Prism Christmas Special

White specks of snow spawned from the twilight aether above and fluttered to the ground. The white blanket crunched underneath Clara and Monty’s feet as they made their way through the alpines. The night was silent, not even the scurrying of a squirrelmunk filled their—

“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Dalton groaned and a waft of fog floated from his mouth.

The couple looked over to their left at Dalton, who trudged through the snow with his shoulders slumped over. He looked like a sad cake the way the snow freckled his hair like powdered sugar.

“Remind me why I’m spending my Christmas Eve third-wheeling with you two instead of cuddling with my girlfriend in front of the fireplace in our pajamas, sipping hot cocoa?”

“Well, if you want the best cioppino in the world as you requested, we need to find a special breed of clamcrab,” Monty said. “A species only found in mountain springs. Plus, if you grate the pearl inside, it makes for a phenomenal topping on your pastries.”

“The cioppino we used to steal from those five-star posh places, man?” Dalton sighed. “I can just smell them! Those would warm you right up!”

“Besides, Lizzy just didn’t want to go,” Clara scoffed.

Dalton frowned at the memory of Elizabeth instantly denying his summons. “No, it’s too cold,” she had said brusquely.

“I would’ve gone myself, but I can’t use magic,” Monty sighed.

“Then why are you here?” Dalton asked.

Monty tilted his head slightly. “Because there’s no way I can trust you to know what the crab looks like. Plus, Clara came along so we don’t lack any firepower.”

Monty wrapped his arm around Clara’s shoulders and Clara cuddled up next to him. Dalton glared at them with a tired frown.

“Whatever. Let’s just get the stupid crab and go home…”

****

From the branches of a tree, a mechanical penguin watched from above with camera eyes and passed its livestream to a monitor in an unknown location. A man watched the screen from the shadows.

****

The trio came across a frozen spring and made Dalton search for the crab beneath the ice. Dalton sighed, and skated across the surface of the pond, keeping his eye out for the clamcrabs. Once one was spotted, he’d pour his aura into the ice through his toes and shatter it before reaching into the freezing (room temperature to him) water and snatching it. He’d show it to Monty who’d check to see if it was the right species, and once verified, they were stored in a bag. Dalton repeated this process until he’d filled a sack with four of them.

“Alright, let’s head home yeah?” Dalton smiled irritably.

His smile quickly dropped to a frown as he tossed the bag to Monty before leading the way home.

“Someone’s sure grumpy even though he personally requested a certain dish and it’s Christmas,” Clara scoffed.

“Yeah, well I only requested it because I thought someone else would do it. Also, I am currently not snuggling with my extremely beautiful girlfriend with hot cocoa in my hand, so yes, I am grumpy.”

“You’ll have plenty of time for snuggling on Christmas day tomorrow,” Monty reassured.

“Says the guy currently hugging his girlfriend,” Dalton muttered.

Dalton stopped in his tracks.

“What’s wrong?” Clara asked.

Dalton pointed to where he was looking. “You guys see that? There’s just a frickin’ snowman over there. It’s got a top hat, a carrot nose, and everything!”

Dalton ran over to it, kicking up snow everywhere.

“Hey, Dalton! We should just keep going home!” Monty scolded.

“Yeah, let’s just keep walking!” Clara chuckled nervously.

“What? I’m just going to go check out the snowman! It’s just a pile of snow, it’s not like it’s going to try and kill me.”

Dalton was just about touch it—

“Everything in the Croconoa Mountains tries to kill you!” the couple exclaimed in unison.

Dalton froze and stared at them with a raised brow. His gaze lowered to the scarf Clara wore around her neck—the scarf Monty gave her when they were first lost in the forest.

I wonder how many PTSD flashbacks have been fueling their anxiety tonight? Dalton thought.

“Look, guys, I know I said ‘there’s nothing like shared trauma to bring people together,’ but c’mon, it’s just a snowman. See?”

Dalton pulled its carrot nose and the snowman’s eyes sparked red. An alarm blared from its head, echoing through the night. Dalton looked at the couple with a guilty smile; they glared back at him with a tired pout.

The roaring of an engine zipped past and Monty felt the back of his collar get tugged.

“Oh,” Monty blurted in monotone as he felt himself get taken off his feet.

“Ah,” Clara exclaimed in the same manner as she felt him get pulled away behind her.

“Eh?” Dalton was the most confused, as he saw a human-sized gingerbread man on a snowmobile snatch Monty and race off into the night.

The alarm went silent, and the two friends stood in shock for a second.

“Oh no!” Dalton exclaimed, his hands gripping the top of his head. “Monty was holding onto the clamcrabs!”

****

“No, you stupid scraps of junk!” the man roared. “I told you to capture the girl! Not him!” He pointed at Monty with a wrench.

Monty was constrained by four pillars attached to a circle which was allowed to rotate freely in a large gimbal contraption. He stared at his captor with a small pout. His captor wore an ugly Christmas sweater under a white lab coat and was currently shouting at his small squadron of androids dressed in gingerbread armor.

The laboratory they were in was the same Chasm facility they came across on their final exam all those months ago. However, it was reconstructed back to working condition.

“Hey, quick question, but why are your robots dressed as gingerbread men?” Monty asked.

“Ugh, it’s fine! Just be ready to capture the other two! They’ll surely come after their comrade, and I can’t have my plants botched by some stupid kids!” he shouted.

“Yes, Doctor!” The robots chimed and gave a salute before marching away.

Monty clicked his tongue. This guy’s ignoring me!

“Tell me, child,” the man said as he poured vodka into a mug. “How did you find out about my operation—my secret hideout?!”

“I don’t know what your operation is. Also, this place isn’t very secret.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, this used to be a Chasm facility, and then Penumbra used it as their secret hideout until we stumbled across it. Kinda like how we stumbled across your plan. I guess this place is just cursed. If you use it as a secret hideout, teenagers stumble into it.” Monty let out a half-hearted laugh.

“I don’t have time for your games,” the Doctor spat. “I have too many things to worry about, so while I finish my preparations…”

The Doctor pushed a button on a remote and the circle Monty was constrained to began to rotate, turning him upside down.

“You can spin there and think about it,” he cackled.

Monty’s eyes widened. “No, wait, I seriously don’t know your plan! I just wanted to get some clamcrabs so I could make my friends good cioppino! If you don’t turn this thing off, you’ll have to clean up the mess! I get motion sick really easi—oh gods,” he groaned as he was turned upside down.

The Doctor left him there, rotating in the air.

****

Dalton’s gaze was directed at the beautiful snowy sky to his left, doing his best to not look at the daggers that Clara was glaring at him as they followed the tracks left by the snowmobile. His whistling of O’ Tannenbaum did its best to cancel out Clara’s frustrated growls. After a while of not getting through to him, Clara fell silent and instead stuck out a finger and gave Dalton a little zap that made him jump.

“Ow! Okay, look, I’m sorry! But how was I supposed to know that tugging on a snowman’s nose would lead to Monty getting abducted by gingerbread men?”

Clara heaved a sigh of defeat. “Yeah, I guess when you say it out loud, it is pretty ridiculous.”

“See?!” It was Dalton’s turn to sigh now. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. Even without magic, he’s still a capable fighter.”

“Is he?”

“I mean, yeah? He’s in the Prestige Program after all.”

“Well, I’ve just never seen him win a fight. He always gets his butt kicked. Have you seen him win a fight?”

Dalton did a quick recap of all the fights Monty’s been a part of which was unfortunately synonymous with a quick recap of all the times Monty’s been beaten up until help arrived.

Dalton took a deep breath. “Yeah, okay we should hurry.”

The two sprinted through the snow as fast as they could and eventually reached a field of snowmen. They paused and exchanged a nod of understanding before proceeding with caution. Once they got close enough, all of the snowmen’s heads rotated to them like barn owls.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Heiress?” the Doctor’s voice blared from the snowmen.

“Uh, hi?” Clara responded. “Do I know you?”

“Oh no, but I know you, sweetheart,” the Doctor cackled.

Clara shivered: less in fear and more in disgust.

“I am Doctor Krauss!” the man boomed. “I was an engineer for the Bernardino Asterium Company for decades!I helped construct the machines which mined the raw Asterium from the earth. However, after your mother passed, your father took control of the company and fired me! He told me I was unstable and wasn’t good for business!”

“Yeah, only really associated with that asshole by name!” Clara responded. “You and I already have something in common! So how about you just tell us what you did with my boyfriend and we can go home!”

“He took my research and my inventions and cast me out!”

“Really sorry to hear that! Look, I hate my dad as much as you do, maybe even more! Let’s just call it a night and give back Monty? Thanks!”

“No, no, no, no,” Doctor Krauss stammered. “I won’t let you! This Christmas night, my gift to the Bernardino family is their just desserts! Starting with annihilating you and all of their warehouses and office spaces in Cysko!”

“Stop ignoring me!” Clara snapped.

“I know you hate your dad, trust me, I get it,” Dalton chuckled to Clara. “But I think he might have been onto something by firing this nutcase.”

“Clara?!” Monty cried.

“Monty! Are you okay?”

“No!” Monty groaned. “This guy is torturing me. He put me on this thingy that keeps rotating and making me—HRGH!” Monty vomited. “I’m dying!” he croaked.

“Mwahahaha! I’ll be taking good care of your friend, Heiress! In the meantime, try not to die!”

The snowmen all around them sprouted gun barrels from their buttons and an energized whine charged up from within each one.

“Duck!” Dalton shouted.

Arcana bolts whizzed over their heads as they hit the ground. Dalton created two clones and each one crafted two shields of ice around their forearms. Clara and Dalton exchanged a nod of understanding before they both got up and rushed forward. The Dalton clones surrounded Clara and used their shields to block the bolts.

They followed the snowmobile tracks until they stopped at the base of a mountain. Clara felt around and her fingertips grazed cold metal underneath the snow. She took a breath and reached out with her aura. She channeled it into the metal door and grimaced as she pried it open slightly with magnetic forces. She rolled underneath and Dalton followed, turning his clones back to slush.

“Say… isn’t this the same place we ran into during our final exam?” Dalton asked, his voice echoing through the halls.

“Yes, yes it is.”

A squadron of gingerbread androids turned the corner at the end of the hall and their left arms transformed into blasters. They fired different colored gumdrops. The red ones exploded like scorch runestones, blue ones like arctic runestones, etc.

“Seriously, why is everything Christmas-themed?” Dalton wondered.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Clara said coldly.

They bobbed and weaved between the projectiles. Once in range, Clara extended a blade of lightning from her hand and skewered two of them. Meanwhile, Dalton threw two daggers of ice at one’s neck. Sharp ice sprouted from it and encased the android beside it, putting both out of commission.

“I’m really losing my patience,” Clara growled as she blew a strand of hair out of her face.

They stepped over the broken androids and proceeded down the hallway. Clara picked up a metal gumdrop from one of their bodies and put it in her pocket.

“Should we split up and look for him?” Dalton asked.

Another group of gingerbread androids blocked off the hallway. Clara reached out with her hand and arcs of electricity flowed forward. Once she got a magnetic grip on the droids, she clenched her hand into a fist. The droids bent to the will of the currents and were crushed together into pieces.

“No need. Let’s just barrel through them and get this over with,” Clara said.

****

“Revenge, huh? Yeah, I tried it, it wasn’t as great as people make it out to be,” Monty said, still rotating. “I know it’s corny, but have you tried friends or love yet? You have the intelligence, just groom the beard and stop the excessive drinking and I’m sure you’ll find someone. Christmas is all about family; you should forget about revenge and go hang out with your family.”

“My family outcasted me when I was young!” Doctor Krauss gargled. He typed away on his keyboard, booting something up.

“Ah, well, nearly all my family died when I was young. I wanted to get revenge and yada, yada, but then there was this girl I fell for and suddenly I didn’t really feel like getting revenge anymore. Don’t have a family? Try a lover.”

“I’m not engaging in this stupid prattle with you!” the Doctor snapped. He downed the last of the vodka in his mug and left the room.

Monty rotated in silence. “I want a hug…”

Luckily, he didn’t need to wait long until Clara’s kick busted the door off its hinges. Monty’s face lit up with excitement.

“Clara!” he cried. “I missed you so much! I’ll have you know that this has just solidified my burning love for you and that revenge is stupid and—oh!” Monty stopped the overdramatization and warned Clara as she approached: “There’s a puddle of vomit over here, be careful.”

Clara destroyed the gimbal machine with a blast of electricity and Monty rolled over to her. She caught it with Monty upside down and she crouched to his level.

“We are never going to the mountains ever again,” Clara stressed before giving Monty a smooch on the cheek.

“Aw, really? But we’ve made so many memories together in the mountains! Remember that one time when you almost died? And what about that other time when I almost died? Oh! And we can’t forget about the time we almost died together!”

Clara just shook her head and rolled her eyes with a smile as she finished dismantling his restraints and Monty fell to the ground with an “Oof!”

“You couldn’t have turned me right side up before doing that?” Monty groaned.

“Nope, it’s funnier this way,” Clara smirked.

“Hey, lovely couple!” Dalton snapped. “Enough with the googly eyes, yeah? We got a Christmas to save and I want to make it back home in time for dinner.”

“While I hate my father, I can’t have this guy destroying my mom’s company before I can inherit it. Besides, being an asshole isn’t worthy of a death sentence,” Clara sighed.

“Alright, we’ve destroyed this place once before, we can do it again!” Dalton grinned.

“Monty, you secure us an escape route,” Clara said. “There should be a garage with a snowmobile we can use. Dalton, you and I are gonna find this guy and beat him up.”

“Yeah, sounds great. Actually, though, I’m gonna add a quick detour to mine and find out where this guy put the clamcrabs,” Dalton smiled before taking off.

“Hey! Dalton, wait! Ugh!” Clara groaned.

Dalton scoured the series of rooms, searching for the sack they brought along. Instead, he came upon a large room that was repurposed into a toy factory. Conveyor belts with boxed presents passed by, machines whirred and hummed as they were being produced and gingerbread androids placed runestones inside each one.

Once Dalton entered the room, all eyes turned to him. He didn’t wait for a response and in a single, fluid motion, crafted and threw daggers of ice at each one, freezing their circuits.

“And who might you be?” Doctor Krauss’ voice echoed through the room.

“If you’re playing the Santa role, then call me Jack Frost,” Dalton grinned. “I’m shutting this whole operation down. But first, what did you do with that bag of clamcrabs? I’m going to need those back.”

“Sure! They’re right here!”

Dalton turned and the bag was in midair, right in front of him. Behind it was the fat man, dressed in his Christmas sweater and Santa hat. On his face was a metal mask. Dalton was so distracted by the bag that he caught it, leaving him wide open for a kick to the gut, sending him flying over the conveyor belt and into a machine.

“I should have known,” Dalton groaned.

Dalton did a kip up and threw the bag, as well as a handful of ice daggers in the air. The Doctor wasn’t the least bit distracted and threw a punch at Dalton’s face. Dalton parried it with his hand and threw a punch of his own. The Doctor caught it and cackled. He grabbed hold of Dalton’s arm and heaved him over his shoulder, slamming him into the floor.

Dalton maintained his focus and caught the falling daggers with his back on the ground. He twisted his body, slashing at the Doctor’s calves as he got back to his feet. When he got up, he noticed the blades were shattered. The Doctor laughed, but Dalton went on the offensive, catching new daggers as they fell and slashing at him.

“Your little magic tricks won’t work on me!” the Doctor wheezed.

With each strike Dalton aimed at him, the Doctor pulverized Dalton’s daggers with the backs of his forearms and quickly countered with devastating blows. The Doctor landed a powerful uppercut to Dalton’s chin and knocked him off balance. As Dalton fell backward, he chucked a knife at the Doctor’s chest. He let it bounce off it to no effect before tapping his elbow and jumping into the air. It drilled into Dalton’s chest, and with a seismic crash, they smashed through the floor and the next floor.

Dalton gasped for air, his aura shield shimmering blue as he struggled to stand. He threw his hood over his head and caught his breath.

“How do you like my combat suit?” Doctor Krauss laughed. “Naturally, I designed it myself. I even demagnetized it!”

Dalton grunted as he turned and clawed the air. An icy wind unfurled and raged forth, creating a massive wave of ice that carved its way through several walls. Dalton panted, fog puffing from his mouth and his arm covered in frost from the loss of integrity in his aura shield. The right half of the Doctor’s body was encased in the wave.

Dalton snarled, entering his demon form. He pounced and landed on the Doctor’s shoulders, ripping away the Doctor’s mask. He slammed his fists over and over into the Doctor’s face. He tried to pry Dalton off with his free hand, but Dalton clawed it away, and with it, an icy wind froze it to the Doctor’s torso.

“Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!” Dalton chanted as he pounded his face over and over again.

He kept going until the Doctor’s eyes closed and his body went limp. Dalton breathed heavily and finally got off his shoulders. Dalton reverted back to his normal state and looked up at the hole he fell through.

“Aw shit, the clamcrabs are back up there.”

Dalton ushered an icy wind that spiraled upward, leaving in its wake a staircase of ice. He didn’t notice the Doctor’s eyes shoot open, having faked his injury and broke his arm out of the ice. He pressed a button on his remote with a devilish smile.

****

Monty and Clara finally reached the door to the garage and swung it open. He stopped, and noticed at his feet were a line of marching nutcracker bots. After a second, they noticed his presence and pointed their rifles at him. Monty’s eyes went wide and he put up his arms. Tiny gunshots rang out and tiny arcana bolts stung him like bees.

“What the hell?!” Monty cursed before punting the bots away and continuing into the garage.

He spotted two snowmobiles and ran toward them. But something else caught Clara’s eye: a giant, red sleigh with a snow plow in front, and two thrusters in the back made it look like a sack of presents.

“Something tells me we should destroy that thing,” Clara said.

“Good idea. Go ahead and do that,” Monty nodded.

Clara took one step toward it and it whirred to life. It hovered above the ground thanks to the propellers underneath and the thrusters on the back initiated. Clara dove inside of it before it blasted off, demolishing every wall that stood in its path.

“Clara?!” Monty shouted as she blasted off into the compound.

Clara got to her feet and scanned her eyes across the dashboard, looking for a button that would turn off the machine. She lost patience and filled the dash with electricity instead, but that only powered the machine. Clara fell back into the chair as it lurched forward with newfound energy.

“Funny, that usually works,” Clara grumbled.

The sleigh found its owner and Doctor Krauss hopped inside with his mask back on his face. The sleigh tilted upward and shattered through the ice staircase Dalton created. The Doctor laughed maniacally as they soared past Dalton and through the roof of the compound, and into the snowy night.

“Well, hello,” the Doctor grinned.

Clara threw a punch, but the Doctor spun and caught it.

“Sorry sweetie, but you’re not tall enough to ride!” the Doctor laughed.

Clara growled and pulled back her other fist, but the Doctor batted it away and countered with his own, knocking Clara back into the seat. Clara leaned to her left, just barely dodging the hand aimed at her throat. She grabbed onto his wrist and surged electricity into him. The Doctor hollered in pain but pushed through it and backhanded Clara so hard, she lost her grip. Clara snarled, a tiny trickle of blood leaking from her mouth, and leaped at him.

From below, Monty and Dalton were on a snowmobile, following them. Monty weaved between the snowmen’s rapid-fire until they were out of range. Monty checked the GPS on the dashboard and his eyes widened.

“They’re heading for the ski lodge!” Monty shouted behind him.

“Cool! Why is that important? It’s just an empty circle of buildings!” Dalton yelled back.

“Not anymore it isn’t! Not after we established havens after our final exam!”

Dalton rolled his eyes. “Oh, great!”

Back on the sleigh, Clara loaded up both legs and kicked the Doctor’s chest, nearly knocking him over the edge. The Doctor looked beneath him and saw the snowmobile in pursuit. He smiled and got back to his feet. He managed to fight off Clara and hit a button on his dashboard. A hatch opened beneath and boxed presents with cute bows fell to the ground below.

“Monty! Just get us close enough and I can create a ramp of ice to—” Dalton was interrupted by the sight of the falling presents to his right.

The presents hummed and exploded in great balls of fire around them. Monty swerved left and right, nearly losing control of the vehicle. Dalton felt the clamcrab bag slip from his hoodie pocket and it sailed away in the wind.

“No! Monty, the clamcrabs! We need to go back and get them!” Dalton cried.

“Seriously?!” Monty snapped. “We’re getting carpet bombed with presents and that’s what you’re worried about?!”

Dalton made puppy dog eyes at the dark night behind them. “Goodbye, my Christmas five-star cioppino…”

Dalton waved his arms in a circle and created a large wave of ice that doubled as both a ramp and shield from the presents. Dalton exhaled and a stream of fog trailed from his mouth, his hands shaky from being encased in frost.

On the sleigh, Doctor Krauss unleashed a two-pronged blade from his suit’s forearm and slashed at Clara. She leaned back, limboing underneath the glistening steel. Krauss was able to pin her against the side of the sleigh, ready to thrust his blades into her chest.

“Time to die!” he croaked.

Monty raced up the ramp and they soared through the sky with the bright, full moon as their backdrop. Dalton leaped from the snowmobile and crashed into Doctor Krauss, knocking him off balance. Clara leaned forward and socked the Doctor in the face. Dalton clutched the side railing, spun his legs around like a breakdance, and kicked the Doctor in the back of the head. The Doctor growled and punched Dalton, knocking him off the sleigh. Dalton reacted quickly and slapped the side of the sleigh, freezing his hand to it. His body was thrown against it and he dangled there for a second when he noticed the propellers.

“Hold him off for a sec!” Dalton shouted over the wind.

“What do you think I’ve been doing?!” Clara shouted back.

Dalton used his free hand to spray frost all over the propellers, freezing them to a halt and jamming them with ice. The sleigh let out a moan and they quickly began to descend.

“You imbeciles! What have you done?!” Doctor Krauss bellowed.

Clara responded by hitting him in the face with a left cross full of lightning followed up by a right uppercut that knocked him into the air.

“Jack Frost nipping at your nose!” Dalton sang in a deep voice, as they plummeted toward the earth.

Monty, meanwhile, reached the ski lodge and evacuated the visitors outside, keeping his eyes on the falling sleigh and presents.

Clara, Dalton, and Doctor Krauss tumbled out of the sky. Clara was able to grasp onto the side of the sleigh. The Doctor got his hands on it too, but Clara surged electricity into the metal vehicle and zapped him off. Dalton fell through the air and created a clone that held onto his hands. The clone spun around and chucked him at the Doctor. He punched him in the face and kicked him away from the sleigh even further.

“Wait! Dalton! At this rate, he’s going to die!” Clara shouted.

Dalton’s eyes widened. “Oh, right! Sorry, I was worried about our lives there for a second!”

Dalton waved his arms and an icy wind circled past and whipped up a slide of ice. He then crossed his arms and feet together as they shot down with extreme speed. Clara tucked herself inside the sleigh and used it as a shield. The Doctor drifted his way back inside and pushed a button on the dash, releasing four large parachutes that slowed their descent. Clara braced for impact as they crashed through one of the two-story cabins. The presents finally caught up, exploding upon impact and lighting the cabin ablaze. One present fluttered close to Dalton and exploded next to him, shattering his slide and sending him flying into a pile of snow, unconscious.

Clara crawled out from the fiery rubble of the sleigh. Across the burning lodge was the Doctor, who groaned as he got to his feet. Clara gave a couple quick breaths before pushing herself to her feet with a whimper. Blood seeped from her head, her nose, her lips. She sniffled and wiped her nose with her thumb, putting her hands up in a readied stance. Her aura shield barely held on.

The Doctor spat a tooth out and brandished his blade. In his other hand, he tossed a stack of snowflakes. They fluttered in the air before zipping toward Clara. She leaned to the left to dodge, but their edges grazed her arm, slicing it. Clara mustered all the energy she had to wobble and duck back and forth, as they homed on her position.

The Doctor didn’t wait and rushed forward slashing at Clara with his blade. She grimaced as she dodged his attack, but at the cost of one of the snowflakes slashing her torso. She let loose an electrical discharge, shocking the Doctor and knocking him back on his feet. She reached out with electrical currents and took control of the snowflakes using magnetism. She turned them onto their sender and the Doctor was forced on the defensive, slashing them apart as they approached.

The Doctor growled and chucked a gumdrop bomb at Clara, who dove out of the way, the shockwaves from the explosion knocking her against the wall. She hit the ground with a thud and her aura shield shattered. She was late to get up as the Doctor thrust his blades at her. She closed her eyes, waiting for pain, but was startled by a metal clang. She opened her eyes and saw Monty with his blade, shielding her.

“No, seriously, why is everything Christmas-themed? What if you ended up being sick today and had to exact revenge later? Or even if you did exact revenge tonight, would you still continue after Christmas even though it wouldn’t fit the motif?”

“Shut up!” the Doctor snapped and Monty pushed him away with his blade.

He turned to Clara. “Are you okay?”

Clara chuckled. “Never better,” she groaned.

He reached out a hand and helped Clara to her feet.

“Hey, Lava Brain?” Clara asked.

“Hm?”

“Help me beat the crap out of this guy…”

Monty smiled. “Sure thing, Thunderhead.”

“Come on then!” the Doctor roared and hurled a present bomb at them.

Clara caught it with magnetic forces and sent it back. The Doctor leaned out of the way, the box exploding behind him. Monty used the opportunity to get close and slashed with his blade, only to be blocked by the Doctor’s own. The Doctor slashed overhead and Monty dropped to his knee and blocked it. Clara stepped on Monty’s back, jumped, and Superman punched the Doctor’s face, knocking him back.

The Doctor stumbled backward and Monty cleaved his armor with his sword. The Doctor swung with his sword arm again, but Monty blocked it. Clara ducked underneath their interlocked blades, landing a couple of electric jabs to the Doctor’s kidneys as she passed.

The Doctor grimaced in pain and focused his attention on Monty. Monty was forced backward, desperately blocking the Doctor’s onslaught of blows. His sword was finally knocked away and the Doctor punched him in the gut, causing him to keel over. The Doctor didn’t let Monty recover, and grabbed him by the hips and threw him up at the ceiling. Before he had a chance to hit the ground, the Doctor sent him flying through a wall with a roundhouse kick. With no aura shield to protect him, Monty’s ribs were bruised, his ears rang, and he gasped for air.

Clara fished the metal gumdrop from out of her pocket and took aim. The Doctor turned toward her and charged, but it was already too late. Lightning surged around her arm and she fired a Railgun Blast. She flew backwards from the force, the bones in her arm shattering without the protection of an aura shield. The blast nailed the Doctor in the stomach and blew apart his armor and sword, knocking him backwards.

It was a slow, painful race to their feet. Each grimaced and groaned, doing all they could to stand up and beat the other while they were down. Clara’s right arm burned with pain. The Doctor got to his feet first and rushed her. He tackled her to the ground, knocking the air out of her. He raised a fist and was about to bring it down on her when, in a golden flash, Monty’s blade pierced his shoulder. The Doctor looked over at Monty, who was on the ground, half-awake, his arm extended from throwing his weapon.

Clara used all of the energy she had left to initiate an explosive counterattack. She let loose an electrical discharge that forced the Doctor to stumble back off of her. Clara went on the attack with her working arm, each resounding punch sparking with electricity. The Doctor threw a weak punch. Clara parried it and elbowed him in the stomach with such force it knocked the wind out of his lungs.

Electricity acted as a poison that made his muscles spasm as he fell backward. But Clara wasn’t done with him. Clara grabbed his leg, and with a triumphant and desperate roar, heaved and spun, throwing him across the room and into the wall, where he finally slumped over, bloody and broken.

Clara stared at her defeated enemy, breathing heavily. She moaned as she limped her way over to Monty and fell beside him with a sigh of relief. Monty crawled his way over and reached out his hand. Clara nuzzled her bloody check in his palm and gave a loving glance to his sweet, small smile before they both passed out.

“Hey! Are you guys okay?!” Dalton cried as he skidded to a halt.

He looked at the unconscious couple at his feet next to the hole in the wall and spotted the Doctor, also unconscious, with Monty’s sword still in his shoulder.

“Oh, well, good job team,” Dalton said as he swung his arms. “I uh, loosened him up for ya. Glad to see you didn’t let it go to waste.”

They were unconscious.

“Yep. Just gonna take that back…”

Dalton hurriedly walked over to the Doctor and planted the bottom of his shoe firmly into the Doctor’s face. He grabbed Monty’s sword with both hands and yanked it out of his body. Dalton whirled it back into a keychain and wiped it clean on the Doctor’s leg before putting it in his pocket. He grabbed Monty and Clara’s legs and dragged them through the snow, away from the burning building.

The visitors of the lodge looked at him with eyes of confusion and concern. Dalton paused to smile and wink.

“Nothing to see here, people! Just some odd cultural traditions!” Dalton chuckled with bravado.

****

Police eventually arrived on the scene and after some medical attention and a lecture from Sagittarius, the three were finally dropped off back at their dorm.

“Goodnight, Teach!” Dalton waved goodbye.

“Merry Christmas!” Monty and Clara said. Clara waved with her left hand while the other was in a cast and sling.

“Yeah, Merry Christmas. Don’t do anything stupid until after the Azure Festival is over!” Sagittarius warned before walking away, waving goodbye.

They walked inside and were greeted by the other half of their team.

“Monty, just leave the cooking to me tonight, okay?” Elizabeth said as they guided the three to the couch.

Elizabeth cradled Clara in her arms and cuddled with her on the couch.

“All yours,” Monty groaned.

“Just what happened?” Paige asked.

“Oh, we just saved Christmas from an evil scientist dressed as Santa,” Dalton sighed.

“I thought you guys just went out to get some clamcrabs for the cioppino?” Amy scoffed.

“Yeah, well, sorry about that Dalton,” Monty said.

“Well, it ain’t all bad,” Dalton smiled and pulled a pearl out of his pocket. “Didn’t you say this would go great with pastries?”

Elizabeth reached over and Dalton handed it to her. “Yes, it would. How about some milk, coffee, and cookies tonight?”

While Elizabeth baked, Dalton and the others recounted the events of the night. Finally, the cookies were ready. A barely visible steam rose up from them, the aroma was heavenly and warmed up their souls. Their mouths watered at the sight of the mushy chocolate chunks neatly decorated with powdered pearl dust.

Clara took the first bite and chased it with a sip of coffee. She melted back in her chair. “Aahhhhh.”

The others followed suit and they engaged in their usual banter as they laughed and ate their sugary sweets. Dalton smiled with a silent chuckle at the sight.

We may not get what we desire every Christmas, but one fact remains: so long as it’s time spent with family and friends, it really doesn’t matter, he thought.

Dalton raised his glass of milk at the reader and takes a swig. With a milk mustache and a little glint in his eye, he winks and smiles.

Merry Christmas everyone, and thanks for reading!