Chapter Text
Absolutely nothing negative was on Becky's mind as she walked home with TJ, Bob a little ways behind them. Assignments and deadlines were swirling in her head, sure, but that was the typical kind of stress she faced on a daily basis. If her silence meant anything, TJ could likely tell she wasn't fully present, and turned his head towards her.
"Hello? Earth to Becky?"
She shook her head and tried to recall what he was talking about, but came up short. Something about winning a prize, maybe? "I was listening!"
He looked smug, but a little disappointed. "You so weren't."
Trying to come up with a defense, she was yet again coming up short. Unfortunately, her silence once again gave everything away.
"All I was saying," he said a little loudly, most likely trying to keep her attention, "was that the results of the contest I entered are supposed to drop today, so I'm checking the mailbox."
"Okay, but why are you telling me this?"
"You know how bad the mail's been! Last week, Dad was almost trapped under the mail that fell out. And that was only a quarter of what was inside!"
Scoffing, she knew he was exaggerating, but it was only a little bit. With two teenagers in the house, one of them being a senior in high school, it made perfect sense that everything and everyone would want to talk to them.
She turned to him. "Want me to help empty it?"
"I was thinking you could help sort, but yeah! That too."
Bob also announced that he could help, and while Becky would've translated, it seemed like TJ could pick up on what he was saying. Once they reached the driveway, the mailbox was just a little off to the right, and TJ carefully approached it like it was going to bite him. Upon opening it, he ducked for cover but slowly came out of hiding once he realized nothing fell out.
Surprisingly, it was relatively meager for what they've seen. With the three of them there, they could easily sort through it as they made their way to the front door. Anything for their parents was shoved under the piles they were holding, and after constant rotation, it seemed like most of it was for their parents.
TJ began to hand the parent letters to Bob while Becky opened the door. Bob, in turn, handed TJ letters for him and Becky.
"This one's for you, sis." TJ handed her a letter after they crossed the threshold of the Botsford residence. With a quick glance, she could already tell it had to be from a university. Her parents, sitting on the sofa, seemed to notice too, whether it was due to the color of the letter, its size, or even the tone TJ used.
"I thought they'd stop sending out acceptance letters by now," her mom remarked as she made her way to Becky, "isn't it kinda late for that?"
She thought the same thing, turning it over to rip open the envelope. "I guess not."
It was an action she could do in her sleep, opening these letters. Discarding the envelope like it was nothing, she quickly breezed through the text. The revealing statement was quickly found.
Congratulations, Becky! We're pleased to offer you admission to the University of…
She stared at it blankly. It shouldn't have come as a shock to her, if not for the other letters she had received over the course of months and the onslaught of other universities reaching out to recruit her, but this one stood out more than the others because of one fact alone.
This was the final school I applied to. I was accepted into all of them.
"Gonna tell us the results, Becks?" Her dad smiled.
Everyone was surrounding her now, impatiently awaiting the results. She almost didn't want to tell them. With a sigh and an effort to put on a smile, she finally let their anticipation end.
"…I got accepted!"
If anyone was given great news, they’d probably be overjoyed and proud, but there wasn't a wave of relief from the Botsfords; they always believed in Becky, but they all still seemed to be happy that their expectations were met.
"Ooh, I knew you could do it!" Her mother exclaimed, being the first to run up and hug her. Her dad and TJ followed suit.
"What'd you have to say to convince them to let you in, sis?" TJ joked.
"TJ," her dad started, "don't undermine your sister's accomplishments. Even as a joke."
Becky broke off the hug and continued to smile. "Dad, it's okay. I'll say the same thing to him if he gets acceptance letters in two years."
Her teasing didn't go unnoticed.
"Hey! It's not my fault that all that our mail is nowadays is everyone desperate for you to attend their school!"
Becky rolled her eyes, a bit more seriously than she intended, and started to make her way towards the stairs, with everyone, including Bob, watching her.
"Becky, don't you wanna celebrate?" Her mom questioned.
"It'd give me an excuse to make beans a la Botsford!" Her dad added.
That was really unnecessary; Becky had to repress any gagging. Even if they weren't outwardly offended, she still felt as though they were expecting more from her, and she didn't want to let them down.
"Oh, I don't know…"
"I could go for some pizza," TJ said, giving the most selfish but helpful save that Becky had ever had. She had already started to climb up the stairs, but quickly stopped, knowing that she was held hostage once again by the impending pizza order question.
"Ooh, a little pizza party," Her mom smiled, speaking with a sing-songy voice. "I think we can do just that!"
Bob began to chirp happily, and her dad started to pull up a notepad, not unlike what waitresses write down customers' orders on, and whipped out a WordGirl pen. Wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible, Becky began to recite her usual order, but TJ instantly butted in. How expected.
"Pepperoni pizza for me, please!"
Was it really necessary for him to order the same thing he's always wanted since he was eight before she could? Their parents should know what he likes by now. Regardless, Becky was next.
"Mushrooms, onions, and green peppers for me, please."
Being the only one to understand him, she also had the honor of telling everyone what Bob's order was. It, of course, was bloated and probably listed every topping that the pizza place offered. If the beans a la Botsford didn't make her gag, perhaps the smell of his order would.
Everyone else's orders were collected, including TJ requesting cheese sticks, and Becky was now able to excuse herself silently. Once she could confirm they couldn't see her face, her smile dropped, and she let out a sigh, now picking up the pace. At the top of the stairs, she saw TJ's door ajar and couldn't help but walk over and take a peek.
Just like his pizza order, he was still the same with his appreciation towards WordGirl, but unlike when he was eight, the walls of his room were now a light yellow, the merchandise was all but gone, and a lone poster of WordGirl hung on the wall. Shockingly, it was one that he got for his eighth birthday. It was almost unbelievable how so much yet so little had changed.
Cells on average replenish every 7-10 years, and it had been seven years since his WordGirl obsession took off, so it was reasonable for her to ask a certain question: Was he even the same person? Of course, cells don't just all die after 7 years and come back in unison; billions of cells are replaced every day, and that process is a gradual one.
Continuing on her ship of Theseus-esque thought track, Becky pondered about herself. According to her made-up set of rules constituting what changes a person, like TJ, she would be considered largely the same as she was back then. She had the same small group of friends, the same collection of pony figurines, albeit smaller and more contained, and the same old routine of interrupting her personal life to stop villains as WordGirl. She looked down at the letter she still held in her hand.
This is a more permanent change in my life.
As certain as she had been her entire life about who she wanted to be, Becky wouldn't lie and say she still knew what she wanted. Higher education was appealing to her; she loved to learn after all, but the mere fact that she only applied to schools outside of Fair City terrified her. Maybe it wasn't a conscious choice, but what if it was?
It'd be impossible for WordGirl to save them, wouldn't it? She'd be too busy not existing at all.
Walking back, she saw Bob walk into her room, and she quickly shut the door behind them, a little louder than she usually did. Tossing the letter to the side, she stretched for a second and then threw herself onto her bed. She could hear Bob groan as he forced himself off the floor, and slowly but surely, he crawled up to meet her, squeaking a short message near her ear.
"Do I look okay?" Becky curtly replied. It was hard to make out what her tone was, but she hoped it wasn't too mean-spirited.
Predictably, he stared at her in a way she had long since grown accustomed to. "Don't lie to me, Becky." She hated that look.
She groaned and forced herself to sit up straight. What was there for her to say when she, the master of words, was at a loss for them? She leaned down to get the letter she had tossed and handed it to Bob a little too sternly.
"You know. I got accepted into all my schools. That should mean I'm okay, right?"
He personally congratulated her again before urging her to continue with her thoughts. Becky really didn't want to, but gave in, knowing he wouldn't just drop this.
"Well, okay, I should be happy!" She mimed over-enthusiastic jazz hands, and her arms dropped limply after a few shakes. "…But I'm not. I'm just…tepid."
That was probably the best she could do in terms of describing everything, but Bob chirped an understanding noise, allowing her to continue. He could tell she was on the verge of opening up more, and not even she realized that.
"I don't know, what do you want me to say, Bob? I've never had a change this huge! And that's what this is." She snatched the letter, held it up, and pointed at the word admission. "A major, life-altering shift. It's really hard to visualize it, let alone talk about it. A city without WordGirl sounds like some fictitious lie!"
Villains running amok, constant sirens, hell, Becky was picturing the most dystopian image possible. All she needed to make it even more ridiculous were some zombies and a disgruntled version of herself wandering around the wasteland, shotgun in hand.
"I highly doubt the citizens would believe her if she suddenly announced quitting. WordGirl is what keeps this place afloat; everyone relies on her. This would undeniably mean taking her away, and I can't just do that to her!" Her hands extended outward at WordGirl's pronouns, but inward at Becky's.
"You, Becky," Bob reminded her. "You are WordGirl, and WordGirl is you."
Becky blushed, embarrassed that this mistake she keeps repeating was caught once again by Bob. Unconsciously, she shook her head and hoped Bob would take it as an admission of error. Now she didn't even feel like continuing, especially since she had said too much.
Aside from this one letter, what was new among the issues she's already brought up? Bob still refused to back down, crossing his arms and getting extra comfortable in her bed. They were going to have a talk, whether she liked it or not.
"You know what I'm going to say," Becky mumbled, praying he would drop this. Turning her head away and grabbing her arm in a comforting manner, her peripherals still saw him in the same position.
"I'd still like to hear it."
Letting her head drop for just a second, she lifted it back up and forced herself to make eye contact with Bob again. "WordGirl has been controlling my life for so long. Enrolling in one of these schools? It'd be a decision that she doesn't ruin for once."
Bob opened his mouth, but quickly closed it, not wanting to kill the conversation. A small breath still escaped him, something Becky furrowed her eyebrows at, knowing full well what he was prepared to squeak.
"…but it's also one she can't control. It would mean abandoning the citizens. It would mean I have to actually decide on a school. It would mean knowing what I-"
Her ears perked up uncontrollably, leading her to pick up sound waves from the other side of town. The voice she heard was one she was all too familiar with.
"Lady and gentleman, phase two comes to an end! And here I thought this ray was out of the realm of possibility."
Oh, why did Dr. Two Brains have to do something right now? On second thought, Becky considered this a good enough out for her current situation. A non-WordGirl solution would be optimal, but this would have to suffice.
"Hold that thought. Bob, we've got work to do. Word-"
"Becky!"
Great. Now her Dad was interrupting the interruption.
"Yeah, Dad?"
She could hear him slowly creep up to her door, a small thud indicating he placed his head on the door. "Don't want to intrude, but just wanted you to know that the pizza should be here in 40 minutes!"
Knowing the insane amount of food Bob and TJ would want, not to mention the toppings Bob would pile on his order, 40 minutes seemed shockingly low. Time needed to be on her side here, especially if she had to go stop Two Brains. Being late to dinner wasn't an option; this whole thing was to celebrate her.
"Oh, okay, Dad! I'll probably be done with homework by then!"
Her dad happily sang a tune to himself as he walked away from Becky's door. Finally, she could get out.
"Word up!"
Like lightning, WordGirl shot across town with Huggy clinging on for dear life. Don't want this battle to take too long, WordGirl reasoned to herself. The slightly open window of Dr. Two Brain's lair was in sight, and she threaded the needle as she slowed to a stop.
"Stop right there, Dr. Two Brains!"
It was typical for WordGirl to float above the villains whenever they would talk when she was younger, but it was a habit she weirdly kept. After 7 years of growing, she barely had to float above the ground to stay above them, forcing her to curl her legs slightly to prevent her feet from grazing the floor. It wasn't the most comfortable pose, to say the least. Thankfully, he was one of the tallest villains she faced, so she was mostly comfortable.
Dr. Two Brains, casual as ever yet still a little jumpy, smiled as he turned to greet her. "WordGirl! Just the person I wanted to see."
Sure, this kind of behavior is very typical for Two Brains, especially after all the years they've known each other, but something about his expression worried her. Nothing was physically off about him, especially since he had maintained the same physical appearance the whole time she's known him (it's surprising that his mouse brain never made him look any wilder), but there was still an uncanniness to him. Recently, it had dawned on her how complete Two Brains was, for lack of a better term, and with the vagueness of "phase two" and "realm of possibility", this didn't seem to be a run-of-the-mill cheese plan.
"Look, I'm not sure what's going on here, Doc, but I don't like what I've heard. What's going on?"
He giggled, grasping his hands together and placing them behind his back. The very epitome of innocence. "Oh, nothing." He smiled coyly. "Can't a guy want a superhero to visit every now and then? It's been so long since the two of us just hung out."
Memories of the uncomfortable variety were brought forward in her head, ones that had Professor Boxleitner writing some sort of paper on a recent experiment of his while she dropped in to ask for superhero advice. While it likely wasn't intentional, he was furthering her worries. She slowly flew backwards, uneasy and off-guard.
"Oh, I'm sure this isn't nothing."
"Don't you know the definition of nothing?"
Whatever game he was playing, it was irritating. "YES. Why don't you define what you're planning?"
"You said you heard me, right? Some super hearing you got. Maybe if you didn't tune me out more, you'd know."
"Well, I DID, and now I'd LIKE to know."
He paused longer than he should have, really letting the icky feeling she had fester. He clicked his tongue before continuing.
"The truth hurts."
"It's hurting ME that you're stalling!"
Actually, that could be his game. With that considered, WordGirl stopped floating away, also due to the fact that she was close to colliding with the wall. Nothing was picked up with her hearing, not even footsteps, and with Two Brains talking to a lady and what was likely his henchmen, that wasn't a good sign. Her eyes darted up to see if any trap was about to fall on her.
"Oh, am I? NOW!"
Before she could look behind her, she felt Captain Huggy Face ripped off her back, and she was captured in four arms, each preventing her from squirming out. Try as she might, she wouldn't budge, and she could see Huggy was also struggling to get out of the henchmen's grasp. He was led off to a cage to the left of Two Brains, and once he was locked up, the henchmen stood by as if they were guarding him.
With that in mind, who was holding her? She couldn't twist her body well, but angling her head to the right showed Lady Redundant Woman’s face, and angling her face to the left showed Dr. Two Brains' face.
Wait, what?