Ultraman Medus Episode 2

## Chapter 1

***Jackson*** Miller could have sworn he fell asleep on his bed at his apartment, so he was utterly startled when he opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of an endless plain of golden waves and shapes in every direction. Up, down, left, right, it was all the same and he seemed to be standing on nothing. In front of him were a trio of beings in red and silver, and next to him was an Ultraman called Medus. One of them had a pair of horns and had a beard. Another one had metallic studs on his chest and shoulders. The last one looked a lot like Medus, and Jackson thought they could be related somehow. They all stood at roughly the same height, a confusing sight to the human since he knew the Ultras as giants. They were all slightly shorter than Medus though.

"Oh, it's Commander Zoffy! And the Supreme Commander! And dad! I didn't expect to see you here!" Medus said out excitedly.

"Good to hear from you, Medus. Zoffy told me you had something to report so I had to clear up some free time to be here!" Mebius said.

"W-what's going on? Where is this? What the hell's happening?!" Jackson said nervous and disoriented, inspecting his strange and incomprehensible surroundings.

"Jackson, I'm using telepathy to contact my superiors in the Land of Light. I hope you don't mind but since we're linked together now, you'll have to join in when we do this. It's not up to me." Medus explained.

"It's late and I'm tired, couldn't we have done this in the morning or something? What time is it now anyway, it's gotta be like 3 AM or something! And don't you guys sleep either- oh wait there is no night on your planet because of the Plasma Spark thing acting as your artificial sun 24 7 365 ANYWAY whydidn'tyoutellmewegottadothisrightfrigginnowwhenI'mtryingtosleep?!" Jackson ranted, clearly annoyed.

"WellyouseemysuperiorsareprettybusymanagingawholelotofthingsacrossthemultiversesoIjustgotthefirstappointmentIcouldgetokaypleasetrytounderstand!" Medus said in an equally flustered and run-on sentence.

"Ahem." Zoffy said to get their attention and to put a stop to their childish quarrel. Medus immediately perked up and saluted to the Ultras in front of him while Jackson stood straight, not knowing how to react to their presence.

"So you've lent your power to a human, Medus...I can see that you two are getting along already." Father of Ultra commented.

"Uhhh yes sir and uhhh we just met a few hours ago actually and fought off a monster together and umm-" Medus said, fumbling his speech in the presence of the Supreme Commander of the Inter Galactic Defense Force, the great hero who once defeated the Emperor of Darkness, the famous Ultraman Ken. Medus hurriedly took a tense glance at his human host, which Jackson noticed.

"Uh, hi, sirs. My name is Jackson Miller and before we begin I would like to thank you for taking your time to be here with me today. I'm a currently working as a nurse in training at a hospital. Uhh I first met Medus during a monster attack - I think its name was Elegia or something - where he resurrected me after I got hit by a car while trying to get someone to safety. I might not be the greatest of all people on the planet, I'm not all that strong or fit or good at fighting or knowledgeable about any of this stuff going on, but I promise I'll do my best at my role and continue to be of use to Medus in protecting the peace of the Earth as best as I can. Thank you for listening." Jackson said in a very stiff way as if he were getting interviewed for a job, making sure to watch his tongue and ensure none of the coarse language he was so used to using got out. Despite the awkwardness, his speech had the other Ultras quite impressed.

"Very good. I see you've found someone right for the job, Medus. I hope you two continue to work well together." Zoffy said. "Either way, what's the situation on Earth?"

"Yes, uh...we've encountered a few weird things. Firstly, that monster we fought seemed to have been modified somehow using a type of energy that not even the Medus Brace can identify. It made the monster a lot more powerful, and it was impervious to our attacks. Not even the humans who defend this Earth know anything about it, so we're completely in the dark here." Medus explained as briefly as he could.

"Hmmm? The monsters are getting...augmented, you say? And with an unidentifiable energy at that?" Ken asked, getting suspicious and troubled. "Someone could be behind all of this then...be sure to stay alert, watch out for their plans, and don't fall for their schemes. And you said something about them being invulnerable, how did you defeat the monster then?"

"We had help from someone I didn't recognise. I wasn't told there'd be another Ultra here..." Medus said sheepishly.

"...and there shouldn't be. You're the only one we authorised to send. If we have any loose cannons or truants from the Land of Light, be sure to get them to come home, or at least explain why they're on the Earth." Zoffy said sternly.

"The thing is, I don't think she's from the Land of Light or any of the other Ultra homeworlds we know of. Heck, I don't even know if she's actually an Ultra or not." Medus explained.

"A 'she', huh? Can you describe this person?" Ken asked, intrigued.

"An all-silver woman who casts weird magic or something with circles and letters. She removed the power-up, and then called us a racist term straight out of Apartheid and then left! Seems like the stuck-up kind too..." Jackson continued, recalling the appearance of the strange entity that came to their aid and left just as quickly.

"Yeah, and I was sure she was using the Ultra Language in her, uh, spells or something but the letters were all off. She had some kind of Colour Timer too, but it was all white." Medus said, expanding on Jackson's explanation.

"All...silver...?" Mebius asked quietly. Something appeared in his mind but it was an itch he could not scratch. Where had he heard of this before...?

"What...racist? We Ultras are supposed to be beyond such things...what a disgrace." Ken said, with disappointment. "I would advise you either keep your distance from this entity and if she becomes trouble, find a way to stop her. The fact she can remove the augment on the monster is already suspect...she may have some relation to whatever conspiracy is going on. Monitor her if you can. Meanwhile, we'll do what we can on our end to find out whatever we can. If there's another home world of Ultras we haven't discovered, we'll get to finding out about them."

"Yes. Medus, watch out and keep yourself safe. In the face of these unknowns, don't be ashamed to call for help if you need to." Zoffy said.

Mebius was still visibly in deep thought, searching his mind for something.

"...dad?" Medus asked, getting Mebius' attention.

"Oh. Uh...when I first met Hikari, he was acting as Hunter Knight Tsurugi, out for revenge against Bogarl. We may have got into conflict a few times, but eventually I was able to get through to him with the help of my human friends. If you're able to talk it out with whoever it is you met, that'll be a better alternative to hostility." Mebius explained, recounting his own experience on the Earth with Crew GUYS.

"...Okay. I'll try. Thanks for your time, everyone." Medus said with gratitude for their advice and support.

"Good luck, Medus. And Jackson...take care of him." Mebius said, with Ken and Zoffy nodding in agreement.

"But he can take care of himself better than I can take care of him-" Jackson blurted out as the golden field around them disappeared along with the three senior Ultras.

"Is something bothering you, Mebius? Worried about your son?" Father of Ultra asked after noticing Mebius had been distracted. Now the three of them were in the IGDF's headquarters, a floating structure of green crystal much like the rest of the Land of Light's infrastructure.

"It's not so much of Medus I'm worried about. It's...something else." Mebius admitted, gaining the curiosity of Ken and Zoffy.

In the dead of night, there were only a few people out of their homes. In these strange times, they would wish they were inside.

A group of drunkards stumbled out of a bar, woozy and barely able to keep themselves together. In fact, they were kicked out by the bartender for causing a ruckus, harassing the other patrons and making unwanted advances on women (and men).

Walking off to who knows where in their stupor, they eventually stumbled a park. The lights were switched off at those hours, nobody was expected to be there at those times. One of them had to pee, and went to a bush to get his business done.

The rustling in the bushes coincided with the involuntary shivering of his body, before he felt something wet and slimy begin to coil around his neck and pulled him in, dragging him through the foliage and grass with a strength he could not fight against. He had no time to even question what was going on when the man found himself experiencing a sharp pain on the side of his shoulder, as if he had been pierced by something. Letting out a yelp of pain alerted his other friends to his position.

For some reason the shouting continued on and on with him swearing and cursing and crying for help before it came to an abrupt end. The rest of the gang ran over, despite their drunkenness, and saw that their friend now stood still all alone. They called out to him and he turned around with a haggard shambling.

In the darkness of the night, they did not notice that his right arm had changed into something else entirely, grotesquely mutated and missing its skin, showing greyed lifeless flesh and having his fingernails replaced by talons while his teeth lengthened and sharpened. Like a rabid animal he growled at them and then made a sudden lunge, tearing apart his former friends in this crazed state. There was nobody else around to notice their screams.

Oddly, the bodies of the dead began to rise up once again, growing deformities similar to their killer. These humans turned into puppets converged onto a single spot, within the trees, where a pair of eyes that lacked pupils shined with a whitish-yellow glow. Stripped of the free will they once possessed, they placed themselves onto the outside of the creature who had taken their minds, embracing it from anywhere they could. First their skin was pulled it, unable to let go as they began to become fused with the creature. Within seconds, the rest of their flesh, organs, blood and bones were all being pulled into the monster, leaving behind only their clothing and whatever else that wasn't a part of their biological makeup.

The creature became enlarged and engorged after devouring those humans, with its flesh being swollen disproportionately to the growth of its bones, making it resemble a bloated sack of meat that could hardly move. It suddenly found itself struck on the side by a bright silver beam, exploding with enough force to make it fall on its side. That silver beam came of a circle surrounded by glyphs, as the palm of a woman who was entirely silver. Struggling to get up, the creature hissed and growled, kicking and swiping around helplessly as it was trapped on the ground by its own weight and imbalance. Another silver beam came at it, and with sustained fire, the monster exploded into chunks of flesh that littered the shrubbery and dyed it red.

Seeing that the job had been done, the woman in silver left the scene just as quietly as she entered, vanishing under the light of a crescent moon. Had she stayed a while longer, she would have noticed a lump of flesh begin to extend tendrils from its sides, using them to latch onto whatever other giblets it could find to expand its mass, before crawling away to the sound of running water. It was warmer down there than it was on the surface, so it squeezed itself through the drain grate. It would find lots more to eat down there.

The next time Jackson woke up was when the alarm on his phone rang. It was 8 AM on a Saturday, where he fortunately didn't have to go to work especially after the previous day's events. On an off day like this, Jackson preferred to spend some time alone and to himself after wearing himself out from interacting with so many patients and so many coworkers and so many superiors. Now he also had the Ultras to deal with too, which did not help his situation in the slightest.

Jackson did a stretch to wake himself up and yawned away the rest of sleepiness. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, and used the toilet before getting changed and having breakfast. Morning routines are morning routines regardless of any monsters or Ultras. He had a sandwich for breakfast with some coffee, eating with one hand while using his phone with the other, scrolling through the news with it.

Briefly going through the news, his interest perked up when he saw the reporter's name: Sarah Walker. A woman who he held dear to him, someone he called his girlfriend though they seldom met face to face anymore. He meticulously read every article she had published to date and this time was no different. The article covered the extent of the damage caused by the monster attack, the number of lives lost and people injured so far, the public's opinions on the matter.

The new Ultraman's appearance was already going to be a hot topic regardless, but him becoming that Ultraman made him infinitely more invested in whatever news and opinions he came across in regard to it. Some people praised the new Ultra, some found him weak, some just wanted all this nonsense to end already and some were adamant about not needing Ultras on Earth.

Then there was the matter of the silver being. With no better designation, the news decided to call her an Ultrawoman, despite there being no confirmation as to whether she actually was an Ultra. Most of the words he saw were them saying things like how she did better than Medus and that she should replace him, or questioning why she didn't step in earlier. Some even wanted her to step on them. Freaking weirdos. Still, nobody was any closer to figuring out who or what she was.

There were also statements from SAVIOUR apologising for their poor performance in the battle and that they will be investigating further into several matters from the monster's augmented powers to the reason behind the recent monster crisis. Incensed and inflammatory words were thrown at the organisation from all over, even from outside the country.

Going through all this news made Jackson upset. Despite having become an Ultraman, he felt like he had not done enough to diminish the amount of suffering and wreckage that the monster attack caused. Many died and many more were injured, yet he here as a nurse and as a host to an Ultra was doing nothing to help. Feeling unwarranted guilt over the things he never caused or could do anything about, his breakfast took an eternity.

He would have continued reading if something hadn't come up and replaced his screen with a red triangle with a black exclamation mark in it, making his phone ring with a long beeping that immediately put him on edge. A map came up showing a red dot and a circular radius, which Jackson recognised as the epicenter of the incident and its range of effect.

## Chapter 2

***The*** Ultraman within Jackson Miller was curious yet alarmed by the alert that popped up in his host's phone.

"Jackson, what's that?" Medus asked in Jackson's head, raising his voice for the first time this morning.

"It's an alert from SAVIOUR telling us to get the hell out of here...probably because a monster's nearby!" Jackson said aloud and agitated as he got off his chair and started heading to his bedroom to grab a few things like his wallet and laptop. He forgot that he could just use telepathy to communicate with Medus.

"If there's a monster and we know where it is, why don't we fight it?" the Ultra suggested, making Jackson pause his attempt to gather his possessions and evacuate. He was reminded that he didn't have to run away anymore, overriding the subconscious actions getting to do so. If he could use his Ultraman powers and help SAVIOUR, there's probably be a few less deaths and far less destruction involved if he was careful.

"...oh...right! Yeah! Let's do that instead!" he said, energised. He was partly nervous and partly excited at having to face another monster, but his good nature overcame his fears. The Medus Brace spontaneously appeared over his right forearm.

"Remember how to use it?" Medus asked.

"Yeah. Piece of cake. Here goes nothing!" Jackson said, swiping his left hand over the bracer's jewel part, making it glow like an ember as it spun. The space around him became a fiery red-orange land of infinite expanse, replacing his dorm entirely. "MEDUUUUUS!!!!!" he shouted, raising up the bracer. Light shined from it and then the flaming subspace collapsed onto a single point, making a small sphere that floated in Jackson's apartment, leaving through an open window.

The sphere floated through and over the city until it arrived at the location, at a mall, where people were scattering and scampering away in a panic. There were SAVIOUR troops and vehicles parked outside and armed with weapons. Medus flew down and landed, taking on a human-like size, though he was taller than most of the people around him.

":O IT'S ULTRAMAN!" A SAVIOUR soldier shouted, pointing out his very obvious presence. The people around were wowed by his appearance but never expected him to be so small compared to how he normally was.

"It's like a zombie apocalypse in there! We've evacuated most of the people but things are getting all out of control! We've lost two whole units already, and Command is willing to take the whole block down if it means putting an end to this." A captain shouted to inform Medus, while some more SAVIOUR troops guided more people outwards from the doomed mall's exits. The Ultraman gave a nod and rushed himself in.

"WE'RE COUNTING ON YOU, ULTRAMAN!!!!" someone shouted to Medus.

Inside the mall was a mess as people clearly left in a hurry. Strewn around were goods and rubbish left behind, things were pushed and fallen over, while some of the structures had been ruined. It would be desolation here if it weren't for the continued screams of terror and sounds of gunfire echoing around. Sickening sounds occupied the air and both Jackson and Medus were filled with dread. It seemed that even though they arrived as quickly as they could, things were already doomed. Honing his hearing senses, Medus rushed to where the noise was coming from, near some eateries.

There they saw SAVIOUR troops, terrified and desperate, guarding a few survivors in a circle formation shooting at what seemed to be other people, to Medus and Jackson's confusion. They were starting to get overwhelmed and things were not looking good.

":O IT'S ULTRAMAN!" One of the people shouted excitedly, thinking their salvation had come. Medus moved quickly, taking down the attackers who also tried to slash at him with their claws and superhuman strength combined with their agility...

Hold on a second, weren't they humans?

Medus and Jackson looked at them, these people that had been turned rabid and wild. Men, women, children, and elderly, nobody was spared. They saw the attackers were missing chunks of flesh and skin, that they were grossly mutated and mutilated into these crazed states, growling and shambling. But they couldn't bring themselves hurt humans, they were there to fight monsters! With Jackson's will, Medus fought lightly and refused to injure them too much, knocking them back and flinging them away rather than finishing them off.

"Jackson...I'm sorry to say...but these guys aren't alive anymore." Medus said regretfully. The Medus Brace was not detecting any life signs from any of them, and from the brief moments of contact with their flesh, Medus could feel that they had gone cold.

"No...it can't be! They're still moving, and they're dangerous, and-" Jackson said in denial. Never had he seen a corpse move again, so he could not believe that any of these puppets of meat were really dead. The SAVIOUR troops had already learned of these facts the hard way, and fired at them with impunity to protect whoever they could save.

"They're likely being controlled by some outside source. The best we can do is give them a good rest..." Medus said with melancholy. Jackson went quiet for a moment, but now he understood. As a nurse in training, he understood and had seen for himself times where it was better to put the suffering to rest and that prolonging their continued existence would only bring more harm to everyone involved, the victim included. He even had to have a pet dog of his out down once, a painful experience brought back by what he had to do here.

"...oh ○○○○ it!" he complained, before forcing himself to land harder blows that sent the mutated beings flying. They never got back up again. He fired arrow projectiles from his hand to take down a few others at range, and soon the commotion had calmed down.

"Ultraman saved us!" someone cheered, before the rest of them joined in. But neither Medus or Jackson could feel any relief or victory, knowing that they had to make opponents out of humans, even if it was for the best.

"I'm not sure if you understand what I'm saying, but I'll tell you anyway. One of our other units caught these zombie freaks making their way to the lower levels in droves. They followed the things down to the underground parking lot, and then we lost contact with them. Whatever's caused all this is likely to be down there too..." a SAVIOUR troop explained to the Ultraman, worried for the safety of the other unit. It's most likely that they're gone by now though. Giving him a nod, Medus ran off. He sneaked around the mall to the lowest floors he could find, suppressing his presence, until he found yet another group of mindless walking corpses and stealthily followed them until he came across what they were looking for.

In the deepest part of the complex, under a wide open space with stagnant air and poor lighting, the walking dead moved themselves over to what could be described as a skinless lump of flesh with a vaguely humanoid build. Its elongated face that had two pairs of long front teeth gave it the impression of some kind of rodent. The long claws on each finger looked sharp enough to cut through almost anything. The humans who came into contact with the thing were stuck to and then quickly absorbed into its own flesh, adding to its mass that was about ten meters large, lying down on its belly. If it were to stand up, it would surely be taller than Medus but it doesn't count because he's not at his normal giant size.

Medus carefully looked at the grotesque sight from around a corner, scanning it with his bracer to match its internal database. Even before the scan returned the results, Medus had a feeling he'd seen something like this before. A whole bunch of weird screens came up from out of nowhere in front of Jackson, overfeeding him with information he couldn't process fast enough.

"χ-neutrino detected? Jackson...that's a Space Beast." Medus said, concerned if the creature's presence on Earth. He had learned from his classes just how dangerous Space Beasts could be, and the fact he had never encountered one personally had him a bit nervous. Jackson could see on one of the screens that spelled out the monster's name, type, measurements, and a brief summary of its abilities in a text box. It was called Nosferu, the Fiendish Type Beast.

"Space Beast? That doesn't narrow it down much considering how many monsters there are in space..." Jackson complained, whispering even though nobody but Medus could hear him anyway. He still wasn't used to this whole telepathy thing.

"I know the name sounds kinda dumb but a Space Beast is a specially designated class of uhh...space...monster." Medus explained awkwardly. "They're very dangerous predatory creatures that can't be reasoned with. They feed on the fear of other intelligent life forms and if not disposed of correctly, their cells will regenerate into new Beasts. It's likely that this one has been converting humans into its slaves, and then eating them. We gotta take him down all at once, all or nothing!"

"Right...for everyone he's killed, let's beat this rat 8@$+@rd's @$$!" Jackson said courageously despite Medus' warnings and a lack of a plan. Before they could do anything, an interruption had them stopping where they stood.

"Your services are no longer required, Coloured one." a feminine voice coldly said out of nowhere, before a foreign light flashed for a split second. Some shining thing flew past Medus and straight into the horde of the dead, grabbing their attention. The light around that thing faded as it stood facing the infected former humans, revealing a silver being.

":O IT'S HER!" Medus exclaimed at the sight if the silver Ultra(?)woman appearing. She was also roughly the size of a human, and was shorter than him.

">:O IT'S THE RACIST PRICK!" Jackson said out.

A loud growl from Nosferu commanded the Beast Humans under its control to attack her. Putting her left palm in front of her made a ripple of light appear, unleashing silver bullets that accurately struck the chests of each of Nosferu's minions, defeating them instantly.

Still, dozens more came charging in from the front and from the flanks. The silver one changed her tactics, generating twin crescents at her hands before they solidified into a sort of metallic substance, forming twin blades. She spun and twirled and moved about with elegance and impeccable footwork and choreography as if she had practiced for a routine, weaving her way through the oncoming Beast Humans and seamlessly moving her blades through them, untouched by any of their disgusting hands. While they clearly did damage and had the victims falling lifelessly, they didn't actually seem to be cutting through the bodies and preserved their physical condition as they were.

"Wait...what..." Medus blurted out, equally confused and impressed that she managed to defeat that many enemies so effortlessly.

"She's gotta just be showing off..." Jackson whined. A part of him was also disturbed that she had no qualms in cutting down these beings that were formerly humans, as if she had no sense of empathy for their situation. And what she said to him earlier about his services no longer being required...it ticked him off to no end, suspecting that she may have been following him down here for some time now, not lifting a finger at any prior point to figure anything out or help against the enemies he had to face.

With all the Beast Humans fallen, only Nosferu was left. All the bloated lump of flesh could do was let out a deafening roar that echoed through the place; it had grown too large and too immobile to do anything more than wriggle around slightly.

"It's just him now. We need to burn him away, Jackson! You're going to be feeling a bit worn out after this one, though!" Medus said to prepare his host.

"As long as this will finally be over, I can take it. I've had $#!++!3r days at work anyway. Let's go, Medus!" Jackson shouted. The Ultraman crossed his arms briefly before summoning all of his body's energy, with the orange V sign on his chest beginning to light up, sending fire coursing through his whole body starting from his orange lines, eventually engulfing him whole when he spread his arms out. Before they could go on any further, the silver woman put her arms forward with the left palm placed on the back of her right palm. A large silver ripple appeared within two rings surrounded by the modified Ultra Language, and a forward push from her let out the light in the form of a large silver beam that struck Nosferu. Within less than two seconds, it exploded into a mess of liquids and chunks that littered the whole floor and walls behind it.

"...what the heck?!" Medus shouted, shocked and incensed, canceling his attack with the flames dying down.

"That will be all, then. Was that so difficult?" The silver warrior asked, turning around and crossing her arms when she faced Medus. Jackson had things he wanted to say...badly.

"...Hello, lady. First of all, you made a goddamn mess of it, like, look at all that blood and guts all over. Second, from what I've just been told, this thing can create more of their kind if even ONE of their cells gets to survive somehow so-"

"Then get cleaning."

"...**WHAT?!**" Medus and Jackson said, both in disbelief at how they were being talked down to.

"Make yourself useful if you're going to be complaining so much."

"Listen here, 8!+Ch. I'm not going to just stand here, and let you-" Jackson said to stand up to her, before getting interrupted again.

"I've no need to talk to one who has two voices. Coloured, or not." the silver woman said. She raised her right palm upwards, shooting a silver beam through the structure's ceiling all the way to the top.

As astonished as he was, Medus tried to stop her but he failed, she flew through the hole and left, disappearing. Medus still had something he needed to do, starting his flames again and running to the center of all the mess. This would have been a lot easier if it were all in one piece, but now Medus had to intensify his flames enough to scorch the entirety of the area, putting in a lot more effort than he initially had to, burning away the flesh and drying up the blood. Exhausted, his Colour Timer started beeping and he fell to his knees.

"That stupid bragging colourless wretch...who does she think she is..." Jackson whispered under his breath, fatigued and annoyed.

Between all the quarreling, nobody noticed that one of the flesh lumps made its way into the sewage through a drain grille.

With the job seemingly done, Medus exited the building and flew outside, transforming back into Jackson behind some cover to ensure nobody saw him. Panting, he held onto the nearest wall for support.

"Couldn't we have gone back to the apartment?" the man asked, in his head.

"I'm out of time...this is as far as we can go. I'm sorry, Jackson...I screwed up..." Medus apologised, though Jackson was not sure what for.

"Hey, don't blame yourself. You did what you had to, and what you could. Maybe if there's anyone to blame it's that silver wh0r3 and that rotten rat-looking @$$." Jackson replied to comfort him.

His phone suddenly rang, and Jackson pulled it out of his pocket to see who it could be. A name he had looked forward to seeing came up and he quickly picked up the call, placing the device next to his ear.

"Jack! Holy $#!+ are you alright?!" a concerned woman's voice came from the other end.

"Yeah...yeah I am. Thanks for calling, Sarah. How about you?" Jackson said, with his mood noticeably much better already after being able to take his mind off the whole ordeal he had just been put through.

"Oh thank God. I heard the mall near your place had something going on with SAVIOUR ordering an evac. Good to know you're fine, at least." the woman on the other side said with relief. "I'm okay too, so worry about yourself first. Where are you now?"

"I'm uhh, making my way home. Speaking of which, you're in town, aren't you? I saw that article you write last night...professional as always."

"Hehe, thanks. And yeah I'm in town even right now. I'd come over if I had some time but, you know how it is. Can't miss the scoop." Sarah said. "And before you ask...couldn't come in last night because I had to do some overtime and management rented a hostel. My sleep schedule's totally ○○○○ed up now though." she continued, going into a yawn.

"Man, you're so damn tired. If it makes you feel any better, we could...meet up some time. Dinner and a drink, maybe?"

"We'll see about that. Anyway, stay safe. See you later."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Byeeee." Jackson said, before they ended the call. He was looking forward to the possibility of meeting her later, and couldn't help but take a deep exhale as he looked upwards towards the blue sky above, putting on a grin while leaning backwards against the wall.

"You're getting dirty thoughts, aren't you?" Medus noticed. After all, their minds and bodies were now linked. Jackson was startled and his face was turning red.

"Wh-what- that's none of your damn business!" he replied, flustered. Now there was going to be no privacy between him and his girlfriend, after becoming one with an Ultraman! Medus let out a chuckle.

"We Ultras don't do that sort of thing anymore so we tend to get a bit curious about feelings like these that we can't understand. I promise I won't be a bother though." Medus explained, a bit cheekily.

"Oh. Maaaaaaan...." Jackson whined.

"Also, she called you just 'Jack'?"

"Only friends and family get to do that."

"...may I?"

"Hmm. Maybe someday..."

"After all we've been through. How mean :c"

"IT'S BEEN LESS THAN 24 HOURS!"

While Jackson walked towards the direction of his home, he noticed that he was staying under the direct sun far more than he would usually allow himself to. In fact, he seemed to be drawn to it with a natural attraction. In the near half-hour's worth of walking, he felt as if he was being reenergised rather than being increasingly subject to the tiredness he was already experiencing. That much walking would have normally made his feet and legs start to hurt, but not this time.

"If you're wondering why you're not getting tired...it's because an Ultraman like me absorbs energy from the sun." Medus explained, noticing that Jackson was getting puzzled by his condition. "That ability is now being passed to you too, since we're together now.

"Being an Ultraman must be pretty convenient, huh..."

"Well, no sun means we run out of time quickly. Like in our first fight, my usual size doesn't get enough sunlight to stay active for more than three minutes here. And by reducing size and output, I can remain for a longer period like when we were in the mall there."

"So that's how it works... Well, it's important to learn about each other since we'll be like this for a while. You got any other weird facts and trivia I should know about?" Jackson said, positively.

So Medus went on another very long and very run-on explanation of various things and matters regarding the biology and technology of Ultras that Jackson couldn't quite catch onto. He stopped trying to listen at some point, figuring that things will be brought up again when they become relevant.

## Chapter 3

***Soon*** enough, Jackson arrived back at his apartment. Medus hadn't finished talking, rambling on about things in the background of Jackson's mind with those words of his becoming white noise. The man took his keys out of his pocket, unlocked his door, and stepped inside. He did not look back when he was closing the door behind him, so he was surprised to find that the door wouldn't close all the way, being stopped in the middle by something. Medus shut up when he noticed, and Jackson turned behind him to investigate the cause, startled by the presence of someone he didn't recognise placing their hand over the side of the door to prevent it from closing.

Before he could get a good look at who it was, the person leaned in slightly and bizarrely, took a whiff of his scent which did nothing short of creep out both human and Ultra, making Jackson recoil back from her.

"So it *is* you." the person who Jackson could now clearly discern as some sort of woman-looking thing said, before he was lightly pushed back by the joints of his shoulders into his apartment, with that creepy female stepping inside with him. The door closed itself and locked through unknown means, but Medus knew that there were signs of telekinesis at work. Whoever this woman was, she was most likely not human.

It was then that Jackson could notice her full features, or rather, how strange they were. She had a perfectly symmetrical and expressionless face adorned with a pair of eyes whose irises were a bright platinum colour. Her lips were a steel grey, and Jackson wasn't sure if she had put on any lipstick or not. Her hair was long and ample, neatly pinned and tied while the rear of it went past her waist. The skin was a pale colour, not in the sense of a sick person like he had seen many times, but it was almost white. Not white like a white person, but white like paper. The clothes she wore were even whiter and were very revealing; it was a sleeveless one-piece dress having a low cut down the chest that barely kept it under wraps, while exposing the abdomen. The upper half of her back that was open and covered only by her own hair. A very high cut went all the way up to the hips that gave way to a droopy piece of cloth that concealed the front and back. She wore white knee-high socks that ended in black flat shoes.

From that brief moment of contact when she had shoved him into his own apartment, Jackson could feel that she was cold, like a cadaver not so different from the Beast Humans he had fought earlier. Compounding that to her pale complexion and the colour of her lips, she looked quite like a dead person.

"Did she just smell me?!" Medus asked, utterly bewildered. It took him a while to process what just happened.

"The scent of a Coloured one is pungent and sour indeed. So much so that I have this stench memorised against my will..." the woman said with disgust.

"And who the hell are YOU supposed to be?!" Jackson asked, shouting out. He had already seen enough weird stuff over the past two days, and his patience for them was wearing thin especially after getting sniffed. The weirdo in front of him maintained composure after he had backed off, unflinching at his raised voice. In fact, she may even have been looking at him with a certain level of disgust that only her eyes could reveal.

"I am...Lunala. ULTRAWOMAN Lunala." she said, introducing herself with a self-important tone. There was something nuanced about the way she had said out her title that Medus and Jackson could pick up on, but couldn't quite point out. "Though such as you may exclusively address me from now on as 'the Fair Lady Lunala the Excellent and Ever-Graceful Heir of the Grand Seat of Royalty of the Kingdom of Many Moons of the Silver Star', and that has already been shortened for the convenience of your feeble human mind; any longer and I believe you wouldn't be able to recall. Unless I am mistaken ~~(which I never am)~~ I have identified you as the one bearing the life of the Coloured one. We have much to discuss." she continued in this very pompous and very arrogant way, barging in and then acting like Jackson owed her anything. The one thing that both Ultra and man really got from her is that she was the one who transformed into the other silver Ultra, taking on some semblance of a human form.

"The only thing people are going to be calling you is 'Lunatic' with that attitude-" Jackson scolded, getting a knock on the forehead for that. "-ow!"

"I present myself here today to this...dwelling of yours to inform you that I intend to make use of your presence for the purpose of labour. The both of you." she stated emotionlessly. Seeing Jackson's face contort with offence and revulsion. "It is only fitting that a Coloured one like you would lend your servitude to one such as I, of the People of the Silver Star. It is only natural considering the difference in grace and purity and aptitude and-"

"...listen here, I don't care where you come from but Apartheid has been over for decades! So get off your high horse because nobody here is going to serve you, Princess 8!+ch!"

"Yeah! There's no way I'm going to just sit down and be your LACKEY!" Medus retorted. He did not make it all the way through the IGDF's regimen with top grades just to be treated like this, and he will not take it! He'd never hit a lady (apart from during his training lessons and sparring sessions, or if they were EVIL) but he wanted to make an exception right now. Jackson would have given him a high-five him if he could.

At some point during this conversation, this 'Lunala' woman stopped making eye contact with him, giving herself a little tour of Jackson's apartment, observing its contents and rooms while poking and touching random items as she inspected them, including a framed photo of Jackson and his girlfriend Sarah together. She eventually made herself comfortable and sat on the sofa with her legs crossed, acting as if she already owned the place. Jackson had no choice but to follow her around and sat himself down on the side chair, the one that made watching the TV really unpleasant because of the angle at which it was facing.

"Your opinion on the matter is irrelevant, because you lack the skill and wisdom to deal with the machinations of the Antagonist and the minions that serve them, which makes you beneath my level. Stop being so feisty and listen, because it is the least you could do unless you want to fail at even something as simple as that. It would be par for the course, for a Coloured one." the woman said, keeping her cool. As rude as this arrogant, stuck-up slave driver was being, Medus and Jackson had their minds occupied by something else.

"...what Antagonist?" Medus and Jackson asked in unison, getting suspect. The warning from Medus' superiors might have some weight after all, she could be involved with whoever it is that was causing the monster attacks!

"I shall divulge to you the details only if I find you useful enough to be worthy of such knowledge. You may sit out of the entirety of the matter otherwise and continue your futile attempts at fighting, though you must know that you will fail." she said, dodging the question. "But today I shall test your faculties for utility. You shall be my butler and my chauffer and my escort and my attendant and my wibl and my guard and my labourer and my underling and my-" a plethora of other things and titles came flying out of her mouth, which may as well have been derogatory despite all the flowery language she was using. She might as well have just said "slave" and be done with it.

"And THEN you'll let us know what the hell is going on, with you and the Antagonist and the monsters and all, right?" Jackson asked, after letting her run her mouth. Her breath seemed to be endless, she could go on and on and on and on without ever stopping to have an inhale.

"Yes...and without further ado, I shall now assign to you your first task." she said, finally reestablishing eye contact with Jackson. "You shall take me to see the big apple."

"...what." that was all Jackson could say, putting on a grimace.

"I know you humans have one somewhere around here and I want to see it. Consider it a test of your knowledge and navigation skills. We leave immediately." the monochrome woman said, getting off the chair and making her way towards the main door.

Stunned and puzzled, Jackson kept himself seated for a moment. She wanted him to find a big apple...in New York City. He was convinced that Lunala had no idea what she was talking about.

After checking his fridge, Jackson decided he needed to stock up on a few fruits anyway so he decided to take the opportunity and go. Lunala grew impatient and gave him a cold stare the whole time with her hands on her hips, expecting him to have left the instant she told him to.

They got out of the apartment and left after Jackson looked up a few places on his phone and decided to go to that one fruit stall he frequently passed on the way to work but never bothered to stop at. He would have gone to the mall like he normally would but...yeah...

His car was still under repair at the workshop too so he couldn't go very far. He told Lunala to wait in the apartment while he went out. She didn't want to listen so they had to stick together, and Jackson had to begrudgingly walk alongside her. They came across a stop light that was red and Lunala wanted to cross anyway, ignoring the signals. In fact, she expected the oncoming vehicles to stop for *her* instead, causing much braking, honking, swearing and swerving. Thankfully nobody was hurt...except Jackson's patience.

The next time that happened, Jackson grabbed Lunala by the arm to prevent her from leaving. She tried to resist, forcing him to hold on harder until she got the hint. Lots of people saw them and were absolutely stunned by the silver woman, either for her pristine appearance that they were sure was the result of some kind of cosplay, or for how straight up strange she seemed. Some people were envious of her, or at Jackson for getting to be with her. They had no clue how much he was suffering, especially when he accidentally discovered that underneath that revealing and wispy garb she wore, there was nothing else. He did not dare to bring it up.

They eventually arrived at the fruit store, after about 20 awkward minutes. There had been no small talk about anything between the two of them, beyond Jackson's very reasonable demands for her to abide by the laws of human society. Medus had been quiet the whole time. After showing her the damn apples, some of which really were quite big, he picked up a few of them and some other fruit like oranges and pear. Much to his chagrin, he had to stop Lunala from eating some of them right there and then before he even had the chance to pay for them. Obviously, Jackson had to carry all the goods himself.

Jackson understood now that he had to stick with Lunala. Not so much because he wanted to serve her or any other stupid degrading thing like that. It was more of him trying to keep her out of trouble...or rather, keep her from causing trouble. On the way back, he let her have one of those apples. The biggest one he chose, which was also the biggest one he saw. He was sure she was none the wiser when she said she wanted to see the "big apple" and gave her one, literally. Mission accomplished, as far as he cared. She ate it on the way back and probably littered the core somewhere along the way.

But then Jackson felt a great sense of dread when he realised he had become a petty racist alien princess's babysitter.

That was just the start of this incredibly toxic partnership.

Half the apples were gone by the time Jackson and Lunala arrived back at the apartment. No other fruits had been touched at any point.

"That was a job well done. Good work." the weirdo said, throwing an apple core into a bin. Jackson went to place the rest of the fruit back onto his fridge, while taking out a chilled sandwich he intended to eat for lunch.

"Yeah? Well, we had a deal. You fill me in on all the crazy bull$#!+ that's been going on these days and- what the ○○○○ ARE YOU DOING?!" Jackson interrupted himself shouting in shock, covering his face and turning away.

"Don't look, Jackson...Don't look!" Medus warned him, equally astonished and perhaps even horrified.

"I'm not sure where you humans got the idea of having to conceal yourselves from the view of others. Perhaps it is because of your innate imperfections...The laws of this land are stifling enough, I shall at least use this privacy to abandon these restrictive garments that you humans wear..." the woman said, continuing to unclothe until she was all nude. She folded it all up, her hairpins and her ribbon and her socks and her dress, all of it, and put it up on a rack. This weird girl really was making herself at home...a bit too much. She'd actually be very attractive if it weren't for that stuck deadpan face, or her rotten attitude, or how she was literally a cold person.

"You know what NO, I will NOT tolerate being BLINDED IN MY OWN DAMN HOME-...what the absolute hell?" he said, putting on the most disgusted face he could.

Jackson should have listened to Medus' warning, or he wouldn't have had to face this tremendously uncanny sight. To put it lightly, her chest was just lumps. She had no navel. And if Jackson were indecent enough to *want* to find out, he would discover nothing in between the legs or in the rear. He also noticed that she had not one hair anywhere apart from above her scalp. It was like looking at a creepy, lifelike doll.

"It's not my fault that your human biology contains so many unnecessary and frivolous additions I have no need to replicate." Lunala said, deflecting once again and feeling no qualms about being completely exposed. It was normal for her people to go around wearing nothing, and she was sure the same applied to the Coloured people too. Jackson could do nothing more than let out an exhausted sigh at that point.

"Fine, fine, keep being a flesh puppet or whatever..." he said, fed up of her antics. At least he didn't have anyone else walking in that he would have to explain to-

Oh goodness. Sarah might come around later, depending on her schedule. Remembering that, Jackson got into a slight panic, sweating all over. Just then, his phone started beeping when he received a message. He put on a smile seeing who it was, and turned away from the crazy woman sitting on the sofa again.

>looks like im free for dinner tonight

>where do you wanna go?

>>the usual I guess? lol

>haha

>yeah sure

>>what time will I see you?

>around 7.45 maybe so get a seat first

>>no prob

>>see you later

>yeah byeeeeeeeee

>>btw my car is totally ○○○○ed tho after yesterday's incident

>oh $#!+

>how have you been getting around then?

>>walked lmao

>>couldn't go too far

>then you're going to walk all the way there too?

>>I'll see if I can get a taxi or something later

>>dont worry

>ok then cya later~

As glad as he was to hear back from Sarah, Jackson got a bit worried. What if some other weird thing happens with Lunala around? He hoped he would never have to introduce her to his girlfriend. She's already weird and troublesome enough and getting in the way of his relationships would make her even worse! He dread to think of any kind of situation that would have the two of them meeting face to face...

Then how would things go if he could bring her back here for the night? Would Lunala still be here, or would she have gone by then? He worried about such menial things when the world was in danger from monsters and an unknown and supposed Antagonist. Speaking of which, it was time he found something out about them from the silver woman. He once again found himself seated at the side chair, seeing her take another bite out of another apple. She must have snagged it while he wasn't looking.

"Alright...time to keep up your end of the deal. Tell us about the-"

"No."

"...we had a damn deal-"

"I have yet to gauge the Coloured one's usefulness. The opportunity shall arise eventually. It is only afterwards that I may pay your needs any heed." she said pompously, chewing on apple.

"So...you want me to fight something for you?" Medus reasoned. What else could it be?

"Yes. Prove your ability in combat and perhaps I shall deem you worthy of participating in this horrible war." she said.

"Well, if it's so ○○○○ing horrible, why don't you just tell us and see if we can help?!" Jackson asked scoffing, unable to find any logic in her actions, or rather, inaction. Oddly, she fell quiet for a second or two and stopped chewing. Her vibes completely changed in that moment, and the both of them could feel it.

"...you needn't die a meaningless death..." she said with a change in her tone and an undetected hidden depth to her words, before she went back to eating more of that apple as if nothing happened.

At wit's end, Jackson stood up and left, wanting to take his mind off her and put it to something he actually cared about. He went to his wardrobe and started looking for a nice set of clothes to wear for his upcoming dinner, searching for something not too fancy and not too casual. He ate his lunch sandwich afterwards and decided to take some time to himself, locking up his bedroom door while he lay down, staring up at the blank ceiling while he attempted to consolidate his thoughts on all the crazy things that had happened so far.

"She's such a difficult person, isn't she?" Medus said to Jackson.

"Well, yeah. It's like dealing with a damn brat. Someone ought to give her some behavioural correction..." Jackson whined internally.

"I can't understand why she's like this. Across many worlds beyond the Land of Light, we Ultras know that it's better to work together on things...and to have basic decency." Medus said.

"Maybe wherever this bozo's from didn't teach her that. Or she has a stick up her @$$. Either way, I don't think she's affiliated with the bad guy we're supposedly dealing with...she's too clueless to be a villain."

"While that's not very nice, I guess I have to agree." Medus said, laughing. "And if she was, she'd probably have taken the chance to come after us already."

"I just wonder if we'll be alright with her being here..."

## Chapter 4

***With*** not much else he had to do for the day, Jackson did some vacuuming after lunch, going through his whole apartment. He did some other chores on his own as he would normally do on the weekend when he was free. Of course, Lunala didn't lift a finger to help but at least she didn't get in the way either. Afternoon became quickly became evening as the day progressed. Jackson was much less tired than he expected himself to be, thanks to Medus' presence.

It was getting late. 7PM came around and the sun had already set for the most part. Jackson put on his change of clothes and made his way out of the apartment, having called an Uber to pick him up. He told Lunala to stay put and not go anywhere and that he'll be back soon, but wasn't sure if she was going to listen. Thinking about it, he wasn't sure what she had been doing the whole day, sitting on that sofa. It didn't seem like she'd be leaving anytime soon either...was she going to just stay there permanently now? Jackson was distraught by the pretense of having to be stuck with a freeloading stuck-up voyeurist housemate living rent free and wouldn't even do housework.

Whatever. He had better things to do. He just hoped that she would stay out of trouble and not eat all his fruit by the time he came back.

Deep in the wet and smelly underground sewer network, a certain lump of flesh had now grown to the size of a human torso. It crawled along in four stubby extensions that made for rudimentary limbs, it had a pair of eyes that glowed in the dark, and a crude mouth.

The thing scurried along until it was met with by something it stopped in front of and growled at with aggression, before being shot at by a dark yet prismatic beam. Instead of being destroyed like one would expect, the flesh lump began to contort and expand simultaneously, growing rapidly until it could fit the whole width of the sewer it was in, and it grew some more, and more, and more...

Jackson sat bored in the car. The destruction of the mall meant that people would have to go elsewhere to get things done, and traffic was redirected accordingly. Though Jackson had accounted for this, it seems as though he had underestimated just how much he would be affected and was starting to worry that he'd be running late. He had been waiting for a chance to meet Sarah again for a while now; they could hardly do so because of their jobs. One had to stay long shifts though the night and the other had to travel a lot, not to mention the sudden changes, additions and disruptions in their schedules that could come about any time. Whatever time they could have for each other was made the most of.

They agreed to meet up at a local steakhouse and pub. The couple were never interested in fine dining and fanciful things, it was more important to have good food, a good atmosphere and a fun time, which they knew that place provided a great combination of and had become their usual meeting spot for dinner.

Stuck in traffic, Jackson's patience was wearing thin. Medus tried to keep him entertained by asking about what Sarah was like, so Jackson talked to him about the kind of things they did together, their ups and downs, how they met, and other things like that until he had run out of words to say. At some point his mind drifted into doing something cheeky. He performed a cursory search of the term 'Lunala' on a web browser and was able to get a laugh out of it.

Suddenly, there was rumbling. And then a loud boom from somewhere nearby, that had him and the driver and everyone else panicking. The cause of it all made itself apparent as a giant rodent made of swollen flesh. People scrambled out of their cars and shops and everywhere else after seeing the roaring beast. Medus recognised it as Nosferu, who had now taken on a far more menacing appearance, being able to walk upright at that giant size. Its claws also extended into horrible talons and it had an overly muscular build. With it being here, any chances of Jackson getting to meet his girlfriend immediately fell to zero, not to mention the fact that she and many others were most likely in danger.

"○○○○! IT'S THE RAT 8@$+@RD!" Jackson exclaimed with both frustration and anger that Medus hadn't seen in him until now. "RUINING MY DINNER DATE...I'M GOING TO KILL THIS STUPID 8!+CH! MEDUS! LET'S ○○○○ING GOOOOOOOO!"

"Y-yeah! Got it!" the Ultra said, taken aback. The young man summoned the Medus Brace and transformed for the second time today, rising in an orange and red pillar of light. Before the monster had the time to do anything, Medus went in for a front kick that sent the monster reeling back. He tried to pummel it with a flurry of jabs to the chest and immediately recognised that something was wrong, while his attacks were landing, they were not doing anything to damage the opponent. It was just like the last time when they fought Elegia.

Nosferu swiped its claws to slash at Medus, who fortunately stepped back in time to dodge the purple waves that it emitted. Medus did not want to get up close again, knowing that his enemy was invincible now. The giant rotten rat formed a ball of energy in its hand, red and blue in colour, and flung it at Medus' direction. He was able to cartwheel away from it, but that did not stop the massive explosion it caused. He decided to use his barrier to block the next one.

"Jackson...this thing has been augmented! I don't think we can fight it!" Medus warned, taking note of Nosferu's abilities. Those fireballs it launched and the purple energy waves it emitted were never recorded on the IGDF's database, and had nearly caught him off guard.

"Oh crap...does that mean we have to rely on that silver wretch again?" Jackson complained, before he and Medus were shocked by Nosferu's next action. It emitted a hazy light from the center of its forehead towards the direction of a few escaping people, pulling them up the tractor beam and concealing them within an opening on its head, trapping then inside. "What the ○○○○..." Jackson said, getting laughed at by the monster that advanced towards him.

Medus was being pushed back, desperately trying to dodge and block Nosferu's claws and teeth. Up against such an opponent, he was at a loss for what to do and time was draining away.

"Have you still not figured out how to remove the augment?" a disembodied voice said to Medus and Jackson from out of nowhere. "Are all you Coloured ones this hopelessly weak and oblivious, or is it just you?" Lunala's voice continued, condescendingly and unimpressed.

"She's been watching us and hasn't even bothered to lift a finger to help people!" Medus said offended at her. He kept his distance from Nosferu, knowing that continuing to attack would only be a waste of energy.

"What a pain in the @$$ this girl is. With or without her, we need a plan. First, we pin him down and get the people out...then we need to torch this guy till he's gone. Sound good?" Jackson suggested.

"But that augment...I still don't know how it works!" Medus said, dodging and evading more attacks as best he could, slowly getting worn down.

"Leave it to me...I got this." Jackson said with a slight smirk forming. "If you think you're all that much of a hot $#!+, you'd show up and make yourself useful instead of hiding behind a Coloured like a pansy!" Jackson shouted aloud...hoping she would hear that.

"...what was that?" Lunala responded, and Jackson knew that his tactic was working. Medus had a bad feeling about this but felt even worse about the giant monster he was fighting.

The truth is that he had wanted to do something like this for a long time now, after having to put on a nice face in front of so many of the annoying and demanding and self-centered patients he had to face at his job. He felt a sense of release, being finally able to have an outlet and chance to unleash his true and uncensored thoughts.

"YEAH! YOU ACT ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY AND THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING BUT YOU'RE REALLY JUST A CLUELESS AND SLEAZY COWARD WHO'S TOO SCARED TO EVEN FACE DOWN A GODDAMN RAT! YOU WANT US TO DO ALL THE HEAVY LIFTING BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T DO IT YOURSELF! YOU'RE TOO FOCUSED ON PLAYING THE PART OF A PRETTY PRINCESS TO EVEN CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR OWN DAMN CAUSE, SO IF I'M WRONG YOU'D BE SHOWING YOURSELF RIGHT-" Jackson continued before he was interrupted by a silver beam shooting down from above, hitting Nosferu who screamed and squealed. A prismatic aura around it shattered into shards and the monster was blown back, having its augment removed.

The silver Ultra descended, as predictably as possible which put an entertained smirk on Jackson's face. That pretentious air of sophistication she put on was all to mask this underlying simpleton in front of him. She turned around to Medus and then smacked him on the face, almost hard enough for him to tumble over.

"Uncouth, unskilled, unrefined and unintelligent! Your punishment will continue later...how dare you question the authority and prowess of the-" she said out her full title in a run-on string that neither Medus or Jackson could fully catch onto. Nosferu got up with a howl, running at the two Ultras. The silver one put up her left hand, rapidly firing out bolts of silver light towards Nosferu, who was blown back. Leaving it with no chance to retaliate, Lunala performed a jump kick that went through one of those rings she conjured up, setting her right foot alight with a whitish glow that she planted right into Nosferu, kicking it back with an explosion going off at the site of impact.

Medus' Colour Timer was red now. He decided to take a back seat and see how Lunala does. Seeing her continuing to shoot at it with various beams and projectiles had them convinced she wasn't all that great at close quarters combat since she had largely avoided it by now, and was focused only on killing. Yes, killing, because she did not seem to care about the people that Nosferu had trapped.

"There are humans who've been absorbed into its forehead! We need to free them before taking down the monster!" Jackson said to her.

"That's your job. Get it done instead of so uselessly standing around." she said back coldly while keeping on the offensive, pummeling Nosferu with a chain of attacks to control the distance between them.

"Listen for just a second! Even among Space Beasts, Nosferu has a very tenacious vitality that allows it to recover and regenerate thanks to an organ in its throat. You can't just blow it away-"

"I have no need to listen to the word of a Coloured one!" Lunala retorted somewhat angrily before getting stopped by something that entered her mind.

"You ought to lend him an ear or two, Lunala. He possesses knowledge that escapes you and sees things you are blind to. Even for that and nothing else, you should grant him some of your attention, Coloured or not." a gentle yet masculine voice said in her mind.

"You...you've been watching?" she asked back using telepathy. Getting startled by the sudden voice made her lose her concentration, and nearly caused her to fall victim to the monster's claws swiping down with great speed and intensity. Medus came running in with a tackle, sparing her from a grisly fate while knocking the monster down. Riding on the monster's back as it thrashed and wriggled and bucked, Medus did his best to hang on.

"Use this, Jackson!" Medus said, drawing a short blade out of his bracer, extending only barely past the fist.

"Got it. Let's begin the operation!" the man announced, jamming the blade into the side of Nosferu's forehead. It screamed in pain as a lump of meat was cut out of it with precision despite all the victim's struggling. Holding the extracted flesh in his hand, Medus tossed it aside and then jammed his full-length blade into the base of the beast's neck, rupturing the organ inside it before he was bucked off. The people inside the meaty lump from the beast's forehead felt the flesh walls weaken, and with a great amount of effort they were able to force themselves out an orifice in the front.

Rolling back into balance, Medus touched his bracer and flung arrow-shaped projectiles out of his left hand, aimed at Nosferu's face when it got up roaring. They hit their mark, making small explosions that covered its vision in sparks, throwing it off balance.

Recovering from her earlier distraction, Lunala was agitated but had to consider the words of the one who contacted her, and that meant having to go along with the ways of the Coloured one she held so much disdain for. She recalled his words from their earlier meeting, that the Beast would be able to make new Beasts if its cells survived. Begrudgingly, she summoned a stone from out of nowhere into her hand, red and carved with the outline of a certain bird-like monster on its front face. She crushed it in her grip, causing a red light to flow out of it and into both hands that she put together, unleashing a stream of bright silver flames at the monster that had it screaming in pain as its flesh began to melt and burn. Nosferu tried to tunnel and get away, and Lunala was forced to notice that her attack wasn't doing enough.

"Let's finish this!" Medus announced, charging up an attack. The orange V sign on his chest began to light up with the colour of embers, bursting into flames that flowed outwards and concentrated themselves into a sphere larger than his own head. Pushing forward with both fists, Medus sent it flying at Nosferu's direction, resulting in a gigantic inferno erupting upwards. Howling away the last of its breath, Nosferu was wiped from existence.

Medus was visibly tired from the battle, barely able to stand with his Colour Timer flashing rapidly. He turned over to Lunala, giving him the distant glare as usual. She did not appear to be even the least bit tired.

"You see that...? Huh...? We can do...just...fine!" Jackson said from inside Medus, before the Ultra collapsed onto his front with a dark Colour Timer. His eyes shut off as well, and not ten seconds later the body broke down into particles of orange and red light, leaving only Jackson there lying in a crater.

Jackson struggled to breathe and he felt like all his strength was leaving him. He was overcome by a feeling of cold and his senses began to dull.

"I'm sorry Jackson...we're really out of time..." Medus said, weakly. Jackson could not reply before he fell unconscious.

With the monster gone, Lunala disappeared as well into a silver light and returned to her humanoid form, thankfully as fully clothed as she could be bothered to. While annoyed at having to join the Coloured Ultra in battle, she could at least acknowledge his determination, if nothing else. She also had to bitterly accept that if it weren't for him, she might have got hit in that moment of carelessness and now she had a debt to repay. She held out her hand, sending out silver light that turned purple in the air and coalesced into a purple stone that bore Nosferu's image. Lunala then made her way over to Jackson's body, lifting him up and carrying him over the shoulder rather effortlessly despite the obvious difference in their size and build, and began walking off.

The phone in Jackson's pocket was ringing. Lunala took it out and figured out how to answer the call, sliding on the green icon near the bottom.

"Jack?! Are you alright?! I heard there's a monster in the area and-" the voice of a woman named Sarah said.

"He's safer with me than with you." Lunala replied, interrupting her.

"Who is this?! And what happened to Jack?! Hello...?! Can you hear me?! HEY!" Sarah shouted. There were no further replies.