"Donald, I just noticed the holiday card we mailed out. What happened to the family portrait we took to celebrate our first Christmas together?" Tasha asks as we sit in the living room.
"Oh, I shredded those. These are way more festive." Mr. Davenport says, holding up a greeting card of Santa and reindeers with his face on them. Adam walks over in a Santa suit, holding a tray of uncooked cookies.
"Who wants a Christmas cookie?" Adam asks.
"Ooh, I do!" I say, walking over to Adam. I looked at the tray of cookies to see that they weren't cooked. "Adam, those aren't even cooked."
"Oh, no problem," Adam says. He uses his heat vision to heat up the cookies but he ends up burning them instead. "Careful, they may be hot." He blows on the cookies. Bree enters the house.
"Okay, who covered the entire house in blinking lights? People already think we're weird, we don't need to shine a light on it." Bree says.
"No, I did that. I want to make sure Santa Claus comes to our house first." Adam says.
"Adam, we all love Christmas, but I think you're going a little overboard," Bree says. We heard a banging noise at the door and Chase walked in covered in blinking lights. We all laugh.
"That, however, is spot on." Bree laughed.
"Hey, get back up on the roof. You're ruining my display." Adam says.
"You were lucky a raccoon chewed me free!" Chase says. Suddenly our phones ring with an urgent mission alert.
"That's an urgent mission alert. We have to get to the lab." Mr. Davenport says. Adam, Bree, Mr. Davenport, Leo, and I ran down to the lab except for Chase, who couldn't move.
"Hello? A little help?" Chase says. He tries to hop to the lab but stumbles and falls behind the couch.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"The alert is coming from Facility X, my research center in the frozen tundra." Mr. Davenport says as we walk into the lab.
"Hey, hey, I'm the mission specialist. I'll handle this." Leo says. "The alert is coming from Facility X, his research center in the frozen tundra."
"Wait. The tundra's near the North Pole." Adam gasps. "Santa needs our help! You wrap, you tape, and Cassie and I will go hang with the elves."
"Dr. Evans. Are you there?" Mr. Davenport asks as a young, dark-haired man appears on the screen. The screen was blurry and it was hard to hear the audio.
"Yeah, I'm here. Although there's been a major volcanic eruption nearby and we're experiencing aftershocks." Dr. Evans says. "I'm afraid if we don't act fast..." The video cuts out.
"Oh, Merry Christmas to you, too, Dr. Evans," Adam says. "Rude."
"Sorry, guys. I know the timing's not ideal." Mr. Davenport says.
"It's okay, Mr. Davenport. We know what we have to do." I say.
"Yep. Let's crack open some eggnog and hit it hard after the New Year." Adam says. He runs out of the lab.
After we changed into our mission suits, we stepped out of our capsules and picked up our bags. "I can't believe you guys have to go on a mission on Christmas Eve," Leo says.
"I know. This sucks. I'm waiting on a video call for Kyle to let me know him and his family made it safe to New York." I say.
"How long will they be gone?" Leo asks.
"Till New Years. I know it's not that far away, but I'm gonna miss him so much." I say.
"I'm sure they're gonna be okay." Chase tries to reassure me.
"As sweet as this sounds, but just to be clear, I don't have to wait for them to open my presents, right?" Leo asks, turning to Mr. Davenport.
"Well, I'm not gonna let this ruin my Christmas spirit. So, I will be wearing my Santa hat." Adam says, putting on his Santa hat.
"Really, Adam? A Santa hat with a mission suit?" Chase says.
"Hey, if the ladies at the bank can wear them at work, so can I," Adam says.
"I can't re-establish contact with Dr. Evans. The volcano must have knocked out satellite communications." Mr. Davenport says. He pulls up a holographic image of the area on his console. "This giant ash cloud has plunged the area into total darkness. There is no way rescue teams will be able to get through."
"Well, that means Dr. Evans is trapped," I say.
"Eh, he's better off. The airports are packed this time of year." Adam says.
"There's an automated transport ready to take you up there, but without satellite communications, Leo and I won't be on the comm set." Mr. Davenport says.
"Ah, well, it will be tough navigating through a mission without the constant sound of Leo chomping on carrot sticks," Chase says.
"Hey, you know I'm a stress eater," Leo says, eating a carrot.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Leo and Mr. Davenport went back upstairs to the living room, they heard the doorbell ring. "Oh, I got it. Must be grandma with her holiday feast." Leo says, heading to the door. "Or perhaps some carolers have come to spread some holiday cheer. Merry..." When Leo opens the door, he sees Perry.
"Hey, Dooley," Perry says. Leo yells and slams the door in her face.
"Code red. Turn out the lights. Everybody, hide." Leo says. He hides behind the couch.
"Leo," Tasha says, opening the door. "Hi."
"I'm with him, I'll be behind the tree." Mr. Davenport says. He tries to leave but Tasha stops him.
"Sorry to bother you, but I ran into some car trouble while doing one of my favorite yuletide traditions," Perry says.
"Oh, were you driving around looking at Christmas lights?" Tasha says.
"No. I was tearing through puddles trying to splash carolers." Perry says. "Took a corner too fast and accidentally ran over some of your decorations." She holds up a Santa decoration with a tire mark through it. "Ho, ho, ho, here you go." Perry hands Mr. Davenport the decoration and enters the house.
"Nice aim. What are you driving, a tractor?" Mr. Davenport says.
"I'm stuck. I popped a tire and I can't get any cell phone service up here on rich man mountain." Perry says.
"Uh, we like to call it billionaire butte actually. There's a history..."
"Stop talking, I'm on the phone," Perry says, cutting off Mr. Davenport and pulling out her phone. "Jose, Terry Perry. Uh, yeah, had another accident. I'm gonna need a tow. No, the cat wasn't driving this time. Uh-huh. Ooh, cocoa." Perry takes the mug Leo was drinking from. "What? Ugh, great." Perry hangs up the phone. "There's only one driver tonight and there's thirty people ahead of me."
"Hey, well, I have a bike pump. Let's see if that works." Leo says.
"Leo. Principal Perry, what are your Christmas plans?" Tasha asks.
"Not much. Just enjoying my cats' production of the Nutcracker, with me as the stage. The soundtrack comes courtesy of my belly growls." Perry says.
"You are more than welcome to spend Christmas with us," Tasha says.
"No, she's really not." Mr. Davenport says.
"Ah, I couldn't...without grabbing a few things from my car." Perry laughs. She walks outside.
"What curse hath you wrought upon this house?" Leo asked.
When Adam, Bree, Chase, and I made it to Facility X, we saw Dr. Evans in a Viking hat. "Oh, good, you made it." Dr. Evans says.
"Uh, did we really just risk our lives to save a guy in a Viking helmet?" Bree asks.
"Oh, this? This is my TV antenna. When the ash cloud clears, I get great reception. All two Eskimo channels." Dr. Evans says.
"Is everything okay here?" Chase asks.
"Well, the volcano really shook things up. Communications are down, and the pizza guy is four years late." Dr. Evans says. "But other than that, I'm good."
"Great. Another genius with bad jokes." Bree says. "Merry Christmas to me."
"Wow. I can't believe I'm finally getting to meet the bionic super humans I've heard so much about." Dr. Evans says.
"Wh...you know our secret? Oh, great, we came to save him and now we have to destroy him. Chase, you grab his legs, I'll get the bucket." Adam says.
"Stop. He's Mr. Davenport's chief scientist, he knows everything about us." Chase says.
"That's right." Dr. Evans says. He looks at me. "Is it really true that you can see into the future?"
"Yep. It's true." I say.
"Wow! That is so cool!" Dr. Evans exclaimed.
"Not really. Every time I see into the future, I get this really bad headache." I say.
"How bad?" Dr. Evans asks.
"Like a million tiny little knives stabbing your brain," I say.
"Yikes." Dr. Evans cringed. "Well, uh, here, let me, let me show you guys around." Dr. Evans grabs Adam, Bree, Chase, and me by our shoulders and spins us around slowly while showing us his lab. "This is my lab-slash-bedroom-slash-kitchen-slash that's pretty much it."
"Wait. You live here all alone?" Bree asks. "With no brothers or sisters? Does this place have a guest house?"
"This is it. And I'm, I'm sorry about the mess. Things have really gone downhill since my hologram wife left me." Dr. Evans says. "I'm kidding. We actually get along great. Although she's a hologram, she's not really there for me."
"Hey, guys, look. A giant crystal ball. I'm gonna ask it a question." Adam says, rubbing a large glass sphere from across the room. "When will Chase start to look like a man?"
"Uh, careful, careful." Dr. Evans says, pulling Adam away from the glass sphere. "It's a gamma sphere. It's a containment vessel for the most powerful energy known to man, gamma rays. If we could harness these, we could solve the world's energy problems. Davenport and I have been working on this for years."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I was trying to develop a gamma sphere for Mr. Davenport." Chase says.
"Well, I guess I beat you to it, little guy." Dr. Evans says. "But don't feel bad. Nobody's perfect. In fact, if they gave out medals for trying, you would have a gold."
"Are you patronizing me?" Chase asks.
Dr. Evans laughs. "It's patronizing. And yes."
"You do realize I'm the smartest person on the planet?" Chase says.
"And every time you have to say it, it diminishes it just a little bit." Dr. Evans says, making Adam, Bree, and I laugh.
"Are you watching this?" Bree laughs.
"Oh, I can't look away," Adam says.
"Do you need some ice for that burn, Chase?" I laughed. "I can get some from outside if you like." Chase just gives me a look.
"Luckily, the sphere wasn't damaged during the eruption. Even the slightest crack could have had catastrophic consequences." Dr. Evans says.
"Like what?" Adam asks.
"The gamma rays would have blown a hole in the atmosphere and wiped out twenty percent of the population." Dr. Evans says.
"Well, that is Davenport Industries: risking the fate of mankind since 1992," Bree says.
"Come on, Dr. Evans, we gotta get you out of here," Chase says.
"Whoa, I can't leave until I've stabilized a few things." Dr. Evans says. "If you'll all help me, this won't take very long."
"Oh, oh, it won't take long. Because I'm smart." Chase says.
"You said it again." Dr. Evans says, he makes a shrinking gesture with his fingers.
"Seriously, I can go get that ice," I say, making Chase give me a look again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back at the house, Perry has finished bringing all of her stuff in from the car. "That's a few things?" Leo says, seeing that most of her stuff has taken up the living room.
"I keep my car stocked with supplies in case of emergency," Perry says. "Or if I'm just too tired to walk to the house. Oops, one more thing." Perry walks back out and a few seconds later, she walks back in with her cat.
"What a nice surprise. You brought your cat." Tasha says. Mr. Davenport picks up the cat.
"No," Perry says. She walks out and walks back in wheeling a cart with five cat crates on it. "I brought my cats. You won't even know that Scratch, Thumper, Boom-Boom, Mr. Whiskers, Dingle, and Widget are even here. They'll sleep with me inside the tent. They form a living blanket around mama."
"Uh, tent?" Mr. Davenport asks. Perry reaches into her pile of stuff and pulls out a pop-up tent.
"I don't sleep on other people's bed linens. And, no offense, Dooley-Davenports, but I don't know where you've been." Perry says.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh, thanks for lending a hand, guys." Dr. Evans says.
"No problem. Glad we could help. 'Cause you needed it." Chase says. "Yep, brilliant scientist rescued by a fifteen-year-old. You, sir, are welcome."
"I know I haven't been around people for a while, but he's really annoying." Dr. Evans says to Adam, Bree, and me.
"Yeah, it's the most powerful of all his abilities," I say. Suddenly, we hear a rumbling noise.
"What's that noise?" Bree asks.
"Oh, uh, you remember that questionable meatball sandwich I had at the gas station?" Adam says. "Question's been answered."
"No, that sounded like an..."
"Aftershock." Dr. Evans and Chase say at the same time.
"Brace yourselves." Dr. Evans says. Dr. Evans runs to a corner while Chase covers me and Adam covers Bree behind some crates. Once the room stops shaking, a loud alarm starts blaring.
"Okay, that was not the meatballs," Adam says.
"Uh, Dr. Evans," Chase says, pointing to the gamma-ray sphere and seeing a huge crack down in the middle.
"Oh, no. There's a crack in the gamma sphere." Dr. Evans gasps.
"Oh, man, that looks dangerous. Well, we're gonna bounce. Merry Christmas." Adam says. He tries to leave but Bree stops him.
"Whoa, don't get too close. If that crack opens up, those gamma rays'll mix with the ash cloud, and say goodbye, northern hemisphere." Dr. Evans warns us.
"Can we patch the crack?" Chase asks.
"Patch the crack? Billion-dollar technology, unstable energy source. Sure, let's put a little chewing gum in there and see if that works." Dr. Evans says sarcastically.
"Starting to see why the hologram wife left," Chase says. Dr. Evans looked offended by his comment while Adam, Bree, and I just laughed.
"Hey, how about I shoot my heat vision at it?" Adam asks.
"Well, how would that help?" Bree asks.
"I don't know, it's what I do," Adam says as the crack gets bigger.
"Whoa. The more oxygen that gets in that crack, the worse this is gonna get." Dr. Evans says.
"Wait. Maybe I can temporarily contain it with my force field." Chase says.
"Great. And I'll come up with a more permanent solution." Dr. Evans says. Chase creates a force field and puts it around the gamma sphere.
"Well, uh, you seem busy, so I'm gonna go watch TV. What do you, uh, recommend, Eskimo one or two?" Adam says, putting on the Viking helmet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Sorry, we don't have a stocking for you," Tasha says to Perry.
"I got it." Perry kicks off one of her shoes and gives her oversized sock to Tasha. "Make sure you push the candy way down in there so it fills up my tootsies. I'm gonna go squeeze into my Christmas jammies." Perry squeals and climbs into her tent.
"Okay, we have got to get rid of her." Mr. Davenport says to Tasha and Leo.
"I agree, but all my plans end with us going to jail," Leo says. Perry gets out of her tent, wearing a red onesie with bells on it. Mr. Davenport, Tasha, and Leo stare at her in shock. "What are you wearing?" Leo asks.
"My Christmas pjs. Want to see me belly dance frosty the snowman?" Perry says. She starts dancing.
"No! No!" Leo yells, covering his eyes and running out of the room followed by Mr. Davenport.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"The gamma rays are melting a hole in my force field. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to contain it." Chase says.
"Uh, you have to, I don't have a fix yet." Dr. Evans says.
"Shocking," Chase says.
"What, so when these gamma rays hit, we're pretty much goners," Adam says.
"Well, we'll be. But you should be fine, since your head is full of lead." Chase says.
"Ha! Yes! Lead!" Dr. Evans exclaims.
"Hey, Dr. Smarty, we just met. You don't have that privilege yet." Adam says.
"No, lead can contain the gamma rays," Chase says.
"Exactly, and Davenport made this building out of lead to keep everybody from spying on his secret technology. All we have to do is rig enough explosives to...implode on the gamma sphere." Dr. Evans says.
"Great idea," I say.
"Blowing stuff up on Christmas. It is the most wonderful time of the year." Adam says.
Back at the house the next morning, Perry is snoring loudly in her tent while Mr. Davenport, Tasha, and Leo are opening up their gifts. "Thank you for the scarf, Donald," Tasha says loudly over Perry's snoring.
"What?" Mr. Davenport shouts.
"I said thank you, for the scarf," Tasha says loudly.
"Oh, you're welcome." Mr. Davenport says. "So, uh, Leo. What'd you get?" Mr. Davenport shakes Perry's tent and she stops snoring.
"I got socks," Leo says. "Wet socks. Oh. That have been marked by a cat." He throws the socks into the gift pile. Tasha's phone rings.
"Oh, no. Grandma's snowed in. She's not gonna make it." Tasha says.
"Great. So, no Adam, no Bree, no Chase, no Cassie, and no grandma turkey? How much worse can this get?" Leo asks. Perry gets out of her tent, yawning, stretching, and scratching her butt. "And there's my answer."
"Merry Christmas, Principal Perry. I hope you slept well." Mr. Davenport says.
"Mind your own business." Perry snapped. She sees all of the gifts on the floor. "Ooh, Santa came. What'd I get? What'd I get?" She bends down to grab a present and her onesie rips.
"Hopefully, some new pjs, 'cause those just ripped." Mr. Davenport says.
"Um, no one got you..."
"Ooh, uh, of course, we got you something. It's Christmas. You can't not get a gift on Christmas." Tasha says, cutting off Leo.
"It would be rude," Perry says.
"Here you go, Principal Perry. Merry Christmas." Tasha says, handing Perry a gift. Perry sits down and opens the present. She gasps when she pulls out the gift.
"A QHT video game system. I can exchange this for a nice blouse and two pairs of slacks." Perry says. "The good kind that you don't have to iron. Or wash."
"But I asked for a QHT," Leo says. "Worst Christmas ever." He walks out of the living room.
"Ooh, somebody needs a nap," Perry says. "Did he like the socks?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Deck the halls with large explosives. Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom." Adam sings as he, Bree, and I rig the explosives while Chase continues to hold up his force field.
"Okay. Charges are set. So now, all we have to do is light this fuse to start the implosion." I say.
"We'll only have fifteen seconds to get out of the blast zone once the fuse is lit," Chase says.
"Oof. Think we'll make it out in time?" Adam asks Bree and me.
"I know I will," Bree says.
"Okay, Adam, light the fuse." Dr. Evans says.
Adam uses his heat vision to light the fuse. Chase runs over to us, causing the gamma fuels to spill out. "Let's go," Bree says, leaving the room with Adam, Chase, and me.
"Oh. These rays, they're so beautiful. Although, I really thought they'd be a lot more blinding." Dr. Evans says. A light flashes and Dr. Evans becomes blind. "Ah, there's the burn." I run back into the room and grab Dr. Evans.
"Come on!" I say. We all leave the lab and dive to the ground as the building explodes behind us.
"Did it work? I still can't see anything." Dr. Evans says.
"Don't worry, it'll wear off. We gotta get you out of here." Chase says. "Adam, where did you park the transport?"
"In the garage under Facility X," Adam says. The four of us turn to look at the destroyed building and we all groan in frustration.
"All right. Dr. Evans, hop on, you're first." Bree says.
"Ready when you are, missy." Dr. Evans says, hopping on Chase.
"What...no. Get...get...get off me." Chase says.
"She's a feisty little thing, isn't she?" Dr. Evans says.
At the house, Leo and Mr. Davenport are sitting in the lab, watching a movie. "You know, after spending time with Perry, the Grinch doesn't seem like such a bad guy." Mr. Davenport says.
"Yeah, at least after he took everyone's presents he went home," Leo says. Tasha enters the lab.
"What are you two doing down here?" She asks.
"Same thing I do at school. Hiding from Principal Perry." Leo says.
"Leo, she is our guest. It is rude to leave her upstairs by herself." Tasha says. "So get up and let us know when she's gone." She sits down next to Mr. Davenport.
"Yeah." Mr. Davenport says. Adam, Bree, Chase, and I walk into the lab.
"You're back," Leo says.
"It's so good to see you guys. Merry Christmas." Tasha says as we all hug everyone.
"So, how'd the mission go?" Mr. Davenport asks.
"Yes," Chase says.
"Well, how's my research facility?" Mr. Davenport asks.
We all laugh nervously. "Oh, you wouldn't even recognize it," Bree says.
"Hey, why are we down here when the presents are upstairs?" Adam says. We start to head upstairs.
"Hey, wait, wait. Not so fast. Um...Principal Perry is upstairs. I repeat, Perry is in the house." Leo says.
"You know, I am very tired," Chase says.
"Yeah, I could use some sleep," Adam says.
"See you in the New Year," Bree says.
"Buenas noches, everyone," I say as the four of us begin to head to our capsules.
"Freeze," Tasha says. "Look, the poor woman is all alone, and it's Christmas. Hey, at least we're all together. So, let's make the best of it, right?"
"Absolutely not. Enough is enough. We are going to march up there right now and tell this woman, vamoose, lady. This is our Christmas." Mr. Davenport says. We all cheered and started to walk out.
"Wait, she can't see us in our mission suits." Chase pointed out.
"Well, hurry up and change, I'm not telling her without backup." Mr. Davenport says.
After the four of us changed out of our mission suits and into new clothes we went upstairs to the living room. "Principal Perry, we...uh, smell food." Mr. Davenport says. We turn to the kitchen to see Perry cooking.
"What are you doing?" Leo asks.
"What's it look like? I'm making dinner." Perry says.
"We've had enough of this. Get out!" Adam says.
"Principal Perry, this is amazing," Tasha says.
"Well, I didn't see you cooking anything," Perry says.
"Wow. I can't believe you actually did something nice." I say.
"It's a Christmas miracle," Chase says.
"Ah, it's nothing. I figured, I crashed your holiday, it's the least I could do." Perry says.
"Oh, look, how fancy. She made a Christmas goose." Tasha says, looking in the oven.
"It's actually a swan from the pond down the street," Perry says. "You know, you could walk right up to 'em." We hear a cat meowing from across the room.
"Please tell me that's not coming from the oven." Mr. Davenport says.
"I got it," Perry says. "The Christmas tree is one big scratching post for those cats." She walks over to the shaking tree and tries to grab the cat. "Ooh, come on, Dingle. Come on, boy. Oh, he's usually very, very good. Come on, Dingle. Come on. He's getting really feisty now. Sorry about this. We're guests, Dingle. We're guests. Come on, Dingle. Come on. Get out of here."
As Perry tries to get her cat out of the tree, she jumps on the tree and it falls over. She starts throwing ornaments backward and we dodge them as we all watch in shock.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once Perry was able to get her cat out of our Christmas tree, we all sat at the dinner table while Perry served us. "Principal Perry, thank you again for this meal," Tasha says.
"Oh, you're welcome," Perry says. She places a check in front of Mr. Davenport. "I'll take that whenever you're ready."
"What's this?" Mr. Davenport asks.
"Uh, your bill," Perry says.
"I see you included tax, tip, and the cost of a new tire," Tasha says, looking at the bill.
"Sorry, gratuity is included for parties of seven or more," Perry says. "I have no say in that."
"You're actually gonna charge us for dinner?" Mr. Davenport asks.
"Well, I didn't make this meal with love. I made it with skill, sweat, and whatever came off the tip of my pinky when I was chopping the veggies." Perry says. We all spit out our food and started coughing.
Later that night, after we were done eating dinner, I was sitting on the couch talking to Kyle on the phone.
"So, how's New York?" I say. "Are you having a great time? Oh, the mission went great. We helped Dr. Evans but his lab ended up exploding. But we're all okay. I really miss you. Can't wait to see you when you get back." I notice Chase walking into the kitchen grabbing a small snack from the fridge. "Hey, I'm going to settle in for the night. I'll call you in the morning. No, you hang up. No, you hang up. No, you hang up."
Hearing the conversation from the kitchen, Chase rolls his eyes in annoyance. He walks over to the couch, takes my phone, and ends the call. "No, I'll hang up." He throws my phone on the couch and walks away.