Ultra Symphony
Chapter 38: Melted Heart, Pt. 3
***
"Well, Sakamoto Ai from MEU, you picked a hell of a time to call..." Sairai said wryly. "What can I do for you, though?"
"I am sorry to bother you, Kawarinou-san, but we've got sort of an emergency downtown. If you aren't at leisure right now, I'd advise you to quickly become so."
The resounding *click* in Sairai's ear drove the point home, and he hung up the phone.
Looking out into the living room at his wife, Seshiru, asleep on the couch, he sighed and strolled out the door of his apartment. As he stepped into the elevator, he knew that at the very least he wouldn't have to worry about transportation.
He saw the battle out his window, being that he lived downtown and all.
***
Masami and Kakei looked at each other momentarily.
"Level 20... we've never fought anything that powerful." Kakei said quietly.
Ikeda bit her lip, looking at the ground. "MEU's level ratings... are flawed. They're based on so many factors, it's impossible to determine it accurately."
Kakei sighed. "May I see you again after this battle."
Ikeda looked back at him and smiled. "You will, Captain. You will." She then looked up at the sky, as pink energy seemed to fall around her.
Kakei crossed his arms over his shoulders and closed his eyes. Both of them seemed to momentarily levitate, side by side, overwhelmed with power.
She closed her eyes, he opened his, and one after the other, in perfect harmony, they cried out.
"Theresa... HIGH!"
"Zoffy... HIGH!"
***
Sairai stepped outside the glass front door of his apartment building just in time to see a balcony from one of the higher-level apartments crash to the ground. He looked above him and squinted at an enormous Ultra monster that was carelessly stomping around the buildings.
"Jeez, someone's not getting their damage deposit back. Unfortunately, I haven't got money to waste on things like that, so I'm going to have to show you out!" He yelled up at the monster.
With that, never taking his eyes off the sky, focusing on the Ultra Star, he gritted his teeth and felt his body fill with anger. Unlike Theresa and Zoffy, his transformation was not pleasant and psychedelic, but rather a great mental and physical strain.
Pure force of will alone will be the key to your power. It doesn't matter how you obtain it, but you have to get angry enough to trigger power inside of you.
Sairai's eyes slowly began to narrow and glow red, and a great pressure filled him, as if he was being crushed from the inside out. His eyes closed, and he screamed.
"Force of will, grant me the power.... JACK HIGH!!"
A great red beam of light engulfed his body as he rose up and grew. He stood in a dynamic pose, with his legs spread out across two streets.
Theresa and Zoffy joined him, surrounding the monsters in a triangle. There were 5 of them; 2 women and 3 men, with strangely familiar markings.
Theresa studied them closely, poised for action. "Where the hell is Chibi 85?" She muttered in the general direction of Jack and Zoffy.
Zoffy shook his head, looking at the monsters.
"Your ally would be useless to you, I assure you." One of the three men said, his voice low and cracking. His body was red and gray, similar to that of the Ultras. However, the colors were oddly mixed together rather haphazardly and almost seemed ready to drip onto the ground. Amidst the colors, several small lumps were scattered in an indistinguishable pattern. His face was scrunched into a scowl with a cracked and broken texture, and his head fin appeared to have been melted down into a puddle which hardened into spikes that stuck out every which way.
The others were similar in appearance; all had distorted and cracked faces, splottered color streaks, and melted fins.
"This is Hinotama's worst design yet.." Jack muttered.
One of the monsters turned to him, his face distorted so that one half was nearly hanging off his head, and he snarled low in his throat.
"You have no idea of what you speak, Ultra. Hinotama has nothing to do with us."
"You murdered five of my people in cold blood and you're obviously Ultras. I'd say that's a pretty damn big coincedence." Theresa growled.
One of the female Ultras turned to her, with eerie, almost robotlike movements.
"It's easier for you to consider us as simply evil. You won't live long enough to realize just how wrong you are."
"What? What are you talking about?!" Jack asked.
"Enough of this. We must continue." The first male with the lumps commanded. The other man and woman, who had remained silent, turned toward him as though Theresa, Zoffy and Jack didn't exist, and they began to slowly walk in the opposite direction.
"What the hell? Where are they going?!" Theresa asked. "Aren't we the ones they want?!"
"They must be splitting up, we've got to keep them in the same area." Zoffy said quietly, taking off after the three.
Theresa and Jack went to follow him, but the two monsters stood in their way.
"What the hell is going on?!" Jack screamed at the deadpan pair.
"We must sincerely apologize for what it is we are doing." The man said with absolutely no remorse in his voice. "As 21st century Ultras, we can not expect you to understand."
"Understand what?!" Theresa began, but before she could finish, the two ultras drew out immense, sleek firearms, aimed them at the pair, and fired.
