Captain N: The Game-Master

Water Under The Bridge...

by Gina Schrunk

 

            It was early morning in Videoland, and everyone in the palace of power was sleeping soundly, rather than tossing and turning in fitful dreams about Mother Brain.  She and her cohorts had been banished to the cellar of Baseball World forever, and it was highly unlikely that Wily would set her free.  Wily had his own agenda: taking over Videoland without hanging on some overgrown cerebrum's coat-tails.  But, for now at least, the N Team could relax and unwind.

 

            Suddenly, an alarm sounded.  The N Team members jerked awake and, without thinking, ran to see the cause of the alarm.  They turned off the alarm, and heard a loud banging on the door, accompanied by loud cries of what sounded like gibberish.

 

            Simon cowered behind a vase, while Lana rolled her eyes in disgust.

 

            "Who could it be-icus?" Kid Icarus asked, getting his bow-and-arrow ready in case it was an ambush.

 

            "I don't know," Kevin answered, "But I don't think we're in any danger.  Let's find out"

 

            Kevin and Lana opened the doors while Kid Icarus and Megaman hid behind them with their weapons ready.

 

            A scared-looking girl about Kevin's age, bedraggled and looking like she hadn't eaten in days, stumbled in.  She nervously scanned the room, panting in exhaustion.  The mud and grime did nothing to detract from her beauty.  Her hair was about the color of Kevin's, maybe a little darker, and shorter than Lana's.  She had pale skin, prominant cheek-bones, and her nose looked Russian, or maybe Icelandic.

 

            "Are you alright?" Lana asked.

 

            The girl, still panting, didn't answer.

 

            "Here, sit down-icus," Kid Icarus offered.  He took her hand and started to show her to a chair, but she wouldn't move.  She just stood there, looking scared out of her mind.

 

            "What's mega-wrong?" Megaman asked.

 

            The girl caught her breath, and answered, in a thick accent, "Vily"

 

            "Vily... vily..." Kevin mumbled to himself, "You mean, Wily?"

 

            "Vi-ly" the girl said.

 

            "Wily what???" demanded an impatient Simon from behind the vase.

 

            "Vily... Vily... Vily..." then she collapsed, and was caught by Kevin and Lana.  Simon refrained from helping, since he hated mud.

 

            "I'll get her washed up and in some clean clothes," Lana said, succesfully hiding her irritation at Simon's usual immature behavior.  She would deal with him later.

 

            "Meanwhile," she continued, "Kevin, Megaman, Kid Icarus, you hold up the fort.  Simon, you get her clothes washed and make your bed; she's going to sleep in it!"

 

            "But where will I sleep?" Simon whined.

 

            "On the couch, smart-guy!" Lana snapped, feeling satisfied that she'd put Simon in his place.

 

            Kid Icarus felt the girl's forehead.

 

            "She's burning up-icus!" he said in a concerned voice.

 

            "We'd better mega-take her to the doctor," Megaman suggested.

 

            "Ok," Lana said, "Megaman, you call Dr. Right, have him come over as soon as possible.  Meanwhile, we gotta get this girl back on her feet.  I'll get her some video-asprin and fix her some soup.  The rest of you, hold down the fort-"

 

            "Me too?" Simon interrupted.

 

            "After you make your-I mean her bed AND you get the water boiling for the soup!"

 

            Simon pouted in his usual immature way, and stomped out of the room.  Lana carried the unconscious girl to her room, while the rest of the team went to the comm-station to wait for an attack by Wily and his robots.

 

            On the way to the station, Kevin started coughing and feeling a little under the weather.

 

            "Are you okay-icus?" Kid Icarus asked, getting worried.

 

            "I'm fine," Kevin reassured him, "Just a local bug.  I got it all the time back at home"

 

            Megaman and Kid Icarus looked at each other, both sensing that something wasn't right.

 

            Soon, the girl was sleeping in Simon's bed, much to his chagrin.  Lana brought some soup in, and the smell caused the girl to stir.  She slowly opened her eyes and looked around.  Then she abruptly sat up.

 

            "######?  #### ### #### ######?" She asked in a foreign language.

 

            Lana made her lay back down again.

 

            "Just relax.  You need your rest"

 

            Then she propped the girl up with a pillow from her own bed.  The mystery girl was hungry, and drank two bowls of soup before going back to sleep.

 

            Meanwhile, Kevin was getting a runny nose, and started to run a temperature.  He couldn't think straight, and all Megaman and Kid Icarus could do was wait for Dr. Right.

 

            Soon, they heard the doorbell ring.  Kid Icarus answered it, and in came Dr. Right and Megagirl.

 

            "Kid Icarus, where's the patient?"

 

            "In Simon and Kevin's room-icus," Kid Icarus answered, "And now Kevin's sick too!"

 

            "Where is he?"

 

            "In the battlestation.  He's burning up-icus!"

 

            "Oh, no.  Looks like he caught the video-cold from her.  I'll see what I can do."

 

            Megaman and Megagirl lifted Kevin onto a stretcher, and carried him to his bedroom.  When they got there, the girl was awake, and drinking some more soup.  They set down the stretcher and helped Kevin into his bed, and then Dr. Right went to examine the girl.

 

            She looked at him, then looked away, like a sulking child.

 

            "### #### ####!" she snapped.

 

            "###### #####?" Dr. Right asked, using perfect accent, suggesting that videoland-standard wasn't his first language.

 

            "### #### ## ###### ######## #!" came the answer.

 

            "#### ##### ### ###### ###### #####!" Dr. Right said, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

 

            "What did she mega-say?" Megaman asked.

 

            "She doesn't want to be touched by a traitor," Dr. Right explained, "She says that I helped Wily capture her people"

 

            "What??????"

 

            The N Team was in disbelief.

 

            "Yeah," Simon interrupted, "And how can you speak her language?"

 

            Dr. Right sighed.

 

            "She's from Snow'n'Iceland, an island on the outskirts of Megaland.  Most of the people living in Megaland are descended from the Snow'n'Icelanders.  I was born there, and was one of the few people to leave the island in centuries.  Usually, the Snow'n'Icelanders like to keep to themselves.  Of course, there are always a few adventurous individuals like myself, who want to see what the outside world is like."

 

            "Well, how did you learn Videoland-standard?" Lana asked him.

 

            "With great difficulty"

 

            Megaman and his sister looked at him.

 

            "How come you never told us?" Megagirl demanded.

 

            "Yeah, mega-why?" added Megaman.

 

            "I didn't think it was that important.  Besides, the Snow'n'Icelanders generally don't like visitors.  They would've seen you two as a threat to law and order"

 

            "So that's why she wouldn't allow you to examine her," Kevin guessed.  He suddenly felt very thirsty, and Lana, sensing this, poured him a glass of water.  He drank it as the doctor continued.

 

            "No, it isn't that.  They would be a little leery of outsiders, but they would try to act friendly; they just don't like robots that much.  It goes deeper: she thinks I am working for Wily.  In fact, I remember who she is now"

 

            "Who?" asked Lana.

 

            "Agnetha Frida, my old lab-assistant"

 

            The N Team shared a few confused looks.  That girl was too young to be a lab-assistant.

 

            "Actually," the doctor continued, "She's my niece, and she started out by handing me the tools when she was six years old.  I had been away for years, and was visiting with my collegue, Dr. Wily, when one day, she was acting rather strange.  She said that Wily was fooling with the robots, and I didn't believe her.  When I realized that she was right all along, it was too late.  Dr. Wily had begun his first attempt to take over Megaland in the name of Snow'n'Iceland"

 

            "So, isn't there a way you could tell her-" Megagirl began.

 

            "I tried, but then I was exiled, along with Wily.  There hasn't been any communication between Megaland and Snow'n'Iceland since then."

 

            "Then why is she here?" asked a puzzled Lana, "And why did she accuse you of helping Wily?"

 

            "Maybe she thinks that since he ignored her, he must have been working for Wily" Kevin answered.

 

            "Well, maybe if you mega program me and my brother to be able to speak Snow'n'Icelandic, then we could talk to her" Megagirl suggested.

 

            "I have a better idea," said Dr. Right, "I will make a translator-device that will allow all of you to talk to her"

 

            "What about me," Kevin asked, seeing his world slowly fade.

 

            Dr. Right took his temperature and then took a funny-looking gadget out of his lab-coat.  He pressed the front-end of the object against Kevin's arm and pressed a trigger at the other end.  There was a hissing sound, and Kevin started feeling better.

 

            "Wow, just like on Star Trek!" Kevin observed.

 

            "Star Trek?" asked a puzzled Dr. Right.

 

            "It's a show from his world," explained Lana.

 

            The doctor raised his eyebrows, reminding Kevin of Spock.  He tried to administer a shot to Agnetha, but she would not allow it.  Sighing, he gave the hypo to Lana, and Agnetha suffered the shot without protest.

 

            Then, Kevin started to yawn.

 

            "I'm beat," he said, yawning again, "I'd better get some shut-eye while you build your thingamagig..." he fell asleep before he could finish.

 

            "I put a mild sedative in the antibiotic," Dr. Right explained, "It will allow the body to heal faster"

 

            "What about Ag-" Lana began, worried that the girl would know about the sedative and think the princess had also betrayed her.

 

            "No," the doctor said, "but give her this herb," he took a small, leafy plant from his lab-coat and gave it to Lana, "This is used on Snow'n'Iceland to aid sleep, usually for sick children.  Just mix it in with her soup, and she'll be sleeping like a baby"

 

            Lana nodded and took the plant to the kitchen.  She shook her head as she thought about what Dr. Right was going through.  And she thought she had problems.  At least she had most of her homeworld to back her; Dr. Right didn't even have a family of his own.  "Oh, Father, I wish you were here.  You would know what do do," she thought out loud.

 

            Later that night, Megaman, Megagirl, and Kid Icarus could not sleep.  They decided to walk it out, and they happened to pass by Agnetha's room.  The light was on, so they peeked inside to make sure nothing was wrong.  Agnetha was gone!

 

            Megaman woke Rush, and had him sniff out the girl's trail.  However, they would have no need to sniff her out; the alarm started blaring, and the computer warned them that someone had taken some weapons without authorization.

 

            The N Team rushed to the main entrance, and just missed Agnetha as she disappeared into a warp.

 

            "Oh, no," said Lana, realizing that Agnetha had taken several of the reserve weapons, body-armor, and some secret blue-prints that Dr. Right had stored there, "She's working for Wily!"

 

            "How are we gonna mega-find her now?" Megagirl wondered.

 

            "Dr. Right, do you know of any warps to Snow'n'Iceland?" Lana asked.

 

            "Yes," he answered, "But you can only get there from Megaland.  How she got through Megaland undetected is a mystery to me"

 

            "It doesn't matter now; we need to find out what's going on in Snow'n'Iceland," Lana said, with determination in her voice.

 

            Meanwhile, in Wily's hideout, the mad doctor was waiting impatiently for Agnetha.  He was pacing the floor, grumbling to himself about the slowness of the Snow'n'Icelanders.  Then, Agnetha comes in, wearing clothes that looked vaguely familiar.

 

            {What took you so long?} he asked, speaking in Snow'n'Icelandic.

 

            {I got sick,} she answered, {Then these nice people helped me.  Now that I got you what you wanted, will you please let my people go?}

 

            {No!} he replied, {Did you really expect me to keep my word, when Videoland could be mine?}

 

            {But-}

 

            {And what about those clothes you're wearing?  They belong to Princess Lana, my enemy!  What did you tell her???  TELL ME NOW OR YOU'LL NEVER SEE YOUR FAMILY AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!}

 

            {I didn't tell her anything!  I couldn't even speak their language-}

 

            {You are lying!  Dr. Right was probably there!  He knows your language!  NOW WHAT DID YOU TELL HIM?????????????}

 

            Then he started wheezing from all the yelling.

 

            {Nothing!} Agnetha half-lied, showing it a little in her voice.

 

            "Lock her up, boys" Wily ordered, switching to Videoland standard.  Two of his robots complied, dragging the girl screaming to a holding-cell.

 

            Back at the Palace of Power, Dr. Right had constructed his translators, and fitted each member of the N Team with one.  Then they warped to Megaland.  The place was overrun by robots, which were destroying the place.  It was total mayhem, buildings being toppled, frightened people running through the streets.

 

            Kevin, who still wasn't feeling one-hundred percent, had some difficulties aiming at the robots.  Megaman and his sister, however, didn't.

 

            "Got one!" shouted Megagirl.

 

            "Me too!" Megaman shouted back.

 

            Kid Icarus was able to take out a drone with one of Dr. Right's inventions: a shock-arrow.  Pretty soon, they had finished off all of the robots.<'Push It' by Garbage plays in the background, for those of you who want to pretend that this is an actual episode>

 

            Then they found a warp to Snow'n'Iceland, and without delay, jumped into it.  They came out to see the empty ruins of what once was a bustling city.  Many of the trees were scorched, and the buildings left standing looked like they had holes burnt into them.<'Hyperballad' by Bjork plays for ambiance>

 

            "This must be the work of Wily," Kevin observed.  He looked around, half-expecting a robot to jump out and attack.

 

            "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" he yelled, hoping to blast yet another robot.  Silence.

 

            "Strange," Lana said, "Wily usually has his robots patrol the area.  It's as if he's waiting for us.  Something's not right.  We'd better be careful, guys-"

 

            "And girl!" Megagirl interrupted.

 

            Suddenly, Kid Icarus spotted something moving in the distance.

 

            "Hey guys, over there-icus!  Look!"

 

            They turned to see what he was pointing to, and saw Agnetha running, looking back and firing charges from a blaster.

 

            "Oh, no!" exclaimed Kevin, "She doesn't know how to use that thing!"

 

            "She looks like she's doing a pretty good job," observed a dimwitted Simon.

 

            "No!  That's not what I'm talking about!  She doesn't know about the charge running out!"

 

            "We gotta mega-save her!" shouted Megaman.

 

            They ran over to where she was at, bumping into her.  Then, remembering the language differences, they turned on their translators.

 

            {Ok, now that we can communicate, tell us what's going on!} demanded Kevin.

 

            {Please help me!  Dr. Wily kidnapped my people, and then forced me to get the blueprints from the Palace of Power so he could build something called a 'dreadnaught bot'.  I also took some weapons, in case he double-crossed me, which he did.  He tried to throw me into a holding-cell, when I blasted my way out.  I'm sorry if I caused any trouble-}

 

            {No, you're no trouble at all,} interrupted Lana, {We only wanted to help you.  Now, what's your beef with Dr. Right?}

 

            {Beef?} she asked, {I'm a vegetarian-}

 

            {No, no, no!  I mean, why are you mad at him?  He told me you said something about him helping Wily enslave your people.  What's the meaning of this?}

 

            Agnetha explained:  One day, when she was about eleven years old, she was cleaning up the lab when one of the robots Right and Wily made walked in and started fooling with the computer.

 

            "Tesla?" she said, wondering what it was doing in the lab at that hour.

 

            "That is Elec-Man to you," it answered, "Hasta la vista, baby"

 

            Then it raised it's weapon and aimed it at the girl, who turned and ran as fast as she could.  Other incidents followed, Dr. Right, always dismissing them as 'figments of her imagination'. The two doctors began their invasion, were defeated, and then exiled to Megaland.

 

            Then, several years later, Dr. Wily, minus Dr. Right, returned and systematically captured the whole island, along with all it's people.  Now, all Wily needed were a few blue-prints, which he had Agnetha capture.  Since she had part of Dr. Right's DNA-signiture, she would pass as him, and not arouse any suspition.

 

            On her way there, some monsters started following her, and she managed to lose them and get to her destination.  She had been to many worlds, looking for a warp to the Palace, and, in the process, had to sleep in the mud, walk through miles of snow in rags,  and go without food for days.

 

            Before she could explain any further, they were suddenly attacked.  The robots surrounded them, and Wily smirked at them from outside the circle, where he was standing.

 

            {Well, well, thought you could pull a fast one on Wily, eh?}

 

            {Release my people!} Agnetha demanded.

 

            {Oh, you're in no position to demand,} came a voice from behind them.

 

            They turned around to see what looked like an exact duplicate of Dr. Right.

 

            {Everyone, allow me to introduce you to my creation, Dr. Wrong!} Dr. Wily exclaimed.

 

            The hostages' eyes widened in comprehension:  Agnetha had been tricked.  Wily had built 'Dr. Wrong' to destroy the girl's faith in her uncle; to make everyone distrust him.  It had worked.

 

            {So that's why I have no memory of doing those things!} Dr. Right fumed, {Just where was I while all this happened?}

 

            {You were in another one of my inventions: an interactive dream-machine.  It was programmed to simulate your everyday life, making you blissfully unaware of what was really going on.  Meanwhile, Dr. Wrong worked perfectly.  No one suspected that he was really a robot. Not even his own physician.  Now, you will be escorted to a holding-cell, and I will first take over all of Megaland, then I will free Mother Brain, betray her, and then I will rule Vidoland forever!!!!!!}

 

            {NO!!!!!!!!  Uncle, please!  You can't let him do this!} Agnetha cried to 'Dr. Wrong'.

 

            {Yes I can,} he answered, {I've done it before, and I can do it again.  You can't change my mind)

 

            {Please, don't do this!!!!!  Don't let him take over my home!!!!!} the girl pleaded, {Please!!!!!!  I love you!  Please remember that!  I have always loved you, even after you ignored me!  I'm sorry if I lead you to believe otherwise!}

 

            {No, you didn't,} he countered, {I could tell.  I hurt you.  You couldn't love me after that}

 

            {Yes I can!}

 

            {No!  You loved your real uncle, not me.  I'm not your uncle, and I'll never be.  Please, save yourself the energy so we can get this over with}

 

            {That doesn't matter!  You still were 'Uncle' to me!  It doesn't matter what you were!  All that matters was that you comforted me after I got scared!  Remember when I said that the robots were after me, and you hugged me, and told me not to be afraid?}

 

            {But I lied!  I put you in harm's way!  I didn't care about you at all!  I didn't have any feelings then, nor do I have any now}

 

            {Yes you did.  There was something that Wily didn't take in account: love.  I could sense that you loved me.  And don't deny it!  I can tell even now that you know it's true.  Please, don't let Wily control you)

 

            'Dr. Wrong' thought for a moment, then he raised his right arm and aimed it at the robot he was nearest to.  He fired, and the robot de-digitized.

 

            {NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!} Wily screamed in rage, {You're my robot!  DO AS I COMMAND!!!!!!!!!!}

 

            {No!  Not anymore, Wily!  She's right.  It doesn't matter what I am.  You should know what to expect when making duplicate androids, especially after you made that facimile, and a very poor one, I may add, of that 'Mike Vincent' kid}

 

            Kevin felt like he had been kicked in the stomach when he heard the words, 'Mike Vincent'.  And just like Vincent, Wrong was most likely going to be destroyed for helping them.

 

            Dr. Wrong had taken out most of the robots by now, and was having virtually no trouble dodging their fire.  Then, he was hit in the torsoe, and fell.  The N Team was about to help him, but he shook his head.

 

            {Run...  Leave me here...  Get away while you can...}

 

            {Uncle!!!} Agnetha screamed.

 

            {Aggie...  Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...  loooooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee  yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-}and his voice became an unintelligable rattling sound, like a sound being triggered over and over again.  Megaman and Megagirl grabbed Agnetha and pulled her away.  She looked back once, and started crying.

 

            Wily appeared again, this time in a large hover-craft.  Megaman and his sister fired at him, and dodged his blasts.<'Setting Sun' by The Chemical Brothers plays>

 

            When they destroyed Wily's craft, they went to rescue the people who were imprisoned in Wily's underground lab.  Lana, the N Team, and the citizens of Megaland volunteered to help the Snow'n'Icelanders rebuild.

 

            While they were waiting for supplies at Megaland, they saw a special report on the Videoland News Channel:  Wily had used an invention of his, a warp-creator, to open new warps to the basement of Baseball World.  Mother Brain was free, and was preparing to pick up where she left off.

 

            Meanwhile, back at the Palace of Power, Kid Icarus, who was currently standing watch and had just got wind of the escape, got a strange message on the comm. unit.

 

            Hello.  This is Admiral Atari.  I have heard you need assistance.  That is why I am coming out of hiding very soon.  Wait for me on News World.  That is all.

 

            "Wha-?"

 

            Game Over