After saying goodbye to the orphanage and its caretaker one last time, Rudolph took his meager satchel of belongings and followed Niko outside into the snow kissed streets. There, they were greeted by a sleigh, complete with both reindeer and bells and painted a slick cherry red. Understandably, the only reaction that Rudolph could express was one of pure shock.
“...It’s really- I mean, is that really a-”
“What, kid? Cat got your tongue? Yes, that’s a sleigh. What were you expecting from a guy wearing red and white who’s named Niko Laus? A Volkswagen? Come on now. Get your bag in the back already. It’s going to be a long ride. I’ll explain along the way.”
Still in shock, all he could do was clamber into the sleigh. Once both were seated, Niko took the reigns and they were off with a flick of the wrist and a shout.
“YAAH!” Once they were off to a good pace, Niko turned to Rudolph who was still incomprehensibly staring at the landscape passing by in a blur.
“I must be dreaming. This isn’t real.” he would mutter to himself.
*SMACK* Niko’s large hand meets the back of Rudolph’s head, snapping the poor boy out of it.
“Rudolph, let me get things straight. Actually, first off, can I just call you Rudy? I’m already getting tired of saying the entire thing.” Rudolph nods silently.
“Okay Rudy. One, as you may be wondering at this point, yes, I am who you would usually call Santa Claus or Saint Nick or however many names there are of me now. Two, they’ve always got it wrong. My name is Niko Laus for crying out loud! You can refer to me as Sir, Niko, or Mr. Laus if you want but don’t ever call me Santa. You got that?” He narrows his eyes, pausing and expecting a response.
Rudy nods and he continues where he left off.
“Onto number 3, I put Christmas on hold because the world, or more specifically the people, are shit. You know about all the wars, the stupid fights for power and money grubbing. Heck, you yourself are a victim of this, seeing as how you’re an orphan and everything.
Anyway, enough of that. I could rant on and on about that subject all day, but this is where you come in. You see, I want to change this world by force. And to do that, I need an army, more so a hitting force than an army, but it’ll get the job done. You are the first of many to come. I will train you to become an elite agent and in return, you will take out key power figures. In doing so, I hope to open the eyes of the world.
If that doesn’t work out, well, there’s always plan B.”
“Excuse me, but what’s plan B?”
“That little thing? Don’t worry about it. I doubt it’ll ever come to pass. I’ll tell you about it later, when the time comes. Why don’t you have a little nap. It’ll be a while yet before we reach our destination.”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
When Rudy woke up, they had already arrived at their destination, Santa’s “workshop” situated at the North Pole. To his surprise, it wasn’t anything like a mere workshop. What lay before him was an expanse of industrial buildings and a flurry of construction surrounding the main facilities.
“Oh? You’re awake now? Well then, let me welcome you to my workshop. Don’t mind the construction. That’s just for plan B.
From there, the years became a blur of activity. As time passed, eight more members in total were added to Niko Laus’s elite team, Rudy’s new family. All of them were similarly orphaned children, but none of them came within two years of Rudy’s own age.
Abandoning their former names, they took up the names of Santa’s reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blixen. Each of them became Niko’s faithful pawns, willing to sacrifice what was necessary for his vision of the future. If they hadn’t already, they became disillusioned to the world with each and every “lesson” and became increasingly loyal to the cause; all but Rudolph. Still skeptical with his creed of give and take, he went along with Niko Laus’s plans, but viewed it with unclouded eyes.
Over the fifteen years leading up to December 24th, 2030, mercenaries, trainers, and mentors came and went, both training and conditioning the orphans for their job; all the while, the missile silos outside were neared completion.
On the night of December 24th, 2029, Plan A was put into action. Christmas was to commence for all the leaders of the country. All the naughty leaders, instead of getting a lump of coal as stated in tradition, would receive a little “present” instead. Upon opening, these little “presents” would explode and shred everything within a five meter radius to dust, not to mention all the collateral damage outside of the assured death zone.
Following the blasts come December 25th, Niko Laus, as Santa, released a public statement claiming to be responsible and leaving one parting line.
> Quote:He knows if you've been bad or good
> So be good for goodness sake
If that didn’t send a message, then nothing would.
Unfortunately, the message was largely ignored and the gap of power was filled in with other corrupt elements. Nothing had changed in the world, only those in power.
The following year, Plan B was to be put into action.
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I apologize for my slow releases, but hopefully I’ll be able to finish this soon. I think my biggest problem in writing is one of scope, trying to do too much with too little. Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this so far. I’m mostly writing this for fun anyways.
Happy holidays!