On a dark, rainy night in the broken, poverty stricken city known as District 3, a lone figure could be seen walking the streets, unfazed by the raindrops beating against his skin.
"What a beautiful night..."
Wearing a bloodied tuxedo while carrying a regular looking katana wrapped with black cloth around it's handle, this young man calmly proceeded through the empty streets of the city, his gaze focused on a massive skyscraper not too far away from him.
"Whew..."
Stopping under the roof of a nearby shop as he stood across the street from the skyscraper, the young man pulled out a cigarette and lit it, exhaling a plume of smoke as he watched the guards patrol the premises.
*Ringggg* *Ringggg*
Opening up his phone, the young man put it up against his ear, not saying anything. Suddenly, a feminine voice rang out from the other side, her tone low and her voice quivering.
"Zero...she's already dead. Our daughter is already dead. Destroying The Order won't bring her back. I've lost my sword arm in battle. Zero...I'm a cripple. I've lost almost everything, my love. Except you. Please, if you die now..."
One hand on the sheathe of his blade, Zero's empty eyes scanned the skyscraper, the headquarters of the organization known as The Order from top to bottom. It was clear that he had no intention of leaving anyone related to that organization alive after tonight.
"Banshee, no matter how much you try to copy Snow's voice, you will never be her. You bastards killed my family and you continue to torment me by using their voices...for that, all of you will pay."
The voice went quiet for a moment and then suddenly erupted with laughter, it's tone completely different from before.
"I should have used your fuckin' daughter this time, Zero! That woulda' gotten a good-"
Zero hung up the phone and threw it away as he calmly started walking across the street, his cigarette somehow still ablaze within the pouring rain.
Putting in his earphones, Zero cracked his neck as he glanced down at his blade and said, "Sayafushi, my closest friend. Even when I go to my death you remain steadfast beside me. In this moment, I have only one final request..."
[Now playing: Breath Of A Serpent - LudoWic]
"...keep your edge sharp as I rend all of my enemies asunder."
WHOOSH! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
As if they had detected his presence long ago, numerous automatic turrets sprang out of the lawn in front of the headquarters, all of them immediately opening fire upon the intruder. The guards followed suit and opened fire as they sounded alarm, causing the entire building to go into high alert.
"Tch."
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Zero deflected every bullet easily as he moved with a flash and destroyed the turrets, each with a simple, but blinding sword strike.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuckkkkkk!!!!! The Dragon is here! Everybody wake the f-"
The guards heads' left their bodies as Zero ran through the front door, his steps heavy as he made his way through the lobby.
He wanted them to hear him coming.
There were an endless amount of enemies standing between Zero and the top floor of the building...but he was unfazed. Anyone that stood between him and his goal were already dead.
They just didn't know it yet.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
No matter how many bullets they threw at him, the edge of his blade was faster.
More precise.
More deadly.
Blood rained inside the lobby as Zero moved through the guards with ruthless efficiency, his sword seemingly not even leaving it's sheathe from the sheer speed of his strikes.
"Dammit! We can't touch this motherfucker! Bring out the RPG's! It doesn't matter what happens to this building as long as this bitch is dead!!"
Suddenly, a certain flashed in Zero's mind. The scene of the guards shooting rocket launchers down at him within the next few seconds and him dying from the impact showed itself.
Then, as if he had seen the future, the guards came funneled out of a door and aimed the launchers down at him, firing them one after the other in hopes of extinguishing this threat here and now.
"I've already seen it."
Jumping off a nearby guards falling decapitated body, Zero stepped on each rocket one by one, ascending to the second floor with his hand on his sheathe.
"Are you fuckin' serious?! How can he do th-
WHOOSH!
'Dragon Dash.'
In an instant, all of them were dismembered into flailing corpses as Zero ran up a nearby wall, making his way to the third floor.
Even to an expert swordsman, it would seem as if he Zero was teleporting. But, his speed was just that insane.
BOOM!
Kicking through the ceiling of the second floor, Zero made his way to the third, immediately ambushing the guards who were awaiting his arrival by elevator.
This time, the Order added some new grunts to their pack.
Their very own swordsmen.
But, it was futile.
"None of you can stand against me."
Decapitating and deflecting his way through the third floor, Zero was untouched in his endeavor, with Sayafushi singing a song of death as it reaped lives by the dozen.
Third floor. Everyone dead.
Fourth floor. The same as the third.
Fifth floor. No signs of life.
This trend continued until the thirty-sixth floor, where all of the real leaders of the Order congregated.
Lighting a new cigarette as he stepped out of the elevator, Zero looked around the room calmly, his eyes taking note of every single figure present.
He knew each one of them as they had fought in the war together ten years ago. In fact, they all grew up together.
Each one of the five present were the only remains of the human experiments the Order conducted on children, granting them superhuman abilities in the process.
Zero was the first and the prototype for every other child, hence his name, 'Zero.'
He was considered a failure at first due to his...psychopathic, completely uncontrollable tendency to kill, but that all changed when they brought another child to the facility.
A young girl named Snow. She was the one who calmed him down, turned him into a living, functioning human being.
She was the one who kept his rage under control. She was the one who had started a family with this walking disaster and had managed to turn his murderous blade towards 'protecting' those close to him.
But now, she was dead. They killed her and his daughter.
"And yet...you four stand in my way as if you don't know what they did to my family. One, Fifteen, Three, Ten. My dearest brothers and sisters...don't force my hand."
Letting out an audible gulp, the blonde young man known as fifteen stepped forward and faced Zero face to face, as he was the closest in power to him.
An expression of sadness washed over Fifteen's face as he wiped the blood leaking from Zero's face, placing his hand on his shoulder afterwards.
"Older brother, you're pushing your mind too far. If you continue to overclock your body..."
Zero's empty eyes regained a bit of light as he shook his head, a small smile appearing on his face as he felt his brothers care.
"I'm already dead, Fifteen. I've pushed myself so far that I'm blind in one eye already. No amount of treatment can save me now."
Blowing out a cloud of smoke, he continued, "And that's the way I like it. I can already hear their voices calling for me..."
The rest of his siblings surrounded him, tears running down their faces as they saw his steadfast gait.
'Even with this broken body and mind, Zero hasn't even wavered once. Even now, he still remains the strongest member of the Order.'
This thought ran through each of their minds as they gave him one final hug, their lives together flashing before their eyes.
Letting go of his sheathe, Zero hugged each of them, his hands shaking at the thought of never seeing them again.
But, he had already made a decision.
This was a point of no return.
Unstrapping his katana from his waist, Fifteen pressed the weapon against Zero's chest and said, "Then, take Muramasa with you, brother. In this state, against Master, you will need all the help you can get. One more thing..."
Reaching out his hand, the head of woman showing a horrific expression fell out of a torn space, the visage of the head causing a wide smile to appear across Zero's face.
"Banshee...you killed her. You truly are my little brother."
"That's right. This is our parting gift. We made sure she suffered before she died."
Tapping him on the shoulder once more, Fifteen walked away with the rest of the siblings, all of them heading into the elevator.
As the doors closed, Fifteen's voice rang out once again.
"Make sure you get this done on your own terms, brother. Remind Master of the reason he passed the title of the strongest down to you."
TING!
And that was the last he saw of his siblings.
Taking another pull of his cigarette, Zero threw Banshee's head through a wall and calmly walked into the large room ahead of him.
That was where his greatest enemy...and first mentor lay.
The one who taught him how to speak.
The one who taught him how to hold a sword.
The one who killed his family.
Without this man, "Zero" would've never existed.
[Now Playing: End Of The Road - Bill Kiley]
Creak...
Opening the double doors, all Zero was an elderly man with a brown suit on sitting in an old chair, holding an old katana.
He seemed to be no younger than 70 years old.
"Father...no, Takemura...I'm here."
The old man looked sharply at him through one eye as he slowly got up from the couch, struggling a bit to get his old bones moving.
"Have some respect, son. I've freed you from every constraint you put upon yourself. Don't you see? I've once again made you the man you were born to be! But now...you stand in front of me as if I've wronged you in some way?"
Zero's eyes returned to their previous state of emptiness. He had nothing good to say to this old man. Everything he said would be met with deaf ears and a sharp tongue.
Still though, this old, crumbling figure was the first thing Zero saw when he was born. He never forgot that fact...but he had to harden his heart in this moment.
Throwing away his cigarette, Zero got down into a 'lai' stance, his gaze firm as his blue pupils started to glow.
"Get ready, old man."
SHWING!!
The room was suddenly cleanly carved in half as Zero dodged to the side, narrowing avoiding the strike.
It seemed as if Takemura had not even drawn his blade, but he had delivered an intense strike of magnificent speed and power.
This was why this man was the Heart Of The Order.
"Perceptive as ever, son."
"Strong as ever, Takemura."
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! BOOM!
To the untrained eye, the two them never moved an inch. But somehow, the sounds of swords clashing and the sight of the thirty sixth floor being destroyed were real.
Every future that Zero could see, Takemura's unfathomable swordsmanship eclipsed it, causing them to engage in a battle beyond the constraints of time itself.
Takemura didn't have any special abilities, nor was he given any drugs to enhance his capabilities.
This man was simply powerful beyond compare.
A man blessed by the heavens themselves.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The two of them went through each floor of the building, descending the same way that Zero ascended, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.
By this time, the ceiling of the building had already been cleaved out of existence. The rain started falling towards the two swordsmen...but something strange was happening.
The two of them were so fast that the rain couldn't even touch them. Their swords formed a dome around their bodies that couldn't be breached by the very raindrops themselves.
"This is what I mean, son! No one could keep up with me like this! You are the ultimate, the only being capable of reaching the absolute pinnacle! Get faster, stronger, more precise!! Give it your all, son!"
"Quiet, old man."
Breaking the stalemate, Zero jumped back and focused all his power into his hips and arms, visible veins popping out of his forearm.
Overclocking his body to a thousand times it's normal capacity, blood shot out of his pores as he got into a lower stance, his gaze firm and unwavering.
"...I see. You want to end this. Then, let's give it our all."
Getting down into the same exact stance that Zero did, Takemura's gaze sharpened as he shouted, "Show me how far you reached, son!"
Falling Sunset.
This was the ultimate technique that Takemura attained as he entered his prime. Named after the sun that would fall and set over the horizon after each day.
It's strength had the same effect. What did this mean?
SHWINGGGGG!
Takemura cleaved the entirety of that city block horizontally with an incredibly clean cut, causing the buildings to appear as if they hadn't been cleaved at all.
In his mind, there was no way that Zero could survive this strike. He had high hopes for his son, but surviving this strike was nigh impossible.
WHOOSH!
Suddenly appearing from a cut in space behind Takemura, Zero grasped Fifteen's sword tightly and calmly said, "Rising Dragon."
That night, the flash of a blue dragon ascending illuminated the Third district, but in reality, it was just the visible shape of a vacuum from the air itself being cut by the absolute speed of Zero's strike.
There was no sound of a slash or anything of the like, just utter silence as the upper portion of Takemura's body fell off, ending his life.
'Looks like I did need Fifteen's sword after all...'
Looking down at his dead father, laying lifelessly on the ground, Zero nothing but relief.
It was finally over. Everything was over. The wars. The Order. The killings. His cursed life. Everything had come to an end.
Now...all that was left, was the final rest. Appearing in front of him was his beautiful wife, Snow, and his daughter, Yuri.
He could feel their warm embrace as his body finally gave in, the sound of Snow's soft voice entering his ear as he fell backwards into their arms.
"Your battle isn't over yet, my love."
The moment he would've touched her arms, he felt the cold embrace of rain falling upon his body instead.
The sounds of battle, bloodcurdling screams...and the smell of blood.
This wasn't death. He was still alive.
Opening his eyes, Zero found himself inside a forest...holding a katana he had never seen before.
Jumping to his feet, Zero found something else that was off...he was shorter and his body felt much weaker than before.
Looking down, he found himself in the body of a teenager, seemingly around 14-15 years of age.
"What...is this? Where am I? Why...am I not with my family?"