Somewhere across the empty land of ice, a huge dragon was crossing the distance at great speed.
'That is troublesome,'
Sombra was starting to have doubts that he might really end up in an Ice age of sorts.
He had spent the last three hours flying, although he used magic to teleport back to the empire after every hour before starting again in a different direction.
This hindered his speed and progress to a degree, but it also helped Sombra have a picture of the surroundings of the empire from all directions.
Snow and ice have been the only things Sombra has seen so far.
The third hour had already ended according to his count, but he decided to shake off his worries and continue his route.
Thus, he stopped counting the time and decided to march until he finally saw something new.
(A few minutes later)
'Penguins,' his huge head turned slightly to the small black dots walking across the horizon.
"Well, that is the cutest thing I've seen since I came here," Seeing the tiny, chubby creatures walk like a little tribe brought a sigh of relief.
'So, not an apocalyptic world, at least not on any extreme level since the atmosphere doesn't seem dead with radiation.'
As Sombra was about to continue his route, he stopped as he looked at the penguins again in the distance.
If the scene were in a comic, then a loading sign would have appeared over the dragon's head before turning into a glowing bulb.
'Penguins mean ocean, don't they?' Thinking of this, Sombra allowed his body to transform into human form as he landed a few hundred metres away from the penguins.
Time to follow, I guess.
(Three hours later)
'The great king of the crystal empire has been adopted by the penguins,' Needless to say, Sombra didn't expect that outcome.
After following them for an hour, the penguins that noticed Sombra actually approached instead of being afraid.
Since Sombra walked on two legs, the penguins believed he was a lost penguin that was separated from his group, and thus he was welcomed to the group.
'This actually isn't half bad,'
Sombra thought as he was walking beside a rather chubby penguin from the left . . . that particular penguin seemed to believe that Sombra was directionally challenged.
Since Sombra tried to slip away to walk from a distance, the chubby penguin had concluded that Sombra was alone before because he got lost due to his habit of wandering off.
And now each time Sombra tried to leave the group, the chubby penguin, now named Nugget by Sombra, started gawking at him and even chasing him back inside the group.
Sombra felt his eyebrows twitch in annoyance as Nugget was walking yet keeping a hawk eye on him.
He thought of kicking Nugget away like a soccer ball, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Cuteness was simply too overwhelming against the right individuals.
And besides, Sombra was alone since he came here and actually enjoyed being in a group.
Although penguins weren't his first choice, but certainly were not the worst.
'Maybe I should take Nugget as a pet after this. . . .'
As Sombra glanced at the tribe of penguins, each of them cuter than the last.
'On other thoughts, maybe I should take all of them. I am king after all. I should be allowed to have any pets I want. If anyone had a problem with it, they could eat ice.'
Sombra shook his pet-induced thoughts as Nugget started nudging him again.
"Fine, fine. I am walking. Stop that."
Sombra's hand touched Nugget's head and a small, dark-like magical energy remained on Nugget's head.
While he was pushed inside the penguins group again.
Leaving just enough magic for Sombra to find Nugget in the future.
And that was Sombra's first real interaction with a living creature, and how Nugget unknowingly made a very powerful friend.
'I wonder if the Crystal heart can give them more intelligence. . . . Or maybe make them understand that the Crystal empire is their home.'
'I certainly won't mind digging a lake for penguins. It would make a tourist attraction in the future. . . . And the empire won't feel so dead anymore, at least.'
(Unknown amount of time later)
Sombra stood at the top of a small hill looking at the coast.
Thankfully the group of benguins stopped dragging him with them believing that Sombra should be able to find his original group now.
'Beautiful,' Sombra sat down as he watched the waves of the sea from a distance.
And the hundreds of hundreds of penguins near it.
'It seems like that's their meeting point.'
Sombra had made an educated guess on where he should be.
Since penguins are on the planet, and considering that he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, then this should be Earth.
Sombra doubted he was on any alien planet from the beginning, but he kept an open mind until he was sure.
And there are only two places with this much snow on Earth.
'The polar regions.'
There might be other ways, but the most obvious difference between the two poles is that one of them is an actual continent with land while the other is simply frozen ice.
(5 hours in the past before meeting Nugget)
Sombra had decided to check on something as his dragon form stopped moving above the frozen lands.
Energy started concentrating inside the dragon's throat as the temperature rose slightly while the dragon aimed his head toward the ground.
'Heat breath/ Bolo breath'
A gigantic pillar of flame was released as it melted through the ice covering the surface at a terrifying rate.
The scene lasted for a few more seconds as the terrifying scene continued.
Once Sombra felt satisfied, he stopped his attack as he brought his head closer to the hole he formed, his dragonic eyes ignoring the steam rising from the surface.
Sombra saw it: beneath the layer of ice was a solid earth.
(Present time)
'So, south pole it is.'
'I am in Antarctica'
There were probably easier ways to distinguish between the poles, but Sombra didn't care.
Sombra formed a black crystal in his hand as he flipped it like a coin.
'The good news is no one owns this part of the world. . . . Or that used to be the case before he arrived.'
'The bad news is that nuclear weapons are much easier to use when my empire is isolated this much.'
'So, an anti-nuclear plan needs to be formed . . . annoying but manageable.'
"I need to go back already."
(Somewhere across the world)
"What am I looking at exactly, Hill?"
A man with an eye patch and a scar was sitting while watching a picture with deep focus.
Hill handed him a new file as he read through it.
"Sir, a group of young people shared a video of a rather strange story."
"We believed it was nothing, but I decided to appoint a few hands to check through the satellites."
"And we discovered this. . . . Strange city that seems to be made from a new, never-seen-before type of crystal has appeared a short while ago. . . . It was like it grew from the ground."
"Is the city empty?"
"No, Sir. . . . A few days ago the city didn't have any walls, but now the entire city is surrounded by strange black structures that look like crystals."
"So, either the city can grow by itself or someone has built the equivalent of kilometres of defensive walls surrounding the entire city in less than a day."
'So, either we have a freak living city or we have a freak city with a freak of nature living in it,' Nick Fury was already starting to feel a headache coming on.
"Anything else?"
"Actually, sir. . . . Two things."
As she handed him two files.
The first was a satellite picture, but Nick Fury froze as his mind lagged for a millisecond.
"Is that?"
"A dragon. . . . Yes, it has been floating above the city, and according to the satellite, it had done so more than once."
Nick Fury held himself from thinking of the absurdity of the situation.
He turned his head to the second page as his tone turned serious.
"Is this reading accurate?"
"Yes, sir. . . . We used our newest technology to check multiple times."
"Whatever is inside that city is releasing enough energy to put nuclear power to shame. . . . And some of our scientists think that it's in some sort of dormant state and its actual energy is much higher, and some even went to say that it feels like the energy is alive due to the strange readings that felt like the energy was resembling a heartbeat as it spiked every few seconds ."
"But according to our estimates . . . if that thing is a bomb, then if it explodes."
Even Hill paused for a second on her report as she continued.
"The Earth may not have a south pole anymore. . . . And if it is radioactive, then…."
Hill didn't need to continue as the director understood.
"Sir, and one last thing. . . . We aren't the only ones who noticed; different nations have noticed as well. . . . Especially the energy readings, and they all showed great interest."
"They believe that whatever radiates that energy should be contained and studied. . . . A meeting is already being scheduled."
Nick didn't need an explanation.
Those greedy politicians already wanted whatever that thing is; they didn't stop for a second to think other than for their desire for power as he cursed under his breath.
(The Crystal Empire)
Sombra went to the throne room and he sat down on his throne.
Sombra was a human before he became this. . . . Thus, once he realised that he was on Earth, He knew a conflict was inevitable.
He already saw some proof of climate change near the coast and even some plastic drifting near the coast.
This is the modern era. . . . Hesitation could lead me to ruin.
It's time to start accelerating his plans.
(A/N): Do check on my other works as well, everyone, and have a nice day.