Chapter Ten: Frozone

Pitch Black knew they were coming. He could sense it. He could smell their fear. His black cloud of nightmare sand shifted and swelled beneath him like a giant octopus, sending locals within a 5 mile radius into a panic.

'Good,' Pitch thought to himself.

Normally, Pitch liked to terrify and destroy the common, puny peasants. Their fear made good energy for him. But today was going to be different. He had new abilities, and was guaranteed life. So today was the day he would push Jack to his limits, mentally and physically.

Jack was not alone, of course. Syndrome had reported that he had built up a team of ice fighters. A frail fairy, a super human which Syndrome had assured him would not be much trouble, and a very special girl. Her fear alone would give him enough energy to keep him strong for a week, and she had great potential. The whole ally proposition hadn't worked with Jack, but this girl was different. Pitch was certain that, given time and under a certain set of conditions, she would join him.

A few fields away, there was a loud pop, and a portal appeared. The Just-Ice League spilled out and charged. Pitch laughed cheerfully. Now that Elsa was so close, her fears were so strong they were laid out like a book. He knew exactly what to do to bring the team down, and get Elsa away from the others. Casually, he sent tendrils of sand at them, enclosing himself in a loosely built cage.

It was amazing how fast plans change, but then again, Pitch was an evil genius who had learned the hard way that you had to be flexible. That trait was missing in most evil villains, Pitch had noticed. Even his newest ally, Syndrome, was still very much set in his ways.

Despite their short training time, Frozone felt the team was doing pretty well. Ice, Jack had informed them, was to be the element of choice in this battle, as it defeated Pitch's sand remarkably well. However, the Winter Spirit continued to do his own thing, flying close to Pitch's cage and throwing hard packed snowballs at it. As Frozone blasted ice in every direction, he noted that Jack's face was an odd mixture of fear, anger, and confusion.

Elsa was struggling the most, of course, but that had been expected, and the others were subtly looking after her. Peri flew almost directly above her, protecting her from aerial attacks. Jack, when he wasn't throwing snowballs, would make a wide sweep around the girls, giving them a bit of breathing room. As for himself, Frozone had built an ice-boarding roller coaster track around them, leaving only a few specific spots the sand could penetrate. It seemed as if they were winning.

But then Pitch laughed.

Frozone realized too late that it was a trap. From every open crack and crevice, the sand poured into the ice cage. Jack instantly flew down to help, flying over the entire area and freezing everywhere he saw black. And although he couldn't see, Frozone could hear Elsa panicking on the inside. He knew she was doing the exact same thing.

"Jack, Elsa, stop!" Frozone yelled, snowboarding closer.

Pitch saw him and sent a thick wall of nightmare sand. By the time Frozone had blasted through it, Elsa and Peri were trapped in a rough ball of ice. To Jack and Frozone's horror, all of Pitch's sand, save the tower that was supporting his safety cage, amassed above the igloo, and came down with a thundering crash, breaking the ice.

Frozone and Jack raced down to help, but Pitch saw them. He pulled a small device from underneath his dark cloak pressed a button. Frozone and Jack were frozen in time, only their eyes able to move as they were surrounded by a pulsing, blue electric glow.

Syndrome, Frozone thought. Impossible. He can't be alive. Maybe he just sold some equipment to Pitch.

Laughing, Pitch waved his hands and the black sands parted, revealing Elsa and Peri lying on the ground amidst broken fragments of ice. Elsa looked like she was unconscious, and Peri was clearly struggling to stand. One of her wings even looked broken. Helplessly, Frozone watched as Pitch casually swooped down and lifted Peri with one arm. She struggled valiantly, but the Nightmare sand soon enveloped her and she grew still. Pitch looked back at the others and laughed cruelly.

"Pathetic," he spat.

He pushed a button on the remote and the two fell to the ground.

"You get Peri, I'll take care of Elsa," Frozone said, running to the queen.

Now that he was closer, he could see that she was being tortured by the Nightmare sand. Quickly he blasted it with ice and a chilling wind (one that he was personally quite proud of, since it was the first time he had ever conjured wind).

"Elsa, Elsa! Wake up!"

Groaning, Elsa pushed herself to a sitting position, clasping one hand to her forehead in pain. She blinked once in the harsh light, then her eyes flew wide open in fright. Turning, Frozone saw Syndrome floating in the air behind Pitch, his finger pointing. And then he saw Jack, falling unconsciously.

"Jack!" Frozone yelled.

Elsa, weak as she was, stood up and lunged forward in one swift motion, creating a snow mound for him to land on. Frozone looked down at her in surprise, about to praise her when he noticed she had collapsed again.

"I guess I'm on babysitting duty," he muttered, glaring at the retreating figures of Pitch and Syndrome.

It was several hours before Jack woke up. Frozone figured it must be one heck of a stun gun to put a Guardian out of action for that long.

"Hey, kid," he said wearily. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

"Whoa. Ok. Somebody want to tell me what happened?"

"You don't remember?" Frozone was surprised.

"Not much. But I know something must have happened for you to look so shocked. Also, Elsa's acting like a pouting puppy."

"I am not," Elsa said.

She had created a soft snow armchair and had curled up on the seat. She looked exactly like a pouting puppy.

"Well, Pitch froze you and me with one of Syndrome's weapons, then took Peri and made Elsa go into a Nightmare of some sort."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Nobody asked you to. Anyway, Pitch let us go. I went to help Elsa, you went after Peri. Syndrome appeared out of nowhere and stunned you. You fell unconscious, Peri's gone, and the mortal enemy of all superheroes is back from the dead. Tell me if you wouldn't look shocked."

"Ok, I get the picture. Now that I've had a nap and you two have had more than enough time to mope around, let's start looking for Peri."

"Where? How?" Elsa asked in a monotone.

"I have some ideas of where to start, and of course North and Tooth have their system that's still ongoing."

"They have Syndrome on their team," Frozone insisted. "Don't you realize what that means?"

"Uh, yeah. Another bully we get to beat up!"

This kid is gonna kill me. "No, it means they have ways of making themselves completely invisible. Syndrome was…is the best cloaker in the world."

"And we're the best ice team in the world," Jack reminded them.

"Yeah, and look what happened to us. We let them take away one of our own."

"Which is exactly why we need to find her. Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or…"

"Or forgotten," Elsa finished, jumping up and standing on her chair. "Jack's right. Enough moping around!"

"Great! Let's go!"

He flew towards her rapidly, but she held up a hand.

"Oh no. I'm not doing that again. "I didn't just mope around for three hours. I thought of a way I could travel independently."

"Really? What did you do that for? Don't you enjoy flying around with me?" Jack smirked.

A snowball hit him squarely in the face, although Elsa's hand didn't move. Frozone struggled to hide a chuckle.

"Not usually do I enjoy flying at breakneck speeds holding onto some guy I've never met before," Elsa said dryly. "Plus I wasn't sure if you were going to wake up again. What if you were taken like Peri? What if I'm taken and have to find my way back on my own. I can't walk."

"I see your point," Jack said, feigning disappointment. "What's your plan?"

In response, Elsa closed her eyes and slowly raised her hands. Snow began rising from the ground, and in less than a minute had taken the shape of a beautiful white mare. Her face and hooves were made of clear ice, and on her back was a beautifully carved ice saddle covered in inlaid frost designs.

"Whoa," Jack said.

"How strong is that thing?" Frozone asked. The horse whinnied at him. "Sorry, how strong is that girl?"

Elsa vaulted onto the saddle. "Strong enough. I made the bones out of ice; the rest is hard snow."

Frozone laughed. "Watch out, girl. You're confidence is growing."

"And the mane?" Jack asked, running his fingers through the delicate strands.

"It's soft snow, but I have no idea how it's sticking together."

"I don't care how it was done but that is some kind of gorgeous," Frozone said. "I may take a break from snowboarding to ride that beauty."

"Climb on."

"So, now can we leave?" Jack asked.

Elsa grinned at him and spurred her horse into a quick canter. Jack caught up a few seconds later.

"What are you going to name her?" Jack asked, pointing his staff at the horse.

"I was thinking about Snowflake."

"Oh, come on! That is so cliche."

"Well, I like it!"

"So where are we going, exactly?" Frozone yelled over the wind, hoping to cut through their argument.

"Back to Burgess. I want to check Pitch's old hideout."

"That's too obvious. No way he's going to be there."

"But it might give us some clues!" Elsa yelled.

"Now you're talking!" Jack whooped. "That's exactly what I was thinking. Even if we don't find anything, it's a good place to start."

Jack wanted to use the snowglobe, but realized they only had a few left. But it was a good way to see what Elsa's new steed, whom they named Ice Wind, was capable of. With her help, they reached Burgess in only two short hours, slowing down only when they reached the woods. Carefully, Jack flew around the old opening. It had closed the last time Pitch had been defeated, but now it was open again.

"Someone's definitely been here," Frozone said.

"And not something good," Elsa remarked, struggling to keep Ice Wind still.

"Something we should definitely check out!" Jack said cheerfully.

Carefully, Elsa, Jack, and Frozone made their way down the tunnel. Ice Wind was not happy about being left behind, but stayed quiet. The tip of Jack's staff glowed faintly with blue ice, creating only a little light. It was dark, damp, and smelled incredibly foul. In short, not a very pleasant place. The air cleared a little bit when the reached the cavern, but it was still musty. Nobody was home.

"Looks like nothing's lived here in a while," Frozone said.

"Not lived," Jack said, perched on the old globe. "But Pitch was definitely here not too long ago. Look."

A black file cabinet stood in the shadows. Some drawers were on the floor, some sitting askew. The one thing they all had in common was the emptiness.

"So it was abandoned," Elsa said. "Any clues as to where they went?"

"Not exactly," Jack said sheepishly.

"But now we know at least one place where Pitch is not," Frozone said confidently. "It doesn't look like he'll be coming back any time soon, either. But here's what I'm thinkin'. Pitch and Syndrome are going to need a good fortress. One that's well hidden, has lots of space, and is heavily guarded. Jack, do you think that Pitch has had time to build another place like that since his "death?""

"Not a chance," Jack said. "That was too recent."

"Same thing with Syndrome. So if they don't have a new place, then they're going to use one of their old places."

"Syndrome had a lair, didn't he?" Elsa asked.

"Girl, you on a roll!" Frozone held up a hand to high five her. Elsa just looked confused. "Never mind, I'll explain later. Yes, he does have a lair. And I know where it is."

"Good, where is it?" Jack asked. "We should get started."

"Well, the thing is, you can't travel by horse. Syndrome's lair is on a volcanic island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."

"That's, like, the polar opposite of our powers," Jack said.

"Which makes perfect sense as to why they would stay there," Elsa said with a sigh. "Is there room for all the missing kids to stay?"

"More than enough," Frozone said. "It takes up the whole island."

"Then if I were Pitch, that's exactly where I'd be," Jack said. "So. Let's find some transportation, shall we?"