BloodStar

The whistle of the incoming missile grew to a fever pitch overhead as the entire coliseum looked up to see a missile arching over the coliseum with a flight path set for collision and explosion at the arena center where Xenia sat.

Xenia quickly bloodbent the blood from the blood troughs into a shield over the entire coliseum. The missile made contact and exploded against the shield causing it to dissipate after absorbing the blast.

Xenia smiled as she looked on at a tablet which a royal guard quickly handed her showing drone footage of the Heraklinos fleet approaching her shores. She then raised her hand and formed a powerful ball of ki which she prepared to fire out of the coliseum and onto the encroaching fleet.

“NO! No!” Constance yelled from her knees.

Xenia paused holding the ever-powerful ki blast with her outstretched hand overhead, “And why not?”

Constance smirked, “Because this is my gift.”

Xenia reabsorbed the ki blast she had prepared, and smiled down at Constance, “Ahhh I see. You have a show prepared don’t you? Which is it? Will you have them all go mad? Force themselves to drown in the ocean? Kill one another for my pleasure?”

The stadium drones flew out in a swarm surrounding the fleet and sending back live feed to the coliseum spectators as Xenia and Constance continued chatting.

Constance put her hand to her chest and feigned shock, “Goodness no, empress. This is your wedding. I have something much more dramatic than that. Something much more personal than that.”

She then activated a black ball of ki in her hand representing nearly all of her power poured into her most important Shadow Slave. She looked to the side of the arena as General Vega Magnus approached.

He walked up beside Constance and bowed to Xenia, and Constance said, “You remember General Vega Magnus, my empress. He will be fighting for you today. If you would be so kind as to teleport him to the flagship carrier, he has been dying to put on a premier fight for your pleasure. Jacek Heraklinos versus Vega Magnus.”

Xenia inched towards the edge of her seat with a huge smile as she created a void portal beside Vega and Constance addressed him, “Put on a good show for us, darling. I want to see you try your hardest to kill Jacek Heraklinos. For me and for your empress.”

Constance pointed to Xenia as she spoke and then kissed Vega before shoving him into the void portal behind him.

Both Xenia and Constance smiled and laughed at one another with giddy excitement. Xenia waved Constance up the steps, “Come! Come! I want to watch this together!”

Xenia scooted over just enough for Constance to share the throne with her as both girls settled in to enjoy the show.

“Constance, I had no idea you went to such great lengths for my wedding present! Thank you! Thank you! I can’t wait to watch them tear each other apart!”

Xenia then grabbed Constance’s face and began to kiss her wildly on the lips with a ravenous passion for the entire coliseum to see.

_____________________________

The deck of the fleet’s flagship carrier was bustling with activity as soldiers scrambled to launch the fighter jets into the air. In record time, the Heraklinos fleet had several jets in the air, and yet another jet prepared to launch from the carrier in quick succession following the others.

The pilot received the green light from the ground crew, and the jet began to race down the runway. However, just as the jet was nearing the edge of the runway to take flight, a void portal appeared. Out stepped a familiar face to the soldiers. A man surrounded by an immense ki aura.

The jet collided with the figure stepping out of the portal causing a massive explosion with a swirl of dense flames and black smoke.

From the bridge, Jacek noticed the commotion, “Report!”

A soldier on the deck reported back, “Enemy contact on the carrier deck, my Lord. Ki user. Jet down. Appears to have teleported here. Appears to be…”

“Appears to be what?” Jacek eyed the inferno as a man began to step out from the flames.

Just as Jacek had a sudden realization, the soldier also reported back, “Appears to be General Magnus, my Lord.”

Jacek hesitated for a moment pausing to process what just happened as he watched Vega emerge from the inferno.

“Everyone stay back! I’m coming down!” Jacek then delegated duties to various officers before making way for the deck.

As Jacek descended the stairs and walked through the halls towards the deck, sirens blared, and men ran scurrying to complete tasks. Finally, as he reached the last hallway exiting out onto the deck, he began to relinquish his tight control on his ki.

The excess ki he had accumulated from training with Perfect Warrior with his father was still jumping at the chance to run rampant, and as he finally let it free, ki flickered all over his body as it rushed out and upwards creating a dancing flame of dense ki encompassing his entire body.

Jacek had never felt more powerful as he slammed open the door onto the deck swinging and impaling the door into the adjacent steel wall rendering it unable to close after he walked through.

He looked towards Vega standing opposite him on the carrier deck, and he scowled as he walked towards Vega until stopping 30 feet away. The two men stared at each other. Both were ready for battle, and both were already powered up with immense ki auras waiting and ready to be used to crush one another.

“This isn’t you Vega! Think! You are under the influence of Constance!” Jacek called out to Vega.

Vega stared back at him silently for a moment until he answered Jacek’s call, “You will fight me to the death, Jacek Heraklinos!”

Jacek looked Vega in the eyes convincing himself that the real Vega lay behind the spell, speaking to him through his eyes, “I will not fight you, Vega. This is exactly what she wants. It’s just another cruel and twisted game of hers, and I refuse to participate.”

“You will fight me, Jacek!” Vega powered up a sizeable ki blast in his palm and launched it at Jacek. The ki blast sped by Jacek’s shoulder, inches away from grazing him but ultimately missing as it continued flying off into the distance over the water.

Jacek stood unflinching, “It will take more than that to force me into a fight.”

Vega then smiled and pulled his hand down as if directing the ki blast. The ki blast made a sharp turn and dropped directly into the ocean just outside the bay. The ki blast traveled underwater descending further and further until Vega clenched his fast causing it to explode in the depths of the ocean.

Jacek furrowed his brow at first; however, the ki blast explosion was quickly followed by a second underwater explosion. Jacek realized only too late what Vega had done. Vega knew the tactical positions of the submarines in a situation such as this one, and he had just destroyed the submarine along with every life on board.

Jacek turned around with a distraught yet angry look, and Vega called out to him again, “You will fight me! Or would you rather your men continue to do the fighting for you.”

Vega then outstretched his arm and charged up another ki blast, this time pointing it directly at the Destroyer class ship within the fleet formation.

Jacek outstretched a pleading arm, “Vega don’t! We were brothers! We are brothers! Don’t do this!”

Vega snarled at Jacek, “We were brothers.”

He then released the ki blast sending it directly at the destroyer. The blast exploded on contact sending a blazing plume of smoke and flames upwards as what remained of the ship began to sink into the sea.

Wasting no time, Vega prepared another ki blast and aimed it on the other side of the fleet at the nearest frigate. He prepared to fire another blast; however, Jacek interrupted him.

“ENOUGH!!” Jacek grit his teeth and yelled.

Vega’s head whipped around to look at Jacek who was breathing heavy and looking off in the distance at the few surviving soldiers crying in agony as they tried to stay afloat in the water amongst the fiery debris despite their injuries.

“I will fight you.” Jacek turned to look at Vega, “Forgive me, Vega. But she has forced my hand in freeing you from her grasp. Even it means your death.”

Jacek then assumed a solemn but stoic and focused demeanor. He took a deep breath in, and then as he breathed out he assumed full control of the wild, dancing ki around him. Time appeared to stop for a moment as the ki stopped flickering, standing completely still. Then, in a roar, Jacek’s aura exploded to new heights which he had never achieved, all thanks to the excess ki from the training with Perfect Warrior.

Vega stood steeled for battle under the firm grip of Shadow Slave despite Jacek’s now-obvious upper hand.

Meanwhile, not far away within the coliseum, Xenia leaned forward on the edge of her seat smiling at Jacek’s newfound power, “Oh my, Constance. Your surprise is shaping up to be an exciting one. When did Jacek become even more powerful? If he’s vying for my attention, he has it.”

Constance clung to Xenia’s arm with a smile, “This is a surprise even for me, my empress. Do you think he’s showing off in preparation to make a challenge for you against Nero?”

Xenia felt a wave of pleasure at the mere thought and moaned, “Oh I hope so, Constance. I just love when men fight over me.”

Above all else, Xenia pined for raw power in men, and as empress, she felt entitled to take who she wanted, when she wanted.

She let out a soft, shuddered breath and softly moaned before saying, “Regardless, I think I’ll be having a word with him after this match.”

She then bit her lip as she anxiously looked on awaiting to watch both Jacek and Vega fight to the death for her entertainment on her wedding day, “Maybe even more than just a word”.