A/N: Okay, truth is, I've been having this image in my head ever since "How to Prank the Guardians". I've just… edited it quite a bit since then. Because, really, Poppy kicking butt is seriously underrated. I've seen very few fanfictions with Poppy as a spirit and her kicking butt. (Err… Poppy's equivalent, I should say.)
So, here we are, Poppy kicking Pitch's butt, as written in Phobia, where she uses her left hand.
Okay, either the Frost Rei siblings have really cruddy luck or… nope, the Frost siblings just have really cruddy luck.
You guys who read Phobia remember how it was mentioned that Poppy fought the Boogeyman and kicked his ass, right? Well, here's the story of it.
It all began when Pitch vowed revenge after the Guardians kicked him back to his hole during what many people have dubbed "the Battle of Belief", shown in Rise of the Guardians. The whole thing took three days, so it wasn't really a war… it was a battle, which paused, continued, stopped, continued, was almost won before the coin flipped and it was belief which won out over fear. So, yes, Battle, not War.
Anyway, so the cliché happened- Pitch vows revenge, yada yada, the hero (Jack, in this case), gets some celebrations, he finds his family after a long while, and basically reverts back to his life before becoming a Guardian, only now he's seen by a few people, acknowledged in a positive way by some spirits, and now has Poppy by his side pretty much 24/7, because wherever Fun is, Laughter is sure to follow.
Well, unfortunately, where there is belief, there is fear. Pitch was right when he said you can't kill fear- it does keep us alive, after all. So Pitch regains power, enough for him to come out of his lair, and eventually, enough to fight. While he didn't have an army of Nightmares (did you get all the puns they put in the movie? Horses made of fear, nightmares? When they were capturing the mini fairies, rib cages?), he had a few, and of course, he still could change dreams to nightmares with just a touch. He also had his scythe.
And, as always, he could detect fears. So when Poppy appeared in Jack's life again, that age old sibling worry came back. Believe me, when you have a sibling, you do everything in your power to protect them, no matter how much you think you hate them. It doesn't matter who it's against, whether it be parents, a king of nightmares, or just an annoying peer who hurt their feelings, you'll stand with them.
Which, I suppose, it what brings us here, to a few of Jack's recent discoveries about his sister.
It was, supposedly, a typical day. Jack and Poppy were bringing fun and laughter wherever they went, the Guardians were doing their jobs, and generally, nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
Until Jack and Poppy were flying over Spain to get back to North America and Jack was shot out of the sky by a shot of black sand knocking his staff away.
Thinking quickly, Poppy's hand snapped out to the staff, snatching it before the black sand could, then nose diving towards her brother, still recovering from the shock of getting hit.
(As for how she is flying, she's friends with the Winds, remember?)
She reached out her hand and caught her brother, somehow passing back his staff. He wasn't moving his right arm.
"I think it's dislocated," he shouted over the Wind, who (which? Honestly, sometimes it's hard to tell) was worrying over both of them like a mother hen.
Poppy nodded and replied "We should get out of here. I don't want to see if that thing's returning."
And, as I mentioned, the Frost Reis have really crappy luck, because the thing did come back.
Only this time, it went after Poppy. Seeing the collision course, Jack's eyes widened and he did the one thing that came to mind. He flipped his and Poppy's positions, much like he had on that day oh so many years ago, only this time with his hands instead of his staff.
And because of this, Jack got knocked down against a cobblestone pathway, actually breaking his dislocated arm and giving him a concussion from slamming his head against the ground.
Yes, Jack did suffer a similar fall in Rise of the Guardians. No, from what we saw, Jack did not take any damage. However, it is possible he did get injured and was very good at hiding it. Also, he wasn't shoved down that time. This time, he was, so let's leave it at that.
Poppy dived down after him- the Winds couldn't keep up with gravity and give Poppy a safe landing, so she was slower than her brother.
"Jack, how many fingers am I holding up?"
"Well, you're holding up two, but it honestly looks like six," he commented, words slurring together.
Poppy cursed in her head. "Jack, you need help," she was going to continue, but another voice cut her off.
"Oh, yes he does, but I don't think he'll be getting any before too long."
Poppy turned and saw the one person she hoped to never meet.
"Pitch," she said, frowning.
"Rei."
Natural opposites, fear and laughter.
"I'm going to have to ask you to move."
"Let me think about it. No."
"I see you've picked up some of your brother's habits."
Poppy tilted her head quickly, smirking, in confirmation. "Yep."
"Well, if asking politely didn't work…"
Poppy jumped to the left, avoiding the black sand scythe that came down right where she was standing. This was the goal, however, and Poppy noticed that Pitch was gearing up for a second swing that would cleave her brother in half.
And here's where the whole "sibling-protection" thing kicks in.
Poppy leapt right in front of Jack, withdrawing a shield she had scavenged a long time ago. She had it repaired as the ages went, adding metal to the original wood design, making it stronger and more durable. She had even painted it blue with yellow threads dancing around it, the most recent addition being small, painted snowflakes, each one different, and each one painstakingly made by Jack during the off seasons for him- also known as spring and autumn, when he wasn't as busy. (You guys are aware that when its winter up North, it's summer Down Under, and vice versa, right? Well, now you are.)
Pitch scowled fantastically, resolving to get this brat out of the way before taking care of Jack.
You'd think he'd learn by now that strength comes in numbers.
You see, Jack, although concussed, retained enough sense and barely enough coordination to get an emergency snow globe out of his pocket.
"Neve," he whispered. He struggled to remain conscious.
The polar bear ambled in with a penguin from his penguin army on his back.
"Get North or other. Help. Poppy."
Neve quietly barked an order to the penguin and stayed with Jack to keep him awake.
Meanwhile, Pitch and Poppy were still fighting, Poppy with a shield and dagger, Pitch with his scythe.
Pith didn't realize how good of a fighter Poppy was. Her right hand easily moved her heater shield, while her left agilely swung the dagger. The Nightmare King was having a difficult time keeping up, and eventually, that cost him.
Seeing an opening, Poppy smacked the flat of her blade against Pitch's floating ribs, just in time for the other Guardians to come in, guns blazing.
Not literally, but you get the idea. Pitch melted into the shadows before they could do anything, though, but Jack was their main priority. They were going to bring him back to the Pole, but Poppy snatched the snow globe out of North's hand, said "Ice Cavern!" and threw it.
Shrugging, all of the Guardians, plus Poppy and Neve, poured through.
Poppy gestured to the area that was Jack's room and North (who was carrying the half-awake, slightly protesting spirit, on what appeared to be the bed. It was a pile of snow with a blue quilt, a house-warming gift from Tooth, on it.
"Jackson," Poppy sighed, "shut up."
He did, shocking the other Guardians.
"Neve, I need a bucket of snow and three icicles. Darley," she addressed a penguin, "get me the bandages and sling. Also, Neve, you might want to increase the number of icicles, or make a really strong one. We're going to have to set the arm."
"And what can we do, Sheila?"
Poppy ran a hand through her hair, upsetting the normally neat strands. "Tell me how to treat a concussion?"
"No falling asleep for twelve hours," Tooth started, then gave a list of instructions for healing a concussion.
"Thanks, Tooth, can you guys keep him awake while I do this?"
Neve and Darley had just arrived back with the needed supplies. The Guardians agreed, asking Jack questions that he deliriously replied to, until Poppy had cleaned up everything and numbed his arm slightly with snow.
"Alright, Jack, this is going to hurt a lot. I need you to bite on this so that way you don't hurt yourself more, alright?"
Jack nodded, and Poppy placed the extra-strong icicle in his mouth. Then she quickly set his arm, resulting in Jack yelling for a second and slightly arching his back at the pain.
Poppy wrapped it, then set it in the sling, flopping back into the wooden chair that had been placed at the side of the pile by Neve before he left. She removed the icicle from his mouth.
Jack frowned, an unusual sight on the Guardian's face. He waved at the other Guardians, signaling he wanted to be alone with his sibling, but smiled slightly, indicating his thanks.
The other Guardians turned back to their jobs, giving out quick good-byes. Bunny used his tunnels instead of the portals, leaving a pretty snowdrop right where he left.
"Pippa?" Jack's words were slightly less slurred, but it was still pretty obvious he'd been concussed.
"Hm?"
"You're right handed."
Poppy sighed. She knew she'd have to explain it sooner or later, so she did. It came out a stumbled, awkward mess of words, but Jack managed to make sense of it. He didn't make fun of her, nor tease her for it. He respected her peculiar fear and that gave her the courage to keep talking. Eventually, it drizzled into less concerning matters, and together, Poppy managed to keep Jack awake until it was time for him to sleep. He did so instantly, without complaint, and Poppy gently eased the staff from his grip, putting it on a nearby hook, and cuddled up n0065t to her brother, falling asleep with him as he curled around her protectively, just as he had when they were mortal and Poppy had a nightmare.
And together, the two slept in peace for a long while, each smiling as the Sandman sent them a sweet dream that was them playing together with all their friends, past and present.