It was getting late, sun couldn't be seen due to typical winter cloudiness. But the snow reflected all the lights around, making surroundings fairly visible. She-Cycle zipped through the tunnel over the highway. In the dull glow of road lights it looked like a mere pink streak running across the asphalt road. Another tire mark was left in the snow. The heroine wasn't feeling any winter cold despite her suit having no visual changes.
Guy carefully watched the road while checking on the visualized map time to time. He was getting closer to the place. Soon he stopped the She-cycle and got off, also putting off the helmet. He was right near the entrance at the huge corn field. The wooden arch marked the spot, with the tablet on it saying "Summerhill Farm Cornfield".
"At the place" Guy said, activating the communication device. "Are you sure it's there? No signs of anyone simply being up at this time, not to mention anything louder..."
"And despite that, we ARE sure it is there!" Kelly grumbled from the comms. "Sheila picked up a SOS signal from here, so stop questioning and go check the sitch".
"Alright, sorry that I am asking the same question, like, thirty times already..." Guy muttered, entering the field. "I told I just have a bad feeling about it... Like my intuition telling me not to go there..."
"Don't worry, Zowie" heroine heard a chuckle from the earpiece. "If mother nature unleashes its rage on you through that cornfield, me and Maz will take care of arranging the best funeral ever, trust me..."
"With popcorn of course" Maz added, making Kelly snicker.
"Nice to hear how you two are getting closer and closer, peeps" SheZow sarcastically responded. "Okay, I am in. Suspiciously quiet in here... I'll contact if I see anything, now must stay in silence. SheZow out..."
The communication ended, and SheZow kept passing through the maze of corn in total silence. Well, it would be a "maze" if the corn was fully grown - but now, in winter, it was simply remains. No sound could be heard except winter wind and crops rustling. The heroine was looking around, wishing to see the one who sent the signal. But nobody was around. Meanwhile, she got deeper and deeper into the field. The road lights were farther and farther away, and evening slowly became night. Darkness was getting thicker.
It all gave Guy goosebumps. The total silence and darkness in the empty winter field were pretty creepy... Just to make things worse, the She-Sense suddenly awoken, tingling as if the danger was creeping...
A rustle came loudly from behind. Guy turned around and prepared to fight... But saw nobody.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Guy said, but no answer came. The low-lying dry corn faintly rustled in the wind. Guy slowly walked further.
"What the hell..." he thought. "Like in some horror movie I swear..."
Suddenly, another rustle sounded. Guy turned to the sound, taking out the Laser Lipstick and activating it. But again, nobody was seen.
"This is not funny anymore..." he murmured, walking backwards. "Whoever is doing this to me definitely has broken sense of humor..."
Suddenly, Guy felt like he touched something. He froze for a second... And then he jumped away with a shout and thrust his weapon forth. But the pink laser shone over the thing Guy touched, and the boy let out a breath of relieve - it was merely a scarecrow.
"My Goodness..." he said, rubbing his face. "This creepy field is affecting me badly..." however, he then looked around once more, since the She-Sense hasn't stopped tingling, and more - it did much stronger.
"Who is there?!" he said louder, holding the laser blade ready, but no answer came. Instead, the rustling continued. Loud, like something specifically crawled in the corn, but as soon as heroine turned there, it vanished from sight, being behind now. Guy spun like crazy, breathing heavily, as his She-Sense went wild.
"Who are you?!" Guy screamed while turning around once more. Suddenly...
The silence began again. She-Sense hasn't calmed down, but Guy gave no care of it - he just slowly took a look around once more. His heart was beating very fast...
Suddenly, an unknown force gripped his legs. He looked down to see how a slimy mass covers his body very fast. He tried to strike, but it gripped on his arms so hard that he dropped the Lipstick. Guy wanted to scream, but it came to the mouth too and shut it. It covered his face tightly, concealing any ability to breathe. Struggling, Guy felt how his whole body goes numb and his senses going off. He passed out soon.
Just as soon as SheZow lost consciousness, the mass crawled to the side, dragging its victim away...
Kelly was at school. She saw her brother neither back from the mission at night nor present in the morning. All that was found was a note for parents that he left earlier than usual and that they shouldn't worry. At the same time, when both parents and Kelly tried calling him, his phone was like off. That made all of them worry. At the moment, female Hamdon twin managed items in her locker, taking out the math, science and physics books and some notebooks. But this she did almost automatically, because her mind was somewhere not here, swarmed by worries. Suddenly, she felt like somebody touches her shoulder. She almost jumped in place out of surprise and looked to see who's that. It was just Maz.
"Oops, sorry, hun..." he said awkwardly. "I didn't want to scare you or something..."
"Oh... Don't worry, Maz" she said. "I'm just... Worried, you know..."
"Guy still absent? That's really not good" the boy said, looking away. "It's certainly not like him. I really hope he's okay..."
"Me too..." Kelly muttered. "It was just a joke last night, I didn't mean anything like that for real..." she bit her fingers, that was clearly showing how nervous she is. Maz approached her, took her hands away from her mouth and gave a slight hug.
"I promise, we'll find everything out, Kel. We always have done, so..." he smiled faintly. "This time must be no different".
"I hope so, Maz..." Kelly smiled back. Since the ball night and Maz's confession, they began dating, and she felt especially warm at such moments. Maz got much braver and didn't hesitate to show his affection. And at the moment like this, it was necessary...
Suddenly, Kelly perked up - she noticed a familiar blue hoodie among the other students. Soon, she saw...
"Guy!" she exclaimed, and Maz took a notice too. Guy approached the locker right near them - his locker was close to his sister's one. The boy haven't even noticed them, approaching the door as if nothing happened.
"Dude, what the heck!" Maz exclaimed, approaching his friend. That made Guy finally pay attention to them.
"Oh, you're here" he said carelessly. "Sorry, didn't notice you at first. Something is wrong, guys?"
"Something IS wrong, Guy! With you!" Kelly added, being very angry. "You haven't answered calls! And we haven't seen you since yesterday! None of us could locate you! We were worried sick! And now you're here and acting like nothing happened! That is what is wrong!" girl's anger seemingly made Guy uncomfortable since he flinched backwards, away from sister.
"Whoah, Kel... Chill..." he said. "I'm sorry, okay? I admit I did... Not the best. But hey, I am okay now, and that's what matters, right?"
"Well... Yeah..." Kelly sighed, still not fully calm.
"But still, what happened, man?" Maz asked, putting hands on Kelly's shoulder to hold her down. "Where were you? And why haven't called us back to at least let us know you're okay?"
"Oh, well..." Guy looked away artistically. "I had business... After the mission. Surprisingly, I found nothing there, not even the possible source of the SOS signal. And I came home when everybody was already asleep. And I decided to get to school earlier than usual, that's why you haven't seen me in the morning. I told that in the note, haven't you seen?"
"That's not like you, Guy..." Maz said. "That's suspicious..."
"Okay, now let's do it our way!" Kelly shook Maz's hands off herself and approached Guy very closely, making him press against the locker. "The password".
"What?" Guy wondered, obviously confused.
"Yourself suggested it" Kelly said with a smirk.
"Yeah, dude" Maz added. "The password to check if it's really you. You made it up for the cases like..." Maz leaned closer. "SheZap" he whispered, so nobody could hear them.
"Alright, so..." Kelly looked Guy closely in the eyes. "You may wear pink skirt and make-up on your face..." both the girl and the tall boy drilled Guy with their gazes. He stopped pressing against the locker, fixed his hoodie, cleared his throat and continued the phrase - that was the password scheme.
"But deep inside I remain my true self... A dude" the last word Guy said in a mockingly low voice. "Now you're happy?"
"Pretty much" Kelly said.
"Thanks" Guy said. "Now excuse me, I gotta go, the class begins soon" he walked away. Kelly followed him with her gaze, kinda annoyed by his carelessness. Maz was also very confused.
"Okay, I think we also must go to the classroom" Maz said.
"Yeah, let's go..." Kelly said, still gazing on her brother getting farther and farther away from them. But suddenly...
Guy stopped and turned around. He seemingly didn't see that Kelly also sees him. She noticed how he smiled sinisterly. His eyes for a brief moment changed their color from brown to green. Kelly gasped in horror. A student walked right in front of her, concealing her view. As soon as she gazed back at the place where Guy was a moment ago... It was empty.
"Kelly? You okay?" Maz asked, snapping Kelly back into reality. She quickly pulled him to herself, so he had to hunch a little.
"This is not Guy" she whispered.
"What?" Maz wondered.
"I am telling you, it's not him!" Kelly continued. "This strange behavior... Guy may be jerky towards me, but this is over the edge even for him. And I saw how sinisterly he looks at us when he went far enough from us. His eyes turned green too, and we have no known green-eyed relatives!"
"I see..." Maz said. "It can be SheZap, can't it?"
"Possible" Kelly nodded. "But the password... SheZap couldn't know it, only us three know it. So we may have some other shape-shifter here... Or..."
"Okay, here's what we do" Maz placed hands on Kelly's shoulders again. "We can't do any accusations without info. I suggest that we watch this faker closely. And then... He must slip at something, make a mistake that clearly tells that it's not Guy. This is when we catch him. Okay?"
"Okay" Kelly gave her boyfriend a thumb up. "Let's go now, we must not be late..."
The bell rang, announcing the beginning of the lesson time.
The lesson began. It was math. Kelly really liked math, and Maz, on the other hand, did not. However, seeing his girlfriend being so enthusiastic boosted his own confidence and will to study. But this time Kelly was not glowing with enthusiasm - she kept her eyes on her brother, who was not paying attention, acting like usual. The teacher - it was their homeroom teacher, Mr. Merzanovich, - looked over the class.
"Alright, everybody here" he said, adjusting glasses. "Let's not take it long then. Miss Hamdon!" he called Kelly, which made her snap back to reality once more. "Would you remind us where we left off?"
"Yes, Mr. Merzanovich" she answered and flipped through her math book, stopping at the page with stickers on it marking the needed spot. "Page 32, Task 10" she read out loud. The teacher nodded in approval.
"Alright, students, now please open your books at the page miss Hamdon mentioned, and then we all may begin-" he could not finish since the lights suddenly went off. The classroom got immediately deem and dark. Only the dull light of winter sunrise made the interior at least somehow visible. The students began to murmur. The teacher was just as confused as everybody else.
"A blackout?" he then took a look over the classroom. "Alright, kids, stay calm! It's likely just a simple problem with electricity. Stay here and don't panic, I'm going to check on our electricians and hurry them to turn on the backup generators!" he then headed to the door, muttering to himself. "I remember how we had a blackout last year, it took a whole lesson for these slugs to finally turn on the power..." as he approached the door, Kelly took a quick look over the class herself... And gasped in horror - Guy was nowhere to be found again.
Mr. Merzanovich opened the door and took a step in the corridor. And at that very moment he screamed - something clutched on his leg and dragged in the darkness, making him fall and lose his glasses.
"Mr. Merzanovich!" somebody in the class shouted as everybody perked up on their seats in panic.
"Just like in horror movies..." Maz murmured.
"I thought we will have good last days of school before Christmas break! Now we're doomed!" Jack whined.
"Don't panic!" Kelly grumbled at him. "We must stay calm..." but in fact, she was just as horrified as all the others.
Suddenly, the teacher appeared in the doorframe again, as if somebody threw him there. Groaning, he got up, holding onto the door frame.
"Mr. Merzanovich, are you okay?" Alex approached the teacher, reaching out his hand. Suddenly, the teacher grabbed his hand tightly. He raised his face - it was paler than usual, and his eyes glowed green. Alex screamed in horror as Mr. Merzanovich let go off the door frame and grabbed his face. Greenish mass spread over his face, and soon the teacher let go off him. Alex moaned and turned around - his eyes were also glowing now.
"I told you we're doomed!" Jack screamed, and the class gave in to panic. Everybody began running around, trying to avoid being caught by possessed teacher and Alex, both now acting like zombies, and trying to get out, but as soon as any of them came to the door, they were dragged in darkness and threw back into class zombified. Students that didn't get to the door were either caught soon or simply clash and thus get caught with ease.
Jack tried to escape, but got stopped by Alex. Blonde kid groaned angrily.
"Lex, it's me, your pal Jack! You let me escape, don't you?" Jack scaredly said only to be grabbed by two zombified students that came from behind and thrown at the desk. It got dropped at its side, while Jack moaned out of pain. Zombified students, including Alex, ambushed him. Judging by his own voice, he got afflicted as well.
"Oh my Goodness..." Kelly spoke to herself, breathing heavily out of stress. "There must be a way to escape. Where's Guy when he's needed the most..." at that moment she got grabbed by Dianne. "Help!"
"Coming, Kel!" Maz's voice sounded. A figure jolted from under the desk like a laser beam and pushed the zombified student away from Kelly. The girl observed her savior - it was Maz in a yet another heroic outfit. He already was dressed not as usual today - instead of his yellow and gray warm shirt he wore black sweater over the white formal shirt. But now it was complemented by a blueish cape and a black facemask.
"Now you're safe, young lady" he said in a fake macho voice. Kelly chuckled.
"Seriously, you find time to joke even during that chaos..." she rubbed her face. "Okay, who are you this time?"
"It's no rocket science this time, dear" Maz smiled. "Everything is... Simple. I am Simple-Man!"
"Great" Kelly gave him a sarcastic thumb up. "Alright, now... Let's get out of here!"
Both jolted through the zombified students to the entrance. As soon as they stepped out, they noticed slimy tentacles reaching for them. They dodged and ran as fast as they could. As Kelly took a look behind while running, she saw an obscure humanoid creature made of green slime. It had stubby feet and almost fingerless hands, and its body and head were one, with glowing green eyes and a big hole for mouth. It let out a hissing, gurgling sound, seemingly not happy. Zombified people walked out, ready to chase.
"Outta school, fast" Kelly said, and Maz nodded. Both ran to the staircase, down to the first floor, and to the entrance, going past the coatroom and the guard's counter.
As soon as they got out on the street, they saw people wandering around. Zombified people caught the normal ones and quickly possessed them.
"This is bad" Maz gulped.
"We should get home and think on a plan very quick!" Kelly said. "If there's no hero around, we're having a fight of our own!" both continued their way. While on the run, both just magically avoided being caught. At the same time, green slime blobs were emerging from the houses, gurgling angrily. Tentacles on their backs oozed. But these creatures were not exiting the buildings...
"Dad!" Kelly yelled as she saw the police car with her father standing nearby. Hamdon-Sr. noticed his daughter quickly.
"Kelly?! What's happening? Why are you running? You're supposed to be at school!"
"No time to explain, dad!" Hamdon daughter screamed. "Run home before they caught you!"
"Who 'they'?! What are you-" at that moment he noticed the huge crowd of zombie-like people flooding the street.
"What the heck?!" Boxter screamed and prepared to fight, but same zombified people ambushed him from behind.
"No, dad!" Kelly screamed, but it was too late. She and Maz ran past the place. Kelly looked back to see her dad now being among the afflicted.
Soon both reached Hamdon's place. They entered the house and slammed the door tightly. Kelly turned the lock two times. Both kids were panting from the long run.
"Alright, it must be rather safe here..." Kelly said. Both then proceeded deeper into the house. The lights were off mostly. Both kids were walking slowly, trying not to make any noise. While Kelly passed the living room, she noticed that the door's open. Her mom's silhouette could be seen there, sitting in her armchair and seemingly knitting.
"Mom?" Kelly called, and Droosha's figure moved, like she turned to her daughter's voice. "Oh thank Goodness... You're not caught yet..." Maz stopped, watching Kelly approaching her mother, and suddenly he heard the faint gurgling. He slowly turned around to see how something is moving at the wall in the hall, right on the way to the basement.
"Kelly..." Maz said, getting scared. "We're in trouble".
"Huh?" Kelly stopped and turned to Maz.
"The thing is here!" he shouted, and at that moment Droosha got up and aggressively pushed her chair to the side, which Maz noticed. "Kelly, watch out!"
The girl turned to her mother to see her glowing eyes in the darkness and a little flash in the knitting needles she held. Droosha with an angry moan threw one of them right at the kids. Both ducked and it stuck in the wall. Droosha began walking to them, moaning and reaching out for them, holding the remaining needle ready.
"To the She-Lair now!" Kelly screamed and both rushed to the basement. However, right before the door, their way was blocked by the slime blob. It gurgled like a beast, getting ready to catch them. They slowly retreated back, but Droosha also was there. They were surrounded.
"Oh no..." Kelly murmured in fear.
"Wait... I got an idea!" Maz said and whispered something to Kelly. She nodded. Both seemed to prepare for something.
Droosha walked faster, getting closer to them. She prepared to capture the kids.
"Now!" Maz said, and both him and Kelly crouched on the floor. Droosha couldn't react in time and slow down, so she stumbled over them and fell right at the blob. It gurgled and churned, seemingly unhappy by the fact that one of its zombies hit it. Kelly and Maz got up and entered the basement.
"Alright... Where's the lair door?" the boy asked. Kelly began to search the walls.
"The panel must be somewhere here..." she responded nervously. "Give me a second, I'll find it soon!"
Maz gulped and looked back at the blob and Droosha. The slimy beast already turned around and steadily walked in their direction. Droosha was partially sticking out of it, unable to free herself fully.
"Kelly!" Maz said stressedly.
"Just a moment please!" she could only respond. Maz snugged to the wall, seeing how the monster oozed through the doorframe and now approaching him.
"Maz, the pipes!" Kelly screamed.
"What?" the boy wondered.
"I noticed that these slimes don't go outside!" the girl replied. "I think they don't like cold! Try breaking the pipe on the wall - it's a conditioning system, pumping the cold air out! So if it's exposed to the cold air-"
"I got it, Kel!" Maz exclaimed, and then he picked up the wrench. He stuck it onto the plastic pipe running across the wall and pressed as hard as he can. The beast came very close, and its and Droosha's voices combined in a single beastly cry...
At that moment, the pipe broke. Maz fell from such an impact while the pipe bent and blew the cold air right at the slime. It let out a shriek, shutting its eyes and flinching backwards from the source of the discomfort. Maz could have sworn that he saw how slimy parts exposed to the blowing turned solid and fell off, as if they froze.
Kelly finally felt the panel with her hand. She pressed on it in a certain way and the door to the She-Lair shined on the wall.
"Maz, here!" she yelled. The boy got up and ran to her. He stopped for a brief moment before the door to see how the beast, now with Droosha falling out of it, turned to them and prepared its arm to something. It reached it out to them, and it elongated, ready to capture the kids. Kelly pulled Maz in and the door shut. Kids could hear how the slime churned against it.
Both were breathing heavily out of all the stress they felt in past time. Kelly held tight onto Maz's forearms, and he just couldn't avert his eyes from her. Both then hugged tightly.
"We did it..." Maz mumbled, holding Kelly tightly.
"Yeah, we did it..." Kelly responded, snuggling to the boy. She could sense how fast his heart is beating.
"I love you" he suddenly said. In such a moment, he couldn't think of anything better to say.
"I love you too" the girl said, perfectly understanding the boy's emotions at the moment - she had exactly the same. "Alright... Let's go on..."
Both entered the main area of the lair. Everything was just as usual, except that no She-Cycle was present. Instead, there was Maz's e-bicycle he left here since last time. The pair of pink lips quickly appeared in a flash on the huge screen as soon as they approached.
"Welcome, kids. Kelly, Maz, nice to see you alright" she spoke, and Kelly quickly caught the serious tone. "I see and read everything that's happening in the city. That's horrific..."
"Yeah, it is" Kelly said. "And what's the worst is that our heroine is nowhere to be found in such a chaos! Where is he slacking off?!" Maz could sense how angry she is.
"You saw Guy?" Sheila wondered.
"Well yes!" Kelly answered. "You didn't read it when we were at school?"
"That's the strangest, my girl" Sheila responded. "I don't see Guy anywhere - neither at school, nor at any other part of the city. I lost his signal since yesterday..."
"Wait, really?" Kelly cooled off, getting rather worried. "So the one we saw is definitely not Guy! Our Guy is still there... Where he went yesterday, remind us?" at that very moment, the screen of Sheila went weird for a second. "Ah? Sheila, are you okay?"
"Oh, don't worry, Kelly..." Sheila said, her voice being kinda weak. "Just having weird signals popping up in my sensors, they make me a little dizzy... I was saying that I can't detect Guy since that time he left for Summerhill Farm, the big farming complex next to Megadale..." and suddenly, Sheila groaned like something caused her pain. Her screen went awry, turning static and glitching. Maz grabbed Kelly's hand.
"The plan is like before... RUN!" he yelled, and both jolted from their places. Maz hopped onto his bike and fastened his helmet on his head. Kelly got on too, sitting behind. Maz gave her the helmet.
"Safety first" he said with a nervous smile, to which Kelly didn't even respond. As soon as she put the helmet on and hugged Maz tightly, the boy rode off the place right to the tunnel. He could hear the emergency system going off loudly and the entrance slowly closing. He pushed the pedals, despite that it was an e-bike and was moving thanks to the electrical engine. The kids exited the tunnel and rode away just few moments before the tunnel shut. As they continued to ride, they sighed in relief.
"Gladly, we're now far from the problem..." Maz said.
"But we have another one we got to deal with" Kelly responded. "If even Sheila is affected somehow, we have no other option left... We have to find Guy".
"Yeah, but... Where to search?"
"Well, Sheila said it's 'Summerhill Farm'. Guess we go there for search..."
"Okay, let's ride" Maz said confidently, but then turned to Kelly again. "Uhm, and where is it? Unlike Guy, I got no GPS in my helmet..."
"I figured" the girl said while taking out her phone and opening the GPS app. "Alright, the way's done. Up on the next turn, take the left" she said, and Maz obeyed.
Meanwhile...
SheZow got up, trying to shake away the nagging ringing in the ears. She felt like her whole body is just a rag stuffed with cotton. She couldn't even recall what happened to her - only that she was at the corn field and something attacked her. And then...
The heroine finally managed to regain full consciousness. She looked around and realized she's neither on the field nor at home - it was a rather small storage room, filled with boxes and barrels. The metal door had a big electric lock on it. No windows were present. Only the dull LED lights dispersed the total darkness.
One thing got SheZow's attention - small piece of paper wrapped around something rectangular lying on the floor. She picked it up and unwrapped - it was a plastic card. The paper itself was a note - it said "Let's play", written in green ink with a few splatters around. Whoever brought her here must have a weird view on playing...
"Alright... I can only move on" she murmured to herself and approached the door. It was shut tightly. SheZow noticed the card reader at the lock and swiped the plastic card at it - the lock clicked and the door opened. At first the heroine thought to just smash the door, but preferred not to - who knows what kind of dangers is waiting her, she shouldn't make unneeded noises...
The heroine ended up in the poorly lit, rather narrow corridor, only few meters before were visible, then it was just blackness. Barrels stood along the walls. SheZow regretted she got no night vision. She also noticed a note on the floor and picked it up. Written in same green ink it said "Watch your step".
"Well, maybe an improvised flashlight would help..." she reached her hand for her Laser Lipstick at the Beautility Belt, but sensed nothing. She quickly looked at herself - her belt was gone. SheZow quickly checked her collar - the Voice Alterer was still on. Her Ribbon Shooters also remained with her, since they were part of her gloves. "Okay, then blind walk..." she said to herself, taking a step forward.
Step after step she progressed. Her eyes got used to the dark, but still very little could be actually seen. The corridor remained empty, with the barrels only. This was rather confusing, and SheZow suspected that there must be a catch here - an ambush, a hidden trap or something... It couldn't be simple walking through the dark hall.
As soon as she thought so, she felt her She-Sense tingling and how she stepped on something. She stopped and reached down to check - turned out it was a thin rope stretched across the path. Looks like there is a trap - and she stepped right into it...
SheZow heard loud banging behind. The heroine turned back to see how thick metal doors were shutting the space, dropping from the ceiling like in some sci-fi villain lair. SheZow dashed forward with her superspeed. The doors were banging behind her, but she managed to keep up and not get trapped. She took a look back while running - the doors were shutting right after she crossed them. Thus, she didn't notice how she clashed with the barrel standing in the middle of the way. She fell on her face, along with the barrel that splashed the stinky liquid around. At this moment she thought it's over now...
But the banging of the doors hasn't sounded anymore. SheZow looked up - the corridor was over. She was in the lit area now. Before her was a simple doorframe with staircase after it. The heroine let out a sigh and crawled to the wall to catch a breath. Plus she had to shake off some nasty liquid from the barrel, and she did so. While adjusting herself she noticed a small hole in the barrel next to her. She took a closer look at it... And suddenly, an eye appeared there. Evil green eye flashed inside. SheZow flinched from that sight, jumpscared, and pushed another barrel. A strange fuss sounded from there, as if something was moving inside. Creeped out, heroine got up and walked away as fast as she could, heading to the staircase.
"Let's pretend I haven't seen it..." she said to herself, trying to calm her nerves.
As she walked up the stairs, she entered another room. Here the lighting was better, but still everything was rather dim. This room was a huge hall, its ceiling being far, far above. The floor also was far below, but the space was filled with huge canisters, like those on steelworks, filled with unknown nasty liquid - by the stench SheZow concluded it's the same stuff as in those barrels in the corridor she left behind. The heroine herself stood above these canisters, at the tight balcony. The other balcony was at the opposite side of the hall. Both were connected by nothing but a metal bridge with no railing, held by steel ropes.
"Oh great..." SheZow rubbed her head. "First blind walk... And now tightrope walk! When I find the one who set this..." SheZow adjusted herself and stepped on the bridge.
It wobbled - seemingly, it was not actually connected to the balcony, merely hanging between the two. SheZow took a deep breath - she must stay concentrated and keep the balance. Just touching the liquid from the small barrel felt nasty enough - she definitely didn't want to drown in it. So the heroine walked slowly, arms spread to sides to maintain the balance.
As the heroine walked, she noticed another note. She stopped near it and carefully crouched. The bridge wobbled strongly, but SheZow managed to hold tightly to not fall. She picked the note up and read it: "Like in a circus, right? Try not to fall". After the words the emoticon was drawn - the winking face. SheZow let out an annoyed sound looking at this message.
"That's not funny..." she grumbled, and suddenly heard the strange sound. She looked back, and her eyes got wide from shock - the steel ropes on the end of the bridge popped. Other ropes were about to do so as well. SheZow tried to run - as much as it was possible on the wobbly metal bridge with no railing. But the steel ropes popped on the other end as well. Heroine felt how bridge got more and more unstable. She prepared, ready to use all her superstrength and jump, but...
Right at the moment she was about to perform a jump, the last rope popped and the bridge fell. SheZow quickly followed it. She saw how it hits the nasty liquid with the loud splash...
But the heroine quickly understood what to do. She shot her ribbon at the balcony and pulled herself upper. She couldn't get right there, but at least she kept herself up. She was at the wall. The heroine looked up to check if all is safe and then climbed up by her ribbon. As she reached the balcony, she crawled onto it and slowly proceeded, breathing heavily...
After the balcony was yet another big room, now with walls of a strange shape all over it, not reaching the ceiling. SheZow could understand it's a labyrinth.
"I hope no Minotaur is waiting for me in its middle..." the heroine said and went forward, taking turns randomly. She couldn't see any signs if she's on the right way, but her mind was so clouded in questions and plain exhaustion that she just went on - her only clear thought was not to stop...
She noticed how the space got bigger and perked up, thinking that she reached the end - but turns out it was just a big space, from which many ways led back in the labyrinth - looks like she reached the middle.
"Well, no Minotaur, and that's good..." the heroine mumbled, and then noticed another note on the floor. She picked it up. It said "Good luck escaping". Other emoticons were drawn by the words - two eyes looking aside and the running stickman.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" SheZow wondered, dropping the note. She then heard sounds that gave her chills - slurping and gurgling steps. She realized that she's not alone here.
"This is worse than Minotaur..." she muttered. Soon she saw how rather big, blobby creatures made of slime appeared from each way and slowly approached her. She had no weapon to fight back...
However, she did not aim for retreating either. Cornered animal is the most dangerous, it acts unpredictably.
Heroine jolted from the place, running circles around the space. The slimes tried to grab her with their hands, but she was too fast. She kept running and running, making her circles bigger and smaller randomly. Slimes slowly got close to each other, as their attempts to get her resulted in them walking to the center of the room.
SheZow suddenly jumped at the wall and pushed off it at full force. Her superspeed running was needed to store the impulse, and when she jumped at the wall, adding super strong push, her kinetic energy crushed the possible limit, and she turned into a comet, bouncing from the walls and ripping out the pieces of slime creatures with her own body. Soon they all were down, heavily withered, and the heroine used her last impact to jump up. She managed to get above the labyrinth walls. There she saw everything she needed - where is the exit and what's the way there. She landed on one of the walls - well, slightly aside, but she managed to grab it. From that point she also noticed that there're more slimes on the path.
"Maybe if I..." she thought and tried to climb fully at the wall, but it was all covered in slimey substance, making it very hard to hold onto it. SheZow tried her best, but eventually slipped off the wall and fell.
"Okay..." she muttered. "I had a blind walk, a tightrope walk... And now it's obstacle run. Let's keep this game..." she got up. Then she noticed that the slimes she had beaten are slowly rearranging and dashed away - to the path she needed.
There she ran at superspeed, prepared for anything. The slimes she met on her way couldn't catch her. She was dedicated to one goal - the exit. She knew where it is. The slimes could only turn after her and chase.
Soon the exit was there. SheZow stopped near - it was another empty doorframe with a staircase after it. SheZow was panting - she had enough running for a day and needed to catch her breath. Suddenly, she heard slimes crawling from the labyrinth.
"Give me a break..." she whined. Suddenly, she noticed the same electric lock as the one on the door of the room she woke up in. She took out the card from there - she kept it for any case. She stepped behind the doorframe and swiped the card at the lock. The steel door shut right before the slimes.
"Ha! Pink hero - one, ugly greenies - zero!" she made a victorious gesture and then took a careful look around. She was at the simple staircase, leading to the up. Heroine steadily walked there.
She ended up in the simple, poorly lit corridor, but this time filled with doors. They, however, had different numbers on them, not like the one on SheZow's card, so it was obvious she won't open them. Under her feet was something with a note stuck to it. Ready for more creepy messages, she picked it up.
"You'll need this for the final round..." SheZow read. "What the..." she took a closer look at what this note was stick to. "No way! Finally!"
It was her Beautility Belt. SheZow quickly put it on and began checking it. It wasn't damaged in any way, but it was empty - no Cream, no Powder and no Brushes. Only Laser Lipstick was still at place.
"Oh well... Better this than nothing" SheZow said to herself. Suddenly, she heard screams in the far. "What the... Gotta check it out!" she ran to the sound, looking back to check if she's chased time to time. The loud steps sounded along the screams, somebody was running in her direction. SheZow saw silhouettes around the corner. She kept running and looked back once again. Suddenly she clashed with someone. Both fell on their butts.
"Ouch!" the familiar voice sounded. "Watch where you..." the voice stopped mid-phrase. And there was a reason for it. SheZow, stopping rubbing her head from the hit, looked at the one she clashed with in shock.
TO BE CONTINUED...