Disclaimer: Ultraman and all associated characters belong to Tsuburaya Productions. No infringement of any of the rights of the creators or distributors is intended. This fanfic may only be distributed with explicit permission from the author and without any monetary value exchanged.


Splintered Secrets

an Ultraman Moebius fanfic by Hoshikage

Prologue.


Urzan's lab was a disaster. For weeks he had not bothered with any attempt at cleaning. Food containers stood stacked on every surface that wasn't strictly necessary (and even some that were). Papers with notes scrawled across their surfaces were trampled into complete illegibility on the floor. A pile of bedding in the corner sufficed for the occasional few hours of sleep he had snatched in between his long, frantic sessions of work.

But it was all worth it. He was finally done.

He stared in satisfaction at the screen, as it displayed the perfect simulation results. He then lifted all six eyes to gaze at the equipment as it hummed away in response, the force globe brightening as it reflected and amplified the energy he was feeding into it.

At last. At last, everything was ready! The other parts of the plan had been in readiness for days, awaiting only the completion of the machine that was the key to it all. He could spring the trap at any time.

Urzan slumped at his desk, giving a scroom of relief and weariness. Now that he was ready, he could afford to rest first. It would be terrible foolishness to allow overeagerness to disrupt his plan now. Fatigue led to irreparable mistakes when one was dealing with those unpredictable humans.

He glanced around at the mess in his lab and winced. Clean first, perhaps, then rest. It would be disgraceful to have the lab in such a state when his guest arrived. Especially since it would be the last thing he would see. Such a noble end required respectful surroundings.

Urzan got up and set himself to gathering up the garbage.


Chapter 1.


"Teppei," Captain Sakomizu said with a sigh, "I know you've been working hard lately, but there are limits."

Teppei glanced down at his station, looked back up forlornly into the Captain's eyes, and then dropped his head. "I'm sorry, Captain."

Mirai peeked around the Captain's shoulder. Teppei had been barely sleeping for days, trying to find a weak point in the latest monster. He'd found it, finally, but it had taken all of GUYS and a complicated plan to exploit it... even with the "lucky coincidence" that Ultraman Moebius appeared right when the plan required him and did exactly what was needed.

Mirai flinched a little, remembering the Captain's words to him after the mission was over. This can't last, Mirai. Even with all I can do to distract them, sooner or later, someone will start to notice...

But since he had no answer for that, Mirai focused on the moment instead. Teppei had been eating (and frequently even sleeping) at his computer so much that there was barely a horizontal space left that didn't have some kind of debris stacked on it. Even the shelf on the wall that held his monster toys and models had not been spared, as there was an empty ramen cup sitting innocently next to an outstretched plastic claw. Mirai looked at the guilty expression on Teppei's face, and felt impelled to volunteer. "I'll help you clean it up, Teppei-san."

The Captain gave him an amused look. "I can't have you sharing his punishment, Mirai." He leveled his gaze on Teppei again. "No going off duty until that's clean, you understand?"

"Yessir," Teppei said, and smiled at Mirai. "Thanks anyway, Mirai-kun."

Mirai smiled back and turned away. As he did so, the Captain leaned down and murmured quietly into his ear, so no one else would hear. "Besides, you know you should stay off that wrist."

Mirai looked up, knowing his face was mirroring Teppei's guilty expression for an instant, but unable to stop himself. The Captain didn't pause, merely heading toward the nook that held his coffeemaker, making the comment nothing of note, especially since Teppei had turned away to start cleaning. Mirai swallowed and took refuge on the other side of the main table, sitting down at his own station.

He knew he should have the wrist bandaged right now. But that would attract too much attention. He didn't want anyone to see his left wrist bandaged up when he knew full well that everyone had seen that huge mouth clamp sharp teeth around Ultraman's left wrist. Besides... thanks to what he was, he healed far faster than any true human. There were no bite marks or anything to explain... it only hurt when he flexed it or tried to lift something, and he could hide that.

It would be good enough. It had to be.

*
Ryuu shrugged his jacket on as he entered the operations room, but he didn't bother to zip it up, leaving the T-shirt underneath showing through the gap in the gray leather. He yawned and dropped into his chair, looking crossly at Mirai where he sat on the other side of the table. He knew full well that Mirai had been up just as long as the rest of them, it looked like he'd gotten even less sleep than Ryuu had, and yet there he was, looking totally alert and perfectly assembled as always. He even had the nerve to smile that big sappy smile at Ryuu and chirp happily, "Good morning, Ryuu-san!"

Hell, Mirai was his best friend in the world, but sometimes he was damned annoying.

"It's afternoon," Ryuu grumbled sourly. "And how come you're so chipper?"

Mirai looked puzzled. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"Don't tell me you don't need to sleep like us mere mortals!" Ryuu grumbled, and the puzzled expression vanished off Mirai's face, replaced with something taut and unreadable.

But before Ryuu could do more than blink, the expression was gone again, so swiftly that it seemed he'd imagined it in the quick pulse of his eyelids dropping. Mirai was looking at him reproachfully. "Of course I do, Ryuu-san. Don't be silly. The Captain just let me have some of his coffee, that's all. It's very good."

Ryuu looked up at Captain Sakomizu in disbelief. The Captain kept his precious bottles of coffee beans right at his own station, and while he used his coffeemaker to make all of them regular coffee on late nights, Ryuu didn't think he'd ever seen him let anyone else have any of his special blends.

But it seemed Mirai was telling the truth, as the Captain was smiling indulgently. "Since that mission was so tough, I felt a treat was in order. Would you like some too?"

Ryuu leaped to his feet. No way was he going to turn this chance down! "Hell yes!" He flushed as Mirai giggled at his enthusiasm. "Uh, I mean--yessir."

Teppei's head popped up from behind his desk. "Oh! Can I have some too sir? Please?"

The Captain shook his head. "I thought you wanted to go back to sleep!"

Teppei grinned. "But I have to stay awake until I clean all this up, don't I?"

"Point taken." The Captain turned back to his coffeemaker. "Now, whatever shall I do about Marina, Konomi, and George... they should be here by now, the meeting was supposed to start five minutes ago. I might have to dock them for being late..."

"Oh no!" With an almost comical expression of dismay, Mirai leaped up. "I'll go get them, sir! Please let them have some too!" Without waiting for an answer, he ran out the door.

The Captain chuckled. Ryuu looked at him. This Captain was so different from the old Serizawa... he was so soft-spoken, so mild, and he seemed genuinely fond of them all, Mirai especially. Ryuu almost didn't know how to react to the gentle approach. In fact, he'd doubted for a while that Captain Sakomizu really had what it took to be a real Captain.

That was before he'd seen him in battle, though. Now he knew that the softness he chose to display on the outside hid an inner core of iron determination.

"You said that just to tweak Mirai, didn't you?" Ryuu asked.

The Captain smiled back. "Sometimes Mirai takes everything too seriously."

Ryuu snorted. "Now there's an understatement," he said, leaning back against the table. He remembered far too many instances where he'd made a joke and Mirai had taken him at face value. After a few times of Mirai looking at him with a hurt expression far too much like a kicked puppy, Ryuu had (feeling extremely odd the entire time) laboriously explained to Mirai that sometimes it wasn't the actual words that were important, it was how someone said them.

He'd always known that Mirai was kind of weird, ever since he first met the guy. After it had been explained that Mirai had been in space for a while, things made a lot more sense. Who knew what being raised in space was like. Probably, his parents had neglected to explain some basic things about interacting with other people.

He smiled as the doors reopened and Mirai reappeared, shepherding the sleepy girls and George with him. Weird or not, though, he could always be counted on to help out if he had any idea how. Ryuu went over and draped an arm across Mirai's shoulders. "You shouldn't have done that," he teased. "We could have had their share."

Mirai finally knew well enough what teasing was, at least. His expression was horrified, but his eyes shone. "That wouldn't be fair at all, Ryuu-san!" he protested.

Konomi pouted at Ryuu. "You're so mean to your teammates!"

Marina smiled at Mirai. "Good thing someone around here can be counted on."

George went straight to the Captain and took the first cup of coffee from his hand. "Gracias, Captain," he said with a flourish, and Ryuu whirled.

"Hey! I was here first! That's mine!"

*
Teppei took an appreciative sip of the coffee, listening to the Captain talking about the aftermath of the monster attack. He could definitely see why the Captain saved this stuff for special occasions. Ryuu had of course gulped his down, but Teppei was determined to make his own cup last.

An unusual blip on his screen attracted his attention, and he frowned, setting the coffee cup aside on his toy shelf as he focused on the screen, trying to figure out what the abnormal response had been. He forgot about listening to the Captain entirely as more blips appeared, dots of odd energy reactions where none should have been.

He lifted his head, but just as he was opening his mouth to call a warning, the alarm sounded.

Ryuu sat bolt upright. "What is it?"

The holographic screen opened up in the air, and the Assistant Director's face appeared briefly on it. Teppei waited, expecting that he was about to hear what the blips on his screen meant. He had a feeling he wouldn't like it.

He was right, too. "Explosions have just been confirmed in the West Koemon District," the Assistant Director reported quickly.

"A monster?" George asked, looking to Teppei for confirmation. Teppei shook his head. Though it was an obvious conclusion to leap to, they always seemed to expect him to know without any cameras on the scene!

"I can't confirm," he replied. "I've got energy blips showing up, but I can't see any cause."

"It could be another one that doesn't appear on radar," Konomi pointed out.

Marina stood up. "Even if it is, I'll hear it."

"And I'll see it," George added with grim satisfaction.

Mirai bolted up next. "Let's go!" he urged.

Ryuu stood up and looked at the Captain, waiting for the order.

The Captain paused, frowning for a moment, but then inclined his head and said, "GUYS - move out."

"Roger," the four in the center of the room chorused. As Konomi ran to her own station in front of Teppei's, Teppei glanced to his left, covering it by bending over his screen.

The Captain stopped Mirai as everyone else was running from the room. Teppei couldn't hear what he said, only see the intense expression on his face as he gripped Mirai's shoulder. Mirai looked equally intense, but he nodded with determination and slipped away, running out after the rest of the team.

Teppei had long ago decided that there was something very strange about Mirai. And whatever it was, the Captain was obviously in on it. But he didn't have enough information to make any guesses yet. That was all right though.

Teppei could afford to be patient. He'd figure it out eventually.

He went back to his typing, forgetting entirely about the coffee still sitting on the shelf.

*
Marina ran past a few stragglers who were fleeing the area, her gun out. She could see flames and smoke drifting upward from damaged buildings, but she couldn't see or hear any hint of a monster. She stopped, confused, straining to listen. Why couldn't she hear anything? She listened harder, straining her sensitive hearing to its limit, listening for a roar or a heavy footstep. But not even the faintest echo came to her unusually heightened sense of hearing, only the whistling of the wind and the creaking and groaning of buildings, the crackling of flames...

...and a strange buzzing...

She looked around wildly, but she couldn't tell where the sound was coming from. No, that wasn't right - she could hear it, but it was coming from different directions, multiple sources instead of one, but all of them buzzing in perfect synchronous harmony--

"Marina!" Ryuu's voice startled her when it came from her communicator. "Anything?"

She looked around in desperation, trying to understand. "It's everywhere!" she gasped, straining her eyes for something that could be making the noise.

"What?" Ryuu's voice asked blankly, tinnily over the radio.

The buzzing grew suddenly louder, and Marina's eyes widened, her breath coming in gasps as she heard - something - bearing down on her. But she didn't know what it was, she couldn't see anything...

"Marina!" George screamed from behind her. "Get down, now!"

Marina flung herself to the ground without hesitation, shielding her head with her hands. A terrible boom of noise sounded right above her head, and a wash of light and heat rushed over her, making her cry out as the heat burned her hands where they were unprotected by the leather uniform. And then suddenly George was there, helping her up. The buzzing had dropped in volume again.

"George?" she gasped, stumbling along beside him as he started to pull her down the street, his eyes sweeping warily around the buildings. "What happened? What is it?"

"It's not a monster," George said. He looked down at her, seeing her shaking hands, the reddened skin where they were burned. "Are you all right?"

Her hands hurt, but she had to ignore it for now. She nodded. "I'll be fine," she said firmly.

George took her at her word and hurried her down the street. He cast another wary glance behind, and grabbed for his communicator. "Everyone, listen!"

*
Konomi bit her lip as she typed frantically, trying to understand what it was that was endangering the team. The energy reaction made no sense - it would always spike right before more explosions happened, but it wasn't like bombs or anything. She'd have thought it was a monster firing lasers or something, except that no matter what sort of scans she tried, she just couldn't find any sign of a monster, and she knew Teppei couldn't either from the way he was cursing at his screen--

"Everyone, listen!" George's voice suddenly cried from the speakers. "They're guns! They're mounted on the buildings and they're firing energy pulses!"

"What?" Konomi yelped. "But I can't find any sign of ammunitions on the scan!"

"They're cloaked somehow!" George snarled. "I can only see them right before they fire - I guess the cloaking weakens or something. You should be able to pinpoint them the same way--"

"I'm on it!" Konomi cried, typing furiously to increase the sensitivity of the scan on the single energy reaction closest on her monitor. If she could up the sensitivity of the scan, they could play it back in slow motion and target the gun precisely, even if they couldn't see it. Then she could tell the team the exact coordinates and they could take each gun out one at a time. They'd have to destroy the walls they were mounted on too, probably, but it couldn't be helped--

"Hurry!" George cried. "They all choose a single target and fire on it simultaneously!"

"You can see the targeting?" Captain Sakomizu demanded.

"Yeah - it targeted Marina last. She's okay," he added quickly.

"How long do we have between shots?" the Captain asked.

"Not long, a minute or two," Teppei said. Konomi was staring at the energy reactions on her own screen.

"Two minutes and forty-seven seconds," she moaned.

"I'm catching up with Ryuu and Mirai now--" George gasped over the radio. "Madre de Dios."

"What?" the Captain snapped.

George didn't answer him. "Ryuu!" he shouted frantically.

Konomi clutched her hands to her mouth. No!

"Konomi!" Teppei cried, staring at her.

Tears sprang to her eyes, but she yanked her hands down and went back to typing. Scan it, Konomi! she told herself fiercely. You have to get it! You have to!

*
George hurled himself down the street, running for all he was worth, faster than he ever had on the soccer field. He shouted, but Ryuu was still too far away to hear, and he just stood there, the bright red of the targeting square on his chest invisible to everyone but George. George's eyes widened as he saw the guns flicker into view on the buildings, saw the beams pulse out from the muzzles. He screamed again, but Ryuu didn't turn, and it was like a nightmare where no matter how fast he ran, no matter how loud he screamed, he couldn't reach them fast enough.

And Mirai was standing right there--

Mirai! Do something! It's targeted Ryuu! his mind wailed even as his mouth formed another useless shout.
The beams of light rippled through the air, arcing down at Ryuu where he stood unaware. Mirai turned and looked at George running toward them. His eyes widened, and he looked up at the onrushing beams.

And then instead of nightmarishly slow, everything was suddenly going too fast, and there was a blur of movement, a flash of light, and George couldn't see anything at all in the instants before the shockwave of the explosion slammed into him, flinging him to the ground and into darkness.


--To Be Continued--

On to Splintered Secrets, chapter 2

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