Declaimer for the last chapter: The way Bunny signals the other Guardians for help was my own creation. I assumed that each Guardian would have a way to let the others know they were in trouble, but it never really comes up in the books or the movie, so I just picked out the most Easter-y/Spring-y thing I could think of and made it explode.
This story will feature elements from the books The Guardians of Childhood.
For future reference: In Marvel Comics the Sandman is the name of a villain who can turn his body to sand.
Also, feel free to point out any plot holes. I want this story to be believable.
"Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast – faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink. Good luck."
The 10th Doctor; Blink
E. Aster Bunnymund, known by some as the Easter Bunny, has seen a lot of weird stuff in the thousand plus years he'd been alive. (Of course, he'd helped to invent some of that weird stuff.) But nothing could have prepared the last of the Pookas for the chaos that was currently erupting around him. He desperately hoped the other Guardians would get here soon.
"What other Guardians are there?" Sting spoke quickly to get the words out in time as North's sleigh barreled through the portal.
"There's Bunny, Tooth, Sandy-" Jack's voice paused as they exited the magic tunnel over a beautiful lush, green landscape that would have been much prettier if it weren't for the rampant chaos, rampaging shadows, and the thoughts of murderous statues waiting to sneak up on you from behind.
He raised his staff and prepared to do battle. "I'll tell you later!" He shouted.
"Sounds good!" She pulled up her hood and mask, and made a quick assessment of her surroundings, then jumped out of the sleigh and shouted the catchphrase of a dear friend with whom she had once explored the universe.
"ALLONS-Y!"
Almost one year ago, Pitch had attempted to ruin Easter by attacking the Warren and destroying every last Easter Egg. Bunny had been devastated, and rightly so. But now, that memory seemed like a happy dream in comparison to what was happening now. It was less than two weeks before Easter, and not only had all the eggs been smashed into oblivion, but all the flowers - including the ones that produced the eggs, and the ones that dusted the eggs with colored powder - had been pulled up by the roots. Not to mention that all the trees had massive gashes in their trunks and numerous broken branches. Not even the rocky architecture or the purple tie-dye stream had been spared. And on top of that, the huge stone eggs that were supposed to be the protectors of the Warren were almost completely useless against the invaders. Two of them had been cracked and shattered into pieces by the strange Angel Statues that didn't behave anything like any statues he'd ever seen. And it was all he could do to defend himself from the bloody Nightmares that were everywhere. And right when he thought the insanity had reached its peak, he looked up.
Bunny had seen a lot weird stuff in the thousand plus years he'd been alive. However, a teenage girl bronco-busting on a Nightmare while howling "YIPPEE-KI-YAY!" was something new altogether. The Nightmare bucked and twisted as it raced through the air, trying to relieve itself of its unwanted passenger. In a last-ditch effort, it turned sharply towards the ground. A flash of light erupted from the girl's hand and the Nightmare vaporized into black dust. The girl landed lightly on her feet about four feet from Bunny.
"Hullo!" She said brightly. A slim, blue-eyed, white rat on her shoulder pricked up his ears, sniffed enquiringly at Bunny's 7-foot form, and cautiously eyeballed the boomerangs clutched in each paw. "You must be the Easter Bunny." She continued. "I'm Sting, and I'm one of the most fabulous people you're ever gonna meet. I'm here to help out." Her tone wasn't snotty as though she were bestowing some great honor upon him, nor was it bored as though she were here to fulfill an obligation. It was cheerfully, politely neutral as though what she was saying was simply an indisputable fact of the universe. Without warning, she raised her hand, and the golden beam that shot from it missed Bunny by three inches and vaporized the shadowy figure standing right behind him. Bunny flinched away.
"What the bloody-!"
"Bunny!" North appeared with a sword in each hand, skillfully fighting his way through the swirling blackness. Bunny turned back to the girl only to find she was standing directly in front of him.
"Okay, listen up." She looked seriously between him and North. "Weeping Angel crash course: Keep them in sight as much as you can, don't look in their eyes, and don't capture their images. No blinking, no eye contact, and no taking their picture, got it?"
"Huh?"
"Vhat?"
"Alrighty, let's roll out!" The girl sprang into the air and disappeared.
Sting's mind worked like a disco ball: Constantly moving, lightly touching several thoughts at the same time as she passed over them, eventually coming around again to touch them over and over. This was why she often thought of random things at unexplainable times and why she was easily distracted. But it also allowed to ponder about the other Guardians Jack had mentioned while she fought.
"Bunny" as in the "Easter Bunny" was an easy connection to make. She turned invisible, blasted three Nightmares in rapid succession, resumed visibility, and sprung off a moss-covered, rock wall before dodging another Nightmare. The spectral figure missed its target completely and obliterated itself on the wall she had just left.
"Now, Tooth?" Probably the Tooth Fairy. A humanoid, black thing with golden eyes and incredibly long fingers slammed into her and pushed her with alarming speed towards the ground. She turned invisible again, twisted to loosen its grip, and blasted it with both hands. Unfortunately, her hands were at a wonky angle and the attempt didn't do as much damage as she'd hoped, so she gave it a good kick in the face. That finally got it to let go. But when she flipped to land on her feet she had to struggle to keep her balance. This particular area of the landscape was dotted in a series of large, mossy rocks that weren't more than a foot apart from one another at the widest, and one of her feet had landed exactly on a curved edge while the other swung wildly around.
Lousy landscape. What idiot designed this? Right when she regained her balance, two scrawny hands wrapped around her neck from behind and pulled her backwards. She gasped and let out a curse in Yiddish. It was another one of those creatures. As she struggled, she noticed North busy reducing spectral creatures to piles of dust. Wow, look at him go. He fights like a guy half his age. The hands around her neck tightened reminding her of her current predicament, but in response to her thoughts her energy surged and boiled under the skin of her neck. The creature howled in pain and let her go. Sting backhanded it and managed to catch herself from falling, but sprained her ankle in the process of trying to step onto a neighboring rock.
Darn it! The two shadow creatures lunged at her, but she disappeared and ended them with a quick blast from each hand. Sandy. Sandy. Now, who is Sandy? Sand, Sand-person, Sandguy, Sand . . . man! Of course! I teased the Sandman once by calling him "Sandy!" And the mythical Sandman gives people good dreams which would make him the ultimate rival against Pitch and his Nightmares!
The ticklish part in all this deduction was that Sting had ceased to believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny years ago. (Her opinion on the Sandman had been hanging in the balance until recently.) Reasoning out their identities was important because she'd otherwise never be able to interact with them. And sure enough, there they were. A brilliantly colored bird-woman swooped overhead and not far away was a short, golden man with spiky golden hair standing on a golden cloud expertly wielding a pair of golden whips against Pitch's forces, oblivious to the Angel standing a few feet behind, and almost directly beneath him.
"Hey, Indiana Jones! Watch yourself!" The golden man spun in the opposite direction and materialized a shield right in time to block a black arrow from Pitch that would have hit him in the back. Sting's mouth fell open – she'd only intended to alert him to the presence of the Angel but instead she'd saved him from a grisly fate. A blast of what looked like icy lightning implied that Jack had noticed the assassination attempt as well. The force of the arrow knocked the golden man off his cloud, but he caught himself before he hit the ground by floating in the air like a balloon. That is, until the Angel caught hold of him from behind. He tried to twist away but was unable to escape until Sting reduced the statue into a network of rocky chunks before it could cause any severe damage.
"Are you okay?" She asked as she came over.
The man nodded and looked at her curiously.
"You must be the Sandman, right? I'm Sting." The Sandman floated a little higher so that they could be eye-to-eye. "The statue behind you is called a Weeping Angel. There are about seven total of them scattered around here, and they're all working with Pitch. If you see one, keep it in sight as much as you can, but don't make eye contact and don't take their picture." Sandy nodded doggedly, trusting that Sting would explain herself soon, and didn't look confused in the least. Sting was impressed by his attitude.
"Yeah, I'm going to like you." Sandy raised his eyebrows, then abruptly pushed Sting out of the way as his whip lashed out and snared another Nightmare.
"Thanks!" Sandy nodded in response, then Sting peeled away and became invisible. She was hunting for someone in particular. It didn't take long to find him, and Pitch, who had just managed to slip away from Jack, barely knew what hit him when she shaped her energy into a hollow sphere and punched him in the face with it.
"I suspected you were low." She snarled as she became visible. "But shooting in the back is about as dirty as you can get."
"And sneaking up on someone is somehow more honorable?" He sneered.
"I hit you from the front. There's a difference." She clubbed him a second, and third, time, knocking him onto his back.
"You don't stand a chance when the Angels find out you're using them."
Pitch struggled to his feet. "That's hardly likely."
"Really? The only places you've attacked are the bases of your enemies. They're bound to figure it out eventually."
"Like I said: Our deal was mutually beneficial. We help each other achieve our goals."
Pitch formed his Nightmare sand into a long handled-scythe and swung viciously it at her. Sting dogged the first swing, and returned fire. Pitch block her blast and swung at her again. This time Sting turned invisible, bounced over the weapon, and resumed visibility, making it appear as though she hadn't moved from her spot at all. Pitch hesitated in confusion and Sting blasted him in the chest. Pitch almost fell off the boulder they'd been dueling on, but Sting grabbed him by his robe and pulled him up.
"I don't believe you. What could the Angels possibly want that you could help them with?" She growled mockingly.
Pitch spat out a tooth and leered. "They want to bring the world into an age of eternal darkness. And with me helping them, they'll be able to do it. We will bring about a new Dark Age, and eventually, we will grow powerful enough to switch off the sun itself."
Sting's expression didn't change, but her eyes turned purple. Pitch realized with a slight shock that she'd been manipulating him for information, having guessed that direct questions would probably receive ambiguous answers. Nevertheless, the evidence gathering had not been one-sided - he'd observed her stance and had noticed how she favored her right leg. So, her left ankle was where he aimed when he kicked out hard with his foot. The hunch paid off: Sting let out a strangled squawk, and released him. Pitch soon had a rope of Nightmare sand looped around that leg, and when he jerked upwards Sting's feet flew into the air. She landed hard on her back, and by the time the stars had cleared from her vision he had slithered down the side of the boulder and vanished into the shadows.
"You creep!" She roared after him as she sat up. She scanned the area, but there wasn't an Angel to be seen. In fact, all of Pitch's forces, having accomplished their mission of crippling the Warren, were now retreating at a dynamic pace, and even as she pushed off the rock they had almost completely disappeared. The bird woman from earlier darted after a single straggling Nightmare and ended it with one flex of her razor-sharp wings. Sting spotted Jack perched on the edge of another boulder and headed towards him.
"Well, that probably could have a lot better."
He shrugged in response and dropped to the ground.
"What happened to your ankle?" He asked when he noticed how gingerly she alighted next to him.
"Sprained it, but give it two minutes and it'll be fine. Now look at you on the other hand. Not one hair out of place." She sighed jealously and wiped her forehead. "Do you ever get hurt?" Jack smiled. The battle had been no picnic, even for him, but he looked the same as when they had first arrived. Sting herself didn't look as beat up she imagined. Her black eye was almost completely healed, and her other injuries consisted of a few bruises (which were hidden beneath her costume), and her twisted ankle which was only noticeable when she limped. Eventually, she gave up trying to walk and settled on hovering a few inches above the ground.
The other Guardians were gathered around Bunny, who was in in state of considerable distress. As Sting and Jack approached, his voice became audible.
"I won't be able to recover from this disaster in time for Easter. It's just like last year. Easter . . . is ruined." His trembling voice broke on the last word. Sting's eyes turned blue as she bit her lip. Baba guessed what she was thinking and firmly shook his head at her while his ears laid flat back on his skull.
"I know, I know." She hissed. "But listen to how crushed he is. I can't just say 'Let's go fight Pitch now and I'll get back to you when I have time.'"
The rat squeaked something that translated to "You should do it later! Save your strength – this is a terrible idea!"
"When this is over, I may not have enough energy to pull it off! It's now or never."
Baba grumbled something about how she used that phrase way too much then grudgingly gave in. Sting followed Jack as they approached the group.
"Um, excuse me." Everyone turned towards her, and Sting addressed Bunny. "I just need to know, short of being hit by an Atomic bomb, could this-" she motioned around them "-get any worse?"
Bunny shook his head. "This is the worst thing that's ever happened."
Sting's face brightened considerably. "Good. 'Cause, I'm not entirely sure this is going to work." She rubbed her hands together enthusiastically, then squatted down and placed her palms flat on the ground. "Although, to be honest, I've always wanted to try this."
Bunny's anguish turned to alarm. "Try this? Try what?! Ya mean you've never done this befo-"
"Shhh!" Sting's hands were starting to glow. "Okay, here we go. If I pass out, please don't let me hit my head on a rock."
"Sting," Said Jack. "What-"
He broke off as Sting released most of her energy into the ground and willed it to remake, not destroy. A golden ring bubbled around her and spread out in every direction healing everything it touched. The Guardians all felt a brief pulse of power it passed under them, but that was nothing compared to what it was doing to the Warren. Every blade of grass sprouted an extra inch, damaged flowers regrew damaged petals and leaves, flowers that had been completely torn out grew in anew, and trees budded new branches at an astounding rate. Seconds later, new Easter Eggs were scampering about. Everyone was still staring with a gaping mouth when a soft thump was heard. Turning, they found that Sting had indeed collapsed into the grass. The Guardians knelt around her, and after a few seconds she opened her eyes.
"Did it work?"
Bunny looked around again as though he couldn't quite believe what had happened. "Yeah, it worked. I-I've never seen anything like it."
"How did you do that?" Asked the bird-woman.
"What can I say? I'm talented. By the way, I don't think we've met. I'm Sting."
"I'm Toothiana."
"Yeah, the Tooth Fairy, right? Gotta say, you're gorgeous." Tooth blushed modestly as Sting looked at Bunny. "And you're totally more impressive than all the stories I heard about you growing up. Who knew the Easter Bunny used boomerangs?" Her eyes drifted absently back to Tooth. Then she squinted.
"Are those, like, hummingbirds?"
"They're my fairies. They help me collect teeth from the children."
"Huh. I always wondered how that worked out." One of the tiny creatures flew closer to Sting. She was about three inches tall and, except for a long beak-like nose, almost a spitting image of Tooth. Tooth herself, like her fairies, was covered in fine blue and green feathers, with gold feathers at her ears, wrists, and ankles, giving the appearance of earrings, bracelets, and anklets. Several pairs of insect-like wings held her aloft, and the jerky, excited way she moved reminded Sting of a Hummingbird.
North cleared his throat. "Vhy did you not do this at my Workshop?"
"Because instead of repairing everything, I would have torn it all apart. My energy can only heal living or organic matter, so your Workshop would have disappeared in fiery inferno. You'll notice that the damaged rocks 'n stuff around us has not changed." She exhaled and closed her eyes, but a second later they shot open as she sat bolt upright and screamed "SALEM!" The Guardians recoiled. "Sorry, ignore that." She almost passed out again from sitting up so quickly, but Sandy put a hand at her back to keep her upright.
"Thank you." She looked around. "We should probably go soon. I may have an idea about where Pitch and the Angels are going next."
"Yeah, the Angels." Snorted Bunny.
Tooth looked mildly disturbed at the mere mention of the Angels. "What were those creatures?"
Everyone looked expectantly as Sting.
"I'll tell you in a minute, but first, I need to know: what are the humanoid Nightmares thingies?"
A twisted, misshapen, figure appeared over Sandy's head in golden Dreamsand.
"Yeah, yeah, that thing. What is it?"
"Fearlings," Said North. "Zey are more dangerous than Nightmares, but less harmful than Nightmare Men."
"Nightmare Men? Oh, that's just peachy! Anything else I should know?"
"Pitch feeds off fear, so the more afraid you are the stronger he gets." North explained hastily. "Now, tell us about Angels."
Fine, but can we head towards the sleigh while we talk?"
Bunny easily pulled her to her feet, and they set off.
"Alright, listen carefully because I'm only going to go over this once. The Weeping Angels are creatures from another world and they are nearly as old as the universe. They are telepathically linked, so any information that becomes available to one will immediately become available to the others. They have enhanced strength, so a wall, or a closed door, is not necessarily going to stop them. Clear so far?" Everyone nodded. "Good, because this is where it gets complicated. The Angels have a unique condition: They are Quantum Locked, which means in the sight of any living creature they freeze and turn to stone." She paused to give her next words extra weight. "And you can't kill a stone, can you?"
Bunny snorted. "Watch me." A picture of a large mallet appeared over Sandy's head.
"Yez, Sandy." Agreed North. "With a hammer-"
"Or a chisel." Suggested Jack. But Sting shook her head.
"No, that how to break a stone, not how to kill it."
An awkward silence elapsed.
"But," Tooth finally said. "You can't kill a stone because it isn't . . ."
"Alive." Jack finished.
Sting nodded deeply. "That's the beauty of the Quantum Lock. They don't exist when they're being observed. The power is in their images, and if they're strong enough, it's no trouble at all to repair any damage done to those images. The good news is, their greatest strength is their greatest weakness. They can never be seen, not even by each other. That's why they always cover their eyes – they're not really weeping, they just can't risk seeing one another."
"Wait, wait." Said Bunny. "Are you saying they can't be killed?"
By this time, they had reached North's sleigh.
"Oh, sure they can. I think. I mean, it's unlikely they'd survive being thrown into a supernova, right?"
Nobody looked very cheered by this statement.
"Vhere did you say they vere going?" Asked North.
"I'm not entirely sure. But, if I wanted to watch the world fall, the first place I'd hit would be SHIELD Headquarters.
"There is world of time energy in there that they could feast on forever, but the damage they could do could switch off the sun."
The 10th Doctor; Blink