Okay guys, I am so so so so sorry for the delay in updates, but there has been a lot going on (ill, doctors, exams, revision etc) and I just have not had the time… There may be a slight delay between the next few chapters, but then it's back to daily updates… Anyway, Hope you enjoy, and long fore-notes and foot-notes in this chapter to make up for the wait!

Thanks to oO Sara NekoChan Oo, hanayou343, She-who-lols-at-dork-lords, Cherrycoffycake, Percabeth is Awsome, LittleGreyGremlin, Death By Violet, GreenPedalflower and Jack Frost the Frost Child for the faves and/or follows!
*blinks and looks over to where Tony is speaking up, after he just arrived*
_

Tony (to Yoda): Forget the Osbournes', you're more deserving of the title Green Goblin!
Yoda (To Tony): Well hunk of Junk you are!
Tony: Ha, coming from an old, wrinkled, washed up prune of a… well, God knows what you are!
Yoda: Better to be old and wise than younger and a moron think I!
Tony: Ha, you're calling me a moron? I may be a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them.
Yoda: No, but a waste of time and space and effort you are!
Tony: Gremlin!
Yoda: Hooligan!
Tony: Old Coot!
Yoda: Tin Man! And what is with that ridiculous beard, hmm?
Vader (having been watching and chuckling): Ooh, smackdown…
Me: Don't encourage them! *pulls Tony away, trying not to laugh at the disgruntled look on his face* What do you think you're doing here?
Tony: *Shuffling* I… err… I accidentally… told the Avengers that you and Vader were their enemies and I'm kinda the scout for their attack…
Me: *blinks, then face palms*
Vader: *snapping into war commander mode* Okay, set the defences!
Me: *sigh* Oh Stark, you're all gonna get smack down so hard… *blinks* Hang on, is Hulk coming too?
Tony: Maybe… Why?
Me: Because we're good friends… Kinda… Maybe… Ish…
Vader: *matter of factly* He still holds a grudge from when you beat him at arm wrestling. Now, where do we want the droids?
Me: Ah, erm… *snaps into military mode and clears throat* Okay. Droids in formation for the second line of defence, Bunnies, Yeti's and Mini fairies are to line the sides, and double around to cut off an escape route, then arm the elves with lightsabers, and let them loose as soon as the enemy is within our grasp.
Vader: *salutes* And what about us?
Me: Well, we will be leading the charge with the elves. Battle, defeat, then explain how much of an idiot Tony is, and let the beat him up whilst we film it and send it to Pepper. Clear?
Vader: *with a grin* Crystal.
Me: You know, we're going to have to do something about the mask… It's only with my author powers that I can see your expressions…
Vader: …err… Okay, but battle first?
Me: *as the tell-tale crunch of Thor's hammer is heard* Of course… Meanwhile, enjoy the chapter guys, and I will most likely be speaking to you from the battle field the next time we meet! Now… FOR NARNIA! AND FOR ASLA-! Oh, wait… Wrong fandom… Err… Okay then. FOR TRUTH! FOR JUSTICE! AND FOR THE RIGHT TO SEE TONY STARK GETTING HIS ASS BEATEN BY A GUY WITH AN EYEPATCH!
Elves with Lightsabers, Me and Vader, likewise armed with lightsabers and blasters (as Thor smashes his way into the room, followed by the rest of the avengers): *charge uttering war cries*
Rest of my forces: *surround the Avengers*
THE BATTLE BEGINS!
Me: (Just before I leap into the ruckus) ENJOY THE CHAPTER!
_

Jack groaned as he opened his eyes, only to see nothing but blackness. His head was throbbing and he groaned again as he remembered what had happened. They were trapped in an avalanche? Great… Wait… They!
"Baby Tooth?"
He carefully manoeuvred himself, wincing slightly when the snow shifted. He may be okay under here, though without his staff he wasn't too sure, but Baby Tooth could get crushed… Slowly, he managed to uncurl enough to unwrap the hoody, and breathed a sigh of relief when he realised that the tiny fairy was still breathing. Unconscious, but she'd be fine… If he could get the out of here.
The guardians would be looking, but it could be hours till they were found, and Baby Tooth wouldn't be able to stand the cold for that long, Hoody or no Hoody. Even the thermal fabric that her own tiny jumper was made from wouldn't keep her warm in this temperature.
Then there was the fact that there was little air under the snow.
If he had his staff…
Well, he didn't. No good worrying about it at the moment.
Slowly, he started to manoeuvre himself around, halting whenever he felt the snow shift, but managed to eventually move himself into a crouch.
Some instinct told him he was several metres down, and he frowned as he tried to figure out how to get out.
He couldn't just climb through. For one thing, he needed to hold Baby Tooth and he'd need both hands to push himself through. For another, he'd have to be fast and agile if he wanted to avoid causing another snow slide.
He blinked as he heard a faint chattering, and grinned in relief as Baby Tooth fluttered dozily to his hair. Her breath was misting out in front of her, and Jack felt an irrational sense of guilt as she shivered.
If only he could get closer to the surface…
Then he blinked.
Maybe…

"BT?"
She chirped, and Jack sighed. This could be tricky…
"Okay, now I need you to listen carefully, okay?"
She nodded.
"Right. The sow isn't very stable, but we're quite a way down, so I need to get you out before it gets too cold, okay?"
Another nod.
"Okay. I'm going to clamber up towards the surface at an angle, so that the snow will be more supportive. As soon as I get nearer the surface, I'm going to have to speed up, so you'll have to be quick and fly out as soon as you see an opening, okay?"
A concerned chirp.
"I'll be fine. I'm actually thinking of this as a holiday-"
Baby Tooth suddenly blinked and squealed, causing Jack to start, before he grabbed her to stop her from propelling herself into the snow.
"Yeah, I know. But we'll get it back from him. Let's just get out of here first, okay?"
She nodded, and Jack shuffled about, letting her grip his hair, before he started to work his way through the snow.
The job was easier than it should have been, and Jack got to wondering whether he still had some connection to the snow even without the staff, and it took him several minutes to clamber to within a metre or so of the top. Problem was the snow was unstable, and something told him they were near a precipice. Again, he wasn't sure what was telling him that, but he wasn't going to ignore it.
Nor was he going to ignore the danger or the chance that was presented when the snow suddenly shifted beneath him.
Grabbing Baby Tooth, he leapt as the snow came loose, and shoved her up through into the air, where she instinctively spread her wings.
She panicked as the snow began moving even more, even as Jack tried to clamber out, and zipped backwards and forwards as he began to get dragged along with it.
A shout from behind her revealed the guardians, running towards them, but as the snow started shifting, they barely managed to clamber to the rocks.
Then she felt what the others must have felt with the first avalanche, as another wave covered Jack, and he went hurting over the edge of a cliff.

Jack cursed as he saw the wave of snow tumbling towards him, and, thinking of the cliff not too far from him, dove back into the snow.
That way, he wouldn't be swept too far from the edge. Why that should matter, his brain was too slow to figure out, and his hands were moving even as he was swept over the edge.
He figured it out just as his hand managed to grab onto some rock, and he pulled his other hand to grab hold too.
Ah, so the deeper he was, the closer he would be to the cliff when he was swept over.
He liked having good instincts sometimes…
Who needs a staff when you're a ninja, huh?
Those thoughts kept him going until the snow finally stopped falling over the edge, and he took a couple of breaths before he started climbing…
_

Baby Tooth snugged in closer to Tooth as they all stared at the cliff face.
Bunny took a few steps back, then leapt over the huge layer of snow, sliding slightly as he landed on the other side, before leaning over as far as he could.
Iceman was already making an ice pathway across the unstable surface, and they were quick to join him.
The cliff went down for a couple of hundred metres, and the huge blocks of rock and ice littered the mountain face below them. It didn't take long for them to realise just how bad this was likely to be… If Jack was buried beneath the-
Bunny blinked as he heard a small trickle of rocks, and something told him to check it out.
"Iceman, can you make a path over there?"
The ice spirit nodded, and did so, following the Pooka as he head over.
Another small shower of small rocks and snow showered from the edge of the cliff, and Bunny blinked, a grin forming as a pale hand appeared over the edge, grabbing a small rock outcrop.
Quickly, an out of breath Jack pulled himself over the edge, grinning at Bunny and speaking as he did so.
"Did I… ever tell you… I sometimes hate avalanches? Seriously, hate 'em…" He grabbed the furry paw that was held out for him, and felt himself pulled up over the edge and into a hug.
Blinking, he returned it, then stretched his muscles slightly to loosen them as he pulled back, rolling his eyes as Sandy pulled him into another hug, and speaking over the older guardians shoulder.
"What's the occasion?"
"Ya had us all worried sick, ya know that?"
"That's the occasion?"
"… Shut yer yap Frostbite."
"Why do I- WOAH!" This was as he was barrelled into by a hail of feathers, more commonly known as Toothiana, which caused him to slip and nearly stumble back into the snow. In hindsight, he would realise that when Sandy speedily let go and backed away, there would have been a reason for it…
He rolled his eyes as he managed to escape the vice like grip, and gave an indignant huff as Tooth spoke up.
"You're okay!"
"Of course I'm okay. It's only an avalanche… Honestly…" He shot her an innocent smile, then he grinned at Bunny.
"See? I told you I didn't need the staff for everything…" Then he frowned. "Though it sure as Moon comes in handy-"
He was pulled into a hug by Iceman and Shady before he could continue, and before he could escape, North pulled them all into his own huge embrace, squeezing in Sandy just as the golden guardian was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"You had us all worried, Jack."
"Nothing new there then…" Bunny quipped, and Jack shot him a glare, which morphed to a grin as he turned back to Iceman.
"Speaking of worry, and subsequent trouble, Clover is going to have your-"
"Oh Moon, don't remind me…" Iceman said, with a shudder.
Tooth huffed at that, and muttered just loud enough for them to hear.
"Typical… He gets himself buried by an avalanche and swept over a cliff and he still jokes around…"
Jack rolled his eyes, sighing.
"Guardian of fun remember? Kinda in the job description…"
_

Back at the Pole an hour later, and Jack was in his customary place on the beams.
Except this time, he had got himself up there with a combination of a leap, Bunny's head and a front flip.
"What? It's comfy up here!" He said, in response to North and Tooth's blinks. Sandy and Bunny, on the other hand, were simply grinning, the Pooka, though rubbing his head, not seeming to mind all that much.
Jack rolled his eyes as he saw Tooth tracking his route, and sighed.
"I'm not completely useless without my staff, you know… Though I wouldn't mind getting it back before Ice Black manages to use it..."
That sobered them all up, though Jack couldn't help but sense that it was the thing on the forefront of their minds, but he had a feeling it was more for his sake than any worry they might have about Ice Black.

It wasn't long before a very mad looking Clover arrived, flanked by Gale, Flow and Lily.
"ASPEN AQUILO! I SWEAR, THE NEXT TIME YOU-"
"Aspen Aquilo? That's your name?" Jack was grinning, all thoughts of Ice Black temporarily swept from his mind by the startling revelation.
In 200 years, Iceman had never let any of them know his name…
Iceman, or rather, Aspen as Jack fully intended to call him from now on, glared at him.
"Not a single word from you Frost…"
"But… But… Roman Mythology? Really?"
"… My parents enjoyed it. Happy now?" This was to Clover, who seemed to have calmed down.
"Marginally. Jack? Do me a favour and call him Aspen? It'll annoy him."
"No need to tell me that. Hey, can I call you Azzy?"
Jack ended up laughing as Iceman made a leap for him, and he ducked out of the way, causing the ice spirit to tumble into the desk.
"So Aspen, how's life?"

It took nearly ten minutes to stop the resulting sparring match, and eventually, Clover dragged Aspen away, catching an orb North threw to her.
"Call us if you need anything guys, we're going to warn everyone about what's happened…"
As soon as they left, all aside from Shady that is, Tooth made a comment about how she wasn't sure Jack should put himself in dang-
That was as far as she got before a very indignant huff came from Jack and Shady alike, and even Bunny and Sandy rolled their eyes at her.
Thus began one of the great debates of the decade…

Point one, Jack was going to fight staff or no staff. It was Bunny, Sandy and Jack vs North and Tooth, and it was inevitable that the trio would win.
Indeed, it took only half an hour for them to convince the other two.

Point two, yes, Jack was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, even without flying. Though to out Tooth's worries to rest, Jack and Sandy decided to experiment with dream sand, and they ended up playing a game where Jack had to hop from dream sand platform to dream sand platform, Sandy making them as they went, and Jack leaping around the room, showing off slightly with front and back flips to prove his point.
Landing with a flourish, he grinned at Tooth.
"See? Who needs to fly…"

Point three, Ice Black could be anywhere. How to find him? North was all for patrolling, but Bunny countered, saying that there time would be better spent in one place, so they could all head wherever as soon as they heard something.
But how would they find where he was?
Jack had rolled his eyes at that.
"Just go to Jamie's and turn the TV on. No doubt there will be a news broadcast if anything strange happens with the ice…"
That had gotten him a couple of odd stares, before they had immediately agreed.
Throughout this entire exchange, Shady had been grinning like a loon, and quickly demanded to tag along.
No-one was going to argue with the very determined looking little shadow spirit, and he quickly joined them as they head out to the sleigh.

It was just as they were heading out to the sleigh when Bunny stopped quickly, blinking, and gave Jack a piercing look.
"Mate, didn't you keep the warren charm, that lets you in there, on your staff?"
Jack rolled his eyes.
"Damn, with that look, you had me worried."
He pulled up his sleeve, to reveal both the egg shaped charm and the dream sand charm on a thin leather bracelet, before shooting Bunny a grin.
"Decided it was probably safer… Just in case."
"… Mate, it's official. I'm giving up being surprised by you..."
Jack rubbed his hands together, grinning gleefully as he strolled out after the others.
"Challenge accepted…"
_

First stop was at Jack's home, where he ran through to the weapons rooms, grabbing his sai.
He blinked when he realised that he still had a connection to the frost marked weapons, even though the staff was now in someone else's hands, and slotted them into his waist.
They'd easily destroy any of the mindless ice drones Ice Black could send after them. He also pulled on his boots and a pair of fingerless gloves.
Just in-case he would have any more climbing to do before the day was out.
He also changed into a white Hoody. Well, blue kind of stood out against the snow…
Then he blinked as he felt a strange sensation in his chest…
A sudden spasm of pain, lasting only a couple of seconds, had him gasping, and something told him that someone was trying to use the staff…
Jack groaned as he pulled himself up, and considered that.
So… Someone was trying to use his staff, no doubt about who, and it was… fighting it? The staff was fighting against being used by someone else, and was, apparently, still linked to him in some way.
Though, to be fair, he honestly had no idea why or how…
"Hey, MiM? Feel like explaining?"
A faint whisper inside his head, and Jack focused on the voice.
"The staff is yours Jack Frost… Only yours… It is a part of you… But I gave it to you to help you channel the power inside you. You are stronger than you think Jack…"
And on that cryptic note, the voice faded away, causing Jack to role his eyes.
"Okay, a couple of cryptic comments and a few insinuated points. Cheers MiM."

As he head back to the others, he thought that through.
Only his? Did that mean that Ice Black couldn't use it? Or that he couldn't use it properly?
And what did he mean by channelling his power? Did that mean he didn't need the staff? But then why had he never been able to use his powers without it before?
In response tot eh raised eyebrows the rest of them gave him, he simply shrugged, sighing.
"Has MiM ever given you a straight answer?"
Bunny snorted.
"Not likely Frostbite."
North chuckled.
"Da. Maybe the cryptic speaking is his way of avoiding boredom, Da?"
Jack grinned.
"Ah, so this is what it feels like to know someone with an irritating hobby…"
"Like Pranking?"
"And making snowstorms?"
"And annoying everyone he can?"
Even Sandy joined in, signing.
And being far too active for us older generations?
Jack laughed at that.
"Your words, not mine…"
He was cut off as he felt another spasm in his chest, and gasped.
"He's trying to use the staff again…"
"What do you mean, trying? And how do you know?" North said, sounding confused, and Jack gestured to the sleigh.
"I'll explain on the way…"

Another quick detour had Jack being squeezed half to death by a worried Jamie, and then being surrounded by happy, squealing children that were playing in the hospital yard.
Tooth, the others having been leapt on by children, was the only one within earshot as Jack had to tell the kids that he was afraid he couldn't make any snow at the moment.
And she was the only one close enough to see the momentary lapse, in the mask of happiness he had kept on his face, which showed a glimpse of how he was really feeling, as a young girl who was clearly very ill gave him a hug, saying she could wait till another day.
Tooth could tell it was hurting Jack, him being unable to do the slightest thing with the snow to make the children happy, and there was no way any of them would be letting Ice Black keep that staff.
She smiled as Sophie broke into a quick, limping run, before Jack scooped her up.

Jack struggled to keep the smile in place, as Sophie said the same as the others, that it was okay and he could come back another time.
He shouldn't have had to come back another time. He had always been able to make others have fun…
The anger started to creep back in, along with the irrational guilt he was feeling, and he mentally cursed Ice Black, spinning Sophie around before putting her down.
Only to hear an Ow, as she took a couple of steps before falling down as her ankle started hurting.
Clearly something more caused by the accident, Jack clenched his fist as he helped her to her feet, picking her back up again, wanting nothing more than to cheer up with some wintery fun...
Determined, though not sure why, he head over to the nearest window, and placed his palm against it, startled when it actually frosted over. Slowly, but still… He had not expected it to actually work.
More to push it than anything, he reached out a hand and tried to make an image of a small rabbit.
After a couple of minutes, he was just about to give up, when he noticed a slight movement.
Sophie had clearly seen it too, and squealed.
"Come on Uncle Jackie! You can do it!"
That was all it took for the ice rabbit to leap from the frosted glass and start leaping about the yard.
Jack smiled a genuine smile as Sophie gave him a hug, and blinked as she gave a small gasp, looking over his shoulder.
"Jack! Look!"
Jack turned, blinking as he spotted a small layer of snow starting to form from a light snowfall which certainly had not been there before.
On a whim, he flicked his wrist, grinning when he watched the snowflakes follow the gesture, and realised he had subconsciously been doing what he always did with the staff, which was pretty much feeling the season of winter.
He was a part of it after all…
With that in mind, he put Sophie down, grinning as she started trying to catch the rabbit, and took a deep breath, before waving his hand, causing a few snowball piles to appear.
It was nothing like he could normally have done, but it was enough for the kids to have some fun…
Fun! Well, he was the guardian of fun after all… And a winter spirit…
A whispering voice in his head made him blink, and shake his head, bemused.
Now you are beginning to understand…
Jack sighed.
More cryptic messages… Ah well, that could wait. Now... How many of his powers could he still use?
And, most importantly… Could he still make the snowballs fly…?
_

To be fair, Jack did have reason to laugh at the guardians attempts to use the TV. It was satellite after all… So there was no reason for them to glare at him… Or for Shady to give them the bright idea of putting Jack in charge of the remote…
So it really was not his fault when they ended up watching the ending of an episode of Looney Tunes… In which Bunnymund was mercilessly teased about how funny it would be for him to meet Bugs Bunny.
Though they all knew the happy façade was just that, and they were all getting increasingly worried as Ice Blacks attempts to use the staff became more frequent and violent.
Always one to look on the bright side of things, Jack chose to think of it as a good thing that he felt whenever it happened. It let him know that they still had a chance to find him.
Though if he found out he couldn't use it, there was every chance that he would destroy it…
And, considering that, so far, he had only been able to do the smallest things, with some difficulty in a lot of cases, and with the largest thing having been the snow fall, even though he still had no idea how he had done it, there was no way he could match Ice Black in terms of fighting with the aid of the wind or snow… Though it turned out that the wind was still able to help him with things such as throwing snowballs, even if it could not carry him…
And trying to figure out why he could do only some things, and not others, was giving him a headache, so he had decided to let it drop…
Looks like it would have to be a team effort, and he would need more luck and improvisation than ever before… Good thing he had a few tricks up his sleeves then.

So when, after another short while, there was a news report of a serious avalanche where there really shouldn't have been, Jack sighed.
"Hundreds of years old and he still has temper tantrums…" he said, with a small grin, as they all head off to the sleigh, "And you call me immature…"
You are.
"… Shut up Sandy."
I'm not speaking…
Tooth sighed as Jack replied, and Sandy immediately sent back his own retort. Here they went again, on another joy filled sleigh ride and a silent argument…
Hey! Who are you calling an old man, Frost? Someday, you'll be old too!
Jack snorted.
"Yeah, and everyone will call me… Old Man Frost, or Old Man Winter… Honestly, that's ridiculous!"
A faint chuckle sounded inside all of their heads, and they wondered that MiM found so amusing about that statement.
Ah well, they had more pressing things to worry about at the moment…
Hey! Stop insulting me in Australian!

(There is some important stuff in the second half of the footnote, so please read?)

(The battle is over, and the Avengers surrendered-after they saw me put hulk in a headlock and bury Thor beneath his own hammer using Captain America's shield as a frisbee- and let me tell them what was actually going on… Then we realised there were two people missing and a very amusing sight met us…)

Yoda: *beating up Tony with his walking stick* NOW WHO IS OLD, TIN-MAN? HMM? HMM?
Me: *laughing at the sight*
Vader: *trying not to laugh and keep up his dark persona, though kind of failing a little*
Avengers: *Thor filming it, chuckling and finding it hard to keep the camera steady, and the others, now knowing what Tony had been up to recently, laughing*
Me: (after I have calmed down): Right, well then, now that we have all sorted out this misunderstanding, I trust there will be no further… Hostilities between us?
Fury: *quickly* Of course. Our apologies for the mistake.
Me: *smirking at the fact that I have one of the most respected men in the world squirming* Not at all… Anyway Hulk, How have you been?
Hulk: Hulk smash puny creatures. Now Hulk good.
Me: Good, good.
Hulk: Now Hulk want rematch. Arm wrestle!
Me: But… But I… *realises that arguing is futile* Oh fine…

Ten minutes later…

Me (having won again): I told you last time it was a bad idea…
Hulk: Hulk defeat you one day!
Me: Maybe… *looks over and realises I'm going to have my hands full sorting things out, so turns to Vader* Hey, Vader? Im gonna get this sorted out. Could you give the readers the messages?
Vader: Sure, no Problem…
Me: *walks off*
Vader: Hello again, Readers. Several things on the agenda today.
Number One, It has been brought to Raven's attention that you all enjoy the April Fool chapters, and, seeing as she is not going to put him back in this fic, how would you all feel about a branch off fic, focused on Jack vs April Fool throughout the years in the future? Set at intervals throughout the next couple of centuries? Please leave any thoughts in a review…
Number two… Thank you to one Guest reviewer, who is a fellow Mer-whovian, and to another Guest reviewer, M, Raven hopes this chapter makes up for the long, boring school days…
And number three, Iceman's real name is based off of the place, Aspen, and an old name in roman mythology for the North Wind, Aquilo… What did you all think of it?
Oh, and a message just from me? Trust me, Raven does know where she is going with this arc, don't worry… Yes, I know the last bit of that chapter was less serious than it could have been, but if you think about it they have faced so many ridiculous threats that they must be used to it enough to joke about it now. And she really is feeling guilty about the delay. She has been ill and there have been exams and all… Anyway, till next time then!
Me: *calling over as I realised Vader's finished* Yeah! See you guys! Hopefully, I'll be able to update soon!