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Cris nodded pensively at his words about Four-Arms. "That fellow's got something about them halfway between a salesman and a politician. You noticed it too?" Of course she was more familiar with the latter kind, having heard propaganda speech since she was just a tiny kid. At his question about Burt, she chuckled slightly. "Ah, he knows how to keep himself busy. Last week we had a small argument over the keys of the wine cellar and why I don't trust leaving it anywhere in his range.. sometimes it's just difficult to make him understand his liver has its limits, you know? I mean, it's not even my bsuiness technically, but he heard I gave the keys to another friend of mine who holds alcohol far better and he got all upset..." She shook her head with a 'tsk' sound and followed Randle's lead toward the soup kitchen. She had her own assortment of "on the go" snacks, mostly dried fruit and meat jerkies, but she wasn't the kind to consume food around others when it involved removing her mask - 'less, of course, it was people who already knew her looks or that she trusted. Randle had seen her without mask on several occasions, but with all the crowd drawn to the site of the crash, better safe than sorry.

As the topic shifted to their respective reasons for being there, she looked up with a perturbed expression as Randle spoke of his case. "How young? Do I even want to know?", she asked, her voice betraying the worry. She just couldn't stay impassive when children were concerned. With an elaborated sigh, she nodded quietly to the crowd and confusion all around them. "Yeah, well... I'm just here to give a hand where I can, mostly. _Officially_, it's also to find out more about this Megadragon. Long-believed to be exinct species unexpectedly shows up... gotta figure out how it died, what conditions it was in, and if there's any sign that it might not be the lastof its kind." It was unlikely she'd found out _that_ much but one never knew. "If it's the last of its kind... it's damn sad it chose to die in a place where it caused all this chaos. But if there should be more, somewhere..." she gestured vaguely. "You know, that project of the NonHuman Embassy? Still waddling through all the beaurocracy and stuff but yeah... things like _this_ work as a covert reason for my "official" alias to be here while I try to bring what little help I can as Light Raygun."

Something in Ren's mind had come to him. Oh yes, interrogation, or what Azumi prefers to call and enact, "A bit of a friendly question and answer section". Ren was generally the "bad cop" in any given situation. His squad relied on his ruthlessly efficient means to complete any objective. However, it has been shown with the gunslinger, Cepheus, that extreme precautions and wariness would not help them this time.

"This might sound weird but", Ren paused, "Call on me if someone tries to kill you. If you don't want a soda, might as well keep you all alive..."

He immediately set off for Light Raygun, the woman who wore a fox mask.

"I used to see a similar mask in my time in japan!", Azumi noted to Light Raygun as her tails wagged enthusiastically, "I am Azumi, this man's fox spirit companion and his mother-"

"You didn't hear that!", Ren interrupted

The hooded human then gave an awkward smile and reluctantly reached out his hand towards Light in an effort to seem friendly.

"Ren", he said, "of the Treasoners. You have any idea as to why this giant hunk of scales just up and died?"

He referred to the Megadragon. A dragon of large proportions. Apparently it was the last of its kind. It sure was strange how such a menacing creature could fall to anything resembling even the greatest of Gastel's Battleships and those were usually quite deadly.

"Far too young to be caught up in an ordeal like this, I can tell ya that much," Randle grumbled, glaring at the Megadragon's corpse that lurked in the distance. Somewhere in there, there had to be an answer- a clue, at least. A kid can only go so far on their lonesome, and even if there was a case of kidnapping, there was a high chance that they hadn't been able to dodge the Dragon. "But then again, aren't they all? I'm just glad to be seein' a familiar face, is all. Even if Mister Four-Arms back there decides to stab us in the back later down the line, I can at least count on one of his freshly recruited Dragon-divers." He ended the sentence with a chuckle, though his chest was still tight. The little girl's parents hadn't been tearful in the slightest when they'd knocked on his door, and while it'd come to his understanding that that was mostly a cultural thing within their species, it sure made the case feel a lot more grim. "Heh, always appreciated the irony of how bureaucratic these action-based initiatives are to begin with. Wade through too much paperwork, and most species folks're fighting for to keep alive would've gone exinct at that point." He was about to seat himself between the solemnly and reluctantly munching mortals, yet before he could, his attention was drawn by the approach of the strange hooded man and his vulpine familiar. "Hey there," Randle greeted them, though was fascinated to find that they went straight for Cris, as if they hadn't introduced themselves to him earlier while she was standing right next to him. "Dynamic duo, the two of ya. Who are the Treasoners, anyway?"

"A rather rebellious mercenary company", Ren smiled, "Though despite being mercenaries, we're not in it for the money, just to save lives. Pretty rare to find an organization like that, right? We slay tyrannical madmen, monsters, anything that tells the galaxy it needs saving."

"I am Azumi, a kitsune shikigami or what most people call a familiar. I apologize for my summoner rudely ignoring you the first time around", Azumi smiled

"Rudely?!", Ren stammered, "We're in a hurry and I already- oh whatever I at least fully explained to him who we are anyway!"

The two began arguing for a few moments before realising they left Randal simply standing there if he remained to listen.

"We've got intel that a friend of ours is trapped in the megadragon. That and the fact that some civvy he was dating got herself trapped. Plus, our main mission is to find out what killed the Megadragon", Ren scowled, "he's probably dead anyway"

This only led to Azumi scolding Ren for his pessimism.

"My sensitive ears picked up something as well", Azumi said her hands on her hips. Ren knew the gesture all too well. She does that to anyone she desired to scold, even if they were not her children. What he didn't know was she was angry about the fact that nobody had told her about this.

"You are seeking, a lost child... and you think he vanished after that thing had fallen?", She frowned, pointing at the carcass of the gigantic reptile. Though her diminutive stature and, figuratively and literally, rather soft face could make it hard for anyone to take her seriously.

"I shall seek the child as well, Renny knows full well about how I feel with children"

Ren scoffed, knowing of his familiar's motherly instincts, which only led him getting slapped by her tails.

As he put a finger on his chin to think, Ren presumed that the person randal was trying to find was inside the Megadragon. Of course, there was no hard evidence to support his thoughts, however they were all going inside the big corpse to find something. One of them could be the child

"A kid... in the friggin' maw of the dragon", Ren said, "You can't be serious."

Cepheus watched the two of them for a moment. At the offer, he could have been rude, but he wasn't that kind of person. Even if he considered he especially didn't need the help of a rebel who hung around his mother still.

"Thanks, but you can rest assured I won't need it none," he replied, his tone flat but not dismissive.

He hasn't needed it for this long. If he died, it was perhaps the universe saying his time.

Everyone seemed to be congregating around the soup kitchen now, which would apparently force him into 'Light Raygun's' vicinity. He wouldn't pretend he understood their goals, coming into the middle of their conversation. However, it didn't sound the slightest bit pleasant.

With an air of reluctance, he meandered over to the group. Maybe he could pretend he doesn't recognize her?

Nah. She isn't stupid. She was granted the grace of a nod before addressing Randle directly. As though opting to let Cris speak to him first.

"I don't think we got introduced," he said. "I'm Cepheus XIII. I don't mind however you wanna dice up the name though."

((I am SO sorry for not getting back to this for such a long time, I guess I was missing it in a sea of notifs or something??? Back to it now though! Again, so so sorry to have missed posting here!))

The pale young woman looks surprised, if not outright confused by the offer for a moment, but then collects herself and sand answers, "Oh! I would be happy to travel with you, but I'm not in need of any extra protection, at least not just yet. I am in need of a few tools, though. Ummm... Do you know where I could find salt, golden wax, ferrous wax, infused chalk, or Liaoan visionary powder? I'm afraid I didn't expect to need most of my supplies when I came here, and I don't know the city well enough to find places that might sell what I need, and Book doesn't know either."

She fidgets with the large tome in her hands, looking every bit the nervous, inexperienced, and naive traveler she was assumed to be, in spite of her reassurances. There's always a little bit of embarrassment in being found under-prepared.

Cris drew in a sgarp breath when Randle comfirned that, yeah the missing kid he was after was *very* young. "Stars. That spumds terrible."

A shadow clouded her eyes, the memory of an accident etched in her heart - guards swarming in, taking her children away from her while a red haired fiend incapacitated her with dual stun batons... sometimes it still woke her up woth a start, tormentimg even her few hours of sleep.

Randle's words conjured thoughts of distraught devastated parents in tears - and she had no wsy to know how different things were. She gave in a slight shudder and shook her head. "I'd be glad to help, if I can. As you said, even just watching each other's back", something akin to a wry smile briefly passed in her eyes behind the mask. "So it wasn't judt me who got the same cut throat vibes of some politicians off our four armed employer, huh? You know--"

Before whe could say more the couple of the kitsune and the hooded young man approached them, followed within close distance by Cepheus himself. Being acquainted with the Novakid, it was hik that Cris greeted first with a slight nodd. "Hey there. How is it going?"

Then she threw a confused glance at the couple who had introduced themselves to Randle before when she was close by. Nonetheless, seeing the tails of the kirsune wag happily she could not refrain a smile, and her eyes warmed up behind the mask. "Konnichiwa, izumi-san, Ren-san", she greeted both, with a slight nodd of her head.

Ren's words aboyt a mercenary company piqued her curiosity. "Mercs, eh? Ssy, you don't happen to know... ah, nevermind." She waved off the thought that had briefly crossed her mind and instead went on to answer Ren. "Thst is a very good question" with regard to how the MegaDragon had ended up there, or still existed when its race qas long thought to have gone exinct, "and I'm hoping this exploration into the corpse may answer it."

As they chimed in on Randle's case, however, her eyebrows rose. The wish to help was sure commendable but they seemed to be quite apt at snooping private conversations... she was not quite sure what to think of that. Then again it was not exactly her business, either: she glanced at Randle and waited to hear his opinion.

"Thanks, Cris. I'm glad to have stumbled across ya here," he said to the masked vigilante. Cris was a very capable young woman, unorthodox at times, but he didn't doubt her skillset for one bit. If anything, she was the closest thing he could have to having one of his Rustbucket buddies tag along. "Her parents were Cani, I think, some sort of dhole, but I wouldn't be surprised if they belonged to a line of furfolk more native to your part of the galaxy. Just anything small and with ginger fluff is what we gotta look out for." And hopefully, that small ginger puppy would be alive and well. Randle wasn't too optimistic, though- a lost child was bad news in its own right, and the sudden crash of a legendary Megadragon didn't turn any odds in their favor. Then, the hooded man and his kitsune spoke, and he turned his attention back to them. "Huh, certainly a club I can get behind," Randle hummed to Ren and Azumi, relieved to find the faction's name entirely unbefitting. "Think ya could say my friends and I work in a similar field, albeit on a bit of a smaller scale." Now that was just him being humble. He certainly hadn't forgotten the times when the Rustbucket crew and their allies'd stopped a war, or kept an important underage heir from finding herself with a bullet in her skull. "Pleasure to meet the both of ya." Meanwhile, the glowing man with the bandanna from earlier'd appeared also, whom Randle gave a short, greeting nod. He introduced himself as Cepheus XIII- despite the deja vu of meeting a man made out of shiny plasma, it didn't ring a mean. "Good to have ya along for the ride, Ceph. I think it'd only work in our favor if we get a bit chummy around here, heh." However, when Ren and Azumi tried to mingle into his case, Randle, like his vigilante friend, couldn't help but frown. As much as he was willing to consider them equals, even colleagues, by some stretch, he wasn't particularly eager on letting total strangers trample all over his work. Especially with something as delicate as a missing child involved, the last thing he wanted was for things to get derailed. "Well, I'd appreciate it if ya kept an eye out, but I'm not really looking to turn this into a wild goose chase," he said, using a grandpa-like, growly chuckle to dismiss any seriousness attached to Azumi's declaration of collaboration. "Everyone's main objective oughta be to come back out alive, most of all. Heck, even if I end up not finding what I'm looking for in there, I don't doubt we'll dig up a whole lot of brave folk who went in before us." The Megadragon, of course, was absolutely humongous, so it wasn't very surprising that many people hadn't made it back to the outside world yet, solely looking at how long it took to get from point A to point B. Randle could only hope that none of them'd gotten lost or died by one way or another in there, but there was no preparing for the crudeness of a place like the insides of a city-sized behemoth. "Speaking of, I reckon it won't hurt to look at how our four-armed friend is holding up. Gonna take a little hike around our entrance, see if there's anything noteworthy going on around there." Not that he was expecting Four-Arms to backstab them, but some snooping around would certainly calm the pith of curiosity in his artificial stomach sack.

Cepheus bobbed his head. On his face 'brand', the star sign of Pisces was sitting on a background that glowed amiably warm.

"I don't doubt it," he replied. He listened to Randle discuss the state of the Megadragon for a moment before getting lost in his own thoughts.

Subconsciously, a look was granted towards Ren and Azumi in regards to being 'chummy.' It could work out, even if the lad seemed all too concerned with being the hero in the situation. He'd even offered to protect Cepheus. It was so thoughtful, he found it endearing. Even the sound of the Treasoners inspired the images in Cepheus' head. He wondered what might have caused this behavior. Probably a trait of character, he figured.

Next thing he knew, Randle had meandered off towards the Megadragon. He caught something about Four-Arms getting mentioned before he took off. Might be for the better to look if they're-

Oh. Cris spoke to him.

"Hey," he responded, sounding nonchalant enough. He pointedly doesn't make eye contact; had he any eyes. "It's goin', it's goin'."

He considered it unwise to pry into Cris and Randle's previous discussion. Instead, he changed the subject. His brand faced the ground for a moment before turning to Cris.

"You know, you don't see stuff like this here dragon often in our part of the galaxy. I don't blame folks none for thinking it's a great research opportunity, too."

Unaware of the previous conversation, he isn't certain if he came off as insensitive or not. Might as well shoot in the dark.

When Randle said he was glad to have run into her, Cris was chuffed. "Dholes, note taken. Here's hoping..." She didn't say more, but it was clear she couldn't bring herself to be very optimistic, she had seen far too many victims of events even nowhere near the scale of the draconic titan that had collapsed from the heavens and she knew casualties came in all shape and sizes, often it was the most unprepared, the youngest and frailest who paid the higher toll. The best hope was that the kid _hadn't_ been in this area of town but if Randle had followed his trail this far, she had no doubts it had to be for god reasons, since she knew how skilled the detective was at his job.

She inwardly approved the way Randle downplayed the couple's interest in helping. While it was kind of them, they sure were trying hard, maybe too hard, which made her wonder if the reasons might be as genuine as the kitsune mother was making it sound. Turning back to Cepheus, she nodded. "That's good to hear. Xi and Ana aren't around here too? You're on solo mission this round?"

At his words about the Megadragon she turned to regard the large carcass pensively. "Yeah... thing is we shouldn't be seeing _stuff like this_ at all except in museums, if these creatures are really exinct as everyone thought, Makes one wonder..." she didn't elaborate further, just shook her head and nodded at Randle's words. "Why not, that's a good idea." Turning to Cepheus, she smiled. "Come with us?"

Oh, right. There was the whole 'supposed to be extinct' business, wasn't there? Cepheus bobbed his head in a way that seemed speculative, but he understood.

He doubted anyone was going around reviving dragons for their own amusement park or whatever. Especially not this large and especially considering such a craft that would enable that didn't actually exist. Did it? No. Cepheus was a skeptic. He believed this Megadragon showed up here and died for a good reason. Whatever that reason was didn't exactly concern him, as he was here for a paycheck, but he knew it pertained to everyone else here.

Crossing his arms with his hands folded into his armpits, he answered 'Light' earnestly.

"Oh, they're around. We stopped here to get supplies. I just decided to do this on my own." Or rather, the others wouldn't tag along. "I'm here on their behalf, let's put it that way. But they're alright, lest you worry any."

Xihuitl carried an academic interest, sure, but he couldn't get her to bring her violence-abhorring self past the disaster relief stations. Still going unsaid, Ana just wanted to be done with the planet, but remained for Cepheus in case of an emergency, despite their tension-filled interactions. It didn't help that Cepheus still felt - likely imaginary - tension in the air when he spoke to Cris. He still wasn't certain how she felt about him.

Cris' smile did something to both relax and unnerve him when she invited him to come along. Her politeness still seemed to be portrayed as the typical kindness she showed, but he couldn't trust if that was more than just a formality. Rather than internally debate this in his head, he followed along with a nod.

"'Course." He unfolded his arms to dig on hand into his pocket as the other openly gestured for Cris to lead the way. "You musta spoke to our four-armed buddy, too, I reckon? I don't think I got their name."

That was probably rude of them, but manners were usually the last thing on Cepheus' mind. Save for delicate situations like Ana or Cris. . .

Azumi and Ren briefly remained to discuss their next plan of action. As the hooded human has said before, a friend of theirs was stuck inside the giant beast, along with his girlfriend. Who the individuals in question inside were, Ren did not specify. But the pair knew it was Ren's cousin, Finn, the leader of his squad, who was trapped in there. Finn had never told them about his girlfriend. Then again, Azumi was rather overprotective of Ren and Finn so she probably wouldn't have approved of the idea of the feline alien dating.

"I cannot believe that child!", Azumi frowned, "Running off like that without asking my permission"

"Both of us tend to do a lot of things behind your back, mom"

"Of course, and you just expect a fox spirit to just let anything you do slide as if I was not aware of your ridiculous actions."

Azumi let out a few tears. It was clear she was rather worried of the whole situation, what with the missing child involved. She could not do much about it, however Randal had made it clear not to interfere. Ren could only pat his motherly familiar's back to comfort her. He was not very used to cheering people up as he was usually the one that needed cheering up. Nevertheless, he wanted best for his family and friends.

"We'll find him", Ren smiled shyly, "I promise"

Azumi then hugged her summoner before stating that they should follow the rest of the group to the four armed individual that orchestrated this expedition.

"Suppose so," Randle shrugged at Cepheus' comment about the Megadragon making for a supreme subject of research. "If other folks handle the worrying about the dragon's anatomy and hidden secrets, there'll be more room for me to look for my missing person." Truth was, he didn't mind getting support in this, but it depended on the quality and intention of the support. A missing child was a sensitive subject, and as such, he wanted it to be handled carefully. Especially in an enclosed, fleshy space like the Megadragon's guts, the chances of a wild goose chase breaking out were much higher, and that would endanger the poor kid even more. "Just gotta wonder how easy it'll be to slip away, once I get in.." he pondered. As they wandered towards the entrance that they were to meet Four-Arms at, Randle kept quiet and let Cris and Cepheus converse. He wondered how Cris'd gotten to know the curious guy, and if there was a chance at all if Ceph was familiar with that client he'd once served. That said, it wasn't relevant to the case at hand at all, and with how chummy they'd be forced to get once inside the dragon, he didn't want to bring anything up that would let him stray from his professional path. Once they arrived, Four-Arms was already there, scribbling some notes into a little green book that he held up with his upper hands. "Why, greetings, my audacious friends!" he chirped when he saw them approach, and instantly flipped the book shut, twirling his pencil into a breast pocket. "Eager to get in, are we? Fret not! The Wayfinder 2K is currently rebooting and almost ready to go! Unfortunately, there has been a bit of an obstruction that needs to be cleared. Thank goodness we have the city security for that, eh?" He gestured towards where they were supposed to enter the Megadragon: a long, gaping hole between two enormous fangs that were easily the size of a decent apartment flat, poorly lit by some industrial lamps that'd been attached to the ivory. "Actually, I think that's the last of them. Ha, only goes to show how lucky we are to have the Wayfinder, eh?" As Four-Arms chattered on, two men came out carrying the corpse of a previous explorer: their entire face had withered away by grace of some sort of acid, and they bubbled softly, on the edge of death. Supposedly someone had found their way into the Megadragon's stomach and lost their footing.. or something else was in there. Even if he wasn't able to imagine what that kind of pain must've felt like, Randle couldn't help but gulp at the sight. With so many invulnerable robots around, the mortals still chose to explore the dragon for themselves. He admired their bravery.. but loathed their recklessness. "Ah. At least we know to steer clear of whatever route they took, ha! Now, let's wait a few more minutes for the rest to arrive, and then we can dive straight in!" With a big grin, he elbowed Randle in the side, giving a lopsided wink before moving towards Cris and Cepheus. "Nothing like the smell of riches on the wind, eh?" Then, he raised a long, bony arm to wave at Ren and Azumi. "Everyone is coming together, very good!"

Cepheus made note of Randle's case, but didn't offer much other than a well-wishing of luck for it. Granted, luck probably had nothing to do with it, but to Cepheus, it was the thought that counted.

Approaching Four-Arms didn't do much to improve Cepheus' outlook on the mission, but he wasn't about to be pessimistic. He raised a gloved hand in greeting, but then kept his head down as they talked up the Wayfinder 2K. No sir, he didn't trust this guy at all, but he didn't have much to lose when it came to the project - other than his life, of course. Still, this amount of pay could guarantee his place back at Ana's side again, so he considered it a goal for altruistic reasons. For one, they wouldn't have to go hungry for quite a while.

Speaking of, Cepheus lifted his head to acquire about the prepaid card for payment, but was cut off by the two men carrying out a corpse. Lo and behold, sporting a face that was mangled beyond even what their own mother could recognize, Cepheus bet.

"Stars above and below," Cepheus mumbled. For some morbid reason, they couldn't face away from the body, realizing that could be their own fate. Hopefully without Cepheus having to go supernova upon death and taking the others with him. . .

Displeased with Four-Arms' comment, he slowly turned towards the creature. He had no face, but his tone was disapproving enough.

"Forget the riches. Have a lil' more sensitivity, will ya?"

A dog had been wandering around nearby, somehow not drawing much attention to itself despite its unusual color. Its fur is varying shades of bright yellow. Regardless of the odd color, the dog appeared to be a rottweiler pup donning no collar. It had been sniffing around near the group while they talked amongst each other, and though no one would have noticed, it had actually been listening to what was being said.

A few days back, Ambrosia had been running around, causing her usual mischief when she had heard of the Megadragon that had fallen out of the sky. Bored and intrigued, she traveled over there to see it for herself. Admittedly, she had no real plan or idea of what she was going to do once she got there. But upon arriving and hearing this four-armed man speak of going inside the dragon, her attention was immediately caught and her mind set. Albeit, money was not the reason she decided she was going, it did add to her interest.

Ambrosia stayed within sight of the group for the hour before they started to gather near the seventh tooth on the left side. The rottweiler trotted over and sat down beside the four-armed man's feet. She watched as the corpse was carried out, and her yellow fur paled slightly. Of course, she could fight. In fact, she'd say she's pretty darn good at it. But, fighting wouldn't help protect her against the internal atrocities of a dead dragon. "Well.. I guess I just have to be extra careful. I could just turn into a frog so I could stick to everything..." She muses in her mind while watching the people around her.