I'm sorry it so long for me to upload this chapter. I was working on other projects for a while, but I have not given up on this one. And so, without further ado.
The Masked Guardian
Chapter 5 Seduced By Darkness
"Okay, mate. Lets say that your right, and Pitch is preparing for this lunar eclipse. What do we do about it?" Bunny asked.
"Well," Lantern said, scratching his chin. "Unless you know a way to alter the orbit of two celestial bodies that your not telling me about, I'd suggest we keep Pitch busy long enough for the eclipse to pass and he's misses his chance."
"Easier said then done." North said. "Look at the globe." They all looked up, and saw that the lights on the globe were going out again. Like before it happening in isolated areas, but this time, it was happening on every continent. Frost flew up and looked at the globe up close.
"Pitch and his goons must have separated."
"Then that's what we will do!" North announced, drawing his sword. "Tooth," He pointed his sword at Tooth who flinched. "You take care of Asia! Sandy!," he swung his sword again. "You handily Africa! Bunny, you take Australia!"
"Will you stop swinging that thing around like a loony mate!" Bunny shouted, but North ignored him.
"Jack!" At this, both Frost and Lantern looked at North. "Ugh, Jack Frost. You and I will handle the Americas. You take South, I'll take me"; he laughed at his own joke. "And Lantern." Lantern turned to face North while every one else turned to face him. "Can we trust you to handle Europe on your own?"
Lantern was silent for a moment, then said, "Yes."
"Then we must leave now. We'll rendezvous back here!
Bunny stomped the ground and leaped through his rabbit hole. Tooth Sandy and Frost took to the air, flying off in different directions. North made his way to the his Sleigh, and Lantern casually walked toward the nearest door, knocked and walked inside.
As Lantern stepped into the closest, he stepped out onto the streets of London. It was dusk, and the last of the commuters were on their way home.
"I wonder where I should look." Lantern said to himself. He thought for a moment, then spontaneously combusted. In his place stood a young girl, no older then seven. She was wearing a school uniform, and his lantern had transformed into a rag doll. He then began to walk down the street, putting his centuries of method acting to use.
"Oh dear," he said in a soft girl voice, his accent had changed from Irish to British. "It's so late, I hope mum and dad wont be too upset." Sensing that he was being watched, Lantern tripped himself. He gave a very convincing cry clutching his doll/lantern tightly.
"I have to say, that is a rather convincing performance. If I hadn't seen you transform I would never suspect it was you, Lantern." Lantern turned around, and there stood Pitch Black. "You're alone I see." Pitch said with a nasty smile.
"I'm sure that that was your plan from the start." Lantern said in his real voice. He stood up, and in a burst of flames, returned to his true form.
"Oh yes. At this very moment, your friends and battling against my children and nightmares."
Pitch was right. The other guardians were engaged in battle against the Dark Guardians. In Rio Degennaro, Frost was firing blast of ice at the slime monster Shock, who had grown considerably after absorbing several dozen children. On the streets of Hong Kong Tooth was locked in battle with Lonesome, the smoke woman. Somehow, Lonesome had possessed several kids, turning them into zombie servants. On the Serengeti plains, Sandy was trying to tame a heard of Nightmares circling around him.
On the roof of Sydney's famous opera house, Bunny was facing off against Primal, who's claws and brute strength were proving a tough match against Bunny's speed, boomerangs and martial arts skills. Finally, North was facing Loss in a snow covered Central Park.
"Well, I wouldn't want to be left out." Lantern swung his lantern violently, and launched a ball of fire at Pitch. The Boogie man rose a wall of black sand to protect himself. Pitch then had his sand take the form of a giant scythe. Lantern dodged Pitch's swing, and transformed his lantern into a halberd and charged at Pitch. The two swung at each other wildly, but neither one was able to land a blow. Pitch then dived into the shadows and vanished. In a burst of flames, Lanter's halberd turned back to a normal. He rose it as high as he could, and flooded the street with light. As the light flooded the street, Pitch was forced out of the shadows. He fell to the ground, covering his eyes.
Lantern pounced on Pitch, lantern raised, ready to strike. "Looks like I've won."
"Wait!" Pitch said. Before you finish me off, I have something I would like to ask you. Tell me Lantern, why are you spending your time with these weirdoes? From what I understand, you spend most of your time using you power to change and be seen to blend in with normal people. Why drop all that to hang out with the guardians?"
Lantern was silent for a moment, then said.
"The Man-in-the-moon chose me to be a guardian. At first I wanted to decline, but I eventually decided to help them on this adventure, to see if I truly was meant to be a guardian."
"Your not an honorary member yet." Pitch asked.
"No." Lantern replied. "I am not a contracted guardian, I just agreed to help them in this endeavor."
"I have to say, I'm surprised you even agreed to that." Pitch said.
"What do you mean? Lantern said, lowering his defenses. As the light of the lantern diminished, and the shadows returned, Pitch vanished.
"You and the guardians don't seem to have anything in common." Pitch's voice came from all around Lantern, fading in and out, as if Pitch were moving away and towards him. "They are all figures of wonder and light. You're more like me; dark and strange." Lantern was silent for a bit then said,
"I must admit, some of them have been vocal about their distrust in me. Some of them have openly called me 'creepy' on multiple occasions.
"Sounds to me like they don't appreciate you." Pitch said sympathetically, as he literally stepped out of the shadows. "But I would." Lantern looked at Pitch.
"What are you saying."
"Im saying that you and I should be friends, not foes. Join me, work with others like you, and be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams." Lantern said nothing, he just looked Pitch in the eyes.
"I know this is a big decision." Pitch said as he backing into the shadows. "I'll give you some time to think about it. Just remember," Pitch disappeared into the darkness, his voice fading away. "Your not one of them."
Little did Pitch and Lantern know was that their entire spectacle being watched by a pair of little eyes.
Back at the Pole, the other guardians were nursing their wounds from their battles. The Yetis proved be just as good nurses and they were toy makers; bandaging and providing first aid to the injured guardians, the elves assisting the yetis however they could, save for a small group, who were digging in a box of cotton stuffing, looking for the chocolate bar they would never find.
CLICH, they all heard the sound of a door opening, and saw Lantern stepped out of a closest.
"Welcome back." North said, sounding exhausted. Lantern walked and sat with the others.
"I see you all faced struggles of your own."
"Pitch's brats are doing weird things to any children they meet." Bunny said. "That freaky beastie just has to scratch an ankle biter, and they go feral or something."
"The boy that Pitch controls just has to touch a child and they become like him." North said, exhausted.
"Pitch's strategy must be to corrupt children rather then just tarnish their beliefs." Lantern said.
"Speaking of Pitch," Frost said. "who ended up fighting him?" The Guardians shook their heads then turned to Lantern.
"I did." Lantern said flatly.
"You fought Pitch all by yourself?" Bunny said, astonished.
"Yes." Lantern replied.
"Wow, and you're not all beat up like the rest of us." Jack said impressed. "No wonder The Man in the Moon wants you to be a guardian."
As they spoke, one of Tooth's fairies flew out of the shadows. The little sprite flew down to her master and frantically squeaked something in her ear. Lantern saw this out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything.
"Um, Lantern, could you give us a minute? Please?" Tooth asked.
Lantern said nothing for a moment, then said, "Alright." As he walked around the corner and out of sight Tooth said in a hush tone.
"Guys, you're probably not going to like this, but I had Baby-Tooth spy on Lantern, and she has some bad news to report."
You were spying on Lantern?" Frost said, sounding both shocked and angry.
"And I'm glad I did. Baby Tooth told my that Pitch tried to talk Lantern into joining him."
"Crikey." Bunny said.
"Just like he did with me." Jack said grimly. Everyone turned to face him. "After Pitch ruined Easter the lat time he showed up, he came to me and tried talking me into joining him."
"That was after we had our falling out. Why would Pitch try to recruit Lantern when he is still one of us?" North asked.
"Probably because the two are so alike." Tooth said bitterly.
"What do you mean?" Jack asked.
"He's dark, he's creepy, you never know what he's thinking, and the way he changes into other people to show emotion really creeps me out. Don't even get me started on the candy." Tooth shuddered a little after saying that word.
"Tooth, please." Jack said frustratedly. "You've been bitter towards Lantern even since this whole mess started."
"Well, how would you feel if you were forced to work with someone who's job is counter productive to your own." She said bitterly. She sighed heavily then said. "Every time a child's tooth decays, several of their most precious childhood memories decay with it. Do you know how it feels for me to see all those memories ruined forever? It's heartbreaking, and his holiday is one of the leading causes."
"It's not just her, mate." Bunny interrupted. "I've got to say, I don't trust that bloke either. You know where I come from we don't even celebrate Halloween."
"Now now, lets not get off track." North said. "Jack, your spent the most time with Lantern, what can you tell us about him?"
"Well," Jack began. "He's very active. He's used his shape shifting power to do many things throughout the centuries. He told me he's been involved in several big historical events He's also really smart, he told me some very interesting things when we were dropping off those two kids." He turned to bunny, and grinned a nasty grin.
"I have to say Bunny, I never figured you for a potty mouth." As Jack burst out laughing, Bunny, on the other hand, look ready to kill.
"Hey! I do not do that anymore!" He stood up quickly. "Where is that bloke? I'll knock him into next year!" It took the other four guardians several minutes to calm Bunny down, and even then, his heart was still set on pummeling Lantern.
"Jack, please continue." North said.
"That's all I've got." Jack replied. The Guardians looked at him disapprovingly, and he said, "Look, I know that Lantern is strange and can be creepy, but the Man in the Moon chose him for a resin, just like he chose all of us, and I know he'll make a good guardian." Seeing that the others weren't convinced, Jack stood up and said, "You know, we can argue about this all day, it's not going to get us anywhere. I'm going to talk to Lantern about this, and see what he has to say." As Jack walked off, the other, the other guardians got up and followed him, none of them noticing the spider on the with a jack-O-Lantern collar around it's abdomen.
"Lantern!" Jack shouted into the vast workshop. "Lantern where are you?" There was no response, instead, the sound of a slamming door echoed through the workshop.
"You all have done well." Pitch said to his children. "our plans are on schedule, and the guardians are growing weaker and weaker." Pitch then felt a sudden presence in his lair.
"What is it father?" Primal asked.
"We have a guest." Pitch said with a smile. "and It's someone I've been expecting."
Lantern walked through a long tunnel, the light of his lantern shining brightly in the darkness. He then came out onto what looked like the ruins of an ancient city. There were stairs and bridges that lead to everywhere and nowhere. Giant cages hung from the celling, and a mound of gold cylinders were piled into an empty space. Lantern then saw a large globe that was covered in golden lights. As he walked over to investigate, he then felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
"Welcome to my humble home, Lantern." From out of the dark came Pitch's voice.
"Hello again Pitch." Lantern said. "I must admit, I like your lair. The architecture is both haunting, and engaging."
"I appreciate that, bit I take it you didn't come here just to admire my home." Pitch said as he literally stepping out of the shadows. "Have you given any thought to my offer?" As he spoke, Pitch's children emerged from the darkness, blocking any of Lantern's possible escape routes.
"At the pole, the other guardians had a meeting which they chose to exclude me from. I eavesdropped, and sure enough, they were discussing whether or not they could trust me. I realized then that you were right; I'm not one of them."
"Oh know this must have hurt," Pitch said in a comforting tone as walked closer to Lantern "but don't despair. I believe in you Lantern, and I know that children will too. Join me, and by the time my plan is complete Halloween night will never end." Pitch held out his hand, and after a moments pause Lantern reached out and shook it.
TO BE CONTINUED.
Well, this is an interesting turn of events. I'm sure I'll get some hate mail for this chapter, but before you hit 'unsubscribe' I assure you all, I know what I'm doing; if I said anything more then that, it would be spoiling. I'm sorry it took me so long to post this. I've had it done since the end of November, but I thought it would be best to wait until the holidays were over to post it.