There were three things he noticed when he entered the Warren:

One: Aster had six arms.

Two: blood stained his fur, splattered across the grass in wide arcs around him.

Three: sprawled out on the earth before him, broken and unconscious, was Jack.

Before he even thought to assess the situation, Sandy lashed his sand whips out, and they bound Aster within their golden coils. Aster didn't react, standing calmly within the ropes. The glittering weapons gleamed in the light, just as the world began to go dark.

The everlasting light of the Warren – the life force of the earth – flickered. For a moment, the sand weakened.

Sandy felt the shock pass through his entire being. His body fell apart in that split second, just grains of dust suspended in space. Almost immediately, he came back together, left with a sense of impossible breathlessness. His whips dissipated into the ground, scattering among the blood seeping into the grass.

Then Aster spoke, deadly quiet, "I'm the last Pooka, Sandy. I'm the last one. I created life on this planet. What if I took it all away?"

His voice carried no bitterness, just an eerie calm. His three sets of arms relaxed at his sides, and he seemed unaware of the blood staining his paws. Instead, he only tilted his head curiously down at Jack's body, as if studying an inconvenient anomaly in his creation. Not a hint of pain lingered in the muscles of his broad back, or betrayed his words.

This wasn't Aster. The realization hit Sandy, and the Dreamsand shifted above his head in an alarmed rush.

Aster simply raised a single paw in Sandy's direction, and suddenly the fallen star couldn't move a single bead of sand. He remained, frozen, in the air, his expression unable to express the rage that was beginning to bubble in his heart.

Calmly, Aster turned his head away from Jack. His emerald eyes were void of emotion, a blank slate in the usually lively face of Bunnymund. As Sandy watched, horrified, a film of black shadow rolled over the Pooka's green gaze, only to disappear again, as if a trick of the light.

Aster took a step, and then another, his feet padding lightly in the grass as he approached Sandy.

"What are you doing here, Sanderson?"

Jack's form shifted on the grass. Sandy saw it out of the corner of his eye, unable to react except to attempt a glare at Aster.

No, this wasn't Aster. This was far, far worse.

"If I broke you apart, would it hurt?" Aster asked, his voice taking a lighter tone now. His ears perked up, as if interested. "I killed you for a moment there, did you feel it?"

He'd felt nothing. He'd felt ecstasy, felt chaos, felt everything and yet only an empty void.

"I could think of worse."

Jack coughed, rolling over on the ground. Aster's ears swiveled around to catch the sound, and he turned, still holding out a paw to keep Sandy in place. He paced across to Jack's body, peering down again.

"B-Bunny," Jack hacked.

Aster replied blandly, "You're not dead. Did it hurt?"

Despite his position, a weak laugh left Jack's lips. "Yeah, it hurt. Is that all you got?"

The corner of Aster's mouth twitched, and he repeated, "I could think of worse."

"See, that's how I know you're not Aster. The Kangaroo doesn't think."

"I am Aster."

"No, you're not."

Jack was on his back now, staring up at Aster towering over him. A smirk decorated his lips, dried blood staining his chin and neck. The front of his hoodie was ripped open, burst, and covered with the same dark blood. Some of it trailed through his hair, brightly coloring the white cloud.

He continued, sarcastic, "I think I'll call you something special, because of how much you remind me of Aster."

"I am Aster."

"Maybe Furball? No, you don't look cuddly enough," Jack said, ignoring the comments.

"I am Aster."

"No, you're not. You look like Bunny, you have his voice, and you're annoying, but you're not Aster."

The shadow passed over Aster's face once again, and he snarled. In an instant he had two paws levitating Jack above the ground, holding the sprite in the air. But Jack could still move, and he smiled even wider.

"What would you know?"

"You don't talk like him," Jack replied. "And Bunny doesn't have magic floating powers, that's my thing. And there's one other thing I know about him."

"And what's that?"

Jack's façade dropped with his smile, and he locked his startling blue eyes with Aster.

"Aster loves me."

With an enraged roar, Aster slammed Jack back down to the earth, dirt spraying everywhere. Jack coughed more blood, the drops flying across his chest. He groaned as he settled back down, only for Aster to ignore him as he turned back to Sandy.

"And what do you know, Sanderson? Do you think I'm Aster? I am Aster! And I never loved a spirit named Jack Frost." He spat the last word, "Never."

Sandy could still not react, but in his mind he saw only the dreams of Aster, the real Aster. He saw the deepest hopes and desires that even the Pooka could never realize. He felt the pain, the longing, and then he felt his own rage boiling beneath his surface.

The ignorance of life, he thought, only led to death.

"I don't love him, I don't love this world, and I think it could do with a little less life."

With that final statement, Aster's emerald eyes went completely black. The darkness filled the last speck of white within his gaze, covering the Pooka's broken soul with only chaos.

Jack groaned out, "Aster, don't–"

"Don't call me Aster," the Pooka snarled. "You don't know who I am anymore. You never did." He turned his empty eyes to Sandy. "I'm tired of your dreams, Sanderson. They aren't mine anymore."

Suddenly, the impossible breathlessness returned, and Sandy felt his form break apart.

"You should never have come here, Sanderson. I wish you only nightmares."

Sandy fell to the ground, and as his sand crumbled around him, two taps sounded on the earth, and Aster disappeared.

Jack scrambled to his feet, ignoring the injuries across his body. Frantically, he stumbled to Sandy's side.

The fallen star was falling once again, it seemed. His feet were gone, as were his arms, reduced to piles of golden dust on the earth. The sand seemed dull, lifeless. He could move his face again, however, and smiled up at Jack.

"Sandy!" the sprite cried, "Sandy, I'm so sorry! You're going to be all right, I promise. I'm so sorry Sandy, I never meant for this to happen." Tears began to well up in Jack's eyes, as he saw Sandy's torso crumble away. "I'm so sorry, Sandy. This is all my fault." The sprite's voice broke, and he sobbed.

A flash of confusion entered Sandy's mind, and he frowned briefly.

The tears rolled down Jack's cheeks, washing away the dried blood that plastered his skin. Sandy wondered how it had all happened, but he decided he was better off not knowing.

The Warren suddenly dimmed, the light flickering again. Jack looked around in surprise, before he focused back on his friend.

"Sandy," Jack murmured softly through his tears. "Please, what are we going to do?"

At this, Sandy could only give a reassuring smile, as the edge of his face began to break apart. Cracks spread across his face, like shattered golden glass.

Jack's eyes widened, and he held his hands out, too scared to touch. "No," he begged, panic in his voice. "No, Sandy, please; try to hold on! I'm so sorry, Sandy, you're going to be all right! I promise Sandy, just hold on! Sandy, please! Please! What am I supposed to do? This is all my fault Sandy, I'm so sorry, plea–"

The sprite's desperate cries cut off, as Sandy only closed his eyes. The cracks deepened, and then suddenly, they crumbled away. Golden sand drifted to the earth, glittering in the flickering light of the Warren. A breeze swept across the grass, rustling the blades. The everlasting sun of the Warren then went out, shrouding Jack in the dark. Stunned, he only felt the dust brush past his face, caressing his frozen tears against his skin. The wind seemed to breathe with a final sigh, before it left, carrying with it the last of the sand.

And so ended the existence of Sanderson Mansnoozie.

A/N: So, I forgot about Jackrabbit week until two hours ago… Heheh… I hope I made this angsty enough! I'll be following the prompts on the jackrabbit week tumblr. blog for this, but they'll all follow a plot. And I'm hoping it will get more painful as the week continues. ;)

I would write more, but it's past midnight, and I have some more writing/work to do. Heh...

Hope you enjoyed (or ironically-didn't-like-it)!
~Renoku