GOLD DIGGER: 3 GHOSTS, NO WAITING 24 DECEMBER 1998 8:05PM Granpa was dead. Gina knew that. She knew it all too well. Still, that didn't mean she didn't think of him every Christmas season. He'd always been one to come and visit over the holidays, especially after his wife--Gina's grandma-- passed away, and he always brought gifts and affection that he showered down upon his "favorite granddaughters", as he put it. Every year that passed from the year he died, Gina felt more and more depressed about not having him around for the holidays. It got progressively worse, too, after she had to deal with his transformation into the Lich King. Knowing he was dead was bad enough; knowing he had been turned into an undead magic-user, with a purely evil soul, was almost too much to bear. She often didn't treat Christmas with the same energy and enthusiasm as her other family and friends did, because of precisely this. In fact, to the very moment of this narration, she remained in the Lab, working on a project, oblivious to her surroundings. Of course, she had gone through the motions of buying presents for her sisters, parents, and friends and acquaintances, but to her, that was just what it was: going through the motions. It was a needless ritual that she'd just as soon not be bothered with. In any case, as previously mentioned, Christmas Eve found Gina hard at work in the Lab, along with Penny Pincer. Penny was there not because she wanted to take her mind off the season (like Gina), but because of the nature of Gina's current project--the Phantom Ring. Gina was experimenting with the device in the safety of the secure lab, trying to figure out a way to eliminate the weakness in the Phantom Ring's design. Because of the stressors placed on her--the reminder of her granpa's death, plus the ordeal of trying to figure out the Phantom Ring--she was quite snippy, to which Penny could readily attest. "No, not like that!" Gina snapped, stalking over to the console that Penny was stationed at. She twisted a dial and the Phantom Ring, inside the protective chamber, altered its attitude a bit. Penny's attitude, however, was as cold as Gina's, in a retaliatory fashion. "Well, sorrEEEE," she muttered, tapping away at the keyboard as Gina went back to her own terminal. "Look, let's just get this done, okay?" "Whatever," Penny countered, lowering her voice to add under her breath, "Not like you're the only one with problems, yaknow." Gina didn't hear, and even if she had, she wouldn't have pressed the issue, for just then, Britanny entered the labs, hopping and skipping her way joyfully towards Penny and Gina, horribly mangling some sort of Christmas tune. "What's got you all excited?" Gina said, sourly, pounding away at the keyboard before her. Britanny looked at her sister with a strange expression before continuing on happily, "This is the first Christmas that I'll be able to celebrate with Muffin, and--ohboyIcan'tbeLIEVEwekeptthisasecretforsolong--we're having a party in the Retreat tomorrow so everyone else can join us!" "Parties are for when there's no work to be done," Gina returned, still typing away and regarding the Phantom Ring. "And we're not even close to being finished here." Undaunted, Brit turned to Penny. "You're invited too, of course," she said with a smile. Penny managed a half a smile in response. "I'll try, Cheets," she said, "I'll really try, but Ace and I might have something else going on." Brit grinned. "Having a little party of your own, eh?" she said knowingly. "No problem. Make it if you can." She turned back to Gina. "Can I borrow one of your light-gate-thingies to get us all there?" Gina gripped the sides of the keyboard, picked it an inch or two off the desk, and then slammed it back down, spinning her chair around to face Brit. "Dammit, don't you GET IT?" she shouted. "If we don't get this done, there won't be a NEED for any parties, 'cause it's all going to be over!" She gestured abruptly to the Phantom Ring. "Someone's BOUND to come looking for this now that they know we have it, and they're going to try to take it, to use in their own fight. So we HAVE to perfect it before they get here, so it can be used against them!" Brit's expression finally began to falter. "I'm NOT going to put that thing on again, Gina," she said quietly but firmly. "I TOLD you that. And as for your PRECIOUS work, taking TWO DAYS OFF once in a while FOR CHRISTMAS isn't gonna kill you!" "But no," Cheetah said, after leaving just enough of a gap so that she could interrupt Gina's response, "if this is more important to you than being with your friends and family, so be it. Stay here forever, for all I care." She turned back to face Penny once more. "Hope we'll see you there, Penny," she added, getting the same feeble smile and nod in response. She turned and walked to the door. "If you ever grow a better attitude, Gina," she said over her shoulder, "you're welcome to come too. Never mind about the light-gate, I'll get Brianna's help. SHE isn't too busy to help her sister." The room was silent for a few moments, save for the whirr of the computers' cooling fans, and, bewilderingly, the clicks of Gina's keyboard as she resumed her work. Penny didn't know what to say, so she remained silent for the moment, staring at the eldest Diggers sister, again enveloped in the task at hand. Finally, Gina said, "She never did have her priorities straight, always going shopping with the last of our money and that sort of thing.. Thanks for backing me up, by the way. Now, up the gain five percent again, please." Penny stood up and spoke in a flat tone. "I wasn't backing you up," she said. "I can't believe you'd behave that way to your sister.. especially at this time of year. You might never know when she could.. be gone, Gina." Gina looked like she was going to retaliate, and Penny held up a hand. "I don't wanna hear it," Penny said. "I.. just don't. I'd rather be with Kevin right now, I think." In five more seconds, Gina was alone in the room. "Fine," she said aloud, even though no one was left to hear her. She pecked angrily at the keyboard, adding, "I'll finish this myself." Hours passed, and Gina continued working. She worked endlessly on the Phantom Ring, her concentration not deviating one bit. Well, that wasn't true. In actual fact, she was silently ranting in her mind about a dozen different things. High on the list was Britanny. Gina wondered. she added, She continued working, taking no breaks and slowing down not one bit, for she had a task to complete, and breaks and the like were unnecessary distractions. As she raised her head from the keyboard quickly, she realized she'd nodded off. She looked at the Phantom Ring, and in the glass of the blast door, saw a reflection of a face. "Huh?" she said, jumping up and spinning around. No one was behind her. The door to the hallway was firmly shut. She walked to the door and opened it, looking up and down the hall, but it too was empty and dark. Surely either everyone was asleep by now or off helping Brit put the party together in the Retreat. In any case, no creatures stirred save Gina. She shrugged and closed the door again, turning around to resume work. She looked up at the blast door again-- --and saw the Phantom Ring spinning. It was speeding up with every revolution, and she dove for her console in a panic, to hit the big red mushroom button there that would shut down all the power. Too late; the computer sparked and fizzed brightly, melting down, and there was an explosion in the blast chamber. Gina protected herself from the smoke and noise by crouching down and turning away, as if that would help; when she found the nerve to get back up and survey the damage, she stood, only to find the Lich King standing there. "Zoinks!" she exclaimed. There he was, on this side of the blast door, staring right at her. She looked for something to defend herself with. "Fear not, granddaughter," the apparition before Gina intoned calmly, yet not at all warmly. "I am here not to harm you, but to warn you; to HELP you." "Oh, really?" Gina said sarcastically, eyeing him. "How's that work?" "It is not important," he said. "What is, is that you pay close attention to what I have to say." "Um, if you're about to tell me that I'm going to turn out like you if I don't change my ways, I think I've seen this movie a couple times bef--" BOOM! Thunder and lightning shook the room as it cascaded across the ceiling. The bolt of energy struck the remaining computer and fried it. "Heed my words!" Gina's former grandfather roared. "What I have to say will mean the difference between a peaceful afterlife or an eternity of unrest for you. Do not dispose of my advice so carelessly!" "Okay, okay," she said, holding her hands up in a calming gesture. "Go on. Nice theatrics, by the way." The Lich King looked at her, and if he'd been able to form an expression, he would've been disappointed to hear Gina's skepticism still. "It was being immersed in my life's work that caused my life to end, and my soul to wander eternally unsatisfied," he launched into it straight away. "You are heading down that same path, Gina," he warned. "And it is your fate as it was mine, unless you change your ways." "I wish I could," she shrugged, using a businesslike tone. "But this is important. If I don't do this, we may--" "Do you remember my death?" "Huh?" "The night of my death, when I was turned into what I have become. Do you remember it?" "Well, yeah.. of course I d--" "That night, I was engrossed in perfecting one final spell that would end the wars between good and evil once and for all. I SHOULD have been visiting with the lot of you, and enjoying what time I had, but instead, I used the excuse that what I was doing was crucial to my cause. And I wasted what little time I had left doing work, when I should have been with my family." Gina pondered that for a moment; she was about to respond, and had her mouth open to say something, when the Lich King spoke up again. "Three ghosts will visit you this night," he said. "You will know when they come to you. They will show you the path towards your salvation.. if you choose not to take it, there is no hope for you." "You will not see me again," he went on. "At least, not in this realm. I do hope you will hold my words close to you, granddaughter--I do not wish to see you go through what I have had to endure." "What--wait--" He slid backwards, away from her, until he faded into the blast chamber's walls; she rushed forward and saw that there was no one inside it, and the door was still firmly closed and locked. she said to herself, noting the two intact computer consoles outside the blast door, and the Phantom Ring, safe and sound inside the blast chamber, rotating lazily on its vertical axis. She went to the console and turned the errant control, stopping the Phantom Ring from turning; then she looked around the room, finding it empty except for her own self. Again she checked the hallway; she even had the computer to a scan of all biounits in the complex. It came up with only one, and said there had been only one ever since Penny left some hours before. "Someone must've snuck in and played a joke on me," she muttered. "Brianna knows how to cheat the bioscan.. coulda been her.." Her eyes rested once again upon the Phantom Ring, and her mind drifted back to the work she'd been doing earlier. Forgetting almost entirely about her conversation with the Lich King, she sat down and got back to work, but not before she activated the proximity sensors, so that she'd know about anyone as soon as they entered the complex. The adrenaline of being scared out of her wits, however, wore off quickly, and within no more than a quarter-hour, she was asleep at the switch. In her dreams, she was in the desert, the hot sun beating down on her; standing before a traffic light that never changed from amber; and sitting in front of a campfire that was unbelievably high and fierce in its flame, casting a bright orange glow upon her. Through all her dreams, the one constant was the gentle voice calling out to her, saying, "Gina.. Giiina.. Geeeeennaaaaaaaaa.." All at once, as she found herself staring at a jack-o'lantern that appeared to be luminescent of its own design, it screamed, "HEY, GINA, WAKE UP!" She did, with a start; there, parked on the top of the monitor and looking down at her with its huge, comical eyes, was a Peebo. An orange, glowing Peebo. "Bwah!" she said, too surprised to even get out a 'Zoinks' or 'Jinkies'; she pushed away from the console, and the chair rolled her back until it hit the wall, startling her again. "You snore," the Peebo said accusingly from its perch on the monitor. "I do NOT--hey! What're you doing in here? How'd you get out?" "I didn't," the Peebo said. "I'm not from your sister's stash." "Then what--" "I suppose, if I had to have a mortal name, I was Peebo Prime. The first one." "I thought the first one--um, you--was pink?" "I'm dead--I can be whatever color I want!" Gina shrugged. "Fair enough, I'll give you that one." "Anyway, I'm the one whose existence ended in your bedroom so long ago." "And now?" "Don't you get it yet?" it answered. "I'm here to take you on a trip." "A what?" she said, then remembered what the Lich King had said. "You mean.. you mean, this is for REAL?" "Pick me up," the Peebo said plainly. She edged forward, nervously, and as she touched the Peebo, a bright flash of orange light was the only sense of transition between their being in the Lab and their being on a rural side road. "What the--where--" Gina stammered. "You recognize this place, don't you?" the Peebo, or, more truthfully, Gina's Ghost of Christmas Past, said from her hand. She looked down at it, turned it right-side-up (she'd been carrying it sideways), and directed to it, "Yeah.. it's home." "Your home," the Ghost said, "eighteen years ago." Without a word, they were inside the house, and it was early morning. In fact, the clock was just chiming six when they arrived. "We are invisible and intangible," the Peebo told her. "Don't waste your time trying to interact with anyone." "Like who?" Gina said. "Nobody's here." Just as the clock finished its tolling, two small creatures thundered down the hall, cheering their hearts out. The bedroom door at the end of the hall opened seconds later, and Gina's father said, "Gina! Britanny!" "Merry Christmas, daddy!" the two girls squealed, already underneath the tree, looking to see which presents were for them. "I remember this now," Gina asided to the Peebo, which had taken up a perch on her shoulder. "It's the year Dad first allowed me to get my very own gift to give to Brit." The Peebo said nothing to her, watching the scene unfold before them. The two of them watched Gina-minus-18 and Brit-minus-18 barely able to restrain themselves while their father sorted out the gifts and prepared to dispense them. Gina and the Peebo watched the proceedings; more than once, Gina welled up with tears at the memories, especially when her father found the unmarked presents under the tree and handed them to his daughters. They were authentic armsmaster's outfits from Jade, tailored to fit the two girls, and they loved them. Gina saw it in her father's eyes now, what she didn't see 18 years previous (since she'd been too busy then going nuts over her gifts): He was regarding the presents with a strange expression, and Gina realized that it was only then that he knew that Julia was still out there. "Neat," she said. "Hm?" the Peebo asked. She shook her head after a moment. "Oh, nothing. Never mind." They watched for a while more, and Gina made a sound of surprise as she realized what was coming up. "Here it is," she said to the Peebo, pointing as if they were watching a home video. "Brit's going to open my gift." "And Britanny, this last one says 'To Brit, From Gina' on it," Theo said, holding out a gift that was obviously not professionally wrapped, though Gina had done a pretty good job for a grade-schooler. Britanny opened it, and Gina and her younger self beamed as their sister saw what was under the wrappings. "The Darby Fashion Mall Playset!" Brit enthused. "Oh, wow!" "And it comes with a Darby, too," Gina gushed as well, extracting the doll from the playset and showing it to her sister. "Thank you!" Brit said, getting up and picking up the playset case. "Let's go play!" The two of them hurried towards their room, and Theo called out, "Don't forget you have to write thank-you notes today too, girls!" "Aw, dad!" Gina protested as she ran down the hall. "Today's Christmas, we can do work later! We wanna have FUN today!" As the scene faded, the Peebo looked up at Gina again. "Something wrong?" "N.." she said. "Just thinking about a party I should've been at, that's all." "Well, right now we've someplace else to be," the Peebo said. Another orange flash ensued, and they were in the kitchen of the same house, several years later. "I remember this, too," Gina said, seeing herself and Brit running about frantically. "This'll be Christmas Eve day, nine years ago, right?" "You tell me," the Peebo ghost said. "It was," Gina nodded, stepping aside to avoid being run down by her younger self. "Dad entrusted us with.. TRYING.. to make Christmas dinner." Gina smiled as she watched herself and Britanny racing through the kitchen. "C'mon, hurry it up, Brit!" Gina-minus-9 railed. "We gotta get this done so I can go wrap my gifts!" "Y'know what, go wrap your stupid gifts!" Brit countered, racing back behind Gina as the latter rushed to the other side of the kitchen. "I'll probably be better off in here without you!" "You would not!" Gina shot back. "I'm the one in control here!" "I beg to differ," Britanny said, pointing to the stove top. "You just burnt the potatoes!" "Zoinks!" Gina blurted, hurrying to the stove to try to salvage the food. "Ack!" Britanny said, as Gina had abandoned the dessert she'd been carrying in order to rescue the potatoes. Even Brit's speed couldn't save it; the pudding tipped off the edge of the counter, slopped all over Brit, and landed top-down on the floor. Gina turned around and ran towards the sink with the boiled-dry pot of potatoes; she slipped in the sticky mess of pudding and the pot went flying, launching its cargo into the air. Both of them got pelted with superhot missiles from above. "Ow!" Gina complained. "You started it!" Britanny said. "And now we've got to clean all this up!" She shook a pudding-covered hand in the air, and it splattered all over both of them. "Hey, don't do that!" Gina said, scooping up a handful of pudding and slinging it at Britanny. "Eww!!" Brit recoiled. She took a potato up off the floor and bounced it off Gina's forehead. "Back atcha!" "Ow!" Gina exclaimed. It went on like this for several minutes, until they heard a high-pitched whistling noise from somewhere above them, growing in volume. "What's that??" Britanny said. "It's the turkey, I think.." "The turkey?? What's it doing?" "GET DOWN!" Gina said in response. The elder Gina remembered what was about to happen and ducked as well, though she needn't have; the microwave door burst open as the turkey inside it exploded violently, showering the entire room in turkey bits and other nasty surprises. Gina and the Peebo weren't affected, but the younger Gina and Brit were literally covered in debris, despite the fact they'd sought refuge under the kitchen table. Brit looked at Gina, wanting to scream at her about putting a whole turkey in the microwave, but then she saw her sister's face, and couldn't help but to burst out laughing. Once Gina had recovered from the shock, she noticed Brit laughing, and saw the humor in it herself; in a moment, both of them were howling with laughter, still huddled under the table, covered in exploded food. "That's when I started to think about making my own microwave oven a little more tolerant," elder-Gina observed. "That was an enjoyable Christmas all around, was it not?" the Peebo said. "Yeah," Gina said. "And dinner turned out OK, too, after we'd started over." "Then it's time to leave," the Peebo said, and they faded once more. "Um.. was there a lesson to be learned here, though?" Gina asked. "No, not really," the Peebo said. "I just love a good explosion.." "And do you remember this one?" Peebo asked. "Give me a minute," she said. "I'm not certain." "Do you need a hint?" "Wait a minute," Gina urged. "I'll get it." People came into the room; Penny and Ace--and at once, Gina remembered. "This is Penny's house," Gina said. "Three years ago. Brianna's first Christmas.. we all got together to try to help her understand it all. (It was one of the rare times--back then--that I enlisted Penny's help.)" "Correct," the Peebo ghost said. "Watch and listen." She did, and the others arrived soon--Brit and Brianna, and, of course, Gina, three years younger. All of them were carrying wrapped packages, which were set down on the floor in the middle of the room. "That's right," Gina said knowingly, "We did a gift exchange on Christmas Eve; now I remember." Several gifts were exchanged, mostly gag gifts and funny little tidbits. For example, Ace got a model of an F-117 from Gina, and he gave her pilot lessons ("as long as you're going to be sharing my sky in your flying cars", he explained). Gina and Brit exchanged a Frequent Buyer's Card for Al's Seafood (for Brit, of course) and several outfits' worth of stretchable clothing ("So the next time I borrow from you, it'll be in one piece when you get it back"). Ace got a long white scarf and leather gloves from Penny, and he gave her a one-piece jumpsuit to adventure in ("It's wedgie-proof", he said, knowing full well of the rivalry between her and Gina). And that made it Brianna's turn. "Okay," she said hesitantly, picking up one of her gifts and handing it to Britanny. "Here, mother-Britanny." "Thank you, Brianna," Brit smiled, "though you can call me just Brit, ya know. Or 'sis', or something like--" Britanny stopped short as she opened the package and saw something familiar inside. She picked it up out of the box and held it up for everyone to see. "Your clothes," Brianna explained. "The ones I've borrowed over the past few months, so I'd have something to wear." "Um, thanks," Britanny said, trying to mask her confusion and instead radiate thankfulness. "You next," Bri' said to Gina. She held out another box. "Okay," Gina said, bravely plowing through. She opened it and extracted a GyroJet. "Your gun," Gina was told by her clone-sister. "The one you gave me as a start-off point." "But I GAVE it to you, Brianna," Gina said, "That's the point." "I don't understand, then," Bri' said with genuine confusion. "You told me this was a time for giving." "Yeah, but you don't give your own stuff away," Britanny said. "You go out and get the person a gift you think they'll like." "And you don't like to have your outfits back?" "It's not that," Brit shook her head. "We gave those things to YOU already.. you don't need to give them back." "Then how else do I get into the spirit of this holiday?" Brianna protested, holding her hands up in despair. "This is so confusing." "I already said, you go BUY them a gift that--" "Cheets, let me try," Penny spoke up, standing. "Brianna, yes, the season is about giving, but it doesn't mean you have to give up your own possessions. You can just give things you think the person might enjoy, but it also has other meanings. For starters, it's about spending time with your friends, family, and other loved ones. It's the one time of the year that you should put everything else aside and enjoy the company of your peers." The Peebo looked up as Gina made a sound. "Problems?" he asked her. "I have to talk with Penny when I see her tomorrow," she said. Suddenly, the Peebo leapt from her shoulder to the top of her head. "Time to go," he said. "Huh? What?" "Ten, nine, eight.." By the time he got to six, she knew what he meant, and tried to run away, but he hung on tight to the top of her head. "Stop it, you stupid--!" Gina hollered. "3, 2, 1.." The orange flash washed over them again. Gina awakened with a shock, hearing herself stop in mid-snore. She lifted her head and regarded the darkened room. There was no Peebo around, nor any Peebo bits; the Phantom Ring was still in the blast chamber, and operations were normal. Except that it was completely dark. she told herself, calling for them to come back up. Just as she did that, a beeping sound came from her left hand, and she remembered the Peebo. She jumped, and held her hand up, but it was empty; the beep had come from her watch, as it'd chimed 0200. She looked around, surprised at the Lab. It was decked out with garland and holly, and the old Christmas artwork she and Britanny had done in grade-school years before. Other decorations filled the room as well. "Alert, Gina," the computer called out. "Intruder." "What?! Where?!" Gina blurted, spinning around in a circle and seeing no one. She was about to tell the computer to check again when an axe sliced through the air out of nowhere, but only the blade, as if it was slicing into existence from some other realm. That's exactly what was happening; it cut a floor-to-ceiling gash in the space just before Gina, and then parted--it was as if it were a curtain, the computers and other things behind and on each side of the gash scrunching up and brushing aside gently to let the hole open large enough for a person to pass through, then close again as if nothing had happened. As spacetime repaired itself, Gina was trying to refocus her eyes on the lab behind where the rent had been, and forgot that someone had stepped out of said rent. "Jinkies!" she said when her eyes wandered left just enough to see the figure. It was a hard figure to miss. There stood her grandmother--Mumsy Brigand--outfitted in a red velvet robe, green battle armor, and fully decorated headgear and facepaint. In her hand she carried the largest axe Gina had ever seen, all golden from the tip of the blade to the end of the handle. "G..Gramma?" Gina stammered in surprise. "Hello, Gina!" Mumsy boomed joyously. "Are you.. well, what I mean is.." "Indeed," she said, hefting the axe and resting it on her shoulder, "the Ghost of Christmas Present." "But you're not dead, how can you be a ghost?" Gina pointed out. The axe came up off the shoulder. "Are you saying I CAN'T??" Gina backed a step or two away, holding up her hands. "Sorry," she said. "Honest mistake." "Let us get on with it," Mumsy said. "The time is short." "Um, okay," Gina answered hesitantly again. "How do we travel?" "Travel?" Mumsy said with a smile. "We have no reason to travel." She turned around, facing away from Gina, and slashed her axe in the air twice, forming an X which then parted along the cuts, falling away to show another image that shined through from underneath, as if they were standing in front of a 9-by-18-foot rear-projection, ultimate-resolution, surround-sound TV screen. "This is the Retreat," Mumsy said as the view before them resolved into an image of a clearing where people were gathering. In the center was a monstrous tree stump with dozens of smaller stumps around it, as if it were a naturally-occurring banquet table with seating included. "Is this the party?" Gina wondered aloud. "It is," Mumsy nodded, gesturing to the image. "Observe." The people that were arriving, Gina knew, and knew well, naturally: Brit and Stripe were first, admiring the setup they'd accomplished (the tree stump was already laid out with the biggest feast Gina'd set her eyes on in a long time). A cluster of people followed, including Bri' and Genn and Seance, then Gina's parents; Brod, Mesha, and Tark; Jazelle; Thabian and Jetta and their family; Ryan Tabbot; and finally, once everyone else was in place, the Edge Guard. "Wow.." Gina said at the sight of the assembled group. "Everybody's there." She watched as they sat down and marvelled at the food laid out before them. There was something for everyone there, something from each race's culture, and the different decorations in the table center to represent everyone's holiday traditions. "Jinkies! BRITANNY did all this??" Gina asked Mumsy with disbelief. "Well, she had help, but yes, it was her idea," Mumsy told her. "Unreal," Gina breathed, watching the proceedings unfold. Everyone had an opportunity to invoke their race's rituals: grace, prayers, and so on; everyone took a bit of food from every race's platters, and the feast began. They continued to watch as all the partygoers enjoyed themselves, stuffing themselves with, to hear them tell it, the best holiday meal they'd had in ages. Congratulations circled the table many times to land on Stripe and Britanny. As the feast wound on, people got up and told stories of their culture's holiday and celebrations, and what it all meant, and everyone else listened attentively and ultimately came out of it a more knowledgeable person. Gina realized what was bugging her: there were no empty chairs (well, stumps). "Wait a minute--they didn't leave a place for me?" "Well, dear, you DID make your intentions to not show up quite clear," Mumsy said. "But, I mean.. it was import--" "I think you just had that discussion with another Ghost, did you not?" Gina hadn't trailed off because of that; she'd noticed another odd thing about the feast. "Where's Penny and Ace and Charlie? I mean, I'd expect if RYAN was there, for SURE Penny and the rest would show up, too.." The flaps of the tear in spacetime began to close, as the view receded and faded away; Gina watched it close just as Stripe was standing up on his own stump/chair to relate the Kryn's holiday traditions. And then it was gone; the spot she'd been staring at now had a computer console there, as it had before Mumsy'd swung her axe. "Not yet," Mumsy had said while the special-effects were going on. "There's someplace else to visit first." "Someplace else?" Gina echoed. "Who else would I want--" Gina stopped short as Mumsy slashed the air again. The scene before them fell away to reveal a Christmas tree and four people sitting beside it. "I don't believe it," Gina said. She truly didn't, but there it was right before her; it was as if she could reach out and grab hold of Pee Wee and his minions. She watched as, under the watchful gaze of Daishi, Ionis handed out his gifts to the other two. She even snickered at the joke-gifts--a box of Pampers for Pee Wee, and a wig-making kit for Zelda--that came before his real gifts, which were, respectively, a copy of Tomb Digger 4 and a magically-synthesized sparring partner. "And for you, Jason," Pee Wee said in a friendly tone, handing a giftwrapped box to Ionis. "I don't believe it," Gina said. "He's being civil to them." "He is," Mumsy replied. Ionis had opened his gift. "Why, it's.. a three-volume set of appendicies to my Book of Magic! Thank you, Erwin." "You're welcome," Pee Wee nodded. "And Zelda.." Zelda was given a scroll, which she undid and rolled open. "I had to get Daishi's help with the calligraphy," Pee Wee said sheepishly, nodding at the silent ninja. "He may not celebrate Christmas, but he said he 'respects your attributes'." "Thanks.. I think," she replied, reading part of the scroll: "'Good for twelve hours in the biogenetic tank, for any upgrades of your choice'.." She looked up at Pee Wee and smiled. "It's wonderful, Erwin. Thanks." She gave him a quick (too quick for him) hug, and snapped off a salute at Daishi. While Talon was catching his breath, she reached down and handed him a gift in return. "Let's see.." He ripped the wrapping off the parcel and opened it. "A.. tie," he said without excitement. "My apologies," Zelda shrugged. "I've never been good with gift selection." "No, no.. it's wonderful," he said. "Thank you--wait, what's this?" He upturned the box, which seemed to have something between the tissue liner and the bottom. Three packages of cards tumbled out into his lap. He read them and exclaimed, "Oh, wow! 'Mystic Treasures of the World' trading cards!" Zelda grinned. "I knew you'd like 'em." Zelda gave a package to Ionis, but Gina didn't pay attention, instead turning to Mumsy and saying, "Are you trying to tell me that even my ENEMIES are having an enjoyable Christmas together?" Mumsy nodded. "You can see it for yourself," she said. Gina faced the image again. "This is unreal.." As the rift to Pee wee's party sealed, Gina thought she caught a glimpse of Tanya, avidly devouring a fruitcake.. "This way, granddaughter," Mumsy said, turning Gina around with a mammoth hand and slicing into the air again. "NOW we visit your other friends." This time, it was a smaller cut, but it fell open the same way, allowing Gina and Mumsy-ghost to look in on Penny and Ace and Charlotte. Or rather, Penny and Ace, who were sitting at the table, trying to eat, not looking very happy about it. The third chair at the table was empty, though the cutlery and plate-setting was absent, having been moved somewhere else. Penny and Ace said next to nothing all the time they were eating. There was no talk of whether or not either had gotten their shopping done; no words were exchanged about the party that Brit had invited them to that they were missing. Most disturbingly, at least to Gina, there was no mention of where Charlie was. Suddenly, as if on cue, there was the sound of a vicious coughing spell coming from an adjacent room. Penny looked up at Ace with a pained expression, as if someone was shooting icicles into her heart, and then leapt up from the table, pouring a glass of water and rushing off, shouting in a reassuring voice, "I'm coming!" Ace sighed and shook his head, letting it fall into his hands; then, he got up and went to join Penny. "What's wrong? Why aren't they happy?" Gina asked. "What is there to be happy for?" Mumsy said. "Their friend is dying." "What?! Who??" demanded Gina. "The yellow one," Mumsy said. "The bird-like creature..?" "Charlie??" Gina blurted out. "Charlie's dying?? How?" "She was not created with a long life-span in mind," Mumsy said. "Her.. how do you put it? Her deena?" "DNA?" Gina figured out after a moment. "Whatever.. it is degenerating, because of the way that time-traveling son-of-a-bitch built her, and she has very little time left." "How come nobody SAID anything?" Gina said as she turned to face Mumsy, but Mumsy wasn't there. She had vanished, leaving Gina in an empty, dark lab. There were no lights, no holes torn in spacetime by Mumsy's axe, and no shrapnel from exploding Peebos or grandfathers littering the lab. Gina slowly turned around, aware that something was in the room, something she couldn't see.. at least, not in the dark. Then, as she turned halfway around from her starting point, she saw it, or thought she did. "Lights," she said not at all confidently. They obediently came up and showed her the Beta hunched over in the far corner of the room, its gaze locked on her. She stared at it, frozen by fear, as it stared back at her; then, after a long moment, after it failed to react at all, she regained her voice, deadpanning, "Let me guess.. Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come?" Still it didn't respond, except to beckon her closer by way of a nod of its head. Slowly, she approached, hesitantly, afraid of what might happen. She was alarmed when the Beta, when she got close enough, reached out and latched onto her arm. She screamed in surprise, as her arm was being absorbed into the Beta. In a few seconds, even her scream was gone, as she was completely taken into the Beta's grasp. The Beta oozed out of the wall of an apartment, and looked down at itself; a split-second later, with a sort of a shudder, it ejected Gina out its side, and she shook her head once or twice then glared up at it. It ignored her, nodding to the scene before them. Gina looked up and gasped. There sat, or rather, slouched, Brianna; she wore a dirty T-shirt and shorts, and looked like she hadn't showered in a couple of days. She seemed only mildly interested in the program she was watching on TV; the rest of her was unfocused and detached from reality, it appeared. "I thought you were going to show me Christmases," Gina said to the Beta. "What's this about?" The Beta turned to regard the TV just as Brianna began flipping channels. More than once, she came across a commercial wishing the station's viewers a merry Christmas Day. "But there's no decorations," Gina said, looking around, adding, "no tree, no nothing. Surely Bri' wouldn't just skip Christmas." The Beta looked at Gina, as if to imply that she wasn't seeing what was laid out before her. The two of them silently glided to the window, looking down nineteen stories into whatever city this future Brianna lived in; it was very obviously Christmas for everyone else, just not for Gina's clone-sister. Gina jumped as the telephone in the apartment rang. Brianna, however, appeared not to notice, continuing to flip through the television channels with a disinterested look on her face. The machine clicked on after the fourth ring. "Hi, it's me," came Brianna's voice on the outgoing message. "I'm not here right now, so leave me a message. If you REALLY need to get hold of me, I'm going to be at Gina's place over the holid--" BLAM! Gina jumped again as the answering machine and telephone came apart in an explosion of plastic and electronics. She looked up to see Brianna tossing aside her GyroJet, the barrel still smoking, and go back to not-watching TV. "What's happened?" Gina said, turning to the Beta. "What could possibly make Brianna become like this? What happened to her?" She felt herself sliding towards the Beta, and steeled herself for what she knew would happen next.. Moments later, they emerged from the ground, separating into two entities again, in what looked like a meadow covered in snow. The gentle rolling hills conveyed a sense of friendliness to the place. "I don't get it," Gina said, looking around to the partially-cloudy day, with just enough sun poking through to make things somewhat pleasant. She could hear but not identify music that was coming from the distance, from behind a line of spruce and pine trees. "I don't understand." Again she and the Beta glided over the ground, heading for the trees, and passing directly through them. In the distance, on the side of the trees that they were now on, Gina could see a cluster of people. There were a multitude of polished outcroppings in rows, as well. Headstones. "..oh," Gina trailed off, realizing the music she'd heard earlier was a small choir that was with the group of people at the new gravesite. As Amazing Grace died down, the choir and the priest moved away, leaving the mourners alone. Gina recognized people straight off. "That's Penny," she breathed as the Beta took her even closer. "Oh, no.. this is for Charlie.." Gina felt heartbroken. The Beta looked down at her, then looked back as they slid closer yet again. Gina now had Brit, Stripe, and Ace picked out as well. "I didn't believe she'd let it get to this," Penny said, stammering, close to tears; Ace was instantly there for her, comforting her as best he could, though he looked largely upset as well. "Don't worry," he told Penny. "She's in a better place now.. a place we can only hope we get to ourselves." Britanny and Stripe approached Penny and Ace. Brit smiled weakly as she met Penny's gaze. "Thanks for coming, Penny," Brit said. "She would've liked that." Gina was puzzled, but she put it aside while Penny spoke again. "When I think of all the chances we had to stop this from happening," Penny began, then shook her head and lowered it. "But she just wouldn't listen.." Gina looked up at the Beta again. "That.. that's not Charlie in there, is it?" she asked. Brit and Stripe turned around, and Penny and Ace looked up as best they could. It appeared to Gina that they were looking right at her, but she knew that wasn't possible. She looked behind her and saw four other figures approaching. Gina was entirely confused by the arrival of Pee Wee and his minions, along with Tanya. Brit and the others looked disgusted more than confused. Tanya was back to her original, full size, Gina noticed, and as she and Pee Wee arrived at graveside, they high-fived one another with smiles on their faces. Zelda and Ionis looked similarly smug. "Show some respect," Brit said through tears. "Oh.. please DO forgive me," Talon sneered, turning to the grave. "How unkind of me." He kicked some dirt into the grave, saying with a grin, "Good riddance, Gold Digger." Gina was rocked as if a freight train had slammed into her. Tanya was saying something equally derogatory, but Gina didn't hear it. She turned in panic to the Beta and said, "This--this is just one p..possible future, right? RIGHT? I mean, this isn't necessarily how it's going to be!" "IS IT?" she said after the Beta failed to respond, simply watching her. "I'm not like this!" Gina broke down, falling to her knees in the snow yet not feeling a thing. "I can change! I can make things b--better.. I .. I can.. Just give me a chance!" The Beta looked down at her as she continued to blubber away, now crying, reaching out to try to grip the Beta's legs--which she couldn't do, since her hands passed right through them. She thought she'd finally made contact, until she realized her hand was inside the Beta's leg; she was being absorbed once more. She didn't have enough time to blurt out one more teary plea before they were both gone. Again without any sense of transition, she was standing alone in the lab, which was fully lit up. The computers, secure lab, and other equipment were all intact, and there was no Peebo shrapnel lying around, nor was there a Beta monster in the corner, or anywhere else for that matter. "Computer! What day is it?" she blurted out. "Christmas Day.. of course," it answered her. "Just enough time," she muttered to herself. Speaking aloud again, she added, "Computer, access www.foodbuffalo.com.. buy as much tuna as can fit in the Mark Ten, credit authorization Gina-23-Cutebuns. I'll be back soon." SEVERAL MINUTES LATER PENNY PINCER'S HOUSE Kevin "Ace" Koss sat on the couch, staring into the tree across the room. he thought. Penny emerged from the kitchen with two cups of coffee. Ace sat up straight and took his with a thank-you. "How's she doing?" he asked. Penny flopped down with him on the couch. "Okay," she told him. "Resting; comfortably, for a change. I just wish there was something more we could do." She was about to say more, but the doorbell rang just then. Tiredly, she put her coffee down and leaned forward to get up. "No," Ace said, pulling her back down to the couch. "I'll get it. You take a break for a change." "Thanks," she smiled at him as he headed for the door. Ace was slightly surprised to see Gina there. "Don't ask how." Gina blurted, rushing past them into the room, "but I know about Charlie..and I think I can help." "W-wha?.." Ace stammered. "I don't have any other way to say this, so.." Gina rambled, pulling equipment out of her backpack, "I'm sorry, Penny.. I shouldn't've gotten so focused on my work." "Thank you, Gina; that means a lot to me--" "C'mon, partner..we've got a harpy to save! (And after that, a party to get to..)" THE RETREAT, A SHORT TIME LATER It was the Christmas of a lifetime. The assembled werecats, Rakshasa, humans, Krynn, and genetically created hybrids had traded stories, songs, and jokes with the special closeness that comes not from being friends.. but a family. Stripe had just finished telling the tale of the Grand Solstice of Aebra, when Gina stood, mutely asking permission to say some words. No one seemed to mind, so slowly, carefully, she began to speak. "I, um, wasn't going to, uh.. I mean, I hadn't, uh, planned to, um, come today.. so many things seemed to be, um.. more important. After all I've been through, a simple party--" "HEY!!! You call this SIMPLE?!" Brittany yelled, before Stripe lovingly shoved a tuna sub in her mouth. Without missing a beat, Gina continued, "..seemed a waste of time. But what good is saving the world, if you.. lose the ones you love?" Gina breathed in deeply, something Ryan noticed more than anyone else. "I guess what i'm trying to say is.. I love you all.. and Merry Christmas, everybody." "And God bless us.. every ton." Charlotte chimed in. -end- MERRY CHRISTMAS from Jason "Peebo" Low and Mario "mdg" Di Giacomo