A Hero From Zero

As Tsuruko Sejren and Giselle Mercury returned to the group, mother and daughter noticed that Team Daybreak was huddling around a table. Tsuruko herself felt an shudder down her mechanical spine thanks to the conspicuous lack of Gary there.

"Hey, Tsuruko..." Rosa handed her a note, which; by the looks of the ink, had only been written very recently. "Read this."

Tsuruko's optics focused on the contents of the letter, as she read out loud;

"Dear Tsuruko,

I've paid off the pact with Chimera, so I'm going to renounce my title as Soul Armour Knight Zero. But that time using Zero's power...it's made me realize that I'll need to change. My views on this whole giant tussle's too black and white. There's a lot more to the symbiotes than you'd expect...I think I need to do some soul searching, which is why I've left you all. The Chimera Driver's in the drawers if you want more information from that symbiote bastard about this.

At the time, I thought that you were just some ordinary girl who I'd never met before. I was confused by everything you said and did. I guess I just didn't understand you. I could only watch on in amazement as you did the impossible time and time again... but it occurred to me, that you're not just some crazy gal. I think you've taught me that if you look at the world from a different perspective, you'll find a new and improved answer to your questions that only you can come up with.

You also brought up some old memories of mine. I remember a long time ago, my mum mentioned that it doesn't matter even if you can't get 100 friends once you graduate to your next class, you must find a real friend that you can treasure with the feelings of 100 people. Once you get this true friend that you can view as more important than anyone else, your future will be bright. However, let me turn your words back on you. Even though I'm not here anymore, I'll use the feelings of a hundred people to treasure you. Even if there's 100 people... no. No matter if it's a million or trillion people, even if the entire world views you as an enemy, I'll still be your friend.

See you, Birdy."

Tsuruko struggled to hold back her tears; she'd speculated it for a while...Gary really was that silver-haired guy from her childhood! Tsuruko distraughtly hugged the letter tightly, as it pressed against her chest—after a few moments, she began to cry her heart out.

"...Why did he have to leave!? He knew who I was and he just left...I wanted to—I don't understand! I just don't...!!"

Giselle pulled Tsuruko to her as she began crying. Tsuruko's face was buried in Giselle's shirt as she began sobbing, screaming, her entire body shaking as Giselle just hugged her. She waited, listening.

Listening to the sounds of her whispers and hitched voice, listening to her as her tears wet drenched her shirt, Giselle simply brushed her hand through Tsuruko's soft violet hair; in an attempt to console her daughter.

"So, you and the crab lost to Tsuruko's DTD?" A woman who had pale-fair skin and red blushy cheeks; and had eyes which were powerful purple while her hair appeared to be a pale-silver colour approached Gemini, all while mocking her in a condescending tone.

"K-Kirika! That Magic Council woman tricked us...! She didn't reveal that the DTD would activate to us...! That thing KILLS demons!" Gemini snapped back, clenching her fist in anger at the silvery-haired woman.

"Oh, my!" She put on an expression of fake shock. "You really are pathetic, you know?" Kirika smirked; continuing, "Playing the ruler, it isn't as interesting as I hoped, especially when my subjects are weaklings."

"Then, why join the Zodiac Knights as Virgo in the first place!?" Gemini's rage was at an absolute boiling point—yet she did not attempt to strike Kirika, in the fear of being destroyed permanently.

"Because I can't stand situations that fall apart so easily –if I wasn't here, then the Zodiac Knights would have been destroyed by the Phoenix Knight from the very beginning." Gemini hated to admit it, but Kirika was right. "The weak roamed free, infesting the streets, while the strong went unrecognized amongst the rabble." Kirika coughed. "It's really pathetic, you know? It makes my stomach churn just thinking about it!"

Gemini twitched; clearly, there was no 'I' in 'team', but Kirika was so powerful that concepts known as 'teamwork' was so alien to her. "You—!!"

"The weak shouldn't be slaughtered en-masse. I'm not THAT heartless!" Kirika cackled, obviously soaking up Gemini's anger happily. "But they've gotta know where they belong! That being said..." Kirika's attention turned to outside; as she peered down at the streets of Hargeon which were as busy as ever. "...Those who hate being powerless can't be called weak. They might be weak for the moment, but they won't lose hope." Kirika loathed that last word, but it fitted her speech all too well.

Gemini shouted at Kirika in fury, "Stop mocking me, you—you bitch!" Her aura flared up...only to be subjugated by Kirika's overwhelming magical power, which flowed throughout the continent, if only momentarily. "...Tch!"

"Now, where was I?" Kirika...wasn't taking Gemini seriously at all. "That person who hasn't lost hope...that's Tsuruko! I realized when I first saw her. Her eyes are really beautiful. They're the eyes of a girl who's never been hated or hated anyone else. I think she's really worth keeping an eye on! So I've decided, that you and crab-boy will fight her again, personally!"

Meanwhile...Cancer was performing the utterly heinous deed of...sitting around at a fruit parlor and eating a sundae? Or rather...he had taken upon a more human form, very similar to what Sion Kenzaki could do. He had thick black spikes with bangs framing his face for hair—as well as blue eyes. He wore short-sleeved, navy blue jacket with a light blue stripe going along his shoulders to the ends of his sleeves. The jacket's collar was rather high and was sky blue, as were the ends of the sleeves and the bottom hem of the jacket. There was a yellow bolt symbol prominently displayed on the left breast of the jacket—and he appeared to wear a black undershirt, as well as white pants and black shoes with what appeared to be a grayish trim on the bottom. Cancer, while stuffing his face, laughed, "I wasn't sure at first, but Kirika being here is definitely paying off!"

"I thought I'd never hear you say that, Cancer." A woman of considerably short height with a small yet a very muscular build and physique responded, still somewhat annoyed. She had moderately short hair that was tied at the back, with her right fringe mainly draping over the right side of her face. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, a pronounced nose, and pale complexion—her hair reached down the nape of her neck. Along with this, she wore a white top with a black one underneath, with the black one showing at her collarbone and at the hem which slightly exposed her navel, purple bike shorts underneath a purple skirt with a blue belt, and white slip-on shoes with purple caps. "I'm a little disappointed, myself. I'm pretty sure Virgo looks down upon us. She thinks we'll be her attack dogs just because she has so much power."

"You really think that's what she's like, Gemini?" Despite his surprise, Cancer continued to eat.

"Every single one of us is just one of Virgo's little test subjects." She laughed bitterly, "Are we just going to take that, old friend?"

Cancer suddenly jumped to his feet, shouting—and catching everyone's attention. "Like hell we are!"

Gemini continued, "So, in order to stand a fighting chance, our first step is to get ourselves up to Virgo's level."

A certain familiar woman who had long bright pink hair with bangs that covered their left eye and yellow eyes; also wearing a witch's outfit watched on their conversation from the other side of the fruit parlor; letting out a mysterious smirk as she heard Gemini's words.

-BRIIIIING!-

An incessant beeping rang out, surprising everyone—however, Giselle was too preoccupied with trying to console her estranged daughter. Before they knew it, the beeping expanded—in front of them, a flat screen manifested...this was odd. These belonged to La Pucelle; and Team Daybreak was on vacation—that meant...

"...An attack?" Kaguya looked at the holo-screen, which seemed to flicker on and off—this wasn't like the other times where it had only pinpointed the exact location of the offenders. Still...something was, extremely odd about it. With a few taps of the screen, Kaguya had managed to obtain more information concerning their targets. "....There's an odd mix of demonic and holy magical energy...This doesn't bode well..."

"I can't fight!" Excellen exclaimed in a panic; waving her hands back and forth erratically, she continued, "If I fight, I could destroy the world! This world, and you all, have changed me—I won't allow myself to bring this time to an end! Sorry, guys..."

Rosa sighed, "I can't fight symbiotes. You could say, my magic would aid them rather than defeat them...And Giselle is trying to console purple, but not like she could fight anyway..."

Kaguya argued in a petty manner, "I can't dirty myself! I have a meeting with Daddy soon!"

Deen, meanwhile, opened the drawer underneath Gary's letter—there was a rusty belt composed fully of bronze—with numerous sparkling emerald gems encrusted upon the sides, and a lion's head serving the purpose of the buckle; it had a closed gate-shaped buckle. Eyeing it off for a few minutes, he then realized what he had to do.

"When I was a kid? I wanted to be a superhero. Like, run around, beat the bad guys, save people kind of heroics. Hehe, wasn't that every kid's dream? You guys can do all this awesome stuff, like punching demons to death, and flying around, and making other stuff fly around... I can't fly around, okay? I can't do anything...I wanted to be a hero, and now I'm stuck as a member of the damn goon squad."

His own words echoed through his head, as they struck a powerful chord. "That's it."

Hearing Deen's now resolved voice surprised Kaguya, Excellen, and Rosa—who all looked at him in disbelief. "I'm going to deal with this threat. You all, wait here—Tsuruko's done so much for us, and I might not ever be able to fully return that kindness, but the least I can do is save her from a fight she's not ready for." Deen held the Chimera Driver tightly within his hand, before he began to leave. "Watch me now!"

"...Huh, a simple human's coming, not Gaiki?" Who greeted Deen was a crab monster—clad in black and gold, the motif of the Zodiac Knights; armed with a massive pincer claw, the demon was fitted in spiked armour, possessing numerous skulls on its attire. Its single Y-shaped eye shone crimson; right down the middle of its face. The jester-like golden and black being, known as the Gemini Symbiote, also flanked her friend's side; the two were left speechless at who challenged them.

"That's right. Tsuruko is busy at the moment, so from here on out, it's my turn." Deen confidently declared, showing absolutely zero fear even against two super-powered despair-powered demonic entities, who began to approach him, ready to strike him down in an instant.

"Don't be so foolhardy, human." Gemini taunted, "I remember when we last met, boy. You were forced to the ground and the lowly grunts could have killed you effortlessly. It's only been a single day since then—what's motivated you now? Is it suicidal thoughts?"

"Oh, not at all." Deen retorted, as he withdrew the Chimera Driver—causing the duo to back up in surprise. "You're familiar with a Driver Belt, right? With this belt, the wearer can become one of the legendary Soul Armour Knights. Those knights....they possess the power to slay demons."

"Don't think that a regular human can utilize that power without training—" Cancer's words of caution and anger were quickly cut off.

"I can't master a sword like Zanma…I'm no Lacrima prodigy like Kaguya…I can't exercise my authority like Giselle... I'm not invincible in battle like Tsuruko… Between all my friends, I was the odd one out. I can't cave in; because there's one thing I can't afford to lose. That person who showed me the light. I've come all this way just to protect them… I won't lose them now. If it's to protect her, I can kill even a god! So, Zodiac Knights! I'm going to crush you down for real! For the one who turned my life around, I will even beat the Exalted One! With this belt!" Quickly, Deen swung the Chimera Driver around his waist, not caring for the consequences.

Deen Lhant withdrew a golden ring which had an armoured face engraved upon it—with emerald compound eyes. Swiftly, Deen inserted the ring in the right slot of the Chimera Driver and turned it counter-clockwise, opening the front buckle that revealed the lion head inside. "My only weapon!"

Pure magical energy was released from the Chimera Driver—which quickly wrapped around Deen's body, as an orange glyph manifested before him. Deen dashed through the glyph without any hesitation; the glyph erupted magnificently, cladding him in a black jumpsuit with golden armour covering his body, a large lion head-shaped shoulder pad covered his right arm with the lion's mane stylized to flow over his chest. His head was covered with an odd, feline-like mask with large green eyes. "I will protect that smile!"

"If I have 10 seconds I can…I can beat the crap out of him!!" Zero would only work for 10 seconds, but after that, he wouldn't be able to use it for three days; a regular human wouldn't last otherwise.

"…X…"

The count started. Since this is activated there was no time! Deen made a little gap between his hand and made a block of magical energy between his hands, which he launched at Cancer immediately. The magical ball that left his hand increased in size exponentially and shot towards his foe! That thing was the size of about a small house; even Deen was shocked.

Cancer barely evaded that blast. "…So powerful…!"

"…IX…"

The countdown had already started. Deen jumped towards the place Cancer ran to. The propeller released magical power. Instantly it released at an explosive speed! Because of the G forces, Deen couldn't handle his body but it reduced the distance between him and Cancer. Since he moved at an insane speed to where he ran to, Cancer was utterly shocked; he made a stance at Deen since he couldn't counter measure it. But without doing anything, Deen…

BANNNNG!!

Deen crashed into the wall. Such a disappointment; that was his chance. When Deen crashed, he guarded with both his arms so there were no damages. But there was a huge hole in the wall. So, if he crashed into Cancer, then he could've killed him?

"…VIII…"

8 seconds left! Deen got up and shook off the fragments of the wall and confronted Cancer again, who became more vigilant than before after seeing Deen's attacks. His body was covered in a rainbow coloured aura. Deen could feel the enormous magical power with his skin.

"Not bad, human!" A pair of fire wings appeared on Cancer's back after he howled. There was a whirlwind of fire surrounding him and the area was surrounded by an intense fire; this meant that there wouldn't be a bone left if Deen got hit by that. Cancer, who was covered in flames rushed towards Deen swiftly. There was an insane amount of flames right in front of him. The silhouette resembled a gigantic crab f flame. The intense fire from the wings…

Deen rebutted, as he howled out loud, "I ain't gonna perish with a crappy fire like yours!" Deen sprinted towards him while screaming; the propeller on his back released pure light.

KABLAM!

When both of their fists hit each other's face, it shook the whole area because of the impact created from their powers clashing. Deen felt a heavy blow for every hit he received! Then a hot flame attacked him. "Dammit, it's freaking hot!" The temperature of the flame he felt from Cancer's fist. If Deen didn't have this armour on, then it probably wouldn't have left a bone. The more fists he exchanged with Cancer the more he realized the difference between them.

When he removed the armour of Zero, the power difference between him and Cancer was that of an ant and an elephant. Cancer smirked as if he realized Deen was feeling scared. "Are you scared!? Are you afraid of me!? Of course! If you didn't have that armour, then you would just be trash! If you didn't have that armour, then you would have perished before my fist reached you! Yes! If you take away the belt, then you have no value!"

Cancer was right; if somebody took the belt away from Deen, then he'd be nothing!

"…VII…"

Fear struck Deen's whole body. He didn't want to experience something scary like this! But! Deen pulled out a certain thing that he hid in a section of the gauntlet.

BANG!!

Deen's fist slammed right into Cancer's face, who bent back. "That won't work on…!" Cancer coughed up a lot of blood from his mouth. Deen scored a critical hit; of course, that was because he was holding onto something in his hand, which he showed to Cancer. "You have a cross made out of Orichalcum?!" Cancer was shocked. It was an item that demonic beings are weak against. Deen had it in his hands and punched Cancer.

"…VI…"

"I'm not gonna lose!" Deen howled.

"…V…"

The count was decreasing. "For Tsuruko, I will not lose!"

Cancer's eyes changed after hearing what Deen just said. "You're insane…That's why you can strike me without any hesitation…You're scary. I'm actually pretty scared of you for real, for the first time. That's why!" Both of Cancer's wings turned into a bigger flame. "I'm going to beat you with everything I have!" Fire crab. He rushed towards Deen while the surroundings were engulfed by fire. Deen would not lose, no matter what!

"…IV…"

"ORAORAORAORAORAORA!" Deen put all his power to the cross he was holding on to—putting everything into his this blow; Cancer's fist and Deen's fist smashed both of them in the face.

FLASH!

The clash between two incredible powers. There was a flash created by the collision and it blinded Deen's eyes. He also felt the feeling of the things he was wearing vanishing. The same feeling you have when you take your rain coat off when you get home on a rainy day. It was similar to that. At the same time Deen felt heat surrounding his body; it was too hot. Until before Deen didn't feel anything hot like this. When Deen regained his slight, he realized the changes. The armour was gone; the armour of Zero that was covering his whole body disappeared! Unprotected body. His cross that seemed to have been knocked off during the previous attack was lying on the ground near him. "...It hasn't even been ten seconds!"

Deen was grabbed strongly by his collar. It was Cancer. Deen was lifted up from the ground while having his neck choked. Cancer choked Deen even strongly while smirking. "I praise you for doing this well for a nobody. You really did well. To tell you the truth I didn't expect you to do this well. I experienced the power of the Soul Armour Knight with my own body. But for a knight, you're really weak."

"Deen, just run away! He's too powerful for you...!" Tsuruko; whom had regained her senses, called out through the monitor, pleading for him.

"No." Deen spat, trying to breathe. "...I can't...give up. Not when you're watching...! I admire you, for how you don't give up no matter what! I want to fight on my own, so I can support you through your toughest times...! I won't back down when you're here! Chimera, work! DAMMIT, LET ME USE YOUR POWER!"

A flash ran through Deen's mind; as he heard a powerful voice. "Listen, Deen Lhant. I am the Chimera Symbiote, the one whom resides within the ancient belt...By opening the door of the belt, we have become one." While Deen couldn't see Chimera, the demon's presence was felt well.

"...Door!? What are you talking about!?" Deen argued, though he barely understood the terminology that the demon was using.

"As we merge, you will be capable of utilizing the full potential of Zero, giving you great magic. However, there is but a catch—you must provide me with magical energy, or else your life will be forfeit." Chimera continued.

"...That's fine with me." Deen grinned audaciously—almost uncharacteristically for him. "If I can help Tsuruko...and become a superhero...I'll feed you magical energy until you're stuffed!"

The Chimera Symbiote laughed at Deen's response. "....Hmhmhmhm. You might be even more interesting than Gary Straights, Deen Lhant. Now, go and defeat your enemies in my name, and feast upon their magical energy!"

A brilliant shine was emitted from the Chimera Driver; which repulsed Cancer as Deen caught himself—he felt his body powered by magical energy; and a certain resolve shot through his body. Alexis' words resounded,

"I'm repeating this one last time. I want you to take care of Tsuruko Sejren for me. But when the time comes, and you decide to become the man you've always wanted to be, even though your teeth will be chattering and your knees will be trembling, as a shiver runs down your spine, you'll realize that those are the emotions of a true hero—if you don't understand that, you'll never become that hero! For Tsuruko Sejren, you need to show her how much stronger you've become, and fill your chest with courage! Hold her tightly and don't let her go. That's an order!"

Deen dusted his hands as he smirked, "Humans really are scary. As long as they can make the excuse that they are doing something no matter how terrifying to protect those they care about, they can do almost anything. That's how I see it anyway. I'll be showing you just how cruel us regular humans can be."

When Deen aimed his next attack at Cancer, he started to panic.

"I don't know anything complicated. But I remember I made a promise. I promised Tsuruko that I'd protect her, no matter how weak I am. Tsuruko...she changed me for the better. Just then…she was crying! That is enough reason for me to beat the shit outta you!"

A loud bird screech echoed through the air as several red feathers appeared around Deen's body and he disappeared in a red and gold blur; leaping up into the air. "Chimera Glanzer!" A titanic phantasmal red falcon appeared over Deen's body, his right leg extended in front of him and into the falcon's beak. The phantasmal falcon and Deen crashed into the symbiote's chest.

BANG!!

Upon impact, several crimson and golden sparks scattered from Cancer's body; which quickly erupted within a powerful explosion, allowing Deen to land upon the ground.

"Gahaa!" Cancer took a few steps backwards while coughing blood. "Me..... from something.......like a human..............!" Cancer uttered that, before collapsing on the ground. He didn't stand up again.

The flames that surrounded him immediately turned into a gold runic circle that floated in front of Deen.

"...This is...Zero!" Gemini quickly rushed over to Cancer's side; as she salvaged his battered body; and with a snap of her fingers, teleported away in a flash of light.

Deen paid very little attention to the two symbiotes scurrying away; instead, he calmly deactivated the Chimera Driver, still breathing heavy. That power...was something he would have never imagined himself to wield—but now...he could be a superhero and protect Tsuruko.

"I am...Soul Armour Knight...Zero!"