Blue Lizard stepped off the ferry into Peregrin Island and felt an odd, strange sensation. He somehow felt weaker, less of a Hero than he had felt the day before. He had been having a nagging feeling of impending dread days before, but he had shucked it off as just having some off days. Surely Heroes have their highs and lows just like anyone else. But this feeling was different and he wasnt able to easily ignore it.
Dressed in his newest outfit, a medium blue set of tights, a row of white stars down his arms and legs and his cape flowing down his back, he had come to Peregrin Island to visit a contact that had gotten word to him that she had information that would interest him. As he made his way towards the Portal Corporation, where the contact worked, he received a communication from a team of Heroes requesting assistance. After a brief description of what help was needed, Blue Lizard agreed to join the team and put his talents to good use. He quickly made his way into one of the buildings of the Portal Corporation that held the many gateways to alternate universes. He stood before the portal that led to where the team was and hoped that his feeling of weakness was just that, a feeling.
As he stepped out of the portal into the newly discovered universe, Blue Lizard was greeted by the sights and sounds of battle. The team had already engaged in a skirmish with the evil that had overrun this particular world. A quick hello to the team and he rushed into the midst of battle sinking his claws into a nearby Freakshow. All was going well as Blue Lizard sank his claws into the enemy blow after bone crunching blow. He thought to himself that perhaps this strange feeling he had had was no more than a subconscious cry for some rest. He had been pushing hard the last few days against a particular nasty enemy. As he piled more and more damage on Freak after Freak, they soon decided that the blue-clad hero might be more of a threat. One particular punk turned on the hero and landed a single blow that almost knocked him senseless. At that point, Blue Lizard knew that all was not right.
That single blow, a blow that he would normally quickly shrug off, had left him in a weakened and vulnerable state. He could sense that another attack like it and he would be counting cracks in the sidewalk. At that point, the hero did something that he had not done in numerous battles before. He retreated from combat. His ability to heal his wounds had somehow been lessened by a terrible amount. His only defensive measure available to him had somehow been reduced to a fraction of its former power. Seeing Blue Lizard in trouble, the Defender of the group quickly reached out and healed his wounds. Others in the team quickly dispatched the approaching Freak and the first battle was over.
The scene was repeated battle after battle where a single crony could easily bring the once powerful Hero to the brink of death. After enduring such humiliation numerous times, Blue Lizard waited until there was a break in the fighting. He explained to the team his issues and asked that they find another to replace him. To be unable to stand against the enemy was bad. To be a liability to the team was worse. He quickly found the portal and returned to Paragon City.
Dejected and defeated, he continued on towards the contact he had been planning to meet. She was still around and told him of a newly discovered portal universe that she needed him to explore. He quickly accepted the challenge knowing that alone, at least, he wouldnt be putting other Heroes lives in danger. He located the portal and entered the series of coordinates that would send him to this new world. On the other side lay a city in bad repair. The buildings were barely standing and many of them had been reduced to rubble. Cars were strewn along the streets with many of them ablaze. Drawn by the opening of the portal, a group of three Clockworks approached him. They quickly deduced the threat level and attacked. Blue Lizard lit into the nearest hunk of metal and sent sparks flying as the metal of his claws struck home. The battle drew on and he began to wonder if he would survive this set of three. Barely alive, he struck the killing blow against the final Clockwork.
Blue Lizard moved through the rubble strewn streets and each battle was a battle to the death, with him barely escaping with his life in most cases. But at least he was making a difference. He was eradicating the evil that inhabited this world. He happened upon a group of Clockwork that hadnt noticed him yet. He gathered his strength and charged in. As the fight dragged on, one of the Clockwork turned and ran. Busy with his current target, Blue Lizard had to let it go. He knew it would probably return and he would finish the job then. What he didnt count on was it returning with friends three fresh Clockwork intent on his destruction. The battle was furious, but even as he engaged the three new foes Blue Lizard knew what the inevitable outcome would be. It was no surprise to wake up in the Peregrin Island hospital.
The doctors and nurses werent surprised to see him even though it had been many months since he had last visited them in this way. They explained that a number of regeneration Heroes were experiencing similar problems and were starting to flood the hospitals in numbers that no one had ever seen. The attending doctor asked if he would submit to a few tests to help determine what might have happened. Blue Lizard consented. After a battery of tests, the scientists quickly isolated the remnants of a dead virus that had somehow modified portions of his DNA. These modifications were the cause of the lessening of his regenerative abilities. Wanting to know what dastardly evil was behind such a plot, the doctors had little information to share. Not all regeneration Heroes had been stricken in the same way. Some had been hit by nanobots, others by mystical wards, but all had suffered the same side effects. None of the methods had rendered any clues as to the source.
Blue Lizard left the hospital and returned to his apartment. For the last time, he hung up his costume. He was no longer the Hero he was and he would not be a detriment to other Heroes nor to the public. He was now officially retired. He turned on the television to reports of the change all across the city. At that moment it dawned him that whomever had brought on this change had accomplished what no other arch-villain had been able to do until now. They had turned a Hero into a Zero
