"Bring me the Guardians."
"…How?"
"Use your talents to make them irrelevant. Then bring their broken spirits to me. They've avoided their fate for far too long now."
~Theme song to opening: "Question" – Meet Joe Black Soundtrack~
Burgess
The sun was just peeking over the local school, whose shadow cast a lovely blue glow over the yard and the children lucky enough to be the first to dive into the untouched snow. The children horsing around in the snow didn't see the figure of living smoke behind them on the opposite side of the fence.
Nor did they see or feel the stab of the equally ethereal, two-foot-long, smoking spikes he embedded in their backs a moment later.
What they did feel was an immediate sinking in their stomachs as the otherworldly objects drained them of all positive emotions.
Had the children been dropped off a few minutes later they might have escaped their fate. Their attacker was easily bored after all and would have moved on if he hadn't heard that loathsome chorus of laughter that could only have come from children enjoying themselves.
As it happened, all laughter, play, and general enjoyment dissipated within the group affected by the smoking spikes. Some of the children sat down in the fresh snow, a blank expression on their otherwise youthful faces; Their hearts and minds heavy with negative thoughts and a creeping numbness that stole away their will to play…
"Having fun yet, kiddies?" Indifferent bronze eyes observed them through the fence. A moment later the figure disappeared like smoke in the wind.
~Theme Song: "Everywhere Freesia" – Meet Joe Black soundtrack~
It was a frosty breeze that caused most of the early morning havoc in the town of Burgess. A man dropped his keys in the snow and he tried in vain to hold onto his business papers as the wind swirled around him playfully. Another man clung to his mailbox to prevent slipping on the black ice that suddenly appeared at the end of his driveway. A middle-aged woman hugged her winter jacket tight to her chest as her dog dove through the snow on the unplowed sidewalk.
Children in hefty snowsuits couldn't wait to jump in the giant snow banks and make angels and snowmen out of the fluffy winter magic while they waited outside for their parents to take them to school. Laughter mingled with snow crystals and sounds of traffic in the crisp morning air.
Carried by the wind and energized by the season, the playful spirit responsible for the much of the buzzing commotion on the ground whooped as he launched himself from rooftop, to car, to lamppost on nimble bare feet. Jack Frost was immune to the cold that the adults were not so fond of, which made his job so much more fun. At least the kids liked the aftermath of his overnight snowstorm. That always made it worth the effort. Seeing the kids brighten at the sight of so much new snow gave Jack an unquenchable joy like no other.
He had put an awful lot of effort into making that storm a big one. Hey, I might have beaten the record this year! He reminded himself.
Being the instigating imp that he was, Jack searched the immediate area for a freshly shoveled pathway to sabotage. It didn't take long for an old man with a bright red shovel to catch his eye. Calling the wind up beneath him, the fun seeker touched down onto the man's rooftop. The spirit's pale feet sunk into the think layer of fresh snow with a crunch. He surveyed the man's newly cleaned off path leading from the door of the house to the driveway and then waited until the man gave his handiwork one last satisfied nod before tapping the butt of his magic staff against the crust of the overhanging snowdrift.
FWUMP.
"NO!"
Though his laughter fell on deaf ears, Jack hopped down beside the man who had thrown his shovel into the snow bank in frustration. The avalanche of snow had been the perfect amount to fill in the pathway. "Don't worry pops, the neighborhood kids could use some spending money." He assured him before flying off again.
Swirls of frost cascaded across windows and walls as the frost spirit dragged his staff along everything he touched. With the wind at his back, Jack dove through traffic like a spirited dolphin through schools of fish, dodging delivery trucks and minivans full of yawning families. He left behind a trail of ice and parked car alarms as he touched down haphazardly here and there.
Pigeons fluttered from their shelters as every crevice and shingle untouched by snow frosted over as Jack passed. Jack yelled out to the colourful birds as he raced them for a time in the morning sunlight. "Whoo!"
He called upon the friendly breeze to give the frightened birds a boost before his feet touched down on the familiar house of his first believer.
Jack pulled his blue hood up over his mess of alabaster hair and settled down in the snow of the roof to wait for the boy to come out with his mother. It was the same routine every weekday during the winter, Jack would wait outside Jamie Bennett's house for the boy to come out. And just like yesterday and the day before, the eleven year old stumbled out on to the front steps, breath steaming in the cold air, his bright brown eyes searching for his friend's silhouette against the snow. A trickle of fresh snow landed on Jamie's hat and the boy looked straight up just in time to catch a fluffy snowball in the nose. "Hey!" he laughed, wiping the snow out of his eyes and blowing it out his nostrils. Jack didn't have to lace that snowball with magic, for Jamie was already thrilled to see his formerly-invisible friend every morning.
Jack chuckled and hopped down to meet the small brunette at the bottom of the steps. "Still going to school today?"
"Yeah." Jamie sulked a little. Jamie's mother came out and fumbled with the keys in the door. As soon as it was locked she must have remembered something because a groan escaped her lips and she unlocked it once more and disappeared inside.
"I think a little more snow and she would have let me stay home." The brunette whispered while she was gone. Jack laughed, "You're kidding, right? You know how hard it was to get this much snow on the ground in time for you to get up?"
Jamie brightened at the news, "You did this for me?"
Jack pulled his hood down and rubbed his head, "Well, not entirely..." He lied.
Jamie's mom returned, locking the door and shuffling through the snow to the car. "Comon Jamie, we're very laaaate." She sang to her son, choosing the wrong key for the second time.
It occurred to the frost spirit to help the kid out a bit. A thin coat of frost solidified the parent's car door to its frame with a touch of his hand. Jamie giggled as his mother tugged at the handle. "James, it's not funny. Go on your side and try to open it." She instructed tugging and tugging.
Jack smirked as Jamie opened his side door. "Your mom would like to get into the car, wouldn't she?" he joked. Jamie had to hide his giant smile as his mother knocked on the window and indicated he should try to open her door from the inside. "I think we better let her in, this time." The boy caved. "I promised my friend I'd help him with his school work today." His mother gave him an impatient look, oblivious to his conversation with the Spirit of Fun.
"Your call, kiddo." Jack released his hold on the ice and the door popped open.
The parental started the car, and turned on the heat, rubbing her cold hands together. "Ugh! Finally! Okay now we're late."
"Have fun at school," Jack waved as the Bennetts backed out the driveway. There was still a mountain of snow on the roof of the car. It blew off in wisps as they headed out onto the street. Jamie waved back, a big smile still frozen on his face.
"What do you mean the children aren't falling asleep?"
Somewhere in Asia high up and hidden within a mountain, the palace of Punjam Hy Loo buzzed with the energy of thousands of tiny azure coloured fairies.
Toothiana, the ruler of Tooth Palace flitted about at the center of the commotion. Her gossamer wings never missed a beat as she barked out orders between hearing reports. She was a very busy spirit and she'd be damned if a minor bout of insomnia was going to stop her from collecting teeth and harvesting happy memories.
Finally, after hearing too many repeated accounts of failed tooth collections, she took a moment to gather her thoughts. One baby tooth fairy landed on her finger when it was offered and squeaked the details. Children all over the world were staying up at night. This was making it very difficult for the tooth fairies to gather their memories while they slept. No teeth were coming in from the areas affected, and between the reports Toothiana was hearing and the unwelcome, but familiar feeling of weakness crawling it's way up her feathered body, children were somehow beginning to doubt she existed.
"No...not again." Her face feathers flared out in worry. They had just gotten things back to normal after the fiasco with Pitch Black and his nightmare sand! Now was not the time to deal with another crisis of beliefs.
With a quick flick of her thin wrist, she sent several of her idling fairies back out into the field to try again. A single rectrix feather fell from the Tooth Fairy Queen's elegant rainbow tail and descended in spiraling arcs to the polished golden floor below. It was a sign. Her mauve crystal eyes widened as she watched such a small part of her already begin to disintegrate. "How many children are we talking about, here?"
The globe that North had at the pole dwarfed Tooth's version here at the Palace, but the sizeable, spherical map was impressive still, looming above the floor of the center chamber like a beacon of hope. That beacon appeared to be weakening by the moment. Several of the tiny glowing lights had gone out or were flickering. Each of those represented a child somewhere in the area.
"Something's not right. How could all of Asia be affected by sleeplessness? It's not like they're having nightmares that wake them up, right? What's keeping them awake, little one?" The fairy that accompanied her responded with a heavy-hearted coo and pressed her tiny hands to one of the flickering lights, willing it to steady. It did not.
I wonder if Sandy knows what's happening, Tooth anyone would notice a change in the children of the world's sleeping patterns it would be him.
"Take over for me, little one!"
In an instant the Fairy Queen was gone, leaving the baby tooth alone in the room with the globe of flickering lights.
Jack was left to his own devices, which meant he had time to think. Which he had hoped he would be distracted enough to avoid doing today.
Since Jamie and his friends were going to be in school all day (despite the impressive snowstorm he had worked hard to generate) Jack's fun-o-meter was temporarily set to zero. He wandered the town of Burgess, absentmindedly frosting over everything in his path with a gentle tap from his staff. He didn't have to stay in one place, but since becoming an official Guardian, Jack Frost liked to stick around his small group of believers as much as possible. After three hundred years of being invisible it was refreshingly liberating to be acknowledged and he wanted to hang on to that feeling.
Things had quieted down significantly in the last nine months following their big battle with Pitch. Official Guardianship status had Jack hanging out with his small band of kids more and that kept him happy most months, but lately his thoughts had wandered toward Pitch. The Nightmare King: legendary dark rival of the Guardians of Childhood. Bad guy extraordinaire.
Despite Pitch's reputation, Jack had seen the sincerity in the shade's face when their foe had offered him a chance to team up. Before the dark one had shown his cruel side, Pitch had treated Jack as an equal, calling him out on his distaste for what the Guardians did for a living and assuming his neutrality when the two sides opposed.
Do I feel pity for Pitch…? No. That wasn't quite the right word for it. It was hard to pity someone who had the power and ambition Pitch had. Even though the Guardians had defeated the Nightmare King, Jack had a feeling Pitch Black would rise again with another sinister plot after enough recovery time.
No, it wasn't pity Jack felt. Upon hearing Pitch's plea for companionship in Antarctica, the shade's words had haunted him ever since: "You don't think I know what it's like to long for…a family?" A twinge of sadness tugged at Jack's heart. Had Pitch had a family once? Or had he always been alone? Was he chosen to be who he was, the same way the Guardians had been? The same way he had?
And then there was that look of uncertainty and desperation Pitch gave when he realized his own nightmare sand was turning against him in the end….
Was that the first time Pitch had felt fear? Jack didn't know enough about their enemy to know for sure. The Guardians had been specifically vague when it came to details about Pitch Black….
Over the last few months Jack gave up trying to get information out of them. They were always so busy!
Still, there were many things Jack Frost wanted to know about their enemy. He had been so focused on getting his memories back, gaining believers, and finding out who he was inside, that when he'd first met the Nightmare King he had never seized the opportunity to have a serious conversation with him. And -granted Pitch had been in the middle of his hostile takeover- their foe had treated Jack like an equal in the beginning.
The frost spirit's curiosity was definitely not sated, just...on hold.
It had been on hold for too long, it seemed, because now that Jack had some unexpected free time to think he found himself wandering into the same woods he knew Pitch's lair entrance was located.
He still couldn't place exactly what he felt when it came to the Nightmare King, but Jack found himself returning to the now-buried entrance to Pitch's underground lair time and again over the months. Each time he would stand next to the slightly sunken earth and consider breaking the soil and paying Pitch a visit. Each time he thought he might actually have the guts to go down there, Jack would back away, his heart thudding unnaturally in his ears. Perhaps it was residual fear seeping from the dark cavern itself. Or maybe Jack's own resentment for what the Nightmare King had tried to do to his friends and the children of the world made him stop in his tracks each time.
And yet…
Jack slammed his staff down into the snow-covered ground. A powerful gust of wind blew out from beneath it in all directions, effectively scattering the thick blanket of snow away from the area in a five-meter radius. The wind revealed the indented break in the ground Jack was looking for.
He tested out the dirt with the ball of his foot. It was frozen solid. Slivers of the ramshackle bed frame that had stood above the entrance at one time poked out from the ground here and there. The wooden pieces were a glum reminder that the Nightmare King had been returned to his place under the metaphorical bed. Bunnymund had said that was where Pitch belonged. Jack wasn't so sure it had to be that way.
With a thought and a slight squeeze of his hand, the frost spirit laid a thick layer of ice over his staff. He then used the thin branch like a spear to stab at the frozen dirt until it cracked and caved in revealing the cavern entrance once more. A slight gust of warm air emerged from the opening in a quiet howl.
That twinge of fear came back suddenly. It seized his stomach in a knot and sent his heart racing again. The Spirit of Fun took an instinctive step back from the hole. No, I'm going to do it this time, damnit. Clutching his source of power tightly in one hand, Jack leapt down into the darkness.