Meanwhile, back at Jasonzilla’s cabin…
“By the way,” Deadpool crooned, jumping up onto the kitchen countertop, “both of y’all picked some fucked up, ugly-ass Bonds. You couldn’t have cobbled together stat blocks for giant robots or something?”
Victor blinked. “The Krampus is loyal to my command.”
“And Sam’s fucking awesome,” Nico agreed.
“Yeah, yeah, but everyone knows giant robots have waaaaay better TEC, which you’re gonna need for the next island,” the red spandex-clad superhero scoffed. “Besides, I was really excited to see what you motherfuckers came up with. I mean, come on, Jacob?! Mickey Mouse piloting Optimus Prime was right there. Two iconic heroes. One iconic murder tournament! Well, I guess there’s always Aaron’s event.”
“Wait,” Victor interrupted, “what do you know about the next island?”
Deadpool slid off the counter, puffing up his chest and sauntering toward the icy doctor, ending up much closer to him than Victor would, well, ever be comfortable with.
“I know that we’re already there,” the merc-with-a-mouth shrugged. He lifted a hand.
“Wait, what—”
“Hold on to your dessert, doc,” he smirked, snapping his fingers.
It took only milliseconds for the walls of the cabin to melt away. Victor launched from the floor into the air, the Krampus materializing below him as if it had always been there — he felt the chill of the air inside the Cube as he soared. He and his monster flipped over themselves as they flew before finally crashing into the ground. The doctor blinked, and looked up, but saw nothing — everything was dark.
The Krampus steadied itself as Victor tried his best to get his bearings and ward off the powerful headache invading his senses. As it turned out, fighting off a giant, hockey mask-wearing dinosaur had been hell for the pair of cold-hearted fighters. The Krampus groaned a bit, feeling its broken rib for the first time as it stood up. Victor had figured the monster wouldn’t have escaped the encounter with Jasonzilla unscathed, but it had moved so well in the moments after the battle he’d gotten his hopes a bit high. Adrenaline, he supposed, which made sense; even mythical creatures, he supposed, still worked mostly on the same biological terms as other living things.
The darkness enveloped them, and he felt quite sure that the game was only, truly, just beginning; Victor couldn’t imagine what had led those in power on Opealon to agree to hosting this — though, he supposed he could relate to having the thing you loved most and were charged with protecting ravaged unthinkably.
“Victor,” a voice rang out in his head — not Krampus’, though.
“Nora?” he mumbled quietly.
Keep your wits about you, master, the Krampus’ voice interrupted his wandering thoughts of his wife. This place is not what it seems.
“I heard her,” Victor protested, desperation creeping into his voice. He hadn’t heard Nora’s voice in… well, at this point, he almost couldn’t remember how long. She’d been frozen in a cryogenic state for years now while he infiltrated the criminal underworld of the Hub — not alive, but not dead, either. Surviving.
As he now had to do.
Something flew past he and his Bond, a whoosh of cold air almost knocking them off balance. A screech echoed behind them, and the Krampus spun on its heels; pain shot through its torso from its broken rib, but it still managed to lift its cloak in time to block its master from the swipe of a claw as a humongous, gray-furred bat tumbled past them, rolling onto the ground and landing in a crouched position. Upon further inspection, the creature was somehow both bat and man — wings of a bat and two pointy ears, but legged like a human.
It slowly lifted itself out of its crouch, unfolding its wings until they spread out fully, looking almost like a cape of dark gray fur.
Fries scoffed. “Kill it,” he ordered the Krampus, “kill the bat man.”
As you wish, the monster growled.
The Krampus lunged forth, the bat man baring its sharp, shiny teeth as the monster sprinted toward it. It launched into the air as Fries’ bond swiped at its human legs with its birch staff, flapping its wings and diving towards Fries and the Krampus. They dodged as best they could, one of the bat man’s claws catching the Krampus’ heel and eliciting a loud squeal from the monster.
It stumbled forward, trying to regain its footing and turn back toward the bat. Fries snarled, yanking the chains of his monster forcefully. “Don’t make a mistake like that again, or it’ll be both of our doom.”
You’d do well to watch your tone, master, the Krampus roared telepathically.
Fries yanked the chain again. “Watch your mouth.”
The Krampus lifted its head into the air, sending out a loud, thundering cry of fury — its patience with its master was growing thin. The chains around its neck glowed red as its demonic contract re-established dominance, burning marks into the monster’s neck as it heeled once again into submission to Victor.
“We do not have time for your insolence, Krampus,” Victor shouted.
This proved true almost immediately, as the bat man took the moment of distraction as an opportunity, leaping forward and colliding with the Krampus’ abdomen. The two monsters flew backwards, Fries holding on with all his might as the Krampus slammed into the ground of the deep black void. The pair of abominations slid across the floor, the bat clambering up Krampus’ body towards the good doctor holding precariously onto the wintery monster’s neck.
Victor watched in horror as the bat man’s head came into view, drool dripping out from its toothy mouth as it finally caught the doctor in its sights.
“...what are you?!” he screamed in what he was sure would be his last moments.
The bat grinned. “Vengeance.”
It opened its maw and came down upon Fries, but just before it could snap him up in its jaws, the floor gave out beneath them, and the monster itself turned to dust. Fries and the Krampus fell into the void, spinning through dimensions and getting dizzy on the way. Victor leaned back, catching a glimpse at something behind them as they fell. Through the haze of the ‘side’ of the chasm, Victor almost could see… another creature. A penguin-shaped thing, but with a mass of tentacles coming from its torso instead of legs.
He steeled himself.
Someone new, the Krampus observed, feeling Fries’ thoughts.
“Time to break the ice?” Victor offered.
The Krampus considered. As you wish, it affirmed, spinning where it fell and using all its might to push itself into the wall. The side of the chasm shattered, leaving Victor and Krampus tumbling into somewhere altogether new and altogether… not so cool.
Oh, yes — this game was only just beginning, indeed. This was the tip of the iceberg.