Ch. 13: Zero's Memories Return
It's 2 days before Christmas, Rin is in her room and staring out the window, thinking about the time she spent with Zero.
Rin is in her room, wearing a light, pink sweater and a light blue skirt. Rin is sitting on her bed with her knees under her chin. "Zero. I miss you so much." Rin said as she starts to cry. Zero is floating above the clouds, staring at the dorms. "What is this feeling I'm having?" Zero asks himself in his head.
Alkaid flies up next to him. "Figure I'll find you here." Alkaid says. Zero looks over to his left and sees Alkaid. "What is it?" Zero asks. Alkaid looks down and sees Rin in her bed. "You want to talk to her?" Alkaid asks. "I've been having this weird feeling ever since I saw her." Zero says as he holds his chest. "Go down and knock on her window and point up and land on the roof and talk to her." Alkaid says.
"But the watch." Zero said before Alkaid pushes him. "I got it now go." Alkaid says. "Fine." Zero says and flies down. Zero flies to Rin's window and knocks on it. Rin looks over and sees Zero. Rin jumps out of bed and runs over to the window. Zero points up and flies up. Rin runs and grabs her long, pink winter jacket and her boots and rushes up to the roof.
Dorm: Roof – 10:24 p.m.
Rin opens the door and sees Zero and he turns around when he hears the door opening. Zero is wearing a light, gray jacket (unzipped), black winter hat, white scarf, blue jeans, black fingerless gloves with a red Z on them and his IS shoes. "Zero." Rin says as she steps closer.
"Please, don't come closer Ms. Fann." Zero says and notices that she doesn't have a scarf on. Zero walks closer. "Here." Zero says as he takes off his scarf and puts it on Rin. "You'll catch a cold without one on. "Zero says as he backs up. "Thanks." Rin says. "I don't know why but ever since we meet a week ago, I'm been getting this weird feeling in my chest." Zero says as he faces away from her.
"I know why." Rin says. "Tell me." Zero says. "It's because we're a couple." Rin says as she blushes. "How can that be if we meet for the first time only a week ago? And besides, I'm dating Alkaid." Zero says as he still has his back to her.
"That's not true, Zeta was killed a year ago at that mountain forest, you became the Dragon Eye Maverick, you came here and became a student near the beginning of the school year, you've became friends with others here, we went to the beach before summer break, we've fought against Gospels together, you received that eye and chest scar from protecting Shana from Omega controlling a Gold Gospel and then you took it down with everyone's help and we've been dating for months now." Rin says. Zero's head started to hurt and he grabs it with his right hand and places it over his right eye.
"Zero, you ok?" Rin asks as she gets closer. "Just a headache." Zero says as he places his hand down. "Will you please look at me at least?" Rin asks. "Sorry but every time I see you, my chest hurts." Zero says. A sudden gust of wind blows and Rin gets blown off her feet. Zero dashes and catches her.
"You ok?" Zero asks. "Yeah." Rin says. Rin notices how Zero caught her. "This pose doesn't ring a bell?" Rin asks. Zero looks at her. "No sorry." Zero says as he stands her back up. "Maybe this will." Rin says and then kisses Zero passionately. Zero broke the kiss. "What was that for?" Zero asks. "So not even that can bring back your memories then." Rin says to herself.
Zero's head started to hurt. "Ahhh." Zero says as he falls to his knees while holding his head with both hands. "Zero!" Rin says as she kneels down next to him. "It hurts." Zero says. "Hold on Zero." Rin says. Zero stands up and walks away from her. "I've got to go." Zero says and deploys Zedept and flies off while still holding his head.
Rin watches Zero fly off. "Please let that work." Rin says in her head. Alkaid watches Zero fly away. "Let's hope that works." Alkaid says as she flies back to camp.
Forest outside the city: Zeta's Tent – 3:35 a.m.
Zero is restless as he moves around in his sleeping bag. Zero wakes up and sits up fast. Zero places his right hand over his right eye. "Why am I having these visions?" Zero asks in his head. Zero changes and starts to leave the tent. Alkaid wakes up. "Zero?" Alkaid asks.
"Just getting some air." Zero says as he walks out. Zero is sitting on a hill's edge and looking at the IS Academy. "Can it be what Ms. Fann said true?" Zero asks himself. "Yes, it's true." Alkaid's voice said. Zero turns around and sees Alkaid in her Zeta outfit. "Alkaid." Zero says. "May I join you?" Alkaid asks. Zero turns back around without answering. Alkaid sits next to Zero's left side. "Please explain." Zero say.
Alkaid explain everything to Zero, his days as the Dragon Eye Maverick, his time at the IS Academy, the incident with Fang, about the superiors altering his memories, how Omega brought Zeta back to life, how he freed them from his control and about Rin. "So what she said was true after all." Zero says. "Yes and what Ms. Sky thought was true, only a true kiss from her came bring them back." Alkaid says.
"But they're only visions, I don't feel any different at all." Zero says. Alkaid stands up. "Listen to your heart and believe in your true self and your feelings." Alkaid says before she walks back to the tent. "Listen to my heart." Zero says as he closes his eyes. Zedept's gauntlet starts to glow white and then Zero is surrounded by the same white aura. Zero opens his eyes as his memories return to normal. The white aura disappears and Zero pants heavily.
"I'm back to normal, damn those superiors for doing that to me." Zero says as he stands up and walks back to the tent. Zero opens the tent and Zeta is fully dressed. Zeta notices the look in his eyes.
"What are your orders Zero?" Talon asks. "You 3 stay here and watch them, I've got some business to take care of." Zero says as he turns around. "Zero." Edge says. Zero looks back at them. "Welcome back." Alkaid says. Zero smiles. "Zedept, Wind Mode." Zero says and deploys Zedept in Wind Mode. Zero flies up. "Hyper Air Dash (Faster than his Speed Dash but slower than his Supersonic Speed Dash)." Zero says as he flies back to HQ. Zeta looks on with smiles.
U.S. Military IS HQ – 2:15 p.m.
Zero lands in front of the base and retreats Zedept and enters the base. As Zero walks to the Command Room, he walks into Sky and Shana. "Zero, you're back." Shana says. "No time to talk Shana, I have business with Leader's superiors." Zero said. "And that would be?" Sky asks.
Zero looks at them and they notices the look in his eyes. "You got them back?" Shana asks in a surprised tone. Zero smiles. "Just don't do anything reckless." Sky says. Zero turns around and starts to walk. "No promises." Zero says as he gives a wave. Shana and Sky smiles. Zero arrives at the Command Room's doors. "Stop there Zero. No one is allowed to enter." A guard says.
Zero sticks out his right hand at his side and deploys his Buster Blaster and charges it. "Move or be hit." Zero says as he points it at the door. The guards move and Zero fires at the door, blasting it open. "What?" A superior says. Zero comes walking in and retreats his blaster right in front of them. "Zero! What's the meaning of this?" Hilary asks. "Leader, please leave." Zero says as he looks at her. Hilary sees the look in his eyes. "Ok." Hilary says and leaves.
"What's the meaning of this Zero of Zeta?" A superior asks. Zero deploys Zedept and shifts to his Element Overdrive: True Element form and flies up half way. "First off, great job altering my memories." Zero says. "Wait a second Zero." Another superior says. "Shut up, I'm talking right now." Zero says and the superiors went quiet. "I'm regained my true memories." Zero says as a multi colored aura surrounds him.
Zero releases multiple small energy blasts and none of them hits the superiors. "Listen well and listen good. Zeta quits and if you dare come after our families, you'll be dealing with me, got it?!" Zero says loudly. "Yes sir." They all say together. "Good, now since that's handle, one last thing." Zero says.
"What?" A superior asks. "Zedept." Zero says as he looks at his right arm. A screen appears in front of the superiors of the Memory Alter devices. Zero snaps his fingers and all of the devices blow up. "There will be no more altering people's memories from on." Zero says. The superiors are shocked by what just happened.
Zero flies down and retreats Zedept and starts to walk off. "Oh, and if any of the cadets I trained failed their test because I trained them, I will be back." Zero says and then leaves the Command Room a mess. Hilary walks back in. "I told you not to piss him off." Hilary says and then leaves.
Zero walks out of the base, happy about what he's done. "Zero!" Shana's voice said and Zero stopped and looks back over his left shoulder. "I'll see you and Sis at the IS Academy tomorrow right?" Zero asks. Shana gives a thumbs up with her right thumb. Zero smiles and deploys Zedept in Wind Mode. "Back to the IS Academy, Zedept." Zero says and flies off.
Zeta's Tent – 6:49 a.m.
Zeta is waiting inside their tent for Zero to return. They hear something from outside. "He's back." Edge says. Zero retreats Zedept and walks into the tent. "How'd it go?" Talon asks. "Zeta is no longer part of the military." Zero says. "And the Memory Alterers?" Alkaid asks. "Destroyed beyond repair." Zero answers.
"Good, so does that mean?" Edge asks. "We can stop calling each other by our codenames, Evan." Zero says. "Good cause to be honest, I hate calling each other by them." Evan says. "It's going to be weird but it would be nice to call each other by our actual names again." Talon said. "I agree with you and that Talon, eh Taylor." Alkaid says.
"At least you corrected yourself Alka, uh Ashley." Zero said. "You choose your name to be your codename since your name is very uncommon, Zero." Ashley said. "True, but more importantly." Zero says as he opens the tent and looks at the IS Academy.
"There's a special girl that's waiting for me and besides, it's Dec. 24th, and I promised her that I would be back for Christmas." Zero says. "And you think Omega is going to make 1 last move before the holiday rule kicks in?" Ashley asks. "Yeah and soon." Zero says. The rest of Zeta looks out the tent and looks at the IS Academy. "Let's get ready." Zero says. "Yeah." They said.
IS Academy Arena 3 – 2:20 p.m.
Rin and the gang are practicing before the arenas are closed for the holiday break. "You seem to be in a bit of a better mood Rin." Ichika said. "Zero came and saw me last night and we talked a bit." Rin said. "That's good, any progress on restoring his memories?" Charlotte asks. "I told him everything I know about him, a hard breeze happened and I was falling over and he caught me and I gave him a passionate kiss." Rin said.
"And?" Cecilia asks. "His head started to hurt him so I think that his memories may have been coming back, but he flew off before I was able to asks him anything." Rin said. "It's Christmas Eve, so let's hope that his memories come back today." Houki said. "Possibility is slim." Laura said. Ichika give s slight punch on Laura's head. "That was rude Laura." Ichika said. "I'm sorry Ichika." Laura said. "Apologize to her, not me." Ichika said. "But of course, I'm sorry Rin." Laura said.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll keep his promise." Rin said. "HAHAHAHAHA, so sweet, you think that Zero will be here." Omega's voice said. The gang looks up and sees Omega in his gold form. "Omega." Rin says with anger. "Without Zero and the rest of Zeta here, killing you 6 will be easy." Omega says as he grabs his greatsword.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that Omega." Zero's voice said. Omega and the gang looks up and sees Zeta. "Zero." Omega says angrily. "Zeta." The gang said. "Zero." Rin says with happiness in her face. Zeta flies down. "Protect the students, I'll handle Omega." Zero tells them. "Roger." They said as they fly to the gang and in between them and Omega. "It's just you and me Omega." Zero says.
Omega laughs. "If you couldn't beat me in your Zeta Overdrive and since that's gone now, how do you suspect to beat me now Zero?" Omega asks. "This is all I need." Zero says and shifts to his True Element form. "You think that your Element Overdrive will be enough to defeat me?" Omega asks. Zero puts his right hand in front of him and his Z Blade appears, but with a white colored blade instead of green. Zero gets into one of his ready poses.
"Let's go Omega." Zero says. "You're mine." Omega says as he charges Zero. Zero stands still and Omega swings his greatsword. Zero smirks and Omega's attack is blocked by a wind barrier. "What?" Omega said, shocked that his attack was blocked. "Too easy." Zero says as he quickly flips his sword and swings upward with his sword ablaze. Omega barely dodges in time and gets hits with the end of Zero's sword. "Damn you." Omega says.
Zero flips his sword back to a normal grip and slams his sword to the ground and an electric wave with an triangular icicle follows it and heads straight for Omega. Omega blocks the attack his greatsword. "Is that all you got?" Omega asks. Zero slams his right fist on the ground and a fire, ice, water, electric and wind pillars surround Omega. Omega slashes at the pillars but they don't break. "Damn it." Omega thinks as he continues to try to break them.
"Omega, this is the end." Zero says above the pillars. Omega looks straight up. Zero deploys his Spiral Lance and flies up and out of view. Omega tries to fly out but the pillars stop him. Zero comes flying straight down is a spinning motion. "It's over Omega, take this, Galaxy Element Spiral!" Zero says as he spins down.
Omega puts his greatsword up to block the attack. Zero's lance and Omega's greatsword collides. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !" They both scream. Suddenly, Omega's greatsword breaks from Zero's attack and an explosion happens and sends out a massive shockwave that sends everyone flying.
Everyone gets back up. "Is everyone alright?" Taylor asks. "Yeah, but what happened there?" Ichika asks. "Zero!" Rin yells as she runs over to the impact zone. Everyone follows her and they see a giant crater and a figure standing there. "Zero?" Rin asks.
The dust cloud starts to disappear and reveals Zero standing over Omega with his IS destroyed. "It's over, you've lost Omega." Zero says. Omega coughs. "You think so?" Omega asks weakly. Zero looks up and dodges an incoming Gospel sword as another one recovers Omega. "We'll meet again and next time, I'll finish you for good, Zero." Omega says and laughs evilly before he teleports away. Zero looks where Omega teleported away.
"Zero!" Rin says as she enters the crater. Zero looks to his left and sees Rin. Zero retreats Zedept to standby mode. Rin takes a few steps closer slowly with her left hand in a fist and over her heart and somewhat extends her right hand. "Zero?" Rin asks. Zero walks slower to her and the gang watches in silence. Rin's hand touches Zero's chest. They stare at each other. Zero grabs her hand with his left hand and places it on his left cheek and closes his eyes. "Zero?" Rin asks.
Zero puts his right hand around Rin to her back and pulls her in and kisses her passionately. Rin closes her eyes and returns the kiss. They break the kiss. "I'm sorry that it took me so long to return Rin." Zero says. "I'll forgive you this time you idiot, all because you had your memories altered." Rin says as she starts to cry. "Ok." Zero says. Rin lays her right side of her head on his chest. "I'm happy that you came back to me." Rin says as she closes her eyes. Zero wraps his arms around her and closes his eyes as well. "It's good to be back." Zero says.