ZERO ONE: ONE HOPE!

Total darkness enveloped Hariel's consciousness.

He felt as if he were drifting in a deep, silent ocean, unable to breathe, unable to see, unable to feel anything but a dull ache throughout his body.

Strange voices were heard in the distance, like whispers from another world muffled by water.

"...Hey... wake up..."

The voice sounded familiar. Lumi?

"Hariel! Don't you dare die in a place like this, you idiot!"

Yes, that was definitely Lumi's voice. Classic, full of annoyance, yet with a clear underlying note of worry.

Hariel tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt incredibly heavy, as if slabs of steel were holding them down.

"Please... wake up, Hariel..."

That voice was different. Softer, sadder, and filled with anxiety. Niki.

Mustering all his remaining consciousness, Hariel forced his eyes open.

A dim, flickering light greeted him.

He was in a small, dimly lit room, its walls made of old, cracked, and damp bricks. On the ceiling, a small emergency lamp flickered, the only source of light.

Beside him, Niki sat with his back against the wall, his face pale and exhausted. Lumi floated slowly near him, the blue light from her body now dim and blinking at an irregular rhythm.

"Hariel... you're awake?" Niki asked, his voice trembling with a mixture of relief and anxiety.

He quickly supported Hariel's shoulder as the young man tried to sit up. "Don't move yet. You're very badly injured."

Hariel looked down at his own body. His clothes were tattered and partly scorched, his skin covered in burns and deep gashes. But there was something strange. He could see that the wounds looked better than they should.

"What... what happened?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"You were hit by the blast from that box," Niki answered quietly. "A huge explosion. I honestly don't know how you survived."

Hariel's memory flashed back: his rampage, his wings of fire, and the final moment when the black box opened... then the painful white light.

A more important question surfaced in his mind.

"What about the others? Bolt? Grease? All of them?"

Niki lowered his head, his grim face filled with deep sorrow.

"Bolt, Wrench, Pipe... they're all badly hurt," Niki said, his voice heavy. "I've tried to give them first aid, but I'm not a doctor. I don't know if they'll be alright..."

"Grease..." he continued, his voice trembling even more, "she's the worst off. She tried to shield Hammer from the shrapnel."

Hariel's breath caught in his throat. His gaze was vacant, staring at the damp wall in front of him. His hands unconsciously clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"This is all..." his voice was barely audible, a whisper filled with crushing regret.

"...my fault."

"It's not your fault, you foolish boy!" Lumi exclaimed, zipping right in front of Hariel's face. "You did your best! You protected Niki! You almost died for all of them! Don't you dare blame yourself for an outcome you couldn't completely control!"

Hariel remained silent, but the heavy weight in his chest did not lift.

It was then that Niki, a sharp, analytical glint in his eyes, leaned closer. His worry was momentarily replaced by a scientist's awe.

"Lumi is right, Hariel. But... there's something very strange," Niki said, pointing at Hariel's arm. "Look at your wounds. Your rate of cellular regeneration... it defies all the laws of biology I've ever studied. It shouldn't be possible."

"Scar tissue isn't even forming... this... this is a perfect regeneration."

Hariel examined his wounds more closely. It was true, the burn on his arm that had been stinging earlier was already starting to dry up.

"Oh... this?" he muttered, his reaction not one of shock, but of familiar confusion. "I don't know. I've been like this since I was a kid. I often get hurt badly, but it's usually better by the time I wake up."

He paused, his hand instinctively touching the blue sun pendant on his neck.

"...Maybe it's because of the fire in my body. Or maybe it has something to do with this pendant. I've never really thought about it."

"Never thought about it?!" Lumi exclaimed in disbelief. "An ability like that could send every scientist in Gizmograd into a frenzy, fighting over who gets to dissect you, you know!"

"Whatever it is," Niki cut in seriously. "We have to be very careful. The Gear Phantoms are after me for my research. Now that they've seen this, they'll probably be after you too, Hariel."

Hariel nodded slowly, his gaze turning sharper. He knew Niki was right. This fight wasn't over.

With his body still aching, Hariel finally got to his feet. Together with Niki, he stepped out of their hiding place.

The air in Junkyard Junction felt heavy and suffocating. The sharp smell of burnt metal and thick smoke still billowed lazily from thousands of points of ruin, dancing in the grey dawn sky.

An oppressive silence had replaced the rumble of machinery, as if this place had lost its soul. A giant iron graveyard.

"There's no one here," Hariel murmured, his eyes scanning the surroundings. Junkyard Junction, usually bustling, was now completely silent.

Niki nodded, pausing to look at the piles of melted metal that had fused into strange, abstract shapes. "This is very strange," he said. "Usually, even after an explosion, people would come back soon. But now... it's as if everyone just vanished."

"Maybe they're scared," Hariel said, trying to find a logical reason.

Niki took a long sigh. "Or maybe... Junkyard Junction was never considered important by anyone in Gizmograd," he said, his voice flat but full of bitterness. "It's just a dumping ground. No one cares what happens to the people here."

Hariel fell silent, processing Niki's words. He looked around at the wreckage that, just hours ago, was where they had worked hard together, laughed, and built a dream. A small flame of his spirit refused to be extinguished.

In front of them lay the frame of the Sky Ark they had painstakingly started to build. Now, it was nothing more than a pathetic pile of bent metal. A silent monument to their dream, collapsed before it could even get its wings.

Hariel clenched his fists so tightly. A small, weak flame flickered back to life at his fingertips—not a fire of power, but a fire of frustration, anger, and guilt.

"This is all my fault," he mumbled, his voice hoarse. "I lost control... I destroyed everything..."

Niki, standing silently beside him, took a long sigh. "We all had a hand in this destruction, Hariel," he said quietly. "I was the one involved with The Gear Phantoms. I was the one who brought all this trouble into our lives."

Hariel turned, and in the midst of that despair, his previously dim eyes sparked again with a flicker of resolve.

"Constantly blaming ourselves won't change anything," he said, his voice now sounding stronger. "The most important thing now is what we do next."

"We may have lost our ship, but we still have this," he said, pointing to Niki's head, then to his own. "And this," he continued, clenching his fist, which was still giving off sparks of fire.

"As long as we still have your intelligence and your crazy ideas, and my spirit and this fire power, we can definitely rebuild that Sky Ark, an even better one!"

Niki managed a faint smile at Hariel's seemingly indestructible optimism. A tired smile, but also a glimmer of hope. "You're right. But we need time. And we need new materials. This place has been completely destroyed."

As that atmosphere of resolve yet uncertainty enveloped them, a soft golden light suddenly appeared from the pendant on Hariel's chest.

Lumi floated out, the expression on her tiny face looking puzzled and very concentrated.

"How strange..." she said, her voice echoing directly in Hariel's and Niki's minds.

"What's strange, Lumi?" Hariel asked quickly.

Lumi floated a little higher, her eyes closed. "I'm sensing a very strong wave of Primordial Energy, far stronger than the remnants I felt before. But... this is different."

She paused for a moment. "The energy isn't stationary. It's... it's moving. Constantly moving in a steady flow. As if it's being carried by something."

Niki immediately moved closer, his previously grim face now filled with curiosity. "Moving? How could a power source that large move on its own? Unless... something is carrying it."

"Moving, you say?!" Hariel's signature wide grin immediately appeared, his frustration evaporating instantly. "That's even better! That must be a walking clue! We have to chase it!"

"Chase it?" Niki looked at Hariel anxiously. "Hariel, we don't even know what it is! It could be an energy monster or a dangerous phenomenon caused by the explosion!"

"My gut tells me this is our chance!" Hariel retorted, unwavering. "This is the hope that has emerged from the middle of this ruin, Niki! If we don't act now, we could lose this opportunity forever!"

Niki was silent. His logic screamed that this was a crazy move. But seeing Hariel's blazing eyes, full of conviction, his heart told him to trust.

"Alright," he finally said, with a sigh of resignation. "We'll investigate. But I repeat, we must be very, very careful."

A very thin, small smile finally appeared on Niki's face. "You really can't stay still for more than five minutes, can you?"

Lumi opened her eyes. "The energy flow is heading towards the northern sector of the city, moving away from us. If we want to catch up, we have to leave immediately."

Hariel nodded firmly. "Alright! Let's go snatch back that walking hope of ours!"

With a new resolve born from the rubble, the two of them left the ruins of their dream behind. They stepped forward, following an unseen echo of hope, towards the heart of Gizmograd, which held a new mystery for them to solve.