ROTG One-shot : PAINTED BLACK

Painted Black

A year after the Guardians had defeated Pitch Black, things for the now Big Five were running along smoothly; Tooth and her fairies was collecting teeth as always, North spent the entire year preparing for Christmas, as well as Bunnymund prepared for Easter, Sandy maintained his job of sending good dreams everywhere he went, and Jack Frost let his inner-power shine best by spreading fun through snow flurries where they were needed.

Bunnymund still grumbled how Jack's snow made his job harder, but the two had patched things up since the fight, and their squabbles were more like brotherly teasings.

Still.... A year wasn't enough to keep Pitch Black, the King of Nightmares that had threatened the world once before, down for long. In fact, his defeat last Christmas only seemed to enrage him, and this was never good for anyone. Making a comeback around that same time of year, the force of nightmares around the world had increased, sparking the still present fear from the incident last year that had all but cripled the Guardians before. However, with Jack on their side now, they would simply deal with the Boogeyman like they had before... right?

Pitch of course remembered the Winter spirit and the important role he had played in his downfall, but he would not offer an allegiance like before. Now that Jack had picked a side to be on, there was no holding back to be done. Pitch would make sure the scales would be tipped in his favor.

It began as it had before: the world globe flickering with Pitch's ominous return, the five making sure Pitch's fear did not spread too widely, and fighting Pitch at given times whenever the Boogeyman showed himself. Despite how much the same things were from last year, something about the older spirit was different according to the Sandman. This fight wasn't just payback, it was personal, and Pitch Black had twisted into something darker.

It was the final fight, however, that revealed a true blow to the Guardians as they fought Pitch and his horde of Nightmares that had changed from horses to a variety of deadly wild wolves. The battleground had been Jack's Forest, ironically enough, fighting amongst a thicket of trees that were tall enough to reach the moon itself as it sat watching.

Jack and Pitch had somehow ended up fighting each other as the other four made their way through a never-ending sea of ink black bodies, and all were struck in shock when Pitch threw something at the boy that made him fall to his knees in pain.

Throwing one of his trusted boomerangs, Bunnymund caused the Boogeyman to briefly retreat as Tooth encircled the young spirit in concern that was thrashing in pain. Sandy and North also came around their new friend, concern clearly evident in their eyes, but it was Bunnymund who watched in horror as virgin white hair began to noticeably darken into a soot black.

The shaking had since stopped as vines of black sand that the Boogeyman infamously used whipped around Jack's quickly changing form; the porcelain smile that Jack was famous for turned into a harsh row of pointed teeth that snarled at his audience and the gentle blue eyes now stared menicalingly with distant violet orbs. Jack Frost had changed.

"What 'ave you done ta him, you bastard?!" Bunnymund angered yell was thick with his Australian accent, pointing his other boomerang in a threatening manner at the man who only chuckled from the safety of the shadows, appearing behind Jack with a satisfied smile at his work on the Winter sprite. A cold, gray hand cupped the youth's face in a loving manner as dead golden eyes stared at the aghast expressions before him.

"Why, I simply thought I'd take the boy off your hands.... Doesn't he look so much better now? All that white was getting boring, and black is such a nice color." The crazed words spoken from Pitch's lips angered the four Guardians even further, but none could hope to attack in retaliation as a violent storm of black sand suddenly enveloped Pitch and Jack. The last thing any saw before they disappeared was Jack's now violet eyes staring at them with unseeing eyes before being taken in the whirling nest of darkness before closing off from the world.

FIN