Almighty Therianthropy

Chapter 5

:::

The Guardians went to July's place to finish the weapons. July worked on the firearms while North worked on the shurikens and blow darts. Revere kept an eagle eye – pun intended – on the bullet machine, reloading it with silver whenever needed. Tooth had to keep working, so she operated her fairies from the warehouse. Sandy was interested at first, but he soon dozed off. And Bunny was checking the GrenEggs that July gave him.

"Thanks for these, sheila. I was running low." The Australian put three in the straps of his bandolier.

"No problem. They're fun to make." July said while working on his dual guns. "Hey, where's Jack?"

"He's vegged out on the couch." He pointed with his thumb to the stairs.

"He was really upset about the massacre." She was stating the obvious, but still had a feeling the rabbit didn't notice. "Hey, come here, you." She gestured with her head since her hands were busy.

"Crikey. What did I do now?" Bunny sighed, coming up next to her.

"Have you… gotten over the Blizzard of '68?" She asked.

"What?" He wondered why she would ask that. "Uh, I guess." It was actually true. He hadn't thought about it since Jack became a Guardian, and every time he saw the little runt the memories of that day wouldn't come rushing back. "Why?"

"Well, maybe you should tell Jack that." She looked up at him. "I mean, when the time's right. I figure you guys have some kind of friendly rival-ship going on, and that's great, but sometimes you cross over that line."

"What do you mean?" He was confused.

"I mean when you yelled at him earlier about him freezing your feet." July said. "He didn't mean to, and he said he was sorry." Bunny's ears lowered. He didn't want to admit it, but she was right. He was a little too angry about what happened. "Okay, I know it's none of my business, but right now we're at war." She explained. "And if one soldier isn't in line both physically and emotionally, it weighs the whole team down. And I'm not just talking about you and him; I mean the situation in general." She stopped talking, waiting for Bunnymund to respond.

"I'll go talk to him." He decided.

"That's my rabbit." She smiled at him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you know what? You've changed a little."

"Is that good?"

"Yes, it's very good." She smiled brightly at him. She's very good at reading people and knowing what's on their minds. It was part of her job, after all, dealing with sleazy politicians and stressed-out soldiers all the time made her able to do those things, even smell a lie from miles away. Bunny knew this well. He was able to talk with her and tell her his problems. He didn't know how, but now she was able to read Jack like a book. "Now go on, and when you're done you can bring him down here for weapon testing."

:::

Jack had been zoned out on the couch, flipping through channels until he decided to watch SpongeBob. "I thought this would be something you watch, Frostbite." The boy snapped out of it when he heard a familiar (and sexy) voice.

"I don't watch much TV." He shrugged, turning it off. "Hey, how're your feet? I'm really sorry about that."

"They're fine, mate. And I'm sorry for yelling at ya about it."

"It's okay." Jack smiled genuinely, but then turned away and started snickering.

"Are you… still laughin' about it?" Bunny raised an eyebrow.

"No! No, of course not." He turned back to the rabbit and, upon seeing the rabbit's 'What the fuck' face, burst out into laughter.

"You little… it wasn't funny!" Bunny cursed himself when he felt the corners of his mouth curl up into a smile. Jack's laugh was infectious, and it was making him snicker a little. Also, he couldn't help but think that the teen was so… right when he laughed.

"No, but just… your face just now…" Jack gasped out, wiping the tears away from his eyes. He tried getting himself under control while Bunnymund came to sit next to him, just like earlier. "This Guardian stuff… it's harder than I thought it would be." Bunny looked at the eternal teen, his signature smile replaced by a furrowed brow and frown. "And I thought it was hard to begin with."

"It's usually not like this, mate. Especially not two times a year." The Pooka tried to cheer him up.

"And I couldn't shoot those bastards. They deserved to die, after what they did, right? But I didn't…"

"Hey, you still did something. You never used a gun before, and you were uncomfortable with it."

"Have you… ever used a gun?" Jack looked up at Bunny in curiosity.

"Yes." He sighed, not really wanting the boy to know, but since he asked…

"So you've… killed before?" Jack asked quietly.

"I have." Bunny said. "But I'm not necessarily proud of it. It was just something that had to be done." He put a paw on Jack's shoulders. "And now it's something we have to do again. These monsters have shown no mercy, and now we must do the same. Ya get me?"

"Right." Jack said confidently. "You can count on me."

"Good onya." Bunny stood up. "Now let's get down there. We gotta make sure July's weapons work."

:::

The test was a success. What they had to do was hit the targets on the walls in the training room. Jack's test went well; though he didn't hit the centers of the targets, he still hit them. North's gun was a Remington Spartan 100 model, a shotgun with amazing power. He too hit every target, sometimes getting a bulls-eye. Next was July, who made dual Desert Warriors with long barrels for herself. She was a bit of a show-off, hitting every target dead-on with flare. Sandy went next, easily whipping the shurikens into every target. Tooth did well with the modern blowgun July made, and even had fun doing it, surprising Jack. Last but not least was Bunnymund, who now wielded dual Desert Eagles, hitting almost every center of the targets. Jack was practically burning holes into the Pooka with his awed stare as he shot the targets, finding him so incredibly bad-ass and sexy doing it.

"Good job, everybody." July said. "Now we just have to…" A sound from the warehouse interrupted her.

"It's the globe on the sleigh!" North said, running to where he had parked his sleigh and reindeer in the big warehouse. The rest followed behind him. "Lights are going out in Japan, Czech Republic, Canada, and Estonia."

"They're making us split up." July said, hopping on Revere's back. "Here's what we'll do. Tooth, you and I will go to Canada. Sandy, you can go to the Czech Republic. North, you can go to Estonia. And Bunny, you and Jack can go to Japan. Let's go!"

:::

Jack and Bunny came out of a tunnel into Japan, and the rabbit sniffed the air to try and find the were-creatures. "I found some in two different locations." He said. "We're gonna have to split up."

"It's fine. I can handle myself." Jack winked.

"You sure, mate?" Bunny was worried.

"I'll get them this time." The boy assured the rabbit, trying to ignore how happy he was that the Australian was worried about him. "Promise."

"I'd better find you in one piece, Jack." He said before hopping away in the other direction. Jack used the wind to help him find where the creatures were attacking from. He came to a town, and sure enough they were relentlessly killing people and children. Jack pulled out the submachine gun from his holster (yes, they were given holsters and plenty of ammo) and began his attack. He got this idea of freezing the bastards first before shooting from their last encounter, and it was much easier since he didn't have to deal with moving targets.

However, after shooting a few were-tigers and were-foxes, the rest of the pack turned their attention to the winter spirit and tried ganging up on him, using their speed to dodge Jack's attacks. But he could fly with the wind and just as easily dodge their attacks. Soon, Jack was able to kill them all, whether freezing them first or not. He still heard kids screaming, though. He flew down to find a were-fox cornering three children, about to slice them up. Jack thought he had this one easily since its back was to him, but the were-fox sensed its presence, and turned around quickly and roared, cutting Jack's face. The winter spirit didn't let that phase him long and he shot the monster three times in the chest. He looked at the little kids, and they were looking back (he was still getting used to that) and they stood and bowed, then ran to safety.

Once Jack made sure there were no more were-creatures, he sighed in relaxation, touching his face where the fox cut him. There were three lacerations across his cheek, but they weren't deep and they really didn't hurt much. He remembered though that Bunnymund was still fighting, so he went to go find him. He heard gunshots and roars coming from the woods so he found him easily. He was going to charge in and help the Pooka but realized that he didn't need any help at all. So he just stood atop a hill and watched.

Bunny was a fierce and unmatched warrior. He could do everything; kick, punch, jump, claw, dodge and run, and now most recently, shoot dead-on. He seemed to know all kinds of martial arts, not just Tai Chi, all of it blending into something only Bunny could do with his strong body. He knew all their moves before they did them, shooting them or throwing egg grenades at them, or just beating them with his large feet. He wondered how the Pooka could have gotten hurt that one time if he was so good at fighting. Maybe he'll tease him about it later.

The battle was over and Bunny slowly came down from his intense concentration. He knew Jack was there and waved to him. "Hey, Frostbite!" Jack slid down the hill with his staff, coming up next to the rabbit. "Were you just watching me?"

"Yeah, well, it looked like you had everything under control, you show-off." He looked over Bunny for any injuries. "You're not roughed up at all."

"You're not looking so bad yourself, except…" Bunnymund put a caring paw on the teen's wounded cheek. "You alright, here?" He absent-mindedly rubbed his thumb over Jack's skin. Jack didn't answer at first; he was so giddy from his touch, which he probably didn't realize the significance of.

"Y-Yeah… doesn't hurt…" He finally squeaked. The Pooka was just staring at him, and he hoped that he wasn't blushing. They shared that moment for a while, but Bunny pulled away, laughing deeply.

"Oh, the girls aren't gonna like this." The rabbit said while Jack looked at him in confusion. "That I let your face get scratched."

:::

"You idiot!" July yelled at Bunnymund when they all got back to the warehouse. "Didn't you get why I sent Jack with you? So you would protect him!"

"But I'm fine, really, it doesn't…"

"Oh, your beautiful face! Marred by those creatures!" She went on. The teen realized she was being melodramatic on purpose. She cupped his face in her hands. "No one must ever scar this perfect face!"

"Are his teeth alright?" Tooth asked.

"Okay, you're weirding me out." Jack shook away from the girls.

"Sorry, guess I'm still high from that fight." July said. "Tooth was awesome! She cut through those fuckers like a hot knife to butter!"

"Aw, come on…" The Tooth Fairy shrugged, embarrassed.

"You didn't tell me that Olev would be helping me." North said to July. "I nearly shot him!" Sandy nodded, showing an image of a stern-looking man above his head.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to say." July rubbed her head in embarrassment. "I asked my cousins to help us out. They'll keep an eye out for their own countries, as well as help others in case they need it."

"Wait, what?" Jack interrupted. "Cousins?"

"Every country that has declared independence from another has birthed a spirit." The American spirit explained. "I call them my younger cousins. That's why I sent two of us to Canada and two of us to Japan, because they don't have spirits. I knew Olev would come to help North while Radik would come to help Sandy."

"So, that's…"

"153 spirits." July said. "You can collect us all!" She laughed. "Can you believe I'm the oldest? South Sudan is the youngest; he was born last year!" Jack was amazed. How were there so many spirits in the world that he didn't know about? Probably because he was never interested, but he still should have run into some in his 300 years. "Well, anyway, they're on patrol, so let's go over some things before we head out again." She pressed a button on the wall and a large projection machine came out from the ground, projecting a big globe in the air. The countries, instead of having lights flickering for each child, were colored different shades of purple to show some sort of demographic. "This is a map showing irreligion by country. The darker purples show countries that do not practice religion while the lighter purples show very religious countries."

"All of Africa is the lightest purple." Tooth pointed out.

"Yeah. Those spirits will assist European and Asian countries." July said.

"The Middle East is light, too." Jack said.

"They… may or may not help us." The American didn't want to get into her recent quarrels with her Middle Eastern cousins.

"My motherland is in the most trouble!" North exclaimed.

"And mine." Bunnymund said. "China too. All the big ones!"

"Yeah, and none of them have spirits to help them." July perused the map. "What we really need to do is find where these were-fuckers are hiding." Just then, a loud Spanish song started playing. "Oh, that's my phone." She pulled it out from her pocket. "It's Maya, my cousin from Mexico. She's the loudest." She pressed the speakerphone button. "Hello?" A loud shrieking female voice screamed in impatience and aggravation. Jack couldn't understand her, since she was speaking Spanish.

"She's in Spain. They're attacking most of Europe!" Tooth translated.

"Alright, let's get going. Jack…" July pursed her lips. "Why don't you come with me this time? I'll make sure you don't get cut."

"Uh…" Jack peeked at Bunny, but he had already disappeared through a tunnel. "Sure." He didn't look it right now, but he was determined to end this war before any more innocent people got hurt.

:::

A/N: Phew, a lot of new information here, people! I had mentioned in her character bio that July has cousins, but I wasn't sure I should add them in the story. You're not going to meet all of them, obviously, but really you're only going to meet one or two, and only for a brief second, since this was supposed to just be a story about Bunnymund and Jack and July. But, it's becoming bigger and longer than I planned. Shit happens, I guess.

So yes, July is the oldest, because the USA's independence day is the oldest one! Isn't that something? (Wikipedia is your friend. Look it up, it's fun! I didn't count Switzerland's, Sweden's or Portugal's days because they're just national days.) There were others on that long list that weren't really independence days, either, so I didn't count them in the total of 153. Did ya get my little reference to Pokemon, there? Also, I named the Estonian spirit Olev and the Czech spirit Radik. I just looked up baby names that originated in those countries. And Maya's name is for Cinco de Mayo, although I later found out that May 5th is not their independence day, which Mexicans actually celebrate on September 16th. But, I kept the name anyway, cuz it's nice.

Africa is a very religious continent, the north practicing Islam while the south practice Christianity. Also, most of the countries have obtained independence, either from England or France or both. This also goes for South America, but they gained independence from Spain. However, the countries who are the least religious never gained or didn't have to gain independence (e.g. Russia, Spain, France, England, Japan, Canada, China, and Australia). Isn't that something? They taught the countries they took over all these religions and now they don't practice them anymore, but the now-freed countries still do? I find that shocking. I'll stop now, since I'm probably boring you.

- Taru-chan