Holy frijoles!
I may actually get ROTG done before Christmas at the rate I'm going!
I hope you all enjoy this new chapter, and have an awesome week!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Y'all know that I don't own anyone besides Em.
Neutral POV
There was silence as the next scene appeared on the screen, Em beginning to glare at North and Tooth across from her spot on the couch. Bunny placed a paw on her shoulder comfortingly.
Jack runs to the edge of a floating iceberg, ready to throw
his tooth box into the ocean. He resists, looking down at
the box as he clutches it in his hand. He's never been more
alone in his life.
PITCH (O.S.)
I thought this might happen.
Pitch is revealed, standing not far behind Jack.
PITCH (CONT'D)
They never really believed in you.
I was just trying to show you that.
But I understand.
"How would you understand that?" Jamie asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.
"I was a warrior for Tsar Lunar before I changed. I had a wife, and a child. I changed, however. I was taken hold of by a Nightmare, an evil one, and I thought that if anyone could help me, it was the Guardians. I was wrong, however." Pitch said, but there was a small smile on his lips, remembering his Emily.
Jack whips around and shoots a burst of frost at Pitch, but
it's quickly deflected by the Nightmare sand.
JACK
You don't understand anything!
Jack continues to attack, lashing out with his staff. Pitch
blocks the attacks of ice and frost - his control over the
Nightmare sand has gained considerable strength.
PITCH
(SHOUTING)
No? I don't know what it's like to
be cast out?
Pitch strikes back, putting Jack on the defense. Jack jumps
in the air. Their show of force escalates until they're
shrouded in a blanket of snow, ice, and wind. As the wind
and snow settle, Jack looks around stern and alert.
PITCH (O.S.)(CONT'D)
To not be believed in. To long for
a family.
Em turned to smile at Pitch, and he put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently.
Jack turns around to find Pitch. There's a look of
compassion on Jack's face as he listens.
PITCH (CONT'D)
All those years in the shadows I
thought, no one else knows what
this feels like. But now I see I
was wrong.
They lock eyes. A moment of true connection between them.
PITCH (CONT'D)
We don't have to be alone, Jack.
I believe in you. And I know
children will too.
JACK
In me?
PITCH
Yes! Look at what we can do!
Pitch gestures to a fantastical ice and nightmare "sculpture"
that was created (off-screen) when Jack attacked him.
PITCH (CONT'D)
What goes together better than cold
and dark?
Jack looks at the fractured reflections of themselves cast in
the icy sculpture.
PITCH (CONT'D)
We can make them believe. We'll
give them a world where everything,
everything is...
Jack turns to face Pitch.
JACK
(DEADPANS)
Pitch black...
"You messed up." Claude and Caleb sing-songed, identical smirks on their face. Pitch rolled his eyes at the twins, and Jasper and Maxine giggled.
Pitch, realizing how this looks, clarifies...
PITCH
And Jack Frost too. They'll
believe in both of us.
Jack stares at him, considering the offer. Then finally...
JACK
No, they'll fear both of us. And
that's not what I want.
Jack turns and walks away.
JACK (CONT'D)
Now for the last time, leave me
alone.
Pitch looks confused and hurt. This is not the response he
was expecting. Then...his eyes flame with anger.
PITCH
Very well. You want to be left
alone? Done. But first...
Suddenly Jack hears a familiar twitter. Pitch reaches into
his coat to pull out...
Tooth's mother instincts over her fairies, even if Baby Flake wasn't a real mini Tooth Fairy, came out, and she glared fiercely at the Nightmare King.
JACK
Baby Tooth!
Jack charges forward. There's terror in Baby Tooth's eyes.
She squeaks as Pitch clenches her tight with his fist.
PITCH
The staff, Jack.
Jack settles and the winds and snow subsides.
PITCH (CONT'D)
You have a bad habit of
interfering. Now hand it over.
(BEAT)
And I'll let her go.
BABY TOOTH
(twitters - Don't give it to him!)
Baby Tooth struggles to get loose, but Pitch only tightens
his grip. She can hardly breathe. Jack has no choice.
Jack...hands over...the staff.
Tooth gasped, and stared at Em in shock.
"He, handed over his staff?" she asked quietly. Em nodded, not meeting the colorful fairy's eyes.
"He cared for Baby Flake. He felt a connection with her, probably because she was a winter sprite." Em replied. Tooth's eyes widened more, and she looked at the screen.
Pitch twirls the staff.
JACK
Alright, now let her go.
PITCH
No. You said you wanted to be
alone.
(BEAT)
So be alone!
Baby Tooth squirms until she's finally able to peck Pitch in
the hand with her beak. Pitch shrieks and throws Baby Tooth
in the air and down into the mouth of a crevasse.
JACK
No!
Jack, enraged, can't believe what he's seeing. Pitch lifts
the staff, and breaks it over his knee, cracking it in two.
Light EXPLODES from the staff and terror comes into Jack's
eyes, clutching his chest as if in pain.
Suddenly, Pitch sends a burst of Nightmare sand, blasting
Jack and slamming him into the iceberg wall behind him. As
the ice cracks, Jack comes loose and falls forward into the
chasm below.
Pitch looks down into the ice fissure chuckling. He throws
the broken shards of Jack's staff down into the crevasse and
casually walks away, disappearing on the horizon.
Battered from the fall, Jack slowly looks up
and notices Baby Tooth, lying lifelessly on the ground.
JACK
Baby Tooth!
He pulls himself to her and cradles her in his hands.
JACK
You alright?
Baby Tooth nods, but she's hurt, and cold. Jack does his
best to shield her from the cold.
JACK
Sorry, all I can do is keep you
cold.
Jack sits up and holds Baby Tooth in his hands.
JACK
Pitch was right - I make a mess of
everything.
Jack is devastated. Baby Tooth's never seen him like this;
it's heart breaking...then she gets a thought. Her
expression hardens with determination.
She wriggles deep into his pocket.
JACK
Hey?
Jack leans back and begins to close his eyes when he hears
VOICE FROM A MEMORY
Jack... Jack...
Em began to wriggle with excitement in her seat, and Bunny laughed at her.
"Calm down, Emma." He said with a smile, and Em grinned up at him. Jackson raised an eyebrow at her.
"You alright, Em?" he asked, and Em nodded, her smile growing bigger.
- and then he FEELS something. Looks down: There's a SOFT,
GOLDEN GLOW coming from his pocket.
Jack jumps, taken aback. He reaches in and pulls out the
TOOTH BOX - it's pulsing with light.
VOICE FROM A MEMORY
Jack...
Baby Tooth gives him a reassuring look.
Baby Tooth motions to the box, then looks back at Jack. Jack
reaches to touch the box, but as he does its top magically
UNFOLDS to reveal a handful of BABY TEETH - then the box and
everything else glows BRIGHT WITH INTENSE LIGHT -
The WALLS of the fissure seem to suddenly fall away. In
brief FLASHES we see: The COLONIAL SETTLEMENT Jack visited.
Children running playfully down a hill.
JACK'S MOTHER
Come on Jack, you can't have fun
all the time.
Jackson's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Why is Mama there?" he muttered, and Emma gasped.
CHILDREN'S LAUGHING FACES as a familiar BOY hangs upside down
from a tree limb.
JACK'S SISTER
Jack, get down from there!
A HAPPY FAMILY at a roaring fire as the same boy jokes around
with antlers on his head.
COLONIAL BOY (O.S.)
You're funny, Jack.
Jackson's eyes widened comically, and his jaw dropped in shock. He went from staring at the screen, to staring at Em, who smiled at him. He opened his arm, as the other was around his little sister, and Em happily snuggled closer to the human version of her father.
Jack walks toward the woods with his sister. His mother,
face unseen, calls out to him.
JACK'S MOTHER
Be careful.
Jack shakes his head like he's heard it a million times but
never pays it any mind.
JACK
(LAUGHING)
We will.
AND THEN-
We are on an eye, a familiar eye but this one is brown not
blue. PULL BACK to reveal young JACK, brown hair, brown
eyes. He is staring directly at the camera, a look of...what
is it? It's hard to read but it's VERY intense. We keep
pulling back to reveal him dressed as we first saw him in
16th century clothes. Behind him, dark winter trees and snow
come in to focus.
JACK
(calm, serious)
It's okay. It's okay. Don't look
down, just look at me.
Emma drew in a sharp breath, tears filling her eyes, and she looked up at Jackson, whose grip tightened on both girls next to him.
Jack reaches slowly down and removes the second of two
rudimentary ice-skates, leaving him BAREFOOT on the surface
of a familiar FROZEN pond. And now we see what he sees, a
girl of about FOUR (with an uncanny resemblance to Jamie's
sister Sophie) stands in her skates, rooted to the spot. A
spider's web of cracks emanates from where she stands.
JACK'S SISTER
Jack, I'm scared.
CRACCKKK! The ice below her splinters more. She wobbles as
it starts to separate.
JACK
I know, I know...but you're gonna
be alright. You're not gonna fall
in. We're gonna have a little fun
instead.
Emma whimpered, and buried herself in her brother's side, hiding her face. Em, on the other hand, had a sad look in her eyes, but a small smile on her face. This was what her father was best at. Jamie's eyes widened, along with Bunny's.
"That's what he said to me when we first fought Pitch." He muttered, and Bunny nodded.
JACK'S SISTER
No we're not!
JACK
Would I trick you?
JACK'S SISTER
(fighting back tears)
Yes! You always play tricks!
JACK
(CHUCKLES)
Well, alright. Well, not, not this
time. I promise. I promise,
you're gonna be...you're gonna be
fine.
Jack fixes her gaze...holds it...there's nothing but the two
of them.
JACK
You have to believe in me.
Emma smiled. She would always believe in her big brother. The Burgess teens flinched slightly, the words making them feel the guilt at nearly killing Jack.
Jack's sister pauses a moment, then smiles through her fear.
And just like that, Jack's demeanor changes. A light is
switched on inside him and the last thing that could be
happening is what is actually happening.
JACK (CONT'D)
(casual, playfully)
You wanna play a game? We're going
to play Hopscotch! Like we play
every day!
"That was our favorite game." Emma whispered, tears filling her eyes. Jackson nodded, running a gentle hand over her hair.
Jack's sister looks more reassured.
JACK (CONT'D)
It's as easy as...one...whoaaaa...
And Jack shows his sister the first leap, but mugs for her,
almost losing his balance then catching himself. She laughs.
JACK (CONT'D)
Two...
(the next jump)
Three!
He turns toward her with his arms spread out.
JACK
Alright...
He reaches down to pick up a familiar-looking stick lying on
the ice. He extends it towards her -
JACK (CONT'D)
Now it's your turn.
Jack's sister looks down. She is trying to gather her
courage. Jack, never breaking his gaze with her,
JACK (CONT'D)
(SOFTLY)
One...
Emma gripped her brother's arm in a death grip, beginning to cry. Jack hugged her closer, and EM reached around, brushing a hand down the younger girl's back.
She hops, wobbling, but catching her balance.
JACK
That's it, that's it...two...
She's almost there, Jack's staff just beyond her reach.
JACK
Three.
She grabs hold of Jack's staff and in one massive effort he
slings her with all his might to safety. But the movement
propels him into the cracked ice. He looks up to see his
sister safe - smiles - and then plunges into the dark cold
water.
JACK'S SISTER
Jack!
Jack falls back into the icy water. SPLASH!
"That's when we were brought here." Jackson said in realization. Emma nodded, not showing her face.
"Wait, so you… died?" Cupcake asked in shock.
"I guess so." Jackson said quietly, and Emma let out a quiet cry of sadness.
"Hey, Emma." Em said gently, shaking the girl's shoulder slightly. Emma looked at the older girl, her eyes still filled with tears. "My papa's told me so many stories about you. He's always talking about how proud he was that he became a guardian because of what he did for you." Emma looked up at Jackson, who gave her a crooked grin.
"You know I would do it all over again, Emma." He said, and she hugged him tightly.
UNDERWATER
We're looking up at the hole in the ice, descending into the
dark icy depths...then THE FULL MOON appears from behind the
clouds as Jack's hands claw through the water towards it, but
it's helpless. The MOON glows bright...brighter...
Jack's BODY begins to glow, bathed in MOONLIGHT. PUSH IN on
his FACE, becoming brighter and brighter until his brown hair
turns white and JACK'S BRIGHT BLUE EYES flash open -
EXT. MOUNTAIN FISSURE - NIGHT
The icy walls rush back in as we pull out from Jack, reeling
from the memory. He sees Baby Tooth.
JACK
Did you - did you see that?
She shakes her head `no', tweets `of course not'!
JACK
It - it was me! I had a family!
I had a sister!
His excitement suddenly turns to realization.
JACK
I saved her!
He looks up at the opening above. The MOON peeks out from
behind the clouds.
JACK
(whispers up to Manny)
That's why you chose me.
(TO HIMSELF)
I'm, I'm a Guardian.
Em giggled with happiness, clapping her hands. Jasper and Maxine let out a childish cheer for their uncle. Jackson looked at the teenager sitting next to him, and smiled at her excitement.
The Moon seems to shine a little BRIGHTER. Baby Tooth tries
to take flight but she sputters and lands back in the palm of
Jack's hand.
JACK
We have to get out of here.
Jack looks down at the two halves of his staff, and picks
them up. He tries to fit them back together, but nothing
happens. He tries again, this time using every ounce of
strength left in him. Baby Tooth watches, her eyes widening
as, a SPARK of blue light shoots off the staff.
Jack continues to push, until a the icy blue light spreads
and melds the two ends of the staff back together. Jack
smiles. Suddenly Jack, with Baby Tooth tucked safely in his tunic,
SHOOTS UP out of the fissure, high into the sky and through
the clouds.
"That's so cool!" Both sets of twins shouted, then looked at each other in shock.
"Twin telepathy." Em muttered to Bunny behind her, who hid his snickers behind his paw.
JACK
Come on Baby Tooth! I owe you one.
The Mini Teeth TWITTER as Jack jumps
from CAGE to CAGE, opening them as he goes. Jack opens
another cage and notices the fairies standing still.
JACK
Come on, let's go.
Tooth was in shock. He could have left. He could have forgotten all about them, but he went back to Pitch's lair for her babies. He still cared, after everything that they had done to him. She turned her head to see North looking down in shame. What have we done?
Jack looks around and notices that all of the Minis are still
in their cages.
JACK (CONT'D)
What's wrong?!
The fairies are just standing around, listless.
JACK (CONT'D)
None of you can fly?
Baby Tooth directs Jack's attention to the Globe at the base
of Pitch's lair.
JACK
The lights...
A Yeti very carefully sets the last of a group of newly
painted red robot dolls on a shelf. He breathes a sigh of
relief.
Suddenly, the entire factory begins to shake, knocking the
robot doll to the ground. He dives after it, juggles it in
the air, and catches it just before it hits the ground.
Suddenly, streaks of BLACK SAND whoosh up into and around the
factory. The dark sand snakes its way up and around the
globe, causing the Yetis and Elves to scatter and knocking
TOYS to the floor.
The Yetis and Elves look up in horror as the black sand, now
covering the globe, gives rise to Pitch, who stands before
them cackling.
PITCH
You're all free to go! We won't be
needing any Christmas toys this
year, thank you! Nor ever again!
The yeti with the robot dolls sinks his head and sighs in
defeat.
The girls, sans Sophie, who was still adamantly ignoring the people around her, all giggled at the yeti's expression. Pitch chuckled.
"He was so upset when I went back with Elsa and Jack." He told Em and Bunny, both of whom laughed harder.
Jack lands on the ground, now standing before PITCH'S GLOBE -
and it looks almost completely devoid of light.
JACK
They're all going out...
Pitch is practically dancing across North's globe, he's so
giddy, counting down as the last few lights go dark.
"Nice dance, Uncle Pitch!" Jasper said with a childish laugh. Pitch smiled at the young boy.
PITCH
Only six left! Six precious
children who still believe in the
Guardians with all their h-
(a lights blinks out)
Make that, five.
(ANOTHER)
Oo! Four!
(MOUNTING)
Three!
(ECSTASY)
TWO!
"Now he's singing!" Maxine giggled, and Em clutched her stomach from laughter.
His eyes widen as he snaps his fingers with anticipation and
glee. All of his hard work and planning - finally paying
off! Pitch stares down at the one last light, waiting for it to go
out. He snaps his fingers a few more times. Still nothing.
His smile fades. His face goes cold as he realizes...
PITCH
(TO HIMSELF)
One.
Jack jumps up onto the globe to closely inspect the last
light. The light is brought into full view. Jack smiles.
JACK
Jamie!
"The last light." Em said with a smile, looking at him. Jamie smiled back at her.
"Emma, I just wanted to apologize on all of our behalf. We almost killed Jack because of a lie that was told to us. Can you ever forgive us?" he asked, looking down at the ground sheepishly. Before Em answered, there was a bright flash of light, and she let out a squeal.
"I think we can, Jamie." Jack Frost, smiling brightly at his first believer, said, and Elsa smiled at the teenager.
YAY! Jack and Elsa are back, Jamie apologized, and Tooth and North are feeling guilty. WHEN WILL SOPHIE UNDERSTAND?
Anyway, please review!
See ya soon, kings, queens, and Guardians!
Love,
Enchantress