Saturday, January 2, 1993, 11:00 AM

Princess Lana sat rather uncomfortably in her office chair and looked at the holographic recorder. She wasn't really looking forward to telling the story, since it wasn't what one would call a happy memory to relive. Still, she wanted Kevin and the others to know what had been happening before his arrival, and perhaps this was the easiest way. Taking a deep breath, she pressed "RECORD" on the holographic recorder and began to speak.

Thursday, September 9, 1982, 4:00 AM

Lana woke with a start at the sound of the siren. She could sense a pit forming in the bottom of her stomach. It's a malfunction, she convinced herself. The equipment never malfunctions, though...

Her heart racing uncontrollably, she ran into the Communications room. King Charles was there, staring at the viewscreen and looking very concerned. Lyle was standing alongside, watching nervously.

"Father? What's happening?" Lana asked timidly.

King Charles didn't want to shield his daughter from the truth, but he didn't want to frighten her more than she was already, either. "Troops are attacking the Palace. We're holding them off, for now at least." He turned to the Princess. "It will be all right. No one will break in; we've made certain of that."

Lana watched the screen, numbly wringing her hands. Someone was trying to break into the Palace? But they couldn't lay siege to it, could they? The Palace was protected by a forcefield; her father had shown Lyle and her how to activate it.

If it's activated, then no one can get through, right?

So why was her father so worried?

"Who sent them?" she asked, looking up at the rows of troops on the viewscreen.

They appeared to be made up mostly of monsters and robots, with the occasional human armed with weapons she didn't recognize.

"Mother Brain." Lyle replied coldly.

Just as he said this, one of the officers sitting at the controls turned to the King. "Your Majesty, I'm receiving some kind of transmission."

The viewscreen showed static as the officer picked up the signal. Gradually, an image of...of something appeared on the screen. It resembled nothing more than a giant grey brain with a skeletal, hideous face, floating in a glass jar filled with green liquid and connected to all sorts of wires. Two tentacles extended from the base of the jar-like apparatus.

"So, King Charles," it said with an arrogant flair, "do you like my little parade?"

King Charles looked sternly at the image. "Mother Brain, I demand that you cease this attack."

Mother Brain only laughed. "Aw, now," she retorted, "you don't really expect that to work, do you? Just hand over rule of Videoland to me, and I'll stop. It's that simple."

"Never, Mother Brain. We don't negotiate with terrorists." King Charles clenched his fist.

Mother Brain's frightening smile didn't waver. "A terrorist, am I? Oh, I'd like you foos to call me something else. Maybe conquerer, arch-villain, or how about just plain ol' Queen?"

Lana's anger grew steadily. She knew quite a bit about this Mother Brain, most of which she'd overheard in conversations between her father and the Commander of the Royal Army. Mother Brain's true origins were unknown, but she had been discovered several years ago on a remote asteroid, in stasis. When the computers had been activated, Mother Brain had also woken up. Over the years she'd been acquiring an ever-growing army of her own, and the military had been watching her like a hawk.

How dare this monster insult my father?!

"We're not gonna call you anything!" she burst out at the viewscreen. "You're not breaking in, and you're not hurting daddy!"

Mother Brain seemed a bit surprised by the girl's outburst. "Ah, the young Princess. I don't believe we've met before. And I can see the crown Prince is here, too. Now isn't that sweet? You're all present to hear my declaration of war on Videoland."

King Charles' eyes widened. "What?!"

"I said 'my declaration of war on Videoland, foo! Big Momma Brain is takin' over!" With that, the transmission abruptly ended.

"That's how the whole war started." Lana explained. "Naturally, my father didn't take this sitting down. He was a peaceful man, but he was also ready to defend Videoland at all cost, and so were the people of Videoland." Lana sighed. "Her two 'main henchmen' were King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard, as you well know. King Hippo had been a rather unsuccessful boxer on Punch-Out, and since boxing is considered 'the thing to do' on that video world, he was determined to win. Mother Brain helped him win a major tournament - by cheating, of course. He gained glory and popularity, but Mother Brain naturally wanted a return favor - the favor being a life of servitude to her. Eggplant Wizard was a little different. He already had a reputation as a villain on Mount Icarus, terrorizing the people there. His power stemmed - pardon the pun - from plants, namely vegetables, and he took pleasure in turning unsuspecting citizens into veggies. Although he wasn't anywhere near as evil as Mother Brain, she thought his magic might be a useful talent to have on her side, and," the Princess smiled as she explained, "she convinced him to join her. Eggplant Wizard was too simple-minded and nervous to stand up to Mother Brain, so he agreed to be her servant. We did all right at first. Attacks on the Palace weren't that frequent, but our troops were falling one by one, and Mother Brain seemed to have the technological advantage. We didn't know what kind of weapons her troops were using, until..."

Saturday, July 2, 1988, 5:00 PM

"Sir! Your Majesty!"

Six men in royal uniform stepped out of the swirling blue warp.

"We've just come from a recently-discovered video world." the lead soldier said.

King Charles rose from his throne. "Yes? What did you find there?"

"This world, Contra," the soldier explained, "has highly-developed weapon technology. Just look at this."

He held up something large and odd-looking. Upon closer investigation, Lana could see that it was some kind of gun.

"It is called a semi-automatic weapon." the soldier explained. "Very effective in battle, but dangerous. Your Majesty, we could reproduce these weapons quite easily and arm the military with them - "

"No." Charles answered. "We don't need this war to be any bloodier than it is already. Place it in the Weapons room for emergencies."

"Yes, Your Majesty." the soldier answered, slightly puzzled.

"Apparently Mother Brain wasn't as concerned with honorable war tactics as my father was," Lana continued quietly, "because she was ready to go to any length to have her victory. Even..."

Lana winced. This was the part she was dreading.

Looking directly into the holograph recorder, she tried to not cry. "When...when I was fifteen, my father and I were enjoying a rare moment of peace in the forest, a distance from the Palace..."

Tuesday, August 8, 1989, 1:00 PM

Lana sighed as she sat on the grass and stared up at the deep, clear blue sky. "It's so lovely, isn't it?" she commented. "Almost makes you forget there's a war at all."

King Charles smiled lovingly at his daughter. "I thought you would appreciate a picnic in the forest, outside. We don't get to spend much time together."

Lana nodded.

He turned to the Princess, and his voice grew serious. "Lana, I want you to know something."

"Yes, Father?" Lana asked, looking at him.

"You're the next heir to the Throne. If anything ever happens to me, you'll be Ruler of Videoland. You'll need to take charge and fight to keep Mother Brain from taking over Videoland."

"Father, don't talk like that!" Lana exclaimed. "We'll never let Mother Brain take you! Never! The army will defend you know matter what!" Or what's left of it, she thought to herself grimly.

"No matter...no matter what happens," King Charles continued, "you must defend our kingdom at any cost." He bowed his head. "I would hate for such a burden to fall on you, my daughter, but if worse comes to worst..." The King's sentence trailed off as he looked into his daughter's eyes. "Just promise me. Please, Lana? Promise you will defend Videoland's honor no matter what."

The Princess felt tears come to her eyes at the prospect of losing her father, but softly she whispered "I promise. No...no matter what."

"Oh, how touching!" a chillingly familiar voice remarked as the sky suddenly darkened and a large beam of light struck the ground, forming into a swirling blue warp zone. "If this gets any sweeter, I'm gonna get cavities. Hate to break up this reunion, but you're comin' with Big Momma Brain, foo!"

The hologram of Mother Brain laughed sadistically as the portal began drawing King Charles towards it.

"Father! No! I won't let her take you!" The Princess grabbed onto her father's arms and held tight, pulling with all her might against the suction of the portal.

"Lana! Save yourself! Remember, you have to protect Videoland! Don't worry about me!" King Charles shouted to her over the roar of the portal.

Still Lana held on, but she was quickly losing her grip.

"Forget about it, little Princess!" Mother Brain crooned. "You don't stand a chance of saving daddy! Keep holding on and you'll just be taken too, although that would make things so much easier!" She laughed again as Lana gritted her teeth and held her father's hand.

"Lana! Princess! Let me go! Save yourself!" Charles cried.

"Never!!! I...won't...let...you...go!!!" the Princess screamed, still holding his hand tight. She could feel herself being drawn into the portal.

King Charles looked once more at his daughter. I may never see her again, but I can't let her be taken, too. I know she can defend Videoland and our people... "I love you, Lana!" With those words, the King let go of Lana's hand and was drawn into the portal.

"Noooooooo!!!!!!!!" Lana cried, running after him and striving to reach the portal. "Father!!! No!!!"

King Charles disappeared into the dark portal, and it sealed itself up, vanishing without a trace.

The Princess stared silently at where the portal had been. He's...he's gone. I couldn't save him. Father! She burst into tears.

She was alone. Lyle was gone, most if not all of the army had been destroyed, the guards had run off or were dead, and now her father...

The hologram of Mother Brain, still watching the Princess, gave off a sadistic laugh. Lana turned her head towards it, and her sadness fueled a burning anger in her as she glared at Mother Brain.

"You!!! How dare you laugh after what you just did?! You're going to pay for that!" She pointed at the hologram. "I'll send my greatest soldiers to find my father and kill you!!! You'll pay for what you just did, you monster!!!"

"You? The little Princess? Oh, I am so scared! Well, send over those soldiers. Send over the whole population of Videoland for all I care. You're not getting your father back, and soon Big Momma Brain's gonna be Queen of Videoland!" With that, the holographic image dissapeared.

Princess Lana realized that she was crying. Quickly she wiped away her tears and looked back at the recorder. "Of course, you all know what happened to those warriors." She sighed. "Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo brought me their heads. And, of course, they didn't find father. Those were the last soldiers left. The army had been all but obliterated, and the guards were either dead or had abandoned us. I had one choice left. I had to call upon the greatest warriors from the different video worlds for help. They were to form a group known as...the N Team."

Monday, August 28, 1989, 1:50 PM

"This is Princess Lana, current Ruler of Videoland." Lana spoke, facing the viewscreen. "I have tried my best to defend my father's kingdom, but, as you know, Mother Brain's army is advancing quickly."

Lana turned around quickly to glance at the troops of monsters outside the Palace, then turned back to the viewscreen.

"The Royal Army has been decimated, and the guards and all of the advisors have fled. If this continues, Mother Brain will take over and assume control of all Videoland!"

The Princess took a deep breath. Asking for help was harder than she thought it would be.

"Thus I, Princess Lana, hereby request the assistance of the legendary heroes of different video worlds in Videoland: Simon Belmont, vampire hunter of Castlevania, slayer of the villainous Count; Mega Man, robot warrior who has twice defended Megaland from Dr. Wily; Kid Icarus, young archer extraordinaire who fights to save Mount Icarus from Medusa and the Eggplant Wizard. If you are listening, I need your help - no, Videoland needs your help. You have fought well for your own video worlds, and I am asking you to fight for the good of all Videoland. However, I cannot force you to come. You may come of your own free will, or you may opt to stay on your own world." Her face fell. "I will not pretend that this is not dangerous; it will be. It will probably be the most dangerous mission anyone should have to face. So I leave the choice to you."

Lana clicked off the microphone and turned away from the viewscreen. Would they come? She didn't exactly make it sound appealing, but she couldn't lie. The message had been broadcast to Megaland, Mount Icarus, and Castlevania. The Princess hoped that the heroes would come, but she couldn't shake the feeling of dread that they would not.

The Princess smiled. "That worry was needless. You all did come, and for this I will be forever grateful. And now Mother Brain has been defeated, and we have new heroes to help us in the battle against Dr. Wily and against all evils threatening Videoland. I made a promise to my father that I would defend Videoland at all costs, and, thanks to Kevin and the N Team, all of them, that promise is being fulfilled."

Quietly she reached over to the holographic recorder and hit the "STOP" button, then turned the lights off and walked out of the room.

GAME OVER