Bright flashing lights and whirring noises invaded the sound receptors in his suit. Tony groaned at the thing that hit the back of his head and sat up in his suit. He checked it over in the sitting position he was in, only noticing a few scratches here and there. Nothing was too damaged.
He heard tinkling bells all around, but couldn't see anything that was making the noise. He looked around, seeing things he couldn't describe whizzing above him around the huge ceiling. The hulking white beats that accompanied the rabbit through the portal wandered about, warbling to each other as they worked.
The kid, Jack, floated into his vision. "Are you ok? Why the hell did you follow me you psychopath? What the hell were you thinking?"
Even though he was in a strange place with seemingly magical creatures straight out of a fairy-tale book, the Man of Iron fixed the winter spirit with his best deadpan stare. "Kid, you walk into my tower with Coulson and a portal opens. You start screaming at something we can't see, and then whatever the hell that thing was, picks out up and jumps through the portal. It's not like I'm not going to jump in after you."
Despite the circumstances, Jack rolled his eyes. He liked this man. 'Tony Stark' commanded the attention of the entire room; his presence was larger than life. The spirit could already tell the man had a wicked sense of humour, yet chose to voice it by basically being a sarcastic ass. Jack could learn to like him.
"Speaking of thinks you can't see…" Jack muttered at Tony as he stared up from where he was crouched by the Iron Man suit. "I know you're going to think I'm crazy, but there's a hell of a lot more for you to see."
Stark looked a little taken aback before fixing Jack with a serious stare. "Jarvis?" He asked.
"It seems Mr. Frost is correct. There are four immensely powerful energy sources in close proximity, over two hundred low sources, and hundreds more only the size of your forearm, sir."
Tony actually looked a little frightened as he stared around. The only thing he could see was the huge rabbit from before, leaning against a pole, whispering to the invisible energy sources, occasionally shooting a glare in their direction.
"Kid, describe them to me."
Jack swallowed. "Do you want the short description, or the one where I describe them in detail, and you have to work it out for yourself?"
Tony hesitated. "Short one."
"Well, right now, you can probably only see the Easter Bunny, but you can't see who he's talking to, right?"
Tony nodded, not taking his eyes off of the 6ft rabbit. "Well, he's having a rather angry conversation with Santa Clause, his real name's North, The Tooth Fairy or Tooth, and The Sandman, or Sandy. By the looks of, they're discussing what to do with you. You weren't supposed to be here. I've never met them before. I only met with Bunny once, flew right into him. He wasn't very happy. His real name's Aster, by the way"
Tony didn't want to believe it. He tried to stop his eyes from forming the figures that materialised before him. Jarvis wasn't helping, as he described the exact size, height, and shape of them. He saw North first (Tony refused to refer to him as Santa), then Tooth, and after a rather strange description from Jarvis, Sandy appeared. Aster took a menacing step forward when he noticed Tony staring at the group. Tony immediately raised his arm up, aiming his repulsor at the overgrown animal.
"What do you think you're doing there, mate." The thing growled, with an Australian accent.
"It talks…" Tony whispered astonishingly.
Jack snorted. "Yeah, way too much if you ask me."
"Lower your weapon!" The rabbit snarled. The rest of the energies turned to stare at the situation that was unfolding before their eyes. They all took on a fighting stance.
Jack groaned. "Tony!" Jack whispered urgently. "What?" The man hissed. "We're dealing with ancient beings over hundreds of years old, with a vast knowledge of magic and magical weapons. For all we know, they have the ability to disable that suit in seconds."
The man turned, his suit making whirring noises as he did so. He was only adjusting his position to get a better aim at the group, particularly Aster. Not that Jack would mind if the guardian got his fur singed off, but it was create a chaos if Tony were to shoot. And that's not what they wanted right now.
"Listen!" Jack hissed. "Look!" Tony looked around. "They have an army of huge Yeti's at their disposal, they can open portal's that lead to anywhere in the world, they were able to access your tower without any prior warning. It just happened. We're outnumbered, and outgunned. I don't think they'll kill us, but they can do some serious damage. So if you want to get out of this unscathed, the wise thing to do if put your damn hand down, stand up, and we'll try to figure out why the hell they kidnapped me in the first place." Jack finished, shooting a dirty look in the direction of the guardians."
He was already panicked, as he had a sinking feeling that he knew why they had kidnapped him.
Tony sat there on the floor, sitting upright, and his legs out in front of him. Jack thought the suit of armour looked like a little kid who didn't get his way and had thrown himself down onto the floor in the midst of a tantrum. After a minute or so of contemplating, the Man of Iron stood up, looking at Jack before flipping his face mask up.
A collective sigh rang throughout the room, as the Guardians dropped their defensive stance slightly, and Jack and Tony stood there, staring.
"Ok kid, talk. Where are we? Who are those people, and why did they take you?"
Jack thought about his explanation, keeping a wary eye on the guardians. The angry look had disappeared from the Tooth Fairy's face, and she fluttered over the shoulder of North curiously, trying to catch snippets of the conversation.
"Well, I've only actually been in this place once before. It's Santa's Workshop, hence all of the elves and Yeti's. It's a huge place, and I'm pretty sure it's protected by a magical barrier, so people can't really see it. It also means you can't blast your way out." Jack said, giving a pointed stare at the suit's glowing hands. "What are those things, anyway?"
"Repulsors. Powered by this thing," Tony said, tapping the bright light in his chest. "They shoot blasts of energy at whomever I deem a threat. Continue."
"They're called the Guardians. They guard children I think, protect belief of something?" Tony nodded. "And I have no idea why they took me, but I have the feeling we're about to find out." Jack said eyeing North, who had taken a step forward.
"Who are you?" The man said menacingly, pointing a sharpened sabre at Tony, his voice sporting a Russian accent.
"I'm Iron Man." He said simply, taking a step forward. All of the guardians stepped back into a highly guarded defensive stance, and Jack looked for holes in their defense as Steve had taught him to do. "And why did you open up a portal in my tower, and kidnap my friend here?" The curious tone of the playboy's voice laced with an underlying threat.
Aster stepped forward. "Because he's a dirty stinking thie-"
"Bunny. That's enough." North said sharply.
"You will be treated as threats until you agree to peace in my workshop. Do you agree to lay down all of your weapons and come with me, so I can explain the situation?"
"Sorry Sabretooth, but I can't really take this suit off. And by the way winterboy over there is hanging onto that staff of his; I doubt he feels any differently. We won't fire them, or use them, as long as we're not treated as hostiles, and the big bad Kangaroo over there stops staring at us like we'll jump him any second."
"Kangaroo?!" Aster shouted as Jack tried to smother his rising laughter with one hand. He thought it was hilarious that Tony had given him the nickname he resented the most. "Who are you calling a kangaroo, mate?"
"Just a nickname, it's the accent really. Now I don't know about you, but I want to get the hell out of here as soon as possible, so if you would allow us to pass, we want to talk with the big guy." Tony said, nodding his head towards North.
"Bunny, back down. We don't want to fight with this man, or Jack. North wants to talk to them, so leave them alone." The brightly coloured fairy reprimanded, placing a small hand on his shoulder.
The rabbit gave the pair one last glare, before retreating back to where the sandman was snoozing on a giant swirling golden cloud. Tony itched to run his fingers through it, to ask questions, to see how it worked ticked. He was also very uncomfortable. Magic wasn't exactly his forte, let alone something he had ever experienced before.
"Though I would prefer if you stayed here, uh, Mizter Iron Man, I feel like you would desire to remain with Jack." The burly man said with his deep Russian accent. Tony gave him a charming smile. "That's right Nicky! He's a very special kid, according to the people who think they're my bosses. And I think that they'll be wanting him back, so I'm not leaving his side." His tone was light and snarky, but the message was clear.
Jack looked at Tony Stark in astonishment. Why was this strange man defending him? They had met no less than ten minutes ago! Jack supposed it might be because they were in a unfamiliar place, with only each other, surrounded by beings that could seriously hurt them if they wanted to, and Jack was the only person he knew who had answers, and was on Tony's side. North waved for them to follow, and Tony glanced back at Jack before following.
They walked on a large balcony, and the two looked down in amazement. Jack had been here before, but he hadn't seen exactly how big the workshop was. He hadn't seen how amazing all the little lights and toys and noises were. The spirit had a feeling Tony felt the same way. The man jumped up and caught one of the flying things by the wing. He turned it over in his armoured hands, being extremely gentle with it. "It's completely normal! Though the craftsmanship is excellent, how the hell does this little critter fly?" The man said, completely baffled.
"Please put zat back, please Mizter Iron Man. I quite like my flying toys." Tony released the thing back into the air, and gazed up at it, as it fluttered back into the airspace of the workshop, joining the others.
"Nice place you got here, big guy." Tony said, admiring the crafted wood on the handrails.
"Yes, it is very nice." North replied, opening a huge oak door, and stepping inside.
Jack followed Tony through the doorway, and panicked. Yep, he knew exactly why here was here, now. North fixed him with a piercing glare, pinning him in place. Jack looked around frantically, noticing the elf tunnel entrance. He thought about flying over to it and escaping, but there was no way Tony and his suit would fit through it.
An elf wandered over, offering a tiny plate up to North. "Cookie?" He asked.
Tony looked amused, but shook his head in unison with Jack.
"Do you know why we brought you here, Jack?" The big man asked, dropping the plate, the threat lacing his tone.
Jack only gulped, refusing to meet North's eye. He nodded, albeit very slowly, but North caught it. "Ah, so you do? Well, before I ask for it back, I want to know why you stole it."
North's presence seemed to grow larger, as he towered over Jack. "Why did you steal it, Jack?" He asked, the dangerous undercurrent overtaking his voice.
"Why did you sneak into my workshop and steal the Frosti figurine, Jack? Who sent you? How did you find it? Where is it!?"
Tony must've sensed the escalating situation, because was already moving in front of Jack when North's questions became shouts that boomed through the workshop. He cringed at the volume of the man's last questioned, but stayed where he was. Tony wasn't really sure if he felt like a lawyer defending his client or a rather annoying middle aged mother. Either way, he was ready to defend Jack with his famous Stark sarcasm. A huge scary Russian man, who also happened to be the oh-so-jolly Santa Clause, was towering over a terrified kid, screaming about a stolen figurine. Yeah, that's so not going to happen if Tony could help it.
"Sorry Sabretooth, but if you yell like that one more time I'll blast my way out of here, regardless of whatever magical protection voodoo you've got going on. And what the hell are these things doing?" Tony said, gesturing wildly to the trio of elves who had been caught red-handed licking the backs of the gingerbread cookies. "Aren't these little gremlins supposed to, I don't know, make the toys? Why are the polar bears doing it?" The philanthropist questioned, listing the various oddities he had noticed in the workshop in his fingers. Jack was impressed, it had taken Tony nearly no time at all to believe in the things most adults refused to see, which, in his opinion, was a lot of things.
"We just let elves think they make toys. Yeti's are much better, more precise. Elves are… elves. I am sorry friend, I did not mean to yell, but Jack has stolen something very important from me, and I will be needing it back."
Jack's mind flashed back to the lifelike little statue, and shuddered as he remembered the spine-chilling feeling he received when he traced his fingers over its surface. He was missing something, he just knew it. There was something he wasn't seeing, something he had-
The sword man in his dreams.
Jack looked around wildly in a futile attempt to collect his erratic thoughts. "I dreamt about the statue! Why did it feel so real? The dream made me lose control, but the sword man he said that 'we're coming'…" The spirit's words were as scattered and erratic as his thoughts, and North visibly paled.
Jack's heart thumped in his chest and his head spun as he remembered more and more of the strange dream. Had the stolen statue influenced it somehow? Is that why he received such an eerie vibe from the object? Because it made him have bad dreams? Why had he felt such as strange connection to the object? Did North have answers for him? He was going to find out.
"What is that thing! Why do you have it? It's making me have strange dreams, but in the dreams, the figure is real, and the dream, it's so strange…"
Tony stared cautiously at the frightened spirit, his faceplate up, and leaning slightly away from the scene. He was assessing the situation, monitoring the elves that scurried around, keeping an eye on the big guy who looked to deeply contemplating something, and observing how Jack paced, occasionally jumping into the air and tapping his staff on the group. He did this for a few minutes, occasionally rolling his eyes at the warbling of a yeti or the senseless antics of the elves.
When Tony fired up the repulsor on his right foot in an attempt to scare away a nosy elf, another three of them decided to have a go. They got singed, and scurried off to show their friends, and Tony snorted. He never imagined elves to be so… dull. He went back to observing, but was interrupted by a cacophony of footprints that echoed throughout he room. Elves of all shapes scrambled over to investigate the foot of the Iron Man suit. Tony, deciding he had had enough, rose into the air, steering away from the elves in favour of standing on the other side of Jack. He landed with a thud, glancing over to a startled North and a bemused-looking Jack. "Hey big guy, control your minions."
North ran a hand through his whitened beard, and snapped his fingers. A shrill bell rang throughout the cavernous workshop causing the elves to pile out of the room via small hatches in the wall. "It is a little early for lunch, but it was necessary if we are to get down to business."
"Now, Jack," North said, "Please tell me, why did you sneak into my workshop?"
The winter spirit stopped his pacing and stared up at the ancient man. His eyes held no anger, only curiosity with a small amount of caution. Jack sighed. "I'm guessing I left a little ice behind, didn't I?" he jested.
North acknowledged this by nodding his head, also urging Jack to answer his question. Jack looked to Tony for support, who only smirked at him, but his body language told him the billionaire would help him out if the situation got too dire. "It was the first time I had been flying in almost seventy years, and I wanted to get out for a little bit. I was curious, and I just wanted to see the workshop after so long, but when I got there I saw a chance to sneak in, and I, uh, kind of took it. I had no intention of stealing anything, I swear, but that thing, I felt the strangest connection to it. The only other thing I have experienced that felt like that, was my staff." Jack admitted holding out the twisted wooden limb for North to see. North eyed it curiously.
"May I see that for a second?" The big man enquired gently. He did not want to scare the young spirit, and had a sneaking suspicion that this object was the missing piece of the puzzle he had been trying to uncover for almost three hundred years.
Jack hesitated, carefully going over his options. Surely the big man wouldn't take it from him? North had answers, and Jack desperately needed them, so very carefully, he lay his precious possession in the man's large hands.
North turned it over in his hands, gently tracing the lines in the ancient wood, and running his thumb over the little lightning patterns that raced along its length. The man had centuries of experience with magic, and magical objects, but had never seen anything that looked so simple, yet held such hidden powers. North could feel the raw energy thrumming within, pulsing and leaning toward its owner. North smiled at the object. Magic wasn't something to be trifled with; it's a living thing with a mind of its own. The magic held within the staff held strong connections to Jack, it was a part of him, after all.
The man looked up and smiled lightly at the anxious spirit that floated in front of him. "Your magic, it is very strong, loyal, obedient. You are quite a lucky little spirit to be linked with something so powerful, yet so tame. Usually, the more powerful a magic is, the trickier it is to conjure, and even harder to successfully wield. Most magic's have a mind of their own, you know, a personality, if you will. Your magic's strongest trait is its loyalty; it is willing to defend its master at any cost. But that also means it can lash out if it feels you are in great danger and sometimes take matters into its own hands, regardless of who is in the way. It is something to be wary of in the future."
Jack couldn't speak as the weight on North's words settled on his shoulders. The man before him had lay his hands on his staff and told him the personality of his magic, something he didn't even know existed. North had given somewhat of an explanation for why his powers had been acting up as of late and even complimented him! What this the same guy that had yelled at him not even ten minutes ago?
Tony scoffed from somewhere from Jack's right, shifting in his suit and making it whir and clink. Jack was intrigued about how the contraption worked, and why that little light in the centre powered the entire thing. He had guessed that it could fly, but hadn't really confirmed it until witnessing Tony escape the wrath of the elves, which would've been hilarious if not for the tense situation he had been experiencing.
The spirit shot Tony an irritated glare who returned it with an equally annoyed look. North noticed the exchanged and grinned as he thought of a way to entertain the eccentric man. "Jack, do you want to see something?" Jack nodded slowly as North lay his staff on the ground.
The burly fellow twirled his finger in the air, creating a small orb of light that hovered above his fingertips. North pinched it between his forefinger and his thumb, and very gently flicked it toward the staff.
Bright blue light enveloped the room, and a thin line of blue energy appeared along the length of Jack's staff. Tony's eyes widened, and he backed up closer to Jack. The light grew brighter and brighter, causing everybody in the room to shield their eyes. It disappeared in a flash allowing Tony to peak over his hand to gouge out what the hell had just happened.
North laughed heartily and ambled over to where the pair had their mouths hanging open. The thin line of energy had shot up from the staff, only a little taller than the Iron Man suit and created a thin screen of swirling blue light. To Tony, it looked a lot like the staff was acting as a 3D projector and projecting a screen from below instead of above. It also looked a lot like the technology he had in Stark Tower. How had 'magic' replicated his tech?
"You see Jack, any magical object linked to a person or spirit will record memories from the time the item and person have been associated with each other. Usually the most treasured or most recent memories are the most vivid, and the faintest only snapshots of a scene. If you would like to see something, simply hold it within your mind and touch the surface of the energy screen.
Jack tried to arrange his stunned mind, and tune in to a particular memory, one that wasn't too personal and wouldn't give too much away. He smiled when it came to him. Stark was watching intently, studying the swirling sheen of blue, probably scanning it as well.
Jack held tight to the memory and gently tapped the glowing surface. The energy rippled from where his fingertip made contact, slowly forming an image. Tony, who had flipped his faceplate down and was scanning the energy, taking notes, photos, video, and was muttering notes and small observations to Jarvis, looked up. The billionaire's eyes widened when a crystal clear image formed, depicting a scruffy looking red headed man sitting on the floor leaning against the sofa watching a movie. Someone walked across the line of vision holding a heaping bowl of steaming popcorn and sat down to Jack's right. The image moved as Jack shifted into a more comfortable position, and his hands could be seen briefly. The sound was only a low buzz, but the red-head's laughter rang clear through the room, as they watched what Tony supposed was a comedy. There was a warm feeling to the room, it felt relaxed, and content. Jack took a handful of popcorn and began munching on it, but as the memory progressed, he obviously got bored of eating and started throwing the small white food items.
The two on the couch tried to smother their laughter as Jack managed to land every single piece in the other guy's shaggy mop of hair, but were unsuccessful and burst out laughing. The laughter was the only thing that could be heard clearly in the memory, it struck a chord within Tony. A good laugh with good friends is something precious, something that should always be remembered. Tony found himself really starting to like the kid, despite all the magical voodoo that he was apparently a part of. Coulson said that Jack worked for SHIELD, but when the hell did the top secret agency start dealing in magical entities?
The memory ended when Jack's friend turned around and all of the popcorn fell out of his hair and into his lap. Laughter could still faintly be heard ringing throughout the room. There was a moment of silence before North scared the crap out of everyone by clapping his hands. Tony had stopped himself from blasting the man just in time. "Very good memory! Another, perhaps?"
Jack grinned with delight and tapped the shimmering screen, apparently already having another memory to show. It wasn't as long as the last one, and showed the guy with the red hair dozing lightly on a black couch, hugging a pillow. The other guy, the one who had the popcorn, was resting his blonde head on his arms and watching with mild concern as Jack blew a breath of frosty air onto the sleeping man. A light dusting of snow covered his hair and his shoulders before he woke up with a sneeze. This time, the sound of the surprised awakening was the only sound to be heard, echoing through the room just as the laughter had before.
Tony couldn't take his eyes from the swirling mass of energy, watching with great interest as the memory faded and the screen went back to its original form. Sure, you could easily see brainwaves indicating a strong emotion or even dream, but to show an actual memory, directly from a certain person, was astounding. He was still sceptical of all this magical nonsense, but it wasn't that far of a stretch to believe in, considering everything else he had witnessed today.
"Hey, kid, mind if I take a little sample of this… uh… energy?"
Jack shrugged, looking briefly at North, who was eyeing a steaming plateful of chocolate chip cookies resting on his workbench. Tony took this as a yes, and stepped forward to take a sample of the swirling mass of blue. He had equipped the suit to be able to absorb and contain various energy sources as a backup power source for his suit, but decided he wanted to contain a small portion of this stuff and study it. He wanted to know how it ticked, what makes it glow, why it was that colour, the exact energy amounts it contained. He couldn't help it, he just needed to know these kind of things.
The blue spread around his fingertip as he absorbed a small portion and stored it away for later. "A very unusual energy, sir." Jarvis commented. "It will take some time to process, I am estimating approximately a week with the latest program from your personal drive sir." Tony nodded and flipped his faceplate up. "Thanks for that, snowball."
"So, Jack, we know that you stole the Frosti figurine, and I am quite sure it was by accident. I assume you would like to know a little more about it, yes?"
Jack nodded so quickly that his bleached locks flopped up and down, spreading messily against his forehead as they settled. North chuckled to himself as he regarded the child-like curiosity of the boy. It was rather refreshing to see someone so eager and so excited to see the simplest of magics.
"Vhell, I found it a few centuries ago, in the early beginnings of morning. I remember, it was sitting in the only dark place there was, under the shelter of a fallen log. The rest of the place was very well lit, very light. The sun was shining off of the ice, the trees were glistening with snow, very beautiful, so it was strange to find such a dark object in such a place of marvel. It was very eerie, and it disturbed the reindeer very much, I agree with you that it is a dark object of unknown power. I almost destroyed the workshop in an attempt to bring its power forth, yes; it was not a good day. A lot of clean-up involved. I do not think it is of this Earth, and hails from an alien planet I am not familiar with. The energy is not compatible with the origins of this world; it holds something ancient and deadly, Jack. I must have it back, it must remain in my protection to prevent a disaster if ever the magic within decided to reveal itself."
Jack took the pause in North's explanation to process the man's wild theories. He was an ancient being, most likely holding several centuries' worth magical knowledge and experience. The man probably had rooms upon rooms housing the world's most powerful ancient magical tomes and artifacts. The way he was able to tell Jack the magical properties of his staff by simply handling it, and the way he was able to replay Jack's memories through the staff was an amazing feat. He would have to ask how it was done, and if he could do it himself.
Jack saw Tony roll his eyes and spared a glance over to the armour-clad man. The arms of the iron man suit were crossed over the red and gold chest, shielding the abnormal glow from view. He was staring at North with the most skeptical formation of features Jack had ever witnessed on a single person. Tony's lips were pursed and his dark eyes were narrowed, making him seem even more obnoxious than he already was. His nose was lightly scrunched and his head was tilted upwards, giving the billionaire a completed look of skepticality. Jack thought it was kind of stupid, given everything they have seen today and all of the magical creatures that wandered through the room they were standing in, but wasn't really feeling like bringing up the issue with him. Jack had a feeling Tony would say something snarky or clever and the conversation would be over in a matter of seconds.
North had apparently noticed the philanthropist's skeptical behaviour as well, noting the occasional shaking of his head and disbelieving grunts as the minutes passed in thoughtful silence. Tony was busy taking notes and getting Jarvis to scan the entirety of the huge workshop, all of the little critters in it, and the amount of energy that the place held. Even if the big guy had called the place magic, there was no way in hell he was going to be referring to it as such. To him, it was just unknown energy sources that he was going to be the first to figure out. He secretly revelled in being the first to do something, which was usually a lot of things, making the genius a happy man.
He was only a minute away from receiving the exact number of elves that resided in North's workshop, when the man himself interrupted his calculations. "I can see you do not believe my theories, Mr. Iron Man. Am I correct in saying that magic is something you have not encountered in the past? I can offer to explain some of the simpler concepts to you if you are interested."
Usually North wouldn't do something like this, he wouldn't help a complete and total stranger who had tagged along in the capture of Jack Frost and had been so sarcastic and rude, but North could see the man had the mind of someone who was always striving to learn more. To achieve more. Besides, North very much enjoyed talking about magic. The only other person who took interest in magic was Sandy, but it was more his own magic that he enjoyed to discuss. Well as much as he could discuss without talking.
Tony scoffed. "So Santa Clause wants to explain the concept of magic to me?" Tony asked sarcastically, tapping his armoured fingers together. He flipped his faceplate back up after he had closed it to analyse something. In fact, he was about to refuse the offer, grab the kid and find his own way out of there, when Jarvis's elf count had completed and the exact number of the little creatures flashed up on the screen. It made Tony consider the offer. This was something he had never heard of existed before, at least not from a credible source. This was most likely something no other person had the privilege of witnessing.
But since when did he consider diving through a magical portal into a strange place with childhood myths alongside a magical kid who worked for SHIELD? Tony sighed. If he refused the offer, they would just stand there and look at him. He gave one last exaggerated sigh before slumping his shoulders in defeat. "Sure, big guy. I'll have a crack at it."
Jack was surprised when Tony gave him one last dramatic look before accepting North's kind offer. He was even more surprised when North dragged out an enormous oak chest, that was so large and so heavy, that Jack had to ice over a portion of the floor to help bring it out. Tony took an interest in the way Jack used his powers and stretched the fingers of his Iron Man suit out in a display of childlike curiosity. Jack gave him a bemused smile and decided to entertain him but touching the tip of his staff onto his hands and allowing the small fern-like patterns to crawl over his fingers and around his glowing palms. It kept the genius entertained for a few minutes, studying the frozen patterns, whilst North sorted out the chest.
Over a period of a little over an hour, Tony and Jack sat at a large table in a small room connected to North's office and studied the vast variety magical relics that the trunk of treasures contained. The room was decorated in light creams and dark oaken browns. Jack was sure it had some sort magical spell cast over it, because as soon as he stepped over the threshold and onto the plush carpet, he felt at peace. He felt as if he had left his worries back in the other room, and that he could finally think straight. The spirit had a feeling Tony felt the same, given the contented sigh he had heard escape the man when they sat down.
North gave them a brief introduction to magic, taking the time to go over all the different types, how it is used, what it can do, and even listing some of the more powerful sorcerers that have walked the Earth in the past ten thousand years. Not that the jolly man was that old, of course, but he had a vast knowledge that he proudly claimed was rivalled by very few. Jack also explained to North why he had been out of action for the past seventy years, when the man enquired. North had shook his head, muttering about foolish spirits getting themselves into trouble. Jack didn't have the heart to correct him.
Tony seemed very interested when North explained what magic can do, and how it has helped mankind throughout the ages. He asked about the legitimacy of common myths and fairy tales, most of which North had to retell the 'proper' way, as the stories had been exaggerated over the years. North used the magical items to explain how things worked and how magic had affected them. For example, he pulled out a wooden hairbrush that looked to be from the 1800's, and ran it along the length of his arm. It glowed for a white for a moment, before erasing the patterned tattoos on the man's arms! Tony leaned back in his chair.
"So, it rubs out all of your tattoos? That would be a big hit on the market, you know! Roll up, Roll up and see the amazing removal powers of the hairbrush! Buy today and get a second one, absolutely free!" He had quipped.
North had given him a bemused smile and ran the hairbrush over his arm once more, allowing the tattoos to return. Tony scoffed. "Well, that takes all of the fun out of it, doesn't it?"
"This item is enchanted to restore something back to its original form for a small amount of time. I will have to check to records to be sure, but I think it is the space of three days, and then whatever you used the item on will return to normal. Of course, you can always change it back by simply using the brush again."
"Nice! It'd be useful if you needed to cover up a black eye or something until it healed, or maybe even replenish the alcohol supply." Tony added, waggling his eyebrows.
"Ah! Wait until you see my supply of liquor! It is marvellous, some are very old. It is the biggest in the world, I am sure."
The billionaire raised his eyebrows in a silent challenge. "Hmm, the booze collection of billionaire Tony Stark versus a thousand-year-old Russian Santa Claus? It'd be close, I reckon." Jack snickered at this, recalling how Tony had offered him a drink when they'd first met.
North either didn't hear Tony's last comment, or chose to ignore it, because he didn't comment. There were other things in the chest of wonders; including a set of paintbrushes that each held a different colour of paint, made to be so that the artist didn't have to continuously keep dipping their brushes on paint. North showed them by painting a purple star on the table.
North even gifted Tony and Jack with some of the simpler magical items, a glove that pulses if someone lies or attempts to deceive him for Tony, and a small plain golden ring that allows sharper and more precise control of magic for Jack. Jack tested it by trying to draw a replica of the five pointed star North had painted earlier. He was pleasantly surprised to witness his frost perfectly form the sharpened points and lines of the simple shape. North had also told him it used to be a relic that was able to withhold the memories of a fallen warrior, but had been re-enchanted to do something different. Jack decided it would be useful, and he would have to test just how much it benefited his powers when he got back to the Helicarrier.
The process or re-enchanting an item was something that North had explained earlier. He said it was much easier for younger or more inexperienced sorcerer to re-enchant an item rather than to place their own original spell on a plain object. He explained that the original enchantment was still valid and able to be used, but it would mean erasing the newest enchantment Jack found it interesting, albeit a little confusing, and asked if his staff was enchanted, and could be re-enchanted. North had considered it a very tricky question, trying to explain that the vast amounts of energy and power held within Jack's staff were tuned to him, and that it was enchanted, but by a very ancient form of magic, one that was hard to reverse of replace. It lead to North explaining the concept of the Man in the Moon, and that they had given them all their powers. It was a delicate topic for Jack, and he found himself resenting 'Manny' for all the years he spent alone wondering, waiting, hoping for answers that never came.
Jack was studying a delicate glass horse and Tony was playing with a wooden cube when Aster burst through the door. "North! I've been looking everywhere for ya mate! There's something going on, the elves are going crazy, there's these things invading the workshop. Tooth says they're some kind of goblin, but they're flying around dive bombing everybody! They're making a hell of a racket and gave some of the yeti's a few gashes, so be careful!" Bunny managed shot Jack a dirty look before he rushed back out through the way he came. North was on his feet instantly racing toward out of the door. Tony and Jack put down what they were playing with and followed, shooting each other panicked glances as they ran.
The workshop was in utter disarray. Broken toys littered the polished floors, yeti's yelled and ran around, the elves were literally trying to climb the walls to get away from the dark blue, almost black, flying creatures who were screeching violently and slashing at anything they could get close to, it was chaos. The Sandman flew over to the spirit and the billionaire, waving his arms and making small pictures above his golden head, but seeing that the pair weren't getting it, he made a life size version of one of the flying monsters and slashed through it with the gleaming golden spear he held in his hand. Jack nodded at him, signalling that he got it, and Sandy took off to aid the other guardians.
Jack could see where Tooth got the notion of a goblin from, the creatures were about the same size and shape as any goblin Jack had ever seen. But then again, he had only seen two in his lifetime, and they weren't very pleasant creatures. They were highly territorial, secluded creatures that hunted in large packs and stayed in even larger family groups. Jack had always thought himself lucky to catch a lost couple off guard and only managed to get away with very few injuries and a newly-learnt vocabulary of curse words. The flying things were almost so dark blue that you couldn't make out their features, these creatures didn't want food, and they weren't pissed at you for invading their land, their only goal in mind was to wreak complete havoc upon North's workshop and destroy as much as much whilst creating as many injuries as they could.
Jack ducked as a creature swooped over his head, managing to hook a claw in his hood and tear the fabric a little. Jack almost saw red and flew toward the unlucky creature that had even dared to touch his beloved clothing item. He wasn't quick enough, though, and witnessed a boomerang fly straight through its middle, making the creature disappear in a shower of deadly sharp shards of glass. Well, Jack thought it was glass as a wayward piece nicked him on the hand, but as he held under further examination and watched it change colour from a dark swirling blue to a clear ice and melt, he came to the conclusion that these creatures weren't alive, just conjured from a mixture of what looked to be magic and ice.
He didn't have much time to panic though, as another one of the creatures flew straight toward him at a speed that would've taken his head off if he hadn't off have brought his staff up to defend himself. He stood in the middle of a rain of razor sharp ice, wincing every time one of the miniscule shards cut into his skin. 'This isn't going to be easy,' the spirit thought as he rushed to take out one of the creatures dive bombing a cornered elf. There were hundreds of these things flying around, and although they weren't too hard to defeat, Jack had a feeling that all the sharp slivers of ice would take a toll on the guardians. Tony should be fine, though, in his flashy suit of armour.
It was a free for all when everyone seemed to realise that the flying goblins weren't alive. Tooth and The Sandman were both battling fiercely each with their own golden spear in their hands. Tony whizzed about the place, blasting the creatures into oblivion with his glowing blue repulsors that made a strange noise when he fired them. North had managed to usher out all of the elves from the room, and he and his band of loyal warrior yetis were standing on the very top of the globe in the midst of a growing pile of sharpened ice. Jack didn't really know how they had gotten there, but guessed they jumped from the balcony overlooking the entirety of the workshop. It was a rather large leap, though. He heard the grunts of pain from the other guardians as the razor-ice rained down onto them.
That's what Jack had decided to call it, razor-ice. It was as sharp as any razor or blade he had ever been cut by, and looked and behaved exactly like normal ice. He let his thoughts wander to where the hell these things came from, and why they were attacking North's workshop. They didn't seem to after anything in particular, just hell-bent on creating as much destruction and chaos as they could. Tooth flew over his head slashing through three of the creatures at once, making them shriek and explode in an icy cloud. The guardian wasn't unharmed it seemed as she gasped harshly and began falling to the floor, her left wing flapping uselessly as she descended.
Tony swooped through the air, under the flailing fairy and caught her lightly in his arms. "Hi there, sweetheart, need a little help?" He asked with a cocky grin, his voice distorted through his armour. Tooth managed to scoff, but was in too much pain to tell the man off. She managed to get into a somewhat comfortable position as Tony began to lower gently down to the floor, but was thrown from his hold when a flurry of the winged beats hit the Iron Man suit from behind. Jarvis flashed warning signals on the screen, they were getting smarter in their approach, grouping together as more and more remains of their brethren fell to the floor.
Jack saw the escalating situation, he saw North hesitate between aiding Tony and saving Tooth. Jack began to rush toward where she was falling just before North slid down the globe and bounded to Tony's aid. He hooked his staff under her arm before she hit the floor and lowered her carefully another eight feet to the ground, calling the wind to blow away some of the scattered razor ice so she could sit comfortable on the ground.
The spirit kneeled beside her, watching warily as three little fairies that looked like miniature versions of the tooth fairy fluttered around, squealing nervously. Tooth assured her 'girls' that she was fine, and stood on her feet, only to have her legs buckle from underneath and begin to topple over. Jack caught her, and offered a light smile.
"Whoa, watch it there; you have a torn wing and some gashes that need some serious medical attention. You need to sit tight for a little while, we've got this."
She tried to stand again. "Like hell you do! If I can still fight, I'll give it my all, whether I'm injured or not. I'm just as good as a ground fighter as I am in the air, and I can take care of myself, thank you very much." Tooth announced, gritting her teeth in a vain attempt to stand once more. Jack wordlessly ducked under her arm and supported her, as it was obvious she would try to stand with or without his help, he may as well keep her upright. Tony, North, Aster and a large number of yetis were making their way through the dwindling storm of flying creatures.
After a little over a minute of bickering, an extremely exasperated Jack managed to convince an even more stubborn Tooth to lay low after she collapsed for the third time. Jack straightened out her wing, keeping a wary eye on the battle that raged to the left of where they were crouched in a corner. He checked once more that it was perfectly straight and that the painful-looking slash right through the middle was put together before he coated the appendage in a semi-thick layer of frost. He made it so that it was thick enough so it wouldn't crack and fall to the floor or melt too quickly and thin enough that it wouldn't weigh the wing down too much and cause major discomfort.
Even though they had only been in the corner for a few minutes, the battle was almost over. You couldn't step anywhere on the workshop floor without crunching over the melting razor-ice unless you brushed it away. It also made the ground slippery, which caused a few slips and nicks to hands when whoever had fallen tried to catch themselves. It was really only a problem for Aster, as Jack was piggybacking Tooth through the air and everybody else either had protective footwear of could fly. Tony eventually swooped down and hooked his hands under his armpits after watching him pick his way gingerly over the sharpened ice. It wasn't hard to imagine that the guardian wasn't at all happy, especially after Tony dumped him unceremoniously on the balcony where North and Sandy had cleared away the majority of the ice that was on the floor there.
North, Jack, Tooth, Aster, Sandy and Tony made their way to North's office, looking absolutely exhausted after the draining fight. Everybody except Tony, of course, who strolled through the door, whistling a merry tune. Needless to say, he received a variety of dirty looks shot his way. The fight lasted almost an hour and everybody was dog-tired. Jack knew Tony was tired by the way sat down and waited patiently for everybody else to speak instead of getting distracted or spouting out snarky comments about the various things he observed. Jack hadn't even known the guy that long, so he found it mildly amusing that he was able to know how Tony was feeling by simply observing his actions, or rather lack of actions.
It was Tooth who got the discussion started, beginning with the topic of what the hell the creatures were, and what they were doing. North answered the first question by explaining to the bewildered group that they were creatures conjured of magic, powerful magic at that, because there were so many of them. He also confirmed Jack's theory that they weren't alive, only 'apparitions' that were a physical part of the world until they were either destroyed or recalled by the person that had brought them into the world, and that the person responsible was the person who had conjured them. The next question was why they were made from ice, and all eyes turned to Jack.
Jack had explained over and over again that he had no idea what the things were or why they had attacked, trying to make it clear that he had nothing to do with the attack. The spirit told them that he could barely control his own magic, let alone use it to create and control an army of flying ice-trolls.
Tony sat glumly with his head in his hands, staring with a bored expression at the bickering guardians. They had resolved the issue with Jack and the ice thing, (the only part of the discussion he had listened to, really) and was completely and thoroughly sick of the escalating exchange. North had just leaped to his feet, waving his gleaming silver sabre wildly at Aster when Tony stood up.
"Ok kiddies, it's been fun, truly, I enjoyed being dive bombed by chaotic ice-trolls, but I'm sure me and winterboy over here need to get going. We'll be in touch."
Tony grabbed Jack's arm and began to drag him out of the room. Jack didn't protest, he was actually glad to get out of there. Aster wouldn't stop shooting him dirty looks, and Tooth had even put her hands in his mouth, claiming that she had always wanted to see his pearly whites. North's voice boomed too loud and grated on his already frayed nerves, and he found it a little frustrating trying to decrypt the Sandman's strange images. He was also pretty upset about his ruined hoodie.
North stopped them just outside the doorway, and they sorted out the statue situation. Jack had said it might take some pretty tricky convincing to get them to give it up, but promised to get back to North on the matter in a week, not really sure how he would do it, though. North had rushed back into the room, and returned later with a small, olive green box. "Simply put your message in here, and I will receive it. It will also work if you are sending the Frosti figurine. Do not abuse it, it will only send one message forward and one message back."
The two flew out of the workshop, both seeming to be relieved to get the hell out of there. Jack clutched the small box North had given him, but it didn't hinder him from flying at all. Tony seemed fascinated about how the winds kept Jack afloat and had Jarvis record the speeds, different currents and how they interacted with Jack's energy. They even had a short race; with Tony winning by a hairsbreadth and boasting about it all the way back to the Stark tower, much to Jack's extreme annoyance. The suit's repulsors had disrupted the winds he was flying on, that was all. He could've easily beaten him if he wasn't so tired after the battle.
They were greeted with exactly what Jack had expected, huge swarming masses of bustling agents, a panicking Alex, a smiling Coulson and a very pissed-off-looking Director of SHIELD. Alex had bounded over to Jack, asking him a hundred questions at once, only to catch a glimpse of Tony examining the repulsors on his hands and be rendered speechless. Coulson was hot on the billionaire's heels as Tony saluted Jack and sauntered off to god knows where, though Jack caught eye of the same red-haired woman from before come running out and slap him for 'being such an idiot and going off god-knows-where for hours and leaving me with no clue as to where to start looking for you.'
Jack hopped in a car with Fury and some other agent he had never met before and sat down for a long debriefing that continued for the whole car trip and most of the plane ride back to the Helicarrier. Jack had to try to explain over and over again about what he saw, where he was, who he was with, and Fury eventually gave up, claiming that if Stark didn't confirm his story word-for-word, he'd kick Jack's ass eight way's from Sunday.
It wasn't until Jack got back to his comfortably freezing room that he examined his injuries. It wasn't until he took off his hood that he realised it wasn't salvageable, and wasn't until the examined the slash in the blue material that he read the message printed in dripping black ink, clear as day:
"We're coming, Jack Frost."
A/N: How's that for a cliffhanger, eh? I don't mean to leave you guys on edge but it's part of the plan I've set out so it had to happen. By the way, have you guys seen the ABSOLUTELY FRICKEN AMAZING cover art for this story yet? It made me tear up, I loved it that much. You can say thanks to the amazing xfireflyskyx for this brilliant piece of art! You can find some of her other work on DeviantArt under the same username, I suggest you check it out, its awesome!
So, how did you like the interactions between Tony & Jack, Tony & The Guardians, and just Tony's attitude in general? I thought I got most of the snarkiness of point, but if there's anything I missed or you think that I should add, please tell me! Also tell me how you liked this chapter, if you like the story, if you're bored with the story, if you love the story, I want to hear from you! If you think there's something that needs to be added, something you'd like to see written, I really would love to know! Tell me what you liked about this chapter, what you didn't like, etc, and most importantly, REVIEW! Happy (late) Easter guys, I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend!