Curiously, as Ace congratulated them on their not-so-baddery, Midian was standing by the pond's edge, carefully pointing the Egg Robo's beam gun down into the clear waters where Big's quarry had sunken just seconds before.

...

*BZZEEM.* Again.

A big rush of bubbles came up, followed by a curiously large, glowing orb containing what looked like a little bird. *Pop* — and it flew away.

The jackal hefted the overweight beam gun onto his shoulder, then returned attention to the others. "No Flicky left behind," he explained his actions jovially with a satisfied smile... which faded as he shifted uncomfortably with the weapon, then dumped the clunky thing on the ground with a grunt. Too heavy.

"What say we start setting up camp just now, yeah? Perhaps we can have something resembling half-livable before the others return, even."

Big would have been listening to Midian's comment if he hadn't lumbered over to the side of the pond, peering down into the water not far from where the robot had sunk. He blinked a couple times, and tilted his head.

Yes, there was definitely a dark shape down there.

Big was filled with the distinct wish that his fishing pole was still intact-- and then distracted as the shape grew bigger, and bigger, and then, finally-- *sploosh*

A fishy head popped out of the water; lower down, a big fishy tail beat back and forth, as the arms of the thing with the fihsy head and fishy tail moved back and forth to tread water.

"Could you watch where you're firin' that thi--"

Mako cut himself short. Wide orange eyes were staring straight at Big's beady yellow ones.

Big's beady yellow eyes were not focused there. No, they were focused on what was perched atop that fishy head.

*ribbit.*

"Froggy!"
Big reached into the water and pulled Mako out of the water wholesale, hooking his hands under the fish's arms. This was a bit excessive, perhaps, to retrieve the amphibian, but fine motor control was not Big's forte.

Giant purple thing that could lift him with ease, grabbing him wholesale.

...
Again.
"AUUUUGH!"

Big seemed not to really grasp, for a moment, the fact that he was holding a person outside of a vague something that Froggy was sitting on. After a moment though (at Ace's comment), he tilted his head and looked from Froggy to Mako, blinked a couple times, and then: "Oh!" He gently set the shark down, and then plucked the frog from atop his be-finned head. Big smiled serenely, holding the amphibian with both hands. "I'm Big," he said to the shaken shark.

"... So you are."

Big nodded, but looking down at the frog he held. *ribbit* The cat was utterly contented, and now -- on extreme delay, he turned to Midian. "I can move stuff!"

"Why does the world hate me? I'm so lovable!" Mako lamented to nobody in particular as he shook his leg as though to get water out of his shoe. He then took a look around him. Lessee-- giant cat (demon?), weird fish-thing, dog he didn't know, and--
Hey, look! Cat he kind of knew! (... wasn't he usually with those monkeys, though?)

"Thanks," he said to Ace, giving a sort of half-hearted wave and sheepish partial-smile.

Midian seemed like he might have been just the tiniest bit fazed by what was happening around him if only because his lengthy delay before replying to anyone. But, still, he just smiled to Big, nodded, and went "A'kay, then — well!" Ahem. "In a, aah, moment, we will... find a use for that specialty."

He didn't really have any idea where to get started with tasking people. It'd be simple enough if he was just worrying about himself, but instead, they had a rather... large group, not even counting whoever was coming from the ship. So, he took his best shot while he had Big and Aga's attention. (They were really the most opposite people on Earth, weren't they?) But, before any of that, there was someone new present to address—someone who may have been there all along.

"Pardon the ruckus please," said the lanky jackal as he approached. "Izz'is your... home?"

It felt like a peculiar choice of words, being that he was a shark, and the place was a set of ancient ruins in the middle of a desert, all in a land occupied by Dr. Eggman, but stranger things had happened.