Xcentric crawled out of the ocean and flopped over on the beach. Near him, dozens of other heroes were in the same state of fatigue. He wasn’t a poor swimmer, but he was not ready for a trek this far. Many other heroes had gone out to rescue those fallen from the battle into the waters. He let them get to the injured first.
Just then Zen came darting out of the waters and waddled up onto dry land. He shook hard to sling water off of him. “I enjoy swimming, but after four hours of this rescue crap, I’m worn out.”
Xcentric asked, “how can you help rescue people?”
“Same as any hero. Drag the live ones ashore.” He waddled over to Xcentric, “you good? Not too injured?”
“Nothing more than tired. I didn’t take too much of a beating at the fight.”
“Good.”
Krystal Fae landed near them, along with several dozen other heroes, all leaders of their various leagues. “Zen, how goes the rescue operation?”
Zen said, “we got most of them. Others are gett’n themselves out of the water. It was a real mess out there.”
“And, it’s still not done.” She nodded toward the glowing red ball of flames. “That’s getting bigger by the second. It’s either going to explode or do something terrible. We have to contain it, destroy it safely, or... something.”
“Something? That’s a great plan.” Zen muttered.
Xcentric stood up, “what does BADGE have to say?”
“I haven’t been able to get Nova on the line. Commander Justin doesn’t know. He agrees, the BADGE sensors are reading massive power coming from that thing.”
Zen said, “well, let’s go blow up that fireball.”
All of their comm units beeped and Nova’s voice echoed across the beach. “All heroes, regroup on the coastline near the danger zone and stand by. Do not engage until ordered to. I repeat, do not engage until ordered.”
After that ended, Zen said, “welp, that changes our plans.”
Krystal clicked her comm unit back on. “League leaders, get your teams ready, we’re not done.”
Zen groaned, “fine. Colony Five, let’s go. Maybe we can find a fish somewhere, I’m hungry.” he waddled off, muttering in irritation.
***
Santa’s Sleigh slowly approached an open shuttle. Santa Claus guided it along with several robots helpers. EB, Gar, and Quark waited with him.
Nova came in, “Santa, I have given the standby order. Are you sure about this?”
Santa quietly watched his Sleigh for a moment. “Yes. It is the only way.”
EB asked, “what is the only way? You haven’t told us anything.”
Nova said, “he told me. That’s all we need.”
EB said, “no, not enough. We’re a part of this too. I want to know your plans.”
Nova answered, “EB, this is a priority mission. Some details only I need to know. As an officer of BADGE, you will get the info you need, and nothing more.”
EB hopped up on Santa’s sleigh and snapped both fingers. The robots froze in place by his magic. “Listen here, Nova, I may work for you as a consultant, but, I’m one of these people. The Vexillians are my family. What happens to us is my business. In this case, I am not BADGE, I am the freaking Easter Bunny!”
Both Gar and Quark had their mouths hung open, this may be the most forceful and angry they had ever seen EB.
Santa said, “EB… my old friend. Chase is suffering in ways that no one, not even our kind, has ever endured. She is trapped and cannot escape. Only when the energy becomes critical and explodes will she be free.”
EB said, “but that’ll destroy this world.”
“And all of us, yes. The only other option is for someone to take that power in her, from her. To act as a substitution in her place.”
“But, that was what Lord Dragon was going to do.”
“Yes. He was. But, his method failed. He is trapped and cannot escape. Someone must go to her, interact with her. Only there can this be done. And, that should be me.”
“No! Not you! Please. That will...”
“Kill me, yes. As Lord Dragon expected, this act will consume the caster.” He smiled and ran his hand over EB’s head as the little bunny blubbered. Santa softly said, “this has been my responsibility for too long. I inadvertently cursed Angela by giving her too much of my magic. I set into motion these events, and I must be the one to end them. This world will survive without Santa Claus, but it won’t survive at all if I don’t stop her.”
“There... there... there has to be another waaay!” EB bawled.
“No. There is no other way. But, the bright side will be that my sacrifice won’t be only death, it will bring Lady Phoenix back to us as a living, breathing person. Her soul will be restored and the real person inside this monster will be brought back. Take solace in that.”
EB grabbed Santa in a hug, “I’m gonna miss ya, big guy.”
Santa hugged EB back and then set him down on the ground. EB, still sobbing, snapped his fingers and the robots returned to normal.
Gar said, “I am sorry. If I could give my life for hers, I would. But...”
“You may have the heart of a Vexillian, but you aren’t really one of my people. You can’t do what is needed.”
Nova said, “I don’t want to sound indelicate, but we don’t have much time to talk about all this. Santa, are you ready?”
Nova asked, “what is that?”
Santa held it up, “my most precious gift I offer each year. Christmas Cheer.”
“Cheer?” Quark frowned.
Santa chortled, “yes. Cheer. The joy of the holiday season is the ability to let go of selfishness and think of others, the become the best version of ourselves. Few truly understand the strength in helping a friend, in being selfless. With this, my last gift for my last Christmas season, I will spread this over all the heroes of Earth. They will need this to garner the strength to face the foe we are about to take on.”
“The heroes are going to fight her?” Gar asked. “I thought you were going to stop her.”
Santa said, “no. She is too powerful at this time. They need to weaken her, distract her, give me the chance to do what must be done. And, with this, they might stand a chance. Now, the Director is correct, time is of the essence. Nova, tell the heroes to be ready for my signal. Once they see it, they are to attack her.”
“What will be the signal?” Nova asked.
“Trust me, they will know.”
***
Across the coastline near the decimated Hallows Port, hundreds of Heroes stood in waiting. There was a tense silence permeating the atmosphere as the sun set, yet the daylight did not leave. The ball of glowing fire had grown so that even at this distance, they could feel the heat.
Starmaster and The Wizard approached her. Starmaster said, “we’ve got the reports back from the military and our own people, almost the entire East Coast has evacuated inland.”
Krystal said, “it may not be enough. If we don’t stop her soon, there won’t be any safe places left on Earth.”
The Closer walked over. “Hey, are we just gonna stand here forever?”
“Nova said to wait for a signal from Santa. No one has seen that yet, so we stand here.”
“Well, what the hell is the signal gonna be?” The Closer asked.
“I don’t know.”
Just then the ball of fire fluctuated and expanded out like two large bird wings. The flames turned and bent into the shape of a giant firebird. At the heart of this blazing creature was the Lady Phoenix, a tiny figure against her fiery form.
“COME HEROES! I STILL NEED MY LEGION!”
Heroes readied for the fight, but none jumped just yet. Eyes turned to Krystal.
The Closer asked, “is that the signal?”
“No.”
A giant snowflake appeared in the sky above them, followed by a bright silvery light blasting across the entire gathered heroes. A bright, twinkling magic glistened on their bodies. Everyone smiled, some even cheered. Santa in his Sleigh, tethered to Gar, came flying down.
“HO, HO, GO!” Santa bellowed.
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