The winter guardian was only moments away from the holding cells. Along the way, the guard Jack was following came across Prince Hans returning from a large structure. The young man had a slight lack of color in his face. It was clear Hans was distressed by the visit. The guard escorted the laden prince back to Arendelle castle. Jack on the other hand pressed on. The prison was in sight but finding her cell wouldn't be an easy task.

He was cautious not to alarm anyone in the area. He was lucky that many of them weren't at their post due to the emergency of the sudden winter. The only lights within the prison were the ones near occupied cells. Making his way to the lower levels of the corridor, he noticed a particularly odd floral pattern of frost at the end of the hall. A candle was lit beside it.

"Psst, Elsa." Jack whispered softly as he made his way to the light. There was a guard at the door keeping watch. Passing the man by the door, he peered into the window of the room. He could see Elsa lying on the ground.

"Elsa!" Jack whispered louder. She wasn't moving. He was getting increasingly more concerned. Looking to the locked doorknob, he glanced over to the guard standing watch. "Sorry about this bud." Jack summoned a layer of ice under the man's feet and called a breeze that swept under him. The man slipped suddenly and hit his head against the wall. Jack summoned a very thin layer of snow to cushion the brunt of the fall. His plan worked, the guard was out cold.

Bingo! Jack cheered quietly as he pulled the keys from within the man's coat. He got up from the ground and began using each key on the lock. He was able to open it on the 5th one. Opening the door to the cell, he took the key and returned it to the man's side and shut the door behind him. If all went well, the guy wouldn't suspect a thing.

Jack rushed to Elsa's side. At first glance, she didn't look injured anywhere. It looked like she was still unconscious from the incident at the mountain.

"Elsa, Elsa wake up! We have to get you out of here." Jack started shaking her hastily. She wriggled her body and opened her eyes. Looking up to the boy beside her, she shoved him away with all her might and crawled away from him. Jack was in pain from the sudden impact of the metal club to the chest

"Ow, what was that for?"

"Get away from me! Stay as far away from me as possible." Elsa hissed. She crawled as far from Jack as the chains would allow her.

"Hey, what's gotten into you—"

"Stay back! I don't want you anywhere near me." She shouted again. She did her best not to make eye contact.

"What's the matter? What happened—"

"Why?! Why was it me? Why did it have to be me?" she quickly interrupted.

"What? What are you talking about?" The boy was very confused. What was with the sudden outburst?

"Why did you have to make me like you? I didn't want any of this, none of it!" She continued to shout at him. Her eyes were red but her tears were already dried.

"Hold on, how do you—"

"Pitch told me. I didn't want to believe it but it's true, isn't it? You're the reason I can't be with Anna. Why I can't be with my people. My powers being out of control, the fears and anger, it's because of you!" Elsa was going mad. She started tugging rigorously on her shackles.

"Hey, stop that!" Jack bolted to Elsa. "You'll hurt yoursel—"

"I don't want to hear it! I want you gone!" She pulled on the chains even harder. Jack could see the marks around her wrist. Dropping his staff, he flew towards her and gripped her arms. "Let go! Get off of—"

"Calm down!" Jack yelled as she tried to pull herself away. "Listen to me. Yes, I was the one who gave you the powers. I did it because—"

"Haunted by this for all my life, afraid of myself and hurting those around me, all because you didn't want to be alone for another 300 years!"

Tick

Jack took both chains in one hand and quickly lifted it over her head pulling her directly in front of him.

"What are you—" she didn't finish her question as their eyes met. His face was expressionless but she could see the rage burning inside of him. This moment felt far scarier than anytime she was ever with Pitch. She tried to pull on her arms but her bindings had frozen solid in his grasp. She stood there powerless, unable to look away from eyes she had never seen before.

As the world slowly turned to a halt, Jack took his left hand and raised it to his side. Elsa was growing more worried by the moment. His hand was visibly shaking. She could only assume it was from anger. He pulled his hand further behind him. She was getting very scared as she watched his movements. She knew what was coming. Suddenly, his hand whipped towards her. She closed her eyes and tensed her muscle in preparation for the impact.

*SMACK*

Elsa's eyes were still closed. Her world was still dark and her mind was in flux. She thought of the moment of contact. The audible clap, the sudden movements, the quietness of the world was directing her mind in constant turmoil of varied emotions and thoughts. Her ears were ringing from the sudden burst of the thunderous collision. However, something felt odd about the situation she was put in.

Why doesn't it hurt?

Elsa lifted her eyes to see Jack wasn't in front of her. Like a magic trick, she heard the clap and then he vanished. However, her vision was narrowed. As she observed the room for his whereabouts, he was only leaning against the dark brick walls of the old cell. He was trembling slightly.

"O- O- Ow! That hurt a lot more than I thought it would! Why did I have to do it so hard?"

Jack stumbled his way back to Elsa. His hand cupped his rose red cheek. His eyes were slightly watery.

"Did you—" Elsa was quickly interrupted by the boy grabbing her arms. She shuttered at the sudden gesture. The whole event had completely caught her off guard.

"Are you okay now?" Jack asked the queen. His left cheek had begun to swell. She smirked at the sudden odd question.

"Why are you asking me that when you're the one that's hurt?" Elsa giggled softly.

"Because… reasons…" He loosened his grip on her. He thawed the frozen chains and began observing the metal of her handcuffs. "… and because you needed something to calm you down."

"Why did you hit yourself?" Elsa knelt over to look at his slightly swollen face.

"If I didn't do something stupid, I might have done something even stupider." Jack looked up to Elsa. She couldn't help but laugh at his odd responses and his surprising actions.

"You're strange, you know that?" She smiled, whipping the tear that formed while she was laughing.

"And you look better when you're happy." His smile was kind. She could feel the warmth of his heart. Elsa's face was flush red by his comment. He began rubbing his neck. "Listen, I'm sorry. You're right. This is because of me. I didn't know what to do and I couldn't let something so precious just vanish."

"Jack, what exactly—" they both heard loud clattering from outside the sell. Elsa turned to look out the window. The fog was getting denser and the storm was getting more powerful. Elsa looked even more distressed than before. She heard crackling behind her. Turning around, she saw the walls of the cell freeze over. Jack was focusing all his energy to destroy the shackles.

"I can tell you everything later. Right now, we've to get you out of here—" Jack was cut off by the footsteps from beyond the hall.

"Hurry up!"

"She's dangerous. Move quickly!"

"Careful!" There were multiple guards just outside the room.

"I got it." Jack shot a burst of ice at the lock of the door. The doorknob immediately froze solid.

"Ugh, it won't open!"

"It's frozen shut."

*Crack*

The hinges of the shackles snapped. "Perfect! Elsa, keep pulling." Jack ran over to his staff. Looking to the ceiling, he could see the foundation crumbling from the ice. He ran over to her side.

"You're gonna have to trust me on this." He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close. She was too flustered to refuse. Jack pointed his staff to the ground in front of them.

"One…"

The wooden support beam snapped from the ceiling.

"THREE!"

Jack shot a powerful wave of frost ahead of him. Her bindings snapped open effortlessly as they were launched against the crumbling wall and out the jail cell. They made it out of the room moments before the entire place collapsed on them.

"Jack, move!" Elsa turned behind him to face the oncoming earth. She called forth a thick layer of snow below them moments before landing. It cushioned all of the fall.

"Quick thinking, princess." Jack lifted himself off the ground. He held his hand out to the girl covered in snow.

"You're not so bad yourself, and it's 'queen'." She took his hand as he pulled her from the ground. Their argument almost seemed like it had never happened. However, their chit chat was short lived. The storm that formed around the kingdom had become ferociously powerful. Jack attempted to call the wind to carry them to safety but the blizzard was too intense.

"Looks like flying isn't an option, looks like we're runnin'." Jack gestured her to follow him. She was gonna follow behind but she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Anna! I have to find Anna." Elsa's looked incredibly worried. Jack immediately pat her on the head.

"Don't worry about Anna. You get out of here. I'll find Ms. Clumsy. She should still be at the castle with Hans."

"Please… please make sure she's okay." Elsa begged softly.

"You bet, your majesty! Stay safe and—" Jack pulled her head close to his. "—if you see Pitch. He can't do anything to you if you're not afraid. If you have any fears…" He summoned a snowflake between their faces. "Let it go."

Jack pulled away from her and rushed to the castle. He was too self-conscious to stay any longer. Ignoring everything around him, he ran at lightning speeds in hopes of finding Anna safe in the castle. However, the swirling storm was too thick for him to properly see anything. He pressed on in the general direction he followed before.

Fighting against the storm, he noticed a clearing in the distance. The closer he got, he noticed the wind weakening and the fog lifting. Was it the eye of the storm? Rushing to get a better view of the area, a large black scythe crashed down in front of him. He was barely able to avoid the attack.

"If it isn't good ol' Jack?! Can't say I missed you." Pitch grinned wildly as he pulled his weapon out of the iced over waters. He took another large swing at the boy. Jack leapt into the air and landed further back from the man.

"The feeling's mutual." Jack growled. He was caught off guard by Pitch's attire. His cloak was laced with a layer of frost encrusted at the edges. His face was still gray but his hair looked like black icicles. This wasn't the Pitch he remembered.

"Well aren't you spritely, boy. Last time I saw you, you were beat to a pulp and ready to collapse. Why is it you always come to ruin the good parts? Tell me, oh great Guardian of Fun?!" He launched black ice shards at the man in blue. Jack swung his staff, hitting the black spikes away.

"I thought you didn't have any powers over ice." The guardian shot powerful bolts of frost at the iced over Boogeyman.

"You should blame yourself for that!" Pitch raised his crystalized scythe in the air and dropped it down like a hammer. The ice cracked below Jack's feet moments after he jumped away. The boy began to feel insecure about the sight. "Oh, and your little queen as well."

"Why do you want to get rid of Elsa so badly?!" While he was in the eye of the storm, he called forth a powerful gale that launched him towards the man in black. Pitch ducked under Jack's sudden assault.

"Get rid of her? Hah! I don't want to get rid of her. How else will I feed off her fears? Every scary tale requires a good villain. What better villain than the wicked queen that destroyed a kingdom in a single day?" Pitch proceeded to summon multiple spikes from the ground that trailed behind the flying spirit. "Think of it, Jack. By now, all the neighboring countries must have heard about the evil sorceress of Arendelle that started a blizzard with a flick of her wrist."

Jack flew around Pitch as he tried to find an opening. However, while watching the icicles spearing out of the water behind him, he didn't notice the large wall Pitch formed in front of his path. Jack collided into the ice wall at full speed. The large pieces of ice locked him against the wall.

"The fly's finally been caught in the web." The tall man walked over to the boy pinned against the black sand.

Pitch Black's face looked insanely happy with a terrifying grin. He took Jack's staff in his hands and raised it in the air. With all his might, he slammed it into the ground. Enormous cracks formed all around the imprisoned guardian.

"Fitting, isn't it? You started your life in a frozen lake. Now, it will all end with you going right back in it." Pitch chuckled as he watched the ice crack rapidly around them. He summoned large amounts of black sand that started weighing down like an anchor on the floating ice.

"You're not getting away with this, Pitch. The others will stop you."

"Stop me? They can't even touch me." Pitch pulled his cloak to reveal a blue light glowing over his heart. Jack's eyes were wide with disbelief. "Imagine an army of nightmares with the power of ice cold fear. 'What goes together better than cold and dark?' Remember when I told you that? Only this time, I don't need you."

The weight of the sand was pushing the ice deeper and deeper into the fjord. The water was at Jack's knees now. He was getting more afraid of what was going to happen.

"There it is… that confidence of yours is all gone now." Pitch crouched over to the sinking guardian. Jack felt like he was looking into the eyes of a madman. "Oh, let me put you at ease. I won't hurt your dear Elsa. Again, I need a good villain for the story. I will bring a storm that will rule the earth in total darkness. My fear… Under the guise of the Snow Queen, I will feast on the world's nightmares. Not even the Man in the Moon will be able to stop me."

Pitch watched as the water rose to the boy's neck. The pressure made it increasingly more difficult for Jack to breath. He watched as the torrent of wind and snow spiraled around them. Pitch tossed Jack's staff into the water.

"It starts with the queen, then the earth. Soon enough, all of the stars will belong to me. I think it's time I bid you farewell. Sleep tight. I can't promise you a pleasant dream." The menacing grin was burned into Jack's mind. Helpless to do anything, his head finally sank below the tides. The dark figure beyond the rippling water stood over him. He could still see the man's smile, the vicious look.

Jack finally gave in, letting out the last bit of air in him. Looking out to the skies above, he could only beg for a miracle. As his vision faded, he noticed a glimmer in the sky. Thinking he was delusional, he wished upon a star. However, something seemed odd. The glow was getting brighter. Actually, it wasn't getting brighter, it was getting bigger. The star was moving very quickly in his direction.

*Crash*

An enormous shockwave surged through the waters and the ice and sand shattered around guardian. Beside him was a glowing figure that wrapped his arm around Jack's shoulder. They both went sailing out of the water. The boy took in multiple breaths.

"One way to make a hell of an entrance there, Nightlight." Jack laughed as he pounded his chest, coughing up some of the excess water in his lungs "What took you so long?"

Nightlight chuckled as he helped Jack on his feet. He took out a small globe in his chest plate.

"Pitch's exit."