“I’LL TRY TO LEAD IT AWAY!” Furious Squirrel yelled into his comm from inside the pilot house of his battle dirigible.
Nova watched the scene over Neo Utopia as another manifestation of Krampus attacked. Local police and even some of Rutkowski’s men were battling it, but it had its menacing eyes on the dirigible. With a well-placed swing, forcing the balloon into the side of a building. Glass from the buildings’ windows rained down over the street below while the steampunk airship struggled to not go down.
“Furious!” Nova yelled.
The dirigible returned to the sky and then jets of steam came blasting out the back, forcing it to speed forward. The plan worked. Krampus went for the hero, leaving the non-meta humans behind, unharmed.
“He’s following me! I’ll head him out of the city.”
Nova pointed at a robot. “Do we have any other heroes nearby?”
“Negative. Furious Squirrel is only registered BADGE hero currently on the scene.”
“Same as every attack. One hero, and he or she is the focus.” Nova shook off his confusion and then said, “Furious, get the hell out of there. You can’t defeat him.”
The Dirigible zoomed over the landscape outside of Neo Utopia, flying over open land.
“I’m trying to shake him. He’s faster than my top speed. This thing is...”
Krampus lunged forward and nailed the tail of the Dirigible. It went spiraling out of control for a moment and then gained some control as it skidded across the ground.
“Furious...report!” Nova asked, breathlessly waiting for a sign of life.
Suddenly, Furious Squirrel came flying up out of his damaged ship on a rocket pack, two electro-pistols blasting the monster.
“DON’T FIGHT HIM!”
Furious couldn’t hear him, he fired wildly, but was hit by a fist and plowed into the ground. Krampus stopped for a second and then evaporated on the wind.
“GET A MED-TEAM TO THAT LOCATION NOW!” Nova yelled at a robot.
“Calling local medical, alerting BADGE health authorities.” A robot delineated its actions.
Chase and Gar exited the elevator at that moment. “Sir, we just heard there was a sighting...”
“Yeah, Neo-Utopia, it was Furious Squirrel this time.”
“Did he get hurt?” Chase asked, true worry on her face.
Nova said, “Too early to tell. He was hit hard. But, it was the same as before. He went down and then this monster Krampus simply evaporated.”
Gar asked, “Any idea where it will strike next?”
“No clue. I need to talk to Santa and see if he can help make sense of all this. Did you get to him?”
“Yup, he’ll be...”
Santa appeared next to Nova with EB sitting on his shoulder. “Ah, Director. I’m sorry for the delay. It was a tiring season. I understand you’re having an issue.”
EB hopped down and said, “I got to him and told him what I knew, which isn’t much. I mean, seriously, BADGE knows hardly anything. Just that Krampus is showing up, kicking a local hero’s butt and then, poof, gone. It’s soooo spooky. I still blame Spirit of Halloween. I bet he’s behind this. That jerk is always up to bad things. I know, I know, he’s never really hurt anyone, but who’s saying he didn’t decide nows the time to be meaner than usual? I...” He looked up at the eyes impatiently waiting for him to shut up. “Yeah, Director Nova, tell Santa what you know.”
Nova returned his attention to Santa Claus, “We have a giant shadowy monster attacking that takes on the appearance of Krampus. Every time, he shows up and demolishes a hero, and then vanishes away. There’s no way to predict where it will strike next.”
“I’m Santa, not a fortune teller. I doubt I can be of much help.”
Nova asked, “Do you think it might have something to do with your brother? Could this be something he left behind? Or is he really not dead?”
Chase jumped in, “Sir, my uncle died. I know it.”
Santa nodded. “My brother gave his life to save us all during the terrible event with Lady Phoenix. This cannot be him.”
Nova pointed at a robot. “Put up the images of the attacker.”
Instantly, the monitor before him filled with shadowy images of Krampus in the throes of battle with one hero or another.
Santa paled slightly at the sight of this. “That, whatever it is, certainly looks like my brother. However, it cannot be him. If he had left any of his magic to cause this, I would have sensed it. I wish I knew more.”
Nova let out a heavy sigh. “I had hoped you could help us connect the dots on this.”
“I will offer whatever help I can, but my knowledge is limited.”
Chase asked, “What do we do now?”
Nova looked at the images of this shadow monster. “We take precautions. Gar, get a tablet.”
Gar hurried over and picked up an official computer tablet. “Ready.”
“Take this down. To all Heroes, until further notice, it is strongly advised that no hero travel alone. At least two or more heroes travel together. If a sighting of the Shadow Krampus appears, send out the all-alert and be ready to respond to an all-alert. This thing does not seem to back down from a fight and there is absolutely no way to predict where it will strike next. We need to limit its ability to pick our heroes off one by one. Have any monitoring systems active that you have access to. I want data.” He waved his hand. “Send that message to all registered leagues.”
Gar tapped a button, and it sent the memo out.
Santa asked, “Are you sure that’ll be enough?”
“I have no idea. What I want to know is who is behind this.”
Chase asked, “Do you mean someone other than the Shadow Krampus?”
Nova said, “Yes. I have a strong feeling that we are only seeing what we are allowed to see. Someone is responsible for this act of violence, and I want to know who they are and what they want.”
A woman in an incredible black dress with long black gloves on her hands smiled at him. She had gorgeous hair draped down to her shoulders. Her lips were as black as her dress and her face was almost white. Her eyes were hauntingly dark and intoxicating behind smokey sunglasses.
Putting a hand up to the bar, she said, “I’m here for a few good men.”
“If you don’t step away at this moment, I’ll have to take you in for questioning.” He threatened her.
She smiled and put her hand through the energy field on the other side of the bars. This shocked him because it should burn her arm off right now. She brushed her hand down his chin and he relaxed with a goofy smile on his face.
“Too bad, you could have been a fun party guest.” Smoke poured out of eyes, ears, and mouth as he fell over dead. She leaned down and pulled his security badge from his uniform and deactivated the door.
Walking into the facility, she strode with the elegance of a queen and the air of the devil himself. Stopping at the banister of a walkway that looked out across the many cells holding the captured members of the World Corps soldiers, she held her arms out.
“Worship me.”
The cells opened and the men in prison jumpsuits stepped out, looking up at her with zealous awe.
“Hey! Who are you?” A guard ran toward her, his gun ready.
She casually turned and gave a simple flick of her finger toward him. “Kill him.”
The prisoners ran to her call and fought the man. He shot several of them, but this did not deter their attack. With a scream that echoed all the way down, they threw him over the banister and he hit the concrete floor far below with a sickening crack.
Having just committed murder, the now escaped prisoners fought to be near her.
She smiled at their devotion. “Come, my pets, the party is about to start.”
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