RotBTD Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Party Crashers


After the song ended, Jack and Rapunzel went out onto the roof of the workshop, to get away from the crowd, and be alone for a while. Relaxing, laying next to each other, holding hands, laying on a blanket to separate them from the steely cold roof paneling.

“The sky's beautiful at night, isn't it?”, Rapunzel asked, sighing happily.

“It sure is.”, Jack sighed in reply. “It reminds me of you.”, he said, looking over at her.

Rapunzel laughed through her nose, then put on a thoughtful look. “Jack?”, she asked him.

“Yeah?”, he asked back.

“I just wanted to say thank you, for saving me from Pitch yesterday.”, she said, snuggling closer to him. “That was really brave of you.”

“Well, my top priority is keeping you safe.”, Jack answered with a smile. “I didn't want you to get hurt.”

“But why?”, Rapunzel asked, leaning up on her arm. “Why would you want to protect a girl you just met?”

“You want the honest answer?”, Jack asked.

“Yes, as honest as can be.”, Rapunzel answered.

“It's because I...”, Jack started. He didn't have the heart to tell her.
Who would he be to tell her the woman who raised her wasn't her mother? That the one person she'd known her whole life was a terrible monster?
He looked into her eyes. Those big, green eyes that were so full of cheer and innocence. He couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth.

“I saw something special about you.”, he answered. Although it wasn't completely false, he did see something special about her.

“Really?”, Rapunzel asked, “Was it my hair?”

“No. It was your eyes.”, Jack answered, staring up at the moon.

“My eyes?”, Rapunzel asked, laying back down. “What about them?”

“Well, it's a lot of things.”, Jack answered. “They're soft, and sweet, and loving,”, he looked over at her, “just like you.”

“Aw, that's sweet, Jack.”, Rapunzel said, flattered. “But not as sweet as you.”, she added, kissing his cheek.

If Jack still had blood, he'd have been blushing like a tomato.

He felt his cheek, and felt the piercing cold of the polar wind. He was used to it, but he realized Rapunzel must have been freezing.

“Hey, are you getting cold?”, he asked her.

“Yeah, a little, but I don't mind.”, Rapunzel answered. “It's nice to be outside at night for a change.”

“Well aren't your feet getting cold?”, he asked. “It's risky to go out in weather like this bare foot.”

Rapunzel chuckled,“Look who's talking.”

“Well, I'm sort of an undead winter spirit.”, Jack answered. “It doesn't phase me.”

“Ooh, undead.”, Rapunzel said, jokingly. “What's the story behind that?”
“Well, to put it simply, I froze to death in a lake while saving my little sister's life.”, Jack answered. “The man in the moon saw it, chose me as a Guardian, and the next thing I knew, I was floating up out of the ice as Jack Frost.”

“Aw, you saved your sister?”, Rapunzel asked, sweetly.

“She was about to fall into a frozen lake,so, I moved her onto thicker ice.”, Jack explained.

“Well that was very noble of you.”, Rapunzel said. “So how's she doing now?”

Jack's face sunk. “She's uh...she's dead.”, he answered.

“What?”, Rapunzel asked, sitting up quickly. “What happened?”, she asked, heartbroken.

“Well, that lake thing happened a really long time ago.”, Jack answered. “She lived a long and happy life, I'm sure.”, he added.

Rapunzel sighed, relieved.“Wow, you had me worried there.”, she said, laying back down. “So, wait, how old are you?”, she asked.

“Oh, three hundred seventeen, give or take.”, Jack answered, chuckling after wards.

“Wow.”, Rapunzel chuckled. “I'll be turning eighteen in three days.”, she told him.

“Really?”, Jack asked.

Rapunzel nodded with a “mhm”.

“Well,”, Jack said, “In that case, happy early birthday.”

“Thanks.”, Rapunzel said, smiling. She shivered, “Wow, you're right, it's cold out here.”

Jack put his right arm around her shoulders. Rapunzel smiled, and held his right hand in hers.

“You sure you don't want me to get you some socks or something?”, Jack offered.

“Nah, I've been through plenty of winters barefoot.”, Rapunzel answered. “Plus, it's like I always say. If you're not barefoot,”

“then you're over dressed.”, they finished in unison. They looked at each other, and laughed.

Suddenly, a bright ribbon of light appeared in the sky.

Rapunzel gasped excitedly, and sat up. “Wow, Jack look at that.”, she marveled, as more ribbons of omni-colored light appeared.

“Yep, that's the Aurora Borealis.”, Jack explained sitting up next to her. “Better known, as the northern lights.”

Rapunzel looked in amazement at the dancing lights in the sky. “Wow.”, she marveled. “It's beautiful.”

Jack looked at her, and put an arm around her. “It sure is.”

They looked at each other, and leaned in close.

Rapunzel looked back, and gasped. “Jack, what that?”, she asked, pointing to the sky light.

Jack looked back, and saw a trail of black sand disappearing into the workshop.

“Oh, please, not now.”, Jack said, scrambling over to the skylight, and looking in.

Suddenly, the lights in the work shop went out. The fire was extinguished, the light bulbs burst, and everyone started panicking. Guests started scrambling, and screaming, knocking things over, and running into each other.

“Calm down, everyone calm down.”, North called, everyone settled down, and listened. “Now, this is nothing to worry about, just remain calm, and we'll try to figure things out. Is probably simple power outage, happens all the time.”, he said, passively.

“Well, you're half right, North.”, said a loud voice in the darkness.

The guests gasped, looking around.

“Jack, what's going on?”, Rapunzel asked.

Jack eyed the table where he left his staff. He had to jump, it was the quickest way down without it.“I think the boogie man is showing up uninvited.”, Jack said, jumping into the work shop. He landed on the floor with a thud. “Man, I need that staff.”, he said, standing up, massaging his back. Rapunzel slid down on her hair, and landed next to him.

Everyone panicked as black sand covered the globe, and swirled up into a funnel, and bursting to reveal Pitch Black standing there, cackling.

“Oh, I'm sorry, did I crash a party?”, he asked, laughing at the panicked scramble of the guests. He vanished, and popped up at the exit, blocking everyone. “Oh, how rude of me.”

“Bunny, escape plan zed dash niner niner.”, North ordered.

“Alright, everyone, hold on, I'm gettin' you out of here.”, Bunny said, tapping his foot on the ground, forming a tunnel. He hopped into it, and ran under all the guests, dropping them into new holes as he went, until only the eight Guardians and Toothless were left, weapons drawn and aimed at Pitch.

“Please, don't clear out on my behalf.”, Pitch said in false humility. “I only came to give you a warning.”

“A warning of what?”, North asked.

“Oh, nothing really.”, Pitch said, as Jack edged towards the drink table, and picked up his staff. “Only your impending doom at my hands.”, he said, casually.

Bunny scoffed. “And what are you gonna do that we can't stop? Send a stampede of ponies at us?”,he mocked. “Your tricks are getting really old.”

“Well, in that case, you'll be happy to know I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve.”, Pitch said, smugly.

“Ha, no matter, you are still no match for us.”, North retorted.

“Not on my own, no.”, Pitch admitted. “But I'm not alone this time.”

“Yeah? Who's with you?”, Bunny asked, skeptically.

“Oh, just some old friends.”, Pitch answered. “You might now them, we were in a group. We had a very flattering name, too. Oh, what was it?”, Pitch said, tapping his chin in thought. “Oh, that's right,”, he said, hitting his forehead. “The Fearsome Four.”

The older Guardians gasped.

“You have no business saying that name.”,North said, pointing a sword at Pitch.

“Why not?”, Pitch snapped. “I was the groups leader, I have full right to say it.”

“You? Ha!”, North chuckled. “Fearsome Four were gone before you were even heard of.”

“Oh, were we?”, Pitch asked. “We were a group before the man in the moon ever existed.”, Pitch explained.

“We were at the top, the world was ours to control, then we had a falling out. A civil war broke out, as power was craved, and authority was questioned. Everyone thought we were gone, that we had done each other in, but we merely went into hiding, and made names for ourselves as new villains. That's when the dark ages started. I was having the time of my life, doing what ever I wanted, I didn't need those freaks. Then, right when I was at the top, well, you know the rest of the story.”, he said, gesturing to them.

“Then tell us, orange eye.”, Merida snapped. “Who else was on this team?”

“Funny you should ask.”, Pitch answered, vanishing. “Unfortunately, they're both currently dead, but after today, that won't be an issue.”, he said from the shadows.

“One of them was someone I think you know.”, he said, popping up next to Merida. “Ever recall the name...Mor'Du?”, he asked.

Merida gasped as Pitch vanished again, and popped up beside Hiccup. “You might know one of them, too. I assume you  remember the Red Death, don't you, Hiccup?”, he asked.

Toothless snarled at Pitch, and pounced on him, but the boogie man disappeared again, and popped up next to Rapunzel. “Oh, this is the one I've been dieing to reveal.”, he said, delightedly.

“What?”, Rapunzel asked, nervously. “I don't have any enemies.”

“Well, it just so happens that the second most powerful of us all was someone very close to you.”, Pitch said, stroking her hair. “Someone who's British, perhaps someone who takes care of you. Perhaps wears a lot of red, hmm?”, he hinted.

Rapunzel thought for a moment, then her eyes widened with terror. “No, you can't mean...”

“That's right.”, Gothel said in a sing song voice as she came out from behind the globe. “Momma's one of the bad guys.”, she said, walking over to Rapunzel. “Surprised? Oh, flower, you should be.”, she said, stroking Rapunzel's hair.

“Mother, why?”, Rapunzel asked, heartbroken. “Why would you do something like this?”

“It's because she's not your mother.”, Jack said, as Gothel was ready to answer. All heads turned towards him.

Pitch let out a chuckle. “Wow,talk about a spoiler alert.”, he said, impressed at Jack's audacity.

“Jack, what are you talking about? Of course she's my mother.”, Rapunzel said, sounding slightly unsure.

“Well, as much as I hate to say this, it seems for once that Jack Frost is right.”, Pitch said, grimly. “She's not your mother.”

“No, you're wrong.”, Rapunzel said, unwilling to believe it.

“Pitch, what are you doing?”, Gothel asked him through gritted teeth.

“This girl has been in the dark too long, Gothel.”, Pitch said, brushing her asside. “It's time she adjusted to the blinding light of the truth.”

“This was not part of our deal.”, Gothel hissed.

“Think now, Rapunzel.”, Pitch said, ignoring Gothel. “She calls you 'flower' from time to time, right?”, he asked the Guardian.

“Well...yes.”, Rapunzel said, nervously.

“And she keeps herself young with your hair, am I right?”, he asked, walking around her.
“Yes.”

“Has she ever thanked you for that?”

“Well...no.”

“And she never talks about anything except for what?”, he asked, stopping in front of her.

“Protecting me.”, Rapunzel answered.

“Wrong.”, Pitch said, “She only talks about protecting your hair. Think about it.”, he said, puffing black sand into her face.

Suddenly, memories of the past raced through Rapunzel's head.

Pitch was right. Every memory she had of Gothel showing her any affection at all, was to her hair. Kissing her hair, hugging her hair first, washing her hair, brushing her hair, only feeding her foods that enhance the health of hair, everything Gothel did was centered around the hair.

Rapunzel grabbed her head, trying to make the memories go away.

“Don't you see?”, Pitch asked her. “You're practically nothing to her. You're a pet, a fountain of youth, a mere obstacle in the way of her immortality. She thinks of you as a flower, just listen to what she named you.”

Rapunzel looked at Gothel, who had a guilty and speechless expression.

“It's not true.”, Rapunzel said,tearing up, “Please, say it's not true.”, she begged.

Gothel stood for a moment, speechless. She sighed through her nose. “I'm afraid it is.”, she said.

“Ouch, straight from the horses mouth.”, Pitch said.

Rapunzel felt her heart, shattering.

Merida had heard enough. “Why, ye great, beastly HAG!!!”, she shouted, letting an arrow loose at Gothel, who dodged it.

“Well, the fight's starting early.”, Pitch said, smirking. “I love being ahead of schedule.”

He snapped his fingers, and thousands of nightmares came crashing through the windows, knocking over the tables, and ripping down the decorations.

The Guardians fought back the horses with everything they had. Sand, ice arrows, boomerangs, and plasma blasts flew through the air as they fought back. Even the heartbroken princess was knocking them away with her frying pan.

As Jack sent another nightmare flying with an ice blast, he looked up, and saw Pitch and Gothel running into North's office.

“North, it's a diversion.”, Jack shouted to him.

“Stay here, and fight off the nightmares, we'll handle those two.”, North ordered.

“North, this is personal.”, Jack said, “We're going up there.”

“Jack, trust me, your team is not ready to face them.”, North argued.

“Well I'm going, I'm getting answers.”, Rapunzel said, flatly.

North was about to retort, but he saw the determined look on Rapunzel's face.

North sighed.“Fine, take your team and slow them down.”, he replied. “We'll be there A.S.A.P.”

Jack grabbed Rapunzel's hand, and soared the two of them up to North's office.
Merida looked up, and saw them. “Hiccup!”, she called, pointing up. Hiccup looked up, and nodded, understandingly. Merida nodded back, and climbed up a nearby post, and quickly shimmied up to North's office. Hiccup climbed onto Toothless, but North stopped him.

“We will need your dragon here.”, North said. “It will get job done quicker.”

Meanwhile, up at the office, Jack tried the door, but it wouldn't budge.

“It's locked.”, Rapunzel said.

“Not for long.”

Jack pointed his staff at the door, and sent an enormous blast of ice into it, knocking it over. They charged in, weapons drawn.

“Ah, Jack.”, Pitch said, moving his right hand quickly behind his back. “Hate to leave so early, but I'm all tied up.”, he said.

He snapped his fingers and black cords came in from the windows and wrapped themselves around Jack's arm's, legs, and throat. He struggled to get free, which only made the cords wind tighter.

“Jack!”, Rapunzel shouted. Then, a muffled cry as Gothel tied a cloth over her mouth, and chained her hands behind her back.

“Come now, Rapunzel, it was never going to work out anyway.”, Gothel said, as Rapunzel squirmed to get free of her trap. “Ah, it's adorable how she does that.”, Gothel said,

“I'll take care of this.”, Pitch said. He puffed more sand in Rapunzel's face, knocking her out.

“You let go of her!”, Merida shouted as she ran into the office. She aimed the bow at Gothel. “Let go of m' friend, ye greedy skin bag.”, she said, drawing the arrow.

“Oh, that's cute.”, Gothel said, grabbing the bow, and crushing it in her hands. “But pointless.”

“How did you...”, Merida asked, dropping the bow in shock.

“Healing magic also grants you strength.”, Gothel answered, drawing her dagger. She backed Merida up against the wall, the dagger at her throat. “Any last words?”, she asked, grinning maliciously.

Jack struggled to get free of the cords, but just stood there, helpless,his ribs feeling like they were about to cave in.

“Let's go, Gothel.”, Pitch barked. “We have what we came for.”

Gothel looked at Merida, who looked scared for her life. She pulled back the dagger from Merida's throat, and drove it into her stomach. Merida screamed in pain, and sunk to the floor, clutching her abdomen in pain.

Gothel withdrew the dagger, a satisfied look on her face, and walked back over to Pitch with the sleeping Rapunzel flung over her shoulder. “Alright, let's go.”, she said, casually. A wall of black sand rose, and they vanished with it.

The cords around Jack disappeared, and he fell to the floor, gasping for breath. He stood up, and ran over to his wounded ally.

“Merida.”, he said, kneeling down next to her. She looked weak, blood gushed from her wound, staining her dress.

“They took Rapunzel.”, she strained. “Ye've got te go after 'em.”. She added, grabbing her stomach in pain.
“Don't worry about Rapunzel.”, Jack said, sternly. “Just stay calm, eyes on me.”, he said, locking his stare with hers.

“Looks like I'm clockin' out early, cap'n.”, Merida strained.

“Not an option.”. Jack replied.

Hiccup and Toothless came in through the door, covered in black sand and soot.

“Jack, what happened?”, Hiccup asked as he and Toothless looked around, frantically. He looked over at Jack and Merida, and gasped.  

“Hey there, Hiccup.”, Merida said, weakly. “Ye missed out on all the fun.”, she joked. She laughed, but stopped when her stomach stung.

Jack moved as Hiccup came over, and crouched down in front of Merida.

“What happened?”, Hiccup asked Jack.

“Gothel, that's what happened.”, Jack answered, scowling.

“Well, where's Rapunzel? She can heal her, right?”, Hiccup asked.

“That'd be a great idea, if they didn't take her with them.”, Jack said, grimly.

“Well how are we supposed to save Merida then?”, Hiccup asked, hysterically.

“Hiccup, it's OK.”, Merida said, calmly. Toothless sniffed at her wound, and look sadly up at her. “Hey, don't worry about me, ye great puppy dog.”, she said, petting him.

“Merida, we've gotta find something to heal you.”, Hiccup said, standing up, and pacing frantically. “I could go get a Fireworm, no that's for poison. A potato? No, that's for a fever. Or maybe North has something that...”

“Hiccup, calm down.”, Merida shouted, sending another sharp pain through her stomach.

“What are we supposed to do, let you die?”, Hiccup asked, dropping back down in front of her.

“Listen, don't worry about me.”, she said, softly. “Just focus on yer job, and everything will turn out fine.”

“But Merida, I...I mean , we need to...”, Hiccup stuttered.

“Hiccup, ye took an oath te protect the children.”, Merida said, coughing weakly. She put her hand on his cheek. “Promise me ye'll do that, Hiccup. Promise me ye'll do yer job and protect them.”, she begged.

“I'll...”, Hiccup started. He looked into Merida's eyes, and sighed. “I will.”, he said, holding her hand in his.

“Good.”, Merida said, smiling. “Hey, this'll make some battle scar story, eh?”, she asked, laughing.

She leaned her head back against the wall, and her eyes slowly closed, as her last breath faintly escaped her mouth.

Hiccup felt Merida's hand slacken in his, and let it drop to the floor. His eyes stung as tears filled them, running their way down his cheek.

North bounded in just then, Bunny and Sandy at his heals, all three covered in black sand.

“Jack, what happened?”, North asked, scanning the room, his swords drawn and aimed. He looked at Merida, and his swords clashed to the ground. “Oh, no.”

Tooth zoomed in, and just like North, scanned the room, saying “What, what happened?” She looked at Merida, and gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. “Oh no.”, she whispered, dropping from her usual hover.
“Why would he do something like this?”, Bunny asked, shocked.

“He didn't.”, Jack answered, scowling at the ground. “Gothel did.”

“Where's Rapunzel?”, Tooth asked.

“They took her.”, Hiccup answered, still looking at Merida's carcase.

“Jack, why didn't you try to stop them?”, North asked, looking at the winter spirit.

“Yeah, Jack.”, Hiccup said, standing up, and turning towards him. “Why didn't you stop them?” , he asked, furiously.

“I couldn't.”, Jack answered. “Pitch trapped us the second we came in.”, he explained, truthfully.

“Oh, yeah, cause I'm just marveling at the magnificent snare that you were clearly stuck in.”, Hiccup snapped, angrily.

“He had me tied up, and nearly choked me to death.”, Jack shouted. He wasn't about to be blamed for something he couldn't prevent.

“Boys, that's enough.”, North said, flatly.

“So what do we do, North?”, Bunny asked.

North thought for a moment. “I...”, he sighed through his nose. “I don't know.”

“I'll tell you what I'm gonna do.”, Hiccup said, walking to the door. “I'm not gonna let Merida die in vain.”, he said, as Toothless came over to him. “I made a promise to protect the kids of the world, and by Thor, I'm gonna keep it. Pitch is going down, even if I have to do it myself.”

“Pitch can wait, Hiccup.”, North reasoned. “He is not our priority right now.”

“You crazy old man, they killed one of us.”, Hiccup shouted, pointing to Merida's body. “I'm not going to sit around while they go around, doing who knows what. Whatever they're doing, we need to stop it before it happens.”

“I couldn't agree more.”, North replied, calmly. “But first,”, he said, pointing to Merida. “I think we should give our fallen comrade a proper send off.”