The Bartender “Zer0”

"Always make sure your customer walk out feeling better than they walk in" - Zer0

"Natural lightning doesn't strike twice, but I will strike you as much as I have to" - Zer0

Zer0 the Bartender is a figure in the comics, and can be seen serving cocktails to Frank in the first episode. Chill, calm spirited, relaxed and friendly. His customers always leave feeling just a little bit better than when they came in. He is a man of service and charms. But you can see he’s more than just a bartender by looking at his bionic right arm. There's more to him than just cocktails and booze.

Early Life
Being born simply as Code-named: Zer0, he also inherited the power of Thunder and Lightning from his mother. His Father was the head of a very big Human Weaponization and Augmentation Business. His family uses him, the only child to experiment with Elemental and Technology hybrid experiement. He was to be part of PROJECT: Zer0. He had a very disciplined life, always tentative and obedient to his parents. He was to learn martial arts from a young age, he was taught the martial art Muay Thai at a young age, also learning Brazillian Jiu Jitsu as he became a teenager. But his elemental abilities forbid him from ever competing in tournaments, he figured that he could weave in his elemental powers along with his combat skills. His mother taught him how to use his lightning abilities to its highest potential. His training would usually exhaust him, as they were tough, painful and long. Zer0’s father decided to test out a state of the art bionic arm procedure on him. Zer0 agreed, though the operation was painful, as it sacrificed his right arm. He was given one of the first bionic arms that was ever made at the age of 16. Zer0’s trial would put body on the map.

But Zer0 was someone who’s always had passion for something else other than robotics and martial arts. Though being good at it, he always was someone who wanted to do other things. Growing up Zer0 has taken a liking to singing as well as the world of food and beverage. When he was of age to drink, Zer0 never looked back. He would always pay very close attention to how the bartender was making his drinks, reading, learning, and practicing mixology. It was then when Zer0’s dream was settled, he wanted to open a bar of his own.

Running away
But his family always had other plans for him, they wanted him to become a soldier, a supersoldier that they could commercialize. As Project: Zer0 was considered a success. An Elemental being with enhanced robotic abilities. But Zer0 didn't want to hurt people, he wanted a normal life and to follow his dreams. One day at age 21, deciding to go chase his dreams and do what he loves. Zer0 took what he had and left, never looking back nor did he ever want to be heard of by and from his family again. His family was disappointed, but figured that if PROJECT: Zer0 was a success, he could be one of many more that they could make. As the Government started the human trails programs for elemental powers, His family's corporation provided the needed technology for the trials.

Freelancing and Adventures
After months of running away, Zer0 found work as a bartender for bars across the country, learning more and more of the craft as he went. He was seen as a gifted bartender with potential and passion, he also worked many jobs on the side to save up money as well, he was also performing at Jazz clubs and Casino stages. His baritone like voice matched the crooners of the olden days, Zer0 made quite the amount of money singing at Jazz bars as well as guest bartending at those bars. Zer0 also made good friends with the Casino owner Maria Heartstride, they became close friends, even guest bartending in the casino bar at times. Zer0 took jobs wherever he thought that would improve his skills and earn him better money. As he got better, he was hired in better bars, some of them being the top in the industry. Zer0 grew a passion for distilled spirits, collecting bottles of whisky, cognac, brandy, rum, tequila, mezcal and gin and storing them. The money he made he would invest into auctioning rare bottles of spirits.But that hobby sees his money constantly running dry, which means he has to work harder and better to earn more money. His dream was to find a spot to open his own bar, to then finally feature and share his collection of spirits. His Jazz gigs and his bartending career wasn’t making him as much money as he would hoped. So Zer0 started looking into different options for making more money.

In one of the shifts that he was working he found him self serving at a bar, with a mysterious girl. Though she ordered just water, he figured that she was up to something so he didnt leave her sight. Zer0 kept conversating with her, he started asking her questions to stall her until she figured out what he was doing. She didnt have to pay for just water, though he insists to keep her there for the fun of it. He just wanted her to open up, after telling her she didnt have to pay for water. She was upset but had a good laugh and they talked for a while, he never knew her name when she left, but he never forgets a face.

With his martial art skills, he started participating in underground prize fights, it was an illegal activity that Zer0 has gotten himself into. His metallic arm was giving him an edge, but he noticed that his opponents were also upgrading their hardware with bionics. Bionics that his parents have successfully commercialized and is now selling all over the world. Zer0 still was more precise and more calculated in his strikes, winning him all of his fights. His brute strength, speed and power was too much for everyone in those competitions. Even defeating opponents that are larger than him, Zer0 always spares his opponents, never going farther than he needs to. Which also earned him the fear and respect of his opponents in the underground world. The Mafia called him the "Blue Thunder" due to his lightning fast strikes and precision. But unlike true lightning, he's going to hit you more than once. But he knew he was doing the wrong thing, one day he was approached by an enforcer who asked him about the fighting ring. He decided to do right thing and give away the location of the fighting ring to the police. Him and that police enforcer became good friends, because he was compliant and was an informant. Zer0 was let go, but he is now also under the protection of law enforcements. The mafia never knew he was the reason the fighting ring was shut down.

Blue Haze
A co-worker of the time told Zer0 of this underground male strip club-house named Mystic Maxxx that was paying top dollar for a dancer of his type. He decided to give it a try, since he has the strength and agility to pole dance. Out of every dancer in the place, he was the most popular, every weekend drawing in larger crowds of ladies and men who wanted to see and throw money at him. He went by the nickname, Blue haze. But Zer0 was sure to always disguise his bionic arm to not be too noticeable. Using underground tech he was able to mask his arm to look human during the time period he was working as a male dancer. Thats when he met his competition Coco, they both took the stage as the most popular dancers of Mystic Maxxx. Always had a competitive spirit from Coco, he always thought Zer0 was competition, but Zer0 never really cared for the competition. He just figured that he's doing what he has to do to open the bar.

The Opening of the Basement Bar


At age 29 Zer0 finally gathered enough money to open his bar, named ‘The Basement’. He would see his fame as a bartender get him a lot of customers quickly. Zer0’s famous fights in the underground would also see his old bidders and former opponents come visit the bar as well, to pay their respects as well as becoming regulars around his bar. Zer0 would go on to mentor young upcoming bartenders to his standard, as he wants his bar to be an experience. A lot of old customers from his freelancing days would also come visit him, his charms would see them come back time and time again.

Zer0’s hard work and dedication to his craft has turned “The Basement” into one of the best bar experiences in the city. His collection of 800+ bottles of Scotch, as well as other Spirits like Cognac, Rum, Tequila, Mezcal, was a sight to behold when you walk in. The smell of oak and spirits perfumes the bar. Being able to taste these collections as well as Zer0’s passionate and informative talks of these spirits give the guest an incredible tasting experience.

Zer0 mentors and gives his students opportunities to experiment with the spirits, as well as teaching them hospitality, the knowledge of the spirits as well as test them often to make sure that they learn from their time bartending in “The Basement”. Zer0 aims for them to be successful, knowledgeable and as passionate as him in bartending. After serving a young boy named Igor Corwyn his Irish coffee and talking to him, immediately took interest in Bartending after watching Zer0 all night and asked to be a student, Zer0 agreed to take him in.

Personality
Zer0 is a calm and chill person, he almost have a bored to tired look to him. Zer0 is quite humble, he's quite confident in his abilities and skills. He always knows when someone isn't feeling well, and does what he can to take care of them. He does his best to serve his guests and make them feel special. He is caring and protective on the inside, but a lot of the times his behavior can come off as mean or strict. But Zer0 off work can be a bit of a prankster, he likes to mess around with people and crack jokes, he also cracks a lot of jokes to his guest and knows how to entertain individual guests well.

For his lady guests, he always know how to charm them with a drink, and his words. A lot of the times its what keeps them coming back to the bar. He makes sure to go above and beyond for the guests that he likes. He knows a lot about everyone, and in turn they know a lot about him as well. Him and his costumers have quite the bond. Zer0 tends to go off about topics that he loves, and passionately talks about all things booze, food, martial arts. Zer0 could be seen breaking out into songs at times, he loves his Frank SInatra swing jazz. The speakers is always playing the best from Ol Blue Eyes, He knows the words to almost all of Sinatra's songs. When there isn't much happening, he will start singing and go into a musical number in a boring bar shift.

He is very strict with his students, making sure that they are learning and mastering their techniques. He’s also quite protective of his loved ones, willing to stand up for them, as well as get in the line of fire for them if need be. He cares more about their safety and well being than his own. Zer0 doesn't look for trouble, tries to avoid it as much as he could. Only getting involved when he really has to.

Abilities
Zer0 has components to him that makes him a force to be reckon with, the first one is his bionic arm. It is made of Titanium. Making his arm lightweight, yet very strong. It is interconnected well into his body, meaning he can move it naturally as if it was just a regular arm. Titanium arm has incredible durablity, heat, and strain resistance. It has the pressure power of a high powered hydraulic press, as well as the punching power of what was described as 'a very condensed school bus'. The arm also has the complex integration into his body to channel lightning inside it, giving it more power and range. His titanium arm is also able to supress and absorb other eletrical elemental ability, to gain more power from them, using them as a battery. He can also pass energies to his allies this way.

His Elemental ability he inherit makes him all the more powerful. Being able to channel lightning to increase his power even more. Zer0 integrates his lightning power into his attacks, his charges can reach up to 5 metres. Zer0's lightning is very high powered, but it lacks range. Zer0 can charge himself up to be more powerful, giving him access to quite some powerful physical attacks, being able to shatter the ground infront of him and send waves of lightning in a cone. He can also do a quick lightning tackle that sends his opponent flying back. His most powerful attack is the thunder slam, as he charges up his power to fly up high and slam onto the ground, dispersing a large amount of lightning charge out in a large 7 meter circular radius, shattering the ground and everything around it.

Zer0 also can manipulate electrical charges in the air and atmosphere. He can create a large 10 meter radius barrier to fizz out projectiles for a short amount of time, though Ze0r would be standing still in this state, channelling all of his energy into a defensive mode. Finally he can maniuplate the weather as a last resort, he can powers and overload himself in a thunderstorm to increase is speed, agility, power and range. He would also glow with an electrifield aura, this effect lasts for 10 minutes. He goes all out with this power and will mostly like use up a lot of energy and power during the event.

Zer0 is also very well versed in Striking arts, he utilitzes a lot of Muay Thai elements in his fighting. But he is also a very good boxer, considering his right arm is a bionic arm, he puts a lot of power emphasis on it. Taking a punch from his right hand usually results in a knockout by most opponents. But that doesnt mean that he isn't strong on his own. His right leg used to be called the 'Lumberjack' with its power capable of breaking his oponents legs with repeated strikes. Zer0 left hand's hooks, though are flesh is still enough to hurt an oponent badly. Zer0 can enter a charged state where his blows are significantly more powerful and has lightning effects to them. Zer0 is a hand to hand combat expert, he can combo his kicks, knees, punches and elbows into one another quite fast.