"And then, when we thought we were too late, there was Jack with Jamie! He'd come back! And he got the kids to believe again!"

Sandy clapped silently in excitement as Tooth recounted what happened while he'd been out of commission. Everyone laughed and smiled as she told the tale; North was lounging in his big red armchair, Bunny was leaning against the wall with a sly grin, Tooth hovered in the air animatedly while Sandy sat on the floor looking up at her and listening like a child would to a bedtime story.

Jack was not grinning. Jack was not laughing. He was sitting on the windowsill as far away from the roaring fireplace as he could manage while still being in the sitting room of Santoff Claussen.

When Tooth stopped talking, Sandy gracefully hovered up to Tooth's level. He created sand pictures above his head of a closing book and a question mark.

"That's when you came back, Sandy," said Tooth, "You know what happened from there. Now you know everything."

Sandy frowned and shook his head.

"Nah, mate, the Sheila's right," said Bunny. "She covered everything."

"Da," North agreed. "Zhat is all of it, right Jack?"

Jack didn't answer.

"You all right, Frostbite?" asked Bunny, taking in Jack's frown.

"Yeah, that's everything," said Jack, sullen. "You guys covered it all."

"Jack, what's wrong?" asked Tooth, her smile fading.

"Nothing," Jack sighed. "See you guys later." He jumped out the window.

"Frostbite, where're ye goin'? Jack!"

"I wonder what's wrong," said Tooth, anxiously staring out the window. "Should we go after him?"

Sandy created pictures of a cracked egg, a snowflake, and a map with a question mark on it.

"We told you, Sandy, Jack went after his memories and lost Baby Tooth in the process," said Bunny, frowning at the reminder that his Warren had been practically destroyed. It was going to take months to rebuild. "He could have easily helped us destroy Pitch's nightmares in the tunnels, but he wasn't there."

Sandy made a picture of a mouth, a snowflake, and a book.

"What do ye mean, what's Jack's side of the story?" Bunny asked, irritated. "We know what happened: he went after his bloody memories!" He took a breath to calm himself down. "But I've forgiven him for it, because he came back an' he helped us defeat Pitch."

Sandy was furious. Pictures flit above his head so fast that none of them even had a chance to decipher what was being said.

"Sandy–Sandy–Ve don't know vhat you're saying, Sandy!"

Sandy pointed furiously at Bunny, then made a question mark above his head, then pointed out the window that Jack had recently just left through.

"What do ye bloody mean?" said Bunny. "I didn't do anythin'! I was angry, so I yelled at 'im a bit, but–"

Sandy hurled piles of dream sand at all three of the remaining Guardians. They fell, hard.

How could they not have asked Jack for his side of the story? He knew Jack would not have betrayed them like that, but he couldn't convince the others until he knew what had actually happened.

Tooth Palace, he considered, the place of memories. He walked over to North who had golden sand-reindeer floating around his head. He reached into the big man's pocket and pulled out one of his snow globes.

xXx RISE OF THE GUARDIANS xXx

Jack rode the wind far away from Santoff Claussen, fuming at the words of his fellow Guardians. They told all of those lies to Sandy, the one he might have been able to get to believe him, but they had gotten to him first. Jack had wanted to talk to Sandy alone, to ask him for his advice and to explain himself, but Tooth had gotten so carried away that he'd never had the chance.

He flew at top speed, not paying attention to where he was going, just letting the brutally cold wind wipe his thoughts away…

He shouldn't have been surprised to find himself back in Burgess. He landed on his pond and clutched at his staff. He was so, so very tired of everything. He was tired of being accused, and ignored, and yelled at. It was just like last time, just like the Blizzard of '68. Nobody cared to listen to his point of view, because everything he did had to be on purpose, he screwed everything up, on purpose.

Jack had been so scared that night of 68… Then there was Bunny, and Jack had been so relieved to finally have somebody there for him–but Bunny had not come with the comforting words and hope that he was so well known for. He'd come with anger and accusations.

Jack shook his head. Bunny wasn't like that. If Bunny knew the real story, he would have acted differently. Jack was sure of this, because he knew Bunny now, and he liked Bunny. He genuinely and legitimately enjoyed the Kangaroo's company.

If Bunny knew the real story… but Bunny would never know the real story, because Bunny never listened to Jack.

Nobody ever listened to Jack.

"Oh, this is just divine."

Jack stiffened and a chill ran down his back.

"It has yet to be a full day since you became a Guardian, and already the emotions rolling off of you are strong enough to summon my presence. Tell me, are the Guardians not treating you well?"

Jack turned around, a death grip on his staff. "What do you want, Pitch?"

xXx RISE OF THE GUARDIANS xXx

It took Sandy longer than he expected, but he finally found the Room of Immortals in Tooth's palace. Every immortal had a box. They varied in size and form, but they were all there. Sandy searched for a box with Jack's face on it and was surprised at what he found; it was small, no bigger than a shoe box, but it was heavy, more than it should have been, as if the memories inside were a burden to carry. Sandy suddenly doubted his stroke of brilliance–Jack would not want anyone poking through his memories–but the image of Jack's hurt face as he jumped out the window solidified his resolve. He took the box.

Tooth was the first to wake, and she looked around in confusion at her home before her eyes fell on the box in Sandy's hands. She froze. "Sandy, what are you doing with that?" she asked, wide eyed.

Sandy pictured a cracked egg, an equal sign, and the outline of a nightmare. He then pictured a snowflake with a large X over it.

"We know it wasn't Jack's fault," said Tooth, miserable. "You're right, it was Pitch, but Jack still made a mistake. He should never have left for his memories–"

Sandy pictured a stop sign and Tooth's mouth clicked shut.

North and Bunny both began to regain consciousness. Like Tooth, their eyes were immediately drawn to the box.

"Those are Jacks?" asked North, and Sandy nodded.

"I don't think this is a good idea, mate," said Bunny. "He's really not going ta appreciate this if he finds out. What's the point, anyway? We already know what happened."

Sandy pictured a boy with a growing nose.

"What, you think we don't know?" he asked, affronted. "You weren't even there, mate!"

Sandy pointed at the box.

Bunny sighed, "Fine."

Sandy lifted the lid, and they were immersed in white light.

xXx RISE OF THE GUARDIANS xXx

"What do I want?" Pitch repeated calmly. He was in bad shape, Jack noted, but surely he should be a bit worse, considering the nightmares that had dragged him away. "Oh, I want so many things, Jack."

Jack stared, body tense. "How are you here?"

Pitch laughed, a loud booming sound, and he seemed genuinely amused. "What, did you think my nightmares would destroy me? Rough me up a bit? Did you think, after our fight yesterday, I would be so weak that I could not leave my hole? So naïve."

Jack bristled.

"You and your precious Guardians destroyed my forces of nightmares, yes. You beat me in a fight, yes. You even managed to restore belief to the children of Burgess." Pitch loomed over him. "But Burgess is such a small town. I still have believers elsewhere, and the Guardians have not yet returned to their full strength."

"But… your nightmares," said Jack. "You were afraid. Why didn't they–"

"It was a moment of weakness," he said bitterly. "I found myself horribly outmatched, and there were so few of my nightmares left that I couldn't hope to stand a chance against you and the Guardians. Oh, don't worry, they were horribly punished for their moments of disloyalty."

Jack took a step back.

Pitch grinned as the waves of emotions rolled off of Jack, empowering him, making him stronger. "You asked me what I want, Jack. Would you believe that all I want from you is a simple piece of revenge?"

Jack's eyes widened with panic as tendrils of nightmare sand attacked him from behind. His staff was ripped out of his grasp as a strand of black sand snaked its way around his neck, lifting him off of the ground even as he struggled to breathe.

xXx RISE OF THE GUARDIANS xXx

The four Guardians waited as the white light around them began to dissipate.

There was Jack–or rather, the memory of Jack–flying in the night with Baby Tooth at his side.

"Jack!" the voice was soft, like an echo.

Jack looked around, startled, a strange expression on his face. "That voice… I know that voice…" The Guardians watched as Jack flew off after the sound and a very worried looking Baby Tooth followed. He landed on the roof of a house, looking around frantically, almost as if it was out of his control.

Realization came upon Tooth in a wave, and she covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh no," she whispered.

"What?" asked Bunny. "What is it?"

"Jack never went looking for his memories," she said. "His memories are looking for him."

Bunny's ears fell and his brow furrowed. "You mean… those are his memories calling him?"

Jack took off of the roof like a rocket as the voice pierced the air again. "Jack!"

Tooth nodded, tears forming in her eyes. "He never meant to… He never would have meant to…"

"Jack?" the voice called again as Jack raced through the forest and found an abandoned bed on the ground.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Bunny faintly, recognizing Pitch's lair.

"Pitch lured him away," whispered Tooth in horror, "so his nightmares could attack the Warren."

"But," said Bunny, "that means he had no idea, so when I yelled at 'im…" Bunny swelled with guilt. "Oh God, I yelled at 'im, Tooth. I practically blamed it all on 'im. An' I scared 'im away. I scared 'im..."

They watched as an infatuated Jack approached the bed, waving a scared Baby Tooth away with a "Don't worry, there's still time."

"Don't let him go in there, Baby Tooth," Tooth whished quietly. "Stop him."

Jack stood over the bed, looking down at the hole beneath it. He broke away jagged pieces of wood blocking the entrance with the end of his staff.

"Ve are 'orrible Guardians," said North. "Ve can't even protect von of our own."

"Jack?" said the voice, emanating from the hole. Baby Tooth looked positively terrified, but Jack was in a sort of trans. Without thinking twice, Jack descended.

"Is he a bloody idiot?" Bunny asked, concern lacing his tone. "Doesn't he know this is where Pitch–"

"No," said Tooth sadly. "He'd never met Pitch before, remember?"

"Baby Tooth, come on!" said Jack, sounding annoyed. "I have to find out what that is!"

Then they saw all of the hanging cages, filled with little fairies. A strangled gasp tore itself from the back of Tooth's throat.

They began chirping when they saw Jack approach. "Keep it down," he pleaded. "I'm gonna get you outta here just as soon as–"

"Jack?" the voice called again.

"I can…" Jack finished, flying away from the cages in a daze, towards the disembodied voice.

"He was going to help them," said Tooth.

Sandy watched on, alert, his nerves prickling with unease. This was Pitch's lair, so where was Pitch?

"Jack!" called the voice.

The teeth canisters were piled in a heap of gold on the floor. Jack rummaged through them with panic in his eyes, his want to know, his need to find out who he once was consuming him.

"Look at 'im," said Bunny brokenly.

"Looking for something?"

"Pitch!" Tooth squealed as Jack immediately shot a bout of frost with no thought on his part. "Jack was alone with Pitch! Why didn't he tell us–?"

Bunny's ears drooped back on his head. "Why would he, after all the horrible things I said to 'im?"

Pitch easily dodged Jack's frost and disappeared into the shadows. They watched, holding their breath, as Jack searched for Pitch who laughed quietly in the shadows.

"Don't be afraid, Jack," said Pitch. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Afraid?" said Jack. "I'm not afraid of you." He spotted Pitch and approached with his staff raised in front of him.

"Maybe not," Pitch admitted. "But you are afraid of something."

"You think so, huh?" asked Jack.

"I know so," said Pitch. "It's the one thing I always know: people's greatest fears." He looked at Jack and grinned, "Yours is that no one will ever believe in you." He moved forward, and Jack, uncertain, retreated. Pitch enveloped him in shadow, and Jack cried out as he plunged downward. He landed hard, scrambling to find his staff in the dark. When his hands finally curled around the familiar stick of wood, he shot to his feet and spun, but the Boogeyman had vanished. "And worst of all, you're afraid you'll never know why."

The Guardians drew in a breath as one, terrified as they watched their youngest member's own terror grow.

"Why you? Why were you chosen to be like this?"

Jack backed against a wall, looking around frantically, unable to catch his breath. Pitch materialized out of the shadows in front of him, and Jack pressed himself back against the wall, his eyes wide.

"Well, fear not, for the answer to that, is right here." Pitch held out Jack's memories.

"It was a trap," whispered Tooth. "Pitch knew Jack could destroy his Nightmares."

"So he got 'im out of the way," said Bunny softly.

Jack stared at the memory container with longing. "Do you want them, Jack?" Pitch asked. "Your memories?"

Jack reached out, but he hesitated, and Pitch took the opportunity to retract them and disappear again. The conflict on Jack's face was devastating. Pitch laughed, and Jack tried to follow, flying after him.

"Everything you wanted to know… in this little box," said Pitch. "Why did you end up like this; unseen, unable to reach out to anyone? You want the answers so badly, you want to grab them and fly off with them, but you're afraid. Afraid of what the Guardians will think. You're afraid of disappointing them." Pitch raised his voice as multiple shadows of himself circled the boy who turned on the spot, trying to find him amidst the darkness. "Well, let me ease your mind about one thing. They'll never accept you. Not really."

Jack backed away with wide eyes. He clutched his head to block out the voice that seemed to resonate from everywhere. "Stop it… Stop it, STOP IT!"

"After all, you aren't one of them," said Pitch, showing himself again, walking towards Jack who spun to face him with his staff raised in defense.

"You don't know what I am!" he said.

"Of course I do!" said Pitch. "You're Jack Frost, you make a mess wherever you go. Why, you're doing it right now," he said, tossing Jack his memories who caught them with a surprised hand.

Realization slowly crept onto Jack's face. "What did you do?"

"You miss the point Jack. What did you do?" Pitch backed away into the shadows.

Jack let out a cry of rage and leapt after him but was met with a solid door. He looked around, noticing an absence as he cried, "Baby Tooth!"

"Happy Easter, Jack." Pitch's voice resonated as Jack looked down to notice a trail of broken Easter eggs.

"No…" Jack muttered.

The Guardians watched in a daze as Jack returned to the Warren and got scolded by a very angry Bunny.

The real Bunny, the current Bunny, couldn't stop hearing their own words echoing over and over in his head. 'That's why you weren't here? You were with Pitch?' and 'We never should have trusted you!'

Sandy watched with growing disappointment as each of the Guardians turned away from Jack.

Jack fled, distraught and scared, and it tore them apart. He ended up in the frozen wasteland of Antarctica and ran to heave his memories as far as he could off a cliff.

Tooth choked out a cry of horror–the memories the teeth held were precious and to be protected, and Jack had wanted them more than anything else.

But he couldn't let them go. He lowered his head and shut his eyes in defeat.

"I thought this might happen."

Bunny's ears fell flat against his head. What the hell was Pitch doing there? He snarled as he turned to face the Boogeyman, wishing more than anything that he were actually there so he could tear the bastard apart. Each step the Boogeyman advanced towards the Guardian of Fun made Bunny's hair bristle.

"They never really believed in you."

Tooth shook her head. "Don't believe him, Jack," she pleaded quietly.

"I was just trying to show you that."

"He is manipulating him," said North in growing anger and concern.

"But I understand."

Bunny took a nervous step forward as Jack launched himself at Pitch with a furious, desperate yell. "You don't understand anything!"

They flinched with each blow that fell. "I don't know what it's like to be cast out?" asked Pitch. "To not be believed in? To long for… a family?"

Jack stopped and relaxed his stance almost against his will, in shock.

"All those years in the shadows and I thought no one else knows what this feels like. But now I see I was wrong. You don't have to be alone Jack. I believe in you. And I know children will too."

"Can you imagine what would've happened if Jack had joined Pitch?" asked Bunny quietly.

"We would have lost," said Tooth in a whisper. "We would have lost everything."

"In me?" The hope and longing in Jack's voice was another eye opener. There was Pitch, offering Jack everything he had ever wanted, and Jack had said no… he must have said no, because Jack had helped them, the Guardians, who had cast him aside. His faith in them while they held none in him was… unexpected. And painful.

"Yes!" Pitch cried. "Look at what we can do? What goes better together than cold and dark? We'll make them believe! We'll give them a world where everything– everything– is–"

"Pitch Black?"

Pitch's smile froze on his face, realizing his mistake. "And Jack Frost, too," he said, trying to make it up. "They'll believe in both of us."

"No," said Jack. "They'll fear both of us. And that's not what I want." Jack turned away. "Now for the last time, leave me alone."

Jack, with his back turned, did not see the scowl creeping onto Pitch's face.

"Crikey," muttered Bunny. "Get out of there, Frostbite."

"Very well. You want to be left alone? Done. But first…" Pitch lifted his arm and held out Baby Tooth, who squeaked and writhed in Pitch's tight grip.

Tooth screamed the same time as Jack, "Baby Tooth!"

Jack shot forward, readying his staff, wanting to attack, but unable with Baby Tooth in such a precarious position.

"The staff, Jack," demanded Pitch.

The Guardians froze. Jack looked dumbfounded.

"You have a bad habit of interfering," Pitch explained. "Now hand it over, and I'll let her go."

"Do you think he'll do it?" Bunny asked.

Sandy nodded sadly. Of course he would.

Baby Tooth shook her head frantically. Tooth managed a small smile.

Jack looked at his staff, frowned, and flipped it around to hand to Pitch. The white frost vanished along with Jack's touch. "Now let her go," he said.

"No."

Bunny winced.

Jack looked shocked, honestly not having expected Pitch to go back on his word.

"You said you wanted to be alone, so be alone!"

Baby Tooth stabbed Pitch with as much force as her little body could muster. The Guardians' cheers of appreciation turned to cries of horror as Pitch whipped Baby Tooth into a wall of ice, where she squeaked and fell into the crevice.

"NO!" Jack's scream tore at them, and Pitch brought up his knee and snapped Jack's staff in half. Jack screamed. The Guardians could hardly breathe.

Before Jack had a chance to recover, before he could do anything, Pitch sent a wave of black nightmare sand that knocked him hard against the ice before he fell down into the gorge. He hit the ground and didn't move for a long, horrifying moment.

Bunny seethed as Pitch threw the two broken halves of Jack's staff into the gorge after him, laughing, before turning away, potentially leaving Jack to die. There was a strange sensation in his chest, and Bunny didn't know what it was at first, but when he looked to Jack who was moving, thank God he was moving, he knew: he was worried. Him, Aster Bunnymund, was worried over Jack Frost. "Did anyone think to check Jack over for injuries?" he asked.

"No," said Tooth. "I thought, if he were injured, he would have said…"

"I thought so too," said Bunny. ""I'm startin' ta' think we were wrong."

"Baby Tooth!" Jack cried as he scooped her into his pale hands. "Are you all right?"

Baby Tooth curled into a ball and shivered, and Jack visibly deflated as defeat claimed him. "Sorry," he said. "All I can do is keep you cold." He slumped against the ice wall. "Pitch was right. I make a mess of everything."

"I can't believe it," Bunny muttered as the memory ended and faded away, returning them to Tooth Palace. "He gave up. Pitch got to 'im, after everything."

A stubborn tear ran down Tooth's face and she clumsily wiped it away with the back of her hand. "We were so horrible to him, North!" she whispered.

North looked down and nodded. "Ve 'vere."

Sandy stared in shock at the now closed box. How had Jack's staff been fixed? Why had he come back to help when he had been cast out? It seemed for every question that had been answered, two more had risen to take their place. There were still so many things he needed to know. He needed to talk to Jack.

"Well you guys were all right," said Bunny. "I was terrible to 'im… I yelled at 'im. Crikey, I almost hit him… I was so angry… Bloody hell, I screwed up. I didn't see how scared he was when he came back to us…Why the hell didn't I see?"

Sandy pictured a snowflake above his head.

They all agreed. They needed to find Jack. They needed to find him, and they needed to apologize.

xXx RISE OF THE GUARDIANS xXx

The nightmare sand lifted Jack off of the ground by a constricting hold around his neck. He scratched and pried at the sand, kicking and thrashing in its hold as he choked.

Pitch twirled Jack's staff with his fingers as he felt the fear strengthening him, empowering him. Gradually, Jack's movements slowed. His eyes drooped, and his arms dropped to his sides.

But Pitch didn't want the Winter Spirit dying on him just yet. The sands let go of their suffocating hold and fluidly split into two strands, each claiming one of Jack's thin wrists. They spread his arms outward. He slumped in their hold, his breaths coming in desperate and painful gasps.

Jack flinched as Pitch leaned in and lifted his chin, forcing him to look into those cruel, golden eyes.

"You told me once that you weren't afraid of me," said Pitch. "I beg to differ. I can feel your fear. Like I said, it's the one thing I always know." He backed away and examined Jack's staff. "I do believe I remember breaking this… Odd…"

"No, don't–"

Pitch snapped the staff over his knee.

Jack let out a cry as the pain washed over him. Pitch smirked as Jack panted, sweat dripping from his brow. Pitch placed a hand on Jack's forehead, grinning when he felt not cold, but heat. "You seem to be getting a bit of a fever," he mocked. "The Guardians really aren't treating you well."

He caught Jack looking longingly at the two pieces of his staff. He held them up, examining them in the light. "A bit inconvenient," said Pitch, "to have a conduit that causes such pain." He bent the wood, testing its pliability, then he snapped both halves again, leaving four quarters.

Jack screamed. Pitch motioned his sand away and the winter spirit to the ground like a stone.

"The Guardians…" said Jack, "they'll come…"

Pitch hoisted him up by his hoodie, the movement eliciting a sharp cry. "They don't care about you," said Pitch. "They didn't spare you a glance these past 300 years. Why would that change now?"

Figuring Jack might opt to return to the North Pole, North had volunteered to return to Santoff Claussen. Sandy and Tooth had headed for Antarctica, figuring that if Jack had fled there once, he may do so again. Bunny had decided to search Burgess.

He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it certainly hadn't been Pitch and Jack, alone again. Remembering painfully what had transpired the last two times that Jack and Pitch had been alone, Bunny abandoned caution for speed.

"You're wrong," he heard Jack say, his voice hoarse.

Bunny's fur stood on end when he saw them. Nightmare sand littered the ground around them, and Pitch held a weakened Jack by the front of his hoodie. Bunny was dumbfounded by the amount of fear in the pheromones that were assaulting his nose.

"Am I?" Pitch asked. "Then why aren't they here? They don't want you."

"The hell we don't!" Bunny spat, pulling out his boomerang in a swift stroke.

Pitch swung around and narrowed his eyes. "Rabbit," he acknowledged. "How're your eggs doing?"

"Don't play with me, Pitch," said Bunny. "Let Jack go."

"I don't think I will."

"Pitch."

Pitch maneuvered Jack between himself and Bunny as a makeshift shield in case the Pooka decided to do anything rash. "I don't understand," said Pitch. "You're ordering me around like you are actually in a position of control." He shook Jack a little for emphasis and spoke on through Jack's cry of pain. "I hold the only card that matters."

"Jack?" said Bunny in a gentler voice. "Jack, you're gonna be okay. Do ya hear me, ya gumby? I promise, you're gonna be okay."

"A bit late for that," said Pitch. "Finders keepers. Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Pitch, ya stinkin' rat-bag, I oughtta–"

"Yes, yes, enough with the empty threats. Truth is you can't do anything, not while I have him."

Bunny stood rigid with fury but didn't dare release the boomerangs that he so longed to let fly. "Let 'im go."

Pitch looked thoughtful. "I don't think I will. This boy is the real reason I lost yesterday," he said, his voice turning venomous with loathing. "Not you, not the other Guardians, but this boy. It's about high time he paid for it."

"Jack hasn't done anythin' to deserve–"

"He has done everything," Pitch spat.

"You are not gonna lay one more finger on 'im."

"No? And just what's going to stop me? You? If you try anything, if you take even one step closer, I'll end him before your boomerang even has a chance of reaching me."

"You kill him, it will take more than what's left of your nightmares to scrape you off the ground."

"You speak as though his death is in any way an acceptable outcome for you. So, if it's all the same to you, I'm going to take Jack and have a little–FROST! You've just made things five times worse for yourself, boy!"

Jack had managed to get in a well-aimed kick at Pitch, loosening the Nightmare King's grip. Jack dropped to the ground, hard, and scrambled towards Bunny. Bunny didn't miss a beat; he let his boomerangs fly and dashed forward. Pitch only just managed to deflect them with hastily conjured nightmares.

"No you don't," Pitch growled, sending a burst of sand forward, blasting the rabbit backwards.

"No!" Jack cried out as Bunny collided with a rock and his body went limp. Jack stumbled forward, trying to reach his friend–

"I don't think so, Frost," Pitch growled and he was yanked backwards by his hood.

"No–lemme go! Bunny! Bunny, wake up!" Jack struggled, but Pitch managed to get his hands around the small wrists, effectively stopping him from landing a blow. The golden eyes were filled with such hate that Jack couldn't help the spike of fear that sent his heart racing. Judging by the satisfied twitch of Pitch's mouth, he felt it too. "Bunny," Jack pleaded, even as he was unable to look away from the man before him. "Please."

xXx RISE OF THE GUARDIANS xXx

Bunny woke with a groan and a pounding head. He laid there for a moment, trying to gather himself, when he was struck by clarity. He shot up. He blinked a few times as he listed to the side, trying to ignore the pain in his head as he searched–

Pitch was gone.

And so was Jack.

All the evidence that remained from the encounter was stray bits of black sand on the ground and in the breeze, and the four shards of wood that were once Jack's staff.

Bunny felt sick to his stomach.

Jack Frost, the boy that had been a thorn in Bunny's side for almost as long as he had been a spirit. The boy who caused blizzards and freezing winds and miserable cold. The boy who was alone for three hundred years, who, despite their past behavior towards him, had helped them defeat Pitch anyway. Who had, against all likelihood, become his friend. Who was now in the hands of the enemy.

Bunny carefully collected the pieces of the staff. Jack had fixed it before. He didn't know how, but the kid had done it, and he could do it again.

He would do it again.

Just as soon as Bunny got him back.

But first, he had to get the other Guardians.