Oh boy a flashback chapter.
When was it that I started to learn the truth of this world? The truth that no one wants to face, that everyone in this damnable illusion of a city clings too. The truth that we are all just created for someone else's entertainment. This world is a lie, and it's not even a thinly veiled one at that.
Perhaps it was still when I was known as Michael Seebach? Yes, it must have been then, I barely remember anything before that. I had a wife and a child, but had you asked me what they looked like I couldn't remember. Back then, I was a reporter, and while I don't remember the specific details of the case I was on that sent me into the spiral of truth and lies, I do remember that none of the details added up.
As a reporter for the Paradigm Press, the company would send me out to various crime scenes to speak with detectives and get details. None of the other reporters had the stomach for the more gruesome spectacles that awaited us. Worse yet, the public seemed to lap it all up. Murders had been on the raise. And while most had no connection, I knew better.
Why they would send a reporter vocally against the corporation I'll never know, and never care either. But thanks to their incompetence I was able to finally see it, what was right in front of me, and everyone else, the whole time.
Now that I think about it, that was my first time meeting the Negotiator as well. Or at least learned of his existence. An archetype not unlike the one I used underground was rampaging the city. He would summon his Big to deal with it. He was close by when I was fighting with the military police, in my reporter form this time.
The city streets rumbled as the ground gave way to a gray, armorless skeletal Megadues. As it reared its head, threw back its arms and roared, the people on the streets below ran away in terror. The Military Police were on the scene quickly, with Major Dan Dastun barking orders at his men.
"Stand your ground men!" The tanks fired on it uselessly. "It seems even an unarmored Megadeus won't go down easy."
Within seconds the ground rumbled again, and the black Megadeus appeared, seated in its cockpit Roger took the controls as the red diode screen in front of him read off 'Cast in the Name of God, Ye Not Guilty.' "Big O, Showtime!"
The archetype roared again before bum rushing at the Big O, who took a swing at the lumbering beast. The two laid into each other, but before Big O could connect a finishing blow the beast ran off. "Huh, it's running away?"
The next day a long black sedan was parked next to the curb. Against the hood Roger waited for Dorothy to finish her shopping. Norman had only just started entrusting these trips to her, but it still worried Roger. Her father had only died two days before after all. Why Norman thought that sending her on mundane errands was a good idea was beyond him.
"How can you call yourselves defenders of justice here to defend the city!" A man in a trench coat and fedora was admonishing the police. "It's been the same with those recent murder spikes! You're keeping the facts from the public! First you announce you have a suspect in these cases, then you say they escaped while attempting to evade arrest."
"Those are the facts." Dan Dastun insisted to the irate reporter.
"Absurd! Do you really expect me to believe such balderdash? You're covering up something and I intend to…" Yes that was our first encounter, but I was not Schwarzwald then.
"Give it a rest, friend. The Major is a busy man, he can't spend all his time chatting. What if you're holding him up on his way to a crime?" Roger had a disarming smile hoping to de-escalate the situation.
"Hmph." The trenchcoated reporter turned on the police and pointed an accusatory finger at them. "You are funded with taxpayer money! Your job is to protect the public! And you are obligated to reveal the truth. Citizens have the right to know everything…" He cast his eyes downward. "Just how do you plan to protect the city from this new Megadeus, the so-called "God of Death"? The public demands answers, Major Dastun!" With that the unnamed reporter turned and left.
"Who's Mr Happy?" Roger asked sarcastically.
"A newspaper reporter, and he's very persistent. He wants to know everything we know about every case. He's driving me crazy!" Dastun sighed in frustration.
"He's just doing his job I suppose."
"Sure… I'm just not good at dealing with his type. So what do you want? Make it quick."
As the reporter angrily walked away, he passed a black clad girl in a maids dress. She held a basket of groceries. He paid her no mind, for he was frustrated. "Those lying pigs… power has made them corrupt."
Back at Dastun's cruiser Roger was asking about the murders, but was rebuffed. "Yeah it's true that more have happened recently, but we can't be sure why, and we don't need you spreading rumors." Dan poked Roger's chest, but it was less harsh and more of a warning.
"Hey I was just…" BOOM! Behind the two, some blocks away an explosion went off.
"What the! It can't be! The "God of Death"? Here? Roger get out of here! What the hell?" Dan turned around to tell Roger to run, but he was long gone. "Well at least he knows when he's in over his head… Maybe."
Down the street the beastly Megadeus with an equally ghastly name smashed the pavement to smithereens. A small pale girl not far from the carnage eyes widened. This thing was going to be annoying.
"I'll get you this time!" Dastun summoned the howitzer units.
"Big O!" A few blocks away in an alley, Roger summoned his giant alter ego. While all this was going on, in a dark office in the central dome, Alex Rosewater and his newly appointed secretary watched the skeletal robot lay waste to an area outside the domes.
"It came out of nowhere. Who the devil is controlling it?" Alex was less than amused. A new Megadeus was another chance he did not have to control the false peace of this city.
"Sir.." Angel walked close to the white and cream armchair the chairman occupied. "We are investigating it now. We will report to you as soon as we have information."
A smug and bemused smile crossed his face. "You do that, and I want that information fast and through." "Well well. It wasn't a bad idea to hire this union welp. She seems to know her place well."
The monitor showed an orange glass crowned followed by large medal black shoulders burst from the streets.
"Here it is again, the black Megadeus." Hanging out of the tank Dastun moaned. It was always more paperwork when it showed up.
In the cockpit, Roger took the controls and growled. This thing had been a pain in his side the night before, and he didn't like having an enemy flee. "I've about had it with you. If you are a ghost then it's time for you to rest in peace!"
With that the battle started. The skeletal big roared, his face flashed numerous lights, his eyes gleamed red, and he charged. Big O started off strong, blocking punches with his shield arms, giving back what he got, when it became apparent to the skeletal "God of Death" that he was losing, he changed tactics and attacks. Jumping far back from the Big O, the two holes in his head on either side started to spark.
"Not again you don't!" It had used the same attack the night before to escape, but this time the "God of Death" had a different idea. As Big O fired off his laser vision, the skeletal beast fired off his electricity at Big O's face. The two elements clashed and a loud explosion followed by a blinding light made it difficult for Roger to counter attack. Not that he had time too. "What?"
The skeletal "God of Death" leapt off the ground and onto a building close by, from his heightened position he started to charge up another attack. Roger had Big O fire a hip chain at his opponent, but as soon as he did the skeletal beast jumped onto Big O, grabbing his arms.
"Wow!" A lowly lieutenant said.
"Dammit this is humiliating. Must we sit on our hands while these giants… criminals sumo wrestle on our doorstep?"
"Actually Major, I like the black Megadeus. He's sort of a hero to the public right?" The lowly lieutenant said.
Try as he might, no amount of jerking the controls would free Big O from the "God of Death's" grip. "Is this... The end for me?"
It wasn't like Roger to be pessimistic, but the outcome didn't look good. As the beast Megadeus charged his attack to finish the Big O stopped. Suddenly he jerked his head upward and looked at the roof of a nearby building. "Now!"
Roger hit the panel at the side of the cockpit, the abdomen panels slid open, and a salvo of missiles launched at the distracted Megadeus. But as soon as they launched he jumped off and ran away again, making hole in the ground he disappeared. "Ugh. No you don't! Not this time!"
But no sooner had Roger followed it underground than it had disappeared.
As Major Dastun surveyed the damage he sighs and mutters, "They certainly had their way with the place."
"Sir… Should we lift the evacuation order?"
"No, they could still be fighting underground."
I didn't obey the evacuation order and went back to see the God of Death myself, but it was already over by then. I could only watch the military police search for clues and order a clean up of the wreckage. I wanted to see everything with my own eyes.
The following day in the Smith household Dorothy would question Roger about his fight with the skeletal being. "So he got away?" Dorothy placed a mug of coffee on his desk.
"I'm afraid so." Roger groaned in frustration and shrugged. "What does it want anyway? All it does is destroy the city and run away." He took a swig of his coffee only to notice too late Dorothy had snuck sugar in.
"It's searching."
"Huh? For what?"
"I don't know." In the days since her fathers death, Dorothy had taken a strict monotone. Roger wasn't sure why when he knew she could express more than that.
Oh that's great. "Ok, let's say he is searching for something…" Roger took another drink and tried not to grimace at the sweetness, "Look Dorothy, your theory would make more sense if you had something to back it up with."
"Yes, but…" She stopped short.
"Yes, but what?"
"Yes, but it's still searching."
The new player did not live with them yet, so she could not have questioned why I was able to find a second archetype later. At that time, as I was still Michael Seebach, I went to an informant and gained what little information on the God of Death and reported sightings of it that I could. That was the second time I saw the negotiator, as I was leaving the bar he gave me but a passing glance.
"That reporter…" Roger took his usual seat, "Big Ear, was that man a customer?"
"What man?" Big Ear flipped to the next page in his paper.
"Serves me right for asking when you need to maintain confidentiality." Roger asked about the God of Death himself, but still had no idea what Dorothy had meant by it was searching.
The reporter went to the massive hole in the ground, and stared at it menacingly. "The "God of Death" is terrorizing the public, but I still haven't observed its wanton destruction myself. Damn the military police and their evacuation orders." He looked up at a dome looming nearby. "They are completely ineffectual against those Megadeuses. If it weren't for the black Medadeus the whole city would be rubble by now." He thought of the iron giant that protected the city. "The black Megadeus, what's it's story?"
He looked back down into the void, wondering if something was watching him from below, but he knew that was only paranoia. "The underground… nobody dares go down there. The black Megadeus and the "God of Death" both come from that underground and return to it." Who knows what mysteries lie down there? "What am I thinking? I can't go down there without equipment."
Two military police men walked up to the reporter and started to warn him. "Step away from there sir! It's dangerous! Oh! It's you again." The officer became aggressive. "Look there will be a press release about the incident soon, so can you please wait."
Driving towards home Roger passed the incident and noticed the reporter hounding the cops again "That reporter again. He's certainly dedicated to his work, I suppose I should admire his tenacity. It must be hard to discover the truth in a city that has no memory. So many clues long forgotten." The light changed and Roger headed for home. "It'll be interesting to see what he writes though." If big brother Paradigm co doesn't censor him that is. His car phone rang, Norman was calling him.
"Master Roger, dinner is being prepared." In the background Roger could hear Dorothy asking a question about something.
"Ok, I'm on my way."
On the street the reporter sulked. Is it such a bad thing? To try and find the truth? He passed a newspaper sales box, headlines about some celebrity event on the cover. Those phony official news reports. Nothing but Paradigm co. propaganda! He kicked the sales box with all his pent up frustrations. "It's nothing but lies!"
Sweat dripped down his face. He hadn't had a smoke in days. "That's not the kind of article I want to write! I want to expose the truth about this city." He turned to yell at the crowd that had amassed to watch the latest madman spiral out of control. "Do none of you want to know the truth? Am I the only one who cares!" I have to learn the truth. Then I will tell you all… "What this city... What Paradigm City really is!"
The next day the head of the city sat in his dark room, staring at a monitor. "It's on a rampage again. The military police seem to be at a loss."
His pick clad assistant walked up next to him, high heels clicking on the floor. "Sir, there's something I need to report."
"What is it?" He seemed bored.
In the street below the Big O burst from the ground to face off with the God of Death yet again. But one of its hands was different. Instead of a hand, the arm ended in a mace head, many dulled spikes jutting from the black ball. "Big O! Action!"
The God of Death roared and bum rushed at Big O again. "At it again huh? Dorothy says you're searching for bad you can't talk." One of the hands took the shape of a pincer claw pinching at Big O's arms. "You could hire me to find what you're looking for, but you're as silent as the sphinx." It roared again and jumped back, finding all it'd methods rebuffed. "And I can't let you do what you please either."
The God of Death roared and smashed the ground, making it unstable under Big O's feet. As the Big O started to sink into the ground Roger started his counter attack. The God of Death took a swing with his hand, and it connected to Big O's mace fist. Finding it ineffective, the God of Death jumped back again. "You're not getting away!"
Roger hit a button on the side of his joystick and the clamps on the mace popped open with a loud swoosh of steam from the exhaust holes in Big O's arms, and the mace head flew forth, a black iron chain connecting it to the arm. The God of Death dodged to the side. "You're pretty fast, but…"
As the mace was a bit behind it, the god of Death could do nothing to dodge again. Roger hit the same button on the side of his joystick, and two of the spikes retracted, an explosive force within sent it into the back of Big O's opponent. The rest of the explosive hidden in the mace went off, taking the head of the archetype off with a massive shockwave.
The soldiers on the ground below began to celebrate the God of Death end. "Yes! He did it!"
In the cockpit Roger finally relaxed, but had a glum look. "I'm not sure where you belong, or where you came from. But this city sure isn't the place."
Below the military police ran from the archetype as it's head fell to the ground, the last few cables connecting it had snapped. "Ah, get back! Major, he did it! The black Megadeus won!"
"Yeah he did." But I still don't like it.
As the steam and smoke wafted away, something caught Roger's eye. "Hm, is someone in there?" Upon closer inspection there was someone in the rent and wreck cockpit. "It's that reporter! How did he get in there?"
In his office now, the President was already signing paperwork for reconstruction of the streets and buildings that were company owned. Angel handed him a clip board with all the info collected on the God of Death and the reporter. He read it over quickly, but seemed taken aback by what was within. "Paradigm Press reporter Michael Seebach?"
"Yes. He's one of the company's affiliates." Angel reported what she knew.
Roger could only stare in shock as the archetype burned. "Why? Why was he in there?" While Roger did his best to scoop the reporter out of the machine, it was too late to prevent him from being burned.
The next day Roger sulked on the balcony, mulling over the fight in his head. Had the reporter been in there for every fight? Should I have used a different method to stop that thing?
"Roger, your tea." Dorothy brought him a warm cup of tea before leaving him alone again.
A scarred and bandaged man stood on the roof of a burned out building, laughing maniacally. "The pitiful reporter known as Michael Seebach is dead!" He laughed again, before gesturing out at the city. "I am Schwarzwald! And I will make you all see the truth! That this city is an illusion! And it must be destroyed!"
I went underground. I remember that while I was investigating the recent string of murders I suspected that the accused had fled underground. And that was where I met a god! Hahaha… I couldn't believe it. All that time I had been chasing myself, my own memories. When I met it underground that day, I remembered a song my mother sang to me as a child. It was in German, as her English was never very good. But that song had been important to me before I lost my memories forty years ago.
When I was in the cockpit of that Megadeus I sang that song. But while I may have been in the cockpit I had no control of the beast. It had a will of its own. That incident was what awakened me to the truth, as well as burning over seventy percent of my body. But it matters not, this physical vessel is just a means for me to deliver the truth.
Soon Paradigm co. looked for me, wanting to bring me in. But it mattered not. What did matter was that the Negotiator came looking for me. He, the one in control of the black Megadeus, certainly he would accept the truth. That was my hope anyway. I gave him hints, leading him to the underground. I thought if he saw what was below certainly he would awaken too!
In the underground that day, with the second archetype I had hoped to awaken the Negotiator to the truth, but that android got in the way. At least she was supposed too. Yes. We've been through this before, and it should have been the android girl awakening the archetype that I could not, burning me yet again in the process. But before the android could complete her role a new actress stepped onto the stage that was by rights ours.
I do not know her, nor remember her, maybe we had met before, maybe she was never supposed to be a part of our stories, but here she is. Ray Law. By what little information I have gathered on her, she is nothing of importance, and yet her very existence vex's the old god of this world. So even though she is nothing, she must be something. She inexplicably lives with the savior of this damned world, and makes peace with the members of the household, calling them family.
Whatever she is I will eventually find her truth too. Perhaps she is a new means to end the madness that plagues us all.
At that time I learned that even an archetype is nothing compared to the completed product, and so to deal with IT, his Big, I would have to find another method.
And now? Now I have something better. Much better. A means by which to change this world. A divine chariot of my own. A Megadeus that will allow me to rain terror from the sky onto this city of falsehoods. Destroy the false sky's the rich hide from, that I once used to hide myself.
I shall call him...
Well I decided to add Schwarzwald backstory here before moving onto 12. Sorry its been a while since my last update. Life had a way of happening. My old dog passed away, I got a puppy, got all A's in my first semester of grad school, and made some progress translating the novel and the radio drama. There is a lot to translate, but I'm slowly working my way through it all.