Cookie Caper

Caper... it's such a fun word! Caper! Caper!
Isaac: Clearly you are hyper.
Aper-cay!
Isaac: ... Pig latin is not very becoming.
Isclaimer-day!
Isaac: ... Okay. Amelot-cay owns-hay Olden-gay Un-say!
Oh, and Happy holidays, everybody!

"Isaac, make sure you hit that speed bump!" Garet shouted, as he started pushing the sleigh down the hill.

"Wait, the speed bump?" Mia started, clinging tightly to Isaac.

"Yeah, it's fun!" Jenna exclaimed, holding onto Mia's back. "Don't worry!"

"But last time I sleighed over a speed bump I... AAH!"

Mia's sentence was cut off as Garet started running down the hill with the sleigh and then jumped on, landing neatly behind Jenna and grabbing her with his arms as the sleigh started coasting down the snowy hill. Isaac strained tightly on the straps and managed to steer it so that it flew off a little heap of snow in the middle and went flying. The Adepts screamed in delight as the sled coasted through air and came to land heavily on a nice little snowdrift, skidding a short distance.

"That was fun!" Jenna said gleefully. "Let's do it again! Come on, Garet!" She jumped off the sled and grabbed his arm. "Let's do it by ourselves!"

"You okay, Mia?" Isaac got up and helped the Imilian beauty up.

"Yeah." Mia smiled, her face flushed red.

"So what were you saying before?" Isaac asked, as Garet and Jenna hurtled back up the hill with the sled.

"Last time I sleighed over a speed bump, I fell off and snow shot up my nose and I got a nosebleed," Mia answered. "But it was not built very well."

"Aww." Isaac took her hand. "Come on, let's go and see what the others are up to."

When Isaac and Mia walked into Felix and Jenna's house, they did not expect to find Felix huddled in a corner and clutching his head.

"What are you doing?" Isaac demanded.

"Head hurts," Felix whimpered. "Spatulas hurt."

"I would presume Felix was hit on the head with a spatula," Mia suggested. "What did you do, Felix?"

"I just wanted a cookie!" Felix protested. "But Sheba attacked me with the evil Spatula of Doom. Spatulas are evil, I tell you, evil!"

"Whatever you say." Isaac raised an eyebrow. "So that thing I smell... is cookies?" His eyes lit up. "Do you think I could have one right now?"

"Why do you think I've got a bump on my head?" Felix practically yelled.

"Let's leave Felix alone now and see Sheba," Mia suggested. Isaac and Mia immediately proceeded to do so, leaving Felix to curse spatulas. One day he was going to eradicate them from the face of Weyard somehow. He just wasn't sure how yet.

Isaac and Mia walked into the kitchen and were immediately amazed at how hot it was in here, compared to outside. There were trays of strangely shaped cookies everywhere, mostly shaped like weird triangular trees or reindeer. Various scents flooded the kitchen. Piers was sitting at the table and piping icing onto the cookies, while Sheba was at the oven and pulling out a tray of freshly baked cookies. Her face was streaked with flour, but she didn't seem to care.

"Hi, Sheba, Piers," Isaac greeted them. "Um, there are a lot of cookies."

"Yes, we are very hungry," Sheba said sarcastically, dropping the tray onto the table. "Can't you tell?"

"Well, we're just not sure why all the cookies are there." Mia glanced at Piers who was currently frosting a cookie green. "Is it a Lemurian thing?"

"What's wrong with cookies for Winter Solstice?" Piers pouted. "I haven't had cookies in ages. Besides, everybody likes cookies and we want to make the Valeans happy."

"Felix isn't a happy Valean," Isaac pointed out. "He got clouted with a spatula."

"The cookies are not for eating yet," Sheba argued. "These are for the Winter Solstice Festival! And we are going to ensure there are plenty of cookies to go around then."

"Um, okay." Mia backed out of the kitchen. "Well, see you later."

"Yeah, see you." Isaac nodded, following Mia out. They decided to go and see Kraden for no reason at all. As they passed Felix, he muttered something about crazy Lemurians.

Isaac and Mia also found Ivan walking out of Kraden's cottage. He stopped and went red in the face, his purple eyes widening.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you," Kraden called out. "If I think of something, I'll let you know!" Ivan slowly shut the door and his mouth spread out in a slow grin.

"Um, heh, hi guys." Ivan rubbed the back of his head. "So, how's things?"

"What did you want in there?" Isaac immediately asked.

"Can we help?" Mia enquired.

"Uh... um, no!" Ivan blurted out. "It's... it's a personal thing!"

"Really?" Isaac raised an eyebrow. "And you told Kraden before us?"

"Oh, so you tell KRADEN," Mia's voice rose. "But you don't even tell US! We're your closest friends, Ivan!" She covered her eyes and let out massive sobs.

"Look, now you've made her cry." Isaac gestured. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get Mia out of a crying jag? Sometimes she even throws things!"

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you!" Ivan said desperately. "I... I was asking about a growth serum or something, okay?"

Silence.

"... He didn't have one. I'm going to be like this forever!"

"Oh... I see..." Isaac said quietly. Garet would have been splitting his sides laughing right now. But Isaac was more composed than his best friend and less prone to teasing Ivan. "That's interesting."

"So you're looking for a cure for shortness now." Mia grinned, putting her hands down.

"I'm not short!" Ivan exclaimed. "I'm just vertically challenged. Wait... you weren't crying! You tricked me!"

"Oldest trick in the book, Ivan." Mia winked.

"Meanie," Ivan huffed, stomping past the two.

Isaac and Mia stepped into Kraden's cottage. Kraden was currently reading from a gigantic book and muttering under his breath.

"So, you've really got no growth solution then?" Isaac put a hand on his hip.

"Well, there is something that might work," Kraden looked up. "I found this odd medication called steroids. But I tested it on a kid. He immediately went insane and left the village and hasn't been seen since." Isaac and Mia exchanged disturbed glances.

"Please don't give Ivan steroids. Ever." Isaac did not want to see Ivan insane. Spark Plasma obviously hurt.

"Ooh, would you like to hear about my latest scientific breakthrough-" Kraden started, his eyes lighting up. Isaac and Mia recognised the danger sign and got out of the cottage as fast as they could.

Ivan sulked his way over the hill where Garet and Jenna were preparing to sled down yet again. "Hey, guys," he said glumly.

"What are you so miserable about?" Garet demanded. "The festival will be soon!" He grinned.

"Want to have a ride on the sled?" Jenna asked.

"Eh, okay," Ivan sat on the sled and tensed. Garet shoved the sled and he went sailing down the hill. He immediately realised he knew nothing about sledding. There had been no slopes in Kalay and they had never had time to do such things on their quest to save the world. "AAAAAAAAAH!"

"Oh dear." Garet shook his head as Ivan went tumbling off the sled and became a giant white snowball. "Now he's a midget snowball."

"I'M NOT SHORT!"

"Could you bring the sled back up here please?" Jenna called down. "We're getting tired of pulling it up!"

The Ivan snowman grumbled and started pulling the sled back up, cursing Mars Adepts under his breath.

The Winter Solstice Festival fast approached. Garet found out about Ivan's quest for a growth solution and teased him. Ivan shouted at Isaac. Isaac blamed Mia. Mia shouted at Isaac. Felix slowly developed a fear of spatulas. Jenna threw a tantrum when the sled hit a rock and broke. Sheba found herself constantly defending the Winter Solstice cookies with her Utensils of Death. Piers started to go nuts from the smell of the frosting and was found pyjama-clad in Kraden's cottage, singing about how he had fought off a legion of mango eating rabbits. The Valeans were beginning to get very sick of their antics.

"This is going to be the worst Winter Solstice ever!" Felix yelled, sobbing against a tree. He was so exhausted from being unable to sleep, after a nightmare about being chased by fanged spatulas, he couldn't help but cry.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Garet exclaimed. "Jenna's blaming me for the sled and she's throwing glares at me all the time!"

"It was your fault!" Jenna fumed. "You just had to go and take the sled somewhere else for a change!"

"Well, I didn't see the rock because it was under the snow!"

"You should have checked first!"

"You didn't tell me to!"

"It's called common sense, Garet!"

"To heck with common sense!"

"Will you be quiet?" Isaac demanded. "Sheesh..."

"Quiet, huh?" Mia put her hands on her hips. "Well, clearly, ONE of us is not quiet!"

"For the last time, I did not tell Garet about Ivan!"

"Yeah, then who did? Garet?"

"I don't know!" Garet protested. "I just got a note saying that Ivan wanted a growth cure from Kraden!"

"Either that or you're sticking up for Isaac." Mia glowered.

"Jeez, is it your time of the month?" Isaac asked.

"Don't make me cross," Mia said in a steely tone, suddenly dangerously calm.

"Eep!" Isaac, Garet and Felix squeaked in fear.

"Or me," Jenna said ominously.

"..." Isaac, Garet and Felix did not show any fear.

"You're more scared of Mia than me?" Jenna asked.

Garet tentatively nodded.

Felix glanced down.

Isaac smiled sheepishly.

Jenna gritted her teeth.

Mia narrowed her eyes.

And they all walked off in separate directions, except for Felix, who continued to cry against the tree.

Sheba stepped out of the house and wiped her forehead with a sigh. She had just finished cooking a large batch of cookies and needed some fresh air. Piers was currently resting in bed with a cold flannel on his forehead, since he had a headache from that latest sugar rush. Sheba walked around the village, whistling a merry little tune. She found Ivan sitting by a tree and snapping twigs in vehement rage. He was clearly not in the mood for talking. Neither were the other five Sheba found. In fact, they seemed to be far more intent on muttering to themselves, crying and burning or kicking things.

Sheba sighed, feeling very bored, and eventually headed back to the house. Maybe she should bake more cookies. Piers had not specified how many she should cook, just thousands and thousands. It was ridiculous. Sheba walked into the kitchen and looked around. Clearly, something was different. Sheba screamed.

The scream rang out through Vale, alerting each and every Adept. As it was, six of them came running towards the house. The rest did not give a crap. Piers leaped out of bed and ran to the kitchen, clutching the flannel to his head. When the seven reached the kitchen, they found Sheba on the floor in a faint.

"Sheba!" Felix exclaimed, getting down and checking her pulse. "Thank Iris, she's alive. I guess she just fainted... but what happened here?"

"The cookies!" Piers cried out. "They are gone!"

"Sheba left the cookies unattended," Ivan realised. "I saw her walking around earlier. Someone must have taken the cookies while she was gone!"

"It wasn't me," Piers said immediately. "I was in bed."

"Maybe it was Felix," Mia suggested. "He tried to get a cookie before and got hit with a spatula for it."

"No, I didn't take the cookies!" Felix burst into tears again.

"You really need to get some sleep," Jenna sighed. "And in case anybody is thinking of accusing me, I DID NOT DO IT."

"Maybe it was Garet," Mia spoke again. "He does have the biggest appetite in Weyard."

"I do not!" Garet protested.

"Or maybe it was you and you're just accusing different people so we won't suspect you," Isaac accused.

"What!" Mia cried in fury. "I'm just trying to help here!"

Ivan sighed quietly and started reading minds before anybody could even be aware of what he was doing. They all let out cries of shock as he did so. Ivan stopped and shook his head.

"Nobody here took the cookies," Ivan said.

"Maybe you did!" Garet exclaimed.

"Yeah! We can't read your mind or anything," Isaac said. "Maybe it was you."

"Ohh..." Sheba opened her eyes. "The cookies..."

"Sheba, what happened?" Felix asked anxiously.

"I went for a walk and came back." Sheba sat up. "And the cookies were gone!"

"It wasn't anybody here." Ivan shook his head. "They didn't take the cookies. I didn't. You obviously didn't. So who did?"

"We have to find them." Felix helped Sheba up.

"Hey, I can still smell the cookies." Piers sniffed. "Maybe we can follow the scent."

"Oh, look at that, we've got our own little sniffer Lemurian." Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"It's probably the sugar," Isaac suggested. "From the frosting. It must be heightening his senses."

"Well, let's follow the smell before he loses it!" Garet exclaimed.

"Pow pow Picard!" Mia cried, punching the air.

"Pow pow Picard! Pow pow Picard!" Jenna joined in.

The Adepts traipsed out of the house, Piers sniffing the air. He paused and looked around, his nose twitching, and then he hurried off in the direction of the smell. Normally, everybody would be amused to watch Piers acting like this, but this was a very serious situation. If they didn't get the cookies back, nobody would be able to have their Winter Solstice cookies at the festival and all Sheba's hard work would have gone to waste.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, it was just far too difficult not to shout "Pow pow Picard!" and the chant continued for the rest of the search. Piers simply ignored it, even though it scared him, since he needed to concentrate on the sniffing.

They continued on through masses of thicket and undergrowth, passing outside the boundaries of Vale but fortunately not seen by the legions of villagers who preferred people not to leave the village. Outside Vale, they found a deep and dark cave. They ventured into the deep and dark cave, Garet and Jenna providing light. Before long, everybody could smell cookies and they quickened in excitement, reaching the very back and finding...

"Alex!" Mia yelled.

Alex himself stood there with his arms folded and a smug smile on his face. Dozens of cookie trays sat innocently behind him, at the mercy of their kidnapper.

"Ah, so you have discovered my grand plan," Alex sighed.

"Huh? What grand plan?" Isaac asked.

"To ruin Winter Solstice Day!" Alex laughed. "I planted that little note. It was just part of my plan to make you all start fighting and arguing so you wouldn't be in the mood for cheer. Hehehehehehe!"

"You... heard me when I... told Isaac and Mia..." Ivan said slowly. "You were eavesdropping!"

"And you stole our cookies!" Sheba shouted.

"I had hoped you would all blame each other and fight a bit more and cry a lot because you had no cookies for Winter Solstice," Alex sighed. "Not band together and unite to search for them."

"Hello? I can read minds, stupid." Ivan glowered.

"So can I!" Sheba frowned.

"Give them back!" Felix shouted. "I am not giving up those cookies!"

"None of us are." Piers narrowed his eyes. "Do you have any idea how big of a headache the frosting gives you?"

"Why did you try to ruin Winter Solstice for us?" Mia asked.

"Yeah, that wasn't very nice!" Garet bunched up his fists.

"Wait, I want to hear his reasons." Jenna stopped him before he could begin burning Alex.

"Well, I'm sure you'll all have a dinky Winter Solstice and everything," Alex spat. "You've got your friends and families and you'll get to sit around nice big fires and celebrate together. You'll all be happy and merry and sing songs around stupid trees, while I just get stuck in the middle of nowhere all by myself. Nobody likes me anywhere, not even in Imil! They don't even remember who I am!"

The Adepts went quiet and stared at the furious Imilian. The penny dropped. Alex was jealous. He had stolen the cookies and made them fight because he felt left out and alone.

"Who cares?" Mia suddenly yelled. "Destroy him!"

"You could have just told us," Jenna said. "We had no idea how you felt."

"Why don't you spend Winter Solstice with us?" Felix asked.

"WHAT!" Mia screamed. Isaac sighed and put a hand over her mouth, silencing her.

"Yeah, you can even eat cookies tomorrow," Sheba said reluctantly.

"After all, Winter Solstice is about loving and sharing." Piers smiled. "And we shouldn't leave anybody out, even people after the ultimate power."

"I suppose Piers's right," Garet said grudgingly.

"Yeah..." Ivan looked down at his feet. "Maybe he is."

"Really?" A tear appeared in the corner of Alex's eye. "You mean it?"

"Come on." Jenna held out a hand. "Join us for the festival."

"Please?" Felix supplied.

"Okay!" Alex beamed, taking Jenna's hand.

"Let go of her hand!" Garet yelled. Jenna kicked him. "Ow!"

And so, the cookies were delivered safely back to Vale and Alex was allowed to stay over. Winter Solstice dawned and everybody immediately started celebrating. The cookies were truly delicious and Sheba and Piers were praised for their hard work. Mistletoe appeared in mysterious places. Isaac & Mia, Felix & Sheba and Garet & Jenna of course took advantage of this. Alex did not expect to receive any presents, but he did receive a knitted sweater from Dora, who seemed to have the ability to knit sweaters in under five minutes.

It snowed that evening and the Adepts stood outside in the plaza around a giant tree, looking up at the bright Psynergy lights hanging off the green branches and the sparkling tinsel. They started to sing well into the night. Piers was unfortunately on another sugar high after eating some of the cookies and messed up the songs but nobody cared.

Eee, wasn't that just so sweet?
Garet: Wow, I thought we were going to be kicking Alex's butt.
Well, it's a Christmas story, it's supposed to be happy and fun and even for Alex fans too!
Garet: Eh... okay... review, please! Please?