Oh man, school is going to start soon. I have the upcoming chapters in the works so it won't take me too long to update. Anyway hope you like this chapter. Read and review if you want!
The general continued to run for quite an amount of time. He knew it was dishonorable of him to leave behind the Guardians and Natty, he felt that the brave soldier from the Golden Age was no more. And he thought what use was there for him to live anymore.
He never knew what happened to his daughter, the one who wanted to protect from danger. Would anyone else care for him? The Guardians and Natty would but it wouldn't be the same as the bond with his daughter.
Kozmotis stopped running as he entered a forest. He sat in the grass as he ran his hand through his slicked back hair. He turned his head and saw Pitch in the shadows, calming down once he realized that it was just a memory. Curious of where the memory Boogeyman was going, Pitchiner walked behind. As he followed Pitch, he could hear a voice in the distance.
"…will I ever see him again? Will I ever see papa?"
Pitchiner saw the Nightmare King do something up ahead so he ran forward. The general would watch what happen next that gave him and go through great realization.
The Guardians and Natty were doing their best to hold off the Fearling horses. As Santa sliced the nightmares with his swords, he was starting to grow weary.
"If only I can summon the yetis or elves even."
Bunnymund hopped by North while catching his boomerangs in mid-air.
"You're telling me, my egg statues would be great help right now."
The two failed to see a Fearling behind them as it got on its hind legs, ready to stomp them with its hooves. Luckily a few seeds hit the horse and vines wrapped around it until it exploded. Natty ran past the two Guardians as she was being chased by a few Fearlings.
"Less talking and more fighting you two."
The girl turned back and threw seeds at her chasers, which sprouted into large carnivorous plants that bit into the Fearlings, causing them to disperse. Jack came around with a path of ice and channeled his powers through his staff to freeze the horses that chased him. Tooth came in and with her speed and agility she broke the frozen stallions into bits and pieces.
"Wait, where's Sandy?"
Everyone looked up to see the Sandman fighting off black sand in the skies. Pitch continued to conjure up a steady amount of sand despite Sandy's attempts. North looked up with determination as memories of Sandy's fate last year replayed in his mind.
"Last year can't happen again!"
Before any of them could set off to help the Sandman, more Fearling horses appeared. Bunny used his boomerangs as he turned to Jack.
"Frost! You and Natty go help Sandy, we got this buggers."
Jack nodded his head as he let the wind currents of the memories let him fly. Natty used a tree to climb high before making a cloud to stand on.
Pitch was watching the Sandman fight of his nightmare sand, knowing that it would overpower the Guardian of Dreams. When the Nightmare King was about to send out one more burst of sand, vines wrapped around him and bound his hands.
Pitch watched as his sand began to freeze and dissipate when Frost began using the wind to circle around Sandy. Natty came up with her cloud and high-fived the snow spirit for his quick thinking while Sandy gave Jack and Natty thumbs up.
Agitated that he was being ignored once again, Pitch broke free of the vines through sheer force. The sound of the plants snapping caused the three of them to turn and get any sort of weapon out.
"It's over Pitch, you're outnumbered."
"I don't think so, ever since entering my memories, I've learned from my mistakes. I've also grown stronger and do you know why? Because that coward of a general is so afraid of me. His fear has kept me going all this time and I never knew."
"Well that ends NOW Pitch!"
Natty threw multiple seeds at Pitch but he deflected them with his sand. The small projectiles rebounded back to the Sandman, Jack Frost, and Natalie and ended up wrapping them in layers of vines. The younger spirits were squishing the Sandman leaving him immobile. Jack accidently dropped his staff which landed on the rooftops.
Jack and Natty lost control of their flight and were depending on Sandy's dream sand cloud for support. The three of them were distracted in freeing themselves that they didn't realize Pitch was drawing three arrows from a black bow. Each projectile was condensed with black sand. Anybody it hit would be suffering from its magic and end in the same situation as Mother Nature herself, or worse.
"Now this is what I call killing two birds with one stone, or should I say three."
North, Bunny, and Tooth saw this and tried their fastest to stop the Boogeyman. But the distance was too great, even for the Tooth Fairy. When the string of the bow was taut and his aim was at the three, he released the projectiles.
It felt like time was going slow for them. Jack, Sandy, and Natty watched as the arrows head straight toward them. Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy could only watch as their friends were about to be hit. Pitch placed down his bow as he waited for the three arrows to hit their intended targets.
But just then, something spinning appeared in the air and deflected the arrows from their path. One of the arrows managed to tear off some of the vines, loosening the grip. The vines finally broke and the three of them were free. Sandy and Natty were able to remain in the air but Jack was free falling without his staff. Tooth, luckily, caught him and handed him the large stick.
The young apprentice and the Sandman descended to the ground where they met with Jack and the other Guardians. Natty was on the ground out of breath with a panicked expression.
"Oh my GOD! I thought I was going to die!"
"Well you are all safe now. That is what matters."
"Phew, thanks for the save Rabbit."
Sandman replayed the scene when the spinning object, supposedly Bunny's boomerang, stopped the arrows from piercing them.
"Hold up mate, those weren't my boomerangs."
"Wait, then what was that thing that saved us?"
Just then a sound of something hitting the ground echoed behind them. The six of them turned to see a large metal scythe in the ground. Pitch landed on the rooftops and looked at the weapon that had stopped his attack.
"What is the meaning of this? Who dares try to stop me?"
"That would be me, Pitch."
In a nearby alley, a figure walked out wearing armor that was black with golden trimmings with a red cape attached. It was Kozmotis Pitchiner who walked out. He easily removed the large scythe as he looked at the six with a sorrowful face.
"Forgive me for abandoning you earlier. I realized that it was foolish, but now I'm here to help."
Something about him was different; something in his heart seemed to have been unlocked. His eyes showed the new fervor inside the general. Before any of the Guardians could say anything, Pitch came down from the roofs and stood a distance away from Kozmotis.
"So did you finally gain a backbone? I must congratu-"
Kozmotis did not let his darker persona finish his sentence as he pointed the sickle at Pitch.
"Quit with the sarcasm. You have overshadowed my body for ages, taking my sanity into the depth of my mind. You tormented so many innocent people with your nightmares causing this world's corrupted history. Worst of all… you made me hurt my own daughter, of all people."
Everyone's eyes widened as the general spoke. They didn't know how Pitchiner found out but that didn't matter right now. Kozmotis had this newfound strength in him, a strength that would push him to face the fears in his mind.
Pitch was surprised at first but tried to hide his worry with a scowl.
"Well then, I will have to rid of you."
With a snap of the Nightmare King's fingers a single Fearling horse appeared. Rather than attacking the beast with his scythe, Kozmotis placed his free hand in front of him.
"Like I have seen in your memories, 'you're nothing but a bad dream.'"
When the Fearling came in contact with Pitchiner's hand, it had stopped and suddenly began to glow. Everyone was blinded for a bit and when they looked back, the stallion had transformed. It had changed into the same color as Dream sand and had transformed into a Pegasus. The horse flew away as Kozmotis faced Pitch.
"You may share my body with me but we are two completely different beings. I will finally rid you and those Fearlings out of me like I should've tried ages ago instead of hiding away."
The general was the first one to make a move as he brought his scythe forward. Pitch used his sand to create his own scythe to counter back. When Pitch tried to use his black sand, Kozmotis negated the attack with his will to keep on.
As the two men clashed, Natty and the Guardians wasted no time in rushing in to assist the general. Weapons clashed, magic blasted, brute force used, this kept being the pattern as this epic strife of good versus evil continued.
In a battle of seven against of one, of course Pitch would grow tired. Pitch tried to summon more of his nightmare horses as a last resort but ended up with puffs of sand. Everyone stood there, watching the Nightmare King struggle.
"W-What is going on? My power…"
Jack walked closer to Pitch as he leaned on his staff.
"Well you did sort of say that you relied on the general's fear to make you strong. Does he look scared to you guys?"
The others shook their heads in response to Jack's snarky remark as Pitch truly showed worry. Kozmotis walked over to his scared counterpart as he kneeled in front of him.
"It's over Pitch. You have no more control. Any last words?"
The general slowly brought his hand towards Pitch, who said his final words when Pitchiner's hand was centimeters from touching him.
"There will always be fear. No one can deny that."
"Goodbye, Pitch Black."
Kozmotis touched the Boogeyman, purifying as much of the dark spirit as he could. As the other six watched Pitch's body glow, everything else seemed to disappear. The emptiness continued to spread until their vision went black.
