He took two bites of his dinner before he heard a scratch and a creaking sound. He stood up quickly but kept a hand on his food. "Who's there?" he asked, pointing his fork in front of himself like a knife. When there was no answer, he scanned the room, found nothing, and sat back down. "Maybe it's just my imagination..." he wondered.

Another sound, but this was a rustle. He looked towards the nearby wall to find that one of his curtains had fallen down. He scanned the room once more to find nothing out of the ordinary. Before he could take another bite of his food, a sound emanated from up the elevator. This one sounded like metal hitting rocks and itself. It was loud.

He stood up again. "H-hello?" he asked. His hair glew in a dim white light. "Anyone there?" Again, no response. He sat down again, turning off his hair glow.

There came a strange giggle from the room, but it echoed too much to tell where from. "Who are you? Who did that sound?" Scrooge asked.

"It...was...me," said a voice, echoing until it said 'me.'

Scrooge's chair turned, with him in it, to face the door. In front of him is a ghostly figure in the shape of his partner. "M-Marley?" Scrooge questioned. "I-is that you?"

"Yeah, Marley here," Marley replied.

"Wha-" Scrooge asked before stopping. His eyes wandered to all the chains in the room. "Oh these?" Marley asked, holding up the large, thick chains. All the chains end on shackles connected on his wrists and ankles. Even in death, he still wears his orange socks, although, his translucent, blue figure made it hard to tell the original color. "You know, I got these when I died. It was because I was greedy. It was supposed to teach me a lesson, tying these heavy chains around me, but it just makes it really hard to move."

Scrooge sputtered. He tried to speak but no words would come out.

"Wait!" Branch cried, interrupting Poppy. "Why is Marley Cloud Guy? You know I-" Poppy motioned towards the kids. "I..." he held down his 'I,' "...despise...him."

"He fit as the jokester kind of Marley," Poppy replied. "Now be quiet so I can finish."

Branch slouched in his corner.

"I was here for a reason," Marley muttered. He looked at Scrooge in his chair. Scrooge is staring at his chains, obviously terrified. Marley shook the chains, causing them to clang against each other. "Oh yeah!" he exclaimed. "Scrooge, I came to warn you of three ghostly visits you will get."

"'Ghostly visits?'" Scrooge repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"One from the Ghost of Christmas Past, one from the Ghost of Christmas Present, and finally, one from the Ghost of Christmas Future. The first will appear at one. The second at two. The third, well...at three. They are coming to save you from this." Marley jerked up the chains, startling Scrooge. "And I suggest you heed their warnings..." Marley said, slowing floating closer to Scrooge, "...otherwise, you'll end up like me!" He stopped right in front of Scrooge, waved his arms, and floated backwards. Marley rattled the chains. Instead of clanking against each other, it sounded like it had stopped on something in the way. Scrooge's eyes followed the chains. His heart skipped a beat, followed by a quick, sharp inhale.

The chains wrapped around his arms and legs, nearly strapping him to the chair. "You have been warned," Marley said, echoing the last syllable, while holding his hand in the air for stops. Marley vanished after he finished echoing, the chains around Scrooge's arms and legs disappearing with him.

"Enjoy your coffee!" Marley's voice echoed, before dropping Scrooge's cup on his head, messing up his hair, and pouring coffee on his head.

Scrooge sighed. "I guess I'll go take a shower."

Once Scrooge finished in the bathroom, he walked into his bedroom. He looked at his desk clock. "It's still twelve. I can get some sleep. I'll prove that old Marley wrong. No ghost will appear tonight. I can sleep peacefully!" he said with confidence. He pulled down his leaf blanket, crawled under it, and pulled it back up. "They'll be no ghost tonight. I'll show you, Marley."

Author's Note

I had to keep the gag of Branch dropping his coffee on his head here.
There is a scene here I skipped. When Marley leaves, he floats out the window, compelling Scrooge to follow him. When Scrooge looks out the window, he sees lots of ghosts, all with chains, following Marley. This horrifies him, and probably is the reason he doesn't say 'Bah, humbug!' again.