Prism was in a haze of fog as pain racked his body. Lucy knelt down beside him, calling his name.

"Prism! Talk to me! Are you okay?"

The Guardian shook his head, dizziness and a sharp ache making his head spin. He couldn't find his voice and moving hurt. He didn't think any bones were broken, but his entire body was agony. An idle thought ran through his head, and he wondered if this is what Jack felt like when he got hit by a train all those years ago.

"Jack," he gasped, laughing as tears sprang to his eyes.

"Jack?" Lucy asked.

She turned to look at her husband, who was holding Jackson's shoulders, staring in bewilderment at the crumpled truck. Jackson was clutching at his father and crying, blood running down his skinned knees. Jamie and Jackson couldn't help. But maybe Jack Frost could. She just had to believe in him, and then he would come.

"Jack Frost," she said firmly. Jamie turned to look at her in surprise. "Jack Frost. Jack Frost. Jack Frost! Jack Frost! Jack Frost!"

She chanted his name, willing herself to believe in him. She had to; she had no choice. Lucy continued to shout his name as loudly as she could, tears sliding down her face as she called for the boy she had never seen. For five minutes Lucy chanted, ignoring her husband's many questions, and then she heard an explosion rock the sky. She looked up into the wide, blue expanse above her to see a streak of dark blue hurtling toward them. And Jack Frost landed in front of her.

His deep blue eyes were wild, and he looked around at the family. He saw Jamie clutching Jackson, staring with wide eyes at him.

"What in the starry universe was that summoning about Jamie?" he demanded, looking terrified. "I thought you were about to die or something!"

Then he saw Prism, and his pale face went even whiter. "Prism!" he yowled.

He threw himself down beside Prism and gingerly touched his face. Prism flinched, taking a wheezing breath as his eyelids fluttered.

"What happened, Jamie?" Jack demanded.

"I don't know. The truck just…" Jack's old friend turned to gaze at the crumpled heap of metal again.

"Truck?" Jack asked. He studied the ruins of the truck. "Why would a human truck hurt him?"

"It's all m-my fault!" Jackson gasped through his tears. "I fell down and it was g-going to hit me!"

Jack groaned. "He infused it to stop it. Dang it, no wonder he's hurt!"

Jack grabbed his staff and pointed it upward. A huge burst of blue frost streaked up into the sky, staining it with a snowflake symbol right above their heads.

"What's that for?" Jamie asked.

"It's my call to the Guardians. They'll be here soon. For now, I've got to help Prism."

Jack set aside his staff and knelt down. He touched Prism's forehead again, noting that he had a fever hot enough to turn his fingers blue. That wasn't good. His body was panicking from the damage. Prism's eyes flickered open and he stared at Jack as the cool fingers brushed his hot face. He saw Jack move his hands down to his chest, and panic exploded inside of him. With a spasm, his magic burst out of him and struck Jack hard, and he yelped and flew ten feet, skidding across the ground and hitting a picnic table.

"Jack!" Jamie exclaimed. He took a step closer, but Jack popped up at once.

"I'm okay. No magic in the table, no injury," Jack said, rubbing the back of his head from habit more than pain. "Man, he must be hurting if his magic is that erratic."

Jack once again approached and attempted to check for broken ribs, but the same thing happened. This time, though, Jack was ready for it, and he deflected the black cloud of power with his own ice magic. He sat back on his heels and clicked his tongue.

"I need help. Lunar's help, preferably."

The sound of an engine filled the sky, and Jack looked up to see Sandy coming in for a landing. The plane burst into a cloud of sand that was absorbed by the Star Captain's body. Sandy hurried over, his eyes scanning the faces. When he saw Prism, his mouth fell open and he quickly spoke in his language of symbols.

"What happened?"

"He saved Jackson's life. Got hit by a truck in the process," Jack said. "I can't touch him. His magic is erratic. He's in a lot of pain."

"Shall I summon Lunar and Nightlight?"

"Yeah. Tell them to be quick."

Sandy nodded and formed a star out of sand. He threw it up into the sky, and it streaked off in a blur of gold until it was gone. At that moment, Toothiana and Bunnymund arrived at nearly the same time. She flitted down with a few of her fairies, touching the ground with light feet. Bunnymund leaped out of a tunnel, his nose and ears twitching as he looked around.

"What's wrong, Frostbite?" Bunnymund asked, scanning the forest for enemies.

Toothiana gasped and pointed, drawing the Pooka's attention to the prone figure on the ground. "Prism!"

Jack explained about the truck again, but he had to start over as North arrived through a portal, his sleigh sending up sparks as he parked it on the road. He lumbered out and his eyes fell on Prism at once.

When they were all informed, they stood there for a moment then North reached out and tried to touch Prism's chest. As soon as he brushed it, a burst of black mist sent him sprawling. Toothiana and Bunnymund both tried as well, and were met with the same result. Even Sandy couldn't touch Prism, whose breathing was fast and shallow as he looked at them vaguely.

"Gotta wait for MiM," Bunnymund grumbled.

"Who's that?" Jackson asked quietly.

"That's the Man in the Moon, Jackson," Jamie said gently.

Jackson wiped his flushed cheeks and smiled. "Oh, you mean Lunar."

Before the Guardians realized the significance of the boy calling the Man in the Moon by his real name, a ball of silver light came down and burst in front of them. There stood Lunar and Nightlight. Lunar was poised with a grim look on his face as he took in the scene. Nightlight's eyes narrowed as he looked at the faces before them, assessing the threat. He paused for a moment then smiled at the child clutching at Jamie's legs.

"Hello there," Nightlight said pleasantly.

The child didn't answer, but somebody did. "I guess you're Nightlight. And that's Lunar."

Every head swiveled to Lucy, who was sitting beside Prism's shuddering form and holding his hand. Lunar blinked and looked at the woman with surprise splashed across his features. Jack looked at her from across Prism, just noticing that she was there. He'd naturally assumed that she couldn't see any of them, but then why would she be able to touch Prism?

"She can see you?" he asked Lunar, puzzled.

"Apparently," Lunar said.

Nightlight squinted and pointed. "She can see Prism as well, little Lunanoff. She is touching him. So she must believe. But how?"

Lucy smiled. "Funny story about that. Turns out he saved my life when I was a kid."

"Well, doesn't that beat all," North said.

"Yeah, too bad she can't see all of us," Bunnymund said.

Lucy turned to look at him. "About that…"

The Guardians all stared at her, mouths slightly open. Lunar walked over and touched her. His hand did not go through.

"Can you see all of us?" Jack asked.

She reached over and poked him. "Yes. I believe in you. I had to."

Lucy looked down at Prism, who was struggling to focus. Lunar pursed his lips and shooed Jack to the side. He knelt down and assessed his friend.

"What happened?"

"He saved Jackson's life. Got hit by a truck after using his magic," Lucy said calmly.

"I see. Any broken bones?"

"Can't touch him," Jack replied. "He has a fever, which means he's wounded, but I can't check his ribs. I think they might be broken because any touch makes him lash out."

Lunar nodded thoughtfully. "Very well."

He reached down and gingerly touched Prism's chest. At once, Prism's eyes flew open, and he let out a choked sound. A blast of magic washed over the Man in the Moon, but he brushed it off like flicking away a fly. He pressed lightly against Prism's ribs with his magic and noticed at once that there was no way his ribs were broken. His face pinched with confusion.

"What?"

"What's wrong, little Lunanoff?" Nightlight asked.

"His ribs are perfectly fine. Not a one is broken."

"Then why would he fight us like that?" Jack asked.

Lucy paled as she realized a horrible truth. She had been right. Prism had never told his friends about his panic attacks. It wasn't pain that was making him lash out. It was fear. She squeezed Prism's hand, and he looked over at her, terror in his eyes. He shook his head, groaning.

"Probably because he's a monster. He just wants to hurt you," Jamie said distastefully.

Jack turned and frowned at Jamie. "He's not Pitch Black anymore, Jamie. Can't you see he's different?"

"I can't see him at all! And I don't want to! He tried to kill me, Jack!"

Panic began to claw at Prism's skull as he heard those words. The dark void inside of him gaped wide, and Shadow Man was going to come through at any moment. He had to get him out!

No, he was okay. He was going to be okay. He was Prism Lunanoff, with his friends and he couldn't lose control. But his eyes met Jamie's, though the man couldn't see him, and he heard his own distorted voice, laughing at the thought of killing a child as lightbulbs exploded…

Prism screamed so loudly that everybody but Jamie jumped. They swung around to look at Prism only to see him writhing, clawing at his own skin with frantic determination. Lucy shrieked and fell back as she watched Prism gouge lines of flesh out of his own skin. She had never wondered what his fits looked like. This was horrifying.

A wild, crazed look was on his face as black, prismatic blood coated his fingers, pouring in rivulets down his dusky skin. Jackson cried out and buried his face in his father's side. Prism clawed at his arms, his chest, his stomach, still screaming and writhing.

For half a minute, the Guardians stood, terrified and shocked, then Lunar lunged forward and snagged one of Prism's bloody hands, wrenching it back away from his torso. Prism nearly jerked it out of his hands, and Bunnymund joined in. Prism screamed even louder, his voice changing as it came through his raw throat. Jack launched himself over Prism and snagged his other hand. North helped him to pin it down, and Jack froze it to the pavement with a special kind of unmelting ice. He scrambled over to the other hand and froze it down, too, relieving Bunnymund and Lunar of their fight.

They sat there, panting as Prism screamed louder, jerking his whole body to try and get loose. Sandy threw a fistful of dreamsand at Prism's face in desperation, and he quieted at once, but he was still awake and fighting sleep. They sat there for a moment, then Lunar squinted at Prism's chest through his destroyed shirt. With a murmured word, the blood staining his skin disappeared. More bubbled up in the fresh wounds, but what got Lunar's attention was that there were gouges that were in various states of healing.

"He's been hurting himself," Lunar said numbly.

Jack recoiled, gaping at Prism. "What? Why?"

"So he didn't tell you," Lucy said into the ringing silence as Prism lost the fight to sleep and went limp.

The Guardians turned to her. "You knew about this?" Lunar asked.

"Yes. I saw them and he told me everything."

"Well, why wouldn't he tell us?" Jack demanded.

Lucy sighed. "He promised he wouldn't lie to you."

Jack stared at her then looked down at Prism. "So… he lied. About what?"

"After his first panic attack, he told you something about a plane. It's spiraled from there." She swallowed. "You should probably get him to the moon. You have stuff for healing, right?"

"Yes," Lunar said. "Of course."

He didn't look happy. None of the Guardians did. They quickly made a plan to get Prism to the moon. They agreed that they would all go and stay for a while and leave their jobs to their helpers. Prism needed them, and that was a priority.

As they left, Lucy called to Jack. He paused a few feet off the ground.

"Yeah?"

"Jackson's in remission."

Everyone paused. "The cancer's gone?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Prism helped us through it. Thought you should know."

"Yeah. Good for you, little man," Jack said, smiling at the boy.

"Help Prism to feel better, okay?" Jackson said.

"Don't worry, kid. We've got him," Bunnymund said.

"Be good," North said distractedly.

"And don't forget to floss," Toothiana murmured.

Sandy flashed a thumbs up then they took off. Lucy watched them go then stood up. Jamie glared at her, his jaw set. She didn't know what to say.

"What happened?" a groggy voice asked. It was the truck driver, who was regaining consciousness. "Wait! Did I hit the kid?!"

"Better help him," Jamie said tersely.

He stomped off toward the man, and Lucy sighed. Jamie wasn't happy with her. But he had nothing to worry about. She had a feeling he wasn't going to listen to Prism's story. So what could she do?

"Lucy, call an ambulance," Jamie shouted.

Lucy pulled out her cellphone and dialed the number. At least there was something to focus on. She'd deal with Jamie later.