Viper Scans FanFic
Eleceed: Genesis Surge
Author – Panda_98
Chapter 3: The Prototype and the Echo
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Location: Sub-Level Crater – Post-Battle
The ground was still hot. Smoke curled lazily from shattered floor tiles and sparking wires that drooped like jungle vines.
Kaiden stretched his shoulders with a wince. He hated when fights went too long, it meant he'd pushed too hard too fast. But something about the last clash had made his blood hum in a way it hadn't for months.
"Not bad," he muttered, eyeing Subject Zero across the scorched wreckage.
Zero was still standing, breathing hard. Cracks ran down his arms like thin lightning scars. A trickle of blood ran from his nose. But his eyes, those pale, silver eyes, still locked onto Kaiden without blinking.
"You've got potential," Kaiden said, walking forward. His tone was casual, but his fingers twitched slightly, still alert. "But you're missing something."
Zero tilted his head. "What?"
Kaiden stopped a few feet away. His expression sharpened, not hostile, just brutally honest.
"You don't want it enough."
Zero blinked. "Want what?"
Kaiden's grin returned, just slightly.
"The fight."
---
Elsewhere – Above Ground Facility
Alarms were still flashing. Entire sections of the building had lost power. Engineers scrambled across broken security doors while analysts barked into radios.
One high-ranking director paced back and forth in a hallway that now looked like it had hosted a war zone.
"You let him breach six levels!" the director shouted. "And you released Subject Zero early, are you trying to get us all killed?!"
In the observation room, the lead scientist calmly cleaned his glasses.
"Kaiden's data is invaluable," he said coolly. "We've seen more adaptation in Zero in fifteen minutes than in the past three years of simulations."
"He almost destroyed the facility!"
"Yes. Almost."
The director looked like he was ready to explode.
"And what if he comes back?!"
The scientist didn't answer at first. Then he smiled faintly.
"He will."
---
Back in the crater
Subject Zero lowered his hands. He wasn't attacking anymore. Just… watching. Like he was still calculating something.
Kaiden gave him a long look.
"Tell me," Kaiden asked, voice lighter now, "do you even know what you are?"
Zero was quiet for a moment.
Then: "I was created to surpass you."
Kaiden snorted. "Yeah, that part's obvious. But you, not the mission. You got any of you in there? A goal? A name?"
Zero looked slightly confused, like no one had ever asked that before.
"Zero," he said.
"That's a number."
"It's all I was given."
Kaiden clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"Tch. That's just lazy."
He turned his back.
Zero didn't move.
"I don't get it," he said. "You came here to fight. You didn't finish me. Why?"
Kaiden paused at the edge of the crater.
"Because that wasn't a real fight," he said. "It was a test. You're still holding back. Or… you don't know how to stop holding back."
He looked over his shoulder.
"When you really want to win, come find me."
And with a snap of his fingers, he disappeared in a crackle of lightning.
---
Elsewhere – Abandoned Rooftop (Later that night)
Kaiden sat cross-legged atop a roof somewhere in the outskirts of the city, eating takeout noodles directly from the container.
He winced as he flexed his shoulder, bruised, maybe even cracked.
"Still got a good punch, I'll give the brat that."
He slurped noisily.
The city below was quiet. Unusually so.
Which meant either another blackout or the facility was doing damage control.
He leaned back, exhaling slowly. Lightning crackled faintly along his forearm.
He could still feel the aftershock of the fight. Not just the bruises, something else. A shift.
That kid… that wasn't just mimicry.
There were fragments of Kaiden's energy in Zero. His tempo. His rhythm. But cleaner. Measured.
Like he was designed to counter me. Which means… someone out there is studying me again.
Kaiden narrowed his eyes.
He didn't like that.
---
Flashback – Years Earlier
Younger Kaiden stood alone in an arena surrounded by spectators, all whispering.
No teacher. No sponsor. No support team.
He cracked his knuckles.
Across from him stood a trained elite from one of the big Awakener factions.
Kaiden was out-ranked. Out-matched. Out-equipped.
He won anyway.
By the time it was over, the other guy wasn't even conscious.
And Kaiden? He was smiling.
---
Present Day
Kaiden clenched his fists, lightning curling around his fingers.
They think they can build me like I'm some lab-made weapon?
Fine.
Then I'll show them what the real thing looks like.
He stood up, tossed the empty container off the roof.
---
Hidden Chamber Beneath a Mountain (Unknown Location)
A figure in a heavy cloak stepped forward, standing before a sealed vault door. Engraved on the stone were ancient symbols that pulsed faintly with life.
Behind him, a hologram flickered to life, a recording from the facility, showing Kaiden's battle with Subject Zero.
Another voice rang out from the shadows. Feminine. Cold.
"So the Mad Dog of Lightning is active again."
The cloaked figure nodded.
"And now he's attracting others."
A third voice, male, gravelly, joined in.
"The First Generation's coming back online."
There was silence. Then laughter.
It wasn't amused. It was hungry.
---
Subject Zero's Chamber (Post-Battle Quarantine)
Zero sat inside a reinforced glass room now, medical tubes removed, hands bandaged, eyes alert.
Monitors read his vitals. All stable. Except for one spike, under "Cognitive Activity."
He stared at the corner of the room, where a static pulse occasionally sparked against the wall.
A tiny flicker of lightning.
He reached out to it.
Touched it.
His fingers didn't burn.
Instead, the spark responded.
His eyes widened slightly.
Then he spoke, quietly.
"…Kaiden."
---
Unknown Location, Three Days Later
Kaiden entered a rundown building that smelled like rust and smoke.
Inside was an old man, surrounded by dusty relics and flickering screens.
"You got any names for me?" Kaiden asked.
The old man grinned.
"You caused quite a stir. A few of the old monsters felt it."
"Good."
Kaiden stepped forward.
"I want to find them."
"All of them?"
Kaiden smiled, electric arcs dancing in his eyes.
"Every. Last. One."
---
To Be Continued…