CHAPTER ELEVEN: On the Boat Again

The battlefield was quiet as everyone stared onwards in awe. They
could not believe it, for Mekizmo had decieved everyone, including himself,
into believing two very tall lies. One was that he was me, James, known
to most as 8-Bit Star. The other lie? That he was invincible, and could
not be hurt or killed.
Yet here he was, dead, killed by the sword of the Demon Master Mind.
Some members of the group still couldn't believe it.
"He's not really dead, is he?" Crow said, sadness in his voice.
"I mean, this is all a trick, right? He's going to return triumphantly
and kick DiMM's rear, right? RIGHT?!"
"This can't be for real!" Dale agreed. "Come on! Get up! WE'RE
NOT FALLING FOR IT!" He yelled desperately, finally suffering a crying
fit, and leaning on Foxglove for support.
No one else knew what they should say, and finally, only Chip
mustered up the courage to go forth and take a good, long look. He knelt
next to the crumpled form, and took a pulse. Standing up slowly, he
looked at DiMM with eyes full of hate, and called out "It's true. He's
dead."
Anyone who had doubts before was now struck with shock. So that was
it. It wasn't a game, joke, or the Mary Sue cliche of "he's not really
dead" because he WAS dead. Even worse was that he didn't die as a hero
or savior, but rather as a villain, stealing the very lives and dreams
of others to improve his own. Some people in the group were so struck
by this, that they could not even stand up.
Chip said accusingly to DiMM "What now, DiMM, 8-Bit Star, or whoever
you are? What happens now? Are you going to kill us, too?"
"Heavens to Mergatroid no!" DiMM answered. "Did you not hear when
I said that all fictional representations of 8-Bit Star must die? In this
story, I am such a representation, and thus I have to meet my end soon.
But first..."

There was a bright flash, and a rushing sensation went over everyone.
Upon re-opening their eyes, they found, much to their surprise, that they
were back in their cabin. No, not that log cabin from the first part of
this story. I mean their room aboard the boat, all the way back in the
original Mind Media!
"Whoa, what are we doing here?" Joel wondered aloud.
"No doubt DiMM knows." Chip stated with obvious hate and distrust
in his voice. "Come on, we better look around."
And so they exited the room, going into the hall of the ship, which
too was just like they remembered: Bigger than usual, but fortunately
that simply accomodated for them travelling in such a large group.
"Man," Frog commented, "This is just like the ending of the first
Silent Hill game, going through previously visited areas but with a few
differences. I bet one of the rooms is different or something."
"Silent Hill isn't the only game that climaxed with you revisiting
places," Pennywinkel pointed out. "I just hope we won't have to fight
all the old hazards a second time."
"Wait!" Mike said, pointing down the hall way. This hall used
to actually lead somewhere, they remembered, but now there was a door
at the end. They could see light coming from under it. Carefully they
walked, those that had Weppens had them drawn.
Mike, having the biggest Weppen, opened the door and went in first,
closely followed by everyone else. Inside was DiMM, glowing.
"You!" he said. "What's the big deal? I thought we were supposed
to kill you!"
DiMM opened his eyes, and stopped glowing. "You were, I just wanted
to do something first. I wanted to revisit history, to have a second look
at the surroundings in which was spawned the clone. I guess it could've
just been my dramatics again, because now that I'm here all I want to do
is leave.
"This boat, which I have taken the liberty of placing Mekizmo's
body on--it's in that coffin back there, in fact--" Indeed, there was a
coffin in an enclave on the wall behind DiMM, "--is in the middle of the
Infinity Sea. Unlike most seas, the water is only a surface. Below it
is pure infinity. Once you get past the surface, you will fall as if
you were falling off a cliff, rather than sinking under water. I intend
to sink this boat, along with the fallen forms of both myself and him,
since that is the only way to assure that we are gone and that we *stay*
gone."
"But wait!" Gadget asked, "You mean if you fall into this infinity,
you can't come back?"
"*I* can't. But then, DiMM is a concept anyway. The only effect
this will have on that concept is that this part of me, and whatever
influence it could've had on future DiMM's, will be lost forever. I am
no loss, and neither is he.
"Before you deliver the final blow, allow me to tell you how you
can get back to your universe: In a few minutes, the moon will fire a
beam of energy straight into the hall behind you. There will be a hole
there, a hole of pure blackness. To get back to your worlds, you must
jump into that hole, but you must be quick, for the moon will, after
giving you that escape route, begin to cut this ship in half..."
Almost the minute he said that, they heard an impact. The hole was
there. At first they all made to run towards it, but he called "Wait!
One of you has to kill me, otherwise I will take Mekizmo's place and this
will all have been in vain!"
So Mike took his sword, and began swinging. But unfortunately,
his Weppen Big ol' Sword did nothing more than klang on DiMM's skin.
"No, you fool!" DiMM cried, "You must use *this* sword!" And
he held up the handle of the sword that he himself had used to kill
Mekizmo.
"What difference does it make?" Crow yelled, behind Mike, "Won't
you just fall into the Infinity Sea anyway?"
"I can fly, you fool! I could escape! One must--"
"Oh, hell with it!" Frog exclaimed, taking up the glowing blue
sword offered by DiMM. He proceeded to accomplish DiMM's wish, and slice
him up, making thoroughly sure he was dead. Dropping the sword, he
concluded "There, okay? Come on people, let's go."
As it happened, most everyone had gone. Finally it was down to
Mike, Crow, Pennywinkel and Frog. Just before they took the plunge into
the hole, they looked back at DiMM's fallen form. A light, obviously
that moon beam DiMM spoke of (as evidenced by that it was cutting the
ship in half) was going past the doorway, but Frog and Pennywinkel got
a good last look before they jumped.
DiMM's head had been smiling.

EPILOGUE: Towards the Future, No More Masks

The Rangers all landed on the floor of the HQ with a *thud*,
prompting Max, Mademanna, and the Green Being to look behind themselves,
seeing the Rangers, piled on each other, having obviously come through
via a small hole (or rift, or whatever) in the ceiling. On the TV could
be seen Joel, Mike, Tom Servo and Crow, landing on the floor of the
satellite. No one was watching, however.
Mademanna got up, and walked over to the Rangers who were piled
on each other on the floor, and she noticed something.
"Where are Frog and Pennywinkel?"
As if in answer to her question, those two came out last, landing
right on top of her. Stuck on the floor, she tapped it with her fingers,
wondering "What did I do to deserve this?"
Max laughed, not bothering to help anyone up. Fortunately they
all stood up on their own.
Gadget glanced at the TV, and saw the MST3K guys. "Hey guys, they
got home safely."
"I see that, Gadget," Monty pointed out. "Guess we should say
our goodbyes, right?"
He waved, but Mike, Joel, and the 'bots must not have seen, because
they didn't respond. Monty tried again, but again they did not acknowledge
it.
And then Joel exclaimed "Damn! you know what I just realized?
Mekizmo was the power providing us with the ability to communicate with
the Rangers! With him gone we can't check up on them!"
"That sucks!" Tom Servo agreed, "I guess we have to keep checking
the Acorn Cafe if we want to know if they're okay."
"Oh don't worry about it!" Crow stated, "They're the Rescue Rangers,
and it's not like that was a 'Death of a Ranger' fanfic. They're
perfectly okay!"
"I hope you're right..."
Chip shut off the TV. "Well," he commented, "At least we know
*they're* safe."
Max Alpha laughed. There was no telling what was so funny, so they
assumed he was just trying to get their attention. That he got.
"Oh, it's you again!" Gadget said accusingly. "What do you want?"
"To point out that, as promised, I've returned Mademanna. Now,
if you don't mind, I must be going." He turned to the robot child who
had been his prisoner for three days. "But I will come back some day.
Maybe next time, I won't ever let you go."
"If *I* have anything to say about it," Mademanna challenged, "I
won't ever see you again!"
"Well, aren't I glad you're not going to have a say in it? But
anyway, ta-ta for now. Come along, Being."
And with that, Max and the Green Being walked towards the door of
the Headquarters, but Max stopped, seeming to remember something. "Oh
yea," he said, coming back to Chip. He handed him the same letter from
earlier, and said "this is for you."
NOW he left.
Chip opened the letter, as everyone around him was wondering what
it sayed.
"It says..." Chip began:
"Dear Chip,
"Thank you and all the Rescue Rangers (and those two kids) for
anything they might've done to help me during this recent endeavor (and
rest assured the group on the satellite is getting a similar letter).
While I'm not getting any superpowers or anything, the death of Mekizmo,
my clone, has made me feel a whole lot better. I've learned something:
Titles, nicknames, etc. are good on the 'net when you don't want to
attract net-stalkers, but any other time, they're just an excuse for
people who don't think their real names are worth jack. Look at Max
Alpha: One reason he's so powerful is because he's just Max Alpha,
whereas his brother Miles was this big-name leader. Well, for me,
the name '8-Bit Star' will only be a net name, something I call myself
online. No more, no less. Again, thank you, everyone.
"Signed.
"James."

"That's sweet." Gadget commented.
"Sorta gets you right here." Dale held a hand over his heart.
"Yea," Chip agreed. "But ya know, I kinda wish all this hadn't
happened. I mean, now we'll never be able to get his advice and he
won't be there for us and..."
"Ya gotta understand, Chip-me-lad," Monty comforted, "that he does
more than just sit around helping us. The real McCoy is obviously a
very confused guy to have to have gone through something like this.
But hey, at least he's feelin' better now. And he may find alternate
routes of communicatin'!"
"I suppose you're right..."

Spidey, He-Man, and Firefly, collectively known as "The Crew"
(check my page if you need more info) were sitting on a grassy field,
thinking over all the recent events.
"Ya know, I know it was for a good reason and all," Spidey
commented, "But I still can't help but feel like a murderer."
"Spidey," Firefly answered, "It's too late for second thoughts,
he's dead now. In any case, think about it this way: He himself was
a sort of killer, and in helping him die, you gave back the life he was
taking."
"I suppose you're right."
This grassy field they were on was in a totally green, safe
universe, nowhere near the City of Neo-Pathetika. The evacuation had
come with good reason, for as Mekizmo had fallen, his city began to
crumble. It's only residents gone, the legacy of my now-dead fictional
portrayal fell with him, the buildings tumbles and cracked open. And
when it was nothing but rubble, the earth opened up, and the pieces
fell into nothing.

MIND MEDIA 2
THE END
Thank You For Reading

Mind Media 2 was completed at 7:11 P.M on Tuesday, May 28th, 2002.
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AFTERWARD (Added Monday, August 19, 2002)

I feel this had to be added, for at the time I posted this on my
page, I had a lengthy article called "The End of City Conspiracy" that
explained many things that people who didn't know me well at the time
would not understand. Nowadays, however, an update is in order,
particularly because those who only recently found this particular
Rangers tale will not understand a few aspects that reference parts of
my life incorperated into this tale that are either long gone or have
lowered in signifigance, and the old article just doesn't cut it in
that regard, since it assumes anyone reading it has been going to my
page since day one. Besides that, incorperating this into the actual
story where it is relevent is more convenient anyway.
My fanfiction, when viewed from a certain perspective, is really
all the story of my own life. Most of my fantasies are. In fact, though
I didn't realize it at the time, throughout the backgrounds of the stories
was the events that eventually led up to the story you just read, a
story which began in the original Mind Media. Allow me now to take some
time to narrate that particular tale.
My self-depiction from the Mind Media stories (heretoafter known
as Mekizmo) was actually around long before Mind Media was ever written,
essentially the same physical appearance and with a different name, but
this version of him never amounted to much besides an amusing idea.
However, when I wrote Mind Media, I thought of him again, believing I
was actually thinking of myself with a different body. Actually, that's
precisely what I was doing if you (like me) abide by the idea that
every character you create or feel otherwise directly associated with
is partly you and partly themselves.
Shortly after Mind Media (and here is the sad part) I stopped
writing. I stopped trying to do *anything* besides watch movies and
shop, and even those were particularly thrill-less. That may sound like
a simple case of boredom, but you wouldn't think so if you were that way
for *eight months*. During those eight months, I began to jokingly
call in cartoon characters while chatting with friends of mine online.
I eventually began to call this group (the mainstays of which consisted
of He-Man, Spider-Man, and Firefly from My Little Pony) "The Crew" and
they, too, became a part of me (even though I did not create them).
Not soon afterwards, I came up with an idea for a city, called Neo-
Pathetika, a perfect city that me and the Crew had all to ourselves that,
like typical childish imaginings, had anything we could hope for. My web
page, which was initially very disorganized and had a lot of useless
sections, was originally named "The City of Neo-Pathetika" after this
(though now I removed the "City" part, but removing the rest would have,
I felt, been confusing to everyone else), was the only creative endeavor
I undertook during this period, fueled by me having a lot of fanfics
written and only two viable ways (both with drawbacks I felt made them
not worth it) to get them to the world.
It was then that I began to realize something was wrong with me,
that I was always bored and inactive and irritable, as if something had
taken all the fun and goodness out of me, and that besides the web page,
I had not made any progress on any of my other creative writing endeavors
I had going at the time. At this point I thought of my own self-depiction,
and believed that he was what was so draining me. Then and there I
disowned him in my mind, and no longer associated him with myself.
Not only that, but I also wanted to kill him. Now, of course there was
no way at the time I could, say, open a portal to whatever reality he's
in and kick his ass, so I did what I do best: I began writing more
thrilling stories. First I wrote The Darkest Corner, which was largely
a setup for this tale (though the in-story explanation was that it was
a destraction to keep my fantasy self occupied, which in my mind it
was--I take my fantasy very seriously), and then I wrote this tale.
I mean hey, why not? I had been promising a Mind Media 2 since the first
one became well-known.
Anyway, it's been, what, three, four months since MM2 was completed?
It turned out Mekizmo was somehow linked to my real-life problems. My
life began to advance (not always uphill, but it's still better than
stagnation), I'm now more concentrated, more focused, a lot friendlier
and more active. Yea, I know that seems sort of unrealistic, but heck,
I think a lot of real life seems unrealistic, and so what? It happened,
and I'm pretty sure this is how it went down. Mekizmo has fallen, his
city crumbled, and the Crew live somewhere else now.
Oh yea, I might as well tell the whole Meta-Story, as I didn't
exactly explain how Mekizmo gained his fantastic powers, and how he was
surprised to find he wasn't invincible (and made a realization regarding
Firefly) earlier in this story. Well, the story there is that, in
real life, I'm trying to find a wish-granting object, like Aladdin's
Lamp (the good one from the original story, not the lame three-wishes
"Can't do this or that" variations that people like Disney incorperate).
Mekizmo, being an alternate me, found something like it first, and
wished for pretty much the same stuff I would wish for. His downfall
was done because he allowed The Crew (whom he did not know were actually
trying to help me destroy him) to use it. That's what the deal with
their appearances was. Typically one was covering while one of the
others went and made wishes to remove Mekizmo's powers and invincibilities.
He did not realize it, even though I personally gave him a few clues
(you'll notice how stuff screws up in Neo-Pathetika in The Darkest Corner--
this is me teasing him. And yes, I'm that dense in real life) and was
screwed when this story came around. Yes, this does mean the actual
story took place over a year (the first Mind Media, which brought
Mekizmo into the fray, was originally written in May of 2001, while this
was written in May of 2002).
There now, I hope that clears everything up. My E-Mail address
is listed on my web site (http://www.angelfire.com/comics/nes_star/) if you still have
questions.

Chow!