War Beast

Book Two: Chapter 18

Jenny climbed up the ladder below Krysta, reaching the manhole at the top. The alien girl pushed the lid off the hole and climbed out.

Next, Jenny climbed out into an alleyway between two dark buildings. The alley was empty with only two dumpsters.

"Where are we now?" Jenny asked, while her friends climbed out of the manhole.

Krysta peeked at the alley end, where blue lights shined from the nearby street. She smiled. "The shopping district. My headquarters is very close."

"But we will be in wide-open space," said Zena.

"Don't worry, the authorities barely watch this sector. Stay in my lead and you won't get lost."

"Okay." Jenny followed Krysta while her friends stay in her lead.

The blue lights glowed brighter and brighter as Jenny entered the next street. After her eyes cleared, Jenny gasped at the entire scenery.

Different alien species littered the street. Most of them were humanoids, appearing human with different skin colors and animalistic features. A man with a goat head walked by, wearing a brown trench coat. A woman with tentacle hair in a plastic dress gazed at a vending machine, waiting for her drink to pop out. And a kid in a hood with a pig snort was handing out papers to the bypassing pedestrians. On a bench, a fat man with a spider head held up a newspaper. Other individuals weren't exactly human-like. A blue blob slid across the street, and a worm crawled past two parked vehicles. Each humanoid wore different clothing that looked like human clothing in futuristic styles. They looked like fans at a sci-fi convention with bizarre make-up.

Above them, the buildings stretched high into the dark sky in the fog of colorful neon lights. Hundreds of holographic ads in alien languages floated around over the street. Although the buildings appeared to be the same, the glowing spectrums gave them different color styles. Flying cars in different shapes and sizes flew around the skyscrapers, staying in multiple air laned.

The entire street reminded Jenny of Times Square, back in New York City. The major commercial intersection was full of entertainment centers, tourist destinations, and large bright-lit billboards to keep the crowd busy. Perhaps all sentient lifeforms were the same, except with different communication skills.

While strolling through the crowd on the sidewalk, Jenny noticed the alien inhabitants didn't bother to stare at her. They just stroll by as if Jenny was invisible to them.

"Why is nobody looking at us," Jenny asked.

Krysta chuckled. "Why should they? We have all seen new species come and go here. It is very common here."

Jenny knew if they were back on Earth in the present, the people would lose their minds at the sight of her friends. The cops would come and lock them up, or worse, shoot them on sight. Humans fear everything they couldn't understand. Whatever was different, it makes them turn hostile for no reason.

On Planet Dargis, nobody cared about anyone being different. Human or Beastman, the aliens kept to their busy selves without screaming and calling the authorities.

Amazing! Jenny wished her race were kindful to others, no matter what species they were. If all humans got along, they wouldn't have attacked and enslaved other humans from different cultures. The Beastmen were pretty much the same too, always fighting other clans without remorse. The Krawls too who liked to harvest worlds and enslave inferior races for their own benefits. However, their cities didn't believe in the same way as them.

About three blocks from the alley, the gang approached a glass cylinder structure between two intersections. A pink hologram of a fish girl in a bikini danced over strolling runic-like symbols above the double door entrance.

Krysta picked up her pace, hurtling toward the entrance. "That is my secret headquarters."

Huntar glanced at the hologram. " Your quarters are inside a brothel?"

"No, it is a casino. My headquarters is beneath it." She pushed the doors open. "Let me do the talking."

Inside, the lobby was full of square machines where more aliens sat, staring at the screens while pulling the levers down. Purple-skinned waitresses strolled around, delivering drinks to their customers who were sitting at dining tables.

Toward the back, Krysta reached a bar counter where a squid man rubbed a cloth on a glass cup.

"Greetings, what would you like today?" The squid bartender asked.

Krysta looked around and leaned over the counter with her hand over her lips. "Free Dargis."

The bartender nodded and pulled the flip-door up on the counter. Krysta stepped through the counter as Jenny and her friends followed.

Below the counter, the squid man pulled a hatch door up, revealing a stairway leading toward a light at the bottom. He stepped back, glaring his black eyes at Jenny and her friends.

"Don't worry, they are with me," Krysta mentioned.

The bartender shrugged and allowed Jenny to climb down with her friends before he closed the door.

"This way." Krysta walked down the stairway first and entered a short underground concrete tunnel, glimmered in blue lights.

At the end of the tunnel, she approached a metal door and knocked on it. A peephole on the door opened, revealing two eyes gazing at Krysta until they widened. "Krysta?"

Krysta sucked in a deep breath. "Yes, it is me."

The peephole closed and the door swung open. A tall pink man with long purple hair raced toward Krysta and hugged her. He almost looked like her with four curvy horns on his head. Not to mention he wore a black leather trenchcoat over his gray pants and boots. They might be siblings.

"We heard happened to your raid," said the pink man. "What happened?"

"There is a lot to explain, but I made friends who need shelter," said Krysta.

The pink alien glanced at Jenny and her friends. "Them?"

"Yes, their names are Jenny, Huntar, Torag, and Zena. They came from another world without registrations."

"That will surely put them on the death list." He waved to Jenny. "I'm Gojo, Krysta's second commander of the freedom fighters. We welcome all who are being hunted by the Krawls."

"Thank you," said Jenny.

"We'll get you clean up once we get inside," said Krysta. "Then we will discuss your allegiance with us."

Jenny was fine with that if it meant returning to Earth before the Krawls conquers it.