As they descended, Dragonborn looked down to see all the people out and about. No one paid any attention to the ornate sleigh, reindeer, or Santa Claus landing near them.
“Am I the only one who didn’t realize you were real?”
Santa chortled in a deep laugh, “The people cannot see us because I don’t let them. While you are in this sleigh, you are invisible.”
“Interesting.” Dragonborn mused, “Why are we landing here? This is a tiny town in the middle of the mountains?”
“They celebrate Christmas here too, you know.”
“Sure they do. Probably some hokey pageants and dumb little parties.”
Santa carefully navigated so they could land without a problem. As he situated the sleigh in an empty area, he asked, “What makes you so informed about how the people here celebrate Christmas?”
“I watch television, like anyone else. Towns like this, quaint, cute, away from civilization, and dirt poor. They have all the charm of a Sunday morning in church. They’ll have some sweet romancing between couples and...”
Santa gave Dragonborn a comical glare, “Don’t tell me you only know about small town Christmas from sappy Christmas romance movies?”
“Uh.... the thing is...” he folded his arms and sat back. “Look, they may be sappy, but they have hot girls. Besides, it was educational.”
The sleigh landed, and Santa dropped the reins. “Hardly educational. You won’t find the cutesy little town with romance around every tree lot for the wayward cute girl and burly, handsome guy. This is the real life. And this town has lost a lot of its charm.”
Dragonborn looked up, only now realizing something he hadn’t seen before. “This place looks awful. Who blew up these houses?”
“A nasty hurricane blew through here a few months back and they are still cleaning up the mess.”
“Wow, what a pile of junk. Again, why aren’t we in Paris, or New Amsterdam, or hey, I hear Neo Utopia is nice this time of year. Think of it, thousands of people in need of Christmas presents, not just a few backwoods hicks.”
Santa said, “Listen, son, you aren’t making a good impression. Nova said you want to leave the program?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop with the attitude. It doesn’t matter if we are in London, England, or Greene County, Tennessee, you’re here to work with me. Don’t get any ideas that you’re going to party with hot babes while I do my job. You want out, then do what I say.”
Little tendrils of smoke sizzled out of Dragonborn’s nose, but he begrudgingly said, “What are your orders, sir?”
“First things first, we can’t be recognizable. I’m Santa and you’re a scaly half naked man.” Santa tapped the side of his nose and he changed into a different looking old man.
“You look like a bum... and WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?” Dragonborn jumped up at the sight of the ragged clothes and flabby arms. “I’m ugly!”
“No, you look normal. Don’t have a panic attack. This is only a temporary illusion.”
Dragonborn was twisting around in a pointless attempt to look at his butt, “I hope so. My body is a temple to sexiness.”
“Sure it is.” Santa sarcastically stated. “Come on. We have some work to do.”
Santa got out of the sleigh and walked with Dragonborn into the city square. Half the buildings had power, the other half were dark and shattered. Piles of debris still clouded street corners. In the parks, aid workers continually helped people and set up tent villages.
“Okay, Nova gave me your bio report. You have level 2 enhanced strength, breathe fire, can withstand fire against your body, and you have iron hard claws.”
“Not for long. If I get out and take the stupid drugs, then I’ll just have a great body. I hate the fire breathing, makes my mouth taste like sulfur, and I’m not that strong.”
Santa said, “Level 2 is on the lower end for superheroes, but it’s still considerably stronger than a normal human.”
“Sure. So, what do you want me to do, punch some looters or something?” Dragonborn sneered as he watched people greet him with weak smiles.
“I don’t know. Come, let’s go here and see what we can do to help.”
Santa walked him into a rescue center set up by a gathering of various churches in the area. Men and women worked with stacks of food boxes, medical supplies, and power generators. Cots lined the part of the room where people were sleeping. There wasn’t a flurry of activity, it was more subdued.
“Why aren’t they hauling ass? I mean, seriously. They want this place to be a dump forever?”
Santa glared at him as two workers approached. One, an older man with gloves on, said, “I would have you know that we’ve been cleaning up and helping people twenty-four hours a day for three solid months.”
Santa elbowed Dragonborn and then said, “Excuse my friend, he’s new here. How can we help?”
“Welcome to the SBD center. We can always use extra hands to help. What brings you here?”
Santa kindly said, “Just felt a need to volunteer. I understand you received a large shipment of Christmas decorations and supplies. We could help set them up.”
That shocked both workers. The man said, “Yes, we did. But how did you know?”
“The elves told me.” Santa chuckled.
The woman gestured to the back. “Yeah, we had them arrive this morning as part of a supply shipment from BADGE. We aren’t really able to celebrate Christmas this year, with all the damage still around and lives still in disarray.”
The man said, “Plus, the Christmas spirit is... low right now.”
“That’s too bad.”
The woman said, “We have a lot of boxes of food and medical supplies that need to be moved back there and sorted. We build the food boxes in the back and it needs to be divided up. Simple, menial work.”
Santa nodded, “Somebodies got to do it. My friend here, Mike, will help you carry those boxes into the back.” Santa patted Dragonborn on the shoulder, insisting he move with a look.
“Oh, sure. I can do that. Sounds like a real party.”
“Great, this way. I’ll show you.” The couple directed him.
Dragonborn was curious and kept looking back to see what Santa was up to. He watched as Santa held out his hand and blew across it like he was spreading the seeds from a dandelion. A faint red mist fell over the room for a moment.
When they returned, people in the room had perked up and several were approaching the couple. Santa watched Dragonborn returned to him.
“What else can we do?” Santa asked.
The couple were about to answer when three people walked up and asked about looking at the Christmas items. There was a strange cheeriness present that had not been there moments ago.
“Looks like we might need help to set up some seasonal stuff.” The man seemed thrilled to say that.
Santa said, “Why don’t you take charge of that, sir? Do what you need to do to get some Christmas spirit going. My friend and I will help here, cleaning up and sorting the food cans for you.”
The woman asked, “Do you have any experience working in a food pantry?”
“More than most.”
She said, “Great. Our box assembly area is pretty self explanatory. If you have questions, we’ll be out back.”
The locals all left to get into the Christmas items while Santa directed Dragonborn to the storage room.
“They trust us just like that? Boy, these bumpkins are real dolts.” Dragonborn muttered.
Santa said, “Drop the attitude, kid. These people are just people. And there’s nothing ignorant or stupid about them. They have persevered through hell since that storm decimated their community.”
“Fine. Then why are they so willing to trust us with this?”
Santa tapped his nose. “I have that effect on people. They trust me.”
Dragonborn snorted, “Guess that helps when you break into millions of homes every year.”
“Amusing. Never heard that one before.” Santa’s sarcasm was thick. “Start opening boxes. We have work to do.”
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