"Thank you so much for the help, all of you." Tooth flew from one guardian to another, her eyes filled with gratitude.
"Always there for each other, mate." Bunnymund smiled as he tossed the empty sack over his shoulder. "Just tell us what to do."
"Bunny's right. Never too busy to help." North replied with a warm smile. "Right Sandy?" He asked as he looked down at his friend beside him.
The other two turned to look at Sandy too, who, surprising, fell asleep.
"Sandy? Sandy!" North called as he patted Sandy's shoulder, waking the latter up. When Sandy finally realized what was going on, he immediately gave tooth the thumbs up, along with a reassuring smile.
"Oh, thank you all so much!" Tooth thanked again. "Especially since Christmas is so close. I'm really sorry North."
"No need." Santa waved his hand dismissively. "That is what yetis are good for" He smiled.
"Well then, let's go! The children are waiting!" Tooth exclaimed with an excited smile on her face. It's been a long time since she had personally collected the teeth.
"Hey, have you ever thought of decorating your lair?" Jack asked as he hopped from one corner of the lair to another, investigating every rock and pebble.
For a lair this big, he was surprised how completely boringly empty it was. If it wasn't for the pile of tubes full of teeth sitting at the center of the lair and the cages of little fairies hanging from the ceiling, this place would be a complete bore.
"I happen to prefer a simple and nice environment." Pitch replied, sitting on his throne and observing the spinning globe model in front of him. The globe showed only the continents of Earth and on each continent were lights; a symbol of children under the guardians' watch.
The lights started slowly disappearing since they raided tooth's palace, but the dimmed spots were starting to light up again. He smiled, satisfied.
"Someone's living the plain and monotone life." Jack muttered as he rolled his eyes. Hmm… Maybe he could give this place a makeover. A few glaciers here and there should lift the mood.
"Hmm, you said something?" Pitch lifted an eyebrow.
"Just wondering why you brought the fairies back." Changing the topic, Jack put on his most innocent smile and shrugged.
"To keep the guardians busy of course. Wouldn't want them in our way and spoiling the fun, would we?" Pitch smiled as he stood up from his throne.
"Let me guess, we're going to wreck another place up, aren't we?" Jack grinned as he rested his staff on his shoulder.
"Not just any place, but the place you've always been dreaming of." Pitch smiled as he summoned his ride. "And it just so happens that Santa won't be at home for a while. Interested?"
"I call dibs on the yeti." Jack whistled.
"Ok, here's the plan." Arriving outside Santa's workshop, Jack started explaining his foolproof strategy.
"I'll charge in from the door and start freezing everything I see."
"Jac-"
"You'll use your shadow-ey ability and enter through the windows. See that second one over there? That one." Jack pointed to a big wooden window. "Don't go in by the first one or you'll fall straight into a pool of cookie mix. They stick to your hair and are a pain to wash off." He warned with a disgusted shrug, speaking from experience.
"Jack,-"
"Also, stay in the shadows at all times. Watch out for yetis. They might look harmless but man they pack a punch. One of them like to throw elves at you, so don't ever start a fight unless needed." He listed as he pointed to each of his finger each time a point was mentioned.
"Jack, if you give me a-"
"Finally, always keep your head low. This is especially important if you don't want a free haircut. Someone ought to give those elves a license before they get to drive the toy helicopters. Then again, maybe a new haircut is just what you need." Putting his hand down, Jack looked up at Pitch's hair and decided that a new style was definitely good.
"Are you using gel on your hair?"
Pitch sighed.
"I'll take that as a yes." Jack nodded to himself. "So, any questions about our plan?" he smiled, showing two rows of snow white teeth.
"…Yes. Might I suggest another alternative?" Pitch raised his hand.
"Yeah sure why not? You learn fast from failures after all." Jack nodded and leaned against his staff, waiting to listen to this new idea.
"… Very well then." Pitch tapped his fingertips together. "Could I ask you to take a step closer?"
"Sure. Speaking of which, you think you can get your horses in there? They'll do a fine job keeping the yetis busy." Taking a step forward, Jack suggested.
He wasn't sure if the yetis would be scared of the dark beauties, but they'll at least be occupied. It was then when the thought of Pitch in pink came back to him.
Yeah, those yetis would freak out and run for their lives if that were to ever happen.
"Delightful. Now stay right there." Pitch smiled as the end of his robe started growing around them.
"Err… Is your robe supposed to do that?" Jack asked, eyeing the coal black robe as it grew upwards, surrounding the both of them.
"For the sake of a safe journey, I suggest no questions as well." Pitch advised.
… Ok that was obviously threatening.
Knowing that his friend here's perfectly capable of making the journey a painful one, Jack decided that he should just enjoy the new experience. It's not like he get to be swallowed by a growing robe every day.
Hence he watched as the robe completely devoured the two of them, blocking every ray of light out and surrounding them in complete darkness. Though, before he knew it, the darkness started fading, and within the blink of an eye, the darkness was gone. And right in front of them, was Santa's work desk.
"Woa." Was all that Jack could say as his eyes widened at the scene in front of him.
The room was pretty big, but not so spacious since there were shelves of toys everywhere. At the very center of the room was the large oak work desk. On the desk was the sculpture of a train track modeled from a roller coaster track, made completely out of ice. But the details, gosh, he could even count the number of nails on the track!
"You are welcome." Taking his seat on Santa's big red chair, Pitch nodded with a proud smile.
"I still think my idea would have worked though." Turning around and looking out of the small window fixed on the room's door, Jack muttered. It's definitely more exciting than just dropping in.
"Not to worry my friend, our job has just started. In fact, this is exactly where you come in." Joining Jack at the door, Pitch placed a hand on Jack's shoulder and bent down to look through the window as well.
"Oh, so we still get to freeze some yetis?" The blue eyed teen's face lit up as he held his staff closer to him.
"Of course. Go ahead and knock yourself out." Pitch nodded as he opened the door a little. "If you ever need help, my dark beauties are with you." He paused, as if he had remembered something. "But please, stop transforming them. Blue doesn't quite blend well into the shadows."
"Yeah sure, whatever you said. I've got the yetis anyway." Shrugging and grinning at the same time, Jack gave Pitch a wave and slid out quietly. The element of surprise was always handy when you're dealing with a mob of large and furry yetis.
After Jack had left the room, Pitch quietly shut the door and returned to the desk. Picking a black marker up from the desk, he decided to leave a little message for the guardians.
"Now, I simply can't wait for Christmas." He smirked, contented.