For those of you that clicked on this story because I self-advertised in Fate, welcome to Powerless Guardian! There isn't much to say, so feel free to read on.

Disclaimer: Seriously, it's annoying putting this on every chapter of every fanfic that I write. But anyway, I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the concept of Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, or Jack Frost. Too bad I don't own that last one.

Every intake of breath was painful. He thought immortals weren't capable of being injured, but now, it was clearly proven to him that they were. Due to his pained gasps, it didn't take a genius to figure out that there was some sort of injury near his diaphragm. His hoodie was stained with blood that was gushing out from his side, and his ankle was broken and twisted at a wrong angle. He had a blow to the head, and blood had seeped down his eye and to his chin, dripping on to the cold, dull ground. It took all his strength not to pass out right then and there.

His opponent was standing nearby, as if to leer and jeer at him, "I've won. You've lost." It was slowly coming closer to him, readying itself to finish off the last ounce of consciousness his losing enemy had. It edged even closer, and the badly injured, young man just managed to look up at it; despite his exhaustion, his eyes defiantly dared the monster to be the first being ever to kill off a Guardian.

The monster's gooey hand stretched out slowly, and wrapped it around the boy's throat. The boy fought the urge to thrash and kick, choosing to accept his bitter end. He felt his immortal power leaving him, and closed his eyes, unwilling to see those deadly black spots dot his vision. He could feel himself growing dizzy from lack of air, but he didn't really care anymore. All he cared about that instant was that his friends were safe, and he was fiercely glad that he was the one who was about to die. To him, dying didn't seem so bad as long as he did his best.

The monster's grip was tightening more and more until it heard the ring of sleigh bells. It stopped what it was doing and glanced up, just in time for two boomerangs to smack it right in what was supposed to be the head. The monster gave a venomous hiss, and was about to leap up and attack the thrower of the boomerangs, but two whips made out of golden sand lashed out and struck it mercilessly. The monster, realizing its defeat, slinked away, admitting the Guardians' victory until their next battle.

The boy who fell victim to the monster did not know what just happened. Suppose if he was sober enough, he would've recognized the boomerangs and the whips in a heartbeat. However, he was quickly losing his battle with unconsciousness, no matter how much he fought, and he felt two strong arms wrap around him and lift him up bridal style.

"It's gonna come back..." the boy slurred to his savior or saviors, not sure if there was just one or if there were many. "Just leave me here..."

He knew that they weren't going to listen though, and he was right. He doubted if they could even hear his mumbling. His savior(s) must have realized that he wasn't giving into sleep just yet, because the next thing he knew, golden sand drifted itself on to his face and he fell into a deep slumber...

Jack woke with a start, his eyes shooting wide open. His breathing was short, and he struggled to calm himself down. He was sweating profusely, and he almost laughed – when was the last time he felt this overheated? Being a winter spirit, he naturally had no indication of feeling anything except for coldness.

He looked around the room, taking in his surroundings. He was lying on a bed in a bedroom in North's workshop; it wasn't a particularly big room, but at least it exceeded his standards for comfort.

Phil the yeti suddenly opened the door and walked in, carrying a wet towel, which Jack presumed was to be put on his forehead. "Hey, Phil," he managed to croak out, hating how he sounded like a frog with a dry throat.

Phil, finally noticing that Jack was conscious, dropped the towel and started garbling his yeti language loudly. He hurried out the door, and a few minutes later, he came back, still exclaiming gibberish, with North, Bunnymund, Tooth, and Sandy.

Tooth was the first to react. She zipped over to Jack and locked him in an embrace so tight that Jack felt as if she were choking him. She pulled back with a huge, relieved smile on her face, her feathers fluffing up in her excitement. "Jack! You're finally awake! How do you feel?"

"You want the truth? Like crap," Jack replied, his voice no better than before. He glared at his fellow Guardians, as they seemed to be quite amused at his vocal predicament. "Okay, so I sound like a dying cow, but don't you guys dare laugh."

"We are not laughing," North insisted, a ghost of a smile playing on those lips behind that bushy beard. "We have your hoodie, so put it on." He tossed Jack his blue hoodie, now as good as new. "All bloodstains needed to be washed twice with bleach."

Jack looked down at his bare chest, noticing only then that he didn't have some sort of shirt on. "Uh, thanks. How long was I out?" he asked, slipping on his article of clothing.

"Two weeks, mate," Bunnymund spoke up bluntly.

Jack sputtered in shock. "Two weeks?! TWO WEEKS?! What kind of immortal gets knocked out cold for two weeks?!" Realizing that he was having a spaz attack, he took a deep breath before he let himself get out of hand. "Sorry. Anything else?"

This question seemed to put the rest of the Guardians on edge. Tooth suddenly found her tiny feet much more interesting than before, Bunnymund glared out the small window above the bed, Sandy simply avoided eye contact, and North nervously turned to Phil, who was still in the room. "Phil... Prepare some water for him."

Phil nodded without hesitation, since he had sensed the atmosphere suddenly grow very awkward. He shuffled out of the room, his footsteps being the only noise disrupting the silence that lingered in the air.

Jack knew that the others were hiding something, but seeing how they appeared so reluctant to tell him the problem, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Nevertheless, he asked, "Hey... Is there...something you guys are hiding from me?"

North held up a hand, motioning Jack to not press any further. "There is. But it is rather...shocking." The other three nodded in agreement.

Jack was taken aback at how they came right out and said it, having expected them to try and deny it as best as they could. "O-Okay..." he said, growing increasingly skeptical, but forced himself to ask the ultimate question, gulping down the lump that had formed in his throat, "What is it?"

Sandy tried to conjure up many sand images to let Jack catch on to the news they were trying to break to him, but it only escalated the poor boy's confusion.

"Jack... You know the monster you fought?" Tooth started what was going to be a long explanation.

Jack's heart pounded faster in his chest as he looked down at where his injuries were supposed to be. His immortal power had allowed them to quickly and completely heal some time during his two-week-long coma. "I had a nightmare about what happened right before I woke up; of course I know."

"Do you know who that monster was?"

Jack hesitated. Did he know? He knew the thing was a powerful monster made out of some sort of gooey substance that could take shape of anything at sheer will. But did he know who the monster's purpose in this universe was? Did he know why it attacked him? "No," was his final answer.

"That was the monster that feeds on immortals," Bunnymund explained to him. "It lives on our power by taking it all away from us."

"Jack, when it was trying to strangle you, it was actually sucking out all your immortality. It is good thing that we arrived when we did, because if it did not let go of you, you would have died," North finished.

Jack simply stared, trying to comprehend what his friends were implying. "So does that mean..."

Sandy confirmed his fears by nodding, with no sand image flying above his head this time.

Jack looked down at the floor. He could already feel the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. I'm turning mortal. I'm turning human again.

Uh... I don't like how I ended this, but I guess this will have to do. So anyway, I would like it if you guys check out my other story Fate, and please review! It'd be nice to have at least one review by the time I upload the second chapter.