“Betsy Granger… Star Mother, Earthly Host…”

She could hear them, a cacophony of voices within her mind; Not just her mind, she could feel their calls like an electric current through her body. Closing her eyes, she slips inside of herself to answer, allowing herself to give her full attention to the billions of voices crying out at once.

“What is it, my friends?”

There is a pause as they seem to hum as one. It vibrates her very bones, a subtle percussion to remind her that they were still very much alive inside of her. The sensation is one of bliss and she begins to lose herself to it, sliding deeper into the armchair she’d just been reading peacefully in.

“The outsiders… They don’t like you.”


“Mmm, ye- Wait, what?!”


The words were so jarring to her current state that her emerald eyes fly open and she sits straight up in shock.

“The ones who do not stand with you, they mock you… Laugh at you… Call you crazy.”


“I don’t care, they just don’t understand…”


Despite the resolution behind her words, her lip begins to tremble as her fingers tightly grip the cherrywood arm of the chair.


“They’ll never truly appreciate you… They’ll always try to destroy what you are...”


“Stop it.”

Rising abruptly from the chair, Betsy throws her book away and runs out, covering her ears. It was the most futile effort she could have made; the disembodied voices continued to invade every inch of space her body could contain.

“You have failed in defeating the ReVenant. You have failed in winning one last shot at the GCWA World Heavyweight Championship.”


“Neo James Carner I can rectify any day. GCWA can’t be helped; I hate letting it go, but I haven’t much option. I don’t get it, what is the point in bringing these up?”


There is a pause as another hum goes through her; only this time, it doesn’t leave her with the pleasant vibration in her bones. When they hum now, the song is full of disappointment and longing; Betsy shivers as ice spears through her blood.


“The worst is yet to come. Overcome the trivial disappointments of your goals; it’s time to widen your gaze. You’ve lost your way, child.”

Shrieking out loud, Betsy swings a fist at her own temple in a desperate attempt to drown them out. A strong hand catches her wrist before she can connect and she looks up at James as a sob escapes her. His free hand is hidden behind his back; Betsy narrows her eyes and relaxes her captured hand.


“I promise not to self-destruct. What are you hiding?”


James looks reluctant but finally reveals his phone to her. With one last suspicious look to James, she looks down at the tweet he happened to have open. His heart sinks as her face does the exact thing he’d feared; green eyes go dull as the mischief and energy leave them. The visible slump in her face would have been comical if it weren’t for the very real hurt he saw in her expression. His phone slips through her numb fingers; he catches it instinctively as she turns, pulling her own phone out and activating Twitter.


“They chose Ruby to challenge for the Splat Multi-Universal Championship… Ruby?!”


“Your heart was set on this… We can feel how deep your disappointment goes; why waste this much despair on such a folly?”


Squeezing her eyes shut, The Impossible Traveler screams internally. “Shut up, shut up, shut the fuck up! I’ve had enough; why are you tormenting me like this?”


James watches in silent horror as Betsy’s face changes with her emotions. As rage pours through her, the billions of beings light up with her. The next few minutes pass by in a blur for her; fingers type out involuntarily, her head twitches as she continues her internal screaming match. A slight glow begins to emit from all around her; when she opens her eyes, they are a bright, gaseous neon green.

“Walk with me.”


His voice cuts through the rest of them like a glowing hot sword. An irresistible surge of comfort and love wash over her as she feels his warm, strong hands grip her face. The tips of his fingers tangle into her golden locks as he swallows his nerves and rubs her cheeks comfortingly with his thumbs.


“Look farther into the horizon, Star Mother.... True peril awaits. Castaway dreams of titles and trinkets; they blind you to what is almost too late to stop. You’ve already taken the first steps; don’t turn away now.”


“What are you talking about?”

James jumps about a mile in the air when Betsy screams this last bit out loud. He recovers quickly, however, when Betsy falls backward, arms splayed out as though releasing something heavy. Closing the gap quickly, he catches her with ease and lowers both of them safely to the carpeted floor. Tears stream endlessly from her tightly shut eyes as she shivers violently, and then she goes limp. In an instant, the glow subsides and her eyes remain shut as her breath comes ragged and shallow. Brushing locks of hair from her face, James pushes himself against the wall and pulls Betsy into his lap.

“Come on, sleepy-head. Time to wake up.”


Something about the words spurs a memory that causes her eyes to flicker open. Leaping out of his arm to her feet, Betsy crouches and looks around wildly. Realizing what’s happening, James holds out his hands and takes a careful step towards her.


“Calm down Bets, it’s only you and me.”


Whirling around to face him, her emerald eyes remain frantic for a moment before settling in on his face. Little by little, she relaxes her stance but continues to hug herself tightly and sway a bit on her toes. Easing back over to her, James wraps her up tightly; seeing how frail and frightened she was compared to the moment before had him equally shook. His heart only begins to calm itself when he feels her arms snake around him and squeezes. Petting her head and kissing her gently in between her eyes, he gazes at her, his voice still soft.


“So what the fuck was that?”




___




“Hey Marf, you know that feeling of anger and woe in the pit of your stomach at the moment? The one that’s been following you around since Demos made his feelings for you clear during our match? Or was it Charlie... Eh, it doesn’t matter either way; To me, DemNickles went by a completely different name:

Karma, baby.

That’s what it feels like to get a taste of your comeuppance, you fucking twat, and there’s plenty more coming your way. That’s a feeling you may as well start adjusting yourself to now; While you’re at it, why don’t you spread the word to the rest of the Kool-Aid Klan and let them know that this is only the beginning.

Go ahead and bitch and moan all the way to whoever the fuck listens to you anymore about how you got screwed. I’ll sleep better at night knowing there’s no way in hell I asked DemNickles to help me out. That guy has got an agenda I want no part of; I just took advantage of the opportunity he presented me. In other words, I didn’t do anything you or Lycana, or any other of you Left Hand idjits wouldn’t have done in such a situation. You’re just mad because it worked out in my favor instead of yours.

And in the spirit of that, let’s move on to my round two opponent for March Madness, shall we?

Actually, let’s put him on pause because we can. He’s not getting past me anyway, so does it really matter how long we hold off on dunking on this guy anyway? I need to get something off my chest or it’s going to eat me alive.

Vinnie... God damn you, dude. Seriously, I know there can only be one, but the Multi-Universal Title practically has my name written on it. You’ve got someone who can travel through time and the literal universe and you go with the local superhero. Talk about a conflict of branding. I know the vote of confidence in Ruby is well-earned; I hope she manages to bring it home to us in XWF. It’s not doubts of her abilities or a question of whether she deserves it; Of course, she does. But while searching my feelings on the matter, I realized what really bugs me about it is knowing how close I came to being chosen and knowing now that I didn’t have the full confidence of bookers and management to do the job. I could sit here and bitch about not getting chosen the same way Marf has elected to cry about his loss to me, but I have a better idea. If I haven’t turned enough heads yet, then I suppose I have no other option than to do what I told you I’d do on Twitter.


I won’t stop now until I run the fucking gambit in March Madness.


I’ve no illusions of it being an easy task. Look at the possible competition; some of it is almost a guarantee if I’m being honest. I’m still looking forward to the day I get to come face to face with the good Doc D’Ville; I’m equally eager to see if Atara and I are going to end up squaring off before this is all said and done. Who knew the possibility of The Goddess and the Impossible Traveler had the potential to headline this quickly? Ah, but what if it comes down to Noah or Brother Mine? Shawn and I have already proven what we’ll do when it comes to climbing the latter for a common goal. Legacy is everything, that is unquestionable, But neither one of us is willing to step aside or cut the other any slack because of our friendship. Yes, friendship. It may be the oddest one you’ll see on social media, but if you doubt it's the foundation, I invite you to do your history search.

And while you’re at it, look up my opponent for me. The one I actually have this go-around.


Calypsoooooo.


I’m not going to lie to you, friend; When I first heard the name, I thought of the sea witch-goddess from Pirates of the Caribbean. Remember her? I always thought she was a great character who didn’t get nearly enough screen time. Her story was beautiful and tragic; it truly deserved its own movie.

You, however, will barely get ten minutes of screen time. It’s nothing against you personally; I’m sure you’ll continue to have a cozy little career as a high-profile jobber to mid-card hero. It’s just that some force in the universe really doesn’t like you; I’m currently in a mood most foul and you have found yourself unwittingly put in my path. I don’t want to stand here and condescendingly tell you how bad I’m going to feel about that; Rest assured, any sort of remorse would all go away once the bell rang my victory tune. And quite frankly, I’m just not in the mood to play nice right now.

As I said, it’s been a shit week.

Here we are, I am actually sorry you’re the one I have to take my current vexations out on. You seem a decent fella, I hate to kill Ya; but I really need to move along in this tournament. Please believe me when I say that there are others in this thing, I’d rather tango with to get ahead. But fate has decided otherwise for us, Cal... I’m going to call you Cal from now on, or I’ll keep seeing crabs everywhere when I think about you. It’s weird... And mildly alarming. Crablypso... The Amazing Crablypso...

Fuck, I need to sleep at some point.



____



“So... shit,” James mumbles as he runs a hand nervously through his hair.

He and Betsy are outside with Muppet in their backyard; as the big, black poodle plays in what’s left of the snow, Betsy and James walk around hand in hand. With her free hand, Betsy lets off what’s left of her frazzled nerves in the form of remaining plasma energy. As it flows from her fingertips gently, James stops their stroll to run his fingers through it as one would a lighter. His face lights up in surprise at the comforting warmth it gives off; in turn, his reaction causes her to glow brighter for a moment with happiness. It fades just as quickly, the rest of the leftover energy trickling from her. She sighs, suddenly exhausted.

“Could we go back inside now? It’s cold and I’m drained.”

Before she could stop him, James lifts her off her feet and carries her inside as a groom would a bride through the threshold. She protests weakly at first, but her head slumps against his chest as her eyes slide shut. The sensation of being set down causes her to become momentarily alert, but James is already sliding into the bed next to her and running his hands over her hair.

“It’s okay to sleep, Bets. I’m not going anywhere.”

Tears trickle gently down her cheeks as her tired eyes slip shut. Using a finger to brush the tears off her cheeks, James leans in and kisses her gently before wrapping her up tightly in his arms. It isn’t long before she falls into the deepest state of her sleep; James watches in fascination as she begins to emit a low-level glow. Even though the look on her face was peaceful enough, the voices that still invaded her mind were as loud as ever.

“Darkness fast approaches, Star Mother. Allow us to help you embrace yours; Then, only then, will you be ready to face what comes.”