Sorry, I know I've been away since forever. I'm down with the flu and I really hate action scenes and it's too hard to think when your nose is blockEd and baby is crying.

thanks to all for your reviews, you are amazing and sorry in advance for yet another cliffy (can't help it, I just love them!)


"Good girl..." said Seraphina, smiling "don't worry little fairy, the pain will stop very soon." as soon she finished talking the sky roared again.

Lightning hit just between North and Tooth and the former had to let go of the fairy's arm, as the ground beneath his feet started shaking and cracking again. The Russian Guardian looked around. The ground wasn't shaking around Pitch, and maybe killing him would also bring Gaia back. But it wasn't going to be easy to get to the Boogeyman. 'Think, think, think!'

North didn't want to have to kill Mother Nature. He understood that she was an innocent victim of Pitch's scheme, and that the world had a better chance of survival with her help than without it. But he was willing to kill her for the greater good, if there was no other choice. He definitely didn't want her to die from Tooth's innocent, unstained hands. He had killed people back in the day, when he was a thief. It was not something he was very proud of. 'Bad people' he told himself like a mantra, as he usually did every time he found himself victim of the memories, but Gaia's voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

"But first..." said Mother Nature, turning around to face Bunny and Gretchen.

The pookas expected it. The Groundhog knew that Seraphina would try to go after her. Aster held her hand both to reassure her and to signal that it was time. They just had to hold on. They just had to trust Sandy. Gretchen's paw hit the ground ever so slightly. It was time to bring handsome into this game.

A small hole opened right underneath Sandy, and a wooden stick poked his leg. The sand man looked down. Good thing he was silent or he would have squeaked like Tooth. He was out of himself, pleasantly surprised to see his best friend very much alive, hiding underground. Images started flying over his head but they stopped suddenly when Jack placed his index finger on his own lips to quiet him down. It was not the gesture what froze Sandy. It was the raw skin in Jack's hand, the angry blisters, the realization that his friend was badly injured. He understood why Bunny was hiding the winter boy.

"Sand" whispered the hidden hellion, and the golden man smiled in understanding, as a very thin thread of gold flowed down the rabbit hole, invisible, even for Gaia, amidst the fog and the rain.

Jack wrapped his burnt fingers around the sand string, combining their powers through it. He trusted that Sandy knew they only had one shot at this.


Gaia was determined to wipe out Gretchen. The pookas tried to run, but there was no safe ground to step on, as a furious earthquake ravaged Burgess. The Groundhog clung to Aster's hand as tears of pain clouded her vision, her rib cage vibrating with the ground beneath, putting pressure on her broken bone. But they just had to keep moving, as the lightning soldiers kept striking everywhere and a huge tornado was closing in on them.

And then they saw it. Tooth. She was flying towards Gaia, the thick metal still in her hand, her wings fiercely battling the strong winds, ignoring the huge pieces of ice falling from the sky, a fearless expression in her face. But just as she thought she was getting close to Mother Nature, the woman smiled maliciously without turning her head to see her, just as the strong wind pushed Tooth against the ruins of a train station, lightning hitting her fallen body.

"Tooth!" screamed the pooka as his friend hit the ground.

Tooth body was scratched and bruised but she got up with difficulty, grabbed her weapon again, and launched herself towards Seraphina once more.

"Is she bloody trying to kill herself?!" asked Aster. Gretchen gasped.

"She just may be..." she replied, her eyes wide at the realization that Tooth may just have lost hope.

"Bloody Hell!" said Bunny, letting the Geoundhog's hand go and hopping towards the fairy.


Not being as agile as the pookas, North was struggling to stay on his feet, a sight that the Boogeyman seemed to be enjoying a little too much.

"You don't look very imposing now, North. What is it? Are you under the weather?" asked Pitch smiling.

North looked at him menacingly. Pitch should have been scared. He was the one responsible for Jack's death and the Russian man would make sure he paid for it. Just on queue, he heard the familiar jingles approaching

"Moi deti! Just on time!" the Guardian said smiling, as he grabbed on to the side of the black wooden sleigh and assumed his position at the reins.

To the others, flying under these conditions was madness. But North just loved madness. He was in his element. The sheer challenge of keeping the sleigh in the air was exhilarating, taking his head of the pain, as he expertly guided his reindeers through the chaos. He flew towards Pitch, avoiding the hail and lightening, outsmarting the wind as the sleight pirouetted in the black sky, getting closer and closer to his enemy, erasing the sickening smile from his face as he jumped off the sleigh to stand, sabers ready, in front of the Boogeyman.

"Do I look imposing now, Pitch?" North rasped dangerously, all of his pain and anger focused on the Nightmare King.

The Boogeyman's smile faltered, but he wielded two black sand swords. He didn't need Sera, he would have the pleasure of finishing North himself. He couldn't say he hadn't been waiting for this moment for centuries. Yellow eyes pierced the Russian's blue ones as their blades collided loudly.

Pitch moved extremely fast averting North's attacks in an almost cartoonish fashion, as if his body was not completely solid. Maybe his being was more linked to the black sand than the Guardians thought. But the Guardian was an expert swordsman, years of experience on his back and his movements, albeit slower were precise and calculated. When the Boogeyman thought he was winning, he was really loosing, as the Russian man studied his moves, the places he left vulnerable in his attacks. North was mostly defending himself, waiting like a big cat hunting, until Pitch gave him the opportunity he was looking for.


Bunny ran with everything he had, his claws clinging to the shaking ground as a four wheel drive vehicle, thick hail continuously hitting his face and body. He tackled Tooth in mid air before she could get close to Gaia once more, and they both plummeted to the pavement, the fairy landing on her back, a few inches away from him, with him landing on his stomach.

A confused Tooth tried to get up from the floor, but an angry Aster pushed her back down.

"Have you lost your mind?! Are you bloody trying to kill yourself?!" he yelled, his nose was almost touching her, menacing, adrenaline rushing through his body.

"Of course I'm not trying to kill myself! I'm trying to kill her!" she retorted, angrily pointing at Gaia.

"You'll die before you even touch her! And we need her! Tooth, he's not..." Bunny started, before he heard it: the sharp, high, painful screech.

"Gretchen!" he breathed, all the color draining from the inside of his ears.


North yells "my children!" Unless google translate let me down