Munching on our sandwiches made for lunch, Eli suggested that it was time to get Mia and I some new mecha beasts, claiming that he finally understood how uncomfortable it was to be the passenger after he himself rode with Kord to Splinterback Cavern this morning.

Of course, Mia and I failed to agree with his statement. I really don't think I need to have my own mecha beast. They cost an arm and a leg, and it wasn't necessary since some of our mechas, Lucky and Boomer, can fit two riders.

On the other hand, I bet Mia just wants to ride with Eli for the rest of her life.

Regardless, Eli insisted, and we decided to pay a visit to the forge.

"Wow..." I mumbled in awe, staring up at the skyscraping factory. Across a polluted river, the imposing, multistory building was about a mile tall, with massive automated purple doors installed to seal its grand entrance. A large circular cyan window was placed right above the doors, adding to the glam of the forge.

"And once again, Pronto the magnificent tracker led the Shane Gang to the western port!" Pronto exclaimed with a smirk, and Trixie facepalmed.

"Whatever," Trixie said, rolling her eyes. We dismounted our mechas and headed towards the entrance, with Mia on my right and Eli next to her. Hero and Phoenix hopped onto my shoulders from my backpack and chirped, keened to explore the manufactory. Kord walked forward and pressed onto a screen that was installed beside the entrance. It let out a buzz before a voice sounded.

"Beast Forge," it spoke.

"Yeah we're here to see Grendel," Kord said, and the monitor flickered into a green screen, granted us access. The towering doors creaked open, departing sideways, opening the entrance. On the other side of the door, another cavetroll rushed out from the factory and gave Kord a tight, big hug.

"Kord! Boy it has been so long since I last saw you!" the new cavetroll said with a wide grin. "Look at you! You're much bluer now!"

"Grendel! My man!" Kord replied, and tightened the hug. I smiled at their little reunion. Grendel had orangish-brown hair and moustache, and was wearing a dark green body vest. He was slightly taller than Kord, slightly buffer as well.

They pulled away from their hug and Grendel glanced at the rest of us. "Good to see ya all too," he smiled and waved at us. His eyebrows raised when he caught a glimpse of the two new members of the Shane Gang.

"You must be Alessia!" he exclaimed, walking up to us. "And Mia!" Mia and I gave him a warm smile and shook his hand. "Indeed. Nice to meet you, Grendel," I greeted. "Kord must've told you a lot about us."

"Kord? Yeah, he did mentioned a thing or two, but I get to really know you through Slugnet!" Grendel explained, a huge grin surfaced on his face. "All thanks to Trixie's tremendous a-day-in-my-life videos!"

I looked over at Trixie and raised an eyebrow at her. She let out a sheepish smile and laughed awkwardly. "About that..." she trailed.

"You didn't know?" Grendel questioned as I turned to face him. "Dude, you're famous!"

My eyes widened at the unforeseen news. I shared a glance with Mia. She too was surprised by it.

And of course, Pronto had to come to the rescue.

"Alessia and Mia are not signing any autographs," Pronto said as he stood in between me and Grendel. "Pronto, however, have some fabulous poses," he said, flexing his non-existent bicep muscles and six-pack abs, just to be pulled away by Kord.

"Sorry," Kord smiled sheepishly as he dragged Pronto out of the way with him struggling and yelling at Kord to stop.

"So, Grendel, we are here to get some new mechas for both of them," Eli explained, gesturing at Mia and I. "Do you mind showing us around and recommending some mechas?"

"It would be my pleasure," Grendel said, smiling beamingly. He welcomed us into the factory and showed us around. The first room we walked into through the entrance was a showroom. Four two-storey high black walls separated the room from the shop floor, and several circular gleaming platforms were built on both sides of the red-carpeted walkway, each displaying their finest mechabeasts.

"These are some of our latest models," Grendel introduced with pride. "But they are certainly still not worthy for our two new members of the Shane Gang."

Mia and I were awestruck as we paced down the pathway with the rest of the gang, admiring their beautiful creations. Displaying on the eight platforms were two Mecha Bulls, two Mecha Sheep, two Mecha Chickens, and two Mecha Horses, each made with amazing details and beautiful colours. We reached the other end of the room and there was another door. Smiling, Grendel scanned a card on the control panel and the door shrunk, revealing the massive workstation of Beast Forge.

"The process of manufacturing mecha beasts is a four, linear, manmade method. To kick off, we smelt raw materials with lava in this department," Grendel explained as he walked us through the walkway surrounded by four enormous tanks, each filled with gallons of molten lava. Endless conveying belts flooded the ceiling above our heads, with huge metal claws hovering above them. Different parts of the mecha were transported by these assembly lines, into and out from the lava, and to the next stages of the production.

"Anyone wanna take a guess on what is the main raw material smelted here?" Grendel questioned with pure excitement. "Titanium?" Mia attempted. "Good guess, but titanium is too lavish," Grendel said. "Steel is much more economical."

Mia and I nodded as we entered a lift made out of glass. The lift descended and the gigantic machinery responsible for the second stage of the manufacturing process came in sight.

"Once the smelted steel is molded and cooled down, they were sent here, where we assemble the mechas with their hearts," Grendel talked us through as Mia and I glanced out at the astonishing machineries. A few cavetrolls were operating the huge machine that hung in the center of the workplace, and they stopped what they were doing and waved at us the second they spotted us. They were constructing the mechas and inserting the mecha's heart with metal claws.

"This is just... incredible," Mia exclaimed, her eyes refused to blink as she wouldn't want to miss seeing anything. "So, Grendel, how does the mecha's heart work?" I asked, turning to Grendel curiously.

"Molecular transference. Didn't I teach you that in class?" Kord answered instead of Grendel. I let out an embarrassing laugh and smiled. "Must've forgotten it. Sorry, I have a memory of a goldfish."

The lift came to a halt and we exited into a long passage. Cyan lights lit the path before us, with the same black walls guiding the way. "Now, to the final assembly area," Grendel said as he led the group and walked down the pathway. He took the first turn and we reached another room, where rows of assembled mechas lined up and were undergoing the spray-painting process.

"After this, the mechas will be transported to another room where they'll be tested for quality control, which assess if the mechas are good enough to sell," Grendel explained with his arms on his hips. "And that brings us to the end of our tour."

"Great! 'Cause Pronto wishes to savour your cranberry shakes that he missed the last time he visited!" Pronto exclaimed and led the way towards the pantry.

"Sorry Pronto," Grendel said with a sly smirk. "Closed for remodeling."

Pronto stopped in his tracks, dropped his shoulders, whimpered and showed Grendel his puppy eyes. "The Sovereign Showroom, however, is not closed for remodeling! Please, this way," Grendel said, and gestured us to walk towards the other direction. We made our way across the final assembly area and reached our destination. The stately doors creaked open, and we froze in our tracks, our jaws dropped to the ground.

A red-carpeted pathway led the way into this mecha heaven. The walls were gold in colour, with detailed ornamental carvings on them. Similar circular platforms were set up in the room, just with extra stage lights shone on each mecha beast presented in here. Inside here held the blue-eyed mechas of exclusive animals; the first one was a Mecha Lioness, and parked next to it, a Mecha Rhino, and the next one, a Mecha Wolf. The list was never-ending.

"Limited edition; built to perfection. These are the kinds of mechas the Shane Gang is worthy of owning," Grendel announced with a wide, warm grin. "Have fun shopping, and let me know which mecha beasts got your interest. I'll be at my desk with the papers ready."

Kord, being a mechanic, was on cloud nine as he hurtled into the showroom, checking out each and every mechabeasts with sparkles in his pitch-black eyes. Pronto gasped and dashed towards a Mecha Mole at the very end of the room, and Trixie hurriedly went to check out a Mecha Mule Deer.

"Check this out Eli!" Mia exclaimed as she dragged Eli towards a Mecha Wolf with her, grinning and giggling happily. The Mecha Wolf was almost an exact replica of Eli's mecha. The only difference was that the Mecha Wolf was painted in lavender purple instead of silver white.

Phoenix chirped on my shoulder and pointed her tiny limb at a mecha parked at a far corner. Beside a splendidly displayed Mecha Snake was a mecha silhouette covered with a black, dusty fabric. It wasn't exhibited like the rest of the mechas in the showroom. It was as if the forge didn't have any other place to store it so they just dumped it there.

"You want... that?" I questioned Phoenix, raising an eyebrow at her. She chirped again, and looked at me with pleading eyes. "Okay, if you say so. Let's take a closer look," I said and walked towards the concealed mechabeast hesitatantly.

"What do you think is under there?" I asked Phoenix as we stopped under the nose of the secreted machinery. I was almost a head shorter than the towering figure. Though examining the outline of the beast, it was seemingly large and lengthy, and the way it was positioned was like a sitting position of a cat.

Whatever the thing is, Phoenix knew exactly what it was. She was chirping with pleasure and exhilaration. Genuinely curious, I pulled away the cover inattentively, and almost raised my blaster at what came to sight.

Razor-sharp teeth, narrowed flaring eyes, large retractable wings, enormous claws, dry scaly skin. Two rows of bony plates embedded on its back, trailing from its neck till the end of its thin, extensive tail with substantial tail fins. Its jaw hung on its round face, with external gill-like flippers that lined up at the back of its head. Its streamlined body resembles an axolotl, with ancient grey markings marked all around the body. It had horns on the wings, where two bones meet. Its ginormous eyes mimicked the eyes of a lizard. It was albino, and its eyes were dark and lifeless without the slug energy required to power it up.

Backing off from the unknown beast and recovering from the shock, I couldn't help but wonder what animal it was representing. Being a biology student, I can't figure out what animal it is, and I have seen plenty. The most suitable hypothesis would be that it is a dragon.

"DRAGO-308."

I turned around and saw Grendel walking casually towards me. "Spotted by a photographer ten years ago in Wind-Farm."

"Ten years ago?" I exclaimed incredulously. "You kept this mecha for ten years? Why?"

"We didn't keep it. We did try to sell it," Grendel defended, his eyes landed on the deserted mecha. "But no one in their right mind would purchase a piece of crap like this! A Mecha Dragon? This junk was estimated to be assembled more than a thousand years ago, and it has gotten exceedingly outdated and lousy. And to add to that, we don't even know how to power this baby up! At first, we refused to believe that a creator can be foolish enough to not install an on-off button on a mecha, but after ten years of research and trials, it turns out there was indeed someone with that level of stupidity."

Shifting my attention back to the Mecha Dragon, I stayed silent. For some strange reasons, the dragon looked unbelievably similar to the Light Fury character in the movie 'How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World', without her warming blue eyes and gentle personality. I took a step forward towards the unique creation, our nose almost touched. I thought I was going nuts when a sense of familiarity swept through my senses as I stared directly into her defuncted eyes.

"Yo check this out," I heard Kord said as multitudes of footsteps grew louder and stopped behind me. I continued to restraint myself in speaking, my eyes locked on the beast before me.

"What's this?" Mia asked. "Mecha Dragon, approximately a thousand years old," Grendel replied. "We kept this here because we had no where else to put it. We plan to get rid of it tomorrow, but your friend Alessia is surprisingly interested in it."

"Ales, that's a crappy, old-fashioned mecha that probably couldn't even walk," Kord commented and I can imagine him shaking his head at me in disappointment. "Might as well take a good look at the spectacular mechas unveiled around you!"

My eyes continued to explore the Mecha Dragon, and they landed on a logo on the chest of the dragon. An inverted 'V' inside a circle, painted in gold.

"How much is this?" I questioned, and heard a few gasps from the gang and Grendel.

"Uh, well, if you really want it, I'll say its free, since its pretty useless," Grendel said. "Don't even need to pay for shipping fees."

"You can't be seriously considering this crap, Ales," Kord said, but I thought otherwise. Her eyes were intimate, and taking her home with me felt right.

With Phoenix chirping on my shoulder, my eyes glanced downwards as I involuntarily raised my right arm. My gaze fell on my palm, and then back on the mecha's eyes.

I reached my hand out towards her scowling face, and gently rested my palm against her nose. A smile rose on my face as I closed my eyes, feeling the pairs of curious eyes surveying me. A rush of emotions flooded my mind as I felt the familiar wave of energy progressed through my body, through my hand and into the mecha beast.

My eyelids rose as the mecha's eyes glowed, rays of cyan gradually shone through the markings on its body. I retracted my hand as the sound of her engine revving up echoed the room. She jolted forward, before she closed her jaw and folded her wings. Her lionizing markings faded into the same ghost white colour, as if disappearing into the mecha's body. Her back legs straightened up and tenderly wagged her tail before it came to a halt. Her inoperative, tensed up eyes became alive and relaxed. The once defensive, fearful mecha beast became a calm, gentle beast.

I smiled at that. "Still thinks she's substandard?" I questioned, turning around and shot a smirk at Grendel.

"One million gold please," he mumbled, still staring at the Mecha Dragon like he had saw a ghost. "Shipping fees included."

...
Okay guys so I tried to draw this Mecha Dragon just to give you a more solid picture on what it looks like. I've done my very best with this, clearly my art skills are not that good so please be nice :')

I also have no idea how to colour this thing nicely. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and I'll see you in the next!