"Somethings's always coming

You can hear it in the ground.

Swirling in the air, with the rising, rising sound."

'Believe', The Bravery

Chapter 2

Sixty years after Jack had become a Guardian, Pitch had returned. But he hadn't come alone.

Fear was the power source of Pitch Black, and unlike the other Guardians, he could draw power from adults as well as children. So many people were scared all the time; of war, terrorists, biological warfare, cancer, crime, sickness...the list went on. The fear of the prejudiced was especially sweet: they feared what they did not understand, which always turned to mistrust and hate. Hate led those that were hated to be afraid. It was a viscious cycle that fed Pitch's abilities. Armed with these, he had quickly set to work.

The Nightmare King had gone to the darkest places of the earth to gather a new army. He'd reached out to the blackest ghouls and spirits that haunted the unmarked tombs and graves of the world's most horrific wars. He used magic and talismans forgotten by time and dredged through the depths of the Spirit World to call up the worst murderers, killers, torturers, madmen, and cannibals that he could. He gave those awful spirits some of his nightmare-inducing ability, and they swiftly worked throughout the world to gruesome effect. The children who's dreams were touched by these beings were slowly corrupted, driven insane by the nightmares.

The black sand Nightmares were joined by new spirits that had formed at Pitch's bidding. The terrible radiation that had poisoned the earth in Russia and Japan had formed into a hideous creature of yellow, glowing slime that spat toxic clouds into the sky. The rain that fell from them would irradiate the ground, destroying fertile farmland everywhere it went. The creature named itself Chernobyl, and it loved nothing more than destroying everything it touched. At Pitch's bidding, the entire continent of Australia was decimated in a matter of days in the first of a devastating wave of attacks.

The Warren was obliterated. Millions of people died. The Palace of the Tooth Fairy was destroyed a few days later. The jungle and all its creatures were dying of radiation poisoning. Only the extreme cold of the North Pole that could muffle the effects of the radiation protected Santoff Clausen from the same fate.

The pollution that had choked the oceans became a terrible, giagantic squid-like beast that called itself Kraken. It dragged down every ship it could get ahold of. It destroyed every port and city it could reach, killing millions more people. It poisoned rivers and groundwater wells. Millions more died of thirst and poisoning.

There were more deadly spirits and monsters that Pitch had found and brought under his control, so many more. But the worst, were those poor children that Pitch kidnapped for his own personal entertainment. The evil spirits would bring him their favorite victims, and the Nightmare King would work a terrible magic, infusing the children with nightmare sand. Their minds were consumed by terror and madness, their bodies twisting into horrific shapes to become Nightstalkers.

Nightstalkers looked to be 10 feet tall living skeletons filled with black sand and red bones, their faces bone-white and black pits for eyes, their mouths too thin and wide, filled with needle-like teeth. Their hands were little more than long, thin, sharp talons that could cut through stone and steel. They were the elites of Pitch's army, and they preyed on children no matter where they were. Asleep or awake, night or day, the Nightstalkers attacked entire towns and cities, dragging off children of every age. What horrified the Guardians the most was hunting down the dark nests of these creatures, which were always filled to the brim with rotting flesh and little, gnawed bones of children.

Within six months, half the world's children were dead.

In a terrible twist of fate, the Guardians were now believed in more than ever.

When Pitch had first attacked, the Guardians had rushed into action to defend the children. The rescued children told stories of how they were saved by the magical beings, and more and more children believed. The children being kidnapped and taken by monsters that even adults could see, and then being obviously rescued by beings that they couldn't see, kindled the belief of adults all around the world. For the very first time, The Man in the Moon gave his children the ability to be powered by the belief of adults. The sudden massive surge of belief bolstered the powers of every Guardian.

The Guardians of Hope, Wonder, Memories, Dreams, and Fun were the strongest they had ever been in all of their existance. It had granted them new powers as well.

North could now weild his magic in a much stronger form, carrying the staff of his wizard teacher, Omric Shalazar*. He could fling spells of power all over the battlefeild, and even work large amounts of healing and purifying magic. The former bandit now wore shining red and white armor, and his swords grew in size to match his new strength.

Bunnymund now wore light armor as well, and his boomerangs grew in size too. They became five feet long, as strong as tempered steel, and when he threw them, he could cut down hundreds of Nightmares at a time. At the others insistance, he now carried five wicked daggers as well for close range combat. He could also summon vines and trees out of the earth, trapping and ensnaring enemies and dragging them down to be crushed into the earth.

Toothania's feathers became as tough as armor, and she weilded a bow that paired with an endless quiver of exploding arrows. Her magic could now unleash sonic attacks that could shatter the Nightmares and Nightstalkers' sand.

The same boost in power applied to their helpers as well. The elves and yetis of Santoff Clausen became much more humanoid, the elves gaining full human intelligence. They trained with swords and arrows, the better to defend the world's remaining children. The 26 golems that had survived the Warren's destruction grew as tall as skyscrapers, their shape changing to that of giant humanoid warriors, becoming more powerful and harder than any metal. The tiny tooth fairies became the same size, speed, and strength of their Queen Toothania, and trained with the elves in weapons and martial arts.

But one could argue that the biggest changes belonged to Sandy and Jack. Sandy's dream sand took the form of birds, swooping and diving, making it much harder for any of Pitch's creatures to catch or corrupt them. He formed giant mythical creatures from his sand to fight the Nightmare hordes, and many children were saved by unicorns, griffins, pegasi, centaurs, wizards, and even giant dragons of golden sand. Sandman's own body changed into that of a full sized adult, his robes changing to gleaming golden armor as his sand cloud changed to a flying galleon ship. Nearly all the world saw the Sandman as a protector, and his form shifted in response.

Jack underwent changes as well. He too grew taller, gaining nearly a foot and half in height, his white hair growing long enough that he pulled it back into a low ponytail. His hoodie was traded for a blue leather coat that was covered by light silver armor, with dark blue cargo pants that were taped tight around his calves and ankles. Bunnymund had taught Jack his martial arts, and now the winter spirit wore tight white wrappings on his feet, just like his teacher. His staff was now lined with silver and blue diamond-ice, the strongest, hardest, coldest ice Jack could create.

Sandman taught Jack to refine the shaping magic with his ice, forming icy beings that became the best defence against the Nightstalkers. Jack formed ninjas and knights, pirates and cowboys, ice cannons and catapults, his creations making the children smile and beleive more than ever. His own ice powers grew so much that he formed a permanent fortress of ice in the mountains of Tibet, as a refuge for the children they rescued and their families.

After the first battle with these new abilities, Pitch never appeared on the feild of battle again. He stayed to the shadows and darkness, always running whenever the Guardians came for him.

* Went bookverse here. Omric Shalazar was the Last Atlantian, a powerful wizard that founded Santoff Clausen and taught Nicholas St. North all he knows of magic.