Becoming Ultraman hadn’t turned Richard Carter into an ordinary man who could only fight after transforming.
Far from it.
One of the first things he had discovered was that Ultraman Nexus could freely alter his size.
At his current level, Richard could grow to nearly fifty meters tall or shrink until he was scarcely larger than an ant.
Neither limit felt permanent.
As his connection to Nexus deepened, both would likely change.
The smaller his form, the less energy it consumed.
Remaining at roughly human height required only a fraction of the power needed for giant-sized combat, making it practical for extended use.
Better still, shrinking didn’t weaken him.
Power compressed was still power.
A human-sized Ultraman could hit just as hard as a giant one.
Richard had tested that theory…
carefully.
The results had convinced him never to spar with ordinary people.
Even without transforming, his physical abilities had changed dramatically.
His strength, speed, reflexes, and endurance had already reached a level comparable to Captain America’s.
And that was only the beginning.
His bond with the Light was still developing.
At present, even when fully transformed, he could only maintain Nexus’s basic silver form.
There was plenty of room to grow.
That was reassuring.
It also meant he had no intention of getting into unnecessary fights.
Before arriving in this universe, Richard had worked as a reporter.
He hadn’t been famous.
He hadn’t uncovered world-changing conspiracies.
He’d simply enjoyed journalism.
That passion survived his second life.
Only this time, instead of chasing stories with a camera slung over his shoulder, he owned the newspaper assigning them.
Richard often found himself thinking about something Gabriel García Márquez once wrote.
Journalism is the best profession in the world.
Whether that was objectively true hardly mattered.
Richard understood exactly what Márquez meant.
Good journalism wasn’t just about delivering information.
It exposed corruption, challenged authority, and forced uncomfortable truths into the open.
A well-researched article could shape public opinion more effectively than a speech from a politician.
More importantly…
It encouraged people to think for themselves.
Unfortunately, Richard also knew how easily those ideals could be compromised.
Every newsroom answered to someone.
Advertisers.
Owners.
Politicians.
Power always found ways to influence the story.
Sometimes the truth was obvious, yet impossible to print.
Sometimes the lie was obvious, yet expected.
Richard had written stories he regretted.
Articles that technically met every editorial requirement while betraying everything he believed journalism should stand for.
Once they went to print, he could barely stand to look at them.
That wasn’t a mistake he intended to repeat.
This world offered him a second chance.
The Daily Planet belonged to him.
So did every decision that left its presses.
His reporters understood exactly what kind of newsroom they worked in.
If they could prove a story…
Richard would publish it.
Movie stars.
Corporate executives.
Military officers.
Members of Congress.
Nobody received special treatment.
If they abused power, they became news.
The policy had earned the Daily Planet countless enemies.
It had also made it one of New York’s fastest-growing newspapers.
Readers trusted it because they knew one thing.
The paper wasn’t afraid.
As for retaliation?
Richard wasn’t particularly worried.
Owning the power of Ultraman made intimidation a difficult business.
The previous night’s disaster had unfolded almost exactly as Richard remembered from The Incredible Hulk.
One of General Ross’s officers had injected himself with an experimental serum derived from Bruce Banner’s blood.
The result was the Abomination.
Overwhelmed by overwhelming physical power and stripped of whatever restraint he’d once possessed, the creature rampaged through New York, crushing Ross’s forces and leaving devastation in its wake.
Originally, the story should have ended differently.
Bruce Banner was supposed to become the Hulk.
The Hulk was supposed to fight the Abomination.
The city was supposed to survive because of that battle.
Instead…
The Hulk never appeared.
Richard had waited.
For several long minutes, he expected the giant green blur to leap into the battlefield.
Nothing happened.
Meanwhile, the Abomination kept advancing.
Street after street disappeared beneath its destruction.
Then Richard noticed where it was headed.
His newspaper.
He stared through the office windows at the smoke rising only a few blocks away.
Years of work.
Years of investment.
Years spent building a newsroom he genuinely believed in.
The monster was about to reduce it to rubble.
Richard sighed.
“So much for staying anonymous.” A few moments later, Ultraman made his first appearance.
Richard had never imagined himself as a superhero.
He admired people who dedicated their lives to protecting others.
He simply wasn’t one of them.
Left to his own devices, he’d much rather spend his mornings arguing over headlines, his afternoons reviewing investigative reports, and his evenings pretending tomorrow’s deadlines weren’t already impossible.
He had no desire to patrol rooftops or chase bank robbers across Manhattan.
That was a full-time job.
The Avengers could have it.
Still…
Power carried responsibility, whether he asked for it or not.
Richard had no interest in playing an endless game of cops and robbers with every costumed criminal who appeared in New York.
But if a disaster emerged that ordinary people couldn’t stop…
If even Earth’s heroes reached their limits…
If the world truly needed Ultraman…
He already knew what he would do.
He would fight.
Without hesitation.