Zenless Zone Zero: The Front Line
Chapter 6: Initiation
Was he a serial killer? A perverted creep? Someone from a rival gang? An assassin, perhaps?
It's hard not to assume the worst when a guy who's hiding his face with a motorcycle helmet is following you around.
She wasn't sure how long he had been following him. She only noticed it yesterday. Whatever his reasons were, she deduced that it most likely had to do with her ties to the Verdict gang. Thankfully she had noticed before she'd ever led him to her home...
Shion continued to trail after Crystal through the Hollows, doing his best to stay undetected. She was heading somewhere different this time, not the usual hideout that she had been staying at the past 2 days. Had she assigned to another location?
Finally, Crystal came to a stop in an open clearing, tapping her foot against the dusty floor. Shion stayed hidden behind a jagged rock formation and waited to see where she would go next...but she didn't go anywhere. She just stood there.
"Alright! Come on out! I know you've been following me!" Crystal called out.
"What?! You gotta be kidding! When did she figure us out?!" Manami exclaimed in shock.
"Shut up, Manami. Don't buy into her game." Shion quickly shushed her.
"I can hear you over there!" She called towards them irritably.
"Ugh," Shion let out a sigh. "Here we go."
Shion peeked his head out from behind his hiding place. When he saw that Crystal was indeed looking in his direction, he walked out into the open clearing to meet her. Crystal's face displayed her wariness of him as she kept her arms folded in front of her.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Crystal demanded.
"She's getting straight to the point. You should ask her about Bloodhound." Manami whispered to him.
"I know about your ties to Bloodhound. Where can I find him?" Shion questioned Crystal.
"Bloodhound isn't someone that lets himself be found, especially not by some mystery man in a motorcycle helmet." She answered.
"Do I really look like a motorcycle helmet? Everyone always says that." Manami muttered to himself.
"Because you are, now shut up and let me handle this." Shion said through his teeth, smacking his helmet with his palm.
"Great, we got a weirdo here." Crystal said to herself.
"I'll ask again," Shion said, activating his shock primers. Manami activated his voice changer at the same time, "Where's Bloodhound?"
"If you wanna join the gang so badly, there's a process for that," Crystal taunted. "And it starts with an initiation test. I'll let the boys here show you how that works."
At her word, at least a dozen other members of the Verdict gang stepped out of their hiding spots, letting out sadistic chuckles as they approached Shion wielding bats, crowbars, and guns. Seeing what was about to happen, Shion started charging up all 4 of his shock primers.
"Manami? Is my ear protection active?" Shion asked.
"Already got you." Manami answered affirmatively.
"Good. It's about to get noisy."
"Let's go!" One of the gang members shouted.
Three men ran towards Shion first, two with guns and one with a baseball bat. As the bat was swung towards his head, Shion shot forward with a burst emitting from his feet. He slid between the two men armed with guns.
Shion extended his arms up, sending a shockwave out on either side of him. The blast knocked both armed men off their feet and sent them flying. He then turned around and punched the man with the bat several times in the side then grabbed his bat and swung it into the back of his head, knocking him out.
"Move aside!" A larger guy rushed ahead to take on Shion by himself. He ran in and immediately started throwing hooks and jabs.
Shion sidestepped the attack and threw an uppercut into his opponent's stomach. His shock primer emitted a rumbling vibration with each punch that Shion threw; an uppercut with the right hand, a left hook to the man's helmet, anf finally a shockwave to the chest that sent him sliding back about 20 feet.
"Rush him!" One yelled as the other Verdict guys all ran in to surround him and overwhelm him. However, Shion was already prepared for this exact scenario.
"Activate everything!" Shion shouted.
"Waiting on your word." Manami informed him.
"100% output!" Shion exclaimed. He jumped into the air and flipped backwards before landing with both hands on the ground. This action sent out a huge shockwave that shook the very floor, knocking everyone off their feet and launching the men closest to him into the air.
"Don't overdo it." Manami said next.
"Nice work!" Shion said before focusing his attention back to his opponents.
As the ones closest to him were falling back to the ground, he managed to catch one with a shockwave-infused kick to the side. This launched him into two other men who were in the middle of trying to regain their balance. The others hit the ground around him.
Crystal had been hanging back for the moment, assuming that the men that she'd brought with her would be enough to deal with this guy. However, now that she was seeing him action, she saw that this ambush was about to become a one-on-one battle.
"Everyone fall back! He's mine!" Crystal shouted to the others. Those that weren't already unconscious or in the middle of being pummeled by Shion quickly retreated to give her space to engage him.
"It's gonna be trouble for us if we let everyone get away." Manami pointed out.
"Don't worry about it. Focus on her."
Crystal started rushing towards Shion. She pulled out a pair of twin blades strapped to her back. They glinted and flashed blue in the light. Shion took in a breath – it had been awhile since he had dealt with a specialized weapon like this.
"You're in for it now." Crystal growled, jabbing forward with one blade.
Shion leaned to the side to dodge the blade. Crystal spun around to swing the other blade at Shion's neck. He ducked underneath it and threw two quick jabs into Crystal's chest and head. She took a step back then swung her blade again with a quick flick of her wrist.
This time, an arcing beam of light shot out like a boomerang. Shion brought his hands in front of him to block it and absorb the impact. He felt an icy chill run through his arms and shoulders as it hit him with frost even formulating almost instantaneously on his shock primers.
"Jeez! Don't take too many hits of those or it will short out the primers!" Manami quickly updated him.
"Noted. Just keep charging." Shion said in response.
Crystal sent several more ice shots towards Shion to try and freeze him up completely. Shion used one of his leg primers to slide to the side out of the way. He then turned and used his other leg primer to launch himself right at Crystal.
"Whoa!" She exclaimed, only barely getting out of the way in time.
Shion stopped himself right by her. He grabbed her by her jacket, threw a punch right into the back of her head then threw her into one of the jagged rock formations nearby. She hit it back first with a grunt. Shion immediately launched himself once more at Crystal.
Crystal moved to the side as Shion crashed into the rock wall, kicking up a bunch of dust and chunks of the rock itself. With her visibility somewhat compromised now, she had to squint to be able to see him without getting dirt in her eyes.
Shion walked forward towards her. Crystal swung at him several times with both blades. Shion sidestepped each attack. He reached out to grab her by the jacket again, looking to pin her down so he could finally question her.
However, Crystal brought her blades up to try and get Shion's neck, crossing them in protectively in front of her. Shion ducked his head down so the swords merely scratched at his helmet. However, with a quick blue glint, ice burst from the blades and formed a layer of ice around his entire arm as well as his head.
"You're crazy but you're not worth dying over." Crystal said breathlessly. She kicked him in the chest, causing him to stumble and fall onto his back. Then she turned to retreat, running into the Hollows.
"You gotta be kidding me! Urgh...Manami , are we still live in my right arm?" Shion asked, struggling to get free. He was unable to pull his arm loose from the ice on his own.
"We still have power but if your head is stuck it could injure your neck to-"
"I don't care right now. Get me outta this now, please, before she gets away!" Shion spoke quickly and urgently.
"Alright alright." Manami immediately caused Shion's shock primer on his right arm to start emitting a low vibration before sending out a low pulse wave that managed to break the ice. Shion felt his entire body shake from the impact, but he was still running on adrenaline.
"Ha! It worked! Ho-kay, let's go." Shion forced himself to get back to his feet and start running after Crystal.
She had a head start on him but he was able to see where she was going. She was smoothly running and jumping through the uneven and unstable terrain of the Hollow they were in. She looked a lot more familiar with the area here than he was.
"Great. He's not giving up." Crystal muttered to herself when she noticed that Shion was still tailing her.
"Tell me where Bloodhound is!" Shion shouted to her.
"Get lost!" She shouted back.
Shion launched himself into the air and sent a concentrated shockwave in her direction. She jumped to the side of it as it hit the ground, kicking up more dust and rock but not throwing her off balance. She turned her body and suddenly changed directions.
"See ya!" She shouted before disappearing through a Hollow fissure and being transported somewhere else.
"Shoot!" Shion landed on the ground hard and had to stop himself from sliding.
"Scanning..." Manami's display came over Shion's eyes, revealing the Hollow fissure that Crystal had jumped through. It disappeared right as he was able to put eyes on it.
"That was real lucky for her." Manami commented.
"That wasn't luck. She went for it immediately...she knew it was gonna be there. It'd be impressive if it wasn't so annoying." Shion commented.
"What do we do now?" Manami asked.
"We'll review everything at home. There's nothing left for us right now." Shion grumbled before making his way towards the exit of the Hollow...