Finally, another chapter. It's poorly written, but at least it's not 500 words.

...

Chapter 6: The Child Cooker

Granny's hands were high above her head, and there was a giant smile on her face. If she could talk, she would be yelling at the top of her lungs. Faster, Faster! she wanted to scream. But if they went any faster, poor Creek might have a heart attack.

"How much longer till we get there?" Creek screeched over the roaring winds. "Not long!" Poppy assured him.

She leaned in and whispered in Branch's ear. "It going to be at least two hours." Branch snickered.

They flew for some more, before the air cleared of snow and Branch was given a view of a bright, pink sky. Beneath them, there were fields and fields of marshtatoes. "Wow." Branch said in awe. He leaned over the edge, (not too much, he didn't want to fall) and gazed at the beautiful land. Poppy leaned over too.

"I know, right?" she chimed in. "Everyday, all the time, I get to pick marshtatoes from those fields and spread them to children all over the world."

Branch nodded, understanding why someone would enjoy that, but... "You trade the marshtatoes for teeth, right?"

"Yep." Poppy answered.

"Doesn't that make them rot and fall out?" The Marshtato Fairy turned pinker. "Well, when you put it like that..."

"Everyone ready?" Peppy demanded, cutting into their conversation. "Because we're here!"

In front of the sleigh was a giant, pink castle. It was surrounded by fields of puffy marshtatoes. Sparkling, silvery vines grew all along the tall spires. It was absolutely beautiful.

But then, a shadow sailed past the sleigh, so fast Branch couldn't even make out its shape. "What is that?" Creek asked.

"I think you mean 'what was that?'" Peppy corrected.

"No." Creek rebuffed. "What is that?" he asked, pointing at another shadow heading towards them. It seemed to spread out into smaller shadows, and flew in circles around the skies.

As they flew closer to the shadow swarm, it became obvious that the shadows were meant to look like bergens, and that they were undeniably made of black glitter. And as they flew in their messy patterns, the Guardians realized that they were latching onto the mini-marshtato fairies.

Branch suddenly jumped up out of the sleigh, and grabbed a fairy from one of the begens. He flew through the swarm, and landed back on the sleigh. "I believe this is yours." he said, handing the fairy back to Poppy. She gratefully took her from him. "Are you alright?" she asked the tiny, blue-haired fairy. She nodded, and whispered something to Poppy.

Peppy snapped the reigns of the sleigh, and steered the reindeer so that they would chase after one of the shadows. "Take the reigns." he said the Granny, who happily obliged.

Peppy climbed up on the front of the sleigh, and pulled a broadsword out of his hair. He swung it at the bergen, and it broke apart, spilling the black glitter all over the place. Creek reached a hand out to grab what the monster had been holding. Instead of an innocent fairy, this one had had a small, green pod in its clutches.

Granny signed a tooth over her head, and Poppy's eyes widened in horror. She quickly jumped off the sleigh, and made her way inside the palace. Her fellow guardians weren't too far behind.

They watched her in pity as she flew around her palace, looking for something. "They took all the teeth..." she said, searching through a large, empty shelf. "And my fairies." she couldn't see anyone making their usual rounds in and out of the palace. "It's all gone..." she said, sinking to the floor.

The fairy Branch rescued earlier made a coughing sound, catch her leader's attention. "I guess you're still here, Harper." Poppy said, before wrapping the tiny fairy in a hug.

"I have to say..." a hair-raising voice echoed through the large castle, making the already dejected atmosphere tense. "This is very, very exciting."

The guardians looked for the source of the voice, and nearly jumped in surprise when they realized that Chef was standing on a balcony above them. "The big four, all in one place. I'm a little star-struck."

This was Branch's first time seeing her. She had dark, purple skin, a tangles mess of bright blue hair, the creepiest eyes Branch had ever seen, and to top it all off, she was wearing a black, worn out chefs uniform.

"Did you like my show in your little map room, Peppy?" she purred. "It got you all together, didn't it?"

"Chef, you have about three seconds to return my fairies!" Poppy threatened, voice filled with venom.

"Or what?" Chef asked, amused. "You'll put a marshmallow under my pillow?"

Poppy scowled at the bergen, and her face turned bright red. She flew up to the balcony, ready to smack the bergen, but Chef simply shuffled into the shadows, and appeared on another balcony.

"Why are you doing this?" Creek demanded.

The sadistic grin dropped from her face, and was replaced by an angry scowl. "It's simply because I want you have: to be believed in."

Branch felt a sharp pang in his chest. If anyone knew that feeling, it was him. "Maybe that's what you deserve!" Creek snapped.

Chef ignored him. She instead turned her attention to the youngest spirit of the bunch. "Is that Branch Frost?" she asked, disappearing again.

"Since when are you all BFFs?" she asked, appearing behind him.

"We're not." he answered.

Chef hummed, before continuing with her monologue. "Bet you're all wondering what I'm up to."

Poppy flew at her, raising a fist and releasing a war cry. But another bergen sprang up in front of Chef and screeched at Poppy. "There, there, Chad..." Chef whispered. She ran a hand down his shoulder, and some of the glitter stuck to her fingers. "Look familiar, Sandwoman?" she said, holding it out towards Granny.

"Took me a while to perfect this little trick. Turning dreams into nightmares..." Chef cooed. As she began another monologue, Branch found himself tuning her out. He already knew where she came from... where they all came from.

Chef was a power-hungry psychopath who had been a chef in her past life. For hundreds of years, she had terrorized children with haunting images of them and their friends being cooked into pies and other deserts.

Then, four of the most powerful spirits in the world were chosen to defeat her. Now she was back, and she wanted revenge and blah blah blah blah...

"And before you know it, everything you represent, and everything the children love about you, it'll all be gone. It's you're turn to not be believed in." Chef spat, before disappearing from the palace.