---
A figure clad in a black overall, with a katana strapped to his back, walked through a hallway teeming with similarly dressed individuals. As he passed, hushed murmurs and whispers filled the air.
"That's Dark Star, right?"
"Oh my gosh, he's so dreamy."
"I wish he'd touch my hand."
A scoff interrupted the chatter. "For a bunch of killers, you all talk too much. Don't you have anything better to do?"
A man wearing a blue armband on his forearm spoke up, "Well, no, ma'am. We're on vacation and currently have nothing to do."
"Accepted. But that's no excuse to loiter. Dismissed."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Aww, man."
"Hush, don't let her hear you."
As the masked figures cleared the hallway, a young woman darted forward, chasing the figure known as Dark Star.
"Hey, Jarad! Wait up! How do you walk so fast?"
"You're not supposed to use my real name out here," Jarad, the infamous Dark Star, said, turning to her.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot—hehe."
"Better not let the Doctor hear you. You know how he feels about things like this."
"Okay, okay, I get it. Happy now?"
"I wonder. Am I?"
"That's for you to decide. Don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Oh, I do. Thanks for reminding me."
"You're welcome."
With that, Jarad continued down the hallway and entered an office.
"Hello, Doc."
"Dark Star!" A grizzled man greeted him with a grin. "How long has it been? A year? Two?"
"It's been twelve years, Doc," Jarad said somberly.
"Ah, that long. I remember it like yesterday—the day I met you... a monster," Doc said, chuckling.
---
Years ago
"Kill yourselves. Yes, you heard me. If you think you're clever enough to refuse, let me remind you: there's a chip embedded somewhere in your body. If you don't fight, I'll kill you myself. But where's the fun in that? You're all beasts, so the world won't care if a few of you die today."
The crowd was silent, paralyzed by fear.
"I'll count to five. If you don't start, I'll make you." He smirked cruelly. "Oh, and if you're wondering how the chip got there—blame your greed."
"One."
Terror gripped the room.
"Two."
Some froze, unsure of their next move.
"Three."
But all understood one thing: to survive, they had to act.
"Two."
It wasn't long before the chaos erupted. A man lunged at the person next to him, eyes wild with desperation. Others followed suit—children, youths, and adults alike—all fighting to survive.
The law of the jungle was in full force: Kill or be killed.
A seven-year-old Jarad stood amidst the carnage, watching the bloodshed. Crushed skulls, broken limbs—it was chaos. Fear gave way to instinct, and Jarad knew he had to act.
Searching frantically, he spotted the corpse of a brave man whose head had been caved in. Jarad tried to pull out the man's spinal cord.He tugged with all his might but failed.
Before he could do anything, a sharp kick slammed into his guts, sending him flying. He hit the wall hard, pain radiating through his entire being,.Tears welled in his eyes but he held them back.
As he struggled to get his footing, another fighter intervened slamming Jared's attacker to the side, Seizing the opportunity, he crawled back to the corpse, Summoning every ounce of strength and adrenaline, je snapped off a piece of the spine.
Blood and tissue splattered on his face.
He gagged but pressed on, his survival stronger than his revulsion.
Clutching the sharp bone, he turned towards his attacker, his father's words resounded in his ears : "In the slums, there's only one rule: repay evil for evil, an eye for an eye and blood for blood."
His heart pounded as he ran towards the man, who was grappling with another, Jarad's small frame went unnoticed until he plunged the blood-soaked bone into the neck of the man.
"Always aim for the neck Jarad, it's the quickest way to end a fight and live"
The man gurgled, collapsing in a heap, Jarad stared at the blood-soaked bone in his hand and the lifeless corpse before him. He had survived but something had changed inside of him forever.
19
That was the total number of people that Jarad killed, 19 people both women children and even the elderly. None were spared till the doctor said it was enough that the number of people remaining amassed to a hundred.
By then the cramped room which was smelling like iron was now free enough to contain the people.
"Congratulations to all of you who managed to survive, the culling has officially ended" The doctor said whilst chuckling
" I had fun with you guys, it was fun don't you think?"
"...." Nobody said a single word, it wasn't known whether they were still scared or they just didn't know what to say..
"No one? You guys hurt my feelings but I forgive you all because of one single child here, Jackson? No that's not it, Jonas? That not it either, J-J-J something, eureka I remember now. It was Jarad" The doctor said with clear excitement in his voice.
Jarad whose name was called flinched and looked away. The feeling of adrenaline seemed to have washed off his whole being as his eyes had lost their former light and they now seemed dull and lifeless.
" I like you Jarad, you rushed in and began reaping lives like a burning star of destruction...Star of destruction, hmm Dark Star, awesome I like it, that'll be your new name " The doctor said with clear glee in his tone
Jarad looked at the piece of bone in his hand and the dead bodies around him and then his body couldn't just take it till he keeled over and threw up his guts while crying at the same moment
"Tsk tsk tsk, someone get this place cleaned up and get these new candidates washed and ready for the second stage of their exams" The Doctor said
....
The mortified candidates finally learnt where they were after some time.
It was a place called the ORPHANAGE, but it wasn't like others though where the children would be cared for and loved, quite the opposite actually. You see the T04 virus was a biologically engineered one which was made to be something close to a Super Gene awakener or Simply put a Super Soldier serum. The virus was supposed to bring it's hosts to a near death situation and rebuild their nervous system and molecular structure making them stronger than normal humans. Which other test subjects for this experiment than the inhabitants of the slums who had no visible impact in society.
Humanity was growing weaker and researchers were looking for ways to stop that from happening or at least create another chain of evolution so they thought up the T04 virus which was supposed to bring humanity to its greatness, at the cost of some lives of course.