"Are we gonna start or what?" Jack groaned, warming up for the race.
"Just hold up for a few more minutes" Flynn snickered.
Jack rolled his eyes, already starting to sweat in the heat. They were somewhere far from the rink and the place was really dry, not even a few trees around. It looked close to the mountains, where the temperature looked much better. And the reason he was given for coming here was that this place was much better for a track, and they had to be at a place which was unfamiliar for both Jack and whoever he was up against.
Speaking of which...
"So, who is the person I'm gonna be competing with?" Jack asked, rolling his shoulders.
"Who knows, Manny might decide the easy, medium or hard level players." Flynn shrugged.
"And they are?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Definitely not Anna and Rapunzel because both are clumsy as hell. Easy would be Kristoff and me, medium is definitely Merida and hard is-"
"So, Jack Frost, are you ready?" A familiar voice asked.
Jack turned and met with the cold blue eyes of Mr Moon, who casually strolled towards the two men, followed by Elsa and Merida.
So Moon is here and Elsa is his sidekick so she has to be here. Then that would mean...
He glanced at the fiery redhead, who just smirked at him. He smirked back before he looked back at Mr Moon.
Well, at least now that Elsa's here, I can probably show off how fast I can be...
"Yup," he replied, shooting a glance at Elsa.
"Flynn, I think you know what to do," Mr Moon nodded his head at the brunette before he backed away and twirled his hand gracefully, conjuring a beautiful white armchair -which looked way too much like a small couch- and sat comfortably on it, turning to them and watching expectantly.
"So then, let's start off with the rules. Merida..." He trailed off, gesturing to the mountain with his eyes. The redhead grumbled halfheartedly as she mounted her horse and ran into the mountains.
"Wait what? How can you just let her go? Aren't we supposed to-"
"Calm down," Flynn rolled his eyes before he continued speaking. "For this race, you guys will have to go up that tall mountain, where Merida is stationed. She will be holding out swords, and you are to bring them here as fast as possible.
"But I'm warning you beforehand, do not start rejoicing if you see two swords with her when you reach her. Just for the sake of confusing you, she has three swords with her. So no matter when you reach her or who reaches her first, she will be having two swords in her hands. Now that I've informed you, shall we start?" Flynn asked.
"Wait a minute, if Merida was brought along just to hold the swords, and you are the referee, then that would mean-" Jack stopped mid-sentence, turning to his side where Elsa stood a few steps away from him, her arms crossed and her expression mixed with anger, frustration and... pain?
"There's the signal," Flynn announced, spotting the green gas from the top of the mountain. "On your mark!" Flynn started as he lifted his hand, successfully bringing Jack's focus back to the game. "Get set..." He raised it even higher, "and Go!" He yelled, cutting through the air as he brought his hand down.
Jack quickly shot off, glancing back and raising an eyebrow when he saw Elsa just standing at the start line, looking at her nails in boredom.
Well, sucks to be her...
Smirking to himself, he turned around and flew as fast as possible, reaching the peak of the mountain where Merida's wild mane could be spotted very easily. He lowered a bit and grabbed a sword out of her hand, trying to see if the third sword was anywhere around. He tried stopping mid-air but thanks to inertia he flew a bit more forward while trying to do so, before he finally turned around and started heading back to where Flynn and the others were standing.
Halfway through the journey back, he felt something fly past him but he spotted nothing when he turned around. Shaking his head and telling himself that it was just the wind, he headed back and saw Elsa walking back to the car which Mr Moon had taken while coming to the deserted area.
Well, seems like she didn't even bother to do anything...
He landed next to Flynn and turned to the brunette, smirking smugly as he gave him the sword. Flynn grinned and took the sword from him.
"Congrats man, you're second," the brunette informed.
Jack's jaw dropped and his eyes widened in shock, confusion and anger. "What the- What do you mean?!"
"I mean what I told. You're second. The first sword is right there," Flynn pointed at two square-shaped rocks having the numbers '1' and '2' written on them. And there was a sword similar to the one he brought sticking out from the rock with the number '1'.
"What?! This can't be happening!" Jack yelled.
"Well, the race is over. Ready to go back to the rink, Jack?" Manny asked, walking over to them.
Oh hell NO!
"But- this isn't fair! I know you guys cheated!" Jack yelled, pointing at Manny.
"Be careful of what you speak of, Frost," Elsa commented, leaning against a rock a few steps away from them, with a snowboard made of ice at her feet.
"You!" Jack yelled, pointing a finger at her as he let his rage take over him, making Elsa raise an eyebrow. "You cheated! I know you cheated! You were just standing and lazing around when I flew off, and then you suddenly have the sword?! I bet that you had another one of those swords kept somewhere and you just used it once I went away! You thieving and lying little-"
"Now hold up right there," Elsa held up a hand, glaring at him so venomously with a flash of pain, which made Jack stop reluctantly. He stared at her and saw how she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath and released it before she looked back up and glared at him.
"You think I had an extra sword huh? Well, sorry to burst your bubble but those swords are the hereditary weapons passed down for generations in the Dunbroch family, one each for the father, mother and their firstborn. All of them have the Dunbroch clan symbol on them and I repeat, there are only three swords in total. Which means, there isn't a fourth. Understood? Or is it too much for your dumb brain to take in?" Elsa asked.
Jack's eye twitched in anger as he glared back, though his nerves were kinda shaking at the deadly glare she was giving him.
"I call a rematch!" He demanded.
Elsa just raised an eyebrow, before she looked at Manny behind Jack.
"Okay, I don't have any problem with that," Moon nodded.
Elsa shrugged and walked past Jack to the Starting Line again. Jack followed her, muttering under his breath as he did so. He stood away from her, crossing his arms as he huffed. And right then, Merida came back on her horse, confused when she saw them at the starting line again.
"Wait, are we having a rematch now?" Merida raised an eyebrow.
"Yup, because Frost here doesn't seem to accept that Elsa won the previous race," Flynn rolled his eyes.
"Merida, how many swords does your family own?" Jack asked.
"Plenty. But if you're asking about the hereditary ones we used for today's race, then only three," Merida replied.
Jack huffed angrily, knowing that Elsa was not lying, but he was not accepting that she didn't cheat. No way.
"Well then, Merida, off you go," Flynn grinned as Merida groaned loudly.
"No wait," Jack stopped her, creating three icicles with his initials carved in a secret spot before he gave them to Merida. "Take these."
"Glad to know you trust us," Merida rolled her eyes as she wrapped the ice in her fur cloak before she went to the mountains again.
A few minutes later, the green signal appeared again, and Flynn yelled at them to start.
I had been too confident last time and they used that to cheat me, but that won't happen now!
With that thought in his head, Jack shot to the mountains faster than ever, having a little problem with the stop-and-turn-around part after reaching the mountain, before he grabbed the icicle and rushed to Flynn. On the way back, it was almost as if time had slowed down when he came face to face with Elsa, who easily dodged him and flew ahead on that ice-snowboard she had before.
It was almost like he was mesmerized as he turned around and watched her. His eyes widened when he saw her make a perfect turn, unlike him because he had stopped a little distance ahead of where he had actually wanted to stop -because of his momentum or inertia or whatever it's called- and it seemed like Elsa didn't have any problem with that. But in that very second, he saw Elsa fly past him and reach the finish line.
He just stood mid-air, frozen in shock at how she could've possibly outraced him. He shakily reached the ground, staring at her as she returned to the car. He spotted the icicle in Flynn's hand and even checked the secret initials just to convince himself that it really was his own icicle and that she had really won the race.
"What- was that?" He breathed out.
"Wait, don't tell me you want another race now," Flynn groaned.
"No!" Jack shook his head, disintegrating the icicles as he walked along with Flynn, and Merida who reached them at that moment, before gesturing to Elsa. "How- how is she that fast?"
"You call that fast?" Merida laughed, pretending to wipe a tear, "Jack, that's wasn't even close to fast, at least for Elsa's level," she informed him.
"And you expect me to believe that?" Jack asked though a part of him was already ready to believe anything, after what he just saw.
"Yup. I couldn't say it before, but Elsa is the hardest of the Hard mode. Seeing your speed and skills, you are probably the same as Merida; faster than Kris and me, slower than Elsa and hence, equal to Merida. I don't even know why Manny made her race with you. Its been a long time since she raced and-" Merida slapped her hand on Flynn's mouth, glaring at him before she hissed.
"Let's not go around spilling all of Elsa's secrets. You don't want to be frozen to death, do you?" She asked pointedly. Flynn's eyes widened in fear as he shook his head furiously.
"Elsa's secrets?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Um, she will probably tell it to you herself if you manage to earn her trust before you leave," Merida grinned sheepishly. She had the 'please understand my situation' kind of look in her eyes, and Jack nodded reluctantly.
"But you can't exactly tell that she wasn't trying at all. She had to be using at least 50% of her speed," he pointed out.
"To be honest, Elsa's a lot rustier than she was before. So, she probably used only 25% of her speed, but definitely not 50%. That's a bit too much" Flynn thought out loud.
"Seriously? And you call her rusty?!" Jack exclaimed, still not able to accept all of it.
"Yup, she was a lot smoother and faster back when-"
"Are you guys coming any time sooner?" Mr Moon yelled from where he stood next to his car.
The three of them jogged over to where their vehicles were parked. Merida mounted her horse again, while Jack and Flynn got on the latter's motorbike. Elsa was already seated in the driver's seat as Manny got in the car before all of them headed back to the rink.
"So, last question. Does Elsa have another power, like Speed powers, or something?" Jack asked, taking off the helmet to let the air rush through his silvery locks of hair.
"Nope," Flynn yelled.
"Then how does she manage to fly that fast?!" He exclaimed.
"Seriously, I have no idea!" Flynn yelled back.
Jack rolled his eyes, knowing he won't be getting any answers from the brunette.
"Well, seems like Elsa's getting another lecture," Flynn commented.
That was when Jack glanced at the car next to them, in which Elsa was driving as she bit her lip while Manny seemed to be scolding her. Jack's eyes popped wide when he spotted tears in her eyes but she just blinked them away.
What the actual heck...
...
"Wait, Manny made Elsa race?" Rapunzel asked.
All of them were currently sitting at a table as they had dinner when Flynn explained the events of the day.
As an answer to his wife's question, Flynn nodded as he munched on his supper. Her eyes widening in shock and anger, Anna slammed her hands on the table, unintentionally breaking in, and stood up, startling Kristoff, Rapunzel, Merida, Flynn and Jack who sat with her.
"What?!" She exclaimed, glaring intensely at the brunette. "He made her race?!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" Flynn nodded, eyes wide with fear.
Anna just glared at him for a few minutes, before she sat down again. "This is not good, this is not good, this is so not good! The heck was that old man thinking?!"
"Honey, what's wro-"
"I need to go!" She announced abruptly and ran off somewhere before any of them could even blink.
"Wha- hey, wait!" Kristoff yelled before he followed her. He stopped a few steps away and turned around to the others. "Don't worry about us. Continue with dinner and just check whether the shops are closed. Flynn, do me a favour and make sure Sven is in the shed," and he ran off.
"Um, what the heck just happened?" Jack asked after a long moment of silence.
"We'll probably know by tomorrow. Well, let's clean up and go to bed fast," Rapunzel muttered before she collected everyone's plates and took them over to the counter.
"Let's get going Jack," Flynn nudged him as the two got up and stepped out of the supper hall, and Flynn stopped and turned to Jack once they were outside. "As you heard the guy, I have some business to do. How about you go back to your room?"
"Yeah, sure," Jack rolled his eyes as he turned around.
"Don't try to escape again, Frost. You know its pointless and you better stay true to your word," Flynn snickered. Jack turned to him and continued walking backwards, glaring at the brunette as he flipped him off before he turned back and headed to where his room was situated.
On the way, he passed Elsa's house and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he heard loud voices coming from inside. He looked around at his surroundings and once he was sure that no one was looking, he slowly crept towards the blue house and spotted a window on the side of the building, below which he stood to eavesdrop.
Though he was right below it, the window was a little high and Jack could only hear voices, though not what they were speaking. Conjuring a messed-up box using his ice powers, he stood on it so that his head was right next to the window, and he mentally patted himself on the back when he was able to recognise the voices.
"You know exactly why Elsa stopped racing and yet you forced her to race today!" A female voice, which he recognised to be Anna's, yelled.
"Anna, honey, I don't know why you're making this matter into such a big deal. She raced today and put herself to some use by winning it." A male voice, Manny's, said calmly, though Jack could hear the faint anger behind his words.
That was pretty rude... Jack thought to himself.
"'Some use'? Oh hell no! If there's anyone who's working non-stop around here, its Elsa! God damn it, she has done more work than you have as you are too busy travelling in and out of town literally all the time! And the only reason all of us are able to live comfortably even though there haven't been customers for months, is because of Elsa's hard work! So don't you dare accuse her of anything!" Anna argued.
You go, girl! Jack cheered for her internally.
"Anna, please calm down," Kristoff said softly.
Jack took a small peek inside and saw the dirty blonde trying to hold his girlfriend back, who looked ready to pounce on Manny any minute. Manny was seated on the couch as he stared at the strawberry-blonde, whereas Elsa sat near the opposite window, her back turned towards them.
"Calm down? Of course, I'll calm down! I'll calm down when Manny realizes just how much of an idiot he is!" She yelled at Kristoff before turning to Manny again. "Elsa has had way too much to go through already and doesn't deserve his hatred for something that happened years ago!"
Damn, remind me never to get on her bad side... Jack said to himself as he watched just how furious she was.
"Anna, please, just head back to your room. This conversation is going nowhere," Manny stated as he stood.
"Now listen to me, old man-"
"Anna, that's enough," Elsa said as she stood up and walked over to the stairs which probably led to her room.
"But Elsa-"
"Please Anna," Elsa pleaded and Jack noticed the tears in her eyes again.
Anna stayed quiet as she stared at her sister before she looked down at the floor and nodded reluctantly. Manny walked out of the house and Anna ran to Elsa and hugged her tightly.
"I hate him," she muttered.
"Please don't say such ridiculous things. He's our godfather, Anna," Elsa said, forcing her lips to smile.
Who knew Snowflake could fake a smile so well? Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Him being our godfather was Dad's decision, not ours. 'Cause if it had been our choice, I would've rather stayed in the mountains than live with him," Anna grumbled.
"Anna, he loves you," Elsa pointed out and didn't even bother hiding the pain in her eyes.
"But not you, and hence he's the villain," Anna pointed out.
Elsa smiled again, but the tears she had been holding back slipped down as she hugged Anna back tightly. Without any hesitation, Kristoff stepped forward and wrapped his arms around both of them.
He really is insane... Jack said to himself as Manny's face flashed before his eyes. His heart melted a bit when he saw the hug, feeling sadness and guilt wash over him as his mind reminded him that he wasn't close with his family unlike them.
Soon enough, they pulled back and after assuring Elsa a hundred times more, Anna and Kristoff left the house before Elsa locked the door and went upstairs. Jack decided to return as well but then he stopped when he saw the shadow of someone on the roof of Elsa's house.
Curiosity struck him again and looking around at the various window-ledges along the sides of the buildings, Jack summoned his wind powers as much as he could without his staff and successfully reached the roof.
She sat silently for a few minutes as more tears slid down her cheeks. She had her back turned towards him as she stared at the moon and cried silently. Telling himself that this was probably a good time to reveal himself, Jack silently walked over and sat next to her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked him bluntly.
"Well, a little birdie told me that you were here so I came here to pick a fight," he joked, trying to lighten up her mood.
Seriously, my head is so freakin messed up. I don't even know why I'm here to console her out of everyone!
"Go away," Elsa muttered as she pulled her knees up and hugged them close to her chest.
"Nope, I can see that you really need some human company right now," Jack commented.
"I'm not in the mood to deal with you, Frost," Elsa hissed.
"Then don't. Just let me sit here with you," Jack shrugged.
Seeing that it was pointless arguing with him, Elsa stayed silent as she continued staring at the Moon.
"So..." Jack trailed off, uncertain whether he should tell her the truth, before deciding to take the risk. "I guess you had a fight with Manny?"
"What?!" Elsa hissed, turning to him and glaring at him. "Were you eavesdropping on us?!"
"No! I just- saw Manny storm out of your house looking pissed, and saw Anna, Kris and you hugging and then you were sitting here while crying so I just assumed-" He rambled before he winced at Elsa's soul-piercing glare as she knew he was lying. "Well- uh- I- Okay, fine. Yes, I was." He admitted.
"Why did you?"
"Um- you looked really upset today morning during and after the race and I heard voices from your house so..." Jack trailed off.
Wow, smooth move Frost. Very smooth. His mind stated sarcastically and Jack internally groaned at how awkward and creepy he was being.
"Go away."
"What?" Jack blinked.
"Just go away! I don't want anyone's pity and especially not yours!" Elsa yelled, her eyes wide with anger though they were still full of tears.
"I wasn't pityin-"
"Just go!"
His cocky attitude kicked in and Jack got up, angry that she had chased him away so rudely when he had just tried to help her. He left her and jumped over the building to reach his room while still bristling. He flopped down on the bed, rubbing his forehead to calm down.
And that's what I get for trying to be nice...
...
"Ugh!" Jack yelled in frustration as he slipped from his staff and fell down for the hundredth time in that hour.
Since the water was still freezing in the rink, Jack had asked Flynn return his staff and to take him to the mountain region where he had raced the previous day. Remembering how Elsa had smoothly turned around, he tried his best to copy the action and to improve his racing. And for his own safety, he covered the ground with snow so that the falls weren't too dangerous. And every time he tried to turn around he just flew backwards due to his speed and ended up with the same result every time: Failure.
"How did she do that?!" He yelled as he dug himself out of the snow.
"Who knows?" Flynn replied, drawing something on the snow using a stick while his palm was pressed against his cheek in boredom. He was seriously surprised that Jack hadn't broken his bones after the number of times he had fallen but the racer refused to even take a break as he continued to try out the method.
"Hey, Frost, you should really stop now. It's already five in the evening! Come on man, I'm freezing here!" He yelled.
"Fine. But I'm not giving up. There's no way she could've just outraced me so easily!" Jack huffed as he walked over to Flynn before snapping his fingers, effectively wiping off all the snow from the ground. The temperature slowly increased and the sky turned orangish as Jack and Flynn got on the motorbike again.
"Why do you wanna learn it so badly?!" Flynn asked.
"Because I have the Finals coming up, and before leaving I wanted to beat Elsa using her own method," Jack admitted.
"Good luck with that," Flynn rolled his eyes, his voice laced with sarcasm.
They reached the rink soon enough and made their way to the lunch hall when Flynn gasped suddenly.
"Shit, I completely forgot to hide Punzie's plate which I broke! I'll be right back!" He yelled before he ran off towards his house.
Jack just chuckled as he walked ahead and bumped into Merida's mom, who looked relieved to see him.
"Ah, Mr Frost, can you do me a favour and give this to Elsa?" She asked sweetly as she held out an envelope. Jack just stared at it uncertainly, before he reluctantly nodded.
"Yeah sure," he muttered, taking the paper in his hands.
"Thanks a lot!" Merida's mom smiled before she groaned and chased after her sons who were causing trouble again.
Jack just stared at the envelope in his hand, before he sighed and trudged to Elsa's house. He knocked and waited for a few minutes, but no one answered. He tried opening the door and to his surprise, it opened. He stepped inside and looked around in search of the platinum-blonde.
"Elsa?" He called out as he randomly opened a door in the corner of the room, and his eyebrows shot up in curiosity when he saw stairs leading downstairs.
Who knew Snowflake had a basement?
A normal person would've just closed the door, but he wasn't exactly normal so he went down the stairs, hoping to find some secrets about her.
The basement was naturally dark due to lack of light, and Jack used his staff's faint glow to spot the light switch. He switched on the lights and his eyes widened in shock.
There were really huge and terrifying icicles all around the room and the floor was covered in ice. Furniture was blasted to bits and some were still stuck between the icicles and basically, the basement was a huge mess and looked almost like a villain's lair.
Jack's eyes narrowed when he saw something shine in between all of this, and he slowly and cautiously approached. The thing shined like how gold would under really bright light. His eyebrows dipped in confusion when he saw something in the shape of a trophy with something written on it, and Jack's hands shook as he took it in his hands and wiped the frost off the writing. He gasped out loud and almost dropped his staff in shock when he read what was written.
Because resting in his hands was a Tachyons Cup.
A freakin Tachyons Cup.
His shocked gaze looked ahead and he almost fainted when he saw two more Tachyons cups surrounded by many more cups of the Regionals, the quarterfinals and the semifinals. There were a lot more small awards, like the ones won at schools and colleges, and telling that Jack was shocked and surprised was an understatement.
"Who even won these?" He whispered to himself before he kneeled down, placed his staff on the ground and picked up a framed certificate of the Tachyons Cup.
We, the President and hosts of the legendary Race of Rapidity, announce Elsa Winters as the winner of the Tachyons Cup and...
Jack read it three to four more times, just to make sure he hadn't read it wrong.
Elsa Winters as the winner of the Tachyons Cup...
Elsa Winters...
Elsa...
"No freakin way..." He whispered to himself in shock. He found a few more shattered framed certificates, and all of them were for the same person:
Elsa Winters.
He looked around once again and picked up a frame that looked like it contained a newspaper article, and rubbed the frost off the glass using the sleeve of his black leather jacket. His eyes squinted in concentration when he saw a picture of a teenage girl on the ground in a very painful position. She was bleeding in different places and her platinum-blonde hair was covered in blood and sweat as she laid there and cried in pain.
Jack rubbed the glass again and read the heading of the article, which went like: "Winner of the Tachyons Cup for three consecutive years FAILS at winning for the fourth time!" The rest of the article was blurry to read and Jack decided not to read the rest, and just stared at the pictures. After a few paragraphs, there was a picture of the same girl wearing a number of medals as she held the Tachyons cup, her whole face was lit up with happiness. And Jack recognised the girl to be Elsa, just a lot younger.
"What are you doing here?"
Jumping in fear at hearing a voice all of a sudden, Jack almost dropped the cup and the frame, before he turned around and saw Elsa standing behind him.
"You- these-" He stuttered, standing up to look her in the eye. "Y-You won these?"
"No, I didn't. I saw a person selling fake cups and decided to get a few for myself," Elsa rolled her eyes.
"Elsa this is serious!" Jack insisted. "You have a Tachyons Cup. A freakin Tachyons Cup! Do you even know how many people, including me, would do anything to win this?!"
"Nope," Elsa replied.
"Elsa-"
"Frost, you weren't even supposed to come here, in the first place. So I would appreciate if you leave, now" Elsa said, looking at the floor.
"But-"
"Please." She cut in, her voice sounding a lot more different than the last time she asked him to leave.
Jack wanted to stay and ask how she managed to win three cups, how she got wounded so badly and why the cups were thrown in the dump. But he could see that she didn't want to talk about it. He sighed, bent and placed the cup and the frame on the ground before he picked up his staff and the envelope.
"Merida's mother wanted me to give this to you," he muttered before he brushed past her and left her house.
I am not leaving this place before getting all the answers... He told to himself before he stuffed his hands in his pockets and entered the lunch hall with Flynn, who rambled about having to listen to a long lecture from Rapunzel for breaking her plate.
Elsa, just who the hell are you...