The portal reopened over London, and the sleigh landed on the roof of a nearby building.

"Alright, let's go!" Jack exclaimed, jumping out of the sleigh.

"Hold on, Jack," North said, grabbing the back of the teens hoodie, "We don't know where start is. We must look for clues. Pitch, you can cover great distances at night, so we were hoping you could help us with that."

The Boogeyman nodded.

"But it could be dangerous, so we will break into teams; Tooth, you are with me, Sandy, you go with Pitch, and Jack, you team up with Bunny."

The response was instantaneous.

"WHAT?!" Jack, Bunny, and Pitch exclaimed. Sandy had exclamation points and question marks over his head, indicating he was feeling the same.

"It will be good for the four of you to learn to work together."

"I don't wanna work with this dill!" Bunny snapped.

"Hey, I'm not a dill! What does that even mean? Isn't that some sorta pickle or something?" Jack retorted.

"North, you've obviously lost whatever's left of your mind if you think I'm going to work with him!" Pitch hissed, gesturing at Sandy with one hand. Sandy was frowning at North, indicating he was feeling the same.

"See, this is what I am talking about. You all need to learn to work with each other-!"

"I'm not working with him!"

"Yer off ya rocker, North!"

Tooth glanced back and forth as the men argued with one another. As they were doing so, she saw something out of the corner of her eye, and glanced towards it. A white figure flitted down an alley, and she gasped.

"Hey, there's something down there!" she called quietly.

The arguing men took a break, and looked first at her, then in the direction she was pointing. They jumped from the roof, and followed the figure into the dark alley.

Most of them were squinting to see in the dim light, except for Pitch, who easily spotted their prey. He sent a wave of nightmare sand at it, and it jumped into view; it appeared to be wearing a long sleeved white dress that covered its feet, if it had any, but the scariest thing about it was its face. It was a skull, with needle sharp teeth, and had black pits where the eyes would be. The…thing…let out a inhuman screech, and lunged at them with clawed skeletal hands.

Pitch quickly vanished into the shadows, and the Guardians ducked out of the way. The creature flew into the streets, and the group quickly followed. It tried to fly off, but a stream of dreamsand wrapped around its waist and slammed it into the side of a building. It screeched again, and flew at the nearest target, which happened to be Tooth. She flew back with a yelp, but the creature was deflected by a blast of ice. Jack flew between her and the monster, his staff aimed at it threateningly. The creature rested for a few moments, hissing and growling at the immortals furiously.

"What is that thing?" Tooth asked.

"I dunno…Pitch?" Jack glanced at the Boogeyman questioningly. Pitch shook his head.

"I don't have the slightest idea."

The monster suddenly shrieked, and lunged at the Boogeyman. Startled, he quickly summoned his scythe, and swung at it. It drew back quickly, and lunged again while he was in mid swing, leaving him no time to react. He was sent flying into the wall, and it got ready to charge again, but suddenly, there was a loud screech, and Pitch's nightmare charged out of the shadows. It struck the monster, and slammed it into the wall. The nightmare quickly drew back, moving to Pitch's side as he stood.

The Guardians and Pitch all approached the monster carefully as it let out a weak squeal. Jack hesitantly poked it with the tip of his staff, but other than a shudder, it didn't respond. Then, it suddenly disintegrated, leaving nothing but dust.

"What was that thing? It looked something off the Sci-Fi channel." Jack remarked.

"Yeah, and why was it goin' after you?" Bunny asked, glancing at Pitch.

The Boogeyman merely shook his head, glaring at the pile of dust as it was blown away by the wind.

"Whatever it was, it must be part of the disappearances." Tooth stated.

North nodded, before turning to the rest of the men.

"Gentlemen, there is obviously something very bad going on here; despite personal conflicts, we must work together to protect the children."

They all glanced at one another, before slowly nodding.

"Very good, then let us split up, and should you find any more of those…creatures, destroy them at once."

He received more nods, and a salute from Jack and Sandy. They divided into their teams, and split up.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

In a dark cemetery, two figures cast in shadows stood upon a hill under a dying willow tree.

"So, the Guardians are here, eh?"

"Y-yes…I saw them fighting one of your banshees…"

"Hmm, this should be interesting."

"A-and…I saw him with them…"

"…You saw Pitch Black…?"

"Y-yes…he's helping them."

A laugh suddenly broke out from the larger figure, and the smaller one winced.

"Oh, this just got better! Let's see, let's see, what can I do? Hm…you said you saw Jack Frost with them as well?"

There was a pause, before the small figure stammered, "Y-yes…"

"Good, now here's what you're going to do…"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Seriously, what are these things?" Jack exclaimed as he shot another blast of ice at one of the strange monsters.

He and Bunny had come across another group of them, and had managed to destroy two of them, but the remaining one was proving to be a challenge.

"I don't know, but if these things are what's takin' the ankle-biters, we better keep this up." Bunny replied, flinging another boomerang at it.

Jack nodded, and sent another blast. He managed to freeze its arm to the brick wall of a store, and Bunny sent a boomerang at its chest. It screeched one final time, before bursting into a cloud of dust.

"Woo…okay, can we take a break?" Jack asked, leaning against the side of the building.

Bunny nodded, crouching down to rest as well as study the dust left behind.

"Wonder where these drongos came from?" he murmured.

Jack shook his head silently.

"So…guess we're doing pretty good as a team, huh?"

Bunny glanced at him with a smirk.

"Yeah, guess yer not too annoying when a situation arises."

"Aw, thanks Kangaroo."

Bunny's smirk dropped, replaced by glower, and Jack snickered.

They both stopped though, when another creature flew past the alley.

"Don't these things ever sleep or something?"

"Aw quit yer belly-achin' and come on!"

Bunny took off after it, and Jack was about to follow him, when something grabbed him from behind, knocking his staff from his hand.. Two of the creatures grabbed his arms, while another clamped its skeletal hands over his mouth. He thrashed in their grip, trying to free his mouth, but they held him tightly, and dragged into the shadows cast by the building.

"Hello, Jack Frost." A British accented voice greeted.

Jack froze for a moment, and a shape formed in the darkness. As it came closer, Jack could make out features. Whoever it was wore a black tuxedo with a red tie and black cape over his shoulders. When he stepped closer, Jack felt his heart stop; his head was a skull, but instead of pits like the creatures, he had piercing red eyes.

"I don't believe we've met; the name's Bloody Bones, or Rawhead, or Tommy. Really they'll all work, but I'd prefer Bones if you please."

The man extended a skeletal hand while grinning with milk white teeth, and Jack glanced from it to Bones with a questioning glare.

"Oh, sorry, guess we can't really shake hands if you're all tied up, huh? Haha, sorry about that, kid."

Jack glared at him, before thrashing in the creatures' grip once again. Bones chuckled as he watched him.

"Oh yes, aren't my banshees marvelous things? They're immune to pain and emotion unless I put it into them. I wouldn't thrash around too much though, you'll only wear yourself out."

Jack ignored him, and kicked out at Bones. He made contact with the man's stomach, and he grunted as he took a step back.

"Okay, if you're gonna play it that way…"

He snapped his fingers, and another figure suddenly stepped towards them. In the minimal light, Jack could make out a jester like outfit.

"I'd like to introduce my associate, I'm sure you've heard of him," Bones said, pulling something from the shadows. When the area was illuminated, it was revealed to be an old fashioned oil lamp.

Its light provided a better view of the new arrival; he appeared to be in his early twenties, and had shoulder length black hair. Two bright green eyes stared at Jack from a white painted face covered in red squiggly lines. His attire was made up of a multi-colored tunic and tights with a diamond pattern, red gloves, and red boots with bells attached to the tips. On his head was a matching multi-colored hat with bells on the ends as well. In his hands was an intricately designed silver flute.

"Jack Frost, meet the Pied Piper."

Pied Piper meekly met Jack's questioning gaze, before looking away.

"He's been such a great help to me, luring children from their beds and homes. It makes it much easier to snag them without being noticed."

Pied Piper winced as Jack's glare switched from Bones to him.

"I-I…I didn't want to…"

"No, he didn't want to, but of course," Bones grinned as leaned over the Piper, dragging a sharp finger over his cheek, "Torture is very useful for persuasion…"

The Piper flinched away from him, and Bones laughed, before returning his attention to Jack.

"Now then, we have plans to put into action, so you'll have to sleep for a while; Piper, if you will."

Piper glanced at Jack, before mumbling, "I'm sorry…"

Putting his flute to his mouth, a soft tune filled the air, and Jack found himself slowly slipping into slumber.

"Immortal or not, you're still a child, therefore, the Piper's flute will still affect you." Bones stated.

Jack barely heard him as he weakly struggled in the grip of the banshees, but it was no use. The fog of sleep overtook him, sending him into darkness.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

Bunny had taken off after the banshee, not even bothering to check if Jack was behind him.

He followed the thing through the streets of London, straining himself in order to keep up. He only noticed Jack's absence when they'd finally stopped in a park, and he found himself fighting the banshee alone.

"Jack, where are ya?" he yelled as he flung everything he had at the creature.

He received no answer though. He was shocked however, when the banshee suddenly turned away from him and flew off into the night. He paused for a moment, staring after it, before shaking his head and looking around.

"Jack, where are ya, this isn't the time for a joke!"

He waited for a minute, before worry set in. Surely Jack would've pulled whatever stunt he was planning by now.

He sniffed the air, but caught no scent of the winter sprite. He retraced his steps, and within a few seconds was back where they'd started. After some sniffing around, he found Jack's staff lying on the ground. Dread pooled in his gut; Jack would NEVER go anywhere without this.

Picking it up, he looked around the area, but saw no sign of Jack anywhere. Finally, his panic spilling over, Bunny shouted.

"JACK!"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Uh oh….

So the mastermind is revealed! What is Bloody Bones' plan? Why is he kidnapping children? What's his problem with the Boogeyman? What has happened to Jack? All will be answered in the conclusion of this three part story arc! Leave your opinions in the review box as usual! I'm thrilled so many people like this!

So yeah, I added the Pied Piper to this. I looked him up, but I still picture him in a jester like outfit; after all, what better way to attract children than to look fun? BTW, kudos to the reviewer who figured out it was the Pied Piper in the previous chapter; I didn't think anyone would get that right away! (Though, so much for the big surprise reveal…oh well! ^^)