AN: First day of college starts tomorrow so have a new chapter everyone!
Chapter 3: Message Received
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC.
His face, or what was left of it anyway, lighting up upon being recognized, Grim calls down to them, "I'm so flattered that you lot remember me given our last encounter was several hundred years ago. Ah, but it feels as though it were merely yesterday. I guess times flies when your physical form is so damaged it takes decades alone to regenerate and decades more to learn how to move, let alone relearn how to control one's powers." By the end, his voice had taken on an icy, unforgiving edge. Taking a deep breath, Grim smiles again before continuing, "So allow me to repay the favor." As the last word slipped past his lips, Grim whipped out his scythe, his bony fingers tightly gripping the long, twisted staff; the blade reflecting cruelly in the pale light of the workshop.
Pulling his arm back, he blasted Bunny into the nearest wall. Having no time to properly react, Bunny found himself hurtling across the workshop before crashing into a wall, shattering dozens of neatly stacked toys. Groaning, he attempted to pick himself off the ground, fumbling as he tried to do so.
With eyes wide in alarm, the Guardians turned from their injured friend, ready to defend against any future attacks. Just as weapons were being drawn, a blast was sent towards Tooth. Fortunately, she managed to duck out of the way so that only a few tail feathers were blasted off in the process.
"Oh hold still, would you? My aim's not what it used to be." Grim shouts down at them.
Dodging a blast, Jack turns to the others and asks, "What are we doing? We easily have this guy outnumbered and outmatched. Let's take him out now."
Nodding, North suggests, "I'll draw his fire down here if you four," he denotes to Sandy, Tooth, Nat, and Jack, before continuing, "fly up there and find way to stop him."
"Be careful North," Tooth cautions before she and the other three take to the skies.
"Jack," Nat begins, "try to freeze him if you can. Afterall, he can't keep shooting at us if he's encased in ice. Sandy, I want you to offer Jack some cover so he can take Grim out. And Tooth, keep an eye on North. With Bunny knocked out he's defenseless down there and could probably do with some cover as well."
His brow furrowed in confusion, Jack asks, "What will you be doing, Nat?"
Absent-mindedly notching an arrow onto her bowstring, Nat doesn't look up as she replies, "Making sure this is the last time he can attack us again."
After the instructions were issued, they took their respective positions and began attacking Grim.
Seemingly indifferent, Grim easily deflected their attacks. Even though he was unfamiliar with Jack's attack strategy, it seemed no great challenge for him to deflect his ice. Feigning a yawn, Grim sighs indifferently before saying, "You Guardians have no idea what you're getting into."
"Then why is it so easy beating you?" Nat asks, firing an arrow at him. While the weapon didn't meet its mark, it did successfully manage to tear a massive hole in his sleeve.
Looking more annoyed than furious, Grim spared her a glance before sending a beam of black energy from his scythe at her.
Spiraling out of the way, Nat neatly avoids the beam before sending another arrow at Grim. As the arrow was dodged, Jack shot a rapid array of ice at him. Grim simply deflected the ice with his scythe before sending another beam at Tooth who dodged out of the way at the last second.
Crossing her arms and smirking Tooth taunts, "You're right Grim. Your aim really isn't what it used to be."
What should have been a simple insult caused Grim to sneer. "Luckily I don't need to aim well today. My only intended target is your attention and I assume that's already been captured."
Lowering her bow out of curiosity, Nat inquires, "What are you getting at here? You did all of this to simply get our attention? That's literally the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard and I'm over five hundred years old."
"Yeah, let me get this straight," Jack adds, effectively cutting Grim off. "You came here to attack us after centuries of being in hiding for nothing?"
As Grim fumes, Tooth cuts in, "That really is a terrible plan."
"And I thought Jack had bad ideas," Bunny chided as he nudged North in the ribs.
Laughing, North replies, "Dah, but he has clearly been one-upped."
Finally able to vocalize his reason for being there, Grim turns to Nat, sneers, and contradicts her by saying, "Oh but I believe what I have to say is well worth the effort I placed into contacting you and it would do you well to listen." Grim pauses then before looking at each of the Guardians. They had stopped attacking him, albeit they had yet to drop their defensive positions. Making sure that all eyes were on him, Grim continues, "Nat it was your valiant efforts that resulted in my demise over four hundred years ago. After centuries of regeneration, I have finally regained enough of my power to return the favor to you. As we speak, my minions are creating a rather. . . seasonal change that I think you'll find very hard to live with. I give it a matter of days, a few weeks at most before I never have to deal with you again. And once you're out of the picture, Nat, it will be easy dealing with the rest of you Guardians."
As his words slowly began to register with their brains, the Guardians prepared to resume the attack. However, Grim was one step ahead of them. Before a blow could be placed on him, he disappeared with a swish of his scythe in a plume of heavy black smoke.
The smoke finally dissipating, the Guardians frustratedly noted Grim's disappearance.
"He's. . . gone," North dejectedly mutters as they survey the now empty battlefield that was his workshop.