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Over at a balcony in the Space Garrison, Ultraman Zero, the Land of Light's famous hero, looks over the city with his bright yellow eyes. His thoughts wander off to various things as he looks over to the Spark Tower; the day he became exiled, the day he became a hero, the day he became a master, the day his disciple...
"You idiot!! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Zero tries desperately to shove Z away from him, who's currently blocking an attack from Absolute Tartarus with his body.
"M-master..."
Z tries to say something to Zero, but he can spare no energy to talk, as the attack is breaking his whole body apart.
"Get out of the way!!! I didn't ask you to- Don't you dare die on me!!!"
Zero's voice shakes as he realizes the situation they're in. The Absolutians has crafted this beam to use exclusively for him, it is very powerful as it takes into consideration the power of Zero's other forms. For that beam to hit someone who's not as strong as him would guarantee death.
"C-can't let... Master...."
It's so bright.
It hurts.
Zero can barely keep his eyes open, but he can still see Z's body shielding him.
"You- You can't take anymore of this!!!"
Z's body has begun to start showing signs of decay. This beam breaks an ultra's entire body right down to the core, as if they're nothing but a rock.
Z's already missing half of his other arm. He turns back slowly to glance at his beloved master once last time.
"Master... Thank you... for being my-"
An even brighter flash, followed by a loud ringing interrupts his last words. Zero collapses to the ground, trying to stay conscious, but his body is too weak.
The last thing he saw was Z's broken timer, lying on the ground. He crawls over to it, desperately trying to grab it, but before he could, he was sent back to somewhere safe, without his disciple with him.
"Z..."
"Zero."
"Hm?"
He looks back to see his father call out to him.
"We've got something urgent to discuss, come to the meeting room, Commander Zoffy is expecting you."
"Am I in trouble?"
"I'd be surprised if you still were, given your age." Seven says jokingly, leaving Zero a little embarrassed.
The two enter the room and settle down in their seats, Zoffy starts the briefing, with Zero paying attention attentively. Well, he has to, given that he has a whole army to command now, those are thousands of lives at the palm of his hands, it'd be bad if he didn't fully understand the situation they're in.
"Greeza?!" Zero shouts at the mention of the alien's name.
"Yes. Hikari warned me about the sudden spike in energy readings near us a few minutes ago. It matches up with the energy readings for Greeza that Ultraman X gave us a copy of a few thousand years ago."
Zoffy shows the readings to compare, and they are indeed identical.
"But that's... X and Z dealt with them already, didn't they?"
"With a lifeform as unpredictable as Greeza, it having the ability to revive is something we should've anticipated for. But our priority for now is to evacuate the citizens, if the worse case scenario comes and it lands near the plasma spark tower as predicted by the science bureau, we can at least minimize our casualties."
Zero ordered his troops to evacuate the city. During the process, he hears various rumors of a voice calling out to the citizens.
"What did the voice sound like?"
"It's... It's kinda hard to remember sir... The voice sounded pretty distorted..."
The ultra scratches their head, racking their brains to remember something.
"The message was pretty unclear too... I only heard the word 'coming' and 'get out'."
"C-commander Zero!!!"
Suddenly, one of Zero's troops come rushing to him.
"What's the matter?"
He says, turning back to the soldier before politely asking the citizen to continue evacuating themselves.
"Message from the Science Bureau! Their calculations were incorrect! It wasn't Greeza that's coming, it's-"
A loud, demonic, and familiar laugh interrupts them, making the entire city stop in its tracks.
"No..."
Zero's eyes widen in fear as he recognize the laugh of his nemesis.
"Everyone! Speed up the evacuation! Focus on helping the citizens get out of the city as soon as possible! Do not engage in combat unless necessary! Now-"
He looks up to see a dark cloud forming up near the Plasma Spark Tower. Zero freezes.
"Oh god."
He can't even afford to look at the citizens evacuating nor at his troops. Just looking away for a millisecond against him could cost a hundred lives. He sees his figure become more and more distinct, becoming unobscured by the clouds.
His blood boils.
He rushes to fly upwards, wanting to—but also afraid—to meet him once again. As he reaches the top, he sees those familiar eyes finally glow.
The cloud settles, letting him see the figure clearly.
"Belial."
Belial simply laughs, looking intensely at Zero.
"Just don't know how to stay dead, huh?"
He laughs again.
"What? Can't even speak anymo- Ugh!"
Belial jumps to tackle him, Zero barely managing to block the attack. The speed of the tackle caused both of them to descend back to the ground with great speed. Zero's back aches from the fall, the ground around him broken from the impact. The people around them stop moving, all of them looking at Zero.
"Gah..."
He hisses as the pain settles in on his senses, causing his ears to ring. He sees Belial get up, ready to deliver another blow as he's down, but his eyes, focused on the sky, sees a flash, followed by a voice speaking to them directly through their minds.
"Stop standing around you land of light freaks!!! START RUNNING!!!"
The voice is finally clear enough to deliver a whole sentence. As the voice finishes, another bunch of aliens land to the surface, the impact catching Belial's attention.
Through the fog, three figures can be seen. An alien with big ears, and alien with wings, and in the middle of them, an alien with a bright, diamond right eye shining through.
As the fog clears....
"Oh my god!!! I SAID START RUNNING!!!!"
The alien with the big ears announces to the citizens once again. This time, with an unbearably loud voice that would actually force them to leave. It's an Alien Barossa.
"So your people need to be screamed at to do something? How ridiculous."
The alien with wings, a Kyrieloid, says to the figure in the middle.
"Hey, if Belial suddenly came back from the dead to terrorize your planet, you'd be ultra-shocked too!"
The alien with the bright right eye replies back to the Kyrieloid. It's...
Zero helps himself up from the ground, recognizing the voice.
"Z...?"
Even with their current distance, Z found Zero's voice, immediately looking at his direction.
"Master."
Zero looks at him in awe.
How? He died right in front of me! He thinks to himself.
More importantly, what happened to him? His left eye is shattered. His color timer is blocked by... something, similar to the one Ultraman Tregear was wearing. He's carrying a big weapon... a crossbow and a lance? And he's wearing a purple scarf, just like the other two with him.
Lost in thought, he only comes out of his thoughts at the sudden roar that Belial just let out.
"Shit!"
Zero scrambles to get up, ready to fight Belial.
"Stand back, master! This thing isn't Belial!"
"W-what?!"
"Wowie! The famous Ultraman Zero couldn't even tell a fake Belial from a real one?! Boss, you should really get better standards!"
"Oi."
Z knocks the Barossa's head with a fist playfully.
"If you got time to banter with me then you've got time to distract this thing, Ygor."
"Gah... Fine!! Xander, help me out!"
"Mkay."
The Barossa, Ygor, and the Kyrieloid, Xander, disappear into air, ready to distract the alien pretending to be Belial.
"Just sit back and watch, Master Zero. We've got this thing all figured out."
Z slowly walks towards the alien, who's growling and guarding itself from Z. He reloads his crossbow and aims it at the alien.
"Grarghhhh!!!"
The alien charges towards Z at incredible speed.
"Z!! Watch out- Ugnh!"
Zero tried to get up and run to Z's side, but he's too injured to do so, causing him to feel pain once again.
Z closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, focused.
"Now!"
As he shouts the signal, Ygor appears behind the alien.
"Hey!! Have fun in air jail!"
He winds up and slams his bat on the ground with great force, sending the alien flying. As soon as it was about to fall back down, a spell binds it in place, making it an easy target for Z.
"There. All yours, boss."
Xander says lazily as he holds up his hands, focused on casting the spell.
Z aims the crossbow to the alien's ''color timer' and takes a calmed, deep breath.
"Chant your god's name, you're gonna need it!"
He fires a single arrow through the alien. It shatters its color timer, causing it to howl in pain.
"Guh..."
The alien, pierced through by the arrow in its weak spot, finally falls to the ground as Xander lets it go. It wriggles around the floor, dissolving until it takes shape of its true form.
"There you are!"
Ygor happily skips over to the worm, putting it on a jar and then closing it shut.
"Phew! You, mister, are in so much trouble!"
He talks to the worm, acting like it can understand him.
"I told you it was a bad idea for him to keep that thing."
Xander comes to Z's side, hiding from the worm.
"You're just scared of it! Here, scare off Xander, boo!"
Ygor playfully holds up the jar near Xander's face.
"Eugh, I'm not scared of it, bugs just disgust me."
Z takes the jar, making sure Ygor can't reach it.
"Hey!"
"We're taking this to the Markind's storage. I can't let you take it out of me again when I'm asleep..." He says disappointingly, putting the jar inside his color timer where they usually keep it.
"Seriously..."
"I can't help it okay! Those things are crazy valuable!"
Ygor defends himself before shifting the conversation somewhere else.
"Er, anyway, I think someone's waiting for you boss."
He points towards Ultraman Zero, who has been staring at him the whole time.
Their eyes lock for the first time.
"Z..."
"Master."
Z walks towards Zero, slightly shaking. They stand close to each other, not knowing what to say.
"I can't believe it... you're not dead?"
"Have some faith in me, master. That day, I-"
Z's eye light suddenly dimmed, followed by him collapsing to the ground.
"Z?! What's wrong?!"
Zero panics, he crouches down and holds him in his arms.
His two other friends come rushing towards him.
"Hey, hey boss! What'd I say about pushing yourself?"
Ygor says. This is just his way of showing concern. He places his hand on Z's forehead.
"Woah, you're burning..."
He looks up to the sky.
"Xander, could it be-"
"Yes."
Xander was also looking up at the sky.
"Ultraman Zero, take him somewhere that the light can't reach."
Xander says in a serious voice.
"What?! He should be taken to the Silver Cross!"
"I know you don't know us, but we've known Z for the last two thousand years. Just trust us, for his sake."
"..."
Zero looks over to Z, who looks to be in pain.
There's no time for me to hesitate.
"I know my way to the Monster Graveyard, will that work?"
"Oh, yes, that's perfect. But we don't have the time to go-"
"I can open a black hole directly to it."
"Ok. Then let's go."
The group arrive at the monster graveyard. It's not exactly the most pleasing place Zero had in mind to let Z rest, but he decides to put his faith on the two aliens that were accompanying him.
"Woahhh, this place is as depressing as it sounds!" Ygor says joyfully with not one ounce of sarcasm.
"Mm, there's no light in here, we should be good. Ultraman Zero, please place Z onto the ground."
Zero nods, stopping in his tracks to gently put Z down to the ground, letting his motionless body lay flat.
"...What now?"
"Stand back, let me do the rest."
Zero gets dragged away by Ygor, giving them some space from Z and Xander. He starts chanting, letting his hands linger in the air as it points at Z.
"...?"
"Just watch, red and blue guy!"
Ygor pats Zero's shoulder to reassure him.
Z's body becomes enveloped by a dark aura.
"Hey, what is he-"
"Just trust us man, jeez!"
The dark aura intensifies and finally hits its climax, the darkness settling and entering Z's body. Xander stops the incantation and staggers back, exhausted from it. Ygor rushes to catch him, letting him sit down on a rock nearby.
"Hey! C'mere!"
Ygor beckons Zero to come to them, letting him sit next to them. Zero sits down awkwardly, not really knowing how to talk to these two strangers, they just stare at Z's motionless body for a while.
"He'll be alright, Ultraman Zero."
"Oh, uh- Thank you."
The awkward silence continues to grow.
"Really, you're not gonna ask why your boyfriend here needed darkness?"
"B-boyfriend?!"
"So the boss was lying?!"
"Told you."
The two snicker and do a fist bump, Zero doesn't know why they did so.
"A-anyway, what do you mean by him 'needing darkness?'"
"..."
The two aliens stay silent and look each other, hesitant to tell Zero the truth. But, seeing as how much Zero means to Z, he deserves to know what happened to him these past five thousand years.
"He's already 'dead' in a way, Zero."
Xander doesn't coat his words.
"W-what?"
He's lived these past few years believing that he was dead, and yet, this news still comes as a shock to him.
"Okay, okay. Let's clarify what he meant by 'dead' because he was clearly alive just a while ago!"
Ygor stands up in front of him, ready to give a lecture.
"Okay, so you all know that ultras are beings of light, yes? That's like the very first thing you find out about them! Now what happens when an ultra loses its light?"
"They die...?" Zero replies.
"Exactly! Now of course, that doesn't mean its permanent for them! They can be healed and revived, just like they've did countless times throughout history!"
He points towards Z, who's still lying on the ground.
"Now Z here, he's a little bit of a different case!"
"May I explain the following part?"
Xander butts in, who couldn't help but take the stage, he knows all too well that Ygor wouldn't be able to explain Z's situation well.
"Ygor's is right about Z's case being different. Normally, if he died, he would've only needed a bit of light and some rest and he should be good to go. But... When we found him two thousand years ago..."
"So he's just dead?!"
"It seems so."
The two aliens circle around the lifeless body of an ultraman on a desolate planet. They have tried again and again to revive it by imbuing it with light magic.
"Aw man, an ultraman among our mercenary group would've been big news..."
"Is that why you wanted to revive him?"
"No, but it's a big part of it!"
"Well, it is indeed a shame. Seeing an ultraman this lifeless is quite depressing."
"...Should we cremate him?"
Xander rubs his hands together, readying an incantation imbued with darkness that would 'cremate' the body of a being of light.
"We can at the very least do that. If we can identify who this is, we might even be able to sell it for a lot of money."
"Hey! Don't be so cruel! And you know I wouldn't give away such a valuable item like an ultraman's ashes!"
Xander starts the incantation, enveloping the ultra's body with a deadly amount of darkness. All seems to be going well.
"...*cough*..."
"...?"
The two look at each other.
"Did you-"
"Wasn't me, wasn't me!!"
"... *cough* *cough*..."
"What the-"
Xander ends the incantation prematurely, the two staring at the ultraman's body as the darkness's mist fades.
"...*cough*... What... Who are.... *cough*...."
"The darkness revived him...?"
Zero asks with his eyes wide open, unable to believe what he just heard.
"Yes, it may sounds... fictional, but I assure you, it's real, and I am as bewildered by it as you are."
"We don't know the exact reason why this happened to him, Xander here thinks it's the armor thingy that he has that's causing him to be a being of darkness instead!"
"He's refused to talk about what happened to him. All we know was that he was experimented on by The Kingdom, but anything else, we don't know."
They all stare at Z as the silence grows.
"He's kind of like a zombie now, in a way. He's allergic to the light, which is why he fainted."
"I... I see..."
Zero gets up, slowly walking over to Z's body while the other two watch. He feels Z's cheek with his hand, noticing how much rougher his skin feels to the touch.
"You must've endured a lot, Z."
He looks at his face, his left eye is shattered. Around it, darkness seeps through his skin, giving him a mark that looks like cracks on his face.
"..."
Zero's never been good with words.
"Why didn't you say anything? An ultra-sign? Any sign that you were still alive? Everyone thought you were dead."
He holds Z up a bit, resting his face on Z's shoulder.
"I missed you, you idiot."
He couldn't help but give him a hug.
"..."
A pair of big rough hands hug him back.
Zero's eyes widen. The hug, only lasting a couple seconds, felt like it went on for eternity, like they've witnessed countless seasons go by, like they've told each other five thousand years worth of words all in a single hug.
What happened to you?
How have you been?
How's your life going?
So many questions, so many answers, so many stories they could tell to each other, yet they choose to remain silent during their embrace. No words needed to be said, just this act of intimacy is enough for now.
They look each other face to face. Even with everything that's happened to Z, even after all that he'd endured, he still has the same warm smile that he gives to Zero, the warm smile that Zero loved and missed.
"Welcome home, you reckless idiot."
"I'm back, master."
"Tsk. You've got a ton of work to catch up with!"
"I'm glad you didn't change, master."
"Huh?! What's that supposed to mean?!"
Z simply laughs, knowing that Zero wouldn't be able to do much while he's being held by him. They bicker about like old times, the only difference is that Z likes to talk back at him more now.
"Maybe this was a bad idea."
"Aww, you just hate romance, Xander! Come on!!"
Ygor opens his arms.
"Gimme a hug baby!!!"
Ygor rushes towards Xander, only for his head to be caught by his big clawed hands.
"Absolutely not."