Ho Ho... Oh, No!

Part 1

Santa Claus is about to slide down the chimney at the palace in Camelot. He knows what he'll find there. A castle full of demons. And every single one of them is on the naughty list. He'd be happy to leave the coal under the tree and be on his way, but part of him is hoping that at least one of them is still awake. Santa's not exactly looking for a fight, but he does want to make sure that the demons leave the humans alone. Maybe he wants to scare the Ten Commandments straight, although part of him wonders if it's too late, if he's wandering into a trap, and if he's just wasting his time because the demons are too far gone. He wonders if maybe he should have asked Krampus to do this instead. The demons know Krampus as the one to be feared while Santa is considered to be the nice one. Krampus is a demon, after all. And he looks much more demonic than Santa does. Scarier. Meaner. Everything the Demon Clan thinks Santa should be.

He slides down the chimney, immune to the fire that is burning there. After all, Santa's not a human. Although he does love humans, which is why he takes such pleasure in giving coal to members of his own kind. Especially members who are hell-bent on oppressing the humans he loves so much. All of the children in Camelot were good this year. Every single one. He'd had the presents ready for them and neatly wrapped. And then Zeldris and the rest of the Ten Commandments had slaughtered most of Camelot's citizens including so many of the good children. The ones who escaped and went into hiding won't be forgotten tonight. Not if he can help it. And he's hoping that King Arthur is awake so he can praise the young man's courage personally and hand-deliver his gift.

Santa thinks of his plan to intimidate the Ten Commandments and give them coal as a form of personal revenge.

And if Zeldris is asleep when Santa has finished squeezing down the chimney, Santa plans to wake him and hand him his lump of coal personally. He may even throw in a slap across the face. It's such a shame. Zeldris used to be on the nice list, but his actions this year have all but landed him on the naughty list for life. Killing defenseless humans and using their souls to bring more demons out of the Demon Realm. There are better ways to bring the demons back. Santa knows this because he can pass through the seal and into the Demon Realm and then escape using his magic alone.

Santa lands in the fireplace and a puff of ash rises under his feet. Oh, good. Zeldris is still awake. He's sitting in a comfortable chair staring at the fire. Santa brushes a bit of soot off his shoulders and walks towards the leader of the Ten Commandments completely unintimidated.

"You've been awful this year, Zeldris. And so have your friends. I'm very disappointed in you."

"Goodness is subjective."

"Murder is not subjective, young man. There are better ways to bring the demons back. Ways that don't involve hurting those who can't defend themselves."

Santa holds out the lump of coal.

"You know you deserve this."

Santa was going to bring Zeldris a new sword this year, but after watching how he treated those poor, poor humans, Santa takes a little more pleasure than he should in dropping the coal in Zeldris' lap when he doesn't take it.

Ho ho... oh no!

Zeldris snaps his fingers. A Perfect Cube forms around Santa.

Santa tries to teleport out of the cube, but all he can manage is to smack face-first into one of the cube's walls. He pounds on the walls.

"This isn't funny. Let me go. I have deliveries to make."

Zeldris ignores Santa. He turns back to the fire, puts his feet up, and he listens to the sound of the traitorous demon pounding against the walls of the Perfect Cube.

"Absolute Cancel," Santa says as he tries to cast the spell.

Nothing happens, so he tries again. Zeldris throws his lump of coal on the fire.

"Absolute Cancel."

Again, nothing.

"Absolute Cancel!"

When nothing happens, Santa sends out a distress signal to his "elves" who are really a bunch of fairies and demons who liked his message of goodwill and cheer and decided to follow him. Santa doesn't know if they'll get to him before Christmas is ruined, so he sends out telepathic distress signals to any powerful beings who might pick them up. Meliodas. Merlin. Escanor. Diane. The Fairy King. Gowther. King Bartra. King Arthur. Elizabeth. Somebody. Gilthunder. Howzer. Anyone. Even Ban, who has been on the naughty list since he was old enough to learn to steal.

It's almost enough to bring Santa to tears. If he can't get out of this cube, Christmas will be ruined and the children will be so disappointed. And the children of Britannia have had such a tough year. They deserve any little joys that they can get. Santa hasn't seen such a bad year for the little ones since the last big plague hit a few decades ago.

Santa doesn't want to do what he'll have to do, but in this situation it seems he'll have no choice if he can't get out of the Perfect Cube.

He summons every little bit of power he can muster. He thinks of the children who are counting on him and asks the goddesses to lend him strength.

"ABSOLUTE CANCEL!"

The walls of the castle shake, but the cube won't budge. It seems Santa really does have no choice.

"You're wasting your energy, Nick," Zeldris says.

"You're going to regret this, young man."

Santa knows what he has to do and he pities the poor fool who encounters the one he is about to summon. Since he has no other options, Santa summons Krampus to take care of Zeldris and free him, and then there is nothing left to do but wait. Krampus is on his way and when he arrives, the Ten Commandments will be sorry.