If I owned Ultraman,Hikari would never have that armour in the first place.

(My first attempt at a fanfic,after alot of procrastinating. English is not my first language,so there are going to be mistakes here and there. It's been quite some time since I watched any Ultraman series so forgive me if I get some details wrong. It was extremely hard keeping them in character,but I tried. Also,for the sake of the fic,pretend no Ultraman visited Earth after Mebius and Zero)

Chapter 1

"...Mebi-I mean,Mirai." Zero coughed into his fist.

"A few more minutes."

"That's what you said half an hour ago."

Mebius,in his human form,had his eyes intensely focused on a children's textbook. He could'nt believe it. They were in the textbooks of children. Young Earthlings were raised learning how Ultramen had been defending their planet for decades. Many heroic actions of the more popular and recent Ultraman were written in fu

ll detail,pictures even included. And the fact that Mebius had trouble in believing the most-was that he was one of them.

Zero sighed. Having,too,created a human form,Zero had saved himself the trouble of creating a new face and instead copied Run's appearance. He and Mebius were wearing casual human clothing in an attempt to blend in with the rest of the Earthlings. Well...they had almost perfected normal human behavior until Mebius passed by a book shop and one glance was all it took-he saw himself on the covers of a few books in the children's section and his curiousity got the best of him.

"Mirai. The huma-people at the counter are staring."

Zero had tried to be patient. He was sure he was not even a tiny bit interested in whatever caught Mebius' attention so much. Okay,maybe he did wrestle Mebius for the contents of the book half an hour ago,but that,like Mebius,was out of pure curiousity and his had long faded. Even so,he folded his arms and silently waited,occasionally exhaling loudly to remind Mebius of his existence,until he could not wait anymore. The boredom was driving him insane.

"You're supposed to show me around Earth,not doing...this," Zero half whispered over Mebius' shoulder. Mebius closed the book,took one last look at himself in the cover and,with a defeated sigh,placed it back to its original position on the shelf.

"Sorry." His expression was a mixture of seriousness and dissapointment. Zero almost felt bad for interupting his reading,but before he could say anything Mebius' cheerful smile had returned to his face.

"Let's go eat!" He suggested brightly,knowing full well how much the idea of placing stuff in your mouth,chewing and digesting it brought so much confusion and nervousness to him when he first came to Earth.

The Father of Ultra had suggested Mebius from taking a break. He had watched the young Ultra grow,fighting nearly every single day,hunting down monsters throughout the galaxy and destroying them before they could bring harm to anyone. If anyone deserved a rest,it was Mebius. Therefore,Ultra Father sent him to Earth for a few days,knowing how much Mebius treasured that planet as if it was his own. UltraSeven had asked politely if his son could come along. Zero had only been to Earth once or twice...the first time Zero arrived all humans had vanished and he had to go through a rough time defeating Hyper Zetton to bring them back. Not the best first impression of a planet.

I==========I

"...what's this?"

"Bolognese pasta."

"...what's that?"

"Brocolli."

"..."

Mebius could'nt help it. A confused Zero was a hilarious sight. He snorted in his failing attempt to hold in his laughter,a cheeseburger in his left hand. He and Zero had barely even talked before,Mebius too occupied with his job as a hero of justice and Zero too occupied with his adventures. Back before they met,Mebius had been told Zero's backstory and he could recite it inside and out,not missing a single detail. To be honest,he had kind of expected Zero to be someone more ruthless and unreasonable,so when Zero got chosen by the light and defeated Belial and his 100 monster army,ending the day by saving their entire race,it sort of took him as a little surprise. As time passed,Mebius and Zero gave each other an occasional respectful nod,but that was far from talking...until recently. It was the moment Mebius decided to start a conversation that he realised how funny the young red and blue Ultra can be. Turns out all of Zero's adventures resulted in him making new friends and saving lifes. Mebius had once or twice thought of how burden-free Zero was,spending his daily life gliding through space and discovering new planets. Guess he was wrong.

Mebius pushed the plate to Zero encouragingly,receiving a raised eyelid from the younger Ultra. Zero was one of the few Ultramen he could drop the formalities with-him being older,more experienced and all.

"I ensure you it is not poisoned in any way," Mebius said in a somewhat mocking tone.

Zero's eyes darted left and right before he leaned forward,"You do understand perfectly that we don't need this stuff,do you?"

Mebius cheerfully nodded. "I also understand you were sent here with me to familiarise yourself with this planet. It's interesting how humans find so many ways to prepare something they require to survive,each dish a different taste."

"Judging by your voice not bothering to be lowered,you are'nt concerned they'll find us out?"

"I,too,was a little paranoid at first. But then I quickly came to learn that Earthlings care less what their kind says In public,especially in this kind of environment."

It took convincing,but Zero at last hesitantly took a few bites of his pasta. His eyes widen-he had never tasted anything like this before. Well,to be precise,he had never tasted anything before,and he certainly did not expect it to be this good. In no time,the pasta was finished,and Zero sat back in his chair lazily,rubbing his stomach.

Mebius chuckled. "The weird lazy feeling you have now is called 'full'. Earthlings get full after eating and they can't engage in too much movement or it messes with their insides,at least that's what I was told."

Zero simply nodded,he was getting used to the weird things on Earth now.

Mebius paid the bill and they left. While wandering the streets,a question that had been stuck in Zero's mind for a while now finally came out-"Are'nt you going to visit your friends on Earth?"

Mebius shook his head,assuming Zero was talking about GUYS. "We age a lot slower than them,Zero...they're all probably retired now."

"Well then,visit them where they stay?"

Mebius shook his head again. True,he missed his former team members very dearly...but somehow it just does'nt seem right to be visiting them now. Earth had halted most of his worries,but apparently not all. Deep down,a voice was screaming at him to take on Zero's offer and visit his friends...but another voice prevented him from doing that by reminding him that enemies could still be lurking,and would see his Earthling friends as easier prey. He,was,after all,still pretty busy with multiple tasks at hand...the happiness of his friends and he himself would be short lived even if he did paid them a visit,seeing as he was only supposed to stay for several days.

Zero was full aware that the other Ultra was deep in thought again. Zero had great observation skills when he needed them,and even he did'nt fail to notice Mebius had been getting more and more serious as time passed ever since he returned from Earth.

"Mebius."

The Ultra in question did'nt respond.

"Mebius!"

Mebius jolted into reality,blinking. He then gave an awkward laugh while scratching the back of his head,"I'm not the best tour guide,am I?"

Zero chuckled and gave a little shake of his head in agreement. "An any case,where are we staying for these few days?"

"They have buildings called hotels that let travelling people stay for a maximum of one month. Of course,you need to pay them their currency in return."

Zero followed Mebius into a large,expensive looking building. The huge doors opened automatically,welcoming them inside. The interior looked more luxurious that the outside had suggested. Zero,arms folded,observed his surroundings in amusement. The hall they had strode into was well furnished and decorated to please. A magnificent,glittering chandelier hung beautifully in the center of the square shaped hall. The ceiling was high and patterns were carved on it. Mebius strode to the check-in counter and stood in line patiently.

When it was his turn,Zero walked over,interested in how booking a hotel room works. He listened to Mebius' conversation,pretending he understood when actually question marks were hovering above his head.

"Please wait for a moment," The receptionist slightly bowed and excused himself to the connecting room behind the counter.

"Where and how did you get the money to pay for this," Zero spoke once the receptionist was out of earshot. "I'm no expert,but even I know such a glamourous hotel is'nt going to be cheap. As a matter of fact,even if it is,where did you even get Earth currency? It's not like you work here...or do you?" Zero suspiciously eyed Mebius. He would'nt be surprised if Mebius said yes.

Mebius looked almost guilty. "Well...a long time go I kind of overheard a few people discussing that the other planets of their solar system rains diamonds...never thought that fact would come in handy but since we were heading to Earth and it's practically the easiest and less time and energy consuming...I tried my luck and on the 2nd planet I visted I found one. So I brought it here and sold it..yeah. Huge amount of money they paid me. I wanted to tell them I did'nt need that much but figured it would be a little weird and maybe the money would come in handy anyway so I kept it."

The receptionist came back before Zero could reply. Mebius gave him a rueful half grin before turning his attention on the returned receptionist.

I==========I

One of Zero's eyes slowly opened. He was always an early bird. But apparently,a certain someone was earlier.

"Sun's not even fully risen yet." Zero grumbled,taking one look at the sunrise outside and turning on one side to face Mebius. The red Ultra was busy punching buttons on his computer keyboard at the desk.

"So now you have a computer?" Zero sat up and ruffled his human hair.

"I actually had it ever since I joined GUYS. Took good care of it. It's still in great condition."

"I can see so," By now fully awake,Zero went to the bathroom to do some human body mantainence.

"So,Earth's safe now from any attacks?" Came Zero's muffled voice from the bathroom,obviously trying to brush his teeth and talk at the same time. "I heard some rumours that it's being targeted again though-"

"Nonsense,it's been years since anything striked,plus I'm pretty sure we've been wiping out a good number of enemies,there's no way they'll try to invade Earth again anytime soon..."

An explosion could be heard erupting somewhere quite distant,the sound faint and barely audible. Mebius froze in an instant,his fingers no longer moving and the tapping sound that followed when he was typing briefly paused. It did'nt take a genius to realise Zero in the bathroom had also paused his teeth-brushing,the sound of the dripping tap the only thing to be heard.

Mebius blinked a few times and stole a glance outside in the direction where the explosion came from. Nothing. Was he hearing things? Zero had meanwhile resumed brushing his teeth,rinsing and washing his face. Mebius shrugged it off. Yep,he had been overworking. He resumed typing,but halted almost immediately again when the sound of screaming humans could be heard,still faint but slightly more audible this time.

"You were saying..?" Mebius watched Zero step out of the bathroom,Zero's grin growing wider,indicating he had also heard what Mebius thought to be a trick his ears were playing on him. Mebius frowned. "Nevermind."

Zero hurried past Mebius,grabbed his jacket,threw in on,opened the door to the balcony,and-

"Woah woah WOAH," Mebius lauched himself at Zero and caught his arm just in time before he could take the fastest exit to save the day.

"What? Can'nt you hear innocent lives screaming to be rescued?"

"Yes,but people are going to think you're the one who needs rescueing if you use the balcony. Plus,it could just be a robbery or something. Come on."

Mebius threw on his own orange coat and,grabbing the hotel card on the way,rushed out of the door in long strides. Zero drew in a breathe to protest but exhaled-Mebius was already out of the door. He gave up and went after him.

I==========I

Zero had suggested getting on the first motorbike in sight to save time. Mebius had highly objected ("There are rules on this planet!"). In the end,Mebius hurriedly stopped a taxi instead and they were on their way,Mebius guiding the driver in the direction where the screams came from moments ago.

"They seem calm about this," Zero whispered,glancing at the driver's bored expression then at the people walking the streets outside,each busy in their own activity.

"Ultra hearing," Mebius mumbled,pointing at the left side of the road. The driver nodded and kept left. Zero understood,almost kicking himself for not knowing.

About ten minutes later,both Ultras had their eyes widen. The taxi was stuck in huge traffic. But the bigger concern was that a building ahead,close enough to be visible,was up in flames. A spaceship,shaped like an uneven sphere,was hovering near it,its body half invisible.

The daydreaming driver had apparently noticed,too.

"Umm! Sorry guys,I think we need to turn back..."

It was obvious that there were people here ten minutes ago,but most of them had deserted the place running for their lifes when whatever alien had decided to stop by and set a building on fire. Mebius frowned. The building may be deserted,but most of the vehicles in the traffic contained humans,terrified of the scene unfolding in front of them and glued to their seat,jaws dangling. Some people had been quick enough to abandon their car and run,but Mebius could now see another reason why no one dared make a move-there were figures in the smoke surrounding the building. It was survival instinct to fight or flee,but the humans had chosen something in between that was not the brightest solution-stay still,hide,play dead and pray for god to spare their lives.

The driver was also shocked in place,unable to mutter any more words. Zero flung the car door open and practically announced his arrival,taking proud,dignified steps towards the figure.

"Who's there!" He paused once he was at a considerably close distance and stared into the smoke,his eyes narrowing naturally to try and sense any movement. Mebius jogged up behind him,his expression in no way less serious than Zero's.

The figures seemed to have dissapeared. The silence was nerve-wrecking. Zero,half impatient,opened his mouth to repeat his previous words,but a black,long and flexible arrow like object shot out at incredible speed and effortlessly wrapped itself around Zero's waist,successfully catching him very off guard. Before Zero could recover from his startled condition,the black object very violently yanked him into the smoke.

Zero continued to be violently pulled deeper into the smoke until the black object suddenly released him. He rolled over a few times,coughing,his eyes stinging and trying to adjust to see through the smog surrounding him. He stopped just in time to avoid crashing into some sort of wooden furniture he could'nt see clearly.

Zero was not happy. And it was not a very pleasant sight. Mebius would go after him,but he was almost sure that something would stand in the other Ultra's way. His opponents have a habit of wanting to face him alone. Zero closed his eyes,fists clenched but slightly relaxed. His body stood straight and still.

He could sense something. Something lurking in the shadows,something waiting for the perfect oppurtunity,something getting ready to pounce...

Zero snapped his eyes open,whipped around,and caught a fist inches from his face. He was slightly suprised at the creature standing before him. Not because that it had eerie glowing green eyes,fangs,short black horns on its head and was growling at him like an ugly aggresive hyena. It was the fact the the creature had tangled,messy honey coloured hair and a small face,suggesting it might be a female. Zero took a split second to look at the rest of its body. At least it looks human except for the head.

Zero shoved it back without much effort. The creature turned around and a familiar black object shot at Zero's face. He grabbed it before it could coil around his head. Great. And he thought the rest of it looked normal. It has a creepy tail,for god's sake.

An alien voice in alien language echoed into the room they were in. Well...at least Zero thought it was a room,with the smog too thick to see through and the four walls of the room not visible. The creature's ears perked up at the sound. Shooting Zero a final snarl,it darted towards what seemed like the door frame of an exit. Zero was on her tail immediately as more echoes sounded through the corridor they were running in. Zero fought enough monsters to roughly understand what they could be shouting. In this case,it as most likely "Retreat!"

They reached the end of the corridor. The creature,unable to slow down with Zero so close after it,forcefully sent what seemed like a back door flying outwards with one strong punch.

Moments later,they were outside. Zero skidded to a halt as he put on a defensive pose. Smoke from the inside of the building poured out into the open air. More creatures similiar looking to the first one he encountered were scrambling onto the now fully visible spaceship. One of them shouted a few presumably curse words to Zero before the spaceship blasted away at full speed after the last of them had climbed aboard and the entrance to the ship had shut with a small 'Bang!'

Zero badly wanted to go after them,but something else caught his eye. A young lady was laying,unconsious,on the ground where the spaceship had just departed. He looked up to the direction where the spaceship had fleed,gave a 'tch',and jogged to where the lady was.

"Hello? You alright?" Zero checked her pulse. Breathing. Good. He carried her,bridal style,and followed his instincts to the shortest route out of the building,trying to take the pathways with the least smoke.

Back to the front of the building,help had arrived. Police were all pointing guns and standing on guard at the entrance of the building. The fire department went to work with extinguishing the flames. Two ambulance sat further away,ready to ship any injured people to the hospital.

"Freeze!" One police officer shouted at Zero just as he managed to come in their view.

Zero had gotten out of the building and can now see clearly again. He sighed. As much as he wanted to put his hands up to show that he meant no harm,he was currently carrying a knocked out woman and he had a feeling police would be less than pleased if he dropped her to the ground covered in dirt and ash.

"Wait,he's one of us!"

Zero could see Mebius running towards the police with an explaination. He looked down in slight surprise as the lady seemed to stir and come to.

"They...are after me.."

"Huh?"

And she fainted again. Zero gently rocked her. "After you? Why?"

But she showed no signs of awaking to reply Zero. Paramedics rushed to Zero with a stretcher,in which he gently placed her down. Mebius was at Zero's side after convincing the police he was not an enemy,asking him if he was hurt,and the younger Ultra responded with a "I'm fine."

Zero and Mebius watched as the rest of the fire was successfully put out. Police held back crowds of forming people but,mysteriously,let Zero and Mebius stay. Zero folded his arms as a few police officers approached Mebius,discussing about the alien attack,the police trying to get as much detail as possible.

I==========I

The fiasco had ended. Zero and Mebius were walking side by side on the streets. The police had assured they'll take care of everything else and thanked them both for their help.

"So...you told them who we were?" Zero asked,referring to the fact that the police had'nt ask them to stand back. It was noon,the sun was shining brightly,walking under the heat without bothering to get under shade were two guys. One was concerned about Earth's safety. The other was more concerned about a certain lady he saved.

"No,one of them recognized me."

Zero turned to look at Mebius,his confused eyes demanding an explanation for 'recognized'.

Mebius gave a soft laugh at Zero's I-can't-believe-you face. "I kind of messed up a bit...okay,maybe alot,when I was assigned to protect Earth quite a few years ago. I'm not sure if you've heard,but once a monster named Imperializer was too strong for me to handle and I got badly injured trying to fight it. Ultra Father demanded me to return to the Land of Light,he said I was underprepared or something equivalent,and said he was sending Taro over to protect Earth in my place. I spent a day with each of my team mates,knowing it may be the last memory we'll ever create with each other...and apparently my best friend,you could say,knew there was something fishy about me. So he found out who I was,right before the Imperializer launched another attack. I could'nt bring myself to leave my friends when they needed me most..so I ignored orders and fought to almost death if it were'nt for Taro jumping in the last minute. We did manage to defeat Imperializer in the end. Aaand that's how GUYS Japan found me out."

Zero nodded in half amusement. He would've loved to add in 'teenage rebellion much?' if his brain did'nt do such a fantastic job reminding him of what he's done worst. "And the rest of the human population?" He asked,swatting away a certain memory of his own father having no choice to but arrest him a long time ago.

"Well...long story short,things were going well until Empera Seijin decided to finally show himself...and,once again,almost lost my life fighting him. I was too exhausted to hide who I was...the entire ruman race found out. Their reactions were'nt exactly welcoming at first,but then they stood by my side and cheered me on. Me,Hikari,Zoffy and a certain friend worked together and we managed to save Earth. That was my last and final battle on Earth before returning to our home planet."

"...sounds like you had quite an experience on Earth."

"Yeah." Mebius lifted his head and smiled,memories of the days spend protecting Earth flooding into his mind like a wave crashing against rocks. He remembered all his adventures like it was yesterday.

"So why did'nt everyone recognize you then?"

"I'm not sure myself. Part of the reason may be I left right after revealing my true identity. Then again,Ultramen haven't shown up since then,so they might've not expected us to suddenly drop by. I was lucky. The general officer recognized me almost immediately and he did'nt react too uncomfortably."

Silence fell again,both Ultras each in their own thoughts.

Minutes later,Zero spoke.

"About the girl. She told me those guys were after her right before passing out."

I==========I

Said girl opened her eyes. She knew exactly what happened. Reaching down and unbuckling her belt,she revealed a small hidden transceiver half the size of her palm.

"Kai. I'm in the hospital. If the plan works,the Ultras will soon be dropping by for a visit."

A male voice spoke from the other end of the transceiver.

"Very good. Contact me again after they come,if they do. Don't fail his majesty."

Before the girl could reply,the connection was cut off by the other end. She sighed and concealed the transceiver under her belt again. When had her boyfriend become so cold? Their relationship was perfectly fine before. They had each other,they had the world. Until that day...

A tear threatened to roll down her cheek. She took a deep breath and shook her head.

All this will end after we capture the Ultras,she comforted herself before drifting off to sleep.