This is it...my official debut as making this story my own. Ever since KudaKano left most people hanging, I hope what I have in mind is enough to ease them. In this chapter, we would find out whether if the Nightmare King is friend...or foe.

Flicker Chapter 13: The Enemy of My Enemy

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What he saw made his breath hitch in shock.

No…it couldn't be…

"Pitch…"

"Hello, Jack Frost."

The greeting was rather polite and neutral, and considering the relaxed way the Nightmare King was standing with his arms folded behind his back, looking down at Jack as if it was just another normal night, despite the fact that he have pushed off a fire demon away with some form of magic. He was still wearing the same black attire which consist of a robe and slacks from six years ago, down to the cool glaring glow of his golden eyes that reminded him of lunar eclipse and the unnatural greyness of his skin. The image of him being dragged back into that hole underneath the broken bed by the Nightmares, screaming was still fresh in his mind. Neither one of the guardians had seen him since then.

Until now…

For Jack, it would be bad news. If he's here, that would mean that he was back to full power, and he would try to tip the balance again in order to be believed in. And there is a possibility that he might have picked up something new since he was gone. That and there might be Nightmares nearby. He struggled to get back onto his feet, not before grabbing his staff and wobbly stood his ground as he tried to attempt to get into his defensive stance. He may be weak right now, but Jack still has enough juice to take him on before retreating back to the North Pole.

What he didn't expect was a sigh and a roll of Pitch's eyes as he looked at him.

"Don't even bother…I'm not at my full power at the moment," He held up his hand to produce a small glimpse of black sand upon his palm before materializing back into either his clothing or shadow. Pitch flexed his hand a bit before resuming his reverse arm fold as he turned his attention back to Jack. "I doubt I would be of any challenge to you, even if you're now guardian."

Jack felt his lips being slightly dry and licked them a bit to moisten, still keeping his grip on the staff.

"Ok, that answered the question that I might be having," he commented, ignoring the dull pain that he was feeling all over his body and forcing his mind and body to stay conscious. "Then answer this…what are you doing here?"

Pitch merely gave him a dry look with a raised brow.

"I just happen to be taking a stroll on the mountainside and pushed a walking matchstick off of you, which by the way…you're welcome."

Needless to say, Jack was speechless.

Here he was…in an almost accurate interaction between him and Pitch on that fateful day in Antarctica. Only difference is that they're on a mountainside of who knows where…and Jack could barely stand, much less know how powerful Pitch was at this level. That and also, he had a crazed flaming stalker that was lying at least 20 feet away. He doesn't know if he could trust him, considering the fact that he was the one who played mind games to mess with his head. Even though, he could understand what it was like not to be seen, Jack had to keep his guard up just in case of…well, anything.

That is if he could stand still for a minute.

Pitch seemed to notice it before looking at him in the eye.

"You don't look so good." It was a haughty yet simple statement, but Jack could have sworn that he heard a hint of concern underneath it. No, it can't be…had to be his imagination.

He simply let out a scoff, still holding his staff towards him as he tried to keep his balance. "Well, I've been through worse." He retorted, still retaining a cocky attitude. Unfortunately for him, Pitch had seen through his bluff. What he didn't expect was a flash of concern and sympathy across his eyes as he broke his usual posture, taking a step closer to him.

"I'm serious…" he spoke, almost sounding urgent. The Boogeyman gave him a thorough examination from top to bottom, his thin lips pursing tightly when his eyes were located at his neck and shook his head. "To think, he would go this far…"

Hearing that from Pitch made Jack to unconsciously bring up his free hand to his throat, feeling the slightly thick sensation of the skin and the familiar sting when his cold fingers touched it. Did Pitch know something…that he doesn't? Like he actually knows Flicker?!

"Come..." he heard Pitch's voice broke his thoughts. "We need to get that injury look at." Then he looked to the direction where he had blown Flicker off into the distance. "Not to mention that we should place some distance from our friend…"

With a turn of his heel, he walked towards to the section of the forest with the most shadows. He only stopped and turned to Jack with an expectant look.

"Aren't you coming?"

Jack blinked and stared at him in shock, his staff lowering to the ground along with his guard.

"Wait…what?" It was the only intelligent thing that he could say. Was it just him? Or is Pitch Black, the Nightmare King…the Boogeyman…helping him? This night was getting more interesting by the second.

Pitch frowned when he noticed Jack's hesitation before facing him. "Would you rather face HIM again?"

Jack glanced back at the direction where Flicker was thrown. He took note that some burnt debris leading to the location of the said fire demon had landed and the thought of the possibility of getting his face burned flashed in his mind before looking back at Pitch.

"No." He answered without hesitation.

His answer seemed to satisfy the Nightmare King as he nodded.

"Then follow me, I highly suggest that you stay close."

Time was a fickle and mysterious thing.

After leaving Jack to collect his thoughts, he had no idea how much time had passed after going through book after book. The fact that he hasn't had any luck of coming across alternate cures for Bunny wasn't helping much either, no matter how vast the archive that he had inherited from Ombric. And speaking of Bunny, he found out that he was a monster when it comes with restraining him. He always forget on how strong he is compared to himself, not to mention being one of the true inventors of all forms of martial arts.

North stole a glance over to Tooth and Sandy who looked worse for wear, mostly from trying to reel Bunny back to the chair with tripled bindings and went as far as muzzling him. He recalled on how Sandy and Tooth looked when he got back, Tooth's carefully groomed feathers were practically frazzled and Sandy…well, let's just say that he really required a huge goblet of eggnog.

But the search for an alternate cure was resumed…and they have other books to look through.

Mountains and mountains of books…

He could feel a migraine coming in, letting out a groan as he rubbed his temple.

"This is getting us nowhere…" he spoke up. "All these books that have information that lasted at further back before the Dark Ages…and not even one clue on how to cure the effects of that second flower."

Without even resorting to that…He mentally tacked on.

A frustrated groan was heard along with what sounded like a thud, making North look over and saw Tooth burrowing face first into the contents of the book. As hilarious the sight was, he was too exhausted to even to chuckle. Instead, he just gave her a sympathetic look before taking note Sandy letting out a silent sigh as he set another book down in a neat pile.

"Nothing…just nothing…" she moaned, her voice was muffled due to the fact that she pressed her face against the pages.

Sandy morphed a good portion of dream sand into a hand and gently patted her back while opening up another book to skim through, as if hoping that it would contain at least some information about the fire flowers and the alternate remedies. So far, he only found trivial things such as recipes concerning about chicken soup, the perfect hot chocolate, and…fish fingers and custard.

There was even a page concerning about leaf men or something like that.

But unfortunately, nothing that has the key words of either fire or flower.

He quietly closed the book and placed it with the others before letting out a silent sigh. Sandy noticed the growing stacks of books around them, along with a certain section of the shelves being almost bare. He then turned his attention to the clock before taking a double take at the time. It was passed sunset, usually Sandy would be out delivering dreams while Tooth would be with her fairies for teeth gathering and leaving behind gifts (usually in quarters). But for now…he figured that the children would have a dreamless sleep for tonight and the mini fairies were able to get the jobs done, especially with Baby Tooth who took it upon herself to be Tooth's pseudo-lieutenant so that their "Mother" could focus on helping Jack.

And speaking of Jack…

Sandy turned to North who tossed the book behind him before morphing some small amount of dream sand into a snowflake and a question mark. North blinked as it only took a second for him to realize what the dream weaver was asking.

"Ah, yes, Jack asked to be alone to have some time to think." Then he paused when he looked at the time. "And it had been a few hours…"

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't heard Jack's usual laughter and the yetis and elves were busy from their usual work from janitorial to toy repairs. None of them seemed to be annoyed by any form of pranks. Even Phil, who was supposedly Jack's favorite yeti to mess with, seemed to have noticed the unusual silence in the Workshop. Normally, North would welcome it, but in this case, it brought an unsettling feeling deep within his belly.

And he didn't like it.

"I…think I should go and checkup on him," North volunteered, getting up on his feet. He let out a low groan as he felt the joints in his knees and back creak in protest. In some way, he reached into an understanding on why Jack couldn't sit still, and it wasn't just boundless energy. Constant movement kept him limber and on alert, sitting still in one place was murder on the joints.

Just as he was about to head over to the Globe Room, he noticed some- if not most- furniture in the library shaking. It slowly became stronger until the entire room was shaking and the shadows somehow writhe to life. Those alone got Sandy's and Tooth's attention as they both look up and immediately take into battle mode. North let out a curse in his native tongue to himself for not having one of his swords in hand, but only to have a dagger hidden in his boot.

"I can't believe this…" He heard Tooth groaned, fluttering about in the air. "Not now!"

"My goodness, North. If I didn't know better, I would think you didn't want me here." An eerie yet familiar voice spoke from behind, causing the Russian warrior to immediately act on his instincts and reached for his hidden knife to slash his blade but only cut into air.

"Pitch, we don't have time for this! Get out of here now!" Tooth ordered as her feathers ruffled in agitation.

Sandy made angry gestures and golden steam puffed out his ears. He seemed to be more than willing to let off some frustrations, and the Boogeyman was more than perfect to vent on.

"Aw, dear Toothiana. And here I thought a nocturnal person such as you would have time for a fellow night owl." Pitch's voice spoke, seemingly out of nowhere but yet held the sensation that he was everywhere at once. Soon a swirl of black sand swirled atop the Globe and formed the body of Pitch Black, sitting elegantly with his trademark grin on his face and Onyx at his left side.

Only difference is that the said Nightmare was smaller, nearly a size of a pony. It could have been comical if it weren't for the fact that their enemy is back, and at their exhausted state too. Tooth only glared as she clenched her fists, not at all forgotten what he had did to her fairies those years ago. It took a while for them to get over their ordeal of being locked up in iron cages and have the courage to set out at night again.

"Why are you here? The last time we saw you, your Nightmares turned on you and dragged you underground!"

Pitch placed on a feigned surprised look.

"Did you?" he asked. "Well, I have to admit, it took a good while but I managed to place myself as Alpha."

He emphasized his display of power by producing small swirling black sand upon his palm.

"Just barely, mind you."

"You make this sound as if we should care." North said with a glare. Despite his weakness Pitch still managed to give a look of superiority and chuckle.

"Well I would think that you'd care, considering that I know how you can help your furry friend?" That immediately got their attention. Did he just say...what they think he just said? No, it can't be. It could be a trick...

"You're lying..." that was the first thing that North spoke up as he glared at the thin man.

Pitch gave him a sardonic look as he raised a brow. "Am I?" It was a rhetorical question, and there was an air of arrogance to his voice. Then he looked over to the growing pile of books nearby. "How is the light reading going?"

Sandy made gestures that translated as "None of your business!"

"Why should we believe someone who very nearly destroyed us?" Tooth asked.

"That's the very reason you should believe. Because I want to destroy you. And I'll burn by the sun's light before I let some upstart do it." Pitch stated as he floated down to the floor with Onyx.

"So it is not a noble reason why you wish to help, but a matter of looking after your own interest?" North asked.

"Pretty much, I don't care much for nobility." Pitch stated.

Sandy glared at his dark counterpart before having a sudden thought. He grabbed North's pant leg and tug on the fabric to get his attention. When North turned to him, he formed a snowflake above his head. North's eyes widen as he turned to Pitch, brandishing his dagger.

"What did you do to Jack?!"

That alone amped up Tooth's and Sandy's fight-or-flight instincts, ready to strike at a hair trigger.

"I'd drop that oversized barber blade, North, considering that I'm the reason your little ice prince isn't a slush ball right now." Pitch said calmly as his face gave no sign of fear.

"What do you mean?" North asked.

Then a smile of sharp and crooked teeth was stretched upon his thin lips, North could hear Tooth cringing at the very sight of it. He had to admit that he had seen worse before becoming Guardian, but he could barely contain the shiver that he felt upon his spine. Pitch does live up to his name as the Monster underneath the Bed.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Shadows form before the very controls of the Globe and stumbling out the dark mass was a familiar mop of white as the said owner collapsed on the floor. A groan was heard as Jack glared up at Pitch.

"You should have warned me about the shadows!" he snapped.

Pitch merely stared at him coolly before shrugging. "I told you to stay still until the time is ready."

Jack only rolled his eyes as he stood up on his legs, using his staff as a support to his weight.

"You and your theatrics..." he grumbled.

"A grand entrance is everything, Frost. Please take notes."

"Please. There's drama and then there's over-acting." Jack stated as he carefully sat down on one of the chairs, making sure not to slip.

Onyx gave a soft neigh and trotted over to Jack and nuzzled his hands on his staff comfortingly. The snow sprite smiled at the small dark horse and rubbed her snout. The other Guardians were confused by this, and Tooth was the first to speak up about it.

"Okay, I'm clearly missing something here. Why would you help one of us Pitch? And how is Onyx friendly with Jack yet tried to run the rest of us down when she was bigger?"

"As I said, Pretty Bird, I have no desire to let someone else ruin the lot of you. That is my destiny and mine alone. And as for Onyx, she is a caring mare in tuned with the emotions of others. Jack's feelings made her take a liking to him. But considering that each of you attacked her on more than one occasion I'm sure you can understand why she would try to run you down." The Boogeyman explained, sounding nonchalant as if their past encounter with the head Nightmare was just another day.

All the Guardians could do was to stare at him as the new information sink in. Not only Nightmares were second varied forms of Fearlings but they could also sense emotions? This…is too much to take in, especially when they're feeling respective headaches from a marathon of research.

"Wow…just…wow." Tooth was the first one to voice out what they're all thinking.

Pitch just brushed off their disbelief before swiftly strolled over to where they held Bunny. He examined the Pooka as he currently sat limply on the chair with a golden sand muzzle over his face. The dark man let out a low hum as he circled around the prone rabbit-like creature like shark, looking not only Bunny but also the bindings as well before finally set himself in front of him again.

"…Was the muzzle really necessary?" he finally spoke up, rather loudly so that his voice could bounce off the room.

This made Jack look up as his petting of Onyx ceased, not hearing her whine of complaint.

"Muzzle?" was all he could let out before turning to the Guardians with a questioning glance.

North rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think of something up on the spot. "Eh…it's Sandy's idea." He pointed over to the smaller man, who gave him a look that clearly said, "Oh throw me under the sleigh, will ya!?" while throwing his hands up in the air. Jack ignored them for the time being as he stood up and walk over to Bunny, who was still sitting prone against the chair. As soon as he walked up to him, Jack cautiously placed a hand upon his head. This made Bunny snap his head up to him; he seemed to be breathing heavily through his nostrils and his eyes still burning with desire. Desire for him…

Jack couldn't help but take a few quick steps back, instinctively holding the staff to his chest as memories of that moment flashed through his eyes. He felt guilty for doing that, Bunny was his best friend. He could understand that he was under the influence of that damned flower that he swallowed. However, the sensation of Bunny running his hands over his body and the way he sniff and licked his flesh, it was enough to make him shudder as the tingling sensation ran up and down his spine. Although, it wasn't out of disgust though, it actually felt…nice.

That was the closest thing that he could describe it.

It wasn't unbearably painful and- closest thing to describe it- skin crawling like Flicker's…it was a bit like Jamie's touch but there was something more that he could not place his finger on. The remembrance of Bunny's rough padded hands upon his skin was enough to make his heart skip a beat as his cheeks were feeling colder than usual. Luckily for him, Pitch's attention resting solely on Bunny, cocking his head to the side in an analyzing manner.

"Fascinating…" he finally spoke. "It would seem that the effect on that flower seemed to have brought out his innermost desire stronger than anticipated."

Jack blinked as he looked up to him in confusion.

"Wait, innermost desire?"

"Yes…you heard me correctly." The way Pitch drawled out the word yes was almost in a hissing manner. Then he slowly made his way over to Jack, which he instinctively walked back a bit as he felt the vague crawling sensation on his spine. North was about to make his way over to them but was blocked by Onyx, who glared at each Guardian, daring them to try to get pass her. Given to her size, they had the advantage. However they had no idea how much power that the lead Nightmare had at the moment, despite given enough fear to sustain her. "There are at least three flowers, each representing the aspects of the Sun. Passion is one of them. Whoever eaten the flower, any feelings of desire that being have - human or otherwise- would be brought out tenfold. No matter how deeply they repressed them out of shame."

Pitch emphasized his explanation by reaching out his spider-like fingers upon Jack's face. This caused him to close his eyes on impulse, feeling his white bangs being brushed up a bit before moving onto his cheek, blunt and cold fingernails trailing down until he felt it on his chin and lifted up. Jack managed to dare himself to open his eyes, only to see Pitch's face only in mere inches from his own.

"No matter how hard they tried to deny them…"

His voice was dropped into a whisper, but for some reason it was loud enough to be carried across the room as if he yelled. All Jack could do at the moment was to swallow the lump in his throat, staring back into the twin molten gold abyss that was gazing down at his very core of his soul. They kept on the staring contest, neither one blinking, he had no idea how long they are standing until his ears picked up the sound of wood scraping against the floor and chains rattling, along with what seemed like a muffled growl.

Jack was the first one to break the stare to look over to find Bunny pulling at his bindings, letting out muffled animalistic grunts and growls as the Pooka glared at Pitch. He was shocked to see that much anger towards the Boogeyman, trying to remove himself out his bounds but unable to due to the tripled bindings of chains and dream sand. Even though he was strong, he wasn't able to make at least two inches towards them. Jack looked up to Pitch before finding slight amusement on the taller man's face.

"Just as I thought…" he spoke, mostly to himself apparently as he straightened himself while adjusting his sleeve a bit. "It's not just his inner desires being amplified. The flower affected his natural instincts as well."

Jack blinked once then twice before taking a step back as he tried to piece them together. "And that would mean…?"

"He wanted to try to maul me to express his dominance and to show that you belonged to him in order to mate with you." Then Pitch looked over to Jack from the corner of his eye. "And by "to mate with you", I do mean coitus."

Jack's face became colder at the blunt explanation, not sure how to answer to that. The other Guardians, on the other hand, were scandalized by the Boogeyman's choice of words. Not to mention that they are anxious, for a better lack of word. North was rather nervous, either Pitch was messing with their heads when he was seemingly close to Jack or the fact that he knew more than his archive have in store, he doesn't know.

Meanwhile Jack managed to regain his composure as he thought over what happened before looking up to Pitch with a glare.

"Then…what was all that with you being up in my face?!" he demanded in what seemed to be a tone of authority but all Jack managed to get out of the Boogeyman was a small smirk.

"Just to mess with you…and the rabbit." It was a simple response, but there was a lot of bite to it.

Jack stared at him blankly before slowly shaking his head.

"You have a sick sense of humor, you know that?"

Pitch only let out a chuckle before turning his attention back to Bunny, who still looked like he wanted to tear him to pieces if he would force his way out of his bindings.

"I suppose it was a good thing that you have him tied up." He commented. "Otherwise, I would be on the floor bleeding from my torn throat. If I'm lucky that is."

"Maybe we should let him stretch his legs a bit and find out." Tooth snarked, not at all amused by Pitch's fiasco before. Sandy shook his head as he placed a hand upon her ankle when she is hovering higher.

The Boogeyman simply ignored her as he resumed his shark-like circling around Bunny again, reminding Jack of one of those movies that featured "god fathers" with Jamie one time. They speak funny but he remembered mostly of the way they interrogate and observe the wimpy looking characters. He kept watching as Bunny became still, but Jack could see that he was breathing rather heavily as the Pooka glared at Pitch until he is standing directly in front of him. The dark man wasn't at all fazed while he and Bunny find themselves in a minor staring contest, neither one of them even dared to blink or look away. It was Pitch that was the first to break the trance as he turned away to face Jack and the Guardians.

"I am going to take a gander and assume that the research didn't go so well?"

The question was more directed at the Guardians as they each looked at each other, unsure on what to say or which one of them would speak up. Sandy was rather reluctant as he shook his head rapidly, and North, despite having studied underneath his mentor, had zero clue. Tooth had no idea what to say herself. They became a bit tenser when Jack bore his eyes into them, silently asking them if they found anything to help Bunny. Unfortunately their silence and indecisiveness were just the answers that Pitch needed.

"I thought so." he stated up, sounding rather expectant of this result. "I couldn't be surprised at the fact that no matter how many books he has in the universe, the wizard barely scratched the surface."

"So what do you know about Flicker?" Jack spoke up, giving him his full attention. Since the Guardians couldn't find anything about him, it would make sense for someone as shadowy as Pitch would know a thing or two about that fire demon. Even though he is an enemy of theirs, but as the saying goes: an enemy of my enemy is my ally. Pitch's face darkened into seriousness as he faced him, no mocking smirk or a sense of condescending arrogance upon his aura.

"I guess I should start at the beginning…during the Dark Ages."

Aaaaand SHOVE! xD I push thee off the cliff! With only a rope to handle your weight till next time. I hope this is enough, I already have the 14th chapter almost ready! And also, I hope that everyone likes slight BlackIce, even if Pitch is such a troll xD