#after they’ve tortured PK

[roscolate]

YASSSSS MAMA LUIGI GOING TO TOWN ON BOWSER LET’S GOOOOO 🔥🔥🔥

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3 - 1 <<< 19 / 20 / ???

THE WAR I HAD JUST TO POST THIS OMG. AAARRRRGGG Tumblr needs to fix the 30 image thing already GGGRRRR. I’m not the only one with this struggle apparently.

ANYways, the reunion scene is SO CLOSE I CAN ALMOST TASTE IT YAHHOOOOOOOO! I’m IMPATIENT for it that Dimenchant and Viola won’t continue until I have posted the reunion animation!

AHHH AHHHH AHHH EEEEEEEEEE

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

FarscapeWatch: 2.05 ‘The Way We Weren’t’

It’s been a minute, but we’re back in business. The season 2 reactions continue as I continue my first watch of Farscape!~

It's a flashback episode! This bodes well coming so early in the series after effectively a repilot as this season started.

Okay so we're in Moya...or are they just saving money by re-using the set, because either I'm watching a low-quality pitched-up version, or that's not Pilot??

Ladypilot? I like her. So something bad will happen no doubt. Just like Crais's lady second in command last season.

Are we watching a recording? Interesting flashback. Oooh yep they kill that Pilot and its...really quite brutal. Ugh Crais pfo.

And there's the stinger. Aeryn was part of the crew killing the previous pilot of that Leviathan. Which...actually is Moya. And it's Chiana that's found this recording, wuh oh. Good thing she and Aeryn have such a camaraderie and positive history so far... (Although we do seem to be retconning the character development in Taking the Stone away in these last few episodes).

So we enter the episode, and now we're all watching the tape...the whole crew, including Aeryn. Rygel right away stirs the pot, and I'm starting to see a Rygel-Chiana teamup connection. Rygel is somehow a lot more tolerable with someone else on his 'team', so to speak. So right away they all (minus John, I'm sure) jump to the conclusion that Aeryn has been deliberately concealing this past from them as some kind of long-held plan of her own, and really... I just don't think it's been seeded enough that Aeryn might be a traitor. She's been portrayed so far as The Main Girl even over Chiana who's had a lot of narrative focus, her entire character and arcs have been based around her being an outcast from her people, so what does she have to gain by playing what's by my reckoning now at least a months-long game against the rest of them and faking all kinds of emotional responses? Nah, not buying it. But the downside is that then makes the rest of the cast look bad, and I like those guys.

So they start to be paranoid that Aeryn might have come across - or even tortured! - them themselves in the past as they were on Moya at this time, three cycles - that is, three years, I think - ago. Aeryn denies it and John backs her up. Zhaan has a nasty little remark about being shocked that Aeryn would kill a Pilot but...Zhaan, she was ordered to, it would've been her own head on the block if she didn't. And Aeryn rightfully points out that Zhaan had no problem with cutting THEIR Pilot's arm off just out of her own selfishness. Chiana actually chips in as the voice of reason here and points out, had none of them actually thought to understand what it meant that Aeryn was a Peackeeper? She did bad things. So I wonder will this be an introspective episode about all that kind of thing?

Again, I imagine this kind of thing came up in the fandom at the time, but perhaps it's possible that Zhaan, D'Argo and Rygel, being the characters they are, just DIDN'T ever think too deeply about Aeryn's past - or even hid it from themselves so they could work with her. Chiana of course, the wildcard, has no such qualms. Being real though, they've all done plenty bad, Zhaan and D'Argo are canonically killers, even if they had reason, and Rygel and Chiana probably aren't squeaky clean either. Pot kettle much?

And we're into flashback with Aeryn ominously noting relationships. Romantic, perhaps? I'm just ready for John's whiny dudebro to rear its head again just as we'd started to move past that if it turns out she's gasp been with someone else before.

So the first thing that's established is that not only is Aeryn emotionless and focused because she's a Peacekeeper, her singlemindedness and adherence to procedure and policy are actually intense even by Peacekeeper standards. This Aeryn is very firmly Lawful Neutral, an alignment I'd say she keeps but adheres less strictly to at this point in Farscape real-time, veering into True Neutral. On that note, my imagined alignments for all our leads so far: Rygel = Chaotic Evil verging on Chaotic Neutral, Chiana = Chaotic Neutral, textbook, D'Argo = Neutral Good, Zhaan = True Neutral, John = Chaotic Good, Crais = Lawful Neutral. Pilot...hard to say, because Pilot's not been a character for long. Though going by last episode, perhaps that's due to change this season.

Flashback!Moya introduces a 'friend' of Aeryn's from the off. A male friend. Hmmm...

It's revealed that Aeryn also unknowingly facilitated the new Pilot, our character known as Pilot (this will get confusing fast >.<) being brought aboard Moya. It's decided that he should not be told about this tape and immediately the camera cuts to Chiana, hmm, I wonder if *someone* is going to show Pilot the tape??? Presumably he would not be happy to see Aeryn killing one of his kind, to be fair, would anyone be? This is going to go terribly wrong, isn't it.

Back into flashback. It seems that Aeryn's friend is a softly-softly approach kinda guy with his attitude to the imprisoned Pilot, but willing to change to overt violence in front of superiors like Crais. Peer pressure or looking after number 1? We also learn that Pilots are much more intelligent than human(oid)s, or at least, can handle a multipilicty of concepts far better than our brains could.

So we have a lot of Peacekeeper internal politics. Crais is a hard slavedriver who wants Aeryn's superior to work faster and do things ASAP no matter the damage that may cause. Aeryn's man disagrees, but has no choice as he's inferior. Also somehow Aeryn is always in the background in these scenes, although it seems to be the case that she's a lot lower down the chain. Just chance, perhaps?

Minor aside, a shot showing that Aeryn DID in fact see Zhaan while as a Peacekeeper and was not at all bothered to see her captured. So she didn't mention that. On that note, I'm unsure who's privy to these flashbacks - is she telling John in private, or just thinking of them herself and we viewers are looking in, or are we looking in as if we were there for the context of what she's feeling now, becoming privy to information np-one else on Moya is?

Okay so it's revealed why Aeryn is in the background; she's been trying unsuccessfully for a while to get Crais's attention to request a transfer, and has been rebuffed coldly every time. Here he just walks away while she's speaking, sheesh.

Back to present day. It's all weighing on Aeryn's mind and she beats her punching bag until her hands are bloody. John comes to her and they talk, we get some indepth on Peacekeeper culture. Emotions are just about forbidden, especially positive ones, and bonds are also discouraged. Romance is tacitly forbidden, but sex is fine as a biological need for stress relief. It's interesting, the latter - I wonder if that was shocking in the late 90s, because it feels like that's a more common or more accepted perspective on sex at least, today, emotional and abusive other parts aside.

CALLED IT. Aeryn and..Valorik? (I’m going to call him V) were totally bangin'. But possibly also developing feelings for each other, at least inklings of, maybe onesided, maybe both ways? Which is of course, the biggest forbidden fruit. So back then, baby Aeryn was playing on a knife edge of breaking the rules, interesting.

(Possibly slightly kinky sex too, there's a bit of grabbing there and chocking, wow)

ALSO CALLED IT. John seems dumbfounded that Aeryn used to be "lovers" with someone else, and is struck speechless and stammering. Sorry sunshine, but you're both at least mid-twenties, did you really think you were her first? You were ENGAGED or nearly it anyway back on Earth! Aeryn admits now that this guy was her something special that she'd had feelings for - which puts an interesting spin on her requesting a transfer earlier in the episode, and not for the first time either - perhaps easier to run from the situation than deal with the conflict in her vows and her feelings? (Also, still working out John and Aeryn's relationship right now...it feels like Official Couple, but it's interesting how John has now been very much accepted, even as a leader, if his partner is still privy to being outcast at literally a minute's notice...)

Well, now Pilot's seen the tape. "How did he get hold of that?" John asks. Well, John, you're on a ship with two wildcards and two characters who distrust Aeryn, is it rocket science? Pilot calls Aeryn - Officer Sun - in to see him, and does NOT sound happy.

Let me take this moment to note how different Aeryn looks with her hair down and long. She's like a different woman.

Aeryn claims to closer to Pilot 'than any other two beings on this ship' as she still has his DNA inside her. Guess she and John have been using space condoms then? (sorry)

So Pilot attacks her, and tbh, I'm Team Pilot on this one. Aeryn's view that being reminded of what she had done - tacit admission that she forgot, it mattered that little to her! - is just as bad on her as Pilot discovering she killed one of his kind coldbloodedly is pretty much not equivalent I think. "I killed someone which is bad, but it's hard on me too because I forgot and only now feel guilty!" is a pretty weak defence.

Now Pilot's having a flashback. Of being 'installed' into the ship, which is literally being inserted into the driver's seat...and then wired in so he's rooted in. Eesh.

So, we have some interesting ethical things arising. Moya's previous Pilot refused to do as she was told so was killed by the Peacekeepers. Pilot was installed, but was aware on installation that the ship had had a previous Pilot who was now dead in order for him to be installed. Moya was at the time unaware and Pilot fears he will be rejected. Also, the PKs are going to forcibly install Pilot, instead of going through a year-long bonding process, they aim to do it within approximately two days. That's a lot. In the present day, Pilot now refuses to fly the ship - echoing the previous Pilot - unless Aeryn leaves. But... I feel like the fact that it is the same ship that Pilot himself was installed in, also, perhaps, benefiting from the previous one's death, complicates things. He did not, in the flashback, seem to be under the impression that he would be the ship's first ever Pilot.

So Rygel showed Pilot the tape. And Chiana's mad at him for it, god I love her, you never know what she's going to do.

Zhaan and Aeryn scene. Zhaan tends to Aeryn after Pilot's attack on her throat, but is a little rough intentionally and makes some snide remarks too. Interesting little scene, at first Zhaan seems to be very angry with Aeryn, but when she starts to pack to leave, then, relents and apologises; Aeryn only did as she was told. An interesting time-wise parallel comes here, because at the same time as Aeryn was obediently following orders, the other leads were already imprisoned for grossly breaking what was expected of them by murder, theft, or rebellion. Who is right, though? Arguments can be made both ways. And what was John doing three years ago? Probably...similar to Aeryn, following orders, following the rules, and possibly not worrying about the ethics of the situation either.

Back to flashback. More ethics, which is interesting. Aeryn wishes to follow her orders, but her feelings - and what Mr V is telling her - are coming into conflict with those orders, almost suggesting the Peacekeeper system may effectively be two-tier. One rule for the grunts, another for those high up enough for High Command to turn a blind eye. V wishes for Aeryn and he to be assigned together again and stay as partners - and he can make it happen. He also badmouths Crais which horrifies Aeryn - outright "insubordination", but V justifies it to her as observation - likely something else she has learned to value in the military. I'm reminded of Asimov's robots realising that in order to fulfil objective #1 - prevent humans from coming to harm by inaction, humans actually have to be harmed sometimes to save them from themselves or each other.

To complicate things even more. V wishes to sabotage Crais to save the Leviathan, Moya, for fear that pursuing Crais's plans will kill it. V is telling Aeryn, his forbidden lover this - although hearing about it puts them both in danger and makes her an accessory. Tricky, tricky.

Just one little aside as well. V insists that he knows what Aeryn feels, and that if she does as he says and leaves with him, she'll be so much happier. That's a nice parallel to John - but not an all-out positive one, because in both, Aeryn's choice and what she actually wants is being subordinated.

Back to flashback with Pilot, and we learn that not only was Pilot's plugging-in to Moya painful, the pain *never went away* and he has just been living with it, accustomed to it, since then! Sheesh. Further, Pilot has only been accepted by Moya in the first place because she was tortured into submission.

Well this is good. Pilot, feeling guilty, has now unplugged himself from Moya by effectively amputating part of himself that was plugged in. Plus side, he's no longer in pain, minus side...he's no longer in control of the ship, so she effectively has no brain to maintain all the things that need done. Aeryn blames herself for this all and no doubt the flashbacks will let us know why...

Awh, Aeryn's solution is that Pilot needs to talk about the time back then, which is something she's learned from John, I quite like that. John of course seizes on this to pressure Aeryn to talk to HIM which...okay, but it's not all always about you buddy. Just let her do her thing, she's a grown-up.

Flashback to Aeryn and V, alone, intimate. She tells him she will go with him. She admits fear of the unknown, though, and he tells her she has it in her to be able to survive elsewhere - which is heartbreaking, because we know she since has, when she in the past didn't believe she could. She just never could have imagined the circumstances that would occur in.

So it turns out that Aeryn sold V out for his treason. PLaying by the rules and being good was more important. But it's understandable, it's how she was raised, and she was protecting herself, too. Even as he is dragged away, V tells her she's special, even in a proud tone - nobody else would have attempted this, that is, she has turned him in for the reward of being able to get her transfer that had failed so many times before. In a way, she has, ironically, gone about getting that through less than official, or typical channels.

Back to present, and it's heavily implied that V was tortured to death for his treason. Tough on Aeryn, tougher on him, of course.

Aeryn and John, present day, drop from above into Pilot's chamber, bypassing the sealed door. Pilot uses two DRD guards to attack, but John and Aeryn are able to shoot and disable them, approaching and holding Pilot at gunpoint, wow, that escalated fast.

Okay I love how Aeryn doesn't get his talking thing. So she pushes Pilot to talk by shouting at him and threatening to shoot him up here and now if he doesn't. Smooth. It's revealed that separated, Pilot will starve, life support will fail and the others will die, and only Moya will survive.

Aeryn offers herself to be killed by Pilot if he will spare the others. Pilot is humbled, and reveals that it is not just those brought up memories he's been struggling with; he feels just as at fault as Aeryn, because...

Flashback again. V on Pilot's planet, which again complicates good-guy-V that's been portrayed throughout the whole episode. It's revealed that Pilot was informed, and knew going in that in order for him to become a Pilot of that ship - at his young age, before he had been decreed ready - the existing Pilot would have to be killed and removed, and at the time, was although morally torn, happy with that. He was in effect, happy to facilitate another's death just so that he was able to see the stars - perhaps making him a criminal worse than any of the others on the ship in that sense, who killed in desperation or for the greater good. It is his guilt that was dredged up by the tape.

Aeryn convinces Pilot that they have both come a long way since they were those people. Pilot is convinced to reconnect with Moya in a rudimentary manner, but which will lead to a natural, non-painful bond, mutually between the two of them. He will though have less control now, a nice plot McGuffin for later no doubt, but it's thematic so I'm not bothered by it.

Coda, John and Aeryn alone again. Aeryn makes the point that V and John both said to her "you can be so much more" which I didn't pick up on, but hmm. Of COURSE John then tries to fish for a love confession out of her, and we close just on a positive musical cue as the two just look at, and then away from each other. Goddd just give her a minute dude. But they are cute together and I'm getting more a sense that she's just reserved about things of that nature this season than that she's actively not interested and he's pursuing obliviously because she's a humanoid who's the right colour and shape for him.

Okay, that was a lot! I quite liked this one, this season is shaping up already a lot stronger than this time in season 1. 7 to 7.5/10 for this one. Let's get into the breakdowns:

CHARACTER BEATS

JOHN

John...actually doesn’t have a whole lot to do this episode, except what’s required of him as the Designated Hero (be present for the solution of every plot element) and as the framing device for the flashback narrative. I feel like despite John’s prodding, Aeryn comes on her own to most of the solutions and means to reach solution in this episode. Having said that, he is a little more respectful of her this episode than he was last season (”Aeryn, do this, but I haven;t got time to tell you why. Obey me, woman!”) which is a pleasure. I still feel like his leadership hasn’t quite been narratively justified yet though, some more infighting from the others or incapability to work together in his absence would bring me more around to that viewpoint.

CHIANA

Chiana was, as usual, a delight, and for once this time actually wasn’t the progenitor of the plot through carelessness or not thinking about the impact of her actions. She didn’t have a whole lot to do here, though she did get the ball rolling. Still shows a tendency to be out for herself and crucially, only really rely on herself, as as soon as eyebrows are raised about Aeryn this episode she mainly makes herself scarce; interesting that her behaviour in ‘Crackers’ isn’t actually that far off her normal or baseline unlike the large divergences shown by the other characters in that episode. I wonder if that speaks to her baseline being madness or unpredictability, or if there’s a psychic strength there to her.

ZHAAN

First up, Zhaan ditched her horrible gold collar in this episode and looked a lot better for it, although the actress (I haven’t learned names yet) looked oddly shapeless in some scenes, almost like the gown was cut to cover up a pregnancy. No clue whether or not that was the case though, it may well just have been an unfortunate - or otherworldly, I guess - cut. I actually didn’t like Zhaan so much in this episode for the few scenes she made an appearance - she was unreasonably bitchy, I felt. Its possible she was just a little stressed out and acting out, but she didn’t feel like season 1 Zhaan - perhaps just wrongfooted by something she with all her foresight had failed to foresee. I felt Zhaan abused her power and influence in a few scenes here in a petty way I don’t expect from her, even if she did later show remorse. Still, character depth is always interesting.

D’ARGO

Shockingly, in this episode, D’Argo didn’t have a lot to do. This is becoming a recurring theme. There were some positive scenes of camaraderie with John (the rock-paper-scissors to decide who would intercede between Aeryn and Pilot was a nice touch) and I suppose tacit camaraderie with the rest of the crew by siding with them - although, I may have expected from history for D’Argo, the honourable warrior, to side with Aeryn, the honourable warrior. There’s some closeness with Pilot at the end, too, which builds on a (I think) season 1 scene where D’Argo played him music. Perhaps most interestingly, I don’t think he’s shared many scenes with Zhaan lately - yet is kissing her in the credits at the start of every episode, particularly interesting given the team-up with Chiana last episode. I will be keeping a close eye on proceedings.

RYGEL

I actually...didn’t hate Rygel here. Even though he caused the plot and stirred everything up by showing Pilot the tape, it did ultimately have good outcomes, allowing both Aeryn and Pilot to work through some trauma and improving Pilot and Moya’s in-the-background relationship. And he also at least claimed to have acted out of a sense of duty and honour, which...is fair, and also does in a twisted way fit with Rygel’s established perhaps old-fashioned traditional values. You’re alright, little man.

PILOT

This was...very much a Pilot episode, that actually gave surprising depth to, and made me care about a puppet. Two puppets, actually. I’m shocked at how formidable LadyPilot managed to be in her few seconds of screentime, and I’m actually a little sad for Moya - a character who’s literally a set - losing that connection and maybe still never knowing what happened. Dark. Lots about Pilot here; the big benevolent nonviolent alien turning out to be not only smarter than any of them, but also essentially a cold-blooded murderer worse than any of the rest of them was quite the twist. I’m also starting to wonder how far in advance and with what consequences the seemingly offhand monster-of-the-week plot of giving Aeryn Pilot DNA in season 1 was planned to have a lasting reach and effect on future plots. Perhaps it’s ironic to talk about a puppet becoming three dimensional.

AERYN

Woh boy, a lot to get into here. This episode is a little of an Aeryn character study, delving into her past alongside Pilot’s and revealing a past romance, unhappiness with how she was treated as a Peacekeeper, and a tendency to try and keep her head down and get on with it that remains in the Aeryn of the present day. A real duality is revealed in Aeryn in this episode; she has been tempted in the past and has resisted the temptation, but at the same time has cut herself off from happiness in favour of yes, safety, but also misery. She is not a risk-taker, though she is at the same time both a tactician and a warrior, which is an interesting combination of attributes and adds depth to the character she seemed to be early on this time last season. Seeing a Peacekeeper-heavy episode, we are also as viewers privy to how much of the Peacekeeper motto and policies are actually bent or broken by the people themselves and how Aeryn’s devotion to the rulebook is somewhat atypical.

WHAT THIS EPISODE ESTABLISHED:

Pilot actually has a history! And a dark one. John and Aeryn are actually not together despite hints pointing that way so far this series. Aeryn was rule-abiding even for a Peacekeeper, and everyone who isn’t John on Moya is still quick to distrust her. Crais was a dick even by Peacekeeper standards. And Peacekeepers aren’t as united a bloc of people as has been made out so far in the series. Also do we all just live on Moya now?

CHARACTER RANKING SO FAR AS OF 2.05:

1) Chiana

2) Aeryn

3) John

4) Pilot

5) D’Argo

6) Zhaan

7) Rygel

That’s us for this episode of FarscapeWatch until 2.06, ‘Picture If You Will’! (which seems to be perhaps a Chiana episode from previews!) Check out the #farscapewatch tag to keep up with the series, and/or read all my reactions in the masterlist which you can find here and linked on my blog’s main page

[rebelminxy]

EVERGARDEN-Chapter 1

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Alessa Clyde (NoVa) x Dean Winchester

Word Count:3306

A/N: Aesthetic was made by @riversong-sam and beta done by @bees0are0awesome thank you for being awesome people! Super late posting but had a busy day so here is the next Chapter of the series! 

SERIES MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST

“C’ mon Winchester! Can’t you drop the price a little lower?”

 “No can do. Do you know how hard it is to come by these parts now-a-days? And to make them last longer than a few months? No, one hundred thousand gold and we can call it a day.”

        Dean stared the soldier down, arms crossed and showing that he would stand his ground. The soldier stared back for a few seconds before letting a breath release between his lips, looking down at the trade screen in front of him. He sighed and pressed the “accept” button, sending Dean the amount of gold that was on the screen. Dean smiled and handed the arm over to the soldier, trade completed.

 “This arm better not give me any more problems, Winchester.”

 “I swear on my life that it should last you for a year. Any small repairs needed, will do them for free.

        The soldier smiled at Dean and thanked him, walking out of the shop with his newly fixed arm in place. Dean watched as he ran over to the other soldiers dressed just like him, huffing at the men in uniform.

 “You know you didn’t have to charge him that much,” stated Sam from his perch behind the counter.

       Dean turned to face his younger brother, giving him a look of “I-don’t-give-a-damn” before moving over to stand next to Sam. Sam was working on an eye, trying to give it a better upgrade for his brother.

 “You know, my eye still functions, Sammy.”

 “Yeah but you can do with a better one since that one’s usage limit is almost up. Plus, why did you charge that guy so much gold? We aren’t in dire need and you have enough parts in the back to have repaired that arm without a problem.”

 “C’ mon! He’s part of Hadron! Those guys are always rolling in gold with the taxes they charge so I think I am in my right to put down a hefty fee.”

     Sam looked up from his work, his face showing how serious he was on the topic.

 “He’s just a kid, probably 16. He is fighting in the frontlines, risking his life for the rest of us. The decent thing you could have done is lower the price.”

 “They get it good everywhere else. Free food, free-living and gold galore. And you can tell by his stats he hasn’t been to the frontlines at all. Probably just a guard in the city to control the people.”

 “Still….”

 “Still nothing Sam. The Knights of Hadron have it easy. It’s been two friggin years and they’re still guarding the entrance to the Tree, and all they’ve cleared are the first two levels. If they would let other players at the Tree or surrounding areas we could have already cleared out the game and gone back to our lives--our lives before this hell. If it weren’t for that message we received that night, we could have died in the chaos.”

       Sam sighed, not able to argue back. Dean was right. Once the Knights had taken over the entire country, they made it clear only members were free to what surrounded the Tree and the levels inside. Any other player, pro or not, was off limits. Plus, they had never figured out who sent them that message from that night.

-------------------------------------------

“Dean! Sam! What do we do?”

       Sam looked over at his brother, the fear etched in his eyes. The crowd around them was going wild, people trying to figure out what was going on. That’s when both brothers received a message.

 “Who the hell would be messaging us right now!” Dean yelled as he pulled Charlie and Kevin closer to him.

      Sam opened the message and noticed it didn’t have a sender name nor an avatar image of the sender. There were only a few sentences.

       ‘Get away from there now. The military is on their way and it would be best you hide before they capture you. The government wants all players to be captured and interrogated, so run as far as you can and find a cave to hide out in. Be patient and wait for my message to let you know everything is in the clear.’

-------------------------------------------

 “If it weren’t for that message and the one after, we would have been killed by the government,” Sam whispered.

 “Yeah, but also, don’t come and argue how we need to be fair to those Knights,” Dean continued. “If I really wanted to admit it, I think they are using this as an excuse to keep control. Ever since they threw the government out the way, they have made it hard to make a living with all these taxes and taking the best for themselves.”

 “I just think we have to take it easy on the young ones. It’s weird how they are now accepting teens into the ranks, being that before they were strict on entry. Now, anyone can be part of Hadron,” Sam replied, turning back to his work.

 “Yeah but not everyone is dumb enough to join. Rumor has it, they are using the newbies at the frontlines to avoid more loss of the best fighters. Pawns. I swear if they are, Hadron really needs to be taken down.”

     Sam huffed his agreement, focusing on his work.

 “By the way, gonna need to you put that on pause and head over to Garth’s farm. Charlie is waiting for you there to get some more parts she collected from the Wasteland. Plus, Kevin has some herbs and stuff for his potions he left from his last trip out there so gonna have to bring that case back.”

 “Dean, even if I leave now and run it, I’ll barely make it there before nightfall,” Sam exclaimed as he looked up from his work in annoyance. “I can’t come back tonight, not when they implemented a curfew because of the PK-ers roaming the roads.”

 “That’s why I want you to go now so you can come back tomorrow instead. Stay by Garth’s and come back with Charlie so we can finish fixing the other orders we have.”

       Sam sighed, wishing Dean would give him a break.

 “Look I would go, but with the backup, we have on order right now…”

 “Fine! I get you don’t want to see Lisa but you will have to accept the fact Garth has her working there because he needed the help.”

 “I don’t care if she’s there, I just hate the fact every time I go, she clings onto me.”

 “Can you blame her? You promised she could move in here and you got along with her kid. Not many are like that.”

 “Yeah but wasn’t expecting her to want more than what we had. We agreed just sex and I would help her out with her kid every now and then.”

       Sam smirked at his brother’s comment. Dean continued his playboy ways even in this wretched world. But for Dean to commit, even in this world, it would be impossible.

 “Alright, let Garth know I’m on my way.”

========================================

           It has been two years since the night of the Takeover. The first night, the government sent out an alert to the military to round up everyone in every state and get them to the closest city to keep everyone under control. Player and non-players were separated at capture, players being interrogated by the military. For three months, everyone lived in fear of the unknown. And because the government had no clue what exactly was going on, they began to kill players, under the ruse that it was to find the culprit, blaming players to somehow be part of the problem.

           But, not everyone was having it. The top five players united and fought against the military, only to find that guns and cars were no longer an option--anything other than the human body that was connected via chip was no longer working. So, the top five began to take more players under their wings and an uprising began; eventually, the group won against the government. One by one, high government officials that agreed to the killing of players were punished by death. The rest were taken and locked away. Once the usurpers gained control of every state and city, they took on the title as Knights of Hadron, recruiting top players. Eventually, their numbers grew large, their soldiers taking over cities and towns.  Only the main five had power above everyone else, and they ruled with an iron grip.

           But even with the protection of the Knights and their worry of reaching the top of the Tree of Knowledge, there was a problem they could not control. PK-ers--or player killers. These were men and women who took pleasure in killing the innocent, torture and watching their chip light go from green to red. These were dangerous people, mostly those that escaped prisons and high-security mental health facilities. The PK-ers hunted mainly at night, which caused a strict curfew to be set into place. No one currently knows how many PK-ers were out there, only that if you ran across a group of them, you knew for sure you were dead.

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        Sam made it to Garth’s farm right before sundown, glad his horse was fast enough for the long ride. Garth lived outside the town of Lebanon. The five of them moved into the small town they found when they were on the run for the first three months. The brothers were able to set up a parts shop and eventually become weapons dealers, repairing body mods and weapons alike. Garth purchased some land right outside the small town, raising cattle for meat and a farm to grow fruits and vegetables. He sold his items at Kevin’s potion store which was next to the Winchesters shop. Charlie kept mostly to traveling and obtaining things anyone might need, giving the guys what they wanted and selling the rest for gold.

           Sam stayed the night at Garth’s, catching up with Charlie’s travels and getting a few food items from Garth. Once the sun broke the horizon, Garth and Sam prepared a cart with two horses and loaded up everything that had to go back to town. Charlie climbed up on the cart’s seat next to Sam, holding onto the box of herbs Kevin had asked for and they rode off, heading back to town.

           The ride was a silent one, both keeping an eye out just in case someone tried to rob them. After an hour’s ride, something in the trees caught Sam’s eye, making him motion a signal at Charlie to keep her eyes open. It was daytime, so Sam assumed it might just be a gang trying to rob the cart. It was until he looked in front of him and saw someone standing in the middle of the road wearing a black hooded cloak. Sam pulled the reins on the horse for a full stop, Charlie already had her hand on her rapier.

 “Excuse me, but we need to get through!” Sam yelled at the figure. “Could you possibly move out the way?”

       The figure kept its stance, reaching for the hood and lowering it, showing his face to them. Sam and Charlie gasped at the sickening smile plastered on his lips. He shoved the cloak out the way to reveal a sword in hand. Charlie and Sam looked at each other and immediately pulled up their screens to change into their armor. A small flash of light surrounded their bodies and they were fully clothed in silver armor.

 “I would suggest you move away fucker or we will move you!” Charlie screamed at the guy who still hadn’t moved.

 “Sam,” she whispered when the man suddenly walked his way towards them. “I don’t think he is a regular robber.”

 “Of course he isn’t, girl!”

        Sam and Charlie turned to look behind them, a woman standing a few feet away from the cart. She wore the small black cloak and her hair pulled back. The only problem was that her clothing was covered in dry blood, and what looked to be a red handprint etched on her face.

 “Now, be good little children and get off the cart. If you do as we say we promise your death will be quick.”

       That’s when Sam noticed that they were surrounded. Out from the tree’s and high grass, many in the same black cloaks appeared from the shadows. Sam knew it had to be more than 20 around them, wondering how he and Charlie were going to get out of the situation they were in.

 “PK-ers,” whispered Charlie.

 “We prefer the term, cleaner. We clean this world from the weak, or for a price. And right now, that cart looks like it can give us a hefty price.”

 “Let us through and we promise not to report you!” Sam exclaimed, hand on the hilt of his axe.

      The group surrounding them burst out in laughter, causing Sam and Charlie to look around confused.

 “We have no fear of the Knights! They have no care to be out here!” the woman screamed at them, her eyes bulging. “Didn’t they recently pull back their troops back to the Tree to try and raid the third level? No one can save you or the measly town ahead. Now, remove your weapons and give in, or we will make your death linger!”  

     Charlie pulled out her rapier as Sam pulled out his double-edged axe from its hilt. They stood on the cart ready for an attack.

 “Fine, be bratty children. KILL THEM!”

    The group suddenly charged at the cart, pushing and shoving at it to unbalance the two. Another grabbed hold of the horses and started stabbing the poor animals to death, causing the cart to lean forward. Sam and Charlie jumped off, tackling part of the crowd down. Charlie swung her rapier in an arc above her and Sam. They stood back to back, waiting for someone to attack. All they could see was wicked smiles around them.

 “Well, Sam, if this is how we go out, want to say it was great knowing you.”

 “We aren’t dying this way, Charlie. Not today.”

    Before Sam or Charlie could lunge forward to attack, three arrows suddenly went through the three men that were stalking towards them. Everyone turned to where the arrows came from, whence two more shot out, each killing a mark. Then, a loud whistle was heard, followed by the screams for four men jumping out from the top of the trees. They immediately went into fight mode, stabbing and slashing at the PK-ers. Sam and Charlie took the moment of distraction to start attacking those around them. As they were defending themselves, more arrows flew out the shadows of the trees, each hitting a bull’s eye in the middle of a PK-er’s head, killing them instantly.

     Sam was right about one thing, the group of PK-ers was bigger than they thought. One would go down and another would run out the shadows. Sam was fighting a PK-er when he got hit from behind with a sword. Luckily the attacker pierced Sam’s shoulder, but his life light was almost hitting red from the other blows he had received. Sam could see the blinking red before his eyes, afraid that this really would be the end of him. That’s when he saw the red cloak spring forth from the trees, stabbing the PK-er that had his hands-on Sam. With a flash, Sam was free from the grip of death, his red light still flashing as he watched the red-cloaked figure kill the PK-ers around them quickly. It didn’t take them long; they were quick on their feet. Each attack they made was an immediate kill, the light on the PK-ers going from green to red in a heartbeat.

     After what felt like ages, Sam heard the last lingering death cries, then all was silent. He then heard Charlie yelling his name, her hands on him as he kneeled. He wasn’t sure when he got down to his knees, he only felt Charlie healing him with a potion. Once he saw the green light, he gasped for breath and started coughing.

 “Sam, oh god, I thought I lost you!”

    Sam looked up to see Charlie on the verge of tears. He smiled at her and pulled her into a hug, patting her head to calm her down.

 “I thought…. thought I lost you….I…I didn’t know…how I was….was going to tell Dean,” she cried out between the falling tears.

 “I’m here, I’m alright,” Sam whispered in comfort.

     From the corner of his eye, he could see that two of their saviors were untying two of the remaining horses to the cart. Sam moved from Charlie and held her hand, keeping her close.

 “Thank you for saving us, but there is no need for the horses. We can…”

 “Orders from the Mistress to give you the horses so best not deny her.”

      Sam looked at the men, noticing their attire.

 “You are part of the Knight of Hadron,” he whispered.

 “Sorry for not getting here sooner. We received word PK-ers were in the area and got here as fast as we could. Our Mistress was fast enough, thankfully.”

    That’s when Sam looked behind the men. Only a few feet away stood the other two soldiers with the red-cloaked figure. He couldn’t see her face but assumed that was their ‘Mistress’.

 “May I speak to her, thank her for saving us and the town?”

 “No one speaks to the Mistress unless she allows it. And right now, she wants to continue moving.”

    Sam looked at the soldier that spoke up, noticing the slight jealous tone in the man’s voice. Sam didn’t listen though, making his way towards the red-cloaked figure, pulling Charlie with him. The soldiers made a move to stop Sam, but he was faster, moving out the way. Once he reached the cloaked figure, he got down on one knee and lowered his head.

 “I want to thank you for saving us. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have survived such an attack.”

     The cloaked figure only turned slightly to acknowledge him. She then turned to walk away, but Sam didn’t want her to leave just yet.

 “Please, join us on our way to town. I would like to thank you with a warm meal and any repair work you might need. You can even get your two horses back once we are there, so you don’t have to walk.”

     The figure kept walking, as if not listening to him. So, Sam got up to his feet and stared the figure down, yelling out.

 “Please, my brother would love to thank the person that saved us as well. We can even repair that leg of yours!”

      That made the figure top in its tracks. It turned to face Sam and a gust of wind blew through, causing the hood to fall off. What Sam saw took his breath away, causing his grip on Charlie’s hand to tighten.

     Her coffee brown hair was tied back into a ponytail, a few loose strands and surrounding her round face. Plump lips painted bright red, her cheeks were slightly pink, probably from the fight they just had. But her eyes, they shined a bright blue like a clear ocean on a sunny day, her long lashes making her eyes look large and innocent. She stood there, staring at Sam as her eyes dropped down to his hand holding Charlie’s. Her eyes then went back up to meet his and she spoke.

 “I guess we can make a small stop to rest up and get some repairs done.”

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