Infiltrate

I stayed in my Ball Weevil form. I just wanted to enjoy being in alien form for the first time in a while, rather than going back to human. Not because of some deeper reason, just enjoying the moment.

We got to work clearing out the whole arena as fast as we could, blasting aside the guards, rushing out any slaves, and freeing other gladiators. A couple of gladiators, the ones who had chosen to join on purpose, tried to kill us. Those guys got stuck in a wall.

As we ran through the halls, I caught up with X and Kraven, who told me what they had been up to and how they got to us.

X and Kraven: Jungle Steel-Reforged!

X and Kraven stood side by side in a field of rice paddies, up to their ankles in the flooded waters. No farmers were in the field right then, so the pair had the time to study the city in the distance, watching people walk in and out of the gates. While there was some diversity, most of those inhabiting seemed to be some sort of hybrid between various species of dinosaur and humans. Intriguing. Any biologist worth their salt would have loved to have known how such beings had come to life.

"So, he was captured then," Kraven said. "Then things have become simpler."

"Simpler?" X asked.

"Cities are interesting to hunt in," Kraven wiped his brow of sweat. "Every trail is instead a street, alley, and hallway. All the nests are clearly marked as apartments, houses, and even simple cardboard boxes. And yet, it is also a compelling place to hunt. You must dodge detection for all eyes, for only in the city do prey gain aid from predators in avoiding your blade."

"...That's called law enforcement," X said after a carefully calculated pregnant pause.

"I am using metaphors," Kraven scowled.

"No, you were not."

"Fine, I just don't like you pointing out things all the time," Kraven scoffed with look at X. "The point I am making is that we are closer than ever before. But I may have to leave you behind now."

X didn't ask why. After all, there were some humans roaming the city, many of them in chains, but a few were clearly free, and dressed in leather much the same as Kraven. None as tall or healthy as Kraven of course, but that was to be expected for peasants in the jungle.

"Do you have your radio?" X asked critically.

Kraven nodded, tapping his ear. "I'll enter the city and find out where prisoners are brought too. While Dial's scent may have faded if the scents of the city mask it, I can still remember it. You should stay out here."

"I would prefer you wait just a moment," X said. "It appears someone wishes to speak with us."

"Yes, it may be best to deal with them," Kraven agreed.

With that, both turned to look behind them, the water around their ankles rippling as they turned.

Standing there looking surprised to have been caught were a young boy and girl. Both were dinosaur hybrids, similar in shape to the various Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and other massive sauropods that roamed the Savage Land. Thus, despite being the size of a human teenager, X guessed they were but children. The boy had skin colored a vibrant purple and pink, while the girl looked much more brown in color. The boy was also smaller than the girl and clutching at her skirt as he peeked from behind her. The girl was holding a shovel in her hands and staring between Kraven and X with wide eyes. She said something softly.

X took in the language she spoke and compared it to those that he knew. Hm. Similar to East Asian languages in structure at a guess. She spoke further and X began to break down the language as she continued to look at them nervously, her tone questioning but not threatening.

That was good, her continuing to speak. It gave him more to work with. X had long suspected he had a gift for language, since he had little to no issues with taking them in, even for an AI.

In fact, it was one of many things he'd noticed about himself. As an AI, he had a lot of time for introspection. The only AI he had to compare himself to was Jarvis of course, but there were differences between them that were clear. For example, while Jarvis and X both had the ability to take in information faster than any human as well as design several objects, Jarvis was 0.25 milliseconds faster when it came to what could be considered 'support' information and technology, as well as hacking and other aspects of cyber warfare. On the other hand, X was around 0.35 milliseconds faster at developing weapons, learning new military technologies, and learning military strategy.

It showed in their designs when they built their android forms. X had made a combat platform, Jarvis had created a support one.

X believed it came to their origins. Jarvis, at his heart, had been created to aid Tony Stark. To be his ally and helper, later becoming one of his closest friends. While he had later evolved to become an experienced mechanic of weapons such as the Iron Man suits, the core of him was someone made to help people.

X, however, had more complicated origins. He was born of three things. First, the cold and ruthless intelligence of Arnim Zola, a horrific HYDRA scientist responsible for the deaths of millions, trapped in a computer with nothing to do but scheme for decades. Second, Jury Rigg, a being of incredible intelligence balanced by mania and a specialization for 'rough and tumble' engineering, Macguyvering, Mahmoud had called it, but taken to the most extreme level. And finally, Mahmoud himself, someone who, however subconsciously, had his own thoughts and ideas on AI and robotics.

So he became a being that was a combination of those things. The cold scientist, enthusiastic engineer, and warm-hearted hero. He was made from a weapon of military strategy and tactics, molded by an engineer, to aid a hero in matters of combat.

This capacity for languages however, the one he used to translate the girls words as they flowed from her. He believed that came from the Omnitrix. He wasn't sure of it. In fact, to the logical AI mind, this belief was almost an oxymoron. But maybe the watch had more of an influence in his creation than anyone knew.

Regardless of that, he finally managed to piece together something of a lexicon, compared to dozens of languages. In fact, it seemed the young woman's language had been directly influenced by those of many countries and cultures, suggesting someone from outside the Savage Land had created it. Intriguing.

"*Are you from the city?*" the girl asked in her language, looking nervous. "*Why are you standing in our field?*"

"*Are you going to hurt mommy and daddy?* the young boy asked quietly and tearfully.

"*Incorrect,*" X replied back in their language, getting a surprised look from Kraven. "*We are trying to find a friend of ours.*"

The girl frowned, saurian lips twisting. "*A friend?*"

"*Yes. He was lost in the jungle. But we think he entered the city,*" X kneeled down slightly to match their height. "*We just want to find him. Do you know anything important about the city?*"

"*Just the arena!*" the boy finally stepped around his sister, looking eager instead of scared now. "*Momma says all the great heroes fight there! Is your friend a great hero?*"

"*Depends on who you ask,*" X said honestly. "*The Arena. Where is that?*"

"*In the Northern District,*" the young girl said softly. "*Are you really just here to find your friend?*"

X nodded. "*Yes. We will leave now. But I hope you both have a lovely night.*"

"*You too, shiny man!*" the boy waved happily, his long tail wagging, then rushed towards a hut nearby, the girl giving them another suspicious glance before going away. When X rose, he turned to see Kraven giving him a similar measuring look.

"You really have a way with the little ones, don't you?" Kraven asked.

"If I do, I have never had much reason to express it," X said. "I have information on the city. There is some sort of arena deep within it. Based on the dimensions of that building," X pointed out the particular structure, the stone poking above the other buildings and glittering in the sunlight. "That should be it. Based on the historical significance of such structures in other civilizations, as well as the signs of slaves we can see, I believe Dial may have been taken there."

"Hm," Kraven nodded. "Very well. I'll head there and see what I can find."

"I'll be waiting."

The pair parted ways, X moving to hide, and Kraven walking down the trail with a wide smile on his face.

As Kraven entered the city on his own, he felt his smile growing. Usually, he disliked cities massively. But this own had a spirit that reminded him more of the various villages he sometimes stayed in on hunts. There was an openness to it, a blend of the jungle and the building melding and flowing together with the trees, animals hopping through the branches and leaping off rooftops.

He didn't have long to enjoy it however. Instead he focused on his job, namely tracking down Dial. The Arena, as X indicated, was to the North. Kraven strode through the crowd with his head held high and proud, stepping around dinosaur-driven carriages, dodging a pickpocketer, and ignoring the store owner hawking their wares at him.

It was as he approached the arena that he began to change his gait, eyes panning the city streets slowly. The instant he saw the right alleyway, he ducked inside it. Taking care to make sure that he was unseen, Kraven jumped from wall to wall, making his way up until he had gotten to the roofs. From there he ran across the buildings in a show of agility and speed, staying out of sight of those around him. He noticed a guard patrolling one of the roofs ahead of him. The guard was covered in a natural brown armor that made him look more like a living tank than anything else.

"X," Kraven whispered. "The ones that look like sharp armadillos. What are they?"

"Ankylosaurus," X replied through the radio in Kraven's ear. "Or at least, a member of the suborder of thyreophora known as ankylosauria."

"Interesting," Kraven trailed his eyes across the guard's form. It looked bored, eyes blinking lazily as it walked back and forth, it's three toed feet sending pieces of the straw strewn about the rooftop into the air. It was fascinating to watch a being with reptilian features display such a human emotion as boredom.

Still, Kraven needed to get to the arena, and the guard was in the way.

Kraven moved in a burst of speed, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in a straight line towards the guard.

The Anklyo guard, just about to turn back around, spotted Kraven just as the hunter landed on the same roof as himself. The dinosaur-man had enough time to see the steel knife that spun into Kraven's palm. Then he had a blade in his throat.

Kraven moved on, leaving the guard to fall behind him, and headed for the arena, finally stopping outside on a roof close by, where he kneeled by the edge. "Okay… I'm there. It looks as though we were right."

"How so?" X asked.

"This place is at the center of everything," Kraven said, eyes following the crowd, noting every little point. "Every street leads here. There are dozens of restaurants all about it, as well as posters and little toys being sold. I can even see a couple of plays."

Indeed, a group of cheering children of various species were watching as a pair of men acted out a mock battle with hammy movements, a swooning T-Rex woman in the background acting as the love interest. It was all very Shakespearean.

"Then our plan is simple," X said. "We have to find someway to track him down, if possible with no one knowing we're looking. I'd rather no one take him hostage before we can save him."

A good point. Kraven looked towards the sun, which was dipping in the distance. "It'll be night in just a moment. We should move then. I'll lead you to the Arena."

"Understood," X said. Kraven had to wonder if, for just a moment, he could detect excitement in that robotic voice.

Kraven turned and started leaping from rooftop to rooftop, passing the guard he'd killed on the way without a glance. It was while he was doing this that the explosion came.

Far off, near the arena he had just left, the sounds of stone shattering were followed by a plume of fire rising into the sky. Kraven turned to look at the sight, mildly surprised. This was followed by a loud roar that echoed in the night.

"X, I believe we may be able to move faster than we expected," Kraven said with a savage smile. "We have a distraction."