Hey Everybody!

So here is the next installment of the Hurt!Bunny arc. Needless to say I'm having quite a bit if fun with this, and ironically so are you!

"P-Pitch!" Jack wheezed as he landed in the warren, gasping for air from his sprint across the globe "Did you find him? Is he ok?"

"He's not here Jack," The Boogeyman's voice echoed across the grass as he walked towards the frost child "I'm catching traces of fear, tasting each, and according to the residual memories left in the emotions scattered across the warren, I can honestly say that Bunny has been abducted."

"Abducted?" Jack froze, his Adam's apple bobbing as he gave a heavy swallow "Y-You mean, he was…kidnapped?"

"Yes," Pitch nodded his face grave with the news he had just imparted to the winter spirit "that, and I can almost bet that he had been injured when they took him."

"What do you mean?"

The Boogeyman cocked his head, gesturing the boy to follow him to the far end of the meadow "Follow me, I'll show you."

The duo raced across the green grass, coming to rest around a spot of turf that had been trampled on, the grass squished into the mud, and the flowers broken their petals lay scattered all around "There was a struggle here," Pitch said sagely as one finger pointed out the evidence of his words "and look here…blood."

Jack heart clenched at the sight of the spot of blood staining the dirt, but suddenly his caught sight of something else "Hey," Jack murmured bending low to inspect the ground "what's this?"

"What is what?" Pitch asked walking over to kneel next to Jack.

"This…" The teen pointed out another drop of liquid, not blood because it was black as night, that trailed across the field away from where Jack had left Aster to rest "I don't recognize ever seeing anything like it before."

Jack missed the look of panic that crossed Pitch's features, and the boy jumped in fear when Pitch smacked the hand that was reaching towards the black substance and bellowed "Don't touch it!"

"What, why?" Jack asked.

"Because, it's poison!"

Pale skin whitened further at the word, and Jack felt his heart drop to his stomach in pure undiluted fear "Wha-What? How do you know that it's poison?"

Pitch sighed giving a slight grimace "I can recognize my handiwork when I see it."

"Y-You…made this?!" Jack choked as he began to hyperventilate.

"…Yes…"

"Why would you make poison?!" Jack voice slowly rose to a high pitched shout "And how would it get here to Bunny's warren?!"

Pitch sighed, already feeling the fear of betrayal rear its ugly head within Jack "Yes, I made the poison," the Boogeyman snapped "but it was during the first few years after I had been created and was completely possessed by the wish to see the suffering of others. It was over five hundred years ago that I began to realize that it contained a depth of evil that I never wished to revisit. As for how it got in the warren I'm not sure, I can only assume someone managed to steal it from my caves."

Jack swallowed the anger rising in his chest and flopped onto the ground, tucking his knees under his chin and pulling his hood over his head. He needed to think, and Pitch standing there looking at him wasn't helping his creative juices flow at all.

"Ok"the young teen began tiredly "first we need to think about who would want to hurt Bunny."

Pitch nodded, relieved that Jack chosen to stop his tirade against him for creating a poison that was now being used against the Easter Bunny "Agreed," he murmured softly "though I believe I can use my abilities to at least recreate the scene using my Nightmare sand, maybe if you see the figure, you might recognize the culprit."

"Go ahead," Jack muttered while flicking a weary hand.

Pitch sighed, feeling the tension not dissipating, and quickly turned his attention to the residual memories left in the fear that was still hanging in the air from the kidnapping. Breathing deeply, the dark man closed his eyes, focusing his powers, and pulling in the emotions hanging around him he could already see through a foggy haze the scene through Bunny's eyes. Raising his arms like a master conductor, the Boogeyman orchestrated his sand to shift into the forms that he saw in his mind, furrowing his brow with the effort it took to mold them in the air for Jack. The winter child raised his face from his knees, and looked at the sands with a critical eye.

"That…" Jack gasped as he saw the sand create a small squat animal "That's the groundhog!"

"Indeed?" Pitch gasped "Do you think that is who is holding him?"

"No," Jack shook his head vigorously "Aster would be able to escape his home in the blink of an eye, all he would have to do is tap the ground."

"A very astute point," Pitch nodded "let's move on to the next culprit."

Once again silence fell as the scene progressed and Jack's eyes became wide blue discs when he noticed one figure draw a bow in one smooth motion that was very familiar to the teen "…Orion…" he whispered.

"The constellation?!" Pitch barked in surprise "What does he have against the rabbit?"

"Bunny defeated him in a fight that was rigged to his disadvantage," the sprite replied a small smirk of pride twitching the corner of his lips "even bleeding from his injuries, the kangaroo managed to knock that guy's block off and send him home crying like the pampered princess that he is."

"Sounds like a motive to me," Pitch murmured.

"Me too," Jack nodded "but that still doesn't answer the question on where he's holding Bunny."

"Maybe so," the Boogeyman nodded dropping the Nightmare sand with a sigh of relief "but we do have a lead on his associate in crime, someone who it would not be too terribly hard to persuade to…talk."

Jack smirked, and gave a happy nod "Let's go find that Groundhog."

….

Alvern bustled around his kitchen, cooking dinner but not really wishing to eat. A flashback from that morning caused the animal to wince, the face of Aster as he screamed from the agony of the shock collar shimmering before his eyes, and unconsciously the Groundhog raised a trembling paw to rub his own throat. "How long before he puts one of those things on me, I wonder?"

"How long before he puts what on you?"

Alvern whirled around, sending the boiling pot tumbling from the stove and the mushroom soup splashing across the floor "J-Jack," he stammered before his brown eyes widened in fear "and…Pitch Black…Wh-what a…pleasant surprise!" he scrambled desperately.

"I assure you," Pitch said in a low snarl "it isn't."

"Tell us where Bunny is," Jack growled one pale hand gripping his staff until the wood creaked in an unspoken threat "now."

"W-Well," Alvern stuttered in a breathless laugh devoid of humor "I'm not quite sure, I mean…h-h-he could be anywhere! Did you check the meadow where he collects the plants for his paints?"

"We know what you did," Pitch whispered darkly as he strode forward overshadowing the small animal with his tall frame "and we know who your accomplice is, now tell us…where. Is. Bunny?!"

"I-I don't know!" The Groundhog sputtered.

"That's not a good enough answer!" Jack bellowed as he darted forward and picked the animal up by the scruff of the neck and shook him roughly "Now tell me where my brother is!"

"He's at Orion's place!" Alvern finally shrieked as he curled up in a trembling ball of fur "It was all the lunatic constellation's idea! He came to me and asked for me to help him get revenge against Aster, and I admit, I went along with it because he told me that the rabbit was just a kid, but I want out now! Things have gone too far, and I don't want to be a part of it!"

"Too late," Jack sneered "you already are."

Throwing the Groundhog down on the floor, Jack froze him up to his neck in a block of ice, and leaned forward just far enough so that the shivering animal could hear him hiss maliciously "You better feel lucky that rescuing Bunny takes precedence over thrashing your sorry carcass within an inch of your life."

"I have an emergency snow globe," Pitch murmured as they walked out of the Groundhog's home.

"So do I," Jack nodded.

"Good," the Boogeyman breathed with the barest of smiles "then we will head to Orion's palace at once."

Jack did not reply, but merely stuck his hand into his hoodie pocket only to draw out the miniature snow globe that North made travel size specifically for him "Orion's palace," the winter sprite snarled throwing it to the ground with an angry smash, then whirled on Pitch "Let's go!"

…

Aster crawled across the floor with painstaking slowness, every movement an excruciating effort. Sharp gasped wheezing hitched in his throat as he struggled towards the chair in the corner, hoping to brace himself against it long enough to tap the floor and gain freedom, but as always these days, fate was against him. A choked sob at his helplessness due to injury and poisoning rattled in his throat, and the rabbit fought the animalistic urge to curl up in a ball and hoot in distress. He didn't want this, he wanted to be home. For centuries he had stayed the strong warrior of the Guardians, holding within his heart the pain of being the last of his kind, and the fears of being left alone.

That last thought made Aster freeze, and his heart speed up a few beats. He had already been Orion's captive for over twenty-four hours with evening already falling outside the window, and still no sign of the Guardians. Surely they would have noticed now that he was missing, wouldn't they? Suddenly Bunny regretted the hours he spent in solitude within his warren, maybe the thought he was caught up in painting?

Quick as he tried to be positive, the poison's affects were just as quick to crush the hope within him, making dark thoughts swirl through his head. Would they care? Wasn't he just a temperamental teenager who tried to act older than what he was? A cranky, moody rabbit, who complained most of the time about anything that took him away from his eggs? Were they relieved he was gone? Would they even try to come?

A harsh sob contained within his chest wracked the Pooka's ravaged frame. Ducking his head behind trembling paws, Bunny whimpered, his silent sobs sounding like quiet squeaks in the silence of the cell. He was trying so hard to stay positive, to maintain Hope, but he could already feel the effects of the poison eating away at his very soul.

"P-Please…" Bunny whispered "S-S-Someone…anyone…h-help me…"

….

"GIVE US BUNNY BACK!" Jack screamed as he burst his way through the front gates of the palace.

Rayne, the Spring spirit stepped out from behind a pillar, his face a disdainful sneer "Hmm…No thanks!"

"Too bad for you," Pitch snarled, materializing his death scythe into his hands "Jack, you go on ahead; I'll take care of the brat!"

"Right," Jack nodded jumping into the air and flying at full speed past Rayne and down the hall.

Pitch watched Jack disappear around a corner before casting a wicked grin at his opponent "Shall we dance?"

…

Jack flew down the hall, stopping to check rooms, but finally followed logic and went down to where the dungeons would surely be. "BUNNY!" he shouted in a high pitched voice of panicked desperation "COME ON, ANSWER ME KANGAROO!"

"…JACK..." was the quiet response.

The frost spirit spun in the direction of the voice, flying at breakneck speeds through the labyrinth of the dungeons until he finally came outside of an iron door "Bunny?!" he called.

"J-Jackie?" a weak voice called from inside "Please let it be you, I'm in here!"

Planting his feet on the floor, Jack gripped the doorknob, and grunted with exertion as he struggled to pull the heavy door open. With a creaking groan, Jack shoved his way into the cell, and gasped at what he found.

Aster lay in a puddle of dry and drying blood, his fur a matted mess, the glossy gray now a rusty reddish brown. Countless injuries riddled his body, and half the rabbit's face was swollen from beatings. Emerald eyes, once bright and full of life, hope and strength now were dark, full of pain and fear. But the worst thing of all was the shock collar adorning his neck, the mere sight of it caused a scorching hot anger to burn through Jack's heart, and made his eyes go cold with bloodlust. The remains of tears stained the fur beneath his eyes, and Jack honestly couldn't blame Bunny for it, he couldn't even summon the slightest urge to tease him. Kneeling down, Jack stroked his adopted brother's face, cradling his head tenderly in his arms, and hugging him close.

"It's going to be ok Bunny," Jack whispered, wincing at the Pooka's shuddering pain filled gasps "we're going to take you home, and everything will be fine, I promise."

"F-Frostbite," Bunny wheezed in a barely audible whisper, his eyes fluttering as he struggled to maintain consciousness "I'm glad…you're here…I was worried…I thought…I-I" Bunny gave a heavy swallow and buried his face into Jack's shirt so that his younger sibling wouldn't see how the poison had weakened his resolve "...I want to go home..."

"Ok Kangaroo," Jack whispered "Let's go home."

"You're not taking my pet anywhere, child."

Jack spun to face Orion, a venomous glare accompanied by a feral snarl directed at the hunter, and the frost sprite clutched Bunny against him in a protective embrace "I don't take orders from anyone, least of all scum bags like you!"

"Then," Orion began with a sinister smirk "why don't you try and escape? The rabbit has become my pet, and the poison currently running through his system will ensure his obedience to me. There is no hope for him, and you cannot do anything to save him even if you did manage to bring him back to the warren. No matter what, you've lost."

"Funny thing about me," Jack spat as he stood and his body began to glow a bright blue while a mysterious wind began to blow around him "I just love proving people wrong!"

OOOH! CLIFFHANGER!

You guys know what to do….REVIEW!