Jack frost was sitting on a roof, staring up into the sky, looking at the pockmarks on the moon. He was bouncing his staff in one hand, his other shoved into his hoodie pocket.

"Pitch says I shouldn't bother with you. That you'll never answer me." Jack waited as if the moon was going to respond. "But I've tried everything, and the kids never see me. If there's something I'm doing wrong, the least you could do is tell me." As no response came, he growled, leaning forward slightly. "You put me here! I think that after all this time I'm owed a bit of an explanation!"

Still, the moon remained silent. Jack scoffed. He rose to his feet, walking along the powerlines of the street. He muttered into the shadow of his hoodie so the Moon couldn't see, "Pitch is right. I'll never be important enough for you."

His staff tapped along the wire, sending frost dancing along its length.

Jack didn't really know why he bothered to try to talk with MiM after all these years. One of the holes in his being ached when he looked at the moon, as if he had once been close with the heavenly body, like he had even seen the man held on its surface; but that was ridiculous: he'd only ever been Jack Frost, and he'd never been anything before, and he'd never be anything more. He tugged his hoodie down further with an angry jerk.

His life was one big dead end. The time of year wasn't helping things. The world was warming into spring, meaning his powers would wane and he would get sick unless he retreated North or South to either pole.

Maybe he'd try breaking into North's palace again; give Phil a premature heart attack to keep him out. Jack snickered at the thought.

A sound broke Jack out of his riotous thoughts. To an untrained ear, it could be mistaken for water, perhaps waves at a beach, but Jack knew better. He turned, smiling widely at the tendrils of golden sand filling the sky. Rolling his shoulders, Jack shrugged off his hood with ease.

"Right on time Sandman."

Jack raced to intercept a stream, throwing his hand into the golden grains. A dolphin erupted into the air, dancing and squeaking mutely before it dashed off to a sleeping child. Jack watched it leave. With a whoop, he summoned the Wind and dashed off after more streams.

He played like this for several minutes. Jack loved to see the kids curl up in bed and smile in their sleep. Checking in every window, he made sure his precious children had all received their dreams without incident: he came to Cupcake first before quickly leaving, and so missed his old friend emerging from the shadows to begin his game.

Jack was snapped from his nightly routine by a dark blur and a trash can crashing over. He whipped around, staff held tightly. The blur came and went again, but Jack saw it and gave chase.

The blur led him on a wild goose chase. He whooped from adrenaline.

He briefly wondered if he was being led into a trap: Pitch always said that many spirits in their world were not friendly and wished harm to all they saw; and Jack had learned this the hard way on more than one occasion. But Jack had grown stronger. He trained and spent years harnessing his powers. A strange blur in the darkness was no threat. Besides, Pitch would notice his absence if he was caught or injured and would find Jack as he had done every time before. (Which, to the boy's great embarrassment, was a lot of times.)

The winter spirit landed in a dead end corner. He circled, trying to find the blur.

"G'day there mate."

Jack whirled, staff at the ready. A figure emerged from the shadows: not as perfectly as Pitch could, being made of shadows, but very well for a seven foot tall rabbit. "Been a long time. Blizzard of '68 I believe. Easter Sunday, wasn't it." It wasn't a question.

"Bunny!" Jack pretended to relax, but he kept a tight grip on his staff. "You're not still mad about that, are you?"

"Yes." The word was short and bitter as Bunnymund spat it out. He slowly relaxed, leaning back and examining his boomerang. "But this is about something else. Fellas?"

Jack was suddenly hoisted off of his feet. He yelled and kicked, calling the Wind to his aid, but Yetis have unbreakable grips; how they managed to sneak up on him, Jack had no idea. He was roughly shoved into a sack. He could hear their garbled speak, and Bunny's reply, but he couldn't make out the words. Jack threw his minuscule weight about in the sack. No good. He couldn't even feel the call of the Wind here. His staff had been ripped from his hands, leaving him feeling defenseless and naked.

For a moment, Jack panicked. Fear shot through his body like a drug, calling to his old friend in the only way available.

As Jack was tossed through a magical portal, not too far away, Pitch raised his head. He knew that fear. Jack Frost had gotten himself into a bind once again. Pitch considered giving chase, but surely he could handle himself: he'd seen Jack train many times. The boy would have made a formidable enemy. As soon as the fear had come, Pitch felt it suddenly be pulled away from his reach. He hissed, focusing on the familiarity he had established with Jack: the fear soon vanished, replaced with careful apprehension. Pitch relaxed, unaware he had even tensed up.

He would keep a metaphorical eye out, but Jack would be fine. Pitch would investigate further if he needed to. For now, he had a war to begin.

-- at the North Pole --

Jack hit the floor hard. His grunt of pain and surprise quieted the room, voices whisper-screaming "hush, he's here," and "quiet down," accompanied by the frenzied jingles of elf hats. Jack slowly opened the mouth of the bag. Peering out, he saw two large black boots; looking further, he saw the massive man attached to said boots.

"There he is!" St. Nicholas North bellowed. "Jack Frost!"

"Oh you have got to be kidding me..." Two yetis pulled Jack up by his arms, ignoring his protests.

"I hope the yetis treated you well," North asked politely. His massive body and kind act did not stop Jack's natural desire to snap back.

With a kick, Jack's staff sailed into his hands. "Oh yes," he propped his staff on his shoulder, "I love being shoved into a sack and tossed through a magic portal."

"Oh good! That was my idea!" Jack wasn't sure if North was just being North, or if the blunt hint had really sailed over his head; or both. "You already know Bunny," the rabbit barely even twitched his paw in a wave. "And Tooth-"

North was cut off as the Tooth Fairy zoomed in close to Jack. "Hello Jack, I've heard a lot about you," she was way too close for comfort, but that didn't stop her from inching even closer, "and your teeth!"

"My-my what?" Jack tried to back up, but she didn't let him.

"Open up!" Having unprotected feathery fingers dig around in his mouth, Jack learned, was an awful feeling. Tooth, completely oblivious, gasped in delight, finally withdrawing her hands. "Aw! They really do sparkle like freshly fallen snow!" He slapped a protective hand over his mouth, backing away. The tiny little faires that accompanied their mother everywhere cooed over his teeth: one even fainted. "Shape up girls. Let's not disgrace the uniform." As if she hadnt already done so enough.

North continued as if there had been no interruption at all. "And Sandman... Sandy? Wake up!" The little man startled, waking from his doze and waving at Jack.

"Hey! Ho! Anyone wanna tell me why I'm here?" Sandy perked up at Jack's question, quickly flashing sand images: all Jack saw was the same five-or-so symbols repeating themselves. He chuckled. "That's not really helping, but thanks little man." He stood. Shaking his head, he casually froze one of the dumb little elves. Jack chuckled as it toppled over. "I musta done somthing really bad to get you four together. Am I on the Naughty List?" He half turned around, flashing one of his cheekier smiles: another fairy swooned.

North barked out a laugh. "ON Naughty List?! You hold record." Jack snickered and turned away. "But no matter. Today we are wiping clean the slate."

"How come?" Jack sent a distrustful glance at the four. Not a bit of this felt right to him at all.

The rabbit scoffed. "Heh, good question."

"How come? I tell you how come! Because now, you are Guardian!"

That was not the answer Jack had been expecting. He hadn't been expecting torches and a sudden blare of music either. He stumbled backwards, waving off a necklace of flowers and trying to think through the blaring music that filled his entire head: a yeti steadied him, patting him consoling on the shoulder. North was laughing. Tooth was beaming at Jack. Sandy toasted him with a glass of eggnog while Bunny scoffed and rolled his eyes. Those torches were getting awfully close for his liking: he was half tempted to summon the Wind and blow them out. Worst of all, a couple of elves pointed to a hideous looking pair of blue shoes.

That was a big no.

A yeti handed North a massive tome, which he took gratefully. North proudly flipped the book open to the appropriate page, ready to read some magnificent speech or another.

He wasn't given the chance.

Jack screwed up his face, raised his staff above his head, and slammed the butt-end onto the floor Gandalf style. The torches were blown out by the Wind rushing to his side: elves skid across now icy floors: the book was launched into North's face.

Silence fell.

Still scowling, Jack took an aggressive step forward. "What makes you think I wanna be a Guardian?!"

There was no answer for a moment.

"HA!" North bellowed out a laugh, surprising even his fellow Guardians. As his laugh petered out, he looked down at Jack to say, "of course you do. MUSIC!!"

"NO MUSIC!"

An elf threw his trumpet down on the ground, shoving his neighbor as he stomped away.

"Look this is all very flattering," Jack tried to remain polite, despite his temper, "but you don't want me. You're all hard work! And deadlines! I'm snowballs and fun times... I'm not a Guardian."

"Heh!" Bunny sounded almost triumphant. "That's exactly what I said!"

Tooth, looking concerned, hushed the rabbit. She flitted over to the riled winter spirit: he leaned away, clamping his jaw closed. "Jack, I don't think you understand what it is we do." She guided him over to the massive globe that dominated the room. "Each one of those lights is a child..."

"A child who believes," North finished, walking up beside the pair. "And good or bad, naughty or nice, we protect them."

"Augh-er-aighonf-"

"Tooth, fingers out of mouth," North chastised. As she flew off North finally got to business. "Ok, no more wishy-washy. Pitch is out there doing who knows what!"

"Wait, Pitch?" Jack scoffed. Sure, he knew Pitch and the Guardians did not get along, even to the point of being enemies, but this seemed a bit extreme. "What does he have to do with this?"

"When he threatens us, he threatens them as well!"

"All the more reason to pick someone more qualified!" Jack shouted, cutting a hand through the air as he turned away.

"Pick? You think we pick? No! You were chosen! Like we were all chosen! By Man in Moon."

That got Jack's attention. He whipped around. "Last night Jack, he chose you." Tooth's voice was gentle, hoping he would understand.

Bunny was a lot less gentle. "Maybe."

"The... the Moon... he talks to you?" He gazed up at the bright white orb in the sky: MiM twinkled at him, temptingly.

"You see? You cannot say no. It is destiny."

Jack took a step towards the window: he couldn't take his eyes off of the moon. "Why... why wouldn't he just tell me himself?" Jack snorted, running a hand through his hair and turning away. "After three hundred years, this is his answer? To spend eternity cooped up like you guys, finding new ways to bribe kids?! Oh no. That's not for me!" He glared up at the moon, growling. To rub salt in the wound he turned to four, saying. "No offence."

"H-how-how-how is that not offensive?!" Bunny stalked forward. "Yknow what I think? I think we just dodged a bullet. I mean -"

"Oh you're probably right." Jack cut him off before he could go further. "I mean, I love that you guys spend so much energy and time protecting kids: I respect that, I really do. I love them! But that's all you guys do!" He threw his arms wide with exasperation, gesturing for the whole workshop to see. "You guys are cooped up in here and you forget that there are other immortals and spirits and sprites who aren't as lucky as you and who can't have tea parties with MiM or thousands of people to believe in them!"

Tooth hugged herself, looking more worried by the second. "We haven't forgotten... they matter too."

"Oh do they?" Jack was angry now. "Tell me, when was the last time you guys got to know one? When was the last time you helped one in need and made sure he or she returned to full health safely?" Now it was his turn to get up in their faces and point fingers. "When was the last time you saw seasonal spirits die because vengeful spirits of other seasons attacked and left them to grow deathly ill in climates they physically can't stand?! Why do you think people like me are so few and far between? Winter sprites are hunted down almost for sport because 'winter kills everything it touches'!"

The others backed off: Bunny's ears flattened in shock; Tooth's hands flew to her mouth; Sandy held a hand over his little sandy heart; and North leaned back, eyes wide. One stray tear rolled down Jack's cheek to freeze into a perfect orb. "And where are you? Huh? Holed up in your towers and islands, not noticing the little people, all consumed with the children. And I repeat, I love kids! I love seeing them play in my snow and skate on my ice! And I love that you protect them; but who protects people like me?!"

The room was silent except for his raving. "I'll tell you who." The Guardians felt like maybe they didn't want to know. "He may be your enemy, and that's ok, but Pitch Black is not MY enemy. He's a friend to a ton of us forgotten people. He reminds us that we have no one else that will come to protect us, so we have to protect each other; while you're off gathering belief to keep yourself well and happy, we have to rush to each other's defense so that another one of us (no matter which season or element type we are) will not die." Jack finally calmed down, turning around and raising his hands. "And I wanna keep it that way. I like being neutral, and I don't wanna be the enemy of someone who has gotten me out of tough bind after tough bind. I'll not become a Guardian. Not like you."

Bunny was the first to recover. He dashed in front of the winter spirit before he could walk away. He towered over Jack, but not threateningly. "A'ight, so maybe we've neglected some people (and I promise we'll take better care of that from now on,) but our sworn duty is to the children first. Are you really going to throw out Manny's wishes so easily?"

"Ohhhh no!" Jack pivoted on his heel, raising his hands to the sky. "I'm so glad that I got nothing from him for three hundred years! Of course I'll gladly jump to my feet to become someone I am in fact not!" He dropped the act and looked Bunny right in the eyes, the Wind lifting him up a bit so they were eye-to-eye. "If the Moon wanted me to be one of you guys, he could have told me when he first rescued me and not ignored me all this time! The coward should have told me himself and not used his lap dogs!"

Ohhhh boi-yo had Jack crossed the line now.

Bunny bristled from head to toe, shaking in anger. "COWARD?!" He yelled, closing the distance to Jack. "COWARD?!" Sandy and Tooth flew to restrain the rabbit as he began shouting curses. Jack backed away, shocked.

He stumbled into the large hand of North. The old Russian looked down on Jack in a mixture of kindness and pity.

"Jack, walk with me please."

A/N

So... I forgot about this a day late, but in my defense, yesterday was awful. Knowing myself, I'll just tell yall now to expect this to happen again a time or two.

Now, what do yall think of this one? I'm keeping pretty closely in line with the actual movie's series of events, but this is certainly separate from canon. I'm also designating large portions of the movie each into singular chapters, because I am running off of the assumption you all have watched the movie.

Now, not much else to add, so tell me what yall think! See you later Lovies!