Krampus stood in the middle of the arena in his human size. The Lady Phoenix quietly waited on her throne. There was an eager smile on his wicked face as they both heard heroes arriving. Men and women screamed a battle cry, some blasted with jets of fire, others flapped enormous wings. The ruckus was unmistakable.
“Are you ready, my champion?” Lady Phoenix asked.
Krampus grinned, “more than you know.”
Just then a hero slammed down on the surface of the arena. He was dark purple in colors with brilliant purple energy rolling over his body. “Time’s up, Krampus.”
Krampus grinned, “ah, my first challenger. Who might you be?”
“Nightshadow. And, trust me, I won’t be the last.” Without giving Krampus any more time to parlay, Nightshadow threw out a hand and suddenly Krampus fell back. Then Krampus was lifted as if gravity had failed and then slammed back down with intense force.
“YAH!” Krampus yelled and dug his claws into the metal surface and raced toward Nightshadow.
Suddenly a dark hole opened to the side of the arena, and it threw Krampus sideways. Then another opened on the other side, and he was unceremoniously crashed into the railing across from him.
“Tough to fight gravity.” Nightshadow laughed.
Krampus slammed a fist into the surface of the metal and a bolt of red energy flew like lightening across the ground and hit Nightshadow. This freed Krampus from the gravitational attacks and he went in for a kill. However, at the last second, a blast of energy hit him directly in the face and he flipped over and over, tumbling backward through the arena. A brown and gold clad hero, wearing a League Wars victory belt, swooped down and blasted Krampus again.
Nightshadow laughed, “good work, Punlork!”
“THAT’S MAGNIFICENT PUNLORK TO YOU!” He said and then landed behind Krampus and gave him a massive punch to the skull.
Krampus face planted and rolled with a quick motion, nailing Punlork in the side with a well-placed kick. He then jumped up and grabbed the hero and threw him at Nightshadow. Punlork vanished and reappeared behind Nightshadow, rolling across the ground.
“Is that all you got!” Krampus bellowed.
The Wizard appeared as he teleported in Moonrider and Lumpsum. Other heroes came flying down and joined the fray.
Moonrider and Punlork went after Krampus again while The Wizard zoomed over to Nightshadow. “You okay?”
“Sure. He packs a punch, but he seems easier to hit.”
The Wizard nodded, “I agree, he doesn’t feel as powerful as he has been, and that worries me.”
“I’m not worried, let’s just take him down. Where’s the rest of your team?”
“A complication has arisen.”
Before Nightshadow could ask about that, Lumpsum slammed into him, having been thrown by Krampus. The Wizard dodged the crash and then cast a beam of energy at Krampus.
***
Rescue workers crawled over debris to find any signs of light in the former city of Hallows Port. Helicopters and emergency vehicles worked their way through the wreckage. Two rescue ships were at sea near the port, but they couldn’t approach through the mangled remains of the docks floating around.
The Police Chief of the nearby community grabbed his walkie talkie. “This is Bigos, I need a report on getting that port cleared.”
A man came through, “sorry sir, we haven’t been able to get to that yet. We’re still clearing roads for the rescue workers.”
“Damnit, we’re losing people who are stuck out in the water.”
“I know, but there is little we can do.”
Just then Furious Squirrel ran up, “Chief, we’ve cleared the north road and the entire highway to the nearest town. The Red Cross is already constructing a hospital in the field.”
“Thank you. Now, were are the other heroes? We need their help.”
Furious shook his head. “They could spare only a few of us. If they didn’t go after that challenge, this would happen to more cities. Trust me, they are saving more lives this way.”
“I don’t understand. But, right now we have to stay focused. Go, help clear the docks if you can, we...”
People screamed, and a helicopter blazed by at a dangerous speed. A new shadow loomed over the town. Overhead, the massive castle of Lady Phoenix came terribly close. Part of it hit the last standing lighthouse off the coast and knocked it into the sea.
Chief Bigos yelled into his walkie, “GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE! MOVE MOVE MOVE!”
Suddenly, the waters bubbled, and a giant figure rose from the surface. The green, scaly monster known as Midgardsormr pushed aside debris and grabbed the side of the castle. Hotwings zoomed in as well as The Avenger and DaMon. All held the side of the Castle and pushed it back out toward the sea.
Just then, Skelanimal appeared next to Furious Squirrel with Krystal Fae by his side.
Furious said, “what are you doing here?”
Skelanimal said, “saving the day, duh! Nova sent me back to help my league kick Krampus’s butt.”
Krystal added, “we saw the castle coming close and decided to help before heading in.”
Furious checked one of his sensors. “Looks like it’s moving away now.”
Skelanimal cracked his knuckles, “good. I wanna get some payback.”
Krystal snapped her fingers and both of them vanished away again.
***
Krampus threw three heroes into more heroes and then was hit in the chest with a massive icy blast. The Closer raced up beside him and smacked him in the rubs with his mechanical arm. Krampus grabbed the arm and flung The Closer over his head, crashing him into five of the shadow clones coming from Shadowalker.
Just then, the Arena jostled as it changed directions. Krampus didn’t stumble, but enough heroes were that he got a grip on Nevets and swung him around like a bat, hitting hero after hero. Though battered and bleeding in places, Krampus appeared to be enjoying himself.
Nevets vanished from Krampus’s hand, and he nearly fell over with the sudden change in weight. The room shook and the entire castle seemed to lurch. Krampus looked up to see he was surrounded by hundreds of heroes now, and at the forefront was a team he had personally used. Skelanimal stood in front of WMD, with a giant Midgardsormr behind him, as well as Hotwings, DaMon, The Wizard, The Avenger, and the Mighty Morphon Power Ranger.
“Ah, Skelanimal, my old ally. Come to see my victory.” Krampus grinned with his grotesque fangs.
“Nah, we’ve come to kick your ass. GET EM!”
“ENOUGH!” a wave of red light pushed everyone back. Lady Phoenix rose from her seat. “This is no challenge, it is war.”
Krampus looked back, “don’t stop this. This is perfect. Let me sieve them at once. Let me use my full power!”
She mulled this for a moment and then laughed and sat back down, “by all means.”
The heroes took off toward Krampus, but he exploded in size. A green aura of energy surrounded him and he now fought with the power twice that of Midgardsormr. “FOOLS, INSECTS. YOU HAVEN’T FACED ME AT MY FULLNESS. I HAVE MY TALISMAN BACK, I AM WHOLE AGAIN!”
The Lady Phoenix laughed as she observed this onslaught. The whole event amused her greatly. It was only at this moment that she realized something odd.
“Why are they ignoring me?” She asked of herself. Not one hero had even tried to attack her. They have ignored her rules of this conflict and ganged up on Krampus, yet not one has attempted to approach her.
Then she realized what else was missing, her family. Rising from her seat, she looked upward. Suddenly she screamed and writhed, grabbing her head. She could hear voices speaking, the voices of the Mythics. They were chanting something, and it was tearing her apart.
“WHAT... WHAT IS THIS! I... I CAN’T….”
***
Santa sat with his friends, Gar still weeping actual tears. No one had words to say. They all knew what was happening at this moment, and the pain dug deep inside them. All at once, both EB and Santa gasped.
“What is it?” Nova asked.
Santa held his chest and bent over, “They are beginning the process...but...something is wrong...Gah!...terribly... wrong.”
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