“Girls, pull yourselves together. Let’s not disgrace the uniform.” Tooth ordered them all back.
North went on with the introductions. “And Sandman.” The dream maker had fallen asleep. North shook him. “Sandy! Sandy! Wake up.”
Sandy bolted upright and then smiled at Jack.
“Anyone want to tell me why I’m here?” Jack was getting impatient.
Sandy made dreamsand images appear over his head.
“That’s not really helping,” Jack told him. “But thanks, little man.” To the others he said, “I musta done something really bad to get you four together.” Jack walked around the room, stopping before North. “Am I on the naughty list?”
North laughed so hard, his belly shook. “On the naughty list? You hold the record!” He became serious. “But no matter. We overlook. Now we are wiping clean the slate,” he said, mixing up the phrase, like he so often did.
“How come?” Jack asked.
“Good question,” Bunny said.
“How come?” North repeated. “I’ll tell you how come.” He turned to Jack. “Because now you are a Guardian.”
While Jack stood there entirely confused, the yetis lit ceremonial torches. Elves leaped down from columns, unfurling banners as they descended. A few of the Mini Fairies brought Jack flowers, which he refused to take.
“What are you doing?” Jack pushed the fairies back. “Get off of me.”
Horns blared throughout the room.
“This is the best part,” North told Jack.
An elf marching band entered the room while the yetis pushed Jack to his designated spot on the floor. More elves brought in a pair of ceremonial boots.
A yeti handed North a thick book. He blew off the dust and then began searching for the correct page.
Jack slammed his staff on the floor. Frost and wind blasted throughout the room. Everyone stopped as the torches blew out.
“What makes you think I would want to be a Guardian?” Jack asked.
North looked at Jack and chuckled. “Of course you do.” He cued the elf band to start playing again. “Music!”
“No music!” Jack shouted. The band gave up, and with a huff one of the elves tossed his trumpet onto the ground and stomped out of the room. “Look,” Jack said to the Guardians, “this is all very flattering, but, ah, you don’t want me. You’re all hard work and deadlines, and I’m snowballs and fun times. I’m not a Guardian.”
“That’s exactly what I said!” Bunny agreed.
Tooth flew toward Jack. “Jack, I don’t think you understand what it is we do.” She told Jack to look at the massive Globe behind him. “Each of those lights is a child,” Tooth began.
North picked up the story. “A child who believes. And good or bad, naughty or nice, we protect them.” Then he added, “Tooth, fingers out of mouth.”
Tooth was once again examining Jack’s teeth. She couldn’t help herself. “Oh, sorry. They’re beautiful.” She blushed.
North went on, saying, “Okay, no more wishy-washy! Pitch is out there doing who knows what!”
“You mean the Boogeyman?” Jack snickered.
“Yes!” North said. “When Pitch threatens us, he threatens them as well.” North pointed at the Globe.
“All the more reason to pick someone more qualified,” Jack said.
“Pick?” North was frustrated. “You think we pick? No, you were chosen, like we were all chosen. By the Man in the Moon.”
That caught Jack’s attention. “What?” he asked.
“Last night, Jack,” Tooth said. “He chose you.”
Bunny snorted. “Maybe.”
Jack squinted at North. “The Man in the Moon? He talks to you?”
“You see, you cannot say no,” North said. “It is destiny.”
Feeling like his head might burst from too much information, Jack asked, “But why wouldn’t he tell me about that himself?” He sighed. “After three hundred years, this is his answer. To spend eternity like you guys, cooped up in some hideout, thinking of new ways to bribe kids? No, that’s not for me. No offense.”
“How’s that not offensive?” Bunny sneered. “You know what I think? I think we just dodged a bullet. I mean, what’s this clown know about bringing joy to children, anyway?”
Jack felt like he had to defend himself. “Uh, you ever hear of a snow day? I know it’s no hard-boiled egg, but kids like what I do.”
Bunny replied, “But none of them believe in you.” He leaned in toward Jack and then said softly, “Do they? You see, you’re invisible, mate. It’s like you don’t even exist.”
“Bunny! Enough!” Tooth flitted between Bunny and Jack.
“No, the kangaroo’s right,” Jack said.
Bunny glared at him. “The . . . the what? What’d you call me? I am not a kangaroo, mate.”
“Oh.” Jack scoffed. “And this whole time I though you were. If you’re not a kangaroo, what are you?”
“I’m a bunny!” Bunny said. “The Easter Bunny. People believe in me.”
North stepped forward. “Jack,” he said, interrupting the argument. “Walk with me.”
CHAPTER
FIVE
North led Jack into an elevator that looked like a Christmas tree ornament. When the door opened, they stepped out into North’s Factory.
Jack took in the yetis, elves, and toys. He said, “It’s nothing personal, North. What you all do . . . It’s just . . . It’s not my thing.”
North replied, “The Man in the Moon says it is your thing. We will see.”
With big footsteps, North hurried through the factory. Jack struggled to keep up. He was distracted by everything he saw.
“Slow down, wouldja?” Jack said, panting. “I’ve been trying to bust in here for years, I want a good look.”
North refused to slow. “What do you mean, ‘bust in’?”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Jack replied. “I never got past the yetis.”
A yeti nearby pounded his fist into his palm and growled a warning. “Rwwarrrrr.”
Jack grinned. “Oh, hey, Phil.”
North was impatient with Jack’s antics. “Keep up, Jack! Keep up!”
Jack tried to keep pace, but there was so much to look at. Yetis were building toys and moving packages while elves were test-piloting flying machines.
“Whoa!” Jack dodged a duck toy. “I always thought the elves made the toys.”
“We just let them believe that,” said North. Then he glanced over his shoulder. Jack followed his gaze to see elves eating tinsel. “Very nice! Keep up the good work!” North encouraged.
As they went deeper into the factory, yetis and elves brought North toys for inspection. One yeti held out a blue robot. “I don’t like it,” North said. “Paint it red.” Then in a booming voice, he announced, “Step it up, everybody.”
As the factory roared with increased energy, North and Jack entered North’s Workshop.
North’s shelves were filled with sketches, parts, and toys. There were blocks of ice on his workbench from which he carved toy prototypes.
When North rolled up his sleeves, Jack could see the Naughty and Nice tattoos. North took a plate from an elf and offered Jack a slice of fruitcake.
“Ah, no, thanks,” Jack refused.
North threw the plate across the room. It slammed into the wall with a crash. He then stared with hooded eyes at Jack. “Now we get down to tacks of brass,” North said with a growl.
“‘Tacks of brass’?” Jack repeated softly to himself.
North cracked his knuckles, and Jack stopped talking. A gust of wind closed the office door, and the door locked itself. North moved closer toward Jack. With each step forward, Jack stepped backward until he was pressed against the locked door.
“Who are you, Jack Frost?” North asked. “What is your center?” He poked Jack in the chest.
Jack looked down at North’s thick finger and asked, “My center??”
“If the Man in the Moon chose you to be a Guard
ian, you must have something very special inside,” North said. “Hmmm.” He picked up a set of Russian nesting dolls, carved into his likeness.
“Here,” he told Jack. “This is how you see me, no? Very big, intimidating. But if you get to know me a little . . . ” He handed the doll to Jack. “Well, go on.”
With a curious expression, Jack set aside his staff and then opened the first doll. Inside was another North doll. This one was a cheery Santa Claus with red cheeks.
“You are downright jolly,” Jack commented.
“Ah,” North said. “But not just jolly . . . ” He encouraged Jack to continue to open the dolls. Each one got smaller and smaller as Jack removed them. They were all versions of North, but slightly different.
“I am also mysterious,” North said, pointing to one doll. “And fearless.” He pointed to another. “And caring.” One more to go. “And at my center . . . ”
The smallest doll was no bigger than a jellybean.
“There’s a tiny wooden baby?” Jack joked.
“Look closer. What do you see?” North asked.
“You have big eyes?” Jack guessed.
“Yes!” North beamed. “Big eyes. Very big! Because they are full of wonder. That is my center. It is what I was born with. Eyes that have always seen the wonder in everything!”
With a wave of his arms, the toys on North’s shelves burst to life. Jack-in-the-boxes popped. Trains sped around the room. Soldiers began to march. Toy planes zoomed around. An elf was lifted and carried by a balloon.
“Eyes that see lights in the trees and magic in the air.” A toy plane stalled in front of North before taking flight again. “This wonder is what I put into the world and what I protect in children. It is what makes me a Guardian. It is my center.” North looked to Jack. “What is yours?”
“I don’t know.” Jack stared down at the tiny wooden Santa in his palm. North reached out and then closed Jack’s palm around the doll, silently telling him to keep it.
Suddenly, Bunny came running up.
“We have a problem, mate,” Bunny announced in a panicked rush. “Trouble at the Tooth Palace.”
North immediately led Bunny, Sandy, and Jack to the sleigh hangar. Tooth had already gone ahead to her palace. Several yetis rushed in to prepare the sleigh for launch.
“Boys, shipshape,” North told the yetis. “As soon as impossible.”
Jack stepped out of the way as a yeti hurried by. “North, North!” He called for North’s attention. “I told you, I’m not going with you guys. There’s no way I’m climbing into some rickety old—” The sound of pounding hooves and snorting reindeer cut him off.
The sleigh was incredible. It was huge and shining. This was not just a sleigh—it was a totally tricked-out, hot rod of a sleigh, complete with all kinds of gadgets. “Whoa” was all Jack could manage to say.
North called the massive reindeer to a halt.
The sleigh stopped, and the yetis finished preparations for takeoff.
“Okay,” Jack said. He was dying to get inside and check out the sleigh. “One ride. But that’s it.” Jack jumped in.
“Everyone loves the sleigh.” North gave a smile and a nod to Sandy, who then climbed into his own spot in the back. Taking the reins, North wrapped them around his powerful arms, then turned to Bunny, who was still standing outside the sleigh.
“Bunny, what are you waiting for?” North asked.
“I think my tunnels might be faster, mate,” Bunny said. “And, um, safer.”
North reached out and hauled Bunny aboard. “Ah, get in. Buckle up.”
Bunny looked frantically around the seat. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are the seat belts?”
North laughed. “That was just an expression.” He asked the yetis, “Are we ready?”
One yeti shook his head, but North ignored him and cracked the reins. “Good!” he shouted. “Let’s go! Clear!”
Elves and yetis scattered as the sleigh headed down a long sledding track. North and Jack were enjoying the speed, while Bunny cowered against Sandy.
“Out of the way!” North shouted to a few elves as they passed. “Hyah!” He shook the reins, and the reindeer picked up the pace.
The sleigh went straight up for a few minutes, then zoomed straight down. Sandy grinned and Jack shouted in delight. North pulled a lever, sending the sleigh into a corkscrew. “I hope you like the loopty-loops!”
Bunny turned green. “I hope you like carrots,” he said, threatening to throw up his lunch.
“Here we go!” North said. The sleigh reached the bottom of the track and shot off the ramp at the end, up and out into the bright blue sky.
“Wooo-hooooo!!!!” Jack raised his arms in the air.
“Klassno!” North told the reindeer.
Jack leaped to the rear of the sled to see the North Pole disappear as they sped through the sky. “Hey, Bunny.” Jack stood dangerously on the back edge of the sleigh. “Check out the view.” Suddenly, Jack flipped off the side. “EEEYAAAAGGGGHHH!”
Bunny gasped and gingerly peered over the side, thinking Jack had fallen, only to find Jack lounging on the sleigh’s skid. “Aww. You do care,” Jack said with a smile.
Bunny scowled at Jack while Jack climbed back into his seat.
North rattled the reins. “Hold on, everyone. I know a shortcut!”
Bunny groaned. “I knew we should have taken the tunnels.”
North held up a snow globe. “Tooth Palace,” he told the globe. An image of Tooth’s castle filled the globe. North tossed the snow globe in front of the sleigh, and a giant portal opened in the sky.
“Hyah!” North shouted. The sleigh was sucked through the vortex.
The sleigh emerged outside the Tooth Palace. Streaks of black filled the sky around the beautiful, delicate castle.
“What?!” North squinted. “What are they?”
On closer look, Jack could see that the streaks were horses made of black sand. Nightmares. Mini Fairies flew past the sleigh, screaming in horror.
Sandy and Bunny ducked as Nightmares swooped by the sled.
“Whoa!” Bunny shouted.
“They’re taking the Mini Fairies!” Jack pointed to a stream of Nightmares chasing a pack of fairies and gulping them down into the blackness. A lone fairy was flying nearby with a big ugly Nightmare at her heels. Jack reached out and rescued her before the Nightmare could swallow her up.
“Hey, little Baby Tooth,” Jack said. “You okay?” He held her safely away from the Nightmares.
Baby Tooth nodded as North drove the sleigh through the Tooth Palace. There were pillars as far as the eye could see. Each pillar contained millions of boxes where baby teeth were stored.
Inside the chamber, North handed the sleigh reins to Jack.
“Here,” he said. “Take over.”
“Huh?” Bunny asked.
“Hyah!” Jack said, gladly taking control.
North unsheathed his swords and slashed a Nightmare in half. “Yah!” he shouted as the Nightmare split open and hundreds of tooth boxes spilled down into the sleigh. The Nightmare disintegrated.
“They’re stealing the teeth!” Bunny cried.
Sandy looked at where the Nightmare disappeared. The Nightmare had become grains of black sand that were now attaching to one another. Within seconds, a new Nightmare was created.
The Guardians looked up just as Jack was about to plow the sleigh into one of the pillars.
“Jack! Look out!” North shouted.
Jack pulled back the reins. “Aaahhh!” The sleigh sideswiped the pillar and then landed hard on a platform. Tooth was directly above the Guardians’ heads.
“Tooth!” North called out. “Are you all right?”
Tooth was flying in circles, frustrated and angry. “They took my fairies!” she shrieked. “And the teeth! All of them! Everything is gone! Everything!?” Defeated, her wings began to droop.
The Guardians gathered around. Baby Tooth popped out of Jack’s coat hood and then flew to
Tooth.
“Oh, thank goodness! One of you is all right!” Tooth raised her damp eyes to the fairy.
Pitch’s voice boomed through the cavernous room. “I have to say, this is very, very exciting.” He was standing above them with a smug smile. “The big four. All in one place. I’m a little starstruck.” His chuckle echoed. “Did you like my show on the Globe, North?” But before North could reply, he said, “Got you all together, didn’t I?”
“Pitch!” Tooth demanded. “You have got thirty seconds to return my fairies!”
“Or what?” Pitch’s voice boomed as he darted back into the shadows.
Tooth followed the echo and found him near one of her tooth box columns.
“You’ll stick a quarter under my pillow?” Pitch mocked before disappearing again.
“Why are you doing this?” North asked.
With the speed and effortlessness of a shadow, Pitch had moved to the other side of the palace. He slowly traveled to the center of the chamber.
“Maybe I want what you have,” he said. “To be believed in. Maybe I’m tired of hiding under beds.”
“Maybe that’s where you belong,” Bunny suggested.
“Ah, go suck an egg, rabbit,” Pitch replied.
Bunny looked over the side of the platform where he was standing to see Pitch there, hanging upside down. Pitch winked at Bunny, then moved away.
“Hang on, is that Jack Frost?” Pitch asked, laughing. “Since when are you all so chummy?”
“We’re not,” Jack replied.
“Oh good,” Pitch told him. Jack turned to find Pitch standing nearby. “A neutral party. Then I’m going to ignore you. But you must be used to that by now.”
Bunny was angry. “Pitch! You shadow-sneaking ratbag! Come here!”
Bunny leaped after Pitch, but he once more disappeared and reappeared elsewhere. Tooth spotted him first. She grabbed one of Bunny’s boomerangs and then flew at Pitch in a rage. “Ahhhhhh!”
Before Tooth could reach him, Pitch sent a huge Nightmare toward her. Tooth shrank back, and Baby Tooth took cover in Jack’s jacket.
“Whoa!” Pitch said to the Nightmare. “Easy girl. Easy.” He twirled his fingers through the Nightmare’s mane. He held some of the black sand in his hand and then turned to Sandy.
Rise of the Guardians Movie Novelization Page 3
