*** Ultraman and all respective characters, likenesses and items are copyright © 1966-2002 Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd. Ultra Theresa is copyright © 2002 Wayne Koizumi, and used with permission This fan fiction is not an official sequel to Ultra Theresa and is not considered to be part of the original Ultra Theresa timeline or universe.Original characters are the property of Chibi Cel-Chan, except where specified, and are not to be used without permission.***

Mikono nursed a cup of tea on the side of the bed she'd awakened in, silently noting the cheap flavor of the most likely generic green tea bag. She swished the bitter liquid around in the cup between sips, seemingly engrossed. She supposed she should be tired, but despite the late hour and the news she'd been presented with, she was wide awake. Maybe that was good, though, as neither Kakei nor Masami had made any attempts at preparing a room for her..

"Or am I free to go back? Wouldn't that just be ironic. They run my freaking life, turn me into some tights-wearing vigilante, but I'm more than welcome to go home and go about my normal business until they need me?" She muttered angrily, not really caring who heard her at this point.

The door opened, and Masami entered the room. She was coming from a small, locked room that they had taken Moroboshi's body into after their encounter. Mikono supposed it was an operating room of sorts, but she wasn't exactly upset about not being let in.

Masami leaned against the door, appearing exhausted. She massaged her temples with her left hand.

"His condition is stable.. but his appendages are shot to hell. His left leg is prosthetic already, and even that's been damaged."

Mikono shrugged, not exactly sure what to even say in response. Kakei hadn't told her anything about this guy or why he was such a big deal, so anything she said would most likely sound forced. Masami snorted with annoyance and walked over to a sink to splash cold water on her face.

When she had finished, she looked around for a towel, and found none. "Shimatta.." she muttered, using her sleeve instead. It seemed that at that time she finally acknowledged Mikono, and she sighed. "Kakei-san was going to tell you about him, I guess."

"It is relatively important that you know." She rubbed her eyes and sat down on Mikono's bed, facing away from Mikono.

Masami rolled her eyes. "We are human. Our Ultra forms aren't, but we ourselves are humans. Moroboshi, however, is not... where you and I started out as human beings and were revived with the Ultra powers when we died, there was no such human as Moroboshi Dan before Ultraseven arrived on Earth. He took the appearance of another human, but not his actual body."

"Various reasons, human bodies are relatively frail, when you get right down to it. With an alien anatomy disguised by a human face, he can take a lot harder strikes and not be given a second glance. It also lends him to a longer lifespan. Moroboshi was "born" in 1967, as an adult, and he really hasn't aged. He's got exemplory physical prowess."

Masami gave her a strange look, then continued. "Moroboshi is a relative enigma amongst the members of the Ultra Garrison.. he lost the ability to transform into Ultraseven, and has been on Earth for the past 27 years. Until the middle of the 1990s we assumed he was dead, to be honest. He has basically denounced all loyalty to or even knowledge of his former Ultra form..."

Masami looked down and absently reached over and picked up Mikono's cup of tea, downing about half of it. Mikono started to stop her, but decided against it.. the tea tasted like crap anyway... Masami put it back down.

She then got up off the bed and began to pace absently. "I guess I can't believe I'm actually here, to be honest... Seven has been a holy grail of sorts, the one Ultra form that has actually.. died. Whether or not it would be possible to be able to restore him to life has been debated for years... but I guess it's more of a moral issue than anything... "

Mikono was staring at her feet, sort of zoning out. She was fine with Masami explaining stuff, but she wasn't really in the mood for lamentations right now. She coughed, sort of bringing Masami back to Earth. Masami sighed. "Anyway..."

Right at that moment, the door opened again, and Kakei stepped out. Masami's demeanor shifted from her weary absence of consciousness to one of sharp attention, very obviously, Mikono noted.

Mikono smiled despite herself. This guy is the Captain of the Ultramen? He seems more like Kasumi Tendo... she thought.

"Moroboshi-san is stable... but I don't know yet if he'll lose control of his arms." He sighed and went to get himself a cup of tea.

"Shinkannou-san.. you're a surgeon too?" Mikono asked suddenly, wondering why that hadn't occurred to her before.

He turned around, smiling for real this time. "Hai, I have extensive medical expertise.. almost as much as Ikeda-san. Does that surprise you?"

Mikono shrugged, noticing that Masami was visibly blushing. Mikono rolled her eyes. "Well, sorta. I never really put two and two together, I guess."

Kakei poured lukewarm water into a red mug with a teabag in it, and put it down on the counter. "I really can't take credit for my abilities, however.. they were programmed into my mind prior to my arrival on earth, in addition to 240 other necessary wartime skills."

"You recall how I told you that Moroboshi has an alien anatomy? The same is true for Kakei-san.. with a considerable technological update, of course." Masami explained demurely.

Kakei nodded. "My body was built from scratch to meet basically impossible standards in both physical abilities and aesthetics, and my mind is a veritable databank of information. In essence, I am the perfect human being." He smiled demurely.

Masami nodded. "Hai. I thought I would leave the elaboration of the Ultra family up to you, though."

"Why don't we take a walk? I've been wanting to get some fresh air. I can show you around the place."

Masami shook her head, forcing a smile. "It's allright, you aren't breaking any security protocols."

Mikono's eyes widened in shock as the elevator the two of them had been riding in for what seemed to be less than a single second reached the top floor and the plain walls suddenly gave way to stunning picture windows and an observation deck overlooking Tokyo Bay. The elevator shuddered to a halt, and the doors opened. Kakei stepped out onto the spotless marble floor, followed by Mikono.

The observation deck was a perfectly round room, with the elevator tunnel directly in the center and windows going all the way around. State-of-the-art computer panels were scattered around, but they hardly took away from the beauty of the scene.

"Where are we?" Mikono asked, mesmerized. Although she had basically lived in the lap of luxury since her career began, something about the highly aesthetic yet utilitarian deck gave her an almost indescibable thrill. Maybe it was the fact that this wasn't just another performance stage.. but the base of operations for a secret organization.