'Who am I?'

"Sir, subject R-445 is waking up." Hearing this, a young man with long blonde hair, dressed in a button-up white shirt and black slacks smiled happily. 

"Good, prepare the tests." The young man said as he looked at the screen.

"Yes, Master Otto." The man, named Otto, smiled as he looked over his shoulder to look at a shield.

---

(??? P.o.V.)

"Where am I?" A young boy asked. He looked to be around 10 years old. it has been a decade since he was born and he had finished the test given to him. He was forced to fight someone who looked like him but he only knocked him out with that shield. The last thing he remembered was him being congratulated by a mysterious voice. 

"Oh, good morning." Looking up, the young boy looked to see a man with yellow hair. "I am Otto, Otto Apocalypse, overseer of Schicksal." 

"Otto...? Ove...r...see?" Hearing this, the man chuckled and rubbed the boy's head. 

"You may call me Gruncle Otto." the man said with a smile as he looked at the boy who tilted his head. 

"Gruncle..." the boy repeated before nodding. He liked the sound of it. 

"And you... you have no name, I see." Otto said, hearing this the boy tilted his head. Name? Why didn't he have one? 

"What's a name?" The boy asked curiously.

"A name is what you are called and given to you by people. From now on, you will be Rex, Rex Crozzo." Otto said with a smile as he looked at the boy. That body language was the same as his late friend. 

"Rex..." the young man repeated as he looked at the man. "Rex Crozzo." He repeated once more as he found a liking to it. The young man smiled and unconsciously gave Otto a grin with closed eyes his hands doing a shooting motion at the overseer. Seeing this, tears formed in the man's eyes before he wiped his eyes. 

"Now, come on. We need to get you to your new home." Otto said with a smile. Hearing this, the young boy smiled and followed the man. 

---

CE, 2014. Nagazora. 

A young man around his teens dressed in a black leather jacket, and cargo pants, armed with a pistol and knife can be seen walking around, hands on his pistol and knife while he traveled through the alleys of the city, evading the undead horde. 

Reaching a safe spot, the young man held his gun and knife in one hand before fishing out a phone with his left hand. 

Looking at it, the young man groaned in annoyance as he saw that it was almost out. 

"Me and my god damn luck." Hearing something, the man pressed himself to the wall and held his knife. taking some deep breaths, the young man prepared himself and held his knife close. Focusing himself the young man waited and a single undead passed by. Knowing that it was alone, the young man reached in, grabbed the zombie by the back of its collar, and stabbed it on the head with his knife, killing it instantly. 

"45." The young man counted as he let the zombie down before pulling his knife out and smashed its head with a rock. "Man, I should have taken that crossbow. Me and my love for Homu Gear Solid." The young man said as he peeked around the corner and saw that it was clear.

He might have a gun but it has a lot of drawbacks, it can draw a horde to him, can damage his ears, and more. It has a limited ammo capacity as well. Sighing, the teen holstered his gun on the holster on his right thigh before pulling out a slingshot and taking some metallic pieces. 

"Man, gruncle Otto is gonna be pissed." The young man said as he took out a small rock and used his slingshot to break the window of a car, attracting zombies to it before crossing the streets. 

"Not to mention, Auntie Teri is so gonna ground me." The young man said as he took out a radio from his bag and turned it on. Adjusting the antenna, the young man hoped that someone will pick up the signal. 

"Hello, can anyone hear me?" The young man asked only to be replied with static. Gritting his teeth, the young man started to adjust the antenna and frequency. 

"Hello? Is anyone still alive in here? Over?" He asked, desperate to know if anyone was still alive. 

The young man sighed and was about to turn his radio off when static shot out of it, surprising him. 

"A survivor?" A voice asked, it seemed like it belonged to a girl. Hearing this, the young man let out a sigh of relief. 

"Hey? Can you hear me? Are you still alive?" The young man asked as he broke into a smile. Great, he was not alone. 

"Who is this?" The voice asked, this time it belonged to someone older. 

"Thank god." The young man said as he let out a tear of joy. "This is Rex, Rex Crozzo. Who is this? Are you still alive?" The man asked, now named Ren. 

"Yes! Are you alright?" The girl was asked and he could hear someone talk about Mei-senpai or something. 

"Yes! Damn, I've never thought there will be someone else still alive." Rex said as he then took his bag and entered a house, locking the door. 

"Hmph! Of course, we will be safe, we have mei-senpai and I'm here as well." another voice said, this time it was different from the two. 

"I see, you guys better stay safe for the night." the young man said as he checked the house, knife at the ready. 

"Where are you?" The little girl's voice asked as she seemed to be monotone like a robot. 

"Oh? Me? Well..." the young man said as he set his bag down on a couch and looked outside. "I'm in the residential area, near a convenience store. 

"Oh, that's near where we are. Stay there, we'll get you out." 

"No, you are in a group, it will be harder for you to travel," Rex said as he looked around. "You should rest for the night and save your strength. If possible we should meet tomorrow. I have some supplies." 

"Subject Rex Cruz makes a good point." The youngest of the group said making Rex smile, 

"Yes, take a good rest and I'll meet up with you tomorrow. I'll be bringing some supplied for you as well." It seems like after hearing this, the eldest of the group was flustered. 

"t-thank you." 

"No sweat, I'm just glad to know that there are survivors here." 

"I am Mei, Mei Raiden." The girl introduced herself only to hear a curse as Rex hid on the balcony wall. 

"well, it was nice talking to you but I should go," Rex said as he drew his gun and raised the safety. "I'll get back to you later. stay safe." After this, the young man checked the bullets on his magazine to see that he has around 6 bullets left plus one in the chamber. He also has three more magazines, amounting to 28 rounds, with two boxes with a hundred rounds each, amounting to 200+ Rounds. Reaching behind his waist, the young man pulled out a colt single action army revolver modified for higher damage loaded with 5 rounds. 

(A few hours later) 

Rex, now freshly bathed, dressed in his new attire composed of black cargo pants, with a tactical belt with a holster and thigh pouches, dark combat boots, a fresh green t-shirt, and a dark green jacket with fur lining around the hood. The young man then put on a scarf, wrapped it around his neck and took his now larger bag, and took out his knife and gun. It was an hour before sunrise. 

The young man put on a helmet as well as a pair of gloves and used a bike from the garage and started to pedal through the streets, evading zombies easily due to the speed of his new bike. 

It took him 30 minutes to arrive at their rendezvous point and he was the first one to arrive. Going inside the building, the young man raised his pistol and knife and went inside the building. Armed with his weapons, the young man waited for an hour and he saw them. 

Moving the window away the young man rested his hands on the balcony and waved at the trio on the streets. 

"Kept you waiting, huh?" Rex asked with a smile hidden under his helmet and scarf. Hearing this, the shortest of the girls perked up and looked directly at the man. 

"Are you... Rex?" The purple-haired girl asked. She looks like a student and a teenager. Is she really a teen?

"Yeah, the name's Rex, Rex Crozzo," Rex said introducing himself as he looked at the group. They were a ragtag bunch. An albino, a gray-haired girl, and a Japanese purple-haired maiden. To show that he meant them no harm, the young man removed the magazine from his pistol and dropped it to the ground along with his knife and revolver. 

Seeing the weapons, the gray-haired girl grew excited while the albino was less reserved. 

"Is that a colt single-action army revolver?! Where did you get one? Those things are classic." The white-haired girl said excitedly. Hearing this, Rex chuckled and removed his helmet, and showed them the bag filled with supplies. 

"Let's just say that it's a hobby of mine." The young man said as he lowered his scarf and stepped into the light revealing his dark hair and average looks, and dark eyes. 

"My name is Rex, Rex Crozzo." The young man said, introducing himself to the girls. Hearing this, the albino of the group stepped forwards and proudly raised her chest.

"I am Kiana, Kiana Kaslana. Nice to meet you." The girl said cheekily, her blue eyes shining as she walked forwards and gasped at the sight of his pistol. Seeing this, the shortest of the group shook her head and kept on hugging her homu doll. 

'A Kaslana?' Rex thought as he looked at the Albino  

"Subject Rex, I am Subject Bronya Zaychik, nice to meet you. Forgive Subject Kiana Idiotka's arrogance." The Russian girl said, earning a growl of anger from Kiara. 

"Hello, I'm Mei, Mei Raiden. It's nice to see that someone else than us survived." 

"Tell me about it, the first days were the hardest." Rex said. 

(Flashback)

"I am Reclaimer of my name!!!!!!" Rex sang as he tore through hordes of zombies with a katana. 

"Damn, reading hentai gets boring." The young man said as he sat in a manga store reading some mangas before using his pistol to shoot a zombie in the head. 

"Oh, God! I don't want to die a virgin, give me a cutie with big booty." Rex prayed as he looked to the sky. 

(Flashback end) 

"It was rough." Rex admitted as he took his guns only to flinch as Kiara moved towards him to the point that their faces were only inches apart.

"You play Homu gear solid 3?!" The Albino asked excitedly as she noticed the modifications of the gun. Hearing this, Rex's eyes narrowed before he nodded. 

"I do." He said as he smiled at the Kaslana. "I can even do, Ocelot's revolver spins, " Rex said proudly as Kiara looked at him with a raised brow. Hearing this, the white-haired girl raised her hands, with Rex doing the same and did a shooting motion with their hands. 

"You're pretty good." The Tuna and the ocelot-wannabe both said at the same time. 

---

The group of 4 then spent several days inside the zombie-infested city of Nagazora. The group has managed to get into contact with the outside world with the help of Rex's twin older 'brother'. 

Rex smiled as he looked at Mei from his position of being slumped into a wall while cleaning his guns and knife. The youngest of the group, Bronya was asleep with her head on Mei's lap with Rex's jacket on her like a blanket. 

"So, what's wrong?" Rex asked as he reassembled his weapon and holstered it and spun his revolver in his hands.  Looking at the white-haired Kaslana beside him, the young man was curious and worried at the sight of Mei's injured arm. 

"Hmph!" 

"You do know that she was just embarrassed right? Besides, I know she liked it." Rex said as he put five bullets in his revolver and holstered it behind his waist. 

"And how can you say that?" Kiana asked with a raised brow, only to get a sly smirk from the male. 

"I would too if a beautiful girl like you did that to me." Rex said before dodging a flustered punch from the blushing Kaslana. 

"Pervert!" The Kaslana said quietly as she used her arms to hit the young Crozzo, who just chuckled. Seeing the two, Mei just chuckled. 

An explosion happened and the group was sent flying outside, the girls were caught by Bronya while Rex was slammed into the ground hard enough to create a spider web crack and for him to cough out blood. 

'There will always be a Crozzo who will be by a Kaslana's side.' Someone said inside his head as Rex stood up, ignoring the agonizing pain his body was in. A bright light shone on the right side of his body and his right eye. 

His eyes widened at the sight of a blade from the Honkai beast trying to kill Mei. His body moved on its own, faster than he usually could, the young man stood in front of his friends, pushed them away, and raised his hand. 

The blade of the Honkai beast drew blood and soon revealed that the blade has been stopped by Rex but it was not enough as it cut Kiana's back lightly and it cut through his right shoulder up to his stomach. Rex used a circular shield to block the blow with his left hand but he was not strong enough and he was injured. 

"REX!!!" Mei shouted with tears in her eyes as she looked at her injured friend while she held the Passed out Kiana. 

Hearing that she was safe, Rex turned around and gave her a smile and thumbs up before he passed out with blood pooling around his body. 

---

A man with golden hair was drinking from his glass suddenly froze as the shield in his office glowed and disappeared. Unable to move from shock, the man suddenly started to chuckle.

"Sir, we have a visual confirmation of Rex Crozzo, it seems like he had summoned a shield of some sort." Came the voice of his dutiful secretary.

"A success..." He said quietly as he finished his wine and slammed the glass on the table. 

"My 500-year long ambition! Yes! Soon! We will be reunited!" The blonde-haired man said as he laughed madly and looked at the picture of Rex on a frame in his office. 

"Now, that she is nearly unsealed, you will be revived as well, my friend." He said as he looked into a portrait of three people. All of them looked to be in their 20's with different attires. 

The first one was of the blonde-haired man dressed in black pants, a white shirt, and a purple coat holding a book. He was seen smiling happily, and his green eyes radiated with joy

The only girl in the group was one with white hair and blue eyes dressed in a way similar to a nun with a cross behind her. She had a beautiful smile on her face as she looked at the two. 

he last of the group was a young man with black hair and tanned skin dressed in a black shirt and dark pants with a pair of holsters around his waist. He has a circular shield on his back, and some scars on his face. He has an arm wrapped around the blond man with his other arm and hand rubbing the albino's head. 

"Now, my friend, just wait for a little bit more. We will all be reunited." The blonde man said with a smile as his face changed to neutral when his secretary came inside his private study. 

"Lord Otto, is everything alright?" 

"No, everything is going better than planned." 

Suddenly, the secretary froze as her hand went to the side of her visor. 

"Sir, there was a sudden spike in Anti-honkai energy in Nagazora, it seems to have eradicated an entire horde of honkai beasts. Is everything alright, Sir?" The secretary asked. For Otto, his smile could not get anymore bigger as he knew his 500-year quest is near its completion