Humphrey's fingers flew across a series of keyboards with a preternatural speed as he sat in the Control Room in front of a bay of monitors. He had been facilitating production when the lights dimmed to red and alarms began to sound in the room: another energy overload. He glanced over to check one of the many metrics that were being charted in real-time, much like a seismograph. He sighed and tapped his foot in agitation, seeing the Christmas Spirit level dropping once more.
They were officially in an Energy Crisis.
He jumped into action, tapping the intercom and beginning the coordination of power restore as the backup-generators kicked on. This was growing into a massive problem, and he wasn't sure of the solution yet. He'd have to talk to the Big Man to calibrate their approach.
The lights soon returned to normal and the alarm stopped. Energy Levels Restored.
He leaned forward as he ran a hand through his white hair, letting out a relieved breath. He was starting to really worry. Santa was spending more and more time locked in his office, and while Humphrey was more than capable to run things in his absence, it was a stop-gap at best and a disaster-waiting-to-happen at worst. He worried about his old friend as he thought about the first time they met all of those hundreds of years ago.
He was brought out of his reverie by a new alarm, this time a shrill whooping chirp. The Wards! He tapped the intercom again and patched into the Communications Room.
"What's going on? Do we have eyes on the target yet?"
"Yes," Alabaster's squeaky voice responded, "It looks like our favorite reporter stole a snowmobile and is attempting to sneak in from the South. Relaying visuals."
An aerial shot popped up on his display as he saw a man, bundled up tightly with a backpack, zooming across the ice. He tapped the intercom. "North Pole One to Echo Sierra Two. We have an intruder in Sector 16. Human on a Snowmobile."
He waved his hand over a small crystal box as a new monitor came online. He pulled up the man's profile again, though he'd seen it several times over the last couple of weeks: John Kilpatrick, Ace Reporter of Faux News. He scrolled down to confirm his current status again, though he already knew. Santa was overzealous in his approach, and continued to keep tabs on Humanity, even as they aged past their 18th Christmas: the final year of innocence. Adult statuses weren't as up-to-date, as he tended to cover them during the off-season, but they followed the same ranking system. Saint, Very Good, Good, Naughty, Very Naughty...
Humphrey smiled wickedly as he found what he was looking for. Current Status: Evil. Santa had updated it again at the beginning of the week.
"Echo Sierra Two to North Pole One. Confirming successful capture. Awaiting orders."
The wizened elf's smile grew even wider as his tongue began to snake out of his mouth, his teeth sharpening. Energy levels were stable again, and he could afford to take a short break. Besides, it had been so long. This was his favorite part of his agreement with Santa.
"Roger, roger. Bring him to Bay 4. I'll meet you there. We have a confirmed Code Krampus."
----
John Kilpatrick struggled against the chains, their attached jingle bells jangled as they shifted around him. He sat naked and afraid on a concrete floor under a bright spotlight. The room beyond the halo surrounding him was pitch black, and he couldn't see.
"You fuckers won't get away with this. As soon as I get out of here I'm going to expose you liberal fucks and you won't have a chance. Just wait until my lawyer...." His voice died in his throat as something stepped out of the shadows, its large hooves thudding on the ground.
A monstrous goat creature with thick, dark brown fur leered down at him as it stepped into the light, towering over him and casting a shadow. He gulped and stared up at the beast, whose tongue dangled impossibly long past jagged teeth under piercing yellow irises that glowed through the shadows of its eyes. From his position, he couldn't help but marvel in horror at the thick, mottled monster between its legs out in full force and dribbling a thick pre, which dripped alongside the drool coming from the tongue.
"No. No no no. I'm sorry." He began to struggle again in earnest, his thoughts racing through any of the many gruesome ways this might end. "Please! Don't touch me. Just let me go! I'll stop snooping around!" He yelled into the darkness, hoping his captors would take pity on him.
He was surprised as the beast spoke in a deep, booming bass. "John Kilpatrick. You are on the most Naughty of Lists. And you have been caught trying to sneak into Santa's Village despite having been banned for theft of resort property and tampering of electronics in a breach of the non-disclosure agreement you signed." It paused, as though to put an added weight on the accusations. Before he could defend himself, however, it continued. "Not to mention the years upon years you have spent poisoning public opinion with your writing, spreading lies and pandering to the worst of Humanity, and using your position to take advantage of others. What do you have to say for yourself?"
Shame poured over John in a searing waterfall. The indictment was delivered in such a manner that he couldn't help but feel the weight of his actions, knowing it to be true. Tears welled in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I can change. Please don't hurt me. I can change!"
The beast snorted in amusement. "Yes, actually. You can. And you will."
An open folder was tossed before him and he looked forward nervously, surprised to see a picture of his young daughter, Katie along with her name. He looked up, furious that they would dare to threaten his daughter.
"Katie misses you, John. And you're going to make her very happy come Christmas morning." The beast stepped forward, and John realized for the first time that it was holding a bundle of branches as they were raised above his head. He winced, preparing himself for the blow, but it never came. Instead, a cold tingle spread from the top of his head and through his body. He opened his eyes and found himself bathed in red light, which flashed blue.
He looked back up to the beast and realized that the light was following his vision as his jaw began to cramp up. "What...?" He looked back down, trying to figure out what was happening as his chains suddenly went slack. He brought his hands up to his face as he began to feel a bit dizzy--the light turned green, and was coming from his eyes. He realized that he was no longer restrained and tried to move but found himself stuck in place as the beast continued to watch in silence.
His fingers touched plastic as he touched his lips, and he began to panic. "What did you do to me?" His voice sounded higher, and he saw something moving back and forth at the bottom of his vision, once again bathed in red light.
No response.
He continued to feel at his mouth, realizing he could no longer move his jaw as he felt plush fur begin to spread from the plastic beak. He looked down, quickly realizing that the fur was sprouting across his body--the magenta and pink looked red in the light coming from his eyes. "No. Please. Stop whatever you did." His voice was higher and sounded slightly robotic as he felt his beak push in and out when he spoke. "You can't do this to me."
The beast continued to glower in silence as its tongue coiled around its cock, clearly enjoying itself as it watched him change.
John willed himself to move--to get out of there away from this monster, but could only watch as his feet began to pull into his legs, which quickly began to shrink towards his torso as they developed a shiny texture: plastic. They quickly settled looking like small cartoonish paws at the base of his body, which was beginning to flatten out on the ground. He flailed his head, which rotated back and forth, the red light following wherever he turned.
Upset
The thought came to his mind unbidden, though it seemed to fit how he was feeling. He continued to panic, grieving his situation. His vision flashed blue.
Sad
Again that fit as he felt something pushing out from his forehead. He likewise felt pressure coming from the corners of his head, but when he tried to reach up to feel what was happening, he realized his arms had shrunk. He spun his head and looked down in horror as he watched his fingers disappear into useless lumps at the end of his arms, which also pulled in as they turned blue and purple. His vision turned red again.
Upset
He flapped his new wings uselessly as he spun his head in shock. His vision flashed through several colors as he was sure he was having a seizure. "Please stop. Please!"
The beast was outwardly stroking itself now, continuing to watch. It stomped a hoof and snorted a deep chuckle.
A new, strange stillness came over his demeanor as he realized he was totally fucked. The changes hadn't hurt, they just felt overwhelming and strange, and his body was no longer his own as he realized he was getting smaller. His vision turned blue again.
Sad
He needed a hug. He was scared and small and alone and he found himself wishing for someone to hug him and tell everything would be OK. He wanted his Mommy. A thick white liquid began to pool around him on the floor before it started to thicken and encompass him in a small tight circle. It gave him a strange comfort as it created a barrier between him and the monster that had done this to him. A hug would be nice. The light turned pink.
Cuddly
The white barrier grew up around him, cocooning him in a tight white egg as it grew up around his head and face, hiding him from the goat as it thrust into its hands, panting deeply. John would have been cast into complete darkness if it hadn't been for the light coming from his eyes, as it shone on the plastic immediately before him. Drained from the energy of the transformation, the light turned white before John knew no more.
Sleepy
----
Humphrey came hard as he snorted and pumped into his hand, flicking his tail. Thick ropes of cum shot through the air before landing on the cement. He made sure to aim well away from the new toy he had created even though it would go through the proper sanitation procedures before being packaged up in bright blue and pink packaging and added to the rest of the delivery.
"20 years like this oughta do you some good." People went missing all of the time, and it wouldn't take much work at all to erase any connection he had to the Arctic Sanctuary. He flicked his hand and grinned to himself before retrieving his Ruten, which had dropped to the floor during his masturbation session.
Katie Kilpatrick had asked for two things for Christmas: She wanted a new toy and she wanted to spend more time with her estranged father. She would get exactly what she wanted.
He loved his job.