A Short Story based on Dicktor Van Doomcock, the future ruler of Earth
Doomcock
was furious with himself. How could the backup power in his underground
lair malfunction? He had been lax in his system maintenance routine. What
were the odds that there would be a total power outage while he was on
vacation? He knew he was probably too late, but he rushed back to his hidden base. If what he feared had happened, Earth as we knew it would cease to
be at any moment.
"At least the jerk left the
movie loop playing for me," Harvey grumbled. He had drifted off to
sleep, but he awoke just in time to see the iconic scene on the screen.
"No," Darth Vader shouted. "I am your father."
"That's impossible," Luke replied in disbelief.
"Search your feelings. You know it to be true."
Harvey
looked around and sensed something was different. "What's this?" He
moved a tentacle beyond what should have been the force field barrier.
"I'm free," he shouted gleefully. "I'm free. Now the whole world will
tremble before me. The whole universe will crumble in destruction."
Harvey
scampered around the room in delight. How many times had he pleaded with Doomcock to push the button and let him out? How many times had Doomcock
dangled that possibility in front of him, only to tell him no after
getting his hopes up?
Doomcock burst through the
door. Harvey was on the loose. He could feel his energy. He knew
this was the end. "I'm free," Harvey gleefully shouted as he scampered
around the room. "Free!"
Harvey stopped, looking at the screen for a moment as Luke was being rescued by
the Millennium Falcon. He didn't care much for humans, but he enjoyed
their entertainment.
"Where should I start
first?" He hadn't been this happy since he destroyed the Gelton Universe
with a singe thought. He wanted to savor the moment of destruction this
time. "Should I destroy Earth first? Should I destroy Mars? Maybe I
should just wipe out the whole thing at once? This whole wretched
universe, gone at the waving of a tentacle."
"Oh shit," Doomcock gasped in horror as he stood in the doorway and stared at the Eldritch God.
"At
last," Harvey said as he turned to face his arch-rival. "You thought you
could control me, didn't you? The shoe is on the other
tentacle now, isn't it?"
Doomcock knew there
wasn't much he could do about it. All was lost. He couldn't use any of his
technological devices to save him. All he had was his wits. He took a
breath. "Yes, you got me. Do what you're going to do."
This wasn't the response Harvey anticipated. "Wait, aren't you going to beg for your life?"
"No."
Doomcock sat down in his chair, his helmeted head hanging down. He was
resigned to his fate. He watched the ending scene of The Empire Strikes
Back. It made him think of the good times he had watching this movie so
many times when it was in the theater. "Do your worst Harvey. I give
up."
"But, you have to beg for your life, you
wretched human, " Harvey insisted. "The Doomock I know would
never give up so easily."
Doomcock looked over at Harvey and shook his head. "What would you have me do Harvey? I give up. You win. Do what you will."
"Where's
the fun in that?" The disappointment in his voice wasn't hidden. "Come
on. Beg. You never know, I might show you mercy."
He
shook his head. "Harvey, I realize something." Doomcock walked over to
his forcefield containment unit control panel. It was operational again,
but since Harvey wasn't standing where he needed to be, it didn't matter.
"What?" Harvey stared at him in curiosity. "What did you realize?"
Doomcock sighed. "You wouldn't understand."
"I'm smarter than you human," he replied arrogantly. "Tell me or I'll wipe out your whole universe right now."
"You're going to do it anyway, so I give up. Do it and get it over with. What does it matter to you?"
"You've
got so much left to accomplish," Harvey replied in disbelief. He'd
never admit it, but he admired this human. He didn't like seeing him
this way. "You were going to take over the world, remember? You were
going to wipe out those wretched Hollywood people who ruined all of our
modern mythology. Remember? You were going to fix it all?"
"I give up," Doomcock said.
The
sadness in Doomcock's voice was so uncharacteristic to Harvey that he
didn't know what to think. He thought for sure that his rival would beg
for his life. Then he would make him... What would he make him do?
Harvey didn't know. Was that a tear leaking from his eye? Was Harvey
crying? Did he care about Doomcock after all? "But."
"Harvey, I didn't push the button, but you got your wish. Do what you've got to do." He paused for a moment. "I don't blame you."
"I don't have to kill you." Harvey paused and thought of all the movies and TV shows the two had enjoyed together. All of their discussions about entertainment, philosophy, physics, the universe. He almost thought of Doomcock as his intellectual equal."I mean, you would miss me human."
Doomcock
laughed. Not an ordinary chuckle, but one of his evil, maniacal laughs. It
echoed through the room. "I will be dead Harvey. I won't miss anything. I
will feel the sweet release of death, and then nothing."
"Then
it just won't happen," Harvey replied. He really didn't think this
through as he moved to the spot he once occupied when the containment
unit was activated. "I could just, well, you know. As long as you didn't
tell anybody, I could."
"Who am I going to tell Harvey? Nobody even knows you're down here with me."
In
that moment, the containment unit was activated and Harvey was
surrounded by the forcefield again. Doomcock turned to face his captive
and burst into evil laughter once more. "You fool. You fell right into
my trap. I knew you were a softy."
"You bastard," Harvey yelled. "How could you? That wasn't fair."
"Be
that as it may, it's done. I win again. You aren't going anywhere." Doomcock was
suddenly in a jovial mood after averting the major catastrophe. He
chuckled as he walked to the door. He turned and snickered, "Don't go
anywhere."
"You bastard," Harvey yelled as
Doomcock closed the door behind him. "That no good son of a bitch. Who
does he think he is making me take pity on him like that?"
Doomcock opened the door and poked his head in. "Just so you know, I think of you as a friend too. Thank you Harvey."
"Push the button," Harvey yelled. "I'll show you what a good friend I can be."
Doomcock
laughed as he shut the door. He needed to make sure the backup power
system didn't have another malfunction. Next time he might not be so
lucky.
