I kind of have the feeling that Dreamworks was trying to tell us something when they created Jack frost: Stop global warming or else this guy will DIE! I don't know, but it might be true…

I DO NOT own Rise of the Guardians.

Chapter 9 – Back to Reality

Pitch walked up the front steps of Father Time's house. It's not too bad here. He thought to himself as he looked at all the things around him. There were green trees with analog clocks hanging off the branches with an hour glass as the tree's trunk and sunflowers with sundials growing in the middle. There just isn't enough fear here. He shook off the thought though. He was not here to spruce Father Time's place a bit. No, he was here for something else completely.

Being as polite as he could, Pitch knocked on the pretty ordinary looking wooden door. Pitch had noticed that Father Time lived in a place that looked pretty much the same as the suburban houses down on land of cities and buildings. The only difference was the time being told or measured everywhere you look.

The Boogeyman waited a little while; tapped his foot on the floor, looked around at what other ordinary looking things Father Time had, whatever to keep him busy while he waited. Pitch began to grow impatient as he waited even longer. All the nightmares back at his lair was keeping watch on what was going on in Jack and Jamie's combined nightmare. He wanted to make sure it was at the state of frustration and with some fear in it as much as possible.

Pitch was just about to knock again when someone finally opened the door. "Yes?" said the old man that opened it, his long white beard and mustache just inches off the ground. His long white hair rested on his bright blue and green coloured robe.

Pitch had to squint to look at the man without getting blinded by the brightness of the colours. "May I… May I come in, Father Time?" The man named Father Time slowly dipped his head down as he shuffled aside to let his new guest in.

The Boogeyman knew that the only way to get Father Time to do whatever he wanted him to do was to be polite, nice, and un-scary as he possible could. He even brushed off the few flecks of dust that was on his robe. It was then that Pitch realized how much he looked like the exact opposite of Father Time.

He moved his eyes around to different places of the house as soon as he stepped in. He didn't want to walk out of the place with shattered vision. He noticed that there were clocks and time measuring devices practically everywhere. There were analog clocks, digital clocks, sundials, hourglasses, cuckoo clocks, alarm clocks, stopwatches, and so many more. There were also every time zone's time on the wall, hanging on the wall like picture frames. The date was on the blank wall; a calendar of some sort that could go on forever. Pitch was amazed at how Father Time could survive like this, listening to the sounds of the clocks and looking at the numbers on the walls everyday. He was sure that he would have gone crazy if he were to ever live a life like this. Everything else looked pretty much like a normal place. There was a fireplace off to the side and a couch and recliner draped with a sheet to keep the furniture clean on the other. He had no idea what the other rooms looked like as he had not looked in there yet. He didn't want to be impolite and snoop around. That would just make a bad impression.

"I am so sorry I took so long to get to the door." Father Time said, snapping Pitch out of his thoughts. He stepped out of the kitchen with a tray of biscuits and tea. "I was just preparing myself for the next daylight saving time. You know, it is because I am Father Time, and I manage all the time that goes around the world." He chuckled to himself, as if it were a joke. Pitch didn't get it, but forced a little laugh anyway.

"Oh, pardon me!" Father Time jumped a little when he realized he hadn't seated his guest yet. "Would you like to have a seat on the couch?" Pitch nodded slightly as he replied, "Oh, yes. That would be nice." Father Time is terribly nice and kindly, much like a typical old man. Pitch thought as he took his seat on the cushioned furniture.

"So," The old man began as he set the tray down onto the coffee table "What brings you here to my little home?" Pitch watched as Father Time poured the tea from the pot into two cups. The steam came out in delicate and mystifying patterns. "Well, I need a little favour from you, Father Time." He said. "Oh?" The old man said before taking a sip from his cup. "What favour do you have, Mr. Black?" Pitch didn't really like being addressed as "Mr. Black". "Please, call me Pitch."

"Okay, Pitch. What is it that you desire from me?" Pitch knew that the thing he really meant to ask was to have all of the Guardians turned into little toddlers so that despised Jack Frost would have a living nightmare instead of a fake one, but a little voice from the back of his mind nagged him to ask something else. Pitch hesitated as he began to listen to what the voice had to say.

Ask him to turn back time! The voice said. You could redo the whole battle all over again! This time you wouldn't lose to the Guardians because then, you will know their every move! It was very tempting for Pitch. What should he choose? Turning all the Guardians into little children or turn back the hands of time and battle the fully grown Guardians once again, only this time, he would know every step that they will take?

If he took the second choice, then he would easily vanquish them all, and then have fear reign forever. But, what if he lost again? He couldn't possibly come crawling back to Father Time's place every time he had become the loser. If he made Jack and Jamie's nightmares into a reality though… "What will it be?" The old man asked again. "Can you just give a few more moments to think of my favour?" Father Time sighed. "Alright."

Pitch shook his head as he regained his thoughts again. If he made Jack and Jamie's nightmares into a reality, then the Guardians would be powerless little toddlers! Maybe not powerless, but mindless little kids that don't know how to use their abilities! Yes! If the nightmare was correct, then they would just be children, and Jack Frost and Jamie would have such a terrible time trying to look after them and protecting the children of the world! Yes… This is how it should be. He could just spread nightmares and fear then and forevermore. The world would be like the Dark Ages again; filled with fear, darkness, and most importantly, belief in him. People would believe and fear the Boogeyman once again!

"Would you please…" Pitch started, looking wide eyed at the old man. He tapped his thumb on his tea cup. "I mean, if you don't mind." Father Time smiled. "Of course I won't mind! Of course, it depends on what you ask for." Pitch hid a little grin. "Would you… turn the Guardians into little toddlers?" The old man's smile fell. "What?" He couldn't believe his ears. "Turn the Guardians into toddlers? What are you thinking! They protect the children of the world! They are vital to day to day peace and happiness!"

The man in the black robes resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes, I know. I just want all of them to turn younger except one." Father Time's eyes narrowed. "Who?"

"Jack Frost."

"Jack Frost? Isn't he that not-believed-in naughty spirit who froze my clocks? Three times?"

"Yes."

"But he isn't a Guardian!"

Pitch sighed as he put his teacup down onto the table. He looked rather disappointed in Father Time for not knowing this. "He is! How could you have not heard?"

"I'm sorry, but people do not pass by very often here and I do not have any other source of communication except for the telephone, which never rings." The old man replied defiantly, as he picked up a biscuit.

"Anyways, Jack Frost is in fact a Guardian, okay? You got that now, Father Time?"

"Yes, yes. Alright. Why wouldn't you want him to become younger? Of course, he's pretty young already; only three hundred and eighteen years old. Or was it three hundred and seventeen?"

"It doesn't matter what age he is!" Pitch started to raise his voice. He is beginning to lose patience for the time keeper. "The only thing I want is to make the other four toddlers!"

It was the old man's turn to sigh now. "No need to yell…" He said under his breath, looking down at the bowl of biscuits beside him. "Is that what you want?" He said as soon as he raised his head and looked into Pitch's eyes. "Yes!" Father Time raised an eyebrow. "Are you just doing this for revenge on them after they had defeated you?" Pitch was dumbfounded as his mouth gaped open. "You heard about that, but you didn't hear about Jack becoming a Guardian!?" The time keeper chuckled a bit. It was a little funny at how the Nightmare King reacted. "Yes." He said, still snickering.

Pitch slapped a hand onto his face. Calm down, Pitch. It's okay. He said silently to himself. It's just a stupid old man that can control time messing with you. Don't let it get to you and everything will be fine. You're here for one thing and one thing only. Just get it done. After a few breaths, Pitch finally reformed himself into his first calm and polite character. "Let us just put that aside for now, shall we?" He said, waving his hand as if that would just push the problems away. The time keeper had also returned to his first peaceful state. "Yes, yes. Of course. But why would you want them to become younger, besides getting revenge?" "I-it's not for revenge!" Pitch sputtered through his lie. "It's… for the new Guardian! To – uh… - to practice being with kids!" He had no idea why he is sputtering now, since he was full of confidence before. Maybe it was because that had surprised him, that question.

Father Time began to slowly nod as he stroked his long beard. He took a little bite out of his biscuit. "Yes… That would be a good experience for someone who is supposed to be protecting children…" Pitch hoped that the old man wouldn't see through what would happen if they were toddlers and there were someone to defeat. Father Time smiled again. He figured that it would be a great opportunity for the boy, and it should be able to teach that winter spirit some more responsibility; that having fun and pulling pranks weren't all that there is to an immortal life. "Okay, I'll do it." The Boogeyman could barely contain himself. Barely. He was just so happy!

Father Time told him that he would be back soon as he finished up the last bit of biscuit he had left. He said that by the time he comes back, the four oldest Guardians would be little kids.

As soon as the old man left, Pitch sprang up from his seat and started to do a little happy dance. It was very un-Pitch like, but he couldn't help it! He was finally going to get back at all those blasted Guardians and get some belief and fear!

Back and the North Pole, things weren't going as well though. Jack was mumbling something about teeth ("Cavity… Holes… SHINY…") and he moved around his bed. No blankets were on him, but if there were, it would be a heap of cloth on the floor by now.

North was the first to discover Jack like this. At first, he thought it was just a sweet little dream that Sandy gave him that was strangely about teeth. But then he realized Sandy's dreams wouldn't be that long, and that there weren't any dream sand floating above his head! It was almost time for another meeting, so he had to wake their newest Guardian and fast!

"Jack?" North quietly said as he lightly shook the boy's shoulder. He only flipped to lie on his other side. "Jack…" The Russian said again, but this time, a bit louder. He began to shake the boy a little bit harder. "Jamie, stop that. I'm trying to sort through these… These teeth…" Jack muttered as his eyebrows started to knit together in annoyance. This is going to take a lot more work than I thought. North thought. Then, at the top of his lungs, he shouted, "JACK FROST! IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP! IS ALMOST TIME FOR MEETING!" But the winter spirit did not budge.

"Gee, North. Why are you shouting? Is there something wrong with Jack?" said a female voice from the door, with a few yetis, elves and tooth fairies behind her. North looked behind him and saw Tooth. Everyone was peeking in through the door, trying to see what was happening. He sighed. "Yes, there is in fact something wrong with Jack."

Tooth's curious face quickly turned into a worried one as he zoomed towards the sleeping boy. Aw… He's so adorable when he sleeps… She thought to herself. She shook her head, a little bit disgusted with herself. Now is not the time to marvel at how cute the boy is when he is asleep. "What happened?" She asked. "He won't wake up." North replied.

Just then, Sandy came strolling in wondering why no one was in the meeting room. He caught the eye of St. Nick. "Sandy, did you do this?" Tooth asked as she pointed to Jack. Once the Sandman got a closer look, he shook his head. No, he didn't. "Hey, mates. Let's get this show on the road! What are you waiting for?" Said an Australian accented voice. Everyone (except for the slumbering boy, of course) turned to see the Easter Bunny stepping in. The grin he had on when he outside the door soon dropped once he saw Jack. "What's wrong with him?" he asked. "I feel like I'm in a children's story book…" Tooth muttered. Sandy made some 'z's out of dream sand and placed them right above Jack's head to answer Bunny's question. Before his companion could reply though, they all began to feel themselves beginning to shrink.

"What's happening?" Bunny asked, slightly worried. "Oh no…" North said as he looked down at his shrinking hands. His fingers were turning into little ones. Tooth's eyes widened as she looked at her wings. They were growing smaller, as so was she. Everything was growing bigger and bigger, and she finally thumped to the ground as a bigger version of her Tooth Fairies. When she looked up to face Sandy, he had shrunken too, into a little boy of yellow sand. She turned to face North, but he was just a little boy with a tuft of brown hair and some toddler clothing.

Then, someone crying startled her, thus making her cry as well. Sandy and North looked at both Bunny (little bunny!), who was the first to sob, and Tooth, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. Soon enough, there were four little toddlers who had burst into tears.

The others outside the door had their mouths gaped open. They couldn't believe it. The four Guardians had simply turned into toddlers right before their eyes. Then, there was a yawn from the bed. The Tooth Fairies looked up to see Jack starting to wake up as the rest of them kept their eyes glued at the crying kids.

The first thing Jack heard was the screams and sobs of children. Please don't be the dream… He thought. Please please please! As he peered over his bed and saw four toddlers sitting there, bawling their eyes out like there was no tomorrow, he realized that all of his inner begging had been for nothing.

Why am I so cruel to the characters?

Sorry for not updating in quite a while. I had cousins over for the week so I couldn't reach the computer. At least I have this longer-than-usual chapter to make up for it! I hope it did, anyways. SORRY!

This is usually the part where I thank you all and do replies, but I swear I'll do it next chapter for people this chapter AND last chapter. Reason: This month and last two weeks has been hectic, and with school starting and all the stories I stupidly didn't finish before starting new ones, I need to catch up on those. I'm just posting this chapter so you guys won't have to wait as long! But still, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS, FAVOURITES, AND FOLLOWS! :D

As I said before, because school is starting, don't expect me to update very fast. Okay, you're probably already used to that. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I'll probably update slower. Yup, that's right. SLOWER. I suck. And so does this fly that won't leave my arm as I type this no matter how hard I shake it. Good thing blowing does the trick. :)

In the end, as always, thank you for all of your support, follows, favourites, and reviews! They mean a whole lot to me and always make me smile. :) . Room for improvement anywhere? I want to be better! Thanks! And please leave any suggestions in the reviews too! Who knows? Maybe I might just use them in the story! Also giving you credit, of course. Please review, favourite, and/or follow!

Thank you for reading and have a nice day!

Someone136