-
Tron ignored the gasps and gulps the other programs emitted as he glared deep into the bright green eyes of Nyrii. He was ready and willing to fight his way out, take out as many of the sentries as possible. His goal was to get Dean and Gabriel out of the troubled sector; no matter what kind of damage that would be inflicted upon him he had to save the User and the angel.
“What do we have here?” Nyrii asked. Her voice still had that sharp edge of command but there was also a bit of smugness in it. “It looks like we have a packet of refuges from the law.”
“Whose law?” Tron asked. “It certainly isn’t the law of the system. We are to keep it free and running, fully operational for the Users.”
“The law of the Master Control Program,” Nyrii said, causing Tron to tense up at the mention of that name.
“Don’t they ever change?” Gabriel asked. “Does every unholy terror that comes here have to go by that title? I know Voroziel wasn’t that creative but C’mon Luddy, you were better at this.”
“We do not follow after programs,” Tron said when he remembered what they were really dealing with. “Nor demons who pose as them.”
“Believes in the Users,” Nyrii said in a mocking tone and chuckled. “Isn’t that quaint?”
Tron was ready to toss aside the robe he had donned but he noticed one side was heavier than the other. He fished around and felt a baton inside an inner pocket, but it wasn’t light cycle baton.
“Of course he believes in them,” Dean said. He had tossed his robe off. “Cause I happen to be one.” He unsheathed his sword.
“I don’t just believe in them.” Tron threw his robe back and grabbed his disk. He clipped the baton to his thigh and separated the disks into two. “I fight for them.” He threw one at Nyrii.
Their commanding officer had good enough sense to duck but one of the sentries didn’t. The disk sliced through his throat and caused the body to derezz into several tiny pixels.
“Are y’all just going to stand there and let them kill you?” Dean cried out. “You all got disks right?” He shoved his blade into the chest of another soldier.
“Ya!” Gabriel shouted as he jumped and landed on two more sentries.
The rest of the group tossed aside their robes and removed their disks from their back harnesses.
Tron appreciated the fact the other programs were willing to fight back, even if they didn’t he would still continue to battle his way out. The soldiers were strong, but they did not have much in the way of battle strategy and were easily taken out with his disks.
He heard a sound from behind and jumped as a disk flew under his feet. He heard another from above and he angled his body to avoid impact from a different disk. As soon as he had landed he spun around and threw his own disks. One sliced off the leg of one of the sentries and the other cut through the middle, causing instant deresoultion.
Tron was impressed with the way the other programs fought back. Some of them had skill and some didn’t, but they all were trying. Several of them were able to derezz one of the enemies to the point where they themselves could escape. Some would continue to fight and others sadly were derezzed themselves.
Dean himself was quite skilled with his sword. Tron remembered some of the conversations on the drive to California. Dean and Sam had told him about how they were trained to use various weapons since they were children.
Gabriel’s method of fighting was just to jump on the enemies, land on their backs with enough force to derezz them or with a kick to the head to knock them out. It was an odd tactic, but it still worked
“Path is clear,” the angel said after he had knocked out a few more. “We need to run like the wind.” He pointed up the road. “Lets amscray.”
“There are still more to fight,” Tron said as he nodded to the melee.
“Getting you guys out of here is my top priority,” Gabriel said. “We meet with the others and figure out a good battle strategy.”
Tron had to agree with the angel. “Dean, this way.”
“Coming,” Dean shouted as he sliced off the head of another soldier. He ran after them and did not see something long coil around his leg. Dean fell forward onto his stomach and was dragged backwards to Nyrii who was pulling along her whip.
Tron had one of his disks ready to be thrown and would have if Gabe hadn’t grabbed his wrist.
“Let me handle this.” The angel pulled out his slingshot and some pointed object. He placed the object against the band and pulled back and let it fly. The sharp point sliced through the whip cutting it off at the base. “And a little extra something.” He pulled out something that resembled a light grenade and launched it at Nyrii.
“Grenade!” Nyrii shouted as soon as she caught and threw it back at their direction.
“Dud,” Gabriel said as he retrieved the sphere and placed it back in his bag. Dean had caught up with them and they continued to run.
“I wish I had one of those cycle sticks,” Dean said as they raced down the street.
“I have something better,” Tron said as he held up his baton. He activated it causing the glowing lines to sketch out the frame of the vehicle before the planes filled out and encased him inside. The interior was created and Tron found himself sitting in the drivers side of the vehicle with his hands on the wheel.
“Light car?” Dean asked.
“They have all kinds of vehicles like that,” Gabriel told him. “I got shotgun.”
“No way in hell you do,” Dean said as raced to the other side of the vehicle. “All heraldic beings inside furry vessels ride in the back.” He jumped inside.
“Whatever Deangolas,” Gabriel grumbled as he got in.
Once Tron knew they were safely inside he floored it.
-
Sam didn’t wait for the elevator to reach him. He practically flew down the stairs, going down several flights before he even felt the slightest bit fatigued. There had to be a faster way to get down and he knew he should haven’t told Cas to wait.
“Sam,” Cas was waiting for him on one of the landings.
“Cas,” Sam grunted out as he crashed into him. “Sorry.”
“You should have waited,” Cas said as he reached out to him.
“I know.” Sam answered. He watched as the environment shifted around them changing from the stairs to ENCOM’S parking garage. They were right behind the Impala. “Thanks. That was pretty stupid.”
“Your concern for Dean’s safety took precedence your need to think rationally,” Cas said.
“Yeah.” Sam knew that the angel practically told him that he understood. He opened the trunk. “Going to need a lot of supplies.” He grabbed a bag of salt rock and a bottle of holy water.
“Need help?”
“Yeah.” Sam stuffed the supplies into bags including a .38 caliber pistol. The bullets he had packed were special bullets made from the silver cross that was in the basement of Saint Catherine’s in Mississippi. The cross was able to cause the demon they were fighting some pain. “I don’t know what kind of good this will do inside.” He grabbed a rifle. He knew if he brought it inside the building security would be called, even if he did flash his false badge.
“No time to worry.” He touched Sam again.
The parking garage was replaced with an elevator and they were not alone.
“Oh,” Quorra gasped as her back slammed against the wall.
“How did you do that?” Alan Bradley asked
“Is that, is that a shotgun?” Sam Flynn asked as pointed at Sam’s rifle.
“They just appeared out of nowhere and you are concerned about the gun?” Bradley asked before he turned to Sam. “What do you intend to do with that?”
“I plan on using it against the demon that took my brother,” Sam said.
“Angels can teleport?” Quorra asked in an astonished tone.
“We do that,” Cas said.
“Amazing.” Quorra’s mood went from fear to pure admiration within seconds.
“I guess we don’t need to meet at the lobby,” Bradley said as he pressed another button.
“No we don’t,” Sam said and leaned back against the car as they continued to ride.
-
Dean leaned back as Tron drove them out of the main part of the city. He felt like they were riding so low that the upholstery was the only thing that separated his backside from the glossy and reflective asphalt. He didn’t say much and felt a bit useless. Tron was doing all of the driving and Gabe was giving directions.
“Now turn right,” Gabe instructed.
“Where are we going exactly?” Dean asked as Tron turned the car.
“Meeting point,” Gabe explained. “Some friends are gonna give us a ride to someplace off limits from Luddy.”
“Luddy?” Dean blinked.
“I’ve been calling him that since the 1870’s.”
“You have known him for a while?” Tron asked. His eyes widened slightly. “What is this?”
Dean turned around as Tron slowed the car down. They had parked in front a forest. There were several trees and grass and shrubs and everything. He also thought he heard the sounds of crickets, frogs and toads and even owls.
“Is this some of the game territory?” Dean asked. “From Epic Frontier?”
“Yes and no,” Gabe said. “It is game terra firma, but it’s also a glitch.”
“This glitch going to effect us?” Dean turned around to face the rodent.
“It might, and it might not, but the thing is we have to walk through this.”
“Are you serious?” Dean pointed at the woods. “We have to go through this glitched land?”
“Dean has a right to be wary,” Tron said. He also made no motion to get out of the car. “Glitches can result in dangerous situations such as grid bugs.”
“Exactly.” He turned to the program. “Bugs?”
“They are like spiders in your world,” Tron told him. “Only much larger.”
“Giant spiders,” he sighed through clenched teeth. “One of my personal favorites. Gabe, how are your nuts?”
“You are not kicking them again,” Gabe said and jumped out of the car.
“I know you are afraid,” Tron said as he stepped out of the vehicle. “But this might be the only way.”
“I know.” Dean stepped out of the car. “It’s not fear. I just don’t really feel like facing off against a bunch of giant spiders.” He closed the door, taking care not to slam it. He didn’t want to rouse any thing awake that might be out there.
“I think you’ll handle yourself quite all right.” Tron tapped the car and it collapsed. The panels and interior vanished followed by the glowing lines retracting itself into a single baton.
“That is pretty useful.” Dean pointed at it. “People would save so much time not trying to find a parking space.” He watched as the program smiled in amusement and nodded. “C’mon if things get bad we can use Gabe as bait.” That earned a laugh out of his friend.
-
Five minutes into the woods and Dean found himself relax somewhat. He felt like he was no longer within the digital world and back at home. This patch of woods was quite realistic. The ground felt like the uneven grass covered earth he had walked on whenever he was in the woods before. He could smell damp wood and pine needles.
He also felt his hackles raised. Whenever he or his brother would be running through the woods it would be because they were chasing after some monster. His fingers wrapped around the hilt of his chosen weapon as he continued to follow after the chinchilla.
A screech like a howler monkey cut through the silence behind him. Dean looked up as a creature similar to the red boggarts had jumped down at him. He raised his blade up and cut through the beast. Instead of having a deep bleeding wound with guts hanging it out it shattered into a pile of tiny glass like cubes.
“Not home,” Dean said.
Gabe screamed from behind a group of close growing trees.
“Hold on,” Dean called out and ran to where he heard the angel, only to see Gabe was alone. “Why did you scream?”
“They got a jump on me,” Gabe said and pointed to the pile of shattered remains of a game sprite program. “But I managed to take care of them.”
“Oh.” Dean looked up at the trees. He saw the shadow of a few more of the boggarts as they jumped down at them. “Gabe, watch out.” Dean turned around to faces the beasts but came across nothing. “What the?”
“Glitch.” Gabe pointed at the trees. The beasts shadows kept jumping down from above and then exploded. “It just keeps on doing that.”
“Ah. Where’s Tron?”
“Wasn’t he close by?”
“Tron?” Dean called out, knowing full well that he shouldn’t be raising his voice in such an environment. He ran back to where he had last seen the program. “Gabe, can you sniff him out?”
“Uh no,” Gabe looked insulted. “If this particular security program is anything like the legends that describe him then he would be kicking butt somewhere. You just got to listen and with ears like that you should be able to hear a few hundred feet away.”
“And you are one to talk.” Dean reached up and tapped the pointed tip of his right ear. “You can climb a tree. Skip is pretty good from jumping from branch to branch”
“Fine.” Gabe scrambled up a tree and perched on a branch. “I see him and he’s headed this way.” He jumped down.
“Ah good,” Dean said and turned to face the program. “Sorry we got separated.”
“That is not of import,” Tron said. “I think I found another User.”
“Really?” Dean raised his eyebrows. He wondered if another pulled in player had been able to escape and ended up here.
“She’s quiet and doesn’t seem to acknowledge my presence,” Tron said. “This way.”
Dean wasn’t sure what he was going to find as he followed Tron through the realistic looking woods. An unresponsive User might mean they are hurt, or scared shitless and considering the situation they were in Dean could understand.
The User in question was a young woman standing in a small clearing. Her skin was the color of cigarette ash and she wore nothing save for a pale nightgown that had elbow length sleeves trimmed in lace. She was looking straight down with her dark hair obscuring her face
Dean’s first reaction was to go for his hilt but remembered that some of the character options included zombies and vampires and not the real ones, but how people view zombies and vampires and she could be one of them.
“Excuse me, miss,” Dean said as he took a step toward her. “I know this place is kind of scary and hey we are inside a computer. The whole cyberspace thing can trip some people out, but I’m a real person. I’m human like you. My name is Dean, Dean Winchester.” He continued to slowly approach the girl.
He was only an foot away from her when she raised her head. Her eyes were filled with glowing yellow light. The corners of her mouth pulled up into a smile and she ran through him, sending a chill that started in the center of shoulders and crawled down his spine till it reached the tailbone.
“What was that?” Tron asked.
“T-that was a ghost,” Dean said when his tongue was able to work again. “At least I think it was.”
“More of this glitch,” Gabe said. He gestured at them to follow him. “This way.”
“Hold it.” Dean held out his hands. “Why are we following you and not Tron?”
“I haven’t been here in megacycles,” Tron told him. “In your User time it had been years.”
“And how long as Gabe been here?” He turned to the former trickster. “When were you resurrected?”
“A couple of months ago,” Gabe answered. “But don’t forget months in your time is decades here.”
“Fine.” Dean rubbed his eyebrows and his temples. “Lead on, Fuzzball.”
They walked in silence for what almost felt like an hour through endless trees. Dean felt more and more paranoid with each step they took and as he glanced around he thought he saw various sets of glowing eyes watching them as they walk. He kept telling himself it was all in his head and just various glitches but it did little to calm his nerves.
He heard eerie sounds. There were other footsteps heard in the distance but they stomps were accompanied by wet squishing sounds as if someone was walking through mud or something even worse. There was a faint sobbing sound that lasted for a few seconds followed by the cutting and grinding of a chainsaw. There were also a few howls and something laughing maniacally.
The trees did little to calm him down. He saw words cut into them. Some were a few initials surrounded by a heart. There was also menacing messages, warnings to stay away and other odd signs. There were symbols used in Witch Craft, pentagrams, runes and glyphs. What was more disturbing was the human like effigies that hung from some of the branches.
“Not alone,” Tron whispered and Dean could hear the fear in his voice.
Dean looked around him and saw several ghostly images. There were a few of young women, barefoot like the previous ghost but had their wrists bound and held above their heads with chains. They were all wearing blindfolds. There were also people in hospital gowns with various limbs wrapped in bandages. They all watched them with bloodshot eyes, but did nothing.
The most frightening group were all the people who were dressed in clothing from past decades and centuries. While they were all pale gray in color the fatal wounds were bright red. Some had a single red line across their throats. Some had bleeding wounds on their chest’s and stomachs. Some had bullet holes in various parts of their bodies including one who had it in their eye. There was one woman who looked like she had stepped out of the late sixties with deep red vertical gashes on her wrists.
“Why did you do that?” Dean asked as they walked past her. “I thought everyone was happy back then.”
“Not real,” Gabe reminded him.
“I know,” Dean answered. He glanced at Tron who had his mouth pursed into a frown. The program had probably never countered anything like this before. He wanted to comfort him, but also knew the faster they got out of here the better.
He thought he heard the sound of an engine overhead and he looked up, to see empty hollow jack-o-lantern eyes made out of the sky and framed by a glowing red-orange trapazoid above the trees.
“We’re not alone.” He did not remove his gaze as the eyes came toward him and as it grew closer he could see that the eyes were windows of a Recognizer.
-
A/N: The title of the chapter is based on the Blair Witch Project.
The shadows constantly jumping down and exploding is based on the Death Glitch of Gaia Online’s ZOMG game where you can see the shadows of the PP3’s constantly exploding.