The [?] Dragon God

Eons ago, when Mortis fell, it would be both the beginning of the end and the start of something new. For after destruction, creation is next afterwards.

To further explain, when Mortis fell, the very universe itself attempted to self-heal by putting the ancient world back together. However, as Mortis was never even suppose to fall in the first place, the system couldn't even restore the home world back to normal. What occurred instead was the creation of many beings, the first beings, alongside the very thing known as the multiverse itself.

GOLB, homeworlds of alien species including earth, so on and so forth. Countless ancient creations being given birth and set across the great universe and other worlds, where one day the 'Big bang' would allow these universes to be given life. Of course, this wasn't easy as even before life could be given, the first ancient beings including those that would one day be those affiliated with Chaos, Order, or in between were there before such a rise. These beings that wandered the different worlds, the first 'Monsters' as the undead king called the Litch would call them.

This included one being that those of modern day would call a dragon, or something close to it.

This unnamed being was just one of many created and born from the remains of Mortis's destruction. A being that took the Brother and Sisters aspects of light and dark, and held unimaginable power. While not as great as the first creation, GOLB, it was still a being that could destroy worlds and create worlds. Where GOLB created chaos and other powers, this old god was a master of light, dark, energy manipulation, instant movement, and so on. Yet for all its power, it was alone and wandered relentlessly to find a friend. Having been born alone and unknowing of what its purpose was.

It traveled across the universe, different dimensions, yet it found no life as life itself hadn't been born yet. At best, it only found planets in the process of wielding life. In time and after eons of traveling, this old god then decided to simply create a companion. However, despite its awesome power, even it could not create something from nothing, lacking the imagination to do so. So it then split itself in two to have a companion.

Of course this ancient deity wouldn't realize it had in truth, killed itself and gave birth to two completely different symmetrical forms, one of light and the other of shadow. Both wielded half of the old Gods immense power, and both then decided to use that power to create their own dimension and personal world.

They were the Brother Gods of Light and Darkness, remnants of the destruction of Mortis itself.

The walk back to base was rather...awkward. Mainly because the Grimm walked alongside everybody, much to Satyra and the bandits' confusion. Not that they could ask, as the second one got the courage to try, the Grimm seemed to sense it and growled in their direction. So those who were confused decided to just ignore their curiosity.

Though that didn't stop Catra and Scorpia from realizing the trouble they were in.

'This definitely isn't good.' Catra thought as she and Scorpia walked together, giving a look at Cinder and the others. 'Somehow, these guys can control, or at the very least command the Grimm. Nothing should be capable of that, and yet here they are doing it. That isn't normal.'

Catra knew a lot of things, but not everything. She heard rumors and silly stories of individuals who could control the Grimm. Dumb fairy tales of a man with red hair that can command them like soldiers. She dismissed such silly things and focused on reality. Now, she can't ignore such things.

'And now it makes sense how they got control here.' Catra thought with Scorpia thinking the same herself.

One controls the Grimm here, they can just order them to kill the regular animals.' The scorpion faunus female thought she smelled a lot of blood. The blood of animals that fell to the Grimm. Without the beasts attacking them, this made anything here in the Wilds under that person's control. This was a tough situation they were in.

His Eminence would want to know this, as having access to the Wilds undisturbed would be a pretty neat thing for future goals. Though that was only if they even survived to tell the tale. These guys having taken their communication devices, and now surrounded by them. With the exception of Scorpia and Catra, everybody else would fall to the bandits and Grimm. Plus, while the two were strong enforcers, even they doubted if they could escape from those two humans, faunus, and Mobian.

'Which means,' Catra thought as at last they made it to the ghost town, now occupied by bandits. 'We need to see they're leader.'

"So. I see you're the group Satyra sent to meet. You're certainly interesting." The Satyra members were all taken to a building, a single one where oddly the bandits were forced to stay behind where only the individuals known as Tyrian, Hazel, Cinder, and Bandit Princess were allowed in. The scouts and grunts of Satyra placed in cells elsewhere, with Catra and Scorpia then allowed to meet the real leader of the gang here.

Their faces didn't show it, but they were panicking a bit internally.

'Hey, hey, hey,' Catra thought as she looked at the person sitting on a Grimm throne with nearby Grimm snarling. 'I knew Bandit Princess and these guys here weren't normal, but this is taking it too far!'

Sitting down is definitely no human like that idiot Mach said. Oh sure she looked human and sounded human. But it doesn't take a genius to realize she isn't one with that skin tone, the clothing, and the fact that the Grimm obeyed her like pets. Hell, she gave the same vibes as Dark Kat and she didn't like it one tiny bit. Damn this isn't good. One wrong move and she's pretty sure she, Scorpia, and the Satyra scouts will be devoured alive with the Eminence just chalking it up to bad luck for them entering the Wilds.

While their leader is a genius and a feared being, he's not omniscience and as such, wouldn't know the fate of theirs if they simply vanished away.

'Which means these talks must go right.' Scorpia also thought as now this conversation held the situation between them living or them dying. Talk about no pressure. So, using years of confidence and back talk, Catra made the first move.

"So, you're the one we were sent to find." Catra remarked as she stared at the woman in the eye, doing her best to not appear weak. "Mach mentioned something about a woman controlling the Grimm."

Bandit Princess scoffed and gave a grin. "Heh, so he did. And you idiots still came looking?"

Catra rolled her eyes and looked at the self-proclaimed princess. "When someone went toe to toe with one of the Justice Friends and not only got away, word tends to spread pretty fast. Don't be surprised that we're not the only ones." Catra retorted, glaring at Bandit Princess. Hiding the small little fact that nobody actually knew and her team only got word of it because Mach had been in the right time and place. They didn't need to know that of course. "You really need to work on covering your tracks better. A trail of destruction from two villages along with gaining the attention of the world's fastest man and you are practically begging for everyone to show up on your doorstep."

That seemed to show visible discontent to that string bean she heard called Watts move with the big guy Hazel and Cinderella girl show their own expressions. As for the big lady, well, she didn't look like she even cared.

"Let them come pussy cat!" Tyrian laughed. "All will fall in the face of our Goddess!" Yeesh, what a freak.

"What confidence. Hehe. I like it." Tyrian shut up when Scorpia spoke, and Catra ignored the urge to wack her head. She had such bad taste in men.

"Little brat!" Bandit Princess scowled with Catra ready for the next retort. As that happened though, Salem watched them all. Already liking Catra a bit as while she could easily tell she was scared, she had the courage to keep on facing her. She liked that type of woman.

'And she is certainly skilled.' The feline Faunus was skilled enough she easily fought Cinder and was able to hold off both her and Hazel when Salem ordered that they be brought to her when she saw how skilled they were. Fighting just Cinder was one thing but the woman, Catra was even able to fight against both her and Hazel at the same time. Salem easily deduced that her Semblance granted her enhanced reflexes that also boosted her speed and strength, right to the point her own body could move without thinking where the reveal of Cinder's Grimm appendage did not slow her down until after its time was used up. It reminded Salem greatly of Tock and her own invulnerability Semblance with its time limit as Tock had been a greatly skilled asset.

Then there's Scorpia, a powerhouse like Hazel. But also a scorpion faunus like Tyrian, and through biological coincidence or not, she wielded a greater size and had scorpion claws to go with her tail that was bigger and even stronger than Tyrian's. Salem supposed it was because she was female and because of that, like female scorpions her stinger would naturally be bigger and stronger. She was definitely as quick and agile as a scorpion but her bulk made her slightly slower than Tyrian but she made up for that with her strength as she was easily able to match Tyrian.

All in all, Satyra had good men and women.

"Now then." Catra then ignored Bandit Princess and stared at Salem without weakness. Remaining calm as if her Semblance was even active when she wasn't fighting. "We only came here because word of someone fighting and beating Living Bullet reached our superiors and we were told to investigate. Nothing else."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's all." Bandit Princess rolled her eyes. "I've dealt with enough lunatics before. Though this is the first time they sent someone competent."

"Maybe because you weren't worth the effort before." Catra retorted with a smooth grin as Bandit Princess glared at her. "His Eminence wasn't the one who sent those messengers to you. He knew he would be wasting his time and he's not one for looking for potential recruits among bandit trash."

Bandit Princess growled. "You've got a lot of nerve saying that to me. Considering you're looking for the ones who took down a hero."

"Hmph! I read your file. It said you were selfish, bloodthirsty and completely self-interested. Not to mention the little added info of how you only started going by the name Bandit Princess because you literally forgot your real name after you hacked your own parents to pieces and took up the title people gave you." Catra scoffed and retorted. "Even going as far as to find someone with a Semblance able to erase and alter memories so you would completely forget your real name."

"And what of it? Like you said, I'm completely self-interested, making sure I only have what benefits me in the world. My birth name was worthless so I got rid of it." Bandit Princess remarked.

"It never said you were delusional. It's obvious you weren't the one to beat Living Bullet. You never pick fights with ones you know to be stronger than you." Catra looked over to Cinder and Hazel. "It obviously wasn't the two of you either. I figured that just from fighting you."

Cinder scowled at Catra bringing up her loss to Living Bullet but said nothing while Hazel remained composed.

"And it obviously wasn't him either." Catra gestured to Tyrian next. "Even if he is crazy enough to take on someone like Living Bullet there's no way he would have lasted longer than five seconds."

Tyrian growled at the memory of his humiliation but when he raised his stinger he then glared at Scorpia when her form pulse with electricity. So that was her Semblance, or a piece of it.

"So that leaves me to believe that the one who defeated Living Bullet was..." Catra settled her gaze onto Salem. "You."

"And if it was?" Salem asked. "What would you do?"

Catra shrugged. "Nothing. We were just told to investigate the rumours and meet up with our scout for confirmation. Any big decisions are left in the hands of His Eminence."

Salem smiled, and then gave her own answer. "Yes, he would. If he actually knew you were here." Catra growled and Scorpia frowned. "Now, now, don't be upset. It's just that lying is a negative thing. Well, lying, and omission of the truth. After all, I doubt the Eminence would even know here in the middle of nowhere, Living Bullet lost." Not to mention the fact that after taking their communication devices, the messages sent back and forth only pertained to them, not some higher up. Meaning his Eminence didn't even know they existed.

"Liars!" Tyrian growled. "You dare lie to our Goddess!"

"Man. Must be neat to have a built in lie detector." Bandit Princess chuckled and stared back at Catra. "You actually had me. But obviously not her."

"So shall we dispose of them then." Cinder smiled as her own Grimm appendage moved its claws. "Because I'd rather go for round 2 now." Catra narrowed her eyes and Scorpia also seemed to get ready. The two knew things were looking bad, and a fight to escape wouldn't be easy. Heck, with all the Grimm around and bandits plus them, they're more than likely to die.

"No." Though that soon ended as Salem stopped any bloodshed. "Just let them go."

"Wait...huh?" Watts and the other members turned to Salem. Clearly shocked by this unforeseen development.

"But...but why?" Cinder asked, stopping herself from scowling in rage. Wanting to kill that little cat.

"Will they not tell their leader this." Hazel added in. "If anything, this could be problematic."

"Er, yeah. Like he said." Bandit Princess also wanted to just kill them off. "Sparing them and sending them back will just cause trouble. Plus, like you said, not like their leader knows they're even here."

"Perhaps, perhaps not." Salem shrugged. "But my word is said. I will allow them to leave. In exchange for something that will benefit us all."

"Ah. Now I get it." Scorpia chuckled. "The old either we die or we live but with benefits trick, eh."

"More or less." Salem admits to it. "I lose nothing in killing you. But perhaps we can come to an agreement where everyone wins." While Salem's members weren't sure how to feel about this, they said nothing as she made up her mind. Plus, they also wanted to see where this was going.

"And that is?" Even Catra wanted to hear this.

"If you truly do have the ability to talk to your leader, tell him, in exchange for information, some tech here and there, and a non-aggression pact, maybe he too can have a piece of the Wilds." Okay, this lady was good all right, Catra can admit to that. The Wilds is one of the most dangerous places on earth, and yet countless people of today and the past always tried getting to it. The reason; countless resources.

Dust, rare herbs and plants, certain animals, tech from different companies who tried taking a claim, and rumored beings all being here. The reason so many tried to make this place here is because of all that good potential it had. Plus, as far as Catra can see, there wasn't anything wrong with this deal. While it could be refused, the outcome of accepting it benefited everybody. Granted, she was curious what kind of info and tech this lady wanted, but she doubted it was anything secretive that related to Satyra. If anything, there's nothing to lose here at all.

"...Sure." Catra agrees to it all, as there's nothing to lose here at all. "I'll tell his Eminence that a certain lady who somehow got control of the Wilds is willing to help Satyra out for...whatever it is you want."

"Nothing that will inconvenience your leader." Salem tells her. "Just let them know that all I wish for is to go back elsewhere, and have no problem if he controls the world if he can." Now the faunus couldn't even be sure if she should be suspicious or not. Regardless, it seems she knew what to do here.

"Got it. Who knows, maybe we'll meet again." Catra then turns back as she starts walking out.

"Hopefully we do." Scorpia walks alongside her, and gives a wink to Tyrian who then shivers. "I wouldn't mind sticking around."

"Whatever." Catra rolls her eyes as the two then leave the room, where they would then gather their allies and leave the Wilds. All in all, they lived and found a possible ally. Which left those like Cinder and Bandit Princess to grumble a bit, as they wanted to beat the Satyra troops up, but even they couldn't deny the potential of gathering more allies. Watts himself actually now hoping the deal works out, as this meant more tech for him to study. As such, today could be seen as a win.

For them anyway.

"Finally." Mercury sighs happily as they enter the city. "We convinced fido to leave us alone. Now to get some actual food and not just food bars." He then saw a restaurant. "How about a burger?"

"Sure." Emerald agrees as she walks alongside him. The two have entered a city and glad to be allowed to actually enter civilization again. "I could use some calories."

"Oh." Mercury teased. "Sure you want to gain weight." His answer came in the form of an elbow hitting his gut.

"Pig." Emerald rolled her eyes while Mercury chuckled.

The two outer worlders had at long last got away from the Hound. Not permanently of course, as the Grimm made a clear growl that if they escaped, it would hunt them down. So, they agreed and were given permission-like they were the pets-and let loose to actually do something other than exploring the forest. Sure they couldn't understand the signs, and their scrolls still weren't working properly, but hey, they can eat real food. That's a good win in their books.

So as they entered a nearby restaurant, intent of eating and maybe getting a little info, neither noticed a man watching them.

This man wasn't anybody special. Yes he's a Huntsmen, but not a very known one despite having a good record of defending people and killing Grimm. The thing that made him different from others though was simply that he's currently on a small squad being gathered to hunt down an infamous Grimm that has arrived here in Japan.

One that included pictures not just of the Grimm...but of two teens.

Picking up his phone and speaking in his native language, he said, "Call lady Sanban. Tell her, I found the kids."

Looks like some action will come very soon.