Moving Ahead to the Past
Episode 10, Part 1
By Neoraichu
All Characters are the property of Frederator Studios, and I hope that the Manstache is something I dreamed up myself.
...
SheZow stayed in back of the She-Hind with the older version of Kelly. As much as she was tempted to untie her, she couldn't do so as long as he older older sister was still under the brainwashing of Dark Snide-R. But she couldn't look her in the eyes either. Her accusing, pleading eyes that scolded her whenever she saw them as if to say "I love you. I hate you. Untie me now". She couldn't stop thinking about the scolding words she had heard from SheZap before she died with a laser lipstick through the heart. What she did was add a blindfold to Kelly so she wouldn't see any secrets from the lair of the past, even though she was there in the past. But SheZow figured that after all those years and brainwashing, she might have forgotten a few details about the old lair that she wouldn't need to remember.
She-Hind spoke to SheZow through it's own Sheila computer, saying "Dark Snide-R has deployed robotic forces to intercept us. It will take too long to warm up the Time Jump engine to leave before they attack. I shall deploy countermeasures to buy us some time."
SheZow could hear the copter deploying flares, chaff, and other measures she couldn't see or hear from the inside. There was numerous explosions around the She-Hind, and although they felt close enough to rattle her teeth, none seemed to actually damage the super helicopter gunship. But it was enough to get SheZow's head back in the game instead of her thoughts about the older Kelly.
"She-Hind!" she said, "Turn around and fire everything we have! See how many robots you can take out in one pass!"
"Affirmative!"
SheZow strapped down Kelly just as the She-Hind went into a radical turn. She could feel the huge burst of fire from all of the guns and cannons, the whine of the railguns, the rush of all missiles firing, the hum of the pink laser cannons, and even the release of the laser guided bombs. There were explosions and the shredding of metal all around them.
"Robotic forces dispersed," reported Shiela 2, "Ready for Time Jump."
"You go, chopper girl!"
SheZow could feel themselves slip into the Time Stream.
Manstache looked into the back as he said, "Do you mind warning me the next time you plan a kamikaze run?"
"It worked, didn't it?" replied SheZow curtly.
Kelly just made noises into the gag. She struggled wildly in her efforts to free herself from the ropes that bound her.
"So what do you plan to do with her?" he asked as he looked down over the older Kelly.
"I... don't know yet... I know we just have to made sure she gets deprogrammed. She can't be left under Dark Snide-R's influences. If I can alter the past, our own present, then she will be a relic of the nonexistent future. I'm sure I can think of some reasonable excuse why she's hanging around."
"So how do you plan to find Dark Snide-R in the past?"
"I have a few suspicions about where we can find him."
"I see. Plan to share with the rest of the class?"
"Not yet," replied SheZow, "Because some innocent people and their reputations could be hurt if I'm wrong about this."
Manstache nodded.
"We shall reach the Temporal Coordinates in 30 seconds," announced the She-Hind.
"Keep us advised," said SheZow.
"Affirmative."
"I don't know if I can ever be the way I was again," sighed SheZow sadly.
"You've changed," said Manstache, "but that doesn't mean you're worse. The things you did were what you thought you had to, but as long as you see the wrongness of your actions and you feel sorry about it, you won't turn to the dark side. I promise."
"Thanks," she replied, "I needed that."
"We shall reach the Temporal Coordinates in 15 seconds," announced the She-Hind.
"Go to full stealth mode as soon as we arrive," replied SheZow.
"Affirmative."
SheZow made sure Kelly was secure before she went back to the cockpit.
"We shall reach the Temporal Coordinates now," announced the She-Hind. SheZow saw the world change from the effects of the Time Stream back to the real world. They were hovering over the building they had the final battle with the Menacing Manster. The ground was littered with broken choppers and destroyed Police Cruisers.
"What are we doing here?" asked Manstache, "Aren't we possibly changing our own past?"
"She-Hind," she called to the computer, "Search for anything that doesn't belong in this Time Frame! Notify me of the least little weird thing you sense!"
"Affirmative."
A few seconds passed before she continued, "I have detected a stealth probe. It has been displaced here from another Time Frame. I estimate a 90.69% chance it is from the future."
"That's what I thought," said SheZow, "Can you tell me what it's doing?"
"There is a 92.36% chance it is collecting the remaining essence of the Menacing Manster. The collection technology it is using is not known to me."
"Can the probe be destroyed without being seen by the Police Officers?"
"Negative."
"Can you track to probe to see where it goes?"
"Affirmative."
"Then make it so."
"Tracking."
The She-Hind silently tracked the invisible probe across Megadale while staying in its own Stealth Mode.
"Can you tell who made the probe?"
"Negative. That would require intrusive scanning that would reveal our presence. Do you wish me to initiate those procedures?"
"No, it's important we remain undetected."
"Affirmative."
"What are we doing?" asked Manstache.
"I think we're going to find Dark Snide-R in the past, that's what."
"So we can deal with him now?"
"I hope so."
"We have passed the City Limits of Megadale," announced the She-Hind.
"Any idea where we're going?" asked the Manstache.
"A suspicion," she replied, "but I don't know exactly where we're going."
"The probe is heading towards a small, private lab," said She-Hind.
"Continue tracking."
"Affirmative."
A minute passed.
"The probe is about to enter the lab. This is the last chance to destroy it. What is your commands?"
"Just let it go."
"Affirmative. The probe has entered the lab facility."
"Land nearby. Remain in Stealth Mode. Make sure Kelly remains secure."
"Affirmative."
The heroes left the chopper in order to sneak into the lab.
(Interlude between the first part of the episode and the second! She-yeah!)
Dark Snide-R, I presume?
Episode 10, Part 2
By Neoraichu
"Isn't this just a little bit illegal?" asked the Manstache as he sneaked behind SheZow.
"I suppose so," she replied, "but if there's some villain in there doing what I think they are, then they must be stopped. We can deal with the law later."
"If the alarm goes off, won't it be sooner than later?"
"Good point," she said as she called to Sheila 2, "Can you bypass security systems and get us in there?"
"I could do that much with 90% of my processing capacity turned off," came the reply.
"Well, use it all anyways. Make sure you don't leave any trace of our activities here."
"Affirmative. Security has been bypassed. You are free to move about the lab."
"Then lets go in and see what's happening," she said to the Manstache.
"It looks like the place has been closed for the night," he noted, "I don't see any Security Personnel hanging around either. It just seems a little suspicious."
"Maybe they think they don't need humans with a high tech security system?"
"I suppose, but that does seem a bit stupid. Don't they think anyone will ever bypass the security systems?"
"I guess not. It's their problem. We have to get going here."
They stepped through the front door to see the empty lobby. All the lights were shut off. It seemed everything but the security system was shut off.
SheZow called to Sheila 2, "Where has the probe gone?"
"I lost track of it when it went to the lower levels of the lab," she replied, "The lower levels are blocking all sensory signals. What ever is done there, they don't want anyone scanning it or tracing signals from it."
"Okay, we'll just have to take an elevator down and take a look for ourselves."
They walked to the elevators in the back of the lobby.
"Will these take us down far enough?" she asked Sheila 2.
"Negative."
"Then scan for the elevator that will."
"Affirmative."
They waited for Sheila 2 to call back.
"Elevator detected. Head down the main corridor to the back of the building. I have already bypassed the card reader and the retina scanner, so just use it like a normal elevator."
"I read you."
They went to the back of the building and took the elevator down to the lab level. Leaving it behind, they went into a place filled with all manner of sci-fi equipment like it was right out of some B-grade movie. In the back of the room, they could see someone putting on a jumpsuit. They stood next to something that looked like an open high-tech coffin.
"Dark Snide-R, I presume?!" asked SheZow.
"What?!" he asked as he turned, "You aren't supposed to be here!"
"The times, they are a changing," she replied with a smirk.
"How did he time travel?" asked the Manstache.
"He didn't," she replied, "Dark Snide-R was just created a moment ago from the essence of the Menacing Manster. Without his testosterone-based powers, what you have left is what just became Dark Snide-R."
"So there was still power left in him even when he vanished?"
"Yes."
"So why did he just go away?"
"I think that probe from the future had something to do with that. It was sent on a one-way trip. There's no power to move through time freely that he had access to."
"How perceptive of you," he replied, "but the law can't touch me now. I haven't done anything wrong yet."
"I know," she replied, "and we're not here to try. We're not even here to fight you. I'm just here to warn you that you will never get the future you're trying to create. SheZow is here to stay, and I'll always thwart your plans."
"If he was just born, then how is he so talkative and knowledgeable?"
"He was programmed by the probe from it's own database."
"Not programmed, just educated. I have learned the equivalent of six Masters Degrees in less than two minutes. You should leave now. Trespassing is against the law you know."
"Call the cops," she said with a smirk, "I'd love to hear how you explain away the fact you were just created, or the fact this lab is full of illegal cloning equipment."
"Touche, SheZow," he answered, "but then, would you want to be hauled down to the Police Station and risk having your identities revealed? You will be interrogated, the two of you, and who knows if you would crack under such pressure or not."
"An equally valid point," she replied, "So we'll go now. I promise we'll release the Security System as soon as we're safely out of range."
"How thoughtful of you. Thank you."
"I'm sure we'll be meeting again."
"I'm sure."
They left the lab and returned to the She-Hind.
"It's time to go past the time we left, Sheila 2. Just take us to the next day, and land us outside the SheLair."
"Affirmative."
"Remain in Stealth Mode until I say otherwise."
"Affirmative."
...
SheZow and the Manstache walked into the Lair as she carried the older Kelly in her arms.
"SHEZOW!" cried Kelly, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! WE'VE HAD NO TRACE OF YOU ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT!"
"It's a real long story," SheZow began.
"And who the hell is that?!" she asked as she pointed at her older self.
"It's the future version of you,.."
"Why the hell am I,.. the future me... naked, hogtied, blindfolded and gagged?!"
"The short explanation is that she's been brainwashed by a future villain. She'll do weird things that... might upset you... until we can make sure the programming that's been done to her has been undone. Until then, I had to make sure that she can't hurt herself or anyone else back in the past... And she attacked me while she was naked. I was in a hurry and didn't have time to fix that..."
"I see. The blindfold..."
"Is to make sure she doesn't see anything that might be used against us. She might be programmed to make sure that the future she came from will come to pass, and we cannot allow that to happen."
"Okay, but it's still kinda creepy."
"I know. It's not like I'm some pervert or anything."
"I guess I know you well enough to agree with you there."
"By the way, anything new on the body and ring switch?"
"I am still processing that data," replied Shiela.
"Well I guess now's a good a time as any..."
"For what?" asked Kelly.
"She-Hind," called SheZow, "Fly in here and decloak."
"Affirmative," replied Sheila 2.
The She-Hind seemed to appear from nowhere right next to the Shehicle.
"What the hell is that?!" asked Kelly.
"I am Sheila 2. 0. 3. 6. The Operating System for the She-Hind Gunship."
"I cannot interface with your systems," said Sheila.
"Due to security concerns, I was designed to be incompatible with the original system. We can only interact verbally."
"I see, and this is because?"
"In the future, you will be hacked before you are destroyed. The Lair was ruined as well. I was made by Future Kelly, Future Gerald, and Future Maz from the remains of the Computer and Lair as a last defense against the villain designated 'Dark Snide-R'. However, I could not operate properly without interfacing with the power of SheZow, so I remained dormant for a number of years. They hoped that SheZow would return sometime in the future because there was no record of her existing as Guy/Kelsey in the past."
"Logical assumption."
"I hope that my presence in the past will not upset the future."
"As long as we only upset Dark Snide-R," said SheZow, "I don't think that will be an issue."
"Well we can't leave me... uh, her... tied up like this indefinitely!"
"As soon as Sheila does the basic deprogramming, we can let her loose."
"So let's get it started already."
"We also need to establish a fake identity for her so she can be around here. She can't be the same Kelly as you, you know."
"I already guessed as much."
"You can do several things at once, right Sheila?"
"Of course. I'm not a super computer for nothing."