A loud yell filled the room. Jack tumbled to the ground. His body ached from hours of non-stop beating. His once merry eyes were red and swollen from the crying. Jack's loud funny voice was gone. In its place was a scratchy whispering sound from the yelling. "P-Please, s-stop!" Jack pleaded. He was afraid the hard blows that landed on his body would end up by killing him. "Oh Jack, don't you see what I want?" Pitch said landing another hard blow on the boy's back. Letting out another cry, Jack looked up curiously. "Fear Jack!" Pitch yelled in amusement. "Your fear is helping me get stronger!" Saying this, he hit Jack one more time before walking away. "Oh, and by the way, we'll have a surprise waiting for your friends." Jack's head shot up. His eyes widened. "N-No! D-Don't hurt them P-Pitch!" Jack was so weak, it came out sounding more like a whisper. The though of the boogie man hurting his friends was horrifying. Pitch just laughed at the winter spirit's pleads. As usual, as Pitch walked away, Jack's chains loosened, but not enough to help Jack. Still thinking, he curled into a ball in a corner. Suddenly, a big racket came from the doors. The boy looked up. There, in the middle of the room, stood the guardians. "Jack!" they all cried. They started running toward him. Jack tried to warn them away, but found he could not. Just as they got near him, a big door of iron bars slid across, separating the

guardians from Jack. Tooth shook the door angrily. Pitch appeared beside the boy, Jack's staff in hand. "Looking for this?" he said with a grin. He gave Jack a smack on the side. Jack let out a cry. "Leave him alone, Pith!" North cried. "Fine" responded Pitch. With that, he broke Jack's staff in half. Pain burst through Jack's body. He fell down on his knees as he heard he's friend cries. Then it all went black.

Chapter 2

"Jack!" Tooth and the other guardians cried. As Pitch disappeared, the iron bar door slid open. They all ran toward him. Tooth leaned down beside him. She felt his bruised hand. "It is colder than normal." she said checking to see if there was a heartbeat. There was. "He's alive!" she announced joyful. "But not for long." North said. "I'm afraid that without his staff, he will lose his power." Sandman made a exclamation mark on his head. "But Jack in the only one able to fix it!" cried Bunny. Sandman suddenly walked in front of them.

"Let's check his room." Tooth read out. North's face lit up. "Of course! Pitch must have wanted to take Jack for some reason."

"Good idea" agreed Tooth.

Bunny and Sandy nodded.

While the guardians rode North's sled, Tooth kept watching over Jack. When they got to Santa's workshop, they placed Jack in his bed. Then, they started looking for clues. "Jack would have totally froze us if he found us doing this!" said Bunny.

"Agree" responded North.

"Hey, look what I found!" Tooth called. They all went to were Tooth was. In the wall was what seemed to be a secret compartment. Inside was a little box covered in frost. "It must have been touched by Jack not long ago. It's all covered in frost!" cried North. When they opened the box, they found a map leading to a lake.

"There is were Jack must fix his staff." said Tooth. The map showed different mountains and rivers. In the middle was the lake. It staid frozen all year. "We must leave at once." said North. "Before it is to late." The guardians started preparing for the trip, thinking of all of the joyful times they had spent with Jack.

Chapter 3