Killer had been on the run since he helped that child kill his mother (not the elf's, the child's), he knew he couldn't go to Santa's, but he was sick of the child making demands on him to kill this or that person.
Eventually, the police discovered the murder, and took the child away.
This left Killer free to go, but he had no idea where to. So he wandered about aimlessly until he was eventually spotted by a tall woman, who approached and picked him up.
"Got a question," she said, "Has anyone in your host family been making strange demands on you? Has anyone had something bad happen to them?"
Killer froze. What could he say.
"I guess that's a yes." she said. "Were you part of it?"
Killer trembled in her arms.
"Were you?" she repeated.
"I didn't mean it." Killer said. Then it all came rushing out. "This mother hid all sorts of things throughout the house and pretended they were my victims for her kid to find. Then he snapped and told me to trip her up while she went looking for him. I didn't realize that would get her killed!"
"And what of the dismemberment?" she asked.
"This kid just went nuts with a knife once she was down." Killer shuddered. "You gotta believe me, I didn't ask for any of this!"
"It's not what I believe that's important. Come with me. We'll get you to someone who can help sort this out."
With that, the Sugar Plum Fairy teleported with Killer to Santa's property.
When Zippy had packaged himself up somehow and managed to get into James's hospital room, he caused James to have a nervous breakdown. This resulted in Zippy being removed, and James sedated.
The nurse who removed the elf, had no use for him, so she put him in with some toys the hospital had on hand for sick or visiting children.
That night, he tried to find James again. It was not easy, having to duck and cover to avoid being seen or heard by the night staff. But when he got to James's room, there was no James. A different patient was there instead.
So what else was there to do but go back home?
Unfortunately for Zippy, he found a stranger waiting for him at James's house.
It was a short blonde, blue-eyed girl who came rushing at Zippy to pick him up roughly as he was about to attempt entry to the house.
"So, Zippy..." she said.
"Wait, who are you and how do you know my name?"
"My name is Ameh. I was sent for you, by none other than Santa himself..."
Zippy squirmed in Ameh's arms, but she held fast. "Why so worried, Zippy, the way you're acting, anybody would think you're scared of Santa, which means you probably deserve to be on the naughty list."
Chet had to make another quick exit from Annie's room when her screams caused Julia and Dan to rush in.
Julia picked up the frightened, injured girl and held her while Dan called 911.
But when Chet teleported out of the scene a second time, he landed right in the arms of a stranger.
"You better hope that little girl survives and makes a full recovery, Chet, because if she doesn't... - "
Elsewhere, a vacant house stood. It used to be where two small boys and their ogre of a grandma lived, before one boy was murdered and the other was taken to hospital and protective custody. Signs of extensive physical abuse lead to the grandma being arrested.
Now, a stranger entered the empty house, and wandered about as if searching for something.
Granny's Elf heard the door open, and had no idea how that could've happened with a lone stranger who surely wouldn't have just been given a key to enter whenever she felt like it. But that's what appeared to happen.
The dark-haired girl peered around until she spied the elf sitting on a small table in a corner of the living room.
She headed straight for it and picked it up.
Immediately, the elf shuddered, and waves of sickening fear and regret seared through him.
The girl said nothing, but held him firmly, going about the house in what seemed to be intense concentration.
The elf sometimes felt her tensing up, then relaxing again slightly, he heard her utterances of dismay.
Finally, she seemed to be finished whatever she was doing, and carried the elf out of the house with her.
Bethany's Elf had his fun tormenting the aunt of the little girl he had killed, until one day, he checked Elfnet and found a message there from some elf named Nadine.
It read:
'I once read about a really talented elf with some amazing features and qualities. I would love to collaborate on a project with him. He has white or clear glass eyes, long, thin teeth, claws, and he can change his size at will. If there is an elf like that out there, please get back to me. Here is my picture.
Thanks, sincerely.
Nadine'
The Elfnet platform operated like an email distribution list so that anyone using it could show or hide their email address, and choose to reply to the whole of Elfnet or just to one individual poster.
Bethany's Elf wrote back to only Nadine, with information on where he was located, and asked her where she was at. He finished off with 'We should meet right after Critmas.'
Nadine fired off a couple of messages to other people, making plans for what to do next. Then, she hustled to the clothing and textiles section of Santa's workshop to either find or prepare a shirt that she could be recognized in by Bethany's Elf. Finding a plain white shirt that fit her was no problem at all, but she had to double-check some settings when putting it through the machine that printed slogans and logos on clothing. The result was not normally something Nadine would wear, but it did very nicely for the purpose it was intended. If by some off chance, she missed seeing him, he was sure to spot her.
Bethany's elf was delighted that a message came through from Nadine, saying she just happened to be in the same town as him, and could they meet just in front of the Anon Elementary School. The message finished up with "You'll know me by my shirt. I'm wearing it in the picture attached."
He wrote back "I'll be there."
Quick as a flash, he teleported over to the Anon Elementary school, but found no one waiting around anywhere. He waited for another couple of minutes, and was just about to scout out the whole area surrounding the school when a cute elf girl in a white shirt with 'Sweet&Spicy" came into view.
"Hey little lady," Bethany's Elf said, coming up to her. "Like your shirt."
"Thanks.. And my name's Nadine."
"Very pretty name," he said, moving in closer.
Nadine shuddered. This was definitely the character she was supposed to meet. He looked as creepy as his description, and being in such close proximity to him, knowing what he had done to Bethany was making Nadine very uneasy.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Other than me not being dressed for the weather, no. I needed to wear something that would stand out so you - or someone who looks like you, could see me better."
"Yeah, you look even better than your picture on Elfnet." he said. "So, you said something about a project?
"Yes. But before we talk about that, we should get into some kind of shelter. I'm freezing to death out here." Nadine made for an overhang where the school roof afforded them some protection and they wouldn't be noticed too easily by the general public.
"You can just let me shelter you until we find somewhere cozy." Bethany's Elf suggested as he followed her. Once he was sure they were out of the way, he turned to face Nadine, then grew to her size and taller right before her. Then, he made ready to enfold Nadine in his claw-fingered arms. He was so intent on her that he didn't see what was coming.
He felt a sharp pain in the back of his right shoulder for a moment, then dizziness. Apparently, he was also being followed.
"That won't be necessary." a woman's voice said abruptly as she rushed to collect him. "Good work, Nadine."
"Thanks."
"What the...?" Bethany's Elf tried to fight the effect of the tranquilizer, but he was fast losing the battle. "You - set - me..."
"Set up? Yeah, and it's not just the cold making me shake," said Nadine pointedly, "You make my skin crawl!"
"Hang on tight, Nadine, we'll take this trash somewhere it can't hurt anyone else."
In a blink, all three had disappeared from that place.
"Great work, Nadine and Shawn." Santa said. "We'll have to lock this one up fast and secure so he doesn't try any more disappearing acts."
"Then I'm ditching this ridiculous shirt." said Nadine with a grin.
Santa, the elf and the fairy soon had Bethany's Elf shut safely in a cell, and Shawn turned the area into a no-teleport zone.
"Good." said Santa. "Ameh and Ocean should be arriving soon with their naughty elves, and then we can get this all sorted out."