“Where the fuck did she come from?”

“Freeze, bitch!”

Before she can comprehend the words enough to comply, Betsy Granger is forcibly pushed to the ground by a much larger body. She struggles desperately as his massive weight begins to crush her much smaller frame; a moment later, several voices join the first two. The weight of her captors' body and the unbearable stench of cheap beer and Slim Jims threatened to suffocate her. Just as she could feel herself about to slide into unconsciousness, the weight comes off of her and fresh air seeps into her nostrils. Gasping for breath, Betsy crawls away quickly, noting the smooth tile under her fingers. Large, pan-sized hands reach out and grab her by her shoulders, pulling her back to her feet. Sweeping her golden locks from her face, she finally gets a good look around. The gasp that escapes her lips is involuntary as she drinks in Thunder Knuckles and Bobby Bourbon; they are wearing full-body spandex suits, accompanied by boots, capes, and masks. The BoB logo is emblazoned upon both their chests, which are currently stuck out proudly before her.

“That was a close call, citizen, but never fear! BoB can always be counted on to save the day!” Thunder Knuckles announces proudly, posing as his red cape flaps gallantly whenever he moves. Bobby strikes the same pose, his orange cape streaming like a banner behind him.

The Impossible Traveler stares at both of them in amusement. “Well, thank you kindly. I guess I’ll just be on my way, then...”

“Not so fast, stranger.” A commanding female voice calls out from the doorway. Betsy spins around on her heel to find Miss Fury standing before her. The black leather catsuit hugs every curve as the de facto leader of BoB studies Betsy carefully. “Who are you and how did you end up here?”

“My name is Elena Jackson... As for how I got here, your guess is as good as mine. I don’t even know where ‘here’ is.”

Narrowing her eyes, Miss Fury gestures towards the door. Another figure, this one insanely stunning to behold, enters dramatically: Osira Themis. The Grecian beauty is dressed in a purple costume very similar to Ivy’s from the Soul Caliber games. Long legs are covered by thigh-high silver boots, the purple and silver leotard she wears is made of impenetrable metals. An opalescent purple cape covers her shoulders, a dark purple mask covers her eyes, though the Aegean blue gives her away. She simply stares at Betsy for a few moments before drawing back and nodding towards Miss Fury. “She’s telling the truth; She has no idea where she is. But she’s lying about her name.”

“Oh, that’s cheating.” Betsy blurts out, building a wall around her mind in order to keep Osira out from now on. Drawing her eyes away from the group, she begins to examine her surroundings.

The room was spacious and brightly lit by many antique lamps. The large, round table served as the centerpiece of the room; the soft glow of the lamp’s light bounced off the creamy, smooth marble. Comfortable chairs were set up all around; each spot had a laptop built into it, and space to work if necessary. The middle of the table was set up as a hologram projector; Betsy focused on this, horrified at the idea of BoB having this sort of technology. Sure enough, TK and Bobby push her towards the table and sit her down in one of the chairs. Miss Fury walks to the main chair and types in a few things before aiming a camera a laser at Betsy. She flinches, expecting to be blinded, by a gentle blue light that simply passes over her face, taking in every detail. She watches with the rest of BoB was millions of faces flash by in the database. Finally, her own pops up; she heaves a sigh of relief is one word in red pops up under information:

Unknown

“Well, well... Alright, Elena, you were clever enough to erase your info from our personal database. Well done, that’s supposed to be impossible to hack.”

Another nervous giggle threatens to escape Betsy’s lips as Miss Fury unwittingly uses her own moniker against her. Biting down on her lower lip, she chokes it back and keeps her face serious. “As much as I’d like to take credit for it, hacking isn’t my specialty. I’ll play ball for now: My name is Betsy Granger and I honestly don’t know wh... y all of you are looking at me like that all of a sudden.”

As soon as her name had been spoken, the entire demeanor of BoB changed drastically. Miss Fury hisses and straightens up, immediately holding her wrist up and communicating quietly with someone. TK and Bobby exchange a wide-eyed glance before looking back down at her. Osira stares at her with avid curiosity and more than a little resentment. Confusion hits her like a brick; realizing this may be her only chance to figure out what the hell was happening, she looks between TK and Bobby, her expression imploring. “I don’t understand what just happened... Please, could someone fill me in?”

Bobby opens his mouth to speak, but Miss Fury cuts him off sharply. “Not a word to the other worlder; she may be a spy.”

“Or she could be exactly as you fear, my dear Miss Fury... If she is truly who she claims to be.” A new voice rings out from the doorway, causing everyone to swivel around. Arms crossed and grinning stood Chronic Chris Page, decked head to toe in marijuana green. His cape was even made of leaves woven together; frosted, colorful buds formed the mask around his eyes. The entire mood of the room changed as soon as he entered; even Miss Fury seemed to defer to him a bit. He sidles up beside her and stands looking down at Betsy with his hands behind his back. “Tell me, girl, what is your name? Your real name.”

“I told you already: My name is Betsy Granger. Use your scantily clad lie detector over there; I’m telling the truth this time.” Quirking an eyebrow upward, CCP turns towards Osira. She rolls her eyes and probes Betsy’s mind once more. Her expression darkens and a short nod indicates the validation Betsy was seeking.

Satisfied, CCP turns back to her, his expression menacing. “Well... This does present an interesting situation then, doesn’t it?”

“Does it?” Betsy asks, allowing her frustration to be heard in her voice. “I wouldn’t know and none of you seem to be in any rush to enlighten me. So, unless you plan to tell me whatever it is you know about me, I’d like to leave.” She attempts to rise, but TK and Bobby hold her down. She glares down at CCP, who just grins smugly back at her.

” You really don’t know who you are, which is going to take a lot of the fun out of this. Still, it’s not every day an opportunity like this presents itself. I’m afraid you’re going nowhere, Miss Granger... Ever again.”

Page’s eyes begin to glow a dangerous shade of green as smoke begins to emit from them. Realizing his intentions, Betsy begins to struggle desperately against TK and Bobby’s grip. They hold her tightly as Miss Fury grins gleefully, practically salivating as she watches Page slowly stalk towards Betsy...

Without warning, a loud bang rattles the entire foundation of the building; another bang causes everyone to lose their footing. Ears ringing, Betsy dives under the table for cover just as another bang sounds from beneath her; the floor crumbles away and she begins to plummet...

____

“Of all the stables in all the feds you could have joined, you just had to go with BoB, didn’t you? And people want to give Atara shit for choosing Shawn Warstein as a partner? And by people, I mostly mean you. You already know how I feel on that front; I shouldn’t think it needs repeating. But it certainly is rich that you would question Atara’s taste in men when your taste in social circles is abysmal at best. Alas, I can’t deny the momentum BoB has built for yourselves; well, not so much you as the newcomer, but Miss Fury for sure. Someone else we have to consider in this Elite Eight, as it turns out. I can’t say I’m surprised, to be honest: I’ve met with the lady before and she’s one tough cookie. Our match in GCWA provided positive results, in that I won of course; but not only that, I stopped your girl from committing murder on national television. Did you know that crazy bitch was threatening to blow up Steve Sayors if I didn’t join BoB, or give up the match, or some stupid shit like that? I never was certain what convoluted bullshit she was spouting at the time because at that point, I couldn’t take her seriously. I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit that things are much different this time around. The difference then and now is that Miss Gravy is firmly on her home turf.

Are you still Gravy Baby, or are you just about the Fury nowadays? Either way, this streak of villainy must be stopped; You became enough of a menace with BoB backing you, now you’ve risen the Left Hand as well? I can only assume that’s in response to the idea that Legacy is about to fill out some of the opposing numbers that has been lacking in this brewing war. And just because your homeboy Baphomet was stupid enough to call out James and Shawn directly, you’ll need to be prepared to have your hands full long after March Madness. The part that sucks for you, Osira, is that because of Miss Fury’s dalliances with the Left Hand, you are now connected to them by proxy. I’m sure this means little to you now, but when I’m handing out punishment without discrimination, I don’t want to see or hear any backpedaling; there’s going to be enough of that when this false empire the whole lot of you think you’ve built begins to crumble around you. At the end of this, when your kingdoms are rubble at your feet, who will you look to for mercy? I promise you here and now, you won’t find it from me. For Atara’s sake, I will never come after you directly unless provoked, but I won’t save you from the flames either.

Miss Fury, if you manage to make it past that sensational Solace Tatum, I’d love to be the next party on your dance card. But you’re going to have your hands full, and it’s obvious you already underestimate her; that’s the very mistake that cost you our match in GCWA. Well, that and the fact that I managed to outplay you at your own game. Do you remember how it felt that night, not just losing the match, but getting cunt punted out of taking the life of another human being? Get used to that, because it’s happening again; only this time, there’s nothing you can try to threaten me with that you haven’t already exposed. If Solace has been taking her notes, and I’m sure that she has, she already has this match in the bag. You may be on a hot streak, girlfriend, but one way or another, BoB isn’t making it to the finals in any way, shape, or form.

As for you, Solace... Here’s hoping to see you in a future round. Please kick Miss Fury’s evil ass, and maybe kick her hard enough in the jaw to get her mouth wired shut for a while? I wouldn’t hate having at least one round in this competition against someone who is... As of now, at least... Completely neutral in all this chaos. I’m sure you’ll be sucked into some of this soon enough, one way or another, so allow me to extend a hand in friendship. We’ll compete again, many times; but there’s no reason we can’t be friends when we do it. There’s too much animosity spreading and far too many people getting sucked into twisted, cult-personality beliefs; I’d hate to see someone with such potential fall to the same fate. My offer comes without stables and strings, just a simple alliance to have one another’s backs. As of this moment, I’m positive you don’t trust me and you shouldn’t, given everything that’s going on. Just consider my offer... I’ll be around if or when you want to talk.

Kieran can suck it, that lucky bastard! How does it feel to make it to the Elite Eight based on luck and circumstances? It’s pretty low that you’d have to resort to tactics such as these just to get past the Sickest of Cunts, but I suppose that’s the price to pay for being even less than mediocre. To be honest, dude, the only reason I’m acknowledging you at all is that you’re just... There. A name on the bracket that’s about to get absolutely destroyed by Doc... Which is why I’m going to save most of the talk about you for him. Have fun losing this one; I’m interested to see how you manage to wriggle your way into the triple threat because there is no way you’ll make it to the end of the second chance battle royal. Not with the names floating around that thing.

Ah well, to be continued, dearies.”

____

An obnoxiously loud, persistent ringing echoed through her ears; the smell of smoke and blood on her clothes invaded her nostrils. Awareness comes back to her slowly as she blinks open her eyes.

“Hey, she’s coming around!”

The female voice sounds like it’s underwater; Betsy turns her head towards it and squints. Her vision is slightly blurry, all she can make out is a grey shadow moving overhead. Suddenly, a bright light is being waved in her face. With a pained groan, she reaches up and pushes it away weakly. Attempting to sit-up proves to be a futile task; pain shoots through her brain and body, causing her to fall back down, clutching her temples as she does. The young brunette tending to her looks down at her sympathetically.

“Take it easy, you took a hell of a drop from the top floor. We still don’t know how you didn’t die.”

Chuckling, Betsy attempts to sit up once again, much more slowly than before. “I’ve always been lucky like that.” She winces as her own words sound like foghorns in her head. Rubbing at her temple gingerly, she opens her eyes to a squint and focuses on Solace Tatum. “Oh, it’s you!” Before Solace could reply, a large crash is heard from overhead. A moment later, Thunder Knuckles and Bobby Bourbon peak through the windows, upside down. Several other people in the moving van that Betsy now realized she was in move into defensive positions. She turns wide emerald eyes to Solace. “What is going on in this place?”

“You are... Your arrival to Devil’s Run has always been prophesized... BoB knew that much, but being the troglodytes that they are, they mistranslated the meaning. They interpreted the prophecy as you being the one who comes and destroys the world. They looked at you as some sort of reckoning; your arrival harkened their downfall. For too long, those assholes have played themselves as the heroes in this city; people like us hunt them for sport and try to lower their population as much as we can.” Solace raises her voice as Bobby breaks the window open with his bare fist. He dodges with ease when Solace’s soldiers begin firing shots at his face. “They weren’t entirely wrong, to be fair: Your arrival does herald their downfall... But at our hands, not yours. No one could ever explain how or why you arrive; we just know that once the intruder alarms started to sound at their compound, our time of the attack had arrived. We were always the reckoning they should have feared, but it was the name Betsy Granger that froze them in their tracks. We knew if you ever arrived, our mission would be two-fold: Get you back to safety and takedown BoB once and for all.”

Betsy shakes her aching head, ignoring the pains that shoot through it when she does. “Don’t send me back yet, I want to help you.”

Solace smiles as the van comes to a screeching halt. Bobby and TK go flying uncontrollably for a moment before recovering. They float with ease back towards the car; it seems as though they were the only two there at the moment. Solace and Betsy exchange a meaningful glance; as much as she wanted to help, Betsy knew that whatever this fight was, it wasn’t hers. Nodding, she waits as Solace gives a few more orders, then arranges a small group of armed men to cover them. Counting down to three, the soldiers kicked open the doors, and they come pouring out. Bobby and TK quickly attempt to dive at her, laughing at the soldiers as bullets bounce off them.

CCP and Miss Fury arrive just as Betsy gets within feet of her escape. Miss Fury, spotting Betsy attempting to run, unwraps a whip from around her waist and lassos it at Betsy’s feet. It catches and Betsy goes crashing down just in front of the barrier. CCP’s eyes begin to glow bright green again as he locks on to Betsy. Solace, seeing everything in slow motion, cries out and dives in front of Betsy just as CCP takes his shot. The sound of Solace’s body hitting the ground is the last thing Betsy hears as she manages to free herself of Miss Fury’s whip and hurls herself desperately through the barrier...

TO BE CONTINUED

FORMER