.....
"Savor this then, this planet won't give you that kind of thrill."
Anissa would be lying if she said this wasn't something she enjoyed. The Viltrumites being near extinct had forced them to stop practicing some of the more barbaric practices.
Her fist connecting to something solid and hard was a feeling that she often missed, some things were often too brittle and weak to be a challenge.
They clashed once more. This time their clash was more vicious. Both giving it their all. Each punch that connected generated a shockwave however both refused to be pushed back by the other.
Thula swung the blade, going for the neck; however, Anissa grabbed the hand and pulled her in and crashed her head against Thula's face, forcing more blood out of her nose and staggering her.
She kicked the bladed Viltrumite on the stomach forcing her to bend over before delivering a devastating knee to her jaw, breaking several teeth and forcing her to stand up straight.
Thula staggered almost losing her footing, despite being disoriented she attempted to retaliate however Anissa parried her attack to the side, and got in close.
Thula was quick to put her guard up but it was irrelevant, Anissa broke through it with a barrage of punches, forcing her arms open and her body free to attack.
Anissa went all in, immediately going for the face, nose, and jaw as well as the chest. Each of her punches landed like a brick, pushing her opponent back. Each attack stained her fist with blood.
The state of the fight had suddenly changed, it looked as if they were even, however in an instant Anissa changed the tide and began whaling on Thula, blood splattering on the floor with each attack, it became a gruesome sight of violence.
After a full minute of Thula being unable to do anything against Anissa's attacks, there was a brief pause and Thula swayed back and forth barely able to stand. Her face dripping deep red blood, and both her mouth and nose smelled and tasted the iron.
The match should be over, Thula should be able to fight no more. A single punch would end it, however, Anissa waited.
After this she was going to be the Emperor's mate, beating Thula to an inch of her life and forcing her to surrender would cement her position and quell any doubts.
The point was to let her willingly surrender rather than show mercy by knocking her out.
After a brief period of Thula feeling dazed, she recovered enough to stand properly, she wiped blood off her face and spat it out of her mouth.
She took a proper stance, unwilling to surrender. She was a warrior and Surrender wasn't a word she was familiar with.
"Work for it"
She grinned, ready to continue. Thula was nothing if she was not a Viltrumite. She understood what Anissa wanted and she was not going to easily give it to her.
"Gladly"
Thula noted the frustrated frown that spawned on Anissa's face and she smiled, ready to fight to the bitter end if she had to.
"That's enough! Anissa you've won."
Thragg quickly stood up and ended the fight. The beauty of their strength would soon fade and be replaced by barbaric violence.
"But sire ah—"
"I will not be questioned, Thula. Did I not forbid fights to the death?"
He looked at her with a stern expression, they were Viltrumites, surrender was something they would be hard-pressed to do. He felt that Thula would die before she surrendered.
"Yes sire, please forgive me"
She took a bow, shamefully apologizing.
"It's fine, go rest. You are a fine warrior worthy of my respect but don't make attempts to throw away your life so casually"
He spoke with finality and gave her the respect she was due but was unwilling to compromise. From the memories of Thragg, he did not remember there being any sort of honor in never surrendering, so his stopping the fight prematurely shouldn't really mean much.
Perhaps she might feel just a bit insulted but it shouldn't be a big deal.
After having addressed Thula, he quickly floated down to their level.
"Congratulations Anissa, you've earned your victory. Your strength was admirable"
She gave her thanks and a strict bow. Inwardly she felt a sense of satisfaction.
The Emperor's mate was not technically an Empress, while she could be given duties that often needed the Emperor to complete, in a normal situation where the population wasn't small her voice would be second to the high council.
Meaning she couldn't necessarily make decisions on her own accord, and would have to consult the council first. However, given the current state of the Empire, her words would be second only to the emperor.
"Go take a rest and recover, tomorrow the announcement will be held."
"Thank you, sire."
She gave another bow before Thragg dismissed her along with Thula. Leaving Kregg and Thragg alone.
"What's next on my Schedule, Kregg?"
Thragg questioned as he watched Anissa fly away. If he were to be honest, he didn't know how to feel about this.
On the one hand, as a man he wouldn't turn down a woman who clearly wants him but at the same time he was conflicted about what kind of relationship they would have.
He didn't remember anything about Viltrumites getting married, from Thragg's memories they seemed to just have offspring and be done with it, and from his memories about the comics when Thragg had kids he genuinely didn't seem to care about them.
The Viltrumites only began to actually get married and care about their children when they spent time on Earth, before that they didn't seem to care about anything aside from their mission of Conquest.
This relationship with Anissa was definitely going to be a bit strange.
"Lucan had requested an audience with you after this, but aside from that it's clear, sire. In the next three days, you are scheduled to meet with the Director of the GDA for a demonstration. They've successfully managed to build their own spacecraft comparable to ours."
"That was quick?"
Thragg turned to look at Kregg in a bout of surprise. He didn't expect Earth to be able to reverse engineer the Viltrumite spaceships so quickly but he supposed it was within reason.
"Indeed, I didn't expect them to complete it at least until three years from now. We underestimated their ingenuity"
"Well, I'll be looking forward to it then. ah
....
Anissa had quickly washed off the blood and fatigue of the battle, feeling a bit refreshed, she got herself a change of clothes, and rather than rest like she was instructed by the Emperor she decided to make her move.
By becoming the Emperor's mate, she had effectively become the Emperor's second in command being above even General Kregg in terms of rank.
While she had no ambitions to overthrow the Emperor or make any moves to set herself up as the one who controls the Empire, Anissa was still attracted to power.
Being second to the Emperor was a worthy position for herself and she didn't have to mate with any of the weak humans, which was what she was truly after.
It may not seem like it at first glance, mostly because she didn't wish to challenge the Emperor's orders but Anissa was completely unwilling to change as a Viltrumite.
When the Emperor brought up the idea of having to mate with the humans to repopulate, she disagreed with that idea however kept it to herself, as stated she was unwilling to challenge the Emperor but it was that she decided to aim to become the Emperor's mate to avoid all of that.
In any case, if she hadn't won, she would have done her best not to mate with a human.
She didn't doubt there were others who thought the same way but unfortunately, they couldn't disobey orders.
In any case, all of that didn't matter much anymore, she had gotten what she wanted and it was time she enjoyed it.
In truth, the battle with Thula had been stimulating and unfortunately or fortunately now that it was over she felt a desire for something much more intimate, she needed something to quell her desires right now.
"hmm"
She hummed to herself while strolling through the empty and cold corridors of the New Viltrum palace. She wondered in deep thought, considering the best possible move at the moment.
It would be awfully rude to barge into the Emperor's chamber and seduce him into mating, it would be even worse considering he ordered her to rest. It was also likely that he wouldn't be there.
From what she knows his schedule has been quite sparse this past year, he hasn't needed to meet with foreign dignitaries yet, probably due to the fact that they've finished the construction of New Viltrum some months ago.
This meant that at this time he was probably having a bout outside the city with Conquest, like he usually does when he's free.
That also presented a problem, as that would mean once his bout with Conquest is over he wouldn't be in the right state to perform effectively. Anissa planned to please him and have herself pleased as much as she could.
In all honesty, she was craving it, and she had no doubt he probably was as well.
She let out a hum once again, thinking of what to do before deciding to head to the throne room and hope to meet him there or wait for him there.
...