EPISODE 9: NELOPHOBIC NIGHTMARE

It was the deciding night. The night where two men battle it out to become the inheritor. The one who inherits the secret recipe. The battle between Kazuya Hibiki and Terazawa Hyuki.

Kazuya Hibiki, aged 16 at the time, has been in the cooking school since he's 9, in order to capture the title; The Inheritor. Chef Akihito Kurosawa's most trusted disciple. He was challenged by the chef himself to participate in the title.

His opponent, on the other hand, Terazawa Hyuki, also aged 16, already challenging for the title in his first year at the Kurosawa Family's cooking school. The disciple of Chef Akira Kurosawa; Chef Akihito's older brother and rival. He was given the opportunity by the other students and Chef Akira himself to participate for the title.

The battle of chefs-to-be started. Both chefs' hands moved swiftly like a peregrine falcon rocketing towards the ground to prepare the 'special one'. The battle was so tense even the juries which include Chef Kanezaki Kurosawa, the 7th owner of the Kurosawa's Family Treat; which is one of the most recognised restaurants in Japan that was opened in 1950.

The battle was so tense because of Kurosawa's employee principle; only four people were needed to handle the restaurant which the cashier/waiter, two cooks, and the cleaner. Kurosawa's Family Treat is known for its fast and efficient work of handling the restaurant. Therefore, the best of the best was chosen to handle this legacy.

The winner of this battle will be given the forbidden or the secret recipe for the 'special one'. They would also be guided by Chef Kanezaki himself which he has only guided one chef per generation of chefs. Since the last generation chef has retired due to inevitable diseases, in the same year, the next-generation chef will be chosen in a form of a competition which is a tradition to the Kurosawa's.

49 minutes, 59 seconds, and 78 microseconds later. At the exact time, both disciples lifted their hands as they've finished making their meals based on their imagination. The marks will be given based on the taste, the presentation, the time, and the discipline. Both men were given the same mark automatically as they finished exactly at the same time.

"Terasawa-kun!", called by the owner. Terasawa brought his plate to the table of judges. Kanezaki as always, only judge by eating the meal, he had never commented after he tasted the food. After he tasted Terasawa's, he called him to come forward and take his plate away.

"Kazuya-kun!", the owner called again. Kazuya brought his plate forward. As he was about to reach the table, the sweaty hands of Kazuya suddenly made the plate to move down his hands. The plate slipped from his hand and went straight down.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!", shouted Kazuya after he got up from his nightmare or his dark reality. "Dammit...here comes that dream again.", Kazuya monologued. It has been three times already that week that Kazuya experienced the same nightmare. That nightmare has cost him an hour from his daily 8-hour sleep as he's very strict about nap time. Eventually, he got up from his bed and took his morning bath.

Half an hour later, he entered the direction room right after he had his breakfast alone. He realised that Mirai and Haruzaki were already inside the base as always.

"Oh, Kazuya-kun! Good morning!", Mirai greeted Kazuya with a wide smile.

"Mirai-san, Haruzaki-san, good morning.", Kazuya replied with an exhausting tone. Haruzaki and Mirai felt weird as he usually greeted them with a smile as well.

"Kazuya-kun, is there something wrong?", asked Haruzaki.

"Oh, nothing to be concerned about! Thanks for asking, though.", replied Kazuya. The two were still suspecting something from him.

At the same time, "I HAVE ARRIVED!!!!! What time is it?", said Teppei who jumped into the base as soon as the automatic door opened after he ran all the way from the cafe. Mirai immediately looked at the clock at Teppei's station.

"7.45 a.m., what's wrong, Teppei-san?", asked Mirai.

"Really?! YES!! I have beat my record this time!!", shouted Teppei happily. Then, he realised that Mirai and Haruzaki looked at him weirdly. "What's wrong, Mirai-kun, Haruzaki-kun?", asked him curiously. Suddenly, someone patted his shoulders from the back.

"Why are you being shirtless here, mate?", asked the captain. Teppei then looked below and realised that he was on the way to the bathroom at the time. He quickly felt regret for going to the base at the time.

"Ryu...Ryu-san...I can explain...", said the terrified Teppei.

"Go take a bath!", shouted Ryu to his ears. Teppei immediately took his 'bath bucket' and ran straight to the bathroom while being looked at awkwardly by the staff who were walking by.

Ryu, on the other hand, entered the base. "Good morning.", Ryu greeted his comrades.

"Good morning, captain!", said Haruzaki.

"Good morning, Ryu-san!", said Mirai. However, Kazuya didn't greet the captain back. Ryu immediately took notice as he felt something off when he watched him. Ryu walked towards him slowly.

"Kazuya, good morning.", said Ryu. Kazuya still didn't reply to his greetings. He repeated it two times but still no reply. He pulled Mirai and Haruzaki and quickly gathered at the platform at the back.

"Hey, what's going on with Kazuya? Is he sick?", asked Ryu.

"I don't know, captain. He didn't speak a word after he took his seat.", answered Haruzaki.

"I see...", said Ryu.

"What are you guys talking about...?", asked Eiji who was standing on a chair while looking at the three of them from above, with his 'lack' tone. "You're in my bed...", said Eiji. The three immediately moved away from his 'bed'.

"Eiji-kun, you know that sleeping exceeding 8 hours is not good for you.", said Konomi.

"I'm tired...good morning...", replied Eiji after yawning. Then, he immediately covered himself in a blanket like he used to. The others immediately gave up on keeping his eyes open in the morning.

Meanwhile, Teppei was on the way to the base with his full uniform on. Suddenly, his Memory Display beeped.

"Yes, this is Teppei.", said Teppei.

"Teppei-san, there's a guest. He's looking for Hibiki-san.", said the operator.

"Man, why did you call me? Can't you call himself?", complained Teppei.

"I'm sorry, but I tried to contact him. It looks like his Memory Display is off. That's why I called you.", said the operator.

"Fine... I'll call him...", said Teppei.

"Thank you, Teppei-san! Oh, don't forget, say to him that his friend is looking for him.", reminded the operator. Teppei turned off his Memory Display after the call ended. He felt weird when he mentioned the word 'friend'.

Teppei went straight to the direction room. As the door opened,

"Good morning! Kazuya-kun! Your friend is looking for you!", said Teppei. Kazuya's head suddenly risen. He stood up, bowed down, and walked out of the base without any word. All of them were questioning his sudden behaviour at the time. Teppei at the time was concerned about his junior. Therefore, he sneaked Kazuya from behind to know what's going on.

Eventually, Kazuya found his friend at the entrance area. He sneaked his way and hide behind the reception desk while looking at them as soon as he reached there.

"What's wrong with him today? He seemed weird today. He usually greets me whenever he stumbled into me.", Teppei monologued.

The two friends started their conversation while Teppei was struggling to hear it. Suddenly,

"Here, take this.", said a woman while handling a set of headphones. Teppei took them without looking at the sender. Only to realise that there's no such thing as headphones came out of nowhere when he needed them. He turned back and got startled when he saw Mirai, Haruzaki, and Yuko were behind him.

"Mirai-kun! Haruzaki-kun! Yuko-chan! What are you doing here?!", asked the startled Teppei.

"Ryu-san told me to follow you.", said Mirai.

"I was bored, so I followed Hibino-san.", said Haruzaki.

"I wanted to find out why Kazuya-san didn't want to help me with my photograph today.", said Yuko.

"Fine, then!", said Teppei. They looked back at the front where Kazuya and his friend were having a conversation.

Back to the conversation,

"Hibiki-san, how are you doing?", asked Terasawa.

"I'm fine...thanks for asking.", replied Kazuya with a flat tone.

"I'm happy to hear that. Ah, here, Chef Akihito gave this to you.", said Terasawa while handing a food container.

"Terasawa, how did you know that I was here?", asked Kazuya without looking at Terasawa.

"I saw you a couple of times, buying groceries at the nearby store. Sometimes, at the coffee shop. And, you wore CREW GUYS uniform once. So, I thought maybe you had joined GUYS. That's why I

stopped by here, to visit you.", explained Terasawa. Suddenly, Kazuya stood up.

"I have to go, I don't have the mood to talk.", said Kazuya. Immediately, Terasawa held his shoulders to stop him from running away from the conversation.

"Hibiki-san! Wait a minute! Chef Akihito gave you a message. I personally think this is important for you. So, if you don't mind, I would like to borrow your ears, to listen to what he wanted to say about you.", begged Terasawa. Kazuya didn't reply, but fortunately, he did sit back on the same bench.

After they both sat together again, they continued their conversation.

"Hibiki-san, he admitted that the incident happened to you, was bitterly disappointing. But, all those bad things he said to you after the battle ended, all of those were out of anger.", said Terasawa.

"It doesn't matter now. I've got a new job, and I love it.", replied Kazuya.

"But you have to know that he didn't mean to chase you out on that day. When I became the inheritor, things had gone bad actually. Our sales drastically decreased from month-to-month. Eventually, we went out of business-", said Terasawa.

"And, he's telling me right now, because he wants me back, right?", asked Kazuya angrily.

"Hibiki-san, he just wanted to apologise to you! That's it! It's no use now! We already went out of business! I'm already working somewhere else now!", replied Terasawa.

"Well, good for you, then.", replied Kazuya.

"No, it's not good for me at all!", yelled Terazawa. "I...wanted to be a cook...just like you, Hibiki-san. Specifically at Kurosawa's. But, since you were gone from the premise, everything just went wrong.", added him.

"Sorry, I still can't accept his apology. Because of him, my dream of being a cook is gone. Excuse me.", said Kazuya while leaving Terazawa alone at the stool.

"Hibiki-san... he became sick after you left...The day you left the cooking school was his biggest nightmare. And, right now, it's still haunting him. Hibiki-san, please forgive him, so that he could be better...", monologued Terazawa while watching his senior leaving.

Hours later, Kazuya was seen hanging out at the hills. At the same time, Teppei who was cycling by for some reason saw him. Unfortunately, he fell off his bike once he saw him. Luckily, Kazuya didn't see him falling off his bicycle. Teppei quickly took his bicycle and parked it onto a tree beside the bushes.

"Should I talk to him? Should I? I could hurt his feelings. But, I will feel guilty if I didn't talk to him.", Teppei asked himself whether to talk to his junior or not. After a few seconds of walking back and forth, on the spot, he took a deep breath and said, "I'm a senior. I should show him a great example! Here goes...". He walked towards Kazuya.

Minutes later, Teppei greeted Kazuya.

"Kazuya-kun! What are you doing here? I'm looking for you all over the place?!", asked Teppei confidently. At the same time, in his mind, "Wait! Is that the way to talk to a person in a bad mood? Oh, no! Is it good? Is it bad? Oh, I'm doomed for sure!".

"Oh, Teppei-san, nothing. I'm just getting some fresh air.", replied Kazuya. Teppei exhaled gratefully as he realised that he didn't say anything wrong to him.

"Oh, I see. I wanted to ask you. What happened to you? You looked...different today.", asked Teppei. Kazuya went silent for several moments. Teppei felt nervous about it as he's afraid he might ask something that could have offended his junior's heart.

"I...had the same dream for days now, Teppei-san. The dream of my greatest nightmare. The "Shattered Glass".", answered Kazuya.

"Shattered Glass? What do you mean?", asked the curious and confused Teppei.

"Teppei-san, since we met, have you ever see me eating on a glass plate?", asked Kazuya.

"Oh, if I'm not mistaken, you haven't. I was going to ask you that question since the day we had our meal together for the first time.", said Teppei.

"There's a reason actually for that.", said Kazuya.

"Reason? What do you mean?", asked Teppei again.

"The reason why didn't I use

glass plates.", added Kazuya.

Moments later, Kazuya told him the story about his phobia towards the glass to Teppei.

"I was in a cooking school since I was 9. The goal was to get the nickname, 'The Inheritor'. However, only a few names were selected to be 'The Inheritor' since the year the cooking school was founded.", said Kazuya.

"Sorry to interrupt, but, what does 'The Inheritor' means?", asked the confused Teppei.

"'The Inheritor' is the nickname to those who won the ultimate showdown between the representatives of two classes. The one who got the nickname will be given the secret recipe of the owner's special meals. He will also be hired as the special chef of the restaurant.", explained Kazuya.

"So, there's a restaurant connected to the cooking school?", asked Teppei again.

"Yes...Wait, Teppei-san! Don't you know the Kurosawa's? It's quite famous in Japan, you know?", said Kazuya.

"Sorry...I don't eat at restaurants. My mother won't allow me to eat outside the house unless it's homemade.", explained Teppei while scratching his head. "And, why does 'The Inheritor' connected to you?", asked Teppei again.

"I was challenged by my master to challenge for the name.", said Kazuya.

"That's awesome, Kazuya-kun!", exclaimed Teppei.

"But, I failed miserably because of one thing...glass.", said Kazuya.

"What happened?", asked Teppei.

"I was about to bring the plate to the judge's table. Suddenly, my hands became slippery, and then,...the glass plate, unfortunately, crashed onto the surface. All of us were surprised including my opponent. I begged for a second chance but I wasn't given that chance. All my hard work for 60 minutes, later could be found inside the trashcan.", said Kazuya.

"Hold on...hold on, why are you afraid of glass instead of sweat? Technically, sweat caused your hands to be slippery, right?", asked Teppei based on his opinion.

"I was afraid of glass plates not because of that incident but the incident after that. I was scolded by the mad master of mine. In fact, he was so mad that I was chased out of the premises by himself on the same day. I was madly disappointed in myself because of that incident. At the same time, I felt bad for my master because he taught me since I was a kid. In fact, for a few times, he made special sessions just for me because he knew I had the potential to be the next inheritor. But, I failed him. Therefore, since then, I would promise myself to not use any glass apparatuses because I would remember that incident whenever it shattered. I would promise that after it happened a few times. I just can't use glass because whenever I touched it, my hands would be shaky and sweaty and eventually, shattered into pieces.", said Kazuya.

"So, that's why you're asked for the plastic plate instead of glass during our first meal together...", said Teppei who finally understood the situation.

"Hmmm... Kazuya-kun, let's take a walk at my father's hospital, shall we?", asked Teppei out of a sudden. Kazuya felt confused at first but he later agreed to join him for a walk to his father's hospital which is just blocks away from the headquarters.

Minutes later, Teppei and his junior would reach the hospital. Teppei was greeted by most of the workers there especially the doctors. Kazuya would stand at the sideline whenever Teppei met his former co-workers.

"They surely missed you, Teppei-san.", said Kazuya.

"Yeah...oh, Kazuya-kun! You must be hungry, right?", asked Teppei.

"I'm okay, Teppei-san. Thanks for the concern, though...", replied Kazuya. However, his stomach would grumble loudly seconds later. So loud that the nurses who walked by heard that sound.

"Okay, you're hungry. Let's go to the cafe.", said Teppei. He would soon be headed to the cafe while being followed by the ashamed Kazuya.

Moments later, both of them would burp simultaneously right after they had their meal.

"Ah... that's so satisfying!", shouted Teppei.

"Thank you, Teppei-san, for the food!", said Kazuya.

"Eh, why are you thanking me? You should thank the cook for the food.", said Teppei.

"No, I'm thanking you because you treated me for the food.", said Kazuya.

"Treated you? The food here is free.", replied Teppei.

"Free?! Why do you say it now? I should have eaten more...", said the shocked Kazuya.

"Stop it! Stop it! Eating too much is not good for your health! Besides, we're not here for eating! We're here because I need to show you something.", said Teppei. Kazuya would be confused after Teppei said that.

"Oh, Teppei-san, I wanted to ask you, why did you rejoin GUYS? Don't get me wrong. I just wondered why.", asked Kazuya.

"That's an easy question for me, honestly. It's because I wouldn't have reached my dream to be a doctor if it wasn't for my comrades. They're the ones who gave me courage besides my family. And, right now, one of them is in trouble. Therefore, it is my responsibility to repay my debt to him after he saved us many times before. You knew that guy.", said Teppei. Kazuya would be silenced after that. Minutes later, they would leave the cafe after washing their hands.

They have walked through buildings after buildings but still, they haven't reached their destination. But, Kazuya's curiousness caused him to not be exhausted after all of that walking. Teppei, on the other hand, would take a break a few times at various places.

After almost an hour, touring the hospital, they would finally reach their destination which is the patient's ward.

"Why are we here, Teppei-san?", asked Kazuya.

"I need to show you something.", said Teppei.

Later, they would take a walk inside. They would see patients lying on their beds. Some of them were getting checked by the doctors. Some of them were visited by their loved ones.

"Kazuya-kun, look at them. As you can see that most of them are smiling because they still got the chance to see their loved ones or maybe they're healed and may be discharged from the hospital in the future days. But, remember, not all of them received the same fate. Sometimes, things can go upside down for them. However, we, doctors, will never give up to serve the community because a failure doesn't determine the future of that someone.", said Teppei. Kazuya still felt confused about what Teppei said to him.

"Teppei-san, what do you mean? I still don't get it.", Kazuya complained.

"What I meant to say, never stop if you fail. Don't follow what failure says to you. Because that makes you become one of them. Instead, you get up from those failures. Let the past be the past. Focus on your future because it's a future that is waiting, not past.", said Teppei. "I've read your files. You entered the GUYS academy right after you were chased out from the cooking school, right?", said Teppei.

"Yeah...", answered the embarrassed Kazuya.

"That's a good thing, actually.", added Teppei. Kazuya felt confused once again. "Okay, maybe I should've asked you, why did you join GUYS?", asked Teppei.

"Because I liked Ultraman and the Ultra Kaijus more than cooking. I wanted to be like you, Teppei-san! I've joined the cooking school because of my father. My father wanted me to be the next owner of his ramen stall.", said Kazuya.

"Was your father mad when he knows that you joining GUYS?", asked Teppei.

"Oh, no, he didn't! In fact, he's very proud of me! But, I can see the looks on his face that he's disappointed. Previously, I've planned, during my day-off, I would like to work at my father's ramen stall. But, my phobia towards glass restricted it. Instead, I've helped my mother at home.", said Kazuya.

"You've realised what you've said just now, right?", asked Teppei.

"Ummm... I've helped my mother at home?", said Kazuya.

"No...no, the one before that!", said Teppei.

"Ummm...my phobia towards glass...restricted it.", said Kazuya.

"You realised it now, right? Failure will not just threaten you but the people around you. That's why you need to get up from your failure.", said Teppei. "And, also, because of that day, you didn't want to accept your teacher's apology. The Kazuya that I knew would never do that. The Kazuya is a happy, cheerful man. And, I'm sure you have this attribute...forgiving. I can see through your face, that you want to forgive your teacher but your fear of the past restricted it. You know what's that called...a failure. A failure always finds excuses instead of doing something. You didn't find a way to stop that fear. You kept fearing the same thing and nothing will help you beat it.", said Teppei.

"But, Teppei-san! What should I do?! How can I beat those nightmares?", asked Kazuya.

"Overcome your fear of the past. That way you can defeat your fear. Let it go out of your mind.", said Teppei who advised Kazuya. Kazuya immediately became silent.

Later in the night, Chef Akihito was about to go to sleep until the door was knocked on as loud as possible. He walked to the door slowly and turned the doorknob. As soon as he opened the door, an alien was already waiting there. He felt directly on his back as a result of a shocker. Luckily, the injuries sustained were not that terrible.

"You?! What are you?!", asked Chef Akihito.

"My name is Gilanbo. And, I'm here to ask you whether you have a wish to be realised.," asked the alien.

"I have one! I want...all my nightmares to be gone!", asked Kazuya. Gilanbo would hand him a flower.

"Blow this flower and follow that flower wherever it goes, wherever it'll be blown to. Just follow it, okay?", said Gilanbo. Chef Akihito miraculously stood up on both of her feet. Unfortunately, the reason he could stand in his way because the kaiju was controlling their bodies. He started to walk unconsciously along with the other victims. They have to walk towards the designated location. The reason that they've got themselves, walking unconsciously, because their minds were controlled by Gilanbo itself. At the same time, their minds have entered 'Dream World' which resulted in them being like 'zombies' to each other.

Back at the Phoenix Nest, CREW GUYS received an urgent message from Director Misaki.

"GUYS Spacy has confirmed that they've detected unusual wave readings at District B-17. The headquarters are counting on CREW GUYS to finish this case.", said Director Misaki.

"G.I.G! Ryu, if you please.", Sakomizu responded.

"G.I.G. Alright, we need to find the source of that wave. Observe the source, if you found anything suspicious, report immediately, and attack according to my order, understand?", said the captain.

"G.I.G!", the crew responded.

"GUYS! SALLY GO!!!", shouted Ryu.

"G.I.G!", the crew responded. And, then, the crew dispatched.

At the same time, Kazuya who were supposed to do observations stood up and walked to his captain.

"Captain! May I go too?", asked Kazuya.

"Oh, Hibiki. Are you okay?", said Ryu.

"Please let me go! I have an unfinished business to settle! Please!", urged Kazuya while bowing down.

"All right, then, be careful, okay?", said Ryu.

"G.I.G!", Kazuya responded right before he left the base for the hangar. In the meantime, Teppei got off from his seat and went towards Ryu immediately.

"Ryu-san! Allow me to accompany him! I'm worried about his safety at the moment! Please!", begged Teppei.

"Wait a minute! If you're not here, who's going to handle the observations?", asked Ryu. Immediately, Konomi transitioned from hers to Teppei's.

"Don't worry, Ryu-san. I'll take his place! Teppei-san, ganbatte!", said Konomi.

"Well, looks like I have to allow you to go with them. Teppei, take care.", said Ryu.

"G.I.G!", said Teppei before heading into the hangar. Minutes later, the Gun Phoenix Striker and the Gun Launcher blasted off to District B-17.

Later, they would land right in front of the entrance gate of Districts B-17.

"Alright, take your own paths, go in pairs, and report anything suspicious immediately, okay?", ordered George.

"If the situation got worse, I'll be there!", said Mirai.

"Okay, Mirai, but, be careful.", said George.

"Mirai-kun, take care okay?", said Marina. And, then, they separated into partners. Only, Mirai was left alone.

As the mission started, the members tried to find the wave source based on the amplitude and frequency of the wave. On the other hand, Kazuya had other ideas while Teppei followed him. Instead of finding the wave source, Kazuya insisted to find something else.

"Kazuya-kun, what are you looking for? We're in the middle of a mission here.", said Teppei.

"As I said before, I want to finish an unfinished business.", answered Kazuya.

"Of course...what is that unfinished business? You're lucky I'm not afraid of darkness.", said Teppei. Suddenly, his flashlight turned off. Teppei shouted as loud as he can. Not until Kazuya reached for his flashlight, and turned back the switch. Teppei innocently followed Kazuya from the back as they continued their journey to Kazuya's unfinished business.

Minutes later, they would arrive at a house. Kazuya would enter the house and immediately knocked on the door.

"Hello! Hello! Is Chef Akihito inside? I would like to see him, please!", said Kazuya while knocking on the door.

At the same time, Teppei saw a shadow coming from the other side of the road, carrying a grenade launcher. Kazuya, on the other hand, used his Triger Shot and used it towards the lock. He immediately jumped into the house and shouted his teacher's name. After minutes of searching, they would finally found Kazuya's master who kept heading against the wall.

"Master! Please cut it out! Stop heading your heads into the walls! You'll injure yourself!", said Kazuya. And, then, he heard his teacher said something repeatedly while bumping his head onto the wall.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry...I'm sorry... I'm sorry...", said the teacher.

"You're sorry...?", said Kazuya. After that, he started to remember what his rival told him earlier that day. "Hibiki-san... he became sick after you left...The day you left the cooking school was his biggest nightmare. And, right now, it's still haunting him. Hibiki-san, please forgive him, so that he could be better...", said Terazawa earlier that day.

Meanwhile, Teppei who was guarding outside the house, saw something coming his way. He became panicked and immediately ran into the house to warn Kazuya.

"Hey... Kazuya-kun! We gotta go! Someone is coming this way!", warned Teppei. However, Kazuya resisted leaving the house.

"No, I won't go, Teppei-san! I can't leave him here alone like this! We have to get him out as well!", said Kazuya.

"Alright, then! But, make it quick! I don't feel so good right now...", said Teppei. Then, Kazuya continued to persuade his teacher to get out of the house.

"Master! Please! I beg you! Come with us! We gotta leave the house!", begged Kazuya. However, his master kept bumping his head onto the wall while saying, "I'm sorry!". "Master! What is wrong with you?! We need to leave now, please! I can't leave you alone here!", persuaded Kazuya. However, his teacher didn't give him a response.

Mirai, on the other hand, was searching for the source of the wave alone. He realised that the source was getting closer. He was so focused that he would keep his eyes away from his Memory Display. Moments later, he fell onto his back out of a sudden.

"Ouch...that hurts!! What did I bumped into?", said Mirai while reaching the Memory Display that was behind him at the time. When he looked to his forward, he became extremely shocked as he saw an army of people marching slowly towards the west. "Eh! What the heck is that?! Why is their skin grey with that bruised eyes? I've gotta tell the others.", said the shocked Mirai. Then, he contacted the other members and the direction room simultaneously using the Memory Display.

All of the members alongside the operator in the direction room; Yuko, answered his call.

"What?! What did you say just now?", asked Ryu.

"I saw people marching to the west. I did get bumped into someone but he didn't respond at all.", explained Mirai.

"What did they look like?", asked Kazuya.

"They had grey skin with bruised pair of eyes.", said Mirai.

"Hibino-san, I think you watched too many horror movies this week...Maybe we need to change the genre of next week's movie.", said Haruzaki.

"Please believe me! Oh, hold on, I'll send you some pictures!", Mirai insisted. Then, he started to take pictures using the device and immediately send them wirelessly towards the Direction Room. However, the reaction was unexpected.

"Mirai...what did you send to us, just now?", asked Ryu.

"What do you mean? I've sent the pictures of the marching people.", replied Mirai.

"Marching people? But, I didn't see anything. It's just black.", replied Ryu after seeing the picture that Mirai sent. Mirai got confused and right away checked his Memory Display. At the same moment, he realised that the camera which is below the capsule slot was broken.

"Ahhh...my camera's down! No wonder.", said Mirai.

In the meantime, Donna was chasing Eiji while listening to his Memory Display for any status update. Eiji seemed to be rushing to find the source. Donna, on the other hand, was exhausted after following his comrade back and forth.

"Oy, Eiji...Can we stop for a while? I'm exhausted.", asked Donna while catching his breath.

"Just stay here. I'll do it by myself.", said Eiji willingly. Donna tried to stop him from doing the mission alone until both of them heard something.

"Did you hear that Eiji?", asked Donna nervously. Then, he heard a slow grunt from behind. They would realise that they would encounter a grey-skinned 'zombie' in front of them.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!", Donna screamed in a high pitch while jumping onto Eiji. Eiji, unwillingly, caught him while hearing that ear-rumbling screaming.

"Captain...the 'zombies' are real...", reported Eiji with a flat tone. Then, he took a picture from there.

Back at the Phoenix Nest, all of the members were shocked when they saw the pictures with their own eyes especially Ryu who fell off his chair right after he saw them. At the same time, Adjutant Toriyama and Secretary Maru entered the direction room. They were fine until they saw what the other members were looking at on the screen. Toriyama would faint right after he saw the look of the 'zombie'.

"What the heck happened here?! I didn't know that zombies were real!", said Secretary Maru.

"Don't attack them!", warned Haruzaki out of a sudden. At the same time, Toriyama woke up unexpectedly.

"Wait a minute! Aren't zombies are supposed to bite people's neck and eat their brains?!", said Toriyama.

"That's the situation right now! They aren't attacking us! But, they're seemed to head somewhere else.", reported Mizuka.

"Just like Mirai said...", said Sakomizu. "Mirai, can you hear me? Can you follow them? Report immediately when something odd happened.", ordered Sakomizu.

"G.I.G!", Mirai responded before he started to follow those 'zombies'.

"Marina! George! Assist Mirai if something happens to him! Eiji, Haruzaki, Mizuka, Donna! Be ready when they're in trouble.", ordered Ryu.

"G.I.G!", they responded.

At the same time,

"Ryu-san. Where's Teppei-san and Kazuya-kun? I can't connect to them. Their system is still online. But, still, I can't contact them.", said Konomi right after she tried to contact them after Mirai sent the pictures.

"Teppei! Hibiki! Come in! Come in!", said Ryu who tried to contact them.

Teppei and Kazuya, on the other hand, were trying to pull Chef Akihito away from the wall as his head started bleeding after all that bumping. Both men's Memory Display sounded, but both men didn't answer as they were focusing on pulling the bleeding man.

"Master! Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!!!!!", shouted Kazuya determinedly. Suddenly, the teacher stopped struggling like the time where both men tried to pull him a few seconds before. They thought that the teacher had regained his consciousness until they heard a laugh came from behind. They slowly turned to their backs. They were extremely shocked when a creepy-looking witch appeared in front of them. Even, Teppei who wasn't afraid of ghosts, couldn't catch his breath properly.

"Hey, what are you?! Are you a witch?!", asked Kazuya while calming Teppei.

Then, the witch said something in an alien language.

"Akihito Kurosawa, come, join your brothers.", said the witch. Immediately, the teacher started to walk slowly towards the witch. Kazuya, however, wouldn't let his teacher go as he held his legs tightly.

"Master! Please don't go! You'll fall into her trap! Please!", begged Kazuya. The witch, out of a sudden, pulled out a blade-like hand. Then, a light ball was emitted towards Kazuya using the hand. Fortunately, Kazuya managed to prevent that light ball from hitting them both by using his Triger Shot. However, the light ball ricocheted from the Triger Shot ray towards the floor causing a fire to start. In the middle of the fire, Kazuya could only see a glimpse of his teacher's face through the flame. Both, the witch and Akihito left the scene instantly, leaving the two GUYS member struggling to put out the fire.

Meanwhile, Mirai has arrived at the place where the 'zombies' gathered.

"Direction room, this is Mirai. I've arrived at the place. They seemed to be gathering in the middle of the road. There must be something that lured them here.", reported Mirai.

"Well done, Mirai. Now, all we need to do is destroy that source.", said Ryu. At the same time, Marina and George who followed Mirai from behind, found him, hiding behind the woods.

"Mirai-kun, there you are!", whispered Marina.

"Marina-san! George-san! Where have you been?", asked Mirai.

"We were following you from behind…Ryu's orders…Sorry…too tired…", said the exhausted George while catching his breath.

"I think there's something in front of them that lured them here. We need to destroy whatever it is.", said Mirai. Suddenly, he saw Marina froze out of a sudden. Mirai tried to wake her up and managed to do it successfully, by calling her name a few times. "Marina-san, what happened to you? I have to call your name a few times!", asked Mirai.

"I don't know but I heard something soothing from far. After that, I entered into a place called 'Dream World', if I'm not mistaken. I can't be sure though, it was foggy at the time.", said Marina.

"What kind of sound did you hear just now?", asked George.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's a song.", said Marina. Suddenly, a sound came out. Marina immediately put earbuds onto Mirai's, George's, and her ears out of a sudden.

"What are you doing, Marina-san?", asked Mirai.

"Huh, are you asking me?", asked George who accidentally thought that Mirai was talking to him. Marina immediately stopped their muted conversation. At the same time, she magically put out a drawing pad with a marker pen from the bushes. She started to write something onto the drawing pad while the other two men were observing the bushes.

She wrote, "You two, I think that song is a hypnotising song. Don't you think it's obvious? I've heard it from far and I'm already ended up in another world. That's why I put on the earbuds on you and you, to prevent you from ending up at another world.". She moved to another page. The page stated, "These earbuds are specially made by Teppei to me and Mirai-kun as we have the excessive hearing ability. I did bring an extra, just in case.". The other two would nod towards each other as a sign that they understand the situation.

At the same time, George saw something at the front of the gathering 'zombies'. He patted the other two members' shoulders and tried to tell them what did he see using body language. Unfortunately, both of them couldn't understand what did he mean. Fortunately, he saw the drawing pad and the marker pen in Marina's grasp. He immediately took it and drew whatever he saw seconds before that.

George would show them the picture that he drew. The picture translated, "I saw the witch was absorbing something from the zombies. The zombies later would pass out and be kick off the throne." The two would finally understand what George meant to say although the drawing was quite unexplainable at first.

In the meantime, Eiji, Haruzaki, Donna, and Mizuka, were waiting to assist their seniors at the entrance gate.

"Ughhh, what took them so long?!", complained Eiji. Mizuka immediately pinched Eiji after he said that.

"It's a hard task to do. So, hold on!", replied Mizuka. "In the meantime, let me hear some music while waiting.", said Mizuka while putting on her headphones.

"Ughhh, fine!!", said Eiji. Suddenly, he would be startled as Donna and Haruzaki would stand up unexpectedly. "Hey, what's wrong with you two? Desperate to use the toilet or what?", asked Eiji. However, the two would start walking slowly to the west without replying to Eiji. Mizuka would stand up and run towards Donna and Haruzaki.

"Donna-san! Haruzaki-san! Please, stop!", said Mizuka while blocking their way. "Gosh, this thing is disturbing!", said Mizuka while putting her headphones back into her bag. At the same moment, her headphones slipped out of her grasp. She stood up and started to follow the other two members in the same direction.

"What is wrong with these three?!", said Eiji.

In the meantime, Mirai, Marina, and George were still observing the situation behind the bushes. At that exact moment, Mirai saw three of his juniors walking towards the road. Mirai would pat Marina's shoulders to order her to observe the three members. She would do the same thing to George, only to be pinched instead of being patted. They would observe the three members' movements. Only for Mirai to realise that they had the same eyes that Marina had when she was temporarily hypnotised. Mirai immediately went out of the bushes and ran towards his juniors to block them from continuing their journey.

The witch would realise that Mirai has interrupted her business. Then, she would emit the light balls from her blade hand. Mirai would put out the Mebius Brace and used the Mebium Slash to destroy the light ball. The witch would be furious. Then, she revealed her extremely big mouth and started to consume the person beside her, which is Akihito. After that, she would become the full-sized Gilanbo.

The alien would attack Mirai multiple times, while the hero himself was pushing his teammates into the bushes. As soon as the three members ended up in the bushes, George and Marina would tie them up as they were struggling when they tried to hold them. In the meantime, Mirai would change into Mebius.

MEBIUS!!!!!

Mebius encountered the creepy witch-alien, Gilanbo in the middle of the district's main road. They would start their showdown by testing their respective light balls and Mebium Slashes. Both attacks couldn't hit them physically. After moments of staring straight into each other, Mebius would start the physical attack.

"Let's help Mirai-kun! I'll go this way, you go that way!", said Marina to George, using body language. Both of them would separate right after Marina went towards the kaiju and Mebius. George, on the other hand, would fall back with his METEOR Shot to cover for Marina.

At the same time, Teppei and Kazuya would manage to escape from the burning house. They would run away from the house as the fire started to spread out to the other houses. As they were running, they saw the house exploded into pieces. The two would keep running, although they saw the shattered pieces rained down towards them.

"Master! I'm sorry! I couldn't save your house, just like I couldn't protect your honour as a chef. I'm sorry!", Kazuya monologued while running alongside Teppei. He started to shed some tears. Teppei would soon realise that but he couldn't do anything at the time to stop that tears.

In the meantime, Mebius was on the offensive side as he managed to hit the kaiju using his ray technics and his physical attacks. The kaiju would be mad and immediately used its Nightmare Illusion Wave onto Mebius.

"Mebius. Remember your nightmares…Remember your nightmares…", said the kaiju. Mebius' head would be filled with his greatest nightmares. The members would realise that their friend was in trouble through his actions.

"Mirai-kun…Mirai-kun is in trouble! That kaiju must be trying to hypnotise him!", monologued Marina. Then, she would shoot it using her Triger Shot but the shot was rebounded towards herself. Fortunately, she managed to survive the impact but couldn't manage to stay conscious as the impact caused her to pass out. George would fight back with METEOR Shot but received the same fate as Marina did except, he managed to stay conscious. He would pull Marina out of the way, while Mebius stopped moving. He stood steadily right in front of the kaiju. George would notice the situation at the time.

"Damn! Has Mirai got controlled by that kaiju?", monologued George while observing Mebius who was indeed controlled by Gilanbo.

Suddenly, Mebius managed to move yet again. However, George realised that Mebius' eyes have changed into violet. Mebius would turn to his back, and start attacking his surroundings using his Mebium Slash attack. George would pull Marina even deeper into the bushes.

"Ryu! This is bad! The kaiju managed to control Mirai! Marina's wounded, Haruzaki, Donna and Mizuka got controlled by the kaiju as well, Teppei and Kazuya are nowhere to be seen!", reported George.

"Dammit! My crew's down…Konomi!", said Ryu.

"I've scanned the body of the kaiju. It seemed like the 'horns' are the emitter of a mind-controlling wave, of some sort. And, maybe the blue part on its face could be the source of its power. If we could take one down…maybe we-", said Konomi before she got interrupted by Kazuya.

"STOP!!! My teacher is in that thing!", said Kazuya.

"Hibiki, how can you be so certain?!", asked Ryu.

"Teppei-san and I got trapped in his house just now. Before that, kaiju appeared in its other form. It took my teacher away from us. I'm sure! I'm sure he's in that thing!", said Kazuya determinedly.

"Can we use the Spirit Separator to separate them both?", asked Ryu.

"We can't! Because the Spirit Separator capsules are still in the charging process. The process is quite similar to the Maquette Kaiju Capsules.", explained Maru.

"Can we use them with half the power?", asked Ryu.

"We can't. Apparently, it needs to be fully charged in order to use them. It's the rule of METEOR, Ryu.", explained Sakomizu.

"Dammit! It seems like I have to go there too…", said Ryu. Then, he took his helmet and walked towards the hangar before he was stopped by Kazuya.

"Captain!... Let me persuade him myself! I'll finish the job…", said Kazuya before he immediately closed his Memory Display. Ryu tried to reconnect with him but he was unable to do so.

Back at the site, Teppei was still uncertain how can Kazuya manage to finish the task.

"Kazuya-kun, how can you persuade him? It's impossible! How can you guarantee that he'll listen to you this time?!", asked the wounded Teppei.

"He'll listen to me this time! I promise!", said Kazuya before he ran towards the kaiju. Teppei was heavily concerned when his junior left him.

As he was running towards the kaiju, he remembered what his rival and his senior told him earlier that day.

"Hibiki-san... he became sick after you left...The day you left the cooking school was his biggest nightmare. And, right now, it's still haunting him. Hibiki-san, please forgive him, so that he could be better...".

"Never stop if you fail. Don't follow what failure says to you. Because that makes you become one of them. Instead, you get up from those failures. Let the past be the past. Focus on your future because it's the future that is waiting, not past…"

"Master, I finally realised that I shouldn't have to give up at cooking after you chased me out. I should have to continue your teachings to the outside world so that they could be chefs, just like you do. I also remembered that the finale of that competition was 100% my fault. It was never yours. But I've used that reason to stop myself from achieving a dream of mine. I shouldn't have done that. I was so stupid, master because I kept reminding myself about the past without thinking about my future.", monologued Kazuya. Minutes later, he arrived right in front of the kaiju.

"MASTER!!!!! I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!!", shouted the man. Gilanbo would immediately stop his movement. In the meantime, George and Teppei would take their chances to shoot down its 'horns' or 'antennas'. The kaiju would be panicked at the time. At the same time, Mebius and all of the people who got hypnotised by the kaiju would be free from Gilanbo's mind-controlling wave.

"Mirai! Take down the blue thing on its face! It's the source of its power!", shouted George to Mebius. Mebius would immediately summon the METEOR Armor CODE-1. He would rampage through the weakened kaiju. The kaiju was brutally wounded by Mebius' attacks, especially the physical ones.

As the kaiju got weaker from time-to-time, Kazuya would shout to Mebius, "Mirai-san! Please save my teacher!!!!". Mebius would scan for any lifeforms inside Gilanbo's body. After seconds of scanning, he would find his teacher, trapped inside the blue crystal on its face. Mebius would immediately concentrate his power into the Mebius Brace before he ran towards the kaiju at full speed. After that, he would unleash the Mebium Supreme Puncher to break into the crystal while grabbing the teacher at the same time. After the teacher got released from Gilanbo's control, Mebius would finish it off by unleashing the Mebium Phoenix Rampage into Gilanbo. The enemy would be destroyed within seconds.

All civilians who were mind-controlled moments before embraced his victory over the kaiju. The crew would join in moments later, except for Kazuya and Teppei, who worked hard to find his teacher. Mebius would detransform and soon follow the two men to help to find his teacher.

After minutes of searching his teacher throughout the neighbourhood, Mirai would spot Kazuya's teacher rehabilitating under a tree. All three men would approach the extremely weak man. Kazuya would hold his teacher's hand tightly and say "Master! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for being so hard to accept your apology. It's because whenever I saw you, I remembered that incident. Since then, I barely cooked because I'm afraid of that incident! But, failure is a process to being a success, right? Master! Right now, it's my time to apologise to you. I promise I'll learn from my mistakes and never back down to any challenge! I'll never be afraid of that day, ever again! I'll never be afraid of glass ever again!", said Kazuya to his teacher. Later, his teacher would rub his student's head and said, "I would assume you as a failure. Kazuya would hug his teacher so hard the teacher would have a hard time believing they achieved the gold medal.

Days later, as all of the members were hanging out inside the direction room. Minutes later, staff in black-colored uniform entered the room. He would call Kazuya to gather at the outside of the base. After minutes of leaving the room, he would enter the base once again but this time with a long face. All members were concerned about Kazuya at the time except for Eiji who was at his naptime recess at the time.

"Kazuya-kun…what's wrong?", asked Mizuka.

"Yeah…don't worry, just tell us what happened.", said George.

"My teacher…Chef Akihito has been diagnosed with a 10-year comma.", said Kazuya regretfully. All members were quite shocked after that.

"Poor guy…", said Yuko.

"His chance of living after the comma, '0.08%", said Kazuya. All of the members wouldn't believe what did he said moments before.

"But, at least I'm not afraid of glass, before. My fears in the past, I've taken it down, fortunately. That has made my life even better as a GUYS member.", said Kazuya. "Sometimes, I'll take a part-time at the café to regain my confidence in cooking. Thankfully, I managed to realise my mistakes before he was diagnosed with comma.", said Kazuya.

"Master…I'll be a big boy like you always wanted me to. I'll do my best to not giving up, no matter how hard that task, or how many times I've failed a mission. Thanks to you, I managed to control my fear. Thank you, master…", monologued Kazuya.

At the same time, the Kurosawa's was opened once again after it went out of business once before. After they managed to defeat the enemy, the CREW GUYS would give the restaurant some money and some assistants to work on the renovation of the premise. Terazawa would be the head chef of the restaurant.

In the meantime, Haruzaki realised that he doesn't see anything weird on that day except for the time when he entered the Dream World. He would saw a kaiju brutally beaten by a titan.

"Is that Hibino-san?", Haruzaki asked himself back when he's in the dream world. The titan weirdly looked similar to Mebius but different in various aspects.

"Wait…his shadow looks different. That's not Hibino-san…But, that titan…looks very similar to him, though. No way! Is he…an another Ultraman?", Haruzaki continued making assumptions.

"Well, Ultraman or not, I wanted to know. Is it him, the entity who shoot the black-gold colored ray, right after a fight in which Mebius used a lot of energy to stay alive?", Haruzaki monologued.

After he stopped hallucinating, he immediately continued his patrol around the nearby town. However, as soon as he left, a shadow was seen. The shadow was identical to the shadow that Haruzaki saw when he's in the Dream World. Moments later, the shadow walked away from the scene.

Literally.

(BELIEVE- Kiyoshi Ending)