After the defeat of Captain Clockwork, Alex and Carl finally caught their breath. The gym was quiet again, the eerie ticking gone. The two Cyber Space Warriors powered down, returning to their regular teenage forms, and made their way to the locker room.
"Man," Alex said, stretching his arms, "that was intense. But we handled it. Another one bites the dust."
Carl grinned, wiping the sweat from his brow. “We totally did. I was kind of worried when he started messing with time like that, but...”
“Piece of cake,” Alex interrupted with a cocky smirk.
They both laughed, feeling the adrenaline still pumping through their veins. As they peeled off their sweaty gym clothes and hit the showers, steam filled the room, and the sound of running water was oddly calming after the chaos they'd just endured.
But suddenly, that familiar ticking sound returned. The temperature in the room dropped instantly, and the hair on the back of Alex’s neck stood on end. Carl, halfway through rinsing off, froze mid-lather.
“No way...” Alex muttered, spinning around.
Emerging from the shadows, Captain Clockwork reappeared, his mechanical body fully repaired, gears clinking and grinding in perfect harmony. His glowing red eyes bore into them, and the shattered clock face on his chest was now restored and spinning ominously.
“You didn’t really think it would be that easy, did you?” Captain Clockwork’s voice echoed, full of malevolent glee. “I control time itself. I can rewind, undo, and reshape reality however I see fit.”
Carl and Alex tried to race to their lockers to reach their power watches, but Clockwork raised his hand, and the world around them seemed to slow. They were frozen in the steamy showers, unable to move, as if time had stopped just for them.
“No, no, no, little Cyber Space Warriors,” Clockwork sneered, stepping closer. He spun and circled their naked bodies, sizing them up. “I think you’ve had enough fun for one day. Now it’s my turn.”
Carl’s eyes widened in panic. “What are you—what are you doing to us!?”
“Oh, you’ll see,” Clockwork said, his voice dripping with sinister amusement. “You see, I have complete control over time. That includes the time within your bodies. I can make you as young or as old as I please.”
Alex gritted his teeth, trying to fight the paralysis. “You won’t get away with this!”
Captain Clockwork let out a metallic laugh. “Oh, but I already have.” He looked at Carl first, his gaze cold and calculating. “Let’s start with you, Blue. How about we speed things up a little? You’ve always been so clever, so resourceful. But what will you do when your body doesn’t keep up with that sharp mind of yours?”
Carl felt a strange warmth starting in his chest. His heart began to pound faster and faster as the warmth spread throughout his body. His skin tingled, and before he could protest, the transformation began.
“No... no, no!” Carl cried, struggling to move as his muscles began to soften, losing their youthful tone. His once lean frame started to fill out, his belly rounding and sagging as fat accumulated around his midsection. His arms and legs thickened, the muscles melting away into loose, flabby flesh. His skin began to wrinkle, the smoothness of youth replaced by the creases and folds of age.
“Feel that, Carl? That’s the weight of time catching up to you. Every second making you slower, heavier... more tired.” Clockwork grinned, watching the transformation with sick pleasure. “You’re becoming a middle-aged man, Carl. A far cry from the tech genius teenager you once were.”
Carl’s breath hitched as he felt his face sag, his cheeks growing fuller, a double chin forming beneath his jawline. Unruly chest, belly, and back hair prickled into existence as he became a big bearish Latino man. His once sharp, youthful features faded, replaced by the puffiness and ruggedness and wear of age. His hair thinned, turning from dark brown to a dull gray, and his knees began to ache, his joints stiffening. A bushy push broom mustache formed over his lips as he grew fat and bald. Alex cringed as he watched his buddy bloat, his butt and belly blimping up.
“I... I can’t... move...” Carl gasped, his voice deeper, gruffer, as if his vocal cords had aged decades in seconds. "I feel like a blimp."
“You ARE a blimp,” Captain Clockwork teased. “Fifty years old and out of shape and hairy as a sasquatch. I’m sure you’re feeling it now—the strain in your knees, the shortness of breath, the extra pounds pulling you down.”
Carl’s belly swelled further, his posture slumping as his body grew heavier. His once strong hands, so nimble with gadgets and tech, were now pudgy, his fingers swollen and sluggish. Every movement felt like an effort, his body betraying him as the weight of fifty years pressed down on his shoulders.
Meanwhile, Alex watched in horror as his best friend aged right before his eyes. He wanted to shout, to fight back, but he was frozen, powerless to stop what was happening.
Captain Clockwork turned his attention to Alex, a gleam of malevolence in his eyes. “And as for you, Red... I think we’ll go in the opposite direction. Let’s see how you fare as a little boy again.”
Alex’s eyes widened in terror. “No! Don’t—”
But it was too late. A cold chill swept through Alex’s body, and he felt himself shrinking. His limbs began to shorten, his muscles disappearing as his body regressed. His broad shoulders narrowed, his arms and legs growing thin and spindly, like that of a child. His once strong, athletic chest flattened, and his head seemed to grow disproportionately large as his body became that of a young boy. His proud teenage cock dwindled, his public hair fading and vanishing.
“Ah, yes,” Clockwork murmured, watching with satisfaction. “Back to when you were just an innocent little child. No strength, no experience... just an 8-year-old boy with no idea how to fight.”
Alex’s heart raced as he felt his face smooth out, his jawline becoming soft and round, his nose shrinking. His body shrunk down to a small, childlike frame. His hair lightened to a light blond color, becoming a mess of wet boyish locks, and his voice cracked, high-pitched and full of fear.
Carl held his belly and watched in horror as his pal dwindled backwards through puberty.
“I... I’m a kid again,” Alex whimpered, looking down at his tiny hands, his once muscular arms now thin and weak. “This can’t be happening.”
“Oh, it is,” Captain Clockwork said, towering over the now shrunken Alex. “You’re helpless, aren’t you? Just a little boy, with no hope of standing against me.”
Carl, now an overweight, middle-aged man, struggled to move, his body heavy and clumsy. He looked over at Alex, his voice raspy with age. “Alex... we have to—do something...”
But Alex, now a frightened child, shook his head. “I don’t know if we can, Carl... I don’t even know how to fight like this.”
Captain Clockwork’s laughter filled the room. “Exactly as I planned. You’ve lost your youth, your strength... and your hope. Time is on my side, Cyber Warriors. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Captain Clockwork's spell of frozen time relaxed, and the two former warriors found they could move freely. They examined their transformed bodies in shock and horror. Alex found he had to crane his neck WAY up to make eye contact with his friend. "Carl, you look old enough to be my dad!"
Captain Clockwork gave a mechanical laugh. "He's old enough to be your fat grandpa, little boy."
"You'll never get away with his," Carl's hairy blubbery body jiggled as he wagged a finger at Clockwork. "We'll break your spell."
"Are you sure you have time to do that? We're just getting started!" Captain Clockwork raised his arms and prepared for his next move...