Thank you Metaphysic for your Christmas Fiction entry. Here is their story...
Over the bleak, cold arctic north a large BADGE landing craft buzzed
through the gray skies. Gliding next to it was the stone hero
Gargoyle, keenly watching the white land below.
Nova
sat in the command seat of this large craft while his trusty robots
managed the controls. He touched a comm device attached to his ear,
“Anything yet, Gar?”
Gar
answered, “Just snow. I...WATCH OUT!”
The
proximity alarm went off and the whole craft lurched to the side as
something slammed into them. The whole craft spun out of control, the
three robots on the bridge rolled about like toys in a storm while
Nova kept his firm grip on the command chair.
Nova
looked out the front windows as they fell out of the sky and slammed
into the ground. Waves of white powder spewed from either side of the
ship as they plowed across the frozen north. After the sliding came
to a stop, Nova shoved the emergency exit open and jumped out.
Gar
landed next to him, "Sir, look!"
A
demon approached, “Ah, Director Nova. It’s been a while.”
“What
is it this time, Krampus? You and I both know you’re unable to get
into Santa’s palace.”
Krampus
resembled a man with shaggy hair all over his body, long demonic
horns on his head, a long tail, and goat-like legs. He smiled at Nova
with those fangs of his, “True, I could never get into that place.
But, things have changed.”
“What
are you talking about?”
Krampus
answers, “These morphons are spectacular little blessings, now
aren’t they? Some humans have been turned almost into gods with
them, and some into demons...depends on what they do with them I
suppose. I, already being nearly a god myself, found them to be most
delightful.”
Nova
growled, “What have you done?” “What I was always meant to do,
punish the nasty little brats of this world. And with Santa out of my
way, I think I can do my job unhindered. I think I will go eat at
least ten thousand children, for starters. I believe that should make
up for the lost years with Santa holding me back. Then, who knows?
Maybe I’ll eat a few thousand more, all before Christmas.”
“No,
you can’t,” Nova exclaimed.
Krampus
laughed, “Who will stop me? Without Santa’s cheer, and morphons
surging through my body, I am invulnerable. Now, I think I’ll start
with a nice aged appetizer.” He jumped at Nova but was blindsided
by a full-body slam from Gar. Without a second thought, Gar punched
the demon hard enough to send him sprawling ten feet backward across
the snow.
“Stay
away, monster,” Gar commanded.
Krampus
sat there, wiping a trickle of blood from his nose. “You’re an
interesting foe. I’ll enjoy playing with you when I’m done. But,
alas, I have other plans.” He vanished in a black puff of smoke,
leaving only a cackle in its wake.
Nova
let out a furious scoff, “This is serious.”
"What
was that thing?" Gar asked.
"A
demon who dines on little children. Since you can fly, head back to
BADGE HQ and alert the leagues that Krampus must be defeated. I’ll
stay here and call on any heroes who can help me find Santa and set
this all straight. GO!”
Gar
took to the skies while Nova headed back into his wrecked BADGE
craft. He activated his comm, “Nova to all heroes, I need anyone
who can help me find Santa, this is a matter of planetary emergency.”
Just
a few hundred miles away from southeast of the icy tundra where the
wrecked ship lays dormant, the alarming comm message sends chills
down the spine of an extraordinary being who was already occupied
rescuing a clan of endangered polar bears from poachers.
Meta,
one of Director Nova’s most trusted mega powerful super hero allies
and planetary guardians rises to the occasion.
Responding
to the distress call, “DIRECTOR, META HERE! According to your GPS
coordinates, my comm readings indicate you’re in the vicinity, but
sir, your signal is very vague.” Meta trying to better assess
Nova’s whereabouts.
Attempting
to overcome the white noise of static infiltrating the comms, Meta
continues to reply, “Director, there seems to be a broad
circumference of electro-magnetic activity near you. Seconds before
you made your announcement sir, my sensors registered a significant
source of morphon activity consistent with and explosive
concentration of radioactive energy bursts.”
With
a sense of urgency in his voice, Nova exclaims, “Yes, I’m
guessing that’s when Krampus used morphons to vanish to his set
destination. No time to fully explain the situation to you right now.
I’ll brief you as soon as you find me. Just follow that morphon
signature and get here before we lose our signal!”, volume rapidly
fading. “HURRY META!”
“HOLD
ON DIRECTOR… ON THE WAY!” Meta immediately bolts skyward like the
boom of a cannon toward the direction of last known received
transmission.
Possessing
keen vision and unbelievable speed, it’s not long before Meta spots
the landing craft below and arrives within a matter of seconds,
landing with a quake.
Expediently
approaching Nova as Meta enters the BADGE craft, Meta informs Nova,
“Director, because of the polarized area we’re currently in, I
could barely pick up on your comm sir, let alone get a good reading
on your exact location, so there’s a very high probability that I
was the only one who got your radio transmission.”
“Where’s
Gar, sir?” questions Meta.
Without
further hesitation, Nova updates Meta on all the recent events
leading up to the moment, as Director’s three robots frantically
work on making immediate repairs to the sparking control panel from
the vessel’s helm.
(silently)…
WHIRL SWOOSH… LED lights automatically shut off, as brighter lights
illuminate. A computer voice announces, “Back-up power initiated.
Craft operating at 34% efficiency.”
“Sir,
what happened to the craft?”
“I’ve
been giving that a lot of thought Meta,” answers Nova.
“Gar
was flying slightly above the craft when he tried to warn me of
something before the craft collided.”
“THAT’S
IT,” Nova exclaims. “I’m willing to bet Gar saw something
magically appear, but was too late to prevent a collision. I keep
forgetting Gar’s a magical being that can see magical things humans
can’t see.”
“Santa’s
workshop literally sits atop of a winter wonderland, an enormous city
sized iceberg.” Nova continues, clinching his fist in an epiphany,
“THAT’S what hit the craft!”
“Stay
here with the robots as they make necessary repairs sir. I’ll scout
the perimeter to locate Santa,” instructs Meta.
Meta
follows the direction of trail from where the BADGE craft crash
landed, leading him to a strange wall of northern lights. The closer
Meta approached the phenomenon, the clearer the colorful waves of
light became more blinding until Meta walked through a camouflage
barrier, to reveal the icy citadel of Santa’s beautiful secluded
palace. Magic hid the whole fortress and muted sound from escaping.
Upon
arrival to the gate, Meta notices the peculiar silence surrounding
the place. “Hmm, where’s everybody? To be the busiest season of
the year, it’s too quiet, and why aren’t there elves guarding the
gate?”, he thought to himself.
In
the distance, Meta hear a slight muffled groan over a snowbank,
barely audible, “Ghmm hmmmph.”
Checking,
Meta discovers a nearly frozen stout older fellow half buried in
snow, gagged, and tied up, left there to die.
“SANTA,
are you alright?”, carefully freeing him from his ties, Meta is
relieved to finally find Santa.
“Oh
bless you young man,” shivering as Santa spoke.
“Normally
I’m not affected by the cold at all; however, the ancient snow
globe that gives me my magical powers is morphon based, stolen by
Krampus. During a sleigh test run, I believe Krampus somehow stuck
into the back of my sleigh and easily hid in my bag of holding that I
carry the world’s toys in for children. Krampus waited while my
back was completely turn before ambushing me to steal my snow globe.
With it, Krampus overpowered me and tied me up. With the surge of
morphons coursing through his petrified veins, Krampus was able to
unleash an evil spell, reducing all the elves inside my palace to a
catatonic state.”
“FOR
THE SAKE OF CHRISTMAS AND THE WORLD’S CHILDREN, YOU MUST STOP
KRAMPUS AND GET MY GLOBE BACK YOUNG MAN. THE VERY FATE OF THE WORLD
MIGHT REST WITH YOU,” as Santa pushes Meta, urging him to go.
“Here
Jamal, take my time traveling sleigh,” Meta being a bit shocked
that Santa knew his real identity. “It just might be the only way
to find Krampus and catch him.”
Given
quick instruction to pilot the sleigh, Meta presses a control button
to the morphon fueled caboose, and vanishes within the blink of an
eye…
