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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero

landric bethea avatarlandric bethea5 pages · 24 panels8/25/2026

The Finished Comic

AI-generated with Tervix
Page01/ 056 panels
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 1 panel 1: A city skyline is divided by a glowing dimensional Gate above the rooftops while emergency lights move through the streets. Humanity lives beneath constant uncertainty.
When Gates appeared, humanity discovered monsters, strange energy, and a new measure of strength.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 1 panel 2: Inside an awakening evaluation center, Malik Cross waits among hopeful candidates while scanners and officials prepare the testing chamber. He tries to appear calm despite his physical weakness and rising anxiety.
Malik Cross
Today, everything changes.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 1 panel 3: Malik Cross steps into the scanner. The machine surrounds him with pale light, but the energy readings barely move. His hope begins to falter.
Dr. Lena Vale:Begin awakening measurement.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 1 panel 4: The scanner projects the result. The room falls silent as the impossible number appears: Rank 0. Malik Cross stares at it, stunned and humiliated.
RANK: 0.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 1 panel 5: Candidates whisper and Jace Mercer gives Malik Cross a dismissive look. Dr. Lena Vale hesitates over the console, unable to explain the reading.
Jace Mercer:Rank 0? That barely counts as awakened.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 1 panel 6: Alone outside the evaluation center beneath a gray evening sky, Malik Cross grips his result card until it bends. Shame gives way to defiance.
Malik Cross:A number is not my future.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 2 panel 1: At the entrance to a low-level Gate, Malik Cross stands among a small group of prepared Awakened. His equipment is modest, and his confidence is mostly an act.
Determined to prove himself, Malik Cross entered a low-level Gate completely unprepared for real combat.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 2 panel 2: Within the Gate, Malik Cross moves through a dim cavern of strange energy and jagged stone. The unfamiliar silence makes his courage feel very small.
Malik Cross
Stay calm. Find the exit.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 2 panel 3: A monster emerges from the darkness. Malik Cross swings first, but the attack barely affects it. His confidence breaks instantly.
Malik Cross:Why did that do nothing?
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 2 panel 4: The monster retaliates. Malik Cross is thrown across the cavern floor and struggles to rise while the creature advances through the dust.
Malik Cross
I cannot match it...
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 2 panel 5: Malik Cross lies exhausted beside a cavern wall as the monster's shadow stretches over him. His body can barely respond, and survival seems impossible.
Malik Cross
So this is where Rank 0 ends...
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 2 panel 6: A hidden response awakens inside Malik Cross. A translucent system-like glow forms before his vision, offering one impossible chance.
Something hidden inside Malik Cross's awakening finally responded.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 3 panel 1: The hidden ability identifies itself: Devour — Level 1, with an absorption rate of 1%. Malik Cross does not understand it, but he understands the choice before him.
Malik Cross:I do not know what you are... but I need you.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 3 panel 2: Malik Cross forces himself upright. He studies the cavern, notices unstable stones and glowing energy channels, and turns the environment into a weapon.
Malik Cross
If strength will not save me, then the cavern will.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 3 panel 3: The monster charges. Malik Cross runs sideways instead of confronting it, drawing the creature beneath a weakened rock shelf.
Malik Cross:Come on! Follow me!
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 3 panel 4: Malik Cross reaches the energy channel and strikes the fractured stone at the exact moment the monster arrives. The cavern erupts in light and falling debris.
Malik Cross:Now!
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 3 panel 5: The monster falls and becomes still. Malik Cross remains standing for one breath before collapsing beside it, utterly exhausted but alive.
Malik Cross:I... actually survived.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 3 panel 6: As Malik Cross lies beside the fallen creature, crimson energy leaves the monster and streams into his body. The first absorption begins.
Then Devour activated again.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 4 panel 1: The energy settles inside Malik Cross. His breathing steadies, and a faint new warmth spreads through him while the cavern grows quiet.
Malik Cross
Something changed.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 4 panel 2: Malik Cross stands at the Gate's exit, barely able to remain standing after surviving his first real battle. He looks down at his trembling hands, confused by the strange energy now inside him. he survived, but he doesn't yet understand what Devour has done to him.
Malik Cross:The world called me Rank 0. Rank 0 was only the beginning.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 5 panel 1: Outside the Gate, emergency personnel and Awakened teams notice Malik Cross emerging alone. Jace Mercer turns in surprise as Malik Cross remains on his feet.
Jace Mercer:He went in alone.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 5 panel 2: Dr. Lena Vale scans Malik Cross again. The readings remain strangely low, but a tiny unexplained fluctuation appears beneath the surface.
Dr. Lena Vale:Your measurements are still nearly zero.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 5 panel 3: Malik Cross looks down at his hand. Beneath the exhaustion, he feels the faint pulse of absorbed energy and realizes the test did not measure everything.
Malik Cross
Then the test missed something.
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ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero — page 5 panel 4: A final translucent system message confirms the result: Devour successful, 1% absorbed. Malik Cross stands beneath the fading Gate, facing an unknown future.
DEVOUR SUCCESSFUL. 1% ABSORBED.

Characters (3)

Story Prompt

Written by landric bethea

# ZERO RANK — Episode 1: Rank Zero The world changed when mysterious dimensional Gates began appearing without warning. Beyond them existed monsters, strange energy, and dangers humanity had never encountered before. At the same time, certain humans began awakening supernatural abilities. These Awakened became humanity's defense against the creatures inside the Gates and were ranked according to their strength and potential. Malik Cross has waited for the day he would finally awaken. Frail and physically weaker than most people around him, Malik believes awakening could finally give him the chance to become someone powerful. Instead, his result leaves everyone stunned. **RANK: 0.** Malik has almost no measurable strength, speed, mana, or combat ability. Rank 0 is so low that he is treated as if he barely awakened at all. The result is humiliating, but Malik refuses to accept that a number will decide his future. Determined to prove himself, Malik enters a low-level Gate despite being completely unprepared for real combat. The moment he encounters a monster, reality hits him. Malik is too weak. His attacks barely hurt the creature, while every attack from the monster threatens to kill him. He is beaten down, injured, exhausted, and pushed to the point where survival seems impossible. As Malik lies near death, something hidden inside his awakening finally responds. **DEVOUR — LEVEL 1** **ABSORPTION RATE: 1%** Malik doesn't fully understand what Devour is or why his normal awakening test failed to detect it. He only understands one thing: if he wants to live, he has to fight. With almost nothing left, Malik forces himself back onto his feet. He uses everything around him, fights through the pain, and barely manages to defeat the monster. The creature falls. Malik collapses beside it, believing the nightmare is finally over. Then Devour activates again. Energy begins leaving the dead monster and flowing into Malik's body. **DEVOUR SUCCESSFUL.** **1% ABSORBED.** For the first time, Malik feels something inside himself change. The world called him Rank 0. But Rank 0 was only the beginning.

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