"For you… charge it a few more times before releasing the beam."
After a moment's thought, Yuzhou gave this advice to Juggler.
The reason Yuzhou could unleash a waterfall-like beam so casually was simple: his own reserves of light energy were now enormous. In the past, even he had needed to repeatedly gather light particles from the surrounding air to meet the energy requirements of the Zeperion Beam.
Juggler nodded after hearing this, quietly resolving to practice seriously.
With that said, Yuzhou turned around and flew straight back toward Earth without looking back.
Just before entering the atmosphere, a strangely shaped giant bird caught his attention.
Any creature capable of surviving in outer space was certainly no ordinary monster.
And indeed, this one was once the nightmare of Ultraman Jack—Bemstar.
Watching Bemstar swallow several artificial satellites orbiting Earth, Yuzhou briefly considered whether he should deal with it.
"Forget it. I'll just go back and sleep."
But the moment he turned around, a sharp sense of danger surged behind him.
Boom!
Yuzhou threw a punch backward.
The flame-wreathed Bemstar was sent flying by the blow.
"I was planning to let you live. Looks like you're the one courting death."
As the saying goes—the road to heaven lay open, yet you refused it; hell had no gate, yet you charged straight in. This Bemstar was doomed.
Perhaps it was starving and mistook Yuzhou for food.
Or perhaps it simply found him irritating.
Either way, it didn't matter to Yuzhou.
A beam of light shot toward Bemstar, but its belly split open and swallowed the beam whole.
"Oh, you're hungry? Then I'll make sure you're full."
Yuzhou increased the output, continuously pouring energy into Bemstar's abdomen.
Among Ultramen, there was a well-known rule:
Never use beam attacks against monsters like Zetton or Bemstar that can absorb energy.
Ultraman Jack had once paid dearly for ignoring this, losing to the "Solar Monster" Bemstar—only managing to defeat it later with the Ultra Bracelet delivered by Ultraseven.
The beam kept flowing into Bemstar's body.
Even though its belly contained a subspace, it simply couldn't hold that much energy.
Bemstar's body began to swell uncontrollably.
Sensing something was terribly wrong, it tried to close its energy-absorbing belly—but no matter how hard it struggled, it wouldn't shut.
Panicked, Bemstar let out a series of shrill cries.
Moments later, the cries abruptly ceased.
A blinding flash followed—then a massive explosion, flames filling the void.
This Bemstar was likely the same one that, in the original timeline, had been frightened away by Yapool's interdimensional rift.
Now appearing near Earth, it was probably searching for food.
"Yapool, huh… I've never fought a Choju before. Guess it's time to try."
Turning into a streak of light, Yuzhou returned to Earth and began waiting for Yapool's arrival.
Yapool was the overarching antagonist throughout Ultraman Ace—
the creator of Choju, or Terror-Beasts.
Typically, these were monsters enhanced by Yapool, though some were manifestations of its lingering malice.
Waiting was always tedious.
Until one day, a news broadcast appeared on television.
The Defense Force had sealed off part of a city. In the sky above, something resembling cracks in glass had formed.
"So it's finally here—the interdimensional passage of Yapool."
Yuzhou's interest was immediately piqued, and he headed straight to the scene.
Juggler and Haruki were already there.
Haruki was inside Windom, ready to respond to whatever emerged from the dimensional rift.
Juggler stood nearby, arms crossed, brow furrowed in thought.
"Why is this Earth so catastrophically unlucky?"
Juggler sighed.
First interdimensional monsters, then something like the Space Void Beast (Greeza)…
He had thought he could live a relatively quiet life as a defense force captain.
Clearly, that hope had been naïve.
"If this Earth didn't have Ultramen," Yuzhou said, walking up beside him, "and if you couldn't transform into Tiga—if you faced something like Greeza, would you still step in?"
In a scenario where Juggler could only use his Magin form or Zeppandon, Yuzhou was certain he wouldn't stand by idly.
"If it were the old me," Juggler replied with a faint smile, "I wouldn't have helped humans at all."
"Liar."
Yuzhou shook his head.
None of Juggler's words were believable.
"I won't help you anymore, Gai."
"I belong neither to light nor darkness."
He had said things like that countless times.
And yet—
Hard-mouthed, soft-hearted.
That was Juggler to the core.
"What do you think is on the other side of that rift?"
Juggler asked, folding his arms again.
"Yapool," Yuzhou replied bluntly.
"…Duck-neck people?"
Juggler froze, thinking he'd misheard. "So it's a duck-shaped monster?"
"Ah—no," Yuzhou corrected himself.
"Slip of the tongue. Yapool."
Juggler: "..."
"So it's Yapool. I thought it'd be someone impressive."
He didn't seem particularly concerned.
Yapool had long since been destroyed by Ultraman Ace.
What remained were scattered fragments of its resentment across the universe.
Some of those fragments turned monsters into Choju.
Others directly manifested as Choju themselves.
In essence, they were enhancement tools—much like Belial's Demon Fragments.
The difference was that Yapool's malice possessed self-awareness.
And above all, it harboured an intense hatred for Ultraman Ace.
…
Inside Windom's cockpit.
Haruki stared at the medal in his hand, its light flickering nonstop.
"Z-san… what's going on?" he asked, confused, touching the Z Riser at his waist.
Ever since the dimensional rift appeared, Ace's medal hadn't stopped reacting.
"Ace-niisan's medal…"
Z pondered. "I think he's sensing what's inside that rift."
"So what is inside it?"
Haruki asked, frowning.
"I don't know."
Z wasn't exactly perceptive—and he'd never fought a Choju before.
On the ground, Yuzhou was still chatting idly with Juggler.
In truth, he was simply waiting for Yapool to make its move.
Then he spoke up.
"When it appears, don't steal my monster. I've never fought a Choju before—I want to try."
Juggler was momentarily speechless.
"Who would even steal it…"
Still, this was something Haruki needed to be informed about.
Otherwise, with his straightforward personality, he'd charge in immediately.