WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Ultraman: The Trial's of Ultraman #2 by Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom, Francesco Manna, Espen Grundetjern and VC's Ariana Maher, on sale now.
Shin Hayata is staring down a global scale almost singlehandedly as Ultraman. While he has the United Science Patrol to give him support, the recent loss of their only real weapon against the invading Kaiju has left them almost completely incapable of fighting on their own. Even worse, outside antagonists have just taken one of their most decorated agents captive only moments after his miraculous return. The situation is dire to be sure, but the fact that he only has limited use of his powers in the face of multiple threats has proven to be a real problem for Shin.
It hasn't been all that long ago since the Kaiju Vault was thrown open in an attempt to get ahead of the threat that it posed. The USP's K-Ray devices had only been prolonging the inevitable by sequestering the Kaiju to a different dimension, turning the Vault into a ticking time bomb. Now that the monsters are loose, they can be permanently put down by Ultraman himself. Of course, the Kaiju weren't the only ones trapped in limbo, as veteran USP agent Dan Moroboshi has also reappeared decades after his tragic disappearance. Unfortunately, Dan is currently being held captive by the Joint Armed Disclosure Front, a militant group that hates the USP based because they believe that the USP invented the Kaiju. While Shin could absolutely kick in the door as Ultraman and rescue Dan, that would leave the rest of the world vulnerable to a Kaiju attack, should Shin run out of the very precious amount of time he has as his superpowered alter-ego.
This isn't necessarily a new problem, as it was only last issue that Shin nearly drowned when he ran out of time as Ultraman while repairing an underwater pipeline he had damaged during another battle with a Kaiju. The stakes are high enough, and putting the rest of the world at potential risk to save someone just isn't an option. Unbeknownst to the others, Dan isn't the only one they could potentially be saved by rescuing Dan, as the Ultra that Shin has merged with believes his own brother may have merged with Dan as well. Now that there are two lives at risk of being lost, there is no question that the heroes need to take action now, and so they settle on the best plan they can come up with - going undercover.
It doesn't take long for Kiki to get into the club where Dan is being held and open the door for the poorly disguised Shin. Once inside, the two are quickly apprehended by the same agents that captured Dan. Whatever Shin does as Ultraman needs to happen quickly even without any immediate Kaiju threats to deal with. Thankfully, none of Ultraman's enemies are aware of this critical weakness in his abilities, and hopefully none of them will figure it out any time soon.