"I'm surprised that you managed to keep hold of the Sandman's nightmare magic, I would have thought that you would have lost it down there..." Darkness walked through the middle of the road, ignoring the oncoming traffic. Pitch was behind her, skulking slightly, as if still knocked down from his defeat by the Guardians.
"It's a useful trick, and it is so very effective," he gave a small smile, and his eyes flickered gold for a brief moment. "Sandy doesn't have the ability to take away what I've learnt, simply-"
"Beat you to a pulp? I was actually very surprised that they won, you were so powerful at the time."
He frowned and cocked his head slightly. "How would you know?"
"It wasn't just the Sandman's magic you used," she replied, trying not to sound too envious. "You infected the dreams with darkness and fear, every time you used one I felt it. You stole my magic for those nightmares."
Pitch paused. "Sorry, I understand."
"No you don't but your apology is accepted. Anyway, have you thought about how you're going to destroy Christmas?" She changed the subject. "I hope you're planning something dramatic."
"How did you know?" Pitch smiled at her, then hesitated, as if what he was about to say was offensive. "But we're going to have help."
"What? Who? Why?" Dark's strange calm faltered as she stared at Pitch, looking confused.
Pitch seemed to rise above his skulking, and he strode in front of her, stepping out of the way as a lorry drove past, only to stop with a beep of it's horn behind them, the driver probably wondering what had happened to the street lights. Dark could see the way Pitch's robes leaked the black sand in small shadowy strands, that twisted away through the fierce gloom.
With out looking at her, Pitch began to speak, his voice wry. "I made a mistake last time. Five Guardians, all focused on me; they were bound to manage some sort of advantage at some point, but I didn't realise this. I should have had a distraction. It was how I killed the Sandman; how I crushed Easter. But at the end I figured I was too powerful, they couldn't get to me.
"I need other people, I need distractions. Secrets are best played out in the dark, and now that I have you..."
"I'm not sure I like being considered a distraction," Dark interrupted, frowning.
He smiled at her. "You will, trust me."
"I don't."
"Dark, this will be great! All the darkness you can imagine, all that if we just join forces..." His eyes flashed tauntingly gold again.
"I'm pretty sure I was the one offering to join forces earlier..." She raised an eyebrow at him, but he had already turned his back.
"So, the plan, as it is, is that I'm going to have five," Pitch continued. "Five distractions for five guardians. We'll play on fears, each one of us get's a Guardian who's afraid of something they have."
"Who have I got?" Dark asked, feeling like a child on Christmas, though there was a small chance of Christmas this year, judging by the devious smile that was playing on Pitch Black's lips.
"All in good time. But for now, I need as much strength as I can get." He looked over at her and she knew where it was heading. "Let's spread the fear..."
Meanwhile In the North Pole
"I love being a Guardian..." Jack Frost grinned as he flew from floor to floor, looking in awe around Santa's workshop. He examined the toys the yetis were working on, his smile growing with each amazing new toy he discovered. "I've been trying to bust in here for years. If only I knew that all you had to do was join the Guardians and beat up the occasional bad guy."
North laughed. "I'm not sure the Man in Moon picked you for that reason, Jack. Come, look at the Globe, see all the Christmas cheer!"
North jumped onto a small lift which rose, taking him up to the top level of his workshop. Jack flew up on a cold wind beside him, ducking to avoid the occasional glowing frisbee that zoomed around the place, sending out multi-coloured streams of light.
The globe was surrounded by wreaths of holly that wrapped around it, decorated with baubles and a couple of elves that had gotten themselves stuck. Jack grinned. "And this is just for one day of the year..."
"More than one day, my friend!" North boomed, clapping Jack on the back as he landed next to him, avoiding a yeti carrying a mountain of Barbie dolls. "Christmas is about cheer, and hope and wonder! Twelve days, if you like! It is the Christmas season!"
"You have to deliver these all in one night?" Jack asked. He and the rest of the Guardians had helped the Tooth Fairy collect teeth eight months ago, but there had been five of them, and not every child had lost a tooth. "That'd suck."
"Only when a freak blizzard appears and spooks the reindeer," North told him, frowning.
Jack shrugged. "Blizzards have a tendency to do that."
"So does a particular Guardian..." North muttered, but under his beard he was smiling. He turned to the giant globe that was rotating slowly. "Have you ever seen the lights this bright? Not even on Easter! Only at Christmas time."
Jack floated up and surveyed the globe, pausing over the spot on the north east of the United States as he always did, looking at the few lights that represented the children that actually believed in him. Suddenly the lights started blinking manically and fading in that area.
"North!" Jack called alarmed. "The lights are blinking!"
"They sometimes do that," North said dismissively, examining a collection of toy cars that a yeti was attaching the wheels to.
"No- no, I mean they're going out!"
North strode over and pulled a lever on the board in front of him. Immediately the globe spun so the part Jack was pointing to was facing him. Jack gave a startled yell as a wreath of holly whipped along with the globe and caught him in the stomach, sending him to the ground when it stopped. North didn't even seem to have noticed.
"What is happening?" he whispered.
"You don't know what it is? Could it be Pitch? Could-" Jack froze in the middle of getting up. "Jamie!"
He flew into the air, clutching his staff.
"Jack, no!" called North. "It's probably not even Pitch, and if it is, it's too dangerous!"
"Nonsense, I'll have Jamie. If it is Pitch, he'll be the first person he'll terrify!"
"Jack..." North attempted in a resigned voice, but Jack had already flown out the hole in the roof, leaving but a few snowflakes in his wake.
I've actually finished this story (on ) but when I post here depends on the reviews.