The following morning felt a little odd to Shulk. He sits up and purses his mouth, scrunching up his face in thought. Shrugging, the brilliant engineer glances up from his cot in the laboratory, only to see the cause of his weird feeling — Reyn.

"H-hey, Shulk-!" Shulk bolts up and gasps when his eyes latch onto the Monado clutched in his supposed best friend's hands. "Uh, don't mind me, okay? Just…causing some exposition! Haha!"

The Fragile Bunniv Shulk growls and balls his hands into tight fists. "You know how much I hate exposition!"

"Try to stop me!"

"Oh, I will!" Shulk gets into a feeble fighting stance, head lowered, teeth clenched. "The players need action and excitement that rivals only Xenoblade Chronicles!" Reyn only smirks and holds out the Monado as his chosen weapon to fight with. "I'm really feeling it!" he warns.

"Yeah? Man, what a buncha jokers! Fiora just tried to stop me too, but I've been training in the defense force my whole life for this moment alone." Reyn cackles a wicked laugh and swings the sword testingly. "There's no way Dunban can wield this and I can't."

"I don't know, Reyn, he's pretty strong."

"Well, I'm stronger!"

Shulk suddenly jerks up as if some bright idea graced him. "That's it, I'm done." Throwing his arms out, he sulks out of the room.

Reyn blinks hard in surprise, then clears his throat and hardens. "Well, it's about Reyn time, baby! Finally, I can have the Monado all for myself! Yes, yes, my Precious…" He holds the sword close to his massive chest, stroking it with tender lovin' care. "My Precious…"

He stares out the doors as Shulk strides out, whistling. Reyn only stares further when Shulk suddenly begins arguing with himself.

"What?! What are you doing, you're letting that brute have the Monado? Are you insane?! Get back over there, Shulk, get back over there this instant!"

"You aren't my father! And neither is Dickson! I don't care about researching a weapon that hurt my hero!"

"Dang it, now I wish I didn't zap that man's arm to oblivion."

"Yeah, you goofed."

"Crap."

Blinking in surprise, Reyn tears himself away from the scene and gazes deeply at the red sword. "Why am I surprised? Shulk is this way, then that way with this thing. You deserve more than only half attention…mwahahahaha…"

He suddenly jumps. "Oh! Wait, Shulk, whatzyourname, come back!"

Shulk stops and turns around warily. "Don't you dare try to give that thing back to me. It's evil." he hisses, volume dropped.

"Uh, no. I was wondering if you'll go to Tephra Cave with me, y'know. I really can't go and get fresh ether canisters myself after my own comrades smashed one up."

"Sure?"

"Yay!"

"You're going where with Shulk?" Both boys whip around as Fiora gives them a dull look of contempt from the doorway, arms folded. "Shulk's delicate. Not like you, Reyn. He'll smash like the glass cannon he is and suddenly you have an enemy in Colony 9." Though I really wouldn't mind otherwise, I want the pleasure of Shulk's death for myself…hahaha…

"So, Colonel Vangarre?" The teenager's face was the textbook stare of sincerity.

She only sighs and rolls her eyes. "You're such an idiot, Reyn."

"Don't care. Come'on, Shulk."

The two start off, but are halted by Shulk's tight hand on the Monado. "That stays."

"Aw…"

Shulk sighs. "You can take it later. We won't need it for Noob Cave. Trust me."

Some minutes later, the pair face off against their first real threat in Tephra Cave: Bunnivs.

"Crap! Crap!"

"We need the Monado! Whyyy?"

At sundown, the friends finally make it to the Mag Mell Ruins, gasping for breath and covered with little bunny bite and claw marks, their hair ruined just like this old ship they stand before that somehow got in a mountain.

Reyn wheezes slightly and fans himself with his hands. "Son of a Dickson, that stings!"

"Why didn't we level up before this…?" Shulk moans. "And why are you the one to go get the ether cylinders," he asks with a whining tone. "after all, you didn't break that mech." Reyn only stares at him. "You did…break that mech."

Shaking his head, he straightens from being stooped over his knees and stumbles forward into the hull of the ancient ship. "Wow. I can't believe that there's a ship in here."

"It's made by the High Entia…supposedly." the scientist replies, still out of breath.

"The High-Who? They weren't uh, heheh, um…"

"No, Reyn."

"But if we all know about the battle between the Bionis and the Mechonis years ago and all that, then why don't we know about this Whatzitsname?"

Shulk blinks and looks over at him. "I don't know."

Reyn shrugs and jumps past the threshold. "Ally-oop! Well, if they really are that forgettable and whatever, they can't all be super important to the plot and all that."

"Exactly my point." Shulk walks into Mag Mell Ruins and glances around, disgruntled. "Is the cylinder hanger really just through here? That's so boring."

"What were you expecting? A big boss battle or something?"

Shulk, eyes large, suddenly pushes Reyn. "Don't say things like that! Don't jinx us, are you crazy!"

At Reyn's high-pitched giggle in response, Shulk shudders and sprints over to the staircase. "Come on, I know just how to make this more interesting, I did something kinda-sorta similar to this in my game!"

"Bu-but Xenoblade Chronicles isn't real! Shulk!" Reyn hurries after him, only to suddenly stop at the top of the stairs. "Wait, why did I just say that?" Shaking his head hard, he dashes down the empty catwalk and through the automatic door to where Shulk stood, waiting impatiently in front of another door, this time locked. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Shulk shuffles his feet and cracks an embarrassed smile. "C-Could you maybe stand there in the right corner of the door and make like a statue — remain put?"

"Sure-?" Reyn, confused, stands in place. Shulk cackles and shoves himself into his best friend. "Ow! Owowow! That hurts, Shulk, the door has sharp metal!" the soldier whines. With a gasp, Shulk abruptly stumbles forward into a horror movie-like hallway, narrow and dark. "What the!" Blinking hard, Reyn glances around the new area, then at the locked door.

"Science!" Shulk proclaims, striding forward with a confident march. "Now come'on, we've got a Cave Skeeter to find."