Chapter 4: Battle on the Snowy Mountains

Previously:

Raptor Team finds an unconcious woman on their way to a village in Hokkaido to investigate strange cases of people being frozen into ice statues. Through a series of events, the woman is revealed to be the alien creature Snowgon. Known to be an enemy of Ultraman Jack in the past, why is Snowgon protecting the village and yet suddenly attacking Yuka?

Three grey Chinook helicopters bearing the symbol of GEAR Japan landed outside the village where Yuka and the others are in. GCI soldiers poured out of the Chinooks as Ayane stepped out from the first Chinook. Captain Iketani and the rest of Raptor Team came to greet her.

"The blizzard's all cleared so SCAN was able to pick up the location of Iceron. We also picked up three other monsters in the region, namely Snowgon, a Dorako and a Pandon. The Director decided to send in more reinforcements to counter these threats."

"Well, we've kinda got our own reinforcements last night. Secret reinforcements," Captain Iketani replied to Ayane as he pointed her towards the third floor.

"Where's Toru?" Ren asked.

"Right here," a familiar voice responded as Toru emerged from the Chinoook Ayane was on, wheeling himself down the ramp towards his team-mates.

"Wait... Toru? You..." Yuka, a surprised look on her face, asked. All this while she had not realize that Toru was in a wheelchair.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you about my disability."

"Toru lost the use of his legs in an accident shortly after joining Raptor Team. He was caught in a hit-and-run accident and the injuries he suffered left him crippled," Jake explained.

"That's horrible!"

"Nah, I'm all right now. Got used to this wheelchair anyways. Now, before we get to business, you might want to change into this, Yuka," Toru said as he presented a flat parcel to Yuka.

Yuka opened it, only to find a neatly folded uniform, dark green and black in colour with the dinosaur head logo of Raptor Team on it along with her nametag.

"That's the official uniform of Raptor Team, Yuka. As of now, you're permanently part of our group. And here's your Dual Shooter. Jake will guide you on how to use its functions at a later date," Captain Iketani said. Grinning like a child receiving a Christmas gift, Yuka hurriedly went back to the building they were holed up in to change.

"How is Snowgon?" Jake asked as he, Yuka and Kohaku entered the room where Mirai was watching over Snowgon.

"She woke up, but then fell asleep again. According to the way Yuka explained her attack, it seems that she has a freezing touch apart from her usual abilities."

"No wonder the villagers mistook her for a yuki-onna," Kohaku said as she sat down beside Snowgon. It was then Snowgon started to stir.

"What... where am I?"

"Oh, you're awake!" Kohaku said as she knelt beside Snowgon.

"Hey, Snowgon, I don't mean to be rude but why did you attack me yesterday?"

"Attack? Oh, right... i remember... I didn't mean to..."

"You can apologize to her later, personally. Although I can't really think of any reason why you tried to freeze her solid in the first place."

"I didn't mean to do it! Something came over me... I just blacked out all of a sudden and when I came to I was freezing her arm! I panicked and escaped..."

Jake and Kohaku looked at each other, wondering whether Snowgon was telling the truth. Yuka, however, simply gave Snowgon a friendly smile, something which causes Snowgon to blush slightly.

"So, Snowgon, when did you start protecting the village?"

"I... it's a long story..."

"We're all interested, please, do tell," Mirai said gently. Jake and Yuka also sat down to listen. Snowgon sighed and began her tale.

(Flashback) Three months ago

Snowgon clutched her leg in pain as she tried to hide from a two-headed monster with bird-like heads as it hunts for her in the mountains. Where it came from, she did not know, but she was frightened and injured, having been beaten by it when she assumed her true form to fight it.

Snowgon was startled by footsteps walking towards her. She turned around, only to find a man with blond hair and different-coloured eyes standing in front of her. Before she could react, she felt someone hit her on the back of her head. Snowgon's vision fade to black...

"Miss, miss, are you all right?"

Snowgon could heaer a child talking to her. She opened her eyes slowly, still recovering from the knockout blow as well as her leg injury. In front of her were two children and an adult was in a house lying on a sofa with a blanket over her.

"Miss, how did you injure your leg? Did you fell?"

"I... I'm fine, thanks. How... did you find me?"

"My kids here found you when they sneaked into the forest to play and called me over to help," the man said, his tone friendly.

"Papa, papa, the village chief wants to see you," one of the children said, tugging at the man's pants.

"All right, all right, both of you come with me. Miss, you stay here and get some rest,"the man said as he and his kids left the house. Snowgon waited for them to leave, before silently getting up, opening the window and sneaking out.

I'm a monster, I can't stay in human society, Snowgon thought as she slowly made her way towards the forest, but stoped when she heard the man calling out for her.

"I don't know, chief! She was right here!"the man exclaimed, his tone filled with surprise.

"You must have picked up a yuki-onna, Wataru," an older voice was heard saying.

"Dammit, I even went to get medication for her leg..."

Snowgon wanted to go back to the house, but ultimately choose to go to the forest.

For the next few days, she silently observed the villagers. They were helpful and kind to each other, and as she watched the children play with each other in the snow, a sense of belonging swell within her. For unknown reasons, she found herself loving this village. It was peaceful and quiet, unlike human cities. But then she remembered the two headed monster that had attacked her, and realized that the village was in danger of the monster attacking it. Apart from the two-headed monster, she also remembered sensing the presence of two other monsters around...

"And that's how I choose to protect the village," Snowgon finished her tale.

"Because you felt an attraction to this village?" Jake asked.

"Honestly speaking, I also regard this village as part of my territory, and I have to make sure no other monsters invade my home. But honestly speaking, I can't seem to remember a lot of things, like why I'm on your planet, and why I keep having blackouts."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"Okay. I need to help Yuka get used to the Dual Shooter anyway. I think I'll drag Ren along. Wanna come along Kohaku?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not?"

"Actually, I'm a bit hungry at the moment," Mirai admitted as his stomach began growling.

"There's soup and porridge at the lobby, you can join us for breakfast. There's four guards up here to keep an eye on you, Snowgon. Don't worry, they're friendly," Kohaku said to Snowgon as the three of them got up and left the room.

"Wait, I want to ask something. I heard that villagers have been turning up frozen, and that since I attacked you all of a sudden without knowing... did I... attack them too?"

The four of them stared at Snowgon, then looked at each other uncomfortably.

"She's lying," Ren said as snow flew off the snowman.

Yuka was practicing using the Dual Shooter, with Jake helping her get used to the recoil. Jake, Kohaku and Ren had built ten snowmen as targets but clearly the sniper and medic could not resist making giving the snowmen some silly items- one had a top hat Ren found in a ruined house and another had an angry face on it made with stones. A third had carrots for its eyes and nose.

"I don't know, but she sounded sincere to me," Kohaku said.

"That's a monster, you guys. She can't be trusted."

"C'mon Ren, why so prejudiced against monsters? Not all of them are out to destroy the world," Yuka said nonchalantly. Ren was about to say something in anger but Jake shot him a warning glare, causing him to keep quiet for the rest of the shooting session.

Aiming carefully, Yuka fired another shot at one of the snowmen, the laser taking a chunk of snow of its head. Jake then signalled for her to stop.

"Looks like you're getting the hang of it, Yuka. Wanna try the 'big one'?"

"What big one?"

"Oh, you're gonna love it. Turn the front of the Dual Shooter so that the bigger barrel is on top," Jake explained as he twisted the front of his Dual Shooter so that the larger barrel, which is usually below the smaller barrel, is now on top. Yuka does the same, but her thoughts began drifting back to Snowgon's words.

"Now, press this button and take aim... Hold down the trigger... Let it char-HOLY CRAP GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Both men dived to the ground as Yuka released the trigger of her Dual Shooter prematurely, sending a large red ball of energy flying past their heads and into one of the snowmen. The blast obiliterated all the snowmen and left a crater on the ground.

"Ah! I'm sorry! Are you guys okay? Ren? Jake?"

Both men got up from their positions, their backs completely covered in snow, mud and pieces of wood. Ren spat out some snow before glaring at Yuka along with Jake.

"Er... Oops..." Yuka stammered as she gave them an innocent grin. Meanwhile, Kohaku simply rolled around the ground, laughing her head off.

The four GCI soldiers slacked around outside Snowgon's room, wondering why they had been called to keep an eye on her.

"Why do we have to watch over a monster? I mean, she can take care of herself better than us."

"She attacked a member of Raptor Team yesterday, escaped, yet returned to protect the village from Iceron. Strange, don't you think?"

"Split personality?"

Meanwhile, inside the room, Snowgon quietly stared outside the window, her eyes showing worry. Yuka had revealed that there were ten villagers who had been frozen into ice statues, one of whom had died. Even though she did not say anything else, Snowgon knew that it was her fault, since she's the only one who could freeze people into ice statues. Iceron only just appeared yesterday. Before that, she sensed that Iceron was in a slumber.

All of a sudden, Snowgon shuddered and collapsed to her knees, before getting back up. Her face was now a blank expression, just as it had been when she attacked Yuka in the middle of their conversation. Eerily, she walked towards the door, her hands glowing blue.

Yuka, Kohaku, Ren and Jake were walking back to the village when shouts could be heard. Sensing trouble, the three of them rushed back to the village only to find several GCI soldiers surrounding Snowgon and pointing their weapons at her.

"That expression! She was like that when she attacked me yesterday!" Yuka exclaimed as they drew near.

Captain Kimura noticed them approaching and beckoned to them.

"What's the damage Kimura?" Ren asked.

"The four soldiers guarding her are frozen solid, similar to the villagers. She just froze another two soldiers that tried to stop her. We're waiting for Captain Iketani's signal."

"Snowgon! What are you doing? Why are you attacking?" Yuka shouted at Snowgon, who turned around and began walking towards her.

"Dammit, she's not responding!" Ren said. By then, the rest of Raptor Team had joined the group. Yuka tried to get through to Snowgon.

"Snowgon, please! You said to us earlier that you wanted to protect this village because you felt attracted to it! You saw the kindness of the villagers and the peacefulness of the area! Why are you attacking now? C'mon, Snowgon! Snap out of it!"

"Stop talking to it, Yuka! I told you that thing is a monster! It won't care about humans!" Ren shouted as he took aim at Snowgon. Dean and Kohaku tried to stop him, grappling with him.

Snowgon began to hesitate, and to everyone's shock, a tear fell from her eyes!

"Please... stop me..." Snowgon forcefully said as she got nearer to Yuka, almost about to give her the touch that froze her victims into ice statues

A shot rang out as a laser bolt hits Snwogon at the back of her neck. Snowgon fell to the ground, motionless. Everyone was stunned, then turned to look at Ren.

"I didn't even fire a shot! Don't look at me like that!"

"I did."

Everyone turned to stare at Mirai, his Mebium Brace showing on his left wrist, as he walked towards Snowgon, bent down, and pulled something out from the back of Snowgon's neck. Everyone walked forward to take a look at what it was. In Mirai's hands was a strange, metal device.

"This is a Verach Seijin's mind control device. It is unique in a way that it allows the victim to retain their free will until the user needs them under his control. Once they had done what the user wants them to do, the device is deactivated until it is needed again."

"The Verach Seijin?"

"A race of aliens made up of darkness and shadows. It seems that they are targetting Earth, seeing how Snowgon here fell victim to their mind control device. I'm honestly surprised that Snowgon was able to fight off some of the control. These devices are very powerful."

A sudden blast caused everyone to turn around. The sight that behold them sent the soldiers into a panic- a Dorako and a Pandon was storming down the mountainside, approaching the village. Both are being led by Iceron.

"Get the frozen soldiers into the basement of the town hall, with the other victims! The rest of you, into your positions, now!" Captain Kimura ordered. Despite their fear, the soldiers complied and quickly moved into position.

"Raptor Team! Fall back to the building and take up positions!" Captain Iketani shouted at his team. Everyone rushed into the building, except for Yuka, who helped Mirai moved the unconscious Snowgon to a safe place inside a small hut. Jake noticed them entering, but Pandon began firing fireballs all over the place as mortar and rockets hit its body. Dorako simply took to the air while Iceron stayed behind and simply watch.

"Your friends' weapons won't be enough to defeat them all at once. I'll take care of Dorako, you take out Pandon," Mirai said as his Mebium Brace appeared on his left wrist. Yuka nodded, summoning her own Shield Bracers. Both of them transformed into their respective Ultra forms.

"Look, Jake! Over there! Mebius!" Ayane and Toru said excitedly, ignorant of one of Pandon's fireballs missing their hiding place by inches. Jake, covered in soot and dirt, looked up, only to see Mebius take off after Dorako while Aegis appeared next to Pandon, spun it around so that both heads are facing her before grabbing them both and knocking them together. The impact left Pandon dazed as it spun around on its right foot.

"Ha, two heads aren't always better than one," Dean said from the third level of the building, where he was holed up with Kohaku, Ren and Captain Iketani. Meanwhile, GCI soldiers cleared the battlefield to prevent any of the two giants from accidently stepping on them.

"You will serve the Verach in their invasion of Earth, whether you want to or not."

"No, I won't be a weapon like my sister!"

"Foolish girl, no one defies Lord Darkaizer."

"Do you not wish to avenge your sister, who was so brutally killed by Ultraman Jack on Earth?"

"She was tricked... I will not let myself suffer the same fate as my sister! Let go of me!"

"You do not have a choice..."

Snowgon's eyes opened. She was in a hut, with the sounds of battle outside. She took a while to gather her senses but then she sensed something strange, like something was missing. Slowly, she crept out of the hut, only to see Aegis delivering a few punches and kicks to Pandon. She then noticed Iceron simply standing there, watching. Her eyes narrowed.

She remembered everything now. How she was forcefully kidnapped from her home planet. How she ended up with a strange device attached to her. When she felt her neck, she noticed that it was gone. She then remembered how this Verach Seijin would manipulate her into freezing any humans that come near her, despite her attempts to resist, only to forget everything all of a sudden.

She wanted to help out in the battle, but there was something she needed to do first.

Mebius finally caught up with Dorako, but Dorako suddenly turned around and flew past him, slashing him with its hooks along the way. As Mebius reacted to the attack, Dorako did a U-turn and repeated the attack twice. As it swung around for a fourth attack, Mebius was ready. Charging up energy into his fist, Mebius struck Dorako in its face as it neared him. The attack sent Dorako falling to the ground, the impact sending dirt and snow flying into the air. Deciding to finish the fight, Mebius transforms into his Burning Brave Mode, landed, ran a few steps and leapt high into the air. As he descended, he began spinning rapidly as his feet became engulfed in fire.

"That's the move he used on Reflect Seijin! Damn, we should have brought a video camera with us!" Toru exclaimed.

"We're caught in a middle of a monster brawl and all you can think of is taking a video?" Ayane asked, her tone filled with disbelief.

Caught like a rat, Dorako was unable to get up in time, and Mebius smashed into it, destroying Dorako.

Meanwhile, Aegis was sent flying backwards by Pandon's fireball attacks. She managed to roll out of the way from another barrage before running towards Pandon with both her arms stretched behind her back, like a ninja in movies and cartoons. As she does so, both her arms began glowing She ran towards Pandon, performnig a somersault to avoid Pandon's fireball barrage before landing and doing another one, this time vaulting over Pandon as she performed chopping actions with both her hands, sending two energy arcs out of her arms which hits both the necks of Pandon. She then landed gracefully behind Pandon as both its heads slowly fell from their individual necks.

"Damn, they both defeated their opponents! Now only Iceron is left!" Ren cheered.

"No, Iceron was trying to wear them both out. His plan's succeeded. Look," Captain Iketani said as he pointed at Mebius. True enough, Mebius' Color Timer was starting to blink. Aegis' Color Timer was not blinking, but it was obvious that she was getting worn out as well. Both Ultras rushed at Iceron, who simply does its strange energy arc attack, sending them both falling to the ground. It then fired one after another, with Mebius and Aegis unable to deflect the energy arcs. Both Ultras are left strugglnig to get up, with Aegis' Color Timer now blinking too.

Suddenly, a familiar roar distracted Iceron, who turned around only to see Snowgon charging at it. Unable to react in time, Iceron was tackled to the ground by Snowgon, who then picked it up to rain a few punches and kicks on it.

"Snowgon! She's back!" Kohaku said happily.

"What the hell is with her coming back? She think's Iceron's stealing her kill?" Ren asked in a hostile manner.

Just then, Captain Kimura appeared. He quickly joined them.

"Iketani, the frozen victims... they've been freed!"

"Freed? That's great news! How did it happen?"

"The villagers said that the yuki-onna unfroze them. My men said it was Snowgon who came for them and thawed them out. Apparently she kept apologizing."

"See, Ren, not all monsters are as evil as you make them to be," Dean said to Ren, who remained silent, a stunned expression on his face.

Snowgon finally stopped pounding on Iceron, grabbing its face instead. With a mighty roar, she ripped the tengu-like mask face off Iceron! Iceron howled in pain as it thrashed around the snow. This gave both Ultras a chance to recover. Mebius and Aegis stood up, looked at each other and nodded before combining their beam attacks on Iceron. The hapless Super Beast was blown into pieces by the strangth of the combined beam.

Somewhere up the mountains, the blonde man with two different eye colors, Katsuima Junichi, and a hooded figure watched the battle end before leaving the area.

"Now that we have the information we need, it is time you begin your mission, Junichi," the hooded figure said.

"Ha, leave it to me," Junichi replied, a confident look on his face.

"Well, the villagers sure are clingy," Mirai said as he prepared to leave Earth. Taro had sent a message to inform him that he will be waiting near the Moon, and it seems that he doesn't sound very happy about it.

"You'll get use to it if you come to Earth more often," Yuka replied as her friend transformed into his true form once again and took off, with the villagers all waving at him.

"Hey, Yuka! We'll be taking Snowgon with us on one of the Chinooks! You help Jake pack all the stuff back into the Lander Wolf, okay?" Captain Iketani asked. Apparently, everyone was going to return in their Chinooks except Jake, who was going to drive back to base in the Lander Wolf. Snowgon had insisted on taking an aerial vehicle, and Ren, surprisingly, had personally guided her into the Chinook he, Dean and Toru will be taking.

"Why, sure! No problem!" She replied, full of enthusiasm.

After an hour of packing, and saying goodbye to the villagers, Jake and Yuka finally left the village, with the Chinooks speeding off in front of them.

As Jake carefully navigated the mountain road, Yuka tried to start up a conversation with him, but the talkative, soft-spoken sniper was unusually quiet. It was only when they were halfway back to base did he finally break the silence.

"Yuka, I have a question to ask, if you don't mind."

"What is it?"

Jake took a deep breath, then closed his eyes before opening them again.

"Never mind, I'll leave it for now," he said before turning back to focus his attention on the road. Although, in his mind, he had really wanted to ask the question:

"Are you Aegis?"

SCAN Datafiles

Profile: Dorako

Origins: Ultraman (1966)

A monster with one hook hand and one clawed hand, it seems to resemble a grasshopper. The first recorded Dorako appeared in 1966 where it was killed by a Red King during a fight with another monster known as Girass somewhere in the mountains

Profile: Pandon

Origins: Ultraseven

This two-headed bird-like monster was used by Ghoth Seijin in their attempt to invade Earth and was the final monster to be fought by Ultraseven during his time on Earth. After defeating it, Pandon was revived as Reconstructed Pandon, only to fall to the might of Ultraseven once again.

Chapter 5: The Garden

Jake is beginning to suspect Yuka is Aegis, almost asking her about it. How will the whole thing turn out? Also, Dr Kurosaki reveals an island near Bastion Cove where non-hostile monsters will be brought to, known as The Garden. While Snowgon, its first resident, adapts to life in The Garden, a hostile monster suddenly appears from the ocean and attacks her new home, courtesy of Katsuima Junichi using a summoning device given to him by the hooded figure, whose identity is about to be revealed by Verach Seijin Umbrager