Ultraman, the Lylat Adventure

Chapter 4

Shodai's Memories

"What the heck, man! You mind tellin' me why you just tore half of the town apart?" Falco almost shouted. The team was gathered in the conference room, going over the past events. Falco was the most displeased.

"I didn't destroy the town, Falco. Muruchi had already done that itself." the other red vulpine stated plainly. Steven, aka Shodai, was standing in front of Falco, while the avian vented his rage at him. Falco just went on.

"It didn't seem that way to me, buddy! In fact, I saw you throw Muchichi, or whatever the heck its name is, into a building!" Falco argued.

"That's enough, Falco!" Krystal intervened. Falco could only look at her, then replied.

"Of course! Whenever something that involves him happens, you come to his rescue, don't you?" Falco almost shouted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she challenged.

"It's so obvious, Krys! You have a crush on him, don't you?" he pressed. Krystal could only look at him as if he's lost his mind, while the others stared at them, including Steven. After being on the team for only a short time, she had already begun to dislike Falco, especially now. "It's written all over your pretty little face. Don't think Fox is good enough, so you decide to get it on with the alien freak over there!" She balled up her fist, and rammed it into the bird's right eye. The avian stumbled back, and collapsed in a heap. Krystal stood over him, panting heavily, feeling rage and embarrassment wash over her. She looked at everyone in the room, Fox giving her a quizzical look, while Steven looked sympathetic. She ran out of the room, with both foxes following behind her.

"Krystal!" Steven called out. She ignored it.

"Krystal, wait!" Fox tried. She ignored this one. When they reached her, she had already locked herself in her room. Fox and Steven looked at eachother, then at the shut door in front of them. On the inside, the blue vixen tried to use her meditation training to calm her mind. However, she found it increasingly difficult. It always went back to Steven. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get him off of her mind. She felt like this with Fox McCloud, when she was taken aboard the Great Fox for the first time. That was a couple of months ago, right after he had saved her from Andross. Now, along comes Shodai, who has taken the alias of Steven. He's not really an anthropomorph like her, but he resembles one so much. And, she felt his heart; strong, yet kind, resilient, yet gentle as well. Although, he doesn't know it yet, and she feels that she can bring it out if him yet. 'My God. Is Falco right? Am I having feelings for Steven now?' she wonders, as the thought hit her.

Outside of her door, Fox and Steven waited for the blue vixen to emerge. Fox had his back to the wall on the left, while Steven hung his head on the wall to the right. "Is there something between you two?" Steven asked. Fox looked at the Ultra/Anthro, a quizzical look on his face.

"What?" he asked.

"Is there something between you?" Steven asked again, this time looking at Fox. The aforementioned vulpine looked away, un-able to answer that question. He had only known her for a couple of months, and already he had grown rather fond of her. More than that, he felt something deep inside for her. Something that, he had not felt before.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, looking at the ground.

"Because, if there is something between you, then I want to preserve it." Steven replied.

"Why?"

"I cannot get involved with her. Don't get me wrong, she's beautiful, but I cannot have a relationship with her, on any level. After my mission is completed here, I will have to report back to M78, and you people will probably never see me again. If we start a relationship now, it could destroy both of us." Fox merely looked at the young looking vulpine, taking in everything that he was saying. Steven looked at the floor as well, a discouraged look on his vulpine features. Fox felt a little sorry for him, since he could not have a relationship of his own, outside of acquaintance.

"It doesn't have to be like that. You can still maintain a friendship with her." Fox replied finally.

"Yes it does. I made, and learned from, that mistake two years ago."

"What happened?" he asked.

"I fought one of my hardest battles yet, and it left a close friend of mine in dire jeopardy. It was through sheer luck that my superior was close by, otherwise, both of us would probably have died." Steven replied sullenly. Fox looked at the young-looking vulpine, feeling sympathetic. Then, Steven walked off to his room, leaving Fox alone in the hallway. When the Ultra/anthro entered his room, he sat on his bed, and pulled out his beta-capsule, turning the object over in his hands. He remembers the first time that he had come in contact with the human race, albeit by an unfortunate accident.

Two years ago: Shodai was chasing a blue orb through space. The orb contained an entity of pure evil, and it would cause much destruction if it landed on an unsuspecting planet. His worst fears were realized, when the orb entered the atmosphere of a blue and green world. He chased the orb to the upper atmosphere of Earth, and that was when he lost the blue orb, and found Shin Hayata. A member of the Special Search and Science Party, Shin Hayata was flying his air-craft in patrol of the Earth. Then, Shodai's travel sphere collided with Hayata's ship, and both crashed into the Japanese mountains. Grieved by the life he had taken, he made the decision of giving the dying man his life, merging the two of them into one entity. From then on, they would have many adventures that would be remembered by the world over. They would even be known on his homeworld of M78, a good distance away.

He was reminiscing, when a knock on his door sounded. Shodai placed his beta-capsule on the night-stand, and answered the door. He was surprised to see Krystal standing there.

"Hello, Steven. May I come in?" she asked.

"Uh, sure." Steven replied, not sure how to react to this situation. Krystal walked in, and sat down on his bed.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"I just wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"I heard what you were talking about with Fox. About, how you cannot have a relationship with me." she said, rather sadly. Steven stiffened, and looked deflated. He replied.

"It's true. Once my mission here has been completed, I will go back to M78 for my next assignment. Most likely, to some far off corner in the universe, away from all of this."

"But why? Why so distant?"

"Because, yours is a race that is advanced enough to handle most kinds of adversities. Mine race is one that protects those that cannot protect themselves. The sole reason why I am here, is because this particular threat is one that you, in all likelihood, cannot repel on your own."

"So, you're just here, to do your job, and nothing else. Not to meet new people, not to experience new things, just to do your duty, and move on." she stated plainly.

"Yes."

"What kind of a life is that? One where, you must forever serve and protect people that you don't even know, and not know them. Protect them, and then just leave after the job is done. How can you lead that?" she asked.

"Because if I get too involved, people will get hurt, even die." Steven said plainly. Krystal looked at him, then noticed the object on his nightstand. She went over, and picked it up.

"What is this?" she asked, inspecting the capsule in her hands.

"My beta-capsule." Steven replied.

"Your what?" she asked.

"It's what allows me to transform. In order for me to blend in, I not only have to change my appearance, but my body as a whole as well. That item that you are holding, holds all of my power and experience." He said this, and Krystal continued to stare at the capsule.

"You mean that, your essence is inside this?" she asked.

"In layman's terms, yes. Not only that, but it holds my memories as well."

"Really? You mean, everything that you have ever done, is inside this as well." she said, looking at the twelve-inch long capsule, wondering how something so small could hold so much. Steven came up behind her, and placed his hands under hers, closing them over the capsule.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Would you like to see, some of my memories?" he asked. Krystal looked down at her closed hands, and thought for a moment.

"What happened to, you not being able to have a relationship with me?" she asked, looking his way, and grinning. Steven shrugged. "Okay then, yes. I would like to know you just a bit better." Just then, light swirled out of the capsule, and enveloped them both. Krystal gasped in surprise as the light covered them. She looked around, this way and that, but the light was everywhere. The room, Great Fox, even space itself seemed to have fallen out of existence, replaced by the light. She felt behind, and noticed that Steven was not there anymore. Then, she saw a figure walking toward her, and the figure became Steven, except for one main thing; he was entirely nude. Krystal looked at him, and giggled slightly at him.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked.

"You. You're completely unclothed." she said, through her hands that were trying to cover her laughter.

"Unclothed women shouldn't throw stones." Steven said, a smirk of his own evident on his face. Krystal looked puzzled by this, but when she looked down, she saw what he meant; all of her own clothing was gone as well. Blushing brightly, she tried to cover herself with her hands, while Steven hid his smirk.

"You pervert! Stop looking at me!" she shouted in an angry embarrassed tone. Steven shook his head.

"Sorry, but here, only our true selves can be maintained."

"True selves? But you said that, you didn't look like that. What happened to your Ultra form?" Steven smiled, and his form seemed to glow with a bright crimson luminescence. Then, his form swelled to at least fourty feet, and standing over her, was Shodai's true form. The Ultra looked down at the vixen while she stared up at him as he knelt down. His glowing yellow eyes showing the warrior inside of him. Then, Krystal felt the sensation of something entering her mind, like a clairvoyance of some sort. The kind of thing that she had not experienced since Cerinia was destroyed. Then, she felt his memories; his training, his early days as a rookie warrior, and the time he spent on Earth, defending it from all sort of threats, both foreign and domestic. His adventures were known far and wide. All of his exploits with the "Special Science Search Party, also known as the Science Patrol." Krystal said aloud. "You merged with a human named Shin Hayata, after you crashed into him, nearly ending his life. After that, you protected the Earth from all sorts of adversaries and threats, making you famous all over the world. However, at the end, you were…..beaten, by a creature named Zetton. I remember all of that."

"Of course. I'm a telepath, like you." Shodai said, his voice echoing through the void. Krystal felt all of this, and decided to open up herself. She showed him her own memories. About her life happily spent on her homeworld of Cerinia, until an unknown calamity befell it. She was nineteen when the planet was destroyed, reduced to nothing more than a barren rock in space. Since then, she has been trying to find the reason why it was destroyed. However, her plans were halted on Sauria, when she was captured by

"Andross." Shodai said. Krystal felt herself gasp. "Andross captured you, and placed you in a crystal. There, he was going to use you to channel the Krazoa's power to resurrect himself. That's when you first met Fox. And, that's when you joined his team, and developed feelings for him." All of a sudden, the void fell away to Steven's room on the Great Fox. Krystal pulled away, and was relieved to find herself fully clothed again. She looked back at Steven, the Ultra/vulpine sitting in his bed, looking discouraged. She knew the reason why.

"You feel as though you cannot find your soul mate, the one person in your life who truly matters. That's part of the reason why you do not want a relationship with me, and why you want to leave as soon as possible; you envy us." she said. Shodai said nothing. "You feel that, no matter how hard you try, you cannot find the one you love." She moved closer to him, and brought up his face to meet hers, with her looking down at him. "You will find her. If I can, then so can you. You just have to look for her." Steven pulled out of her hands, and looked away.

"I'm afraid that it is not that simple." he said, sounding a little sad. "What you and Fox have, is something that I will never know, what I can never have. You are luckier than you know." Krystal won't give up. She helped him this far, and he has done so much for them already.

"Why do you believe so strongly about that. You act as though you have been searching for love for over a millennium." she said, almost amused. Steven looked up, and replied. "Funny you should say that. Any way, you're a little off base." Krystal tilted her head to the side, wondering what it was that he meant.

"It's been more than five thousand years since I tried to find love." Krystal's jaw dropped when she heard him.

"F-five thousand….years? How old are you?" she asked.

"Twenty thousand years old." he replied plainly. Krystal couldn't believe her ears. The person sitting before her, was old enough to have seen the birth and downfall of her planet's civilization! She was rooted to the spot. To have lived that long, to have seen all of the things that he has, that his race has. And yet, he has never found love. She started to wonder, if she could help him. She simply stared at him for the longest time. Steven decided to break the silence. "Don't tell anyone what you have seen or heard here. They would probably think that you have gone mad." Krystal could only nod in agreement before leaving the room, and leaving Steven alone. The blue-furred vixen made her way to her room, with the thoughts racing through her mind.

'I can't believe it. Twenty thousand years old! How can anyone live to be that long? What all does he know, I wonder? What sort of things has he seen over the course of millenniums, over the course of the never-ending, constantly changing universe? He probably knows what happened to my planet, Cerinia. If he does, I want to know about it.' Krystal went to bed, her head heavy with these thoughts. It was some time before she found sleep, however un-blissful it was.