Episode 30:
Ranma's Christmas Carol
Part 2

A Christmas Carol
provided courtesy of Charles Dickens

OUR PLAYERS:
DAVID KAYE as Soun Tendo/Ebenezer Scrooge
GARY CHALK as Genma Saotome/Jacob Marley
KEN SANSOM as Sasuke Sarugakure/Bob Cratchit
RICHARD IAN COX as Ranma Saotome/Nephew Fred
CATHY WESELUCK as Atsuko Shirogane/Belle
JILLIAN MICHAELS as Shippo/Tiny Tim (from InuYasha)
DAVE "SQUATCH" WARD as Alan Invader/Fezziwig
LILIANA MUMY as Lum Invader/Mrs. Cratchit
TERRY KLASSEN as as Mr. Fuyuki [The Director] and Mr. Masao [his Assistant]
MARK HILDRETH as Akimitsu
MYRIAM SIROIS as Akane
ANGELA COSTAIN as Nabiki
TERRY MACGOVERN as Jinn
WILLOW JOHNSON as Kasumi Tendo/Ghost of Christmas Past
MICHAEL DOBSON as Kenma Saotome/Ghost of Christmas Present
SAFFRON HENDERSON as Tsubasa Kurenai/Ghost of Christmas Future

"I wonder how she'll do?" Akane asked.

"Well, she can't be any worse than Mr. Saotome," answered Nabiki.

Eventually, the curtain lifted again, and we find 'Scrooge' asleep in his bed.

Mr. Masao began the next scene with a narration. "Scrooge had only been in bed for an hour, when the first of the three spirits arrived."

In came Kasumi, dressed in white. "Wake up, Scrooge," she said as she gently shook him.

Scrooge waved her off and shuffled under his covers. "B-bah….humbug…" he muttered.

"Come on! Up you go!" Kasumi said as she reached under the covers and yanked him out by his legs, making him bump his head on the floor.

"Oh my! I hope that wasn't too hard." she whispered.

"I'm fine, Kasumi," Soun whispered before getting back into character. "Who, and what are you?"

"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past," replied Kasumi.

"Long Past?" inquired Scrooge.

"No. Your past," Kasumi said. "We're going on a trip, now come on, get up and take my hand."

"But I'm not a ghost! I'll fall!" exclaimed Scrooge.

"Just take my hand," instructed Kasumi. "We're not going to fall, that I can promise."

"Very well, then." he said cautiously as he held her hand. And with that, they were flying through the air.

Naturally, Scrooge had his eyes closed. "What's the matter, Scrooge? I thought you liked looking down on the world?" the ghost playfully mocked.

"NOT FROM THIS HIGH UP!" Scrooge wailed, sweating bullets. "Where are you taking me…?"

Soon, they came to a halt and landed in the snow. "I take it, you remember this place?" the ghost inquired.

Scrooge finally pried open his eyes and looked around. "...remember it? Why, I carried this place in my heart for years!" he beamed.

"Your lip is trembling," said the Ghost. "And what is that upon your cheek?"

Scrooge cleared his throat. "Merely a pimple," he lied. "Let us continue."

The place had turned out to be the old school that Scrooge used to attend. And all the kids were leaving for the holidays.

"The school is not quite deserted," said the Ghost. "A solitary child, neglected by his friends, is left there still."

"I'm…well aware," Scrooge sniffled as he wiped his eyes, while he headed inside the school. Inside sat a lonely boy, reading near a feeble fire; and Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be.

"It's not much fun being ignored by your family, is it?" asked a voice, getting Scrooge's attention. Surprised, he turned to see a young woman in the doorway coming over.

Young Scrooge leapt to his feet and caught her in a hug. "Fanny! Dear sister!" he exclaimed happily.

"I have come to bring you home, dear brother!" said the child, clapping her tiny hands, and bending down to laugh. "To bring you home, home, home!"

"Home, little Fan?" returned the boy.

"Yes!" said the child, brimful of glee. "Home, for good and all. Home, for ever and ever. Father is so much kinder than he used to be, that home's like Heaven! He spoke so gently to me one dear night when I was going to bed, that I was not afraid to ask him once more if you might come home; and he said Yes, you should; and sent me in a coach to bring you. And you're to be a man!" said the child, opening her eyes, "and are never to come back here; but first, we're to be together all the Christmas long, and have the merriest time in all the world."

"You are quite a woman, little Fan!" exclaimed the boy.

She clapped her hands and laughed, and tried to touch his head; but being too little, laughed again, and stood on tiptoe to embrace him. Then she began to drag him, in her childish eagerness, towards the door; and he accompanied her.

"Always a delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered," said the Ghost. "But she had a large heart!"

"So she had," cried Scrooge. "You're right. I will not gainsay it, Spirit. God forbid!"

"She died a woman," said the Ghost, "and had, as I think, children."

"One child," Scrooge returned.

"True," said the Ghost. "Your nephew!"

"Yes." Now Scrooge was starting to feel like a major heel.

Inwardly, Soun began to think about his own life and the tragedy that had set him on his dark path. After all, he'd lost someone dear to him once.

"Although they had but that moment left the school behind them, they were now in the busy thoroughfares of a city, where shadowy passengers passed and repassed; where shadowy carts and coaches battled for the way, and all the strife and tumult of a real city were," read Mr. Masao as the set changed scenes. "It was made plain enough, by the dressing of the shops, that here too it was Christmas time again; but it was evening, and the streets were lit up."

The Ghost stopped at a certain warehouse door. "Do you know this place?"

"Know it?!" asked Scrooge. "I was apprenticed here!"

As Scrooge went to the window, his eyes widened in glee. "Why, it's old Fezziwig! Bless his heart; it's Fezziwig alive again!" he beamed.

Fezziwig [played by Lum's dad] laid down his pen, and looked up at the clock, which pointed to the hour of seven. He rubbed his hands; adjusted his capacious waistcoat; laughed all over himself, from his shoes to his organ of benevolence; and called out in a comfortable, oily, rich, fat, jovial voice:

"Yo ho, there! Ebenezer! Dick!"

Scrooge's former self, now grown a young man, came briskly in, accompanied by his fellow-'prentice.

"Dick Wilkins, to be sure!" said Scrooge to the Ghost. "Bless me, yes. There he is. He was very much attached to me, was Dick. Poor Dick! Dear, dear!"

"Yo ho, my boys!" said Fezziwig. "No more work to-night. Christmas Eve, Dick. Christmas, Ebenezer! Let's have the shutters up," cried old Fezziwig, with a sharp clap of his hands, "before a man can say Jack Robinson!"

In came a fiddler with a music-book, and went up to the lofty desk, and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty stomach-aches. In came Mrs. Fezziwig, one vast substantial smile. In they all came, one after another; some shyly, some boldly, some gracefully, some awkwardly, some pushing, some pulling; in they all came, anyhow and everyhow. Away they all went, twenty couple at once; hands half round and back again the other way; down the middle and up again; round and round in various stages of affectionate grouping; old top couple always turning up in the wrong place; new top couple starting off again, as soon as they got there; all top couples at last, and not a bottom one to help them! When this result was brought about, old Fezziwig, clapping his hands to stop the dance, cried out, "Well done!" and the fiddler plunged his hot face into a pot of porter, especially provided for that purpose. But scorning rest, upon his reappearance, he instantly began again, though there were no dancers yet, as if the other fiddler had been carried home, exhausted, on a shutter, and he were a brand-new man resolved to beat him out of sight, or perish.

There were more dances, and there were forfeits, and more dances, and there was cake, and there was negus, and there was a great piece of Cold Roast, and there was a great piece of Cold Boiled, and there were mince-pies, and plenty of beer. But the great effect of the evening came after the Roast and Boiled, when the fiddler struck up "Sir Roger de Coverley." Then old Fezziwig stood out to dance with Mrs. Fezziwig. Top couple, too; with a good stiff piece of work cut out for them; three or four and twenty pair of partners; people who were not to be trifled with; people who would dance, and had no notion of walking.

Young Scrooge stood in the corner, far too nervous to dance with anyone. And that was when he saw…her.

A beautiful brunette clad in a bright green dress. [Played by Atsuko] Of course, he didn't hesitate to walk over to the young lady.

"Excuse me, but would you care to dance?" Scrooge asked.

"As a matter of fact, I would," replied the young woman as she took his hand, and joined him on the floor.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?" the young man politely asked.

"My name is Belle," the brunette answered, as they continued dancing.

After 10 minutes of dancing, they came to a stop and went off to the side.

"Well, Ebenezer? My eyes are closed, my lips are puckered, and I'm standing under the mistletoe~" purred Belle.

Scrooge cleared his throat. "...you're also standing on my foot," he pointed out.

Belle looked down sheepishly. "Oops," she replied before she backed off, then dipped him and kissed him.

Out the window, Scrooge sighed happily as he watched. "Ah…I remember how I loved her," he smiled.

Kasumi nodded. "Yes…but in a decade, you learned to love something else," she said.

Suddenly, the setting changed.

"Egad! It's my counting house!" Scrooge exclaimed.

"For again, Scrooge saw himself. He was older now; a man in the prime of life. His face had not the harsh and rigid lines of later years; but it had begun to wear the signs of care and avarice," said Mr. Masao. "There was an eager, greedy, restless motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall. He was not alone, but sat by the side of a fair young girl in a mourning-dress: in whose eyes there were tears, which sparkled in the light that shone out of the Ghost of Christmas Past."

"Please, Ebenezer…take it back," Belle said, showing the ring she had been given.

"But why, Belle?" asked Slightly-Older Scrooge.

"It matters little," she said, softly. "To you, very little. Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, I have no just cause to grieve."

"What Idol has displaced you?" he rejoined.

"A golden one. You're a different man than you were a decade ago."

Scrooge turned away. "I haven't changed towards you." he insisted. "I was but a boy!"

"Your own feeling tells you that you were not what you are," she replied. "I am. That which promised happiness when we were one in heart, is fraught with misery now that we are two. How often and how keenly I have thought of this, I will not say. It is enough that I have thought of it, and can release you."

"But have I ASKED to end our engagement?" inquired Scrooge.

"In words, no. Never."

"In what, then?"

"In a changed nature; in an altered spirit; in another atmosphere of life; another Hope as its great end. In everything that made my love of any worth or value in your sight. If this had never been between us," said the girl, looking mildly, but with steadiness, upon him; "tell me, would you seek me out and try to win me now?"

Scrooge hesitated. "Well…" he began.

"Say no more," said Belle as she went to the door. "With a full heart, for the love of the man you once were…" she slid her ring off and dropped it in his hand. "I release you, Ebenezer. May you be happy with the life you've chosen."

"Spirit!" said Scrooge, "show me no more! Take me home. Why do you delight to torture me?"

"One shadow more!" exclaimed the Ghost.

"No more!" cried Scrooge. "No more. I don't wish to see it. Show me no more!"

"But the Ghost persisted in showing Scrooge what had become of Belle after she had left his life," Mr. Masao narrated. "And through that, Scrooge learned that she had since married someone else. She was now a mother of several children, who spent her days helping the homeless. And now Scrooge looked on more attentively than ever, when the master of the house, having his daughter leaning fondly on him, sat down with her and her mother at his own fireside; and when he thought that such another creature, quite as graceful and as full of promise, might have called him father, and been a spring-time in the haggard winter of his life, his sight grew very dim indeed."

"Belle," said the husband, turning to his wife with a smile, "I saw an old friend of yours this afternoon."

"Who was it?"

"Guess!"

"How can I? Tut, don't I know?" she added in the same breath, laughing as he laughed. "Mr. Scrooge."

"Mr. Scrooge it was. I passed his office window; and as it was not shut up, and he had a candle inside, I could scarcely help seeing him. His partner lies upon the point of death, I hear; and there he sat alone. Quite alone in the world, I do believe."

"Spirit!" said Scrooge in a broken voice, "remove me from this place."

"I told you these were shadows of the things that have been," said the Ghost. "That they are what they are, do not blame me!"

"Take me home, damn you!" Scrooge exclaimed, "I cannot bear it!"

He turned upon the Ghost, and seeing that it looked upon him with a face, in which in some strange way there were fragments of all the faces it had shown him, wrestled with it.

"Leave me! Take me back. Haunt me no longer!"

And suddenly…Scrooge found himself back in his bedroom! It was as though he had never left.

"If men were measured by their kindness, Scrooge," the Ghost's voice echoed in the wind. "You would be no bigger than a dust speck."

Kasumi stepped backstage and went to take a seat. Jinn was standing by, a bottle of water ready.

"You were great! Better than great, you were splendid!" he exclaimed, handing her the water.

"Thank you, Jinn." Kasumi said while sniffling.

"Hey, is something wrong?" asked Jinn.

"I'm fine. It's just that the scene was just…so sad!" Kasumi replied as she wiped her eyes.

Jinn gently patted her shoulder while Kenma was getting ready for his scene, which was up next.

"Oh, boy, here it comes!" he gushed. "This is going to be great! Uh, wish me luck, guys!"

"Knock em' dead, Ken!" Ranma said while giving a thumbs-up.

"You got this in the bag!" Akimitsu chimed in.

Kenma nodded as he headed off, shortly before the curtain went up, and we once again found Scrooge, back in his bed.

"A-alright…that HAD to have been a bizarre dream…" Scrooge told himself. "...but it felt so real…"

"Scro-o-o-o-oge…Scro-o-o-o-o-o-ge…" called an echoing voice, but this one sounded less feminine. This time, it sounded more masculine.

"What?!" Scrooge yelped. "Who's there? Sh-show yourself!...please?"

"Out here, Scrooge!" called the voice from outside his room. "C'mon down!"

With his curiosity at an all-time high, Scrooge put on his slippers and made his way downstairs; and when he arrived, he found a very tall fellow sitting in an armchair, helping himself to a chicken drumstick while clad in a long green robe, and wearing a holly wreath upon his brow.

The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green, that it looked like a perfect grove; from every part of which, bright gleaming berries glistened. The crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe, and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there; and such a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney, as that dull petrification of a hearth had never known in Scrooge's time, or Marley's, or for many and many a winter season gone. Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn, great joints of meat, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum-puddings, barrels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears, immense twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam.

[Food provided by Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, the Nekohanten, as well as by Kasumi Tendo]

"There he is! There's the man of the hour himself!" grinned the next spirit. "C'mon, cop a squat and have a bite to eat! We got macaroni, we got sausages, pigs, ducks, duck fat, soda…whatever!"

"I assume you're the second ghost who's come to see me?" the old man asked.

The ghost lowered his chicken to reveal Kenma! "That's what it says on my license!" he replied. "Well, actually it says Ghost of Christmas Present, but why split hairs?"

"I will admit, I am rather peckish." Scrooge said as he rubbed his stomach. "And this magnificent spread sure beats leftover gruel!"

"Well, come on over and help yourself!" the ghost urged.

So the old miser did just that, indulging himself in all the rare delicacies on offer.

"Mmm! Not to sound ungrateful, but where did all of this food come from?" Scrooge asked while eating a corned beef sandwich.

"From the heart, Ebenezer!" said the ghost. "A little something called the Food of Generosity, which you, I'm afraid, have long denied your fellow man."

"Oh!" This made Scrooge realize just how good he had it compared to everyone else. Bob Crachit, in particular.

"Mm-hm!" Kenma nodded. "Not everyone can afford a dinner like this. In fact, I'm going to show you. Grab a hold of my robe, wouldja?"

"Well, alright." he said as he grabbed the pocket of the spirit's robe.

"And awa-a-a-ay we go!" Kenma said as they vanished, only to reappear seconds later as they were on the street.

It was a chilly day, and despite the low temperature, everyone was in good spirits. Even though Christmas was a brisk day, you didn't hear anyone complaining about the temperature or the wear.

"Why did you bring me here, Spirit?" asked Scrooge.

"To check on one of your employees," said Kenma. "Does the name 'Bob Cratchit' ring a bell?"

"Ah, yes. My accountant and book-keeper," the old miser answered.

"Sure, let's check in on him," said Kenma. "See how he's doing on Christmas morning!"

When Scrooge peered into the window, he saw the Cratchit family getting ready to eat. Mrs. Cratchit [Lum] pulled out a tiny cooked bird.

"What's she cooking—a canary?" Scrooge asked.

"Well, it's not like they could get a bigger bird on the salary you pay Bob," Kenma responded.

"Well, I did give him that raise for doing my laundry." Scrooge confidently stated.

"Ah, yes…the hay penny," Kenma remarked dryly. "That'll really make a difference."

"But surely they must have more food than that." Scrooge insisted. "Look there on the fire." he pointed to a bubbling pot.

"What? They're supposed to eat your laundry?" Kenma asked, and again, Scrooge felt lower than a centipede's ankles.

Just then, the door opened, and in came Bob, carrying a young boy with a crutch on his shoulders. [Shippo as Tiny Tim!]

"Everyone, we're home!" he called.

"And how did little Tim behave?" asked Mrs. Cratchit [Lum], when she had rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart's content.

[The daughters were played, in an Early-Bird cameo, by Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung. We'll see how they met our boys next season!]

"As good as gold," said Bob, "and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see."

Bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty.

"That's so sweet of you, Tim!" Mrs. Cratchit said. "Now come along, and have a seat. We're all ready for you!"

And so father and son sat down, joining the rest of their family.

"A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears," said Bob. "God bless us!"

Which all the family re-echoed.

"God bless us every one!" said Tiny Tim, the last of all.

Scrooge couldn't help but notice, in spite of Tim's spiritedness, he seemed a bit frail. "He seems…so weak," he noted.

"What concern is it of yours?" Kenma asked.

"Spirit," said Scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before, "tell me if Tiny Tim will live."

Kenma clicked his tongue a few times. "Not looking good…I'm seeing an empty seat," replied the Ghost, "in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die."

"No, no," said Scrooge. "Oh, no, kind Spirit! Say he will be spared."

"If things stay the same in the future," replied the Ghost, "no one else from my family will find him here. So what? If he's likely to die, he might as well do it and reduce the surplus population."

Scrooge felt ashamed to hear his own words repeated by the Spirit, and he was overwhelmed with regret and sorrow.

"Man," said the Ghost, "if you're truly human at heart, not unfeeling, stop using that wicked talk until you've figured out what the surplus really is and where it exists. Will you decide who lives and who dies? It's possible that in the eyes of Heaven, you're more worthless and less deserving of life than millions, like this poor man's child. Oh God! To hear the insect on the leaf passing judgment on the abundance of life among its starving brothers in the dirt!"

Scrooge bowed under the Ghost's criticism, trembling as he looked down. But he quickly lifted his gaze upon hearing his own name.

"Mr. Scrooge!" exclaimed Bob, "I propose a toast to Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the Feast!"

"The Founder of the Feast, indeed!" exclaimed Mrs. Cratchit, turning red. "I wish I had him here. I'd give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope he'd have a good appetite for it."

"My dear," said Bob gently, "the children! It's Christmas Day."

"It should be Christmas Day, I'm sure," she replied, "on which one drinks to the health of such a repulsive, miserly, hard-hearted, insensitive man as Mr. Scrooge. You know he is, Robert! Nobody knows it better than you, poor fellow!"

"My dear," Bob answered mildly, "it's Christmas Day."

"I'll drink to his health for your sake and for the day's sake," said Mrs. Cratchit, "not for his. Long life to him! A merry Christmas and a happy new year! He'll be very merry and very happy, I have no doubt!"

The children followed her lead in drinking the toast, but their enthusiasm was lacking. Tiny Tim drank it last of all, but he didn't care at all. Scrooge was the ogre of the family. Just the mention of his name cast a dark shadow over the party, which lingered for a good five minutes.

"Truly, this Scrooge fellow is a contemptible sort," mused Kuno in the audience. "'Tis a fortunate thing that I do not treat my subordinates in such a reprehensible…manner…"

And then, for the second time in his life, Kuno's brain cells started working.

But by that time, Scrooge and Kenma had left for another party—namely, that of Nephew Fred. He and his guests were in the middle of a game, called Yes and No, where Scrooge's nephew had to think of something, and the others had to guess what it was by asking only yes or no questions.

As they questioned him, he revealed that he was thinking of an animal—a live one, rather disagreeable, savage, growling and grunting, sometimes talking, roaming the streets of London, not being exhibited or led by anyone, not living in a menagerie, never being sold in a market, and not being a horse, ass, cow, bull, tiger, dog, pig, cat, or bear. With each question, the nephew burst into laughter, so amused that he had to get up and stamp his feet.

Finally, his plump sister, also overcome with laughter, exclaimed, "I've figured it out! I know what it is, Fred! I know what it is!"

"What is it?" Fred asked eagerly.

"It's your Uncle Scrooge!"

And indeed it was. Everyone admired the cleverness of the guess, although some argued that since the answer to "Is it a bear?" should have been "Yes," as a negative response was enough to rule out Mr. Scrooge if they had ever considered him.

"He has provided us with plenty of amusement, that's for sure," said Fred, "and it would be ungrateful not to toast to his health. Here's a glass of mulled wine ready for us, and I propose a toast: 'Uncle Scrooge!'"

"Uncle Scrooge!" they all cheered.

"A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the old man, whatever he may be!" said Scrooge's nephew. "He may not accept it from me, but I hope he has it nonetheless. Uncle Scrooge!"

Uncle Scrooge had become so cheerful and lighthearted that he would have gladly raised a toast in return and thanked them if the Ghost had given him the chance. But the moment passed swiftly, and he and the Spirit were once again on their journey.

They witnessed much and traveled far, visiting many homes, but always with a positive outcome. The Spirit stood by sickbeds, where there was cheerfulness; in foreign lands, which felt like home; among struggling individuals, who remained patient with their hopes; in the presence of poverty, which seemed rich. In almshouses, hospitals, and jails, in every refuge of misery where arrogant humans had not locked the door and shut out the Spirit, it left its blessing and taught Scrooge its lessons.

The night seemed long, though it was only a night; yet Scrooge doubted this, as the Christmas holidays seemed compressed into the time they spent together. It was also strange that while Scrooge remained unchanged in appearance, the Ghost aged visibly. Scrooge had noticed this change but had never mentioned it until they left a children's Twelfth Night party, and he saw that the Spirit's hair had turned grey.

"Are spirits' lives so short?" Scrooge asked.

Kenma twirled his tail. "Well, I AM the personification of Christmas Day, so…yeah," he replied.

At that moment, the chimes were ringing three quarters past eleven.

"Forgive me if I'm not justified in asking," said Scrooge, peering closely at the Spirit's robe, "but I see something strange protruding from your garment. Is it a foot or a claw?"

"It might be a claw, given the flesh that's upon it," the Spirit sadly answered. "Look here."

From the folds of its robe, it brought forth two children—wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt at its feet and clung to its garment.

"You might wanna check down here!" exclaimed the Ghost.

They were a boy and a girl—yellow, thin, ragged, scowling, wolfish; yet also humble in their prostration. Instead of the grace of youth, their features were pinched and twisted by a stale and shriveled hand, as if aged prematurely. Where angels might have resided, demons lurked, glaring menacingly. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any form, throughout the wonders of creation, could be half as dreadful as these monstrous figures.

[Don't worry, folks. These children are actually quite well-fed. It's amazing what a little makeup can do, innit?]

Scrooge recoiled in horror. Seeing them presented in this manner, he attempted to praise them as fine children, but the words choked in his throat, unwilling to participate in such a monumental lie.

"Spirit! Are they yours?" Scrooge managed to utter no more.

"They belong to Man," said the Spirit, gazing down at them. "And they cling to me, seeking refuge from their human creators. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their kind, but especially beware this boy, for on his forehead I see a mark of Doom, unless it can be erased. Deny it!" cried the Spirit, pointing toward the city. "Slander those who reveal it to you! Acknowledge it for your selfish purposes, and worsen it. And await the consequences!"

"Do they have no refuge or help?" cried Scrooge.

Kenma rubbed his chin. "Let's see, maybe they could go to prison…or one of the many workhouses," he sneered. "Oh! Oh! I know! Maybe, they could just die and stop being such a bother to you."

As the bell struck twelve, Scrooge looked around for the Ghost, but it was nowhere to be seen. As the final chime faded away, he recalled the warning of the late Jacob Marley and, raising his eyes, beheld a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded, approaching him like a mist along the ground.

And with that, the curtain fell, and Kenma headed backstage, hanging up his costume.

"Ahhh…that was great!" he exclaimed. "I knew I had acting skill, but…wow~!"

TO BE CONCLUDED IN THE NEXT ACT!