The Big Four: The Darkness takes all

Prologue: Dark Revival

Long ago, long before the Man-in-the-Moon, there was the Darkness; a force of shadow, silence and madness. From this Darkness came all evil, nightmares, fears and insanity. These were the dark ages before the first lights shone.

But then came the Golden ages when the darkness was driven away and was replaced with golden dreams.

But evil is never truly extinguished. There is always somewhere for darkness to get a grip in this world.

The Kingdom of Corona

Inside a small gorge in the middle of a forest was a tower. It was tall and abandoned. The interior walls were painted with intricately designed swirls and suns. In a patch of blue was painted hundreds of yellow lights and sitting in a tree below the lights was a young girl with long, golden hair.

At the bottom of the tower was a cloak and under the cloak was a pile of dust and ash. This dust had once been a woman who answered the name of Mother Gothel, but she was now dead... or was she?

A shadow crept down the walls of the gully and slithered across the ground. It found the cloak and the dust and twisted around it. The dust rose up in a column. The cloak fell around the dust and both fell to the ground. The hood fell back... and a woman with black curly hair was revealed. She gasped and coughed.

Her name was Mother Gothel... and there was only one thought in her head: Revenge.

The Meridian of Misery

On an island far from civilisation, there was once a nest of dragons, but that nest now lies in ruins. The dragons had since relocated to a new nesting site. There was no remaining sign of any dragon... except for the massive corpse of a gigantic creature; the

Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus. This particular specimen was known as the Red Death. It was truly a vast creature; twenty times the size of a T-Rex. When it was alive, it killed for sport.

Now that it was dead however, peace had returned to the Meridian of Misery... but would it last?

A shadow flowed across the beach. The waves seemed to recoil. The sky dimmed. When it reached the corpse of the Red Death, the blackness rose up and flowed around the carcass, covering it with the texture of oil.

A small Gronkle hovered past the mound of black. It moved a little closer. A small rumble echoed from the mass of dark. The Gronkle moved closer. Stupid mistake.

WHOOSH! A roar of white hot flame burst forth. There was nothing left of the Gronkle except a charred, blackened skeleton. From the blackness came the Red Death... although it was twenty times smaller than it originally was.

It's bellowing roar was still loud enough the shake the horizon. The only thought in it's skull was revenge.

Scotland, Kingdom of Dunbroch

Ancient Scotland is a truely magical place; misty mountains, dark woods, deep waters and every know and then an Eagle's scream.

In the centre of one of the woods, not far from castle Dunbroch, is a ring of stones. Tiny flashes of blue appear every now and then. These are Will-o-the-Wisps, tiny sprites that in the legends of Scotland lead you to your fate. But let your eye travel unto... this stone.

It lies flat on the ground. It's base is crumbled and broken. Trapped beneath the stone... is a massive, black bear paw. This paw belonged to Mor'du the Demon bear before it's defeat.

The forest shuddered. A blackness flowed out of the soil. It leached out of the stones. The shadows converged on the paw. The paw was tugged under the stone. There was a rumble, a brief silence... and the stone was smashed into dust.

A massive, deformed black bear rose up from the regolith of the stone. Spears and arrows were buried in it's back. It's body was covered in scar tissue. One of it's eyes was shining yellow, the other was dead. The demon bear roared, the trees quaked.

All that was left of this bear's instincts was a desire for revenge.

?

Deep beneath the ground, in a dark cavern, a figure lay curled on the ground. He wasn't dead, but he was crippled. He was very weak. No fear and little belief left him starved and unable to heal.

This figure was named Pitch. He was also known as the Boogeyman. Every night he was either plagued with nightmares of his downfall or sweet dreams of revenge.

The blackness flowed into the caverns. Pitch opened his eyes. The blackness curled around Pitch's head. He felt his strength restore slowly, but surely. For the first time in months, Pitch had the strength to rise to his feet.

'Where is this place?' came a voice. Pitch turned. A tall woman with black, curly hair was standing there. She seemed rather austere. 'Who are you?' she snapped. 'I was about to ask the same of you,' Pitch responded coolly.

The woman blasted a fire bolt at Pitch who dissolved into the shadows and reappeared behind her. 'My name is Madam Gothel,' the woman said. 'Charmed,' Pitch said extending a hand for a handshake which Gothel refused. 'And my name is Pitch Black,' Pitch continued withdrawing his hand.

A roar echoed through the cavern. Gothel and Pitch whipped around. A massive black bear rose up from out of the cavern and roared at the the two humans. 'Is that Mor'du?' Pitch said. Mor'du dropped to all fours and stepped forwards. He growled. 'The legendary demon bear?' Gothel said.

A second, even louder roar reverberated throughout the cave. A massive dragon smashed through the rock wall of the cave. It roared and spat a jet of flame which Pitch blocked with a wall of nightmare sand. The dragon brought it's head close to the gathering. Mor'du slashed with his claws and the dragon stumbled back before stepping forwards again and butting Mor'du with it's head.

A rumble echoed through the cave. Everyone stopped moving. A shadow appeared on the wall. All four figures turned to face it. The shadow resolved into a figure of a girl with long flowing hair. 'Rapunzel,' Gothel snarled and she threw a rock at the shadow.

The shadow changed. It was now a young boy. It would have looked unremarkable if it wasn't for the metal artificial foot on the end of the left leg. 'Hiccup,' the dragon thought. It snarled and spat a jet of fire.

The shadow changed again. It was now a young girl with large curly, hair and she was carrying a bow and arrows. 'Princess Merida,' Mor'du thought. He growled. A drop of saliva slid down his chops.

The shadow changed one last time. Another boy was standing there. This one was unremarkable except for the long staff it was holding. 'Jack Frost,' Pitch snarled.

Pitch was the first to realise. 'Each of these figures is one of our personal foes.' 'So it seems,' Gothel said. The dragon sniffed. Mor'du growled softly. Pitch smiled. 'I have a plan that will benefit each of us.' 'And what can you offer us Black?' Gothel asked coolly. Pitch smiled and said: "Revenge and power!"

Please be gentle with reviews, this is the first Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons fanfic I have ever attempted.