The first sound he heard was the crackle of his container forming a web of cracks, then the sudden explosion of liquid and the gurgle of the fluid around him draining into the outside. His body became heavy, his enhanced strength having not caught up with the weight of the world around him.
"You are an Accelerated Superior Homeoreptilia- Entity. You are A.S.H.E. Your purpose is to save our race and drive off the Zenoforms, whose goal is to terraform our planet to their liking and seize it for themselves."
The young being, human from the waist up, but with several additions, probably ten years old in appearance, blinked ice blue eyes up at the blurry figure standing over him as his wings fluttered from the amniotic fluids splashing around the floor. The being's lower body was more akin to a dinosaur's and scrabbled to find purchase on the slick metal- leaving gouges with the talon-like feet and black-clawed hands- and a finned tail twitched at the exposure to cold air. Soft scales black as obsidian would grow harder than diamond as the child aged, but now they were as fragile as paper and covered his forearms, the lower half of his body, and the upper half of his face. Upon his back, black, batlike leathery wings patterned with lines akin to waves on water in shifting teal shades shimmered like metal under the light of the low-lit laboratory. The limbs rustled as the leathery membrane hardened upon contact with the air to form an automatic armor to protect the soft paper-thin leather below. Snow white hair tipped with a faint ice blue fell around the child's face as dull, blank eyes looked up into the face of the fate he'd been forged for.
"You are a weapon. Nothing more, and nothing less. Once your purpose is fulfilled, you will be destroyed. Is that understood?"
The child, eyes dull and void of free will, only nodded, standing slowly.
"Yes… Sir."
Nine Years Later
Zone 299 GAMMA [Previously Known Area Name: Manhattan Island]
A black form flew through the clouds over the once-great husk of a past human empire. Gazing down at what had now become of Humanity, the figure didn't make a sound, his wings silent as the membrane had been softened to the point of an avian level of night hunting. This is to be my last battlefield… he thinks, ice-blue eyes flitting through the skeletons of rusty beams and crumbling concrete. The massive weapon on the being's back, a five-foot long blacksteel scythe, reflects the light of the moon as a blood-red color, the circuits and wiring inside it pulsing gently in time with his heartbeat; the weapon was unique all on its own compared to the standard-issue plasma rifles and energy snipers. It was in a way, sentient, responding to Ashe's touch alone and bonded to his abilities. The blade was a marvel of the science division, where they only had enough materials to create a single scythe, which was gifted to the Martyr of Humanity.
Ashe swooped down low before alighting on the top of what records say was the Empire State Building, his wings twitching and stretching before settling, folding against his back snugly. Sucking in a breath, the young man let it out, exhaling a bright stream of black and ice blue flames onto a small pile of metal nearby. Instantly, the heat caught and turned the pile of scraps into a melted superheated mass, warming the area a bit more.
Tapered ears perked before dull blue eyes turned from overlooking the melted scrap pile and the city to the area hidden by a pile of rubble behind him, the slit lizard-like pupils widening slightly to better see in the dim twilight. "I know you're there. Show yourself."
A man's chuckling reached Ashe's ears and the experiment straightened, tail and wings stilling behind him as he saluted in recognition of the voice. "Captain, sir. Forgive my manner, I didn't know it was you that called me out here."
"At ease, Ashe. There's a reason I wanted to speak with you all the way out here and away from any superior officers' wandering ears." Ashe blinked before relaxing, though not dropping his guard altogether. The Captain was the strangest person that Ashe had found in the group of superior officers surrounding him.
The experiment stayed standing while the Captain sat down, his legs dangling out into the abyss below them. "Ashe, what do you want to do, should we convince the Council to spare your life?" Ashe blinked before looking out at the ruins before them. "I don't understand the question, sir." He replied. "That possibility is exponentially slim… I will have no use for humanity anymore, they would have to kill me as I would only be a waste of rebuilding resources." The man sighed, running his fingers through sandy locks with a tired air about him. The grey camo that the Captain wore rustled as a gust of wind blew over them. "Kid, you're only Nineteen … it took ten years to grow you in that pod, and nine more of you going out on the battlefields, fighting our battles…" the captain looked up at the boy with tired eyes, a monster of their own making.
Ashe merely looked at the Captain, feeling vaguely uncomfortable.
This was why the Captain was so strange compared to everyone else Ashe had interacted with- Captain asked questions about what Ashe wanted, he rarely ever ordered when they were alone.
"I didn't ask what was possible, Ashe," Captain said after a moment. "I asked what you wanted."
Ashe what would you like?
Ashe is this rock interesting?
Are you feeling alright? Do you want to take a break?
Are you-?
Do you-?
Can you-?
Will you-?
It confused Ashe to no ends.
"Sir," he had opened his mouth before he could control his impulse to do so, the action green lit by a forbidden curiosity. "Permission to speak freely?" the man looked pleasantly startled, though he nodded. "Of course, kid. Speak away."
"…I don't want to die." The Captain froze, thinking his ears deceived him.
The faint tremor in the experiment's voice was nigh indiscernible, but it was there. The kid was scared.
Captain looked up at the boy, because for all the years he was force grown and made to acclimate to the battlefield, he never got to experience what a kid would have been able to… he was like a child in this moment, looking for comfort in the dark. But the side bangs blocked the expression Ashe was making from view. The boy's talons gripped the metal beam they were on tightly, and the membrane in his wings had hardened, a tic he had developed when he felt exposed.
Vulnerable.
The scythe on Ashe's back clanked as the young experiment shifted, the handle tapping lightly against the spines on it's owner's tail.
Captain turned his eyes away and looked out at what where their last stand would be, standing up and moving to stand by the martyr of humanity. He reached around the boy and wrapped his arm around his scaled shoulders, pulling him in close to his side.
"It'll be okay, kid. If we make it after tomorrow, I promise you on my life I won't let the Council harm a hair on your head."
Ashe had stiffened at the first positive physical contact he had gotten in his short nine years of consciousness. Even so, he found himself leaning unto the contact and soaking up the Captain's scent of steel, fire, and cigars. Dull ice blue eyes almost seemed to gain a bit of liveliness that had been completely absent beforehand, but just as fast as it came it vanished, and Ashe allowed the Captain to do as he wished.
Ashe stood atop the same spot he and the Captain had met the night before, the legions of enemy Zenoforms and Behemoths marching towards the Zone just beyond the walls. Standing up from his position, he unhooked his scythe and flicked a small switch activating the Blacksteel ore with a hum.
"Ashe, this is it, kid… will you be alright up there on your own?"
The Captain's voice buzzed in his ear as the experiment prepared for the fight of humanity's life. "It doesn't matter if I feel comfortable, Sir," Ashe replied, dull eyes looking out at the advancing enemy. "I am prepared to fall today if that's what is asked of me."
Captain bit his lip in frustrated worry. It was as if last night hadn't happened between him and his youngest subordinate at all. Ashe had gone back to accepting the fate that was built for him nine years ago, and no matter how much Captain had tried to bring it up, Ashe wouldn't acknowledge that the event had happened.
Ashe pressed a hidden button and the blade whined before lighting up with a line of shimmering ominous red around the blade, the cutting edge casting a ghastly glow over his body in the morning twilight.
Kill Mode activated.
Ashe reached up and flipped his hood off his face, a grim look in his usually dull ice blue eyes. Snow white hair tipped in blue waved in the wind as he watched the enemy army get closer to the Zone before he spun his scythe and held it out in a comfortable hold beside him.
He stood over the precipice for a moment, closing his eyes and feeling the wind blow past him, ruffling his hair and the fins on his tail, carding its invisible fingers over his skin and scales.
Leaning forwards, Ashe fell from the top of the wall and towards the battlefield-to-be below, flipping over twice before his wings snapped open, slowing his fall, and allowing him into a controlled crash-landing with enough force to make a small crater in the earth. With a low grunt Ashe took off, flipping his scythe around his body to build up its force and speed, channeling his abilities into the blade. With a wide swing Ashe cleaved the truck-sized legs of a Behemoth in half, beyond that producing an arch of red energy that writhed and crackled like actual fire and cut down a Sentinel- a small black wolf-like creature that was controlled by the leader, and a unit of Shields- a breed of Zenoform that could stretch the frills on their necks and band together to form almost impenetrable shields. Another unfortunate Sentinal close enough to be in his range was chopped neatly in half at the waist by the blacksteel blade itself.
With that first attack, everything became action and reaction for the young experiment. Ashe utilized his scythe in abnormal and astounding ways, breathing superheated blue and black flames every now and then to provide and often blinding distraction before burying a clawed hand into their throats or using the scythe to cut them in half.
Using his scythe for a launching pad and calling on it to return to him, flinging it to and fro like a boomerang as it would always come back to him. He cleared out several regiments before he paused to take stock of the Isos around him. Slamming the blade into the ground and leaning on the handle for a moment to breathe, Ashe looked out at the few enemies left- one more platoon to go. Ashe breathed deep, his battle high showing as his eyes trailed light with their power building inside him. None of the Zenoforms approached, and suddenly he heard the Captain let out a shout.
"ASHE GET OUT OF THERE!" before he could argue that his orders from the council were to stay on the battlefield, something in him demanded that he follow his Captain's orders, and his wings snapped out before shooting Ashe into the air like a rocket.
Suddenly spindly limbs wrapped around the experiment's body before he could detect the movement, followed by another body, and another and another.
Shrieks of triumph pierced the air before a searing pain erupted from Ashe's chest. Kamikazes- flying Zenoforms that were known to drag jets to the ground in the days of the early invasions. Their claws stabbed into his body, drawing blood and pain.
Ashe never made a sound to indicate he was in pain.
He merely grits his teeth and furrowed his brow ever so slightly, reaching up with his own clawed hands to rip the Kamikaze's from his body. But for every Kami he pulled away, it felt like three more took its place.
"ASHE! ASHE, ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!"
The captain… he sounds upset?
Ashe's claws dug into the skull of a Kamikaze, ripping the head from the creature's narrow bony shoulders, before turning to the next one. In a moment of distraction, another came in and dug it's claws into Ashe's face, destroying his left eye.
Why does he sound upset?
Ashe's remaining eye widened as he reached up and ripped that Kamikaze away as well, ignoring the pain as it began to build all over him. Ashe was losing altitude, and if he didn't do something quickly, he would lose this fight as well. A Kamikaze bit into his arm and tore a chunk from the bicep, spraying blood everywhere.
Ashe's scythe had been lost on the field at some point, and the fins on his tail were torn to shreds now, leaving him dead in the air and unable to steer or stay up.
The world was beginning to blur around him, and the only thing he could hear was the Captain's voice shouting at him to answer and the shrieking, cackling cries of the Kamikazes as they dragged him back to earth.
The ground gave a shudder as Ashe crashed into the dirt and shattered concrete, gritting his teeth as the army of Zenoforma came and surrounded him. Dull ice blue eyes widened slightly when he identified several top-ranked members of the opposite side standing before his broken-down body- even the strongest one there, the Queen.
Ashe reached up and pressed a bloody clawed hand on his chest, just over his heart.
A thick mass laid just under his pectoral, something that ensured they would win this war.
A bioenergized bomb.
"Ashe, this device will go off depending on how many living forms are around you- if you can gather all of the enemy's main army force into one place and detonate, you will have ended the war against humanity and Zeno."
Ashe took a deep breath, tasting blood on his tongue as he swallowed.
The Queen stepped forwards and leveled a pike at the young experiment's face, chittering in an almost condescending way. The second and third ranks under her lurched forwards and grabbed him, forcing him to his knees in a bow before her.
"Ashe… you had better not be doing what I think you're doing…" the Captain's voice suddenly became subdued, trembling.
"Ashe, don't set off the Bioenergizer! Don't do it, we can find a way to get you out of there!"
Ashe let his eyes slide closed and sent a heat pulse to that specific point in his body.
"Captain, thank you... for everything."
Five seconds until detonation.
"AAAAASSSSHHHEEEE!"
"I… don't want to die..."
The world around them was lit up in a brilliant burst of ice blue…
Then nothing.
_Thirty Years Later_
An elderly man with an old army coat on sighed in his study, rubbing his forehead and looking at a photo of a group of young people, himself in the frame as well. A boy with draconic features stared with vague, startled surprise at the cameras, though his lip seemed to quirk upwards as the Captain nearly choked him out with his muscular arm.
The old man reached out and turned the framed photo 180 degrees so it was facing outwards, and a wall of bookcases turned, revealing a hidden room.
The old man stood, using his cane for support, and strode into the room, turning on a light to see the large transparent crystal, created from the Zenoform's technology, filled with a frozen substance and tubes feeding into the stone.
Large wings were partially wrapped around a body in a fetal position, the hair frozen in a wave upeards as a mask was strapped over the creature's face, giving him the nessesary fluids and oxygen to stay alive, yet perfectly preserved.
"Soon, Ashe," the old man, the Captain, said, looking on the son he never had. "I'll have you flying again soon… and then, you can finally be free." The old man tapped on a computer pad that was in the wall and the text flashed across the screen:
Memory Erasure- 1% Complete.
"You won't have to be a weapon ever again. Soon... you'll be free."
But that 'soon', never came. Ashe was left alone after the old Captain died merely days later due to cardiac arrest, leaving the half-human, half-dragon (as the Captain would often joke about him being to the experiment) in a state of suspended animation until the crystal broken. Soon after the death of the Captain, something happened- humans had simply… vanished- the civilizations to come would cast theories and debates on what had happened, but regardless of the cause, the Cities of Man that had been rebuilt turned into dust as centuries swept by, their faithful animal companions in the form of dogs, cats, and others remembered, but even that faded from time as they grew, falling back into the deepest and most basic of instincts.
As the sands of the hourglass swept by in a never-ending cycle, those left behind by the empires of Man rose up and evolved, the new dominant specie not Homeo Sapiens, but the entire lower class of Animalia that evolved, rose up, and became better than humans ever were.
Now alone, the final remnant of Humanity's greatest achievements has no memory of who he once was. He must start over, while being ridiculed simply for what he looks like, a future that is rife with discrimination.
But it was far into this distant future… where hope in the form of a forbidden Angel with Horns assists our Devil of Flames… where our story truly begins…
Zootopia: Rewrite the Stars