He was a bastard.

That was very clear. No one was surprised.

All the time, it was about him.

ALL THE TIME.

He always got what he wanted whether it be the TV, what he wanted to eat, if he wanted a room to himself, whatever he wanted to play or mess around with.

He was a spoiled child and if he didn't get what he wanted . . . . . be prepared for the tantrum from hell.

All the electronics in the house would be fried, the walls would be crisped and whoever was nearby might get burnt. Luckily enough, the magician and the doctor were there in case that happened.

Yes, Anti always got what he wanted and he always found the means to do it himself if no one complied to help him.

Like the one time he wanted pizza instead of Salisbury steak so he turned up the temp on them and burnt them so Chase would order a pizza.

Or the time when he wanted to go to the mall but no one would let him go because the last time, he apparently got banned . . . . .somehow. But he went anyway under a shitty disguise pretending to be Sean. And of course Sean let him get away with it. It wasn't like he killed anyone while he was out.

This time.

And then there were the hospital bills the egos always had to pay for because of his stupid rampages and tantrums. Every once in a while, he got uncontrollable, though, unable to stop himself and the others couldn't put that against him. He couldn't help what Sean had weighted on him.

Jackie, Chase, Marvin and Henrik would always be there, though, to pay the bills, cover it up or simply get Anti OUT of the scene.

Marvin would always be there to fix damage to buildings or electronics. Chase was there to calm other people and distract and Jameson was around to either put on a show if he needed to or turn back time. He very seldom had to do the latter, thankfully.

And here HE'D be.

Lounging around like he owned the place. Free from responsibility or conscience.

Sometimes it was pretty aggravating.

Most of the time, that's just how he was and the others tried their best to accept it.

Most of the time, he didn't give a shit if they accepting him or not. As long as he got to live there rent and chore free.

He was a bastard.

But once every year, something tended to nag at his heart.

At the end of the year when everything was lit and colorful. Snowy and cheerful.

He'd watch the other egos decorate and smile and be merry and it . . . .  almost hurt.

While he would be watching TV in his room, they would be playing games or watching movies all together and eating sweets.

For some reason, he didn't feel right barging in on their happiness like he normally would.

And every Christmas, the other egos would get him a present, completely understanding when he wouldn't give THEM one. Why would they do it, though, if they NEVER got anything in return?

He felt it was all just . . . . weird. He felt . . . . unwelcome almost.

And now it was Christmas time again and he hadn't gotten them anything once AGAIN.

He was in the living room staring at the TV, not really watching it, when Chase walked in, "Hey Anti, you gonna blink anytime soon or are you gonna keep being weird all day, bro?"

Anti blinked finally and looked up at him, feeling strange, "Whatever . . .the fook you want?"

Chase snorted, "Easy there, dude. Where's your Christmas spirit, huh? Christmas is less than a week away and you're acting like a Grinch!"

Anti didn't understand the reference, "Sounds fun" he rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Chase didn't sense the sarcasm, however, and grinned, "You'd make the world's best Grinch, my dude."

Anti didn't know whether to feel complimented or insulted, "What do you want?"

Jackie came in behind Chase, wearing casual clothes with a red Santa hoodie and black jeans, "We're gonna go out shopping. We know you hate that shite so you can stay here with your best friend, Mr. TV."

Chase high-fived him.

Anti felt insulted now, "Shut up. Whatever. Get out of here, then, assholes"

"Oh, so grumpy" Jackie teased but ran behind Chase before Anti could attack them both.

The glitch could hear the others chuckle and shove each other around playfully in the other room before leaving all together in Henrik's van.

At the sound of silence, Anti tensed, glancing over at the tree, decorated beautifully. Everyone knew that Marvin was in charge of making it look that way. So whimsical and perfect. The lights flickered softly and the decorations on the tree were hand-made by them all including Chase and Henrik's kids.

Anti had tried to make a decoration one year in secret but it didn't end so well, lighting half the tree on fire. Everyone thought a bulb just popped and caused the fire. Luckily, they just turned the tree around the other direction so the burnt side wasn't visible.

Then his eyes landed on the presents under the tree. There weren't as many this year as everyone had gotten busy and Henrik and Chase had gotten pay-cuts. They refused to ask Sean for help which only made things worse. Right now there were only enough presents under the tree for all of them for each other.

And one present for Anti.

He assumed it was another fancy or decorated knife, be it themed or just nice looking. That's what they got him every year.

It wasn't very thought out.

'It's like they don't even really know me'

Not that he made it easy to just sit down and get to know him.

He knew it was all his fault.

He  . ..  wanted to fix things but every time he tried . . .

It just seemed to make things worse.

They tolerated him, don't get him wrong but sometimes, he wanted more.

He wasn't emotionless after all, even if he gave off that energy.

'Maybe I should try and do something for them this year'

The thought lingered in his head for a while until after a few moments, he finally came to a decision.

The others had always tolerated his shitty attitude and tantrums. It was time he showed just how grateful he was. He didn't hate them, after all.

Truth be told, he actually liked them all well enough. Although, Chase was his favorite next to Sean. It might not ever look like it but Anti respected the divorced father very much. Whenever someone was about to yell at him or loss their temper with him, Chase would turn their attention away and try his best to help Anti out whether he wanted it or not.

Chase always seemed to look out for him even if Anti WAS a complete douchebag.

But then Anti ran into a problem.

What would he get them?

The more he thought about it, the more he realized his issue. He had NO idea what any of them would like!

'How. . . how is this right? I spend most of my time around the idiots. How do I not . . . .'

He stood up and started to pace, gnawing at his lips, 'This isn't good. I don't want to look like a fool!'

He looked over at the presents again, 'Maybe I should just forget it? No, no, I can't just back out. I should try and think of something.'

With a heavy sigh, Anti groaned and trudged off to the kitchen. Without really thinking, he broke into the fridge and took out a few Christmas candies, popping them into his mouth while he thought.

'I could just go to the dollar store and grab cheap things they'd all probably like but then again what if they already have such things or know where it came from?'

He crunched on some peanut brittle, 'I could just steal some stuff- no, if Jackie finds out, he'd kill me for sure' he snorted and munched some more, 'What the fuck do I do?'

Once he wanted to do something, there was nothing that could stop him. So if he wanted to figure out the perfect Christmas gift for each of them, he was going to do it!

He started to pace again but this time, his feet led him upstairs.

Anti popped a piece of fudge in his mouth, 'Maybe I could ask Sean or the kids. No, they'd tell them all for sure. Goddammit, this is so fucking stupid.' His body emitted a small zap of electricity, stopping the clock on the wall as he passed by.

He was just going by Jackie's room whose door was cracked open slightly when he got an idea.

A stupid idea.

But it was an idea nonetheless.

'I could just sneak in their rooms and see what they don't have and go by that!'

He thought it was brilliant, obviously.

He stared through the crack of Jackie's door, just barely seeing inside. He was mildly worried that Jackie could have a camera set up in his room just for these occasions but he quickly put that thought in the back of his mind, 'Why the fook should I care?'

So Anti barged in the room, 'I'll start with Jackie's room and work by way down the hall'

Once inside Jackie's room, Anti's nose was attacked by a foul stench and he cringed at it, "The fook IS that!? Piss or sweat?!" he knew Jackie had the tendency to work out and then re-use his work-out clothes but this was pretty disgusting.

The room was messy with clothes strewn about everywhere, a couple dumbbells on the floor by his bed. There were comic books and hero-themed posters on the walls and a dart board with Anti's face on it.

Anti would normally be upset by this but knew it was just a joke as Jackie wouldn't actually hurt him. It was just a way to vent his frustration on the glitch and he was okay with that. He knew he could be a handful.

Anti searched everywhere for anything Jackie DIDN'T have in his room, but honestly, he had a lot of shit as it was. So much, he no longer had places to put them! Even in his closet where he kept his mask and suit, it was full of junk. Which meant that Anti was no closer in figuring out what he could get Jackie as a present. He couldn't just give him MORE junk!

'This isn't helping at all. Maybe I should try Henrik's room'

So he went there next and HIS room was actually the complete opposite. Clean. Spotless, really, just like his clinic. And it had the same smell as one, too.

Everything was put into its own place and everything was just so . . . minimalistic. He didn't seem to own a lot of personal items which perplexed Anti. If he didn't have anything fun, then what was the point of this stupid holiday? It looked like Henrik would rather celebrate Hannukah. Not that Hannukah was a bad holiday. Eight days of celebration and food? Now the food, Anti could completely get on board with.

He just didn't understand any of this, though, STILL.

The only thing Henrik had in his room that remotely made sense for the doctor was his own personal coffee machine!

So then he tried Jameson's room next.

Odd to say the least. It was like walking into an antique store.  Everything he owned looked old, black and white and fragile like it was from the early 1900s. He had a strange little stage in the corner of his room used for his birthday videos with sock puppets and its own curtain and he had an old record player next to his bed. It made Anti feel nauseas, really so he felt he had to bolt out before he got sick.

Next was Chase's room and really, it was the most normal out of all of them so far. Similar to Anti's room, he had a few personal belongings, a laptop on his nightstand, his bed wasn't made and it was moderately clean. Normal. What was different was the desktop set-up, the weird hand-made Rube Goldberg machine in the corner of the room, the old skateboard and a few pictures of his kids.

This was the first time Anti actually thought of something he could get for one of them, 'That skateboard looks like it's about to bust any time soon on any one of his next sketchy adventures. Maybe I could buy him a new one?'

He may have figured out something for one of them but he was still stuck on the others and he still had Marvin's room to break into.

'One out of five. Great.' He rolled his eyes, 'And what did Chase say? There were only a few days left until Christmas? Dammit, I really need to think of shit for the others fast'

Choosing to work on the others later, he snuck into Marvin's room next.

It was pretty different from the others. It was extravagant for sure, just like him but still homey and comfortable looking.

There were pillows and blankets everywhere, cards were strewn about his floor along with strange rocks and books open to  . . . questionable pages.

There were fairy lights hung around the room that glowed pretty colors and somehow it smelt DELICIOUS in there. Like holiday spices and candies and all sorts of nice wintery smells all folded into one breathe of air.

Over on his desk was his wand and Anti was tempted on grabbing it and hiding it but he refrained himself. He tried looking through the room more but once again, he ran into the same problem as all of the others.

'I can't just get Chase a present and not everyone else. That wouldn't be right. At least, it doesn't feel right. And what would I get Sean? I can't even sneak into HIS room.'

Anti was losing his temper and started to glitch, making the lights flicker in Marvin's room, "THIS IS FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE!"

He stomped on the ground in a pout but apparently, he had rocked the bookshelf just right, so something fell onto the floor.

'Oh just great. Better not have been breakable. I'll deny all of it'

Anti walked over to where he heard the noise and on an open book on the floor, there sat a strange object.

It looked like a normal ear-piece but if Anti knew ANYTHING, it was that anything in Marvin's room was NOT normal.

'The fuck is this?' Anti examined it further but narrowed his eyes suspiciously, 'What could this earpiece possibly do? If it's to listen to music, he could just use Bluetooth. He's always got to be so fooking extra.'

Humming quietly to himself, Anti couldn't take it. He had to know what it did!

Taking his losses for now, Anti left the room with the earpiece in his hands and ran off to his own room.

He stared at it and examined it further but on the outside, there was nothing special about it.

'Maybe it really is just a normal earpiece.' He thought to himself, 'I can't see what Marv could do to this thing. Doesn't look all that special'

But he put the device in, nonetheless, 'I wonder what kind of music he listens to?'

He pressed the button on the side of it after he put it around and in his one ear, turning it on.

Anti heard a soft high-pitched 'ding' noise but nothing else happened, 'Maybe it's connected to his phone and I'm too far away'

That had to be it.

Anti suddenly heard the door open and close and as it did, he heard his fellow egos chatting and laughing together, having returned from their little outing.

'They're back already?! How long was I looking through all their shit!?'

It didn't matter now, though. They wouldn't know what he did. For now, he'd just have to think on it more on what to get the others.

Having to think so hard, though, only proved how little he knew them. It was sad, really that they had all been living together for so long, only to know NOTHING about each other.

'Maybe I'll just get them all giftcards or something and-'

'God, I hope Anti hasn't done anything weird or destructive this time while we've been gone'

Anti flinched at the sound but it didn't sound like the voice came from anywhere. It was like. . . it was in his head.

'The. . . the fuck just  . .'

Anti gulped, suddenly realizing it was Jackie's voice . . . but in his HEAD.

And then Anti realized he still had the ear-piece in and Jackie had just walked by his room.

He got it now.

'This earpiece. . . . . it makes it so I can read other people's thoughts!'

With a grin, he suddenly knew EXACTLY what he was going to do now to figure out what to get everyone for Christmas.

What better way to know exactly what someone wants by reading their mind?!