(DISCLAIMER: This thread may touch on a subject that is sensitive to some people. For that, I apologize in advance. However, the subject matter contained therein is not, on my behalf, meant to offend anyone, in any way. This is a thread centered around a fictitious character, from a fictitious place, with fictitious people mentioned therein. Have fun with it. Yes, I deviate slightly from at least one mission in the game, but it's done to make it a little different than the "official" version.)
How things change from one place to another...
My name is Steven Kasper. I am from the place that is known here as Axis America, where the Allies lost. For years, my real name had been kept suppressed. It was all part of the plan, the plan of the one who took me from my family in Boston, the one who raised me.
The man was Gerhard Himmler.
The grandson of the madman, the author of the Final Solution. For whatever reason, he up and stole me from my real parents in Boston, and raised me in Berlin, among other places. Der Schwarze Ritter, he was called in many high-up circles.
He was no knight, that's for sure. No more than his father was a savior of the German people, which many perceive him as. He was the one that ordered the obliteration of Santa Fe with a nuclear device when they wouldn't hand over a suspected Underground Railroad agent.
Knight, my eye.
I explain: Much like in old American history, the Underground Railroad was set up by freedom fighters against the Axis powers, many of them super-powered. Despite the Axis decree of all people exhibiting super powers and abilities must be registered at a central office within 24 hours, and be coded and monitored, some three hundred have managed to avoid this fate.
I was not one of them, as the scan code on the back of my neck attests to.
In Axis America, there is no Statesman, no Manticore, none of that. Instead, they go by the names Reichsman, Shardspine, Soulscream for Sister Psyche, and other names. Our hero instead is the nearly mythical Stallion, who claims to have the original American flag in his possession. For the people of Axis America, I hope he does.
I came to be in Paragon City quite by accident, really. I had just returned to Berlin from my second year in Kings College in London, where I was learning the finer arts of nobility at the request of my "father". A shimmer in the distance drew my attention. What surprised me was that people, costumed heroes, were coming through it.
Including my Paragon City self.
I can only imagine the shock of seeing myself face to face was as great as his. Even his teammates were taken aback. He, who I will call Stevie for ease of seperation, was also from Boston, but had lived his life mostly on the streets. Him and I were almost a classic case of polar opposites. I had the life of priviledged nobility, while he learned to survive by his wits.
I accompanied him and his companions, though I could tell they did not trust me. In hindsight, I can't say I would have either. We talked the entire time he was there, with me having to take cover when the shooting started. He spoke of freedom, and what it meant to him. Perhaps I impressed them by being silent and listening, as opposed to what many others might have done in my position. I did discover differences, though. His powers had awoken from an almost lethal dose of Superadine given to him as a joke, whereas I had been given the first of four doses at Kings College, though my powers had yet to be unlocked.
Oberst Langendorf was their objective. Apparently, he had made contact with someone in Paragon City, and they came through to terminate that link. The teamwork they displayed made the fight rather short and one-sided. However, when Reichsman appeared and promptly vaporized one known as Steel Eagle, the team split up and ran.
I found myself playing dodge-me for what seemed like an hour, as Reichsman shot at nearly anything that moved with his neutrino beams. Eventually, I got within sight of the portal from what I thought was a safe location, and counted the people that ran through it to safety. I only saw two. Then Reichsman appeared behind me, and accused me of aiding them in their fight against Langendorf, and that I would have to be re-educated. Knowing full well that meant going to some place like the Pittsburgh Palace (a notorious Axis torture facility) or even some more notorious place in Germany, my powers awoke out of pure fear. Rocking Reichsman with a darkforce blast bought me just enough time to flee trhough the portal before it shut completely.
My story, though, does not end with my arrival in Paragon City.
I spent a month learning of this strange new world, its freedoms, its less-polluted air and water (Axis America is an eco-nightmare). I discovered that my money had no value except to collectors, whom I was sure would only report me to whatever authorities existed. I followed up on Stevie, reading his exploits and being more than a little envious of him.
Then it happened.
I was in the area known as Perez Park, trying to learn some of the street lingo used by a gang known as the Skulls, whom I found out Stevie had a rather vicious vendetta against. I had by this time used my powers to earn a little fame as a street-cleaner, or someone who patrolled the streets, fighting gangs where they attempted to sell their wares.
I saw Stevie fly overhead to the Adams Building in the corner of the area. I noticed his red and black armor was damaged, especially where his translocator and flight controls were located (he had shown me the workings back home), when he called out someone that went by Deathmask. A fight ensued in the air near the building, with darkness powers flying and occasionally missing, impacting with the road or the side of a building.
Then, after a particularly abrupt maneuver, I saw sparks from the back of his armor. Both him and Deathmask looked stunned as he started falling from twenty stories up. I prayed for his flight controls to reactivate, but the loud impact on the hood of a car told me right away that it didn't happen.
Deathmask and a few of his cronies came down to investigate. I sat near the wall surrounding the park, stunned beyond belief at what had happened. To witness the death of someone is always a traumatic event. To see what can only loosely be labeled as yourself fall in such a manner, though, is a major blow to one's psyche. In that instant, I knew what I had to do.
A moonbeam sent one of the Skulls straight to the Ziggurat, whereas a double Dark Blast sent a second one there. Deathmask looked first at the body, then at me, mouth open in surprise and disbelief.
I sent a Gloom blast through his pearly whites.
After scattering the rest of the Skulls, I walked over to where Stevie lay, praying that his translocator would kick in. But it never did.
After thirty minutes, I picked up the body, armor and all (I am a bit stronger than Stevie was), and carried him to Chiron Medical Center in Atlas Park. The doctors came out and tried to revive him, but to no avail.
I set out to find the last person I saw from Stevie's team to give him the news. He told me what happened, that his armor had been damaged in a fight against Infernal. After a few seconds of silence, I asked him if he could escort me to Icon, in Steel Canyon.
The rest is history.
Sie werden nicht vergessen, my friend. You will not be forgotten.
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