The members of the WMD league muttered and raged inside their special holding cells. An especially large cell held Midgardsormr with many extra restraints and anti-arcane devices. None of the heroes were very coherent, other than screaming about destroying the world.
“Would you guys just shut the hell up? I’m try’n ta sleep!” Skelanimal yelled.
Midgardsormr’s voice echoed down the hall, “I WILL EAT THIS WORLD!”
“Oh, give it a rest, you big lizard!” Skelanimal turned over and put his hands over his ears. “Stupid plan, stupid league, stupid Krampus, I... what’s that?” An orange glow shined on his cell walls. Turning over, he saw Spirit of Halloween smiling at him. “Oh, it’s you. Uh... sorry about fool’n you and stuff.”
“A good trick you played on me, not something done so easily. But danger you bring upon the Earth, by giving wickedness a new birth. Payment for your crimes must be made, I will free, the world you will save.”
“Okay, enough poetry. What’s up?”
Spirit cackled and flew out of the cell. His voice now boomed throughout the station. “I free thee, League of woe, to the Earth you shall go. Summon heroes far and near, save your base, end the fear!” He spun around and that orange mist blossomed out.
All the members of WMD that had been bewitched stopped their writhing and screaming and spent a moment waking up. Their cells unlocked on their own, the restraints fell to the ground.
Spirit said, “Time for penance has come, do your best, may the battle be won!” Then he vanished.
“Who dares to shine a light brighter than mine!” That disembodied voice bellowed from the glowing ruby.
Chase, still laying next to the fallen Quark, looked up and saw something strange on the horizon. A light glow rose like the first rays of sunlight. Yet, another joined it on a different part of the horizon. Then a third.
Krampus reached down and snatched up Chase. “Worry not, my lady. It is time to become whole again.”
“Let me go!” Chase dug her blades into his arms again, but it did no good.
On the ground below, Gar drug himself across the broken earth, reaching out for help. “Quark... please, help... wake up... Quark.” He could see that Quark was still breathing, but unresponsive. “Quark. Please, wake up... he is going to kill Chase.”
Suddenly, something exploded above them and Krampus stumbled back. His enormous feet shaking the ground.
Gar turned and gasped, Lord Dragon had plowed into Krampus and was now breathing a torrent of flames at him.
“CHASE!” Gar saw she was still in Krampus’s claw.
He mustered the strength to stand, but couldn’t get airborne. He ran across the quaking earth, but he could not manage flight.
“STOP, YOU’RE GOING TO KILL HER!” He yelled at the raging dragon.
All at once, a giant, green and purple turkey appeared in front of Gar. He skidded to a stop and frowned, “What... the?”
“Turkey dinner, turkey dinner... hahahaha.” Quark was awake and singing madly.
“No time!” Gar swiped his hand to knock away the bird, but it exploded in a flash of light and he felt something enter him from it. An amazing new strength blossomed in him. He beat his wings and took flight without having to run. He swooped up and over as Lord Dragon blazed against Krampus. Krampus punched Lord Dragon and was then suddenly struck by a writhing tail. This caused him to lose his grip on Chase and she fell. Gar flew under the arm, over the dragon, and caught her mid-air.
Gar landed with Chase near Quark. “Are you okay?”
Chase fell to her knees next to Quark, breathing heavily. “I… I think so.” Suddenly she held her arm up as a giant explosion came from Lord Dragon against Krampus. “Looks like we’ve got help.”
“We need to get out of here. Quark, can you transport us... Quark?”
Strange Quark lay on the ground, looking around with wild eyes. He fixed his eyes on Gar and blurted out, “DUCKS ARE EATING MY SPAGHETTI!”
“Quark?”
“HAHAHAHAHA, DUCKS ARE FUNNY!”
Chase shook him, “No time for weirdness!”
His eyes cleared, and he looked at Chase, “Boy, no wonder Gar likes you, you are pretty. TURKEYS!” He flopped back to the ground.
All at once Gar jumped over them, covering both with his body and wings. A wash of fire spilled over the area. Then came an enormous thud as something hit the ground. Gar slowly lifted his wings, and they watched Lord Dragon smolder on the ground.
“Lord Dragon!” Chase called out.
Krampus reached for him. “Enough, old man! You lost your pearl, you are less powerful than I!”
Quark laughed and then yelled, “GET THE TURKEYS!” A huge blue, sparkling turkey blocked Krampus from getting to Lord Dragon.
“What is this?” Krampus stopped, a little stumbled by this oddness.
Gar gasped, “Hey, I know! This helps.” He reached out for the bird.
However, the bird reached over and pecked Chase. When it did, the bird popped into a strange spray of mist and flooded into Chase’s body.
“What’s going on?” Chase wiped her hands across herself, trying to get this off.
“No, it’s good!” Gar said.
“What?” Chase looked up, but then yelled, “WATCH OUT!” Krampus reached for them. She materialized one of her blades and threw. It flew with a glowing, rainbow colored sparkling energy. When it hit Krampus in the palm, he lurched back and screamed. She looked at her hand, “how... did I do that?”
Gar said, “Don’t know. But that turkey gave me a boost... for a moment. Use yours!”
Krampus reached for them again. Chase materialized her blade and threw, this time nailing him in the shoulder. The giant monster lurched back and nearly fell over. He screamed in pain.
“How are you doing this!?” Krampus bellowed.
Chase materialized both her blades and threw them right at his face. He swiped his head to the side and used his horns to deflect them. She materialized them again, only this time there was very little sparkle left. “The power is fading.” She threw, and they merely stuck into him, not doing any harm.
Krampus reached down for her, but Lord Dragon bit his arm and pulled him away. Krampus grabbed the dragon with his free hand and ripped him off. Lord Dragon was flung through the air, but turned the wild motions into flight and came back with a mouth full of fire.
Just then a shuttle flew down and landed on the rock. The door was shoved open by Nova, who stood at the side, brandishing his gun. “GET IN!”
Gar scooped up Quark and followed Chase across the shaking battlefield toward the shuttle. Both dove in as Nova fired at Krampus with his weapon.
“All in?” Nova asked.
Chase said, “Yes.”
“Good.” Nova jumped back in and yelled, “Let’s go.”
The shuttle lifted off and then suddenly lurched to the side. The robot announced, “Executing evasive maneuvers.”
“Obviously.” Nova held the walls to keep from toppling.
Chase said, “This is not good. Krampus and... whatever that thing is...is too powerful for Lord Dragon to take on. We have to help.”
Nova gave off a clever smile. “Trust me. He’s not alone.”
Gar smiled and pointed at a window, “Look, heroes!”
Chase looked out the window to see hundreds of heroes flying by. The Wizard rode his dragon near the shuttle so he could wave to them.
“The Wizard!” Chase said, “but... he was part of the team Krampus brainwashed.”
Nova smiled, “Looks like Spirit of Halloween had other plans. He’s not happy to have been used. He released them from the brainwashing and from their cells. They have gathered heroes from all over the planet and are coming in to help fight Krampus.”
Gar smiled, “Good. That will stop him.”
Suddenly Quark yelled out, “HAHAHAHA, THEY WILL FAIL. TURKEY TURKEY DINNER! HAHAHA. THE HEROES, THEY ARE NOT GOING TO WIN!”
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