ANBU ARC (CHAPTER 2.1)

A day has passed and the flying ship comes to a stop, Zack and Lorenzo make their way towards the rear and there swiftly greeted by OG and the 4 Captains. OG says "The ride is over, now we must get to work. Were at a secret government facility in the second capital of Leon." Lorenzo shocked speaks up "Leon has a second capital? Since when? I've been there countless times and never have I heard of a second capital!" Lorenzo almost seemed flustered about the second capital. OG "Any more outbursts?" Zack and Lorenzo both shake their heads, OG "Good, now where was I….. O, so the purpose of bringing the both of you here is for a new test. A test that could change the balance of the world, and it starts with you two right here." Captain J steps forwards and speaks "Now, the final test, a fight to the death between the both of you." Zack a Lil surprised kinda saw that coming, Lorenzo on the other hand "WHAT? A fight to the death! You can't be serious Captain J!" Captain J looks at Lorenzo and shakes his head, he and the other Captains all exit the airship. OG stayed behind, he started to speak "Zack vs Lorenzo. My money is on Zack, O and by the way Lorenzo (Lorenzo looks up at OG) I know why you are here, to gather information on government officials and bases while slowly trying to climb your way up the ranks and take the last Captain spot. And for what? Your country, family, personal reasons? Doesn't matter now cause your as good as dead! HAHAHA!" As he walks away laughing he speaks one more time "Whoever wins can meet me through this door, will be watching as well! Good luck!" as he enters the door he turns around and gives a thumbs up and smiles. Zack exits the plane and draws his sword, he patiently waits for Lorenzo. Lorenzo is at a loss for words about what is going on, he starts to panic and thinks to himself "How did he find out about my mission? Now I have to fight this hooligan." Lorenzo finally exits the airship, as he counties to move forward he draws his weapon. A Spanish rapier, forged from astral diamonds (basically, diamonds from space), a menacing Materia starts to radiate from the blade the air gets heavy. Lorenzo slowly laughs “If only he didn't blow my cover, you might have survived! I’m sorry but I can’t let the government pull ahead of the Silva family!” Zack can’t help but feel disappointed, for the first time he speaks to Lorenzo “That’s it? All you want to do is take, so that your country can succeed. Not only was father right but OG almost seems like a good guy compared to some of the other leaders of this world. Let me ask you this, with all that wealth and political power do you truly feel like that’s the way to become stronger?” Lorenzo answers swiftly “Yes! And I don’t expect some kid to understand how this world is run, so let’s hurry up and get this fight over with!” Zack “Fine, I’ve been waiting to fight you!” Lorenzo brings both of his feet together and drops his left arm to his side while his right arm extends outwards blade pointed forwards, he says “This divine weapon was passed down through my family for generations, now it's my turn to show the strength of the Silva family! Dimension Materia-3d!” (enhanced versions of his 3-dimensional attacks) He swiftly approaches Zack with a barrage of attacks, even though Zack is dodging the attacks he’s still getting cut. Zack starts to think “His attacks connect no matter how I dodge, maybe I should deflect.” Zack changes his approach and tries to challenge Lorenzo’s swings, but before he could even make contact with the blade it's quickly knocked away like another sword is hitting it before Lorenzo’s does. They exchange a few more blows before backing off, Zack breathing heavily he says “The air is progressively getting heavier, his sword is still leaking large amounts of Materia. Lorenzo “I’m going to let you in on a secret kid, my divine weapon is Draxion, the dimensional dragon. I have full control over all dimensional planes, for example, 3d allows me to increase the range and size of my 3-dimensional attacks. That’s not all, I still have 1d, 2d, and 4d. Let’s stop sugar-coating this, what I'm trying to say is. Your dead kid.” Lorenzo starts up his attacks again, Zack starts to think of a plan “Alright, luckily he’s dumb enough to explain his Materia for me. For 3d all I have to do is determine a set size of the plane and I can block and counter his attacks. For the others, it should be easy. The only one I have to worry about is 4d.” As Zack starts to counter Lorenzo’s 3d attacks, he begins to get frustrated and switches “1d!” Lorenzo exclaims, and he shifted from fast-paced poke/pierce attacks to horizontal and vertical slash. Zack can see that each attack is precise and would probably kill him on the spot, Zack begins to collect Materia throughout his body. Lorenzo starts to mix in 3d and 1d attacks simultaneously, Zack slowly finds a rhythm and effortlessly blocks Lorenzo's barrage of attacks. Meanwhile underground in the secret capital of Leon, OG and the other 4 Captains watch the fight unfold. OG says “See, I told yall he would be a good choice!” Captain J can’t help but laugh “Yes sir, you were right. This young man has the heart of a true knight!” Captain N sleeps in the corner, while Captain H watches silently, almost studying Zack’s movements. Captain K speaks up “Still think it would have been pretty tight if we brought FC Leon, would have made it more interesting G.” OG responds “It would have been too easy for him to beat these too, plus he’s not ready for this type of power.” Captain K answers “But this kid is? G, come on. I’ll give it to you, the kid is strong, he has talent too. But at the end of the day, he’s a kid, you know what I’m sayin?” It cuts back to Zack and Lorenzo fighting, Their swords clash, almost gaining speed off of each other's strikes. As they continue to clash Zack’s hair begins to float and he gains a silver aura around him, Zack speaks to himself “Alright, I almost collected enough Materia, now I just have to create an opening for my attack.” Lorenzo starts to get tired of the pointless clash and ends it, Lorenzo “I think it’s time we move on to the final act! Dimension Materia-4d!” Lorenzo then takes a wide stance and brings his right arm up straight towards the sky, his sword starts to glow a dark purple, Materia starts to spill out of his rapier, Zack takes a short breath, and he remembers his training and what his father taught him. Zack sheathes his sword and starts to walk forward, Zack a Lil confused starts to laugh “I see you’ve given up kid! At least you can recognize when you’ve been outclassed!” While that's going on, back underground Captain J and K start popping off for Zack. Cap J “NOW THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO SEE!!! CONFIDENCE!” Cap K “Aye, he stupid as fuck. But at least he got balls. He’s got to have a plan right? Right?” OG can’t help but laugh “HAHAHAHAH! I can assure you that Zack won this match from the very beginning!” Cuts back to Lorenzo getting ready to release 4d, just before he does he speaks “You had a good run kid. Should have learned your place!” He brings the top of his blade down in a vertical fashion, as the move completes the purple glow his sword created vanishes. Zack executes his plan, he quickly rushes Lorenzo. Lorenzo laughs “Any second now you’ll be cut on a dimensional level, and fall dead like the vermin you are!” But nothing ever happens Zack draws closer and Lorenzo begins to panic, he's slowly running out of time. Lorenzo starts up another attack but is quickly stopped by Zack, in a blink of an eye Lorenzo’s arm is gone. He starts to scream “AAAAAAA! How did you get past my 4d slash, I hit you (falls to his knees) on a dimensional level. (he tries to catch his breath but struggles) Zack takes his blade and points it at Lorenzo’s neck, “ I simply sent my Materia outwards to find where the 4d slash was traveling, your slash was nothing but an object changing its position from one place to another place, time. I found the gap in time and moved before it reappeared, learned that in school.” Zack then proceeds to behead Lorenzo. Zack swings his blade clean before putting it away. As he starts to walk towards the door he finally has time to look around, from what he can tell he’s on the southernmost border of Leon near the ocean behind their major mountain range. Zack starts to think to himself “for what purpose do the Leon’s need to hide a second capital all the way back here, and underground at that. Maybe Lorenzo was on to something.” He stands in front of the mysterious door and knocks, It opens. Zack steps inside and the door closes behind him, as Zack looks around he slowly realizes It’s an elevator. The room abruptly falls, within a matter of seconds it stops and the door opens. As Zack steps out he’s confronted by Captain J “not for a single second did I doubt you, young man!” Captain K also speaks “I mean you ain't no shooter but ima fuck with you.” Zack responds “Thank you, Captains!” As Captain J and K walk away Captain H approaches Zack, the air is still but has a nice cool feeling to it almost like a nice breeze caring the scent of the ocean. Captain H bows and starts to speak “I can tell that Mr. Johnson was well practiced in swords, he taught you well. Your movements are never wasted each strike is better than the last. But just like FC Leon said Skills are equally important, they can open new possibilities and allow victories where death is imminent.” Captain H then bows again and disappears, Zack “Thank you Captain H!” OG claps “Well, as you can see the Captain has taken a liking to you. You’ve done well Zack, congrats!” Zack responds “Thank you OG! May I ask a question?” OG nods his head, Zack “Well, I’m still trying to figure out why the test was even a thing cause It seems like you have more than enough strength between the 4 Captains.” OG pause for a few seconds to think, he speaks “You see Zack, eventually, the Captains will retire or die, so I need others to take their spots when that time comes. But I have others in mind for Captain positions. Follow me, Zack.” Zack “Yes sir!” As OG walks, Zack follows. They make their way around the facility OG slowly showing Zack around and what the facility has to offer. Zack can’t even begin to grasp the scope of what is down here, It’s almost like a whole second country down here. OG starts to speak again “So Zack, why did your father send a recommendation?” Zack replies “He wanted me to see the efforts of my training, and to also find new ways to better myself through others. I think I found what I was looking for here as well. I wish to continue with the task OG, I’m ready sir.” OG smiles “Good! Now we can move on. Follow me, Zack.” They walk down a series of long corridors with branching paths going who knows where, it almost seems like this facility was built YeaR’s ago. OG says “Here. Now Zack from this point on everything you see and hear is classified. Any of this information gets out I already know where to look to find you, and while I’m at It I’ll kill everyone you ever knew, got it!” Zack felt a cold chill go throughout his body, he could tell OG wasn’t lying “Yes sir1 You have my word!” OG “Good, well then let's continue.” As OG opens the door they are greeted by Captain J “Hello again, Zack. It's time for you to take the next step, this is where the strong are separated from the weak. KEEP THE KNIGHT'S RESOLVE IN YOUR HEART! FOR IF YOU DO, YOU’LL SHINE EVEN GREATER THAN BEFORE!” Zack can’t help but smile a Lil bit before he responds “Yes Cap!” Captain J salutes Zack, and while Zack returns the salute OG speaks “Alright Zack I’m going to keep it short so listen carefully.” As OG talks he begins preparing something on the computer and Captain J also helps, there is a wall behind them that turned into a one-sided window. Zack falls to his knees about to throw up, It's all the bodies of the ANBU event are piled into a room, lifeless. Captain J walks toward Zack “It can be jarring at first young man, but this is life. People die, you must accept that. For what comes after that’s up to the living.” Zack stands and walks to the window, OG picks up where he left off “So Zack basically what’s going to happen is that the bodies in that room are going to be sacrificed for there Materia. As the Materia meshes together we’ll use the newly created power to summon a Demon from the underworld.” Zack trying to grasp the situation quickly speaks up “OG, sorry for the outburst but, did you say that you're going to use these bodies to summon a Demon? Isn’t that dangerous and against the government?” OG replies “We are the government. Zack, all you have to do is go in there and fight the Demon’s will and win, then the power of the Demon is your’s!” Zack has so many thoughts and emotions going through his head, that he starts to think about what would Drew do. Captain J and OG start the sacrificing process, a small portal opens and one after another a body enters. Slowly the bodies begin to disappear as it comes down to the last few OG speaks up “I know this is a lot of information Zack, and most of It doesn’t make sense but after this, trust me. It will click.” Captain J nods and salutes. Zack takes a few deep breaths as he calms himself the portal closes, and OG says “Are you ready Zack?” Zack replies “Yes sir!” OG hit the final button and another portal opens, a chilling cold makes Its way through the walls, and the window starts to fog up. OG can’t help but go off on a rant “Out of all the Demons, now he wants to show up! That good for nothing piece of shit!” Captain J directs OG outside the room and steps back in. Captain J speaks “Disregard that, anyways you ready?” Zack nods, Captain J opens the side door to the room where the Demon is. As Zack enters he’s instantly hit with air so cold that all the moisture in the room turned to snow and ice, the walls were starting to split due to the sheer coldness of the air. Zack continues to walk until he reaches the center, once he does he can see the Demon fully. The demon sits at 6 feet 7 inches, the Demon is a deep blue-black color. Zack feels no pressure whatsoever, Zack begins to collect Materia. But just as soon as he does the Demon takes notice and talks “What’s the YeaR kid?” Zack answers “YeaR 204 Month 5.” Demon scoffs at that “Wow, 100 YeaR’s. Well, then It seems that you are here to try and control my power who sent you?” Zack tries to conceal his Materia collection while keeping a conversation with the Demon “OG, he’s the leader of our country's government.” The demon laughs “OG, sent you! Man, that name takes me all the way back to the war.” Zack a little puzzled asks a question “So you know OG? How?” The Demon’s laugh slowly goes away, he answers “So, you got some balls kid. Asking the likes of me a question. You know what, I’m bored as fuck anyway. So how about it, partner?” The Demon extends his right hand out, Zack looks at the hand he can’t sense any intent to kill, but at the same time, he can’t sense anything coming from the Demon. The Demon starts to get impatient “I’m not going to do anything shady kid, and by the way, I already know your collecting Materia, probably for some type of attack or to be ready to block.” Zack tries to play it off “You got me. Had to make sure you weren’t tricking me. But why make it so easy, It’s almost like you want to be controlled.” The Demon pulls his hand back in, he sighs “Well you missed your chance on the easiest come up of all time. Alright, since you want a challenge I guess here to try and break this icicle in one blow.” The Demon takes his hand and waves it in front of him, from the ground to about Zack’s height stands an icicle. Zack starts to think like always “There’s obviously a catch, it may seem like regular ice but it’s not. There’s only one way and that’s to put all I got into 1 strike.” Zack starts to collect Materia at a greater rate than before, the Demon is slightly impressed he starts to talk “Well, what do we have here, a human with no Materia affinity! Haven’t seen that in a while let’s see what you can do.” Zack unsheaths his sword, and the image of Drew doing the rising sword spin comes to Zack’s mind. As Zack continues to gain Materia he takes a low stance with his sword, the silver aura appears and Zack’s hair starts to rise. Zack under his breath says “Sword Skill-Spin.” and just like Drew, Zack does a spinning grounded dragon punch. But this time he has the extra boost in power from his Materia. The icicle shatters, and nothing is left. The Demon laughs “HAHAHAHA! Good, by the way, it was just regular ice. I just wanted to see how you think, and I think I made the right choice so again how about it partner.” The Demon sticks his right hand out again, this time Zack laughs and grabs the Demon’s hand and shakes it. The Demon speaks “O. and by the way, my name is Frost. I have Ice Materia. And to answer your question from earlier about how I know OG, well I’ll give you one fact. OG and I participated in the Demon revolution YeaR’s ago, then OG went to conquer the overworld. I was one of the Demons that stayed back In the underworld awaiting further details.” Zack was completely lost, never heard of a Demon revolution or an attack on the overworld either. But the craziest thing Is that OG is a Demon. As Zack stands looking confused as shit Frost speaks up “Well, anyway let's finish this contract. Take your sword and thrust it into my body, and use it as a mediary to transfer my powers inside of you.” Zack shakes his head, he takes his sword and pierces Frost in the chest. Frost gets absorbed by the blade and enters Zack’s body. A surge of power courses threw Zack’s body, his bones become cold, and each one of his breathes lets out a cold mist. But there was a new feeling, something he’s never felt before. Ominous energy that is not only terrifying but feels unlimited, Zack approaches the door and says “Captain J, I’ve succeeded!” The door opens and there stands Captain J, almost crying “I knew you could do it! I see myself in you!” He then salutes, and Zack returns the salute. They talk in the room for a few minutes, Captain J gives him basic information about the facility, and what to expect for the next couple of weeks/months. After some time has passed OG returns back to the room, “Well, Zack did you do it?” Zack stands and replies “Yes OG, I have full control over the Demon.” OG smiles and nods, “Good, now TC Zack. This is where you show your loyalty and intelligence.” So many thoughts are rushing through Zack’s head at this time, But the biggest one is, the energy that Zack felt earlier, It’s standing right in front of him. Zack replies “Yes sir!” OG says “I’ll ask you 3 questions, answer them truthfully as your life depends on it.” Zack nods, OG resumes talking “Question 1, While you were in there, did the Demon say anything out of the ordinary?” Zack doesn’t hesitate “No, sir!” OG “ Question 2, Who’s side are you on?” Zack was about to answer but stops himself, why would he ask that? Does he think I’m a traitor like Lorenzo? Can’t be he would have killed me by now. I’ve got to answer, “I’m on the side of those who are scared to follow through, I appear as the villain in the people's eyes, but true heroes strive to be me.” OG looks at Captain J, OG “Last Question. Do you swear allegiance to me, and what I stand for?” Zack thinks long and hard, about all the new information he’s heard today, the people he’s met, the places he’s seen. He struggles to make any sense, but he knows one thing for sure OG can’t be trusted, Zack answers “I swear allegiance to you, OG sir.” OG tells Zack to look up, and he does. OG then salutes Zack, after that he dismisses Captain J. After he leaves he takes a seat and offers Zack one. They both sit. OG clears his throat and speaks “Zack, you pass. Now your official part of the government, you work for me and the other Captains. Were your new family now.” Zack just nods and listens, OG resumes talking “Next, I have a special task just for you. The whole purpose of the ANBU event was to draw out traitors in the United Government and it worked. The Silva’s are on my watch, Another thing too if I'm being honest I almost thought you were a traitor as well. Would have been such a waste of talent but I’m glad that you are not. But I can’t say the same for your father.” Zack shocked speaks out “There’s no way father’s a traitor!” OG shakes his head “O, but look.” OG pulls up videos of Mr. Johnson meeting with the previous King James 3rd plotting on overthrowing the government, along with pictures of him amassing an army, setting aside funds for war/resources. Zack doesn’t know what to believe anymore he’s confused, scared, and most of all empty.  Zack stands, and he begins to pace. OG speaks up “Zack, this is a lot of information to take in right now. I know you are only a child, you have so much to live for. But there are people out there that want to take that away from you and others as well. You have to make a choice Zack.” Zack closes his eyes and all the memories of his father race through his mind. All the nights of training, going days without sleep, helping the people in their everyday tasks. Zack starts to shake his head, he thinks to himself “There’s no way father is a traitor, there has to be more. OG is hiding something, he has to be.” Zack wipes the tears from his face and says “What is the choice OG sir?” OG stands up in front of Zack, he places his hand on Zack’s shoulder and says “You have 2 choices. Either you side with your father and I kill you right here, and then your entire country and family. Or you show me where your loyalty stands and kill everyone in the Johnson country.” Zack unfazed by the options given to him has to decide, he thinks for a few minutes and replies. Zack “I shall carry the burden of my family. I swear allegiance to you OG, so I’ll see this mission threw till the end, sir!” OG responds “Good, now let’s get you ready.”