Warning! This part of the interlude contains almost no humor. Why? Because this author needs to fill some f--king plotholes. But do not fear! The great army of Nii will come and save you! Anyway, without further adieu, enjoy your crappy anime fanfiction.
-X-
Fourth Prelude
(Part 3: The mysterious boy is a polka fan…!?)
The boy behind the emperor stepped forth. His familiar face was completely bitter and blanched of emotions and expression, other than stern disgust. A black military-styled uniform emphasized his developed and rigid figure. The black contrasted with the gold braids that outlined the pants, the top, and the woven pads on the shoulders. Beautiful, lavish buttons sculpted from gold themselves spotted the coat and kept it closed. Ultimately, the boots that he wore made the attire complete, and were obviously black and made of leather from the hide of a wild beast. He ran his glove-covered hand through his chocolate brown hair and sneered.
"N…Namero…kun…" Beauty stuttered, overwhelmed by upsetting emotions and fear. Was this what had happened to him when he went missing in Sapphire City? Did he truly choose to be by the emperor's side? Was he truly his heir?
Heppokomaru spat. He always knew Namero was rotten, not just for the explicit love triangle reason, but because of the way he moved, the way he spoke, and the dim reflection in his eyes that resembled smog. This time, if he truly defected and was the emperor's heir, then he would not hesitate to strike him down.
Suzu herself was in shock, even if she had not come to know Namero personally. The realization and fact being stated, however, were just as shocking to her as they were to everyone else. It made her curious and wondered if Namero was forced, like she was into Captain Battleship's apprenticeship.
Serviceman witnessed everything. He dropped his mailbag, but he did not cower and run. Whatever was going on here, he had to face it. As a protector of the kingdom now, he had to stand, even against an old companion.
Don Patch was actually baffled. His creator was a power-mad emperor's heir. He felt sick; he felt as if he had been living a lie. This discovery made the robot want to grab all the sharp metal objects in the universe and probe Namero's body with them.
Hatenkou hated the empire with all his heart. He held no remorse for his new opponent whatsoever.
Torpedo Girl felt similar to the ghost; she did not really interact with Namero either. As far as her dislike of the emperor went, she had five reasons: first, he was a douchebag. Second, he tortured the Don Kingdom, and she loved her homeland. Third, he was a douchebag. Fourth, he was recently in a porno modeling contest and defeated OVER by half a point. And finally, he was a douchebag.
Tennosuke melted. His HP hit zero. He wailed. He was confounded, perplexed, bamboozled, and speckledorfed (1), even though the revelation was the easy-to-predict betrayal of an ally. Sadly, like the orange spiked robot, Tennosuke's own I.Q ranged from 20 to 22…
The four free High Spirits knew of the emperor's foul reputation for his entire lifetime (which spanned several hundred years, and will undoubtedly be ignored and create another plot hole). This time, they were hoping to cast his body-alongside his heir's-off the face of the earth forever-especially Aerealis, who, like Torpedo Girl, hated that he won the porno model-off (he got 16th place out of only 12 contestants).
Hanpen the seer had a connection to the man-which will be explained shortly-and now he wanted to get rid of him. Simple as that.
As far as the main character was concerned, well…
"THE WORD COUNT…IT'S OVER 9000!"
(BEEP: PLEASE STAND BY)
Bo-bobo was staring awkwardly at everyone else. Everyone else gave him a "you're a pathetic loser" look.
"Umm…yeah…"
The man instantly cleaned up his act. He saw Namero and screamed like a woman.
"OH MY GAWD, NAMERO-CHAN BETRAYED US!? OH, OH MY…THIS IS EVEN WORSE THAN THE TIME I SOLD BUTT-SCRATCHERS AT THAT FOOTBALL GAME…"
Bo-bobo Flashback Mode
"THIS IS NO TIME FOR ANY F—KING FLASHBACKS, YA DUMBASS!" Namero shouted, loud enough to make the glass windows tremble.
"Well excuuuuse me, princess-"
"OH, F—K OFF, SCARECROW!" And thus, the world was saved from Bo-bobo butchering another internet meme reference. After that, the scene reverted back to its proper mood, as storm clouds began to crash and make thunder.
"Ahem…" Namero sneered again. "How have you all been?"
-X-
Emerald Road
"Hurry up, Byakkyô! We have to reach the town before the rain falls!"
Be-bebe, toting suitcase and equipment, was hurrying across the path, lifting up a good deal of dirt. He found his motorcycle, tied his things onto the back, ripped off his robe to reveal slick-looking black leather clothes, and began riding-using his leg hair to steer, for good measure!
"You…suck…so…much…" The red-haired man huffed and puffed, trying to catch up. Be-bebe was a good distance away from his romantic male partner, making the surgeon scream profanities throughout the trip.
Be-bebe had been cleaning around the house this morning and noticed soon after that Hiragi was missing. Originally he thought that he was going off to attempt another manzai stint, but after he noticed that his last slice of apple strudel was missing from the fridge, alongside an embarrassing photo of him with his hair blown away (2), Be-bebe was out for blood.
"I swear, if he puts that picture in the paper, I'll…" Be-bebe put murderous, mildly erotic thoughts in his head, involving ramming a telephone pole up the boy's ass to the point where he would bleed to death.
The rain began to pound on the road, making the road muddy. The bridge where the Faerie King formerly resided was up ahead. Due to a lack of railings on its sides, Be-bebe had to use his leg hairs to spring over the gap it covered. The rain making it slick was only making it worse, so his timing had to be a bit earlier and perfect.
"Okay…here we go…"
Be-bebe revved up the engine and began to charge. Sparks flew due to the pressure in the muddy ground as he slid in and out of the remains of the fortress. Soon enough, as the wheels hit the pavement, he began driving on water, driving the motorcycle out of control across the bridge.
"S—t!"
Suddenly, a boulder fell, blocking the path off the bridge. Be-bebe crashed headfirst into it! His motorcycle exploded into pieces, and the man himself lost consciousness as he fell off the bridge…
"I really should've gotten that chin job knowing this would've happened…" Alas, 'twas the last thing that ran through his head before crashing into the rapid-running waters below.
"Be-bebe!" Byakkyô ran up to the bridge, only to see his lover drift helplessly across the rapids. Tears streamed down his face as Be-bebe fell over a waterfall, with his life possibly cut short.
"Waaaah!" Tears mixed with the rain on the red-head's face. The clouds above grew blacker, and the thunder rumbled harder. The winds stood still for a moment as the surgeon wallowed in misery…
"Well, got nothin' better to do." Byakkyô then whipped out a surgical knife and began cutting open his stomach. His face immediately transformed from stoic to sadistic as he moaned in pleasure from the deep cut…
"Ohhhhh! Yes! Yes! Ohhhhhhhh!"
-X-
Crystal Town
"Yes, it is I who is the emperor's heir. After he and his court spoke to me, I finally found out the truth…"
Namero closed his eyes, igniting another flashback sequence. Everyone gathered around in order to hear it.
"I'M SEXY!" Don Patch screamed.
"Shut up!"
Namero Flashback Mode
"His royal majesty, Emperor Leviathan III, supreme ruler of the Maruhage Empire...we have attained the Count of the Sapphire Region as you had requested..." Jobus silently hissed, boasting his respect to the other man. Namero stared at the emperor and glared, for it was him that commenced the that attack on his mother's ground ship that night ten years ago..."
"That...monster...bastard...murderer..."
Leviathan III stood firmly in front of his underlings, raised his hands, and commenced the others to rise. They all aligned in two rows beside him, forming a path to Namero. The boy was confused, and ultimately muddled with anger at the same time.
"Ah, Yononaka Namero, Count of the Sapphire Region...I have been waiting...so many years to finally see you..."
"...what!?"
The emperor slowly approached the boy and bent down. Tenderly, he unbound his ropes and gave his wrists a brief massage to get the blood flow back into them. He lifted him up, and, unexpectedly, embraced him. All the court members let out an audible gasp, and Namero was on the verge of yelling. The man's embrace was strangely warm, like a parent to a child, but at the same time, it appeared almost like a bear hug meant to crush the ribs of an opponent.
"He smells...kind of funky..." Namero thought to himself, now on the verge of passing out due to a lack of oxygen.
"Here here. Come." Leviathan III spun around, breaking the embrace, and began walking further up the cliffs toward a makeshift cabin that was ahead. He cued his court to follow him, and they, in an orderly fashion, stepped in sync up the path. Porusutoroi breifly stopped for a moment and sneered at the teenage boy before continuing with the others. Namero stayed behind for a moment, trying to absorb all that had happened.
"What the hell is this...?" He tried to sort out the emperor's words, trying to find out what they meant. If he had truly been waiting for him for years...what could it mean?
"This...is stupid. This ass can't dictate me...if he's even trying to do that. I'm outta here..."
Namero turned around and began to walk away, but was suddenly socked in the gut by none other than Porusutoroi. Blood pulled out of Namero's mouth as he fell on the ground. The older man cackled quietly with amusement seeing Namero clutch his gut and trembling.
"Why you-!"
Porusutoroi kneed Namero's head, nearly making him black out. He caught him by his hair and dragged him forcibly across the slope.
"The emperor wants to have a so-called 'family reunion' with you! I don't like dumb brats like you, but...if the emperor says so..." Porusutoroi finally caught up with the rest of the court. Upon seeing the teenager's mistreatment, Jobus immediately grabbed Porusutoroi by the neck and began stabbing it with his fingers, slowly, painfully.
"Enough. Release him, or his majesty will hear of this." He hissed through a clenched jaw. Blood oozed onto his fingers. Porusutoroi, taking in the pain but visibly bothered, didn't budge. The older man sunk his fingers in deeper, tapping the julgar vein ever so lightly...
"Gaaaah! F--k! Bastard!"
Porusutoroi immediatlely released Namero and gasped, his face turning purple. The blood oozing from his neck finally stopped bleeding, and once it did so, Porusutoroi's eyes burst red with lusty murder.
"Jobus..."
"Get back in line. And don't mistreat the heir again."
Porusutoroi and Namero gasped hard. "But...you said it was..."
"Yes, it is."
Porusutoroi stuttered silently for a moment. Jobus, meanwhile, took a just-as-shocked Namero with him with a bit of force. Poru had known his emperor was partially cybernetic. But he was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together rather quickly, and now he wanted to crush himself with something knowing that this sort of thing had happened...
Meanwhile, Namero, the emperor, and the court had reached the makeshift, cabin. Leviathan opened the entryway, which revealed the interior to be a rather large hall highlighted by a red carpet and several busts of ancient Maruhage heroes. The emperor walked over to the end, signaling his court to split into two groups on each side. Jobus placed Namero in the center and bound his hands and feet to a chair with some aggression before standing beside Porusutoroi on the right side.
"Now now, boy, there's no use in running away. It's best you stay here...or face...dire consequences..." the emperor spoke menacingly.
"Oh, you're going to try and kill me and then realize that you can't because I'm apparently your heir, right?" Namero spoke with a flat face. Everyone in the room collapsed, including the emperor.
"WHAT!? HOW THE F--KING S--T ON A S--T SANDWHICH DID YOU KNOW!? YOU RUINED EVERYTHING, YOU STOOGEMEISTER!" Leviathan screamed, veins popping all over his head.
"Sir, what the f--k is a stoogemeister?" Hiragi asked like a child.
"I like making up words!" The emperor responded with pep. "Fudgecacklesnot!"
"...who?"
"Shut up and go get me a sandwhich Hiragi!"
"I don't feel like it!"
"...fine then..."
The mood quickly changed from comedic to serious again. "Ahem...now then...Namero..."
"You've chosen me as your heir to the throne. Here's my question: Why me? And what is this 'family reunion' deal? About the heir position, though: I'm not interested, thank you."
The emperor was irked, but continued. "You...do realize you're making a mistake, don't you?"
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, really. And you made the mistake of running the night after I killed your dear mother..."
Namero's brow twitched, his blood boiled. "Hey!"
"No need for anger, my boy. Before I continue on the heir matter, I'm going to ask you some trivia questions."
"How about no!?"
"Ugh..." The emperor ordered Namero to be bound by chains to a chair as the emperor pulled out some question cards. After a moment, he began firing questions without warning.
"Question number one: How may years old are you?"
"I'm 16...creep..." Namero spat.
"Erhm...question number two: How many years ago was it that I launched a so-called famous attack against the Don Kingdom?"
"That...was a decade ago..."
"Good! Question number three: How many years ago was it when you saw your mother last?"
"That was...also a bit over a decade ago...hey, what the hell!?"
"Silence. Question number four: Is there a little voice speaking to you at random times in your head?"
Namero growled silently. "It's happened only a few times..."
"That leads to question number five: What does the little voice tell you?"
"Something like...'your kingdom, your power, don't neglect power...something of that sort..."
"Now, don't fret if you get this one wrong. Question number six: what is the Maruhage Empire's national slogan?"
"Why the f--k would I know that!?"
"Okay then...guess!" Namero collapsed.
"Are you on stupid pills or something!?"
"He said guess, brat!" Porusutoroi shouted from the right side of the room. Namero spat onto him, nearly making the man lose it.
"Okay...what I just said. Dumb answer, but..."
"...but you're correct."
"Huh!?"
"Only a few to go. Lucky question number seven: What's the most dearest possession that you have?"
Namero stiffened, reluctant, yet had no choice. "A small bear my mother gave me...it was tan and had a blue bib...there was a knob beneath it, and if you twisted it, it played a lullaby..."
"Question number eight: Did you ever notice something...queer, on the bear?"
A queer question itself. Namero thought, merely to amuse the man. He conjugated the image in his mind, but found nothing odd, other than the wear and tear that had become of it. "No...not really..."
"Please think hard...think...outside, below, anywhere that isn't in the box..."
"...wait..."
Namero turned the image back on in his head, but instead got Don Patch telling him, "Remember, licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets."
"Gah!" Namero recieved the teddy bear back, and analyzed it again. He looked at the bottom of the bear, and stumbled upon a strange flashback. In it, he was about three years old and bouncing his then-still-in-good-condition teddy bear up and down above his head. He then noticed something wierd on the bottom of it, written in small hiragana.
"Ooh..."
Naturally, the three- year old could not read even a simple thing as that. He continued his child-play. Namero froze that image of the hiragana in his mind and attempted to make out the words.
"What does it say? Hmm..."
"Keep thinking..." The emperor's smile faded to let Namero think.
"Hmm..." The characters blinked repeatedly, making it hard to make them out. "They say...'m...me...my...b...baby...'"
"'My baby?'"
"I think so..." Namero's defenses fell further and further. He thought that perhaps his late mother had written them out of affection. He hadn't noticed them before.
"Question nine-last one!: Do you know the true story behind what had happened to your mother, the countess, sixteen years ago?" The emperor's smile switched to that of a lustful snarl as he drew out a piece of paper and began to draw figures on them. Namero, with angry curiosity, tried to make them out. They appeared to be a large, lusting man on top of a woman who was crying.
"Wh...what is this!?"
"Let me write it out for you..."
He took the quill and carefully wrote the words "my baby" on them-in such a matter that was on the bear that Namero had...
"Ahh..." sailva trailed down the emperor's lips, making even his court become curious. Namero twinged inside, raising an angry brow. "So pretty, the countess was...so pale...so soft...so...pink...that night, I..."
Namero gaped in complete disbelief. He had heard of many rumors surrounding the emperor, but not that of him and the countess (2). He looked at the drawing and writing again, and saw the writing was the same as that on his bear-the emperor's handwriting! But why on his bear? He gazed at the woman in the drawing, and saw that she somewhat resembled his mother...
"Mother...countess..."
Namero's rage kicked in. He nearly lost it, trying to break free from his binds. "You...filthy..."
"Oh, that was such a wonderful night...I never felt more alive...she was my ideal woman...bothy spiritually and...ahhh, physically..." He licked his lips as a horrifying image of him assaulting the Countess of the Sapphire Region sixteen years ago. Tears streamed down her face like waterfalls, her clothes were torn, and she was screaming in complete pain, as the emperor tore through her in sheer pleasure.
"Mmmm...so...pi-"
"FILTHY BASTARD!" Namero cut his sentence short as he attempted to lunge at him.
"Oh, Namero...do you still not get the point of my litte quiz?"
"You raped my mother!"
"And guess what? It was sixteen years ago-your age! Don't you know what occurs when a rape happens!?" The emperor's saliva flew partially off his mouth, giving Hiragi, whom the spit landed on, partial raibies. His smile grew wider and creepier as Namero stuttered from what he had said...
"Rape..."
Namero's face turned white, akin to an albino. He nearly vomited. He finally had a conclusion, or at least as much as one as he could create from the quiz. He didn't want to beleive it...
"N...n-n-no...it isn't..."
Everyone else in the room, other than Jobus and Porusutoroi audibly gasped. The emperor's brink of lusty insanity calmed a bit as he continued.
"All those years ago, I needed an heir, but my cybernetic parts kept interfering with my...ability to spawn. You see, my boy, though with difficulty, I CAN make a baby...and I did...with the woman I lusted after for a very, very, very long time..."
Namero looked up, gasping on the verge of tears.
"And do you know who the baby I forcibly made with her is?"
Tears fell down his face. He didn't want to hear any more of it.
End Flashback
Namero gazed into the black clouds, his eyes glazed. He finally emerged from his reverie and closed his story. "I spent all of my time with this man, the man who fathered me, the emperor of the great empire in the east, working my way to the top...after all my emotional trauma subsided..."
All the party members couldn't say a damn thing past this was the emperor's son-and his heir. But what were they to do? He was a necessary asset and a friend. Even after a revelation such as that, how could he have possibly joined?
"So..." Beauty, still weak-faced, but shifting her tone flat, "what convinced you to stay?"
"That's easy."
"...?"
Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in the deep black sky, illuminating Namero's body. His basilisk eyes penetrated the minds of the party, making them shiver.
"The neverending quest for power...that is why I chose to stay..."
The emotions evoked as a haunting music began to play in the winds. At this point, all the citizens of Crystal Town sought shelter, for the trumpets of battle were playing again...
An eerie shadow hung over the two figures of royalty...and that shadow belonged to Longhorn Onizawa.
End of Part 3.
-Sooo...it's been what, four months? That's actually pretty short for a fanfiction hiatus. Expecting these things can actually make time pass quicker...
-I am now a junior, and I am agonizing it (sort of). I have the first in a series of long projects coming up on Monday. This story is now officially on hiatus, but fear not. The RPG is back in buisness-or at least as much in buisness as it can get these days...
-Now we know the truth about the mysterious Namero. What will the next result be!? Read on and find out...
FOOTNOTES
-(1). Don't bother looking that up, it isn't a real word.
-(2). See the first part of the second prelude ("Chapter 15") for details.
OH MY GOD, THERE'S TWO OF THEM!