Sanders Sides (and more) One Shots

Patton the Great Pumpkin

Patton didn't have a problem with his role as Thomas's morality, but he decided to get another job in order to feel like he can contribute more. For the first few years, it felt dull since not a lot of people thought this job was legitimate. However, the amount of kids that were aware of his occupation grew and Patton felt that the happiness of the children he gave treats to was worth the hard work: making treats, making gifts that weren't complicated, traveling, labeling the gifts, even blending in with the pumpkins. Yes, pumpkins. Patton's second job was as the Great Pumpkin. He hasn't told anyone since he didn't want to make a big deal out of it.

Unfortunately, with the help of Deceit, Patton had to come up with excuses to why he couldn't spend Halloween night with his family for the past several years. All Deceit knew was that Patton was busy on Halloween night, but he didn't know what the father figure did that ate up his time. He even did his best to hide his work before Halloween by hiding the treats, letters, and camouflage in his room. He knew he was missed every year, but the good kids that believe in him needed him.

One year, Patton made his way to the real world to check which pumpkin patch contained the most sincerity. Roman was headed for Patton's room to spend time before he "bails on the fam". Halfway there, Deceit appeared and tried to shove Roman away while he was still walking forward.

"Hey, Jack O'Lantern the Fibber, don't you have a Western town in the middle of Nowhere to manipulate or something?" Roman spat.

"As much as I appreciate the research, it might be best not to bother Patton while he's busy," Deceit retorted.

"Are you holding him hostage again?"

"I'm not, you idiot!"

Roman felt less stressed from seeing Deceit's brown eyes, but he still felt determined to go talk to Patton. The snake man quickly blocked the door.

"What are you guys planning?" Roman asked while maintaining eye contact.

"Oh, Patton has told me a lot of his plans for this time of year," Deceit proclaimed as his eyes grew yellow.

"Is Patton free to talk?" Roman asked him.

"He usually makes time to talk," Deceit answered with brown eyes.

They looked at each other for several seconds before Roman approached Deceit and Deceit turned the doorknob without thinking. As the door opened, the two thespians fell in the room with Roman on top of an unfazed Deceit.

"Huh, your brother bottoms and you top. Go figure," Deceit joked as the two got up.

The two looked around and were surprised by the items that took up space that weren't nostalgic. Deceit saw some cookbooks for different types of fudge, candy, and baked goods while Roman was gazing at a multitude of toys and a really large binder. The Prince opened the binder and saw there were several letters in multiple types of handwriting addressed to the Great Pumpkin. The two of them summoned Virgil and Logan since Patton could be back at any moment. While Roman was matching the toys to the letters, Logan was looking at a map of marked pumpkin patches that each had an orange dot with a different number on them that he found were supposed to represent "Most Sincere of the Year". Virgil saw a tablet of saved articles that were talking about gifts being delivered on Halloween past trick-or-treat hours. Eventually, all of them saw the outfit meant to help Patton blend in with the pumpkins and it didn't take until they remembered the Peanuts Halloween special for them to put all the pieces together.

"Did you know about this?" Virgil asked Deceit.

"All I knew was that he was busy and needed to come up with excuses for why he was busy. He never told me what was eating up his time," the snake man answered with brown eyes.

"From what was gathered, Patton has certainly made the kids happy from what he was doing. Do you guys think he would appreciate if the favor was returned?" Logan asked.

After that question, the Sides went to Thomas to discuss their discovery and idea. Up until Halloween, when Patton didn't see his family around, he felt upset from the idea that they were getting back at him since he couldn't spend time with them. Unbeknownst to him, everyone else (with the help of Thomas and his social circle) managed to get treat donations for the Great Pumpkin. Of course, some people were skeptical, but after some evidence to justify their claims of knowing the Great Pumpkin, they managed to donate some cards and treats that couldn't melt easily.

Eventually, Halloween came and, while Patton was adding the final touches to his gifts, Roman left to the pumpkin patch Patton chose and left behind a bag with the treats and a note sticking out. Even though Patton knew he was busy, he knew that he was at least thought about when he was asked to join his family for Halloween. He hoped they wouldn't be busy the following day since he wanted to let them know how much he really did care about them.
That night, as he teleported to and rose from the pumpkin patch, he noticed a bag of goodies in front of him that was different than the big bag next to him. With the help of his flashlight, Patton looked through the bag and saw multiple treats and cards that were both Halloween cards and "Thank You" cards signed by different people. He also saw some drawings in the bag of sentient and slim pumpkins that he figured were supposed to represent him. Lastly, he saw a piece of paper by his feet that he figured must've fallen out of the bag. He recognized it was a note and used his flashlight to help him read it.

'Hey there, Patton.
Don't ask how, but we found out about what has kept you so busy during this time of year. Even with a lot of challenges this deed had to offer, we thought it would be a good idea to have the community give back to the Great Pumpkin. We hope you remember how loved you are and that you get some well-deserved rest.

Signed,
Your Fam (I.L.Y.)'

Patton cried happy tears as he finished the letter and looked at the bag left for him. He carefully teleported them to his own room before flying through the air to make his rounds.