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Deep in the mountains, as far north as could be, sat a bright city with no lack of XMAS glee.

The streets were all busy and the elves they stayed working. There was nothing, not even a pandemic, that was stopping XMAS from coming.

It was a day like no other as the factories made toys, which were all gift wrapped and assigned to all the good girls and boys.

”I think Santa’s really brave this year to go out in his pandemic.”

Says Barney the elf as he wipes spit from his chin.

”Yeah, but if he thinks I’m not gettin’ hazard pay for this then he can suck my dick!”

Replies Peter the elf with a devilish grin.

”You should be happy to work, Peter! Not everyone is as lucky as us.”

”Lucky?! Are you fucking nuts?”

”Peter, you really shouldn’t cuss.”

The two brothers bickered back and forth like so, until a noxious gas grenade smashed through the window.

The smoke dispelled from the little ball and filled the room without warning, only a few elves reached the door before the alarms began sounding.

Peter and Barney made it out in time as metal doors slammed down locking everyone else inside. The two look at one another with a look in their eye knowing that their fellow comrades have died.

The Workshop has a lockdown security system installed in case of an infiltration or attack. You would be surprised how many people hate Santa for his one good deed a year with his big magical sack.

The two brothers rush through the halls that shake from explosions. They head straight for the armory. They’ve been trained through the motions.

They joined many others in the fight for their lives. XMAS depends on if Santa survives.

---

Three Years Later

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After the fall of the North Pole, XMAS was changed forever. Asking Santa to grant wishes wasn’t as simple as sending a letter. There was no place to send them. And unfortunately, the rumor these days is there is no one to get them.

When the Workshop was destroyed it was all part of a plan. It was all orchestrated by one evil man. The Mayor of Gift Town was behind everything. He hired some radicals to do all the killing.

High in a tower he watched and he waited, as the orders for XMAS gifts grew and so did his hatred. It was just a few days until the big day and three years removed since he finally had his way. Over and over he tried to sabotage XMAS. Wanted to turn it all virtual and make it a business.

”Instead of one day, let’s make it all year! Who’s to tell YOU when to spread holiday cheer?”

The Mayor would make announcements, there were announcements all of the time. He would get people online to spend their precious dime. Like drones and like zombies, like they were all hypnotized. They would buy this and buy that, it made their dens so unorganized.

”XMAS in July AND in September! October, January, March, and November!”

With lies and deception, he ruled over the land. Not with an iron fist, but with a surprising helping hand. It wasn’t always the push for the purchase; he would give stuff away, but make you feel worthless.

In a battle for XMAS, where good or evil could win….

It is now, my friends, where the real story begins.




The cold wind blew and pushed onto the back of the dark traveler. With a heavy fur cloak that covered him from head to toe, he plowed through snow up to his knees; the sight of lights in the distance kept him moving forward. They were that of a city which seemed to grow brighter and brighter as the traveler approached.

When he reached the front gate of a wall that surrounded the city he was met with a shout from a guard tower above.

”You there! State your businesses!”

The traveler said nothing and just held up a large candy cane scepter above his head into the air.

”Open the gate!”

The gate slowly slid open and immediately a militarized police force met him at the entrance. They hold him at gunpoint before an officer steps forward and orders them with a motion to stand down.

”Welcome to Gift City, outsider. You’re going to have to come with us.”

By all means, please, take me to your leader.

The policemen surrounded the traveler and guided him away, away towards the tower. The tower where he will stay.

When they reached the top floor and without hesitation, they had him in a room like he was under investigation.

Two men in suits enter the small room and join the traveler and sit across a table from him. The room is brightly lit and all of the walls are made of stone. No mirrors, no windows. There isn’t even a security camera in sight. They all sit quietly for a moment before one of the men in the suits begins to speak.

Wha---

Do you care if I smoke?

The man stops and motions the ‘go-ahead’.

Much thanks.

The traveler reaches into his pocket and produces a large cigar and lights it. A long plume of smoke rises and fills the room with its stank.

The traveler’s cigar had a smell of bittersweet and it for some reason made these men uneasy in their seat.

"Where’d you get the Cane, Scrooge?"

The traveler grins.

Santa’s Workshop.

"We’ve searched that area many times and there was no sign of it there. He’s lying."

"It’s true, outsider. That doesn’t check out. When we sent you on this mission we specifically said we covered that area."

Perhaps, you just didn’t look hard enough, good sirs.

The two men look to each other and back at the traveler before there is a loud buzz sound over a hidden speaker. The two men sigh and stand up out of their chairs.

Are we finished already?

The traveler teases them as they head for the door, not exactly sure what they really have in store.

"Just make yourself comfortable. We’ll back right back."

They left the room and it wasn’t a few minutes before the door opened up again and several men in suits entered the room followed by a short, stout man dressed similar but in red. The men surround the table and the short man hops up onto the chair across from the traveler. He exchanges a stare with him for a moment before smiling and leaning forward.

"Good day, outsider! I’m the Mayor of this wonderful city and the man who desired the relic which you somehow acquired."

The Mayor welcomes the stranger with a smile that would sell, but he was warned already and wasn’t buying it at all.

The traveler never met the Mayor his first trip into town. He arrived in similar fashion, at gun-point and all, and because apparently elves and XMAS magic are banned from the city everyone who enters without the proper I.D. gets pretty much strip searched. If you check-out (not an elf) you’re welcome in as long as you state your business. Looking around the city it looks like a giant factory with several little factories within it. Always producing and always exporting constantly. The only thing that differs from the other square buildings is one tall one in the middle where the Mayor resides. All others look the same whether it be a restaurant, school, shop, or factory; all labeled well and organized in a row.

At this point, even if it was their first actual meeting, they each already knew too much. At least the traveler did, and the Mayor knew he did, so that was enough.

The traveler spent a week away looking for the Cane and was assumed dead after he did not return after a couple of days. There were no search parties nor any effort to locate hi

There were no search parties nor any effort to locate the traveler. The city moved on not any slower or faster.




The snow drift is intense as the traveler shields his face from it. The horse he rides topples over and “Yeeeheeee’s” in agony as it crushes his left leg. The horse tries to get up several times but keeps slipping in the snow. The traveler manages to slide away before it causes anymore damage and rolls away as the horse finally manages to get to his feet then turns around and heads back to the city.

Good horse.

The traveler shrugged as he watched his ride leave without him. It was no big deal, he wasn’t the traveler for nothing.

The traveler shrugs and continues on his journey through the snow. When he reached a surprise wooded area, he rushed in to take refuge from the vicious storm. He pushes away some brush and falls into a forest! This picture perfect scene is about as XMAS as you could get without a single decoration. The snow accented the trees perfectly and it truly resembled a winter wonderland. The traveler enjoyed the sights until he turned into an arrow pointed straight into his face.

The one wielding the bow was a small hooded fellow who only stood about half of the traveler’s height. Removing their hood they reveal large pointy ears that stick above their head and some damn beautiful eyes. She whistles behind her and, within an instant, dozes more just like her are crossing through trees and on the ground to get there. With about twenty arrows on him, the girly-elf in the front takes her aim off of him and directs the traveler to stand.

"Who are you?"

In a high-pitched tickle the little elf introduced herself.

"Do you realize you are trespassing?"

I didn’t notice a sign, so… No?

The little elf approaches him and looks him over closely as he shrugs.

"Definitely not an elf…. But there is something different about you, isn’t there?"

The traveler shrugs again.

Different? I was always told I was special….

The elf sniffs the air a bit.

"No pixie dust… But something…. Hmm.. Maybe you could come with us."

And do what? Trust me, I merely stumbled upon your little oasis in the winter wasteland. I could turn around and be on my way.

The traveler turns around and heads back through the bush before the elf speaks up again.

"I know what you’re looking for."

The traveler stops and comes back to her.

Do ya now?

"The Cane? That sick bastard Mayor hold you up to this?"

The traveler says nothing as he knows he’s been caught. Surely these savages will eat him after the battle has been fought.

"What did he promise you? Riches? Glory? A million XMAS presents? The man is a liar and a manipulator. You’re going to have to trust me. Please, come back to the village. I can get you the Cane, but I will explain more there."

Relieved things did not escalate as they could have, the traveler joined the elf and journeyed through the forest to their home deep within hidden by the trees.

How do you manage to grow all of these in such a wasteland?

"Wasteland? It’s beautiful up here… You should have seen it when it was still the North Pole. Well, I guess it still is… But…"

What happened?

The little elf can’t hold back a few tears as the memories of her home bring back her worst fears.

"We were attacked. Twas the night before XMAS and all through the house… Nothing was stirring! Then BOOM! One wall blown apart and over there a window smashed…. Elves dying all around me… Friends… Family….. I ran away. I ran as fast as I could away from there. I don’t know how I managed to, but I witnessed as my home burnt to the ground and XMAS got taken away."

And it was this Mayor that is to blame?

"Without a doubt… He’s been trying for years to get Santa on board with his stupid online buying nonsense. Santa wouldn’t buy into it… Gifts aren’t bought, he kept saying… And now he’s gone, too."

THIS is what you’ve become? Living in trees?

"Those that survived that day and managed to escape are here. We came together and took refuge together hidden from danger. But we cannot last forever out here. Supplies are running thin and I don’t think everyone will hold up."

Are there those that survived who did not escape?

"There is. Some surrendered. But I would take any fate over that one…."

Go on..

"I was shocked enough that they were spared. Away from the North Pole, elves have never been treated right. Even with our role with the big guy, we’ve always been treated as someone else’s…. *gulp*.... That’s why no one ever left the North Pole… It was unsafe to."

Where are these other elves now? POWs?

"Maybe some, but I doubt it. Probably became citizens."

How can an elf become a citizen?! I thought you were hated and---

"Oh, we’re hated alright. However, when you become a citizen, you are required by law to forget XMAS magic and lose the pointy ears."

They cut off your ears?

"Well, THEY don’t. But I guess that’s the price of fitting in, huh?"

They stop in the middle of the village where it appears to be the end of their journey. The traveler looks at the elf and demands the relic.

It appears that we are here… So… The Cane? Show it to me.

”In due time. First, you should meet ‘her’”

Her?

”Yeah… Follow me.”

The two enter a tent where there is a large table with a map laid out. There are markers placed across the map like you would a battlefield. A larger woman with red and white armor stands over it next to a couple other beefed up elves. She turns and sees the two that have just entered. As the elf approaches her, she immediately takes a knee.

”Rise. Who is your friend?”

Misses Santa… *AHEM* Miss Santa… This stranger stumbled into our woods and is looking for… Santa’s Cane…

”Stranger do you realize what you’ve just been caught in the middle of?”

I think I do… And call me, Doc.

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Ho, ho, ho, my friends! What a pleasant surprise to see that Charlie Nickles selected the good doctor to join him on this most Savage Solstice! And what a great pleasure to finally meet Charlie face-to-face! The guy was at the top of the charts there for a while and then after a couple tumbles it seemed like he didn’t get up right away. Not a big deal. Everything takes a tumble here and there. Unlike most of what I’ve seen other folks say about the guy, I won’t hold a loss to Robert Main for the Xtreme Title and a loss to Sarah Lacklan for the Universal Title against him. Most of those types of knocks are just jealousy and it is just silly to go after a guy because of it. Besides, the boy and I appear to be the only ones that can beat Robert Main now. And as for Sarah Lacklan, well, I’m not sure what to think about that one. I, like Mister Nickles here, never had the chance to meet the girl. I will say that if Mister Loverboy didn’t take kindly to her, then she just might be alright. So, it is a shame that things ended up the way they did. Maybe my tag team partner wouldn’t be so distracted by his new dog while the old dog sits in the corner.

No Charlie, I won’t hold stuff like that against you. You got there didn’t you? If you keep at it I’m sure you’ll be back again and maybe even walk away with a title that means something. See, I’m not sure, but if the only reason you’re competing here this week is because you don’t have to defend that Television Title of yours, we share the same reason. I don’t have to and I won’t show up every show and I won’t be forced to by some title. Bwahaha.

So, aside from our match lining up to be a spectacular one anyway, Charlie…. This, sir, is perhaps the greatest opportunity you’ve ever had here in this fine federation. A session with the good doctor could even be considered GREATER than a Universal Title shot. A victory over the good doctor…. Oh boy, don’t get me started there! They may just throw you straight into the Hall of Legends, Charlie! Wouldn’t THAT be something. All of these jealous, straight-edge losers wouldn’t be able to say diggy then.

Yikes. Just thinking about that gives me the willies. It’s too bad you’re the one getting crammed down the chimney, my friend. As much as I’d love to help boost your career to the moon, I just don’t see myself looking good in a chimney.