Chapter 10: Deadlines
"Remnant breaks before the Guard ever will!"
"Menagerie stands! Chaaaaarge!"
The metallic roar of the Thunderjaw rose with them, a titanic bellow that mirrored the zeal of the Menagerie Guard as they stormed toward the seething black tide of Grimm.
I watched as the steel giant opened fire, its maw opening and vomiting a volley of burning blue light. Fire and Lightning Dust fused into searing lasers that punched through Grimm hide, carving clean holes or ripping extremities from their sockets in sizzling bursts.
Then the disc launchers on its back came alive where chrome projectiles made of Fire-and-Earth Dust spat skyward like the flat eyes of some vengeful god. Each disc locked on with a beam of light before plummeting earthward, detonations rippling across the battlefield. The blasts tore apart their chosen targets and shredded anything unlucky enough to be near them.
And then as the lines met the machine leapt. The ground quaked under its weight as it crashed into the Grimm backline, tail whipping, and bulk smashing through the horde.
I didn't have time to marvel at the sight…because I was already in the thick of it—the goddamn front lines, shoulder to shoulder with Faunus, and the hot stink of Grimm breath washing over me.
"Captain!" I shouted just as an Ursa reared up in front of me, its massive claws poised to bisect me.
"Samegawara Seiken!"
I drove a straight punch into its exposed belly. Bone and black muscle buckled, and equally black blood sprayed across my face before the beast toppled, dissolving into smoke before it even hit the ground. Adrenaline still roared in my veins that I'd even forgotten I didn't need to yell out the name of the move anymore.
"Is this really necessary!?" I barked, voice half-drowned by the clash of steel and screams. "I thought today was drills! Or sparring! Not direct combat! And right after breakfast!?" I said as I ducked under the leap of another Beowolf before slamming a fist against its unprotected hide making it yelp and fly off to who knows where.
"No time for drills, Gatsby," came her voice that was always calm, steady, and commanding.
A rifle cracked behind me, its report sharp as lightning. A Terror Bird shrieked mid-flight, head smoking like a black candlewick as it fell from the bullet that shot it right between the eyes.
Then, without a wasted motion, her Aura flared alongside her Semblance. A gray spectral wolf peeled away from her and lunged, clamping its jaws around the throat of a smaller Beowolf. The creature went down thrashing, black ichor hissing against the dirt.
"I want to see how you fight for your life," Wolf continued coolly, chambering another round without breaking stride. Her rifle barked, and a single shot tore the leg off a Beringel. The beast crashed into the sand with a thunderous impact, thrashing helplessly as a pack of Faunus pounced, stabbing and hacking until its roars turned to silence.
"From what I've observed, you've already got power in spades even if it's just you throwing your weight around." Her eyes stayed on the battlefield, steady and unflinching as she fired again, dropping a Grimm with casual precision. "But I want to see it in person. Don't hold back. Go crazy."
A shiver shot up my spine at that. The words lit a fire in my belly, and before I knew it, a grin spread across my face.
"Yes, ma'am!"
The blonde captain of the Menagerie Guard watched as the plucky shark faunus gave her a mock salute and literally jumped feet first into the fray. His landing shook the ground, the shockwave flinging a cluster of Creeps aside in a spray of sand and black ichor.
Wolf didn't flinch, but she did notice the ripple of awe running through her soldiers.
"Hah!" came a familiar voice, followed by the wet crunch of bone for Whisper had smashed a Beowolf's skull to pulp with the hammer configuration of her Variable Whispon, grinning like she'd been born to it.
"Phew." She wiped the sweat from her brow. "Hey, sis. What'd I miss?"
"I told you it's Captain while we're working, runt." Wolf raised a hand, and the Guard fell back instantly, forming a new defensive line. Confused murmurs spread among them as they realized they were leaving Sam and the Thunderjaw alone in a veritable kill-zone.
"Uhhh…are you seriously just leaving them there?"
If Wolf noticed, she didn't show it yet her eyes never left the fight. "This is less dense than the horde we cleared yesterday, he'll be fine if he is who we think he is."
"Besides, I sent him in to see how he moves, how he fights, and how he thinks. To see what could be improved buuut since you're here, and you're the scout, you observe him for me."
Whisper's smile softened at her sister's tone. She knew that edge of mock-command, the way Wolf framed an order as a test. It was one of her tells that only a sister could spot—this wasn't just training. It was also bonding…in their own way.
"Alright, Captain~," Whisper said lightly, her hammer dissolving back into rifle form. She dropped to one knee beside her sister, following her gaze.
What she saw made her ears twitch as the Grimm weren't just fighting now—they were also swarming. Aside from a few stragglers clawing at the Guard's new line that were easily taken care of, the entire horde had zeroed in on two targets: the shark faunus and his rampaging steel beast.
"What do you see?" Wolf asked quietly.
"Well…we know he's a battle junkie for one." Whisper's voice was half awe, half disbelief. Sam carved through the oncoming tide with a grin splitting his face, where anyone else would have been showing either fear or determination. For some reason or another, Sam was enjoying this. "He probably doesn't even notice he's the only one left out there."
"Mhm. What else?"
"He's…self-taught. Whatever that martial art is, it looks like some form of karate? But it's…off. It's too focused on striking instead of anticipating openings. He just throws himself at them." Whisper tilted her head, frowning. She and Wolf had trained in several disciplines back when killing was their business.
"Good. And what needs to be worked on?"
Whisper stayed silent for a moment, watching as Sam ducked under an Ursa's claws—not to dodge, but to grab a steel plate that one of the Grimm had ripped free from the Thunderjaw's armor. The moment his hand touched the metal, a ripple spread across his body, coating his arms, chest, and head in the same gleaming steel.
He didn't even flinch as the Ursa's jaws clamped down on him. Instead, he twisted with the bite, muscles straining, before hurling the creature into the path of the Thunderjaw's stomping foot. A sickening crunch followed, the Grimm flattened into nothing more than a smear beneath the machine's massive tread.
Whisper's ears twitched again. Her voice slipped out in a low murmur, more to herself than anyone else.
"He's…not even dodging. I mean, he uses the hits to make an opening, but it looks like he's tearing himself apart doing it. But why?"
Wolf's eyes narrowed, her expression unreadable as she and others of the Guard continued to watch.
"I have a few theories," The Menagerie Guard Captain said at last.
Before she could elaborate, the ground rumbled beneath their feet. Dust sifted down from the cliffsides, and the stone beneath their boots cracked. Whisper's eyes widened as she was suddenly reminded of where they were. Near Outpost Five's region wasn't just known for raiding Grimm packs. It had something worse.
She spun toward her sister, whose face remained as stoic as the earth itself despite the quake. "Y—You did tell him about the Emperor Taijitu, right?"
Wolf's eyes never left the battlefield. "If he can bring down the Sunpiercer, then this one will be easier for him…"
"Captain! Orders?!" one of the Guardsmen cried, his voice breaking as he stumbled and fell on his backside, struggling to stay upright against the tremors.
"HOLD THE LINE!" Wolf barked. Her voice was iron, steady enough that the panic in their ranks stilled. They trusted their captain and they trusted Gatsby.
The fishman himself gave no sign of slowing. Though the earth shuddered around him, he pressed on, tearing into the Grimm without so much as a glance behind him…until the sand erupted.
The Emperor ascended.
Eight massive serpent heads burst from the desert floor in a storm of grit and shrieking winds. Their jaws clamped down on nearby Grimm, angered at the intrusion of its territory, snapping spines and crushing bone armor before smashing the remains beneath their writhing, colossal coils.
Sam's voice rang out above the chaos. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
The Guard didn't need to answer. They all knew the stories.
The Emperor Taijitu. Unlike the common breed with two conjoined bodies, this monstrosity bore eight fused torsos, each as thick as a train carriage. Its body was half-clad in bony armor with jagged skeleton fragments jutting out like blades. A bleached skull-mask gleamed across its foremost head, stark white in the burning sun.
Bigger than the Sunpiercer.
Yet equally as angry too.
"Everyone, get back!" Sam bellowed, unaware that Wolf had already ordered a fallback.
Unfortunately, his command gave the beast just enough time to act. With horrifying speed, the Taijitu lashed out. Its eight bodies slammed forward, entwining the Thunderjaw in a crushing bind. The construct groaned, its servos shrieking in protest as it retaliated with bursts of lasers and explosive discs. Fire and smoke filled the battlefield…yet the Taijitu's hide regenerated almost as fast as the damage landed, scales knitting together with unnatural resilience.
"Oi! Cut that shit out!" Sam snarled as he dashed toward the writhing tangle.
But he was too late.
With a final wrenching groan, the Thunderjaw's chassis caved in. Metal warped, armor split, circuits spilled, and the machine collapsed like a crushed tin can. Its burning eyes flickered black, sputtered, then died.
The Taijitu whipped the ruined carcass aside as if it weighed nothing. It crashed into the sands with an explosion of scrap and dust, the battlefield trembling under the impact.
And then silence, brief and chilling.
All eight heads snapped in eerie unison. Their target? The lone figure that was running straight towards them.
Whisper instinctively moved to leap down…but a firm arm shot across her chest, stopping her cold.
Her eyes snapped to Wolf, fangs bared. "Wolf! He's going to—"
"I said hold the line! That was an order, scout!" Wolf growled back, her glare sharp enough to cut steel.
"Gaaah!" All of them whirled to the sound for Sam had been caught as one of the Taijitu's colossal bodies coiled around him like a vice. He thrashed against the crushing pressure, the steel plating across his body cracking under the strain.
"Captain!?" another Guardsman cried, desperate for permission, for anything.
"HOLD. THE. LINE!" Wolf snapped again, though her own eyes betrayed the tension underneath.
Then it came—the unmistakable sound of shattering Aura, a crack like a bomb detonating. The air itself seemed to shudder at the impact.
Wolf's resolve broke. "EVERYONE! MOVE I—"
But the charge never came.
The battlefield froze as a roar split the air—not from the Taijitu, but from Sam. In the next instant, black hellfire erupted from nowhere and everywhere.
The serpent shrieked as the flames raced along its coils, engulfing its scales in searing shadows. Heat washed over the battlefield, forcing some of the Guard to shield their faces while others stood rooted, staring in wide-eyed disbelief.
The Taijitu convulsed in agony, its heads thrashing wildly. Skulls smashed against one another, fangs cracked against stone, and each body slammed against the ground hard enough to leave trenches in the sand.
The Guards could only gape. Some bowed and kneeled while Whisper's hands shook at her sides.
"…Ilia wasn't lying in her report, h-huh? Summoning straight-up hellfire…" Whisper muttered, her voice tinged with awe. "I thought she was joking about the desert heat."
"You and I both, Whisp," Captain Wolf breathed, her stoicism faltering for just a second.
Below, the fishman finally slipped free of the serpent's coils. Sam crashed to his knees in the sand, his chest heaving. The makeshift steel armor melted off his frame in dull rivulets, vanishing into nothing. He swayed, head bobbing weakly like he was drunk on exhaustion.
And yet…the Emperor Taijitu still lived.
The scorched mass of charred bodies writhed and screamed, thrashing in black fire but this was no mindless beast for the Emperor was cunning.
From behind the wall of burning coils, a fresh body slithered out. Its scales were pure white, unscarred, gleaming like polished ivory beneath the sun. Its eyes burned with crimson fury as it reared high. Then, with brutal efficiency, it lunged down and bit through its own flaming limbs and tore off each burning head in one clean motion. The severed stumps writhed, already regenerating, black ichor hissing as new flesh bubbled forth.
"Shit!" Wolf spat, her composure cracking. "It used the others as a shield and whatever Sam did—it drained him. Guard! TO ARMS!"
The order rang out, and the Guard surged forward, weapons at the ready, hearts hammering with dread. The Emperor's surviving head towered above them, tongue flicking, eyes glowing like furnaces as it locked onto the staggering fishman.
It was too fast.
The white serpent blurred as it struck, all the crushing weight of its colossal body behind the lunge. Sam didn't even look like he was standing steady… he looked finished.
They thought they were about to watch him die.
Until his fist flew from his side, so fast and sudden they would have missed it if they'd blink. The punch connected square against the Emperor's skull with the force of a cannon and the serpent's head caved in with a spray of black ichor, fragments of bone mask scattering across the desert.
The colossal body spasmed, halting mid-strike and collapsing. Its wounds ceased regenerating. Then, inch by inch, the whole mass of flesh began to collapse inward, dissolving into a bubbling black pool that stained the sands.
The Guard froze mid-charge, skidding sand to a halt. No one spoke.
Sam then turned his head toward them, shoulders trembling with fatigue. A shaky smile tugged at his lips as he lifted one arm and gave them a wobbly thumbs-up.
"E-easy~" he croaked.
He pitched forward, face-first into the sand with a dull thump.
With that display, one of Wolf's theories was confirmed. The reason he fought the way he did—reckless, brutal, always taking the hit instead of avoiding it—suddenly clicked into place.
Sam got stronger when he was weakest or rather, when he was near death.
She had seen it in his movements before with the way he never hesitated, the way he threw himself headlong into danger as if the pain itself was fuel even with aura. He wasn't the type to hold back. It simply wasn't in his personality, not in his fighting. But that straight punch just now… that wasn't raw instinct. It was something else.
It only made sense if his strength surged at the edge of collapse, when his body screamed for survival. A warrior whose peak came not from training or discipline, but from desperation.
Wolf's jaw tightened. That kind of strength won battles…but it would also kill him long before his time was over.
Silence fell over the battlefield, broken only by the hiss of the dissolving Emperor and the last crumbling embers of its roasted heads.
"MEDIC!" The cry tore raw from Wolf's throat, louder than any order she had given that day.
From down the line, a deer Faunus sprinted forward with a medic's satchel clutched tight. The Menagerie Guard instinctively closed ranks, forming a loose circle around the fallen shark, their breaths shallow, their eyes wide.
The medic knelt, rolling Sam onto his back with care before pressing an ear against his chest, deer ears flicking for any sound. For one long moment, no one moved.
"Make way," the medic murmured, and the Guard shuffled back a single step, no one daring to give more distance, unwilling to lose sight of him.
Then, the medic pulled free a vial of smelling salts, cracked it, and held it beneath Sam's nose.
The reaction was immediate.
"GAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
I shot upright with a violent jolt, every muscle screaming as if lightning had just cracked through my veins. My eyes flew open to blinding sun and blurry shapes before gravity won out and I flopped back down with a groan. My head spun as my chest burned.
Holy moly, what a rush! Once more I was reminded how those eyes were a damn energy sink.
"Am I… still in Remnant~?" I croaked out, voice scratchy and dry enough to grate sandpaper.
It would be so annoying if I was Isekai'd again without my consent.
The world tilted sideways, and then Whisper's face came into focus with her sharp eyes, hair plastered with sweat, and worry written all over her. She was already kneeling at my side, brushing sweaty strands from my forehead, thrusting two fingers an inch from my nose.
"Sam! Are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?"
I squinted, vision swimming, then a grin tugged at my lips despite everything. I could feel my Aura was doing its thing, patching me up from the inside out. Honestly, I felt fine, good even, so I figured the best way to ease Whisper's worry was to do what I did best.
"Two… but you never told me you had a twin. She's just as hot as you~."
Her face went crimson, cheeks puffing out while her eyes still closed, remained unreadable. For a heartbeat I couldn't tell if she was about to laugh, scold me, or punch me back into unconsciousness.
The tension that clung to the Guard bled away, replaced by nervous chuckles that turned into shaky laughter.
The medic finally let out a long sigh, his hands steady now. "He's fine. Just exhausted… and likely heat-struck."
I raised a hand, which Whisper quickly took, hauling me upright.
"Ouch!" I yelped.
And immediately got smacked in the shoulder for it.
Whisper exhaled sharply before smirking, hands on her hips. "I still have that promise to kick your ass if you die, you know?"
That earned another round of laughter from the circle. Even Wolf's stone-carved expression cracked, just slightly, before she turned away, barking new orders with crisp authority.
"Alright! Everyone else heads back to Outpost Five for new orders! We've got a lot to do today!"
"Yes, captain!" The reply thundered back, Guard members relaying it down the line.
I, in the meanwhile, rubbed the back of my neck. "So… I'm not allowed to rest after that, am I?"
"That's a negative." Wolf didn't even blink.
I blew a raspberry.
"Hey, you asked me to train you. I don't do things half-assed."
I raised a finger, halfway through gearing up to complain about how no one warned me about a sand-buried kaiju.
Feat achieved!
Slayed the Emperor Taijitu! The eight headed menace easily falls to your combined abilities!
+1 Advantage Gold Ability Gacha Ticket
Wolf's voice cut through the invisible text box. "Is there a complaint, Sam?"
I snapped into a sloppy salute, grin plastered on. "Not at all, captain! Thank you for having me, captain~"
She gave me a long look, one brow lifting as though she expected sarcasm to bite deeper. When it didn't, she nodded once.
"...Good." Then she moved on to Claire, asking about other injuries or fatalities. The green-haired monkey faunus simply shook her head with a smile.
Relief lightened the air and I let myself mirror it with a small smile of my own before my gaze drifted back to the pool of tar-black Grimm ichor left by the Emperor Taijitu's death. A faunus already stood there, steadily spraying it with a Clentaminator, green mist sizzling against the black. Even from here, I could see flecks of clean blue cutting through the corruption.
What a perfect time to roll!
Please select one:
Congratulations!
[Cement Manipulation]
|Rare Ability|
MHA - Allows you to conjure and manipulate cement allowing you to shape it into constructs, walls, weapons, and even turn it back into a less solid form.
Congratulations!
[Tentacles]
|Rare Ability|
Allows you to manifest biological tentacles on your body that you can control like extra limbs to smash, grab, whip, molest and operate with.
Damn. Both were strong pulls in the account of their versatility. Cement Manipulation had obvious defensive and battlefield control perks. Tentacles was… well, I was half-shark and the thought of becoming a proper apex sea predator had its appeal.
But with only two ability slots right now, I had to be practical so Cement Manipulation it was.
Still…a part of me couldn't shake the thought. Tentacles would've fit me too well.
Not that Cement Manipulation was without its own hurdles. Menagerie was an island, and I hadn't seen a hide nor hair of cement outside of that old, half-collapsed S.D.C. facility that was still in the throes of conversion.
It might be a dead weight here for now but out there, beyond Menagerie, it could be invaluable.
That thought dragged me back to the question that had been gnawing at me ever since I got to know everyone here.
…Did I even want to stay in Menagerie?
I just couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling of staying put. Seeing the same faces every day with different people, sure, but still the same rhythm, still the same cycle. Back in my old life, I was always on the move since cities and towns didn't let me linger. The moment I bled a table dry or cleaned out a casino, the word spread, and suddenly I was no longer welcome. That was normal.
But here? People… seemed to…want me around…or at least I thought so.
Oh...wait it said conjure cement. Huh, I might've been more tired than I thought.
"Sam? Still feeling a bit dizzy there?"
Whisper's voice pulled me out of the spiral. Her head tilted along with her ears, damn things never stopped being adorable.
"Hm? Oh! Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." I said it with what I thought was a convincing tone but she narrowed her eyes instantly.
"Mm-hm. If you say so…"
I was secretly grateful she didn't dig deeper. Maybe after this whole bet was settled, I could finally sit down and figure out what I really wanted. Heh, it'd been a long time since I asked myself something like that. Would the me from before—before the new who had a knife in his guts—even recognize who I was now?
We stood in silence for a while, broken only by the faint hiss of the Clentaminator spraying away Grimm residue.
"Hey, Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Couldn't you just use that Clenta-thingamajig of yours on the Grimm directly? Or, like… make a bomb out of it?"
I glanced at her, instantly recognizing the deflection. She was trying to pull me out of my funk. I was grateful, even if I wasn't about to say it out loud.
"Not really." I shook my head. "The green solution's made from Grimm pools. It only works on the liquid stuff because it's unstable. It doesn't do squat to the big beasties once they're fully formed." My Tinker ability filled in the details when I made the thing, though honestly, I just figured it was because in the actual game the Clentaminator never did damage to enemies.
"Ohhh, got it." She nodded. "Some of us asked about that back at the outpost, but Smithy went into one of his deep science lectures. I told him, 'Can you say that again but in normal speak?' and he looked like I'd stabbed him."
I chuckled. Yeah, that sounded about right. Smithy had been floored the day I showed him the device and the constructs back at the facility, muttering like a madman and firing off a hundred questions I could only answer thanks to the Tinker ability. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if he confused half the Guard just by trying to explain how I did it.
We fell into another lull, quieter this time, the sound of the newly formed oasis bubbling on front of us. The water sparkled under the sun like glass.
I took a breath. Why the hell was this harder than striking up conversation at a bar? Was it because I wasn't just expecting a one-night distraction? Still, I forced myself forward.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
I swallowed. My throat felt dry. "What… are we?" I asked, trying to sound casual, though I could feel the heat rising in my face.
Really, Sam? You're the suave gambler, now the cool-headed shark man, reduced to a stammering virgin over a blonde scout with cute ears? Get it together. Was it because of the ears? It's because of the ears, wasn't it!?
Whisper smirked, like she could see every thought stamped across my forehead. "Is this about that thing you promised Illy? Getting to know each other once all this is over? And yet I'm here throwing signs?"
I deadpanned. "…She really can't keep a secret, can she?"
"Nope!"
We both laughed, the tension easing for a heartbeat.
Then Whisper's expression softened. She stepped closer, slow but certain, until she slipped into my personal space like she'd always belonged there. Her scent filled my nose, warm and grounding.
She wrapped her arms around my neck the same way she had days ago. "To answer your question…" Her voice dropped to a near-whisper, breath brushing my lips. "I thought I told you faunus can get a little… freaky~."
Her eyes half opened—blue, mischievous, and sharp as a blade. She leaned in, lips hovering a hair's breadth from mine. Neither of us moved and neither of us gave in.
Then she pushed me back lightly with a wicked grin. "Oh, would you look at that! Smithy's headed this way, and he looks like he needs to talk to you. Guess I'll leave you to it. Later, Sammy~."
She spun on her heel, ponytail flicking, hips swaying like the breeze, and left me gaping like a fish. For half a second, I wondered if she was actually part fox after all.
I shook my head with a helpless smile. I'll get her back for that sooner or later.
"Lord Sam!"
Ah, right. Smithy. Somehow he'd picked up the habit of calling me lord ever since he saw the Faux-nus boot up for the first time. This wasn't even the first time today.
Honestly, it was… a little bit uncomfortable hearing it from people I actually knew.
"Smithy," I sighed, crossing my arms. "Again, you can drop the 'lord.' You're the only other person here who even remotely understands how my stuff works. As far as I'm concerned, we're equals. Now, what's wrong?"
"O-oh, right. Sorry." The lion faunus rubbed the back of his neck with an embarrassed grin. The sight was almost comical, considering the guy was a full head taller than me. "It's the Cauldron. Circuits keep frying and glitches all over the place. And uh…"
He lifted the object in his hands. GAIA's scroll, its screen dark and unresponsive.
"…GAIA's not answering either."
I groaned. Of course.
This was what I'd been worried about. Smaller projects like the Clentaminator were easy-peasy especially when I even managed to improve the design over time but the big ones like GAIA, the Faux-nus, and the Cauldron apparently needed constant fine-tuning. They worked perfectly fine when I was nearby, sure, but the moment I left? Huge chance of malfunctions and here we were, case in point.
I'd reach the point where they could run without me…eventually but not yet.
At least Smithy was catching up fast. His Semblance, Artifex, was basically a generalized Tinker ability. The guy was basically born for this role. No wonder he'd ended up as the outpost's engineer.
"I guess I'm gonna be busy today, huh?" I muttered.
"Sorry, Sam, didn't catch that."
"Nah, just talking to myself."
"Oh, okay. The—what the heck happened to the Thunderjaw!?"
I turned to see what he meant and winced. The once-proud construct lay in a heap, scorched and crumpled like a half-chewed toy.
"…Right." My groan deepened.
Funny thing to mention? That was the only Thunderjaw I'd ever made. One of each, that was all I'd managed, and only from the first Horizon game's lineup. The sequel stuff? Haven't even thought about the designs yet. It…wasn't that much of an 'army,' yet.
And Wolf had been acting way too casual this morning when she requested the prototype to "join us on the ground" and had us moved away from Oka Waiwai. Looking back, yeah—she basically used both me and the Thunderjaw as bait.
I stuck two fingers in my mouth and whistled.
The answering screech split the skies a minute later a shadow swept over us, whipping the sand into a frenzy.
The Stormbird descended, circling once before perching before me with a metallic caw, head tilted, waiting for my command.
I pointed toward the wrecked Thunderjaw. The eagle construct shrieked again, then dug its talons into the carcass with a sound like tearing steel.
Smithy could only stare as I switched on my Tinker ability and got to work.
The Stormbird was never built for heavy hauling. No way it could take off carrying that weight back to the Cauldron. So, I did the reasonable thing—harvested what I could. Dust cores, intact plating, the good circuitry. Piece by piece, I stripped what I could from the Thunderjaw and fed the upgrades into the Stormbird.
By the time I was done, I was sitting astride the bird's back, looking down at Smithy's wide eyes.
Ugh. This is so much wor—
Feat Achieved!
Use your Tinker skills to such a degree that you've begun to automate, heralding the dawn of a new mechanical species while taking a step into Terraforming!
…Fuck Ted Faro!
+1 Advantage Gold Familiar Gacha Ticket
"Smithy!" I shouted down. "What are you waiting for!? There's work to be done, my guy! Send the captain a message and hop on!"
"H-huh!? R-right!" he stammered, scrambling aboard behind me. Probably still processing how fast I flipped from groaning to grinning. What can I say? A new gacha ticket was fuel for the soul.
Once he was settled, I rapped the Stormbird's head. With a mighty caw and a thunderous flap of its wings, we lifted off into the sky.
It was only the second time I'd flown this beast, first being the test drive back from the S.D.C. facility and it was just as exhilarating now as it had been then.
Well…aside from the scorching sun roasting my back. That part could use some improvement.
As Smithy tapped at his Scroll behind me, I grinned as it was the perfect time again.
Another roll!
It was time to see what the house has for me this time~
Please select one:
Congratulations!
[Garchomp]
|Rare Familiar|
Pokemon - A large intimidating ground dragon with immense physical power, Garchomp can also manipulate the earth to cause earthquakes, fissures and blades of earth to erupt. And they can also somehow fly at Mach speeds.
Heeyyy~! I remembered owning one of those back in my old Platinum save file a long time ago and beating Cynthia over the head with it. The nostalgia with this one was so strong I almost picked it. Let's see the other one first thou—
Congratulations!
[Lucifer the Ceo of Hell]
|Elite Familiar|
Helltaker - Lucifer is one hell of a Ceo. As actual Lucifer herself, she is a powerful demon, possessing strength strong enough to rip steel in half like paper and being able to enslave people with a kiss, melting away their flesh and turning them into bone demons, possessing the abilities of a Fiend(Elite Trait) and being capable of using basic demonic magic. Having ruled hell for thousands of years and being a CEO, she is an incredible manager beyond human standards. She can manage hundreds of businesses and still be minimally inconvenienced compared to running Hell itself.
Well…hot damn…
…Now ain't that one helluva spin?
The day after—
The sun beat down over Kuo Kuana, blazing bright against the endless blue sky. A warm breeze swept lazily through the city, offering only the faintest relief as it teased across Kali Belladonna's brow.
Even in the heat, the city thrummed with life, its markets and streets as busy as they had been all week.
She, however, had taken the morning for herself, tending the small garden that framed their home. The flowers had flourished in the fair weather, their colors vibrant against the dark soil, and she moved with quiet care, watering each bloom in turn.
She was in the middle of refreshing a row of lilies when a voice called out behind her.
"Aloha e Aliʻi Wahine. (Greetings, Noble Chiefess.)"
Kali straightened at once. Turning, she found herself facing an elderly turtle faunus, his heavy shell visible even beneath his cloak and the dark scales mottling his arms. Flanking him stood two members of the Menagerie Guard.
She recognized him instantly—Chief Honu, one of the minor chiefs whose influence dotted Menagerie's coasts. Unlike most, he still clung proudly to the old tongue.
The language itself had begun to fade in Kuo Kuana, worn thin by years of trade and necessity. Common speech was simply easier when dealing with outsiders. Yet tradition endured, as it must, especially when one was wife to the chieftain of Menagerie's greatest city-village.
Kali lowered herself in a graceful curtsy, her voice warm. "Aloha e kuʻu hoahānau. (Greetings, my kinsman.)"
Chief Honu's wrinkled face creased into a smile, his laughter like gravel tumbling in a riverbed. "Kali. The last time I saw you, you were still a kitten. Now you've become a wildcat, fierce and graceful both."
She returned his chuckle, stepping forward to embrace him quickly. "Chief Honu. What a welcome surprise after so long."
"And I the same," he replied, patting her arm with the gentle strength of age. "Forgive me for being blunt, but… is Chief Ghira here?"
Kali only smiled knowingly. "Please, no apologies. My husband is inside, still in counsel with the other chieftains."
"Ah, then I am just in time." Honu laughed again, a low, contented rumble. "Perhaps, when the talk is done, we may share our stories."
The guards at his side moved to steady him as he climbed the steps, his shell swaying with each careful step. Kali watched them go, the smile on her lips tempered by thought.
She was not surprised to see him, nor the others who had begun arriving these past days. One by one, chiefs and their retainers had descended upon Kuo Kuana, drawn here by the same reason.
By Sam.
Ever since the handsome shark's little light show in the desert, he had not been idle. She had heard Ghira's report, shared publicly in the city square, though whispers and rumors carried even more detail.
Some spoke of him walking into barren outposts and conjuring food and water from nothing. Others claimed to have seen him side by side with the Guard—and with his strange "Faux-nus"—fighting back the Grimm wherever they neared.
A few even claimed to have caught glimpses of it all on their scrolls, recordings spreading like wildfire through the markets and taverns.
Only a select few, like Kali, knew the truth was but a part of the training Captain Wolf of the Menagerie Guard had carefully constructed for the young man.
It was no wonder the chiefs had come. They wanted to see the newest candidate with their own eyes. To weigh him, to judge him and, soon enough, to stand witness at the ceremony and the festival already being prepared in the city.
Kali's hand lingered on the watering jug, her reflection faint and warped in the water's surface. The thought of the event soured her mood. She steadied herself, gathering strength from within, for it would do no good to falter now.
No matter how much death the ceremony would bring.
Yet through it, the candidate would be realized. And all of Menagerie from its scattered clans, its cityfolk, and faunus outside of Menagerie would be bound together and brought into a new era of equality and prosperity.
Her heart wavered at the cruel balance of it. To gain, something must be lost.
A sharp bang broke her reverie. Kali turned just in time to see the door slam shut, and her breath caught when she saw her daughter, her little meow meow, standing there with tear-streaked cheeks.
So… Ghira had finally told her.
"Blake…" Kali's voice softened with instinct.
The girl sniffed, caught sight of her, and all but stumbled forward until she collapsed into her arms. Kali pressed her daughter against her bosom, wrapping her protectively.
"Why… why didn't you tell me?" Blake's voice cracked, trembling with hurt.
"Because we thought we'd never need to," Kali whispered, stroking her hair. "We hoped it would never come to this. But here we are."
Blake stilled. Slowly, she pulled back, her amber eyes wide and desperate.
"I can tell him. I can tell Sam about all this. Maybe—"
"You will do no such thing!" Kali's tone snapped sharper than she intended, hands gripping Blake's shoulders. Her gaze was fierce. "This is sacred to Menagerie and its people. And Sam, even with all his miracles, is still considered an outsider. If you do this, if anyone finds out, you'll be cast out."
It truly was an unfortunate circumstance. To think that his status, his very role in all this, remained shrouded in secrecy, bound not by choice but by the terms of a wager. A wager he had already won, and yet could not truly claim until the seventh day came to pass.
She softened her grip, cupping her daughter's cheeks and wiping away the streaks of salt with her thumbs. "I don't want to lose you, Blake. I don't want to never see my baby again."
Blake's lip quivered. "Why… why is this so unfair?" The words tumbled out with fresh tears. She had been so unprepared for this, so blindsided. Only this morning she had been laughing with Ilia, learning how to ride a Strider for the first time. And now—this.
"The divine works in mysterious ways, Blake," Kali murmured, holding her close again. "But I believe… somehow, everything will work out in the end." The words were not just comfort but a shield, something she needed to believe as much as her daughter did.
For a moment, they simply held each other. Then Blake nudged herself free, her face still red but her resolve steadier.
"I… I need to go. Talk with Ilia again…"
Kali smiled gently. "Be safe, love. And if you can come home early tonight… we'll prepare dinner together along with your father. Like the old days?" There was a note of hope in her voice, an ache born from missing the girl who had been swallowed up by White Fang work.
Blake hesitated, then nodded. She turned and slipped away, leaving Kali in the garden with the quiet hum of cicadas and the distant bustle of the city.
Despite everything, Kali smiled faintly. Change that was both great and small was sweeping across the island. From the new hope in the people's voices… to her daughter finally edging closer to someone again.
She had noticed it as Blake was spending more time with Ilia lately, far more than with that hot-headed Taurus boy. A relief, really. Anyone was better company than that brute. Especially Sam.
Her sigh came unbidden, long and wistful.
Sam. He reminded her so much of a younger Ghira—strong and reckless yet ever dependable. Too much for his own good at times really.
With that thought lingering, Kali turned back to her flowers. The water trickled over the blossoms with the droplets catching the sunlight's rays. She busied her hands, though her mind wandered, as it always did now, to the ceremony.
And to the young man Fate had chosen to stand at its center.
Some traditions can be fun and neat…some are just plain stupid. Unfortunately, this tradition of theirs is the latter.
I just found out that the Gacha has a tech-only option too. What worlds do you think it'd be fun to use it on? I wanna try my hands on it.
Also, what does anyone think of pregnancy in fics? I heard it was a fic-killer and from what I've seen from how many fics went to hiatus hell I'm inclined to agree.
Once again, thanks for reading my shit and expect a small time skip next time…along with the end of the first arc of this fic…maybe…probably…so it'll probably be a long chapter…maybe…possibly…Last edited: Sep 13, 2025 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Callidus, Rhaid, Eniotna and 914 others