Christmas Arc

This arc takes place over the month of December, when Ash Sheridan has decided to take a break from crime to celebrate. Aleenya Mlinger is less than pleased, and Ash attempts to make Aleenya like Christmas. Jonathan Crane gets framed and outed as Scarecrow, and seeks shelter at Ash's house. Cate Hunter and Izzy Tennant are arrested for breaking Ash and Aleenya out of Arkham, but the Joker takes the blame for the crime and is arrested.

**Previous Arc:** Arkham Arc

**Next Arc:** Aleenya Arc

## Christmas Past (AKA: Let’s Frame Crane!)

Ash decides to celebrate Christmas, now that she has someone living in the same house as her, only to discover that Aleenya has no interest in the holiday season. Ash insists, however, and decorates the house extravagantly. She gets the idea to recreate a Christmas Carol with Aleenya as Scrooge and seeks out Lily’s help. She finds Lily and convinces her to play the part of Christmas Past.

Cate and Izzy are reminded of Crane’s existence from a news program discussing the escape from Arkham. They do not like the threat of him exposing their part in the escape, and decide to investigate his shadiness. They find very few leads, and have no idea how to proceed when they come across Anne the Pirate. Anne offers to help them uncover some dirt on Crane. She is able to learn of some of Crane’s shipments of strange chemicals for a doctor. She informs Cate and Izzy, who agree that he is properly shady, and worthy of being framed.

The police find Crane’s credit card at a chemical plant that had recently been robbed by Anne. Scarlett and Jean pay a visit to Crane to confront him on this, where he informs them that he has called the card in missing, and gives them a very firm alibi. He insists that the reason this keeps happening to him is because Aleenya is targeting him.

Scarlett is not convinced by Crane’s alibi, and works hard at creating a lengthy list of all of the circumstantial evidence she has accrued against Crane. She begs Gordon to arrest him as a suspect just in case, and Gordon agrees. Anne learns of this, and warns Crane, believing him to be an innocent man. He flees from his house with very few supplies.

Lily works with Ash, Cate, and Izzy to create an illusion for Aleenya’s Christmas Past. Lily has obtained a few old family videos from the Mlinger household, which highlight Allie and Aleenya having been close friends, especially around Christmas. It ends with a phone call Allie made to Aleenya declaring she will turn Aleenya in. Ash, Cate, and Izzy all burst into the room as if they are worried about her, insisting that they heard no voices except for Aleenya shouting. In Aleenya’s disoriented state, Cate and Izzy go home, and Ash offers to go on a walk with Aleenya to clear her head.

## Christmas Present (Hint: It’s Crane!)

Ash takes Aleenya on a non-violent or havoc-wreaking walk. They spy on a family that Ash knows has lost someone to Aleenya. They listen in, and come face to face with the family pushing past their grief. Ash then decides to move on, and begins to walk seemingly randomly.

They end up near Aleenya’s old home, and Aleenya points this out. Ash decides to go and investigate the house that Aleenya grew up in, though Aleenya is less enthusiastic, since she still believes her parents to be dead. Ash discovers that the couple inside is in fact Aleenya’s parents. When she learns this, Ash goes to talk to them before Aleenya can object. She asks them for something to tell Aleenya as a Christmas present, and finds a box full of letters addressed to Aleenya while snooping. She takes one before leaving, and gives it to Aleenya.

When they return home, Aleenya reads the letter and begins crying. Ash tries to prevent her from being too embarrassed, but is saved the trouble by Crane, who collapses through the doorway in that instant. He is too frozen to speak, but Ash wastes no time in helping him. When he is able to speak again, Crane explains that he was framed and about to be arrested. Ash forces him to admit that he is seeking protection from them, and Aleenya insists that he beg for their help.

After helping him recover completely from the cold, Ash informs him that he has to sleep on the couch, since she does not have an extra room ready. Aleenya and Ash begin tormenting and threatening him, but Ash suddenly calls off the approaching torture session.

## Christmas Yet to Come

Ash forces Crane to play a part in her modern Christmas Carol, insisting that he become the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. She leaves him no other option, so Crane obliges. He takes it simplistically, however, simply appearing in the cloak and scythe she gave him, and uses a very basic gas to induce hallucinations.

Given the theme of Aleenya’s other visits, she hallucinates about her own death, and the reaction to it, as well as hallucinates about feeling left out of Ash’s life. After the hallucination, Aleenya decides to let Ash continue their no-evil around Christmas time rule.

Ash has a large Christmas dinner, inviting all of the people she knows. She gives presents to all of them. Izzy and Cate get tickets to Harry Potter World, which lead them to go on a road trip, and she cleans out the closet that the Joker was trapped in in order to give Crane a private room.

## Cate and Izzy Arrested!

The police find Crane’s recordings of the escape from Arkham, incriminating Cate and Izzy. They are arrested by Scarlett and Jean, and questioned about the escape. They decide to blame the Joker for bringing them there.

Ash decides to let Crane torture himself for a while, since he is so unhappy to be with them. Aleenya informs Ash that her friends have been arrested, and discover that the evidence came from Crane’s property. As such, Ash insists that he help them rig the trial in their favor. When Crane shows disdain for Ash’s loyalty, she declares him a fool in such a manner that he genuinely believes she may kill him. Ash explains her loyalty to her friends to Aleenya afterwards.

Anne the Pirate obtains recordings of Cate and Izzy’s interrogations at the police department, and encounters the Joker. Anne asks him to help Cate and Izzy’s case, and though the Joker is at first skeptical, decides to go along with it after he listens to the recordings. Aleenya runs into Lily O’Clare, who reveals that she has become Cate and Izzy’s lawyer. They plot ways of intimidating the jury, while Ash plans to bribe them.

The trial proceeds normally, but just as the jury is about to be dismissed, the Joker appears. He announces that he was the mastermind behind the escape, and allows himself to be captured. The jury declares the two not guilty, and they go free.

## Soundtrack

### Happy Christmas Friendship

* **All I Need to Know** - Thousand Foot Krutch
* **Christmas at Hogwarts** - John Williams
* **Friends Will Be Friends** - Queen
* **With A Little Help From My Friends** - The Beatles
* **The Mighty Fall** - Fall Out Boy

### Everyone @ Crane (The Revengening)

* **The Bird and the Worm** - The Used
* **The Devil Within** - Digital Daggers
* **Break My Fall** - Breaking Benjamin
* **The Phoenix** - Fall Out Boy
* **Thank You** - Evans Blue
* **Poor Little Rich Boy** - Regina Spektor
* **Want You Gone** - GLaDOS
* **Don’t Mess With Me** - Temposhark
* **Mad Hatter** - Melanie Martinez
* **Crazy=Genius** - Panic! at the Disco
* **I Can’t Decide** - Scissor Sisters