Prototype Zero

The team is in the hospital room sitting in chairs around Shun's hospital bed, listening to Daitaro and Diajiro's story. Everyone is on the edge of their seats and interested in their story. The twins told the story vividly as possible, swinging their arms around and making faces as they reenacted the story out. The groups respected Machina were gathered at the hospital courtyard. The sun's rays were beaming all over the courtyard, causing the morning dew to glisten in the light. The Machina had gathered near the fountain at the center of the courtyard. They seemed to be having a meeting of their own. Zero, Tri-Blaze, Mirage, Raijin, Terra, and Misery were all there, sitting on the water's edge. Zero got up and stood in front of them.

Zero: "The reason we're is simple: we need a plan to stop Genesis."

Meanwhile, back in Shun's hospital room, the Twins' are wrapping up their story.

Daijiro and Daitaro were waving their hands in the air in a wide motion, as to exaggerate the explosion they had been caught in. The boys' story continues.

Daijiro: So, we awoke a few minutes later after the explosion to find most of the dojo had been leveled. Most of the building had been destroyed in the blast. All that remained of the dojo was about half of the floor."

Daijiro called out for his family.

Daijiro: "Raijin! Brother! Terra! Father! Absolute!"

Daitaro: "When I awoke, I could barely grasp control of my senses. I looked around and saw that the walls had been blown away and the roof was already gone from the attack that Raijin had launched before. Rubble was everywhere and there was no one around in sight."

Daijiro searched around in the remains of the dojo find Raijin under a flat slab of rubble.

Daijiro: "Raijin! Are you ok?!"

Raijin staggered to get up on his feet even with his partner's help. Raijin coughed and regained his balance.

Raijin: "Yeah, I'm fine. Just gotta find the rest of them now."

Daijiro nodded his head and began to search alongside Raijin throughout the rubble. Daitaro was laying on the ground uncovered by any rocks and didn't appear to be harmed in any way. Daijiro nudged his brother a few times until he began to open his eyes. Daijiro smiled and let out a sigh of relief to find his brother alright. Daitaro sat up and looked around.

Daitaro: "Terra! Where are you?!"

Daijiro: "We haven't found him yet. We haven't even found Father nor Absolute as well."

Raijin: "I've got an idea."

Raijin takes his spear out and sticks the pointed end into the ground. He then spreads an electric current throughout the rubble and surrounding areas. He picks up his head and quickly turns to his left and points.

Raijin: "They're over there under the debris and that huge rock."

Raijin and Daijiro rush over a short distance over to the huge rock and begin to lift it from one side and reveal Terra under the rubble. They toppled the rock over and were able to pull Terra out from underneath. Terra began to move slowly as his operations came back online and began functioning normally. He shook his head as if trying to regain his senses.

Terra: "Oh man. I haven't been knocked around like that in a long time. I feel like I might fall apart any second. Have you found your father yet?"

Daijiro/Daitaro (in unison): "Not yet."

Daitaro: "He should still be in this rubble somewhere. I'm getting really worried."

Daijiro: "Me too. We need to hurry and find them soon."

Raijin: "I would use my currents to see if I can find Absolute, but I'm damn near out of energy. I'm struggling just to get around right now."

Daitaro: "Save your strength Raijin. Thanks for everything. Your turn Terra, think you can do it?"

Terra: "Yeah I'll see what I can do."

Terra places the palm of his hand and send small tremors through the ground. The boys can feel the small vibrations through their feet as they wait to receive feedback from Terra. Terra sends stronger tremors to reach a further distance from the epicenter. Terra senses something and begins running towards the location that he sensed. The boys quickly reacted and began to follow closely behind. The boys and Machina come to entrance of the forest that surrounded the previously formed dojo. A chill in the air comes from beyond the trees.

Daijiro: "That ice!"

Raijin: "Is Absolute still standing?"

Daitaro: "Who knows?"

Terra: "Well we won't find out by standing here. Let's go inside and find out."

The four of them drift further into the woods, weaving in and out between the trees. The further they go, the colder it became. The mist from the source of the cold became more into view as they approached it. They appeared form behind a large bush to come up to a tree in the midst of the forest with a vast, dense mist emanating from a huge ice shell attached to the side of the tree. Daijiro and Daitaro approach it with caution.

Terra: "Be careful. We don't know what this is or what could be inside. We don't really have enough strength to fight again right now."

Raijin: "He's right. Please be careful. All this ice...you think this could be Absolute's doing?"

Daijiro: "You might be right. But what exactly caused this?"

Daitaro: "I haven't the slightest clue. But let's check this piece of ice and see what's up with it."

Daitaro and Daijiro walk up to the ice and begin to investigate it. Upon further inspection, they clear some of the condensation around the ice to find that their father had been sealed inside. The news had shocked the twins as they panicked to release their father from the ice. The boys' grab nearby rocks and large branches and strike the ice, but to no avail.

Daitaro: "We didn't even put a dent in that ice. We've gotta get him out of there. Terra can you use your drills to get him out of there?"

Terra: "No problem."

Terra's drills appear and he begins to spin them rapidly as he approaches the ice and begins to work his way through. His drills are digging further into the ice, creating cracks in the ice, and loosening it. The ice finally breaks and releases their father from the ice. They lay their father down on the ground and cover him with a jacket to keep him warm. Daijiro checks his father's pulse.

Daijiro: "His pulse is faint and fading fast. Raijin, give him a jolt!"

Raijin pulls out his spear and a slight spark appears at the tip of it. He places the tip of the spear near Saito's chest and sends the shock through his body. Daijiro checks his pulse again to see if it's stabilized.

Daijiro: "His pulse is steady and his breathing is regular. He should be fine once he gets some rest. We need to find Absolute and get them both home."

Daitaro: “Yeah, you’re right. We need to find him quickly. Terra, can you find a way to find Absolute?"

Terra: “I’ll see what I can do.”

Terra sticks his right drill into the ground and send pulses of shockwaves into the ground as he did before to try and find Absolute. He tried for about 2 minutes before pulling his drill out.

Terra: “There’s a problem here. The shockwaves go out but they seem to stop at some point.”

Daitaro: “What is it exactly?”

Terra: “Well, the pulses I send are stopping at a certain point but they don’t go through as if its hitting something too dense.”

Daijiro: “Let’s go check it out. You stay here with our father, brother. I’ll go check it out. You stay here Raijin. Terra can come with me just in case we need to search some more.”

Daitaro nodded to his brother and then nodded towards Terra for confirmation. Terra and Daijiro head further in the forest and begin walking for a few minutes. Daijiro began to see something in the distance.

Daijiro: “I see something up ahead. It looks like a giant crystal. Let’s go check it out.”

They walk up closer to it to find Absolute resting in a bed of solid ice.

Daijiro: “I wonder why they were both in ice. Let’s see if we can wake him.”

Daijiro calls Daitaro from his watch. Daitaro answers.

Daijiro: “We’ve found Absolute. He’s a bit damaged but he’ll be fine. Just needs to be reactivated. See if you can activate him from father’s watch.”

Daitaro tinkers with their father’s watch and presses a few keys. Absolute begins to move and he awakes and tries to regain his senses. Absolute staggers to his feet. Daijiro and Terra help him on his feet and begin to support him while they walk back slowly. Daitaro looks to the east to see Daijiro and Terra come from behind the clearing in the forest a few minutes later. Daitaro rushed over to help out.

Daitaro: “We need to get these two some rest and get some medical attention. I’ll call for an emergency pickup.”

Daitaro calls for a personal pickup from his watch. A few minutes later, a helicopter came to their location to pick them up.
Shun interrupts the story excitedly.

Shun: “Then what happened?!”

Misery: “He’s getting to it. Keep going.”

Daitaro: “Ok.”

A few hours later, Saito had awoken and Absolute was there at his side waiting. Absolute contacted the twins. The boys came into their father’s room a couple minutes later.

Daitaro: “Father! Are you doing alright?”

Daijiro: “I’m glad you’re doing fine, Father.”

Saito: “Yeah I’m fine boys. I’m glad to see you both as well. I’ve got to tell you something boys. It’s about the fight earlier-“

Daitaro: “Save your strength father. You need to get some rest. We can worry about the match later.”

Saito: “I just wanted to let you boys know that I’m really proud of you two.”

Daijiro: “Huh? Are you serious?”

Saito: “You boys are my most precious possession. I wouldn’t trade you boys for the world. The reason that I was so hard on you before was because I don’t want the world to weigh down on you. I want you two to be able to take on the world on your own and come out on top. I now know that looking into your eyes, I can see that you both are ready for the world. I can fully entrust the family company to you two. You can do whatever you want with the company’s future as you see fit.”

Daijiro: “Thank you, Father. We really appreciate it. We know that we were able to take this company to the next level. When the time comes, we’ll assume our responsibility and accept our destiny. We’ll shape our own future.”

Saito lets out a sigh of relief.

Saito: “I know you boys can do it.”

Saito lays his head back in his hospital bed and falls asleep.”

Daitaro: “So after that, we rested up for a few days and then came back here to meet up with you guys.”

Daijiro: “I still can’t believe that Shun out of all of us actually bio…bio-sync-“

Kaida: “Bio-synchronization. It’s literally a process of Zero and Shun creating a link and combining together. They become one and fight as one unit with two brains for optimal functionality. I’m still curious as to how this actually occurs. I must do further research.”

Iteza: “I guess someone’s curious as to how it works.”

Shun looks down at his hands as a look of confusion and worry wears across his face.

Takashia: “How did it feel to fight alongside-or rather- inside Zero?”

Shun: “I’m not even sure as to how it works myself. It was like a surge of energy flowing through my body. Every emotion was heightened. Every move was calculated and effortless. Swift…and precise. Like I had been practicing for years. It was like I was copying Zero’s moves with no problem whatsoever. I need to find out exactly how it works.”

Kaida: “We need to get Zero to my lab and let me research him so I can figure out what exactly is the cause.”

Shun: “I don’t know…but if we do this, we need to be discreet about it. Any information about Zero and Bio-synchronization cannot be leaked or found out. I’ll talk to my dad about it as well.”

Kaida: “I’ve created a new encryption program so that my system can’t be hacked into. My firewall rivals those of military bases and government facilities. Any information recorded is safe with me.”

Shun sighs with relief.

Shun: “I wonder what he’s thinking of right now.”

*Meanwhile in the hospital courtyard*

Zero stands in front of the group of other Machina.

Zero: “We need to become stronger. Genesis is a very dangerous Machina. He must be stopped.”

Misery: “What are we gonna do about him? He tossed Misery and I around like a ragdoll. We didn’t stand a chance. I was able to damage him but it seems like it didn’t even phase him at all.”

Tri: “What are we gonna do against a monster like that? It seems like the only way to really stop him is through bio-synchronization. It seems to have the power to counter his own power.”

Misery: “His power just doesn’t come from synchronization, but manipulation. His psychic ability grows stronger from feeding off of the minds of others. He uses their emotions to draw fear and power over them.”

Mirage: “He can’t just use people like this. How is he able to fight without an operator?”

Zero: “It seems he’s creating a temporary link for the ones he’s chosen so that he can draw as much power from different operators and use them to help him fight.”

Raijin: “In other words, he’s acting like a parasite. Feeding and living off of other operators to attain his selfish goals.”

Terra: “We’ve just got to squash him like the bug he is.”

Gabriel: “Now the problem is how do we find him and get rid of him?”

Zero: “I don’t know, but we have to train and get stronger in order to take him on. I can’t do it all by myself and we’ll all need to stick together for this fight.”

Misery looks up at the roof of one of the hospital buildings. A reflection of light flashes across the pond water’s surface. Something comes flying through the sky towards Zero. Zero quickly draws his blade and blocks the incoming projectile. It reflects off of the blade and strikes the ground to appear as a knife with a letter attached to it. Zero walks up to it.

Zero: “What the hell?!”

Misery picks up the letter.

Mirage: “It’s a letter.”

Tri: “Let me scan it.”

Tri-Blaze holds the letter and carefully examines it.

Tri: “It’s clear. No sign of explosives or triggers for anything. Just an ordinary letter.”

Terra: “Why don’t you read it Gabe? You have the smoother voice for reading.”

Gabriel: “Well I’m flattered.”

Gabriel opens the envelope and pulls the letter out and begins reading.

Gabriel: “Dear Zero, I enjoyed the pleasure of facing you one on one a few days ago. I’ve never felt such a rush from the heat of combat before. I can’t wait to have that rush again. I’ll be back stronger than I was last time so you’d better not disappoint me. Soon you will understand that we are far more superior than other Machina and even the human race. We were sent here with a purpose and a gift. We have to fulfill our destiny at all costs. Even if I have to do alone. I’ll prove my point soon enough. Sincerely your older brother, Genesis.”

Zero: “Older brother? What does he mean by that?!? Why’re there so many questions and not enough answers. Just hazy memories. Dammit!”

Zero slaps the pond ornament with the sheath of his sword. Mirage reached towards Zero but pulled back her hand.

Terra: “Hey it looks like there more at the bottom of the letter.”

Gabriel: “Ah! There is. Let’s see.” *Ahem* “P.s. See you at the Machina tournament next month. Can’t wait to see how much you’ve grown.”

-End