Dark-phoenix: So this story has been in my mind for quite some time and I finally got around to actually sharing it. I want to know if this would be worth writing or not. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Reviews are always welcome!

Darkness Within

Jack stared at the dark being before him. The winter spirit had fled to Antarctica after his fall out with the other guardians in order to be alone; however, Pitch Black seemed to have another idea. "You want to team up?" This was ludicrous. There was no way Pitch really expected him to join forces. "You can't be serious," he muttered before turning his back, staff resting against his shoulder as he walked off. He only made it a few steps before the boogeyman's voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"You have been cast out and overlooked by everyone. You've been alone for centuries; invisible to the children you try and bring fun to," Pitch said as he seemed to levitate closer to Jack.

The winter spirit growled and tightened his grip on his staff before sending shards of ice flying at Pitch. "Shut up! You don't know anything!"

Using his nightmare sand, Pitch shielded himself from the icy attack, barely avoiding being impaled by the shards. "I don't know what's it's like to long for a family? Someone to notice me and the power I possess?" As he spoke, he gravitated next to Jack, placing an arm around the younger male's shoulder. "I understand you more than you think. Look at what we can do together," he said as he gestured to the ice sculpture infused with shades of black shadows that was created by Jack's attack moments ago. While it could be perceived as beautiful, the sharp, odd angles gave it a dangerous appeal. Pitch stared at it with a big smile on his face; Jack felt disgusted by the creation.

With a snort, Jack shrugged off the boogeyman's arm. "Yeah, real admirable. Are you done wasting my time?" His patience was wearing thin; the hurt from the guardians' sudden abandonment still weighed heavy on his mind. "I want to be alone."

"And do what? Hide in misery?" the older spirit mocked, grating on Jack's nerves even more. "Misery loves company, dear Jack. Join me. Together we can overthrow those foolish guardians. We will rule a world where everything is-"

"'Pitch Black'?"

"And Jack Frost. They'll believe in both of us."

The winter spirit shook his head and glared at the dark being. "No, they'll fear both of us. And that's not what I want."

"You can't run away, Jack. You forget, I know what you fear most," Pitch suddenly spoke up. His irises, normally a golden-auburn color, glowed white from the fallen snow. It creeped Jack out to no end.

"So what? I'm of no concern, remember?"

"That's what I thought, but you seem to have a fondness for interfering." The way Pitch's lips curved into a smile made Jack's skin crawl. "Think about it. Once we're rid of the guardians, we can go our separate ways. You can finally be seen by the humans for the first time in over three hundred years. No more snow days without the acknowledgment or recognition you deserve. Isn't that what you want?"

Jack bit his lip as he hugged his staff close to his body, seeking some kind of comfort. The torment from all those years of isolation and loneliness began to swirl within him. "I…" He lifted his icy, blue eyes to look into Pitch's now golden-auburn ones. The color held warmth despite the spirit's dark nature. The older spirit understood Jack more than anyone else. He understood the hurt of being invisible, not believed in; to be alone. Uncertainty was evident in Jack's eyes, yet he was too afraid to voice it. If he accepted this, didn't that make him just as cruel and self-absorbed as Pitch?

The boogeyman held out a hand, smirking at Jack's inner turmoil. "Do we have a deal?"

The guardians had turned their backs on him, and it wasn't like anyone was standing in line to become his friend. Who else did he have to turn to? The guardians never understood him anyway; his struggle or his desire to be loved and cherished like they were; to be believed in.

Jack placed his hand in Pitch's, and the two shook hands. This was it; his fate was sealed. With a small smile, Jack chuckled and nodded. "You've got yourself a deal, gramps."

Pitch smirked, choosing to ignore Jack's comment. "Good. Those guardians won't know what hit them."

"No they won't," Jack said, not noticing how the roots of his hair began to change to black strands. "They won't stand a chance."

xXxXxXx

Toothiana concentrated what little magic she had on making her wings move. Too many children were losing their belief in her, causing her magic to deplete. Pitch's nightmares had infiltrated her fairy palace, stealing her small fairies and all the teeth she'd collected over the centuries.

Trying her best to evade the nightmares, she flew into the center tower of her palace to hide. Flying clumsily through the corridors and winding halls, she made it to her throne room. As Queen Tooth Fairy, she'd had many luxuries she'd never really focused on. Her throne room had been one of them. She closed the large doors and locked herself inside. Just as she flew back to where her throne was, her wings gave out. She fell to the floor in a head of feathers and sweat. She was exhausted and weak. While her fairies had put up a good fight against the dark creatures, they weren't strong enough to fend them off.

Toothiana crawled over to the throne, her muscles protesting at the action. She winced as some of her feathers began to fall out. She ignored the stinging sensation as she focused on trying to get to safety.

"Where are you going, Tooth?" a voice suddenly asked from the open window that overlooked the throne.

The fairy gasped and looked up, her magenta eyes widening when she spotted a familiar face. "Jack! Thank goodness you're here! Pitch and his nightmares have taken my fairies and all of the teeth."

Jack flew down gracefully to where she was before he knelt down and held out a hand to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah now that you're here. We have to stop Pitch. I-I'm almost out of magic. The others haven't come yet and they won't answer my distress calls." Toothiana panted from the exertion as Jack helped her up. "I don't know where they are."

"That's easy. They're not coming," Jack said nonchalantly as he dragged the kinnara over to the steps that lead up to her majestic seat. He set her down and smirked at her confusion.

"I-I don't understand. What do you mean they're not coming?" Jack's smirk caused fear to grip at her heart. "Jack… What have you done?"

"Nothing," the winter spirit said with a chuckled. "Yet."

Out of the shadows, a nightmare appeared and slowly made its way over to Jack. It rubbed its sandy muzzle against the winter spirit's arm, causing Jack to chuckle and rub its muzzle affectionately.

Toothiana watched the exchange in shock. Why was Jack acting so familiar with a nightmare? Taking in the winter spirit's appearance for the first time, she noticed his snow-colored hair was now black. The icy blue of his eyes had changed to a dark sapphire, and his skin was now tanned. He didn't look like the frost spirit she had gotten to know. "Jack, what's happened to you?" She gasped and scooted away when the nightmare began to stomp its hooves. It was growing impatient.

"Ah Ah," Jack tsked. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. They sense fear, remember?"

"But you're a guardian. The Man in the Moon chose you!"

"He chose wrong," Jack said in disdain. He smacked the nightmare on the hindquarters, sending it on a rampage. The dark creature whinnied and raced over to the helpless kinnara. As soon as its hooves made contacted with the fairy, an ear-piercing scream filled the room.

Tooth clawed at her own chest, feeling the fear start to suffocate her as the nightmare's sand began to seep into her pores. She looked at Jack with tears in her pretty, magenta eyes. "J-Jack…"

"Don't give me that look. You should have known better. You should have left me alone," he said, stuffing his hand in the front pocket of his hoodie. The sounds of cracking began to echo throughout the palace as the structure began to break apart. "Looks like your time has come to an end. See you around. Or maybe not," Jack chuckled darkly before flying out of the window seconds before the whole wall gave way.

Toothiana felt a tear slip down her cheek as she watched Jack fly off. She hadn't shed a single tear when her parents had been killed. She hadn't shed a tear when the Man in the Moon had chosen her to be a new guardian. The black sand of fear began to overtake her, and she felt her body begin to shut down. Her vision became fuzzy as she fought to focus on something. The roof of her palace was gone. She could see the sun shining bright in the sky of Southeast Asia. Raising a hand weakly, she reached out towards the orb of light as more tears began to fall. "Mother… Father… I'll be there soon." As the last bit of energy left her body, she felt her world go black while her safe haven crumbled all around her.

From above, Jack watched the scene unfold. The seven towers that made up the tooth fairy's palace were nothing but rubble now. "Looks like my work here is done." He held up a round orb that resembled that of a snow globe. Inside was a mini scenery of Easter eggs. "One down. Three to go."

xXxXxXx

Pitch stared at the shadow cloud before him. In it was an image of Toothiana's destroyed palace. The older spirit chuckled and petted one of his nightmares. "He sure is something, isn't he?" Jack really was delivering on his side of the bargain.

The dark spirit smirked as he watched Jack use the globe to transport himself to Bunnymund's garden cove before he turned his attention to a secondary shadow cloud. One that showed Sandy falling to his knees as Pitch's darkness overtook him. Soon, the golden sand disappeared into black dust. A smirk made its way to Pitch's lips. "You're wrong, Jack. It's two down; two to go."