So things here in Vegas are just…this place is a complete shithole. If you ever think about moving here, slap yourself in the face and throw that idea right in the trash.

On a more positive note, I'm 15 months sober. Not a single drop of alcohol in all that time. It's hard to put into words how much better I am and how life is brighter now.

Chapter 5: Slippery When Wet

Lake Matsu, Northern Mistral, Remnant

78 AGW, April 30th, 8:45 pm

The waning sun cast swirling shades of purple and orange upon the calm surface of Lake Matsu. Mixtures that went undisturbed despite the massive form of Monster X sleeping on the water. His body floated in place without a care to be had for his surroundings. Even the birds and fish went about their business around him unimpeded, seemingly not bothered by his gigantic presence whatsoever. Two female falcons were even fighting each other to see who would claim X's chest as their territory. Yet the alien kaiju still did not move.

The falcons took a much-needed break after twenty minutes of nonstop pecking and clawing. Both avian warriors panted in short bursts, eyeing the other with puffed chests and unblinking glares. The modern-day dinosaurs would settle this feud like their giant ancestors: two would enter the field of battle, but only one would stand victorious. Then the victor would find themselves a mate and rule the roost.

The predators hunkered down and prepared to leap towards each other once again, but a rumbling below startled them and sent both flying away in terror. Monster X opened his mouth and yawned deeply, mewling and stretching his forked tail within the water like a satisfied cat, unconsciously scratching an itch on his armored chest. The fish had all swam away in terror, unaware that X was not going to hurt them. Despite his monstrous appearance he looked to be at complete ease taking his short nap. He lazily smacked his dry lips to get the crusty bits off before his eyes briefly fluttered open.

The simple act of sleeping without those damn machines and their messages clawing into his head was so welcome he had no reason to fight his fatigue and muscle atrophy. This was a completely new experience for the alien kaiju and he was relishing every second of it. Just a chance to finish his nap then he'd take a look at his new home. Who knew what would be on this planet? Sure it had the hairless apes, but they weren't that impressive. When you've seen one bipedal, intelligent species in control of their home planet, you've seen them all.

The fading sky was exceptionally clear tonight allowing the stars to start awakening. The slight twinkling of each appearing light was a soothing visual to X. Any time that he found himself in that great void he was struck by the sheer grandeur of it all. Everywhere you looked one would see the endless expanse of space, occasionally broken up with glowing balls of plasma, planetoids, passing asteroids and comets, and so much more. His time in space was usually limited and almost always focused on destroying his masters' enemies. Yet even then, he took some solace in the sights of the universe.

Staring at the lightening atmosphere above, he wondered if his masters were out there right now looking for him so they could use him again... that line of thought was squashed immediately before it had a chance to truly upset him.

If the masters tried to enslave him again he would snap his own neck and deny them the pleasure of giving him commands ever again. For now, he would worry about himself and this planet. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply once more before his mind drifted into a deep REM cycle.

XXXX

Unknown Location

? Year

The loud droning and circling red light from the ceiling woke him from his uncomfortable sleep. The pressure glass wall to his left began to groan as the slab slid into the ceiling. Monster X robotically stood from the hard metal floor and walked out of his cell. Waiting for him were two large orbs tipped with three metal prongs coming to a point aimed in his direction. The immobilizers would restrain him with streams of gold energy and take him wherever the masters wanted.

This was not a new experience for the alien kaiju and he hated every second of it. They decided when he slept, when he ate, when he was tested. He despised the only home ever known to him with every ounce of his being. Was he being sent out to destroy more of the tall structures and the terrified beings living in them? Would today be the day they cut into him and hurt his insides? He saw what they did to that poor beetle; cutting off it' arms to install drills. It's screeching cries of pain were what he imagined death would sound like.

The gold energy of the immobilizers didn't hurt when they tightened around his upper body, but he'd learned not to fight against them. Any sign of combativeness on his part would be rewarded with enough electricity to know him unconscious. The immobilizers softly hauled him from his cell and into the darkened room beyond. The former cargo hold now served as a prison for him and others like him.

The section he was kept in had some strange beings held captive. He looked to the left as he passed the very beetle he was just thinking of. The 55-meter tall brown and gray bug was squatting in the corner of the cell with its yellow eyes locked onto the only way out, refusing to show its vulnerable back. Upon seeing X the kaiju's arm drills span up, while the horn atop its scaled head glowed gold with charging energy. The beetle clicked its mandibles in a blatantly threatening manner.

The cell to his right contained a bright red bat with a 65-meter wingspan. In contrast, its teeth and claws were a bone white. It slowly crawled along the ceiling squinting its eyes as X floated by. Without warning the bat opened its mouth and screamed towards him. A high-frequency sound wave shot out and slammed into the door of the cell. The barrier rattled ominously for several seconds, but it refused to falter under the sonic assault. The screaming attack continued on as the flying kaiju disappeared from X's sight.

Monster X stopped looking at his fellow prisoners to focus his gaze in front of him. The immobilizers were taking him to the gigantic teleportation chamber that separated the containment cells from the outside world. He had been confined to his cell for an unknown amount of time since they last let him out and therefore had no idea where the ship currently was. This was his reality. He never knew where he was relative to the universe. He never knew if it was day or night. Why did they do this to him? Why was he born into this hell?

The doors to the teleporter opened with little noise and he was carried inside to be stood on the departure pads. The machinery hummed quietly as it came to life, the walls and ceiling blinding him with iridescent light. His body suddenly felt like he was being compressed by a great amount of pressure from all around him. The pressure squeezed and squeezed until it felt like his chest would collapse, then the force disappeared as his vision turned black. When his sight returned he was standing several hundred meters away from a sprawling metropolis currently experiencing a severe storm.

Oh, and there was a fleet of nearly one hundred triangular warships floating before him with thousands of weapons pointed at his face.

An eternity passed with only the sound of the storm filling the air. Then out of nowhere came the familiar buzzing noise and sharp pain in his skull from his masters' use of their devices. "Monster X! It's time to play! Slaughter them and leave nothing standing!" The mental command was somehow both a whisper and a deafening scream, and his body began to move all on its own a moment later. Lasers and missiles shot forth and struck his body with computer-assisted precision, however, the weaponry did nothing to stop his forward momentum and exploded harmlessly off his ebony skin and gray-white armor. His walking steps then turned into an unstoppable run, plowing through the continued barrage of munitions as he closed the distance between himself and the ships.

He kicked off the ground hard with a small manipulation of gravity to assist him, leaping nearly one-hundred meters into the stormy sky. An aggressive roar rumbled from his throat as he crashed atop one of the ships, his added weight making it tilt downwards. X held tightly to the ship's bow, his claws tearing into the hardened metal as easily as vulnerable flesh. With a firm grip to keep him steady, he began channeling Keizer Energy to his eyes. The versatile power built and built and built... then everything faded into a yellow haze as it exploded outward in four incredibly powerful graviton beams.

XXXX

X's body had so far been completely still while he slept, with exception to his chest expanding with each deep breath. The simple-minded fish had even returned and from time to time poked their slimy noses at his back in curiosity. The sun had now disappeared beyond the horizon leaving the wondrous beauty of the starry night sky. Were it not for the fact that anyone looking at him would freak out thinking him to be a titanic-sized Grimm, the scene would make for quite the lovely postcard advertising the lake.

X's stillness was broken by the sudden twitch of his fingers. All ten digits began to uncontrollably curl towards his palm as if an electrical current were running through them. His once peaceful face was now too suffering from convulsions. Although the armor protecting his skull hid it well, if you looked close enough you could see his brow scrunch close. His eyes moved rapidly beneath his eyelids as his breathing started to speed up. The fish below him had once more scattered away from the perceived threat, although this time it was more warranted as Monster X suffered from his nightmare.

XXXX

The blue energy shield protected the bridge of the ship shimmered weakly from his fist striking it over and over. The protection finally failed after the tenth hit, leaving the ship's bridge open to destruction. The durable metal was no match for the punch of the 60-meter monster, caving with ease under the force of his right fist. Having lost the commands coming from the destroyed bridge that kept it afloat the gray ship plummeted towards the ground to join six other destroyed vessels.

When X pulled his fist out of the hole he'd made he was surprised to see a teal-colored humanoid trapped in a mass of metal debris somehow stuck to the back of his hand. It was easy to see the little being was on the verge of death, with both of its legs missing and continuously spurting pink blood. X focused the control of his body and floated off the crashing ship, hovering nearly 100 meters above the surface of the burning city. The alien weapons continued to fire upon him, hitting any bit of flesh or armor they could, but he ignored all of this as he kept his eyes on the dying alien.

"Crush it." The command from his masters whispered into his ear. His left hand started to rise on its own like his body always did when they used him. He didn't need to raise it very far as it were to make the alien a bloody smear. Could he…?

X tried to fight off the suppressive influence in his mind for the first time in nearly a year. The sudden stop of his descending hand told him that his effort was successful. It gave him a moment to focus back on the little being that was moving less now, blood still pouring from its severed legs. It had bio-luminescent skin that may have once glowed with light. Instead, the alien's body was so dull it appeared an almost sickly gray. No matter what happened it was going to die. Monster X just didn't want to be the one to snuff it out.

"Crush. It." The buzzing noise was beginning to drown out the sound of the battle going on around him. He could feel the mental control of his masters growing, seen in how he had to truly fight to keep his shaking arm from killing the alien. "Do as you are told and crush that creature."

"Please..." He thought to himself desperately. He wasn't sure if they could hear his thoughts with their machines, but it was worth a try. "Stop."

"So be it." Clearly they either didn't hear him or didn't care for his pleading. His brain suddenly felt like acid was being poured straight into each blood vessel, accompanied by the buzzing noise growing so loud he had to shut his watering eyes. The booming explosions and warping lasers could no longer be heard over the drone from the mind control. He felt the exact moment when the masters exerted complete control over his body. Every muscle in his body seized up and refused to move despite his struggle against them.

"WARRIOR..." Their angry scream tore through his ear like a knife. "Kill."

This time he couldn't save the little alien from having its life snuffed out.

XXXX

X had long since gone from a few small twitches and spasms to full-on tossing and turning as thin arcs of keizer energy traveled across his body. Waves and geysers spread away from him violently with each movement. The nightmare he was experiencing failed to abate the longer it went on. It was the opposite, in fact, with each image and sound worse than the last.

The vaporized remains of the populace blew away in the wind. The once-great cities that touched the sky toppled like brittle trees. The lush and vibrant environment was reduced to a burnt and deceased hellscape. Even in this nightmare, he could smell the acrid fumes of death from the noxious clouds caressing his body as they choked his lungs.

Monster X growled in anguish from the agonizing night terror. His growl soon turned into a scream, eyes opening to let loose an uncontrolled burst of his graviton beams. The four golden lights shot into the night sky and dissipated after several hundred meters. X was hyperventilating and trying to control the shakes quivering throughout his body. He had to get out of the water now. Gravity was manipulated instinctually to fling him into the air like a bullet. The ground was rapidly becoming smaller and smaller as his ascent through the troposphere continued. An oblivious flock of geese met an unfortunate end when he plowed right through them, obliterating their tiny feathered bodies. Had he been in a better state of mind, he might have felt sorrow for killing them.

He had no plans of slowing down at the moment, with his heart racing and vision blurred from the massive panic attack still wracking his body. It took just over a minute for Monster X to travel the entirety of the troposphere and enter the stratosphere. The ultraviolet radiation absorbed by the ozone did nothing to warm his flesh, and he spent no time to ponder the ice forming on his armor as he continued upwards. Clouds parted and dissipated from the force his body was generating, but just like with the geese and ice he could pay his surroundings no mind. The sudden drop in temperature to -92°F signaled that X had just punched through to the mesosphere.

Feeling the biting cold finally snapped X out of his panicked state. The creature's breathing slowed itself back to a manageable rate, allowing him to breathe in deeply and hold it for several seconds before releasing it just as slow. He repeated this three more times before he felt sufficiently calmed from his nightmare-induced mania. He hadn't experienced an episode like that in…nearly a decade if he remembered right. The asteroid always kept him in a state where he never had dreams of any kind, good or bad. And the last time he'd dreamed about his developing days was just before they'd put him in that prison.

Now that he was free would this happen every time he slept? He didn't need to eat food or drink water. He was able to survive in a vacuum just as easily as an atmosphere. Extreme heat did not shut him down and severe cold had not once stopped him. He was strong. He was powerful. His masters turned him into the ultimate weapon. Yet his body still needed sleep. His mind still had to rest from time to time to sustain itself. The chance of him suffering a terrible nightmare of his past each time he slept… The idea of such a life was frightening to the kaiju.

Continuing to think about this now would do nothing but upset him further. It would be best to deal with this another time. With but a thought, he ascended towards the exosphere. He wanted to get a look at the planet and see how advanced these apes were. At his slower pace, it took around ten minutes to reach the exosphere. Now at an optimal altitude for observation, his eyes took in what he had to work with.

The planet below was no different than most planets he had visited before. The surface was covered mostly in water with five large landmasses cutting the liquid into sections. Amusingly one of the landmasses looked like a pisces while another looked like a roaring drake. Great cities shown with sparkling lights over most of the land, nearly all of which were surrounded by thick walls. The only place that appeared to not have any major settlements was the drake-shaped continent. The darkened land looked to only have smaller establishments of indeterminate use concentrated towards the center. Curiously, no discernible walls surrounded those facilities so far as he could tell.

It seemed the apes had spread themselves across the entire planet with populations concentrated in defensible areas here and there. Considering that most civilizations tended to attack him on sight or run in a blind panic, X wondered if he should investigate the empty landmass first? With fewer people around, his chances of being left alone to explore and claim some territory increased. Of course, he couldn't stay hidden from the apes forever, unless he decided to live on the broken moon orbiting the planet. Not to mention they'd already seen him when he escaped the Gorath Asteroid, so if he stayed on the ground there was a possibility the natives would harass him. It said a lot about his existence when he had no idea what to do now that he was free for the first time ever.

Although…the sight of dirt and debris starting to float off his body was a clear sign he needed to bathe. His temporary rest at the lake hadn't done much for the filth covering him. The ocean to the west of the continent he'd come from would suit his purpose just fine. Perhaps he would actually get a full night's rest after bathing and start his exploration at first light. His vision wasn't hampered in any way by the lack of sunlight, but his body still felt rather weak from its lack of use. It wouldn't due to risk being unable to defend himself if some native creature took offense to his presence.

With a plan now firmly in mind, Monster X flew back through the atmosphere at a leisurely pace towards the western seaboard of Mistral. All he needed was a bath and some more rest. Everything would be just fine come tomorrow.

XXXX

Ishiro Beach, Twenty miles from the town of Honda, Western Coast of Mistral

78 AGW, April 30th, 10:00 pm

One would normally expect to see the beach crawling with humans and faunus looking to enjoy themselves without a care in the world. Some would be floating in the cool water splashing each other. Sandcastles were built up by little kids who let their imagination run wild. Those that were looking to get their tan on lathered up in sunscreen and soaked up the UV rays. Despite the sun being gone and the beach instead lit up by the pale, broken moon, the shore should have been overrun with fire pits, beer drinking, and parked 4x4s playing music. That was not the case for Ishiro Beach this particular night.

In fact, only one person happened to be on the sandy shore at the moment. Well, not actually on the shore. She was actually in the parking area about one-hundred feet away from the sand. The human woman was standing next to her old Poxbody Rustang she'd had since high school, fiddling with her scroll and cursing to herself several times. She stood on the taller side at 6'3", with hair that ironically matched her family name. Her lavender bob framed a soft face and golden eyes which was normally smiling in excitement or rested in serious professionalism. Her clothing consisted of a short-sleeved white button-up and khaki cargo shorts with blue running shoes. She was Lisa Lavender: Expert(rookie) Reporter(vlogger) for Remnant Broadcasting Company(), currently scowling in disgust at her malfunctioning scroll.

"Come on you piece of shit, work with me for once!" Lisa yelled at the uncooperative screen. The camera started to flicker and fill with static for several seconds before it changed to a blue screen. A smiley face stared at her while Error Code: 1138 blinked over and over, with the sentence Please contact Macrohard Customer Service for further assistance at 1-800-555-1234 below. She smacked the side where the dust battery was stored in hopes it would straighten the device out.

Her scroll wasn't one of the brand-spanking-new high-definition models that came with a quality camera, but an old hand-me-down she'd purchased from a pawn shop nearly a year ago. The twenty-seven-year-old amateur journalist, unfortunately, couldn't afford decent equipment and had to make due. It was all just...

"I really need you to work with me right now. Please." Lisa smacked the battery cover one more time and was finally rewarded with a ding! confirming the return of a working camera. "Yes! Ok, let's try this again."

Lisa checked her reflection in the side mirror of her car to make sure she was camera ready. Bangs were pulled to the side and held with a squirt of hair spray. A small amount of eye shadow and blush to give her very pale skin a little color. No lipstick because she liked the natural shade of her lips. And luckily no food stuck between her teeth. She was set.

Turning back to the water she carefully hit Record, aiming the scroll at the sand. "Once upon a time, beaches just like this one would be crawling with hundreds of newborn turtles eager to go into the world. The incoming waves called out to them and nothing would stop the little ones from leaving their eggs to enter their new home." As Lisa talked she quietly stepped onto the beach, sweeping her scroll to get a shot of how empty it was.

"The Mistralian Heisenback Turtle, known locally as the Walter Turtle, once numbered in the tens of thousands. Two to eight times a year, females would find a spot to nest during the night, lay up to one hundred eggs, then return to the sea. The average time frame for these eggs to hatch is sixty days."

Lisa aimed the camera down at a piece of driftwood lodged into the sand. "After hatching the babies made the dangerous trek across the sand, hoping that hunting gulls would miss them. If luck was on their side, the babies would hit the water and swim out to find some food, starting their lives as part of the ocean ecosystem."

Turning her back to the ocean, Lisa focused the scroll on an empty Nopa-Cola bottle left on the beach. Had she kept looking towards the water she would have seen Monster X silently floating down from the clouds. "Unfortunately over the last thirty years, pollution, fishing nets, and idiots digging up eggs as 'trophies' have decimated the population of these wonderful creatures. Biologists have estimated that if something drastic isn't done to conserve the Heisenback, they could disappear forever within twen-ack!" Her sentence was cut off when a parakeet-sized Meganulon collided with her face.

Lisa was so startled she flung her scroll away. She reached up to grab hold of the Meganulon that was clinging to her like a desperate child. Its little limbs had a solid grip on her face, tiny claws dug into her cheeks. As she didn't have any Aura, Lisa's skin had started to bleed. Despite the pain, Lisa finally managed to pull the bug off and toss it away. The dragonfly hit the sand on its back, all six legs kicking in panic.

"Damn you! I swear if my scroll is busted I'll find a way to turn you into a hat!" The vlogger pulled her hand away from her face and scowled in disgust at the small amount of smeared blood. Lisa's vlogs usually only needed around five, sometimes ten, minutes of her own face for footage. With her face scratched up, that wouldn't be happening tonight. She turned in the direction her scroll was tossed and froze upon seeing what was crouching in the ocean. "Oh my god…"

A massive Grimm was currently splashing water on its face and chest. It appeared to enjoy sloshing the visible filth off. "F-fuck me. I…" Golden eyes desperately sought out her scroll. She had to get this on film! Where was it… There! It had become buried in the sand thirty feet away next to a crumpled fast-food bag. Within seconds she was picking up the device and shaking it free of sand.

"Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay," Lisa chanted as she picked up her scroll. The scroll showed that it was still recording from before, but to her dismay, it was messing up again. It hadn't fully cut back to the blue technical support screen, instead, the picture was blurry and intermittently fading in and out. Regardless she pointed the camera at the bathing Grimm.

"I have no idea where this Grimm came from, but just look at the size of it! I can't say for certain how big it is 'cause it's crouching in the water." The Grimm's hands poured water into its face and seemed to really be enjoying the feeling. "Its hands look bigger than a Sea Feilong's head, and the arms look to be twice as thick."

Lisa's hands shook like a misfiring motor as she filmed. This didn't help to keep the picture quality up, but considering how close she was to the colossal creature, who could blame her? "I've never seen a Grimm bathe before folks. That's… it… I don't know why the Grimm is washing itself, but I suppose that as long as it isn't attacking a population center it can do whatever it wants really. I can't say for sure how big it is since it's crouched, but this has to be some kind of record-breaker. For a second there, I thought I might be looking at a kaiju, but it's even bigger than any of those and looking at that black skin and the bone armor… This thing is definitely Grimm, no mistaking it!"

The giant Grimm paid her no mind as it leaned back and sat down in the water. The strange beast took a deep breath as it lounged, clearly in a state of semi-bliss. As Lisa continued to film her mind started to wander as she thought of what this footage would gain her. A huge Grimm taking a bath might seem like a ridiculous notion, because hello, it kinda was. Yet with actual physical proof of the odd behavior, no one would be able to say she was making it up.

Perhaps she could sell the footage to a major news outlet, with the provision that they hire her as a 'bonus'. Remnant News Network and Remnant Broadcasting Company were the top dogs when it came to news and journalism. Spanning the entire planet meant they both covered just about everything, including Grimm-related stories. There was also the smaller network Schnee TV produced by the Schnee Dust Company. They paid exceptionally well when it came to their employees and freelancers, but the type of news that came from them was… Biased was too nice a word for that propaganda machine. Especially when they gleefully reported on anything Queen Salem-

The blurry image on her scroll suddenly cut to static, bypassing the support screen completely. Lisa frantically shook the device in an unsuccessful effort to restore the recording. This time, when she smacked the battery covering it actually made the problem worse, the screen finally fading away and shutting off to nothing. Her bubbling anger skyrocketed at that point. If she didn't get this stupid scroll working she wasn't going to have any more decent footage of the Grimm!

"Raaahhhhh!"

The loud roar startled Lisa so badly she lost her grip on the scroll. As it fell into the sand she looked up to see what was happening, and her heart nearly stopped at the sight before her. A Leviathan stood some distance away dripping with water, its open mouth exposing sharp teeth and clawed fingers curling in anticipation.

Lisa frantically grabbed her scroll and was dismayed to see it had yet to fix itself. She harshly smacked it several times, desperate for the screen to come back so she could record what was going down. The Leviathan let out another harsh roar, perhaps in a challenge to the larger Grimm. The relaxing Grimm had yet to move from its laidback position, completely uncaring about the aggressive behavior aimed in its direction.

"Rawooooo. Arraahh," it responded to the Leviathan with low, guttural growls. Other than turning to look at the Leviathan, it didn't seem in a hurry to do anything. Lisa wasn't sure if that was because it didn't feel threatened or if it was confused by the actions of the other monster. After seeing it taking a bath she couldn't discount any behavior from the creature at this point.

"Roooowwwwarrrrr!" Whatever was said did little to placate the Leviathan, who roared once more in a clearly challenging manner. A second later a yellow beam of energy erupted from the Grimm's mouth striking the sitting Grimm in the face! Lisa brought her scroll back up and thanked the Gods it was back to recording a blurry, doubled image.

The beam continued for nearly fifteen seconds before cutting off. The Leviathan roared in what may have been triumph or glee, before promptly going quiet when it saw that the other monster hadn't so much as flinched. It once again fired the destructive beam at the larger Grimm's face, achieving the same non-result as the first. Then, to Lisa's shock, the unknown Grimm stood up and started to walk towards its attacker, tanking the yellow energy like it was nothing! The Leviathan started to step back as the other much larger Grimm closed the distance between them, apparently realizing the beam was doing nothing.

Lisa's eardrum rang when the larger Grimm slammed its hands on the jaws of the Leviathan, clamping its mouth shut with resounding force. The Leviathan pulled back hard in an effort to free itself, but the larger Grimm didn't budge an inch. Now that it was standing up Lisa's heart nearly stopped at just how big the strange Grimm was. The Leviathan barely came to the middle of its thighs, the aquatic Grimm dwarfed by its massive opponent.

"I can't say for sure folks, but…I'd estimate that this new Grimm is one-ten, maybe even one-hundred twenty meters tall! Never before has any creature, Grimm or Kaiju, lived on the planet that reached such a size. If… If this Grimm attacks a major city there'll be nothing to stop it." Lisa tried not to choke up as her mind thought up images of Vale, Atlas, Mistral, and other cities being reduced to flattened rubble by this behemoth. The Leviathan grabbed onto the hands holding its mouth and dug razor-sharp claws into the similar white armor. Instead of tearing into the armor, the Leviathan's claws broke when pressure was applied. The larger Grimm appeared quite unamused by the Leviathan's struggles and dealt with it accordingly.

Snap!

Lisa stared wide-eyed at the now motionless Leviathan. The bigger monster had twisted its arms and with no visible effort spun the Leviathan's head upside-down, obliterating its spine and killing it instantly. The victor lazily pushed the fading corpse of its enemy into the ocean. Although it hadn't been injured, and clearly was not bothered by the yellow beam, the large Grimm brought its hands up to its face and rubbed its eyes tiredly. Lisa added that to the growing list of strange behavior from it. Grimm didn't need to sleep after all, and they had never been recorded suffering from exhaustion either.

The giant turned around and walked back towards the shore, the ground rumbling with each heavy step. Without warning the massive beast dropped to its knees, the water reaching up to its thighs, then gently lay itself onto the sandy shore. Lisa fell on her ass in sheer terror when the Grimm laid down about thirty feet from her. Close as it was if it decided to attack she would have zero chance to escape. Seconds ticked by while she waited for her inevitable death, but the creature didn't make any aggressive movement in her direction. It just laid there resting its cheek on crossed arms staring at her with half-closed eyes. Though the eyes of the creepy skulls on its shoulders were still wide open, an image that sent a shiver up her spine.

"I'm, uh, I'm just gonna go now if you don't mind." Lisa finally made it to her feet and started to back away from the tired Grimm, slow and steady to avoid pissing it off. Her scroll had long since faded to the Blue Screen of Unhelpful Information, so getting any further footage would not be in the cards tonight. Right now, her number one priority was to return to her apartment so she could download all the viable footage from her scrolls memory bank. Imaging software would let her do a little cleaning up on the film, not enough to restore it to a perfect picture, unfortunately, but she had to make it presentable if she hoped to sell it.

The lounging Grimm responded to her words with a deep yawn. When the air was let out of its lungs and hit Lisa she stopped moving away. Not out of fear, but from the horrid smell. The odor of the creature's breath reminded Lisa of rancid meat left out in the heat. "Ack!" Lisa smacked her lips and tensed her jaw in an effort to not vomit. Her golden eyes glared death at the now sleeping Grimm. The monster didn't care one bit that she was on the verge of throwing up her late corn dog lunch/dinner meal.

"Can I catch just one break?" Her fate testing question was answered when the Meganulon that previously smacked into her face decided to use her head as a perch. It even had the gall to dig its tiny claws into her scalp several times like a kneading cat! "You little buttmunch!"

XXXX

Mistralian Wilds, Twenty Miles South of Lake Matsu

78 AGW, April 30th, 10:15 pm

"So, uh, don't freak out or nothin', but we ran into a new friend while we were patrolling," Amber called out, gaining the attention of the three faunus tending to the camp. Her weak grin and racing heart betrayed just how nervous she felt. Trifa stood to her right rubbing the back of her neck and staring at the ground like it was the most interesting thing ever. And to Ambers left, with her arm gently wrapped around its neck, was the newborn Gorosaurus she'd taken custody of.

Yuma paused in drinking from his canteen, eyes widening as he stared at them.

Adam's lips turned down like he'd just bit into a lemon, his masked eyes narrowing as he stared at them.

Plesskin abandoned the pot of venison stew he was stirring, eyes disbelieving as he stared at them.

"Can we please keep him? His mama doesn't seem to be around and he's got nowhere to go." Amber wasn't intentionally whining to her fellows, but the idea of the infant kaiju being left to fend for himself didn't sit well with her.

"Amber, you do realize what that thing is, right?" Plesskin demanded, snubbing the end of his cigarette and walking towards the human.

"It's a baby kaiju that's not even a day old," Amber took a step forward, shielding the baby with her body. "I know how dangerous they are. I know that quite well."

Adam forced himself to his feet and pulled Wilt from Blush with his remaining hand. "Then you should know that once it gets big enough it'll be stomping through a city like a pissed off toddler. If it runs loose how many faunus will die because of it? And then that damn witch will come swooping in to save the day like she always does."

Amber's staff may as well have teleported with how fast it appeared in her hands, the crystals glowing and ready, "It's an infant! I don't believe in harming innocents that haven't done anything."

"And how long will it remain innocent? A month, two months, maybe a year? It'll be just like every other kaiju that's attacked our cities. They have to be put down before they can do any harm!" Adam punctuated his statement by pointing Wilt directly at Amber.

Trifa and Yuma were tightly gripping their shotgun and machine gun respectively, expecting Adam and Amber to start fighting right then and there. Having seen Adam fight at 100% they couldn't discount him because he'd lost an arm. Not to mention if Amber let loose against the bull like she'd done towards the Grimm it would not end well. The infant kaiju was also not happy with the plunging mood, backing away from the group and hunkering down. Plesskin was in the process of putting himself between them when Amber coldly responded to Adam's anger.

"That's what people say about your kind isn't it?" Amber didn't need to yell this time, knowing her whispered words would get the point across. "I remember some of the people back home would say the only good faunus is a dead faunus. They'd talk about how all faunus men are just violent thugs that commit crime for no reason and sell or smoke dope, and that faunus women are only good for popping out babies and living off government assistance. And ever since the White Fang came along that kind of stuff has only gotten worse.

"I wasn't sure who you were at first, but that mask you wear isn't exactly subtle. Might as well be walking around in a shirt that says 'I am a terrorist!'. Yet I didn't attack any of you, did I? I could've let those Grimm tear you all to pieces or struck you all down with my Semblance. Or maybe I could have tied you all up and found a way to take you into the authorities. Queen Salem has a huge ass bounty for anyone that's part of the White Fang because you're all 'lawless dissidents that threaten our peace'. There are a lot of things I could do to you and no one would question me. What's a couple of dead thugs and baby factories after all?

"And I did none of that. I didn't judge you because I don't know you. Just because I'm not faunus doesn't mean I'm some vile piece of garbage. I gave you a chance," Amber slowly lowered her staff, the crystals becoming inert as she stopped channeling aura into them. "So I'm asking that you give this creature a chance, in spite of what other kaiju have done to our world."

The only noise in the immediate area was the crackling of the fire keeping their dinner warm. Weapons were still held tightly in preparation for a potential fight. Adam was still in a semi-crouched stance with Wilt pointed towards Amber. If he swung fast enough he might be able to slice her throat open. In return, she might be able to block his sword and cut his head off with the wind crystal in her staff. Or they could kill each other, at which point nothing would be resolved.

The standoff finally ended when Adam lowered his sword and walked back towards the campfire. Instead of putting Wilt in its sheath, he stabbed it into the ground and sat next to it. He glared back to Amber when he spoke again, "If that thing looks at me funny even one time, I'll make it wish it was never born."

"You are so dramatic," Amber attached her staff to her back and walked over to the still nervous Gorosaurus infant. She gently rubbed under his jaw and kissed his rough nose. "It's ok now. No one's going to hurt you. I'll bet you're pretty hungry, aren't ya?"

The infant nuzzled her back like a dog getting its ears scratched. Amber led him over to the pot of stew with Trifa following behind her and happily accepted a bowl from Yuma, who was giving her a weird look. "You're different, you know that?"

"In a good way or a bad one?" Amber asked, raising an eyebrow at the blunt statement. Her attention was forced back to the Gorosaurus when it stuck its mouth into her bowl to chew on a thick piece of meat

"I'm not sure yet, to be completely honest," Yuma admitted as he filled a bowl for Trifa and Adam, handing them out to mumbled gratitude in return. "You aren't shouting racist crap at us, which I like, but then you think that you're gonna… I don't know, domesticate a kaiju by being nice to it? It makes me question if you're touched in the head."

"I'm not crazy," Amber paused to consider something before she continued. "Although if I was I wouldn't really know it, would I? You'd have to tell me I was insane, and I'd tell you to shut it."

Trifa chuckled at the honest and smart-ass response, coughing into her hand in an effort to hide her amusement. "At least you'd be the good kind of crazy."

Amber smiled earnestly, shrugging her shoulders in acceptance before looking at the dino that had its colorful face in her bowl again. "I read a book once that talked about how we domesticated wolves over time and the end result was modern dogs. So, you know, maybe this little guy could be my friend if I love him like a puppy."

"And when he gets bigger?" Plesskin asked, lighting his cigarette once more as he wanted to finish it before he ate his own meal.

"I don't know, I haven't thought that far yet," Amber's answer caused Plesskin, Trifa, and Yuma to face fault. "We'll figure it out as we go along. Isn't that right Chomper?"

"Chomper?" Yuma asked, having picked himself up off the ground.

"Yeah! I think it suits him, don't you?" It was perhaps Amber's words that made the sight of the Gorosaurus chewing on her cape cute, instead of concerning as most would believe. The human girl tugged the material out of his mouth and spooned another bowl of soup for him. "No! No chewing on mommy's cape."

The group, minus Adam, had a laugh when the saurian kaiju went for Amber's hair next. Whether it was because he was hungry or curious, the sight was still adorable. He finally released her hair after a stern thump to his snout. The next few minutes passed in silence, with the singing of mockingbirds and calls of owls creating a soothing mixture. Plesskin finished his cigarette and filled a bowl of soup, taking a bite before looking between Amber and Trifa.

"Our plan, for now, is to make it to the city of Shion and from there catch a flight back to Menagerie," Plesskin explained, getting the two girls to focus on him. "The setbacks we've faced have killed this experiment. There's no point trying to go after any SDC or Avalon shipments now with Blake gone and Adam injured."

"And who was it that said you get to make the decisions for us?" Trifa asked crossly, even if she internally agreed with Plesskin's logic. She had a higher rank than him in their little hierarchy, so why wasn't she the one that got to take control?

"High Leader Sienna did when she assigned me to evaluate your team," Plesskin retorted with a glare. His declaration had Trifa shutting her mouth with an audibleclick."My position in the White Fang is what you'd call a 'feeler'. I make sure that newer recruits and those looking to earn a promotion are up to the task. Then I give Sienna my recommendation, be it good or bad. You and Yuma have proven you know how to work in a group and pull your weight. Blake abandoned us to go who knows where, so she can fuck off for all I care. If she comes back, she better have a really good excuse. Adam got his arm taken due to stupidity and then said he was going to run Amber off when you both returned, so he's ruined any chance of being let out into the field again any time soon. Certainly not in command of anything."

With every insulting word, Adam's fist grew tighter and tighter, the material of his glove the only thing keeping his nails from piercing his palm. He was not stupid! The fucking human had no business being involved with the White Fang! And Blake had not abandoned hi-them! This whole situation was just a temporary setback that he needed to steer back on course.

"Well, um, I can still hang with y'all right?" Amber blurted out, her accent bleeding through. "I know that I ain't a faunus, but ah just think we'd be safer together and all."

"That was part of my plan," Plesskin assured her. "Until we reach civilization, we're at risk of running into something that could overwhelm us. Your race doesn't mean shit to me right now. I owe you for saving our asses back there, and I always pay my debts."

"Oh, well I'm happy to be of some use to ya!" Amber's honest smile earned her small ones in return from Yuma and Trifa, and a smirk from Plesskin. Nothing of the sort from Adam, of course. "Once we get to Shion would it be ok if I stick with you guys after that? Instead of parting ways could we stay together?"

Plesskin was about to respond when Adam finally spoke up.

"You know, I can't help but wonder why you're so eager to keep close to us." Adam sat his untouched food down, still glaring at the burning fire. The glowing embers were like the fire in his chest that refused to die down, regardless of his physical state. "In fact, it's awful convenient that just when a group of faunus that are part of the White Fang gets attacked by a large horde of Grimm, you show up so you can 'save the day'."

"What does that mean?" Amber frowned at him. "Are you saying I made the Grimm attack you?"

"No. I know that nobody can control the Grimm. But it's a little funny that a lone human girl who claims to be a Huntress just happens to be out in the middle of nowhere, and she somehow stumbles upon a group of rebels that oppose the current regime." Adam shifted his glare to the tanned girl, anger and suspicion in his voice. "How do we know you aren't working for the witch? Sent here to infiltrate our ranks and call your master once you've found our base? Or maybe you'll cut our throats while we're sleeping."

His words were quickly getting Amber's temper rising again. "You're delusional, pal, and I mean that sincerely. If ah wanted you dead ah woulda' just let the Grimm have yer' sorry ass for dinner. Ah had no idea y'all were out here. Ah just happened to be travelin' through the area."

"Is that right? So what were you doing out here all alone, away from the rest of the world?" Adam was not placated by her words whatsoever. In his experience, humans could never be trusted.

Amber went from rising fury to dejected sorrow in a second, like someone had flipped a switch. She broke eye contact with Adam to stare at the ground, slowly rubbing the vambrace covering her left arm. Without warning she grabbed her staff and stood up, nearly whispering her reply, "I don't want to talk about it. I'll go keep watch."

The four faunus were left in uncomfortable silence. Even Chomper seemed distressed by his mama's sudden change in mood. Adam scoffed in disgust, reaffirmed in his belief that humans had bad intentions towards faunus. Plesskin once again glared at the boy but said nothing in favor of motioning towards Trifa and Yuma.

"We can't wait to do this later, so get over here and I'll unlock your aura," His offer/command was met with shock by the two teens. They remained sitting for several moments before standing up to walk over. Plesskin stood and put a hand on both their foreheads, channeling his aura into them to start the process. "I'm not one for fancy little speeches when doing this. I've got the power, and now so do you. Don't fuck it up."

And with a gasp, two souls were released.

Major thanks and props to Jesse K and Master Chief Spartan-117 for the work and help with this chapter. And with the last chapter. And the story construction in general. And thanks to all for the love given. It means so much.