Boxter hauled himself into the family car and slammed the door behind him. "Why he can't just tell me what he's doing, I don't know." He rubbed at his side, then started up the car.

Unsurprisingly, Guy was already gone and it wasn't hard to guess where. The crashes of the monster - Droosha - knocking over things in the city was what had woken Boxter. It was typical for his son to take off on SheZow business without telling him, but it was unsettling him more than usual. Was Droosha dangerous for Guy to be around? Or was it she who was in danger, either from herself, Tara, or the cops if she got out of hand?

The passenger door clicked and Kelly slipped in next to him. She didn't even look at him, just stared resolutely ahead and avoided his gaze.

"Kelly, no," Boxter groaned. He couldn't be damned coming up with a better argument.

Kelly glared at him. "If you're going to find out what Mom and Guy are up to…"

"Of course that's what I'm doing. But it's dangerous." He drew in a breath, and his shoulders slumped. "Sweetie, I just don't want you to get hurt."

Kelly's gaze softened. "Dad, it's dangerous for you too. You already got hurt once. Maybe I want to keep an eye on you."

"That's not your job."

"It's not yours either; you're not on duty."

"That wasn't the job I was talking about."

Kelly folded her arms. "I have been doing this longer than you, you know."

"Kelly…" Boxter sighed. "You're just like your mother…"

"In a good or a bad way?" she asked, frowning.

"Not sure yet. I just need to… I need to see she's okay… I'm not going to do anything stupid." Which possibly wasn't true. He had to do something; he loved Droosha far too much to let her stay a monster forever.

"I'm worried about her too, Dad. Why don't we both just stay in the car, where it's safe? And we'll make sure neither of us do anything stupid."

He eyed his daughter for a second. "Okay. But… if this doesn't work out…" He swallowed and looked down at his hands, gripping the steering wheel far too tight.

Kelly put a hand on his arm. "It'll be okay. Sheila will figure something out."

"What if she doesn't…" he began, then bit down on his words. He already knew Sheila wouldn't have a solution, at least quickly. But Boxter had a feeling in his guts that things were going to get bad. He just didn't know exactly what was going to happen. And that scared him. Like every damn thing was right now. "Look, I don't know how this is going to turn out. Just…"

"Dad," Kelly said softly. "If it doesn't work out, me and Guy will be there for you, you know that, right?"

Boxter looked at her and swallowed hard. "I know."

The rear door clicked. Boxter glanced up in the rear view mirror to see Maz looking back at him.

"What?"

"Where did you come from?" Boxter growled.

"We're going to follow SheZow, right?"

Boxter just shook his head and sighed. "Right. But you're staying in the car, got it?" He put the vehicle into gear and pulled out.

They headed into the city. Boxter didn't have an exact idea where SheZow was, but he figured they'd be able to find him pretty easily. The crashes had stopped, but he could hear sirens.

There was a tap at his window. They were travelling at speed, so it wasn't something Boxter expected to hear. He glanced across to find Tara on her motorcycle, right in line with his window. She smirked and winked at him. Then she pulled ahead slightly, and snorted a wad of snot right across their windshield, completely blocking Boxter's view.

Kelly let out a little shriek.

Boxter wrestled with the steering wheel, trying desperately to remember if there had been any nearby obstacles as he slammed on the brakes. The tyres chittered and they drew to a halt without hitting anything.

Boxter grimaced as his seatbelt bit into his chest a little too tightly. "Everyone alright?" he asked, when he could breath again.

"Yeah…" both Kelly and Maz replied.

A horrendous screech rent the air. Boxter clapped his hands over his ears. It was like some creature tearing claws through metalwork. The car body vibrated around them. Immediately he thought of Droosha, and his heart started thudding in his chest. He wished it were love for his wife that quickened his heartbeat, but it was fear. A shadow of pain flashed across his chest, the memory of those spines slicing into him, and the venom slamming into his heart like 40,000 volts of electricity. He squeezed his eyes shut and cringed.

The screech stopped.

"What was that?" said Maz.

"It's Tara," said Kelly.

Boxter couldn't get his eyes to open.

"She's trying to get in…" There was the sound of smashing glass, and Kelly let out another little scream.

That was enough to shock Boxter into action. His eyes burst open. Kelly's window was broken and Tara was reaching in.

Boxter grabbed his daughter, yanked her out of her seatbelt and across to the drivers side. "Maz, get out!" He opened the driver's side door and hauled Kelly out after him and put her on her feet.

Tara grinned across the bonnet at them. She stepped around it, unslinging the rifle she'd stolen from her back.

They'd come to a halt in one of Megadale's city streets. There were no sign of Droosha, or SheZow, or the cops, though Boxter could still hear sirens. Anyone who may have been on the streets had long since bailed. Boxter stepped away from Tara as she advanced, pushing Kelly and Maz behind him.

"Dad…" Kelly protested.

"Stay behind me!" he barked, and for once, she listened to him.

"Seems your wifey doesn't want to play ball," said Tara, still advancing with the rifle cradled in her arms. "See, I told her if she didn't fight SheZow, if she didn't kill SheZow for me, I'd turn her family into monsters, just like her."

"You leave Mom alone!" Kelly snapped. Boxter had to put a hand behind him to hold her back.

"Not much I can do to her, don't worry, sweetie," said Tara. "But she decided to fight with SheZow, didn't she? So now she's got to live with the consequences." She raised the rifle to her shoulder, and took aim.

Boxter shoved Kelly behind him again, gritting his teeth. He may have been scared of Droosha, but that gun, filled with serum, didn't scare him one bit. Save for if she hit one of the kids with it. "You know what, Tara? I don't care if you turn me into a monster."

"Out of the way," Tara growled. "I wouldn't give you the satisfaction."

His heart began to thud in his chest again. She wasn't going to bother with him; she'd go straight for Kelly, and maybe even Maz. "You'll have to go through me first," he said, his voice wavering.

"You want to play games again, honey? Didn't get enough excitement last time? Works for me." Tara slung the rifle back over her shoulder. She stepped forward and grabbed up Boxter's collar in her left hand, then hit him clear across the jaw with a right hook.

Boxter slammed into the asphalt, seeing stars.

"Dad!" he heard Kelly yell. "Leave him alone."

Boxter forced open his eyes to see Kelly throw herself on Tara's back. His daughter wrapped an arm around the villain's throat, clawing at her windpipe.

Tara flung her off all too easily.

Maz half caught Kelly as she sailed towards him, and then crashed to the ground under her weight.

Tara unslung the rifle and aimed it at Kelly's chest.

Boxter pushed himself up, but his head was spinning and his vision foggy, and he staggered. He couldn't save Kelly. He was freaking useless!

"Ha. Monster babies." Tara smirked, and pulled the trigger.

A screech rent the air, and a thundering wall of scales and spines rushed between Kelly and Tara. The blue tinged syringe bounced harmlessly off Droosha's hide, flipped end over end in the air, and clattered to the asphalt barely three feet from Boxter.

Droosha reared up, chest heaving, huge and monstrous and very very angry. Her good eye was pitch black, and her spines rattled on her back.

"Crap." Tara dodged out of the way as a flurry of spines slammed into the road where she'd stood seconds before.

Boxter drew in a breath and cringed, but the spines were nowhere near him. He looked up at Droosha. Then his gaze fell to the syringe lying beside him.


"Mom, wait!" It shouldn't have been hard to keep up with a hundred tonnes of monster. But Droosha was pelting between buildings, ever coiling loops throwing herself forward, and Guy struggled to keep up. He gritted his teeth and put more power to it.

He wasn't sure where Tara had gone, but his mother was moving so quickly, so she had to know. He heard the growl of Tara's motorcycle, and a screech of tyres. They must be close.

Guy rounded the corner of a building and saw Tara levelling her rifle at Kelly and Maz. But his Mom was on it; she threw herself between them and hurled a flurry of spines at Tara.

Guy dropped down next to Kelly and Maz. "You okay?"

Kelly extricated herself from Maz with a huff and stood to her feet. "Of course I'm fine; check on Dad."

Boxter was standing to his feet, rubbing at his jaw. He seemed okay, but his attention was fixed on Droosha, eyeing the back of her big scaly body. He swallowed. "Droosha?"

Droosha's head whipped around and pinned Boxter with an icy glare. He flinched.

Guy moved over to stand at his father's side, and put a hand on his arm. He was actually shaking. "Mom?" Guy asked. "You alright?"

Droosha let out a low rumble. She didn't go for them, but neither did she seem to hear what he said. Her gaze had gone blank, the one good eye a muted black. She growled and looked about herself.

"Mom," Guy said again, a little louder.

She snorted, turned away from them, and then brought her jaws down on Tara's motorcycle. It splintered and crunched in her jaws, then she spat out the mangled hunk of green.

"Hey, I haven't even paid off the loan on that." The ping of green lasers bounced off Mom's body.

Mom screeched and flung her body after Tara, slamming her tail into the ground, missing the villain by mere inches.

The wail of sirens filled the air; a half dozen cop cars screeched to a halt behind them.

"No, not now," Boxter growled, glancing over his shoulder. "What's wrong with her anyway? She's not listening."

"I don't know, Dad." But Guy did. And he suspected Dad did as well. She was going full monster.

Droosha whipped her tail around, missed Tara, and took out the whole side of a building.

Boxter swallowed. "You've got to stop them fighting. If it looks like she's going to hurt anyone the cops will… I'll try get them to back off, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Tell them SheZow'll handle it." Guy squeezed his father's arm and took to the air. He zipped down to the other side of his mother and pulled out his laser lipstick. "Hey, Tara!"

Tara fired off a volley of lasers.

Droosha screeched, shook herself, and let loose a flurry of spines.

"Kind of busy here," Tara shouted back.

"Seriously? Who's fault is that?" Guy flew up next to his mother's head. "Hey, so… if you just… corner her… I'll get her to give up…"

Droosha did turn and look at him this time. "It's okay, I've got her. I'll teach her to mess with my family." Her voice had taken on an even heavier growl, if that were possible.

"Mom, just back off and let me handle…"

"I said I've got it," Droosha snarled at him. She shot a single spine out of her back, and it hooked the edge of SheZow's cape, dragging Guy back and pinning him to a building wall.

"Hey!"

Droosha turned her attention to Tara. She opened her jaws and screamed, flinging spittle and slime all over the villain.

Tara clapped her hands over her ears.

Droosha brought her tail around and slammed Tara into the side of a building. The glass and mortar cracked around her. "How do you like it, huh?" she snarled, pushing a muscled loop of her broad tail hard against her. "Getting pinned to the wall by some ugly bitch?"

Tara snorted up a glob of snot that splattered Droosha across the snout.

Droosha fell back, shaking her head to loosen the muck and flung it free.

Tara dropped to her knees on the pavement, drawing in deep breaths, then pushed herself to shaky feet.

Droosha screamed again, opened her jaws, and then darted right for Tara, jaws wide. She'd bite her clean in half.

"Mom, no!" Guy tore his cape free of the single spine, sped across and crash-tackled her snout. He grappled his arms around and under her nose and clamped shut her mouth. "You can't kill her…"

Droosha kept going under momentum, and her head crashed into the concrete right next to Tara. Guy held on for dear life. Droosha lifted her head and flicked it left to right.

"I can't… let you kill her…" Guy opened his eyes to find himself eye to eye with his mother. "You can't, they'll lock you up. Or worse."

The one eye fixed on him for a moment. Then Droosha whipped her head back around towards Tara. Guy glanced over his shoulder. "And this is for my kids!" Droosha brought her tail around and hit Tara again, flinging her across the asphalt, back towards where she'd tried to shoot Kelly.

"Mom, calm down," Guy tried.

Droosha grumbled deep down in her throat, then turned and headbutted him right into the nearest building. This time, Guy felt his grip loosen, and Droosha pulled out of his grasp and pelted off.

Guy rubbed at his head and stood back to his feet. "Mom!"


"We brought tranquillisers, in case we have to shoot her. But I don't know if they'll penetrate that skin, so we might have to shoot her in the eye or her mouth or something again…" Johansson was being way too calm about this.

"You do that and you'll completely blind her," Boxter growled, fists tense at his sides. "And you won't have to; SheZow is going to stop her."

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"What do you think," Boxter barked. He was way to amped up to take any kind of crap from the detective. She could find some way to fire him for all he cared.

"I'm trying to help, alright?" Johansson said, lowering her voice. "I don't want anyone to have to shoot her again."

Boxter drew in a breath. "I… I know…"

Johansson's attention fixed on something behind him. "Hamdon…"

Boxter turned, just in time to see Tara sail across the street and slam into the side of their family car. A single spine stuck out of her shoulder. She winced and yanked it out, then tried to stand.

Droosha slithered up, towering over Tara and let out a screech. She whipped her tail around and slammed the other woman into the side of the car again.

Tara slumped back to the ground, supporting herself with one hand, the other wrapped around her middle and drew in gulping breaths. She was more than down, but Droosha didn't stop. She slammed her into the side of the car one more time, the crunch of metal making every cop visibly cringe.

"She's going to kill her," said Johansson, tensing. "Get your weapons ready."

"No, wait," said Boxter.

Johansson hesitated. "I can't…"

"Just give me one chance." He shouted back over his shoulder, already jogging towards the car.

"Hamdon, get your arse back here!"

"I'm off duty."

He faltered as he neared, his heart began to hammer in his chest.

Droosha reared up, a great big serpentine shape, almost blocking the sun. She moved her head down towards Tara.

"Droosha!" Boxter shouted. His voice cracked. He started to shake. Damn it, she was so big. He skidded to a halt between Tara and his wife, hands raised up. She wouldn't hurt him again. She hadn't meant it the first time.

"Droosha, wait! She's down. You got her, it's okay…"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tara hissed, one hand still clamped to her side.

"Saving my wife…" Boxter began. Then he lowered his hands.

Droosha rumbled deep in her throat, and her spines started to rattle. Oh God. She wasn't going to stop. She was going to hurt him again.

Boxter choked and turned around, spreading his arms over the side of the car above Tara, blocking her with his broad body. If Droosha hurt him rather than Tara, maybe she'd stop. He could barely breath. He just squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the slam of pain.


A/n: Is this as intense as I think it is? ARGH. I'm sorry. *hides* o-O