NIGHT had come and the visitors to the Harman's Toy Store had finally left. The Meet Santa Claus days had been a huge success, which they probably would have been anyway but the publicity that had been gained following the revealing of the Christmas Rocket launching on Christmas Day for Coralville had caused a massive surge in not only sales but visitors as well.

Nicholas, the man who had been rescued from the flagpole by International Rescue had quickly realised he could not do the work alone, so a second Santa actor by the name of Leo had been brought in. For a full three days they'd worked very hard, seeing all the children and giving them presents to take home and open on the day. They weren't the only ones who'd been working hard though. Santa's helpers had also been hard at it, none more so than the two recently-employed elves who had been helping Nicolas. What nobody, not even Harman knew, was that the two women playing the elves weren't actually two people who'd been looking for work. They were in fact Hayley Madison and Amanda Thompson, working undercover as part of a plan by Hayley.

When the day's work was done, the two Santas plus their elves exited the Hideaway and turned off the fake snow machine.

"Phew!" said Nicholas as they came out. "That's the last of them. I'm beat."

"You can say that again," agreed Leo. "But it's been worth it to see the looks on the children's faces."

"That I agree," said Nicholas. He turned to the elves. "Thank you for the help, you guys. It's been greatly appreciated. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Santa," the elves replied.

Hayley and Amanda watched as the two Santas and the other elves left the room outside the Hideaway.

"Sheesh," said Amanda, removing her hat. "Why did I even agree to this? Hate to say this, Hayley, but this hasn't been your best idea ever."

Hayley removed her own elf hat. "This was the only way I knew to get us close to any potential action," she said. "If we'd hung around in our regular uniform, anyone wanting to get access to the bank would see us and go elsewhere. At least like this, nobody would suspect us."

Amanda scoffed. "And we've not even seen anyone even looking remotely suspicious," she said. "If you ask me, we should just report back to the Colonel and-"

Hayley had held up her hand. "Hush! Did you hear that?"

Amanda listened. "What?"

"I heard a knock," Hayley replied. She began to move slowly around amongst the tables covered in Christmas toys and other decorations.

Amanda joined her in looking. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "I didn't hear a thing," she said. "Could have been Nicholas or Leo bumping into something on their way out?"

Hayley continued to scan the room for anything unusual. Then a large black box caught her eye. "That wasn't there this morning," she said and cautiously moved towards it.

BOING! The lid of the box suddenly sprung open to reveal it was a large Jack-in-the-Box, making both women jump. And then they heard a voice. "Hold it right there!"

They both swung round and then froze, their mouths agape. It was Nicholas and Leo, still in their Santa suits but without their hats and beards. They could see their real faces more easily now. Nicolas was short and stumpy with a woollen hat now on his head. Leo was the much taller of the two with a lot of brown bushy hair. Nicholas was brandishing a gun.

"What the hell is-" Amanda began.

"Shut up!" barked Nicholas. "Get back in that room!"

With their GDF equipment hidden away, neither Hayley nor Amanda could do anything except comply. They walked back into the Hideaway with Nicholas on their tail.

"Sorry to backtrack on what I said earlier," Nicholas said once they were inside the room.

"What are you two up to?" demanded Amanda. "Stealing toys is a bit unnecessary, isn't it?"

"Save it, Mandy," cut in Hayley.

"That's right," said Nicholas. "You two keep quiet and you won't get hurt."

Leo then walked in carrying some rope and a roll of tape.

"Are you going to tie us up?" asked Hayley.

Leo grinned maliciously. "You bet I am," he said, sounding like he was going to enjoy it.

"No fooling, Marv!" growled Nicholas. "Just get on with it, and do it right!"

"Yes, Harry."

The next floor down from where the Santa's Hideaway was located was one of the many store rooms inside the Harman's Building. It was here where a man named Desmond was busy working. He'd spent the past few days wrapping up the presents that were to be loaded aboard the Christmas Rocket. Once a present was wrapped, he would then carefully place it inside the canister that was waiting nearby.

"Jingle Bells. Jingle Bells. Jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to wrap these toys on Christmas Eve."

There was a knock at the door. "Come in?"

The door opened and Harman walked in. "Might need to work on the rhyming of your lyrics there, Desmond," he said.

Desmond was a little embarrassed. "You, er, heard that? Sorry, Mr Harman."

Harman chuckled. "No need for apologies, Desmond. It is Christmas after all. How's it going?"

"I'll be done in about an hour," said Desmond.

"Good, said Harman. "I just thought I'd come and tell you that the rocket has been fully assembled."

"All it needs now is that?" said Desmond, nodding at the nearby canister.

"Indeed," said Harman. "As soon as it's loaded, have it put into the elevator. However, it won't be loaded until about two minutes before take-off."

"I can't wait to see it go," said Desmond. "The publicity for it has been tremendous."

"Better than we could have hoped for, Desmond," agreed Harman. "And the sales these past few days have gone through the roof. We must have had about a million kids visit our Santas today."

"Have you seen them, Mr Harman?" asked Desmond. "They said they'd be up to join me when they'd finished downstairs."

"They're probably still tidying up," said Harman. "Best to leave them to it. They'll come join you when they're ready."

"I guess so, sir," said Desmond. "I was hoping to catch those two new elves we brought on as well. They're kinda cute. Especially the British one."

"Yes, I have no idea where they came from or why, but they've done splendidly well," said Harman. "I shall be sure to give them a healthy pay package for their work. The two Santas will get an extra bonus for the amount they've had to work through these past few days." He turned to leave, then remembered something. "Oh, one more thing, Desmond."

"Sir?"

"I shall be watching the rocket launch from the roof. You are very welcome to join me."

"Thank you, sir. It'll be my pleasure."

Harman nodded with a smile and then left.

Desmond returned to his work, wrapping up a model Windmill. "Hmmm," he mumbled to himself. "I wonder where those two have gotten to? Oh, well. Probably tied up with something."

Beyond the thick walls that separated the two buildings, Vault B of the Second National Bank, located above Vault A on the Second Floor, two security guards were making preparations to close the vault up for the rest of the Christmas period. The vault was brand new and had literally just been filled with hundreds of gold bars and caches full of money.

The Head of Security, Martin Crane, was on the phone to the Bank's Manager. "Yes, sir. We're just about to test the alarm system before closing the vault up. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. And a Merry Christmas to you too, sir. Goodbye." He put the phone received back on the wall and turned to his colleague Patterson. "Okay, Phil. Give it a tap."

Patterson was standing in the open doorway of the vault. He was holding a baton in his right hand. He gingerly reached down and gently touched the tiled floor of the vault with the end of it. A loud alarm bell instantly began ringing which was silenced two seconds later by Crane when he pushed the reset button.

"Alarm check, A-Okay," Crane said. "Close the door."

Patterson stepped out and the large door slid down from above, sealing the vault off.

"That's quite an alarm system," Patterson remarked. "We should get that installed on the one downstairs."

"It should be installed in the New Year," said Crane. "Want some coffee?"

"Sure," replied Patterson in his gruff voice. "It's gonna be a quiet night so why not?"

The two men headed off, oblivious to what was taking place beyond the wall in the neighbouring Harman's Building.

Marv had just finished tightly binding Hayley and Amanda together, back to back with their wrists tied in front of them. He'd placed a piece of white tape over their mouths as well to keep them quiet. His greedy eyes then noticed the engagement ring on Hayley's finger. "I say, sheree," he said in a very poor French accent. "But I think you'll find it's me who is the lucky man tonight." He started to reach for it.

"MMMPH!" Hayley's muffled angry grunt was accompanied by a sharp kick in his right knee despite her feet being bound together.

"YEEEEEOW!" Marv exclaimed whilst stumbling backwards.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT, MARV?!" demanded Harry.

"All I wanted was her ring, Harry," said Marv.

"We're not here for jewellery, you idiot!" snapped Harry. "Leave them and get over here!"

Marv gave Hayley a look of contempt which she gave him back in return. She watched the two men whilst getting tugged about by Amanda who was trying to break the ropes.

The two men rolled out a blueprint of the building. "So the vault is about there," Marv said. "We shall cut through that wall right there."

"I got the equipment," said Harry. "Let's get started."

They walked over to the thick concrete wall and started to put together multiple pieces of equipment which assembled into a large drill.

"Hey, Harry?" said Marv. "How much do you reckon is in there?"

"Gotta be ten million," said Harry. "Give or take a million."

Marv's eyes flashed greedily even more than they'd done when he'd noticed Hayley's ring. He couldn't wait to get his hands on what was inside.

Harry set up the drill, placing it against the wall and started drilling into it. Once he was sure he was through, he began to move the drill back and forth whilst moving it upwards. Dust fell to the floor on both sides but the dust inside the vault only landed on the ledge between the base of the wall and the floor. None of it therefore landed on the floor and the alarm was not set off.

Due to the wall being very thick, Harry couldn't move the drill too quickly, and Marv wasn't a patient man. "Hurry up, will you?"

"I'm moving it!" Harry snapped back. "This wall's thick. Just like you are."

Marv wasn't smart enough to come up with a response.

Neither man paid attention to their two captives tied up on the other side of the room. Amanda couldn't see them but could hear the drill. She was rocking and tugging trying to break them free. This was annoying Hayley. She tugged hard herself to make Amanda stop whilst trying to talk to her with the gag on. Little did Amanda know it, but this was actually what Hayley was wanting. Once she'd gotten Amanda to quieten down, she raised her bound hands up towards her face. But instead of removing the tape so she could bite the ropes, she moved her fingers in front of her eyes, activating a pair of concealed contact lenses which began scanning the room. She then fixed her gaze upon where Harry and Marv were by the wall.

Colonel Jennings had been sound asleep when an alarm started buzzing on her bedside table. She groaned loudly and sat up, rubbing her eyes and reaching to turn it off. This wasn't her wake-up alarm though.

"Colonel Jennings, I'm getting an emergency beacon."

"Err, hello, Rigby. Yeah, it's woken me, too. Meet me in my office. Bring Captain Lavender with you."

"Yes, ma'am."

Colonel Jennings got out of bed and put on her dressing gown. Her quarters were located inside the main building next to her office so she was already at her desk before Rigby and Lavender arrived. She sat down at her desk and pushed the button. "Yes, Madison?"

Instead of a response from Hayley, what Colonel Jennings saw instead was a live video feed that was being recorded from Hayley's eye contacts. Looking closely, she could see two figures in Santa outfits by the wall but couldn't quite see what they were doing due to Marv standing and blocking out the drill Harry was using.

Colonel Jennings began typing into her desk keyboard. 'What's the situation?' and then pressed 'send'.

Hayley saw the message appear in the heads-up display that she could see within the lenses. Whilst unable to speak or type anything, she instead used thoughts to type a message back. 'Two men, named Harry and Marv, are attempting to break into the Second National Bank.'

Colonel Jennings frowned. Then she typed back 'Why are you just observing?' and sent it.

Instead of sending a message back, Hayley instead lifted up her bound wrists which told the Colonel all she needed to know.

"Damn it, Madison!" she said. "This is not what you were supposed to-" She broke off as a realisation hit her. There was a knock at the door. "Come!"

Rigby and Lavender then walked in. "What's going on, Colonel?" asked Rigby.

"Madison and Thompson have found their targets," said Colonel Jennings. She indicated for them to both look at the screen.

Lavender raised an eyebrow. "What are those two doing?" she asked.

"Attempting to break into the Second National Bank which is on the other side of that wall," said Colonel Jennings.

"And they're just sitting and watching them?!" asked Rigby.

"It would seem that the two men caught them off guard and took them prisoner," said Colonel Jennings.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Rigby. He began to rush for the door. "I need to get there fast!"

"Hold it, HOLD IT!" Colonel Jennings shouted. "I haven't given you your instructions yet."

"Colonel, my wife is-"

"I thought you weren't going to let personal feelings interfere with your work, Captain?"

Rigby fell silent. "Sorry…Colonel…ma'am."

"You will get to help your wife, Rigby," said Colonel Jennings, getting to her feet. "I want you both to take a Squad and apprehend these men as well as release your fellow Captains. Now I shall remain here and monitor this footage Madison's eye-lenses are sending me. Step to it!"

"Yes, ma'am," Lavender and Rigby answered together before sprinting out of the room.

Colonel Jennings turned her attention back to the video feed. "Keep watching them, Madison. This will be the perfect evidence."

Harry had completed three-quarters of the large circle that he'd been cutting into the wall. As he'd been doing this, Marv had been busy putting a harness on himself ready for when they had access to the vault. Neither man paid any attention to their captives who were still rocking about a bit on the crate they were sitting on.

Soon Harry had finished drilling the circle. "First bit complete. Now for the second," he said. He made sure to put the drill in the exact middle of the circle and drilled through again to the other side. He then put the drill down and pushed a large grapple hook through the hole which latched itself onto the wall on the opposite side. Next, using a rope each, the two men heaved and pulled with all their might as the wall slowly but surely began to move towards them, inch by inch.

Hayley's eyes widened as she watched them. Amanda had managed to shuffle herself a bit to the left and now she too could see what was going on.

The section of wall then broke free and fell to the floor with a hard thud. Luckily for the thieves, it was not heard anywhere else within the building.

Marv took a torch and shone it into the vault. "Hello?" he called out. "Anyone home alone? Ow!"

"What are you doing, you idiot?" growled Harry after kicking Marv in the ankle.

"I dunno, I, er," stammered Marv. but then the torch light fell upon something that made both men's eyes light up. A stack of shelves with each holding several bars of gold bullion. "URIEKA! OW!"

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSShut uuuuuuuuup!" hissed Harry, kicking him again in the ankle. He then snatched the grapple gun from Marv. "Give me that!" He pointed it through the hole and fired a suction cup over to the wall on the opposite side. "Get yourself attached," he instructed. "Get in there and get the gold!"

Colonel Jennings was still watching the feed. She could see that Marv was getting ready to go inside. "This is perfect," she said to herself. "I might even cut Madison and Thompson the slack for getting themselves caught." She reached over to a button and pressed it. "Captain Rigby?"

"Yes, Colonel?"

"One of the thieves is about to enter the vault. How soon will you be there?"

"We're airborne. ETA about twenty minutes from now, Colonel."

"Good. Now listen, Captain. I want this kept on the low profile as much as possible. I will not be informing the NYPD, and make no attempt to land on the roof of the Harman's Building. The Christmas Rocket is taking up the landing space."

"Understood, Colonel," said Rigby. "Do we know if they're armed?"

Colonel Jennings looked at the screen. "I can't tell, but I'd guess so," she said. "Let me double-check with Madison." She then typed into her keyboard. 'Are they armed?'

Hayley didn't respond to the message at first. That's too obvious of a question, surely? She thought to herself. However she still responded with 'Yes they are'.

"That's an affirmative, Captain," Colonel Jennings said.

"In that case, do I have permission to go in as Captain Liberty, Colonel?"

"Permission granted. But if at all possible, take them down before they get a chance to use their weapons. I don't want Madison and Thompson caught in a crossfire."

"I won't let that happen, Colonel. Rigby out."

Captain Lavender was in the Flyer's Command Seat whilst watching over the crew that were flying it. She turned as Rigby walked in, now wearing his Captain America-style outfit. "Going in to save the day?" she asked.

"Damn right, I am," replied Rigby. "Although Madison has told the Colonel that these guys are armed. It'll come in as a handy defence against them as well as the perfect offence should they make a run for it."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," said Lavender. "I know thieves are often thick and stupid, but let's hope these two don't put up a fight."

Rigby didn't answer for a moment. "Between you and me, Captain," he said bitterly. "I kind of hope they do…then I can smash them for taking my wife hostage!" He then stormed out of the cockpit leaving a rather concerned Lavender behind. As she looked around the cockpit, she could tell that the crew had all overheard and seemed just as concerned.

"What is our ETA to New York?" Lavender asked, trying to break the tension.

"Seventeen minutes, Captain," answered the Navigator.

Lavender nodded in acknowledgement, trying her best to stay focused on the mission and not on what her colleague might end up doing.

Desmond was still working on the presents but was finally on the home stretch. The intercom buzzed sounded beside him. "Yes?"

"How's it going?" asked Harman.

"Almost there, Mr Harman. Just got one more present to go."

"Very good," said Harman. "When you're ready, have the canister moved to the elevator. The rocket is being fuelled up as we speak. Come up to my office once the canister is in position."

"Okay, Mr Harman," said Desmond. "Say, Leo and Nicholas still haven't come by yet. Nor have the two girls either."

"I expect they're pretty tired, Desmond," said Harman. "Probably gone home already. I wouldn't worry about it. Just get that last present wrapped and then come up to my office."

"Yes, Mr Harman."

Although he tried not to show it, Desmond was feeling slightly dejected. He'd made what he believed was friends with the two Santa actors over the past couple of days. It didn't seem right that they would just go out without him when they'd said earlier in the day they'd come by to see him. However, he knew fretting over it wasn't going to help so he went back to his work. He wrapped up the final present - a model train set of the Polar Express - before placing it into the canister. He then reached across and pushed the button to close the doors. He then programmed the canister's hover technology to move it from the packaging room to the elevator that would take it up to the roof where the rocket was waiting.

Once it was inside the elevator, Desmond walked away, leaving it alone. It was now ready. But unfortunately, so were the thieves.