Episode 6- Killing The Past
The sun is beaming at Justice Rock. Deep within the nearby chasm, it's dark with barely any light showing except for a burning bonfire. On the fire, lies a headless, furless, bear carcass roasting. Zero sits on a rock in silence with no helmet on, yet clad in his full dragon scaled armor. He takes a bite into a large well done piece of bear meat in his hand. Zero thinks back to the words his mother spoke. In a numb but accepting tone of voice, Zero says "At least she finally told the truth. That's good for her". Zero takes another bite of the cooked bear meat and then quietly says, "Let's see what the old man has to say.".
Grandoria Mountain Prison
Towards a far corner in Grandoria lies a large cave mouth, connected to a large mountain. Within the cave sits two thick and crudely shaped rock doors. In front of the doors hovers a large, white, magical sigil. A dark armored warrior covered in pitch black dragon scales walks toward the stone doors. Zero readies himself and disappears into black smoke but reappears at the same location. Surprised, he thinks to himself, "I must not be able to teleport to places i can't see". Zero picks up a small rock nearby and throws it at the sigil in front of the door. The rock stops short before it touches the door, then flips backwards at uncanny speed right over the shoulder of Zero. "Is there someone you are looking for?", asks a voice behind Zero. Zero turns to see a very tall and muscular man, standing at seven feet tall. The man has golden jewelry piercings in his ears connected to his nose by golden chains. He wears no chest garment and only wears tight, black, leather pants with black leather sandals on his feet. Black tattoos cascade all over his visible skin and bald head. Gold circlets on his neck and wrists knock together and make noise as he places his right hand on his chest. "I am General Yin Gonjo of the Grandoria army. Is your name perhaps this 'Zero Justice' everyone has been whispering about?" asks Yin. Zero says nothing, crouches low, then extends his arms and fingers, showing his menacing claws. "Relax Kibo, you have all day to entertain me. No need to rush into it", Yin exclaims. "Ah yes, I did pay a visit to your dear old mother personally. The town residents spoke of her, so I dropped by her soon to be lost home to have a chat. She tells of a monster that may or may not be her son. Only makes sense that this monster would drop by to pay his thief of a father a visit". Yin lets off an untrustworthy smile and continues, "I've only come to help you Justice darling. You see, that door behind you is imbued with a form of light magic derived from the dragons. Anything of substance bends and reflects backwards as a repellent of sorts. You can't expect prison to be something that you can break into easily Justice darling". Yin gestures his hands forward, "Shall we enter?".
Yin calmly walks past the cautious Zero and stops at the sigil in front of the stone doors. Without making a movement, the tattoos on his body glow a bright white, then the sigil on the door fades away. The glow ends as the large stone doors open. Rock and dust fall from the top of the door. "Come Justice darling. Don't keep dear old dad waiting", says Yin. Zero follows cautiously behind Yin as they enter a large room two stories tall. The room is completely made of smooth, dark, gray, hard stone. On each side of the large room are five steel barred doors with a small, white, glowing sigil in front of each. Ten guards wearing Grandoria soldier uniforms sit on small thrones made of stone at the far end of the large room, opposite of the door. Each guard has a silver, circular crest on the right side of their chest. All of the guards stand to their feet as Yin walks closer. As Zero follows Yin, he looks to his left and right to see malnourished men laid out miserably on the ground within the cages, wearing tattered gray pants and gray shirts. General Yin addresses the guards with a sarcastic tone, "Gentlemen, my guest here is looking for Touzen Watanabe. He would like to know the whereabouts of his champion father after not seeing him for sooo many years". The guards pause in silence, then burst out into uncontrollable laughter along with Yin. Zero stands, puzzled at the laughter. "You see darling, only the guards and I know the truth about the infamous thief, Touzen Watanabe. He's a running joke passed down from guard to guard. The man isn't here! Twelve years ago, your handsome father struck a deal with a high ranking female warrior in the Grandoria army. She of course retired but you should have seen her back then! She was a soft yet cunning general that fell in love with your father despite his wife and child at home. Your father was a thief, yes, but his last theft was a fraud! He and the general orchestrated a fake theft in order for them to disappear and run off into the sunset together, under the guise of rotting in jail for his crimes! He abandoned you and your thing you call a mother for high class thighs!", mocks Yin as he and the guards burst out into laughter again. Kibo thinks to himself while trying to put pieces of memories together...
Flashback to Kibo at Nine Years Old
A wooden home with shabby doors and clothes hanging outside to dry sits on a hill with low grass. Inside the home, a young Kibo sits at a wooden table with his father, Touzen Watanabe.
"Father! I'm strong now! I'm old enough to go on an adventure with you! Right father?", asks Kibo. "Not yet my boy", Touzen says as he chuckles. "I'm going on one final adventure alone. This one is going to be my greatest adventure yet. After this one, I promise you'll be a part of the next one", says Touzen. "What makes this adventure so special?", asks Kibo. The look in the eyes of Touzen grow cold, then he responds, "It's beautiful. This adventure doesn't nag or tell you to fix yourself". Touzen clenches his teeth and continues, "This adventure is rich and can take care of itself, and me. This one loves me and doesn't come with any pressure. This one isn't a crazy witch with a messed up life!", Touzen says as he smashes his fist on the table. "Father?", asks Kibo while puzzled and shocked. Touzen comes back mentally from his angry rant. "I have to go son", says Touzen. "Deal with her the best way you can while I'm gone boy.". Touzen gets up from the table and walks out of the shabby wooden doors, then slams it shut behind him as Kibo looks on, still not understanding the situation.
From a wooden bedroom door behind Kibo, a young Chizu stands eerily, half way in the door with cold, angry eyes, looking directly at Kibo.
Flashforward To Zero at Grandoria Mountain Prison
Zero turns to walk out of the prison cave as Yin calls out to him, "Justice, my darling, you didn't think you would just walk out of here, did you?". Yin sticks out his long tongue and gives a long lick to his lips. "Don't you want to know where your dear old dad is?", questions Yin. Zero continues to walk as he responds, "I don't expect anything from anyone in this world. My father made a decision. Let him live with it". The temper of Yin flares. His ego explodes as he looks at Zero. Nobody gets to decide not to play his game. Nobody.
Suddenly, an unknown and unseen force pushes Zero backwards in the direction of Yin. Yin readies a powerful kick as Zero gets propelled towards him. Zero disappears into black smoke before the kick can land. Zero reappears behind Yin, slides backwards, then dashes towards Yin. Without turning around, the tattoos on Yin begin to glow, starting a forceful push from thin air that causes Zero to get propelled backwards so hard that he collides with the stone wall behind him. Zero slides down the wall, but lands on his feet, still ready to continue. "Your darkness cannot beat the light. No shadows can reach me. I can bend and deflect anything that light can touch or anything that can hold light and manifest it into physical force. The dragons shouldn't have let mankind get a hold of this one!", boasts Yin. Zero disappears and reappears in front of Yin. Zero throws a mighty claw slash downward with his right hand. Dark light follows the slash quickly. The slash and the dark light both deflect off of a small ark of light before making any contact with Yin. Zero follows up with a quick roundhouse kick with his left foot. Yin crouches under the kick as Zero uses the momentum to spin and follow up with another dark light slash from his right hand. Yin gives a quick jab to the right arm of Zero, stopping the slash half way. An ark of light and force hits Zero's body causing him to get violently propelled backwards. Zero tumbles backwards then quickly lands on his feet. Zero spots two stones nearby and quickly throws one, then the other at Yin. An ark of light repels the first stone and sends it darting back towards Zero. Yin confidently tilts his head to the side in order to dodge the second rock. Zero disappears to dodge the incoming rock then reappears above Yin. Zero uses both feet to kick downward but Yin blocks the kick by crossing his forearms at the point of impact. An ark of light violently propels Zero upwards. Zero disappears quickly and reappears beside Yin, crashing his already repelled body into Yin. Immediately after the collision, Yin quickly balls both of his hands together and does a downward strike at Zero. Zero disappears before the strike lands and reappears behind Yin. An ark of light forcefully pushes Zero away, sending him rolling violently on the ground. Zero slowly stands to his feet. "Two seconds", says Zero. Yin stays silent but begins to smile. "You can only use the power of the light dragon after two seconds".
A brief flashback appears of Yin repelling one rock, then dodging the second rock thrown.
Zero thinks to himself, "The problem is timing. I don't know when he'll use the light magic". "Oh ho, gentlemen, we have a thinker. Don't stop the fun now!", demands Yin as he charges towards Zero using his light magic to propel himself forward. One of the guards watching extends his arm, and launches light magic darts at Zero with the crest on his body glowing white.
Light magic dart is a low tier magic given to the prison guards for restraining prisoners non-lethally. Light magic darts are solid white constructs shaped like diamonds that get propelled at a chosen target. Once the dart hits a target, it shatters like glass and dissipates into the air, leaving only a painful hit on the target. The crest on the chest of the guard is linked to the will of the wearer, allowing them to fire off light magic darts at will.
Four darts hit Zero in the back causing Zero to wince in a moment of pain and lose focus on Yin. A powerful left fist collides with Zero's stomach, forcing a slight upwards motion from out of Zero, then a right hand punches downward on the head of Zero causing him to slam into the ground. Yin frowns coldly as he looks towards the guards. "Who interrupted my fun?", questions Yin. All nine guards frighteningly move away from the one guard that fired the light magic darts. "Did you think that the great General Yin Gonjo, the master of light magic, the man that all men adore, would lose because an imbecile learned how to count?", Yin questions. Zero lies motionless on the ground. Yin walks towards the guard slowly as he violently propels the guard towards himself. Yin catches the guard flying towards him with the palm of his left hand. "Thank you for your assistance, idiot! You are relieved of duty!", says Yin as he starts to crush down on the skull of the guard. Yin screams as veins start to appear on his neck and head. As Yin gets louder, more pressure is applied to the skull of the guard. The guard screams in agony then eventually falls silent as Yin continues to get louder. A loud crack sound is heard, followed by an eyeball popping from underneath the hand of Yin. Yin stops screaming and throws the now dead guard hard to the ground. Yin then calms down as the veins leave his neck and head. "Does anyone else feel charitable?", Yin asks as he looks at the other guards. The guards say nothing and instead sit on their respective seats, stiff with fear. Zero continues to lie on the ground in the same position he was left in, as thoughts invade his mind.
Flashback to Zero in The Chasm, Eating Bear Meat
As Zero eats and thinks to himself, Noir Drew creeps out of the nearby darkness. "Ooouuuurrrr princesssss eeeeeegg. Haaave yooouuuu foooouuuund it?", asks Noir. "I haven't found anything. I don't even know how to fully use this power, let alone find an egg", says Zero as he looks directly at Noir in frustration, "Can you tell me anything?". "I doooo nooooot posssssessss the poooower to tell yooooouuuu whennn to breeeaaaathe, nooooorrr dooo I possseeeessss the pooooowerrrr to tellll you whennn to filllll yourrr bellyyyy." responds Noir. "Clooooose yoooouuuur eeeeeeeyessss", demands Noir. Zero sets down the bear meat, ignores his frustration, and closes his eyes. "Teeellllll meee, whaaaat issss iiiiit that yoooouuuu seeee?", asks Noir. "Nothing. I don't see anything except darkness", says Zero. "Judgemeeeeent. Yooouuuu sssstillll limiiiiit yourseeeelffff. Thhhink the blaaaaade offf Judgemeeeeennt", says Noir. "Whaaaat issss aa blaaaade, but a toool foooorged froooom thooouuught and uuuused asss weaponryyyyy", continues Noir. Zero calms himself and relaxes his shoulders.
Inside the mind of Zero, appears Kibo as a small boy, his mother, and father. All are sitting on wooden stools at a shabby, old, wooden dining table. The area around them is all darkness, with no floors, no walls, and no roof. The young Kibo looks at his mother to see that she has no face, only her familiar hair and ears. "Cursed child", the faceless mother echoes while facing towards Kibo. Kibo then turns towards his father to see that he also has no face, only ears, hair, and a worn hat. The faceless father disappears into black smoke without a word. Kibo turns towards his faceless mother, then she also disappears into black smoke. The dining room table then disappears into black smoke. Kibo starts to panic, breathing harder and harder. Suddenly, the wooden stools all disappear, including the one underneath Kibo, causing him to fall endlessly into the darkness. Kibo reaches his hand forward as he falls, attempting to hold onto anything while unable to scream in fear.
Zero opens his eyes to see that he actually did reach his own hand forward. At the end of Zero's hand is a hand that is touching his. A dark light image of himself, clad in the same dragon scale armor, with no helmet on, is across from Zero, completely mirroring his posture. The dark light doppelganger quickly disappears, as Zero puts his hand down. Zero reaches his hand out again, and a dark light doppelganger appears on his left side, reaching out with the same posture, then disappears. Noir turns away, and crawls back into the deep shadows of the chasm.
Flashforward to the Battle Taking Place at The Mountain Prison
Yin turns around to see that Zero has risen to his feet. "Oh goody! You look eager to continue our fun!", exclaims Yin. Zero takes five short hops to ready himself, then dashes towards Yin with the ferocity of a dragon.