CENTRAL HIGHMARIA MILIARY BASE: NEW RECRUITS COMMON ROOM

The King's Armor sat together, exhausted from the many drills they had to do for a second time in their lives. They maintained their distance from Onkai, the outsider.

"Never thought I'd have to put up with that again!" Fasily sighed as he laid back on the bench he sat on. "Forgot how much of an ass that Sergeant Kael can be."

Zero started to lecture them in his usual depressing voice. "It's all pointless anyway, half of these guys here are gonna die on their first expedition. The next half won't be able to deal with the things they see. They all came for there own reasons. Money, food, shelter, a second chance. Maybe they can have that all for just a day or two, but in the end, that short pleasure will cost them their lives, or at least their happiness. If they knew what this war would to them, I'm sure they'd choose any other alternative, even death. This military recruits for numbers, but numbers won't help when the enemy is infinite."

The whole group looked at Zero as if he spoke another language.

Aren brushed of Zero's words to a side like he wasn't even there. "You'd think he'd... take it easy... on us... but he was just as horrid.... as the first time... round." Aren was munching down on crackers and slurping down on soup, the group just about understood what he said.

"And it's all because of ice boy there." Hinami pointed at Onkai with her eyes. He was just sat there, far from the other hundreds of people in the room, by himself. Though he did have an infamous reputation , the recruits couldn't really be blamed for choosing to avoid him.

Onkai sat on the floor, fiddling with his sword. He swung it left and right and then stood up and exited to the training grounds.

"Should we follow him?" Aren asked the group, mainly looking at Zero who groaned and shook his head away from him, still annoyed over him being ignored.

"I say we leave him, he does anything stupid and he'll die anyway. Besides who cares if he does do something to anyone here anyway- at the off chance. I'd say about 90% of the people here are scum and deserve to die." Devolo snarled.

Zero took charge, "No! We follow him! We can't let him die. Remember, he could lead us to intel that could rid this world of those zombies." He jolted up and followed Onkai out.

The rest of them looked at each other and sighed. They followed Zero as he left the room.

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The night was at its darkest. Stars hid away from the darkness which had consumed the sky. The moon was full but dead of the sun's light. Not a glint of light dared to peak out at the world. Crickets chirped but rather melancholically, a sign of life but the life seemed to be disappearing away slowly, growing quieter and quieter as the night continued.

In the midst of the darkness, slashes and crashes could be heard from the training grounds. It was Onkai, practicing more, or perhaps just finding a way to divert his violent nature without having to give his life.

"Mad Player!" A silhouette stood in the entrance of the common room, the only light source for Onkai.

It was evidently Zero's voice, but Onkai chose to ignore it, continuing to beat the zombie mannequin in front of him.

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"You're gonna have to talk to us eventually! Trust me, we don't want to either, but for you to survive you're gonna need to communicate!" Zero called at Onkai as he approached him.

The rest of the King's Armor watched from the exit to the training ground, amused by the sound of Zero's raised voice- a rare occurrence.

"I don't need you to survive. You don't need to follow me." Onkai informed him bluntly.

"Given the reputation you've earned yourself- I highly doubt that." Zero countered.

The sound of crunching leaves came from afar. "Hey! It's the Mad Player!" A voice called out from the distance.

"Where!?" Another called.

"Right here! Where I am!"

"That son of a bitch destroyed the village I lived in! I'll kill that asshole!"

Two hostile, sprinting footsteps grew louder, cursing ever more as they closed down on Onkai.

Onkai tightened the grip on his sword, his eyebrows lowered and forehead tensed.

"Don't do anything! Remember, you'll die if you use your abilities!" Zero reminded Onkai."Let me take care of this."

He held two fingers to his head and closed his eyes.

KING OF THE DARK

The two figures halted in their tracks and wirled around each other as they fell unconscious to the floor.

THUMP!

Zero reopened his eyes. "Like I was saying, people don't tend to take a liking to those who destroy entire communities. They don't know the value you hold, at least not as of yet." Zero continued. "Considering your attitude you're gonna need us one way or another. These people here, they will try to hurt you."

The others listened carefully for Onkai's response, poking their heads out of the door slightly more as if they all shared the same mind.

Onkai sighed. "Okay, but it doesn't mean we're friends." He continued slashing the zombie mannequin.

"We don't have to be friends, we just need you to survive." Zero agreed with Onkai, turning his back to him.

DING! DING! DING!

Tiny bells started ringing around the ground.

"Get your asses to bed!" A ferocious voice prevailed above the ringing bells, who else but the sergeant.

Onkai reentered the common room.

"Tomorrow we'll sort you into your divisions!" The sergeant informed. He was bald, short and slightly chubby, nothing like his voice, nothing like his acts. "Don't mean shit though, you rats are gonna be fodder nonetheless. Bloody damn cattle!"

The recruits rushed to their dorms out of fear, but Onkai sat back down rebelliously.

The sergeant rolled his eyes and marched towards him. "You deaf boy!?" He spat. He analyzed his face that now dripped in saliva. "Well look who we have here!" The sergeant had a stick wrapped around his belt, he withdrew it and smacked it across Onkai's face, which was now a painful shade of red. "What you gonna do Mad Player, kill me?!" He laughed in amusement.

Onkai's entire body twitched, this level of utter disrespect and yet nothing could be done about it.

"Ahh, I'm just messing with ya! Xavier told me why you're here. Quite a shift isn't it, from burning entire villages to becoming humanity's biggest hope. I don't believe it! But that darned wizard ain't no idiot." He continued talking, looking in all sorts of directions but not at Onkai's. It appeared as though he was just rambling to himself, listing all the qualities of Xavier, good and bad.

Onkai felt like slapping him across the face for revenge- at the minimum. He breathed in deeply and rose up, preparing to go to his dorm and trying to make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid- though it was an immense difficulty.

"Hey! Did I say you could get up Mad Player!" He wobbled towards him and shoved his finger into his chest. " You listen hear you! I don't care who you are, you only act on my word! Give me 50 laps around the ground right now."

"You think that's gonna do anything?" Onkai snapped at him. "This training you've given them, these physical tests; running, jumping, fighting against statues. You think that's gonna help in battle? It's all futile. None of them are ready. You're just wasting their time trying to make them feel like they're ready. If they're gonna die, then we should've just marched out those walls today you fat bastard!"

"Looks like we've got ourselves quite the talker over here!" The sergeant chuckled. "Fine, don't run. But now you've sacrificed your sleep. What's that hideous green boy's name again? I've heard he's a bit of a snorer. I'm taking your room, you'll rest up with him now. Good night!" The sergeant grinned mischievously. Onkai clenched his fists and was about to start arguing with him once again, but as he opened his mouth, the sergeant lit up like he was struck by lightning and faded away.