"Looks like it's time for Act Two," Xandar said, "Perhaps I'll help you this time. I am, after all, much more powerful than this beast."
"That's debatable," Byron said, knowing first-hand what Zero was capable of.
"No, it's not," Xandar said, a mad assurance in his voice, as if what he was saying were a fact and nothing could change that. "I authorized Zero's creation; I know what she can do."
"Then what is she doing now?" Byron said in panic.
"This is her emergency mode, of sorts. If Zero takes enough damage, the DNA we gave her reacts in a certain way that it changes her molecular makeup."
Byron stared in shock at Xandar. Never before had he considered that this man- thing -could speak intelligibly
"If Zero survived, that means that Gabe could have as well!" Oscar said next to Byron, who almost jumped. He had nearly forgotten the Terrakinetic was standing next to him.
"Oh, he did survive," Zero growled, "But not for long."
Zero raised her hand and brought it down, throwing the misshapen rock to the ground. Byron saw Gabriel's head before it hit the ground and shattered. Oscar did, as well.
Oscar screamed, and a large vine sprouted from the earth. It rocketed up, entwining itself around Zero's leg. The vine yanked itself down, dragging Zero to earth. The vine anchored itself, not allowing Zero to move. Oscar ran at her, a large thorn materializing in his hand. Suddenly, the vine caught on fire and crumbled from Zero's leg. She ducked under Oscar's blow and came back up behind him, kicking him to the ground. She raised her fist, which burned bright and hot, preparing to crush Oscar with immense force.
"Wait!" called a voice. Byron looked next to him, and saw Xandar. However, something was different about him, also. His face wasn't covered in a sick, mad grin. His voice wasn't high like it always seemed to be. Instead, his mouth was straight, his voice level, like a normal person's. "Would you face one weaker than you," Xandar said, "Or would you have a fair fight."
Zero turned from Oscar and faced Xandar. The President didn't waver under the intense glow of her eyes.
"Fool," hummed Zero's voice, "I am the most powerful person on earth. You bring no challenge to me."
"Oh, I would beg to differ."
"It's your funeral."
Suddenly, Zero was standing where Xandar was, except he wasn't there. "What?" said Zero in confusion.
"You see, dearest," the voice of Xandar said, "I may not be physically strong," Xandar appeared a little ways away, "I might not have any amazing powers like these other Unnatural," Zero teleported to him, but he was gone before she could reach him, "On the outside, I may be nothing but a weakling," He was somewhere else now, "I may be a failure," He dodged Zero again, "But I am good at one thing."
"Obviously it's running," Zero said.
"No, my dear," said Xandar, "It's planning."
"Planning? For what?"
"I have one goal and one goal only, which I am unwilling to share at the moment. However, know this: my power, my Unnatural ability, is that whatever needs to happen to satisfy that plan," Xandar suddenly appeared behind Zero with a long, metal bar, "It will happen." He brought the bar down on Zero's head, and she crumpled in unconsciousness. Xandar dropped the bar, a surprised look on his face.
"What just happened?" Kaytlen said. The Unnatural began to gather around Byron.
"Nothing," Xandar said, turning to face them, "Now, as I said, you must leave the country. You can run out of Sector Five, but head east. To the west is-" Suddenly, something behind Xandar exploded, sending him flying.
"You are a fool, Xandar," Zero's voice hummed, "One cannot kill me so easily."
In response, Xandar simply muttered, "That hurt," and fell asleep.

Zero stood to full height, only to be knocked back down again by a bolt of electricity that sent her body convulsing. The tremors passed soon, though, and Zero stood back up. She knew who had fired the bolt; Nellie Reed, one of the Unnatural whose abilities Zero did not possess.
Zero teleported behind the Unnatural and watched them scatter from her presence. She wouldn't have to worry about any annoying teleporters anymore. She had taken care of that one. Or, at least, he had taken care of himself. It had been a stupid move, trying to blow Zero up when she was less than two feet away from him. He had stalled her, she guessed, but it was no use; his friends hadn't managed to escape quickly enough. Now most of them would die, and the survivors would go back to the Secret Service with her.
Zero ran at Mark, who threw fireballs at her. She easily disintegrated them. Once Zero reached Mark, she threw her fist into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. She hit the back of his head when he keeled over, throwing his face into her knee. He cried out in pain, standing straight up. Zero jumped around a punch so that she stood behind him. She kicked his back, sending him onto the ground. She kicked again, but, this time, there was an audible crack as something broke in Mark's back. Zero lifted her foot to kick again and kill him, but stopped. Something prevented her from doing it, but she didn't know what; her vision faded, and, suddenly, she was at a house. No, she was behind the house, kneeling in the grass. This place seemed familiar. She felt much younger, maybe twelve years old. She was playing with two other girls that looked a few years younger than her. They looked like they were twins. She looked up and saw Mark sitting on the porch of the house, watching them. Zero didn't know how she heard a car door slam; she couldn't hear anything. The gate in the fence opened, and in stepped Peyton Burton. She saw Mark jump up and run next to Peyton. Peyton ignored Mark and pointed at Zero. Two men came through the gate and made Zero stand up. She resisted, not knowing what was happening. She heard Mark yelling. Zero looked back and saw another man in a soldier's uniform stick a needle into Mark's arm. He crumpled, and the men carried Zero into a car. The door slammed shut, and Zero opened her eyes.
And then, Zero remembered.
She remembered her whole life up until this point. She saw Mark throwing fireballs at her. She tried to stop them, but found that she couldn't. Her Pyrokinesis wouldn't work. A fireball hit her, sending her flying. She got back up, unharmed. Her vision from her third eye blurred; she couldn't see straight.
"Wait!" she pleaded, but none of them would. She saw something block the sky. It was too late when she realized that it was a giant tidal wave, made by Kaytlen Williams. It crashed down on Zero, who couldn't control it because, for whatever reason, somehow, she had lost her Hydrokinesis. However, Zero still couldn't die. She tossed and turned in the wave, enough for somebody to be crushed several times over. She lived on, though, and, soon, the wave evaporated, leaving Zero coughing for air. She couldn't see out of her third eye, now; she was blind there.
"Stop!" she said, but they didn't. She heard someone running behind her, and Zero, instinctively, kicked backwards, tripping her assailant. She stood up, looking into the barrel of a pistol. The next moment, she felt a bus hit her head, and she fell backwards, the bullet falling out of her head as she refused to die. Zero kicked low again, using the momentum to jump up. She was standing above Phoebe. "I'm not going to hurt you," Zero said, stepping away from Phoebe. Her voice had returned to normal.
"You're too late for that," Phoebe said, and, suddenly, Zero felt something pierce the back of her neck. She gasped in pain, instinctively reaching behind her to grab the person who hung off her back. She brought the person up and over her shoulder, bringing him down onto the ground. She saw the figure of Kyle Hunter come down, his spine cracking as he hit the ground. Phoebe screamed, Kyle's body twisting next to her. Zero realized that she couldn't breathe. She fell down, a knife going through her throat. She was glad that she couldn't reach back and rip it out; she didn't want to kill anyone else. Zero collapsed, blood soaking her neck. Her remaining two eyes began to see less and less. She saw Phoebe stand up.
She remembered Mark. And that was good. She actually remembered something besides slavery by the Secret Service.
She remembered, and she was happy.

"Byron!" Byron turned around when he heard his name. He gasped when he saw who had said it. He ran and knelt beside the dying body of Kyle.
"Byron," he said, "You need to know something."
"Save it for later, Kyle," Byron said, sliding his arms under the boy's body. Kyle groaned it pain when he did so. Byron stopped.
"You need-" he said slowly, face contorted in pain, as if every words sent a jolt of excruciating pain through his body. "You need to keep Ashley safe."
"What?"
"Promise me, Byron!"
"Ok, but why? What's so special about Ashley?" Byron had the feeling that he already knew the answer.
"If she dies, you might not all be able to get through this."
"What? Why? What's going to happen, Kyle?"
"Terrible things, Byron, far worse than what happened today. I can't tell you now, just promise me you'll keep her safe."
Byron nodded, blinking the tears out of his eyes. "I'll do it, Kyle," he said as the boy closed his eyes.