Saturday, July 15, 1995, 1:00 PM

"Wow! Cool! Awesome!" These were words said as Kevin, Mike, Lana, and Dr. Right walked down the hallway of a building.

"Awesome indeed." the scientist said. "This is the Videoland Museum, where we have many artifacts from all over Videoland."

"I'm surprised I never showed you around before." Lana said. "I always wondered why Father put the museum in Megaland instead of near the Palace of Power. But now that the Palace is gone, I'm glad this is still standing."

As they were talking, Mike saw something that caught his eye. Inside a glass case, there was a small purple statue that had a demonic look to it.

Mike read the sign near it: "'Shadow Demon Statue'. Hey, Doc, what's this thing?"

Dr. Right and the others walked over and saw the statue as well.

"That's the Shadow Demon Statue." Dr. Right said.

"Really?" Kevin asked.

"Yes. There's a legend about a demon who used to terrorize the citizens of Videoland, until a warrior named Shinobi came along and defeated the demon. He imprisoned the demon's essence inside two statues - one representing light and one representing darkness."

"You mean there may be another statue just like this one?" Mike asked.

"Possibly. We've never found it, however. There's more to it. Legends say that on the night of the Black Moon, if the two statues are brought together in a certain temple, the demon will rise again."

"Wow." Kevin said. "Glad that's not going to happen."

Later, the foursome left the museum and were walking down the front steps.

"That was cool. We should go again." Mike said.

"I don't see why not. We're always adding to the museum collection." Lana said. "Why, just yesterday I - "

Lana was cut off by the sound of a warp zone opening close by. The four turned, and ninjas started pouring out - ninjas clad in brown shirts, white pants, and matching helmets. They starting attacking the four.

"Wow, guys, looks like trouble...for them." Kevin said.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Keene." Mike said.

The two Game Masters started fighting the ninjas with their Zappers. Lana reached for her Zapper and realized that she left it back at the house.

She and Dr. Right took cover in the nearby bushes. Kevin and Mike were firing their Zappers at the ninjas, striking some of them down.

Then a bulky, muscular man came out. He was decked out in blue barbarian armor and started heading inside the museum. Mike noticed the barbarian sneak in. When Mike chased down the man, he saw the man raised his club and smashed the glass case containing the demon statue.

"Hey, that's not yours!" Mike yelled.

Mike ran up to the barbarian, but the big brute grabbed his shirt and threw him against a wall.

Kevin was overwhelmed by ninjas - until a blue ninja emerged from the warp. To Kevin's surprise, the blue ninja was fighting all the other ninjas with his sword. A ninja was about to hit the blue ninja from above, but the blue ninja turned, held out his arm, and a ring of fire shot out from his hand, striking the ninja down.

Kevin was astonished. "Amazing! Who are you?"

"I am Ryu Hayabusa, Ninja Dragon." the blue ninja answered, then knelt. "And I must say it is an honor to meet such a fine warrior as Captain N."

Kevin almost blushed. "The honor's all mine."

Ryu stood up.

"Now, what's going on?" Kevin asked.

Before Ryu could answer, the barbarian rushed out of the doors and jumped through the warp zone.

Mike followed. "Stop him! He's got the demon statue!"

"This is bad." Ryu said. "I have to go after him."

"We'll go with you." Kevin and Mike said together.

As Kevin, Mike, and Ryu headed towards the warp, Lana shouted "Kevin, be careful!"

The trio emerged from the warp and found themselves in an American-looking city.

"Where are we?" Kevin asked.

"Galesburg." Ryu answered. "Look!"

The barbarian was running towards an alley. The trio ran after him, only to be ambushed by more ninjas, this time joined with kickboxers.

"I'll handle the small fry." Ryu said. "You guys need to stop Barbarian."

Mike and Kevin caught up to Barbarian and tried to rush him, but the brute knocked them away with his club. Kevin flew back and hit a brick wall hard, getting the wind knocked out of him.

"You mess with my friend, Conan, you mess with me." Mike fired a Zapper shot, and it hit Barbarian's knee.

The monster threw the statue up.

Kevin caught his breath, stood up, and was about to catch it, when it was snatched by a sickle. The sickle pulled the statue towards a man wearing a black spiked vest and a hockey mask.

Ryu came running up. "Bomberhead. Give that back."

"Make me." the green guy replied. "Attack!"

Kickboxers appeared and rushed towards the trio.

"Get close to me!" Ryu shouted.

Kevin and Mike stood beside Ryu. As the group was about to reach them, Ryu raised his hand again, and a fire shield surrounded the trio. Any kickboxer which came close was blipped out of existence.

"Fine, I'll take you myself." Bomberhead swung his sickle, which produced rings.

Kevin dodged the rings and rapidly fired his Zapper at the deadly rings. Ryu made a throwing star appear and threw it at the green-clad ninja. The star struck his chest, and Bomberhead screamed as he disintegrated.

A few minutes later, while the three were resting, Ryu spoke up: "You're probably wondering what's going on."

"The thought has crossed my mind." Mike replied.

"All right. A while back, a man named Jaquio found the ruins of an old temple. Inside the temple was a tablet explaining the legend of the demon and the statues. He promptly set out looking for the statues when my father came across his plans. He tried to stop him, but he ended up fighting an unknown ninja, and my father fell in the end."

"That's terrible." Kevin said.

Ryu nodded. "I know. I heard about this, so I set out to find the statues and destroy them."

"How are you able to make fire and stars out of nothing?" Mike asked.

Ryu took out his sword. "This is the Dragon Sword, a family heirloom. It gives me my powers."

"Why would Jaquio be interested in the statues?" Kevin asked.

Ryu looked up. "Because tonight is the night of the Black Moon on this world."

Mike jumped up. "Hey, Keene, remember the legend? If the two statues are brought together on the Black Moon, the demon will arise."

"Correct." Ryu answered. "If that happens, Jaquio will gain unlimited power, and all of Videoland would be at risk."

"Well, we'll see about that." Kevin said.

"Couldn't have said it better myself." A ninja appeared, dressed in red armor, wielding two daggers, and had a crew-cut.

"Basquer!" Ryu shouted.

"Yes." He ran forward, snatched the statue, and ran away.

"We have to get it back - now!" Ryu said.

And so, the trio ran after the renegade ninja.

Some time later, the chase ended up at some snow-covered mountains.

Kevin, Mike, and Ryu were held back by men firing machine guns.

As they took cover, Mike asked "Don't these guys fight fair?"

"Bad guys never fight fair." Kevin answered.

"Maybe I can get past them." Ryu said. "Cover me."

Ryu jumped up and started spinning like a buzzsaw. Kevin saw an opening and used his Power Pad to breeze through.

Ryu found himself against more men, but, seeing Kevin, he said "Go on; we'll catch up."

Kevin nodded and ran into a cave.

"Welcome." Basquer's voice said. "Hope you like it even though you'll never leave."

Kevin looked ahead, and there was Basquer, laughing. Kevin fired some Zapper shots, but Basquer leapt around him, leaving a trail of bullets that Kevin had to dodge.

Each time Kevin fired, Basquer leapt, causing more bullets to appear.

Finally, just as Basquer was about to land, Kevin said "Pause" and hit his Pause button.

With Basquer frozen, Kevin took the statue.

The pause wore off, and Basquer was confused. "Where's the statue?"

Kevin raised his Zapper. "Right here."

Kevin fired at Basquer, who dodged and ran out of the cave.

Ryu and Mike came in, asking "What happened?"

"I got the statue."

Suddenly, a wind started blowing, and a laugh was heard.

A voice said "Well done, Game Master. I hadn't expected you or your friends to come this far."

A man appeared, wearing a robe.

"I take it you're Jaquio." Kevin said.

The man grinned. "Brains and power. I like that. You were probably looking for this." He held out a statue that was exactly like Kevin's, only this one was orange.

"The light demon statue!" Mike shouted.

"I see you managed to recover the shadow statue," Jaquio said, "and you are going to give it to me - now."

"Shyeah, right." Kevin said.

"You think you're going to intimidate us?" Ryu asked.

"Maybe." Jaquio snapped his fingers.

Two figures came in the room. One was bare-chested, wearing a demon's mask, and the other was...

"Lana!" Kevin shouted.

The masked figure was holding Lana close by.

"Now, give me the statue, or else I'll destroy your precious Princess." Jaquio threatened.

Kevin, Ryu, and Mike talked it over.

"Okay, you win." Kevin said.

Kevin set his statue down on the ground. Jaquio reached over and picked it up.

The masked figure released Lana.

"Oh, Kevin." Lana said.

The two were about to embrace when, suddenly, she disappeared.

Kevin was alarmed. "Where did you take her?"

Jaquio laughed wickedly. "You fools! She was never here! She was only a projection! I can't believe you actually fell for it! Now, I will release the demon and rule Videoland! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Both Jaquio and the masked ninja teleported away.

Kevin slammed the ground with his fists. "Man! I should have known better!"

"Look, he fooled all of us." Ryu said. "There's still time before the Black Moon, and I know where the temple is. Let's go."

Minutes later, Kevin, Mike, and Ryu found themselves atop of a high cliff. In the distance was a batch of ruins.

Ryu was running, yelling "Faster, guys! We're running out of time!"

Mike tried to keep up, but tripped and landed on the ground. Kevin stopped to help him, but the two were ambushed by a couple of dog-like creatures.

Ryu didn't notice, though. He kept rushing ahead, only to find the masked figure that held the phony Lana hostage.

"Welcome, Ryu. I am Malth."

"You know me." Ryu said.

"Actually, your father mentioned you."

Ryu was shocked. "You knew my father?"

"Yes. Let's see if you're tougher that he was."

The two started fighting each other. Ryu tried using his ninja arts, but Malth countered by summoning lightning to zap Ryu. Ryu, though injured by the lightning attack, slashed his sword at Malth without relent, until he fatally wounded the masked ninja.

Malth said with his last breath: "Although you defeated me, the same fate will await you and your friends after Jaquio releases the demon. Die in peace - or don't."

Kevin and Mike ran up to Ryu.

"Boy, those Kelberos were mean, but we took care of them." Kevin said.

Ryu nodded, then said with an ominous tone: "Guys, this is it. We're here."

They looked up and saw that they were standing right in front of the temple. They also saw that the sun was setting.

"It's almost time for the Black Moon." Ryu added.

The three entered the temple, searching for Jaquio. They encountered minor opposition, but that was no problem for them.

Finally, the heard Jaquio's voice, chanting a spell. They followed it into a huge room, where they saw Jaquio and a few of his minions. Nearby was a pedestal, where the two statues sat.

Just then, moonlight entered through a hole in the ceiling, covering the two statues.

Jaquio chanted "Oh, mighty demon, whose power is limitless, tonight is the Black Moon, and your chance to rise again. I say, oh, demon, rise again."

At this point, Mike used his Power Pad to zip forward and tackle Jaquio, while Kevin aimed his Zapper at the guards, signaling them to stay where they are.

Ryu came over and noticed Jaquio was laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You idiots, don't you see?! You're too late!"

The trio looked over, and the moonlight disappeared because of a lunar eclipse. The statues glowed, thunder and lightning flashed, and a grotesque, twisted creature appeared. It was one long body, with a huge skull for a head, and a large red heart on its chest.

"I am the demon, freed from eternal imprisonment."

"We gotta destroy this thing!" Kevin said.

"No duh, Keene." Mike tried firing Zapper shots, but they had no effect.

The demon started spewing fire at them. Ryu noticed something, then shot several fire wheels at the head. The demon started screaming in pain.

"Aim for the head." Ryu said.

Kevin and Mike fired Zapper shots while Ryu ran underneath it and did his Jump-Slash. Soon, the head fell off, but the demon was still going.

Kevin thought for a moment, then shouted "Mike, Ryu, cover me! I'm going in!"

"What?!" Ryu asked.

There was no time to argue. Mike and Ryu pelted the beast with everything they had while Kevin ran up to the heart.

"Hope this works." Kevin fired a large blast.

The shot hit the center of the heart, causing it to explode. The demon screamed and started to disintegrate. The statues were glowing brighter, and the temple started rumbling.

"Let's go!" Ryu said. "We can't be here when this thing goes!"

The three crawled out of the room while the demon disappeared into the statues.

Suddenly, when the trio were safely outside, the temple crumbled.

The trio surveyed where the temple was and found only ruins. Not even the statues.

Kevin looked up. "I wonder what happened to Jaquio?"

"Probably didn't make it." Ryu said. "At least my father can finally rest easy."

Mike looked at his watch. "Dang, Keene, we need to get back to Megaland to rehearse for tonight's concert."

"Concert?" Ryu asked.

"For our band, Captain N & The Video Game Masters." Kevin explained. "Why not join us?"

Ryu agreed, and the trio departed through a warp zone.

Later that night, the band was ready to perform.

When the crowd quieted down, Kevin said "All right! For tonight's program, we'll be playing the music from Ninja Gaiden! Enjoy!"

The band started with the music from Stage 1-1, followed by Stage 2-1, then 4-2, then closing with the Game Over music. The crowd went wild.

After the concert, Ryu met the band backstage.

"You guys were great." Ryu said.

"Like, thanks!" Stacey said with a smile.

Kevin, I meant it when I said you were a great warrior. You and your N Team. Now I must return to my world."

As Ryu walked towards an open warp, Kevin asked "Hey, maybe we can join together again sometime."

"Perhaps." Ryu said, and he stepped through the warp.

GAME OVER