AN: Yay! Last real chapter!

…wait…*eyes wide*

Last…real…chapter…?

Awwwwwwwwwww…crap.

Chapter X
But They Can Be Destroyed

For a sacrifice shall be made, on hallowed ground, on Hallows Eve, under hallowed moon. Innocence shall be corrupted under spite. Altruism shall crumple under greed. Dreams shall die under hopelessness. Faith shall topple under impossibility. Determination shall waver against futility. Light shall vanish under darkness. And ice shall finally melt, under the fire of vice.

The power shall be mine.

There was a sudden shout of rage, shattering the moment. Jack felt something slam into him (something that was, to his simultaneous alarm and relief, not a knife), and the fingers around his neck disappeared abruptly, dropping him to the ground. He curled up into a fetal position, choking and retching and clutching at his throat as his windpipe snapped painfully back into position—as if it had forgotten where it was really supposed to be and was protesting having to go back. Air—cool, blessed, painfully sweet air—rattled in and out of his lungs, choking him almost as badly as the hand had as he tried to get used to breathing again.

Finally, he managed to draw a long, good breath and steady himself. Trauma set aside, he became aware of worried voices and hands prodding him. He opened his eyes and blinked confusedly up at those gathered above him—North, Bunnymund, Tooth, and Sandy, all kneeling around his body.

Events were moving way too fast for him. One moment he'd been waiting for Pumpkin King to kill him. Then he'd been smiling at him. Then he'd been slammed against a tree and shouted at. Then he'd been about to die again. And now—he wasn't dying? Couldn't fate go a little easy on him and slow things down a tad?

"Are you okay, Sweet Tooth?" Toothiana asked anxiously.

Jack's head was pounding. "What happened?" he demanded hoarsely, trying to sit up. "What's going on? Why are you—why am I—how did he—"

He couldn't seem to find the right question—there were just so many.

Then he realized something. He'd seen his friends trapped behind the fire, only moments before (though it felt like forever ago). If they were here…

Why had Sin put the fire out?

And, while he was at it, why had Sin let him go in the first place? Jack struggled to sit up, casting around quickly for the murderous spirit.

Two figures were grappling by the tree—the Pumpkin King, who'd apparently gotten over his betrayal, and Sin Cantus, who was currently pinned to the tree by his former master. The Pumpkin King's arms trembled with the effort of holding the writhing specter down, but he wasn't King of Halloween for nothing. He had his skeletal fingers clasped around Sin's wrist, holding the knife at bay, and his other elbow pressed against the spirit's throat, trapping him against the bark much as Jack had previously been.

"Don't," the Pumpkin King growled in warning. "I won't let you."

Sin's red eyes narrowed with wrath, lighting up with enraged flames. "No," he hissed furiously. "You will not ruin this again! I will rule!"

"I won't let you kill him!" the Pumpkin King insisted angrily, digging his elbow in deeper. "You will have no sacrifice!"

Sin growled, a sound from deep within his throat. "Then you will die."

Flames wrapped around him, throwing the Pumpkin King back and freeing Sin.

"Pumpkin King!" cried Jack, staggering to his feet, grabbing his staff, and stumbling to the downed king's side, brushing past his friends. "Are you okay?" he asked anxiously.

"No!" the Pumpkin King shouted, eyes wide. "Duck!" He grabbed Jack's shirt and pulled him to the ground just as Sin struck. He flew over their heads, right through the space Jack had previously been occupying, and crashed into the ice surrounding the children.

xXx

Jamie leapt back in shock as the ice shuddered on impact with the wraith. Next to him, Sophie burst into tears as many of the other kids staggered back, some even screaming. "Jamie, Jamie!" she sobbed. "I'm scared!"

Jamie wrapped his arms around her, staring at the wraith. "It's okay, Sophie," he murmured, trying to set her at ease and still her trembling. "It's going to be okay."

xXx

"I'm scared!"

The voice of Jamie's little sister seemed to ring in Jack's ears, triggering a different memory—a voice from the past, echoed by the present.

"Jack, I'm scared!"

He hadn't ignored his sister's cry.

Another memory surfaced—a more recent one. A different voice, a softer, male voice—but no less terrified.

"Jack, I'm scared."

He hadn't ignored Jamie's plea, either.

Now, those same words caused his grip on his staff to tighten. In the past, he had protected those children, banished the fear. Maybe this time, he couldn't just say "We're going to have a little fun," and suggest hopscotch or a snowball fight, but that wouldn't stop him.

"Get away from them!" he shouted, leaping to his feet and brandishing his staff.

Sin laughed derisively. "Oh? Get away from them? I suppose that means I shouldn't do…this?" He trailed one long, delicate finger over the frozen wall, leaving a thin trail of fire and melting the ice. "Or…this?" Heat glowed from his fingertips as he shoved a burning hand through the barrier, melting a good-sized hole in the wall.

"Stop!" Jack shouted, letting loose with a bolt of ice.

Sin deflected it easily with one fiery palm. "Or what?" He laughed. "I'm immortal. It's not as if you can kill me."

Fingers gripped Jack's shoulder, and the boy looked up to see the Pumpkin King standing next to him, fire dancing in his eyes and around his feet.

"You're right," the King said softly. "Spirits can't be killed."

Jack, ever perceptive, sensed a "but" there, and apparently Sin did too. His eyes widened in disbelief and fear as the Pumpkin King finished in a dangerous tone: "But they can be destroyed."

The words galvanized Jack. He tightened his grip on his staff and turned to face Sin. Next to him, he could feel his new ally tensing, preparing for what was necessary.

Sin backed up in fear. "No," he breathed, realizing that he had taken it too far. But it was too little, too late. Jack and the Pumpkin King both let loose with their powers, with ice and fire respectively. The two elements swirled together, forming a lethal column of equals and opposites, of burning cold, of freezing heat, of complimentary colors. Sin shrieked his defiance, but the sound was abruptly cut off as the fire and ice consumed him, leaving nothing standing where he had been and the echoes of the final screech ringing in everybody's ears.

The brilliance of the icy blue and fiery orange attack faded, leaving everyone blinking in the sudden darkness.

There was silence, as realization began to dawn on everyone—that it was over. This time, it was really over.

Jack reacted first, leaping into the air and letting out a triumphant whoop that ricocheted off the trees. The wind swirled around him, responding in kind to his elation and twirling him around. Jack beamed giddily at everyone. "He's gone!" he shouted, stating the wonderful obvious.

The kids all cheered (or, those who could see it all, anyway) and the Pumpkin King allowed himself a ghost of a smile. He wasn't sure what to do or where his place was now that it was over, but he rather hoped that he wouldn't be kicked out.

Toothiana let out a tinkling laugh and flew up to join Jack, spinning happy loop-de-loops. Sandy hugged North, and Bunny grinned and sheathed his boomerangs.

xXx

"Please, please, please can I stay up?" Jamie asked desperately, widening his eyes and trying for an innocent pleading look.

Jack couldn't stand under those puppy dog eyes. He looked over at Sandy, cocking his head in question. Bunny rolled his eyes. "Ya don' know 'ow to say 'No' to children yet, aye kid?"

Jack shrugged. "I just can't," he admitted.

Jamie grinned in triumph. "Yes!" he exclaimed in exhilaration.

All of the children besides Jamie had been put to sleep by the Sandman, as it had been decided that this would make it easier to return them home. Jamie grinned now and hugged Jack, making sure to keep the pushover winter sprite between him and the little golden man—just in case Sandy decided to put him to sleep after all.

Jack caught on to the ploy and laughed. "You just don't give up, do you?"

"Uh-unh," Jamie replying, shaking his head.

"Okay everybody, into sleigh!" North bellowed, waving everyone over to the sleigh. Bunny looked dubiously at the vehicle, which was packed with children. It wasn't the safest means of travel on the best of days (in his opinion) and now, crowded as it was, he didn't see how they would all fit, or how it could carry so much weight.

"Uh, I'm not so su—"

"Nonsense!" North boomed good-naturedly, clapping his companion on the back and sending the rabbit staggering. "It is perfectly fine! In you go; come come!" He picked Bunny up by the scruff of his neck and threw him in to join the children. He climbed up into the driver's seat, followed by Sandy, and Toothiana, Pumpkin King, and Jamie found themselves seats in the back. There was hardly any room left, so it was just as well that Jack opted to leap onto the wing and settle there.

"Whoooo-hooooo!" Jack yelled at the clouds in exhilaration as the sleigh careened into the sky, flipping and loop-de-looping like a drunken bird. Jamie was shrieking with laughter and excitement and had both hands up in the air as if he was on a roller coaster. Bunny huddled in a corner and kept both paws firmly pressed to his mouth, looking decidedly sick.

The Pumpkin King, even in the crowded vehicle, managed to stay separate from the friends, watching uncertainly as they interacted almost effortlessly. The frost spirit seemed to be at the center of it all—teasing Bunnymund, slapping high fives with Sandman, playing with Jamie, laughing with Toothiana. He was so full of energy and excitement, elated and overwhelmed with the thrill of victory.

Jamie cheered as Jack flew circles around the sleigh, the wind throwing him up and around with seemingly no regard to gravity. "Go Jack!" he yelled happily, waving and grinning. The boy was more than glad that he'd convinced them to let him stay awake—he was euphoric. He was riding in Santa's sleigh! How cool was that?!

He was also still stunned concerning the events of that night. Like Jack, Jamie felt that things had moved just a tad too quickly, and some events were still running circles in his head, trying to make sense. First the Pumpkin King had been evil, then he hadn't been, then Sin had been killing Jack, then he hadn't been, and Jack had been dead, except he hadn't been, and something about spirits not being able to be killed, except they could be—gah! It was giving him a migraine, and he was too young for migraines!

One question, though, he had to ask.

"Jack?" he called softly to the celebrating spirit. Jack, who had been racing with a passing flock of birds and having fun scaring the poor little creatures, spun around at the unexpected lack of excitement in the child's voice.

"Uh-huh?" he replied expectantly, zipping over and flying along next to Jamie to keep up with the sleigh.

"Where were you? Before you saved us from the Pumpkin King. None of the other guys thought you'd come, and he said you were dead."

Jack smiled. "I can't die, silly."

Jamie glared at him. "But you almost did. And that ghost died."

Jack considered that, the smile fading as concentration replaced it. Slowly, he descended and lit down once more on the wing, next to Jamie's seat. "Well, I guess it all depends," Jack said at length. "Depending on what you believe, dying is your spirit leaving your body, right? But, since we are spirits, I guess we can't die technically because there's nothing for the spirit to leave. That's why we live forever."

"But—"

"But that ghost died, right?" Jack finished for him, guessing his question. Jamie nodded.

"Well, his spirit didn't leave any body," Jack replied after a long moment of thought. "It ceased to exist—destroyed. So I guess, though it doesn't make sense at first, it really is true: we can't be killed, but we can be destroyed."

Jamie was now even more turned around then before. "What?" he asked in confusion, brow wrinkling in bewilderment. "I don't get it."

Jack laughed. "You don't have to."

"But you didn't answer my question," Jamie suddenly realized with a reproachful glare. "Where were you? Why weren't you with the rest of the Guardians?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "You can thank Bunny for that. He said it was too dangerous."

Jamie frowned. "But you're the most powerful of them all."

Jack looked at Bunny, who'd been listening, and waggled his eyebrows meaningfully. "Well now, did you hear that, Kangaroo?" he asked in triumph. He turned again to Jamie. "Can you say that again, only this time wait for me to go get a tape recorder?"

Bunny rolled his eyes. Jamie managed to resist a smile, though, instead asking another question: "Why was it too dangerous for you?"

Jack was silent for a long moment, as Jamie held his gaze. It seemed to Jamie that Jack was considering how much he could get away with not telling him.

"Don't lie," Jamie warned.

Jack sighed. "So, I wasn't at full power, okay?" he admitted. The words came out quickly, like he was trying to get the explanation over with: "I got attacked, I got pretty beat up, but I'm back and I'm here and I'd rather not think about what almost happened." He stood and grinned down at his first believer. "So how about we have a little fun and celebrate Halloween, eh?"

Suddenly, realization dawned in his eyes and his face was lit up by a huge grin. "Wait, it's Halloween! Snow day!" He leapt off the wing and started to fly off in a different direction—and then seemed to be brought up short by yet another thought. He looked back at the Pumpkin King.

"You, uh, don't mind, do you? I kinda made a promise…"

The Pumpkin King smiled softly, amused at the younger spirit's antics. "If you promised, then by all means, go ahead."

Jack let out a jubilant whoop and soared away. He wheeled and spun through the town below the sleigh, zipping along the streets in a flurry of wind and snowflakes, reveling in the feeling of doing what he had been made to do, for the first time in what felt like a couple eternities. In that moment, the children were safe, everyone was happy, he was flying, and snow was falling.

For the first time in three long days, he felt, completely and entirely, like Jack Frost again.

The occupants of the sleigh went quiet one by one as they watched him swoop through Burgess, trailing snow and frost, blissfully unaware of his audience. Even the Pumpkin King was thinking that the sight was its own kind of beautiful. It was a rare thing to glimpse Jack Frost in his element like this, cheerfully spreading snow, for he flitted around the world so much that it was nigh impossible to catch him except on accident. But the glimpse was well worth the trouble, should anyone have taken it.

"Several times today, I had thought I'd never see boy like this again," North admitted, eyes not leaving the scene. All of Jack's friends nodded agreement (even Jamie), for they all understood what he meant by "like this": innocently happy, having fun, doing what he was good at, free to fly.

Watching the bright, joyful light he had almost snuffed out, Pumpkin King felt shame wash over him. He bowed his head. "I'm sorry for all of this," he apologized, voice choked with emotion. "If I'd just kept my head, instead of letting Cantus twist my thoughts…well, maybe none of this would have happened." He looked again at the winter spirit. "How can anyone in their right mind target such an innocent, happy soul?" he murmured almost to himself.

The four Guardians shared looks, each asking a silent question. Finally, North, blue eyes shining, nodded once. The rest nodded in return, and turned to face the Pumpkin King, who looked a little lost as he watched Jack.

"Pumpkin King," Toothiana began gently. The spirit raised his head, his eyes meeting hers for the briefest second before he hurriedly looked away, still uncertain. Toothiana smiled gently in reassurance and placed a hand on his. "We forgive you."

The Pumpkin King looked up at her in surprise. "Y-you do?"

"If Jack forgives evil murderous ghost, ghost not so evil or murderous as we thought, eh?" North asked with a smile. The Pumpkin King looked confused.

"What he means to say is, if Frostbite can let'cha off the hook, we sure as 'eck can too," Bunnymund explained.

Sandy nodded in agreement, and he held out his hand in a clear invitation. Looking a little dazed, Pumpkin King accepted the small hand and they shook.

Suddenly, Bunny leaned forward, shoving his nose right up into Pumpkin King's face and forcing the spirit to lean back in surprise. "But," he added, voice low with menace, "if you so much as blink threateningly at the kid again, you will have to deal with all of us. Understood?"

The Pumpkin King nodded quickly.

"Good." Bunny retreated. "Now." He turned to Jamie. "What's all this about the kid bein' stronger than the rest of us?"

While Jamie tried to explain the reasoning behind his thinking (happily oblivious to the hole he was digging both himself and Jack deeper into with every word) Pumpkin King turned his attention back to the winter sprite—and tried not to blink too threateningly.

Except, how does one blink threateningly?

He resolved not to blink at all.

AN: May I just say, this and the last chapter are my two favorites. The last one had all the awesome action in it, with the villains changing sides and betraying each other and knives flashing and fire and ice explosions—whoopee! And then this one just had a whole lot of great funny moments.

So, that's that for this story, anyway. I'm going to have a short epilogue to briefly tie up all of the loose strings, but this was really the real conclusion. Thank you so much for everyone who's been on this ride with me, and also to all y'all folks who will read this in the future, now that I'm done! I hoped you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

So, some brief shout outs to various reviewers who commented on last chapter, eh? Also, a heads up, next chapter will have the official lists. You'll understand what I mean when I get there.

TasteTheRainbowww, I am both terribly sorry for keeping you up 'til midnight just to leave you with a cliffhanger and terribly happy that you found this good enough to keep you up 'til midnight! :D I hope you got enough sleep, but if you didn't…will this make up for it? ;)

Don't touch my Seaweed Brain, here's to the hope that you did not die while waiting for this update ('cause that would kinda-sorta suck). Whaddaya think? Was it worth it? I know I always hate it when I'm into a good story and then the ending is downplayed and anticlimactic…I desperately hope that I'm not being a hypocrite and doing that! It's my worst fear at the moment…

Embersky, I completely know what you mean! I love the mystique and anticipation that goes into a cliffhanger, and sometimes they can be really beautifully done, and those are the best nights when I stay up staring at my ceiling, imagining everything that could happen next…but at the same time, not knowing what happens next can be SO FRUSTRATING. Haha, I like to joke, though, that I'm building up a resistance to them. I've read so many cliffhangers by now that they don't really affect me unless it's an exceptional story and a really stressful cliffhanger. Here's the secret: it will be updated eventually, and until then, go read other fanfiction and/or stories to run the questions out of your mind (though watching and/or reading the actual canon works too). And if it's one of those horrible ones that's never updated, then take that as the author's permission to write your own headcanon for what happens, since they were rude enough not to give you the real ending.

isthisparadise, you have made me ridiculously happy! Thank you so much for addressing my fears about Pumpkin King's loyalties. I'm glad that you approve! No, he's not a Guardian (at least, not that I've made him, yet) and I doubt he will be, but you're right—that really could be taken anywhere. Heck, if you want to do something with that, feel free! Haha.

beanie-art1, you just summed up that whole thing in three words. Thank you. Hey, have you seen the Croods? If you haven't, ignore that question. If you have, I'm sure you know why I asked.

moonshine19, three words: YOU. ARE. AWESOME. Thank you so much for that review! You have no idea how amazingly, absurdly happy that made me! It's not every day an author gets such high compliments, and I am so glad to know that I've achieved my goal! All I really wanted when writing this was to stay true to the movie and write something in the general spirit of Rise of the Guardians—since it was so completely awesome (Most. Perfect. Movie. Ever. Period.). I was really worried about keeping everyone IC and not deviating at all, and I'm ecstatic—no, EUPHORIC—to know that I've succeeded. THANK YOU!

Okay, guys, the epilogue won't be up right away—I'm going to wait about a day to give everyone time to read this one and do everything they need to (i.e., review. Hint, hint). You'll see why in the epilogue. So, estimated time of update: some time tomorrow.

Unless tomorrow ends up being one of those hectic days where nothing gets done. In which case, you will get the epilogue on…what day is it…? April 6th…which may or may not be a Friday…

Where's a calendar or phone when you need one?