As the moons hang high in the star-filled cobalt sky, we go to a quiet campsite. Game Girl sits on a bedroll stoking the flames of the fire; her eyes unmoving as the sparks dance and the wood snaps with a crackle. With a sigh, she drops the stick into the fire and stands to her feet. She looks to the lavish tent to her right and back to her own; a barely standing lean-to. GG walks away from the camp into the darkness of the forest, ignoring the snoring and chirping of crickets to the sound of running water buried behind the brush.

As she pushes past the bramble and crushes vines under her foot; her mind flashes to Game Boy and the wolf earlier. The carcass swarmed with flies and peppered with spears, the killshot of GB’s arrow lodged firmly between its malnourished chest. The visions clear as the water rumbles louder and she steps to the edge of the cliff. The waterfall casting clouds into the air which float into the night; Narfinex lit in the distance bellowing sky lanterns like smoke. She smiles to herself. A brief respite.

Her ears sharpen as footsteps approach; she snaps her head to Game Boy strolling through the path she made; his sword on his back but he wears no armor. Game Boy gives a kind smile to her and a nod.

“Hey, you doing okay?”

GG smiles back but turns to the waterfall and the river flowing far below.

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

Game Boy scratches his temple and takes another step closer.

“You were quiet for most of the journey. Have I done something wrong, or?”

Game Girl folds her arms and hesitates, a shudder comes over her.

“I- uh… Things seem weird. Like… No matter how many times I’ve lived through all that’s happened, there was always a sense of familiarity. The world changed but everyone stayed the same. This time…” She turns fully to face Game Boy. “You’re different.”

He furrows his brow at her, pulling away from the tree he rested his shoulder on and stands firm.

“Different how?”

“This morning when we talked, you seemed off when I told you how I got my powers, you said we never chased dragons or explored dungeons… You said I did that with someone different… So-” She inhales deeply, her robotic hand curling into a fist. “Who are you?”

He looks at Game Girl’s fist and back to her face. A look of betrayal set on it. His mouth agape he scoffs walking closer to her.

“Paige, I-” He halts his movement, pinching the bridge of his nose while shaking his head. He looks back up to her, pleading. “I wasn’t given many opportunities when I was younger, I don’t know about the other versions of me you met but I had it rough. I only met you after I became a soldier and I worked hard to prove myself and raise myself to captain. We did work together a lot but it wasn’t fun! I mean… I enjoyed our time together but I was doing my job! I- … I apologize if I offended you or anything but I do what I do to protect the ones I love, for the greater good of Narfinex! If that means kill a wolf who could attack OUR Princess then I’ll do that, if I have to remind you that we have a duty, I’ll do that.”

Game Girl’s pupils flicker before she pushes her eyes close, shrugging off the tremble in her voice before locking eyes with Game Boy. A shaky breath leaves GB’s lungs as he stands up straight.

“If you want to punch me… Or worse… Then go ahead, you’re the greatest person I’ve met, Paige, if I lost your trust… All I can do is say sorry. If you want to wail on me to get what you’re feeling to pass..” He opens his arms wide. “Have at it.”

GG’s bottom lip quivers momentarily before she bites down and lets out a rasp. Sniffing up she drops her shoulders and turns away again, hiding the tear forming in her eye.

“... I’m sorry… I must be stressed or tired… I-I don’t know.”

Game Boy breathes a sigh of relief as his arms drop and he steps up to her slowly with an open palm going to clasp on her shoulder.

“No, Paige…”

┃The voice of Gabe Bachgan continuing his interview sounds as Game Boy’s hand slowly falls on Game Girl’s shoulder.┃
┃ “Ai loved the characters she created… I did too for a long, long time. But… Times change… People change so should characters in shows, movies and games. Game Girl was a naive, optimistic, hopeful person who had a run of bad luck and it challenged her outlook. Ai saw a lot of herself in her, I do too and I can’t change that.”

“Game Boy was lovably dumb, courageous and loyal to a fault… Ai said he was based on me. I, heh, I see it.”

“But I’m not dumb anymore, I’ve had hardships. And these characters aren’t real… They’re lines of code, playthings. I can change what I need and it hit me!”

“How can I finish a video game when it’s so broken that it ends before the final boss?”┃

As Game Boy’s hand grabs her shoulder, Game Girl wheezes as the blade of his sword bursts through her chest followed by crimson ichor.

┃ “Change the final boss!” ┃

Her pupils turn to pin pricks as she coughs up blood; her muscles seizing as her hands twitch. She twists her neck slowly to see Game Boy’s eyes looking back at her, staring into a well of deep sorrow but relentless determination. He holds back tears and swallows the lump clogging his throat, steeling himself. GG’s hand moves like molasses as she goes to touch GB’s. The despair on his face fading into one of stoicism.

“-I’m sorry.”

Pulling the sword back; Game Girl stands there for a moment before gravity tugs her down the cliff towards the rapids. Game Boy looks at the blade covered in her blood and drops to his knees holding a hand over his mouth. Warbled tones force their way out of his throat as he puts up a dam to the torrent of sobbing. Breaking down, his spine curls as he pushes his forehead into the dirt which he stays in for some time before the noises cease, only the waterfall crashing fills the night air. He digs his sword into the soil and pulls himself up, looking up to the stars before cleaning his sword and heading back through the brush.

---

The gentle breeze rolled itself along Scoops McGee’s face as he lugged buckets of food and grain across the fields of the McGee family farm. He exhaled sharply as he was coming closer to the ruby red barn looming in the distance, the shadow casted by it granting a weight even more intense on his shoulders.

Finally, however, he looked back behind him as he snapped. “Put some goddamn backbone into it and pick up the pace, boah!”

Whereas Scoops was carrying about four buckets loaded to the brim in his hands with different colors of fruits and vegetables amidst the waves of grain, his cameraman Noah was busy lugging an entire wheelbarrow full of food across the field. He had to trade out his normal camera for a GoPro sitting atop his head, with sweat caking all over his face.

“I don’t think…” he weakly sputtered, “I’m cut out for this…”

Scoops scoffed at Noah as he was trying to play catch-up to him. “You’re a third of my age, boah, now try and act like it. We’re about to head inside, anyway.”

Blades of grass were beginning to switch themselves out for specks of hay as they were coming closer, the two’s feet crunching against the ground. Noah gritted his teeth as hard as he could, his vein throbbed in his forehead from the rush of blood. He was trying to ready himself for what seemed like the last push inside.

[i](“It hurts to even breathe,”) [/i][i]he mused to himself. (“But maybe just talking can try to take my mind off of some of this pain…”)

“Hey…” Noah called out to Scoops, continuing as he saw the old man look over his shoulder. “You… you never said… what was on that note you got the other week…”

Scoops twitched with his eyebrows as he stopped just a ways away from the entrance. “It’s an invitation from Johnny.”

“What did he want?” Noah asked, the gap of time between his steps having begun to lengthen. “I’m surprised… he was secretive about it…”

“That’s ‘cause it’s about a secret project,” Scoops snorted. “His nephew, he’s… into all sortsa computer shit. He’s been working on something for ages, and Johnny’s been wanting to pull me in to come see it.”

Noah nodded, but as he finally came to the entrance alongside Scoops after what felt like an eternity, a raucous chorus of snorts, neighs and moans awaited them both. The barn had been whipped right into a frenzy with the pig pen in particular in disarray. The horse stables found themselves staring right over at the chaos unfolding, with the hogs running all over the place in a panic.

“Uh…” Noah pointed as he wiped the sweat building off of his face. He already knew this was going to start turning into a long day. “That’s not… normal, is it?”

Scoops’ face was about ready to fall off of his skull at this rate. “Fuck no, it ain’t. Talkin’ bout tech shit can wait, boah.”

He marched on forward, buckets in his hands as he looked back. “You focus on feedin’ those horsies while I take care of the hogs.”

“W-Wait a minute…” Noah nervously coughed, stepping forward with the wheelbarrow again as he glanced wide-eyed at Scoops. The memories of what happened the last time he had to handle one of the steeds inside of the barn flashed through his mind, and he wasn’t ready to relive history. “I think I need some help…”

“How about you wait a goddamn minu-”

“...S-Scoops…”

The color left both men’s faces as they glanced at each other, wide-eyed. Scoops dropped the buckets and went for the entrance of the pig pen, grumbling under his breath as he unlatched the entrance inside. A dozen pigs were all scrambling about, bleating both at each other and the girl with blue hair who found herself within the middle of the pack, blood streaming out of a deep gash inside of her chest.

“S-Scoops…” Game Girl whimpered as her glassy eyes stared up at him.

“Ho-lee fuckin’ shit,” Scoops breathed out.

Noah had managed to sneak behind Scoops, his GoPro capturing the moment as his jaw went slack. “What’s she doing he-”

“Don’t know, don’t care right now,” Scoops frowned as he marched on ahead. “First aid kit’s on the second floor of the barn. Grab that while I get her out and call an ambulance.”

Scoops walked on ahead as Noah slowly backpedaled away, but Game Girl interrupted them both. “Don’t… need… hospital-”

“Girlie, I don’t give a damn what you want right about now,” Scoops scoffed as he proceeded to carry Game Girl up and out bridal-style, ignoring the hay and mud that clung onto her body.   “What I’m concerned about is makin’ sure you don’t die.”

Noah stepped his way up the ladder, the old wood brushing sharply against his hand as he tried to make sure he wasn’t about to collect any splinters from it. Once he managed to step onto the second floor, however, a cobweb to the face was what greeted him.

“Scoops!” Noah shouted back down. “We gotta clean up here!”

“Worry ‘bout that later!” Scoops responded from down below, before his ragged whispers could be faintly heard by Noah down below. “How the Hell didya earn that wound, Girlie?”

“Hurts…” Game Girl coughed out, trying her best to choke down the blood. “He… hurt me…”

Scoops grumbled to himself, trying to keep his hands moving to keep the poor girl stabilized. “Yeah, whatever jackass that did that to ya, I’m gonna make sure I cave his damn skull in.”

A beat of time passed before he looked back up towards the ceiling. “Noah!”


“I got it!” he responded, his hands having fumbled across the dark hallway across the wall until he found the kit. He darted back as fast as he could, and scrambled down the ladder to find Scoops having sat GG down by the entrance while sitting next to her to hold her steady.

Color was quickly fading from her dying body.

“Of all the fuckin’ times to get no signal,” Scoops spat in disgust before turning his screen off. “Alright! I ain’t no surgeon, but lemme try and bandage this up, at least. I can try to hold the bleedin’ steady.”

“Bandages… all I need…” Game Girl warily nodded in response.

Scoops and Noah shared a glance at each other before Noah popped the first aid kit open, revealing the numerous contents to Scoops. He quickly took a nearby water bottle that the two lugged along with them to the barn, looking back at GG with sympathy in his eyes and moved her shirt up. A nervous flush quickly formed around Noah’s face as he coughed and looked away, bringing the camera view with him towards the other side of the barn.

“This is gonna sting a bit,” Scoops warned before pouring a bit of the water down onto the wound, trying to clean it. Game Girl hissed at the cold rush down her chest, but it was enough for Scoops to start to grab a series of gauze pads and bandages. “So, who’s he?”

“Friend,” Game Girl wheezed, her lower lip trembling as the memory flashed in her eyes. “...Thought he was… a friend…”

“I’m sorry,” Noah stammered out as his gaze went to the ground.

Game Girl raised an eyebrow, her numb body focusing on the interruption. “Who…?”

“Cameraboy,”  Scoops shrugged as he held the gauze steady while unraveling the bandages. “Noah’s shy. Good kid, though.”

As Scoops brought the rest of the bandages around Game Girl’s body, a miraculous sight unfolded itself. The wound on her chest magically closed as life and color brought itself back into her body. She opened her breath, taking her first deep breath in what seemed like ages.

“What in the goddamn…?” Scoops said aloud as he brought Game Girl’s shirt back down.

Noah turned his head back around, cocking his head in confusion at first before the video game logic unfolded itself.  “Did the bandages, like… act as a healing item for her?”

“Yeah,” GG wearily grinned before nearly staggering onto her side. “Knew you guys didn’t need the hospital…”

“...I’m gonna just nod my head along with you two and pretend that this makes a lick of sense.” Scoops declared.

As the moment settled in, GG’s smile faded, her gaze shifting out towards the horizon as the light slowly left her eyes. She still nodded, murmuring to herself. “This is the farm, huh…?”

“So, what made you choose here, outta all the places you had up yer’ sleeve?”

Game Girl hesitated. “You’re the only person left that I can trust.”

Noah’s brows furrowed as he looked back at Scoops.  “What did you two… do together? Aside from that one match you two teamed together for, anyway.”

“Oh, y’know,” Scoops shrugged back. “We went and did somethin’ outta some damn children’s storybook, pretty much, into some world called Nawfinex. But Vidya Game Girl over here saved my hide a couple times, so I figured I might as well repay the favor.”

“Wait… you went to Game Girl’s world?!” Noah’s eyes lit up as he ogled at the two of them. “That… that’s awesome! What was it like? What did you see? How was-”

Game Girl groaned, trying to ignore the headache that was building. Scoops snorted back at Noah, shaking his head. “How ‘bout I tell you later if you stop askin’ all those questions nonstop?”

“Scoops,” GG breathed out as she slowly managed to bring herself back to her feet. “I… I don’t know how long it’ll be until I can go back to my world. If there’s any way I can repay you…”

  “You ain’t gonna let that go, are you?” Scoops asked as he followed suit.

“Not a chance.”

Scoops exhaled, nodding as he mulled it over.   “...Alright. I don’t like leaving favors on the table, so I got somethin’ for ya now, if yer’ interested. How about we head back to the ring together? Maddy Dyson, Dolly Waters. Those two fucks call themselves the MAGA Powers. That ringin’ a bell for you at all?”

GG frowned. “Yeah. I teamed with Dolly in War Games, after all. Maddy… well, I’ve seen her around at least. I can’t say I’ve ever been a big fan of her.”

  “Good! Great, even. Well, that dumb bitch stuck her nose in my business while I was Xtreme champ, and costed me that damn belt for no good reason. So, I want some damn payback.”

Scoops clenched his fist tightly, a scowl creeping onto his face while doing so.  “I wanna take those damn tag titles off her shoulders. I wanna teach her not to stick her nose in my damn business, and to be quite honest? I wanna make those damn tag straps relevant again for once in this damn company.”

“And I know yer’ just the girl I can rely on to help me out with that.” Scoops let his scowl fade into a smile, reaching out a hand towards her.   “You in?”

Game Girl hesitated for a moment, staring down at that offered handshake before she slowly reached forward.  “I’m in.”

“They’re having another team involved, apparently,” Noah chimed as he was busy dusting himself off.
“I think the word is that Larry Tact and Corey Black are going to challen-”

“Larry Tact?” Scoops snorted, baffled. “You mean the same Larry Tact who got his ass beat by me last time we were about to step into that ring together? The same Larry Tact who’s been getting dogwalked by half the damn roster in his short time here? THAT Larry Tact? The fuck makes anybody think he’s in any position at all to go challenging for some gold?”

Scoops turned back to GG, brows furrowed at it. “This is the shit I’m talkin’ about, Vidya Game Girl. They don’t give a rat’s ass about no tag team gold in that company. It’s a fuckin’ afterthought. Always has been to them. And those dumbass MAGA Powers, they don’t give two shits. They’ll take an easy defense because that dumb bitch Maddy Dyson has always taken whatever handout gets given to her. And nothing ever changes.”

GG scratches the back of her neck and hisses in pain.  “Erm, I don’t agree with your choice of words but I do agree about handouts. Usually when I see Dyson she’s beating up someone who just walked into the company, like a hazing ritual almost. A bully who has nothing better to do.”

“Dolly though… I can’t really say anything to be honest. She’s been a good friend and a great rival, we’ve butted heads and come up even stevens.”

Scoops scoffs. “Ya think she’d say the same about you? That witch is a hustler if I’ve ever seen one; all that Misty Waters crap and what does she do when “Dolly” takes back control? Crawls back to Dyson, crawls back to try and get some easy wins! She talks about wanting to ‘redeem’ Madison, but she ain’t gonna be sayin’ a goddamn thing about how she’ll stick her nose into other people’s business because it benefits that stupid fuckin’ team. You won’t be fightin’ Dolly, girlie, you’ll be fightin’ a backstabbing succubus.”

Noah tugs at his collar as Scoops eyeballs him and realizes what he just said.

“Aw shit, I didn’t mean to bring up stabbing.”

Game Girl coughs a laugh and pats Scoops shoulder. “It’s fine, ha. I think I know what you mean, and betrayal isn’t something new to me right now…”

“I don’t think that makes it right…” Noah murmured as Scoops waved him off.

“I’ll, uh… work on that,” Scoops nodded. “But do we really think Maddy is all that much better? Little fuckin’ cockroach doesn’t know when to quit. It don’t matter what she does, how bad she fucks up - and believe me, she’s had more than her fair share of moments fuckin’ up - she’ll twist and gaslight anyone around to make it seem like she’s not some embarrassment.”

Game Girl thinks for a moment. “Back home, there was this evil called The Corruption. It was a force that swept over the land and turned it wretched and uninhabitable… I think Madison is the same. She spreads nothing but hate; for no real reason. She just does it to get a reaction? To make people miserable? To see someone who could be great like Dolly turn into a puppet? There’s no understanding something like that, no reasoning. You just have to-”

“Beat it,” Scoops interjected. “The only thing a bully can understand to know when to shut the fuck up is to march right up to them, look them dead in the eye, and you punch them in their jaw.”

GG nods slowly. “You’re right. Can’t spread hate when you’ve got a fist in your mouth, right?” She jokes.

“You talk like that, they’re gonna start asking if you mean the whole fist or somethin’,” Scoops snorted in amusement.

Game Girl perks up a bit with a snicker. “So,” she stands to her feet and rolls her shoulder. “What about Corey and Larry? Gonna be honest I don’t know a darn thing about them.”

“What about Larry Tact?” Scoops gave a side-eye towards Game Girl before turning his attention back to the GoPro camera atop Noah’s head as he continued. “I already ran down that loser before, but I’ll do it again. He’s a dime-a-dozen little pissant thinkin’ he can strut his way into this company, restin’ on his laurels, thinkin’ ‘cause he was hot shit in some defunct little wasteland that means somethin’ here. No one gives a shit about Level Up Wrestling here, fucker. Not a damn soul. You come in here without any fire, without any desire, you’re easy fuckin’ pickings. I showed that when we faced each other last time on Warfare, and that’s only gonna be the start once that bell rings.”

Scoops grinned, putting his hands on his hips. “Tables, Ladders, and Chairs. That’s my domain if there ever was one. You ever wonder how many different ways you can let your body be broken in half? I’m gonna fuckin’ show you. When I drag your carcass around that ring, beatin’ some sense into you, beatin’ how to be a proper family man into you, yer’ gonna realize you ain’t cut out for the XWF competition, boah.”

Game Girl smiles politely looking at the “strange device” Scoops is glaring at and then back to Scoops. “Level Up sounds pretty cool though.”

“It’s really not. It’s dead ‘cause of him being dead weight, after all.”

“Yeesh, he must be heavy, huh.” GG shoves her shoulder into an unmoving Scoops before she sighs. “So, he’s just kinda gonna be there? Like a Goomba.”

Scoops nodded, following along. “Yeah, like a goon-”

…

“Wait, what?”

Game Girl chuckles. “Simple obstacle to hop over… Technically a sentient mushroom.”

“Sounds about right…”

“I do have another question though… Why are we fighting with all this furniture around?”

Scoops raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. “You really ain’t been in one of these before?”

“Well… it’s simple. You’ve used weapons before. You crack some bastards over the head with some chairs, you crush their bodies through some tables, and when they’re all beaten and conked out, then ya climb the ladder and ya grab the titles right at the top.”

“Oooooooh.”  Game Girl pretends to understand with an over-exaggerated nod. “Gotcha! Very understandable. So I’ll just teleport to the belts and we win, right?”

“That…” Scoops was about to give a counter, but he paused, mulling the thought over. His eyes were slowly widening, the mere weight of such a revelation seeming otherworldly to the geezer.

“It’s like you have your own cheat code in this match…” Noah breathed out in excitement.

GG gives a few quick nods. [yellow]“Yeah, basically :)” She then looks back to Scoops who looks like he’s going through the end of 2001. “But, maybe, that would be cheating and I suppose you wouldn’t want to lower ourselves down to our opponents levels… Right, Scoops?”

Scoops crossed his arms as he turned towards Game Girl. “There ain’t such a thing as cheatin’ in this match in particular… but! You would be cheatin’ me outta the chance of crackin’ Maddy’s skull in as payback, and I’d actually get pretty pissed about that.”

“Okie dokie!” GG looks quickly back to Noah and gives him a wink before turning back, her movement returning to normal as she strolls around the barn and looking at the mundane objects cluttering it. “I owe you at least the chance to get payback on Madison. To be truthful, I wouldn’t mind knocking a few teeth out myself.”

“I guess that means we’re two of a kind then,” Scoops smirked. “Just like I guess I’m two of a kind with that Corey Black fellow, huh?”

“Truth be told, I only know so much about that little SOB, but I’ve seen some of his matches. I know what he’s capable of. But I also know he’s a little nasty part-timer ‘round these parts, ain’t he?”

Noah nodded, the camera following along with his head shaking as Scoops continued. “The thing about Corey is that he divvies up his attention more ways than you can count. You can just take a look at all the different places he’s fightin’ at, spreadin’ himself thin. Good for him that he’s a free agent and enjoyin’ life, pickin’ and choosin’ when he wants to come in, but that ain’t gonna help him here.”

Scoops frowned, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “I’m nothin’ but focused on this match in particular. I know you’re focused on havin’ my back, Girlie. And I can say a mountain of bullshit about those two fuckers Maddy and Dolly, but I know they’re at least focused on this match. I can’t say the same about Loser Larry and his little cockfaced friend. They got sandwiched together for shits and giggles, one of them dancin’ around places like a pinball while the other can’t even be relied on for any sort of consistency!”

Game Girl stops at a bunch of hay with a cocked head, oblivious to Scoops’ rant. “Do you have horses!?”

Scoops glanced over and responded by silently pointing at the nearby stable of horses, who neighed and sputtered at the sight of her.

Game Girl skips over to the horses she somehow only just noticed and begins petting one. “So cool.” She turns to Scoops. “You have a real nice place here, you should be proud.”

“Girlie, I feel like you're avoiding the matter at hand here.”

GG finishes petting the horse and dusts off her hand with a short exhale. “Yeah~” She wanders back over to Scoops, swinging her arms. “I will help you out no matter what, I owe you that much but I said to myself that I want to have fun again! Saying bad things about people I barely know… I don’t know… It makes me feel icky. And I know it’s part of the game but after everything that’s just happened is it really important?”

“Just a minute ago you said you were ready to bust some heads!” Scoops replied.

“I know! And I will fight and get you what you deserve, I swear down! But you say Corey is spread thin and probably won’t even realize he’s in a match, from the sounds of it will probably show up in a different company like a moron, Larry Tact is a poor defenseless mushroom, Dolly is possibly brainwashed AGAIN and Madison is a bully! Like we agreed, actions are gonna speak a lot louder than words with her.”

Scoops laughs. “Ya don’t need to talk to ‘em if you don’t wanna. I just need you to have my back, which I know you do.”

“Darn right I do! You stuck with me when you didn’t need to when we saved Roxy, you just saved my life. I-” Game Girl stops short and smiles widely before getting down on one knee. “Scoops McGee, I pledge my full allegiance to you. I abandon my title as Hero of Narfinex and swear to be your protector at all costs.”

Scoops nervously coughed into his fist. “Alright, Girlie, I’m… flattered and all that, but you don’t need to make this weird. Besides, you’re… ready to give up yer’ home just like that? You ain’t even thinkin’ about revenge? You… just got betrayed, after all.”

Game Girl stands up straight, her chest swelling with pride. “I don’t need revenge… I don’t need a home that I don’t know anymore... I need a friend.”

A forlorn smile stretched itself across Scoops’ face as he walked beside GG and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Well… if you say so.”

Scoops planted his hands on his hips, sauntering out of the barn and gazing off towards his ranch in the far distance, right in the middle of the McGee family farm as only one thought was creeping to his mind.

“...Shit, I’m gonna have to be feedin’ four mouths now, aren’t I?”[/i]