"N! We must run! Kyurem is coming!"
Zekrom hurriedly speaks to N.
"Kyurem?" N freezes.
The same freezes also plagues Ghetsis. Kyurem is coming?
Ghetsis has always treated Kyurem as the Legendary Pokémon he most desires, but he has never found Kyurem's location, and his early preparations weren't good enough.
So he never activated plans for Kyurem.
Unexpectedly Kyurem has appeared now—why?
Zekrom, puzzled, does not answer N. It lifts N and Ghetsis and then prepares to fly away.
As one of the Legendary Dragons that split from the Unova Dragon, none in this world knows Kyurem's fearsome power better than Zekrom and Reshiram.
Roar!
The distant draconic bellow seems clearer; even N and Ghetsis can faintly hear.
And then… the sky seems off.
N sits in Zekrom's claw, feeling a cool sting on his face; he wipes it with his hand, a damp trace.
Rain?
But soon, N understands.
Sporadic snowflakes fall; is it snowing?
N is puzzled; it's still summer, and Vertress City is nearby; not a typical area for snow—where does it come from?
"Zekrom, what is happening."
"It's Kyurem! And then…"
Zekrom's Telepathy grows grave; he can feel Kyurem approaching more and more.
"It's charging at me!"
"Roar!"
A domineering, fierce dragon's bellow shakes the sky; a blue-white beam shoots toward Zekrom's back.
Ice type Ice Beam!
"Zekrom! Watch out!"
Zekrom knows this; it tries to dodge, but misses by a hair.
The icy beam sweeps across and freezes the right half of Zekrom's body, forming gleaming ice crystals on its back.
Zekrom lets out a painful grunt; it crashes heavily onto a hill.
Boom!
The ground trembles.
But to protect N, Zekrom lifts its right paw with force.
"Zekrom!"
N is startling.
The cold ice ravenously eats at Zekrom; Zekrom endures pain, placing N and Ghetsis on the ground.
"N, you all run!"
A low growl comes from above; looking up, a gray-black giant dragon Pokémon stands in the sky.
That feral, fierce aura and icy gaze—that's Black Kyurem!
Ghetsis stared intently at Black Kyurem; this was the strongest Legendary Dragon Kyurem!!
But in the next moment, Ghetsis's gaze darkens; if not for Damian "taking away" Colress, then this Kyurem would be his someday!
Damn that Damian!
"Zekrom! I've found you."
Black Kyurem gazes down at Zekrom; its presence is oppressive.
Zekrom slowly rises, shielding N and Ghetsis behind it.
"Why?"
Zekrom can't understand why Black Kyurem would attack it.
This is sudden and unthinkable; since the Dragon split, Kyurem has slept in some place and never appeared.
But Kyurem is here now; Zekrom cannot accept that there's no reason.
"For two thousand years you knew this, Zekrom; I've allowed you to linger too long."
Black Kyurem's dragon eyes are cold and merciless; its Telepathy carries no emotion.
"Neither you nor Reshiram are mine to command; you are individuals, you have long existed separately."
No, in Kyurem's view, neither Reshiram nor Zekrom is its property; they are its own parts!
Its body is empty; this "hole" needs to be filled by filling with Zekrom and Zekrom's talents.
"Not true." Zekrom denies.
"Kyurem, we are not your property; Reshiram and I are individuals; we have our own will and purpose."
Zekrom does not endorse Black Kyurem's words; it and Kyurem have long had their own will and existence.
"Oh?"
Black Kyurem's golden dragon eyes narrow; its vision grows colder.
Snow begins to fall again.
"Kyurem, you're far stronger than us, but you'll never become us; even if you merge with us, you'll remain Kyurem!"
Yet Zekrom does not back down; it meets Kyurem's gaze and states its ideology.
Yes, to Zekrom, Kyurem is merely Kyurem; it is not the Unova Dragon; it cannot become it.
Because Kyurem's heart is empty!
"Zekrom, you're not just trash, you're a pitiful trash."
Kyurem sneers; even at this moment, Zekrom persists.
"You're the most pitiful, Kyurem," Zekrom retorts.
Truth, Ideals, the strongest.
The Unova Dragon has become three bodies; Zekrom represents the Will of Ideals, Reshiram the Will of Truth.
Only Kyurem has the strongest shell, and Kyurem's power far surpasses Reshiram and Zekrom.
Yet it is "empty"; its body is hollow, its heart empty.
Truth and Ideals represent Reshiram and Zekrom's will and their meaning, but Kyurem has none.
So Kyurem is reclusive; since birth it dwells in the Giant Chasm, hardly interested in anything.
Thus, in Zekrom's view, Kyurem is the most pitiful among the three dragons, for it does not even know what its own purpose is.
"Ridiculous." Kyurem sneers.
"Weak beings that rely on humans for meaning—how dare you lecture me?"
"Only a weakling like you would seek Ideals; enough, I won't waste time with trash."
"Zekrom, from now on you stay inside my body, watch closely; not long now, I will bring Reshiram to accompany you."
Kyurem's voice is ferocious.
From its back, beams of light coil, then shoot out, racing toward the ground Zekrom.
This is the spear-like beam of DNA Splicers.
Kyurem is done listening to Zekrom's nonsense.
"Zekrom!"
N's pupils shrink.
Zekrom leaps to dodge the distorted spear beams; lightning crackles across its body.
Thunderbolts race out rapidly, striking the beams.
But the beams are stubborn; even Thunderbolts nudge them but keep coming.
Before long, Zekrom is trapped in the beams; its draconic bellow rings out, its tail turbines spiraling.
Next moment,
Url: a strand of DNA Splicers pierces Zekrom's body; in the blink, Zekrom is enveloped in a blue-white light and drawn back to Black Kyurem.
"Let go of Zekrom!"
N rushes forward in fear; his fear becomes anger.
Zoroark appears before N, a dark aura gathering.
The light enveloping Zekrom shrinks; Black Kyurem's jaws open wide as it aims at the light.
"Shut up!!"
N yells; fear and anger flood his mind.
Zoroark's Dark Pulse hurls at Black Kyurem, but Kyurem swats it aside with a single claw.
"Leave this place…"
Zekrom's voice, weak, speaks in N's mind.
"Sorry, I can no longer accompany you in your Ideals, N…"
In N's vision, Zekrom's form dissolves into blue-white light, rapidly swallowed by Black Kyurem.
N's pupils shrink; has Zekrom been eaten by Kyurem? How could that be?
But Black Kyurem does not care; its blue lightning surges within its body and grows.
Not only has Zekrom's power expanded, but the inner "something" that comes with it has grown.
Power! A continuous surge!
"Roar—!!!"
Black Kyurem bellow in triumph; a shockwave sweeps across the area.
It's grown stronger!
Now that it has absorbed Zekrom, it feels the new power swelling inside.
Yet it cannot sense Reshiram's location; Reshiram has hidden itself.
Black Kyurem's dragon eyes are cold; what will it do?
Return to its body, it seems, is the fate of the Unova Dragon.
Zekrom told it cannot become the Unova Dragon; that's silly—Kyurem is Kyurem.
It has never intended to return to be the Unova Dragon; it is the strongest Kyurem—this is enough.
Black Kyurem turns to leave.
"Give me back…"
Hearing this, Black Kyurem glances back at the humans below, a hint of scorn in its gaze.
"Give Zekrom back to me!!"
N stares; the thought of losing Zekrom, his comrade and most valued teammate, makes his eyes water.
"Why… why do this…"
Yet Black Kyurem remains unmoved; it glides away and vanishes into the sky.
N collapses to the ground, pale as a sheet, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Zekrom..."
Despair spreads in his heart.
~~~
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