Synopsis: The Man in the Moon informs the Guardians of a new kind of enemy, an abomination that will threaten their lives and everybody else's if they didn't act now. While the other Guardians search for help elsewhere, Jack is sent to enlist the help of his old enemy, Pitch.

Warning: This chapter will cause some people to shit bricks.

O-O-O-O

Chapter 4

"Having fun without me, huh?" Jack chuckled to himself as he gathered snowballs with his staff for the children playing in the park. They were unable to see him as they were not yet aware of his existence, but the winter spirit knew that word would eventually get around about who made their snow and let them have their snowball wars.

While he was hovering around and collecting the snow into little balls, Jack noticed that a few of the children were feeling a little antagonistic towards the brown-haired boy of the group (he suspected him to be their unofficial leader of sorts), so the winter spirit decided to enchant them with a spell that made them forget any negative emotions for the time being. When he was satisfied with his efforts, Jack settled down near a fountain which had already been frozen over during the snow season, and smiled as he watched the kids have fun.

"Woah, how'd you guys make so many snow balls?"

"Hey Henry! Here comes a big one!"

Jack watched the ball hit Henry who toppled a few feet forward before getting another fist-full of snow into his face. The little boy quickly laughed it off, scrambled to his feet and then proceeded to pummel the rest of his friends with Jack's mass-produced snowballs. Life was good right now, he thought.

It had only been a few days since the Guardians had that conference about banding together to fight against some new enemy of theirs, but really, Jack thought the whole ordeal seemed a bit silly and that perhaps everybody was overreacting at the mention of this new 'malevolent spirit'. He didn't doubt that the Man in the Moon was right about it being a threat to the world, but they knew little to nothing about this evil entity. A silhouette was hardly anything to go by, yet that was all the 'help' they got from the Man in the Moon.

Some great help he was. Jack rolled his eyes. The more he thought about how much at a lost they all were, the more he regretted not being able to enlist for Pitch's help. Although at the same time, he knew there was little chance the dark spirit would help his enemies, even if it was to save the world he lived in. Jack still hadn't forgotten about what Pitch said to him the other day about relishing at the thought of him disappearing into the abyss during the world's end. If it was anybody else who said that, Jack could've brushed it off easily, but Pitch said it with such sincerity that it bothered him to no end.

And he just couldn't understand why he was so bothered.

Maybe he should go back and talk to him again, he thought. Besides, it was true what North said – Pitch might know something about the identity of the evil spirit. The Boogeyman existed long before any of the Guardians lived, save for Sandy, and with old age comes wisdom. Or so Jack thought.

He grabbed his staff and was ready to ride the winds and head for the Boogeyman's lair, until he took a step forward and nearly tripped over the little brown animal lingering by his feet. The winter spirit looked down and instantly recognized him, and then extended his 'warmest' greetings.

"Hey furball. You here to tell me when Spring is coming?"

"The name's Groundhog, and ya better remember it sonny." He scrambled out of his hole and shook himself to get rid of the snow on his back. "And even if I do tell you when Spring will arrive, you'll just keep making it snow anyway. Now I kinda know why Bunnymund hates your guts, ruining Easter like that for him. You know, Easter comes only once a year and you had to go and make a mess of things for him. You're the biggest jerk alive, you know that?"

Jack knelt down to get a better look at the annoyed little critter, who, despite his small size and hilarious job description, was a spirit like himself. "That's all in the past now, and Bunny doesn't hate me anymore. I think." Groundhog made a whistling sound, which was probably his version of a snort, before Jack decided to pick him up and hold him in the air. Needless to say, Groundhog wasn't pleased at all.

"Auughh! Get your hands off me boy! Ah-ah! I can't feel my legs! St-stop this! Please, I can't stand high places. Heeelp!"

"You know, you and Bunny aren't all that different. You both scream like banshees when you're up high, and you both pop out of holes." A grin spread across the boy's face. "Although his job is nowhere near as lame as yours."

"Oh, will you just quit it! There's a reason why he's a Guardian and I'm not!" Groundhog's frown dropped even further from his face and his voice became sullen. "Nor will I ever get to be one…"

"Groundy?"

The little spirit commenced his wriggling. "Don't call me that! And hurry up and put me back on the ground! My bladder's going to burst if I stay in the air any longer!"

Jack quickly put him down and took a step back in case Groundhog was serious about his bladder. "So, uh, what brings you here anyway? I figured you didn't just come here to chastise me."

"Well, it's about time Sandman came back from his little reconnaissance mission around the world and North wants to hold another meeting when he does get back today. So he sent me, of all people, to get you."

"Sandy's coming back today? Wow, for a guy his size, he sure gets things done quickly. Alright I'll be there soon."

Groundhog furrowed his brows, his irritation evident in the way he glared back at the Guardian. "Soon? How about now? I mean, I've already gone through the trouble of digging us a hole to go back so you might as well take it."

"Er…" Jack peered down at the hole that Groundhog came out of – the opening which was the size of a tennis ball – and lifted an eyebrow up. "I don't know about you but I don't think I can fit my head through that, let alone my whole body."

"Relax, kiddo. It's a magic tunnel. All ya gotta do is jump face-first into it and it'll magically teleport you to the other end."

Jack replied with a deadpan 'huh'. "I can't tell if you're being serious about that, or you just want me to break my neck. And seeing as how you look like you're about to burst into laughter, I'm gonna go with the latter."

Groundhog did indeed crack up. "Hahaha. Well, as much as I wish that was true, I wasn't joking."

"About what? Wishing to see me break my neck?"

"No, you numbskull! About it being a magic tunnel!" Groundhog went back to being his moody self and made his way back into the tunnel, addressing Jack for the last time. "But if you're going to be such an ungrateful brat about it all, I'll just let you find your own way back." And with that he crawled back into the tunnel and disappeared along with his 'magic tunnel'.

Well that was a rather unexpected encounter. Groundhog was the last spirit Jack expected to meet, seeing as how they had never got along with each other. The winter spirit knew that Groundhog had always resented him because while Jack himself had never wanted to become a Guardian in the first place, he could and he did. But Groundhog had always wanted to become one, but he could never become one as his purpose in life was of little importance to the world of children. He would never get the recognition from the Man in the Moon that he had always sought for, and he knew this himself. As a result it had left him bitter and ill-mannered.

But that was the least of Jack's problems right now. Now that Groundhog had left, he was free to head off to Pitch's home. Jack was pretty sure that he'd be the least expected person to show up at the Boogeyman's front steps.

O-O-O-O

"Ah, Frost. I knew you'd come here."

Jack hadn't even landed on his feet when he heard Pitch's voice coming from behind him. He quickly spun around and guarded himself with his staff, ready to fend off any unexpected attacks from the dark spirit. But Pitch raised his arms up in a gesture of surrender instead. He waited for Jack to lower his arms but when he realized that the boy wouldn't, he lowered his instead.

"I must say, it is an absolute delight to see you here. I must admit that I was getting a bit lonely what with the absence of people to converse with because – oh, well they can't exactly see me, right? But now that you're here, you are most welcome to come inside my lair. Or perhaps you would like a tour of my lair first? It is a rather big and daunting place after all, but I assure, it's safe." Pitch hissed the last words, as if to emphasise how sarcastic he was being.

Jack eyed him. "How did you know I'd be here?"

"Oh, come on, Frost. You really think you could take me by surprise? You make a ruckus everywhere you go."

"No, I don't."

"Yes. You do actually. And should you really be playing with those kids at such a desperate time. I thought you were trying to save the world."

"Wha-!" Pitch was elated to see the Guardian's shocked expression. It was priceless. "How did you – you were there? But I couldn't see you."

"Of course you couldn't. I'm the master of these types of things. It's why I could follow you here without detection."

Jack was thoroughly freaked out now. "Okay, so now you're a stalker? You can't scare kids anymore so you've resorted to watching them? Great, now we've got a paedophile to watch out for."

And almost immediately at being called that, Pitch's thin smile dropped. "Don't call me that. I wasn't watching those stupid kids."

"Oh, so you were watching me?" Jack snickered. The conversation has now turned to his favour. "I'm flattered, really. Although that still makes you a paedophile because you're like a million years older than me, gramps."

"Frost," Pitch clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in an attempt to hold his anger in. "My powers may have diminished but they haven't completely disappeared. If you dare call me that repulsive name ever again I'll -"

"You'll what? Throw a bunch of black dust on me? Haha, I'd like to see you try, paedophile."

The winter spirit, having anticipated Pitch's attack, launched into the air, successfully dodging the missile of black dust thrown at him. He made a few loops in the air as more black missiles were thrown his way, and then dropped to the ground and summoned a mass of snowballs in the air.

"I hope you're ready to dodge these!" Jack warned Pitch, and then proceeded to bat each of them with his staff like a baseball.

Pitch dodged them with ease, watching the balls miss him by inches and he started to suspect that the Guardian wasn't taking the fight seriously. It was as if he was being toyed with. Pitch found that idea very demeaning.

"Your aim is ridiculously off. And even if you could hit me, a little snow could never hurt anybody." And as if to further mock him, one of the snowballs smacked right into the Boogeyman's cheek and he fell on his side. Jack burst out laughing as he heard the audible 'smack' and the hilarious pained sounds that came from Pitch shortly afterwards.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hit you. It's just, well, you're a pretty big target when you stand still like that." Pitch replied with a groan but he refused to get up. Jack let the remaining mound of snow drop to the ground and walked over to where the dark spirit lay, refusing to look up.

"Hey, if you don't get up from there, I'm going to dump a snowman on you. Don't worry, I'll make sure it's a really big snowman so nobody will see you trying to squirm out from underneath." Jack wasn't really going to do that but he had to admit that it was fun insulting Pitch. He didn't think there'd ever be another opportunity when the dark spirit's guard was lowered so much that he could just effortlessly drown him in snow. It was just so easy.

And then in a split second, Jack realized it really was a little too easy. Before he could react, Pitch had already stolen his staff with a black whip and flung it aside. He then quickly lunged at the defenceless boy before he could try anything and shoved him down onto the ground. Pitch heard a gasp come from beneath him and grinned, baring his sharp teeth at the startled boy.

"Not laughing anymore, are we now?" I've won this battle, Pitch thought at first, but when he heard the Guardian try to stifle a laugh, he felt like he was again being taken for a fool. "What is so funny, Frost?"

"The expression on your face! It's almost like you think you've won, haha."

Pitch grinned wryly. "I'm not the one trapped beneath me now, am I?"

"Hmm, good point." Jack hooked his arm around Pitch's so that he could bend it at the joint, causing the Boogeyman to lose his balance. Once he fell to his side, Jack used the chance to push Pitch's vulnerable side and flipped him over so that he was the one lying on the ground and Jack on top. The dark spirit responded with an angry sneer.

"Get off me this instance, Frost. Or I will make you regret it dearly afterwards." He became even more enraged when the boy giggled instead.

"I think it's better if you learn how it feels to be at the bottom for once."

"I already know how it feels to be at the bottom," Pitch spat, "or have you forgotten about how miserable I've been for the past hundreds of years." The smile suddenly disappeared from Jack's face, replaced by a thin frown. His mouth was slightly opened, as if he was about to say something, but Pitch took advantage of this moment to repeat what Jack did only seconds before, and flipped the boy around until he was on top again.

Pitch's trademark smirk returned. "Physically, I'm much stronger than you, but I might let you go if you apologized." His eyes met with the boy's as he searched for some sign of weakness in them, but was yet again taken by surprise when Jack conjured a mound of snow and pummelled him with it, effectively throwing him off and into a hill. Groaning, he managed to slowly pick himself up, and watched as Jack retrieved his staff.

"And magically, I'm stronger," the boy said before walking towards Pitch who was still covered in snow. "You know, you don't have to be so serious all the time."

The dark spirit shrugged violently to get the snow off his body, all the while glaring at the young Guardian. Jack thought that with all the glaring Pitch was doing the dark spirit probably thought that he'd be able to burn him with his eyes. "What did you expect me to do?! You were making fun of me. You know I don't take ridicules lightly."

"I wasn't making fun of you. I was having fun with you. Big difference there."

"Well we obviously interpret 'fun' differently."

"Man, how long has it been since the last time you did anything fun?"

"I had fun tormenting those children with my Nightmares." Pitch's lips curled at the memory. "Ah yes, their hollow screams from within their minds, their whimpers from underneath their bed sheets – oh, how they were music to my ears. And their faces! Their pale, sweaty faces as they realize that they cannot escape those nightmares that plague them during their sleep. Just wonderful." The Boogeyman's body shuddered with laughter as he remembered the days when he reigned supreme over the children. They were his fondest memories – seeing the little boys and girls scream at the horrors which dwelled in their minds as Pitch invented more and more twisted things to shove into their heads. He was at his happiest then.

But Jack's next words left him doubting his true feelings. "Really? Pitch, was that really what you think fun was about? If we hadn't stopped you from achieving your goal, you'd have corrupted the minds of all the kids and no one would love you. Everyone would fear and hate you."

"How ridiculous. Where else do you think the source of my powers come from? Their fear is what drives me; it's what makes me stronger so that I can rule them."

"But then you'd be lonely on top."

Jack could visibly see Pitch struggle internally at his last statement. He couldn't respond back, as much as he wanted to because the silence meant that he had lost the word battle. Or so Jack thought. But what he said was true. It would be lonely ruling on top with nobody around but your 'subjects' whom you'd probably look down upon anyway.

"And why do you think I asked you to join me three years ago?"

"What?" The Guardian was so caught off-guard that he thought he misheard Pitch.

"At the cliff three years ago. I asked that you come rule with me, but you refused my offer."

Oh, Jack thought. That was the real reason he asked him to rule with him? He knew it'd be lonely ruling on top so he asked Jack, of all people, to rule with him? He had to admit he was a little flattered. "Well, you know why I refused, Pitch. And I would refuse again if you asked again."

"Of course," Pitch rolled his eyes. "You already refused once, so I don't see why asking you again would change anything."

That quote almost sounds familiar. "I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault that your job is to give kids nightmares. It's what the Boogeyman does to get his powers after all."

"Yes, I already heard you say that before," and before Jack could even accuse him of anything, Pitch answered the boy before he could even utter another word. "And yes, I followed you back to the North Pole. I even eavesdropped on your conversation. What can I say? It's easy to follow you without getting noticed."

"Why couldn't you have just come with me instead of creeping behind me in the shadows?"

Pitch shrugged. "It's more fun that way. And I didn't want to help you lot. I was just…curious about who you were all dealing with."

And without thinking, Jack lurched forward to confront his arch nemesis. "Then you know who it is? You know who we have to fight against?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Or perhaps I've already forgotten." Pitch purposely avoided answering the young Guardian, hoping to irritate him a little more but he realized he shouldn't have made light of the situation. It was a serious matter, even for himself.

"Please Pitch! You have to tell us! We've never seen it, nor even heard of it before, but you might have! You've lived longer than most of us and you know your own kind of people."

"Own kind of people? Oh you have got that completely wrong, Frost. And who said anything about helping you lot."

"Pitch, you can't be serious."

"I'm still angry at what you all did to me." He heard the boy let out an exasperated sigh. Pitch knew he was being a little immature, but he wanted to see the young Guardian beg for his help. He wanted Jack to go down onto his knees and grovel for his help. He wanted him to plead with his eyes for him.

He liked this feeling – the feeling of being needed by this boy.

And then his heart nearly skipped a beat when he realized how foolish that sounded.

"Okay, Frost. I might tell you something of what I know, and it's up to you whether you want to believe me or not. But don't go telling your Guardian friends about this. I have a reputation to keep after all."

Pitch tried to ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach when he witnessed the boy smile – a smile so broad and infectious that he thought he'd smile back. But he suppressed the urge to do so and continued talking, hoping the uncomfortable sensation would go away.

"To be honest, I don't know an awful lot about him. He only recently appeared in this world so there's not a lot of info about him. No one knows where he originated from but I've heard other spirits mention him. I don't know what the humans call him, but amongst our kind we call him 'Faceless'."

Jack lifted an eyebrow. "Faceless? What kind of name is that?"

"I don't know. I've never seen him in person before but he apparently has no face."

"Okay…a guy with no face? That's, uh, slightly creepy. But he doesn't sound menacing at all."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Pitch lifted a finger and pointed to the winter spirit's chest. "Like the Guardians of Childhood, Faceless gets his powers from people believing in him. But…" Pitch paused, something else obviously in his mind.

"…But what?"

"I've heard that once you start believing in him, his power grows continually. Almost as if you can't not believe in him. Like a virus that's been implanted into your mind and continues to grow. But what can I say? I've never met him. I've heard someone say that he only preys on children."

"Oh," Jack's eyes wandered away from Pitch's, lost in his own thoughts. "North mentioned something about kids disappearing. It's why he sent Sandy out to find more about the lost kids. So he's an evil guy who no one ever sees and kidnaps children. Like a paedophile." Pitch caught a glimpse of the boy's blue eyes.

"It's not me, just so you know."

"I didn't say it was," the boy replied innocently.

"You looked at me as if I was the one kidnapping those kids."

"Why? Because you're a paedophile?"

"I told you not to call me th-"

"I know, I know. I won't do it again." The same infectious smile returned and Pitch had to fight the urge to smile back again. "Was there anything else you know about Faceless?"

"No, I think that's all the important stuff. Are you going to go back to your friends now?"

"Yeah. They're all expecting me back soon." The young Guardian took a sudden step forward and gave the startled spirit a hug. "Thanks, Pitch. I knew you'd help us out."

"You are…most welcome, Frost." The hug came very unexpectedly, rendering the dark spirit almost speechless as he struggled to get comfortable with this new 'thing'. Yes, this new 'thing' being Jack's obnoxiously friendly behaviour. It was difficult to deal with the boy's outgoing personality – something which was foreign to him, but Pitch didn't hate it. And he hated the fact that he didn't hate it. He tried so hard to push the boy away from his hold but he just couldn't bring himself to do it, using the excuse that he couldn't use his arms because they were also trapped in Jack's hug.

And when the boy finally let go of him, he found that he already missed the feeling of being held.

"Well, I better get back." Jack turned around and faced the sky. "Sandy's probably waiting for me to get back to tell everybody what he found – if he did find anything."

"And I care because…?"

Jack looked back one last time before letting the wind lift him off the ground. "You're part of the team now, so I thought you should know."

Pitch watched the young Guardian fly off into the distance until he could barely recognise the dot in the sky. He considered going after him again, in secret of course, and eavesdrop on whatever they were going to talk about. But he figured Jack would tell him about it afterwards anyway.

Brushing the ice off his coat, he made his way towards his home which consisted of a hole in the ground, but it was his home nonetheless and he was proud of it. As he stood at the edge of the entrance, he finally let himself smile.

O-O-O-O

When Jack arrived at the front doorsteps of the North Pole, he was expecting the other Guardians to come out and welcome him with open arms or, in Bunny's case, holler at him for being late. Instead, Tooth came flying out the entrance and, spotting the winter spirit, headed right for him.

She looked like a mess.

"Tooth, what's the matter?" Jack tried to calm her down by putting a hand to her shoulder, but it had little effect. Her wings fluttered about and she wouldn't stop fidgeting.

"Oh Jack, it's terrible! I-I don't know what to do anymore. We've tried everything but we can't fix him."

"Fix who?" Jack wasn't so sure he really wanted to know. He could just feel the dread building up inside him, and it made him think back to what Pitch had informed him only moments ago.

"It's Sandman. He's sick."

BOOM! The reveal. And a cliffhanger, all in one tight package. You can thank me later.

I know it's been over two weeks since the last chapter, but I struggle a lot to keep the writing readable and tolerable. I find that if I write too much, the material gets boring and then the writing starts to become repetitive and crap. And I think that's what happened to this chapter. So I'm sorry

On another note, thanks so much for your comments and reviews. I read all of them and keep them in mind. Your guesses on who the Big Bad were all interesting, and some of them I hadn't even considered. But for those who guessed Slendy, you win :D

What do you win?

Well, you see those page breaks I use? That's his face staring at you.

Sweet dreams everybody