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.
“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?”
“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!”
"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.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heroes, it's your time to finish this story. The future of Christmas, not to mention thousands of kids lives, is at risk. You need to tell me the story of how your hero helps find Santa and frees him. Tell me what kind of devices and foes Krampus has used to imprison Santa. Or, is Santa under mind control by the villain? Has Krampus sent Santa to the moon or Planet X? It is up to you to tell the story. (Don't worry about fighting Krampus, just free Santa, Krampus will be dealt with in a special way in-game later.)
Here are the rules:
--This contest is a story prompt, I gave you the opening, you complete the story.
• Fiction must be between 400-1000 words, don’t worry if you are slightly over the word count, just don’t go too far. (This does not include the prompt word count.)
• Content must be PG13. No Erotica and nothing that is explicitly derogatory or inflammatory. Keep it fun for everyone.
- Judges have final authority over content, at their sole discretion.
Entering your story:
• All submissions should be posted as a top level post to the fan fiction forum. Include in the title of your post, “Christmas Contest Entry: (title of work)” Only posts with this as the title will be considered for the contest.
-- Fiction forum for posting is HERE
-- Fiction forum for posting is HERE
• The first line of the post should include “Contest Entry” and your in game player id (from your profile page)
• Post your story any time before the morning of December 13th.
Prizes
All reasonably good stories will get copies of the power card “Good Job”.
The best stories will also get one, two, or three “Santa's Sleigh” featured cards.
“Good Job” can be used as a card, or resold for 10 MP each
“Santa's Sleigh” can be used as a card, or resold for 20 MP each.
Your stories will be featured on the front page of this site, and linked to from the homepage of Heroes Rising.
All prizes will go out near the end of December.
As always, all reasonable effort fiction posted in the forum is eligible for one “Reality Writer” card per week. These entries will ALSO receive the normal Reality Writer card.