Seraphina
19:00, 24 January 2034
Fear. He'd never admit it to anyone just how good it tasted, tinged with color and raw emotion. The way the fear twisted under his touch, running wild like a nightmare. He loved nightmares, too.
The fear that rolled off that moon-faced, meddling fool was exquisite.
Pitch moves through the shadows, quiet as nightfall, until he's close enough to touch the blonde girl's hair.
"...clean and simple. They were once called the Guardians."
The snowy boy repeats, "Once called the Guardians?"
"Yes. Have you heard, perhaps, of the Nightmare King? Pitch Black?"
That used to be a nickname, Pitch complains in his head. They were both nicknames.
"No..." The snowy boy looks confused. "Who's he?"
"He's all over the news."
Thanks to you.
The boy with the dragon says, "And that means what, exactly...?"
Lunar looks at the dragon boy. "He's a threat, a terrorist. He has a way with fear; he can twist it to his own purposes, make you see things that aren't real."
Hey, you got what you wanted. Don't kill the messenger...
"What about the other Guardians?" the redhead asks.
"They're dangerous too," Lunar lies.
You're just scared. A scared little man who hides behind children.
Lunar lays out five files on his desk. From the shadows, Pitch leans over and reads the title of the one on top.
01 PITCHINER, KOZMOTIS
He can just see Sandy's number, 02, on the file below it.
"Black controls shadows, darkness, and fear. 02, the Sandman, is psychic..." Lunar lists their powers out. Even little Tooth is included, though she hardly poses a threat to anyone. Unless, of course, that person has poor dental hygiene...
"Wings?" The dragon boy looks skeptical. "How did that happen?" The dragon in the girl's lap shuffles its own wings, black and shiny as obsidian. Maybe they are obsidian; Pitch doesn't know. He's seen some pretty strange things in his day.
He did not just use the phrase 'in his day.'
"She has an unusual mutation. She doesn't really look human now," Lunar says dismissively. "Though the others do not display the same level of mutation. All the Guardians show surprisingly high proficiency with all types of combat, but those are the only similarities we've found."
"So you want them dead?" the snowy boy asks.
Lunar nods. "They're dangerous now."
Aren't you awfully quick to accept that? He never really told you why he wanted all of us dead. I know you're smarter than that, frost boy. So think!
"You'll be moving out tomorrow."
"What about Rapunzel?"
"She'll be fine."
...What do you have planned?
He's twenty thousand leagues under the sea, in shadow and darkness. Normally he'd find this incredibly amusing and even crack a few Nautilus jokes (to himself), but now was not the time for joking.
Pitch teleports away from the huge dome (it's called the 'cathedral'), and when he exits the shadows he nearly trips over Sandy and drips water all over the shorter man.
"Pardon me." Pitch really hates getting Sandy aggravated. "North! Everyone! You will not believe what Lunar's just planned."
Tooth flutters down from the rafters of Santoff Claussen, pink wings a blur. "Hi, Pitch! How did it go?" Without warning, she drops onto his back and hugs him tight. He's rather thankful she's still practically a child. "Eew, you're all wet!"
Before he can answer, North says loudly in that loud, thick Russian accent, "What is big news, Pitch?" Pitch realized long ago that North had no inside voice.
"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Aster demands. He's painting another egg as he asks, for some unascertainable reason.
"Lunar's dispatching his latest crack team to kill us all," Pitch says bluntly.
Tooth squeaks. "All of us? Why?"
Pitch doesn't say. It would only hurt her. "I suggest we all prepare ourselves for a fight-"
"I'm all for a good fight, mate, but I'd rather hide and live another day. Lunar's going to keep sending teams after us, even if we kill this lot," Bunny adds.
"Who are they?" North asks.
"Four teenagers, elementals. Frost, DunBroch, Corona, Haddock." Pitch lists off their names. "We have to send Lunar a message. He can't mess with our lives anymore."
"But Pitch! They're children! We can't just kill them all," Tooth protests. "I agree with Bunny; we should just go somewhere else. Maybe to Punjam Hy Loo."
Pitch sighs dramatically. "Hide? Us? We're rather conspicuous, in case you haven't realized. And I'm rather fond of murdering innocent children. In their sleep," he adds sarcastically.
"Let's not make that reality," Bunny says.
Sandy yawns widely and tugs Pitch's sleeve.
"What is it, Sandy?" Pitch asks.
Pitch, many years ago, playing with a young Toothiana.
A conference table.
"Sandy, always the diplomat. Though I doubt they'll be inclined to talk it out with us. Especially me." Pitch wrings saltwater out of his clothes onto the wood floors, and North shoots a glare in his direction.
"Why especially you?" Tooth flutters up to the rafters again, wide eyes staring down on Pitch.
"No reason you should worry about, Butterfly..."
"Just in, the Golden Gate Bridge blew up half an hour ago. This latest act of terrorism is attributed to the Nightmare King. The Nightmare King is a rogue government agent who was subjected to genetic experimentation, and who began terrorizing the nation three years ago.
"The TSARS, the Technological and Scientific Advanced Research Society, also a branch of the US Department of Homeland Security, has dispatched a team to kill the Nightmare King. No word as of yet about their progress."
Lies! All lies!
Not me not me not me
It was him.
Not me, I'm innocent. They're the guilty ones, they who wreck lives as easily as the sun shines. And him, the one who conquers.
Tell her it wasn't me.
WHO IS THE NIGHTMARE KING?
The terrorist who has been systematically destroying major American landmarks calls himself the Nightmare King. Many speculate him to be the youngest general in American history, Kozmotis Pitchiner, who retired twenty-two years ago.
He is known as the Nightmare King and the Boogeyman for his powers over shadow and fear. Eyewitnesses have seen him teleport through shadows and inflict crushing fear upon policemen. Many describe him as "something out of your worst nightmares." And this, for many Americans, is very true. The King has ruined thousands of lives across the country and killed hundreds, as well as cast the nation in shadow.
Are there no heroes to save us from this new terror? Where are the Guardians?
Is it possible that this Nightmare King is the fifth Guardian, Pitch Black?
Tell her it's not me.
WHERE ARE THE GUARDIANS?
Twenty years ago, a mystery group of five people appeared on the world scene as both scientific advancements and impromptu vigilantes. The leader of the group was a man named Pitch Black, an atrakinetic who looked very much like shadow himself. Atrakinesis is the manipulation of shadow and darkness. Black could also influence thought and create fear. His location is as of now unknown.
Black's second-in-command, known as the Sandman, sends people to sleep, reads minds, and communicates through images, not words. He is unusually short, and his skin is hued gold.
Nicholas North, the oldest Guardian at almost fifty, is a technopath, capable of creating nearly anything out of metal. The second youngest, Aster, has been clocked in at more than ten times the speed of sound, and around him, plants grow in the blink of an eye.
The youngest Guardian, a woman called Tooth, has a set of pink wings sprouting from her back and is covered in small teal feathers. She continually reminds people to floss, and that dental hygiene is very important.
The mysterious Guardians have been missing in action for several weeks now, and the terrorist attacks from the Nightmare King are increasing in response. One can only hope they return soon, before the Nightmare King attacks again.
Tell her.
Author's Note: So sorry this is a day late :( I was unable to post it yesterday since I spent the entire time in the car! Wohoo! Infinite thanks to my beta laisai. And again, disclaimers apply. Also, I'm not kidding when I say please review! Love them reviews.
Chapter Soundtrack: Let it Be (feat. Veela), Blackmill