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For convenience sake, I'm dropping the "Chapter Headings" until Part Three.

CHAPTER TEN Part One

It was me, in the flesh.
"Ha!" I scoffed. "I knew it must be you, DiMM. I admit I was
unable to keep track of everything that happened due to Fake 8-Bit Star's
attempts at cutting off my communication, but Firefly came up with a hot
idea: Come here in the flesh, that way you can't short me out!"
"8-Bit, what are you doing?!" Pennywinkel cried, "Don't you realize
he's trying to kill you?"
"Ha," DiMM scoffed in return, walking up to me. "Mekizmo, you are
as foolish as ever."
"Mekizmo?" Pennywinkel asked, confused.
"Yes! This 8-Bit Star's real name is Mekizmo. Doesn't that tell
you anything?"
Pennywinkel (And this is quite comical if you know this character
at all) was actually scratching her head in confusion. "Ummmm..."
"Don't you ever check the internet, child? Doesn't it strike you
that his Acorn Cafe bio and web page both say his name should be James?"

Max Alpha watched the sunset, drinking a cup of some coffee-like
drink. Next to him was a squirming Mademanna, who had been untied, only
to be re-tied, done up like a marionette, with her hands and legs tied
to different handles on one of those cross-shaped sticks marionettes
dangle from (supported by a rope at the midsection of the thing tied
around her waist). It was in this way that the Green Being was now
tormenting her while Max simply stood and watched, ignoring the girl's
constant cries of "Stop it!" and "Let me go!"
As if in response to one such cry, however, he told her softly
"Your three days are almost over. See? The sun is setting."
"I don't care, just let me go..."
"So you see," he ignored her, "I am a man of my word, my *precise*
word. I said I'd only hold you three days, not three days and three
nights."
"Will you shut up about your word and just HELP ME?!" Not that
she expected him to. He had been torturing the poor girl in ways like
this ever since he had abducted her, and the only breaks she ever got
were eat and sleep. Admittedly, he had been rather generous about those
two in particular, his given reason being that he didn't want to kill her.
Wether this was because he still felt she should be preserved as a land-
mark of human creation or just because he enjoyed hurting the poor thing
is anybody's guess. Nevertheless, every waking moment had been either
an embarrassment or a nightmare.
Finally Max conceeded, however. "Green Being, the sun is almost
down. It's time to return her."
"Awwww! Can't we keep 'er?"
Max smiled, "Interesting notion. But no. As I said, I'm a man of
my word. Besides that, we can't very well take her with us now, can we?"
With that, he put the cup down, and went about untying the girl.
"Take me with you?" She asked. "You mean you're going somewhere?"
"Now then," he said, undoing the last of the ropes. "Close your
eyes."
She did so, and felt a rushing sensation all around her.
"Okay, open them."
The rushing sensation subsiding, she did--and found she was right
inside the Ranger HQ. And that said HQ was deserted. "Where is...?
Hey! Look on the TV!"
They did. Sure enough, something was happening on it, and it didn't
look like this was just any old TV show. As it happened, the TV was
showing what was going on with the Rangers, DiMM, and Mekizmo, coming
in just where DiMM was telling Pennywinkel to try and see if she could
still figure things out.
Max, Mademanna and Green Being decided to sit in the sofa and watch
this. "Interesting," Max commented, sitting down, "So, it's finally
happened."
"What?" Mademanna asked.
Max laughed at her ignorance. "Ha, I don't think you'd understand.
But still, I will try to explain the best I can."
He pulled out a letter, the same letter he had shown Gadget only
a few days ago, when his legs were disabled and he had used Mademanna
as ransom to force Gadget to repair him.
"This, as I explained, is written in Mysekretson. If there is a
message for somebody, they can read this letter. Otherwise, it seems
only like a bunch of symbols. How does it seem to you?"
"Like a bunch of symbols."
"I thought as much. But, I will tell you what it says to me."
He opened the letter, and began to read aloud:

"Max Alpha.
"I'm sorry I cannot introduce myself better, but hell with it, the
truth is, I would like to say I've been following you for some time, know
your skills, etc. but the truth is I don't know damn about you save for
that you are extremely powerful and extremely evil. I need a person like
that right now. No, I am not under the impression that you are a
mercenary, but I am given to understand that you love to bug people,
especially girls.
"This is good. If you can (and if you feel like it) I need someone
of your abilities and mindset to stir up trouble with a group called 'The
Rescue Rangers.' I think you'll enjoy this group, as they're already a
bunch of hardened wackos (and there are three cute girls, to boot--four
if you're into bats). My reason for this is that I want to get back at
a guy named Mekizmo, who also goes under the pseudonym 8-Bit Star.
"Why, might you ask? Because *I*, James, am the real 8-Bit Star.
Mekizmo was born as a figment of my imagination in May of 2001, for a
fanfic I wrote called 'Mind Media.' At the time, I had no idea of what
he would become, or of the dreams and successes he'd pull from underneath
my nose.
"Months after he was invented, I started idolizing him, thinking he
was just a wistful version of myself. I then became entangled in a search
for another universe, one which I had seen in a vision (or imagined,
either one) which had this wish-granting book. I always have the feeling
I should be conservative about telling people the real name of this place,
thus I won't name it here. The bottom line is, in my power-gathering
meditations, I always imagined myself as him. This caused me to gain
nothing but for him to gain much power.
"This lead to him getting to this particular universe before I did,
and by the law of alternate realities, if it happened in one reality, it
cannot happen again in another, at least not without some major differance
of some kind. Using the power he must've wished for (for he is still a
part of me and I know me pretty well) he built the city of Neo-Pathetika.
He also began to figure into, and even steal, my life (draining me of my
interests, likes, dislikes, and even my writing ability), until I was
little beyond an empty, confused shell.
"I don't know what happened, perhaps a lucky alignment of the stars,
a psychic premonition, or maybe it just hit me, but I suddenly felt this
rush to finish all my written work, feeling a 'second season' coming on
and knowing I must complete all of it to advance to that point in my life.
So I dedicated myself fully to my writing, deciding to finish up my fanfics
first. That was when I realized that Mekizmo was not me. Soon, I began
to form fragments of a plan, involving The Crew and DiMM. The objective?
To kill Mekizmo. You see, he was born as an extension of me, after all,
so maybe if he's dead, at least his naturally-held (non-wished for) power
will revert to me, it's rightful owner, instead (Or hopefully I'll
inheret *everything* he has, but that's too wishful). Also, that could
be the one difference which would allow me to finally succeed in my quest:
He succeeded and died, so I could succeed and live!
"But anyway, enough about me. I need you to go and bother the
Rangers (no, I don't care how, just as long as you don't seriously harm
and/or kill any of them). This will distract him while I work behind the
scenes. Perhaps the frustration of unexpected setbacks and the sense of
urgency in dealing with you will blind his logic so that he won't realize
anything is wrong until it's too late. Unfortunately I can't offer any
reward, but I somehow get the feeling you're not the kind who's looking
for rewards anyway.
"Best regards,
"James, the *real* 8-Bit Star."

CHAPTER TEN Part Two

Mademanna had been listening in curiosity, and then in shocked
silence. Despite what Max had thought, she understood fully... or at
least, she thought she understood. "But wait!" She practically yelped,
"That means that the pink-haired one that we've been talking and listening
to is the Fake 8-Bit Star and that DiMM is working for the real one!"
"Yep." Max replaced the letter in a pocket. "You've all been
snookered, and not even the real thing realized it until now. Tragic,
isn't it?"
Mademanna narrowed her gaze. "So... why did you get involved?"
Max laughed. "You're the good little girl, don't you go around
teaching people that it's great to help others? In any case, the whole
conflict caught my attention, and I really loved this guy's reasoning.
Anyway, he figured I might need an extra hand, and besides that, in order
to give me an idea what you guys were like, he sent me a tape of Rescue
Rangers (just that five-parter though) and also the fanfic that was
all about you three." By "you three" he obviously meant Mademanna and
her friends Frog and Pennywinkel. "After watching one and reading the
other, I had already decided that I liked you guys, so a meeting between
us couldn't hurt. Oh, look, the battle's picking up!"

Since the truth has now been revealed, I can finally stop pretending
that Mekizmo (for those who are still confused, that's my pink-haired
fictional portrayal of myself who I introduced back in the original
Mind Media) is me in any way. He can pretend to be all he wants, but
there is only one 8-Bit Star around here now.
And my little avatar, DiMM, made sure he was aware of that.
"And Pennywinkel," he concluded, "You should go back to the shrine
and tell them all this."
"Yea," Mekizmo argued. "Tell them the *truth*! I've heard more
absurd notions than that one, and I must say that this is one of the more
absurd plans ever." I, and DiMM, could tell by how his grammar was
faltering that he was totally dumbstruck, just saying whatever in denial.
"Obviously," he continued, "Fake--you hear me? FAKE!--8-Bit Star just
wants to turn you all against me because he knows that it was partly due
to my interference that his evil plans didn't succeed last time!"
DiMM laughed, now fully taking over as my own mouthpiece, he
countered "And why would I do something like that? After all, I'm the
one who has to kill you, not they! They are here only to lure you out."
Mekizmo apparently did not grasp the full impact of what DiMM had
said, argueing simply "Fine then. You want to fight. Your funeral.
Pennywinkel, get out of our way!"
"All right!" she said, "I'm going!"
Off she ran, back towards the shrine. The minute she entered it,
a forcefield went up around the building, so that it could not be harmed
during the ensueing confrontation.
"Guys!" Pennywinkel yelled upon re-entry into the building.
"Hey!" Crow asked, "Where's DiMM?"
"He's fighting Mekiz--err, 8-Bit Star. Guys, you won't believe
what's going on! This whole time, we've all been being fooled. 8-Bit
Star--at least, the one we know--is a fake!"
"What?" They all asked in simultaneous confusion. Pennywinkel sat
down, and proceeded to explain the story to everyone present. Of course,
this was so messed up that if it weren't for flashes of light, yelling,
and other loud noises going on outside, they'd think it was a joke.

Back outside, Mekizmo informed DiMM "I hope you know that in the
'Verse, I wished for invulnerability. Even supposing that you are telling
the truth and that I am a clone, or whatever, you can't win regardless.
I simply can not be killed."
"Don't count your okanomiyaki before it's sold. I've had about
enough talking."
"So have I!" And with that, Mekizmo fired those pulse-rings at
DiMM. DiMM, in response, ducked behind a tree, and fired a bolt of
lightning back at Mekizmo.

"Oh, come on!" Max called. "Ducking behind a tree?"
"What's wrong with that?" Mademanna asked.
In mock contempt, Max replied "Child, don't force me to do unhealthy
things to you during the scary parts."
Silence, and then Max and the Green Being both burst out laughing.
Max sat back, and put his arm around the child, laying his hand on her
shoulder. Green Being, seeing this gesture, said "Hey, what about me?"
"You can have her waist."
Green Being had seen people holding girls by that part in movies,
and was eventually able to copy that gesture himself.
Mademanna sighed. Sometimes a girl *doesn't* want this kind of
attention. "Really," she asked, "What's wrong with ducking behind a tree?"
"As I remember, these people are supposed to be fanfic authors.
Where is their creativity? They're sitting here playing with first level
RPG spells!" Then he looked at her, and added "And if you ask one more
silly question, I'm going to kiss you."
So she didn't ask another question.

But I, too, noticed how this fight seemed to be going rather low-
par. You would think I wouldn't care, but I not only want my identity
back but I also have a tinge for theatrics.
So suddenly DiMM did a motion with his hands, and it had a strange
effect. To Mekizmo, the world began to look (And feel) as if it were all
underwater. He himself began to feel dizzy and pressured, but just as
he was about to feel the final ping that would be his death knell, he
caused a bright flash, and the world was back to normal. He didn't stop
to think that there must be something wrong if his invulnerabilities
didn't protect him from a dizziness spell.
But DiMM was not done trying, and was preparing for another attack,
just as he saw a moon that looked a lot like a reject out of a Nintendo
64 game come flying right for him. Quickly he ran past it, and it
impacted the world, fortunately not making much of a dent in it (the
world, I mean). DiMM countered with a sort of cyclone, which lifted
Mekizmo high into the air.

The Rangers, MST3K guys, and of course my own characters were
holding on for dear life, not realizing they were perfectly safe despite
whatever they heard, saw, or felt from the outside. Some of the group
(particularly the looney ones) thought they should go out and try to
help.
"Are you crazy?!" Crow exclaimed.
"Yea," Mike agreed, "Going out there now would be suicide!"
"And besides," Joel added, "We'd probably just get in the way.
You know how these superpowers are."
And then the ground shook, prompting Tom Servo to add "Hey, in the
event of earthquakes, aren't you supposed to hide under a table or
something?"
"Yes!" Chip answered. "Everyone, under that table!"
Not surpringly (this IS a damn long table, remember) everyone was
able to cover under the table, and stayed close to the ground. As if by
some absurd coincidence, Chip was next to Gadget, Dale next to Foxglove,
and Frog next to Pennywinkel.
"Foxglove!" Dale said, "Isn't there a spell you can do to get us
home?"
"I don't know!" Foxglove cried, "I'm too scared to concentrate!"
"Maybe Pennywinkel...?"
Well, Pennywinkel didn't look it, but she was scared out of her
multitracked mind too (And I bet you didn't think that could happen,
right? Well, I call Plot Convenience, SO THERE!).
Essentially, they were all stuck under a table.

CHAPTER TEN Part Three

I don't think even the battle itself knew which way it was going
now. Both Mekizmo (who had released a flurry of projectiles when he
got back on the ground) and DiMM were launching all sorts of wacky
psychadelic attacks making the whole battle groud look like a reject
from a Ralph Bakshi film.
DiMM, who was airborne, sent two blue, ribbony waves at the pink-
haired one. One connected, and apparently the cheap clone felt the
impact, but still failed to realize something important when he counter-
attacked (Cheap he may be, but apparently he's faithful to the source
material :) by making the ground push upward and form a hand.
"Flying doesn't work so well when you're BURIED!" Mekizmo yelled
as the hand made a grab for DiMM. It had him, and for a minute it
looked like he'd be just that: buried. But that was not to be, as the
dirt the hand was made of melted off, turning into lava as it returned
to the ground. Mekizmo avoided a burn by himself becoming airborne.
"A-ha!" DiMM jibed, "So you *do* fear being hurt!"
"Naaahhh, I just don't wanna get dirty."
"Is that so? Well then!" DiMM turned, and grabbed a rope that was
danging from a bell that was suspended far in the air by a means that
could not be percieved, then he waved his free hand, yelling "I am now
disabling all flight ability, including my own!"
It was, oddly enough, true, as Mekizmo found grativity had returned
to him, but we began to wonder if there was some comic book character he
*didn't* have all the powers of as he, amazingly, shot a web line and
hooked himself on the bell, causing it to shake and cause small ringings.
He climbed up the web line, until he was even with DiMM.
"So what is this?" he asked, "Has our battle degraded into a game
of Chicken? Ah well. I'd rather see your so-called 'Real' 8-Bit Star
than a cheap stand-in anyway. If he's the real one, why isn't he here?"
"Because, unlike you, he is a real person, born to find his own
purpose. He doesn't have a hideout full of Sci-Fi gear, he has a faithful
(if occasionally dysfunctional) PC. You, on the other hand, are a blatant
Mary Sue, so of course you have everything. You are a fictional
representation, it is no surprise you can go reality-hopping in the flesh,
something real people can not yet do. But so it is: You can not
comprehend (or admit to) what you are. Deny it all you want, but your
say-so can not change reality."
"SHUT UP! This sounds like a Usenet debate!"
"Oh, is there someone you're afraid of sounding like?"
If it weren't for the fact that web lines are really sticky,
Mekizmo might've fallen off out of pure surprise right then and there.
But no, the battle couldn't be that easy, now could it? Instead he
looked up, and had a new idea. Quickly he began climbing up his web
line. DiMM, fortunately, caught on and himself began to skimmy on
upwards.
They raced towards the line, but Mekizmo stopped and, in a truly
unchivalrous act, tried to kick DiMM off his rope. DiMM, however, swung
around to dodge, and responded by grabbing a part of Mekizmo's webbing,
and pulling really hard, causing it to snap, but also causing the bell
to toll. He had to fight just to retain his grasp on his rope as Mekizmo,
falling a distance, simply shot up another web line.
"Mary Sue," DiMM said in contempt (though not very loudly) and he
began climbing once again, and harder. Despite the distance, Mekizmo had
the advantage of having a sticky rope, making his climb easier than
DiMM's.
As it happened, they both managed to get to the bell itself around
the same time, though DiMM immediately discovered a problem in that his
rope went into the bell, thus there was no way for him to get out and
around to the top of it. Mekizmo had no problems whatsoever doing just
that. Now on top of said bell, he held on while gathering momentum,
until finally the bell went ringing left and right, and poor DiMM right
beneath it all.

The world below them clears of trees, cleared of monsters, cleared
of things, cleared of flowers. The only things left were grass and water.
And Rescue Rangers.
And the Satellite of Love group.
And Frog and Pennywinkel.
"Huh?" Everyone asked, realizing that the shrine and table they
had used as cover was now gone, never to return. "What's going on?"
Chip wondered as he and everyone else began to stand up.
"Think the fight is over?" Joel wondered. About that time, they
heard the sound of something impacting something else, and an "oof."
They turned, to see the fallen form of Silver DiMM.
Soon Mekizmo arrived, having parachuted himself with an umbrella.
"Ha!" He scoffed, "That shows you who the *real* 8-Bit Star is." He
turned his back to his fallen foe, "So tragic, really. But what an
imagination this guy must've had to come up with a silly notion like
that!"
"Haven't I told you not to count your okanomiyaki before it's
sold?" Hearing that, Mekizmo turned, and saw DiMM, having risen to his
feet. "You forget, I, too, am an author avatar."
"You are a persistent fool." Mekizmo answered. "How long does it
take you to realize that I'm invincible? I can't be hurt, that was one
of the first wishes I made in the 'Verse!"
"Check again!"
Mekizmo was, yet again, surprised and lost. "Eh? Check what?"
"The battle. You fell victim to a dizziness attack. You've
suffered physical pain quite a few times, as well. Yet you were so
caught up in the fight that you never even noticed."
And then the realization hit him as if it was a huge rock of gold
that landed on his head. "But how...? I can't be hurt! That wish was
perfect! It's lasted me for... Firefly!" He realized, swelling up with
the confusion and anger of a person who just realized that everyone he
thought he could trust was out to kill him. Then he demanded "Who else
is in on this little escapade of yours?"
"The webhead and the muscleman, for one, and Max Alpha." DiMM
simply answered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to turn over my role
and become the real 8-Bit's mouth piece."
He closed his eyes. When they were re-opened, anyone looking could
tell that DiMM was somehow a different person.
"Not so tough anymore, are you?" I jibed through DiMM's mouth.
Mekizmo instantly demanded "You're going far to support your little
delusion! Come on, admit it!"
"Admit what? I've already told everyone *I* am the real 8-Bit Star.
And I've got proof of that in spades."
"Ha, then prove it."
I laughed. "That will be so simple. Ask yourself: Who, at this
moment, is writing a sequel to Mind Media? It obviously can't be you,
because you're here *in* the story, whereas I'm outside it. To me, I'm
just typing text which you're hearing, translated into vocals, through
silverboy here. It is known that 8-Bit Star is a fanfic author, something
you obviously can not be if you're appearing in the stories but not
writing them."
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Mekizmo counter-argued. "You said yourself that
I was invented as a fictional representation of you! Isn't THAT appearing
in-story while at the same time writing it?"
"Still a dimwhit, I see. As I myself have discovered, a fictional
representation can be *like* someone, but they are not the person they
represent, not by a longshot. Besides, you are not, and have never been,
me, even if I did initially think otherwise.
"One last thing: Check my web page. My real name is *James*,
not Mekizmo.
"And now I tire of proving the obvious. It's convenient that you
happen to have appeared here in the flesh, because now I can kill you!
Any last words?"
Mekizmo stood silent, then turned towards the group. "You guys
don't believe him, do you?"
Everyone mummered among themselves. Some of them wanted to know
what the heck was going on, and those that understood explained it to
them. Both the Rangers and MST3K guys had their own uncertainties (They
had, after all, been following Mekizmo for months, believing he was me).
Finally Gadget stepped forward, answering "Actually, 8-Bit, or
Mekizmo, or whatever... we don't know who to believe."
"It doesn't matter," I said, still speaking through DiMM's mouth.
"For this mission to be fully completed, all representations of me have
to be destroyed."
"You mean...?"
"Yes," DiMM answered, regaining his own self, "After I kill him,
you must kill *me*. Then there will only be one 8-Bit Star. Also be
aware that there might be more 8-Bit Stars out there. Any you meet
face-to-face are more than likely more fakes and must be destroyed."
"Uhhhh... All right..."
DiMM was now done talking, and so was Mekizmo. DiMM unsheathed a
glowing blue sword, and with a cry of victory, dashed at my pink-haired
fictional former self, who despite an attempt to duck the sideways slash,
was instead hit almost immediately by a downward slice. This being done,
he, already in a kneeling position, muttered out "Those... traitors..."
Then he fell over, finally dead.

MIND MEDIA 2
The End of Part Two