Capítulo 29: Chapter 29: Merry Christmas
The Rust Bucket drove through Death Valley, California on a very hot day. Everyone inside was sweating profusely from the heat as Becky used a book to fan herself with as they all groaned and Gwen looked at her right arm and clenched her hand back and forth at the power that she now possessed at her fingertips as Jen rifled through her spells as she sighed.
"So how did that happen?" Jen asked as Gwen lifted up her sleeve to show her new tattoos to the Rust Bucket's inhabitants as Max drove on.
"What's with the tattoos, sis?" Becky asked as her sister shrugged.
"They look like the Charms of Bezel," Ben said.
"I don't know exactly," Gwen said. "It was a little present from our friend from the future, Drake. I guess that it's supposed to contain the powers of the Charms. And they can't be removed and my arm can't be cut off either. How am I going to hide this from Mom and Dad?"
"I don't know," Allison said. "What 10-year-old has tattoos?"
"Perhaps I could help," Jen said with a smile as she finally stopped as she smiled. "Hold your arm for me, cuz."
Gwen then nodded and winced as she stuck her arm out and Jen ran her hand over it as she closed her eyes as her hand glowed pink as she nodded.
"Procidat Deceptionem," she chanted.
That was when a pinkish aura glowed around her arm before fading, leaving the arm seemingly unchanged.
"Um, what did you just do, sis?" Ben asked.
"Just a simple illusion spell," Jen said.
"Then why can we still see the tattoos?" Becky asked as Gwen looked down at her arm.
"That's the thing about illusions," Jen said. "Once you recognize them for what they are, they instantly fall apart like a house of cards. The spell doesn't work on people who know that the tattoos are there."
"Okay," Gwen said, still unsure before she groaned outwards as she felt the heat getting to her as Becky sighed before looking outwards to see that the next Rest Stop wouldn't be for another 100 miles.
"We are in the middle of the middle of nowhere!" she groaned.
"Grandpa, can't you turn the A.C. up any higher?" Ben asked as Max looked to them.
"I'm afraid it's at maximum right now," he said. "We'll stop at the next gas station."
"We'll be grille cheese by then!" Ben, Jen and Gwen all groaned outwards as Jen sighed.
"That's it, I'm going Frostblight!" she said as she slammed her core down, initiating her transformation.
Her skin turned an icy blue and started radiating cold air and her eyes shot open to reveal bright glowing pink eyes with no pupils and her hair shifted into blue spikey hair like ice. Her clothes then shifted to a pink ballerina-like outfit complete with the skirt and flat shoes. Her body then shrank to 3 inches high and a pair of insect-like pixie wings grew out of her back. The watch symbol appeared on the belt of her skirt.
Frostblight then instantly flew around the Rust Bucket's interior with a carefree giggle as the others sighed in relief from the chill as Ben smirked.
"Feel free to cool us down while I fix the air conditioning," Ben said as he slammed his Omnitrix core down and began his own transformation.
The Omnitrix sank into Ben's wrist as his hands and feet grew grey-blue and slimy as they secreted mucus from his pores and only had four fingers and three toes. The Omnitrix symbol grew on his back and the blue spread to the rest of his skin as his eyes grew huge and buggy, taking up the entire upper half of his face as the pupils turned sideways and rectangular and his mouth was filled with sharp teeth. His hair and nose vanished as he shrunk to three inches tall. His attire shifted to a green one-piece bodysuit that fit his body with wraps around his feet. He struck a pose as the transformation finished.
Grey Matter then growled as he hopped upwards off the walls before landing in the air conditioner and began his work.
"Okay," he said as the other girls all watched and Frostblight just face-palmed, knowing where this was going to go.
"Okay," Grey Matter said. "Recalibrate the Freon evaporation cycle, expand the expansion valves and realign these condenser cords."
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Becky asked.
"One more second and it's ice-cube city!" Grey Matter exclaimed... just before a plume of smoke burst out of the air conditioner.
Max pulled the R.V. over and the group immediately ran, or in Frostblight's case flew, out onto the dusty ground in a coughing fit.
"Okay, that went so much better in my head," Grey Matter said.
That was when Allison squinted and saw a clearing in the distance. "Guys, look!"
"Is that... a village?" she asked.
"What's that doing in the middle of the desert?" Frostblight asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Can we go, Grandpa! Please!" Gwen begged.
"Sure," Max chuckled. "Don't sweat it."
The kids could only shrug and glare at that as Becky just shook her head.
"Sorry," he said. "I couldn't help myself."
The group then walked towards the gates as the twins hit their Omnitrix symbols and transformed back into human form as they looked up at the figurines by the gates.
"Toy soldiers?" Gwen asked. "In Death Valley?"
"Definitely weird," Allison said.
"Hmm..." Max wondered. "Must be one of those holiday theme parks. They must have packed up and left and forgot this thing."
After he said that, the six then felt a gush of cold air escape from the concave doors as the kids all beamed up at that.
"Did you feel that cold air?" Jen asked as they all went inside as Max rolled his eyes and followed them.
After he walked for a few minutes, he felt his shoes sink into... snow?
As soon as he walked into the light, he immediately noticed that it was snowing and right before their eyes was a complete winter wonderland as they all gasped.
"How is this possible?" Allison asked. "It's a complete desert wasteland outside and in here, it's a winter wonderland!"
"What is all this?" Max asked.
Little did they know that a giant nutcracker was behind them and it gazed down upon them.
In another area, a figure was looking through the nutcracker by way of a crystal ball. He seemed to be rather interested in Max as he looked down upon her.
"Could it be?" he asked. "Has he finally arrived?"
Gwen felt the snow fall into her hand and beamed up.
"Snow?" she asked before she felt something hit her shoulder as she looked to see Ben, Jen and her sister smirking as Becky tossed a snowball in her hand.
"Which only means one thing," Ben said.
"Snowball fight!" Becky called as they all started throwing snowballs at her as she giggled... while Allison could only look on as she shrugged and shook her head.
"Snow angel!" Jen said as they all stopped and made snow angels briefly before standing up.
"Man," Ben said. "It doesn't get much better than this."
"Look who's talking, cuz. I'm the one who hasn't seen snow in five years," Becky said. "Weather doesn't exist in the Null Void."
"Sorry," Jen said. "We forgot."
"It's alright," Becky smiled as Gwen rubbed her shoulder.
"What about you, Allison?" Jen asked. "You used to live in New York. You must have had snow."
"Not my thing," Allison said. "I'm more of a warm weather kind of girl."
"Typical that the goth doesn't know how to have fun in cold weather," Ben smirked.
"Hey, just because I don't like winter doesn't mean that I don't know how to have fun in it," Allison said as she felt a snowball hit her in the back of the head.
"Hey!" she said. "You just made the worst mistake of your life, pretty boy."
"Did she just call me pretty boy?" Ben asked as Jen smirked.
"Sure did," she giggled as Allison picked made snowballs from the snow near her and absolutely nailed the lot of them with a flurry of snowballs that were too quick for her as she smirked at them.
"Where do they keep the snow-making machines here?" Max asked as he felt a snowball hit him too as his grandchildren giggled at that. "I'm warning you kids... you're messing with an old pro."
Soon enough, everyone was having fun with the snowball fight from them.
That was when the gang started walking through the village as they took in the sights.
"Got to admit," Gwen said. "They're using some pretty cool special effects to keep us from seeing the town from outside."
"The whole town must be air-conditioned," Jen said.
Soon enough, they were stopped in their tracks as they saw a bunch of small creatures with pointy ears and green beady eyes wearing green and red festive clothing and hats running across them.
"Are those..." Allison began.
"Elves?" Jen finished.
"Yeah, I think so," Ben said.
"I wonder where they keep their reindeer around here?" Becky asked as they stopped and Jen looked over.
"Uh... right there," she said as they looked over to see the elves loading up presents onto a sleigh held by a reindeer as they widened their eyes and saw another area where some elves were decorating a giant Christmas tree as they all widened their eyes.
In another part, an elf rode a sled down a snow-covered hill and a door opened by them and some giant toy soldiers walked out and formed a single-file line before blowing into their trumpets as the gang all looked in wonder... except for Allison who merely shrugged and put her hands into her pockets.
"You know, being here makes me realize," Max said, putting his arms around his grandchildren. "The five of us have never had a real Christmas together. Or at least before Becky came back."
"Huh, you're right, Grandpa," Jen said.
"Yeah," Gwen said. "Our families do get pretty busy that time of year. I mean, with all the holiday parties, having to shop till you drop, vacations and all of that."
"Yeah, well maybe that'll change one of these years and we can all spend a nice relaxing holiday together," Max said. "And maybe Allison here can celebrate with us too."
"Maybe," Allison said. "I'll have to think about that when I get my apartment when we get to your home."
"Uh, yeah," Ben said with a smile. "Well, I'm going to go hit the bobsled rink."
"Ice-skating for me," Gwen said.
"I think I'll check out the shops with Becky," Jen said.
"And I guess I'll check out the trees," Allison said she and the others walked off, leaving behind a chuckling Max.
"So much for that ever happening," Max said.
As promised, the kids were having fun in the winter wonderland, bobsledding, ice skating or checking out the shops with a smile as they all looked like they were having a good time...
Until the camera cut to a very awkward-looking Allison as she looked up at the Christmas tree and sighed as she rubbed her brow.
"How am I going to tell these guys that I've never had a real Christmas?" she asked as she shook her head.
Meanwhile, Max entered a shop that read Toys and Cocoa on the sign. He rubbed the cold air off of the window and looked at his grandchildren having fun with a smile. He took a mug and got himself some hot chocolate from the brew by him.
Unfortunately, he didn't notice that one of the dolls looked towards him and saw Max examine one of the Santa Claus suits on display.
The man behind the crystal ball noticed this too as he examined Max.
"The lap is not quite right and it appears he has decided to shave. But it looks like it will be a perfectly perfect fit."
Max then left the shop when he looked down and saw four elves surrounding him.
"You must come with us," they said in unison.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see anybody around," Max said. "Who do I pay for the cocoa?"
The elves then walked Max away from the shop with beaming smiles on their faces.
However, another elf, who was dressed differently than the others, looked on in sadness from the alleyway.
Max was eventually led into an area with a large chair in the front and a large stairway and looked up to see another elf, who looked like he was the ringleader.
He had a white beard, gray eyes and wears a red and white hat, and green and red clothes. And of course, he had the pointy ears of an elf, but strangely enough, he didn't have the beady eyes that the others had and he was taller than them.
"I'm Mr. Jingles," he said. "I welcome you to Holiday Village. I'm so happy we finally have a chance to meet."
"Nice place you have here," Max said.
"Thank you so much. I've been so worried that it wouldn't meet with your approval."
"...My approval?"
"Why of course, Mr. Claus... Is it okay if I call you Santa?"
Max then chuckled at that and shook his head. "I think you have me confused with someone else. Say, you wouldn't happen to know anyone around here who can fix an air conditioning unit? Me, my grandchildren and their friend really need to get back on the road.
"Oh my gosh, good heavens, no!" Mr. Jingles said. "You can't go anywhere, you belong here. I created Holiday Village just for you."
He then rang the bells on his shoes and some of the elves ran around Max with red cloths in their hands, wrapping around him. Once he was completely wrapped, a flash of light shined out and when it faded, Max was dressed up in a pretty accurate Santa Claus outfit, complete with the red coat, shoes, gloves, long white beard, hat, you name it.
"That's better," Mr. Jingles said as he pressed a button on his control mechanism.
The chair then went behind Max and pushed him into it as it went to the front of the door. He tried to pull out, but a magical force seemed to be restraining him.
Meanwhile, Ben, Jen, Gwen and Becky were biting into a giant gingerbread man when they saw Allison walk up to them as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Um, guys, we should really be finding Max," she said as the others went by her.
"Why?" Ben asked. "He's used to not being around us on Christmas."
"I bet he's having fun like the rest of us," Jen said with a smile.
Contrary to their belief, Max was struggling in his seat as Mr. Jingles was controlling him with a joystick.
"Sorry about joystick controls," he said. "But I was sure you had other chores to attend to and I need to make sure you fulfill your responsibility to me first. Now, may I present your workshop, Santa."
"I am not Santa!" Max protested.
The doors, which were revealed to be just openings to the workshop, opened up to reveal a balcony viewing the workshop, where the elves were working on toys just like the toys in the real North Pole.
"Attention, my elves," Mr. Jingles announced. "I have a most wonderful surprise."
He then used his joystick to control Max to wave to the elves down below, causing them to cheer outwards at who they believed was Santa Claus.
"As soon as my toys are perfect, you'll have gifts galore to deliver."
Max struggled and protested against the controls, but the magic was just too strong for him to get out.
"Oh, and I almost forgot. Thanks so much for bringing those wonderful children with you. I could always use more elves."
Max then sighed outwards and glared at the elf.
Meanwhile, the kids were at the tree, shaking the presents at the base to see what was inside while Allison just sat beside with her chin up to her knees as Jen looked by her.
"What's wrong?" she asked as Allison sighed outwards.
"Nothing," she said. "It's just that this place is kind of making me feel a little blue."
"Why?" Jen asked.
"Because Kevin and I were pretty much by ourselves most of our lives," she said. "We never had a real Christmas because we were the only family that we had."
"Oh, Allison," Jen said as she hugged her friend. "That's terrible. No one should have to go through that. But when we get back home, you are going to be celebrating Christmas with me and Ben's family. You're practically family to us already."
"Easy now, my friend," Allison said. "Let's not get too carried away. Your parents might not like the idea of bringing in a vigilante from the streets."
"Once they get to know you, they will," Jen smiled at her.
They then suddenly heard a stomping sound walking towards them and looked to see the nutcracker soldiers advancing on them.
"Something tells me that they're not here to sing Christmas carols," Ben said as they all readied for battle.
Before they could do anything, the rebel elf from earlier threw ornaments at them, distracting them.
"It's Jingles' guards! You must skedaddle!"
"Ske... what-le?" Jen asked as they saw the guards' shadows loom over them.
"I think it means run!" Gwen said as the five all ran away from the nutcrackers, just before the lead one brought its sword down on them.
As they ran away, the top of the nutcracker's hat opened and out popped a miniature nutcracker with a cannon that fired candy canes after them.
Jen glared as she fired her energy bolts at them behind her as the kids ducked behind a sleigh.
"No way!" Ben exclaimed. "Ninja nutcrackers?"
"Something tells me that this village is a ho-ho-hoax!" Gwen said.
"Well it's time those wooden soldiers became firewood," Ben said as he activated his Omnitrix. "Going Heatblast!"
He then slammed the core down and transformed into... XLR8.
"Aw man!" he shouted as Jen activated her Omnitrix and transformed into Firefly as she glared.
"Let's go!" she said as she swung Allison onto her and XLR8 grabbed Gwen and Becky, slung them over his shoulder and ran away while his sister flew away as they dodged all the nutcrackers in the street while also swinging around the candy canes as XLR8 caught one in his mouth.
"Ooh, peppermint!" he said.
He then dodged before he eventually made his way to the ice-skating rink, where he immediately lost his friction and started slipping on the ice.
"Whoa! I've never accelerated on ice before!" he said.
"No, really?!" Becky shouted as Gwen looked to see her right arm and saw the glimmer of the tattoos and grunted as Firefly flew downwards and blasted some of the nutcrackers with her heat ray and destroyed them into a pile of smoldering rubble.
"Hey, we have our open fire! Who has the chestnuts!?" Firefly shouted as she threw some fireballs at the nutcrackers.
On the ice rink, the nutcrackers made their way on the ice as well XLR8 dodged and Becky shouted out as she pulled her blade from her belt and leapt to each one before she sliced their heads off before she eventually landed on the solid ground again as XLR8 crashed through the railing into a pile of snow and he groaned outwards before Gwen dusted herself off and saw the remaining nutcrackers before them.
"Okay, no more Ms. Nice Girl!" she said as she rolled up her sleeve and the Charm of Fire tattoo started glowing as her eyes started glowing white and the others looked on in shock as she shouted out and spread her arms outwards and spread out a massive wave of fire, which sent the nutcrackers burning to a crisp below as she then started breathing heavily and looked at her own fingers, shocked as the charm stopped glowing and she gasped.
"It really works," she said as the smoke faded from her fingertips.
But a few of the nutcrackers were still standing after that, but they quickly had their heads chopped off by Allison, who had morphed her hands into axes after absorbing the metal from the railing.
Firefly flew by as the Omnitrixes timed out and Allison dissolved her armor.
"That was really spiffy!" said the rebel elf as he ran by them.
"Spiffy?" Becky asked.
"Skedaddle?" Jen asked.
"Dude, don't you know English?" Ben asked.
"Dude?" the elf asked, confused.
"Do you work here?" Gwen asked, rolling down her sleeve.
"Yes, and if you don't leave now, you will fall under the curse of the village and become one of us as well."
"Me, an elf?" Ben asked. "Yeah, right."
Literally after he said that, his ears suddenly grew out into points and his eyes grew beady and he grew rosy cheeks.
"Uh... Ben?" Gwen asked. "You might want to check out your ears."
Ben immediately felt at his now pointed ears and started freaking out before turning back to his sister and cousins.
"Well it looks like I'm not the only one!"
Jen, Gwen and Becky then felt at their ears as well to see that the same thing had happened to them.
"Uh, I so can't go elf!" Gwen said. "Pointed ears will never be in fashion!"
"Yeah, well it's no picnic for us, either, sis," Becky said, crossing her arms.
"I am so going to rip this place apart if I have to," Allison said. "Consider me on the Naughty List."
"We have to get Grandpa and get out of here," Jen said.
"That might not be possible," the elf said. "Mr. Jingles has him. He believes your grandfather is Santa Claus."
"Yeah, no," Ben said. "Grandpa is a lot of things, but Santa is not one of them."
Jen then gulped before she stuck her hand out and focused before opening her fist to reveal a glowing pink light, which caused her to sigh in relief.
"*Phew* At least we still have our powers," she said. "There's something to feel good about."
Max was still struggling in the magic grip when Mr. Jingles jumped onto the arm of his seat.
"I know why you look so unhappy. You've had nothing to laugh about."
He then pulled a feather from out of his sleeve.
"Here. Let me change that."
He then rubbed Max's nose with the feather, tickling him.
"No, stop! *chuckle* No! Not that!" He eventually devolved into a fit of laughter before he inadvertently said "Ho, ho, ho!"
That involuntary remarked caused the elves below to cheer and a few even teared up a little.
Back in the town, night suddenly fell from what was clear blue skies a few seconds ago.
"Whoa, what just happened?!" Jen asked.
"We're running out of time," the elf said. "If you don't leave soon, you'll be stuck here forever."
"We're not leaving without our grandpa," Becky said, crossing her arms.
That was when the six felt a chill in the air behind them as they saw a top hat blow in from who knows where. From where the hat landed, a few huge snowmen formed from the snow beneath them.
"Skedaddle!" everyone but the elf said as they ran off and Jen fired her energy blasts from beneath as the twins glared.
"Time to armor up?" Ben asked.
"Go for it," Jen said as they both pressed the button on their Omnitrixes which activated their Omni Suits as they all ran to the same building that Max had entered earlier.
"Gwen," Becky said. "Wasn't one of those charms telekinesis?"
"Oh yeah!" Gwen said as she focused as her tattoos glowed again and she raised her hands up and several snowballs formed from the snow around them and the then thrust her hands forward and pelted the snowmen with snowballs, sending them staggering back as Becky took out her spear and Allison absorbed some of the stone ground as she glared.
"Anyone want a piece of us?" Becky asked.
"No time!" the elf said. "In here!"
They then ran inside the building and noticed the several pictures on the walls of past events in Holiday Village and Jen's eyes widened as she and Ben removed their helmets as they stopped by a picture of Mr. Jingles.
"Who's that?" Ben asked.
"Mr. Jingles," the elf said.
Gwen then walked up to another picture of Mr. Jingles by a young kid, and she immediately came to the obvious conclusion.
"And that must be you," she said. "You're his grandson."
"Yes," the elf said. "My name is Elsgood."
"...When was that taken?" Becky asked.
"Why, just a few days ago," Elsgood said as the team's eyes all widened at that.
"...In what year?" Allison asked.
"1932, of course."
That was when the kids all face-palmed.
"Guys, it's 2013!" Jen said.
"I'm guessing that this place has no concept of time!" Ben groaned before they heard a pounding at the door by them and they looked to see some big snowballs burst through.
Elsgood then pulled down on one of the lamp fixtures and an opening appeared in the floor.
"Follow me!" he said.
Then, one by one, they all jumped down the opening and fell down a huge tunnel that was filled with gifts before they all landed safely in a huge pile of presents on the ground below.
They then all looked around to see the workings of the workshop as well as reindeer being led to the gates.
"How do we get Grandpa back?" Jen asked. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."
"First, you'd have to destroy the Jingleator, Mr. Jingles' machine," Elsgood said. "It's what makes everything here magical. But the entrance to the workshop is guarded. You'll never be able to get in."
"Oh yeah?" Becky asked as the others looked to the twins who then immediately gulped as they knew what was coming.
Later, after Gwen, Becky and Allison had changed into similar attire to the rest of the elves in the area, they rode on the twins, who transformed into Wildmutt and Wildcat, who had put on antlers as a (rather pathetic) disguise.
"Remember, you're reindeer," Gwen said. "Not a dog, not a cat, reindeer."
Once they had reached the gate, the nutcracker standing guard put his sword down in front of them to block them.
"They're from... Europe!" Allison remarked.
The soldier raised its eyebrow and lifted up his sword to let them through.
They walked through to see a train in front of them.
"The factory is several stories below," Elsgood explained.
As the twins walked towards the train, they were stopped by one of the reindeer, who snorted at them with its red nose glowing.
They gasped and looked behind them to see the guard running towards them.
Wildcat growled and took her antlers off before she charged the guard and tackled him to the ground with her brute strength. She then bore out her claws and swiped the sword from his grasp before she wrapped her tail around it and swung it into him.
Becky and Allison then got back onto her as she growled.
"Hey, guys!" Allison began. "What do you say you make like baby food and MUSH!"
They then ran away and got on the train full of gifts as it left the station, but not before one of the guards hitched a ride on the back.
"Crap!" Becky shouted as they ducked before it fired its candy canes at them.
"Bah humbug!" Gwen shouted as they tossed a few gifts at the guard, causing him to fall off the back of the train into the abyss below.
Soon after, a mine cart came up carrying two more soldiers that leaped onto the train as the team glared.
Allison ducked before slamming her hand against one of their swords before she absorbed the steel from it and immediately formed her hands into axe heads and then sliced one of them apart before Wildmutt and Wildcat jumped upwards and sliced the other one apart with nothing but their razor-sharp claws.
Unfortunately, the caboose of the train was revealed to be a jack-in-the-box that immediately popped open, sending the team falling down towards the bottom of the workshop, where they landed safely in a mountain of presents before the Omnitrixes timed out, leaving the twins and their friends dazed.
"Well, well," Mr. Jingles said as he walked by them and the team glared at him as two giant polar bear doll guards walked to his sides. "It appears our new elves are eager to get started. And Elsgood, you know how I frown upon my elves thinking for themselves."
Elsgood frowned at that and they all glared.
Mr. Jingles pulled a microphone out of his sleeve and turned it on. "You all know our motto in Holiday Village."
"A happy elf is a busy elf!" the elves all chorused.
The team then all got out of the pile of gifts before the twins looked upwards to see Max in his chair dressed as Santa Claus.
"Grandpa!" Ben exclaimed.
Gwen and Becky then looked to see Mr. Jingles using his joystick control on them.
"He must be using that joystick to control him," Gwen realized.
"We want our grandpa back!" Jen demanded.
"I wish I could oblige," Mr. Jingles said. "But it wouldn't be polite to return a gift as special as Mr. Claus. Now, put them on the assembly line."
The polar bear dogs walked forward towards the team as they gulped nervously and Allison sighed and shook her head.
"It's official. I hate Christmas."
When the clock struck 11:30, the factory was still working and the team was still putting the toys together before a doll rolled by Ben on the assembly line and he twisted its head.
"I'm Spit-Up Sally. Watch me spit up. Spit up. Spit up."
The doll's head spun around, it's mouth opened and it vomited green gunk on Ben, causing Jen and Gwen, who were standing next to him to recoil in disgust as Mr. Jingles walked by and too the doll from Ben.
"How will Santa ever be able to deliver this if it's not perfect!? My toys must be perfect! Everything must be perfect on Christmas! Perfect, perfect, perfect!"
He then walked away as Jen glared and called after him.
"What kind of kid would want a vomiting doll anyway?!"
"That's it!" Becky shouted. "I am not spending the rest of eternity making toys. I think I can actually feel my soul dying inside me!"
"You said it," Allison said before glaring at the head elf.
Elsgood then walked by them and gestured them to the giant machine in the center of the room.
"That's the Jingleator. Time is running out!"
They then saw the giant polar bear dolls walking by them before they got back to the toys for a few seconds as they walked away.
"What we need is a distraction," Ben said.
The twins then looked towards the reindeer and then grinned to each other in mischief before Jen's hands started to glow.
The Spit-Up Sally doll was tossed by the reindeer. One of them sniffed to investigate it and it spat up in its face, startling it and sending the rest of the reindeer into a frenzy.
As the guards went by to settle them down, the twins then nodded and activated their Omnitrixes with a smile.
"All I want for Christmas are four big arms!" Ben shouted before he and his sister slammed down the cores, transforming into... Grey Matter and Frostblight.
"Aw man!" Grey Matter said. "Hey, maybe I can work with this."
"Let's go!" Frostblight said before she grabbed her brother and flew him away towards the Jingleator.
On the balcony above, Mr. Jingles looked through the telescope next to max to see the ruckus the reindeer were causing, before looking to see the elves had stopped working and then to see Frostblight flying her brother towards the Jingleator.
"Stop them!" he shouted.
The polar bear dolls then stopped with the reindeer and ran towards the two as Frostblight glared outwards and smiled.
"Not much for a sugar plum fairy, but what the heck?"
She then inhaled a deep breath and iced the floor behind them as she flew forwards, causing the dolls to crash into the conveyor belt behind them and they flew upwards into the Jingleator, just before a toy plane crashed behind them, sending them sprawling downwards on the belt like a slide.
They then crashed into a present that was sliding down the belt before they were suddenly kicked away by a boot on a hook that caused them to crash land on a platform.
Grey Matter rubbed his bottom when he and Frostblight stood up and looked to see a bunch of floating presents leading to what appeared to be a golden star. They then looked to each other and nodded before Frostblight flew ahead and Grey Matter hopped on the moving presents with a glare as he charged towards the star like a game of Frogger. He then gasped as some presents crashed onto the platforms he was on before they quickly moved between to present walls closing on on one another before they somehow made it through in time and landed at the foot of the giant star.
Grey Matter then looked to the green orbs surrounding the star and nodded to his sister.
"The amplification of currents suggests a vision of unstable and undeterminable isotopes. Shutting down power source now!"
He pressed his finger to the orb and the Jingleator started rumbling and flashing out light as Frostblight and Grey Matter gasped and braced themselves as they were bathed in the light.
Outside, the team were surrounded by the toys and gasped as they closed in on them.
Suddenly, the polar bear doll's eyes blacked out and they fell over, their power source depleted, followed by the rest of the toys surrounding them.
They gasped as the Jingleator gave off several multi-colored explosions and was completely obliterated outwards as they all gasped as they looked in the pile of rubble.
"Ben? Jen?" Becky asked, concerned before the rubble shifted and Grey Matter and Frostblight came out, completely unharmed.
"Oh yeah!" Frostblight cheered. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"
"No!" Mr. Jingles protested before going to his joystick again. "I need to assure the elves that Santa's still okay. Wave to them!"
Max, completely free of the joystick's controls, stood up and smirked.
"Way to get it done, you two."
"Oh, it's not working!" Mr. Jingles said before Max grabbed his collar.
"Come here!"
"Wait," Allison began as the elves looked at the rubble and the Omnitrixes timed out. "If we destroyed the machine, then why are we still elves? Why is there still a curse?"
"Because now nobody will ever be able to experience the joy of Christmas!" Mr. Jingles said as Max dropped him by them. "You will all make me more toys! More perfect toys! Without my perfect toys, what will Santa do?"
"Christmas isn't about giving the perfect toy," Max said. "It's about the spirit in which we give. Isn't that right kids?"
"Yeah," Jen said with a nod.
"But... I bet giving me a Sumo Slammer Extreme Slamdown would make me feel real good, huh Santa?" Ben asked before Gwen and Jen jabbed him in the elbow. "Kidding! Just kidding!"
"What my cousin means is being together is what Christmas is all about," Gwen said.
"Mr. Jingles, look at these kids you've kept away from their families all these Christmases," Becky said. "They need to go home."
"Well," Mr. Jingles began. "Even if I wanted to give away these toys, my reindeer can't fly anymore since the Jingleator is destroyed."
"Who needs Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer when you have Stink the Gassy Alien?" Ben said before Jen piped up next to him.
"And Battle the Human Butterfly!"
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Allison said with a sigh.
Later, Stinkfly and Battlefly were hooked up with reins to the sleigh, which had Max and Gwen inside. (Becky and Allison elected to stay behind as the sleigh could only hold Santa and one elf)
Mr. Jingles instructed Gwen on how to use the sleigh. "You adjust this dial and go wherever you want to on Earth in an instant."
"So that's how he delivers it all in one night!" Gwen realized.
"Come on! Come on!" Stinkfly said to them before they turned to him.
"We've got to go!" Battlefly smiled as they flew off into the night sky, sleigh in tow.
Naturally, they flew all around the world, delivering gifts to and fro wherever they went with a smile and whooping from Battlefly.
"Christmas in summer? Cool!" a kid exclaimed, tearing open her gift.
Once they arrived back in Holiday Village to a waiting Becky and Allison, the clock struck 12 and the twins transformed back.
"Midnight," Gwen said.
"I wonder if the curse is lifted," Becky asked.
After she said that, the night sky turned back to blue, the once deserted streets were now full of smiling happy families and the streets looked more old and worn down and the whole thing looked more like a tourist attraction than a city.
"There's your answer, Becky," Allison smiled before testing her ears with a satisfied smile.
They looked to see Max back in his old clothes along with everyone else trasnformed back to humans.
"Grandpa, you're back to being Grandpa!" Jen said.
"And we're back to being normal," Ben said as Gwen sighed.
"Relief," she said before they turned to a now statutory nutcracker, which they knocked on with no response.
Becky then looked over to see...
"Snow machines. Guess Holiday Village is normal too."
"Holiday Village is far from normal, young lady," said a familiar voice.
They all looked over to see an old man who bore a striking resemblance to Mr. Jingles walk by with three kids. "It happens to be quite special. Did you know I've been coming here every year since 1932?"
"Actually... yes," Jen said as she playfully nudged her brother and he giggled.
"Grandpa Elsgood, can we go to the cocoa fountain?" the boy holding his hand asked as they all raised their eyebrows.
"Skedaddle. I'll be right there, kids," he said.
"Yay!" the kids all cheered as they ran off, leaving behind five stunned kids by him.
"Elsgood?" Allison asked.
"Skedaddle?" Gwen asked.
The old man then shot them a wink before walking off.
"So... if we broke the curse, that means that Elsgood was never trapped here in the first place," Ben realized.
"But what about Mr. Jingles?" Jen asked.
"This might be your answer," Max said as he looked over to a plaque. "'Holiday Village, founded by Thomas Jingles, 1928. It's not what we give, it's the spirit in which it is given.'"
"Now why does that sound familiar?" Gwen asked with a smile.
Back on the road, the kids were still sweltering from the heat outside as Jen looked over to Allison with a smile.
"So, how was your first real Christmas?"
"More fun than I expected. Can't wait to celebrate it with you for real in 5 months," Allison smiled as Jen jabbed her and they laughed.
"Grandpa," Ben asked. "About us never celebrating Christmas together?"
"Yes, Ben?" Max asked.
"It's cool we're doing it now," Ben smiled.
"Ben's right," Gwen said as Becky fanned herself.
"But 'cool' might be the wrong word."
The Rust Bucket's occupants all laughed at that.
"Oh what fun it is to ride in an unairconditioned sleigh!"
Next time on Ben and Jen 10:
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