Chapter 8: The Heist Before Christmas, Part 2

 

Buddy the Elf waits outside the building of Amazing Co. dressed in a delivery disguise, standing with a large crate of goodies. He turns his walkie off and puts it into the pocket of his jumpsuit. He puts on a pair of sunglasses and walks into the lobby of the building. 

“I’m here to drop off food for the Christmas party,” he says to the two Toys watching the lobby from behind a desk. The two toys exchange confused glances. 

“Did you know about a Christmas Party,” says one Toy to the other. He shrugs his shoulders and grabs a clipboard. “Where are you from?” 

“Miss Pearl’s bakery,” says the Elf, keeping his cool. “She was up all night getting these pies ready, and I’m ready to get them off my hands before she yells at me again, you know?” 

“Heard that,” says the Toy, grabbing his radio. “Mr. Bailey, we got an Elf here with some food—“

“Yes,” responds Bailey from the other end. “Please help him set up, both of you. It should only take a minute. It’s a surprise party for the boss.” 

“Copy that,” says the Toy. He looks at his partner and shrugs his shoulders. “Guess he wants us to set up the party.” The two soldiers escort Buddy and the baked goods down the hall towards the cafeteria. “Aren’t you gonna take your sunglasses off? You’re inside.” 

“Um, well, I’m blind,” says Buddy somewhat confidently. “Glasses, no glasses, I still can’t see shit.” One of the Toys nudges the other, pantomiming his frustration with his partner’s insensitivity towards others. Buddy, meanwhile, gets a glance at several shackled Elves being escorted by Toys to a room down the hall. 

The Toys help the “blind Elf” into the cafeteria and take out the boxes of pies from the crate. They maneuver two tables around and stack the chairs to the side. As they argue about which tables to put together, Buddy sneaks out the back door and creeps down the hall where he saw the Elves heading. 

Inside a room, an Elf is placed on a metal square that sucks him into a gift box one second, and then a few seconds later turns him into a doll. One by one, a Toy escorts another Elf onto the machine to meet his fate, while the doll is placed in a basket on top of the others. Buddy’s body begins to tremble in fear when a hand is placed on his shoulder. 

“You lost,” asks the Toy soldier from the cafeteria. “Where are you headed?” 

“Um, I was trying to find the bathroom.” 

“Oh, well, that’s definitely not the bathroom,” laughs the Toy, quickly closing the door. “I’ll walk you over there.” Buddy looks back at the door as the Toy takes his hand, guiding him to the bathroom. 

         A few Toys walk into the cafeteria to get a look at the goodies.

“We’re having a party? I thought Frost hated Christmas,” asked a perplexed Toy. One of the Toys opens up a box and laughs. 

“Come check this out,” says the Toy to another. “Whoever made this cake is a dick. That’s cold.” On the cake is a picture of Santa Claus doing something very inappropriate to Jack Frost. Buddy tries to inch his way out of the room again. 

“Hey, buddy,” yells one of the Toys to the aptly named Elf. “Did you make this?” 

“Nah, he can’t see anything.”

“Lucky for him, because this is disgusting. I just want to know if this is frosting or if it’s, you know—“ 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah... I get it,” says one of the Toys grabbing his radio. “Hey, Charlie, grab the boss and tell him he’s gotta come check out this cake. He’s gonna flip.”

“Who knows, maybe he’s into that.” 

Charlie, one of the Toys assigned to watch Frost’s floor tells the others that there’s a funny cake downstairs and they rush into Frost’s office. “Sir, you gotta come to the cafeteria. Some of the guys downstairs have something you gotta see.” Frost stands up from one of the chairs and looks at Bailey. 

“Do you know what they’re talking,” he asks, before returning his attention to the Toys. “How bad is it?” Frost walks out of the office with the Toy Soldiers. “Bailey! Let’s go!” 

“Sorry guys,” Bailey says, unhooking the feed from the computer. “I have to sit this one out.” He takes his earpiece out and puts it in his pocket, walking out of the room. Back at Sleigh Belles, Noelle looks at her dark computer screen. 

“Bailey,” she asks, checking her earpiece. “Shit! Bailey’s gone dark.” 

“I got it,” says Rudy, peering at the elevators from behind a wall. He creeps his way to the elevators and heads down to Frost’s office. All of the Toys have gone to the cafeteria, where they all laugh at the cake for the first time. However, that laughter cedes once the subject of the joke enters the room. 

“What’s so funny,” asks Frost, genuinely curious. The Toys part the seas so Frost can get a glimpse of himself being sexually dominated by none other than Santa Claus. “I see. Well at least they got the proportions correct. Who sent this cake?” 

“Some blind Elf came in and dropped it off,” says one of the Toys, noticing the cart but not the Elf it came with. “Wait, where did he go?” 

“He probably wandered off again,” says the Toy from the lobby. “I’ll go find him.” The toy walks into the hallway and notices some water on the floor. He follows it around the corner and spots a pile of slushed ice near the elevators. He bends over and picks up one of the two pieces of coal. “Oh shit...” 

Rudy sneaks his way into Frost’s office. He goes to the desk and looks for the drive, but can’t find it. “Noelle, I think he took it.” He shuffles around some things on the desk and uncovers a file labeled “Winter Wonderland”. He opens it and scans through some of the blueprints showing a machine of some sort. 

“What do you see,” she asks over the radio. He goes to respond but is interrupted by the sounds of alarms ringing. He grabs the file and heads for the exit but turns around when he sees a couple of Toys marching towards the office. Steel shutters slide down the windows, making the room a lot darker. 

Hiding in a small closet, Rudy watches as the two Toys check the perimeter of the office. Their sweep eventually moves closer to him. While his heart starts to race, one of the Toys notices a blinking red glow from the base of the door. Rudy tries his best to cover it up but the Toy continues to move closer before eventually getting kicked in the face by the flying reindeer. 

Rudy runs towards the exit but the other Toy gets in his way and shoots him down with the freeze gun, along with the files.  “Sir, we got him,” says the Toy over the radio. “We found him snooping around in your office.” 

“Good,” says Frost from the other end. “We’ve got some catching up to do...”

**************

Two Toys carry Buddy into a large cell with the other Elves and toss him on the ground. The others move in on him, checking on the young Elf in disguise as the Toys slam the big door shut. He jumps to his feet, banging on the door and screaming his little lungs out. 

“It’s no good,” says one of the Elves. “They can’t hear us from the outside.” Buddy leans up against the door, his eyes full of terror. 

“We have to get out of here,” he says in a panic. “We have to stop this—“

“Stop what? What do you know?” 

“They’re turning us into dolls,” exclaims Buddy. “I saw Elves, just like us, getting sucked into a machine and then stuffed into a doll! You, me — all the rest of you! — we’re all next!” The other Elves look at each other with concerned glances. The sudden realization of their fate slowly begins to settle in. 

“What are we gonna do?” 

“We better hope Kringle got out alive,” says Buddy with a little bit of worry.

                      ********

Kringle falls out of a trash chute with his bag and Frosty’s hat. He climbs out of the dumpster and makes a beeline for Sleigh Belles. Unfortunately, so have the Toys, who are raiding the place and escorting all of the Elves from the building. His heart sinks. 

“Kringle,” says Noelle from the other end. “Where are you?”

“Frost made us,” he says, leaning up against a wall in an alley. “He knows we’re on to him. Do you have the kids?” 

“I do, but I haven’t heard from Buddy,” she pauses. “Or Rudy. Do you think Frost found him—“

“Ding! Ding! Ding!” Frost laughs from the walkie. “You’re right, I have the Christmas Mutt. And I believe you have something of mine, Claus.” Kringle looks at Frosty’s hat and towards the snowy banks way down the road. “Tell you what, you come back to the office. We’ll get together, have a few laughs... we can put this all behind us.” 

“Fuck you, Frost,” says Kringle as he makes his way out of the city and towards the snowy banks. 

“Oh, come on big guy, I’m trying to give you a gift!” 

“Yeah? And what’s that?” 

“Oh, I don’t wanna spoil the fun! You have one hour or I’m gonna have to put down your little snow dog here, OK? Merry Christmas! See you soon!”

Kringle puts the walkie in his bag and sprints to the park. He gathers as much snow as he can and lumps it together until it’s about five feet tall. He takes the hat out of his bag and places it on the top. 

“Finally,” exclaims Frosty with relief. “Man, that was a close one, huh?” He struggles to move around. His arms form and hold his snow gut. “Hey bro, what did you do to me—“

“I need answers, Snowman. I don’t have a lot of time.” 

“Dude, for Santa Claus, you’re pretty on edge. It’s not chill at all, and trust me, I know chill—” Kringle takes the hat off as Frosty opens his mouth again. He waits a second before putting it back on. “Ok, I’m sorry, you were saying?”

“What is Jack Frost using you for? I know it’s not just the Christmas Spirit. He’s making something. How else could he make those ice rifles?” 

“I don’t know what that is,” says Frosty. “By the way, did you grab my pipe from the lobby? Because I could really use it—“

“Will you focus, please?”

“Well, I need the pipe, man! My memory’s a little foggy. I need to fire it up, you know what I’m sayin’?” Kringle sighs and digs the pipe out of the bag, throwing it to Frosty. “Sweet, there’s still some left. Anyways...” Frosty takes a puff of the pipe, magically not needing a lighter. 

“Frost is using you — your magic — for what?” 

“Who knows, man,” says Frosty, blowing smoke rings out of his mouth. “He’s been using me since the day I met him. And what do I get out of it? Nothing! Just people wanting more of me, all the damn time! You get what I’m saying, right? It’s hard being us!”

“Yeah, but that’s not what I’m asking you—“

“It’s just, hear me out... don’t you ever just wish you could, like, go somewhere? You know, some place nice? Below freezing, frigidly cold but still fertile enough for my special flowers? It’s kind of like Jack’s whole Winter Wonderland idea, honestly, just less hostile—“

“What Winder Wonderland idea,” asks Kringle, finally able to get some real information. 

“Oh, it’s this thing he keeps talking about. Something about freezing the whole town and becoming the Ice King or whatever. It’s kind of stupid if you ask me. I keep telling him, how are the Elves supposed to live like that?”  

“They’re not gonna live,” says Kringle, realizing what’s at stake. “He’s trying to have Christmas all to himself.” 

“Nah, I don’t think he likes Christmas. I mean, he hates you and you’re, like, Christmas Christmas, you know what I’m sayin?”

“I haven’t understood a single thing you’ve tried to tell me, but somehow you’ve been helpful.” Kringle goes to grab the hat. 

“Wait,” says Frosty, a look of fear on his snowy face. “You’re not gonna take me back to him are you? Please man, I don’t wanna go back to that freezer—“ 

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

********

Rudy wakes up, chained to to a machine in Frost’s office. His rubs his nose. It hurts a little, giving off a faint glow. He watches as Jack Frost struts around his office, whistling a particular tune that Rudy hates. He looks over at Bailey, who gives him a look as if to apologize for the recent events. 

“Whatever it is you’re planning,” he says with conviction. “It’s not gonna work.” 

“Oh really? Do tell, what gives you that impression?” 

“Kringle got his suit back. You’re a dead man, Frost.” Frost lets out a big laugh. He walks behind his desk and flips a cup over, revealing a big red button. 

“Oh really,” He hits the button and Santa’s famous red suit rises from the floor, encased in glass. “You mean this one? Oops! Guess that little lightbulb on your face missed that, huh?” 

“Sir, he’s here,” says a Toy over the radio. “What should we do?” 

“Send him up,” replies Frost with a devilish grin. 

         Kringle is escorted in with nearly half of the Toys on duty at the moment, guns aimed and ready to fire at any second.

  

        “Well, Ho Ho Ho...” remarks Frost, clapping his hands. “Wait, is this Santa Claus or Daddy Christmas? I had a ton of fat jokes ready to go, this is a little disappointing actually—” 

“Let him go,” growls Kringle as he sees Rudy chained up. “He has nothing to do with this.” 

        Frost chuckles a little, giving a sly look towards Rudy. He walks around the desk and sits on it. “Well this just got a whole lot more interesting,” he says with a laugh. “Did you bring me my gift?” Kringle digs into his bag and pulls out a black hat, much to Frost’s delight. 

“Unchain Rudy, then I’ll throw it your way.” 

         Frost looks over at the the Toys behind Kringle. He gives them a nod and then walks over to unlock Rudy’s shackles. He drags Rudy to the center of the room. He reaches out for the hat. 

“Toss it,” says Frost. Kringle looks at Rudy and gives him a nod. As he tosses the hat, Rudy bites Frost’s hand. He grabs the hat as Frost let’s out a yell. Before he can turn around, Kringle is zapped by several ice guns, freezing him in place. 

“Run, Rudolph, Run!” Rudy kicks at Frost’s face and flies in the air. He dodges several ice balls shot his way, but cannot dodge the net that comes flying behind him, dragging him to the ground.

“Where are you going,” Frost says as he grabs his ice gun from the desk. “We haven’t given Santa our gift, yet. I figured we’d do it together, seeing as how we did other things together once upon a time. You remember that, right?” 

“Shut up, Frost,” screams Rudy, struggling to fly out of the net as the Toys hold him down.

“Claus, did Rudy ever tell you what he was doing last Christmas,” asks Frost with a smirk. “You guys seem pretty close, I figured he told you about his little problem, shall we say—“ 

“Don’t listen to him, Kris,” pleads Rudy. “He’s just trying to fuck with me.” 

“Oh, I’m not fucking with you,” says Frost, turning up the velocity on the ice gun and pointing it at Kringle’s head. “I’m dead serious. This might be the last time you get to see your old pal alive... so maybe it’s time to tell the truth.” 

“It’s OK, Rudy,” says Kringle. “Everything’s gonna be OK.” 

“Eh, not from where I’m standing,” quips Frost. “So what’ll it be, Rudy? Because I’ll put a piece of ice right through his head, I don’t care. I’m gonna get what I want regardless.” Frost turns a knob on the side and flips the switch, while Rudy’s nose flickers at a breakneck speed. “Follow your nose, it’s trying to tell you something. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick—“ 

“OK! I did it,” cries Rudy, closing his eyes as tears flow down his cheeks. “It was me. It’s all my fault... I’m so sorry.” Rudy looks at Kringle, filled with regret. “I sent that package to the North Pole...”

TO BE CONTINUED....