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

Pam, Courtney, Rebecca, and Ashley materialized in a dimly lit room. The only light came from a series of monitors and consoles in the distance. “Please tell me we are almost done with this teleporting bullshit,” Courtney groaned, stumbling a few steps forward and feeling nauseous.

Rebecca reached out and grabbed her forearm before she fell, “You’ll get used to it, dear. It gets easier after around the tenth time or so.”

Ashley rolled her eyes and huffed, “You are absolutely pathetic, you know that?”

“Give her a break, Ashley,” Pam sighed, “In forty-eight hours, she's been hurled between points in space and time more times than I can count. All things considered, I'd say she's doing fairly well.”

Pam turned her focus to their surroundings to try and see what threats might be lurking in the shadows. All she felt was an overwhelming sense of nervous anticipation. There was a layer of terror and anxiety that was being carefully hidden behind a calm exterior. They weren't alone here, but this wasn't an ambush. That could only mean one thing. “Pam?” Jake's voice croaked out through the darkness, “Pam, is that really you?”

Everyone froze as Jake stepped out of the shadows and into the light. Pam summoned an orb of light and lightly lobbed it into the air. It hovered in the air as Jake stepped into the glow. It was harrowing to see Jake in the shape he was in. He was gaunt with his ribs showing and his muscles having clearly atrophied. His face was covered in a scraggly looking beard, but his face looked slightly sunken in. Dark circles were just below his eyes and there was a clear anxiety hiding behind his brown eyes. He was alive, but she hadn’t seen him like this since his time with Rebecca. Even then, she wasn’t sure that he looked quite this bad. At least Rebecca fed him. It looked like he’d been surviving on a diet of gruel.

“Jake?” Rebecca frowned, stepping forward but stopping when he flinched and took a step back.

“R-Rebecca?” Jake stuttered, fighting to keep himself from spiraling, “S-stay back.”

“Jake, it’s okay,” Pam cut in, directing his focus back to her, “She’s a friend, I swear. I wouldn’t bring her if she was a threat.”

Pam had hoped that her point might ease his mind a bit, but it was clear that wasn’t quite the case. He swallowed nervously and tried to steady himself as he looked at the group. He frowned when his eyes landed on Courtney and another version of himself. Courtney stepped forward and pulled her cowl off to get a better look at the man she’d loved and thought dead. “Jake?” she whispered, stepping forward to make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her, “What’s happened to you?”

“C-Courtney?” Jake asked, staring at his deceased love, “Am I hallucinating?”

“No,” Courtney shook her head, giving him a familiar smile that he hadn’t seen in what felt like an eternity, “No, I’m here. I’m-oof.”

Before she could finish, Jake had thrown himself at her and shocked everyone in the party. His arms were wrapped tightly around her as though she might disappear at any given second. Ashley stood off to the side and watched with mild irritation and curiosity as the exchange unfolded. Courtney was tense for a second before she relaxed and hugged Jake back. There was something real about what was happening between them; something that even she couldn’t discourage by speaking ill of. Seeing Jake in such a vulnerable state was jarring. 

“Jesus, what the hell happened to me?” Jake asked, looking at his alternate self with genuine concern and curiosity.

Ashley had a feeling, but she didn’t want to voice it aloud. It was too horrific to think about, and she didn’t want to imagine that she could be capable of such a thing. The puncture wounds that were on Jake’s arms were indicative of Jake being bled, drained even. It was a technique that she used from centuries ago when she needed to keep her food sources preserved without turning them. It was a tortuous process, and one that she typically reserved for the unworthy. Jake was far more than some sad little cattle, though. Even in this world, she had to believe that this version of herself saw him as more than that. Why else would he still be alive while the others were dead.

“That’s what you think, huh?” Jake frowned, knowing what Ashley was thinking, “You think that this version of you is torturing me.”

“No,” Ashley groweld, “There’s no way that I would ever stoop so low…”

“You’re already holding me hostage in my own mind,” Jake pointed out, watching the moment between Courtney and himself play out.

“That is not what I’m doing,” Ashley argued, “I am protecting you. Lilith, the witch, that undead menace, all of them-”

“Are dangers that I deserve the chance to face myself,” Jake cut her off in frustration, “I’ve faced them before, and I’ve faced down countless other villains before them. This is my world, my life, and I deserve the chance to fight, don’t you think?”

“There is a madwoman that scattered our friends to the corners of distant universes!” Ashley snapped, “The woman calling herself Voidfoot and her depraved sibling are the reason that we were felled! They’re the reason that demeted, undead whore got the jump on us! I will always find a way to keep you safe, Jake. It doesn’t matter what others think, I will do what has to be done. Right and wrong are nothing more than senseless perceptions in the grand scheme of things.”

“That’s the kind of justification that Rebecca relied on,” Jake shook his head, “You can stand there acting like you’re better than anyone else here, but you’re just using fear as a way of covering what you’re really doing, Ash!”

“Enough!” Ashley growled, stomping her foot, “I will not be compared to the monsters that lie in wait because I am determined to keep you safe! You will be silent, Jake!”

“Ashley!” Pam’s voice cut through the argument as Jake’s figure shimmered and disappeared, “What are you arguing about?!”

Jake flinched at the mention of his captor’s name. Ashley saw it out of the corner of her eye and felt a pang of guilt. She didn’t miss the fact that Courtney, the girl she’d practically loathed since their first meeting, was tightening her grip on him. “Ashley, is she?” Jake whispered.

“Yes and no,” Rebecca sighed, keeping her distance, “The answer to that is a bit more complicated than you might like.”

Pam stepped forward to try to seize control of the situation before it spiraled out of control. “Jake, there’s a lot to explain in a short amount of time,” she began, “We’re-”

“From an alternate reality,” Jake interjected, pulling away from Courtney slightly.

Pam stopped and blinked in surprise, “Well, yes, but how did you-”

“Beth, your Beth told me,” Jake explained, looking around, “She’s alive, but she’s in trouble. Ashley, she’s going to prep Beth for an extraction process.”

“What do you mean extraction?” Rebecca asked.

Jake swallowed and looked over at Rebecca, “It’s not pretty. She has this machine that’s a hybrid of magic and technology. She used it on our Pam and it broke her.”

“What do you mean broke me, and what could she possibly want to extract from Beth?” Jake asked.

“Ashley already killed my Beth in this world too,” Jake explained, looking down, “She goaded her into coming after her with the same gun she used to kill Rebecca by making a spectacle out of killing our Pam. Beth got her attention and it wasn’t long before she was captured. I don’t know if she was trying to reason with her or what, but Beth told her about her world, your world. She wants to find a way to break through and conquer your world like she has ours.”

“Lovely,” Rebecca scoffed, shooting a look at Ashley hiding inside Jake’s skin, “You’re telling us that Elizabeth actually managed to kill me with one of her little toys?”

Jake narrowed his eyes at Rebecca, glaring at her with more animosity than she’d expected or seen in a long while, “It was a gun that Pam helped design. It was made from pieces of old tech we salvaged from the old Brunswick compounds, your stores hidden throughout the city, and a little help from Dilatrix. It was enough to finish you off and bring an end to all the misery you brought with you.”

“Jake, she is not your enemy here,” Pam spoke up, stepping between the two of them, “I don’t know how much our world’s parallel one another, but I can tell you that this Rebecca isn’t the Goth Goddess you remember.”

“You’re still following her?” Jake asked, glaring at Rebecca, “After everything she did to me, to us?”

“I can speak for myself, Pamela,” Rebecca interrupted, trying not to flinch at the waves of hate rolling off of Jake, “She, nor anyone in this group, are following me, Jake. You can believe what you want about me, but I have paid for my transgressions and sins in full. I can see that our paths diverged far earlier than the Jake from my world. I am not seeking forgiveness, but I am seeking atonement for what I’ve done. All that you need to know is that I am not the same woman that you remember, and that I am here to help rescue Elizabeth.”

Jake stared at her for a long moment before he looked back to the version of himself that had hardly said a word. So far, he’d been silent as the grave. “What about you?” he asked, trying to keep some nerve in his voice, “What’s your opinion on her?”

Ashley looked away, not quite able to make eye contact with Jake in his current physical condition. It was hard enough learning that another version of herself could be this cruel, but to see what she’d been doing to the man she loved was something else. “Hmph, if you’re hoping for an answer from yourself, you’re wasting your breath,” Rebecca rolled her eyes.

“Watch your mouth, witch,” Ashley growled.

“I’m not saying anything that isn’t true,” Rebecca argued, crossing her arms, “You’re keeping him restrained in his own mind. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the sudden shifts in your damned attitude. You’ve been arguing with him off and on, haven’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” Jake asked.

“The you from their world is sharing a body and mind with Ashley,” Courtney explained, taking Jake’s hand and giving it a firm squeeze.

“Y-you mean that…” Jake swallowed feeling the irresistible urge to run and hide, “Why would I…?”

“Our relationship isn’t like the one ours here,” Ashley explained, finally summoning enough courage to look Jake in the eyes, “Unlike the one you know, I actually care about our Jake. I lost my life trying to save him from the witch, and I waited in the underworld, locked in a prison, hoping for a chance to see him again. Fate brought us back together, and Jake allowed me into his body. We shared it and worked together for a long time until…”

“They were ambushed and whisked away to the underworld,” Rebecca finished, “Jake made a deal with a powerful demon to get the tools to stop me, and his soul was forfeit the moment he died. That meant that Ashley was forced to accompany him, but they were divided again. I made my way back through the void to bring them back, but someone hasn’t been letting her better half speak.”

“Screw you, witch,” Ashley snarled, “You don’t get to make comments like that. After everything that you have done to him, you are the last person that is allowed to make any judgments against me!”

“Enough, both of you!” Pam snapped, “Once again, I will remind you that we don’t have time for this nonsense. We have far more important things to worry about than petty squabbles. I’ll point out that you haven’t bothered to correct her, Ashley.”

Jake was reeling trying to make sense of everything he was hearing. Something dawned on him after a moment and he turned to Courtney, “Wait, you said their world. You’re from another world too?”

Courtney nodded, “Yeah, Pam sort of appeared in mine and it’s got its own set of problems. Honestly, I’m not sure which one is more messed up at this point.”

“Y-you’re geared up in my old uniform,” Jake shook his head, “Court, what-”

“It’s a long story, longer than we have time for, I’m afraid,” Courtney cut him off, “I’m still trying to wrap my head around all the crazy that’s been happening too. The short version is that I lost you, but I put this suit on and tried to keep your memory alive.”

“This is all very touching, but I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to,” Pam sighed, “Jake, what can you tell us about Ashley’s defenses, Beth’s location, and what we might be running into?”

—----

Beth woke with a splitting headache and a sore throat. Her dreams had been blurred between twisted memories and horrible fictions. Lately her dreams had been returning to the nightmares that she’d endured after Goth. The lines between reality and fiction were becoming more and more blurred. Between the return of Voidfoot and the insanity in this world, it was playing hell on her head. She was alone, Jake was dead, and her only possible ally in this world was currently holding her prisoner and planning on killing her.

Beth tried to get up, but her wrists and ankles were bound. She was laying on a cold metal surface. Despite herself, a panic began to well up within her. The last moments before she'd passed out came flooding back to her. She'd been talking with Jake to pass the time when Ashley had shown up. The vampire queen didn't waste time spewing her cruel rhetoric, but Beth had been quick to antagonize her. She’d single-handedly blown her chance at getting free, but she’d done what she felt was right in the heat of the moment. Against all odds, Pam and the others were here, and the Jake of this world deserved a chance to be free. Besides, he knew far more than anyone else about Ashley’s defenses. 

“Ah, you’re finally awake,” the familiar smug voice of Ashley Bilefoot came from off to the side, “I was wondering whether you were playing possum or if you were just that weak. Whatever the case, it’s good to see those pretty blue eyes again, Beth. We have a few things I want to discuss before we begin your…treatment.”

Beth narrowed her eyes into a glare at Ashley. Her blood boiled when she heard her let out a low and spiteful chuckle. “Screw you,” Beth spat, turning her head to look up and trying not to freak out when she saw what was above her, “I’ve got nothing to say to you, asshole.”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong,” Ashley hummed, walking around the operating table, “I see you’ve noticed my invention. I may not have the empathic abilities of that whore witch, or your girlfriend, but I know how to read a look when I see it. You’re scared, as you should be. This machine is what broke Pam and gave me the knowledge that I wanted. It’s an incredibly useful tool, a marvel of magic and modern technology. It takes all the subject’s memories and puts them into a handy little thumb drive. Sadly, it leaves the subject in a rather broken and useless state. I wish I had recorded the procedure with Pamela for prosperity.”

Beth swallowed nervously as she stared up at the giant crystal suspended above her. It was held in place by several steel clamps and a large hexagonal ring around it. A jagged edge was aimed down at her and several wires were trailing off of the crystal. The light hitting the crystal caused it to change from a pale white to a deep shade of crimson. The wires led from the crystal to Jake’s computer sitting off in the distance. Four large posts with identical orbs sitting atop them were surrounding each corner of the table. 

“Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about how you let my prized possession out of his cage,” Ashley said, her tone losing any semblance of mirth, “It was a clever little ploy, far more clever and creative than I expected from someone like you. Using my anger to distract me was a smart tactic, one I’ve used on many arrogant foes. I thought your missed shots were from exhaustion and fear, but they weren’t, were they?”

Beth closed her eyes and clicked her tongue, “Tch, it worked, didn’t it? You were so busy worrying about shutting me up, you didn’t notice what was happening. You’re as arrogant and full of yourself as Goth was, dumbass-oof!”

“Do not compare one lapse in judgment to a likeness with that harlot!” Ashley growled, slamming her fist into Beth’s stomach, “You got lucky once, but that doesn’t mean anything. You’re still trapped here, you’re going to give me everything that I want, and I am going to get my Jake back.”

Beth swallowed the pain she felt in her stomach and held fast to the idea that she was getting under Ashley’s skin with such ease. “Typical,” she groaned, “You’re so sure that you’ve already won when Pam and the others are still out there. You think that because you beat us in this world that you’ll have a leg up in this fight? Newsflash, ass hat, we aren’t the same. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Yet here you are,” Ashley scoffed, pulling away and taking a few steps back, “It would seem that you might be overestimating your abilities.”

“I let my guard down thinking I could trust you,” Beth argued, “The Ashley in my world isn’t a total douchebag. You caught me by surprise, and you managed to ambush me after a fight like a real prick. Jake told me about what happened, what you did. Between that and what I was able to piece together from when I arrived, you fought a version of Pam that has a fraction of the power mine has. Yeah, I remember what your little crony said and your assigned threat. What was it you said? Oh yeah, you wanted to make Pam watch while you pulled the information out of me.”

“You think I should go ahead and pull it, hmm?” Ashley asked, walking over to the console.

“If you were smart, that’s what you would do,” Beth answered, “But that’s not what you’re going to do because that’s  not good enough. You want to make the people I care about suffer because I embarrassed you. At a certain point, your ego gets in the way of sense and rational thinking. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t want to make an example out of me.”

Ashley narrowed her eyes and lowered her face inches from Beth’s. Her hand shot out and her fingers coiled in Beth’s hair. “You talk a big game for someone bound and at my mercy,” Ashley groweld, twisting her wrist and earning a wince from Beth, “Perhaps you have a point. Maybe it would be best if I got this out of the way instead of drawing it out for my amusement and satisfaction.”

Beth tried her best to fight through the pain and meet Ashley’s hard and hateful glare with one of her own, “I’m not scared of you, Ashley. Stop talking about it and do it if you’re going to do it.”

Ashley smirked and threw Beth’s head back. She chuckled to herself as she walked away, “You think that calling my bluff is wise, don’t you. What exactly were you hoping to get out of this? Either you’re trying to goad me into ending your suffering early, or you actually think that I’ll spare you. Are you truly that naive, Beth? I don’t know whether to be amazed at your stupidity and bravado or annoyed by it.”

Beth raised her head and watched as Ashley made her way over to the console. Her blood ran cold as she watched Ashley begin to flick the switches and activate the console. The screen flickered to life and she started to type commands on the keyboard. The machinery began to hum to life as she worked, and Beth looked up as the giant crystal up above started to shimmer. The wiring around the ring crackled as the four orbs began to light up. Whatever confidence she felt was quickly being zapped and drained as she stared up at the machine while it worked.

A single bolt of electricity shot off of the crystal and down to her. It struck her in the head, and Beth bit back a scream from the burning sensation that washed cut through her entire body. It hurt more than she was prepared for. The pain was unreal. She hadn’t felt anything quite as invasive since Goth, and it was over in less than a second. The machine continued to hum and buzz. A few more strands of lightning ripped out of the crystal and came racing down over Beth’s body. Another wave of unbearable pain hit her hard and fast. This time Beth couldn’t stop herself from screaming in agony.

Images of her and Pam’s apartment sprang to mind before they were pulled away in a flash. The next thing that she saw were brief flashes of Rebecca, Sadie, and Pam discussing their plans. Then events from farther back started to spring to the forefront of her mind before they were ripped from her head. Her screams echoed throughout the cave, but they barely registered in her mind. Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. This was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. Ingrid’s torture, Rebecca’s mindgames, and all the other nightmarish experiences from their old enemies, Ashley’s machine was worse than anything she could remember.

Ashley chuckled as she lowered a lever and stopped the machine, “Those screams are music to my ears. Where is all that confidence that was dripping off of you mere seconds ago? This is barely a tenth of full power too. Your girlfriend lasted until twenty-five percent before she started to break. You’re pathetic.”

Beth’s breathing was heavy and labored as her head reeled from the painful sensations. “F-fuck you,” Beth wheezed, trying to get the ringing in her ears to stop, “It’s easy to talk shit when you’re-agh!”

Ashley silenced her by raising the lever halfway and causing another shockwave of pain to flood through her system. More crimson bolts of lightning rained down and touched down beside her. They sizzled, crackled, and danced along the table as they got closer and closer to her. Eth watched them from the corner of her eyes. All the while she kept hoping that Ashley might turn it off before they touched her. She squirmed against her restraints as the bolts got closer, and she tried to fight back against the scream bubbling in her throat. Her fight didn’t last long as more of her memories started to play behind her eyes.

Ashley lowered the lever after another couple of minutes leaving Beth panting and sweating. “Marvelous, isn’t it?” she asked, stepping away from the console for a moment to circle Beth on the table, “Jake’s technology and the artifacts I’ve collected have quite the harmonious relationship. That pain you’re feeling is your mind being flayed one piece at a time. Physically it’s fine and in one piece, but it’s your psyche that’s taking the brunt of the damage. I believe it’s the neurons and synapses that are slowly being burned. Every second that these little jolts touch your frail little body, they erode fragments of your mind and transfer them to this little device. There may be a way to perfect the process that would leave the subject intact, but where is the fun in that?”

Beth let out a shaky breath as the gravity of her situation began to set in. The reality of everything was crashing down on her fast. There was no way out of this. She’d freed Jake, but she had practically given herself up in the process. Ashley was going to extinguish whatever was left of before long. “You’re a monster,” she managed to croak out.

“Believe what you want, little girl, I am what I have to be in order for me and my people to survive,” Ashley shrugged, “If that makes me a monster then so be it. I think it’s about time we brought an end to this little back and forth. I’ll settle for seeing Pam and the others’ faces when they find you a drooling, sniveling wreck.  Let’s really start the process, shall we?”

Ashley chuckled darkly as she raised the lever again. Her chuckle turned to a sinister laugh as the machine hummed to life. The crystal hanging up above glowed brighter and crackled as it roared to life. The four posts buzzed and had several bolts of stray lightning flash between them. The streaks of lightning shot out and crashed into the crystal. It lit up and turned a deep shade of red as it began to heat up. The energy from it continued to build and after a moment the crystal sent out a shockwave of crimson energy that came crashing down into Beth’s body. She was engulfed in the energy and screamed in agony.

The pain she’d felt prior was nothing compared to what was happening now. It was like a tsunami of agony. Everything she’d experienced over the last year started to flood her mind all at once. The memories from her time as Catgirl, that video Goth had sent her, her first night as the Feral, and more flashed behind her eyes. It was like her head was splitting in two, her mind was fracturing. She screamed in response to feeling her brain burning. It was a fire that was burning inside her head. It wasn’t long before the tears started to fall as her screams reverberated off the walls.

As the pain started to multiply, and her head felt like it might burst into flames, Beth felt herself approaching the end of her rope. She couldn’t hear anything beyond the machine whirring and humming. She couldn’t hear Ashley cackling, her own screams, or the sounds of footfalls getting closer. Suddenly things went dark. Beth wasn’t sure if it was her body shutting down on her or what. All she knew was that the pain that was flooding her senses came to a sudden stop. Her head was still pounding, but the waves of tremoring misery and pain were gone for the moment.

“Ugh, what now?!” Ashley roared, looking around to see what had caused the unexpected outage in her previous machinery.

“Let her go,” Pam’s voice echoed around them.

“Hmm, is thi meant to intimidate me?” Ashley smirked, looking around the shadows to see if she could spot Pam, “Give it up, Pamela. I killed one version of you already. All you are doing is prolonging the inevitable. Giving her any sort of break in this is more cruel than you know. Don’t get comfortable, Beth, it won’t be long before I have this back up and running.”

“Let her go, this is your last warning,” Pam growled.

“Go ahead, make your move,” Ashley shrugged, spreading her arms in preparation for Pam’s attack.

Ashley watched carefully for any signs of light, movement, or magic from the darkness. Even if this Pam was stronger than the one she’d already dealt with she was still a spell slinger. Her magic would give her away. After a second, she saw the brief flicker of a bolt of arcane energy cutting through the darkness. Her reflexes kicked in and she easily dodged the crackling bolt of purple energy as it whizzed past her. It was just as easy as she remembered. Now she knew where Pam was hiding, and now it was time to bring her down. It seemed that she was going to get her wish to make Pam watch Beth suffer after all.

To her surprise, there wasn’t a second blast of energy. Instead, she watched as Pam stepped out of the shadows and into the cold light of birdcage. She was curious to see what she might be planning. She slid one foot behind the other and readied herself for an attack as Pam raised her right arm. A purple light surrounded her hand as she glared at her. She looked different than the woman that she’d known and killed in her world. There was something about her that she couldn’t quite place. 

The sound of the restraints being released reached her ears, and Ashley whipped her head around. Her eyes widened as she watched Beth struggle to roll off of the table. Ashley started to turn to grab Beth, but another bolt of energy cut her off before she could get to her. She stopped and glared at Pam who had her hand raised and her eyes glowing. “You’ll do well to keep away from her,” Pam warned, her eyes locked on Ashley.

Ashley canted her head to the side as Pam’s entire body flashed a brilliant shade of red for a second. She watched as Pam seemed to split in two. The second version of her seemed to smolder and burn as though it was made out of fire. It moved with a speed and purpose that rivaled her own. Seeing it practically glide across the floor reminded her of something. Where were her Senitenals? Her elite force should have intercepted Pam and the others. Then again, where were the other trouble makers? Something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. 

“Come, let’s end this once and for all,” Pam said, raising her hands in preparation for the battle to come.

“I’ll deal with you and then make you watch while I break your previous little pet,” Ashley countered as she got ready to finish things and break through to a new world, a new conquest for glory and her people.