Chapter Eight: Chaos in Time and Space—The Belated Aubick

Nearly a month had passed since the battle at Luluyé.

In the dead of night, the streets of Yano were surrounded by empty fields of grass. At the edge of the pitch-dark road, only a single soba stand glowed dimly, casting a peculiarly eerie atmosphere.

“Thank you for waiting, everyone. This is your late-night host, Bamboo, with another episode of the Spooky Legends Column. This week, I’ve received many letters from listeners about the topic of Obik…”

The host’s sweet voice drifted from an old-fashioned radio.

“Young man, have you heard of Obik?”

At the soba stand, the young man in the white scarf looked at the stand owner, surprised by the question.

“Huh? Is that the thing where, come night, someone suddenly appears in the dark and invites you to play or something…?” The young man replied as he slurped another steaming mouthful of soba.

The stand owner, a bald, elderly man, pressed on, “Do you want to see Obik for yourself?”

The young man, happily eating his noodles, froze mid-bite; his chopsticks suspended in the air, as the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

“Who’d have thought that on my first day back with the team, I’d run into the legendary Obik just coming out for a late-night meal after patrol.”

Ryū Takazawa was feeling quite down at the moment. He’d thought that after dealing with the last darkness, there would be no more monsters. The young man at the stand was none other than Ryū Takazawa.

“Don’t judge me by appearances… I’m actually quite brave!” Ryū, after a brief pause, slurped up another mouthful of noodles and wiped his mouth.

“Do you truly want to see, young man?” The stand owner—Obik himself—grinned oddly, emphasizing the last words.

Ryū kept eating, finished the last sip of broth, and said, “Of course I want to see the legendary Obik. But sir, your soba is really delicious. May I have another bowl?”

He beamed, unceremoniously handing over his bowl.

...

Obik hesitated, but helplessly cooked Ryū another serving.

“When you finish this bowl, I’ll take you to meet Obik,” Obik said, staring blankly at the ravenous Ryū. He’d just wanted to scare someone, but instead had run into a glutton.

A few minutes later, Ryū finished his soba, wiped his greasy mouth with a tissue, and the cries of a few cats echoed nearby.

“I’m done! Aren’t you going to take me to see Obik, old man?” Ryū looked at Obik with amusement. In truth, he knew Obik was just a stubborn, pitiable soul clinging to memories of his old village. But going around scaring people and inciting panic was not right. As a member of the Victory Team, Ryū felt it was his duty to stop Obik.

Obik grinned bizarrely. Suddenly, the lid of an unused pot at the stand flew off with a bang, and a shadowy mass emerged, floating in the air.

“Come play with me~ Play with Obik~” the shadow intoned in a childish voice.

Ryū sighed and shook his head.

“In truth, you don’t have to do this, Obik.”

“Huh?” Obik looked at Ryū, startled by his calm demeanor.

“The old village… you can’t ever go back, Obik!” Ryū suddenly raised his voice.

“Impossible! Don’t say such lies!” Obik spat angrily, and with him, his soba cart vanished into the darkness.

“What a stubborn old man…” Ryū muttered, tightening his scarf as he glanced at the spot where Obik disappeared. “But Obik’s soba really is delicious!”

The next day, at the TPC Headquarters in the Pacific.

“Did you say her hair turned white?” Rina exclaimed as she and Daigo’s group discussed the Obik incident.

“She must have gone through something truly terrifying. They say she’s still unconscious!” Shinjo added, putting on a frightened face.

“It’s awful. My late grandmother always told me that if Obik appears, you must never look back,” Fatty Ikeuchi declared solemnly.

“Why not?” Daigo asked, curious.

“Because you’ll be eaten,” Ikeuchi replied with the same serious expression.

“Are you talking about Obik?” Ryū appeared behind the group without anyone noticing.

“Huh, Ryū? When did you get back?” Daigo turned to him.

“I just returned to base. I overheard you all talking about Obik?” Ryū took a sip of juice.

Ding—

The automatic doors slid open, and Captain Jujian and Commander Sogata entered the control room side by side.

“The victim was a young woman, found unconscious in the hills near Yano,” Sogata said as he pulled up a map on the screen.

“There’s a victim?” Ryū was surprised. He hadn’t expected Obik to go scare someone else after disappearing last night.

“The place where she encountered Obik was here—the K2 district. According to police, the events were only five minutes apart,” Sogata continued.

“How is that possible? That distance… in just five minutes, how…?” Rina was shocked.

“Maybe we should ask our two Ultramen for their thoughts,” Shinjo teased with a sly grin.

“Yes! Use your Ultra abilities to help us!” Rina chimed in.

Including Captain Jujian, everyone turned to look at Daigo and Ryū.

“...Uh,” Ryū was at a loss for words.

“Ahem… Humans should overcome adversity through their own strength, shouldn’t they? If we always rely on Ultraman’s power, someday Ultraman may leave us as well,” Daigo said, a little embarrassed.

Ryū, though he knew the storyline, realized that if he revealed too much, it could change things in unforeseen ways. As Daigo said, he didn’t want everyone to depend on Ultraman. Most importantly, his presence had already caused many butterfly effects in this world. He had to keep his influence to a minimum.

“Ah, I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me!” Shinjo apologized earnestly to Daigo and Ryū, and everyone looked down in shame after hearing Daigo’s words.

“Daigo and I will not use our powers unless absolutely necessary,” Ryū said.

“But let’s not feel so guilty. We’re teammates, after all!” Ryū gave a hearty laugh, his cheerfulness infectious.

“Everyone, we have to stay strong. We can definitely overcome our challenges on our own!” Sogata bellowed, encouraging everyone.

“Alright, let’s continue discussing the Obik case,” Captain Jujian said, steering the conversation back on track.

“By the way, why did Obik send the girl back?” Daigo asked.

“Huh?” Rina looked at Daigo, puzzled.

“No matter who or what she encountered—Obik or something else—she survived and made it back. Don’t you find it odd? Why would Obik, after finally catching someone, immediately return her?” Daigo voiced his doubts.

“If we uncover Obik’s true identity, we’ll have our answer,” Jujian concluded. “Starting tonight, everyone will patrol the Yano area!”

“Understood!”