Meanwhile, Squint and Raz continued on through the tunnel, soon reaching the chamber where Nina's cage was located. "Nina!" Squint cried out with delight upon seeing the white doe. Nina perked up as she saw him race over, and smiled gleefully.

"Squint!" she replied joyously. The two hugged each other for a moment through the bars, then Squint began looking for a way to free her.

"Not so fast!"

"SQUINT, LOOK OUT!" Squint rolled to the side, and dodged an oncoming ball of nightmare sand. Nina moved back as well, avoiding the explosion as the sand hit the bars of her cage. Pitch melted into view from the shadows, eyes narrowed in anger, his hand wrapped up in a black cloth.

"I've had enough of you bunnies and your surprises!" he hissed." Squint glared and pulled his knife out, while Raz withdrew a sword from her pouch. Nina pulled her own dagger out as well, in case she was given the chance to fight. "It's time ONE of us did something about you." Pitch sneered, then began attacking Squint with his nightmare sand. The rabbit jumped and rolled around, dodging every blast and blow, occassionally firing back himself. "You know, JACKRABBIT," Squint's jaw clenched in anger at his enemy using the nickname his sister had designated for him.

"Your sands aren't much different from my own."

"They're WORSE." Squint spit back.

"Then why do this?" Pitch asked. "Why fight against me? Why not utilize the darkness inside of you?

"Because that's not what I want!" Squint snapped, before snapping his arm out and aiming the knife at Pitch. A humongous ball of his own sand knocked the Nightmare King brutally off his feet. "I want Nina back! I want to be with my sister! I want to end this crazy quest!"

"I can do that for you." Pitch rasped weakly. Squint tilted his head in confusion. "I can take you somewhere with Nina AND your sister, and I can get rid of this quest for you. Even some of the questers."

"Squint, don't listen to him, please!" Nina begged.

"Shut up!" Pitch snapped, and threw another ball of nightmare sand at her. This time the doe blocked it with her dagger. Squint glanced at the ground, torn in two. He wanted things to go in his favor so bad; he wanted this journey to end. But if he joined forces with Pitch...what would happen then? Surely innocent people would be hurt. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the feeling telling him to agree.

Suddenly, something caused him to look up, and he saw Raz making a sneak attack from behind. He wanted to stop her; to tell her it was too dangerous an idea. But he was too frozen with emotion to speak. And sadly his wide eyes, open-mouthed gaze alerted Pitch. The Nightmare King turned and slashed at Raz with his sand, cutting deep gashes into the kangaroo's body. She was tossed back with a cry of shock, and slid across the floor, loosing the grip of her sword. "RAZ, NO!" Squint screamed, although everything seemed to go in slow motion.

Raz struggled to get back on her feet, but it was hopeless. Pitch strode over to her, stepping on her sword so as to prevent her from regaining it. "I think it's time I showed SOMEONE here a lesson." Pitch sneered. Raz trembled, looking up at him fearfully. Squint would have dashed over; he would have hacked and slashed at Pitch for all he sister was worth to him. But then the tables took an unexpected turn. Out of no where, a large boomerang slammed into Pitch's chest, knocking him away from Raz.

Then another one broke the lock on Nina's cage, effectively freeing her. Then Bunnymund stepped into the light. "Eastah' Bunny?" Raz asked in surprise.

"You all right, sheila?"

"Yeah, that's just about it though. Raz groaned, still unable to stand. Bunny ran over and knelt beside the kangaroo to inspect her injuries. He sighed.

"This has got ta' one of tha' biggest risks I've evah' taken." he muttered, pulling out a small vial.

"What is that?"

"Dreamsand." he replied, pouring it over her injuries. "With any luck, it'll just heal you up."

"Just?" Raz asked. Immediately, her wounds began to close on their own, and she felt her strength returning. But there was something else, growing inside of her. "Bunny, what else does it do?" she asked.

"Well...it has a habit reacting to the inside of you." Whatever the thing was, she felt it growing larger. And stronger.

"Th-tha' inside?"

"Who you are." Raz suddenly winced, an unfamiliar feeling slowly creeping over her.

"Bunny, w-what's goin' on?" she asked weakly.

"Raz?" Squint called. "You okay?"

"Not really. I don't know." Raz whimpered through gritted teeth. Pitch at that moment stood back up, panting angrily. Bunnymund pulled out his boomerangs and turned to face him, standing protectively in front of Raz as she panted and groaned. Squint was joined by Nina, and the two crept forward to fight as well.

"You all think you can stop me, FINE. I'll just have to prove you WRONG." he sneered. "It's time my ally showed his face.

"I couldn't agree more." They all turned to see a figure knuckle walk out of the shadows. A figure Squint and Raz thought was gone forever. The former pirates gave a gasp of shock. And horror.

"Gutt?" Squint choked. If the maniac ape was working with Pitch, they were all doomed. He took his eyes off Raz for a moment, focusing on the threat at hand.