The dark cloud that had gathered through the air was even more impenetrable outside, where there were no walls to bar its way. Never before had Jamie seen such a storm, so, despite his hurry he paused to gaze around in awe for a moment before hurrying onwards. He flickered his gaze about, squinting his eyes through the mass of fog, attempting to catch the slightest flicker of movement about, a tuft of white hair, a wooden staff—anything, really, that would show him Jack. In Jamie's hurry, he tripped over something in the ground, tumbling headlong into the grass before him, his face crashing into the grime.
What if he couldn't find them? What if the problem was over and this was the aftermath? What if it was already too late for Jack Frost? Jamie thought all of this with the trembling realization that he had no way of knowing that Jack was even here. For all he knew, he could be halfway across the world. And maybe that's why they were being plagued so completely, maybe Jack had given up on Jamie... such fear plagued Jamie's mind, utterly drowning him in despair. Had this been what Jack had felt? Had this complete fear encased him in such absolute doubt that he gave up? Weighed him down, changed him? Jamie believed that this might be the case, for the sheer emotions were almost doing so much to him. If only Jamie could find Jack and show him that hope was not lost, then he could help both of their fears slip away. Maybe together they could vanquish this storm that tormented the entire town with fear—the whole world, perhaps.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Jamie spotted a figure flying about through the insane wind. Despite the change in appearance, Jamie couldn't mistake him as anyone but Jack Frost. He was different, though, completely changed from the cool, cheery form that Jamie had first met a mere day ago. His entirety had transformed into shades of greys and blacks, to the point where he looked like a faded photograph of his former self. Only his eyes had any color, glistening orbs of yellow that were squinted at Jamie with malice and cruelty—so very different from the frosty pupils he had possessed before. It was so awful to see him like that, so completely taken over by the fear that Jamie felt spurring towards him in waves. But he wasn't afraid of Jack; instead, he pitied him, with such inspiring hope that Jamie could actually help Jack, return him to the kind, happy Guardian that he had once been.
"Jack!" he cried out in greeting, fully getting the nightmare's attention completely.
Jack plummeted downwards, landing next to Jamie with a cold, entertained glimmer in his eyes. He walked up to the little boy, pacing slightly as he went. "You can see me? Well, that'll be a first. You must be some special kid, huh? Jamie, wasn't it?"
"Yeah," Jamie started nervously, taking a step towards the nightmare. "But it's not a first—I saw you before, remember?"
"Oh, right!" Jack continued, an easy, dry laughter spilling from his lips. "But, of course, that was the other me, the weaker me."
"You weren't weaker," Jamie assured him. "Just different, happier."
"Is that so?" Jack snorted, continuing to laugh. "Well, I'm a lot happier now that the world is right. Hey, kid, I don't get it. How come you're not trembling with fear like all the others? Aren't you afraid?" With those words, Jack flicked a snowflake towards Jamie, that lazily flew through the air towards him.
"I am afraid," Jamie admitted, as the snowflake brushed up into his face. "I'm just not afraid of you. You're my friend, Jack, and I believe in you." To Jack's utter surprise, his frost didn't spark the usual distress into Jamie, but instead, upon hitting the small boy's face, disintegrated into golden sand that tumbled to the ground at his feet. Jamie continued to look up at Jack, unaffected by the trick.
Jack gawked at the small child. How could this be? His snowflakes had worked on children across the globe, melting their happiness and joyful energy to dust! How could it be that this little boy was completely fine?
Jamie watched Jack's reaction, and, though not quite sure why, knew what he had to do. Reaching forward, he touched Jack's closest arm. Immediately, sparks flew from the spot Jamie had touched, golden sand falling away to reveal the familiar blue sleeve that he knew so very well.
Jack pulled away, as though he had been burned, looking down at horror at what this little demon had concocted. "No!"
Jamie paid no heed, and filled with even more confidence, clung onto Jack's sleeve, reaching forward to grab him into a tight hug. The transformation sprang to life wherever Jamie touched, burning away the ashes of nightmares, until Jack's arms sprang around Jamie, clasping the kid to his side. At the willing touch, Jamie looked up to see Jack—the real Jack—smiling down at him. Fondly, Jack ruffled Jamie's head, before pulling away.
"You saved me, Jamie," Jack crowed happily. "You scared away the nightmares!"
"Really?" Jamie asked in awe, unable to believe he had done something so grand. "They're all gone?"
"From me, at least," Jack nodded, looking around the black haze of nightmares that swirled around them in such a perpetual storm. "Jamie, if I bring them to you, do you think you'll be able to transform my friends, as well? The Easter Bunny, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman—we all need your help. Only you can do this."
"I can try," Jamie nodded seriously. "What happened? How did you transform?"
"It's a long story, one we don't quite have time for just now," Jack started. "This guy, Pitch, he turned us all into nightmares. None of us knew a way to undo it, but you—Jamie, you reversed it. You saved me!"
"I guess I did!" Jamie replied enthusiastically, offering a smile with his missing front tooth.
"Come on," Jack beckoned, squatting down. "Hop on my back and we can find the others."
"The Easter Bunny is really a nightmare?" Jamie asked, doing as he said and wrapping his arms around Jack's shoulders as he hoisted himself up.
"Not if we can change anything, right?" Jack assured him. "We can even go and save him first!" With those words, Jack darted up into the wind, nightmares storming his every movement, Jamie on his back, with stuffed bunny tucked beneath his arm. The two of them whizzed through the mass of darkness, darting through the clouds with ease.
Jack had been previously aware of Bunnymund's whereabouts before being turned back into himself, and knew what winds to channel as they took flight through the fog of fear. From their high position, Jack and Jamie could spot the black bunny hopping about the ground. Here the storm was just as bad, and Bunny no longer had any victims who were brave enough to be outside.
"Ready?" Jack whispered, well aware that the other Guardian would probably smell the two of them before they were close enough to touch him. They would have to go about doing this very carefully.
"Ready," Jamie nodded, holding on tightly to Jack. Shifting in a moment beforehand, the two of them plummeted downwards towards the fuzzy nightmare. They were moving at such a speed, that Bunnymund hardly had a chance to turn around before the two of them came crashing into him. The force of the fall caused them all to tumble backwards, skittering across the ground for a few feet upon impact. Despite the messy landing, Jamie ended up falling on top of Bunny, and his fur melted away to its original color.
Confusedly, Bunnymund sniffed the air, his eyes darting between Jamie and Jack, who were both splayed out across his chest from the fall. "I'm back," Bunny murmured, voicing his utter shock. "I really am myself again! Mate, we made it. Look at you, you little ankle biter, you saved us!"
"He did!" Jack echoed his pride, leaping up from where they had fallen. "He really did! You're not...you're Bunny again."
"And I'm about ready to give Pitch a lesson," Bunny growled, standing up.
"He's too powerful; we need the rest of the Guardians to face him," Jack shook his head, revealing how grave the situation really was. Glancing around, he noted that the air was starting to become breathable once again, but still was nowhere near the clearness that it should have been.
"Right then, mates," Bunny nodded in agreement. "Let's go get 'em!"
The three of them headed off to where Tooth was, a few countries over. She was traveling between houses in midflight, having just exited one through the window. Tooth was much easier to sneak up on, since she didn't have such an amazing sense of smell. Jack and Jamie flew up behind her, and Jamie jumped onto her back, not only able to touch enough of her figure to call about the shedding of her nightmare, but also getting in the way of her wings so she could no longer fly.
"Hang on!" Jack called, before flying over to snatch Jamie up, off of her back. By the time Jack had gotten a proper hold on Jamie, Tooth was fluttering towards them, her feathers a ruffle of color splayed out around her.
"No more nightmares!" she shrieked, grinning. "I'm free! I'm finally me again!"
"Tooth!" Jack responded, laughter following his words. "You're back! Come on, we're curing all the Guardians. Pitch has taken this too far."
"Right, yes, good," Toothiana nodded seriously, her head feathers bristling slightly at the mention of the Nightmare King.
Next, the crowd flew off in the direction of Sandy, to where he still floated high in the air, spinning nightmares from his sand. Because of this height, Bunny was left on the ground yet again, which he did very much not appreciate.
The first hint they encountered about Sandy's actions was that he was no longer drawing nightmares from his hands. This inspired unease in Jack's heart, but he continued upwards anyways. When they finally reached the oldest guardian, it was to find that the Sandman had managed to drop off to sleep in the chaos. They woke him from a gentle touch of Jamie's hand, which spread over Sandy, bathing him in the gold that had once been a constant flourish from this Guardian. A large smile filled his face, the little man glowing with sheer happiness in response. After they explained the situation to them, he gave them a thumbs-up, and they rejoined Bunny on the ground, before going off to save their last companion, North.
They found him with as much ease as the rest of them. He was out in the streets, looking about worriedly as he noticed how sparse the layer of fear had grown in the air. In his nightmarish opinion, this shouldn't be happening; it meant that everything was going wrong. Therefore he was on high guard when Bunny hopped up out of the ground in front of him.
"Bunny?" North growled, unwilling to accept the sight before him. It was improbable that any of them should ever regain their weak form. He didn't even know if it was possible at all. "What happened to you?"
"Mate," Bunny grinned, gesturing with a quick head jerk to behind North. "A little kid filled me with hope again."
North turned around to see Jack and Jamie standing behind him. Before anyone else could react, Jamie rushed forward and seized North around the waist, wrapping him in a hug as he did with Jack. Colors spread back into the Guardian, the nightmare sand crusting off to leave the bright red coat and snow white beard waiting underneath. He was just able to utter a breath of hearty laughter, before another voice cut him off.
"You all act like this is a big deal, but the truth is, I've already won," Pitch hissed, stepping down from the fog, a phantom of the fear. "Only one child believes in you, and fear does indeed rule the world. You are all so close to fading away entirely. Just one more light to snuff out."
"Just you try!" Jamie cried out, running forward.
"Jamie, no!" Jack warned, reaching out towards the child.
Jamie paid him no head, but instead rushed up to Pitch, allowing his fingers to brush up against the Nightmare King's robe. To everyone's greatest surprise, the layers of nightmare sand did start to crumble away.
"No!" Pitch screeched, reaching his hands up to his chest to grasp at his dissolving body. Little by little, the shimmering substance was falling away to the ground. But, unlike the Guardians, he did not have an under layer lying in wait to be revealed. Instead, he continued to degrade, falling into dust. Eventually, only his eyes were left, his pupils large with fear, until they fell to the ground, and rolled away and down a sewer. That was the end of the Nightmare King with his army of Guardians.