Chapter 5: Turning the Tides

Author's Note:Fifth chapter is up. Warning, this chapter contains violence.

Sheldon fiddled with the now completed microchip in his hand as he sat at his desk in his 'workshop'. He observed his creation, which he had worked on for the past couple of days-both, proudly and uncomfortably. It was a small creation, yet so powerful that he slightly regretted creating it, especially when he knew precisely its purpose.

His phone rang as his screen lit up, interrupting his thoughts. Sheldon glanced over and saw Brad's home number glow on his screen. He hesitated and was tempted to let it go to voicemail but reluctantly picked it up. "Hello?"

Brad answered and asked in a soft voice with anticipation, "Hey Shel, Is it ready?"

Sheldon sighed and rubbed his head tiredly, the supposed invention to help win Jenny back was finished. However, he still felt uneasy, especially with what happened last time they were together-resulting in Jenny talking to neither of them. "Yea, it's ready…I just don't know if we should do this. What if something goes wrong?"

"Hey, relax. We have a solid plan this time. It'll work-you'll see! Plus, you promised, remember?" With reassurance in his voice, Brad reminded him, yet he felt just as anxious as Sheldon. Sheldon couldn't disagree with him; they both wanted her back, no matter how risky.

Sheldon shoved the chip down his coat pocket and nodded, albeit nervous, "Alright, I'll head over now; meet me outside her house." He quickly hung up the phone and took a deep breath. He shook his head in disbelief, he still couldn't believe he was doing this.

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Brad waited outside Jenny's window; he gave Sheldon an anxious thumbs up as Sheldon used the key to unlock the front door. He crept in slowly to not disturb or alert his presence. He fell to his knees and crawled on all fours towards the kitchen's entry; he peered into the kitchen and saw Doctor Wakeman fishing out a can of oil from the fridge.

He quickly crawled behind the kitchen table and between the chairs, his heart pounding loudly in his ears.

To avoid being caught, Sheldon quietly pulled out his phone and called Wakeman's landline. Wakeman's phone began to ring and she walked out of the room to answer it. Once he saw her exit, Sheldon leaped out of his hiding spot and pulled out the chip from his pocket. He placed the chip into the drink and watched it seemingly morph and blend into the oil. He gazed at the now invisible chip with slight guilt.

Sheldon jumped as he heard Wakeman slam the phone and footsteps coming in his direction. He crouched back in his hiding spot as he heard her mumble, "Lousy prank call…they have nothing better to do-teenagers! In my day, I was already successful at their age…Scholarships and all." She murmured to herself begrudgingly as she picked up the oil can and left the kitchen.

As Wakeman headed up the stairs, Sheldon silently followed as he now tiptoed towards the base of the stairs. When he reached the top of the stairs, he saw her set down the oil can in front of Jenny's door and knocked on her door. He quickly searched for a place to hide, his mind scrambled to find a room, but where-ah ha! Sheldon scurried to a small closet behind Doctor Wakeman and quietly closed the door, leaving a small crack to let himself observe what was in front of him. Man, how many shoes does she need? Especially if the same pair?! He thought as he buried himself into the overgrown shoe pile.

Though it was a small opening, he watched as Doctor Wakeman headed back downstairs. Then, carefully, he widened the crack and peered over at Jenny's door. Sheldon spotted her arm picking up the can and retracting it back into her room. Sheldon slipped out of the closet, some shoes cluttered onto the floor, and quickly he kicked them back into the closet and shut the door. He winced when the door creaked, but luckily it didn't seem Wakeman or Jenny noticed.

Sheldon quietly crept to Jenny's door, leaned his ear onto the wood, and waited. He could hear her footsteps marching across the room's carpet and the sound of her chugging the oil. The process of the chip's function could take a few minutes to kick into her system. He gazed down to the ground and noticed the darkened oil stain seeping out her bedroom door. A pang of guilt sat in his stomach as he saw how Jenny's mental state had gone downhill. He sighed and hoped that somehow Brad's crazy plan would work.

"Mmm…Ma…Mom, I don't…I don't feel…good, Momma…" Jenny's words slurred as her footsteps became less balanced. Sheldon knew it was the chip and waited for a sign that it worked. "I feel weird…and it's all bubbly…Mo…" She stopped and her room fell utterly silent. However, no indication of her collapsing to the ground confused him.

He hesitantly pulled out the key and unlocked her door, hoping he won't be met with a punch to the face. First he saw Brad right outside the window who nodded that it was safe and seemed to mouth, 'She just froze.' He opened the door fully and jumped at what he saw in front of him.

Jenny was hunched over, pigtails drooped, and her arms hung over the dropped oil can. She wore a blank expression on her face-her, optics completely dark. Sheldon rubbed his hands together and approached her nervously. "Jen…Jenny?" He softly whispered but met with nothing in return. He raised a finger and tapped her forehead to see if he'd get a response; Jenny finally tipped over and collapsed into him. He shot out his arms and, with all his strength, prevented both of them from falling to the floor. Sheldon gazed into her optics and marveled to himself. So that's what happens when you sedate a robot. Who knew?

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Brad patiently waited on the ladder next to Jenny's window until Sheldon opened it and started to push Jenny's unconscious body over to Brad. Brad reached out and carefully pulled her out as Sheldon followed. "Careful with the head." Sheldon commented as he crawled out the window and supported her legs as Brad cradled the upper half of her body.

They maneuvered down the ladder as both boys carried each end of Jenny to the snowy ground. As they reached the bottom, Brad breathed heavily, "Oh schnikey, she's heavy! Ugh!" He groaned tiredly as they touched the snowy base. "How long will she be unconscious?"

"Not long-about 20 minutes. I didn't make it too strong, but still should be enough time to get to the place and get things set up." Sheldon grunted. He placed one of her arms around his neck, "Grab the other arm, that'll make it easier to carry her." Brad nodded, doing the same with Jenny's other arm around his neck.

The two trudged through the snow with a sleeping Jenny in tow. "Alright, just to recap-the old compound is just a block or two from here, and we have a cage we will put her in so she's trapped, and then we go in to rescue her." Brad recounted the information, which Sheldon nodded tiredly in response. "You already sedated her without Wakeman catching you, so the hard part is done…now we just need to haul her over there."

Sheldon lightly chuckled and shook his head, "It wasn't easy, but she's sure heavy to freaking carry!" He glanced over at Jenny whose head lazily dropped toward the ground and a small goofy smile appeared on his face. "But she's beautiful, so it's worth it."

Brad rolled his eyes and laughed, "Oh Shel, you're so obsessed! You'd do anything to please her!" Sheldon squinted his eyes in confusion and Brad scoffed, "Oh come on, you know what I mean! You follow her around all the time-even on her dates and do whatever she asks literally. You are obsessed."

Sheldon groaned, "Okay, first of all, I found Kenny suspicious; I told you that! Second of all, you do the same thing, Brad! You're with her all the time, and need I remind you of a certain someone who interrupted Jenny and I's date the other night." He cocked his eyebrow with a smug grin on his face.

Brad's cheeks turned crimson red as he glared back at Sheldon. He shook his head in protest, "That-that's different! She's my best friend; of course, I'm going to do stuff like that!" He retorted. He sighed and gave a sorrowful look, "And I'm sorry, it wasn't supposed to go like that…That was your night, and I ruined it, I just- I just…really wanted her back…and somehow go back to how we used to be…" He gulped, his throat felt tight as the painful memory sat in his mind. Hi

Sheldon smiled in sympathy, "I understand, Brad; I would have done the same thing…and I'm sure if this plan works-she'll want to be your friend again." He leaned behind Jenny and spoke in a high-pitched voice to impersonate her, "Oh Brad, you're my hero and the bestest friend in the whole wide world! Oh and Sheldon, you're sooo handsome and smart." He hunched back forward and giggled in his normal voice, "Aww thanks Jen, you're too kind."

Brad softly chuckled and shook his head at his friend's antics, "That would be nice…Maybe, after this, we can grab Tuck and all of us go to Mezmers like we used to, and we could go over to my place and just hang out, play games…you know, like we used to." He couldn't help but smile thinking of the four of them finally together at last-it felt like a lifetime since they were together.

"You know Jenny sure has missed out on a lot this past year with being mind controlled and all…we should show her the movies and music that came out!" He gasped in realization, "And the new season of Styles High, Jenny's favorite show!"

Brad smirked, "Isn't that also your favorite show?"

Sheldon blushed in embarrassment and shrugged, "Erm…maybe…but Jenny loves it, we used to talk about it together all the time, our favorite character is Reggie!"

Brad raised an eyebrow, genuinely confused, "Really? The leader of the cutie boys…I thought of you guys more of a Tyler or a Markie-type fan?"

"Reggie is just better-Wait…how do you know about the other members?" He asked, raising a brow. Brad turned red and Sheldon grinned, "You watch the show… don't you?"

Brad stuttered, "A…little…but not really-Just sometimes when Tuck is already asleep, and I'm bored, and there's nothing else on." He shrugged, trying to shake off the embarrassment, "If Jenny wants to watch it, I'll be cool with it-I, I guess." He quickly replied nonchalantly in an attempt to play it cool.

Sheldon could clearly hear the facade in Brad's voice but decided not to push it any further to avoid worsening the embarrassment, "Yea, I think that would be a good idea!" He looked ahead and squinted his eyes through the snowy road, "I think we're almost there…" He softly smiled, he couldn't wait for this to be done and like Brad-things to be normal again. "At least we have the cold snow and now the clouds are covering us to keep us cold, right Brad?" He glanced over at Brad who glared and pointed at the sky in terror. "Brad, are you alright?"

"Well, well…what do we have here?" The unmistakably recognizable voice spoke above them. Sheldon froze and felt a shiver shoot through his spine as he looked up and saw what hovered above them-it wasn't a cloud. "XJ9 and her loathsome flesh pets…Though XJ9 is oddly quiet today-usually, she'd say something snarky by now."

Vexus grinned wickedly as she stood on her round and yellow portal as she saw the boys tremble in fear while Jenny sat motionlessly between them. Brad stammered and gulped, "She's just…not…not-well she's just not feeling well, that's all. So we're just…going to Mezmers yea!" He nervously smiled and glanced at Jenny with a forced chuckle, "Ain't that right, Jen?" He places his hand behind her head and has her 'nod' in response. "See?"

Vexus protruded her lips in a pout and tapped her chin, "Oh, I see…you poor thing…should I have a look-see?"

Sheldon frowned, he puffed out his chest to facade his confidence, "No! She's fine!"

Vexus scowled and barked, "Shut up, you greasy fleshy rat, I wasn't asking you or little ginger snaps there…I was asking dear Jennifer what she wanted." She smirked and placed her hands on her hips. "Now, Jennifer…are you going to speak up, or are these hairless apes gonna speak for you?"

The three sat silently for a second. Brad and Sheldon looked at each other nervously, their hearts pounded fiercely-what more could they do? Before either one could react, a flash of yellow swooped between them, both were knocked down into the snow and onto their backs. To their horror, Jenny was no longer between them, now cradled in the Queen's arms a few feet above them. Jenny's head and limbs hung loosely in the air, blissfully unaware of what was happening. Vexus cackled as she tipped her head and gently stroked Jenny's sleeping face, "Hmm… You're sure more pleasant like this…" She had a look of admiration as she stroked Jenny's face, which unsettled Brad and Sheldon. Both felt sick to their stomachs watching their friend helplessly lie in her enemy's arms. "Tell you what, dear, since you are so good today, how about we take a nice little trip to the Cluster."

Sheldon shrieked in protest as he shot out his arm, "Wait, no-Jenny!" However, his words were rendered useless. Vexus landed back onto her portal with Jenny in her arms and pushed the lever in a flash, she was gone along with Jenny.

The barren portal fell to the ground in front of the two, their eyes widened in horror and shock. Brad shook his head in disbelief as he replayed in his mind what just happened, and his hands brushed through his hair, "That-that did not just happen…no, no-that did not-Vexus did not just take Jenny…That wasn't supposed to happen! Ugh!" He didn't want to believe it, but it did, another irreparable mistake. He just wanted to make things right-instead things just went wrong. Forgive me, Jen. He glared at the portal as guilt washed over him and a painful thought occurred. Maybe…maybe I shouldn't be forgiven. His hands ran down his face, he wanted to think that was a lie-but he knew it was true. He sighed in shame and defeat as he gazed at the portal absently, "I…guess we should go tell Ms.Wakeman what just happened…"

Sheldon raised a hand as he gazed at the portal and shook his head, "No… We're not going to tell her!" Brad raised an eyebrow in confusion, not understanding why, "I have an idea, it's a little crazy, but it might work…"

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Deep in Vexus's palace, the Queen loomed over Jenny -who remained unconscious, lying on the flat metallic bed, her limbs fastened to the bed by tight electric metallic chains. Wires were attached all around her body to a large computer, her database flowing in the machine. Vexus glared at the screen and back at Jenny's unconscious body; she finally captured her arch nemesis and was stealing valuable information. Yet Vexus wasn't satisfied-namely since Jenny wasn't awake and attempting to fight back it felt…very anticlimactic and too easy.

Vexus placed her hands on Jenny's cheeks and tilted her head side to side, observing her. Her optics remain dark and her body limp, yet her systems show a large percentage of battery left. Vexus was perplexed, How is this possible? She knew Jenny was unconscious with her little friends, but for how long…and why? She leaned closer to her towards her audio sensors, "Jennifer! XJ9!" She slapped her a few times in the face to snap her awake, "Jennifer, I have successfully captured you from the pitiful flesh wearers…You will submit to the Cluster! Now wake up you brat! Agh!" She slapped her more aggressively-Why won't you wake up?!

A large crash shot through the back wall catching Vexus's attention. She quickly turned around and faced two figures standing before her amongst the new debris from the broken wall- a human and a giant robot. She pointed at the figures and recognized one of them, "Ah, one of XJ9's little pets, and…"

"The Silver Shell, you evil bug!" The gray robot bellowed in a heroic stance, "And we demand you to let go of XJ9 immediately!"

Vexus cackled, placed a hand on Jenny's forehead, and rubbed it, "I'm afraid I can't do that… she's a little tied up at the moment." She shrugged, "I wouldn't bother staying around, she isn't awake for some reason so it's not like she can hear you!"

Brad leaned towards the Silver Shell and whispered discreetly, "How much longer will it last?" Before Shell could respond, they noticed Jenny started to move and a grunt was heard. Vexus rapidly turned back to Jenny; her optics were glowing white, then she tightened her eyes shut and groaned-slowly she blinked her optics open, her pupils returned.

"Wha…where…where am I?" Jenny's voice croaked out of her throat. She let out a cough and groaned as she observed her surroundings, "Ugh…I think I'm gonna be sick…the room is spinning a little."

"Jenny!!"

Jenny slowly lifted her heavy and dizzy head and tried to make out who was calling her name, she squinted her optics in confusion, "Silver Shell? Brad? What's going on? Where are…" She glanced directly above her at a familiar blurry figure getting her answer.

"Hello darling, nice of you to finally join us!" Vexus cruelly grinned down at Jenny. Jenny blinked, she stared at Vexus as her reawakened mind tried to grasp the difficult situation she was in. Vexus snickered, "Welcome to the Cluster, Jennifer."

Jenny's optics widened and she flinched away as much as she could, becoming more aware. She tried to escape the chains, but she couldn't move-she felt sick and weak. "V…Vexus?! What's-how did I get… What's going on?!" She tried to apply more force to break the chains-instead she was met with a considerable case of vertigo. "Just wait till I escape Vexus! And I'll-I'll ohhh…" She tightened her optics and groaned as she felt lightheaded and as if her stomach was going to explode, no longer willing to move, "What's going on? What did you do to me?"

Vexus shrugged as she towered over Jenny, amused at the situation, "I really wish I could take the credit, Jennifer…but you were already unconscious when I found you and being dragged through the snow by your little friends."

Jenny raised an optic in confusion, she glanced over towards Brad and Silver Shell for a possible explanation. Brad gulped nervously and chuckled, "It's a long story…" He looked towards his feet and rubbed the back of his neck, shifting back and forth on his feet. His mind raced to find what he could possibly say without getting in more trouble with her.

"Brad-MMPH." Jenny started to gag. Her reawakened senses became overwhelmed by her new surroundings-she lurched as far as she could to the side of the table as her optics watered. Without warning, a flow of black projectiles streamed out of Jenny's mouth and splashed onto the floor creating a puddle.

When finished, Jenny coughed and flopped onto her back-optics half open followed by a weak groan, her mouth dribbled with oil. Vexus glared at the puddle that landed in front of her which held a pungent smell, she was about to yell, but a small obscure object that floated on top of the fluid caught her attention. She tilted her head curiously and reached for the thing.

Vexus shook off the vomit from the object and held it up to see what it was. She gazed at the small square metallic object in her hand, "Interesting…maybe this was the reason you were found unconscious, Jennifer…Could be a sedative."

Jenny stared in disbelief and shook her head , "No, I…I don't remember having that…the last thing I had was a can of oil and…and…now I'm here." She confused her mind as she tried to remember anything in between, yet nothing came. Come on, bolt brain, why can't you remember? she sighed in frustration. Her optics caught Brad fidgeting nervously and glared at him, "Brad? Do you know something about this?"

Brad raised up his hands defensively, "I…I can explain…Just let me explain."

Silver Shell stood in front of Brad and shouted, "Enough of your dirty tricks, Vexus!! Release XJ9 at once!" He held up his fists, his armored face filled with determination. Yet inside the metal, Sheldon was shaking in fear and foolishly hoped Vexus wouldn't attempt to attack and fight back or see his fear.

Vexus threw her head back and laughed. She raised her fists as well, "Oh ho, this should be good…show me what you got." She jumped and lunged toward the Silver Shell-her fist made contact with the face and knocked him over.

Jenny looked on in horror helplessly as the two tumbled through the room punching and kicking each other-she watched him take her hits. She knew he wasn't as strong as Vexus and didn't think he would last long. "Silver Shell!!" She cried and once more tried to break out the chains.

"Jenny, I got you-hold on!" Brad called and bolted to her side. He noted her angry, confused and somewhat hurt glare, making his guilt worse. He reached in his pocket, pulled out a pin, and started working on the locks of her chains, "I'm so sorry…It wasn't supposed to go this way…Uh-so Sheldon and I- well mostly I had this plan to do this dumb rescue mission thing and I would come save you…and…" He continued to fidget with the lock, he glanced back at Jenny who appeared furious and impatient, "And…maybe you would have forgiven me…"

"Forgive you?!" She shrieked and her optics narrowed. Her sharp words made Brad wince. "I'm trapped by Vexus on Cluster Prime without access to my powers-and you want me to FORGIVE YOU?!"

"I know! That wasn't going to happen- it wasn't part of the plan, we were gonna take you to an old compound and Vexus was not a part of this… It's stupid-but Jenny please…"

Jenny interrupted, her optics raised, "And the chip…Was that you???" Brad gulped and stared at her, ashamed, he opened his mouth hoping to find an excuse. She leaned closer and in a firm voice asked again, "The chip…was that you?!" Brad opened his mouth again, but was at a loss for words. He glanced at Jenny still glaring at him and nodded in shame. Jenny turned on her back, her optics started to water. Her voice cracked, "Why…Just why?"

Brad sighed, tears now filled his eyes as well with embarrassment, his hands worked with the locks, "To…to sedate you." He whispered softly, his voice cracked through his tears. "And when you woke up, your powers would have been offline for another hour or so…I had Sheldon make it… I'm so sorry Jenny-you're my best friend I never…ever wanted to hurt you!!"

Jenny shook her head and scoffed. Finally Brad picked off the locks and Jenny sat up and folded her arms, processing everything. Her optics sullen and absently stared at the ground as she hunched over. Brad sighed, what more could he say? Words won't help anymore…his hand shakily reached towards her shoulder to somehow comfort her. She caught his hand coming towards her and slapped it away, she shook her head as tears streamed out of her optics and raised a hand dismissively. She whispered harshly, "Don't touch me…Just get away from me…"

Brad watched helplessly as Jenny carefully got back on her feet. He wanted to say something that could somehow miraculously fix it-but what? There's nothing left for him to say…He lost his best friend.

Their attention turned back to the Silver Shell and Vexus. Vexus felt pure fury as another shot was dodged by him, "Pull out your weapons already, if you're robot enough! Fight me, you pathetic whelp!!" She growled as she became impatient with the Shell's inability to fight back.

On the exterior, the Shell seemed confident, however in reality-Sheldon felt the complete opposite. His body was hot and sweaty as his hands clumsily maneuvered the suit to defend himself against her. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest at every blow the suit takes. Faintly he could hear his friends call out to him-well the Silver Shell-as Vexus kept beating on the Shell. He managed to cause some damage to her optics as he punched them, although he was losing.

The alarms went off in the suit, notifying him of the collateral damage he had taken, many of the controls were no longer functioning, leaving the Shell nearly useless. The screen flashed over 75% critical damage-Sheldon panicked and scrambled to think of a solution to fend himself. Before he knew it, her fist busted right through the metal plate that was Silver Shell's chest and appeared directly in front of Sheldon's face. He froze in terror, his skin turned pale as he breathed shakily. He barely noticed Jenny outside helplessly screeching for the Shell and her voice breaking from distress-thinking Vexus had killed him.

Vexus's hand felt around the Shell-confused why there were no wires or gears just an empty space. Sheldon winced when she touched his face and shoulders and her hand instantly jerked away and out of the suit. He held his breath as sweat trickled down his face. The metal chassis that initially hid his identity got ripped away-he was now exposed in full view. Sheldon's fear stricken eyes met Vexus's cracked optics, she snarled and then smirked, "Well, well…what do we have here?" Sheldon tried to back away, not wanting his identity to be revealed-but her cold hands immediately grabbed him by the collar of his shirt ripping him out of the comfort of his broken suit. She held him in the air for Jenny and Brad to see and laughed, "You weren't a robot after all…just a pathetic flesh wearer in a suit-pretending to be one!" She threw him to the ground, his head slammed onto the tiles as he groaned in pain. He whimpered in fear as he rubbed his head and stumbled to get up.

"S…Sheldon?" Sheldon turned to Jenny-stunned with grief. Her optics brimmed with hurt as she came closer. Then, her voice cracked in disbelief, "You… you're the…Silver Shell?"

Sheldon gazed into Jenny's optics, embarrassed and ashamed. She shook her head and narrowed her optics, her voice lowered "You lied…You lied to me!!" She growled with resentment.

Sheldon winced and folded his arms, he could barely look up at her, "I'm…sorry. I didn't mean…"

Jenny scoffed in disgust, "You're sorry?!" Her screeching made Sheldon shrink into himself as she towered over him. Tears streamed down her cheeks, again feeling betrayed, "You… you're the freaking Silver Shell! It was you, this whole-!" She let out a bitter soft chuckle as she advanced even closer, "You made a fool out of me, I had a crush on a literal suit this whole time and you made me look like an idiot!! And you're sorry?! Was…was this some sick joke of yours?! That I'm just some dumb robot you can play with?" She backed Sheldon into a corner, he started to tremble in fear. "And to think… I thought you were different from everyone else…but you're just like them!!!"

Sheldon raised his hands defensively, tears ran down his cheeks, "Jenny, please…I didn't want to hurt you- I love you…" She raised a hand and slapped him straight across the face, causing him to fall back into the wall. His cheek was already red.

"You…are disgusting!" She slapped him again with more force, his head started to pound.

He held up his arms in defense, he could tell a concussion was beginning to form, "Please…Jenny-OW!" He cried as Jenny yanked his arm away from him, tightening her grip around his wrist.

"Don't hide from me, you jerk-you even forced me into sleep mode with a chip and trapped me here!!" She pulled on his arm and tightened her grip. Sheldon winced in pure agony as he felt his wrist break under the pressure and then a loud unsettling pop came from his shoulder. He let out a blood curdling howl as he felt his shoulder disconnect from his socket.

"Jenny, stop it!!!" Cried Brad in horror as he heard Sheldon make the unpleasant sound and watched him attempt to curl in a ball. He sprinted towards them to rescue Sheldon but Vexus captured and wrapped his neck in her arms and cackled, "Why stop the fun…this is entertaining."

Jenny dropped Sheldon's limp and disfigured arm as she picked him up by the collar. Her anger fumed inside her. She couldn't help but think of him possibly behind the suit-mocking and laughing at her. As she would fawn over the Silver Shell, Sheldon probably had the time of his life, how he made her into such a fool! Toying with her feelings! She didn't dare think what he could have done after sedating her. She proceeded to land more punches to his face. "You are a creep! You were never my friend…Just a freak!" She hollered furiously with venom in her voice as Sheldon shuddered in terror and pain-she was unaware of the blood trickling out of his nose, "No wonder why you don't have any friends!! You are a freak! A geeky stalker with no sense of privacy!!" She shrieked and pounded him even harder.

"JENNY, STOP IT! STOP IT-YOU'RE KILLING HIM!!!" Brad's eyes widened as he shrieked in horror as he struggled to escape Vexus's ever tightening grip.

Sheldon felt himself losing consciousness. His ears rang loudly as her arms came in contact with his head, and he could now barely feel his head and ribs getting beaten by her metal arms. He noticed something warm trickling out of his nose and his mouth, but if any of his teeth had come out, he hadn't noticed. His broken arm hung loosely and now numb in the air. He silently begged her to stop but still couldn't help but think…he deserved this agonizing pain.

Jenny continued to scream as she pounded him. She lifted her fist to land another punch until she heard both cackling and hysterical sobbing. She peered over her shoulder to see Brad's horror stricken face in tears as Vexus giggled in delight with Brad in a chokehold. She blinked and gazed back at what she had done to her friend and a mix of guilt and terror washed over her as she saw him limp and broken-her optics widened in fear. What…what have I done? She dropped Sheldon's weak frame onto the floor and shook in horror at her work. She fell onto her knees and shook her head in regret. She glanced at his bloody face and stared down at her hands stained in blood. She stared at her bloody shaking hands and began to silently sob over his barely conscious form. No…This isn't happening…This isn't happening. I didn't just hurt Sheldon…I didn't- No, please, no! She silently begged for this to be some harsh nightmare, but no matter how hard she tried, the cruel reality glared back at her.

"Aww, pity you stopped-I was hoping for more." Grumbled Vexus as she released Brad and casted him onto the floor. Brad fell on the floor with a groan and quickly ran to Sheldon and pushed Jenny aside. "Sheldon! Hey Shel, it's me! Can you hear me?!" He touched Sheldon's shoulder which caused him to weakly groan in response.

Jenny winced as she watched him be in indescribable amounts of pain. She stammered as her mind struggled to process everything-desperate to fix the problem, "Sheldon… I'm so sorry…I didn't mean to go this far, I was just mad-I'm sorry…I-I can fix this…please let me fix this!!" She reached out to hold him and maybe manage to comfort him- only for her hands to be shoved away from Brad, his face filled with fear and frustration.

His voice quivered as he stared at her, "Don't touch him!" His reaction made her recoil in overwhelming guilt. She didn't mean to, it was an accident-she was just angry and hurt. No matter how much she tried to justify herself, she couldn't.

Jenny glanced over and noticed Vexus grinning over her, Vexus placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm proud of you today Jennifer. Breaking the First Law of Robotics-never harm a human. Heh-quite a thrill isn't it? And how beautiful that it was this so-called human-one of your flesh pets."

Jenny felt her metallic heart sink at Vexus's words-she broke one of the crucial laws. She opened her mouth to retort, yet no words came…how could she justify that? Instead, Vexus leaned closer and cooed as she patted Jenny's head, "Although I was hoping you would have kept going. It doesn't matter-someday, you will be like me-maybe even better."

"NO!" Jenny bellowed as she shoved Vexus away and stood up, glaring at her. "I'll never be like you! I protect people and I would never ever hurt them! I'm a hero, not a monster like you! I am not a monster!"

Vexus folded her arms and smirked a knowing smile, her optics gestured to the broken Sheldon being consoled by Brad. Jenny felt her cooling systems go in overdrive, her artificial breathing became faster. She shook her head and kept her composure, the agonizing guilt stung as her optics got watery. She tried to hide it but felt weak as Vexus stood in front of her. Her voice shook as she spoke, "That…that was an accident…I-I… I'm not a monster! I'm not-"She choked through her words as Vexus stood amused at Jenny's breakdown. Jenny groaned and shouted, having heard enough. She took an artificial breath and managed to slowly activate her Stun Grenade Gun, she shot Vexus to the ground stunning her, "I'm not like you! Now leave me alone!!"

As Vexus fell to the floor convulsing and turned dormant, Jenny knew they all needed to leave. She glanced back at Sheldon still being comforted by Brad. "Sheldon, we're going to get you help, okay?"

Sheldon opened his mouth, his words barely audible as he forced himself to speak as he wheezed, "Ho…Hospital." His head dropped to the floor as he lost consciousness. The sight was unbearable for Jenny to watch.

As the two silently trudged to the portal back to earth-Brad held Sheldon in his arms as Jenny gazed at Sheldon's swollen and bloody face with his broken arm dangling on the side. She noted how his broken ribs caused his staggered breathing, tears welled in her optics. I'm not a monster, I help people, I don't hurt them…this was just an accident, right? I would never intentionally hurt someone- especially if that person is a friend. I am not a monster. The image of her fight with Sheldon burned in her mind. Yes she's hurt and mad at him, but she knew she went too far. The guilt ate at her conscience. R-Right?

As they stepped onto the portal and started to get taken back to Tremerton, a horrifying thought occurred to Jenny as she gazed at his broken body and at the deactivated Shell in her own arms-they couldn't leave it in the hands of Vexus.

Mom's gonna dismantle me…

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Authors note: So it begins…Thanks for reading the new chap, I hope you like it and please leave a comment! Again I'd love to hear what you think!