"What's the matter Overland? Worried about your pretty girlfriend?" taunted Pitch before tossing a wave of shadows at Jack.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Jack shouted as he blocked the attack with a wave of snow.

Pitch laughed cruelly, "Are you sure? You're awfully concerned for her wellbeing."

"I'm concerned for the wellbeing of all my friends, and the camp! You . . . are not . . . going to . . . destroy it!" exclaimed Jack as he blocked Pitch's attacks before sending attacks in kind.

"I won't have to, once the Titans are released, they'll take care of it for me!"

"No!" Jack yelled as he attacked with more ferocity, alternating between ice and sword. But Pitch was more than capable of holding his own against the furious demigod. They went at it hard and fast, alternating between attack, block, and parry. A malicious grin grew on Pitch's face, sure, Jack was filled with fiery determination to protect Camp Guardian, but he was tiring, and fast. It wouldn't be long before the teen would succumb to exhaustion. It didn't take long for Pitch to gain the upper hand, and sent Jack sprawling across the floor.

"Give it up, Overland! You'll never be able to defeat me. I'd rather not have to kill you, you're a fine demigod. There's so much we could do together, you'd make a great second-in-command. After all, what goes better together than cold and dark."

"How about light and ice?" asked a voice as a stream of sunlight smashed into Pitch.

Jack gasped as he saw the speaker, "Rapunzel! What are you doing here? Get out!"

"And leave our leader? Not a chance," muttered Flynn as he stepped out of the shadows next to her. Catrina, Katherine, Nicholas, and Emily Jane soon joined them.

"Camp Guardian is our home too, Jack, it's our duty to protect it just as it is yours," smiled Catrina. She turned a glare on Pitch, "And we won't leave Jack to be destroyed by you."

"Obviously," muttered Pitch as he shot her a knowing look. Jack's friends rushed to his side as Pitch rose. "So, I guess I shall just have to destroy all of you."

"Well, with all of us, that's going to be kinda hard, don't you think?" quipped Nicholas.

Pitch laughs, "You'd like to think so, don't you?" He glances at Catrina, whose face hardens, "But it's not as hard as you'd think. Isn't that right my dear?"

Jack glances at Catrina with worry, "Catrina, what's he talking about?"

Catrina lets out a shaky breath, "He's tried to turn me against you, to get me to join him while we were separated." She glanced at their surprised faces, "But you're my friends, my family, I'd take all the pain if I could to keep you safe." She looked pointedly at Jack, "You of all people should understand that." Jack nodded as he rose, leaning on Flynn.

"She's right, we're not going to let some power-hungry freak destroy our home and our friends, our family, for no good reason."

Pitched scoffed, "No good reason? Apparently demigods like you stand in my way of total control of the world, and the only way to get you out of my way is to destroy you for good."

"But why do you want control of the world?" blurted Katherine.

"Isn't it obvious? It's the usual bad guy cliche," muttered Flynn. Jack smirked.

Pitch's eye seemed to twitch, "What? It's not that, I want to take over the world and spread fear to every corner. The more fear there is, the stronger I am. It's basically a fight for my survival."

"Seriously? Do you really need to destroy the camp for that?" asked Flynn.

Pitch facepalmed, "I just explained it to you, you'd be fighting me at every chance you had to try and stop me, so I have to destroy you. What grade did you finish, the fourth?"

"Actually, we're in tenth grade, but that's besides the point. Thank you so much for explaining everything to us. Shall we finish this?"

"Yes!" chorused the demigods.

Jack nodded, "Alright then, demigods, let's do this!"

"Right!" The group charged, and met Pitch's shadowy onslaught head on, Emily sending bolts of lightning through it while Rapunzel manipulated light into arrows, Nicholas, Katherine, and Flynn stuck to their weapons, Jack helped with some snow, and Catrina did her best by snatching control of the shadows from Pitch and helped to clear a way for her friends. They continued to press forward, gaining ground inch by inch. Nicholas had been right, fighting all of them at once had proven to be a bit much for Pitch, no matter how hard he tried. In a matter of minutes, the teens had managed to surround him, though Rapunzel and Flynn stayed close to Jack.

"Give it up, Pitch, we're obviously stronger than you thought we were," stated Jack.

"So it would seem, for now, at least," stated Pitch as he stood up a little straighter. "However, that's a question that will have to wait for another time." A rope uncurled by Pitch's side, which he quickly snatched up and held on tight as he was picked up from the ground. The group gasped as he was lifted up to a flying galleon. "Until next time, demigods!"

"No, we can't let him get away!" shouted Jack. Rapunzel immediately readied another arrow and aimed. "Nicholas, can you make a ship that . . ." began Jack, but he lost consciousness and collapsed, Flynn catching him.

"Rapunzel!" Flynn called out. Rapunzel quickly unleashed the arrow so she could rush over to tend to Jack, unaware that she hit the boat right as it shadow-travelled, sending it off course.

"Nicholas! I need a stretcher or something, we need to get him to camp!" ordered Rapunzel after several attempts to revive him. The group worked quickly, and carried Jack back to Camp Guardian on a quickly put-together stretcher. Over the next week, Rapunzel and her half-sibling Wapasha tended to Jack, with help from the rest of the group and Jack's half-siblings. When Jack finally woke, the whole camp seemed to finally be able to breathe with relief. But Rapunzel shooed away all potential visitors so her patient could get some much needed rest.

"You should get some rest, Punz," muttered Jack as he watched her take away his plate.

She laughed, "Oh don't worry about it, I'm fine. I got some rest last night while Wapasha took over for a bit. Your half-siblings and the rest of the team have also been helping by taking turns staying at your side."

"No, Punz, really, go relax."

"I am relaxing, you're finally out of the worst of it." She sat on his bed, "You had us worried there for a while."

Jack turned his head, "Sorry."

"No need to apologize, we're just glad we've got you back," replied Rapunzel. She bit her lip as she patted his shoulder before turning to leave. But Jack grabbed her hand, causing her to swing her head around to look at him.

"Punz, um, can I, uh, can I ask you a question?"

"Uh, OK."

"Would you, uh, would you . . . oh by the gods! Would you go out with me on a date?" he finally blurted. Rapunzel stared at him for a while before she found her voice.

"Wh-what? Why . . ."

"Listen, I, I wanted to ask you earlier, but Flynn was obviously flirting with you, and then we had the quest and all, and then . . ." Jack paused for a bit before sighing, "And then I was scared. I had never even thought of asking a girl before, that had always been Flynn's thing, until I met you. You . . . I, um . . . I would like to get to know you better, Punz, if, if that's alright with you. So, uh, would you go out with me?"

"I do!"

"What? I'm not asking you to marry me!"

Rapunzel laughed, "No, Brain Freeze, I do want to get to know you better, so yes, I do want to go out on a date with you."

"Really?" Rapunzel nodded, grinning. "Yes!" He pulled her in, only to have her push herself off. "What?"

Rapunzel shook her head, "Not until after our tenth date."

"What? Oh come on! Please, just one little peck?"

"Not a chance, mister, that's part of the deal, take it or leave it."

"Oh fine, no kissing until our tenth date."

"Good." Rapunzel did lean forward, and kissed his forehead.

"Wait, how come that doesn't count as kissing?"

Rapunzel snickered, "Good night, Brain Freeze, you'll have plenty of time tomorrow to plan our first date."

Jack sighed then grinned back, "Alrighty, Sunshine, but you'd better be ready, because it'll knock your socks off."

"Oh really? Then I'd best not wear any socks, I don't want to lose anymore."

Jack snorted, "Then you might want to do something about your brain too, it might blow your mind."

"What? Come on, you're the Brain Freeze, remember? Of the two of us, your mind will be blown."

"Oh, but it already has, time for me to return the favor." Jack eyed her mischievously, His grin grew wider when a slight red came into her cheeks.

"Jack! Oh, just go to sleep, you dumb snowflake."

"Whatever you say, Princess," smirked Jack as he rolled over and closed his eyes. He felt a presence at his side and another kiss, this time on his cheek.

"I'm really glad you're alright," she whispered. Thoughts of Pitch rushed into Jack's mind, but he quickly pushed them away, now wasn't the time to ponder on such things, it was interrupting a good moment.

"Yeah, me too." She pecked his cheek again before leaving him alone to sleep, a sleep he was happy to find that wasn't tormented by Pitch. But they were going to be ready the next time Pitch returned, and next time, they were going to defeat him, once and for all.