Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Taro knew exactly where he would find his father. 

The massive doors from the passageway opened before him into an even more massive chamber, wide with high, curving ceilings, and a single walkway of flat, gleaming metal extending to the center. On either side of the walkway was a precipitous drop, down the full length of the tower. There were no rails, nothing separating the space where he strode from the long, long fall to the bottom. Of course, for Ultras this wasn’t a problem - they all could simply fly as they pleased - but despite the openness of the tower, there was no one else around.

Very few Ultras were allowed to enter the Plasma Spark tower, let alone reach its top, before the bare, blinding light of the Spark itself. But there stood Ken, the renowned Father of Ultra, in silent contemplation, hidden behind the length of his cape.

“Don’t you have Academy training to oversee, Taro?” He rumbled as Taro approached him, still turned towards the silent, brilliant light set in the metal arcs of the center platform.

“Ah, Ultraman is running the history lectures today, they don’t need me around.” Taro casually shrugged. “But I do wonder why you’ve been spending so much time up here lately, Zoffy would rather die than admit it to anyone, but we all can tell he’s getting pretty stressed out. Maybe you could-”

“Zoffy knows where I am, trust me. Why are you here then? Did your mother send you to fetch me?” Ken finally turned towards his son, the warmth in his voice breaking the quiet tension of the chamber.

Taro smiled in response and shook his head. “No, I came here myself. But she’s worried too, you’ve been visiting the Plasma Spark a lot, which usually means that you’re looking for something.” 

Ken’s face turned grave again. “I’m concerned about the Absolutians.”

“Why? Tartarus hasn’t bothered showing his grumpy golden self since we sent him packing last time, have you seen something our scouts haven’t?”

“No, and that’s why I’m concerned. Wherever Tartarus has gone, wherever he’s taken Yullian, along with Tregear and… and Bel... he must be planning something else. It’s only a matter of time before he makes another play, and we cannot afford to be taken by surprise again.”

“Sure, we all know that. The whole Garrison, the Galactic Security Agency, even Ribut and the others in the Galactic Rescue Force, all are working to find them too. You don’t have to try and do all that on your own, dad.” Taro walked forward a few steps, even with his own father’s stance, to look on the Plasma Spark with him.

“Oh, Taro, I'm old enough to not make that mistake. You kids keep showing me up every time I try anyways.” Ken chuckled, and folded his arms behind his back, setting his shoulders broadly as they both stood together. “But this old grandpa still has been blessed with the sight to see through the galaxy. As long as I can do so, I want to-”

Suddenly the light of the Spark before him intensified, and spread outward, dissolving the chamber around him into a pulsing, shifting radiant atmosphere. Ken recoiled with shock at first, then recognized what was happening.

A vision - but of what?

He was well acquainted with the Plasma Spark itself, but the light that now surrounded him seemed different, somehow. It thrummed with an invisible heartbeat, currents and eddies of energy swirling around him, and tugging gently at his cape around his shoulders. Within it, he sensed life, an unknown potency - no, potential - waiting just out of sight.

And then, a new light, behind him. 

Ken whirled around, and immediately recognized the figure joining him as Ultraman Tiga. 

“This is the Eternity Core.” Tiga stated, to answer his unspoken question. “A force of creation, of unlimited potential, to be used as one wishes, with the power to reshape an entire world.” 

“Not our world, then?” Ken asked.

“No, this is… a companion to mine.” Tiga hesitantly added. “It is because of this connection that I am requesting your help.”

Ken was familiar with several of the heroes named Ultraman from other universes, and the one who called himself Dyna was a regular visitor to the Land of Light. But Ken had only heard stories from him about his predecessor, an ancient being of light named Tiga. He knew that, at one time, the light had been carried by a human named Daigo Madoka, but was also told that the light passed on to other human beings, and could be borne by any of them when their need was greatest. Much like Noa in our world, I suppose. I wonder who carries it now? 

Whoever it was, made no hint at their identity. Ken didn’t see the need to inquire anyways. “If you need the help of the Land of Light, we will gladly give it.” He made a fist and placed it over his heart, in a pledge. 

Tiga nodded. “You seek the Absolutians. They connect not just to your world, but also wish to plunder, to conquer all other worlds. In another universe, they now draw close to the power of the Eternity Core.”

A cold feeling of dread ran through Ken, as he imagined what Tartarus and others like him could do with the sheer force of energy which now surrounded him. “Is there no Ultraman in this world to defend it? It’s such a powerful light, surely there must be someone who has connected to it-”

“There is. But he is young, inexperienced…. And at war with himself.” 

At Tiga’s words, the light suddenly churned, and Ken sensed a lurch of anxiety, a spike of darkness through the brilliant glow which surrounded them.

Tiga continued. “Without guidance, he will fall to the Absolutians. And so will his world.” 

“Can you do anything about this? You must be closer to this world than we are.”

The red-and-purple figure before him seemed almost saddened at the question, as he shook his head. “Not yet. It is… not the right time yet. But I can warn you, and give you the means to travel there.” At this, Tiga stretched out a hand, and a new light resolved, a shining fragment which floated through the space to Ken’s hands. “This is the key which will allow you to reach him. But I can only give you the power to send one being from your universe.” 

Tiga paused again. “I wish I could do more.”

“It is enough.” Ken nodded fiercely again. “I swear on the honor of my people that we will protect him, and the Eternity Core.” 

Surprisingly, Tiga smiled. The light around them seemed to ease its pressure. “I am…grateful for your help. One last message, then. You must connect the lights. All else depends on this. Remember it.”

With those words, the light strengthened again, engulfing the figure before him, then just as abruptly, it faded back to a single point. Ken blinked several times, but the scene around him had returned to the present, before the Plasma Spark itself. 

“-want to do what?” Taro turned to him. “You spaced out there for a second. Did you see something?”

“Yes… but also more than that.” Ken held his hands out before him, where the fragment of light from Tiga still gleamed, even against the starkly illuminated background of the Spark. 

“Contact Zoffy, and the Galactic Rescue Force. We have a new mission.”

How did Father of Ultra say it again?

Ribut looked at the human before him.

Young, inexperienced.

Well he certainly seemed to fit the description, Ribut had arrived only just in time to fend off Diavolo - a new Absolutian, he made a mental note to report that to his superiors when he arrived back home. It likely wouldn’t be the last surprise from these mysterious new enemies either. 

In his short time on this world, he was impressed at the technology the humans used, but he knew it alone wouldn’t be enough to save the day. Ribut also knew that he was only able to drive away Diavolo thanks to the element of surprise, the Galactic Rescue Force after all prided themselves on their ability to appear anywhere, in any circumstance, when they were most needed. But now the Absolutians were expecting them, and surely were planning for another attack. Their only chance to protect the Eternity Core lay with his ability to train the young Ultra hero now standing awkwardly with him in this empty gymnasium.

Connect the lights, all else depends on this.

The same words, relayed on behalf of another mysterious Ultraman, whom Ribut had never even met before, rang again in his mind. And the light certainly was strong in this new hero, Kengo, named Trigger when he fought alongside him earlier that day. Even without trying, Ribut could make out the shape of that light, contained within the center of the human’s figure. But it also frayed and splintered at the edges of his vision, quavering fitfully like a candle. That light shook again as Kengo winced, tentatively adjusting the bandages covering deep bruises on his arm. 

Ribut wondered at first why they had trusted him with this mission, above other Ultras who were stronger, older, more sure in their own power. But now he recognized the reason Zoffy and Father of Ultra had both sent him off into a new world, alone. He recognized the same stance, the same awkward expectation, but the same burning desire within the shifting light of Kengo’s spirit.

It was, after all, the same desire he had all those years before, when he was trained by the Ultra heroes named Great and Powered. The desire to protect lives, with everything he possessed. Ribut was always good at reading others, but the intensity of Kengo's wish flared like a beacon now under his gaze.

The other human - Yuna, if Ribut had caught her name correctly earlier - jogged back onto the gym floor, between them. 

“I gave the Captain an excuse, but… what are we doing here?” She asked.

Ribut turned back to Kengo and smiled. 

“You still don’t know your true power.” He stated simply.

Kengo’s brow furrowed, confused.

“Having great power doesn’t mean anything if you can’t control it.” He continued. “You must empty your mind, and find a way to tap into that power. Then, you can find the way to your destiny, and the power to shape it for yourself.”

“...My destiny?” Kengo still seemed unsure. But there was no time to waste explaining further. 

“Now then, prepare yourself!” Ribut sunk down into a fighting stance, arms outstretched, following the motions he had practiced and honed first under the relentless combat that he faced against Great and Powered. He couldn’t afford to give Kengo anything less than that, there was too much at stake.

“I apologize, this will be rather rough.” 

Connect the light to his future, make him realize his own strength.

This is the only way!-

Chapter Text

“Again!” 

Kengo painfully pushed himself over, to his knees, and gritted his teeth from the stabbing pain in his already-sprained arm as he slowly rose to his feet.

Ribut stood before him, hands out at the ready, in the same fighting stance he had first led with. He steadily rested there, without even breathing hard, patiently anticipating Kengo’s next move. 

With a yell, Kengo launched himself forwards again, trying to ignore the protest and ache of his muscles. He tried to push himself forward, faster; to will more force into each punch that was gracefully deflected aside by Ribut’s flowing motions. Faster than his eye could track, Ribut’s hands grabbed his wrist, only inches from his own face, and twisted, wrenching Kengo’s arm downwards, dragging him behind it. Ribut’s foot flashed forwards, kicking one leg out from under him, and he collapsed in a heap, onto his back.

“Again!” Ribut’s command echoed around the otherwise-empty gymnasium. The afternoon light from the day had shifted its angle through the high windows, and now fell across Kengo’s form, sprawled on the wooden floor.

Then suddenly, a deep chill flooded through Ribut’s body, coming from somewhere behind him. He spun, fists at the ready, now positioning himself instinctively between this new threat, and where Kengo lay on the floor, groaning in pain and frustration. 

“What’s going on here? This is just like something out of a sports anime!”

The new figure, tall, wearing a worn canvas coat and a haughty smirk, scoffed at the group. It wasn’t just the smirk though. Something about the man's presence, and the way he had appeared in the gymnasium with no sound or other hint betraying his arrival alongside them, made Ribut’s skin crawl, even in his human body. 

“Ignis, what are you doing here?” Yuna flinched in surprise as well. 

“You think I’d miss out on this? Please, allow me to sit and watch you two” Ignis grinned, his eyes narrowed, and glittered with mischief. And something else, but Ribut couldn’t say exactly what. Definitely not another human...

“Oh, Ribut, this is Ignis, he’s uh… a treasure hunter.” Yuna offered by way of introduction, noticing the Ultraman was still standing rigidly in his fighting stance. “Don’t worry about him, he’s not an enemy. You might want to keep an eye on any spare change you have in your pocket though.” She shrugged, apologetically. 

“Please, don’t mind me, I’m just here for my own amusement.” Ignis flipped his coat around and took up a seat on one of the benches along the side of the court, in casual disdain.

Everything he’s doing is for show, it seems. Ribut’s frown deepened, but despite his gaze, he couldn’t read this alien the same as the humans he had already met. Finally, after another moment of tense silence, he sighed, and turned back around to face his young student once again. Well, whatever he is, we don’t have time to get distracted. 

But for all the time they had spent in training, Kengo had nothing to show for it but aches and bruises and growing resignation. Each time he was downed, flipped around, shoved to his knees with elbow strikes and arm-locking throws, it took longer and longer to find his feet again, to prepare himself for another attack. Something was wrong.

It couldn’t be that Kengo was injured severely, he had only taken minor scrapes from their original fight against Diavolo, and Ribut was deliberately holding back from real killing blows in their sparring here. The intent was to exhaust him, not to put him into the ground, after all.

Well he’s definitely getting exhausted, if that’s the case. 

The exhaustion was necessary. By pushing Kengo past the point of conscious thought and into his instincts, Ribut was sure he could find a way for the young human to discover his real strength. If he desired to protect everyone so strongly, then their sparring should have brought that desire to the surface, to allow him to find the energy to keep moving forward, to keep rising to meet his blows, and eventually to succeed in countering them. That’s exactly what he had already done in his own training, wasn’t it?

Instead of growing stronger, however, that same burning, wavering light that Ribut had first noted had only weakened. Now its edges, extending through Kengo’s limbs, splintered and faded further. It almost seemed like it was bleeding away into the air with each desperate panting breath Kengo gulped in, trying to force himself to stand again on his shaking, tentative legs. 

Maybe I’ve been pulling my punches too much, he needs to be pushed further. Ribut drew his arms into another sharp motion, taking on a different stance, steadying himself for the next rush from Kengo.

His thought was interrupted by Yuna. 

“Wait!” She yelled, and ran in between the two of them. “Hold on a second! Ribut-” 

Yuna grabbed Ribut’s arm and pulled him to the side with surprising forcefulness. 

“What? Yuna, we don’t have time to stop, Kengo needs to become stronger so we can fight Diavolo when he-” Yuna cut him off again with another yank on his arm, to turn him around to face her, away from Kengo, still trying to catch his breath on the polished wooden floor of the gymnasium.

“Are you kidding me? Making him ‘stronger’? The only thing you’ve done so far is hurt him even more! Can’t you take it easy on him?” She hissed under her breath, her own brown eyes furrowed in concern.

“We don’t have time to take it easy, I said that already! If I had longer, here on this world, then we could slow down, but the best way to unlock his power is to fight like this.”

“Fight? He’s fought hard enough already! Why does he need to fight you?! How do we know you’re not another Dark Giant like the others-” 

“You can trust me, I know because I’ve done the same. This is how it’s done.” Ribut tried his best to sound reassuring, but he could sense Yuna’s rising panic, fraying at the edges of her voice, like Kengo’s spirit, almost as if-

Ribut squinted, then shook his head. He almost thought for a second he could see light… but that was impossible. She wasn’t the one with the power of Ultraman, he had been sent here for Kengo, after all.

Yuna tilted her head, staring up at Ribut again. “What do you mean, you went through the same training?” 

“Yes, once I was in the same place as Kengo, trying to find the strength to protect everyone. When a friend of mine was captured, and was about to be killed, no… worse than that, he was going to be turned into a monster. I had to find my own strength to fight and save him. I was trained by other Ultras on my own planet in the same way.”

“By getting the crap beaten out of you?” Yuna would’ve found that hilarious if Kengo wasn’t suffering the same treatment right now. 

“As I said, we don’t have time for any other way. He has to learn the limits of his own body, his own mind, to truly understand what he fights for.”

Yuna pursed her lips together, looking down to the side, her arms tightly crossed in front of her. Closed off, defensively, Ribut noted as well. 

Is she worried about something else? Or hiding something?

After a brief second of silence, Ribut searched for anything else he could say to try and convince her. Finally, he shrugged. “Besides, he can take it, he’s an Ultraman-”

“But he’s not like you! He’s a human being!” Yuna burst out, throwing her arms out pleading in front of herself. “We’re both just human beings, we don’t understand what’s going on here, we can’t-” She trailed off, looking only seconds from bursting into tears herself. Realizing this, Yuna quickly turned around, her back to both Ribut and Kengo.

“I’m sorry, but Kengo -” Ribut suddenly halted his mouth agape mid-sentence as a new thought struck him like a thunderbolt. Across the distance between universes, the memory of a voice floated into his head, accompanying his realization. 

He could almost hear Sora, his dearest friend, by his side, telling him “You’re an incredible moron, you know that right?”

Ribut raised his hands to his face, and rubbed his fingers into his forehead, groaning. Of course he was a moron. The biggest moron possible they could’ve sent on this mission. 

Behind them, Kengo stretched as best he could, trying to take the knots out of his battered muscles, and shake life back into his stinging, leaden limbs “I’m ready to go again, I’ll beat you this time. I… I have to, don't I?” He said, with as much confidence as he could muster, behind clenched teeth.

Ribut sighed, dropping his arms to his side. He turned to face his young student again. “No, no you don’t have to.” 

Kengo blinked several times. “Uh, sir, are you sure? It sounded like you were serious - “

“No, we’re taking a break now, just stand there and finish catching your breath.”

“Ribut, what’s going on?” Yuna had composed herself and now walked over to them. 

“You were right.”

She blinked as well, at a loss for words. “I… I was?”

Ribut smiled warmly at her. “Yes. I...well, I was so busy thinking about my own training that I forgot something very simple.”

“Which is?” Her forehead furrowed again, this time in confusion rather than anger.

“When I went through my training, I fell back on my own instincts when pushed to my limit. But… you don’t have those instincts. You’re a human, Kengo. You were raised here, not on my home world, no one taught you how to use your light, you didn’t grow up with it, you weren’t trained at the Academy…”

Yuna and Kengo remained silent, nodding along, not understanding anything that the Ultraman they had only known for a couple hours was referring to. 

“-In other words, you need to learn how to understand your light first as part of yourself , before you can understand the reason you fight with it. Both of you do, actually.”

And now, with both Kengo and Yuna standing together, Ribut could clearly make out the hints of light that he had only obliquely glanced at beforehand. Yuna indeed carried it too. It wasn’t quite the same as Kengo’s light, but it now faintly glimmered a pale bluish-white from… a point around her neck? A necklace . 

Two lights then… ah, so that’s what they meant by “connecting” them. Ribut smiled and shook his head again, chuckling. 

“No, just simply fighting isn’t going to help. But I have a different idea for how to teach you both to use your light.” He raised a finger knowingly. 

“I’m almost afraid to ask what.” Kengo said sheepishly. 

“Do you have anything to play music with on this world?”

“Again!” 

Yuna groaned this time, wiping her forehead with the sleeve of her now-abandoned GUTS team jacket. “What did we do wrong this time?”

“Your timing is still off with your hands during the chorus right here-” Ribut gestured, the same flowing motions that he used to strike against Kengo earlier in the afternoon now tracing out the choreography for both him and Yuna in their new dance. “It’s one TWO-and three, four, like this.” 

“Like this?” Yuna ventured, trying to copy the movement. 

“No, no keep your arms out straighter, you need to hit this pose on the right timing, then return to here-.”

 Kengo slumped onto the floor. “I thought we were perfect! We’ve been at this for an hour already!”

“Don’t make me laugh, I’ve seen a drunken Gomess with better footwork than you two.” Ribut stood with his hands akimbo, chiding them. 

“I don’t even know what a Gomess is-”

“It’s a monster that can dance better than you!” Ignis called out from where he reclined on the bleachers. “Keep at it like that, and I’ll make sure to put that on your tombstone!” He punctuated the jeers with another laugh, obviously enjoying the day’s entertainment.

“Care to join us? We could use another back-up dancer.” Ribut called back with his own retort, smiling this time. “Besides, I think you could use the training yourself!” 

Ignis sputtered at the thought and decided against teasing them further, he hadn’t prepared anything to respond to that earnestness. 

“Alright then, we’re doing it again from the top.” Ribut pointed at Yuna, who sighed and walked over to where her phone lay on the floor, to restart the music, yet again.

“I still don’t see why we’re doing this, how is learning a dance supposed to help us?” Kengo asked as he pushed himself back up to his feet, and took his position.

“To empty your mind, like I said. It’s not just enough to move, you need to be aware of all the parts of your body as you follow the music! To be able to visualize your body, the lines of your hand, the weight of your balance over your feet, in all the steps of the dance, you must clear your mind of everything else.” Ribut inhaled deeply, and closed his eyes. “Be present in it, and you’ll see what I’m teaching you.”

Both Kengo and Yuna looked towards each other, eyebrows raised in skepticism, but took the same positions. 

“Now a-ONE, and a-TWO, and a-one, two, three, FOUR!-” 

And then, it all came together. The pulse of the music, the beat of their hearts as they moved with it and through it, matching each other’s motions. United in the same simple steps of the dance, they came to the end of the song, resting in one final pose as the last chord died away. They were breathing heavily, tired and sweating through their GUTS uniforms, but in exhilaration and achievement this time. 

“Yes! We did it!” Yuna leapt up and bounced happily in celebration, fists pumping in the air.

Even Ignis found himself tentatively applauding off the side. The kids had actually, shockingly, nailed every single part of the dance.

Kengo, his face now brilliant instead of disheartened, came over and high-fived Yuna. “We finally got it!” Both of them raised their fingers up to their face, sharing equally broad grins together. “Smile~ Smile!~” They exclaimed before collapsing into giggles. 

Ribut politely clapped for them too. “See, more than emptying your minds, through the dance, you learned how to connect with each other. To feel the same rhythm with your senses, your instincts, rather than your conscious thoughts.” 

“Eh?” Kengo and Yuna looked up, surprised from their victory celebration, towards him as he walked towards them both, hands folded carefully behind his back. 

“Finally, though…” Ribut extended one hand towards Kengo, and laid it to rest lightly on his chest. “There is one more thing.” 

Without hardly a motion, the heel of his hand slammed into Kengo’s sternum, directly above his heart, the hollow sound of the impact reverberating through the quiet afternoon air. In shocked silence, Yuna stood there, and watched him collapse in slow-motion, her own body feeling as if it were paralyzed, like she was experiencing a dream.

“Now, Yuna. You must guide him.”

Ribut’s voice snapped her out of her daze. She whipped around in anger. “What did you do to Kengo?!” 

The Ultraman’s human face revealed nothing but a calm smile. “I didn’t hurt him, I assure you.” 

“Then why is he unconscious?! Wake him up, right now!”

“I could, but…. That wouldn’t help him now, or you.” 

“Me? What am I supposed to do?” Yuna’s voice raised in alarm. 

“You must connect your light with his, and guide him.” Ribut responded with such a matter-of-fact tone that Yuna wanted to scream at him.

The tears that threatened before now were on the verge of breaking through again. Yuna’s voice cracked under their weight. “You keep saying that, but what does that even mean? I don’t understand this, everyone keeps telling us that we’re light, that we’re supposed to save the world, to protect everyone, but I don’t know how!” 

“I… I can’t tell you how to do that.”Ribut’s smile faded, his voice softened, and a note of regret creeped into it. If they were truly the bearers of the light in this world, then he couldn’t imagine the weight of responsibility they had already carried before he arrived.  

“Then why are you here?” Yuna, frustrated, reached out and grabbed against Ribut’s vest, trying to drive her fists into him, helplessly. He stood like a stone, enduring it until the strength went out of her arms, and her legs. Ribut carefully held her as she collapsed onto the floor with gasping sobs, and knelt down with her.

“Yuna, listen to me….” He waited patiently for the sobs to quiet, still holding onto her arm gently.

“You and Kengo both carry the light, but you’ve only thought of that light as a weapon, a tool to be used. It’s not like that at all.” Ribut took his hand from her and raised it to his own chest. There, Yuna saw a glimmer of pure, calming cyan that shimmered like the surface of a lagoon in bright sunlight. 

He saw the recognition in her eyes, and nodded, continuing. “It’s life. You both have been given life, for your body, your mind, but also your heart. I have shown you how to connect the mind and body. But the heart, you must find on your own. I sent Kengo into his own light, to see it face to face, but he needs you to help him understand it.”

“Why… why me?” Yuna’s voice was steady now, but a whisper that even Ribut had to strain to hear. 

“No one’s light, not Kengo’s, not your own, not mine, or the light carried by any one of my people, exists for its own sake. We are not given it in order to seek glory for its own power, or to use it to rule over, or control others. Instead, we use it to guide others, to find hidden things, and illuminate the darkness.” 

One hand still held to his own chest, where his light softly glowed, Ribut stretched out his other hand, and laid it on her shoulder. Yuna felt a small tingle of warmth even through her sweat-soaked shirt. 

Ribut continued. “None of us can discover the purpose of this power if we do not take that first step into the darkness, to seek out others, those who are lost, hurt, in need of help. I can’t walk that path for you, Yuna. But you do not make that journey alone, and neither does Kengo.”

Yuna glanced over at Kengo’s fallen form, and fought down her own fear seeing his eyes closed, his face blank, the smile gone from it. He hardly even appeared to be breathing, his arms and legs splayed out at awkward angles, like a puppet cut loose from its strings.

“Now go, and find him. Together, the light will show you the path to your destiny, but it also will give you the strength to shape it for yourself.”

She looked up, and into Ribut’s eyes. In his human form they were dark brown, and crinkled slightly around the edges as he smiled at her. But as she looked deeper, their image seemed to blur and a warm, bright light spread from them as well. Yuna blinked, and looked away, wiping her bare forearm across her own face to clear it from the sweat and tears that made her sight swim.

Finally, after several deep breaths to steady herself, she nodded.

Ribut released her, and Yuna slowly stood up, then paced over to Kengo’s unconscious body. Another deep breath, and she sunk down to his side, mirroring Ribut’s motions as she placed a hand on his chest, and raised a hand to her own. There, the metal ring around her neck flared a brilliant white light, it grew and enveloped both their forms. With an almost audible shift in the air’s pressure, and a spark, they were united within it. Yuna’s own figure froze similarly, her eyes closed, motionless. 

The quiet moment was interrupted by the same creeping chill again, behind Ribut. He instinctively felt his body tense under the pressure. 

“I think you just lost your best chance at beating those giant golden dickbags. You sure do put a lot of trust in these human teenagers.” Ignis had finally left his spectator position and walked over. He leaned curiously over Ribut, eyeing the two young humans before them.  “You know how the saying goes about “the blind leading the blind-”

“They’re stronger than you think.” Ribut glared behind him, at Ignis, cutting him off. “But they aren’t the only ones lost.” 

“Oh? You mean me?” Ignis spun theatrically, his open coat flaring around him. “Well, if that was an attempt at an insult, it’s not a particularly good one. I know exactly what I am, just a carefree treasure hunter-”

“Don’t try to fool me. I know exactly what you are too.” Ribut’s voice dropped into a hard edge, and his eyes narrowed as he stood. 

His assumed human appearance, physically unremarkable, with unpretentious, loose clothing, wrapped with only a few accents of bright color, suddenly seemed to exude a new presence as he rose. It almost seemed to unfold outwards to fill the space around him. During the sparring and in the dance practice earlier, Ribut gave off an aura of calm, precise temperance. But now, that quiet energy sharpened into a knife point before Ignis’ senses.

Ignis suddenly realized just how much the Ultraman had held back when fighting Kengo earlier that day.

Ribut folded his arms, continuing to stare him down. “You know what I see, when I look at you? I see a thief.”

“Well, duh- ” Ignis waved a hand dismissively

“And a coward.”

Ignis’ mask of derision broke. His eyes flamed into a burning red, and dark lines traced across his skin, outlining the deep creases of anger on his face. He drew closer to Ribut. “You don’t know anything about me-” he snarled.

“I see your fear. Just like Kengo and Yuna.” Ribut gestured towards them, his eyes still locked on the crimson fire behind Ignis’ own. He held his gaze without recoiling. “When I looked at them, I saw how they were being crushed by it. Both of them, struggling to move forward, putting on a brave face for the sake of those around them. It broke Kengo apart into pieces, and Yuna tried to ignore it, and bury it deep, deep within her. But they tried-”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Ultraman. I’m not afraid, not any longer-” Ignis hissed, teeth gritting together.

“You’re lying to yourself, that fear is still there, I can see it. You just tried to dig a pit, straight through it, straight through your soul. You tried  to carve out your own heart to try and escape from that fear, replaced it with an obsession, and… and then-” 

Obsession, yes. But as he stared into that pit, the gaping, ragged wound within Ignis’ spirit, another smoldering presence emerged. Ribut could almost taste it, foul and metallic, rank against his senses. It took all the training he had as a warrior to not flinch away in revulsion at the sight, but he couldn't stop his eyes widening as he trailed off.

Ignis, still only inches away from him, noted his reaction. He grinned. The markings on his face shifted, growing even darker, spreading like a bruise across his face. The grin contorted into something disfiguring, leering, unrecognizable from what he was before.

“Well? What do you see now, Mr. Ultraman?” Cruel glee filled Ignis’ voice, layered with something else, ancient and monstrous. He leaned in closer, pressing Ribut back a step. 

“What have you done?” Ribut whispered, horrified.

“Exactly what you said. I emptied my mind, and unlocked my true power.”

“This power isn’t yours-” 

“You think I give a damn? It’s power. Power enough to do what needs to be done.”

“It will destroy you!” 

Ignis laughed again, the sound was cold, with none of the sardonic charm he used earlier. “Now who’s afraid?” 

“You don’t understand-” Ribut pleaded. “I’m offering to help you, that darkness-“

“-Is far stronger than anything you could accomplish with your stupid dances and cryptic garbage.” Ignis spat. He finally drew back, crossing his arms. The lines disappeared from his face abruptly as his grin soured, twisting into a downturned scowl. But now that Ribut had glimpsed the force of darkness inhabiting his soul, it still twisted and bled into his vision. It pulsed in sinuous, shadowed veins just under the surface of the alien’s smirking appearance.

“I don’t need your pity, or your help. Save it for the kids, they’re too young to know any better. Me? I’ve seen real darkness, and all your inane little words about light and life won’t save them against it.” Ignis jerked a thumb over towards Yuna and Kengo. They still had not stirred a muscle in the meantime.

Ribut shook his head. “You underestimate them both. I think they’ll prove you wrong.” 

“Face it, Ultraman, you sent them both off to their deaths. They’re not coming back.” Ignis shot back.

“All we can do is wait. And we will see....” Ribut trailed off. He inhaled, then dropped into a cross-legged sitting position, eyes closed patiently. 

Ignis frowned. He was hoping to get more amusement from needling him further. But something in Ribut’s words tugged at him, and Ignis found himself taking a seat on a nearby bench as well, crossing one leg over the other.

Just to satisfy my curiosity. I want to rub it in his face, after all... 

And they waited. 

Chapter Text

The push of Ribut’s hand toppled Kengo over, to fold in on himself, spiraling down, down, into an infinite abyss of light. The ground fell out from under him, and he seemed to rush downwards, pulled by some invisible force, for ages. He fell, and fell, long enough that the feeling of falling itself disappeared, evaporated away, and he was left merely floating.

In light.

The bright space around him stifled any of his senses, he could hear nothing, feel nothing, not heat or cold. It merely hung there, with him. Waiting. 

“Ribut? What happened? Yuna?” Something resembling his voice drifted away from him, and also disappeared, absorbed into empty, shining space. 

“Is anyone there?” Kengo vaguely understood that he should be feeling some sort of worry, panic even, but the infinite light, timeless and limitless around him, absorbed that feeling too. There was no urgency here. Merely… light.

That’s right. The light. I am light… aren’t I? I’m supposed to use it for something. I think.

But what? 

Kengo realized that the ache from his body was gone. He raised a hand to look at it, and the bright mist around him twisted in eddies and flowed through its form. It was translucent, fading into the same mist at the tips of his fingers. 

Again, that vague, nudging feeling that this was strange, concerning, that something was not right. But that couldn’t be the case, could it? This is how it should be. This is better this way. I am light, after all. I am… Ultraman Trigger.

At the memory of the name, the image of Trigger - Kengo’s own self - appeared before him. The same impassive, unchanging face, silently hung there alongside him, accompanying his wandering thoughts. Kengo reached out the vanishing hand, and it sank through the glowing crystal set into Trigger’s chest. 

This is the light I need, isn’t it? I need it, to protect everyone. I just need to accept it, to... become it. 

His hand pushed deeper, disappearing into light.

Yuna opened her eyes to a searing blaze, she winced, and tried to cover her face. But the light seeped through every atom of space around her, and through her. It was the very air that she… wait was she even breathing here? 

She looked down at herself, and exhaled in relief. Still in the same black GUTS fatigues, everything intact. Wherever her light, the power of her connection to Yuzare, had sent her, she was whole at least. But then a new fear bubbled up through her chest.

I  have to find Kengo! But he could be anywhere!

“Kengo!” Her voice rang out, but there was no answer. She paused for a second, straining to hear anything.

“KENGOOOO!” She yelled harder. 

The light shone around her, unchanged.

“KENGO YOU STUPID IDIOT, WHERE ARE YOU? I NEED TO FIND YOU!” She would’ve stomped her foot in indignation if there was any ground below her to do so. 

“Ugh, fine. What did Ribut say to do again?” Yuna scrunched her face up, concentrating, and trying to not worry about the fact that she was now talking to herself to keep from going crazy in this weird, luminous dimension. “How did he describe it? Life? The Light is Life. Okay-” 

She took a deep breath, and one hand instinctively went to the ring at her necklace again. 

Connect to his light - find his life.

She thought of Kengo. The weird, dorky scientist who doted on an equally weird flower constantly, talking to it, reassuring it, and smiling as he recounted every new development of its growth. She thought of his catchphrase, but also how hard it was for him to smile sometimes. She hadn’t realized it before, when she didn’t know he was Trigger, but the times when he was injured, after Trigger had fallen, or defeated, he still kept trying to smile, even when he was clearly hurt. 

He really believes in that catchphrase. Yuna thought. He actually does want everyone to smile. Even if he can’t…. 

In that moment, recalling the many, many variations of that smile in her memories, she felt a tug centered within her chest. Yuna opened her eyes and gasped. There, Kengo stood, before a shimmering reflection, of the Ultraman called Trigger. But the shimmer also extended to Kengo’s own body, it was wavering and fading into the light around them as she looked on. He looked as if he might simply evaporate before her eyes if a breeze suddenly flowed through this space.

Yuna reached out a hand, to try and pull him away. The moment her fingers brushed, then grabbed firmly ahold of his shoulder, he solidified. Crystallized, almost, out of the air before her. They both stood, now anchored by newfound gravity. 

“....Who?-” Kengo’s voice still seemed distant, his eyes unfocused. 

“It’s me, Yuna!” She pleaded, and tried to turn him around to look directly into his face. ”You have to wake up!” 

“I have to… I have to protect them.”

“Yes! That’s right, now c’mon-” She tried to pull him away, outwards, somewhere back to reality, but he was stuck fast in the light.

“Who… who do I have to protect?”

Suddenly, Yuna realized that she was holding the same flower she recalled before. What did he call it? Ree-lay or something?

Kengo’s eyes fell onto the flower. Something appeared to flash across his expression, recognition, satisfaction. A small smile curved upwards at his lips. “I wanted them to see it bloom.”

“That… that’s right, Kengo. You wanted to show people this flower. Think, who are you growing the flower for?” She raised it up for him to see, praying that the prompting would bring him back to himself. The flat intonation behind his words was more terrifying than seeing him beat down in any of the fights to this point.

“People, like-” Colors smeared and took shape around them, out of the white void. Images and memories appeared, of Earth, of the GUTS Supreme team, Akito, even the newcomers like Ignis, and Haruki. Yuna was shocked to see herself in many of the pictures as well, and blushed furiously at some of the less flattering ones. Although she had to admit that silly bedazzled taser had come in handy more than she thought…

More images flashed in the air around them. Yuna saw them, replaying in faltering, stuttering frames, then growing into a single scene, a vision of a small apartment, and two figures. Wait, isn’t that-

“I… wanted my mom to see it. She spent so much time on Mars, it’s so dry and cold there, I wanted to give her something she could watch grow. To look forward to every season, to the future...” Kengo’s voice grew stronger, and warmer as he looked on the scene with Yuna. 

“You want to protect the future, Kengo. What is that future you dream of?” Yuna prompted again. 

“I never realized-” Kengo trailed off. Many of the images, the memories now replaying were of his time on Mars. Late nights studying at home, dinner left out for him, books piled around the two of them. Kengo asleep at the table, and the same smile on his mother’s face. Yuna recognized it as Kengo’s smile, wide and comforting, even through her own pain, willing to bear that pain for the sake of helping others. 

“I never realized how hard it was for her, trying to help me all on her own.” Kengo’s own smile similarly glowed through his own tears. “But she was always there for me. I just wanted to give her something to help her smile, even when I wasn’t around.”

“You’re lucky, Kengo, I didn’t even know my mother.” Yuna grasped tightly on her necklace, her voice soft and strained. She hesitated.  “But... I know how special she was to my father, and I can carry on her light too, even though she’s gone.”

“You do look a lot like her. Like Yuzare, I mean. I saw her there in the past. But that’s not the only thing I see when I look at you.” Kengo turned his gaze from the images to Yuna. Much like she saw in Ribut's eyes before, his own dark eyes almost appeared to glow in the bright space around them. “I don’t just see Yuzare, I see… your dad too. President Shizuma. When he fought alongside me, he gave up his own ship, the last thing connecting him to his home, to protect you and everyone else. I see that same courage in you, too.”

“You… you do?” Yuna squeaked out incredulously. The metal of her mother’s ring dug into her fingers. She steadied herself with another deep breath, then looked back up at Kengo, meeting his eyes. “I think we both were given the light for a reason, not just to fight for the future, but to live in that future too. We have a family, we have people who love us, who want us to be safe, but depend on us to keep fighting for them. To… to be light. But we have a place here too, with everyone else, as human beings!” 

Kengo suddenly reeled. The words he had heard when he first transformed into Trigger echoed through his mind. He saw Yuzare’s face, illuminated brightly, but also, Yuna’s own softer, warmer glow superimposed on it. Their voices rang together.

“You are light… and human.”

Ribut was just starting to worry that he’d have to go in after them, when a crackle of energy and sudden flash of light rolled outwards from the two young humans and their motionless forms. He flinched backwards, along with Ignis, but it quickly passed by leaving the gymnasium around them untouched. 

With a groan, Kengo raised himself from his sprawled, supine position, to sit upright as best he could. He expected pain when he put pressure on his bandaged arm, but surprisingly, there was none to be found. A tingling tightness remained from where his limbs seemed to awkwardly fall asleep while he was unconscious, and he tested his other hand, opening it - to find the glittering golden key he had used to access the Eternity Core’s power. Its weight was reassuring, resting in his open palm.

Yuna, similarly stretched and tried to shake some feeling back into her legs from where she had rested, kneeling by Kengo. Realizing they were back in their own bodies once again, she laughed. At the sound, Kengo turned towards her, and joined in. 

“Thank you, Yuna. Thanks… for finding me there. And helping me to remember.” He grinned at her. 

She shook her head. “I wasn’t about to leave you behind! I’ll be there for you, to keep fighting with you too! Just, promise me-” 

“Yes?”

“Promise me that we’ll fight together this time?” She matched his grin, and laughed again.

Ribut, silently observing the two of them, halfway turned behind him, towards a now empty set of bleachers. “I told you so.” He whispered.

“Thank you, Ribut.” 

The Absolutian was defeated (for now), and the two Ultra heroes stood facing each other, the image of their human faces shared between the connection they now held. Ribut could feel the warmth from Kengo’s smile, his gratitude, but also the searing intensity of the Eternity Core which now flowed strongly through his whole being. He had truly made it his own.

“ You helped me realize who I am, as light, and as a human. Thank you for seeing that in me.” 

Ribut only nodded, smiling in return.

“Because of you, and Yuna, I can move forward now. I... I think I understand my destiny better, I want to keep moving forward, towards that future.”

“Don’t forget, though. Even something as small as a smile can change the world, Kengo.” Ribut responded.

“Right! Smile~! Smile~!” Kengo’s grin split even wider, bearing his teacher’s pride in his newfound strength. 

Ribut reached out one forearm, through the light, through his own body, now patterned red and silver, standing dozens of meters tall in the fading red light of the sunset around them. Kengo - as light, as Ultraman, as uniquely himself in that present moment in time - responded, meeting Ribut’s fist together. The two hands rested against each other, feeling the pressure and presence of the other. 

Finally, Ribut lowered his hand and turned. 

Should I tell them?

He considered Ignis, and the roiling blaze of hatred and darkness that the treasure hunter had stolen for himself, and now covetously nurtured in his heart. 

No, they think of him as a friend. They will need that bond, to save him from it. 

His mind made up, Ribut abruptly flung his arms upwards, with a great “ SHUWAH!” reverberating through the dusky air. He soared into the sky, following the light his commanders had provided him, to find his way back home again. 

Still, he couldn’t keep himself from glancing backwards one last time, to see the two lights still there. Two lights, but now united together, connected in both mind, and spirit. 

Mission accomplished.

He sped away, into the infinite darkness of space above him.

The darkness of the hallways within the GUTS base stretched before Ignis. The deep shadows, punctuated only occasionally by the dull green glow of emergency lights, was comforting, almost. Shadows were always comforting to a thief - and a treasure hunter - but they seemed to respond to his presence now, curling around his feet, expectantly as he softly treaded through the corridors.

Ignis didn’t even know why he bothered waiting until nightfall, when this wing of the base would be deserted. He had spent so much time around the GUTS team that even the guards hardly took notice of him anymore. One of them even casually waved, greeting him this evening as if he was just another employee with an ID badge. Ignis grimaced, remembering it now. 

They’re all fools. What if I was an enemy? They’d be helpless. It would be so easy to simply - Ignis started at the image in his head, broken bodies lay flung against the metal hallways, the guard who had wished him a good evening, eyes dulled, staring into space, smeared blood below them.

Where did that come from? Good thing for them, I’m not after their lives, instead…

The GUTS crew weren’t big enough fools to leave the lab with their most sensitive equipment unlocked though, but it wasn’t like Ignis had never cracked a number code lock before. He withdrew a small metal device from a pouch on his leather bandolier, and placed it on the console. Spindly, tiny metal probes extended from its smooth surface, tentatively quivering to and fro, until a series of shocks erupted from them. The electronics smoked and sputtered, and the door slid open with only a quiet hiss. 

There, inside, behind a tangle of wires, computer screens and sensors, was a massive stone mosaic. Ignis only briefly looked on it, the figures vaguely familiar, but it wasn’t the prize he was after. 

Casually laying on a metal table to the side, was a seemingly-ordinary GUTS energy pistol, but also several hefty USB devices with blank, black edges. He smirked. The scientists here trusted in the rest of the guards, and their pitifully incompetent defenses to protect themselves. They took it for granted, he hoped this would serve as a wake-up call to the pompous, uptight researcher named Akito on their team. No, he knew it would, the kid was an eternal pessimist. He might as well leave a business card behind bragging about it. 

Ignis quickly secured both the gun - he could feel the thrum of energy under its metal and ceramic plating - and the blank keys under his coat. Their weight and heat, sharp edges pressing into his side, exhilarated him. He could feel something else, his own gleeful anticipation rising through his chest as he hurried back outside, down the hallways, and into the cold night air flowing through a spare transport bay. He swung unseen onto the exterior of a shuttle as it hummed down to the surface, feeling the strength of the starlight and darkness surging through his body with the wind whipping around him. 

This is true power!- 

All Ignis had taken for himself, he did without the power of the light. Why would he need it? Look at what was now at his fingertips. The power of Trigger’s darkness, revived from millions of years of slumber, and now absorbed into the depths of his soul, responding to his wish, recognizing his anger, the strength and pure burning desire of his vengeance. And now… the means to truly awaken it. 

Ignis remembered his words to Ribut earlier. Power enough to do what needs to be done. 

He gritted his teeth, almost reflexively snarling at the picture of Hudram which rose into his mind. It was all he ever wanted, for years, no, centuries. Centuries of shame, agony and sorrow, running alone, the memory of those flames which consumed all he had known and loved, surrounding him no matter where he fled to.

No longer. He had left that fear, that sadness behind. There was only one way to make things right. His footsteps quickened away from the shuttle port, down empty city streets. 

I will kill him!

The flames rose again, this time, with Ignis at their center. 

I will make him feel that pain!

The fire swirled, but instead of casting light, the licking tongues seemed to absorb it. Where they wrapped around his limbs, he felt cold, all the shining glow of the street lamps around him fading into the roar of darkness that enveloped him. Ignis stumbled, to his knees, his limbs frozen with its intensity. He gripped the keys and Sparklens inside his coat, which burned like ice, through the material of his gloves, digging deeper and deeper into his chest. He couldn’t breathe.

And then, within the swirling darkness rising through him, came a voice.

Ignis realized it wasn’t his. 

Destroy him!

Destroy it all!

He screamed. 

EPILOGUE

Zoffy looked up from his data slate at the blue and black patterned Ultraman before him. Then back to his data slate. 

Despite having been away from the planet for weeks longer than his original mission had called for, completely cut off from contact for most of that time, the report that Zoffy now stared at was only a few sentences long.

Found the nebula you wanted me to study. It looked fine, I guess. Had to fight a Barossa again. Then came home.

Zoffy raised one brow at the young Ultra. “Is there anything else you would like to add to this… official documentation?”

“Nah, sir. Everything went just great, sir. No problems! Nope! None at all!” Zett stood in a rigid parody of a stance at attention. He noticed Zoffy’s glare and threw in a quick, exaggerated salute for good measure, trying his best to smile casually. It looked more like a grimace. 

“No word about the missing Z-Riser?”

“Oh, that! Uh… we must’ve dropped it somewhere, right Haruki?” 

“Right, Mr. Zett! It probably got lost after we crashed on that planet with the Bullton-”

Zett’s face fell. “Haruki! We promised we wouldn’t talk about that!-” He tried his best to whisper telepathically but Zoffy could still clearly hear both of them arguing. The Commander quietly turned off his holographic display, and rubbed between his eyes in exasperation.

“Look, either you can make an official report about everything that happened on your mission and give me some explanation I can provide to Hikari about why his experimental technology has once again been broken or lost, or I can make you go mop every floor in this Garrison as punishment for insubordination. Choose.” Zoffy refocused his glare upwards again.

“Osu! Yes, sir!” Zett and Haruki both responded in unison, jumping to attention in a real effort this time.

“We… uh, well we got a distress signal from Haruki’s world, and flew out to meet them, it was an emergency! And then… and then the Barossa used another Bullton, and we got sucked into a wormhole, but we fell into a different world that was like Haruki’s but it was, like CRAZY advanced with science and they had this flying spaceship that was actually a space dragon robot and - “ 

“Get on with it!”

“ -and we fought alongside another Ultraman who was real cool and lended us his gun thingie that let us transform again and then we beat the Barossa and came back here right awaythat’sallweswear- ” Z finished up without drawing a single breath in his enthusiastic rush.

Zoffy’s mouth hung open, incredulous at the sheer audacity of the two rookies before him. “You mean to tell me that you dropped into a different universe, made contact with an unknown Ultra, and then didn’t see fit to put any of that in your mission report?” 

“Oh no, sir, this Ultra wasn’t unknown. He had a name, it was… uh… Tri-something. Tri...dent? Tri-plet?-”

“It was ‘Trigger’, Mr. Zett!” 

Zett snapped his fingers together. “That’s right, Trigger!” 

Zoffy’s mouth closed, and pressed into a tight line. “Trigger… you said?”

“Yep, that’s the one!” 

“I’ve changed my mind, you’re mopping all the floors in the Garrison AND in the Silver Cross’ hospital ward.”

Zett’s lip stuck out as he pouted. “Awww, but why? Zero never said anything about having to write any of that stuff in our mission reports.”

“That’s because Zero never writes me mission reports in the first place. Now GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!” 

[END]