#it was supposed to start half an hour ago dawg i HATE ‘movie start times’ like dont fuckin lie to me

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Thinking about a character model height sheet from the TAS BTS book that had magneto be 6’10 and charles 4’8 when seated like girl ……….. why the fuck ……. greedy….

[miguel-manbemel]

A Sanders Sides Christmas Carol

Tonight, it’s Christmas Eve, so I present you here a little AU inspired on Sanders Sides by Thomas Sanders, Joan S. and the Foster Dawg Team, and the classic “A Christmas Carol”, by Charles Dickens. I wanted to try something new, so this story is in prose format, and not in script format like the “Aspects & Fanfics” story (which is not related to this one) I hope you enjoy it. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and happy holiday season to those who don’t. Until next time.

WARNINGS: Following the classic story, there are references to death. This has also references to queerphobia. And Remus makes an appearance, but he’s less gruesome than usual for him.

Once upon a time, not too long ago, there was an old avaricious man. No one knew his real name, but everyone called him Deceit, Deceit Scrooge. By means of lies and deception, he had gotten very rich at the expense of the people who made the mistake of trusting him their money or goods. Now he was running a pawnshop where he charged customers an abusive amount for redeeming the things they needed to pawn in times of necessity. He had kneaded a huge fortune and would have continued to do so working all alone on his own and keeping all the profits for himself, if it wasn’t for how old he had gotten.

When he realized that he would make much more profit if he hired someone to help him in the shop, he reluctantly decided to hire his nephew, Thomas, as an assistant. He payed him very little and made him work countless hours, but Thomas went to work everyday with a smile on his face, because no matter what, it was good money. He was a widower with a two-year-old child of his own, named Joan, or as he liked to call them, Tiny Joan, to take care of, and he was ready to move mountains, swim across oceans, and even cope with his own uncle’s working conditions, if that helped him to keep his Tiny Joan well fed, dressed and healthy. Thomas didn’t have many possibilities to choose a job, so he had no choice, anyway. Besides, he saw good in everyone, even in his uncle. He knew there was something in him that, one day or another, when he decided to let it go, would give a surprise to everyone. So he waited patiently, working tirelessly, day after day.

This was their working dynamic until one particular Christmas Eve. Just one day earlier, little Joan had been playing outside and, strangely for Florida, due to an extremely unlikely combination of meteorological conditions that only could have happened once per millennium, it had been snowing and snowing and temperatures had been uncommonly low. Joan was not prepared for the cold temperatures and, as a result, they got sick with pneumonia. Thomas was phoned by Joan’s nanny, who took care of them while Thomas was working, when she saw how much they struggled to breath. Thomas, scared and distressed, gathered all his courage and knocked his uncle’s door.

“Come in,” Deceit said “and it better be quick. Time is money!”

“Yes, uncle Scrooge, I’m sorry, uncle Scrooge.” Thomas stuttered. “I’m sorry to bother you but… but...”

“Speak already, for God’s sake!”

“I have received a phone call from home and...”

“I told you a thousand times that I hate that you use your phone when you are at work! When you are out you can use that devil’s tool however you want, but here, I’m paying for your service, and in working hours, you’re my property!”

“I’m sorry, uncle Scrooge, I didn’t pick it up the first time they called, or the second one, or the third… but when they called for a fourth time, I supposed it was an emergency. And it really was. My child! My child, uncle Scrooge. Joan is in the hospital right now! I must go to check that they’re okay!”

“Well… I guess that could be considered an emergency. But nevertheless, your child is in good hands in that hospital. Your presence there is really not required, and you are needed here and now. It’s still two hours till your shift is over.”

“But… uncle Scrooge.” Thomas said, horrified at Scrooge’s coldness of heart “They’re in a serious condition! I need to see them! Please, have some mercy! They’re your own grandnibling! Besides, it’s Christmas!”

“Don’t remind me of that, goodness gracious!” Scrooge yelled “You know how much I hate Christmas! Fine, I suppose I can give you permission to get out of work before your time, but don’t think I won’t discount these two hours, fourteen minutes and seventeen seconds from your salary, young man! It’s not my business if you have any other trivial stuff distracting you. You are paid for your work. No work, no money!”

“Do whatever you want!” Thomas said, genuinely angry at his uncle for the first time ever. It was one thing that Scrooge treated him coldly, he could sacrifice himself for Joan’s sake, but dismissing his child that way, that was something he wasn’t gonna tolerate. “In fact, I’ve had enough of this! I quit! Merry Christmas!”

Thomas angrily slammed the door behind him, grabbed his stuff and rushed into his car to go to the hospital.

“Ha… it seems this boy needs to learn some manners after all… I’ll let it slide as he’s clearly out of his mind right now. He’ll come back here tomorrow, begging for forgiveness, when the doctors show him the bills… He’s lucky that he’s my nephew, if it was someone else, I would kick him out on first sight.”

With that, Deceit returned to his work. When the clock struck half past four, someone rang the doorbell.

“Well, I hope it’s a client…” Scrooge thought “Ugh… my bones are not what they used to be… I hope this walk is worth the nuisance.”

Deceit walked to the door with difficulty. The doctors had prescribed him a good medicine that could, if not kill the pain completely, at least palliate it enough for him to have quality of life, but when they told him how much it was going to cost, he refused to buy it. He literally preferred to have his bones in pain rather than his pocket, he said. Finally he reached to the door and opened it. Outside, there was this boy. He knew him well, it was the neighbor’s son, Roman. When the boy saw Scrooge at the door, he got pail, whiter than his sweater, and it looked really white in contrast to his bright red scarf. He clearly expected Thomas to open the door and not him. Nevertheless, he cleared his throat. He had come there to sing and that’s what he was going to do.

“Deck the hall with boughs of holly, Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la! 'Tis the season to be jolly, Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la! Fill the meadcup, drain the barrel, Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la! Troul the ancient Christmas carol, Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!”

Scrooge just stood there, not moving a muscle. His face so neutral that no one could have guessed what was going through his mind. Roman looked at him, smiled and yelled with the bravest voice he could come up with:

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge! I… I’d dare to ask you for a little donation for our charity hospital. There are so many children there that won’t be able to celebrate Christmas Eve appropriately, and it would mean the world if…”

“That is the last straw!” Scrooge suddenly yelled, rising his cane threateningly “Not only you torture my ears with that stupid song and pester me reminding me the horrible time of year we’re in! You dare to ask me for money? My money!? Get out of my sight right now or I’ll make sure that you’ll join these children in your own hospital sooner than you think, and not as a visitor! Go away! Go away right now!”

Roman ran away and Scrooge slammed the door behind him. A bunch of snow fell from the roof due to the violence of the slam.

“Asking me for money… How dare he? He should get a decent job, like I had to, and work for his own money! No one gave me anything for free. Why would I have to give anything to anyone?”

The last half hour went by and Deceit Scrooge finally decided to call it a day. He locked the front door and got in the elevator to the second floor, where he had his residence. Why paying for a home in a different building, when the attic in his office was perfectly habitable? And that way he also saved himself having to call a taxi or going to the subway. Money goes away faster with these little expenses. Cutting them short is rising benefit, he always said. He had had to install an elevator when he could no longer climb the stairs due to his pain, but he called it a long-term investment that would end up saving him the money of having to pay for another suitable residence. He never spent a dime if he wasn’t sure he was going to get it back, one way or another.

Deceit entered his home and started making dinner for himself. A plate of soup and a chicken fillet. He certainly wasn’t in the mood for a lavish Christmas dinner like his nephew would have certainly had if he wasn’t in the hospital. After he finished his dinner and washed his dishes, he sat down on his couch and started watching TV. Another one of those boring Christmas specials was on. He switched channels but everywhere there was either a Christmas show or a Christmas movie. He didn’t own any kind of cable TV. Why paying for a subscription if there were free channels available for everyone through the airwaves?

When he was thinking on turning it off and just go to bed, suddenly the TV started getting signal interference, until the image turned into static snow. It was odd, since it was digital terrestrial TV and snow should not appear in that format. After some time, the snow went green and a voice was heard.

“Hello? Do you read me? Testing, testing, one, two three, testing, testing, suck my Dee…”

“What is going on?” Deceit said.

“Oh, so you do read me. Hi, old friend! Glad to see you after so long!”

“I’m sorry I can’t say the same, since I can’t see you whatsoever. Who is this?”

“Oh, you can’t see me? Wait, I’ll fix that.” sounds of bumps are heard and the snow changes into an image of a weird man dressed with strange lavish garments, including a green sash. “There. Sometimes you just have to show this equipment who is the master…”

Deceit Scrooge looked at the screen as stunned as you would be if you saw an old friend who passed away years ago talking to you on TV as if he was broadcasting live from the other side.

“Remus? Remus Marley? This… this can’t be. I must have fallen asleep and this is a nightmare, that has to be. You can’t be talking to me, from TV or in person. You died seven years ago!”

“Yes, Deceit, I’m dead. And soon, it will be your turn.”

“What do you mean?” Scrooge said with a face of concern.

“Oh, Dee, come on, you don’t really mean you think you’re gonna live forever, do you?”

“Death is only a construct. I’m not gonna die.”

“You can lie to yourself just as much as you lie to everyone around you, Dee, but your end is approaching. And your eternal punishment comes with it, just as it happened to me.”

“Pu… punishment? What punishment?”

“Well, I don’t know what they have in store for you. Me, I was condemned to be a gruesome incarnation of intrusive thoughts in the mind of a weird Floridian man that makes YouTube videos, so…”

“What?”

“Never mind, it’s a long story. The point is, something horrible is awaiting you for all eternity, unless you change your attitude in regards of your greed and the way you treat other people!”

“That… that can’t be! Please! There must be some way of getting rid of that punishment! Whatever that punishment may be, I still don’t get…”

“That’s what I came here for, Dee. To save your soul, as I hope in doing so, I’ll save my own soul too. Tonight you will receive the visit of three ghosts. You must listen to what they say or nothing will save you from falling into the flames of Hell… or in the mind of another Floridian man, who knows… Farewell, Deceit Scrooge…” Remus waited for five seconds, then he started talking to someone off-screen. “Okay, is this thing off? Glad that the broadcast is over, how did I do? Don’t tell me, I was great as usual, I bet you couldn’t deliver a performance better than…” Remus looked at the camera. “Wait, is this thing still on?” Remus pulled out a mace and yelled angry. “ROMAN, WHY DIDN’T YOU SWITCH IT OFF AS I TOLD YOU, YOU MOTHERF…!”

The broadcast stopped abruptly, and the regular channel returned to the screen. Deceit still needed two full minutes to start reacting.

“What… what has happened? I must have been hallucinating. Yes, that was it, a hallucination. I’m exhausted of all the work I had to do today without Thomas’ help, it must have been that. I’m going to bed and I’ll be good as gravy after I get some rest.”

Deceit Scrooge turned the TV off and got ready for bed. He wore is yellow pajama decorated with embroidered snakes and tucked himself into bed. Not even ten minutes had gone by when he heard a noise, as if someone was knocking at the window. It startled him but he didn’t move a muscle. After some eternal seconds, something crossed the window, crashing through the glass and falling in the middle of the bedroom. Dee screamed like a little girl and covered himself with the sheets.

“Wow, all my hopes for a nice entrance got shattered… Do you get it? Shattered?” he heard a voice saying.

“Who… who’s there? Who are you?” Deceit said, stuttering out of fear.

“What? Didn’t Remus warn you about my coming, kiddo? I’m Patton! I’m the ghost of Christmas past!”

“So, I wasn’t hallucinating?” Deceit said, getting out of bed.

“Of course you weren’t, kiddo. What would make you think that?”

“Well, seeing someone speaking at you from the TV really does make you question your sanity…”

“Okay, you may have a point, Deceit. But trust me, you’re not going insane. I’m here with the mission of leading you in your journey through your past.”

“My past?”

“Yes, kiddo, your past. You have lived a long life, and I’m certain you must have forgotten some things that happened long ago, things that made you the way you are now. Only knowing the past can someone make changes in their present and plans for their future. Okay, kiddo, let’s go.”

“But where? And how? If you think I’m going to get an expensive cab or something…”

“Oh, don’t worry, where we’re going we don’t need cabs…”

“I don’t like the way you’ve said that…”

Patton grabbed Deceit’s hand and the room started spinning around them.

“Whoa, what is going on?”

“Don’t let go of my hand, kiddo. I wouldn’t want you to get sent by mistake to the Middle Ages, appear in some random village and get arrested on the charge of witchcraft. It happened to me once already, and it was not pleasant. The bosses above punished me by giving me allergy to cats for 100 years, and now I can’t approach kitties. And I love them so much… Oh, well… We’ll always have puppies. If I don’t mess it up again, that is. So. Don’t. Let. Go.” he said these last words deadly serious.

“Okay, gotcha…”

After some time, the place stopped spinning around them. Now they were in front of a zoo. It looked like the 1960’s.

“I… I know this place. It’s the place where I had my first job. I worked as a part-time employee to pay college, starting as a cleaner. Gosh, I loved animals, especially snakes, they’ve always fascinated me. But they would never let me get into the cages where they held them to clean them. So I stuck with cleaning corridors, emptying trash bins and cleaning the trash left behind by some rude visitors. One day, someone learned that I was studying business, and they offered me to work on the souvenir store as a clerk.”

“Wait, wait,” Patton interrupted, “we’re going to see that too.”

Before Deceit knew how, they were inside a store.

“Yep, this was it. Here I started as a clerk, tidying the place, putting the goods in the correct shelves, and attending the cash register. On my own initiative, I started offering customers some of the goods, and I wasn’t bad on it. The zoo managers saw how well I was on that and they promoted me to manager of the store, and I learned a lot in the five years I spent there, until I graduated. On the second year, I met… I met this cute guy and… I went nuts for him. And he fell for me too.”

“That’s cute.”

“It was, but not as much as you’d think. At that time it wasn’t as easy as it is today. Even though there’s still a lot be done now, back then we didn’t have any kind of support. Society was clearly against our type of love. A part of it still is nowadays despite it has no real impact in their lives. Imagine how it was sixty years ago. So we started dating in secret. He got himself a job as a cleaner, the same one I left behind when I went to the shop, and we had lunch together everyday.”

“Let’s see that, shall we?”

Deceit and Patton appeared outside, next to a bench. Young Deceit and another guy were eating a sandwich together, laughing happily.

“He was so handsome, and such a kind man…” Deceit continued talking. “For the rest of the world, we were just close friends, and if someone approached us, we started talking about all the fake girls we were interested in from college or whatever. But when we were alone, it seemed as if the rest of the world wasn’t there. We were living in a weird state of communion with each other mixed with fear that other people noticed it and got us marked forever.”

“Well, times were bad back then, weren’t they?” Patton said.

“As college went on, I started worrying about my own position, and I started seeing my… boyfriend? I don’t know if I should use that word, we never officially dated, for obvious reasons. I started seeing him like a danger for that position. So I asked out a girl in college who I personally knew had feelings about me, and started dating her, as a cover. When the graduation came, I asked her to marry me. When I told him, he didn’t take it very well.”

“Yes, I know, that’s what we’re going to see next.”

“Do we have to?” Deceit said, with a painful expression.

“Yes, kiddo, I’m sorry, but we have to.”

Suddenly they were in Deceit’s porch. His boyfriend was in front of him, and they were having an argument. He had just told his boyfriend that he was leaving him to marry his girlfriend.

“How can you do this? Can you really sleep at night knowing you’re nothing but a hypocrite and a liar?” his boyfriend yelled.

“I have no choice! This is the way society works right now and I can’t change it on my own!”

“So instead of fighting society, you decided to join society, and if you leave something or someone behind, so be it! What about us? What about me? Am I suddenly like a used Kleenex that you can just throw into the trash can? Not to mention that poor woman you’re using too. Is that how it works for you?”

“You’re not being fair! You know I really lo…” suddenly he lowered his voice. “Quiet, the neighbors might be listening.”

“And you don’t want them to know the truth about yourself, so you bump away anything and anyone that can threaten the masquerade of deception you’ve built, am I right? Maybe I shouldn’t call you by your given name. Maybe I should just call you Deceit. Deceit Scrooge. Seems more appropriate for a liar snake like you.”

“Call me whatever you want. I want you to hate me. That will make it easier for you to forget me.”

“You’re an idiot… Deceit. That’s not how love works. You can’t just click a button in your heart and, poof, love is gone. I still love you and I know you love me and not her. But I’m not gonna let you turn me into a toy you can play with whenever you’re tired of your boring loveless life. At least I’ve got some dignity left, unlike you. I really pity you. You’re gonna make a miserable man out of yourself… I think you already are… Deceit.”

The boyfriend then went away and young Deceit stayed there, watching him go with a sad face. Old Deceit was watching the scene but he ended looking away, as he couldn’t stand seeing his former boyfriend’s face, how he had broken the heart of the only person he had truly loved and who had truly loved him in return.

“Please, ghost, I don’t wanna see anymore. It really hurts!” Deceit implored to Patton.

“As you wish, Deceit. But remember the acts of your past are what made you what you are now, so you only have yourself to blame if the past hurts you now, kiddo.”

Patton snapped his finger, and suddenly Deceit was back into his own bedroom, and Patton was gone.

“He… he’s gone. Well, Remus wasn’t bluffing. He told me that three ghosts would come to me, so it’s one down, two to go.”

“Well calculated, Deceit, but now it’s two down, one to go, if you count me in.” a voice said behind him.

Deceit turned back, startled, and saw another person looking at him with a serious attitude, adjusting his glasses and then his necktie.

“Are you… another ghost?” he stuttered.

“As a matter of fact, I am. I am Logan and I’m the ghost of Christmas present. Salutations.”

“You sound so serious for a ghost.” Deceit said, confused.

“Of course I’m serious, I wear a necktie.”

“Okay...” Deceit said. He was starting to think these ghosts were kinda weird.

“Well, if you have no more objections, I think it’s time for us to begin our journey.”

“Here we go again… Where are we going now?”

“Oh, not too far away. We’re going to the hospital. There’s someone you’ve gotta see. Someone you already know.”

“I think I guess where you’re going with this. Okay, lead the way.”

Logan grabbed Deceit’s hand and before they knew it, they were in a hospital room. Thomas was there, next to his child, Tiny Joan. They were wearing an oxygen mask and their face looked awful. Thomas was as worried as can be, holding Joan’s hand.

“Come on, my kid. I know you can do this. Be strong for me.” Thomas said, with a trembling voice and tears in his eyes. “Fight for me. Don’t leave me.”

“I didn’t realize Thomas’ child’s condition was so bad…”

“It is, indeed. A pneumonia is something not to be underestimated. It is the result of an infection in one or both lungs, and it can compromise the breathing function. In the worst cases, it could be fatal. They got it on time, thankfully, but the next hours are gonna be decisive. And the worst is yet to come.”

“What do you mean?”

“The treatment is too expensive. No insurance wanted to take care of that, and Thomas can’t afford the full treatment with the salary you give him. Right now, he’s also worrying about how he’s going to pay for it. If circumstances don’t change, he’s not gonna have enough to pay the rent of his house and they’re gonna be evicted. They’ll be living in the street, and you know what comes next. They’ll take the child away from Thomas. And they’re the only family he’s got.”

“What do you mean only family? I’m his family too.”

“Falsehood. You don’t really expect him to consider you family after the treatment you’ve given him all these years, do you?”

Deceit showed a face of remorse.

“No, Deceit, you don’t have any family left. You took care of setting them aside of you with your cold and greedy attitude.”

“Surely it’s not too late for a change, is it? There has to be something I can do…”

But now, there was no one to talk to. Deceit was all alone in what looked like a field.

“Where am I? Oh… I think I know where I am. I was here, seven years ago… It’s… the cemetery.”

Suddenly, a dark figure appeared before him. He was wearing a purple hoodie and dark makeup under his eyes, and he looked at Deceit with an ominous glance, not saying a word.

“I… I guess you are the last ghost. First the ghost of Christmas past, then the ghost of Christmas present… Are you the ghost of Christmas future?”

The hooded ghost nodded in silence.

“Why have you brought me here, ghost? Why the cemetery?”

The ghost only pointed to one of the tombstones, a few meters away. Thomas was there, his eyes full of tears and soaring red. He was mourning for whoever was buried in that grave.

“No… Please, ghost, don’t tell me that that tomb is…”

Deceit and the ghost approached the tomb. Tiny Joan’s name was written on it.

“My Tiny Joan…” Thomas said “…if only I could have done more to save you. If only your illness could have been well treated. Now this world is a lifeless place without you. I miss you so bad…”

Thomas put his hand on the tombstone, grabbing it with his fingernails as if he was desperately trying to snatch his child back from death with that gesture. Rivers of tears fell down his cheeks.

“Please, tell me this can still be changed, ghost!” Deceit implored. “This can’t happen! Not to this child! Not to my grandnibling!”

Suddenly, he heard noises from another tombstone. Two men were filling a grave. No one was there to mourn the recently deceased person that was being buried there. Deceit approached the hole and stared into it with fear.

“Whose… whose tomb is this?” he stuttered.

The hooded ghost grinned creepily and spoke with a demonic voice.

“It is your own tomb, Deceit. The best tomb money can buy, all for yourself to enjoy for all eternity!”

The ghost pointed at Deceit, and he felt as if some invisible hand started pulling from him, trying to make him fall into the pit.

“No! Please, no! This can’t be it! I need more time! I can change! I’m not the same I used to be already! Please, tell me I’m still in time to change! I beg of you, spirit!”

The ghost kept pointing at Deceit, and Scrooge got closer and closer to the pit.

“Do you honestly think you can change at this point?” the spirit said, “Your years are almost over. I’m Virgil, the ghost of Christmas future, and I’ve seen lots of people like you for centuries and centuries. None of them could change. Why would you be so different?”

“If you didn’t think I was able to change, you wouldn’t have shown me all these visions in the first place! I beg of you, spirit! I beg of all three of you, spirits! Give me another chance, please!”

Deceit was dragged to the edge of the pit. He tried to resist, but the attraction was too strong, and he finally fell into the hole with a horrible yell… Then he fell on his face in his own bedroom.

“Aw! What happened?” he said, covering his nose with his hand.

Deceit looked at the window, it was morning. He got up and looked at his clock on his side table. It was 7 a.m., December 25th.

“It’s Christmas Day!” he said, smiling. “I’m still on time! The ghosts have given me another chance!”

He started jumping and dancing all around the bedroom. It looked as if all his pains had suddenly faded away due to his joy.

“Okay, I’m still on time. I gotta get moving before it’s too late.” He said.

Deceit got a coat over his yellow pajama and put his bowler hat on, then got out. When he was out, he saw Roman, the boy who sang the Christmas song the day before. He made a gesture of fleeing away, but Deceit called.

“Wait, boy, don’t go. I’m sorry for yesterday.”

Not too convinced, Roman stayed, but a couple of steps away from him.

“I’m sorry I treated you so rudely. Perhaps, this will work as an apology. Give it to your hospital, I’m sure they’re gonna give them good use.

While he said this, he took off a check and signed it, then gave it to Roman. The boy almost fainted when he read the written amount.

“One thousand dollars!?” He yelled.

“I see. You’re right, it’s not gonna be enough. Let’s fix it right now.”

He picked the check and added a zero to the amount, meaning now it read ten thousand dollars. Roman was so stunned he couldn’t speak.

“I hope this is enough. Taxi! Taxi, please!” A taxi stopped in front of Deceit. He jumped into the taxi and yelled.

“Merry Christmas, young boy!”

“Merry Christmas to you, Mr. Scrooge, and God bless you!” Roman answered back with a face of joy.

“To St. Adrian’s Hospital, please. This is an emergency.” Deceit said to the cab driver.

The taxi drove him to the hospital. He asked at the counter where he could find Joan.

“Uncle Scrooge?” he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Thomas”, he said turning back.

“What are you doing here? If you want me to get back to work, I can tell you that…”

“It’s okay, boy, it’s okay. I came here to apologize. I was rude and inconsiderate and I’m really sorry.”

“I’m not going back no matter what you… Wait, what?”

“You have all the right to be upset. I didn’t realize how I was treating you. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Well… this was unexpected. What’s happened to you, uncle Scrooge? You don’t look like yourself.”

“I’m not like myself. I’ll never be like my old self anymore. You are facing your new uncle Scrooge. By the way, how is Tiny Joan doing?”

“They’re better, thank God. But I’m so worried. I don’t know how I am going to pay the bills and the rent at the same time. I’ll need a miracle to gather enough money before I lose my house. I’ve been searching for jobs on the internet, but I don’t have the qualifications for most of them. I’m desperate, uncle Scrooge. What will become of my child and me?”

“Well, your miracle has happened. Don’t worry about that anymore. I’ll pay all the costs.”

“What!?” Thomas’ mouth got open wide. “Are you serious!?”

“I’m always serious. Even though I’m not wearing a necktie.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Of course this won’t come free for you.”

“Of course…” Thomas sighed. “How many hours do you want me to work this time?”

“Just the same you used to work, but no longer as a clerk. From now on, you’ll be my business partner, with a share of all revenues. And when I retire, the business will be all yours.”

Tears jumped into Thomas’ eyes as he couldn’t help but hugging his uncle.

“Thank you so much, uncle. Thank you, thank you…”

“It’s okay. Now let’s go see Tiny Joan. I can’t wait to start spoiling them with gifts until they get better and beyond.”

“Of course, uncle Scrooge. Can I tell you merry Christmas?”

“Of course you can. Merry Christmas to you, my boy.”

Uncle and son got together into the hospital to see Tiny Joan. Meanwhile, the three spirits, with Roman, Remus and the regular Deceit, were watching the scene.

“So, I did it. Does it mean that I’m free now?” Remus said.

“Well, you successfully managed to save his soul, but there are some other things to consider, Remus.” Logan said.

“Yeah, like… could you avert stabbing me everyday?” Roman said.

“Yeah, I don’t like that you do that to Roman!” Virgil said.

“Well, that’s kind of you to sa…” Roman said.

“It’s gross and it’s so difficult to wash blood off that white suit of his.” Virgil interrupted him.

Roman frowned at Virgil.

“Ugh… you just give me the most difficult tasks so that I continuously fail in my redemption! Not fair!” Remus groaned. “Can’t I at least use my mace on him? He’ll barely bleed if I hit him on the right places!”

“No!” Roman yelled. “No, you can’t!”

“So, what was the point of all these shenanigans, anyway?” Deceit said. “I’m sorry, I can’t relate at all with that old dude you were talking to all night. We don’t look alike, at all.”

Remus started running after Roman, mace in hand.

“Guys, don’t fight!” Patton said. “It’s Christmas Day! Please, behave, you look like children! Stop right now or you won’t get any presents from Santa!”

They were still arguing when they all sank down back to their Sanders Sides routine.