Inside the Belly of the Beast

Manny maintained his stance even as his faithful Guardians stood close as he stared down his evil counterpart. He had always known that someday their worlds would collide in a battle of such stature that many lives would be lost and that both worlds would never fully heal from the lost they will sustain that day. Yet they were all prepared. It was as if they were all encoded and born for this battle right here. Rivalries were forgotten and friendships were rebounded as they gathered together to build an army unlike any they have ever seen.

Manny turns around and takes in the glorious sight of having all of his Guardians here under one night sky. They were all nervous yet excited to take part in such an epic ending battle. He could remember each of their stories and how they all came to be Guardians. They were all well deserved in their positions as they have proven to him throughout the years.

Taking a stand under the dark moon Manny lifts his sword to grab everybody's undying attention.

"My fellow Guardians. I have asked for you all to come here today for our world is in peril. It has been our duty as Guardians to sanctify the existence of our world. Many of you remember that day you were sworn in as a Guardian and took the oath assuring that you were prepared and willing to do whatever you deemed necessary in order to maintain that sanctity. At a moment's notice you all came from near and far fulfilling your promise to this world. I Manny; Man of Moon am only seeing some you for the first time face to face, but that never deterred you or broke your faith in what we do. Today we fight a fight unlike any other, because if we lose it will mean the end not only of us but of our world. That same world we promised to love and protect. Stand by me my Guardians and I can promise you that in our numbers there is more and that is what will separate us from them. I didn't ask for you to come because I thought you were strong, smart, kind, but for that something that made you special enough to hold the title of Guardian. Raise up your arms and join me as we bring back the sanctity of our world and the next! Together we are one! Together we are strong! Together we can believe!"

All of the Guardians cheer and raise their arms to show Manny that they did believe and were ready for whatever Manual had in store for them.

Pitch and Grim take their stand by Manny completing the trio of power.

Pitch had never met Manny but quickly felt a mutual respect for the man and was eager to serve wherever he deemed necessary.

Manny keeps his eyes on the field while addressing the pair.

"Our numbers are too close. One major falter on our part will decide on whether we win or die."

Pitch understands and adds,

"For every one of us there is one for them. I would prefer if we put our focus on Manual and his henchmen especially Death we could win."

Grim analyzes his skyscraper size counterpart and brings his attention to Manny.

"He can be defeated and I know just the way."

Pitch is taken aback by the comment and asks,

"Are you certain? One miscalculation…"

A bit insulted Grim turns to him and abruptly replies back,

"I think I know myself better than anybody else, but I'm going to need some help."

"And who in pray tale may that be?" asks Manny reluctantly.

Smirking he points down to the two women below,

"Both Mother Natures and their pet rabbits."

Scrunching his nose he accusingly points to the young man,

"If this is some sort of ruse Grim so help me-"

"No ruse. They are the only one's here who can counter death. With both them along with the boosting ability acquired from their Pookas, it will allow me to open a gateway into him."

Pitch places a hand onto Manny's shoulder and pleads,

"It's the only way."

Sighing he nods over to Grim giving him the permission to go ahead with his crazy scheme.

Grim smiles and pulls out his scythe.

"I'm leaving it to you two to have our backs as we approach Death."

Pitch begins to form a sphere of light.

"Do not fret. It has already been taken care of."

Pitch suddenly turns around and throws the sphere into the sky.

Taking a deep breath Manny whispers,

"It has begun…"

Manual and his men look up towards the sphere.

Pitch Black's eyes widen when he suddenly realizes exactly what Pitch threw.

"TAKE COVER!"

The Sphere explodes implementing a sky full of shrapnel raining down on the opposing army.

Several bodies drop as their bodies are menacingly speared by the light shrapnel.

Manual creates his own force field protecting himself from being speared as the others quickly take cover or block the shards with their own weapons.

With no time to lose Grim rushes over to Mother Nature and Sophie.

"Alright here's the plan. I'm going to need you two to follow me as we make our way into Death."

Sophie jolts and takes a step back.

"We're going to what!? ARE YOU INSANE!? We'll be killed!"

"Not if you keep holding my hand."

Sophie blushes at the thought and suddenly finds no issue with the original plan.

"Oh..ok."

Stepping forward Mother Nature asks,

"Understood, what else will you be needing of us?"

Worryingly staring down at the blushing girl, Grim brings his attention back to Mother Nature.

"Your Pookas."

Nodding, Mother Nature purses her lips and whistles.

Aster's ears perk as he rushes over to her.

Manual notices something happening and decides to initiate the war himself.

"MEN! ATTACK!"

The sea of nightmares take charge.

Manny's Guardians line up and brace themselves for the upcoming impact.

Tooth rushes forward and stands tall with her fairies.

"Wear your uniforms proud girls."

They all nod and pull out tiny swords.

Jack and Frost begin to forge their spears into swords as Sandy summons his sand.

Sophie notices the rush of nightmares and panics as she shouts out for her Pooka.

"BUNNY!"

His ears perk as he hears the girl cry out his name.

"Ankle-Biter!"

So focused on getting to the girl he doesn't notice a dark creature approaching him.

Inhaling some air, Death screeches dropping Manny's army to their knees.

Falling hard on his face, Bunny struggles to get up.

North could feel the blood in his veins run cold as he sees Death lifting a hand to smash Bunny.

"BUNNY!"

Slashing away a nightmare he runs with all his might towards the Pooka.

Everything had slowed down.

Aster gasps when he notices North running towards Bunny.

He is just about to run towards the man when he is pulled back by his Sophie.

Manny looks back and shouts,

"NORTH!"

Bunny looks up and freezes when he sees Death's hand closing in on him.

There was no time to move.

Gasping he closes his eyes and waits his fate.

The feeling of warmth surrounds his shaking body.

Confused he opens his eyes.

He instantly can smell the scent of cookies and eggnogs on the familiar red sweater wrapping tightly around his neck.

Tears instantly fall from his amber green eyes.

Trembling he pulls the man away to see North holding onto him tightly.

"North…"

"Bu…Bunny. Are…are you Ok?"

He nods.

The man weakly looks away as if in a daze.

"That's…that's good."

Bunny can feel the man growing cold.

"North?"

Looking around he finally sees exactly what had happened.

There on North's back was Death's hand gripping on North's soul.

"No-NO!"

Death pulls the soul from North's body causing the man to collapse on top of the shocked stricken Bunny.

Bunny is careful to hold onto North's body as he gently places it on the floor.

Looking up he sees Death slowly pulling North into his body to be consumed with the rest of the souls he had gathered throughout his existence.

"NORTH! NOOOOOORRRRTHHH!"

The Pooka runs at full speed toward the soul.

He jumps up and takes North's soul by the hand.

Gripping his large feet into the ground he tries with all his might to free the soul from Death's hand, but to no avail.

"PLEASE! PLEASE HELP ME! NORTH!"

Other Guardians take note and make their way to the desperate Pooka.

The Groundhog rushes behind Bunny and wraps his arm around the Pooka's waist.

Others join in as they try to pull North away from Death's grip.

Tears were now streaming down the Pooka's cheeks as he tries to free the man he loved.

"NORTH! PLEASE! PLEASE COME BACK TA ME! I'M NOT GOING TA LET GO! I'M NEVER GOING TA LET GO! I LOVE YOOS NORTH! I LOVE YOOS WITH ALL ME HEART! JUST PLEASE! COME BACK TA ME LOVE!"

He suddenly feels a cold hand being gently placed against his cheek.

Looking up he is met with fading blue eyes.

"It's going to be ok Bunny…it's going to be…ok."

His soul vanishes forcing all the Guardians to fall backward.

Shocked, Bunny sits up and looks back up at Death.

A raindrop gently falls on his nose.

A sob escapes his lips when he sees North is nowhere to be found.

Tears stream down his face as the rain begins to pick up meshing in with the Pooka's tears.

"North…NOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHH! "

Tooth and Sandy look back in shock as everybody takes a moment and watches as the Pooka cried with all his might into the mud only to stop when they see Sophie rushing forward and lifting her Pooka's head up and pulling him into a hug.

In near tears she tightly hugs the Pooka as she lovingly pets his head.

"Bunny…oh Bunny. I'm so sorry."

Manny turns away trying his best to show no sign of sorrow, but it was a bit too late. A slight tear fell from his cheek landing gently on the bloody floor brought by war.

Grim steps towards the pair and places a hand on Sophie's shoulder as she nervously looks up at the man.

"We can bring him back."

Bunny stops to pull himself together and asks in mid sob,

"We-WE CAN!?"

"Yes! IF you could all stop dying for just one minute and come with me, we can bring your old man back."

Sophie helps Bunny up and with a new found confidence she looks directly at Grim and says,

"Let's do this! Let's get North back!"

Aster and Mother Nature stand on the left side of Grim as Sophie and Bunny stand to the right of him.

Grim looks over to Mother Nature and Sophie who are already holding their Pooka's hands.

"Ladies?"

They both nod and take hold of Grim's hand.

"Remember! Hold on tight unless you're looking to have your soul taken. Understood?"

They all nod.

"Alright. It's now or never!"

They all rush forward, synchronized with each other's moves.

Toothiana and Kris take note as the group rushes over towards death.

Kris smirking pulls out his guns,

"Well well, looks like we have a rat problem."

Cracking her knuckles, Toothiana is quick to notice the handsome Grim and playfully says,

"Looks like a job for a sexy fairy lady if you ask me."

Laughing Toothiana swiftly flies over and is just about to place a hand on Grim's cheek.

"What's the rush handsome? We've never been properly introduced!"

Manual sees what she is about to do and shouts,

"TOOHIANA! STOP!"

Her hand makes contact with Grim.

Her hand begins to violently shake as images of unimaginable pain and torture fill her head. Escape

The screams of the dead echo through her mind as foams excretes from her mouth.

Letting out a shrilled scream she lets go and collapses on the floor twitching.

Looking back Grim smirks,

"Take a break sweetheart; you're looking a little pale."

With little to no further interruptions they make their way towards the sector 6 Guardian.

Now standing just a few feet from the beast Grim orders for them to attack.

"Now ladies!"

Calling upon their powers the girls begin to glow as the Pooka's also begin to share their powers and glow as well.

Death screeches when a shot of power is shot to his lower right side.

With no room for error, Grim takes a second to pull out his scythe and slash the Guardian with one of his lethal blows.

The attack leaves a gaping hole on the Guardian's side and it was quickly closing.

"COME ON!"

He takes their hands and rushes inside.

Unbeknownst to them Kris had seen what they had just done and jumps right as the hole closed behind him.