“I-I thought he wasn’t coming back for a couple more weeks. Why is my dad here?” Zero asked with disbelief.

  I couldn’t respond due to the absurdity of the situation. I was left speechless at the fact that we were so close to escaping, only for one final obstacle to block our path.

  “What an absolute mess.” He said as he walked past the corpse of Dr. Verrat. “The doctor is dead, the subjects have escaped, and the trusted staff that is meant to prevent these things from happening are nowhere to be found.”

  He stopped walking until he was right over no.1.

  “No.1, enough games. Explain. Now.” He shouted at the lifeless corpse.

  “W-What are you talking about?! No.1 is dead!” No.9 yelled.

  Zagra glanced at No.5 and No.9, lightly clenching his fist. I activated Scan and could see particles forming violently around his palm.

  “No.9! Dampen my pain now!” I yelled, swiping my hand in her direction.

  “Wha—?”

  “Hurry!”

  Zagra opened his palm and a large wave of fire shot towards both of them.

  “Your pain is reduced!”

  I called the particles to surround my legs and burst with dynamic speed toward them. Using my newfound abilities, I was able to reach them before the wave of fire did, and I summoned the particles around my legs to form a large shield. The wave of fire collided with the shield, and I began to get pushed back.

  Such force from a simple wave!

  Adapting, I drew forth the surrounding energy and used it to coat my arms and legs. Once I became stable, I slowly siphoned the energy from the shield and formed it in the palm of my hands. Making the same pose No.2 did against me, I coalesced the energy in my hands and continuously built up pressure until I couldn’t bear it anymore.

  “Pressurized Disruption!” I shouted, pouring my all into the counter.

  I let it loose, and my own counterwave of energy formed, led by the shield, and shot right back at Zagra.

  “Hmph!”

  He tensed his right arm and pulled it behind his left shoulder. Then, in one smooth motion, he swung his arm outward and canceled my wave with an equal explosion.

  After that clash, I fell to one knee. It had felt like all the energy had left my body, and I couldn’t muster the force to stand.

  “963! Are you alright?!” No.9 yelled from behind me.

  “Yeah….I just feel a little weak after that attack.”

  I heard a large inhale from behind me, before a steadied exhale.

  “You are overflowing with stamina.”

  The brief weakness I had felt disappeared entirely. I was astounded that such a powerful ability could exist.

  “No.9, I—!” I started, but stopped when I turned around to look at her. No.9 was collapsed face-up on the ground.

  Blood was flowing from her eyes and mouth, and she was shivering profusely.

  “…gaah…*hic*…..heughhh!” She silently cried, twitching violently on the ground.

  I gently grabbed her hand; it was frigid. I moved my hand downwards to her wrist to check for a pulse, and there was–albeit very faint.

  “FATHER!” Zero shrieked with rampant fury. “What are you doing?! You almost killed all three of them!”

  I looked back to see Zagra’s response, but he merely ignored her and returned his attention to No.1

  While he’s focused on him, I’ll check No.9.

  “Scan.”

  Using Scan, I was able to see far more clearly and precisely than my passive vision of the particles. There was an immense cluster of particles in her brain and in her throat. They were dark-red and were spiraling violently. Around her body, however, there were none. The particles actually seemed to be shifting away from her.

  Is it because she’s dying? Or the dark-red particles are pushing them away?

  I put my hand over her head and used Disruption. The dark-red particles split as fast as they were swirling, and faded away. Once they did, she stopped shaking and slowly opened her eyes.

  “Are you ok?!” I asked, feeling her temperature.

  “Yeah….I’m fine. I’ve been using my gift too much. I thought if I only focused on making you all stronger, it wouldn’t happen, but it just took longer.”

  “You mean….”

  “If I were to yell a command to harm or debilitate someone, it would rebound and hurt me as well. I know because….it happened the day I awakened here. They said without medical treatment, I would’ve died in a matter of minutes.” She whispered, sweat rolling down her face.

  “It makes sense that a powerful gift such as yours would have drawbacks.”

  She nodded her head and gave a weak smile.

  “I’ll stay here and get better, while managing no.5 to make sure he’s stable. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can help anymore in this fight. This is twice now that you’ve really helped me. I’m sorry I can’t do more.”

  “You’ve done enough…..Zero and I will take it from here.”

  I stood up and turned around to look at Zagra. He was still staring down at No.1, with a look of fury in his eyes.

  “No.1, if you don’t get up now. I’ll assume you’re playing dead, and a traitor.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “When will you get it through your dumb head that No.1 is dead?! That snake is the reason all of this is happening, and we finally got rid of him! Are you not going to look your own daughter in the–!”

  Zero was cut short by the sound of bones cracking. No.1’s arms and legs shot to life and slightly flailed for a few seconds, until the cracking and movement ceased entirely. Then, as if nothing ever happened, he jumped up from his lying down position and landed on his feet.

  “Sir, you should know that if my brain gets mutilated, it takes longer to regenerate.” He said as he cracked his neck. “Great attack by the way, 963. You really pulled that one out of nowhere.”

  “H-He’s alive?!” Zero gasped.

  “No…way.” No.9 said behind me.

  I couldn’t hold back my rage as I narrowed my eyes in his direction.

  “What will it take to make sure you never get up again?” I said, grinding my teeth.

  “Only God knows at this point. Although….I’m sure you’ll be able to ask him soon.” He said, smiling while sticking his tongue out.

  “Enough. No.1, explain the situation.” Zagra said sternly, glaring down at No.1.

  He put his hand on his chest and took a bow, before donning a serious expression.

  “Well, as you asked me to do a couple of months ago, I stuck by Dr. Verrat. He had plans to take his research and leave this place after getting combat data from your daughter. After informing him of the escape plan these two came up with, we mobilized the numbers in an attempt to put a stop to it, but he had other plans. He meant to use this as an excuse to kill your daughter, and analyze the other numbers’ progress. They were meant to subdue both of them, but the late Doctor took it a step further, and now the only numbers alive are out here. Well, I don’t know where no.8 is, but it hardly matters at this point.”

  “How many numbers were sent to stop them?”

  “No.4, 7, 5, 8, 2, and 3 were sent to stop 963. While I, no.9, and no.6 were sent to stop your daughter.”

  “And you’re telling me that one child defeated all of those numbers, and that one of the numbers sent to stop my daughter joined her?”

  “That’s correct, sir.”

  “And where is No.6?”

  “I killed her myself. Your daughter turned her as well, and she showed hostility. I determined that on the possibility she could awaken further, like 963 or No.9 did, she could turn them invisible, and it would be impossible to find them.” He said, explaining everything logically and methodically.

  “She didn’t show hostility. You came in the room and shot her before she could say anything!” Zero yelled in defiance.

  “Is this true?”

  “Of course not. I don’t take pleasure in killing.”

  “Yes, you do!” She screamed furiously.

  “I put Dr. Verrat down myself, and sought to stop these 4 from escaping. I had assumed that you would arrive earlier once I sent the message two hours ago, but they briefly overpowered me. Even for me, a 1 v 4 is quite difficult.”

  “I was preoccupied with other matters, but I’m here now. Good job.”

  He took another bow and glanced back over at me.

  He planned this from the beginning. I don’t know what happened over on Zero’s side, but he must be mixing truths and lies to make it more believable.

  “Dad, you can’t listen to him! He’s a murderer! It wasn’t the Doctor who almost killed me, it was him! He set some type of weird monster on us, killed No.6, manipulated No.9 to make all the other numbers more aggressive, and he even released a monster in the Forbidden Area! He’s a liar and a snake, you can’t–!”

  “You entered the Forbidden Area? After I explicitly told you time and time again to stay away?”

  Zero cowered slightly and looked away.

  “W-Well yeah….but that’s only because–!”

  “You then attempt to escape again, got your fellow numbers killed, and got hurt in the process. Someone would come here and think a war took place here! Why can’t you just stay obedient and accept your treatment?!”

  “Dad, you’re not listening! He’s lying to you; he caused all of this! A-And I feel better! Ever since I fought that giant creature, the thorns in my body aren’t growing flowers, they’re not sucking my blood, and they don’t hurt any–!”

  “HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE YOU?!”

  Zero stopped talking and had a scared expression on her face.

  “You’ve told me before that you felt better, only for us to find out that you’ve lied just to get out! You blame No.1 for all of the problems you caused, when he was merely doing his job! Your petty escape attempts and disregard for everything around you got over 6 kids with futures killed! You disobey me at every turn! You lie to me! Go behind my back! When all I want you to do is live to see another day! Is it so hard to understand that I’m trying to do what’s best for you?! How am I supposed to believe anything you say, when you constantly act like I’m your enemy!”

  Zagra began walking toward her, with flames bursting from his soles. Zero’s confidence from earlier shriveled as she began to back up in fear. Her body was shaking with each step as he got closer.

  “I didn’t want to have to do this, but I’ll have to exert more control this time. I’ll find another doctor, and we’ll continue where you left off. You’ll no longer have free-roam of the facility, and will be monitored 24/7. We’re going back.”

  He was within a few feet of her and reached his hand out to grab her. She closed her eyes in fear and showed no signs of resistance.

  I can’t let this happen.

  With the same speed boost I used earlier, I rushed to where they were standing and fiercely grabbed his wrist.

  “.....963?”

  “I can’t fathom listening to this incoherent drivel any longer. How can a grown man like yourself not realize what a hypocrite you are?”

  “Mind your business, child.” He snarled, flames beginning to spread to his arms.

  “You want her to live a happy life, yet would imprison and isolate her to do so. You act is if you are perfect and she is the villain when all she wants is to see the world. You blame her for the deaths when it was they who went to stop us and took it too far. You hide information, tell her nothing, and feed her lies, knowing that this treatment is only delaying the inevitable. You want what’s best for her? No, you want what’s best for yourself. You are a terrible father. The only way for her to live the life you think you’re giving her is to get as far away from you as possible.”

  Zero stopped shaking, and her expression of fear turned into that of cold rage. “That’s right. I’m done being afraid of you.” She said as she unsheathed her katana and took a swift step forward, primed to slash. Sensing her intent, he wrestled himself out of my grip and jumped backwards.

  “Do you even know how it feels? To suffer every single day, knowing you have to wake up and do it all over again? Knowing that no matter how much pain you go through, nothing will change. Knowing that the one family member you have left won’t listen, no matter what you say?!”

  “More…than you know.” He said softly, closing his eyes.

  She lowered her guard as tears streamed down her face.

  “W-When mom died, you were the only one left. I thought that even if my mom left for a better place, I could spend my time here with you. But despite your insisting I stay here, in a place where there are thousands of other kids, I have never felt more alone. The terrible things I saw in the Forbidden Area. All the deaths and imprisonments of those kids, I blamed myself for it the entire time. I constantly asked myself why I was alive when all of these other kids were going through so much worse than me. I felt like I didn’t deserve to live. But someone I really, really, really care about showed me that I do matter, and there is a reason to go on living.”

  She raised the katana and pointed at him once more, rage permeating throughout her body. Her eyes narrowed, and thorns burst from her arms and wrapped themselves around the blade.

  “Zero….you–” He started.

  “I’m not Zero! I refuse to go back into the facility and resume my time as Subject Zero like you so desperately want me to. You don’t need to worry about me anymore, because I am no longer your daughter. I want to get as far away from you as possible. I will travel the world and enjoy my life to the fullest, and I will do anything to reach that freedom. Not as the sickly child Zero, but as my real name. The name you’ve refused to say because my mother gave it to me. The name I’ve been waiting for you to call me, just once, in my entire time here! The name that would remind me that you do love me!”

  Dark flames etched with blood sprouted from her sword as the bottoms of her long white hair turned an eerie shade of red.

  “I fight you not as your daughter, Zero! But as the villain you’ve wanted me to be, Dawn Dahia!” She shouted, the tears burning away from her fiery eyes.