Dawn of Forever, Prologue

Q observed the unfolding of events within the galaxies, a frown upon his face. The Milky Way stood fractured but still quiet for the moment. The Vong here had yet to make their move, and the Oracle seemed to be assessing how to move in the face of her defeat. In the other galaxy, the Vong were reeling from the crushing loss on- Q waved a hand irritably; names given by humans didn't matter, not to the omnipotent. Instead he spoke the final, decisive words that had been long-awaited. "The round is over; pay up."

BOLLOCKS.

"I sympathize," Q said. "It seemed a long shot."

VERY LONG. I HAD HOPED FOR A BETTER SCORE.

"You scored better than most," the Living Tribunal remarked. "I would not complain if I were you."

Death grinned at him, but only because he had no choice. He wasn't used to losing at all. He stroked a cat thoughtfully while he observed a white-skinned girl with black hair and an Anhk around her neck assessing the scores. She looked over at him and he nodded as one professional to another. Their attentions were both quickly drawn away by a giant squid-headed creature that was nibbling on a continent in misery. It would probably go right to his hips.

"Zarquod, that was great!" remarked the boisterous individual in the chair right next to Death's. Death gave him the look an aristocrat gives to party crashers who are allowed to stay, which was the case for the two-headed drunk. Even by the standard of some of the beings present, he was rather short on omnipotence. Very short. Impotence, in fact, came to mind, but his ship had emerged in the middle of the pocket dimension where the contest was observed against all probability, and since this had been declared neutral ground, no one was permitted to give him the heave-ho at the moment. He'd taken to helping himself to the drinks cart and watching the events that unfolded like a very obnoxious theater patron. Death was a professional, but for a moment he hoped that this was a patron of his domain so that he could look forward to shutting him up at some point.

INDEED.

"I like those little robot doodads especially," the right head remarked while the left ordered another drink.

INDEED, Death said again in a neutral voice. He didn't care much for robots. They led to a bit of uncertainty in his work.

"You know, those ones the Borg froods had, the ones that could turn into a giant ring and-" He was cut off by a large being that grabbed him by both throats and lifted him off his chair with a snarl.

"Now now, remember the rules," Q said. The being dropped the coughing drunk back onto the floor and stormed off.

"What's his problem?" he asked with a cough.

HE'S A LITTLE SENSITIVE ABOUT THE R-WORD, Death explained.

"Oh, okay," the drunk said in a tone that said he had no idea what the R-word was, but was going to see if it was written on the bottom of another drink, especially since his last one had so tragically been spilt before its time.

"Brought it on himself," the young female Death remarked. Without looking she reached up and caught the swing of a Pak Protector and, with a slight push, knocked him a light-year away.

"Looks like he had a bit too much to drink," the drunk observed. "Eyes looked really bloodshot."

NOT QUITE.

"All right, all accounts have been settled," Q said, "it looks like we're ready for the final round to begin. I believe it falls to you first," he addressed the remark to a tall, curly-haired man who was at the moment on all fours polishing an electronic dog with his scarf. Q cleared his throat loudly, and the man looked up, and gave him a toothy grin.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"Yes, you can start the next round," Q said impatiently.

"I can?"

"Yes," Q said. "You are the only one present who has won every single round."

"Did I?"

"Yes," Q said, his tone making it abundantly clear he wasn't enjoying this conversation being drawn out like this.

"Ah, well, a bit of luck I suppose. Look for good things to happen and good things will find you."

"I'll drink to that," the drunk remarked. His other head added a "hear-hear," and did so.

"Nevertheless," Q said, "we are waiting, Doctor."

"Of course of course," the Doctor said, getting up and brushing his trousers off despite the fact that there was no dirt in the pocket dimension. "Let's keep things interesting, shall we?" he asked with a silly grin. "Let it ride."

Go To Part I
Back to Dawn of Forever