ATAPOW Chapter 13
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Chapter 13: BGM is online!
“Seek justice? Sorry, but didn’t you know that Ultraman can only theoretically sustain himself for around 3 minutes on Earth? In a moment, I will be returning back to my human self, so forgive me for not having the spare time to exchange blows with your distinguished self. I’m sure you haven’t seen any tokusatsu-films where the hero revealed his true identity in advance right? This is why I’m afraid you’ll just have to excuse my absence.” After a while of being deadlocked in a staring contest with Manda, Ji Bai shrugged his shoulders as he made full use of his mouth jutsu1.
Logically speaking, if this had happened in the past, there would be no way the knights would enjoy such lenient punishments. Not only would Ji Bai blow away the four punks into the sky with his hammer, but he would have also given good Ol’ Manda, who had so foolishly chosen to protect his students rather than properly enacting judgment, a pretty good beating before finally letting the matter go to rest. However, these were now extraordinary times and human society had already regarded his true identity as one of the deceased. If he were to fight against the Ol’ fogey, Manda, who was quite familiar with his moves, it would inevitably arouse his suspicions regarding Ji Bai’s death.
After he pondered over the repercussions for a few seconds, Ji Bai eventually decided against having any more involvement with him.
“Oho? It’s always said that the brilliance of the younger generation far outshines the old one. Is this youngster perhaps afraid of losing to an old man past his sixties?” Manda smiled, his eyes were squinted to the point it was no longer visible. The hands that were behind his back were astonishingly headed toward the long sword on his waist.
“This esteemed lowly self here truly didn’t mean anything else. I just wish to exchange a few moves with you and make some friends in the process, is all…” Manda’s gaze was fiery as he stared at the figure who was silently shifting backward.
‘Who would believe that? If it wasn’t me who saved the day but someone else, they might have needed to break a few ribs at least. Is it really okay of you to publicly protect your knights to this extent? Do you really choose to show favoritism before justice?’
“Alright, alright, what do you plan to do?” Ji Bai was aware that it was impossible to leave right this instant. He made sure to fix the holster on his gloves before straightening his back and making eye contact with Manda.
In a split second, Manda felt an indescribable familiarity. However, he didn’t really think much of it and basically just attributed it to his misperception. “This humble esteemed self noticed that your excellency was well versed in the ways of a knight. Surely you must be a secular knight from some volunteer corps, no? This old and worthless self of mine wouldn’t want to make things too difficult for you; I just want to duel with you once.” Manda stared fixedly at Ji Bai, his eyes were sparkling with fighting intent.
Indeed…
“I was still wondering what this was all about. In that case, let’s quickly start and bring this matter to an end. The world is currently weeping with injustice and I have quite the heavy workload ahead of me.” Ji Bai moved his neck around as he said in a nonchalant tone.
Manda slightly creased his eyebrows. Although he didn’t particularly care about his reputation, he was still a particularly famous knight at any rate. Even after knowing all this, the ‘Ultraman’ in front of him was still able to answer in such a straightforward manner. If this person wasn’t just doing a ‘Leeroy Jenkins’, Manda was absolutely certain that he must have been an ‘expert in hiding.’
However, this was exactly what Manda wanted. He had personally witnessed the misconduct of these four knights from the beginning to the end. He wasn’t a senile old fool yet; how could he not know who was in the right? The reason why he issued the challenge had more to do with the fact that this mysterious person had aroused his competitive spirit.
“Good, an impressively direct reply! This old self shan’t drag his feet any longer then!” Manda retrieved the long sword hung on his waist. With his body still, he took his long sword and placed it against his shoulder blade, forming a knight salute.
At the same time when Manda was doing his salute, Ji Bai, who was at the opposite side of him, suddenly threw the sword in his hand away. He then placed a speaker that had seemingly come out of nowhere on the wooden table.
“???” Manda’s eyebrows were creased as he observed Ji Bai’s actions. His nagging feeling told him that things may not be as simple as he expected, with his thoughts moving in this direction, the owner and the two knights, on the other hand, had stupefied expressions on their faces. ‘Hello? You’re currently in battle. Be a bit serious about it alright?’
Ji Bai wasn’t bothered about the stares that the people were giving him at all. He seemed to be immersed in his own world as he adjusted the audio channel and pressed the button.
“Wanna take you baby, take me higher2…” A series of rock and roll music, whose up and down rhythmical beats would excite the hearts of everyone present, began to blare off.
Everyone on the scene: “…”
“Ok! Let’s begin! With my BGM at my side, nobody will think about prevailing me.” The Ultraman ahead of them rolled his shoulder slightly. He then opened his left hand and closed his right, forming a special posture that Ultraman would use to beat monsters.
‘…While I’m truly grateful for the little guy ahead of me, can he not embarrass himself even more? It’s getting really awkward just looking at him…’
Even the noodle shop owner in the corner was almost at his limit. He wanted to do nothing but bury his face inside his hands.
A serious knight battle had been forcibly turned into a strange scene by this clown.
As for Ji Bai? He couldn’t care less. He wasn’t a knight now anyways. He could play however he desired as long as he was happy with it.
After all, there are times when he wanted to set himself free.
However, compared to the noodle shop owner, Manda’s focus was naturally not on his grandiosely clownish actions.
“Sir, you seem to have forgotten about your sword.”
“Sword? I don’t need it. If I use it, people might say that I’m bullying you…” Ji Bai originally thought that he should dig his ears while saying this, but he could only drop the idea as he figured he still had his costume on.
It seemed that even Manda was impacted by his words as well. As soon as they came out of Ji Bai’s mouth, the complexion of everyone froze.
‘Insane! This guy is beyond insane!’
‘For someone from the younger generation to say something like that to an appointed knight such as myself… Is he actually high right now? Or have I actually grown senile without knowing it?’
“Besides, where have you actually seen Ultraman use a sword to cut down monsters? This isn’t Kamen Riders3.”
“Are you… really serious right now? You’re not going to use a sword?” Manda narrowed his eyes.
“I am definitely, absolutely, and positively sure! Also, can you hurry up and make a move? My BGM is about to end, you know?”
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- Mouth Jutsu is something that started from Naruto. It’s a Jutsu that attacks people’s will and cause them to lose their spirit to fight. A good example is the pain Nagato fight where Naruto literally got Pain to kill himself through his speech.
- The Japanese opening of Ultraman Tiga.
- The actual word is Armor Hero, a China-made tokusatsu film. You guys should go check it out.