Xero Chronicle: Invasion

by Ross Buzzell

  A metallic groan, followed by twisting metal and exploding concrete; Xero looks up to see the massive arch falling directly towards him. The banished prince puts his hands up to catch it and everything goes black. Thankful that the screaming within his mind has stopped Xero finds himself partially buried under the monument, he attempts to move but it is difficult. Xero forces some of the dirt away from him which gives him room to move and begins to find a gripping hold on the warm metal that has struck him. Xero draws back and slams an open palm into the metal which sends it soaring off of him and into the air. Climbing to his feet and seething with anger that he was stopped by a mere human Xero is becoming desperate just to kill Konner now.

  Xero is so fixated on Konner he does not notice the dark haired woman at his side. Xero places his sword on his back and begins to charge at Konner, who runs right back at him. Konner throws his hands out and unleashes a barrage of electric and plasma energy into Xero, his seething hatred causes the attack to hardly register as he continues to barrel down on Konner. Xero feels Konner intensify the attack, he does not slow down and gets close enough to his nephew to hit him in the chest so hard it forces the attack to be cut off and Konner disappears through the side of a building as he soars through the air.

  Xero leaps through the hole Konner has made, debris bounces off of him as he passes through the building. A massive stadium with grass in the center rapidly approaches Xero as he follows Konner’s ‘flight’ path. Xero hits the ground and hops forward, turning his momentum horizontal. Konner tries to push himself off the ground but Xero hits him in the side of the head hard enough to send him back into the dirt before sliding to a stop. Xero stands tall, he dusts himself off and looks at the wobbly Konner, and the fight is almost done. A smile forms on his lips, he had to commend his nephew, he had delayed the inevitable far longer than any other victim of his.

  “Been a long time since I’ve had a fight that good. You are better than last time.”

  “That’s because I wasn’t busy watching my family die.”

  Konner growls, there is a dark tinge to his words as he charges Xero. Xero moves to meet him in battle once again but just before they clash Konner drops to the ground and slides between Xero’s legs. A sharp pain hits Xero’s Achilles’ tendons, he feels them snap up into his body which causes his legs to involuntarily collapse. He lets off a scream of pain as the sensation of his body trying to heal itself is agony this time, having to pull the injured area back into place. Xero feels his nephew leap onto his back and begin to try to choke him. Almost instantly Xero can feel Konner’s strength waning. Xero reaches behind his head and grabs Konner by the back of his. With a single powerful movement he pulls Konner off of his back and slams his nephew into the ground before delivering a powerful one-two punch into Konner’s chest.

  “Power levels, zero percent.”

  Konner’s computer calls out audibly. Xero lets out a laugh, Konner is now defenseless against him. Xero leans over and grabs Konner’s head with one of his massive hand, he begins to squeeze Konners skull and lift him off the ground.

  “Looks like you’re out.”

  He taunts his nephew before Xero throws him into one of the dugouts that the concrete shatters like glass. Konner tries to stand but Xero is back on top of him. Xero wraps a hand around Konner’s throat and turns, throwing him across the field and into a massive black sign that stands dozens of meters in the air. Sparks fly from the object as both it and Konner fall to the ground. Seeing some of the debris impale Konner brings a sense of satisfaction to Xero, he is making Konner suffer. He draws his sword as he makes his way to his nephew.

  “You know, I went through your father’s books. He spoke so highly of your skills as a soldier, of how much power you wielded. How you were the strongest Boronian to ever exist.”

  Xero stands over Konner, pointing the blade at his chest Xero can almost taste the victory.

  “I thought I would have to put up more of a fight against you.”

  He lets out a dark laugh that cackles from his very soul just as he is about to plunge his sword into his defeated nephew’s heart.

  “Hey, Xero!”

  A woman’s voice rings out; this one is different from the one who shot him in the face. He turns to see the source of the voice only to be met with a metal pipe to his cheek, something that would not cause the banished prince to flinch, but at the speeds she is moving the force alone makes Xero stagger.

  “Shut up!”

  He hears her yell before coming back and hitting him again, this time even harder, which causes him to nearly fall backward. She comes in for a third strike but Xero extends his arm and catches her by the throat, he begins to slowly choke her.

  “Stupid girl, haven’t you noticed? You can’t kill me.”

  He tightens his hold on her, she begins to struggle to breathe as her face and eyes begin to go bloodshot from the lack of oxygen. She tries to fight but he hardly even feels her touch him.

  “Let her go, Xero.”

  Konner’s growl is laced with something dark, something Xero likes. He can see that the same thing that created him has now completely consumed Konner, his nephew no longer fights to save this world from Xero’s wrath, but now fights only for Xero’s blood.

  “Or else what? You’re out of power, Lorian; you can’t stop me, let alone kill me! I will be a god again!”

  Konner’s lips whip into the same wicked grin that Xero’s does from time to time.

  “The girl is right; you need to shut up.”

  He growls as the wires around his feet jump to life. Xero watches, interested as who knows how much electricity is poured directly into his nephew; the lights in the stadium go dark and after a few moments the sparks stop jumping around Konner and begin to dance over him. Rippling across his chest the Lorian family crest violently ignites.

  “You die now!”

  Konner growls. The roar of hundreds of soldiers fills the stadium as they flood into the seats with their weapons aimed at Xero. Helicopters fly overhead accompanied by drones above them. Konner twitches a single finger and a bolt of electricity jumps from his hand and into Xero’s arm with enough juice to burn him and force the muscles in his arm to spasm resulting in him dropping the girl, she instantly flies a few feet away, coughing in agony before hitting the ground again.

  With his attention on Konner once again Xero begins to move towards his nephew but before he can take two steps Konner moves at Xero with such force, and brimming with so much power that he literally turns into a bolt of lightning that slams into Xero’s chest. As the bolt passes through him Xero screams, feeling the living electricity set fire to his very atomic structure. Xero’s chest, back and internal organs are on fire, almost literally as Konner takes back his natural form behind Xero. The shock causes Xero to fall to his knees and begin to seize as every muscle in his body spasms due to the power that was just dumped into him.

  Xero pivots to face his nephew, all the while trying to pull himself to his feet. Just as he is about to stand tall Konner throws both of his hands into the air before dropping them violently to his sides, a storm of electricity surges from the sky and slams into Xero. The heat from the continuous strike overrides the shock and Xero begins to travel up the stream of lightning in an attempt to get the high ground, giving off a twisted laugh as he does. The electricity cuts itself off and Xero hears Konner scream.

  “THIS ENDS NOW!!!!!!”

  Konner flies straight at Xero, Xero draws his sword ready to slice his nephew in two. The woman he had just strangled grabs onto Konner’s hand and vanishes. Konner, still traveling towards Xero, throws his opposite hand out, which sends the girl tumbling through the air. Konner slams into Xero and in a flash Xero finds himself in a dark room, looking at the world as though it is on a screen. Konner must have fused with him. He can feel all of Konner’s thoughts, one of which terrifies him. He begins to slam himself into the screen as hard as he can and eventually partially passes through only to tear half of his
body away from Konner.

  Floating a few meters in the air Xero fights with Konner, using all of his strength he tries to break free from his nephew as Konner holds the hilt of Xero’s sword tight. Using every ounce of his strength Xero attempts to hold Konner at bay, fighting like a wild animal for his life. Out of nowhere the sensation of cold metal fills Xero’s gut and part of his chest. His vision blurs for a moment as he looks down to see his sword impaled through Konners cape and into his gut. Blood begins to pour from the wound as he feels Konner pull away from him and free from the sword. Xero falls, both in agony and numb at the disbelief that he has been injured.

  Xero slams into the ground, kicking up dust and making a small crater. He is still alive but is fading fast. He would be damned if he is going to go down without taking a few of Konner’s team with him. Struggling and trembling due to shock Xero manages to get himself on his feet. Immediately Xero feels something moving fast pass through his shoulder which causes a spurt of blood to explode forwards, Dark Seclusion’s spell has been broken. The sky is filled with hot projectiles, all of which penetrate his now fragile body. Xero falls to his knees, dust obstructing his darkening view. The last sensation he feels is the ground as he slams into it and everything goes black.

  The End?

  Epilogue

  A surge of energy pulses through both him and the planet; it feels as if he has been sleeping for centuries as his mind is flooded with horrible memories of monstrous acts and treason. The surge hits him once more as a voice echoes within his mind.

  “It is broken, he will need you, you are free.”

  The voice is accompanied by a power unlike anything he has every felt before. The power flows through him and in a massive explosion of light bursts him free of his prison. Red dirt and stones fall to the ground as Xero pulls himself from the heart of the red planet. He feels something pulsing through him that is unlike any power on an non-universal scale. Xero looks into the sky and sees a blue dot, sparks begin to fly from him as he walks across the red sand not leaving a single footprint.

  “Here I come!”

  He says softly before a flash of light engulfs him and dissipates leaving Xero standing in a desert looking at rock formations that appear to have once been living beings. The remnant of the Dark Titans people locked in the Earth as he was on Mars.

  “There you are.”