A/N: It is time… here comes the ACTION! Now keep in mind that I warned you things were going to HEAT up. Sorry to all the winter sprite fans, but I've had this idea for a longgg time. Here we go!

"Never mind that, Jack. Instead, would you like to have a little… fun?"

Jack scoffed. "Fun?"

"Yes, Jack! Some fun - a little game, if you will. Let's say… Marco Polo?"

Jack's brow furrowed in confusion. "Marco -"

"POLO!"

Jack jerked his gaze back up to see both Pitch and Lily gone. He spun around, eyes darting, looking for movement. Pitch's malicious laugh echoed off the walls.

"Oh, Jack… aren't you going to find us?"

"Where are you, Pitch?!"

"Well if I told you, we wouldn't be playing a game anymore now, would we?"

Jack ground his teeth. "I'm gonna kill you."

"Oh?" Pitch replied, his voice laced with mock surprise. "I take it you're not having as much fun as I am. Tell you what - since Marco Polo doesn't seem to be your style, how about we make a few… modifications?"

Ever alert, Jack nodded slowly, cautious of his suspicious tone. "Okay, Pitch. Let's play. What're your rules?"

"Well, let's see. How do I get you to look for me instead of turning around in the same place like a twit? Oh, I know! How about we replace 'polo' with - "

Lily's scream ripped through the caves.

"LILY!" Jack ran toward the sound of her whimpers.

"Ah, it worked!" Pitch snickered in coup. "It's time to play, Jacky-Jack."

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Now, now. That's not how this game works. What do you say?"

Jack's ice-blue eyes began to change. Fiery orange seared through the cold lapis of his iris until they glowed with an insatiable rage. "Marco."

—

Another ear-piercing scream ricochetted off the walls. Jack sprinted to the far west side of Pitch's lair. The wind was unable to help and Jack had noted this upon his arrival. The underground caves were spacious but stiflingly unventilated.

"Lily?"

"Wrong name, Jack."

Jack yelled in frustration.

"Marco! Pitch, I'm going to kill you!"

"Yes, you've said that multiple times now. I'm getting rather bored."

Lily's scream was amplified as it shot around like a very loud bullet. Jack followed the echo, his staff out and ready to attack. Asd he emerged from one of the various tunnels that wove through the cave system, he found Pitch standing over a stone table. Lily was crying as she lay strapped to it.

"Well done, Jack. You've found us. But unfortunately, you don't get your prize. I'm afraid you haven't earned it yet."

Jack's voice was gruff and forceful as he said, "I think I have."

He charged at Pitch, using only his staff to shoot a blast of frozen daggers at the boogeyman. Only, what came out of his staff was not what either of them were expecting. A shower of white hot sparks flooded from the crook of the gnarled stick and a spiral of pyrotechnics bursted toward Pitch, exploding square on his chest. Pitch was knocked of his feet and straight into the wall twenty feet behind him.

Taken aback, Jack looked down at the staff in his hands. What the hell just happened?