Silent Night, Chaotic Fright

The Northern Shadows

December 20th, 2024, 11:09 pm. It'd been a long year, Ace had just finished watching the Sonic Movie 3 with his friends. While he was intent to go to bed, he'd told his friends he was going to take a nice jog first in the winter air. However, this was only a fragment of the truth. Curiosity had gotten him good, and he'd begun to journey up north, finally taking a leap of faith to test if Saint Nick was real or not. But, he would eventually run into arguably more definitive proof. 

Ace sped across the north pole, taking it a bit slower as he made his way to the center. But on his way there, he soon caught the faintest scent of goat hair and solid gold. He came to a soft halt against the snow and ice, looking around in slight confusion. He glanced down, seeing human foot prints, but these were a little big to be an average person. He then picked up a small piece of black goat fur, his eyes widening slightly as he then tossed it aside.

"Mother fuckin' Krampus..."
He mumbled to himself, before leaping out of the path of a golden cuffed chain swiping his way. He landed on his feet, and saw the goat man himself.

Black fur, long horns, golden chains, human-like hands and a dark green robe. This 11 foot monster was Krampus, the other half to Santa Clause.

"What is a mortal boy such as yourself doing here?"
He demanded, his voice deep but twisted.

"I came to see if old Nick was real, and your existence just proves my point."
Ace replied, cracking his gloved knuckles.

"indeed he is, but I won't let you live to see him. Leave now, or receive proper discipline!"

"You wanna put me down, Satan? Alright, you can do that. Just gotta catch me first!"

He then sped out of view, slamming Krampus in the shoulder with an overhead kick. The goat grunted, but then grabbed the boy's leg and slammed him into the ice, shattering it and throwing him into the air.

"Your arrogance is unwarranted, boy." 
Krampus replied, hurling one of his chains after him and wrapping it around him. Ace vibrated out of it, landing on the chain and sliding down it like a rail grind, shoes sparking all the way. He then unveiled a set of small, silver knuckles from his gloves, perfect for dealing with entities of religious or holiday ties.
He then slammed the goat man in the face, forcing him to spit oil black blood. Krampus reeled, before swiping one of his hands at the human. Ace punched his inner arm where the forearm connects to the elbow, forcing it to snap upon impact.

"You DARE?!" 
Krampus yelled, snapping his arm into place slamming Ace in the stomach, before grabbing him by the throat and throwing him into the water. He looked up at the water's surface, before cocking his arms back and clapping down, creating a sonic boom and launching himself out of the water like a rocket, sending himself dozens of feet into the air.

"...Is this boy human?"
Krampus questioned, seeing him fly into the air and stop at 83 feet.

"MAYBE!"
Ace exclaimed in response, forming a stack of blue energy saws in his hands before firing them off at the goat man, a hailstorm of chaotic energy. He tried deflecting some of them, but the few that got through managed to cut into his fur and flesh, exposing his glowing innards.

"So, you really are related to the Devil."

"Ugh... You mortals get everything wrong."
Krampus replied, summoning a small army of his ghosts, both past Krampus' and children they'd taken, numbering in the thousands.

"...Oh. Seems I need to step it up a notch then."
Ace answered with a double blink, speeding out of the way of the coming onslaught, only to get tagged by one of the past Krampus' and thrown into the crowd, where they started tossing and beating him around.

"Don't take him out too badly, I think he'll do just fine as my replacement when I retire!" 
Krampus stated with a sadistic laugh, watching the army close the circle tighter.

If I make this guy a corpse, I'll just wind up as the next Krampus... guess I need to be a bit more clever. 
Ace thought to himself, before raising his hand to the sky and calling down an azure burst of energy, purifying and releasing all of the trapped souls that were in the area. Krampus leapt out of the way, narrowly avoiding a good vaporizing. The ice was melted in a 230 X 90 foot radius, and the water was boiling.

"My ghosts... all of the bad children I'd captured, that imbecile! Wait, where even is he?"
Krampus questioned, only to get tagged from behind with a silver knuckled right hook. He was knocked to the ice, and when he turned over, Ace was standing over him with a sharp golden glow in his eyes. Krampus closed his, waiting for the end, but it never came. Ace put a hand forward, tossing forward a small golden wave before turning to walk away.

"Wha... Wait, what're you doing?"

"Letting you live, old man."

"But- but why?"

"Pretty simple, really. I got the proof I need, and I got a solid stretch out of it. Plus, while some call you evil, I call you chaotic. Much like myself, you're not evil, just following your own rhythm."

"...You're right, but why would you spare me when you were so close? Let alone, heal my injuries?"

"The world needs you. Besides, even if I killed you, it wouldn't affect me, so you'd just come back anyway. To kill you is to kill an idea, and I'm not ruining the oldest of fairy tales."
Ace answered, turning and walking off.

"Tell Nicholas I said hi, whichever Nicholas it happens to be this century."

And like that, Krampus was left alone. Healed, dazed, and absolutely confused out of his mind.

"...That boy's condemned for Hell, but I'll be damned if he gets to the world above."
Krampus stated, turning and trudging off into the winter night.