Lauren and Claire: A Fairytale Christmas Part 1

It's Christmas Eve in Fantastic City! In the base underneath the Goo Castle, Lauren is cleaning the barrel of her gun as Claire looks on. “So this is how you plan on spending the holiday?” Claire asks. “Its not the holiday, its the eve of the holiday.” Lauren points out. “Whatever! I just feel like we could be doing something else.” Claire says. “Unfortunately just because its Christmas Eve doesn’t mean the city scumbags are taking the night off. I need to make sure I’m prepared.” Lauren says. Andy walks in. “I didn’t expect to find the two of you down here.” Andy says. “Neither did I…” An annoyed Claire mutters. “Just making sure I’m on standby in case The Master decides to poison the water supply, or the Cats launch an airstrike.” Lauren says. “On Christmas Eve?!” Claire asks. “That’s the best time to launch an attack.” Lauren says. Claire rolls her eyes. “I appreciate your readiness to leap into action, but I don’t think its necessary. Dylan is out patrolling the city so I think we’re pretty much covered for the night.” Andy says. “Dylan is only one person.” Lauren says. “One is all we need unless some catastrophe comes up. Don’t worry, if something earth shattering happens, you’ll be my first call. In the meantime, the two of you should go out and enjoy Christmas Eve. Go to a nice restaurant, go ice skating, something that will give you joy! I’d say you’ve more than earned the time off.” Andy says. “I hear The Ancient Jewel is having a Christmas Eve special.” Claire says. “Don’t you need reservations to get in there?” Lauren asks. “I booked them for you a week ago.” Andy says. “So you planned this?” Lauren asks. “Of course. We know how you are. Come on, its going to be fun!” Claire says. Lauren sighs. “Okay, I’ll go.” Lauren says. Lauren turns towards Andy. “But if something comes up that Dylan can’t handle by himself, you better not hold out on me!” Lauren warns. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Andy says.

Lauren is now driving Claire to The Ancient Jewel. “This is going to be so great. I mean, when was the last time you and I actually had a night out?” Claire asks. “It's been a minute…” Lauren admits. “You wanna do anything after dinner?” Claire asks. “What’s there to do? It's below 0 outside.” Lauren points out. “Indoor ice skating maybe like Andy suggested, or we could go for drinks after!” Claire suggests. “You know I never say no to booze.” Lauren says. Suddenly, a man dressed as Santa Clause runs in front of Lauren and Claire’s car, forcing Lauren to slam on the brakes! “What the hell?!” Claire asks. Lauren rolls down the window as Santa runs up to it. “You’ve got to help me! My wife wants me dead!” Santa announces!

Inside a diner, Lauren, Claire, and Santa are seated at a booth. “The truth is, I don’t have any recollection of how I ended up in this city. The first thing I remember, I was waking up on the floor and the first thing I saw was my beloved Mrs. Clause standing over me with a knife.” Santa says. “Sounds like somebody had a little too much spiked egg nog…” Lauren mutters. Claire elbows Lauren. “Be nice!” Claire tells her. “Its the truth!” Lauren argues. “Anyway, can we talk for a sec?” Claire asks. “We’re talking right now.” Lauren points out. “I mean alone.” Claire says. Lauren looks back at Santa. “Okay.” Lauren says. Claire and Lauren stand up and walk to the other side of the diner. “So I know that most of my powers are gone, but I’m still pretty good at picking up on certain energies. I have to tell you that the energy around this Santa is really bizarre, I get the sense he isn’t from this world.” Claire tells Lauren. “Are you trying to tell me that this guy could really be Santa?” Lauren asks. “I don’t know what to believe, but what I do know is that he isn’t your run of the mill mall Santa.” Claire says. “I think we better go talk to him and get some more information.” Lauren says. Lauren and Claire turn around and walk back to Santa’s booth, sitting across from him. “Okay Santa, tell us about the last thing you remember, before waking up here.” Lauren says. “I was going over the naughty and nice lists before I delivered presents tonight, yes? Then the next thing I know, I’m waking up in this unfamiliar room and I see Mrs. Clause standing over me holding a knife!” Santa recalls. “Any chance you could take us back to the place where you woke up?” Claire wonders. Santa goes to answer but Mrs. Clause kicks the door of the diner open, carrying a shotgun! “There you are, you fat son of a bitch!” Mrs. Clause shouts. “Take cover!” Lauren tells Santa, as she grabs the collar of his shirt and forces his head down onto the table. Mrs. Clause fires a shot in their direction but misses. Lauren then reaches for her ankle and pulls out her own pistol, returning fire! “You brought a gun?! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DATE NIGHT!” Claire yells. “Its a good thing I did!” Lauren argues. As people run screaming out of the diner, Lauren runs out of the booth and jumps over the front counter, using it as cover. Lauren pokes her head up from behind the counter and fires multiple shots at Mrs. Clause, but Mrs. Clause manages to take cover behind a booth. Mrs. Clause peeks around the booth and shoots at Lauren but she ducks behind the counter. “Are you out of practice or something babe? She’s a senior citizen!” Claire points out. “She’s a bat shit crazy senior citizen! I’ll hold her off, get Santa out!” Lauren yells. “Alright. Come on Santa, we’re going the back way.” Claire says. “Are you sure its safe?” Santa asks. “Don’t worry, Lauren will make sure she can’t hurt you.” Claire says. Claire and Santa stand up from the booth and head towards the back door. Mrs. Clause notices them fleeing and goes to take a shot, but Lauren fires a shot at her, forcing her back behind the booth. Once Claire and Santa are out, Lauren runs towards the back door, keeping her gun trained on Mrs. Clause’s location. Mrs. Clause comes out from behind the booth and sees that Santa, Claire, and Lauren have all vanished.

Outside, Claire helps Santa into the backseat. “You good, Santa?” Claire asks. “Yes, thank you dear.” Santa says. Lauren runs out from the back alley and tosses Claire the car keys. “I need you to drive.” Lauren says. “I get to drive? Nice!” Claire exclaims. Claire closes Santa’s door and runs over to the driver’s seat, as Lauren climbs into the passenger seat. Once Claire and Lauren are in the car, Mrs. Clause comes out of the front door of the diner and aims her gun at the car. Mrs. Clause fires a shot at the car and manages to shatter the passenger side window! “DRIVE!” Lauren yells. Claire slams on the gas pedal and the car speeds off. Lauren stands up in her seat and sticks her head out the sunroof of the car. Lauren aims her gun at Mrs. Clause and begins firing at her, forcing Mrs. Clause to flee into the back alley! A moment later, Mrs. Clause comes back out and sees that the car has disappeared.

Later at a safehouse, Santa is sitting on the sofa as Claire and Lauren stand over him. “You’ll be safe here, don’t worry.” Claire says. “Thank you so very much. You two will definitely be going on my nice list.” Santa says. “I’m gonna see if we can call in some backup.” Lauren says. Lauren heads to the other side of the room and pulls out her phone to make a call. “We’ve got a situation.” Lauren says. “Yeah, so don’t I.” Dylan responds. Over with Dylan, Pinoccio is revealed to be standing in the middle of a bank holding a machine gun! “Alright everybody, hand over the cash and nobody gets hurt!” Pinoccio warns. Pinoccio’s nose grows long. “Ugh! Damn nose!” Pinoccio complains. “What’s with all the commotion?” Lauren asks. “I’m at Fantastic Savings and Pinoccio is trying to rob the place.” Dylan reveals. “Did Andy give you the night off and you decided to unwind a bit? Maybe a little too much?” Lauren asks. “I’m not drunk. I really have no idea what the hell is going on, but this might be the strangest thing that’s ever happened in Fantastic.” Dylan admits. “HEY!” Pinoccio can be heard yelling. Dylan turns towards Pinoccio who is aiming his gun at him. “You better not be on the phone with no cops! Hang it up or else you or somebody else is gonna get it!” Pinoccio yells. “Gotta go. I’ll be in touch.” Dylan says, before hanging up. Claire approaches Lauren. “What was that all about?” Claire asks. “Just Dylan playing the role of hostage negotiator with Pinoccio.” Lauren says. “Is that a nickname for some new super villain?” Claire asks. “Nope. Apparently its the real deal.” Lauren says. “Okay, something screwy is going on! First Santa Clause and Mrs. Clause and now Pinoccio?!” Claire asks. “You said that you felt from Santa’s energy that he was from another world, right? Is it possible that somehow these fictional fairytale characters were brought to life?” Lauren asks. “Its not anything I’ve ever seen happen before, and I’ve seen some pretty messed up stuff in this city.” Claire notes. “We need to figure out what’s going on.” Lauren says. “I think I can help with that. For me, energy is kinda like a dog sniffing out a scent.” Claire says. “Meaning?” Lauren asks. “Meaning I can pick up the energy around Santa and then trace it back to its source!” Claire says. “Which would mean the exact location Santa crossed over into this world, which could mean finding the source of all this.” Lauren realizes. “Exactly!” Claire says. “Alright, I’ll come with you.” Lauren says. “You can’t, Santa needs you.” Claire says. “Santa is in a safehouse! He’ll be fine!” Lauren argues. “I wasn’t saying I wanted you to protect Santa, I actually have another job in mind for you: marriage counselor.” Claire reveals. “You’ll need to elaborate on that.” Lauren says. “Santa and Mrs. Clause make such a cute couple in all the Christmas movies I’ve seen, it’d be a shame if it all ended over a couple of bullets flying.” Claire says. “Mrs. Clause literally tried to murder Santa, I’m not sure there’s any salvaging that marriage!” Lauren says. “You can try! Talk to Mrs. Clause, try to connect with her. If anyone can connect with a woman with anger issues who carries a gun, its you!” Claire says. “If that was supposed to be a compliment, you failed miserably.” Lauren says. “Okay, here’s the bottom line. Try to smooth things over so Santa doesn’t die before he’s able to deliver presents. In the meantime, I’ve gotta go track down that energy. We clear? Great! Bye now!” Claire exclaims. “Just-call me as soon as you find the source of that energy!” Lauren shouts, as Claire runs out the door. “So, as the cool kids say, what’s the plan?” Santa wonders. Lauren turns to face him. “Looks like you and your wife are going to couples therapy.” Lauren says.

Downstairs, Claire walks out the front door of the safehouse building and closes her eyes. As Claire focuses, she sees a green line in her subconscious going down the street. “That way…” Claire says, as she follows the trail…

At the local diner from earlier, Mrs. Clause is sitting at a booth drinking a cup of hot chocolate while the locals stare at her. “I can’t believe that woman is still here after she tried to kill that poor Santa impersonator.” One of the waitresses mutters to another waitress. Mrs. Clause slams down her cup and stands up. “I can HEAR you! And for the record, that was not just some Santa impersonator! That was the real Santa, MY husband!” Mrs. Clause shouts. “Would you like some more hot cocoa?” The waitress asks. “Why yes, I would love-” Before Mrs. Clause can finish, Lauren comes up behind her and chloroforms her! Mrs. Clause passes out and falls back into Lauren’s arms. Lauren looks up and sees everyone looking at her. “What? I just stopped a deranged killer! Move along!” Lauren says.

Outside, Lauren drags Mrs. Clause out the front door of the diner and places her into the open trunk of her car. Lauren’s phone begins to ring and she answers. “Something going on?” Lauren asks. “You could say that. I could really use your help with this one.” Dylan says. “Pinoccio still giving you problems?” Lauren asks. “No, he’s dead.” Dylan tells her. “You killed him?!” Lauren asks. “I didn’t need to. Pinoccio successfully robbed the bank, he took off but then ran out into the street without looking both ways. He got hit by a bus.” Dylan says. “Damn.” Lauren comments. “Anyways, this isn’t about him, it's about Little Red Riding Hood!” Dylan reveals. “What?” Lauren asks. “She just attacked some poor old lady and put her in the hospital, something about her not falling for the whole fake grandma routine again. Now I’m chasing her down the street!” Dylan says. A gunshot can be heard over the phone. “You okay?” Lauren asks. “Never better! She took a shot at me! You wouldn’t believe all the guns she has hiding under that red cape! So can you come give me a hand?” Dylan asks. “I really wish I could, but I’m in the middle of kidnapping Mrs. Clause.” Lauren says. “You’re WHAT?” Dylan asks. Lauren hears Mrs. Clause groaning. “Gotta go.” Lauren says, before hanging up and slamming the trunk shut.

Across town, Claire reaches a street corner and closes her eyes once again to pick up the energy trail. Claire opens her eyes. “Looks like the trail might be leading towards the suburbs…” Claire realizes, before she begins walking in that direction…

Back at the safehouse, Lauren pulls a black bag off of Mrs. Clause’s head and she finds Santa sitting in front of her. Mrs. Clause reaches for her gun but finds that its gone. “I patted you down before you woke up. I took the shotgun, the knife, and the taser.” Lauren says. “My lord, Mrs. Clause! What were you doing with a taser?” Santa asks. “I was gonna use it to zap some sense into you!” Mrs. Clause shouts. “I am not the one going around town with a bunch of dangerous weapons! You’ve gone mad!” Santa tells her. “You want to see mad? I’LL SHOW YOU MAD!” Mrs. Clause yells. “Hold that thought real fast.” Lauren says. Lauren heads over to the mini bar and pours two glasses of wine. “Hm, better make that three.” Lauren says. Lauren grabs a third glass and goes to pour some more wine but then stops herself. “On second thought, I’ll need something a little stronger than wine.” Lauren says. Lauren puts the wine back, reaches for the whiskey bottle, and pours herself a glass. Lauren picks up the two wine glasses and hands Santa and Mrs. Clause each one. “Welcome to couple’s therapy, here’s something to take the edge off before we get started.” Lauren says. “Is this customary in therapy?” Santa wonders. “Every therapist has their own ways of getting a patient to open up.” Lauren notes. “You don’t look like no therapist to me.” Mrs. Clause says. “I’m not. In fact if it were up to me, I would’ve shot you hours ago Grandma and sent ole Saint Nick back to the North Pole, but my girlfriend doesn’t like it when I kill people. So instead, I’m gonna go the boring route and help you work through your problems.” Lauren says. “There’s nothing to work through!” Mrs. Clause argues. Mrs. Clause stands up but Lauren pulls out her gun and points it at Mrs. Clause! Mrs. Clause then sits on the sofa next to Santa. “You know, I could be out there with my girlfriend hunting bad guys, but instead I’m spending my Christmas Eve with your wrinkled asses and trying to help you save the embarrassment you call a marriage! For that reason, nobody is leaving here until things are either hunky dory or you’re both dead, whichever comes first!” Lauren snaps. Lauren sits between them on the sofa and takes a big gulp of whiskey. “So who wants to go first?” Lauren wonders.

In the suburbs, Claire arrives at a seemingly innocent looking house. “The energy seems like its coming from there…” Claire observes. Claire pulls out her phone and makes a call. “Hey Andy, how are things going?” Claire asks. “Pretty eventful. I heard a bunch of fairytale characters are wreaking havoc across the city.” Andy says. “Yeah, about that, I think I might’ve found the source of it all. I traced the energy from one of the characters to a house on Harbor Front Drive, the street number is 144. Can you tell me who it belongs to?” Claire asks. “That is a pretty pricey neighborhood, whoever it belongs to must be extremely wealthy…ah, here we go. The house belongs to a Doctor Nathaniel Knight and a Doctor Madison Knight, husband and wife. Apparently they’ve had pretty successful careers in the scientific field which would explain the wealth.” Andy says. “Any chance either one of them have ever mentioned wanting to bring a bunch of fairytales to life?” Claire asks. “Not that I can tell, but it does look like they were researching creating life artificially. Maybe that ties into the fairytales.” Andy suggests. “Why fairytale characters though?” Claire wonders. “It looks like the Knights have a 16 year old daughter named Natalie, though she might be a little old to be interested in fairytales.” Andy says. “Hey, don’t judge her!” Claire urges. “Sorry. Maybe fairytales are part of the curriculum Natalie’s parents picked out for her education. It looks like Natalie has been homeschooled her entire life by her parents themselves.” Andy reveals. “How did they find the time with their busy careers?” Claire wonders. “That’s a great question. Is Lauren there with you? Are you going to break into the house and find out what’s going on?” Andy asks. “Lauren is taking care of something else for me and I’m pretty sure Dylan has his hands full too.” Claire says. “You can’t be considering going in there alone.” Andy says. “I’ve gotten pretty good at the whole kicking ass and taking names thing.” Claire says. “You don’t know what you’re walking into! If someone or something is bringing those fairytale characters to life, you could be at a terrifying disadvantage! You should call Lauren, I’m sure she’d drop whatever she’s doing to come and help you.” Andy says. “What Lauren is doing is saving Christmas!” Claire says. “Saving Christmas for Lauren would be making sure you don’t get hurt! You don’t have most of your powers anymore, Claire! If whatever is in that house is stronger than an average human, you could be in big trouble!” Andy points out. “Thank you for the concern Andy, but I’ve got this.” Claire says, before hanging up and approaching the house…

Back at the safehouse, Lauren is still sitting between Santa and Mrs. Clause. “You have been neglecting me for as long as I can remember and I have finally decided that enough is enough!” Mrs. Clause yells. “That is a load of nonsense! I am very attentive!” Santa snaps. “Oh really?! You spend the whole year getting presents ready for the boys and girls around the world, but when was the last time you gave me a present? I’ll tell you when! NEVER! In fact, the engagement ring you were gonna give me when you proposed, you gave it to some little brat!” Mrs. Clause shouts. “She had put on her list that she wanted an engagement ring, how was I supposed to know she wasn’t planning to marry?” Santa wonders. “SHE WAS ONLY 6 YEARS OLD! That wasn’t even the point anyway! And another thing…” Mrs. Clause begins. “Oh boy…” Lauren mutters, before standing up and walking to the other side of the room. Lauren pulls out her phone and makes a call. “Good, you picked up.” Lauren says. “Hey babe, how are things going?” Claire asks. “Awful. How are things with you?” Lauren wonders. “I’ve tracked down the source of the energy to a house on Harbor Front Drive.” Claire says. “Stand down, I’m on my way.” Lauren tells her. “You’re a little late for that.” Claire says, as she’s picking the lock. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lauren wonders. “Oh nothing…” Claire says. “Don’t lie, I can hear you picking the lock. Last time you tried to do that yourself, you got yourself arrested!” Lauren recalls. “I’ve had a lot of practice since then!” Claire argues. “Just wait until I get there! What you’re doing is way more important than these two Christmas fruitcakes.” Lauren says. “I’ve got this, Lauren! Talk to you later.” Claire says, before hanging up. Lauren turns towards Santa and Mrs. Clause and sees they’re still fighting. “And lets talk about your unhealthy addiction to milk and cookies! Its gonna give you diabetes you know!” Mrs. Clause says. “I’ve been eating them for centuries, I’ll be just fine!” Santa argues. “As fun as this has been, I need to step out for a bit.” Lauren says. “Aren’t we owed a full hour of therapy?” Santa asks. “Just because I’m leaving doesn’t mean therapy is over.” Lauren says. Lauren picks up a bag and dumps a bunch of random items onto the floor. “What’s all this junk?!” Mrs. Clause asks. “This junk is so you and Santa have stuff you can throw at each other, it's very therapeutic.” Lauren says. “Is that the solution to fixing our marriage?” Santa wonders. Lauren shrugs. “It's worth a shot. Good luck!” Lauren says, before walking out. Once Lauren is gone, Mrs. Clause throws the first item at Santa. “That’s for skipping out on our anniversary because some cookie shop in Germany was having a sale!” Mrs. Clause shouts.

At the house, Claire manages to open the front door and looks around. “Okay, where to start looking?” Claire wonders. Claire turns towards the living room, seemingly sensing something, and slowly walks inside. When she enters, she finds two dead bodies on the couch, a man and a woman! “That’s a great way to kick off the search.” Claire sarcastically says, before snapping a picture of the two bodies with her phone. Claire then makes a call. “Any news?” Andy asks. “You could say that. I just sent you a pic of two dead bodies I found in the house, any chance you can tell me who they are?” Claire asks. “Not every day someone sends me dead body photos, hold on…” Andy says. Andy opens the photo and looks. “That’s easy, those two are Nathaniel and Madison Knight, the two scientists I told you about earlier!” Andy reveals. Andy zooms in on the picture. “Looks like they both suffered some sort of wound to the area where the heart is.” Andy notices. “Maybe their own creatures turned on them.” Claire suggests. “Its possible. Any sign of anyone else in the house? Such as their daughter Natalie?” Andy asks. “I haven’t really looked around yet, the corpses kinda spooked me.” Claire admits. “Understandable. Let me know when you find out more information.” Andy says. “K.” Claire says, before hanging up. “Alright, time to pick the trail back up.” Claire says. Claire closes her eyes to focus and sees the trail leading towards a specific door. “Alright, looks like we have a precise location. Who needs a GPS tracker when you have me?” Claire asks. Claire heads towards the door and opens it, finding a dark staircase leading down to the basement. “Great, a creepy basement. Way to make a creepy Christmas Eve even scarier.” Claire says, before heading down the stairs. Once Claire reaches the bottom of the stairs, she finds another door. “Please don’t let there be anymore dead bodies…” Claire begs. Claire turns the doorknob and begins opening it. When Claire walks in, all of the lights turn on automatically, revealing a laboratory. “What the hell did I just walk into?” Claire wonders. Claire looks around the room and notices a glass cylinder on the other side of the room with a young girl inside it. Claire runs up to the cylinder. “Are you okay?!” Claire asks. “Don’t come any closer!” The girl demands. “Its okay, I’m here to help. My name is Claire.” Claire says. “I know. Everyone knows Claire Riley and her girlfriend Lauren Bates, along with their friends Dylan Stanpatos and Andy Goo. You guys are like celebrities in this city.” The girl says. “Then you know helping keep people safe is what I do for a living.” Claire says. “You can’t keep me safe.” The girl says. “Out of curiosity, is your name Natalie?” Claire asks. Natalie nods. “You’re the daughter of those two scientists…who put you in here? Was it the fairytale characters?” Claire asks. Natalie shakes her head. “I put myself in here.” Natalie says. “Why would you do that?” Claire wonders. Natalie turns away from Claire. “I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.” Claire urges. Natalie sighs. “I didn’t lock myself in here to keep myself safe, I locked myself in to keep everyone safe from me.” Natalie tells Claire.

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