“Gravity” from season two of the show Hazbin Hotel plays on repeat through the speakers of the empty gym. The song reverberates within Betsy Granger’s mind as she locks up with Paulie Johnson, the owner of the local gym in her hometown.

Faces flood her brain as Lute belts the lyrics promising vengeance against all those who had wronged her…

“Come on, Granger, I know for a fact you’re better than this,” Paulie says, as he easily traps her into a cross-legged STF.

Betsy taps the mat, more out of frustration than actual pain or desperation.

He releases her. “What’s going on, kid?”

Paulie looks on with interest as she gets to her knees and slams her fists angrily into the mat. “Just have some things on my mind…”

“You need to focus up. The next challenge you face is going to tax you a lot more than what came before.” Paulie says knowingly.

Betsy merely nods as she gets back to her feet. The song begins again, giving the Traveler renewed vigor. Cracking her neck and stretching briefly, she faced Paulie again and indicated she was ready to scrap again.

“Riiiiiiiiight.” Betsy says, her voice brimming with sarcasm. “Stormy Hixx couldn’t handle this heat, so she attacks me before the bell has a chance to ring. Then has the nerve to put words in my mouth and challenge me again during her next interview?”

Betsy laughs without humor. “Honestly, does she even hear herself when she speaks? I’ve heard stroke victims with more coherence than the shit that flies out of her cock holster.”

They lock up as Betsy continues her tirade.

“And Kieran? That wasn’t a match; it was a chance for Kieran to flex the power he has in XWF for the moment.” Betsy sneers as Paulie overpowers her. “He thinks his shit doesn’t stink because he’s top dog in a wrestling company. Too bad for him, I’m back to become a sexy thorn in his side.”

She counters with a side headlock and traps Paulie against the ropes. Using the momentum and without breaking her grip, she jumps, kicking her feet off the ring buckle, turning her body, and performing a variation of a bulldog.

“How’s that for focus?” she says as Paulie hits the mat face-first.

Betsy repositions and locks in a crossface. Paulie taps out quickly, playfully begging for mercy. After she lets go, she gets to her feet and offers him a hand. He accepts, and he studies her again. Too involved with the song, she sips on her water bottle, bobbing her head. Her eyes are wide with intensity.

“Do you really feel so wronged by two events that are minor compared to the rest of your timeline?” Paulie asks, causing Betsy to jerk her head abruptly.

“What do you know about me?” she asks guardedly.

His smile unsettles her. “I know much more than you think, Impossible Traveler.”

Betsy flinches at the disdain in his words. “Just call me the Traveler now." She looks hard at him. "And stop being vague and tell me what you know about me.”

Before her very eyes, Paulie’s face begins to melt away, replaced with the face of an angel. Not the type depicted in pop culture, ethereal and beautiful to behold. No, Paulie now looked grotesquely biblical. If fear had a face, it would have been Paulies.

A twisted sneer made Betsy’s heart pound in her chest.

“You may have been put here with no means to escape in that cute little box of yours, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t come to you and make your life difficult,” Paulie says, his voice is becoming sinister now.

Betsy starts to retort. "Very funny, asshole, but-"

She never gets to finish. Her voice echoes back up to Paulie as the floor gives way under her, and she begins to fall.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU!" she screams.

Surrounded by darkness, she continues to fall. After what she determined to be hours, Betsy crash-landed hard on her belly.

"Okay, the landing could have been better," she says as she sits up.

Her eyes widen when she looks around.

A once pristine tile floor was filthy. All around, a dizzying array of mirrors. Betsy quickly realizes she’s in the decrepit remains of a fun house.

“Betsy Granger, it is time for you to become who you really are.” Paulie’s disembodied voice echoes loudly.

“I know who I am,” Betsy says with more confidence than she feels.

She steps up to the mirror nearest to her and looks into it. For a moment, her reflection stares back at her, following her movement.

“Oh, I'm sure you do, Traveler?” Paulie says, his tone gleeful. “You have a talent for pushing down the darker aspects of your nature; I’ll grant you that.”

The reflection begins to waver, then it shifts. Something in his smile makes her heart stop for a moment as fear creeps in.

“But do you truly have a grasp on how dark you really are?”

As his words stab at her, Betsy looks into the mirror as Kieran uses his advantage to defeat her recently, as well as Latoya Hixx attacking her from behind before their match had a chance to start. Following that come images from her time away, her successes and failures all smashed together in one fast-moving projection.

Betsy balls her hands into fists without realizing. A deep, bubbling anger warms her belly. As it spreads, she looks into the faces of all those who had wronged her. They all wore the same smugly satisfied smile.

At this moment, “Gravity” begins to blare from nowhere, Lute’s voice bouncing off the glass.

“Does no one know who they’re dealing with?
Think I’d let it go, forget, and forgive?"

Betsy shrugs. “Yeah, and? I've been kicked down. But I've always won when it's mattered.”

"Haaaaaaaaave you?" Paulie asks mockingly.

"The rage in me is terminal
There’s no remedy but to burn them all.”

A snicker cuts through the song. “Oh, you certainly do. All those worlds you helped save, the applause and adulation you ate up. All those accolades you built up in your wrestling career, no matter who it was against.”

As Paulie says all this, images of her greatest wrestling achievements flicker within the glass. Her first World Title win against Adam Sanders, her best friend in the whole universe. Winning the Shooting Star title off Jenny Myst, the first taste of gold that kicked off her obsession for collecting belts.

“Look at you, drunk on all the victory and glory you were achieving for yourself. It didn’t matter who you had to trample to get there, as long as Betsy came out the winner. Talk about main character energy.” Paulie says with a chuckle.

Betsy turns away from the mirror only to meet with another. This one was a map, full of the worlds she’d helped save from extinction or invasion. Parties and parades were thrown in her honor, medals and rewards of all kinds being showered upon her for her service. It was as satisfying to her as the title belts had been.

“I worked hard to earn what I have. Why should I not be proud?” Betsy declares, unable to take her eyes off the glass.

“Oh, you can stand on your pride for a job well done as much as you like, Traveler,” Paulie says as the image in the mirror changes again. “But did you ever stop and think to go back and check on those worlds that you were so keen to save?”

“I’ve still got a job to do, my missions incomplete.”

Now Betsy sees pictures of herself in the trenches with many different species of people, helping them fight to save their worlds. The present reality of those worlds followed each one. Every one of them had come under attack again, with many unable to defend successfully. Betsy watches in horror as people she helped liberate were taken under violent force by those she had helped to stave off.

“No… NO!” Betsy yells, turning away. The effort was fruitless as she turned straight into the next mirror, colliding with it. “You are showing me lies.”

“But I’m not, Traveler.” Paulie’s voice is full of mirth. “All those worlds you left behind, never going back to check in. Did you really believe those worlds would remain safe after you left them?”

“Only a traitor could consider making peace.”

His laughter mingles with the song as Betsy is shown many of her enemies plotting against her. Headshots of her in various states of damage from blades and bullets from those planning their revenge against her.

“The Princess has to pay
For what she did that day
For what she took away.”

“I was trying to be merciful,” Betsy says helplessly.

She watches as planets she’d help save get ravaged by dangerous, evil entities. “I wanted to believe everyone deserved a second chance.”

“And look where that’s led all of them,” Paulie says excitedly.

Her stomach sinks as she’s forced to witness many of her new friends, elected leaders in peacetime, tortured mercilessly for information about her.

Guilt floods through her as she watches. Innocent people being mutilated and traumatized, and for what? All of this to find her? Guilt gives way to anger quickly as Betsy clenches her fists. She slams them into the mirror, causing it to shatter.

“Storms comin’, I can see the clouds,
No running’s gonna save you now,
And hard rain is gonna fall down like gravity
Like Gravity.”

Friends from all over the universe are now shown, many of them shackled and forced into slavery by their oppressors. Others were executed in more ways than she could have ever imagined; tears fell from her face as she was forced to watch everything unfold. Unbridled fury begins to build inside of her, the desire to go back and destroy the enemy becoming ever stronger.

“They won’t get away with this… I won’t let them.” Betsy growls as crimson streaks flow from her knuckles, staining her hand.

“What will you do, Traveler? You’re stuck here now, with no way off this cute little rock. Your home.” Paulie replies, emphasizing the word ‘home’ with zeal.

“Eye for an eye says you owe me a debt,
Blood demands blood, gonna get my hands wet."

A wrath like she’d never felt bubbles within her. Paulie senses it and smiles wolfishly, nodding his head in encouragement.

"The floods coming, now you can bet on tragedy,
Like Gravity.”

With a snap of his fingers, all of the mirrors disappear. In their place, apparitions begin to appear all around her.

“You may enjoy the role of being a universal heroine, yet you always neglect what you left behind.” He says with contempt. “Praise be the Brotherhood who decreed you be stationed to your home, so you get your shit together.”

People from all over the universe watch her with blank expressions. Most of them remain in the background, unmoving and uncannily silent.

"You think you're Hells great savior," Betsy sings out loud without realizing. While her voice isn’t as steady or refined as Lute’s, the words burst from her with the same passion and loathing.

She slowly makes her way around the circle, contemplating every face put before her. Paulie tips his head as he watches them encircle Betsy.

Jennie Nickels, grinning smugly, was unable to solidify like the others. Her face was extremely familiar. *wink* But Jennie had a remarkable resting bitch face. The lack of warmth in her smile gave Betsy the heebie jeebies. There was a steely glint in her eyes. It promised a hard time for those who opposed her.

She would need to be handled quickly and effectively. Betsy narrows her eyes as she contemplates the kinship between Jennie and Charlie, with whom she had scrapped in the past. Jennie seemed as much of a gem as her brother, which made Betsy feel a bit less guilty about what she had to do.

‘Psycho’ Solomon, shrouded in crimson, lord over the unyielding darkness he calls home. He reminded her of something primal. Solo wouldn't settle for anything less than blood. The source didn't matter to him; he came off as the type that got off on violence. Especially if he were the one dishing it out. Nepo babies tend to pick up habits from the parentals, even if they didn't mean to.

Much like his Pops in his prime, he'll be the wild card she needed to stay on her toes for. Despite her desire to remain fair, she wasn’t opposed to holding someone’s head under water so she could climb free from the shackles that would hold them all together.

Scoops McGee, older and grey, but still full of fire and determination. He would be the fun fight she was looking for, despite the circumstances. She wished there had been a chance to meet before now. She would have liked to hear his stories. It was regrettable that she would have to leave him to drown... They may have a chance to try again later. Hopefully.

This match was not the type where one could play nice to win. It was most unfortunate, but Scoops would learn this either way. At least she could be somewhat gentle about it. If she had a chance, she would find a way to help him survive. But only once she’d secured her victory.

Isaiah King. Good lord, he was ridiculously handsome with abs you could shred cheese on. Strong and blunt, with no patience for shenanigans like hers. Not one to be trifled with, yet an exciting challenge to undertake. She remembered him well and was keenly aware of his records and accolades, not to mention those abs that she could use to wash laundry with.

Pity he wanted to be a captain this time around; he could have been an asset to her team. Another one to throw in with when the time was right, but for now, survival was all that mattered to her. She hoped he would understand in time, if not in the moment.

Another small turn and there he was.

Kieran King, the star of the show. The self-proclaimed King of the Universe, the audacity of him. Yet, something was nagging her. She knew what it was, but she didn't want to acknowledge it. She felt inexplicably drawn to him. Maybe it's lust with a pinch of disgust. Still, she was keenly aware of how stupid hot he was.

So did he.

She was also aware that he could pack a punch when he wasn’t hiding behind his royal guard. He called it working smarter, not harder; she called it being a royal taint. And yet, the urge to save him was tugging at her.

But something was finally sinking in that she hadn’t allowed herself to consider.

Kieran didn’t want to be saved, especially by her. In his eyes, he was already perfection, the model of masculinity and success. He didn’t ask for her help, didn’t seek her out to help him become more. Better.

Nor had so many others who had been rescued under her watch. Always in her mind, she felt that she was doing the right thing and had found a way to justify her intervention.

Could her ego and vanity really cause all these worlds to become worse off? And not just the worlds, but the relationships she’d built within them. Did her determination to spread good only cause destruction?

“Now you’re starting to understand,” Paulie said, almost purring. “But it isn’t just the enemies from without, is it?” His tone becomes almost seductive. “What about those you considered closest to you?”

“Will you still when I return the favor?” Betsy sings out loud again, turning away from her Spooky Savage competition.

Before her, there is a life-sized portrait of James and Atara from their wedding day. They smiled into each other’s faces, holding hands. Betsy stalks up to the photo, staring into the smiling face of her ex.

“Take the one you need, make you watch them bleed," Betsy sings, each line dripping with jealousy-fueled resentment.

"Will you break thinking how you couldn’t save her?”

A dagger materializes in her fist.

“Wishing you were there when they needed you.”

She lifts it and outlines the shape of James’ face with the tip of the blade.

“The only soul who’s ever completed you.”

Her eyes flicker to Atara's smiling face. For a brief instant, life seems to light up her Aegean eyes.

Emotions burst forth, one after the other:

Hurt.

Desire.

Betrayal.

Grief.

Pure, unadulterated rage.

This last one lingered as Betsy's eyes swept back to James. The blade moves between the perfect couple.

“Maybe then you’ll get a little heated too."

With a swift movement, the blade slices the portrait in half, separating the couple.

“And understand why this is what I need to do!”

The two sides fold into themselves before bursting into flames.

“Storms coming, I can see the clouds!”

Turning around, Betsy is once again faced with her Spooky Savage opponents.

"No running's gonna save you now!"

Jenny and Scoops are the closest to her. Betsy bolts over to them and grabs each of them by a handful of hair at the back of their head. Surprise doesn't get a chance to register on their faces before Betsy begins slamming them together.

There is a strength that she's never had before. This throws her for a loop, but only for a moment.

“Oh, my…” Betsy mutters, looking at her hands.

A twisted expression settles into her face. She continues using their heads as symbols, reveling in the sounds being made. What remained of the bloody pulp reshaped their features.

"And hard rain is gonna fall down, like gravity.”

Once they go limp, Betsy releases them. Their bodies crash to the ground at her feet. She looks up, beckoning Solomon to approach.

He does, swinging his fists recklessly, attempting to catch her, and making short work of things. Betsy dodges, taking advantage of her smaller size, and slides smoothly under him.

Using her momentum, she delivers a kick to the back of his knee. A scream of pain accompanies a satisfying snap as he collapses. He starts to roll around, grabbing his knee.

Betsy looks down on him and smiles wickedly.

“Yes, Traveler, YES!” Paulie screams joyfully as Betsy slowly releases her humanity. “This is what you haven’t allowed yourself to be; see what you could accomplish if you just set yourself completely free?”

Isaiah comes up on her now, with much more composure. He's in a defensive boxer's stance, but this means little to Betsy. She ducks and weaves between his attempted jabs.

“Don’t disappoint me now, Traveler.” Paulie cries out.

Isaiah’s moves with precision. Desperate to escape the flurry of blows, Betsy hurls her entire body at him. She's hoping to knock him on his ass.

Fortune is in her favor as Isaiah topples over like a tree.

“Like gravity…” Betsy sings.

She rolls away from him, quickly getting to her feet. Betsy strolls to his prone body. She begins to curb-stomp him viciously. She screams each time her foot connects with his body.

“This is glorious!” Paulie trembles with the thrill of watching Betsy destroy those around her. “Oh, the things we will do.”

Each crack of bone she heard only fueled her further. It wasn’t until a pair of strong hands pulled her off and pushed her away that she remembered there was still one more person.

“Eye for an eye says you owe me a debt.”

She turns, and Kieran is right behind her. He was closer than she realized, but she was lost in fury now.

“Blood demands blood, gonna get my hands wet.”

“Blood demands blood, gonna get your hands wet.” Kieran sings back to her at the same time.

The two launch themselves at each other, exchanging heavy blows. Each hit from one would cause the other to stagger backward.

They sing the last lines of the song in unison.

“Floods coming, nowyou can bet on tragedy,
Like gravityyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!”

Betsy draws first blood.

Kieran touches his lip, which is beginning to bleed.

"That's all you've got, cupcake?"

He slides his tongue across the blood, tasting it. This is followed by a menacing smile and a glitter of violence in his eyes.

She returns the expression confidently. A chain appears in her hand, just as the dagger had.

Kieran makes his move, but finds himself bound to her. Bellowing with rage, he attempts to yank on the chain. He had hoped to take her out from under her feet.

He fails as she's able to keep her balance.

Betsy grabs the end of the chain and flings it out blindly. It strikes his cheek, cutting him open with a deep gash. He falls immediately, clutching his face.

His screams are like music to her ears.

“Oh, baby, if you thought this part sucked…” She says with a giggle.

Betsy flips Kieran onto his back with her foot, then sits on his chest. She presses the chain against his neck.

“How do you like me now?” she asks, her whisper almost seductive.

His only response was a defeated wheeze. She presses the chain tighter against his throat.

A husky giggle escapes her as she leans down and kisses him boldly, his blood smearing on her lips.

"You taste amazing," she murmurs, tracing her tongue along his mouth. "I'll make you mine yet."

Paulie applauds as he appears behind her. “Look at you, my sweet Traveler. Finally realizing her full potential.” His face is lit up with fatherly pride.

Betsy looks up, Kieran’s blood still on her lips. She tips her head towards the heavens as she savors the flavor.

A final sinister chuckle from Paulie as he approaches her. With affection, he places a hand on her cheek. Gazing down at her fondly, the warmth doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Keep on this path, Betsy Granger, and you will become unstoppable. You will have everything you ever wanted and so much more. If you get your shit together…”

And with that, Paulie and the world around her melt away, returning to the gym.

She was there alone, in the center of the ring.

Paulie was gone, if he had ever truly been there at all.

The unfiltered ecstasy she felt just seconds before was washed away. It was replaced with a paralyzing fear that she had never felt before.

A fear of a side of herself that she had fought so hard to keep under control.

“No.” Betsy whimpers, clutching her knees, rocking herself. “I’m a good person. I try to heal, not harm. I help, not cause strife. I do good for the benefit of others, with no expectation of reward. I’m good.”

Paulie's laugh replays in her head.

She starts to weep, unable to stop the tears.

Panic and anxiety constrict her lungs. She starts gasping for air.

Her vision grows blurry.

Her head starts to swim.

Her eyes roll up into her head as she passes out where she sits.

As she fades, she prays for oblivion...