Post by heavenstobetsy on Jan 27, 2021 19:31:41 GMT -6
Betsy stands alone, save for the GCWA camera crew, in the middle of the Legacy Dojo, temporarily named until something much cleverer comes to one of them. She’s dressed in the white gi that she’d been given by Sensei Warstein on their first group training. Today, however, was just between them, per her request. He’d seemed reluctant at first, but luckily for her, Atara happened to be with him. The Goddess to her Impossible Traveler managed to help her sweet talk the grizzled veteran into meeting her at the dojo for a private session.
Except it wasn’t the type of session Shawn was anticipating.
Impatience catches up to her quickly and she begins to do laps around the dojo to keep herself busy. She’d caught wind of Mack’s words about her and had since mulled over them obsessively. What bothered her the most wasn’t the constant use of the word bitch or the mocking way he’d proclaimed pulling a shank - let’s be sure to get it correct - was just business. It wasn’t that he thought her stupid or foolish for feeling as personally as she did about his actions. All of that could be waved off as Mack being the uncouth scoundrel that he was.
No, what bothered her the most was the Wonder Woman comparison. It’s what spurred her to beg Shawn to meet her today.
“FALL IN”
Just as his name pops into her head, his voice rings out from the entry. She quickly jogs to the center of the dojo and falls into position. Sensei Warstein appears before her, clearly ready for business. Atara, looking stunning as usual, finds a chair and sits nearby, watching.
“You asked to see me privately, here I am. What is it, Granger?”
“Sensei, I need your help.”
“I figured that much. What do you need my help with.”
“Mack O’Connor.”
Sensei Warstein pauses, allowing his momentary surprise to show on his face. “I thought you had that well in hand.”
“So did I, until some of the things I heard him saying about…”
“QUIET!”
Jumping slightly, Betsy straightens back out and shuts her mouth. Sensei Warstein approaches her and looks her square in the eye.
“I don’t give a fuck about anything he had to say, and neither should you.”
“Yes, but-”
“QUIET! Don’t tell me what that bald bitch said. Tell me what bothers YOU about it.”
Vexation grows within her and she finally shows some of that old fire. “How close he hit the mark.” Sensei’s eyebrow quirks, even Atara looks up from her phone now. Licking her lips, Betsy continues. “He called me Wonder Woman… Of all the female superheroes he could have picked, he went for the easiest grab. He was so close to being on the right track… But he was off the mark.”
“Let me see if I have this right… You’re pissed off, upset, whatever… Because Mack compared you to Wonder Woman?”
Betsy opens her mouth to try and explain further, but words momentarily fail her. Sensei shakes his head in disappointment. Desperate, Betsy allows herself to fill with the energy necessary to make her point, and aiming towards the opposite wall, fires a blast of pure white plasma energy outward. The chair clatters as Atara jumps out of her seat, she and Sensei share an expression of pure shock now. Betsy turns back to them, her eyes still glowing a pale yellow-white, slowly returning to her normal emerald green.
“Long story short: In my travels, I made many allies. And not all beings are exactly solid flesh creatures like us. Some species are pure energy… The royal family that uses me as their protective host is one such race. I carry them inside of me until I can find a new home where they will be safe from their enemies. But while I carry them inside of me…” She holds up a hand and low amounts of plasma energy radiate from her fingers. “It’s chaotic… And when my emotions get out of hand…”
“QUIET!”
Betsy looks up sharply at Sensei Warstein, who has recovered from his shock. Atty has taken up her seat and now watches them with avid interest. Sensei Warstein begins to circle his student, regarding her with new interest.
“Do you fear what your emotions may cause? Do you know why you have this problem?” Quick as lightning, he covers her mouth before she can speak. “You’ve made this into something personal because of what O’Connor did to James. He smells blood in the water and now he has the jump on you, and you allowed him to get it. You’ve built yourself into such a state of emotions that you’ve become blind to what the most essential task is: Bringing that World Title back to Legacy. If you continue to make this a personal vendetta, O’Connor is going to walk all over you come Adrenaline Rush. Is that what you want, Granger?”
“No, Sensei.”
“I didn’t catch that.”
“No, Sensei!”
“Come on Granger, I can’t fucking hear you!”
“NO, SENSEI!”
Nodding in approval, Shawn backs away and faces her again. “Then we both understand what you’re asking of me today. This means I don’t want to hear any whining or crying once we’ve started. You asked for my help and you’re going to get it. Get in the phone box, we’re going on a field trip.”
Atty and Betsy exchange a confused glance and follow a retreating Sensei Warstein to Excellence, leaving behind the confused camera crew. Sitting down in front of the control console, he beckons Betsy over and points to the navigation screen. “Set that up to go to an active war-zone. I don’t care which one, surprise us all, just get us to one.”
Atty’s Aegean blue eyes widen in shock as Betsy’s mouth drops open. Sensei nods staunchly and crosses his arms over his chest. Her stomach heavy with trepidation, Betsy does as she’s told and enters a set of coordinates into the computer. The engine comes to life, chugging a merry tune that’s out of sync with the mood of the company. Atty sits beside Sensei and rests a hand on his thigh. Betsy slumps into the seat across from them, looking pale and distressed. An uncomfortable silence falls heavy over them as each one ponders what could happen next.
Excellence suddenly begins to jerk around violently. Everyone is jostled out of their seats and onto the floor as the ship is tossed prematurely out of the time vortex.
“Is everyone alright?” Betsy calls out, crawling towards the area Sensei and Atty landed.
“We’re alive.” The throaty tones, laced with the Greek accent ring out just ahead.
Sensei gets to his feet and helps the women up to theirs. Betsy hobbles over to the screen and switches the view to the outside of Excellence. Her face goes grey as she looks up at her companions. “We’ve got some serious trouble, you two.”
They rush around to look over Betsy’s shoulder. Atara can’t contain her gasp of shock as Sensei lets out a low whistle. Outside the tiny phone box are several armed extraterrestrial ships, fast approaching from light speed. That, however, wasn’t the worst of it. All of these ships were aimed towards Earth itself. Atty sits down hard in her chair as Sensei’s gaze drills holes into Betsy. The Impossible Traveler herself still stares in horror at the screen.
“They must have used a gravity field to pull us back out of the time vortex before we had a chance to take off. I don’t know about you two, but I don’t much like the looks of those warships.”
“You know… When I said to take us to an active warzone, this isn’t exactly what I meant.” Sensei’s voice is full of calm sarcasm.
This finally draws Betsy’s’ eyes away from the screen. “Do you think this is funny? We have to contact them and see what the hell they want.”
“What the fuck do you think they want?” Sensei blasts back. “They haven’t come to talk.”
At that moment, a transmission beacon lights up the screen. All three of them watch as a giant, crimson face appears. Its eyes are nothing but obsidian against his skin, his teeth rows of sharp points. Horns jut out from his scalp where hair should grow. He stares into the camera, clearly able to see the three of them through whatever technology he is using. He speaks an alien tongue, but Betsy flips on the translation switch.
“Surrender your planet or be destroyed. There will be no negotiation about it. You have twenty earth minutes to make your decision.”
The feed cuts out as suddenly as it started. Betsy’s heart hammers in her chest as Atty rocks in her seat. Only Sensei still appears calm as he continues to stare steadily at his student. Feeling his gaze, Betsy avoids meeting his eyes as long as she can, already knowing what he’s thinking. The idea ties her stomach into knots.
“You know what has to be done, Granger. Your compassion won’t save our planet this time. It eats at you to do it, I can see that. But you know it has to be done… And it has to be you.” He says this as gently as he can manage. Finally, she meets his eyes. They are wide and desperate as she shakes her head and attempts to appeal, but he talks over her with ease. “It’s not fair. It’s shouldn’t be you, but it is. Consider this your drill, Granger. Get out there and do what needs to be done.”
She looks desperately to Atara, who meets her gaze firmly. “He’s right, Dove. It’s us and our planet, or those things that want to destroy us all.”
Fear floods her as she thinks of everyone back on the little blue marble behind them. Her steps towards the doors are heavy and the ramp seemed shorter. At the doors, she turns back. “How many are out there?”
Sensei studies the screen and counts. “Four major craft, all bearing at least a million fighters. All of them ready to launch at a moment’s notice.”
Building her resolve, she turns and walks through the doors. A shot is immediately fired, but Excellence’s defenses are all on max power. Her anxiety quickly turns to anger at how quickly the shot was sent out. She can hear the voices now, the gentle melodic tones of the Celestine Clan that resided inside of her. They whisper to her the secrets of the universe and the ways she can use their power to act as its guardian. A blinding glow of plasma emits from every inch of her and she begins to float in the air.
Using the specialized shaded frames Betsy provided for them, Sensei and Atara watch in awe. As her power begins to manifest, Betsy throws her arms out. Power erupts from her fingertips, bright and pulsing. Now all four ships begin to fire shots towards them, all of them beginning their launch sequence. Her companions clutch to one another as they watch, fear creeping into their bellies. Sensei leans forward and shouts towards his student.
“Use that anger… Allow it to guide you… And do what needs to be done. It’s kill or be killed, Granger. Which do you choose?”
With a blood-curdling scream, Betsy throws out her hands and unleashes the full brunt of the energy. The blinding plasma creeps quickly towards the ships; it wraps itself around each of them like a blanket, creating an unbearable heat. Excellence closes herself to shield Sensei and Atara, both of whom jump to their feet and rush to the doors. They bang against them, yelling to their friend, all while the blinding white glow grew ever brighter. Finally, it fades out and Excellence allows them access to Betsy.
Sensei grabs her as she falls limply from the air and sits her down against the ramp. Atara stares outside the doorway at what was left of the four warships. “Shawn…” She calls to him quietly.
Making sure Betsy was breathing, he turns and looks over Atara’s shoulder. His eyes widen as he watches what’s left of the warships disintegrate into absolute nothing. He peeks around the doorway towards Earth, which remains untouched and none the wiser to what had just occurred. Putting an arm around Atara, he shuts the doors to Excellence and leads them both over to Betsy. Together, they hoist her up and get her into one of the chairs. Betsy begins to stir and after a few blinks, looks up at Shawn. He nods approvingly down at her.
“You’re ready, grasshopper.”
