Zero VS Strider

**Zero VS Strider** is the 14th episode of DEATH BATTLE! But it's DBX, featuring Zero from the *Mega Man X* series and Strider Hiryu from the series from same name in a battle between plasma-blades.

## Description

Two flashy swordsmen of the future take their duel to the ultimate level!

## Interlude

(\*Cues: Wiz and Boomstick - Brandon Yates\*)

Wiz: Humans fear what they don't understand, especially when it comes to the infinite potential of artificial intelligence.

**Boomstick: Like Zero, Dr. Wily's Maverick hunter.**

Wiz: And Strider Hiryu, the high-tech mercenary.

**Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.**

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.

## Zero

(\*Cues: Jet Stingray (Marine Base) - Megaman X4'\*)

Wiz: For decades, the robotic war between Dr. Light and Dr. Wily left destruction in it's wake. No matter how many machines Wily created in his quest for world domination, Dr. Light's own Mega Man was always there to stop him. But like any successful genius, Dr. Wily was determined to have the final word, even if it came from beyond his grave.

**Boomstick: Wily put all the smarts he could into creating the best robot he'd ever built. It's name was Zero.**

Wiz: Dr. Wily's plan to create the world's most powerful robot succeeded all too well. Designed for combat and violent by nature, Zero was prime to put Wily back on top.

**Boomstick: Just one problem, because of a glitch, Zero was totally disobedient to Dr. Wily, and attacked him. I mean, I don't blame him, if that face was the first thing I saw when I woke up, I'd probably punch it too, or send it back to the bar whence it came.**

(\*Cues: Mega Man X4 OST - Past of Zero\*)

Wiz: How sad, all that hard work wasted over a single programming flaw. Wily was forced to seal Zero away, and he wouldn't be discovered for another 100 years.

**Boomstick: But a long nap wasn't enough to calm him down. When he woke up, he wasted everything around him, until he was stopped by Commander Sigma, the leader of the peace-keeping Maverick Hunters.**

Wiz: Sigma may have stopped Zero, but then things got complicated. For some reason, Zero's stasis pod also contained a mysterious virus. The virus infected Sigma and, for some reason, swapped Sigma and Zero's morality alignments.

**Boomstick: So Sigma turned evil, and Zero turned good. Just like robot Freaky Friday. Being a good guy now, Zero joined the Maverick Hunters, making it his mission to eliminate any machine which posed a threat to the world. Because what else are you gonna do in robot world but fight crime with a laser sword?**

(\*Cues: Mega Man Maverick Hunter X - Storm Eagle\*)

Wiz: He's certainly well equipped for the job. The Z-Buster is Zero's go-to long range weapon, with both rapid fire and charge energy shots.

**Boomstick: He's also got tons of deadly spears, hammers, and chains. But his favorite weapon is his trusty energy sword, the Z-Saber.**

Wiz: The Z-Saber is arguably Zero's most essential weapon. With it, he can cut other machines down to size with a wide variety of grounded and airborne strikes. Furthermore, he can enhance his blade by mimicking the power of his enemies. This lets him use the Z-Saber for attacks imbued with fire, ice, electricity, and even metal.

(\*Cues: Theme of Zero - Marvel vs Capcom 3\*)

**Boomstick: But he can copy more than just sword stuff, Zero can use the Twin Dream technique to create a clone which mimics his every move. He can summon robot dragonflies to flight alongside him, call down beams of energy from the sky with Rekkoha, and even use Dark Hold to temporarily freeze time.**

Wiz: If necessary, Zero can activate Black Zero mode, this form halves his defense in order to double his attack power and quadruple his speed, he can also transform into the stronger and faster Absolute Zero. Yes, that's what it's called. In this form, he loses access to his Z-Sword and acquired abilities, but he gains razor sharp claws and the power of flight.

**Boomstick: Check out those bat wings! You know, with all these cool powers, he's pulled off some crazy shit. He's defeated dozens of Mavericks, and even Sigma himself, multiple times.**

Wiz: Not to mention stopping dozens of other threats to the entire planet, such as when Eurasia, an enormous city floating in space, fell to Earth in a crash course similar to the asteroid which annihilated the dinosaurs.

**Boomstick: But that's okay, Zero took care of it. How? By flying a space shuttle right into it like a badass! And he survived! Suck that, asteroid city.**

(\*Cues: Maverick Hunter X: Zero's Theme \*)

Wiz: Moreover, it's important to remember, Zero was specifically built to be far superior to the original Mega Man, we've analyzed Mega Man before, and learned he could keep up with the speedy Quick Man, and catch a 60,000 ton castle.

**Boomstick: So, Zero's better than that.**

Wiz: Zero is undoubtedly Dr. Wily's greatest creation, but like the mad scientist's other machines, he has his downfalls. Despite being a machine, Zero is susceptible to exhaustion, and if he receives too much damage, not even his auto repair systems can return him from the brink.

**Boomstick: Also, he sometimes comes down with a bad case of edgy anime protagonist.**

*Zero: WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOOOOOOR?!*

Wiz: And yet, Zero is a fearless guardian, who won't rest until his world's safety is secured, even if he has to be reincarnated multiple times to do it.

**Boomstick: And kick his own ass!**

*Zero: I don't even need my sword for such an easy fight.*

## Strider Hiryu

(\*Cues: Strider - Stage 1 Theme then cues【Nam Kap】 Defense Sphere (1Stage Demo) ~ Step into (1Stage BGM1) 【BGM】\*)

Wiz: His name literally meaning Flying Dragon, Hiryu was orphaned at a very young age. He was put through the intense Strider program, a training school for high-tech ninja mercenaries.

**Boomstick: It´s so hard to find a good cyber-ninja school these days.**

Wiz: Seems whoever put him there made the right choice.

(\*Cues: Strider Hiryu Theme - Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3\*)

Wiz: Hiryu far exceeded his teachers´ expectations, and soon became the youngest student in the organization´s history to reach the highest rank of Special A-Class Strider.

**Boomstick: What does that mean? Well, even a C-Class Strider has the strength and skill of a whole team of special forces, so just imagine what a Special A-Class Strider can do. Oh wait, you don´t have to cause we´re here to tell you about it!**

Wiz: After reaching this remarkable rank, Hiryu was sent on a mission to kill a rogue Strider, who just so happened to be his own sister.

**Boomstick: Naturally, pissed off at the Striders manipulating him and his sister, he immediately retired... after killing her, of course.**

(\*Cues: Destroy the Terrorists in the Occupied City - Strider 2\*)

Wiz: Hiryu wields a deadly lightsword Cypher named Falchion. It generates a blade of high voltage plasma energy which can slice through almost anything. Today, plasma cutters can reach temperatures over 2 million degrees Celsius, cutting through steel and other metals with ease.

**Boomstick: It´s basically a super-long, extending lightsaber.**

Wiz: Well, kind of, it´s a sword with a plasma aura that leaves a trail of death. It can also fire plasma arrows and counter projectiles.

**Boomstick: All with an incredibly satisfying shing sound.**

(\*Strider swings Cypher\*)

**Boomstick: That's the one.**

(\*Cues: Burning Force - Namco X Capcom\*)

Wiz: Apart from the Cypher, Hiryu wields a large arsenal of sci-fi gear and weaponry, including the Varga: a teleporting device. He uses his medical tech to heal wounds, the climb sickles to, well, climb, the jump trick to... jump higher.

**Boomstick: I guess they don´t have a thesaurus at the ninja school. He also has a device that can cause earthquakes, shoot fire and launch big balls of electricity.**

Wiz: And last, but not least, he has three types of cybernetic drones at his back and call. Option A are twin satellite bots which shield Hiryu and shoot wave after wave of deadly laser discs.

**Boomstick: Option B is a Robo-Panther. It´s like a giant death-cat that doesn´t need a litter box or scratch the shit out of your furniture.**

Wiz: Finally, Option C is a robotic hawk with bladed wings and over sized grenades.

**Boomstick: Argh, I hate birds! Now they have grenades.**

Wiz: Hiryu´s speed and agility are off the charts. Fortunate, since he also doesn´t seems to ever use his ninja stealth skills. He´s even fast enough to dodge shadow tag bullets: highly advanced ammunition designed to track supersonic targets, like Striders. Basically, anti-aircraft rounds for people.

**Boomstick: He´s also strong enough to slice clean through the human body... with a karate chop!!!**

Wiz: Hiryu has somehow been in retirement for over 2,000 years; likely because of the advanced medicine of the future. Yet despite distancing himself from the Strider program,

(\*Cues: Strider Hiryu Theme - Marvel vs Capcom\*)

Wiz: He has been pulled out of retirement more times than John McClane.

**Boomstick: He´s fought dinosaurs and giant robots, destroyed a moon-sized space station, and is so badass he considers huge flying warships mere toys. He even slew the magical creator of the world... twice. Apparently, God is no match for this future ninja.**

*Strider Hiryu: No place for amateurs.*

## Death Battle

(\*Cues: DEATH BATTLE! But it's DBX: Master Swords\*)

**FIGHT!**

**KO!**

## Results

**Boomstick: And boom goes the... useless against the Cypher.**

Wiz: Strider Hiryu was a worthy adversary, but Zero was simply better equipped for this battle.

**Boomstick: At Mach 35 Speeds, Strider seemed like a shoo-in for better speed, right? On paper, maybe. But remember, Mega Man beat Quick Man, and Zero was built to surpass Mega Man in every way.**

Wiz: Quick Man's top speed was recorded at 224,000 Miles Per Hour, over eight times faster than Strider. Scaled to the inferior Mega Man, Zero could certainly handle a machine of Strider's speed.

**Boomstick: Zero's vast arsenal also gave a plenty of options for just about every situation. Even when Strider tried screwing with time.**

Wiz: Unlike Strider, Zero actually possessed multiple methods of stopping time, which were more instantaneous and just as effective as Strider's imperfectly Cybernatic eagles and jaguars.

**Boomstick: So Zero definitely had the advantage in that field.**

Wiz: The durability difference was pretty clear too, Zero's feat with the Eurasia Space Colony trumps anything Metal's ever endured, the resulting explosion was similar to the asteroid impact which killed the dinosaurs, an event estimated to have equaled 100,000,000,000,000 tons of TNT.

**Boomstick: But even surviving a tiny fraction of that explosion was far more impressive than the 200 kilotons of TNT needed to break that giant rock, and that was from Strider and real Hien's power combined.**

(\*Cues: Megaman X4 Music - Intro Stage (Sky Lagoon) Zero Theme\*)

Wiz: Even ramming Zero at full speed would not have done much, moving at Mach 35, Strider's 276 pound body would only hit with enough force to destroy a building. To be blunt, not only was Strider Hiryu outmatched in speed and durability, but he didn't have the means to truly kill Zero, whereas Zero's shown time and time again that he can destroy enemies just as tough and bulky as plasma sword.

**Boomstick: Looks like Strider Hiryu was the real Zero in this battle.**

Wiz: The winner is Zero.

## Video

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