GOVERMENT HUNT ARC (CHAPTER 3.1)

YeaR 204 Month 9

Zack- 13

OG-?

Captain J- 29

X series characters

Captain H- 40

Captain K- 23

Narrator- It’s been 3 days since Zack has recovered from his injuries, and another 2 have passed since the test. He received a message on the 5th day from Captain K and It read “Yo! How’s the arm? Well, I don’t care. Your training will continue with me now. Meet up In the training room tomorrow morning at 4 am no later!” Sheesh, I guess Zack can’t catch a break well let’s see what Captain K can do to make sure he wins this bet!

A loud alarm goes off but Is quickly turned off. Zack looks at the clock and sighs. He sits up, moves to the edge of the bed, and thinks “I got 30 minutes to get ready. I just hope this training Isn’t bullshit. Captain K doesn’t seem like the one to take this seriously.” He then stands and gets ready to leave his room. After about 10 minutes he heads to the dining hall to grab some breakfast. As he enters the room he’s then greeted by Captain H “Good Morning Zack! Ready for training?” Zack makes his way toward Captain H's table and replies “Good Morning Captain! Yes, Captain!” Captain H smiles and waves Zack off, he makes his way through the line for a quick bite. Zack looks at the time and has about 10 minutes to make his way toward the training room.

As Zack entered the training room he notices Captain K sitting in the middle next to a table with something on It. As Zack approaches he finally gets a good look at K. Even though he’s sitting, he’s still fairly tall. Not only that but slim as well, one could call him cut. He has dark skin, along with dreads that fall to his shoulders. Before speaking, Captain K let out a big cloud of smoke and asked, "You smoke?” Zack replies “No Captain! I've never smoked before!” K rolls his eyes and stands before speaking again “Another square I see. Well, let me know If you need It.” Zack confused about what he meant just rolled with It “Yes Captain!” Captain K circles around to the back side of the table. It’s covered by a blanket, just as Captain K pulled It off he started to talk “Alright so before we can start let me explain what my powers are so you can get an idea of the training will be doing over the next month.” Sitting on the table was a block of metal, Zack speaks up “What exactly Is that Captain?” K lets out another large smoke cloud “Well this right here Is a block of gunmetal. I have full control over everything made of this substance, usually guns and sometimes explosives.” Captain K then stuck his hand out and said “GunMetal Materia-Barret M82” The block of gunmetal on the table quickly started to take shape. Captain K “And just like that Barret 50 cal. But that’s not the end of It either. You might be asking yourself, how the fuck do I shoot with no ammo?” To Zack’s surprise, he thought he just carried a bunch of ammo. K continues to speak “Basically to make this less complicated than what It Is I take a portion of my Materia and condense and amplify Its strength. Here’s an example!” Zack watches Captain K pick up the Barret and walk right next to him, he then lifts the sniper with one hand and points with the other and says “I left a can of soda on the other end, I will destroy that can. Nothing left.” As soon as he finished, he shot. No more than a few seconds later a massive explosion goes off in the direction of the can. Zack tries to stay standing but falls to the ground. After the smoke and dust settled down Zack was able to see the damage for himself “Wow!” A massive hole Is now In the spot of the can. Captain K speaks up “Now did you see the size of the bullet that came out of this weapon?” Zack shook his head, he didn’t see the bullet leave or make contact. Captain K “Well I’ll show you.” He then takes his left hand and holds It outwards, Zack can sense him collecting Materia at a single point In his hand. And just like that, a small sniper bullet no bigger than a bee sits in the palm of his hands. Captain K takes another hit and lets out another cloud of smoke before speaking “This right here caused that over there.” he points to the hole in the training facility and continues to speak “All I did was amass a large amount of Materia, amplify It then condense It down In size. I can make It bigger and weaker or even smaller and deadlier, just depends on what Is needed.” As he explains more about his powers, Zack starts to think, "Damn, that was kinda cool. I could see the utility behind this training, I just hope Captain K stays on track.”

Captain K “Alright, so not that you know I’m more than qualified to train you let’s move on to the actual training.” Zack ready’s himself but K continues to speak “But first, let me ask you what your previous training consisted of before Captain J?” Zack hesitates before answering, wondering why he would need that information. He answers “My father taught me everything about Materia from where It comes from, how It enters and exits our body. After that, he went into great detail about how to control Materia as well, which lead to combat experience and a specialized Materia collection training that Is passed down by Johnson Family.” Captain K paces around the training room for a couple of minutes before saying anything. Zack stands and waits for what seems for hours, eventually, Captain K approaches him and says “ so here’s the training regiment. For the first week, we're going to work on the number of Materia blades that you can make. The second week will be dedicated to applying Skills through Materia, I peeped scene. For you to be able to even attempt that let alone pull It off... Let's just say, I want to see how far you can go.” Zack is left speechless, unable to respond Captain K continues “For the third week, that's the week you combine your efforts and make something of It. Almost like a signature move, something flashy! And for the final week, you will have 7 days to beat Captain N.” Zack quickly speaks “But Captain, you want me to fight Captain N?” Captain K lets out a big cloud of smoke and answers “Yeah, you good?” With thousands of questions running through Zack’s head, he answers “Yes Captain. I look forward to starting my training!” K nods and lets out another cloud of smoke and speaks one last time “Also, you’ll be spending all your time in the training room. The only reason to leave Is to go to the dining hall to get some food. That’s It, got It!” “Yes, Captain!”.

Narrator- As the first week of training went by Zack managed to make a total of 2 blades… Well then… Just uh… Though It would be a lil better. Moving on I guess, as Zack moves into week 2 of training with Captain K let’s take a look at Captain H and how he’s doing on his mission. Just a lil reminder Captain H Is on a mission to investigate a large Materia influx between the Jonshon and Xifier border.

The morning sun lights the sky ablaze, Captain H slowly makes his way up a small mountain. As the sun follows H's ascent, the breeze carried the scent of death. Captain H slowly makes his way to the top. The smell of death gets stronger, and the sun’s light shines beyond the mountain. H makes It to the peak and stops. Nothing, there’s nothing left. Not a single building, no trees, no mountains, or even grass. The entire Xifier country Is gone. Captain H removes his conical hat and speaks aloud “My god… What happened? Not a single living soul is left, and everything that would have been left behind by the Xifier’s Is gone.” As Captain H stands In shock, he can feel an ominous power growing In the distance something cold, and dark. He picks up the pace and scales down the mountain toward this power. With each step, It grows. With each step, the scent of death becomes unbearable. Finally, Captain H finds the source of this power. But to his surprise there’s nothing, he can feel this ominous Materia but he can’t quite pinpoint It. A voice can be heard “Well, looks who showed up!” Captain H unsheathes his shin gunto and says “I’m here on the behalf of C.U.G to investigate a large influx of Materia between the Xifier and Johnson border. Can you tell me what happened here?” A few seconds go by before the mysterious voice speaks again “I know exactly who you are, government scum! Do you want to know what happened here? I think It’s pretty obvious, to be honest. My whole country was wiped from this planet because someone was scared of the power my people possess.” Captain H stands idle, he can’t even muster words. Guilt floods his body, he thinks to himself “The government did this? Why? The Johnson’s and now this.” The mysterious voice goes on “No words? HAHAHAHAH! Nothing changes with ya, for YeaR’s yall put up a front to these people. Straight LIES! You murder for power, lie for followers. What’s next, recruit the same people in which you destroyed and repeat the cycle all over?” Slowly Captain H started to piece things together. “The Johnson’s, City of Smoke gang war, the church, and now the Xifier’s. There somehow all connected, but how and why?” The mysterious voice laughs hysterically “Stumped huh! Who did this? Headass, I’ll tell you who none other than that piece of shit OG!” Captain H In disbelief yells “No! It can’t be. Why would he do such a thing? He gains nothing from this, his image, what he stands for, the people who follow him… OG would never! Once again the voice laughs menacingly before saying “YOUR WRONG! He was scared of the Xifier’s power and exterminated us! He couldn’t let us live In peace, he felt threatened. So he did what he had to do. I can respect that, but now he has to deal with the consequences of his actions.” Captain H trying to process this whole conversation looks around… Nothing. The voice speaks again “Man, you really believe in him huh? Such loyalty, I applaud you. But you show It to the wrong man. Let me show you what a true leader looks like!” Captain H still confused readies his blade. He scans the area, but nobody appeared. H feels a tap on his shoulder. In an instant, he spins off his left foot and strikes with his sword. The mysterious person laughs, as Captain H’s sword clashes and breaks against this person's helmet. H takes a quick look, this person wears armor like Captain J but It’s as dark as night, a deep purple/black. The figure slowly stops laughing and says “Man that was a good one! Sorry about your blade… Not really though.” Captain H slowly backs away and speaks “I see you don’t wish to fight. So what do you want?” The mysterious person replies “Well at first I just wanted you to send a message back to that bitch OG, but now I realized that in order to change the people’s view on OG you have to see It for yourself. So what better way than to start with his number 1 dick rider!” Captain H unfazed continues to listen intently as the mysterious person says “Listen closely this Is the message for your brave leader. Within every Xifier’s heart lives 2 wolves, one of them being the wolf of darkness, envy, desperation, and fear. The other Is the wolf of light, love, joy, and happiness. Which one Is mine you may ask? Let’s just say I envy how easily you can cause despair and hate, and what does that bring? Darkness! The last heir of the Xifier’s, the last ruler of this once great country. I Xifier 9 will claim your head even through death.” Captain H takes his time processing everything that happened but just before he could Xifier slowly sinks into his shadow and laughs. With no hesitation Captain H starts to make his way back to Kinshi Toshi to relay the message to OG.

Meanwhile, closer to the Johnson border a strange man appears from what seems like the shadows. He makes his way through a small temperate forest full of maple and oak trees. The sun shines through the gaps of the trees, the wind blows and the trees rustle. Not a single sound besides the footsteps slowly approaching the end of the forest. He breaks through the clearing and stops. As he looks off into the distance he’s filled with nothing but rage. He screams at the top of his lungs “I Xifier! Shall succeed no matter what! Not only for my family, my friends but most of all MY PEOPLE!” He then takes a seat under a strong and tall maple tree that overlooks his once great country and angrily falls asleep.

Xifier eventually wakes up, he stands and stretches. As he opens his eyes yet again he becomes filled with hate and anger, but that feeling quickly fades and Is replaced by fear. Xifier quickly turns around and speaks “What the fuck? What Is this feeling? So much Materia Is being released.” He starts to make his way toward this feeling. Moving faster and faster through the forest, deeper into the Johnson’s land. He eventually comes to a massive house with branching buildings, almost like a small city. Xifier “So this must be the Johnson estate, hmm. They kept It hidden In plain sight.” Before he makes his way deeper into the estate, he stops and starts to listen closely. Xifier “What’s this noise? It’s like a beating heart, but there's no way this loud. I thought all the Johnsons died. But this feeling, It’s like a wild animal clinging to life.” He slowly makes his way closer, with his guard up. He eventually finds the source, he keeps his distance and hides his presence, and watches. A body lays lifeless on the ground, along with a massive floating sword adjacent to the body. Xifier can see Materia flowing into the body's heart, with each passing second It grows louder and louder. He stands there watching trying to think who this person could be “I knew Mr. Johnson had 2 sons, but I’ve only seen one. The youngest was Zack, I saw him spare with some of the lesser Xifiers and he showed potential. I wish I could move a little closer to get a better look, but something tells me I shouldn’t.” Xifier decides to stick around a watch. Hours go by, and nothing happens. After 3 days of waiting Xifier’s patience pays off. The forest Is silent, the red and golden leaves of autumn fall gracefully. Animals of all species gather to watch like Xifier, almost like they were waiting for this moment. Xifier stands and watches intently, a strong breeze flows through the trees bringing warmth, and peace. More and more animals begin to show, and a few wolves come and stand at Xifier’s side. He laughs a lil before speaking “My people shall always live, not only through me but through others as well.” He bends down and starts to pet one of the wolves next to him, It gives off a low howl in excitement. A few more minutes pass, and as He looks around he’s amazed at what he sees “Damn… Every animal In this forest between these two countries is here. Birds, wolves, bears, deer, snakes, and even bugs. There all peacefully waiting, together.” For the first time in what seems like forever Xifier puts his guard down and watches like the rest of the animals. After about another hour the flow of Materia stopped, but the heart kept beating even stronger than before. The sword fell and pierced the earth causing a small earthquake, the animals eagerly sit up. As the leaves continue to fall, a ray of sunlight breaks through the trees and shines on the body as It slowly tries to stand. He fails and his head hits the sword, the silence breaks. This random guy begins to cry, tears of sadness, loss of hope, betrayal, and the worst feeling of all loneliness. Xifier turns to walk away but one of the wolves bites his hand as he turns to see what the wolf’s problem Is a strange voice can be heard coming from the massive sword in the ground “Why the hell are you crying! I didn’t give you my heart for nothing kid!” This person continues to cry but somehow manages to form words and says “Everyone’s gone, my brother killed me, I never got a chance to even fix anything, all I did was constantly fuck up! Even If I got a second chance what good Is It now! This world wasn’t met for me never was never will!” He continues to cry even harder, Xifier can’t help but feel for him and starts to think about his past as well “My whole life I’ve been alone. From the time I was able to talk and walk I’ve been traveling from one country to another. Only seeking strength and knowledge so I can lead my people to greatness. And when I finally got comfortable It was all taken within a matter of seconds. And there was nothing I could do about It, I’m still weak and ignorant. Just like you…” His thoughts were quickly cut off again by the sword “Shut the hell up! I don't care about that sob shit! I feel no pity for your personal or family problems that's life get used to It!” The guy slowly stops crying but the sword continues “In that cave you asked me If I wanted to see the world did you not?” The guy nods in agreement, the sword goes on “There’s one reason to go on. Take a look around you.” As the guy slowly brings his head up he sees countless animals surrounding him all patiently waiting, the sword speaks again “Without the help of them I wouldn’t have been able to restore your heart, they helped collect Materia for almost 2 months. I spoke to each one asking for help and you know what their answer was?” The guy shakes his head, and the sword laughs and says “YES! Stuipd. These are the same animals from long ago when you trained every day until exhausted, you probably recognize some of them. You helped some of these animals, and some of them respect you for what you stand for. Hard work!” All the animals begin to make noises in agreement, the wolves howl, the birds sing, and the bees swarm. The sword goes on “See, your people live on. You must go on, even just to live for yourself. You must continue to work hard for those that can’t, protect the weak, and be a symbol for those that truly can’t. Spread knowledge so people understand how and why. That’s what It means to be a Dragon! Not only do your people believe in you, the animals, and even I believe In you Drew.” Xifier, shocked has a million thoughts run through his head “DREW! The second son! One of them Is alive!” Drew laughs a lil bit before wiping his tears away, as he tries to stand again he speaks “I thought you didn’t care.” The sword scoffs and replies “do get It twisted I don’t, But I can’t just sit and watch everything be taken away from someone who wants nothing but peace and happiness for others. That’s all we Dragons wanted, but that was taken away from us.” As Drew stands and looks at the sword, he can feel the heat radiating off the blade. Somehow It puts him at ease, he can tell that he’s been through a lot. He then asks the sword a question “So, I know your a Dragon and all but what's your name, and why are you In a sword?” A brief silence falls throughout the forest before the sword answers “My name Is Dravity, prince of the Dragons. Long ago there was a great war between the Demons and Wiccans. The Wiccans sought aid from the Dragons, we taught them many things about Skills and Materia but ultimately they were used against us. The Wiccans betrayed us and sealed many of my followers inside weapons and other objects even my father the king of Dragons fell victim to the Wiccans.” Drew answers “Dravity, hmmm… I like that, prince of all Dragons!” the sword continues “After my entire race was wiped from this planet, the Wiccans continued the battle between the demons. They started to win and push them back, but just as victory was near the Angles showed themselves and erased everything with holy fire. After they left, only a few Wiccans survived. They went into hiding and the Demons took advantage of this and started the rebuilding process to bring forth a new age lead by none other than the current Demon King, OG.” Drew to stunned to even speak, Xifier on the other hand filled with anger. The sword goes on “OG then went on to live his life alongside humans until he eventually was selected to lead what you guys call C.U.G.” Drew falls to his knees and speaks “So I’ve been serving a Demon that not only started a worldwide war between all the races but also committed mass genocide. And then proceeds to preach about peace and equality, while wiping out nations that he vowed to protect.” Drew can’t help but feel empty, like nothing even mattered. All his choices were fake, almost destined. On the other hand, Xifier looks at the other animals and his anger slowly fades and he thinks to himself “I wonder what would have happened If I stayed home? Would we have been able to stop OG? Or would I have died alongside my people and be forgotten as time went on…” As he continues to think Dravity speaks up “Drew.” He doesn’t move, not an inch. “I know this world can be tough. I’ve seen countless people run themselves into the ground, they fight for peace and equality but over time they slowly give up. You know why?” He still doesn’t move or even answer “They slowly stop believing in themselves and by that, they stop believing In the people around them. After that, they question right or wrong.” Dravity gets cut off “You say they stop believing in themselves, and question themselves but do you understand how It gets to that point?” Dravity sits In silence “It’s because they realize that they were the only ones to believe. Why continue when no one around you does, why do they have to continue for others that don’t even bat an eye at those trying their absolute best every day no matter what. Look at me, I lack what everybody has. I’ve tried to make up for It with hard work, I failed and stood up multiple times just to fall and repeat. All of the amazing people I meet have power that I can’t even obtain, so I should just leave It to them right?” Just as he finished speaking Dravity quickly speaks up “NO!” Drew surprised, looks up at the blade as It goes on “You see that’s what I’m talking about. STOP QUESTIONING YOURSELF! The people you meet throughout your life can’t even begin to comprehend your life and neither can you. You fight for your reason while they fight for there’s. If no one believes In you, then make them. If no one believes In you, then find the ones that do! Even though they are animals, every single one of them believes you can make a change. Even I, prince of all Dragons believe In you. All your comrades, all of your friends back In C.U.G believe In you too. That random girl that gave you that necklace, was that for nothing. Or can you really protect her? Cause If you can’t, well then leave me here till the end of time. I would rather be forgotten by time than being wielded by someone who can’t even stand proud of what they got!” Xifier laughs a lil bit “Sounds like someone I know.” As the wind blows, carrying the vibrant leaves across the forest, the animals wait for Drew to stand. As he stands he stares at Dravity, then turns toward the animals and says “I’m sorry. I should never think any Isn’t believing. I have friends, rivals, mentors, and guess what? They all want to see me succeed. So all I ask Is that you keep believing and I promise…” He turns around and looks at Dravity one more time before grabbing the hilt and pulling It out of the ground “I promise to return our home to Its rightful glory along with the rest of the world. Because I know that along the way now I’ll meet others, even If Its just one other person that's all we need.” All the animals begin to celebrate, almost like there cheering him on. Xifier on the other hand starts to think to himself “It seems like a new fire has been set ablaze. I should head out before they notice. But Drew you may not know It but at this point watch out, Cause one day It’ll be me and you, and I just hope you can keep up!” As Xifier begins to walk away, and the animals start to quiet down Drew speaks up “Sooo….. Now what?”