"So they were after his daughter?" Ryuko asked looking at him.

"Yeah they knew how much Hideo cared for her. So they figured the fastest way to get him was to get her." [Name] said looking at her.

"So what happened next?" Ryuko asked looking at him.

[Name] then held up his hand with only his ring ringer being the only finger extended. "The decay metal rings."

FLASHBACK

Zero, the twins, Hideo, and [Name] were in the base morning the loss of their friends. "What did they do?" Zero asked looking down at the ground. [Name] looked at him for a moment before Zero decided to clarify. "What did they ever do to deserve such a fate?" He asked looking at the ground.

"Yeah I see why you left now." Hideo said looking at Zero.

"Yeah I mean half of these people probably never did anything to the Star family." Xerxes said looking to the ceiling.

"What are we going to do now?" [Name] asked looking at Hideo. "I mean our numbers have been cut down majorly. Apart from us there are only a few of us left and they're all on missions. Without any numbers what are we going to do?" [Name] asked looking at him.

"Well I've been working on something that might be able to help us." Zero said looking at him.

"Really what is it?" Hideo asked looking at him.

"Well you're familiar with life fibers right." Zero asked looking at him.

"Yeah of course." Hideo said looking at him.

"Well I've been trying to create a counter part to them called Decay metal. However there's something I'm missing and I can't quiet figure what it is." Zero said looking at him.

"Any idea how close you are to figuring it out?" Hideo asked.

"Pretty close now. It shouldn't be more than three days four at the most." Zero said looking at him.

"So these Decay metal rings will make us stronger?" Hideo asked looking at him.

"From what I can tell yes." Zero said looking at him.

"Nice alright then here's the new plan Zero you focus on finishing the Decay metal rings. The twins will keep an eye on Sapphire and me and [Name] will keep disrupting the Star family." Hideo said looking at them. All of them nodded and went to there respective places. The twins went to Sapphires room Zero went to his private lab and [Name] and Hideo left the building.

"So what are we going to do?" [Name] asked looking at Hideo.

"We are going to plan an assault on the Star mansion." Hideo said looking at him.

"Alright so we're finally taking the fight to them." [Name] said a smile painting his face.

"That's right our cause makes sure no one dies in vain. Plus they are probably thinking that they caused us a serious blow so they'd never expect us to attack now." Hideo said as they walked into a nearby building.

FLASHBACK END

"So you and Hideo planned to attack the Star family?" Ryuko asked looking at [Name].

"Yeah and we did to. However we were wrong about some things and due to us being wrong we suffered another blow." [Name] said looking at Ryuko.

"What how?" Ryuko asked looking at him.

"They got us good. They knew exactly what was going to happen and countered us perfectly." [Name] said looking at her.

FLASHBACK

[Name] and Hideo looked at the mansion that was surrounded by walls. "You ready?" Hideo asked looking at [Name].

"Yeah I'm ready." [Name] said as they split up and climbed over the wall. 'Alright let me see. Hideo's heading toward the west wing that means I have to pick a different wing. I remember Zero saying that he would study in the north wing which means that's were all their Intel is.' [Name] thought as he raced towards the north side of the house.

He found a door and it was heavy guarded. [Name] reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny ball about the size of a marble. He threw it in front of the men that were guarding the door. One man looked at it curiously and picked it up only for it to bust and let out a green gas.

When it cleared the men that were guarding the door were all asleep. [Name] went to one of the bodies and picked up the keys from it. 'Yes thank you Zero.' [Name] thought as he opened the door. He looked around and found a table that had a few papers on it.

He looked at them and found several things. "Let's see what you've been planning." [Name] said looking at the papers. "Hmm what's this?" [Name] asked looking at a paper labeled. "The betrayal of Zero." He read over it. "Damn I guess Zero really did leave his family." [Name] said looking at the papers.

He read over it. It had several list of information about him including the fact that he was working on a new material called decay metal. "How do they know about the decay metal rings?" [Name] asked aloud. He then looked at another filed labeled "Bringing down Hideo."

[Name] immediately picked it up and started to look through the papers. He saw several things that made since. Which also explains why they knew about the decay metal rings. He looked at each of the papers and eyes trailed over a certain part his eyes widen immediately and he dropped the papers and ran out of the room. 'Damn it Damn it Damn it DAMN IT DAMN IT' [Name] thought as he ran out the building and climbed over the walls.

'They knew. THEY FUCKING KNEW! DAMN IT I NEED TO HURRY BEFORE IT'S TO LATE.' [Name] thought the reason for his rush was what he had read. They knew that Hideo would be here tonight. They had sent three of there elites to capture Sapphire. They had sent three to deal with the twins and Zero. Which meant that they didn't know about [Name].

So he had to hurry if he wanted to stop them from getting their hands on Sapphire. When [Name] finally arrived he saw the twins be held up off the ground by two large men. [Name] Smirked at his luck and knocked both of the men out before either could notice him.

[Name] smirked and looked at the twins. "Alright so where's Zero they sent another one after him?" [Name] asked looking at them. They both had sad looks on their faces and pointed to a pile of rubble. [Name]'s eyes widened and ran over to the rubble. He started to toss rocks out of the way.

When he finally saw Zeros face he smiled seeing that even though he was in bad condition he was still alive. He then heard a door behind him open and close and turned to see a larger man he had a star tattoo over both his eyes and a weird looking uniform on.

"I congratulate you although to be honest they were far weaker than me." He then raised his hands "I think you'll find me a much more suitable opponent." He then banged his hands together and spoke "Activate." Suddenly the uniform he was wearing was transformed into something completely new.

"This should provide you with a much more suitable challenge. This is my Star uniform the Steam dragon armor." He said as he dashed forward. [Name] had no time to react as his face met a very fast and very hard fist. [Name] was barely able to hold himself up preventing himself from passing out.

"I'm impressed most people who take a shot from me usually die but you're alive and you're still not out cold I must say you are quiet the interesting person." [Name] then smiled and dashed forward at him. Trying to land a hit on him he actually was able to land several hits however the steam dragon armor gave this man power far beyond what should have been expected of a normal human.

[Name] then found a fist planted in his stomach and he soon spit up a large amount of blood and passed out. After several hours had passed [Name] found himself in a bed looking at Hideo and the twins. "Hey." He said in depressed voice. "We fucked up didn't we." [Name] said looking at him.

"Yeah and right now all we can do is hope for a miracle." The two young blondes said.

Suddenly Zero bust into the room. "I figured it out!" he said looking at them." I figured out why the decay metal won't take to anything that I've tried to attach it to. It's the opposite of life fibers. It doesn't feed off others it let others feed of it." Zero said looking at them.

"What are you talking about Zero?" [Name] asked looking at him.

"Like I said life fibers are by their natural design the praetors Decay metal is the pray. It won't take to anything that is weaker than it. It needs to be fused with humans so they can feed off them." Zero said looking at the others.

"If my theory is correct then we can save Sapphire from my family. All I need is a some blood from each of you and the decay metal rings will be ready to go." Zero said looking at them. Hideo's eyes widen and he wasted no time in taking the knife Zero had and swiping it across his hand.

Zero smiled and placed his hand over a container. Zero smiled and took a different knife and swiped it across his own hand once again moving it over a different container. [Name] shrugged and took a blade and swiped it across it his own hand. The twins both nodded and followed everyone else's example.

Zero then smiled and left the room. "Follow me." Zero said looking at them. They all followed and went with Zero to see a model of a hand with five rings on it one on each finger.

Zero then looked at them with a serious look. "I should probably warn you this next part is going to be nasty. The decay metal doesn't have to be touching us to effect us. So prepare yourself it's going to do something and I don't know what." Zero said looking at them.

He then placed the containers on special platforms and they went up and were sent through small tubes that went to the rings. When their bloods touched the rings they started to glow a bright red color. So bright in fact they couldn't look at it directly otherwise it would have blinded them.

They each then heard whispers in their minds "You will be put through tests to see if you are truly worthy of what you desire. Now lets begin shall we."

With [Name]

"You are weak." The voice said as it made him watch the day he left Mako and his family. "You left to become stronger but you haven't. You are still weak." The voice said as it made him watch all the fights he had lost including his most recent loss against that unknown man.

"Why fight at all? Why fight when you already know you are going to lose? You will just fail again so why don't you just give up." The voice asked.

"Y-You're right. Why do I keep trying? . . . I can't remember." [Name] said as his vision started to fade.

"Can you find a reason to continue living?" [Name] thought for a moment and searched his memories. Then one memory stuck out to him. The memory of when he protected Mako from those bullies. "Yes." [Name] said as his vision returned to normal. "I have reason to become stronger. It's the same reason I left I want to become stronger to protect those I cared about."

"I see so you desire is power so you can use it not for yourself but for others. Very well you shall receive this you when your ring is removed you shall gain unmatched physical strength." The voice said as [Name] looked around and saw that the decay metal ring was already on his finger.

With Zero

"You want to prove you're not a failure." The voice said as it made Zero watch all the time he had spent studying. "You tried so hard to earn your families approval and failed in all categories." Zero then watched as he saw his younger self get slapped by his father.

"You're pathetic Zero we spent all that money on those books you wanted and you only came in 2ND place. You disgrace the Star family and all we stand for. You know what get out my sight before I official cut you off." He said as Zero ran out of the room almost crying.

"You have repeatedly failed to see what was right in front of you the whole time. Even now when you couldn't predict what your own family would do. Can you find a reason to keep trying? Can you find a reason to continue moving forward?"

Zero was close to falling into darkness until he heard a voice call out to him. "Zero." He then looked up and saw his own flesh and blood. "Sis." it came out barely above a whisper but a memory found it's way to Zero.

He was crying on his bed. He then heard the door open and looked up to see his sister "Don't listen to dad. He's an idiot." She said looking at him. "I think it's great you got second place. I mean that collage science fair is only for the smartest people in the entire world so by that logic you're the second smartest person in the world." She said looking at him.

"It was that moment." Zero said. "It was that moment I decided I wasn't a failure so I don't care what you say you're wrong. If you don't like it then bite me. Because as far as I'm concerned you're my creation and I won't be pushed around by you." Zero said looking up.

"Creation huh. So you are a brilliant man with a brilliant mind. I see you shall gain the ability to see all possibilities when your ring is removed. The rest is up to decide." As Zero came to and found the ring on his finger.

With the twins

"You to are pathetic letting others push you around your whole life. Your father ruled over you two and yet neither of you said a thing to him. You two are cowards." The voice said as it made them watch when they were little and their father pushed both their heads into the mud.

"You to are so pathetic you can't even stand back up from a light little hit like that. Wow I guess I overestimated you." He said as he got down and kicked them in the ribs.

"What is it you truly desire? You are already away from him and yet you still do nothing but think back at time when he called you two weak. So what is it you truly desire? Do you two blame the yourselves for the death of your mother or is it something else."

The twins shook both of their heads as they tried to cancel out the voice. "That's not true." They heard a voice say. They knew who this voice belonged to and it belonged to Hideo. "You two are lacking in the physical strength department but you two deal with Zero and his experiments all the time and no one else has time to deal with that. You have got to be the most durable guys here. You make me proud to say you two are a members of the elite four."

"Yeah he's right. We're not weak we are just have different strengths. We may be small and hyperactive but we can take more beatings than anyone else can. If you throw us into a volcano we'll be ready by supper for what is next." The two said aloud.

"I see so you wish to change nothing. Then you two shall remain what you are now durable and when you two remove your rings you shall gain durability that will challenge even the strongest of men." The two then opened their eyes to see that each of them had a ring on opposite finger. One on the thumb and one on the pinky.

With Hideo

"I see that you have had a happy life. However there are people that you have dedicated your life to bringing down and there are people you can not protect. Such as what happened with Amelia." The voice said as he made Hideo relive the memory of seeing his wife pass away right before his eyes.

"You are never in the right place at the right time. In fact it always seems like your in the exact opposite place of were you need to be." The voice said as it made him watch what happened earlier in the week. Were he was at the east Wing of the Star mansion when he suddenly received a call from Zero. "Hideo come quick they have Sapphire."

"Why bother even if she is still alive. She's a young girl she wouldn't be doing the world any good. So what do yo-" The voice was interrupted by Hideo.

"THAT'S NOT YOU CALL! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DECIDE WHO'S LIFE HAS VALUE AND WHO'S DOESN'T BECAUSE THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS EVERY LIFE HAS VALUE. . . even Sapphire." Hideo said as said girl looked at him.

"I love you daddy." She said which brought a smile to his face.

"I see well it seems like you already have what you want expect for being able to be in the right place. You ability shall be to teleport where you are needed when your ring is removed." The voice said as Hideo woke up to see his friends all staring at him with smiles on their faces. "Alright everyone let's get Sapphire back."