Chapter 25

Jack landed with a small plop on his feet outside the workshop. He turned to Pitch, who was standing a few feet away from him. "You transport me outta there, just to come out here?!" The boy asked frantically.

"I'm happy to see you too," he replied sarcastically. "And you're a snow spirit, I figured you'd like to be where it's cold."

"You need to leave! They're gonna be out here any minute!" Jack looked back towards the workshop which seemed to be glaring at the boogeyman.

Pitch shrugged and walked closer. "So?" A bit of nightmaresand appeared in the palm of his hand. "I have an army that I can summon in less than a second." He smirked. "Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Oh, I don't know, all of you fighting and seriously hurting each other!" He tried to push Pitch away, but the man didn't budge. "Go, hurry!"

"I've got a better idea." He tilted the boy's head up and kissed him. The Nightmare King saw something gold out of the corner of his eye, and quickly pushed Jack away. A whip flew between him and the young guardian that lay in the snow. "I'd really appreciate it if you would stay out of my personal life, Sandman."

Jack sat up from his place in the snow. "Please don't!"

Pitch cracked his neck. "I don't have much of a choice." The rest of the Guardians came out and a dozen nightmares appeared at the Boogeyman's side. The young guardian looked at both sides pleadingly, but they didn't seem to notice. They also didn't notice how the air became more chilly and windy, or that it was beginning to snow.

Jack wasn't sure which side started the fight, but he could tell that they weren't holding back. He was about to shout for them to stop, when he felt a strange feeling in his chest. It felt as if something inside him had just cracked, as if something was wearing thin. He felt as if something he had been holding back for so long could no longer be contained. The young guardian clutched his chest as he felt more of the barrier breaking away.

Jack's chest was heaving as his breaths became more rapid. Please, he thought as the wind became stronger and snow falling heavier. Calm down, don't do this.

In the midst of the fight Tooth noticed the change in weather and turned to look at Jack. "You guys, stop." They didn't hear, and the storm got worse. "You guys, we need to stop!" It got worse. "STOP! Stop it now!" They finally heard her and stopped, but it was too late.

They all got knocked off their feet and sent backwards by a large blast of ice, snow, and wind. Jack screamed as all the energy, all the stress, all the anger, all the sadness, all the fear left him in the form of a storm. As much as he tried, he couldn't stop it; he had bottled everything up for too long. This was ten times stronger than when he had fought Pitch after Sandy had been killed.

"Jack!" Bunny yelled, as the wind stung his face and the ice numbed him. "Jack, please stop!"

Pitch looked up at the boy from where he lay in snow. He could see a few tears run down his cold face. He doesn't want to do this, but he can't stop. It hurt to move, but he slowly stood up. The ice and snow pelted his body, but he took a step forward.

"What are you doing?!" North called.

Pitch didn't reply, as he continued to walk towards the eye of the storm. His body was numb and his lungs stung from breathing, but still he walked on. He was right next to Jack now, and the chilling weather was unbearable. He put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Jack, it's okay. I'm here, you're alright." The frost elf's eyes went wide and the storm suddenly stopped.

When the Guardians were able to look up, they saw the two sitting in the snow. Jack's head was buried in Pitch's chest, and their arms were wrapped around each other. Jack appeared to be panting, but other than that was back to normal. The Boogeyman began to feel dizzy and his arms slipped away from Jack's sides. He fell to the ground, looking ill.

"Pitch!" Jack shouted. He leaned over the man that felt almost as cold as himself. "Pitch, hey! Look at me!" Pitch could barely keep his eyes open, but he tried to stay awake. The boy draped one of Pitch's arms over his shoulders and lifted him up. The Nightmare King's legs dragged in the snow as Jack tried to take him inside. "Please help!" He called to his friends. "I'm not strong enough, and he'll die if he stays out here!" The Guardians all looked unsure of themselves.

Bunnymund hopped over, and grabbed Pitch's other arm and rested it against his own shoulders. "I don't like him anymore than you," he called to the others, "but he just saved all of us. Besides, we've been wanting to speak with him anyway." The Guardians nodded and started helping.

"It's gonna be okay," Jack whispered. Pitch's eyes closed.

.....

Pitch's eyes opened and he looked around. So far all he could tell was that he was laying on a couch next to a fireplace. He turned his head the other way, and saw Jack sitting in front of him, protectively. He reached out a hand and touched the snow spirit's leg.

Jack quickly turned around with a huge smile on his face. "You're okay! I was so worried I'd killed you!" He hugged Pitch, who stiffened.

"You're cold! You're cold! You're cold!" He quickly shouted.

Jack quickly got off him. "Sorry. You feeling any better?"

"Yes, I'm much better than I was." He looked around more, and started to realize where he was. "Jack, where am I?"

Jack was about to answer when he was interrupted by North saying, "You're exactly where you think you are."

Pitch sighed as he sat up. "Oh, fuck me."

To be continued.