On the icy snowfield, a pair of little dwarves passed by while many reindeer, burdened with colorful gift boxes, trudged slowly forward.
"They really are little dwarves. They look so weird," Gwen said, unable to stop herself as she stared at them.
These little dwarves all looked almost exactly the same.
They were short, with deep blue eyes and pointed ears, constantly busy like emotionless machines.
"Haha, this place is awesome. I'm going skiing!"
With that, Ben ran over to a pair of skis, planted a foot on them, and shot down the slope.
"I'm going ice skating!" Gwen said, and ran off too.
Lucian transformed into Stinkfly and looked down over the entire frozen world from the sky, scouting the area while keeping watch for danger.
From the scraps of memory he still had, he vaguely remembered that this place seemed to be under some kind of strange spell...
Watching the kids run off, Grandpa Max shook his head and walked into a cozy café.
He picked up a disposable cup and poured himself some hot cocoa from the drink machine, planning to warm himself up.
But he didn't notice the rag doll beside him slowly turning its neck, its hollow eyes fixed tightly on him.
At the same time, an old man was peering through a magic orb, spying on Grandpa Max's every move.
"His laugh sounds a little strange, and he shaved off his beard, but he's kept his figure in excellent shape," the old man muttered to himself.
Grandpa Max was completely unaware. After finishing his hot cocoa, he turned to leave.
"Sir, please come with us."
At some point, several little dwarves had appeared behind him, all looking up at him with wide sparkling eyes.
"Uh, sorry, I didn't see anyone there just now. How much do I owe for this hot cocoa...?" Grandpa Max assumed the dwarves worked there and hurried to pay.
But before he could react, the dwarves grabbed his clothes and dragged him into a room.
Grandpa Max looked around and found the place full of gift boxes, like some kind of present warehouse.
Then an aged voice suddenly came from the second-floor hallway behind him.
"Hello. I am Mr. Jingles. Welcome to our Christmas Resort."
"I'm very glad we've finally had the chance to meet."
Hearing that, Grandpa Max turned around.
The old man before him had white hair and brows, wore a long pointed red hat, green trousers, and a red cape, looking every bit the part of Christmas.
Grandpa Max smiled. "This place is pretty impressive. It has everything. It must have cost quite a bit to build."
"I'm honored by your praise, Mr. Claus," Mr. Jingles said, clearly delighted.
"Mr. Claus? Oh, no, no, you've got the wrong person." Grandpa Max waved his hands repeatedly.
"How could I, Mr. Claus? May I call you Santa Claus?" Mr. Jingles said with a smile.
Seeing that the man insisted, Grandpa Max sighed and stopped arguing. Instead, he asked, "I wanted to ask if there's anywhere around here that can repair cars. Our vehicle broke down, and we need to get it fixed before we can leave."
"Oh my, that won't do. You can't go anywhere." The moment he heard Grandpa Max wanted to leave, Mr. Jingles became flustered and quickly said, "You belong here. I created this Christmas Resort especially for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mr. Jingles clapped his hands.
Five or six little dwarves dragged over a red blanket and instantly surrounded Grandpa Max, then began spinning rapidly around him.
The red blanket curled and tightened, wrapping Grandpa Max up like a dumpling. As it spun at high speed, brilliant magical light burst out from it.
Before long, the spinning stopped, and the red blanket vanished.
Grandpa Max, who had been wearing a red floral shirt, had transformed into Santa Claus.
A snow-white beard, a loose red coat, and a plump body made him look exactly like the legendary Santa Claus.
"What did you do to me?!" Grandpa Max cried out in alarm, staring at his own hands.
Mr. Jingles didn't answer. He simply took out a remote control.
He pressed it.
Grandpa Max's body stiffened. He couldn't help stepping back before dropping into a chair.
He tried to struggle, but his clothes felt as heavy as lead, leaving him unable to move.
"Today, I'm going to give the little dwarves a surprise."
After saying that, Mr. Jingles brought Santa Claus onto a balcony.
Below them was a sea of little dwarves stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Children, the Santa Claus we've been waiting for has finally arrived!" Mr. Jingles raised a hand and shouted loudly.
All the little dwarves cheered excitedly, and some were even moved to tears.
"Smile." Mr. Jingles looked at Santa Claus.
Santa Claus couldn't smile.
Mr. Jingles took out a feather and placed it near Santa Claus's nostril, tickling him.
An unbearable itch instantly rose from his nose.
"Hehehahaha..."
Santa Claus's warm, kindly laughter echoed in all directions.
Mr. Jingles gave a mysterious smile. "Also, I want to thank you for bringing me two new little dwarves..."
...
Meanwhile, on the snowfield.
Ben and the others were still playing and throwing snowballs at each other.
Just then, Stinkfly landed and changed back.
"Where did Grandpa go?" Lucian looked around but didn't see him anywhere.
"No idea. Maybe he went off to take a nap or something," Ben said casually.
Thud, thud, thud!
A series of heavy footsteps rang out. Everyone looked toward the sound and saw a squad of giant toy soldiers charging this way with huge swords in their hands.
"Mr. Jingles's toy soldiers! Run for it!"
A little dwarf suddenly appeared from the side, hurling snowballs at the toy soldiers over and over.
"Oh, this is seriously creepy," Ben said, then pressed the Omnitrix and transformed into XLR8.
He immediately grabbed Lucian and Gwen, turned into a blur, and vanished from the spot.
But the toy soldiers seemed to be following some kind of order and refused to stop chasing them.
After running for only a short while, XLR8 slid onto a patch of ice. With his wheel-feet losing traction, he couldn't keep his balance and nearly fell.
Lucian transformed into Big Chill, lifted the other two up, and shot into the sky.
A few minutes later, they landed on a snowy field.
But on that open stretch of snow, many toy soldiers suddenly burst out. They were like unstoppable zombies, refusing to quit until the end.
Their massive bodies were even bigger than Four Arms. If one of those swords hit them, they would probably be chopped to pieces.
XLR8 extended his claws into the snow and started frantically digging.
"Hey, doofus, what are you doing?" Gwen couldn't help asking. At a time like this, Ben still had the mood to mess around.
"Hehe, snowball fight time!"
XLR8 grinned, scooped up a pile of snowballs in his hands, then started spinning wildly, turning into a giant blue tornado...