Christmas Story: Santa Loses his Cookies by The Closer

Thank you The Closer for entering the Christmas Fiction Contest. Here is their story...

(By Dan Peyton)

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 ship. He activated his comm, “Nova to all heroes, I need anyone who can help me find Santa, this is a matter of planetary emergency.”

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(By the Closer)

The Closer was at the Precinct, just going over the latest movements of the morphon powered. It was hard to keep your eyes on the whole spectrum of supers. Things changed fast out there. A button labeled simply "Nerd" starting blinking on his console. It was Nova sending a distress call. He was good at that sort of thing...

He tapped the button and hit a toggle to engage the audio.

Apparently, Santa was in trouble, and someone wanted to eat the world's children. Must be a Monday.

"E.A.R.P." he calls on the precincts A.I. "What can you tell me about Krampus?"

A voice responds. "Krampus is part of the Santa Claus menagerie. In counterpoint to the well-known gift giving of old Saint Nicholas, Krampus punishes the naughty children of the world."

The Closer mumbles "I see, so this is the Christmas episode, and the boogeyman is soaking up morphons."

He flips a switch and the chair slides backwards away from the work station. "I suppose I should at least appear in a fight scene or two, if I want to stay in position for a solo title."

He taps his communicator "The Closer, to all officers. If you're following the badge frequencies, you know what this is about. If you missed it, a Christmas Themed Villain has captured Santa. We need to find Claus and prevent a Christmassacre. A lot of you have gone home for the holidays, that's a lot of eyes in a lot of places. What have you got that's big, bright, or high profile, and Christmassy enough to attract our perp.

A lot of ideas are thrown around, and teams were dispatched. S.W.A.T. and Buddy Cops split up to check on several charity events. The Night Shift would snoop around an organization trying to beat the world's record for gingerbread construction. Code Blue was going to look in on a fire at a reindeer farm. Space Force would remain alert for suspicious air traffic. Hopefully one of the leads would pay off.

The Closer selected one event to check out personally and invited the Wise Guys along. There is a Christmas Village on the edge of New Amsterdam. A toy store called Santa's Workshop is putting on an event to raise money for orphaned children. Here's where it gets interesting. The entire community is a tourist trap, and for the event, has been encased in a monstrous snow globe!

Dr. Silver Surfer Strange opens a portal to the main entrance. As soon as the team walks through, they notice something strange is going on, some faint screams can be heard, and flashing lights, in fact there appears to be a blizzard inside the globe. The Closer takes his que and points "That whole thing is shaking like a bowl full of jelly!" Nailed it!

"Okay team, we've got activity. Let's get the fliers airborne, and Doctor you're on sorcerous surveillance!"

They decide not to rip their way into the globe, since there's no telling what might bring it down on the people still inside. They do a quick recon and then form up to rush though the plastic sheets, and flapping rubber straps that span the wide entrance.

Arcing morphon powered lightning acts as the star at the top of a huge Christmas tree. This is the only light that illuminates what's left of the former holiday hamlet.

At the center of the lightning, writhing in agony, is Santa Claus! He seems to be completely at the mercy of his kidnapper.

Very quietly the Closer mumbles "I believe in you..." and starts to claps his hands... When nothing happens, except a sideways glance from CdnDraxis. "Oh well, it was worth a shot."

Plan B... "Doctor, see what you can do to remove Santa from that." The Doctor flies up arms already weaving a mysterious enchantment. "Vanguardian and Spankmyster we need wings on the Doctor!"

"Now we need to find our villain, maybe we can end this right here!" The Redheaded Stepchild, Powerman, and CdnDraxis fan out to search the grounds.

The Closer settles on a bit of high ground and tries to keep his eyes on everyone's search coming up short. At the same time, his instrumentation is saying there is a great power here. He figures its time for the direct approach. "Krampus! Come out and fight you Christmas Creep!"

Instruments read off the charts for morphon activity! There is a flash, and as the lightning goes out, a wave of force hurls everyone about 50 feet further from the tree. At that point about a third of the town's Christmas lights come back on, illuminating a giant Krampus stepping out from behind the Tree!

"Well, some little heroes, that ran a little late! You may have got here in time to save Santa's life, but it wasn't fast enough to upset my plans! Such Power! Enough to finally match my appetite!"

The Doctor settles to the ground beside The Closer, with Santa thrown over a shoulder. "He's telling some truth, whatever power Santa possessed is gone, extracted. I assume Krampus finished whatever he was here to do. Santa is alive but little more than an empty shell."

Krampus continues to swell in size. "I'll see you again little Heroes, but right now I have too much to do. Don't worry, you won't miss it and it'll be Ho Ho Horrifying! HA HA HA HA Ha!

He vanishes with a rather disgusting sound.

The Heroes of the 5th Precinct check the area, and help whoever they can. They also watch over Santa Claus, but aren't sure how much longer he'll need their assistance. They don't know what was taken exactly, but they know what’s taking its place. It was making him violently sick, but Santa was absorbing morphons like a sponge!

The Closer takes a deep breath and hits his communicator. "Nova. This is The Closer, you're up."