"This is hard!" Jack growled, hissing as he barely missed another volcanic eruption.
"No shit, Sherlock. This whole part of the race is meant to be your weakness after all." Manny retorted.
"You know," Jack grumbled, cooling his burnt finger as he continued flying, "you seemed a lot more passive and polite back at the rink. What happened?"
Manny hesitated to answer, which just raised Jack's curiosity. "That's not something we can talk about while you're racing..."
"Is it Elsa?"
Manny stayed quiet.
"So it is," Jack dodged another fireball which fell from the sky, "let's talk about it after I win this, okay?"
"What are you? My therapist?" Manny deadpanned.
"I'm not, but God you really do need one," Jack smirked as Manny started scolding him again, before shifting his attention to the race. "Who's leading?"
"Hans, obviously. Unlike you, he's actually focussing and strengthening himself." Manny scoffed.
"Don't praise that asshole. He's probably still believing that I'm gonna lose at the last minute. Poor fellow," Jack shook his head at Hans' stupidity.
"Do not underestimate your enemy, Jack," Manny advised.
"Not at all, old man. If there's one guy whom I've been looking out for since the beginning of the race, it's him." Jack informed, glaring ahead where he could faintly see Hans flying.
"Good. Now burst up your speed and get out of there fast." Manny ordered.
"As you wish," and with a smirk, Jack picked up his speed, creating a barrier made of wind and ice around himself.
After flying for some time, he finally came side by side with his main rival. Hans looked at him with a raised eyebrow, before approaching Jack.
"Don't back out right now, I want you to stay in the race till the final lap. You can drop out as we reach the final part of the last race." Said Hans, eyes focused ahead.
...wow
This asshole...
Jack could only stare at him in shock and amusement as he opened his mouth to reply that he can go fuck himself when Manny spoke up.
"Don't mention anything about the rescue to him. Pretend like you're actually gonna lose. We haven't gotten any update from Elsa yet so we can't risk Pitch getting alarmed."
Jack rolled his eyes, controlling the urge to tell something cocky before he smirked and saluted to Hans. "As you wish, boss."
And with that, he flew off, far ahead than any of the other racers, and finished that stage of the track before entering the last stage. This part of the track was the unpredictable part because it could contain any traps or obstacles which would keep changing throughout the race; so even a single wrong move might end up sending him to the hospital.
With a bitter expression on his face, Jack reminded himself that it was at this stage when Hans pulled that cheap trick against Elsa when the whole part of the track had turned into a dark tunnel during the last lap.
That cheapstake probably knew the track was gonna become like that because of course, Pitch would have someone in the Race committee to spill all the secrets to him.
That's when a loud explosion echoed throughout the place and Jack turned his head around and saw Hans and Hiccup flying neck to neck. Hiccup's dragon looked pissed off so Jack assumed that Hans had probably tried to get rid of them in that one millisecond when they entered one stage from another.
Well, time to get going.
With another huge burst of wind that probably disturbed the two racers behind him, Jack flew off and started the next lap.
.....
Well, that was tough...
Elsa wiped the blood dripping down her jaw with the back of her hand as she finally allowed herself to relax. She had been impaling and bursting apart Nightmares for at least 45 minutes from what her watch showed and after not using her powers on a large scale for more than a year, she was somewhat tired yet relaxed. It was like the feeling one gets after working out properly after not doing so for a long time.
But even though she successfully destroyed every Nightmare at the entrance, she had taken damage too. One Nightmare had ferociously bitten her forearm and another had slammed into her back. One had even ripped off the back of her clothes so after blasting it to smithereens, Elsa had to ditch her torn clothes and make ice ones for herself. And she had to admit, moving in her new ice leggings and top was easier and allowed her to be more agile without worrying about her clothes ripping.
After letting out a deep exhale, Elsa straightened and froze all the sand around her, spreading it thinly on the walls of the huge room. She stood in the middle of the room, glancing down at the floor she was supposed to break. Not sure whether the people she was supposed to save were right below her or not, she froze the floor and made a hole, big enough for her to go through yet small enough for the rest of the floor to remain intact.
The minute her feet touched the ground below, few more Nightmares jumped out of the darkness and tried to bite her from all directions, attempting to rip out her flesh. With a loud growl, huge icicles grew out of Elsa and impaled them, pinning them to the wall in the process. Just when she was done with the horses, Elsa heard the swinging sound of a weapon and ducked, not sure whether it was friend or foe. She jumped back, hands held up to burst out ice when she heard the person yell.
"DIE, YOU SON OF A HALF-TROLL, RAT-EATING, MUNGE BUCKET-!"
"ASTRID?!"
The person paused and Elsa quickly used her powers to create some light and saw that it was indeed her best friend Astrid Hofferson, standing amidst the black sand with an intimidating axe in her hand.
"Elsa?! What are you doing here?!" Astrid dropped her axe and rushed forward to hug her friend.
"I came to rescue the people whom Pitch had kidnapped and-!" Elsa paused as she finally took in Astrid's appearance, "Shit, are you okay?!"
Astrid glanced down at her ripped blouse which just covered her breast and shoulders, and her pants which had been reduced to shorts, showing off various bruises and cuts across her legs and thighs. "Don't worry, its nothing."
"Nothing?!" Elsa yelled, surging forward to hold her friend while one hand automatically went for Astrid's exposed stomach. "Astrid, the baby-!"
"It's safe, it's not what you're thinking!" Astrid assured her, placing one hand on Elsa's shoulder and the other on her hand which hovered over her belly. "I didn't fight so much that my clothes got ripped! I was the one who ripped them."
"Wait, what?" Elsa blinked, confused, "Why?"
Before Astrid could reply, another voice spoke up from behind them, "Astrid, are you okay?"
Both Elsa and Astrid turned around and saw two blinking purple spheres floating slowly towards them. Elsa quickly stepped in front of Astrid with her hands stretched out, ready to burst away the weird circles. The spheres grew in size and brightness as well, continuing to close in on them, and Elsa's guard rose higher when she saw clothes floating in the air between the spheres. But before either of them could attack, Astrid stepped between them and held her hands out towards them both.
"Wait! You guys don't have to attack each other!" Astrid turned to the spheres and yelled, "This is Elsa, and she is a friend, Violet! She's not here to attack us!"
The spheres quickly disappeared so Elsa slowly lowered her hands, still cautious, when a girl materialized in front of them. "Who's this?" Elsa asked Astrid.
"Elsa, this is Violet Parr, sister of Dash Parr who is also a part of the race. Violet," Astrid turned to the girl, "this is-"
"ELSA WINTERS?!" The girl -Violet- yelled in shock, staring at Elsa with her jaw dropped, "The legendary winner of the Race of Rapidity, that Elsa Winters?! Holy mother of God, it IS her! Wait till I show off to Dash about this-!"
"Okay, that's enough fangirling," Astrid cut in, smirking at both of them, "She's here to get us out so we should get going."
"Wait," Elsa looked around, searching for something, "I was told that there were three people here."
Astrid and Violet glanced at each other before the former nodded to Elsa. "Yes, there's someone else here with us and we need to get him out of here fast. He's dying."
.....
"Jack! Jack are you alright?!"
"Just peachy," Jack hissed, trying not to grimace as he continued flying while holding his ribs, "It's not like I magically bumped into at least three sea stacks at full force, got burnt every time I tried to conjure up my powers back in the Blizzard, and have the hamster wheel almost take my head away! Oh, and its a total coincidence that a fireball falling from the sky turned direction and headed straight for me, not once, not twice, but five times! Yeah, of course, I'm okay!"
"Are you sure it's not the result of you repeatedly daydreaming in the middle of your race?"
"Manny, we know I'm stupid."
"Yes, I'm well aware of that fact."
"Geez, thanks." Jack rolled his eyes. "But tell me this, am I stupid enough to go full force at a sea stack made of rock? To purposely not save up my powers?"
"I guess you're not THAT stupid. But why did that happen?"
"I think Papa's little boy and his Boogeyman have something to do with it," Jack muttered.
"Are you sure, Jack?"
"Yes! I'm not stupid enough to do the aforementioned, and don't you think it's weird that the wheel just came off its hinges and a fireball which was already reaching the ground straight up turned around and came right towards me?!" Jack tried to keep his volume low as he focussed on the last stage of the second lap.
"It seems like Hans has started to get annoyed that you're staying ahead of him throughout the race and is asking his Bitch to do some underground work for him."
"Did you just call Pitch a b-"
"Yes. Yes, I did. Anyway, my guess is that Pitch has people in the Race Committee working for him and they're the ones pulling these tricks to slow you down." Manny explained.
Hissing when an arrow grazed his cheek as he flew through a tsunami of them, Jack knocked out all the arrows with his wind powers before replying, "So what do we do?"
"First thing you need to do is get your pathetic butt to the support station. Even after all of their attempts, you're still far ahead of the others so you won't have much difficulty getting back into the race."
"Okaaayyy, then what about them cheating?" Jack asked as he finished the second lap and slammed the buttons on the side of the track, which would teleport him to his support and medical staff.
He heard Manny chuckle and his eyes grew wide at the people waiting for him.
"Don't worry, we have it all covered."
.....
Elsa, Astrid, and Violet ran in the direction Violet had come from. They ran for what felt like 30 minutes before they reached their destination. A huge blinking sphere blocked them from reaching the end and on the other side was a man, horribly disfigured and barely clinging on to life.
Violet snapped her fingers and the sphere disappeared. They ran towards him and Elsa gasped when she saw the man covered with bite marks, most of his body wrapped with blood-stained pieces of cloth. Elsa recognized many of the pieces as Astrid's clothes and noticed that Violet's state of appearance was similar to Astrid's.
She wasted no time in creating a stretcher while Violet grabbed a thick blanket that had been covering the man and spread it on the stretcher. Elsa grimaced at his injuries as Astrid gently lowered him on it. They ran towards the place Elsa had dropped from, her and Astrid pushing the stretcher while Violet ran in front of them with a force field in front of her.
"What happened to him, Astrid? Why is he so badly injured? And when the hell did Pitch kidnap you?!" Asked Elsa.
"To answer your first question, I don't know, Els. He's been here for much longer than Violet and I. Right after the main meeting ended and you and the others left, I went back home. But just about a day later, I was attacked by those black horses and when I started swinging at them with my axe, black ropes tied me up and I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in that dark room with that man next to me, almost dead. I did what first aid I could do but since I had no medicine or anything else, it wasn't enough to guarantee his survival. Just about a day later, the horses returned with Violet and we've been fending for ourselves and trying to keep him alive." Astrid sighed. "We don't know who he is or what's his name but we just guessed that he must be related to Jack Frost or Hans, considering the fact that both Violet and I are related to two of the participants of the Race."
Elsa stared at the guy on the stretcher, remembering how much Jack had been worried for him, "This is Jamie, Jack's close friend and driver. He was attacked and kidnapped on the day of the Light Cup race when he had been driving Jack to an airport they had wrongly been guided to. Also probably Pitch's doing, to get Jack out of the race as fast as possible. I was told about him when I was sent to save Emma, Jack's sister who had also been kidnapped, but I didn't know he was here as well."
"Wait, they kidnapped both Jack's driver and his sister? And by Pitch, you mean Pitch Black, owner of Nightmare Inc.?" Astrid asked.
"Yup," Elsa answered grimly.
"But why?"
Elsa sighed, seeing light ahead and knowing they'll be leaving soon, "You'll know soon enough."
Just then they reached the spot and Elsa told them to stay there before raising herself to the upper floor.
Many more Nightmares surrounded her the minute her feet touched the ground. Grinding her teeth, Elsa went all out and blasted them apart in one move, but that also drained her out and caused her to fall on her knees. She breathed deeply for a few seconds before standing back up.
She removed more of the floor and helped Astrid up. But just as Violet raised herself and Jamie inside another one of her spheres, they heard something like a firework exploding in the sky.
Elsa, recognizing the sound of the emergency signal flare she had conjured up and given to Emma in the form of a keychain, quickly ran outside.
.....
"What the hell are you guys doing here?!"
Jack blinked in shock as he stared at Anna, Rapunzel, and Kristoff waiting for him with Bunny and Sandy.
"We're your support staff, obviously," Anna grinned but wasted no time in grabbing Rapunzel's long hair and wrapping it around him.
"Wait, wha-" Jack blinked in confusion and shock as Anna finished her job and shot a thumbs up to Rapunzel. He knew what her powers could do and he'd seen it work. But he never believed that it could save someone from fatal and inner injuries.
Remembering that she had to sing a song to activate her powers, Jack opened his mouth to protest that he didn't have time.
That's when he saw Rapunzel mutter something unintelligible at ten times the speed with which she usually spoke. Before he could make sense of her words, he felt an electric wave pass through him which caused him to shudder violently.
"What the actual fuck was tha-"
"You're cured now. Shut up and swallow this fast!" Anna yelled, showing a huge cup of shaved ice into his mouth.
"All the best, man." Kristoff patted his shoulder with a smug smirk on his face.
Jack had a million questions about everything happening around him but he wordlessly complied and took huge gulps of the ice. With surprise, he noticed that his body was not hurting anywhere and even his broken ribs had been fixed. The ice refreshed him even more and in less than half a minute, he was back on the track, fully cured and more energized than how he had been at the beginning of the race.
"And he's back! Jack Frost has returned to the race and has made a complete recovery! And his support staff just broke the world record of the fastest support ever given to a racer, a record that had been set twenty years back by the staff of the beloved racer, Ms Ariel Atlantica!"
"Wasn't that easy," Rapunzel smirked, cracking her knuckles.
"Yup, that ought to show people not to be arrogant assholes," Anna stated as Rapunzel sassily flicked her hair and shot a glance over her shoulder at Han's support staff.
"Yeah, serves them right for dissing the Guardians for bringing, what was it they told, 'uncouth forest barbarians.'" Merida retorted through the earpiece, standing with North at the start line as a representative of Jack's team.
"Girls, back to the race please," Bunny called out, trying to hold back his own smirk.
Anna and Rapunzel chuckled and grinned proudly as they turned back to the screen, "Aye, aye, captain."
.....
Elsa ran outside and her anger flared up again when she saw about five Nightmares attacking the ice dome she had created.
They had almost broken through when Elsa stepped up, shooting bursts of ice at each one of the magical horses and spreading it inside their bodies before exploding them to dust.
After getting rid of the black sand, Elsa disintegrated the ice dome with a flick of her hand. She kneeled down and let Emma crash into her embrace, holding the small shivering girl tightly in her arms. She looked up at Flynn, who gestured that he was fine.
"Is that them?" He asked, nodding towards the entrance.
Elsa turned around and saw Astrid and Violet walk towards them with Jamie on the stretcher. She nodded as she turned back to Flynn.
"Take out every last bit of food we have and give it to them. I'll inform Tooth to keep an ambulance ready. We're leaving right now."
Shrugging off his jacket and the t-shirt he had worn under, Flynn nodded before handing them to Astrid and Violet, now wearing just his tank top and jeans. He rummaged through the bag and pulled out two boxes of food and handed them over to the two of them as they all walked towards the minivan which Flynn and Elsa had used to drive over.
"Flynn, take Emma, Astrid, and Jamie in the van. I'll be right next o you with Violet." Elsa ordered, conjuring a motorbike after finishing her phone call with Tooth, "We have a race to attend."
.....
Just what is going on...?
Jack glanced around in confusion, noticing that nothing out of the ordinary was happening around him. The race continued just like the first lap but a bit more intense, without any weird occurrences like the previous lap. He had finished the first two stages easily and without a hitch, still maintaining the lead while the others tried their best to catch up.
Hiccup was just a little behind him and Dash was running right below them, whereas Hans seemed to have completely given up trying, knowing (believing) that he would win the race in the end.
"Manny, what the hell?" Jack hissed into the intercom, "Why have they suddenly stopped? Are they backing out for now and planning on doing something huge and worse in the final lap?"
"No Jack, I can assure you that they are trying their very best to mess you up," Manny stated casually.
"No way! There's nothing happening around me! How-?"
"That's the effect of Kriftoff's magic, Jack. He can nullify anyone's magic and can prevent anyone from using their magic on another person by just touching the other person." Manny stated with some pride leaking out of his voice which he tried very hard to not show. "The girls did a very good job covering Kristoff as he secretly released his power on you."
"That chump had such a power?! And how come even I didn't notice him?!"
"Don't call him that. And yes, that's his power. Why else did you think Elsa let you go with him whenever Flynn took a break? And besides, the only reason you didn't notice was because you're an idiot."
"Dude, is that a family or a military that you're raising?! You have someone who can heal anyone even at the verge of death, a Hulk reincarnate but female, a master archer who easily pinned me to a tree with her arrows barely a centimeter away from my neck, a guy who can nullify magic, a guy who can sense what people can do and a literal queen who is the most wonderful and strongest person I've ever had the honor of mee-"
"Focus on the damned race, Frost. The dragon is right behind you and the kid is progressing much better than you are and he's not even flying!"
"Sheesh! Okay, I get it!" Jack shook his head and was about to speed ahead again when he heard someone speak behind him.
"Are you racing seriously?"
Jack looked back and saw Hiccup flying right behind him, his eyes concentrated on Jack.
"What?" Jack yelled back.
"I'm asking if you are racing seriously or you're putting up a show just to lose in the end!" Hiccup asked him seriously.
Jack wondered why he was asking that but then he remembered that Pitch had kidnapped people close to Hiccup and Dash as well. Looking ahead, Jack continued to fly at his usual speed, knowing Hiccup could keep up.
"Of course I'm flying seriously. Why would I put up a show?"
"Wait, didn't Pitch Black-"
"Yes, he did. Both my sister and my friend have been kidnapped."
"Then why-?"
"Your staff didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"Hey Manny!" Jack suddenly yelled, surprising both Hiccup and Toothless, "you guys didn't tell them?!"
"Tooth has been trying to contact them, Jack. But it seems like Pitch is not letting the competitors' staff interact."
"Couldn't you have told me that before?" Jack grumbled.
"I needed you to focus and I thought Tooth would get through."
"Um, hello? Jack, what's going on?" Hiccup interrupted.
"Hiccup, you don't have to worry about whoever was kidnapped! They're safe! Use your full power and race!" Jack yelled.
"Wha-?!"
Seeing the heartbreak and despair on his face, Jack gave him a small smile. "Hiccup, I can assure you that they've been rescued." Jack couldn't help the grin that seeped onto his face as he continued, "Whoever was kidnapped on your side and the kid's, I'm sure they're already safe and heading back here already. God, I wouldn't be surprised if they're already here!"
"How are you so sure they're safe?!"
Jack glanced to the side and saw Hiccup glaring ahead, panic, concern and fear clouding his face as he yelled at Jack again but softer than last time, "How can you be so sure that she's safe and that I can finish the race knowing that I wouldn't have to see her dead?!"
Feeling sympathy seep into his heart at Hiccup's desperate expression and tone, Jack allowed himself to fly closer to the dragon rider before he placed his hand on his shoulder, "Trust me, I can assure you that nothing is gonna happen to whoever was kidnapped. And I'm assuming it is your wife Astrid with how you're staring at your ring and dude, why the hell are you worried? That woman would probably kill every Nightmare and then proceed to kick Pitch in his nuts just because he deserves it."
Lifting the corner of his lips in a small smile, Hiccup shook his head to himself as he whispered, "Yeah, she would." Even his dragon, Toothless, grinned with its tongue hanging out.
Jack found himself smiling at the look of love on the dragon rider's face and before Hiccup could see it, he quickly switched over to a smirk as he yelled, "Do me a favour and tell the kid down there! I'm gonna go ahead and win the race so that I can see my wonderful Elsa again!"
"That's your motive for winning this race?!" Hiccup exclaimed, voice filled with shock and humour.
"It is now!" Jack grinned cheekily.
"Whatever, see you at the finish line, Grandpa!"
"Sure, after I cross the line before you, you mean!" Jack winked.
"In your dreams, sucker!" Hiccup grinned back.
"The only thing you'll be finding in my dreams is a beautiful, talented, and amazing woman who goes by the beautiful name Elsa-!"
Hiccup groaned loudly and closed his ears with his hands before yelling, "Oh my Thor, shut up and get going already!"
"As you wish! Try to keep up and come at least second place, bro!"
And with that, Jack picked up his speed and shot ahead.