Davis Claus and The Reluctant Elf

Hello? Is this thing on?

Hi there. You probably know me, but for those of you that don’t, my name is Cody Hida. I’m ten years old and like any other boy my age, I was looking forward to Christmas. I mean…who wouldn’t? Christmas is the best time of the year. There’s no other time of the year when people all come together to celebrate. But this year…there was something different. Something that made this Christmas unforgettable.

That’s not exactly a good thing.

When I first got that phone call, I knew my friend Davis Motomiya had something planned. I knew he’d want to do something for Kari Kamiya, the girl he’s always had a crush on. And he obviously needed my help, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked me to come over on that one fateful day. But since Kari didn’t really like Davis the way he liked her, I also knew he was liable to do something crazy to try and win her over. Boy, I had NO idea.

I should have just said I was busy. But I’m a little kid. What do I know?

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Cody knocked on Davis’ front door. He waited patiently, but got no answer. He was starting to think there was nobody there. Cody shook his head. It was a long walk and he didn’t want to think he went all the way to Davis’ house for nothing. He was about to leave until…

“Cody! Over here!”

Cody looked over to the side of the house to see a hand waving him over. Curiosity overtook him and he walked towards the hand. But as soon as Cody saw what he did, he started to wish he hadn’t.

Standing there was twelve-year-old Davis Motomiya…decked out in a Santa suit. It looked a little oversized on him, but everything was there. He had the red suit, the black boots, the white beard and the big hat. The only thing different was that Davis had the goggles Tai Kamiya had given him hanging over his neck.

“Well, what do you think?” Davis asked cheerfully.

Cody sweatdropped. “You…got a job as a mall Santa?”

“No, but you’re close. I’m going to be a Santa Claus this year. I’m going to deliver Kari’s Christmas present in style!”

Cody was afraid to ask. “Meaning…?”

“I’m going down her chimney on Christmas Eve and I’m going to put her present under her Christmas tree.”

Again, Cody felt afraid to ask. “That’s…great, Davis. So…why are you telling me this?”

“I want all this to be perfect, so I’m going to need your help. You’ll help me, right Cody?”

There were a lot of thoughts running through Cody’s head at that moment. This was something that he would more than likely end up regretting. But he couldn’t just say no. Davis was counting on him and was making a plea.

Cody let out a deep sigh. “Ok. Why not?”

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That wasn’t very smart…especially for someone who holds the Digiegg of KNOWLEDGE! I should have thought this out a little more. Especially considering that this was DAVIS I was dealing with.

So Davis told me to meet him by his house on Christmas Eve. I didn’t know what to expect when I got there. But when I saw what Davis wanted to do…

…I knew I should have just stayed home.

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Cody walked towards Davis’ front door. But he didn’t knock this time. He had a good idea of what to expect, so he waited. Sure enough, an arm waved him over. Cody sighed and walked over. Davis was once again in his Santa suit, but the Santa gut wasn’t there.

“Shouldn’t Santa be a little chunkier?” Cody pointed out.

“No way, dude! Santa went on a diet this year. Besides, if I was a fat Santa, then I wouldn’t look as good as I do.”

“You know, I’m almost afraid to ask. But what do you need my help for, Davis?”

“Oh I just need you to help toss Kari’s present down the chimney to me. And I just need you to help pull me up when I’m done.”

“Oh…that doesn’t sound so bad. I guess I was sort of expecting worse.”

“The only thing is…you need to look the part.”

Cody’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean by that?”

Davis got a wide grin as he reached over and pulled out…

Cody gasped. “Davis! Davis, no! Please don’t make me wear that! Davis! What are you doing?! Davis, STOP!! NO!!!”

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Yep…I should have definitely stayed home. Normal kids get to spend Christmas Eve with their families. Instead…I got to play dress-up.

I wondered why Davis wanted ME to help him do this. Out of all of us, I’m the youngest one. He could have easily recruited someone else like Joe, Mimi, Izzy, or Sora. Well…he could have PAID Joe, Mimi, Izzy, or Sora. But I didn’t know why Davis wanted MY help. Then he showed me…THAT. I probably should have seen it coming.

That costume…was SO embarrassing.

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Cody had a huge scowl on his face. He could see why Davis wanted to recruit him for this particular assignment. It was because Davis dressed him up in…a green elf costume. Indeed Cody was dressed up in a green elf costume, complete with the elf’s hat and pointy boots.

“That’s perfect, Cody!” Davis said proudly. “You really look the part!”

Cody tried mentally counting to ten to keep from blowing off steam. This was demeaning in so many ways and if anyone ever saw him, Cody wasn’t sure if he’d be able to bear the embarrassment.

“Why me?” Cody asked rhetorically.

“Because you’re the only one that fits in that costume,” Davis answered anyway. “And I remember that elves are really short.”

“What’s THAT supposed to mean?” Cody growled.

“It just means…never mind.”

“If you wanted short, why couldn’t you use Veemon?!” Cody demanded.

“I already have a job for him,” Davis pointed out. Then he pointed behind him. Cody couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Veemon was leading a pack of four Digimon…all dressed in reindeer costumes, complete with antlers. Cody knew Veemon but he also saw Hawkmon, Biyomon…and his own partner, Armadillomon.

Armadillomon sighed. “Cody…I didn’t think you’d get dragged into this.”

“How did you all get mixed up in this?” Cody asked.

Simultaneously, the other three Digimon pointed and stared directly at Veemon. Cody sweatdropped.

“Veemon owes us big time for this,” Biyomon said. “He said we could ask him for ANYTHING we want when this is all over.”

“I still haven’t figured out what I want yet,” Hawkmon mused. “But rest assured, it’ll be big. This costume is ruffling my feathers.”

“I got an old cave Veemon could help me clean,” Armadillomon grinned. “It’s a nice little place I’m thinking of moving into and I could sure use an extra pair of hands.”

“Huh? How big is it?” Veemon asked nervously.

“REALLY big,” Armadillomon replied. “It’s safe to say it’ll take you a few weeks.”

Veemon moaned while Hawkmon and Biyomon continued to think about what they wanted. The stage was set for a very long night. The only one really happy about any of this…was Davis.

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I wondered why there were only FOUR Digimon reindeer as compared to Santa’s eight. Then I thought about it and came to the conclusion that…every other Digimon in the Digital World had more sense than to aid one of Davis’ crazy schemes. I guess the other three weren’t so lucky.

We walked down the street and we looked like we were going to a school play or something. I mean, think about it. We didn’t have an actual sleigh, so all people saw were a skinny Santa Claus, an elf, and four reindeer walking down the street. And I couldn’t help but notice all the people staring at us. It didn’t help that Davis had ME walking in front! Anyway, we finally got to Kari’s house and we hit our first problem.

Somehow, we had to find a way to climb up to the roof. But it should have been obvious that Davis already had a plan.

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From any other angle, it would have would have looked like an attempted break-in. But all they were trying to do was get up onto Kari’s roof. There was no ladder around, so the task would be easier said than done. But Davis was prepared.

Cody looked on as Davis reached into his big red sack and pulled out a rope neatly tied with a big loop at the end. Davis tossed the lasso up onto the roof where it caught onto Kari’s chimney.

“Who wants to go first?” Davis asked.

“We’ll just fly, thank you very much,” Hawkmon mumbled. He and Biyomon flew onto the roof with both of them helping carry Armadillomon. That left Davis, Veemon, and Cody to climb the roof.

Davis leaped and grabbed hold of the rope. He put his feet on the wall and tried to pull himself up. But it definitely looked to be much more difficult than the goggled Santa expected. He was starting to struggle and slip.

“I knew I should have laid off the eggnog. AAAAAAHHH!!”

Davis lost his grip and started falling towards the ground. He hit the ground, but Davis was just fine because something broke his fall. That something…

…was poor Cody.

“Davis…get off me!!”

Davis rolled off Cody, who was now flat on his back looking straight up at the sky. Cody mumbled something to himself as Davis scratched his huge white beard sheepishly.

“Sorry about that, Cody,” Davis grinned. “I can try again…”

“NO!” Cody blurted out. “I mean……I’ll tell you what, Davis. Why don’t *I* climb up first, then Veemon, then the Digimon and I will pull you up. What do you say?”

“That’s a great idea! It’ll give you all some practice before you pull me up the chimney.”

Cody shuddered at the thought of having to pull ‘Davis Claus’ up Kari’s chimney. But he couldn’t argue this since he had already agreed to help. All Cody could do was ask for a HUGE payback later on. He pondered that as he climbed the rope onto the Kamiya roof. A long time of training under the art of kendo helped Cody maintain his focus as he climbed the rope and in a matter of minutes, he was on top of the roof. Shortly after that, Veemon grabbed the rope and made the slow climb himself. There was a scary moment where he almost slipped, but Veemon eventually made it up.

Now came the hard part. The costumed Davis grabbed onto the rope and it was up to Cody, Armadillomon, Veemon, Hawkmon, and Biyomon to pull them both up.

Cody waved the signal arm. “Ok everybody…PULL!!”

Hawkmon, Veemon, and Biyomon came to help pull the other two up. Armadillomon stayed behind, which Cody could understand since he was a four-legged Digimon. Cody, Hawkmon, and Biyomon grunted loudly as they used every ounce of strength to pull Davis up. It was definitely harder than it looked.

“Davis…you need to go on a diet!” Veemon grunted.

Finally after an exhausting effort, Davis was finally pulled up onto the roof. He got to his feet and almost slipped off. But Davis quickly regained his footing and slowly made his way towards the chimney while lugging his red sack behind his back.

Davis peered over the chimney and tossed down one end of the rope. He gave the other end to Cody and prepared to climb down.

“Hold this, Cody,” Davis said. “I’m going in.”

A warning bell rang in Cody’s head. “Wait, Davis! Aren’t you too…?”

But before Cody could finish, Davis jumped in…and his tremendous weight almost dragged Cody with him. Luckily, the other Digimon were there to hold him in place while Davis finished falling down the chimney…and hitting the floor with a thud.

“OWWWW!! How does Santa do this every year?”

“Are you ok, Davis?”

“I’m fine, Cody,” Davis whispered loudly. “Now you all just wait until I give the signal. When I tug on the rope, you all pull me up.”

Cody tried to call out one more time, but Davis was already well on his way. All Cody could do now was wait for Davis to finish his crazy scheme…and wonder how he ever got himself into this.

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So that was it, right? Davis just delivers his present, he tugs the rope, we pull him up, and we all go home, right?

Wrong.

I should have known it sounded too easy. Not that it was really easy to begin with, but I just knew there would be an extra degree of difficulty involved. So we hit our next snag a few minutes later.

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Cody was sitting patiently on the roof of the Kamiya household, casually chatting with the four Digimon present, waiting for Davis to tug on that rope. Cody didn’t even want to get into the possibility of what would happen if Davis got CAUGHT…especially by TAI. But as clumsy as Davis was, Cody was confident that he could keep himself hidden. So it came as no surprise that the rope was tugged a few minutes later.

Cody looked down the chimney. “Davis?”

“It’s me,” Davis called back. “Pull me up, Cody.”

Cody looked back at the Digimon. “You all know what to do.”

Everyone chipped in and grabbed the rope. Even Armadillomon tried to grip the rope as best he could. Everyone began to pull as they started to hear Davis hitting the sides of the chimney.

“OW! HEY! OOF! Careful up there, guys!”

Even though there were five of them pulling, the weight was still tremendous. It wasn’t a matter of strength, it was a matter of tension. And with so much weight…the rope finally snapped.

“AAAAAHHHHH!!!”

**THUD**

“OWWW!!”

“Davis? Are you ok?”

“I fell right on my butt! I know Santa’s used to this every year, but that’s only because his is so big it’s like falling on a pillow. This HURT!”

Veemon examined the broken rope. “Hmm…now what?”

Davis suddenly uttered those dangerous words again. “I’ve got an idea. Everyone wait for me by the window!”

Cody didn’t like the sound of this idea, but from the looks of things, it was the only option they had left. Biyomon carried Armadillomon down while Hawkmon gently brought Veemon down. Well…as gently as he could, because Hawkmon struggled with the costumed blue Digimon’s weight, so the ride down was anything but smooth. Suddenly Cody looked down and realized something.

“Hey! How am *I* supposed to get down?!”

The four Digimon hesitated and then got into a team huddle. Cody sweatdropped, because the huddle was longer than it should have been. It didn’t look like the Digimon had any ideas. Finally, the huddle broke and the four costumed Digimon stood side-by-side.

“Um…can you jump?” Armadillomon asked.

“HUH?! All the way down there?!”

Armadillomon shook his head. “Well, so much for that idea. Anything else, guys?”

“You mean that’s it?!” Cody huffed. “All that planning and the best idea you could come up with is ‘jump’?!”

Armadillomon looked back and got three nods. “Sorry, Cody. Hey…is that Davis by the window? Maybe he can help.”

The four Digimon went to meet Davis, who was trying to open one of the windows. Unfortunately, when Davis opened the window…he had unwittingly set off…

…the Kamiya security system.

Alarms started blaring and the Digimon started running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Davis was also starting to panic and was about to run away, much to Cody’s dismay.

“DAVIS!! Don’t leave without me!!”

Cody then made a daring decision. He got a running start…and jumped off the roof. He let out a scream before he landed…on top of Davis. Both boys screamed as the alarms continued warbling and they rushed into the nearby bushes.

Cody and Davis stuck their heads out of the bushes. They watched as Kari’s mom turned off the alarm from the main panel.

“What was that?” sixteen-year-old Tai Kamiya asked from inside.

“Something must have set the alarm off,” his mom answered. “That’s the second time that alarm’s gone off this week. It must be defective or something. I’ll have to call the company in the morning.”

“Um…is it open on Christmas morning?”

“Oh, that’s right. I’ll call them AFTER Christmas, then. Let’s just go to sleep.”

“Hey, Kari? Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“Um…I’ll be right there,” twelve-year-old Kari Kamiya replied. “Just go on without me, Tai.”

Everyone cleared out of the living room…except for Kari. The girl, in her pajamas, walked towards the door and walked outside. She had a flashlight in her hand and she turned it on…directing the light towards the bushes.

“I know someone’s out there! Who’s out there?”

Without a second thought, Cody pushed Davis forward. The spotlight was all on Davis now and Cody didn’t feel sorry for him one bit. Whatever he was going to get, he knew the goggled Santa had it coming.

Kari blinked. “Davis?”

“Um…Ho Ho Ho?”

“WHAT…are you WEARING?!”

Davis grinned sheepishly. Even with his white beard and disguise, Kari still recognized him. And there was no other explanation Davis could give, except…

“I wanted to give you your Christmas present in a special way. So I decided to be your Santa Claus.”

“……………Unbelievable. Only YOU, Davis. I can’t believe you went this far!”

“That wasn’t all,” Davis continued. “I went all out this year. I even had my own little elf. And he’s right in those bushes.”

Cody sweatdropped as the flashlight came towards him. Kari gasped in shock and Cody could only blush a crimson red. He wanted to go this whole night without being discovered in that ridiculous costume. Now Kari had spotted him.

“Oh my……CODY?! Is that…? Oh…”

Kari didn’t look angry to see Cody there. Instead…a smile slowly appeared on her face. And it looked like she was trying to hold something in, but after a few seconds she stopped resisting. Kari giggled…and the giggles soon broke out into all-out laughter. The girl soon fell over and was literally rolling on the floor in laughter.

“WHAT’S SO FUNNY?!” Cody demanded.

But instead of getting an answer, Cody heard someone else laughter. Immediately, Cody shot a cold glare at Davis, but it wasn’t him. It was someone else. Cody peered out towards the sidewalk to see…TK Takaishi, who was holding a wrapped Christmas present and holding his sides in laughter.

“Hey!” Davis exclaimed. “What are YOU doing here?!”

“BESIDES laughing at me?” Cody added dryly.

TK dried a tear from his eye and held his laughter. “I’m sorry, Cody. I came to deliver this to Kari.”

Davis went ballistic. “WHAT?! At THIS hour?!”

“It’s only midnight,” TK pointed out. “I wanted to give this to Kari the minute the clock struck Christmas, so she could open it.”

Kari beamed. “TK…that is SO sweet of you.”

Davis’ jaw dropped open. “HUH?! What about ME?!”

Kari ignored Davis’ whining and opened the present. “Oh, TK…a new camera. It’s the one I was looking at the other day at the mall. Thank you so much!”

She leaned over and kissed TK on the cheek. TK blushed a shade of red while Davis just about went green with envy. Cody was just trying to think about the reason for all this trouble. Why did he come out here for a plan that would wind up blowing up in Davis’ face?

Kari had a smile that looked like it would have to be surgically removed. “Thank you all so much. But I’d better get some sleep. I think Tai’s wondering why I haven’t gone to bed yet. So…I’ll see you all tomorrow. Merry Christmas!”

Kari shut the door, leaving Cody to see a tale of two boys: a satisfied TK and a dumbfounded Davis. TK was calmly about to walk out, but made a quick detour to walk towards Davis, who was still in shock.

TK left Davis with one comment. “Sometimes…the simplest plans are the best. Merry Christmas, Davis Claus. And remember…may the best man win.”

Davis was left stunned while TK calmly walked out and waved Cody adieu. Cody shook his head this whole time. He came out of the bushes and walked up to Davis.

“Are you ok?” Cody asked.

“I…I guess so.”

Cody sighed deeply. “Well…I guess it could always be worse.”

But as if on cue…a flash appeared. A CAMERA flash! Cody and Davis looked at the door to see…Kari.

“Wow! The camera works!” Kari grinned. “Merry Christmas, guys!”

Kari giggled and shut the door. Cody couldn’t believe it. Now his embarrassing moment was immortalized in a picture. And that was all that was needed to push the little one over the edge. Cody reached over and grabbed a long, stiff branch.

“I may not have my kendo stick…but this’ll have to do! COME HERE, DAVIS!!”

“C-C-Cody? W-What are you gonna do?”

“COME HERE, DAVIS!!”

“Cody! AAH! Stop, Cody! I’m sorry!”

“Come back here, Davis! I’ll chase you all night if I have to!!”

Cody chased Davis around the perimeter of the Kamiya house wielding that branch, while the four Digimon watched from the other set of bushes…with huge sweatdrops on their foreheads.

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I didn’t end up catching up to Davis that night. He’s pretty fast, I’ll admit that. But it’ll be a while before I forgive him for this embarrassment. It didn’t help that the picture was e-mailed to the other Digidestined the very next day.

So that’s my story. There’s really not much more to say, other than that’s the last time I get mixed up in this war for Kari. Of course, I’m not sure if I can say the same thing for the rest of the Digidestined. I have a feeling Davis and TK will be fighting for Kari’s heart for a long time…and along the way…it’s inevitable that some of us will get caught in the middle.

But we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

In the meantime, I’ll just wish you all a Happy Holidays. And whatever you do…PLEASE don’t picture me in an elf costume. It’s just SO embarrassing!

THE END

-The Create Card

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