Tooth began to remove her coat as she and Pitch exited the swirling black portal into the gloom of the lair.
Tooth placed her coat over her arm and began to ascend the stairs leading to her room. Inside her pocket, she could feel the guilty weight of Pitch's tooth box. Her unease made it feel heavier than it should have.
'Meet you in the library?' Pitch asked as he watched her go.
'Sure. I'll be down as soon as I hang this up'.
Tooth had to backtrack to let Onyx come down the staircase before she could go up. As the Nightmare passed, her ears pricked up and she stopped dead just past Tooth.
Onyx made a snuffling noise and sniffed Tooth's arm. Tooth backed away at Onyx's attention.
Could she smell Pitch's power hidden in the folds of the coat?
Pitch noticed Tooth's unease at Onyx's overtly familiar scrutiny and clicked his fingers sharply.
'Onyx! Come here', Pitch commanded.
Onyx obeyed but cast a longing glance back at Tooth.

Tooth closed the door behind her and hung the coat on a nearby coat rack. She extracted the tooth box from the pocket and examined it.
They felt different but she didn't know why or how.
For years, she had kept them in that cave beneath the Tooth Palace because she hated them. The creeping sensations and half heard whispers that seemed to crawl out through the crack of the box's hinges repelled her.
But now, they were quiet. Subdued.
She could sense Candy's magic but also knew that she hadn't been able to open the box. The ownership magic was too strong. So the change in the teeth wasn't because of Candy.
It was definitely the right box this time: each tooth box felt unique and this one was exact.
Even if North, master craftsman that he was, had been able to create a replica, Tooth would have seen through it. He couldn't replicate the magic held within.
Could they be booby trapped somehow?
Tooth turned the box around and shook it slightly.
It felt lighter that was for sure but that had been the case since Halloween: over the course of a single night, the teeth had become easier to handle.
It still puzzled Tooth.
It couldn't be that the misgiving and unease she had been feeling all these years were figments of her imagination. Could they?
She didn't dare open the box. Not without Pitch there.
Whatever magic was in there was dangerous. That was no illusion.
When she returned them to Pitch she knew it was going to be an extreme transformation.
From what she had seen of shadow magic, it usually didn't bother with gentleness.
Pitch was likely going to be in a lot of pain.
Tooth felt her stomach sink.
If the teeth even worked.
What if they didn't recognise Pitch as their owner?
It would be her fault: she had asked him for help.
A treacherous little thought wriggled through her mind even as she tried to shut it out.
Would it be such a bad thing if Pitch stayed the way he is?
It was time to admit it, at least to herself.
Tooth had feelings for Pitch.
She liked being with him.

She wanted him to stay the way he was: free of the dark magic.
She frowned, feeling her cheeks flush with guilt and shame.
This kind of thinking was selfish: unworthy of a Guardian.
It didn't matter what she thought she wanted.
These feelings could even just be a by-product of being near Candy. She'd certainly never felt this way about Pitch before so why get so hung up on him now?
People didn't fall in love that quickly: Tooth was a fairy but didn't believe in fairy tales.
Pitch wanted to go back to being the Boogeyman and she had said she would help him.
It was wrong to withhold his powers from him but she was going to give them back to him the safest way she knew how.
That meant sticking with the memory sessions.
They were working: only one or two more sessions and Pitch would be back to normal anyway.
The teeth would be faster but they couldn't be trusted.
After all they hadn't been guarded: she had literally just picked them up and walked out with them. Besides this whole setup was familiar: it was exactly what Pitch had done to Jack at Easter. Even the bait, the target's tooth box, was the same!
Giving a short sigh, Tooth flittered to the top of the wardrobe and placed Pitch's tooth box on top. She pushed it back, hiding it in the shadowy corner and tried to ignore the imaginary image of it glaring at her resentfully.
As she landed, she wondered if she should tell him.
Perhaps reason with him: explain her thinking.
But she wasn't convinced he would listen to her if she tried to explain why he shouldn't use them.
He'd probably demand them immediately, damn the consequences or worse, just take them.
She wouldn't tell him.
They'd get his powers back the way they had planned to.
But she owed it to him to mention the possibility that, no matter what method they used, it could be unsuccessful.
Pitch had to consider the worse case scenario: life as Pitchiner.
Tooth, meanwhile couldn't get the uncomfortable thought that this wouldn't necessarily be bad for her out of her head.

'No I'm not surprised', Pitch said.
He climbed back down the ladder as Onyx paced back and forth in front of him, her hooves clicking on the library's stone floor. He dumped the three heavy texts he had been cradling onto a nearby sofa. Each one contained information about lunar charts. Whatever Candy was planning, chances were the dusty tomes would give them a clue how to stop it.
She snorted agitatedly and Pitch rolled his eyes.
'She's been sleeping in one of the beds, she's been eating our food and she's gone upstairs to hang up a coat which has been stored here for at least two decades. Of course she's going to smell like us'.
Onyx stamped a hoof stubbornly.
'In any event that's no excuse to nearly knock her off the stairs', Pitch said, dusting his hands.
Onyx lowered her head slightly.
'I'm not the one you should be apologizing to', Pitch commented, leaning to grab the coat he had been wearing. He had tossed it onto the sofa when he had come into the room but now wanted to deal with the item nestled in the pocket.
Onyx growled as she saw him withdraw the arrowhead, eyes flaring in anger at the unpleasant smell.
'I know it was stupid to take it!' Pitch snapped.
He'd been too concerned with retreating to think about it.
He turned it in his hand. The pink energy previously suffusing it had vanished when he had broken it.
It had hurt Candy's wing but examining it now, he knew it was far too small to use as a weapon since he had snapped it. He doubted Candy was going to let him get close enough again to use it offensively.
Worth keeping as a trophy maybe? Or perhaps as research material in case Candy ever tried this kind of thing again after they defeated her. With what Pitch had planned for her, it would be unwise for her to try but he liked to be prepared.
'Make yourself useful: put this somewhere until I decide what to do with it', he said, offering it to Onyx.
She stuck out an oily black tongue and snapped her jaws.
'It probably is going to taste bad yes', Pitch agreed but did not lower his hand.
Onyx rolled her eyes and took it gingerly, teeth barely touching it.
'Don't let Tooth see you with it', Pitch said, 'I don't think she'd appreciate this particular souvenir'.
Onyx tossed her head but Pitch knew she understood.
The Nightmare had just phased through the wall when Tooth entered.

'Are you alright?' Pitch asked, 'You look worried'.

'I am worried', Tooth admitted, 'Got the books then?'

'Yes. There's paper and a pen on the desk. Draw me what you saw. Every detail'.

'Not a problem', Tooth said, taking up the pen and beginning to sketch, 'Guardian of Memories remember?'

'Evidently not Guardian of artistic flair', Pitch commented, glancing over her shoulder as he moved the texts from the sofa to the desk.

Tooth gently elbowed him in the side, smiling.

'Not good at taking constructive criticism either it seems', Pitch joked and began flicking through the texts, eyes darting between Tooth's diagram and those drawn on the worn pages of the books.

Tooth finished her drawing and examined it.
It was rough but exact.

'Well?' Tooth asked.

'That's odd', Pitch said, eyes narrowed in confusion.

'What's odd?'

'Ironically the fact that there's nothing odd about it. It's just a diagram of the solar system outlining celestial movements. The chart changes depending on what time of year it is. What you've sketched is what the solar system looks like for the month of February this year'.

'There's got to be something here', Tooth said.

'Well, this small symbol you sketched here is the mark found on every defence field manufactured by the Lunar Empire. The symbol beside it appears when…'

'What?'

'When they go down. And there's only one celestial body in this system that has a defence field'.

'Candy's going after Manny?!' Tooth cried.

'Ambitious', Pitch said.
He was slightly annoyed at Tooth's reaction: she hadn't reacted this extremely to his plot at Easter. It insulted him professionally.

'But how?' Tooth asked, heedless of Pitch's mental self deprecation.

'The concert stage she's designing…' Pitch said as he began to warm to his theory, 'Very complicated for a small town to put together for a one night concert. Those large spirals of metal centred on where she'll be singing. Almost like a giant funnel. Add open air and a lovely view of the moon and you get quite a romantic environment'.

Tooth covered her mouth in horror.

'She's been planning this for a while', Pitch continued, 'She chose this date to make her job easier: it's Valentine's Day so people are already more sensitive to her love magic and the defence grid is down because of the eclipse'.

Tooth's eyes widened as the full ramifications of Candy's plan hit her.

'Pitch, this concert's being transmitted worldwide', she said, 'All those people watching-'

'Believers waiting in the wings', Pitch concluded sourly, 'And all of that hypnotic music focused upwards like a laser beam. The only remaining question is why she's going to all this trouble'.

Tooth breathed in and then out and rearranged her head feathers. She clapped her hands together and Pitch looked at the source of the sound.

'Come on', Tooth said determinedly, 'we have work to do'.

Candy slapped Bunny hard across the face.

'Why did you betray me?' she asked.

'I-' Bunny began but another slap silenced any answer.

The other three Guardians watched the confrontation nervously.
Jack felt sick: upon discovery that the teeth had been taken from her trailer, it had taken Candy no time at all to identify who had made it possible for Tooth to steal them.
It had been Bunny's job to guard the trailer and Bunny had not been at his post.
Candy's wing was on the mend but the jagged scar where Pitch had cut her showed up as a dull blemish on the transparent, otherwise flawless surface. Occasionally as she moved, Candy would give a pained grimace if her wing moved too much.
Pitch had cut deep.

'I come back to my trailer for a little pick me up following a near death experience and to my surprise, somebody's been eating my porridge', Candy extolled, 'Who do you think it was Bunny?'

Bunny couldn't look at her.

'I thought so. You know who it is because you helped her didn't you?'

'No!' Bunny said.

'Not stopping her counts as 'helping'', Candy snapped, 'I told you to guard the teeth! Did I freaking stutter or something?! Did you hear me say 'Hey Bunny help Tooth jack up my plans by handing her the one thing that could mess things up on a silver platter'?! No? So tell me then Bunny, what reason could you possibly have for betraying me like you did?'

'Betray is rather strong-' North interjected.

'Shut up North!' Candy shouted, 'I want your opinion I'll give it to you'.

'I wanted to protect you!' Bunny cried.

'You lied to me', Candy said rounding on him.
She allowed her eyes to well up for effect and was rewarded with a stricken look on Bunny's face.

'Did you want me to get hurt?' she asked tearfully, 'What did I ever do to you?'

'Nothing!' Bunny pleaded, 'Don't say that!'

'Candy, I helped him!' Jack shouted, 'It wasn't just Bunny!'

'But it wasn't your idea was it Jack?' Candy said softly, 'Bunny talked you into it. He left the trailer door unlocked'.

Jack said nothing but felt his usually cool cheeks flush with shame.
He tried to lie that it had been a joint idea but his mouth just wouldn't open!
He strained but it felt like his jaw was locked.

'It was my idea Candy!' Bunny interjected, 'Jack tried to talk me out of it but I wouldn't listen!'

'Funny, with those ears I thought listening wouldn't be an issue', Candy said off handedly, 'Guess I was wrong. What am I going to do with you? You haven't been nearly as useful as I hoped'.

'I'm sorry! I'm sorry!' Bunny cried, 'I'll get into the lair I promise! I'll get the teeth back!'

'You really are sorry aren't you?' Candy said, eyes narrowed as an idea began to take shape.

'You forgive him', Jack said, mistaking Candy's quiet for calm, 'Right Candy?'

'I didn't say that', Candy said distantly, making a decision, 'Hold him'.

'Candy please-' North began.

'Now you're disobeying me too?!' Candy snapped.

North's mouth clamped shut.
A glare from Candy made up Sandy's mind.
Two dreamsand whips wrapped tight around Bunny's legs and torso, trapping his arms at his sides.
Bunny fell to his knees with a gasp of pain as the cords tightened.
Sandy realised Bunny wasn't fighting him and lessened the hold, his face full of apology and apprehension.

'If Bunny's truly sorry, he'll want to make it up to me', Candy said and clapping her hands together, drew them apart slowly.
An object materialized between her palms and she twirled it expertly between her fingers.
It was one of her arrows but it was stained jet black. The occasional glimmer of gold danced inside the clear shaft, only to be swallowed by the darkness a hundred times over.
The arrow containing Pitch's powers.
It gave Candy the most delicious shivers just holding it: the power contained inside was intoxicating.
It combined with Bunny's gasp of fear when he saw it, adding to the heady feeling of control she relished.
Sandy scowled, unable to hide his disgust at the shadowy aura but did not dare loosen the cords.
North stammered but found himself lost for words.
Jack stood still as a statue, afraid to make a move, the corrosive love magic in his veins instinctively telling him what Candy planned to do was inevitable.
'Candy please!' Bunny begged.
Candy seemed to consider his words, lifting his face and looking deep into his eyes.
She patted his cheek and smiled serenely.
Then stabbed him with the arrow.
Jack gave a wordless shout of horror before he could stop himself.
Sandy seemed unable to tear his eyes away.
North finally found his voice.
'Why?!' he shouted, horrified at what Candy had done.

'Now he'll be able to get into the lair won't he?' Candy said coolly, ignoring Bunny's cries of pain, 'No more broken promises. No more hurt feelings'.

Pitch's magic was infecting his body, the shadows transforming his body into one more suitable for their use.
Twisted claws punched from his fingers and his fur was being stained a jet black.
Bunny's features were being swallowed by a malicious ink, crawling over his fur and twisting it into jagged clumps.
Bunny managed to free an arm and reached beseechingly for Candy.
She moved out of reach and stared down at him.

'I…love…you', Bunny gasped desperately as he strained against his bonds.

'Prove it', Candy whispered coldly.

Bunny's eyes widened then went dead at her words.
Even as he vomited up black viscous liquid, he could not help but obey.
He stopped fighting.
The ink crawled into his tear ducts and yellow bled into his green eyes. His pupils were swallowed as they glowed eerily.
He spasmed and flailed, mouth open in agony, the ink bubbling between his teeth which were lengthening and sharpening.
He screamed once: a hideous, high pitched, keening sound that made every person in the room feel nauseous.
Then he was quiet.
Bunny's head drooped as the last echoes of his scream died away.
Candy knelt down to his level.
She ignored the arrow still jutting from Bunny's chest: a reminder in case the others got any ideas about doing things for her 'own good'.
Bunny raised his head slowly and stared at her blankly.
He was pure black in colour now with glowing yellow eyes.
Candy was bemused: it truly looked as if someone had taken Bunny's outline and filled it with black ink. She wasn't sure what she had expected but
'Easy. Easy', she crooned, running a hand through Bunny's black fur.
Candy smiled as she withdrew her hand and saw the oily substance come away on her fingers.
Bunny growled contentedly, ears drooped, eyes focused on Candy even as she turned to face the others.
'What's the matter?' she asked, wiping her fingers on North's coat.
'He is not attacking you', North said. It was not a question but his amazement was obvious.
'Of course not', Candy said smugly, 'He still loves me'.
'This seems…extreme', North said, carefully choosing his words.
He could feel the anger simmering inside him but it felt like a lid over a saucepan: it was trapped inside his body.
Candy frowned at North's words as Sandy dissolved the dreamsand ropes.
Jack's heavy breathing drew Candy's attention.
His teeth were clenched and sweat was beading on his forehead.
That wasn't good. She recognised the telltale signs of her magic being overpowered.
Time for a top up.
She put on her sweetest, most emotionally vulnerable façade and approached Jack with watery eyes.
'They hurt me Jack', Candy said sorrowfully.
She touched his cheek and just for good measure hummed a small portion of her song.
Jack's eyes flashed pink for just a moment and a peaceful smile grew on his face.
His shoulders sagged and his hands hung limply at his sides.
'I want us to be friends but I can't wait for Pitch and Tooth to come to me anymore', Candy said gently.
Her smile faded and she gripped Jack's jaw tight. She looked deep into his eyes.
Jack gave no reaction, lost in the magic.
Satisfied Jack was firmly back under her control, Candy released his jaw and clicked her fingers.
'Bunny', Candy said in a low voice.
Bunny growled and stood straighter.
He was listening.
'Go get 'em', Candy said with a savage smile, pointing out the door.
With a grunt, Bunny leapt past them and out into the cold evening air.
The group heard his large footprints recede as he entered the tree line and Candy gave a happy sigh.
'Get ready guys', she said, 'We're gonna have company'.