LINES
SITTING BACK, Tom sipped his soda as he stood before a chart on the wall of his room, several papers tacked along with pieces of newspapers and photographs. Brandishing his marker, he drew several lines on the board, connecting different items and pictures as he reached the centre and circled the name of a city: San Fransokyo. He stepped back when he felt someone pull headsets off his head, making him jerk in surprise and turn to see Mary standing behind him with her signature grin.
"What're you doing here?" He frowned.
"Not gonna say 'hi'? Thought I taught you manners, young man." She crossed her arms.
"We're the same age!" He growled.
"I know, I just love messing with you." She chuckled.
"What're you doing in my room?" He placed the cup on the desk.
"You're mom told me to come here." She looked around. "Seems nothing's changed cuz you're still playing with dolls." She picked a Captain America action figure off a shelf.
"There're not dolls!" He grabbed it from her and put it on the table. "Why'd she tell you to come? We're not friends."
"But you come over all the time."
"That's cuz she sends me over." He frowned.
"She called me using your phone." She smirked.
"I don't have your number."
"I may have put it there when you weren't looking." She tapped her fingers together and smiled cutely.
"That's invasion of privacy!"
"You didn't delete it or she wouldn't have called me with it." She grinned smugly.
He groaned and turned away from her, his face flushed. "Please, just go."
"I'll leave soon enough, Sherlock." She patted his shoulder and moved up to the billboard. "What's your latest case, detective? Watson at your service."
"You're a girl." He turned to her.
"Did Sherlock have a girl sidekick?" Her brow curved.
"No."
"Then I'm a fanfic OC, Wanda." She turned back to the board.
He scoffed. "I hate fanfiction." He picked up a marker off the table. "Buncha bad writers uniting to dump their crap online and claim it's literature."
"C'mon, they're not all bad."
"Okay, mention any fanfic you've read that's good." He turned to her then interrupted her. "And popular." He cut her off. "And doesn't have weird shipments, bad grammar, slow plots and lame dialogue."
She stroked her chin. "Hmm … well, there's – ah, no, it's yaoi … uh … there's – okay, I've got nothing." She shrugged.
"I rest my case." He uncovered the marker.
"You do know you're in a fic, right?" She crossed her arms.
"Doesn't stop me from stating facts."
"So, what're you doing?" She studied the board.
"Working on my merged world theory."
"Oh, c'mon, you're still on that?" She shook her head.
"Come on, Mary; think about it, the Dark Day can't have been a coincidence." He turned to her.
"You think there's an explanation for it?"
"I can't explain it, but these things are connected."
"What is? Just like Peter's board from The Amazing Spider-Man 2." She sat on the table.
"But this isn't meaningless. Over the past year, many strange things have been occurring around the city. There was the unexplained blackout, the sightings of a black Baymax, the –,"
"The blackout was explained; Krei Tech was behind it."
"But the case was closed right after the freak incident of a Silent Sparrow gateway appearing in a suburb." He frowned.
"… Your point?"
"There is no way a gateway that big could be taken from an island and over to the suburb without being taken apart and since it was whole, absolutely everyone would see it. The only way it could've been taken is with a Capsule Corp capsule."
"Well, Krei Tech stole from them then." She shrugged.
"Look, the case is not my concern – Capsule Corp is." He moved up to the board, pointing at the picture of a blue-haired woman and a purple-haired old man with a black cat on his shoulder. "The company has been running since the early nineties, but weirdly enough, very few people have purchased capsules."
"They're expensive? Or maybe people aren't interested in 'em."
"Mary, who wouldn't be interesting in a device that can store anything? It's only until four months ago that they've become popular which raises the question of how people didn't know such a big company."
"You're confusing me."
"That's because things don't add up!" He walked up to her. "After the blackout, there've been sightings of the Big Hero 6 fighting a black robot and others of them teaming up with a black robot to fight some monster then all of a sudden, Baymax gets a new paintjob. Iron Man, an Avenger, makes his first ever appearance in San Fransokyo a few months ago when he's been going around the world, saving lives since 2008. The Dark Day happens, people worldwide have nightmares for weeks after that and now people have fallen into comas in San Fransokyo."
"You're going all conspiracy-theorist again."
"That's because something's going on; this is all connected. The world has changed and things keep happening in our city." He lifted up a book. "The world map changed a year ago and I'm the only one who noticed. My dad –,"
"Tom, please stop." She held his shoulders. "You need to stop with all these conspiracies. You're twelve, but you act like some kinda G Gordon ranting about things that nobody agrees with." She huffed. "Why don't you come outside and play with me?" She held his hand.
"No, I've got more important things to do." He frowned slightly.
"Stay here cooped up and making comic book references while breaking the fourth wall?" She raised her brow. "C'mon, we could play with your dolls, go to the park –,"
"Don't try to pull what you did last time; I don't believe in bogus stuff like magic." He sipped his soda.
"But at least it'd be more fun than scaring yourself with all of this stuff. At least let me prove to you they're real." She read his expression and smiled pleadingly. "Please? It won't take too long."
His eyes dilated as he blushed and looked away. "Fine, but don't take long." He sat on his bed.
"Okay, I've downloaded the audible version of Rise of the Guardians on my phone. It's got way more info than the movie did."
"Play it." He groaned.
Her face lit up in excitement as she sat at his desk, quickly pulling up the audio book. "You won't regret this."
"Pretty sure I will." He huffed as he rested his chin in cupped hands.
Mary placed the phone on the table and sat back as the book began, glancing at Tom as he seemed to listen to it. As time passed, worry etched a frown on her face as he nodded off a couple of time. Shaking him awake, she moved back to the desk and rewound the audio, making him groan in aggravation.
"You know what? I've got a better idea." He got up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "How's about we video ourselves sleeping to see what's causing the comas?"
"What'd that prove?" Her brow curved.
"That these comas aren't happening normally. It's a phenomenon and I think the source is external. There's no way that many people fell into it just like that." Tom moved up to the board.
"But, why ourselves? Why not test it on other people?" She stopped the audio.
"Because it's an invasion of privacy and we don't have enough cameras. Plus, if we end up as victims to it, we'd have footage to prove that something's causing this and it'd help bust the person behind it." He smiled confidently.
She sighed. "Well, I hope you at least know something about the Guardians from the book." She shrugged. "It's a first step in making you believe them."
"Sadly, I know a lot now." He grumbled.
"Good." She grinned, gaining a groan from him.
LIGHTS FLICKERED on the globe over San Fransokyo; some slow while others went off one by one, concerning Nick who studied them. Crossing his arms, he sifted his mind as Jack, Bunny and the yetis sat around the room, each having concerned expressions as they waited for him to speak. Tooth entered the room and glanced at Jack, moving over to Nick as she went past the floor tile made in remembrance of Sandy.
"So, how's he doing?" Nick turned to her.
"Shaken, but he's pulling through." She smiled slightly. "What're we gonna do now?"
"I'm trying to think, but one thing we've proven is that someone's behind the comas and they've sealed off the Dream Realm to cover their tracks."
"Nick, you know something about who we're dealing with, right?" Jack got up from his seat. "When those scythes appeared, you said 'Death'. What'd you mean by that?"
"No, it's nothing." Nick frowned.
"How is it nothing? Nobody just says 'death' when they see something surprising, unless they know what's going on."
"It's none of your concern, Jack; I can't talk about it." He turned to the globe.
"Why not?" Jack walked up to him.
"If it's who I think it is, then talking about it will be the end of the world." Nick folded his arms.
"Wait, you said the exact same thing when the Dark Day happened." Jack frowned. "What're you hiding?"
"I'm sorry, I can't talk about it."
"Hold up now, if you're keeping things to yourself, then how're we gonna work together to catch whoever's behind this? We're supposed to be a team." Bunny walked up to Nick.
"Trust me; you'd be better off not knowing." Nick stepped back from the globe and shook his head, turning to the others. "But you're right, we should go and figure out who's behind this; we don't have time to stand around. Whoever's doing this has powerful magic that's spread all over the world and is starting in San Fransokyo. That means he's using some means of travel."
"Well, count out flying because I've had my fairies searching around and they've seen nothing." Tooth shrugged.
"The only idea I've got is the Dream Realm, but it's blocked off." Jack leaned on his staff.
"Well, I've been coming across several rifts while goin' through my tunnels which have made travelling a real headache. Since they've been popping up recently, they might be used by whoever's causing all this chaos." Bunny tapped his foot on the floor, opening a tunnel.
"I'll join my fairies and keep searching the skies. Whoever it is could still be flying and we just haven't spotted him yet." Tooth flew up to the globe.
The twin doors opened and Sandy walked in, drawing the attention of the others as he hovered over to them and crossed his arms angrily. "You okay, Sandy?" Jack moved up to him and he nodded.
"Excellent, we'll need everyone's help if we're gonna catch this guy." Nick smiled.
Sand rose out of Sandy's head, forming into the shape of a spiralling portal and a miniature version of himself going into it. "You're gonna try to go in again?" Tooth's brows furrowed and he nodded. The particles weaved into him floating on his cloud. "And you need time to collect your power?" He smiled affirmatively.
"Well, we should not wait around any longer." Nick headed for the door. "Let's go find a way to catch this person and we'll exchange notes when we get back."
"And what're you gonna do?" Bunny turned to him.
"There's someone I need to speak to." Nick frowned slightly as he saw their curious expressions. "Don't worry yourselves; I'll be back before you know it." He left the room.
Creaking his neck, Bunny whirled his boomerang and dove into the tunnel he'd open, shutting it behind him. Sandy and Tooth flew off and Jack moved up to the globe, his brows stitching as he saw a light go off. Looking up at the continents, he frowned as he held his staff tightly and hovered toward a nearby window.
THE SUN'S early morning rays dimmed in the grey skies, casting a shadow over a sea of ice that was obscured by a thick clouds that filled the area. Stepping onto a glacier, Jack looked around the icy plane, his staff planted firmly at his side as he looked down at a deep chasm below. He pulled his hood on and sighed, moving his foot slowly to the edge and shoving snow down below.
The powder disappeared into the darkness, making no sound as it fell and he stepped back, huffing as he paced around. He groaned and turned around, frowning as he saw a large, spiky ice stalagmite that stood tall on the glacier, its core filled with darkness that veined through it. He clenched his fist and it exploded to pieces, making him yell in anger.
He took a deep breath and walked over to the glacier's edge, looking into the chasm as wind swept past and echoed off the ice creaking below. There had to be another way, some way he'd be able to stop it from happening, but nothing came to mind. Closing his eyes and holding his breath, he walked off the cliff.
Wind swept past him as he plummeted, his body grazing on the ice and bouncing off the walls of the chasm. He huffed and stopped falling, opening his eyes and looking around as he hovered in the cleft. Flying out of the abyss, he stepped on the ice and kicked up snow, screaming angrily as he tossed the staff aside and paced around.
He looked up at the sky and saw his ice castle in the distance, the sun's orange rays reflecting off its walls glinting in the clouds. Several small dots came to view and he squinted as they drew closer, recognizing who was approaching. He summoned the staff into his hand and flew toward the figures, seeing Tooth come up to him.
"Have you found anything?" Tooth's brows furrowed as her mini-fairies hovered around her worriedly.
"No." He pulled back his hood. "I was thinking of holding a stakeout in San Fransokyo. Since the number of victims are rising there, that's most likely where the culprit will be."
"Ooh, good idea! I'll come with." She grinned. "We haven't found anything with our search anyway."
"Yeah, sure." He hovered past her. Glancing at the remains of the ice structure, he flew onward and she tailed him. "Let's hope we find what we're looking for."
WIND RUSHED around Jack as he soared through the skies, letting it shift his direction as he descended to a suburb down below. Landing on a building, he looked around as lights shut off, dimming the already dark night as the moonlight and streetlamps illuminated the street. Looking up, his brows stitched as tiny bits of Sandy's sand floated around in small strips entering some houses. Tooth flew up to him and scoped the area, followed by Baby Tooth who shared her concerned expression.
"Even here?" She turned to him.
"How's there so little sand?" He frowned. "Even if they're less kids, adults still sleep, right?"
"Maybe it's because Sandy's busy trying to open a portal – it must be taking a lot out of him." She moved onward and looked around.
"Well, let's find a place to stake out in." He walked to the roof's edge and she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Wait, Jack; I wanna talk to you about something."
"What is it?"
"Something's bothering you and you're bottling it up; what is it?"
"Nothing, I'm fine." He forced a smile.
"Jack, I know what you did at the glacier."
"You do?" He stepped back.
"You destroyed the ice created by your fight with Pitch."
"Is that supposed to be a problem? The thing was making the place ugly and he –,"
"But you'd told me it didn't matter to you and you just wanted to forget what happened, but now you've destroyed it after you've started brooding."
"Brooding?"
"Jack, you've been so distant and sad for a while now. You're quiet, you spend a lot of time alone and you don't play with kids anymore – even those who can see you. Something's wrong."
"Tooth, I'm fine; I'm just tired is all." He looked away from her.
"Jack, we're not Guardians only because we protect children; we're Guardians because we look out for each other as well. If you're troubled, we're here to help out."
He looked her in the eye and she smiled warmly, deepening his frown slightly. "It's Pitch; I can't shake the feeling that he's the one behind this."
"How? He's powerless now; children aren't afraid anymore because we're protecting them."
"Yeah, but not until the Dark Day." He turned to her. "For weeks after that day, every human being, including us, had terrible, unexplainable nightmares; that's enough fear to power Pitch up again."
"But, it can't be him; he's trapped in his own nightmares as well. Don't you remember what happened when we defeated him?"
"That never made sense to me to begin with. Sure, we beat him, but I don't understand how his own dreams imprisoned him when he made them. With the widespread fear around the world, war, death, crime; he's bound to come back."
She frowned and sifted her mind. "It can't be him; he's not powerful enough to keep people in their sleep. Even in the Dark Ages, at the peak of his power, the most he could do is give people nightmares, not trap them in it."
"Well, whoever it is, we'll just have to hope we see them during the stake out." He walked to the roof's edge. "Try to find a child and watch from a safe distance; we don't wanna get spotted."
"Okay."
Jack flew off the roof and Tooth watched him leave, disbelieving his statement as she moved off the house and searched through the street. Glancing through different bedroom windows, Jack surveyed the neighbourhood and hopped off a car, jumping onto an apartment building as he eyed a home across from him. A young boy opened a window and stepped away from it.
TOM FASTENED his Batman cowl, put an Iron Man glove on his left arm, attached a Captain America shield on his right, put on Spider-Man boots, adjusted his Super-Man leotard and picked up his Thor hammer as he moved over to the light switch. Turning it off, he moved over to his bed and jumped in, choosing to sleep atop the sheets as he folded his arms and looked at the ceiling with determination.
"Villains beware for I'm …" He stroked his chin. "Super Iron Spider Captain Bat Thor America? No." He sifted his mind. "Thor, the Asgardian Bat American Superman Spider of – ah, whatever!" He turned over in his bed.
JACK YAWNED and looked at his wrist, shaking his head as he realized he didn't have a wristwatch. Scratching his head as he sat atop his staff, he looked around the street when he saw a figure shuffling across from him. Jumping back, he slid down and hid on the other side of the roof, gathering ice around him to silence his slide down the tiles. He ran along the gutter and jumped into the yard, moving up to the fence that he climbed and peeped over.
The figure moved up to Tom's house, it's dark body having an unearthly glint in the moonlight. The creature was of a humanoid build, standing at around six-feet-tall with a deep black skin and feathers that covered its back and head and reached its feet. It phased through Tom's window and Jack flew toward it, swinging his staff and gathering snow around it.
A blue energy wave exploded out of the house, leaving the building unscathed and hurling the creature into the street. Jack jerked back in surprise as the energy receded back into the building and left the being dazed. The creature disappeared and he flew up to Tom's bedroom window, seeing the energy move return into the boy's head who was in deep sleep.
Jack frowned as he moved back. "What the hell?"
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