First Contact Part Three Epilogue

EPILOGUE ‘There we go,’ Jason said as he patted the maintenance panel back into place and turned around to observe what he and the other Moderators had created. The new Moderator’s Command Centre glistened and gleamed in the light from the Internet sky that shone through the windows that lined the walls of the circular structure. Work stations for each of the Moderators, allowing them to monitor every aspect of The Mercury Rooms, sat in pristine conditions, waiting to be personalized by each of their inhabitants in turn. ‘Oh, that’s champion that is,’ Freaka-chu smiled as he replaced his Bionic Screwdriver and stood back from the three glass columns he had been working on all week. The structures set into the centre of the room, and within each one, a small flurry of energy danced and grappled with it’s glass container. ‘We’ll soon re-establish contact with the Administrators,’ he said surely. ‘These columns are the perfect receiver for the energy waves their universal bridges work. We’ll be having a good old chin-wag in no time.’ ‘Speaking of chin-wags,’ Red smiled. ‘Has Roxy gotten her hands on you yet?’ ‘No,’ Freaka-chu smiled. ‘And I aim to keep it that way. In my last life, I sort-of abandoned her in the nineteen-nineties and I think she’s a little sore about it. I tried to explain that it was an accident and that soon after leaving her I was in a war and … dying … but it didn’t seem to bear much weight.’ ‘And what about your blushing bride?’ Danny chided. ‘Can we focus on somebody else’s issues for a minute?’ Freaka-chu frowned. ‘AND YOU STILL HAVE NOT HAD YOUR BONDING SESSION WITH THE MARTIAN,’ Mooney added smugly. ‘That I do mean to rectify,’ Freaka-chu smiled. ‘Figured I’d take him on a little holiday, let him see the better sides of humanity if he’s going to have to live amongst you lot … can’t have him secretly harbouring negative emotions towards you … that could end badly.’ ‘I’m just glad it’s all over,’ Elion sighed. ‘Now The Mercury Rooms can get back to normal.’ Vash laughed. ‘I don’t think anything around here could be classified as normal … one of our Moderators is off hunting pigeons and another if looking for somebody to buy weed from. Normality is a state we won’t ever achieve.’ ‘Why would you want to?’ Freaka-chu asked as he crossed over to the window and looked down on the Mercury Rooms that the new Command Centre floated high above. ‘Normality is boring.’ ‘But it does have its advantages,’ Totoro pointed out. ‘Like allowing weary warriors to rest once in a while.’ ‘Amen to that,’ Jason smiled. ‘Let’s just hope the Video Makers aren’t too quick to retaliate. I’m really not in the mood to have to deal with them again any time soon.’ ‘SO THEN,’ Mooney beamed. ‘OUR COMMUNITY FLOURISHES ONCE AGAIN.’ ‘Yeah,’ Elion nodded. ‘The Mercury Rooms are the centre of Video Entertainment, fun times and all that other mushy garbage we’re supposed to doll out.’ ‘Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else though,’ Red smiled. ‘Not for the world,’ Elion grinned. ‘And, for the time being,’ Red continued. ‘We can carry on doing what we do in relative quiet and calm.’ ‘Well,’ Freaka-chu shrugged. ‘For now at least …’ ‘Oh, you’ve jinxed it now!’ Danny complained. ‘That’s just asking for trouble!’ ‘He’s right though,’ Elion frowned. ‘The Video Makers are still out there … there’s plenty of other sites like ours that will want to duke it out for supremacy … I don’t think we’re anywhere near peace and good times yet.’ ‘One day though,’ Vash said hopefully. ‘ONE DAY VERY SOON,’ Mooney said as they gathered around the windows and surveyed the ever-expanding mass below them. ‘But not soon enough, I’m afraid,’ Freaka-chu sighed.

*** ‘See you in hell,’ Buster grinned and kicked Will-ko savagely through the portal. The light that cascaded from the metal ring vanished as the boy wizard disappeared into it with a shimmer. Then all fell silent across the Forbidden Zone. ‘That felt good,’ Buster said, stretching. ‘Oh, that felt very good.’ ‘Did it indeed?’ Professor Lotvilo asked with a smile. ‘Then imagine what the utter destruction of these, Mercury Rooms will feel like …’ ‘I can taste it,’ Buster said longingly. ‘It’s going to be so sweet.’ ‘But we must have patience,’ Lotvilo continued. ‘Acting out of haste never worked for anybody in the long run … no, if we are to accomplish what we desire, we must spend a great deal of time planning our assault. Your conquest of The Mercury Rooms and my conquest of The Last of the Video Lords … The Dr. must die before that name can become a reality.’ ‘So, where do we begin?’ Buster asked quizzically, looking over the Professor’s shoulder where the army of ghost people has amassed and surrounded the pair. ‘Ah, welcome back my useless minions! You have served your purpose admirably … it’s almost a shame that I’ll have to destroy you when I go.’ Professor Lotvilo smiled and turned back to Buster. ‘We start by leaving this wretched place once and for all. I have grown so very tired of it that I no longer have any desire to conquer it. I came here in a different mind … not knowing who or what I was. For the past three thousand years, I have existed as Mezmaron the conqueror. Disguising myself as another lost soul here got me deep into the rebel ranks but there was never anything I could do. They got no further in escaping than I did. ‘I found this portal months ago but had no way to open it. I was planning on letting the rebels figure it out and then using my guise to step through first, detonating the large bomb I have planted deep in the heart of the Forbidden Zone as I went, but that is so unnecessary now. If your plan has succeeded then they are all a distant memory.’ ‘I can only hope,’ Buster said plainly. ‘But I can’t escape the thought that they would have escaped somehow. If The Dr. lived through his tumble down the Black Hole then surely he would have used his machine to extract them from my trap.’ ‘Perhaps,’ Lotvilo shrugged. ‘In any case, we shall soon put an end to The Dr. … finally, I shall end it. I will finally reign supreme in this Universe, unchallenged. I shall be the lord of everything! There will be nobody to stand in my way.’ ‘Don’t you mean, nobody to stand in our way?’ Buster frowned. Lotvilo narrowed his eyes. ‘We are partners in this venture, Buster,’ he said sharply. ‘I am helping you because your goal and my goal coincide with eachother and having your knowledge will be invaluable to me.’ ‘But nothing long term,’ Buster nodded. ‘I understand.’ ‘Do not get me wrong,’ Lotvilo said. ‘I am eternally grateful to you. If it had not been for you trying to use your power on me, my memory would never have been jarred back into focus and I would have paraded around as Mezmaron for a whole lot longer … no … now I have my true purpose back in mind, there is only the objective of destroying The Dr. for all the trouble he has caused me. Thanks to him, I was thrown so far back in time that it made my head spin … he shall suffer greatly for it. ‘Normally, I would have killed you for trying to invade my consciousness, but the consequences are to my liking.’ Professor Lotvilo took the Mezmaron mask that one of the ghost warriors held out to him and crushed it under the heel of his boot. ‘Mezmaron is gone, and now, only I remain. I shall rule supreme and you, Buster. I shall make you into the Lord of Darkness. The Master of Evil! The Bringer of Chaos! Your annihilation of The Mercury Rooms will go down in history! Together! We will bring destruction to all those who oppose us.’ ‘First we need to leave the Forbidden Zone,’ Buster clucked. ‘Ah, yes,’ Lotvilo said, producing a dark brown crystal with a small red button embedded in the hilt. ‘You know, while I was Mezmaron, I thought nothing of this. It was a trinket, nothing more. I never even thought to press the button … but now,’ he smiled as he

depressed the small red circle. ‘Everything will change … the end is coming … there will be no second chances … no last minute victories for them … no narrow escapes … there will only be my victory … my final victory …’ Lotvilo laughed long and loud as a slight wind began to blow all around them and an eerie, jarring noise filled the air. VROOOOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOK! ***