As cameras flashed and recorded, Thomas did his best to act as if nothing had happened, casually walking inside Javqua’s house with the now mutilated Fran’tara over his shoulder.

The moment the door closed behind him the worrying began.

Quickly, with the help of Javqua, Thomas moved the beast into the basement and dumped it into an empty freezer. Once that was done, he moved to the bathroom to clean all the blood from his hands.

But once he was in front of the mirror he realized it was a little more than just his hands he needed to clean; he was covered from head to toe. He hadn't realized how much of the red liquid was on him.

First glitter, now blood. Not sure if I like this pattern. Thomas thought grimly.

Quickly cleaning himself, he wondered why no one had commented on it - maybe they had, but as far as he was aware, no one even gave him a sidelong glance.

Thomas was going to take that as a good thing until proven otherwise.

Regardless, he had...kinda...fucked up.

This isn’t good. He thought anxiously as he stood under the hot shower.

Finishing his shower, Thomas changed once again and exited the bathroom, calling for Javqua.

She called back, and he entered her bedroom, where she was sitting at her desk - holo-pc open.

Looking at him with wide eyes, Javqua gestured for him to come closer. Thomas blinked. It was a news article - and on the cover, him, mid punch.

HUMAN TOURIST BEATS FRAN’TARA TO DEATH WITH BARE HANDS

For the first time in over two years, a tourist was spotted in Kravenka - none other than the newest sapient species, humans.

It appears that the young male human, still unidentified, went hunting in one of the national reserves, and managed to get a kill - or so he thought.

Just as he was about to enter the place he was staying, his catch sprang back to life, and began trying to escape - and as you can see here, he had something to do about that.

Thomas watched as a video clip of him beating the Fran’tara to death played, and he winced.

For him, the fight had been a desperate struggle to not get clobbered by the Fran’tara’s hooves, but for anyone else, he looked...sadistic.

Punching the Fran’tara in the face, landing blow after blow as the creature helplessly struggled, his hands turning red from gore - then choking it, blood flowing onto his clothes, then making his way behind it and breaking its neck.

Then finally, him standing up, heaving, turning slowly and unnervingly to stare directly into the camera, smiling and waving.

“What a first impression.” Thomas sighed.

“I don’t think it was that bad,” Javqua said quietly, fumbling her claws together.

“It was very bad,” Thomas said bluntly, and Javqua nodded silently. Javqua scrolled down to the article’s comment section, to see what the data-net thought. Among the myriad of comments, a few conversations stood out - all uniquely human.

zZMoistZz - damn are all xeno animals that weak? I wanna have a crack at that!

2.91.46.10 - @zZMoistZz He definitely has bionics or augmentations of some sort, no way a kid could do something like that

zZMoistZz - @2.91.46.10 Lmao okay buddy, it’s fine, I didn’t expect you to know much about strength lmfao

2.91.46.10 - @zZMoistZz 1950 Starstone Ave. This you?

-=-=-=-=-=-

FR33D0M-6171 - Based

Animal Lives Matter - You all disgust me. That animal didn’t deserve being mauled to death. Your all monsters.

I_Like_Xeno_Tiddies - learn how to spell dumbass, it's “You’re” not “Your”.

FR33D0M-6171 - nobody cares about your opinion @Animal Lives Matter, fuck off

-=-=-=-=-=-

Pancakes? - You think he’s doing it to impress the girl?

Osiris 99 - That’s a girl? Looks kinda like a dude

Pancakes? - @Osiris 99 Well if it is a dude, guess I’m gay.

As it should be, the data-net was a glorious clusterfuck, with people standing for and against his actions - then there were also bots, people flirting and roleplaying, and for some fucking reason, ads for bionic genitals… the usual.

“Bloody hell that was fast,” Thomas muttered, and Javqua put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine Tom. Everyone will forget about this in a day or two.” She said firmly, and he nodded.

Then, they heard a loud knock on the front door.

They listened intently, as Javqua’s father talked to multiple voices at once, and then the door was shut again.

“Thomas! Javqua! News reporters are here!” The man called, and Thomas and Javqua turned to look at each other, stunned.

The two of them rushed downstairs, their feet slamming against the wooden floorboards as they made their way to the front door.

Then Mr. O’dea flung the door open, and Thomas and Javqua were bombarded by several cameras, screens and microphones.

The dozens of high-powered flashing cameras sent Thomas stumbling back. Hundreds of years of evolution on a dark, cloudy planet may have made Britannian’s eyes better in low light, but at the cost of being sensitive to bright light, especially when it changed quickly.

“Argh!” Thomas covered his face with his hands, flailing around.

“My eyes!” He grunted, as they slowly adjusted. Javqua just stared at him worriedly for a second before helping him to get his bearings.

“Thanks Javqua, I think I'm okay now, just… just a little disorientated.” Realizing what the problem was, Javqua began to shout.

“Stop it with the cameras! You’re blinding him!” She snapped, and the lights died down.

Thomas was finally able to see, and in the doorway, several apologetic and disgruntled news reporters stood - trying to act casual. One was even attempting to whistle… for some reason. All that really came out was spittle and air, but Thomas appreciated the effort.

One of the reporters moved to the front. “We’re sorry about that. We didn’t know about your low tolerance to light...” He trailed off before going silent.

“That’s fine, all good. So umm...you’re reporters? You have questions for me, over...the fran’tara, I presume?”

Quickly composing himself, the reporter began his questioning, “Um… yes. I think we’d all like to know how you actually caught the Fran’tara? It’s well known for its speed, and being near impossible to catch for beginners.” The reporter asked.

Without hesitation, Thomas began his explanation, “I crawled over to it, and then threw a rock at it’s head - it got knocked out, and then I carried it home. Only, it wasn’t dead, and then I had to...you know, beat it to death.” He said quickly, an innocent smile on his face.

There was a stunned silence, and Thomas began to worry, until the reporter spoke up again.

“Could-Is it possible for you to demonstrate exactly what you did?” The man asked, clearly skeptical, and a little confused.

“Uhh...Javqua? Should we go to the reserve and show them again?” Thomas asked, and Javqua nodded.

“I don’t see why not - if any fran’tara are still around.” She added.

It wasn't long before Thomas and Javqua reached the preserve, an entourage of reporters and curious citizens following close behind.

As they spotted a herd in the distance, the onlookers quietly moved to a good place to watch. Getting onto the ground again, Thomas began to crawl. Most of the spectators were surprised to watch him basically slither silently across the rough ground, nearly invisible from the grass.

Minute after minute passed, and Thomas began to sweat, worrying that he might be detected, or the herd might runoff. Grabbing a rock beforehand, when he finally got close enough, he leaped up, aimed, and let it fly.

The reporters and onlookers watched in stunned silence as the stone flew towards the fran’tara’s head.

At the last second, either from luck or instinct, the fran’tara moved its head slightly, and the stone hit its snout, stunning it but not knocking it out

Realizing this, Thomas rushed towards the fran’tara, grabbing and clinging onto it. This one was bigger and burlier than his previous kill, and it nearly threw him off, but he was able to hold on for dear life, hoping to all hell that he wouldn't get trampled.

Unfortunately, his luck ran out, and he fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Thinking fast, and slightly stupidly, he tried to grab at one of the fran’tara’s hind legs and nearly got a face full of hoofs.

Scrambling backward, he realized he was outmatched while on the ground. The creature was a lot bigger than the first one, and it knew this - letting out a bellow, it charged towards him.

Thomas closed his eyes, covering his head with his arms to protect himself - only...impact never came.

Opening his eyes again, he gawked in happy surprise, as he watched Javqua claw the fran’tara’s side. Using the distraction, he brought himself to his feet and charged.

Grabbing the fran’tara’s neck, he began to grapple with it. Blood from Javqua’s claw marks splattered onto him as he gripped its head and violently twisted, trying to snap its neck.

Not sure which target to focus on, the fran’tara thrashed around, lashing out - but it wasn’t enough. The combined attacks of the two friends quickly began to wear down the beast's strength, and...

A sickening crack echoed through the forest, and the large creature dropped to the ground, finally dead - its limp neck still in Thomas’s grip.

“Fuck yeah!” Thomas screamed in English, which probably came out as a blood-curdling warcry to the many stunned krakovaks watching the spectacle.

He offered Javqua a fist bump, before realizing she probably didn’t know what it was.

Instead, he walked over to her, and after a moment of hesitation, gave her a hug.

Not knowing how to react, the flustered Javqua tentatively returned the gesture.