Rainer Miller - Beam struggles against Santa

Uncertainly, Rainer raised both hands. “So you know that song about roasting chestnuts?”

Santa’s smile seemed to widen. “I do.”

“…yeah.”

Then he opened a small wormhole in front of each hand, both connecting to a dimension filled with nothing but lots and lots and lots of fire. The flames shot towards Santa in two powerful jets. At the same time, Santa raised his own hands and fired twin jets of snow. The elements collided at the halfway point, dissolving into a cloud of hot steam. After only a few seconds, Rainer couldn’t even see Santa anymore. Soon, the cloud had even enveloped him and obscured Iris’s point of view entirely. He kept the fire going until the damp heat of the steam became unbearable.

Without the roar of flame and hiss of sublimating ice, the hallway was dead silent. Rainer tried to peer through the steam, but it was as impenetrable as a thick fog. He felt like a sitting duck. Quickly, Rainer conjured a set of thermal imaging goggles and slipped them on. Nothing showed up on the thermal scan, but he wasn’t sure if that was because Santa was gone or because of the hot steam around him. He staggered backwards, looking frantically about for any sign of his holly jolly opponent.

***

The Alpha-9 Holiday Special