Episode 7- Street Performance
Zero bursts into black smoke after dashing at Yin, then reappears where the nine guards are sitting. Before any of the guards can react, Zero gives a swift kick from left to right, followed by a streak of dark light. Blood spills from lines on the necks of each one of the guards, followed by a large splash of blood from each of them. The heads of all of the guards fall from their necks, and tumble onto the ground below them. The prisoners all cheer from within the cages while throwing dirt and pebbles at the still sitting dead bodies of the nine guards.
"Your opponent is right here!", says Yin as he forcefully propels Zero towards himself. Zero readies a powerful claw strike with his right hand as he jolts towards Yin. Yin readies a powerful punch from his left hand. An arc of light collides with Zero's claw. Suddenly, a dark light doppelganger forms on the right side of Zero, conducting the same right hand claw slash. The slash from the doppelganger slashes cleanly through the wrist of Yin, removing his left hand.
Zero disappears into black smoke and reappears behind Yin, then does a swift kick with his left foot. Yin crouches underneath the kick, then Zero quickly disappears again. Unsure of where Zero would appear, Yin dives forward to the ground while ignoring the intense pain and blood spilling from his wrist. Zero reappears above Yin and readies a powerful punch from his left hand. Before the punch hits Yin, Yin uses his power to cause a large push that jolts him off of the ground, wildly sending himself away, towards the large entrance doors to the prison. Yin gets to his feet, then immediately starts running to exit the cave while holding his wrist in pain. "I need more light", Yin thinks to himself as he runs. Zero disappears then reappears in front of Yin, then lets off a powerful claw strike in which a dark light doppelganger appears to the right side of Zero, executing the same strike. An ark of light collides with the slash of Zero, but is so powerful that it launches Zero far back near the cave entrance. The dopple ganger slashes the right shoulder and chest of Yin, making a large streak of blood spill. Yin winces in pain but continues to run to the cave entrance. Zero gets to his feet as outside light shines on his back, then dashes at Yin.
A familiar sensation envelopes Zero. Time slows as a rage moves inside Zero, surrounding him in an eerie black smoke. The black eye of Zero is seen from within his helmet as he continues his dash towards Yin. His focus is absolute and his rage is pinpointed at his target. The human eye fails to trace his speed. In a flash, Zero lands behind Yin with only a streak of dark light tracing his path.
Time moves at normal intervals as Yin continues to run. A cut appears on the torso and forearms of Yin. Yin's body above the cut flies upwards as blood explodes from the bottom of his torso and the top of his separated lower body. Yin's still running lower body starts to tumble awkwardly forward as his upper body rolls out of the cave entrance to the prison. Sunlight shines on the body of the mutilated and dying Yin. Yin closes his eyes slowly with a smile, then his entire upper body begins to glow. The glow is so bright that the shine can be seen from a distance high in the sky. The hand in the prison, as well as the severed body parts in the cave start to glow. The parts in the cave and prison disappear, then come together at the upper body outside the cave. Still glowing, the parts form into man rising to his feet. The shining figure grows exponentially larger and larger. The shining image turns to flesh as a one hundred feet tall Yin emerges with a large smile on his face. Zero runs out of the cave to see a giant Yin standing before him. A deep voice from Yin speaks, "It seems I need a bit more light to deal with you. Let's continue our game! Round two!". A giant left fist booms directly at Zero. Zero disappears into black smoke as the punch hits the ground, creating a boom so forceful, it sends dust and debris flying in all directions. Zero reappears to the left of the large boom and out of the dust immediately comes a large foot that collides with Zero. Zero gets propelled at speeds so powerful, it exceeds the speed of rocks fired from the strongest of catapults. Zero fades in and out of consciousness while barreling past the outskirts of Grandoria.
Zero eventually collides with the hard, dry rock far outside the city with a large crash. Dry rocks break and dart in all directions as a cloud of dust rises from the crash. The dust clears, revealing Zero standing on his feet, holding his left arm. His helmet has fallen off from the crash. Zero coughs up blood twice then kneels on his right knee due to the damage received. His gray skin and pitch black eyes show a pained face. Off in the distance, Zero can see a small figure moving fast towards him. It's Yin who has seemingly propelled himself forward and is fast approaching Zero. Zero looks around and spots a large rock the same height as himself, but much wider. Zero walks up to the rock slowly. "Aaaaaargh!", yells Zero and simultaneously slams his left arm into the rock, causing a loud cracking noise from his left shoulder. Zero had dislocated his left arm due to the impact of the kick, and the impact of the explosive landing. Zero yells even louder as the relocation of his arm came with great pain. Zero begins talking to himself, "Be a stronger animal he says. That's a pretty strong animal though". Zero thinks back on his fight with Senju Nakamura. "I only got the best of Nakamura because I lost control for a moment. My power took over and somehow I could breathe the same fire as a darkness dragon. I don't think lightning is going to strike twice. And I could really use some lightning right now".
On a very tall, rock pillar outside of Grandoria, the hands of a man with a large red beard rests a small bag made of lion pelt on the ground. From the bag, the man pulls out a bowl made of jagged stone, then pulls out two chopsticks. He then pulls out a steel canteen, followed by a fair sized package wrapped in leaves often used to preserve the freshness of food. The man carefully and calmly unwraps the leaves to see dried noodles inside. The man puts the dried noodles into the stone bowl then opens the steel canteen. Hot steam rises out of the canteen as the man grabs several dried leaves from his bag. The leaves have different colors and are commonly used to add seasoning to meals when the leaves are crushed down or grinded into powder. The man puts the leaves in one hand, closes his hand tight, then says, "This should be enough.". A small shockwave and booming sound emit from the hand holding the leaves. The man opens his hand to drop the now dusted leaves into the bowl with the dried noodles. The man then pours the steaming hot water from the cantine into the bowl. "My darling Morgiana. I could have stayed at home and watched you scold me if you wanted me to see a man get beaten to death", says Mash. Mash then mixes his prepared noodles with his chopsticks while watching Zero and Yin as the distance between them gets closer. From his location, he can't see the exact face of Zero but he can easily see the entire battle about to take place. "For this 'Zero Justice' to push General Yin Gonjo this far, he must be something", thinks Mash as he slurps up noodles with his chopsticks.
Zero waits in anticipation as Yin gets closer. "One of us dies here", Zero says to himself. Yin leaps into the air at the location where Zero is standing. Zero disappears into black smoke as Yin lands, sending rocks flying after the impact of his landing. Zero reappears behind Yin, far on the ground. Yin spots Zero and turns slightly to stomp left foot at Zero, but Zero disappears again and reappears behind the right leg of Yin, followed by a long swipe of his claws to the achilles of Yin. As the strike lands, Yin doesn't react in pain, but instead says, "There you are!". Instead of a small ark of light, a transparent dome appears around the entire body of Yin. In a split second, everything within the dome turns dark as if the sun is not allowed to shine in the dome. In the next second, a deep, explosive noise is heard, followed by a massive force blast outward from Yin. Zero disappears into black smoke to avoid the humongous sonic boom, then reappears at the same spot, just to still get blown backwards from the sheer force left by the boom. Zero collides with the rocky ground, leaving a massive crater underneath him. Yin turns to face Zero, "I needed a bigger stage to continue our game. Grandoria is much too small for my true power". Zero stands to his feet as debris falls from his head and shoulders. Zero roars and does a dashing jump up to Yin. Once again, a transparent sphere circles Yin. All day turns to night within the sphere. A deep noise booms, then a massive force is released from Yin. Zero is sent crashing again into the ground with massive force. A large left foot slides with force along the rocky ground and collides with the body of Zero, launching him upwards violently. Yin clenches his fists together and slams them down on Zero, slamming him hard into the ground again. Zero lies motionless on the ground looking upwards at Yin. "What happened to all that earlier spunk!?", asks Yin, "I guess this is the end of our game!". Yin kneels on his left knee and launches his right hand downward at Zero. The fist collides with Zero, driving hard into the ground so much that Yin's entire fist inserts into the ground. Yin brings his fist back out of the ground. From underneath the fist of Yin, is Zero, clasping onto the fist lightly with his claws. As Yin brings his fist back upwards more, Zero leaps with speed off of the fist, straight towards the face of Yin. Zero yells a dragon-like scream as dark light engulfs his body. The dark light jaggedly snaps from Zero and blasts into the right eye of Yin. Yin holds his eye and yells in pain as Zero falls straight to the ground, too drained to even brace his fall.
Still on his knee, Yin continues to scream in pain. The pain subsides, leaving Yin blind in his right eye. Yin looks around with his left eye while covering his right eye with his right hand. "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU DEAD ANT!?", angrily asks Yin. Yin finally looks down between his legs and spots Zero, but it's too late. Zero jumps upwards with a punch, breaking a large front tooth on Yin, then enters his mouth. Yin makes a fearful mistake and inhales from reflex, swallowing Zero. He feels the spiky, hard, dragon scales painfully slide down his throat. Zero begins clawing and slashing at everything around him, causing Yin extreme pain. Yin falls over with a stiff look of shock and slams backwards on the rocky ground. A streak of dark light appears on the outside of Yin's chest. A large cut then appears on Yin's chest, followed by an explosion of blood, and giant intestines. Then appears Zero, bursting from the large cut while roaring a terrible dragon roar. Zero then disappears into black smoke and reappears a distance away. Zero disappears again and reappears even further away. His dragon roar can still be heard slightly in the distance as he travels further away. The roar gets more quiet as the distance increases. Eventually, he leaves the entire scene.
An empty bowl with small traces of noodles is being held in the left hand of Mash. A wicked grin and determined eyes can be seen on the face of Mash. With eagerness filling his mind, Mash tightens his hand holding the bowl until a small, yet quick vibration is heard from his hand. A loud "boom" sound quickly follows, incinerating the bowl into dust, as the hand of Mash clenches into a tight fist. With eyes burning with passion, Mash only says "Crescendo!".