Guy and Co were on their way to the museum.
"When I said it would be nice to come early, I didn't mean that, Kelly!" Guy whined. He had to get up along with his sister, who was used to getting up early in the morning and quickly getting to the business after breakfast. Guy didn't like getting up early, so that he had to do it this day made him irritated. The only good thing was that he was able to allow himself the little weekend treat in form of pancakes and fruits for breakfast.
"Stop grumbling, Guy!" Kelly responded. "You were the one to suggest going to the museum and look for Broujah's gem. It's too late to turn back."
"Look at the bright side, dude!" Maz tried to cheer his friend up. "I heard that today in the museum will be the exhibition of recent discoveries. They say, there will be the real time machine..." when guy heard about time machine, he perked up.
"Time machine sounds cool" he thought. "I could easily go back in time and see..." his thoughts unexpectedly went in the sad direction. "See what happened with aunt Agnes... What was she like..." Maz noticed the quick mood swings on his friend's face.
"Dude? Are you okay?" he asked, getting closer to Guy.
"Oh? Ah, yeah, I'm alright..." Guy blurted out awkwardly.
"Boys, let's focus!" Kelly said as they approached the building. "Oh my Goodness, am I the only one who really take this task seriously..." she muttered, taking a few papers out of the pocket on her jacket. "Here I made up a plan, how we should make our search..." as soon as she did it, the wind blew, and some of them flew out of her hands. Awkwardly, but quickly, she began running, chasing them.
"I'll help you, Kel!" Maz rushed from his place, also catching Kelly's papers. When there remained only one, they caught it at the same time. Kelly's gaze froze as it met the look of Maz's eyes. Both kids slightly blushed.
"Thanks, Maz..." Kelly finally said after a short silence.
"Yeah, you're welcome..." Maz replied.
"Pf- Lovebirds..." Guy thought. As his sister and best friend kept walking, he slowly followed, taken over by thoughts again.
Soon they got inside the building. As Kelly began explaining her plan, and Maz was listening, Guy was completely bored. He decided to look around for anything. His attention got caught by the nearest exhibit. It looked like a weird metal sculpture of a vehicle with wheels, small cabin, like one of a helicopter, obviously non-working "wings" of a plane and a giant circular lattice frame on the backside, with a propeller inside.
He got closer to it to take a look. He read the table nearby.
"So this is the time machine... Looks rather weird..." he spoke to himself, not noticing he did it out loud.
"Yeah, it's worth the place in the abstract art gallery..." said the curator passing by. "They say it's an actual time machine, but I don't really believe..." curator was a fairly aged woman with snow-white hair.
"Wait, what did you just say?" Guy asked, kinda surprised by this statement.
"These inventors that gave us this machine told me this machine was supposed to actually do its job, but somehow it doesn't work." curator explained to Guy. "But I'm pretty sure that they just made a weird model, and told that it's an actual time machine only to bring kids attention." she sighed. "Kids nowadays rarely go to the museum, at least this way they'll bring their attention here..." as she walked away, Guy kept staring at the machine. If this is an actual time machine, the one that is supposed to work... It's awesome!
He felt a warmth spreading inside him and a desire to take a look in the cabin. He couldn't see it, but his ring was glowing pink, like that time with Broujah's relic...
After minutes, Kelly noticed that Guy wasn't near them.
"Oh that brother of mine..." she muttered. "We gotta find him, he missed all the plan." she said, steadily walking through the museum's hall. "Hey, Maz... What do you think of the plan?" she asked, looking at Maz shyly.
"I think it's a very clever plan, Kelly. You have a talent for it." Maz replied with the smile. Kelly blushed in response.
Soon, they noticed Guy near the time machine.
"Oh, there he is..." Kelly grumbled.
"Guy! What are you doing there?!" Maz asked, but Guy haven't responded.
"I know what to do..." Kelly said. "Hey, little bro!" she said out loud, but again, no response. This made Kelly worried - she knew her brother too good, and he always hated being called "little brother", his reaction never took too long after that.
"What's wrong with him?" Maz wondered.
"This is something I've never witnessed about him before..." Kelly responded worriedly. "This is not like him."
Meanwhile, Guy was moving pieces inside the control panel of the machine, sitting inside the cabin. His eyes were focused there, and he seemingly haven't noticed anything around him.
"Guy, this is not funny!" Kelly raised her voice. "What are you doing?!"
"Dude, if anyone notices you here, we're gonna get kicked out of here before we find anything!" Maz added.
"Quartz matrix connection stabilized..." again, not noticing anything and anyone around, Guy was tinkering in the control panel and mumbling something. "Energy reductors connected... Here are the wires... Flow must be steady... Plus and minus here, to the matrix... Chronotones flux going good... That's it!" he shouted as he closed the control panel with a loud bang. The ring stopped glowing and Guy snapped back into reality.
"GUY!" Kelly called him once again, and it made him jump on his place.
"Huh? What happened, Kel?" Guy asked, noticing his sister and best friend standing next to the time machine, looking at him worriedly.
"You should tell us what happened, dolt!" Kelly replied. "You ignored us and kept fussing inside the museum exhibit, that's what happened!"
"I... I remember it." Guy said, touching his head. "But also... It was like someone else invaded my brain and told me what to do - and so I did..."
"Yeah, it was like you're in trance, dude." Maz added.
"Anyways, get out of there now!" Kelly strictly said, seemingly stressed out. "We don't need any problems with the museum's workers..."
"Alright, sis, I'm coming..." Guy said calmly, preparing to jump down from the cabin...
However, as he placed his hand on the panel to help himself get out, he pressed down a few buttons. The machine began to buzz and hum loudly, the propeller on its backside began to rotate, and all the light bulbs in the cabin began to shine blue.
"What's happening now?! What did you do, idiot?!" Kelly exclaimed.
"I don't know! Help!" Guy screamed in response. The machine all got covered in blueish light and sparkles and then...
It vanished, with Guy along.
The museum's curator, as well as the guard, suddenly appeared on the place.
"You two, explain what happened right now!" the curator said angrily, as her face turned red, like her dress was. The guard looked like she was ready to tackle both.
"Um... We..." Kelly murmured, but suddenly, Maz grabbed her arm tightly.
"It wasn't us!" he blurted out and both blasted from their place to the entrance.
Meanwhile, Guy was blinded with blue lights. He felt like he, along with the machine, was dragged through an endless tunnel, flying in zero gravity. He felt like he was about to pass out...
And suddenly, it all just stopped. Machine froze, standing in place, and the feeling of float vanished. The lights were gone too, and Guy saw he's in the hall, similar to the one of the museum.
He began pressing buttons again, but nothing happened. He heard a ding sound and looked at the control panel. The big light was glowing with the writing "Recharge required". Guy jumped out of the machine and kicked it out of anxiety. The machine responded with a dull hum. Guy sighed. It seemed that he's stuck here for a while... Wait a minute. He's stuck here... But where is this "here"?!
He decided to look around. The place he was in was surrounded by plastic sheets, seemingly to separate the construction place from the rest of the building. On these sheets were a lot of dust and some posters, saying: "Megadale's Finest Local Museum Grand Opening! Just a year - and we are here!". Guy moved one of the sheets away and walked through the arch to see the rest of the building. It was the familiar museum, but no lights, and exhibits were covered in canvas. There were not many people around, most of them seemingly were construction workers. Guy noticed the familiar face - the curator woman. But she looked younger, and had no curator's sign - instead, the man she was near with had it. She was just an assistant.
"No way..." Guy whispered in shock. "The machine actually worked! I'm back to the past!" he rushed to the entrance. Of course, people noticed him - and were pretty surprised, as no one was allowed in the closed building except construction workers and museum staff. As Guy passed the entrance, the old gentleman in guard uniform perked up. So did the young woman, who was passing him by.
"Hey! No running in the closed territory!" they both yelled in unison. After that, they looked at each other.
"Impressive..." said the gentleman guard, giving the woman a thumb up.
"Thank you..." she replied, rubbing the back of her head.
"Are you looking for a job?" he asked.
Guy walked through the town, looking around. Everything seemed familiar, but at the same time different. Guy looked at one of the billboards around and saw the date - it was the same day, but three years ago.
"So I'm three years back in time..." Guy thought. "My family is still in Pattersonn and aunt Agnes is alive..." his mind was flooded with darkness. "It has to be my chance to find out what happened to her... Tara mentioned that she saw something, maybe I'll know it too..." his thoughts got interrupted by the police sirens sound from afar. He noticed a few cars dashing through the street. "Looks like there's trouble! And where's trouble..." he said quietly, looking at his ring, and smiled. "There's the hero." he ran as fast as he could after the cars.
He arrived to the place to see that there's a bunch of weird criminals - all wearing armored suits and gas masks, and instead of blasters, they had normal guns. One of them had the flamethrower, with which he kept cops at bay. They had hostages, which didn't make the situation better.
"Stay out, or these people won't live until tomorrow!" the thug with the flamethrower said. "We, Arsonists Squadron, are not letting any law-fools to ruin our plans!"
"Oh shoot..." Guy thought. "There are so many people around... I can't transform. Besides, I'm not local SheZow yet... Where are you, aunt Agnes?" he was frantically looking up and around, trying to find his aunt's trail.
"Let the innocents go!" suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. It was so familiar, it made him tremble.
"Don't tell me it's..." he looked up and saw the familiar greed and yellow blonde figure, which jumped down the roof, kicking down the thug with the flamethrower and prepared her batons. "You can go, but carefully!" she said to the hostages, which got the chance to escape, since all the bandits aimed their guns on the hero, leaving the hostages. "I got this..."
"Thank you, weird lady..." the woman said, causing Tara to grimace.
"I'm not a weird lady!" she exclaimed offendedly. "My name is Tara!" she pointed at the "T" insignia on her suit.
"Who?" one of the thugs said.
"You know, Tara!" she kept hoping that at least somebody recognizes her. "Hero without powers, green wind of vindication, savior of the innocents..." but all hostages, bandits and even cops were simply confused by things she said, and she sighed. "I fight crime along with SheZow..." and right at that moment, a glimpse of realization shined on people's faces.
"Ah! That Tara!" they all said in unison, to which Tara just grumbled in disappointment.
Meanwhile, in the present, Kelly and Maz were in She-Lair. Kelly was typing furiously, trying to get any information out of Sheila's database, but to no avail. She angrily pushed herself away from the keyboard.
"Argh! I can't find anything!" she exclaimed frustratedly.
"What's the matter, Kel?" asked Maz concernedly, as he came to see.
"I see the info about the time machine, I see the news that the creators themselves don't know why it didn't work in the first place..." Kelly replied, leaning back on the chair. "But how did Guy repair it? How did he know how?! He can't even do the science project right!"
"I can tell, I still remember how we destroyed my room trying to make a soda volcano..." Maz cringed. "Rex was really unhappy..." that made Kelly let out a nervous giggle, then she sighed.
"I'm so afraid..." she said quietly. "What if we never get him back...?" Maz placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, Kelly. If someone can find out what's happening - it's you!" he said cheerfully.
"You think so?" Kelly smiled at this statement.
"Certainly!" Maz nodded and smiled too. "I know nobody smarter than you!"
"Thanks..." Kelly giggled. "When my brother's back, make sure to tell him that."
"I make no promises!" Maz said, leaving to get some soda.
"Aw, aren't you two cute?" said Sheila, as the familiar lips appeared on the screen.
"Oh, hush you!" Kelly smirked.
"I didn't say anything..." Sheila smiled, curving her lips shyly.
"Good, keep it that way, sister" Kelly crossed her arms.
"Yes, ma'am" Sheila replied sarcastically. Kelly began searching the database again. Maz came back, sipping soda from a paper cup.
"And still, it's weird... Why is Guy suddenly acting like that...?" she murmured.
"It must have been the ring..." Sheila said quietly, but it was enough to both Kelly and Maz hear it. She stopped typing, and Maz froze in mid sip.
"What did you just said?" Kelly asked, looking at Sheila strictly.
"Um... Nothing..." Sheila said, but her voice made it obvious - if she had full face, both would see her sweating.
"Sheila!" Kelly said. "I know this game already. You won't pull it again. You're certainly hiding something!" Sheila gulped and then sighed.
"Yes, Kelly, you're right. But it's something that I need to tell SheZow as well. Let's concentrate on taking Guy back, and when he's here, I'll reveal anything. I promise..."
"Fine, Sheila..." sighed Kelly. "Let's keep working..."
Guy was unable to deal with all the emotions he had. He couldn't even name the feeling he had. It was definitely Tara - her fighting style, her suit, everything was familiar. But it was different Tara - Tara way before she challenged him, kidnapped his friends and even pretended to plan to blow them up. It was Tara who helped citizens, who was still his aunt's heroic partner. Just one thing left unchanged - her jealous angry rumblings about herself...
As the villains kept Tara on aim, she was clutching her batons tightly. Suddenly, she dashed from her place like a lightning, right to one of them. He was quickly taken down by the heavy smash of batons. His friends opened fire on her, but she successfully avoided most of the bullets...
Key word "most" - but not all. As she managed to kick down another two, she felt sharp pain in her leg. She noticed a bullet wound there. Bandits noticed it too, of course. They approached her, having her on their aim and smiling devilishly. Their leader with the flamethrower awoke from being knocked down and also got nearer.
"We got such a delightful treat, boys" he smirked maniacally. "SheZow's little sidekick is in our hands..."
Suddenly, Tara stood up. Her legs were wobbly, but her eyes were burning with rage.
"I'm not her sidekick! I'm her partner! Her equal!" she growled and pounced on the leader, striking him with batons.
"Idiots! Help!" he screamed, and his friends quickly got to them. One of them grabbed Tara's back and hit her with a rifle butt. She groaned in pain, as the leader pushed her away from himself and stood up. He grabbed his flamethrower and aimed at her.
"Any last words, sidekick?" he hissed evilly.
"She's not my sidekick!" a voice sounded from afar, and the pink blur appeared, pushing all the villains away from Tara and then getting Tara herself to the side, closer to the crowd behind the police tape. She stopped there to carefully place her down.
"There she is..." Guy thought excitedly. He couldn't believe he is witnessing his own aunt Agnes as SheZow in action. He could see her in her suit - it was just a little different from what he's wearing, but overall the same pink-black-white suit with "S" insignia and a cape.
"Are you okay, T?" she said quietly to Tara.
"I am..." Tara grunted in pain. "I had this covered, you know, you shouldn't come..."
"Sure you did" Agnes sarcastically smiled. "But as if I could let you hog all the fun" she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "You're injured, take some rest and help. I'll take care of everything else..." she then stood up and turned to the villains. "Alright, boys, it's time to dance!"
"Kill her!" the leader shouted, and the thugs prepared to fire. SheZow once again turned on her super-speed, turning into a pink blur, that rushed to the bandits. They immediately lost their weapons. The leader was taken down once again, immediately tied with ribbons afterwards and glued to the wall. Some thugs managed to take out their spare guns and begin shooting, but Agnes was almost intangible.
"What's the matter, boys? Can't catch good old me?" she laughed.
Guy was awed by his aunt's technique. He couldn't imagine himself ever reaching this level of mastery. She was moving like a butterfly, her acrobatics were graceful... And nobody could even notice that there's some other purpose behind this than just avoiding shots. Guy noticed it soon...
All the remaining bandits were forced to stay close to each other. Agnes stopped, crossed her arms and shot her ribbons, sticking them by the sides of the bandits. Then she jumped in the air and landed on the opposite side, shooting ribbons again. Then she jumped up above and swung her hands, pulling the ribbons. Crossed ribbons tightened, pushing the bandits against each other and trapping them. Agnes ran a few circles around them, covering them in more ribbons. In result, all the bandits were trapped in one huge ribbon cocoon.
Meanwhile, Tara was standing already. Somebody called an ambulance for the hostages and other citizens harmed during the crime, and she had her bullet wound treated. SheZow approached her and hugged with one hand.
"Nicely done, partner" said SheZow, smiling at her.
"Thanks..." Tara mumbled. "But again, you did everything, while I was injured and down..."
"You distracted them long enough to let the hostages flee, it's more than enough to consider your input valuable, Tara" Agnes said softly.
"SHEZOW SAVED THE DAY! GO SHEZOW GO!" the crowd, noticing that everything is fine, began to shout and surround the heroines.
"Yeah, yeah, the day saved..." Agnes said awkwardly, feeling overwhelmed by the crowd. "Um... Stop pushing so hard!" she screamed, as the crowd got too close. Agnes was all in the center of attention...
Tara, on the other hand, was abandoned aside. Nobody approached her. Because of the crowd's voices, she couldn't hear her friend Agnes.
"And again, she's in the center of attention... Meanwhile I'm all alone..." she thought. "Why? What's your secret, Agnes...?" she slowly walked away, leaving the scene behind. Guy noticed this. He felt somewhat pity for Tara.
"I guess that's why she hates SheZow so much in the future..." he thought. "Despite doing a lot and being SheZow's partner, she was still always in her shadow... She must be jealous of her... That's so unfair..." he walked after her, and it didn't take long for him to catch up.
"Hey! Excuse me..." he said, approaching her. She turned back to him.
"Are you lost, kid? Just in case, SheZow is over there..." she pointed in the direction of the crime scene. Her voice had a somber tone in.
"Oh, no, thanks, I know, but that's not what I wanted..." Guy shook his head. "I wanted to say you were awesome!"
"Huh...?" Tara stopped and turned to Guy fully. "You said what?"
"I said you were awesome!" Guy repeated. "I'm your fan, miss Tara. You did a lot to be considered a hero as well as SheZow!" Tara's face illuminated, she had a loss of words.
"Really?" she asked after a momentary silence, with a genuine surprise. "T-thanks, kid..." she quickly lost the shine in her eyes. "That was very cute... But you're missing the real cool hero over there... After all, I'm just a sidekick..."
"As I remember, you were telling those villains you're not a sidekick" Guy pointed out, smirking. "And even if you are... SheZow certainly doesn't think that way. She sees you as an equal partner and as a good friend. She saved you and gave time to recover..." as he said it, Tara was looking down, then on SheZow making her way out of the crowd, and then down again.
"Maybe you're right, kid..." Tara said quietly. "Alright, I appreciate your good words, but you better hurry, until your parents lose you..." she walked away, and Guy was looking after.
As she was walking, a lot of thoughts swarmed her head.
"That kid said right things, Tara... Agnes always ends up in the center of attention, but it doesn't mean she steals it from you. She saved you, she does it all the time. You and her are friends..." Tara shut her eyes tightly. "So close friends that she trusted you her identity... She values your friendship, Tara! She cares for you!" Tara was breathing heavily. "She cares... Does she? She keeps forgetting of our planned meetings... She never told you where she lives, so you could visit her... If she cares, why can't she find more time for her dear friend Tara?" Tara shook her head, pushing the bad thoughts away. "Okay, stop it, Tara! You're just overreacting! It's all because of your crush..." as soon as she thought about it, she sighed. "Yes... Your crush... You want Agnes to be closer to you... Closer than just a good friend... If only you could actually make that step and ask her out..."
Meanwhile, Guy noticed like his aunt is getting on her She-Cycle.
"I need to follow..." Guy thought. "It's a great chance to make her and Tara's relationship better. If I succeed, there will be less by one villain in the future. But I can't expose myself..." he noticed a dark place between two buildings and hid there. "You go girl!" he said and transformed into his heroic form. After that, he quickly put on a lot of Vanishing Powder, becoming fully invisible. As his aunt jolted from the place on the motorcycle, Guy followed her with his super-speed. He was barely catching up.
After some time, they stopped near the familiar house.
"So that's how the house looked before aunt left..." Guy thought. As Agnes approached the familiar tunnel, Guy prepared for a big turn. The motorcycle entered the passage, and Guy was struggling to catch up. The dangerous moment, and...
He did it. He managed to pass into the Lair right after Agnes, before the passage closed.
Meanwhile, Agnes just got off the motorcycle and took off the helmet. Silently, she approached the passage to the main house, and Guy, being invisible and trying not to make any sound, got closer to it. As soon as the door was open, he sneaked through it and entered the main house area. Agnes silently left the lair and went to the living room. Guy quietly followed, trying to be close to the walls.
"She-yeah..." she said with a tired voice and detransformed, then she dropped down on the armchair. "Hello, Sheila, I'm home!"
"Welcome home, Agnes, dear" the familiar voice said and the TV screen flashed as the usual lips appeared on it. "Looking exhausted I see, hard day at the office?" Agnes weakly smiled at her words.
"Looks like I need to check your processor and delete those sarcastic codes..." she smirked.
"Well, you were the one to set them" Sheila responded.
"I don't remember" Agnes parried.
"Should I remind?" Sheila smiled, and then played Agnes's voice note. "I gotta make her a little sassy, so she'll keep me on my toes-"
"Okay, you got me..." Agnes leaned back. "Gotta undo that setting and correct the fun circuit..." she murmured slyly.
"I heard that, Agnes!" Sheila laughed, but then noticed that Agnes is not smiling anymore. "Hey, beautiful, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"No... I'm not..." Agnes took a deep breath. "Once again I had to ignore Boxter's call, Tara was almost killed, and after we're done I haven't even managed to talk to her!"
"I warned you back then, it's not a good idea to have a partner..." Sheila responded, but Agnes wasn't listening.
"I'm getting tired of this... " she continued, rubbing her face. "I barely get out, like, just for a walk, not to save the day. Neighbors are always wondering where am I and why they haven't seen me out, even just to take out the trash. And I don't even know these neighbors! Because of all these missions every day, I can't find time for my family and my friends... I haven't seen my brother in ages, I've NEVER seen my niece and nephew! And Tara... She's always missing after missions! She's the only good friend I have... And I can see she's feeling something else for me... But I can't even talk with her about that, because she never answers simple calls, and we can't tell each other where we live to visit!"
"I can understand what you're feeling, Agnes..." Sheila said in calm, but quite saddened tone. "But it's impossible to make them closer, it's for their own safety. You do all this to protect them. You already placed your Tara in danger by revealing your identity, and if you reveal her your address..."
"Well, I will do it!" Agnes said loudly. "She's the only contact in my She-Cycle comms after all!" she angrily stood up, banging the armrests. Sheila gasped.
"You can't be serious!" she said, with a tone so strict that Guy almost jumped from surprise. "If you do this, her life will be in greater danger than it is now! Is this what you want?"
"I want somebody to be close to me, you stupid machine!" Agnes shouted. "The woman loves me, and I can't even talk about her feelings, not even mentioning responding them!" Guy barely held himself from gasping - he was shocked to see his aunt in such mental state.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Sheila also went angry. "I may be a machine, but I'm smart enough to see what you feel about her. And tell me now, Agnes - do you want to do this with her? Do you want to place the only good friend, the person you really care about, in even greater danger?"
"I... I..." with each word, Agnes's voice tone lowered. "I don't want it... I want her to be safe..." she lowered her head and sat down again. "I'm sorry, Sheila, it's just so hard sometimes..."
"I understand it, Agnes..." Sheila said, letting out a sigh. "Many SheZows before you had this issue... They had to almost abandon their families and friends, just to keep them safe..."
Guy grit his teeth. His heart was pounding so hard, he was afraid anybody can hear it. He wanted to drop the disguise, come to his aunt and support her. Even before becoming a hero, he had this instinct of helping people when he sees them in trouble. But his mind kept reminding him - nobody should interfere in the flow of time openly. He wanted to help aunt Agnes and Tara improve their relationship, but he could not reveal his presence. Who knows what paradoxes it would trigger... Doubt between what he wanted to do and what he had to do paralyzed him.
He was snapped back into reality by the alarm sound and Sheila's voice.
"She-mergency! She-mergency!" she said, and then the picture on the screen changed. It has shown the old lab on the edge of the town, all ransacked. People were running away, and a lot of robots swarmed the place. Frightening lights were flashing in the windows.
"What in the world-" Agnes exclaimed, as she didn't expect to see such a picture.
"I haven't seen these robots before, but as far as I'm aware, this lab is for genetic research" Sheila said. "And one of its workers was detained a few times for being suspected in illegal experiments. However, there was no evidence, so he was let go all the times. Looks like now he's acting openly..."
"So a mad scientist..." Agnes stood up. "Show me our bonkers doctor, I want to make sure who to take down" she was glowing with determination.
"Doctor Hieronymus D. Evolvo" said Sheila, showing the picture of a middle-aged man with black hair and grayish pale skin, wearing glasses. "Troublesome subject for sure, was the best in school at biology and chemistry, but was kicked out of the university for open arguments with the teachers..."
"And now this egghead gonna be taken to jail for threatening the peace in SheZow's town!" Agnes bumped her fist against her palm. "You go girl!" she shouted, and the pink flash came out. She transformed and headed to the She-Lair. Guy quickly followed her, remaining unnoticed. In the lair, Agnes hopped on her She-Cycle and took off, with Guy catching up with super-speed.
"Hm, that's so weird..." said Sheila to herself when Agnes left. "I can swear I felt another signal when talking to her. Like there were two SheZow rings... Must have been just a little glitch. I need to check my processor for viruses..."
They arrived to the place. Despite that it was late evening and the sky went dark, Guy could see a lot of robots wandering around, their wheels they had for legs wheezing and their metal claws clanking. Their eyes were glowing sinister yellow. Agnes got off the motorcycle and looked around.
"There are so many of them..." she muttered. "Maybe I should..." she was ready to press the call button on the She-cycle, but her hand stopped in mid-air. "No..." she backed away. "Sheila's right. I can't place her in such danger. She was badly wounded today, and those were human bandits. She may not stand against the robots..." she looked down as these thoughts came to her. Then she dashed to the entrance, taking out Laser Lipstick and slicing the robots. Some of them quickly turned to her and aimed their arms - they had blasters in place of hands. They began shooting.
Guy was about to follow, but stopped near the She-Cycle. He looked at the panel and his gaze stopped at the call button.
"So aunt said that Tara is her only contact here..." he thought. "That's the chance! If I send the message, she'll come, she and aunt defeat the villain together, and then they even can get some time to talk! Their relationship will get at least somehow better, and Tara won't become a villain!" he approached the bike and opened the contacts...
After finishing with the message, he was about to dash inside to watch the fight, but he noticed his invisibility is fading. He renewed the powder and them dashed inside, avoiding the remaining robots, which were frantically looking for the intruder.
Inside, Agnes was fighting through the hordes of robots. The thoughts about Tara and the others flooded her head, but she was ignoring them, keeping her way through the corridor. The only thing that matters now is stopping that creep Evolvo.
She recalled a small moment from one of her heroic days. After waving goodbye to Tara after a mission, she was riding home. Sheila was in the comlinks in the helmet.
"You seem to be happy, Agnes" the computer smiled. "What's up?"
"Nothing special, Sheila, just glad to have such a friend like Tara" Agnes replied calmly.
"I couldn't agree more" said Sheila, smirking. "I can see that she's pretty attracted to you..."
"What do you mean, Sheila? We're just friends!" Agnes laughed.
"Yeah, you are..." Sheila kept smirking. "Tell me the truth Agnes - do you love her?"
"Pfff- As if I'm telling it to you!" Agnes chuckled. "We're friends and that's it!"
Agnes shook her head, repelling the flashbacks. She reached the door she needed - her She-Sense tingled, indicating that she's on the right track. She entered the room.
It was filled with robots. In the far side of the room there was a huge machine with a life support tank on it. Inside of it, in the greenish liquid, a silhouette of a humanoid figure floated. The machine was glowing and letting out sparks. Near the control panels fussed the familiar middle-aged man. He heard the door being smashed open and turned back.
"Ah, SheZow!" he exclaimed devilishly. "I'm honored by your presence here! You must know me - I am doctor Evolvo. Ingenious inventor, masterful geneticist, prodigious biologist and chemist..." he was gesturing extravagantly with every word. "And soon-to-be the Master of the World!" he approached the capsule and rubbed the glass. "My greatest invention, the ultimate life form, is almost finalized! After it's born, I will rule over the whole world!"
"Sorry to disappoint you, doc, but your plans are not coming real!" Agnes took the fighting stance. "Nobody taking over the world when SheZow's here! I'm gonna stop you!"
"If you live long enough to do so!" he laughed maniacally. "Take her!" the robots jolted from their places at Agnes, trying to attack her either with their blasters or their claws.
Meanwhile, Guy was crawling the walls of the corridor to get to the same room. He was truly awed by his aunt's skills. As he approached the door, he stopped - he needed the way to get there without being noticed. But if he just enters through the door, it may attract the unneeded attention. Then he noticed a ventilation pipe in the ceiling, going right to the needed room. He climbed up and opened the ventilation grill to enter.
Meanwhile, outside, the old greenish chopper bike stopped near the building. Tara got off it, looking at the scene.
"I got your message, Agnes" she thought. "I'm coming to help you..."
As doctor was dialing something on the control panels, Agnes kept fighting robots. There were hordes of them, and she was getting tired by this. Some of them even managed to hit her, but since SheZow powers included enhanced durability, she hasn't felt much, quickly taking them down. Her cape got torn.
"How?! You must be down!" exclaimed doctor Evolvo in panic. His jaw dropped by seeing the heroine taking down his robots one after other.
"Heroes are not down easily!" she replied with a smirk.
"I must initiate the accelerated development!" screamed the mad scientist, turning the levers. SheZow wanted to throw her Boomerang Brush at the console to shut it down forever, but robots tangled her arm in their noodle arm limbs, so she focused on destroying them. And soon, most of the robots were lying on the ground, broken.
"That's it, Evolvo! You lose!" Agnes said, steadily approaching the man. He was shaking in fear, frantically turning his head at sheZow, then the control panel, and then back at Shezow.
"No! No! So close! Just a brief moment..." he stuttered. Suddenly, the door was smashed open once again. Agnes stopped and looked back.
"I'm here, SheZow! Just as you asked!" Tara shouted, preparing her batons.
"Tara?!" Agnes exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here? I-" she couldn't finish the phrase, as the laser shot sounded loudly in the room. SheZow froze in place, as the sharp pain spread in her body. Tara was shocked, looking at her friend with a dropped jaw. Guy, who was watching , as he already got out of the ventilation, was barely managing not to scream. Doctor Evolvo was smiling devilishly, holding the arm of his robot. The blaster muzzle was smoking, as doctor just used it to shoot.
SheZow had a terrible laser beam wound. Blood spread across her stomach. She couldn't even breathe out of pain. Suddenly, she coughed terribly and fell on the floor, bleeding.
"NO! SHEZOW!" Tara screamed, jolting to her friend.
"YES! I DID IT!" doctor Evolvo was gloating. "Now nobody can stop the process!" he pulled the last lever, and the capsule shined very bright. After that, it opened, and the liquid poured on the floor. The humanoid figure was standing like a doll there, but suddenly it opened its yellowish eyes and stood straight.
"Observe! the ultimate life form is born!" mad scientist kept celebrating his victory. "Now, nobody can-" he couldn't finish, as the figure suddenly pounced at him, gripping him tightly with its arms, or paws, and pushing against the floor. "N-no! S-stop this at once!" he grunted, chocking from the beastly grip of his creation. "I... I command you!" but his creation responded with nothing but a beastly growl. However, as doctor was the closest to it, he could hear the words in this growl: "I... Am... Ultimate!"
Tara realized that it's getting dangerous to stay here any longer. So she put up SheZow's body and ran away. Guy quickly followed her. As they left, they could hear doctor's screams fading in the laboratory's darkness.
Outside, it began raining. Tara stopped near the bikes of her and SheZow and placed her down gently. Guy watched and now he didn't care of any disguise - he hid in the bushes to stay unnoticed, but the rain and tears flowing from his eyes already took off most of the powder.
"Agnes, do you hear me? Agnes!" Tara called with a fear in her voice. "Listen, Agnes! Just hold it for a little longer! I'm gonna call for help, you'll be all okay!" in response, Agnes coughed.
"I'm afraid... I won't make it, Tara..." she said with a weak voice.
"Don't be silly, Agnes!" Tara said almost hysterically. "Such a heroine can't just leave... Just... Can't..."
"Tara..." Agnes said, gripping her friend's hand. "It's all... Up to you now... My time is over... It's your time to shine..."
"No, no, no!" Tara screamed. "You can't just leave me! I... I won't manage without you..." tears swelled in her eyes. "I need you! I... I wanted to say that long ago, Agnes, but I-" suddenly, Agnes raised her arm and hushed Tara with a gesture.
"I know about it, Tara..." she said, smiling. "I knew it for long time already..." she touched her friend's cheek, which was wet from tears. "I'm glad that I have such a great friend like you..."
"Agnes..." Tara whispered and grabbed her friend's hand. "I promise, I do my best for this town..." she opened her eyes to look at Agnes one more time, but saw that Agnes's body went numb, and she's not breathing anymore. "No... No! AGNES!" she screamed in despair and then hugged Agnes's body tightly, shaking and crying.
Agnes, her best friend, the great hero of Megadale SheZow, and the person she loved, is dead.
Guy couldn't hold back any of his tears. Witnessing his aunt's death... He couldn't tell he was ready. No, he clearly wasn't ready for this. Nobody ever could be.
After minutes of sitting in the bushes, he finally managed to force himself to stand up. Tara was still crying, hugging Agnes's dead body, and wasn't paying attention. He looked at her for the last time and then jolted away on super-speed. It was time to go to the time machine.
He couldn't remember how he got to the museum, how he passed the guard's post and how he managed to sneak to the place he left the machine at.
"If I tell this to Kelly, she'll be devastated..." Guy thought as he climbed in the cabin. Ring wasn't glowing, so he couldn't understand all the buttons. However, he saw the dial and the screen with dates. He dialed the same day, but three years later, and then pressed the trigger button.
Machine let out the familiar hums and buzzes, blue lights blinded him, and he felt like falling into the void once again.
Soon, it stopped, and he saw the familiar surroundings. It was fully built and open museum. However, nobody was around.
"Hm, looks like they all are home already..." Guy thought. "That's good, then I won't need to bother with leaving. I hope Maz and Kelly haven't gone insane out of fear..." he approached the entrance, no guards were around. His mind was tired, all he wished for was good rest and some kind words. He left the museum...
However, outside he saw something that shocked him. He could swear that the town he sees is definitely not Megadale...
TO BE CONTINUED...