Chapter 3

That night, Tatsuya sat in his room, soaking in everything that had happened that day. "I still can't believe it. I'm Ultraman." "Well, technically, we're Ultraman." Riser's voice said in Tatsuya's head. "Yeah, I know. I'm just saying, I'm the human half. Say, have any other Ultramen that have visited earth done what you did with me with other people? You know, the fusion?" "Practically all of them." "Cool, I hope I get to meet them. Maybe learn from them. You know, with me being new at this and all." "Well, even though your new, I'd say you did fine. You were fairly impressive against that monster. And your imagination spawned some pretty interesting attacks." "Well, thank you, Riser. You weren't bad either. Now then, enough patting ourselves on the back. You said that you'd explain everything about what's going on, so out with it." "Alright, I'll start at the beginning. I come from a place called the land of light, in the M78 Nebula. Normally, it's very peaceful. Ultramen live and train, for the day that they will be summoned to defend Earth and other parts of the universe from evil." "So, your home is sort of like a great big police station." "Well, not exactly, but it's one way of looking at it. Now then, let me tell you about myself. I was born the third biological son of the space garrison's supreme commander, Ultraman Ken. He's also known as Ultra father." "I've heard of him. He's your dad, huh? Cool. Hey, is Ultra mother your mom?" "Indeed she is. Her true name is Ultrawoman Marie. And she's very kind and sweet." "Well, yeah. I mean, moms are supposed to be that way." "No, she's that way to everyone." "Ah, one of those 'loves everybody' types. Yeah, my mom's the same way. I don't think she's go one bad word to say about anyone." "Seems you and I are more alike than we originally thought." "Yeah, seems so. Anyway, we're getting of track. Tell me the rest of the story. Oh, but first, you said you're the third biological son of Ultra father. Who are the others?" "You may have heard of them, you being a 'fan', whatever that means, of Ultraman and all. My brothers are Ultraman Mebius by blood, Ultraman Ace by adoption, and my oldest brother by blood is Ultraman Taro. 'sigh' Taro." "Huh? What's with the sigh? Did something happen to Taro?" "Yes, something terrible." "Well, what happened?" "Well, allow me tell you the entire story." "Go ahead. I'll try to be quiet till your done."

Riser began to tell the story. "Well, the day began like any other day. I was out training with Taro. We were right in the middle of training when the planetary alert went out. Apparently, there had been a mass break out at the interplanetary prison and all the monsters that had escaped and stolen an escape ship. The alert said they were headed for our planet. I figured, since the Ultramen were the ones who locked them up in the first place, they wanted revenge. Anyway, since the ship had the ability to create emergency inter-space gates, that meant that they could arrive any minute. And that's exactly what they did. They used the gate to jump to the land of light and began dropping themselves all over the place. Taro thought it was best to get me back to our father, so we headed over to the space garrison. No sooner had we gotten there than father told us that the plasma spark, the heart of our world, might be a target. So, father gave Taro a special set of gauntlets that could handle the spark and we headed to the tower where the spark was kept." "Um, quick question." "Alright." "Why would Taro need special gauntlets to handle the spark?" "Because the power of the spark is great and it can corrupt the mind of the unprepared. Even the slightest touch is supposed to drive someone insane. So, Taro needed those gauntlets to protect him from being corrupted. Anyways, we headed to the tower. Along the way, we joined up with Ultraman Tiga and Dyna. When we arrived at the tower, three powerful monsters bursts through the side wall of the tower and while father held them off, Taro, Tiga, Dyna and myself escaped with the spark. But, soon we were reduced to just me and Taro, since some monsters attacked us and Tiga and Dyna stayed behind to fight them." "Hey, where were Ace and Mebius this whole time? I mean, I'm not judging but, if my little sister, Setsuna, was in trouble, finding her would be priority one for me." "Well, I guess they were being held up by some monsters. Now, where was I? Oh, right. Well, Tiga and Dyna stayed behind and Taro and I took off with the spark. Along the way, Taro told me about a secret inter-space portal hidden beneath our healing bay and came up with the idea of taking and hiding the spark on Earth. Guess he thought the monsters wouldn't find out and wouldn't follow us to Earth." "But they did, somehow." "Yes. Anyways, we headed to the healing bay, running into the princess of our world, Princess Yullian. Once there, we rested for a moment. Taro gave me the spark and the gauntlets and asked Princess Yullian to give me the rest of the armor that the gauntlets came from, which she did. We then joined up with Ultraman Leo and later Zoffy and Jack and headed to the portal. However, two monsters somehow tracked us and came crashing through the ceiling. Everyone fought their hardest but the monsters were just too powerful. They took everyone down and Taro and I were all that was left again. They tried to take the spark but Taro fought back to protect the spark and me. And in the end, one of the monsters killed Taro." "Oh man. I'm so sorry, Riser. You don't have to go on if you don't want to." "No, I told you I'd tell everything. So, here's the last bit. Naturally, I was angered by the loss of Taro, so I tried to fight the monsters, but I was too weak. They threw me around like I was nothing. Finally, I decided, no matter what happened to me afterwards, that would absorb the power of the plasma spark and use it to defeat the monsters. And, when I tried it, the spark changed me." "Changed you how?" "Well, to be honest, I don't normally look the way I do now. I'm actually just a kid. The spark's power turned me into an adult and fused the armor I was wearing to me." "Whoa! Your actually just kid? Man, the spark's power must be amazing to change you that much. Hmm, I guess that would explain your lack of fighting experience." "Yes. Well, with the new powers I had, I defeated the monsters and, after saying my goodbyes to my fallen friends, I left for Earth, destroying the portal behind me. You know the rest." "Yeah, you came to earth, joined with me and we kicked that stupid bird's butt all over the place together. But, man, I'm sorry you've had it so rough, Riser." "Well, at least one good thing came out of it. I made a friend on Earth." "Yeah, you got a friend in me, buddy. Hey, um, I was just thinking, maybe you should change your name." "Change my name? Why?" "Well, in some of the TV shows I watch, when some one's on the run, they change their name to protect their loved ones. Who knows? Maybe your mom and dad were captured by the monsters and, if they found out that you're their son, they could torture them to get at you." "Oh no, you may be right, Tatsuya. But, should I call myself then?" "Hmm. What do you call a power so titanic? …Hey, that's it! We'll call ourselves Ultraman Titan." "Titan, huh? Hmm, I like it. Alright, then that settles that. But, please, Tatsuya, keep calling me Riser. I want my friends to call me Riser." "Don't worry, I will. Well, I guess it's time for bed. I've got school tomorrow."