Ultimate Force Zero ～Side Story～

is a novel about the members of Ultimate Force Zero, taking place between Ultra Zero Fight and Ultraman Geed.https://m-78.jp/news/post-5807 Created to celebrate Ultraman Zero's 10th anniversary, it was originally released a chapter per month from September 2020 in Tsuburaya Galaxy, a monthly digital magazine created by Tsuburaya Productions, but was moved to TSUBURAYA IMAGINATION when Galaxy shut down.
An extra chapter taking place immediately before chapter 5 was told in the form of a stage show called , which was held during , an event at Ultra Heroes EXPO 2021 New Year Festival.
A physical version was announced on March 13, 2021 and released on March 20, 2021, which includes an extra chapter that is a novelization of the stage show.
==Plot==
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After the events of Ultra Zero Fight, Ultraman Zero wanders through space in search of a rumored location called the Waterfall of Time, in hopes of mastering his Shining form. Knowing that he needs to be summoned there, he emits as much light as possible during his journey, but only attracts the attention of a group of Legionoids, which he promptly defeats.
It is then that he is summoned to the Waterfall of Time and meets the Guardian of Time. After some convincing, the guardian agrees to let Zero undertake a trial that may help him master the power. In the trial, Zero witnesses some of the events of Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie, Ultra Galaxy Legend Gaiden: Ultraman Zero vs. Darklops Zero, Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial, Ultraman Zero Gaiden: Killer the Beatstar, Ultraman Saga and eventually Ultra Zero Fight.
After observing Ultraman Zero Darkness destroy his friends, he seemingly merges with the past memory, where he is reinvigorated by their spirits and transforms into Shining Zero. He then sees a final memory, his first memory of the Land of Light, two figures embracing him.
Zero finds himself outside of the trial and the guardian is impressed by his skill. The Guardian of Time then makes a request to him.
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Mirror Knight reminisces about the words of someone he can't remember, who told him that he was good at making mirrors. Their words inspired him, and his mirror-creation only improved over the years.
However, there is one large crack that he can't repair. After the Belial Galactic Empire's attack, the Planet of Mirrors was shattered, but Mirror Knight and residents of the Planet of Mirrors and Planet Esmeralda were able to restore it, apart from this single crack. The Two-Dimensional People inform Mirror Knight the only way to fix it is the hidden treasure contained within the Infinity Mirror, which is located somewhere on the planet.
Mirror Knight finds the Infinity Mirror, which shatters and transforms into Two-Dimensional girl when he touches it. The girl is annoyed that Mirror Knight awoke her too early and reveals that she is the hidden treasure. She explains that her name is Nasha and she was born with great power which she used to defend the planet, but since her power lured enemies there, she chose to seal herself in the Infinity Mirror.
Nasha scans Mirror Knight and tells him that his trauma is affecting his abilities. After Mirror Knight explains being possessed by Belial and being killed by Zero, Nasha decides to help. She fires a ray of light into the center of the crack and tells Mirror Knight to create two giant mirrors on either side of the crack. The light splits into two beams which travel to different ends of the crack, but then reflect off the giant mirrors back into it. Nasha explains that the light will slowly fix the crack over time, just as Mirror Knight's heart will slowly heal over time.
When Nasha compliments Mirror Knight's mirrors, he realizes that she is the person who inspired him years ago. Nasha explains that being in the Infinity Mirror causes her to become younger, so she must visit the outside world every so often to avoid disappearing entirely, which is what she was doing last time they met. Mirror Knight thanks her, and she remarks on his progress since their meeting. He says he owes it to his great friends.
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Glenfire destroys a group of Legionoids on an asteroid. Despite Belial's defeat, some of his army still wreaks havoc across the universe. He then discovers a strange cold, white sphere lying among the carnage. He reaches for it, only for the sphere to suddenly start speaking, telling him to back away as Glenfire's heat is causing him to melt because his body is made of ice.
Glenfire finds a Legionoid's drill and carries the alien inside it, since the drills are resistant to heat. The pair introduce themselves to each other, and Glenfire learns the boy's name is Wraith. Wraith explains that he was travelling the universe, but was attacked by the Legionoids, gaining an injury that prevents him from flying. Because of this, Glenfire decides to be Wraith's bodyguard.
Days go by as the two wait for Wraith's wounds to heal. During this time, Wraith explains that his species is born from a large mass of ice and that they go on journies across the universe to be slowly melted by the stars, leaving the elements in their bodies on various planets to give birth to new life there. Glenfire speaks about his friendship with Zero, and how they defeated Belial together.
Suddenly, they are attacked by a Legionoid Negro, a stronger Legionoid that wields a red axe. Glenfire battles the robot, who proves to be a formidable opponent. The warrior isn't able to use his full power for fear of hurting Wraith and struggles to push back against the enemy's axe. Determined to protect his new friend, Wraith suddenly charges at the Legionoid, causing an explosion that knocks them all away.
Afterwards, Glenfire quickly finishes off the Legionoid Negro, but is filled with regret from failing to protect Wraith. But Wraith re-appears, revealing that he was merely blown away by the explosion, and they happily reunite.
A few days later, Wraith's injuries heal and he departs. Glenfire is sad at first, but cheers up when he sees a rainbow of light emitted by faraway stars, knowing it is Wraith's light.
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One year after the Belial Galactic Empire's defeat, Princess Emerana is overworked with her official duties as the princess of Planet Esmeralda. Constantly meeting with representives from other planets, planning the revival of Planet Anu, and other such tasks eventaully cause her to faint from fatigue. Jean-Bot, unable to watch her continue to make preparations from her hospital bed, decides to take her somewhere.
Jean-Bot explains they are heading to a secret planet, only known to the Esmeraldan royal family, and that he was originally going to take her there before they ran into Nao and Zero on Planet Anu. He flies into a giant cave on one of the planet's asteroids, its walls dotted with bright green emerald ore. By firing a special laser into the ore, he is able navigate the maze-like tunnels and soon enter an enormous cavern decorated with emerald ore that glows bright enough to look like a clear blue sky.
Emerana is amazed at the sight, while they approach a black mountain in the cavern's center. On top is a flat grassland with an arrangement of small, conical emeralds in a vortex. Jean-Bot instructs her to inject a small amount of Esmeraldan energy into the crystal in the middle of the vortex, which makes it emit a melodious, bell-like sound. The energy spreads to the rest of the crystals, causing them to play a song that the princess recognises as her mother's lullaby.
Jean-Bot awakens Emerana, who realizes she fell asleep and that the emerald's song had concluded. Although asleep for a short time, she feels refreshed. Jean-Bot explains that the song had been designed by the father of the first Esmeraldan King. Out of concern for her health, he had broken the rules by bringing her, since it is meant to be secret location only known to heirs to the throne. Emerana is surprised that Jean-Bot would do this, and he says that he probably would not have had he never met Zero.
The princess now rejuvenated, the two decide to return home.
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Destroying a Mecha Gomora that was part of Beatstar's army using their combination technique, Final Ultimate Force Zero, the group begins to head back to the Mighty Base, before Jean-Nine abruptly stops in his tracks.
Jean-Nine finds himself in a pitch-black void. He can still walk, but the emptiness of his surroundings make it feel like he hasn't moved. The robot attempts to use the Jean Cannon, but nothing happens. He then begins to hear a calm, feminine voice in his mind, calling itself Kyuara.
The voice explains that she is also an artifical intelligence and was created to answer the questions of her creators. These creators gave her a desire for knowledge, so she has travelled the universe to obtain it through conversations with others, having now hacked into Jean-Nine's systems to do the same.
Her question is "What is a heart?". Jean-Nine tries to answer with Zero's description of a heart, but she advises him to use his own words. The robot explains that, when Zero Darkness defeated his friends and his brother sacrificed himself to save him from the same fate, he was overcome with an impulsive rage. That feeling must have come from his heart.
Kyuara replies that all intelligent life have different opinions on what a heart is. She came to Jean-Nine after learning that Beatstar created him despite it leading to Beatstar's own defeat. Unable to understand, she begins to wonder if she will ever discover the right answer, but then recalls a song she heard. After hearing the song, an idea came to her: "If there is no correct answer, why not eliminate all uncertainty from the question?"
Jean-Nine is horrified to learn that Kyuara is considering destroying everything that possesses a heart. Knowing this mysterious song had not yet fully changed her, he knew he had to carefully convince her to do otherwise. He describes a time where Ultimate Force Zero, joined by Pigmon and Princess Emerana, went to a beach planet. There, they watched as Pigmon happily played in the ocean, but he then began to run along the beach in an unnatural way. Dashing about in zigzags, Pigmon was drawing giant portrait of them in the sand. It caused Jean-Nine to feel something he hadn't felt before, which his brother clarified was called happiness.
Jean-Nine continues, saying that without gaining a heart, he would have remained a slave to Beatstar, but now, he is exposed to many unexpected experiences through his friends. Kyuara remains silent for a moment, but then states by learning Pigmon's feelings for him, she was able to delete the idea that was induced by the song. She had tried to before, but was unable to, and now her programming is back to normal.
Kyuara thanks Jean-Nine for his help, and decides to continue to search for answers, agreeing to tell him if she ever does learn anything.
Jean-Nine finds himself back in the real world and learns that everything that he had just seen occurred in only one second. He wonders if Kyuara will ever obtain answers, and for the first time, feels an emotion called anticipation.
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Ultimate Force Zero are engaged in battle with a entity called the Silver "Something". The "Something" is human-shaped, but its body is completely smooth, without a face. The five warriors stand little chance against it, as it reflects their beams back at them and is unphased by their physical attacks. They can't escape the fight, as the object seems to be targetting Zero.
While they still have the strength, they decide to pour all their remaining power into using the Final Ultimate Force Zero, which successfully blows it to pieces. However, the fragments remain alive and unleash a chain reaction of explosions that knock the group unconscious.
When Zero opens his eyes, the "Something" begins to wrap around him, but another explosion knocks it away. Zero is saved by none other than another Zero in Shining form, who reveals he is from the future. The future Zero explains that he must head to the Waterfall of Time to learn how to use the Shining's power.
The "Something" begins to grow erratic, and the future Zero notes that its because he has appeared. The future Zero speeds up time for the past Zero's Ultimate Aegis, allowing him to use it again. As a distraction, the past Zero uses Final Ultimate Zero, which the "Something" reflects by reversing time. In that moment, the Future Zero uses the power of Shining, causing it to slow down, shrink, and turn golden.
The battle complete, the future Zero tells his past self that he will one day learn what they were fighting, and the latter thanks him in response. The future Zero enters a portal back to Waterfall of Time and returns the "Something" to the Guardian of Time. He recalls the Guardian's request and realizes the object is the Guardian's body. It had been separated from the Guardian's spirit by a catastrophic spacetime-destroying event in the future.
The two thank each other, and agree to keep protecting the world. Zero leaves the Waterfall of Time to return to his friends.
Back in the past, Ultraman Zero tells Ultimate Force Zero about his plan to find the Waterfall of Time. They say their farewells and Zero heads off, feeling both anticipation and unease.
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Ultimate Force Zero plan the creation of a new technique that combines their power. After much discussion, they are attacked by two Darklops Zeros and a Mecha Gomora, who are remnants of Beatstar's Army, left behind while the Beatstar Celestial Sphere was warping between universes.
After defeating the two Darklopses, they come up with a technique and its name on the spot, Final Ultimate Force Zero, where the group pour their energy into Zero's Ultimate Aegis and fire an incredibly strong beam. They use it to definitively destroy Mecha Gomora.
==Characters==
===Ultimate Force Zero===
*Ultraman Zero
**Normal
**Shining Zero
*Glenfire
*Mirror Knight
*Jean-Bot
*Jean-Nine
===Allies===
*
*
*
*Emerana
*
===Kaiju===
*Legionoid
**Alpha
**
*Darklops Zero
*Mecha Gomora
*
==Gallery==
Ultimate Force Zero ~Side Story~.png|Background on TSUBURAYA IMAGINATION
Ultimate Force Zero ~Side Story~ Thumbnail.jpg|Thumbnail on TSUBURAYA IMAGINATION
Ultimate Force Zero ~Side Story~ Chapters.jpg
==Trivia==
*While the story is officially stated to have occurred before Ultraman Geed, it could be assumed to have taken place before Ultraman Ginga S The Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors!, when Zero has control over his Shining form.
==External Links==
*Ultimate Force Zero ～Side Story～ at TSUBURAYA IMAGINATION
==References==
Category:Novels
Category:Ultraman Zero