"WHAT?"

Jack, Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, and all the surrounding yetis and elves covered the ears as North's shout reverberated throughout the Pole, the vibrations tumbling a pyramid of toys that had been painstakingly built and painted.

"What do you MEAN Pitch is back?! That cannot BE! He is gone, we see this ourselves! Dragged down by his own nightmares! He is not back!" North said, waving his swords back and forth, not noticing the other guardians keeping a reasonable distance away from his ranting tirade. Jack, safely five feet over North's white head, looked down in apology.

"I know, I know, but the Man in the Moon told me himself. And the deal with those banners earlier... Something's wrong, and this definitely feels like Pitch." Tooth ventured out from behind the globe, fretting as her wings flit skittishly. Even her Baby Teeth were in a small tizzy around her as she nervously stuttered while giving them orders.

"But what exactly does he mean by help? Is he reinstating another guardian? If so, where is he? Why hasn't he spoken to us yet? What is Pitch going to do? Oh, my molars-!" Tooth looked down and saw a dark mass of shadow below her; she scrambled, flying behind North. Jack chuckled before tugging on one of her top feathers and looking up at the bright glowing moon shining through the opening in the ceiling.

"That's YOUR shadow, Tooth," he said affectionately as she peeked her head out and smiled at him. She too looked up at the sky as everyone hoped for some sort of explanation. "Manny. What's going on?"

As I said, Pitch is back. Except this time, he seems angrier, scarier... darker. There is something darker to his aura this time, probably as a result of a year trapped with his own nightmares. This darkness... I have not seen something like this, even in the dark times. That is why I feel you will need help.

Everyone took a worried expression, faces contorted with confusion and fear as to what could be so bad and dark that the Big Five needed help. Then the moon shone on them, and the warm glow soothed them as it roved over each one's face before settling in the center of the star on the ground. The panel in the floor started to open, striking nostalgia in four of the people around the star. All of them even laughed as Bunny muttered under his breath, hoping it wouldn't be the Groundhog. As the fog in the crystal cleared, an image showed up of...

"Cupid!" North said, nodding approvingly. The others around the circle smiled approvingly, some shoulders visibly relaxing at the news, while Jack just remained confused and stared, perplexed at the image. It was a girl with angel wings and long hair, which he had not expected. She smiled brightly in the crystal, all teeth showing and seeming to glow, and her eyes crinkled in mirth, wrinkling what looked to be a small heart shaped mark next to her right eye. She looked sweet, happy, innocent almost... if not for the two crossbows in her hands at her sides, both armed with heart tipped arrows.

"Cupid is a girl?!" he exclaimed, that being the first question to leave his lips. North laughed and clapped him on the back, laughing joyfully like the jolly old man he was. Tooth tittered in glee, and her baby teeth joined her; Sandy noiselessly laughed as the sand seemed to swirl around him happily as well. Lastly, Bunny smirked under his breath, chuckling condescendingly at Jack's confusion until Jack just slammed down his staff onto the ground. The frost bloomed across the floor, freezing the things or people in contact with the floor. Sandy and tooth flew away, but Bunny, unable to fly, had both his feet stuck to the ground. Jack smirked while Bunny jerked his feet of the floor, knocking himself down onto his back.

"Ha ha, very funny, you bloody bugger." Jack shrugged nonchalantly before turning back to gaze at the crystal. "That's right, you've never met Cupid yet, have ya, mate?" Bunny smirked, while the others smiled with fondness and amusement. "This is gonna be a doozy," he said, smirking at Jack again, while Jack just looked around in confusion.

"WHAT IS SO FUNNY?!"

"Let's see... This needs to be timed perfectly. The girl is at 3 0'clock. The boy is at 12 straight ahead. 1...2...3!" Cupid loosed the arrows and both hit the girl and boy spot on as their paths collided at the corner of the sidewalk. The girl tripped over a very well placed rock, and the boy caught her, both their hearts jumped out of their chests. As the boy scratched the back of his neck in nerves and the girl clasped her hands behind her back like a little schoolgirl, Cupid smiled from high in the air. 'Another couple destined to be together. How absolutely beautiful.' She descended down onto a nearby rooftop and watched more as the young teenage couple fumbled in the confusion of first love. Thanks to a very well-placed rock, the girl stumbled and fell into the boy's arms. Their blushes took over their faces, particularly the boy who undoubtedly caught a whiff of the perfume the girl was wearing. 'Ah, young love... Teenagers." She turned to the other side, preparing to blow a kiss until a figure stepped out the shadows.

"Hey there, Sheila. Still ruining lives?" Bunny swaggered up to her, ruffling her long black hair. She smiled easily and put away her crossbows, holstering them to her belt as she hugged Bunny tightly, the top of her head only coming up to his furry chin. She looked up at him with the mischievous innocence of a child, so characteristic of the spirit of love.

"You know I don't ruin lives. I make them better! Oh, if I can only make you fall in love! With a nice yeti or elf... maybe a baby tooth, although Tooth would not really enjoy that, I think," Cupid said, the conniving glint in her eye betraying the sweet, saccharine tone in her voice.

"Ha-ha, very funny, ya brat." He tweaked her nose and smiled affectionately at the girl he called a little sister as she wrinkled her nose at him. "As much of an absolute dandy that sounds, we got bigger business to deal with." Bunny took a shimmery glass ball from his bag, one that Cupid recognized as a snow ball. "At the Pole." Cupid only furrowed her brow at the glass orb. She opened her mouth, an innocent question about to leave her lips-

Then the yetis slipped the burlap sack over her head.