Hey there! It seems people are very amused by some of the foreshadowing they're picking up in the first chapter of this arc. *chuckles* Well, I hope you continue being amused. I'm certainly amused at your amusement. ;)
And now I'm out of babbles for once, so without further ado, enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own ROTG or GOC.
The next few days took about a hundred years to pass, or at least that's what Jack would have insisted to anyone who asked. He spent most of the time trying to aim a paddleball at Bunny's head, which distracted the rabbit from his own work. "Oi, Frostbite," he said, "I hope the Man in the bloody Moon finishes whatever he's doing for you soon. I need to get some work done around here."
"And until he does," said Jack, "you get the pleasure of having me hanging around here all the time!"
Bunny deadpanned. "I am so enthused." The fact that the words didn't reach Bunny's eyes made Jack double over in laughter. "Hand me those paint cans, would ya, Frostbite?"
He was about to do what Bunny had asked when a moonbeam flew in and circled around Jack's wrist. Jack then smirked at his comrade and said, "On second thought, I'll leave all that lovely hard work to you."
"Why, you..." Bunny threw down his paintbrush upon seeing the moonbeam around Jack's wrist. "As soon as you get back from that bloody moon, I am going to work that lazy hyde of yours so hard. When you next refuse to get up and work, it'll be because you're too sore to even move."
"Aw, sorry," said Jack with a smirk. "While working myself to death sounds like a buttload of fun, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it. Rain check?"
Bunny grumbled in response. Jack chuckled as he stepped onto the Guardian circle once again and beamed up to the moon. He still hadn't told the other Guardians what he was doing up on the moon so often. They assumed the Man in the Moon was keeping Jack busy so he wouldn't get into too much trouble. Jack thought it best to let them keep thinking that for now. If they thought for a second that Manny wanted Jack to take over as the leader of the Guardians, they'd flip.
As the control room of MIM Industries came into view, Manny walked up to him and smiled. "This is a big day for us, isn't it?"
Jack quirked an eyebrow. "Us? I don't recall inviting you to share this body with me."
This only caused the Man in the Moon to start laughing at the ridiculous notion. He didn't bother responding to Jack's comment otherwise. Jack assumed that meant it was too silly to say anything to.
They ventured to the room where Jack had first woken up after his encounter with the polar bears. He shivered at seeing all the replicas of himself floating in their glass containers. He would never get used to it, but at least he didn't have to see this sight every day.
Manny helped Jack into one of the empty glass tubes. He wanted nothing to do with this part of the process. But he thought it better to get this ordeal over with so that he could stop feeling trapped by his own body. He jumped into the strange liquid and coughed as his lungs adjusted to breathing it instead of air.
Once he had calmed down, Manny approached the tube and said, "You ready?" Or that's what Jack assumed he'd said. It was hard to hear while in these tubes, but Jack nodded anyway. He didn't feel ready, but he never would be.
Manny flipped the switch. That awful electric feeling returned, making Jack feel like he was being ripped apart. At least this time he knew what was happening, but it didn't make the situation any more pleasant. Now that he wasn't getting his memories erased, he was going to have to subject himself to this for the rest of his life. He took a slight comfort in the fact that at least Manny knew what this felt like. The guy had been doing it to himself for thousands of years. Jack had no idea how the guy had been able to take it all those times. It had to have been horrifying.
After a few painful minutes, Jack blacked out. A moment later, he found himself waking up once again. At least the transition had been easier this time since it hadn't been rushed. It meant he could collect himself a bit faster. Teaching his new muscles how to move for the first time was going to be a pain, but he wasn't scared at least.
Manny approached the canister that held Jack and plugged a microphone into the base. "Are you okay there, Jack?" Jack nodded, struggling a little with making his neck muscles move like that so soon, but he managed fine. "Okay," said Manny, "we're going to give you a few minutes to adjust, and then we'll get you out of there." Jack nodded again as the Man in the Moon unplugged the microphone and left the room.
Over the next few minutes, Jack worked at training his muscles on how to move. He was so grateful he didn't have to do this while on the run this time. It made him feel a lot less vulnerable. Finally, Manny came back into the room with a few staff members and began giving out orders. Within moments, Jack was lifted out of the cylinder and held above it for a moment. He coughed out the liquid and allowed air to reenter his lungs. No, enter his lungs for the first time. He'd forgotten he was in a new body.
Did that mean he wasn't a winter sprite anymore? What was he? What kind of powers did he have now?
As soon as he was breathing normally, he was placed on a mat where he could dry off and recover from the ordeal. This was so much nicer than the last time. Not scaring your clients was definitely a good thing.
After some time had passed, the Man in the Moon approached him and said, "How are you feeling, Jack?"
Jack looked over at him and rasped out, "I'm okay. A little sore."
Manny chuckled. "Of course. That'll go away soon. Think you can sit up?" He held out a hand to Jack and helped him up to a sitting position, which soon led to helping Jack to stand up as well.
After a couple hours, the soreness had passed. Jack had to admit that he felt pretty good, and now he was itching to discover his new powers. Manny still wasn't giving him any hints, which figured. Manny was like that.
It was clear after a couple attempts that calling to the wind like he used to wasn't going to get him anywhere. That left him a bit bummed. His staff hadn't frosted up upon his touch either. That caused some mixed feelings, but at least it meant he wouldn't be isolated anymore. That was definitely a plus. He would be able to go and see any kid, anytime, anywhere he wanted. That thought alone excited him enough that he took a leap into the air... and didn't come back down.
"Whoa!" Jack gestured to his feet hovering in midair. "Are you seeing this? I didn't even call on the wind!" The Man in the Moon laughed and grasped Jack by the ankle to help him back to the ground.
"Now, Jack", he said, taking a serious tone that Jack was uncomfortable with. "You have been trained in how to do my job. You can even do it better than me now. The only thing that was hindering you was your body, and now that's been taken care of as well."
Jack narrowed his eyes at Manny. "You're not trying to make me agree to that again, are you?"
Manny shrugged. "I keep hoping. But I'll send you back to Earth now if you wish."
Great. Now Jack felt guilty. He ran his fingers through his hair. It was true that he now knew Manny's job inside and out, and it wasn't that bad. But giving up being a Guardian to be the leader of the Guardians still unnerved him. He wasn't strong enough for that. He knew he wasn't. He was barely strong enough to be the Guardian of Fun, and that was the most reckless Guardian of them all.
That thought made him pause. "But, wait... If I became the Man in the Moon, wouldn't that leave my position open? Who would be protecting the Fun in children?"
Manny placed his hands in his pockets like he wasn't worried a bit, which if Jack was honest with himself, the guy wasn't. "Well, you did teach that little friend of yours everything you knew."
Jack blinked. "You mean Jamie? But he's getting kind of old, isn't he?" "Old" was putting it lightly. Jamie was in his nineties by now.
The Man in the Moon laughed and gestured to another corner of the room where there were bodies other than Jack's. While he didn't care to look at these things when there weren't souls in them, he might as well see what Manny wanted. As soon as he got to that corner of the room, he gasped and spun around.
"You made back up bodies for Jamie? Why?"
"I told him I needed his help, and he agreed."
Jack blinked, not sure what to make of this. Jamie was going to become immortal too? He had agreed to it, even at his age? At least the bodies were a lot younger than Jamie's current body. That would be a lot more pleasant for Jamie, but it was still surprising. "Is he going to take over my position?"
"Only if you let him," said Manny. "I didn't force you to become a Guardian, and I won't force you out of it. You've been through enough without having the things you love torn from you."
Jack nodded, but he didn't say anything on the matter for the rest of the day. Jamie? A Guardian? He had to admit that he had always thought the kid had it in him. It had never occurred to him that he had been training Jamie to take over his job. Jamie didn't have fun in the same way Jack did, but he could enchant an entire auditorium of kids with one of his stories. He'd seen it. He had to admit that stories were every bit as effective for having fun as an all out snowball war.
It wasn't until night fell back home on Earth that he emerged from the place he had been hiding. He stood outside the control room door. Was he was making the right decision? He hadn't even knocked, but Manny must have known he was there because the door swung open. Manny greeted him with a smile.
Jack sighed. "You're sure the children won't need me?"
The Man in the Moon frowned. "Of course they need you. They always will. But that doesn't mean you can do everything, Jack. You're not helping them any less by taking over my position. And there's no rule against you going out into the field, you know."
Jack let his shoulders hang. "I know."
Manny patted Jack on the back and escorted him into the control room. They discussed the details over tea and cookies and hot chocolate. After some time, Jack warmed up to the idea. He agreed to take the job, so long as he could make as many trips to Earth as he wished.
"What will happen to you after I take the job?" asked Jack.
Manny smiled, seeming glad that Jack even cared about this. "I'll stick around for a while so that you can come to me for guidance. When you're ready to fly solo, I'll go and reset."
Jack quirked an eyebrow. "Reset?"
"Yep," said Manny. "It's a little trick some of us do if we've had too many body changes or have experienced some other kind of severe trauma. I'm going to take on a mortal form for a while. When I'm ready, you can change me back to being immortal again."
Jack's eyes widened. "And then you'll be okay?"
"Works every time," said Manny with a nod. "Providing of course that the person doesn't get themselves killed while mortal. It provides your soul with a chance to rest and come together after the strain of being immortal so long. That's why it's called a reset."
"I see," said Jack as he looked down at his cup of hot chocolate. "Well, don't get yourself killed while in that form. I would not be happy."
"I'll be careful."
"You'd better."
A couple hours later, Jack found himself standing in front of the entire staff of MIM Industries. Manny paraded him around as the new Man in the Moon. Everyone cheered on his behalf, but Jack couldn't help but feel awkward. He still felt like the same old Jack Frost he'd always been, not some all powerful Man in the Moon guy. Granted, he knew that the Man in the Moon wasn't some all powerful being nowadays. But still. He didn't feel qualified, even though he couldn't think of a necessary task that he couldn't do.
And he knew of some things that needed to be changed.
Whoo! Jack has a new body... again. Because this story is weird like that. Or I'm weird like that. Or something. Yeah, we'll go with that. :P I'm curious about your thoughts on this chapter as well, haha.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and hope to see you around next time! Take care!