As if the place itself knew it was housing an impostor, the manor reflected a ghostly eeriness. Usually its many parts seemed alive, but now they stood still, not even the trees swaying in the wind. Shadows curled out of the smallest cracks in the wood, with much more pouring out of the windows. The two gargoyles at the entrance had been knocked off their bases and shattered into many pieces. They let out a feeble croak as the party passed; Yi Xiang’s jaw tightened and Yunho wondered if the house had not been in this state earlier. As the house’s master and the tiny doctor led the way, Changmin found Yunho’s wrist and pressed down once—letting him know he was fine. “Take the read guard,” Yunho murmured, sliding the dagger from its sheath. “And don’t give me that look. I have a feeling we’re all going to see a bit of action with this.”

“Just a bit, huh?”

“An entertaining amount, anyway.”

“Jump on,” Yi Xiang called, launching over the low iron gate into the rickety lift that would take them straight to the main receiving chamber—he could feel an immense amount of power radiating from the top of the structure. Yunho laughed to himself as Boa vehemently refused his helping hand and swung one leg over, followed by the other. However, Changmin let the king ease him into the lift, making it claustrophobically tight. They rode in silence, and stepped onto the landing once it came to a creaking halt. There stood the twin blessed iron doors, unchanged.

To no one’s surprise, they opened slowly, and more shadows seeped out—some took form, and haunting figures surrounded them as they walked forward, Yunho clutching his dagger a little tighter. Changmin cautiously touched the edge of a shadow figure with his sword, but it did not recoil. Great. This baby’s supposed to be deadly to most adversaries. If my sword can’t hack it…

A deep, echoing laugh greeted them then. “You…are here…at last…”

“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” Yunho responded in a formal tone, and Changmin half-expected a sarcastic bow from him, too. “Why don’t you come out from the…ah…”

“Shadows?” he offered in a waspish voice, and slowly, a form appeared in the dim light from the candelabra. It was Yi Xiang, but it was not. There were notable differences—the great peeling gash that ran from the right corner of his mouth to his ear, resulting in a nightmarish grin; the fact that his eyes were black and without pupils; the cuts and scrapes along his body where more shadows coiled out like smoke; and the twitching, limping gait as he walked towards them. Yi Xiang would also rather be struck down than caught dead in such rags. In the corner was a great obsidian cage, and the three devil children huddled against the bars, crying and calling for their master. The imposter spoke again. “I am…shadow and fear…and you are…doomed…”

“Looks like you’re breaking down, buddy.” Changmin hoped his tone was light, but something about this…thing in front of them unnerved him to the core. “I don’t think shadows were meant to hold a form for very long. Say, why don’t we just say a little incantation and get you back to Yi Xiang…?”

The impostor twitched violently, his head lolling forward, but those black bottomless eyes still regarded them. “Futile…it has…already begun…” A second body jolt and his spine straightened with a sickening crack. “These humans come up with the cleverest ideas,” he said, in the smooth velvet accent of Pitch Black’s, a shudder running through the party at the perfect imitation. “Too bad this is only used for political situations. Imagine if a catastrophe in the form of an epidemic were unleashed…do you think they would adapt the clock to those conditions?” He let out a wet cough and his voice changed, to one they knew all too well: the Boogeyman’s. “What an interesting concept! But you know…we can’t predict these things so accurately if we don’t bother experimenting…”

“Yi Xiang…” Boa whispered out of the corner of . But he could not speak; his eyes were fixed on the impostor.

“Sitting in the comfort of our own homes is always so dull,” Pitch Black’s voice answered, a gentle lilt to it now. “But the widespread panic that would follow such an outbreak…it would be delightful, wouldn’t you say so?” Another cough, and Yi Xiang’s tone reappeared. “Yes…I must agree with that. What could we do that they have never seen before, but would be met with fear?”

Boa half-turned to the Boogeyman, her gaze intense. “What did you do?”

The imposter jerked forward, and Yunho tensed; he heard movement behind him and knew Changmin had taken a stance, as well. The harsh voice returned, and he grinned—the gaping cut in his face made it more pronounced. “Oogie…Boogie…set us…set us free…”

“YI XIANG!” Boa yelled, startling the three men. Yi Xiang stared at her helplessly, and Yunho fought the sudden urge to chastise her tone. “What did you do?! It’s talking about something that you and Pitch spread!” Yunho recalled the report from hours ago—something in London…“That is a detail you failed to mention to us. What. Did. You. Do?!”

“And darkness shall rule all!” The impostor tilted his head back and cackled shrilly.

“…your Majesty…” For the first time in his life, Yi Xiang was pleading. Yunho’s hand gripped his dagger tighter as Yi Xiang addressed him, though still staring at his impostor. “You must understand…what I did was within our control at the time. I had no idea of its actual consequences. Even Pitch must have not known what it had done.” He swallowed. “The report was falsified by Lock, Shock, and Barrel…I couldn’t fake it. There was an epidemic outbreak…but that’s not all. We omitted…” His eyes flickered to the impostor, who was now swaying and twitching, giggling to himself; Changmin stared in disgust, hand tensely clutching his sword. “I asked them to omit…I lost control…”

Changmin let out a quiet snarl as the doors opened again and the dark figures crept in silently, filing behind them in a neat line. “Yi Xiang,” Yunho said gently. He thought he knew, but he had to hear it from him. “Tell me.”

“I sent it across England…” Yi Xiang’s eyes closed. “And in doing so, my powers spun out of control. The epidemic grew at an alarming rate, and it must have split my core in half. What I failed to tell you was that I lost control…I was ashamed. I never lose control, so for me to have done so…the power I tapped into was dangerous, and it would have alarmed you. But it only means one thing: these shadows came from me. I unleashed them. I can’t think of anywhere else. Pitch isn’t capable of doing that, but…I am.” Yunho was more than startled to see wetness pool in those beautiful, sorrowful eyes, and Yi Xiang attempted a weak smile. “It was me all along. I have broken your trust, your Majesty. Now…I must pay.”

And the king could only watch as a dark tendril shot out from the impostor’s raised hand and wrapped completely around the Boogeyman, swallowing his last apologetic look.