Sorry I have not posted anything in a while, but better late than never, right?
Virmir - This fanfiction does not really follow the game series, but, if I had to describe how it fit into series, I would more say that this is something of an alternate history/reality of that game-world. I also found this on Youtube if you are interested in the storyline for the game series (the first game, at least). I kind of miss how game manuals used to have these descriptions for us to read.
Click HereAnyway, here is the next chapter to the fanfiction, and you might find it a little darker than the other chapters so far. Enjoy.
Chapter Two
The King’s carriage finally stopped after the long journey through the wastelands, and the carriages sudden jolt snapped Erin out of her frightful daydreaming. A Rocket Knight came to the window of the carriage, with only the top of his helmet showing, and told the King that they had arrived at the fortress.
The King ordered Erin out of the carriage, to which she complied, and once she jumped down onto the dusty derelict road, she caught sight of an enormous fortress stretching high into a swirling cloud formation with a strange firestorm raging where the fortresses tower enters into the clouds. Before Erin could analyse the fortress further, two Rocket Knights grabbed her on both sides and shoved her forward, ahead of the battalion, toward the bridge.
“Walk!” the King ordered, standing like an iron wall of resentment while flanked by two Rocket Knights against her. Erin, paralyzed by fear, could not move.
“If you do not start walking…” the King demanded, “…then you will be cut down where you stand and we will dump your corpse at the entrance to this monstrosity. Either way, you are going across that bridge whether you like it or not.”
The King’s threat did not help her nerves, and after Erin remained fixed to her spot, the King signaled the Rocket Knights to draw their swords.
“What do you think you are doing?!” A commanding voice bellowed out from behind the King, to which one Rocket Knight then burst past his fellows and came to Erin’s side.
“What do you think you are doing, Sparkster!” the King barked at him. “You have been ordered to remain out of this. Stand down now or be executed!”
“Can you not see that she is petrified?” Sparkster turned to the battalion, “How would any of you feel if you were the ones to be sent into this den of wolves? Erin is sacrificing yourself so that the rest of you might live tomorrow, and given that she has decided to stand and face this horror rather than turn and run away is nothing but a testament to her bravery.”
Sparkster stepped toward the battalion, “Rather than threaten her with death, you should all be standing behind her for this is something none of us would wish upon anyone…” Sparkster then stopped and looked straight at the King, “…but, like what happens so often these days, she has been forced to accept a fate by those whom should have known better.”
The King glared at Sparkster, and Sparkster glared back at the King before the Rocket Knight returned to Erin’s side. “I will lead Erin across the bridge safely.” Sparkster announced, “No one should have to take this path alone.”
While walking across the bridge, which was longer than expected, Erin continued to deteriorate into despair. This dreadful set of circumstances; to be torn from everything she had ever known, to be deprived of the one person she had ever loved, to be placed at the mercy of a mass murderer and war criminal; was nothing short of a nightmare. Erin, clutching Sparkster’s hand, began to splutter with tears before she finally broke down there and then on the bridge.
Sparkster had to think quickly before she completely lost it. The Rocket Knight, feeling slightly incensed, clasped his adoptive daughter by the arms and told her in a striking tone, “Erin, you have to get a grip!
“All of the training and preparation that we have been working through, since the day I told you about the peace deal with your father, has all been leading up to this moment.” He reminded her, “Returning to your father is unavoidable, we both know that, and we both know what you have to do from this moment forward. You have to steel yourself, and be ready to face whatever happens to you after today. If you do not, if you allow yourself to show weakness to your father and his minions, then… I doubt we will ever see each other again.
“But this does not have to be the case, Erin.” Sparkster pleaded to her, which drew her attention up to him from her despair, “We can be together again, Erin, but for that to happen you will need to be strong and pull yourself through whatever challenges you come to face. I would have protected you if I could, but the best I could do was to prepare you as much as possible for this day, and I have done all I can to ensure that you will survive whatever lies ahead.
“I know with absolute certainty that Axel Gear will not keep his promise for peace, he will come after the Empire eventually, and he will want you by his side, as his heir, when he launches his invasion. His invasion of the Empire will be the moment when you choose your side, and choose your future, but you must survive until then. Everything we have done together has been my desperate gamble to ensure your survival.
“And, when Axel Gear invades, it will mean everything to me if you chose to fight by my side, as my daughter...” Sparkster relaxed and afforded himself a smile before concluding, “…but that will have to be your choice.
“Regardless as to what happens, never forget that I will always consider you to be my daughter, and that I will always love you, now and forever.”
Erin, feeling better, pulls herself together and stands up with Sparkster. With a deep breathe, and after wiping away her tears, she nods to Sparkster to continue onward across the bridge to face her destiny.
Making it to the other side of the bridge, they find a black gatehouse, seemingly deserted, before a booming voice called out from nowhere, “LEAVE, ROCKET KNIGHT. YOUR PRESENCE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED WITHIN OUR GROUNDS!”
Sparkster, stepping away from Erin, walked backwards into the mist before he reluctantly turned and walked away, leaving his adoptive daughter by the gate.
“AREA CLEAR.” The voice boomed again, “OPEN THE GATES.”
As commanded, the gate rose into the gatehouse while the distinct sound of metal chains and gears rattled in her ears. Erin, sheepishly cautious, slowly walked into the dark and gloomy courtyard; where she found enough war machines, ammunitions, and supply crates to support a whole army.
As she continued, something struck her, and before she could think, she suddenly fell to the ground unconscious.
~~~
Back in the Empire, within the throne room of the Royal Palace, Sparkster argues with the King.
“What is done is done, Sparkster.” The King rationalised, “There is little point in agonizing over this situation anymore since the situation has passed, and our peaceful existence has now been guaranteed.”
“You cannot truly believe that Axel Gear will keep his word?” Sparkster exclaimed, “He is more powerful than any enemy that our Empire has ever faced before, and his influence stretches to all four corners of the globe. He has absolutely no reason to honour your peace deal, now that he has his daughter back, and we are all aware of just how much of a trustworthy character he has always proven to be.”
“You have such little faith, Sparkster.” The King commented.
“I have little faith!?” Sparkster roared at the King in disbelief, “You were the one who struck this peace deal with Axel Gear in the first place. You had so little faith in the Rocket Knights ability to defeat Axel Gear, even after we destroyed a fortress which you and your spied believed to be invulnerable to attack, that you turned on us and used the ideals of peace to stop us from ending the Dark Knights reign of terror once and for all!”
“I did what I had to do, I am the King, and I have everyone and everything to consider; not just you and your damn wars!” The King blustered.
“We had them…” Sparkster attempted to continue, but the boom of battleship engines suddenly and violently shook the palace and interrupted him.
Sparkster, flanked by his knights, looked up through the tall stain-glass windows of the palace just before a menacing shadow fell down upon them all. They knew this darkness to be the unmistakable shadow of Axel Gear’s personal dreadnought.
High above the sprawling metropolis that is the capital city of the Empire, an enormous battleship, which was almost half the size of the city, hovered above the awe-stricken masses.
Underneath the battleship, a compartment opened up and some kind of tesla-coil weapon revealed itself, pointing down on the city. This weapon suddenly activated, and crackled with electro-magnetic energy, before it shot down a ball of energy straight down onto the city. The resulting wave of electro-magnetic energy rapidly coursed throughout the metropolis, causing anything with an electronic circuit to explode, including rocket packs.
As this wave of energy reached the Royal Palace, and penetrated into the building, Sparkster’s rocket pack exploded on his back, as did the rocket packs of his knights, but the explosions did not cause any serious harm.
Then, coming from the Axel Gear’s dreadnaught, as the weapon folded away into the hull, Axel Gear’s voice boomed down onto the people of the Empire using high-powered speakers.
“Greetings, unwashed masses of the Empire!
“The weapon I have used against your city will not harm any of you physically, but it may render your entire city inoperable for some time, which is long enough to allow me to make an example of those that dared to scorn me!
“As everyone within this Empire is fully aware of, your beloved King, your seemingly benevolent autocrat, used my daughter, my own flesh and blood, to threaten me to concede to a peace deal which continues to insult me to this very day.
“I believe I do not have to remind the people of this Empire that doing such a despicable thing is undeniably evil, but perhaps you must be educated on how much of a grave mistake is it to have threatened the most powerful man on Elhorn! Since none of you had the common decency to do the right thing, and return my daughter to me, then the burden of blame falls upon you all!
“If any of you had done that, if any of you returned my daughter to me, then I might have considered honouring our peace deal. However, since you all stood by your beloved King, something our pathetic species seems to do far too often, then you must all suffer as I have suffered. And, as my first act of revenge, I will do the same unto you as you have all done unto me!”
With that cue, the dreadnought’s airlocks opened along the hull before tens of thousands of Dark Knights poured down into the streets. The Dark Knights then started to grab young women, overpowering them and anyone who might try to protect them, before jetting back to the dreadnought with their hostages kicking and screaming in horror.
“Enjoy your new spoils, boys.” Axel Gear cryptically announced, “Do with them as you please. But, as for myself, I prefer something more… regal.”
Sparkster and his knights then heard an explosion on the higher levels of the palace moments later, and Sparkster quickly raced through the staircases and corridors of the palace before bursting into the princesses quarters, finding her draped over Axel’s shoulder while he pointed his sword against his newly-arrived opponents.
“Axel, hand over the princess!” Sparkster demanded, “You have more than made your point.”
“Hardily.” Axel Gear dismissed, “The old man needs to understand what he has put me through for the last fifteen years, what it is like to have his daughter in the hands of the enemy, but this is only just the beginning.
“Though, on an unrelated note, I must thank you, Sparkster, for all that you have done for my daughter.”
“What?”
“Despite the fact I was robbed of the opportunity to raise my own daughter, it was, at least, somewhat better for her to be raised by you, my arch-nemesis, than groveling in poverty in an orphanage, with the rest of your societies undesirables; just as I was, for the most part.
“And once I show my daughter where she truly belongs, she will finally know the power within her bloodline.”
“Erin is nothing like you.” Sparkster agonised, “She will never allow herself to turn into you.”
“So sure, are you?” Axel smirked, “You forget that my blood and my genes flow through her veins, as does the power that I now wield. You might have filled her head with that “moral” nonsense, but she only needs to taste the power that she can possess and she will then be unstoppable. She would be even greater than you, me, and anyone who might try to oppose her.”
“You are insane, Axel!”
“We shall see.”
Sparkster tried to reach for his sword but Axel raised the tip of his blade at Sparkster, causing the rocket knight to freeze, “Enough talk.” Axel concluded, “As you can see, I have plans with the princess, and I fully intend to have a lot of fun with her in the very near future.”
Axel Gear, jumping backward onto the broken wall he blasted through, suddenly turned and jumped off, jetting himself back onto his dreadnaught with the princess.
Before leaving, Axel Gear had just one last thing he wanted to do, “Oh, and do not think I have forgotten that you destroyed by last fortress, Rocket Knights.
“Do any of you have any idea how much they cost? Fortunately for me, I have forty or so fortresses now, each bigger than the last, but still, I think you deserve some special treatment…”
Axel’s dreadnaught, as it turned around, pointed its main guns straight at the Rocket Knight Academy and ruthlessly opened fire on the base, blasting the whole institution into oblivion and scattering debris across the whole city.
The dreadnaught continued to turn until it faced away from the city, and with the rev of its engines, it finally blasted away and left the Empire.
Sparkster and his Rocket Knights, after returning to the throne room and to the King, resumed their argument; but Sparkster had something other than arguing on his mind now.
“Do you see what you have done?!” Sparkster bawled at the King, “Do you now realise what I have been trying to tell you for the past fifteen years?! Axel Gear has kidnapped countless women, kidnapped the princess, destroyed the Rocket Knight Academy, and who knows what else he has planned for us.
“All because of you, Axel Gear is now more powerful than ever before; he has successfully subjugated most of the world under his rule, he commands resources and forces which put any organised army to shame, and he now threatens our people in a capacity he never could before.
“You did all of this.” Sparkster drew his sword, “You and you alone, Your Majesty, have brought doom upon us all!”
Suddenly, the Kings guards drew their weapons, reacting to Sparkster’s aggression, and came at the Rocket Knight; but, in a few quick thrashes, the guards’ armour and weapons cascaded across the floor of the throne room.
“Leave if you value your lives.” He ordered the guards, and they did not hesitate to flee.
“The people of the Empire require someone to lead them in this time of turmoil,” Sparkster continued, “and a traitorous, disgraced King will no longer command any respect with the people, and so I am forced to do what I thought I would never have to…” Sparkster stopped to compose himself before continuing, “With the power invested in me as Leader of the Rocket Knights, I hereby relieve you of the throne as well as all your claims to the throne, and all the claims of your heirs are hereby nullified until this crisis has been averted.”
“What?” the King protested as he was dragged from the throne by Sparkster’s knights, “You cannot do this!”
“I am afraid that you will find that I can, and have.” Sparkster replied before ordering his knights, “Get him out of here!”
~~~
Erin, finally starting to regain consciousness, slowly awakened to find herself within luxurious accommodations; seamless and immaculate marble walls and floors, expensive furniture, rugs, ornaments, portraits and all manner of other features. These quarters were even more lavish than those within the Royal Palace of the Empire.
As she dragged herself up in bed, she found that someone must have changed her clothes since she was now wearing brand new and extravagant clothes; something she was rather worried about since someone must have been seen her naked.
The young opossum climbed out of her four-poster bed and followed the open plan layout of her quarters, taking a few steps down, into the lounge where she found a massive open fireplace with a seating area stationed in front of it. Erin suddenly realised that this must have been how her father has lived for all these years; living in a palace grander than that of royalty, and surrounded by all the luxuries money and power could afford him. She also could not help but wonder if this is how she might have lived if Sparkster…
As Erin turned, she jumped out of her fur at the sight of a Dark Knight standing right behind her. “My apologies if I startled you, milady, but your father has requested your presence, and he awaits for you within his personal quarters.”
“And… you are?” Erin asked, catching her bearings.
“I am Raven, milady. Your father appointed me to be your personal bodyguard for the foreseeable future.”
“Why would I need a bodyguard?” Erin queried.
“Some of your father’s men… generally cannot be trusted to behave themselves while within the presence of women, especially his daughter.” Raven implied, “Although Lord Gear has recently taken measures to deal with this… problem, he still does not completely trust his knights, and so appointed me to protect you should anyone try anything… disrespectful.”
“And just how are you any different from the other Dark Knights?” She scrutinized him.
“I’m gay, Miss Gear.” He smugly replied.
“Ah, I see.”
“Shall we?” Raven gestured toward the door to usher her along.
Erin stepped out of her quarters, out into the corridor, and found that both ends of the corridor were closed and barred. “Do not worry about that, milady.” Raven assured her, “Your father is most eager to meet you after all these years, and he does not want you to wonder off without speaking to him first. The guards have orders to reopen this corridor once you have entered your father’s quarters.”
Raven then guided his charge along the corridor to the quarters next to Erin’s, “These are your father’s quarters, he has asked me to give the both of you some privacy, and so I will not be accompanying you inside this time, if ever at all.”
Raven opened the door to Axel’s quarters and Erin stepped in, and then she watched Raven slam the door shut behind her.
Axel’s quarters were much like Erin’s: with the lower section being the lounge whilst the elevated section beyond the lounge was a study rather than the bedchamber. Erin cautiously walked through the lounge and approached the study, slowly rising up the steps until her line of sight peered over the desk to where she found an opossum stood wearing black and purple armour.
The Dark Knight looked up from his work, noticing the young girl, and smiled as he looked straight back at the girl. “Erin,” his raspy voice sounded out, “we finally meet at long last.”
“You… you’re Axel Gear!” Erin returned, though she was not sure why she stated the obvious.
“You recognise your father?” He noticed while began to slowly walk around the desk, “But I am not surprised that you perceive me as you do. What do those within the Empire call me?
Axel continued, “I have been given many titles over the years; a crime lord, warlord, terrorist, scourge, tyrant, dictator, war criminal, demon, and countless others. All such names were born of ignorance of my nature and fear of what they cannot control.”
“It is not that simple.” Erin challenged him, “You are responsible for the countless untold misery you unleashed throughout the world. There were children back in the Empire that were made orphans because of you and your Dark Knights.”
“Those are unfortunate consequences, but this world is cruel by its very nature, and it is only those like us, the Dark Knights, who truly understand and appreciate what we must do to survive and thrive in this world.”
Axel Gear approached Erin, “Those unfortunate enough to have an unfair start in life should have the greatest motivation to succeed and dominate than those that had better. Those that do not take the opportunity are weak. Those that do take the opportunity, but fail, are unworthy. But those that do take the opportunity, and succeed, are entitled to whatever they want in this world as long as they can take it.
“Strength, power, and self-determination are born from poverty, injustice, and oppression; I am the living embodiment of that reality, and just how far one can rise in greatness, regardless of what those who subscribe to the narrow-minded concepts of morality think, only depends on your ambition and how much time you have left in this world.
“But I know that is not what you believe, is it?” Axel smirked, “Sparkster would never have allowed you to consider such a philosophy.”
“Sparkster is a good man, who has done more for me than anyone else has throughout my life.” Erin chimed out.
“True, but Sparkster is also naïve, and incapable of understanding other people and their motives.” Axel added, “If he did understand what people are truly like underneath their veil of morality, he would have never confided in the King who ultimately betrayed you, Sparkster, and the whole Empire simultaneously. Moral idealists, like Sparkster, are blind to the corruptive influences that motivate people to commit acts that you would never expect from them, such as betrayal from the Royal Family.”
“But… it is wrong the think the worst of people…” Erin weakly tried to argue.
“But what do you do when those you have trusted betray you?” Axel persisted, “What do you do when no one even cares enough to try to help you?
“Sparkster found himself in this same predicament. The one person he thought he could always trust, the King, betrayed him so that the King would get only what he wanted in this world. If Sparkster had stopped and thought things through, with a more cynical view on the world and its people, all that had happened since that moment he confided in the King might never have occurred. In a sense, Sparkster can only blame himself for the problems his naivety created for him.”
Axel Gear walked up to Erin and placed his hands on her shoulders, “I know it hurts to realise it, but the only person you can only truly rely on in this world is yourself. I learnt that the hard way, and though you could never truly rely on me either, I will, at least, be honest enough to admit it.”
Erin looked up at him and replied, “I simply cannot accept that philosophy.”
“I didn’t think that you would.” Axel concluded, “But I don’t care to try and convince you to see things my way, I am just glad that you are finally back with me, at long last.”
Axel wrapped his arms around Erin and pulled her into his embrace, which was rather strange to Erin, she did not expect him to be anything like this, but perhaps this is his way of trying to turn her to round to his side, but she was determined not going to fall for it…
Axel Gear held her tight, “I somewhat thought that I would never see you again. I lost both you and your mother on the same day…” and Axel’s voice changed to a more sinister tone, “…but when the King called me up and threatened to kill you before my very eyes, I knew what I had to do to protect you.”
“The King… threatened to kill me?” Erin queried. “Yes, he would have killed you if I refused his peace deal.”
“I know that you must think badly of me, Erin,” Axel whispered, “but I do not lie when I say that both you and your mother where the only two… I ever truly loved in my life.”
Erin could not help but wonder, “Wh… what was my mother like?”
Axel pulled himself away from Erin in surprise before she added, “I have never known anything about her, after all.”
The Dark Knight smiled, “This will probably be a long story, but if you want to know then… take a seat.” Axel gestured to his lounge where they could talk; Axel then went to his cabinet to get something for the two of them to drink before he accompanied his daughter in front of the fireplace where he spend the remainder of the day indulging Erin’s curiosity.
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