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

Beth dropped into a dark and empty room from a broken skylight. She’d been running for nearly half an hour now, and she was soaked from the heavy rainfall from the storms. Thankfully, the rains had given her an additional layer of cover to escape. She’d found an old shop to lay low in and examine the gun she’d found. It was also a chance for her to gather some additional supplies to handle the fight she knew was coming. Ashley knew she was here, knew about the other universe, and wanted to try to use her to break through to it. Beth kicked herself for how foolish she’d been trying to reason with her. She should have expected this from Ashley. After all, she’d only joined them because of the common enemy they’d had in Goth.

It was strange to think about the fact that Goth was the common denominator in so many things. Beth’s alliance with Alexis, Jake’s union with Ashley, even her relationship with Pam had all happened because of the Goth Goddess. Despite the fact that Goth had been a colossal thorn in her backside for years, the truth was that all of them owed where they were to her. Beth grimaced as she felt herself throw up in her mouth a little bit at that realization. She’d carry that bit of information to her grave, assuming she found a way to get back home. One step at a time, though, and right now she needed to focus on staying alive. Like it or not, she’d entered into a war with a psychotic vampire queen. 

“Yeah, my luck keeps on giving,” Beth sighed to herself as she pulled out a flashlight from her coat, “I wonder if Pam is alright. I hope you got out of there in time. I promise, I’ll figure out a way to get back to you. I’ve got to kick Ash’s ass first, though. Fuck me, am I talking to myself?”

She’d been in this universe for a few hours now, and already she was starting to talk to herself. She couldn’t help but smile as she thought about her friend Alexis and how she’d rubbed off on her. She wondered what Alexis was doing back in their world. Beth was still upset that her friend hadn’t returned her calls for help, but it was likely that her friend was grieving for Jake. Alexis was unhinged, there was no denying that, but she was still a person. She needed to grieve like anyone else, but Beth didn’t like the idea of her grieving alone. Given her past, it was all too likely that her friend was on the verge of a semi-psychotic breakdown. Miri was certainly there, but how much help was another madwoman? It was just another reason she needed to get home as quickly as possible.

Beth looked around the shop to see what all she had to work with. This place had already been ransacked by the look of things. That or whoever had been here before hurried to pack things up. Still, there were things here that she could put to good use. By the look of things, this had been a pawnshop or something close to that before Ashley had blotted out the sun and taken over the city. The glass cases lining the room were mostly smashed, the racks behind the counters were empty, and the boxes around that she saw were either empty or overturned. It wasn’t much, but she’d worked with less in the past. 

Beth grabbed one of the boxes and turned it over to use it as a chair. She placed it in front of one of the counters that wasn’t shattered and pulled out the large handgun she’d taken from Ashley. Her right hand warmed as it touched it and the metal emitted a faint glow. While her understanding of magic was limited at best, her guess was that her sword was reacting to something to the gun. Pam and Goth were the authorities on magic, but she had done quite a bit of reading on binding and alchemy. There were metals that reacted better to magic, and her guess was that this gun had one of those ores in it, but the question was why? This weapon was one that she’d designed in this universe, but why had she done it? Okay, so the why probably didn’t matter right now, but she needed to figure out more specifics about this thing.

With that in mind, Beth opened the cylinder to take a look at the bullets. Oddly enough, the chamber held seven bullets instead of the six. That was a significant coincidence, but one she would have to ponder on later. She dumped the bullets onto the counter and grabbed them to give them a closer look. They were handmade and the casings were hers. There was a faint glow coming from the bullet that lit up part of the counter. However, Beth hadn’t seen anything like this before. While she’d made several unique rounds in the past, she’d never seen one light up like these. The ones she’d found back in her apartment had also been faintly glowing. She’d need to save a couple if she could help it to figure out how to replicate them. Whatever was in them had a reaction to the spirit that was bound to her. It was a nice little bit of added firepower, but it would only help if she could actually hit Ashley with them. 

Beth shook her head and decided that she needed to change gears. Studying this thing wasn’t going to get her home, and she was going to burn through whatever time she had left. She needed to figure out a plan to strike back before Ashley and her cronies decided to ambush her. It was only a matter of time before they discovered where she was, and if she was going to fight, it would be better on her terms. She needed to gather supplies while she could and formulate a plan. Those things were after her, so that meant that she would have to use herself as bait. It wouldn’t be the first time that she’d done so, but she much preferred having someone else. Still, she could make it work if she had to.Thunder rolled overhead as she got up to scavenge what she could from the rest of the shop. She found a bag in the corner that she could use to carry her supplies.

After half an hour searching through the store, Beth had the beginnings of a plan in her mind. She’d found rope, some chains, road flares, several clips and bullets she could use, and a few low grade explosives stashed in the back. It wasn’t much, but it was more than what she had to begin with. She could use the flares as a way to draw attention to herself, or better as a possible distraction if her plan worked. The rope would be good if she was able to capture one of those freaks for information. Depending on how strong they were, she could use the chains in place of the ropes. All she needed was to lure them to a place of her choosing, and she had just the place in mind. It was now or never, and she didn;t see the point in waiting around while her friends were in possible danger.

Once Beth had everything loaded up, she fired her grappling gun upward to leave the way she’d come in. The rain had let up just slightly, but the sky was still darkened with storm clouds overhead. Flashes of lightning cut through the darkness every so often followed shortly by the roar of thunder. She made it a point to take a route closer to the streets in hopes of getting seen. She was heading towards a place she hadn’t been in almost a year, and she wanted to make sure that Ashley’s lackies spotted her. To make sure that they took the bait, Beth made it a point to drop low every so often. More than once, she spotted a few strays and stragglers mewing about the streets. They could have been humans, but given what she'd read she wasn't sure that was likely. This version of Ashley was ruthless and conniving.

Beth spotted her destination in the distance before long. The old, abandoned church of Megabutt. The last time she'd set foot in those walls had been the day she'd dispatched the false titan. Her world seemed to parallel this one close enough, so her guess was that a similar situation had played out here as well. Even if it hadn't, she doubted that Ashley would have her let her live. Overlooking the power threat, anyone tied to Goth was sure to have been annihilated. In any universe, there was clearly bad blood between the two women. Whether it was a conflict in their personalities or because of Jake, she wasn't sure. 

Beth rolled through a broken stained glass window and into the main hall of the church. The place was as deserted as it had been the day she'd fought the old psycho. A broken throne and a crumbling cross rested behind the pulpit. Tattered remains of a choir stand were off to the side, and many of the pews had either been damaged or shoved aside. The carpet leading up the main room was filthy and frayed, and the chandeliers above were hanging by a thread. Time had not been kind to this old church. What windows remained were either partially shattered or covered in thick layers of dust and debris. Beth didn't feel an ounce of sympathy as she looked around the building; the former owner deserved to have her monument rot alongside her corpse.

Beth was about to try to set up an ambush when the doors to the old stone church burst open. They were quicker than she thought they'd be. The man she'd met at the manor, Darius, walked in with a sinister smile and two women flanking his left and right behind him respectively. Beth turned to face them while standing in front of the old throne. “Ash decide to let you off your leash?” she asked, drawing her pistol and watching the three of them carefully, “Either you're trusted by her, or she's lazier than I remember.”

“Do not insult the mistress!” the woman on the left hissed, “Filthy little vermin like you have no right to speak her blessed name!”

“Yeah, I've heard this shtick before when I fought Goth and her cult,” Beth scoffed, “There's always suck-ups in any regime. Stop where you are, all of you, or else things are going to get ugly real quick.”

“Hmph, you're just as brash and arrogant as I remember,” Darius chuckled, “Brazen, cocky, and entitled are all property ways to describe you, Ms. Thompson. I must say, I'm glad that I get to have another run at you. Our time together was quite amusing, and I look forward to recreating some of that magic. Of course, I don't have your lover to torment this time around, but I can always improvise. What's the old saying? There's more than one way to skin a cat.”

“What was that?” Beth asked, “What did you-”

Beth was cut off by an explosion of bats in her face. A pale hand shot out of them and tried to grab her, but she stepped back and out of reach. A violent hiss signaled one of the women that had been beside Darius emerging from the bats, but Beth was ready for her. Her bullets might not have been useful against Ashley, but they'd surely work on these weaklings. The pale redheaded halfbreed lunged at Beth again with her sharp nails extended, but Beth threw herself into a back handspring with one hand. Her boot crashed into the woman's jaw, and Beth fired three shots into her chest as she landed. The woman shrieked as she stumbled backwards and clutched at her wound. She glared daggers at Beth, but before she could retaliate, Beth had launched a dagger from her coat that impaled her heart.

“My sister!” the other woman screamed as she disappeared into a swarm of bats, “You'll pay for this, girl!”

“Try me,” Beth scoffed, pulling another blade from her coat and readying herself for the next attack.

She'd expected Darius to join in, but he remained rooted in place with a sadistic grin on his face. No matter, if he wanted to watch while she dealt with his concubines, that was fine by her. Bats circled around Beth, their claws and teeth jabbing and fluttering about trying to dig into anywhere exposed. Beth ignored them and tried to focus on finding something solid to target. A minute passed before the other enraged woman emerged and tried to slash at Beth's throat. Beth sidestepped and pivoted to avoid her, but the vampire was gone before she could drive her blade into her heart. She'd disappeared back into the colony of bats that she was hiding in. These creatures had very different abilities than the vampires she'd fought back in her world.

The bats dispersed slightly, and Beth saw the woman appear overhead suspended by them. She reared her head back and spit a large ball of blood from her mouth. Beth didn't try to hide her disgust at the sight as she stepped back to avoid the incoming ball. It splattered on the ground by her feet, and she noticed a small indention from where it had hit the ground. She took note of the damage that one of those nasty blood balls could do as she fired two shots at the halfbreed. Again, the woman was gone before Beth could land an attack. She was playing hard to get, but that wouldn't save her for long. Beth still had more than one ace up her sleeve if it came down to it.

The colony of bats pulled away again, but this time they began to circle around Beth. They sped around her, digging their little claws into the stone and steadily speeding up. They created a wall of sorts around her. She wasn't sure what this woman was planning, but this was getting old quick. The more these things swarmed, the harder it was to get a beat on the vampiric half breed. She spotted the woman's frame beginning to appear amidst the swirling vortex, but it was faint and almost translucent. She was spinning with the flow of bats; there was no way that Beth could hit her. Beth frowned behind her helmet and stowed her pistol. She was going to have to use her new weapon if she was going to break through whatever this was. 

Just as she retrieved her new handgun, the ground below the circle began to glow an ominous shade of crimson. Beth kept her focus on the spinning vortex and the glowing red line appearing on the ground. The woman began to cackle loudly and harshly as red lightning crackled and rose up from the ground. Beth took a step back out of instinct. Whatever this was, Beth didn't trust it. As she drew her gun, a surge of lightning shot at her arm and enveloped it and the gun. She cried out in pain as it coursed through her body. Beth fell to one knee from the sudden jolt of pain, but the gun began to glow as the lightning crackled around it. Was it reacting to the vampiric magic? There was only one way to find out. She forced herself to keep her arm raised and trained on the colony circling her. She pulled the trigger once she saw the woman passing by yet again.

What happened next caught both women by surprise. The barrel of the gun flashed a bright shade of purple as the cylinder rotated. The bullet ripped from the chamber with a thunderous boom, and a ball of red light took shape. The sphere swelled and expanded before a beam of light nearly three feet in diameter cut through the air and through the bats. It shot past Darius and smashed the wall near the entrance. The halfbreed screamed as she was sent flying out of her cover. She hit the ground with a thud and a bounce as Beth got to her feet. Beth didn't wait to ponder on what that was, and quickly hurried over to finish the job. She pounced on the grounded vampire and plunged her blade into her heart before she could get back to her feet. The halfbreed shrieked in pain as her body turned to ash.

Beth got to her feet and glared at Darius who stood still and smirked. “Well done, well done indeed,” Darius chuckled, clapping in a mocking manner, “You're just as formidable as the you we killed, perhaps even more so, Elizabeth.”

“Gonna stand there and patronize me all night, or are you actually going to do something, shit bird?” Beth asked, stepping down the stairs, “I don't have all night, asshat.”

“So eager to fall, yet so confident,” Darius smirked, rolling his neck, “I think you'll find that I'm not as simple as the sisters you dispatched. I was more than a match for your lover. I wish you could have her begging for her worthless life.”

“Keep talking while you can,” Beth snapped, “Soon you won't have the teeth to talk when I'm done with you.”

“Let's see if your bite matches your bark, shall we?” Darius asked, disappearing in a flash.

Beth tensed and stepped back as Darius’ hand came within inches of her throat. She held up her right arm to block an uppercut from his left hand. Beth pushed back and threw a left cross aimed at his face, but Darius pulled back in the blink of an eye. He was four feet away from her now, but she didn't care. Range wasn't going to save him from her. Darius rushed towards her again, zigging and zagging from left to right. He grinned as be leapt into the air and flipped around to try to kick her in the back of the head. Beth saw it coming and rolled forward out of the way, though. She drew her old handgun and fired two shots at where he'd landed, but Darius dropped down low to dodge. His palm slapped against the ground and a surge of dark energy pulsed through the floor. The stone cracked and fractured as a shift occurred, but Beth jumped onto one of the pews to avoid whatever attack he was using. She kicked at the pews and they slid forward towards him, but Darius stopped them with one hand and tossed them aside.

“Is this your best?” Darius asked, “Come on, show me that fire that you've been spitting, girl!”

“Arrogant asshole,” Beth grumbled, holstering her pistol and extending her arm to summon her sword, “You want it, you got it!”

Beth growled as she flew forward and cut through the pews with a series of deft swings. Beams of light hung in the air from her slices before they rushed forward at Darius. Surprised, the right hand if Ashley only just barely managed to dodge the incoming onslaught. When he landed again, Beth was beside him and the tip of her sword was aimed at his chest. He twisted to the side and struck the broadside of her blade with his hand to knock it off course. Beth stopped and spun around with a roundhouse kick that connected with his side. Darius stumbled forward from her attack, but Beth wasn't finished yet. She aimed her enchanted handgun at an angle in hopes of catching the bastard by surprise. The resounding shot tore through the side of the church, demolishing and incinerating the pews and stone, but Darius managed to avoid taking the brunt of the blast.

Seeking to catch Beth by surprise, Darius charged in again before she could fire another shot. He closed the gap and slashed at her throat again with a clawed hand. Beth leaned back and pushed his arm down with the pommel of her sword, but Darius raised a knee to strike her in the gut before she could counter. Beth doubled over and Darius grabbed the back of her head before throwing her to the ground. Beth rolled through before she could slam into the stone, but Darius was already charging at her again. Beth looked up as his knee was coming at her face. In a split-second decision, Beth swung her blade in an upward arc and sent a shockwave of energy rocketing from her sword. The energy sent Darius flying back and crashing into the pews remaining on the opposite side of the church.

Beth got to her feet and quickly fired another shot at him with her magical handgun. The energy ripped from the barrel and destroyed another section of the church, but Darius managed to avoid a fatal blow. However, his right side was engulfed in the heat of the blast and singed his upper half. Darius cried out in anger and pain before crashing into the remnants of the pews around him. Beth dashed towards him to pin him before he could disappear a second time. As Darius rolled onto his back, Beth drove her blade into his already burned and injured arm. He howled in agony as she twisted the blade. She withdrew it and planted her boot on his chest. For added measure, Beth pressed the barrel of her gun to his head.

“Insolent little bitch!” Darius spat, though he kept still with the gun pressed against his forehead, “Don't think this means you've achieved anything. One lucky shot won't win you the war that's coming. Just like your precious Pamela, you too will fall to my mistress!”

“I didn't ask to be part of any war,” Beth corrected him, “I just want to get home before another lunatic fucks my world up. You assholes can have this place to yourselves. I'm only a threat when you push me, and right now you're pushing me pretty fucking hard.”

“Hmph, perhaps you could have saved your worthless whore had you been here instead,” Darius chuckled, blatantly mocking Beth, “Pamela might still draw breath, at least for a little while longer. It wouldn't have mattered, though, not when our mistress wanted you both dead.”

“I'm getting real sick of hearing you talk about my girlfriend and your fucking mistress,” Beth warned, crouching down, “Keep Pam's name out of your fucking mouth, or else things are going to get a lot more painful for you. Let's focus on Ashley. I need everything you know about her. Blind spots, habits, patrol routes, anything that can keep me out of her crosshairs.”

Darius rolled his eyes and scoffed, “You think any of this information will save you from her majesty? You might be formidable, but you're just as stupid as your counterpart in this world. Our unholy mistress will find you if she wants, and she'll make you beg just like that whore witch you loved!”

Beth dropped her knee down on Darius’ ribs, pulled a knife from her coat, and plunged it into his shoulder. He howled in pain as she glared at him, “What did I say?! I told you to keep her name out of your mouth!”

Darius panted as he regained his composure, “Does it bother you that she died crying and begging for mercy? She longed for death, even with you mere inches from her. Do you know what the best part was? It wasn't that you could do nothing, it was that she'd given up hope in you. By the time you got to her, we had drained her of everything she held dear. There's just something so satisfying about watching the light of hope leave someone's eyes…”

Beth glared down at Darius as she ripped the blade from his shoulder and aimed it at his throat. Just as she was about to plunge it downward, a firm hand grabbed her wrist. As she looked back, Beth found herself being flung across the church and into the wall across the main room. She shook off her surprise and got to her feet only to pause in newfound shock. There standing above Darius was this world's Ashley. She turned around to slowly face her, and Beth clenched her fists as she stared down the monster in this world. Beth hurled her knife at Ashley in hopes of possibly stabbing the vile woman. Ashley smirked as she caught the blade between her fingers with ease without moving. She twirled the knife for a second before snapping it in half.

“Quite the commotion you're causing, Beth,” Ashley chuckled as she let the broken metal shards fall to the ground, “It's almost as if you wanted to be found. Have you decided to assist me in breaking through to your world?”

“One crazy bitch is enough for any world,” Beth replied, watching Ashley carefully, “We don't need another psycho running around destroying everything we care about. Take your offer and blow it out your ass.”

“Disrepesctful little bitch!” Darius growled from the ground behind Ashley, “Mistress, let me finish her for you. She doesn't deserve to know your power.”

“Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves,” Ashley chided her follower, “After all, we need her alive if we are to find the other worlds. Think about this, Beth, there are plenty of ways that we can help one another. I can defeat this other woman, reunite you with your lover, and all you have to do is swear fealty to me. I can return to you what you've lost if you only agree to serve me.”

“There's only one woman I serve,” Beth shook her head, noticing Ashley beginning to slowly stalk forward.

“Ah, how forgetful of me,” Ashley chuckled, continuing to advance, “I'm in the presence of a follower, not a leader. The cat that followed the bird that fell for a witch. You should know, Beth, that this Pam died like a dog at my feet.”

“That wasn't my Pam,” Beth spat, trying to keep her temper in check, “She would have wiped the floor with you.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Ashley scoffed, “The arrogance of mortals has always been the easiest factor to exploit. It makes you weak, predictable, and simple in nature. It's exactly why I was able to outsmart you two in the first place. Unlike you I am not bogged down by emotional attachments.”

“What about Jake?” Beth asked.

“My first-turn and prize, what about him?” Ashley asked.

“The you in my world actually gave a shit about him, are you telling me that you don't?” Beth replied, “You expect me to believe you're just some heartless monster?”

“Far from it, actually,” Ashley answered, “If I didn't have a heart, I wouldn't be offering you a chance at being reunited with your miserable little lover. Of course, anyone who served that witch would have to earn a place in my ranks, but I'm willing to give her a chance if you agree to my terms. She can work her way up from a slave to something of use. All you have to do is agree to help me bridge the divide between my world and yours. Your pitiful Voidfoot and the others will either fall to me or fall in line. I can be your world's savior, Beth.”

Beth grit her teeth behind her helmet, “Savior, you? You stand there and promise help, but at what cost? Thousands of people will serve as food for you and your kind, and-”

“Millions will be converted as well, let's not forget that,” Ashley cut her off, “A small sacrifice in the grand scheme of prosperity that I offer.”

“And you insult my girlfriend!” Beth snapped, drawing her pistol, “You can go fuck yourself! This wasn't personal until you made it, Ash, but now I'm going to end whatever this is!”

“Pity,” Ashley sighed as Beth pulled the trigger, “I had hoped that some version of you might have sense, but clearly I was mistaken.”

A beam of energy ripped from Beth's gun, but Ashley elegantly danced around it. Beth shifted her aim and took another shot, but Ashley again dodged the beam. She was toying with her, but Beth was too angry to care. The audacity of this woman to insinuate she was some sort of graceful savior. Ashley took a step forward and in the blink of an eye was in front of Beth. Memories of Beth's encounter with Ashley in her world months ago came flooding back, and Beth stepped back to avoid the grab she knew was coming. Ashley's hand grasped at thin air, but she pivoted, bent down, and extended her right leg behind and overhead to crack Beth's helmet. Ashley straightened back up and threw a fierce, forceful punch at Beth's chest. The impact sent Beth flying backward and crashing into the stone wall.

Beth shook off the sudden pain surging through her back and tried to line up a shot on Ashley. Ashley grabbed Beth's wrist and twisted it to force Beth to relinquish her firearm. Beth cried out in pain, but she kicked at Ashley's ankle to put some distance between them. It worked and caught Ashley by surprise. Beth grabbed her gun and hoped that the last shot in the chamber would connect, but Ashley spun to the side as a massive beam broke through another wall of the church. Darius screamed as he was engulfed in the beam, but Beth knew it was a hollow victory. Darius was a pain, but he wasn't the real threat. She didn't have time to reload either. She tried to get to her feet, but Ashley grabbed her by the throat before she could recover. 

Ashley lifted her with ease and glared at her, “That was one of my most devoted that you killed. I don't take kindly to having my family hurt, Beth. Spitting in the face of my generosity isn't enough for you? You have to defy me by taking the lives of my people! You're going to help me, Beth, but you've sealed your fate this evening. I'll extract everything from you, and I'll make you into the most pathetic thrall to ever draw breath. You'll serve me, but I'll make sure that your mind remains intact. You'll hate every second of your life, and you will be used by my most loyal family. Once I have everything I need and want, I'll find your Pamela and I'll make you kill her. Then, and only then, will I consider granting you the release of death. First, I need what's in that thick head of yours, though.”

“Fuck…you…” Beth rasped out.

Ashley crashed her fist into Beth's head and knocked her out. She dropped her to the ground and scoffed, “Pitiful little girl, you'll learn what respect is through pain and penance soon enough…”