Once they arrived at Tooth's Palace ( Jack enjoyed his petty moment of revenge scaring the crap out of Bunnymund), the chaos Pitch caused was immediately apparent.
The few baby teeth that could be seen were fleeing in terror from Pitch's Nightmares that swooped and gulped up any they were able to catch.
"They're capturing my fairies!" screamed Tooth as she shot out the sled, trying to desperately save her helpers, Jack tailing behind and North's sled trying to catch up. But it was already too late, as all of the Nightmares ran off too fast for them to attack, except for the lucky hit Jack managed to get on one of the retreating Nightmares, releasing a terrified baby Tooth into Jack's outstretched hands.
"You okay little baby Tooth?"
She squeaked and nodded her blue-green head furiously.
He smiled gently down at her before tucking her in his pocket and headed towards where the Guardians were gathered, North having messily landed the sleigh on a giant plaza within Tooth's palace amongst the chaos. Laughter echoed throughout the empty palace, causing the Guardians and Jack to tighten their ranks as they searched for the source.
"My, my. If it isn't my dear friends, the Guardians. It's been such a long time now, hasn't it? Dear Saint Nick, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman. All together in the same place, just like I wanted."
Jack got his first sight of the infamous Boogeyman. Yellow-gold eyes seemed to glow out from a pale gray face, nearly split in half by the sardonic smirk as he sneered down at them from the balcony above them. He was draped in pitch black robes as he stroked the mane of an angry looking Nightmare.
"Sandman, like my Nightmares?" Pitch questioned as the Nightmare brayed angrily in his hold. "Perhaps you're familiar with my work; after all, I experimented with dream sand and it led to some fantastic results."
Sandy clenched his fist in frustration as he glared up at Pitch.
"Pitch!" North yelled, curved swords waving angrily in the air. "What do you want?"
"What do I want? Hmm, I want a lot of things actually, where should I even start? World domination, recognition,...revenge for the wronged, that sounds like a good start." Pitch slid into the shadows just as Bunnymund's boomerang passed where Pitch had been moments before. He reappeared upside down on another balcony nearby, laughing tauntingly.
"Did I touch a nerve there Easter Bunny? Say something you didn't like? Well, too bad!" Pitch snarled. "You, all of you, committed far worse cri- wait, who is that?"
Jack, who had been bouncing around trying to track the ever moving Pitch, startled when Pitch appeared right in front of him, leaning to take a closer look at the winter spirit.
"Jack Frost. Yes, I've heard about you. One of the few spirits that willingly hangs around the Guardians."
"Just a neutral party." Jack said guardedly, his staff ready in his hand, but not aimed towards the Boogeyman.
"There are no neutral parties in this scenario; it's only my side or theirs, and associating with them means you're on their side." Pitch said as he stared at the winter spirit, his face unreadable. Pitch and Jack continued their staredown when Jack felt an odd twinge, like something was gently tugging on his core the longer looked at the older spirit. Pitch shifted away and the moment was gone.
"Pity, then," said Pitch, as his voice echoed around the castle, "that you've chosen the wrong side Jack Frost. Look what happens when you don't have children to believe in you."
Jack, North, Sandy and Bunnymund turned to Tooth in surprised horror as she wobbly sunk to the floor with a gasp, her wings moving feebly before falling limp against her back. She saw images flash by her, of children all over the world waking up to their tooth under the pillow, and seeing it reflected in her globe showing lights beginning to vanish.
"The children...they, don't believe in me."
Another round of laughter filled the space as Pitch appeared in the shadows where everyone had crowded around the distraught fairy. "You see, when people believe in you, life's great! You're the strongest spirits on Earth, fueled by their belief in you. But, it's also a double edged sword. If you mess up, or fail to entertain the screaming masses, they will turn on you. They'll walk through you because you no longer matter to them and eventually, your whole point of meaning will disappear, you along with it. This will be their fate." Pitch said, laughing once more as North and Bunnymund charged at him in blind rage, nearly falling off the ledge when Pitch ducked out of the way and leapt onto his nightmare and out of sight.
North swore in Russian as he thrust his swords in frustration. Tooth was picked up by Jack who, at her prompting, hopped off the ledge and let the Wind float them gently to the bottom of the palace where there was a grassy clearing next to a mural. The mural was obviously aged and faded, but the painting was still comprehensible; it portrayed children joyfully smiling up at the Tooth Fairy and her many workers, an almost holy light surrounding her as they exchanged teeth for touching the children's heads.
"What is this?" muttered Jack in awe as he gazed up at the mural.
"It's about my history as Tooth Fairy, collecting the teeth of children in order to preserve the memories stored within. And when they need it most, we bring back those memories in order to help them."
"Are mine in there?" Jack nearly whispered.
"Of course." Tooth said, forehead creased in concern. "Everyone's teeth are collected here, I thought you knew already."
"So with the teeth, I can remember who I am? Well, let's go! Right now!" Jack almost vibrating in excitement as Tooth fluttered happily in response before her smile dimmed.
"But the teeth were stolen by Pitch. And without collecting teeth, I can't keep the faith of the children strong enough to help fight him."
"We'll go!" yelled North, finally landing in the clearing with Sandy and Bunnymund. "We'll collect the teeth from the children, get Tooth's strength back and your memories, defeat Pitch, and save the world! Agreed?"
Sandy nodded enthusiastically with two thumbs up, and Jack whooped loudly in agreement. Everyone stared at Bunnymund until he nodded begrudgingly as he glared off into the distance.
"For Tooth and the lil' anklebiters."
"Then, to the sled!" North shouted.
"Mate, not again!"
~ODF~
A medium-sized green dragon blew a blast of white-hot flames at a menacing mass of shadow, fiercely protecting a blue dragon carrying four souls on its back, both trying to make it past the malicious shades towards the Gate. The blasts of fire were barely holding the spirits back and the strain of the constant fighting taking its toll on the two, flanks quickly heaving and the whites of their eyes showing.
As the bigger dragon paused a few seconds too long, one of the shades pounced at the soul trailing on the tail of the blue dragon. The unnatural sounds of a soul being devoured rang through the air, its punishment in the form of a burst of fire vaporizing it to nothing.
In a rage, both dragons formed a protective circle around the remaining souls and blew fire nonstop against the shades until finally, they were all vaporized with screams of protest. Quickly as they could, the dragons picked up the souls and rushed to the Gate before they attracted more shades. As they bounded towards the Gate now looming above them, they exchanged a brief glance. They couldn't keep this up for much longer.
'That was the fifth one this moon alone, Toreth.'
'I know. The balance is being upset. We just can't keep up like a real Guardian. We need Merith.'
~ODF~
'Perfect timing.'
Green eyes closed in concentration as images flashed through his head of long extinct runes rushed through his head as his hands began to softly glow white, collecting the power he'd been building up for the last century. Without his foci, it had taken much longer than it would have, and was going to hurt like a bitch, but Merith was ready to handle whatever it took to finally get out of this damn cell.
'Thank you MiM for your centennial gift.'
A blast of light filled the room as the sounds of chains breaking tinkled underneath Merith's scream.