"I told you that hot chocolate in a warm weather like today can cause nausea and stomachache, but no, you did not listen, ans look what is happening..." Kelly nagged while holding a wet handkerchief against Maz's forehead. The boy looked rather dizzy, leaning against the wall. "Guy!" she called her twin, who responded with a "what?" expression. "Could you please get some drinking water here?" she handed him a few bucks and returned to helping Maz to keep standing - unfortunately, there was nowhere to sit down, even near museum's bathroom.
Guy nodded and headed to the museum's food counter. The mess he and others got into was bugging him. Today he decided to go to the museum once again and check on the Time Machine, to avoid any further accidents with time travel. But on the way, he and Maz got hungry and pleaded Kelly to give them money to grab a snack. Kelly was the only one parents could trust money with, and after hours of pleading she gave up. Guy ordered him a double meat burger and an orange juice - surprisingly, it was enough to not trigger another lecture of healthy eating by Kellly, - and Maz ordered an extra cheese burger and large hot chocolate. Boys ate and were happy and full, until Maz got nauseous from overheat, caused by hot chocolate and hot weather outside.
Guy finally bought a bottle of cool water and brought it to his sister and friend. After drinking, Maz felt better.
"Thanks, guys..." he said. "I'm sorry it got so bad".
"Don't worry, man" Guy patted him.
"So, back to what we came here for?" asked Kelly with visible enthusiasm. Guy could tell she just liked being in such place, so now she's hyped to go around it once again.
"Yeah, back to goal" said Guy, smiling. "Maz, you better stay with Kelly, you check the left side. I go for the right. We catch up in the end of the hall, 'kay?"
"Gotcha" replied Maz, and kids went on.
Guy passed one exhibition one after another. One was filled with gems, and near them, the familiar professor Lorey was holding his show, claiming they were discovered in the whole sunken city. Other was full of paintings, and the familiar curator lady with red jacket was explaining to the flock of kids around stuff about the artists and painted personas. That one Guy passed quickly, not wanting to drag her attention - she could still remember him from the past visit. Another one exhibition was about historical houseware. Next one was about dinosaurs - this one Guy specifically passed slowly, he had a slight like of dinosaurs since he was small. Soon he approached the scientific discovery exhibition, where the Time Machine was supposed to be. His attention was dragged by other exhibits there - a lot of discoveries, from potato charger and first typing machine to the electric chair and robot prototype. Eventually, he reached the end of the exhibition... With the Time Machine nowhere to be found. Guy looked around once again - but saw none of it.
"Looking for something, kid?" Guy quickly turned to the voice to see the old janitor passing by.
"Yeah, I heard there is supposed to be a Time Machine, but I don't see it..." Guy replied.
"Ah, that huge dust collector" the old man said. "It was discarded not long ago" these words brought shock to Guy.
"W-what?!" he exclaimed. "But why?"
"See, the scientists came to check on it, with ones who created it. But somehow, it wasn't working at all, even tho the creators set the engine before placing it in the museum. They thought it needs time to actually begin working, but then it just was broken to the point of not even revving up. Scientists were disappointed, creators were shamed, and the machine was signed for discarding. It was brought to the disposal yard not long ago..."
"Where is that yard?!" Guy almost shouted at the old man. He looked kinda scared, pointing to the hall entrance.
"Just behind the building..." he replied. "You'll see the hall with the sign..."
"Thank you, sir" Guy said and rushed to the entrance. Old janitor sighed and spun a finger at his temple.
"What a strange young man...".
Maz and Kelly almost reached the exhibition when they saw Guy leaving it running.
"Guy?!" said Kelly, confused why her brother was running.
"Where are you going, man?" Maz tried to call for him, but guy already ran past them, not noticing. They had nothing else to do but follow him, also running.
"Hey! No running in the museum area!" shouted the familiar curator lady, but the kids already entered the hall and vanished around the corner. Above it was a sign saying "Basement. Restroom. Disposal Yard". The old lady grumbled, rubbing her forehead.
"One day I am leaving this job..." she whispered.
Guy stopped to catch a breath in the middle of the hall. Only then he noticed he was chased by his sister and friend.
"What was that, dude?" Maz asked, stopping and panting.
"What is up with all that running?" Kelly added. "You know, it's not easy to keep up with you..."
"Sorry, guys" Guy said. "I was at the discovery exhibition, and the janitor told me that the machine was discarded".
"What?!" Maz and Kelly exclaimed together.
"Yeah, I was just as shocked as you two" Guy continued. "Janitor told me it somehow got broken to the point of not revving up at all. It is at the disposal yard now, this hall is leading there".
"Now I see" said Maz. "Well, let's go then!"
And the kids together went on through the hall.
Soon they exited it and saw the small yard full of discarded pieces of various exhibits and even whole exhibitions. All these pieces were stored for years, exhibits far beyond restoration, waiting for either utilization or transfer to the special keep for especially expensive historical stuff. Among them, Guy finally noticed the needed machine.
"There it is!" he said and was about to go to it, but suddenly, kids heard the steps in the hall behind them. As fast as he could, Guy hid behind the big stones, leftovers from the huge statues copies from the past exhibition, made too poorly that they cracked easily. Guy carefully looked from behind his hideout - a group of men in jackets with high collars entered the yard. They looked around, checking if anybody was there, and then took off the coats. Guy recognized the dark clothes and ammunition - same old bandits from the gang. Some already took up their guns, while others headed directly to the Time Machine.
"We're lucky here, boys" said one of them. "Noone's watching the dump, so we are free to get all we want. Like this little baby - our tinkerers will quickly crack it open and turn into a sweet new armament..."
"Oh shoot..." Guy whispered. He looked around to see where Kelly and Maz are, but they were not visible - looks like they hid in the other place. He sighed and raised up his hand with the ring. "You go girl!" he quietly said. Pink flash - and SheZow is here.
"Well well well, who do we have here?" she said, exiting her hiding. "Bad boys still haven't learned their lesson about stealing stuff..."
"Argh, she again!" one of the bandits growled. "At least she's alone..."
"No she's not!" sounded familiar voice and Maz stepped from his hiding too. Now he was in the green suit, resembling Robin Hood garment, but supported with parts of typical plumber uniform. He held a compound bow in his arms, and on his belt was a quiver filled with arrows that had plungers on their tips. "You better give up, or you face the punishment from SheZow and her sidekick, Arrow Plumber!" the bandits let out a snicker after seeing Maz's full new suit.
"Seriously boy, suction cup arrows?" said one of them. "It's for the playground, not for the fight".
"Don't underestimate the power of mini-plungers" Maz smirked and suddenly aimed at this bandit and shoot. The arrow stuck right to his helmet, stumbling him.
"Ah, what the heck?!" he screamed. "Get them now!"
The bandits unleashed a flurry of blaster shots. Maz ducked and SheZow took out her Laser Lipstick to block the shots. Then she rushed at the villains, dealing out strong kicks and quick swipes to bring them down. Occasionally, she activated Laser Lipstick again to slice their weapons. Maz helped the heroine with precise arrow shots, making the thugs uncomfy with stuck arrows on their ammunition. Number of bandits quickly diminished.
"Stop it now, or she's dead!" screamed one of them. SheZow and Maz looked around and froze in horror. The bandit held Kelly hostage. They lowered their weapons.
"Good to see you're wise enough" the bandit snickered. "Now you two leave and don't mess with us ever-" he haven't managed to finish, because Kelly stepped on his foot hardly. He let her go and accidentally pulled the trigger of his gun. The plasma charge missed all the people on its way, but eventually landed directly on the Time Machine. It suddenly got alive again, buzzing and sparkling.
"It's gonna blow!" one of the bandits screamed and everybody ducked on the ground. The machine let out a loud sound and even SheZow felt a shockwave spreading around. There was a huge, bright flash too. After that, SheZow got up and carefully looked around. Some bandits were pushed away with a shockwave, and they were trying to stand up, seemingly stunned by the wave. Maz and Kelly were close together, boy looking for any injuries on the girl. But what especially got Shezow's attention is a strange figure near the time Machine, which got even more withered than it was. The figure stood up, revealing to be a boy in a suit similar to SheZow's, but instead of pink it had blue coloration. The boy had black hair with blue bang and a strange blue make-up under the eye. The letter on his suit was "D" instead of "S" and he had no skirt. He looked around in confusion.
"What? Where am I? Is that some kind of new trick?" he said quietly. SheZow took away her Laser Lipstick and began slowly approaching him.
"Hello?" she said. "Mind if I ask who you are?" the boy brought her attention on her and perked up, preparing for the fight.
"No, you tell who you are!" he said quickly. "And tell me what is that trick that I ended up in an unfamiliar place and... And why do you look kinda similar to me?" the last words he said with some confusion.
"Alright... I am SheZow" SheZow replied. "And that's not a trick. You are in Megadale town, at the disposal yard of the museum..."
"Disposal yard? I didn't know that the museum had a disposal yard..." the boy said. "Okay, but... SheZow? Haven't heard that name, but again, it's weirdly similar to my name. I am DudePow, the hero of Megadale town".
"What? No, no, I AM the hero of Megadale town!" SheZow countered. "And there never was any DudePows!"
"You wanna bet it?" DudePow kept the fighting stance. "Find out who is better hero?"
"I am sorry to butt in the conversation, but... We're surrounded!" Maz exclaimed, and two suited kids noticed that all the bandits were surrounding them, having them at the aim of their blasters.
"I told you we're lucky today" said one of them. "Maybe we have our tech withered, but we still are at win - by disposing the nagging heroine SheZow and this weird guy, seemingly one of her heroic party" as the bandits prepared their guns, Shezow and DudePow looked at each other.
"Wanted to find out how good each of us in heroics via fight?" said SheZow. "Well, here's your chance" she winked at him.
"What do you-" he was confused at first, but then realization shined on his face and he smiled. "Oh wait... I get you" he took the stance, and so did SheZow.
"Ready, boys?" said the bandit. "Fire!" the guns fired, and Maz ducked, as he was in the circle too - Kelly managed to crawl back to the hiding place. But two heroes wasn't ducking - instead, they unleashed their weapons. SheZow activated her Laser Lipstick and blocked the shots. DudePow on his side took out a short stick with fat tips that he quickly unfolded, making it a long staff, with which he blocked the shots too, spinning it in a karate warrior manner.
"Cool weapon" said SheZow, noticing it.
"Thanks, your too" replied DudePow. "I mastered my Battling Boy-Staff for long".
"A Boy-Staff, huh" SheZow snickered. "My weapon is Laser Lipstick".
"Lipstick?! Doesn't look like one" DudePow said with a slight laughter. "Are all your gadgets based on cosmetic?"
"Hey! Are all your gadgets named so weirdly?" SheZow countered, but then their argument stopped as the new flurry of shots came out. After dodging them, SheZow threw her Boomerang Brush at the bandits. She noticed that DudePow also used a throwing weapon. It was a disk, like a freesbee.
"A disk?" SheZow said, getting his attention.
"Freesdude Disk" he replied. "And your..."
"Boomerang Brush" SheZow finished, smiling. DudePow smiled back. He got that game of exchanging details while fighing.
Their throwing weapons hit the weapons out of their users hands - it was enough, since SheZow sliced some blasters before DudePow. Heroes engaged the hand-to-hand fight with villains. Soon all the bandits got knocked down, unable to overpower superheroes. SheZow tied some up with her Ribbon Shooters, of course noticing how DudePow is tying up others with his version of it.
"What kind of ribbon is it?" SheZow asked the male hero.
"Not ribbon, a band. It's Band Throwers" he replied. "And your thing is with ribbons?"
"Yeah, it's Ribbon Shooters" she answered. "We really are similar, even our gadgets are alike".
"I noticed" Kelly said, finally showing herself. "I saw you two fighting - that was awesome! You two make a great duo! Megadale is totally safe with a new hero being with SheZow..."
"Wait wait wait! Why are you speaking like I am new here?" DudePow suddenly asked. "I am saving this town for long time already. And..." he stopped, looking closely at Kelly. "Wait... You also remind me of someone..."
"Okay, this is getting strange" said Maz, taking off his mask. "Especially since we don't even know how this dude got here".
"Oh lord, you too!" DudePow exclaimed. "You two strongly resemble people I know! But you're... Different. Like you're their mirror copies..."
"Mirror copies..." mumbled SheZow, thinking. "Wait... I know how he got here. When the thug shot at the Time Machine, it let out a big flash, after which DudePow appeared here. I think the machine being damaged brought him here..."
"So you say I don't belong here?" DudePow said. "Like it's an alternate dimension?"
"That's possible" said Kelly. "In the article about chronotones me and Maz discovered while looking for Guy when he was in the past, I read that these particles are very powerful and have potential of opening holes not only in time, but in reality as well..."
"Okay... First - that sounds cool and familiar" said DudePow, obviously shocked more and more with every second. "And second - Guy? Who is Guy?"
"I think we should continue the discussion in a different place" said SheZow. "Let's get to the She-Lair, there we would get more with the help of Sheila..."
"Let me guess..." DudePow was smiling sarcastically. "She-Lair is your superheroic hideout, and Sheila is the supercomputer in there?"
"Yes..." SheZow replied confusedly. "That's right. Guess you have these too?"
"Exactly" replied DudePow, as all the gang was leaving the room. "But my hideout is Dude-HQ, and computer is named Dudeley..."
They left the room, and the door was closed. The bandits kept lying unconscious.
Suddenly, another unfamiliar figure appeared. A girl stepped from behind a pile of broken vintage wooden furniture. She was dressed in high black boots with metallic clasps, brown loose pants with visible metal-clasped belt, red t-shirt with fire print on the chest and black leather jacket with metallic buttons and small spikes on the shoulders. She had orange-ish skin and dark red hair, and she sported earrings made of paperclips. Her eyes were unnaturally red. She looked around carefully and smiled sinisterly.
"So, a different world, alternate dimension... With two nagging heroes" she said quietly, to herself. "That means, there is also... A second me. Or someone alike. And if we combine our powers against those who ruined our lives... This is going to be an interesting game" she let out a sinister snicker, then approaching the door and listening to the steps...
Some time passed - and the group of kids were at the She-Lair. It was ain't easy for all four of them to sit on the single She-Cycle - DudePow pointed out that it would be easier if he had his Dude-Mobile here. Somehow, they managed to sit all and arrive without accidents. As they went deeper inside the lair, Sheila activated herself.
"Well, hello, kids" she said, visibly with a scolding tone. "I see you again bring a stranger in the lair. Another friend?"
"That's much more interesting, Sheila" Kelly responded. "This new friend seems to be a guest from another dimension or something. But we need to be sure..."
"Could you try and look for any info about DudePow? And additionally, scan him?" added SheZow.
"Hm... Alright, give me a few seconds" Sheila smiled, and as the lips on the screen disappeared, few manipulator arms appeared from the walls, aiming at DudePow. He shuddered.
"Hey! Don't touch me that way!" he screamed, but Sheila didn't listen, moving the small robotic eyes and claws around him, turning, grabbing and looking all over his body. Soon the arms disappeared and lips again were seen on the screen.
"I'm done" she reported. "In all the database I have, I found no information about anyone named "DudePow". Scanning him, however, was more interesting. It seems that his DNA is very similar to those of our friend SheZow, but with one major difference..."
"What is it, Sheila?" asked Maz.
"The main chromosome set is XX, not XY as it supposed to be. Which means..."
Before she finished, everybody looked at DudePow. SheZow was visibly surprised. DudePow already understood what is about to happen.
"Yeah, it's a pretty long story... I don't even know how to start..." he said, scratching the back of his head.
"I think it will be much easier if we gonna do it together" said SheZow, approaching him. "But let's... Detransform first".
"Okay..." DudePow replied, slowly raising his ring hand, SheZow did so as well. Both said their detransformation phrases - "She-Yeah!" for SheZow and "He-Yeah!" for DudePow. Two flashes - pink and blue, - blinded everybody in the room for a sec. As they faded, two heroes were back to their civilian forms...
"Yeah, behind DudePow's suit is me, a girl. But as I see, behind SheZow's skirt is also an opposite gender" said her, the one who was standing in the place where DudePow was. Guy, on the other hand, was just mute from surprise. The girl was extremely similar to him, even clothes and faces were almost identical. But she had beige cargo shorts, unlike Guy's long pants, and her blue hoodie was open, revealing black t-shirt. Her hair were obviously longer, tied in a bun.
"Are you alright?" she asked, snapping Guy back to reality.
"Ah? Yeah, sorry, it's just... Unusual to see someone so similar to you" he said. "So this is clear now, you are my counterpart from a different dimension... That's cool"
"Yeah, not a bad thing..." the girl added. "Name's Gal Hamdon, by the way. And yours?"
"Guy, Guy Hamdon" Guy reached his hand and both had a handshake. "Well, how about a story of heroic origins? I am intrigued if it's also so similar to mine..."
"Yeah, that's gonna be fun finding that out" Gal smiled back. "Well, then listen..."
"Uh, they're like children, can't be without a fairytale..." Kelly sighed.
"Come on, Kel, that must be interesting" said Maz, chewing the popcorn that he got out of nowhere.
The mysterious girl was quietly walking through the streets, not dragging attention. On her way she got a newspaper from the trashcan. The very first page said about the recent prison breakout. The photos of some criminals were there too. She entered a lane between two big houses and looked at these pictures again. Her attention was on a certain one - a boy with bluish skin and snow-white hair, looking rather serious.
"That look I know very well..." she said. "It can't be a mistake. Somewhere there, he has to hide. The precious ally, a brother in fate..." she suddenly heard the steps nearby and rushed deeper in the lane, hiding the newspaper in her pocket. She didn't want to be seen - her appearance was enough to suspect her to be a meta-human and abduct right on the place. That will ruin all her plans. After some running, she stopped to catch a breath. She then peeked from around the corner and saw something that made her smile.
There were a few young people in punkish clothes, looking suspiciously at the other side of the place. There, a boy slowly walked out. He wore a blue warm parka jacket with a furry hood covering his head.
"Yo, freak! Need something here?" the punk boy said. "Dontcha know it's our territory?"
"You gotta pay for the pass, little guy!" added the punk girl. They moved from their places, one had a metal pipe and other had a chain in their hands.
"You heard us, freak?" the other punk boy said, swinging his chain.
"Leave me alone... I have not the best mood to deal with ones like you..." the boy muttered angrily. "I don't wanna hurt you, so better listen to me..."
"Hurt us? You gotta be kidding!" the guy with a pipe laughed. "Peeps, we have a real freak here!"
"Avoiding the pay means punishment, boy, you had it coming" the second guy approached the boy and grabbed his shoulder tightly. The boy broke off the grasp and reached out his hands. A blue cold shockwave came out of them, knocking the guy down. The hood fell down, revealing boy's blueish skin and white hair - it was the already known Tim Shiverstein, known as Coldfinger. His eyes were glowing a little and he looked fierce.
"I warned you..." he said, as the icy energy shined on his hands. The knocked guy was brought up by his friends, covered in thin icy shards.
"Literal freak! Run, peeps!" the guy with the pipe screamed, and all the gang ran away. Coldfinger lowered his hands, energy disappearing. He sighed.
"Yeah... A freak. A monster. What else can I be? Better look on yourselves, hypocrites..." he grumbled quietly.
"Yeah, calling you a freak when they are so troublesome themselves is a true hypocrisy... What a cruel world indeed" a girl went out of her hiding, speaking slowly and theatrically. She was approaching Tim. He was surprised by her sudden reveal.
"Who are you?" he said a little angrily. "Another one looking for trouble? Stay away and leave me be! I am not in the mood for talking..."
"Oh no, my dear, I am here not for a trouble... I am here for help" she said, smiling kinda devilishly. "I am a friend".
"That's where I got you" Coldfinger turned to her suddenly, again summoning his ice power. "I have no friends!" he shot a ray of ice right at her, even weakening it to not kill her in process. But...
He was shocked to see what happened next. The girl wasn't afraid, she was not dodging - instead, she stood there, untouched. As the ray approached her, she raised her hands and the fire came out of them, immediately melting away his ice. He stopped attacking. The girl smiled wider.
"I am just like you, my dear" she said. "Once a simple girl, wishing for a good life... And now a meta-human. Thanks to this "gift", people won't ever let us to have a calm and peaceful life. In their eyes, we are monsters. We have two ways of existing with that: we can give up... Or we can show them the real state of things. We may be monsters... Yes, we very well may be them. And we are not afraid of that opinion, we use it against them. They think they are thinking a right thing? Well... then they are going to regret that they are right. They will fear for their lives, and we will be at win, on the top..." as she spoke, she came closer to Coldfinger, who was now looking into the emptiness, processing her words. She walked around them, doing playful gestures as if he was just a doll she was playing with.
"You mean... If they think we are monsters... We should be monsters?" he murmured, looking at her.
"Why not though?" she said. "They finally leave us be, because they are afraid... And we have nothing to lose anyways. Am I right?" Coldfinger was silent. He couldn't easily counter that. He didn't want to be a monster, he had no wish in hurting anybody... But was there an option for him? He didn't know. So all his counters would be just silly compared to girl's words.
"I guess so..." he said. "Who are you? You feel like someone familiar... But at the same time, someone not from around here".
"That's a very precise description of me, deary" she chuckled. "My... Human name is Tina Blazenstein. But I am more known as Grilla. I am from a different wold, or more concretically - from another dimension. I am your counterpart from there. I haven't seen you nickname anywhere though..."
"I am Tim Shiverstein... Known as Coldfinger" replied him, standing straight. "So, Grilla, guest from the different dimension... What brought you here? You have a special goal in my dimension?"
"Oh, no, I arrived here by pure accident" she said, theatrically looking aside. "But I have the goal. I realized it not long after I stuck here. I want to bring the justice. Take my revenge. Or should I say..." she got very close to Coldfinger's face, almost whispering at his ear. "Our revenge".
"Our? You mean..." Coldfinger began.
"Yes, boy, my "hero" also arrived here, along with me" she said before he could finish. "And so I thought: I want to defeat my hero, and in this dimension must be my counterpart, also in desire of defeating their hero. So... Why not we cooperate? Combine our strength, and together, smite both heroes. The justice will be served and we get the chance to get what is rightfully ours..." her voice sounded manic. "So..." she reached her hand. "Do you agree?" Coldfinger stood still, looking at Grilla, then at her reached arm, and then back on her. With an evil smile then, he shook her hand.
"I agree" he said. Grilla devilishly grinned.
"... And that's how I found the ring and became the new DudePow in Megadale" Gal finished her story. In general, it was very close to Guy's origin as SheZow. Gal's uncle, Albert Munroe, older brother of her mother, died on the mission, and some time later after his death, Gal, her twin brother Kelli and her parents, Beatrix and Derek, moved to his house, and Gal discovered the ring there. Also, in school, she met her best friend, Mazey.
"Wow, that's a really familiar scenario" Guy said. "So, Kelli and Mazey?"
"Yeah, twin bro and best friend" Gal replied with a smirk. "Mazey is cool, her frequent ideas of what sidekick to be are always fun. And Kelli... Eh, he and Dudeley are such brainiacs. I can't imagine what a boring hero he would be if he gets the DudePow ring. He seems all neat and mannered..."
"Hey! Good mannerisms don't mean boring! They mean polite and careful" Kelly exclaimed offendedly.
"Sorry, girl, just spoke from my own perspective" Gal said. "Maybe I need to get a closer look on Kel and notice something I don't..."
"Hey, Gal, quick question" Maz said. "What's your situation with villains? So far, we met quite a lot..."
"Oh yeah, bad guys are really a pain by me" she replied. "Kelli and Dudeley hold a track in the database, but so far, there's no rating. Well, I see, you don't have one too. So..." she paused for a bit, thinking. "Not long after I became DudePow, I met Mother-Earth - very nagging criminal authority with earth-controlling powers. Then, my classmate turned into a meta-human with fire powers. She called herself Grilla. Also there was an old friend of my uncle - Tank. Then my evil slimy clone Brolicious, utter freak I should say... And that's all, I gues... Oh, no, also an old sorcerer that broke out of the statue, his name was..." she again paused, seemingly unable to recall the name. "Brandon... Or Barton... Something on B... How your version of him was called?"
"I think... Broujah. Yeah, Broujah" Guy replied, being deep inside surprised he actually remembers this ancient name.
"Hm, Broujah..." Gal was struggling hard to finally recall the name. "Ah, yes! Brojahn!" (pronounced Bro-YAN)
"These names you'll never see in any history book..." Kelly murmured.
"That list really resembles ours, just names are different" Guy said. "And one moment really stands out... You say, your classmate turned into a fire villain?"
"Yeah" Gal said. "Your version of her not?"
"Well..." Guy sighed. "He got ice powers. His nickname was... Coldfinger, I think... I actually feel sorry for him" Guy looked away with a sad expression.
"Yeah, I felt sorry for mine too" Gal approached Guy and put a hand on his shoulder. "She seemed like just a scared child... But that wasn't for long, she got lost quickly, giving in to destructive plans. It wasn't despair anymore, I can tell..."
Guy could only sigh and look away again. He wasn't sure, but he could recall his fight with Tim - nothing told about just insane desire for destruction. It was pure despair, attempt to bring the justice the way he has seen it... But no more. What if...?
His thoughts were interrupted by an alarm shriek.
"She-mergency! She-mergency!" Sheila reported. "In the western part of the city, a residential area is under attack! My scanners can read two meta-signatures. One I recall from the past - icy cold, I can even say freezing..."
"Coldfinger..." Guy quietly said. "That is the moment we meet again..."
"... And the second one is unfamiliar - burning, piping hot" Sheila continued. "Must be someone with a fire meta-ability".
"That can be Grilla" Gal said. "She must've been transported here along with me in that flashing rift" she looked at Guy. "Well, looks like our enemies found each other and decided to cooperate".
"Yeah, I see..." Guy said, and then smiled. "So why not we do the same? After that, we'll see if any other people of your dimension are here and search for a way to bring you all back home. Deal?" he reached hand.
"Deal" said Gal with a smile. "Time for a heroic cooperation!"
"And what about a sidekick?" Maz said with a smile, but suddenly Guy approached him.
"Sorry, dude, but better stay with Kelly. I suspect this Grilla to be less merciful than our icy friend. I can't let you risk..."
"But do you think just you two would manage alone against them?" Maz asked worriedly. "It was an intense fight back then when we fought Coldfinger. And there were three of us..."
"If anything happens, you'll get what to do, friend" Guy patted him. "But only in an emergency case. I just can't risk you, man... Just can't..."
"Alright, dude" Maz sighed. "Go and show them the power of a true heroic duo!" he smiled.
"I will" Guy smirked back, and then turned to Gal. "So, let's go save the day!" he raised up the ring hand. "You go girl!"
"Rock it dude!" Gal also raised her ring hand, and two flashes came out. Both kids were in their super suits now.
"Let's go!" DudePow said. SheZow gave him a weird look suddenly, that caught his attention. "Something is wrong?"
"Yeah..." SheZow said. "I forgot to ask you the first time, but... How do you do such a realistic boy voice? Even my girl voice costs me a lot of struggle..."
"Ah, yeah... I just found the creation of one of old DudePows" he said, pulling his collar slightly and revealing a small device strapped on his neck. "It's some kind of mini-voice alterer. It helps me make my voice realistically boyish without much struggle".
"Wow... I'd like to have one myself..." Shezow quietly said. "Mind sharing some blueprints after the whole case is over?"
"Maybe" DudePow winked.
Both heroes then headed to the She-Cycle and jolted in the tunnel.
"By the way... She-mergency, huh" said DudePow while the ride. "Dudeley is usually screaming "He-mergency!"
"Just as I thought..." SheZow chuckled.
Soon they found themselves on the scene that, according to Sheila, was the place of attack - a playground deep in the residential area, between tall houses. Well, it was a playground... Now it was nothing but ruins. Some were visibly burned, smelling smoke, and other were covered in frost, sparkling in the sun. It was silent around - people must have fled after the mess was made by two metas.
"Your girl really has a taste in destruction..." SheZow quietly said to DudePow.
"Well, your boy also doesn't seem like different now..." DudePow replied. They slowly walked by the destroyed playground equipment, looking around and listening, trying to hear any suspicious sound in the silence. They took out their weapons, ready to activate them in any moment.
Suddenly, two sounds came from above. One was fire crackling and other was ice crystal dingling. Heroes activated their weapons and stood back to back. From SheZow side a lot of ice spikes were, and from DudePow side, were big spurts of flame. Villains landed from above - looks like they hid somewhere there, on one of the houses. Coldfinger landed on DudePow side, quickly extinguishing Grilla's flames, and Grilla landed on SheZow side, melting Coldfinger's ice.
"Well well well..." Coldfinger said. "Looks like the heroes took the bait. Isn't it sweet, Grilla?"
"Sweet indeed, deary" she replied manically. "It's time to have some fun!"
"Yeah..." Coldfinger cracked his fists, preparing ice on his hands. "You, SheZow... You snatched my justice from my hands and then, thanks to you, I ended up in prison. I got stigmatized forever, not able to get rid of the monster label they placed on me! Now I am going to take what is mine. Justice will be served and I will finally be able to exist the way I need - never held back, never ever humiliated! I have been waiting for that for so long, and now-"
"Okay, stop it already!" Grilla said with an obvious annoyance in her voice. "Seriously, long speech? Are you a cartoon villain or something? Let's fight already!" at last words a grin of a predator appeared on her face.
"But..." started Coldfinger, but then just let out a grumble. "Ugh, you're right. I am speaking too much. Less talking - more action" he smiled and suddenly let out an ice wave from his hands. Grilla shoot fire. Heroes dodged the strikes, but looks like the villains weren't trying to hit them - the attacks hit each other, creating a thick steam that covered most of the area and totally blocked heroes' vision.
SheZow felt her She-Sense tingling like crazy, and she swung her Laser Lisptick to her back, thinking of blocking the incoming attack. But instead she got kicked right in the chest with a dense sole of a combat boot. SheZow coughed, falling backwards. She saw Grilla coming out of the steam with fire on her hands.
"Relax and don't fight, pink sweetheart" she chuckled devilishly. "All you do is only to delay your doom" she let out two massive fire blasts. SheZow dodged back and crossed her arms for protection, but again, the villainess wasn't aiming at her. She blasted somewhere behind. SheZow only then understood that Grilla was just firing up the ground, cuz as she fired her flames, a ring of fire appeared around them both.
"Nowhere to run for you now" she grinned. "Come to me, sugar..." SheZow gulped and then took a fighting stance as Grilla approached her.
Meanwhile, Coldfinger was attacking DudePow. The hero also got caught in the steam, and then the villain created an ice wall around.
"It will be ICE to take you down" he said, preparing icy weapons on his hands.
"I see you want a hand-to-hand fight? Well, I can provide it!" said DudePow, spinning his staff. "SheZow said you could be not as insane as Grilla, but looks like she got you on her side of mental gearloose!"
The two began to exchange blows. DudePow tried to hit Coldfinger that way he'll be down in seconds, but the villainous boy was either dodging the staff blows, or blocking the strikes with his ice weapons. It shattered easily from how strong hero's strikes were, but Coldfinger quickly made a new one.
"You are stubborn! But you can't win!" DudePow groaned, performing a series of blows on Coldfinger. He dodged them all and then created a big ice blade, with which he angrily rushed on the hero boy. Their weapons collided, but Coldfinger kept the blade from shattering with more ice energy.
"You have little chances too, blue guy" he said, pushing the hero backwards. He was panting, but kept standing. Coldfinger smiled. "The plan is working..." he smirked and rushed again with another attack, creating two small ice axes. DudePow blocked the strike of them with his staff.
"The plan? What's the plan?" he groaned, being out of breath. The villain boy flinched back, seemingly giving up the struggle, but then quickly rushed forward, headbutting the hero. He then let out an ice wave from his feet, making DudePow to slip and fall down. Coldfinger approached the hero, walking on ice like it's just ground, and held him up by the collar.
"Worry not, dude, I am not going to take your life" as Coldfinger spoke, DudePow could feel that the ice is slowly spreading from the place where the villain's hand were to all other sides, especially head and face. "Me and Grilla, my alternate sister in fate, had a deal that we just exhaust each other's hero and then change to finish them off rightfully" he grabbed DudePow's suit in the chest area, slowly freezing it too. "It was rather easy to bring you down..." he then covered his fist with ice and punched DudePow. Hero's vision went blurry and he heard ringing in his ears - but it was not any kind of He-Sense, it was just an approaching knockout. He, in his half-passed out state, felt how the villain drags him on the ground.
Meanwhile, even tho the fire walls got weaker and weaker with time, SheZow struggled with dodging. Grilla was unstoppably bombarding her with a flurry of fireballs. And the heroine couldn't just strike them away with Laser Lipstick - hot laser could do little against hot fire, just making the fireballs explode and strike her in the face with their heat - just heat, not even the fire. That caused the heroine to lose breath quickly. Her hair was barely holding together, meaning that any time her hairdo could give up and she'll need to spray it, to not lose her powers. With a villain like Grilla, there will be no time to spray the hair.
Villainess sent another fireball at the heroine. SheZow blocked it with her arms, getting pushed back in the process. As she looked up to see what Grilla is preparing, she was caught - the villainess pounced at her, pushing her with her shoulder. She then grabbed her arms tightly, making her drop the Lipstick, and then performed a hard knee blow. As SheZow bent, Grilla threw the fireball at the ground. It exploded and the wave knocked the heroine down. Grilla approached her, as she was coughing hardly, and grabbed by hair from the back of her head.
"Too easy" she chuckled. "But it still was fun. Now prepare for the end of your days..." she made a fire on her hand, aiming it right at SheZow's head.
"Well, at least now I believe DudePow..." SheZow groaned. "You are beyond repair by this point..."
"I take it as a compliment" Grilla smirked and continued her slow ritual. But suddenly...
"What are you doing?!" the yelling sounded from behind, along with the drop sound. Grilla stopped and annoyedly looked - it was Coldfinger. He dropped DudePow on the ground, as the hero just groaned in pain and dizziness.
"Doing something I need to do! You have a problem?" Grilla asked.
"We had a deal!" Coldfinger shouted. "Just weaken each other's enemies and then destroy our own rightfully!" suddenly, Grilla dropped SheZow and stood up, looking at Coldfinger.
"You said "rightfully"?!" she exclaimed. "Stop being a baby, dear! What right do we have? Our only right is doing everything we wish for! Which means..." she suddenly grabbed his jacket and pulled to herself. "No deals are valid" she then rudely pushed him away. "I said it just to take your assistance, because I could never defeat two heroes at once. With your help, my DudePow is down and not getting up anytime soon. Now I can kill both! This is what my fun is! Then will be just more! The reign of fire is coming!" as she kept gloating about her victory, Coldfinger stood still, gritting his fists.
What a fool he was! He believed that she actually wishes to help him... After all, she is his counterpart... As if. Her only intention is feeding her insane ambitions, her desire to destroy. All he wanted was to justly get away from all pursue and live calmly, without anyone bothering him for his meta-power. He had no wish for mass destruction or turning into a literal beast. Even though he expressed these ideas to his mother back then... Mother... He recalled what he said to her. She seemed like truly apologizing. But he was too angry to listen. Time made its effect on him afterwards. He is not a monster. And never wanted to be. Even Grilla's words, though made him doubt the status, but again... Just anger and despair led him. They made him blind. And that's what he gets for it.
Grilla turned back to SheZow, ready to resume her killing ritual. However, she again was distracted - this time, a beam struck her from behind. She stumbled, but managed to keep standing.
"What the..." she turned back again to see Coldfinger looking at her angrily. "Oh boy, you're ruining all the fun!" she screamed, complaining. "Why can't anyone let me just have my fun?!" she stomped angrily. "Ugh, fine, if you want so, I am going to-"
She didn't finish. Coldfinger stepped closer and shot an ice beam from his one hand. Grilla received a hit, stumbling, and began to counter it with her fire. Coldfinger, not stopping walking, added another beam from another hand. Grilla turned on the fiery counter too, but she wasn't so confident now - the ice was extremely strong. It was a rare time when she actually began to... Fear.
"W-what are you doing?!" she screamed. "You cannot win!" she angrily clenched her teeth and began to emit a lot of fire to counter his ice. But he just walked closer and closer, drilling her with his angry gaze. His ice was fed by his anger.
Meanwhile, DudePow came to his senses. He got up slightly to see the two villains fighting. His mind reacted immediately - that's a chance. He, as quick as he could, got up and rushed to SheZow. She also slowly was coming to her senses. He helped her up.
"Thanks..." she said, coughing. "You fine?"
"I guess..." he replied. "You seem rather well to... Though your hairdo is..."
"Oh no..." she groaned. "Give me a sec" she took the She-Spray from her belt and sprayed a bit on her hair, making them normal again. "That should be better" she said.
"Wow, a spray that fixes hairdo immediately?" DudePow said, raising an eyebrow. "Why would you need it though?"
"I have to keep a neat hairdo, or else my powers go zero" explained SheZow.
"Ah, yeah, got it..." said DudePow, smirking. "We even have that in common - a silly thing that acts like a kryptonite on us. I have to keep my face tidy to retain all powers..." he suddenly stopped, getting concerned. "By the way, is my face okay?"
"Well, it's a little dusty" SheZow said, and she was right - DudePow's face was covered in dusty traces from being dropped on the ground multiple times.
"Oh great..." he groaned and took a pack from his belt. From it he took out a napkin and wiped his face with it, making it clean again. "That should do it" he took the pack away.
"Well, now we're back in commission" SheZow smiled. "Now let's-" she was about to go and return to fighting villains, but she saw what was happening between them and froze. DudePow also froze, cuz just now he actually realized what exactly their enemies were doing.
Coldfinger got very close to Grilla. She tried very much to counter his ice with her fires - but to no avail. He came close enough to reach her with hands... And grabbed her hands strongly. The two began to struggle. She tried to fire up her hands, but the flames were weak - and got weaker and weaker with every second. She felt how her heat is leaving her, eaten away by Coldfinger's cold. As she looked in his eyes, she saw... No insanity. No villainousness like hers. Just a cold, burning cold anger. She felt extreme cold on her hands and looked. She saw how thick ice is spreading, covering her arms and coming down to the rest of her.
"No! No! NOOOOOOOOOO-" she screamed before being fully covered in thick ice. Coldfinger let her go - but it seemed like doing so was a struggle for him. He then began to breath heavily.
"I... Wow..." DudePow muttered. "That was a real power... So beautiful and strong..."
"I told you he's not hopeless" SheZow said and then approached Coldfinger. "Hey... Um... Thank you for helping us" suddenly, Coldfinger looked at two heroes and began running away. "Wait!" SheZow prepared to run after him, but before turned to DudePow. "Wait here, I'll deal myself. Watch for your Grilla" as she told it, she ran too. DudePow shruged and stayed in place, looking again at the icy statue Grilla got turned into.
Coldfinger was running just where his feet led him. All he wanted was to get away. Hide and never be found by anyone.
Suddenly, he heard running behind and then somebody grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop.
"Wait, don't run!" he heard a scream and understood by voice that it was SheZow. "Why are you running?"
"Let me go!" he screamed back. "I don't want to get back in cell!" he struggled to get free, but suddenly, he felt how SheZow released him. He looked at her - she was seemingly confused.
"But... I don't want to bring you to the cell" she said.
"Oh really?" he sarcasticaly said. "Don't think I am a baby. You are a hero and I am a villain. You have to hand me to the police and bring to the prison, where monsters like me belong..."
"But you're not a monster" SheZow said, and he felt something in his soul. He looked closer at SheZow - and saw a pure compassion in her eyes. "Since that last time, I was thinking on what happened... I could see you only want to have a calm life, without anybody bothering you for being a meta. And that you wanted to kill Jack..."
"Oh, don't remind, please..." he said. "I was angry and scared that all this happened... So I found myself a scapegoat. Not to say he is not guilty, but I was never the one to decide if he lives or dies..."
"That's right, Tim" SheZow continued. "You are not a villain. And not a monster. You are actually a good boy".
"Maybe I am... But people don't seem to care about it" he said, averting his eyes. "They see my meta-powers... And I am a monster for them".
"People are always afraid of something they cannot understand, Tim" SheZow said, coming closer and placing a hand on his shoulder. "They cannot understand my powers. But they aren't afraid of me. Because I showed them that I use my powers for good" her hand moved from shoulder to his cheek, and he looked at SheZow again, in his eyes she looked like she was shining. "And maybe... If you use your powers for good too, then people stop thinking you're just a freak?"
"Use my power for good... Like, being a hero..." Coldfinger murmured, again looking away, as SheZow let go off his face. "I'll... I'll give it a thought, SheZow".
"Glad to hear that from you, Tim!" she smiled. "Need a ride or help?"
"No, thanks, I'll find a place myself..." he said and aimed to leave, but stopped. "Before I leave... I want to say something..." he turned back to SheZow. "I hold no grudge to you or Jack. Not anymore. No more revenge, I had enough..."
"That is also something I am glad to hear" SheZow smirked.
"Not saying goodbye" Coldfinger said with a faint smirk too. "Who knows if we meet again..." after that words, he finally left, disappearing among the walls of buildings. SheZow could only smile.
"I hope next time we meet, you'll be on my side" she said.
After some time, SheZow was back at that place where she left DudePow and Grilla. The boy hero was still looking at the capsuled villainess.
"Well, I'm back!" SheZow said, dragging his attention.
"Was it all good?" he asked.
"Better than I expected" SheZow laughed slightly and then looked at the icy statue Grilla. "Well... Where are you going to take her?"
"She has to be brought to the meta prison before she melts. But well..." DudePow shrugged and sighed. "The only meta prison here is one of your dimension, it will be very confusing to place my villain there".
"I can tell, they won't be able to register a person that doesn't exist in the world" SheZow rubbed the back of her head. "Any ideas of how else to keep her?"
"Nothing" DudePow replied. "Just like no ideas of how I get back to my dimension..."
"I promise we will find a way!" SheZow said, patting his shoulder. "Maybe the creators of that chronotone machine will help? After all, their creation made the rift that brought you and her here..."
Suddenly, she heard crackling sound. She quickly looked at the iced Grilla - she was afraid it was her breaking the ice. But no, she was still and silent. The sound was in the air on the other side. The sparkles appeared out of nowhere and then, it turned into a shiny, sparkling hole in the midair - a portal.
"DudePow? Is it you?" a male voice sounded from there. In the hole, SheZow saw two persons that heavily resembled Kelly and Maz in their usual outfits - but Kelly was male, with short slick hair and pants instead of skirt, and Maz was female, with long hair held by a hairclip, and jean skirt with leggings instead of jeans. Seemingly, they were Kelly and Maz counterparts that DudePow talked about in the She-Lair - Kelli and Mazey respectively.
"Yes, I am here!" DudePow replied. "I am so glad to see you, guys! You won't believe what happened!"
"Tell the story later, bro!" Kelli said. "The portal is unstable, I don't know how long Dudeley would hold it! So better hurry!"
"Alright" DudePow frowned. "But still, let me introduce you this great hero!" he made a gesture to move their attention on SheZow. "This is SheZow, my counterpart from this dimension" he smiled, and SheZow just awkwardly waved her hand.
"Hi there" she said.
"Hello, girl" said Kelli with a welcoming smile. "Glad to see my brother had company while his sudden disappearance. I am Kelli, his brother."
"And I'm his best friend Mazey" added the girl with typical expression like Maz - welcoming, but silly.
"Yeah, DudePow told me about you two" she said. "I am glad to meet you".
"Okay, now I guess I really have to go..." DudePow said. "Guys, take the present first!" he got up the iced Grilla - seemingly with super-strength, - and moved it through a portal. He then turned to SheZow. "Well... Goodbye, SheZow".
"Goodbye, DudePow" she replied. "It was a pleasure to work with you" she reached her hand, and the male hero responded with a handshake.
"Same" he said, and then turned to the portal. Kelli reached hand to help DudePow get in, but suddenly, the hero stopped.
"Before I leave, I have something I want to do..." he whispered something to Kelli, and the boy, with a sigh, left. Soon he got back, giving a small thing to DudePow.
"If all that stuff leave Dudeley with an overload, I swear I put a password on my laptop for you" he grumbled.
"Thanks for the help, bro" said DudePow as if he haven't heard it. Then he got to SheZow, handing her the small thing - a device like one he wore under the collar. "Here, a voice alterer. I remember you wanted one for yourself, so take it as my goodbye gift".
"Thank you" SheZow smiled happily.
"Thank you for that adventure" DudePow smiled and got into the portal. "Goodbye until next time!" as he said these words, the portal shut off, closing. SheZow was alone on the street. She stood still for some time, just smiling, and then looked at the device in her hands.
"Yeah... Next time..." she said, then put the device on her belt and headed to the place she left her She-Cycle at.