A huge shed where Santa's sleigh is stored. Are those machine guns mounted on it...?

::Good old Saint Nick walks into the byre and inspects his sleigh.::

"Very nice, very nice."

::He runs a gloved finger over the trimmings, making sure it's shiny and clean.::

"Now it just needs to be loaded with my... gifts..."

::An elf approaches cautiously.::

"Santa...?"

"Fool!"

::Santa spins around and zaps the elf with a ray gun, incinerating the little guy.::

::Another elf trips up quietly.::

"Saint Nick?"

"Die!"

::Zap!::

::One intrepid young fellow runs up with a different approach.::

"Don't kill me!"

"I'll kill whoever I wish!"

::Santa zaps that little elf too. There are now three piles of dust before him.::

"WHY HAS NOBODY BROUGHT ME ANY NEWS? I'M WAITING!"

"They are trying to tell you, you know."

::One of the reindeer standing in the byre snorts at Santa.::

"If you'd stop killing them before they'd had a chance to speak, you'd know that."

"Oh, Toxin. You're right! Ho ho ho!"

::Santa laughs heartily and swings his mass onto the sled. It groans weakly beneath him, struggling to remain intact.::

"Hmm... perhaps a little too many minced elf pies this winter."

"Meh."

::The reindeer trots off to the pen.::

::Toxin and Adolf walk in and nudge themselves up against the sleigh.::

"How about a preliminary visit, Santa?"

"Let's hit Halliwell's!"

::The red of Adolf's nose suddenly gives a burst of light, showing his excitement. It also sends a heat-concentrated beam of light into a pile of hay, igniting it with ferocity. Adolf warms himself by its flames.::

"It's about time those punks were shown how weak their protections are."

"They have them?"

"By vague definition, yes."

::Santa clambers up onto the sledge and heaves his lardy self into the driver's seat. He lets out a series of grunts and sighs as he does so, then coughs a few times before wiping his nose and brow with a hefty red mitten.::

"It'll be interesting to see how the tower recognises us. We do, after all, have our friendometer dial set to 'BFF'."

::He smiles down at a dial on the dashboard of the souped-up, or 'pimped', sleigh. It has several measures on it, reading from 'worst enemy' to 'best friend forever'.::

::A few elves come and fix Adolf, Toxin and four other reindeer to the sleigh.::

::The reindeer stomp the elves once their jobs are done because they're in the way.::

::Santa gives the reins a twist, and the reindeer start forward. They trot out onto the tundra, pulling the sleigh.::

::Santa lands his sleigh nearby and hops off with Melinda.::

"Come on, my little elf. Let's get inside."

::He leads her into Santa's cottage.::

::Paige orbs in with Azura, Jasmine and Chloe.::

[The sleigh and any Santa-related stuff will be invisible to you schmucks.]

::Julie blinks in with Lirie, Andrea and Sharon.::

:: Lirie sways a bit woozily, shaking her head. ::

"Julie... honey... since when exactly have you become a warlock?"

:: She would freak out a bit more if it wasn't for the quivering in her mind. ::

"Man, blinking is upsetting..."

"Oh Lirie, I'm not a warlock. I just have warlock powers. But don't worry, I'm still the same old Julie."

::Chloe transforms and perches on the rafting, a nice vantage point.::

"Aha. Okay, where did you get those powers, then?"

"A genie."

"G-- no, it makes sense. Okay, bygones."

:: Lirie looks around the shed, walking around and trying to see better in the dimmed light. ::

"What is this? Why do they build random sheds in the North Pole?"

"I am just glad it is here."

:: Icicle!Azura is still holding onto Paige and trying to steal her body heat. She may even be half clinging to her sister now.::

"Yes, but..."

:: No, she doesn't plan on finishing that thought, she just makes a point. And she hopes it'll irk Azura. ::

:: Azura narrows her eyes at Lirie, but for now she is behaving.::

"I'm just saying..."

:: Lirie contemplates leaving that phrase to linger in the air as well, but decides against that. She continues walking around the empty shed, staring about, for some reason randomly poking the walls. ::

"There was an incident about a year ago in the Negev when we stumbled upon a deserted mud-brick house in the middle of the desert. It was miles to the nearest villages and no visible water sources around. Completely stupid location for a house. In any case, that night we were unpleasantly surprised to discover a trapdoor inside of it opening into an underground catacombs where some Faha terrorists resided."

:: She furrows her brows, pausing in memory. ::

"I almost lost my left arm that time..."

"That sounds terrifying, Lirie. I dunno what's worse... evil magic or just evil people."

::Julie looks up at Chloe, remembering how she fought against the evil witch to save the girl's father. What she remembers most though, is how she fought the woman as an eagle and she ripped open her back with giant talons much like Chloe's.::

(I really do hope we never, ever end up fighting.)

"Now, however, we need to be concerned with evil magic. If there's this building, there will be more."

"That's what I was saying. In a roundabout pointless rambling kind of way..."

::Chloe regards Julie with respect and looks away easily. She scans the room with her keen eyes, trying to find some sort of clue.::

::Andrea has been staring up at Chloe for a while, then looks away.::

"So maybe we have to look for a trap door of some sort..."

(I wonder does she become more animal when an animal.)

"I hope so, I would rather not have to go outside again."

:: Azura moves away from Paige to Andrea, they can look together.::

::Now thinking about how clever and useful she is, Andrea smiles at Azura for a second before looking at her hands. If only she had some mittens.::

"Well maybe the trapdoor is what Julie said and there's more houses just out there..."

::Andrea coughs and decides to stop talking because she really is just talking crap.::

"Will you... stop talking about trapdoors?"

::Paige sighs.::

"Lirie, describe again exactly what you saw when Melinda was taken."

(Lirie was there was Melinda was taken?)

::Julie narrows her eyes.::