Bitter Sacrif-Ice (a SheZow fic)

	Although SheZow himself very rarely went out patrolling randomly, Kelly had suggested it to SheBang so that he could look at Megadale from the view of a protector, rather than a troublemaker. SheBang had no problem with that. The cool nighttime air was also helping him stay awake; SheBang's new sleep schedule as a result of Kelly's plans to utilize the two Glamazons individually, rather than as a team, would take some getting used to. SheBang teleported from rooftop to rooftop; a mild headache hit him as he started teleporting, but he ignored it and continued further into the downtown area.

	Meanwhile, in the She-Lair, Kelly looked half-asleep. She had a thermos of hot chocolate and a plate of apple slices on Sheila's control console. SheZow was still asleep on the Shegeneration Module. Kelly munched on an apple slice as she used her free hand to operate the keyboard. "Anything suspicious yet, Sheila?"
	"Your behavior, for one," Sheila pointed out. "You look exhausted. You really should get to bed."
	"Uh-uh. I need to keep an eye on SheBang. With SheZow, he's got Maz with him, but SheBang is flying solo. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure the police are still after SheBang," Kelly replied.
	"Let's hope he doesn't decide to 'accidentally' do harm to any officers that try to apprehend him," Sheila commented.
	"I told Morgan that if he hurts any police officers, or anyone who's not being aggressive toward him, that I'm not giving him any medicine," Kelly explained, grinning.
	"'Medicine'?"
	"Oh, right, I haven't told you yet. I'm going to test the effects of certain pills on Morgan. I want to make sure there won't be any....issues...before I start on Guy's TREATMENT," Kelly answered. "Estrogen, spironolactone. They haven't arrived, yet, but the idea is to power up SheBang by increasing Morgan's femininity even further."
	Sheila paused. "And regarding Guy...he doesn't have any objections?"
	"He doesn't KNOW. And for the time being, he doesn't need to. It'll be months before we'll start seeing any major changes in Morgan, anyway. Assuming it works. Who knows? It's never been done on a Glamazon like either of them before," Kelly informed. "But it needs to be tried, at least. It's for their survival in the future. Not to mention how happy Morgan will be."
	"Is Morgan transgendered? Wouldn't it be more fitting to refer to Morgan as 'she'?"
	"Oh, probably. But I'm not going to TELL Morgan that. I need him to rely on me, and no one else. If he knew about the concept of transgenderism, he could go talk to a therapist and eventually get things dealt with himself. I need him, not only as a guinea pig, but I need him to keep his mouth shut and behave. Guy will FREAK if he finds out what I'm planning. And that means making sure that Morgan is firmly on my side," Kelly admitted. "If I can offer Morgan something tangible that Guy can't, Morgan won't tell him squat. That's the kind of person he is."
	"Well, I can understand your concern for their lives, but I'm not sure I approve of your methods," Sheila sighed.
	"Look who's talking," Kelly muttered. The two remained silent for a couple of minutes.
	"I hate to change the subject, but I just noticed something interesting happening downtown," Sheila reported. "Would you like to take a look at the live footage?"
	Kelly's half shut eyes suddenly opened all the way. She grabbed the thermos and took a swig. "Of course! Let's see!" she exclaimed, hot chocolate dribbling down her chin. Sheila then displayed footage on the main monitor of a bird's eye view, via the SheZow satellite, of the shop that Kelly and Maz had visited once back when Maz was having doubts of his worth as a sidekick. In front of the shop, there was a black box van parked. Wooden crates were being unloaded from the van and taken into the shop. The shopkeeper was standing outside, keeping count of the crates as they were brought inside. Carrying the crates were none other than Megamonkey's monkey minions. Due to their small size and the weight of the crates, it took two monkeys to carry a single crate inside, making the process a slow one. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW that guy was up to no good! He's in cahoots with Megamonkey!"
	"Kelly, calm down."
	Kelly pressed a button, activating the audio-only communication between the She-Lair and SheBang. "SheBang! Get up into the air and find a black van with monkeys unloading it! Don't get violent right off the bat, but confront the guy supervising!"
	The sound of SheBang's voice came through a speaker. "Alright, I'll get on it."

	Looking up into the night sky, SheBang teleported straight up. He looked around quickly, checking for signs of movement. When he spotted the van and the monkeys, he went to teleport once again, but his vision blurred and he teleported way too high, landing back first on a nearby building's roof with a loud thud. "DAMMIT! Owww..."
	"What was...that?" the shopkeeper thought out loud, looking around. He looked at the monkeys, who paid the noise no mind. "Eh, you guys aren't terribly observant." Sighing, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. He waited a few seconds until the recipient answered the call. "It's Victor. Things are going smoothly so far. I'll be able to send the cash with your helpers on their way back. And tell them to take a goddamn bath." He then paused for a moment, allowing the other party to speak. "That so? Well, I don't personally know anyone who PERFORMS those kinds of procedures, but I know someone who's likely RECEIVED one. That Tara broad, who was involved in that Glamageddon thing? She's got blasters INSIDE her arms. Wanna find a surgeon who also knows machines, you talk to her." Victor paused again for about fifteen seconds. "That's none of my business. If you screwed up, YOU screwed up. Want me to be the middle man, you better cut me a deal on this hardwa--" His words were cut off by the other party's sudden response. "...Shut the fuck up. What, you wanna sell this stuff out in front of that 'lair' of yours, like a garage sale? No? Then the deal stands as-is. I already gave you information for free that I'd normally charge for. Goodbye." He then pushed a button on the cell phone, ending the call before putting it back in his pocket. Right at that moment, SheBang jumped down from the roof he was on top of and walked toward Victor and the monkeys. He stopped about two meters away from Victor.
	SheBang looked back and forth between Victor and the monkeys. The monkeys, whose job it was simply to load and unload cargo, not to fight, ignored SheBang's presence. "Hey. Why a delivery past midnight? What's in those boxes?"
	"Take a look around, little lady. My shop is small. Having a van this size, receiving a load this big during the day would be....intrusive," Victor pointed out.
	"The boxes. What's IN them?" SheBang demanded, narrowing his eyes.
	"Hey, I remember you! You were all over the news....SheBang! That's it. Wow. You pissed off a LOT of people...."
	"Don't change the subject."
	"You want to know what's in the boxes? Come back with a search warrant, bitch," Victor goaded. "Speaking of which..." He then produced his cell phone again and dialed a number. "Hello, police? Yeah, I'd like to report a sighting of that SheBang girl, the one who beat the crap out of all those prison guards and put a boot up the city's ass. She's standing right in front of me, making threats. You want a picture? I can take a picture if you want." SheBang began trembling with anger. He instinctively reached for the Cuteility Belt, but paused when he remembered what Kelly had said. Less than a minute later, a police siren could be heard in the distance, getting closer. SheBang took off running as a police car rounded the corner and was gaining on him quickly. The car got ahead of him, did a quick ninety degree slide and stopped in front of him. The two officers got out of the car and drew their guns.
	"Hands in the air!" one of the officers demanded.
	"You think you can kill me with those? Go for it," SheBang dared.
	"There's no reasoning with her. Take her down!" the other officer ordered. The two of them opened fire, but could not hit SheBang as about a hundred short-range teleports within the span of fifteen seconds made their shots miss. After each of them had spent all thirteen shots in their clips, SheBang teleported further away, but again, missed the mark and landed on one of an apartment building's many balconies. He tripped, slammed into the railing, and coughed up blood. The officers reloaded their guns, but SheBang was too far away for them to get a clear shot. The two of them got back into the car and sped down the road.
	"AAAAAHHHH!" SheBang screamed in pain as he teleported again, re-appearing high above Megadale. He curled up in mid-air, clutching his head as he cried. "Wh-what is WRONG with me?" Before he picked up too much speed from plummeting, he eyed a familiar location and forced one more teleport, landing on the roof of an old accomplice. The roof was that of Coldfinger's house. SheBang landed stomach-down, coughing up blood right in front of him on impact.

	"This isn't good," Sheila commented.
	"What's wrong?" Kelly asked. She was continuing to enjoy her snack, assuming that SheBang had the situation under control.
	"SheBang has been increasing the use of his teleportation power too much in too short a time frame. He hasn't been able to get used to the increased mental pressure yet. Although he's much more feminine than before, his mental fortitude has likely weakened, actually...as a result of being less...driven," Sheila explained.
	"That makes sense. That rapid-teleporting thing he did against SheZow, I'd never seen him do that before," Kelly added. "I can't imagine what it actually feels like to have and use that power."
	"The user's head basically throbs with every teleport. Distance doesn't affect it, but doing it repeatedly in quick succession is like being pummeled," Sheila continued. "He'll get more used to it over time, but for now, he's trying to do too much too quickly. SheBang needs to learn to use it in moderation and make use of his other abilities when possible."

	"....Huh? What time is--what's going onnnn...?" Coldfinger murmured, wiping drool from his cheek as he sat up, looking at the clock in his room. He had been awoken by the sound of a crash directly above his room. Growling, he got out of bed, grabbed his coat, and put it on. As he walked toward the window in his room, he suddenly paused when SheBang dropped down from above and landed on the balcony, staggering and grabbing onto the railing with one hand and holding his forehead with the other. "SheBang? She looks like she's in a lot of pain. Maybe I should....DEEPEN it. A little payback." Coldfinger grinned as he opened the balcony door. SheBang walked right past him and sat down on the floor, not saying anything. Ensuring that he had no way out, Coldfinger closed the balcony door and locked it right after SheBang came in. "So, you still REMEMBER me?"
	SheBang looked up at Coldfinger. "What do you mean?"
	"You left me for dead that night!" Coldfinger protested. He glared at SheBang. "I thought we were on the same side!"
	SheBang snickered, the pain having subsided a little. "Same side? As you? Listen, I never cared about whether SheZow lived or died, right from the start."
	"WHAT?!" Coldfinger blurted out. "But you've lost to her so many times! Where's your pride?"
	"Pride?! Who cares about pride?" SheBang laughed. Coldfinger's eye twitched. "I can transform whenever I want, now, thanks to that stunt I pulled. You, the cons I freed, me attacking SheZow's sidekick...were all nothing but tools for me to get what I wanted."
	Without any warning, Coldfinger blasted SheBang with a blizzard, obscuring his vision and preventing him from moving. "I CAN'T STAND YOU! GO AHEAD AND DIE!" Coldfinger kept up the pressure, knowing that as long as SheBang couldn't open his eyes, he couldn't use the Heat Vision Wink, nor could he teleport. SheBang was forced up against the wall, as ice began to form on him.
	"L...Lo....Long-Haired Super She-Spin!" SheBang's pigtails grew in size as he began to spin rapidly. The speed and force of the spinning was actually enough to prevent Coldfinger's attack from affecting him more, by forcing the blizzard to the sides. SheBang moved progressively closer to Coldfinger as he spun, forcing him to back up. After SheBang stopped spinning, his hair returned to normal as Coldfinger lunged, punching SheBang in the face and sending him tumbling back against the wall. Completely consumed by anger, Coldfinger rushed to where SheBang was, grabbed him by the throat, forced him right up against the wall and began punching him in the stomach repeatedly. He paused for a moment, formed a thick layer of ice around his fist that resembled the head of a mace, and then continued punching SheBang. However, SheBang's own arms were completely free, allowing him to punch Coldfinger in the nose and send him flying into the opposite wall. SheBang coughed up more blood as he produced his Laser Hair Dryer and pointed it at Coldfinger, charging up a shot.
	Coldfinger's eyes widened as he saw what was about to happen. "Uh....ehehehe..." Their eyes met. Knowing that SheBang would fire the second he moved, Coldfinger stayed completely still. SheBang's hand began to shake. A minute passed. Finally deciding that enough was enough, SheBang dispelled the charging energy and put the Laser Hair Dryer away.
	"I'm sorry."
	"....What?" Coldfinger questioned, raising an eyebrow.
	"I said I'm SORRY, OKAY?!" SheBang cried. Coldfinger didn't buy it, and produced an icy blade on his right wrist. He stood up, walked over to SheBang, and raised the blade. SheBang put his left hand forward, conjuring up the Heart Shield and holding it directly in between the two of them. "Let's bury the hatchet."
	"Bury the hatchet?! Who do you think you are?" Coldfinger blurted out.
	"I'm not asking to be your friend. I'm not asking for you to put an end to your ways. But you and I...well, we're NOT on the same side," SheBang told, dispelling the Heart Shield. Coldfinger stepped back, confused as to what was going on. "I joined SheZow's side. Doing my part to protect Megadale. I have to. Papa won't forgive me if I don't."
	Coldfinger's jaw dropped. "She actually TRUSTS you?! Ice see I probably hit you in the head a little TOO hard."
	"I don't know if she trusts me," SheBang replied. "But the next time you and I meet, it'll be as opponents. And I'll fight you if I have to. But I'm not going to threaten your mom anymore, or force my problems onto you."
	"You...you...!!" Coldfinger growled, clenching his fists. He trembled with anger as he stared SheBang down.
	"I took advantage of your weaknesses a lot. I know what they are. So what do you say I tell you MY weakness, and then we call it even?" SheBang proposed.
	"Your weakness is your hair being messed up, right? No, wait, the blizzard didn't disable your superpowers..." Coldfinger mentioned.
	"It's this," SheBang told, removing the ribbons that were holding up his pigtails, letting his hair fall naturally. He put the ribbons in the Cuteility Belt. "No pigtails, no powers."
	"Ha ha ha...HAHAHAHA!" Coldfinger laughed. He grabbed SheBang by the wrists and forced him down onto the floor. "You're right! You're so WEAK without your super strength! What if I just killed you right here and now?! It's not like some She-Lac spray can instantly re-tie your pigtails!" Coldfinger burst out into a fit of laughter.
	"You won't."
	Coldfinger paused. "Huh? Why would you think that? I'M EVIL!!"
	"Good or evil doesn't matter. You have a lot of pride. Too much pride to kill an opponent who purposely weakened themselves right in front of you. You're the type who wants to win fights the old-fashioned way....with your own wits and power," SheBang pointed out. "It's the one thing about you that makes you....a COOL guy. Hee hee."
	"REALLY, NOW?!" Coldfinger shouted, raising his fist and punching. However, he simply punched the floor directly to the left of SheBang's head. Coldfinger burst out laughing at SheBang's shocked expression. "I had you. I TOTALLY HAD YOU! HAHAHAHA! You really need to learn to doubt people!"
	"So do you," SheBang replied, wrapping his arms around Coldfinger's shoulders, pulling him down and kissing him on the lips. Coldfinger's eyes went wide as he tried to speak, but couldn't. The kiss continued for about five seconds before Coldfinger finally got over the initial shock and forced himself away from SheBang. "Hee hee hee! Your tongue feels like a popsicle."
	"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Coldfinger demanded, wiping his mouth. "SheZow would never do--"
	"I'm not SheZow."
	"And didn't you just say we're not on the same team?!"
	"Yeah, I'm on the other team."
	"Then WHY?!" Coldfinger questioned.
	"Because you're a boy, and you're THERE," SheBang admitted, licking his lips and narrowing his eyes. He sat up and crawled toward Coldfinger as Coldfinger backed away, soon finding himself up against the wall. "I notice you still haven't killed me yet."
	"I'm going to kill you on MY TERMS. SheZow as well! Now GET OUT!" Coldfinger protested. His fighting mood was completely gone; he wanted nothing more than to forget this night had ever happened.
	"TIMMY! Do you have any idea what time it is?!" Coldfinger's mother blurted out as she knocked on the door. "What is going on in..." She paused after opening the door, seeing SheBang with messy, untied hair, his arms wrapped around Coldfinger.
	"Oh, hi, Coldfinger's Mom!" SheBang chimed.
	"TOO YOUNG! There's a certain order to things, you know!" she criticized.
	"MOTHER! She's NOT my girlfriend!" Coldfinger pointed out. He was panting, completely out of breath from the fight and the following stress.
	"We're not doing anything bad, we're just playing!" SheBang added. "Coldfinger, huuuug!" SheBang squeezed Coldfinger and rubbed his cheek up against his, smiling cutely. He looked at Coldfinger's mother. "Ah, so refreshing, like an ice pack!"
	"Oh, I can't stay mad at a sweetie pie like you, SheBang!" Coldfinger's mother exclaimed. "But, Timmy, next time you want to have a sleepover, just...tell me, okay?"
	"But MOTHER--"
	"I'll let you two get back to your games now, but don't stay up too much later!" Coldfinger's mother added before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
	The second Coldfinger's mother had left, SheBang narrowed his eyes and grinned slightly. "Your mom is SO amusing."
	"You shut up abo--"
	"Hey, I said I'd stop threatening her. I didn't say I'd stop talking about her behind her back," SheBang added.
	"Just go home..." Coldfinger groaned.
	"No sleepover?"
	"NO!" With that, Coldfinger got up, pulled SheBang to his feet, and then forced him over to the balcony door. Coldfinger used his free hand to unlock the balcony door and open it. He then pushed SheBang out onto the balcony and shut the door before SheBang could get back up. SheBang looked at him intently, through the glass, and smiled. He moved his face closer to the glass; for some reason, Coldfinger couldn't look away. Once SheBang's face was within half an inch of the glass, he began licking it. Coldfinger made a rude gesture with one hand before closing the curtains, taking off his coat, and heading back to bed.
	"HEE HEE HEE! What a loser!" SheBang giggled, producing his ribbons from the Cuteility Belt and re-tying his pigtails. The police had given up their search.
	Kelly's voice could be heard from SheBang's wrist. "SheBang!"
	"Huh? Oh, Kelly."
	"What's been going on? You've been at that location for a while. I saw what happened with the police. Are you okay?" Kelly asked.
	"More or less," SheBang answered.
	"No, seriously. Are you okay? You sound like you just crashed after having one too many blue Smarties."
	"I'll come back to the She-Lair for a while," SheBang told. With that, he jumped down from the balcony. "Sheality!" SheBang turned back into Morgan in case of any random police encounters. With his new girly look, he didn't mind not being transformed.

	Victor finally received the entire shipment. He grabbed a crowbar from behind the counter of his shop and used it to pry open one of the crates, revealing a load of the energy weapons that had been used by some of Megadale's criminal groups. Grinning, he grabbed one of the guns and looked it over. "Looks good." After putting the gun back into the crate, Victor grabbed a briefcase from behind the counter. He put it onto the ground in front of a monkey minion and opened it, showing him the cash within. "We've been doing this a while now. Still need to count it, or...?" The monkey minion shook his head and raised his hand. Victor nodded, closing the case and handing it to the monkey minion, who then headed back outside to join the others. He hopped into the back of the van while another monkey minion closed the back doors before hopping into the passenger seat. The van then drove off. Victor locked the front door of his shop and regarded all of the crates. He sighed. "Better get all this stuff into the basement before I call it a night..."

	"I can't BELIEVE THIS!" Megamonkey cursed. He was pacing back and forth in the garage of his lair. Dr. Frankenweather was still working on the Ban-She's repairs. "TARA! TARA, of all people!"
	"You've been at this rantness for...I've lost track of how long," Dr. Frankenweather complained.
	"SILENCE!" Megamonkey ordered. "I want that surgeon, but with both Virunga and the Ban-She unable to be of any use right now...." He paused and sighed. "I suppose patience is a virtue. Perhaps another opportunity will present itself between now and the completion of the Ban-She's repairs." He then stormed off, heading to the upper levels to check up on Virunga.
	"Finally, a little quietness," Dr. Frankenweather muttered, continuing his work.

	"That was a nice...nap..." SheZow yawned as he sat up. His wounds were healed.
	"You, bed. Now," Kelly told, pointing toward the elevator.
	"But I just--"
	"NOW."
	"Okay, okay!" SheZow agreed. "She-yeah!" He turned back into guy and wobbled a bit after sliding off of the Shegeneration Module and onto the floor. "Can I skip school in the morning?"
	"No way. I'll wake you up personally if I have to," Kelly denied. Guy groaned and headed over to the elevator, taking it up to his bedroom.
	Almost an hour later, Morgan arrived back at the She-Lair. Once he got to the main room, he waved to Kelly, who looked mostly asleep. "Sorry, Kelly. I couldn't get any info out of that shopkeeper guy."
	"Nothing 'evil' really occurred outside that shop, either, that I could get on the satellite camera. Can't be helped. We'll just have to wait for another chance," Sheila added. "Kelly?"
	Morgan walked over to Kelly, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her back and forth. "Wakey, wakey!" he exclaimed.
	"Huh...?" Kelly gave Morgan a spaced-out look.
	"So, when exactly do YOU sleep?" Morgan asked.
	"Uh..."
	"You can go now, if you like. Sheila will let me know if any other trouble starts. Right, Sheila?" Morgan asked, looking at Sheila's monitor.
	"Without a doubt," Sheila confirmed.
	"Oh. Yeah. That's...a good idea," Kelly agreed, standing up and looking around, confused. Morgan tapped her shoulder and pointed in the direction of the elevator. "Right, right! I'm fine!" She then walked over to the elevator and pushed a button. When the door opened, she walked in, tripping on her way in and slamming face-first into the back of the elevator before the door closed. Morgan stared in disbelief.
	"She can't help it, Morgan. Kelly wants to keep watch on you AND SheZow," Sheila commented.
	"I don't know how she expects to do both, unless she sleeps during school or something," Morgan suggested.
	"I certainly hope that will never be the case," Sheila replied. "And as for you, transform. I have one more promise to keep."
	"Huh? Okay. Girls will be girls!" Morgan transformed into SheBang once more.
	"Back when you retrieved the Shehicle, I mentioned having something that belongs to you. With the difficulties you've had regarding teleporting, I think now is the time to give this to you," Sheila informed. A panel on the floor then opened up, and from inside the gap, a platform rose, displaying a red motorcycle adorned with the same style 'S' as what was on SheBang's costume.
	"....WOW," SheBang commented.
	"This is the VRS-She. It was never completed in time for the previous SheBang to use it, but I kept it here. I always figured someone might get some use out of it someday. Why don't you give it a test run?" Sheila suggested. "Just be careful. Its speed is more than you've ever handled. Go easy to start."
	SheBang hopped onto the VRS-She, rubbing his chest up and down on the chassis. "Hee hee hee....I love it!" He then put his hands on the handlebars and twisted the throttle; the VRS-She flipped over, landing on SheBang. Fortunately, there was no damage to the VRS-She. SheBang had hit his head in the process, however. "Owww...." The VRS-She tipped over onto its side, taking the pressure off of SheBang.
	"You're really not helping the women of the world to shake the stereotype that women can't drive," Sheila sighed.
	SheBang lifted the VRS-She upright. "I just need to practice!" he assured. "There's just not much room in here. Maybe I'll head to the desert where there's no cops."
	"Yes. Do that. And try not to drive within firing range of the defenses on Megamonkey's lair," Sheila advised. SheBang nodded, rotated the VRS-She so that it was pointing to the Shehicle's exit route, and got back on. He twisted the throttle more gently this time, driving along the path and exiting the She-Lair. The platform that the VRS-She was originally on lowered back into the floor before the panel closed. "....Why did I give him that...?" Sheila groaned.