Ultraman The First Regenerate
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I don't own Ultraman, Tsuburaya does.
In the woods outside the city, a group of campers sat around their campfire, enjoying the evening. The three campers sang old camp songs and enjoyed the fresh air. They didn't notice that they weren't alone. They didn't notice the soft trotting footsteps of something in the woods as it drew closer. The female member of the group, feeling famished, went to the cooler to get a snack. When she did, she felt something bony and scaly in there with her. She also felt a burst of warm air on her face, which caused her to look up. What she saw caused her to scream in shock. She fell back on her bottom.
Her friends ran up to her. "You okay Sandy?" one asked.
"Yeah," she said. "But there was something stealing our food."
"What was it?" asked the other friend. "Was it a 'coon?"
"I have no idea, but it definitely wasn't a raccoon."
The other friend looked into the cooler and recoiled in shock. "Bugger must've been damned hungry. It stole most of our food."
Before the others could retort, the ground below them began to shake violently. They found themselves unable to keep balance well as the pattern of short tremors shook underneath them.
"What's going on!?" Shouted Sandy.
As the shaking stopped, they suddenly became aware of a huge shape above them. The mountainous shape loomed above them, a pair of shining red orbs shining from its summit. A violent roar rang through the air.
"It's a monster!" Shouted one of the boys.
A burning glow began to form near the top of the towering form. The flaming heat made the monster's fanged mouth visible from inside The heat shot out as a fireball that soared over the campers heads and struck another mysterious shape. This shape extended, what appeared to be, wings from its sides. It gave out a powerful screech, revealing itself to be another creature.
The trio ran to their car and, leaving their things, drove out of the campsite, shortly before a huge foot crashed down on it. If they had looked back, they'd have seen the two giant figures locking in a violent struggle. The larger of the two tried to get a grip on the winged monster. The winged beast proved very difficult to keep a grip on. It flapped its wings at its foe; failing to leave the ground, but succeeding in partially knocking its foe off balance. Taking this chance, the winged creature charged its foe. Unfortunately, the larger beast had used its tail to keep balance against the gusts and had caught the winged beast by its right wing. With a violent tug and a powerful roar, the larger beast pulled the wing clear off the body. The creature gave a painful screech at the loss of its limb and the subsequent bite it received from its foe.
The winged beast tried to get away, and managed to break the grip; however it again became the victim of the other monster's fire blast. The creature fell to the ground, dead. The larger creature beat on its chest with its fists and roared in victory. It then leaned down and began to take advantage of the free meal that had presented itself.
Usagi and Reilly watched in amaze as the huge metal plate was lifted into position. They were witnessing the construction of a new aerial battleship in the VICTORY underground hanger. The machine was a gigantic white airship. At current, most of its armoring was in place and the massive vehicle was almost ready to be used.
"That is so totally wicked," said Reilly.
"Glad you like it," called Donahue as he walked up next to them on the walkway.
"I can't believe you helped design this Donahue," said Usagi.
"Well, me and a committee of twenty eggheads," Donahue replied with some false humility. "The Thor is gonna be the crown jewel of the fleet."
"Another tip off to Norse mythology?" asked Janson as she walked up to the trio.
Donahue shrugged, "Worked for the founders; it should work for us as well."
Janson looked up at the ship in awe. "It certainly is amazing."
Suddenly, their watch-comms started beeping. Each member held theirs up and turn it on.
"All Science Patrol members to ops; Priority One!" Called Capt. Hayata's voice on the comm.
The Patrollers reached the control room, greeted by Captain Hayata.
"We have a weird one this time team," he said.
"Compared to what we've dealt with before?" asked Reilly sarcastically.
"With little doubt," Hayata replied. He held up a remote to turn on the screen, but hesitated. "I should warn you, what you are about to see is quite… graphic."
He turned on the screen. Reilly and Donahue cringed in shock. Janson went wide eyed, before turning aside and losing the contents of her stomach on the floor. Usagi stared at the screen in shock. He had witnessed first hand death during Bemular's attack on the city, not just of his father but other innocents at the teeth of the monster. This experience still had not prepared him for such a thing. He could even feel an air of disgust from Ma'un.
What was on the screen was the maimed corpse of a winged monster. Huge sections of flesh were missing and blood flooded the entire forested area around it. The beast was most definitely dead.
"Last night," said Hayata, "a group of campers reported seeing two giant creatures in the woods. When VICTORY sent a search team, what they found was… well…" He looked towards the screen.
Reilly, who had been comforting Janson, looked to the captain. "What the hell could have done that?"
"Something bigger," Usagi replied. "And hungrier."
"Jesus Mary and Joseph," Donahue muttered.
"They want us to go out and look into this situation," continued Hayata. He looked over to the still quite unwell Janson. "Naturally we don't all have to go…"
"Thank you sir," Janson replied quietly.
"Reilly, Shundou, Donahue, you three take Odins and join the investigation team on the site."
The three young men stood and saluted. "ROGER!"
They all made to walk out of the command room. Reilly gently patted Janson's shoulder. "Feel better kid," he said kindly.
"Thanks," she replied.
The Odins flew high over the monster corpse. Usagi flew solo while Reilly transported Donahue. They landed and put on air masks to avoid the stench of the corpse. They joined the scientists around the border of the monster's blood.
"So," said Reilly, "what do you guys think it was?"
"My guess…" replied Donahue, "supper."
Reilly looked at his comrade with an annoyed look. "I could have told you that."
Usagi looked about the perimeter for any clue as to what they were facing. As he walked, he saw a black singe on the ground. He ran up to it and looked at it. Removing his mask for a moment, Usagi sniffed a bit of the soil. The scent of rotten eggs came to his attention.
"Sulfur," he muttered. He activated his wrist comm. "Donahue, do the scientists have any reason to think the creature would use burning sulfur as an offensive weapon?"
"No," came the reply. "Why?"
"Because I think our hungry target likes to use it to cook his meals. I just found a decent sized Sulfur burn on the ground."
"Hmm. Now that I think of it, some of the flesh does look burnt. At least we know one of the enemy's offensive capabilities."
"Right," Usagi replied. "I'm heading back."
Usagi made to leave, when he noticed movement in the woods. He drew his gun.
"Come on out!" He shouted.
Something poked its head from behind a tree. Usagi turned his aim towards it, but it slipped back.
Usagi, wait.
Usagi restrained the urge to shoot.
I don't feel any malevolence from it.
Running on Ma'un senses, Usagi holstered his rifle. Slowly and cautiously, he walked up to the tree. The creature popped out again for a moment before retreating again.
"It's okay," Usagi said in a calming tone. "I won't hurt you. Come on out."
The creature popped out again, this time lingering. The creature's body was covered in dark reddish scales. It's face sat in the middle of it's body, with a pair of bony hands jutting out just below it. It's stocky feet had ring-like layers going down to its reptillian feet. In total it was barely over four feet tall.
Usagi smiled at it, attempting to show non-hostility. "Hey there," he said kindly.
The little monster growled peacefully. It walked out into the open and slowly approached Usagi. Seeing it meant him no harm, Usagi petted the monster's scales.
"I don't suppose you could eat a giant bat-creature, could you?" Usagi asked humorously.
The little monster simply growled in a friendly manner.
Suddenly, the ground began to quake. The creature screeched in fear.
A gigantic creature stepped out of the near-by mountains. The beast was certainly dinosaur-like, but with some major variation. It's orangish body was highly muscular and had a similar ring-like structure as the little monster's legs. Atop its long neck was a very small head in consideration of its body proportions. Its arms were very long and had small, clawed hands. It roared and beat it chest as it walked towards the corpse of the winged monster.
At the investigation team camp, Reilly and Donahue watched the approach of the monster.
"I think our local gourmand came back for seconds," Said Reilly.
All the investigators evacuated as the monster shot fiery sulfur blasts in their wake. It then stepped on the corpse and roared, beating its chest with its claws.
Usagi watched the monster. He turned to see his new friend had run off. Quickly, Usagi reached into his jacket.
"Shundou!!"
Usagi turned to see his friends and the investigation team coming his way as they ran. He withdrew his hand from the jacket and joined them.
The monster turned to the Odins and shot heavy blasts at them, causing the unoccupied jets to explode. It then roared again and began walking back to the mountains.
Back at HQ, Captain Hayata and Janson were in the main command room with Colonel Xander. Donahue was on the main screen giving a report.
"…then it just left," he said. "I'm certain the monster was acting territorially. It must have thought that the Odins were scavengers attacking its meal. If it is a URE mutant its programming is not very good. It's acting like a normal animal."
"What'll happen when it finishes eating the other monster?" Asked Hayata.
Donahue shrugged. "It'll likely migrate to scavenge for more food. If it does there's a possibility it'll move into a populated sector."
"What do you suggest we do?" asked the Colonel.
"Right now our best option is being fine-tuned in the hanger," Donahue replied.
Xander nodded in agreement. "Thor." He turned to one of the techs. "Are they finished modifying it yet?"
"They will be shortly sir," replied the tech.
Xander looked at the remaining Patrollers. "I'm gonna take this thing into battle. Care to join me?"
"Of course," replied Hayata. He then turned to his subordinate. "Anne, I understand if you don't feel up to it. You're not really a combat officer and…"
"No, Captain," Janson replied. "I think I should go. I want to offer whatever help I can. After all, I am a VICTORY officer and a Science Patroller."
Hayata smiled with pride at her determination. Xander nodded in approval.
On the battlefield, the Patrollers and the VICTORY investigators had set up camp several miles from the monster corpse. The team sat down to have lunch and discussed the event.
"So," said Reilly to Donahue, "do you think the Thor can take down Red King?"
"Red King?" replied Donahue in confusion.
"The monster," Reilly clarified. "He's kinda reddish, and he beats his chest like King Kong." He pounded his chest a couple of times to dramatize it. "Red King, get it?"
"Looked more orangeish to me," replied Usagi as he bit into one of the provided sandwiches.
"Well, whatever," said Reilly as he put down his sandwich. "Well Ron?"
Donahue bit his sandwich and tried to speak through it. "Given that we only have a mild idea about its combat abilities and its overall endurance, it's not an exact thing." He swallowed his food. "Then again, this is the first time we've tested the Mjolnir."
"Mjolnir?" asked Usagi.
"The Thor's main weapon. A Specium based blaster gun, kind of like Ultraman's. It's got a bit more punch to it though, which, we hope, will make our lives easier."
"Sounds like my kind of weapon," said Reilly. He reached for his sandwich, only to find it was gone. He turned to see if it had fallen somewhere, but it had totally vanished. "Hey, someone swiped my sandwich!"
Donahue and Usagi got up, but as they did, they heard a shuffling behind them. They both turned and saw their food had disappeared. They all saw movement in the woods and ran after it. They ran as quick as they could. They nearly gave up until they heard munching behind a fallen tree.
They jumped the tree and found the little creature Usagi had met eating their food. It screeched in fright.
Reilly pulled his gun on it but Usagi held out his arm.
"Wait!" Usagi shouted. "He's not a threat." He turned to the creature and smiled warmly. "I was a bit worried about you, little friend. You ran off so suddenly."
"You know this thing?" asked Reilly skeptically.
"I met him when I found the Sulfer burn," replied Usagi.
"What is it?" asked Donahue with awe. "Some kind of mini-monster?"
"Why would the URE send something like this?" continued Reilly.
"Maybe he stowed away," said Usagi. "He's certainly small enough to have gone unnoticed."
The creature growled softly and gripped Usagi gently.
"Playful fella, ain't he?" said Reilly.
"Must not have gone through combat programming," replied Donahue.
Suddenly, the creature began to screech fearfully.
"What's wrong?" Asked Usagi.
Suddenly, the ground began to quake. A powerful roar echoed through the air.
Red King, as the monster was called by Reilly, began moving deeper into the woods. The Patrollers, followed by the mini-monster, came out to see this.
"It must have finished with the other monster," said Donahue. "It's seeking new food."
The monster looked down and saw the human camp. It shot flaming blasts at the camp, just missing the team. All the people ran in terror from it. Red King moved slowly to pursue, but was shot across its face.
Everyone turned to see a white battleship fly into view. Its stout wings were aided by Vtol jets which held the vehicle up. Emblazoned on top was the VICTORY logo. On the front, two small laser turrets fired beams at Red King.
Donahue smiled. "The Thor!" he exclaimed.
Inside the Vehicle, Colonel Xander, Hayata and Janson stood at the command station of the aerial fortress. Some odd dozen techs filled the cockpit and maneuvered the vehicle.
"Get a lock on the monster," Commanded Xander. "ready the Mjolnir!"
Digital crosshairs honed in and locked onto the monster.
"Target locked sir!" replied the tactical operator.
"Launch graviton anchors!" Xander replied.
A series of four devices launched into the ground attached to the ship with strong cables.
"Anchors secure sir!" said a tech. "Moving Mjolnir into position."
From the bottom of the craft, a large gun mechanically lowered. On the sides of the barrel were rotating cylinders which gave the device the appearance of a hammer.
"Mjolnir ready!" called the tech.
Xander nodded. "Charge and fire!"
The cylinders rapidly spun as light shone from the barrel of the gun. The light grew in intensity until a powerful white beam shot from it and struck Red King. Red King staggered in the face of the onslaught, but the beam seemed to disperse over its hide. It shot blasts of flame at the ship. The flames didn't penetrate, but it made for a bumpy ride.
"It's not working!" Janson shouted in panic.
"Stop firing!" commanded Xander. "Retract anchors and take evasive action!"
"Roger!"
The blast stopped and the anchors retracted. The Thor flew out of Red King's range. The Monster beat its chest victoriously and roared its dominance.
In the vessel, all was a bit panicked.
"Colonel!" called a tech. "We won't have full power to the Mjolnir for a couple of minutes! It's overheated!"
Hayata sighed in frustration. "And then what?"
Xander nodded in agreement. Their trump card had fallen through and they had no idea how to rectify it. What's taking you kid?
On the ground, Usagi and the others watched in shock as the Thor was driven back.
"It lost," said Donahue in dismay.
The monster began moving again.
Reilly spoke, "It's moving again, headed towards the neighboring towns!"
"Let's move!" said Usagi.
The others nodded and they all drew weapons. They ran in the same direction as the beast, randomly shooting at it, though having no impact. As they did, Usagi slipped away into the deeper woods. In the woods, Usagi holstered his gun and pulled the Beta Capsule from his jacket pocket.
A soft growl told him his new friend had followed him. He turned to see the creature looking at him with concern.
"Go hide in the woods," Usagi ordered. "It's not safe in the open."
The creature, having some understanding, nodded yes. Giving one last concerned growl, the creature ran into the woods.
Usagi nodded in approval, then turned and raised the capsule above his head. He pressed the switch.
In a red vortex of light, Ultraman appeared. He leaped up and kicked Red King to the ground. The monster got up quickly and growled angrily at the red and silver hero.
On the ground, Donahue and Reilly looked up and smiled at the arrival of the giant hero.
"Ultraman!" Reilly exclaimed.
In the Thor, the sentiment was shared amongst the crew.
Ultraman moved into his battle stance and faced off against Red King. Red King beat its chest in challenge and ran at Ultraman. The fight started as a grapling match between the two. Ultraman pushed the beast of and kicked it in the stomach. He followed through with a kick to its small head. The monster stumbled before regaining balance and shooting fire balls at Ultraman. The hero back flipped out of the way of the bursts. When enough quarter was given, he threw an energy disk at the monster.
Amazingly, the disk broke up against the beast's hide. Ultraman gasped at the fact that this hadn't worked. The monster charged him again. Ultraman dodged and kicked down the muscular reptile. Taking the opportunity provided by the monster's grounded postion, Ultraman thrust his arms to the left, charging his finisher. The monster got up as Ultraman raised his arms over his head. Specium Slayer Light Stream! Ultraman brought his arms down into the plus pose and shot out the energy blast.
Again, the beam disbursed over Red Kings body, just like the Mjolnir's. As Ultraman stopped firing, Red King struck him across the face, knocking the hero down. It stomped on his back as his Color Timer began to flash. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
On the ground, Donahue watched this in amaze. "Sweet Mary," he murmured.
On the Thor everyone watched as Ultraman was attacked by the beast.
"Ultraman!" Janson exclaimed in panic.
Xander called to the tactical team, "Fire on the monster, help Ultraman!"
"Roger!"
The Thor flew in and shot at the monster. Red King turned and blasted back.
"We need a plan," said Xander in exasperation.
Donahue's image suddenly came on the view screen. "Colonel!"
"Donahue?" said Hayata in surprise.
"What is it Lieutenant?" asked Xander.
"The monster's hide is Specium resistant," he replied. "You need to pierce it somehow."
"We figured that," replied Xander. "any ideas?"
Donahue scratched his chin in thought. "A point blank blast of the Mjolnir, or something equal to that, might overcome the resistance and created a breach. From there, all you'd need to do is blast it in the wound and it would be finished."
"No good," said Xander. "Thor wasn't built for point-blank shots."
Hayata nodded in agreement. "Then it's all up to Ultraman."
Janson folded her hands in a sort of prayer. "Please, Ultraman…"
Ultraman struggled to his feet. He was extremely pained and his timer was flashing. Luckily, Ultraman's alien senses allowed him to overhear the conversation between Donahue and the Thor. What he planned then was risky, especially considering his power levels, but he had no choice.
Running at Red King, he did an aerial flip over the beast and hit it in the temporals. The monster was knocked off balance by this. Ultraman bent up his hands to shoulder height. White energy ran like electricity between his arms. He ran his left hand over his right arm, causing it to glow with energy. Red King tried to charge at Ultraman, but the hero thrust his glowing fist into the monster's chest.
A spiraling energy blast shot from the fist and drove Red King back with powerful force. The monster growled in pain as the blast burned through its outer hide.
In the Thor, Xander saw Ultraman's plan. "He's giving us our gap, prepare to fire Mjolnir!"
Again, the gun lowered and the bracing anchors held the airship in place. Red King fought to get up and roared in defiance. The Mjolnir charged and fired at its wound just as Ultraman brought his arms back into the plus position and shot the remaining gathered energy as a Specium stream.
Both blasts hit the target perfectly, causing the monster to glow brightly through the ridges of its skin, until it finally exploded from the inside out. The crew of the Thor all shouted in excitement and victory. Ultraman stood up, weakly, his timer flashing ever faster. Looking to the sky, he leaped up "Shuuwat!" and flew into the atmosphere.
As he rose, something caught his attention. Hovering in the distance he saw a red figure with a silver face. He paused in mid air to confirm what he saw, but the figure had disappeared. Realizing he had little time, Ultraman disbursed his form and returned to his human form.
After the fight, Usagi walked through the forest, looking for the creature. "Little friend!" he called out as he searched.
He was joined by Hayata, Janson, Donahue and Reilly. After being told about the creature, the Captain and Janson both wanted to see it for themselves.
"Where could he be?" asked Usagi in frustration.
"Might be lost," replied Donahue. "These are some deep woods."
Reilly suddenly perked up. "I have an idea," he said. "Does anyone have any food?"
"I have a protein bar," replied Janson, pulling out.
Reilly took the bar. "Thanks." He opened the wrapping on the bar and moved ahead of the group. "Oh little mate!" he called out. "We have something for you."
Suddenly, without warning, the little creature appeared. It ran right to Reilly and bit into the protein bar.
"Hey!" exclaimed Janson. "That was mine!"
Reilly just chuckled as he gently pet the ravenous creature. "Knew the little pig couldn't resist that."
Hayata looked over the creature with curiosity. "Are we sure it's not a threat?" He asked.
"It seems docile," replied Donahue. "Might have been a dud experiment. All this little guy would terrorize would be a grocery store."
Janson walked up to the monster and pet it as well. She laughed when it purred at her touch. "It is kind of cute," she said.
Hayata nodded. He turned to Usagi. "Well, Shundou-kun. You found it, perhaps you should name it."
Usagi nodded and made a thinking gesture. Finally he said, "Well, how about Pygmon?"
"Sounds perfect to me," said Reilly.
Pygmon gave a happy growl at his new name.
"Seems it likes it to," said Janson happily.
"Does this mean we're keeping it sir?" asked Donahue.
Hayata nodded. "Once it checks clear with the analysts back home, I'll see if I can't convince the Colonel to let us keep him as a mascot. After all, we can't just let it wander in the forest robbing campsites for the rest of its life."
Usagi walked up and joined in petting the happy monster. "Welcome to Science Patrol, Pygmon."
Suddenly, Usagi's face became thoughtful. He thought back to the red figure he had seen. It almost looked like… he thought … like another… Ultraman.
AN: Yes! At last! Continuation! The past couple of weeks the Ultra-muses hit me hard. I hope I'll be able to continue this some more, it's been so long.
Of course leading up into the intro of a second Ultra.
In the Next Chapter: The URE sends their most dangerous and most powerful creation against Ultraman. When all seems lost, a mysterious red giant appears. But is this Ultra-kinsman friend or foe?
Kaiju in this chapter:
Red King
Chandlar
Pygmon
