Chapter 2

Earth

"I'm bored…" George trailed slowly from his seat at the command centre. He twirled his seat slowly while watching his teammates minding their own business.

"Help Mirai to understand Earth, if you don't have any better thing to do." Marina jerked her head towards Mirai. Mirai had been surrounded by Ryu and Konomi who tried to teach him about Earth culture. Since Mirai revealed his true form, everyone had took turn to explain Earth custom to him. George snickered lowly when he saw Mirai soaked every information like a giddy child.

"Hmm?" Every head swiveled towards Teppei when he uttered that sound. He was frowning at his monitor while typing simultaneously.

"What is it?" Captain Sakomizu asked while standing behind him. The others stood at attention at the command centre.

"One of our satellite lost it's signal last night. I'm trying to recover it's last footage." Teppei typed vigorously. His eyes never strayed from the monitor. "There!" He yelled triumphantly when he succeeded a moment later. Everyone moved to in front of the main monitor to watch.

"Master Taro!" Mirai sudden exclamation had been accompanied by shocked gasped by everyone else. They watched intently at the recorded battle. The screen had turned blacked when Taro collided with the satellite after the unknown alien hurled a white sphere towards an unsuspecting Taro. Silence reigned in for a while when they tried to process the event.

"Mirai?" Marina asked tentatively. All of them turned their attention towards the young ultra in disguise. He stood still, oblivious to his teammates concerned inquiry. His eyes still stared transfixed to the monitor. Ryu put a hand on his shoulder.

"You alright?"

"I-I'm fine." He stuttered a bit. He shook his head lightly, dispelling every negative thoughts that lingered on his mind about his instructor condition. He turned towards his friends, noting their curious yet sympathetic expression.

"I understand watching that footage of one of your fellow ultra could be a bit depressing…"

"He's not just one of a fellow ultra." Mirai cut in.

"What?" Ryu blinked in confusion.

"He's not just one of a fellow ultra." Mirai repeated, stronger than before. "He's my mentor!" He clenched his fist. "I will make sure that whoever did this to Master Taro will pay." He narrowed his eyes in anger. His friends shuddered when they heard his cold voice.

"Now, now. Don't be too hasty."

The tense atmosphere had been lifted. They breathed a sigh of relieved when they saw Mirai tilted his head curiously towards Captain Sakomizu.

"What do you mean, captain?" Mirai frowned.

"First of all, we need to gather information. Do you think Taro had been ambushed during patrol? Or was he headed somewhere?"

"I'm not sure if he's on patrol. The elite warriors or specifically the Ultra Brothers don't have any patrol duty anymore. Only graduated academy warriors have been task with that duty. The Ultra Brothers will only go out to patrol if they suspect powerful enemies are there. And I'm not sure if he's heading somewhere. But that the usual route if one of us are going to Earth." Mirai furrowed his brow before his face broke into a smile.

"I know! I'm going to contact the Space Garrison headquarters!" He promptly ran out of the command centre after the announcement. The others gaped after him for a while.

"Hey Mirai! Wait up!" Ryu spluttered and tried to follow him before a voice stopped him.

"Wait Ryu!" Ryu turned towards the owner of the voice while frowning. "Let him go alone."

"Yes captain." Ryu told him albeit reluctantly.

Mirai headed to the roof as fast as he could. Along the way he tried to find any logical reasons why his Master was heading to Earth. He shook his head after a while. 'No time for negative thought. The Headquarters will surely give me the answers that I seek.'

He arrived on the roof in recorded time. He turned his head around conspicuously to make sure that no one's there. He didn't wanted to waste more time by answering the questions that would follow later. He willed his Mebius Brace to become visible on his wrist. Mirai closed his eyes and concentrated.

'To Ultraman Zoffy. Sir, I need to speak with you as soon as possible, preferably with Ultra Father. This is an urgent matter. I will wait your transmission at the GUYS Headquarters. Please respond as soon as you can. From, Mebius.'

He shot the message to the direction of Land of Light. After that, he ran back to the command centre. He garnered several annoyed look when he accidentally pushed peoples out of his way. He burst inside and panted.

"Right now we wait." He told the others while huffing.

Land of Light

Ultra Father paced restlessly in his office. It's been almost a day without any words from Taro. He was getting worried but he managed to conceal it from everyone. He decided to go to the top of the Headquarters tower to enjoy the peace and quiet that place provided. He smiled thinly when he saw his wife had already beaten him there. She was clasping her hands in front of her chest while looking at the sky.

"Marie." He murmured quietly as not to startle her. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Taro." She said without looking at him. "Do you think he's alright?"

He sighed. "I don't know."

"He never made this kind of behavior before." She said without preamble. "Even when he's angry or feeling hurt, he would sent words or flared his sign to the sky to tell us he's alright." She let her hands hung limply at her sides. "Ken, I'm worried."

Without hesitation, Ultra Father hugged her wife tightly to him. She clung to him while small tremor wracked her body. Ultra Father rubbed her back lovingly while murmuring soothing words. They stayed like that for a while.

"Let's get back to the Headquarters." Ultra Mother straightened herself.

"You're not going to the hospital?"

"No. I don't feel like it. I want to stay with you today."

Ultra Father nodded. He guided his wife out. Their walked had been accompanied by silence. They entered the command centre and saw Zoffy typing something at the main monitor. Zoffy turned around when he saw who had came in.

"Ultra Father, Ultra Mother." They nodded at him.

"Anything to report?"

"No. We are still trying to search the origin of the disturbance that happened yesterday. With so little lead, I'm not sure if we can know anything." Zoffy shook his head in dismayed. He looked at both of them carefully.

"Still no news on Taro?" Their slumped shoulders told him everything. "Have either of you tried to contact him?"

"Since the last 5 hours. He's not responding at all." Ultra Mother interjected with a sigh.

"Don't worry. Maybe he's went to someplace first." Suddenly a beep sounded from the main monitor. Zoffy walked briskly and pushed a button. "Mebius?" Zoffy sounded puzzled.

"What is it Zoffy?" Ultra Father walked towards the main monitor.

"Mebius sent us a message. Here." He pushed a button and the message played on the monitor.

"What's so urgent that he needed to contact us all of a sudden?" Zoffy said to no one in particular after the message ended.

"Do you think it's about Taro?" Ultra Mother asked anxiously. Ultra Father sighed.

"No sense of us wondering about it here. Zoffy, established the connection between us and the GUYS Headquarters now." Ultra Father ordered tersely.

"Yes, sir." He typed furiously and stood back facing the monitor with Ultra Father and his wife after he finished. After a while, the image of Mebius in human form appeared.

"Sirs!"

He bowed politely to the three of them. They saw the band of Earth protectors stood at attention from the back, awed recognition painting their faces. They nodded slightly to them. Ultra Father took a step forward to address Mebius.

"Mebius. What is it that you want to tell us?"

"Sir. I think it's better if I show you this transmission."

Mebius made a hand sign and one of his teammates scurried away and pushed a button. The image of Mebius had been replaced with fighting that had been occurred in space. Ultra Father widened his eyes after he saw who had been fighting. He heard his wife shocked gasped beside him.

"Taro?" Zoffy said incredulously. He couldn't believed his eyes. He snarled angrily when he saw the enemy pounded on his little brother without mercy. How dare he harm his otouto. He will pay for that!

Meanwhile, Ultra Father had curled his hands into fists. He felt his body shaking in rage while his vision turned red. He took a deep breath to prevent himself from unleashing his fury right there. Too consumed with the feeling of hopelessness that surged from within, he startled when a shaking hand gripped his tightly.

"My son." Ultra Mother spoke in pained voice. He answered by caressing her hand tenderly. They couldn't afforded to give in to their emotion. They needed to act as a commander first and grieving parents second. Ultra Father reigned in his emotion and watched the transmission with a detached look. He forced himself to assess the enemy strength and weakness and tried not to wince with the beatings that his son took. They all stood in silence after the transmission ended.

"Sir? Has Master Taro contacted you?"

Mebius timid voice snapped them out of their reverie.

"No. Not yet. He might be indisposed right now. I will send a team to scout the nearby nebula. We can trace his wherebout from his residual energy. Meanwhile, Mebius you and your team will keep an eye on any suspicious activity. Try to locate him on Earth. He might had crash landed on Earth." Ultra Father instructed.

"Yes, sir!"

"Dismissed." Mebius saluted them and the screen turned black. Ultra Father glanced down on Ultra Mother.

"Don't worry. Our son is tough. We will find him."

"I hope so." She whispered.

"Zoffy. You will take over. Both of us will be in our room if you need us."

"Yes sir." Zoffy answered softly. He watched sadly to their retreating figures. He turned back and schooled his feature to acceptable level.

"Time to deliver the news to the others."