Hello everyone! So this is going to be a three-part arc, so buckle up people.

Also, just FYI, I love when people send ideas and requests, but I can't promise that I'll use them right away. Still, if you have one, let me know!

Summary: The tides of a battle with Pitch start to turn in his favor.

It seems like there's not a day that goes by without Pitch making some sort of noise.

Seriously, as the Nightmare King continues to grow stronger, it seems that he's always up to something bad. It's gotten to the point where Jack has begun to get bored when they have to go investigate. Sure, it's fun to mess with Pitch psychologically, but contrary to popular belief, Jack does happen to have a social life.

Luckily, he's not the only one who feels this way. The other guardians also have things going on in their lives, but unlike Jack, they have actual responsibilities. As for Jack? Well… it's not winter just yet. So yeah, he's not the one getting the short end of the stick, but still.

Pitch needs a new hobby besides continuing to try and take down the guardians.

They're currently all in the sleigh—North is in the driver's seat, Sandy and Tooth are both sitting in the middle, and Bunny is pressed up against the side of the sleigh, eyes squeezed shut as he grips the ground with his paws—one would think he'd get over his fear of heights, especially because of how often they've been riding in it lately. Jack is perched on the sleigh, enjoying the wind whipping through his hair.

Jack, like most others, loves the sleigh.

"Are we almost there yet?" Jack questions North for the third time since taking off, having to raise his voice to be heard over the wind.

"We get there when we get there!" North doesn't even attempt to hide the exasperation in his tone.

"If we'd taken the tunnels we'd already be there by now," Bunny grumbles, the wind rippling through the Pooka's fur.

"False, old friend!" North argues as he directs the reindeer to turn slightly to the left with the reins. "Everyone knows sleigh is better than tunnels, just like Christmas is better than—"

"Do not start that argument now," Tooth cuts North off, giving the Cossack a stern look. "We need to stay focused so we can find Pitch."

"Right, Toothy, it's just so hard not to brag," North doesn't even attempt to sound apologetic, and Jack can't help but laugh at the murderous expression on Bunny's face.

Sure, life has certainly become nothing but chaotic ever since Jack joined the Guardians, but quite frankly, he loves it. As someone who is always up for laughing and having fun, it's nice to hang out around others who do nothing but poke fun at each other. Besides, it's almost too funny messing with the overgrown rabbit.

"I think Halloween is the best holiday," Jack interjects casually, and the looks on both North and Bunny's faces as they both turn to glare at him is pretty much priceless.

Sandy excitedly waves his hand in the air, forming a picture of fireworks over his head.

"Yeah, Fourth of July is pretty cool, too," Jack agrees, nodding his head.

"I'm gonna' throttle you, Frost," Bunny growls, his ego obviously hit where it hurts.

"You'll have to catch me, first, Cottontail," Jack teases, standing up with a grin. Bunny seems to actually consider it, which is saying something, but in the end, the rabbit just shakes his head "no", which is an ultimate win in Jack's book. "That's what I thought."

Suddenly, Bunny perks up, his nose twitching.

"Bunny? What is it?" Tooth asks, also aware of Bunny's change in demeanor.

"Pitch. I smell him," Bunny responds, glancing at the open air in front of them. "We're almost there."

"Finally," Jack mutters to himself. He was just about ready to jump off the back of the sleigh and fly away from all of this boring nonsense.

North begins to descend towards land, and Jack peers over the edge to figure out where "there" is—only to groan in agony when he realizes.

"Australia? Seriously?" This surely won't work out in his favor.

"It's Autumn, mate," Bunny rolls his eyes. "It's not that hot."

"A chilly day in Australia is still pretty damn hot," Jack argues, already feeling the abundance of warmth hitting his skin.

"Jack, these fights with Pitch never take more than fifteen minutes," Tooth reminds him, and she's right. Pitch isn't something to worry about too much yet—he's still weak since the first time they beat him down, so now he's just now starting to build up his strength.

Knowing that, Jack quits complaining, but if he dies of heat stroke or something he is totally going to haunt them all for the rest of their days—which will be for the rest of eternity.

Actually, that sounds tiring. Jack decides that he'll revise his hypothetical revenge plan later.

The sleigh touches down onto the land, and Jack hears Bunny give a very quiet sigh of relief. Then, they all clamber out of the sleigh—the mood has shifted, as everyone is on high alert for Pitch. They let Bunny lead the way, because of his heightened senses and all that, and Jack takes up the rear, his staff held defensively in his hands.

After a while of searching like this, however, and no sign of Pitch, Jack begins to wonder if this was just a false alarm—that is until Bunny abruptly stops in his tracks.

"Bunny? What is it?" North asks.

Bunny shushes him.

"He's here," Bunny announces after a minute, pulling out his boomerangs. North unsheathes his swords, Sandy forms his dream sand whip, and Tooth gets her fists ready. Jack readjusts his grip on his staff.

The area is eerily quiet. Then—

"It sure took you long enough," Pitch's voice says from the shadows, his voice echoing. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come."

Jack tries to spot the man but is unable to pinpoint where his voice is coming from. Pitch is moving through shadows. Jack just hopes they can hurry this up because he's starting to get uncomfortably warm.

"Can we skip the theatrics?" Jack requests wearily, but Pitch just laughs.

"Why? Do you have somewhere to be, Frost?"

"Yeah—away from here."

"Feeling a bit toasty, are we?" Pitch morphs to show up right in front of them, in the shade of the tree. "Well, no matter. I won't keep you here much longer."

That's where the Nightmares start to show up. Now, the Nightmares being here isn't the part that takes the Guardians aback. No, it's the fact that there's so many of them, much more than they've ever seen before. Every which way a Nightmare appears, completely surrounding them. There's triple the amount than there was the night Sandy had died.

"Pitch has been busy," Bunny comments in a low voice.

"I'll say," North agrees, getting into a fighting stance.

They've clearly underestimated their opponents' capabilities—something that might end up costing them.

"You need a new hobby," Jack says to Pitch as he eyes the Nightmares—they're two steps away from attacking him. "Maybe something, like, knitting? You could knit yourself some new clothes."

"Shut up, Frost," Pitch snaps in annoyance.

"Because your wardrobe needs the update," Jack continues, ignoring Pitch's warning. "Seriously, you look like Darth Sidious's grandma."

"You are the most insufferable child I have ever met!" Pitch growls.

"Is it surprising that you're not the first to tell me that?"

Pitch just glares at him before looking away—the ultimate sign of defeat in Jack's book. If Jack was stripped of all of his powers, he could still win a fight just by simply annoying his opponent into running away. It's one of Jack's many, many talents.

"I think you may find it rather hard to survive this particular predicament," Pitch smirks as the Nightmares close in on them.

And then just like that, Pitch snaps his fingers and disappears into the shadows, leaving the Nightmares to spring into attack.

It's absolute chaos.

There are so many Nightmares to fight off that all the Guardians end up having to break away from each other. As Jack twirls in the air, freezing Nightmare after Nightmare as fast as he can, the only one he can see is Bunny, who is knocking the dark horses out six at a time with one boomerang. The other three have been lost in the sea of Nightmares.

"How does Pitch have all these Nightmares?" Jack yells as he stands on a tree branch and ices the Nightmares down below.

"Yer guess is as good as mine," Bunny shouts back as he round-house kicks two Nightmares, dissolving them instantly. "He must've been hard at work."

Jack continues to focus on eradicating these pests, all the while having fun with it, too. He jumps from tree to tree and does flips in the air, shooting the Nightmares while he's in mid flip. Is he showing off? Yes. Does he care? Nope.

In all honesty, he's trying to distract himself from the fact that the heat is starting to get to him.

This continues, until minutes later, Jack hears a deep roar of pain coming from the distance.

"Was that… North?" Jack lands on a branch close to Bunny, whose ears are perked up and pointed in the direction of the sound.

"Yeah, mate," Bunny nods, his tone grave.

Jack starts to fly towards the sound, needing to go and make sure that his friend is alright.

"Jack, no, stay here!" Bunny stops him in his tracks.

"But North—"

"Has Tooth and Sandy with him," Bunny throws a boomerang, taking out two more Nightmares, but four more just take their place. It's getting harder and harder to fend them off. "He'll be fine—we need to focus on this area."

Jack doesn't like that at first but ultimately knows that the rabbit is right. So he goes back to his "spot", taking things a bit more seriously now that he realizes the stakes of the fight. There are too many Nightmares—seriously, where are they all coming from?

Then there's a high pitched scream, and unfortunately, it's not Pitch.

"Tooth!" Bunny takes out a few more Nightmares before bounding towards the sound. "Jack, c'mon!"

Jack flies overhead, blasting anything that comes too close to Bunny as they both make their way over to the others.

When they do, Jack feels his stomach drop.

North and Tooth are both laying in a clearing, unmoving. A couple of yards away from them, Sandy is tied up by black sand ropes, his eyes closed and unmoving as well. Pitch is laughing from the sidelines somewhere.

"For once, this is a battle the guardians will not win," Pitch grins sadistically as he steps out from the shadows.

And as much as Jack hates to admit it…

It's starting to look like he's right.