Author's Note: Happy Holidays, everyone. If you've been wondering what I've been working on since Sweet Potato Dreams, well, this is it. Yup, two holiday one-shots in a row. I didn't plan it that way, but it's how it turned out (Haha). So I hope you enjoy what I have to offer to the still ongoing Infinity Crisis saga this Christmas. Honestly, I'm just glad I could have something ready in time! So let's begin...

Good tidings. Good cheer. Christmas. Such a curious thing. For while it is a seasonal celebration, it is a widespread element that is present in a staggering number of realities…Sometimes under different names, it can be found. I am Uatu, a Watcher. Tonight, I am your guide through this expansive Multiverse. Follow me… and ponder the question… What Is Happening This Christmas?

Let us first take a look at Dexter, a youth whose aptitude for advanced technology is as great as his hair is red…

Earth-192

Within Dexter's Laboratory

Dexter knelt before an open panel on a wall in his massive laboratory, fiddling with multicolored wires that had gotten tangled up. He had been hard at work keeping his workspace in ideal condition for hours.

"And…there…we…go!" Dexter let out a sigh of exhaustion. "That knot took far too long!"

The young genius rolled up his right sleeve and wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead. That was when he then saw a shadow appear on the wall. It looked like a person with twin pigtails.

"Dee Dee, not now!" Dexter groaned as he began to turn his head around. "I told you that I'd come down for dinn—Whaaat?"

Despite all his knowledge, even Dexter can find himself making incorrect assumptions. This was one such instance, for he is not looking at his elder sister, but Bubbles, the blue wearing blonde who is the joy and the laughter of the Powerpuff Girls, the sentinels of the city of Townsville.

"Hi, Dexter." She tilted her head and smiled with her bright eyes closed.

"B…Bubbles," Dexter rose to his feet. Her greeting shook him in a way, not that he'd admit it. "You're so cu—Err, I wasn't expecting you!"

"Dee Dee let me in," Bubbles explained before he could even ask. "She would've walked me all the way to the lab, but…" she leaned against a nearby control desk and giggled for a half second. "…Mandark showed up."

"Oh no," Dexter groaned and walked over to stand by her. "I honestly feel a little pity for him, now that I know his attempts to win her affections were even more hopeless than I thought."

"He tried to invite her to your town's Christmas tree lighting." Bubbles said.

"Dee Dee is going to that already," Dexter smirked. "She even has a date. A g—"

"A girl." Bubbles finished for him. "She was talking to your parents about it when I came to the door. She tried to explain it to Mandark too…" she then pulled opened her closed palm, revealing a sprig of mistletoe. "…Then he pulled this out and begged her for a kiss."

Dexter couldn't help but let out a big laugh. It was so hard that he even held his stomach for it. Bubbles threw up her arms in surprise.

Ah. There it is. The mistletoe. I knew it was going to turn up sooner or later. …What was Mandark even thinking? I'm feeling secondhand embarrassment for the lad and we didn't even watch that part.

"My apologies," Dexter went back to normal, albeit with a smile. "I just couldn't help myself just then…" Dexter then noticed how the mistletoe was in Bubbles' raised hand. Suddenly, he did something he rarely ever did; He stopped thinking. "Bubbles…"

"Dexter…?" she lowered her arms.

Dexter then quickly pecked Bubbles on the lips. He pulled away almost instantly, but the deed was done.

"...Oh…uh…" Bubbles said. "I…"

"Sorry!" Dexter shouted, his face red with embarrassment.

He then ran out of the lab, leaving her standing there confused. She hadn't even gotten a chance to tell him about what had happened to her, Blossom, and Professor Utonium in Chile.

Oh, Dexter, you dog…*ahem* Now let us move on to another world. I have gazed upon this one before. It is a world that is home to many famous heroes…as well as many other heroes who sometimes don't get the credit they may necessarily deserve.

Earth-92131

Elton T. Morrow Memorial Airport, Arizona

"Please, everyone, calm down! It's not up to me!" a baby-faced airport employee pleaded with a crowd of angry people.

The crowd erupted into a chorus of unnecessarily personal insults, threats to sue, and calls for the random airport employee to be fired. The frightened young man clung to the vest of an older coworker who looked like she could be his grandmother if they didn't have such different features.

"What do these nutcases think this is gonna accomplish?" she grumbled under her breath. "It's not our fault that there are space aliens screwing around up there."

Indeed, the old woman was speaking the truth. In various, seemingly random parts of the American southwest were multiple flying ships from beyond Earth's solar system, all belonging to a minor, though nonetheless race known as the Aakon. While they had only first appeared a short while after a plane had just landed at the airport, in fact. A good number of Earth-92131's superheroes had arrived in record time to combat the Aakon threat. So…yeah, not exactly what I'd call 'good flight conditions'.

The unruly crowd continued to scream increasingly bizarre and nonsensical threats at the one employee they had randomly decided to blame for everything. From the nearby food court, a disheveled looking, dark haired woman in her early thirties was sitting alone at a table. She tried not to pay too much attention to the mob.

Meet Ursula Gray. No relation to Jean Grey of the X-Men. She's a very normal, human woman with a quite mundane life that we normally wouldn't focus on.

"Y'know, I kind of lucked out," Ursula mumbled the words of the text she was composing to herself. "If my flight didn't land when it did, I'd be stuck up in the air."

She took a break to take a bite out of a mini egg roll on the tray next to her phone.

"Yeah, I would've preferred maybe spotting one of the X-Men up there instead of being stuck in this ugly airport, Dad," Ursula wiped some soy sauce off her chin with a napkin as she typed. "At least the people on our flight didn't seem like they'd hurt people, though the old guy seated behind me did shoot me a pretty intense glare. "

She stopped and wondered why she even included that last detail, and deleted it and replaced it with something more relevant to her father; 'I'll try to be there soon'.

Ursula Gray had been many, many hours away from her home state to attend her old college roommate's destination wedding. She still had no idea why she had been invited, since she and her hadn't even been particularly close. Perhaps she didn't want to seem rude. Plus, she had managed to get back home in time for the holidays despite everything. Well…Almost home. There was still the bus to catch.

"Aw crap!" she shot up from her seat when she saw the time. "It's probably already here!"

She grabbed her one large bag of luggage and ran as quickly as she could, dodging the mob that was continuing to form around the crying airport employee who seemingly everyone but her was blaming for all their woes. Within minutes, she was out of the main building. It was a dark, cloudless night and she saw the bus that would bring her ho—BAM! A figure had just landed on top of the bus.

"Damn those rotten Power Pack brats!" the figure angrily shouted in a deep masculine voice.

He leapt off of the bus. Ursula gasped. The man was tall and brutish and had literally yellow skin. His broad face had a bovine-like snout and upper lip and he had a lion-like mane of blue tinted black hair. His eyes were white voids. He wore a metallic red leotard with massive shoulder pads.

Yes, an alien warrior had literally fallen out of the sky above. He was one of the aggressive Aakon, and had been forced to eject from his ship when the cosmically empowered team of young siblings known as the Power Pack had arrived to keep the Aakon from attacking a nearby town.

To Ursula's dismay, her bus home sped away right after the alien warrior got off of it. Not that she could blame the driver for wanting to get away.

"I hate you worthless humans!" the Aakon male growled and saw Ursula staring at him. "What do we have here? A normal one? Perhaps this is my lucky day. I shall take you as a hostage, and your protectors will be forced to stand down!"

"Not if we can help it!" a man shouted.

Ursula turned to see two men running up from a short distance away. She had no idea how to react to all this. The one who had shouted ran up and quickly got in between the aggressive Aakon and Ursula, while the other stood closeby. The first was a Navajo man with long black hair poking out from a stylized motorcycle helmet who wore a black jacket, jeans, and red gloves and boots. The other appeared to be a Japanese Latin American, had black hair styled into a pompadour and wore a sleeveless black vest over a striped t-shirt, black fingerless gloves, pants, and heeled suede boots.

"Oh, what do we have here? Some bystanders trying to play hero?" the Aakon sneered.

"We don't have to play." the Navajo man held up his fists and looked over at his ally. "Lemme wear him down, Johnny. Then you can work your magic."

"Sounds groovy, Eagle." Johnny smirked and gave him a thumbs up.

We now find ourselves watching two of the superheroes of this world who there's a likely chance you haven't heard of before; Jason Strongbow, alias American Eagle, and John Hashimoto, alias Johnny Cool. With his superhuman strength, agility, and stamina and enhanced senses, the American Eagle has defended the helpless in both his native Arizona and beyond, teaming up with many more well known heroes such as Captain America. Born the grandson of a Frost Giant who was cursed to live on Earth as a human, Johnny has the power to shoot freezing blasts from his hands and create a cold aura around himself, and has used these abilities to become a local, Arizona-based crimefighter who models himself on the image of 'cool cats' from the pop culture of decades past.

American Eagle threw himself shoulder first at the Aakon warrior and struck him in the stomach, causing him to stagger back. Yet he did not fall and tried to counterattack by slamming his fists down where American Eagle stood. He swiftly evaded it, and this process repeated a few more times, resulting in damage to the pavement. Ursula ran and ducked for cover behind Johnny Cool, who was waiting for American Eagle to give him the signal to strike.

"Don't worry. When it comes to fighting the bad guys, he's solid." Johnny said to assure her she'd be alright.

American Eagle then slugged the Aakon across the face four times in a row, each punch stronger than the last. He then laid himself flat on the ground, which confused the Aakon warrior, but not Johnny Cool.

"And so am I," pointed a finger gun at the brutish Aakon. "Solid as ice!"

He shot a pale blue and white freezing blast at the Aakon, who was weakened from fighting American Eagle to dodge it in time. Within an instant, he was essentially rendered a giant, yellow popsicle. American Eagle got up.

"Are you hurt, miss?" he extended his hand to Ursula, who'd just gotten up from behind Johnny.

"I'm fine, thanks to the two of you!" she smiled, but then she remembered the bus zooming away. "Oh no! The bus! I was going to go stay with my father for the holidays, but how am I supposed to get there now?"

Johnny motioned over in the direction of an impressive looking motorcycle. It was American Eagle's, which he had ridden to the airport. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see what was being suggested.

"I…I suppose I could give you a lift, before I get back to fighting the Aakon," American Eagle offered. "Though if you'd rather wait for another bus in the airport, I wouldn't be offended."

"I am definitely not going back in there!" Ursula pointed at the airport. "There's a crowd of people who looked like they were gonna flat out murder the staff because of the flight delays!"

"That sounds pretty bad. Sounds like they need help cooling down," Johnny smirked. "I'll stay here and try to keep things from boiling over."

"Good idea," American Eagle nodded. "Plus you can help in the off chance more of the Aakon show up. Still, I don't want to ditch you."

"No gringles. If I need help, I can give my boys a bell," Johnny started to swagger up to the airport. "It's not like we're the only superheroes here in the Copper State."

It's true. There are a few more heroes based in Arizona, many of whom were helping superhero teams such as the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and, yes, the Power Pack. Sadly, we don't have time to observe their exploits right now, but perhaps you'll get to see them another day.

American Eagle led Ursula over to his motorcycle, gave her his spare helmet to wear, and hopped on with her seated behind him.

"You said you were going to your father's place, right? Please tell me you know the way." he looked at her before starting it up.

"Yeah. It's actually not that far," she responded. "But walking alone in the dead of night is not something I want to do."

The Navajo superhero nodded. He didn't need her to explain that to him. After a quick turn of the key, his ride roared to life and they sped away, both hoping that Johnny Cool could help out with the situation inside the airport without much trouble.

"Hmm…" a figure with naturally angry, piercing eyes watched them from an unlit rental car as they rode through the parking lot. "The American Eagle and…the woman from my plane I briefly mistook for one of the X-Men's relatives? Curious." He clenched the steering wheel with his purple gloved hands. "Perhaps she will end up on my 'Naughty List' after all. …Maybe."

But of course, the two couldn't have possibly heard the man sitting in the dark. Instead, American Eagle listened to Ursula's instructions, which would eventually lead him to a quaint little neighborhood where at least two thirds of the houses had lights, decorations, or at least a wreath up. A nice escape from a world that seemed to be getting crazier with each passing day.

Thanks to Jason Strongbow, Ursula Gray would be able to arrive in time to spend the holidays with her family. Yes, I know some of you would've preferred to see the big battle in the sky, but I think these events mattered just as much. Don't worry, for I can assure you that the Aakon will be defeated by the united superheroes — including American Eagle, Johnny Cool, and the rest of Arizona's local ones — before the sun even rises. But speaking of champions who battle spaced-based menaces…

Earth-500

The New Castle of Lions, in orbit over the planet B'jwaard

Within the walls of a gleaming tower-like spacecraft, a meeting was being held at a large white table shaped like a five pointed star. Five individuals sat at this table, with the group consisting of two men, two women, and one younger girl who all wore variations of the same uniform; A bodysuit that consisted mostly of color of the robot lion they piloted and some smaller white segments, white elbow high gloves and knee high boots that were both tipped with metal claws, white sash belts with metal buckles shaped like a stylized 'V' for 'Voltron', and metallic white helmets designed to evoke lion heads with open mouths that contained black full face visors with LED eyes.

If you have heard of the Voltron Force before, these are very likely not the pilots you are used to. Not only that, but if you had been there when this new incarnation first formed, you would be surprised to see how far they had come since then. Just recently, the heroic team successfully liberated B'jwaard, an obscure planet whose population was the very first to be insidiously taken over by the followers of the Shining One, the villain they were recruited to stop from conquering their universe.

At the center of the table was a crystalline orb that projected a hologram of a near elderly humanoid male with features evocative of a large Earth feline. He wore ornate pink robes that could be best described as a fusion of vaguely asiatic and Celtic designs .

"It cannot be overstated how grateful my people are to you," he spoke in a faintly hoarse voice. "Without the five of you and the great robotic warrior you form, we would still be forced to grovel before that horrid false god."

This notably thankful individual is Amlev Anaj, the Prime Minister of one of B'jwaard's most prominent city-states.

"Like with your planet, we intend to liberate any place that has been infected by the Shining One's influence." stated Swift, the pilot of the Black Lion.

"That's right," nodded Wei, the pilot of the Blue Lion. "Which is why we appreciate all the supplies you provided us with, Prime Minister."

"You defeated two fearsome Robeasts for us," Amlev Anaj smiled. "The least we could do was offer you some food for when you depart."

"I'm so glad you did!" Anargul, the pilot of the Red Lion, blurted out before stopping herself. "We appreciate it, especially the rice."

Anargul normally doesn't care that she's much younger than the rest of the New Voltron Force, but she still has fleeting moments where she worries the people they save will think she's childish. Personally, I believe the group would fall apart without her.

"It's a practical foodstuff to have on hand." Swift agreed.

The B'jwaardite politician barely noticed due to being more focused on the pilot of the Green Lion, Moa Plel. Or rather, he was more focused on Moa's chest, which was rather hard to kiss thanks to the team uniform. To his credit, he quickly averted his eyes when he realized his eyes had drifted there.

"Umm…Yes," stroked his whiskers. "Also, thank you for helping us in our efforts to strengthen our defenses. We should be prepared soon for when you leave to help others stand against the Shining One."

"We'll be coming back down to your city in two days. The five Lions will help speed up the process," said Kwashi, the pilot of the Yellow Lion. "Over and out."

The holographic turned off and the five pilots removed their helmets to put on the table. Before anyone could comment on anything the Prime Minister had said, Anargul leapt out of her chair and ran out of the meeting chamber. Everyone looked fairly confused.

"I'll be in the kitchen if you guys need me!" the young Kazakh girl called over her shoulder as she zoomed to the elevator.

"Did she just say the kitchen? She doesn't go there very often," the Ghana-born athlete put on his glasses. "Y'know, I haven't even seen her eat at all in a while. I hope this isn't a sign of an eating disorder."

"It's okay, Kwashi," Swift addressed his teammate's concerns. "I already asked Anargul why that was, and she told me she was fasting. Back on Earth, it's a time of year when she and her family normally would."

"Really? That's interesting," the beaked, green feathered alien woman stood up from the table. "I'll see you all later."

It appears that Moa's interest has been piqued. It should come as no surprise that she would soon make her way to the ship's kitchen as well, in search of both Anargul and of greater understanding.

Moa stood outside the door to the kitchen and took a moment to enjoy the smell of not only hot rice, but also the scents of a red meat, a root vegetable, and a hot spice.

Beef, carrots, and cumin, to be precise. …Don't look so surprised, my friends; I've watched enough humans cook to know a thing or two about the ingredients they use. Though don't ask me to make peach pie, because the last time I tried was a disaster on par with when that giant troll attacked Oslo on Earth-2018151212. Nellpar is still bitter that I wasted all his peaches...

When Moa entered, she was met by the sight of Anargul overlooking a pot of simmering stew, which was the source of the aroma she'd smelled on her way in. The counter next to the stove was covered with misshapen wads of dough.

"Oh hey, Moa." Anargul looked up from the pot.

"I never knew you fancied yourself a chef," Moa walked up to her. "What is this pungent dish? I already want to give it a try."

"I don't consider myself a chef. Not really. I'm just going off what I remember seeing my анам do," Anargul gestured at the pot. "This is plov. She makes it every year for my family's Christmas meal."

"…Christmas? Oh yes, that seasonal festival from Earth. I've heard of it once or twice," Moa recalled. "I didn't realize you celebrated it."

"My family isn't what you'd call devoutly religious, but we always try to remember the holidays," Anargul started to explain. "You see, the Kazakh version of Christmas is pretty different from the one you've probably heard of. There's different traditions and even a different time we do it. So every year, my family fasts and then we make a feast. It's all so we can keep in touch with our roots."

"I see…" Moa closed her eyes. "It must be that time of year back on the human home world, so you're trying to still do it even though we're so far away."

Anargul nodded yes silently.

She doesn't have to say that she misses her family and their home. Moa Plel had already pieces that together. Anargul's life was once a simple and happy one. Though she will likely never admit it, she had rarely ever left her town before becoming a member of the New Voltron Force, despite living in a futuristic universe with almost countless occupied planets where humans and many other species can go.

"One day I'll get to celebrate with them again. I know I will," Anargul then said, staring down at the plov. "But I can't go back. Not until we've taken down the Shining One and his cult for good. They were already worming their way into places on Earth when Vince recruited me to pilot the Red Lion. So even if I did go back right now, I'd still have to fight them."

Moa awkwardly tapped on the counter with her three taloned fingers.

"…Uh oh. I...hope that wasn't too heavy." Anargul rubbed the back of her neck.

"No. The Shining One has hurt all of us. I understand," Moa said and pointed at the lumpy balls of dough. "Tell me, will those be going in this…plov…as well?"

"Actually, no," Anargul chuckled. "That's my attempt at baursak, a dessert. Would you like to help me fry them?"

"Of course," Moa said warmly. "Unlike some things you eat, fried dough is something we have back on my home world. Let's get to it."

The Red and Green pilots being the ones to be celebrating a form of Christmas together is rather fitting, don't you agree? It's nice to see that even new heroes fighting a war against a fallen one can have moments like this. Hopefully that food turns out nice and scrumptious, so that Anargul thinks her parents would've liked to join her team at the table.

Now then, what next? Yes, even I will occasionally forget what order I decided to go with. Where is that list? …If we're being perfectly honest, there's so many other Christmas moments in the Multiverse that I could choose from. One universe I was hoping to be prepared to show you was Earth-19825, but I only just recently gained access to it and have only seen so much as of right now. It's a world where there's no more war thanks to the debut of its superheroes, who prevented the start of World War Three. Each country having a single designated hero certainly surprised me, as well as how they all answer to a mysterious woman called Uni-Lord. The current hero of Japan is called Shy and she lives up to that name and then some, so seeing how she spends Christmas would probably be rather amusing if we were to—Wait. Apologies for the tangent, my friends. That hardly ever happens. I just remembered that we're supposed to be checking in on the Yuletide escapades of a different teenage superheroine. One whom I believe you've seen swinging around the Big Apple at least once before …

Earth-61065

The Eight Corners Mall in New York City, NY

Spider-Woman grabbed the Scorpion's lunging tail before she could be struck by its stinger. She pushed back with all her might, only to then be struck by the massive pincer that had replaced his once human left hand, sending her flying into the window of 'Spackler's', a novelty gag footwear chain with a location in the mall. Spider-Woman smashed through the glass and landed on a large display of marijuana scented sneakers with stereotypical stoners printed on the tongues. When she looked up, she saw a muscular Guatemalan American teenage jock in a company shirt staring down at her in shock. She recognized her instantly, though he had no clue that she was Mary Jane Watson behind the mask.

"Spider-Woman?!" Flash Thompson gasped, stunned that a famous superheroine whom he admired had just landed in front of him at his part-time job. "What the heck is happening right now?!"

Much like Eugene here, I'm sure what you are asking right now as well. It appears that my little aside earlier caused us to be 'late to the party', as they say. My apologies. Really, this hardly ever happens. So, as you could probably tell, Mary Jane and some of her friends were at the mall doing some Christmas gift shopping when this world's incarnation of the Scorpion appeared to attack a store and she tried to confront him as Spider-Woman. Hopefully that's all the catching up we'll need to do.

Spider-Woman saw the Scorpion slowly approaching the broken store window. Flash gulped in fright at the sight of his monstrous appearance; The Scorpion was as tall as a steroid abusing linebacker, his dark green exoskeleton covered most of his once human body, and his fleshy mandibles dropped with hot slime. His one pincer claw and the tip of his tail were craggy and sharp. The Scorpion glared angrily at Spider-Woman with his six dark colored eyes as she got up from the large pile of novelty shoes.

"Why must you stand in my way, Spider-Woman? I deserve justice!" the Scorpion spoke with a shrill, shrieky voice that would've almost been comical if it didn't sound so uncanny. "This ungrateful nation is erasing my legacy!" There was still a faint trace of the man he once was in there, whom people once admired. "I went to the stars for you all, and they're pulling my toy from the shelves!"

Spider-Woman gestured at Flash to hide behind a display of slippers designed to look like rainbow colored gorilla feet. She then leapt out of the Spackler's to get closer to Scorpion. Packaged toys were scattered all about.

"You know we don't want to fight you, but we can't stand by and let you take out your anger on innocent people. You can stop this right now," Spider-Woman pleaded. "Please don't force us to take you down, Colonel Jameson."

Okay…Time for some backstory; This Scorpion is not MacDonald Gargan or even Elaine Coll, but John Jameson, the son of J. Jonah Jameson and a former celebrity astronaut. In this universe, the spores that infected Jameson while on a space mission didn't transform him into the Man-Wolf, but into the Scorpion. His transformation led John to fall into despair, and then to villainy soon after, ruining his family's reputation. That should cover just about everyth—Wait, did Mary Jane say 'we' just then?

"You think you and your buddies can take me down?! Yeah right!" Scorpion scoffed and pointed back over to where their fight had started with his more human-like hand. "Just look at that one, girlie!"

Over by the front of the toy store that Scorpion attacked was Shang-Chi, who was pinned under an enormous pile of dolls of the character of Inma, a blonde haired Spanish giant girl from the recent Disney Animation film 'Gigantic'.

"Dang," Shang-Chi groaned under the Inma dolls. "This little lady sure is popular."

We missed a teenage Shang-Chi getting buried under dolls? It would've been entertaining to see how that happened. Again, my apologies, friends.

"They replaced the action figure made of me with a goddamned Disney Princess!" Scorpion spitefully screamed.

"She's not a princess, actually." Shang-Chi corrected him, only to be ignored.

"All because I was transformed into this!" Scorpion motioned at himself. "It isn't fair!"

"Cry me a river!" someone shouted from above.

Scorpion and Spider-Woman both looked up to see Mary Jane's cousin Michelle, who was webbed up to the top of a support pillar along with a Thai-American teenage boy who was dressed in a Santa Claus coat and hat that were blue instead of the classic red. Michelle had an artificial wreath around her neck.

Yes, a lot clearly happened right before we got here. I know, I know. Okay, so Mary Jane had webbed Michelle up so high so she would be too far away for the Scorpion to potentially harm her while she and Shang-Chi fought him. The boy Michelle is stuck up there with is Tom Somchart, another classmate of there's who had also been in the mall when the Scorpion attacked.

"Look, I get that your situation sucks," Michelle continued. "But the reason they pulled your Funko Pop or whatever is because you're a murderer!"

"Yeah! You killed the administrator of NASA, and that would ruin anyone's reputation!" Tom shouted.

"Silence!" the Scorpion shrieked. "Be silent or I'll come up there and turn the two of you into figgy pudding! Get it? Because it's Christma—oof!"

Spider-Woman kicked him hard across the face, knocking him backward. She then dashed over to help Shang-Chi get out from under the pile of dolls. But Scorpion gave chase and tackled her from behind, causing the two to fall into a fountain decorated with garland and red bows. As the two grappled with each other in the penny filled water, two figures looked on from inside a glass walled elevator that was stuck a couple floors up from the ground floor.

"This stinks!" Jonathan Caesar complained. "Not only did this stupid elevator get jammed before we could get down there to serenade Mary Jane, but that friggin' Spider-Woman and that vile Scorpion no doubt made her run away from their scuffle!"

Caesar was dressed in a revealing, glittery costume that the mall's Party Cottage had labeled 'Sexy North Pole Elf (Men's)' and was holding a ukulele, which he almost smashed against the glass before feeling the touch of a paw on his back. Caesar looked at his less perturbed ally and companion; an upright anteater wearing an open flannel shirt and a polyester flat cap, who was holding a paper coffee cup in his other front paw.

"Breaking your instrument now will not make you feel better later, C-Man," the anteater spoke in a chill, friendly and completely human sounding voice. "So don't go breaking that early Christmas gift I gave you, 'kay? You'll get another shot with the redhead, bro. Relax, or you'll go full Carnage in public."

"…You're right, Musicianteater," Caesar set down the ukulele. "One day, whether I have to use the Symbiote that weird guy gave me or not, I will break the spell that rotten Mariko Yashida has on my beautiful Mary Jane and we will live happily ever after in my Uncle Gaylord's mansion in South Dakota. In the meantime, I should count myself lucky that I've got the smartest, most musically gifted anteater in the world to help me along the way!"

"When we get out of here, I've got a gig," Musicianteater sipped his soy milk chai latté with peppermint shavings. "But after my set, I'll help you cook up another scheme to get into MJ's pants."

Just then, the elevator started working again and the unusual pair of sinister best friends laughed as they ascended to the top floor.

I have nothing. I have absolutely nothing.

Back down below, Shang-Chi had managed to get out from the pile of Inma dolls on his own and had just taunted Scorpion into chasing after him, which distracted the poisonous villain from Spider-Woman. She took the opportunity to climb up to Michelle and Tom, free them from her webbing, and carry the two down to safety.

"Hey, Spider-Woman, remember when Jameson mentioned figgy pudding?" Tom asked. "Maybe if you found a really big one, you could trap him inside of it!"

Spider-Woman and Michelle looked at one another, with both cousins sharing the exact same look of utter bafflement.

"Tom, you're a cute enough guy and all, but that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard that wasn't said by a guy on Twitter with an anime girl profile pic," Michelle yanked the wreath off her neck and tossed it to the floor. "Why would the Eight Corners Mall have a man sized figgy pudding? Where would it even be? How would it hold him? Why wouldn't she just use her webbing? The whole idea makes no sense at all."

"…Did you just say I'm cute?" Tom asked.

"Can you just pretend to believe me when I say I didn't?" Michelle asked.

Spider-Woman couldn't help but chuckle, but then remembered Shang-Chi. The web slinging superhuman turned to go help him combat the Scorpion, only to see Shang-Chi walking up to them while pulling a wooden platform on wheels, which carried a figgy pudding so large that the rowdy villainess known as the Rhino could hide behind it with little effort. Scorpion's pincer claw and his right foot poked out from it and muffled screams could be made out from it.

"I just trapped Scorpion in this big ass pudding in the store he chased me into!" Shang-Chi announced with a big smile on his face. "I can explain everything, but don't ask me why the Old Liberty had it!"

The Christmas song 'Feliz Navidad' then began playing over the mall's many speakers and several people who had been ducking for cover in the surrounding stores — including Flash and a man in a big foam shoe mascot costume — emerged and started dancing to the song in a big circle around the giant figgy that held the defeated Scorpion. Shang-Chi, Michelle, and Tom all got involuntarily dragged into the dance and Spider-Woman swung away on a web to go switch back into her normal clothes and hopefully continue her day of Christmas shopping as Mary Jane Watson. She still needed something for Mariko.

Despite that not going quite how I planned it, I think that ended on a pretty nice note, don't you? The holidays truly are an interesting time of the year. They can represent so many different feelings and messages, and mean so many different things depending on the year and on the person. It can be a time when one questions the best course of action to take when it comes to what we give to those we love…

Earth-1114

The Batcave, Gotham City

Batman sat in front of the Batcomputer and scratched Ace the Bat-Hound's back. Sitting on the console was a beautiful diamond ring in a small open gift box. It wasn't a normal ring, but one that he had forged on a cosmic adventure where he had teamed up with both Adam Strange and Space Ghost.

"I just don't know if proposing to her on Christmas is foolish or not, Ace," Batman confessed to his faithful mutt. "We only just started talking about moving in together. Going this fast may scare her off."

He then looked up at the screen, which showed a live feed of the memorial dedicated to the late B'Wana Beast. A short while before B'Wana Beast sacrificed himself to destroy Starro and the Faceless Hunter, he and Vixen had gotten engaged. Batman could tell how much Vixen still wished she could've shared more with B'Wana Beast before he died. Batman picked up the ring box and stood up. He had made his decision.

It can be a time when we think about what it means to be a part of our families…

Earth-8107

The Yoshida Household, New York City

A pajama-clad Yū Yoshida sat at the desk in her bedroom, looking over a sketchbook. She could just make out the chatter from downstairs; Her mom and dad were having coffee with her Uncle Bobby and his boyfriend Ralphie Bohner. She had said hello and wished them a Merry Christmas, of course, but had since slipped upstairs so she could try to figure out the perfect design for her future superhero suit.

"I bet Cooper Coen from Mrs. Yang's class wouldn't have any trouble coming up with a cool outfit. He manages to piece together at least one new look every week," she sighed as she looked over all the crossed out scribbles on the page. "Hmmm…Would goggles work? Maybe do something with my hair?"

Yū then picked up a Gingerbread Ant-Man from a plate of them she had nearby and nibbled on it while leaning back in her seat. The young daughter of Firestar and Sunfire wanted to honor the both of them with her costume, but she wasn't sure how to do it just yet. But she knew a spark of inspiration would come, and then the world would finally meet Starblaze. Hopefully by the next winter at the latest.

It can be a rare time when we hope to feel that we are at harmony with one another…

Earth-199596

Auckland, New Zealand

Up above the city, the hero known as Judo Beetle flew through the air on his new robotic carapace wings. The day's sun shined off the largely light green and partially aqua blue armor pieces and helmet of his battle suit. Though Lyle Midorikawa didn't use these wings every time he went on patrol as Judo Beetle, he was more than happy to use them when it meant getting to fly along with the woman flying beside him. Or rather, flying just ahead of him. Her armor was nearly identical to his, but with noticeable difference beyond the changes made to fit her smaller frame; The armor pieces and helmet were mostly stark white with faded orange-pink segments and the body suit underneath was a pale gray instead of black. Whereas the lenses of Judo Beetle's helmet were a greenish yellow, those on hers were a rich magenta. Unlike his own plain and colorless wings, her carapace wings were a mixture of all her suit's non-white and non-gray colors.

"Y'know, babe, I think I may actually be more suited to the flying bit than you are," Dr. Alexis Skarab teased her lover and took his armored hand in her own. "Come on. We don't want to be late."

The people of New Zealand knew her as Cloud Beetle, mostly because she was often up in the air over the battles that Judo Beetle got to on the ground, where she would help from above. Thankfully, there were little fights for the two Kiwi superheroes to find in Auckland that day. The couple instead watched the people down below as almost all of them prepared for the rapidly approaching holidays. So they kept flying to their destination. , hoping that their enemies such as the crooked businessman Mr. Johnson would allow this season of peace to continue. They would have to remember to give Lyle's American cousin Kim and her fellow Skysurfers a call and see how they were doing. It had been too long.

It can be a time when we are reminded to think of others whom we may otherwise not…

Earth-7383

Mira Ge Memorial High School, New York City

A fresh-faced black teenage boy with dyed orange dreads poking out from his winter toque sat down at a table in a small, sparsely furnished room. After taking a look over a short stack of papers he had come in with, he took a deep breath and then turned on the microphone that sat before him. Out in the high school's hallway, various students who had yet to bother to get to their assigned homerooms talked about what they planned to do over Winter Break and were poking at the various cheap holiday decorations that the student pep committee had randomly put up around the halls. The speakers blared to life and the boy's voice could be heard throughout the building;

"Good Morning, Mira Ge High! We here in the Media Club hope you have a merry good time listening to these Morning Announcements!

First off, a reminder that the canned food drive and the new sock drive both end today. So if you have anything to give, bring it to the big red and white striped box outside the gymnasium or the big plastic bucket outside Room 34, respectively. Both will be collected at the end of today's last period.

All outdoor sports practices have been called off for the week due to Winter Break. Yes, that includes hockey too, so make sure to return your sticks to Coach Finkelstein during lunch for safekeeping if you forgot and brought them in today.

A message from our Reptile Appreciation Club; If you have a cold blooded pet at home, do not take it out into the cold without a reliable heat source. We wouldn't want to lose our little turtle friends over the holidays, right? Heheh…Not our lizard and snake friends either, of course! Turtles were…uh…just an example. Yeah.

Lastly, let's all make sure to take the time today to wish one another a very merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, a bountiful Kwanzaa, a peaceful Ramadan, and a moving Winter Solstice. …Wow, there sure are a lot of these. Now I see why they invented 'Happy Holidays'. Saves time. Anyway, this has been August O'Neil from the school Media Club and thank you for listening to today's Morning Announcements. Insert Candy Cane Pun Here…Wait, no one wrote one? C'mon, guys…"

The voice and the fuzz over the speakers then came to an end and the few students in the hall rushed to where they needed to go. Back in the small room, August O'Neil had just turned off the microphone. He smiled in amusement while wondering if anyone in the school even knew that there was no Reptile Appreciation Club. August was happy he had kept his promise to the Turtles to sneak in a subtle reference to them, and he was sure the four mutant ninja girls would be too when he went to help set up their Christmas tree.

It can be a time when we hope to be reunited with friends who we haven't seen in a long time…

The Four Realms

Philip Hoffman stood in the snow under a canopy of towering green pine trees. The boots of his pristine uniform had sunk a bit over half an inch into the frosty blanket of white. Shiver took pride in the snow that the Land of Snowflakes so perfectly created and let spread throughout the Four Realms. From all of the stories he had heard from Shiver since becoming Captain of the Guard, it was clear that the departed Queen Marie had clearly been a fan of the wintertime. It had obviously influenced the Four Realms when she invented so much of it and made it a place of wonders.

"Hmm," Philip elegantly leapt over a huge fallen pine branch and began to muse in his mind. "She even created me, in the grand scheme of things. I wonder what she would've thought of me. Would she be in favor of a mere nutcracker being in charge of protecting these lands?"

He pushed aside the thought, as he wasn't just a mere nutcracker, but the only one in all of the Four Realms. He had helped Clara Stahlbaum, the daughter of their departed queen, stop Sugar Plum from seizing control over all the lands in her grief for Marie and her contempt for Mother Ginger. If there were any other 'mere' nutcrackers in the Four Realms, surely they would take pride in Philip becoming Captain of the Guard, not unlike Shiver's in the snow and icicles and how Hawthrone's in the colorful flowers. It was strange, but he could've sworn that he could vaguely remember the faces of others who were made from nutcracker toys, somewhere in the back of his mind, but blocked by a fog.

"Perhaps you can help me with these dreams, Clara" he thought to himself as he continued on his way. "Even if not, it would be nice to go on an adventure with you again. I hope this is the year you make your return."

As Philip walked away, he suddenly felt a dark presence appear behind him. Yet when he whipped back around with his sword drawn, he saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. Figuring he had just imagined it, the noble nutcracker put his weapon back in his sheath and continued on his way. He didn't hear the ghostly, childlike giggle that came from one of the pine trees.

Yes, it can be a time that holds different meanings and feelings for all of us, whether we realize it or not. Its impact can't be overstated and it is hard to escape, but we always want it to go well, whether we are surrounded by friends and family or whether we are…all alone. So thank you for joining me for this, friends. It's nice to be included. For some of us in this chaotic Multiverse, it can turn out to be the greatest gift of all. Until the next time we meet, may your days be merry and bright.

When I first started writing this one, I originally intended to write 12 vignettes (Because of the 12 Days of Christmas, naturally), but it ultimately didn't work out that way. Some ideas just took priority over others that weren't as fully formed. In the end though, I included everything I considered a "must have", so I'm happy with the final product. Hopefully you're happy with it too.

Some Notes:

- I left what happened in Chile ambiguous because the Pighead and I actually figured out a plot that they'll be using as a chapter for DEATHFAME. So the part on Earth-192 is set after that future chapter.

- Despite what it seems like, I don't earnestly ship Dexter and Bubbles. I certainly don't think they're "OTP" material. This recurring element is really just meant to play with the expectations of Powerpuff Girls fans who ship Blossom with Dexter.

- I didn't really have a good idea for a female character to have be Dee Dee's date, so I left it open to be used later (by myself or anyone who wants to do a shared CN universe story of their own).

- The Aakon are a minor alien race in Marvel Comics, where they appeared fighting the Kree. I tried to make them a bit more non-human in appearance.

- Johnny Cool is a very minor superhero in Marvel Comics, where he was created to be part of the Arizona based group "the Desert Stars" in Avengers: The Initiative, a tie-in to the Civil War event. He first appeared in Issue #16 of that and also appeared in an American Eagle one-shot comic, hence his inclusion here.

- 'Elton T. Morrow' was the civilian identity of Blue Diamond, an obscure Marvel Comics superhero from the 1940s (who actually first appeared when they were still Timely Comics). Thought I'd just take the name of character like that for the airport in the story, with the idea being that Blue Diamond existed on Earth-92131 and was notable enough to have the airport named after him after he died.

- The planet B'jwaard in the universe of Earth-500 is a reference to B.J. Ward, the original voice of Allura and Haggar in Voltron.

- Prime Minister Amlev Anaj continues the reference, with both of his names being other roles of Ward's spelt backward; She was Velma in multiple Scooby Doo projects and also Jana of the Jungle in the show of the same name. He's panther-like because of her role in the Pink Panther and Sons cartoon as well.

- I went to multiple websites to research how Kazakh Christians celebrate Christmas, so hopefully they were accurate.

- Earth-2018151212 is meant to be the setting of the Norwegian monster film Troll. I thought it'd be fun to have Uatu allude to being aware of events on other worlds we don't see directly. Speaking of which...

- Earth-19825 is the setting of the manga Shy and its anime adaptation. I had just started watching the anime online when I was writing, so I decided to throw in a reference to it since I think it would be a nice addition to the IC Multiverse.

- Much like the Eight Corners Mall itself, the stores mentioned to be in it are fictional and are based on real stores (ie Spackler's being a fusion of Skechers and Spencer's).

- The idea to have the Scorpion be John Jameson on Earth-61065 stemmed from the idea of J. Jonah Jameson creating the Scorpion in a different sense of the word, aka being his father.

- Gigantic was an actual animated film based on Jack and the Beanstalk that being made at Walt Disney Animation Studios that was announced, but was ultimately cancelled. On Earth-61065, it was completed and was properly released.

- Musicianteater is loosely inspired by the minor villain Doctorangutan, mostly in terms of the idea of combining a profession with the name of an animal. ...That is all is all the explanation you're going to get. Just roll with it.

- I originally intended for a longer, proper Batman: The Brave and the Bold segment which would properly reveal who it is he's entered into a relationship with and having him discuss it with another hero. Due to time constraints, I made it into the shorter version here in the story, so now it's more of a tease of things to come. I'll more than likely make a one-shot and/or Addendum about this later on. Trust me, you're gonna be surprised.

- If you were surprised by the mention of Space Ghost existingon Earth-1114, the titular character, his sidekicks, and one of his foes actually appeared in a cold open Batman: The Brave and the Bold, for the episode "Bold Beginnings".

- Back in Make the Yuletide Amazing, I established that Bobby/Iceman was dating a guy name Ralphie as a reference to A Christmas Story. I decided to retroactively make him the Earth-8107 version of Ralph Bohner from WandaVision just for fun.

- Cooper Coen, the classmate mentioned by Yū, is Web-Weaver in the comics on Earth-71490, where he is the local Spider-Man equivalent and Spider-Totem. His Earth-8107 counterpart is just a normal kid who happens to be a prodigy of sorts in fashion design, though I could see him becoming the answer to the late Peter Parker in Yū's own team after she debuts as Starblaze.

- I thought it'd be nice to briefly revisit Earth-199596 and follow up on the tease at the end of L1701E's 'Family Reunion'. I kind of missed the setting, to be honest, and I appreciated the chance to pick out the colors for her suit and come up with a name.

- Earth-7383 is a new world in the Multiverse and isn't my creation, but actually Movie-Brat's. As you could probably piece together, it's their take on a TMNT universe with the genders flipped. You know the drill. While talking about worlds to include in this Christmas one-shot, they suggested I include it...but since they have yet to introduce the setting and its inhabitants, we agreed that it'd be better to just essentially give Earth-7383 a "preview" in the form of August (AKA the male April) thinking about the female Turtles.

- Lastly, I decided to introduce The Nutcracker and the Four Realms to the Infinity Crisis Multiverse too, because why not include an actual Christmas movie based on a story/ballet that's heavily tied to Christmas? I only just watched it earlier this month on the recommendation of a friend of mine and enjoyed it just enough to think it could be included in something like this.

Well, that's probably enough. After all, it's Christmas Eve and I'm sure we all have something going on because of that. With that in mind, thank you so much for reading. Some reviews would be a real nice gift *wink wink*.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS