Royce stood in front of a crowd of minion followers. It was dusk and night was approaching. He was in front of his apartment in Barstow. He waited. They had told him it was almost time. Time for his reckoning. The Alphas had finally met and were going to the pyramid. The Thinners had come down from the sky and talked to him, except they looked different. The Thinners were not what he expected. They were tall as he seen before, but their bodies looked more insectile with skin that glowed an incandescent blue, and when they spoke they chittered. Yet he understood them.

They told him the Alphas needed to be destroyed but not before they showed them the ancient city. Royce didn't understand the reason why. He had told them he wanted to kill them now, but they told him to wait.

So, he waited outside his home, watching the Grogs come to him, massing in front. Every morning and night he commanded his Grogs to bring him food and they usually brought him a rabbit, dog and even a small horse. His appetite was huge, insatiable. The fresher the better.

Several large Grogs pushed through the crowd. They were holding a small goat and something else. It was a half eaten dog. He sniffed and the carcass of the dog was still fresh. The goat he might save for later.

Royce moved forward to the greet the Grogs but before he could start feasting a large creature came forward. He knew this was going to happen when the large apelike creature first came into his camp. The large creature stood before him, with apelike comrades a few feet away.

The large ape creature said, "You cannot command me. I challenge your authority."

Royce liked this. He had been provoked several times by lesser Grog creatures and he always snarled at the poor creature, making it back away. But this time would be different. This ape openly defied him before his pack and Royce had to fight him.

He snarled, "So, what is your name?"

"My name does not matter," the ape Grog said.

Royce smiled with his long teeth jutting from his mouth. He said, "I’d like to know your name. So I can write it on your grave."

"My name is Victor. I shall destroy you."

Victor galloped at him using his long arms and legs as an ape would. The ape Grog raised his arms. Royce grinned and shot past him, using his long claws to swipe a long gash on Victor's shoulder. Blood started to flow. The Grog group growled in anger and in anticipation of violence.

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Royce minion's felt his power and rage. They almost surged toward them. But Royce shot a dark stare at his minions and they moved backwards to give them more room to fight. The ape creature rushed at him, snarling and screaming. It grabbed him by his haunches and tried to pull him down. Royce bit deeply into Victor's wrist and turned his head. He heard the sound of breaking bones and skin. He spat out the remains of Victor's large hand.

The ape Grog howled into the air. He pounded at him. Royce swiftly moved out of the way and shot out with his claws to disembowel Victor. The smell of hot blood and intestines brought the blood lust. Royce growled and buried his jaws into Victor's throat, ripping his head clear off his body.

"Eat him and his group."

His minions moved to the nearest ape like creature and killed it. The group turned to the rest of the ape Grogs and killed every one, feasting on the blood and entrails. Royce was sickened, but delighted. Nobody would dare challenge him again in front of his Grog pack. He sat on his haunches and dined on Victor's flesh.

***

The moon waxed in its cycle and Royce felt the urges of the cycle of the lunar phase affect him. He sensed the Alpha group was getting closer to the Pyramid. The crescent moon beckoned him to let loose his animalistic nature and join with his group. He had done this several times before. Royce joined with the women in his pack and felt his sexual urges sated. This was better than when he was human.

Except tonight, he waited for the others to come to him. He had mistakenly called them Thinners and he felt such pain that he couldn't walk for hours. They wanted to be called the Vvong, the swarm. A bright light came out of the sky and dropped in front of him. The light was a round disk with a screen inside it like a TV. He saw the Vvong staring at him.

All he saw was the Vvong's face. Its insect-like face showed large mandibles and two large bulbous eyes. The eyes were multi-faceted, like a fly’s. Royce looked away. Staring at the Vvong gave him the creeps.

The Vvong said, "Start moving tonight. The Alphas are getting close to their destination."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"We want the crystal and the entrance to the city. You have to wait until they are inside and then kill them and give us the crystal."

"I understand. But what do I get if I do your commands?"

The Vvong didn't say anything for a while. "You will have untold power and live among us in peace when we come to your planet."

Royce didn't know what the creature was talking about. "Where are you?"

"You cannot question us!"

He heard the noise of chittering and thought he saw more Vvongs in the background.

The Vvong said, "You need to leave tonight with your underlings."

The screen changed to a bright light and started to float upwards. Royce was ready to extract his revenge on the Alphas. They should never have invaded the army base and destroyed everything. It showed their contempt for authority. He would show them. He would show them.

Royce grinned. He was ready.