Ch 11: Zero

Grey comes face to face with a vision of his past, the Black Knight power suit. The assailant, Zero, attacks recklessly and without warning. Grey must defeat him with innocent bystanders all around.

            The windows shattered as the orbs blasted through them, exploding as they struck the wall opposite the window. All three of them had barely managed to take cover. They heard their attacker call out, “At last we meet, Grey!” As he extracted himself from Alexander, Grey exclaimed, “What the hell is this?! That suit, it’s that damned power suit I wore as the Black Knight! I thought it was destroyed!” He and Alexander were now on the side of the bed closest to the door, while Amy had managed to get into the open closet, which was on the right wall from the door. Instead of continuing his attack, the assailant came to land near the edge of the window, a strong aura around him. His head covered by his helmet, it was still not hard to tell his focus was upon where Grey and Alexander were holed up, as he was clearly facing them as he said, “Come out and face me!” Alexander motioned Grey to stay put, but Grey stood and walked to stand before the enemy with a defiant look, saying, “Just who the hell are you?!” The armored attacker laughed and said, “Weapons like us need no names, but as you have donned the title Grey, I suppose you may as well call me Zero.” Grey raised an eyebrow and thought, “What’s with this nut?” Suddenly, Zero formed a mass of EDE in his hand. On his guard, Grey watched it crystallize into a polearm as Zero said, “It’s time to show the world just which of us is the real Black Knight!” Zero lunged at Grey with a strike from his weapon. Ducking and dodging the polearm, Grey formed his swords, unleashing his aura as he thought, “This guy is serious, and with that polearm I can barely get near him, especially in this cramped room.” Then he thought of something crazy. Yet seeing his limited options, he thought, “Well, it’s about the best idea I’ve got!” Diving forth after dodging another swing, he tucked up into a roll, rolling past Zero and transitioning back to his feet to come out behind the armored assassin. Without a second thought, he ran up to the broken window and leapt off.

            “Grey no!” shouted Amy. It was too late. He had leaped from the forty-second floor, a fall even an energist as strong as him would not survive. Quick to pursue, Zero leaped out after him, shouting, “I’m not through with you!” Ignoring him, as Grey plummeted down towards the ground he quickly chanted, “Ego Voco Vos, Ventus Acies!” Across both his blades ran light green runes, and swirling torrents of wind erupted around the blades. Pointing the tips of his swords toward the building, he channeled more EDE into his blades, and from the swords a burst of air propelled him across the skies over the city. Using his hover pack, Zero continued to pursue him, raining energy spheres after him all the while. Allowing himself to fall for a while, Grey pointed his swords down as he neared the wide roof of a small four story building in the middle of the city and used the wind once more to slow his fall and land safely. It wasn’t long before Zero caught up, and stopping in the air he began channeling EDE into the blade of his polearm. Grey dodged as Zero descended on him and slammed his weapon’s blade into the roof of the building, unleashing a wave of volatile energy upon impact that cut through the roof in a straight line. Quickly generating another burst of wind, Grey propelled himself straight at Zero, but just as quickly Zero flew up into the air again to avoid being rammed. Yet Grey was expecting this, and he turned in the air and raised a sword to aim directly at Zero’s back as he passed underneath him. Swiftly gathering EDE, he channeled it through the sword to create a sphere of energy, and shot it up at Zero. As it impacted his target, the repulsion pack strapped to Zero’s back, Grey grinned and said to himself, “Gotcha!”

            Landing on his back upon the rooftop, Grey watched as Zero dropped his polearm and spiraled out of control in the air, trailing smoke from the damaged repulsion pack. He finally crashed on the roof of the building next to the one Grey was on. Giving Zero no time to recover, Grey quickly jumped to his feet and leaped into the air. Yet as he came down to strike, Zero, who landed hard on his back, raised his legs up and kicked Grey in the chest as he came down. The force Zero had put into the kick knocked the wind out of Grey, and he dropped both swords as he was sent over the edge of the roof into the alley between the two buildings. Crashing into a cluster of metal trash cans, Grey struggled to his feet, coughing, as Zero leaped down into the alley as well and turned to face him. Raising a hand, he said to Grey, “Is this really the best you can do? I thought this would be a challenge!” He formed a sphere of energy in his hand and fired it at Grey, who quickly jumped to the side and began gathering some EDE of his own, but before he could form a counterattack, the explosion behind him and the screams of pedestrians drew Grey’s attention. As he witnessed the chaos outside the alley, Grey said, “Oh no…” The attack he’d dodged had struck a passing hover car.

            Grey did not have much time to worry about the innocent civilians they had involved in their battle. Landing a crushing sucker punch to the side of Grey’s head, Zero sent Grey flying out of the alley. Sailing past the crashed hover car, to the screams of shocked night time shoppers he smashed through the glass doors of Benson’s Premium Garb and Footwear. Grey muttered a curse as he sat up, but then as someone tried to help him up he shouted, “No get away from…!” Grey barely managed to leap to the side as he sensed the sphere of volatile energy coming, and he was knocked across the store into a shelf of clothes by the force of the blast. Panicked shoppers running in terror, injured or dead civilians lay around a smoking crater near the entrance as Zero calmly stepped in. Getting to his feet, Grey faced Zero and shouted, “Leave the people of this city out of this you b*****d!” Zero laughed and said, “To think you’re actually concerned for the safety of these pathetic creatures… Running around their pathetic little city, living out their worthless lives… Once Altera Veritas achieves the Second Truth, they won’t exist anymore!” Then he turned his gaze to fleeing pedestrians outside the store and raised a hand to attack, saying, “If they’re so distracting to you, I’ll just make them disappear right now!” Channeling EDE into his right fist, Grey closed the distance between Zero and himself with all the speed he had and slammed his fist into Zero’s helmet with a punch empowered with a charge of EDE that increased the force of his attack, shouting, “LEAVE THEM ALONE!” A large crack forming in his visor from the strike, Zero staggered back. Grey followed up with a barrage of EDE charged punches, and with one powerful EDE charged kick he sent Zero flying into the wall of the store, smashing through it out into the street. He bounced and slammed into the side of a parked hover car. Chasing him down in an instant with speed he didn’t know he had, Grey grabbed him in the air and flung him back across the street into another parked hover car. Zero slid down the side of the hover car, and as Grey came over he grabbed him by the shoulders, picked him up and slammed him against the hover car, holding him with one hand and unleashing a sequence of punches with the other.

            With another powerful punch, the helmet’s built in visor caved in. Breathing heavily, Grey ripped off the helmet to see his opponent’s face. His anger gave way to shock, and Grey said, “You… Who or what… are you?” Zero’s face was so strikingly similar to Alastor’s that it could not be natural, but at the same time Zero’s hair was not white but silver and also much longer, having been bundled up inside the helmet. Blood dripping from his nose and mouth, Zero laughed and said, “I’ve told you who I am. Project Zero, the human weapon created from your DNA and the DNA of Alastor Bastille.” Zero slammed his knee into Grey’s gut, and caught completely off guard, Grey fell to his knees in pain. A sadistic grin on his face, Zero looked down at Grey and said, “I’ve been waiting for you to get serious! I’ll destroy you and show Alastor that I’m the one worthy of the place at his side!” His aura became far more powerful and he charged a fist with EDE, raising it to deliver a mighty blow. Striking down at Grey with all his force, Zero’s fist smashed through the asphalt of the street as Grey threw his body back, rolling then flipping backwards to land on his feet. Zero charged forward at him and launched another punch, but this time Grey blocked it. Soon the two were locked in a fistfight, the impacts of their strikes resonating through the street. In an obvious stalemate, Zero at last gained the upper hand with an unexpected head butt. Staggering back, Grey was wide open for the assault of strikes Zero unleashed. Punching and kicking Grey with great strength, Zero at last slammed his knee into Grey’s gut again and then grabbed hold of him and flung him down the street. Then gathering more EDE, Zero fired a shower of energy spheres at Grey, who quickly struggled to his feet and ran for cover.

            At the Abnoct Police Department, the phones were ringing off the hook as reports were coming in about a massive disturbance at Benson’s Premium Garb and Footwear. One officer burst into the chief’s office, where Colonel Richter and Brigadier General Matthews had been discussing tomorrow’s search, their attention focused on a city map upon a table. Hardly able to speak, the officer shouted, “C-Colonel, B-Brigadier G-G-General! We have re-reports of- of some k-kind of b-battle going on!” Turning and giving the officer his full attention, Colonel Richter said, “Calm down. Speak slowly, what’s this about?” The officer took a deep breath, and then he said, “Sorry sir. The phones are ringing off the hook about a battle between two people believed to be energists! There’s explosions, we have reports of injuries, mass panic in the streets! It’s utter chaos!” Before he’d even finished Scott had bolted through the door, squeezing past the officer as Richter shouted after him, “Matthews! Come back here!” He was gone, and with a sigh of frustration, Richter muttered, “God d****t!” He turned to the officer and asked, “Do we have confirmation of whether or not it’s the Black Knight?” The officer looked at him for a moment seeming unable to find the words he was looking for, and finally he said, “Well sir, it’s the strangest thing… We’ve got reports of two of them! One in armor and the one from the pictures we’ve been putting up!” Looking confused, the Colonel exclaimed, “What?!”

            Amy and Alexander had both been relieved upon seeing Grey perform his incredible aerial maneuver from the window of the hotel room at the Skyscraper Hotel. However, as they managed to get down to their hover car, having taken the stairs since the elevators were out of commission, Alexander turned on the radio and their concerns deepened as they listened to radio reports of the brutal battle. With a worried look, Amy said, “I hope Grey is okay against that guy, I know he’s strong but I have a really strange feeling about this Zero person…” Alexander looked rather concerned as well as he replied, “I hope so too, but the way things look, no matter the outcome we’re going to have the police and the Special Forces to deal with. We have to get him out of there and find a way out of the city, before things get any worse here…”

            Grey turned left at the corner of the sidewalk at high speed as orbs of energy exploded behind him, taking chunks out of the wall of the building on the corner. Running into an alley, he propped himself against the wall and managed to reform his swords, then caught his breath for a while as he tried to come up with a plan. It was obvious that Zero had been holding back. Grey wiped blood from his mouth and said to himself, “That murderous b*****d is out of control! He’ll destroy this entire city to get to me if has to!” Walking around the corner of the street, Zero called out, “Where are you running Grey?! Why don’t you use that power you had before?! Do I have to destroy more of these insects before you fight me seriously?!” His anger rising, Grey listened for the sound of his steps as Zero drew near the alley, and as he heard him nearing he leaped out and struck with his blades. Zero jumped into the air and landed on his outstretched weapon, and Grey was wide open for a point-blank shot of energy. Dropping his weapons again as he was sent flying by the explosion, which could have killed a normal person easily, Grey could feel pain all over from his burns and minor injuries as he lay motionless on the ground. Having flipped back into the air after leaping off Grey’s blade at the last moment, as Zero landed he began to slowly move towards Grey as he said, “This is sad… I thought you would be a perfect challenge to prove my abilities against. My creators tried so hard to tap into your supposed hidden potential, the power of the great Matthew Greyson, heir to the legacy of a being revered as a god! In the end, though…” Grey struggled to move his injured body off the ground as Zero continued, “You’ve been nothing but a joke. I was ordered to bring you and that girl in alive, but you don’t seem worthy of Altera Veritas’ interest to me. Maybe the girl would be of some use but either way…” He stood over Grey, channeling EDE into his fist, and with a smirk he said, “You can both die for all I care.” Amy’s face flashed into Grey’s mind, having made it to his hands and knees, he felt his strength return as he thought, “If I die, there’ll be no one who can protect her!” Grey lifted his battered body into a handstand just as Zero raised his fist to strike. Surprised, Zero reacted too slow as Grey grabbed his head with his legs and flung him away with all his might. He sailed straight into a fire hydrant, which broke slightly from the force of Zero’s impact and began leaking water. Grey leaped to his feet as Zero struggled to his, and both charged at the other as they both thought, “I WON’T LOSE TO YOU!”

            As Zero and Grey reached each other, they both let loose EDE charged punches with everything they had. Each taking the others blows straight to the face, they both were knocked back and struggled to keep their footing. Zero recovered quickly, jumped back, then grabbed hold of a parked hover car with both hands, and picking it up with EDE enhanced strength he hurled it at Grey. Instead of trying to dodge, Grey leaped forward, and tucking into a roll he passed under the airborne hover car, gathering EDE all the while and coming out of the roll on one knee to fire an energy orb at Zero. Quickly Zero returned fire with an energy sphere of his own, and both attacks collided in the air and exploded. Charging at Zero, Grey leaped through the smoke and said, “I’m gonna kick your a*s!” Struck by Grey’s powerful punch, Zero shook it off and blocked his second punch, then let loose punches of his own. The two continued to punch and block until Zero suddenly disengaged, leaping back. Grinning wickedly, Zero began to gather EDE again, but as he did he operated a device on the right hand of his suit where the EDE was gathering. From the suit’s right hand, a spinning device like a miniature three bladed helicopter rotor extended, and from each one of the short rotor blades a cutting blade of EDE hummed to life. The blades spun faster and faster until it seemed he had a chainsaw of energy attached to his hand, and rushing at Grey as he let his EDE weapon carve into the sides of the buildings he passed, Zero shouted, “I’ll slice you to pieces!” Thinking quickly, Grey was able to call one of his lost swords with telekinesis, and as Zero slashed at him wildly he dodged and ducked. Taking a page out of Zero’s playbook, Grey jumped up and landed on Zero’s arm, but instead of attacking he jumped once more, grabbing hold of the streetlight and swinging up onto the light. Leaping off as Zero quickly cut the street light down with his EDE weapon, Grey landed on the sidewalk just behind the broken fire hydrant, and as Zero charged at him, Grey used his sword to slice off the nozzle facing in Zero’s direction. As his opponent was buffeted by a blast of water, Grey quickly chanted, “Ego Voco Vos, Fulmen Acies!” Yellow runes raced across the blade as it became charged with electricity, and Grey pointed his blade at the stream of water and channeled his EDE into it. Meanwhile, Zero had been knocked flat on his back by the water, and as he sat up it continued to spray out in a torrent, buffeting him in the face and making it impossible to see. Releasing the power he’d channeled into the enchanted blade, Grey fired a stream of crackling lightning into the stream of water, and Zero became electrified as the water conducted Grey’s continuous stream of lightning. He screamed in agony until Grey finally stopped channeling the lightning into the water, and as it ran down the street past him, Grey looked down at the water running around his feet, quietly laughing as he simply said, “Rubber soles, just one more reason I like these shoes…”

            Grey started to walk away, letting his sword evaporate. Just then a lone police hover car sped around the corner and onto the scene. Grey turned to run, but as the hover car stopped, Scott stumbled out of the driver’s side door and shouted, “Grey, wait it’s me!” Walking up to Scott, a very tired Grey said, “You’re a little late…” With a sudden look of alarm, Scott yelled, “Get down!” Scott pushed Grey aside just as Zero, still alive and already back on his feet, lunged at Grey with his reformed polearm. As Grey looked up from the ground, his eyes went wide and he shouted, “SCOTT!” Zero had stabbed his polearm’s blade into Scott’s chest just a bit below the right shoulder. Grimacing in pain, Scott uttered, “Agh…” Yet Scott quickly grabbed hold of the polearm with his left hand, preventing Zero from removing it, and said to Grey, “Get out of here Grey! The Special Forces are on their way! I’ll hold him here!” Struggling to withdraw his polearm a moment, Zero finally channeled EDE into his free hand and aimed it at Scott, saying, “Stay out of this you worthless-” Suddenly he paused mid-sentence as he sensed a furious aura. Back on his feet, his aura blazing like never before, Grey lunged forward and unleashed his fury upon Zero as he shouted, “YOU’RE…” Slamming his EDE charged fist into Zero’s face, Grey completed his sentence, shouting, “DEAD!” Zero’s jaw shattered, and he spun on his feet as he staggered back. Then Grey sent his other fist into Zero’s gut, sending cracks racing through his armor. Blood spouted from Zero’s mouth as he thought to himself, “Is he controlling his Void Energy without verifying the level?! No… As the Black Knight he used Void Energy to surpass his EDE limit at will through an activation phrase, but this is still just his own power!” Grey lashed out with a final roundhouse kick that sent him flying into a brick wall, and Zero hung in the man shaped crater he made in it, his battered body unable to move. Gathering EDE for the finishing blow, Grey formed one sword again and channeled all the EDE he’d gathered into the blade. With a swing of his sword Grey unleashed a powerful wave of energy as he shouted out, “Ein Soph Aur!” Unable to move, Zero was struck head on by the mighty energy attack and vanished beneath falling debris as the powerful explosion caused the entire side of the building to collapse on top of him.

Author's Note

The early fights were never spectacular, but if you're particularly dissatisfied, just know it's my least favorite. I could never figure out how to improve it, because what I'm personally unsatisfied with is the developmental state of their powers, which more or less makes sense at this point.

Reviews

[Ryan Henderson]

This chapter is nice and action packed, at just the right length, might I add! I love how arrogant Zero sounds, it reminds me of Saja in my series. I don't know why, but in most every book I have read, the villain seems to be very arrogant and cocky. I like to mix it up a bit in my books, usually making the protagonist cocky and confident, but not arrogant, and the villain arrogant and cocky, I find it is a good mix, and you seem to be doing this very well in your book! Keep it up!

[KeithKVH]

Thank you once again! Zero is a character that honestly was almost scrapped. In the really early days before I really thought about writing this, the organization that kidnapped Grey was led by a man called Phineas Turkin, and Zero was another Black Knight much like now, but he was more of Grey's main rival and eventually turned against the organization as well. Alastor really consumed both the roles of leader and rival, and while Phineas Turkin completely disappeared I still found a way for Zero to be involved.