Winter Dream (Bernard the Elf x Reader)

Chapter 22- Toy Soldiers

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Bernard and I entered the workshop to complete chaos in the naughty-and-nice center. Toy Santa was standing in the middle of multiple rolled-out scrolls, reading off names while the elves were trying to take the lists back and clean them up, only to get yelled at by toy Santa. Bernard and I didn't even need to exchange words to express what we were thinking, the looks of disarray in our eyes were enough.

We dashed over to the disastrous scene. Bernard ran up to Curtis, who was watching the whole thing unfold. "Curtis, what is he doing in the naughty-and-nice center?"

I stormed up to toy Santa, steam practically blowing out of my ears. "What are you doing?!"

"Well, I'm checking the naughty-and-nice list." Toy Santa smiled at me. "Actually, I'm checking it twice."

"I already told you!!" Bernard shouted, approaching us.

All of the elves stopped what they were doing and stared at Bernard. "You're making a scene..." I muttered.

"...It's been checked." Bernard lowered his voice. "Don't worry about it."

"I do worry about it! There's a lot of mistakes on this list!" He exclaimed. "I'll give you a big fat one for instance!" Toy Santa yelled right into Bernard's face. "In Demark, there's a guy named Sven Halstrom right here." He pounded his finger against the metal globe in the middle of the naughty-and-nice center. "He's a Dane. Apparently, he was wiping his nose on his sister's shirt. YUCK! That's not very nice!! And yet, he's on the nice list."

"We try to go easy on the kids this time of year," I explained. "Children tend to get a bit antsy around the holidays."

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT!!" Toy Santa practically screamed at me. "It looks like kids are misbehaving everywhere! They're running with scissors, they're always sticky, 'I'm not gonna stop this car!' 'No, we're not there yet!' 'Brush your teeth!' 'Pick up those clothes!' It goes on and on."

"But they're just kids!" Bernard exclaimed. "Everybody misbehaves sometimes!"

Toy Santa held up the handbook. "But according to The Santa Handbook, naughty kids get lumps of coal in their stockings. Right?" He didn't wait for an answer. "And if they don't have stockings, we'll make them stockings. And in my little personal opinion, I think they should all get coal in their stockings, don't you?!"

"No! That's not how it works!" Curtis butted in.

Toy Santa ignored him. "Get me the naughty-and-nice list. Get me every list! GET ME EVERYTHING!!" He said, already walking away.

Bernard, Curtis, and I all exchanged worried glances.

"I don't think this is very good..." Curtis muttered.

"You think?" Bernard scoffed.

:-:-:-:-:

I awoke with a start. I had a bad feeling growing inside of me. I wasn't sure what it was, but something was off. Tossing my covers aside, I climbed out of bed and put my nightrobe on. As I made my way to the door, the uneasiness only grew. I entered the dark and silent hallway; it was so late that not a creature was stirring. My feet guided me into the mechanic room of the workshop.

I noticed a single light was turned on. I poked my head into the room and almost gasped when I saw toy Santa hunched over a desk, working on painting something. I ducked behind a couple of boxes of spare parts as I watched him.

The toy Santa spoke to himself as he focused on his work-whatever it was. "I just couldn't sleep thinking about all those rules. Am I wrong? Am I right? Doesn't matter! Couldn't have been the three gallons of cocoa I had!"

I gagged to myself. Three gallons!?! I loved cocoa as much as the next elf, but even I thought that was disgusting.

"But you understand rules, don't you? You're highly decorated!" He exclaimed. "Look at that face. There you go. There's a face only a mom would like!"

It was then that I noticed he was painting a blue toy solder action figure. What was he up to?

Toy Santa scooped up the soldier and walked towards the pantograph. "I don't have a mom, so I wouldn't know about that. Now, it's time for the big event..." He placed the toy on the conveyor belt. "Guess what? Son, it's showtime! You're in the spotlight. Get bigger with it!"

A gasp escaped my lips as I realized what he was doing. Toy Santa was enlarging and multiplying soldiers to create an army. my (ec) eyes widened in worry. I glanced around the room, looking for some way to stop him, but without magic, there was nothing I could do that wouldn't blow my cover.

"This won't hurt, except for the big electric shock right through your little boy!" Toy Santa cackled. "See ya on the other side!"

As the toy soldier entered the machine, I could only watch as it was enlarged, and then multiplied. Suddenly, a metal sphere about the size of a tennis ball rolled across the floor and bumped right into my leg. I slowly picked it up and felt the chilly metal graze my fingers. I looked in the direction the ball came from and noticed the little brown mouse we had copied before this whole mess started standing there, staring at me. I then realized that he had sent it to me on purpose. He must've known this was bad, too.

I mouthed a 'thank you' before I glimpsed at toy Santa. I knew that if I could just distract him long enough, I would be able to shut down the pantograph. Carefully, I rolled the ball toward him as though it were a bowling ball. As it zoomed across the floor, I watched it with worry. "Please hit, please hit..." I muttered to myself. To my luck, the sphere collided with his foot, and toy Santa looked away from the machine and scanned the room.

"Who's there?!" He demanded. "I'm warning you; you'd better come out with your hands high or else!" The toy Santa began walking around the room, and once his back was turned to face me, I bolted out of my hiding spot and across the room towards the pantograph control panel.

I stared at the different buttons and levers across the control panel, until I finally spotted one that was labeled as on/off. Without hesitation, I flipped the switch and the pantograph shut off. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, my celebration was premature as I failed to realize that a toy soldier already made it through the machine. I suddenly felt something grab me by the forearms. I felt my heart drop as I slowly looked behind me and saw a giant toy soldier standing behind me, a creepy smile resting on his painted face. I was caught.

"Well, well, well...looks like we have a little troublemaker on our hands!!" Toy Santa exclaimed, coming over to me. His rubber legs squeaked as he walked. "I hate troublemakers. You know why?"

I didn't respond as he stared at me.

"Because they only get in the way!!!" He shouted in my face. "Looks like we'll have to do something about you, doesn't it?" The fake Santa glanced at his soldier. "Lock her up. My daughter needs a time out."

I felt my fists clenching and my knuckles turning white. "You can't do this!"

"Oh ho ho. Wanna bet?" He sneered. Toy Santa walked back over to the machine and turned it back on, beginning the process to produce more toy soldiers. "Get her outta here."

As the toy soldier began leading me out of the mechanic room, toy Santa chuckled as I tried to break out of the soldier's grasp. "You won't get away with this!! The elves will stop you!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

He evilly grinned. "I doubt that."