“So where are you taking us this time, Sis?” Shawn Warstein asks, looking over Betsy’s shoulder at the nav screen.

Covering up the destination with her body, she grins mischievously at Shawn and waves her hand to shoo him away. “Don’t you worry about that yet, brother mine! Don’t sweat a thing, though, this one is going to be a treat.”

“Where have I heard that before?” He mumbles good-naturedly enough, taking a seat in the pilot's chair.

Beyond them are Reggie Estrada and Lycana, both of whom are still walking around the engine room in shock. Reggie is gawking slightly, as he tries to wrap his head around the vast difference in dimensions between the interior and exterior. Lycana’s eyes were lit up in fascination, taking in every last detail of the churning engine. She turns towards Betsy, eyes wide, a grin threatening to split across her face.

“I have to say, it’s much more pleasurable being a willing passenger than cargo this time around.” Though her tone is light, Betsy can’t help but feel a residual pang of guilt.

“How…” Reggie still seemed a bit in awe as he finally turned his wide eyes to Betsy.

“It’s crazy, right? Time Lord tech is a thing of beauty, especially once you learn to translate Gallifreyan successfully,” The Impossible Traveler gives Reggie an understanding grin. “I guess she’s not so crazy after all.”

“Anyone need some drinks from the cabin? I’m kinda thirsty” when Reggie gets up from his seat to head to the main cabin, he notices something outside their view that resembles a huge Candy Cane. Heading back to his seat with some drinks in his hands, he hands one to Betsy. “Hey uh, I see a huge candy cane from outside, aren’t we heading to uh?.... What the hell Bets! You said I wouldn’t have to come back to this place ever again!” Noticing the candy cane from his chair. “This…. This…. Cannot and will not be forgiven!” As he takes a sip of water, he notices some hostility. “Look… lets all chill-out, and see what’s out there, I mean, at some point, we need to land on this planet.”. Then he observes a rainbow flowing at their ship out of nowhere. “I think it’s a message for us to go to the planet, I don’t know about y’all but I want to explore this place!”

“This can’t be…” her voice catches as a horrible feeling begins to sink into her stomach.

Lycana’s eyes narrow as she joins Reggie to look out of the window. Shawn stands next to her and finally, Betsy comes to stand next to Reggie. They all look out with different expressions on their faces, but none of them are joyful. Running back to her nav-screen, Betsy begins punching buttons and pulling levers like a madwoman. Warstein tears his eyes away from the view in time to catch the panicked look across her face. They lock eyes for a long moment until a rough jerk from the outside of the ship takes all of them off their feet. The transmission beacon crackles to life and all four of them turn towards it, to be met by…

“Miss Fury?” Lycana snarls, getting to her feet first and lunging towards the hologram of their opposing team captain.

A cold cackle emits from the hologram. “If that’s what you wish to call me. I am the Magistrate of this planet and you are trespassers here. What is your business?”

Climbing to her feet, Betsy approaches the hologram. “No business, just passing through when someone tossed out a rainbow and found my ship. Get us free and we’ll be on our way.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible… Impossible Traveler.”

“Fuck me.” Betsy turns to Reggie and nods. “I guess we’re exploring… But on our terms." Slamming down on a large silver button, Betsy ends the transmission and takes up the controls of Excellence. Her face set with determination, she meets the eye of all three of her current companions. “You guys and gal might want to find something to hold on to. This is gonna be a rough landing.”

While everyone was getting on their seats and bucking up, Reggie then saw the hologram. “Shit, I have no idea that this place was “guarded” or shhhh---” Reggie then quickly got to his seat but he fell on the floor as the ship lurched towards its destination; everyone looked at him while he was laughing at himself. “Shit that fuckin hurt, but I hope we get to the place, and your right Besty I shoulda listen to you.”

Lycana gracefully takes a chair directly behind Betsy and studies her intensely. “Is this the same one as before?”

Betsy throws Lycana a rueful expression over her shoulder. “I don’t know yet, but it does look similar. I suppose the plus side this time is that our minds haven’t been invaded… Yet.”

“Not this time,” Lycana growls, her fists clenching as she remembers the flashes of their last visit.

Shawn nods his agreement, another victim of the aliens who had kidnapped her and Legacy; them and certain figures that were heavy on Betsy’s mind at the time. The fact that the hologram had taken the shape of Miss Fury caused her concern; she wondered how many other BoB’s they would run into amid this dangerous adventure. Clearing her mind of these thoughts, she takes a look around to make sure everyone is secured. Satisfied, Betsy frantically runs circles around the control console, finagling controls and keeping a grip on the large wheel. As they enter the atmosphere, Excellence begins to shake violently, setting off several alarms at the same time. Cursing out loud, Betsy races around to the other side of the control console and begins pumping on another level rapidly. Checking the gauges, she shouts over all the noise. “HANG ON!”

Grabbing the landing lever, she yanks it towards her with all her strength; a moment later, Excellence makes a bumpy, skidding landing across the surface of the strange world. One more violent shake-up and Excellence finally falls still. The alarms stop blaring as a bit of smoke begins to seep from the churning engine. Looking around, Betsy examines each of her companions for any damage. Though a bit shook, everyone seems to be unscathed, allowing her to let out a relieved sigh. It’s only then that she realizes she has a death grip on the steering wheel; she releases it with trembling hands, taking in a deep breath. On shaky legs, she heads up the ramp and throws open both doors. What she sees outside causes her to let out a startled gasp, attracting the attention of her companions. They join her at the door and mirror her bewildered expression.

The once gorgeous world of Candyland had been reduced to flames and ash. Betsy had managed to land Excellence just outside the Lollipop forest, which looked like it had gone through a brushfire recently. Colorful discs that had brightened up the black licorice branches were melted and smeared, giving off a ghoulish look. Spearmint grass was trampled over and left destroyed, leaving only a trail of dried molasses in its wake. Scattered along the path were the bodies of soldiers in bright uniforms with Princess Lollipop’s crest emblazoned on the chest plates. Sucking in her breath between her teeth, Betsy finally tears her eyes away from the carnage in front of them towards the castle on the horizon.

“I don’t know what I’ve gotten us into this time,” Betsy starts slowly, “but I’m already sorry for it. And I don’t know about you… But I’d like to get to the bottom of this once and for all.”

As all four of them walk along the open area near the castle, it quickly turns to nightfall with the moon rising rapidly. Reggie approaches one of the fallen soldiers and pulls out a sword to thwart the army of evil gummy bears, who were approaching fast with their weapons raised. Just as the Gummy Bear Militia reaches them, the sun rises quickly back into the sky. The sudden wave of heat causes the Gummy Bear Militia to melt on the spot, just before the first wave could reach their feet. “Damn, kinda reminds me of Ocarina Of Time or something”. This earns Reggie a shrug from Shawn and a confused glance from Betsy and Lycana. Reggie turns back to face ahead and nearly falls headfirst into the marmalade-filled moat in front of him.

“Hey you guys, I think we made it to the moat of this castle, but I don’t think they’re going to let down the bridge for us,” Reggie calls out to the rest. Shawn and Besty do a headcount of the guards just beyond, taking note as to who was in control of the entry. Together, they concoct a plan to get the door down, using some kind of whistle device; moments later, the door to the portcullis opens and the bridge is lowered for them to cross. “We come in peace, we are just here to do some business with your lord BOB”. The response is immediate: the two guards closest to them aim their weapons at Reggie. Before they can attack, Shawn uses a Smoke Bomb to blind the guards as Lycana shoots them with her arrows.

“While I appreciate your direct approach, how about we let me do the talking next time?” Betsy suggests as patiently as she can. She and the gang move forward as Reggie slowly walks behind them with his head low from what Betsy told him. As they move along in the castle, they hear some random noise in the corridors,

“What is that noise, it sounds like they’re chanting some weird shit,” Shawn says out loud.

As they get closer to the sound, they see four witches chanting out “BOB” around a fire. Betsy holds up a hand to halt the others and puts a finger to her lips. She jabs a well-manicured finger towards the witches, who remained in their true form for the moment. Hideous and misshapen, the four witches were chanting in unison in a language Betsy couldn’t recognize. Just over her shoulder, she can feel Shawn tensing up, ready for a fight. Lycana’s eyes are glowing a dangerous shade of violet, a low growl escaping from deep within her throat. Betsy begins to glow, feeling her powers wanting to break free and play. Reggie, however, grows impatient with waiting; with a cry of war, he runs out from the corner and begins swinging his sword at everything he can reach. The witches scream and quickly morph into Miss Fury, Oswald, and the tag champions TK and Bobby. Both teams draw their weapons and prepare for battle.

“Uh Betsy, I'm out of ammo!” Lycana screams as her arrows are depleted from her crossbow. As if the universe was listening to her at that exact moment, Lycana somehow manages to summon a smaller version of Mjolnir; channeling the power of Thor, she lets out a primal scream as she takes a mighty swing at Bobby Bourbon. Shawn spots a broken crowbar lying discarded; running over and scooping it up, he proceeds to slam it with all his weight behind it on the gelatinous body of Bobby Bourbon. Meanwhile, Betsy was using her HeavensToBetsy wand to channel her powers to beat up Fury and TK at the same time.

Reggie, who had been disarmed by Miss Fury earlier in the melee, was now on the sidelines watching his partners taking down the BOB witches. He sees Betsy being overpowered by Fury and TK as they use their Whiskey and Flame magic on her to knock her out. Reggie bounds over to her to make the save. “Are you okay, Betsy?” he asks as she gets to her feet.

Eyes flashing, Betsy snaps in a rare display of temper. “Maybe you ought to stay out of this one, okay?” Betsy’s tone made it clear that it was more a demand than a question. Lycana and Shawn appear at either side of her, having untangled themselves from the fray.

“Reggie, this battle is NOT in your area of expertise, so do us a favor and stay out of our way,” Shawn tells Reggie. Without waiting for a replay, Shawn and Lycana both turn and run off to save Betsy, who was currently the victim of a four-on-one beat down.

“Looks like I'm not wanted in this fight,” Reggie mutters to no one, watching Shawn and Lycana make the save for Betsy. After a few minutes of watching the battle rage on, Reggie turns his back on them all and heads to the other side of the castle, exploring every room along the way. He finally enters a room that contains a rustic old speaker box standing on the table. “Reg--Reggie… are you there?” As the speaker box comes to life, Reggie's eyes wander around until he sees the speaker box. “Charlie?...is that you?...” Lost in his discovery, Reggie temporarily forgets the world around him and what’s happening within it.

The battle in the great hall continues, with neither friend nor foe realizing Reggie’s disappearance.

“These guys are too overpowered for just the four of us to take down!” Lycana shouts to Betsy as they meet during battle, pressing their back against one another. All around them, a swarm of mindless BoB Soldiers surround them, moving in slowly.

“They aren’t aren’t too powerful for us to take down, just more fucking difficult than anticipated,” Shawn yells at the ladies. When he turns back towards the battle, he gets punched in the jaw by Oswald which briefly knocks him out. As Fury, Bourbon, and TK gang up on Betsy and Lycana, a mysterious man in the shadows comes back into the fight with white face paint and long black hair with a black shirt on holding a baseball bat in his hand. “Who the fuck is this guy?” Shawn, still groggy from the blow, slowly gets on his feet to observe the newcomer.

Without a word, the painted-up stranger advances towards them. In his hands is the deadliest morning star any of them had ever seen. Lifting it into the air and spinning it dangerously, the painted stranger begins taking out the BoBbies, one by one. Then he sees Miss Fury plea for mercy, even almost giving some lip service down his pants.

“FACE PAINTED DUDE WATCH OUT!” screams Shawn as the mysterious guy ducks a chair shot from TK that connects to Fury’s face. As TK reels in confusion over what happened, Lycana, Shawn, and Besty all come together with the face-painted guy. “By the powers vested in me... BE GONE BOB WITCHES!”

The result was equal parts horrific and oddly satisfying. A ball of flames shoots from the mysterious man’s hands as he throws them out towards the BoB witches. All four of them begin to scream as they melt into a liquid cherry Jello. Their soldiers disappear from existence as silence suddenly falls in the great hall. Shawn, Lycana, and Betsy all slump against one another dropping their weapons and breathing heavily. The Face-Painted Stranger stares down at them, taking in their battle wounds and exhaustion. Once she’s caught her breath enough, Betsy pulls herself up to her knees and stares up at the mysterious addition to their group. She opens her mouth to begin to ask who he was, when she looks around, realizing for the first time that Reggie was no longer with them. Closing her mouth, she gets to her feet and approaches the stranger, scrutinizing every feature of his face. Recognizing something in the eyes, she gasps loudly and takes a step back.

“Reggie! But… What happened? How did you get such a cool power… And where did you find face paint?” she marvels, circling him slowly.

Lycana and Shawn also get to their feet, looking over at Reggie with distrust written all over their faces. Before he could formulate an answer, the liquid cherry Jello that had been spreading across the stone floors began to flow back towards the middle of the room. The team watches silently as four humanoid shapes begin to materialize before their very eyes. Much to each of their chagrin, the team of BoB witches reformed, all of them cackling gleefully. The laughter doesn’t reach their eyes, however; Miss Fury steps forward, her face cold despite the chuckle in her tone.

“Did you think it would be that easy to dispose of us?” Miss Fury shakes her head in disappointment. “Tsk, tsk, I thought all four of you would have realized by now: BoB is forever. If you agree to surrender, we might have a place for all of you in our Elite ranks. How does that sound?”

“No fucking deal,” Shawn says, taking up a great sword and stepping forward.

Lycana’s head bobs in agreement as she swings the hammer in her hand, generating blue, crackling energy from the head. Reggie squares his shoulders and allows flames to erupt from his fingertips. Betsy tosses away the wand and allows the plasma energy to build up inside of her, causing a blinding white glow to surround her. Any lingering amusement quickly leaves the BoB witches as they realize that Estrada’s Angels weren’t going to back down. Miss Fury’s face contorted with rage as she spits her words like venom.

“You can’t win, don’t you know that? Every time we are struck down, we come back, more powerful than before! Watch!” With a casual flick of her forefinger, Miss Fury sends all four members of Estrada’s Angels back against the wall with an invisible push.

All of them groaning in pain, they watch with increasing horror as all four BoB Witches lift their hands in the air and begin to chant again. Figures begin to appear all around them: the rest of BoB, Elite or otherwise, begin to materialize around the BoB Witches. The Angels are soon surrounded by a platoon of mindless BoB Drones. Taking up defensive stances, the four members of Estrada’s Angels tense up, ready to take down as many BoBies with them as they can. Betsy, calculating their chances as she always did, looks at her team mournfully. “I’m sorry, you guys. If we don’t make it out of here. I'm sorry you got dragged into my mess.”

“We’re making it out… And we’re taking these mother fuckers out before we go.” Lycana says in a husky tone.

As the platoon and BoB witches advance on their position, a sparkling, circular gold light appears behind the enemies. Pouring from it is Discontinuum, Thad in the lead, followed closely by Dock. Corporate Chaos arrives behind them, looking completely bored with the entire situation. Andre Dixon sneaks through and blends himself among the BoB witches. Another gold circle appears and Faith Unifies Corey and Korea In A Triumphant Holy Alliance of Distinction come running out from inside it. Corey, Alias, and Centurion quickly flank Thad, and all four of them cut their way through the BoB Platoon to stand with Betsy and her crew. North Korean War Criminal looks at everyone in obvious disgust and sticks his nose up in the air, heading towards the back of the hall.

“We heard you could use a little backup!” Alias shouts, taking up a spot beside Betsy. She flashes him a thankful grin, new hope running rampant through her.

The BoB Witches begin to look a bit nervous as another circle appears, this time allowing Acockalypse Now to enter the room. Dick Power looks seductively over everyone, licking his lips towards Lycana and Betsy and making an obscene gesture that was unmistakable to translate. Both women ignore him as Ned Kaye and Geri Vayden enter, looking reluctant to be there. Jim Caedus follows close behind them, making a beeline for Betsy as soon as he’s through. Before the BoB Witches could get their bearings, one last golden circle appears and Charlie’s Carnies enter the mix. Dolly and Betsy lock eyes and grin, seeming to think the same thing without exchanging a word. Charlie looks eager to bash some heads in, no matter who they might end up being. Robert Main joins Betsy, Shawn, and Jim as the teammates fall in with one another naturally enough. Marf and Lycana attach at the hip almost as soon as he’s through.

The staredown is intense as teams break up to join different sides of the fight. Not a sound is made, making the tension in the air even thicker. Suddenly, someone lets out a bellowing war cry and both sides begin to charge at one another. Bodies smack into each other with unforgiving thuds as battle breaks out. Shawn swings his greatsword, managing to catch TK through the middle. There’s a comical look of horror on TK’s face just before his upper half slides free of his bottom half. Miss Fury lets out a scream of rage as she charges at Shawn, but Thad and Corey are there to tackle her to the ground. Meanwhile, Betsy and Lycana double team Bobby Bourbon as Shawn begins to take down anyone that isn't one of the Angels. Reggie continues to attack anything that breathes with his man-made fireballs, taking out Geri Vayden and North Korean War Criminal at the same time.

“Nice shot, Reg!” Ned Kaye yells approvingly before being stabbed through the chest with a spear by Demos. Demos is quickly avenged by his teammate Dolly, who snaps Ned’s neck before Reggie has a chance to reply.

Bodies begin to pile up quickly. Reggie turns and manages to blast Money Oswald, turning him into nothing more than ash. Dick Powers and Demos run one another through with swords as Thad, Corey, Alias, and Dolly are all cursed by Miss Fury into a death-like sleep. Main and Caedus are in a heated confrontation with Corporate Chaos and Andre Dixon. A single misstep on Jim’s part proves fatal; Chaos quickly capitalizes on the error and takes Jim’s head clean off his neck with a broadsword. An animalistic yell escapes Robert as he attacks Chaos and Dixon with more fervor. Producing a gun from a holster hidden beneath his shirt, he aims and shoots Dixon and Chaos down with a single shot between the eyes. Dock, realizing he was the only one left of his team, appears from a shadowy corner and quickly goes on the attack.

Somehow, Estrada’s Angels manage to regroup with one another, all of them panting with exhaustion.

“There’s so many of them… I don’t even know who’s on our side and who isn’t anymore.” Lycana struggles to say through short breaths.

“Then there’s only one thing left to do,” Shawn says, taking in a deep breath. “We kill them all without mercy. At this point, it’s us or them.”

Reggie and Betsy agree without hesitation; Lycana pauses as her eyes skip over to Marf, who was currently holding off Centurion. Betsy puts a hand gently on Lycana’s shoulder, forcing the sapphire-haired beauty to look into the green eyes of her teammate. Swallowing hard, Lycana finally nods, gathering up as many of her arrows as she can and putting them back in her quiver. Relieved, Betsy nods to Shawn and Reggie and all four of them run back into the battle. Betsy and Shawn cover Bobby Bourbon, mercilessly beating him down to his knees. Lycana turns her attention to Miss Fury and the women collide into a flurry of blows. Marf manages to gain the upper hand over Centurion, first breaking his leg, then his arm, and finally stomping his head into the stone floor. Without missing a beat, he hurries to where Lycana is battling Miss Fury and the two begin to overtake the BOB team captain. Shawn and Betsy finally gain the advantage over the much bigger Bourbon; with one clean swing, Shawn takes his head off his body. Betsy lets out a warrior's scream as she retrieves the severed head and lifts it high in the air, blood raining down into her golden hair.

Fury, realizing that she’s completely on her own, turns back towards Lycana and Marf, her face giving away her panic. Suddenly, Dock bursts from the shadows again, coming to the aid of the lonely Miss Fury. His attack stuns Marf and Lycana, who stumbles back into Robert Main. He pushes his way through them and lunges for Dock’s throat, sinking his teeth into the tender flesh of the old man’s neck. Dock screams and pushes Main off of him, his eyes glowing a malevolent red. Betsy appears from behind and grabbing Dock by the head with both hands, sends a wave of pure plasma energy into his brain. Main and Betsy watch as Dock’s face melts from his skull and his body crumbles heavily to the ground. Betsy turns to grin at Main for a job well done, but her expression twists to shock as Reggie appears at her side and sends a blast of fire straight into Main’s face. The Omega bursts into flames and quickly falls to the floor as ashes at their feet. Betsy looks over at Reggie, who grins back at her and blows on his fingers.

Shawn, Reggie, and Betsy join Lycana and Marf, who is still battling an irate Miss Fury. In her anger, the witch has trouble maintaining the stolen image of Miss Fury, revealing her true, hideous face in the process. The survivors of the melee surround her, Betsy taking the forefront and planting her hands on her hips.

“Now… You’re going to answer some questions and I don’t want any bullshit.” the Impossible Traveler says in an authoritative tone. “This is the second time you’ve brought me and my co-workers to this place, why? What do you want with me and why do you feel the need to involve them?”

Miss Fury smirks as she backs herself against the wall. “I thought you were meant to be smarter than this, Impossible One. Haven’t you figured it out yet? WE aren’t the ones who want you; we’re just hired guns. Well, I’m a hired gun for who wants you, the rest of them are just my henchmen who do whatever I tell them.”

“Fine… Then tell me who it is that wants me and maybe we’ll let you live.” Betsy snarls, retrieving a dagger from a hidden sheath under her belt and holding it to Fury’s throat.

Miss Fury only tips her head back and laughs hysterically. “Do you think I’m scared of you and you’re trivial threats? The man I work for is infinitely more horrifying and merciless. Even if you let me go free, I’m a dead woman.”

“Then there’s no harm in telling us what we want to know.” Lycana chimes in, pointing her crossbow at Fury.

“You’ll never have the information you seek from my lips.” Fury declares defiantly, grabbing at Betsy’s hand and dragging the dagger across her own throat.

Blood pours onto Betsy’s hands as Fury slumps over dead, bleeding out from the deep, self-inflicted cut. Letting out a frustrated scream, Betsy falls to her knees and slams her fists repeatedly against the ground. She isn’t the only one in obvious distress; as Betsy rubs roughly at her eyes and wills herself not to weep, Lycana turns to Marf with a look of sorrow. His eyes widen in surprise as she aims the final arrow in her crossbow at his heart.

“I’m so sorry…” she tells him in a thick voice. He tries to protest, but Lycana’s shot is true. The arrow pierces his heart clean through. His eyes grow wide with horror as his mouth drops open just before he slumps over. The job finished, Lycana drops her crossbow and falls to the ground, covering her face.

Betsy crawls over to Lycana and throws her arms around the distraught woman. Reggie and Shawn are still in shock, though both are quietly overjoyed by her actions.

“Perhaps it’s time we get back home,” Shawn says slowly, never taking his eyes off the women. “The longer we stay here, the more fucked up our heads are going to get.”

Getting to her feet and helping Lycana onto hers, Betsy nods her agreement and pushes past her team. They follow their captain, maintaining the uncomfortable silence back to the ship. It’s only once they are inside that Betsy takes a good, hard look at the people who fought beside her. All of them showed signs of battle, sweat and blood plastered to their skin. Motioning for them to follow, she leads them to another room on the ship that acted as a locker room. Each member of the team enters a shower stall and cleans themself up before changing into fresh clothes provided by Excellence. They meet back in the main cabin, all of them crashing in exhaustion into chairs around the control panel.

“Well, that certainly didn’t go as planned,” Betsy remarks, her voice full of sarcasm.

“No… But it wasn’t necessarily a wasted trip, either.” Shawn says, earning a confused look from his ‘sister’. He shrugs and motions towards Lycana. “Now I know that when she says she’s for the team, she’s really for the team.” He points to Reggie. “And who knew this guy packed that big of a punch? Seriously, what was all that?"

“Alter ego type stuff… That’s a story for another day.” Reggie says with a yawn. Before any of them could ask him to elaborate, Reggie stretches himself out and falls asleep.

“I… need to be alone,” Lycana says and disappears towards the bedrooms that Betsy had set up for them.

Shawn and Betsy exchange a glance before Shawn shrugs and takes up a seat across from Betsy’s pilot's chair. Allowing the silence to fall between them, Betsy navigates her team back to Earth, reflecting on the disaster her plans had turned into… Again.

FORMER