A/N: So...erm...yeah this is really late OTL sorry, what with the holidays, coupled with the fact I had to re-hunt down my muse, this doc was left unattended for a few weeks, though I finally persuaded my procrastinating ass to get this done, if not so you all wouldn't be disappointed in me.

Just a small thing first: I really kind of lost my muse for this story so this is the really rough beta version that I typed up over winter break, I just... /weep I'm sorry it's rough and choppy and a lot of you will probably be displeased with the ending, so perhaps it would be better for you to simply imagine your own ending, I'm quite sure it's better than what horridness lays below. Also, warning, I upped the rating to 'M' for character deaths.

But for those of you who do read this...a lot of you...are prolly gonna hate me after...like the first six paragraphs xD so I would simply like to say this now, in case (or more likely, because) some of you decide to get tired of my writing and leave before the end of the chapter: this is the last chapter of Make a Choice, and I would like to thank everyone who favorited, followed or reviewed; whenever I lost motivation to write this, reading some of the comments or having a little popup appear telling me that someone actually likes my horrid writing...well, I thank you all, truly the amount of people that have followed or liked this has blown me away. So thanks~

And now, without further ado, the final chapter.

Pitch smirked down at the corrupted spirit before him, adoring the unwavering certainty in the newly golden eyes as he gave his confirmation. He watched Jack seemingly test out his body, moving his toes, clenching and unclenching his fists and the like; Pitch knew that, despite appearances, it was the nightmares inside him that were moving, testing, getting used to controlling Jack's mind, body and soul. That, at the moment, there were hundreds of the shadows and nightmares plaguing Jack, making him little more than a puppet; a very powerful puppet, albeit.

The dark sand within him seemed to recede now that Jack's mind and spirit had successfully been consumed; there was never any real need to cover Jack's complete form, the color change of his skin having been more to strike fear into the winter spirit than for any other purpose. The sand retreated to leave him once again pale as the snow he commanded, only a few visible veins stained onyx. The excess sand within him flowed out of his mouth fluidly, moving to swirl in the air before settling down and coating over the teen's clothing at the nightmares' command; Pitch had put older, more powerful nightmares within the boy, ones that had been with him for centuries and in turn knew how to command the black sand.

Only a few differences from Jack's original, non-corrupted form remained: a black ring around the still-golden irises, small, darkened veins spawning out into the white canvas of his eyes from there, as well as the way that shadows seemed to cling to the boy, contrasting greatly with his hair and golden eyes, making them seemingly glow. The nightmares' piqued curiosity by their new host and his power was evident; the winter spirit waved his staff slightly, a low chuckle escaping as frost and snow swirled around him. Spirals of frost clung onto his clothing and twined with the already present onyx sand; some parts of the hoodie lightening with an icy sheen while others were darkened to a pitch black with sand. Jack and the nightmares continued this for several minutes until they seemed to silently agree on the outcome, Jack ultimately resembling a much darker entity, one that perfectly agreed with his newfound loyalty to the Nightmare King.

This time there would be no escape for Jack, no last minute switching of sides, Pitch thought with an almost childlike glee as he watched the nightmares play with their newest puppet. Though, to be positive, I have to break the boy's remaining psyche, tear apart any surviving part of the boy's precious soul...

"Come, Jack; first we must prove your alliance to me."

Jack stood in the center of the room, face expressionless, ignoring the way that the sticky, stain covered carpet felt beneath his feet; he was indifferent to everything but the black sand that swirled in the air at his word. He was curious of it, having only commanded the frost and ice before, a pale hand opting to reach up into the slowly moving mass, smirking as the white flesh was stained red from it. The color of the sand was lighter than normal and had a slight scarlet sheen to it; Jack knew that was merely because of the act he had just committed, the onyx sand moments ago having been in the form of a blade. With a flick of his hand the sand spasmed, and, like a dog shaking its fur after getting wet, it vibrated violently, the crimson liquid flinging free to splatter all over the room. Smirking, he then mutely called it back; the nightmares in his mind having given him this knowledge, teaching him and coaching him in the ways of the shadows. The black sand moved to coat his staff, and with a small tap a sheen of ice covered it, keeping the sand sealed between the ice and wood.

Turning, he moved to stride across the room, a dark curl of pride lighting inside of him as he glanced back at his proof of loyalty to the Nightmare King. Hopping up onto the all-too-familiar windowsill, Jack gazed back at the prone figure lying on the floor, and the delicious crimson stain that had covered many surfaces of the human's domain.

"Bye Jamie."

Pitch watched with barely contained glee from the shadows as Jack slaughtered the boy; with that pestersome human out of the way, it not only assured the level of corruption in the once-pale youth, but also guaranteed that if Jack did somehow regain himself, he would be too broken due to guilt to do anything. He waited until Jack had traveled several blocks away from the home before shifting through the shadows, appearing before the corrupted youth. The winter spirit halted obediently in front of the Nightmare King, a triumphant look laced with pride lighting the youth's face.

"I did it!" he exclaimed gleefully, a dark smirk touching his already broad grin; Pitch smirked at the other's enthusiastic reaction, a grey hand placing down on the younger immortal's shoulder in an approving manner.

"Yes, you did, Jack. Well done," Pitch praised the other calmly, before tugging the two of them back into the shadows, quickly dumping them into his dark domain.

Jack floated besides the Nightmare King, Pitch choosing to stride versus melt into the darkness that dwelled in every corner. They moved in silence, even Pitch's cloak dragging across the ground a soundless action, not a single breeze to stir the gothic birdcages above. It stayed that way until they reached the metal formed globe, Jack and Pitch sharing equal looks of distaste at the thousands of chipper little lights beaming up at them.

The winter spirit floated to crouch down on the metal-made North Pole, staring down at the lights beneath him. "Your plan?" he asked, knowing that Pitch would not have corrupted him merely to then improvise; no, the shadow always had a plan, and a backup plan up each sleeve if things went wrong.

The Nightmare King's face split in a merciless grin, pacing predatorily around the globe, golden eyes reflecting the countless lights. "How smart of you to know that I have one, Jack." Pitch chuckled up at the teen before his gaze dropped down to four spots on the globe; the four points that each of the Guardians had made their bases.

"Your corruption was, however necessary, only the second step in an experiment; that oh so beloved Sanderson being the first." Pitch's grin faltered slightly at the name, sneering it out with plenty of venom. "Now, while the Guardians are unsuspecting, thinking that the rogue nightmares are their only problem and not I, is when we strike. After all," he chuckled lowly, "I had such a horrible defeat by them; I must be so weak right now."

Pitch cackled as at his words countless nightmares appearing, the equine forms surging about in a large wave, all clearly displaying their loyalty and submissiveness to the shadow; Pitch's defeat had so obviously been staged, the Nightmare King did wonder sometimes how the Guardians could be thick enough to believe him to be defeated by mere nightmares.

Jack watched with an unreadable gaze, absentmindedly reaching his staff over and freezing one of the nightmares; he did it so each piece of sand was frozen individually instead of as a mass, leaving the thing still alive, but certainly harder to kill. A small smirk touched the corrupted youth's face, golden eyes flashing with pride as he watched the altered nightmare. Then his head flicked to the side to stare at Pitch, Jack having noticed the silence that fell as the shadow had taken to watch his charge experiment.

Jack arched an eyebrow silently as an indication for the other to continue, which Pitch certainly took. "No, the next step, Jack, is to get rid of those pathetic Guardians. While I certainly could let them wither away like we attempted last time...it would be such fun to end them ourselves, would it not?" Pitch asked in mock innocence, before chuckling lowly and moving to pace around the globe again, hand absently brushing over the agitated muzzles of the mares.

"Though not all of them?" Jack asked, having the feeling this wasn't the case, else there would be no experiment with the sand, as Pitch had put it.

"Observant." Pitch gave a nod of his head in confirmation as he brought his hands forward, steepling his fingers against one another. "And correct. Sanderson and Toothiana, we can have a use for; the others? They are merely hindrances, nuisances, and worthless."

Jack nodded in understanding, shifting to once again crouch atop the metal globe, staring past his toes at the lights. "Who do we strike first?"

"Both," came the reply, tone dripping confidence. "You are powerful enough to fight on your own, and against that little fairy who loves to mother you? I'm sure it will be hardly any kind of fight; assuming it even comes to that. No, you will be dealing with her rather simply, while I...convince, shall we say, Sandman to rejoin our side."

"How-" Jack started, only to be cut off as the other held up a hand.

"All in good time, Jack. But first, a small present," Pitch smirked, and drawing a hand forward he tossed something to Jack; the winter spirit caught it, looking down with some surprise to see Baby Tooth curled up in his palm. There was no pang of guilt deep inside him, no regret as he thought about his old friend; the nightmares that dwelled within him ate that up as soon as it dared to show its face.

"Why?" Jack asked, holding the unconscious fairy up by her wings, confusion written plainly on his face.

"Come Jack, use your eyes." Pitch smirked, an expectant look on his face as a few fingers waved in a 'go on' motion; as soon as the digits moved Baby Tooth did as well, similar to how the Nightmare King had commanded Jack to wake back at the lake. The corrupted youth's eyebrows rose in surprise as the hummingbird creature gazed up at him, the normally violet irises now a onyx, small flecks of gold and purple appearing when the light hit them; she too, had obviously been corrupted to some extent.

"This will help to deal with that pestersome woman; I've already told the sprite what to do, you merely have to get her there, and keep the Guardians from interfering." Pitch explained in a cold voice, grey fingers moving to tap on the metal globe, brushing over where Tooth Palace was. "Soon the Guardian of memories will be no more; I expect you to guide her back here, do you understand? There is no room for error with this, we must not allow the other Guardians to be aware of what is coming."

Jack nodded obediently, floating down to stand next to the Nightmare King, Baby Tooth flitting about next to him. "Understood. Nothing will happen."

"Good," Pitch smirked, before continuing. "It may take time to deal with on my end, however, Sanderson is not weak; likely I will finish after you; hence you will have to cover your tracks if the Guardians pick up your scent. But then, they won't, will they." It wasn't a question; it was a fact, a hidden threat tagging along if Jack screwed up this plan in any way. Jack was no fool, nodding in agreement.

"Good. Then, let us begin." Pitch stated, before the two were swept through the shadows, nightmares disappearing with them, and the room fell silent once more.

Jack and Baby Tooth emerged a little ways out from Tooth Palace, and with them a couple dozen nightmares, equine forms snorting and pawing at the ground at the sight of so many little fairies close by.

"So, what's the plan then, little one?" Jack asked, the next few minutes followed by a quick flurry of chirps and hand movements; a smirk slid on the corrupted youth's face as he deciphered the message, then, "Do you need a distraction?" Jack asked, and at the nod of the fairy's head he smirked. "Then we'll make sure you aren't disturbed," he hissed before tossing the corrupted fairy up into the air, Baby Tooth giving a chirp of confirmation before zipping off.

Baby Tooth made her way into the palace with a fair amount of ease, flitting into the lush mountainside among the swarm of her sisters, unnoticed in the large mass. It was only once inside the wide, open caverns did she find some difficulty; it took a few minutes but eventually she was able to weave up and around the long, hanging spires and quick flowing waterfalls, the corrupted fairy constantly alert to make sure no other of her kin spotted her in an off limits zone. A quick look around was all she took before flying off, darting through a break in a particular waterfall, one that no fairy dared to go near. Tooth, mild mannered, sweet Tooth, had snapped once in a fit of distress when a curious fairy had gone there after seeing it's mistress visit once; since then no one had dared to go near it, even when Tooth's watchful eye wasn't around.

Baby Tooth flew down a long, twisting tunnel, the only light being from some softly glowing ivy that grew naturally in the walls, poking out between patches of undisturbed moss. How long she flew she was unaware, only eventually she was greeted by a large set of wooden doors, intricate, ancient carvings covering the surface. Giving a chirp of pride at finding her goal she set upon the next arduous task; with a lot of tugging and a few, colorful tweets and twitters, she managed to get the door open a crack and squeeze herself inside.

Once again, it was not completely dark, the ivy growing plentifully in here, a sickly green light being cast upon the room. It was a large room, with various pools and ponds, similar to the normal, open aviary that the fairies all dwelled in. The only difference were instead of large, upside down spindles holding millions upon millions of containers of baby teeth overhead, there were large pillars that seemed to be carved out of the very mountain itself. In each of the ponds, small currents and eddies lapping at their edges, were small pedestals, each having different symbols carved into the stone. Resting on all were differently colored orbs, similar to balls of blown glass, only a small, tapered mouth atop each, the opening no larger than Baby Tooth's finger. Flickers of lights bounced sporadically inside each, making it seem like someone had shoved a bunch of multicolored, redbull-energized fireflies in balls and left them to sit. Baby Tooth knew what they all were though; not fireflies, but the physical manifestation of memories of all the immortals in the world, both deceased and present. Her mistress had once explained it that immortals were alive much longer than humans, and as such they would grow forgetful with their plentiful memories, so it was here they were kept. The vast amount of years was so large, mere baby teeth would not be enough to hold in all the memories; so instead these orbs were used, made similar to blown glass, but instead out of the baby teeth. Baby Tooth wondered absently why Toothiana had yet to place Jack's in here, though the curious thought was quickly drowned out by the darkness that swirled inside her, the few nightmares quickly directing her to find her goal.

It took several tries, though eventually she found the right pedestal; an iridescent, green and purple swirling globe sat atop it, the pedestal, along with three others, set aside from most of the immortals within the room, signifying the Guardians. Baby Tooth gave a chirp of pride at such a find, before flitting down to rest besides her mistress' globe of memories; from her side she unstrapped a vial, the thing only slightly shorter than her, and around as thick as her forearm. Despite the small size, however, the contents were plenty enough, nightmare sand packed in till the brim. Wiggling the cork out of the bottle, she carefully lifted the flask up into the air with her, hovering over Tooth's globe for a moment, before dumping the sand down and into the small hole at the top.

The effects were almost instantaneous, the black spiraling in with the greens, blues, purples and occasional flashes of gold, causing some to twist and darken, and others to change hues and positively glow from within the dark. Pitch had explained to Baby Tooth that since Toothiana was the Guardian of Memories, she would be so very reliant on her so-called center. Her own fate was so very connected with that of her own memories, that it was her core; you corrupt the core, of which a person builds upon in life, then you corrupt all that they are, and ever will be.

Giving a small chirp of approval, Baby Tooth took off, zipping quickly back through the door, making sure that the gap remained so more nightmares could come back later and add further corruption; after all, it never hurt to have a little insurance that one would stay completely dark and corrupted. She sped out towards the main room, eager to see what the dark changes in her mistress were.

Jack had watched Baby Tooth go, then mutely waved the shadows forwards and took off into the air himself, on a slightly different course than that of the corrupted fairy. He flew low as not to be spotted by the lot of fairies above, nightmares in forms of onyx waves of sand flanking him on all sides. They continued on until reaching a low outcropping of the mountain, the group quickly being swallowed up and hidden by the shadows as they waited, prepared for any sort of signal of their interference.

"Stay," Jack hissed at the mares, before flying up towards the main area of Tooth Palace, completely silent in his travels. If Baby Tooth wanted a distraction to give her time, he would give her one.

He moved to the highest roof, looking out over the area with disinterested eyes, his mood only perking slightly as several fairies noticed his presence, a good size group coming over immediately to fawn over him. Before they could even reach him a quick wave of his staff had them all frozen, thunking down onto the roof's slick surface before sliding down and off; from there Jack didn't know or care what happened to them, though the thought of a largely growing pile of frozen fairy corpses made him grin.

It didn't take long, maybe a good five minutes and half a hundred or so fairies, before there was a very upset cry of "Jack!" from behind him. The corrupted youth smirked, pulling his hood up and turning in one fluid motion, beaming widely at the anxious Guardian in front of him.

"Jack! What are you doing?!" Tooth cried in distress, flitting about back and forth, the look on her face clearly one of disbelief. Her eyes seemed to run up and down his appearance, a look of mixed worry and relief apparent, noting both how Jack no longer had sand-darkened skin, but also had changed his appearance so drastically, looking far more like a dark, winter spirit than before. "Are you okay, Jack? You disappeared the other day we were all so worried-" she was cut off as she had to dodge a blast of frost, a look of shock appearing as she caught sight of Jack's face; both the golden eyes and look of loathing were things that made her back up, feeling that she was too close to the obviously upset winter spirit.

"Don't lie to me," Jack spat the words in cold amusement, slowly pacing around Tooth, staff held out in a warning for her to stay where she was. "Worried? You all? Perhaps. But about me?" Jack pause, a cold, foreign laugh escaping him. "Please, I'm not an idiot, Tooth. You all have never cared about me, only what I can do. Pity it took me this long to figure that out." Jack gave a dramatized sigh, before smirking over at Tooth, pleased to see the fairy holding a look of betrayal and hurt on her face.

"Jack...we do care! About you! You're our friend, Jack, please, please don't make me fight you," Tooth tried to reason with the winter spirit, merely earning a roll of golden eyes.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of fighting you, or harming you for that matter." He paused, letting a relieved look settle on her face before continuing. "After all, Pitch would have my head." Jack flashed her a feral grin, all teeth and no humor behind it. "I merely wish to talk, and not have you run off squabbling to the others like some pathetic little weakling. Or, do you always need them to hold your hand for you?" he teased, not bothering to look at her, instead staring off to the side, watching as a few, barely noticeable nightmares made their way through the trees, snatching up stray fairies quickly and quietly as to not catch Tooth's attention.

When Jack looked back at her he could see he had pushed some buttons; irritation was clear in Tooth's rumpled feathers, and how her concerned look from before now held a hint of hostility. "What do you want, Jack? What has you so upset? You don't have to do this, you know; Pitch is wrong, he's just manipulating you, Jack. I'm here for you, Jack; I'm your friend." She attempted a smile, only managing a pitiful excuse for one.

Jack gave an amused snort, halting the pacing to instead perch atop his staff, peeking past bangs to stare down at her in amusement. "Oh, you're here for me? You're my friend? Huh, funny, don't remember seeing such a friend," he spoke the word like it was the lowest filth one could find, "in my first three-hundred years. I don't remember seeing such a friend all those times I was alone, ignored, or hurt. The other spirits, other elementals and other holidays, oh they hate me too, just like you do. I've had to fend for myself for three hundred years, all on my own, and not once did you care, or even bother to spare a glance my way. And now?" He paused, giving a weak laugh of disbelief, "And now you think we're friends? Just because you all tried to initiate me into your little club? All because the moon said so? Don't make me laugh." Jack stared down at her coldly, before pulling back his frost-riddled sleeve and looking down, as if checking a non-existent watch.

"Well, this chat was fun. But I think I've bought enough time. It really shouldn't take this long." Jack glanced up at her, smirking. "Farewell, Tooth. Or, well, this side of Tooth." He made a mocking bow in her direction, standing precariously atop his staff.

"What are you talking about, Jack?!" Tooth demanded in worry, brow creasing deeper in her worry, before she gasped, hand moving to clutch at her head, violet eyes going wide in shock.

Jack let out a laugh of amusement, so very like his old laugh, though this held almost a wizened, older and darker tone to it. "Oh, what perfect timing I have; this'll be interesting," he mused, watching as Tooth's form began to visibly tremble. The Guardian looked up at Jack with fearful eyes before they rolled up, the woman passing out in heap on the ground, similar to how Jack had less than a day ago at his pond.

Jack and the nightmares within him watched with curiosity as Toothiana's transformation was very much the opposite of his; while his eyes were the last to be consumed, hers were the where the darkness seemed to come from. Darkness seemed to run down her face in a water-like motion, blooming out from behind her closed lids; her skin took on a darker tone, almost a greyish brown and nothing like her normal, rosy complexion. Feathers were the next to alter, only a few of what would be her hair remaining colorful, the rest fading to black. Those that did stay colorful seemed to brighten sharply, almost looking neon against the darkness it settled against. The darkness then went south, Jack watching in fascination as it seemed to soak into her feathers and turn them as well; lost was the purple sheen and brightly colored limbs, instead most fading in shades, her legs becoming a deep navy, and torso a dark green, save for a spot of brilliantly yellow feathers on her bosom. The large, peacock like feathers that fell behind her had faded entirely to black, and her once rainbow colored wings were mainly an electric green and black, slight undercurrents of azure blending in with a slight sheen.

Jack laughed as the darkness seemed to consume the fairy completely, the immortal youth flipping off of his staff to crouch curiously in front of her, a pale, frost covered finger poked her cheek impatiently.

"Wakey, wakey, little Tooth," he laughed, before starting and flinching back as the other's eyes flicked open upon the command. Her eyes had changed, of course, the formerly white part having bled black, and her violet eyes were almost electric and glowing, giving her a regal yet haunting and, if terribly honest, scary look.

"Jack," was all she murmured as she quickly rose, dark wings fluttering behind her unsteadily, as if trying themselves out for the first time, Tooth wavering slightly as she stood. The younger of the two immortals placed a steadying hand against her shoulder, to which she shot him a cold, though hesitantly grateful look.

"What now," she finally asked, her tone slow and calm, nothing at all like the normal and hyperactive Tooth; this only made Jack beam wider.

"Well, we have to get back to Pitch." Jack glanced up at the sky towards the sun, eyes flicking about and noting thankfully that the moon, and the man within it, had yet to rise. "For now, tell your fairies to continue on as usual; no need for you to lose believers and weaken, or to let the other Guardians know of your corruption. Yet."

Tooth nodded, before turning to a few fairies that had flown over while Jack had spoken, their own colors reflecting that of Tooth's corrupted form, a fact Jack noted with a bit of dark glee. Whispered instructions were given, Jack standing there with an impatient look as they spoke, until something suddenly collided with the side of his head. Looking over in shock, he relaxed as he saw Baby Tooth clinging his sweatshirt, a prideful look in place. Her colors were that of Tooth's original form, he noted with a small form of curiosity, though the dark eyes showed her corruption regardless of that. Jack wondered why, thinking over a few, nonsensical reasons absently, before a clearing of a throat got his attention, the winter spirit looking over to a waiting Tooth.

"Shall we?" she asked in a bored, imperious tone, to which Jack merely beamed and took off, staff clung tightly in his grip. "Try to keep up!" he cackled, before whispering to the wind to urge him forward, faster; while the wind no longer agreed with it's charges ways, it was still loyal to him, preferring to aid him in dark ways than to betray the young immortal and be responsible for his plummet from the sky.

Pitch had split off from Jack and some of the nightmares during the travels through the shadows, the Nightmare King instead coming out somewhere London. As soon as he stepped out of the shadows he saw the annoyingly familiar tendrils of golden light spiraling through the night skies to descend into childrens' dreams. He moved silently through the shadows, moving out only to see if he had located the dreams' source; eventually he got lucky. Sandy was flying high, golden cloud of sand perching neatly atop that large, oh what's the name clock tower, Pitch could never bother to remember or care to.

Moving quickly through the shadows, he perched atop the clock tower, the topmost part being completely shroud in either darkness or partial shadows. Momentarily he debated between a sneak attack on the golden man, or to take the cliché route and monologue a tad. While the latter option was tempting, he'd had plenty of time in the past to do such, and while such instances were kept short they'd proven to take time that he could not afford. Nodding at such a conclusion, he quickly sent a nightmare out as a distraction, the equine form on the opposite side of Sandy than that of Pitch, the Guardian, sure enough, immediately turning and lashing out with a golden whip as soon as he spotted the horse shaped beast.

The moment Sanderson's back was turned Pitch made no hesitation; mounting a nightmare quickly he rose to a proper height, an arrow forming between outstretched hands. It seems he was too slow to act, however, something alerting the Sandman of the threat to him, for the next moment an all too familiar golden whip was around his wrists and he was tugged forcefully from the steed to whip through the night sky. Letting out a choked off snarl, his hands twisted to grab onto the golden whip; darkness seeped from his fingers and shock was written clearly on his opponent's face, Sandy immediately releasing the whip, onyx sand quickly consuming the gold.

"Well, well, Sandman. So we meet again. Surprised to see me?" he chuckled lowly, now able to float in the air on his own little cloud of sand as well, thanks to the broken down forms of the nightmare and whip.

Symbols began flashing angrily over the golden man's head, Pitch giving a roll of his eyes and gave up attempting to decipher the small forms as the speed became too rapid to follow.

"Come now, you know I never did care for charades, Sanderson." Pitch flashed a feral grin at Sandy. His initial plan had failed, oh well, he never really put merit into sneak attacks, always did seem a bit, oddly enough, expected; no, he had come with a back up plan in mind, in case such a situation played out. Letting a calculating look take over his face, fingers steepling in front of him as he spoke. "I'm coming here to give you an offer, a chance to save one of your oh so precious Guardians," Pitch lied flawlessly, a small tilt appearing to his lips at Sandy's distressed expression. "I'll get to the point; after all, there isn't much time left," he chuckled, gesturing towards the clock below them. "First I must ask: did you enjoy my little trick with Jack? It is all thanks to you, after all. Had you not been corrupted...well, I wouldn't have anyone to test the next stage of corruption on. So I thank you, Sandman," Pitch drawled in a mocking tone, snickering lowly under his breath at the other's guilty expression. "Don't worry though, he's plenty fine now...locked up in his mind at the nightmares' command, you remember what that's like, don't you?" Pitch smirked at the furious glare the other adapted, tiny golden hands clenching into fists, a new set of whips appearing.

"Ah, ah, ah, don't act rashly; I know what you're thinking. But don't worry, I wouldn't dream of hurting Jack now, such a good little puppet. Toothiana on the other hand," Pitch paused, relishing as the worry seeped immediately into the other's light brown eyes, "well, let's just say I have no use for her. Yet I have her in my hold; whatever to do..." he drifted off, smirking at the other. "Do you doubt me, Sanderson?" With a snap of his fingers a nightmare appeared from the shadows of the clock tower, fluttering inside it small fairies visible, the nightmare having just been at Tooth Palace with Jack.

Sandy stared at the beast in horror, a golden whip immediately moving in an attempt to smash it away and back into golden sand; unfortunately for him, it was the one Jack had experimented on, the golden sand scattering against the ice coated darkness. Shocked by such a development he tried again to the same effect, Sandy then turning to stare wide-eyed at Pitch, not knowing why his sand wasn't working, simply that it wasn't. Pitch greeted the look with a smirk, then, "You know what I'm going to say, don't you?"

A defiant golden stare was all that the other could give him, though the visible sag of his shoulders, coupled with the disappearance of the whips, was all the surrender Pitch needed to continue. "Yes; come with me, little Sandman, and she lives. I'll even promise not to hurt her," he laughed mockingly at the golden man; Sandy both feared and knew the darkness within Pitch, knew that the other could and would harm Toothiana.

Sandman made no move to dodge the onyx arrow as it sped towards him for a second time that night, merely putting on a peaceful look and gazing up at the moon in apology. A small spark of hope lit inside the golden man, musing that one day he would be able to be revived by kids like Jamie'd done before, but then the darkness consumed him and his kind consciousness was no more.

When Jack and company arrived back at Pitch's lair it was to Jack's surprise to see Pitch and Sandy already there, Jack immediately flying over to stare in curiosity at the corrupted Guardian, having not seen him like this last time he was corrupted. Like Tooth, only his coloring had changed, no real physical alterations visible. Where golden sand used to reside, onyx sand now made up the smaller man's body, hair a wispy dark grey; the only bit of non-darkness on him were the whites of his eyes and his irises, which still glowed a defiant gold. That seemed to be the only defiant thing about him however, his face only displaying emotionless fatigue; the ex-Guardian stuck close to Pitch's side, leaning sleepily against the Nightmare King.

"I presume all went according to plan?" Pitch asked, causing Jack to break the curious stare he was giving Sandy in favor of beaming up proudly at the Nightmare King.

"Yes. No problems whatsoever on my end. Baby Tooth? All went well, correct?" he asked, glancing to his shoulder, where the still-vibrantly colored fairy lay, dark eyes watching Pitch. The corrupted fairy shook her head in agreement before flitting off to hover around her mistress, Tooth still gazing about in a bored sense of curiosity.

"Ah, Toothiana," Pitch practically purred, stalking over to stand in front of the Tooth Fairy, a mock bow soon appearing from him. "How lovely to see you. And in such a state too...mm," he chuckled, eyes flicking up and down her corrupted form thoughtfully, trying to figure out if there was any sugary sweet goodness of the old Tooth left. He seemed satisfied with both her appearance and the cold look the woman gave him, turning to stride back towards Jack, a small smirk appearing as he looked towards the corrupted youth. "Yes, well done indeed Jack; now we can get along to the next step."

"Taking care of North and the Pooka, I assume?" Tooth interjected, taking to the air to keep pace with Pitch's strides, the shadow having taken to stride forwards, farther within his lair. Jack and Sanderson quickly followed; Sandy still held the emotionless expression, Jack hanging back to walk beside the sleepy ex-Guardian, curiosity obvious as he continued to inspect Sandy's changed form.

"Correct, Toothiana," Pitch replied with a smirk of approval. "Your little fairy there will prove most helpful for that," the Nightmare King gestured over to the vibrantly colored Baby Tooth, the small fairy having retreated to nuzzle down in Jack's brilliantly white locks.

"Baby Tooth?" Jack inquired, reaching a hand up to gently pet the corrupted fairy; no matter their alliances, it seemed the immortal teen had a natural fondness for the tiny sprite.

Pitch nodded, pacing over to the large, metal worked globe, grey fingertips dragging idly along the golden specks of light littered about its surface. "It was by no accident that I corrupted her individually; the other fairies are far too conspicuous, what with their altered colors. Her, however…" he drifted off, pausing to turn and smirk at the three behind him. "Well, it will be child's play to fool the other two Guardians, wouldn't you say?"

Bunnymund groaned, slowly coming to consciousness.

The Pooka shifted, raising an oddly weighted paw to his forehead, rubbing in an effort to dull the aching cries that pounded away inside his skull. Attempting to remember what happened he kneaded a knot in his temple slowly, memories slowly flickering to the surface.

The Pooka had been in his warren when an anxious Baby Tooth had flown up, anxiously flitting about and tweeting, a few pantomimed waves of her hand having Bunnymund quickly racing off to Tooth Palace, not sure what it was that the fairy was distressed about, but figuring her home would be the best place to start asking questions.

When he had arrived he was shocked to see things look absolutely normal, the rabbit sitting up on his haunches in confusion, looking around as if expecting to see a large neon sign bearing the words 'TROUBLE OVER THIS WAY.' It was then that he had noticed the off color of the fairies, how they seemed like a swirl of black and electric green, and how each had an aura around them reminding him of, well, Pitch. Bunnymund had cautiously made his way through Tooth Palace, silently keeping an ear out for Tooth, having noticed the place was void of her constant chattering to her fairies, the Pooka obtaining a sinking feeling in his gut as he wondered what could have removed her from her post.

An odd sound then greeted his ears, Bunnymund immediately pausing, trying to connect the odd sound with a mental picture; it was barely in time that he did realize what it was, spinning around to see black sand rushing over the ground, directly for him. He quickly took off, hopping and sprinting about, leaping from place to place, a worried feeling appearing in his chest as every time he hid a fairy would tweet out his location, forcing him to flee from the onyx sand again.

On one such tweet he cursed, pushing off of the ground to bound off once again, though found his feet meet no resistance; he fell through the shadows, moment later appearing in the center of Tooth Palace, Pitch looming above him, waves of sand swirling around them both, trapping the Pooka.

"Pitch!" Bunny wasted no time, flinging a boomerang towards the other's head, a low growl appearing as black sand appeared whipped from somewhere behind the sea of sand, effectively grabbing the weapon and tossing it far away. Not wanting to disarm himself so easily, Bunnymund merely kept the other boomerang in its holster, rising up onto his feet, hand slowly moving to where he kept his eggs. "Whaddya want, Pitch," he spat the words disapprovingly, eyes narrowing further in distaste as the Nightmare King merely smirked.

"Ah, ah, really now, none of your silly explosives," Pitch stated snarkily instead of answering, black sand quickly surging up and around Bunnymund, closing him in an funnel shaped mound, effectively pinning his arms to his sides, only the Pooka's head able to move freely.

"Lemme go, ya whacker!" he demanded angrily, struggling, though froze as Pitch laughed; the laugh was different than how the Nightmare King usually sounded, instead making it a mocking tone, like he knew something blatantly obvious that Bunny didn't.

"Oh, even if I could I wouldn't; no, if you want to be free why don't you ask the one who is binding you, hmm?" Pitch had smirked, gesturing behind Bunnymund, the Pooka's head whipping around as much as possible, freezing in horror at seeing the small, darkened form of Sandy, apathetic expression in place on the small man's now grey face.

At the memory resurfaced Bunnymund's eyes flicked open in alarm, a sudden need to bolt filling him. Immediately he tried to stand though it was to no prevail; the odd weight on his paws from before was in fact large, sand formed shackles, a dark chain disappearing silently off into the shadows. His ankles were bound as well, and all of his eggs and boomerangs were gone; all in all, he felt defenseless.

A groan caused him to freeze and, upon looking over, he blanched upon seeing North's crumpled form, the large man chained up similarly to the Pooka. "North!" Bunny hissed anxiously, hoping the Guardian was awake, all the while the spring spirit glancing about the room for an escape; all he saw was shadows, not even able to see the walls that had been eaten up by the darkness.

A grumble came, then, "Ja? Oh, Bunny, is that you? Where…" North looked up, a low, muttered swear in Russian slipping out of the white haired man's mouth, the Guardian immediately attempting to pull his way free of his bonds, to no prevail. When he realized this he curse again, looking at the other Guardian with a somber expression. "It was a trap. Little tooth sprite came, told me Jack was in danger, though when I went to burgess-"

"Lemme guess; Sandy and Pitch?" Bunnymund cut in, a serious tone in place, green eyes flicking about the other in search of injuries, having noticed a small cut on the larger male's head was bleeding.

North gave him a confused, before speaking again, though slower, as if choosing his words with careful consideration. "Nyet. Jack was the only one, him and the nightmares. They...he..." he drifted off, as if the thought was painful to think on. Then, finally, he spoke again, the words coming quickly and curiously. "What do you mean, that Sandy-" the man was cut off as a slamming sound came from the dark shadows to their right, bringing with it a chill and the shifting sound of sand.

"Oh good, you two are awake!" Jack exclaimed, floating into view, an excited grin in place; it was a grin like the one they were used to, though darkness and the shadows that hung on his face distorted it, making it much more threatening. "Pitch was wondering when you'd wake up. C'mon then," Jack made a beckoning motion with his hand before floating back out. North and Bunnymund only had a moment to glance at each other in horror, fearing what this all meant, before the sand formed shackles tugged them roughly to their feet in obedience to Jack's will, pulling the two males forwards as easily as if they weighed nothing. They were half-dragged after the winter spirit who spinning and floating carefreely in the air, Jack's buoyant attitude something that the nightmares had let him keep, merely his outlook towards things shifted now.

"They're up!" the corrupted youth called after a few minutes of walking- or rather a combination of Jack floating and the other two being tugged along against their will, the trio entering a large room. North and Bunnymund gaped at the apparent thousands of birdcages that hung from the ceiling, the large, heavy chains disappearing into the gaping mouth of shadows and darkness that littered the place. They both stiffened as much as possible when they spotted Tooth, the instinctual reaction hindered by the jerky actions of being tugged along, the two instead staring in horror at the female, Toothiana gazing down at them from her perch upon a cage. After a moment she fluttered down, black and violet eyes watching the two men in curiosity, though she remained silent, merely shifting to flit along besides Jack's hovering form.

"Are they now? How pleasant; it's not nice to sleep all day after all, even if you are guests," a voice called out mockingly from the shadows, responding to Jack's earlier comment; Pitch soon appeared in front of the group, the sand tugging the two Guardians along finally stopping at the presence of it's master. "How kind of you two to join us," Pitch sneered, steepling his fingers together and simply gazing at the two Guardians in front of him, paying no mind to his corrupted companions, Jack and Tooth having gone off to the side a bit where Sandy floated, all watching with either curious or thoughtful expressions.

"Let us go, Pitch. Let them go. So help me, when I get outta here-" Bunnymund snarled angrily, struggling against the sand, which had wound up around both him and North, holding them in place more securely than simple chains would have. Pitch cut him off, however, a cold laugh escaping him.

"When? Oh you foolish rabbit, you truly believe that you are going to make it out of here, don't you? And how, per say, do you plan to do that? Your so called allies," he paused, gesturing to where the other three stood, Sandman slumped against Jack, half asleep, and Tooth smirking coldly at the two remaining Guardians, "certainly have no plans to help you; they rather agree that we would be better off without you." Pitch chuckled lowly at the two of them, moving to pace slowly around their bound forms. "So that leaves us with the question, what to do with you? I have use for the others of course; remembering the bad things, fueling the nightmares and making the world cold and dark... But you two? I have no use for wonder and hope," Pitch paused, a low chuckle escaping as he looked down at the remaining Guardians. "And while it would be lovely to watch you both wither away, little by little, we do have a schedule to keep." With that he turned away, not bothering to even utter a goodbye, merely walking over to the three corrupted immortals.

Bending slightly, he placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, cold tone hissing in the corrupted youth's ear. "You know what to do."

Jack nodded mutely with a smirk, twirling his staff in one hand before moving forward, Pitch's hand falling from his shoulder as the winter spirit strode to the bound forms of North and Bunny. The Guardians' efforts to escape only doubled as they saw the lanky teen prowling towards them, not liking how the, however tainted, familiar grin from before had been replaced, now only a cold, cruel look taking hold of Jack.

"Any requests for who's first?" Jack chuckled coldly, his free hand rising up lazily with a flick of his wrist, sand moving up to form makeshift gag on both of his prey, not wanting to hear any of the useless chatter the Guardians were bound to make. His other hand tapped the staff, the icy coating moving away to reveal the black sand, the mass swirling in the air around the two bound men in the form of a snake.

"Just make it painful, Jack. And make sure to ungag them; tortured screams are almost as nice as nightmares," Pitch laughed, striding away and disappearing into the shadows.

It was several days later that Pitch looked down upon some city, somewhere in the world; it didn't matter where, or who lived in the city. It didn't matter how rich they were, or their ethnicity, gender, because in the end all succumbed; they all succumbed to the fear. The world now was filled with darkness and shadows, with fear, nightmares, and icy cold that clawed at you as soon as you left the hellish nightmares of sleep to the nightmares of day. There were no more happy thoughts, no more daydreams, none that were happy at least; any of the happy memories you once had were lost, tainted and twisted so they left you with only mental scars and more fears for the nightmares to feed on. There was no hope, no wonder; such concepts had died days ago when Jack had killed the Guardians, ripped and cut them apart with sand and ice, leaving them as nothing more but myths lost in time. No, the world was a dark place, and there was nothing that could change that, not the pathetic little man in the moon, nor the humans that crawled around like the pathetic cockroaches they were; and, if you asked him, the world was better for it.

After all, who needs happy endings?

A/N: So, that's it~ again, thank you to all who have made it to you all, all those who reviewed you have a special place in my heart I thank thee~

Now a few, quick notes; Firstly, for any of those interested, (which I doubt) on my tumblr page under the rotg tag (the link is on my profile here on ffn), I have sketches of the corrupted forms of Tooth and Sandy, in case your imaginations want a little more fuel ;)

On another note, I originally planned to have more gore in this, (I do love gore =v=), namely the part where Jack proceeds to kill North and Bunnymund. However, I figured that some might not be comfortable with this, as well as the fact that it took away from how the story was flowing, seeing as I get a bit long winded and over detailed when I write gore, and the rest of the story I've kept rather quick paced and whatnot. Long story short, if the readers to request it, I'll post a short little tidbit (that will come up as another chapter in the alert box) that would solely be the gore scene, for those who wish to read it. If gore isn't your cup of tea? Well, end it here and now; believe in the antagonist winning, blah, blah, and etcetera. The next story I plan on writing may be fluff, or perhaps another dark one, maybe a happy ending this time? AU's, angst, romance, oh the possibilities are endless… v

Until next time U v Y