Time blurred in the training fields of the Viltrumite outpost.
What began as hours of sparring stretched into days. Days bled into weeks. Weeks into months. For Chris, the passing of time meant nothing — his body never tired, never slowed, never weakened. Every day he returned to face Anissa, golden aura flickering faintly around him, and every day he learned something new.
Anissa was relentless. She drove him through the basics of flight discipline — not simply soaring, but maneuvering at impossible speeds, changing direction in fractions of a heartbeat without tearing the landscape apart. She pushed him in combat drills, teaching the strikes, holds, and grapples that had made the Viltrumites conquerors of a thousand worlds.
And Chris adapted. Faster than she expected. Each time she thought she'd pinned him, he slipped free. Each time she landed a clean strike, he countered harder. He absorbed her lessons instantly, adjusting with a precision that even Viltrumite warriors struggled to match. His stamina never faded. His strength never flagged.
For Anissa, this was more than training. It became a thrill. Each clash left her sweating, chest heaving, hormones fired by battle. She wanted him to keep pushing, to resist her, to match her pace. What had started as discipline became something sharper, more dangerous — and far more exciting.
It happened during one of their endless sparring matches. The ground beneath them was scarred with craters from weeks of combat. Dust clung to their skin, sweat streaked down their brows.
Anissa feinted low, then pivoted with perfect precision, shoulder-throwing Chris into the dirt hard enough to split the rock beneath him.
Instead of following with another strike, she landed on him — straddling his chest, pinning him down with both fists pressed against his shoulders. Her breath came fast. Sweat dripped from her brow onto his. Her lips curved into a grin, but it wasn't just victory. It was hunger.
Chris blinked up at her, dazed but unhurt, the air charged between them. There was no mistaking the fire in her eyes. This wasn't just dominance anymore. It was attraction — raw, undeniable, and burning.
For the first time since their battles began, the tension between them shifted. It was no longer just training. It was something heavier. Something neither of them could ignore.