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Addressing the Universe: a tie-in to Untold Tales #319 |
"Um... hello" Visionary greeted the universe hesitantly, standing in front of his lighthouse while grasping his hands behind his back to keep them from shaking on camera. Admittedly, he wasn't quite sure where this camera might be within the confusing structure of the Reticulum Matrix, but he trusted Hallie to keep him from facing the wrong direction. "I'm Visionary, of the Lair Legion... of Earth. I'm on your televisions... or, um...your holo-digital-whatever-it-is that you're watching right now... because we're very nearly out of time."
He took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "And I'm not just speaking about the Legion, or the Earth. I mean all of us. If we're going to fix things, we need to do it now. It's just... You know when you're driving your car? Or, um... flying your galactic cruiser? And you're having a hard time finding your way because the map is folded all wrong, and possibly upside down, and also from 1976... Well, that's something of a tangent. What I mean to say is, every now and then there comes a moment where you have a final chance to change course before the last exit whizzes by. It's sometimes a sickening feeling as you come to realize that you're heading the wrong way, and that the chance to make the easy course change is long past. Swerving now... it'd be difficult, maybe dangerous... and it seems like the last thing you want to do. But you know, after the fact... when you've let that last moment sail by... those are the times you'd give anything to get back."
"Oi," Con Johnstantine groaned quietly , rolling his eyes and lighting a cigarette while standing with the others off-camera. "The most prime chunk of broadcasting time in the history of the universe, and he's babbling near incoherently."
"Hush" Urthula Underess chided. "He's just warming up. And the rambling is all part of his style."
"Right" the Englishman nodded. "And we're counting on swinging the war with the style points earned by a man wearing a rumpled yellow topcoat that would embarrass both Dick Tracy and Columbo."
Visionary swallowed hard and tried to ignore the comments from the gallery. "We've reached one of those last moments in the Parodyverse. Maybe it's not actually the last chance, but I wouldn't bet on many more to come. We've all been beaten down. Some of us went down fighting. Some of us went quietly... and after the fate of the first group, who could blame them? What we're up against is, well... pretty damn scary. But I think all of us knew, somehow, there was a moment to do things differently, and we had somehow let it go sailing past."
He brought his hands out in front of him as he grew a little more agitated by the subject, gesturing in frustration. "You may feel powerless... outmatched. You may feel like there is nothing you can do, and no difference you can make. You may feel like you don't belong on the same stage with the Parody Master, or anyone who has the ability to stand up to him. I... I can relate to that" Visionary admitted. "But while we'll never all be equal in power, sometimes that's not really what counts. Sure, there are those who are better equipped to resist... but the one way that we're all equal is this: Ultimately, we each have the power to choose whether to do so."
Fleabot nodded. "See? He's on message. He didn't even need that teleprompter program Hallie had in case of emergency. Which is good, considering the trouble he had with his head turning side to side as he read the lines in practice this morning."
"He's doing just fine" the holographic woman noted, her eyes glowing with data. "Besides, I'm busy enough working with the Reticulum to counter attempts by the Parody Master's forces to block the feed"
"Well, that and giving Vizh some holographic make-up" Fleabot noted. "Nice job on that, by the way. Nixon would have killed to have your help for his TV appearances. Hell, with the airbrushing you're doing, you could have probably gotten him into "Tiger Beat" Magazine."
Johnstantine shrugged. "Why didn't she just download the bloody speech herself, complete with editing and whatnot? From the various tricks she's using to light him to try and make him look heroic, she may have gone the extra yard and conjured up a holographic Legionnaire that wasn't so pear shaped."
"Because, unlike some people..." Urthula began pointedly, "Vizh-in-the-flesh has a certain simple honesty about him that appeals to people. You can't fake that."
"Oh, lord..." Con snorted. "Tell me you're not about to say he gets you going because "He's real, dammit"..."
"Not everything out of his mouth is a line calculated to take advantage of a half-naked girl" the party ghoul countered. "Add the fact that just about any random thing could happen around him, rather than just what he wants, and that's what makes him a fun date."
The Englishman leered. "I don't recall any complaints, darling."
"A date involves actually taking a gal out" Urthula noted defensively, arms crossed. "What you take a gal on are momentary lapses in common sense."
"So you're saying you'd devour him with as much enthusiasm, then?"
"I'm saying there's a reason I tell him to "call me", and tell you each time that I'll rip out your spleen and feed it to my great, great, great, great aunt Gertrude. And yeah,Mr . oh-so-smug... it just so happens that some girls find the taste of an honest-yet-non-boring man a delicacy." She licked her lips for emphasis as she looked Visionary up and down. "They're so hard to find..."
"Do you folks mind?" Hallie hissed through clenched teeth, her glowing eyes flickering. "Some of us here are trying to concentrate..."
Visionary grimaced as he assessed the situation. "There is not a single person in the Parodyverse who can choose to fight the Parody Master and win" he admitted. "Not by a long shot. And yet, people have made the choice to fight him anyway. People are making it now... And that fact alone proves that we're all still free. That's what freedom is, when you get right down to it... the ability to choose for yourself how to react to any given circumstance. Other aspects of freedom... food, shelter, possessions... those can be taken from you by force. Our circumstances can be limiting... but our reactions to those circumstances will always be ours to choose."
"So you know that even if you can't fight, if you can't win on your own... you can still stand up and resist. In doing so, you unconsciously give others the permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others. A wise friend of mine says that Individual liberty is individual power, and that a community holds the combined might of individual powers. That combined power of freedom is something the Parody Master fears. That is where we have a chance."
"Not bad" Con admitted.
Fleabot nodded. "Glory helped him polish his speech."
"Wait... are you saying... did he just quote a dog?" Urthula blinked. "In a speech to the entire universe?"
"Well, to be fair, he paraphrased a dog quoting John Quincy Adams" Fleabot noted. "Plus he quoted frequent Oprah guest Mariam Willaimson."
Johnstantine shrugged. "Don't fret love... Dogs are persuasive buggers, ever since their ancient wild ancestors convinced people to take them in and give 'em a lifetime free ride. You could do much worse in a speech writer." He took a long drag off the cigarette. "Not that the Oprah bit isn't troubling, though."
Visionary's voice was growing a bit hoarse from the constant talking, something that wasn't helped as his throat constricted with emotion. "I have some very dear people in my life who have taught me about the power of a simple chance... even if its the longest shot imaginable. And I've seen so many humble people become something so extraordinary, simply by letting themselves grow beyond the disadvantages they've been under, and simply choosing not to bend a knee to the limits others have put on them. All of them have helped me to see that this is what's so important about freedom: Being free means having a chance... it's the chance we always have to be better than we are now."
"The Parody Master has taken some of our best from us... from all of us" he noted, his jaw tightening. "He calls them his "brides"... Remarkable, strong women... beautiful in what they have achieved, and what they mean to the rest of us. And he would see them become so... so very much less than what they are. Some, he parades before us... sending them back to their people as examples, with the light of what made them so inspiring permanently smothered from within them. He does it to send a message, and to make us believe what he wants us to believe: That he is impossible to oppose. Whether they surrendered on our behalf, or were taken forcibly... seeing them as they are now, it doesn't leave me in awe of his power. It doesn't make me respectful, or afraid. It is an affront on the most base level, a sin so utterly unforgivable... and it just makes me angry" he admitted darkly. "I know I'm not alone in this."
He raised his chin with determination and looked out across the unseen audience. "Some say our universe is built out of stories... We each have one to tell, certainly, no matter how winding or improbable they may have been to get us to this point. Well, for we people of Earth, we've hit a climax in our tale. And in the telling, we've decided how we want it to go." He nodded and bit his lip. "I don't claim to know how it's going to turn out, but if this is our last chapter, then it will be one that we'll be proud of. The tragic stories aren't the ones that end sadly... they're the ones that are never worth telling in the first place, because the people in them just sat there and let the book close on them without ever acting. Well, if luck is with us today and my friends are successful, then you'll see us acting. You will see that, after all the might and terror that the Parody Master could rain down upon us, he still couldn't stop us from choosing to oppose him anyway. And so you'll see he has limits. If this is our last act, our last choice, then let it be to remind you... to remind all of us... that in this one precious way we are still free, and always will be."
He took a deep breath and nodded to his audience. "You still have a chance... Choose the way you want your story to go."
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Post By
Visionary
Sat Aug 18, 2007 at
02:27:21 pm EDT
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Posted from U.S. Network
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