The Cold Journey : Once Upon a Christmas

by What If Universe

You were told about a story where the Avengers fought Loki at Christmas. Peter promises to tell them the story at a later date, and he told others. Now it's time for Korg to spread the story to the young children of Arendelle. He recalls the story of the year Peter Parker almost lost all faith. The year Peter thought that he was going to be alone forever.

"You know, this has got to be the strangest Christmas I've ever had," Bucky informed them as he strolled through the woods, searching for the snowman. "We're in what is basically Disneyland searching for Frosty the Snowman and you're all acting like it's a casual thing."

"I don't know, I'd say the last year thing with Santa and Loki was stranger. Not to mention hearing Hulk sing." Peter commented as he dropped down, causing Elsa to turn to him in confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?" Elsa asked him in shock.

"Long story involving the Avengers, a God of Mischief, and going to the North Pole to save Christmas and Santa," Peter told her, but that ended up raising more questions than answers. "I'll tell you about it later. Right now, we have a snowman to find."

This is that story...

---

TWO YEARS AFTER THE ENCHANTED FOREST...

Korg the Kronan was sitting amongst the children of Arendelle as they loved to listen to his stories. Luckily that's all the adults of this kingdom believed them to truly be. He went into a description of the identities of the Avengers, but as he could never truly pronounce their names, none of the Avengers really had a problem with the tales. Besides, it was a nice way to keep the kids entertained whilst the adults were off doing their important duties and needed someone to watch the children for a short period.

Keeping with the spirit of the holidays as it was Christmas Eve, Korg decided to entertain the children with an interesting story he had once heard from Thor. A story of sadness, hope, and above all, family. This was the perfect time to tell them of the time their king once lost all hope, yet regained it through an act of kindness.

"Come, come, gather around, children," Korg insisted as the little ones approached and sat down on the floor in front of him. "And I shall tell you another tale of the man called Spider-Man. Also known as Peter Parker. Also known as the hero who helped save Christmas."

---

This story takes place many years ago, long before Arendelle before Fury called him into the mission, and just about a short while after the death of May Parker. But it also takes place just around the corner of the holidays.

Peter Parker was currently swinging through the streets of New York just weeks after he had decided to take up the superhero persona of Spider-Man.

"Spider-Man was once an ordinary guy. However, after being bitten by a radioactive spider, he gained incredible abilities. With these powers, also came great responsibility and a heavy burden of loss."

Peter stood over the grave of his uncle, who had recently been shot and killed. His aunt May cried as the two said goodbye to the man they both loved so dearly.

"And more loss."

Peter fought the Green Goblin, who had just smacked Gwen off the Brooklyn Bridge. He quickly leaped and attempted to rescue her, firing a web to try and catch her, but it turned into a mistake rapidly.

Instead of saving Gwen's life, Peter ended up giving her whiplash. This, in turn, broke her back, and her neck and her head slammed against the rocks on the pillars. Peter found his girlfriend and the woman that he loved dead and cried out as he cradled her body.

"And even more loss."

Peter stood over the grave of May Parker, saying goodbye to his final family member after the Devil's Breath fiasco. Miles was there with him this time, as the two were now learning to fight together as a team.

"Later on, Spider-Man learned to stop loving. For both his sake and everyone else's. He believed everything and everyone he loved was destined to end in tragedy."

Peter then walked through the flames as Miles appeared out of the flames next to him, wearing a Spider-Man training suit. The suit then quickly transformed into Miles' newer suit he had received in more recent years.

"But just because he was done loving, didn't mean he was done fighting. Despite the tragedies and losses, Spider-Man continued to fight the good fight. And little did he know, this Christmas...things were going to change. Not only would it be the last Christmas he spent without a family, but it would also be the second strangest Christmas that he would ever have."

---

Peter sat atop the edge of the Chrysler Building, gazing out over the snow-covered cityscape of New York. It was his first Christmas since May's passing, and without any friends or family remaining, he had nowhere to go. With Miles off celebrating with his family, Peter did not wish to intrude upon their holiday festivities.

Peter just decided to sit back and wait for something to happen. He didn't have any true plans and just wanted to see what may come his way. Little did he know that a certain bird-themed hero was taking night patrol for the night as the Avengers were currently out of the city, set to return within the hour.

The Falcon flew in and landed right behind the bug-themed hero as he approached him. "Hey, Spider-Man," he said.

Peter didn't even flinch as he turned around and saw the Avenger approaching him. "Hey, Sam," he said.

Sam says to his friend, "How can you be sitting out here in this cold air without any protection?"

"These thermal heating clothes," Peter said as he gestured to the suit and revealed that he was wearing clothes underneath it. "One of the disadvantages of creating this suit solely in the summer. Have to wear some extra layers underneath it."

"Ah," Sam said as he looked around the area. "So, why don't you just go home?"

Peter asks him, "For what purpose? All I would do is wander around the apartment and mope by myself. Out here, I could at least do some good to help someone."

Sam sighed as he knew his friend must be going through a hard time after the loss of his aunt. And he definitely wasn't the friend to leave a friend of his out in the snow like this.

"Okay, nope. Not happening," Sam declared as he patted Peter on the shoulder. "Come on."

Peter hesitated to ask, "Where are we going?" as Sam walked away.

"You're coming with me to the Avengers Tower." Sam declares as he gestures to the Tower in question.

"Why?" Peter wonders, feeling something happened that he missed.

"Would you rather sulk by yourself out here, or would you rather come to a party with a handful of heroes who know you as yourself, and know what you're going through?" Sam asks him, making Peter wonder if he would benefit from being around other superheroes. "Come on, you could get the chance to watch a Thor versus Hulk fight go through the tower."

Peter has always been told about the two fights the two always somehow manage to get themselves into. And he wouldn't dare want to miss out on a chance to watch the fight. Not to mention it seems that Sam wasn't going to let him say no, so he might as well give in for the sake of his friend.

"Alright, fine." Peter decided to just give in.

Sam grew a smile when he saw that he got through to his friend. "Come on!"

He then leaped off the edge and flew off toward the tower. Peter rolled his eyes and quickly followed suit as he did a flip of the building shot a web onto Sam's glider and allowed him to drag them both to the tower.

---

Sam flew in and the two of them landed on the landing pad for the Quinjet and they started to make their way towards the entrance. Sam used his Avengers ID card to open the door and allowed them entrance. The two made their way inside where Peter got a look at the common area for the Avengers that has been decorated for the holidays. There was also a handful of Avengers and other heroes from around the world scurrying around the room, as well as the Hulk who was putting decorations around the room. Peter removed his mask as everyone around the room already knew who he was.

"Hey, guys. Hope you don't mind, I brought a friend." Sam said as he gestured to Peter.

"Sam, what did we tell you about bringing home strays?" Tony asks while he is walking sounding the balcony above their heads, taking a drink from his cup. But when he got a look at who same had brought, he lightened up. "Oh, hey, Underoos."

"Stark." Peter greeted him with a wave.

"Been a while since we've seen you around here." Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, said as she strolled over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Heard about your aunt. I'm sorry."

"Thanks, Carol." Peter was happy to have a support group that knew what he was going through.

"What brings you here?" Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow, asks him.

"Sam dragged me over," Peter admitted and looked over at Sam. "He thought I shouldn't be alone."

"He's not wrong," Carol said as she walked around the room. "Welcome to the Avengers Christmas party, pal."

"And how come Banner is...?" Peter looked over towards Hulk.

"Hulk? We decided to see how the big guy handles the holidays." Natasha explains.

"Sorry to say this, but it seems things might be a bit more bleak." Steve Rogers, Captain America warned as he came in the room with Thor behind the Star Spangled Man. "We might have a mission."

"A mission? On Christmas Eve?" Natasha asked him. "What could be going down?"

"A mission regarding a such devious God of Mischief," Thor explains to them the situation they were in. "He has escaped Asgard and was now..." he then sighed and couldn't even admit it. "I can't even."

"Loki seems to be after some ancient weapon to rule the Nine Realms." Steve decided to continue for Thor, taking this seriously. "And he has set up a bounty to the protector of this power."

"Huh, not a bad idea," Peter admitted. He had to admit it was a good plan, compared to his other ones.

"It wasn't his own. Loki seemed to be teaming up with a Frost Giant named Ymir." Thor added what he had been told on Asgard. "But I saw this less as a scheme and more as a jest. The man that Loki has accused of committing false crimes is known by many names. In Asgard, he is known as Jólner. But here, he is known as Santa Claus."

That comment got some of the Avengers to laugh, but a few seemed to be taking it a bit seriously. Tony and Thor were the only ones who seemed to see this as a joke and kept laughing.

"Santa Claus?" Tony asked as he walked over and knelt on one knee in laughter. "The guy with the red suit? Whitebeard? Belly like a bowl full of jelly? Drives a sleigh with flying reindeer? One of them has a glow-in-the-dark nose?" He looked around and saw that the others weren't laughing. "What? Am I the only one who finds this funny? A Santa bounty! It's too funny." But none of them laughed, and they all waited for him to calm down. "Really? Just Thor and me? Wow, I'd expect something from Spider-Man at least."

"I don't know," said Peter. "Loki isn't one to joke around. He's the God of Mischief, not the God of Pranks or Jokes."

Carol pointed back to Peter with a nod. "He's got a point."

"You guys are honestly gonna say you believe in Santa Claus?" Tony asked, only getting stares back from everyone. "Come on!"

"After everything we've seen and dealt with, can we really dismiss the idea of Santa?" Natasha asks.

"Really? You too, Nat?" Tony couldn't believe even she was against him. "What's next, do we believe in Krampus next?"

"I'd rather believe than find out what happens if I don't," said Natasha.

Alright, how about this?" Tony decided to put an end to this argument quickly. "JARVIS, can you walk us through the physics of Santa? The simple version, please."

"It would be my pleasure, sir." The AI of Tony Stark, JARVIS, said from the base of the tower and pulled up a hologram of the planet. "For simplicity, we'll assume there are two billion children on Earth. Using a census average of 3.5 children per home, that's 571 million homes for Santa to visit in only one day, or 31 hours, accounting for time zones and the Earth's rotation. This would require Santa to visit 5,116.5 houses per second while traveling at 4,043 miles per second between stops. Now, the sheer volume of press-"

"That's enough, J," Tony said, causing the AI to stop talking and shut down. "I rest my case: it's impossible."

"It's more or less impossible to miss the Jolly Green Giant over there," Peter said as he pointed over to Hulk. "No offense, Green."

"None was taken," Hulk assured him.

"Regardless, it may be that Santa has incredible powers," Steve said, trying his best to remain level-headed during their conversation. "Enough to bend space and time."

"Similar to Thor and his Einstein Rosen Bridge," Peter said, gesturing at the Space Viking. "The fact that I can say that sentence should be enough to prove that there are things beyond our understanding."

"To be fair, a lot of things we thought were mythical have been proven true." Natasha had to admit. "Remember when dragons were fictional creatures?"

"Loki can use the Casket of Ancient Powers to claim Jolnir's power," Thor confessed to them. "Both of these artifacts are said to exist in Alfheim. But this has gone too far. Odin is nothing more than a legend. A myth."

"As Pete said, you mean like you, Thor of Asgard?" Carol replied as she crossed her arms.

"Fine, maybe the guy's Thor's cousin, but he's not Santa. There is no Santa," Tony proclaimed, seeming to be dead set on his belief. "I'll take a trip to Alfheim to prove I'm right."

"Heimdall won't open the Bifrost for mortals for such a task, nor should he," Thor warns them.

"No problem-o," Tony said as he placed his cup of hot chocolate down. "I've been working on a new Dimensional Gateway Transporter with Richards for such an occasion we need to get somewhere fast. We're working on the name." He then showed the hologram version of it, looking like a giant portal from Stargate. "It's still got a few tweaks before it could be sent out to the others for use, not to mention I'm still Paton pending, but for this quick trip, it'll be enough."

"And you just happened to have it here?" Carol asks.

"I get bored when Pepper is on business meetings and Fury keeps me here on hero business," Tony admitted as he gestured for them to follow him to the labs.

"I still say that this is a fool's errand," Thor commented as he crossed his arms.

"So, stay here. Someone has to be here for plan B." Steve shrugged as he grabbed his shield and helmet. "Doing Santa's job if something goes wrong. You can hang back with Hulk."

Thor looked over to Jolly Green as he grew a grin. "We'll have a Holly jolly time."

"Your device is real, right?" Steve asks Tony, who was warming the machine up.

"We're going on a quest to find Santa, and you're asking me if my tech is real?" Tony asked him with a raised brow.

"Fine." Steve decided to just take his word for it. "Has it been tested?"

"Sure," Tony said, raising his arms as one of his suits approached and formed around him. "Phase one of testing started...now."

They watched as the portal activated and showed a purple vortex forming in the device. Everyone grabbed their gear and was getting ready to head out. This had to be one of their strangest missions yet, and that is saying a lot.

"Joy to another world, huh, Pete?" Carol joked as she spun to face her friend.

"More like another realm, but I digress." Peter shrugged, putting his mask over his face. "This is so much cooler than just waiting out for some crime to occur."

---

Loki was the first to arrive in Alfheim and started to look around the world. It was as if Candy Land was made three-dimensional. There were candy canes the size of trees, the floor looked as if it were made of candy and marshmallows. Taking the form of an old man, Loki waited for someone to come across him and set a trap.

It didn't take long enough for someone to approach him and they were riding a reindeer. He wore armor similar to a knight on earth, with the acceptor of a bow and arrow attached to the back of his suit. The pointy ears under the helmet also gave the impression that he was indeed an Elf. When they came across the old man, he pulled to a stop and was worried for the man.

"Are you well, sir? Do you require aid?" The Elf asks him.

"Oh, who takes pity on these old cold bones?" Loki asks, keeping the impression up.

"Commander Elfador." The Elf gave his name to the old man. "Of the Emerald Guard, at your service."

That seemed to be exactly what Loki was looking for as he laughed, cutting the illusion and revealing to have his scepter and slamming it, breaking the illusion completely. Snowing his true form, the Elf jumped and backed up a little only to back up into the Frost Giant, Ymir.

"Loki!" Elfador immediately recognized the traitorous fiend.

"Good eye, Commander Elfador," Loki said sarcastically. "So kind of you to offer help."

Before Elfador could even think of fighting back, he was attacked by Ymir who grabbed him and kicked the reindeer into one of the candy cane trees.

"Now...would you mind directing us to the nearest Casket of Ancient Powers?" Loki asks of him. "And I'm afraid we're in a bit of a rush..."

"I will never tell you," Elfador promised, struggling to escape the Frost Giant's grasp.

"You mean willingly," Loki said as he tried to use the scepter to control his mind. But then he saw that nothing changed and he was still in control. "What?"

"Your magic counteracts with my own," Elfador stated with a smile.

"Well then...we go to the old ways." Loki shrugged and saw this as a better way. "Ymir."

Ymir smiled as he saw it was now his time to pull his weight. Elfador didn't know if he was gonna be able to withstand a torture technique from the Frost Giant but would hold off as long as he could.

---

Meanwhile, in the deep trenches of space, a small spaceship was hanging back as it needed repairs. But without the money, the crew couldn't really pay for someone to fix it. The crew is a familiar raccoon and walking, talking tree. Rocket was working on the inside of the ship whilst Groot was working on the controls.

"Alright, Groot, when I tell you to punch it, punch it," Rocket tells Groot.

Groot grunted and got ready to push the button. "I am Groot."

"And...punch it!" Rocket tells him.

Groot did just that, but instead of fixing the ship, it ended with an electrical misfire and sent sparks and fire coming from the ship.

"Power down! Power down!" Rocket cried in worry as he tried to put out the fire.

Groot quickly powered down the ship, giving Rocket the chance to fix it and put out the fire. But there was nothing that he could do to fix the wiring of the ship itself.

"Why'd you punch it!?" Rocket cried out, blaming Groot. "The electrical is now fried! And I'm out of wire!" He then tossed his wrench, sending it flying into a fuse box, causing the ship to reset and set adrift. "Ugh." He jumped out of the hole and cried in anger. "You spend the money of the entire crew, and they make you make up for it in the trashiest ship."

"I am Groot," Groot recalled that it was mostly Rocket's fault for their current predicament.

"I know it's mostly my fault!" Rocket groaned as he took a seat on the Captain's chair. "We need to make a lot of money fast." Then he got an alert on the computers, seemingly finding a bounty. "But that all might just change."

The computer seemed to have picked up Loki's false bounty on Santa and given them all of the information.

"Jolnir, AKA, Santa Claus. Wanted for mass burglary, animal cruelty." Rocket listed off the list of crimes he's accused of. "Stealing cookies from kids? Well, this guy is a real piece of work. And the award is..."

Award: 25,000,000,000

"Whoa!" Rocket couldn't believe the amount of money this guy was worth. "Oh, we bag this guy, the others will come crawling back to us! Set a course for this Alfheim place."

"I am Groot." Groot complied as he activated the ship, getting it working the best that it could. Once they began moving, they set a course for the nearest Jump Point to get them there.

---

When the Avengers arrived in the realm, they looked around and saw that they were in a forest of nothing but giant cookie trees. They spun around the area and were in a completely different area than where Loki ended up.

"Whoa." Natasha was amazed by the sight. "This is pretty nice."

"Are those...cookie trees?" Carol asked as she eyed the trees around them.

"Chocolate chip cookies to be specific," Peter commented as he walked over and looked over them. "They look freshly baked. Odd."

"The trees aren't odd, but the fact they're freshly baked is?" Sam asks Peter.

"Touché," Peter replied and lifted a bit of his mask. "Anyone wanna take a bite?"

"I dare you." Sam smiled, wanting to see if he'd do it.

Peter honestly would have gone for it, if his spider senses didn't go off and alert him of danger nearby. Quickly reacting, he lifted his hand and caught a glowing green arrow that almost shot him in the face.

"We're not alone!" Peter called as he backed off from the tree.

"You just had to go and eat the local life?" Natasha jokingly blamed Peter for their mess, drawing her guns.

They then looked up and saw there were a dozen Elves with their arrows aimed right down at the Avengers. All of them got into a defensive position. Steve raised his shield, Carol and Tony raised their fists with blasts ready to go, Sam took his wings out and got ready to fly and took his pistols out. Nat kept her guns drawn as Peter got down and into his usual fighting stance he is famous for and got ready to fight back.

One of the elves stepped forward and drew his sword. "I am Malitri, captain of the Emerald Guard. You will release Commander Elfador at once."

"Wait, what?" Steve asked. "We don't have-"

"Wait, Cap." Tony interrupted him. "Let me handle this one."

Everyone started to lower their defenses and watch to see what kind of plan Tony had planned. It turned out they wouldn't have let him speak when they saw what his plan was.

"Forsooth, good Malitrio, Light Elf of the Light Elves," Tony said in a heavy British accent. "We know not of whence hence you speak. We instead seek to query you on a quandary most dire."

As with that, several of the Elves fired arrows at the group, causing the group to jump to dodge the attack.

"Your mockery is a part that leads only to woe, armored interloper, for you," Malitri warns Tony.

"Tony, this ain't Shakespeare in the Park!" Peter cried in agony. "Skip to the point."

"Fine." Tony gave up and looked at Malitri. "Look, Ear-kabobs, fancy talk isn't my thing. You'd love my buddy, Thor." Then he looked over towards his fellow Avengers. "Why didn't we bring Thor? This is right in his wheelhouse."

"I grow weary of this one's prattle," Malitri says to them, pointing his sword toward them. "Dispatch them."

Several arrows are then shot down at the heroes as a means to finish them. Stark acted quickly and raised his repulsions to fight back and blow the arrows up.

"You don't want to fancy-talk it out? Fine." Tony stated as he aimed his missiles. "Dispatch- wait..." he then noticed Malitri was suddenly missing. "Where'd he go?"

Malitri came up behind Tony and smacked him in the back with his sword. Luckily Tony's armor protected him. Peter quickly helped his friend when he shot out a web onto the sword and yanked it out of Malitri's hands.

"Look, is there any way we can try to hit the reset and redo this conversation?" Peter asks them.

"Emerald Guards, capture them!" Malitri tells his men as they raced into battle. "By any means necessary!"

"That's a no!" Natasha said as she switched from guns to her Widow-Bites to not kill them.

Peter leaped and backflipped to dodge the arrows and landed on a tree before using it to jump and tackle two Elves. "I'm in another realm, fighting elves, trying to save Santa. Best Christmas Eve ever!"

"I'm glad somebody's enjoying themselves," Sam said as he took to the skies to shoot the arrows out of their hands.

"Oh, I'm so glad that I took your invitation," Peter said as he webbed another in the face and yanked him into the tree.

Carol was able to brush off the arrows and sighed as she then flew off the ground. "Okay, let's separate these kids before someone gets hurt." She took off and sent a photon blast into the ground, causing both sides of the fight to halt. "Okay..." she then flew down and landed between both teams. "Let's restart from the beginning."

"Hey, that's my line," Peter commented as he crossed his arms.

"Not now," Carol replied as she eyed him and turned back to face Malitri. "We're here because Santa is in danger. Or as you know him, Jolnir."

"The Emerald Guard protects Jolnir. We do not require the help of outsiders." Malitri tells her.

"Right. Not like your commander has apparently been kidnapped or anything." Tony replied, getting a web in the mouth from Peter.

"Look, Loki and Ymir have already been given a head start and have kidnapped your commander." Carol recapped their situation. "We can work together and help each other."

"Loki and Ymir may be using your commander to find a Casket of Ancient Powers," Steve explains as he steps forward. "If so, we need to work together and get there first."

"Sing it, Cap." Tony agrees with him.

"Why would we trust outlanders?" Malitri asks them.

"What do you have to lose?" Peter asked as he crossed his arms. "Let us help, you have a few extra hands and less chance of losing some men. Ignore us, then we all have an all-powerful Loki to deal with."

Malitri took what he said into account and saw they had some good points. "Follow us."

And with that, Malitri walks off and the Emerald Guard lowers their guard and walks off. All the Avengers were a little surprised to see they were able to get through and walked off.

---

Meanwhile, Rocket and Groot landed their ship in a field of giant gingerbread men. They opened their ship and made their way out as they were trying to find out where to find Jolnir.

"Looks like you picked the right Jump-point to Alfheim, Groot." Rocket congratulated his friend as he looked around. "I owe you a burrito."

"I am Groot," Groot replied.

Rocket tried to get a reading on the area with his gizmo as he was a little creeped out by the surroundings. "What kind of twisted fever dream is this place?" He scanned the area and couldn't find any living creatures in the area, but it didn't stop him from being weirded out by the gingerbread. "What, do they grow gingerbread men here?"

"I am Groot," Groot replied, saying he liked it.

"Yeah, you would." Rocket rolled his eyes and walked off with Groot behind him. "File says this Jolnir/Santa guy drives a sleigh. So, find the sleigh, we find this Santa guy."

Groot took a moment and looked at one of the gingerbread men, feeling the need to take a gumdrop. He took it off and reached it up to his mouth, ready to take a bite out of it.

But that was when something indescribable happened. But I'll try my best.

A gingerbread man came to life and punched Groot in the face. Takes his gumdrop back and places it on his body. Groot few angry as he enlarged his fist and punched the gingerbread man. The pieces of him went everywhere by the time Rocket took notice of what was happening.

"What did you do?" Rocket asks, confused about what he missed.

"I am Groot!" Groot cried as he stood up.

"What do you mean, came to life?" Rocket asks. "Gingerbread isn't..." That's when he noticed a dozen other gingerbread men were starting to march around them. "Oh, great! The gingerbread is rising!" He then got an idea when he raised his blaster. "Well, one thing to do if you're stuck in a cookie jar. Chew your way out!"

The gingerbread then made its way toward the two Guardians, some of them trying to put up a fight against them. But all that ended in was Rocket shooting at them and blasting them into oblivion. It didn't take long for him to start throwing more explosives at the cookies and sending pieces of them everywhere. Groot helped by growing his fists and other branches from his body and punching them over and over.

"There. Now they're nothing but crumbs." Rocket was happy to say. But it was short-lived when he saw a bunch of their pieces coming together. "What the sprinkles?!"

All of the gingerbread men were able to put themselves back together and use their broken pieces and merge them together. They started to make their way toward the two of them

"Perfect. Zombie cookies." Rocket sighed and jumped onto Groot. "Let's run, run, fast as we can!"

Groot agreed with him and raced off through the forest to try and get away from the gingerbread men. Their numbers were mostly their biggest threatening feature as the gingerbread, especially in their current state, couldn't keep up with the two as they raced to get away.

---

Inside an ice cavern, Loki and Ymir were trying to make their way through as the Frost Giant was bigger than the cave. It was hard to maneuver inside of it with his sharp form and an icy form.

"Cursed ice cavern!" Ymir cried in anger.

"Elfador, if the casket is much further, Ymir May share his discomfort with you," Loki warns the Commander. "We better be nearing it."

"The destination is nearby." Elfador promises him.

"It better be," Loki said as he took his scepter and put it under Elfador's neck. "For your sake."

---

Further back in the same cavern, the Avengers and a Guard of elves made their way inside the caverns. They were getting worried as there was no sign of Loki or even any indication that he was down there.

"How far do these caverns go?" Peter wonders.

"No one knows," Malitri tells him. "Those who venture too far are doomed to never return."

"Glad I asked," Peter muttered.

"I'm not," Carol commented as she strolled past him.

"Me neither." Tony agreed. "Should we be leaving a trail of breadcrumbs or flares or something?"

"I've been memorizing our path in," Natasha promises him. "Surprised you don't have any like recording system in your suit that can retrace your steps."

"No, but that's not a bad idea." Tony had to admit that's smart.

---

Elfador led Loki and Ymir into a small cave inside of the paths and found the Casket sitting in the middle of the room. It looked like it was even under a spotlight of sorts from the ceiling.

"That's it?" Loki asked in confusion. "You keep the Casket of Ancient Powers unguarded?"

Loki and Ymir made their way over to get the Casket as Elfador smiled. "No. It is never unguarded. It is under the protection of the Yero."

"And where is the Yero now?" Ymir asks.

"Where he always is..." Elfador declared.

That's when there was a sudden stomping as they watched a gigantic snowy-looking T-Rex stumble out of the caves. Letting out a gigantic roar, it raced its way over to the villains.

"...In the shadows," Elfador said with a smile. The Yero made its way over to them and bit down on Ymir as he used his tail to smack Loki and send him flying. Elfador managed to break the ice cuffs Loki and Ymir kept him in and saw his work was done. "And he's never been a fan of uninvited guests."

---

The stomping and roars of the icy T-Rex reached the Avengers and Guards where they tried to grab onto anything. The shaking caused a few of them to lose their balance as they grabbed others for help.

"What's that? An earthquake?" Peter asks.

"No. It is the call of Yero." Malitri tells them.

"What's a Yero?" Carol wonders.

"A friend of the Elves, and protector of the Casket," Malitri explains.

"That must mean that Loki's already found the casket," Steve said in worry. "Let's move!"

The heroes raced down the tunnel as they followed the noise to try and find where Loki was. They couldn't let the God of Mischief get away with all he's done.

---

Loki tried his best to get out of the grasp of the Yero as Elfador stayed back and allowed the two of them to be attacked. He started to back off and leave them behind to be devoured.

"Yero will not allow you to escape with the Casket," Elfador promises. "Your fate was sealed when you planned against him. I fair thee farewell on your journey to oblivion."

Loki then got an idea as he used his scepter to get himself free. Landing on the ground, he slammed his center into the heart of the beast and was able to put it in his trance.

"Even the most savage of beasts can learn some manners," Loki promises as he gets the Yero under his influence. "Given the proper motivation."

Elfador quickly grabbed his sword and raced over to Loki. But that was when he then used his scepter to blast Elfador with ice and sent him flying into the wall, shattering his frozen form into a thousand pieces.

"I'm sorry to say that this just wasn't your day," Loki told the deceased elf.

Ymir then went over and handed the closed Casket to Loki. "Be careful. If you use it without a proper target, it will siphon your powers."

"As I assumed," Loki replied as he took the small box. "I haven't exactly made it this far on charm alone, cold friend." Then he got an idea as he figured the heroes or other elves would be close behind. "Let's send them a little Christmas present."

Loki then used the scepter to escape the caves with ease and sent the Yero somewhere else.

---

The Avengers made their way to where the screams and attacks were coming from when they found a green mist appear. That's when the mist cleared and they came face to face with Yero.

"Is that a giant icy T-Rex?" Peter asks the team.

"Certainly looks like it," Carol commented.

The Yero then started to charge at them to try and attack. Peter worked fast as he jumped ahead of them, slamming into the jaws and forcing them open. Yero tried to fight back, but Spider-Man held his ground against the creature.

"Feel free to step in whenever you feel like it!" Peter cried out, trying to fight against the creature.

"Hang on!" Sam cried as he flew in and shot several bullets at the creature. But that's when the creature shook them off as the ice seemed to be stronger than it looked. "Of course, it's made of ice. It would be able to walk off bullets."

"Well, there goes that idea," Natasha said as she put her guns away, pulling out her electric batons. "Let's see if this works."

And in the small cavern, it became a quick mix of dozens of attacks from Captain's shield tossing, Tony's proton blasts, Carol's photon blasts, Peter's webbing, Natasha's batons, and Sam's wings.

It didn't take long for the group to turn the giant creature into melted ice and a puddle of water. The group sighed and noticed the cavern meant to have the Casket was empty. They also found the remains of ice and pieces of armor still lying around from Elfador.

"I think we found the commander." Carol was sorry to report.

"Loki has the casket." Peter groaned and slumped down onto the ground. "This was all for nothing."

"Not unless we fail to stop Loki before he uses it," Natasha assured him.

"Which means they will be on the move for Santa. Where can we find Santa?" Steve asks Malitri.

"Jolnir has taken his homestead on top of Mount Jolly," Malitri tells the heroes.

"Of course he has. That was my first guess." Tony said sarcastically.

"Unfortunately, the Emerald Guard doesn't allow outsiders to pass on Mount Jolly," Malitri tells them.

"Ugh, this again?" Tony asks. "How about you tell that to Freezy and Sleazy?"

"We will. Vigorously." Malitri promises him. "They shall pay for what they've done to Commander Elfador."

"Look, this isn't a turf war. We all want the same thing." Carol tried to help keep the peace.

"And since your commander coughed up the power box, it seems you're in desperate need of it," Tony added on.

Malitri didn't take that so kindly as he raised his bow and arrow to Tony, who which backed away. Tony then raised his repulsers and got ready for another battle.

"Look." Steve jumped in the middle of them. "We're going. You don't have to help us, but I suggest you stay out of our way."

Malitri then lowered his bow and allowed Tony to leave. "Yay...happy ending."

The Avengers then left and made their way out of the caverns to stop Loki. They might not have an army to help them, but they didn't need much as almost all of them have fought Loki before.

---

Back in the forest with Rocket and Groot, they were setting a trap up for Santa when he came past with his sleigh. They were going to ambush him the moment he came close to them and noticed a sleigh coming down the icy road.

When they saw a sled heading for them, Rocket leaped into action. "Get ready!"

Groot waited for the sleigh to come close enough, he immediately reacted by shooting his arms out. He wrapped them up around the person behind the sleigh, who they thought to be Santa Claus. They weren't entirely sure with the fact they had their face covered by a scarf.

Rocket then leaped and aimed his blaster at the man and had a smile. "Sorry, Santa. But it's nothing personal, just business. Well...maybe it is a little personal. Stealing cookies from kids?! What kind of monster does that?!"

The person behind the sleigh tried to talk whilst Groot had his branches around their face.

Rocket became curious as to what they were saying and looked to Groot. "Groot, lose the scarf."

Groot did just that and it revealed to not be the Santa they were looking for. Instead, they found an elderly woman behind the sleigh.

"Ah, thank you," the lady said with a sigh. "I'm not Santa. I'm Mrs. Claus. Santa's wife."

"Huh?" Rocket said in shock, gesturing for Groot to let her go. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Oh, I wish." Mrs. Claus said as she was back in the sleigh. "But I am not much of a jokester. Not like you two." Rocket seemed confused by what she was saying. "I mean, this prank...what a hoot!"

Rocket saw that they could use that as an excuse. "Uh, right, prank."

"I'm so sorry I spoiled it." Mrs. Claus tells them. "You know what? Hop in. I'll give you a ride to our place. Santa loves it when old friends drop by."

Rocket saw that this worked out better than he imagined. "Yeah, we're old friends here to play a prank on Santa." He then approached the sleigh and gestured for Groot to play along. "You saw right through us."

Groot followed Rocket and went in the back of the sleigh. "Buckle up." She tells them.

"There are no seat-AHHHH!" Rocket couldn't finish his statement when Mrs. Claus activated the rocket on the sleigh and sent them flying across the trail.

---

Back with Loki and Ymir, they were making their way to Santa's house at the top of the hill. But Loki had Ymir waiting at the bottom as they seemed to be waiting on something.

"We know Jolnir is up there. Why do we cower here like rodents?" Ymir asks.

"I am unable to open a portal for us at the top of the mountain because it is surrounded by Jolnir's magic," Loki explained with a sigh. "And there are more certainly more defenses than the Light Elves we see." He then smiled when he saw something walking through the woods. "So why confront them ourselves when we can have our willing decoys do it for us?"

"What decoys?" Ymir asks.

Loki gestured to the Avengers as they were approaching a few Light Elves. "Those decoys. Avengers. They are more reliable than clocks."

When the team approached the Light Elves, they were obviously stopped. "Halt. Come no closer."

"We have no choice," Steve tells them. "We need to reach Jolnir before it's too late. Stand down."

The Light Elve then drew his sword and pointed it at Steve. "You give no orders here, outlander."

"What did you call us, knockoff Legolas?" Peter asks, feeling offended by his comment.

"It's okay, guys." Tony stepped forward. "If I was identical to everyone around me, I'd be tense too." Natasha facepalmed when she heard that. "Now take a hike so, you know, we can take a hike."

One of the elves then attacked Tony with an arrow that landed at his feet. It didn't seem to do anything until it finally blew up and caused Peter to leap to dodge the explosion and Tony stumbled backward.

"So, Santa's Elves make toys and weapons," Tony commented.

Peter landed on the bark of a tree and was just as surprised. "Gotta say, I didn't expect that." He then yelped when he had to dodge one of the Elves coming to try and attack him with a sword. "Okay, talking is over now, right?"

"YES!" Steve cried as he blocked an attack of arrows. "Avengers, get through! Just try not to hurt them! We're on the same side."

"Tell that to them!" Natasha cried as she took her nonlethal guns and opened fire on the Elves.

Sam took to the skies and spun around, releasing feather-like projectiles that Peter had made for him. Steve threw his shield and ricocheted it off three elves as he kicked one who came running at him with a spear to attack him. Peter shot two strands of webbing and spun around, knocking them into other elves. Carol took to the skies and began charging up energy to shoot and cut down the trees to try and block the elves off from the elves and create a pathway.

"Let's move it, team!" Carol exclaimed as she dodged several other arrows.

Peter just created a web between two trees before he then kicked another elf into the spider webbing. "Easier said then done!"

"Need a hand, Spidey?" Tony asks as he flew by with his hand stretched out. "Climb aboard."

Peter grabbed Tony's hand and the two began to climb further up the mountain. As they went, they were still being fired upon. Peter did his best to try and stop the arrows from hitting them, but it was hard to do with them coming from every direction. One of them managed to hit Tony in his foot, causing his repulsor to malfunction.

"Uh, Tony?" Peter was starting to worry. "We've got trouble."

"Yeah, I see it, kid." Tony replies. "You better prepare for a rough landing!"

Peter grabbed onto Tony's suit as they plummeted from the skies and crashed into the snow. That managed to at least save their lives, and they did manage to make it closer to the top of the mountain. Tony poked his hand out of the snow, giving a thumbs up.

"I'm okay." Tony promises.

Peter emerged from the snow, shivering. "I-I'm not feeling too hot right now," he said, starting to shake uncontrollably. Surrounded by more snow, he raised his hands. "Uh, Tony, any chance you can help?"

"Hang on, I'm running a diagnostic. My suit needs some time to repair itself." Tony explained.

"Great." Peter sighed as he looked at all of the elves. "Just me and an army of elves.

Carol was helping Steve make it further up the hill before turning back to help the others. She was flying with Steve when she spotted Peter dodging arrows left and right. She then had an idea on how she could get Steve up and help save the team.

"Hang on, Cap." Carol said as she began to spin him around. "Taking the Slingshot Express!"

As Steve ascended toward the top of the hill, he used his shield as a platform to launch himself. Once at the peak, he let go and descended, sliding down the rocky surface. When he reached what appeared to be a large cabin, he grabbed the doorknob. However, just as he turned it, the entire structure seemed to disappear before his eyes, leaving him frightened and confused.

Carol helped Steve, Tony, and Peter climb faster while Sam followed closely behind her. At the top of the hill, they discovered that the cabin had disappeared, and there was nothing else in sight for miles around.

"So...that happened," said Peter, trying to make light of the situation. "Does this mean we won? I don't exactly know how this works."

"I don't thing any of us understand how this works, kid." Tony replied.

And then they were met withseveral elves aiming his arrow at them with a whole squad of his elves behind them. Peter raised his hands in a surrender gesture as there was nothing much they could do now to defend themselves. At least for him. He was a guy in cloth and everyone else was either trained to defend themselves or were wearing armor or even had better powers.

"So...what now?" Sam asks.

---

"You shall wait for Commander Athidel to arrive." One of the elves tell the Avengers.

"Yeah, no thanks." Steve tells them. "We are tired of waiting. It's time to say goodnight. Follow my lead team."

"Really?" Peter asks before they started to spiral into another fight. "We really need to fight? I mean, come on, if you guys are trying to protect Santa, St. Nick, Ymir, or Jólner, or whatever the heck you people call him. But if the Big Guy is gone, doesn't that mean you did your job?"

To everyone's surprise the Light Elves seem to be considering his words and took it into account before lowering their bows at the heroes. Everyone was at least relieved that they didn't need to fight anymore and let their guard down a little.

"Seriously? That's what stopped the fighting?" Tony asks and turned to Peter. "What is that? Spider hypnotism or something?"

"Jolnir has departed." Malitri agreed with Spider-Man. "Eliminating the cause for conflict between us. You're free to go."

"Okay, but why listen to me?" Peter wonders.

"We Light Elves can sense those who truly believe in this time of year. Not just in Jolnir, but in what this time of year means, Peter." Malitri stated, confusing the heroes further. "You have a heart of a believer. And we trust the words of a believer."

"Should I be concerned he knows my name?" Peter asks the group.

"I'd take it and run with it." Natasha admitted.

"So where is Jolnir?" Steve wonders. "Where did he go?"

"The time of giving, when Jolnir distributes gifts to the children of the Nine Realms," Jolnir explains and looks to the stars. "It begins on the world closest world to ours. Midgard, in a remote location of Jolnir's choosing."

"Great. From one snowy location to another snowy location." Peter took a guess. "Looks like we're heading for the North Pole."

"That is likely where Loki is going to strike next." Steve took a guess.

"Regretfully, we cannot join you," Malitri tells the heroes. "For Jolnir's wishes, our duties end when the time of giving begins."

"So, even Santa's elves get Christmas off, but not us?" Carol asked as she eyed Natasha.

"Yep," Natasha confirmed. "The life of being the hero."

"Sadly, evil doesn't observe holidays," Steve tells them. "Let's roll, team."

---

Meanwhile, Rocket and Groot were still on Mrs. Claus's sleigh and were screaming in terror while she was screaming in joy. As they were making their way down the hill, they noticed a ramp at the end and realized just what Mrs. Claus was planning to do. When she went up the ramp, it ended up sending them flying up to the top of the mountain where they found the house was missing, and the Elves had already left, as well as the Avengers as they prepared to head back for Earth to reach the North Pole.

"Aw, snickerdoodles. We must have missed him." Mrs. Claus realized. "Don't worry. I know where he is. I'll have us there in no time."

"No!" Rocket jumped out of the sleigh. "I mean, no, you've been so kind. We've imposed enough on you. We have a ship. If you could just tell us where we can find him."

"A ship?" Mrs. Claus asks. "How wonderful! I've always wanted to fly a ship. Let's go!"

"I am groo-oo-oot!" Groot whimpered from the back.

---

On Earth from the North Pole, the Avengers were traveling the area in any way that they could possibly. Natasha was on her hoverbike with Steve on the back. Sam was flying around with Peter latched onto his foot and flying on a web. Carol flew by with Stark close to her.

"No sign of Santa's cottage on our end," Steve reported.

"No activity on the thermal sensors," Tony reported.

"You think that this place can't be spotted from the air?" Peter offered a solution. "I mean, if he has been doing this this long, there is bound to be a way to keep people from spotting his summer home up here."

"He actually might be onto something." Steve had to admit. "Let's land, and search the forested areas on foot. And if we are going to do it like this, then we are definitely going to need more help."

Landing on the ground, they started to make their way around the forest to try and find out where to find Jolnir's house. And Tony was still skeptical about the whole idea about Claus.

"So I'm the only one who finds it convenient that Santa's house vanished right when we found it?" Tony asks them. "This is a prank, and those elf-alikes are in on it."

"Maybe. But we can't take that chance." Steve tells him. "If Santa is out here, we need to find him before Loki does."

"Unless he doesn't wanna be found," Carol commented. "I mean, if Santa's the powerhouse they say he is, he could be walking in this winter wonderland with us, and we'd never know."

"Another reason why this is pointless, not that we needed another reason." Tony scoffed.

"Do you have someplace you'd rather be tonight?" Natasha asks Tony.

"Yes! Don't you?" Tony asks. Nat raised her brow to quietly remind Tony she literally had nowhere else to be. "Oh, right, sorry."

"Aren't you glad you didn't miss out on this?" Sam asks Peter.

"Either this or getting beaten up by Rhino?" Peter considered the thoughts. "I'll take it."

Sam then caught something warm on his goggles when they picked up a heat signature. "Uh, guys, maybe it's just that my goggles are frozen, but I am picking something up."

"Let's check it out," Steve said as he led the way toward the heat source.

When they followed Steve, Sam was directing them towards to everyone's surprise was indeed Santa Claus' house that disappeared earlier. When they approached the house, Steve did indeed confirm that this was the same house he saw at the top of the mountain. When he reached to slowly open the door, they looked around to see if they could spot anyone inside. But looking around, there was no sign of anyone.

"Santa?" Steve called out. "Santa Claus? You in here?"

"Seems empty," Nat confirmed.

"But he's gotta be close. Right?" Sam asks.

"Let's fan out," Steve tells everyone. "Two-mile perimeter. Maintain constant contact with-"

"Yeah, sounds great, Cap." Peter shivered his way inside as he made his way over towards the fireplace. He then started to remove his gloves and mask so that he could warm up faster. "Heat, heat, heat, heat. Two hours of trudging through the snow, I need this."

Steve stopped his planning and shrugged, seeing they could use a bit of a break. "On second thought, I could use some warming up. Hey, Parker, leave some room for us."

"Really?" Tony asks.

---

Currently in space, Rocket and Groot were trying to steer Mrs. Claus from crashing their ship into literally anything in the area. She wasn't terrible at flying per se, it is more that she is almost trying her best to hit the asteroids if it weren't for Rocket's constant intervention.

"Getting awfully close to those asteroids," Rocket tells her.

"Thank you so much for letting me fly your ship. It's always been a little dream of mine." Mrs. Claus tells them.

"Oh...It's my pleasure." Rocket tells her. "But we need to steer away from those asteroids."

"Aw, looks like fun." Mrs. Claus tells them and heads right for them. "Let's live a little!"

"I'd actually rather live a lot, which is why I don't want to squeeze through that gap!" Rocket screamed as he closed his eyes.

Mrs. Claus however managed to get them out of there easily. "So Santa was expecting your visit?"

"Uh, no." Rocket said in terror. "It was last minute. A business opportunity- look out!" He screamed as Mrs. Claus moved around asteroids. "Popped up. Lots of money- pull up! To be made."

"And you want to make a lot of money?" Mrs. Claus asks.

"Absolutely." Rocket stated. "Watch it! That's our ticket to a new ship."

"What's wrong with this ship?" Mrs. Claus asks. "Seems like it runs just fine."

"Thanks to me," Rocket tells her. "And I'd like to keep it that way. No! We're not gonna make it!"

"You worry too much." Mrs. Claus tells him. "Santa was the same way until he made giving gifts to children his life's work."

Rocket seemed surprised when he heard that and looked at Groot. "Uh... come again?"

"He spends all year preparing for tonight. Every child- who they are, where they are, what they want. All those gifts. And then- boom, he delivers every single present himself

in one night." Mrs. Claus explains to them.

"Santa does this. Santa Claus?" Rocket clarified.

"Of course. Who else?" Mrs. Claus replied sarcastically. "Now, I tell him, spread it out over a few weeks or months, and he refuses. Do you know why? Because he doesn't want to make even one child wait."

"And he gets nothing in return?" Rocket clarifies.

"That's not how he sees it. He says the joy of giving is the greatest gift of all." Mrs. Claus said dreamingly. "And that's why I love him."

"I am Groot," Groot stated.

"You're right, pal. It looks like we do have this one all wrong." Rocket agreed.

---

Back at the Santa cottage, they were all sitting around drinking some hot chocolate that Peter had found in the kitchen and decided to have some fun. They might be on a mission to stop Loki, but hey, it's still Christmas after all.

"This definitely tastes like Santa's hot cocoa." Carol complimented as she drank her cup.

"All part of the charade," Tony stated as he was still in his suit and was searching the entire area.

"What are you looking for over there?" Sam wonders.

"Cameras," Tony stated as he kept scanning. "We're probably being filmed for some sort of prank show. Holly Jolly Follies, or something like that."

"Okay, seriously, Tony, why are you so down about not believing in Santa Claus, especially after everything we have been through together?" Peter questions.

"A better question is, why aren't you more down on him, kid?" Tony wonders. "You're a scientist, and yet you believe in things that are mystical so easily."

Peter shrugged as he considered his answer. "I don't know. Memories, I guess." He then thought back to all of his Christmass' in the many years. "Some of the best I have. Just waking up as a kid, thinking of being a good person all year, even if you get an occasional black eye occasionally." He then sighed as he leaned down on the fireplace area. "The year that my parents died, Ben and May didn't have a lot of money, so things like toys and even science equipment were scarce. For someone who wanted to grow up as a scientist in a school with minimal science classes, that was a little hard. So, I ended up going against what many people had told me when they said Santa wasn't real and wrote a letter asking for the best science equipment and recent science books. Then when I woke up that Christmas, to my surprise, there were books that had yet to be released and even equipment ahead of its time. And a ticket to the STARK Expo to top it off in my stocking." He chuckled when he remembered those memories. "I even donated those books to F.E.A.S.T. after I was done so other kids could be inspired."

"Little me, I was obsessed with planes," Carol recalled her childhood. "I'd never been in one, but I loved them. One year I asked Santa for a top-of-the-line F-15 model kit. But I didn't get it. Instead, I got tickets to an air show, where I got to sit in the cockpit of a real F-15. That's when I knew I'd be a pilot."

"Okay, if we're going to talk about our past Christmas, please pass me the remote. Let's say the Red Room wasn't big on celebrating Christmas or holidays in general." Natasha said as she sat back. "By all means, go ahead."

"Let's just say in my youth, I was into birds." Sam chuckled and looked at his jet pack. "Yeah, I know. I see the irony in it all. One year, I wanted a toy Australian King Parrot as it was my favorite. Then I woke up that year with a real King Parrot. I named him Patty."

"Patty?" Peter smirked.

Steve picked up one of the ornaments from the tree and chuckled. "I was a big fan of baseball as a kid. But I wasn't athletic, so I wasn't picked for a team by the other kids. When I wrote to Santa, I didn't ask for toys. I asked for a chance to play. I got a brand-new bat and ball that year- items my family couldn't afford. And they were my ticket to the game. I was awful. I couldn't throw, catch, or hit. And I loved every second of it."

Tony saw that he was the only one left and scoffed. "Okay. I'll play your little reindeer game. I was six when I told my dad I didn't believe in Santa Claus. My dad suggested I take it up with Santa. So I did. I wrote to Santa and told him to keep his presents. All I wanted was proof that he was real. After the holidays, the letter came back unopened. It was marked "undeliverable." So, I tore it up and threw it away. Because I had my proof. There's no Santa."

"You don't need proof to believe in miracles, Tony," Peter told him.

"Maybe you don't, kid. But for me, I won't believe it until I see it." Tony replied.

Peter was going to defend himself a little more when he felt his senses alerting of something. "Get down!"

Everyone runs to try and get some cover when a blast of magic manages to hit the house. A gigantic hole is left in the front of the house where everyone saw Loki, Ymir, and a hoard of brainwashed elves.

"I grow weary of waiting." Loki proclaimed. "Where is jolnir? Where is your Santa Claus?"

Everyone was quick to regroup as they made their way outside. "Do you really think we'll tell you, Loki?" Steve asks.

"That really would be ideal," Loki admitted.

The team then split off to start trying to take down their foe. Tony took to the skies and started to shoot the elf arrows that were firing upon them. Peter started to web them downhill Sam was shooting the arrows to help Tony, whilst Natasha was rooting upon Loki and Ymir to try and stop them. Carol sped in fast and punched the elves to help lower their defenses. Steve flung his shield to take some down and defended himself when the shield came back at him.

"Double down on Blizzard King," Tony called out.

Peter webbed a few more elves when his senses alerted him of something approaching. "Spidey, watch your back!" Carl cried.

Loki shot Peter in the back with his magic, sending him flying over where Natasha started to cover for him. "Come on, kid, get up!"

Sam flew over when his wings were shot by Loki's magic and he was sent toppling. Tony flew down

"Ymir, freeze them slowly," Loki said to his Frost giant friend. "Perhaps they'll talk before the cold steals their breath."

"Indeed," Ymir stated. "Ice is the bringer of truth."

Then out of nowhere fireballs began to rain down from the sky and attacked the elves and Ymir. One smacked the Frost Giant on the head and landed in Loki's hands. To his confusion, he saw that there was a present flying around the sky.

"What treachery is this?" Loki asks in confusion. "Presents?"

Then one more hit Loki and sent him falling into the snow. Thor came flying down with a sleigh and Hulk rode a sleigh full of presents. Thor then sent some lighting strong enough to knock out and not kill the elves.

"Your aim is much improved, hulk." Thor congratulated.

"Call me Santa Hulk," Hulk tells him

"Now, this is a worthy holiday tradition-glorious battle," Thor said as he flung his hammer at the elves still standing.

"Glad you could join us." Natasha was relieved to see him.

Peter said as he stood up and saw what was going on. "Uh...did we miss something? This was your plan B?"

"Well, we did what we could in the time we had." Thor defended the strange plan.

Before they could react, Loki entrapped them in a mystical forcefield none of them could fight back against. "Deliver Santa to me, or I deliver you all to his doom."

You'd do it even if we did, Loki." Steve informed him.

"I will do whatever it takes to prevail." Loki proclaimed as he resided to kill them all. "That is what gives me the advantage over you... heroes."

"End this madness, brother," Thor demanded, trying to break his way out of Loki's spell.

"I'm about to, brother," Loki said as he began to shrink the shield.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Carol asks as she shoots a blast at the cage.

"Last chance," Loki tells them. "Give me Santa Claus."

"Ho ho ho!" Someone cried, getting everyone's attention and pointing towards a sleigh that had just landed without anyone noticing. Not to mention the man standing in front of it. With a full white beard and a giant red coat, there was no doubt about it. Santa Claus. "No need to look for that which is found."

To say the Avengers, even the believers were shocked would be an understatement. All of them were amazed to see it was real. He was real.

"It's him." Carol was shocked to say.

"It's really him!" Peter laughed.

"It's Santa Claus." Sam was shocked to say.

"Deck... the... halls," Tony muttered.

Loki smiled as he aimed his scepter towards them.

"Santa, look out!" Natasha cried.

When the blast exited the scepter, Saint Nick didn't even have to do much as he swatted away the blast and it vanished. And with a snap of his fingers, the spell that created the shield was broken, setting the Avengers free.

"Ho ho ho!" Claus cried with a laugh.

"You can control space-time." Loki was shocked to say.

"And you can be nice, loki, but you choose to be naughty," Santa stated. "Will you change your ways?"

"Oh, I will change, with your help." Loki then summoned the Casket and aimed it towards Nick.

"No!" They cried.

The Casket started to do its thing as the magic reached Santa Claus and started to drain him of his magic.

"The power of Santa Claus! All mine!" Loki cried as the Casket started to grant him the powers. When the Avengers started to try and fight back, they ended up being too slow. With his new magic, Peter's senses couldn't react to save him when Loki punched him and sent him flying. As well as breaking Sam's wings and kicking Natasha. "You mortal insects, time is about to pass you by." Steve tossed his shield, just for Loki to run and punch Steve with his shield. "Oh, so much power. The perfect present."

"Hope you kept the receipt, 'cause you're returning that gift," Tony said as he flew in to stop him. But before he could get close, Loki conjured a spell to enclose Tony to keep him still. "Or exchanging it, depending on store policy."

"Your might can overcome many things, my friends, but I fear a rift in the very fabric of existence is not one of them.' Loki said as all of the Avengers are then beginning to be enclosed with the green energy. They couldn't fight back, there was no way they could fight against time. "Farewell, heroes. Take comfort in knowing loki's earth would not be to your liking.

"Earth isn't yours just yet, Loki," Santa said as he started to get back on his feet.

"I'll admit you have spirit, Santa." Loki complimented. "But your spirit is no more useful than your hat." But the spell that Loki used on the Avengers weakens where Peter could shoot a web to then yank the casket out of Loki's hands. "What? How?"

"If there's belief, there's Santa Claus," Santa stated with a smile.

"I have your immense power, and you can barely stand." Loki scoffed at his attempts. "You're no match for me."

Loki was then blasted by Stark, who got control of his suit. Everyone was ready to get back into the action. Natasha had her stingers ready, Peter was in his stance, Carol was ready to go, and everyone was ready to defend Father Christmas.

"He is with our help," Sam stated as his pack started to function and heal itself.

"And, like me, you owe Santa an apology," Tony stated.

"Avengers, assemble!" Steve cried.

Hulk roared as he smashed the ground, sending a snowy shockwave that gave the Avengers cover to rush Loki while he was blinded.

"I should be at home right now!" Carol cried as she flew in and zapped Loki.

Loki started to try and locate them as he used his scepter to try and take them down again. But Natasha shocked him with her stinger, followed by Thor smacking him in the face with his hammer. Sam came flying as he kicked Loki back and wrapped him up with a rope.

"Don't let up! He's too dangerous." Cap cried.

Peter came sliding between his legs and shot a web in his face that he then yanked and caused Loki to fall face-first into the snow. When Loki got back up, Steve smacked him with his shield and toppled him towards Hulk. When Loki realized what was going to come, he prepared himself as he closed his eyes. Hulk then grabbed Loki by the leg and gave a blast from the past. Slamming Loki into the snow, then doing the action again before then swinging him around and smashing him against a tree.

Once a puny god, always a puny god.

Once he was finally defeated, his spells on the elves were vanquished and they realized what they had done. Before Loki could get his head straight, Captain Malitri approached and placed a spell on Loki.

"The Emerald Guard now controls you, Loki."

"Are you okay, Mr. Claus?" Steve asks the big man himself.

"It's "Santa," Steve," Santa replied as he grabbed the casket. Gaining his powers and energy back quickly. "Feeling stronger by the second." Then he looked at his watch and began to worry. "I'm a bit behind schedule, but I'll make do. I always have."

"And you will tonight because we're gonna help," Tony promised with a smile. "It's the least we can do. It's the least I can do for doubting you."

"Oh, don't be too hard on yourself, Tony," Santa said. "Even your brain can't be right all the time."

"Something to consider," Natasha said as she walked past.

"So we can help?" Hulk asks. "'Cause I've been practicing."

Santa considered the offer and smiled. "Why not? The more, the merrier. Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!"

Peter's senses then alerted him once more. "Uh, guys, did we forget something?"

"Not that I can think of." Sam shrugged.

"Warm-blooded wretches!" Ymir cried as he burst from the ground. "Ice conquers all!"

Out of nowhere, icicles started to form a giant cage around everyone. Carol tried to blast it down, but the more she shot, the more icicles took its place. Peter tried to dodge it with Nat, but they were both caught and couldn't defend themselves or help get everyone out.

Just when all seemed bleak, blasters rained from the sky and they were rescued from Ymir by Rocket and Groot. The ship came flying down and landed beside the Avengers.

"Hi, honey!" Mrs. Claus cried.

"And there's the missus." Santa chuckled. "Hello, dear!"

"See, Rocket? You saved everyone from that awful ice giant." Mrs. Claus said. "Isn't giving wonderful?"

"Yeah. Feels pretty good." Rocket admitted. "It would feel a lot better in a new ship, though."

Getting everything set up, they prepared the sleigh for takeoff while Loki and Ymir were left cleaning up their mess.

"Shall we?" Tony asks.

"Wait." Santa started to fix his look. "How do I look?"

"Not bad, Nick." Peter complimented.

While they started to fly, Peter gave the sleigh a look over and saw how high-tech it was. Certainly, nothing like the songs made it out to be, but there was still reindeer guiding it. Steve took the hoverbike while Tony and Carol flew around. Peter and Nat were on the sleigh with Sam and Hulk with Santa flying it.

"Is this sleigh new, Santa?" Peter asks.

"Yes. My gift to me." Santa confirmed.

"Slow down time with Santa's powers." Hulk started singing, much to their surprise. He tossed presents off the sleigh, which landed in their respective chimneys. "Fa-la-la-la-la-la. Years of work get done in hours. Fa-la-la-la-la."

The group also did some scattered work by going to specific houses themselves. Peter snuck into the house of Jennifer Walter, aka She-Hulk. He left a wrapped-up weight lift for her, which he found a little ironic, under her arm and sneaked out the window.

"If the present misses the mark. Fa-la-la-la-la."

Tony left a check underneath a mat.

"Please send the bill to Tony Stark. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-La-la."

---

And that was most of what they did that night. They spent Christmas Eve helping Santa deliver gifts. Rocket and Groot themselves got a new ship as a gift. And when the night was done, Santa took them all back to the Tower.

"One last stop. Heroes get gifts too." Santa handed everyone a present before taking off. As he handed out the gifts, he approached Peter. "And then there was one."

"I doubt you have anything I'd want." Peter chuckled.

"Oh, never say that, Peter," Santa tells him. "I know what it is you truly want. What you've always wanted."

Peter nodded and remembered his wish years ago. "A family." He smiled. Looked over to the Avengers and chuckled as he saw them complimenting each other on the gifts. "I think I already got that wish."

"Well, you say that now..." Santa smiled and patted him. "You've always been given a terrible hand, Peter. It's time you got something in return."

Peter was about to ask what he meant by that only to see Santa was gone. He then turned to see his sleigh was taking off and there was Santa right at the wheel.

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!"

They all watched as he vanished just like that and into the night. Everyone saw that they finally had a job well done and that they could finally start to celebrate the holidays.

To their surprise, Miles came swinging up as he landed on the railing for the landing pad. "Hey, Pete. Just wanted to stop by real quick." He then showed he had a present for his mentor and friend. "Wanted to wish you a merry Christmas."

Peter chuckled at his protege and friend. "Merry Christmas, Miles."

"what'd you get up to last night?" Miles wonders.

"Kid, you won't believe it." Peter chuckled.

"And I believe we all know where the journey went from there..." Krogan narrated the story out.

---

In the summer of the next year, Peter is called into Nick Fury's office.

"Director. You sent for me." Peter greets him as Fury stares out the window, facing away from them.

"We've got a...let's just say strange assignment to ask of you, Parker," Fury says and places a holo-disk onto his desk which activates and shows a global map and zoomed in on a small town. "What do you know about a kingdom called Arendelle?"

---

Princess Elsa of Arendelle sat in her room alone. She feared this day would come and was hoping that she would have control over her powers; the ability to create ice and snow, by the time this day came.

The day that she has become of age to be Queen.

When she was younger, she would always have fun playing with these powers with her sister; until the day she almost killed her.

Ever since that day, she had shut herself off from the world for everyone's safety.

Elsa sighed as she looked at her gloved hands, and she wondered why she was cursed with these powers.

She closed her eyes just as someone grabbed her from behind causing Elsa to gasp slightly as someone placed a sharp (what looked like) tail to her throat.

"Not a single word to your guards or you won't live long enough to see your big day...got it?"

Elsa had to think fast just before anything could happen, she elbowed the man, sending him tumbling back and coughing.

The two were unaware that Spider-Man had quietly entered the room as he saw the man tumble backward Elsa turned to face him and was shocked by what she saw; the man's tail, red skin, and sharp teeth.

"A little fight in you, I like that." He comments and goes to strike her when a web attaches to his tail before he can attack.

"ThEn yOu'Re gOnNa lOvE mE," Peter says in a rough voice, causing the two people in the room to turn and face him confused as to what he just said. "Oh, come on! The psychotic enemy putting a sharp object on a woman's neck, the hero hiding in the shadows, nobody getting a Dark Knight feel? Yet again, I'm pretty sure nobody here has actually seen that movie. Or even knows what a movie is now I think about it."

---

Peter went to save the princess as she was about to slip, he shot a web and yanked himself more to gain speed. Elsa finally lost her balance and began to fall when Spider-Man caught her.

"I got ya!" Peter exclaimed as the princess held onto him as he swung her back through her bedroom window.

Elsa opened her eyes to notice this and let go of her savior.

"You alright?" The masked hero then asked, making sure she was okay.

"Uh...yes...thank you." Elsa nodded, blushing slightly at the situation. Peter then turned to leave as Elsa called out, "Wait!" She grabbed his hand as her rescuer turned to face her. "Who are you?"

"Spider-Man," Peter told her then leaped through the window and began swinging away.

Elsa stared out the broken window and couldn't help but smile. Until today, she thought she was the only one with powers, but now she sees that's not true.

"I'm not the only one," Elsa whispers to herself.

---

Peter followed the Queen to the gardens, just two of them, and the peaceful night.

"Um...I'm not exactly a prince or anything special, but...would you care to dance?" Peter asked her.

Elsa smiled but then turned into a frown as she remembered she couldn't really dance. "I don't really know how to dance."

Peter understood before wondering something. "Do you just not know how?"

"No, not really..." She admitted. "I never really found the time.

"I could teach you if you like." Peter offered and put his hand out for her to take, giving Elsa another flash of Deja vu.

Elsa thought about it and Peter seemed like a nice guy and meant well, and thanks to Spider-Man, she had less to think about with her powers as they were in control. Still, she couldn't help but wonder. "Is-is it...safe?"

"Sure, you trust me?" Peter smiled and held his hand out for her to take.

Elsa slowly looked into Peter's eyes, feeling like there was something more between Spider-Man and Peter than the two were letting on.

"I'm not sure why...but...yes, I trust you." Elsa said and took his hand as he started to walk her through the steps.

"Okay. You're going to put your other hand on my shoulder." Peter explained to her and she did that as he kept walking her through it. "Then I put my other hand on your waist."

Elsa flinched slightly when he did but she had seen others and that's what the men did so she calmed herself as Peter smiled.

"Okay, now just follow my lead..."

With that, they slowly began to dance. After a few minutes of dancing, slow dancing music suddenly filled the air, causing Peter to look around for a second before focusing on Elsa as she smiled.

"Who taught you to dance so well?" Elsa asked Peter.

"My Aunt May taught me. I needed some practice to go to a dance at my school, we call it a Homecoming, and she taught me what I needed to know. Sadly, though...I chickened out at the last second." Peter says as a sad smile appears on his face as he thinks of his deceased aunt. And that dance he didn't exactly chicken out, he learned that his date's dad was a criminal he was searching for and spent the rest of the night resting and healing after having a building drop on him and crashing a plane.

"She sounds like an amazing woman," Elsa told him.

"She was the most amazing woman I've ever known," Peter replied.

---

Some of the remaining guards aimed their weapons at him. Rhino just chuckled as they didn't even pierce his normal flesh, let alone his armor.

"You must be joking! No sticks are going to stop the Rhino. Now move it, you little pipsqueaks!" Rhino says then swatted them away and turned to the royals, "Queen Elsa, I got business with 'ya."

Elsa's eyes widened, hoping Spider-Man would hurry. Before Rhino could make a move on them, Spider-Man swings in and takes a stance.

"Pick on Someone your own size, Rhino!" Peter tells him as the big man turns to face him.

"There is no one my size, pawk." Rhino reminded him.

"Or maybe we could just talk it out?" Peter wondered just as the rhino threw his fist at him, just as he got out of the way leading him away from Elsa, Anna, and the others.

---

The new Queen fell only to be saved by Spider-Man once again. As the hero landed on the ground with the Queen in his arms, Fitz returned with more guards as Mack landed on a blanket of webbing.

Octavius narrowed his eyes as he saw that they couldn't beat Spider-Man and the Queen's guard like this after he pulled the newly developed transportation device from his jacket.

"We will meet again, arachnid," Octavius promised as the villains all suddenly vanished in a flash of light and Elsa turned to her hero for the third time in the same week.

"Thanks again for the save, Spidey." Elsa thanked her personal hero and possible dance teacher.

"We have got to stop meeting like this." Peter joked with a chuckle.

Elsa nodded but then realized he was still holding her then cleared her throat, and with a slight blush. "You...can put me down now."

"Oh, right, sorry." Peter apologizes looking rather embarrassed and puts her down.

---

Suddenly, Peter's senses went off as he didn't know what was wrong now when Scorpion suddenly burst out of the debris and plunged at Peter's back.

"Look out!" Elsa screamed as she threw her hand out, accidentally causing ice to shoot and hit Scorpion as Peter ducked, whilst Scorpion was knocked unconscious and frozen in a block of ice, leaving Elsa who had just revealed her powers and shocked everyone.

"Sorcery. I knew there was something dubious going on here." The Duke muttered as he ducked behind his bodyguards again.

Kingpin's shock turned into a wicked grin as things seemed to have gotten a lot more interesting.

Anna was just as shocked as everyone else. "Elsa."

Elsa just held her ungloved hand close to her before she turned and ran out of the room past all of the rubble and damage, through the destroyed doors.

---

"I never knew winter could be so beautiful." Anna gasped.

"Yeah, It really is beautiful, isn't it?" A voice comes in from nowhere.

The three of them turned to Sven, thinking the voice came from him, but they learned quickly it wasn't him as the voice continued.

"But it's so white. You know, how about a little color? Must we bleach the joy out of it all? I'm thinking like maybe some crimson, chartreuse..."

The three looked ahead for the source as, in the meantime, a snowman wanders up behind them. "How about yellow? No, not yellow. Yellow and snow? Brrrr...no go."

He stops between the three as they look down at him as he suddenly looks up at Anna.

"Am I right?" He asked, causing Anna to scream and kick his head off.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Anna screamed as she kicked him, sending his head flying off his body and into Peter's arms.

"Hi!" The snowman cheerfully greeted him.

"This just got more creepy," Peter stated as he tossed it to Kristoff who tossed the head back to Anna.

---

Peter and Anna walked into what they thought was supposed to be the hall of the palace. It was tall and spacious, with two ice staircases on both sides that led upwards and joined together at a small balcony with a door that led further into the palace. This ice castle seemed to be completely flawless.

"This place is...amazing," Peter said, still awestruck at how fast Elsa gained control over her abilities in just two days.

Anna and Peter snapped out of it when they remembered why they were there.

"Elsa? It's us, Anna and Peter." Anna called out, unsure how big this place was when she nearly slipped as Peter caught her. "Thanks."

Peter nodded when they heard Elsa's voice, "Anna. Peter?"

They heard an all too familiar voice coming from upstairs and the two froze in their place and this time not because of the cold.

"Uh... Elsa...I...like your dress...and your hair. Your whole...you, it's...Wow." Peter blushed, trying to find his voice again but it suddenly became seriously difficult to speak.

Peter's words made Elsa blush. "Thank you, Peter. That's...that's very sweet of you."

---

"You can think whatever you want, 'cause I don't care!" Elsa states, walking back up to her angered sister. "You're a fool who tried to marry a stranger!"

"That is so unfair!" Anna states as Peter tries to intervene.

"Okay, let's take a step back, try and get back to the same page because I'm feeling someone might start to get enraged," Peter says, only then realizing he sang that. "Wait, how'd that happen?"

---

Suddenly, Peter senses something and sees Elsa is going to accidentally send out a beam to strike Anna and races to get her out of the way. Using his proportionate speed, he knocks Anna away only from the ice only to get hit himself in the chest.

Peter grunted as he knelt on the ground in pain. Anna stared in disbelief at what Peter just did, she would have been struck by that ice if he hadn't intervened.

Elsa gasped in horror at what she had done. She is grateful that Peter saved her sister, but is struck with fear, seeing he got struck in her place, and is afraid of what'll happen to him.

---

Anna turned to Kristoff with shyness, "Now what?" Her eyes widened as she just remembered what happened, "Now what?! Oh! What am I gonna do? She threw us out. I can't go back to Arendelle with the weather like this. Elsa's still in danger of Fisk and the Sinister Six. And then there's your ice business-"

"Hey, hey, don't worry about my ice business..." Kristoff reassured her before turning to Peter and gasped, "Worry about his hair!"

Peter raised an eyebrow, confused as to what he meant. "What? We just fell off a cliff and I've been wearing a mask whilst fighting a robot octopus, ex-shelter runner, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow man. You should see the state of your hair."

Anna turned to see what Kristoff meant and Anna realized, "No, yours is turning white."

"White? It's what?" Peter asked as Anna picked up a tiny piece of ice to show him his hair.

Peter gasped in shock for like Anna's hair, he too had a white streak in his hair.

"Well, I'm never going to hear the end of this from Johnny and Clint." Peter could tell.

"It's because Elsa struck you, isn't it?" Anna asked.

"Does it make me look old?" Peter asks, trying to make light of the situation

The two looked at each other and gave worried looks before turning back to Peter. "No."

Olaf's head pops up while he's holding his head up off his body to join the conversation before informing the two, "You both hesitated."

"No, we didn't," Anna replied.

---

"Peter Parker, your life is in danger. There is ice in your heart put there by Queen Elsa. If not removed, the solid ice will you freeze, forever."

"Well...at least we'll know what Captain America felt like when he was frozen," Scott said as Anna and Kristoff looked at him and he raised his hands in offense. "Oh, come on! He was thinking the same thing." He gestured to Peter.

Peter nodded as Scott beat him before he could say it. "It's true, I was."

Anna rolled her eyes before they turned back to Grand Pabbie.

"But you can remove it, right?" Kristoff asked. "Like you did for Anna?"

Pabbie shook his head sadly. "I cannot. I'm sorry, Kristoff. This is not what it was like for Anna when she was a child. If it was his head, that would be easy. But only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart."

"All life in the multiverse will die of the eternal winter if Fisk tries to leave and brings this winter with him." Madame Web explains to them.

---

"Dude, I thought you were supposed to be a Prince! You should know it's impolite to stab a woman in the back!" Peter quipped to Hans, who was sent flying a crashed into a frozen ship as snow fell upon him. "That's gotta be cold for you." He mocks as Elsa recognizes the voice as she looks behind her and sees Spider-Man standing right above her.

"Spider-Man?"

"Sorry, it took so long. It suddenly got difficult to travel." Peter said as he faced her with a smile under the mask.

Peter chuckled and was walking towards his friends when he felt more cold flowing through him as he winced in pain and dropped to the ice.

"Peter!" Anna cried but covered her mouth after realizing she revealed his identity to Elsa.

"Peter?" Elsa looked at Spider-Man in shock.

"Sorry..." Anna whispered to Peter who sighed in response before he removed his mask, showing everyone his completely white hair and freezing skin.

Elsa stared at him for a minute before slowly smiling. "I knew it."

"Wait, you knew Peter's Spider-Man?" Anna turned to Elsa in shock as Peter looked just as surprised.

"I had my suspicions." The old sister smiled sheepishly when her smile faded to one of concern as Peter fell to his knees.

---

Peter suddenly wakes up to find himself back in the fiord, luckily his suit was waterproof.

You crash into the river one time and Stark never lets it go.

He quickly shoots two webs back up, helping him slingshot himself out of the ice, and kicks Rhino in the face as he begins using the rubble to push himself back up toward the bell.

Scorpion tries to hit him, but Peter webs him in the chest and kicks him down to the ground.

He already failed someone important in his life once, he will never fail again.

He shoots a web at Vulture's wings and spins him, crashing him into the tower, and rendering him unconscious.

Next comes Electro, who shoots a blast and misses Peter as he dodges it and webs his face before throwing him into the snow, causing his powers to become useless.

Mr. Negative comes up next as Peter grabs him, and spins around before throwing him into the air and shooting a web, causing Negative to get pulled towards Peter who punches him.

Hans goes to kill the family when suddenly, Peter comes in swinging and slides right past Hans and avoids his blasts of ice before webbing by his side, shooting himself at Hans, and knocking him down.

Before Hans can hit him again, Peter webs away as he starts to come up with a plan.

Seeing the bell, a piece of loose metal that's big enough to cover the bell, he gets an idea. Peter kicks Hans, sending him out of the tower, and webs both the bell and metal piece to him.

As they fell, Peter webbed Hans inside the bell, slamming the other end close and causing a vibration to send the Symbiote mad inside.

As they hit the ice, Peter webbed the bell down and slammed against it, causing more and more noise until all he could see was something leaking out, and he saw the Symbiote was destroyed.

Scott had just shrunk to his normal size and started clapping. "Whew! Please tell me somebody caught that on camera?!"

---

Peter limped towards Elsa when his senses went off and Venom came bursting out of the ice and webbing Elsa before pulling her to him.

"NO!" Elsa cried as she struggled to get to Peter.

Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven all ran at them as they tried to get him to let go of the Queen but Venom fired several webs from his body subduing them against the nearest surface.

Venom goes to bite her head clean off as Elsa looks away. Peter's eyes widened in horror, not wanting to fail again...even if it was the last thing he did.

"Not again!"

Determined not to let what happened to Gwen to happen to Elsa, he gave it everything he had. His strength. His speed. His agility. He pushed through the cold, pain, and ice to reach Elsa.

Peter throws himself in front of Elsa just as Venom is about to strike and grabs the Symbiote. Suddenly, Peter's whole body freezes to solid ice as did Venom's, but unlike Peter he shattered upon impact, ridding the world of the last Symbiote, but Peter didn't survive.

Everyone stopped as their eyes widened in horror as Elsa broke free of the webbing before running up to the frozen Peter.

"Peter!" Elsa cried as she stood in front of Peter's frozen body. "Oh, Peter. No, no, please, no!"

She touches Peter's face and begins to weep then hugs Peter as she cries, as Anna, Olaf, Mack, and Kristoff have reached them from opposite ends of the fjord.

Olaf's eyes widened in shock and horror. "Peter?"

---

Everyone silently mourned for Peter when suddenly Peter's body started to unfreeze and come back to life. Sven managed to get Kristoff's attention as Peter unthawed and he gasped as he began to notice this too.

"I don't believe it," Kristoff says as Mack and Scott look as shocked at the others.

"Is this really happening?" Scott asks.

"Yep," Fitz confirmed.

Anna opened her eyes to see what they were all talking about and gasped, "Elsa, you should see this."

Elsa looked at her sister in confusion. "What?"

"So, is there a funeral that I don't know about? Because I feel awful for not knowing which of us croaked." A voice joked, making Elsa pause as she turned to see a wounded but very much alive Peter. His hair was no longer white, and back to its natural color, and his skin was back to normal tan-like instead of pale.

"Peter?" Elsa gasped in shock.

Everyone was shocked to see Peter Parker, Spider-Man, was standing alive for everyone to see as they seemed at a loss for words.

Elsa still lost for words, rushed to hug Peter as he hugged her back as everyone cheered that Peter was alive and well. Elsa released Peter from the hug as she asked, "You sacrificed your life for me?"

"Yeah. I...I...I love you." Peter finally confessed his feelings to the Ice Queen.

Olaf gasped for joy as he realized what saved Peter. "An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart."

Anna's eyes widened as she realized, "That's right. Grand Pabbie never said it had to be a kiss."

"Well, works for me," Scott states with a sigh as he gets weak. "Somebody catch me." He pleads as he passes out and Mack catches him.

"He okay?" Kristoff asks Fitz.

"When he grows big, he uses a lot of energy, he'll be fine after a bit of rest," Fitz assured him.

"Anybody happens to have any orange slices?" Scott asks them, still dizzy from it all.

Elsa heard what both Olaf and Anna said and realized what she needed to do. "Love will thaw. Love. Of course."

"Elsa?" Anna and Peter asked.

Elsa looked at her hands and began to raise them she replied, "Love."

Anna and Peter smiled as suddenly the ice on the fjord started to melt, beneath their feet the bow of a ship thawed and rose as they stood on it, and the snow and ice across the kingdom melted bringing back the warm summer.

Anna smiled, "I knew you could do it."

"Yeah, but next time you plan on releasing an eternal winter, I'm bringing Johnny with me." Peter joked, half serious.

Elsa smiled and rolled her eyes before turning to face him. "You nearly died today and you can't stop joking."

Peter smiled sheepishly with a shrug. "Like I said to Fisk it's part of my charm."

Anna hugged Peter, only to be followed by a smack to the shoulder. "Don't scare us like that again!"

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'm never planning something like this again." Peter promised them.

---

Peter and Elsa were strolling through the streets, walking in silence for a moment before they came across a familiar face and his hotdog stand.

"Ah, Peter. It's good to see you." Stan Lee greets him with a smile.

"Hey, Stan." Peter greets, returning a smile.

"And who's this young lady with you?" Stan asks, noticing Elsa and her ice dress.

"Stan, this is Elsa. Elsa, this is Stan. He was friends with my aunt. Stan, I met Elsa during my time out of the city." Peter explains to the two of them.

"It's nice to meet you." Elsa greets him while shaking his hand.

"Oh, it's my pleasure. I was getting worried that this guy would keep shutting everyone out." Stan says as Peter blushes and the two continue on their way until Peter finally speaks to Elsa.

"So, while I'm happy to see you, I have to ask. What are you doing here? You have a kingdom to run, don't you?" Peter finally asks of her, happy to see her but doesn't understand why she's here after how they left things.

"I just really needed to speak with you," Elsa told him as she frowned. "Anna told me what happened to Gwen." Peter sighed as he sat on a bench while Elsa sat beside him. "Peter, what happened to her wasn't your fault."

"It was...if I had been faster...better, Gwen would still be alive." Peter tried to say through the appearing tears.

Elsa did her best to comfort him as he placed her hand on his shoulder. "You did all you could to save her. If anyone's to blame, it's Norman...he's the reason she's dead, not you."

Peter sighed and placed his head in his hands.

Elsa then cleared her throat, before continuing. "Listen, Peter, I'm not trying to replace her. I know that she'll always have a special place in your heart. If I learned anything this week, it's that sometimes losing people is part of life. But that doesn't mean you stop letting others in. Some very wise people taught me that." Peter turned to her as she smiled, "I meant what I said to your boss. I'm willing to give you a job as a cover story to keep your identity a secret...but there is of course something else I should have told you back in Arendelle..." She closed her eyes and whispered, "I love you, too."

Peter's eyes slightly widened as Elsa leaned closer.

"Please come back to Arendelle with us...with me." Elsa pleaded as Peter backed away from her kiss.

"I want to, but I told you, Elsa, my life is just too dangerous," Peter told her, wishing things were different for them.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take. Besides, after the whole Eternal Winter, I know that my life is going to change, but I want you a part of it. We have plenty of guest bedrooms in the castle. And...well...I'd really like it if you stayed. We'll find a way for you to come and go from New York to Arendelle as Spider-Man."

"Elsa...I..." Peter started when his phone buzzed.

"What was that?" Elsa asked.

"That was just my phone." Peter explains as he pulls out his phone, "It's just showing I just got a text."

"What's a text?" Elsa wondered.

"Basically, it's advanced mail," Peter explained as he opened it.

'Underoos, great news, me and Waistband might've found a way that you can go from Arendelle and back using Otto's tech. We can set up a lab here that'll allow you to travel to that fairy tale land and back as you please. You deserve to be happy after all you've been through. This is what the Avengers fight for. - You Know Who I Am

"Huh, Tony Stark says he's able to put something together for me to go to Arendelle and back here when I want," Peter tells Elsa and is amazed by how far Tony and the others are willing to go for him.

Elsa smiled, seeing that solved that problem well enough. "Well, that's a nice thing for him to offer. If you'd like to do that, I'm open to it."

"Elsa...I do want this but..."

"Peter, I know it's hard but a big step in moving on is to forgive yourself. I don't think your Uncle or Gwen blames you for what happened to them. I finally forgave myself for hurting both you and Anna...don't you think it's time you did the same?" Elsa asked.

Peter sighed and looked down, unsure if he could forgive himself.

Elsa smiled, trying to see what he was thinking but he seemed just as lost. "So...about that offer, what do you say?"

---

"Now we're tossing sense aside and we surrender!" Everyone in the park sings in union with their significant other. "To the fantasy and pleasure, we surrender to our happy ever afters. We won't fight it, won't deny it. Losing all control, we'll try it. We surrender!"

"I want you at my side, for everything that has yet to come," Elsa tells him as she takes his head and leans in close.

"I'm done holding my feelings in, I wanna see this outcome," Peter tells her and places his hands down on her hips.

They leaned in and finally kissed; Peter felt like he was going to explode as Elsa flushed at the feeling of her first kiss.

When they finally pulled apart, Elsa was still amazed by the kiss.

"Wow..." Elsa whispers and smiles as everyone goes back to their normal day as if nothing happened.

"So...does this mean...we're now together?" Peter asked as Elsa smiled and nodded.

"I think so," Elsa tells him. "I'm sort of new to the whole relationship thing, so..."

They both laughed at that since they were both in new situations here.

---

Elsa turned to Peter's pocket and as he pulled out a ring and got down one knee as he held her hand, "Listen, I'm no Prince Charming, but...we've been through a lot together... and well... I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" Peter asked.

Elsa was bursting with tears of joy as she squealed, "Yes!"

"It's okay... I understand..." Peter nodded understandably stopped when he realized what she just answered, "Wait, what? What is your answer again!"

"Yes, yes, YES!" Elsa beamed as she tackled Peter into a hug, "A MILLON TIMES YES!"

She then pulled him into a kiss and he began to kiss her back.

---

Black Widow then spoke up, "I got a better question..." She gestured over to Kamala who was still in her homemade super suit. "Who's the kid?"

All eyes turned to Kamala as she looked nervous behind her mask as Elsa explained. "That's...what I'm trying to figure out. She has powers. I saw her enlarge her fist and punch a Goblin."

"Alright then..." Anna turned to Kamala. "Who are you?"

Kamala lowered her eye mask as she looked at Peter in shock. "You're really him...you're Peter Parker."

Anna tried to force a laugh as she gave everyone nervous looks. "What?! Peter's not Spider-Man...he's...I mean, they're very much two separate people..." Peter removed his mask a little to reveal his face, which shocked Anna. "Uh... Peter? Why did you do that?"

However, Kamala went off on a bunch of questions. "Does this mean it really worked? I'm on a parallel earth? A universe where you're still alive? Hey, why are you older?"

---

"Whoa, whoa. Stay there." Peter demanded of her. "Who are you?"

"Oh, right. I'm sorry. I-I never introduced myself." She suddenly realized and took a few steps back. "I'm sorry. I'm just seriously excited...my name is Teresa Parker."

That caused Peter, Natasha, Clint, Hope, Scott, Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, T'Challa, Kamala, and even Sven to look in completely bug-eyed, with no idea what to say after hearing that.

"I'm your sister," Teresa confirmed what they were all thinking, causing them all to suddenly freeze.

---

"Wait. Peter. There's something I need to tell you." Elsa warned him.

"Really? You're gonna do this now!?" Clint asked as he pulled out another arrow and shot a Goblin.

"Just hurry it up!" Natasha begged as she pulled her taser sticks and started shocking the Goblins.

"There's something I should've told you before all this, and I probably should've waited for a better time..." Elsa admitted, needing to get this off her chest or she might regret it, "or told you at a better time...but...I'm pregnant."

Peter froze at hearing this, his mind going blank, questioning how on earth he missed that. "You're what?"

Elsa laughed, knowing he heard her, but just hiding his shock. "Yeah."

"Oh. My god...oh god!" Peter cheered as he retracted his mask and kissed her. "Oh, god we have so much to do after we survive this."

---

Kamala groaned as she then started to wake up and looked to see she was in a hut in the Enchanted Forest.

"Wha...what happened?" Kamala asked.

"You saved us," Peter informed her.

"Indeed. You were a true warrior out there." Thor confirmed.

"You did good." Natasha agreed.

---

"Well, things have finally calmed down after the fall of the Goblin Nation," Elsa said as she stood on the edge of the platform of the Avengers Tower. "All the villains haven't shown their faces since the fall of the Goblin. Seems they're more afraid of us than anyone else. And..." she looked down and rubbed her stomach which showed a five-month baby bump. "Your father was the reason for it all."

"So, talking to thin air isn't okay, but to the unborn fetus, it's okay?" Peter asked as he strolled over to Elsa after their baby shower the Avengers through for them.

"Hey, at least I'm talking to someone," Elsa stated.

---

"And that children, is how Spider-Man saved Christmas." Korg finished off the story.

A small distance away from the scene, Elsa and Peter laughed as they were out for an evening stroll. They had their daughter Mary with them who was starting to fall asleep.

"Korg and his stories." Peter chuckled.

"Yeah, no way that's actually how it went down." Elsa agreed it was a silly story. "I mean, wasn't Loki redeemed by that point?"

"Eh, Loki really started to become redeemed after that Christmas," Peter muttered.

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Come on, Peter, elves with weapons, Santa has magical powers? That's all fake."

"Yeah, everyone knows Santa is a mutant," Peter stated as he walked off. "That's why the casket didn't work on him. It wasn't magic, it was literally in his blood."

Elsa only laughed, realizing Peter was just messing with her. "Come on, Peter." But when she realized he wasn't laughing and only had a smirk on his face, she saw he was serious. "Santa? A mutant? Wait, wait, are you serious?"

Peter chuckled as he looked up and could hear the distant sound of sleigh bells coming from the sky. He looked upward and watched the snow begins to fall that wasn't from his wife. He could see the sleigh flying and smiled.

"Merry Christmas to all," Peter muttered. "And to all of you in the multiverse."

---

EARTH-PRIME:

Peter and Caitlin were watching with a smile as Tina and Tommy were excitedly opening their presents for Christmas. Tina and Tommy were excited when they saw one of their gifts was a new set of Star Wars robots to pass to their friends to stay in contact.

Aster opened a present and saw he had a baseball and bat for Christmas. Frost thought that it was something that he would want, always sticking out from the other kids and just wanting to be a little normal. And seems they made the right choice.

---

Kara and Peter took Anjelica to Argo City to celebrate the holidays, introducing some of the Kryptonians to the idea of Christmas and its traditions. Anjelica was gifted with goggles that she would soon interpret into her costume and become a hero in her own right.

---

EARTH-2:

The JSA and Avengers were celebrating their first Christmas together as a team. The teams all came together for Christmas as the outside are filling with snow and the others were inside just enjoying their time off from the enemies and criminals.

"So where'd you leave the hammer?" Courtney asks Jane.

"Meh, I left it at home. If I need it, I can always summon it. It's not like someone's going to steal it." Jane assures her while drinking some eggnog. "Yikes, tastes like that stuff in Asgard."

"You have got to tell us about that sometime," Wanda tells Jane, wanting to know about the home of the Gods.

"Hey, where's your brother?" Rick wondered.

"You know, for a speedster, he's not exactly good with time," Wanda explains when right on que, Quicksilver emerges from the outside and into the home.

"Sorry, slipped on ice, ruined my good jacket as I sled on it." Pietro explained.

"That's the only jacket you wear." Joey reminded him.

Courtney remembered she had to grab something and ran upstairs as Lila walked to Peter with a card in hand.

"Peter, I almost forgot, this came for you," Lila says as she hands a postcard from Tahiti.

Peter is confused when he turns it over and sees it is a message from Clint.

'Hey, kid. Sorry I'm not there for Christmas, but I finally got into contact with my old friend. Maybe after this I'll introduce you guys, you might like her. Kinda reminds me of your mom. Anyway, as soon as we meet up, I'll be on my way home.

'Merry Christmas, son. - You know who I am.'

"Merry Christmas, Dad," Peter whispered.

Clint has been like a father to Peter, but he just never really said it. But he knows somehow Clint already knows how he feels.

"Hey, Pete, come on." Bobbie breaks Peter out of his mind and he notices they're coming together for a group photo.

The teams all meet up and pose in a superhero-style way and take an almost identical photo to the original teams.

---

EARTH-652:

Peter, Teresa, Peni, and May were all sitting around the Christmas tree as they exchanged gifts with one another. They weren't a wealthy family like many of the other families, but they were happy together. It was all they needed.

---

DIMENSION-147:

That half-hour walk that Bucky promised Peter turned out to be more of a two-hour trek. Peter and Bucky were left slumming through the desert as they were looking to discover the town was beginning to close in on them. But they were both confused when they realized the entire town was lit up. Not that it was unusual, but this time it seemed... familiar.

When Peter and Bucky finally reached the town, they were both shocked to see that the entire town was lit up with Christmas lights. Bucky put his rifle away as he was mesmerized by the Earth celebration on Tatooine. Peter retracted his mask and had to admit, seeing the lights brought a smile to his face.

"What did they do?" asked Bucky, curious about what had transpired while he was away.

Ezra watched from a high point and saw them returning. "They're back," he said.

Sabine pushed a button on her wrist, and a machine began producing Styrofoam-like snowfall over the area. As Peter and Bucky walked around the ship docking area, they discovered a giant Christmas tree adorned with lights that had been turned on by Chopper. The lights illuminated the area, allowing Peter to finally smile.

"Wow..." Bucky wasn't sure what to make of it.

Sabine then walked out and showed she was wearing the Christmas sweater Janet had made. It looked pretty well-made, considering it had been rushed. Luckily, a few of the droids caught on to Janet's techniques quickly and made a handful of sweaters to wear. And it was a good thing Tatooine nights were cold enough to warrant wearing the sweaters.

Sabine said, "Merry Christmas, Peter."

Peter was bewildered to see it was Sabine who was behind this. "What... what is this?"

"It's just a little gift from me, Zeb, and all of us," Sabine explained as everyone wore sweaters.

"You like it?" Sabine asks, watching Peter's completely confused look.

Peter just kept looking around, trying to digest the weird day he had been having. "I gotta say, you guys continue to surprise me." He just looked around and saw everyone trying out Christmas traditions with the few random Avengers around helping them understand them. "Thanks, Sabine."

Bucky walked over to the stand where he found what was supposed to be a gingerbread man, but looked more like a disfigured droid. "Well, can't win them all," he said, taking a bite of it. To his surprise, it tasted good. "At least it tastes better than Steve's cooking."

"Gotta say, that gave me a scare back there," said Ahsoka as she approached Bucky. She was wearing a sweater with a snowman on it, but instead of sticks and coal, it had thermal detonators and battle droid arms. "I was worried about the two of you landing in there."

"Yeah, that was a weird encounter," Bucky admitted, thinking of the spot. "But just another thing that we'll have to deal with later on down the road."

Yeah, but tonight...let's put the war on hold," Ahsoka says to him as they relax and watch the festivities. As they were sitting there and enjoying the quiet, Bucky noticed something dangling and was a little confused. "Uh, what is that?"

Ahsoka looked up and chuckled; she was just as confused as he was. "They said it was something called missile toe." And that's exactly what it was. What appeared to be either fake or real small missiles were wrapped around some sort of animal's toes. "I think they got it wrong," Ahsoka said. "But it's the thought that counts, right?"

"I suppose," Bucky said, a little disturbed by what he was looking at. But not any less than anything else the galaxy had thrown at them. "Still a little off-putting."

"Well... that's just the way of the galaxy," Ahsoka stated as she remembered the tradition of the mistletoe. She leaned over and gave Bucky a peck on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, James."

Bucky wasn't sure how to react to the kiss, so he went with the assumption that it was a matter of tradition. Not to say that he didn't seem to like it. As he was trying to figure out his feelings, they heard what sounded like music and saw that Max Reebo and a few Cantina members were huddled together with Kate Bishop at a microphone.

"How many nights do you lie awake in the darkest place?" Kate was beginning to bring in the mood of Christmas through music. "How many days do you shed the pain of your darker days?"

"This is pretty incredible," Peter said as he and Sabine watched from the sidelines.

Some people were even beginning to slowly dance to the music, and Peter was even given a sweater with a silly Santa design with "ho, ho, ho" written around it. Sabine then approached him with a wrapped present in her hands. It was small enough to look like it was a small box. She approached and handed it out for Peter to take.

"This is for you," Sabine said as she held the present to him.

Peter took the present and wondered what it was that Sabine had gotten him. He unwrapped the present and found that it was a picture of him, May, and Ben with Sabine's art style added to it. Peter smiled; this was the first time he had seen his uncle and aunt since Thanos snapped. Seeing them in person, and not just through recordings, made him tear up a little.

"It was in one of your recordings I found your suit," Sabine explained her inspiration. "I felt like you could use it."

Peter smiled because he was happy about the thoughtful gift she had given him. "Thank you, Sabine," he said, pulling her into a hug. "But I have one question: why?"

Sabine was a little confused by that question as she broke the hug. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I was a little sad, but I don't feel like I'm worth going through all of this trouble." Peter gestured to the town.

Sabine shrugged, trying to hide her face. "Well, you were worth it to me."

Peter wondered, "Why?"

Sabine sighed as she gazed out at the city. "I guess... it's something to do with how I feel."

"Feel?" Peter was starting to feel like he understood where this was going.

Sabine groaned and knew this would be difficult to explain. "Peter, I don't really talk much about my past, do I?"

Peter admitted, "Not much."

"That's because I don't like to talk about it," Sabine said without turning away. "I guess, you could say, that has made me afraid to open up to people about myself. I've done terrible things. Some that I wish I could take back."

Peter said, "I get it. I know what it's like to make terrible mistakes."

"That's just it," Sabine said as she turned to face Peter. "Not only do you understand, but you also like to help others with it. Your scars made you a hero; my scars made me an outcast. And you still somehow make me want to open up about my feelings. You make me want to actually talk about it for the first time in years." She then tried to get back on track with what she was saying. "When you were captured, it was like a part of me I didn't know was there was missing. I didn't have anyone to really talk to, or discuss things with. It made me realize just how much I like you."

"All I know is if happy lives a mile away, a couple steps is all it takes. If kindness lives in everyone then all it takes isn't enough."

Peter was a little curious as to what she meant by that as he approached her. "And just how much do you like me?"

Sabine sighed and saw she was already on the deep end; might as well dive in. Peter had taught her that metaphor. "This much," she said.

Sabine grabbed Peter by the sweater and pulled him in for a kiss. To Peter's surprise, she turned into a kiss. Peter was surprised by this and returned the kiss. Right then, there was nothing going on. In their own world, there was no war, no battles to fight; it was just the two of them and this one moment that could light a spark. A spark that had the potential to become a flame.

"Can't touch it, see it. But you can always feel it. The greatest things you'll ever know are invisible. They are invisible."

Sabine and Peter broke the kiss as they were both a little shocked at what they had just done. It was practically their first actual kiss. Neither of them had any other relationships in the past, and Peter didn't exactly count that whole event with Liz Allen as a relationship.

Peter exclaimed "Wow!" in amazement.

"Yeah, that's all I can say too," Sabine admitted.

"So... where do we go from here?" wondered Peter.

"How about we find out?" Sabine suggested as she leaned in and kissed him again.

Peter was okay with that request and kissed her back. He could see that things might finally be okay for once. As if out of nowhere, BD came running and jumped up on top of Peter, laughing as she did so. Kanan and Hera happened to be watching their kids from afar, and they had to admit, they were happy for the two of them. After everything, they deserved this moment.

Kanan said, "I have a feeling Peter is going to be okay."

"So do I, love." Hera agreed.

"Are invisible..."

---

EARTH-200:

Peter Parker was spending Christmas morning with his family and friends, including the Parr family. Not to mention his girlfriend, Violet, who was also among them. It seems that all of them had the same idea, so they all went to Edna and got everyone a new version of their superhero attire.

Violet led Peter over to a mistletoe her brother had already planted and gave him a kiss on the lips he happily returned. They were soon going to graduate from college the following year, and they could finally have everything they wanted once they could just stay together. Them and an army of villains, that's just how they loved it.

---

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL FROM THE WHAT IF UNIVERSE