Chapter 3: All Monsters Attack Part 1
Cory laid staring up at the ceiling. His hands were behind his head, flexing his ankle joints as his feet dangled off the bed. It had been two days since he first arrived in their world, and on that night his senses were extra sharp. They came and went like that time to time. Somedays he swore he could hear a pin drop from the other room. He explained this to others, who seemed to brush off his experience as him imagining things. He was about to doze off when he saw someone staring from behind the opening of the bedroom door. He sat up in bed and furrowed his brows, squinting through the dim light. He saw a familiar face in the shadows.
“Emma?”
He heard a giggle, followed by the sound of quickened footsteps on the wooden floors. He jumped out of bed and raced down the hallway after her. It was indeed her, or someone who looked like her. He chased her outside of the house and into the streets.
“Emma, wait! Where are you going?” He heard no response. He followed her to the edge of the village and through a small field. She glanced back at him briefly and laughed. She ran deeper into the forest ahead of them as Cory trailed not far behind her. The shrubbery grew thick and the sound of tree crickets was almost deafening to his sensitive ears. His stamina was greater than that of the average person, but even then he found himself barely able to keep up with her. Finally she came to the entrance of a cavern. She stopped and turned around, allowing for Cory to catch up.
“Emma, what’re you, well, how did you get here?” Cory felt happy to see his friend, but was simultaneously unnerved to see her in the alien realm with him. She smiled and turned around once more, bolting for the interior of the cavern. He chased after her, calling her name.
He lost her somewhere along the way, but found himself inside of a large, temple like room. Torches roared to life on the caverns walls, illuminating the room with a dim light. There were paintings that adorned the walls, on them were ancient scriptures. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the characters. He recognized it from one of his history classes. It was cuneiform, an ancient writing style of the Akkadian empire. There was all sorts of ancient writings on the wall, ranging from Arabic to Greek. What did it say? Did these writings all tell the same story? How could it possibly be here? This wasn’t the earth that he knew.
“What the hell is going on here.”
That was when he noticed the pillar in the center of the room. It looked like a type of torch. It was U shaped with a two silver stripes going down the middle. The small relic almost seemed to beckon for him. Cory slowly approached the gold and silver piece, his eyes transfixed on it. When his hand touched it, it glowed with a blinding light as wind began to rip around the room, casting dust and other bits of debris into the sky. He shielded his face and reeled back, absolutely terrified at the scene before him. To his horror, his limbs began to dissolve into particles of light, as did his legs. He screamed for Emma to save him, even screamed for Lyra, and the others back at the cottage. His screams faded as he was absorbed into the relic.
Warm light bathed his entire being as he was suspended in midair. He felt calm, relaxed, and, happy? A positive array of emotions swept through his body as he hung his head low, bathing in the warm light. That was when he heard a voice.
“Cory… Cory…”
“Who’s there?” He groggily raised his head up, “Where am I? Who’s calling my name?”
A titan bathed in light appeared before him. He couldn’t make out it’s features due to the light, but he felt calm in the presence of this being. “My name is Tiga, or, one whom you may know as Ultraman. To the beings of this world, I am known as Prometheus.”
“Prometheus?” The titan who showed mankind fire, he thought. “Was it you who led me here?”
Tiga nodded, “I am the ancient guardian of this world. I’m afraid a new age of monsters that plagued your home is soon approaching this land.” He extended a hand towards Cory, and a small object floated towards him, “I would like to borrow your strength. Use this when precious lives are in danger.”
When Cory grasped the object, another blinding light obscured his vision before everything faded to black.
He awoke with a start. He was back in the cottage, except now it was the crack of dawn. He slowly sat up in his bed, looking around slowly for any trace of Tiga’s presence. The room was quiet, asides from the call of morning birds outside. There was a knock at his door, when he got out of his bed to see who just it might be, he heard something fall to the floor from his bed. What he saw on the ground shocked him. It was the same relic that he saw in that temple. He could hear it pulsating as it lay there on the floor. HE slowly reached for it, drawing his hand back as he felt it ‘pulse.’ He slowly grabbed it and held it in his hand. The pulsing died down, and it became warm to the touch.
“Hey Cory.”
Cory rolled his eyes at the all too familiar voice, “What do you want Sapphire?”
“Town book worm and her pet dropped off a letter for you from Celestia. She says she must speak with you about something important, or whatever.”
“Great, time for being held prisoner part two.” He mumbled. Sapphire opened the door and trotted in, carrying a few articles of clothing with her. She levitated them to Cory’s side. He picked them up and examined them. It was a T shirt, a pair of ‘pants’ that had no pockets, but a suede jacket that did. There was also a pair of ‘shoes’ to top everything off.
“Where did you get these?” He asked.
“I had Rarity make them for you. They may not be a perfect fit but it was best we could do.” I can’t have you wearing PJ’s all the time like a freak.” She smirked.
“Thanks…” He was honestly at a loss for words. She had been cold towards him for the past few days, making him feel unwelcome. Maybe there was a warm side to her afterall?
She broke away from him, “Now, lets get you to the station. One of the queens students will be there to guide you.”
XXX
At the station, Cory stood waiting by one of the benches. The air had a slight hint of coolness to it, the precursor to fall weather he assumed. As he waited, he heard a womans voice say his name.
“You must be Cory!”
He turned to see a purple mare approaching him. She reached her hoof out to him. He grabbed it and briefly shook it, a smile spreading across both of their faces. She had a dark blue mane with a purple highlight, on her hip was a star mark. Her eyes were a deep purple color, much like her coat.
“My name is twilight Sparkle. Pleased to meet you. You probably heard from your friend Sapphire that I’d be your guide to the Queen’s castle.” She pushed her bangs away from her eyes, still giving him a small grin.
“She did, my name is Cory Anderson.”
The train arrived moments later, the two immediately boarded and found their seats according to their tickets.
“So, what did you do before you came here?” She asked, breaking the somewhat awkward silence.
“Oh, I was a fulltime college student. I’m on, or I was on, “ He began to laugh nervously,” My last semester.”
“That’s amazing! What field of study?” Twilight asked. Cory had a hunch she was the nerdy type of girl. But he couldn’t help but find her energy charming.
“I was a anthropology major. It’s the study of ancient human, which is what I am, yeah.” He brought his hand to his temple as his face turned red. “Christ I hate small talk.” He thought.
Twilight laughed and placed a hoof on his shoulder, reassuring him he was ok, “You don’t have to be embarrassed, small talk has never been my strongpoint either.”
“Er, yeah.” He chuckled. He laid his head back and dozed off after a while. Twilight followed suit minutes later, finding herself leaning against him for ballast as she napped.
XXX
Cory stood in the large hallway of the Castle with twilight. It was huge, stained glass paintings adorned the wall and marble pillars paved the walkway of the castle.
“Well, here we are!” she bit down on Cory’s hand lightly and led him to the throne room. He pulled his hand back and wiped the saliva from his hand. He noticed that besides Sapphire, these ‘people’ were very trusting of each other. None of them seemed to know any strangers, or at least most of them. Sure he got weird looks once in a while, but he wrote it off as being something they’ve never seen before. Celestia sat on her throne looking down at the two.
“Thank you two for coming, Twilight,” her student nodded, “May I please have a word with Cory in private.”
“Of course,” She grinned at Cory before trotting her way out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“I’m sure you’re aware of why I asked for you.” She walked down the stairs, her face was stern, whereas it was warm towards her student moments earlier.
“I can’t say that I am.” He shrugged.
“It’s to how you’ve got here, and the power that you now obtain.”
“Power?” He stopped when he felt the relic in his pocket pulsate.
“I can hear it, the Spark Lance. So you are the new inheritor.” She said in a matter of fact manner.
“Inheritor of what?” He asked, slowly growing furious with the Princess.
“You were chosen by the light to become Ultraman. I can’t quit say why, but you are indeed him.”
“What? No! I’m not this Ultraman or whoever, I am Cory Anderson.” He shot back at her.
Her disposition didn’t change despite his outburst, “The Spark Lance in your pocket is proof that you are indeed Ultraman.”
He pulled the device from his pocket and through it to the floor, “I don’t need this!” He glared at her.
Celestia sighed and closed her eyes, “Come with me.” Cory followed her to another hallway. The stained glass portrayed several titans standing amongst crowds of equines, along with what appeared to be humans. Each glass seemed to tell its own part of a story.
“What is this all about?” He asked.
“Twelve hundred years ago, your kind and my own, once lived in harmony in this land. The titans guarded and watched over humanity and ponies alike. Tiga, the being you are, known as Prometheus by the humans, descended from the heavens and brought with him fire. He was scolded by the titans who forbade interacting with humans and ponies. Tiga could not dwell on this earth without a human form. His light was passed down generation through generation, teaching mankind and ponies of civilization, of peace.”
“And then what happened?” Cory asked, “If humans and ponies lived together in perfect harmony then why are our worlds split?”
She closed her eyes,“Differing ideas of creationism, religions that tainted the hearts of man and made them hate took hold. They warred with each other and lost the way of the light.”
“Why wasn’t Tiga able to help them?”
“Ultraman never interfere with the decisions of man or equine. Because they are beings of light and hope. But you Cory are different. You are both flesh and light.” She placed a hoof over his heart.
She lowered her hoof and wiped a tear from her eye, “Tiga used what was left of his light to split our worlds, and wiped our memories, save for my own and Luna’s, so that both our civilizations would carry on without the trauma of such dark times. It was for the better for both of our kind.”
“He has the power to do such a thing?”
“He did, as he is now, I imagine his power is very weak. His presence tells me that he we are going to need his power once more as we near a new age of monsters.”
Cory nodded slowly, trying to take in all of this new information. Suddenly he heard something faint in the distance. It sounded like a roar, albeit it was very quiet. He looked towards the window as goose bumps formed on his arms.
“Do you hear it?” She asked.
“Yes…” He furrowed his brows furrowed, “A monsters voice.”
“You must return back to Ponyville.” She bowed to him, much to his surprise, “Good luck.”
XXX
He sat on the train while it went about its stops on its way back to Ponyville. He put his hand to his forehead as he heard the roar once more. It was getting closer, it was faint when he heard it at first but its volume had increased. “It’s coming, almost like it’s calling out to challenge me.”
“Sir?” the train stewardice nudged his shoulder. She held a cool rag in her hoof. She gestured for him to lay back. “You’ve seemed very worked up this whole train ride. Here,” she placed it onto his burning forehead.
“Thank you,” he exhaled. Still, even with the soothing coolness of the wash cloth, there remained a pit in his stomach. Something was going to happen, every nerve in his body screamed it.
XXX
After arriving at the train station, he was met by Lyra. She smiled at him and guided him through the crowd of onboarding passengers. “How’d it go?” she asked.
“It went well.” He kicked a small stone in front of him away, thinking of ways to steer the conversation in another direction.
“Are you alright?” She tilted her head to the side, “What’s on your mind?”
“Its nothing really, seriously.” He gave her a small grin, “Don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t born yesterday, I know somethings up with you having to see the princess and all.” She tilted her head down and blinked her big eyes up at him, “Now tell me.”
“You’re a nosy one.” He chuckled, “She just wanted to make sure my current living arrangements are working out is all.”
“Alright,” She nudged his forearm as they walked through the town, walking only mere inches by her side, “Come with me!” she used her magic and lifted him into the air.
“Is this really necessary!?” he shouted, fighting against his magic restraints.
“No,” She stuck her tongue out and giggled. She trotted off with him towards a nearby hilltop and laid him down beside her. The two sat beneath a large white oak tree as they watched the sunset.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” She asked.
“Oh fuck small talk.” He thought, “It is, yeah. Not the prettiest, but its kind of the nicest.” He stopped himself, “Fucking Christ.” He thought as he held a hand to his temple.
Lyra grabbed hold of his arm as she laughed, burying her head into his upper arm as he cackled, “Cory, you’re way too much!” She caught her breath and smiled.
“Glad my stuttering entertains somebody.” He said grinning back at her.
“Tell me about you.” She placed a hoof on his hand. Her smile was warm and inviting, it had almost a maternal feel to it, he couldn’t quite explain it. He never met anyone back home who looked at someone this way. She wasn’t the only one. These people were trusting, warm, and inviting. Even Sapphire who has fairly abrasive, went through the trouble of getting Cory proper clothing, with her own money no less.
He heard it again. The roar reverberated in his ear. What he though was a star on the horizon came screaming down to the earth, trailing a green and blue flame behind it was rock and alloys burned off the comet. It hit the earth’s surface with a thunderous crash, casting a shockwave that leveled the forest around it. The entire village shook, knocking Sapphire from her bed and onto the floor. BonBon oepend the door to Sapphires room, a mixing bowl overturned on her head.
“What was that?” Sapphire rubbed her head.
“A meteorite said the neighbors, come on, let’s go take a look outside.”
“What’s going on?” Lyra pulled her face away from Cory’s jacket, her eyes filled with fear.
“He’s here.” Cory stared towards the horizon. He began running for the village with Lyra following not far from behind. She barely found herself keeping up, his speed was inhuman.
“Cory, wait! Who’s here, where are you going?” She called out to him but received no response. She stopped in her tracks as she heard an earth shaking roar. Her heart skipped a beat from the sound. She could feel it in her chest as it echoed through the hills behind her. She ran even faster towards Cory as he sprinted for the village.
The townsfolk left their homes to find the source of the explosion and loud roar that followed. Through the dim light on the horizon, they saw the outline of a towering, reptilian figure. It’s eyes glowed in the dark, on its head was a large crest that extended towards the end of its snout. Its fangs extended past its lips where the beast bellowed another roar. It was the space monster Earthron.
“Everyone go, now!” Cory yelled, gesturing everyone to run for the opposite side of town. Ponies grabbed their children and few precious possessions and tried evacuating the town. Earthron brought his foot down upon a house before firing a ray as hot as magma towards the street. His beam set fire to several home as he roared with glee. However, he sensed something off in the midst of this village. He looked for the culprit, his roars almost beckoning for this being to show itself. He fired another beam to goad whoever this being was out into the open.
His beam ripped through the village, turning an acre of it into a pit of flames.
While Earthron rampaged, Cory and Lyra helped others stuck in their homes. Cory used his strength to hold the threshold of a burning house as Lyra helped out victims who were trapped inside of their caved homes. He grunted as his muscles began to ache. Lyra had already dragged out most the family members save for their father who was stuck under a collapsed support beam. The smoke and flames were closing in, obscuring Lyra’s vision as she used he strength and magic to pull the older stallion from the ruins. She began to cough and wheeze as she grew light headed, the lack of oxygen making her grow weak and light headed. She panicked for a moment as desperately tried to breath. It was no use, the hot air burned her lungs and the smoke chocked her as she began to lose consciousness.
“Lyra!” Cory called to her, “Hey!” he shouted, “get up, come on!” She didn’t respond. The flames were rapidly approaching her. He ran into the house and used every ounce of his strength to push the beam off of the stallion. When he turned to the doorway to carry them both out, the doorway collapsed, trapping him inside of the inferno.
“Shit...” he trembled, “Shit shit shit shit shit...” He looked for an escape, but all he saw was thick smoke and embers. He was about to panic at the thought of burning to death, but then remembered the words of the Tiga when they first met.
“Use this when precious lives are in peril.”
“The Spark lance.” He pulled the relic from his pocket. The gem in at the top glowed as the handle pulsated in his hand. He raised it over his head and pressed the switch. His entire body glowed a light that purified the air and dispersed the flames. From where he stood, a column of light rose towards the heavens as he took a new form. He grew to a height of fifty meters, towering over the village houses as the light slowly faded from around him. From where Cory once stood was a new being. It’s body was red, blue, and silver with a U shaped piece of armor on it’s chest. Its face was smooth and featureless, but it has two large oval shaped eyes that glowed in the dark. A gem on the middle of it’s forehead reflected the sea of flames before it as the titan brought his hands down to his side.
The villagers stopped in amazement at what they saw. Some looked on in fascination, others weren’t sure what to make of this new being. It didn’t seem menacing like the beast that was currently attacking their homes. The titan looked towards the hills where the townfolk had fled and raised his hand towards them. A ball of light formed and departed from his palm. The ball landed and revealed Lyra and the stallion Cory and Lyra had tried saving.
“Lyra!” BonBon cried, running towards her unconscious friend with Derpy and Sapphire in tow. They held their friend as she groaned, wincing once as she came too. She looked around groggily as she regained her senses, “Guys, I, wait, wheres Cory?” she asked exasperated. As she looked around she noticed the Titan standing between them and Earthron. She looked on in amazement.
“Cory was just there, could it? No…” She thought, “Who is that?” she asked out loud.
“We don’t know. It saved you so I want to believe that its one our side.” Sapphire held up her friends head as the two looked onward.
Earthron roared challengingly at Tiga, who went into a battle stance in return. Tiga nodded and leapt toward earthron, landing a chop to the monsters head. He spun around and landed an elbow on the beats chest with a shout. Earthron tried swatting at the giant who blocked it, tucking earthons arm to his side as he then kneed the monster over and over.
Earthron reared up, breaking the hold that Tiga had on him and firing a heat ray at him. The beam struck Tiga in the chest, the heat making him yelp in shock. Earthron placed his foot on Tiga’s back, forcing the warrior of light into the dirt. Tiga grunted as he wrestled himself onto his back. Grabbing hold of Earthrons foot, he pushed the monster off of him with a shout, getting back to his feet.
Earthrons tail crashed into Tigas side, causing him to one knee. The space beast lunged at him before a right hook sent the beast reeling back in pain. The village witnessed the spectacle, this otherworldly battle between space monster and humanoid. A second heat ray struck Tiga who blocked it with a shield made purely of light energy. A second ray was blocked as well, but after a third time the blue light on Tiga’s chest began to flash.
“What is this?” Cory thought from within, “My strength is leaving faster than I thought it would.” He looked towards the villagers, “I have to end this quickly.”
He flipped his way over the Earthron and landed his heel on the monsters head, a shower of sparks erupting from the very spot. Earthron let out a high pitched roar of pain. Tiga landed another chop to the head of this monster, breaking off it’s crest and making it rear up in pain. It turned to flee from Tiga, roaring in pain and pawing at it’s bleeding head.
“I can’t let it escape.” Tiga grabbed Earthrons tail, using every ounce of his strength to lift the monster and slam him into the ground. “That’s it!” BonBon cheered, “Get him!”
Tiga placed his arms in an X formation in front of him before spreading them apart. As he did so, white energy collected into his color timer. He formed a capital L with a forearms, his left fingertip connecting with the tip of his right elbow. From his vertical right forearm, a stream of energy shot forth and struck Earthron as he stood up. He roared in pain as he was flooded with destructive energy that tore him apart at a cellular level. He let out one last weak roar as he fell back, exploding into thousands of pieces before he could even touch the ground.
Tiga gave a satisfied nod before looking towards the sky. With a shout, he leapt towards the sky, taking off towards the stars like a rocket.
“Who is he?” Lyra asked as the crowd cheered.
“I’m just glad we didn’t have to deal with him.” Said Sapphire.
They heard a shuffle from behind them and saw a familiar face that smiled.
“Hey, what I miss?” laughed Cory. His brow was covered in sweat and dust.
Lyra broke down into tears and hugged him, having thought he didn’t make it through the monsters rampage. He patted her mane as she pulled away.
“Are you alright?”
“A little sore,” He smiled. Derpy, BonBon, and Sapphire looked relieved to see him unscathed. They all looked solemnly towards their village. A dozen or so homes were gone from Earthons rampage, the town hall was turned to ashes as was most of the town square. They all waited till the crack of dawn for help where they saw the royal guard bringing supplies, rations, and building materials for the village.
As the five of them departed towards the village, Cory heard a voice within. He turned his attention to the rising sun as the voice spoke
“Cory Anderson, I am Ultraman Tiga.”
“Ultraman Tiga?”
“Yes, you’ve witnessed just now why I have given you my life.”
He nodded to himself, “I see, you need me to protect these people.”
“I cannot stay in this world in the form you just used to fight. Which is why you are now Ultraman.”
“Yes, I’m willing to accept that now.”
“This is our secret. You and I will fight for this world, no matter the cost.”
“I’ll fight as Ultraman. That is the reason why I was brought here” he turned from the sunrise and followed his four friends towards the village. There was work that needed to be done.
Chapter 3, END
Next chapter: In All Monsters Attack Part 2; Tiga’s presence awakens two foes once sealed away centuries before, Golza and Melba. With the two closing in one Cory, he must fight them one on one lest Equestria be destroyed.