“This is the Hendiburg requesting permission to land,” an officer on the bridge says into her radio headset.

We are finally free! The last Beast had finally returned and immediately, there was a loud cheer as Jacque informed everyone to get ready to enter Union City. All the Beasts immediately went about to their duties to prepare the Hendiburg for takeoff from the field we were in and to prepare for landing again but this time in Union City.

I’m currently standing on the upper level of the bridge with Jacque and everyone. Everyone as in my two siblings and my...girlfriend. Wow, that is weird to say. Girlfriend. A gorgeous girlfriend. A gorgeous, purple girlfriend. I wonder if she gets enough oxygen. Maybe that is why Daemons are purple. Oh my girlfriend gave me some more cookies earlier. I think I will save a few this time after eating two of them. Sky is in its usual spot on Blake’s shoulder…I miss having Sky on my shoulder. I need a pet. Just saying.

“Hendiburg, this is the Union City Air Defense Force. Permission granted. Proceed to Dock 621. Welcome to Union City.”

“Thank you. Proceeding to Dock 621.”

The zeppelin shifts as the bridge officers make the necessary adjustments. I look out the window and there are flying animals. Upon closer inspections, they look like…DRAGONS?!?! They’re really small though. Like the size of a parrot. But, yeah, those are totally dragon looking. Maybe wyverns? What the fuck are they? I run up to one of the windows to get a closer look. I’m literally jumping up and down like a little kid. Holy shit these things look cool. They vary in colors from red to blue to green and yellow. Actually, just imagine the colors of the rainbow. Those are the colors that are being displayed. Their skills seem to sparkle and they have leather like wings. If I look very closely though, they also have some feathers in between some of their scales. Huh. Interesting. There are a lot of them. I wonder if they can breathe fire…

Okay, I decided. I’m making one of those my pets. How coincidental that I just decided that I needed a pet and BAM, here comes some dragon/wyvern like creatures in my view. Oh man, I want one so badly. They look so cool. If they are wild animals, then I will tame one and make it my friend. I will be the first and only human to have a pet dragon. Take that fuckers back home. Lindsey Shin will have a pet dragon. It has been decided.

“Dumbass,” I hear a honey soaked, British voice speak from behind me. “why are you bouncing?”

“What are those?!?!” I point excitedly at the flying lizards as I continue to bounce up and down. I’m excited, let me bounce, bitch.

Justine looks at the creatures and smiles. “We call them lizziles. They are very friendly and are known to dance around ships so long as the Swarm is not nearby. It is believed that if a blimp encounters a pack, the members of the ship will be blessed with good fortune for a time.”

“Is it possible to have one as a pet?!?!”

Justine eyes narrow at me. Uh oh. Is that taboo?

“…Lindsey, you should not ask around regarding this…to anyone. It is…a delicate topic. Please. Promise me.”

Damn. That’s not a good sign. And it doesn’t seem like she will give me a straight answer if I press her. And she is diligently requesting I not talk about this anymore. Fine.

“Alright, fine. I’ll contain my curiosity,” I sigh dejectedly as I turn away from her and continue to watch the lizziles play and taunt me. Well, they’re not trying to taunt me but it sure feels like they are saying “Look Lindsey! We’re here and you can’t be our friend! HAHAHAHA SUCKER!!”

Justine hugs me from behind as she leans down to whisper in my ear, “Thank you.”

“But at least answer me this, do people have pets?” I ask as I place a hand over hers.

“Yes.”

“Sweet. Then there is hope yet. WHOA!!!! WHAT THE HELL?! THAT IS AWESOME!!!”

At that moment, one of the red lizziles opens its mouth and a jet of red fire shoots out of it. I break loose from Justine’s embrace and run to the railings of the platform I am on. I watch the other lizziles start to shoot flames as well. Each lizziles’ flames seem to correspond with the colors of their scales. Noooooooooooooooooo…you guys just make me want to be your friend even more now!!! DON’T TORMENT ME LIKE THIS!!!! I HATE THIS PLANET!!!!

The fires seem to be a dance in the air as the lizziles twist and turn between the flames and create extraordinary spectacles with their flying. Some lizziles will shoot a ring of fire in front of them which other lizziles will fly through, twisting as they dance in the air. A group begin to fly in loop-de-loops as they shoot fire. It really is an amazing sight.

I suddenly notice that there is complete silence on the bridge except for the sound of a low hum of the engines in the distance. All chatter has stopped as everyone on the bridge watch the lizziles play in the sky with each other. It makes me wish I could go out there and fly with them. But as always eventually, all good things come to an end as the lizziles leave the area one by one, allowing everyone to focus on the task at hand and land the blimp.

We slowly descend into the airfield and eventually the zeppelin shakes a bit with a rumble as we touch down on the ground. I glance over and Jacque nods at Justine and me before walking down from the upper level of the bridge. I follow him as does everyone else in my party. We are about to be the first humans to enter a major city on an alien planet! This is history in the making, not that anyone would know about it. Oh well, I’m beyond excited! So screw history! I’m going to see a bunch of aliens, maybe eat some alien food, visit an alien brothel and enjoy so alien comp…

SMACK

“WHAT THE HELL JUSTINE?!?!”

She didn’t just read my mind just now did she? No way. She can only tell when I am lying. There is no way she could have read my mind. I must have done something to give it away. Oh shit, she’s glaring at me now. Please say that you hit me by accident. Please please please…

“You were smiling like you just thought of something perverted.”

Shit. I’m so fucked. Maybe she will let me lie this one time. Come on, give me an out, you scary purple alien beauty. Give your handsome, Asian human boyfriend an out.

“No! I wasn’t! I swe…OW!! OKAY!! OKAY!! Damnit...stop hitting me!!”

“You remember I can tell when you lie, do you not?”

“…”

“What were you thinking about?”

Fine. Be that way. I’m going to have some fun with this now. Sheesh. So controlling. Relationships are complicated…

“Boobs.”

“…” Justine stops moving and stares at me in disbelief. Heh. I should keep going.

“And vaginas.”

“…” Her eyes are starting to narrow as she glares at me.

“You asked,” I state in a deadpan voice.

“…”

“Want me to go into detail? You don’t have anything to worry about though. I love yours best. You have the best boobs and a real tight va…”

“Silence. I regret asking,” Justine interrupts as she raises a hand. Hahaha, she’s blushing again! That was fun.

“Awww, don’t be like that! I’m adorable!”

“I claimed an idiot…” Justine mumbles to herself as she walks pass me, shaking her head. I wonder if I should be worried. We barely started dating, well, we only just had sex and “claimed” one another the night before and she is already having regrets…meh. Whatever. I’m not too concerned about it.

As if she read my thoughts, Justine pauses and slips an arm around mine and leads me the main cabin where people have already started to gather. Well, guess I don’t have to worry. It’s weird, I actually am digging this relationship thing and would hate to lose Justine. Damn, didn’t see that coming at all. Well, let’s just focus on getting to that fucking Colosseum. I look around the main cabin and I see the Sharkie from earlier waving excitedly at us.

“Sir! Sir! Over here!”

I wave back and make my way towards him. As we approach, he points towards the entrance and smiles that creepy, toothy grin of his. Okay, that was mean. It isn’t creepy. It is normal. It’s just weird seeing a shark smile at you and not try to tear off a chuck of your flesh. But that was back on Earth where sharks are not walking, talking Beasts. This is Erde where the sharks can talk and be your friend. Honestly, I’m a bit fond of Sharkie, mostly because I dubbed him Sharkie out loud and he didn’t even blink. Good guy.

“We just have to catch a ride on the carriages outside. They should be able to take us directly to the Colosseum. Have you filled out your application already sir?”

“Yup. Question though, this entrance fee…I have no money.”

“I see…” Sharkie looks nervous. Heh. Don’t worry Sharkie. I have a loan shark on my side. Heh. Loan shark. I look at Justine who is smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. Never a good sign.

“My dear boyfriend, we will add it to your debt. I am eager to see how you fare in the Competitions.” Told you. When Justine smiles like something good is about to happen, it will most likely be at my expense. What a terrible girlfriend.

“Just so you are aware, you guys really shouldn’t get your hopes up on us winning. We’re not gods or anything.”

Sharkie shakes his head a little too enthusiastically at this. “No sir! Those of us who plan to bet on you merely believe you will fare well enough but we don’t expect you to win. Just make it past the first few rounds!”

Well that’s good. I really don’t like being put on some kind of pedestal or anything. Honestly, I rather not stand out too much. Volt on the other hand seems unperturbed by this statement and retains a stone faced expression. What a robot. Blake seems…excited for some reason. Oh well. We are in it to have fun. And apparently, add to my debt. Fuck.

We head outside and immediately I see these weird…animals pulling carts. They look like raptors but they are covered in fur. No, strike that. They ARE raptors covered in fur. They stand about 12 feet tall and their tail is about 4 feet long. They look strong. And they are…barking? What the hell? I start to approach one but am immediately pulled back by Justine.

“Dumbass, it is foolish to approach a chichi without their owners making introductions.”

“Say what? And those are called chichis?” Cute name for something that could probably tear off my head.

“Yes. Chichi. They are very aggressive and love their personal space. If you try to approach them, they will attack you without fail. But if you have their owner bring you to them, they will accept you as a friend and allow you to approach. But ONLY when the owner is with you.”

“Huh…Challenge accepted.”

“What do you me… LINDSEY!! STOP!!!”

I break out into a full sprint towards two of the tied up chichis. I love animals. I always try to make friends with domesticated animals. Not with wild animals though. That’s stupid. Well, unless I am trying to domesticate a wild animal. But that is also stupid. Doable, but stupid. Done it in the past through trial and error. This will be good practice when I attempt to convince a lizzile to be my buddy. I bet I could be friends with the lizziles and these chichis will help me practice my skills.

The chichis start to scream at my approach and strain on their harnesses to attack me. Good start, Lindsey. You have confirmed that chichis so far dislike you. On to the next step. Stopping just out of reach, I raise my hands and start to talk to them softly.

“Chichis huh? Cute name. You guys are beautiful! I wonder if I would be able to mount you and use you a steed in battle. Probably. I bet you would be amazing on the battlefield. Hey, have you guys ever had Justine’s cookies? Probably not since she only just started making them what, three days ago? Here, catch!”

The chichis are still screaming causing the owner to run towards me in a panic. I wonder if he is afraid I will be killed or if the chichis will hurt themselves. I toss a cookie that I had gotten from Justine at both of chichis. Yes, I didn't devour them all right away. I have self-control. The chichis catch the cookies in their mouths and stop screaming. To everyone’s surprise including myself actually, the chichis lower their heads at me and try to sniff out more cookies. Smiling, I pull out two more cookies, my last two that is and I present them. They gingerly sniff the cookies before eating them right out of my hands.

I try to pet them and SUCCESS! They are ridiculously soft!!! Holy crap! I stroke their heads and walk around them, keeping a hand on contact with them the entire time. Yup, they are ridiculously muscular. Very strong legs, a tail made of out pure muscle, like a cat almost. The front forelegs may be short but the claws are wicked sharp. Amazing creatures.

I look back at my group and Justine, Sharkie and a bunch of other people are watching me in disbelief. The owner, a female Elf with long blue hair standing at around 5 feet and 9 inches approaches us with her hand raised. The chichis greet her affectionately as they lower their heads to rub against her. Almost sounds like they are purring. Huh. Go figure. Bark like a dog and purr like a cat. Interesting.

The Elf looks at me curiously. “How did you do that?”

“I gave them food. Animals instinctively will know who is a threat and who is a friend. Right now, they perceive me as a non-threat. They’re nowhere as close to me as they are with you.”

“But this shouldn’t be possible!”

“Why not?”

“We have never seen chichis be so…accepting of others besides those who they imprint on!”

“Has anyone ever tried?”

“Yes! Wait…no! I don’t know!”

I smile. Figures. “Well, there you go. Justine! I ran out of cookies! Can you make more later?”

Justine from a bit of a distance away merely looks at me. What? Do I have something on my face? Or are you shocked that I have no more cookies? Or is it because I am petting a chichi that I approached without an introduction from the owner? Heh. This alien you’re dating is full of surprises! Oh and he is modest too. Just saying.

The owner turns away and beckons the rest of the group over. Now, I’m distracted again by the nudging of the chichis as they try to look for more food on me. Sorry guys. No more food. You ate the last ones I had on me. Justine and Sharkie are negotiating the price of transportation for all of us to the Colosseum. I guess haggling is the norm here. Before I know it, we’re all piled into the cart comfortably.

The cart is an open one with three rows of benches minus the driver seat. Justine and I are sitting in the back while my siblings are sitting in front of me. Sharkie is sitting directly behind the Elf and chatting away with her. That one sure can talk. The Elf cracks her whip and off we go. Man, these chichis can run fast! We must be going 40 miles per hour and the chichis look like they could go faster. I see signs up ahead and there is a number on them. I didn’t get a good look but I would bet that was their speed limit. I wonder how fast chichis can run.

We make it to the paved highway where other carts are being pulled by a various number of chichis. It’s kind of strange to see. Instead of cars, there are carts and wagons being pulled by chichis. Some carts have roofs and others are like ours. Some carts only have enough room for the driver and one passenger and some have the driver bench and one more bench behind them. The vehicles are all made out of metal or something and are varied in colors. The cart we are riding in is red with a sign on the sides that reads, “CAB” in big green letters.

Blake glances around taps on Sharkie’s shoulder. “How fast can chichis run and for how long?”

Sharkies ponders this for a bit before the Elf speaks up without turning around. “Chichis can run for about 60 miles nonstop at full sprint. They can reach a destination 60 miles away in one hour.”

So by that logic, looks like chichis can go 60 miles per hour for 60 miles. Sweet. Blake starts asking more questions about the chichis but honestly, I stopped paying attention since I am starting to feel weary. Man I want to lie down. The suns are still up and it’s really hot. Must be what, 95 degrees out? At least the air is dry. If it was humid and this hot, holy balls I would be sweating like hell and get dehydrated fast. But still, I’m hot and I’m tired. Pretty soon, my eyes start closing and I find myself drifting away. You know what? I’m going to take a mini nap now. I’ll just lower and bow my head to sleep. Yes, I can sleep in this position. It isn’t hard. Tired…Wake me when we reach the Colosseum.

.

.

.

.

I wake up to something petting my head. Well, it’s more like someone is running their fingers through my hair. It feels nice. Wait, am I lying down? I am. What’s this soft thing I’m lying on and drooling all over? Oh…shit. I hope she won’t be mad when I get up. I’m pretty sure I just stained my girlfriend’s pants with my saliva. Uhhh…I’ll pretend to stay asleep. And keep petting me, Justine. It feels nice. I am very comfortable right now.

“Stop pretending to stay asleep, little one.”

Damn. How can she know me so well? She only met me three days ago! There is no way she can know me this well…ridiculous.

“Are we there yet? Cause I’m very comfortable right now.”

“Yes. Get up.”

Groaning, I move but not to get up. Instead, I wrap an arm around Justine’s waist and bury my head closer to her stomach. My face is literally facing her stomach now. I’m very glad she’s wearing a shirt instead of her armor; that would have been very uncomfortable. Justine is surprisingly soft for someone who is so strong and physically toned.

Justine silently laughs as she continues to pet my hair. “Get up, little one. You will miss the deadline to sign up for the competitions. If you want to remain here and drool on me, I do not mind if you buy me new pants later. Your siblings have already left with Francois.”

“Fine. I’m getting up,” I sigh as I sit up. Weird. We are not in the cart. Where the fuck are we? I’m sitting on a bench outside of a gigantic stadium looking thing. Actually, it looks like ten stadiums merged together. It is fucking huge. Just from sitting here on the outside, it looks like it could fit over a million people. There are TV monitors plastered all along the stadium. Huge monitors. You could probably see what’s on the monitors a couple miles away. Wow.

I stand up and stretch. A few of my bones crack from the stiffness. Damn that feels good. I smile brightly and extend a hand to Justine which she accepts and stands up. As we start walking towards the stadium, I look at her leg and I see a wet stain on her thigh. Oops.

“Sorry about drooling on you, small tits.”

“It is fine. You will buy me new pants later.”

“Justine, I don’t have money.”

“Volt left you 200 credits from the 500 credits you won yesterday,” Justine says as she hands me two coins the size of an American half dollar coin. Huh. Interesting choice of currency. Coins. I think these are metal. Not sure what though. Speaking of money…

“Will this be enough to get you a pair of pants? And why the hell did Volt take more than half of my money?!?!”

“Blake confiscated it from your brother when she found out you fought against Jacque and me. And also because you two gambled needlessly. And yes, you will be able to buy me a pair of pants. It will not be anything fancy but it will have to do.”

“…Fucking Blake. And fuck you for making me buy you clothes. You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

Justine squeezes my hand, painfully. “You ruined a pair of my pants. Take responsibility, dumbass.”

“Ow…fine. Stop squeezing, small tits. Hey, before I forget, how did we end up on that bench?”

Justine smiles sweetly at me as she opens the door to the stadium and walks inside. “I carried you. Like a baby.”

I enter the stadium and glare at her. “Why did you just wake me up?”

“You looked adorable.”

“I hate you, you flat chested bitch.”

She flicks a tiny flame at my forehead. Ow…that stung a little.

“Lie. You know better than to lie to me, little baby princess,” Justine snickers at me. Fucking bitch.

“If we are going to date, you need to stop shooting shit at me and hurting me,” I say as I massage my forehead.

“Stop lying to me and I will stop doling out punishments.”

“Why do I need to be punished in the first place! I’m a grown man you fucking bitch!”

“You act like a child.”

“Touché. Oh and where is Jacque?”

“He summoned to the Beast Embassy. We will see him tomorrow.”

As we get further inside the stadium, I tell Justine to lead the way as I honestly have no idea where we are going. Inside the stadium, I see cases of trophies and pictures of people doing athletic stuff. Most of the pictures portray warriors in combat or people jumping over some sort of weird obstacles. I see some people shooting at each other in some pictures. Eventually, Justine leads me to the stadium’s arena. It is an open space with no roof. This is absolutely amazing. I bet you can fit 8 football fields in here.

The arena is littered with Erdians of all races and tents. There must be hundreds of people signing up for various events. In the middle of the field, I see a gigantic billboard. As I look at it, I see that it is a display of what events are available and how many people have signed up to compete. There’s a lot more people than I expected. Let’s take a look at the events, shall we?

1. Warzone Fight – 251 teams

2. Obstacle Course – 1,108 participants

3. Shooting Challenge – 755 participants

4. Combat Tournament – 122 participants

5. Foot Race – 647 participants

6. Strength Challenge – 86 participants

I wonder how they keep things organized. There are 6 different competitions and way too many participants for me to really care about. I look around to see if I can spot my siblings. Nope. Impossible. Too many people. No idea how I am supposed to sign us up for the Warzone. I am pretty sure we all need to be present in order to register.

Justine lets go of my hand and reaches into her back pocket. She pulls out a phone looking thing and conjures a bit of wind into it.

“Francois. I am here with Lindsey. Where are you?” Justine says into the phone.

“By the pillar of events, Your Highness. Meet us here and we can register the hoomuns,” I hear Sharkie’s voice say back a few seconds later. Huh, his name is Francois. Guess Beasts are all French? Cool.

“Very well. And Francois, please refrain from calling them humans. They are known as half-Elves and half-Daimons.”

“Roger. Apologizes, Your Highness.”

We start to make our way to the pillar and soon meet up with my siblings and Sharkie. Sky is nowhere to be seen. I look around before giving Blake a puzzled look.

“Sis, where is Sky?”

“Exploring the city. I told it to stay hidden. I’m not sure how it would be perceived since it does not look like a true animal.”

“Good call sis.”

Sharkie leads us to a nearby tent with the least amount of people waiting. We get in line and start waiting. And waiting. And more waiting. Oh and now we...wait some more. OH MY GOD I AM SO BORED!!! I start bouncing in impatience. I can’t stand this…heh, stand this. I have been standing for hours now. Getting bored…I’ll start poking Volt. Poke. Poke poke. Poke poke poke. Poke.

“Damnit Lindsey! Stop poking me!”

“I’M BORED!!!!”

“Hun, we have only been here for 5 minutes…” Blake sighs as she lightly grabs Volt to prevent him from punching me.

“I’M BORED!!!!”

“Little one,” Justine calls out to me as she hands me something. “Take this.”

It is a hammer looking thing with a ball attached to it with a string. Holy shit! It’s a kendama! This is so Japanese. I beam brightly at Justine as I accept the kendama and start playing with it, trying to catch the ball on the spike. It is really hard but highly entertaining. Wait, something just occurred to me.

“Hey small boobs, where were you keeping this?”

“In my bag.”

“Why?”

“It is a memento from my childhood. I bring it with me everywhere for good luck.”

“Oh. How convenient.”

I continue playing with the kendama as waited in line. It’s very entertaining. Swing, try to catch the ball, fail, repeat. I know I can get this. Okay, one more try! DAMN! AGAIN! FUCK! AGAIN! GOD DAMNIT! AGAIN!!! FUCK YOU BALL!!! LAND ON THE SPIKE AND BE IMPALED!!! AG..

“How may I help you?”

Oh, it’s our turn. Sweet. Okay, you guys take care of this while I keep playing the kendama. I throw the ball again but this time, Justine catches the ball midair and takes my toy away from me. I pout at her and extend my hands to get the toy back but she merely smiles and leans down to give me a light kiss on the cheek.

“You should pay attention, shorty.”

I stick my tongue out at her and reluctantly turn to the official who happens to be a Daimon. Albino, just like the other one whose name I have already forgotten. Completely white. Even the hair is white. I think this one is a female. She’s very pretty. Like, holy shit pretty. Wow…but compared to the purple lady, Justine wins by a landslide. And I’m not saying that because she is mine but because it is actually true. I mean, this Daimon could very well be a model and all, but Justine is a goddess amongst models. I REALLY hit the jackpot.

“We would like to sign up as a team for the Warzone Fight,” Volt says.

“Very well. All 5 of you?”

“No, just the three of us,” Blake says pointing at the three humans.

“Do you have your forms completed?”

Sharkie hands her the forms which she quickly glances over. “I see that one of you also signed up for the Obstacle Course and the Combat Tournament. And one of you signed up for the Shooting Challenge. And one more signed up for only the Combat Tournament. Can you clarify who signed up for each events?”

“I signed up for the Obstacle Course and Combat Tournament. Blake here is signed up for the Shooting Challenge and Volt here is the one who decided to only sign up for the Combat Tournament.”

“I see. And your name, sir?”

“Cookies.”

“Pardon?”

“My name is Cookies.”

SMACK

Justine just smacked me upside my head. I deserved that. But I’m sticking with Cookies. If everything goes according to plan, my name will be famous and cookies will be made throughout the entire planet! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I SHALL DROWN IN A SEA OF COOKIES!!!

The official doesn’t bat an eye as she writes in “Kookies.” Meh. Close enough.

“Each event costs 20 credits per participant. The Warzone Fight will cost 100 credits per team member. Your total participation fee is 380 credits please.”

She presents a screen which details out all the charges. Justine walks up and hands the Daimon a card. The Daimon takes the card and places it on the screen which scans the card for a few seconds. The Daimon hands back the card and faces us once more.

“Team name?” she asks.

The three of us look at each other before I speak up. “Xenos.”

Hell yeah. We’re aliens. Let’s advertise it out in the open without actually advertising it. Hiding in plain sight. I’m a fucking genius.

Justine merely sighs in agitation as the official writes our team name and completes our registration.

I can’t wait until the Competitions start!