So I was just looking through my drive, as you do, and stumbled across a short story that I wrote my senior year of high school and??? It's actually pretty good??? Can't remember the grade I got on it tho :(
I'm also thinking about making a webtoon, but can't decide on the story (I have too many), so thoughts on me adapting this??
“New Blood”
The door burst open, the crash of it hitting the wall echoing around the large room, drowning out the uneven pounding of the teenager’s feet hitting the floor. In the center of that room stood a grand desk, dwarfing the man that sat at it. He looked up at the intrusion, away from a pile of papers and books that were haphazardly strewn out on the wood.
“Ah, Zero! I was wondering when you’d show up.” He grinned at the teenager still storming towards him, his brown eyes retaining their usual coldness.
Slamming their hands down on the desk, a few papers flying to the floor, Zero spat at the man. “Was that part of your plan? What were you thinking?!” Their eyes blazed, teeth bared at the man whose grin only grew.
“Was it not to your liking?” The man asked, already knowing the answer.
“My liking- Darius, my entire team was killed!” Zero fumed. They were still in their uniform, ripped, covered in dirt, and splattered in blood. Their gun was still in it’s holster, but their knives were missing. Most likely lost in the mission. “How could losing your best squadron to try to kill a politician, of all things, be to your liking?!”
“My dear Zero, I did not lose my best,” Darius spread his hands, eyes softening slightly. “You are standing before me, after all.”
“Only because Meave threw herself over me!” The teenager growled, crossing their muscular arms. They made quite an intimidating figure, fresh from battle, but the man was not perturbed.
“Oh, stop whining. They wouldn’t have been able to harm you anyway.” He rolled his eyes.
“Don’t tell me to shut up! Those weapons could have even killed me! It was an absolute bloodbath!” Zero yelled a wordless sound of frustration. Why was Darius being so calm about this! He killed their entire team! Why couldn’t he see his fault?!
The man’s grin turned smug. “Truly? Why don’t you tell me more about those weapons.” It wasn’t a question.
Zero gaped. “You-” They laughed without mirth. “Of course. That was your plan? You made me lead my team to slaughter to learn about their weapons?” They turned, limping towards the door still standing ajar.
Darius rose, face forming a blank mask. “Zero, where are you going.” Again, not a question.
Zero didn't even bother to look back. “The Lab. I can’t deal with you right now.” They frowned down at their uneven steps. Their right foot was still completely shattered, and while the pain could be ignored, Zero knew that healing was taking far longer than it should have.
Darius probably said something in response, but Zero wasn’t listening, instead thinking back to their horribly failed mission. It was supposed to be a typical assassination, in and out, their team keeping watch; the lazer guns forcing them to cosplay swiss cheese were unexpected, to say the least. It was a little overkill to protect some no-name politician who cared more about unfairly taxing the labor force than protecting the country from domestic terrorists. Why would they have done that? Did they know they were coming?
Zero paused outside of the Laboratory door, blinking. Was there a mole? They shook their head. No, it was useless to become paranoid right now. It was time to mourn and reevaluate their attack strategy.
The door slid open, revealing a sterile white room filled with medical equipment and sciency stuff. Zero didn’t really know the room’s full capacity was capable of, but it did make them, so it was definitely impressive. The only occupant to the room was a man, a few years older than Zero, at a station looking through a microscope. He looked up at the sound of the door opening.
“Zero! You're back! How was the mission?” He tilted his head. “And where’s the rest of your team?”
“Dead.” Zero sat down on one of the examination chairs, sighing in relief at the weight off of their foot. “Leima, I know you have questions. Interrogate me after you look at my foot? It's all messed up.”
"...Alright then," Leima shrugged. He wasn't all that close to Zero's team, only ever seeing them when they were injured. Although, he knew Zero ever since he had started working in the Lab five years ago, since Zero was practically raised from there.
Rolling himself over in his chair, Leima slid to a stop in front of the teenager. "Take off your boot, show me what I'm workin' with."
Zero complied with a grunt, scrunching their face up in pain as their boot was pulled over the worst of the injury. Leima sucked in a breath at the sight. A gruesome collage of blues, browns, and purples spread across the disfigured foot, contrasting horrifically against Zero's pale skin. Leima looked up, his blue eyes locking with Zero's own red, the worry in them tangible.
"What happened." Not a question, but unlike Darius' demands, the young man's was made with concern.
"Steel beam fell on it," they broke eye contact, instead focusing on their foot. Zero wiggled their toes, testing the pain. Ouch. "Which, normally, I can just walk off, you know? But I was hit with some lazer thing-- which healed, don't worry-- and then my foot was squished. Now I'm not healing."
"Mm, guessing that's how your team died?" Leima hummed, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a syringe filled with a light blue substance.
"Yep. Probably some sort of biological warfare weaponry." Zero leaned back in the chair, bracing themselves. That shot would hurt, the liquid inside a healing booster made specifically for them. "And can you believe that it was all Darius' plan? He knew they would die! What kind of leader does that?"
"A crappy one." Leima injected them with the syringe slowly, right in their calf muscle. Zero was right, it did hurt. "Ya know, why don't we get a new boss?"
"What, like anarchy? Walk up and take the metaphorical throne out from under him?" Zero rolled their eyes, then winced at the feeling of the booster reconstructing their foot. That was something they could never get used to.
“Why not? I’ve been thinkin’ about it for a while, ‘cause this wasn’t the first suicide mission he sent out.” He pulled out the syringe, frowning. “We’d be better off without him leadin’ us.”
"I doubt that can happen without bloodshed." Still focused on their foot, Zero wiggled their toes again, easier to do this time.
"Do it," Leima met Zero's eyes again, more intently than before. "Zero, he wants to make more of you. More weaponized this time. Blood will be spilt; just make it in our favor."
"What? That's not good." Zero frowned. They were made as a living weapon, scientifically altered at an embryonic state to regenerate almost instantaneously. Anything unnecessary, like reproductive organs and the appendix, were removed before they were ‘born.’ The drawback is that they are highly susceptible to airborne viruses and illnesses. More 'Zeros' wouldn't be ideal, nor very humane. "Wait- are you saying you want me to be the new boss?"
"Well, yeah. You're, like, my closest friend, and even though you just barely qualify as an adult, I know that you'll be great as a leader." Leima smiled. He rose, and patted Zero on the shoulder. "Alright, you’re all healed up! Go snatched that throne from Darius."
The teenager laughed at their friend’s antics, pulling their boot back on. "Okay, okay! I'll be the new leader." With a wave goodbye, Zero left the Lab, already forming a plan on how to take over; something that showed power, but nothing too flashy.
A few hours pass before Darius summons them to a meeting to debrief the mission with the higher-ups. Zero stepped into the large office, this time without a broken foot, and analyzed the situation. On the desk sat three vials in a protective case, most likely ingredients to make more ‘Zeros.’ There were four men in the room, other than Darius, none of which were fighters. Perfect.
"Zero, dear, there you are!" The lead man himself said, standing and spreading his arms in a sort of greeting. "Why don't you tell us about the mission you were on earlier in the day, hmm?"
"No." Zero raised a knife that they had grabbed before coming, and threw it. It embedded itself right in the center of Darius' forehead, knocking the man back onto his seat, killing him instantly. The other men were too stunned to speak, or to do anything other than stand and stare.
"Well then," Zero stated, no emotion on their face, wiping nonexistent dust from their sleeves. The teenager walked around the desk, shoving the corpse off of the chair and onto the ground with a thump. They’ll have to get that cleaned up. That’s why Zero never liked to kill indoors; too messy. Sitting on the leather throne, crossing their legs, eyeing the others in the room who stood there gaping at the scene having just taken place, Zero addressed them for the first time:
"It was about time this organization was led with new blood."
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