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Reader Responses:
RandomReader: Thank you for your input! I'm actually dancing around the pairing, trying to insert friendship fluff here and there.
White Hunter: Yup! I've read some fics about where they knew each other from before, and I tried to do my own spin on it.
PebbleheartMarie, Baylee1100, Asery Aseerrmio Ecvoll Asernil, and SnowHawk0316: Hello, and here's your update!
Most people have been wondering how Bunny'll react when he finds out the truth, and that might not happen for a while. I'm really excited for the big reveal, though. :)
"Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance."
― Yoko Ono
Chapter Three: Enemy
"Come, Jack," North said, leading everyone through a different set of doors.
"But –" Jackie tried to say. The other three forged ahead, leaving her behind. Groaning, she shot after them, wondering if she'd regret it later.
They came to another pair of doors, tall and towering. "Jack, you must keep up. We are going to the sleigh." North said impatiently, pushing through the entrance.
"North! North, I told you I'm not going with you guys!" Jackie protested, though she was already willingly following the male Guardians. Was it because she wanted to know how North knew her real name? Or was it because she started to trust the Guardians?
Minus the Easter Kangaroo, of course.
"There is no way I'm climbing into some rickety, old . . ." Jackie's voice died as something that looked like a sleigh, but at the same time looked a lot cooler than what she pictured was led out by a team of reindeer. ". . . sleigh?" She laughed as she almost got whacked in the head by a hoof. Call her crazy, but the adrenaline was already coursing through her veins.
The sled stood in front of Jackie and the rest of them. She stared at it, conflicting feelings warring in her mind. She then took a breath and determinedly marched to the sleigh, saying, "Okay. One ride, but that's it."
As she claimed a seat, she could hear North chuckle, "Everyone loves the sleigh." He sat down on the driver's bench and took the reins, saying, "Bunny, vhat are you waiting for?
Jackie watched in amusement as Bunny nervously tapped the sleigh and said, "Ah think mah tunnels might be faster, mate. And, um, safer." As Bunny turned to walk away, North grabbed the scruff of the rabbit's neck, saying "Get in" and dumped him next to Jackie.
"Buckle up!" North then commanded gleefully.
Bunny glanced around frantically. "Where're the bloody seatbelts?"
North looked over his shoulder. "That vas just expression!" Turning to a yeti, he asked, "Are we ready?" Receiving an affirmative, North yelled, "Good – let's go! Clear!"
The reindeer began to move forward at North flicking the reins and saying "Hyah!" They ran faster and faster, and Bunnymund began to look like he was going to throw up. Jackie smirked mischievously as his claws made scratch marks on the red paint of the sleigh. Oh, this is going to be so good . . .
"Out of the way!" North roared, laughing.
They entered an ice tunnel, Bunny screaming in fear all the way. "Oh, no!"
Jackie was now standing up, looking around excitedly. The wind was whipping in her hair, the cool feel of ice was all around her – now this was amazing. She grinned crazily, her hand gripping the side of the sleigh.
"Slow down!" Bunny yelped, but North simply laughed in response.
"I hope you like the loopty-loops!"
Jackie was thrilled, and by the looks of it, Sandy was too. When she looked back at the little man, he had his arms raised with exhilaration.
Bunny gave a very audible gulp. "I hope ya like carrots . . . !" he replied, looking sick.
Jackie could see the light at the end of the tunnel. The reindeer galloped faster and faster until they were on the wooden ramp – and then they were aloft. Flying by sleigh was a much different feel than with Wind, but Jackie decided it wasn't all that bad. Just different. Giving a whoop of delight, she climbed to the end of the sleigh and looked eagerly at Santoff Claussen, which was rapidly becoming a speck in the distance.
"Hey, Bunny," she called, "Check out this view – whoaaa!" Jackie smiled impishly as she "fell off" the sleigh and landed safely on the runners.
"North!" she heard Bunnymund stammer out. "He's . . ." Jackie listened with barely concealed laughter as the Pooka mumbled out something intelligible, before he peered fearfully over the side of the sleigh.
"Aww," she cooed, holding her staff in one arm, "you do care."
Bunny's worry quickly morphed into indignation. "Oh, rack off, ya bloody show pony!"
Jackie grinned as she hopped back on the sleigh. She had gotten Bunny to worry about her! What had the world come to? Now rabbits were going to grow into large, annoying, humanoid creatures – wait,scratch that, she thought. There's one next to me.
"Hold on, I know a shortcut!" North called over the blowing wind.
"Strewth, I knew I should've taken the tunnels . . ." Bunny whimpered.
Jackie watched with wide eyes as North pulled out something that looked like a snowglobe from his large, red coat. He smiled back at her and whispered to the globe, "I say . . . Tooth Palace." He threw the snowglobe in the path of the reindeer, and a swirling portal appeared. North flicked the reins to urge the reindeer faster, and the four were sucked in.
Tooth screamed with rage as she sliced through the black shadows with her wings. How dare they try to take her daughters? She rocketed up in the air, arms extended, trying to save one more fairy from the clutches of a shadow. But the Guardian of Memories was too late. Her child was snatched up.
Her vision being tinted with red, Tooth shot down again, where a section of fairies were defending North America's tower. With her sharp vison, Tooth could see that one fairy was clutching a tooth box with the face of a girl painted on it. She could've sworn she'd seen that face before . . . but the Tooth Fairy was once again too slow, and her helpers – and the teeth that they were defending – were taken.
Jackie stood up as the Tooth Palace came into view. It was a pretty place, with pristine mountain ranges and green foliage all around. But her eyes narrowed as black shapes came hurtling toward them. Something was up.
Clearly, North saw it too. Muttering "What?" under his breath, he directed the reindeer left and right to avoid the incoming obstacles. "What are they?"
Jackie glanced back worriedly and saw that Bunny, too, was gazing in shock at the shadows. Sandy had formed a golden umbrella to shield himself from getting hit, but that wasn't strong enough against the force of the black blurs speeding at them.
Hearing fearful chirps, Jackie looked around for the source. Eyes widening with horror, she yelled, "They're taking the tooth fairies!" She flew up and snatched the small fairy out of the way of an incoming shadow. Landing back in the sleigh, she asked the fairy in her palms, "Hey, little baby Tooth. You okay?"
The mini-tooth opened her eyes (which were a fascinating color – one was blue and the other was as violet as her mother's) and nodded yes, twittering.
North guided the sleigh deeper into the mountain. Tall towers loomed over them, making it hard for them to navigate. One of the black creatures – which vaguely resembled a horse – flitted around, whinnying. Jackie was crouched next to North, when he handed her the reins, commanding, "Here. Take over."
Jackie blinked in confusion before taking the offered reins and yelling, "Hyah!" She attempted to keep the sleigh under control as North stood and brandished his dual swords. He slashed through the dark horse, and it crumbled into black sand – spraying Bunny and Sandy.
A golden object clattered on the floor of the sled. "They're stealing the teeth!" Jackie heard the former say. Then, "Jack, look out!"
Jackie gasped, jerking the reins right to avoid the sudden appearance of a tower. They crash-landed on a ledge, the occupants jerking at the sudden stop. The sleigh teetered slightly as everyone looked up to see Tooth zooming back and forth in front of another tower.
"Tooth!" North roared, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Are you all right?"
Jackie clambered out of the vehicle as Tooth fluttered down to them, saying, "They – they took my fairies, and the teeth! All of them . . . !" She slowly sank down on a higher ledge, the other three Guardians moving next to her. "Everything is gone. Everything . . ." she said brokenly.
Baby Tooth, as Jackie had affectionately dubbed the fairy that she had rescued, flew out of Jackie's hood and into the arms of her mother.
"Oh, thank goodness," Tooth sighed in relief, hugging the fairy to her chest. "At least one of you is all right."
"I have to say," came a new voice from nowhere, "this is all very, very exciting. The Big Four, all in one place."
Jackie and the "Big Four" turned around, looking for the source of the voice, though Jackie could've sworn she'd heard it before . . . in her nightmares.
"I'm a little starstruck," the voice continued. A man appeared from the shadows – a man with black hair, golden eyes, and dead gray skin. He peered down at the Guardians. "Did you like my show on the Globe, North?" he jeered. "Got you all together, didn't I?"
North growled in anger, but Tooth sped blindly at the man, screaming, "Pitch! You have got thirty seconds to return my fairies – !"
Jackie's eyes widened. That was Pitch? That was the Boogeyman? When she laughed at his name back at the Pole, she didn't realize that he was that big of a threat. Jackie had never met the man personally, as he had been banished somewhere by the Guardians. If Pitch Black was the one haunting her nightmares, then they were in very serious trouble indeed.
"Or what?" Pitch sneered, reappearing on a different ledge. "You'll stick a quarter under my pillow?" Though his voice was soft, there was almost visible malice underneath.
"Why are you doing this?" North demanded, pointing one of his swords at Pitch.
Pitch narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Maybe I want what you have," he whispered silkily, pointing his finger back. "To be believed in."
Jackie took an involuntary step back. Those words . . . had really hit much too close to home.
"Maybe I'm tired of hiding under beds!" the Boogeyman said, his being becoming one with the shadows as he moved.
"Maybe that's where you belong," Bunny shot back, taking a threatening step forward. But he jumped as Pitch suddenly reappeared under his feet, stating tiredly, "Oh, go suck an egg, rabbit."
Jackie frowned. Only she was allowed to tease Bunnymund like that! She carefully circled around, holding her staff defensively – searching for any sign of Pitch Black.
Then her heart sank as Pitch said, seemingly surprised, "Hang on, is that Jackie Frost?" He chuckled once before asking, "Since when are you all so chummy?"
Jackie steeled herself. "We're not," she said curtly.
"Good. A neutral party. Then, I'm going to ignore you," Pitch said, his voice now laced with what sounded like boredom. "But you must be used to that by now."
Jackie bit her lip, her chest being filled with hurt.
Suddenly, Bunny leaped off the ledge, roaring, "Pitch! You shadow-sneaking ratbag – come here!" But the Boogeyman dissolved once again into the shadows. Then Tooth came charging in, screaming wordlessly. She redirected herself using Bunny's shoulder as she raced up to where Pitch rematerialized. But she then fluttered backwards as a wave of black erupted in front of her.
Baby Tooth squealed and hid back inside Jackie's hood.
"Whoa," Pitch said, steadying the black horse. It looked so much like him, with its eerie golden eyes, and the evil emanating off it. "Easy, girl. Easy." He dragged his fingers over the mare's black coat before holding out a handful of grains. "Look familiar, Sandman?"
Sandy clenched his fists after summoning a swirl of his own dreamsand.
"Took me a while to perfect this little trick," Pitch said casually. "Turning dreams into Nightmares." He lovingly rubbed down the Nightmare's flank. "Don't be nervous. It only riles them up more. They smell fear, you know."
Bunny scoffed, taking his fallen boomerang from Tooth. "What, of you? No one's been scared of you since the Dark Ages!"
"Ah, the Dark Ages," Pitch mused. "Everyone frightened. Miserable! I had such power – but then the Man in the Moon chose you to replace my fear with your wonder and light, lifting their hearts, and giving them hope. And then . . . I was written off as just a bad dream! 'Oh, there's nothing to be afraid of, there's no such thing as the Boogeyman!'
"And what about your young charge down there?" Pitch murmured, his voice becoming softer. He turned his head and smirked at Jackie. "Little Jackie was the perfect test subject over my years of isolation. She had so many beautiful fears . . . and look! It's already happening."
The towers, standing so tall and strong, were beginning to crumble.
"What's happening?" Jackie asked. She was already feeling fear. Pitch seemed to know everything about her – he knew what the Guardians did not.
Tooth gasped, her violet eyes becoming downcast.
"Children are waking up and realizing that the Tooth Fairy never came," Pitch said with relish. "I mean, such a little thing, but to a child . . ."
"What's going on?" It was a variation of her previous question, but Jackie asked anyway. She wanted to know.
"They – they don't believe in me anymore," Tooth realized, her boundless energy being depleted by the severity of the situation.
"Didn't they tell you, Jack?" Pitch called down. Jackie numbly recognized that the Boogeyman was now referring to her by her other name. What was he playing at? "It's great being a Guardian! But there's a catch. If enough kids stop believing, everything your friends protect – wonder, hopes, and dreams – it all goes away. And little by little, so do they."
Jackie didn't know what to feel anymore. Pitch's words were twisting around her heart, confusing her feelings. In the beginning, she had sympathized with the man, but now she just wanted to freeze him until the next millennium. Looking up from her bare feet, she saw that somehow the Guardians had clustered around her, forming a barrier between her and Pitch.
"No Christmas, no Easter," he listed off, "or little fairies that come in the night. There will be nothing but fear, and darkness, and me," Pitch said, grinning maliciously. "It's your turn not to be believed in."
Without warning, Bunny threw his boomerang at the Nightmare King. Pitch dodged the weapon and jumped on top of the Nightmare, the two dark beings hurtling to the ground. The four Guardians took chase, leaping off the tower. Jackie followed in pursuit, after a moment's hesitation.
Bunny, ever the warrior, chucked egg bombs from his satchel, the eggs exploding in puffs of bright colors. The five of them landed on the ground, each holding their weapons in defense. But in all of the confusion, Pitch Black had gotten away.
"He's gone," North said, doing another sweep around the area.
The steady roar of a waterfall could be heard as the five settled down.
"All right," Bunny said to North, "I'll admit it. You were right about Pitch . . ."
Jackie's eyes softened as she took in the despondent form of the Tooth Fairy, slumped down in front of a small pool of water. "I'm sorry about the fairies," she said, in an effort to make Tooth feel even a bit better.
"You should've seen them," Tooth said, chuckling hollowly. "They put up such a fight . . ."
Baby Tooth flitted around the two females, chirping.
"But why would Pitch take the teeth?" Jackie wondered, crouching next to her.
"It's not the teeth he wanted," Tooth said morosely, staring listlessly at the golden container in her hands. She lifted her head up to meet Jackie's eyes. "It's the memories inside them."
"What do you mean?"
"That's why we collect the teeth, Jack," she said softly. "They hold the most important memories of childhood.
Jackie sighed. There it was again. Jack. She glanced subtly over her shoulder, seeing the male Guardians clustered together, not paying attention to them. This was it. "I never realized that the whole world viewed me as a guy," she admitted to Tooth in a moment of weakness.
"But you are a – oh . . ." Tooth trailed off as she realized what the winter sprite had meant.
Jackie chuckled softly. "Yeah. My real name is Jacqueline, but I like to go by Jackie." After a pause, she added, "And, uh, can you not tell the others? North knows, but . . ."
Tooth smiled. "Of course." Then she flew over to a mosaic overlooking the pond. Jackie followed, internally wincing as she left behind a trail of ice.
"My fairies and I watch over the teeth and the memories," Tooth said, switching the subject back to the previous conversation, "and when someone needs to remember what's important – we help them. We had everyone's here," she said, laying a hand on Jackie's shoulder. This time, the winter child did not flinch at the sudden touch. "Yours, too." Tooth's face took on a gloomy expression. "I couldn't save your tooth box in time, though . . ."
"My memories?" Jackie asked, tearing her eyes away from the mosaic to look at Tooth.
"From when you were young," Tooth elaborated. "Before you became Jacqueline Frost."
"But I wasn't anyone before I became Jacqueline Frost," she said slowly, pausing when she realized that she had referred to herself in the third person.
"Of course you were," Tooth said. "We were all someone before we were chosen."
Jackie couldn't believe her ears. "What? But at that night at the pond, I just . . . I assumed, I –" She was thinking aloud now, and was backing away from the worried Tooth Fairy. "Are you – are you saying I had a life before that, with a – a home and a family?" Because those were the things she had dreamed about for so long.
"You really don't remember?" Tooth said sadly.
"All those years, the answers were right here." Jackie realized. How had she never known? After all her years of exploring the spiritual realm, not even a whisper of the truth about tooth-collecting had reached her ears. "If I find my memories, then I'll know why I'm here. You have to show me!"
Jackie flew up excitedly, circling once around Tooth, before landing on a nearby shelf.
"I can't, Jackie," Tooth said hopelessly. "Pitch has them."
"Then we have to get them back!" Jackie insisted, pointing the curve of her staff.
Tooth opened her mouth to answer, but instead gasped as her colored feathers floated softly to the ground. "Oh, no . . ." she breathed, staring at herself in horror. "The children!"
Jackie's eyes widened, slowly coming off of her earlier high. If what Pitch said was true –
Jackie and the four Guardians watched as the mosaic of Tooth began to darken and fade away, crumbling under the crushing feeling of disbelief.
"We're too late!" Tooth whispered.
"No, no!" North suddenly bellowed, swinging his swords around. "No such thing as too late." He drummed his fingers on the hilts quickly and paced around, before pointing a single sword at Bunny's face. "Idea! We will collect the teeth."
Jackie leaned against her staff, smiling at North's antics.
"What?" Tooth burst out.
"We get teeth," North repeated, "children keep believing in you!"
"But we're talking seven continents, and millions of kids!" Tooth fretted, fluttering nervously in front of the Cossack.
More like six continents, Jackie thought. Unless you collect teeth from baby penguins.
"Give me break," North said, brushing off Tooth's concerns. "You know how many toys I deliver in one night?"
"And eggs I hide in one day?" Bunny added, seeming to warm up to the idea.
Tooth's frown began lifting up into an excited smile.
"And Jack," North said, looking at her, "if you help us, we will get your memories."
Jackie crouched down. Seemed like North was listening in about the secret thing. Thanks, she thought.
Tooth laughed enthusiastically, while Sandy flashed a thumbs up. Bunny, however, had a sour expression on his face. Maybe that's what made her say –
"I'm in."
They climbed back up to the towers to get back to the sleigh. This time, Bunny didn't complain about riding in it. Jackie somehow knew it was because of his worry for Tooth, and the faster they collected the teeth, the safer the belief in the Tooth Fairy would be.
North tossed a snowglobe, flicked the reins, and then they were off.
They landed somewhere in Asia, the five of them quickly dispersing to other houses to collect the teeth. Aided by the two Tooth Fairies, they were directed to each house that held a tooth. After a couple hundred houses or so, the tooth collecting was quickly made into a competition.
North's booming laugh could be heard from across the city. "Quickly, quickly!" he bellowed, sliding down the side of one roof.
Jackie yelled, "Hop to it, rabbit!" as she bounded across the roofs, Bunny hot at her heels. "I'm five teeth ahead!"
"Yeah, yeah, good luck," Bunny panted, keeping up with her. "Ah'd tell ya to stay out of mah way, but really – what's the point? Ya couldn't keep up anyway!"
Jackie floated alongside him. "Is that a challenge, Cottontail?" she said, pointing her staff at the Pooka.
"Oh, you don't want to race a rabbit, mate," Bunny said, smiling for the first time around Jackie. He leapt off the roof and landed on another, racing across the top.
Jackie had to admit she had a bit of trouble keeping up with the Guardian of Hope, but that wouldn't stop her from winning! She zoomed around the city, watching the others doing their tasks.
"Is it a race?" Jackie heard North ask. She turned her head to see the Cossack pop in and out of chimneys, soot exploding around him. "This is going to be epic!"
"Four bicuspids over there," Tooth chattered to Sandy, "an incisor two blocks east – is that a molar?" she asked, pointing. "They're everywhere!" she shrieked, flying into a billboard in her excitement. "Oww . . ."
"You okay?" Jackie asked, peering over the top of the sign. Ironically, the billboard said something about toothbrushing.
"Oh, I'm fine," Tooth replied, her answer slightly muffled because she had a hand over her mouth. She flew up to meet Jackie, saying, "I'm sorry, it's just been a really long time since I've been out in the field."
Jackie smiled. It was obvious that Tooth loved her job. "How long is a long time?" One year, maybe two?
Tooth rubbed her arms sheepishly. "Oh, four-hundred-forty years, give or take?" Then she gasped, pointing at the house behind them. The Tooth Fairy quickly flew down there, giggling like a little girl.
Jackie met Baby Tooth's eyes with a look of confusion, the little fairy shrugging embarrassedly in response. Baby Tooth then chirped something in Jackie's ear, directing her to another house. The two females flew through the window, Jackie gasping when Bunnymund's figure popped in to pluck the tooth from under the child's pillow. He waved the small object teasingly at her, but Jackie being Jackie, she wordlessly sent a stream of frost at the rabbit.
He gave a yelp of surprise, much to her satisfaction.
They were now back on the sleigh, heading out to a different area of the globe.
Jackie flipped through another open window, but gasped when the ground gave out from underneath her, Bunny leaping out of the hole. "Damn you, rabbit," she muttered as the tunnel spit her out, dirt speckled on her small form.
Their competition began to slowly get dirtier. Bunny stood on a roof, holding a tooth triumphantly, but then slipped on a patch of ice. "Crikey!"
As he slid down, Jackie plucked the tooth out of his paw, saying, "Yes!" But Sandy then swooped in to snatch the tooth away. "No!"
Sandy waved cheerfully at Jackie, floating gently away on his cloud of dreamsand.
The six of them now were on a rooftop in Brooklyn, New York. Jackie, North, Bunny, and Sandy proudly held out their sacks of teeth to the two Tooth Fairies, earning a delighted gasp from Tooth. "Wow, you guys collect teeth and leave gifts as fast as my fairies!"
Jackie's arm dipped as Tooth words hit her. Gifts? The others seemed to be thinking the same thing, as identical guilty expressions appeared on their faces.
"You guys have beenleaving gifts, right?" she said uncertainly.
Sandy eagerly nodded, then shook his head as he realized he didn't. They all cringed, as they grasped the idea of how many children and towns they'd have to revisit . . .
As they stood in line at a coin machine in a late-night Laundromat, Jackie had to stifle her laughter. Who would've thought that every child's legendary heroes would go into a place like this? It seemed so – so normal.
The four of them scooped out their quarters, and the frenzy began again. Jackie dutifully stuck her coins under the kids' pillows, and North and Bunny left candy canes and Easter eggs when they ran out of their supply of change.
After their mad scramble with the quarters, all seemed right. Jackie and the Guardians were seated in the sleigh, being once again sucked up by North's snowglobe portal.
A lone Nightmare watched from below. It wished that it didn't have to see the bright, colored lights of the Guardians, being accustomed to the dank darkness of master's lair, but its reconnaissance was complete. It had to report back to its master.
"The lights!" Pitch growled, eyeing his own Globe of Believers. "Why aren't they going out?" The Boogeyman turned as his favorite Nightmare soared down from the shadows, whinnying insistently. "They're collecting the teeth?"
Those blasted helpers of the Tooth Fairy began chirping excitedly, their hope growing. "Pipe down!" Pitch snarled at them. "Or I'll stuff a pillow with you!"
The Nightmare alongside him nickered, which the Boogeyman responded with a growl that made it flee back into the shadows. "Fine," he whispered, "have your last hurrah. For tomorrow, all your pathetic scrambling will be for nothing."
Pitch created a small sand sculpture of a certain Guardian of Dreams, then cruelly crushed it with his fist.
Jackie and Tooth sat quietly in Jamie's room, having a brief respite from the "competition."
"Left central incisor," Tooth whispered. "Knocked out in a freak sledding accident. I wonder how that could've happened . . . Jackie."
Jackie laughed softly, as to not wake the sleeping boy. Her fingers were still over Jamie's drawing, the one of the sledding ride she made for him, albeit inadvertently. "Kids, huh?"
Tooth simply flipped her quarter in her hand before sliding it under the pillow. "This was always the part I liked most," she said, hovering gently over Jamie. "Seeing the kids." Tooth gazed fondly at the boy, a seemingly hidden emotion bubbling up to the surface. "Why did I ever stop doing this?" she mumbled.
"It's a little different up close, right?" Jackie asked, attempting to lighten things up.
Tooth smiled, moving in front of the girl. "Thanks for being here, Jackie," Tooth said, laying a hand on the winter sprite's shoulder. "I wish I had known about your memories . . . I could've helped you."
Jackie averted her gaze and looked at the floor, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, well, we need to help you first, and then it's Pitch's turn," she said, meeting Tooth's violet eyes.
"Ah, here you are!" North said loudly, interrupting the tranquil scene.
"Shh!" Tooth whispered, gesturing pointedly at the sleeping Jamie. Jamie made a noise of discomfort as the noise grew louder.
Sandy floated gently after North, providing a golden glow in the dark room.
"Oh!" North said. Lowering his voice, he said, "What gives, slowpokes?" Then he turned to Tooth. "How are you feeling, Toothy?"
"Believed in!" came the pleased reply.
North chuckled at her answer and said, "That's good to hear."
"Oh, Ah see how it is," grumbled Bunny, who just popped out from one of his tunnels. "All workin' together, just to make sure the rabbit gets last place."
"Shh!" Tooth, North, and Jackie quickly whispered.
"I hate to be a bummer, but check this out, Peter Cottontail!" Jackie announced in a low voice, holding out her bag of teeth. She knew it was small, but anything that would get a rise out of Bunny . . .
"You call that a bag o' choppers?" he responded, seemingly unimpressed. "Now this – this is a bag o' choppers," he said, holding out his significantly larger sack.
"People, people," North said, pushing in between both of them, "this is about Tooth. It's not a competition. But if it was – I win!" He slammed down his large bag of teeth and whooped loudly in triumph. Then a beam of light shone on his face. "Oh, no . . ." he said in a small voice.
Jackie turned. Jamie was awake.
I'll have to apologize for this somewhat late update. I don't really have a regular schedule for writing, since my summer's beginning to get a bit hectic as school's gonna start in about two-and-a-half weeks for me.
I'll try to post another chapter sometime this week. (Hopefully)
So please leave a review regarding this chapter down below, and I'll see ya soon!