Operation: Save the Worlds

Chapter 7

Interviews Turn Dangerous

A fine layer of frost danced its way across one of the many banisters in North's workshop. Jack Frost placed himself on his favorite banister soon after the Guardian-wannabes came to the pole. To be honest, Jack was extremely pissed with MiM. They were wasting all this time interviewing new sprites to become Guardians instead of going through the damn portal and rescuing his friends. So now he was being forced into a stupid, boring, meeting where all he could do was to play guessing games if Jamie was alive. Hell, it seemed like the other Guardian's could care less about rescuing Jamie! Jack formed a snowball and threw it at the nearby wall. If the Guardians wanted to continue these damn interviews so much, why couldn't they just send Jack through the portal and then show up later? Because at the pace they were going, they were never going to get to Jamie in time. Jack was about to explode when he heard these words coming out of the Russian's mouth,

"Vhat is your center?"

"Oh, not this again." Jack groaned, banging his head against one of the pillars that held the banister in place, causing a bit of snow to fall on the guests.

"Vhat is your center?" North asked again, ignoring the groans coming from the teenage Guardian,

"B-blood?" Paige asked unsurely and Anne Marie and her giggled, Jack banged his head against the pillar,

"No. It's nothing physical. What is different about you that the others don't have?" Tooth asked sweetly,trying to clarify it more,

"Oh Paige, we both have creativity." Anne Marie told her and smirked her trademark grin, another groan was heard from the winter sprite,

"I guess my center is imagination," Vanice spoke up with bright voice, he didn't seem to be as nervous as before,

"I suppose I'm Creativity as well." Rupeene chimed in with a voice like a melody, Jack grumbled once again,

"Change," Chrissie stated

"My center is Courage," Serena spoke from the shadow she was standing in, her voice filled all with a strength that nobody held before. Sandy silently wrote down each of the new Guardian' responses, giving North a smile to continue with the interviews,

"Good, good," the Russian boomed, "Now next we want to know about each of your abilities," another audible groan was heard from Jack. Bunny, who had enough of Jack's behavior, stood up from his seat,

"Crikey you bloody Show Pony, will you do us all a favor and shut up?" Jack didn't reply to Bunny's outburst, he just simply shot a burst of ice at the Australian, which only managed to piss him off more,

"Bloody hell! Frostbite why don't you come down here and face me yourself instead of hiding up in the bloody rafters?" Bunny shouted, throwing a boomerang at the teen, who simply ducked as the boomerang came towards him,

"Nawh, I don't think I will kangaroo. I like it up here. Besides i don't think it would be right if I kicked your ass in front of the Guardian-wannabes," Jack gave them all a smile before he returned to throwing snowballs at the wall,

"Jack, sweetie," a concerned Tooth floated up to where the young sprite was practicing his aim, " What's wrong?" Jack, with an enormous sigh, stood up from his perch, so everyone can see him,

"You want to know what's wrong? Well for starters Jamie is stuck in a alternate universe while we are over here playing internship with some Guardian-wannabes when the portal could close any minute now?! Then these guys are appointed Guardianship just like that? Hell it took me 300 years to become a Guardian and I still didn't know what my center was. Now these guys come in, who are actually younger than me, and know what their centers are right off the back? I don't think so! Also, you guys don't even seem to care! And don't try to tell me I am wrong! The only reason why bunny seems to care is because Jamie is going to be his brother-in-law. The rest of you could care less! Have you ever even stopped to think what could have happened to Jamie, or how I feel about this? I mean-"

"As much as I don't want to interrupt your family issues and no matter how much fun it was to watch Jack Frost lose his cool. We have bigger problems on our hands," Paige warned. Sandy formed a sign over his head asking what was going on, "Fearlings. They're coming." Ann Marie whispered before a door slammed open.

Several Guardians stood up and the Big Five were armed and ready, already forgetting about Jack's outburst: North held his dual blades, Sandy gripped his sand whips, Bunny held his boomerangs, Tooth had her wings ready to slice through any Fearlings and Jack held his staff. The new Guardians stood in their battle stances, ready to fight.

The door to the globe room suddenly flew open. A mist of black sand poured over the ground. Shadows filled the corridors and rooms and it was so thick, it was like fog. Everyone in the room was ready now to fight and moonbeams formed little soldiers about the size of Sandman and they held their own weapons. A mystified black dust rose and dissipated in the air. A shadow came closer to the door and the fog got denser. It crept closer and….

"Am I late?" A female voice asked and the shadow entered the room.

"Samantha?" Paige and Anne inquired in unison.

"You know her?" Chrissie asked in disbelief, dropping from her battle stance, the twins nodded,

"Say hello to our sister," Sam gave a smile to her sisters before turning to the Guardians,

"Sorry I am late, I was delayed because I was following Onyx-one of Pitch's Fearlings- through the portal and back. She had been planted to spy on you and report to Pitch and Loki. I also saw Jamie, Captain America had picked him up."

"What you mean Captain America, as in the comic book character?" Vanice spoke up, Sam offered him a wink before continuing,

"Look, I don't know if Paige sensed this or not but there are nightmares coming towards the Pole. They're about three kilometers away and making all this fog and sand and stuff."

"Oh I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Samantha, Guardian of Balance." Sam added before drawing a bow and arrow of ice with lava racing in their centers.

"You seem quite sure of yourself," Jack commented. Sam let out a small smile,

"There's about a thousand Fearlings ready to slaughter us all, better save the jokes until later Frost,"

"We can beat them no problem." Bunny smirked with a voice of confidence,

"The Kangaroos right. At least Pitch could make it a challenge for us," Jack added, ignoring the "No Joking" rule,

"I told you not to call me Kangaroo!" Bunny growled,

"Right, that is an insult to kangaroos. At least they don't have a sensitive spot behind it's ears or can turn into a little cutsie ball of fur."

"If we weren't about to go into battle mate, I'd skin your hide."

"You wouldn't do that, I'm funny. You know it." Jack insisted as he moved to the rafters,

"You're an over-arrogant, irresponsible, -"

"Hilarious Guardian." Jack interrupted.

"You're a reckless teenager,"

"Ladies, if you don't mind, it'd be better if you stopped arguing because we've got an army of Fearlings about to trample the doorstep." Samantha interrupted,

"I wouldn't bother, they have been arguing all day," Vanice tried to help Sam,

"I'm not scared of Fearlings. Pitch and I have almost identical powers," Serena cracked her knuckles,

"and I'm his unclaimed daughter," Chrissie snarled before she shape-shifted into a white wolf with blue eyes.

"I will try to weaken the Fearings, but I can't destroy them, it wasn't my shadow ability that created them. Although.. Chrissie, you inherited Pitch's shadow ability so you might be able to dissipate them," Serena smiled at Chrissie,

"Wait, Serena smile again. I want to see your pearly whites." Tooth said before shoving her fingers in Serena's mouth. Serena tried to speak, but it came out as muffles,

"Tooth! Not the time," North warned,

"Right! Sorry Serena," Tooth quickly removed her hands from Serena's mouth,

"Guys!" Paige warned and then the sound of a freight train during a thunderstorm filled everyone's ears,

"I should record a song with this in the background," Rupeene said to herself before humming a few notes of that song,

"Outside," North encouraged the group to move outside and away from his workshop.

The group was welcomed by thousands of fearlings charging towards them,"Oh my God." Vanice gasped,

"Technically Gods, on the other planet," Sam corrected before drawing her bow,

"Save da chitter chatter for later. For now we fight! We are Guardians!" North drew his sword, "Charge!"

Chrissie pounced and mauled Fearlings' left and right. Rupeene used her music to fight and shatter the nightmares. Samantha fired her fire-lava arrows with as much skill and accuracy as Hawkeye. Anne Marie and Paige fought with beams of rainbow light and they fought with sync and every ounce of their being and energy went into their attacks as well as their soul. Serena used her stars and power of darkness and shadow to fight without even breaking a sweat. Vanice used his power to create replicas of himself that could fight numerous Fearlings and give the Guardians more guys to fight with.

The Big Five were completely enjoying themselves, it had been too long since their last fight. North was shredding the Fearlings with his swords and his Naughty and Nice tattoos showing proudly with every strike. Tooth was flying through three Fearlings at a time and slicing them into dust. With a flick of Jack's staff, Fearlings froze in their place. Bunny threw his boomerangs and egg bombs with impressive accuracy. And the Sandman would flick his whips, crushing nightmares in their place.

Finally, the Fearlings were turned into piles of sand. Only one fearling stood among her destroyed brothers and sisters, Pitch's most beloved Fearling: Onyx. Pitch had told her this would be easy and the Guardians would crumble. He lied! Her golden eyes turned red with fire, her screeches rang through the barren landscape. Onyx slowly began to draw all the piles of nightmare sand into herself, growing larger and creating denser armor and stronger battle capabilities. The Guardian gaped in horror at the sight in front of them; she was the ultimate Fearling.

Onyx was quite proud of herself, as Pitch was bound to be, his favorite Fearling taking on all the Guardians single handed,

"I am Onyx. Pitch's number one Fearling. I'm going to destroy you Guardians. Then I'm going to destroy the children of the worlds,"

"You will do no such thing with us guarding them!" Bunny yelled to the monstrous being,

"Chrissie, I need a ride." Samantha said to the wolf. Those blue orbs said hop on and Samantha climbed on the silver-haired back of the canine. Chrissie launched herself at Onyx and Sam strung three arrows on her bow and aimed.

"A little closer Chrissie. And now." Samantha let loose her arrows but Onyx swatted them away.

"A little mutt and a half-wit think a few toothpicks can hurt me?"

"No, but I can!" Serena threatened before flying up from the mist, way up into the sky, landing on the nightmares back. She punched the spine of Onyx and her hand was buried in the sand. Using her darkness she drew in as much as she could hold without turning evil herself. Serena channeled the darkness into an attack, crafting a darkness dagger and stabbing it into the previously punched spot.

"Sandy,I don't think we should let the newbies have all the fun, don't you think?" Jack raise his eyebrow to the golden man, who nodded gleefully. Jack and Sandy combined their powers to create dream sand- frost, freezing Onyx to her place and neutralizing her.

"Vanice, you're with me on this one." Tooth smile as Vanice drew his multiple selves into one. Tooth and Vanice struck Onyx where Serena stabbed the nightmare with the dagger, sending it farther into her back.

"Anne, you and me?" Bunny asked taking a boomerang and passing it to the creative teen,

"With pleasure mate," She replied in her own australian accent; she leaped into the air with Bunnymund throwing their boomerangs directly at the exposed dagger.

"Get off of me! You insolent weaklings!" Onyx screamed as she felt the dagger grow closer to her heart.

"Paige, Samantha, Chrissie, Rupeene, with me!" North bellowed to the scattered girls. Chrissie and Samantha were together, Sam already had her bow drawn back, waiting for the command. Paige used a beam of light to reach the other three, seeing as Rupeene was already with North. Together the four struck directly at the dagger, causing an explosion of radiant and blinding light; Onyx exploded, obsidian sand rained down slowly turning gold midway through the fall, gracefully hitting the ground before dissipating.

They're all good.

The battle was over and the Guardians were breaking a sweat. After ensuring that the danger had passed, the old and new Guardians a trudged back into North's workshop. Each sprite plopped into a seat,

"Well, that was fun," Jack smiled, only slightly out of breathe, Bunny instantly rolled his eyes at the teen, but smiled as well,

"I will make sure da elves bring you refreshments. I do believe Bunny, Sandy, Tooth, Jack, and myself have a very important decision to make, no?" North stood up from his chair, cracking his back, "Now come fellow Guardian, we must decide who shall join us in the quest to find Jamie."

ll

"We can all agree that Serena deserves a spot with us," Jack said walking into North's office, resting his hands behind his gave a thumbs up and signed the word friends,

"So you've known her?" Sandman nodded and showed that he met her when she was reborn as a spirit,

"We have to be careful mate, we can't bring all powerful sprites with us. We need to balance our power between worlds so we don't leave this world defenseless," Bunny warned,

"I have to agree with Bunny, I mean the five of us are already going through the portal, we should have five sprites stand guard here while we take the other two with us. We never know if Pitch decides to attack us while we are gone," Tooth hummed,

"I see your point, Bunny and Tooth, but I see Jack's and Sandy's side, Serena is very poverful vould be good against Pitch and his possible ally Loki-"

"Do you really believe that this alternate universe is home to comic book characters?" Jack laughed,

"Hush, Jack," North beckoned the young Guardian to be quiet as MiM's light encased the room,

"You are all right. You must divide your power between worlds. I do not know what Pitch has planned, but I think Serena is more than qualified to help you fight him. The only reason why she joined you all is because she is trying to find her way in her new world,"

"Thank you Manny!" North shouted at his superior, "Good that issue is solved, no we must solve who else will come with us,"

"What about Samantha? I think she was capable of defending herself and would be a valuable ally," Jack suggested, looking at the many ice statues that were spread across the office,

"She sure has a way of doing things. I think she'd be a great fighter. Plus she's had experience in the other world so she knows her way around and what's what," Bunny imputed,

"I see your point, but she would be valuable ally to keep here," North crossed his arms, the others gave him a quizzical look, " Tooth and Bunny both said when need to balance power. So she stays here to run operation from Pole. Keeping belief flowing,"

"So we still need one more, it is between Anne Marie, Paige, Vanice, Chrissie, and Rupeene. So who will it be?" Tooth inquired,

"Anne is an Australian Guardian of Creativity. I like her." Bunny said obviously, starting the debate.

"What are they saying?" Paige asked Rupeene who was using her musical connection to eavesdrop,

"Serena, you're going through the portal. while Sam will be in charge of operations in this world. They are only going to pick one more person," Rupeene replied.

Everyone became silent, there was only one spot left and there was five of them. It made it worse that Rupeene had to drop her connection because Manny had blocked her. The tension intensified with each passing second. Any minute now the Guardians would be telling who the last Guardian to go on a mission to save Jamie. Beads of sweat collected on their foreheads and the temperature seemed to climb higher and higher,

"I can't take it anymore. They say patience is a virtue but I'm going mad." Paige said shaking Anne Marie as the door opened. Everyone was silent.

"Ve've come to a decision. But before ve announced who comes with us, ve vould like to congratulate you all on becoming Guardians!," North clapped loudly, "Now the Guardians that stay here will protect da children with Manny and will given different assignments to ensure the protection of da children. Now for the moment you have been all been waiting for: Serena and Anne Marie will be accompanying us through the portal," North smiled, "Congratulations! Everyone else your assignments vill be given to you after you take the oath," Sandy floated over towards North, handing him the book, "Good! Thank you Sandy! Now let us begin! Vill you, Anne Marie, Serena, Paige, Rupeene, Chrissie, Vanice, and Samantha vow to vatch over the children of the vorld? To guard them with your life, their hopes, their vishes, and their dreams. For they are that ve have, all that ve are, and all that ve vill ever be," a chorus of "I do" came from the new Guardians, "Good then you are now, and forever more Guardians," North closed the book, the Big Five erupted in fits of Congratulations and clapping,

"Paige, I made it." Anne Marie said, hugging her sister.

"I know, congratulations. We are finally Guardians. Now, just bring Jamie back, okay Anne? I'll watch over the children here," Paige replied before hugging her,

"Serena, if you see my dad. Flip him off for me." Chrissie remarked back in her human form, hugging her new command,

"I'll give him with worse than that. He'll wish he never became the Boogeyman in the first place," Serena winked,

"Hey Serena, tell Jamie I said hi. Oh and could you get me Tony Stark's autograph?" Vanice asked with a level of confidence that he hadn't shown when he first entered,

"Of course!"

"Alright mates, listen up!" Bunny drew everyone from their conversations," We have finalized the assignments for the remaining Guardians. Rupeene and Chrissie will be in charge of roaming the world making sure the children are safe,"

"Vanice, I would like you to look after my fairies. I will be bringing a few with me but I need you to look after the others," Tooth rested her hand upon Vanice's shoulder,

"No problem Toothiana. I'd be honored to." Vanice smiled

"Make sure the fairies don't have any sugar. The coin machine doesn't get hung. The teeth are placed in appropriate containers. The fairies get the right orders. And Baby Tooth is doing her job as Manager correctly. It's not a lot to do but I'm sure you can do it. You need to visit once a week or twice if you're able," Tooth directed.

"Okay, I'll remember." Vanice replied. Sandy tugged at Vanice's pants, creating images explaining he would like the new Guardian to use his creative powers to make sure the dreams were under control,

"Don't worry Sandy, I got it," Vanice winked at the shorter Guardian,

"So what do you want Paige and myself to do?" Sam wondered,

"Sam, we would like you to run the whole operation from the pole. You know the most about the other planet, but Pitch would be expecting you so you will be giving us instructions from the Pole. We would also like you to make sure nothing tries to mess with the portal. And if something happens with the portal we would like you to create a new one. So do you think you are up for the job?" Jack smiled, leaning against his staff,

"Jack, what would you like me to do?" Paige asked curiously,

"Paige, you are going to be our lifeline and Sam's right-hand women. You and Anne can communicate telepathically correct?" Paige nodded, "The two of you will be our connection from the two worlds," Jack laughed, "You two will have one of the most important job!"

Once everyone was ready. The Guardians set out towards the portal, lead by Samantha, who was being unusually quiet,

"Whatcha' thinkin' 'bout?" Jack floated in front of the sprite,

"Nothing. Just thinking. Oh, by the way, please don't be upset with the other Guardians. They do want to rescue Jamie, more than anything else. He changed them, so did you. If it wasn't for you two, who knows what might have happened to them. They aren't showing their true emotions because they know they would upset you,"

"How do you know this? You weren't even there for my little 'out break',"

"Let's just say I can easily pick up on things when they aren't balanced," Sam winked, "There it is," Sam pointed to the vortex of spinning colors. As they got closer to the portal the group could see the remains of the burnt down building, casing Tooth to gasp, " Jamie had to go through that?"

"Everyone know the objective? Then lets go, bring Jamie back and be prepared to fight anything if we need to," Bunnymund instructed before they entered the portal in pairs.

"Everyone, welcome to the world of superheroes." Sam announced and they all took in a breath of cool foreign air, " I will leave you to it. When I cross back over I will close the portal. Contact Paige if you need it opened,"

"That wasn't part of the plan," Anne Marie spoke up,

"I know, but it will be safer this way, unwanted beings can't escape or get through," the Guardians nodded in agreement. Anne Marie hugged her sister one more time before Sam walked back through the portal, closing it behind,

"Too easy," Sam laughed, her amber eyes showing a glint of electric blue, before heading back towards the North Pole.

*Sorry for the wait! Things are going to start getting hectic for me so updates might take a little longer than a week to update! I am warning you now!

Also I hoped you liked dick!Jack in this chapter. He is still a teen so I thought that was the best reaction for what is going on right now!

In addition I am putting the finishing touches on my plot outline, so if there is something you want to see make sure you review what you want to see. Speaking of reviews thank you to Tigermike83, Book Soldier, Tratie1141, DarkBlade, Serena Nightingale, and HuddyBuddy for reviewing!

So I hope I did the OC's justice. I wanted to give the remaining OC's important jobs, so this won't be the last time you hear from them ;) so tell me what you think and what you predict happened to Sam! R&R*