Vol 2: National Development – Special Chapter: Violent Night

Vol 2: National Development – Special Chapter: Violent Night

Materializing on top of a platform, high above the cloud, and on top of one of Yggdrasil's branches, Santa Claus pats his belly in contentment from enjoying the delicious cookies served at the party below. With that out of the way, he goes on to perform a final pre-flight check on his sleigh, pulled by eight reindeer and has a hefty sack of gifts on the back. Midway through his task, Santa notices a couple of guests that have just arrived.

Turning over with a speed shocking for a man of his stature, Santa welcomes them with a big smile. "Lady Yggdra and one cute little guest! I welcome you to my humble abode, hohoho!"

His laughter is infectious as Yggdra smiles lightly while the slime that she's holding in her hands, claps its tentacles excitedly. "Saint Nicholas Cage, still attentive to your work as always."

Nodding, Santa replies respectfully. "Yes, milady, we can't have children unattended for Christmas. I would be unfitted for the title if I couldn't handle the job in this holiest of days."

"I see," Yggdra says. "Carries on then and don't mind me."

Yggdra then proceeds to pat the slime a few times before materializing a Christmas hat for it to wear. "I'm just here to let my little friend witness Santa Claus, in the flesh."

"Hohoho! Hello there then, little one! You're welcome to tour my abode as much as you like. Oh, right! Here." Santa creates some Christmas treats, handing them over to the slime that happily munches on them. Seeing the slime giving him a thumb-up, Santa laughs before nodding at Yggdra, stepping away to mount his sleigh.

"Well then, milady. I wish you a Merry Christmas and soon to be a Happy New Year! Hohoho!" With a snap and the accompaniment jingles, the sleigh is pulled forward by the reindeer as Santa's laughter echoes throughout the sky. As Santa makes for a few spins in the moonlit sky, Yggdra watches with a smile while the slime waves its 'hand' to say goodbye to Santa.

Finally, with everything checked out, Santa laughs a final "Hohoho!" before pressing a button in on a control panel in front of him, this unfolded a pair of hidden nacelles beneath his sleigh, and with another pull of a lever, the begin charging up. Five seconds later, the nacelles shine a bright blue light before Santa's sleigh is propelled faster than the speed of light, leaving behind two trails of dissipating blue energy.

Fascinated, the slime bobs up and down, gesturing in disbelief at Yggdra. The Primordial Goddess, however, chuckles. "Though reindeer serve as the main mean of propulsion for the sleigh, they're not fast enough. Hence, Santa installed a pair of FTL drives on his sleigh, and with it and his ability to be at multiple places at the same time, the Saint can deliver presents and charcoals for all kids in two nights. Even an old man has to keep up with the time, you know."

Understandably, the slime expresses its confusion. Never has it expected Santa's sleigh to have warp capability but it can wrap its head around the idea when it digs a bit deeper at the notion. Regardless, it just shrugs as it resumes eating the treats while Yggdra carries it around, introducing it to Santa's quarter and his gift factory. Finally, they move on to watch the light show, made by Yggdra casting polar light over the sky of Berlin. With the accompaniment orchestra, the light show marks one of the grandest events Belka is capable of holding annually.

And under the blessing of the polar light, Santa will no doubt bring great gifts to good children.

Or charcoals for naughtier ones. Oh, there will be naughties tonight.

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With a burst of blue light, Santa and his sleigh get out of warp, right above the outskirt of New York. It's snowy tonight, the weather that Santa always seems to enjoy, especially when he can see the warm chimneys down below. Parking his sleigh right, some hundred meters above a villa atop a hill, Santa grasps a gift bag from behind without turning around. Standing up and with a jingle from the bells, he jumps down from the sleigh. Like a cannonball, Santa lands with a hefty thumb as he sinks five meters deep into the snow. The shocking moment scares away an owl that has been perching on a pine tree nearby.

Chuckling to himself, Santa crouches down before with a "Ho!" he jumps out of the hole he... Well, quite literally, jumped in. Anyway, like the muscular Chad he is, with a flex of his muscle, the snow on his attire and gift bag evaporates into steam. Funnily enough, his pot belly is actually not because he is fat, it's because it's stacked full of cookies and snacks. Saint Nicolas Cage has a muscular pack that a lady can grind cheese on and he sure has caused many women to swoon over him throughout his years.

That aside, Santa has a job to do, to set aside a gift for a little lassie in the villa in front of him. He's just about to take a few steps forward when he notices something is wrong. Stroking his white beard, Santa says. "Hoho... It seems like someone has been very, very, naughty."

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Earlier, by around 30 minutes before Santa's arrival, give or take five. The villa complex atop the snowy hill receives its first guests of Christmas night. Jeffrey Iverson is standing next to a few of his bodyguards, in their hands are small wrapped boxes of Christmas gifts, waiting to be presented to the owner of the villa. Shortly after the doorbell has been rung, the door opened up, revealing a woman of African descent. Her face blooms into a big smile, showing her pearly white teeth.

"Hey, honey! Jeffrey is here!" The woman turned around, announcing her husband Jeffrey's arrival. When the man raises the red box in his hands up high with a smile of his own, the woman chuckles. "And he brings gifts! Come, let's get you boys inside."

Nodding in gratefulness, Jeffrey says. "My thanks, Ada. Hope we're not intruding on this holy night."

The woman, Ada, smiles as she leads them inside the guestroom. "Oh, it's no trouble at all! The more the merrier! We can even gather and sing around the fireplace, with drinks and snacks in our hands. Tonight is too fine of an occasion not to do just that."

"Then we will gladly partake in the offer!" Jeffrey laughs as he and his men set the gifts beneath the Christmas tree in a corner of the room.

Not being impolite to the host, they then move on to help Ada in the kitchen, having been here a few times already. There, they come across Ada's husband and father to their only daughter, Roman Conti. The tall man, also of African descent like his wife, is busy bringing out a finely made turkey.

Like his wife, Roman greets the Jews with the best smile he can muster. "You've come, good, good! Irish will be pleased that our house will be bustling tonight, hahaha!"

"Wouldn't miss this for anything, Roman." Jeffrey said with a smile. "Here, let us help you with that."

As the group happily mingles and sets up the large dining table with delicious dishes, a rush of footsteps comes from the floor above. "Daddy! I heard uncle Jeffrey is here!"

The daughter and mood maker of the Conti family, Irish, skips down the stair and into the dining room. She rushes to give a quick hug to her father Roman as the latter laughs. "That's right, sweetie. Your uncle is here and he's carrying big gifts!"

"Really?!" Irish turns to look at Jeffrey as the latter chuckle at her enthusiasm.

Knowing the little gremlin loves receiving presents, Jeffrey steps forward before crouching to the same level as Irish. "That's right, little Irish, we placed gifts beneath the Christmas tree. However, you must wait until later to unbox it. Instead, I have this one little gift that you would like to have."

Speaking there, Jeffrey reaches into the inner pocket of his coat, pulling out a small wooden box. "Go on, take a look at what's inside." Jeffrey encouraged Irish to check its content.

With a bright and anticipative smile, Irish grasps the box but gently opens the cover, revealing a hand-carved wooden reindeer with a red nose. Fascinated by the cute design, Irish lifts it up to hold it in her palm.

Seeing her excitement, the Contis and the Jews join for a laugh. Ada interjects to remind her daughter about proper manners, however. "Sweetie, what would you say when you received a gift?"

"Oh!" As if only remembering just now, Irish exclaims before turning to Jeffrey. With a nod and the accompanying smile, she says. "Thank you so much for the gift, uncle Jeffrey!"

"Atta girl, now you best hold onto it, ok? I heard you can communicate with Santa through a little reindeer friend here." Jeffrey said a white lie as he pats Irish's head.

Standing up, Jeffrey receives a nod from Roman. "Thank you, my friend, you have no idea how much this meant to our family."

Jeffrey nods, clasping Roman's shoulder as the latter directed his daughter to the dining table. "It's but a thing I must do. You will also do the same to me, had I had a family here."

If look can kill, Roman would have killed these bastards a thousand times over. Fortunately, having grown tired of this charade, the leader of these white gangsters claps his hand, calling a stop to the abuse Jeffrey is experiencing.

With a cigar in his mouth, the man, with brown hair and adorning himself in an expensive suit, says with a cruel smirk. "Relax, Mr. Conti, for I truly think this has served a good enough of a reminder for Mr. Iverson."

Taking a hold of his cigar, he discards the ash before continue speaking.

"This is but a small... punishment. No one disregarded the offer from the Luca family." The man then directed a derisive smirk at Roman. "And if he thinks that by getting cozy with some blackies he could escape the repercussion... Well, he has another thing coming for him."

Pointing at himself, the man holding the cigar says. "Me, Antone de Luca."

Finally managing to catch the name of his adversary, Jeffrey struggles to let out a hateful snark. "Bloody fucking bastard!"

Sharing the same sentiment, Roman glares at Antone de Luca with the might of an African warrior. "Wait till I get out of this bond, we will see who will be punishing who, white face!"

Faking a scared face at their hatred, Antone mocks. "Oh, mamy, I'm so scared! These lowlives want to harm me!"

This earns the collective laugh from Antone's men, he then says. "As if you can do anything to me!" Antone said aggressively as he stood up to walk over to Roman. "You're the ones that got their charred asses handed to them. Best you learn your place... mongrels."

With a sickening smile, Antone holds Roman's forehead, forcing his eyes open as he presses the hot cigar into Roman's left eye. Roman screams and struggles against his captive as the burning feeling proves too much to bite down.

"ROMAN!" Jeffrey shouted toward his good friend, unwillingness marred his face for being unable to do anything.

Suddenly, amidst the hateful scream coming from Jeffrey and Roman, and the sickening laughter of Antone, a different instrument is introduced. One that proved to be deadly to an unsuspecting gangster.

*BANG*

Shocking everyone presented, those that are still conscious at least, a gangster's head got turned into meat paste. As his body collapses beneath the doorway, a hunk of a man in red is revealed in all his glory.

"Hohoho! You all have been very, very naughty."

Santa has arrived and he's hot on their asses.

Not willing to let them recover from their initial shock, Santa points Naughties at another gangster and blasts him through the window. With stride blisteringly fast, Santa arrives at another gangster that's struggling to raise his gun and give him a taste of Naughties' buttstock. The blow cracks open the gangster's head and Santa uses the poor bastard as a human projectile to knock over another pair.

By this time, Antone and his men have woken up from their stupor and started firing at Saint Nicholas Cage with everything they have. Yet, much to their dismay, the bullets disintegrate into wisps of golden light as Santa lets out a bellowing laugh. "Hohoho!"

After spending all of their ammo and being unwilling to accept that Santa can't be killed, the gangsters rush at Santa with knives and brass knuckles. They all punch and claw at Santa to no avail, as whatever they throw at Santa only leaves behind sparks but not a scratch.

"Standing here, I realize... You all are impotent as hell." Santa chuckled darkly to himself as he didn't even budge an inch under their assault.

Antone steps back in shock as he mutters, scared out of his wit. "What.. the actual fuck are you? Why won't you die!?"

"Hohoho." Flexing his muscles, Santa replies. "Perks of being a Santa, son. Invulnerability before physical trauma."

"Impossible!" Said Antone.

Regardless, no matter how unbelievable it is, the proof is here right before their eyes. As Antone steps back, muttering incomprehensibly to himself, Jeffrey and Roman watch on as Santa bulldozes through the rest of the white gangsters. Each kill he made is either bloodied or more bloodied, dying the floor of the villa dark red until finally, only Antone is left.

Unwillingly believing the situation that has been unfolding, Antone laughs weakly as Santa is now towering right in front of him. Throughout the entire ordeal, Santa is completely clean and uninjured, even though the body count has already reached the dozens.

Grinning dangerously at Antone, Santa shoves a cherry-shaped grenade directly into Antone's mouth, breaking his teeth before pulling the pin of the grenade. Without letting Antone struggle to remove the grenade that has been deep-throated forcefully, Santa hoists the gang leader up before throwing him out the window and into the snow. Dusting his hands, Santa turns around to Jeffrey and Roman.

"There goes the Naughties." As he chuckles, the cherry grenade explodes into a flash of fireworks, and to say that Antone is erased would be an understatement.

Jeffrey and Roman can only sweatdrop at the nonchalant attitude of the Santa in front of him, regardless of whether he is their savior or not.

Knowing that they are still in a state of disbelief, Santa laughs. "Hohoho!" Before disappearing slowly, leaving behind a cup of milk and a note.

Jeffrey and Roman can only share a disbelief look before saying.

"Fuck."

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Dawn arrives and to Jeffrey and the Conti family, everything that has happened feels like a fever dream to them. Yet, the glass of magical milk that healed Jeffrey and Roman, the dollhouse that appeared out of nowhere for Irish, the note that detailing Luca's operations, and the fact that there were two dozen corpses in the villa have basically sealed the myth that Santa Claus is very, very real.

Sitting on the porch of the ruined villa, Jeffrey and Roman direct their thousand yards stares toward the sight that is Irish playing around with Ada. Roman goes to say.

"Has the world gone crazy or I am still on an acid trip right now?" Holding out a bottle of whisky, Roman clinks it with Jeffrey's.

The Jews answer after chugging the hot content in a mouthful. "The former, thankfully. And believe me, I think this is not the last time shit hit the fan."

"Touche." That was all Roman can say.

Right now, the pair of friends, bonded through trials by fire, would rather much ignore the carnage that's being cleaned up behind them. Faintly, they swear that they can hear Santa laughing his belly off, somewhere.

They sure hope that somewhere is anywhere but here though.