The morning air around them had a buzzing sense of excitement. They finally had a promising method to defeat the behemoth and get their car back, good as new. Or so they hoped. Noct had yet to enlighten them on what exactly had occurred in the Fociaugh Cavern. He was the last to wake up, as allowing him to wake up naturally would offer a more refreshed and useful Prince. What he lost in energy could be gained in the simple concentration of rest he could aquire.

While waiting for their slumbering leader to wake, Ignis and Leanna had already gone and returned from the trading post with a full stock of supplies. Ignis occupied himself setting their inventory in order while the other three were in the shrubbery, forested clearing beneath the camp. Sounds from within the tent gave indication that Noct had finally awoken, and be slowly stepped out of the tent. The sounds of wood hitting wood probably what had woken him and caught his attention. He looked over the edge of the campsite to find the source.

"They're teaching her some lessons in combat, if that explains why they're waving around sticks any better. " said Ignis from his seat near the supply box.

Prompto stood opposite Leanna, both of whom were holding long sticks while Gladio observed the pair from a rock he sat on. It wasn't so much a training lesson as it was a source of entertainment for him. Prompto's swings were slow and predictable from about a mile away, giving Leanna ample time to stop it's trajectory. She wasn't learning how to fight or defend herself, rather that she was indeed capable of moving a stick around.

"You're too focused on not getting hit that you're not taking a swing back at him." said Gladio. "Defend all you want but it won't help much if the enemy is still mobile."

Leanna let the stick lean against the crook of her neck as she looked over to him. "I'm trying as best I can but I'm not originally intended to be someone who fights. That's a different department. "

Prompto took the opening and gently bopped her on the side of the head, which brought her attention back to him. "What? Some sorta robot law? 'Thou shall not hurt a human?' "

Leanna leaned her head away. "No just moral law. Under normal circumstances, people don't like being hit. " Either to contradict her point, or to prove it, she swung her makeshift weapon down and had it connect solidly against the side of Prompto's knee. The boy let out a mock cry of pain and buckled, falling to the floor in an exaggerated manner so convincing to Leanna that she dropped her stick in response, believing she'd actually caused him pain.

After a few seconds of his agonized groaning, he spoke in a strained voice. "Ah! She got me! Man down! Go on… without me… " His voice lowered to a whisper as he all together went limp on the grassy floor.

Gladio was gave hearty laugh that trailed into a groan. "Drama Queen."

Leanna picked up her stick again when she realized he was only joking. Prompto was lying on his back with a perfect view of the sky and canopy, as well as a judgmental glare from up above.

"Morning, buddy!" he called up to Noct who had been watching the whole spectacle. He stepped away from the ledge and joined them a few seconds later.

Prompto was back in his feet, dusting himself of with Leanna's help to remove clinging bits of leaf and twig. "Just giving her some fighting tips."

"Figured it was worth a shot, " Gladio chimed in. "She has a pretty mean swing. Showed those goblins a thing or two yesterday. "

"And you're letting the guy that uses guns do the teaching? " asked Noct.

"I had a feeling she wouldn't be using a greatsword any time soon so I wouldn't do any good. "

Noct held out his hand to Prompto, who handed over his stick. He wasn't dejected for long as he quickly found a replacement. Noct looked to Leanna, who'd been holding the stick like one would a broom.

"So, do you wanna learn how to fight?"

She looked as unsure as he'd ever seen her. Definitely something out of her comfort zone, yet she didn't say no.

The next half our was spent teaching some basic fighting techniques using a stick in place of a sword. Something possibly lost on Leanna as, as she said, she was not from the department that made fighting bots.

"If you lot are done playing make believe, we do have a behemoth horn to fetch. " said Ignis's voice from above them.

Camp was broken down and stored away, and the group, refreshed with potions, set of towards Deadeye's lair.

"Hey, maybe I could teach you how to fire pistols. It'd be much easier than swinging a sword around. "

"We don't need two people shooting at enemies. " said Gladio. "One with shoddy aim is enough."

The trek between the camp and Deadeye's lair was a short one, once they reached the other camp, they recognized where's they were fairly easily. Only a single pack of Sabers impeded their path for a few moments. Halfway to their destination, Prompto stretched and yawned.

"Ah, I just couldn't fall asleep last night, but then but then I had the weirdest dream."

"Never knew you to be a dreamer." replied Noct.

"Yeah, I always wake up and forget everything though. "

"What I wouldn't give for that."

"You are a pretty deep sleeper, like under the ground deep. You sure you don't just die for a few hours every night? "

The group returned to that shared thought of silence as they were lead to a small path flanked by boulders. The same hole they escaped from days before lay at the end of it.

"Are we absolutely ready?" asked Ignis. "Speak now, or forever hold your peace - should our plan go awry."

They looked to one another and nodded in agreement. They were ready.

One by one they moved through the hole and reached the other side. It didn't take long before the ground began to tremble. The purple, muscled mass of the behemoth rounded the cement wall on the other side and came barreling down on them.

"Any idea how to take him on?" Prompto asked, perhaps a little too late.

"Carefully, " replied Ignis. "one mistake could be our last."

The beast bounded in their direction, snarling and roaring with the supposed clear memory of their assault on him last time. The party split to attack different areas and to be less likely to be struck by a massive paw or swipe of his tail. They ducked, rolled, struck him when they could. Luckily, they had potions on hand to keep them from having an early visit with Etro.

The beast was between them and the Prince for most of the battle, making a quick rescue difficult. Deadeye hardly let up enough time to allow them to use a potion here and there. One hard hit with his paw sent Noct tumbling to the ground. He struggled to regain his footing to move out of harm's way.

Things were taking a turn for the worse.

The sunlight disappeared behind a gray clouds suddenly rolling in. The sky had given no indication of a storm. The air began charged, almost buzzing as lightning bolted across the sky in rapid succession. A storm was suddenly forming around them, becoming intense within seconds. Bracing themselves against the change in weather, Ignis, Prompto, and Leanna took shelter behind the cement wall of the old factory. And with good reason.

What they could see around the cement structure was a sight almost too surreal to behold. They could see a figure that dwarfed even the behemoth. Deadeye was a flea compared to the god Ramuh. Giant bolts of lightning arced across the sky and around his staff with thunderous booms as he took aim down below. What followed was an attack so loud, so devastating in force, that the three of them were sure that not only they, but every animal in the vicinity had been anaihilated. The rumble was deafening, the ground shook, it felt like the world was being broken into splinters. The surroundings that were once Deadeye's lair were charred and black, still searing red with embers as the cacophony of sound faded.

In the quiet that followed, the three of them crept out from behind their hiding spot. Gladio was the first to speak warily. "Everyone…. Everyone okay?"

To their great surprise, Noct was standing at ground zero, completely unharmed, and looking unaffected by what just happened. The same couldn't be said for Deadeye. His charred mass lay in a heap on the ground not far off. The fact his body survived intact against that attack was in itself a shock. Ashes from its body were picked away in the wind.

"Did.. did that really just happen?" asked Prompto. "I'm not dreaming right. That really was…"

There was a moment of quiet as they waited for Noct to grace them with some information. "Back in the cave," he looked down at his hand, "there must have been something in that stone, that piece of astral shard. I could feel it. Fighting Deadeye, it just sort of came out and- "

"And you summoned a God himself out of heaven. " Gladio folded his arms looking impressed. "No big deal, right?" They were quiet a long moment, fully processing what they just witnessed before Gladio spoke again. "Yeah, uh, we'd better get back to Cindy."

The shock of the scenario slowly transitioned into euphoria. They had survived, for one, they had experienced a godlike phenomena, and now they had the bounty to see their car safely returned. Looked like their day was going as planned, more or less.

"This is it! The ticket to getting our car back! " Prompto cheered, then reached for something in his vest pocket. "Hang on, I gotta get a photo of the behemoth otherwise no one's gonna believe this. "

"Before we might reclaim our car, we need to claim the small fortune this behemoth horn should fetch. "

The excitement slowly faded back to something normal as they walked back across the Duscae wilderness to the station. Previously hostile scenery didn't seem as threatening now. Compared to a behemoth, Sabertusks were only a minor nuisance. Needing to fight the wildlife was stunted now that they had their means of payment. Five gil claws were pocket change. Any sabers that chased them simply list interest when they moved far enough away.

They approached the familiar sight of the station, stepping into the oil and gas strained concrete. Noct was the only one to enter the shop itself, the others waited outside with Cindy.

Noct placed the large horn of the beast on the counter. This warranted the attention from not only from the clerk but by other customers in the store.

"Did you… did you really kill him?" he asked.

"If he's not dead, he's wishing he was right about now. " replied Noct.

"Wow," the clerk marveled as he picked up the horn and looked it over. "Didn't think anyone would be able to take him down. Been plaguing these parts for months. " He searched under the counter for something, still talking. "I'm gonna have to take this to a friend and see if we can get this mounted on the wall for everyone to see."

He stood up and set a green security box on the counter. He opened it with a key and withdrew a stack of bills. "Twenty five thousand gil, all yours." He handed it to Noct and thanked him on behalf of all the locals.

Cindy had moved the car to the open lot where it was ready to go. When Noct joined them she turned around from her last second check up.

"Hey! Y'all about ready to saddle up?"

"As ready as we'll ever be. " said Noct.

"Didn't mean to keep you waiting." Prompto's tone was oddly bashful.

"Oh, don't ya worry about that one bit now."

"We have what was in the estimate." Ignis looked to Noct who handed Cindy the gil.

"Yep! That oughta cover it. So, I reckon it's about time we got ya back together with your girl. " She placed her gloved hands on the pristinely polished hood of the car. She seemed to admire the car more than the two party members were admiring her. "Well here she is! Come see for yourself. She's primed prim and proper. " she reached into the driver seat for the work clipboard. "I reckon ya won't find a loose nut or bolt on 'er."

"We're in your debt. " said Ignis.

"I'll say ya are! I souped her up a bunch for ya! " she ran a hand down all her work handiwork. "I should charge ya… but I ain't gonna. This one's on the house."

"That's, uh, awfully nice of you. " said a still bashful Prompto.

"Just make sure y'all come back to Hammerhead now, ya hear?"

"Count on it." said Gladio, folding his arms. "No where else we'd take it."

"Don't you forget it!" Cindy turned to the only other female of their group, as if entirely forgetting the others were there for a moment. "And how you been, sweet pea? I heard you were a little under the weather the other day. "

Leanna looked a little surprised that someone, still a stranger, was asking after her well-being. She looked appreciative and gave a small smile and nod. "I'm doing much better now ma'am."

"I was worried all this time with the thought of you it there in the wilderness with these guys but I see they're treating you just fine. They woulda had me to answer to if there were any problems. "

"Hey, we're not that bad are we?" retorted Noct.

"You can never be too sure, hon." Cindy said in mock suspicion. "Well what are y'all waitin' for? Hop in! "

They walked to their preferred seat, Ignis taking driver, Gladio taking passenger, and the other three to the back. Prompto opened the door and stood to the side with a flourished hand to allow the their lady company entry, but she hesitated.

"Maybe waiting until Lestellum is asking a bit much. I can call someone to come pick me up. You can go straight ahead to Altissa. "

"Lestellum is on the way, is it not? Taking you there won't be a problem." said Ignis with a shrug of his palm on the steering wheel.

"Besides," said Prompto, "leaving you at a gas station doesn't seem like a gentlemanly thing to do."

"You have family in the city, right?" asked Noct. "It'll be quicker just to drive there instead of waiting."

Leanna didn't look any less guilty but resigned and stepped into the back seat. She took the space between Noct and Prompto, the three sitting comfortably.

Ignis turned the ignition and the car started with a satisfying, smooth rumble of the engine.

"It's alive!" said Prompto.

"Just let us know if you need anything." said Cindy as she stood at Prompto's door.

"It won't be about repairs next time," said Gladio with a grin from his seat.

"Well, that's fine by me. We can tune her up however you like at the garage. All ya gotta do is just bring her on in. "

"So it's alright if we call you?" piped Prompto.

"Sure is! Paw-Paw would love having someone to talk to." She stunted Prompto's hopeful attempt at flirtatious conversation and the boy rested his head against the door in defeat.

"We'll bring something by when we visit," said Ignis. "for Cid of course."

"Yeah," agreed Noct. "Time to hit the road. Thanks again, Cindy."

"Y'all take care out there! " Cindy waved as she stepped away from the car. "And Lee Ann, you be sure to tell me if those boys start rough housing too much. I'll fix em for ya!"

The car slowly pulled out of the lot and onto the road. They were on their way.