Author's Note: Merry Christmas, everyone. To commemorate the festive holiday, I'm uploading this boatload of fanfic updates, including this one.

Now, before we begin, I'd like to make an announcement about this certain fanfic. For many consecutive weeks, I've been updating this story for the sole purpose of getting here. Now that I have arrived, I want to focus more on the other stories in my Young Avengers series. So until I get further in my other stories, I'm going to take a break from this one. I will return someday, rest assured.

The song featured here is a parody of "The Best Christmas of All" from Mickey's Snowed In at the House of Mouse.

Though Hanukkah was over, it didn't mean the winter celebrations were all over. The McGee family still had one holiday left to celebrate: Christmas. And on December 24th, Christmas Eve, Brighton almost fell into the greatest holiday depression ever.

"I love Christmas." Molly expressed as she danced around the decorated streets of Brighton with her family. "It's the most enhappifying time of the year. And it's our first Christmas in Brighton. Could this possibly be any better?"

"Oh, it can, and it will." Scratch said. "Tomorrow's the cookie bake-off. They start with gingerbread, then work their way to snickerdoodles, the sassiest of the cookies."

"How predictable." Loki said. "Scratch only cares for the holiday treats while the rest of the mortal race cares for the fancy lights and the expensive gifts."

"They don't care about all that, Loki." Molly said. "Christmas is about being happy together."

"That may work for you, Molly, but no one else is this invested into the holiday spirit." Loki said.

"Oh, come on." Sharon said. "Don't be such a Scrooge."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "A what-now?"

"A Scrooge." Pete answered. "It's a general term for someone who doesn't enjoy Christmas."

"Oh. Well, now that we know what a Scrooge is," Loki said, "There's only one question left to be answered… Who cares?"

The McGee family joined the rest of the Brighton citizens at the bandshell where Mayor Brunson presented a large Christmas tree for everyone to admire.

"Welcome, everyone, to the annual Snowflake Celebration. And may I add that, as your mayor, I personally made sure that our tree is a full two inches taller than Perfektborg's."

"I stand corrected." Loki said. "Looks like to mortals, Christmas is all about treats, gifts, and competitions."

"It's just a motivation, Loki." Molly said. "Trust me. This night will go off without a hitch!"

Mayor Brunson pulled a switch allowing the Christmas tree to light up as bright as the nighttime stars. Everyone watched with astonishment loving the glow coming from the tree. However, it all turned out to be short-lived.

An electrical malfunction caused all the lights on the tree to zap, crackle, and pop. Once they were all blown, the tree instantly caught on fire, which then fell over and knocked the fake Santa across town. What came next was a chaotic series of events which eventually resulted in every Christmas decoration in Brighton destroyed.

"Well, that was unfortunate." Loki commented.

"No! It can't be!" Molly gasped horrified at what just happened. She climbed up to get to the burnt tree. "This old girl's not done. She just needs a little Christmas magic. If we put our backs…" She lifted the tree just slightly before it disintegrated. "Uh, no. What if we buy more decorations?"

"I spent all the money on that stupid two-inch-taller tree." Mayor Brunson said. "I'm sorry, everyone, but the Snowflake Celebration, like our town's happiness, is canceled."

Sadly, most of every Brighton citizen lowered their heads and walked away from the ruined celebration. They returned to their homes leaving Molly, Loki, and Scratch alone.

"No, this can't be." Molly shuttered in worry. "I feel the season of joy turning into despair."

"Will there still be cookies?" Scratch asked.

"Yes, Scratch. There's bound to be cookies somewhere." Loki answered.

"Oh. Okay. Then I'm good."

"Well, I'm not, and neither is Brighton." Molly said. "We've got a find a way to fix this."

"How? Are you going to ask Santa for help?" Loki asked mockingly.

Molly gasped letting out a big smile. "Maybe not Santa, but there is still one man in town with enough resources to fix everything overnight: Mr. Davenport!"

"Andrea's dad?" Loki asked. "He barely knows us. What makes you think he'll help us?"

"Oh, he will." Molly said. "We just need to get him through his inner Christmas spirit."

The trio went to Davenport's store to meet the man himself in his office.

"Mr. Davenport, will you donate your time, money, and resources to save the Snowflake Celebration and enhappify your fellow Brightonians?"

"Interesting question, Ms. McGee." Davenport said. "And here's one for you: will this make me trend?"

"Oh, yes, sir." Molly answered.

"She's actually right there." Loki said. "For some reason, people seem to enjoy reading about a man who saved Christmas."

"Okay. Then you know what," Davenport said, "I'm gonna give you a hard no on this charity thing."

Molly dropped her face. "Wait, what?"

"Why not?" Loki asked.

"I've got a brand to protect. Davenport's Department Store does not hand out free joy, especially this time of year. Like my father used to say 'Christmas is a time to make money, not merry'."

"But it's a Brighton tradition." Molly pleaded.

Davenport opened the door only to find his daughter standing sadly at the doorway. "You should listen to them, daddy."

"Andrea?" Molly asked. "You agree with me?"

"Didn't expect that from you." Loki said.

"I was gonna be this year's Snowflake Queen like Mom was at my age." Andrea said. "But without the Celebration, that can't happen."

"Aww, Button, you can pick any crown you want from our Halloween surplus." Davenport said. "We'll just stage a photo and put it on your socials."

"What?" Andrea asked. "But daddy, there are certain benefits to being the Snowflake Queen that can't come on social media."

"Trust me. It'll be fine." Davenport said escorting the other kids out. He closed the door and separated himself from them.

Loki turned to Andrea. "What benefits were you just talking about?"

"It doesn't matter." Andrea frowned. "Without the Celebration, it doesn't matter." She sadly walked away leaving Loki feeling sympathetic.

"Oh, I can't believe he turned us down." Molly grumbled pacing around the living room. "This injustice will not stand!"

"Is 'injustice' really the…" Scratch began to ask.

"DO NOT QUESTION MY RIGHTEOUS ANGER!" Molly shouted. "There's gotta be a way to change Mr. Davenport's mind."

"The way Andrea put it, it's gonna take a Christmas miracle to change that man's mind." Loki said. "And you all called me a Scrooge."

Molly gasped with her eyes all lit up. "That's it! A Christmas Carol!"

Loki was confused. "You want to sing to Davenport?"

"No, no. Not that kind of Christmas carol." Molly said. "I'm talking about THE Christmas Carol! An old story about an old man who gets haunted into loving Christmas."

"What?" Loki asked. "How does that even work?"

"Well, the story goes like this." Molly said. "It's the late 1800s. This old businessman doesn't like Christmas, so late at night, he gets visited by three ghosts who take him on a time-travel journey. In the end, the businessman decides to learn from his experience and be a much more generous man around the holidays. Sound fun, right?" Throughout the story, Loki slowly lowered his jaw until it couldn't get any lower. "Uh, Loki. You okay, bud?"

"They… made that… into a story?" Loki asked in disbelief.

"Well, it's not just a book." Molly said. "It's a world-renowned legacy. They made plays, movie adaptations, TV show parodies. You can't celebrate Christmas without at least finding one reference to that somewhere."

"I… I…" Loki scowled. "That's not fair! Where's my credit for that?!"

"Credit?" Molly asked. "What are you talking about?"

"That whole haunting story, it was real!" Loki shouted. "I know, because I was those ghosts that haunted the old miser!"

"What?" Molly gasped. "But the miser's name was Ebenezer Scrooge, a made-up character."

"Well, whoever wrote that story then…"

"Charles Dickens."

"Whatever! The guy I haunted must have told his story to Dickens, who then decided to write it into his book thinking it'd be a great story someday! He also must have changed the names of his characters. I had no idea…"

Molly gasped happily. "You actually brought Christmas joy to someone 200 years ago? That's so sweet!"

"Don't get all fluffy about it." Loki said. "I only did it as part of a yearly Christmas favor to my mother. One good deed a year and making someone generous just happened to be that. I didn't know they'd turn it into a franchise."

"Well, we're going to have to do the same thing to Mr. Davenport." Molly said. "Loki, whatever you did to Ebenezer Scrooge, or whatever his real name was, could you do the same to Mr. Davenport?"

"Sure. I might still have the ingredients. Follow me."

Loki lead the gang to his room where he started digging through all the magic items he managed to keep. Thankfully, he found the artifacts he was after: a candle, a crown, and a grim cloak.

"Here's what I need." Loki said. "The Candle of Memories, which allows us to enter the subject's mind and relive their memories. Next, the Crown of Invisibility, which will allow us to float around town without anyone seeing or hearing us. And lastly, the a cloak taken by Hela."

"Who's Hela?" Scratch asked.

"Long story."

"So what does the cloak do?" Molly asked.

"Nothing. It's just a cloak."

"Then how were you able to take the original Scrooge to his dark future?"

"I didn't. No one can really predict the future. I just made an educated guess and let my illusion powers handle the rest. The original Scrooge was always a greedy hoarder, so it was too easy to figure out that he'd die without anyone even caring."

"This is perfect." Molly said. "Now, Loki, all you have to do is scare Mr. Davenport into sponsoring the Snowflake Celebration."

"It'll be good for a laugh." Scratch said.

Loki sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this again."

Loki immediately left the house and headed to Davenport Manor. He peeked inside and saw Davenport himself sleeping next to his wife. He creaked open the window and sneaked on inside. With a snap of his fingers, his attire changed into a glowing boy wearing white pajamas. He simply waited for the cold to wake Davenport up before wailing.

"Davenport." Loki said. "Arise and repent."

"Whoa!" Davenport gasped seeing the glowing boy in front of him. "What a weird dream. What's this about?"

"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past." Loki said. "Me and my compatriots have been watching your behavior, and we have some strong feelings about it."

Davenport looked around. "Okay. Well, where are your friends?"

"They'll be around shortly." Loki said. "But for now, we'll have to look into your past together."

"My past? Why?" Davenport asked.

"You'll see." Loki said as he held out his magic candle. "Let's remember the lights of long ago."

The flame on the candle grew bigger and bigger until the light enveloped Loki and Davenport. In a flash, they both disappeared from the bedroom.

When Davenport was finally able to see, he found himself in the middle of a store with snow pouring down outside. He looked around, but the only person he could see was Loki in his spirit disguise.

"Spirit, where are we?"

"Your childhood. This is the past, Christmas from the 1980s. This is Davenport's back when it was run by your dad."

"My dad?" Davenport said. He turned and heard an older gentleman humming to himself in what would be his own office. He followed the sound and saw his father counting bills in his hands.

"'Tis the season to get wealthy. Falalalala. There's so much cash." Old Man Davenport sang a parody of Deck the Halls. "Look at all this money I made. I will add it to my growing stash."

Loki turned to Davenport. "I take it this was a normal Davenport Christmas?"

Davenport sighed. "Kinda. Truthfully, I wanted more."

As if on cue, a little boy ran into the office right in front of his father. Davenport recognized him as his younger self.

"Hey, Dad! Merry Christmas!"

Hmm?" Old Man Davenport sked. "Oh, yes. Same to you, Maxwell."

"So, Dad! Did you get me what I wanted?"

"Oh, of course." Old Man Davenport replied. He reached behind his desk and pulled out a snowboard which he gave to his son.

The real Davenport gasped in excitement. "It's the Super Snow Shredder! I've been waiting all year for that one!"

"This is awesome, Dad! Thank you!" young Davenport exclaimed. "I'm going to go and show it off to my friends." But before he could leave, his father stopped him.

"Hold it right there, Maxwell. You can't leave just yet. You said that if I got you that snowboard, you'd stay and learn the art of holiday business with me."

Young Davenport looked at his dad sadly. "But Dad, the Snowflake Celebration is about to start, and this is the year Fiona becomes the Snowflake Queen. I wanted to show off to her with my new board. Can't we do this after Christmas?"

"No can do, son. Christmas is the busiest time of the year, and you'll have to learn how to handle the business when it gets around this time. Remember, as a Davenport, you have a brand to protect, and Christmas is a time to make money, not merry. Just look over the books while I finish counting money."

Young Davenport lowered his head and dragged the snowboard out of the office. The real Davenport watched sadly as the whole vision began to dim.

"Guess you needed some Christmas in your childhood before you could have it at the present." Loki said. "Speaking of whom…" He snapped his fingers and a flash of light covered Davenport again.

Davenport found himself in the cold snow of his front yard. He then noticed a very large figure standing over him. It was Loki of course, pretending to be a bearded giant wearing a green robe and the Crown of Invisibility.

"Santa?" Davenport asked.

"No, silly! I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present!" Loki said in a deep, jolly voice much to his own dismay. "You must know me, or at least, my older brothers."

"You have brothers?" Davenport asked.

"Sure. Over 2000 to be exact." Loki answered. "But enough about them. Let's talk about this town. Everyone in town is miserable all because their Snowflake Celebration is ruined. Now, why can't you just fix things for them? You don't need the money."

"Oh, be realistic." Davenport said. "What's in it for me?"

"How about a happy daughter?"

Loki and Davenport floated above the ground. They stopped just outside of a window. Davenport looked inside and watched Andrea in her bedroom in front of a full-length mirror. She held out a beautiful snowflake queen outfit in front of her seeing how she'd look in it. Then, she just frowned and buried her face in her hands.

"She looks just like her mother. It's hard to believe that she…" Davenport stopped himself noticing his daughter's sadness. "Wait. I don't understand. Spirit, why is my little Button crying?"

"Why else? To you, 'Christmas is about making money, not merry'. You were denied a happy Christmas, and so, you rob it from your very own daughter. The present is a treasure, Davenport. Don't waste it or you'll be wasting others'."

Davenport looked at Andrea as she continued to sob. He lowered his head again as he was lowered back to the ground.

"My father was a great businessman." Davenport said. "But not a very good dad. Is this really my legacy?"

"That's for the next guy to determine." Loki answered just as everything went pitch black leaving Davenport all alone.

"Spirit? Where are you? What's going on?"

Loki reappeared in his third form, a giant, cloaked figure with his face completely concealed in shadow. The sight of him made Davenport gasp out in fear. He gulped.

"I take it you're the Ghost of Christmas Future?" Davenport asked without getting an audible response from his visitor. All Loki gave was a slight nod. "I guess you're gonna take me to a future Christmas? Well, let's get this over with."

Loki raised his bony hands and waved them around. Davenport didn't know it, but he was in the presence of an illusion forming around him.

Davenport found himself in the middle of a dark, cold, snowy graveyard. Loki stood next to him cloak and all.

"Okay, where are we now?" Davenport asked. "I know this is the future, but where exactly is this place?"

Loki pointed his finger at a gravestone which read "Maxwell Davenport". Davenport himself gasped and fell to his knees.

"Wait! I'm dead?" Davenport asked. "How many years into the future is this?" Loki stayed silent. "No. I guess it doesn't matter. But what's so wrong here? Everyone's gonna die, right?"

His answer came in the form of two snickering gravediggers who were passing by. They stopped at Davenport's grave.

"Wow. Wasn't this guy like the richest man in town?"

"Yeah. Shame the guy made a bad investment and left himself open for a business competitor. He tried to get the people on his side, but you know, his competitor was willing to fund this year's Snowflake Celebration. So no one backed up Davenport's and his business went down the drain."

"Didn't he have a daughter with a huge trust fund? Wouldn't she have helped him?"

The other gravedigger chuckled. "Who do you think his competitor was?"

Davenport widened his eyes at the sudden realization while the gravediggers continued their patrol. "No! No, it can't be! My own Button, making me go bankrupt! This can't be! I…"

He stopped when he heard another set of footsteps in the snow behind him. He gasped as he saw an adult Andrea approaching the grave. She had a pink outfit and a pink hat that she wore over her long, flowing, blue hair. She lowered her head sadly.

"Hey, Daddy. I just came to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to drive you into this. I just wanted to help. You always told me that Christmas is about making money, not merry. I didn't really believe that. That's why I wanted to help the Snowflake Celebration as much as I could. I didn't mean for this to happen. I've always wanted to celebrate Christmas with you and Mom, just like everyone else did with their families. But you were always so busy with the business, it really hurt me. So if you're watching, I want you to know that I love you and I always missed you. Merry Christmas, Daddy."

Davenport watched sullenly as everything around him became pitch black again. He never felt more sad than any other time on this night.

"So what I'm getting here is," Davenport said, "Christmas is about more than just making money. After all, what's the point of all this if you're hurting everybody, even the people you're not trying to hurt?" He looked at Loki with hopeful eyes. "I'll do it, Spirit! I will fund the Snowflake Celebration! I'll make my daughter happy! I wil make all of Brighton happy! I'll save Christmas!"

Underneath his cloak, Loki gave a small smile. He snapped his fingers one last time sending Davenport back to his bedroom and himself to Molly's house.

After returning to the McGee house, Loki removed his cloak and stashed away all his relics that he used. Molly and Scratch awaited for him.

"So what happened?" Molly asked. "Did it work?"

"We'll know in the morning." Loki said. "For now, let's all get to bed."

"But I'm a ghost. I don't need to sleep." Scratch said.

"Since when?" Loki asked. "Just go to sleep or I'll deck your halls."

The following morning, all of Brighton woke up with a miraculous surprise. Davenport was more than willing to fund the rebuilding of the Snowflake Celebration. Still, there had to be a bit of work from everyone, so they all rushed to the department store and picked out every last Christmas decoration on the shelves. They then scurried around town decorating every last corner of Brighton with colorful lights, candy canes, plastic reindeer, and other assorted decoration.

Needless to say, everyone in Brighton celebrated and Mr. Davenport was cheered for his generosity. But among everyone who celebrated that day, it was Andrea who was the happiest soul of them all. Much like she always wanted, she became the Snowflake Queen waving to everyone from atop her float. When she saw Loki among he crowd, she gestured for him to climb on up and join her, which he did so fondly.

As soon as Loki made it to the top, he smiled proudly at Andrea. "Looks like you got to be the Snowflake Queen after all. Congratulations."

"Thanks." Andrea said with a blush. "Actually, there's this one little benefit that I've been looking forward to almost as much as the trends."

Loki was curious. "Oh, really? What might that be?"

"Well… as the Snowflake Queen, I have full authority to select someone to be the Snowflake King with me. And I was wondering if… you would like to be that?"

Loki widened his eyes in surprise. "Really?"

"Well, I couldn't think of anyone better, really." Andrea said. "So… what do you say?"

Loki smiled. "I'd be honored." That earned him a big hug from Andrea. He smiled and hugged back.

"WHOO-HOO!" Molly cheered. "MERRY CHRISTMAS, BRIGHTON!"

"Now, let's move on with the presents!" Scratch said. Molly proceeded with giving him a plate ful of Christmas cookies which he gobbled right away.

"Hey, look at this." Pete said. He grabbed a bunch of presents and gave them to himself and the rest of his family. "They're all from Loki."

"Really?" Molly gasped. "What'd he get us?"

Sharon opened her present and held out a scroll. Attached was a note which she read aloud. "'The next time your car breaks down, just recite this spell and it will return to its original state like it was brand new'." She began to cry. "That's the best gift I could ever get."

Pete gasped when he pulled out his gift. "New figure-skates! How did he know?"

When Darryl opened his gift, he gasped with excitement. "A memory potion! Now, the next time I pull off a trick, I can just make the adults forget what I did."

Next was Scratch, who had a slice of pineapple pizza. "That's it? One slice? Oh, well." He took a bite, but much to his surprise, the bite he took grew back on it. He sobbed joyfully. "No way! It's infinite pizza! And it's pineapple! Best Christmas ever!"

Last, but not least, was Molly, who opened up her present. She stopped when she held up a bracelet. When she tapped on one bead, it displayed a holographic projection of the time she gave Loki a homemade crown. She pressed another bead, and it displayed the time they rebuilt the bandshell together. Another showed her playing the piano with Stan Lee's ghost. Another showed her and Loki fighting Ezekiel Tugbottom. And so on.

"This is, everything we've been through together." Molly said. "This is quite a friendship bracelet." She turned knowing full well that Loki was standing there. She went on to hug him along with everyone there. "Merry Christmas, Loki."

Loki sighed and hugged. "Yeah. Merry Christmas, McGee's."

"Okay, everyone." Mayor Brunson announced. "Now that the Snowflake Celebration is back on track, it's time to move onto our next big event: the Christmas song."

With a wave of the mayor's hand, the band played soft, angelic music which he then sang to.

Mayor Brunson:

What a day

Snow and Christmas merriment everywhere

Peggy Carter:

Family all coming together

With enough good will to share

Scratch:

This meal never ends

Davenport:

Hey, look at all my trends

Andrea:

And next year, we get to do it all again

Everyone:

It's the merry warmth and happiness

That come every December

This is our promise

That we'll make this

A holiday to remembeeeeeeeeer

Libby:

And a Happy Hanukkah from us too

Daryll:

Have I got the holiday game for you

Molly:

Around this time of year, the enhappifying is strong

Sharon and Pete:

AND THAT'S WHY IT'S HERE WHERE WE BELOOOOOONG

Everyone:

IT'S OUR HAPPINESS AND MERRIMENT

THAT COME EVERY DECEMBER

THIS IS OUR PROMISE

THAT WE'LL MAKE THIS

A HOLIDAY TO REMEMBEEEEEEEEEER

IT'S OUR LOVE THAT WILL ALWAYS MAKE THIS

A HOLIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY…

Loki:

HOLIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY…

Everyone:

TO REMEMBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER

"Merry Christmas, everyone." Molly greeted. "And Loki, bless us everyone."