Disclaimer: All characters, events, and material related to The Guardians of Childhood and Rise of the Guardians are owned by William Joyce and DreamWorks Animation. Cover Art by Jake Nickleby.
You Fools
Summary: After the children of Burgess have gone missing, the Guardians risk being pulled into a trap as they venture into Pitch's lair to rescue them. Story One of The Capability of Wickedness collection.
Genre: Horror
Rating: K
Characters: [Pitch Black, Jack Frost], Jamie Bennett, Cupcake
Warning: This story contains dark imagery. Please reconsider reading this story if you are sensitive to this type of content.
Jack Frost stepped lightly down the stone staircase, keeping his staff close and ready in case of a surprise attack by Pitch or one of his Fearlings. The rest of the Guardians had split up, searching for the seven children from Burgess that had gone missing from their homes in the middle of the night.
The winter spirit had personally witnessed the swarm of police visiting the homes of each child in question. Frantic parents, and no evidence on the whereabouts of their sons and daughters. None that they could see for themselves, anyway. Jack caught sight of Nightmares lurking outside their bedroom windows, listening in on the grown-ups' conversation. He then knew the police would never find them, and that it was up to him and the other Guardians to return them home safely.
With a critical eye, Jack's attention swept across the area. He was so focused on finding the Seven Lights, as North had referred to this group of children, that old memories of being in this ominous place didn't disturb him. Jack kept hearing the familiar laughter of his friends, the acoustics of the lair carried out the comforting sound. He wondered if any of the other Guardians had heard them, too, and found anyone yet. The newest Guardian had been following the sounds for a while and found nothing.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw a glimpse of brown hair rush by. He turned around, seeing nothing, but he knew someone was there. "Jamie?" Jack called as quietly as he could, following the blur he thought he saw. As he followed the shadow of the boy, a haze of blonde and green ran past him. Jack caught a glimpse of another child before he disappeared through an opening.
"Monty, wait!" he heard Toothiana cry from a distant part of the lair.
Jack glanced worriedly, but he got distracted again by the apparition of his first believer, so he continued on in the direction the boy had went. It wasn't long before he heard the sing-song voice belonging to a blonde-haired girl with dress-up fairy wings. She quickly hopped around the bend of a spiraling staircase.
"Sophie… Come here, ankle biter…" Bunnymund's voice carried down the hall.
Two dark figures from either side of Jack darted in opposite directions. They were moving too fast for Jack to see them properly. "The twins!" North exclaimed to one of the Yetis, who moaned in his own language. "Yes, we must go get them! You go after Caleb. I go get Claude!"
Jack's eyes darted around the room worriedly. He hadn't spotted the remaining children, and wouldn't be able to hear Sandy if he had. Pippa had yet to be seen, and so was…
"Cupcake?" Blue eyes widened as he saw the girl sitting on a ledge as a makeshift chair. Jack kneeled in front of her, setting his staff down to place his hands on her upper arms. "Oh, thank MiM I've found one of you… Are you hurt? Where are the others? Where's Jamie?" He stared at her, waiting for an answer. She only stared blankly, unresponsive to his presence.
Jack heard a familiar, evil laugh, and he reluctantly turned his head to the side to see Pitch smile triumphantly. "You fools!"
When Jack turned his head back towards Cupcake, she was no longer in his arms, and in her place was a hollow-eyed Fearling. It tittered at him before it unhinged its jaw, opening its large mouth wide and baring long, sharp teeth. Then everything around the Guardian of Fun turned black.
End of You Fools
Author's Note: Based on the Disney Villain-Based Sentence Starters Tumblr post by reginathequeenofmean, "You fools!" Writing began and completed on 2 August 2014. I took on this collection of thirty-five stories as a challenge to motivate me to finish writing past projects. Special thanks to Tumblr user warriroprincesscupcake, who shared the meme on her RP blog, which in turn inspired me to try this experiment.
Originally posted on Tumblr and deviantART on 3 August 2014. Reformatted for FanFiction, published on 1 October 2014.