(First Aired: January 22, 1967)
Screenplay by: Masahiro Yamada
Directed by: Samaji Nonagase
At Hyuuga Pass in Okutama, a lone bus drives through the mountainous highway. On the bus are Muramatsu and Ide, who are investigating a mysterious series of bus crashes along Hyuuga Pass that always occur exactly at noon. Sure enough, their bus becomes the latest victim when the driver suddenly loses control of the vehicle by some kind of invisible force and the bus proceeds to hurtle off a cliff.
Muramatsu awakens some time later on a log with one of the passengers besides him – a lady in black wearing sunglasses. He wakes her up and spots what’s left of the bus a few meters below them. Additionally, he observes, there’s something mysterious about the fact that they were the only people thrown out of the bus when it crashed; not to mention, a lack of casualties around the bus. So Muramatsu heads down to check the bus’ interior for bodies, only to find it’s totally empty. That’s when a tap on the shoulder reveals a police officer behind him. The officer explains that everybody had somehow survived the crash and were all rescued an hour ago. The only injury was a broken leg from Ide. Thanking the cop, Muramatsu heads back up the cliff to meet with the woman in black, only to find that she is leaving the area by herself. Suspicious about where she is going, Muramatsu follows, as the only place in her direction is the Cosmic Ray Research Institute in the mountains. Before he leaves though, he quickly takes out his communicator to report to his team that he is alive, to the relief of a hospitalized Ide, and following a potential suspect to the Research Institute.
The mystery woman finally reaches the Cosmic Ray Research Institute with Muramatsu trailing in silent pursuit. At Science Patrol HQ, Hayata has temporarily taken leadership and instructs Arashi and Fuji to pick up Ide at the hospital and head to the institute while he stays at base to manage communications. At the hospital, an exhausted man limps in with a terrible story. He explains that he is a researcher at the Cosmic Ray Research Institute, but a wicked alien called Dada attacked there a week ago. The creature – a black-and-white humanoid with three eerie faces that it switches between at random – suddenly teleported in one day, zapping all the scientists but him with a shrink ray. He, the lone survivor, avoided being shrunk down and escaped. When the police and Ide realize that there is a connection to the bus crashes, the storyteller vanishes before their eyes; Dada has teleported him back to the Research Institute in an unconscious state. At the Institute, Dada then contacts its superior to inform that of all the scientists captured, four have proven to be good specimens, but two humans more are still needed. Dada’s superior then informs it that a potential specimen is heading to the Institute as they speak. With that, Dada’s superior cuts contact, and Dada turns its attention to the four ready specimens – all shrunken down inside capsules – before taking over the body of the just-captured researcher. The trap is set.
Inside the desolate Research Institute, the lady in black looks about for anyone to speak to. Entering one of the lab rooms, she encounters the scientist possessed by Dada. Introducing herself as Medical Officer Akikawa of the Space Radiation Research Center, she explains that she came to pick up overdue lab reports from Cosmic Ray Research Institute due to a lack of phone responses from the scientists. Dada/Scientist falsely tells her that it was from problems with the laboratory’s communications grid and he will bring the reports to her. Akikawa takes a sit while the possessed scientist heads off to do what he claims he will. Of course, the reality is that he’s conducting an analysis on her. The results reveal that she is an ideal fifth specimen, but the patiently waiting Akikawa has noticed something – some writing on a lab desk reading "S.O.S. DADA". Disturbed by the cryptic warning, Akikawa moves to the door only for Dada/Scientist to enter. Surprisingly, he has the overdue lab reports, but Akikawa is more bothered by the scrawled message. Dada/Scientist notices this and attacks her upon realizing that she is aware that something dreadful is going on. Suddenly, a stool smashes onto Dada/Scientist’s head, revealing that Muramatsu has arrived. Muramatsu then blasts Dada with a ray gun, forcing the invader to drop its human host before teleporting away.
Muramatsu and Akikawa begin to run. Meanwhile, Dada contacts its superior again, requesting a new shrink ray since the previous one was broken in the scuffle with Muramatsu. The request is granted via teleportation. Muramatsu and Akikawa, on the other hand, have taken shelter in the generator room, where the former takes the opportunity to contact HQ and inform Hayata about Dada. Knowing the best choice of action for the situation, Hayata pulls out the Beta Capsule and transforms into Ultraman!
Dada is informed by its superior of Ultraman’s arrival and is instructed to fight. Dada increases its size to that of Ultraman and greets the hero outside in combat. Dada proves to be no match and a Specium Ray manages to scar its preferred face. Dada shrinks itself back to human size inside the Research Institute and switches back to chasing after Muramatsu and Akikawa. The two manage to evade Dada with relative ease until the alien corners them at the edge of the rooftop with its shrink ray. Akikawa slips, dragging Muramatsu with her, but Ultraman spots the situation in time. He catches the two in his hand and places them safely on the ground. Dada manages to shrink Ultraman to human size next before increasing its own size again to crush him. Ultraman responds by increasing his own size to the normal giant size. A second battle ensues, but Dada is quickly forced to flee via invisible flight. However, Ultraman’s anti-invisibility vision and a well-aimed Specium Ray bring Dada’s corpse falling from the sky. With that, Ultraman leaves to find a safe place to turn back into Hayata.
At this moment, Arashi, Fuji, and Ide arrive at the Cosmic Ray Research Institute. Arashi and Fuji step out of the car, only for Muramatsu and Akikawa tell them that Ultraman has already dealt with the situation. Then Hayata arrives, to Arashi’s confusion. Hayata is then followed by Ide in crutches, and Ide slips, forcing his teammates to help him back on his feet while he howls in pain.
Tropes:
- Closed Circle: Muramatsu and Akikawa find themselves trapped in the Cosmic Ray Research Institute while Dada hunts them down with the intention to turn them into human specimens.
- No-Sell: Dada shrinks Ultraman with his ray gun, Ultraman's response? Grow giant via his own powers negating any advantage Dada ever had.
- Villain Decay: Dada starts off as a creepy, nightmarish alien villain befitting a slasher movie. Then Ultraman comes in, and he immediately finds himself on the receiving end of a Curb-Stomp Battle and is forced to flee for his life.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The fates of the first four human specimens Dada had shrunken down were never shown.
