A few days had passed since the last incident, with Nanoha and Yuuno joining the team. They were getting along with most of the members quite well.

"So your family actually owns a cafe?" Hibiki asked Nanoha.

"Mm! It's called Midori-ya!" Smiling with a hint of pride.

"Oh, maybe I should go with Miku and the others some time!" Hibiki said.

"Sure!" Nanoha grinned. "I'm positive you all will like the baked goods that my family makes!"

"Oh, now I have to make sure that we go!" Hibiki promised.

The others watched as Hibiki and Nanoha talked.

"Well, the two of them seem to be getting along pretty well." Aoba said, smiling at the two.

"They do say birds of feather, flock together." Kanade pointed out.

"Yeah. And a certain someone could use that as a guideline for their relationship with another person." Allenby added, sneaking a glance and Aoba and Dio.

"...why are you staring at me?" Dio asked.

"I think she's talking about how you and Aoba aren't really connecting that well." Kanade said.

Dio was silent as he glanced at Aoba.

"I guess you still don't really trust me, huh?" Aoba rubbed the back of his head.

Yuuno was sitting on a shelf nearby. "Well, considering what everyone told me about your story, it's probably only natural to be on edge."

"This coming from someone who's essentially a talking space alien ferret?" Aoba pointed out.

"Oh, right. You come from an era where space travel hasn't advanced yet, so you're unaware of the many different life forms aside from the ones on Earth." Yuuno remembered.

"Other life forms?"

"Earth has been attacked by three alien groups multiple times in the past decade." Domon explained. "The Andromeda Country, the SSSP-Identified Aliens, and the unidentified Space Monsters."

"Seriously?!" Aoba said, surprised.

"The Andromeda Country are still attacking Earth even now, while most of the SSSP-Identified Aliens have significantly died out in the past decade." Banagher said. "Then you have the Space Monsters, which haven't been seen since their last attack where they were stopped by Captain Yuzo Takaya, sacrificing himself to drive them off in the Luxion spacecraft in what came to be known as the "Luxion Disaster.""

"The Luxion?" Aoba said. "Wait…"

"One of humanity's first near-lightspeed spacecrafts." Dio said."I believe that the Luxon was named similarly in tribute to the late captain, as the creator was an old friend of his."

"Huh…"

"But from what I have read, there are other, more benevolent species out there." Yuuno said.

"Oh, there are?" Allenby said, interested. "Like what?"

Before Yuuno could say, the alarm went off. This one was noticeably different from the Noise alarm.

"What's that?!" Nanoha asked.

"That one... the international alarm!" Kanade realized.

"International?" Dio repeated.

"I'll let the boss man explain things. We gotta get to the bridge!" Kanade said quickly.

"Got it!" Hibiki said.

A few moments later, everyone had gathered on the bridge. Both Genjuro and Kuramitsu were already there, expressions grim.

"Commanders, what's the situation?" Banagher asked.

"We have a visual of the current situation. This should explain things better." Genjuro said.

Pulled up onto the screen was what appeared to be a power plant within a dome.

"What is that? Some kind of futuristic power plant?" Aoba asked.

"That is a Photon Power plant located within Texas." Genjuro explained.

"Photon Power?" Aoba repeated, confused.

"Photon Power, or its other name Photonic Energy, is a type of energy that was discovered by the late Professor Juzo Kabuto, that greatly surpasses that of nuclear energy." Banagher explained to him. "It's become quite commonplace around the world, though it's mainly in Japan."

"Is the plant having a malfunction of sorts?" Dio asked.

"It's not the plant that's the issue, it's what's approaching it." Kuramitsu said grimly.

The camera zoomed out to a satellite view, showing that several miles away were several mechanical monsters, eliciting a similar reaction to when they saw the Dark Army remnants.

"Are those Kikaiju?!" Hibiki said, a hint of fear in her voice.

"Kikaiju?" Aoba asked.

"Mechanical monsters deployed by a mad scientist named Dr. Hell." Domon clenched his fists. "They were thought to have been stopped several years ago by Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger."

"We'll be sending the team there immediately as fast as possible to stop the Kikaiju, and lend our assistance to the one currently defending it." Genjuro said.

"So we're heading to Texas?" Nanoha asked.

"We will." Kuramitsu nodded. "We will. The Cygnus is fast enough to get there in time, so everyone aboard."

"Understood Captain." Dio said with a salute.

"Kikaiju, I thought they would be a thing of the past for good…" Banagher frowned.

"Then it's up to us to make it history!" Allenby stated, punching a fist into her palm.

"That's right, Allenby. Let's do this!" Domon shouted.

A few hours had passed, and the Kikaiju had arrived at the Power Plant. The barrier was holding up, as several Ichinana were held off.

"Scramble Dash!"

A huge black and gray machine with red wings and crest took off to engage the Kaiju. It landed in front of a large group of Kikaiju, as the v-shaped fin on its chest started glowing bright red.

"Breast Burn!"

A blast of flaming heat erupts from said chest fin and strikes the group of Kikaiju, heating and melting them until they all explode. But even with several destroyed, more Kikaiju came to take their place.

"So you bastards keep on coming huh?" The pilot of the machine gripped his controls. "Bad idea, since the Great Mazinger and Tetsuya Tsurugi are here to take you on. THUNDER BREAK!"

Lightning shoots up from Great Mazinger's side horns into the sky before traveling down to its raised finger. It then launches the bolt of lightning towards the newly arrived Kikaiju, annihilating them.

"GREAT TYPHOON!"

A hurricane of wind came from Great Mazinger's mouth, turning several more Kikaiju into rust, but more Kikaiju just came to replace the ones that were destroyed.

"More of you, huh?" Tetsuya frowned.

Great Mazinger's comms turned on to show a young adult.

"Tetsuya! I just got off the phone with the head of Section Two! The backup should be here soon!"

"So hold out till then. Gotcha, Shiro." Tetsuya nodded.

"Oh one more thing, but the SSSP sent in their backup ahead of time! Heads up!" Shiro said, as the comm ended.

Great Mazinger looked skyward to see a jet fly overhead. Jumping out of them was a small figure, as he caught glimpses of red and silver.

"A person?" Tetsuya asked.

Slamming down into the ground to crater it was a small human in mechanical armor. Standing up, his chest glew blue while his eyes glew yellow.

"This is Ultraman of the SSSP! I'm here to back up Great Mazinger against the Kikaiju!" The figure said.

"Ultraman?!" Tetsuya said in shock, recognizing the name.

"Alright, Kikaiju! You might be bigger than the aliens I'm used to fighting, but I'll take you down all the same!" ULTRAMAN declared, before rushing forward. He created an energy disk and threw it at the monsters. Despite the small size, it managed to cleave several Kikaiju apart.

"What power!" Tetsuya was impressed. "Especially when he doesn't have the size advantage!"

Running forward, ULTRAMAN grabbed one of the Kikaiju by the tail.

"Rrrrrrrraaah!"

He spun the monster around, tossing it into a row of several other Kikaiju, before he put his wrists together.

"EAT THIS!"

From his arms, he fired a massive beam of energy that punched straight through the Kikaiju, before they exploded from the damage.

"Don't forget about me, Kikaiju! Mazinger Blade!"

A sword pops out of a port on one of Great Mazinger's legs. Grabbing it, it sped forward and started hacking Kikaiju in half with it. Most of the Kikaiju were cut down by ULTRAMAN and Great Mazinger, before a noticeable blip appeared on their radar, bringing in reinforcements. Tetsuya's communication line started to beep in alarm.

"The Kikaiju are inside the barrier!"

"Tch! Great Booster, ignite!"

The screen inside denied Tetsuya's order.

"What?!"

"CRC to L41! We can't authorize usage of special weaponry that could damage the plant!" One of the soldiers reported.

"Damn it!"

Great Mazinger and ULTRAMAN both landed inside the barrier to confront the Kikaiju that had swarmed in.

"Bah. It would seem they were a failure." Two voices boomed.

"Huh?" ULTRAMAN looked around to find the sound.

"Failure?" Great Mazinger looked up. "Aren't you-!?"

A dual-colored purple and black robot with a mask-like face on it, floated in the air above the two, shrouded by a cape.

"Greetings, Tetsuya Tsurugi, Ultraman. My name is Ashura. I am the loyal servant of Dr. Hell, the world's greatest scientist. Address me as Baron Ashura!"

"Baron Ashura?!" ULTRAMAN realized. "But aren't they supposed to be-?!"

"These guys… these aren't Kikaiju that we never mopped up." Tetsuya said. "They're old war phantoms that are back from the dead."

"Old war phantoms?" Ashura said. "Then I suppose you won't mind if we bring a few more, Tetsuya Tsurugi."

The ground started to shake, as Dark Army mobile suits rose from the ground to join the Kikaiju.

"The Dark Army!" Tetsuya grit his teeth.

"No way, I thought the Shuffle Alliance beat them!" ULTRAMAN said, stunned.

"We did, but they're still a total pain!"

Baron Ashura's Kikaiju dodged several huge bullets, whizzing past its head.

"Who dares?!" Baron Ashura demanded.

A red and blue Gundam jumped into view, holding a pair of smoking pistols.

"I'm the one who dares, Baron Ashura!"

"Chibodee Crocket!" Tetsuya grinned.

"The USA representative of the Gundam Fight!" ULTRAMAN recognized.

"It's been a while, Tetsuya!" The Gundam Maxter did a quick salute.

"Indeed it has, Chibodee. Glad you could make it down here." Tetsuya said as the Maxter joined his side.

"Well where the Dark Army goes, the Shuffle Alliance ain't far behind! Even though it's just me today." Chibodee chuckled.

"It'll still be more than enough to deal with these old relics!" Tetsuya said.

"It'll take more than a few fools to defeat us." Baron Ashura declared.

"Oh, so what about that big ship in the back coming to help us out?" The Gundam Maxter pointed behind Baron Ashura.

"What?!"

Indeed, the Cygnus came into view inside of the barrier. It was soon followed by the team onboard being deployed and arriving onto the battle.

"Chibodee! Tetsuya!" Domon called.

"Domon, Allenby, good to see you." Tetsuya said.

"Looks like you got my message!" Chibodee smiled.

"Domon, are they some old friends of yours?" Aoba asked.

"Chibodee's the USA representative of the Gundam fight and the Queen of Spades of the Shuffle Alliance. Tetsuya Tsurugi's the pilot of the Great Mazinger, and a legendary hero that helped us out on a few occasions." Domon introduced.

"Tetsuya Tsurugi…" Dio said in awe.

This presence, it's one of an expert pilot! Banagher thought, feeling Tetsuya's will.

"Um, what about the small person down by their feet?" Nanoha asked, noticing the small figure by Great Mazinger.

"I'm Ultraman of the SSSP." He answered.

"Ultraman?" Aoba asked.

"Oh, I've seen him on the news! He fights rogue aliens!" Hibiki said.

"Rogue aliens are a thing here?" Aoba asked.

"We'll have to save this conversation for later." Tetsuya said.

"So several more fools join the battle. No matter." Baron Ashura said.

"Baron Ashura! You're using the Dark Army?!" Domon shouted.

"How the heck did someone like you get your hands on them?!" Allenby asked.

"How I got my hands on them is not what you should be worried about." Baron Ashura said, before raising an arm. "Attack!"

The Kikaiju and Dark Army Mobile Suits charged at the team.

"We're gonna send you all back packing to hell, Baron Ashura! Double Mazinger Blade!" Tetsuya shouted.

Two swords popped out from Great Mazinger this time, as he sliced through Kikaiju and Dark Army mobile suits in order to reach Baron Ashura.

"Focus on whittling down the Kikaiju and Dark Army for now! Baron Ashura comes later!" Kuramitsu ordered.

"Roger!"

The Bradyon flew up into the air and started firing on the Kikaiju down below, with it also pulling out its sword to cut down any airborne Kikaiju that came at it. The Luxon joined him in the air to assist.

"Connective Dio!"

"Acception!"

The two Valiancers coupled, and started tearing through the monsters. Meanwhile, Domon and Allenby punched and kicked their way through the Dark Army to reach Chibodee.

"Like old times, eh, Domon?" Chibodee chuckled.

"Yeah! I hope you haven't gotten rusty over the past 2 years, Chibodee." Domon smirked..

"Me? Rusty?" Chibodee scoffed. "Just watch this! Cyclone Punch!"

A pair of blue knuckle dusters flipped onto Maxter's fists, as it throws a punch, generating a blue cyclone which riped through a row of Kikaiju.

"Ooh, not bad!" Allenby grinned.

"We're gonna turn these Kikaiju and Dark Army into scrap metal!" Domon held up a fist. "Let's go, Chibodee! Allenby!"

"Yeah!" They both agreed.

"Yeah!"

Elsewhere, Hibiki and Nanoha were fighting side-by-side with each other. Hibiki was punching away Dark Army Suits that got near them, while Nanoha fired bolts of magic from Raising Heart.

"Hraaaah!"

Slugging through one of the Kikaiju was ULTRAMAN, as he landed by the girls.

"SSSP's agent…" Tsubasa said.

"So you guys are from Section Two, huh? Let's fight together!" ULTRAMAN said.

"Okay!" Hibiki took up a stance as the enemy continued to approach.

ULTRAMAN held up his wrists, as energy blades appeared on his arms. With a shout, he dashed forward and started slashing at the Kikaiju. Tsubasa did the same to the Dark Army, but used the blades on her legs, spinning with kicks. Back up in the sky, the Unicorn Gundam used its beam saber to take down a few Dark Army mobile suits, before switching to its beam rifle and firing a barrage of shots that took down a couple of Kikaiju. Great Mazinger took down several more Dark Army mobile suits, before facing off against the Ashura P1.

"Tetsuya Tsurugi! I shall see to it that you die a horrible death!" Ashura declared.

"Koji was right about you, Ashura. You're a real talker." Tetsuya said.

"What?!"

"Warriors don't need words." Tetsuya simply stated. "Allow me and Great to demonstrate!"

"Rapid Rocket Gun!"

A hail of rockets fly out from the chest of Ashura P1, which Great Mazinger cuts down with its swords before then flying towards the piloted Kikaiju to do the same.

"Double Mazinger Blade!"

With expert skill, Great Mazinger swung its swords, slashing at Ashura P1 and sending it back. Ashura P1 sends the tendrils on one of its hands towards Great Mazinger in order to ensnare it, but said tendrils would be stopped by the Burning Gundam flying in and slicing them off with one of its beam sabers.

"Domon Kasshu!" Baron Ashura grit their teeth.

"Your plan ends here, Baron Ashura! We've dealt with the Kikaiju and Dark Army!" Domon shouted.

"Surrender looks like a really good idea, Ashura." Allenby said with a hint of mockery.

"Curse you, Tetsuya Tsurugi and the Shuffle Alliance!" Baron Ashura fumed. "You may have won today, but you will not stop Dr. Hell's plan!"

Part of the Kikaiju and Dark Army remains started to glow, before they exploded, shrouding the area in smoke. When it faded, Ashura P1 was gone.

"He got away…" Dio said.

"Yeah, but we managed to protect the power plant though." Hibiki said.

First the Dark Army, now Baron Ashura. Domon thought. Is the past still haunting us even now?

The Cygnus had docked on a landing pad outside of the power plant, where the Ichinana soldiers were working towards rebuilding it, being led by Shiro's. Tetsuya, ULTRAMAN and Chibodee met up with the Alliance and Section Two members that had assisted them.

Several of the younger members were in awe at Tetsuya's presence. "Whoa! It really is Tetsuya Tsurugi."

"I remember my big brother always saw him as an idol." Nanoha recalled.

"Good to see you're doing well, Tetsuya." Domon held up a fist.

Tetsuya returned the fistbump. "Same to you, Domon. How's Rain, by the way?"

"She's been doing alright."

"Glad you guys got my message." Chibodee said.

"Well, we were already on the way when we got your call." Allenby said. "So you knew Ashura had the Dark Army with him?"

"Well when I first heard reports of Kikaiju around America, I thought to check it out. And here in Texas I find the Dark Army was marching alongside them." Chibodde said.

"So the Dark Army remnants are working with these Kikaijus?" Aoba asked.

"Can't say for sure if they were helping Baron Ashura willingly, or if Dr. Hell got his grimy hands on the DG Cells. Either way, it ain't good." Chibodee said.

"Is it really possible that Dr. Hell is still alive?" Banagher asked.

"Considering the fact that we encountered Baron Ashura, who was also thought to be dead; it's a very likely possibility that he's still kicking." Tetsuya said grimly.

"Dr. Hell? Who's that?" Aoba asked.

"He was an evil scientist that Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger beat years ago." Hibiki said.

"I remember the stories that my family used to tell me about them." Nanoha said, remembering how her brother idolized Tetsuya while her sister fell for the dreamboat that was Koji (as did a majority of teenage girls back then and even now).

"He was indeed seen as a great threat to Japan and the world back then." Tsubasa nodded.

ULTRAMAN was staring at the group... or at least that's what they guessed, since his helmet didn't let them see his expression.

"...can we help you?" Dio asked, getting a bit annoyed by his silence.

"Ah, sorry!" ULTRAMAN apologized. "It's just that I think I recognize one of you. Isn't that you, Hibiki?"

"Huh? You know me?"

There was a small hiss of smoke as ULTRAMAN's helmet retracted to reveal a young man with black hair.

"Eh?! Shinjiro!" Hibiki recognized.

"Is he a friend of yours, Hibiki?" Dio asked.

"Yeah! He goes to a different school, but he comes to Flower a lot." Hibiki explained.

"Well that's mostly at Chidori's insistence since she knows you and Miku go there every other day or so." Shinjiro said with a shrug.

"So you guys are essentially school friends then?" Dio asked.

"Something like that."

Hibiki was excited to see her friend, before she realized something. "...wait-"

"And here comes the delayed realization…" Shinjiro sighed, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"YOU'RE ULTRAMAN?!" Hibiki shouted.

"Yeah. I'm the new Ultraman." Shinjiro confirmed.

"New Ultraman?" Aoba asked.

"Nearly 40 years ago, a giant of light had descended from space, and defended the planet from aliens trying to destroy it. He came to be known as Ultraman." Domon said.

"Once it seemed like the threat of aliens had subsided at the time, Ultraman left our planet and returned back to space." Dio said.

"However, the alien threats had recently resurfaced. As a result, the Science Special Search Party, or the SSSP, was reinstated, led by Shin Hayata, the Japan Defense Minister and former host of Ultraman." Tetsuya finished.

"Host?" Aoba raised a brow.

"Yeah." Hibiki nodded. "Ultraman needed a human host during that time in order for him to be able to fight against the aliens. But I didn't know that said host was your father, Shinjiro!"

"I didn't know about it myself until only a few years ago, when my powers started developing." Shinjiro admitted. "But enough about me; I'm surprised to see you out here, Hibiki. What happened with you?"

"Well that's a bit of a story to tell." She rubbed the back of her head.

"You can tell him on the way, since these three are coming back with us." Kuramitsu said.

"With the Kikaiju driven off for now, I'll be linking up with Section Two as per the orders of the Photon Research Institute." Tetsuya said.

"And you know I gotta back up my old pal Domon now that we've met up with each other again." Chibodee said with a thumbs-up.

"Mr. Ide told me that I'll temporarily be assigned to Section Two at the moment, as alien attacks have been pretty minimal as of recent." Shinjiro said.

"Well, it'll be an honor to have you three join up with us." Kuramitsu greeted.

"Well, the Commander and Kanade are going to be thrilled." Tsubasa said.

"Hm? Why?" Dio asked.

"Domon Kasshu is one thing, but they've both wanted to meet someone like Tetsuya Tsurugi." Tsubasa explained.

"Tetsuya's got fans as always, eh?" Chibodee chuckled.

"He and Koji are pretty famous after all." Allenby nodded.

"Yeah! To top it off, we got another Gundam Fight representative, and the new Ultraman!" Hibiki said.

"It is pretty exciting." Nanoha had to admit.

How can they be so carefree? Tsubasa narrowed her eyes at Hibiki and Nanoha. Old threats like Dr. Hell's forces and the Dark Army are returning, and they're more concerned with this? I'll never see eye-to-eye with them...

Pre-Battle Quotes vs Kikaiju/Dark Army

Tetsuya: You old buckets of bolts from the past think you can beat me, huh? You're going to have to try harder than that!

ULTRAMAN: Size doesn't matter to me! I'll take down you Kikaiju, as the new Ultraman!

Chibodee: You schmucks from the past don't learn. Guess I gotta drill that lesson into ya again!

Domon: Now Kikaiju, huh… well, I'm not gonna back down! You ghosts of the pasts are heading back into the grave!

Pre-Battle Quotes vs Baron Ashura

Tetsuya Tsurugi:

Ashura: Tetsuya Tsurugi! I shall see to it that you die a horrible death!

Tetsuya: Koji was right about you, Ashura. You're a real talker.

Ashura: What?!

Tetsuya: Warriors don't need words. Allow me and Great to demonstrate!

Domon Kasshu:

Domon: So you're still alive, Baron Ashura!

Ashura: Domon Kasshu. You had best get out of the way, lest you receive a crushing defeat.

Domon: Not a chance. I won't allow your evil to exist in this world any longer! Here I come!

ULTRAMAN:

Ashura: What a small pest, buzzing around! I'll destroy you!

ULTRAMAN: You better not underestimate me! You're going down, Baron Ashura!

Banagher Links:

Ashura: A Gundam! I haven't fought one of those for quite some time!

Banagher: Commander Bright has told me about monsters like you. Baron Ashura, I won't let you win!

Aoba Watase/Dio Junyou Weinberg:

Aoba: Wha-?! Do they have two faces?!

Dio: Don't lose your focus, Aoba Watase!

Ashura: Already faltering? You'll be easy to destroy!

Hibiki Tachibana/Nanoha Takamachi:

Ashura: Bah, now they're sending mere children after us!

Nanoha: Are you afraid, Miss Hibiki?

Hibiki: As a kid, I was… but now… I can make a difference!

Nanoha: I remember being scared of the stories, but now I feel like going at full power, full throttle!

Hibiki: Let's do this, Nanoha! We'll show Baron Ashura we're not just kids!

Unit Acquisition

Great Mazinger (Tetsuya Tsurugi)

Gundam Maxter (Chibodee Crocket)

Ultraman Suit B-Type (Shinjiro Hayata)