=Distortion=

-Rise of the Guardians / Stargate SG-1 Crossover-

By: JFrostTales

Look at me! Already starting a new story even before the first one is even posted. Well, as you can see it's another crossover and another rather odd one at that. Okay well I don't think it's all that strange, at least not with what I have in mind. But I digress; starting today will be my first multi-chapter RotG related story. I can't really put a specific length on this one…it will take as long as it will take basically. I will give a heads up that updates MIGHT be on the slow end, hopefully not but I like to give people a heads up just in case, ya know just covering all the bases. I write when the inspiration hits me but after going through at least three different concepts for this story, I've finally come to one that I feel really excited about. It should be fun and I hope those who take the opportunity to read this will enjoy it also. On one final note before I get started, I should probably give a general time line. In regards to Rise of the Guardians, this story takes place several years after the movie. For Stargate, it's anywhere between the first and third season seeing as SG-1 has conducted hundreds of missions not just the one's seen in the episodes ;D. So! Without further ado, I present, Distortion, chapter 1

It was dark, cold, isolated, nothing but dirt and rocks and the remains of a rotting old bed frame. How many years had passed since the night he was sucked back down into his now earthy prison? Pitch Black stood in the shadows watching his own version of the great globe, watching bitterly as the lights flickered on the dark stone. His plan had been perfect, or at least it would have been had Jack Frost not realized himself a Guardian and interfered. The Nightmare King had gambled on the possibility of the winter spirit would join him, of course their conversation in Antarctica had not been wrong…it would have just been him. After all, Jack would have made a very formidable fearling. He was a free spirit, which meant he would have probably changed his mind and turned against him eventually, it was the only sure way to preserve complete loyalty. But, the dice had not landed in his favor and what he thought to be a shrug-offable turn of events, eventually lead to his current state.

Underestimating Jack Frost had been only one of his mistakes, Pitch frowned ever so slightly, but where else did he go wrong? The Guardians toppled rather quickly after he had taken out the Sandman. In fact it was almost boringly easy to deal with each one after that. The gears were turning in his mind, eventually his last remaining nightmares would bore through the earth and open a new portal for him to escape, and all he had to do was be patient and plan. And plan he did as he turned on his dark boot heel and glided away. Merely standing and waiting never sat well with the Boogieman, he had to keep himself occupied and during the long years he had come to discover a new cavern in his vast labyrinth of a lair. It was many centuries old and mostly flooded, water was not a problem for the dark immortal so such things were merely an irritation than an actual hindrance.

Putting all of that aside, he spent hours examining the large antre, the writings on the wall he recognized from many different eras. What he found most fascinating about this place was that it dated as far back as the dark age, it wasn't until recently he found that it went back much, much further. There was a language on one of the submerged slabs of stone, a language he had not seen since the golden age. It had been so long he almost couldn't read it, but he had nothing but time and eventually he discovered mention of an ancient device. The power it possessed was described as being feared by both man and immortal. With such an enticing pull Pitch felt that maybe, just maybe, he had found the instrument to the fall of the Guardians. Of course, he had to find this device and see how it actually worked but if this cave was as large as he felt it was, the device had to be hidden somewhere inside.

A knurled, toothy, grin pulled at the Nightmare King's face, neither the Man in the Moon or the Guardians were going to know what hit them.

A few weeks passed and the start of winter break was fast approaching. While that meant he couldn't entertain the children of Burgess with glorious snow days, Jack Frost still greatly looked forward to spending two weeks of uninterrupted fun with some of his closest human friends. Besides, he'd been cooking up a snowball fight for the record books. Unlike the other Guardians, Jack's center allowed for more personal interactions with the children. Sure he often favored Burgess over other places having a hometown bias, but he'd learned to show the same attentiveness to other towns.

With an exuberant grin, the winter spirit streaked through the thick clouds, riding the wind with far more skill than he had a few years ago. Once the small town came into view, he dove down and somersaulted through the streets leaving patches of ice wherever he landed. Even the wind had trouble keeping up with his excitement causing a frigid gust to pass through the streets forcing the pedestrians to pull their coats closer to their bodies or gasp in shock. Letting out a jovial laugh, Jack pressed on until he reached his lake where he slid to a graceful halt. The iced over water under his bare feet solidified a bit more, this was always the first place he went whenever he returned. Running his staff across the surface, Jack caused the entire surface to solidify a good foot below the surface. Since it was the shallowest of the lakes in the area, it wasn't as warm as the others and as such would stay frozen longer. Besides, the kids favored this lake the most knowing that he frequented it the most.

Pleased with his handiwork, Jack Frost slid himself across the surface to the edge before being lifted once more by the wind to land softly on the nearest tree branch. It was the early afternoon so he was a bit early; Jamie and his friends were still in school so he had some time to kill. Just his arrival alone had caused snow to start falling more steadily, with a bit of concentration he could make a good three to four inches fall before school let out. This sort of thing was a no brainer though so the spirit soon grew bored and decided he'd go and visit the school. Having spent the spring and summer months at the North Pole with North and the yeti's, he wanted to get a glimpse of Jamie to see how he'd been doing.

Leaping from the tree and soaring into the sky, Jack landed on a random roof before leaping from one building to another. Jamie's school was on the other side of town, a ten minute drive but he cleared it in four. Landing on the wire fence surrounding the school's playground, Jack hopped down and took a casual stroll through the grounds leaving more ice patches in his wake and even going as far as coating the slides with a thin icy layer. An almost deviant grin split his face, but he knew it would melt after a few goes.

After putting a little Jack Frost twist to the playground, he moved toward the building itself. It took him a few tries before locating the window that looked in on Jamie's class. He was in high school now if he remembered correctly, a freshman. Jack remembered how excited Jamie was about becoming a highschooler, so now that he had the moment he wanted to see just how fun high school was. Peeking through the window, nose pressed against the steadily cooling glass, cerulean blue eyes scanned for a familiar face. What he saw though didn't look like fun at all. All the students, including Jamie, had scrunched up faces. A test it looked like, Jack smirked and tapped his finger against the window.

The only one to look up was Jamie; the others hadn't heard the disturbance. Scanning eyes searched a second then spotted Jack waving. Giving the other a wary smile, Jamie nodded before looking back down at the tormenting paper before him. Jack though just quirked his head to the side before tapping on the window again, and like before Jamie looked up, only this time Jack took his crooked staff and ran it across the whole glass causing it to freeze over slightly. Jamie grinned a bit more before the teacher noticed the distracted boy. Frowning, the rather large woman got to her feet and walked over to the window and shut the blinds, blocking Jack from view.

"Hey!" Jamie heard Jack protest before he was scolded for not paying attention to his test.

Cheeks puffing out in an annoyed pout, Jack huffed before departing. At least Jamie knew he was around, he'd come looking for him after school let out so departing was all the spirit could do for now. Leaving the grounds, Jack took to the air once more and flew around the town. He did have half a mind to throw a snowball at the stuffy teacher, but that would probably get Jamie in trouble. Begrudgingly putting the thought from his mind, Jack lazily made his way back towards the lake.

However, before he reached his destination something large and black slammed into him. Knocked a few feet out of the air before catching himself, Jack's eyes shot up and darted around for his attacker. When his gaze fell on a sickeningly familiar black stallion heading in the direction of the lake, Jack scowled. "Pitch…"

Not wanting to just leave the nightmarish creature alone, Jack flew after it. Weaving in and out of buildings and tree branches, the nightmare stallion bypassed the lake for a deeper section of woods. Everything about this was starting to feel a little like a trap, where was this monster leading him? Eyes narrowing, he watched as the dark, sandy, creature reached a small cave. Jack Frost was familiar with these woods so he couldn't remember there ever being a cave here. This only confirmed his suspicions, that Pitch must have found a way back to the surface. The temptation to seal the front of this cave with ice was near over whelming, but something in his gut told him to wait.

Not entering the cave right away, Jack paced for a few minutes, weighing his options. The right, Guardian, thing to do was to go and warn the others. But on the off hand that he was wrong and that nightmare stallion was just a straggler he'd be causing a whole mess of unnecessary worry and that would just give Bunnymund more of a reason to dislike him…not that he actually cared what the oversized kangaroo thought of him. Perhaps a little, but that wasn't the point now. Letting out a disgruntled groan and settling on taking a quick peek first, Jack approached and entered the cave.

It was dark but he got his bearings quickly, it seemed to go on forever, before he knew it the light from the entrance had vanished. The faint dripping of water against stone and soft whistling of the wind told him that the tunnel was steadily growing bigger. After what felt like hours, the tunnel opened into a large cavern. A strange light seemed to be coming from somewhere, but he couldn't place it. Gripping his staff tighter with both hands, Jack stepped lightly. That's when an ominous chuckle broke the eerie silence. He knew that laugh; it belonged to no one but Pitch.

Stopping and going on the defensive, Jack looked around quickly for any sign of the Nightmare King.

"It's been a long time Jack," Pitch spoke stepping out of the shadows a few feet in front of the winter spirit, "You're looking well." His mockingly casual tone gave away his actual glee at seeing the other. He had thought that with this much time Jack would have at least grown a little smarter. No matter, it was good he was still at least this gullible.

"Pitch, can't say the same for you." Was Jack's reply, he took a step forward to show he wasn't afraid. Pitch only took a step back.

"Now, now, no need for that, I just thought I'd say hello, that's all." Pitch continued, "After all, I'm sure you know how it feels to be alone."

"Actually, I've got that pretty under control," smirking Jack lowered his staff but kept his guard up, "Well, now that I know you're in here I'm gonna go and seal that cave now." He was going to seal it and then tell the Guardians; of course Pitch wasn't looking nearly as strong as he did before. If the other put up a fight he'd probably be able to hold his own.

"Alright, if you think that will do you any good," Pitch's grin grew, he subtly waved his hand as black sand moved away from the path Jack had taken to reach this point, "See you later Jack~"

"What?" Jack set his foot down and paused, but before he could say anything more there was a strange flash. He felt strange, like he was being sucked through a tiny hole, but it only lasted a split second. Landing with a harsh thud, Jack Frost found himself no longer in the large cavern but lying in front of a large black, stone mirror. Quickly looking up, he saw Pitch in the reflection. Instinctively turning with his staff at the ready he shot a bolt of ice behind him but there was nothing there. Turning back towards the mirror, Pitch was laughing and it was then that he realized that the angle in the mirror was wrong. It was like he was looking up at the Nightmare King from inside a hole but he was standing up right. The dark figure then waved to him before the image blackened. Eyes growing wide, Jack charged at the mirror and slammed his fists against the smooth surface,

"PITCH!"