Chapter 314: What terrifies the beasts.

The humans were equally puzzled. What was a Beast Jail?! No one had ever heard of such a place existing in the valley!

"That’s right," Zyra warned, sweeping her eyes over the crowd of trembling creatures. "There is a Beast Jail. And if any of you keep acting up, you’ll be bunking right next to Nugget." She crossed her arms on her chest. "It’s a cage. You stay in there, alone, reflecting on your actions and how they affect those around you. Nugget here and his crew will be the first visitors to the jail."

Nugget’s eyes swelled with tears. He dropped to his stomach, sliding forward across the dirty floor. "Boss Zyra! Mercy! Spare me! I was just flexing a little bit! Don’t send me to this cage. I am a free snake, I will die in there."

"I am sure you won’t die. You will have food and water and some silence. Maybe you can all use that time to meditate on your actions. It’s either Beast Jail, or I throw your whole squad out of the valley forever, maybe you can return to Moon fall where there were no rules and all that awesome freedom you long for." Zyra said coldly, showing zero mercy. "Pick one." The dragon snakes were troublesome; she would not bond with Nugget and his friends if they were going to be costly.

Nugget put on the saddest, most pitiful face a snake could possibly muster. He let out a long, depressed sigh. "I choose the jail."

The rest of his friends repeated after him, in slow hisses that were dragged out.

"Wise choice," Zyra said. She opened her mind interface. "Beauty, transfer the Dragon Snake squad to the Beast Jail."

[Order received. Transferring targeted beasts to the cages in the beast dominion.]

"Remove the comfortable settings and place the cages in a boring environment." She commanded in a serious voice.

In a blip of light, Nugget and his fellow Dragon Snakes vanished into thin air.

The remaining beasts stared at the empty space where the snakes had just been standing. The quiet was deafening. They were utterly, thoroughly terrified.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL STARING AT?!" Zyra barked, her voice echoing across the room. "GET TO WORK!"

Scotty wiped a glob of potato off his cheek and stepped up beside her, trying his best to look authoritative. "You heard the Boss! I want this place squeaky clean! Not a single banana peel or potato left behind! Beasts with wings, grab sponges and clean the ceiling and walls."

The beasts went wild. Red sun grabbed broom, fluff-rabbits hauled trash buckets, and bear started scrubbing the floor with wet rags as fast as their paws could move. Squirrel’s tail was a broom in its own way. The entire feeding section turned into a hyper-efficient cleaning crew in less than two seconds.

In a clean corner, Spice opened one lazy eye, checked her surroundings, saw everyone sweating and scrubbing, and slowly closed her eye again. She let out a soft, satisfied hiss.

I am so glad that I was too full to join that food fight.

Zyra had not felt satisfaction in so long like she did after punishing the beasts. She practically sprinted back to her personal quarters, slammed the doors shut, and burst into a fit of unhinged laughter.

She laughed so hard her stomach began to ache, forcing her to clutch her ribs as she collapsed onto her knees. Every single time the image of Nugget’s terrified, teary snake face popped into her head, another round of hysterical giggles escaped her throat.

Finally! She had finally found something that truly scared those little troublemakers into submission! She scrambled up and strutted over to the vanity mirror, sneering at her reflection while trying to pick out bits of dried mash from her tangled locks. "How dare they mock my hair!" she growled playfully, before losing her composure entirely and falling backward onto her soft bed, cackling at the ceiling.

[Host, I must inform you that this display leans significantly closer to petty personal revenge rather than righteous beast discipline,] Beauty’s mechanical voice chimed inside her head, sounding remarkably snarky for an artificial system.

Zyra didn’t even bother to deny it. She rolled her eyes and kicked her legs into the air. "It is both! And honestly, Beauty, this is entirely your fault anyway! If you had given me the correct hair gel this morning instead of that flamingo pink, my hair wouldn’t have looked like an edible bird’s nest. The beasts would not have mocked me."

Before Beauty could conjure up a sarcastic counterargument, Zyra’s link band buzzed furiously on her nightstand.

Bullet’s voice boomed through the receiver. "Boss! The equipment is prepped and ready! We need to get going right now!"

"On my way!" Zyra wiped a stray tear of laughter from her cheek, leaped off the bed, and pulled on her special boots.

She rushed out to the courtyard, where the rest of the squad was already assembled. They looked both terrifying and hilarious, all completely armored up in bulky, bright yellow hazard suits that covered their bags as well. It made them look like giant, armored bumblebees.

Zyra opened her beast pocket and reached deep inside. With a heavy metallic clank, she pulled out a pitch-black Ripper gun.

She tossed one over to Bullet. "Catch! You’re going to love this way more than those old disruptor guns."

Bullet caught the weapon, his eyes widening as he listened to her explanation of what the gun could do. A wild, unhinged grin spread across his face, and he threw his head back, laughing like an absolute lunatic. "HELL YEAH! Oh, mama, now this is a gun!"

He kissed it at least three times and continued to laugh like a crazy man. Everyone shuddered at the thought of what he was going to do with that gun. Hopefully, not turn into a serial killer. Even now, when times were tough, such crimes were seen every now and then.

Elfy scoffed from behind her hazard helmet, tossing her slender, glowing knife into the air and catching it effortlessly by the hilt. "You boys enjoy your noisy toys. I’ll stick to my baby. It’s quiet, clean, and never runs out of ammo."

Zyra chuckled, turning to face Etania, who was waiting for the coordinates. She said them and Etania opened the portal.

"Here we go guys." She alerted them once the swirling started.

With a loud tearing sound, a shimmering, swirling portal opened right in front of them, humming with chaotic dimensional power.

Weapon locked and loaded, Zyra grinned under her visor and stepped through the light, leading her team straight into the plague territory.