The cold stung Santa’s face as he slowly came around. He could still feel Angela in his arms that last day he was with her. The tears felt fresh on his face. Deep in his mind, he still questioned his choice to send her away.
Then came a loud explosion followed by a wave of heat that pushed aside the cold air for a moment. This abruptly changed his mental state. He woke and recalled what he had been doing just prior to losing strength. Before falling, he had jumped back in his sleigh and raced across the frozen north to help stop his brother and Lady Phoenix. It was his responsibility to face his brother. Then his energy faded. Something stole it and the sleigh crashed into a snow-covered part of Iceland, near to the battle. Now, he looked up, battered and bruised, and watched a figure step out of the fire.
“Angela.” He rasped as he saw Chase standing there, transforming into the lovely image of Lady Phoenix, “no...you can’t do this to her. My baby...” He passed out just after watching her fly off with Krampus.
“We have him!” A voice spoke over him as hands lifted him out of the snow. He wasn’t sure how much time passed since he blacked out again. Sounds of people and machinery got through to him, but he was too weak to even open his eyes.
Nova said, “oh, god. Not Santa as well.”
Starmaster answered, “he’s not the only one.”
Nova said, “get him to the shuttle, now. And, make sure we collect his Sleigh. I want double security around all found talisman, Chained Angel I need...” his voice trailed off as he gave more orders.
Time flew by again, and Santa felt a hand on his forehead. Warmth returned to him slowly, and the world grew more real by the second.
“Come on, big fella, wake up.” EB’s voice was a welcome sound.
Santa forced his eyes open, blurriness filling them at first. He could see the tiny figure of the Easter Bunny right next to his head.
“Stand aside, please.” The Wizard came over and waved a hand over Santa. “Ah, good. He’s doing much better.”
Santa managed to say, “I am alive, what’s left of me that is.”
EB held up a brightly colored object, “Here, eat this. It’ll help.”
They guided Santa to a sitting position with the help of The Wizard. He took the nicely wrapped egg and opened it to find a peppermint white chocolate egg. He knew exactly what this was for. Taking a generous bite, he tasted the infused magic, and that pepped him up quickly.
“Feel’n better?” EB asked.
“Much. Thank you.” He took another bite and looked around the room. Maneki-neko, Ananzi, Cupid, Quetzalcoatl in his human form, and the Tooth Fairy sat on similar beds, eating EB’s special chocolate. “Oh, my.”
EB nodded, “all were sapped of strength by Lady Phoenix. I’m trying to help, but I can’t replace the magic she stole.”
Santa felt his chest, “I feel... emptier. Like, part of me has been taken.”
“She absorbed power from all of us.”
“You too?” Santa asked.
“Not as much. When I got to North America to help, they had the evacuation under control and I tried to assist in that first. I set an egg up to be a light, instead of me. When she drained magic from us, she hit my egg first. About the time she got to sapping myself, the ruby was broken. So, I am stronger than the rest of you. But, still... I’m missing strength.”
Santa stood from the bed and had to spend a moment gathering himself with help from both The Wizard and EB. Once he stopped wobbling, he said, “I’m fine. I can move on my own. I need to see Director Nova immediately. Is he here?”
The Wizard said, “Sure, he’s with Lord Dragon.”
“Lord Dragon,” Santa whispered that name, growing a little distant in his thoughts. “He... he is here?”
EB and The Wizard exchanged worried looks. The Wizard said, “he’s in the Arboretum... he’s much weaker than the rest of the Mythics.”
“Take me to him, now.”
EB materialized his Basket filled with colorful eggs. He held it up to The Wizard, “here, more medicine for them. Do not let any humans eat this chocolate, it won’t agree with them.”
***
Lady Phoenix, in her flowing red outfit, strolled through a town on the Eastern Coast of America. Beside her followed Krampus, scaring people as he passed. In fact, he would stop and growl and roar as children stared at him. Their screams of terror made him laugh with joy.
“What are we doing here, my lady?”
She smiled and toyed with her hair as they continued toward the water’s edge. “For seven hundred years, my husband spent his time sitting on a throne and remaining indifferent to human affairs. His one goal was to maintain the balance among our kind. He was a ruler of Vexillians who was content to remain in that same position.”
“That is interesting, my lady. But, how does it answer my question?”
She stopped at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the ocean. “I spent my time studying the humans. Learning their histories, their myths, their cultures. At first, I wanted to help our fellow Vexillians discover the myths they emulated. However, I grew more knowledgeable about this world and it’s people.” She held out a hand and the waters at a distance rolled and bubbled.
“I understand. You helped me learn the story of Krampus, and I have enjoyed this role greatly. But, what does this have to do with our goals or why we are here?”
Her hand still held out, she smiled and answered, “one inescapable truth of this world is that they are a people of fear. They fear new things. When new, more dangerous enemies arose, they would scramble in fear, they would cower and call upon their pathetic deities to save them. They created terrifying myths of horrible demons and monsters so to give names and images to their fears.” The waters turned turbulent as she continued to control something.
Krampus asked, “And?”
“In the end, their stories always came to the heroes. Those who stepped up to fight the enemy that seemed impossible to face. This became a truth in reality as they stepped up against the tyrants, the empires, the dictators, and toppled them. They are a blood-thirsty people.”
Krampus was about to ask another question when something breached the waters. Tall lights on thick poles broke through, followed by ceilings and walls. Massive stands of empty seats came next, surrounding a mighty field. Water poured off the surfaces, fell through every hole, cracks spurted out fish and seaweed. The former League Wars Arena rose from where BADGE had hidden it away. Then, joining it, another object burst through the waters, then another. Rusted hold hulls from long forgotten ship wrecks rose. Large parts and various metallic debris came up as well. Ropes, tires, chains, and other items joined this cloud of sunken flotsam.
Lady Phoenix turned back to Krampus, now both hands held up. Behind her, this collection orbited the old Arena. She lifted up, taking Krampus with her. Both hovered out toward the metal.
“We want heroes to come to us, to prove to us they are worthy of being the founding members of my new Legion. We must provide them a temple of power, a focal point of their fears.” As they passed through the cloud of debris, metal bent, ripped apart, slammed together. The stadium broke apart and rearranged itself.
They stopped moving and simply hovered directly over the former stadium field, while it changed and molded into something different. Krampus watched this transformation, “what are you making, my lady?”
“A temple of fear. The weak shall flee, but the strong shall attempt to prevail. Those worthy will become Legion. The unworthy shall perish.”
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