Hannibal tightens his hold on his gavel, pointing it at the intruder. The crowd clusters at the judge's platform in the courtroom, terrified.
In front of them are a few regular Zoldiers, Zephyr, Zach, and Zeth, standing as their shield.
"Who are you, and why are you here? You are in violation of several laws, and I can't wait to pass judgment on you."
Hannibal removes his robe and wig. He steps on top of the judge's bench.
"I am Zypno, at your service! We are sent here to collect what's rightfully ours! Give us the newborn or we will destroy your city!"
The individual on the palanquin-like, mobile throne stretched out his arms theatrically, bending his hips sideways, and had his chin up as he introduced himself. He has a maniacal, wide smirk with a tint of red gloss on his lips.
"We?"
Hannibal asked with his raspy, angered voice. His eyes narrowed, feeling a bit fueled to eliminate Zypno.
"Yes, 'we', are you even listening? We will leave once you give us your newborn underling. Do not pray for the destruction of your city. This place was not a hotspot for Zystem users until now, so why bother risking it? Accept the deal, and we will leave. Might kill a few of you, but who cares?"
Zypno said with such snark in his tone that he approached by stepping out of his undead throne. Zenos take turns to let their faces get stepped on by the bold underling.
"Do we have terms?"
As he approaches the crowd, Zypno leans in and poses with impudence, raised and supported by the Zenos.
"A threat level Triple-Z asking for terms? Unfortunately, we do not negotiate with terrorists."
Hannibal springs high up the floor and swings his gavel. A copy of himself suddenly shoots like a projectile towards Zypno, and the clone sends a mighty left hook to the enemy's face.
When the punch connected, the copy replicates itself instantly, doubling the damage on Zypno, who had no time nor skill to avoid such a surprising move.
[The copy made a copy of himself!? Is it cloning Zystem?!]
The main Hannibal, however, landed between the Zeno wall and the Zoldiers protecting the crowd.
"Get everyone outta here!"'
Hannibal's deep and rumbly voice echoes as he creates more copies of himself. The copies immediately stepped in and shielded the crowd.
"Yes, sir!"
Zephyr answers, determined to save everyone and get them all out of the courtroom. She unleashes her Meltdown, a metal fan with sharp blades; it is decorated with tally marks, possibly the number of enemy underlings she killed.
"Follow me! Soldiers, protect the civilians!"
She orders everyone as she leads them to the back door, which serves as the emergency exit. When she kicked them open, a dozen Zenos were already waiting, which she immediately took care of. The crowd and the Zoldiers follow her outside.
Zeth, however, wonders if he should stay and watch the fight between Hannibal and Zypno, maybe even help in the fight. But his attention turns to Zach, who remains calm despite all the unfolding events.
"Zeth, let's go."
Zach gestures at Zeth. The squad leader walked instead of running after Zephyr, who had now left them behind.
"But what about him?"
Zeth glances at Hannibal once more, his eyes widening in surprise when he sees that Hannibal now has at least a hundred copies of him, surpassing the Zenos that had gathered in the courtroom.
"He's a one-man army. He can handle that!"
Zach said while striding out of the courtroom into the emergency exit. Zeth follows anxiously, feeling a bit uneasy by Zach's nonchalant expression to the whole ordeal.
"Should we help with evacuations? What about Zoey and Zion? The city?"
Zeth voices out his concern, keeping up with Zach.
"Relax. There are 26 ZF teams in all of the Great Cities. We also have a battalion of tough grunts on the field, and they're probably out there now. I don't think the enemy knows how capable we all are."
"But have you seen that underling? He was controlling the Zenos! I bet the city is overrun by now! We should get Zoey and know if they're safe!"
Zach leads the way down a hallway littered with the dead Zenos.
"Oh! See, Zeph is taking care of business. I bet she's going to meet with her squad now! And don't you worry about those two, they're in the barracks, it's probably the safest place to be right now!"
"How about the civilians?"
"We have bunkers for that. Chill out, buddy! We were anticipating an attack anyway. I got intel from Zion, remember? He snitched that they were a team of six. We got two of them, one is with Hannibal, so that's three more of them out here."
"You're not scared?"
"The ZF of Burns is safe because of their secret greatest weapon."
"What's their greatest weapon?"
"The greatest weapon is the friends we made along the way."
Zach blows air from his nose, forcing a chuckle.
"I am not kidding here, Zach! People's lives are in danger!"
Zeth is concerned and finds Zach's nonchalant attitude to be alarming.
[I don't know why, but this guy feels so annoyingly familiar! I hate his guts!]
Not now, Zela!
"Zach, come on, where's your sense of urgency?!"
Zeth frantically tries to reason with the captain.
But Zach only shakes his head as he pouts, clicking his tongue as well with his index finger waving sideways, dismissing Zeth's worries.
"That's a big word, Zeth! I'm proud of you."
"Urgency is not that deep!?"
Zeth flails his hands, frustrated.
"Relax. Secret greatest weapon, remember?"
"I don't know what that is!?"
Zeth slowly unravels to Zach's enjoyment. The captain is clearly toying with the young recruit.
But to Zeth's credit, there are a lot of loud noises coming from outside. People screaming and panicked voices. Explosions and all the unseen agony that creates a sense of turbulence. Affecting Zeth's mental fortitude.
But not Zach. He knew that the auditory fear is artificial, man-made. Perhaps, from an underling.
They turn left and finally arrive in a lounge where there are a dozen dead civilians and Zenos. Blood painted everywhere, and the furniture and displays, and everything was torn down into rubble.
At the center of it all, a massive, bulky humanoid creature stands, pulling out the intestines from its poor victim. Feeling Zach and Zeth's presence, it discarded the corpse, slumping the cadaver on the floor. It turns around to reveal its horrific features.
Its face is fixed with countless sharp piercings from its ears, nose, and mouth. A metal rod impales one ear and exits the other side. Moreover, its eyes are entirely black with no whites in them, as if it were not even a man or had never been.
Zeth was caught by surprise. The horrific creature in front of them visibly startled him, and he turned to Zach for refuge, but the team leader was just idly smiling.
It is a man and a monster—the worst of two worlds.
The man slowly approaches. His steps are heavy, crushing the corpses on his way. But the haste builds up to a sprint, steadily running in Zeth's general direction.
"Uh, Zach? We could use a secret weapon now."
"Ha! So, that's where the funky noises come from. Hey, Zeth, don't worry about the noise. This dude is making it up!"
"What are you talking about!? Can't we do something about him first before you talk!?"
"Sheesh. Someone's stressed."
Zach groans.
Zeth steps forward, putting Zach behind him, feeling a bit frustrated by his inaction. He prepares to defend himself and Zach.
"Relax. We have a secret weapon."
Zach raised his hand, a lazy motion that repeated the gesture he had made earlier during training. His pinky and index fingers were upwards, while his ring and middle fingers were folded, pressed down by the thumb. The hand tilted sideways, aiming at the enemy.
The charging brute was only a few feet away from them. Zeth strengthens his stance. While Zach calmly whispered a word:
"Imprison."
Then the enemy imploded. The noises went away with it. Silence.
Violently, the enemy instantly collapses inward with a sickening crunch. Blood and minced flesh then splatter across the room, painting it red.
Somehow, the grisly horror parted around them, leaving an untouched trail where they were standing.
"It's me."
Zach said, his voice is a touch sensitive and soft. He unfurled his fingers, releasing his palms.
Then the erupted parts came back, forming the monstrous man whole. The enemy was confused, derailed, and now quivering like a wet dog. It was naked, cold, shrivelling, and crying out for mercy. For the first time, the monster felt fear.
The enemy dropped to his knees, bawling.
Zeth, stunned by everything, felt an overwhelming dread. Even with the disorienting noises gone, all his alarms were still turned on. A chill crawled down his spine. Now, he was confused whether he was afraid of the creature in front of them or the looming gravity of the aura behind him.