Sandy struck out with another sand whip, and reduced the banshee to ash. He let out a sigh, before glancing around. Pitch had gone off fighting another of the strange monsters a few minutes ago and he hadn't seen him since.
Suddenly, another banshee leapt at him from the shadows, giving him no time to react. It was almost upon him as it let out a screech, when a black arrow suddenly struck its chest, and turned it to dust. He glanced behind him, and spotted Pitch as the Boogeyman was lowering his arms from their drawn position.
"You should really learn not to turn your back to danger." He remarked.
Sandy gave him an annoyed glare, and he shrugged.
"Well, it certainly didn't turn out well the last time."
The glare continued, and Pitch returned it with a sardonic smirk. Then, Sandy's eyes widened, before he sent a sand whip towards Pitch. His own eyes widened, before a screech sounded from behind him. A banshee lunged out of the shadows, but it was stopped by the whip, and flung to the ground. A blow from Pitch's scythe ended it then and there.
Pitch glanced at the Sandman, who was smirking. A few sand images formed above his head.
"Who shouldn't turn their back to danger?"
"Shut up…"
They exited the alley they'd been in, and glanced around the area, keeping an eye out for any more of the monsters. Sandy glanced at the Boogeyman, before forming some more images.
"You're not too bad at this."
Pitch merely grunted, and continued walking. Sandy said nothing for a minute, before once again trying to form a conversation.
"You seem to get along with Jack pretty well."
"He's less annoying than the rest of you."
Sandy had a mock offended look on his face, and Pitch shrugged.
"Look, I'm sorry if we all seem a little suspicious, but considering our history, can you blame us?"
"…No, I suppose not. But if I was going to make another grab for power, I would've done so by now."
"I'm sure you would've. I'd probably come in second to trusting you, after Jack."
Pitch raised an invisible eyebrow, and Sandy shrugged.
"I've always known you weren't as bad as you make yourself out be, and that you could provide something essential to the world. I KNOW fear is needed in life, I've always known that; it just shouldn't rule the world."
"Yes, I got the message last year."
"Well, you were asking for it with that stunt; but even so, you're not so bad."
Sandy gave a small smile.
"You're definantly better than the last Boogeyman we had."
Pitch actually gave a laugh.
"Yes, Tommy was a bit of a nutcase, wasn't he?"
Sandy nodded, his face darkening for a moment. It vanished when Baby Tooth suddenly appeared in front of them, chirping frantically. She pulled on Sandy and Pitch's sleeves, before taking off. The twosome glanced at one another, before quickly following.
:::::::::::::::
They were led to the rest of the Guardians, who stood under Big Ben. Tooth was flitting about frantically, while North and Bunny were discussing something in hushed voices.
"Care to explain why we had to be dragged away from our oh so important patrol shift?" Pitch asked.
The trio looked up at them as they approached.
"Something's wrong." Tooth replied.
"Isn't that why we're in London in the first place?"
"Well yes, but now we've got a bigger problem!"
"Jack's missin'." Bunny stated.
Sandy and Pitch glanced at each other, before looking back at him.
"Are you quite sure he didn't just leave you out of irritation?"
Bunny's ear twitched in annoyance, before he reached behind him and pulled something from the pack he always wore. Upon recognizing it, Pitch and Sandy felt real worry set in; it was Jack's staff.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't go anywhere withou' this." The Pooka stated.
"What happened?" Tooth asked.
"All I know is, one minute the kid's behind me, and when I turned around he wasn't there. I go back to where we'd stopped, and found his staff on the ground."
The group looked at each other worriedly, before Bunny suddenly paused, his ears twitching.
"You hear that?" he asked quietly.
Everyone paused, and slowly they started to hear what he was talking about; a soft melody was filling the night air.
"It sounds like…a flute." Tooth murmured.
They quickly followed the music, and found themselves near one of the apartment buildings of London. They peered around the corner, and spotted the cause of the music. A thin figure was skipping down the street, the bells on his outfit jingling, a silver flute in hand, and a group of children trailing after him.
"Is that…?" Tooth started.
"Only one way ta find out…" Bunny growled, before flinging a boomerang at the man.
He let out a yelp as the weapon struck his head, and he fell to the ground, the flute flying from his hands. The children seemed to snap out of their trance, and crumbled to the cobblestone streets as well, fast asleep. The Guardians quickly approached, but the mysterious man grabbed the flute, sprung to his feet, and took off towards an alley. He didn't get very far.
A nightmare charged out of the shadows, and he fell backwards with a yelp. The Guardians surrounded him, weapons at the ready.
"Don't hurt me!" he yelled, holding his hands up in surrender.
"Piper?" Tooth exclaimed.
The Pied Piper looked up at them in terror, his green eyes seeming to pop out of his skull.
"Well, this explains why parents never notice the disappearances." Pitch remarked.
"What're you doin' here? And why are you leadin' kids from their homes?" Bunny demanded.
Piper stared at them in silence for a few seconds, before bursting into tears.
"I-I didn't want to! He made me do it! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"
The Guardians were taken aback by this, before Tooth hovered beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Who made you do it, Piper?"
Piper didn't answer for a few seconds, trying to calm himself down. Finally, he was stable enough to answer, and stammered,
"B-Bloody Bones…"
Pitch, Sandy, and Tooth froze in shock, while Bunny and North glanced at them curiously.
"Bloody who?" Bunny asked.
"That's right, you and North weren't around yet." Tooth said.
"Who is this Bloody Bones?" North asked.
Tooth, Sandy, and Pitch shared a solemn look, before the tooth fairy spoke.
"He was the Boogeyman before Pitch."
"…Before Pitch? There's more than one Boogeyman?" Bunny exclaimed.
"No, because Bones was fired, therefore I am the only one." Pitch snapped.
"Fired? How do you fire the Boogeyman?"
"It's a long story," Tooth replied, "A long, LONG time ago, in the early years of the Dark Ages, Bones was the Boogeyman; he was good at what he did too. He scared people, and his legend was used to keep children in line. But...as time went on, belief in him started to fade, and he was afraid of vanishing from the world.
"He started to lose it, so…he started kidnapping children…"
North and Bunny shared a shocked look, before looking back at Tooth.
"He'd kidnap children, and keep them for weeks, months, and one time for a year. He'd feed off their fear, and when he was done, he let them go. But…every once and a while, he'd find a child who refused to be afraid of him, and…"
Tooth broke off, and Sandy placed a hand on her shoulder, while Baby Tooth chirped sadly.
"What happened to them?" Bunny asked, even though he was sure he wouldn't like the answer.
Tooth couldn't respond, so, surprisingly, it was Pitch who spoke.
"Those children never made it home."
Horrified silence was all that came from the group. After a moment, Tooth was able to speak again.
"We lost so many children…after that, Manny had him sealed away, and a few years later, Pitch showed up and took over."
The Guardians were silent for a moment, before Bunny crouched beside Piper.
"Piper, where is he, and where's Jack?"
The Piper didn't answer, timidly meeting the other immortal's gaze.
"Piper, you have to tell us. Those kids are in danger." Tooth stated.
Piper trembled, drawing his knees up and hugging them with gloved arms.
"I can't…I wasn't supposed to get caught…" he sobbed.
"He's gonna hurt me so bad…"
"Piper, we won't let anything happen to you, but you have to tell us where to find him."
Piper met her violet eyes for a moment, before taking a deep breath.
"Th-there's a cemetery a few miles out…"
"Okay; and what about Jack?"
"B-Bones took him earlier; said he could use him for a bargaining chip if you guys found him."
"Alright, thank you."
Tooth turned to the others.
"Okay, here's the plan; my fairies and I will get these kids back to their beds. You guys go on ahead and find Bones and save Jack and the kids. Piper, you show them the way."
The men nodded. Piper shakily got to his feet, and faced the other guardians as Tooth and the mini fairies got to work.
"Alright Piper, lead the way." Bunny said.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Half an hour later, Piper and the Guardians stood outside the gates to a foggy cemetery.
"Alright, this is the place…" Piper mumbled.
"Good, thank you for helping us, Piper; now then gentlemen, let us come up with a plan." North announced.
"We go in, beat the marrow out of Bones, find Jack and the kids, and leave." Bunny stated.
"I'd like to be the one doing the beating." Pitch added.
Sandy made a fist and smacked it against his hand, indicating he wanted in on that part too.
"We might need a little more strategy than that…"
Pitch hmphed, before turning to Piper.
"You've been around him for a while, you could offer some assistance."
"I-I-I…I can't fight him. I already tried once when he first started kidnapping children…" the Piper mumbled, shifting nervously under Pitch's calculating gaze.
"Surely you know something; a weakness perhaps?"
"Um…he's got a big ego?"
"Well that makes up half of this rag tag team of ours; anything else?"
Piper was silent as he tried to think of anything, but he shook his head after a few seconds.
"No, I can't think of anything. He's just an egotistical jerk who likes to talk too much-"
A screech suddenly filled the air, and they all looked up. Two banshees were coming at them, screeching furiously. They dove towards the Piper, and he yelped as he ran away from them. He wasn't fast enough though, and the two banshees grabbed his arms and lifted him into the air, kicking and screaming.
"PUT ME DOWN! LET ME GO, LET ME GO! HELP!"
They turned and flew towards the graveyard, boomerangs, black arrows, and golden sand balls flying at them. The attacks were futile, and the banshees and Piper vanished into the fog.
"Splendid…" Pitch muttered.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Okay, I was wrong, this is gonna be four parts. The next one will be the conclusion to this arc!
Next chapter: the Guardians face off against former Boogeyman, Bloody Bones, while trying to find and rescue Jack, Piper, and the missing children!