Chapter Thirteen: We Are Guardians
The battle all started with a moonbeam.
A small, little moonbeam that was barely the size of a fist. The little fellow, despite its size, was brave and fierce, and did its task to delivering two messages to two people. Pitch and North.
The message it delivered to Pitch was a warning. A warning telling the Boogeyman that the Dark Ages were going to come to an end and a group of four would usher in a new age of wonder, hope, light, and dreams. The moonbeam knew that Pitch was slightly intimidated by the message, but the Nightmare King swore that he would put up a fight. He thought he'd win.
But the second message revealed that he wouldn't.
The message that the little moonbeam delivered to North showed him the battle that the Guardians were currently in. It showed the ex-Cossack the four of them—-together—-fighting Pitch side by side, wielding their weapons bravely, expressions fierce and true.
And they had won. They won the battle.
There had been several times during this battle with the Boogeyman where the Guardians doubted. Doubted that they would win. Doubted that they were even worthy of being Guardians. They wondered why Tsar Lunar chose them. They had completely different backgrounds, completely different personalities, and didn't even think about meeting up together until the Man in the Moon announced that they were to become Guardians.
But there was one thing that they all had in common.
The Guardians cared. They cared for the children. They all shared a love for the children and had a strong desire to protect them. That was something that they all shared. Something that they had in common. Something that lived in all of their hearts, and this was what bonded them. And no matter how different they were, it was the reason Tsar Lunar chose them.
And when the Guardians figured this out, they became confident. More confident in themselves and each other than they had ever been before. The Guardians didn't listen to Pitch when he taunted them by saying that they had no idea why they were chosen. Because they knew. They knew why.
And they knew they were Guardians. Fierce and true. And if the Man in the Moon believed that this ex-Cossack, this Sister of Flight, this Pooka, and this former Star Captain could defeat the Boogeyman, then they would. They could.
North's eyes snapped open and his blue eyes darted around in all directions. He saw nothing but darkness but sensed that the others were nearby.
"Iz everybody okay?" North asked.
"Y-yeah," came Tooth voice from not very far away. "Just a little dazed."
"That shadow stinkin' rat bag," Bunny growled from a corner. North could hear him pacing. "When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna—-"
Sandy's dreamsand suddenly lit up the room. The Sandman waved to each of his comrades and looked around. The Guardians seemed to be trapped in some sort of dome of Fearlings. North could see them weaving in and out of the walls. He shivered when he felt one brush against his hand.
Tooth fluttered her wings weakly, but she was still able to lift herself up into the air. "We need to get out of here."
"I would blast us out," said Bunny. "But I can't find my egg relic."
"I could try," said Tooth. She held up her ruby box and aimed it at a group of Fearlings. A beam of light shot from it, but the Fearlings didn't dissipate. In fact, they seemed to absorb the light into them.
"Vhat?" North exclaimed.
Tooth was equally shocked. "They can absorb light?"
"They can't," Bunny said. He knocked his fist against the wall of Fearlings, creating a metallic-like sound. "But lead can."
Lead. Lead that came from the Earth's core could absorb light of any kind, including light from the Golden Age.
"How are we gonna get out?" asked Tooth. She pounded her fists against the wall and groaned in frustration. "There has to be a way out of here!"
Bunny laid a paw on Tooth's shoulder. "We'll find a way out." The Pooka turned to North and he could see in his green eyes the silent "I hope" that he added to his sentence.
Tooth sighed and fluttered to the floor. "What are we going to do? Pitch is out there...we're practically powerless in here…"
Bunny tried opening up one of his tunnels, but none would appear. Pitch must have cast some sort of spell to block out their magic.
"And I can't use one of my tunnels," Bunny added.
North looked around. There had to be a way out! The Russian realized that he still had his sword. North stood up, holding his sword and stabbed it into the wall of Fearlings. They screeched and a few flew away, but lots still remained.
"I think ve can break through vall if ve all vork together," North said as he pulled his sword out. He turned to his friends. "Ve need to vork as a team."
Tooth, Sandy, and Bunny looked at each other and nodded. The three stood up and pulled out what they had. Bunny drew one of his boomerangs, Sandy created a whip of dreamsand, and Tooth clung to her ruby box.
"On three," North said. He paused for a few moments. "THREE!"
Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy began to bashed at the wall with all of their might alongside North, not caring if the Russian hadn't counted properly. The Fearlings screeched and groaned, trying in vain to stay in their positions, but they couldn't. The Guardians were too strong. Soon, a small hole appeared, large enough for one of the mini fairies to go through, but not the Guardians.
"Keep on hitting!" North encouraged. And the Guardians did just that. Bunny whacked at the wall, Tooth blasted at it, Sandy snapped his whips at it, and even the warrior eggs and mini fairies used what they had to try and break through. Soon, the entire dome of Fearlings came down and the Guardians smiled victoriously.
"Come on," said Bunny. "We need to get ta Pitch."
The Guardians quickly exited Pitch's lair, wondering where the Boogeyman could have gone.
"I think I know," said North. "Follow me."
…
Pitch ran. He ran as fast as he could. He ran as far away from his lair as possible. The Boogeyman could feel that the Guardians had escaped, and that it wouldn't be long until they found him. Pitch didn't know what the Guardians would do to him—-what the Man in the Moon would do to him—-now that he was weak and defeated. Pitchhated to admit it, but he knew that he had lost. He lost to the Guardians. He had nothing left.
And the one thing that Pitch hated the most was the fact that he was scared. He felt what he was. He felt fearful. Fearful of the Guardians. Fearful of what was yet to come.
The Guardians weren't what Pitch thought they were. They were brave, smart, and resilient. They wouldn't hesitate to fight. Pitch abhorred the Guardians. He wished that he could sense some kind of fear from the Guardians to use against them, but he felt none. It was as if all of the doubt and fear had been washed away.
Pitch continued running, nothing but pure fear flashed in his amber eyes. He breached the thick forest and found himself standing at the edge of a lake. It was frozen over and moonlight reflected off of it. Pitch snapped his head up toward the Moon, and his fear was replaced with rage.
"How dare you!" Pitch shouted up to the pale, glowing orb in the sky. "You knew this was going to happen! You could have just said that I was going to lose to those Guardians!"
The Moon didn't respond, but Pitch knew full well that he was listening.
"You've crossed the line, Tsar Lunar," Pitch growled.
"Actually, you've crossed the line, Pitch," came an Australian accented voice behind the Boogeyman. Pitch pivoted around and saw the Guardians standing behind him, solemn expressions on their faces. Pitch stepped away from them.
"Oh, look, the man of fear is actually feeling fearful," Bunny said with a smirk.
"Ve varned you, Pitch," said North. "Manny varned you as well. You've gone too far with nightmares and you have to stop."
Pitch gritted his teeth. He wasn't surrendering to this group of randoms. "Never!" he shouted. "The children will always fear me, whether you like it or not!"
"Oh, really?" said North as he raised an eyebrow. "Then where are your Fearlings and Nightmare Men?"
Fearlings and Nightmare Men were created by children's worst fears. And when fear increased, more would appear. Pitch looked around. None of the shadowy creatures were in sight. They were all gone.
"They're...they're…" Pitch stuttered.
"Gone," finished Tooth. The Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies fluttered up to the Boogeyman's face. "Leave the children alone."
Pitch stepped out onto the ice, but the Guardians followed. They weren't afraid of Pitch. Pitch was afraid of them.
"You don't deserve to be Guardians," Pitch yelled, trying to make the Guardians feel doubtful of themselves again, but it proved to be futile, because the Guardians didn't falter.
"Yes we do," said Tooth. "We want to protect the children."
"We were chosen by MiM," said Bunny.
"And ve have stopped you from hurting the children," North finished. "Ve are Guardians. And ve have just completed out first mission."
Pitch didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. He had lost. He. Had. Lost. The Moon glowed brightly and Pitch turned around to face the Guardians, pure abhorrence flashed in his eyes.
"This isn't over," Pitch said. "I will return and I will give the children more nightmares than you can count. For there will always be fear and no one will be able to stop me."
And with that, Pitch sunk into the darkest of shadows, leaving the Guardians with the Moon shining down on them.
Tooth was the first to break the silence. The Tooth Fairy smiled and did a lap around the lake. "Oh my moon, we did it. We did it! We stopped Pitch!"
"Yes ve did," North said with a grin.
Bunny chuckled lightly. "Ta be frank, I thought we'd never pull this off."
Sandy nodded. "Me neither."
At that moment, a moonbeam shot down from the sky. North recognized the little ball of light. It was the same moonbeam that had delivered him the message that he and the other Guardians would defeat Pitch all those days ago. North smiled at the beam and asked, "And what brings you here?"
The moonbeam glimmered and transmitted a message to all of the Guardians. It was from Tsar Lunar himself.
"My fellow Guardians," came the Man in the Moon's silky, almost lullaby-like voice. "I cannot say how proud I am of you for bringing an end to the Dark Ages and stopping Pitch. There is one more task I must ask of you, and that is to start a new age of wonder, hope, dreams, and light. Are you up to the task?"
The Guardians smiled at each other. They had already been giving gifts to the children, spreading dreams, and collecting teeth. The children no longer feared Pitch. The Boogeyman had lost his power.
And the Dark Ages had finally come to an end.
Bunny turned to his friends. "I dunno...it sounds like a lot of work."
Tooth elbowed him playfully. "Bunny."
"I'm just kidding!" Bunny said. He turned to North. "Whaddya say, North?"
Sandy gave the man in red a thumbs up. The three waited for what North had to say, and the ex-Cossack smiled. He looked up at the Moon above and bellowed. "Ve vill do it!"
And even though the Moon was thousands of miles away, the Guardians could make out a smiling face on the Moon's surface. The moonbeam brightened, and then shot back into the sky, moonward bound.
"So, what do we do first fellow Guardians?" asked Tooth with a smile.
North nodded and ushered for everyone to follow him. "Everyone to the sleigh! Ve go back to Santoff Claussen and celebrate!"
The Guardians made their way to the large sleigh. Everyone hopped in and got comfortable (Bunny got comfortable the best he could) and then they took to the sky. The Moon shone down on them, and the Guardians smiled at each other. They had done it. They had defeated Pitch Black and saved the children around the world.
The Guardians had never felt happier.
Author's Note: The next chapter is the last chapter. I enjoyed writing this story so much and I can't believe it's almost over now over now! X) I hope you guys enjoyed chapter thirteen! Next chapter shall be the epilogue! =D
Until the next chapter!
-BeyondTheMoon1203