14. Jack
Setting off the alarm was easy. All Jack had to do was shoot it with frost and it malfunctioned. Grinning, he flew back to the bathroom—where, embarrassingly, the tunnel had ended—and signaled for Elsa and Frozone to come up.
"Where's Frozone?" he asked as Elsa ran up her ice stairs.
"He dropped his thingy," Elsa said. "Back in the tunnels. He went to get it, and told me to go ahead if he wasn't back by the time you returned."
Jack bit his lip. "We shouldn't split up, but we can't stay here, either. C'mon, let's find the kids."
Quietly, they ran through the building, which was empty thanks to the alarm. Or maybe not many people were here in the first place.
"This looks promising," Jack said, opening a large, impressive door.
Inside was a large conference table with chairs, completely empty. The opposite wall was the volcanic rock, and part of it had been cut away to reveal a view of the island.
"Well, that's disappointing," Jack sighed. "I had hoped there would be some sort of clue or…"
Suddenly, a piercing scream from the jungle cut him off.
"That's Peri!" Elsa said.
Without a word, Jack flew off, leaving Elsa on her own. He darted between trees, following the screaming, until he came to a clearing, where he saw Peri backed against a tree, facing a large, hungry looking tiger. A second later, the creature was frozen, and Peri had collapsed into Jack's arms.
"Are you ok?" he asked, panting.
Peri nodded and hugged him tighter. "I was afraid you wouldn't come."
"Why would you think that?"
"Because Pitch said…"
"Hey, listen to me." Jack peeled her away and took hold of her shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Pitch lies to create fear. He needs it to survive. But you can't believe him, because almost nothing he says is true."
"It sounded convincing," Peri said meekly.
"I know. I've been attacked that way, too. But you have to fight it, ok?"
Peri took a deep breath. "Ok."
"Good. Now come on, we've broken into his lair."
Jack started to fly away, but turned back when she didn't follow. She was looking at the ground, ashamed.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"They took my pixie dust. I can't fly."
"Well, we'll have to do something about that, won't we? Did you bring extra?"
"Yes, but it's at the Pole with North."
"See, there? It's not as bad as it seems."
"But having someone steal your fairy dust is one of the most shameful things in Pixie Hollow!"
Jack put a finger to her lips. "Then we won't tell anyone," he whispered. "It's our secret."
In spite of herself, Peri smiled. "Right."
"Hop on!" Jack said, turning.
Peri jumped on his back and they flew back in the window.
"Peri!" Elsa said with obvious relief. Peri jumped down and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're safe! We missed you."
"Really?"
"Of course! The boys kept arguing and I couldn't calm them down like you could."
Peri looked surprised. "Look out!" she said, pointing to the door.
Jack looked up in time to see a thin woman with white hair enter the room. She did not look happy to see them. Before he could react, ice had hit her. Elsa's ice.
"Good one," Jack said.
Then he noticed something strange. Instead of turning the woman to solid ice, the ice had hit her skin and frozen around her, encasing her in an ice cube. And then, to the shock of everyone, her eyes dimmed and shut with a click.
"Whoa," Elsa said. "That's never happened before."
Jack walked around the woman to investigate. "Of course! She's a "Mirage," a new type of robot. Syndrome must have invented it, of course."
"A robot?" Elsa asked. "I thought you said they were machines, not people."
"This is a new kind. They act like humans, they have independent thought and speak normally. They do your office work for you and become your perfect soulmate."
"That is weird," Peri said. "And Syndrome invented her?"
"Yep. That's why Elsa didn't freeze her solid. Her skin feels realistic, but on the inside she's metal. The ice just made her malfunction."
Elsa looked at the woman in disgust. "Let's get out of here. We need to find the kids."
"Right," Jack said. "On the map that Bob sent, I saw a room labeled computer room. We should probably check there, first."
"Do you know where to find it?" Elsa asked.
"Lucky for you ladies, I have an excellent memory," Jack said smugly. "Follow me."
"Where is Frozone?" Peri asked.
"He dropped something on the way here and went to get it," Elsa said. She frowned. "I hope he's alright."
"Nah, he'll be fine," Jack said. "Now if I remember correctly, the computer room was near a volcano room. If that's the conference room…here!"
They entered the double doors and were met with a wave of heat. It was a large room filled with chairs, couches, and coffee tables. To their left, a gigantic wall of lava poured down, but somehow did not overspill into the lounge.
"So, where's the computer room?" Peri asked.
"The door is supposed to be through there," Jack said, pointing to the lava. "But I don't see how to open it."
"Maybe there's not much lava, and we can use our ice to get through it?" Peri suggested.
Jack looked dubious. "Not sure if that will work. Even if we combine all of our ice…that's a lot of lava and it's really hot."
"We have to try," Elsa said. "I can't go back to Mrs. Bennet knowing that I didn't try hard enough."
Jack's face hardened. "Ok. Let's do it. Everyone stand close together; when we break through, run. And no matter what, don't stop making ice."
Elsa linked arms with Jack, and Peri stood in front of them. Together, they raised their hands and blasted the lava. After only a few seconds, they managed to make a dent and form the beginnings of an ice tunnel.
"Now!" Jack yelled.
They plunged inside. The second they were in, the lava behind them fell back into place, trapping the three. Gulping, Jack threw more power into his ice and kept walking forward.
"Elsa, cover us from behind! Make sure the lava doesn't catch up with us."
Elsa nodded and turned.
"I can't make ice," Peri cried, suddenly remembering.
"Stay close," Jack said. "We should be out soon."
It was hard to tell, but he was certain they had come at least ten feet by now. The ice was melting almost faster than he could produce it, and Elsa was having the same problem behind him. Their arms were still linked, and he pulled her faster. They wouldn't be able to last much longer.
"I can't do it," Elsa gasped.
"Yes, you can! I believe in you, Elsa, come on!"
"Are we almost there?" Peri cried.
"We have to be," he said grimly.
Drips of moisture dripped down into his eyes, which he thought must be the ice melting on top of him. Then the water ran down into his mouth, and it was salty.
Am I sweating? Eww. That's a first. We've got to get out of here.
But despite his appearances, his strength was failing, even Elsa could feel it. Was it him, or was it getting darker?
"Jack," she said pleadingly. "Please don't give up! You can't give up. Jamie's counting on you."
Jamie, Jack thought, his vision clearing. "Hold on, Jamie! I'm coming!" he yelled. In his biggest blast yet, the lava opened to reveal a dark room. "There! I can see the end! It's not far, come on!"
Hope surged through all three of them, and they pressed onwards. Elsa turned and combined her force with Jack's, and they ran down towards the invisible opening. Behind them, the lava was closing in fast. With one last burst of energy, they broke through the lava wall and fell to floor. Elsa lay on her back, eyes closed, gasping for air. Exhausted tears ran down her face.
"Are you ok?" Jack asked hoarsely.
"Don't make me go through that again," Elsa whispered weakly. "Find another way out, stay here forever, but don't ever ask me to do that again."
"No," Jack agreed. "We won't, I promise."
Shakily, he managed to stand and get his bearings. It was a dark room, almost pitch black, but small electric lights lit a pathway to a giant super computer. Slowly, keeping his eyes and ears open for a trap, he advanced towards the computer. Once he got there safely, he turned back to the girls.
"It's safe to come across," he called, his voice echoing. "But stay between the lights. I don't like what that means and I don't want to find out what's on the other side."
He started pressing buttons on the computer, but a login page appeared.
"What's that mean?" Elsa asked.
"It's asking for a password. It wants to make sure that it is Syndrome that's trying to look at the files, and nobody else."
"Except for Pitch," Peri pointed out. "He told me they're working together."
Jack typed in "PitchBlack" into the computer. Fail. "PitchandSyndrome," "PitchnSyndrome," both failed.
"Did he tell you anything else?" Jack asked Peri. "Anything that might be a clue?"
"Um…not really. He was pretty focused on my magic."
"What do you call it again? Fairy dust?"
"Pixie dust," Peri said with a sigh.
Jack typed in "PixieDust" into the computer. That was also incorrect. Elsa leaned over and simply typed in "ice." To their surprise, it actually worked.
"That was easy," Peri said.
"I don't think he was counting on us ever getting in," Jack pointed out. "Look! "List of Children." That should tell us something."
He clicked on the document and it popped open into an extensive list of names. Slowly, Jack scrolled down, searching for information.
"There's so many," Elsa whispered.
"Yeah, but were are they?" Peri asked.
Jack stopped scrolling and looked at her. "You're right. The names are here, but not the location. And you know what else? Has anyone else noticed that our voices echo in here? This has to be the biggest room in the lair…"
"Which means?" Elsa asked.
"They're here," Jack whispered.
He pointed his staff upward. Instantly, ice covered the ceiling, which was not far above, and spread to the walls. Where they all expected the walls to meet the floor, however, it continued to creep down. Jack leapt over the row of lights and fell through thin air. He stopped and slowly floated. As he had suspected, the children were in the room, held in glowing blue light boxes and chained to the wall.
"Jack?" Elsa called, leaning over the walkway.
"Careful, don't fall," Jack warned. "It's hard to see down here."
"Are they there?" Peri asked. "Did you find them?"
"Yes! Hang on, I'm trying to find Jamie." Swiftly, he flew around the room, peering into the little cells. "Hang on, I know a lot of these kids! Sherman, Russell…here's Margo, Edith, and Agnes, although I don't know where their parents are."
North was right, there are kids from all over the world.
There was Mavis from Transylvania, Fernando from Brazil, and Hamish from Scotland, as well as dozens of more that he didn't know.
"We should leave while we still can," Peri called. "I need my pixie dust, and we still haven't found Frozone. He'll know how to free them."
"But we haven't found another way out," Elsa said.
"And I haven't found Jamie!" Jack yelled.
"Jack, the walls are opening!" Peri said. "Help!"
Loud noises of complicated machinery roared through the room as the walls and lava slowly parted. Jack shot up and grabbed the girls, then flew underneath the bridge just as Syndrome entered. Humming triumphantly, Syndrome casually walked over to the computer. They could hear him clacking away on the keyboard.
"What's he going?" Elsa whispered.
"Shh," Jack said.
"Let's see, where…ah. Adults," Syndrome said aloud. "F-r-o-z-o-ne, Frozone! And save." He laughed. "First Peri, now Frozone! My day just keeps getting better and better!"
His footsteps echoed above them as he walked back towards the lava. Jack looked at the girls in horror, but they kept silent. There was another round of mechanical noise as the walls shut behind him.
"Ok, now what?" Elsa asked when they were sure he was gone. "They have Frozone, we can't get help from him."
"Then we'll get help from North," Peri said. "Jack, was there another way out?"
"I saw another room," Jack said. "We could try that way."
"Well," Peri said as they flew down. "The good news is they don't know I'm gone yet."
"They assume you were eaten by a tiger," Jack said, putting them down. "It's this way."
"Jack. Look."
Turning, he saw Elsa looking upward at the children in cages. Two of them were Jamie and Sophie. Jack flew up to them, but they couldn't see him. Terrified, Sophie was leaning against the wall, crying. But Jamie different. He was lying on the energy floor of his cell, shivering and urgently talking to himself, but he was completely calm.
"Something's wrong," Peri said. "He's too cold, but none of the other children are like that."
"I know, I know," Jack said, looking at the boy intently.
Gradually, Jack was able to read his lips and figure out what he was saying. He could hear Jamie saying it, it was just what he would say:
I believe in Jack Frost, I believe in Jack Frost, I believe in Jack Frost, I BELIEVE IN JACK FROST!
"We have to get out of here!" Peri reminded him.
But Jack couldn't look away. He'd known Jamie had believed in him, but not to this extent. When Pitch had returned from the dead and kidnapped him, holding him in what Jamie believed to be isolation, he didn't hold on to his mother, or Sophie, or any old Guardian. He didn't try to escape, he was simply waiting. Jamie was giving power to his hero, the only one he believed could save him: Jack. Never in 300 years had Jack been so touched. In spite of himself, tears ran down his cold face, and he reached a hand out.
"Jack, we can't help him!" Elsa said.
For a second, Jack paused. He didn't want to endanger the lives of the other children, and he nearly turned away. He almost walked away promising to return and save everyone. But then Jack looked at Jamie, soundlessly chanting.
I believe in Jack Frost, I believe in Jack Frost.
"We have to try," Jack said.
Without thinking, he took his staff and plunged it into the barrier. Jamie's eyes grew wide and he sat up suddenly.
JACK!
Then, to Jack's horror, a wave of electricity shocked Jamie into unconsciousness.
"No!" Jack yelled.
An alarm started to ring loudly throughout the whole lair. Elsa jumped and caught Jack's foot, dragging him down.
"Come on!" she yelled.
"Ok, you're right," Jack said. "We have to leave the island."