Pitch Black looked up, silver-gold eyes wide with terror in the thin beam of milky light. They widened further at the sight that met them. "Flo?" he queried faintly.
The woman smiled grimly, reaching down to clasp his hand and pull him out of the pit. "Hello, Pitch."
"I can offer you prey, Pitch," Flo said, watching him.
"I don't care about tormenting mindless, helpless females," he spat bitterly. "I want revenge on the Guardians - on Jack Frost!"
"I'm offering you that, too," Flo said emotionlessly, sitting down. "Think, Pitch - they are children, until I claim them. The Guardians are of that obnoxious brand of person who cares more for others than themselves," she sneered. "What better way to revenge yourself on them than to torment those that are the Guardians' wards until the very night you and I target them? In the minds of those protectors, our victims are still children - but they aren't, and your enemies will be helpless to stop us!"
Pitch held still for several minutes, considering, then looked up. His eyes glittered as a menacing smile crossed his face. "Who is our first target, Sister?"
"Pitch! Get away from her!"
The Bogeyman did not look away from the NightMare cavorting merrily above the girl's head. "Or what?" he sneered softly. "You'll throw a snowball at me?"
"We defeated you once before, we can do it again," Jack Frost threatened, lifting his staff as the girl twitched and moaned in her sleep. "Now back off."
"Do not be so certain, Guardian," Pitch said with a smirk. "She is no longer under your jurisdiction."
"Yes she is!" Jack replied, but a trace of uncertainty wove its way through his expression.
"No, she's not." A spectral woman with too-pale skin, drab brown hair, and alarming red eyes drifted through the doorway. "She is mine now, Guardian," Sister Flo purred, laying a red-taloned hand on the sleeping girl's stomach. "She is no longer a child."
"Go and tell your friends that I am back, Jack Frost," Pitch said, eyes gleaming. "And this time, you won't get rid of me so easily!"
Horrified, Jack backed away before turning to run to the Guardians, Pitch Black's and Sister Flo's laughter speeding him on his way.