Notice: I don't own anything in this fic except my characters. These Include, Michael, Phantom, Dr. Topkins, and Cory Bain.

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ALL READERS: This takes place four weeks after the events of "Happy Halloween, Vivi." If you haven't read that or any of my previous stories certain things will be spoiled for you. Read on at your own discretion.

Notice: The names Dr. Topkins and Cory Bain are names I came up with. If anyone with these names exists, in either reality or fiction, it is purely coincidental.

The Perfect Thanksgiving

I was down on one knee and panting hard. I was getting exhausted. This battle was taking longer than I thought it would. I looked up from where I was kneeling and looked up at my opponent. He was standing forty feet away from me.

He wore a blue and white jacket with leather shoes and light-green, dark-green stripped pants as well as a floppy, brown, leather steeple hat. In his right hand he clutched a golden staff; it was called the 'Mace of Zeus.' My opponent was none other than Vivi Orunitier, my blood brother.

He held up his staff and cast a Fire spell at me. Thinking quickly I rolled to the side, and avoided his attack. I quickly got back up to my feet, and cast an Aero spell at him. He cast a Water spell, and our two spells met in mid air. Instead of combining, they began to fight each other for dominance.

I started to pour more of my magic into my spell; Vivi did like wise. I could feel Vivi's spell overpower my own. I quickly sent more magic into my spell to correct that. Vivi countered this by adding even more magic into his spell. Finally, I couldn't hold out anymore. Vivi's spell overcame my spell, and shoot towards me. I couldn't dodge it and was blasted into the wall by the impact.

I slid down to the ground, and started to cough up water. After that, I looked back up at Vivi. My eyes narrowed. I had to admit, he was doing a great job of keeping me at bay. He knew that he couldn't beat me in close-range combat. All he had to do was keep me away from him, and weaken me with his spells.

I got back up to my feet and continued to look at him. Thanks to my training, he was better at close-range combat, but his magic was still his greatest strength, and I knew it always would be. His skill with magic far surpassed my own. He was a natural Black Mage, while I can only use Black Magic because of our blood bond. Black Magic wasn't the only thing I knew how to use, though.

I cast a Cure spell on myself, and healed my wounds. I ran at Vivi, and he cast a Blizzard spell at me. I jumped into the air, and avoided his spell. He quickly aimed his staff up at me, and cast a Thunder spell. I quickly brought my hand up, and cast a Reflect spell. The Thunder spell bounced of my Reflect spell and sent it back at Vivi. Vivi saw this and quickly dodged the attack.

As soon as I touched the ground, I turned to my left side, and saw Vivi cast a Thundara spell on himself. Due to the 'Reflect Ring' he wore, the spell bounced off him and came towards me. My Reflect was useless since he cast the spell on his own Reflect. Plus, I didn't have time to dodge it. I could, however, block it. I quickly cast a Shell spell to protect myself. Vivi's spell hit my barrier; thankfully, my Shell spell withstood his attack.

Vivi wasn't finished yet; he cast a Firaga spell on himself. It bounced off his Reflect and came towards me. I knew my Shell spell wasn't strong enough to withstand that spell. I quickly rolled to the side, and barely managed to avoid the spell. I got back up to my feet, and attacked Vivi before he could cast another spell.

I swung my sword at his feet, but he jumped up, and managed to avoid my strike. Before he could touch the ground, I kicked him while he was still in mid-air. He flew through the air, and landed twenty feet away from me. I ran at him, jumped into the air, and performed a 'Ryu Tsui Sen.' He saw my attack, and quickly rolled to the side. I missed him, and hit the ground.

That's when I felt something hit me in the side of the head. I knew that it was Vivi; he had managed to strike me with the 'Mace of Zeus.' His hit wasn't that strong, but it still hurt. I rolled to the side, and brought my sword up just in time to block another strike from him. I parried his blow, and struck him in the chest with the open palm of my right hand. The force of my attack sent him flying five feet through the air. As soon as he landed on the ground, I got on top of him, and put my sword near his throat. I smiled, "Say it, Vivi. Come on, say it."

Vivi looked like he was trying to find some way out of the situation. He started to struggle, but he knew there was no escape. Finally, he sighed. He knew when he was beat. He looked up at me. "Fine, I give up. You win."

I smiled, got off him, sheathed my reverse-blade sword, and helped him up. I smiled. "Not bad, Vivi. You're getting better. That was a smart idea to try and keep me away from you."

Vivi adjusted his hat, and looked up at me. "Well, I knew I couldn't beat you in close-range combat, so I knew I had to keep you away from me. I mean, you're better than me at close-range combat."

I smiled and placed my hand on his shoulder. "That may be true, but your magic is far better than my own."

He tilted his head to the side. "But, you can use White Magic, and I can't."

I smiled "so what? You have Black Magic spells that can easily break through my defenses. Don't be so hard on yourself, Vivi."

He nodded. "Alright, I'll try not to." Suddenly, there was a knock at the door to this room.

The room we were in was a training room that was located on the fifth floor of 'The Mage.' The Library that served as a home for Vivi and myself. The room itself was rectangular in shape, and was rather large. The walls of the room were white, and the floor was one big mat. The room was empty, and was a perfect place for sparring matches.

I was surprised to hear a knock at the door. 'The Mage' has five floors, the first three are open to the public, and the last two were off limits unless you had permission. There were only a few people who had permission to go to the fifth floor, which was where Vivi and I resided.

I spoke. "Come in." The door opened, and a balding, middle-aged man wearing scholar robes walked in. I smiled, it was Dr. Topkins. I spoke. "Hello, Doctor. It's nice to see you."

He nodded. "Yes it's good to see you two as well. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

I smiled. "Vivi and I just got finished with a sparring match. Is there something you need?"

He shook his head. "Oh, no I just wanted to know if you two have eaten anything yet." We both shook our heads.

He smiled. "Well, I brought some food. Why don't we eat in the other room?" Vivi and I nodded, and left the training room.

The room we entered was our living room. The living room was even larger than the training room. It had two large comfy red chairs near the north wall. These two chairs sat on either side of a large blue couch. There was a fireplace that was installed on the north wall as well.

There were a few large oak tables around the room; one in front of the couch, one near the east wall, and another near the south wall. The floor was completely covered by silver-grey carpet. The walls had a few pictures hanging from them; one of them being the drawing that Mary made. Two ceiling fans hung from the ceiling.

Near the east wall, there's a staircase that leads to the fourth floor. On the West wall there are two doors. One leads to the kitchen. The other leads to my work room. On the East wall there is a door that leads to the dinning room. On the South wall, where we were, there is a door that leads to the training room, and another door that leads to a closet. On the North wall there is a door that leads to my bed room.

In the middle of the room, there is a tall pillar with a door. The door leads to Vivi's room which is located in the windmill on top of 'The Mage.' His room also served as the meditation room. All in all, it was a homey place.

We walked into the dinning room. The dinning room had one large ash table in the middle surrounded by twelve chairs, five on each side and one at the top and bottom of the table. A chandelier hung from the ceiling. There's a vase filled with fake flowers in the middle of the table. It was a pretty nice center piece.

I sat down on the chair that was placed at the head of the table. Vivi took the chair to my right, and Dr. Topkins took the chair to my left. Dr. Topkins placed a bag filled with food on the table. He smiled. "Well, I say we eat." Vivi and I nodded in agreement and all of us began to eat.

When we were halfway through our meal, Dr. Topkins spoke. "So how was the wedding?" Vivi and I both looked up at him. At first I didn't know what he was talking about, but then I remembered. He was talking about Mr. 288 and Mikoto's wedding.

That had been a few days ago. I ended up being the best man, and Vivi ended up being the ring bearer. Zidane and the others attended the wedding, as well as all the Black Mages and Genomes in the Black Mage Village.

I smiled. "It was great. Mr. 288 was really nervous about it and from what Dagger and Eiko told us, Mikoto was pretty nervous herself. It all turned out well in the end though. Mr. 288 and Mikoto have officially become the first Black Mage/Genome couple."

Dr. Topkins smiled. "That's good to hear. I hope they have a kid. I'm curious to see what a Black Mage Genome would look like. Maybe they'd let me run some tests on the child-" I cut him off.

"I don't think so, Doctor. I doubt they'd let you do that."

He laughed. "I was only kidding."

Vivi spoke. "You better be."

He nodded. "I was kidding, I'm sorry if I offended you, Vivi."

Vivi shook his head. "It's okay." After that we continued to eat.

After a few minutes, we were finished. I smiled. "Thanks for the food, Doctor. It was great." Vivi nodded in agreement.

Dr. Topkins smiled. "I'm glad you two enjoyed it. Well, I better get back to the Academy. I need to get back to my research."

I was disappointed. "You sure you can't stay longer?"

He nodded. "I'm sorry, but I must get back to my research. It was nice talking to you two. I'll see you later."

I nodded. "Fine, good bye, Doctor." He nodded, got out of his chair, and left the room.

After he left, Vivi spoke. "I hope he really was kidding about those experiments."

I turned to him. "He was kidding, Vivi. You know Dr. Topkins, he wouldn't do that to someone's child."

He nodded. "I know, but the thought of anyone experimenting on kids is just…I don't like it."

I nodded. "Neither do I, but I know Topkins won't do it." Vivi nodded, and we left the dinning room.

I went over to one of the two red chairs, and sat down. I laid my head back against the chair, and closed my eyes. I sensed that Vivi had sat in the other chair.

After a while, I opened my eyes and looked at the calendar that was hanging near the fire place. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. It was Tuesday, November 22nd, two day before Thanksgiving.

Vivi saw my expression and grew concerned. "Michael, are you alright?"

I looked at him, and nodded. "Yeah, it's just that it's two days before Thanksgiving, and I almost forgot about it."

Vivi tilted his head to the side. "What's Thanksgiving?"

I smiled. 'Here we go with another history lesson' I thought. I spoke. "Well, it all started when the pilgrims left England so that they wouldn't be persecuted for their beliefs. They sailed across the sea until they reached the shore line of a country that would later be called America. There they met the Native Americans. The Natives helped the pilgrims survive there first winter on North America. In that same year, Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving to celebrate their survival. They also invited the Native Americans because they knew that without them, they never would've survived the winter. That was the first Thanksgiving."

Vivi spoke. "Is there more?"

I nodded. "Yeah, the feast had no real set date. It wasn't until the end of the Revolution that Commander George Washington proclaimed that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on November 26th. Later President Abraham Lincoln said that Thanksgiving would be held on the last Thursday in November. Several years later, Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the third Thursday in November. Some of the state governors didn't like that, and Congress decided to pass a joint resolution in 1941 stating that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November. And that's how it's been since then."

Vivi nodded. "I see, it sounds like an interesting celebration."

I smiled. "Oh, it is, Vivi, it is." That's when I saw Vivi's eyes sparkle.

A big smile crossed my face. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Vivi?"

Vivi spoke. "If you're thinking that we should invite our friends over for Thanksgiving, then yes."

I smiled. "My thoughts exactly."

Vivi spoke. "So are we going to have a big party like we had on Halloween."

I shook my head. "No, this'll just be between us and our friends. I don't want to invite anyone else."

Vivi nodded. "Okay, so who are we inviting?"

I spoke. "Well, Zidane and the others of course. I think I'll also invite Kuja. I think that'll be it. My Master probably won't want anyone else at his house."

Vivi looked confused. "What does your Master have to do with this?"

I smiled. "We'll be having Thanksgiving at his place. I'm sure he won't mind. Besides, he'll have to clean up after the feast since it's his house." An evil smile crossed my face.

Vivi spoke. "So when should we tell the others?"

I spoke. "Well, there's no time like the present. You ready to go now?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go." He walked up to me. I held up my ring, said the name of the place we wanted to go, and a white light surrounded us. We were being warped.

We first visited Alexandria. Zidane, Dagger, Steiner, Beatrix, and Quina all agreed to come. Our next stop was Treno. Kuja, too, agreed to go, but Doctor Tot decided to stay in Treno.

Kuja also had a gift for Vivi and me. It was a blue bracelet. He said the bracelet enables the wearer to understand different languages, and when the wearer speaks the person can understand what they're saying; Vivi's though had an extra feature. Kuja enhanced his so that when he wears it, it'll create an illusion making him appear human. This was great, since Vivi could now walk freely around Earth without drawing unwanted attention.

When Vivi put the bracelet on, a light surrounded him. When the light diminished, I could see that Vivi appeared human. His face was slightly tan and he had brown eyes like mine. He also had the same brown hair. I was shocked at first, but then the illusion faded and Vivi looked like himself again.

At first I thought the spell had failed, but Kuja told me that the illusion will only fade away if the person knows what Vivi really is. He said that though I can see what he really is, others won't unless they know what he is as well. Satisfied, Vivi took off his bracelet, and we left to find Amarant.

Amarant agreed to come. Lani decided to sit this out. She said she'd wait for Amarant to return at the inn in Lindblum's Business District. After that we went to Burmecia. Freya agreed to go, but Fratley decided to stay and watch over the Kingdom. After that, we went back to Lindblum. Eiko agreed to go as well. Cid and Hilda decided to stay in Lindblum. After that, Vivi and I returned to 'The Mage.'

Once we got back we decided to go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day. Vivi and I had to pick everyone up, get them to Earth, and then shop for the supplies we'll need for Thursday. I shuddered, shopping was going to be difficult, but at least I wasn't going to be shopping alone.

Tomorrow came sooner then I thought. After our morning meditation, Vivi and I decided to pick everyone up. After gathering everyone, I held up my ring and said the name of our destination. We were all surrounded by a white light. We were being warped.

After a few seconds, my feet touched the ground. I looked around, and saw that we were outside my Masters house. I looked around to make sure all of us had made it. Everyone was present and accounted for. We walked up to front door. I rang the door bell.

My Master answered the door, and his eyes immediately widened at what he saw. "What's going on here?"

I smiled. "Hi, Master Hiko. Mind if we come in?" I didn't wait for an answer; I just walked right past him. The others quickly followed.

My Master spoke. "Hey, wait a minute what's all this?"

I ignored him and turned to Quina. "Quina, the kitchen is that way. Start getting things set up, and try not to eat anything in there just yet." She nodded and ran off to the kitchen.

I turned only to see my Master up in my face. "What is going on here, Michael?"

I smiled. "We're having Thanksgiving at your place."

Master Hiko was shocked. "What? I didn't agree to any of this!"

I smiled. "Well I was on a tight schedule. I didn't have time to tell you." I turned to the rest of them. "Okay, let's see. The rest of you better get ready to leave for the store, oh and Kuja I hope you brought a few more of those blue bracelets." Kuja nodded.

He pulled out three bracelets, and handed one to Freya and Zidane. Amarant refused to wear one. Freya changed into a human with slightly pale skin, and mousy white hair. The only thing that happened to Zidane when he wore the bracelet was that his tail disappeared.

I smiled. "Alright, you guys head out to the car, oh and Eiko, be sure to wear a hat. I'll go see if Quina needs help in the kitchen." They nodded and left the house. I quickly walked into the kitchen to see how Quina was doing. She was already going through the cupboards looking for supplies.

I spoke. "How are you doing, Quina?"

She turned her head towards me. "Michael, I no can find turkey pan."

I frowned. "Well, there's gotta be one around here somewhere." I started looking through some of the cupboards.

Master Hiko walked into the room. "Tell me again why you're having Thanksgiving at my place?"

I continued looking through the cupboards, but spoke. "Because you live in a secluded area away from prying eyes…do you even own a turkey pan?" He pointed to a cupboard on my left. I opened it, and found what I was looking for. I handed the turkey pan over to Quina.

My Master spoke. "Are you sure that this isn't just some elaborate scheme to stick me with the clean up?"

I froze. 'Darn, he's catching on' I thought. I spoke. "Well, I better get the others to the store. Quina be sure to have everything ready when we get back." Quina nodded, and I quickly left the kitchen. I also grabbed the keys to my Masters car. After that, I went outside, unlocked the car, got everyone crammed into the car, and drove off to the super market.

As soon as we pulled in, I turned to the others. "Alright troops, listen up. We are going to war."

Vivi spoke. "I though we were going shopping."

I smiled. "We are, but it'll be a battle zone in there. If we aren't wary, we'll lose our quarry. Okay, here's the plan. We'll split up into groups of two. Vivi, you're with me. Dagger, you're with Eiko. Steiner, you're with Beatrix. Freya, you're with Amarant. And Zidane, you're with Kuja. Got it?" Everyone nodded.

I smiled. "Good, now here's what we need to get. Vivi and I will get the turkey and the stuffing. Zidane and Kuja will get the corn and peas. Freya and Amarant will get the pumpkin pie filling. Steiner and Beatrix will get the cranberry sauce. Dagger and Eiko will get the potatoes. Everyone got that?" They nodded. I smiled. "Good, now we go to war. Let the battle begin." We got out of the car, and walked through the sliding doors to the store.

It was quiet in the store. I knew though that this was just the calm before the storm. Things were going to get ugly really fast. I spoke "alright troops, split up." We split up and went our separate ways.

Vivi and I walked over to the meat section. As soon as we got there we saw that all the turkeys were gone, save one. That's when I noticed a woman emerge from the aisle on the far side from me. She saw the turkey as well. She turned her head towards me. She narrowed her eyes. I narrowed mine as well. I wasn't going to let her get that bird.

That's when she made her move. She ran for the turkey, and I ran towards the turkey as well. We reached it and both grabbed the turkey at the same time. She grabbed one end, and I grabbed the other. We started a tug-o-war. I had to admit, she was determined, but then, so was I.

That's when she pulled it so hard it slipped out of my hands. Unfortunately for her she had pulled so hard that she landed on her back, and the turkey went flying through the air. We both watched as the turkey descended towards the ground. I shook my head 'no, no, NO' I thought. That's when a small figure grabbed the turkey before it hit the ground. I sighed with relief. Vivi had saved the turkey. That's when I noticed something behind Vivi.

"VIVI RUN!" I yelled

Vivi turned around and saw that there was a horde of people behind him. All of them were looking at the turkey in Vivi's hands. Vivi screamed, and ran down the nearest aisle. The throng of people followed after him. I quickly jumped up on top of one of the shelves and ran across it. I had to save Vivi, plus I still needed to find the stuffing. The battle had begun.

Zidane and I walked over to the vegetable section of the store. There were a number of different vegetables to choose from, but we were looking for two in particular.

Zidane spoke. "Okay, I'll get the peas you get the corn."

I nodded. "Good idea." He walked off to the left, and I went to look at the shelves.

There were many different vegetables. There were radishes, carrots, celery, cabbage, lettuce, squash, and corn…'CORN!' I thought. Sure enough, there was corn, and there was quite a bit of it. 'Alright, I'll take as much as I need' I thought. I grabbed a grocery bag and started bagging the corn.

"Hey, quite hogging the corn!" I turned around and saw a man behind me. He was about 5'6" had black hair and brown eyes, and was wearing blue jeans with a red, long sleeve shirt. He seemed shocked at what he saw. Suddenly, he started to smile in a way I knew was supposed to be seductive. "Hey there my pretty young lady. You can take as much corn as you like."

I raised my eyebrows. "I'm not a woman."

The guy's eyes widened. "NOT A WOMAN! Then what are you? Some kind of gay crossdresser?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Excuse me?"

He frowned. "You heard me, and is that make-up…oh gross it is."

I spoke. "It's NOT make-up."

The man spoke. "And what kind of dress is that. Why are you even wearing a dress like that? That is just wrong."

I was getting a bit angry with this guy. "It isn't a dress. It's a-" He cut me off.

"OH MY GOD, IS THAT A THONG! YOU WEAR A THONG, AND RIGHT WERE EVERYONE CAN SEE IT! OH, THAT IS BEYOND SICK! YOU'RE NOT JUST A GAY CROSSDRESSER; YOU'RE A GAY CROSS-DRESSING FREAK!" My patience was near its end. One more word like that and I was gonna hurt this guy.

"Hey, Kuja I got the peas, bro. Man, you wouldn't believe the trouble I had to go through to get these." I turned and saw Zidane approach us. Before I could say anything, that guy spoke to Zidane.

"This thing is your brother." Now Zidane looked mad. I was just about to snap when the guy spoke again. "Hey tell me what's it like to have a gay cross-dressing freak for a brother?" He started to laugh hysterically. That did it.

I looked at Zidane, and he seemed to be thinking the same thing I was thinking. This guy had to pay. He started to charge up one of his attacks, and I began charging up one of mine.

The guy stopped laughing, and looked at us. He was confused as to what we were doing. "Hey what are you-" suddenly he figured it out. "Oh, SHIT!" That's when we unleashed our attacks on this sad excuse of a man.

I was still chasing after Vivi when I felt the whole store shake. I stopped to steady myself. I looked over to the origin of what happened, and saw a large ball of light at the vegetable section. 'That looked like a Flare Stare and a Thievery. Looks like Kuja and Zidane are engaging the enemy. I hope they didn't kill anyone' I thought. After that thought, I continued to pursue Vivi.

Amarant and I were looking for the pumpkin pie filling. Finally, we found it, as well as a large woman who was grabbing every can she could carry. I immediately jumped into action.

"Hey, give us some of those cans."

The woman sneered at us. "No, they're mine. All mine. You can't have any."

I was getting irritated. "You grabbed all the cans from the shelf. There's nothing left. You have about thirty cans there. You can afford to give us some."

She shook her head. "Never, they're mine."

I was now very irritated. "Alright look we can do this the easy way-" Suddenly a big fist punched her in the face.

The woman hit the shelf, and it fell over. The cans went all over the place. The woman was unconscious. I was surprised. I finished my sentence "-or the hard way."

I turned to Amarant. "My, aren't you a gentleman, Amarant."

He shrugged. "Hey, it got the job done. Let's get the pie filling." I nodded, and grabbed what I could. After that we left the aisle.

I was surrounded. People were all around me. They were all after my turkey. I tried to find a way out, but there was no way out. I was trapped. I closed my eyes. 'I'm sorry, Michael. I failed' I thought.

"Vivi, up here!" I opened my eyes and looked up at the top of one of the shelves. Michael was standing on top of it. He spoke. "Throw it to me, Vivi." I nodded, and threw the turkey up at him. He grabbed it and looked at the people. He smiled. "You want this bird…come get it." He ran across the aisle, and the people ran after him. That's when I heard Michael yell something to me. "VIVI, FIND THE STUFFING!"

After a few seconds, I was alone in the aisle. 'Wow, Michael saved me again. The least I can do is find that stuffing. Now where is it?' I thought. That's when something fell on my head. I reached up and grabbed the object. It was a bag of…stuffing. My eyes widened. I turned around, and saw that the shelves behind me were filled with bags of stuffing. I smiled, and looked up at the ceiling. "Thank you."

Dagger and I had already retrieved our bag of potatoes. We were heading to the front of the store to meet with the others. 'I don't know what Michael was talking about. Aside from that explosion and a few fights I saw in some of the other aisles, this was easy' I thought.

That's when a woman jumped at me from one of the aisles. She tackled me to the ground, and tried to grab my potato bag. I grabbed the bag, and the two of us were in a tug-o-war. The crazy woman spoke. "Give…me…those…POTATOES!" Now I saw what Michael meant. Maybe I thought too soon.

Suddenly, the woman's eyes widened in shock and she fell on top of me. I looked up and saw Dagger above me. She had her 'Whale Whisker' out. I smiled. "Thanks for the help, Dagger."

She smiled. "No problem. Now let's go." I nodded, pushed that crazy bimbo off of me, got up, retrieved the potato bag, and walked off with Dagger.

Those people were in hot pursuit of me. 'Dang, they really want this turkey' I thought. I continued running from the angry mob. 'I hope the others are having a better time than I am' I thought.

Steiner and I finally found the cranberry sauce. I reached to grab it, but before I even touched it, someone else swiped it. I turned and saw a young, tall, beefy woman. She smiled triumphantly. "Sorry, you were to slow."

I fixed her with my death glare. "You better hand that over."

She smirked. "What's in it for me?"

I smiled. "You get to live."

Her eyebrows rose, but she didn't lose her smirk. "Is that a threat?"

I assumed a combat stance. "You better believe it."

She chuckled, and placed the can back on the shelf. "Fine, I'll just go." She turned around and moved away.

I turned to grab the cranberry sauce, but that's when I saw a fist fly straight at the side of my face. I quickly brought my hand up, and caught the punch. I looked up at the beefy woman. I had expected her to attack me. I knew she wasn't going to give up that cranberry sauce with out a fight. She seemed surprised that I managed to catch her punch. I smiled, pulled her towards me, and clotheslined her. She hit the ground, hard. She was out cold.

I grabbed the cranberry sauce, and threw it to Steiner. He caught it, and smiled. "You certainly took care of her."

I nodded. "Of course, I'm still one of the best." He smiled and we walked out of the aisle with our well earned cranberry sauce.

I was still running from the crowd. My gosh, these people don't give up. I had to get the turkey to the cashier, but this crowd wasn't making it easy. That's when the intercom came on "ATTENTION ALL SHOPPERS. THE TURKEYS HAVE BEEN RESTOCKED." The crowd stopped, and immediately ran towards the meat section.

I sighed in relief. 'Finally, now I can go pay for this thing' I thought. I decided to hurry over to the cashier before the crazy mob decided to come back.

When I arrived at the front of the store, I saw the others. All of them had what I had sent them to get. I smiled. "Hey, so you guys got what was needed. How did it go?"

Kuja spoke. "It went well, until we had to blow up some idiot."

My eyes widened when I remembered the explosion. "You didn't kill him, did you?" Zidane and Kuja both shook their heads.

"Oh, no he'll live. Don't worry." Zidane said.

I nodded. "That's good to hear. How about the rest of you?"

Freya spoke. "Amarant had to knock out a large woman."

Vivi spoke. "The stuffing fell on my head."

Eiko spoke. "I had to wrestle a psycho bimbo."

Beatrix spoke. "I had to clothesline a beefy woman."

I smiled. "Well, I had to run from an angry mob. Looks like we all had our fill of fun. Let's get out of here." They nodded in agreement. We paid for the stuff, got out of the store, put the groceries in the car, and drove back to Master Hiko's house.

After fifteen minutes, we arrived at my Master's house. We got out of the car, unloaded the groceries, and walked up to the door. I rang the doorbell, and my Master answered it. He smiled. "Well, I see you were successful. How did it go?"

I smiled. "Ah, you know. A little running, a little fighting, crazy women all over the place, the usual."

He nodded. "Alright, come in." We entered the house, and went to the kitchen.

Quina had everything set up for cooking. Eiko and Vivi decided to stay in the kitchen and help Quina. Amarant and Freya decided to go into the living room and play chess. Steiner and Beatrix decided to go outside and enjoy the pleasantly cool weather. Dagger, Zidane, and Kuja decided to just relax in the living room.

While everyone was off doing their own little thing, I sat in one of the chairs in the dining room. My Master sat in the chair next to me. I turned to him. "Master, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

He looked at me. "What is it?"

I spoke. "Have they found 'him' yet?" He knew who I meant by him.

My Master shook his head. "No they haven't found him yet, and there haven't been any murders that would indicate his handy work." I nodded, but I still felt uneasy.

The day after Halloween, it was all over the news. Cory Bain had escaped from prison. The police had no idea how he got out. There was no indication that he forced his way out or got out through other means. It was as if he just vanished into thin air. The police have been searching for him, but they haven't found him yet.

'I wonder where he is' I thought.

I was sitting on my throne in my castle. My throne room was rather quaint…well for me anyway. The room was rectangular in shape. The walls were made out of black stone. A row of black pillars surrounded the area, and each pillar had a candelabra and a red tapestry that showed an Angel with broken wings. The candles gave of a mystical purple flame.

Beyond the pillars was a large open top drainage pipe filled with lava. There was an identical structure on the other side of the throne room. The lava gave off an eerie orange glow. The lava in my throne room came from the active volcano that's located at least five miles away from my castle. The lava flows into my throne room, and enters a piping system so that the lava can flow through my castle heating every inch of it. Needless to say, it never gets cold in my castle.

Bone chandeliers lined the top of the ceiling. These Chandeliers were identical to the one in my foyer. There's a blood red carpet that leads from the large black steel door to my throne.

As for my throne itself, it was made out of human bones, mainly vertebra. My throne was located at the very back wall. A flight of at least ten stairs led up to my throne. Two statues sat at the base of the stairs; one on the right corner, and one on the left. Like the walls, they were carved out of black stone. Each statue depicted a winged, robed figure whose face was hidden under the hood. All you could see under the hood of each statue were two glowing red eyes.

Currently, I was looking at an image I had conjured up to see what my enemies were doing. Currently, they were preparing a Thanksgiving feast for tomorrow. I watched what they were doing with interest.

"Why don't we just crash their party right now?" said a voice to my right.

I turned to my right, and looked at my new right hand man, Cory Bain. I had taken him from jail and brought him to my home. I had to admit, I liked his strength and natural cruelty. He was a perfect right hand man. He enforced my will, and did so with great pleasure.

I smiled. "Patience Cory, we will not reveal ourselves just yet. It's far too soon. When Michael and Vivi die, it'll be in this world."

He nodded. "Yes, Master, but we should do something to ruin their celebration."

I smiled, and pulled a book out from under my cape. "And so we will."

Cory looked at the book in disbelief. "A book, what good is that going to do?"

I smiled. "This is no ordinary book, Cory. Let's just say that I'm glad this book wasn't destroyed when Garland destroyed Alexandria. This book is a good way to ruin their party." I looked back at the image. "Enjoy this day while you can, Michael. When tomorrow comes, you won't feel much like celebrating."

It was hard, but after a few hours, we had everything ready for tomorrow. Things were looking up. This was going to be a perfect Thanksgiving. I could feel it.

It was 10:03 P.M. and we all decided to get to bed. There wasn't exactly enough room for everyone. Eventually, we got our sleeping arrangements. Vivi and I would share a bed. Dagger and Zidane would share another bed. Beatrix and Steiner would share a bed as well. Amarant decided to sleep on the couch in the living room. Freya decided to sleep on the other couch in the living room. Kuja decided to sleep in the recliner. And Quina would share a bed with Eiko. After that was done, we all settled in for a goodnight sleep. Little did we know that we'd have an unexpected visitor that night.
I teleported myself to Hiko's house. I looked around at the fools who were sleeping in the living room. It was tempting to kill them all in their sleep, but that wouldn't have been any fun at all. I walked across the room, and saw the bookshelf. I took the book out from under my cape, and set it on top of the bookshelf. I smiled 'just wait til' tomorrow comes you fools' I thought. I quickly teleported back to my castle.

I woke up with a start. I looked at the clock, and saw that it was 11:55 P.M. It was still night. I had woken up because I had just sensed a dark presence in the house. It was a strong presence. I quietly slipped out of bed, making sure not to disturb Vivi, and walked out of the room.

As soon as I reached the stairs, the dark presence disappeared. It was like it just vanished. I walked down the stairs, and looked into the living room. There was nothing out of the ordinary. I shrugged and decided to go back to bed. 'Maybe it was just my imagination' I thought.

Morning came, and I woke up with a yawn. I looked at the clock, and saw that it was 9:36 A.M. I smiled, and shook Vivi. "Hey Vivi, wake up. It's Thanksgiving." Vivi woke up, and sat up in the bed. He looked a little tired, but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was happy.

He spoke. "Happy Thanksgiving, Michael."

I smiled and nodded. "Happy Thanksgiving, Vivi."

I got up out of bed, and Vivi did likewise. I spoke. "Let's go downstairs and see if the others are awake yet." Vivi nodded, and we left my room.

We walked down the stairs, and saw that Freya and Amarant were already awake, since they weren't on either of the couches. Kuja, though, was still asleep. Suddenly, we heard noises coming from the kitchen. We decided to see what was going on.

As soon as we entered the kitchen, we saw Quina fixing something in a mixing bowl. Eiko was over by the sink, peeling potatoes, and my Master was taking the husk off the corn. My Master spoke. "So, you two woke up. If you want to get breakfast, fix it yourselves. We're busy."

I looked at Vivi. "Well, what do you think?" Vivi thought for a moment.

Finally, he spoke. "I'm not really that hungry. I think we should help out." I nodded in agreement. Vivi started helping Eiko peel potatoes, and I decided to help my Master.

Two hours later, Kuja walked into the kitchen. He spoke. "What smells so good?"

I spoke. "That'd be the turkey. It's still cooking, but thanks to Vivi's fire magic it'll be done in the next four hours. You wanna help us?"

He nodded. "Sure, I'll fix the peas." I nodded, and Kuja got to work.

Two hours later, everyone was up, and they were all helping prepare the meal. We fixed it so that we'd be able to eat at 5:30 P.M. Currently; it was 1:33 P.M. We each decided to take a lunch break in shifts. Right now, it was my Masters turn.

I had sat down to eat my sandwich. I started to think about the up coming dinner. 'If Michael thinks he and his friends are going to leave without cleaning up the mess, he's got another thing coming' I thought. After I finished my sandwich, I decided to walk through the living room. That's when I felt a strange presence.

I spun around to face the direction of where I had sensed the presence. I was looking at my bookshelf. I walked towards the bookshelf and examined it. There was nothing out of the ordinary. That's when I noticed that a book was placed on top of the bookshelf.

I grabbed the book and looked at the cover. The cover had a weird looking face on it. It looked like some kind of tribal mask. The title read 'Alexandria.' And the binding cover read 'Volume XI.' The book also had a long red piece of silk used to mark where the reader left off. The book was also latched.

I found the book curious. I knew it wasn't mine. Maybe the book belonged to one of Michael's friends. Curiosity overcame me. I unlatched the book, opened it…and saw a small blue head with yellow eyes and horns looking at me.

I dropped the book in surprise. It hit the ground, and closed. Then it started to grow. Eventually, it stopped when it was about 6'x 6'. That's when it lifted itself off the ground, and levitated itself above the ground. It turned on its side so that the pages where facing me. Then it shot the pages out at me. I was hit by the pages, and sent flying into the wall. I hit the wall, hard, and slumped to the ground. I looked up at the book. That was no ordinary book.

I heard a loud crash outside the door. I walked over to the door, opened it, and saw my Master buried up to his neck in paper. I was shocked. "Master, what happened?" He nodded his head towards what did this. I turned my head to the left, and my eyes widened. It was Tantarian. 'What the heck is that thing doing hear?' I thought. That's when I saw that it was preparing to attack again. I unsheathed my normal sword and ran at Tantarian.

Tantarian used his Paper Storm attack. I saw this, and quickly dove to the right. I hid behind the couch and saw the papers go zooming over my head. When the assault stopped, I looked up and saw that it was preparing another attack. I quickly jumped into the air, and performed a 'Ryu Tsui Sen Zan.' I struck Tantarian, but my sword barely dented it. 'I don't know what that book was made of, but it had to be harder than steal' I thought.

As soon as I touched the ground, the book fell on its back, and opened up to page 581. Nothing was there. The book quickly closed back up, and immediately attacked me with another Paper Storm.

I performed a 'Ryu Sou Sen' and started to cut the papers to pieces. That was when a stray piece of paper got through my defense and hit my face. I couldn't see what I was doing, and was blasted into the wall by the rest of the storm. I slid down the wall, and ripped the piece of paper off my face. My lower body was covered by paper. I quickly stood up, and brushed the papers off of me.

"Michael, do you need some help?" I turned my head to the right, and saw Vivi standing by the kitchen door.

I shook my head. "No, I got this. Help my Master then get back in the kitchen, and get dinner ready."

Vivi looked uncertain. "But, Michael-" I cut him off.

"Vivi, I'll be fine. I'm going to beat this thing. We're going to have Thanksgiving, and it's going to be perfect. Now help my Master." He still looked uncertain, but he nodded, and helped my Master.

I turned my attention back to Tantarian…and quickly dove for cover because he had just unleashed another Paper Storm. Fortunately, I managed to avoid the attack. After the storm died down, I jumped up from behind the couch, and attacked the book with a 'Kuzu Ryu Sen.' All nine of my strikes hit their target. The book fell over, and opened up to page 287. This time, the head showed up.

The head spoke. "You found me!" Suddenly, it spat some purple goop at me.

The goop hit me in the chest. I touched the goop. It was sticky to the touch. That's when I started to smell it. The smell was putrid. I started to cough, and it wasn't long before I felt a tightening in my throat. That's when I realized that the fumes were poisonous. I quickly tore my shirt off, and cast an Esuna spell. The spell cured me from the effects of the goops poisonous fumes. After taking a few quick breathes of air, I turned to face Tantarian…and quickly rolled to the side for he had just spat out another blob of purple goop.

I quickly got up to my feet, and was about to strike him with a 'Ryu Sou Sen' but that's when I remembered that any physical attack on Tantarian would force it to close. I had to use my magic. I decided to use my Aerga spell. The spell hit Tantarian, and it cried out in pain. It quickly spat another blob of goop at me. I jumped into the air, and cast a Thundaga spell. The spell struck Tantarian and damaged him further. Tantarian shot another blob at me while I was in the air. I couldn't avoid it, but I could block it.

I quickly cast a Shell spell. The goop hit my shield, but didn't break through. My shield began to absorb the goop. As soon as I touched the ground, my Shell spell faded away. That was when Tantarian spat another blob at me. I couldn't dodge or block this one. The blob struck my feet.

At first, I thought that Tantarian just fired a bad shot, but then I tried to move. I couldn't move. I looked down at my feet, and saw that the goop had solidified. I couldn't move. I struggled to get my feet unstuck, but the substance was too hard. That was when I noticed that Tantarian was going to spit at me again. I braced myself for his attack. That's when a large ball of fire struck Tantarian.

I was surprised, but I knew who did that. I turned my head, and saw Vivi standing there with his staff pointed at Tantarian. I spoke. "I told you to stay in the kitchen."

He spoke. "Have I ever listened to you?"

I spoke. "Yes, yes you have."

He nodded. "Well not this time."

I smiled. "I'm glad you didn't listen to me. Now let's finish this thing!" He nodded and readied himself to fight.

Vivi cast a Firaga spell. As soon as it hit Tantarian, I cast an Aerga spell. My spell increased the power of Vivi's spell. Tantarian was burning up. Vivi and I both increased our spells power. In a matter of seconds, nothing was left of Tantarian but a pile of ashes.

I sheathed my sword, and turned to Vivi. I smiled. "Thanks for helping me out, brother."

He nodded. "Hey, I'm always happy to help."

I nodded. "That's great. Now, can you please help me get my feet free?" He laughed, walked over to me, and started to help me get out of my sticky situation.

After a few seconds, Vivi freed me. We looked around the room. The living room was a mess. There was paper all over the place. There were also a few spots on the wall that had solidified purple goop on them.

I sighed. "Well, I guess we better clean this up, huh."

Vivi nodded. "Yeah, it shouldn't take that long."

"Of course it won't." said a voice to my left.

I turned to see Zidane and the others standing there. Zidane smiled. "We're gonna help you guys."

I smiled. "But what about dinner?"

Quina spoke. "We already take care of that. Yummy-yummies will be done by 5:30 P.M. Now we help you."

I smiled. "Thanks you guys." They nodded, and we started cleaning up.

I was displeased with what I was seeing, but not surprised. The brothers had yet again proven victorious. Now they and their friends were cleaning up the mess that was left behind.

"Well, looks like your plan failed."

I nodded. "So it would appear. Oh well, Tantarian was no big loss. I merely used him to test their skills."

Cory spoke. "Well, what do you think?"

I looked back at the image. "Separated, they are strong, but together, they can handle virtually anything."

Cory spoke. "So, now what do we do?"

I smiled. "We prepare ourselves, that's what." That's when the doors to my throne room opened.

I looked up to see who was entering my throne room. That's when I saw who was entering. It was one of the castle servants. They were bringing in a slave. The slave was a human male.

Cory smiled. "Looks like my dinner's here." Cory walked down to meet the slave. I decided to sit back and watch this. Watching him eat was a true sight to behold.

I walked up to meet the servant and the slave. The servant was an orc; one of many that prowled the castle. I found the orcs to be putrid creatures, but I respected their cruelty. They were cruel to everyone, even each other. I had to respect that.

The slave the orc had was dressed in rags. This is usually the routine. The orcs would bring me a slave every evening to satisfy my hunger and lust for blood.

Rumors about me had spread among the slaves. I started those rumors hoping to spread fear among the slaves. From the reaction this slave was having, the rumors must've spread fast. The slave was violently trying to break out of the orcs grip, but to no avail.

Finally, the orc reached me, and forced the slave to his knees. The slave looked up at me. He was shaking all over. I could smell his fear, and I could see the terror in his eyes.

I spoke. "Look at you…you're scared…shaking…lost…hopeless." I backhanded him across the face. He fell to the ground. I smiled. "I love it." I walked over to the slave, grabbed him by his hair, and lifted his head up. He still had great fear in his eyes. Nothing gave me more pleasure than to see the utter terror in this man's eyes.

I spoke. "You've heard about me haven't you? The monster that devours slaves?" He slowly nodded his head, he was still terrified. I smiled. "Well, let me tell you that the rumors you've heard about me are true. I am going to eat you, and I'm going to enjoy every…single…bit of it." I could smell that the man had just wet himself. I'd have to be careful when eating around that area.

I smiled. "Ah, cheer up slave…its Thanksgiving." The salve gave me a look of confusion. I smiled, and started to transform.

Thanks to Phantom, I've learned how to control my transformations. No longer was my transformation controlled by the full moon. I could now transform into my werewolf form at will. After a few seconds, my transformation was complete.

The slave screamed as he saw me in all my unholy glory. I smiled as I watched him cower in fear. I waited a few seconds more, before I pounced on him. He tried to struggle out of my grip, but I was much stronger and larger than he was. I slowly licked his face; savoring the taste of his flesh. He screamed in terror. I drank in his fear and savored it. That's when I howled, opened my mouth, bit his neck, ripped his throat out, and devoured it.

I watched as Cory devoured his latest victim. It was always interesting to see him eat. His cruelty was second only to my own. I smiled as I watched him slowly open his victim's chest to feast on his innards.

I turned from the spectacle to look and see what Michael was doing. They were all sitting at the table getting ready to eat. I frowned, and waved my hand over the image. The image disappeared. I looked back to watch Cory eat his dinner. I smiled 'you and your brother will meet your end soon, Michael, and once you're gone the entire multi-verse will fear my name.'

We were all sitting at the table, and were enjoying our meal. Despite Tantarian's attack, everything went alright. The cleanup was a pain, but nothing we couldn't handle.

I spoke. "So, how is everything?"

Vivi spoke. "It's great."

Quina spoke. "Turkey come out good."

My Master nodded. "Yeah, well all of you did a fine job."

We all spoke. "Thank you."

I spoke. "Well, it wasn't a perfect Thanksgiving."

Zidane smiled. "I don't know, crazy shoppers, a big fight, great food, and we did all survive."

I nodded. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. I guess it wasn't so bad."

My Master nodded. "No, indeed it wasn't."

Dagger spoke. "We should do this again next year."

My Master spoke. "Fine, but we're not having it here."

I spoke. "Why not?"

He narrowed his eyes. "One, I don't want a being from another world attacking my home again. Two, I'm not going to be your scapegoat for getting out of clean up duty. While, we're on the subject of clean up, all of you are going to help me clean up after dinner."

I spoke. "Hey, we're the guests."

He shook his head. "Guests or not, you guys are still helping me clean up."

I sighed. "Fine, we'll help." He nodded and started to eat again.

Vivi spoke. "So what do we do after we're done?"

I spoke. "Well, I'm gonna take us back to Gaia and drop everyone off."

Vivi nodded. "Good, I'm feeling a bit sleepy."

Zidane spoke. "Oh, that's just the sleeping weed Dagger put in our food when we weren't looking." We all stopped eating, and looked at Dagger. Her face had turned deep red.

She turned to Zidane. "ZIDANE! I didn't put sleeping weed in this food!"

Zidane laughed. "I know, I was just kidding for old time sakes." Dagger still looked angry, and slightly embarrassed.

I smiled, and continued eating. This is what Thanksgiving is all about; spending time with friends and family. I closed my eyes, and sighed. 'It may not be a perfect Thanksgiving, but this is definitely the best Thanksgiving I've ever had' I thought.

Well that's it for the Thanksgiving fic. I really wish I had more time to work on this, but school work just wouldn't permit it. Oh well, it's not too bad. I hope I got the history of Thanksgiving down right. It's sort of a watered down version, but I think it's accurate. If I got anything wrong let me know, but you better be very sure about it.

Looks like I dropped another hint as to where Castle Phantom is located. I wonder if anyone's figured the location out yet. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed the fic. Up next is my Christmas fic. I'll try to post it the day before Christmas Eve… Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone.