Rotg fanfic- Taken Over By Darkness- Chapter 2
North called the young Guardian's name again, as he saw him stumble backwards. Black locks of hair, streaking the white.
He was astounded. Jack had willingly broken his staff, his source of power, to keep them safe. It was the equivalent of Sandy giving up his dreamsand; or Tooth, her fairies. He could only imagine how hard it must have been- fighting the darkness aswell as his own will power.
As North watched, the black in the spirit's hair spread across his entire scalp, his skin took on an ashen grey tone, and the, normally ice blue eyes, turned the same sickly yellow as Pitch's. The other Guardians arrived in time to see the transformation complete. Called at the sound of the snapping staff.
The former Guardian looked down at the two broken halves, and kicked them aside dispassionately.
"Foolish." The boy that looked like Jack said. His voice sent waves of fear through the Guardians- it wasn't Pitch- but neither was it remotely Jack Frost. A not very Jack like laugh came from it's mouth. "What a foolish boy to think that he could stop me, by snapping his little twig." The spine chilling laugh reverberated around the room again.
"I do not need a silly stick to be able to kill you. I can kill you, with this.." he said, twirling his hand round. Dark sand curled round his fingers, where a snowflake once would.
Cold horror struck North as he realised what had happened. Jack had broken staff- breaking whatever might have been left of him in the process- all for nothing. The Guardians weren't safe. They were far from it; and Jack Frost was gone- destroyed in a failed attempt to save them. All that was left, was this dark shadow puppet.
"So..." The no longer Jack said, a twisted smirk appearing on his face- a sick mockery of the playful one that often graced the spirit's face.
"Who's first?" he finished, a dark glint appearing in his eyes, as the sand hardened into a sleek, black dagger.
North's expression hardened. This wasn't Jack Frost, anymore, and he wasn't going to let Jack's sacrifice be in vain. He was going to take down this beast. For him. Before he could do anything, a golden whip shot past and attatched itself to the grey arm.
Unfazed by golden weapon, the boy creature wrapped it's fingers round it. A dark grin spread across it's face, as a patch of black appeared amongst the gold. The darkness spread along the whip, until it reached the holder, who dropped it just in time. The Guardians were horrified. Sandy's dreamsand had always been strong enough to overcome even the darkest nightmare. Yet, even as they watched, the black rope became a serpent, which curled around its master's arm. The stolen sand completely under the control of Pitch's puppet.
Enjoying their looks of horror, the boy chuckled darkly.
"Who's next?" he challenged.
North had had enough of standing around, watching the magic show of doom, it was time to take action. He unsheathed his two sabres, and stepped forwards. The dark boy looked amused, but not at all surprised, by this response.
"I accept your challenge by the ancient rules of combat." North bellowed. To his surprise, the boy with the face of their friend laughed; leaving North standing there, in confusion.
"Oh, North. You really think I'd battle you, myself?! No no no, far more entertaining, for me, to watch. I'll set you up with a few friends, and, maybe- if I feel like it- I might step in for the final blow." He decided.
To see the this creature, who looked so much like there old friend, speak such words sent shivers down the guardian's spines.
"Now then." It considered. "Let's see... a worthy competitor, for the mighty Santa Claus. He snapped his fingers and the snake and dagger vanished- nothing more than a means to spread fear. It continued. "How about a trip down memory lane? To a time when a naughty, young man- king of pillaging and stealing- finally met his match." North's eyes widened in fear, as the nightmare sand, behind the boy, grew into the shape of a collosal, black bear.
North remembered that night well. He had died defeating that beast. He'd brought it down with him, but the very memory of the experience made him shudder. Now, here he was. Reliving the nightmare.
The beast snorted, and charged at North, who turned to avoid the attack. The bear forced him back, until, distant noises, and telltale glimpses, were all that remained of the ferocious battle.
North was a formidable swordsman- arguably the best ever- but, the sheer size and power of his opponent, made this a genuine fight for his life.
The creator of the beast turned it's attention to the fairy, hovering by her companions.
"Dear, little Toothy." he said. She tried to hide it, put a brave face, as she always did when things got dark- but at the sight of her friend, corrupted and wishing her dead, she felt the mask crumble. She attempted to block out the fear with anger, fury at Pitch for doing this to him, but then the image of the twisted boy worked it's way into her mind. She tried telling herself it wasn't Jack, but the resemblance to the young spirit she'd grown to love was too much. Her best friend- her little brother- was trying to kill her. Her anger subsided, at that thought, to make way for fear. But still she had to stay strong, her Jack could still be there; and she was hoping against hope, he would come back. He'd end this nightmare, he'd fight away the darkness, and shrug off the experience with one of those endearing smirks, and then everything would be alright. She knew Pitch, or whatever this creature was, wouldn't be fooled by her attempts to hide the fear, so she was just going to have to face it. Jack would have wanted her to.
"Such a sweet, little Tweetie Pie, aren't you? Well, I've got just the friend for you- your very own Sylvester." Out of the darkness, behind the not Jack, appeared a jet black, giant panther.
Tooth backed off, in terror, suddenly she didn't feel so brave. She was terrified of cats. She'd lost far too many of her dear little fairies to the creatures, and now one of them was after her. It lunged at her, baring dozens of razor sharp teeth, heading straight for her. A scream of terror escaped her, as she flew away, the creature's savage jaws snapped at the place she'd occupied, just moments earlier.
The remaining two Guardians could see the cat and bird, from the other side of the workshop. Every one of the cat's leaping attacks, narrowly missed the fairy.
"Tooth!" Bunny called out, after a particularly close shave tore out a few of her feathers.
Sickly yellow eyes, turned to him. The malevolent smirk growing broader.
"Bunny! I'd almost forgotten about you." It grinned, darkly. Bunnymund was furious. It looked like, he seriously wanted to kick his head in. He reached for a sling that held one of his boomerangs. The dark creature laughed.
"Awwww, see how he glares at me. You'd just love to throw that at me, wouldn't you." He laughed again. "Go ahead. Throw it. You know you want to." He taunted. Bunny tightened his grip on the oiled wood, but did nothing. The twisted smirk made it's reappearance.
"Too much of a coward, as always. Oh yes, what was it, you said? Six foot one, nerves of steel, master of tai chi and- what was the last one? Oh yeah, deathly afraid of becoming dog chow." At that point a horrible suspition hit Bunnymund- how had this puppet known that? But right now, he had bigger problems.
As he had been speaking, the boy monster had made a humungous, black monster of a canine, appear behind him. This hound from hell was enough to make Abbie look like a tiny, little chihuahua. It leaped at Bunny, who turned tail, and fled in terror.
Only one Guardian now remained.
Sandy watched his friends fight. The battle went badly for all of them.
"Soooo, Sanderson." The golden man turned away from the fight, to see the cause of all this destruction, leaning casually against a desk.
"Time to enjoy the show."
Sandy watched as the bear raked it's claws down North's arm, causing him to bellow in pain, as the sand aggravated the wound. Bunny tore his bleeding leg, from the mouth of the monstrous mutt. More feathers fell from the ceiling.
Sandy prepared to jump over the railing and run to the aid of his fellow Guardians.
"You could help them, of course." A dark voice, stopped him in his tracks. He turned to see the black haired beast, watching him intently. "Just see how grateful they'll be, when your little sand shows make their problems even bigger." Sandy knew it was right- there was nothing he could do. A wave of helplessness swept over him. He knew the not-Jack-creature was thoughly enjoying his raging emotions, but could do nothing to lessen his fear for the others.
He turned to watch again. North aimed a strike at the bear's stomach. A good swipe that should have cut deep, but instead, the sabre practically bouncing off. Leaving nothing more than a sizable dent in the bear's side, that was soon filled in by more black. It was a similar story with Bunny, his boomerangs barely impacting on the hound at all. Tooth was just too busy trying not to get eaten, to even try attacking.
"Surely, by now, you've noticed how strong my nightmares are; and are wondering how I got them so strong." Sandy had been wondering just that, when an earsplitting scream reached his ears. "Tooth!" North cried, having knocked the bear over the railings and gained himself a temporary reprieve.
The fairy had decided she'd had enough of running, and gone on the offensive instead. She had charged at the flank of the huge panther- big mistake. Diving, head first, into the monster, had done something truly terrible.
She was hovering, uncertainly, trembling in terror.
"M-m-my eyes." she muttered. "I-I can't..." Suddenly, Sandy felt as if he'd been punched. She couldn't see. She was helpless. It was only a matter of time before-.
The monster panther caught her fragile figure in it's jaws, her screams of terror echoing around the room- any thoughts of bravery and self control abandoning her, as her lack of vision broke her. Nothing but terror now raced in her mind. The big cat started forwards, bringing her back towards it's master.
Sandy rushed forwards as the panther spat out
Tooth's limp form at it's master's feet. It hadn't spared her from it's ferocious fangs. They had left long, deep holes in her side, black sand dancing round it as though revelling in her pain. She was shaking without restraint- and the sight sent dizzying waves of horror through the Sandman. All that was left now, was the others.
A loud thump, and a heavy figure crashed, beside her. North, riddled with cuts and bruises. The bear had taken full advantage of his distraction, and tossed over with one, fearsome, swipe of it's paw.
Finally, Bunny half-limping, fearfully, away from the dog beast, turned to search for it- only to have the land on his shoulders. Flattening him to the ground, and holding him there, with a single paw. All four of them lay, together, defeated.
Pitch had finally done it.
He had the Guardians at their knees.