Chapter Nine: A More She-ven Fight
SheZow, SheZap, and 'GI Joke' stood back to back as they faced down La Bruja's new minions; Las Sombras. The Sombras, waiting for a signal from their master, gave little twitches of anticipation. La Bruja was staring down from a raised platform, determined to seize what she believed belonged to her. After several minutes of silences, La Bruja raised her staff and pointed at the trio of unlikely allies. She then gave the command; "LAS SOMBRAS, ATTACK!"
And with that, the battle was joined! The dozen or so Sombras all charged as one, small groups of them centering on SheZow, SheZap, or Maz. With SheZap, his blows against the Sombras were vicious and brutal, including a liberal use of the Laser Hair Curler. With SheZow, his blows were honed by months of fighting various villains and utilized the Heavy Handed Super Sheslap. Maz, as GI Joke, used whip cream pies and stink bombs to keep his group of Sombras off balanced.
After a few minutes of neither side gaining the upper hand, the Sombras retreated back to the side of their mistress. "You have fought valiantly, but in vain." said La Bruja, with a triumphant smirk, "My Sombras are tireless; they will eventually wear you down to nothing! So I give you one last chance: hand over you rings or die!"
And with that SheZow began to take fully stock of their situation. Both he and SheZap were beginning to look ragged after the short fight with the Sombras. SheZap gave him a look that said he would not go down without a fight. Maz was running out of gags though he still had one stink bomb in hand. That's it! thought SheZow, finally coming up with a plan that might save them all.
"Alright, just give us a second and you'll get exactly what you deserve!" said SheZow cryptically, while giving a subtle wink to SheZap and Maz. They didn't get it at first until they stared at Maz's stink bomb. With that, they gave a small smirk and nodded.
"Well, let me have it!" said La Bruja, tired of SheZow's stalling.
"Alright, NOW MAZ!" shouted SheZow, giving Maz the signal. With a quick battle cry, Maz used a slingshot hidden behind his back to launch the stink bomb directly at La Bruja! Surprised by the assault La Bruja took the stink bomb right in the face!
"AARGH! That horrible smell! Mis ojos! Mi nariz! They all burn!" shouted La Bruja, overwhelmed by the toxic odor of Guy's processed gym sock and Maz's days-old underwear. In her blind panic and fury, she dropped her staff onto the ground towards the heroes (and one villain)! The Sombras moved to retrieve it only to be blocked by SheZap!
"Toxic Tangle Hair Gel!" shouted SheZap, as he unleashed globs of green, smelly gel that either blinded or restricted the movement of the Sombras. After that, he got out his Laser Hair Curler and finished off each of the Sombras, making them disappear in a cloud of smoke. As SheZap was handling the Sombras, SheZow grabbed La Bruja's staff and lifted it over his head.
"NO!" cried La Bruja, finally able to see what was going on. SheZow smashed the skull head of the staff onto the ground causing the skull to shatter. BOOM! A massive explosion burst from the shattered skull, knocking everyone off their feet!
As SheZow came to a few seconds later, he looked around the area. First, he saw that La Bruja was lying on her back on the raised podium, clearly knocked unconscious. He saw his friend Maz next, still in his ragged GI Joke costume, close by starting to wake up. What he couldn't see was the Sombras or SheZap anywhere!
"Where the heck are SheZap and the Sombras?" asked Maz, having fully woken up and looked around.
"Well, if La Bruja's spells wore off, then SheZap ran off and the Sombras sunk back into the shadows." stated SheZow, though still looking around just in case. Holding up the staff, SheZow got a good look at the damages. The Skull had been completely destroyed, reveal sparking wires and metal. Could it have been parlor tricks all this time? thought SheZow, confused by such obvious technology in a magic staff.
A feminine groan echoed through the junction, reminding both SheZow and Maz who was still there. As they approach La Bruja, she stood on her hands and knees, her black, frayed hair covering her face, as the headdress had been lost in the explosions. SheZow decided that he should approach first:
"La Bruja, you under citizen's arrest for multiple accounts of assault with deadly intent and willful destruction of property." said SheZow, trying to capture some of the official tone of his father and other policemen he had seen on TV. La Bruja either didn't hear or care, because she had not moved an inch from her kneeling position. SheZow gave Maz a look, which Maz answered with a shrug. SheZow decided to try again: "La Bruja…"
HHHHHIIIIIIIIIISSSSS! La Bruja's face shot up with a horrible hiss reminiscent of both felines and reptiles. La Bruja's face paint was smudged and ruined, but still able to hide who she was underneath. Her mouth was filled with fangs that looked like they belonged on a carnivorous monster and her fingernails had grown into claws. But the most horrifying part of her transformation was her eyes: her eyes had taken on the characteristics of a cat's, with a slit pupil and yellow where there should be white!
SheZow and Maz were so shocked by the transformation that they were unprepared for what happen next! Faster than the eye could blink, La Bruja slammed into Maz, throwing him across the room to a nearby wall! Within an instant, La Bruja turned and grabbed SheZow by the throat growling like an animal. As SheZow was having trouble breathing, La Bruja looked him in the eye…and let him go.
After catching his breath, SheZow look up at La Bruja, confused at her change in behavior. She was just standing there, not a care in the world, dusting herself off. "Well," La Bruja began simply, "I think that's enough excitement for one day. If you will excuse, I am running late for a very important date."
"If you think for one minute…" said SheZow, dead set on not letting La Bruja get away.
"Oh please Senor Hamdon, let me enlighten you out of any delusions of victory you may have." said La Bruja, in a superior tone, "That staff was never a mystical artifact, not like your ring. I simply use it as a focus for performing my spells. True, without I can't perform my little musical numbers or fire lightning bolts at you, but I still hold all the power I had before then. I simply use that energy to augment my more natural abilities."
Leaving SheZow with that nugget of information, La Bruja turns and walks into the shadows. "Oh before I go, I should tell you that this is far from over. I will have that ring and I have the information and resources necessary to tear down your life in order to obtain it!" La Bruja gave one last threat before disappearing into the shadows, "Adios!"
And so SheZow was left in the dark with his friend Maz, with a single question rolling through his mind. What the hell am I going to do now!?
Disclaimer: I don't own SheZow. I am sure a lot of my fans are wonder about my inspirations for the story. A lot of it actually comes from the old El Tigre cartoon, specifically the character Sartana of the Dead. There are other aspects of the character drawn from elsewhere but that was the main inspiration. Just thought you should know. Anyway, Read and Review.