Project S.T.A.T.I.C. Part 4: Worlds Apart

Pam fell through a vortex that opened above the roof of a building somewhere in Metropolis. Her body felt like it had been pulled apart and thrown back together. Her head was pounding from the disorienting feelings of hurtling through space and time. In all her years of practicing spellcraft, she'd never experienced anything as nauseating as what she'd just gone through. The level of power that woman possessed was harrowing, terrifying, and frustrating. Interdimensional travel was something Pam wasn't familiar with either, so she wasn't sure how to start the process of getting back to her world. She supposed the first step was to assess where exactly she’d landed and what this world was.

Pam was standing atop one of Metropolis’ many hotels, she knew that much, but there was something distinctly off about this place. She could see black smoke rising in the distance; multiple pillars of smoke in fact. She walked closer to the edge to survey the ground below. It was closer to dusk wherever she was. She peered over the ledge and furrowed her brow at the scene below. A car crash had recently happened several stories below, and it looked like someone was trapped in an overturned truck. They were climbing out of the passenger window, but someone looked to be coming to their aid. That was what Pam thought at first, but she covered her mouth as she realized how wrong she was.

The scene that unfolded was like something out of a horror movie. The person running to the truck that she'd thought was there to help dropped down and began tugging at the trapped man. Pam could hear the man's terrified screams echoing through the streets as the other person pulled harder and harder. Half of his body had been freed when the passerby dropped down lower and sank their teeth into his neck. While Pam couldn't see the blood and gore, she could imagine it from her dealings with Courtney and her infected. The screams began to die down, but she saw another person running towards the scene. The newcomer proceeded to tackle the person eating the victim, but it seemed they were fighting over their meal. Pam took a step back and closed her eyes having seen enough.

Had Voidfoot sent her to a world where Courtney Tellar had won? Were these sick people the product of that dreadful parasite? She didn't know, but she knew she didn't want to find out. Wherever she'd landed, it was a ghastly and grisly looking world. It also appeared to be one that was wrought with more chaos than her home world. Pam needed to figure something out fast unless she wanted to experience what it was like to become prey for the monsters lurking below. Undoubtedly, it had been Voidfoot's intention to send her someplace that would strike fear into her. She'd faced terror before, though, and she wouldn't let it stop her from finding a way back home. 

As Pam walked away from the ledge, she contemplated her next move. Walking the streets was clearly out of the question given what little she’d already seen. She didn’t doubt that she could handle whatever those things were, but she couldn’t afford to expend too much energy. Not to mention the fact that she didn’t know how many of them there were. Getting trapped in a war against an army would only end in her eventual downfall. No, she needed to play this smart if she was going to stand a chance in this new world. She needed a focusing tool if she was going to have any hope of finding a way back across dimensions. The question was where she was going to find it.

She could feel her emotions bristling beneath the surface, but she didn’t dare open a line of communication between them now. Outside of not wanting to argue with herself, she simply didn’t have the time for it. More than that, she didn’t want to think more about Beth than necessary right now. Her beloved was constantly on her mind on a good day, but being literal worlds apart meant those thoughts were much more prevalent and much less pleasant. Beth had been left alone with Voidfoot with only Jason as backup. While Pam knew she could trust Jason, the fact was that they were alone against a woman that had power that eclipsed Rebecca’s. Even if they could escape Emily, there was still the matter of Eva to contend with. The Brunswicks were a threat on both sides.

Pam stopped her pacing as the answer to her first dilemma revealed itself. The Brunswicks had been researching ways to harness arcane artifacts and combine them with technology. There was no guarantee that their warehouses were still intact, but it was the only lead she had at the moment. Depending on the similarities between her world and this new one, the chances were that Jake’s family had seized the assets of the Brunswicks. It was just a matter of finding the right warehouse without attracting any unwanted attention. Luckily, Pam had an easy way of getting around without being seen and a way of tracking anything that might be emitting any sort of magical trail.

Pam sat down and closed her eyes to focus on the world around her. She pushed her aura outward and slowly let it spread throughout the city. She had to block out the negative emotions that were pervading the streets below her first. Fear was rampant followed quickly thereafter by a familiar gnawing hunger like she’d felt from the infected before. It took a moment to blot out those two, but they slowly faded into white noise in the back of her mind. Her emotions threatened to emerge at first, but they too fell silent as they realized her goal. While they might have all had different approaches, they shared the common goal of keeping Beth safe. To do that, she needed a way to open the door back to their world.

There was something faint several miles off to the west of her current location. She could feel a magical presence of some kind buried beneath steel and stone. It was underground, but it was definitely there. Whatever it was had a wealth of untapped potential to it. With some study, time, and skill, whatever it was might be enough to force her way back into her dimension and back to Beth. She was about to open her eyes when she felt a sudden burst of hostile and malicious emotion hit her. It was powerful and dark, yet something about it felt almost familiar. Whatever it was was gone just as soon as it came. In its place, the sound of gunfire could be heard, another sound that reminded her of her precious Kitten.

Pam stood up and tried to shake off the leftover sensation from those strong and malicious emotions. It almost reminded her of Rebecca from when she was hellbent on ruling the criminal underworld, but there was a rage that felt as passionate and fiery as Beth’s. It was probably a coincidence, or her mind playing tricks on her, but it was impossible to shake. Whatever this world was, it wasn’t hers. She had enough of a general idea of where she was heading. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than nothing. She let out a shaky breath as she tried to concentrate on the district of the city where the item might have been stored. An inky black puddle of darkness formed beneath her feet before she began to sink into it. At least her powers were still with her.

Pam traveled through the space between this world and the void at blinding speed. She could feel the relics and artifacts signal getting stronger the closer she got. At the same time, she could feel something repelling her magic as she got close. Of course, the warehouse probably had a dampening field built into it. Her powers would work within it, but Jake had lined the walls with metals to keep Goth and other magic users out. It was easy to overlook her deceased friend's cunning given their history together. She'd have to break in the old fashioned way and hope that there wouldn't be too much resistance. Pam rose up out of the ground just outside of one of the warehouse. She didn't like how exposed she was, but she'd have to deal with it while she worked.

Her empathic abilities were on high alert as she looked around. Again, the buildings here seemed to have been torn apart by savage fighting and chaos. What had happened here? She wondered what had happened to this world's Jake and her pet. Had they fallen to whatever malevolent force had brought thus havoc down on the city? She could feel more of those hungry beasts nearby. It wouldn't be long before one of them discovered her. With a sense of urgency and purpose, Pam made her way to the door to the warehouse. With any luck, it was unlocked or possibly already broken. Sadly, it was the latter but not in the way she'd hoped. The steel doors were bent and would have to be forced open. She could do it, but it would draw unwanted attention. What other choice did she have, though?

Pam took a deep breath and channeled her more basic powers. It would take more energy than usual to overcome the dampening effect from the metals, but she'd conquered worse over the last year. Her eyes and hands began to emit a purple glow as she focused on the edges of the large steel doors. There was no quiet way to go about opening them. She kept her senses on high alert in case there were more of those things nearby. Once she was sure she had a secure grip on the doors, she began pulling them from their hinges. The metal groaned and squealed as she did so. The sound like nails on a chalkboard, and it carried throughout the desolate city. She'd only managed to begin prying them loose when she heard something charging at her.

Pam looked over her shoulder as a woman with multiple lacerations and decaying skin rushed at her on all fours. She was like some sort of mangled and wild animal in the way she moved. Pam kept one hand raised and tried to continue her efforts as she readied her other hand to deal with the feral humanoid. The woman jumped as she got close and tried to tackle her, but Pam pointed her finger at her head to send a quick bolt of arcane energy through her skull. The woman's body was knocked backwards and rolled across the ground as she came to a final stop. With her momentary reprieve, Pam tried to pour more power into opening the doors. It wasn't long before she heard more of those things pounding against the pavement, though.

A howl cut through the air, much to Pam's irritation and curiosity. It was quickly followed by panting and thudding as multiple mutated citizens began climbing over obstacles to get to her. Some of them clambered over cars, some fell through ruined walls, and others simply raced along the street. There were too many for her to use a single bolt spell. A quick glance behind her revealed that a portion of the door had been folded in on itself, but she'd have to climb through it to get in. It would have to do, but she couldn't do anything until she'd dealt with these monsters. Pam abandoned her attempts to focus on the incoming horde. 

Pam raised her hands and focused on the first few that were approaching. Her hands switched from purple to orange as she raised her left hand. It began to heat up quickly just as three of the turned citizens got close. Pam brought her hand down and knelt as it slapped the pavement. A small shockwave was sent out that caused them to stumble, but a wall of fire rose up out of the ground shortly after. The wall of flames was eight feet tall, and it expanded outward to char and burn the first three and singe the ones coming behind them. Their screams were akin to a wounded animal as they burned before her. Pam stood up and prepared for her next attack as more rushed towards her.

Pam’s hand shot out and a spectral chain shot out from her hand. A spear was formed on the tip of the chain as it pierced through one of the nearest monsters. Pam retracted her arm and pulled a gooey and pulsing heart from the chest of the man. She noted how it looked to be rotting even as it broke free from his ribs. She spun around and whipped her arm to the left to swing the chain in a taunt arc. A quick switch in focus caused the links to surge and crackle with arcane energy. It struck two more of the mutants that were trying to flank her across the face and knocked them to the ground. Pam turned back around to unleash a second chain from her other hand that impaled another of the nearby mutants. 

More of them continued to pour in from all around her. Her current tactic would work if their numbers weren’t steadily increasing, but she knew she’d have to either switch tactics or flee. She was too close to what she needed to abandon her position, though. With that in mind, Pam prepared to release a torrent of power from her body. Her body began to glow as she spun around and broke the chains into individual links. They swirled around her and acted as a deterrent while she charged herself. The links cut through many of the turned, but she knew it wouldn’t kill them; that wasn’t her plan. Her body continued to glow before she extended her hands again and released the energy that had built up within her. A bright flash of vibrant neon energy exploded from her and demolished what was left of their ranks, but she wasn’t sure how many more were lurking about.

As the lights faded and her body began to lose its glow, Pam could hear more climbing over the rubble. Pam frowned as she prepared for another round of fighting. That attack had taken more of a toll than she would have liked, but she still had more to give. Part of her wanted nothing more than to try to make her way through the opening in the door, but those things were getting closer by the second. The blast she'd unleashed had barely singed the doors and the building. She'd have been impressed if it weren't for the sheer annoyance and danger of her current situation. There was no other option other than to battle it out with another wave of these monsters.

Five of them were approaching fast. Pam grit her teeth and prepared to dispatch them, but they suddenly stopped when a round of bullets cut a line in front of them from somewhere up above. Maybe these things weren't entirely stupid after all, but then why had they continued charging after she'd killed so many? “What do we have here?!” a familiar, yet slightly unhinged voice asked from above, “A new arrival to my playground? Hmm, this is interesting!”

“That voice,” Pam whispered, looking around, “It can't be, can it?”

A figure dropped from a nearby ledge and in front of the mutants. Pam noticed that all of them took a step back from her as she stood up. Pam could see tufts of neon green hair jutting out from a mask that looked like an old plague doctor from the middle ages. It was a woman, she knew that much by looking at her. A full figure with familiar curves accentuated by black leather pants, yet slightly obscured by a long black leather trench coat. In one hand was an automatic pistol, a tech-nine if Pam had to guess, and in the other was what looked like a leash that was rolled up with a collar attached to it. She was short too. What struck Pam wasn't her appearance, though, it was the waves of sadistic glee radiating off of her as she looked at Pam. Behind the bird mask, Pam could see two pools of sapphire that she'd have known anywhere.

“You're causing quite a commotion, lady,” the woman chuckled as she paced back and forth, “Here of all places too, what a curious place for a fight. I thought that I'd gotten rid of all the annoying magic users, but here we have yet another one scuttling about like a fucking cockroach. One chance, stranger, give me a reason I should let you live.”

“Beth?” Pam asked, having only heard half of what the woman had said, “Beth is that-”

Pam was cut off as another round of gunfire was fired at her feet. “I don't remember giving you my name, or permission to use it, girl,” Beth snarled behind her mask, “Now I'm really curious. That's better than being bored, though, at least for you. If you bore me, I'll just have to kill you for entertainment. Talk, witch, before I lose what little patience and interest I have!”

“Please listen to me,” Pam started, eyeing A strange vial hanging from Beth's hip of green liquid, “Kitten, it's-”

“You're pissing me off, witch,” Beth growled, aiming her gun at Pam, “First you use my name, now you have the gall to use a pet name. Do I look like some household animal to you? You're being too familiar for my liking, and it's quickly grating on my nerves. My trigger finger is starting to get itchy, and I'm close to using you to scratch it.”

Pam stopped and held her hands up. She didn't like being spoken to this way, especially by a woman that was supposed to be her sub. One look reminded her that this wasn't her Beth, though. The woman before her was different, malicious even. “Okay, okay, my apologies,” Pam said, “I know you, or at least another version of you.”

“Here we go, magical mumbo-jumbo,” Beth scoffed, “I suggest you speak plainly because I'm not a fan of arcane bullshit. There's only one of me, and I'm not falling for any of your lying tricks.”

“It's not a trick,” Pam said, “It's not magic either, at least not the kind you're used to. Was there a Voidfoot in this world?”

“Tch, was being the key word to describe her and other bitches that stood in my way,” Beth replied, “I found that bloated corpse buried under the rubble shortly after Birdboy and Catgirl fell to pieces. What about her?”

Pam swallowed, picking up on the implication that Beth and Jake had some sort of falling out. “You know what her powers were then,” Pam said, “The ability to tear holes in the universe. The world I'm from still has a fully powered Voidfoot, and I need to get back to it and stop her.”

“You expect me to believe you're from another world?” Beth asked, chuckling before bursting into a fit of giggles, “Oh, the things people will say to save their skin. Let's try this again, shall we? Who are you, how do you know my name, and why should I let you live?”

“It's the truth,” Pam said, “Your name is Beth Thompson. You're formerly a hero who went by Catgirl. Your best friend is, or was, Jake Blackridge. The two of you worked together saving this city from countless threats since you were only seventeen.”

“Good for you, you can read a newspaper,” Beth mocked her, “Lucky guesses and assumptions, but it's not enough to convince me that you know me.”

“You're an orphan!” Pam exclaimed, “Your parents died when you when you were only twelve. Before that, you grew up in a haunted house. You hate paranormal shows because of it because you were attacked by an entity when you were a child, and it's one of the reasons you hate magic as much as you do.”

Pam watched as Beth paused and watched her closely. “Let's say, for the sake of humor, that you're right,” Beth began, keeping her gun aimed at Pam's chest, “How would someone like you have learned all that? Have you been stalking me, prying into my dreams like that cunt Goth?”

“I know it because you told me, because you trusted me with this information,” Pam replied, “You and I were, are, together in my world. I cared for you after you lost to Goth, and-”

“Don't you dare make such bullshit claims!” Beth snapped, a wave of hate overtaking her, “You'd stand there and lie to my face and insinuate that I'd lose to that towering bag of bones?! She beat Jake and I before, yeah, but that was long ago. Now, she and everyone in her shitty cult are either dead or following me. That psychotic bitch tried to take Jake from me, and I made sure that wouldn't happen again. Wait a minute…I do know you! You're that stupid bitch that worked for her!”

“Beth, listen to me,” Pam said, sensing another shift coming, “I am-”

“You're supposed to be dead!” Beth snapped, cutting her off, “Oh, I enjoyed killing you and making you suffer once, so I'll happily do it a second time. Jake can watch as I have my fun this time. I'm sure he'll be delighted to have company! We don't get to have people over very often, you see.”

“Whatever happened between you and me in this world, that wasn't me!” Pam argued, taking a step back as Beth stepped forward, “Please, please don't make me fight you.”

“Funny, you begged back then too,” Beth laughed, “You're going to be my new toy until I get bored with you, witch. Don't worry, I'll make sure you last a while. There's some things that I've been wanting to try, and I'll start by using mouth of yours for something other than babbling. When I'm through with you, you'll be an expert beggar. Once I've finally finished my fun, I'll bring you back and you can serve as the newest member of the city! Come here, you filthy little slut, let's not waste anymore time!”

Beth reached out to grab Pam, but Pam stepped back and raised a barrier between them. “Don't make me do this,” Pam pleaded, struggling with the idea of fighting the woman she loved, “Please, I love you, dammit!”

“Then this should be a dream come true,” Beth scoffed, clenching her fist and causing it to crackle with electricity, “Show me how much you love me, bitch, and come here!”

Pam was surprised when Beth punched a hole through her barrier. That wasn't magic in her gloved hand, but whatever it was had been strong enough to break through her spell. Pam took another step back and tried to will herself to attack. The most she could muster was a weak force blast that pushed Beth back a few feet. This woman wasn't the same one she'd fell in love with, but she was still Beth. She was crazed, demented, and clearly unhinged, but she was still Beth Thompson. Pam had to roll to avoid a hail of gunfire as Beth emptied the last of her clip. There weren't many rounds left, but she was just as fast at reloading as the Beth in her world. Pam had to get over her hesitation unless she wanted to fall and become a possession of this twisted version of Beth.

Pam extended her hands and sent out two chains that tried to wrap around Beth. They missed her arms, but they coiled around her ankles. Beth growled as she looked down at them before grabbing a vial from her coat, “Trying to tie me down? Sorry, but that's my job!”

If it weren't for the impending danger of such an insane woman, Pam might have felt excited at the notion of her role being reversed. As it was, all she felt was a bundle of nerves in the pit of her stomach. She watched as Beth bit the top of the glass and drank a strange blue liquid inside. Her body twitched and convulsed before she reached down and snapped the ethereal chains around her ankles. Pam barely had time to react and dodge a blinding fast lunge from Beth. She was caught by surprise by another string of bullets that Beth fired as she zipped past her. They weren't fatal, but they grazed her side and her arm. 

“Just as slow as I remember,” Beth cackled, pivoting to chase after Pam, “You're mine!”

Pam was about to launch another counter offensive when a birdarang cut through the air and hit Beth in the head. It didn't cut her, but it knocked her off course. Pam looked in the direction the birdarang had come from expecting to see Jake, but instead she saw a woman wearing a modified version of his old costume. The bright orange and yellows were hard to mistake. There were differences in the suit and the cowl, but the bird symbol was still embroidered on the chest. There was a type of armor plating on the chest, shoulders, and thighs that Jake hadn't had in her world. The utility belt was another difference she noticed; it looked bulkier and seemed to have more items on it than Jake's. Lastly, the cowl was trimmed back a bit more, and it seemed to have a face plate on it as well.

“You again?!” Beth screamed, turning away from Pam as the Birdgirl landed across from Beth, “Take a hint, you shitty imposter, nobody wants you here!”

“Run!” Birdgirl shouted at Pam, “Get out of here while you can before-”

“Don't you try and help her, she's mine!” Beth shrieked, aiming her pistol at Birdgirl, “I'll kill you then take her home!”

Pam wasn't sure what was happening, but she could figure it out later. Right now, her main concern was helping this mysterious stranger fend off a psychotic Beth. She sent another set of chains out from her hands and wrapped them around Beth's wrists to pull her aim off of Birdgirl. It worked, but Birdgirl was already serpentining towards Beth. Pam watched as Birdgirl launched into a jumping dive kick that hit Beth in the chest and made her stumble back. Beth growled as she swung her pistol at Birdgirl and missed as she ducked under her arm. Birdgirl rose up to try to strike Beth with a rising uppercut, but Beth twisted to easily dodge the incoming attack. Beth threw a punch with her electrified glove, but Birdgirl sidestepped to avoid the attack.

Pam winced as she felt the sting from her gunshot wounds. She could push through it, but she was bleeding more than she realized. It seemed this Beth was as good a shot as her own. Even the simple graze had managed to knick a vein, but she’d thankfully missed an artery. Pam watched as the two women fought one another at close range. Beth trying her hardest to land a finishing blow on Birdgirl, and Birdgirl dodging and countering whenever possible. They’d clearly fought more than once, but Beth’s skills were a clear match for this Birdgirl. If Pam had more time and more energy, she would have been slinging more spells at Beth to try to knock her off balance. Pam pushed the pain down and tried to find the right moment to intervene. The problem was how close these two were to one another. One wrong move meant she’d risk hitting Birdgirl.

Birdgirl caught Beth’s wrist after sidestepping an incoming jab, and she grabbed the barrel of her pistol when she tried to shoot her. They were locked for a moment, but it wouldn’t last long knowing how Beth fought. Pam chose to take advantage of the opening while she had it. She fired a concussive blast of energy out of her hand and hit Beth with it. Her ears were starting to ring from the continued exertion and the dampening field around the warehouse. The blast was enough to send Beth flying back a few feet, but it was enough of an opening for Birdgirl. Pam felt her leg start to give out. Between the blood loss and the persistent drain on her powers, she was struggling to keep going. She fell to one knee and tried to force herself to get back up.

She felt an arm wrap around her and quickly and gently pull her to her feet. “Come on, we need to get you out of here,” Birdgirl said, pulling her grappling gun out.

“Who are you?” Pam asked, unwilling to argue as exhaustion began to set in.

“I’ll answer your questions once we’re safe and if you answer mine,” Birdgirl said, firing the grappling gun at a nearby building and pulling them away off the streets.

“No!” Beth screamed as she charged after them, pulling her own grappling gun out and giving chase, “You’re not getting away, and you’re not taking my new toy from me!”

Pam grimaced from the pull of the grappling gun and Birdgirl’s arm around her waist. Beth was giving chase, and she doubted that they could outrun and outmaneuver her. “Land on the rooftop and I can get us away from her,” Pam said, readying a teleportation spell, “We can get to wherever your base is once she’s off our trail.”

“Are you crazy?” Birdgirl asked, glancing behind her as Beth swung forward and tried to catch them.

“Trust me,” Pam said, her tone leaving no room for discussion.

Birdgirl shifted and redirected them towards the nearest building. Beth was right behind them, but Pam was already ready with her spell. The second they landed, Pam opened the portal to take them far away from the crazed Beth. “What the hell?!” Birdgirl shouted as they landed in a pool of darkness and began sinking into it.

“Stay calm and hold onto me,” Pam commanded, giving her a reassuring look, “I promise we are on the same side, and this is the best way to lose her for now.”

“Got you now, you shitty little pests!” Beth cackled from above as she opened fire just as they disappeared, “What the fuck?!”

The sound of Beth’s shriek echoed around them as they fell through the portal and into the space between worlds. She knew that it would be disorienting for her costumed savior, but she didn’t have time to fully prepare her before the jump. All that mattered was getting them somewhere far away from their attacker and her homicidal mutants. They reappeared in a place that Pam hadn’t been to in a long, long time. A secluded cabin deep in the woods on the outskirts of Metropolis; the very same one where her connection with Beth had begun. Her hope was that Beth hadn’t turned this place into a den of depravity and malice like she had the rest of the city.

Birdgirl let go of Pam the second they were out of the portal and collapsed on the ground. To her credit, she didn’t vomit and complain like she’d seen so many do before her. Pam stumbled forward and fell into a nearby chair. They were in the dining room, and a quick sensory sweep of the house told her they were alone. She could breathe easy for a moment. Without the dampening field around she could also begin the healing process. Pam sighed as she channeled some of her magic into her hand and held it over her side. A white light began radiating off of it, and a healing mist started to spread over her wounds.

“Okay, I know I said I’d answer your questions, but what the actual fuck was that back there?” Birdgirl asked, getting to her feet and steadying herself.

“Teleportation,” Pam replied, “I’m a sorceress, a former disciple of the Goth Goddess in my world. Before you ask, no I don’t still follow her and her teachings. I abandoned that life a long time ago, but I still practice magic. My name is Pamela Lavely, and you are not the original owner of that suit. Who are you?”

Birdgirl stared at her for a moment before sighing and removing her cowl. Pam’s eyes widened as she watched long thick locks of brown hair cascade down messily over a familiar face. “I’m Courtney Tellar, and I’m the last hope this city has against a woman that used to be a hero.”

“You…you saved me?” Pam asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Courtney replied as though it were obvious, “You were in trouble, and I’ve been fighting Beth and those things ever since she took Jake. I made a promise that I’d do everything I could to help someone in need anytime they needed it.”

“What happened to them?” Pam asked, almost afraid of the answer, “Beth and Jake, I mean. When did Beth become…like she is?”

Courtney frowned and took a seat, “I answered one of yours already, so you can answer one of mine. A simple one to start with, where are we?”

Pam nodded, understanding the game that Courtney was playing. She wasn’t doing this to be malicious, but rather to be cautious. “A place that holds special meaning to me,” Pam replied, staying vague, but deciding to elaborate since Courtney had risked her life to save hers, “In my world, this is where I spent my first night with someone important to me.”

“Your world?” Courtney repeated, “What does that mean?”

“I believe it’s your turn now,” Pam said, stopping her spell as the wounds on her side closed.

“Smartass,” Courtney sighed, “Jake and Beth…they…they fell to pieces after a particularly rough fight with the woman you used to follow. Goth was causing some pretty intense chaos here in the city, and she all but killed Jake. Beth was there to save him. He and I were engaged to be wed, and I knew about his double life and Beth’s. He risked his life time and again to save the city, along with Beth, but this fight proved to be too much for him. Beth lost it and managed to find a way to kill Goth, but she couldn’t let Jake go. Seeing him dying, she got desperate and decided to take matters into her own hands. She broke into the labs at Jake’s company and found this…this thing that was supposed to be able to save someone from death. It did just that, but it wasn’t a life that anyone would ever want.”

“The Devil Burrower parasite,” Pam whispered.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Courtney nodded, “Jake’s company had been looking into a way to extract venom from it and refine it to combat diseases and other fatal illnesses. The project was top secret, and it was still in the alpha phases then. Beth injected it into Jake, and watched as he turned into something that was far from human. Beth was already starting to crack, but I think seeing Jake turn into one of those things really did it. Catgirl started abducting people and feeding Jake in secret. It was about a month after he disappeared that I found them. Beth turned on me the minute I walked into Blackridge Manor, and she tried to give me to Jake. I barely managed to get away, but I saw how things were going. Beth had taken scientists and was forcing them to replicate the serum. I saw the new name she’d made for it; the Reanimator Serum. Somehow, she’s able to control those things and Jake. She went from being a hero to a tyrant worse than any of the other villains the city had ever seen before. She made that clear after she killed them all one by one, or turned them into more of her demented puppets.”

“She lost it without someone to help her shoulder her burdens,” Pam said, closing her eyes and wondering what might have happened if she’d been in this Beth’s life, “She always held things in far too often.”

“You talk like you know her,” Courtney remarked, “I gave you a pretty full rundown just now, so why don’t you fill me in on you and what you meant by your world?”

“I know Beth better than almost anyone,” Pam replied, “Very well, I suppose you’ve more than earned the right to know who I am and where I come from. It’s a long story, so I hope you don’t have anywhere to be.”

“Half the city is either dead or undead,” Courtney shrugged as she took a seat to let Pam tell her tale.