Chapter 11: Final Battle
Everyone watched as Jack continued hovering in the air, surrounded by a ball of white light. His eyes were glowing bright and his hands were clamped firmly on the vial that controlled Roxana.
Below the Fearling Roxy had abandoned attacking North and gone after Bonnie instead. Bunnymund had tried to defend her, but he was knocked to the side. Bonnie stood like a deer in the headlights as her former friend raised her makeshift sword above her head, no hesitation. She brought the razor-sharp blade down and Bonnie covered her eyes. She was suddenly whisked away, having been grabbed like a sack of potatoes by Bunnymund. She gave a squeak when he raced away, leaving Roxy to clank her swords onto the street. Bunnymund stopped a ways away and lowered her to the ground.
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Easter Bunny!" Bonnie said, hugging the large rabbit.
"Ya may be clingy, Sheila, but I can't let ya get hurt. Especially when Pitch is behind the hurtin'," Bunnymund said, rubbing her back.
"Mr. Easter Bunny, please don't talk about Pitch like that. I don't want to be mad at you right now," Bonnie said, pulling back a bit.
"No offense, but ya mate ain't ya mate right now," Bunnymund said bluntly. Bonnie blushed. She nodded and kissed his furry cheek.
Bunnymund set Bonnie down and turned back to face the Fearling Roxy once more. She had removed her blade from sidewalk. She glared back at Bunnymund and let out a low, screeching hiss. Bunnymund pushed Bonnie behind him and readied his boomerangs. Roxy lunged at him but before Bunnymund could even lift a boomerang, North jumped in front of them and blocked the attack.
He looked back over his shoulder at the stunned rabbit. "I take care of this. You help the children."
Bunnymund nodded. He and Bonnie quickly headed over to help Jaime and his friends fight off the Nightmares. Suddenly the light from the rooftop grew brighter and Jack was thrown from the roof. He landed on the ground and struggled to get to his feet. Bonnie and Bunnymund rushed to his side and helped him up. Bunnymund lifted Jack to his feet while Bonnie retrieved his staff.
"What happened, mate?" Bunnymund asked.
Jack coughed and tried to regain his composure. "Pitch, he-he trapped Roxy… I tried to help but she…she…"
"What's going on in there, Jack?" Bonnie asked, handing him his staff. Before Jack could answer they all stared back at the light.
The vial began to crack and snap until finally it burst apart. As the vial burst, there was a loud scream and Roxy's body dropped to the ground. North sheathed his swords and rushed to her side. The glow died down and out of the vial came a mist of swirling white sand. It twirled through the air and flowed down to the street below. It first went to the children and whirled all around them, fending off the Nightmares and sending them running. When they were gone, the white sand swirled around Jamie before dashing to North. Jack rushed toward North's side. When he landed, Jack was horrified to see Roxy's body lying limp in North's lap. North looked up at Jack with sad eyes.
"She has no pulse."
Jack shook his head and continued to stare down at her. Bonnie, having arrived with Bunnymund at the moment North said those words, screamed and broke down crying. Bunnymund's ears dropped as his eyes closed and his head bowed. He placed one paw on Bonnie's shoulder. Then he grew enraged and charged at the Nightmares like an unstoppable hurricane. Boomerangs and exploding eggs went everywhere.
Jack dropped to his knees beside Roxy's still form. Slowly the shadows melted away from her body. Tears pricked his eyes as he saw her face. Her eyes were closed and her skin was pale from the chilled air. However, her lips — tinged blue from the cold — were curved into a small smile. She looked so peaceful. Slowly, Jack reached out and pulled Roxy's head into his lap. When he didn't hear a protest from North, Jack wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her against his chest.
Anger and grief seeped into North as he watched. He unsheathed his swords and dove into the battle along with Bunnymund and Tooth.
Bonnie remained, just a few feet from where Jack and her best friend. In the corner of her eye she saw Jaime rushing over to their side. Bonnie grabbed him before he could get any closer.
"Bonnie, what's wrong? Why–" He looked at his sister's friend, but was only answered with tears in her eyes. "No!"
Bonnie held her best friend's brother in her arms as he cried. He struggled to get free, but eventually he wrapped his arms around Bonnie.
Jack looked down. Roxy was so still and ye… He bit back the sob in his throat.
I'll be okay, Jack. I promise.
"Roxy, you were the first person to ever believe in me, but I…" Jack closed his eyes. A tear ran down his face and splashed on Roxy's cheek. "I couldn't save you!" He cursed himself, allowing tears to flow freely. He pulled her closer to him, tucking her head under his neck, and burying his face into her hair. He felt completely helpless. He was a Guardian, chosen by the Moon, and yet he failed to protect the one person he cared about most from suffering. He pulled back to look at her peaceful face once more.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. Jack knew she couldn't respond, but he wanted her to know how much he cared for her. As he broke the kiss, her head fell back, her lips parted — as if she had taken her last breathe. Jack cried out and pulled her back to him. Jamie continued to cry along with Bonnie. He just couldn't believe his sister was really gone. What would he tell his mom? He looked up to have one last look at Roxy.
No one noticed the stream of white sand that floated above them. It was the same sand held inside the vial Pitch had used to control Roxy, and protected the children from the Nightmares. Now it was swirling around Jack and Roxy. It began to take form.
Jack continued to hold Roxy, trying to stop the flow of tears. He knew he had to join the fight — he wanted to make Pitch pay for what he had done — but he just couldn't take himself away from her. Suddenly, he felt a warm touch on his cheek. First, he thought it might be Bonnie or Tooth trying to comfort him, but this hand was warm and through his closed eyelids her could see… light?
Jack opened his eyes to see a brightly lit figure before him. Her hand sent a comforting warmth through him, and Jack couldn't pull his gaze away as smiling ocean-blue eyes gazed back at him. He could only watch as she glowed brighter and smiled. Jack had to shield his eyes as her whole body began to glow until it disappeared. As Jack began to uncover his eyes, something stirred against his chest. A soft moan drifted to his hears. He looked down to see Roxy's eyes flutter open and look up at him. They twinkled like moonbeams and she smiled at him. Jack could barley believe what he was seeing — his voice was chocked with sobs as he tried to find the words.
"R-Roxy?"
"Told you I'd be okay," she whispered. Jack just smiled and gathered Roxy into his arms. He laughed as her own arms returned his embrace. She smiled into his chest. "Thanks for coming back for me."
Jack wanted to reply, but he was interrupted as Bonnie and Jamie came racing forward. Bonnie let Jamie get to his sister first, their voices intermingling with cries and words of concern. Bonnie's grey-green eyes filled with tears as Roxy pulled away from her sibling, and smiled up at her best friend. Overcome with emotion, Bonnie let out a small shriek and threw herself into Roxy's arms.
"I was so worried! I would have never moved on if you had really…but you didn't. I can't lose you, Rox the Fox, I just can't!" Bonnie said hurriedly, the tears spilling down her cheeks.
"Come on, Brave Bunny. You really think I'm gonna let a bad dream keep me down? As if!" Roxy laughed.
Bonnie was about to reply when a dark cloud suddenly appeared, covering the street in shadows. A horde of Nightmares appeared and Pitch sat perched on one of them on top of the roof. His eyes were hard as stones. Beyond her instinct and normal-ness, Bonnie shoved Roxy behind her, adrenaline rushing through her veins and her heart racing. In short, the episode when she had dug into Jack wasn't even close to how mad she could really get. Pitch, however, was about to find out.
Before he could respond, Jack had leapt to the top of the roof, attacking Pitch with everything he had. Seeing Jack battle Pitch, the other Guardians rushed to his side. Bunny opened a tunnel and called to North behind him.
"All yours matte!" They both jumped into the tunnel.
Meanwhile Pitch and Jack were still engaged in their little battle. Pitch created and threw a black spear, only to have it deflected by Tooth as she flew in front of Jack.
"Thanks Tooth!"
Pitch turned to retreat, but was blocked as Bunnymund appeared from the chimney.
"Ho, ho, ho!" Bunnymund threw his boomerang and cleared away several more Nightmares. North would have helped but he had gotten placed on the wrong roof.
Luckily Pitch had ushered his Nightmare to jump to the very roof North was on. He met Pitch half way and sliced threw his Nightmare. Pitch rolled to the ground and raised black sand scythe axe as North charged him. Soon Bunny and Jack joined him. Jack managed to kick him, sending Pitch stumbling into an alley. When he regained his balance he looked up to see all four Guardians in front of him.
"Its over, Pitch," Jack stated. "There's no place to hide." Not realizing what he'd said. Pitch only laughed and sunk into the surrounding shadows. He created multiple shadow copies of himself to confuse the Guardians. When their backs were turned, Pitch snuck up behind Jack and raised his scythe axe.
His sensitive hearing caught Pitch's plan, making Bunny turn around to see Jack in trouble.
"Jack, look out!"
Bunny threw a boomerang but it bounced off the scythe's handle. Jack turned just as Pitch was about to strike. Before he could, a stream of golden sand wrapped itself around Pitch's left wrist. The force pulled him halfway across town and dragged him through a pile of snow. When he came to a halt, Pitch looked up to see a pillar of golden dreamsand. His eyes widen in shock as out from the surprise of seeing figure appear from the pillar.
Even from where they stood, Jack and the other Guardians smiled as they saw Sandman steep out, looking better than ever. Thanks to Jamie and his friends, there was enough dreamsand to free Sandman Pitch's corrupted black sand.
Pitch trembled in fear as Sandy pulled on his ropes, bringing Pitch face-to-face. He then leaned back and shook his finger as if he were scolding a naughty schoolboy before belting Pitch right in the nose, sending him rocketing into the air.
Just then Jamie and the rest of the children appeared. Jamie had figured out how to defeat Pitch and had urged his friends to follow. Sandy smiled and created a hat, tipping it off to the children. Remembering that Pitch was hovering in the ozone layer, Sandy gave a hard tug on the rope. Pitch came crashing down and was knocked out. Apparently some of the dreamsand had gotten into his eyes, for golden dream butterflies began to flutter around the Boogieman's head.
Sandy was soon surrounded by his friends as the rejoiced his triumphant return. When the fuss died down, Sandy gathered his dreamsand and rose into the air. There was still one last piece of business to take care of. He used his power and spread out his dreamsand across the globe, returning the dreams to the children. This set off a chain reaction. With the dreams returning, children began to believe in fairies, which allowed Tooth's mini fairies to fly. The freed themselves from their cages and quickly set to work gathering the Teeth Boxes. When they touched them, the children regained their precious childhood memories . At the North Pole, all the lights on the globe began to light up once again as the children of the world regained their belief.
Back in Burgess, Jamie and his friends marveled at what Sandy's dreamsand created. Cupcake even got to have her unicorn dream Pitch had tainted returned to her, the magical stallion prancing around her. Jamie was caught up in the amazement, until a snowball hit him in the back. He turned to see Jack smiling and tossing another snowball in his hand. Soon it was an all out snowball fight. Everyone one got into it, even the elves and Yetis. At one point Roxy managed to get one Yeti when she noticed Sophie among the fun. How the toddler had gotten there was beyond her, but she didn't have time to think as Bonnie snuck up and smashed a giant snowball over her head.
Jack and North watched the merrymaking before North turned to his young friend. "Your center?"
"Well, it took awhile… But I figured it out." His proud smile was all the proof North needed. He smiled and tossed Jack a small object. When he caught it, Jack saw it was a miniature nesting doll of himself. They both laughed until North was hit in the back of the head by a snowball. He turned to see the twins pointing at an elf.
He laughed and picked up his own snowball. "Ha-ha! You're all on Naughty List. Bunny! Think fast!" He threw the snowball and his Bunnymund right in the nose. He fell on his back but quickly bounced back.
Awakening from his dream, Pitch pushed himself up and witnessed the scene before him. Everyone was having fun at his expense.
"No… You dare have fun in my presence?" he shouted. "I am the Boogieman! And you will fear me!" Jack looked up as Pitch charged Jamie but to their surprise, Jamie passed right through him. "NO!"
The Guardians all watched as the realization hit: the children didn't believe in Pitch. His eyes scanned the children, despairing as not one of them saw him. Then his eyes fell on Bonnie. She was engrossed in the game and had not heard him, making Pitch think she too could no longer see him.
Fearful of what might happen to him, Pitch bolted. He ran through the streets all the way to the woods and the frozen lake. He kept going until he ran into North, the force knocking Pitch to the ground. He looked up to see all five Guardians staring down at them. Behind them were the children, Bonnie, and Roxy.
"Leaving the party so soon?" North asked.
"You didn't even say good-bye." Tooth flicked a quarter at Pitch, who caught it in his hand.
He looked at it in disgust. "A quarter?" He looked up on to have Tooth punch him with a hard right-hook. She'd hit him hard enough to knock him back to the ground, and knock out one of his teeth. He withered in pain and looked up at her.
She was shaking the pain out of her fist. "And that's for my fairies," she said with a smile. Five of her fairies put up a shield in front of their queen, chirping what were most likely curse and/or complaints about being the Boogieman's captives.
"You can't get rid of me!" Pitch protested. "Not forever. There will always be fear!
"So what?" North scoffed. "As long as one child believes, we will be here to fight fear."
"Really? Then what are they doing here?" Pitch gestured to the remaining Nightmares as they started flanking the banks.
North began to chuckle. "They can't be my nightmares. I'm not afraid."
Pitch began to loose confidence. He looked around trying to spot the source of the fear. None of the other Guardians were afraid, so he tried the children. None of them, not even the little toddler was afraid of him. Then he remembered none of them could see him anymore, so of course it wasn't them. Pitch finally locked eyes with Bonnie and she shook her head. Though he was relieved she could still see him, he frowned. They weren't there for her either.
Jack took a step forward. "Looks like it's your fear they smell."
The Nightmares charged Pitch. He panicked and tried to run but it was useless. A stab of fear punctured Bonnie's mind as they drew closer. They finally caught him and Pitch was swept up into a streaming cloud of black sand. He screamed and tried to free himself, but that only fueled the Nightmares and they dragged Pitch back to his lair.
"NO!" Bonnie shrieked, running towards him as the Nightmares dragged Pitch away. His hands were clawing into the ground, grabbing on to anything to wrench himself free.
"Bonnie!" Roxy called, lunging after her friend but Bonnie was faster at running.
Jack caught Roxy before she could pursue Bonnie further and be caught as well. Seeing the danger, Bunnymund raced after Bonnie, but was thrown back by a stray Nightmare. By then, Bonnie had reached Pitch just as he was losing his grip on the old bed frame. Dropping Butterfluff, Bonnie grabbed onto Pitch's hands and tried to pull him back up.
"Bonnie, let go!" Pitch shouted as they were dragged closer.
"Not without you!" she shouted back, pulling herself into his arms.
Then they were both swept towards the opening of Pitch's lair. Bonnie kissed Pitch, her lips melding into his. They clung to each other as they were pulled under, the bed frame shattering behind them as thousands of Nightmares poured in after them. The hole closed up, locking everyone inside or out.
"BONNIE!" Roxy called again, struggling against Jack.
"She's gone, Roxy. She's gone…" Jack pulled her to his chest and wrapped her tightly in his arms.
Bunnymund walked over to them. When Roxy looked up, she saw Bunnymund was holding something in his paw. He held out Butterfluff, a sorrowful look in his eyes as Roxy took the rabbit. She walked slowly to the place where the hole had been and placed the rabbit above it. She needed a few minutes alone. Bunnymund headed back to the group while Jack stayed behind. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before joining Bunnymund.
Overhead the clouds parted to reveal a full moon. Be safe, Bonnie. Roxy started heading back to the pond and her sorrow turned to delight with the sight she saw. Everyone was gathered around Jack as North performed the ceremony that would make Jack Frost an official Guardian. Roxy quickly ran down the hill just as it was about to start.
One of the Yetis' handed North the Guardians Book. "It is time you take oath." He flipped through the pages until he found just what he wanted. "Will you, Jack Frost, vow to watch over the children of the world? To guard them with your life, their hopes, their wishes, and their dreams? For they are all we have, all that we are, and all that we will ever be."
Jack turned to look at the children. His eyes landed on Jamie who nodded his approval. Smiling himself, Jack turned back to North and answered with a firm, "I will!"
"Then, congratulations, Jack Frost. For you are now, and forevermore, a Guardian." Once the ceremony was over, everyone cheered. North cheered and picked Jack up by his shoulders, placing a kiss on each of his cheeks.
The mini fairies created a heart out of their bodies. Tooth chuckled and berated them gently. "Keep it together, girls."
All the kids were having a great time when something in the sky caught their attention. Everyone looked up to see North's sleigh being pulled by his reindeer, coming to land on the lake. All the kids started to gather around North's sleigh.
Bunnymund turned to North and whispered, "Everyone loves the sleigh."
North smiled but he knew that their time was short. He turned to Jack and laid his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Time to go," he said.
Seeing that as his cue, Sandman gathered his powers and sent a shot of dreamsand into the sky. The sand exploded into a brilliant fireworks display. When they Guardians were out of sight, the dreamsand would take effect and put all of them to sleep. But for now, it served as a grand way to say farewell.
Sophie was playing on the ice, surrounded by multiple colorful Easter eggs. Smiling at the little Sheila, Bunnymund crouched down to her level. Perched on his finger was a little egg. He handed it to Sophie, smiling at how her face lit up as she took the egg.
"Happy Easter, ya little Ankle-biter," he told her. Sophie smiled and reached up to pet Bunnymund's soft nose, laughing. "I'm gonna miss ya," he whispered softly.
"Bye, bye Bunny," she replied in her sweet little voice. Roxy walked up and picked her little sister up in her arms.
Jack watched with a heavy heart at the little farewell. He knew they had to go, but he didn't want to leave. The kids had finally been able to see him and he wanted to stay just a little longer.
Jamie realized what was happening and walked over to him. "You're leaving," he asked sadly, "but what if Pitch comes back? What if we stop believing again? If I can't see you…"
Jack was quick to reassure him. "Hey, slow down, slow down." He knelt on one knee and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "You tell me you stop believing in the moon when the sun comes up?"
"No."
"Okay, well, do you stop believing in the sun when clouds block it out?"
"No," Jamie replied with a smile, seeing where his friend was going.
"We'll always be there, Jamie. And now, we'll always be here," Jack said, pointing at Jamie's heart. "Which, kinda makes you a Guardian too."
Seeing his words had hit home, Jack stood and joined his fellow Guardians. Jamie watched as he walked away, but then he remembered something and ran over to him.
"Jack!"
Jack turned to see what Jamie needed and was surprised as the young boy wrapped his arms around his waist. For a moment, he stood there wide-eyed, not sure what to do. But the warmth from the embrace made him smile. Jack bent down to Jamie's level and returned the embrace.
Just as he was about to disentangle from him, Jamie whispered, "By the way, my sister has a huge crush on you."
"Jamie!" Roxy shouted, having overheard what her brother said as she and Sophie said their good-byes to the other Guardians. Jack looked over to see her face burning a deep shade of red. She tried to bury her embarrassment in her sister's hair.
He chuckled and turned back to Jamie, placing one hand on his shoulder. "Think you can keep her safe till I come back?" he asked with a wink.
Jamie grinned. "You got it."
Then Jack stood and walked over to where Roxy stood with her little sister in her arms. There was a moment of silence. They just looked at each other for a moment. Then Sophie started squirming and Roxy had to put her down. Sophie walked up to Jack, her egg from Bunnymund clutched close to her chest. She reached up and tugged on his pant leg.
He crouched down to her level and she asked, "You like Roxy?"
Jack smiled and, with a quick glance at Roxy, he turned and answered, "Very much."
"Good! Come back soon," Sophie said cheerfully. She turned and joined Jamie, leaving the two alone.
Jack smiled and stood to get closer to Roxy. She could practically feel her heart pounding in an attempt to leap from her chest. When he stood directly in front of her, Roxy couldn't tear her eyes away from his.
She began to twiddle her fingers. "So… I guess you finally got what you wanted, huh Jack?"
"Yeah," he said. "Guess this is good-bye."
"No, not good-bye. You'll be back. Who else is gonna help Jamie lose the rest of his baby teeth." Roxy smiled at him. It was hard knowing he would be leaving soon, but she didn't want their parting to be sad. "Besides, I know you, and you don't like to miss out on any mischief. There'll be plenty of games to play next Winter."
"Oh, you can count on that," Jack chuckled. She knew him all to well. Before anyone could blink, Jack was next to Roxy's side, his icy breath tickling her ear. "I'll always come home to you, Snow Sprite. Remember that." Then he pressed a light kiss to her cheek, causing Roxy to turn an even deeper shade of red.
North smiled at the scene and started the sled as Jack jumped into the back with the rest of the Guardians. With a flick of his wrists on the reigns and a loud, "Heeya!" they soared into the sky. The children raced after the sleigh, waving and shouting their goodbyes until the Guardians disappeared out of sight.
Roxy walked up behind Jamie and Sophie, putting one hand on Jamie's shoulder, and taking Sophie's hand in the other.
"Do you really think they'll come back?" Jamie asked.
Roxy just smiled and looked up at the sky, her cheek oddly still warm from the chilled kiss that lingered there. "Are you kidding? After all that, you question Jack Frost and the Guardians?" She turned to look her little brother in the eye, her own eyes full of fire and determination. "He'll be back. Jack always comes back, and he never breaks a promise."
As the dreamsand began to settle Roxy noted that all the kids began rubbing their eyes. Even Jamie and Sophie were yawning and starting to loose focus. Roxy bent down and scooped Sophie into her arms. The little girl wrapped one arm around her older sister's neck, and the other snuggled her Easter egg under her chin. Roxy smiled at the young girl before turning to her brother.
"Come on, Jamie," she sighed. "Lets go home."
XXX
AN: Aww, happy endings all around. But wait! What about Bonnie and Pitch?
