Chapter Text
The ways into Pitch Black's Nightmare Realm were as infinite as the darkness between the stars, and it wasn't even all that hard to find them, so long as you knew what you were looking for. The problem was actually getting through these portals to the other side. The Nightmare Realm was very nearly a living thing in it's own right, semi-sentient and more than able to defend itself. Undirected by Pitch's will, the Realm had shut itself off completely; the few spirits that had dared the the paths into the dark since the Nightmare King's defeat had come back maimed... if they came back at all. There was always someone brave or stupid enough to try the Realm's defenses.
Jack had thought about giving it a go before, but it always seemed like there was something more important to do. Snowball fights didn't just start themselves, after all.
Their chosen way in was a decaying crypt. it had once been part of a family graveyard that had long since been swallowed up by fetid swampland, and in a few more years this all but forgotten monument would sink into the muck like everything else. Until then, it was a place of fear and fascination for local children, as it had been for generations. The raw belief poured into the place made for a strong gateway.
Now they just needed to get the gate open, find Pitch Black, restore his memories, and get back out... all before Mother Nature woke up.
Easy peasy.
The woman was asleep in the back of North's sleigh; everyone agreed (for once) that she couldn't be left alone in the Workshop, even under the influence of the dream sand. Leaving her outside the crypt wasn't much better, but it wasn't like they were spoiled for choice.
The shadows within the crypt rustled and sighed as if they were alive while Sandy dusted Mother Nature again. Toothiana stood on the steps of the monument, Pitch's tooth in her hands, cradled in an iron box. Bunnymund stood guard as North whispered spells over the tooth, all of them wary of the creeping darkness. The sun was beginning to sink behind the trees, and the hum of insects was ominous in the heavy air.
The plan, such as it was, was to use Pitch's tooth to convince the Nightmare Realm that they belonged their.
It was a better plan than blasting the gate open and charging in (which had been the original plan, and possibly North's favorite).
"How long will she be out for?" Jack whispered, wary of waking the sleeping nature spirit. Sandy pulled a blanket from beneath the seats and draped it over Mother Nature. He shook his head, sprinkling a bit more sand in her eyes. "You sure you're not overdoing this...?"
Sandy rolled his eyes, a miniature figure of Mother Nature throttling Jack forming above his head, complete with little elves on stormclouds cheering her own.
"Right. Maybe a bit more?"
"Jack?" Toothiana called. "We're ready for you."
Jack flicked a snowflake at Mother Nature's nose and whispered, "Try to remember that you like me," before joining the others. The iron box was open, and Pitch's tooth pulsated, almost like a beating heart.
"Just think cold," North suggested, clamping one huge hand on Jack's shoulder. The other he held over the tooth, chanting in a tone that was oddly high and musical, and that make Jack's hair stand on end. It was meant to add another layer to their disguise, making them seem much more like the things that lurked in the dark places.
What goes better together than cold and darkness?
The shadows inside the crypt deepened and ran together until there was nothing but the stone doorway left. The door itself had fallen off long ago, and sat half sunk into the swamp. North had hitched his reindeer to it.
Sandy drifted over to join them as the darkness took on the consistency of Jello. Without a word, Bunnymund took point. Toothiana was right behind, with Jack and North flanking her and Sandy guarding the rear.
The darkness was resistant as they stepped through, but they still made it past.
Jack hadn't known what he'd been expecting when he passed into Pitch's realm; rampaging herds of Nightmares, perhaps, or Pitch waiting to pounce on them.
What he hadn't expected was silence and broken cages. It looked as though something had taken a stab at tearing down the towering, twisted fortress and been stopped partway through, and every since one of the cages looked as though they'd been twisted apart by a terrible force. There were no Nightmares, and no sign of Pitch Black. Just a blasted landscape and empty shadows.
"Eerie," Toothiana murmured. The dead silence of the place seemed to swallow up her voice, and she fluffed her feathers up in an unconscious effort to make herself look bigger.
"Too right," Bunny agreed. "There should be something here..."
By unspoken agreement, they stayed together as they moved into the keep, with Toothiana using Pitch's tooth to guide them to him. In theory, with that tooth, tracking Pitch down should have been the easiest part of the plan. In reality, Pitch kept moving. At least that was proof that something was in the Nightmare Realm, but Jack didn't want to think about what else might be hauling Pitch hither and yon if it wasn't the man himself.
"He's above us." Toothiana kept her voice low, glancing away from Pitch's tooth to watch the still shadows.
"I saw stairs back that way," North said, pointing one sword. Jack didn't notice; when Toothiana said Pitch was above them, he'd automatically looked up and met a pair of horrible golden eyes. He barely had time to shout a warning before Pitch Black dropping from the ceiling like a great black bat. He landed on North's back, bringing a long pole arm around to try and crush the massive man's throat. North roared a battle cry and dropped his swords so he could grab at Pitch, catching him by his robe and tossing the Nightmare King over his shoulder.
Pitch scrambled upright, bringing his weapon around to hold the Guardians at bay. It was a crude thing, a pike with the end broken off and a knife lashed to it, but it looked deadly enough to do the job. Pitch was in much the same state; ragged, a bit broken, and deadly.
"Finally come to finish the job, I see," Pitch purred, the smoothness of his voice at odds with his appearance. His eyes darted from one Guardian to another. "I haven't been fending off that thing for so long just to let you kill me."
"Oh, don't I wish that was why we're here," Bunnymund growled darkly.
Toothiana's expression was equally dark. "We're here to help," she said sourly, shooting a glare at Jack which he ignored.
Silence reigned in the Nightmare Realm as Pitch and the Guardians watched each other.
"eheh... hehehe... ahahahahahahahhahahah~!"
The laugh wasn't a sane thing, and it resonated through the shadows. Something deep within the keep roared in response, shaking the stones beneath their feet.
"Eheheh-" Pitch's knuckles were white as he clutched the shaft of his weapon, and he was still laughing. Sandy and Bunnymund shared equally horrified expressions as an old, well remembered fear swept over them.
"A greater Abyssal," Bunnymund moaned, all the hair on his body standing up.
"It's been eating the Nightmares," Pitch chuckled madly. "I guess it's finally coming for me."