A Merry Rising Phoenix Christmas Special

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar plums danc'd in their heads,

And all the while, I was sitting there, masturbating.

It was that special time of year. Christmas; the day that everyone looked forward to. And of course, a certain Unlosing Rising Phoenix was out Christmas shopping.

"…Icing?" A female voice questioned in an uneasy tone.

"Check." A somewhat deep tone replied.

"Strawberries?"

"Got it."

"So we can go check out now?"

"Duh."

Vittoria Giovanna, grasping a shopping casket lightly, wandered over to the cash register. There, a middle aged woman kindly smiled and began to tend to her.

"…'Ay, Vitt. Don't you hate with those cashiers make smart-ass remarks?" Gai snarked.

"…No…"

The lady inquired, "Ooh, cupcake mix. Somebody's hungry."

Gai snapped, "YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH!"

…

…

Returning from the late-night shops, Vittoria gently opened the door; there, she noticed her small sister; with her wavy-light blonde hair and sparkling half-open eyes resting upon the couch, curled up into a ball. She smiled at this adorable sight; Adriana really was somebody she wanted to hug and not let go of; her cute and precious little sister.

Vittoria sat herself down next to Adriana, who was busy knitting; paying no attention to Vittoria proper. Vittoria seemed to pout at this, as she prodded Adriana lightly, attempting to get her little sister's attention. "…Since when did you get all aloof…" Vittoria's tone was that of annoyance.

"…Sssh. I'm trying to read." Adriana responded in a cold tone, thus dampening Vittoria's spirits.

"…Alright, let's talk about Christmas, then." Vittoria declared in a cheery tone; to which Adriana merely sighed.

Vittoria thought that now was a good time as ever to set up a quiz. "By the way Adriana, just how much do you know about Christmas?"

Adriana's response was shaky. "Um, well according to what I've studied about it… On December 24 and 25, people buy cakes, family and friends have celebrations at their homes, typically in the form of parties. Throughout the world, young people and families with children are the focus and there is a custom to receive and give gifts during the celebration or so it is written."

"Er, somehow it's both right and wrong at the same time…" Vittoria muttered.

"In the textbook that I read at school, it pretty much says the same thing."

"…I see. It's a very straightforward and practical description." Vittoria rebuked.

"I-Is there something wrong with it?" Adriana stuttered cutely.

"Not really…" Vittoria responded.

"Is there more to it?"

Vittoria glanced away, thinking to herself, "…Huh. For somebody that dreams big, there's more, say, of a mood of anticipation or wonder." She blurted out-loud, "And… um… Oh, do you know about Santa?"

"Sa-Santa?"

"Yeah."

"Let's see… An old man who wears red and carries a white bag? And the animals with him are… Deer?"

"Oh, so close. These are reindeer."

"Re-Reindeer?"

"On Christmas, Santa rides a sled pulled by reindeer and delivers presents to children."

"Really? Why?"

"Er…. Why? Hm, that's a good question."

"It's impossible if he's doing individual deliveries to all children. Is there a way he decides?"

"Um… Er… Um…" Vittoria was the one stuttering now.

"Also, according to this picture he rides through the sky on a sleigh pulled by reindeer. I don't recall hearing of such an aviation method for small aerial vehicle."

"Um…"

"This can't be spiritual power? How can this be?"

"Um… Uh…" It pained Vittoria to look at Adriana's pure eyes.

"Huh, huh, huh?" Adriana got in really close, pressing her forehead to Vittoria's, making the latter sweat.

"Um, anyways there happens to be a legend, or should I say, a fairy tale that goes like that." Vittoria sighed.

Adriana seemed deflated by her elder sister's words. "…Oh. It's a fairy tale…"

"To imitate the fairy tale, dads and mums normally give their children gifts for Christmas."

"…Oh, I see. It sounds fun." Still, that sad tone really did upset Vittoria.

"But… since you didn't know about Santa, I was kinda hoping that you would believe in it for a little while. I'm sorry…" Vittoria was cursing herself right now; she wanted her younger sister to still be hopeful about Christmas.

"Oh, ah… Sorry, I hope I didn't ask you a really insensitive question and ruined your hopes." Adriana was also trying to apologize.

"Oh, that's not it at all. Really, so don't worry about it. Um, anyways, Clarissa told me that she never believed in Santa's existence since kindergarten. I guess it's difficult nowadays to find any kids who continue to believe in Santa…" Vittoria honestly thought that despite her goofiness, Clarissa was too cynical.

"Hm, um, what about everyone else?"

"Well, Gai supposedly believed until he was eight. Oh speaking of Santa, Clarissa showed me a pretty good book about him. I brought it. I found it. This is it!" Vittoria handed Adriana a deep red book with a stunning cover.

"…Christmas Days?" Adriana seemed rather out of it.

"This is a really good story!" Vittoria was as cheerful as ever.

"Wow, its pictures are really beautiful…" Adriana was impressed.

"Hm, looking at, I guess it's more about Christmas presents…"

"Presents, eh? So, can you remember any memorable presents, big sis?" Adriana seemed hopeful.

Vittoria smiled at her. "Hm, I can't remember all the gifts I got from people but the one I treasure most is the ribbon I got from you."

Adriana held Vittoria's hand and her lips curled into a radiant expression as she responded, "I'm the same. I'm never going to let go of the good luck charm you gave me."

"What about everyone else?"

"Do you have a treasured present too?"

"A physical or emotional gift. I know there are many types of gifts out there, but I think the gift that someone made for your sake is the most greatest of all."

"We too, have gotten all sorts of things from all sorts of people over the course of our lives."

"That is why… Um, I know I don't know how to put this into words very well. We'll do our best, our very best."

"It is thanks to all of you, that we can, right now, talk like this with you. When you're lonely, please call us."

"We'll definitely answer you back."

Gai growled, "Oi, you two. Stop breakin' the fourth wall."

But seriously, Merry Christmas everyone!

As Christmas was going just as planned, something terrible had occurred.

The darkened skies of Naples shadowed the futuristic land below; blanketing the land in pitch-black. Spanning as far as the eye could see, there were only flickering lights providing illumination. Of course, that wasn't all—the raven clouds lingering in the night began to glow viciously, before emitting a crimson burst of light, from which descended from the heavens, heralding the arrival of an overwhelming foe beyond comprehension. From deep within the void arrived the Dragon, the Omega; everything opposite that the devil woman once represented.

Bursting forth from the abyss was a young lady in her mid-late teens, with a slender figure, sizeable bust, and dark blue eyes. Her hair was blond, and reached down to her waist in length. It was kept free, and was rather wavy. Her fringe was kept just above her eyes, and she had three sets of bangs; first going down to her upper-jaw, second, upper-neck, third, chest-length. Her attire was a green and peach coloured dress, with the top being a dark green that has gold lining on it, and being sleeveless, as well as revealing a considerable portion of her cleavage, covered through a veil of sorts. She had a ribbon on her neck, which was red in colour, and had detached upper-arm portions of her dress' sleeves and had frilled gloves on her hands.

Her cold gaze scoured the area; as her deceptively delicate hand ascended into the sky, as she snapped her fingers. The silent sound released a pulse of spiritual energy, which caught the moon in her grasp. With a singular hand movement, the woman drew the moon from the upper atmosphere down—this plan was resiminent to her original plan to utilize spiritual nuclear bombs to destroy Soul Society; only this time, she was certain that nobody would be able to stop her. "Just look above you…If it's something that can be stopped, then just try to stop it!"

Nevertheless, a powerful throbbing sensation resounded in Gai's mind; that is to say, from the moment that they met, the destinies of the Unlosing Rising Phoenix and the Omega Dragon Tenjōgekido were intertwined; this shared fate would spread into even the new universe; this was his destined foe—somebody he was determined to kill. Gai growled to Vittoria, "Look outside." Vittoria wandered over to the window; noticing the pale white moon beginning to descend.

Vittoria's eyes widened, as she questioned Gai, "What do we do?"

Gai applied his palm to his forehead in exasperation in his mind. "…Same thing we always do. Kick ass. So let's go save Italy…again!"



Merry Christmas, all!