Chapter Five

"Hello Darling." Pitch hummed with a smile looking him over.

A hole opened up next to him and Bunny hopped out. He offered a hand to someone else in the hole. He pulled out the deaf fire spirit that hated him. The Reaper has never bothered to learn his name. He heard Jack whine when Bunny appeared. He shuffled into his back hit the cell wall. The Canadian knew the rabbit must have been the one that had hurt Jack. The fire spirit must have caused the burns.

Matthew quickly stood turning to the trio. He raised his wings defensively pulling his dagger. He didn't like the odds of three on one. He'd fought two of them countless times before. He could sing and paralyze two of them, but it wouldn't help solve the shadow issue. He wasn't going to leave Jack either. He needed them to slip up and give him an opportunity to get into the Guardian's cell.

"Let Jack go." The Canadian said firmly. Pitch just laughed at him.

"No." The Nightmare King said simply.

Matthew barely had time to react before Bunny rushed at him. He quickly threw up a forcefield. The rabbit hopped around it and lunged at him with his claws. The Canadian twisted and sliced at him with his wing. He heard the Guardian of hope snarl. Bunny tried to hit him with his boomerang, but Matthew stopped it with a forcefield. He made it bigger and pushed him back. He slammed into the wall. Matthew heard a crackling sound before a fireball grazed his neck. It burned. He quickly turned to the source.

The fire spirit was approaching him now. The Reaper smirked and stepped closer. He knew the man wasn't good at close combat. The fire spirit made a small fire ball. He through it at him as he advanced. It made no shadows in the cave. Matthew rolled under the fire. He stabbed the man's food. The fire spirit looked down at him in surprise. Matthew quickly rose up. As he did, he brought his dagger up cutting the man's face. He screamed in pain falling backwards.

Suddenly, Bunny slammed into his side. His dagger went flying from his hand. He didn't have enough time to correct himself. He hit the cave wall hard. There was enough force to snap his wing even though they were metallic. He yelped him pain. He landed in a heap on the floor. He heard the rabbit laugh. He looked and saw Pitch smiling as well. He seemed happy to just watch the fight unfold.

Matthew stood with a groan holding his shoulder. There were shoots of pain going through him. He could see Jack to his right behind the bars. He looked scared for him. His eyes darted towards the tunnel telling him to leave. He subtly shook his head. There was no way he was leaving.

The Reaper quickly focused back on the Guardian of hope. He also looked for his dagger. He spotted it. He used his magic to grab it and throw it. He was aiming at Bunny, but last second the rabbit moved to charge at him again. The dagger kept flying and hit the fire spirit, who happened to be just sitting up, in the face. It stuck into his forehead. He fell back to the floor.

Matthew wanted to laugh, but didn't have time. He used his magic to bring his dagger back to him. He sidestepped out of Bunny's way. The rabbit had predicted his move and kicked him in the side. It made him stumble, but not fall. Bunny quickly charged at him again. The Canadian brought his good wing in front of him, but swiped at him with his dagger. He knew he made contact by the resistance. He moved to attack again. He wanted to overwhelm Bunny.

The Guardian of hope tried to block his attacks. He managed to block quite a few, but was still covered in a bunch of small cuts. Matthew was wearing out. Bunny knew he was, but he seemed to be as well. The rabbit started to counter his attacks instead of blocking. He didn't use a knife or any weapon that would cut him. He used his boomerang and fists.

Matthew jumped away wanting to get some space between them. His back hit the wall. It jostled his broken wing and he bit his lip. He and Bunny were evenly matched. Neither one of them knew the others fighting style well, but were both good fighters. He could see the rabbit was breathing heavily watching him for his next move. Pitch was still just watching the pair.

The Reaper cautiously stepped forward with his dagger raised. He was hoping to catch the rabbit between two forcefields. Bunny caught him off guard by lunging at him. He didn't have enough time to react before the rabbit hit into him.

Matthew stumbled and fell into a heap. He cried out as he landed on his bad wing. He could hear Bunny walking towards him and focused. The rabbit went to kick him in the side. He reacted quickly and grabbed his foot. He moved and threw all his weight at Bunny's leg. He aimed his shoulder in the middle of his knee. He heard the bones snap under his weight. The Guardian of Hope fell to the ground.

The Reaper quickly stood. Bunny was still on the ground holding his broken leg. He was cursing and snarling at him. Matthew smirked seeing him in pain. He used the butt of his dagger to knock him out and shut him up. He wanted to do more, but knew he needed to save energy.

"Well done." Pitch commented stepping forward. The Canadian took up a defensive stance. "You took them both down. That must have taken a lot of energy."

"Let Jack go." Matthew repeated firmly. The King of Nightmares rolled his eyes.

"You're much too loyal." Pitch commented forming a scythe in his hand. "If only that were true years ago." He sighed. "If you were smart, you've left already. I knew you were stubborn, but I didn't think it was this bad."

"What do you want to let him go?" Matthew narrowed his eyes.

"Nothing really." Pitch shrugged. He waved his hand and Nightmares appeared at his side. He waved again and the mares rushed at him.

The Reaper put up a forcefield. Most of the nightmares ran into it. A few went around and ran at him. He slashed through them with his dagger. They were fairly easy to defeat, but there was a lot of them. There was barely any space in the cave to move. It was overwhelming.

Pitch stepped forward into the mares. Matthew noticed him as he approached. He finished off the last few mares before he jumped at Pitch. He didn't seem to expect it, but blocked the strike. He pushed the Canadian back. He swung at him with his scythe. He managed to catch and rip his coat, but didn't cut him. Matthew was about to try and catch him with forcefields, but Pitch disappeared into the darkness. More mares took his place.

The Reaper didn't notice Pitch sneaking up on him until it was too late. The King of Nightmares grabbed his broken wing and twisted. The Canadian cried out in pain. Pitch forced him down to the ground. Matthew tried to get away from him, but his grip was too tight. The spirit of darkness laughed as he easily knocked him out.