CHAPTER 9
-"ERICK'S TRAGIC ORIGIN"-
While the Red Cat Gang was making plans for the Phoenix Stone, Shadowloo was also making their own. Everyone had his or her own secret reasons. But soon, every villain will soon be hearing about it…about the Phoenix Stone.
While trying to find the Phoenix Stone, Erick decided he wanted to go for a 'walk' to clear some things on his mind. He told Delia and he left the RED CAT GANG's Base.
Later, Dr. Wily, Bass, and the Cat Statue were looking for him:
The Cat Statue asks, "Meow…where's Erick? I cannot find him."
"He's not in the base, Cat Ghost King. We've searched everywhere," Dr. Wily replies.
"Where could he be meow?…Find him!"
"Not to worry gentlemen, Erick will be back," a familiar girl's voice says out of nowhere.
Scared out of his wits, Dr. Wily jumps up. "WAAAAAAAAAA….!!"
Then, Delia emerges from the shadows of a corner. Dr. Wily was panting slowly with his hand on his chest:
Dr. Wily scolds, "DON'T DO THAT, YOU GIRL! YOU CAN'T KEEP POPPING OUTTA NOWHERE BEHIND PEOPLE! I'M AN OLD MAN YOU KNOW! DO YOU WANT TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?!"
Delia apologizes, "So sorry, force of habit. As I was saying, Erick is not here."
"Then where is he?" the Cat Statue wanted to know. "We need him right here."
"Don't worry you guys, he just went out for a little walk, to clear some things on his mind, but he'll be back."
"Are you sure of that?" Dr. Wily asks her.
"He gave me his word…that should be enough for you…" Then, she looks the old scientist right dead in the eye, and in a serious tone of voice which left ABSOLUETLY no room for further questions, says, "Understand?"
Delia tends to have the same effect on Dr. Wily that Erick does. Nervous, he gulps, "Gulp…Okay."
Meanwhile…in the cliff of a high mountain lies Erick.
He's looking at the beautiful scene before him. He's wearing a black trench coat that covers most of his body, a purple scar around his neck, black shoes and black glasses…
Erick thinks: Ah, such a beautiful scene. I almost forgot its beauty. I should go out more often, but, first things first… Once the mission is over, I'll take Delia to see all those wonders this world of the 'humans' has.
Then Erick starts to remember his past…
Sadly, Erick thinks: How long have I've been around? Too long, I'm afraid. Ever since I became what I am today…ever since that 'incident' that change my life forever…ever since that 'they' betrayed me…
It's just like yesterday…I'll never forget that time…
(Begin Flashback)
ROMANIA -(EUROPE)- 65 B.C.
…My life was a happy one. I was once a Priest that helped many who were in need…
We see Erick dressed in white priest-like vestments, wearing a golden medallion around his neck, in a little church on a little town, helping people with his white magic. Erick studied the Ancient Religions and Ancient White Magic of the Gods so he could help the people in need.
Erick's just cured a little girl from a rare disease with his knowledge of the mixing of herbs and White Magic, the little girl's family was very grateful to him:
Happily, the girl's mother cries, "Oh thank you Mr. Erick for rescuing our baby girl, thank you, thank you!"
Her father says, while bowing at Erick's feet, "Yes, you saved her! We don't have much money, but we'll pay you whenever we can."
Erick smiles and tells them, "No need, my friends. To save this young girl's life was all the reward I needed."
The woman continues to show her gratitude, "But, thank you! Thank you!"
Ah yes, such a wonderful life I had, all the people used to love me… But unfortunately, there were those who didn't love me at all, they hated me…Those who were jealous of me, jealous of my knowledge that they couldn't have…But, that didn't bother me at…at least not yet…I had a good life, and a good love, I had a woman named Cassandra, she was my inspiration, my motivation for my love for life…I loved her more then my life, she loved me cause of my noble heart and loyalty to her…but, as time went by, the love she had for me started to weaken…
Cassandra was waiting for Erick to finish his work…when Erick finished another good deed, helping another poor person she asked him, "Erick, I was wondering, why can't you start charging fees for your deeds?"
"Cassandra, most of these people don't have much money, and besides, helping them is very rewarding." Erick tells her.
Cassandra scoffs, "Oh come on! You have a unique gift Erick. Don't you think that it would be a shame to waste such a wonderful talent without making any gain from it?"
Erick, with conviction, firmly says:" NO…! Cassandra Darling…my gift is to be used to help people, not to take it for granted, nor to make money out of it."
"But why? Come on, don't you wish to have it all? Jewels, Money, Power…" A wicked smile crosses her lips. "With that gift of yours, you could have it all and we could be happy."
Erick gasps, "CASSANDRA… ! What you're saying is rubbish! We don't need those things to be happy!"
"Surely YOU don't have ambitions, don't you?"
"I do…but not THOSE kinds of ambitions… such ambitions always lead to destruction."
Cassandra objects, "No they don't!…Tell me Erick…wouldn't you like to live like a Prince, and I as a Princess…Remember that Princess that lived in the Palace of Carnesius that we passed by…she had it all…riches, power, love…the life that 'I' should be living!"
Erick simply says to her, "Are you sure about that, Cassandra? She may have all those gold rings and jewels and fancy clothes and everything…but she lives alone… and she's miserable."
Cassandra doesn't want to admit that Erick's right. So, she continues to elaborate her point. "That's…that's not true…I heard she had lots and lots of friends in high society…and many men that want to marry her."
Erick corrects her. "Wrong again Cassandra…all those 'friends' that you said she has are all fakes…They're not her friends - they don't care about her for herself…but for her money. Those men only want her because she's rich…like bees when they want to take the pollen off the flower…Don't be blind…Things aren't what they appear to be."
Cassandra gives up, and gives him the benefit of the doubt – this time. "Could be…but…with all that money she has…she could buy anything."
"Only material things…for she cannot buy love, compassion, health, or friendship. And, she, like her family, live with greed, envy, hate toward each other and for the less fortunate, like jackals for the food."
After that, I left for another job, without knowing that Cassandra was getting quite impatient.
(End of Flashback)
Erick is walking through the city, and thinking about his past life…
He was now walking in the streets of Odaiba –(home of the Digimon)-…
Oh yeah…I kept on helping people because it was something I loved to do…not for the money, but for the joy of seeing those happy faces…unfortunately, Cassandra began to change her mind about my ideas…she began to evade me little by little, she stop calling me to tell me how much she loved me, I didn't know why. When I was studying the books that I had, I found some scrolls to have more power.
The scrolls I found were written in an ancient language, written by some ancient Priestess. They intrigued me, perhaps they could help me in my job, but I found out that they were 'evil', it would give me the powers of a powerful being…of an angel, or, demon, so I locked them up. The price would be too high. Things with Cassandra were going from bad to worse…but, later I found out something that I couldn't believe…
(Continue Flashback)
I was returning to my home-church after a hard day of helping some poor folks with their village, when I entered the house I heard some noises coming from the room where Cassandra slept. I took a closer look and what I saw almost destroyed me…
I saw that Cassandra was in bed with another person, which I wasn't…
Erick enters the room, and Cassandra sees him. Needless to say, she was surprised to see him:
Cassandra gasps, "Erick…!"
Erick shocked. "Ca.Cassandra…!? What is the meaning of this…?" Pointing to the man in bed beside her, he demanded to know, "Who is THIS man?"
The man, stretching his arms, introduces himself. "Oh hello, I am Prince Halker of Ravel."
Erick sweatdrops. The nerve of this man! "Ooookay…Cassandra…WHAT is he doing here?"
"Oh, him…? He's my fiancée!" Cassandra reveals, dropping the bomb on poor Erick.
Erick gasps, "WHAT! Fian…fiancée…? But, I'M your fiancée!"
"Not anymore, you're not!"
Erick wants an explanation from the woman he loved. He's hoping this is just a big mistake. "What… What do you mean Cassandra? I don't understand!"
Cassandra flatly tells him, "He is RICH! He can give me the life that I want…he has jewels, lands and a castle…What can YOU give me Erick? Nothing! You're just wasting your life! Well, I won't waste mine!"
Erick's heart shatters after hearing those words from the mouth of the woman who he thought loved him…he lowers his head:
Deeply hurt, Erick whispers, "I see…so jewels and money bought you over, is that it Cassandra? I gave you all of my love and all my heart and you didn't care, but for jewels…!"
Cassandra snorts, "Well, your love is not going to buy me anything! Face it Erick, you're a lowlife and you'll always be a lowlife, but that doesn't mean that I have to be…! I have to get going now…" Then, hugging the prince, she says, "…let's go honey!"
Prince Halker laughs, "Yes, let's shall. Tough luck fellow hahahahaha, right darling?"
Cassandra laughs, "Yeah…!"
Erick, for the first time in his life, began to get angry, so, he addresses the Prince in a dangerous tone:
"So this is how's it's gonna be…" Then, to Cassandra, he says, "…I gave you my love and you tossed it over and chose money. You turned into what I never would have thought you could…a tramp…!"
The foolish idiot of a prince Halker objects to Erick's insulting Cassandra. So nobly, he defends her honor. "Now watch that mouth of yours, you filthy lowlife! I will not allow you to insult her!"
Erick whirls on the prince, with fire in his eyes. "And don't YOU dare to talk to me! You came here and stole my love away from me!"
The prince, in turn, says, "That's it…! Sir, you have insulted my honor, I challenge you to a duel of swords… That is, if you have the courage to fight me!"
" If you think that you can intimidate me with your lousy talk, then you're a fool…I accept!"
Then both men went outside. Once outside they took out some swords, and get into their fighting stances:
Being a man of war, used to battles, Prince Halker asks his soon-to-be defeated foe, "Are you ready?"
Erick hmph's at this. "I am…the question is, are YOU ready?"
Halker scoffs, "I'll have you know that I've been trained in the many ways of the sword, you don't stand a chance against me!"
"Prove it with actions…not words!"
"So be it…this will be a duel to the death!"
Then, both men started to fight with their swords clashing against each other. Prince Halker was trying to decapitate Erick, but Erick was dodging them all, Erick landed some slashes on the Prince…he was getting tired and irritated:
P. Halker is surprised at his opponent's skill, "How come you're so good with the sword…you're only a priest!"
"That's true," Erick replies. " …but before that I was a noble knight, and one of the best in her Majesty's army!"
They continue to fight…when Erick, with superior skill, takes out the Prince's sword. The prince falls down to the floor, when he looks up, he sees Erick pointing his sword at his face, the Prince was scared:
Prince Halker pleads, "Please…please don't kill me, sir…I'll give you anything you want, please!"
Putting his sword away, Erick regards his defeated adversary, saying, "Forget it…I'm not that kind of man, now get out before …UGH!"
Erick then felt something strike him in his back, like something sharp. When he turns around he sees Cassandra with a sword in her hands. The sword was covered in blood, which meant that SHE struck him with it in the back. Erick was seriously hurt and shocked at her act. "Ca, Cassandra…ugn…how could you…?"
Cassandra says coldly, "Better YOU than him…" Then, to Halker, "…Finish him off, hurry!"
While distracted, he was impaled by the swords of the cowardly Prince and, from his former love, then, he falls to the ground…
Then they both laughed and left me at the empty room of that house to die. And to make it worse, they incinerated the house to burn me up. But, what they didn't expect was that I was ready to take my revenge upon them…
In the midst of the widening flame, Erick is in his room, weak and bleeding, he was carving with his sword and using his own blood to write some words, he draws a pentagram and some ancient letters on it…he was dying, so he had to finish it fast…then, he began to chant some incantations:
Weakened by his fatal wounds, Erick chants, "Akiryo atiryo con tembela…akiryo atiryo con tembela…give me the power I beg of you!"
Then, the pentagram began to shine in red and white…
"Kakyo, Akyo seres ku shin sera ko mint kyo…give me the power I beg of you…so that I can destroy my enemies…NOW!" He slams the sword in the center of the pentagram with the very last of his strength, then fainting, he cries,"…avenge me!…ugn!!"
Then, he dies and falls to the ground. But, suddenly the floor the pentagram was carved into explodes into a burst of unholy flames, so huge that it destroys the entire place. Outside Cassandra and Halker saw the explosion:
Cassandra comments, as if to say 'oops'. "Guess we overdid it, didn't we?"
Prince Halker laughs, "We sure did… THEN, he stops. He gasps, "Hey, what's that!? Something's coming from the fire!"
"What is it, what could it be?" Cassandra wonders aloud.
And, from the flames, Erick emerges, like a dark phoenix reborn; walking slowly toward his betrayers with a cold stare, with all his wounds healed. The betrayers upon seeing him began to panic:
Cassandra's horrified. "NO! It can't be…he's alive!"
Prince Halker does his best impersonation of one Tatewaki Kuno. "That's not possible! What sorcery is this?"
When the prince tries to chop Erick with his sword, Erick grabs it with his hand, and then the sword melted away in an instant! The prince was horrified at the scene before him. Erick then taps Prince Halker on his chest with his left finger and walks away from him. The prince, all confused by Erick's one simple gesture, began to felt an intense pain in his chest. Then, like a balloon, he began to swell up, bigger and bigger, the pain in his chest increasing, until…
BOOM!
…went his heart, and then…
BOOOMMMM!!
….HE exploded into pieces!
Erick stood in front of Cassandra. She was scared beyond belief; she cowered in front of him and began to plead. "Erick…please…listen to me…sweetheart, baby…I…I…was joking, I always loved you…He forced me to do it…you gotta believe me!"
Erick says nothing, all traces of the man Cassandra once loved, gone forever. "……….….."
Cassandra begs one last time, "Please…would you let me go? Set me free please!"
Erick still says nothing. His silence frightens Cassandra. Then, with a weak smile, he finally says, "Of course, I'll set you free Cassandra."
Cassandra felt a wave of relief after hearing this from him, but in her mind she's thinking: Ha, sucker!
HOWEVER, things weren't going to be like she hoped…For Erick continues…
"I'll set you free…" With a cold look in his eyes, that really COULD freeze hell a thousand times over(!), he then says, "I'll set you free from the sins that you have committed against me.." He conjures a fireball in his right hand. "….set you free from the pain that you've caused me…" He raises his arm holding said blast of hellfire up. "….and set you free from this world…!" He points his hand at Cassandra.
Cassandra saw that and began to panic a lot. Horrified, crying, she begs in vain, "No…Erick no…don't do this…Pleaaaaaaaaaaase!!"
Erick did not listen to her pleadings…
"May God have mercy on your soul Cassandra." Erick says with finality.
Cassandra, wide eyed in fear, shrieks, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
Erick releases the fireball at her, striking her with it, burning her in the flames of its intense heat, he heard her screams of pain and agony…then, after the flames were gone, she was gone; not even her ashes remained.
After that incident, I left from that place forever, I knew that I condemned myself, but it was too late.
(End of Flashback)
From that day, my life changed…those powers gave me the powers of an angel and a demon…those powers were a gift…and a curse. They also gave me immortality.
Ah, how I seen it all…all the wars these humans wage, all the killing, I've seen them all.
And HIM, he thinks, referring to Michael Angelus. How dare he say that lame phrase to me…-"Absolute Power corrupts"- On the contrary, humanity is totally corrupt! Sometimes they're worse than animals! Animals only kill to defend themselves, while humans kill for fun and for stupid reasons.
Erick then stops. "Man…all this thinking has made me kinda bored… and hungry! I think I'll grab something to eat…." Then he spots a restaurant and decides to eat there.
Once he enters, he order one big meal for himself, and started to eat.
He was eating in peace when he began to hear a lot of noise outside. Oh man, what now…, a frustrated Erick thinks. Then he steps outside and sees crowds of people running away, but from what? He then sees many weird creatures in front of him. Then he notices three young children with weird devices in their hands, and in front of those kids were three creatures…one of them was a small red dinosaur –(Guilmon)-, one big rabbit with machine guns for its hands –(Gargomon)-, and a tall, yellow 'fox' –(Renamon)-. Close to Erick there were five large, evil digimon…two Black Tyrannosaurus, two big Praying Mantis-like things (for lack of a better description) and one Serpent Digimon. The children see him and started to worry for 'him':
Takato gasps, "Oh no! That person is in trouble, we gotta help him!"
Henry agrees, "Right…Gargomon, go save that person!"
"Right!" Gargomon says as he and the other two charge into battle.
But when the good Digimon rush to save "Erick", the other Digimon out-power them all; they even attack the Tamers. They were all on the ground. Erick was rather enjoying this farce of a battle.
"Well, this is entertaining…food AND a show!" he says, mostly to himself.
Then, the evil Digimon see Erick:
"Well, looky here, a human!" one of the Black Tyrannosaurus says hungrily.
A Praying Mantis sqwaks, "How's about if we have some fun with this puny human?"
The other Black Tyrannosaurus growls, "Sounds good to me! Hee hee hee heee!"
The evil Digimon gang up on Erick. Erick doesn't seem to be intimidated by them. The Tamers begin to panic:
Takato cries, "Oh no, those evil Digimon are gonna attack that person! We gotta save him!"
Weakened from the previous battle, Henry says, "But, what can we do? They're very powerful!"
"We gotta try…Renamon, help him." Rika orders her fox Digimon.
Renamon says, while trying to get up, "I'm trying, Riko…but I'm too weak."
Black Tyrannosaurus no. 2, asks jokingly, "Are you ready to become our lunch? Hahahahahaha!"
Erick's already bored with the creature's tough talk. "How curious of you…You don't even have a soul in you, how pathetic."
The Black Tyrannosaurus, now mad, roars, "WHAT DID YOU SAY…OKAY, YOU ASKED FOR IT…GET HIM!"
The, before the evil Digimon could do something to Erick, he conjures up a little ball of purple light on his finger and points it toward them. They, predictably, laugh at this:
Black Tyrannosaurus no. 1 laughs, "What's this? Is this some kind of trick?"
Praying Mantis no. 2wonders, "What's he trying to do? Look at that little fireball! Hahahahaha!"
Then Erick speaks a phrase: "Requiescat in pace." The quintet of evil Digimon was confused by the words he spoke:
Black Tyrannosaurus no. 2 blinks. "What did he say?"
Erick explains, "Foolish creature. Obviously, you don't understand Latin, so I'll gladly translate. It means…-"Rest in Peace"!"
Praying Mantis no. 1 cackles, "Is that so…? KILL HIM!"
The evil Digimon proceed to attack him. Erick just waves his finger and the little purple light is shot forth; gaining speed, it turns into a massive purple wave of hellfire hurtling toward the evil Digimon, burning them alive! They scream in intense pain before disappearing, the fire was so big that it burns a lot of ground around the park. After that…
Erick says to himself, "Hmm…you know, I feel good! Well, guess I should be going before those jokers start looking for me."
Then he addresses the kids, waving and bowing, as he bids them farewell. "Good day children, good bye." And with that, he walks away, disappearing from sight. The Tamers were still shocked and scared of this person, so scared that some of them –(Takato and Rika)- almost peed in their pants!
His teeth chattering, Takato says, "Did…did you see what I saw gu…gu…guys?"
Henry, shaking in awe, gasps, "Yeah…that person…defeated…no…killed five powerful Digimon like they were…no…nothing…! Just who is he?"
Rika, usually all tough, calm, cool, and collected, trembles. "He…he's a monster…no hu…human can do that!"
TO BE CONTINUED…