leading us into a trap. Going through that door would be suicide, and I don't want to die on Christmas. I'm outta here!" And with that, Wilson made a beeline for the exit as fast as his legs could carry him, nothing came after him. Once the two were alone, Brooks and Deacon moved towards the door to open it, but as Deacon reached for the doorknob, the door opened from the inside. Despite insulting Wilson a minute ago, Deacon and Brooks were hesitant to enter through the doorway; especially when they heard the faintest whispering of the words "abandon all hope, ye who enters here." "Well, go on Brooks. You outrank me" said Deacon, pushing Brooks forward. So Brooks led the way in, slightly annoyed with his partner's cowardice.
No sooner did they pass through the magic doorway, the door slammed shut behind them, trapping them in total darkness. Both men had flashlights on their guns, but they didn't help much. Things only got worse for them when, as if via intercom, a music box started playing an eerily slow rendition of Santa Claus is coming to town. This was eventually joined by someone who sounded like a child singing along. "Sounds like one of the beaner brats got out" said Brooks; "I'll betcha they're who's behind all this." Deacon wasn't so sure about that, but he followed Brooks towards the creepy singing. But when they reached the source of the singing, they discovered it wasn't a human child but a teddy bear sitting down with its back towards them. "Hey look at this Deacon, I used to have a teddy bear just like this one when I was kid" said Brooks as he knelt down to pick it up. By now, Deacon was starting to grasp what Jones was talking about. He was about to warn his partner against picking up the singing bear, but before Brooks could even touch it, the bear's head turned completely around to face the two men. It did so in such a painfully crunchy sounding way, you'd think it was a real-life creature breaking its own neck. The teddy bear had a normal cute looking face, but when it turned it's head 360 degrees again, it's face was suddenly much more monstrous; with narrow red eyes and a devilish smile that resembled a metallic bear trap. It lunged itself at Brooks and started clawing at his face, all the while laughing maniacally in a high squeaking voice. Deacon was able to pull the teddy bear off him, but that just led to the demon toy redirecting its fury towards him. It sunk its metal teeth deep into Deacon's right arm, causing him to holler with pain and terror. He cried out to Brooks to help him, but he was suddenly ambushed by several other stuffed animals; all of them with a similar evil look. After some struggling, he eventually managed to get to his feet, and throw most of them off him; "come on Deacon! We can get that hell-spawn off your arm, but let's get out of here first" he shouted as he started to drag his partner away.
Both men were running as fast as they could, but the devil toys were hot on their heels, and joined by more every second. For a moment it seemed like Brooks and Deacon were putting some distance between them and the devil toys, but at the same time, they noticed that the floor beneath them was beginning to slant downward. Eventually the incline was so steep, they slipped and started sliding down into a neon doorway that looked more like the open mouth of a giant Krampus. The Krampus doorway laughed deep and menacingly as the two guards passed through it, and landed into the seats of a roller coaster ride. Before either one of them could do anything, they both found themselves bound to their seats by iron chains. Then the coaster took off at the speed of a race car. They rode past many more horrors: Jack-in-the-boxes that contained snakes instead of clowns, puppets on strings that had multiple arms and mandibles like spiders, and giant sugar plum fairy ballerina dolls that breathed rapid-fire hail at them. By the time the ride was over, both men were begging for it all to stop. Both had their eyes closed, but opened them when they heard the sound of heavy hooves and jiggling chains coming towards them. Sure enough, Krampus appeared dramatically out of the darkness. His glowing yellow eyes glared down at the two men; a toothy grimace on his face.
Brooks and Deacon were understandable horrified when they looked upon him, but not the kind of horror that makes one scream. "Richard Brooks, Billy Deacon!" Krampus bellowed, his voice seeming to echo of the void around them. "You and your fellows have dared to hold innocent children captive like animals . For these crimes, I Krampus will visit all the pain you've inflicted on them, upon your bodies!" Deacon was so frightened at this point he actually wet his pants, but Brooks still had the nerve to try to stand up to Krampus. "You don't scare me demon!" He yelled, hoping Krampus didn't hear his voice cracking (which he did). "I am a Christian, and by the blood of Jesus, I command you to return to the fiery pit from which you came!" Krampus' expression actually softened into a smile and said; "oh I know Jesus, he's a cool guy. But he really doesn't like it when bigots like you give him a bad name. And he especially doesn't like when you cage and bully his children, let alone on Christmas." Brooks was about to spew some more crap about how "Hispanics are not God's children," but Krampus silenced him by tying his mouth shut with Christmas ribbons. He then had the chains hoist up the two men out of their seats, and morphed into a giant so that he was at eye level with them. "Perhaps you'll appreciate the humanity of others after you've spent a few hours among my kind!" Krampus growled. Suddenly a massive hole opened up beneath Brooks and Deacon. Both men looked down with horror at the pit, glowing red with fire and lava, with multiple terrifying looking creatures laughing at them and mocking them. "Please, I have a wife and three kids!" begged Deacon. For a brief moment, Krampus felt a little pity for the guard (if only for his family's sake). "Don't worry, you'll be home in time for Christmas morning " he said reassuringly. He then released Brooks and Deacon from their chains, and they plummeted into the flaming vortex below.
Well, that was a long segment of the story without any mention of Ginta and Hakkaku wasn't it? Once the unpleasant business of dispatching the guards was taken care of, our heroes were not only able to continue handing out presents to the detained kids, but actually set them and their families free. Krampus remained out of sight so he wouldn't scare the little kids, but he watched happily as Ginta and Hakkaku guided the humans out of the building and gave the remaining presents to the children. When Ginta and Hakkaku finally returned to the sleigh, they of course thanked Krampus for saving them. "Oh it was no trouble at all" he said cheerfully, "it was actually kinda fun scaring the crap out of those dickheads. Reminds me of the time I punished an older set of reindeer for bullying Rudolph on account of his red nose. In fact, I think I'm gonna try to scare even more naughty people in future. But until then, let's finish off this delivery run and get you two home." Both Ginta and Hakkaku weren't quite sure what to make of Krampus's resolution, but they were eager to get back to their friends in the past, so they got into the sleigh without saying anything. As the sleigh began to climb, Ginta and Hakkaku looked down to see if any of the escaping children would wave goodbye. Much to their amusement, all the kids and even their parents smiled and waved at our heroes. Just before they went out of earshot, Both boys could hear the families shot in unison "Feliz Navidad!" As they flew away; a moment that would linger in the boys' hearts for the rest of their lives.
They covered the rest of the United States and Canada pretty uneventfully. Of course, Krampus had to drop Ginta and Hakkaku off before returning to the North Pole. By now the brothers were not surprised that he already knew all about the bone eaters well, including where it was. As promised, he gave Ginta and Hakkaku an extra sack full of presents for their friends. "We'll never forget you Mr. Krampus" said Ginta, a little misty eyed. "And once again, thanks for everything" added Hakkaku. Now it was Krampus's turn to tear up, "just make sure to hurry once you've passed through the well; because I'm going to unfreeze time as soon as I get back to the North Pole. Also, be good to Teya and Yumi, their nice girls who love you very much." "We know " Ginta answered, "that's why we came to this time in the first place." "Well, I think they're going to like the presents that I've picked out for them" said Krampus with a wink. Our heroes waved goodbye to their friend as he whipped up his reindeer and ascended into the night sky; "merry Christmas!" Krampus exclaimed as he drove out of sight, and with happy tears in their eyes, Ginta and Hakkaku plunged back down into the well from which they came.
As soon as they came out on the other side, our wolf yokai duo raced as fast as they could with their presents to Inuyasha and Kagome's house. They reached the house seemingly just in time, as Inuyasha, Miroku, and Koga were about to mount a search party (after Teya and Yumi had "strongly persuaded" them to do so). "Where have you two idiots been this whole time?" Inuyasha asked in his usual grumpy fashion. Before Ginta and Hakkaku could give an explanation, Teya and Yumi bowled over the half-demon to embrace their mates. "Sorry we took so long, '' said Ginta in the midst of Teya kissing his face. "Hopefully all these presents we brought with us will make up for our tardiness" said Hakkaku as he pulled the magic sack into view of everybody. "Where did you get all those presents from?" Yumi asked. Sango checked the card on the sack that read: "Merry Christmas one and all, from your good friend Santa Claus." That was good enough for the children, but the adults still had questions; however they put them aside for the moment so the kids could have their fun. After everyone exchanged the gifts they brought themselves, Ginta and Hakkaku started handing out the presents from the sack that they brought. As if by magic (because it was), each gift was perfectly tailored to the receiver's personality. Perhaps most surprising of all, when Kagome opened her gifts from her mother and brother in the present. Seeing their friends' faces light up when they opened their presents, gave Ginta and Hakkaku the same warm & fuzzy feeling they got during their delivery run with Krampus. When it came to Teya and Yumi's turn, Ginta grew nervous because the two presents addressed to them were much smaller than the others. "Relax bro, Teya's going to love whatever's in there; because she loves you " whispered Hakkaku as he reached for his gift to Yumi. Still, Ginta held his breath as the she-wolves tore off the wrapping and opened the tiny cloth bags in their hands. Each bag contained a pendant about the size of a half dollar coin, and each pendant contained a large snowflake preserved in resin. On the back of each, engraved in the metal was a message that read "a symbol of my love for a woman who is one of a kind;" the only difference between them was whose names were on it. Both girls broke down crying, but they were happy tears. They made sure to thank Ginta and Hakkaku for their presents as they hugged them. But despite their obvious gratitude, their initial happiness seemed to fade away. "What's wrong Teya?" Asked Ginta. " Oh my sweet Ginta, it's just that you and your brother brought all these wonderful gifts for us, and none of us brought any gifts for you" said Teya, turning back to shoot a dirty look at the other party guests. Yumi was more disappointed in herself than the others, as she buried her face in Hakkaku's chest. "It's okay Yumi" he said, raising her face to meet his eyes. "Ginta and I never wanted anything for ourselves. This whole party came about because we wanted to bring the joy of Christmas to everyone we care about." "Yeah Teya, being with you and seeing you happy, that's all I want for Christmas" said Ginta. Suddenly both boys' stomachs growled loudly."Well, maybe there's one thing Hakkaku and I want" he said awkwardly, causing their mates and their friends to burst out laughing.
After our heroes had eaten their fill, it was revealed that their was still another present to unwrap. Moroha was sniffing through the seemingly empty sack out of pure curiosity. So you could imagine the surprise of everyone when the quarter yokai pulled out a package addressed to Ginta and Hakkaku. This confused the brothers because they were certain that Teya and Yumi's presents were the last ones in the bag. Regardless, they still unwrapped their gift and discovered inside it was a storybook with their faces on it. Everybody sat down as Kagome read the book, which quickly revealed itself to be a recounting of Ginta and Hakkaku's adventures delivering presents in the modern world. Some elements of the book were different to the actual events of the story. First of all, the book made no mention of Krampus at all; even the accompanying illustrations that featured Ginta and Hakkaku, seemed to swap him out with Santa. This was odd to our boys because they knew that throughout their entire journey, they had never at any point met Santa Claus. Another strange thing about the book was how it played up Ginta and Hakkaku's bravery during the events at the Texas border to the point that it felt like hyperbole. Having Santa be the one in need of saving from the cruel guards, and Ginta & Hakkaku being the ones doing the rescuing. Again, both yokai were embarrassed by this, because they knew it wasn't true. Their mates seemed to like it though, so they remained silent and tried to enjoy the story too. At the end of the book was handwritten note thanking Ginta and Hakkaku for saving Christmas, which did make them feel good even if the rest of the book felt fabricated.
Two hours later, everyone felt it was time to go home. One by one, each of the party guests left Inuyasha and Kagome's house. When it was Ginta, Hakkaku, Teya, and Yumi's turn, Kagome insisted they take the book with them. "But you know we can't read Miss Kagome" said Ginta. "Well, if you ever want it read to you, just come see me" she answered. Our heroes thanked Kagome and Inuyasha for hosting them, and began their journey home. The two couples walked slowly through the night, simply enjoying each other's company. When suddenly Hakkaku noticed that the book in his hands was starting to glow. All four yokai immediately opened the book and turned to the page where the glowing was coming from. On the last page, where the thank you note was written, it was now replaced with an animated illustration of Krampus. "Hey boys, you're probably wondering why this book embellished so much about our globetrotting delivery. Well I figure since you did most of the work, you should get most of the credit. I never cared much about recognition, so long as good people benefit from my work. I truly appreciate you two helping me out; you've given me a very valuable gift this Christmas, friendship. Merry Christmas, and enjoy the snowfall on your way home." At first Teya and Yumi were puzzled; it wasn't snowing at the moment and in fact hadn't been snowing all night. But Ginta and Hakkaku knew what to expect at this point, they both looked up and sure enough, snow began to gently descend from the sky. Teya and Yumi were awestruck when they noticed the snow. "Did your Krampus guy do this?" Asked Yumi. "Yeah" Hakkaku answered, "that's the power of Christmas magic." As they continued home, Ginta explained the origins of their new friend and how Christmas magic works. Which made their mates love Christmas as much as they now did. So I think it's safe to say that all our favorite characters had a very Merry Christmas that year. I hope you have a Merry Christmas too. But be nice, or else Krampus might come for you.
