“Betsy... I’m close now; can you feel me?”

The cold voice reverberates through her mind, causing Betsy Granger to gasp out loud. In her surprise, she loses her feet in the middle of a multiple kick combination and lands hard on her tailbone. Pain floods through her back, but she rolls off quickly and back to her feet. Turning back to the fighting dummy in front of her, she positions herself to attempt the sequence again.

“Don’t ignore me, Betsy; we’re nearly one now. There’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

”Stop it. Get out... You’re not welcome here and this vessel isn’t yours.” Betsy begins with a series of strikes before throwing in kicks. For a few moments, the voice remains silent.

“Who can stop me; certainly not you. Even with all this delicious power you possess, you can’t fight me. You want me here... you yearn for the guidance I can give you... I can feel how much you crave the liberation to act on all that you truly feel.”

Once again, Betsy crashes to the floor, this time onto her left elbow before rolling onto her back. Slamming a taped fist onto the training mat in frustration, Betsy remains in her spot, looking straight up at the ceiling. ”Lies, every word. I don’t need what you offer to move ahead; I merely need to work harder and refine my technique. Shake off defeat and work harder for a better future.” Her voice trembles as she feels an icy, dark claw wrap around her neck. ”I don’t need you.

For a moment, the voice falls deceptively quiet, the grip releasing from her neck. Her heart pounds as she hesitates for a moment before attempting to sit up. An invisible weight pushes her back down and bears down heavily on top of her. She struggles against it, even though she knows the attempts are fruitless. She attempts to cry out to James for help, but her cries come out muted and breathless.

“Why fight it, my golden beauty? I can give you what you need to take everything you’ve ever wanted. All I ask is that you accept me willingly; take what I have to offer and do as I bid.”

”I don’t even know what you want, but I can’t imagine it’s anything good.” she replies out loud, struggling once again. ”I have no desire to be anyone’s slave, let alone someone who wants to use me as a meat puppet. Get the fuck out.”

“Betsy.” The voice comes in a condescending purr. “I’m going to win, whether you like it or not. I’m giving you a chance to submit willingly, but be aware that I’m capable of taking what I want at any moment.”

”Then why wait for me to change my mind? Why bother playing this game when you can feel the power of my will?” Betsy snarls.

“Simple, dearest: When the vessel is willing, the power is much more potent. Yours and mine combined, together in perfect unity... We’d be unstoppable. The ability to conquer Darkness and Light...” The voice turns husky and suddenly the weight comes off her. “Think of it, Betsy. Every Universe would be ours for the taking.”

”That’s the problem with men like you. Betsy says, getting to her feet. ”You think everyone is the same, seeking power, riches, fame. Playing into someone’s vanity is clever, but have better care for who you try to use this on. I’m not like the other’s; I’ll kill us both if it means keeping you out of my soul.” Betsy growls.

The laughter peels through her mind like a bell in a tower. She clasps her ears as though it would keep it out, stumbling forward into one of the mirrors. Reaching her hand out to catch herself, she takes in a deep breath before looking up into the cool glass. She gasps loudly as she stares at herself, the mask of death has returned in full. Her skin had started to decompose some, hair and nails longer than before and just as dirty as they’d been the night she’d come out of her grave. Her lips were blue, her skin an ugly shade of yellow and sunken in, her eyes fallen deep into her skull. What made the grotesque image increasingly frightful was the black ballgown and accompanying crown and veil that went with it. Standing over her shoulder was the same disarmingly handsome stranger with the missing eye that had approached her the night she’d been resurrected. Crying out, she takes a step backward, but he reaches out a hand and holds her in place. She looks behind her in horror and chokes on her own breath when she sees no one there. Turning back to the mirror, her stomach churns as she is forced to maintain eye contact.

“You truly believe yourself to be different, Betsy Granger, but we both know it’s the biggest deception you live with. I’ve seen enough of you now to know what lies beneath that friendly, selfless demeanor. You want it all; not just what wrestling has to offer you, but the world and the galaxy beyond. You want to experience all the splendor the stars can give you; I can help you have all of it and more. All I ask in return is the vessel to achieve my own goals as well.”

”I’m not a puppet.” Betsy says once more. ”And despite the self-doubt you want me to develop, I know better than to listen to the dark voices in my head. I’ve defeated my own over the years, you’re just a man trying to crawl his way inside of me. Typical.”

He laughs again, stepping forward and dropping his arm to wrap around her stomach. His touch is ice cold and slimy; Betsy gags and tries to slip away, but his grip tightens and his lips tickle her ear. For a moment, his image in the mirror blurs, showing the hellish creature from her nightmare a few weeks back. It nibbles playfully at her ear before speaking in a whisper that sends ice water through her veins.

“You have spirit, a burning fire that I have no desire to put out. I could set you ablaze if you let me in, Betsy; together, we could be everything the rest of them could only dream of being. We could be greater than any champion, queen, or goddess if you let me guide the way.”

Betsy squeezes her eyes shut, unwilling to stare into the demon's face any further. Inside her mind, she runs through several doors, but the demon is there every time. He finally grows bored of the game and captures her into his arms and holds her tight against him as she struggles.

”Let me go, god damn it!”

“Never.” He replies huskily, wrapping one arm around her tightly and touching her forehead gently with his free hand.

Images begin to explode through her mind at breakneck speed. She sees them through time and space, always together, looking out of balconies or from mountaintops at the lands they conquered together. So many planets and civilizations dominated and fell to their feet before them, the most powerful of couples through the cosmos. People being murdered and plundered, villages and kingdoms burning behind them as they ravaged their way through. Living among exquisite splendor and spending every night making love in the most depraved ways. A dark partnership that could span time and space itself. Despite her resolve, the feeling of unlimited power was irresistible. She took a willing step forward, reaching a hand out towards his, feeling his warm grip wrap around her fingers.

Another feeling began to fall over her then, something happening outside of her mind. A muffled yell pierces through the pleasantly warm fog the handsome stranger had created; shaking her head, Betsy stares up into his face with a confused smile. He cups her chin gently, tipping her head up towards him as he leans his face down for a kiss.

"Bets, not again, come on!” Now the voice of James Raven comes through clear as day. Her eyes pop back open having started to shut in anticipation. The demon had returned to his form and Betsy gasp, her struggles renewed.

”Oh no you don’t! She says determinedly as images of James, Shawn, Lycana, Kasey, and others burst through her mind. Memories of happiness and laughter, warmth and love, bringing the Impossible Traveler back to herself.

“NO!” the demon screams, his grip growing tighter. Betsy cries out as she feels herself being dragged back down. “Don’t you understand? You can’t do any of it without me! Look at what happened when you rejected me before your title match. Now Charlie Nickels has what's yours and you have nothing!”

”I have James... I have my family, blood, and chosen... I have my entire career and every opportunity I choose to take. One loss isn’t the end.” She says, clawing at the ground now, wanting nothing more than to get back to James.

“You’ll have nothing if you keep up this pointless good girl charade.” He says tauntingly, keeping her firmly in place effortlessly. “It’s not what you want to be anymore, I can feel it. I can help you release her. Do you know how amazing it would feel to take revenge on your enemies without feeling a drop of guilt?” He purrs into her ear, causing her to shiver in revulsion. “You crave carnage and chaos; I can make you a purveyor of both, an unavoidable force that everyone will crumble too.”

”You sound like little more than a bully with a whole lot of issues that require the longest of shrinks couches.” Betsy says stubbornly. ”I may have a few superficial desires, but nothing I’d be willing to trade my soul over for. You’re wasting your time; my mind is stronger than most and I promise you won’t win.”

“Do you think someone won’t be attempting to play fast and loose with your upcoming match against those two idiots you’ve already beaten? The old man and the transitional champion, both of whom have already felt the taste of defeat at your hands.” The tone grows full of contempt. “This is what they think of you now, Betsy; you’ve been bumped back to the midcard against a senior past his prime and a never-was, never-will be run-of-the-mill guy. Before you know it, you’ll be opening cards against the newbs, a glorified gatekeeper.”

”Fuck you.” Betsy snarls, hurling the words at him like daggers. ”I’ll achieve everything I want with time and work. Thanks for the offer, but take it to someone with a weak will and no chance.”

“Oh Betsy, my darling golden Betsy... It's already almost complete and you just don’t know it. But you will... Soon enough, you will and when it happens, you will be ready. I can feel it.”

And just like that, his presence lifted and Betsy’s eyes popped open.

**** An Impossible Promo ****

”Huh... It’s funny, this almost feels like a bad joke.”

Betsy Granger peers into the camera from a chair in her living room at home.

”I come before you without my TV title, to face the man I not only beat for it, but who now holds a shot for the Xtreme championship. On the other side of that, I’ve got the man, the legend himself, Centurion... Who I’ve already tested my mettle against and won. Both of these men, I’ve done this to on a couple of occasions, so why, booking, do I find myself staring down both of them at the same time? Is this my chance to just knock their heads together comically and prove my dominance over them at once? Haven’t I already embarrassed them both previously enough to last the rest of 2021 at least?”

She twirls her finger in the air sarcastically to mark her lack of enthusiasm.

”Marf, I guess I have a bit of crow to eat as we face again. I came down on you for your short title reigns; karma has seen to it that I paid dearly for those remarks. But while you look a bigger opportunity in the eye, I’m stuck here in the middle with you and Andy, reclimbing my way back up the few steps I dropped. It’s really a pain in the fucking ass when I think about it, because I’ve already done this song and dance several times. Do they want me to start getting more creative with your public humiliation? I’d be happy to oblige, I have plenty of ideas, so long as nobody calls off the match for being excessively barbaric.

I’ll bet you had yourself a nice, long laugh after Lycana and I lost our fight for the Tag Belts against the Bastards, didn’t you? You were such a crybaby little bitch about it for so long, it’s funny watching you trying to act tough about it now. Lycana and I may have come up short, but we gave the tag scene something to remember. When was the last thing the Dissentients did anything noteworthy? Now Lycana and I find ourselves as subjects of scorn and scrutiny while nothing pieces of shit like you climb the title ladder. Or try to anyway, I don’t see you being the one to take out Bam Miller for the Xtreme Title. You couldn’t even beat me, and apparently, I suck harder than Paris Hilton for the camera in a hotel.

It’s men like you and those in power that look down with a sneer at women like me. You think we’re just pushovers who will quietly play their parts and take their punches. Even Andy thinks more progressively and he’s old enough to share lunch with Jesus. Oh, I suppose you don’t think you’re all that sexist, do you? I’ve seen who your friends with, buddy... Keeping company with the likes of Charlie Nickels doesn’t exactly give you the most ringing endorsement of feminism. My new buddy Bam is going to beat the misogyny out of you and put you back in your place where you belong... And that’s after I do a lot of the same. I’ve already sent you back to the doghouse with your tail between your legs before... What’s one more time for funsies?”

Betsy rolls her eyes and flicks an invisible fly out of the air.

”And then there’s the Ego of the XWF, the cockiest of son of bitch and the most condescending fuckwad to grace the industry?

How’s it going, Andy?”

Betsy gives the camera a mocking smirk.

”What, did you expect me to suck your dick like the first time we faced? Sorry, that bright-eyed, hope-filled little Mary Sue has left the building. I’m also not going to appeal to Marf for an alliance like I did with... What’s her face... Vita? Was it Vita we were on that stupid Disney ride with? You know, the one where I threw your ass out of a moving train car... There was a Yeti... I’ll be damned if I can think of it right now.

Not that it matters. That was in the past, and much like Marf, my record against you speaks clearly for itself.

But if they insist on giving me another opportunity to break your hip, I suppose I can give the people what they want. After all, tis the season to be jolly, and giving, and whatever the fuck else it is I’m supposed to be. To be quite honest with you Centy, I’m feeling rather venomous and vindictive and more than a little resentful. I thought I was finally climbing out of this weird slump I spent the second half of 2021 in. I thought I was finally shaking off that disappointing string of high-profile losses that turned me from the hypest newcomer to the mid-card hero. I was supposed to be the next big star, I was praised as a future universal champion. I had allies and friends who thought the world of me and heralded my presence as something positive.

Where are they now?

Ah, who gives a flying fuck?

If I have to claw you to bits one more time to move back ahead, so be it. You may have had a bit more success than me recently, but I haven’t lost a fucking thing. The only thing that comes differently is the plan of attack; I’m done playing nice with the arrogant. You need to be knocked back down a few pegs; you’re starting to get as bad as Chris Page. And even he hasn’t been as annoying as you have recently.

Betsy lifts a clawed hand out towards the camera, her rage causing it to glow brightly.

”On the bright side, I have the opportunity to topple not one, but two men in one sitting. It’s not often I get to play in the middle of two boys who have no idea what to do with a woman. Now that I get both of them together, I can teach them a few new moves that they won’t soon forget. Our night together will be as memorable as our first, individual times; and just like then, they’ll taste the sweet caress of my fists against their faces as I drag their pride across the floor.

Do you both remember what it felt like to fall beneath my boot and hear that bell ring out my victory over you? Hold on to that feeling and keep it tight against you like a blanket; my personal challenge to myself is to find a way to make it so much worse for both of you before the match is through. By the end of the night, neither of you will be able to sleep, because my face will flit through your nightmares as you remember the night I emasculated you completely for the world to witness.”

FORMER