A/N: Hey guys. Before you say anything, I know I said that the last chapter I posted was going to be the last one until I finish. I can tell you right now that we are far from near the end. I just felt extremely bad to all you guys by leaving you here without a new chapter to read. So as a form of apology, I present to you a chapter. Not just any chapter, oh no, but the longest chapter I have posted. A grand total of 4,156 words! Now, I'm sure this will keep you guys sated until the next time.

And just a few notes to add before I send you all on your merry way.

First, I meant to mention that this will be an eventual Jackrabbit story. Now do not fret (or hyperventilate) it's nothing extreme. I'd tell you how but where is the fun in that? Second, I don't have a BETA reader so if anything is amiss or seems odd or wrong please inform me so I can get it fixed ASAP. And lastly, please please please please pleaaassee review. Reviews are good for both me and the story so I know what it is you guys liked and what it is you don't like so that way I know how to work things out in the story. Of course no matter what happens I'm sure I'd enjoy it anyway. Plus, reviews are just nice. It shows that you guys care enough for this story to take the time to tell me you liked it or hate it. I want to hear it all!

I am sure you are tired of my rambling, so without further ado, the chapter.

Amalgamating Flesh & Pixels

Chapter 9:

Uselessness

The whole moderator/administrator ceremony was pushed back when we noticed that the 'glitches' were becoming more lively and they weren't able to contact MiM. I told North and the guys about all I knew about the glitches, which didn't help much since they knew just about as much as I did. Bunny did say though that the glitches took whatever players they kidnapped to the same place. What or where this place is no one knows. Bunny said he tried to follow them back to their lair, but he would end up following decoys who would lead him someplace that wasn't where he wanted to be.

I also learned that everyone had a different region that they looked over. Something that didn't need to be mentioned, but I just thought it was cool.

Toothiana looked over the elevated places, Bunny looked over the woodsy/nature related places, North had the bigger city type places, and Sandman just helped all around and took care of the places that no one specifically looked after. North told me that I would be looking over the more icy/deserted areas. I thought that was kinda lame because nothing ever happens out in those places. It's like Siberia out there. I didn't complain that much (read: I didn't complain at all) though since that just means less work for me. And honestly, it doesn't matter what the reason is I am a lazy teenager. Even when it comes to video games and I'm not the one actually doing the physical exercise.

And this is how I ended up here in the middle of some frozen wasteland. North said he'd come by and check up on me some time later. I saw a few (and by few I mean a total of one party of two people) players running around off in the distance. I was currently perched on a rock and tried to remember some of the answers for a test in my Astrophysics class tomorrow. I then briefly wondered what kind of job I'm supposed get with the classes I'm taking. I then wondered why I was taking the classes I was taking in the first place.

There was a scream off in the distance and I quickly looked around for the source. I noticed one of the players that was running around with their friend was on the ground and their aforementioned friend wasn't around. I quickly flew over and knelt down by the downed player.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked helping them into a sitting position. Their character looked incredibly pale, like as if the color was just drained from them. I didn't know if that was how their person looked naturally or what and it briefly brought the idea on how rude it would sound if I asked.

"M-my friend and I were just playing around and then she stopped. I asked her what was wrong and when she looked at me she had, like, no color on her! And her eyes were this creepy yellow color and she attacked me." At this point she started crying.

"Hey, no, come on don't cry. Where did she go?" I asked.

"S-she started running that way," She pointed just ahead of her. "But she d-disappeared into this black mist or something. What's w-wrong with h-her?" She looked at me with watery eyes.

"I, I don't know. But hopefully something gets done about it." I played it off.

I healed the girl back up and got her back into the nearest town. Her color never restored and at one point I thought her hand glitched up a bit, but I could have imagined that or something. Too much stress and things going on in my life at one time. I need a nap.

I went back to my post, but North seemed to have beaten me to it.

"Jack, where did you go? You are not supposed to be going off whenever you please. Not yet anyway." He scolded.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just helping this girl. I think a glitch attacked her." I told him.

"A glitch? All the way out here?" He was just as confused as I was because I certainly wasn't expecting something like that to happen all the out here. "I told the others we would be meeting up to tell what we have found out so far."

He used one of his Teleportation Orbs to send us to some weird workshop place. I definitely have never been or even seen this place before. I looked around and the first thing that came to mind was Santa's Workshop. Of course, it could have been just about anyone's workshop, but there was too much Christmassy type things lying around to convince me otherwise.

"What is this place?" I asked still looking around.

"My Home!" North said a lot louder than was really necessary. He seems to understand the not giving a fuck if I was unnecessary loud or not rule.

"Whoa, what? This is your Home?" I ran to the railing and saw that it went down farther.

For those of you who don't know what a Home is, it's pretty much just a home that you can create and stuff for your avatar. You guys have seen my Home, it was the little pond in the middle of the seems-to-always-be-dead forest. Your Home can look like and be whatever the heck you wanted it to be, you just had to have the sufficient funds to able to afford all the crap. Rooms or Homes can be different sizes, but bigger Rooms or Houses are a hella lot more expensive, but gold is no object to North apparently.

"Hey, North I think you got a Yeti infestation, man." I said as I leaned over the railing to get a better look at the floor beneath the one we were on.

"Infestation?" He laughed, full on hands on the stomach roar of a laugh. "There is no infestation, Frost Boy, those are friends. They live here in my Home." He smacked me on the back and almost sent me tumbling over the edge.

After a moment of flailing and not trying to fall I said, "They live here? You can actually do that?"

"What is there you can't do in this game?" I turned around and saw Bunny leaning against one of the wooden pillars.

"You can't do the nasty." Tooth's voice pitched in as she flew in through one of the windows followed by Sandy.

I chuckled and leaned on my staff. "'The nasty'?"

"Yeah! You know the dirty. Sexually explicit intimate things." She lightly blushed. "They haven't been able to get that patch released yet." She explained and Sandy nodded to confirm and made a disgusted face as an icon that looked like 'XP' floated above his head. He looked like a little kid who just watched his parents kiss what with his face all scrunched up.

"I had no idea they were actually trying to get that allowed." I said not really believing it. I imagined avatars everywhere having sex. I shuddered. Talk about unsanitary.

"I can't believe that it actually might get passed." Bunny said from where he stood. He clearly wasn't signing his name on the petition any time soon.

"Kissing and stuff is okay I guess, but the full package? That's blowing things out of proportion a little dontcha think? I don't even recall anyone talking about this on The Board either." I continued because it was true. I mean people talk about a lot of things, and I mean a lot of things, even things that weren't necessarily true.

"Well you've never been an Admin either." Tooth said proudly, "We're special so we get special privileges." She grinned.

"And what are these 'special privileges'?" I leaned forward on my staff more than a little interested.

"We are here for different reason." Again with the back smacking. "Jack tell Guardians what you discovered today."

"Uh, oh, right. So there was this player who was attacked by her friend her friend's avatar had no color on her whatsoever and disappeared in a black mist." I said in one whole go. And from the looks on everyone's face it was a pretty lame explanation, but they got the gist of what I was saying. Maybe.

"That's what I heard 'round the forests today." Bunny said after giving me a look.

"I read the same thing on The Boards and around the mountain tops too!" Tooth looked down at Sandy who just looked up at her helplessly.

"What happened to them? Do you think this is happening to the players who were kidnapped?" I mused.

"Then that wouldn't explain why that girl just attacked her friend outta the blue like that." Bunny crossed his arms as he thought.

"Well, really it doesn't explain very much actually. I mean, it's been happening all around. Not to mention everyone has noticed." Tooth's voice showed how worried she was, her brows creased together.

"And there's been increase in attacks everywhere." North pitched in from the side.

"Well. What the heck are we going to do? The two main questions that need to answered are where is everyone being taken and who is behind all this." I said and started pacing. I glanced at everyone's face. They all had different expressions showing just how they feel about all this. Gauging from intense anxiety, anger, and pensive. It seemed pretty obvious as to who was feeling what.

"Assuming it's a who at all." Bunny said.

I shrugged my shoulders as a gesture of acknowledgment and really took it in consideration. All of a sudden the room just went quiet. It was quiet a second ago but not this type of quiet. Everyone was still and it made me look at all of them. They all shared the same look. And it wasn't a good one. They looked at each other, excluding myself since I clearly wasn't in the know at that moment.

The look was kinda scary. There was fear, anger, and reminisce all mixed together into one awful amalgam. It wasn't something that they seemed too happy remembering.

"Wait, you don't really mean-" Tooth started to flutter about fretfully, looking back between Bunny and North. Sandy mimicked her movements with the same look of dread.

"I'm not sayin' it is." Bunny interrupted to calm Tooth down from whatever conclusion her mind was coming to.

"Then what are you saying?" She said seriously as she flew into Bunny's space. She was really starting to lose it. If wasn't really paying attention I would have thought she was going to burst into tears or scream which both looked just as likely, but since I was, it actually looked as though she was going to punch something. There was also a small hint of fear there too but she was keen on not letting it show.

Bunny didn't so much as flinch so I flinched for him. I had the brief thought that she was going to hit him but he seemed to know that that wasn't her intention.

"He is saying that Manny was right." North came to Bunny's rescue. He put a large hand on Tooth's shoulder. She visibly relaxed. The tension in her shoulders and back eased and she backed away from Bunny. She gave him a look that was obviously an apology for her actions to which he easily nodded in forgiveness. "Manny told us weeks ago that this was going to happen. We chose not to believe it and we went about unprepared."

I just stood there off to the side and watched all of them. It seemed like I wasn't even there anymore. Just a spectator on their conversation.

I cleared my throat, "Uh, yeah, hi, what are you talking about?"

They all turned to look at me, again with different expressions, and immediately I regretted saying anything at all. It was quiet for a few moments and I really thought they weren't going to tell me anything and was about to tell them that it was okay and they didn't have to say anything. Bunny was the one to break the silence with a sigh and started an explanation.

"Pitch Black." That was all he said. Everyone shared a grim look on their face when he said it too. I was really tempted to just leave right at that point and was just about to do just that until he started up again. "Pitch Black is a virus. A virus that has been 'round since the beginnin' of The Game at least."

"Okay, so, creepy ghost story big deal? That doesn't really mean anything to you guys does it?" I said skeptically. I wasn't really one for ghost stories; sure they were pretty interesting to listen to. I mean I can tell a pretty mean story when I want to, but I never took these guys as someone who actually believed stuff like that.

"Is no ghost story, Jack." North said somberly. "Manny tell me this at the very beginning. Is very serious."

"Alright. What is so dangerous about this thing? And why is it such a threat now?"

"Pitch was not always glitch. He was Guardian like us." North started off. "Manny was one of the first players in The Game he looked around and made sure there was nothing wrong with the game. He checked for glitches and things like that himself. Then he hired other mods and admins to do it for him. One day someone hacked the servers and messed with the programming. Players were able to do things that they normally weren't able to do, like steal from shops and other people's Homes."

"Hey, yeah I remember that. That was super great I got all this gold and was able to buy all this stuff. Not to mention everyone was dropping everything they owned-" I stopped talking when I noticed everyone was glaring at me. "Sorry."

Bunny took over, "Players stopped playin' because they thought it was rip off. The Game Company almost shut down because it was losin' money. Manny had to interfere himself and fixed everythin', though they never caught the guy who hacked the servers. Couldn't trace him back and all. Manny realized that he had to up the security on The Game because he couldn't look over it 24/7. So, he decided to hire players who he believed would look after The Game for him. Sandy there is Manny's grandson." Bunny gestured to Sandy who seemed a bit taken aback at the sudden attention, but smiled and nodded nevertheless. "Sandy was really looking forward to The Game being released and was one of the first people to get it. Not to mention Sandy knows everythin' there is to know about The Game."

"Plus he really has a way with computers and things alike." Tooth says from the side. "So Sandy was on his own and he was extremely awesome at his job, but then there was another virus attack and kinda laid Sandy out. Sandy was able to take care of it of course, but it was extremely difficult. That led Sandy to asking his Grandpappy about recruiting other moderators to help him out. So that is when North joins!"

"Then few months later Bunny joins." North said.

"Then Toothiana climbed on board." Bunny said.

Sandy looked at me with a smile and an emoticon of an arrow pointing at me appeared over his head. "And then I joined." I said.

"It was 'round Tooth joined we actually were titled as Guardians." Bunny said absently as if he were remembering that time. Not sure why he would mention something like that randomly like he did, but I didn't think too much of it; it was some interesting background information.

"Yeah, that was when we found out about Pitch." Toothiana said along with Sandy's nods. "There was another glitch attack about a year ago and it was huge. No one could have missed it, but nowadays no one really cares about old news anymore. It happened it the talk of everyone until an hour later when there's a viral video about a dog jet-skiing." She said with mild agitation as though she couldn't believe the attention span of people in this generation which I couldn't help but agree with.

"So what happened?" I couldn't help but ask, my curious side taking over. If there was one thing that annoyed me most it was unfinished stories. I noticed Bunny staring at me from the corner of my eye, but I was too engulfed in the story to care. That didn't keep the warm tingle shoot down into my toes though.

"Pitch made himself known that time. He materialized into this shroud of black. The power of decay at his fingertips, it was awful! We took care of him that time, but it was certainly not an easy task." Tooth said.

"We don't what it is he is capable of doing this time." North said.

"The horses are definitely new." Bunny grumbled from the side.

North was about to say something, but there was this wave that stirred up the pixels of North's Home and the models of our avatars that caused all of us to look around in confusion. It was an odd feeling that was sent in a wave throughout my body and left an itch in my brain; an annoying itch that I would never be able to scratch. It was without a doubt the most intrusive and disorganizing feeling that has ever swept over me.

I couldn't help but run my hands over my chest and grasp onto my sweatshirt, "Well, that was… uncomfortable." Everyone had the same look for a second which was immediately overlooked when a wicked, unsettling laugh echoed through the building that quickly put all of us on end. It sent a shiver down my spine. And not a good shiver either.

We searched around for the source, grasping our respective weapons. A black figure, almost like a shadow, moved its way around the domed ceiling with the laughter continuing. It left burnt rearranged pixels in its wake before they set themselves right again after a hesitant second. Everyone's eyes followed the shadow until it faded away the laugh following soon after.

It was quiet for what seemed like hours. It was then that I realized that there wasn't a single sound to be heard. The yetis that inhabited North's Home weren't making the loud clatter that they were when I first arrived. Whatever that was completely muted everything around us.

I broke the endless silence, "That was Pitch?" I still held my staff in a painful clutch.

"I'd recognize that pompous laugh anywhere." Bunny growled.

"And I'd recognize that annoying accent." A disembodied voice said from everywhere and nowhere at once.

We all swiftly looked towards the source (well everyone else did, I had no idea where it came from). I looked toward where everyone else is looking. They were all looking at the black figure that was standing atop the giant globe that North had sitting at the heart of his Home. The figure looked just like the shadow that passed through a moment ago, but was significantly smaller.

"When are you going to drop it anyway? We all know you're faking." The voice said. It had a rich British accent that is more prominent the more it spoke.

Bunny really didn't like that. He bared his teeth and ran over to the railing before jumping and landing atop the glowing sphere. Pitch had disappeared before he got there. I looked around wondering where he went until he spoke again from somewhere to the side.

"And who is this? Jack Frost? Don't loners hang around isolated areas? Why in The Game are you hanging around these cheaters?" He said in an uninterested tone, leaning against a large wooden pillar.

"Don't you have graveyards that need stalking?" I snapped back. Yeah, I really didn't like this guy. "They aren't cheaters either."

"Right, right. You don't want to have anything to do with anyone else unless it benefits yourself I understand. I'll just ignore you then." He turned to walk away, "But I'm sure you're used to that." You could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

I was stunned into silence for a second. I already knew I was a loner and that no one liked me, that wasn't news. So why did hurt to hear it out loud?

Bunny yelled out again, the sound ringing throughout the building, as he tried to once again charge at Pitch. Bunny was fast, extremely fast, but Pitch was faster (more like he just uses glitches… loser). Pitch walked around the pillar where Bunny followed him but he just ran around the other side. Pitch nowhere in sight. Bunny let out a frustrated yell.

Pitch stood atop the globe once again. He held his hands being his back as he looked down at us. "Well, this has been fun, but I have much better places to be and better things to be doing." He turned around looking as though he was just about to leave but he looked like he just remembered something. "Oh, and by the way Tooth, tell your sister I said 'hello'." He grinned wickedly then dissolved into black pixels and faded away.

Tooth's eyes were saucers and she began to flit around nervously, wringing her hands close to her chest. She looked around for an answer that wasn't there, "Wha- what do you think he meant by that? You don't think he would-" She continued to spew out her worries in jumbled words that were hard to comprehend if you didn't listen. She would say heated threats then quickly change back to sorrowful worries and then back again.

"Your sisters know that guy?" I asked.

"I only have one sister who actually plays The Game and of course she knows about him." She said as she lowered her hands. Then end of her sentence trailed off as she seemed to realize something that everyone didn't seem to quite catch onto as quickly. "Oh no." She flew off into the air a clear window opening in front of her where she started to frantically type away.

"Tooth, where are you going?" North called up to her with a worried expression.

"I have to go." That was all she said and that was all any of us was able to ask before she pixelated away, logging off.

We all stood there staring at where Toothiana was just at dumbfounded. At least I was. I may have not known Toothiana for very long, especially when compared to the others, but I knew her enough to know that that was very un-Toothiana. Bunny, North, and Sandy all shared confused looks with each other.

"Well, now what?" I asked awkwardly.

"Well what is there left to do? Tooth isn't even online anymore. Pitch disappeared to God knows where. The glitches attackin' players don't seem to stop multiplyin'." Bunny finished with an unsatisfied grunt as he crossed his arms.

I glanced down at Sandy with a useless look. He just smiled supportively for a second before it faltered and he looked back up at where Tooth once was with a worried expression. North looked just as worried as Sandy did but tried to keep a strong front. North had opened a window of his own and was typing away at his. He was a noticeably slow typer, whether that was because he was upset or if he just wasn't very good at it was up for debate (judging by how he was using only his index fingers and staring at the keyboard intently I'm guessing the latter).

After he finished typing whatever it was he closed the window and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I guess that is it for today. You are leaving, yes?" The question was directed at me and Sandy.

"Oh, uh, yeah I guess if that's it." I rubbed the back of my neck and looked down at Sandy who shrugged.

"Bunny you are leaving too?" We looked at where Bunny was.

He shook his head and had a pensive look on his face. He kept his gaze down towards the floor. "Nah, I might stick around a little while longa. I'll… patrol my region or sumthin'." He said the last part distractedly before he opened his own portal, a hole in the ground, and hopped down without another word.

"Ah, yes, I will also keep eye out on things. Goodnight, friends." North said as he turned back towards where the globe sat and leaned on the wooden railing.

I made some sort of halfhearted parting gesture and left with the faint feeling of confusion and feeling all the more useless.