Chapter 18

"This isn't working. Nii-san, we need help." Jack panted in exhaustion. Seven met Ultraman's eyes briefly and they nodded in understanding.

"Distract him. I will send message to Zoffy nii-san." Ultraman instructed.

He fell back slightly and watched Ace and Mebius teamed up and punched the enemy. Jack and Seven followed up with kicks to the abdomen. When the enemy looked disoriented enough, he took his chance and shot a message to the sky. He barely leapt out of the way when the enemy attacked him. He slumped his shoulder in relief when he saw the message went through.

"Master Taro!" Panic seized him when he heard Mebius yelled in horror. He turned around and looked wildly to spot his otouto.

"No." He whispered in a shaking voice. His wild eyes settled to a human figure who stumbled and fall to his knees. For a moment, he felt his heart stopped beating when he saw his little brother fell down only to sigh in relief when he saw he did that because his female companion had fallen. For brief seconds, he felt sadistic pleasure that the one who separated him with his brother was in pain before realization slammed into him. He was an Ultra Warrior for God's sake! He can't felt happy for other's pain!

Before he could felt remorse for his thought, a searing hot pain struck him across his abdomen. He grunted and felt to his knees. He winced and nursed his bruised abdomen while glaring hatefully to his enemy.

"Is this the power of the so-called Ultra Brothers? Pathetic. Even Ultraman Taro gave me much more challenge than all of you." Miiraz sneered arrogantly. Ultraman heaved himself up in anger before Miiraz kicked him.

"You're unworthy to speak his name!" Ultraman spoke in pain filled voice. Miiraz looked at him unimpressed and shrugged. He raised his club high with bloodlust in his eyes. Ultraman stared into his eyes without flinching. He refused to show fear in front of their enemy. He distinctly heard his brothers and Mebius called his name in horror.

"Goodbye." Miiraz smiled sadistically before he swung the club down. Ultraman resolutely looked at his enemy's eyes but blinked when a silhouette stepped in front of his vision. He gasped and a smile broke out of his face when he saw who was it.

"I won't let you harm my brothers anymore!" Taro declared with protective stance in front of his nii-san.

"Taro?" Ultraman spoke in wonder. Taro glanced to his brother and nodded.

"You alright, nii-san?" He asked worriedly. Ultraman slumped his shoulder in relief before he painstakingly got up.

"I'm fine now."

"Taro!"

"Master Taro!"

Both of them turned towards the voices. Seven came and clapped Taro's shoulder lovingly. Ace punched his shoulder while Jack gave him side hug. Mebius gave a little wave happily.

"Everyone. I'm sorry for making you worried." Taro looked at each one of them apologetically. Jack chuckled.

"It's not your fault. Don't worry."

"Damn it, Taro. Why can't you just die?!" Everyone whirled around to face that voice. Miiraz stood in rage. His eyes never strayed from Taro. Taro meanwhile took a step forward calmly.

"I'm sorry but I can't die. Not when everyone still need me here." Taro took a defensive stance and watched him.

"Is that so? Very well. I will make sure you die myself!" Miiraz ran forward and raised his club. Taro had already sprinted forward with his fists ready. With agile, he evaded the club and punched him at the face. The other looked in awed for several seconds before Mebius's voice returned them to the present.

"I'm going to help Master Taro too!" With a battle cry, he ran forward and joined the fray. They smirked at each other.

"What're we doing here? Let's go!"

Spirits restored, they fought in vigor. They punched, kicked and even attacked with their strongest technique. Even with the continuing assault, they couldn't put a dent in Miiraz armor.

"Damn it. What we need to do to take him down?" Mebius asked, frustrated with their current situation.

"Need some help?"

Every head swiveled towards the sound. Their looks brightened at the floating figure in front of him.

"Zoffy nii-san!"

"Sir!"

Zoffy unleashed M87 Ray towards Miiraz. He floated down in front of them and without warning, turned around quickly and reached the unsuspecting Taro's shoulder for an embrace. Taro looked surprised and stood still.

"Glad you're alright, otouto."

He released him and turned towards their enemy who still struggling to get up. Taro blinked and jumped when Jack slapped him on the back.

"Told you that nii-san is not that unemotional." Ace snickered hearing Jack's humor.

"Shut up. We have some serious matter going on." They sobered quickly at Zoffy's warning. They turned their minds towards the fight. They noted that Miiraz was having a stare down with Zoffy.

"So you are Miiraz, the so-called leader of Four Heavenly Guards of Alien Empera?"

"And you are Ultraman Zoffy, the so-called leader of the Ultra Brothers?"

Miiraz replied with the same mocking tone used by Zoffy. Zoffy looked unimpressed to him and crossed his hands in front of his chest.

"What's your business with my little brother? Why did you attacked him?" Zoffy asked straight to the point. The others shut up and let their elder did the talking.

"He's the son of Father of Ultra, that's why. If we can't hurt him, his son can be his substitute. Lord Empera will be please with the grief that we inflicted upon him." Miiraz spoke insanely. He suddenly cocked his head towards Taro and looked him straight on the eyes. "Your head will be mine." He licked his lips in anticipation.

Taro shuddered and willed himself to not step back in fear. Among all the years he became a fully trained Ultra Warriors and be named as one of the strongest fighters of the Land of Light, this was the first time he truly aware of the danger he was in. Not as one of the strongest warriors but as the son of the Commander of Space Garrison, Ultra Father himself.

Suddenly he felt rather than saw all of his brothers shifted their stance protectively in front of him. Zoffy took a step forward as if to shield him from Miiraz.

"Over my dead body." Zoffy said in serious tone. Miiraz narrowed his eyes to that declaration.

"That can be arrange."

Both of them stood still for a few seconds before they burst in a flurry of punches and kicks. They moved with the same speed. The only sound that they heard was flesh hitting flesh and grunted of pain occasionally. They had been kicked out of their stupor when suddenly Ultraman and Seven moved to help Zoffy. Mebius followed shortly after. Ace started to run forward when he suddenly turned around and gave Taro a piercing stare.

"Be careful, alright?"

"Yes, Ace nii-san." He agreed placidly. Ace and Jack gave him a nod and they practically flew towards their enemy. Taro saw an opening and with a burst of speed, he gave Miiraz several rapid punches to the abdomen. When his arms felt like it was falling off, he stopped and jumped a few meters behind.

"You alright, Taro?" Seven asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

All of them looked towards Miiraz who was lying dazed on the ground. They stiffened when they heard full blown laughter came from their enemy.

"Wow. This is great. All of you give me so much fun. You are strong, I give you that. So, I'm going to show you my true power." He got up and spread his arms widely to the side. All of the sudden, he had been engulfed with a black cloak. The wind suddenly turned fierce and they struggled just to stand on their feet. Suddenly all of the weird disturbance just now stopped.

A sudden gasped made they turned their head towards Zoffy. They widened their eyes in shocked when they saw he had crumpled to the ground.

"Nii-san!"

"Sir!"

All of them scrambled towards him. Seven and Ace were helping him to stand up while the others circling towards him, wary of their surrounding now.

"What the heck? How is he managed to slip past us undetected?" Mebius exclaimed. His words choked on his throat when a punch to the head sent him reeling to the ground. He shook his head to clear the dizziness that came with the punch. He felt the air changed behind him and whirled around with his hands raised to block the attack but he knew it was futile. He almost closed his eyes to brace the pain when the sound of something hitting flesh made him opened his eyes.

"Master Taro!"

Taro was in front of him, protecting him by using his arms as a shield. Taro stifled his moan of pain and glanced towards his student.

"You okay?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

"Don't turn your back on your enemy!"

Taro winced when a kick sent him flying. His back made contact with the ground and skidded to a few feet. He scrambled to his feet and almost fell down again if not for Seven's hand on his arm.

"Nii-san." He nodded his thanks and righted himself. Seven held his arm for a few seconds before releasing it when he was sure that he had his balanced.

"He's gone to another level." Zoffy suddenly materialized in front of them.

"Yes. How are we going to defeat him now, nii-san?"

"We can't." Both of them looked startled from Zoffy's declaration. "But Taro can."

"Me?"

"What do you mean?"

Taro and Seven spoke at the same time. Zoffy took his time from answering them by watching the fight that happened in front of them. Even with the combined powers of Ultraman, Jack, Ace and Mebius Burning Form, it was clear that Miiraz was still the winner. He turned and spoke towards his brothers.

"We need to fuse with Taro. Only with our combine powers that we can defeat him." Seven nodded before turned to face Taro.

"Are you up to it?" Seven asked him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened it to show its steely determination towards his brothers.

"Yeah. Let's do this."

"Good." Zoffy nodded. "I will tell Ultraman and Ace. Seven, you tell Jack. Ask Mebius to distract Miiraz for a while." Zoffy ordered tersely. Seven nodded and joined the fight. Taro could saw that he's whispering their plan to both of them.

"Taro." Taro snapped his head to look at Zoffy. "Prepare yourself. We need to fuse with you as quick as possible so this fusion will be rough, not like with Grand King or even when we wanted to retrieve the Ultra Bell."

"I know." Taro nodded in understanding. Zoffy, satisfied with Taro's acquisition, flew towards the fighting ultras.

"Alright, Taro. Keep calm and find your inner peace. You can do this." Taro mumbled to himself. He cleared his head from unnecessary thought and focused only to the fight. It was painful and a strain to host six bodies at once in smooth fusion. He cringed to think what he will experience when it's a rough one.

Zoffy fought Miiraz and at the same time he kept an eye on Taro. This fusion won't be like a walk in the park. Before this, when they fought Grand King they stood and allowed their essence to get into Taro one by one. Taro had time to assimilate and got acquainted with their energy signature. That's why the transition was smooth. For this situation, they were going to practically forced themselves into Taro all at the same time. He felt sorry for his otouto for what his body would be feeling after their fusion.

When he felt he was calm enough, Taro nodded to Zoffy. Zoffy nodded back and scrutinized their enemy for an opening. He saw it. It was small but he still took it. He blasted him with all he got and yelled to the others.

"NOW!"

The others ran towards Taro with a blinding speed. Mebius took over Zoffy's attack and blasted Miiraz to give the others more time. Taro caught their apologetic look as they dashed into him.

It hurts! It hurts too much! Taro tried to contain the scream that almost erupted but a grunt escaped him nonetheless. He faintly heard Miiraz screamed in rage but he couldn't did anything about it. His body felt like it was boiling from the inside. He double over in pain and clutched his color timer tightly. He felt his brothers tried to soothe him but he couldn't think straight. It felt like he had been stabbed by million knives. He sluggishly noted that a force field had been built around him. As soon as the pain started, it stopped.

"I won't let you!" Miiraz howled angrily when he saw the Ultra Brothers suddenly flew towards Taro and vanished. He attacked the vulnerable looking Taro only to be blocked by the rookie ultra.

"You won't get to him!" Mebius said determinedly. He didn't knew how long it was needed for the fusion to complete but he would tried to stall him as long as possible. He never saw the fusion but it was widely known that it had the power to obliterate three planets in one attack. And it was used two times only.

"Get out of my way, weakling." Miiraz growled. He swiped his hand and Mebius was sent barreling to the side. He flexed his claw and prepared to run Taro through.

Before his hand managed to touch Taro, Taro himself flickered and step aside. He blinked when his forearm had been grabbed tightly.

"My turn."

"Wha-"

His sentence had been cut short when a punch made its way towards his abdomen. Although it was just a punch, it felt like several people punched him at once. The power behind that punch was incredible. He was tempted to praise Taro if he was not annoyed right now. He jumped a few feet behind and eyed Taro warily. His physical appearance looked the same but at the same time he was a different person. He couldn't pinpointed the difference.

"Where are the other Ultra Brothers?" He asked while looking at his surrounding, fearing that they would ambushed him.

"Still here." Taro answered and without warning, ran towards him full force. Miiraz raised his hands to block it but Taro easily tore through his defense. He attacked him physically and didn't even let him some respite. Miiraz watched disbelief and didn't even tried to protect himself, too arrogant with his power.

"Impossible! I have raise to another level. You can't defeat me!" He raved crazily when Taro paused in his attack.

"This is for everyone that you hurt with your actions. Cosmo Miracle Ray!" Taro shouted the name of his attack. A powerful laser had been shot from his raised arm and the side of his body.

"Nooo!" Miiraz yelled in outrage when the attack slammed into him. His yelled dissipated along with his body who turned to ashes.

"It's over." Taro gasped in disbelieved. He crossed his hands in front of his chest and willed his brothers to de-fused. He felt his brothers got out one by one. When the last one got out, he was too relieved and exhausted that his legs finally got out under him. He grunted when a hand grabbed him on the waist. Someone supported him and he heard someone called his name from afar. He took quite some time to regain his strength and belatedly noticed that it was Zoffy who supported him.

"Nii-san." He said weakly. He pushed himself from Zoffy slowly to stand on his feet. He just wanted to collapse but he couldn't afforded to worry his brothers any longer. He look to his brothers anxious faces and straightened.

"You did it." Mebius spoke in wonder that made everyone turned to look at him.

"No. We did it." Taro corrected and the young warrior whoop in joy. Everyone chuckled and they smiled in relieved. Slowly as to not raised attention, he crept away silently. There was something that he needed to do before this day was over.

"Taro?" Jack suddenly said when he didn't saw Taro celebrating with them anymore.

"Master Taro? Where is Master Taro?!" Mebius suddenly shrieked in panicked when he realized Taro was missing.

"Calm down." Zoffy suddenly said while looking at a distance. They turned to look at what he was seeing when the sight that met them made the atmosphere turned somber. There Taro was, reverted to his human form and cradling his female companion. Even from afar, they could saw that his shoulders shook with the uncontrollable grieve.

"Oh Taro." Ultraman said with regret. He knew his otouto didn't handled the loss of lives too well. That's why he restricted himself from forming bonds with others, only with Ultra Brothers and occasionally his students.

"Go and comfort him. I have something to do at the Land of Light." Zoffy told them and flew away. They glanced at each other, willing one of them to go to him first. Ultraman sighed and took the first step. As the eldest there, it was his responsibility to make sure that his brothers were alright.

"Come." He muttered and walked away. A blinding light enveloped him and changed him to his human form again.