Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Rise of the Guardians or Sword Art Online.
So, this is going to be slightly AU for the ROTG world. It takes place after the movie, but everything occurred a bit later than the actual date for the events in the movie, thus making this story possible. I hope you enjoy!
Jack Frost was a major fan of games and fun, something everyone knew. It was rather obvious, considering he was the Guardian of Fun. Jaimie Bennet was one of Jack's favorite kids, and the reason why Jack was in Burgess right now. The kids in town were all obsessing over some new system that had released, allowing them to actually experience a virtual reality when they played games. Jack had been rather unimpressed at the sight of this Nervgear they used, preferring his snowball fights to video games any day. Unfortunately, Jaimie was one of the kids obsessed with the thing. That was why Jack had agreed to use it just once, to show Jaimie how much more fun it would be to play outside.
"Jack, you're here! Look, I've got it all set up for both of us." Jaimie cheered, sitting down on his bed as Jack flew into the window. The winter spirit grinned at the kid, shaking his head in response.
"Great, let's get this over with so the real fun can begin." Jack told him, watching Jaimie roll his eyes.
"Come on, you know games are fun. You're just upset that you didn't come up with the idea first." he argued. "
Yeah, right. Snowball fights are way better, kid. Plus, it gets you out of school for a day, who doesn't like that?" Jack replied, watching Jaimie just smile and hand Jack the Nervgear helmet.
"Put this on. We're going to be two of the first people ever to play this new game that just released. It sold out almost immediately, it has to be good!" Jaimie said, clearly excited about the idea.
"What's this game called?" Jack asked, watching Jaimie strap the Nervgear onto his head.
"Sword Art Online, huge in Japan. We're lucky we even got a copy here in America. Put your Nervgear on, we need to get on before we fall behind the other players!" Jaimie insisted, noticing that Jack had yet to join him. With a sigh, Jack put the device on his head. After a few moments of waiting for it to power up, he was in the game, stretching his new body as he stared at the world around him. He felt strange, not quite as light as he normally was. He couldn't feel the wind around him trying to lift him into the air, nor could he feel any magic within his body. It reminded him of the time his staff was broken, a sudden yanking away from the powers that were so central to Jack's existence as he entered this new world.
"Frost?" Jaimie asked, walking over to him. The winter spirit stared at the boy, an eyebrow raised at the much older looking avatar Jaimie was using. He was about Jack's height right now, still with brown hair but a much more mature face without freckles anywhere. His eyes were bright green as well and his clothes were strange, though they seemed to match what everyone else was wearing in this town.
"Sorry, couldn't think of anything else really." Jack apologized, knowing that most people tried at least changing their name slightly in these games. Besides, it wasn't like anyone could find him in real life, considering anyone playing this game was likely to be too old to believe in Jack Frost.
"It's great! Isn't this place amazing? Come on, let's go take a look around!" Jaimie insisted, grabbing Jack's hand and pulling him along the streets.
"You know, you look kind of funny." Jaimie commented, examining Jack's avatar. He knew it was true, but he was upset that the avatar creator wouldn't let him choose white as his hair color, or create skin as pale as his really was. His goal had been to make his character resemble himself, but in the end he looked more like he did before he was chosen. The only difference was his eyes that he had managed to keep blue.
"Of course I do, no winter spirit ends up this tan in real life! So, what are we supposed to be doing in this game anyway?" Jack asked, getting rather bored with just walking around.
Jaimie smiled, happy to explain the game to the clueless winter spirit. "Well, we are in Aincrad, an enormous floating castle filled with monsters, cities, and players. The goal is to defeat the boss on each of the 100 floors and reach the top of the tower." he replied, walking down the street.
"So, where are these boss things? Why don't we just finish this quickly and head back home?" Jack complained, uncomfortable with the heat in this game. It felt like summer here, strange considering none of it was real. Jack actually needed to focus to remind himself that he wasn't really here, that he was still safely in Jaimie's room with his staff and magic accessible fairly easily.
"We only just started! There's no way we're strong enough to defeat the boss already. We've got to do quests and level up first." Jaimie replied.
"That sounds like work! Games are supposed to be about relaxing, just having fun with friends, not all of this effort. Can't we just log off already, Jaimie?" Jack complained once more.
"You promised we'd play this together! Also, don't call me that here, you aren't supposed to call me by my real name." he argued.
Jack rolled his eyes at Jaimie, sighing and nodding at the kid. "Alright, fine. We'll go do some quests then log off. Why does what I call you matter, anyway? I mean, it's not like anyone can hear me anyway." Jack asked, aware that he was still invisible to much of the world.
"You never know, maybe in the virtual world you don't need belief to be seen. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Call me by my avatar's name, Believer." he said with a grin, making Jack smile as well. No one else would understand that name and he would probably get a ton of jokes about it, but Jack was happy to hear Jaimie's chosen name.
Jack nodded, grinning once more when suddenly everything changed. They had been standing on a street in the city when they were teleported to a large meeting area in the center of town, along with a huge crowd. "Uh, was that supposed to happen?" Jack asked, looking over towards Jaimie.
"Not that I'm aware of. It looks like almost every player has been brought here…." Jaime whispered, listening in on the panicked whispers. Jack could hear how people were unable to log out, wondering what was with this strange bug going on in the game.
He was surprised when he bumped into someone, another kid with black hair and about the same height as Jack. "Wait, did I just run into you?" Jack asked, blinking in surprise at the kid who was too focused on studying the crowd around him.
"Yes." he replied, but his companion was a bit more vocal.
"Please tell me you know what's going on. My name's Kleine and this is my pal, Kirito. I've got a pizza on the way back home, I need to log off!" he said, clearly panicking slightly.
"Uh, right. I'm Ja-" he began, only to be interrupted by a nudge from Jaimie. "Right, Frost, and this is my friend Believer." he continued, watching the guys raise an eyebrow at them.
"American? I didn't realize they released SAO over there." Kirito replied, recognizing that the names were rather strange.
Their conversation was interrupted though, by the appearance of a new item in everyone's hands. Jack glanced down at the mirror he now held, watching the others do the same. Suddenly, a flash of light burst out from the mirrors, blinding everyone nearby including Jack. He blinked a few times, grinning when he saw his new reflection. "Alright! Finally, I'm back to my old self." Jack cheered, glancing down towards Jaimie. He was not surprised to see the kid was back to his usual self as well, but he looked worried.
"Frost, this isn't right. This shouldn't be happening." he said, watching the others begin to recover.
"Believer is right, this is no longer a simply system failure. Look at that." Kirito commented, now much younger-looking himself. Jack followed his gaze, glancing at the sky that was now filled with red warning labels everywhere he could see. Instinctively, Jack grabbed Jaimie and pulled the kid closer. "We're gonna be alright, kid. You know what we do when we get scared, right?" Jack said, giving him a small smile as he glanced down.
Jaimie nodded, giving Jack a small smile in return. "We go have some fun instead, right?" he replied. Jack was about to come up with a game to distract him when a figure began to emerge from the sky.
"Players, I welcome you all to my name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world." it stated ominously, while the players watched from the city below it. Jack could tell that Kirito was surprised from this news, but Jack was intent on hearing this through to the end. The man remained silent for a while before continuing in his speech. "I think that most of you have discovered the fact that the log out button has disappeared from the main menu." Jack froze, a bit alarmed at this statement. If he couldn't log out, he was trapped in this game. The Guardians wouldn't be able to get his help if something went wrong and he wouldn't be around to spread belief anymore. This was worse than he thought. "This is not a bug. It's all part of SAO's system. I repeat, this is not a bug. Everything is all a part of SAO's design." Kayaba added.
"What design is that?" Kleine demanded angrily, while Kirito stood in stunned silence. Jack's face was grim, growing more serious every second this man continued speaking.
"Until the top of this castle is reached, you cannot log out of your own free will. Also, dismantling the Nervgear from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted, the signal sensors in your Nerve Gears will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all of your basic bodily functions. Basically, instant death." Jack felt Jaimie stiffen by his side, his eyes wide while Jack knelt down next to him.
"We're gonna be alright, kid. It's just a game, right? So why don't we go have some fun when this is done with?" Jack said, keeping a smile on his face.
He knew that he had to stay cheerful right now, that all of these players needed a Guardian with this man here. Someone had to show them that the game could still be fun. "Nervgear is just a gaming device. Destroying our brains…how could he do that? Right Kirito? How can electronic pulses kill people?" Kleine was demanding.
"Theoretically, it's possible, but I think he must be bluffing. To destroy a human brain will require a huge battery." Kirito replied. They all stood, waiting for more from Kayaba, the messenger that created this very game.
"To be a little more specific, dislocation from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to unlock, dismantle, or destroy the Nerve Gear. If any of these conditions are met, the brain destruction sequence will start." he stated, but someone else had something to say to this man.
"What if someone outside removes our Nerve Gear without our consent?" he demanded.
"These conditions have been made known to the government and the public through mass-media in the outside world. On that note, there have been several cases where the relatives or friends have ignored the warnings and tried to forcefully get rid of the Nerve Gears. As a result, 213 players have already exited this game, and hence the real world, forever." he declared, coldly considering he was speaking of so many deaths.
Jack began to wonder how this would effect him. Could this game really kill him? He was already dead, technically. He might actually be safe if someone tried to pull him out of the game, but if that happened, no one would be here to protect Jaimie. "Kirito, I want you to promise me something." Jack said quietly, ignoring Kayaba as he continued his speech about the deaths. The boy looked over at him, shock still on his face as he saw the two boys in front of him. "Make sure Believer here has some fun, if something happens to me. He's just a kid and could use the help of someone like you in this game." he commented.
"Relax, it's not like we will find anything too deadly in here, right?" Kleine replied, patting both Kirito and Jack on the back as he tried to cheer them up.
Jack wasn't so sure, not after the way this man was behaving. This Kayaba seemed to remind Jack of Pitch, a man trying to create a world with as much fear as possible. Jack knew that Pitch would add a little element like Kleine had just mentioned, simply to put fear into the hearts of everyone here and make it a real game for him. Kayaba's next statement only proved Jack's thoughts. This man…Jack suddenly began to wonder if he really was Pitch Black. "No…it can't be." he whispered, the man's voice suddenly reminding him of the enemy of the Guardians.
"This is insane…how are we supposed to make it out of here alive?" Kleine whispered, clearly not taking this news too well.
"To exit this game, there is only one condition. Players must get to the top of Aincrad and defeat the final boss that resides there. I promise that all players still alive at that time will immediately be logged out of the game." Jack had heard enough of this and was about to step forward when Jaimie stopped him.
"Wait! What do you think you're doing?" he asked, fear in his eyes.
Jack knelt down in front of him again, holding his shoulders as he spoke. "He's trying to destroy me. That's what this is all about, I know it. Turning fun into something bad, that's why he made this game." Jack stated
"You will all probably be wondering why? Why is the creator of Nerve Gear and SAO doing something like this? To create and watch this perfect world, this world filled with fear. I no longer have a reason or purpose for doing anything, because I have finally realized my ultimate goal. As of now, I have officially finished the tutorial for Sword Art Online. Players, fight bravely and let fear keep you alive." he stated as he vanished.
Jack glared into the air where he was, knowing exactly who they were up again. "He's back." Jaimie whispered, finally realizing the truth. Jack watched the others begin to panic, exactly what Pitch was going for. He had taken on the role of Kayaba for this game, to create a world where he could inspire more fear than he could ever make in real life. A place where everyone would fear him, just like he wanted when he fought the Guardians.
"Believer, Frost, Kleine, come with me." Kirito insisted, running off into the crowd. Jack grabbed Jaimie's arm, pulling him along as he chased after the one other player they knew here.
"We're going to need someone to help us. It took all of the Guardians and you kids to stop him the first time. Without them here, the other players will have to help." Jack explained to the kid as they ran, feeling relieved when they stopped.
Kleine seemed to be panicking still, while Jack and Jaimie were determined to make it through this. "Keep it together, Kleine. I'm going to get out of this city and head over to the next village. You three should come with me too." Kirito insisted, watching them carefully. The boy looked worried about the idea, especially as he seemed to think about it more, but he didn't back down.
"You're trying to avoid the battle for experience in this area, aren't you?" Jaimie asked, more familiar with games than Jack was. Kirito nodded, his eyes on Kleine.
"I can't." he said eventually, looking concerned. "I can't leave my friends behind, they should all be in the plaza right now." he explained.
"Make sure you calm them down, fear is the worst thing for everyone right now." Jack told him, watching both Kirito and Kleine give him confused stares.
"Uh, Frost? I don't think now's the time to explain that to them…" Jaimie said softly from beside him. Jack sighed and nodded, wishing he had his staff and hoodie back. He might look like himself, but this armor he wore was not like him at all.
"Okay…if anything happens, Kleine, send me a message." Kirito said, frowning at Jack and Jaimie for a moment. After a few more words, Kleine went back off into the city, leaving Jack alone with Jaimie and Kirito.
"So, off to the next village, right?" Jack clarified, a smile on his face.
"Still clueless, aren't you Frost?" Jaimie commented, grinning as Jack shrugged and began following after Kirito. There might be dangers in this world, but he knew the best way to fight back against Pitch Black. He just had to focus on the fun in this game, then he would finally be able to win and free everyone.
So, I've been incredibly bored lately. I keep trying to write more into the stories I've already started, but instead, I just keep coming up with new ideas. For those of you who do not read my other stories, updates are based on the number of reviews a story receives. The two stories in progress with the most reviews will be updated weekly, all others will receive monthly updates (hopefully, I'm starting a lot right now. Working two jobs gave me a lot of ideas that got backed up for a while, and now I am trying to write all of them at once before I forget any of them). So, feel free to review and tell me what you think!