CHAPTER SEVEN

THE LAST OF THE VIDEO LORDS

***

‘DO IT NOW!’ A female voice said sternly through a video feed. ‘We are out of options!’
‘We’re never out of options!’ The man at the computer terminal shouted back at her
through the video screen, punching the console in front of him as another raft of laser
fire rocked his craft. Sparks exploded from the main power terminal and light conduits
erupted in showers of sparks. ‘There’s got to be about a million and one options left
before it comes to that.’
‘Execute the plan!’ The female shouted back. ‘The High Council demands it.’
‘If I do that, we’ll all be destroyed!’ The man shouted back. ‘I won’t do it!’
‘If you do not,’ the female shouted. ‘Their forces will tear across the Universe and
destroy everything. You know that better than anyone. You know what they will
do, you know first-hand what they are capable of. Our lives are nothing compared
to the countless billions that will die if they are allowed to succeed!’
‘And what if some survive?’ Another video screen activated on another console where a
bearded man with greying hair in an emerald suit scowled at the pair. ‘If just one of them
survives then this senseless sacrifice will be for nothing!’
‘The High Council has decided!’ The female said sternly. ‘Obey their command that
is a direct order from the highest authority of our people! We chose you for this
mission because we knew you would do what was right when the time came! We
knew that you would act where others could not … do your duty … do as you were
asked … do as you promised … do it now, for the sake of everything! DO IT NO-’
the female’s screen went black and a large explosion echoed from outside the man’s
craft.
‘I warn you,’ the bearded man hissed. ‘I did not agree to any of this. What you’re doing is
genocide!’
‘Maybe so,’ the man said darkly, opening the bomb casing. ‘But Cerellia was right … this
is the only way to ensure that the universe never has to hear of their kind again.’
‘You’re risking everything!’ The bearded man exclaimed angrily.
‘I rather think that’s the point,’ the man said sadly. ‘I don’t like it either … but it’s the
only way …’
‘NO!’ The bearded man exclaimed as he glowered at the man in his ship. The bearded
adversary’s eyes suddenly began to glow a violent green colour and he looked deeply out
of the video screen. ‘You will listen to my voice! You will listen and you will obey! You will
act on my command! Heed my voice! Become the subject of my will! You will obey me! I
command you to cease! What you are doing! You will not detonate the device! You
will not destroy me!’
‘ … After all this time, you still don’t realize that your little hypnotic trick won’t work on
me,’ the man replied. ‘This is for the best,’
‘NO!’ the bearded man replied angrily. ‘Stop now! We’ll find another way!’
‘You mean you’ll find another way to conquer the galaxy once they’ve all been destroyed,’
the man said sharply. ‘I don’t think so. This day will see an end to your evil ways and an
end to their tyranny,’ the man frowned one last time and looked around his vessel. He
thought he should say something profound, but nothing profound came to mind, just
that poem again.
‘You are a fluke in the Universe,’ he said as he opened up the bomb casing again. ‘You
have no right to be here,’ he continued as he took the first key from the chain around his
neck. ‘And whether you know it or not … The Universe is laughing behind your back …’
He slotted the key in and turned it. The screen before him turned yellow and requested
the access codes. ‘So make peace with your god,’ he said as he punched in the code and
took the secondary key from the box that opened to his left. ‘Whatever you perceive him
to be, hairy thunderer, or cosmic muffin,’ he slotted the second key into the other side of
the console and turned it. ‘For all its hopes, dreams and urban renewal,’ he said as he
tapped in the second access code and turned the screen red. ‘The world continued to
deteriorate.’
The screen turned red and asked if he really wanted to execute the plan, he did, so
he pressed the final button. ‘Give up,’ he said as the bomb detonated.

The explosion was massive. No, massive wasn’t a big enough word. There wasn’t a
word in existence to describe the magnitude of the blast that came from the device. Their
best scientists had worked on the bomb for the better part of a century and it was time
apparently well spent.
There had been planets in this binary-star solar system. They were caught up in
the blast too. It hadn’t been enough to simply destroy both fleets, they wanted to make
sure that there would be absolutely no trace. No chance that there could be another
enemy fleet waiting on the outskirts of the system as they had done so many times
before. As they had done this time. But their position was not far enough away from the
site of detonation and they too were vaporized. Everything was destroyed.
Everything that was caught in the shockwave was atomized in an instant. Nothing
remained. Nothing was spared from oblivion, nothing. Except one, tiny ship. A ship that
had been so close to ground zero that the event horizon of the explosion had extended
out several yards and engulfed the tiny ship within the eye of the storm.
The small ship was hurtled off after the shockwave as the blast radius intensified,
but its position meant that it was riding the wave rather than being obliterated by it.
Such was the force of the bomb that the vessel was propelled out of the disaster area and
into the iris of a black hole that had been slowly growing on the edge of the system.
The man scowled as he was tossed around the inside of his craft like a rag doll.
The time conduits were righting themselves, they were fighting the effects of the
distortions caused by the Black Hole as the craft was pulled down into the gravity funnel
of the anomaly.
The radiation ate through the shields and made the man howled with pain as it
burned him so completely. The engines of his craft wheezed into life and set about
dematerializing the ship from its place in the danger zone.
The man was slammed into one of the walls, followed by chairs and a large cabinet
that crushed whatever life was left within him. Then, the man died. His head full of curly
blonde hair fell limp to one side as the ship wheezed its way through the vortex it had
created to safeguard its occupant. Too little too late it seemed.
VROOOOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOK!
The engines shunted themselves as the craft automatically landed in the first safe spot it
located. The radiation was dying away now as the central computer activated the
purification cycle. The engines stirred as the vessel rematerialized.
VROOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOOK!
VROOOOOOOOOOK!
As the craft landed, the furniture that had been slung about fell to the floor with a
crash. The man’s dead body fell with it and landed in a heap as everything fell silent.
Then the man screamed.

His head shot up as energy rippled through him. Energy from hidden stores in his
cells surged through every fibre of his being. His burns healed, his broken organs
regenerated as his bones and muscle structures righted themselves. Random DNA
collected from another time in his life took precedent and the man Degenerated. His
personality was re-written, his appearance was renewed his whole life was wiped clean,
ready to begin again.
His hearts raced in his chest as he shot upright and screamed again. The
radiation had affected his degeneration. It had prevented various stages from being fully
accomplished. His memory was gone. He had no idea who he was or where he was as he
found himself sitting against a metal door.
Shakily, he grasped the handle and fell out of the craft into a darkened room,
panting on the floor as the metal hatchway clunked shut behind him.
 He was aware of light coming from somewhere behind him as he tried desperately
to prop himself up on his elbows and get to his feet. Soon though, his weakened state got
the better of him and he fell back against the hull of his ship.
‘Hello?’ a voice came from a doorway across the room. The man squinted at the light and
ran a hand through his hair. He wheezed in a breath, puzzled and completely unaware of
why every single part of him hurt so much.
‘Who’s there?’ the man who had been The Dr. asked.
‘My name is Elion,’ the man in the doorway replied. ‘I came here for your help.’

***

VROOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOOK! VROOOOOOOOOOK!

The deafening and unpleasant noise droned away as an oak wardrobe with
intricate patterns daubed in gold about the surface, materialized in the centre of the
lobby. One of the large oak doors creaked open and out stepped a bearded man with
slicked-back hair and a murderous glint in his eye. He swished his maroon and gold
cape around his emerald suit and stepped elegantly into the lobby, his metal-lined boots
clunking against the ground as he approached Adamus and glared furiously into the
Vampires eyes.
‘Have you found him yet?’ The new arrival asked eagerly.
‘Not yet,’ Adamus replied with a sneer. ‘Our operation has only this moment
commenced.’
‘THEN GET TO IT!’ The emerald-suited newcomer cried. ‘FIND THE VIDEO LORD NOW!’
‘Have patience!’ Adamus glared. ‘If he is here, it is only a matter of time until he is
captured.’
The newcomer scowled angrily.
‘I have waited too long already vampire! I want the Video Lord NOW! Don’t waste my time
with your foolishness!’
‘Who the hell is that?’ Steffman squinted over the balcony.
‘No idea,’ L96A1 shook his head.
‘I thought Freaka-chu was the last of the Video Lords,’ Yuiop frowned.
‘He is,’ Jason replied.
‘But I thought only Video Lords could make RETARDISES … RETARDI … whatever they
are, I thought only Video Lords could make them work,’ Pater Aurelius said, biting his
lip.
‘That’s what Freaka-chu always said,’ Jason said quietly. ‘What?’ He asked sharply,
turning around to Yanwaell who had been poking him on the shoulder since the man
had emerged from the craft. ‘Wha is it?’
Yanwaell fished through his pictures, desperately trying to find an appropriate
one.
‘Spit it out!’ Steffman prompted.
Yanwaell finally threw down his collection in irritation, turned a random picture
over and began to write on the back of the card.
“That’s Professor Lotvilo! From the Forbidden Zone! He is a friend.” Yanwaell wrote.
Jason leaned over the balcony.
‘I DON’T CARE IF YOU HAVE TO TEAR THIS PLACE APART PIECE BY PIECE!’ Professor
Lotvilo screamed hysterically, shattering a computer terminal with a blow of his fist, as
his eyes began to glow a violent green color. He hissed savagely and squared up to
Adamus. ‘If you have to eviscerate every man, woman and child in here to find him, or to
find somebody that knows where he is, then so be it. But I want the Video Lord in my grasp
before this day is through. Is that understood?’
Adamus bared his fangs in return. ‘Perfectly,’ he smarmed, gesturing a large
proportion of his platoon towards the stairs.
‘I don’t think he’s too friendly anymore,’ Jason said, stepping away from the balcony as
Yanwaell presented him with another board.
“He was trapped with Buster when we left. He must be a Buster-minion now.”
‘It would make sense,’ L96A1 nodded. ‘Stranded in the Forbidden Zone, Buster must
have needed all the help he could get.’
‘Something’s not right though,’ Jason said, stroking his chin. ‘Buster clones work
together, and Lotvilo’s ordering around Adamus like he’s a servant. That’s not how they
go about stuff. Buster’s minions are an equal-opportunity employment system if nothing
else. They only one they answer to is Buster himself.’
‘And,’ Yuiop said, holding up a gloved finger. ‘Only Video Lords can pilot RETARDIS
machines.’
‘Yeah, that’s what Freaka-chu always said, too,’ L96A1 puffed, folding his arms. ‘Which
means that he was either mistaken or he was lying about it.’
‘From what I saw during my time as a Galactic Observer,’ Yuiop said thoughtfully. ‘The
Dr. is more the sort to make mistakes rather than to purposefully deceive people … and
having also said that, I’m a little worried that I’ve seen that wardrobe before too.’
‘You have?’ Jason blurted. ‘Then, who is it?’
Yanwaell stepped between them and tapped the part of his message that said
“Professor Lotvilo”.
‘He might be your Professor Lotvilo,’ Yuiop sighed. ‘But he is many more things too …’
‘Then, is it another Video Lord then?’ L96A1 questioned.
‘I think so,’ Yuiop nodded. ‘And, if I’m right, then we could not be in any more danger.’
‘But, they’re all dead!’ Steffman shouted. ‘All of them are dead and gone! It’s not
possible!’
‘Apparently, it’s not,’ Yuiop said plainly. ‘The Dr. miraculously survived the explosion
that wiped out The Video Lords and The Darlin’s … it seems that he is not the only
survivor of that conflict.’
‘YEAH!’ Steffman shouted. ‘Darlin’s too! The Video Lords died trying to wipe them all out!’
‘They must feel so very stupid right now,’ Pater Aurelius said, shaking his head.’
‘Bigger things to worry about,’ Jason reminded them as he looked over the balcony again.
‘Round everyone up for processing!’ Adamus shouted from the lobby below. ‘Interrogate
all those you find from The Mercury Rooms! Kill anybody who resists.’
‘SEXTERMINATE!’ The Darlin’s cried in unison.
‘A million bags of the finest gold to the one who brings me, or can tell me where to find
the Video Lord known as The Dr. Also known about these parts as Freaka-chu.’ The man
in the emerald suit shouted to the rafters. He shot a glance at Adamus. ‘Should any of
your men destroy him in your search, then I shall reign down a torrent of horrors upon
you the likes of which no mortal can fathom. Do I make myself perfectly clear?’
‘As crystal,’ Adamus nodded. ‘You want The Dr. alive … I’ll deliver him to you alive if he
is here.’
‘SHITE!’ Jason cried, eyeing the stairwell where large amounts of both Buster’s minions
and Darlin’s could soon be appearing. ‘I think we’d better get to hiding.’
Yanwaell held up a sign of several people cheering “11 HEMMINGWAYS
APPROVE”
‘Where though?’ Steffman spluttered. ‘There’s nowhere to hide!’
‘What about that exit portal?’ L96A1 asked furiously.
‘I have no idea!’ Jason said, taking a scanner from his tool belt and aiming it around the
room. ‘If it’s on this level then it’s not in this room … Youtube really isn’t up to code at
all.’
‘Alright then,’ L96A1 said plainly. ‘Then we’ll just have to kill anyone or anything that
comes through that door so we can fight our way out of here,’ L96A1 set about loading
his gun. ‘Who’s with me?’
There was only the sound of people shuffling under terminals in response.
‘Balls,’ L96A1 scowled and threw himself under a terminal of his own.