The scraping razor sharp talons of a bird of prey scratches the crystal interior of the Lunar Lair as human-sized silver owls fought against the Guardians. The battle became intense; Jack blasting a wave of ice, Bunny throwing boomerangs, North slashing his swords, Tooth encasing the owls in a make-shift tornado, Manny throwing star-shurikens and Sandy… well, snapping his fingers at a nearby owl and putting him to sleep. In the midst of the battlefield, no one seems to notice the absence of a certain Spirit.
Unaware of the dangers yet to follow, Kat laid crying on the floor, at the same time hugging her long-lost father, and the enemy of the Guardians.
"Oh my poor little Kitty Kat," The Boogieman said as he cupped his daughter's face into his hands so that their golden eyes can meet, "I know what it's like to be alone and confused all these times, even at the point when you realized the truth."
Kat's eyes widened upon realization; How would her friends react when they found out that the Boogieman, the Master of all Nightmares and their old enemy, is actually her father? And, and if they do find out…
Meanwhile, the others were still busy fighting the owls. One owl managed to pin Manny down. Thinking quickly, Maggie grabbed one of Lucky's cats and hurled it at the owl's face. The cat's threatening hiss caused the owl to fly away along with his fellow owls.
"Well that was unexpected." Manny stated as Jack looked around as if something, or someone, was missing.
"Where's Kat?" He asked in worry.
"They'll soon find out," Pitch continued as if reading his daughter's mind, "and you know how they feel about those who ever do any harm to the children."
And she does. She remembered how the others fought the other Spirits and in order to save the children. She herself even felt the pain of losing her best friend to those…monsters. But what she did in Burgess, what she just did in the Lunar Lair, the animals, the plants, the frightened expressions on the Guardians' and the children' faces…
"They'll never accept those who are born in the dark," Pitch continued, "but you're nothing like us, Sweetheart. I know that, but do they?"
"But, they're my friends, right?" Kat said, "After all we've been through, they just can't…"
"Oh they won't." Pitch interrupted, "But that depends on some circumstances, but it also depends on you, my Dear. Don't you forget who you really are, and where you truly belong. You will always be my little Kitty Kat."
Kat cried and hugged her father. Pitch just smiled before ruffling her hair and once again, gently kissing her on the forehead.
"Kat!"
Kat opened her eyes upon hearing Jack's voice only to realize that her father was gone. By the time the others reached her, they found her kneeling on the floor in front of a cracked portion of the wall.
"Oh Kat!" A worried Tooth flew towards her, "Are you alright?"
Before she could answer, Jack plucked something out of Kat's hair and twirled a feather in his hand, a long silver feather.
"Whew! And we thought you'd become owl food by now." Jack said in relief before staring at the wall Kat made while fighting Pitch, "Guess you showed them, huh?"
"Uh…Yeah." Kat sounded convincing, knowing the fact that her father planted them there. But why? She dismissed the thought as she and the group began to leave, unaware of the dark figure hiding behind the paintings.
"Oh, she'll be showing alright." Pitch flashed an evil grin.
Meanwhile, the group was back in the hallway, on their way to face Time and his team of rebelling spirits.
"So, uh, sorry we left you behind." Jack apologized to a nervous Kat.
"What?" A surprised Kat asked.
"But I guess you showed those owls whose boss, huh?" Jack said.
"Oh. Right. Guess I did." Kat fibbed, knowing that the only thing, or person, she has faced was her father, The Boogieman.
"You weren't bad yourself, Sheila." Bunny gestured to Maggie.
"Yeah, I guess so." Maggie replied, keeping her eye on where they were going.
"Oh admit it;" Jack teased, "You haven't had this much fun since you moved into Burgess and got yourself in a war between spirits and, spirits."
"Oh alright!" Maggie admitted, "I haven't had this much fun in years!" Suddenly, her excited face began to fade, " Still, I should be worried. I mean, how would Dad feel if something happened to me in this crazy adventure? I got a life waiting for me back home."
"Does it always have to be your responsibility to miss on all the fun things just to make your parents proud?" Jack asked.
"Yes!" Maggie quickly replied, "Sure I got brothers and sisters out there, but..."
"Sh!" Manny silenced her upon hearing a clanging sound, "You hear that?"
The clanging sound grew louder as the group opened a door filled with descending stairs. They followed the path and became wide-eyed upon reaching the end of the stair; a room filled with cages... filled with Manny's constellations!
Some of the constellations reared upon seeing their owner and the Guardians as if begging for help. Some even clutched the bars of where they are being held. In the midst of the sounds, Manny could hear a familiar twinkling sound.
"Wish!"Manny rushed to his Star's aid as the others tried to release the Constellations from their cages.
"Is it really important?" A nervous Kat, who has listened to the conversation, asked Maggie, "I mean, you don't have to do everything your parents tell you, do you?"
"Of course it is!" Maggie replied, "After all what your parents gave to you, you have to give back. Every child should respect their parents no matter what and do everything it takes just to make them proud."
"Everything?" Kat's expression saddened upon hearing this, "Even a chance to go out there and make friends?"
"Well..."Maggie stopped abruptly. For a moment, she felt as if she shouldn't have said that.
"T-that's, all I need to know." The sadness in Kat's voice deepened as the twinkling sound grew louder.
"Wish!" Manny cried upon seeing his favourite star. The only problem was that he was in the hands of an old enemy.
"Pitch!" Jack pointed his staff at the Boogieman.
"Jack! North! Tooth! Bunny! Sandy! Manny!" Pitch greeted with a smile, "What a surprise seeing you here."
"This is my home, Pitch." Manny glared at him in response.
"Really?" Pitch asked in surprise, still clutching onto Wish, "I forgot to bring a house-warming gift. Oh wait; I did."
Out of nowhere, black sand surrounded the Group and took the form of black horses. The Group took their battle positions as they prepared to face the Nightmares together. Despite the group's determination, Kat just sadly stared blankly at the ground when her eye began to glow.
Three of the Nightmares began to rear, causing Sandy to whip at them. But before the whips could strike the Nightmares, it dissolved back into sand, much to Sandy's surprise and confusion and to Pitch's amusement. Jack tried blasting a wave of ice at the nightmares, only to have little effect at the advancing Nightmares, thereby causing them to charge at him, push him and lock him inside a cage. A heated fight erupted between the rest of the group and the Nightmares, but despite the Guardians' efforts, they were being taken down one-by-one;
Tooth flew above the rest. She dove at one Nightmare, ready to slice it into dust, when another Nightmare grabbed her by the wing with its mouth and tossed her inside a separate cage. North slashed one of his swords at a Nightmare, but it vanished at the last second, causing North to get his sword stuck on the wall. Surprisingly, despite his effort, no matter how much he pulled, the sword remained stuck to the wall even after he was pulled away by a Nightmare and tossed inside another separate cage. Two Nightmares were chasing Bunny until he threw his boomerangs at them. Alas, the boomerangs had no effect on the Nightmares, much to the Pooka's surprise before a Nightmare dragged him by the tail and tossed him inside another cage. Manny witnessed his friends' capture and is reminded of the vision he had only to snap out of it after Sandy was also tossed inside a cage.
"Really, old friend," Pitch laughed upon advancing to Manny, "is this how you were chosen? I say Nature was getting too old for her age to choose any successors to do her, dead-end job."
Angered, Manny threw a star-shuriken at Pitch who quickly dissolved in sand before regaining his normal form and slash Manny with his scythe. The others watched as the two spirits clashed. Pitch kept slashing Manny who produced a shield to protect himself. But the more Pitch slashed the more the shield began to weaken. Finally, the shield broke apart. Pitch was about to dealt the final blow on Manny when he suddenly disappeared. Confused but wary, Pitch stood guard just in case he appeared again. From his cage, Jack flashed his signature smile, knowing what's about to happen next.
Surely enough, Manny manifested behind Pitch, ready to throw his shurikens at him.
"By God, Nature forgive me." He whispered to himself before throwing his shuriken at Pitch.
A flash of light exploded behind Pitch, just like how Manny's other shurikens react when they struck a surface. However, this shuriken exploded before it could strike Pitch's back, much to the Guardians' surprise. Manny just stood in place, shocked, until two of Pitch's Nightmares tackled him into a cage. Wish, who was held by one of Pitch's Nightmare, didn't hesitate to join his master in the cage and gave him a big (small) hug. Amused, Pitch called off his weapon and began advancing towards a saddened Kat but was stopped by Maggie and some angered animals.
"Boo!" Pitch simply said which made the animals run and lock themselves in a cage, leaving Maggie all alone to face the Boogieman… until she wimped-out and locked herself in another cage. Amused by this, Pitch continued advancing towards Kat.
"Pitch!" Jack cried from his cage, "If you hurt her, I swear I'll…"
"Now why would I want to hurt my little Kitty Kat?" Pitch interrupted as he covered Kat's body, minus her head, with his robe and hug her in a comforting manner.
"'Kitty Kat'?" Bunny asked in surprise.
"Does that mean…" A surprised North stopped abruptly as Kat raised her sorry head for a moment.
"He's my dad." She replied.
All eyes widened upon the revelation, especially Jack's. He just could've believe that his friend, his most trusted friend, the girl who had doubts about herself and of her existence, the very same girl whom he had races with on animals and in the snowy domain of his home, was actually the daughter of his now revived enemy. The look on Jack's makes him want to scream when…
"Nooooo!" All eyes turned to a dismayed Bunny as he clutched the bars of his cage, "its worst than I thought!"
Pitch just looked at him blankly before pronouncing, "You should see other spirits." He turned around and began to walk away.
"Kat, wait!" Jack called from his cell, "Okay, sure Pitch is your Dad, but you can't…"
"You guys said that 'nothing good ever comes out of that Bugger'". Whatever that means." Kat cried on her father's robe.
"When did we…" Bunny was about to protest when realization dwelt upon his face.
"He never meant it that way, Kat." Manny defended, "And… well…"
"Aw Kat. No." A saddened North said.
"This can't be happening." Jack added.
"Oh please Jack." Pitch turned around to face the Guardians, "Don't you see the family resemblance?"
Angered, Manny tried blasting the bars of his cage with his powers only to have it deflected back to him. Manny lay injured on the bars of his cage until Wish flew to comfort him. That's when an elderly laughter echoed in the room and an old man covered in a grey robe and holding a clock-adorned staff appeared in the room along with a group of creatures.
"Time." Manny bitterly glared at the old man.
A silver owl landed on Time's shoulder causing one of Lucky's cats to hiss at it. Instead of flying away like last time, the owl gave out such a frightening hoot that all the cats panicked in their cage, much to the Guardians' surprise.
"Oh please. Did you really think my little pets would be terrified by a litter of kittens?" Time asked, "Such prideful knowledge, just what the doctor ordered. Honestly; What was my sister thinking? Entrusting her Guardian duties to her amateur apprentice, who, in return entrusted his duties to bunch of rowdy primitive-state spirits."
"Who are you calling 'rowdy'?" Jack protested, only to get a glare from Bunny, "What?"
"I'd love to stick around and chat 'Guardians', but I have a 'duty' to fulfill." Time laughed before turning to Kat, "And so glad to have your acquaintance, my Dear."
A saddened Kat looked at Jack with a sorry look in her eyes before turning back to Time, "The pleasure's all mine."
"Wonderful." Time clapped his hands in delight as he began to take his leave, "Now we best be on our way. After all, midnight is where all the magic happens." With that, the group began to leave. Kat took one last sad glance at the Guardians before taking the hand of her father.
"Kat!" Maggie called from her cage, "You can't…"
"Anything for your parents, right?" Kat reminded as she sadly stared at the flower she picked from her hair then dropped it on the floor before leaving with her father. Manny hung his head in defeat upon encountering another fragment of his visions.