Like all things in life, parenthood had its share of joys and disappointments. For one Rugal Bernstein, it had been more of the latter.
Some time after he resurrected himself after the King of Fighters tournament in 1995, he came to a conclusion that he would have to be prepared for that 1% chance that his standard plan of blowing up his ship and resurrecting himself didn't hitch so well. With that in mind, he decided to take a more active role in his parenting so that if he is unable to come back for sure, his heirs would continue the family thirst for global conquest.
The girl Rose turned out fairly well. Her attitude was on the right track and she had the brains to formulate strategies and manipulate people. Unfortunately, she did not have the raw power to transform herself into a formidable warrior and thus she would always need to depend on someone else to protect her. That left the boy, Adel. He had the power but his heart was simply too pure.
That would not do at all.
Rugal pondered how to corrupt the young Bernstein's heart. Certain methods of torture crossed his mind but he felt that the cons outweighed the potential desired changes. He was a bit wary of hiring a hypnotist to change the boy's way of thinking. Any professional hypnotist may get other ideas and corrupt the boy in the wrong manner. That left using methods of physical torture that would not be as brutal as some of the thoughts he had entertained. However, he was certain that once put through these trials, Adel would emerge with the thirst to conquer all.
Strangely enough, these Acme products just didn't really do the job. He devised several plans and purchased many pieces of equipment and often, those plans would backfire on him. In a fit of rage, he attempted to sue Acme for having lousy products. The judgement went in Acme's favour since their lawyers proved that Rugal is simply an incompetent man who cannot use the equipment properly and who often tried to rush things to get quick results.
Frankly, if it weren't for those lawyers utilizing the Chewbacca defense, he would have won!!
While seething at the judgement, Rugal noticed a Shakespeare play which his daughter had been reading up on. Then inspiration struck. A wife with a super cute exterior (so cute that nobody would even THINK she could possibly be evil) but with the heart of pure evil beneath was what his son needed.
It worked for MacBeth after all.
He had it all figured out. After making the arrangement, his son would change ever so slowly. If he joined his father in his quest for global domination, Rugal would know that he had succeeded. If he made an attempt to usurp power from his father, as laughable as it may be, Rugal would be even more proud.
And come to think of it, perhaps he can get a few grandchildren out of the deal. That way, when any annoying hero bursts in vowing to destroy him, he'll have to explain to little Bobby or little Suzy why he has to kill their beloved Grandpa. And when he launches into his speech of morality...
Rugal made a note that he would need to construct a pit and fill it with crocodiles.
Now that he had a foolproof plan to corrupt his son, he decided to celebrate his success by getting hammered at a local bar. After drinking half his weight in alcohol, everything went blurry.
When he woke up again, he discovered that in his right hand, he had signed a contract for his son to get married to...
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(Posted Thu, 23 Mar 2006 18:59)
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