Hello everyone. Welcome to me bonus chapter, and happy Halloween. Before we begin, I would like to make an announcement to all my loyal readers. As of now, I am officially retiring from fanfiction, so I can focus on an original story that I have planed and am hope to publish one day. With that out of the way, enjoy my bonus and final chapter of The Masked Guardian.
Bonus chapter: Happy Halloween.
It had been a year since the events of the eclipse and everything was back to normal for the guardians. They had all returned to their homes and duties, and hadn't seen each other since. However, they were all about to have a pleasant little reunion. The evening of October 30th, they had all received a mysterious scroll. Each on had appeared in a burst of flames, and all had the same message.
To all my good friends, I hereby invite you to celebrate halloween with me this Wednesday. If you accept, come to my house tomorrow at 5pm your time. To get there, just knock on the door and think of me.
Jack O'Lantern.
Frost, North and Sandy were all excited about seeing their friends again, and were curious about what plans Lantern had for the holiday. Tooth and Bunny were wondering about this 'house' Lantern mentioned in his letter. Had he constructed a hideout of his own, and if so, where had he set up shop? Ether way, all the guardians accepted.
The 31st arrived, Frost was just about ready to head off when he remembered, he didn't know were Lantern lived. He looked back at his invite. He paused on the words knock on the door.
'Knock on the door.' but what door. He thought hard, then remembered how Lantern traveled. He flew to the nearest house and thinking about Lantern, knocked three times. The door opened immediately, but not onto the home's interior.
Frost saw a long cobblestone walkway lined with trees, their orange leaves wafting in the breeze. At the end of the was a large Victorian house. It was about three stories tall; not counting the square tower roof at the top of the highest room. Frost found the house both creepy and intriguing. It looked very much like a traditional haunted house, were it not in such good condition. The house and yard was surrounded by a stone fence, beyond it Frost could see only a forest of orange leaved trees stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Wow." Frost said. As he stepped through the door, all of his friends: minus Lantern, popped out of nowhere all around him.
"Guys. You weren't here a second ago. Where did you come from?" Frost asked.
"Me, you're the ones who popped out of nowhere." Bunny said alarmed. The others all seemed to have experienced the same phenomenon.
"Anyone know where we are?" North asked.
"Hang on, I'll check out the forest. See if I can find some clues of where we are." Jack replied.
"I'll go with you." Tooth said, and she followed him into the air. The two flew higher are higher, but they couldn't get over the wall. They put on a burst of speed, but the top remained just out of reach.
"Jack, Tooth What are you two doing?" The two looked down. North and the others were now barely distinguishable. Giving up, the two flew back down.
"That wall is a lot higher than it looks." Tooth said.
"What are you talking about?" Bunny asked confused.
"She's talking about how we couldn't get over the top, now matter how high we flew." Frost said sounding irritated.
"Jack, you and Tooth were just floating in mid air." North said, sounding a little concerned.
"I've tried everything to get beyond that wall. Nothing works." They all turned and saw Lantern.
"Welcome to me home." He said flatly.
"This is your house?" Bunny asked. Lantern nodded
"The Man-In-The-Moon gave it to me, or at least he showed me the way here. I started by building myself a small cottage, but new rooms and floors kept popping out of nowhere, until I had this." He gestured to his house.
"So, this place built itself?" Frost said skeptically.
"Many things about this place make no sense." Lantern pointed at the wall. "That wall is insurmountable, out location is unknown, and did any of you notice how you all just happened to walk through the front gate at exactly the same time, even though you all left at different times?
"What you saying?" North asked.
"I'm saying that you'll want to keep your wits about you around this place. Now, how about we go inside." They all followed Lantern up the walk to the front door.
"Wow." Frost said as Lantern opened the door. It was like stepping into a fun house. Everything beyond the foyer twisted like a spiral, even the decor. There were painting on the 'floor', chairs on the 'ceiling' and doors that curved all along the hall.
"Crikey." Bunny said.
"Like I said, you've got to keep your wits about you." Lantern said. As he walked in, he too spiraled alone with everything else, following the spiral curve of the carpet. Getting the idea, Frost and the others entered. As they moved forward, the area around them righted itself.
"This place is weird." Tooth said.
"But it's fitting for the guardian of mystery." Lantern said with a smile. "This place is full of mystery, surprises, and tons of potential dangers and rewards."
"Like what?" Bunny asked as he opened a small china box on a spindle legged table. As soon as he opened it there was a burst of orange smoke. "Crikey!" Bunny shouted and leapt back, dropping the box back on the table. When the smoke cleared, they saw that the box; still in one piece, was full of candy corn.
"Like how this house will sometimes reward you for braving the unknown. You didn't know what was in that box, and your curiosity was rewarded with those sweats."
"What other surprises does this place hold?" Bunny said, popping a candy in his mouth.
"I'm glad you asked." For the next two hours, Lantern gave them a tour. He showed them a room that was graffitied with really complicated looking math, a room as tall as a cathedral and lined with books, a room full of stars and planets, and a door that opened onto what they thought was an impenetrable wasn't until Bunny decided to brave the unknown again and charge in head first that they realize that the darkness was in fact a solid wall painted black; they all laughed hysterically for ten whole minutes after that. But the strangest room of all was down in the basement. The plaque on the door read 'The Room of Answers.'
"What's in here?" Tooth asked.
"Something you need to see to believe." Lantern said as he opened the door. At first, the room was completely dark. "Oh no I'm not fallin' for that again." Bunny said crossing his arms. As Lantern stepped in however, a series of torches lit up, revealing what looked like a giant warehouse. The shelves were so tall they couldn't see the tops. Each row was lined with wooden boxes of varying shapes and sizes. Whether because it was so dark, or because the place was so huge, the other side of the room was completely obscured in darkness. Instead, they saw countless tiny orange flashes off in the distance, like a massive swarm of fireflies.
"What is this place?" North asked as he stepped inside.
"Geez Lantern, how big is this place?" Said Frost. At once two boxes appeared on the shelf next to them in a burst of flames.
"To answer both your questions: This is the place where all the answers are kept. And, I don't know how big this place is." Lantern replied. As he spoke, the two boxes that had just appeared opened, and vanished.
"What are these?" Tooth said, picking up a box from one of the shelves as another one appeared. The box she picked up was small, even smaller than one of her teeth boxes. It had hinges on one side and appeared to be locked, but there was not keyhole or combination dials. On top of the box was an inscription:
Did dad get me a new phone for my birthday?
Clark Caughman
"As far as I can tell, each box is a question, and when it opens, the answer is revealed to the asker." The others looked at Lantern questioningly. Sandy actually made a gold question mark appear his head.
"It's no stranger than what you guys keep in your homes." Lantern said bitterly.
"He's got a point there." Frost said.
"I've also seen boxes crumble into dust without ever opening." Lantern added.
"What does that mean?" North asked.
"Okay, that's getting annoying." Bunny said as another box appeared next to them.
"As far as I can tell, when a box turns to dust, it means that the answer has been lost, and the question will never be truly answered." Without warning, Lantern turned his lantern into a pocket watch. He gave it a quick glance, and said, "We should be getting ready."
"Ready for what?" Tooth asked. Again another box appeared.
"Okay, let's continue this conversation somewhere else!" Bunny snapped. After returning his lantern to normal, Lantern closed the door they had just entered through and knocked twice. The door now lead to a large circular room; they must be in the circular was a large ornate desk and chair against the wall opposite the windows. A mirror as large as a person was propped in the corner.
"This is my room." Lantern said casually.
"So Lantern, exactly are we supposed to be getting ready for?" Tooth asked.
"Oh, I thought it would be fun if we go out and enjoy one of the many Halloween parties tonight." Lantern said casually.
"That does sound like fun, but there's one small problem?" Frost said.
"If your talking about not being able to be seen by adults, that's easy enough for me to fix. You guys just need a little makeover." Frost and the others barely had time to ponder what Lantern meant by 'makeover' when he whirled around and shot a jet of fire at them.
"CRIKEY!' Bunny shouted, but the flames didn't burn. It felt like being caught in a hot wind.
"What the?" Frost said when the flames died. He and the other guardians' appearances had completely changed. Frost was now wearing a long black hooded robe. His staff was now a reaper's scythe, albeit a plastic one. He looked in the mirror, and saw his face had been painted to look like a skull.
North's beard was now jet black. He was wearing a blood red singlet bedazzled with sequins. A tacky gold belt that was embossed with the words 'North Pole-verizer.'
Sandy's face had been painted white, except for his lips were were now a bright red. He was wearing white gloves, a black beret, a shirt with horizontal black and white stripes, and black overalls.
Bunny was still has furry as ever, thought it had changed from grey to light brown. His ears had shrunk and pointed. He was wearing a tattered letter jacket and blue jeans. His feet has shrunk and were enclosed in a pair of sneakers. His paws had become human hands, tipped with sharp fingernails.
"Oh crikey." Bunny said as he looked at himself in the mirror.
"Wow, look at us!" Frost exclaimed.
"How did you do this mate." Bunny asked.
"After I became a guardian, my powers got an upgrade. I can disguise others as well as myself." Lantern said proudly. "Normally, I could only change one other person, but on Halloween, my powers are at their strongest.
"Tooth isn't this incredible?" Frost turned, and his jaw dropped.
Tooth was fully human now, but it was her costume that was truly shocking. She looked like she belonged in a Las Vegas casino. She was wearing a purple leotard that was revealing liberal amounts of her cleavage and bottom. A pair of high heel shoes that made it look like she was walking on the tips of her toe nails. and a lurid headdress with peacock feathers sticking out the top, as well as on her waist.
"What? What is it? She asked.
"Ah, nothing, don't look in the mirror." North said quickly. Instinctively Tooth turned to see her reflection.
"Why?...AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as she saw her reflection.
"I told you not to look in mirror." North said.
"Lantern!" Tooth ran at Lantern, but forgetting that she was now in high heels, tripped and fell. Frost got an eyeful of Tooth's behind before North clapped his hand over his eyes.
"Lantern, what the heck am I wearing?" Tooth had gotten up and grabbed Lantern by the collar of his coat. It was the angriest Frost had ever seen her: North had removed his hand from his eyes after she had gotten up.
"It's you costume. I'm sure everyone will love it." Lantern spoke in his usual monotone, but Frost could have sworn he heard a bit of malice in his voice, as if he were enjoying Tooth's humiliation.
"Change me back right now!" Tooth demanded.
I'm sorry, but I can't. That makeover drained me. I But don't worry, you'll go back to normal when Halloween is over, when my watch strikes midnight." Lantern said flatly.
"I am not going out in public like this." Tooth said crossing her arms.
Fine. You can stay here. All alone in a mysterious and potentially dangerous house with no way of getting around." Lantern gave a nasty smile as he said all this.
"Your doing this to punish me aren't you." Tooth said bitterly. "This is your revenge for all the times I dissed you and your holiday."
"Now why would you think that?"
"Enough." North said. "Let us be on our way t."
"Very well." Lantern said. In a burst of flames he transformed himself. His eyes were still green, but his hair was shorter, brown and braided in places. He was wearing a combination of leather and iron armor on his chest and shoulders. His right foot wore a heavy leather boot, the other nothing at all. He gave his lantern a flick. In a burst of flames, it turned into what looked to be a fake prosthetic leg. It looked rather convincing when he slipped it over his left foot.
"How do I look? Lantern's voice now sounded whiny and nasally.
"Pretty good." Frost replied.
"Then let's be off." He knocked twice on the door and opened it again. The door opened onto a crowded street full of people in various costumed. It was dusk, and neon lights were flashing everywhere.
"Welcome to halloween my friends." Lantern said gleefully. "Now remember, everyone can see you now, so no powers, and try not to do anything that would draw attention.
"Sounds good to me." North said clapping his hands. "Where we start?"
"By walking." There was plenty to see. The costumes ranged from simple and cheap to elaborate complex and expensive. They saw people dressed as demons, cartoon character, ghosts, witches, mummies, a centaur, and a fair few Santa Clauses; North particularly liked these.
They were getting a fair amount of attention themselves. Some teenage girls dressed in tight latex asked to pose in a picture with a blushing North. Bunny also go a lot of compliments for his werewolf costume, and Sandy was really playing up him mime character; leaning against invisible walls, and pulling himself along on ropes.
Tooth was the only one who didn't seems to be having fun. She didn't walk much normally, and her new shoes made it even more uncomfortable. She kept stumbling and moaning about her feet hurting. She also kept her arms folded tightly across her chest, though it wasn't cold.
She also kept looking over her shoulder, as if she thought they were being followed.
"What are you doing?" Frost asked after the fifth time she did this.
"I feel like people are staring at my behind." Tooth said bitterly.
"Tooth relax. You're not the only one wearing a skimpy outfit." Lantern replied. He wasn't wrong, every few feet they saw some costumes that were just a revealing as Tooth's, worn by both men and woman.
"How about we rest our feet and get some grub? My treat" Lantern said, pointing at a steakhouse. They agreed and went inside. The wait was about twenty minutes, but they enjoyed sitting down and people watching in the meantime.
"So Lantern, how do you like being a guardian? " North asked.
"Well, I don't have nearly as much free time as I use to. I've had to drop many of my personas to make room for my new duties."
"And what exactly are your duties?" Frost asked.
"Basically, I guard the mysteries of the universe until that knowledge is ready to be introduced into the world. As well as protect the curiosity of children." He added as an afterthought.
"What about managing Halloween?" Bunny asked.
"Well unlike Christmas and Easter, Halloween kind of takes care of itself. I don't need to go around the world giving away candy or carved pumpkins. All I really need to do is oversee things."
It took awhile, but their food finally arrived. Both Jacks had ordered a simple burger and side of fries. North got a full rack of ribs. Bunny and Tooth both ordered salads,
"Just because I look like a werewolf doesn't mean I eat like one." and Sandy; through pointing, ordered 'The Angus Supreme.'
"Ugh." Bunny said as the waitress laid a slab of even bigger than Sandy on the table. It was so huge that it hung off the plate, dripping juice all over the table.
"Good luck. Monsieur." The Waitress, said with a barely passable french accent. "And remember, if you can finish it, it's free." Sandy rubbed his hands together excitedly and began cutting it into bite size chunks
"So, what happened to Loss?" Frost asked between bites of his burger.
"First off, his real name is Nihat." Lantern said. "After the eclipse, I took him to an orphanage, and I've been keeping an eye on him ever since."
"Lantern, remember, we are not to get directly involved." North said, sounding slightly concerned.
I know, I know. But that doesn't mean I can't watch over him from the side lines."But Lantern was doing much more than simply watching over Nihat. He had in fact been pulling some strings. Using some of his most influential personas to make sure that Nihat's prospects were good. Last he heard, and a pair of excellent candidates had taken a liking to the boy. Personally, Lantern was sure that the man-in-the-moon knew what he was doing, but was allowing him to proceed.
Their waitress returned with green tinted drink. It was adorn with a tiny umbrella, a maraschino cherry and a slice of lemon on the rim.
"Form The King at the bar." She said, setting it down in front of Tooth. They looked over and saw a man dressed as Elvis waving casually at Tooth from the bar. She looked uneasy, but politely waved back before taking a sip.
"I know I should feel flattered, but I feel like I'm being hit on by someone I knew as a child." She said awkwardly.
Soon everyone had finished except for Sandy, though he had put away about half of his steak, and drew the attention of most everyone in the restaurant. As soon as he finished he dropped his fork and knife like a microphone and stood up to a round of applause. The manager was so impressed, he waved the bill entirely.
"Alright, I'll sssay it. Thanksss Lantern, thisss was fun" Tooth said. Her words were slurred and she walked even more clumsily then she had all night. Her courtesy drink must have hit her hard.
"What should we do now? Frost asked. Lantern looked at his pocket watch again and said.
"Well, it's nearly a quarter to ten, the parade should be passing through soon." Sure enough, a parade did role through the street. They saw a float of a giant skeleton. A float of three witch's working over a cauldron, a giant grim reaper, and many others. They watched the parade for well over an hour, until Lantern looked at his watch again as said, "Come on guys, it's time to go."
He lead them to a nearby jewelry shop. The sign on the door said 'closed' and the only one inside was teenage girl sweeping the floor. Ignoring her and the sign, Lantern knocked twice and the door opened onto his room.
They all stepped inside, and Lantern said, with another glance at his watch. "You guys should be changing back to normal any minute now." Sure enough, the others returned to normal in a burst of flames once Lantern's clock struck midnight.
"That was fun." Said Frost, looking at himself in the mirror. "We should do this again sometime."
"Yeah...burp" Tooth said with a burp. She stumbled in the air, but caught herself before hitting the ground.
"Tooth maybe you should stay here a bit. Let your head clear a bit." North said.
"No no, I'm...I'm good to fly. I'm fine." She said in the same slurred voice.
"Would one of you make sure she gets home safely?" Lantern asked.
Sandy nodded and took Tooth by the hand.
"Well, I guess it's goodbye." North said.
"For now." Lantern added. "I'll send you all back home now." He knocked three times on the door, and it opened onto North's workshop. North gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder before heading home. Lantern closed the door, and knocked again. This time it opened onto a stretch of countryside, The mountain that hid Tooth's palace was off in the distance.
"See you Jack... and Jack." Tooth said with a drunken giggle. Lantern reopened the door, o Sandy waved genially, and he and Tooth left.
"Your turn Bunny." Lantern said as he closed the door again, but Bunny held up a paw and said.
"Thanks mate, but there ain't no doors in my Warren. I'll show myself out." Bunny stomped twice on the floor, opening a rabbit hole. Before leaping in, he said "Thanks again for the fun night."
"So, Frost, shall I send you back to Burgess?"
"Actually Lantern, I was hoping you could do me a favor."
It was well past midnight in Burgess. Jamie Bennett and his wife Pippa were both sleeping soundly, when they were were woken by a tapping on their window.
"What the?" Jamie said. Instinctively he turned on the lamp next to his bed. He immediately regretted this as the sudden light was painful on his tired eyes.
"Jamie what are you doing?" Pippa asked groggily.
"Some idiot is throwing rocks at our window." Jamie replied. Indeed, their window was being pelted by pebbles. After putting on his pajama bottoms, Jamie went to the window and threw it open. He was about to scold the perpetrator, but was struck dumb by what he saw; a teenage boy with white hair, wearing a blue hoodie and carrying a wooden staff floating in mid air.
"It...it can't be. Jack frost." Jamie said awestruck.
"It's been a long time Jamie." Jamie stepped aside and allowed Jack to fly in, which he did rather clumsily.
"Jack what are you doing here? And how can I see you?" Jamie asked. Pippa joined the two once she fastened the sash of her bathrobe.
"A friend of mine, Jack O'Lantern used his powers to make me visible to you, but only for a short time."
"But why are you here?" Pippa asked. "Is Pitch back? Do you need our help?"
"No, no. Well, Pitch did cause a bit of trouble about a year ago, but we took care of it. Believe it or not, your kids really helped us out with that.
"Tommy and Jenny?" Pippa said, awestruck.
"Just like their parents." Frost said with a smile.
"So, what are you doing here?' Jamie asked again.
"Well, since I have a chance to talk to you again, I just wanted to say…" Frost took a deep.
"You were the first child to ever see me, and it made me happier than you could ever possibly imagine. When you couldn't see me anymore, it was much worse than the three hundred years I spend invisible." He whipped a tear from his eye. "Also, you both have wonderful kids. You should be very proud of them."
"We are." Jamie and Pippa said together. They wrapped their arms around Frost, and pulled him into a deep hug. For a while they said nothing, then Frost broke away and said.
"I'm sorry, but it's time for me to go."
"But you just got here." Pippa said.
"I know, but I don't have a choice." Frost made his way to the window, and flew out, again, far more clumsily then Jamie remembered him flying before.
"I can't believe it." Pippa said, putting her hand on her husband's shoulder. "Seeing Jack Frost again, after all these years.
"That wasn't Jack Frost."Jamie said.
"What?" Pippa replied.
"I said that was not the real Jack Frost. But I have a feeling he was working for the real Jack Frost. The real Frost might have even been here with him. Telling him what to say and do."
"How do you know?" Pippa asked confused.
"The way he flew, and intuition, I guess."
"But If it wasn't Jack Frost, who was it?"
"That was a great performance, Lantern." Frost said. He was flying over the suburbs, carrying his exact look alike under his arms.
"Well, I've had centuries of practice" The double said in Lantern's flat emotionless voice. "I'm sorry I couldn't have let you talk to them yourself, but I can't disguise someone as themselves."
"It's fine. This was enough for me." Frost set Lantern down outside a flower shop.
"So, is there anything else I can help you with?" Lantern asked as he changed back to normal.
"No, but thanks."Frost replied.
"Well, then I guess this is goodbye."
"For now." And the two Jacks shook hands before going their separate ways. Frost off to spread snow and fun. Lantern back to his home of mysteries.
THE END.
I hope you all enjoyed my final fanfiction chapter ever. If you enjoyed it, PLEASE leave a review. Now, I will devote my creative energy to my original works. I currently have a plan for a trilogy in mind. It's about a hidden realm of fairies that come out of hiding and the societal and economic implications that follow. Well goodbye.