The children of the world slept soundly in their beds, unaware of the impending war lurking on the horizon. A war that would go down in history in the spirit realm, no matter the turn out. Pitch Black - the first spirit brave, or crazy, enough to challenge the mighty Guardians; the protectors of the young; the keepers of peace in all the realms. Never before had there been, and most likely never again would there be, a being with such evil intentions who had come so far.
No longer would there be hope, wonder, dreams or memories. No longer would there be happiness. There would only be fear. A new age would arise, controlled by those who had turned resentful: those who sought to devour any light that came into their path, until the world was left in pure darkness. These evil beings, controlled by Pitch, would make sure to diminish anything that they didn't have, leaving only sour glimpses of what once was.
But the Guardians would not give up hope - what kind of protectors would they be if they did? Until their dying breaths would they fight the corruptions of the Boogeyman and the wicked deeds he intended to do in his rule. They had sworn unto an oath to protect the children, good or bad, naughty or nice. Whether they believed or not, they did not deserve to fall into Pitch's grasp. Too many had already fallen by his doing, and they were going to make sure that their untimely ends were not in vein.
Over the mountain tops, rivers and forests they flew, as silent as a forgotten melody as they travelled to meet their match, to put an end to his ghastly plan. Already two soldiers and many believers down, their power was greatly diminished, but still they held their heads high. Not a word was spoken, nor did the silence need to be filled, as they became closer and closer to the imminent battle.
There was no sight of the sun in the sky anymore, not even a dull orange where it had set on the horizon. It was now the Moon's turn to show his face and to light up the night sky, but it was nowhere to be seen. Darkness echoed throughout every continent - even the time zones where it was supposed to be day were bleak and gloomy.
Perhaps a foreshadowing of what was to come. Perhaps Man in Moon was busy elsewhere, or maybe he were too ashamed to show himself under the circumstances. Either way, the Guardians were trapped in a complete abyss of tenebrosity, the only thing guiding their way was their own senses.
Bunnymund sighed - he'd never liked heights and he had always hated flying with a passion. But sitting there in that moment, all he could think of were the things he had taken for granted: all the things he'd said and later regretted, but never done anything about, all the things he'd done, or not done, or wished he had done differently.
All the time he'd wasted, all the people he'd never spoken to, or not spoken to enough. He had been extremely blessed in his life and yet, thinking about it, there were so many things that he should have done differently. He hoped that they would make it out of this so that he could fix his mistakes, but deep down he wasn't sure if they would.
Secretly, Toothianna and North were thinking the same thing: what if they didn't win? What would happen if Pitch defeated them, could that truly happen? They'd already lost the majority of their believers in just a few short weeks and there was nothing that they could do in the next couple of hours that would stop the final few from giving up that was all that the Nightmare King needed, a few short hours, to change their lives.
Or end them.
They all shuddered at the thought but, though they desperately wished that wasn't what would happen, none of them knew how things would turn out; not even Pitch.
He was playing a vicious game of chance right now - challenging the Guardians to an ultimate game of chess, winner takes all, loser takes, well... none. In the background, the clock was violently ticking. Dauntingly slowly, mocking them.
Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
The question was: who's turn was it to play?
Pitch watched from the shadows as the hefty red sleigh appeared in the distance, unsteadily jolting as a result of the lack of belief. He smiled iniquitously to himself, wicked thoughts running through his mind. In a matter of hours, his centuries of hard work will have paid off, he would have finally won.
With his rule would come a new dark age, greater than the last, which he would make sure was not taken from him, not again. He could already smell it: the delightful fear ebbing off the terrified children in waves. The nightmares were certainly doing their job.
He breathed in the fresh air - it was so nice to be able to be outside and not cramped up in his musty underground lair. Countless decades of preparation, years of being overlooked, of being forgotten, all leading up to this moment.Booming thunder echoed across the vast sky, sharp shocks of lightening filling up the dark air, crackling and sizzling with energy as if reflecting the Boogeyman's mood. Dark, moody, sombre, yet excited. Intoxicated by the satisfying taste of fear.
Fresh, new fear with every bad dream, every nightmare that the oh so precious Guardians were too weak to fight off. Children whimpering and crying in their beds, silently begging for the help of their mothers and father, who would never hear them.
Yet, he realised with a start, there was one person's fear which he could not make out: a spirit's. He thought for a few seconds, analysing all the names of the people who were afraid right now, thinking who could be missing. As the shocking realisation came to him, the corners of his mouth erupted into a smile. Oh, how perfect. Now he was rid of the interfering little twerp, and could finally defeat Man in Moon's precious warriors.
Crash!
Pitiful warriors, he had to say. They couldn't even land their sleigh properly. A vile, evil laugh bubbled in the back of his throat, the deep, sinister noise resounding throughout the streets. Silently, he slunk back into the shadows. It was about time he greeted his 'friends'.
"I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see you all like this!" The nightmare king's silky smooth voice rang out loud and clear throughout the alleyway where his opponents were piteously gathered. The confusion on all of their faces only thrilled him more. Leaping from shadow to shadow, Pitch used his claw-like hands to eradicate the streetlights, leaving all but one engulfed by darkness. Waiting a few more moments for suspense, he gracefully rose from a large dark spot on the floor, riding his most strikingly fearsome nightmare, Onyx. "You look awful."
The Guardians, or those remaining of them, stepped back in shock, taking in the massive figure of Pitch. With all of his newfound power, he easily towered over all three of them, casting ghastly shadows over them. In their current state, the Guardians looked like helpless children who had just got lost in a large supermarket. Compared to Pitch, they looked like ants.
And that was how he saw them - small, meaningless rodents that's only purpose in life was to get in his way. He imagined it in his head - stepping on the measly beings, crushing them with the heel of his shoes, grinding them into the pavement until all that remained were lifeless black splodges on the floor.
Oh, how he would thoroughly enjoy that.
Pitch cackled in a corrupt, villainous tone as he summoned an expansive army of deadly-looking nightmares behind him. Silently, with a quick flick of his wrist, the enormous horde began its descent. Before the Guardians could even think, they were engulfed in an infinite abyss of blackness, any thoughts of escape meaningless.
Pitch chuckled once more at the derisory sight in front of him.
Let the games begin.
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
A vast, infinite expanse of white. The smell of freshly cut grass, a cold breeze, pine trees. A tingling sensation across the whole of his body. A calm, soothing voice, infiltrating his mind, relaxing his senses.
"Hello, Jack."
Yo yo yo my lovely readers. I am so very sorry for how long it took me to update, hopefully this chapter makes up for it? Anyway, happy Halloween for tomorrow! Please stay safe if you are doing something (or just in general).
I hope everyone is doing well, please feel free to message me if you need or want to talk.
Hopefully see you soon (though I usually say that and it doesn't go very far)
