"It's nothing personal North," Jack rambled, rolling his wrists and bouncing on his heel. "It's just what you guys do isn't my thing."

"Man in Moon says it is your thing!" North bellowed with no regard for disturbing his yeti workers. Jack muttered a quiet, "yeah, we'll see," but whether or not North heard, the hulking man did not directly respond: instead he shouted, "keep up Jack, keep up!"

Jack weaved through the crowds and desks after North, turning on his heel and trying to take in every view he could. "Hey, slow down! I've been trying to bust in here for decades!"

"What do you mean? Bust in?"

"Oh don't worry, I never got past the yetis." One extra beefy yeti saw Jack. He dropped what he was carrying to smash his palm into his fist and point menacingly at the winter spirit. "Oh, hey Phil." The yeti grumbled aggressively.

Finally being in North's workshop palace was equivalent to sending Jack to a candy store: i.e., a bad idea. Everywhere he looked there was more to see: magical flying toys in every color zoomed around; work tables laden down with parts held yetis carefully constructing the toys from models made of ice; elves scampered back and forth, getting into parts and materials they should not be. "I always thought the elves made the toys."

North leaned down conspiratorially. "We just let them believe that," he whispered. As they watched, one elf threw a switch which resulted in another elf (covered in lights) to suddenly glow and turn on his pedestal. No wonder the things had no brain power. "Very nice, keep up good work!" North fake congratulated the elves, then continued pushing Jack along.

Finally, they reached North's personal workshop. It was smaller than Jack had anticipated; or perhaps the heaps of ice and tools just made it seem smaller than it really was. North tiptoed into the room. He was patting his hands and and waiting for Jack's reaction to his personal room. He swiped a dish from a passing elf. "Fruit cake?" It was only polite to offer.

"Uhhh, no thanks. I'm good."

North tossed the dish aside, disinterested. His face fell into something almost hostile. "Now, we get down to tacks of brass," he said, voice low as he cracked his knuckles threateningly.

Jack squinted. "Tacks of-" the door to North's work shop slammed closed with a bang. Jack whipped around, alarmed. By the time he turned back to look at North, the far larger man had advanced, causing Jack to stumble back in fear.

"Who ARE you, Jack Frost?" He jabbed a fat finger into the boy's chest. "What is your center?"

Jack was stumbling for an answer. He couldn't think clearly with North towering over him and his back pressed into a door; Jack was clutching his staff until he felt it might shatter. "My - my what?"

"Your center!" North emphasized, as if that cleared everything. "If Man in Moon chose you to be Guardian, you must have something very special inside." Thankfully, he then leaned back, letting the poor sprite breathe. (Not that he needed oxygen anyhow.) He hummed. With a smirk, he waved Jack over to a shelf; Jack didn't oblige. Swiping a Russian doll from a shelf, North said, "this is how you see me, no? Very big, intimidating," he chuckled, passing the doll to Jack. "But if you get to know me..."

Taking the hint, Jack opened the first doll. The second doll had a wide smile, with crinkled red cheeks. "... you are downright jolly?" His voice was flat, disinterested.

"But not JUST jolly!" Jack opened the next doll, North keeping a running commentary as each doll was opened. "I am also mysterious!... and fearless!... and caring!... and at my center?" He stepped forward, gently holding out a hand for the last part of the doll. Jack dumped the tiny figure in his massive palm.

"There is a tiny wooden baby." Jack rubbed his temple, a headache coming on.

"Look closely! What do you see?"

Jack gestured without meaning or emotion. "I... you have big eyes?"

"YES!" North was shouting again, getting up in Jack's face. "BIG eyes, VERY BIG! Because they are full of wonder! That is my center!" He strode further into the work room, gesturing at each of his inventions as they moved and functioned on their own. "Wonder is what I put into the world! It is what I was born with! Eyes that have always seen the wonder in EVERYTHING! Eyes that see lights in the trees, and magic in the air!" The door reopened, and Jack and North stepped back out into the the open air of the true workshop. "This is what I protect in children. It is my center." North looked down at Jack. His eyes were filled with kindness and gentleness that Jack strangely felt he didn't deserve. "What is yours?"

Jack looked down at the little wooden baby with wonder in its eyes in his palm. He didn't have an answer. He had never really known who he was, not like this. He was just Jack Frost.

North patted Jack's fingers around the baby, silently telling him to keep the doll until he found an answer.

Suddenly there was the buzzing of wings. Jack and North looked just in time to see the shadow of Tooth flying past at top speed with her fairies tailing behind. Bunnymund rushed up to North and Jack.

"We gotta problem mate," he said without prelude. "Trouble at the Tooth Palace."

Jack found himself being hustled through the workshop, much against his protests. "You guys! I'm not going with you! I'm neutral!"

"Yeah," Bunny added. "Yeah why is he coming along?" The rabbit sent Jack a hateful glare, still riled over him calling MiM a coward.

"Manny says he is Guardian! Besides, it might do us all good to have you there!" North shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe seeing us in true action will change your mind? Prepare the sleigh!" This was thrown to a yeti, who grunted in his gibberish speak, beginning a conversation with his boss as they stomped down the halls.

Jack scowled, but couldn't find it in himself to wriggle out of North's grip. "Look, this really is flattering, but I really am serious about not being a Guardian!" They all clambered out of an elevator and walked over to a runway of sorts. "And why would I want to ride in a rickety... old... sleigh...?"

Jack's voice petered out. He looked on in astonishment as a team of six reindeer stormed out of their holding area, steam pouring from their nostrils as they stamped their hooves on the ground. What emerged behind them was not a rickety old sleigh, but something far more sleek and advanced: it was painted red, with wings extending from the sides and with a globe centered on what was the "dashboard".

Oh he had to ride in that.

He quickly tried to cover how he was nearly drooling, but North saw. "ONE ride to Tooth Palace, then I'm out, got it?"

The spirit of Christmas paid no heed to the accusing finger in his face, choosing instead to hop into the sleigh with a delighted "everyone loves de sleigh!"

Not everyone, in fact, "loves de sleigh." Bunny tapped a paw on its wood, untrusting. "I think my tunnels might be faster mate, and safer."

"NONSENSE!" North leaned over and scooped up Bunny by the scruff of his neck, plopping him on a seat row. "Is everything ready?" He asked this to a yeti, who garbled his speech and waved his hands in a frantic "NO!" "PERFECT!" North, of course, gave no attention to denial. "Buckle up!"

"Where are the bloody seatbelts?!"

North laughed good naturedly at Bunny's panic. "HA! Is expression!"

He whipped the reins and his steeds shot down the runway. The momentum made Jack fall backwards into his seat and whoop in delight. They weaved at breakneck speeds around pillars, crashed through forks in the road, and careened through massive loop-de-loops that made Jack scream in delight and Bunny nearly puke: all Sandy could do was throw his hands up. They burst out of the cave system and rocketed into the sky. Jack whooped one last time.

The winter spirit hopped to the back of the sleigh to look out on the world. What he saw took his breath away. Not once in all his years had he seen the ground so clearly from this high up! Whenever he flew, snowflakes followed to obscure his vision and make him rely on his sixth sense to steer.

But now the ground was crisp and clear, allowing Jack to see every nook and cranny and all the tiny little patches of grass.

Of course he was going to have fun with it.

"Hey, Bunny! You should really come see this- WOAH!" Jack called the Wind to his side and was shot off of the sleigh: he ducked under the body and sprawled himself on the ski, calm as could be. He could hear Bunny yelling and withheld a snicker. As the terrified little nose poked over the edge, Jack couldn't help but tease, "awww, you do care!"

"Oi rack off ya bloddy show pony!"

Oblivious to the rivalry behind him, North picked up a snow globe. "I say, Tooth Palace!" He threw the little ball with all his might. It burst in thin air, opening a portal wide enough for the whole sleigh.

The triumphant air of their departure faded as quickly as it had come.

The Tooth Palace was being swarmed by thousands of black shapes: Jack recognized them instantly as the nightmares that followed Pitch everywhere anymore. He leapt to the front of the sleigh, leaning forward for a better look. What he saw shocked him to his core. "They're taking the tooth faires!"

And just like that, despite his wishes for the opposite, Jack found himself in a war.

He bounded off the sleigh, summoning the wind to his side as he made a mad race for one little fairy against a nightmare. Jack barely managed to keep his fingers (and the fairy) out of the beast's mouth. He wasn't sure why he had rushed to save the thing; most likely his protective nature springing up once more, mentally making the fairy equivalent to his hunted brothers and sisters of Winter. Drifting back down to the sleigh, he clutched the tiny little fairy to his chest. "Hey there BabyTooth, you alright?"

She squeaked and nodded, shivering from fear and his cold. Jack could almost hear her tiny "thank you" in his mind. He smiled and tucked her into his jacket pocket: at least she could be warmer there.

Jack didn't rise again to fight the nightmares. There were no more fairies to be saved, and he had promised he was neutral.

But still, something was nagging in the back of his mind, and he had to admit he was dreadfully curious now; and a curious Jack Frost is always a dangerous thing.

At last they crashed onto a platform in the high palace walls. The nightmares were gone. The battle was over. "Tooth!" North called, cupping his hands around his mouth even though his voice could probably have been heard half a continent away. "Are you alright?!"

Tooth was flitting about, panicked. "They - they took my fairies! And the teeth! All of them!" Despair filled her, and she flitted to the ground. "Everything is gone..." Upon hearing her mother's voice however, Baby Tooth flew from Jack's pocket with a high pitched squeal. Tooth gasped. "Oh! Oh thank goodness one of you is safe!" Baby Tooth continued squeaking. "Jack saved you?"

Tooth looked at Jack with more thankfulness than he could have thought possible: he blushed a light blue and scuffed a toe on the ground. "Just another person like me in danger," he mumbled.

"Thank you." The word was so sincere it made Jack wish he could have saved a hundred just to hear her say it again.

"I have to say," a smooth voice echoed throughout the palace, "this is all very exciting. The Big Four all in one place. I'm a little star struck!" Pitch Black leaned over the edge of a platform, smirking down at them. "Did you like my show on the globe North? Got you all together, didn't I?"

North growled and stamped his foot, angry that he had fallen for the simple trick. Tooth was having none of it. "PITCH! You have got thirty seconds to return my fairies!" She launched herself after him.

"Or what?" His voice echoed from every direction for a moment, before it solidified with his form on another platform. "You'll stick a quarter under my pillow?"

"Why are you doing this?" North pointed one of his ancient swords at Pitch.

Jack had been wondering the same, looking wide eyed between the two sides. His knuckles were whiter than normal as he clutched his staff to his chest, unsure of what he should do. He was neutral, right? He'd already helped them by saving Baby Tooth: did that mean he would have to now do something for Pitch? He didn't really understand neutrality, but that didn't seem right.

"Maybe, I want what you have. To be believed in!"

The venomous words cut right through Jack. That was exactly what he wanted; what he'd always wanted. He wanted to be seen so badly that at times he felt that he would do anything at all--

"Maybe I'm tired of finding under beds!" Pitch continued, spitting his words.

"Maybe that's where you belong," Bunny spat right back, brandishing his boomerang. He didn't see how Jack flinched.

Pitch sighed dramatically and leaned out from underneath the platform the four Guardians were standing on. "Go suck an egg rabbit." Jack withheld a snicker at the rude comment. Pitch must have heard as he dissapeared in the shadows once more. "Hold up, Jack?" Pitch hopped out of the shadows near where Jack stood. "What are you doing here?" His voice lacked the venom he'd used on the Guardians, genuinely curious, almost worried.

"It's a long story." Jack relaxed, making sure his staff was hanging by his side. "A bit of a misunderstanding occurred, I got roped in, and now I'm interested."

Pitch started walking, passing Jack and offering, "I can send you back to your little town if you'd like," politely. The shadows under the platforms grew, beckoning to Jack.

He was tempted. Truly, he was. He could walk through and put this mess behind him: maybe he could nip down to Antartica and stir up a continent wide storm.

But Jack was more curious than tempted. "If it's all the same with you, I'd like to watch a bit longer."

Pitch shrugged. "Very well." He sent a smirk over his shoulder before he dissapeared again: the smirk radiated a "watch this" sort of air. Jack grinned and crouched low. Oh he was ready to watch alright.

Tooth snatched one of Bunny's boomerangs. She advanced slightly, enough to convey her intentions, but not enough to provoke an attack. "Stay away from Jack, Pitch. He isn't your puppet!"

Pitch sneered. "He isn't yours or Manny's either. Last I checked he is a free spirit; one you've ignored."

"Pitch, you shadow sneaking rat-bag: c'mere!" Bunny bounded down the platforms, chasing after Pitch who fell into the shadows. Jack watched, fascinated, as Tooth careened in mid-flight to speed towards Pitch with a scream of pure rage. Jack himself leapt in surprise as an extra large Nightmare burst from the ground to kick and swipe at the air millimeters from Tooth's face. She gasped and back-peddled (or, back-peddled as well as someone can while flying.)

Pitch laughed, calming his steed with a haughty air. He scooped up a handful of black sand and let it sift through his fingers down to the Guardians. "Look familiar, Sandman? Took me a while to perfect this little trick; turning dreams into nightmares," he stroked the mare's muzzle affectionately. "Don't be nervous: it only riles them up more. They smell fear, you know."

"What fear?" Bunny scoffed, "of you? No one's been afraid of you since the Dark Ages!"

Oh no. He had mentioned the Dark Ages. Jack groaned internally, knowing Pitch was about to launch full heartedly into his loooong spiel about the glory of the Dark Ages. Jack himself had asked once, and Pitch had a small tendancy to drift off into a happy reminiscence or lecture about the smallest of details. Sure it was cool to hear about for the first time, but the seventh?

But that was indeed exactly what Pitch did. "Ohhhhh, the Dark Ages! Everyone miserable, frightened: such happy times for me, oh the power I wielded!" His voice turned bitter. "But then the Man in the Moon decided to replace my fear with your wonder and light; lifting their hearts, and giving them hope! Meanwhile everyone just wrote me off as just a bad dream. There's nothing to be afraid of! There's no such thing as the Boogeyman!" His voice suddenly quieted as he stepped closer to the edge. Any pleasantness Jack knew in Pitch had vanished as he glowered down at the four Guardians. "Well that's all about to change."

As if on cue, there was a rumbling sound and what sounded like crinkling foil paper. Pitch chuckled. "Oh look, it's happening already."

Tooth gasped. She looked heartbroken, as if someone had told her to her face that everyone she loved had died. Jack couldn't help himself. "What is?"

"All across the globe, children are waking up to find that the tooth fairy never came." Pitch chuckled yet again. Jack had never realized how often the man laughed in some form or another without actually laughing. "I mean, it's such a little thing... but to a child..."

Jack looked to Tooth, then to North. "What's going on?"

Tooth's voice was weak and strained from shock. "They... they don't believe in me anymore..."

"Didn't they tell you Jack? It's great being a Guardian! But there's a catch- if enough kids stop believing, everything they work for (wonder, hopes, and dreams,) it all goes away. And little by little, so do they." Pitch's voice displayed that he was far too pleased with this prospect; it was candy to him. "There will be no Easter, or Christmas, or little faires that come in the night."

Bunny snorted, stepping forward to place himself between Pitch and Tooth. "And what? You'll send the world into a new Dark Age? You'll reign supreme and sow your violence and misery?!"

"Oh no no." Pitch waved a hand, then paused. "Well, that bit about reigning, preferably, and misery will certainly play its part, but I have no need for another Dark Age. I have an entirely different plan this time... a plan that I know will be widely supported by all the little people you've neglected: people like you, Jack." Pitch smiled at Jack, kind as he ever was to the boy.

Jack didn't know how to process that information. A plan and a rule that would draw in people like him? The forgotten spirits and the dying sprites?

Well, Jack knew what he wanted in a plan for the future: safety, not just for himself but for his brothers and sisters and for every elemental, seasonal spirit, sprite, and any other form of immortal: he wanted each one safe and happy so that they wouldn't hate each other; and (if he could have it) to be seen. Oh, Jack wanted to be seen so badly. He wanted the children to know it was him who gave them their snow and ice thick enough to stake on.

He loved the children. He wanted them safe and happy as well.

But... could Pitch really provide that?

Bunny didn't think so. He threw his boomerangs in quick succession and, before Jack could realize what was happening, a chase was underway. All four Guardians launched themselves off of the ledge after Pitch: the winter spirit scrambled to follow.

Pitch was very good at avoiding projectiles on that horse of his. With a final colorful flash of smoke from an egg bomb, he had dissapeared.

The five circled, prepared if Pitch had tricked them and was returning. When it was clear that he was not, they lowered their weapons. "He's gone," North said, stating the obvious.

Jack set himself down a bit further from the Big Four. He wanted to think for a moment.

A/N

Chapter three up and on time today! I'm super glad this is getting some attention! We have a couple comments.

ILoveBooks1234, I adore the movie as well, but I agree: its just a bit too happenstance for me. Granted, it's a movie for children who won't notice somethings, but I do now that I am an adult. Jack and Pitch have so much in common, and their dynamic is delightful (as most hero/villain dynamics are.) And while I would have been in the long run disappointed if Jack had fallen to Pitch's side in Antartica, I think he should have been more tempted and influenced by him. He got on with the Guardians a bit too easily, even for someone who was quite clearly attention starved.

AkiEn, like I said above, he melded into their group too easily. Bunny we know was nearly openly antagonistic to Jack, and the others never paid him mind. Then suddenly they were best of friends (I like how Pitch called them out on this in the movie.) Then they instantly turned on him, then immediately they were friends again when they needed his help. A bit shallow, in my opinion.

Oh, and no one worry. Imma make their relationship a whole lot worse!

Jack is just about the only person Pitch is kind/affectionate to. Later on he manages to find enough space in his shadowy heart for a few more favorites, but Jack is his top favorite. Only favorite, really.

Welp. I should stop here before I give away spoilers. Next chapter in a week!