How does one pretend to function normally when they discover that their entire life has been a lie?

It was the question Betsy Granger had found herself wrestling with daily for the past month and a half. Ever since Doc D’Ville had played within her mind, she’d been haunted by the discoveries made, but that wasn’t all that had been left behind. In her dreams, she could still see the flash of anger in those blood-red eyes of the young man who had clearly once been Doc himself. The exquisite rage that had passed over his face upon her intrusion just before something had pushed her back out. Nothing before and nothing since had frightened her nearly as much as the menacing look Doc’s face as she rushed out of his office that night. The two hadn’t come face to face since then and Betsy was content to leave it like that for as long as possible. In her heart, she knew their story wasn’t over, but for the moment, there were other pressing issues that deserved her attention.

She stood before her childhood home, considering the people she knew to be gathered inside. Her beloved father, the one man she thought she could trust beyond any other figure in this entire universe. Betrayal forms like bile in her stomach, threatening to eat right through to her flesh; of all the people in this house to lie to her for so long, how could it have been him? As she agonizes over this question once again, the beautiful face of her mother appears next to him. Elena Granger, who Betsy herself had recently given a character reference to in order to shorten her prison sentence. Joel and Elena had been so grateful to their younger daughter, having no idea of just WHY she had suddenly decided to help. Betsy wondered if they were curious at all as to her motivations; she quickly pushes this thought out of her head as the screen door to the porch opens and her older sister, Adelaide, emerges from within. Addy’s eyes widen with surprise as she halts her steps, her gaze locking onto her sisters.

Betsy considered Addy for a moment longer, genuinely curious as to whether her sister had known all this time, as well. A large piece of her doubted this, as Adelaide had always been unable to keep even the smallest of secrets from anyone once confided in. Allowing her face to relax, she gives her older sister a warm smile and a wave.

“I didn’t know you’d be home.”

Addy smiles and bounds off the porch, scooping Betsy up into a bear hug. “Ma and Pops told me you were coming, so I thought it would be lovely to have a nice, family dinner for once.”

It’s a struggle to keep her face even at Addy’s last few words, but she manages to do so as Adelaide leads her inside the family home. In her giddiness, she doesn’t notice the hurt in Betsy’s eyes as she takes in all the family photos that adorn the walls of the modest house. The bile churns in her stomach as she looks at all the beaming faces in various paradise locations; it finally becomes too much for her. Breaking away from Addy’s grip, Betsy rushes to the bathroom and slams the door shut behind her. Slamming the seat of the toilet up hard, she begins to vomit up her lunch, unaware that Addy had come in behind her on quiet feet. Now she held her younger sister's hair back tenderly, rubbing her back with her free hand as she stared down at Betsy with concern. Once Betsy finally releases all the negativity she’d manifested, she turns her head gratefully up towards her sister and nods.

“Thanks, Addy.”

With Addy’s help getting back to her feet, Betsy washes out her mouth and face before staring into the mirror at her reflection. Adealaide’s face floats into view behind her and the sisters spend a minute staring at their reflections. As she had done their entire lives, Betsy can’t help but admire Addy’s natural, sun-kissed beauty. Growing up, she’d wondered why Addy had been blessed with their mother’s insane beauty whereas she had been destined to resemble their devastatingly handsome father. The only thing Betsy had inherited from Elena had been the emerald green eyes… But even that was a lie now. As the reality hit her once again, she pulled away from Adelaide and walked quickly back outside. Sickly thick, hot air hits her face as the screen slams shut behind her; the relief she’d been seeking was nowhere to be found. She’s vaguely aware of the door opening once more and Addy’s well-manicured fingers scratching her shoulder gently.

“Betsy, what the heck is up with you?”

Turning to her sibling, Betsy is unable to keep up the facade of calm any longer. Trembling violently as her face grows thunderous, she rounds on Adelaide as a flash of unanticipated anger flares within her.

“What’s up with me, Addy? You want to know what the fuck is up with me? Where do I even begin? Should I start with the fact that my career is heading ever deeper into the shitter? March Madness, the night everything was supposed to propel my momentum and all I’ve done since is fizzle and fade. Here’s a fun fact Addy: I haven’t won a single match since March Madness. No, Bourbs doesn’t count with that bullshit he pulled the other night…”

The back of her head throbs painfully as a reminder of the concussion she’d suffered, courtesy of Them No Good Bastards and BoB. Having faced it completely alone… That was an entirely different animal that she hadn’t found herself ready to face yet. As her mind replays the scene once more, she clenches her fists tightly and squeezes her eyes shut.

“I was left to die at the hands of those psychopaths… I became the sacrificial lamb. All to challenge the one person who cares the LEAST about what’s going on in the XWF.”

As rage courses through her like lava, it crashes into the icy betrayal that also seeps into her blood and poisons any trust that had remained.

“What happens next on Warfare, when I face North Korean War Criminal? Only a fool would think BoB was done using me to make their point. Am I going to have to grow eyes on every side that night to protect my ass? Who can I trust, Addy? I thought I had an entire squad I could rely on, but obviously…”

Her voice grows hoarse as she allows the words to trail off. Defeat floods through her as she knows this is neither the time or place to release this particular part of her anger. Addy had taken a seat on the porch swing and was studying her baby sister quietly. Nodding her head as Betsy turns her way, she pulls an understanding look on her face. Betsy sighs and takes a step on the top step, stretching out her long legs in front of her.

“It hurts worse than I’m willing to admit, Addy. The rational part of my mind knows that there are factors that play into why no one was there to help me that night. But I still get so fucking irate when I think back on it, because… NONE of them were there? NOBODY could be there with me, KNOWING that BoB would be there in numbers? Even just knowing that Them No Good Bastards would be there together should have been enough for them to say ‘Hey, maybe one of us should be there as backup in case things get ugly’.”

Hopping to her feet, Betsy begins to pace the length of the porch.

“But how do I approach them about this without sounding like a raving bitch? Or a whiny child? No matter how I’ve tried to word this in my head, I always sound petulant and accusatory about everything that happened that night…”

Finally stopping, identical emerald eyes lock on to one another. It brings Betsy’s thoughts back to the matter at hand, which incenses her further.

“And all of that is nothing… Absolutely NOTHING… to the sense of betrayal I’m feeling right now because of THEM!”

Her voice grows deeper as she points her finger towards the inside of the house. Now Addy’s sympathetic gaze turns puzzled as Betsy stalks towards her.

“Since I’m giving away all kinds of fun facts tonight, here’s another one: I’m not your real sister.”

The words hang heavily between them. Adelaide stares in slack-jawed shock up at her sister as Betsy crosses her arms and gauges Addy’s reaction. It takes the elder sibling a few moments to collect herself; Betsy waits patiently as Addy struggles to wrap her head around what she’d just been told.

“What do you mean, not my real sister? Of course you are, Bets. I remember the day they brought you home from the hospital. We grew up together, shared our lives together, the good and the bad.”

Betsy shakes her head against Adealaide’s words as the other speaks them. Grasping Betsy’s hand, Addy gives it a squeeze as she forces Betsy to look her in the eye.

“You are Betsy Jeanne Granger, my sister and best friend in this whole entire universe. If you were adopted, Mom and Dad neglected to tell me just as they clearly did you, but it doesn’t matter to me either way. You’ll always be my sister.”

A rueful smile crosses over Betsy’s face at the simple, yet powerful words of her sister. Sitting them both down, she takes both of Addy’s hands in her own now, an overpowering wave of affection crashing over her towards Addy in that moment.

”I needed that, Addy; thank you. I can’t argue that fact, we will always be sisters, no matter what circumstances come between us… but knowing that you never knew makes me feel better about going into this with Mom and Dad.”

Now Addy’s eyes narrow in utter confusion as she eyes Betsy’s up cautiously.

”I repeat my questions, Bets: What the heck is going on?”

Shaking her head in confusion, the Impossible Traveler searches through the thesaurus of her mind for the right way to explain.


”I’m… different. You weren’t completely off the mark when you said adoption, but that’s still not quite… accurate.” She purses her lips as she continues to struggle to find words. ”I’m not quite from here, Addy. The stars, the planets, the entire universe… We already discovered how much wider it really is. What we didn’t know was just how much closer to it both of us actually were.”

Addy is utterly perplexed now. ”I’m not picking up what you’re putting down, sis. What are you trying to tell me?”

Sighing in her frustration, Betsy leaps from the swing and begins to pace again. ”It all started making sense, after I allowed Doc inside my head, you see. The sense of never truly belonging here, mingled with the ability to effortlessly pick up languages and a tactical military mind. My fascination for hand to hand combat training and weapons, the brain power to pick apart and rebuild any technology out of replica’s and scraps in someone's garage…” Betsy stares over at Addy again, who is struck dumb with intrigue. ”I’m such a fool for never realizing it sooner, to be honest. Whatever my true heritage is, Addy… it didn’t originate on Earth.”

Silence hangs between the sisters as each one grapples with the implications of Betsy’s words. Despite the astounding nature of Betsy’s words, Adelaide rises from the swing and approaches her sister once more. Face to face, Addy examines Betsy silently for several seconds before throwing her arms around Betsy’s shoulders and pulling her in for a hug. ”It still doesn’t matter, kiddo. Whatever happens now, we figure it out together. First things first though, you have to confront Mom and Dad about this.” Pulling away from Betsy, she locks her identical green eyes on the others. ”Which you’ll be doing with me in your corner.”

Relief washes over her as Betsy sags once more in Addy’s arms. Holding on to her sister tightly, Adelaide strokes Betsy’s golden hair and waits patiently as her younger sibling collects herself again. After several minutes of this, Betsy rubs her eyes and runs her fingers through her tangled golden hair. With a sigh, she turns towards the door and shoots one last look over her shoulder at her sister for support. Addy nods encouragingly and the sisters march through the doors, bracing themselves for a long, rough night…

****

”I could start things off by spouting the same bullshit I’ve been spewing for weeks. Keep making empty promises that my losing streak will come to an end and I’ll bounce back in no time. Perhaps I should stand here and act as though what happened at Throwback Anarchy hasn’t left me mutually shaken and riled up. I could jump straight into the business of explaining to the North Korean War Criminal all the ways he’s going to lose at my hands. Maybe I should; why give BoB the satisfaction of knowing they’ve wriggled their way even deeper under my skin?

Then again, what’s the use in hiding what’s become blatantly obvious?

Why do what’s expected when all that’s gotten me so far is the shittiest end of the stick, every goddamn time?

Fuck that. Fuck this. Fuck everything, for that matter.

Bobby Bourbon… You really had to show the fuck out, didn’t you? All for what has clearly been a lost cause all along, so I hope it was worth it. I’m sure you found some satisfaction, after the night you had at Leap of Faith. Our wires may have been crossed before, but they’ve been cut nice and clean now. You wanted me to learn a lesson that night? Mission accomplished, although I swear to you it’s not the lesson you intended. All you managed to do was piss me off further. Oh, but there was still something learned that night. For instance, I discovered that there’s no longer any doubt lingering over the depth of your character. I can confidently take back any reservations I had about you belonging in BoB; you’ve definitely gone out of your way to prove that you fit in with that group of fiends and sociopaths. Keep calling out James Raven as much as you like; it only makes you look like more of an attention starved child misbehaving to get Daddy’s attention. Take a fucking hint, Bourbs: James has better things to do than answer the call of a gigantic piece of shit in a small bowl.

Alright comrade, you’ve waited long enough for my attention. I appreciate your patience as I got that off my chest; it’s been a rough go of things lately and BoB certainly hasn’t made it any easier to deal with. But that doesn’t matter one way or another in regards to our match, so let’s get to it. Insert generic, overused material here. I know I’m supposed to follow a certain flow at this stage of the recording, but quite frankly… I’m exhausted. My head kills and I’d rather be in bed with an ice pack over my face; but duty calls and I’ve got obligations to fulfill. That includes you, NKWC, so I’ve scribbled you in for some half-ass acknowledging and minor mudslinging.

I’d much rather be facing anyone else at this point, with no offense meant towards you. Well, maybe a little; you do seem a bit on the douchey side of things. But I’ve got a lot of beef with a lot of people around here and that doesn’t include you. I’m sure booking thought this match was a splendid idea, especially given the location… Which, by the way, is worth noting. How fun is it going to be to wrestle around the Smithsonian Museum for a night? Actually, I’d like to know how in the hell they got the owners and curators to agree to such a farce; I reckon many a priceless artifact is going to be destroyed by the time all is said and done.

Vinnie must have one fuck of an insurance policy for such things.

I’m sure as time goes on, I’ll find more to say, but at the present… there just isn’t enough fire lit under my ass to come after you too hard. All this aggression and rage, it’s not aimed at you and I don’t want to waste it on the bystanders. I know I’ve got a lot riding on this, just as much as you do. As much as I hate you being my next target, booking seemed to think it would be fun. So I’ll do what I must, but I’ll take no joy in it. Maybe you could tape a picture of any member of BoB onto your face, then I’ll find some meager satisfaction as I send you face first into Chuck Berry’s Cadillac. Aaaahhh, a match in a museum; I should cheer the hell up about this, that’s going to present a lot of fun opportunities for us.

Listen, forgive me for making you sound like you don’t matter; of course you do. I’ve seen what you’re capable of, please don’t mistake any of this as me underestimating you as an opponent. I know damn well I need to focus up and keep you in my sights as my main target until Warfare passes. I mean little disrespect on that front, it’s just that you aren’t who I want to get my hands on right now. Any member of BoB in this match would have been an absolute pleasure…

But for now, I can settle for you.”

FORMER