SD Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ SD Gundam Force Christmas Carol ❯ Dai-Present, Future-Scythe, and End ( Chapter 3 )

Bong.

Bong.

The clock on the wall chimed twice for two o' clock am as Zapper sat on his bed.

At first, nothing.

Then, there was a flash of light. Unlike the light carrying the Ghost of Christmas Past, this light seemed more...spastic, like fireworks. When the room light returned to normal, Zapper noticed something was different. Drastically different.

Normally, Zapper kept his room bare, save for the needed things, like a (Small) lamp, dresser, and clock, and the floors were almost always dusty due to his refusal to buy a vacuum cleaner. He kept clean with a cheap broom.

But now the room was not only sparklingly clean, to the point of light shining off of the shine, but now it was filled to the brim with food, of all shapes and sizes. And in the center of it was a proud, regal looking gundam in flowing red robes. With a fan.

Zapper, so surprised by all this, fell off his bed and landed on the floor with a `clunk'. Getting up, he peered over the side of the bed. The food and gundam were still there.

“Merry Christmas,” the gundam said, fanning himself. “I am the ghost of Christmas Present.”

“Yeah?” Zapper, once assuring himself that hiding was pointless, slowly moved from the bed and toward the Ghost. Once he was close enough, the Ghost put his arm around Zapper's shoulder in a `c'mon, we're friends' sort of way.

“Come with me. There's something you need to see.” He said, and there was another flash of light. When the light faded, they were no longer in Zapper's bedroom, but in front of a house.

“Where the heck are we now?” Zapper asked, a little cranky. These lights were starting to annoy him.

“We are now in front of the house of Captain Gundam and family,” the Ghost of Christmas Present said, “And the now is Christmas.”

Upon seeing Zapper's confused look, the Ghost explained. “We are witnessing events that will happen in the current Christmas as it is happening.”

Zapper squinted. “So this is the future?”

“No, that comes later- Ah, there they are, as I thought.” The Ghost Christmas Present looked past Zapper and pointed down the street. Turning, Zapper looked to see where he was pointing. Coming up the road was none other than Zapper's put-upon employee, Captain Gundam. Sitting on his shoulder was a little gundam boy with a crutch, who seemed to be squirming with pent-up energy.

“Alright, we're home, Genkimaru,” Captain set Genkimaru on ground.

“Oboy! Christmas! Turkey! Presents! Kaff! Kaff!” Genkimaru had begun to zip into the house chattering, but stumbled and started a coughing fit shortly afterward. As Captain helped him into the house, Zapper turned to the Ghost of Christmas Present for answers.

“Captain's son, Genkimaru, is quite ill,” the Ghost said softly, “And Captain does not earn enough money for proper medical attention.”

Zapper winced, knowing full well why Captain didn't get a big enough salary. “So, uh,” He said slowly, watching Captain's family enjoy a sub-middle class Christmas dinner, “What happens if the kid can't get better?” He asked, “Will he, uh, die?”

“Well,” said the Ghost slyly, “If he's going to die, then he better do it, hmm?”

Zapper gulped, as he felt his own quote be thrown back at him with the force of brick fired out of a cannon.

“And now, I leave you to the future,” The Ghost of Christmas Present said.

With that, the Ghost of Christmas Present began to fade into nothingness, as did the surroundings. Zapper looked around in confusion as the peaceful, neighborhood gave way to a grim looking cathedral.

“Creepy,” Zapper commented, staring up at the bleak building. There was a dark rumbled and he felt numerous raindrops fall onto him. As Zapper grumbled over the new levels of moister, he felt an eerie presence. Turning around(And wishing he wasn't) Zapper found the strangest specter by far. Unlike his old partner and the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, the phantom before him now didn't even look human. This bizarre spirit resembled a floating green blob with vacant yellow eyes, constantly shifting in and out of tangibility.

Zapper regarded the ghost with some caution. “Are… You're the Ghost of Christmas Future, right?”

The green ghoul said nothing, but bobbed slowly, in what might be a positive affirm. Then, without a moment's notice, floated away.

“Hey! Where're ya goin'?” Zapper cried, and began to follow him. He followed the Ghost of Christmas Future away from the church and into Neotopia. Zapper looked around.

“So, this is the future, right?” he asked, checking things out. The city didn't look any different from when he walked through it before bed. He noticed a discarded newspaper lying on the ground. Picking it up, he checked the date. One year later, it was printed. He then noticed that the Ghost had floated away from him.

“What the- Wait up!” Zapper dropped the paper and jogged up to the Ghost. As he did, he past some people talking.

“I don't know how it happened…”

“Doctors can't explain it…”

“I can't believe he's gone…”

“I'd thought he never go…”

Hearing this, Zapper slowed down a pace.

“It'll be a cheap funeral, I bet…”

“I wonder who's going…”

“Is anyone going?”

“I might.” Pause. “If lunch is provided!”

That last quip was followed by some none-too-friendly laughter. Shivering(And not just from the cold), Zapper sped up to catch up with the Ghost. When he did he realized that they had someone come to Captain's house.

“Oh, good.” Zapper sighed. He needed some cheer right about now. Captain's place, he decided. But instead of the sounds of merriment he heard last time, things were unusually somber. Listening closely, he heard someone crying…was that Captain's wife? Peering through a window, Zapper saw the family mulling about with some trace of gloom in their steps. Wait. Someone was missing. Where's Genkimaru?

Zapper heard footsteps behind him and realized that it was Captain, coming home with Genkimaru. But when he turned around he saw his employee alone. Feeling a coldness grip his circuits, Zapper raced back to the window. He saw Captain talking to his wife…and over near the fireplace, he saw a small, unused crutch, too small for anyone but…

“No…not him!” Zapper whirled at the Ghost of Christmas Future, “C'mon! It's only been a year! That's not fair!” He then noticed the Ghost was once again floating off without him. “Hey! I'm not finished!”

Once again, Zapper found himself chasing after the silent specter, the Ghost of Christmas Future. This time, the not-so-merry chase led him to cemetery. As he stared at the many headstones, he noticed that the Ghost had stopped near one particularly bland-looking one, the name covered in frost. The Ghost glanced at the headstone suggestively. Zapper, feeling a little tense, edged near it.

“Uh, the future can be changed, right?” Zapper asked, inching towards the grave. “You wouldn't be showing me this if it was inevitable, right?”

The Ghost said nothing. Now wanting to delay any more, for the anticipation was killing him, Zapper rubbed away the frost on the headstone, revealing the name chiseled on it.

 

ZAPPER ZAKU

Good riddance

 

Zapper stared in horror. This was his fate? To be buried like garbage, forgotten? He suddenly thought about Grappler's fate, and realized that his was going to be much worse than that.

“Okay! You win! I'll change!” He wailed, whirling at the Ghost. He fell on his hands and knees. “I'll change! I'll be a better person! I will! I promise! I- Awk!” Zapper fell right out of bed and hit the floor with clunk.

“Huh? What?” Zapper looked around wildly. He realized that he was in his bedroom again. When did he-? Zapper noticed daylight coming out from his window and rushed to it. Looking outside, he saw a boy run by his house.

“Hey! You there!” He called out to the boy. The boy looked up.

“Who, me?” The boy then realized who he was talking to. “uh, I mean, who, me, sir?”

“What day is it?” Zapper asked.

“It's Christmas, sir!” The boy replied.

“It is? Yes!” Zapper pumped his arm. “I didn't miss it! I still have time! Those ghosts probably made it that way! Yahoo!”

“Uh, sure, right…” The boy scratched his head, rubbing the little tuft of hair on his forehead, wondering if he should report to the police that Zapper Zaku had been replaced by some kind of pod person.

“Don't Zapper yelled suddenly. He disappeared from the window. “I'm gonna throw something at ya!”

The boy wondered that maybe whether or not that was a threat. A few minutes later something flew out of the window and landed right next time, nearly crushing his foot. Upon closer inspection, the boy realized that it was full of money!

“Use that to buy the biggest turkey from the store!” Zapper yelled from the window, “And take it to Captain Gundam's place! Keep the change!” He paused. “And don't say who it's from!

The boy, upon realizing that the case contained enough money for six turkeys, took off to do his deed. Zapper, meanwhile, got dressed in his best to greet the day. As he walked merrily down the street, he saw the two charity workers from yesterday.

“Hey! You guys!” Zapper rushed right up to them. “Uh, listen, I was wondering…would this much do for your charity…thing?”

Zapper named a figure, and the two were surprised. Was this really the same guy from yesterday?

 

Zakozakozakozako

 

The very next mourning, and December 26th, Zapper arrived early at his office, and put on his `angry face'. When Captain came in for work, Zapper went right at it.

“Gundam, where have you been, yesterday!?” He demanded in a mock-angry tone. Captain was so thrown off though he didn't catch it.

“But, sir, you gave me yesterday off, for Christmas,” Captain explained.

“Me?!” Zapper snarled, “Give a day off!? What are ya, nuts!? You know what I should do? I should…”

Captain braced himself.

“…I'm going to give you a raise for all your hard work over the years!” Zapper finished grandly.

For a moment, Captain believe what he was hearing. It was then he realized that the room was warmer than usual for Zapper's office.

“Th..Thank you, sir” Captain replied, wondering what transformation occurred.

Over the years to come, Zapper become known for his generous and benevolent spirit, a man(Or machine, but who cares?) who truly embodied the spirit of Christmas. And no one received his newly found kindness more than Genkimaru, whom Zapper would form a tight bond with. Which is why we say, “God bless us, everyone.”

 

Zakozakozakozako

 

The curtain closed, and the blond man stepped out from behind onto the stage. Bowing, he said, “Thank you so much for watching the SD Gundam Force's rendition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. And thank you for your compliments and constructive criticism. I think the most difficult part about writing a send-off of a story with players from a different medium is keeping them in character while staying true to the parts they play. So, from all of us, we'd like to say…”

The man stepped aside and the curtain opened up, revealing an empty stage.

“Hey!” The man cried, seeing the lack of people, “Where'd they go!?”

A lakitu floated out from stage left. “They went to hit the mall after the curtain closed. `Last minute Christmas shopping,' they said!”

The man sighed, took off his sunglasses for a moment while rubbing his blond hair. Shaking his head, he gave the audience an `oh well' look.

“Merry Christmas, folks. Now go home and spend some time with your families.”

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!