Read The Bridge
 
It took visibly noticing his limp and Irys and Gigan holding him back to keep Megalon from tackle-hugging X, so thankfully he settled with a friendly forearm bump before shifting position to help prop X up. Irys, not far behind felt her eyes widen as she looked X over. She didn’t particularly like guessing on just how many bones the Xilian kaiju had broken. The scars on his face only slightly calming her nerves with the knowledge this probably wasn’t the first time this sort of damage had happened to him.
 
“I see you’re plenty roughed up. Where’s your dance partner?”
 
X winced, speaking in his usual professional tone despite the slight pricks of pain in his voice.  
“Dead. Where were all of you? I tried to call for backup but couldn’t get an open portal.”
 
“Whatever you did, we never got the memo. The master has limited vision in this world so maybe he couldn’t sense you? I’ll explain later but soon as I found out you were here thanks to a human, he gave a portal to get us over here so he should be picking us up soon.”
 
Gigan came up beside Irys, crossing his arms in front of him as he and X looked each other in the eyes. Back when he had been detecting energy signatures from a distance, he’d picked up a signal similar to Kaizer Ghidorah briefly. And as he looked over X now, it was faint but still there. The color scheme of choker around X’s neck, distinct from the usual black and white, was only fueling some of his caution. He kept a quick draw on his wrist blade.  
“Speak now, two things about me my best friend would know. And then tell me right now, who are you?”
 
Monster X closed his eyes and sighed.  
“You stopped that radio incident with the Kilaaks using what I will still consider an ingenious use of your warp drive, my asteroid, and a satellite dish. And your first words you ever spoke to me when we talked during that first military parade our masters held were expletives aimed at your surprise you could understand me.”
 
Gigan glanced down and to the side, looking back through his own memory and recalling the day to the detail.  
“Yes… I was so blindsided I nearly stepped on a hover tank and you used your gravity control to push it out of the way. We nearly broke the pace in the parade…”
 
X’s mood took a shift. His usual professionalistic expression relaxed, opening his eyes and speaking in a placid manner he reserved for four beings.  
“I remember well, Gigan. I am your oldest and best friend, I am X.”
 
Gigan eased up on his tension and relaxed the draw on his blade. Behind his sunglasses, Gigan raised an eyebrow.  
“X, the placeholder?”
 
Monster X shook his head slightly, letting go of the unknown and the past to take hold of the known and present.  
“X, my name.”
 
Gigan let a few moments pass before a tiny smirk slipped onto his face and he chuckled in relief briefly under his breath. He held his robotic hand up and out with a 90’ bend in his arm, Monster X returning the gesture and bumping the flat of his forearm to Gigan’s. For a duo whose cyborg member didn’t have hands for 99% of his life, it was a century-old stand-in for a handshake between two staunch allies.  
“It’s good to have you back, old friend.”