ch 9 :Santa Claws Christmas Special

(Paris, France, December 23rd, 2014, Steel Butterfly's voice-over POV as he writes in his Rorschach-inspired journal in Marinette's bedroom...)

Steel Butterfly's journal.

December 23rd, 2014.

First and only journal entry today.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.

The day after tomorrow is Christmas Day.

I love Christmas.

Yeah, see, since I come from a religious family, I've learned everything there is about Christmas. Not just how commercial Christmas has become over the centuries, but also the true meaning of Christmas and the origins of this famous December holiday.

And it's not just because of Santa Claus coming to town that makes me love Christmas; it's also because, in years gone by on my Earth, I would always go to see my relatives on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

But the topping of the cake is that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Normally, I would just allow people to believe what they want to believe, but after witnessing His birth 2,014 years ago during my trials of training in the past without anyone noticing my presence whatsoever, one would think that God would want a 13th Apostle to reunite Him with all of His children in the past, in the present day, and in the future before the Second Coming of Christ happens.

And admittedly, I hate people who refuse to believe that the Holy Trinity exists, no matter if science can prove they exist or not, and no matter if those people were born in religious families or not.

Such people don't even deserve to call themselves human beings.

Nevertheless, I'm not the one to judge.

Anyway, since this Christmas is approaching with just 24 to 48 hours left, this is usually a time for even me to enjoy.

But this time around, because of Gabriel Agreste taking up the identity of Hawk Moth with the power of the Butterfly Miraculous, I have to make sure that nobody gets Akumatized, including anyone dressing up as Santa Claus to promote the spirit of Christmas cheer and Christmas giving.

Lately, I've tried my best to be good because of the fact that I know for a fact that Santa Claus is real.

People can try to disprove his existence all they like, but I know he's real.

How can I prove it, you ask?

Well, the real Santa Claus is the one on the eighth floor of the Macy's department store on 34th Street in New York City and the same one who always shows up on the very last float of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. If you go to see him before Christmas - specifically from December 1st to December 23rd, one of the things you can ask him is if he enjoyed the milk and cookies or any other treat you left for him last year. If you ask him that, he can and he will easily tell you that he did indeed enjoy the milk and cookies you left for him the last year around. And the same applies to any other snack you left out for him over the years, including fruits and vegetables. Or even if it's just a ham and cheese slider from Arby's. (In the late 2010s to early 2020s on my Earth, Arby's permanently discontinued their ham and cheese sliders for some reason. In spite of my supernatural photographic memory, it's been so long since I approached such a subject and I can't even remember what prompted Arby's to permanently discontinue their ham and cheese sliders or when that happened. But I digress since I rarely eat fast food these days.)

Anyway, in terms of his appearance, the real Santa Claus has jingle bells attached to the cuffs of his coat's sleeves, attached to his waist where his belt is without making the two accessories overcrowd their spaces, and attached to his shoulders in a circular pattern going from his shoulders to his underarms. He also tends to wear white gloves when people go to see him and he tends to wear small glasses that aren't like circular spectacles. Oh, and I can't forget that his beard and mustache are shorter than most portrayals of him over the years, thusly somewhat exposing his mouth. Specifically, his beard and mustache are shorter than normal portrayals of him over the years by 16 inches.

Of course, one of the things about the real Santa Claus was the fact that, on my Earth in 2021, when I went to see him, I was wearing a shirt with the Johnny Blaze iteration of the Ghost Rider on it, and Santa revealed to me that he actually likes the Ghost Rider.

Yeah, it's true. Even I didn't see it coming. When I asked Santa why he likes one of the most powerful demonic superheroes who lectures people on the dangers of using magic, i.e., Doctor Stephen Strange, Santa explained to me that regardless of Ghost Rider's allegiances between the forces of Heaven and Hell, he kept the Earths of the Marvel multiverse safe from harm. Even from the likes of Galactus.

And of course, whenever I ask Santa for any presents for Christmas on account of my good behavior, I always ask for only 2 to 3 presents because of 3 reasons. 1, my parents and my other relatives always buy me more presents because they can afford it and because we have the necessary space for up to 20 presents per year. 2, because sometimes there isn't enough storage space in his sleigh for more than 2 to 3 presents per child, and that's just because of the fact that there's 526,000,000 children raised in Christianity who believe in Santa and some of them usually ask for more than 3 or 4 presents per visit or per letter or per email. Sometimes, there just isn't enough room for that many presents per child every year. And 3, having up to 3 presents and no more after that is symbolic of Jesus getting 3 presents in the time after his birth.

Now, I don't deny that some children are just too greedy for their own good, but that doesn't change the fact that sometimes, their developing minds combined with some of them being spoiled won't allow them to comprehend that rules are rules and that some children are needier than others. Especially when it comes to very special presents that are sometimes of an intangible nature. Something like, for example, a family member's health, the end of war, the end of famine, or even reviving a dead relative while curing them of the deadly affliction that took their life.

Thankfully, I learned that lesson the easy way when I once asked Santa if it was true that his magic powers are limited to the point where he can't perform biblical miracles such as restoring someone's health or reviving the dead. He confirmed it, and I accepted it in stride. In contrast to the big bozo Sheldon Cooper from the abomination of a science sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. Bleugh!

But in all seriousness, I've long since become a more compassionate young lad in my youth and I've long since learned to be more thankful for the things I can afford to have, no matter what they could be aside from material possessions.

Nonetheless, whenever Christmas comes, I always ask Santa for specifically Transformers toys because, before I came to this universe and before Miraculous Ladybug earned my brief interest and eternal ire, Transformers has become my passion.

Whenever I can't get a specific Transformers action figure no matter how much money I have, I wait until Christmas to politely ask Santa for the specific Transformers action figures that I'm unable to buy for any reason.

And even Marinette will never suspect which 3 Transformers toys I asked Santa for Christmas. Hahahahahahahaha. They were the Transformers Cybertron Leader Class Galvatron, the Transformers Cybertron Supreme Class Primus, and the Transformers Armada Supreme Class Unicron.

If you readers have been into Transformers just as much as I have and just as much as others before me, you'd know the history of those three characters from the Unicron Trilogy known as Transformers Armada, Transformers Energon, and Transformers Cybertron.

Anyway, what Marinette and Adrien don't know for now is this: because of how long I've lived, I've picked up a trick or two. They include among other things supernatural craftsmanship, which enables me to make everlasting meaningful Christmas presents, birthday presents, and so forth.

Yeah, I learned from the best. And because of this superpower I have, I can easily give Marinette, Adrien, and the rest of my teammates - past, present, and future - all sorts of Christmas presents that are part of their preferences for material possessions and especially including the ones on the internet's lists of the most popular Christmas present categories.

It was definitely a bit of a challenge at first, but I managed to become a grandmaster of making presents for any occasion.

But what I do the most with Santa's permission is scanning the DNA of children worldwide who asked for either a puppy or a kitten for Christmas simply to determine if said children are allergic to either cats, dogs, or both.

Any children allergic to dogs I can handle, albeit even though I didn't even own any cats all the way to today in the Quantic Universe, but when children are allergic to cats for any reason, that can especially prove to be problematic if their future spouses own cats or if any of them in the girls category were to get hired by DC Comics Headquarters to star as Catwoman in future Batman live action films or cartoons. Kind of reminds of an interview with the Catwoman star of Batman Returns in which the interviewer admitted that he's allergic to cats.

And when some people grow up being allergic to both cats and dogs, that can also prove to be problematic if their future spouses own both cats and dogs for any reason other than to raise them together as puppies and kittens.

Now, call me old-fashioned, but like Kitty Galore, I prefer it when cats and dogs hate each other.

But nevertheless, I digress because there's literally dozens of benefits to owning cats and dogs in the same household and raising them together. Including among others that they won't fight or try to kill each other.

And anyway, I also took the liberty of scanning Ryoka's DNA with her permission and I found out that she doesn't have any cat or dog allergies whatsoever.

Along with that, I scanned Marinette's DNA and Adrien's DNA with permission and it turns out that regardless of the fact that neither has had any domestic pets in their childhoods whatsoever, neither Marinette nor Adrien has any allergies to cats or dogs either.

And even now, I've been considering getting myself a kitten or two simply to raise them from the ground up like if they were my own children.

Maybe when Hawk Moth's final defeat on Heroes' Day next year approaches closer over the months, I'll simply head on over to one of the pet shops to see about owning two different breeds of kittens that are great with children. That way, I'll be prepared just in case Ryoka and I ever decide to have children in the future.

After all, like my mother once told me, God not only created dogs for companionship, but also the domestic house cats descended from the African Near Eastern Wildcat known as Felis silvestris lybica. Yeah, basically, God not only created dogs for companionship, but also domestic cats over time.

And besides, like my kwami Leppey had told me during the day of the Simon Says incident, kittens interacting with children teaches them all about compassion, responsibility, and being grateful.

And I can't wait for Christmas. Normally, people in some parts of the world leave Santa different treats to snack on. Like, for example, in the United States and in Canada, children leave out for Santa a glass of milk and a plate of cookies. In Denmark, children leave out for Santa a filling bowl of rice pudding. In England, children leave out for Father Christmas a disgusting glass of sherry and a slice of mince pie. In Ireland, children leave out mince pies and disgusting pints of Guinness for Santa. In France, Santa receives biscuits on Christmas Eve. And in Australia, tots leave out for Santa a plate of cookies, but instead of milk, they leave out for him a disgusting glass of beer.

Ugh! I don't even want to think about it.

And of course, children leaving milk and cookies for Santa in the US and the Great White North might seem a nice gesture at first, but as the years passed, this sort of thing quickly became repetitive every year. This is partially the explanation about how Santa quickly became overweight.

If you readers of my journal want my honest opinion, you should leave Santa healthier treats for Christmas. Like, I don't know, a slice of an apple pie or a piece of banana bread without walnuts. Something like that.

Of course, I tend to leave him healthier snacks every year. But as for the second reason behind that... I'd rather not say without the chance of me offending Santa increasing.

But in short simple terms that I don't find offensive, Santa's slightly overweight and he's a senior citizen despite his magical immortality. As a result, he needs to exercise a lot in the seasons after Christmas and be put on a strict nutritional diet by Mrs. Claus. Besides, like I said, Santa's a senior citizen despite his magical immortality, and as a result, he needs to take his physical health and fitness into consideration. After all, even magical life spans don't last long and his magical immortality will possibly run empty in the near future or potentially the far future. I don't mean that in any offensive or derogatory way possible; I'm merely stating the facts as I analyze them due to me being a scientist in my own right. And that's just because of my immortal age combined with my nearly godlike intellect.

Oh, and another thing: I always make sure to leave a bucket of water for Santa's reindeer. Simply because all of that flying around the skylines of the world will definitely make them really thirsty.

Now, in terms of what healthy foods I leave out for Santa, it varies by year. One year, I might leave out for him an apple. One year, I might leave out an orange for him. One year, I might leave out a banana for him. One year, I might leave out for him a slice of watermelon. One year, I might leave out for him a plate of strawberries. One year, I might leave out for him a healthy sandwich or slider. One year, I might leave out for him a set of baked kale chips. Other years, it's always a different kind of healthy food that has ever been grown or invented over the thousands of years since human beings were created.

In any case, I also intend to make sure that any children Ryoka and I end up having in the future will also end up growing up with a deep love for Christmas and a deep belief in Santa Claus, no matter if the people in their future lives don't believe in him or if they actually do believe in him.

People like Max Kante who rely on statistical data to prove Santa's real? Hmph! Why not just try to set up a camera to record him in person as discreetly as possible?

Granted, Santa might catch you, but it's better than nothing.

Although, on a more related note on that subject, whenever I go to see Santa, I always try to remind him to be on the lookout for anyone attempting to catch him on camera. Especially since some people are clever enough to hide their cameras in the last areas where Santa would think to look.

Of course, regardless of that, a select few are fortunate enough to catch him without being caught themselves. Others just go back to the drawing board.

Of course, on the other hand, I'm among the few to always go to bed before midnight on Christmas Eve and never set up cameras to catch Santa. Simply because Santa trusts me to do the right thing before and after Christmas. Especially including going to bed on Christmas Eve as early as possible. Even I don't want to break that trust.

Nevertheless, I hope that Santa has yet another splendid Christmas to spend around the world and back to the North Pole with Mrs. Claus and his army of elves.

But you know what? Some of the things that his elves do at the North Pole for years repetitively - at least, from what I've seen - happen to include singing the same Christmas songs over and over again while staying away from the horrifying ones like Strange Bart's The Night Santa Went Insane, ice skating, having friendly snowball fights, making ice statues, baking and decorating Christmas cookies, making snowmen, going sledding, and making very humorous Christmas jokes. But the things I like the most about them that they do all year round includes helping Santa check his Naughty and Nice Lists, making toys and other material possessions that children asked Santa for Christmas as a reward for good behavior, and filing reports on the daily activities of naughty and nice children to give to Saint Nicholas himself.

Now, what was it that I failed to mention? Oh, yes; I occasionally leave out for Santa vegetable pizzas made by hand at home, along with turkey cheeseburgers, and sweet potato french fries. At least, if I feel like leaving them out for him.

But anyway, every year, I take a chance to stop by the North Pole to see how Santa's doing, and when I last stopped by just short of four hours ago, I noticed that the elves were loading up his sleigh!

And do you readers remember what that means? That means that Santa and everyone else at the North Pole is aware that Christmas Eve is tomorrow. They're making final preparations to be ready for when Santa makes his one night trip around the world to deliver the following things he's been doing for hundreds to thousands of years: presents consisting of toys and candy to children who have been on their best behaviors all year round, and coal or absolutely nothing at all to children who were rotten all throughout the year in terms of their behaviors no matter how many times their parents and other guardians punished them for it.

Although, these days, the actual practice of Santa giving naughty children coal is now considered archaic and dangerous. You want to know why? Because coal has so much smoke and intense heat from beneath the Earth's surface trapped inside that, the moment children become exposed to it for long periods of time, they develop lethal lung cancer not unlike the type we all know today.

Nevertheless, Santa has long since become aware of this predicament, so his elves opted to collect small rocks to paint in black to make them look like coal.

Now, I don't deny that kids these days tend to be bratty, snobbish, arrogant, prideful, mean, greedy, etc., but that doesn't change the fact that children the equivalent of Lila Rossi as a five year old girl need to learn the easy way and the hard way that their actions have consequences. No matter if they like it or not. But then again, Lila Rossi will probably never be able to comprehend - in spite of her delusional, arrogant, overconfident, reckless, cocky, ignorant, deceitful, charismatic, b*****, insane, jealousy-driven, sociopathic, remorseless, anti-social, callous, heartless, cold-hearted, sinful, prideful and greedy mindset - that her actions have consequences, and that the severity of these consequences in terms of her punishments depend on the scales of her crimes.

Nevertheless, even if Lila gets herself killed by her own lies in either La Santé Prison or in Pagliarelli Prison, she won't ever be missed. Well, maybe except by her mother due to the good memories she had of her soon-to-be former daughter over the years before Lila started her lying habits before going on to become the second person to wield the Butterfly Miraculous under the name of Hawk Moth.

Best that I don't dwell on a plethora of sensitive subjects on Christmas Eve.

In any case, I have Marinette and Adrien's presents from myself and from our team already wrapped up and ready to be given to them by Santa. I personally requested myself that he finds a spot in his sleigh that can store the presents without falling out of the sleigh and without overcrowding anything.

Now, all that's left is for me and my team to prepare for when the fake Santa gets Akumatized into Santa Claws.

And you readers want to know why?

Because I have a feeling that the fake Santa Claus will still get Akumatized into Santa Claws no matter what happens and no matter if Marinette is the one to go missing instead of Adrien or if it's the other way around.

Nevertheless, if all else fails in our attempts to deakumatize him using the method my teammates used in the original Christmas Special Episode from the original timeline, I'll have no choice but to go back in time to Tenshize one of my contacts into a replica of Christkindl.

If you readers have done your research on Santa Claus and other Christmas figures of other countries, you'd know who Christkindl is.

Sadly, because of what I saw in the future, I won't even need to Tenshize my own Christkindl because of Adrien Agreste's older sister, Jeanette Agreste, aka Gray Marmalade with the Gray Cat Miraculous and the gray cat kwami known as Gigi.

Yeah, believe me, I was shocked when I learned from Marinette's parents and from Gabriel Agreste's older brother Antonin Agreste - albeit in one of my public identities to fool him so as to avoid him getting suspicious - that Marinette and Adrien each have one older sibling. Jeanette is Adrien's older sister and Marinette has an older brother named Arnaud.

And it would seem that after Arnaud left Paris to live with relatives elsewhere because of the bakery getting crowded in terms of residents, Marinette at the age of 5 literally ended up forgetting that she had an older brother.

Now, I'll be honest. I wish I could meet Arnaud, but he's living with some of Tom and Sabine's distant relatives in the U.S.A., not unlike Shu Yin Cheng, Wang Cheng, Mei Cheng, Yan Cheng, or even any other relatives of Tom and Sabine outside of the Chengs as well as outside of Rolland Dupain and Gina Dupain.

And right now, all Marinette needs to focus on for the time being is getting through high school and college, as well as bringing Gabriel, Nathalie, and Lila to justice, in addition to learning alongside me, Adrien, and our allies all about the history of the Miraculouses, the history of the kwamis, the history of the Order of the Guardians, and the history of how the Miraculouses should be used in times of war, in times of high rates of crime, in times of weather disasters, etc. And to top that off, Marinette also needs to focus on finding a way to keep her good reputation intact and she needs to focus on completing her dream of being the greatest fashion designer even better than especially the likes of Gabriel Agreste. At least, Marinette also needs to focus on that long-term goal for the time being.

As much as I would love to hear Marinette squeal in excitement over having an older brother that she didn't remember having for years, we can't risk him finding out his sister's Ladybug identity just yet, and we can't risk him experiencing Hawk Moth's reign of terror whatsoever.

As for Jeanette Agreste... I couldn't believe that Gabriel had thrown out his firstborn daughter just because she resembled her mother "way too much" and just because Gabriel had gotten fed up with Jeanette trying to convince Gabriel to fulfill Emilie Agreste's final wishes. Including the final wish to allow Jeanette and Adrien to attend public school for the first time.

Believe me, I had gotten so mad that I had to teleport to the top of Mount Everest in order for me to scream in rage towards the skies.

Yeah, I can't imagine the kind of pain that Adrien would've gone through if he remembered Jeanette upon being reintroduced to her and if he had found out what his crappy father did.

In any case, I'm curious as to learning about how Jeanette Agreste managed to acquire the Gray Cat Miraculous.

Could it be that she somehow found it because it was misplaced by a Guardian who somehow managed to escape the temple when Master Fu's Sentimonster was accidentally set loose upon the temple? Or could it be that Jeanette was given the Miraculous in question by a Guardian and she didn't even know about it? Or could it be that the Gray Cat Miraculous has been in the possession of Antonin Agreste's side of the family for generations and before Gabriel was born?

Let's call it my need-to-know.

Anyway, back to the topic of this journal entry. Now, it's Christmas in Paris, and all is cheery and bright.

I love the atmosphere here; it's very festive and cheerful.

Everyone is singing in the streets while trying to be careful with the snow storm tonight and for the next 24 hours even though it barely snows here in Paris around Christmas. And even though it does snow a lot in Paris, it's usually not that much snow for everybody, thankfully enough.

People are shopping for last minute gifts.

People are also traveling to different parts of this world to spend the holidays with far away relatives.

People are looking to buy the ingredients for their families' traditional Christmas dinners depending on where in the world they live.

People are celebrating Christmas in different ways.

People are oftentimes dressing up as Santa Claus to promote the Christmas season at the toy stores that they work at.

And of course, the real Santa Claus is coming to town.

I hope that I'm on Santa's Nice List like I have been for every year on my Earth.

But the primary reason is because... I'm actually scared of Krampus.

Yeah, not even Master Fu would suspect it, but it's true; I'm deathly scared of Krampus.

This anthropomorphic demon of Christmas literally punishes naughty children all across the world on Christmas Eve in stark contrast to Santa Claus giving presents and treats to well-behaved children as a reward for their good behavior.

And among the things that Krampus does to his victims include eating them, drowning them, hitting them with a whip or a birch stick, and/or putting them in a sack or a basket and dragging them with him to his lair in Hell.

Yeah, no naughty child, especially the likes of Lila Rossi, her counterparts, or even alternate timeline counterparts of her sheep, will be safe from the legendary, scary, and downright evil Krampus.

And no matter what people have to say, I know that Krampus is all too real.

How do I know about that, you ask? Well, over the course of the past thirty-two thousand and fifty-six years of my time travel training, I saw Krampus once or twice a Christmas Eve. And well, I did indeed see him punishing some naughty children using the methods people have recorded to put on Wikipedia and other websites with information on Krampus. Admittedly, I did indeed see him either eating naughty children, hitting them with a whip, hitting them with a birch stick, or generally just transporting his victims to Hell.

Yeah, even Krampus eating naughty children like they were a sweet treat made me vomit from a large distance so he didn't see me or sense me. I even had nightmares for decades.

But thankfully, since I have always been on Santa's Nice List for the past thirty-two thousand and fifty-six years of my existence – including the thirty thousand years I'd spent time traveling to train myself – even before I came to this universe, I won't need to worry about getting eaten by Krampus or something worse.

No matter some of the minor naughty things I used to do when before I turned 4 years old, I still remained on Santa's Nice List and off of Krampus' Naughty Radar.

Hopefully, I might get what I asked this world's Santa Claus for Christmas.

Merry Christmas to whoever is reading my journal at some point in the far future. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

(Dupain-Cheng bakery, third person POV...)

Marinette, Alya and Manon enter the bakery.

Tom and Sabine sing in unison, "#Merry Christmas to all!#"

Marinette sings the next set of lyrics, "#Mom and Dad, I'll help you in the bakery. To hand the Christmas logs to all of my friends you see.#"

Marinette passes the first Christmas log to Alya, but it falls. Thankfully, Alya manages to catch it.

Marinette finishes the first verse, "#Merry Christmas to you, Alya, and to your family!#"

Alya takes her turn as she sings the next verse, "#Thanks, my BFF. Same to you three!#"

Alix Kubdel and her father Alim Kubdel arrive.

Marinette hands the next Christmas log to Alix and Alim as she sings, "#For Alix and her dad, Merry Christmas to you!#"

Alim Kubdel sings in response, "#Tom, Sabine, Marinette, Happy Holidays to you too.#"

Rose and Juleka arrive and Marinette passes the next log to them.

Marinette sings the next verse, "#Rose and Juleka, gifts for you, you bet!#"

Rose sings her part, "#Merry Christmas to you!#"

Juleka sings her part calmly, "#Merry Christmas, Marinette.#"

Nadja Chamack arrives and Marinette passes Manon to her with their Christmas log.

Marinette sings the next verse, "#Manon, Merry Christmas to you and Nadja!#"

Nino arrives.

Marinette passes the log to him.

Marinette sings to him, "#Merry Christmas, Nino.#"

Sabrina arrives and Marinette sings, "#And Merry Christmas to you, Sabrina!#"

Chloe and Lynnette arrive wearing skeptical looks.

Marinette starts to sing, "#Merry Christmas, Chl-#"

Marinette stops singing upon seeing their skeptical frowns.

Miguel pops out of the wall behind the counter and asks, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Chloe replies, "Adrien's spending Christmas alone again, and his father's not doing anything about it."

Lynnette adds, "And on top of that, one of the people who used to torment me years ago has shown up in Paris, and Steel Butterfly warned me that, and I quote, 'This disgraceful abomination of the human race will stop at nothing to ensure you feel miserable this Christmas.' And you pretty much already know my story to guess who I'm talking about."

Ever since the averted Princess Fragrance incident, Lynnette turned over a new leaf permanently and spilled her life story to the students and staff of Francoise Dupont.

As it turned out, Lynnette was initially bullied for being rich.

So, she took to bullying people she considers inferior to hide the emotional pain and trauma she felt when she was growing up before making it to Francoise Dupont.

And as it also turned out, when he was tickle torturing Lynnette, Steel Butterfly became aware of Lynnette's past and the reasoning behind her being a bully. But he kept it to himself initially so as to prevent the timeline from being screwed up.

In the present day, Miguel adds, "Yeah, and before you or Tom suggest anything, Sabine, this former bully of Lynnette is not gonna change whatsoever, even for the winter holidays. So I suggest you leave the situation to me. Because even though it's already Christmas Eve, let's just say Judgment Day has come for Yannick Dominici thousands of years early in the form of a new version of KRAMPUS."

Chloe and Lynnette shakily leave with their Christmas logs.

Miguel exhales as he says, "Sometimes, I wonder if those two have what it takes to permanently change."

Placing her hand on her taller comrade's back, Marinette replies, "Like you once said, people tend to change for the better and for the worse. But sometimes, if you let those people change by themselves and without heckling them while still keeping an eye out for them, they can surprise you and themselves. But like you also said, some people might never want to change not only because they might relapse into their old habits, but also because they refuse to change due to having grown addicted to their not so good habits without any form of remorse. And in the case of criminals and supervillains alike, they choose not to change because they love the supervillain and criminal life, and because they're insane enough to continue using almost all of the same plans over and over again in the hope of expecting different results."

Miguel smiles at Marinette and remarks, "Who knew you'd become so wise despite being 13 years old at best?"

Marinette replies, "I learned from my mom, my dad, and you, Miguel."

Miguel hugs Marinette while kneeling slightly due to him being six feet and four inches tall.

Marinette hugs her friend in reciprocation.

They eventually break off their hug when they hear the bell ring.

Adrien's bodyguard arrives and Marinette hands him Adrien's present.

Of course, Marinette was pleasantly surprised when Adrien's bodyguard gave her a present from Adrien.

In the living room, Marinette states to Tikki, "Okay, Tikki, time to get to work!"

Tikki inquires in confusion, "Work? What sort of work do you mean? You already handed out the yule logs, and you already gave those handmade presents to your classmates to top that off."

Marinette answers, "I actually meant patrolling, Tikki."

Miguel explains, "What she means, Tikki, is this: if people all across the city see Steel Butterfly and Ladybug flying over the rooftops, smiling, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, and giving presents to children who never got presents from Santa Claus for any reason other than being naughty or generally just because there wasn't enough space in Santa's sleigh the previous year for a whole lot of presents per child, then everyone will be more cheerful and the likelihood of someone getting Akumatized on Christmas Eve will gradually go down to zero."

Tikki replies, "Oh! That's good thinking, you two! The more people who are feeling happy tonight, the better."

Marinette replies back, "That's the general idea, Tikki. if the Parisian Police Department and other first responders aren't going to go on permanent vacation on Christmas Eve, then neither will Ladybug or Steel Butterfly!"

Tikki states in praise, "That's the spirit, Marinette!"

Miguel quickly points out, "BUT before we go, we have to let your parents know about this so that way, they won't be worried, and you need to take your phone with you just in case your parents call you when you detransform after using your Lucky Charm, simply because dinner will be ready by the time we attempt to come back here."

Marinette and Tikki look at each other in bewilderment before saying in unison, "Good point!" "Good point!"

After getting special permission from her parents, Ladybug and Steel Butterfly fly over the city via their respective winged jetpack and normal armored wings as she sings the first verse, "#It's Christmas in Paris, all is cheery and bright! And we're out on patrol tonight!#"

Ladybug and Steel Butterfly make their way over to the Cesaire apartment and hover in front of the window via their respective buzzing and flapping wings.

Ladybug knocks on the window and both flying superheroes wave to Alya's entire family.

The Cesaire family waves back with Christmassy smiles on their faces.

Alya got out her phone and takes a picture of Ladybug hovering while doing a Santa Claus pose for the Ladyblog. She also takes a picture of Steel Butterfly doing a pose of riding a flying horse.

Ladybug and Steel Butterfly continue flying as the butterfly hero sings the next verse, "#Families are together with their gifts by their side! And Ladybug and Steel Butterfly are out on patrol tonight!#"

Steel Butterfly does his next part by handing out presents to kids walking on the cold streets of Paris.

Surprisingly, they happen to be presents that Santa initially couldn't give to them in the past, either for being naughty or because there initially wasn't enough space in his sleigh the previous Christmases.

The two flying heroes make their way to the Grand Paris Hotel, where Chloe and her father, Mayor Bourgeois, are about to have a luxurious Christmas dinner.

Chloe sees Ladybug and Steel Butterfly hovering outside the window and squeals in delight.

Mayor Bourgeois waves at the two heroes and Steel Butterfly makes a "tipping your hat" gesture as a greeting, even though he was only pretending to wear a hat.

As the two heroes continue flying, Ladybug sings the next verse, "#There's always warmth for us, there's always tenderness for the both of us! We're not alone as we're out on patrol tonight!#"

Steel Butterfly and Ladybug continue flying until they see a congregation of people going home from having their last days of school and work finish.

Steel Butterfly sings the next verse alongside Ladybug in unison, "#Snug as a bug in a rug, and everyone gives us hugs! Ladybug and Steel Butterfly are out on patrol tonight! Ladybug and Steel Butterfly are out on patrol tonight!#" "#Snug as a bug in a rug, and everyone gives us hugs! Ladybug and Steel Butterfly are out on patrol tonight! Ladybug and Steel Butterfly are out on patrol tonight!#"

The two heroes go around the city streets, letting citizens hug them, shaking hands with some of them, and assuring them that they'll be protected from the likes of Krampus, demons, and even from Hawk Moth.

For Steel Butterfly, every time someone hugs him, his wings start to vibrate and flap of their own free will without making him fly without consent. And at the same time, Steel Butterfly's wings glow every time someone hugs him.

All the while, Steel Butterfly sings this next verse that he's absolutely sure someone from his dimension made up, "#Every citizen of Paris that hugs me on this beautiful Christmas night makes me feel like an angel getting his wings and his choice of a robe or a suit of God's armor! It makes my wings glow with Christmas-themed compassion, love and biblical pride! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!#"

Ladybug laughs at Steel Butterfly flying like an aerial acrobat.

Ladybug and Steel Butterfly find themselves standing in front of the largest Parisian Christmas tree, decorated with the colors of the French flag, something that previously made Steel Butterfly vomit when he saw it in person for the first time fourteen years ago.

Ladybug and Steel Butterfly sing in precise synchronization, "#People care about us and our team, with the spots on or off, with elegant wings alive or dead, with the claws out or in, and with the power to surprise! We're not alone tonight! We'll take your symbol of joy and polish it up with a few additions! We're the Christmas insects of the night! We're the Christmas insects of the night!#" "#People care about us and our team, with the spots on or off, with elegant wings alive or dead, with the claws out or in, and with the power to surprise! We're not alone tonight! We'll take your symbol of joy and polish it up with a few additions! We're the Christmas insects of the night! We're the Christmas insects of the night!#"

Steel Butterfly pulls out of his cape a large enough selection of Oreo candy canes and extremely hard plastic replicas of God's angels from the Superbook cartoon, with the majority of them wearing white robes and/or a suit of white and golden yellow battle armor.

Ladybug takes out her yoyo and shouts in song, "#Lucky Charm!#"

Ladybug summoned her Lucky Charm, which was 2 rolls, the first being a roll of ladybug-patterned tinsel and the other a roll of ladybug-patterned foil.

As Steel Butterfly arranges his candy canes and extremely hard plastic angels one at a time, Ladybug looks around the tree and saw a couple of pine needles lying on the snow-covered ground.

Suddenly, a light bulb in Ladybug's head turns on as she gets an inspiration.

Ladybug put the tinsel all around the Christmas tree while Steel Butterfly hung up the candy canes and the angels.

And at the same time, Ladybug made smaller Christmas ornaments with the foil such as balls and candy canes while making sure that the black spots were easy to see.

Then, Ladybug starts flying around and she hangs her handmade ornaments on excellent spots on the Christmas tree.

Ladybug also puts a small red and black-spotted foil star on top of the tree right in front of the official star for the Christmas tree.

Ladybug mentally questions, "Surely, Mayor Bourgeois won't mind our contributions to the tree at all?"

And for the final touch, Steel Butterfly puts on top of the Christmas tree in just a small enough spot underneath the star, a replica of Jesus Christ riding a white winged horse somewhat similar to the Pegasus from Greek mythology.

And surprisingly, the replica of Jesus attached to the spot beneath the star without difficulty.

Steel Butterfly remarks, "It's PERFECT! Hahahahahahaha, hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Ladybug sighs wistfully, but then her Miraculous starts beeping.

Steel Butterfly abruptly snaps his fingers to recharge Tikki and the Ladybug Miraculous.

Ladybug states gratefully, "Thanks, big butterfly."

Steel Butterfly nods.

Ladybug starts walking away as Steel Butterfly watches and she sings the first of the final verses, "#We're not cold or lonely. Steel Butterfly and I are so glad we're not in any form of pain. I in particular hope that this was not in vain whatsoever.#"

Ladybug turns around and admires the handiwork she and Steel Butterfly left behind, and she smiles before singing the second of the final verses, "#I'd better get back home, and I'd better do so right away. Tomorrow will be a brand new day as we celebrate Christmas.#"

Ladybug takes off in flight, her wings buzzing and fluttering steadily as she heads back home.

Steel Butterfly watches her go before singing the final verses, "#I'm immune to cold and I'm never lonely on Earth. I have the Holy Spirit and the Voice of God to comfort me in times of loneliness and grief. But whatever happens, I hope that this patrol was worth it. Nevertheless, the first part of my Christmas 2014 mission is completed; now, I have to wait for part 2, part 3, and part 4 of my 2014 Christmas Eve mission to deal with Santa Claws.#"

Steel Butterfly flies off to follow Ladybug.

The two heroes fly back to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, enter Marinette's bedroom through the skylight ceiling, and they detransform back into Marinette and Miguel to have Christmas dinner.

Meanwhile, in the Agreste Mansion, Adrien and Nathalie are decorating their Christmas tree.

Adrien asks Nathalie, "Check it out, Nathalie. Do you think he'll like the decorations we bought and/or made by hand?"

Nathalie doesn't answer, unable to come up with a response while simultaneously concentrating on decorating the tree.

Meanwhile, Adrien's bodyguard Gustavo enters the house.

Adrien states, "He should be down here already. Did you call him?"

Nathalie replies, "Perhaps we should give him... a few more minutes."

Adrien looks disappointed before scowling again.

Adrien replies with a sneer, "What's the point, anyway? He's not coming, so what's the point of celebrating Christmas without him even caring one bit?"

Adrien starts walking to his room and Gustavo gives him Marinette's present.

Adrien takes the present and says with a scowl while continuing to his room, "Thank you. Merry Christmas, both of you. Not that I care anyway."

Nathalie looks on with a fond expression and she hangs her head.

In Gabriel's atelier, Gabriel is staring at a picture of his wife, Emilie Agreste.

Nathalie knocks on the door.

Gabriel calls out, "Yes?"

Nathalie enters the room.

Nathalie points out, "I can imagine how difficult this must be for you, sir. But it's also Adrien's first Christmas without his mother. I really think, sir..."

Gabriel interrupts and says in response, "I know, you're right. I'll go see him. I just need a little more time."

Nathalie replies, "Of course, sir."

Nathalie leaves the room.

Upon entering her room, Nathalie scowls while keeping her emotions undetectable to the power of the Butterfly Miraculous.

Adrien stews in his anger as he snarls, "He's still only thinking of himself! I guess Simeon Says' power was only temporary, something that I'm pretty sure Steel Butterfly didn't even know about! Either way, I just want this terrible day to be over with! Like The Grinch, Ebenezer Scrooge, Patrick Bateman, The Dursleys, Francis Hancock, Alexandra Hancock, Holden Caulfield, The White Witch, and even Mephistopheles, I officially hate Christmas! Plagg, CLAWS OUT!"

Adrien transforms into his black cat-themed alter ego and takes flight via his jetpack and working neon green bat wings.

Cat Noir starts singing, "#It's Christmas in Paris, all is cheery and bright! But I'm all alone tonight!#"

Cat Noir sees Miguel, Marinette and her parents having Christmas dinner.

Suddenly, as if Steel Butterfly sensed what was going on, the world started to move in slow motion without anyone being aware about it, no matter what. Of course, Miguel, Marinette and her parents were unaffected by this and continued to have Christmas dinner undisturbed and unaffected.

Cat Noir continues singing in slow motion, "(Slowed) #Families are together with their gifts by their side. Only Cat Noir is alone tonight.#"

Chloe and her father are shown still having a Christmas dinner.

Cat Noir continues singing once more, "(Slowed) #There's no warmth for me, no tenderness for me. I'm alone like a cat in the night! I'm a sad, lonely kitty! Won't anyone take pity? Cat Noir is alone tonight! Cat Noir is alone tonight!#"

After having finished Christmas dinner with Marinette's parents and stopping the world from moving in slow motion by usage of his replica of The Upside Down Show imaginary remote control, Miguel suddenly teleports everyone in the room – with appropriate winter wear and with Marinette transformed into her alter-ego – to the Christmas tree to witness Cat Noir venting in song about his desire to destroy Christmas.

Cat Noir is seen and heard singing his final verse, "(Normal) #No one cares about me if I'm lost or I'm found and I'm just like a cat in the night! I'll take your symbol of joy and burn it to the ground. I'm the vengeful cat of the night! I'm the vengeful cat of the night!#"

Marinette and her parents gasp in shock and horror as they realize that Cat Noir is serious and that he's gonna destroy the Christmas tree for real.

But Steel Butterfly growls in anger.

As he charges towards the Christmas tree in anger, Cat Noir calls out, "#Ca-ta-cly-sm!#"

His Cataclysm activates and radiates with pure destructive energy, increased by his anger.

But before he can destroy the Christmas tree, Cat Noir is stopped when Steel Butterfly calls out, "CAT NOIR!"

Cat Noir freezes upon hearing his superhero name being called out at high volume.

Astonished at being caught in the act of attempting to destroy the Hotel de Ville Christmas tree, Cat Noir slowly turns around to see Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, and Marinette's parents standing there.

And while Ladybug and her parents were aghast at what they were about to see, Steel Butterfly... was not pleased.

Steel Butterfly demanded in his demonic Ghost Rider-style voice, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT?!"

While Cat Noir could care less about being called an idiot and while he could care less about Steel Butterfly using profanity on Christmas Eve of all nights in the year, that didn't change the fact that he did act like an idiot when he was about to destroy the Christmas tree and until now, he truly had no idea what the hell he was doing.

Through a force of will, Cat Noir turned off his Cataclysm without starting his timer – he had practice of doing so, even though it was said to be virtually impossible for an underage user of the Black Cat Miraculous – and knelt on the ground, and he started to cry his eyes out.

Thankful that they had time to kill before Gabriel started to panic, which was approximately fifteen minutes, Steel Butterfly and Ladybug went to their respective partner and hugged him while letting him cry out his sorrows on their respective suits of armor.

Surprisingly, Steel Butterfly didn't mind getting his armor wet for once. If only because Cat Noir was in a sorrowful mood.

Of course, Marinette's clone, Tom and Sabine subtly noticed that some people were recording and live-streaming the whole thing onto the internet.

Steel Butterfly didn't care for the moment, and even though he had prepared contingency plans for even this situation, handling his partner's emotions on Christmas Eve of all nights was more important for the time being.

After a minute or two of letting Cat Noir cry his eyes out, Steel Butterfly started petting his partner like an actual cat.

Surprisingly, Cat Noir started loudly purring as he starts to feel better.

The Parisians recording the whole thing couldn't believe their eyes and ears when they saw Steel Butterfly petting Cat Noir like he was an actual black cat and when they heard the black cat hero purring in response to the affectionate gesture.

After Cat Noir blew his nose into a rough double napkin, he looked up at Steel Butterfly, only to see the butterfly hero was still not pleased.

Steel Butterfly asks sharply, "Feeling better, kitty?!"

Cat Noir winces as he replies, "Yeah, I deserved that. And yes, I'm feeling better. Slightly, so to speak."

Steel Butterfly states scoldingly, "Cat Noir, I get that Christmas is a difficult time for you because of your father's neglect, but that doesn't give you the right to use your Cataclysm on the Christmas tree. Think about how crushed everyone in Paris would've been tonight if I hadn't stopped you. If they saw one of their favorite heroes destroying something valuable to them this time of year, how do you think they would've reacted?"

When Cat Noir didn't answer because of the fact that he didn't even know any answer, Steel Butterfly provided one as he continued, "Children would've been in tears, there would've been a lynch mob who would've wanted your head on a silver Santa-decorated platter, and most of all, we would've had to administer more severe punishments after running interference on your behalf. And I will be honest. I didn't expect Simeon Says' power on your father to be temporary, but I will rectify that mistake when I get time. But right now, take the time to consider the consequences of your actions the next time you decide to do something as stupid as this. And right now, your father will be arriving at your room in approximately seven minutes, so haul assets and get your bat-winged butt back home."

Cat Noir activates his jetpack and his wings while looking at Steel Butterfly as the butterfly hero adds, "Merry Christmas."

Cat Noir solemnly nods and he takes flight back to the Agreste Mansion.

As soon as Cat Noir lands in his bedroom, he reverts to normal.

After making sure that Plagg is fed with a remaining apple slice from lunch earlier, Adrien waited until his father appeared in the door.

Two minutes later, Gabriel comes up to Adrien's bedroom door while carrying a present.

Gabriel had a Christmassy smile on his face.

Gabriel knocks on the door and lets himself in.

Gabriel says, "Adrien. Merry Christmas."

Adrien replies with a little more fake, undetectable joy, "Merry Christmas, Dad."

Gabriel gives Adrien his present and says, "Adrien, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. It's been so hard without your mother that I tend to be oblivious to the feelings of others."

Adrien mentally asks sarcastically, "Where have I heard that one before?"

Gabriel finishes, "Anyways, Adrien, I hope you like your present. I worked very hard to get it for you."

Gabriel hugs Adrien, and they stay like that for half a minute.

Steel Butterfly is watching the whole thing from a rooftop concealed by the cameras from a good enough distance, and removes his helmet to reveal his Christmassy grinning face.

Of course, what nobody would realize was that underneath his Steel Butterfly helmet, Miguel Guevara had a normal butterfly mask and was wearing black and white face paint resembling the Eric Draven makeup with added red, green, yellow and blue scars.

Putting his helmet back on, Steel Butterfly took off in flight towards the location where the fake Santa Claus would be Akumatized into Santa Claws.

The fake Santa Claus was in Steel Butterfly's sights as he landed close enough to not be seen for now.

Santa chortled to the two kids in front of him, "Ho, ho, ho! No need to grab now, children. Good old Santa Claus has a gift for everyone."

Santa hands the little girl a snow globe and her brother a nutcracker. But for Steel Butterfly, it looked more like a mix between a flashlight and a big laser pointer for cats.

The two kids throw their presents to the ground as the girl says, "These gifts are so lame, and I bet this is totally fake!"

She starts pulling on Santa's beard.

Santa exclaims a bit, "Hey! Easy on the beard!"

The two kids pelt him with snowballs.

The boy exclaims, "Yeah! Totally. No way are you the real Santa Claus!"

Steel Butterfly roars, "HEY! Stop that right now! (Everyone turns to see Steel Butterfly) Even if he's not the real Santa Claus, what would Santa think if he saw you treating another Santa like trash? And besides, it doesn't matter if Santa doesn't get you what you initially want for Christmas; it's the thought that counts!"

The kids' father says, "Steel Butterfly's absolutely right, kids. You say sorry right now."

The kids state shamefully in unison, "Sorry, Santa Claus." "Sorry, Santa Claus."

Santa replies, "It's no big deal, children. Merry Christmas anyway."

The kids and their father depart as the man replies, "Same to you."

Steel Butterfly says to Santa, "Sorry you had to go through all of that. Are you okay?"

Santa replies as he dusts snow off his suit and retrieves his hat, "I'm fine. Don't worry, I'm a tough old Santa. But what are you doing out at this time of night? I wouldn't suppose you're out on patrol tonight on Christmas Eve, are you?"

Steel Butterfly answers, "Oh, wouldn't you believe it, but I was definitely out on patrol to spread joy for the Christmas season. You see, I have reason to believe that Hawk Moth won't hesitate to Akumatize even you tonight, so me and Ladybug were out on patrol to spread joy to negate Hawk Moth's abused ability to detect negative emotions. But there was a small bump on the Christmas hill, so to speak."

Santa asks, "And what would that small bump be?"

Steel Butterfly responds, "Cat Noir almost used his Cataclysm on the largest Christmas tree in the city." Santa gapes in shock and horror. Steel Butterfly continues, "And before you ask, he initially didn't know what he was doing because he was mad at his father for neglecting him on Christmas Eve since they're respectively mourning the death of Cat Noir's mother, and his father is too stuck in the past to even move on or to find new love. He's too afraid of the past to change in his dear wife's memory. And I will admit; I may have been a bit harsh on calling out Cat Noir about his actions, but I wasn't just gonna let it slide. Whether his actions are justified or not, he would've emotionally scarred all of the people of Paris and perhaps the spirit of his mother for destroying something that they all loved. And even though Hawk Moth has not yet made a move, it's only a matter of time before he does. And I think you can make an educated guess for why he became Paris' first ever magic-abusing terrorist."

Santa replies, "He wants to use Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculouses to revive his wife without regard for the consequences."

Even though Steel Butterfly was slightly dumbfounded about how much Santa knew about Hawk Moth's motives or potentially, his identity, the butterfly hero didn't show his surprise at all.

Steel Butterfly replies back, "Ding ding ding. You got it in one. And yes, Hawk Moth is aware that there'll be a price to pay, but he doesn't care. He firmly believes that nothing matters as long as he gets what he wants and his enemies – including me – are obliterated. But I will be honest. If this trend continues and he gets unmasked, he really will have to serve time in prison. And I really pity any family he has left, no matter if they approve of the whole thing or if they really don't due to their respective knowledge of the full extent of Parisian law, even though the Miraculouses had just started coming out into the public light without the Order of the Guardians around to do anything about it."

Santa nods in understanding and Steel Butterfly flies off into the night.

Once Steel Butterfly made it to his primary headquarters, he got ready for when the hardworking Santa Claus became Akumatized into Santa Claws.

Steel Butterfly knew that even if the first act of the Christmas Special episode was going off the rails, there's no guarantee that the fake Santa Claus wouldn't get Akumatized in this timeline.

Besides that, Steel Butterfly knew that the real Santa Claus would've been able to escape Akumatization just because he's overly joyful to the point where Hawk Moth's manipulation wouldn't last long.

But Steel Butterfly also knew that while Christmas magic can counter dark magic somewhat, there's no guarantees that Hawk Moth would just give up on Akumatizing the real Santa Claus.

Nevertheless, Steel Butterfly knew he needed to be prepared for anything. Even if there's some things even he can't ever be prepared for.

Meanwhile, Gabriel, Nathalie and Adrien were having Christmas dinner in silence.

Even though Adrien is grateful that his father is paying special attention to him tonight, he's still not happy that he had found out after the Simon Says incident that his father was the magic-abusing terrorist of Paris by the name of Hawk Moth.

But since Adrien was informed that Steel Butterfly's got a lot of plans to disrupt his father's crimes and put him behind bars if need be, Adrien decided to have faith in his leader. Even if he was a bit of a basket case at the best and worst of times.

Adrien looks at the portrait with his mother and mentally comments, "Merry Christmas, Mom."

Meanwhile, Steel Butterfly gave Yannick his comeuppance by simply feeding him to Krampus' waiting spanking stick, so to speak.

Steel Butterfly says to the camera, "Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukah, Happy New Year, and stay off Ghost Punisher's radar. Or else she'll come and get you. Mwa ha ha."

(The next day, Steel Butterfly's voice-over POV as he writes in his first Rorschach-inspired journal...)

Steel Butterfly's journal.

December 24th, Christmas Eve, 2014.

Merry Christmas Eve to all.

I had quite a night yesterday.

Aside from comforting Cat Noir about the death of his mother and his actions regarding the largest Parisian Christmas Tree at Hotel de Ville, I had quite a Christmas Eve to remember.

Ryoka and I spent Christmas with our families in this dimension, even though they're unaware of what really happened to us ever since the last times we saw them.

And it's a good thing too, otherwise we would end up having a blue Christmas.

Jeez. I can't believe I just had to say it. But it's true. And much more preferable to saying "black Christmas" to signify a horrible Christmas where someone commits evil acts during Christmas. Or at least a horrible Christmas in general.

Anyway, I had received a visit from Master Fu, and he gave me a nice Christmas present. Something that the kwamis had made together.

It was my very own Miracle Box for storing any Miraculouses that are lost all over the world or any Miraculouses that I invent for any reason.

Granted, it was unexpected on Master Fu's part, but this is even better.

With my own Miracle Box, I can easily store my own Miraculouses for when I become a member of the Guardians in the future.

But now, I must be off to make sure that everything is going according to some loosey-goosey form of chronological order for the Santa Claws Christmas Special episode.

(Third person POV...)

In the streets of Paris, Jeanette Agreste encounters the fake Santa.

Santa remarks, "Ho ho ho! Hello there, young lady. What's your name?"

Jeanette replies, "Jeanette Agreste, oldest daughter of Gabriel Agreste and the late, great Emilie Agreste."

Santa questions, "Jeanette, what are you doing out at this time of night? Are you lost?"

Jeanette shakes her head no.

Santa says as he puts a blanket over Jeanette's shoulders, "You're not exactly completely dressed for the cold weather. Maybe you'd like some hot chocolate? I've got some leftover."

Jeanette replies before asking, "Of course. And I know you love cookies, but could I please have just one?"

Santa replies, "Ho, ho, ho! I don't mind. I may love cookies, but I wouldn't die from having someone else eat a cookie on Christmas Eve."

Jeanette eats half of the cookie, and a gray catlike kwami by the name of Gigi eats it whole since the twosome are in public.

Santa then says, "Come, let me take you home on my sleigh."

Santa puts on his hat and finds that it's worn and prone to falling apart soon.

Jeanette then says while offering her own Santa hat, "Here. My uncle would've wanted you to have this."

Santa asks in awe while politely taking the pristine Santa hat, "A present? For me?"

Jeanette replies, "Everyone deserves a present on Christmas. Even a hardworking, generous Santa."

Santa replies back, "Thanks, sweetie."

Santa puts the hat on and he drives his horse-drawn sleigh down the streets of Paris.

Meanwhile, in the vicinity of Hotel de Ville, Ladybug flies towards the Hotel de Ville Christmas tree and sees Cat Noir there, singing mostly to himself.

Cat Noir sings, "#There is only one thing this kind of beauty can give: Ladybug's Lucky Charm, am I right?#"

Cat Noir notices a hologram of himself giving Ladybug the present he gave her in some alternate universe version of the original timeline, as evidenced by another hologram of Steel Butterfly hugging his two teammates.

Cat Noir sings further, "#And look, this holographic wrapped present too. It's an important clue. It's a representation of my present to Ladybug tonight! We give each other presents, Steel Butterfly gives us time to ourselves. Ladybug must've used her Lucky Charm to beautify this Christmas tree during her patrol yesterday. My only explanation, my best bet, is that Ladybug wanted to spread some cheer for Christmas. It's a good thing I'm here for her if she needs me and vice versa! We'll protect each other without fear! This girl that I secretly love. And with all of my might, I will fight alongside you till the end! You're the girl that I secretly love. If you'll never know what's true, I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me. You're the girl that I secretly love. But what would you do if you knew what's true? That's why I so secretly love you.#"

Suddenly, Ladybug sings to attract Cat Noir's attention, "#There is only one thing that this kind of love in a song can bring. Cat Noir's observation of my Lucky Charm, am I right? And look, his gift for me and my gift for him wrapped and dangling from the tree tonight. Cat Noir goes on patrol, and he sings in my honor. He must be looking to spend Christmas with me tonight. My only explanation, my speculation, is that Cat Noir still feels guilty for last night's events. It's a good thing I'm here, I'll comfort you without fear, this boy that I secretly love. Now with all of my might, I'll give you the love and support you crave, you're the boy that I secretly love. If you'll never know it's true, I'll be there for you, you're the boy that I secretly love. But what would you do if you knew what's true? That's why I so secretly love you.#"

Cat Noir comes up to Ladybug and they hug each other in Christmassy joy and in joyful tears.

All the while, Steel Butterfly uses his Cataclysm on Hawk Moth's Akuma butterflies that try to Akumatize either Ladybug, Cat Noir, or potentially both of them at the same time.

Ladybug and Cat Noir then remove their helmets and they kiss underneath a magical ethereal mistletoe.

Just then, Steel Butterfly's Butterfly Sense goes off.

Steel Butterfly then sees in a distant sector of Paris a girl Cat Noir's age riding with a Santa Claus on his sleigh pulled by a pair of horses.

As Ladybug and Cat Noir listen in thanks to some carefully concealed butterflies and ladybugs, the Santa asks the girl, "So, Jeanette, are you lost?"

Jeanette Agreste answers, "Well, Santa, it's my brother's first Christmas without our mother. And our father doesn't know how to move on. He's obsessed with finding a way to bring her back that he'll resort to extremes to do it. And after Mom died, Dad threw me out because he said I remind him of Mom way too much and because he wouldn't listen to reason about me and my brother attending public school no matter what Mom had to say when she was still alive."

Cat Noir remarks, "That sounds too similar to the life I had before Father became Hawk Moth."

Jeanette continues, "So because of this, these days, I'm living with my uncle Antonin Agreste, Gabriel Agreste's older brother."

Ladybug, Steel Butterfly and Cat Noir quietly gasped in shock, thankful that the conversation was like a one-way radio transmission. But of course, if Steel Butterfly's journal entry from yesterday was any indication, Steel Butterfly's gasp of shock was more for show. After all, his knowledge of Jeanette's existence was not his secret to tell to Adrien immediately.

Santa replies before asking as he points out, "Oh, that's terrible, Jeanette. If this is how your father treats you, he should definitely be on the Naughty List. No matter if he's too old for such a thing or not. But either way, your uncle must be wondering where you are right now. He must be very worried about you. And now that you've gotten out of the house and cleared your thoughts a smidge, don't you think it's a good idea to go back home?"

Jeanette replies back, "Yeah. Besides, families being together and Christmas cheer go hand in hand."

Santa remarks before saying, "Atta girl, that's what Christmas is all about. Families spending time together. I'll take you home on my sleigh."

After Jeanette reveals to Santa where she lives, she questions, "So, what about you, Santa? Where will you be celebrating Christmas?"

Santa answers, "Me? I have all of Paris. Even the whole world! Ho, ho, ho!"

Jeanette remarks, "And I'm pretty sure that your elves and Mrs. Claus are waiting for you back at the North Pole, eh?"

Santa replies again, "Ho, ho, ho! Of course, Jeanette."

Jeanette then suggests, "Why don't you spend at least half an hour with me and my family? Even Santa Claus shouldn't be alone on Christmas Eve before he delivers presents."

Santa replies back, "All right then. But I can't stay for too long. You do know how busy I am tonight."

Jeanette replies back as well, "I'm aware. Any amount of spare time is fine. Thanks anyway."

Santa puts his right arm around Jeanette's shoulders in a one-arm hug.

Later, at Antonin Agreste's own mansion, Jeanette answers the doorbell with Santa behind her.

Antonin answers the doorbell in person as he asks, "Jeanette, where have you been?"

Jeanette tearfully hugs her uncle as she explains everything.

Antonin looks at Santa and says, "Thanks for finding my niece."

Santa replies, "Ho, ho, ho! It was the least I can do."

Jeanette's cousin Edward comes out and questions, "Who are you?"

Santa replies, "Isn't it obvious? I'm Santa Claus!"

Edward remarks jokingly, "Really? That would make me the Easter Bunny. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Everyone laughs at Edward Agreste's joke.

Suddenly, Santa feels a snowball pelt him in the head.

Everyone sees a group of bullies led by Omar Dominici, the younger brother of Yannick Dominici.

Omar then says, "That's Santa! He put us on his Naughty List for no good reason at all! Get him!"

Omar's group pelt Santa with snowballs and two of the muscular bullies menacingly approach Santa.

Suddenly, Steel Butterfly blows his war horn loudly, and Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, Cat Noir, Lion Hunter, Rhinocharge, Blueclaw, Corvo, Cat Knight, Jade Turtle, a different Ghost Punisher, Broadband Woman, Lady Vulture, Psychic Dagger, Simeon Says, and Steel Butterfly's clone armies appeared.

Santa gawks as he looks at Steel Butterfly's army.

In short, the bullies had the crap and snot beaten out of them, most prominently by Steel Butterfly.

Even Santa winced at how much Steel Butterfly was beating up the bullies.

While the police have dealt with Omar Dominici and his group, Ladybug comes up to Santa and questions, "Are you okay, Santa?"

Santa replies before saying sadly, "I'm fine, young lady. It's just I can't believe almost nobody around here respects the spirit of Christmas anymore."

Steel Butterfly replies back, "That's not entirely true. With the exception of Hawk Moth and his first and only ally, most people in Paris respect the spirit of Christmas. And I do mean most."

In Hawk Moth's lair, the window opens.

Hawk Moth remarks, "Ahh. Without even knowing it, Omar Dominici and his men are giving me the best Christmas present ever. An innocent man wrongly attacked and the spirit of Christmas is broken!"

Hawk Moth creates an Akuma.

Hawk Moth sends the Akuma on its way and he states, "Fly away, my little Akuma. You have all that you need to Akumatize this Santa."

The Akuma flies off to the second Agreste Mansion.

Steel Butterfly then says, "Santa, if you give up hope, people everywhere will end up giving up hope too. And children everywhere will be heartbroken to the point where they will end up becoming stone-hardened criminals and/or cruel, heartless supervillains later on in life. Is it worth it when you know what could potentially happen to millions of children all over the world?"

Before Santa can think about what Steel Butterfly said, the Akuma discreetly flies towards Santa's hat and merges with it.

Steel Butterfly and his five auxiliary teammates bemoan in unison, "Aw, crap." "Aw, crap." "Aw, crap." "Aw, crap." "Aw, crap."

Hawk Moth's voice rings out loud enough for people to hear, "Well, I believe in you. Santa Claws, I am Hawk Moth. Those bullies wrongly accused you of being a heartless monster and a supervillain, so a supervillain is what you'll get to be from now on. In exchange, since I've been good all year long, I'm going to ask you for one gift: Steel Butterfly's own Butterfly Miraculous."

The fake Santa Claus/Santa Claws replies, "I shall deliver. Merry Christmas, Hawk Moth!"

Santa is turned into Santa Claws.

Steel Butterfly gawks in horror behind his helmet.

Steel Butterfly then exclaims, "I knew it! I knew that this was going to happen!"

Lion Hunter then runs up to Santa Claws, but he jumps out of the way and mounts his sleigh, where his donkeys have been transformed into reindeer.

The reindeer bellow as Santa Claws' sleigh takes off in flight towards the police station, with the nine heroes in hot pursuit.

Santa Claws calls out before bursting into song, "Omar Dominici! #You seriously thought you could get away with making fun of me? You seriously believed you could get away with attacking me and being naughty in general? I am Santa Claws! I'm a rebel with a cause! I'll punish and I'll give you a fright! Have a horrible Christmas night!#"

Santa Claws throws the handcuffed Omar Dominici a present full of bats and flies away on his sleigh.

The bats moderately mutilate Omar's face before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Steel Butterfly gets up in Omar's face and snarls, "Take a good look, you motherf****** son of a b****! This Akumatization is all on you and your s***** friends!"

Steel Butterfly punches Omar hard in the face, knocking him out cold.

Even the police officers were in shock.

Steel Butterfly then says, "Heroes of Paris, let's fly!"

The nine heroes take flight.

Steel Butterfly then says, "Here's my plan. We need to lure Santa Claws to a trap at the Eiffel Tower, and the best way to do it is to give him a present that he really likes."

Steel Butterfly whispers his plan to his teammates, and they all say in unison, "Let's wish Santa a Merry Christmas!" "Let's wish Santa a Merry Christmas!" "Let's wish Santa a Merry Christmas!" "Let's wish Santa a Merry Christmas!" "Let's wish Santa a Merry Christmas!" "Let's wish Santa a Merry Christmas!" "Let's wish Santa a Merry Christmas!" "Let's wish Santa a Merry Christmas!" "Let's wish Santa a Merry Christmas!"

Meanwhile, in Jeanette's mansion, Jeanette is playing video games while being watched by her bodyguard.

Jeanette yawns and gets ready to sleep.

To her surprise and to the surprise of her bodyguard, Santa Claws appears.

Jeanette questions in shock and horror, "Santa Claus?!"

Santa Claws answers, "Not exactly! #I am Santa Claws! I'm a rebel with a cause! I'll punish and I'll give you a fright! Have a horrible Christmas night!#"

Santa Claws throws a present full of spiders and Jeanette's bodyguard runs away in fear.

Santa Claws then says, "I'll do you and your family no harm, Jeanette. I'm in your debt. You gave me a present, and I won't ever forget that. In fact, I will avenge you! I'll avenge the both of us!"

Jeanette starts to say, "No, wait!"

But Santa Claws leaves and remarks as he flies away, "This will be the Christmas of revenge!"

Jeanette notices nobody is in her room before saying, "Gigi, Claws Deploy!"

Jeanette transforms into Gray Marmalade, a female gray version of Cat Noir in both timelines with the same suit as Cat Noir in the current timeline, Astro Cat's spacesuit in the form of a suit of armor with retractable invulnerable bat wings, and a female version of Dark Grimalkin's knight armor, but while altogether being a mix of comfortable and nearly invulnerable to everything. Including bullets.

Gray Marmalade takes flight and follows the Heroes of Paris from a distance, unaware that Steel Butterfly already detected her.

Meanwhile, at the Grand Paris Hotel, Mayor Bourgeois and Chloe are having Christmas dinner.

Mayor Bourgeois then says, "Santa Claus has come this year, my sweet Chloe!"

Suddenly, Santa Claws appears and Chloe shrieks, "Aaah!"

Santa Claws remarks before singing while his reindeer start eating Chloe's presents, "Horrible Christmas, everyone! #I am Santa Claws! I'm a rebel (Chloe: Hey! My presents!) with a cause! I'll punish and I'll give you a fright! Have a horrible Christmas night!#"

Santa Claws throws a present full of beetles and cockroaches at Chloe, making her shriek in fear as she and her father run away.

Santa Claws remarks as he leaves, "Ho, ho, ho! Horrible Christmas, everyone!"

Suddenly, Ladybug flies towards Santa's sleigh and remarks, "It's just the 9 of us, Santa Claws."

Gray Marmalade remarks, "The 10 of us, actually."

Ladybug questions, "Who are you?"

Gray Marmalade replies, "I'm Gray Marmalade, the owner of the Gray Cat Miraculous."

Ladybug replies back, "Never heard of you or of your Miraculous."

Gray Marmalade states, "Long story, and we don't have time."

The ten heroes land on Santa Claws' sleigh.

Steel Butterfly and Jade Turtle call out in unison, "Shell-ter!" "Shell-ter!"

Jade Turtle's shield and Steel Butterfly's shield both emit a force field, one around Santa's reindeer and another around his hands.

And Gray Marmalade knocks Santa out cold with a punch to the face.

She remarks, "Oops."

Ladybug remarks in slight disappointment, "Well, that was... easier than we thought."

Lion Hunter replies, "Understatement of this Christmas Eve."

Steel Butterfly takes Santa's normal Akumatized hat with the one cotton ball and rips it in half.

Ladybug slides open her yoyo and catches the Akuma before releasing the purified butterfly.

Ladybug and Steel Butterfly unleash their Miraculous cures that bring everything back to normal while safely depositing Santa Claws onto the ground as he turns back into the fake Santa Claus and his reindeer turn back into his donkeys.

The ten heroes share a fist bump.

In his lair, Hawk Moth snarls, "Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, Cat Noir, Lion Hunter, Rhinocharge, Blueclaw, Corvo, Cat Knight, Jade Turtle, Gray Marmalade, Ghost Punisher, Broadband Woman, Lady Vulture, Psychic Dagger, Simeon Says, go ahead and enjoy your Christmas this time! But we'll see who gets the best presents next Christmas!"

The window to Hawk Moth's lair closes.

Meanwhile, Steel Butterfly heard from his butterflies that Santa Claus was in town.

And as soon as he got word that the real Santa Claus was in town, he realized that the fake Santa who would've gotten Akumatized was in fact the real Santa.

Then Steel Butterfly remembered two things: one, Santa's appearance in terms of wardrobe changes depending on what part of the world he's in. And two, in all European countries, Père Noël as he's called in French used donkeys in France to pull his sleigh instead of reindeer. And if he were to be Akumatized into Santa Claws, his donkeys would become reindeer.

Of course, Steel Butterfly couldn't help but go on a flight across the skyline of Paris, singing to the tune of a specific version of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town that he heard while watching The Polar Express multiple times in his dimension years ago.

Before you knew it, Steel Butterfly was spinning through the air, twisting, nose-diving, and loop-de-looping while singing the Christmas song that he likes the most.

Santa watches from his perch with a smile on his face.

Meanwhile, in his lair, Steel Butterfly says, "You performed admirably, Gray Marmalade. But know that Jade Turtle wants to talk to you about how you got your Miraculous and who gave it to you."

Gray Marmalade replies, "Of course."

She leaves Steel Butterfly's lair.

Steel Butterfly chuckles as he detransforms and feeds Leppey a Christmas chocolate.

Miguel heads into his apartment and leaves Santa a grilled turkey and cheese slider with lettuce, spinach, and a tomato, along with a bowl of tomato soup, a glass of ice cold water, and an assortment of apples for Santa to feed his horses when he leaves France. And that's specifically because, in other European countries, Santa uses horses to pull his sleigh instead of his famous donkeys.

At the same time, Miguel leaves a bucket full of water for the donkeys.

Leppey asks, "Why are you leaving water for the reindeer?"

Miguel corrects him as he explains, "First of all, in France, Santa uses donkeys to pull his sleigh instead of reindeer. But specifically here in the capitol of France, Santa uses horses to pull his sleigh instead of his donkeys that he uses in other French cities. And secondly, I leave out water for Santa's donkeys in France, for his horses here in Paris, and for his reindeer back in the United States because all of Santa's animal helpers have a lot of work to do on Christmas Eve. Always best to be prepared."

Leppey replies, "Ahh. I see."

Miguel leaves the bucket of water by the table with the lights on, where Santa can find it along with his snack.

The next day, Miguel wakes up abruptly to his alarm clock playing the song We Wish You A Merry Christmas at full volume.

Turning off his alarm clock, Miguel does a double take and sees that today's Christmas Day.

Miguel rushes into his living room to see that Santa's snack was gone, the bucket of water was empty and cleaned, and Santa's glass of water was empty.

Miguel was quick to eat his breakfast before opening his presents.

(Steel Butterfly's POV as he writes in his Rorschach-inspired journal.)

Steel Butterfly's journal.

December 25th, 2014.

Merry Christmas to all of you all ACROSS THE WORLD AND ALL ACROSS THE MULTIVERSE!

Wow. I had quite a Christmas Eve, even if it was a tad off the rails.

Despite my best efforts, the fake Santa Claus who turned out to be the real Santa was still Akumatized into Santa Claws.

But the topping of the cake was the appearance of Cat Noir's older sister Jeanette Agreste, the firstborn child of Gabriel and Emilie Agreste, and she showed up on the battlefield as Gray Marmalade, the owner of the Gray Cat Miraculous.

Yep, it was truly unexpected, as neither Marinette nor Adrien had any siblings in the original timelines. And only Adrien's only cousin, Felix Fathom, was shown on the show specifically as a new potential supervillain because of Thomas Ass-truck's leadership throughout seasons 1-5.

Nevertheless, this may be even better.

Due to Jeanette being more familiar with social interactions than Adrien in season 3, this brings out the benefit of Jeanette teaching Adrien that Lila Rossi's lies are harmful in the emotional, mental and spiritual sense.

Nevertheless, I'll have to keep an eye on Jeanette, just in case Gabriel decides to cross the line early by Akumatizing one of his offspring compared to Cat Blanc and Ephemeral.

I binged out on watching the Home Alone film series, the Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas 2000 film with exclusive deleted scenes, The Polar Express, It's a Wonderful Life, The Santa Clause film trilogy, Ernest Saves Christmas, Fred Claus, A Madea Christmas, Elf, Daddy's Home 2, the 1998 Jack Frost film, the original Miracle on 34th Street film, Batman Returns, Iron Man 3, Shrek The Halls, The Wiggles: Yule Be Wiggling, the 1985 Santa Claus film, and of course, Elmo Saves Christmas.

Yeah, I specifically watch Elmo Saves Christmas to further remind myself that there are great consequences that could take place if Christmas was happening every single day of the year.

At the same time, I watch The Wiggles: Yule Be Wiggling because I love the songs in it and I love The Wiggles. Although, I wonder how they exist on this Earth. Eh, it doesn't matter.

And I didn't even mention The Christmas Chronicles Part 1 and Part 2 because they ain't gonna be released for another four to six years. And I didn't even mention any Christmas-themed horror films like Santa's Slay or Bad Santa or Silent Night, Deadly Night because I hate horror movies. But not to the point of being scared of horror movies like Marinette.

I hate all sorts of horror movies, mainly because of the constant swearing even though I'm a bit of a potty mouth myself, the characters always using the Lord's name in vain, the women having nudity scenes, the sexual foreplay scenes, the gruesome deaths of the characters which happen to include the villains and the heroes, demons, vampires, zombies, black magic practitioners, supernatural killers who don't die so easily or for long, horror movie monsters who don't stay dead permanently in the sequels – although that would admittedly defeat the purpose of a horror movie sequel, killer doll toys, evil alien clowns, pirates, dictators, military officials, and so forth.

And I hate all sorts of Christmas horror movies, including ones featuring murderous mutant snowmen, serial killers dressed as Santa, and especially the real Santa being depicted as the Antichrist.

Of course, there was a 4th The Santa Clause film that would only come out before Thanksgiving 2022, so I didn't mention that one either. Although admittedly, it was more of a comedy mini-series to depict Scott Calvin looking for a successor after 28 years on the job and there's very little Christmas spirit while Scott is on the verge of turning 65. But it was still good, albeit a little too funny for my taste, and too full of Scott telling lies just to keep the morale of the elves strong.

BAH! As far as I remember, almost every Christmas cartoon or film, live action or otherwise, always features Santa telling a lie or two simply to cover up something terrible that happened while he was making his rounds. No matter if the terrible happenings are big or small.

Anyway, when it was finally time for me to hit the hay, I left Santa a small bowl of tomato soup and a grilled turkey and cheese slider I made myself that also packs spinach, lettuce, and a small slice of tomato.

I also left carrots for Santa's horses and I filled my empty and clean mop bucket with ice cold water for the horses to drink. After all, like I just told Leppey, all of Santa's animal helpers are gonna need to stay hydrated throughout the night.

And I also left Santa some water while leaving him a note that said, "If you wish to use the bathroom, try your best not to make any noise."

I know Santa is capable of making it to the bathroom without making noise, but you readers gotta understand, Santa's a tad forgetful because he's a senior citizen.

Anyway, when I woke up this morning, the bucket of water for the horses was returned empty and clean, the bowl of tomato soup empty, the grilled turkey and cheese slider gone, and the glass of water empty as well.

And the note I left for Santa was gone too.

I went to my living room and saw that Santa left me three presents.

I was a bit confused at first because I thought I had only requested two presents, but then I remembered that I did ask for 3 presents. Nevertheless, I brushed my teeth, and I had a fruit salad for breakfast, along with scrambled egg whites, and a few strips of turkey bacon. Healthy body, healthy mind.

Anyway, when I opened my presents, I was surprised to get the Transformers Cybertron Leader Class Galvatron, the Transformers Cybertron Supreme Class Primus, and the Transformers Armada Supreme Class Unicron.

Yeah, I'm an avid collector of Transformers action figures. I have been ever since the days of Transformers Beast Wars on my Earth. Guilty as charged.

For Galvatron, transforming him to his ground vehicle mode was simple enough.

Primus and Unicron were a little difficult because they were planetary Transformers, also known as Transformers that transform into planets. And it makes sense because in the Transformers franchise, Primus and Unicron were the first two Transformers in their existences and vehicular and beastial Transformers weren't going to become born until Primus transformed to his planet mode of the Transformers' home planet Cybertron for the first time..

But eventually, I put them away in storage.

When I teleported myself to New York City, I learned that there's gonna be a toy delivery theft in progress in five minutes.

So, I became myself – Steel Butterfly – and I went to intercept the thieves.

I quickly restrained them without being seen or heard, and I left them at the nearest police station I could find.

Transporting myself to my Parisian residence, I got started on my exercise regiment.

Yep, I had every piece of exercise equipment ever invented in my own personal gym located in my lair.

I looked at nothing in particular and I said, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night and a good morning!