A/N: My first Rise of the Guardians fic! I am so excited. I wondered what Pitch's entire idea was, seeing as the big five all had a purpose. So... This came up.
I don't own anything but the plot.
Boogey man, after all
Pitch was scared. It was a very alien feeling for the boogey man. He knew those nightmares had been his, and though he'd cried out when they'd dragged him to what seemed to be the pits of hell - it wasn't scary.
That had been a trained exercise by them. He'd singled out a few of the beautiful beings in the beginning, but he did that even before he did the trick at North's.
There was always a chance of his plan failing, there always was when it included the big four. He'd planned for each of them, to shake them all up.
But he'd been thrown off by the presence of Jack Frost - a formerly unknown element, now also his enemy.
Why was Pitch Black so scared? Because, for once in his life, he was alone. His nightmares had all been transformed into dream sand.
He looked up at the man in the moon. He hated the man in the moon. He really did - if he couldn't even inspire fear in the minds of children - what was his purpose?
Why had the man in the moon created him? To be defeated, over and over and over, or to be an example to any others like them, that they shouldn't go up against the man in the moon?
Why did he exist? It couldn't be to give pleasant dreams, because although he had that ability too, that job was taken by the oldest guardian - Sandman.
Why had the man in the moon basically created a dream man, he wasn't even a full sandman, he just dished out dreams.
"Pitch!" A voice called to him. He knew of only one person either brave enough or stupid enough to come to him in the pit of darkness he was in.
"Jack?" He called back. He was just glad he wasn't alone anymore, even if his company was an annoying teenager.
"Yeah, where are you?"
"In eternal darkness, Jack." He replied ruefully, forcing himself into a standing position and pulling the darkness back into him, allowing light to flood the cave.
Pitch had never been afraid of the dark, even as a human. He'd prefered the darkness, because then he and the things that went bump in the night were on equal footing.
"You know... I might have an idea," Jack started, "look, what you did was bad, really bad, but I know what it's like not to be believed in, for anyone not to see me or hear me."
Pitch scowled, disappearing into a shadow and coming up behind Jack.
"Come to rub it in, Frost?" He sneered at the boy. Jack rolled his eyes.
"No - I actually came to help you."
"I find that hard to believe." Pitch snorted.
"Just hear me out, will you?" Jack insisted, sitting on the dirty floor, making it clear that he would not be moving one bit. Pitch sighed, sitting down next to him.
"What?"
"Well, we focus on the kids. North, Bunny, Tooth, Sandy and I - we protect the children. But I've wondered... Why isn't anyone protecting the adults of the world?" Jack asked, frowning.
"Because the adults don't need protecting!" Pitch bit back. Jack held out a paper to him. It was a newspaper - he'd seen one of these once. He took it carefully and folded it open.
He was shocked at the headline: "Three dead in shooting". At the bottom it said: "Family killed in home during robbery."
He flipped the pages, where words caught his eye. Words like "Woman raped by gang", "Man shoots family and then self", "Corruption in local government", "Man stabbed to death 76 times", "Woman kills husband in rage"...
"This is awful." He heard himself say. Of course, Pitch gave nightmares to children; things like their toys being taken or their parents being swallowed by a bear, but he'd never even dreamed of this. He would never cause a human to harm another human.
Yes, he had tried to kill Sandy, for that there was no excuse except he was hoping to take Sandy's job.
"I know, and I thought... Someone ought to scare them into realising what's important. We protect hope, wonder and fun, Pitch - but you... You can protect LIVES by actually being scary," Jack said, his eyes sparkling, "And if someone needs a little punishment for, let's say, shoplifting, you can remind them that there are better ways to make money."
"That's sort of brilliant... But what made you think I would do it?"
"You want to be believed in - I don't think you want to be feared." Jack said. Pitch wished he could tell the boy just how desperately true that was, but his pride was too much.
"I don't want your charity." Pitch threw the newspaper to the side as he stood. He heard Jack's stick tap the floor as the teenager got up too.
"It's not charity, if it was, I'd be handing you my position as guardian. I'm giving you an idea. A purpose. Because I know what it feels like not to have one." Jack fired back, tapping his stick again and with a whoosh of the wind, he was gone.
Pitch looked around, finding the thick newspaper still there.
He picked it up, deciding to read through the whole thing.
He decided to take on Frost's idea. Someone protecting the adults of the world against the evils of other adults. Sometimes children would be involved, but he would save them to.
For the ones who didn't repent... awful dreams awaited. Dreams that would make them shake and shiver and scream into the darkness he would create around them.
He would drive them insane with guilt and pain and darkness.
Pitch stepped out of the cave into the moonlight. It was a full moon, but this time Pitch saw the face forming in the craters of the moon.
"Is this what you created me for, old friend? For someone to protect the adults?" He asked the massive orb in the sky, "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
The face remained unchanging, but Pitch didn't expect an answer.
He quite liked that idea. He wouldn't just save adults and children - he would torture those who didn't repent, he would make them beg for mercy that he would not give.
He was still the boogey man, after all.
. . .
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