Jack continued to stare back at Pitch, wondering what he should do. The Nightmare King stood silently, staring back at Jack with a vague expression. It was impossible to divine Pitch's intent-while the boogeyman may have indeed been harmless, Jack wasn't entirely sure he wanted to trust him. Pitch's toothy smile seemed slightly insincere, as though Pitch wanted something far less innocent than a simple chat with the Guardian of Fun.
It didn't help that Jack had done some research on boogeymen while he was sick and had found out that supposedly the boogeyman kidnapped and ate children. While Jack knew that that Pitch probably hadn't eaten any kids lately, North had told him that Pitch had turned some children into Fearlings-dark shadowy creatures- a long time ago. Who knew if Pitch wanted to turn Jack into a Fearling? Jack shuddered. No, it was simply too dangerous to risk going down and seeing what Pitch wanted. He'd just have to distract Pitch long enough to escape, then tell the other Guardians what he had seen. He wasn't looking forward to admitting that he'd been up at two o'clock in the morning, but it was better than possibly having to fight Pitch when Jack was so exhausted.
Jack was jolted out of his reverie by Pitch's voice. "Frost, what on Earth is taking you so long? I've been waiting here for almost twenty minutes now. Are you going to come down out of that tree, or are you just going to fly away? Surely you'd rather face me than those pathetic Guardians after all that you've done. Do you really think that they'd still accept you after saving the boogeyman? They always doubted you before. Now you've just given them an even bigger reason not to trust you. Really, Jack, you should have thought of the consequences BEFORE you tried to drag me out of my grave…"
"Okay, okay, I'll talk to you!" Jack snapped, his cheeks flushing with anger. He hated to admit it, but Pitch really did know how to drive a hard bargain. Pitch sneered in triumph as Jack leapt out of the tree and landed on the ground, making sure that the impact of his landing was enough to send a small spray of snow into Pitch's face.
Pitch sniffed in disdain and wiped the snow out of his face. He clearly was not amused by Jack's attempt to show his contempt for the Nightmare King. "Very funny, Frost," Pitch snarled. He ignored Jack's smirk as best he could. After all, he'd been disgraced in worse ways than having snow thrown in his face, and he knew full well that Jack would try to fight him- with or without backup-if he lost his temper.
"Hey, I was just trying to have a little fun-"Jack started, but before he could continue, Pitch whipped out his scythe and pointed it at Jack's chest. Immediately, the pale-skinned boy fell silent and stared at Pitch with wide, terrified eyes.
"Much better," Pitch said in a terribly detached voice. He lowered the sinister-looking weapon and advanced on Jack like a looming shadow covering the moon. "Now, would you mind telling me EXACTLY WHAT YOU HAD IN MIND when you rescued me from my own Nightmares? It wasn't from the goodness of your own heart, now was it? There was some OTHER reason why you saved me-something more personal, perhaps?"
Jack remained silent for several moments, refusing to give in to Pitch's interrogation. He knew full well that under Pitch's calm exterior, a petrifying temper lurked, just waiting for a moment to burst out and slam Jack into a pine tree-or worse. He didn't want to say anything that might set Pitch off and endanger his own life. After all, he wanted to survive this encounter to tell the Guardians about what he'd seen. He knew that just because he'd saved Pitch didn't mean that he was a reformed man, after all. It was too late to undo the events that had occurred at the frozen pond, but Jack had the feeling that this was just the beginning of a long string of troubles.
Cautiously, Jack lifted his head and stared the Nightmare King straight in the eyes. "I….I just wanted to give you another chance, that's all," he stuttered.
Pitch's piercing eyes narrowed as he stared at the wavering frost spirit. He could tell that there was more to Jack's motivation than that one lame sentence. "Yes, yes, that's very touching of you, but that's not the ONLY reason, is it?" Pitch pried. "There's something ELSE that caused you to save me…something that only you know about that made you feel sorry enough to save my pitiful hide when everyone else was just watching my demise with pleasure. Spit it out, Frost…what would drive you to save ME, the boogeyman, when you'd just become part of those Big Four failures?"
"Th-the Guardians didn't ENJOY watching you die! We were all just in shock after your own Nightmares started chasing you!" Jack said defensively. He gasped when Pitch's scythe flew to his throat and pressed firmly against it. "I-I…..I…know what it's like to be alone….I thought that maybe you weren't so different from the rest of us and that maybe you'd be a better person if I gave you a chance. I…wanted to be your first believer….and be the person who let you have another chance become great again…I mean, I hoped that maybe I could get people to believe in you…or there might be believers after all if I gave you an opportunity to find them…"
For a few moments, Pitch simply stared at Jack in shock. Then he burst out into raucous laughter that made Jack's hair stand on end. "Oh, Frost, I had no idea that you had a sense of humor!" Pitch snorted. "Get people to believe in me…hah! Nobody has believed in me since the Dark Ages. If you think that there's any believers left, then perhaps you've drunk far too much eggnog. The world has no use for me anymore….which is why you should have left me to die alone!"
Pitch lunged forward and pinned Jack to a nearby pine tree, his gleaming eyes popping angrily. "What was it that you REALLY wanted, Frost? To HUMILIATE ME?!" Pitch roared. "How dare you try to save me when clearly NO ONE ELSE WANTS ME HERE! If that's what you wanted….maybe you'd like to feel for YOURSELF what it's like to be saved when the world has constantly told you that you're completely worthless. After all, winter existed before you did….so what exactly is your purpose for existing? To throw around a few snowballs when children are down?"
"No! That's not at ALL why I'm here!" Jack snapped at Pitch. He wasn't going to let the boogeyman rip his center away from him now-after all, he'd worked hard for centuries to discover what it was. "The reason why I exist is to help children believe in the Guardians and to help them have fun. You think that you can just take that away from me? Nice try, boogeyman, but just because YOU haven't found your center doesn't mean that I haven't found MINE."
Jack immediately realized his mistake and flinched, waiting for Pitch to beat him into oblivion. To his surprise, Pitch did not lash out at him. Instead, Pitch ran a finger over Jack's chin, then gently pulled Jack's face towards him. "Hmmm…such a precious young face. It would be such a pity to…destroy it," Pitch observed. He laid the blade of his scythe on Jack's cheek and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps I ought to start with the neck….or maybe the nose. It's so difficult to decide with such a perfect little mug….hmmm, well, I could always just pick something, then spread to the rest of the face…yes, I believe that would be best."
At this, Pitch began to press his scythe into Jack's cheek. A drop of ice-blue blood dripped down Jack's face and into the snow, staining it with a small pinprick of color. Terrified, Jack tried to shove Pitch off of him, but the scythe only pierced Jack's skin even further. Pitch let out a chill-inducing cackle as the scythe danced from Jack's cheek down to his jaw, etching a painful icy line as it traveled.
Jack grabbed his staff and let his cold magic crackle along it, preparing to strike Pitch down. No way was he going to let the boogeyman slice his face open. He'd seen Pitch do some nutty things before, but this had to be the craziest of them all. Now Jack knew for sure just how low Pitch had fallen-if he was willing to cut open a boy's face, what else was he willing to do?
Before Jack could ponder Pitch's actions any further, he heard a shrill female scream echo through the night. A rainbow burst slammed into Pitch's body with the fury of a thunderstorm. Jumping out of the way, Jack saw Tooth hovering over the downed boogeyman, clutching North's swords for dear life. "Get away from Jack, you fairy-stealing monster!" Tooth shrieked. She pointed one of the swords at Pitch, glaring threateningly as the Nightmare King staggered to his feet.
Pitch smirked and lunged at Tooth. She ducked swiftly out of the way, then attempted to dive at him again. Pitch leaped out of the way, then threw his scythe at her, successfully pinning the perky fairy to a tree. Jack gasped when he saw the blood trickling out of one of Tooth's pinned wings. Furious, he released the power he'd been containing in his staff. It surged forward in a frigid wave, slamming Pitch into the ground. Then he rushed over to Tooth and freed her.
Dazed, Pitch struggled to his knees, breathing hard. His vision spun, and he could barely sit upright. He shook his head, trying to clear his vision. By the time he'd blinked away the stars twirling before his eyes, Tooth was already free again, and all the other Guardians were standing over him.
"Don't you EVER try to hurt her again!" Jack exclaimed, putting an arm around Tooth protectively.
Tooth blushed and thanked Jack before gently shoving him off. Then she turned back to Pitch, eyes flashing angry fire. "Pitch, what were you doing to Jack? He's bleeding all over the place! You should know better than to mess with him after what happened last time! And if you think you can hurt me or the children I protect-don't forget what I did to you for what you did to my fairies!" Tooth ranted. She puffed up her feathers to look more intimidating.
Pitch rolled his eyes and managed to get to his feet. "Oh yes, I'll never forget what you did to my beautiful smile," he snarled. "It was very generous of you to knock out of one of my teeth when I wasn't even a threat to you in the first place. I thought that noble, chivalrous protectors such as yourselves weren't supposed to hurt beings who could barely even defend themselves. And now you look at you-one of your own has rescued me, naïve enough to believe that his act of kindness could change me. What kind of Guardians are you if you can barely even keep YOURSELVES from releasing the darkness?"
"Pitch, shut up, ya bloody moron! None of that's true, and ya full well know it! Now if ya don't get out of here by the time I count to five, I'll knock another one of those chompers out with THIS!" Bunny interjected, brandishing his boomerangs in Pitch's face. His fur was bristling, and Jack could tell from his expression that the huge fluffy Pooka was about to explode from anger. He put a hand on Bunny's arm, trying to keep Bunny from pouncing on Pitch. He was afraid that Pitch might try to kill them all if he was angered any further.
Bunny strained against Jack's arm and eventually managed to break free, sending the frosty boy falling backwards. He landed with a thud on his back and let out a muffled grunt. He scrambled upright just in time to see Bunny's boomerang fly at Pitch's head. Jack's jaw went slack with shock and watched as the hard wooden weapon smacked Pitch full in the forehead. A small burst of black blood erupted from Pitch's forehead as he collapsed and landed with a loud thump. Bunny stood over the stunned boogeyman triumphantly, grinning devilishly. "Not so tough after all, are ya, mate?" Bunny snickered.
"Yeah, nice job, Bunny, but what are we supposed to do with Pitch? I hate to admit it, but Pitch is kinda right-there was no reason for you to knock him out like that," Jack interrupted.
Bunny stopped for a few moments and stared off into space, letting Jack's words sink in. He quickly snapped out of his reverie before turning back to Jack. "Well, why don't we just bring the boogeyman back to the North Pole and question him along with you? I mean, maybe the little ratbag is reformed after what ya did for him after all. Besides, now that we've finally got him in our hands, we can tie him up an' throw him into a cell until he figures out how to play nice. What do ya say to that, mate?" he said.
"Well….okay. As long as you don't question us in the same room, I guess it's fine," Jack shrugged. Secretly, Jack wasn't too crazy about the whole idea. He'd enough of the boogeyman for one lifetime and wasn't too keen about Pitch staying in the North Pole. North's workshop wasn't exactly his home, but he hung out there often enough that having Pitch in confinement there would almost the same as having the Nightmare King staying in Burgess.
There was something else bothering Jack, though. It was what Pitch had said about the Guardians being no better than he. In some ways, Jack admitted that that was true-there really was no reason for Tooth to punch the boogeyman, even after all that he'd done. And Jack did admit that there was a degree of naïveté in assuming Pitch would change if he was rescued. Still, Jack was sure it was the right thing to do. Even if Pitch wasn't a good man now, a life was a life. Jack wasn't sure if the other Guardians would understand that, but he'd just have to do his best when it was his time to be questioned.
Bunny looked back at Jack in concern as he hauled Pitch into North's sleigh. "You all right there, mate?" Bunny asked.
"I….I'm fine," Jack said, a little too loudly. Bunny's ears flattened against his head in surprise. He gave Jack another questioning look, but Jack forced a smile onto his face and jumped into the elaborate red sleigh as quickly as he could. He was still troubled by Pitch's statement, but there wasn't time to mull it over now. In a few minutes' time, he'd have to explain why he'd done what he'd done, and he needed to figure out what to say before they arrived back at the North Pole.
….
Pitch glared angrily out from behind his gag as Jack shuffled anxiously before the Guardians. After tying up Pitch to a chair, the Guardians had sat down and signaled Jack to speak. He knew that there was no more avoiding this, and with a nervous gulp, he prepared to tell the Guardians why he had saved Pitch from oblivion. He crossed his fingers behind his back and opened his mouth, knowing full well that he could very well cause the Guardians to distrust him again.
"So Jack…why did you save Pitch from Nightmares?" North questioned.
Jack remained silent for a few moments, choosing his words carefully so as not to come off as disrespectful towards the other Guardians. "When I saw Pitch getting dragged away by the Nightmares…I just thought he deserved a second chance. I mean, all he ever wanted was to be believed in, just like we all do. I thought…maybe, just maybe, if he got another chance, he might be able to find someone out there who really does believe in him and maybe find a way to use his powers for good. He's the same as any of us-I could have been him if the Man in the Moon hadn't chosen me first. Who knows what Pitch could have been if someone had tried to help him and give him a chance to prove himself? Besides, maybe now that he's been saved, he'll think about what he's done and realize why we can't have a world that's ruled by fear. I just….hoped…that maybe he could find his center and change if someone helped him, that's all."
The Guardians were silent for a minute as they took in Jack's words. A few urgent whispers and awkward coughs filled the room as they convened and mulled over Jack's words together. Jack held his breath, trying to ignore the horrible feeling that his heart had stopped. Would the Guardians forgive him, or would they condemn him for trying to help their sworn enemy?
North looked at him thoughtfully for a few moments before giving his answer. "Well, Jack, you have good intentions," North said slowly. "We are not mad, but we are concerned about what boogeyman will do now that he is free. We will keep an eye on him and make sure he does not hurt children…."
Jack let out a sigh of relief. "So you mean you're not mad at me for saving Pitch?" he said with a laugh. A huge grin spread across his face as he did a tiny, victorious backflip. He had been so afraid that the Guardians would be upset with him for even trying to save Pitch. He should've known that they wouldn't be mad at him for doing something he thought was right. Sure, they'd have to figure out a way to deal with Pitch, but compared to what Jack had expected, this was nothing.
"Naw, mate, we figured you'd have yer reasons," Bunny reassured him. "But crikey, look at Pitch. He looks as though he could drown a thousand crocs with that grin! You may have wanted to save him, but mate, I think that Pitch wants is to destroy us all…"
Pitch growled behind his gag and glared more murderously at the Guardians. Baby Tooth stuck out her tongue at him, causing the other minis to follow suit. "Girls, girls, please don't taunt the boogeyman," Tooth chastised. The minis gave a sheepish grin, but continued to hover defensively around Pitch like a squadron. They knew full well that the boogeyman was still a huge threat to them, and they weren't going to let him harm the Guardians.
Jack glanced at North. "Should I remove the gag now?" he whispered.
North nodded. "Yes. Should have a chance to speak for himself. But be careful. We don't want him causing more trouble than necessary."
"Okay." Jack walked towards Pitch and carefully unwound the cloth preventing the boogeyman from speaking.
As soon as Jack removed the gag, Pitch began to cackle. "You really believed that I would go along with your plans to contain me? Nobody can keep fear locked up, you know. And since you've so foolishly given me the ability to speak once more, I believe that I shall be going off on my own merry way. It was a pleasure to meet you, but I'm afraid that soon enough, I shall no longer have that pleasure."
"Shut up, ya gumby! You ain't goin' anywhere on my watch!" Bunny growled, pointing a boomerang in Pitch's direction.
Pitch smirked. "Nice try, bunny. But you shall live to regret saying so. Now, Nightmare Men…" Pitch snapped his fingers, and a flurry of horrific dark figures that vaguely resembled human beings flew into the room. They swarmed all around, smashing lights, breaking windows, and damaging just about anything they could get their sinewy hands on. Before the Guardians could blink, the Nightmare Men had untied Pitch and carried him out the window.
Jack gasped. "But…but…the Nightmares no longer listen to you! How'd you create these Nightmare Men all of a sudden?"
"I had a little nightmare sand left on me. I did a little experimentation during the brief time I was freed, and I managed to concoct these little marvels. Charming, aren't they?" Pitch explained with a grin.
Sandy frowned and vehemently shook his head. He floated out the window after Pitch and tried to whip the boogeyman out of the sky, but Pitch just swerved out of the way and flew into the sky faster than anyone had imagined was possible. Tooth and Jack followed Sandy, but by then Pitch was moving too fast for anyone to possibly catch up with.
Bunny stared at the rapidly vanishing trail of darkness in dismay. "Bloody hell! What on Earth are we going to do?"
The Guardians stared at each other, but they couldn't think of anything else to say. Bunny had summed up the hopelessness of their situation so perfectly that no more words were needed to say just how doomed they were.