A/N

Whew...quickest update ever for this story! Alright, as promised, here is a nice long read (seriously, its over 4,000 words!) with a nice cliffy at then end :D

P.S. to those just coming in, chapter eleven was a brand new chapter today too! Don't skip it! That ones about Jamie believing in the Guardians and Jack and all!

Alright, enjoy~

The Battle of Burgess

Jack was careful to keep his distance, unsure of how the Guardian would react to him after the performance he had given them. They may try to attack him before he got the chance to explain.

"Jack!"

It was Tooth. She tried to fly over to him, but her wings were not working and she stumbled to the ground. Jack gripped his staff tighter as the fairy righted herself. He was unsure if her call to him was out of anger or not.

"Jack." She said again, dusting off her feathers. She moved towards him and Jack couldn't suppress a flinch. Tooth saw this and stopped in her tracks, holding out her hands in a placating gesture. "I'm not going to hurt you Jack. I'm just glad to see that you're alright."

Jack let out some of the tension in his shoulders. She wasn't going to attack him?

Jack cleared his throat a little bit, lowing his eyes to the ground. "But…what about…what-what happened earlier?"

"That is an explanation we will ask from you another time." North said, stumbling to Tooth's side and leaning on his saber heavily for support. "Better question is, what are you doing here?"

Jack shrugged lightly, pushing his hair aside. "Same as you." With that, they all turned to see the Last Light running out of his house, too excited to have bothered with putting on shoes, let alone, a coat.

"The Last Light." North said, relief adorning his features.

Jamie's joyful young face could've lit up a room with the wonder it radiated. With a smile stretching from ear to ear, Jamie ran up to Tooth and North, touching their hands as if he needed the physical proof to solidify what he had always believed in.

"Wow…It is you! I mean, it is you! I knew it wasn't a dream!" Jamie exclaimed, turning to Jack.

Jack could only offer a brief and shy grin to the boy's overwhelming joy.

"Jack, he sees you." North said, awe and happiness coloring his words.

The winter teen looked between North and Jamie, nodding slightly and gripping his staff a little firmer. Then, Jack finally noticed something wrong with this picture.

"Where's Bunny?" He asked, holding back the instinctual flinch prompted by speaking without being spoken to first.

North's joyful features turned grave. "Losing Easter took its toll on all of us. Bunny most of all." With that, North drew their attention to the sleigh, which laid in a disheveled mess. From there, a not so impressive Easter Bunny hopped into view.

Jamie chuckled. "That's the Easter Bunny?"

"Now someone sees me! Where were ya about an hour ago mate?" Bunny said, a haunted look gleaming in his eyes, noticeable if one were to look close enough.

"What happened to him? He used to be huge and cool. Now he's…cute." Jamie reached and started scratching under Bunny's chin. For a moment, Bunny allowed himself to enjoy the petting, but then he seemed to come to his senses.

"Who told you to say that?" Bunny said, batting away the kid's hand. He turned to look at the group. "Alright, which of ya was…it…" Bunny's words fell flat upon seeing the winter spirit and he felt his ears lower. "Jack…"

Jamie, oblivious to Bunny's change in attitude, moved to defend the winter spirit. "No, actually, he told me that you were real! Just when I started to think that maybe you weren't."

Bunny turned his shining green eyes back to Jamie. "He made you believe…in me?"

Jamie nodded, proudly for that matter.

Bunny couldn't help but think that Manny couldn't have been more right about choosing this kid. He tried to catch Jack's eyes, but the kid seemed to be having an intense and serious staring match with the ground between his feet.

Suddenly, the wind began to pick up and lightening cracked against the blackened sky. Before their eyes, a cloud of nightmare sand began to form with Pitch perched at its peak.

"How are we going to fight him off?" Tooth shrieked above the howling winds, unable to mask her unease.

"We cannot!" North answered, his face grave once again.

"There's gotta be something we can do mate! Especially now that we've got the Last Light!"

"I'm afraid, old friend, that it's not enough. Jamie's belief is strong, yes, but it alone is not enough to fuel our centers."

Jack blinked. "Centers?" He asked, unable to hold back the question.

North looked at Jack, realization flickering through his eyes. "Our centers are what makes us Guardians, Jack." North said, limping to the winter spirit and grabbing him firmly by the shoulder. "Manny chose us all because he could see something very special in each of us. Something that makes us different. We all have a center Jack, and our center is what we protect in children! Something vital to childhood! Wonder!" he said, gesturing to himself. "Hopes." He continued, gesturing to Bunny. "Memories." Tooth. "And…and dreams." Deep sadness permeated the air before the Holiday spirit continued. "This is what we put into the world, and what we have sworn to protect! It is what makes us Guardians!" North smiled broadly for a moment, then his gaze became serious and analytical as he held Jack's eyes captive. "What is yours, Jack?"

Jack was stunned. His center? What was his center? He had only learned about what 'centers' were a moment ago, and here North was asking him what his was! Maybe he was supposed to know…Maybe centers are something you know about yourself even before you realize what a center is. But…Jack had no clue.

He looked up at North, bewildered. "I-I don't know!"

North gave him a half grin and nodded. "That's okay my boy! You'll figure it out!"

"Not that I'm not enjoying the sentiments, but…" Bunny said, his voice uneasy and quickly drawing North's and Jack's attention back to the sky, where Pitch was gathering his Nightmares. "We gotta figure something out now!"

Jack may not know what his center was, but he did know how to make good observations, and what he observed was that he was the only one who had even a small chance at defending the group.

Steeling his nerves, Jack gripped his staff, preparing to face his master.

"Keep Jamie safe." He said, before taking off into the sky.

All words were drowned out as the wind rushed to aid him. Determination set in, but in his heart, Jack knew he wasn't ready to do this.

"Jack?!" Pitch shrieked as he neared, his voice a mixture of confusion and rage. A moment later though, the dark spirit merely chuckled. "Our fun back home still didn't squash the defiance out of you I see! No matter boy! This ends tonight!"

Pitch launched himself at Jack, but before the space between them could be closed, Jack sent out a blast of ice.

Pitch, however, merely…caught it.

Jack was dumbstruck as everything around him seemed to become deafened. He was terrified. Pitch had caught his magic! He had never seen Pitch so powerful, and he was very well versed in what Pitch could do when he was barely scrapping by. Jack's ears were ringing, fear settling in deep as his breath hitched in his throat. He could feel his conditioned reactions from Pitch's 'training' trying to take control. He felt the need to stop and do his master's bidding. Every nerve in his being was screaming in terrified protest, telling him to stop! To not fight against his master, for the punishment to come was not worth the feeble amount of hope this wasteful attack would create.

Jack couldn't help it. He lost his concentration and his master's strength overwhelmed him.

Pitch's, and his own, magic struck him hard. His surroundings became confusing and he lost track of where he was and why was the wind rushing past his ears so loudly? The only thing that was for certain was his grip on his staff, and so he held to it firmly, relying on it to keep him anchored into whatever form of reality he had been knocked into.

Then, he met something solid. Very solid.

"Jack!"

Jack groaned, finding himself sprawled on the ground with the Guardians and Jamie surrounding him.

"That was good try, Jack-A' for effort!" North said, patting his back.

Jack pushed himself up onto his knees. "He's stronger." He said. "Stronger than I've ever seen him. I-I can't beat him…"

Then, without warning, the alley they stood in began to grow dark on the outer edges.

"All this fuss over one little boy and still he refuses to stop believing!" Pitch's livid voice echoed around them. "Very well. There are other ways to snuff out a light." Shadows began to take over every crevasse and corner, knocking out the street lamps and leaving the small group in a circle of light as the shadows stopped just inches from their feet.

Bunny, fur bristled, ran out in front of his comrades. "If you want him, you're gonna have to go through me!"

Pitch's laughed echoed down the alley as the shadowed image of his hand took form on the ground. "Oh, look how fluffy you are!" The hand began to poke at Bunny with one finger doing a scratching motion. "Would you like a scratch behind the ears?" The Nightmare King's voice rang out mockingly.

Bunny scampered away quickly and climbed into North's massive hand. "Don't you even think about it!"

"I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see you all like this." On top of the nearby building, forming half of the alleyway, Pitch appeared mounted on his favorite steed. "You look awful." A genuine grin appeared across the Boogeyman's face.

"Jack."

The small voice quickly drew the winter teen's attention.

It was Jamie, his bottom lip on the verge of trembling. "I'm scared."

Jack kneeled down in front to the boy, some part of him taking control as those words rang and echoed in his mind. He had heard them before. As he looked into Jamie's eyes, the world around him changed jarringly fast for just a moment. Suddenly, he wasn't Jack Frost, but Jackson Overland. And Jamie wasn't Jamie…he was Jack's little sister. And she was standing on thin ice. But, even though he was scared, he told her that…

"We're going to have a little fun instead."

Jack Frost was back and so was Jamie, who was looking at him confused.

As reality set in further Jack realized: "That's it. That's my center…"

Jamie only shook his head, still not understanding.

"So what do you think, Jamie?" Pitch called, lightening cracking and Nightmares whinnying. "Do you believe in the Boogey-AHH!"

North, Bunny and Tooth all blinked as Jamie burst into laughter. Did Jack just…nail Pitch with a snowball?

Jack turned to Jamie, remembering a scene of kids playing in snow only a few days ago. He glanced to the side and saw objects like trash can lids and discarded planks of wood. "Let's go get your friends."

Bunny never thought that he would be able to have so much fun in the middle of so much danger.

Jack had created an icy roller-coaster. They zoomed about the nearly deserted streets of Burgess, picking up Jamie's friends along the way. Each of them shouted their degrees of "Merry Christmas!" "Happy Easter!" and "Don't forget to floss!" as each of the children began to regain belief in them. And, with a little help from Jamie, and a touch of magic snow, each new addition to the group started to believe in Jack as well.

As they zipped down the streets, Jack flew above them, protectively guiding the way. And though he wasn't smiling, Bunny could see a light to his eyes that wasn't there before.

There seemed to be more hope for Jack than previously conceived.

Jack ended the ride quickly as they came upon a terrible sight. Thousands of Nightmares stood at the ready behind their master, forming one massive cloud of despair.

"You think a few children can save you from this?!" Pitch boasted.

Jack looked around and could see the fright in each child's eyes, and he wasn't the only one to notice. North stepped forward, raising one of his sabers and pointing it in Pitch's direction. But he was too weak, and the swords were too much for him.

Jack realized what he needed to do. He was the only one in any fair condition to protect them.

"Stay behind me." He said, stepping forward. He saw the fear in the children's eyes, and he could think of nothing else to say that would make them feel better or safe. He could tell them that the Nightmares were 'just bad dreams' but Jack knew first-hand how bad these dreams could wreak havoc on you, and he could not lie to them.

Bunny hopped up beside him. "Yeah, we'll protect ya mates." He reassured the kids.

"Aw, you'll protect them?" Pitch asked. "But who's going to protect you?!"

Jack tried to steady his nerves. Every part of him was still shrieking at him to obey. To put down his staff and cower in his master's shadow as he had been conditioned to do. But he could not do…would not do it! He would not let the world drown in darkness while he stood by abled bodied, but too terrified to raise a hand in defiance. There were more important things going on than how he felt. Things that needed to be protected.

Taking a deep breath, Jack took a step forward.

Only to see Jamie beat him too it.

"I will." Jamie declared, standing straight and determined.

"I will." A bigger, slightly more menacing girl said, stepping forward and in front of the Guardians.

One by one, each of the six children found their courage and proclaimed their promise. One, a little awkward boy with blonde hair and thick glasses, only stuttered out an honest and meager "I'll try" but it warmed the spirit's hearts none-the-less.

As they each took up their stances, the wind began to howl and lightening cracked across the sky again.

"Still think there's no such thing as the Boogeyman?" Pitch's voice echoed across the distance.

The Nightmares, thousands it seemed, began to close in on them. They were flying down the streets, knocking our street lights and windows, setting of car alarms and waking up snoozing dogs.

"I do believe in you. I'm just not afraid of you."

Jamie.

As the massive form closed the distance, all the small group of spirits and children could do was hold up their hands in a feeble attempt to protect themselves.

But the nightmare sand never made contact.

Upon the slightest touch to Jamie's hand, the nightmare sand became harmless, calming dream sand.

As the kids "oooh'd" and "ahhhh'd" the incredible display of magic they themselves seemed to have caused, Tooth discovered that here wings worked again and North straightened from his hunched position, back to himself. The dream sand began to light the darkened night, and Jack saw Bunny get chased under a car by a Nightmare…who only came face to face with the full sized and armed pookan warrior a moment later.

The odds were turning in their favor it seemed, and as Tooth crashed through as many Nightmares as she could with her razor sharp wings, North and Bunny took a moment to call in some reinforcements. Yetis and egg golems swarmed the streets, taking out any Nightmare that dared to cross its path. Even the elves came to help, swarming in on various mobile toys and biting at the Mare's ankles. The kids put their lethal touches to the test, lighting up the night with the purified golden sand.

Which left only Pitch.

And Jack was the only one of them with very little to do.

Summoning the wind, Jack flew up to the rooftop where his master had perched himself, throwing out a beam of ice, but Pitch merely summoned a wall of nightmare sand. For several moments, they fought like this. Jack attacked and Pitch defended.

But the tides can change quicker than most people realize.

Pitch had wormed his way behind Jack, and at one touch, the winter child stopped in his tracks. Fear settled deep within Jack, clawing at his insides. Pitch had his hands on him, and he had been defiant. He had been disobedient, and no matter how dire the situation…all those years of torture and training triumphed over those instincts that told him to keep fighting. This was his master, and he knew he had displeased him. He had displeased him greatly, and a punishment of the upmost cruelty was sure to come his way.

"I am very disappointed, Jack." Pitch growled. He was internally satisfied that all those years of training Jack had not been lost. Jack still feared him greatly.

Jack shivered.

Pitch smirked.

"I had planned so much for the two of us, Jack." Pitch continued. "I mean; just look at what we can do!"

Jack did, following where his master gestured to. All over, the rooftop was littered with black, icy sculptures made of nightmare sand and frozen energy. In a sickening way, the sight was impressively intimidating.

"With what we can do, Jack, we'd be unstoppable!" Pitch continued, his eyes glistening with a terrible day dream. But the look soon grew cold. "But you had to go with the Guardians, and why? Because they say the Man in the Moon chose you to help protect the worlds hopes and dreams?" Pitch scoffed, disgusted. "I couldn't imagine you hanging out with such a merry band of weirdo's, who bribes children for power."

"How is using fear to gain power any better?" Jack said.

Wait…did he really say that?!

Quickly, he clamped his mouth shut, averting his gaze and hoping that hadn't really happened.

But it was the truth…He didn't want to be a part of Pitch's schemes.

Pitch started to advance towards Jack. "Why you ungra-AGHHH!"

Jack looked up just in time to see a boomerang flying back into the hand of its wielder. Pitch was stumbling backwards, one of his hands grasping at his forehead.

Pitch snarled and constructed his scythe, swinging it at the pooka, but Jack's protective instincts took over and he shattered the weapon before Pitch could land a blow.

While Pitch looked on dumbstruck for a moment, Tooth decided to enter the fray, slicing through the Nightmares gathered on the roof with her wings. But just before she could get to the last one, Pitch mounted her and lead her over to the roofs edge, where they jumped.

However, it seemed North was one step ahead as he leaped from the building across the street and destroyed the Nightmare from underneath Pitch.

The Boogeyman laid sprawled in the street for a moment, but he quickly regained his baring's, summoning his scythe once more. He took North out, but Bunny was quick to jump in and Tooth wasn't far behind. The Guardians fought together like a well-oiled machine, and Jack found he fit in amongst the fray quite naturally. His kick was the final blow that sent Pitch sprawling into a dead-end alleyway.

"This is it Pitch." Bunny growled, expertly twirling a boomerang. "There's nowhere left to hide."

For a moment, Pitch seemed afraid, but then he smirked and disappeared into the ever waiting shadows. All around them, shadows formed Pitch's silhouette. Any of them could be him. Jack looked on cautiously, keeping a look out for any sign of the real Pitch.

"Jack! Look out!" Bunny yelled, throwing a boomerang.

Jack heard it connect with something and he turned around in time to see Pitch had deflected the projectile and was holding the scythe for a killing blow.

And it would've been, if a golden whip hadn't snatched the Boogeyman away.

And a golden whip could only mean one thing.

Out of a cloud of dream sand arose the Sandman, smiling and tutting his finger at Pitch before sending him flying with one mighty punch. The kids appeared shortly after, gasping in awe at the sight of the golden man, who tipped a hat in their direction. Jamie returned the gesture with a two finger salute. Then, Sandy seemed to remember that Pitch was still in zero gravity and so he gave the whip a hard tug, pulling Pitch back to Earth.

The Boogeyman actually bounced when he hit the ground.

Soon, everyone swarmed the Sandman, giving their fair shares of greetings. After the cheers had died down, Sandy took advantage of the moment and summoned a cloud of dream sand and began to send streams of it beyond the city. Within the city itself, dream sand creatures of all shapes and sizes took form and began a march or a flight throughout the streets of Burgess.

But Jack had a feeling so much more happened than just the children of Earth receiving a good dream.

It was over. The Nightmares were gone and the night was alive with golden dream sand creatures. Jack felt at peace, and before he knew it, he reached down and formed a snowball, launching it at an unsuspecting Jamie. Jamie stood stunned for a moment, but a small grin from Jack had him bent down and making snowballs himself. Before he knew it, all the kids, and a few Guardians, were engaged in a snowball fight.

Jack stood off to the side, watching and enjoying the sight in front of him.

"Your center?" North said, somehow, appearing out of nowhere for someone with such a great bulk.

Suppressing a flinch triggered by surprise, Jack nodded. "Fun." He said. "Who would've thought?"

North only shrugged, patting Jack's shoulder and nodding meaningfully. "It suits you."

Jack couldn't help the feeling of pride that sparked at those words.

The moment was broken though when North was nailed with a snowball. But, after a short recovery, he simply laughed joyfully and entered the fray himself, making threats to place everyone on the Naughty list.

"You dare have fun in my presence?! I am the Boogeyman, and you will fear me!-No!" Jack and the Guardians all turned at Pitch's voice, but none of the children had…for they did not believe in him anymore.

Pitch clutched his chest where Jamie had run through him, gasping and shocked. "No…" He said, and Jack had never seen his master so broken.

Pitch looked up, realizing that they were staring at him. He regained his footing and bolted. The Guardians followed, North somehow getting ahead of even Pitch, who had made it to the frozen lake just outside of Jamie's neighborhood.

The Boogeyman ran hard into North's belly, teetering off balance. Tooth took the moment to move forward and flipped something into Pitch's hand.

"A quarter?" Pitch said, looking up in time to connected his jaw with Tooth's fists, sending one of his teeth flying.

"And that's for my fairies." The Tooth Fairy said, smugly shaking her hand loose.

Pitch regained his baring's. "You can't get rid of me! There will always be fear!"

"So what?" North said, waving his hand in a dismissive manner. "As long as there are children who believe, then we will be here to fight fear."

"Really? Then what are they doing here?" Pitch asked, gesturing to the line of Nightmares that had formed on the lakes shores.

North laughed. "They can't be my fears! I'm not afraid!"

Pitch seemed to grow uneasy as various looks passed through the other Guardians, confirming that it wasn't them.

Jack stepped forward and stated, rather matter-of-factly, "Looks like it's your fears they smell."

Fear like Pitch had never known before gripped at his heart. He controlled fear! It was so rarely that he ever felt it, but he did now! His Nightmares, his own creations, had turned against him.

Pitch backed up, his heart pounding in utter terror as the Nightmare's whinnied and pounded their hooves.

No longer able to ignore the instinct, Pitch took off running.

Fear raged through him uncontrollably and he screamed in protest as the first Nightmare managed to get a grip on him. And as he struggled, clawing at the ground, the last thing that came to mind was Jack. To be precise, the look on Jack's face when he realized the Nightmare's had come for him. The cocky and confident look on the face of a spirit he had spent years breaking! He hated Jack and he would not let the boy win.

Using his last bit of magic, will, and concentration, Pitch summoned a whip made of nightmare sand and sent it flying to his target. As he was dragged into his lair, he kept his grip on his end of the rope, determined not to let this slip through his fingers.

A panicked scream was what told him he'd caught his target.

He would not go down alone…

A/N

Okay okay...that's that! I'm super tired now! It is 3AM where I am and I should go to sleep! XD I regret nothing though! I really wanted to write this and I'm pretty happy! You guys might not be though...haha...sorry for the cliffy but it is kind of fun for me :3 Hopefully, I won't take too long to update!

Oh, and to those who have already reviewed for the last chapter, I have seen them! I will respond within the next couple days via PM and I'll of course do the guest responses in the next chapter. But sparklehannah, I'm so happy I did your favorite scene justice! I'll do proper responses soon!

Thank you all for reading! Thank you for any and all support!

Nighty night U_U ZZZZzzzzzz~