𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐒 | 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐒

𝟎𝟏𝟏-𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬?

     THE CAR TEDDY GOT shoved into honks, letting everyone know that they're here. The car pulls in. The sound of machines grinding fill Teddy's ears; not to mention the foul smell. One man takes the sack while other shoves the shaking Teddy out of the car. His grimy nails dig into Teddy's pure skin. The boy frantically looks everywhere trying to remember his surroundings; just in case. Men play cards with cigarettes and drinks in hand. One man engineers in the corner. In the boy's mind, the little sparks of fire could only lead him to assume the worst. The men shove Teddy to the ground, leaving to the mercy of the leader of this group. He confidently grins at Teddy with a crooked smile. "What do we got here?" His raspy voice laughs menacingly. The bag jingles as the man with the sack drops it in front of him. The lead of the pack opens the sack to see presents galore. "Well, Christmas came early this year, huh?" He nods, taking a gift out. "Where did you get this?"
"From this little dude." Teddy stands stiff with one man hitting his chest, laughing. The lead of this gang smiles, opening the present he wasn't given. He shredded he gift open only for the present to reveal coal. Cold hard coal.
"Coal?" He deep voice echoes. The three men surrounding Teddy look around. Anywhere that isn't the boss's eyes. "Is this some kind of joke?" One of them races to the sack, grabbing a few presents. He passes one out to each man; they open them all quickly. All of the presents they open are left with coal inside. They slam the presents down making Teddy wince. "Next time you morons waste my time..." He opens the furnace. The glowing fire warms up Teddy's face. "you're done." Teddy shakes in horror while the leader picks up the sack. The shaking Pierce boy then notices he's not closing the furnace. He's not closing it because it's meant for the sack filled with...coal. Kate, Ziggy! Teddy instantly springs to action. The men hold him back while Teddy pants and squirms. He's trying his hardest to fight but it's three against one.
"No! No, my sister's in there!" Teddy cries. The lead man pauses, slowly turning to see Teddy's horrified face.
"Your sister?" Teddy pants, sighing with relief.
"My sister. And my girlfriend..." Teddy admits. Everyone in the room laughs at what see as some delusional boy.
"Girlfriend." The leader mocks under choked laughter.
"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but please don't do that!" Teddy begs, tears jerking at his eyes. The leader coughs out one last laugh at Teddy. "Come on, man! Please!" The man drops the bag to the ground, still holding the top of the sack. He chuckles quickly before throwing the sack into the furnace with no hesitation. Something in Teddy clicks, an anger he's never felt. Teddy elbows the two men holding him back, dashing to the sack. Teddy grabs a poker, swinging it around with unadulterated rage. "GET BACK! GET BACK!" Teddy spits. "Let me go, and nobody gets hurt!" Teddy warns holding the poker tight. Teddy's rage didn't get him anywhere. The lead of the gang takes Teddy's arms from behind, leaving him unarmed. He shoves him over to the men who brought him there who hold him tight.
     "Take care of him! Put him in the dumpsters out back!" He orders. Teddy struggles releasing himself. All he wants to do is give that man a piece of his mind. But he couldn't. "Oh...and not recycling. He's compost." Just before the men could take Teddy away, the sound of small chattering and toys squeaking interrupt the moment. The presents drop from the sack droops and eventually overflows. Or someone is pushing it? Everyone stops. Out of the sack of presents comes a sweet little elf.
"Ah!" The elf exclaims. One of the gang members stumbles closer to it, wanting to pet it like a puppy.
"What is that thing? Hey, he's-he's actually kinda cute," Teddy backs up, far away while the men are still distracted. "Hey, little guy! What's your name?" The gang member coos. In response, it's ears stick out, hissing and showing it's teeth.
The whole place dissipates into chaos. Hundreds of elves hop out of the sack coming after the gang, a few hopping and scratching them. Teddy quickly ducks under a table awaiting Ziggy and Kate's arrival. A few elves toss grown men to the ground, playing with them like rag dolls. Money along with billiard balls are thrown around. Some of the gang members attempt to get out of there. But not without a few elves of course. The man on the wheel backs up the car, breaking through the door and speeding out of there. All the gang members clear out with just a few ending up in the compost pile. The elves celebrate their victory, jumping around and yelling. Teddy smiles. They did it. They really did it. The head elf turns around to see Teddy hiding. All the elves turn to Teddy by the head elf's demand; thinking they didn't get the last of the gang members. "No..." Teddy shakes. The head elf points to him. "No!" But it is far too late. The elves already charging at Teddy. He screams, gripping onto anything he could find. But the elves are too quick for him. They drag Teddy out by his legs holding him down. Teddy looks up to see an elf playing around with a miniature chainsaw. The chainsaw revs up. Teddy gasps, not ready for his demise. In a gang's garage with a bunch of elves? What about Kate and Ziggy? How would they ever get home? Teddy squirms around. "Wait I'm one of the good guys!" he gasps. There is no use. The elf skips forward, holding the chainsaw proudly and more than ready to use it. Teddy shrills thinking he's about to take his last breath.
     "Stop!" Kate and Ziggy holler just in time. The elf stops, the chainsaw inches away from Teddy. He and the elves whip their heads around to see the panicked girls.
     "He's with us." the elf groans, throwing the chainsaw down in dissapointment. Teddy springs up, running to the girls with elves still clinging onto him. He picks up Kate, plopping her down on the ground. He helps Ziggy out of the sack. She stumbles out with her legs tripping on the end of the sack. Teddy holds Ziggy tight. She holds onto Teddy's chest for support, slowly picking herself up.
     "Are you guys okay?" Teddy sighs with relief, clutching Ziggy and Kate. He notes to himself in his head to never loose his girls again. He can never make it without them. Kate and Ziggy exhale heavily, still having whiplash from all their exitement.
     "Better than okay!" Kate shouts.
     "And we brought..." The three turn to the chaos causing elves. "help?" Teddy gasps, having to lean down.
     "I can—I see that," Ziggy pats Teddy's arched back with him still breathing heavily. "Okay, lets get the reindeer and the sleigh." Teddy continues.
     "The sleigh's busted." Kate reminds. Teddy rolls his eyes annoyed.
     "Right..." Ziggy inspects the elves. They build toys for millions of kids every year. Of course they can fix this.
     "You guys can fix it?" Ziggy questions with urgency.
     "Are you kidding?" The elf laughs in their language. They all shout, each pulling out a tool in unison.
     "Cool! Now we just need to find Santa!" Kate and Ziggy bend down to the elves, calmly talking to them.
     "You guys know where he is?" Ziggy asks. The head elf hands Ziggy a picture of Santa. Not just any old picture, a mugshot. Kate peeks over, her eyes bulging out of her skull.
"He's in jail?!" Kate yells in disbelief. "Poor Santa. I'll bet he's freaking out." little did they know, Santa is having a musical number behind bars with his jail buddies.