Zero stepped out from the dormitory, the door hissing shut behind him with a mechanical sigh. The night air in Calvera was thick, metallic, grimy, and restless. He adjusted his jacket collar against the chill and took three steps before he sensed something wrong.
Too quiet.
Then it hit, fast and without mercy.
A foot slammed into his ribs from the side, sending him sprawling against the rusted wall. Before he could catch his breath, another blow came, this time to the back of his head. Pain exploded through his skull.
Laughter.
Shadows emerged from the alley like wolves circling prey. The Nox gang. No warning. No reason. Just bloodsport.
Zero tried to raise his fists, but they were already on him. Fists, boots, a baton cracking down on his shoulder. A cybernetic arm caught his jaw with a mechanical snap that left him reeling. His body buckled under the weight of their assault.
"Should've stayed inside, little rat," one of them sneered.
The leader stepped forward. His face was half-hidden behind a scrambled visor with edges twitching with static. He didn't speak. He didn't need to.
Zero swung blindly, his knuckles scraping metal and bone, but it was useless. The gang pressed in, overwhelming him. The woman with the cybernetic arm grinned, then drove her knee into his gut. The air left his lungs. The world tilted.
Then came the hum.
The stun baton lit up, glowing blue with electric charge. Zero barely had time to flinch before the baton plunged into his side.
His scream was swallowed by the static that ripped through his body. He convulsed, his muscles seizing up, and then everything went black.
The streets of Calvera were unforgiving. The jagged edges of metal and broken concrete were a stark reminder of the battle for survival that was fought here every day. Zero's body throbbed with the weight of every bruise, his blood slick on the pavement beneath him. He wasn't dead, but he felt like it.
The Nox Syndicate had left him battered and broken. Their laughter still echoed in his ears, a reminder of the brutal lesson he'd been forced to learn. The gang members had circled him like vultures, giving him no space to breathe or even think. Every time he tried to push back, they overwhelmed him. His mind raced, trying to calculate some way out, but every move he made only brought him closer to the ground.
The woman with the cybernetic arm had been relentless. Her blows were like sledgehammers, each one knocking the wind from his lungs, each punch landing with the impact of a wrecking ball. Zero had tried to fight back, swinging at her, but his arms felt like lead. His legs trembled beneath him. The others had been no better, taunting and laughing as they watched him struggle. He had tried to dodge their hits, but the pain, the exhaustion, and the sheer weight of their strength eventually overpowered him.
When the leader, the one with the half-scrambled faceplate, finally raised his stun baton, it had been the end. Zero had felt the crackling hum of the electric current just before the baton slammed into his ribs. The world exploded into static. His body jerked involuntarily as the volts surged through him, seizing every muscle and sending him into the darkest depths of unconsciousness.
He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he woke up. His head was a fog. His limbs felt like they were made of stone. And his face, it was a mess. Blood coated his mouth, dripping down his chin, and a deep gash ran along his cheek. The metallic taste lingered in his mouth, mingling with the remnants of the electric shock.
Zero groaned, trying to push himself up, but his body protested, aching in ways he hadn't thought possible. His arms trembled. His ribs screamed in protest. But he dragged himself to his knees, his hands scraping against the rough pavement.
He could barely see. His vision swam in and out of focus. But he knew the city was still there, still buzzing, still moving, as if it hadn't even noticed his fight. Calvera didn't care about the weak. It didn't care about bruises or blood. It only cared about survival. And right now, he wasn't sure if he was even good enough for that.
Zero's fingers brushed against the edge of his jacket. The fabric was torn and stained, but it still clung to him like a reminder of who he was. A student. An outsider. A survivor, if he could still call himself that.
He wiped the blood from his mouth and sucked in a shallow breath. His body protested as he stood. Every movement was a battle. Each step was a challenge. But he had to keep moving.
With a final grunt, he forced himself upright, leaning against a nearby wall for support. His body felt like it was going to betray him at any moment, but he refused to let it. Not here. Not now.
"Get up, Zero," he whispered to himself, though his voice cracked and was barely a breath of sound. "This isn't the end. Not yet."
He staggered forward, pushing through the fog in his mind. Each step was a calculated risk. His blood still burned in his veins. The pain was sharp. But something else burned within him, a hunger for survival and for something more than what he was being offered. He couldn't let the Nox Syndicate win. Not like this. Not in the dirt.
The neon lights of the city flickered ahead, casting their artificial glow on the broken streets. The sounds of Calvera echoed around him. Distant voices, engines roaring, the constant hum of machines. It was a place of noise, a place where the weak were ignored and the strong thrived. But Zero wasn't done. Not yet.
He wiped his brow, smearing more blood across his forehead, and took another step.
As he limped away from the alley, his mind churned with one thought. If Calvera wanted him to stay down, it was going to have to break him completely. And he wasn't ready to be broken.
For now, the streets were his only ally.
The world may have owned him, but he would make sure they didn't own his mind. Not yet.
Zero's steps faltered as the pain in his body screamed for him to stop, but he pushed forward, stumbling along the cracked pavement. The world around him felt unreal, as if he were walking through a nightmare where everything was blurry and distorted. The city's towering spires loomed overhead, their harsh, jagged edges pressing in on him. But in the distance, through the haze of blood and exhaustion, he saw something that caught his attention.
A soft glow from a neon sign flickered above a narrow doorway. Its lights cut through the grime and shadows of the street. The sign read DOJO in stark, simple lettering. It wasn't the usual corporate advertisement or the vulgar neon strips that lit up Calvera's dark corners. It was something different, something out of place, like a forgotten relic from another time.
Zero's gaze lingered on the door. His head was heavy with the weight of what had just happened. He could barely remember the last time he'd seen something like this, a place that didn't promise death or deceit, a place that wasn't owned by the syndicates or the gangs.
It wasn't much. Just a tiny space tucked between two rundown buildings. But for some reason, it felt like a lifeline.
He swayed on his feet. His body threatened to collapse. But his mind was already pulling him toward that door. Maybe it was the strange calm the dojo seemed to offer. Or maybe it was just the overwhelming need for a place to heal and get away from everything that was breaking him. Whatever it was, Zero found himself taking a slow, unsteady step toward it.
He couldn't explain why, but something about the dojo called to him. A promise, perhaps, that here in the heart of Calvera, there was still something worth fighting for.
Bruised and bloody, his mind still whirling with the pain of the gang's attack, Zero stepped toward the doorway. As his hand reached out, he had no idea what waited for him inside. But for the first time in what felt like forever, the world around him felt just a little less suffocating.
As he pushed open the door, the soft chime of a bell rang through the space. And he couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, this was the beginning of something different.