Part 1 of 8: The Cosmic Murder

Jack Frost skips around the frozen electrical posts of the small town. He can hear children laughing and dancing on the snow. They made snowmen and snow ball fights. Jack enjoys watching them having fun. Well, that's his job as a guardian. He spreads fun to the children.

But then his companion, the Sandman, approached him unexpectedly.

"What's up, Sandy?"

The golden guardian projects sand pictures, telling Jack that all guardians must go to Tooth's Palace immediately.

Everyone gathered to the hidden palace and its ruined section of it. Jack looks around and saw the stable ruins of the massive palace. It looked like it won't collapse for the next thousand years however, he wonders why there's a big hole. "What happened here, Tooth? Someone attacked your place?"

"No." The fairy said.

"Then what happened?" The big old North investigates the ruined part of the palace.

Tooth points at the bottom of her palace, to the debris. The guardians took a closer look and saw a corpse of a giant old man lying on the thousand pieces of the palace roof and ceiling. Everyone went down to inspect the dead titan. The giant has fine smooth blue and red robe and great white beard and hair covering the rest of his face and a large golden necklace. Bunnymund checks the golden necklace while Jack walks around to find a good place to get the big picture.

"Oh, man. This guy is huge!" The young boy expresses his amazement. "He just fell from the sky and to your palace?"

"Yes." The fairy said. "We were just doing our memory storing when this big guy drops from the sky."

Then Jack accidentally stepped on something wet and slimy. He looks down and then saw the reddest goo he has ever seen. "Um, guys, I've stepped on something."

The four went to Jack's location and found the red goo he was talking about. Everyone except Jack was surprised to see it oozing out from the old giant's neck. They immediately knew that the giant was murdered, his neck was sliced clean. However, they asked themselves who did it. With a few seconds of recognizing the face, Sandman then jumps as he knew who that is.

"You know who he is, Sandy?" Bunnymund asked.

The Sandman nods.

"Tell us!" North said.

The golden guardian forms a picture of a family: a dad, a mom, a son and a daughter. And then he erased the three other members leaving the dad. The guardians tried hard to understand what he is trying to tell them. Sandy added a picture of a clock. But still the guardians had no idea what he's saying. They are not good in charades. The golden guardian sighed and so he spelled the name for them.

Father Time.

As they read the golden words, the guardians gasped in shock and awe. They turned to the take another look at the giant corpse. The guardians cannot believe that one of the cosmic beings in the world was murdered. "Who could have done this? Who killed Father Time?" Tooth asked the question that can never be answered by her friends. But Jack guessed one person who can do such evil. "It's Pitch. I'm pretty sure it's him."

"Whoa! Whoa! Hold on a second. We are not sure about that." North said when he saw the wound on Father Time's neck. "We must check the body first. Take another look at that wound. It looked some kind of a blade that killed him. A powerful blade that can break the skin of this cosmic being. And I don't think Pitch has some intentions to kill Father Time."

"So what do we do then?" Jack asked.

"There might be some clues that will help us find the real killer. Everyone, spread out."

Tooth flew on top of it, removing several strands of white hair to see the face. She saw that his eyes were stabbed, leaving a puddle of red. "His eyes... ugh, they are both gone. It is like the killer destroyed them."

"And why would he do that?" Jack cleans up his foot from the red goo. He rubs both of his feet on the perfect polished floor of the Tooth Palace.

Then North comes up with a theory. "We know Father Time can travel around time and even he can see the past and the future, right? What if Father Time saw something that made the suspect kill him? Maybe the killer's hidden secrets?"

"And then why destroying the eyes?" The Easter Bunny takes away the golden necklace from the giant's neck and displayed it aside.

"It's because the killer doesn't want us to know what Father Time saw."

Sandman spelled out his question. So, what did he see?

North scratched his beard. But before he could say something, Bunnymund found something different. "Guys, there's suppose to be a gem on this necklace." He showed them the empty slot on the center of the necklace. "And now, it's gone." The large bunny puts it down after that. "That is a pretty big gem. I can imagine the killer took it out and carried it away. Ha!"

"Alright!" North clapped his hands to get their attention. "Here is what you all do. Tooth and Jack, go to Father Time's throne room and investigate. I have a map that will take you there. I'm pretty sure the murder happened there. Father Time don't travel much. Sandman and Bunnymund, go to the Realm of Dreams and question the Thinker. He might know something."

"How about you, North?" Bunnymund asked. "Where are you going?"

The big man summons his sleigh before he answers the question. "I'm going to meet the Council of Fathers and report about this. But first, somewhere hot and dark..."

Meanwhile, in an unknown and dark place, a mysterious man with the gem on his palm discusses about his plans with the three men in the shadows. "You might ask why I summoned you here in this time. Well, I have to tell you. There is a dark future coming and we are the only heroes left to save this world."

A man spoke out. "Is this the reason you killed that old man?"

"That old fool has no plans on changing it. So I'll do it myself. Anyway, he will be revived if I changed the past." The suspect admits his crime but explains his reasons. "But I cannot do this alone. I have selected you three because of your extraordinary stories. You are all legends and myths that most people know. And what I know is that you can help me save this world."

The man who spoke before steps out from the shadows and reveals his mighty armor and sword. "Then I'll serve you and fight alongside you for the world's future."

"As a son of a god and a hero of my country, I will gladly help you in this mission." A tall man with large muscles steps in the light and joins the quest.

The last one followed what the other two did. He, too, has the power to see the future and he saw the end. That made him trust the man's words. "I have seen the future you were talking about. You spoke the truth."

"Of course, I am."

"I have served the world's greatest king and so I will serve its savior." He bowed before him with respect.

The man grinned. "Good. Now that you all joined in my group. Our first step in saving this world is to change the past." He used the gem and opened a doorway to a distant time. "Here we go." The four entered the portal and vanished.

=To Be Continued=