Winds of an Empire pt. 3: Eyes of a Stranger/Metal for All.
The Titans and Windshear were sitting at the pizza place waiting for their order to come. Windshear just finished his cigarette and put it in the ashtray at the table.
"So, you're an emperor?" Robin asked.
"Yep," Windshear answered, "And it ain't that hard. Just boring"
"Your territory is in space, I'm guessing." Cyborg stated.
"Yeah. It ain't like its glory days, but it's gettin' there." Windshear said as the cheese pizza arrived at their table. "Sweet. I ain't eat pizza in like five years!"
"You're empire had glory days?" Raven asked, taking a pizza slice. "How old is it?"
"Pretty old, but not exactly ancient. Starfire, have you heard any stories about the Naverinean Empire?" Windshear asked.
"Yes. I believe it is well over two hundred and fifty years old." She said.
"M-hm. It used to encompass a pretty big-ass chunk of the universe, until some shit hit the fan."
"What happened?" Beast Boy asked.
"Mismanagement." Windshear said simply, taking a bite from the pizza. "Some prick named Marduk came to power and made Hitler look like a fuckin' daffodil. All he had on his mind was genocide and domination. So there was a revolt of sorts, and planet Naverinea is pretty much fucked. It's completely uninhabitable and in total ruins. The empire itself survived and carried on."
"That sucks." Beast Boy said. "You grew up on Earth you said. How?"
"Well, I don't know exactly how I got here, but I believe the emperor after Marduk decided to send his kid, me, to another planet to escape the anarchy in Naverinea. So, I was put in a pod thingy, sent here, and ended up in Kansas."
"Sorry." Raven joked.
Windshear rolled his eyes (though it was hard to tell due to the sunglasses) and continued. "I was found by an independent group of scientists. I think the wanted to dissect me or something, but someone thought it'd be better to raise me."
"Who?" Starfire asked.
Windshear reached into his pocket and took out his wallet. He then produced a picture that had a woman in her mid 30's in a lab coat with long brown hair, green eyes, and glasses. "That's Dr. Joyce Browne. She saved me and pretty much took on my "mother" role. And this..." He flipped the photo around, and on the other side was a man with short black hair, sunglasses, tattoos and the same kind of lab coat Joyce had. "...is her fiancé Dr. Derrick Cain. He took on the "dad" role. Guess whose personality mine came from." Windshear joked.
"So, you're gonna visit them?" Robin asked.
"Well, some shit happened, and I was found by an older Naverinean named Ihsahn. He told me that I was next to 'lead the Naverinean Empire to a glorious renaissance.'" Windshear said, in a dramatic tone.
"So, you became the emperor then?" Starfire asked.
"Eh... technically. I was about thirteen or fourteen then, so I was pretty much just a symbol. Ihsahn taught me Naverinea's history, how to be a good ruler, and all that crap. He retired about six months ago, so now I'm flyin' solo." Windshear said.
"What about you're 'parents?'" Raven asked. "Are they okay with it?"
"The lab I lived in blew up a few days before Ihsahn found me." Windshear said, taking a drink from his soda.
"...oh. Sorry." Raven said, feeling horrible. Soon, an uncomfortable silence permeated the air.
Beast Boy decided to break it. "Your nails look pretty cool. What kinda polish do you use?"
Windshear smiled. "None. Naverineans have naturally black nails."
"Cool!" Beast boy said.
"Yeah, and they get to be pretty long and sharp, so I hafta file 'em down if I'm gonna play guitar right."
"A guitarist, huh?" Robin asked. "We haven't had good experiences with them."
"I know what shit-brick you're talkin' about. Fuckin' disgrace. I hate punk. I play Metal." Windshear got excited. "Metal is what I play. I am Heavy Metal; look at my shirt! Thrash, Death, Black, Power, Doom, Prog, Grind, and all that shit!" He then pointed to the Titans. "There's a metal genre for all y'all! You just don't know it yet!"
"Oh, yeah? Try me." Robin said.
"Okay." Windshear said, accepting the challenge. "You're a forward thinker. You love to plan things out before you act. Am I right?"
"Yeah. I am the leader. I have to be on my toes."
"You'd love the Progressive Metal histrionics of Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Queensryche, and maybe Watchtower. An idiot can stomach that kinda stuff, and you, Robbie, ain't no idiot."
"Ooh! Me next!" Starfire said.
"Oh, lass Starfire..." Windshear smiled "You are such a happy person. Never looking on the downside of things. A hopeful, a hero. You'd love European Power Metal that bands like Helloween and HammerFall execute. They write songs about good conquering evil with the speed and energy to match. The genre of Folk Metal might be of interest to you. You'd love Korpiklanni and Finntroll."
"What about me?" Cyborg asked.
"You are Heavy Metal, too!" Windshear laughed. "Seriously though, you built a cat out of yourself basically, so I'm guessing you like to spend time in the garage buildin' stuff?"
"Yep." Cyborg said.
"Then maybe Industrial Metal performed by Godflesh, Pitchshifter, and Ministry; it has the same clangor as a machine filled factory. If not... you like rap, maybe?"
"Some." Cyborg said.
"Then maybe Nü-Metal, Rapcore, Modern Thrash, and Crossover Thrash as in Korn, Biohazard, Pantera, and D.R.I. respectively. The thug rappers stole their tough n' tattooed look from Hardcore punk. Just thought you'd like to know."
"What about me?" Beast Boy asked.
"I saw the Type O Negative DVD and some other CD's in your case and, by lookin' at ya, I know you like Goth Metal and Gothic Metal. Two separate things. You're also very high energy. I think you pretty much need speedy stuff like N.W.O.B.H.M. and Thrash Metal. You might like the genres that mutated from thrash, too: Death Metal, Black Metal, and Grindcore. You've got a lot to choose: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Death, Mayhem, Napalm Death and a plethora of others!"
"Sweet! Those were some of Raven's CD's in my case too." Beast Boy said.
"Ah, miss Raven..."
"All Heavy Metal is fast." Raven said coolly. "I'm not really into fast music."
"That's where you're wrong, young one. One word: DOOM!"
"What, the computer game I have to tear Beast Boy away from regularly?"
"No, the genre. It's sloooooowww, dark, and regularly rips off Black Sabbath. There's Traditional Doom, Atmospheric Doom, Gothic Doom, Doomdeath, Funeral Doom, Drone Doom, and Sludgecore, but you might not like that one. It might be to Hardcore for you. You've got quite a list of potential favorites, too: Saint Vitus, The 3rd And The Mortal, Tristania, Paradise Lost, Skepticism, Sunn O))), Crowbar, and their contemporaries."
"Huh... Then maybe..." Raven said softly.
"Dudes, I love all Metal. I'd love to get y'all started."
"Maybe tomorrow." Robin said. "It's getting late. If you're staying with us, then you might want to go back to your ship and get some clothes and stuff."
"I can just send The Air Dagger to pick up stuff."
"The wha?" Beast Boy asked.
"That plane thingy that makes me look like a Green Goblin knock off."
"I wanted to ask you how you made that thing." Cyborg said as the group got up from their table.
"Like hell I made it!" Windshear laughed. "I stole it from some asshole threatening my empire! We'll take it apart later."
Ahh... METAL! I hope that'll be useful to my readers, as well.
