Chapter Two: Shimmering Ire
Guy Hamdon stretched his arms out as he rose from his bed. "Today is going to be a great day!" exclaimed Guy. Yes, today was SheZow Appreciation Day! It was days like this that made Guy glad he found his aunt's ring! Sure, the color scheme could be better and the tights really rode up in the…'ahem' anyway back to our main character! Yes, as Guy got dressed and walked down to breakfast, all he could think about was how wonderful the day was going to be!
Seeing his mother, Droosha Hamdon, in front of the oven, Guy decided to say, "Hi mom, what's cooking?"
Looking up from her just finished creation, Droosha gave Guy a smile and said, "Oh good morning honey! Sorry you missed everyone else, Kelly went off to help set-up the school fair, Maz is with his family, and your father got called in early for patrols. Can't have today be interrupted, right?"
A little weird by the little song-like quality at the end, Guy, "That's great mom, but I'd like to know what you're cooking."
"Oh, just a little something I'm cooking for the bake sale!" explained Droosha, before pulling her creation out of the oven. It was a cake baked in the shape of SheZow, with pink frosting for her costume and cape, little baked goods for the Beautility Belt, and her face with white frosting and hair in black frosting with a pink streak. There was one little thing odd it though…
"Uh, mom…this seems to be missing something…" indicated Guy subtly, not wanting to upset his mother. Where the eyes of SheZow would normally be, a pair of X's in black licorice was placed. Guy could think of a number of reasons for that, like them being place holders or something like that.
His mother looked over the cake with a critical look before slapping herself on the head with a smile and said, "Of course! Silly me! Thank you Guy!"
Relieved that any previous suspicions he had seemed wrong, Guy was shocked when his mother pulled out a butcher's knife and stabbed the SheZow cake in the chest! Red jam began to seep from the cut, completing the look of a knife wound! His mother pirouetted with joy before kissing the shocked Guy on the cheek and saying, "Thank you Guy! Now it's perfect! So would you like me to drive you over to the school fair?"
Shaking himself free of his shock, Guy was able to respond, "Uh, no thanks Mom. I've got some last minute stuff to do myself! I'll meet you there, I promise!"
Picking up the cooled cake Droosha began to walk out of the house. "Okay dear, but be careful! I don't want you getting hurt on the way over! Love you!"
"Love you too! See ya!" exclaimed Guy, trying to hide the worry in his voice. Once he was certain his mom had left for the school fair, he rushed right back up into his room and down the secret entrance into the She-Lair! As he slid down the fireman pole to the She-Lair, Guy turned into SheZow, his worry and stress triggering his transformation. As he reached the She-Lair, SheZow immediately ran up to Sheila.
"Shelia! Shelia! Something crazy is going on with mom!" exclaimed SheZow, his voice cracking with worry about his mom.
"I am aware of what happened." explained Sheila in her usual tone, "Ever since that strange burst of mystical energy last night, I've been…"
"Wait, what strange burst of mystical energy?!" asked SheZow interrupting Sheila's previous explanation.
"Last night, a strange cloud formation appeared over Megadale." started Sheila, a fuzzy image of the formation appearing on her screen, "It unleashed a pervasive energy field that intersected with the limbic system of almost all the residents of Megadale."
"Huh?" asked SheZow, Sheila's thorough and complicated explanation losing him completely.
"Basically this field is designed to affect the emotional state of everyone in Megadale." explained Sheila further.
"Anyway to know how people are being affected by this…thing?" asked SheZow hoping for an explanation for his mother's behavior.
"Unfortunately, scanning the energy won't tell us just how the emotional state of a person has changed; only their actions will." Explained Sheila, causing SheZow to look depressed, "However," started Sheila, causing SheZow to perk up, "I do have camera access to just about everywhere in Megadale. Let me go over the footage for a second and see what I can find." And with that Sheila's icon disappeared and a swirling hourglass appeared. After about a minute, Sheila reappeared with a thoughtful expression on her lips.
"Well?" asked SheZow, hoping Sheila had found…something!
"Other than your mother's…freak-out in the kitchen, nothing else has stood out. The finishing touches are being done at the fair; the police are out on their usual patrol, nothing truly unusual has happened." explained Sheila.
"So…what now?" asked SheZow unsure of what to do. Despite Sheila's assurances, Guy had this horrible feeling something was going to go wrong! The 'mystical energy' was only part of it: when his mom stabbed the SheZow cake, there was this look of…enjoyment he had only seen once before! On the face of La Bruja…right before she was about to kill him!
"The only thing I can suggest is to act like nothing untoward has happened." explained Sheila, earning her a look of disbelief on SheZow's face, "The best way to understand what is going on is for you to go out there and investigate. Video surveillance can only show us so much."
SheZow looked down as he thought about what Sheila said. "I guess I don't really have a choice, do I?" asked SheZow, hoping Sheila would pull a new answer out of her server.
"Do not worry. I will be monitoring the situation the whole time you are at the fair." reassured Sheila. SheZow then climbed into the Sheicle, drive out the entrance of the She-Lair, making his way to the school fair. While driving there, he passed by several people on the sidewalk, shopping, visiting family, all the usual activities for a holiday. Yet Guy could not help feeling that something was…off about the way people looked at him! Shaking his head to erase the doubts in his mind, SheZow pulled into his school's parking lot.
Megadale Middle School was a fairly typical school, if one discounted the SheZow villain attacks happening on a bi-weekly basis. Currently, a giant balloon was floating overhead, signaling the start of the SheZow Appreciation Day School Fair! Held out on the football field, there were various stands serving food or offering carnival games. Part of this event was to pay for some of the damages the school had accumulated during the Witch's War. As SheZow made his way through the seemingly good nature, his mind kept coming back to what happened with his mother in the kitchen…
"SheZow! Over here!" shouted Kelly from the stage in the center of the fair. It was where SheZow was supposed to make a speech. SheZow ran up to the stage and Kelly pulled him up onto the stage. "Where have you been?! The speech starts in less than ten minute!" exclaimed Kelly, rather angrily.
Thinking fast SheZow replied, "Relax Kelly! I was…just doing some last minute practice on my speech with Sheila. By the way, after the speech could I talk to you about something?" asked SheZow in his falsetto voice. Every since La Bruja showed up, Guy had been very careful about keeping his identity and personal life a secret. Not easy when La Bruja had FAB hack into the same security system Sheila used! This is why he decided to delay telling Kelly about what happened with their mom.
Kelly sighed and said, "Sure, we'll talk. Now hurry! Everything has to be perfect!" While it was true Kelly was normally one to sweat the small details, she almost seemed…manic about everything going perfectly today. Guy shook off another bout of growing worry as he saw his friend Maz approach.
"MAZ!" exclaimed SheZow excited to see his friend, "Win anything at the booths yet?"
"Not yet, but here's hoping!" exclaimed Maz. He seemed to be the only person behaving like themselves so far. "Hey, I hope you're ready for the speech!"
"Chillax, Mazy! I know my lines backwards and forwards!" exclaimed SheZow confidently, "I'm guessing you'll be premiering the latest sidekick ensemble!"
"Oh don't worry SheZow, it's a doozy!" explained Maz in a rather sinister tone before walking off. Once again, the worry that had been building up in Guy reappeared. What was that about! thought SheZow before approaching the podium, still hidden behind the curtain, Kelly standing at the side.
"And you're on in three…two…" prompted Kelly while counting down on her fingers like one of those teleprompters. At one, the curtains pulled back revealing to SheZow all of the people who had come to the fair cheering! SheZow waved back, his fears and worries melting away to the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd!
"Thank you! Thank you! It warms my heart to see all of your smiling faces!" proclaimed SheZow, not seeing the rather sinister smiles the people were sporting, "I would like to be the one to official welcome you to-" SheZow suddenly stopped as he held his hands in the air and looked up, finally noticing that the sign above him, which would normal say 'Welcome to SheZow Appreciation Day' had been altered to say 'Welcome to SheZow ANNIHILATION Day!1'
SheZow also began to notice that everyone in the audience was started to pull out various makeshift weapons! Turning around to look at his sister Kelly and loyal sidekick Maz, he notice the butcher's knife in Kelly's hand and the hungry look in Kelly's eyes! Maz was sporting a snazzy business suit while wearing an executioner's hood and wielding a heavy two-handed ax in his hand! Most disturbing of all was the blood-red/purple glow coming from everyone's eyes!
(SHEZOW!)
Back at 13 Dead End Drive, the villains were all watching SheZow's reaction to the turn of events in the theater room of the old McMurphy Mansion! They were all (with the exception of La Bruja) sitting around, eating popcorn, watching in anticipation of what would happen next! It was Tara who was the first one to sum up the mood of the assembled villains by saying, "Oooh, this is gonna be good!"
Disclaimer: I do not own SheZow. Also the plot for this story is based somewhat off the plot of a Powerpuff Girls episode called "Tough Love." I loved any of the Powerpuff Girl episodes involving HIM. I love a villain who knows how to effectively manipulate an opponent's emotions. I hope you show your appreciation by reading and reviewing! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
1 The bold text was written with blood red paint!