Chapter 13.
Jeannie, Fenestra, Will Robinson, and the Tomorrow Girls looked out into the hall way at the Elder Being called Iblis. And, no longer did he resemble a handsome human being. In point of fact, his head now seemed to combine attributes of three different animals: a bat; a pig; and goat! And, even more frightening was the fact that his bio-electrical light show seemed to have turned everything around him into a photographic negative. What had previously been colored white (like Iblis' robe) was now black, and vice-versa
"Adam! It's me," telepathed Jade: "Whatever you're doing, you'd better speed it up. Iblis has revealed his true colors (so to speak). And, I don't think we have enough collective power to stop him. Even with this nexus were standing on!"
Adam nodded, before telepathing to Megabyte and Kevin.
"You heard her, mates. Link up and we'll move on three."
"OK, then," replied Megabyte: "One. . .!"
"Two. . .!" responded Kevin
"THREE!" they shouted in unison.
Whereupon, a wave of telekinetic energy flew outward. Sweeping up Dooku-Dracula, Darth Vader, and the much further-mutated Gremlins like leaves in a small whirlwind. And, with just as much seeming effortlessness. All the parties concerned flew straight down the hallway towards Iblis! The latter, however, sensed the turbulence and turned to face it. Sending out one of ball of lightning after another. . .and disintegrating most of the mutated Gremlins in the process.
Yet, Darth Vader was no mere Gremlin, and neither was Dooku-Dracula. The possessed vampire turned into a cloud of mist and simply let the barrage of lightning balls pass through him. Whereas Vader simply used his lightsaber to deflect his half of the barrage right back at the Elder Being just as easily as if they were laser blasts. And, each deflected lightning ball hit Iblis dead on target!
Unfortunately, the only thing they seemed to do is anger him all the more.
ETHAN'S COSTUME SHOP
SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA
OCTOBER 31, 1997
(7:27 P.M./PST)
Rupert Giles was beginning to develop a rhythm to his kicks. Delivering them to Ethan Rayne's stomach in perfect synchronization with each word in his one (and quite often-repeated) question of the night.
"Where. . .is. . .the source. . .of the spell? And how. . .do . . .you break it?"
Ethan Rayne (who, by this point, was curled up on the floor in a fetal position) finally acquiesced.
"Janus . . .bust," he gasped out: "Back. . .room."
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE SCHOOL LIBRARY. . .
"Guys!" exclaimed Megabyte: "I just a got a call from Commander Adama aboard the Ship of Lights. He says he knows what was used to brainwash most of these people."
He sent the vitally needed mental images to the other two Tomorrow Boys, who nodded simultaneously. Adam then transmitted his thoughts to Jade, who relayed them to Jeannie.
"Can you make them regurgitate this?"
The bewitching blonde djinn nervously chewed on her left index finger.
"I shall try," she finally telepathed back (though with not much enthusiasm).
"Don't worry," replied Will: "Fenestra and I will wish for it along with you. We all will!"
A second later, Jeannie criss-crossed arms and blinked her eyes. Moments after that, the zombies that had seemingly been rendered lifeless by Iblis rose back on to their feet. At which point. . .,
. . .they collectively threw up the Blob!
The pinkish primordial ooze landed all over the angry Elder Being. And, try as he might, he just could not melt it off of him! The best comparison Will could make was a fire trying to persist in burning after being inundated with suppressive foam. In any event, while Iblis struggled to free himself of the semi-sentient slime, a veritable shaft of blinding white light suddenly materialized. Pinning Iblis in the center of it. . .before disappearing with both him and the Blob.
Meanwhile, back at the costume shop, Giles had found what he was looking for. He subsequently raised the bust of Janus over his head with both hands. And, then (with all the physical force he could muster), he threw it back down on the floor. Smashing it into dozens of irreparable pieces. . . which quickly became scores (perhaps even hundreds) of dust particles beneath the further stamping of his feet.
It started at Buffy Summer's house. Most of the attacking "monsters" (including pseudo-vampires that had not needed an invitation in order to enter the house) immediately reverted to the pre-adolescent children they really were. Furthermore, Buffy, herself, was no longer an eighteenth century damsel-in-distress. Just as Willow Rosenberg was able to re-enter her corporeal body where it had temporarily collapsed.
From there, the ripple spread outward until it reached the high school library.
"Whoa!" was the first uttered by Scott Hope: "Where am I? And what happened to my costume?"
"Never mind that!" exclaimed Percy West: "Where's my date?"
"HELP!" shouted Aphrodisia as she climbed out of the duck pond across the street: "Somebody, help me, please! Get me a towel . . .and a blow dryer. . .and a curling iron!"
MOONBASE ALPHA
"A guy as dangerous as this," declared Megabyte: "And, all you did was imprison him in a Glinda bubble?"
Adama could not help chuckling at the bemused way all the other Tomorrow People rolled their eyes at this comment.
"I assure you, this is made of a much stronger substance than mere soap and water. And, the people of the Ship of Lights will make certain both it and Iblis wind up someplace very secure. Not to mention, a long way away from Earth! Specifically; in a black dwarf star in the constellation you call. . .Fornax.* "
"What about those Yautja he was with?" asked Commander John Koenig.
The latter had originally been an officer in the U.S. Navy Seabees.* * That is, till he was recruited by S.H.A.D.O. (via SAC-NORAD and NATO) to help with the top-secret construction of Earth's first lunar colony, sixteen years earlier, as a next-door neighbor for New Kobol.
"Iblis disguised himself as one of them, so that he could travel among them," replied Adama: "In order to take advantage of the cloaking technology used by their vessels (which is difficult even for the Ship of Lights to penetrate)! But, now that the survivors have been handed over, so that they can properly service their dead comrades, this particular vessel will depart Earth's orbit without further incident."
"What about the people wearing those weird costumes?" asked Lisa: "Will they return to normal?"
Adama nodded: "And, more importantly? Neither they nor the personalities they assumed will remember any of the events they took part in as anything other than bad dreams. Both in this reality, and whatever parallel universe those personalities call home. Allowing events in those realities to resume their normal course."
Larry took off the black plastic mask and exhaled very loudly.
"Hey! What am I doing here at school? I'm supposed to be at the Bronze. . .
". . .with me," finished Harmony, as she removed the pink fez from her pony-tailed hair: "So, let's going already."
A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY
"Where am I?" demanded Darth Vader of the surgically masked individual above him.
"You're in the medical bay of the Emperor's flagship, Milord. And, His Excellency will be most pleased to know that you've regained consciousness. So, please excuse me while I notify him."
"What an odd dream," Vader muttered to himself, a second later.
CAPE KENNEDY (30 YEARS EARLIER)
"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Jeannie: "I must have fainted."
She sat up, looked at the metallic floor all around her, and frowned.
"That means I was merely dreaming of being free. And, I am still in the moon-safe!"
SUN CINEMA, SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA
"Hey!" complained Tucker Wells (from beneath his werewolf mask): "I thought you said they were going to be playing five different movies. But, according to this brochure, it's one _new_ movie that they're simply going to re-run, at least twice, right up until midnight!"
"Who cares?" replied Andrew: "This is great."
Up in the projection booth, Frederick Nicholas and Mr. Zackeroff were having a similar difference of opinion.
"I requested five different films!" declared the latter (in as audible a harsh whisper as possible): "And, instead, they send me. . .EVIL DEAD 4: LEAGUE OF MONSTERS? I never even heard of that flick! And, I catch all the pre-production gossip there is to get on the Internet."
"The customers don't seem to mind, Mr. Z!" replied the elderly projectionist: "Look!"
He was right. Everybody cheered as Ash Williams confronted Dracula, Wolf Man, Gill Man, the Mummy, and the Wishmaster just as the latter was about to read from the Necronomicon.
"Eat blessed silver, scumbags! ! !"
Whereupon, Ash exchanged his bionic right hand for a modified Vulcan mini-gun, while a morally reformed Frankenstein Monster held the ammo box.
Oz looked at the redhead standing next to him in confusion.
"Hi! Do I know you?"
"Yeah! I'm Amy Madison. I was supposed to meet you at the Bronze, later. You, Will Robinson? Me, Fenestra?"
"Oh, right! You wanted to hear my band perform at the Shelter Club, later tonight. In fact, I'm supposed to be there in thirty minutes! So, maybe the two of us should get going?"
GAMMA RETICULI VI (SOMEWHERE IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE)
"A ball!" exclaimed a disappointed Will: "A red, wooden ball."
"Well, it appears your gift is still erratic," replied Dr. Marvello: "But, with time and practice, it should get better."
"Time and practice?" echoed Will.
So, Dr. Marvello asked Fenestra to leave the two of them alone, for a private discussion. She nodded and walked away. As she did so, she reached underneath her mini-skirt. . .and pulled out what resembled a tiny robotic clown. Only one wearing a costume highly similar to the Earth fruit known as an apple!
"Fenestra! Please, make me big, again!"
"No, Will Robinson. With you at this size, I will never have to fear being supplanted as the star of this troupe. While your psionically powerless clone (which you so wisely materialized for me) will keep your family from noticing your absence and raising unnecessary alarm."
And, with that, Fenestra went straight to her cabin.
ETHAN'S COSTUME SHOP
"How are you doing, buddy?" asked Sahjahn.
"How do you think?" growled Ethan Rayne (his voice still a bit falsetto): "It feels like half my bloody ribs are bruised. And, I sound like I've been snorting bloody helium!"
"Well, if it's any consolation, not everything will go back to the way it was _before_ you cast the spell. As for you? Maybe you should lay low for the next couple years. Like, say, down in Brazil?* * * I doubt any of the Scooby Gang will be looking for you there!"
"Scooby Gang?!" echoed the chaos-worshipper: "What _are_ you prattling on about?"
"You'll see," replied the disembodied Granok demon: "All in due. . .time."
Whereupon, he shifted to his next rendezvous.
THE END?
* Black dwarf star: Most astrophysicists agree that it would take nearly the estimated age of the entire universe for a white dwarf star to transition to this currently hypothetical state. So, if such a stellar body does exist, it's most likely in the UDFj-39546284 region of Fornax ("The Furnace"). Currently, the record holder for most visible astronomical object furthest from Earth.
* * Seabees: phonetic spelling of the initials "CB" (Construction Battalions). First founded during World War II, they are the American naval equivalent of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
* * * See "Different City/Same Old Crap."