"CONTEST ENTRY" ID; 11248

Over the bleak, cold arctic north a large BADGE landing craft buzzed through the gray skies. Gliding next to it was the stone hero Gargoyle, keenly watching the white land below.

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.
Gar landed next to him, "Sir, look!"

A demon approached, “Ah, Director Nova. It’s been a while.”

“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?”

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!”

Gar took to the skies while Nova headed back into his wrecked BADGE craft. He activated his comm, “Nova to all heroes, I need anyone who can help me find Santa, this is a matter of planetary emergency.”
Just a few hundred miles away from southeast of the icy tundra where the wrecked ship lays dormant, the alarming comm message sends chills down the spine of an extraordinary being who was already occupied rescuing a clan of endangered polar bears from poachers.
Meta, one of Director Nova’s most trusted mega powerful super hero allies and planetary guardians rises to the occasion.
Responding to the distress call, “DIRECTOR, META HERE! According to your GPS coordinates, my comm readings indicate you’re in the vicinity, but sir, your signal is very vague.” Meta trying to better assess Nova’s whereabouts.
Attempting to overcome the white noise of static infiltrating the comms, Meta continues to reply, “Director, there seems to be a broad circumference of electro-magnetic activity near you. Seconds before you made your announcement sir, my sensors registered a significant source of morphon activity consistent with and explosive concentration of radioactive energy bursts.”
With a sense of urgency in his voice, Nova exclaims, “Yes, I’m guessing that’s when Krampus used morphons to vanish to his set destination. No time to fully explain the situation to you right now. I’ll brief you as soon as you find me. Just follow that morphon signature and get here before we lose our signal!”, volume rapidly fading. “HURRY META!”
“HOLD ON DIRECTOR… ON THE WAY!” Meta immediately bolts skyward like the boom of a cannon toward the direction of last known received transmission.
Possessing keen vision and unbelievable speed, it’s not long before Meta spots the landing craft below and arrives within a matter of seconds, landing with a quake.
Expediently approaching Nova as Meta enters the BADGE craft, Meta informs Nova, “Director, because of the polarized area we’re currently in, I could barely pick up on your comm sir, let alone get a good reading on your exact location, so there’s a very high probability that I was the only one who got your radio transmission.”
“Where’s Gar, sir?” questions Meta.
Without further hesitation, Nova updates Meta on all the recent events leading up to the moment, as Director’s three robots frantically work on making immediate repairs to the sparking control panel from the vessel’s helm.
(silently)… WHIRL SWOOSH… LED lights automatically shut off, as brighter lights illuminate. A computer voice announces, “Back-up power initiated. Craft operating at 34% efficiency.”
“Sir, what happened to the craft?”
“I’ve been giving that a lot of thought Meta,” answers Nova.
“Gar was flying slightly above the craft when he tried to warn me of something before the craft collided.”
“THAT’S IT,” Nova exclaims. “I’m willing to bet Gar saw something magically appear, but was too late to prevent a collision. I keep forgetting Gar’s a magical being that can see magical things humans can’t see.”
“Santa’s workshop literally sits atop of a winter wonderland, an enormous city sized iceberg.” Nova continues, clinching his fist in an epiphany, “THAT’S what hit the craft!”
“Stay here with the robots as they make necessary repairs sir. I’ll scout the perimeter to locate Santa,” instructs Meta.
Meta follows the direction of trail from where the BADGE craft crash landed, leading him to a strange wall of northern lights. The closer Meta approached the phenomenon, the clearer the colorful waves of light became more blinding until Meta walked through a camouflage barrier, to reveal the icy citadel of Santa’s beautiful secluded palace. Magic hid the whole fortress and muted sound from escaping.
Upon arrival to the gate, Meta notices the peculiar silence surrounding the place. “Hmm, where’s everybody? To be the busiest season of the year, it’s too quiet, and why aren’t there elves guarding the gate?”, he thought to himself.
In the distance, Meta hear a slight muffled groan over a snowbank, barely audible, “Ghmm hmmmph.”
Checking, Meta discovers a nearly frozen stout older fellow half buried in snow, gagged, and tied up, left there to die.
“SANTA, are you alright?”, carefully freeing him from his ties, Meta is relieved to finally find Santa.
“Oh bless you young man,” shivering as Santa spoke.
“Normally I’m not affected by the cold at all; however, the ancient snow globe that gives me my magical powers is morphon based, stolen by Krampus. During a sleigh test run, I believe Krampus somehow stuck into the back of my sleigh and easily hid in my bag of holding that I carry the world’s toys in for children. Krampus waited while my back was completely turn before ambushing me to steal my snow globe. With it, Krampus overpowered me and tied me up. With the surge of morphons coursing through his petrified veins, Krampus was able to unleash an evil spell, reducing all the elves inside my palace to a catatonic state.”
“FOR THE SAKE OF CHRISTMAS AND THE WORLD’S CHILDREN, YOU MUST STOP KRAMPUS AND GET MY GLOBE BACK YOUNG MAN. THE VERY FATE OF THE WORLD MIGHT REST WITH YOU,” as Santa pushes Meta, urging him to go.
“Here Jamal, take my time traveling sleigh,” Meta being a bit shocked that Santa knew his real identity. “It just might be the only way to find Krampus and catch him.”
Given quick instruction to pilot the sleigh, Meta presses a control button to the morphon fueled caboose, and vanishes within the blink of an eye…