“Dolly Waters, I expected better from you. I knew you would be coming for the throat of the first person you got your hands on, but damn lady. You wound me with how misconstrued your apparent perception of me is.

Or I would be if I thought you meant a single word of it.”

Betsy Granger, covered in sweat and dirt, dressed in an old-fashioned maids uniform, peers into the droid that is projecting her current message.

“You talk about how I went hard, but you’re going harder, but we both know that you’re softer than a newborn kitten.

Face it Dolly, the only person you’re trying to convince at this point is yourself. You’re lucky I’m first up in XWF; I don’t know if you’ve noticed but friendly faces grow fewer by the day around here. I don’t agree with what Thad did to Corey, flat out; but I’m going to let you have that fight. Consider me a warmup, I promise I won’t make it too easy for you.” Betsy winks playfully and holds up finger hearts. “You’ve got a lot going on, it’s a lot to shoulder and I’m not here to pick a fight or take sides. Nobody ever questions the fact that you’re tough, you’ve proven time and again how much you are. You’re Dolly freaking Waters and you’re going to harden up when you have to and take care of business. The way you tore it up at War Games, the way you continue to rip through the Margarita Mix over in OCW. You and Malvado will have the tag titles off those No Good Bastards before they even know what hit them.

And soon enough, I’ll have the XWF Tag Team titles off of them, as well.

So I’m going to forgive you for sounding like a BoB promo because I know you’re better than that.”

====================

It had been an hour since Lady Smith had Betsy Granger thrown into the dungeon that lurked beneath the fine mansion. Despite the panic that wanted to overwhelm her senses, Betsy forced her brain to remain clear as she meditated on her situation. Ignoring the stench of bile and shit, she closes her eyes and stretches out with her thoughts. She had seen the dark shadow, hovering just over Lady Smith’s shoulder; it was the same one she’d seen skulking near Dolly Waters from time to time. Whatever this malevolent force was, it wanted every version of Dolly it could find…

But why?

Reaching out further, she can feel the guests departing, all of them disturbed by what they had witnessed. The confusion was palpable, even without Betsy tuning into their feelings; most seemed to think the wandering eye of Lord Smith must have something to do with it. Jealousy was a trait Lady Smith was notorious for, and many agreed between themselves that the new maid was a vision. Feeling herself slipping into a moment of vanity, Betsy shakes her head, squeezing her eyes shut tighter, and forces herself to refocus. At last, she finds the energies she’d been seeking, the Lord and Lady themselves. Both of them seem to be riled up, engaged in a spirited argument over the abrupt ending of the festivities.

Focusing on Lady Smith, she attempts to feel around the woman for the dark presence that lingered. A strangled gasp leaves her when a pair of phantom hands with incredible strength grab both her shoulders and pull her into a dark void…

=======================

“In the spirit of clearing some things up, however, I’m more than happy to touch on a few of your key points of concern.

Starting with the obvious disdain you bear towards me due to my promos in which I openly stated my regret in not drafting you sooner. That had very little to do with a fear of being outshined and more to do with cockeyed priorities at the time. I had this vision that if I could get you, Lycana, and Atara on the same team, that we could carry it on to something amazing. Why stop at War Games when the most powerful women in wrestling could have taken the entire professional world by storm? But that wasn’t meant to be and it’s true, I do still carry around regret that I chose Atara over you. Instead of making a better decision for my team, I let my own feelings make my calls. I had hoped that if I could remind Atara what it was like when we were the Goddess and the Impossible Traveler, working together, perhaps she would come back around. Because despite what you seem to think, I didn’t turn my back on Atara. After she left Shawn, it never crossed my mind to choose one over the other; as a matter of fact, I was hoping she and I would still be able to make a go of it for the Tag Titles and topple Them No Good Bastards once and for all.

It wasn’t meant to be, and that was HER decision. I got dumped too, in a sense, before we ever had a chance to talk. She knew my phone was always open; she chose her Atty games instead. I wasn’t ready and I got played; lesson learned, live and let live.

But that doesn’t matter in the here and now because Atara does for herself more than anyone and that tentative alliance with BoB has already gone down the shitter. I thought perhaps she had bowed out from Estrada’s Angels because of her ties; she and the Bastards WERE thick as thieves at that point. But as always, the pressure of the situation caused her to buckle and forced my hand; that’s the only reason Shawn Warstein became an entity in that match at all. In the end, the pieces got shifted because Atty was being Atty. That worked out for you anyway; who knows if you could have gotten through BoB as thoroughly in the first round with me at the wheel. Perhaps one day we’ll get to explore that, but for now…

It’s time to see both sides of the story, Dolly, not just the one that’s convenient for you. Just like this narrative you’ve got in your mind that I feared being outshined by a member of my team. You’ve got me all wrong there, amiga. I picked a team based on who I thought would propel us into the finals. It never mattered to me who the sole survivor would have been, as long as it had been one of us. Seeing the way you tore through your opponents only adds to that sense of regret; we could have been amazing together that night. What is it they say around here?

Que sera, sera.

Before we make nice again, I’m going to have to make you eat your words. No matter what place they’re coming from right now, that was just plain rude ma’am.”

===================

Struggling against the grip of immensely strong hands, Betsy cries out and manages to twirl herself out of reach. Catching her breath, she stares ahead of her at the immense dark cloud that swirls all around her. Though no face is discernible through the shadowy smoke, a pair of eyes form in the middle, casting an evil glare directly at her. She can feel her blood turn to ice as paralysis shuts her body down; collapsing to her knees, Betsy realizes that the hands had removed themselves from her shoulders and were now reaching inside of her. A freezing fist closes around her heart and it’s then that the smiling face of Lady Smith breaks through the darkness. Leaning down, her face hovers inches above Betsy’s, her voice a deep, hissing whisper.

“You’re far from home, stranger. Why have you come here?”

She tries to reply, but Betsy’s voice comes out in a pitiful squeak; the fist around her heart is quickly causing the life to fade from her body. When her eyes begin to flutter, Lady Smith realizes that she’s losing her prey and releases Betsy’s heart, removing her hand from her body. The thick skirts of her dress brush gracefully against the floor as she turns from the Impossible Traveler, who has fallen fully to the floor. Tears stream down her dirty face as she gasps for air, feeling her body return slowly to its normal temperature. When she opens her mouth to reply, she manages a hoarse whisper. Lady Smith leans in close so that she doesn’t miss a word.

“Didn’t… come by choice. The ship brought me here… Don’t know why. Probably because… of… you.” She points to Lady Smith, whose eyes widen slightly. “I think… you might… be in… trouble.”

Lady Smith’s blue eyes show no humor as she chuckles softly. Horror creeps like lead through her blood as Betsy shrinks away. “You are too late, Traveler. This one is mine… All of them are mine.”

Green eyes widen as Lady Smith’s hand, guided by a thick grey swirling phantom hand, closes over her throat once more…

====================

“There’s something lingering around you Dolly, something dark that I can’t place my finger on. I must sound insane, but hang with me a moment longer; I wasn’t going to broadcast this, but given the circumstances…”

Her face grows troubled as she nibbles on her lip.

“I was flying around recently, trying to clear my mind and just take a night off; Excellence had other plans. I was taken back to the late 1800s England, where I stumbled over you… And Corey… And Alias… Some of us were more aware than others of the situation, which shocked me not at all. But I think we can all agree that something creepy is going on and the universe has decided to turn us into some sort of cosmic Scooby Gang. So, er… Excellence has a habit of taking me somewhere I need to be, and in this particular instance, it was my turn to head to the aforementioned setting…

This is the part where it gets tricky…”

She picks up a helmet that’s connected to one of the power sources of her control panel. With a troubled grin, she slips it over her face as she flips on a switch...

=====================

“My, you really do make it a habit to find trouble everywhere you go, don’t you?” a familiar voice cuts through the fog, but Betsy barely registers it as she goes limp...

Aaaaand then she’s crashing to the floor as Alias crosses the room at a sprint and strikes Lady Smith with a glowing staff. She cries out in pain as the smoke figure hisses, both releasing their grip around Betsy’s ruined neck. Remaining face down on the horrible dungeon floor, the Impossible Traveler listens as a struggle commences between the phantom menace and Alias. Another skin-crawling ethereal shriek rings out, echoing off the stones; a moment later, the protective weight of someone else is on top of her as reality splits for a moment.

“APPREHENDING PRISONER ZERO-ZERO-NINE” an ear-splitting voice calls from the crack.

Alias repositions himself to stand in front of Betsy and pulls on her hand; instinctively, she follows and allows him to lead her around a corner. Damaged by the blows delivered to him by Alias’ lethal bow staff, prisoner 009 was in no shape to put up a fight. Exchanging a glance, Betsy and Alias both peek around the corner to watch the proceedings. A ghastly huge hand protruded from the crack, scooping up the defenseless shadow. It disappeared with unnerving ease through the crack; as it disappeared, the crack shrank, eventually disappearing altogether.

“Huh…” is all Betsy can manage as she ungracefully slides down the wall.

Alias chuckles as he taps her shoulder, getting to his feet to check on Lady Smith. Still rubbing her throat, she watches as he drops to a knee as Lord Smith rushes down the steps. Taking in his unconscious bride and the stranger kneeling over her, he understandably misreads the situation. Lifting an accusatory finger towards Alias, he pulls himself up to his full height, his voice bellowing through the basement. As he inches nearer to them, he draws a knife from within his jacket. Alias holds up his hands in supplication as Betsy gets to her feet, suddenly on full alert.

“Step away from my wife before I gut you like a fish.”

His face remains emotionless as Alias complies with Lord Smith’s command. Only a flicker of warmth in his eyes as his gaze remains fixed on Lord Smith gives away his lack of fear. It also confirms Betsy’s suspicion; now she had to figure out a way to get them both out of there. But first…

“Sir… He didn’t do this to Lady Smith.” Betsy manages to squeak out, loud enough to make them break their staring contest. “This was the work of the Devil, he made poor Dol- er, Lady Smith his tool.”

Lord Smith looks incredulously between Alias and Betsy, then down to his wife. He falls to his knees and cradles her up into his arms, gently brushing the hair out of her face. A strained look passes over Alias’ face; at least, she thinks it does, but it disappears so quickly that Betsy convinces herself she was seeing things. Quietly, she tugs at Alias’ sleeve and attempts to pull him back into the shadows with her, but he seems reluctant to leave the pair before him. Betsy steps back up to his shoulder, reaching on tip-toe to reach his ear so she can whisper for only him to hear.

“It’s not really them, you know… They look right through you.” She keeps her words soft, but blunt.

Alias only shakes his head as his eyes remain on them. “We just haven’t had a chance to properly get to know one another yet, that’s all.” he finally casts his gaze upon Betsy. “I know why I’m here, but I admit my surprise at having to rescue you. How did you end up here?”

“So you ARE the Alias from my time?!” she says, her voice hitching slightly in her surprise.

A mysterious smile crosses his lips as tilts his head, looking at her sideways. “Mmm, perhaps… I am certainly AN Alias, I don’t know if I’m THE Alias…”

She allows her frustration to show on her face. “Come now, spare me the riddles and the games; you obviously know who they are, you recognize me. You don’t have to keep playing.”

“He is no one… That’s the way of the hunters.” Everyone's attention swivels back to Lady Smith, whose voice is the next to ring out unexpectedly. Sitting up with the aid of Lord Smith, she looks towards Alias and Betsy with a knowing look in her eye. “The creature left its imprint on my memory; I’ve seen how far each you have come from and how much farther there is to go.”

Each of the Travelers takes a step forward as though hypnotized by her words; even Lord Smith seems enraptured, though he has no clue as to what she’s talking about. "What else have you seen, my friend?" Betsy's voice is no higher than a whisper, but her question pierces the air.

Lady Smith nods and gets to her feet. "There is much to tell, and we must make haste; neither of you can remain much longer. You, Impossible One," she says, directing her gaze to Betsy, "know why."

==========================

Betsy slips the helmet from her head and rubs at her temples as she stares into the transmission pod.

"That's all I'm going to reveal for now; there's going to be enough speculation from outside parties as it is. No matter what is said, one thing cannot be denied: fate is pulling us all together for something bigger than we realize. My crusades against BoB haven't produced the results I had hoped for, but perhaps they aren't the balance of evil I should be focusing on. Whatever wants to claim you is bad news, amiga; the good news is, you've got a group around you willing to do whatever it takes to get you through it.

Myself included.

I have to hand it to my good girl, Excellence really does have an uncanny way of knowing exactly where I need to be. I don't know where I'll end up next, but this isn't the first time we've crossed paths in another place and time. There's something about YOU, Dolly Waters, and I won't stop until I figure out what; but the thing that chases you is more frightening than what hunts me. I know my enemy and he's just a pompous piece of shit...

But your pursuer eludes me entirely... For now. The biggest mistake they could have made was slipping up enough to get put on Excellence's radar. And mine."

Betsy looks into the camera and gives a lopsided grin.

"You know, there's a lot of shit going into a match I was hoping to enjoy when it finally came to be. We seem to have caught one another at bad moments in our personal timelines, but I suppose that's part of the beauty of the chaos. Am I even making sense anymore? Does anything make sense anymore; I hope you can tell me, because from where I'm standing..."

Betsy looks beyond the transmission at the inside of her ship; out of view, sizzling cracks are being threaded through reality. A worried expression clouds her face as she looks back into the camera.

"Things are about to get dicey on a much bigger scale... And like it or not, XWF seems to be at the center of it. I won't stop until I figure out what this is and why you're a part of it...

And how we can eliminate whatever it is that would eat you alive."

Betsy sighs when the transmission dies, her eyes focusing on the destruction of reality around her...

FORMER