10 years have passed since Pitch was defeated. North became like a father to me. Baby Tooth has become co-leader, helping Tooth. Tooth has returned to the field. Sandy's the same as always, delivering dreams to the children of earth. Bunny and I get along better, but he's still grumpy. I had a fun day in Burgess, not with Jamie though, he had stopped believing a few years ago, and it still hurt a bit. By now more people believed in me, though I had way less than the other Guardians. I made it to the lake before the shadow grabbed me. My staff almost fell out of my hands. I tried to twist around and blast the shadow with my staff but we were going too fast. Then we flashed under a bed. I had time to think Pitch's lair, before everything faded to black. I was drowning in a thick black murk, my screams muffled by the black substance. When I came to I was in one of the cages that had held the fairies. Pitch materialized out of the shadows. I stared at him with blank, emotionless eyes, not blinking, trying to freak Pitch out. "Are you surprised to see me?" Pitch asked. I was, but no way in hell was I going to tell him. 10 years wasn't that long. "I will break you," Pitch said. "Just how do you plan on doing that?" I asked calmly. Pitch looked surprised, obviously not expecting me to be so calm. "Fear," Pitch said. Before I could reply, he hit me. It was so fast, and so unexpected, that I flinched. "Go ahead and hit me, when I get out you will pay," I said defiantly. There, my staff, on a rock shelf not far away. "We'll see, sweet nightmares." I had barely processed his words before sleep came. I was playing with Jamie. I had just thrown a snowball when everything changed. The snowball turned black, and Jamie fell backward. He struggled to breathe, and his blood turned black when it touched the ! Then the dream changed and I watched the other guardians die as I threw snowballs that turned black when they reached the air. I watched them struggle to breathe, blood mixing with snow, turning black. I felt really nauseous. Then I shot up, screaming. In the days to come, I clung to the belief that the others would come. I lost track of the time I spent there, everything passed by in a blur of pain and fear.
With the Guardians
"Jack is late again," Bunny said. "Jack is never this late." Tooth said, worried. "Bunny, when was the last time you saw him." North asked. "About 1 week and 4 days ago, wh..." It dawned on Bunnymund what North was saying. "He could be hurt." Tooth said. They all looked guilty. They had all been busy with teeth, dreams, Christmas and Easter. "We should look for him. Bunny, and tooth, you shall come with me and look. Sandy, you have to do your job." North said. Sandy looked irritated, but realized it was sensible. So they set out to look for Jack, not knowing the state he was in.