Independence

Chapter 11

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While Bunny and Jack were fighting Constantine, July, her cousins, and the Guardians were fighting Pitch's Fearlings and Nightmares, mercilessly destroying each one. However, Pitch could make countless more appear, so the fight was pointless unless they removed the source. Pitch refused to fight himself, dodging every attack July threw by shifting into the shadows.

"You coward, are you scared to lose?!" July yelled, flying through the air in her half-eagle form trying to hit the Nightmare King. Pitch only laughed, making more of his minions emerge from the shadows of the trees. July was beginning to think that Pitch was stalling, but why?

"AAAAGHH!" July heard someone scream in fear and pain. She turned to see the spirit of Iceland, Yaka, trapped by Fearlings, pulling on him and his shadow. "They hate me…" His eyes became wide. "They hate me! My people hate me!"

"No, not again!" July yelled. "Guys, do something!" She commanded the spirits near him, and they tried to get rid of the minions, but nothing was working. Eventually, Yaka's form was shrouded in a shadow ball, but for some reason it wasn't devouring him; it was just keeping him trapped inside, screaming his lungs out. "What's going on?" She asked Pitch.

"First the weaker spirits, and then the stronger ones… one by one I'll trap you and destroy your minds, racking your brains with fear and misery before killing you." Pitch smiled evilly. July heard more screams, seeing the spirits of Ireland and Venezuela become engulfed in the shadow balls. Soon, they all started to experience the same thing. North, Sandy and Tooth tried their best to break open the dark prisons, but nothing would work. "They're prisons of their own fears. You can't break them!"

"If I break you…" July stopped when she felt something tug at her from below. A Fearling had come from out of her small shadow on the ground and stretched itself up to her, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her to the ground. She fought with all her might to stop this, but the Fearlings kept coming, and her body was trapped, too.

It was then that Bunnymund and Jack returned from their victory, only to find that they were ultimately losing.

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July opened her eyes, but she saw only darkness. She wasn't even sure if she was still alive. She wasn't going to give up, though. She made flowering fireworks in her hand, trying to light the way and find a way out. "Pitch!" She shouted. "I know you're here! Stop being a pussy and fight me!"

"You have such a mouth." Pitch called from the darkness. She whipped around and shot her fireworks towards the voice, but it didn't hit anyone. "There's no point. You are dying, July, and you are dying slowly and painfully."

"I don't feel a thing!"

"I haven't started the pain." Pitch laughed. July gasped when she heard voices all around her, voices of hate, anger, fear, and sadness. "Do you hear that?"

"M-My people…" July looked around for them but still saw only darkness. Now she could hear gunfire and swords clinging.

"Let's go back in time, shall we?" Pitch sneered. The darkness washed away to show a scene in which American soldiers fought against the British during the Revolution. "Your people have been suffering since you were born."

"Shut up…" July refused to break.

"America has been at war its whole reign." More gory war scenes flashed over the area. It was like a theatre of nightmares. "You try to stop them, but no one listens to you. Your existence is useless! I'm doing you a favor by letting you die."

"I… I couldn't…" She tried coming up with an excuse for all this madness. Now scenes of crying wives and families flashed by. "No, please stop…" She dropped to her knees.

"And now, my favorite part… the Great Depression." Pitch showed images of starving people and beggars on the street. "Remember when we first met, at the church?" The scene started to play.

July was tired. She tried everything she could think of to stop this poverty, but no one could even hear her voice in their heads anymore. Not one person could see her. There weren't even any fireworks this year for her birthday. Her people gave up on her; they stopped believing in her. It's a good thing she wasn't a Guardian, or else she'd be dead.

July sighed and ended up stumbling into a beautiful, yet abandoned Catholic church in central New York. She sat in the broken pew and looked up at the dusty and moldy crucifix on the altar.

"How do you get people to believe in you?" She asked it, wondering how it could be when there was no God. There was only the Moon in this world, but he never did anything to make people believe in him, and he sure wasn't helping her right now, that was for sure. "Maybe I should die for their sins."

"I couldn't agree more." A slimy British voice said behind her. She stood abruptly and found the Nightmare King at the door, smiling smugly. "No need to get up, I won't hurt you."

"It's you." July confirmed simply.

"Pitch Black, at your service." He bowed his head. "You are Lady Liberty, yes?"

"Yeah, I guess…" She didn't really feel like she was in danger, so she lowered her guard and sat back down, sighing once more. "If you can enter this place, then it must not be a true sanctuary."

"I love churches." He sat in the pew across from her. "I love religious people. They are so afraid of their God's wrath; it makes my job easy."

"I assume this economic crisis makes your job easy, too." July growled. "You are making my job difficult."

"Indeed I am." He admitted. "Because of the crisis, my influence spreads so quickly, and my powers become strong."

"This won't last forever." She spat. "America will get back on its feet again."

"Perhaps." He shrugged. "But what if the same thing happens again?"

"We'll learn from it so it won't…"

"I bet you say that before every war you've dealt with." Pitch giggled. "So naïve; I see that rabbit has planted his silly ideas of hope in your head."

"I honestly don't see why you do this." She tried to stay cool. "You should be moderating fear, not spreading it irrationally. After all, fear is something people need in order to survive. You think you would've learned that by now."

"I'm glad someone understands that." He nodded. "But not everyone does, like the Man in the Moon for example. And that's why I have to… 'Stand out,' if you will."

"Because he ignores you?"

"I believe you know what it feels like." He stood, stepping up behind her. "He didn't even give you a purpose." She had enough. She stood and grabbed his collar.

"Get out of my country." She growled, about to blast him with a firework, but her powers were weaker than his, and he blasted her with dark shadows instead. July slammed into the wall and the roof shook and broke on top of her.

"I cannot – and will not – ever leave this country." Pitch walked to her again, cupping her chin in his hand, coaxing her to look up at him. "Maybe this Depression will pass, but more will come, and more wars. Therefore, I must be here, 'moderating' fear." He smiled and turned to leave. "Or, maybe this country's reign will meet its end." He laughed and faded away while she slammed her fist in the floor, holding back tears.

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"Did I not warn you that more tragedies would occur?" Pitch ended the flashback, continuing to show scenes of horror from the wars and conflicts within her own country. "You should have given up on your people, on your so-called duties. You tried too hard and gave yourself too many responsibilities. Look…" Now she could see all her cousins in their shadowy prisons, and she could also see that she was still in her own the whole time. "They suffer because of your mistakes, and your voice cannot reach them! They cannot get free!"

"Free…" July whispered, coming up with a plan. She could only do one thing from here, and that was to use her voice to influence her cousins. It didn't work before, but maybe it was because she simply didn't try hard enough. But this time, she needed to give her best influence ever. She stood up and cleared her throat. "Everyone, please… listen to me. Your people are scared, and they need you!"

"Didn't I tell you…?"

"Remember!" July interrupted him. "Remember when you were born, why you were born! You were born to protect your country! Yes, we've made mistakes, people have made mistakes, but in the end we always come through… together!" Some spirits stopped holding their heads in horror and looked up, hearing a voice. "It's not easy! It never will be! People aren't perfect, hell we're not perfect! Things will never BE perfect! And that's why we're here, to support our imperfect countries through hard times!" More ears heard her, and more heads turned to her.

"What's going on?!" Pitch yelled.

"We're here to remind our country that they must work hard and believe in themselves to make the country thrive. We remind them that when they gained freedom, they had to work for it, and they still do! Freedom ISN'T free!" Some spirits stood up. "We remind the people of the true meaning of independence! It doesn't end with a war or a treaty. It only begins! It requires sacrifice to gain! It's pride and ambition! It's strength and courage!"

"I can hear her!" Tooth said happily. The other Guardians smiled.

"Independence requires working… working together! So please…" July cried. "Stay alive to fight for your people! Show them the true meaning of independence!"

FWOOSH

One by one, shadow prisons began to break and vanish, revealing the spirits of the countries. Each one broke out of their cages; even the weaker ones could escape. July's prison broke last as she set it ablaze with her fireworks, except now it is just plain fire.

"NO!" Pitch yelled again, hearing the fear diminishing from the minds of the people of the world. His minions fled and disappeared, the Nightmare King no longer in control of them. His powers faded back to nothing. "How could this have possibly…?"

"Oh, save it." July stood in front of him, a fireball in her hand. "Hey, who wants fried Boogeyman for dinner?" The other spirits laughed, stepping closer to the pair.

"Like I said, I can't die."

"But your boyfriend did." Jack pushed through the crowd, staring down at the Nightmare King, who didn't look the least bit surprised or sad.

"I would have killed him anyway because he couldn't kill you." He growled.

"I doubt you could have in this form, mate." Bunnymund came up beside his partner.

"Don't get complacent; I will come back." Pitch said before fading away into a shadow. There was a pause before everyone cheered and shouted victoriously. They congratulated July by hugging her or shaking her hand. She separated her and Revere's bodies and he flew in the sky and cawed proudly. Finally, she went up to the Guardians and smiled big.

"So, how long was I in that thing?" July referred to the prison.

"Just a few seconds." Tooth said.

"I thought so." She nodded. "It felt longer than that, though."

"We could see you through the cage, but we couldn't hear you until the last part of your speech." North explained.

"That was cool!" Jack smiled. "So you can shoot fireballs now?"

"Yeah, I guess." She made another form in her palm. "Sweet." She looked over at Bunny. "Constantine's dead, eh?"

"As a door-nail, sheila." The rabbit winked.

"So… where's his dick?" She held out her hand. Bunny's ears flattened in embarrassment and Jack laughed. "I'm just kidding, dumbass! Shit, you should have seen your face!" She and Jack laughed at Bunny's expense while he grumbled in false anger. Everything seemed like it was back to normal.

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"I'm glad that's over." Jack sat on the edge of Bunny's – their – bed.

"Likewise." Bunnymund stretched, and the teen couldn't help but stare. "What is it?" He caught those scanning blue eyes with his own.

"Uh, nothing much…" He looked down in his lap. "Just thinking about… what you said earlier…"

"What are you on about, Frostbite?" Bunny tried to squeeze it out of him.

"You know, when you were talking to Constantine… when you were talking about Easter…" Jack blushed a light shade of red. "You said it was about sex."

"Well, of course, mate." Bunny tried not to smirk. "I told you that before… possibly in a more subtle way…"

"Yeah… I never thought of it that way…" Jack bit his lip. "So, you're pretty much the Guardian of Sex?" Bunny's ears twitched, and then he laughed.

"I suppose that's one of my duties." He scratched his chest.

"So, I'm in love with a sex god?" Jack smiled cutely with a hint of danger.

"Not a god, love. Just a Guardian." Bunny leaned down to press their noses together. "And I'm in love with a sexy Guardian, too." Jack laughed and kissed his Pooka, pushing their tongues together.

"What you said…" The boy said between kisses. "It really got me off, you know?" He moaned. "I'm getting hard just thinking about it."

"Jack…" Bunny growled deep in his throat and pounced on top of his partner, the two about to go at it for weeks… nonstop.

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A/N: Hi, sorry this took so long. My job is draining me and I just want to sleep when I can. How ironic I finish this chapter July 4th? Happy Independence Day. There will be one or two more chapters left! Enjoy.

Taru-chan