/* TEAM DASH with Project DMM "Ultraman Max Theme" (modified per Geoff Depew) _Ultraman 40th Anniversary Song Collection_ (2006) */ I have a message from another time... Eyrie Productions, Unlimited presents UNDOCUMENTED FEATURES FUTURE IMPERFECT Code Name: Ultra Benjamin D. Hutchins (c) 2008 Eyrie Productions, Unlimited It would be simplistic - and frankly incorrect - to dismiss the culture of Tomodachi as superficially faddish. Yes, the planet's been known to harbor a fad or three; indeed, the good people of Tomodachi, and especially of the world's capital, Nekomikoka, love nothing more than a good flavor-of-the-week. The funny thing about the Tomodachijin, though, is that unlike, say, the idol scouts and coolhunters of New Japan, they tend to -hang onto- favorite trends long past what would, in any other media-frenzied society, have been their sell-by dates. Thus, while Tomodachi has as many bubblegum idols, inexplicably fashionable garments, and Hot Toys of the Season as any other Earth colony founded in the affluent 21st century, the best of them don't go back out of fashion again. The result of all this is that, over the years, Tomodachi has developed a heavily layered pop culture in which the true favorites are beloved parts of the fabric of society - and, if they're huge enough fast enough, they can get that way in the time it takes a flash in the pan on New Japan to fizzle out and vanish altogether. Case in point: Ultraman Dash. Had the silver-and-red giant with the glowing yellow eyes appeared on New Japan, those in the know agreed, he would -never- have been embraced by the public. New Japan was a world whose collective psyche had been scarred forever by the Kaiju Wars of the 2200s, hugely destructive corporate conflicts waged with building-sized bioengineered monsters in the streets of Mega Tokyo and New Osaka. No giant creature was ever likely to find favor with its citizens. At best, they would have cursed Ultraman along with the monsters he fought as they retreated to their shelters; at worst, their defense forces would have made a target of him, just like any other unexplained creature. On Tomodachi, on the other hand, he became a -sensation-. Within weeks of his first appearance in the middle of April, the great, the good, and the common, first in Nekomikoka, then all over the world, drew the silver giant to their hearts and made him welcome: By the end of May he was appearing on official Welcome to Nekomikoka merchandise produced by the Nekomi Prefecture Chamber of Commerce, as well as billboards throughout the city. In early June the Nekomikoka Samurai of Major League Baseball's Federated League adopted silver and red uniforms and announced that, for the remainder of the 2410 season at least, they were to be addressed as the Nekomikoka Ultramen. Moreover, each member of the team then adopted a Brazilian-style "sports stage name" in keeping with the theme, from catcher Ultraman Catch to base-stealing shortstop Ultraman Flash to star pitcher Ultraman Rocket. In the second week of June, toy stores were crammed with children and adults alike, lining up to get their official Ultraman Dash action figures. On June 23, just as the fad would have been starting to ebb on any other planet (apart from New Japan, where the consensus was that it would never have begun in the first place), the Tomodachi Board of Governors announced the selection of Ultraman Dash as the entire planet's official mascot. The following Monday was declared Ultraman Dash Day, a planetary holiday, with parades and fireworks. By the first of July, the mighty Ultraman Dash could be found adorning everything from lunchboxes to pencil cases, personal audio players to coffee mugs, all over not just Tomodachi, but the whole of the Greater Interstellar Co-Prosperity Sphere - including New Japan, proving that the Neo-Japanese were happy to embrace a monster-fighting giant hero so long as he was doing the fighting on someone else's planet. Of course, the hero himself hadn't been idle during all this. Since the opening salvo of Big Fire's attempt at expanding their New Avalon daikaiju terror campaign, he'd been right in the front lines, first struggling against the succession of K-units by himself, then backed up by a hastily organized special combat agency put together by the International Police Organization and the Tomodachi Strategic Self- Defense Forces. In 14 weeks he and the brave men and women of the Tomodachi Planet Guard had fought off a dozen attackers, saved countless lives, and become worldwide heroes. The huge popularity of Ultraman Dash and the TPG (who had their own action figures, you bet) wasn't just because they spent their time daringly (and very visibly) saving the day. It was also the result of a great deal of hard work by one inspired individual, a person in a unique position to represent the intrepid defenders and their giant friend to the people. (Ultraman Dash himself, after all, wasn't much for after- action press conferences, much less approving designs for official merchandise.) Ever-conscious of the angles, with an uncanny knack for reading the ebb and flow of the public mood, she was the voice of the TPG and the public face of Ultraman Dash, handling everything from press relations to fan mail with the same grace and aplomb. Some said she was nothing less than a genius. TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2410 4:54 PM NEKOMI PREFECTURE STANDARD TIME TOMODACHI PLANET GUARD HEADQUARTERS NEKOMIKOKA, TOMODACHI Hiroshi Morisato shook his head. "Mirai, you're a genius." His younger sister Mirai smiled. "I know," she said. "I mean it," Hiroshi replied. "I thought for sure we were finished when that reporter said - " Mirai tutted, making a dismissive gesture. "Compared to the thing with the Port Authority, that was nothing. She was just looking for a sensational story, whether it was true or not." "And you sent her away with an even bigger one that happens to be both." Hiroshi shook his head again. "You amaze me." "You've been saying that a lot lately," Mirai told him. "Not that I want you to stop!" she added cheerfully. "Anyway, I'm off. Shopping to do! See you at home." "Bye," said Hiroshi. He watched her skip happily out of his office, shook his head once more, and then bent to his work again. Who would have thought that his airhead aspiring beauty queen of a kid sister would turn out to have such a gift? She'd not only managed to turn Ultraman Dash and the TPG into the public's darlings, take care of all his alter ego's business affairs, and help him keep his identity secret, she'd even managed to get him the best job a man in his position could possibly have. As a consulting technologist for the TPG, he had a full-access pass to Headquarters and an open channel to everything that was going on - instant notification of any situation that might require his presence - and at the same time, no direct supervision to get suspicious of his sudden disappearances at times when Dash was needed. Who could ask for anything more? Well, Hiroshi could, now that you mentioned it, but... ah, well. A matter for another day. For now, it was time to follow Mirai's lead in another area and get out of the office. He had no pressing projects on the boil right now, so there was no reason to pull overtime. As he was leaving, he waved to the dispatcher in the lobby, who, as she always did, said, "Good evening, Professor Morisato!" He'd tried several times to explain to her that he was in no way a professor and, in fact, was only a year into college, but she wouldn't be dissuaded - anyone who wore a white coat and worked in Tech Section was automatically a professor to her - so he'd given up midway through the second week, and now he just grinned and said, "Good evening, Koemi!" Outside, he was pleased to note that it was still a pleasant summer day; when he'd arrived in the morning, it had looked a little like rain, which wouldn't have been much fun to bicycle home in, but the clouds had cleared off and the plaza outside TPG Headquarters was bathed in afternoon sunlight as he headed for the bike racks. Hiroshi took little notice of the man standing by the rack until he drew closer. He wasn't too remarkable-looking, certainly not threatening: an elderly chap with close-cropped grey hair and narrow glasses, dressed in a dark business suit with a Nehru jacket. As Hiroshi approached, he bowed and said, "Are you Mr. Morisato? Hiroshi Morisato?" Hiroshi paused. "Uh... yes, that's me," he replied. "Can I help you with something?" "May I impose on you for a few minutes of your time?" asked the man. "I've come a very long way to speak with you." "Are you sure it's me you want, and not... uh, my father, maybe?" The man shook his head firmly. "No, it's Hiroshi Morisato I've come to see," he said. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. My name is - " He was interrupted by the sudden cry of Hiroshi's TPG communicator, which was echoed by sirens coming from the headquarters building itself. "Attention," came Koemi Nakazawa's voice over the courtyard's PA speakers. "This is a TPG alert. A K-unit activation signal has been detected in Sector 12-C. All TPG alert operators please report to your action stations." "Crap," said Hiroshi under his breath. "Uh - I have to go," he said to the stranger in the dark suit. The man nodded graciously. "Of course," he said at once. "Your duties must come first. Another time." Strange guy, Hiroshi thought as he ran back into the building. "Good morning, Koemi," he said breathlessly on his way past the dispatch desk. "Good morning, Professor," Koemi giggled. Hiroshi put the curious encounter with the man in the suit out of his mind as he headed for his lab, unnoticed by the uniformed personnel heading this way and that. There, he could watch the situation unfold in private on the monitor, and had instant access to the roof if needed. Since the TPG came online in early June, he'd made it his policy not to intervene himself unless it was apparent that the TPG were losing the fight, or if a TPG member looked to be in imminent danger. That way he wasn't upstaging them and causing hurt feelings - another of Mirai's many terrific suggestions - and, as an added bonus, he occasionally didn't have to go into action at all. So far the TPG had a fairly poor record for Dash-free K-unit takedowns, admittedly; they were 1 and 8, but that one victory had been such a boost to morale that Hiroshi wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it from within. Still, he wasn't betting on a repeat. Not with a K-unit as mean-looking as the one that had just arisen in Sector 12-C, a light industrial area on the outskirts of the city proper. Whoever was developing these damn things for Big Fire was clearly taking lessons from each fight and adapting them to suit the TPG's equipment and tactics. It annoyed Hiroshi considerably to think that, in the act of defending the city, he and his colleagues were contributing to the bastards' R&D program, but what else could they do? Soon enough, the time came for action; Hiroshi was activating the Ultra-Card before the emergency lift had even finished taking him to the roof, streaking across the city as a beam of light to arrive just in time to prevent Major Tsujimoto and her Super-X crew from being reduced to salsa by a K-unit body blow. That had both desired effects: It saved Natsumi and her crew, and it also got the monstrous mechanoid's undivided attention. /* Keith Emerson "King of Monsters" _Godzilla: Final Wars_ (2004) */ This K-unit was clearly optimized for close-quarters combat; it had heavily reinforced fists and wicked blades on its elbows and knees. That kept Ultraman Dash busy, doing a lot of dodging and blocking, effectively preventing him from grappling with the beast and holding it in place for the Super-X to bring its main gun into play. That technique had worked well against the previous model, so it came as no great surprise that this one had been designed to counter it. Still, Dash got in a couple of good hits, including a Crescent Cutter double-strike that neatly amputated both its elbow blades. Its knees were still a concern, but, Dash reflected as he caught his boomerangs and prepared to convert their energy for a Dash Ray, it might just give him the opening he - ZOT. The literal bolt from the blue took Ultraman Dash completely by surprise, sending him sprawling and completely ruining his shot. He crashed through a construction crane and smashed down in the parking lot of an abandoned factory, his weapons dissipating in splashes of golden sparks. Pulling himself upright, he shook his head and looked - - to see a second K-unit, this one equipped with a nasty-looking beam cannon on its right shoulder, emerging from a cloud of dust to the west. Aw, that's just not fair, he thought - and while he was occupied with that, the first one came up and clobbered him right in the face with one of its wrecking-ball fists. Aboard the Super-X, Natsumi Tsujimoto and her three gunners winced and cursed as the two K-units played a quick game of handball with Dash, bouncing him back and forth between their ranged and close- quarter attacks, not giving him a chance to regroup. Toriyama on the main gun controls actually let out a sympathetic yelp as Dash tried to evade a blast from the second K-unit's cannon and ended up leaping straight into a clothesline from the first, crashing to the ground on his back. Before he could try to rise, the close-quarters K-unit had stomped on his chest with one huge foot, driving him several yards into the fractured pavement. "Dammit," Natsumi growled, yanking her seat harness tighter. "Nobody steps on Ultraman in my town! Hang on, kids - we're goin' in!" "GNQ!" her crew barked in unison. No one knew who had said it first, but in the TPG's short lifespan it had already replaced "Roger!" as the organization's standard acknowledgement. Common wisdom held that it stood for "Guards never quit!" Natsumi rammed the throttles of the Super-X's three massive thrusters open, sending the vehicle leaping forward. In a moment it passed through the threshold separating ground-effect from flight, ceasing to be a hovertank and becoming an attack jet, leaving a circular shockwave rippling through the outraged air behind it. "Larkin, Tchukayev, keep Fisty from getting too interested," Natsumi snapped. "Toriyama, ready on the Helix Buster! Let's see if Blasty there has armor as tough as his buddy's!" "GNQ," the two wing gunners replied, opening fire with their flex-mount Vulcan PPGs. Their fire couldn't penetrate the heavy armor of the melee K-unit, but it did seem to give it slight pause - possibly pause enough for Natsumi to swing the Super-X's massive main gun to bear and give Toriyama her shot - "Major!" Toriyama blurted. "The other unit - " Natsumi saw it a split-second later. The other unit's cannon wasn't fixed in its mounting, as she had at first assumed. With a twitch, it traversed to train on the Super-X, negating her attempt to flank it. "Crap - " she said, twisting the control grips. The beam streaked past, crashing the Super-X's deflector shields and scoring a yellow-white line in the vehicle's dorsal armor. Systems blacked out across the board as burnout creepage flashed from the deflectors to the main power trunks, jumping over breakers intended to prevent just such a failure as if they weren't there. Pouring smoke from its thrusters and vents, the Super-X careened out of control, plowed through the abandoned factory, and came to rest a quarter-mile away in a heap of broken bricks. "Ngh," Natsumi grunted. "Everybody okay?" "G... GNQ," came the halting responses as her crew tried to shake off the stunning impact. "Okay, everybody out!" Natsumi declared, hitting the master evacuation switch. Explosive bolts on an isolated circuit blew the main hatch off the top of the vehicle and cleared the debris from its immediate vicinity, leaving the way open for the half-stunned crew to unstrap, grab their personal weapons, and pile out. Maeko Toriyama scrambled to the top of the brick heap first, then drew back in horror at what she saw. "God -damn,-" said Natsumi a moment later as she arrived at Toriyama's side, Larkin and Tchukayev flanking her a moment later. "Our Ultra-colleague is getting his ultra-ass ultra-kicked," Floyd Larkin observed, lighting a cigarette. In Ultraman Dash's defense, he -had- managed to relieve the first K-unit of an entire -arm- by this point, and his fists had left some very satisfying dents in the second one's lighter armor, but even so, they were outflanking him and pounding the crap out of him. "Tsujimoto to base," Natsumi called into her communicator. "Super-X is down, I repeat, Super-X is down. What's our ETA on those maser tanks?" "75 seconds," TPG Commander Miyuki Kobayakawa's voice replied. "Dash doesn't -have- 75 seconds!" "Major, look!" Toriyama cried, pointing. Natsumi looked, then gripped her communicator a little tighter. "Base, Ultraman Dash's colortimer is flashing red, I repeat, colortimer is red. He -really- doesn't have 75 seconds." She hesitated for a moment longer, then declared, "Request permission to deploy WMR." "Negative," Miyuki replied. "You're too close to the city." "Dammit, Miyuki!" "Dammit yourself, Natsumi! I won't authorize the use of a weapon of mass destruction within the urban zone! If the -slightest- thing went wrong it'd do more harm than good - " "If it doesn't work out, you can put me in jail," Natsumi replied, stuffing the communicator back into her pocket. Jumping back into the Super-X, she found a yellow-and-black-striped armored panel on the bulkhead behind the command seat, lined up on one of the corners, and drew back her fist - - and then paused as she heard her crewmates yelling outside. At first she thought they were cries of horror, an indication that she was too late and the K-units had finished off Ultraman Dash. Then she realized they were yells of -joy-, like the sound of the crowd at a sporting event when someone on the home team has just pulled off a spectacular save. With one last look at the armored panel, Natsumi left it alone and scrambled back out. The sight that greeted her when she got back to the top of the rubble pile was not at all what she'd been expecting, and after a moment's utter bafflement, she fully appreciated why her crew was going nuts with glee. The first K-unit was on its back, its remaining arm smashed. The second was sprawled in the remains of a nearby warehouse, struggling to get up. And over in the ravaged remains of the parking lot, a second glowing-eyed silver giant was helping Ultraman Dash to his feet. /* Tsuburaya Productions "Ultraman Theme" _Ultraman 40th Anniversary Song Collection_ (2006) */ It took Ultraman Dash a moment to realize that the voice in his head was this new Ultraman, speaking to him telepathically. Until that moment, it had escaped his notice (though he must have known it on some level) that Ultramen -were- telepathic. If he'd been able to blink in his Ultra-form, Dash would have done as he realized all at once that he recognized his savior. The Ultra Corps of Nebula M78 had many members, almost all of whom bore the name of Ultra. A few, like the great Ultrafather, the legendary Ultraseven, and the mighty Ultra-Commander Zoffy, had distinctive names all their own, but the bulk of them were proud to call themselves Ultraman, adding a unique identifier to the end of the name to distinguish themselves, one from another. This practice dated back many centuries, and had been adopted in honor of one of the greatest members of their corps, a being whose skill, dedication, and courage were almost mythic even among the Ultras themselves. He and he alone had the honor to be called, simply and without qualification, Ultraman. Dash couldn't have been more astonished to see the Ultrafather himself in this place. said Ultraman. he added wryly. Dash felt his strength returning as he stood fully upright, accepting the burst of energy from his elder. It wasn't enough to turn his colortimer blue again, but it slowed the red light's frantic flashing to a more leisurely pace and gave him the feeling that he might, after all, just survive this battle. Ultraman asked as he and Dash squared off against the two K-units, which had regained their feet during the energy transfer. Dash replied. Ultraman nodded. said Dash. Ultraman chuckled. Ten minutes later, Natsumi Tsujimoto and her crew stood watching as a TPG recovery vehicle hauled their Super-X out of the crater it'd made. She watched the straining winch flatbed for a few moments more, then turned and surveyed the erstwhile battlefield, arms folded. "Not that I'm complaining," she said into her communicator, "but what was the deal with -that?- We have -two- Ultramen now?" "We're looking into it," Miyuki replied. "Dr. Monster thinks he recognized the other one from some old archival footage. He's preparing a report for tomorrow's briefing. In the meantime," she added wryly, "at least you won." "Yeah, I suppose. We're gonna have to get Morisato working on better shielding for the Super-X, though. That was just sad." 6:27 PM NPST 7 TEMPLE WAY "... and, well, here we are," Hiroshi Morisato finished, spreading his hands in a shrug. The elderly-looking gentleman from earlier, who had since introduced himself as Shin Hayata, inclined his head thoughtfully. "Remarkable," he said. "A story surprisingly similar to my own in many respects." Looking at Hiroshi with sharply perceptive eyes behind his oblong spectacles, he added, "I expect that even with what you've learned from your communion with Dash, you have a lot of questions." "I'll say," Hiroshi replied, but before he could get to any of them, he and Hayata both heard a knock at the door of Hiroshi's workshop (actually a temple-complex outbuilding he'd commandeered some years earlier). "Hiroshi? Are you in there? I heard about the fight downtown!" Hiroshi blanched. "Crap!" he hissed. "It's my sister. She knows I'm Dash," he told Hayata. "If she sees you here, she'll figure it out, she's not as dumb as she looks." He stood up and looked around the slightly chaotic space, searching in vain for a hiding space. "Hiroshi? Who are you talking to?" Mirai called. Then, in a slightly mischievous tone, she added, "I'm coming in!" "Wait, Mirai - " he said; then, lowering his voice, he said to Hayata with an edge of panic, "Come on, we have to find someplace for you to hide - " "Don't be ridiculous, Hiroshi," Hayata replied, unruffled. He took a calm sip of his tea and then got smilingly to his feet as Mirai slid the door open. "Ha! I -thought- I heard... " She trailed off as she realized she -hadn't- caught Hiroshi with some mysterious woman, as she'd fancifully half-expected. "... who's this?" Hayata put down his teacup and bowed. "You must be Morisato's sister Mirai," he said. "I'm very pleased to meet you. I am Ultraman." Mirai blinked. "My name among humans is Hayata," he added. "So it was -your- idea to make Dash a public figure," Hayata mused. Mirai nodded. "Well, I figured he was going to become one anyway, whether we did anything or not, and if I went ahead and incorporated, I'd be able to head off the fakes and stuff. If I hadn't, someone else would probably have jumped in claiming to have some kind of connection to him, and that could've turned ugly. This way it's all above-board." "Mm." Hayata considered that for a moment, then said, "I'm uncomfortable with the idea of anyone -profiting- from affiliation with the Ultra Corps." "I thought of that too," Mirai said, beaming. "All the profits from Ultraman Dash's licensing go into a special fund that helps pay for repairs to the city after TPG battles, provides assistance to people who get hurt or lose their homes in K-unit incidents, and supports the TPG. So you might say Dash is serving the public as much by licensing action figures as he is by fighting Big Fire!" Hiroshi added, "That's right. We don't make anything from any of it. We agreed on that right from the start. We both draw salaries from the TPG, but nothing more than any other research engineer or public relations officer would make." "I'm impressed," Hayata admitted. "You seem to have thought of everything. And you've certainly pulled off a small miracle in terms of Dash's relations with the public. Few Ultramen have ever been embraced by the worlds they serve so quickly and thoroughly as Dash has been." "Speaking of which, I have a question for -you- now, Mr. Hayata," Mirai said. "Of course." "After I found out about Hiroshi's... accident... I went online and did a little research. It seems that this isn't the first time an Ultraman has been involved with humanity. There was a whole -series- of them - er, you - active on Earth back before Contact. At least ten of you spent time on Earth, usually helping various special defense forces against monster incursions, from the mid-1960s through about 1980... and then you just... stopped. The Ultramen and the monsters they fought vanish from the historical record. Why? Why'd you go to Earth in the first place... and why'd you stop?" Hayata nodded, smiling. "Now we come to the heart of it," he said. "I know very well the Ultra Corps' involvement with the people of 20th-century Earth. That first Ultra who appeared on Earth in 1966 was none other than myself. "You know, it's funny, in a way, but... my arrival on Earth was very similar to Dash's arrival here. It was largely an accident. As a senior member of the Space Garrison, I was assigned to capture a particularly dangerous space monster named Bemular. I went to Earth for no other reason than that it was where my quarry tried to hide from me... but I was careless. My travel sphere collided with an aircraft the planet's Science Patrol had sent out to investigate the UFO sightings caused by Bemular's arrival. "Because my carelessness had cost the pilot of that aircraft his life, I felt obligated to repay him by joining my essence to his - just as Dash joined with you, Hiroshi. That pilot was a young Science Patrol officer named Shin Hayata. I spent the next year or so on Earth, living among humans as Hayata, and helping the Science Patrol fight incursions from space as Ultraman - until I fell in battle against an alien named Zetton. "I was rescued by my superior, Ultra-Commander Zoffy, and returned to the Land of Light to recuperate, but we agreed that, with Earth still in danger, another of us should be dispatched to help hold the line against the space monster invasion. Over the next few years, Earth became a standard posting in the Space Garrison. As Mirai has discovered, several of my brothers served a tour of duty helping to protect Earth." "Seems like a lot of trouble to protect a pre-spacefaring civilization," Hiroshi observed. "Not that I'm not grateful, but... " Hayata smiled. "We Ultramen came to love the planet and its people," he said. "It reminded us of what our own world was once like, millions of years ago, before we became the creatures of light that we are now. Earth was not only a regular posting, but a sought-after one." "Then why did you stop coming?" Mirai wondered. "Eventually, we began to wonder whether we were protecting Earth... or -endangering- it with our very presence," Hayata told her. "My younger brother 80 found evidence suggesting that, far from defending the world from predatory space creatures and opportunistic aliens, we were attracting them to Earth in the first place. He was the last Ultraman to be officially assigned to Earth, and after his tour, it became apparent that he was right. No member of the Space Garrison was assigned to replace him... and no more monsters came. "So we decided that we would place a hidden agent on Earth to keep an eye on the place, but the Ultra Corps would have no further official connection with it. Should a situation arise that proved 80's theory wrong, there'd be one of us on hand who could reveal himself and intervene if necessary, and who could send for help if the problem proved truly dire. "And that's what we've done ever since. Several of us, those who served there on active duty and loved Earth best, have taken turns watching over the world and its people for the last four centuries. We've watched Earth's humanity make contact with others, expand their sphere of influence into the stars, and flourish, and we've been proud. Many times, when crisis has struck the Earth, we've been tempted to throw off our disguises and act, but always it has proven unnecessary. But now... " "Now what?" Mirai gave him a concerned look. "You seem troubled." Hayata took off his glasses, cleaned them with a handkerchief, and put them back on, then admitted, "I am, child. Deeply troubled. All of us who love humanity in the Land of Light are deeply troubled in these times." He turned to Hiroshi. "Your memories - Dash's memories - were probably damaged by the accident that made you one being. Do you remember the mission that brought you to this galaxy in the first place?" Hiroshi shook his head. "No. I remember my... Dash's... training, and his... my... brothers, but... no. I've tried, but I can't remember why he... I... was here." He grinned sheepishly. "This has been hard to get used to." Hayata smiled. "Believe me, I understand. Still, if you can't remember - well, I'll fill you in. You see, Dash is an Ultra, but he isn't a member of the Space Garrison, the division Earth's protectors all came from. He belongs to the Deep Space Patrol. His specialty doesn't lie in fighting monsters, though you've done an admirable job of it. He was sent to this area of space to get a larger view of humanity's situation than we could see from the limited vantage point of your old homeworld. Hayata paused, as if choosing his words. "We in the Ultra Corps have reason to fear that a great danger threatens all humanity. We don't know what it is, or where it will come from, but the signs are there for those few who can read them. The Ultramother in particular is -gravely- concerned. She's very sensitive to such things, and a sense of impending dread has preoccupied her for some time." "You think it has something to do with Big Fire?" Mirai wondered, but Hayata shook his head. "Big Fire is a symptom," he said, "not the disease. Whatever is happening, it's beyond the range of our sight, at least so far... but we fear it's much, much larger." To Hiroshi's surprise, Mirai nodded. "I've thought so too," she said. At Hiroshi's startled look, she shrugged and added, "You're not the only one who gets the occasional glimpse behind the veil, big brother. I have the blood of Asgard too." Hiroshi thought that over, then nodded with a small grin - acknowledging that, once again, he had underestimated her. "Still, Big Fire is a clear threat to the people of this planet and many others," Hayata went on. "So it's as well that Dash made contact, however inadvertently. Perhaps it's past time that the Ultra Corps took an active interest in the fate of humanity again. At any rate," he added with a slightly conspiratorial look, "that will be my recommendation to Zoffy and the Ultrafather." "The current administration on Earth isn't likely to welcome the help of giant aliens who don't answer to the bureaucracy," Hiroshi said, "but I can think of some other human worlds that would. You ought to talk to my cousin Corwin's father. He runs the agency that sponsors the TPG." Hayata nodded. "Gryphon of the International Police. I met him once, though I doubt he remembers me." Smiling, he added, "I've lived among humans for a long time, Hiroshi." He stood up. "Thank you for your hospitality," he said. "I must return to the Land of Light and make my report... and my recommendations. But before I go... is there anything you need?" Hiroshi looked diffident. "Well... uh... " "Go ahead," Hayata prodded gently. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." "Well... look, I don't want to seem like I'm complaining, but... I had certain plans before Dash came into my life, and his presence... complicates things for me." Hayata tilted his head inquisitively. "Do you want me to see if our superiors can separate you? It may be possible. Once, when I first returned to the Land of Light, Zoffy tried to separate Ultraman from Hayata, but by then we had grown so accustomed to each other - we found the separation so unsettling - that we chose to rejoin." "No, no... I bought the ticket, I'll take the ride," he said with a private smile. "It's just that I planned to move to New Avalon before all this happened, and now... well, Dash is so important to what's happening on Tomodachi right now that I don't think I can leave. The TPG tries hard, but without Dash... " Hiroshi shook his head. "Never mind. I shouldn't have brought it up. What I'm doing now is more important than any plans I might've made beforehand. I don't know what I was expecting you to do." Hayata smiled. "You might be surprised." He clapped Hiroshi on the shoulder, then bowed to Mirai. "A pleasure meeting you. I expect you'll be seeing me again soon." Then he stepped through the door, and with one final pause to give them a parting smile, he left. Mirai and Hiroshi went after him, but by the time they got outside, he had vanished altogether. A moment later, the back door of the temple proper opened and Belldandy Morisato looked out. "Oh," she said, sounding slightly disappointed. "Your friend isn't staying for dinner, then?" "Uh... " Hiroshi looked up at the sky, then back at his mother. "I guess not." TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2410 1:17 PM NPST TPC HEADQUARTERS, NEKOMIKOKA Hiroshi was in his lab, running some tests on what little of the most recent K-unit was recovered after the battle, when Natsumi Tsujimoto came in. "Hello, Major Tsujimoto," he said. "What's up?" "We just got a priority call from IPO Headquarters," Natsumi told him. "Apparently the Chief wants to see you in New Avalon. They're waiting for you in Stargate Control." Hiroshi blinked. "Any idea what it's about?" "I was hoping you could tell me," Natsumi replied wryly. "It's not every day we get Lu Durgo calling and telling us to gate one of our research engineers over for a one-on-one with the boss." Hiroshi had a suspicion, but it would have taken him the better part of the afternoon to articulate it, so he just shrugged and said, "Guess I'd better go see, then." He got up, hung up his lab coat, and tagged the intercom panel by the door. "Hey, Teppei?" "Yes, Hiroshi?" replied a voice. "Can you come monitor these test runs for me? I've been called away by the management. I don't expect anything real spectacular, but somebody ought to be around." "Sure thing. I'll be right up." "Thanks. If I don't get back today, they should finish up about 4:30." "GNQ," Teppei acknowledged, closing the channel. Hiroshi arrived in New Avalon about twenty minutes later, though such was the similarity of IPO facilities' Stargate Control Rooms that he didn't really have a sense of having gone anywhere until he stepped out of the elevator up on the 39th floor and saw a different city than he was used to out of the building's windows. He went down the hall to the Chief's outer office, where Luornu Durgo greeted him with a smile and directed him to the conference room across the hall. When he arrived there, the reason became clear: Gryphon's office wasn't terribly big, considering his position, and it would've been crowded with six people in it. "C'mon in, Hiroshi," said Gryphon from the head of the conference table. "You're just in time. I think you know Mr. Hayata, and of course you know Commander Kobayakawa and your sister." "We were just talking about you, big brother," said Mirai, grinning. "The Chief and Mr. Hayata have some good news." "Uh... okay," said Hiroshi, not sure quite how to play this, as he sat down next to Mirai. "I've been instructed by the Ultrafather to open official relations between the Land of Light and your people," Hayata said with an air of pride. "We're sending an emissary to the Babylon Foundation and entering an alliance with the International Police." Hiroshi blinked. "Wow. That's great. This is the first time it's ever been formally done this way, isn't it? I mean, on Earth back in the day, you would generally just... -show up.-" Hayata nodded. "It is," he said. "Before, we hadn't made formal contact with any human government. We preferred to act independently... but the Ultrafather has decided that your civilization is sufficiently mature to treat with us openly." "Well, cool. So... uh... where do I come in?" Miyuki grinned. "You're being reassigned... Ultraman Dash." Ignoring her brother's "you told them?!" look, Mirai added cheerfully, "We've been talking all morning about how best to do it. I mean, you're -huge- on Tomodachi, no pun intended, and it'd break people's hearts if you just left. So we've decided to have a great big Ultra-gala to see you off and welcome your replacement!" Hiroshi blinked again. "My replacement?" "Of course!" Mirai replied. "We can't possibly leave Tomodachi undefended, it's one of the main strike points in Big Fire's K-unit campaign." Gryphon, who had been content to let the others do the talking since he made the introductions, broke in, "She's right - until the Experts of Justice find the source of the K-units and shut it down, Tomodachi needs protecting. We thought about putting together a new Getter Team, but Hayata had a better idea." "The Ultrafather, Zoffy, and I asked the Space Garrison for volunteers to be the first Ultra formally assigned to protect a human world in centuries," Hayata said, then went on with a smile, "which didn't simplify our task much, since they all volunteered. Eventually, though, we narrowed the field down and chose a candidate." The rather shaggy-haired young man sitting next to Hayata, who was the only person in the room Hiroshi hadn't recognized upon entering, shot to his feet and bowed until his forehead almost hit the table. "I am honored to make your acquaintance!" he said with almost painful earnestness. "I promise I will fight with all my strength to protect your homeworld in your absence!" "As you can see," Hayata went on with just a trace of wryness, "he's eager to get started." Hiroshi got up and returned the young man's bow, albeit not as deeply nor as... -enthusiastically-. "Uh... hi," he said. "Nice to meet you. I'm Hiroshi." The young human-form Ultra bowed again and said in an almost breathless rush, "My human name will be Mirai Hibino!" "Huh. Mirai, that's my sister's name," Hiroshi observed dryly, drawing a giggle from the aforementioned sister. Hibino colored slightly. "I, uh... I liked the sound of it," he said awkwardly. FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2410 RIVERFRONT PARK NEKOMIKOKA, TOMODACHI The great and the good of Tomodachi turned out that fine, sunny morning, thronging Riverside Park to hear what had been announced on the news and the Internet as critically important information about Ultraman Dash. Prime Minister Kuroda opened the occasion with a speech praising the planet's giant guardian, followed by a few remarks in a similar vein from Nekomikoka Mayor Konoe, who then turned the podium over to TPG Commander Kobayakawa. "Thank you," said Miyuki once the cheering died down (for she, as the TPG's leader, was nearly as popular with the people of Nekomikoka as Dash himself). "Well, you all came expecting to hear big news about Ultraman Dash, so let me get right to it." The speech Miyuki went on to deliver had been carefully crafted, with the help of Hayata and Mirai Morisato, to give the public as much information about the Ultra Corps as was safe for them to have - explaining that Dash had come to Tomodachi by accident, but that his people, impressed by the grit of the TPG and the ideals of the International Police, had decided to join the galactic community. This was met with huge cheers... ... which petered out into quieter sounds of confusion and dismay when she dropped the other shoe. "One of the things that means is that Dash has to move on," she explained. "He's been assigned to aid the Ultra Corps' liaison to the whole International Police Organization, which means he'll be relocating to New Avalon." The crowd's somewhat subdued reaction might best be summarized, "... wha?" On the roof of a nearby building, where they could watch the park but go unnoticed by the crowd, Hiroshi and Mirai Hibino stood listening to a small radio and waiting for their cue. "Okay, she's almost there," Mirai Morisato told them when Miyuki drew the first cheer from the crowd. Mirai Hibino looked puzzled. "I don't understand why we're doing this," he admitted. "Why become Ultraman when there's no emergency?" Hiroshi's sister smiled. "Well, presumably you don't have much need for public relations exercises in the Land of Light, but trust me, here on Tomodachi, it always pays to reach out to the public," she explained. "Dash is so popular that if you want to have any chance of being accepted as his replacement, at least in the short term, these people have to see him pass the torch." "Ah!" said Hibino, nodding. Then he looked puzzled and said, "I still don't understand." Mirai smiled. "You will." She cocked an ear toward the radio, then turned to the two men and said, "Okay, this is it! Hiroshi - you're up!" Hiroshi grinned and made a small gesture, making the Ultra-Card appear in his hand with a simple conjuror's trick. "I know you'll all be sad to see him leave Tomodachi," Miyuki went on. "In the short time he's been here, Ultraman Dash has become dear to all our hearts - but his new job is a very important one, and I hope you'll all join me in wishing him good luck!" That got most of the crowd cheering again, although not with quite the same fervor as before. The disappointment was beginning to sink in, but the people of Tomodachi are nothing if not gracious, and now that Miyuki put it -that- way, they -did- want their Ultraman to succeed, even if he -was- leaving them. A moment later their applause tripled in volume as, in a great showy play of blue-white light, Ultraman Dash appeared before them. He was not as he normally appeared when circumstances called him to action: Rather than towering over the crowd at his usual many-story height, he was no bigger than a normal man, appearing on the little stage right next to Miyuki, with his fists on his hips and the sunshine glinting from his silver armor. As their champion raised his hand in a friendly wave, the people of Tomodachi switched from cheering to chanting, their voices repeating his name as one: "DASH! DASH! DASH! DASH!" "Wow," Hibino observed as he looked, wide-eyed, down on the chanting crowd. "He'll be a tough act to follow," Mirai acknowledged, nodding. "But you'll do all right. Just give it everything you have. We Tomodachijin appreciate an honest effort most of all." Hibino turned his wondering eyes to her, then came almost to attention and bowed. "I understand!" he said. "I want them to know I'll do my very best!" "Miyuki's introducing you now," Mirai noted. "Ready to go?" Hibino - all business now - raised his left forearm straight up in front of him, arm bent at the elbow. With a shimmering noise and a spray of golden light, an ornate red-and-black armor plate appeared on his sleeve, the spherical gem set in the center of it sparkling with what looked like a tiny fire burning inside. "Ready!" he cried - but then his determined face switched to a look of pure dismay as his inhumanly sharp eyes spotted something in the far distance, beyond the range of Mirai's vision. Then, his determination crystallizing once more, he reached up with his right hand and swept it across the gem on his left forearm, setting it spinning. Thrusting his left forearm, now surrounded with a nimbus of golden light, skyward, he bellowed his Ultra-name at the top of his lungs: "MOEBIUS!!" Ultraman Dash heard his younger colleague's shout, though it came from too far away for anyone in the crowd to hear with the naked ear. Startled by the undertone of fury in Moebius's voice, Dash looked up to see nothing but a streak of luminous gold shooting into the sky... to intercept -another- streak of light, this one the angry, fiery red- orange of a meteor, high above the city. There was a shattering blast of light and sound, like the detonation of a huge bomb high overhead, and the golden trail streaked back -down- again. Almost out of control, the brilliantly lit giant figure of the second Ultraman caught himself at the last moment, flipped over, and landed heavily, dropping to one knee and catching himself with his hand before he could crash face-first to the ground. For a few moments, those assembled thought it was part of the show, their city's new Ultraman making a flashy entrance with the help of some special effects. For most of them, that impression lasted only until the flaming object Moebius had intercepted came hurtling out of the sky to hit the river with a titanic splash. The rest got the idea quickly when that object heaved itself upright and began stalking out of the river toward them. "What the -crap?-" Natsumi Tsujimoto demanded. "Is that a K- unit?!" "No activation signal!" said TPG officer Teppei Kuze, shaking his head, as he watched the display of his specially modified tricorder. "No residual K-radiation!" Natsumi unholstered her sidearm, not that she expected it to do a damn thing against a robot the size of an office building, bristling with blast muzzles and sporting what looked like a three-barrelled Vulcan cannon in place of a head. Its armor was visibly -massive-, an order above that found on even the heaviest K-unit thus far spotted, and its mechanical nature was much more apparent. Now that she looked more closely, it was -obviously- not a kaiju-in-a-can; its solid parts were much too massive, much too clearly purpose-built. A moment later, Teppei reported breathlessly, "I have a partial match in the Experts of Justice database! Certain elements of its design are similar to a number of Big Fire special robots sighted in actions against SA1 agents in the past. Probability of common origin 84 percent." "Great." Natsumi hauled out her communicator, flipped it open, and barked, "Tchukayev! Crank up, I need you here five minutes ago!" "On our way, Major," Tchukayev's voice crackled back. "The rest of you, crowd control!" Miyuki ordered the other TPG officers near her. "Help the police get these people to - " Not until she turned to look at the crowd did Miyuki realize - though as a Tomodachiko born and bred, she should have expected it - that the civilians gathered on the park lawn required no guidance. Where the people of another kaiju-besieged city, say Mega-Tokyo, might have broken and run in utter panic, not stopping until they reached their underground shelters and trampling anyone slow and unlucky enough to get in the way, the men, women, and children of Nekomikoka did no such thing. "... safety?" Miyuki finished, then smiled. Confronted with a huge, hostile, heavily armed robot that was wading out of the river with slaughter on its mind, the crowd fell back in an orderly fashion to what they considered a reasonably safe distance - the edge of the park - and then stopped. Their Ultraman was about to fight for them, maybe for the last time. They weren't going to miss the show. Dash asked Moebius telepathically as the younger Ultraman struggled to his feet. Moebius replied honestly, shaking his head. Dash nodded. Then, crossing his fists in front of his face, he summoned up his energies and grew, surrounded by a corona of blue light, to his more customary height. Behind them, the crowd roared its approval. Moebius said, his discomfort forgotten in his eagerness to prove his worth. Dash called, but it was too late. Without waiting for Dash, Moebius set himself in a ready stance, then darted forward, fist cocking for a punch that he hoped would knock the intruding robot right back into the river. "HAAAhuh?!" Moebius yelled, his battlecry trailing off into a sound of confusion as he saw a tiny human figure standing on the armored "deck" atop the robot, just above the jutting barrels of its cannon- head. Startled, he aborted the punch, skidding to a halt. Moebius had just enough time to blurt, before the robot backhanded him, sending him flying. "Oofff!" And indeed, the figure standing atop the robot -was- a woman, slim and dressed in snug-fitting black. She had angular golden vambraces on her arms, a matching sash tied around her waist, and a half-helmet of gold on her head, below which a riot of yellow curls streamed down her back and fluttered, along with the tail of her sash, in the wind. The helmet had backswept triangular eyeholes and came to a point in front, as if mimicking a hunting bird's beak. Seeing her giant opponent flung back and skidding across the grass, she put her hands on her hips and gave a great, rolling, merry laugh. Merged within Dash's consciousness, Hiroshi recognized her at once. Bits of her costume had changed, but the overall look and the laugh were unmistakable. "Agent A!" he blurted aloud. The woman laughed again, then shook her head and made a chiding gesture. "Ah ah ah, Ultraman Dash. Agent A was an underling. Last week's news. You're up against Lord Alberto's right-hand woman now. You may call me Falcon Gold... for the few minutes you have left to live." Moebius asked as he got back to his feet. Dash replied. "So! You aliens thought you'd cast your lot with the International Police, eh?" Falcon Gold went on, folding her arms. "Allow me to teach you why that was the worst mistake you could've made. Mechanized Ultra-Killer Imperizer: -DESTROY THEM!-" And, with another pealing laugh, she vanished, the panel on which she stood dropping into the robot's huge body and returning to its place a moment later without her on it. "Tchukayev, where the hell are you?" Natsumi demanded. "ETA 45 seconds, Major." Dash and Moebius glanced at each other and nodded, then set themselves and got ready to fight. /* Faith No More "We Care a Lot" _Introduce Yourself_ (1987) */ Fighting Imperizer was a bit like fighting those two K-units from the end of July rolled up into one, with an extra helping of deadly thrown in to spice things up. It was ungainly-looking - downright ugly, in fact - but appallingly strong and armed like a battleship, and its armor was tougher than anything Dash had ever seen. Whatever angles Dash and Moebius came at it from, it seemed to be ready. Whatever attack they tried, whether individually or together, it had a counter for. Though it wasn't a K-unit, it became clear in a very short time that Imperizer had benefitted greatly from the lessons learned in all the previous K-unit defeats on Tomodachi. The thing really -was- designed as an Ultra-killer. Even the arrival of the improved Super-X didn't turn the tide of the battle at first, because it was obvious that Ultraman Moebius didn't know the first thing about fighting with human backup. He kept getting in Toriyama's way, preventing her from bringing the vehicle's main gun into action. At one point he nearly got himself backshot by the TPG, which wouldn't have looked good on anyone's resume. Before long, both Ultramen were visibly winded, their colortimers blinking, and Imperizer didn't show any sign of slowing down. Even when Dash got in the first solid hit of the fight, fusing his Crescent Cutters into the Cross Blade and using the incredible ground speed from which he took his name to dive in for a bold slash- and-dash that severed the robot's right arm at the elbow, it was just a temporary victory. Before his and Moebius's horrified eyes, the severed forearm twitched, then seemed to flow, reshaping itself into a vicious blade before rising from the ground and reattaching itself. Moebius panted. Dash replied. Imperizer stalked forward, nearly reaching the stage where Miyuki and the other had stood a short while before, then stopped, turning its torso to look from one Ultraman to the other. Moebius suggested. Dash replied, and the two Ultramen surged into motion as one. Unimpressed, Imperizer fired both of its huge shoulder cannons, hitting them both simultaneously and sending them tumbling back and crashing to the ground. While it was occupied with that, Natsumi jockeyed the Super-X behind it, and Toriyama got the one good shot she'd been wanting. "NOW, Maeko!" Natsumi yelled, but Toriyama was already locked on and pulling the trigger. "HELIX BUSTER!" she yelled as the Super-X's main weapon - actually a deck gun from a decommissioned Yamato-class battleship, salvaged and refurbished with a short barrel - gathered itself and then hurled its spiral bolt. People in the crowd of onlookers flinched and shielded their eyes as the blast, built to hole the hulls of space warships, struck Imperizer full in the back and sent the giant machine sprawling face-down. For a moment, all was silence. "Did we get him?" Larkin wondered. Outside, Ultramen Dash and Moebius got groggily to their feet, shaking their heads, colortimers blinking red now. Imperizer lay where it had fallen, smoke curling up from a melt-edged hole in its back. Then it twitched, stirred, and climbed inexorably back to its feet. "Christ on a crutch, what does it take to -kill- this thing?" Larkin snarled. Imperizer glanced from Ultraman to Ultraman again, then started striding forward, the three barrels of its gunhead beginning to spin. Energy crackled and sizzled around their muzzles, growing brighter and more furious by the second. Again Dash and Moebius moved to attack; again Imperizer held them at bay with its shoulder cannons, missing them but forcing both to dive out of the way. With the two Ultramen out of position and no apparent concern about the Super-X, the monstrous mechanoid unleashed its gunhead's gigantic blast - - but not at either Ultraman. Imperizer had fired on the crowd. Dash yelled, knowing that even his incredible speed couldn't put him between that blast and the crowd before it struck home and thousands of people were reduced to vapor. And Ultraman Moebius... ... -vanished-. He reappeared instantly in a nimbus of firefly-like golden sparks, arms flung wide in a universal gesture of protection, between the blast and the throng. The huge ball of energy struck him full in the chest. A tremendous explosion sheeted over him like a breaking ocean wave, blowing him over backward. But not a single citizen was injured. Dash half-knelt, frozen partway upright by the sight, then shot the rest of the way to his feet and turned to Imperizer, fists clenched. Without a word, he hurled himself into an all-out frontal assault, blinking colortimer be damned. The glowing blue energy that normally made up his Crescent Cutters shone on his fists and feet, reinforcing his every punch and kick with explosive energy, as he fell upon Imperizer with a savage fury never seen before. At the edge of the park, the people of Nekomikoka stared in horror at the fallen form of Ultraman Moebius. He lay motionless on his back, his head slightly propped up by a bank of earth that his impact had thrown ahead of him as he hit the ground, the yellow glow of his eyes flickering low. On his chest, his colortimer flashed frantically, then began to slow once more. A shocked, mournful hush fell over the crowd as they realized that they were watching his life slip away. Then, from somewhere in the back, a tiny, piping voice cried, "Don't die, Ultraman Moebius!" A business-suited man near the front blinked at the cry, then threw down his briefcase and shouted, "She's right! You can't die on your big day!" "All Tomodachi is with you!" a scruffy-looking teenager in a torn leather jacket yelled. "Fight!" someone else bellowed. "Moebius!" Others picked up the call. "Moebius!" "-Moebius!-" In another few seconds it was a full-throated chant, a hundred thousand people all roaring his name in unison, as they had when they greeted Dash at the beginning. "MOEBIUS! MOEBIUS! MOEBIUS!" /* Project DMM "Ultraman Moebius Theme" _Ultraman 40th Anniversary Song Collection_ (2006) */ As the love and gratitude of a people washed over his battered body, the ebbing light returned to Ultraman Moebius's eyes. His slowing colortimer accelerated, blinking faster and faster until it almost seemed not to be blinking at all, and then, with a brilliant flash, it became solid blue once more. The chant dissolved into a delirious roar of joy as Moebius clambered back to his feet. Across the park, Dash's furious assault and the Super-X's fire support drove Imperizer nearly back to the riverbank before the robot managed to regroup and interrupt the rain of blows. It made a furious slash with its blade arm; Dash dodged, but his momentum was broken, and the next blow, from Imperizer's fist, struck home, sending Dash sprawling. His own colortimer was flashing faster now as his energy reserves dipped dangerously low, but he dared not let up. It would take the Super-X at least another minute to recharge the Helix Buster, and with Moebius gone... He caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Moebius getting back to his feet. For an instant he wondered how that could possibly be true; then he saw the furiously waving crowd, heard the sound of their cheering, and knew. Even though they weren't specifically cheering for him, the knowledge that Nekomikoka's people were supporting his colleague gave Dash renewed strength of his own - strength that enabled him to dodge the worst of another blast from Imperizer's shoulder cannon, though the edge of the burst caught him and threw him once more to the ground. Satisfied that Dash was down for the moment - and that Moebius was down for good, since it hadn't noticed its more distant enemy's dramatic rise - Imperizer decided the time had come to see to the annoying human vehicle. That big cannon had stung it more than its logic systems would like to admit, and the Super-X's constant flitting about and blasting it with lesser weapons were just -irritating-. It could spare a moment now to deal with the problem. "That's -it,- you big bastard," Natsumi growled through the fierce grin she was unable to keep off her face at times like this. "Don't pay any attention to the Ultras. Just keep looking at -us.-" The grin slipped only a little as Imperizer turned to face the Super-X and began charging its gunhead for another huge blast, and no member of her crew said anything at all. They knew what their commander was up to. They had every faith that it would work. That didn't stop Floyd Larkin from crossing himself, but hey, only a fool doesn't call for all the extra backup he can. Dash got to his feet much more quickly than Imperizer, believing he'd taken the full brunt of the last shoulder-cannon blast, expected. Glancing from his distracted enemy to Moebius, he saw that his colleague had spotted the same thing: Moebius declared. Dash concurred. Both Ultras gathered their energies, Moebius by striking more sparks from the gem on his arm and raising his glowing hands above his head, Dash by crossing his fists in front of his colortimer, then snapping them out and open by his sides. Then, as one, both made the same gesture, holding their right arms upright and crossing the left in front to make a plus sign, and brilliant beams of light streamed from the edges of their right hands. Dash's blue beam and Moebius's golden one crossed halfway to Imperizer, merging in a blinding arc into a single stream of white-gold light shot through with blue lightning - - and plunged into Imperizer's back through the hole the Super-X had punched in its armor. The robot went rigid, its outer shell heating cherry-red, as Dash and Moebius poured their combined beam into its body, bodies quivering and grunting with effort. So much of his renewed strength did Moebius put into the beam that his colortimer went red and began to flash once more. "Major, get us -outta heeeere,-" Toriyama said, but Natsumi was already doing it. Knowing she wasn't likely to clear the blast radius any quicker by another method, she skidded the antigravity vehicle back over the river, then cut the gravity generator, and down they went with a giant splash. An instant later, Imperizer exploded in a titanic fireball that broke windows all up and down the riverfront and sent a column of flame shooting above the tops of the tallest downtown buildings. There was no shrapnel; the blast reduced the machine to fragments no bigger than dust. For a moment, there was silence. Then, as Ultramen Dash and Moebius lowered their arms and turned wearily to each other, and the Super-X surfaced and made its way to shore, the crowd went -crazy-, chanting both Ultramen's names in turn and surging forward to mill around the giants' feet. Dash and Moebius nodded in acknowledgement and gratitude to the people of Nekomikoka, then to each other, and looked up to the sky. "Thank you, Ultraman Moebius!" cried the same tiny voice that had first exhorted him not to die. Moebius looked down and spoke for the first time in an audible voice. "No," he said, "thank -you.-" Then both Ultramen looked up at the sky again, and with a simultaneous cry of "Shuwatch!" they leaped into the air and hurtled away, sped on their way by the cheers of their fans (some of whom jumped into the depressions left by their footprints and rolled joyously around as if making snow angels). Standing in the commander's cupola of the Super-X, Natsumi watched them go, then climbed out and down the side. "Not bad," she said to the rest of her crew, who emerged from the side hatch to join her. "We got in a good hit and we didn't even manage to crash the beast. Ice cream for everyone!" "I'll take you up on that, Major," said Tchukayev cheerfully; then he angled a thumb over his shoulder at the approaching masses and added, "But I think we're gonna have to sign some autographs first." The sun was setting gloriously over the Tomodachi skyline as Hiroshi Morisato and Mirai Hibino stood side by side on the observation deck atop Tomodachi Tower, gazing thoughtfully off to the west. "Miss Mirai was right," Hibino said suddenly. "I understand now." Hiroshi smiled. "Mirai's usually right," he said. "The people of this city... they saved my life today," Hibino said in a sober tone. Hiroshi suppressed the immediate urge, which was to reply, "Well, it was kind of an -exchange- of butts." If Hibino didn't know what a taco was - and he didn't - he surely hadn't seen the original "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Instead he said, "They're good people." Then, putting a hand on Hibino's forearm, he added, "Just make sure you don't let them down." "I won't," Hibino promised, with less stiff-backed earnestness but perhaps more genuine insight than he'd had before. "Never." He paused for a moment in thought, then went on, "I've never been to Earth. I only joined the Space Garrison recently, long after the Ultrafather and Ultra-Commander Zoffy declared the planet off-limits. I heard about Earth and Earthpeople from Fighting Master Taro, though. He said it was a beautiful place, and they were the finest people in the universe." Hiroshi smiled again. "There's lots of fine people in the universe," he said. "Here on Tomodachi, you won't meet as many of them as you would if you were in, say, New Avalon, but there'll still be plenty. You don't have to be from Earth to be human." "I'm glad to know that," Hibino said, smiling a little dreamily into the sunset. "I think I'm going to like it here." "I wouldn't have wanted to grow up anywhere else," Hiroshi said. "Then why are you leaving?" Hiroshi shrugged. "Why did you leave M78? Sometimes a guy's just got to see what's around the next bend." Hibino frowned, wrestling for a moment with the unfamiliar metaphor, then grinned. "I think I get it," he said. Hiroshi looked at his watch and pushed himself away from the rail. "Well, I gotta get moving," he said. "My stargate pass is only good until 2030, and I have to get settled in my new pad and buy my books before class starts on Monday." Clapping Hibino on the shoulder, he said, "Take good care of my town while I'm gone, Ultraman Moebius." Hibino turned, straightened up, and bowed. "Take good care of -yourself,- Ultraman Dash." He waved as Hiroshi walked back inside and boarded an elevator to take him back to the street, then turned and watched the sun go the rest of the way down, marveling at the way the city lit up as night fell. It was all so very different from the Land of Light. He thought he could probably stay up here all night just taking it in. A few moments later, though, he sensed a presence coming up behind him, and, turning, he saw Mirai Morisato approaching. "Hi," she said. "Well, Hiroshi's on his way. Mom took it well. I was afraid she might get weepy." Hibino didn't really understand what any of that meant, but he nodded. "I'm glad." "So... do you eat? I mean, I know Hiroshi does, but even for an Ultraman he's kind of weird." Hibino nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes!" he said. "I hope to experience -all- the aspects of being human while I'm here." Mirai considered that for a second, decided he had no idea what he'd just implied, and smiled. "Well, what do you say we get some dinner, then? I know a place that makes the best noodles." "I'd like that very much!" They were halfway to the elevator when he asked, "What are noodles?" /* Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet "Our Weapons are Useless" _Savvy Show Stoppers_ (1990) */ EYRIE PRODUCTIONS, UNLIMITED presented UNDOCUMENTED FEATURES FUTURE IMPERFECT Ultraman Dash in Code Name: Ultra by Benjamin D. Hutchins starring Hiroshi Morisato/Ultraman Dash Mirai Morisato Shin Hayata/Ultraman Koemi Nakazawa Natsumi Tsujimoto Maeko Toriyama Floyd Larkin Vasily Tchukayev Miyuki Kobayakawa Belldandy Morisato Teppei Kuze Luornu Durgo Benjamin D. Hutchins Mirai Hibino/Ultraman Moebius Fumimaro Kuroda Kiyotaka Konoye Clarissa Broadbank and The good people of Tomodachi BIG FIRE COVERT OPERATIONS BASE UNKNOWN LOCATION The Big Fire agent codenamed Falcon Gold appeared with a blinding flash of light in the middle of a large stone room lit dimly with torches on the walls. For a moment after appearing, she floated in midair, as if suspended in time as well as space. Then she crumpled to the floor, her helmet falling from her head to clang into the corner, and huddled there for a few long moments, her hair falling over her face. "It appears Imperizer still needs work," said a voice as dark and cool as the room. Clarissa Broadbank pulled herself together, drawing herself into something like a proper seiza and raking her sweat-sticky hair away from her face with one hand. The other arm she kept clasped around her middle as she heaved for breath. "The robot's fine. The interface systems need further calibration," she said, her voice weak but determined. Lord Alberto of the Magnificent Ten nodded and got up from his thronelike stone chair. "Fair enough. You certainly let them know they were in a fight." Clarissa struggled to her feet, ignoring a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth, and looked Alberto in the eye. "Tomorrow," she said, "we resume Operation Hardshell in Nekomikoka. We need more information on this new Ultraman." Alberto nodded. "And we'll need to forward the data on Ultraman Dash to the new Agent A." At her puzzled look, he gestured to a newspaper lying abandoned on the floor next to his seat. "He's going to New Avalon. That's why they had that gathering today. To announce his departure and introduce this... 'Ultraman Moebius'... to the masses," he said, the last word a sneer. Clarissa tried not to cough - it hurt, and showed weakness - but was unable to suppress the reflex completely. Small dots of blood flecked Alberto's face above his neatly trimmed beard. He calmly took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped them away, then dabbed at her mouth. "For now," he said in a voice that would have shocked his foes in the International Police with its gentleness, "let's get you to Medical." "My lord, I don't need - " she began, but her protest was cut short as Alberto swept her casually up in his arms, as a man would gather up a child who didn't want to go upstairs at bedtime. "Hush," he said. "You did your best today. I told you the system wasn't ready. Now it's time for you to rest." She was already losing consciousness as she replied faintly, "As you wish, my lord." with Alberto Casanegra de Nueva Castilla "Ultraman" created by Eiji Tsuburaya Miyuki, Natsumi, and Belldandy created by Kousuke Fujishima Hiroshi and Mirai adapted from characters created by Itou Shinpei Ultra Consultant: Geoff Depew With thanks to all the Usual Suspects E P U (colour) 2008