The emotion felt like hot water being poured into my chest. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think straight. I stood still in the crowd along with my companions, until one of them, prepared for a fight, broke away.

         I caught sight of San, his face pained, as he pushed his way towards the source. I barely registered Mingi and Yunho yelling at him to come back. Breaking free from my trance I ran ahead of everyone as they tried to stop him. San was quickly disappearing into the crowd.

        I spotted his dark head of hair for a fleeting moment and pushed my way towards him, my feet carrying me faster than my mind could process my actions. As I got closer to the sounds of fighting some large men that reeked of alcohol bumped into me. I lost my footing and nearly fell but a strong hand reached out to steady me.

         San was tensed and his dark eyes met mine. His lips drew into a thin line as he spoke. "It's dangerous you need to go back." He pleaded.

I shook my head. "Without my help the chances of you escaping without injury is greatly increased." I could hear the voices of our group nearing as they searched for us.

His eyes darted from mine to the crowd. "Fine but stay close to me." His hand gripped mine and together we shouldered past the the last few people towards the front.

The sight in front of us made my empty stomach lurch. Two hulking creatures, bleeding and snarling, were circling each other.

The most unusual looking creature was a massive three headed dog. Two of the heads, frothing from the mouth, let out a deafening roar. The third head hung limply to the side, its eyes rolled back into it's head. Even though it was fierce in appearance it had a massive wound that stretched from its shoulder to its back haunches. It's blood was a deep purple and it spilled onto the floor in it's wake.

The deadlier looking one had a naturally armor plated body. The way it stalked the other beast inside the ring was decidedly feline. It yowled ferociously, amber eyes glinting, and blood dripping from between it's fangs.

       The mob had set up a a fence of metal rebar into the ground that served to prevent either animal from escaping. A towering alien, presumably the owner of the canine creature, yelled in a strange guttural language in an attempt to goad it into fighting.

        Then he used some form of a prod and struck the canine creature in the side. The beast yelped, ears pinned to it's head, and backed away from the prod. It's owner was relentless in beating the beast. Every blow landed with a loud crack and some hits split the beast's hide open. Both heads howled in a harmony of anguish as even more of its blood spilled to the floor.

But not once did it ever fight back.

As he continued his merciless assault he began laughing maniacally enjoying the pain he was inflicting.

San was visibly distressed at the sight and gripped the bars of the fence. I placed a palm against his chest to hold him back and felt his heart thundering in his chest. "It's ill advised to interfere." I warned him.

"I can't stand by and watch them murder that animal Ten." He protested. The muscles in his neck were tense and his breath came out in rapid pants between gritted teeth.

"What kind of expression is that?" I asked.

         I saw our companions make their way through the jeering mob. "San don't!" Mingi ordered.

San let go of my hand. "I have to stop it."

        Then in one swift movement San darted in between the spikes and ran into the center of the ring.

             In the same instant Mingi ran to the fence screaming. He pounded on the fence and jabbed a finger in his direction. "Get out of there San! That's an order!"

            Monster stood next to him shaking his head.  "That idiot is going to get himself killed." He muttered under his breath. Everyone exchanged anxious glances between each other.

"Why has San intervened? Why would he purposefully put himself in harms way?"

"San has always had compassion for animals. I knew he would do this..." Yunho answered quietly. He smiled a smile that never reached his eyes. "He would never hesitate to put himself in danger for someone else, that's just who he is."

As I pondered over Yunho's words the mob around us was in an uproar at San's interruption. The owner of the three headed dog stalked over to San. His must've been at least ten feet taller by how small San looked next to him. He was shaking with rage and raised the prod to strike him down.

San didn't even blink but deftly sidestepped the attack. As the prod struck the ground dirt and rock splayed into the air. San produced a large knife and positioned himself for a fight.

I felt fear gnaw at the edges of my mind. My hands shook as I watched San narrowly dodge another attack. He dropped to the floor as the prod swung over his head in a deadly arch.

Then all at once my fear dissipated and I felt nothing at all. An internal switched had flipped and I was swallowed whole. My hands fell limply to my sides. Unaware of the sudden change my companions continued to fight against the fence and the roar of the mob faded away. I watched on as an unknown power seized control of my body.

I closed my eyes and pulled up a screen. A blinking red warning appeared behind my eyelids.

NEARING MAXIMUM POWER LEVELS
CONFIRM?
YES/NO

"We have to stop this!" Mingi cried. He tried to slide in between the bars to get to San but was too large for the gap. I placed a hand on Mingi's shoulder and his panicked eyes looked into mine.

"Please issue a command as master proxy." I intoned.

The other men tried to spread the bars to allow passage and Yunho began climbing up the side. From inside the ring San swung his knife through the air and slashed open his opponent's side. The alien screamed in pain and whirled around to try and catch him. San parried yet another attack when a second opponent, this one even larger with rippling muscles, took advantage of the distraction and closed a large hand over San's head.

Then he lifted San into the air.

And he started to squeeze.

San screamed and clawed as the alien's grip tightened.

Yunho finally fell to the ground on the other side and scrambled to reach San. But even at a full sprint he would be dead before Yunho could reach him. Mingi grabbed my shoulders with tears gleaming in his eyes. "Protect San, Ten." He commanded desperately.

My vision turned red. I zeroed in on San who was now weakly struggling. His heart rate was beginning to slow.

DIRECTING 40% POWER

I bent two of the spires of rebar apart in one pull.

DIRECTING 50% POWER

The muscles in my legs coiled and I launched myself forward. I easily overtook Yunho and charged at my target. I reached San as he gasped a final breath.

DIRECTING 60% POWER

I kept my head down and rammed full force into the attacker's back. I barely registered the impact but heard the sound of the alien's spine snapping in half. He wailed and blood blossomed from his mouth. He flung San who was now barely breathing and was sent careening into the far side of the ring. San landed with a thud twenty feet away from me.

The other alien raised his weapon above his head to crush San who was lying unconscious on the ground.

DIRECTING 70% POWER

I bounded recklessly forward as the weapon made contact. The blow let out a loud crack and dust swirled around us obstructing the ring from view.

When the dust settled a hush fell over the onlookers. All was quiet except for my companions who had gotten through the fence and into the fray.

          The three headed dog had come between San and the prod. It stood fast with its legs quivering as it's body shielded him. The prod was buried between it's shoulders in a mortal wound and blood ran in rivulets down its sides and pooled onto the ground.

My arms were wrapped around the leg of the alien. He looked down at me in momentary confusion and I stared back unblinking.

"Ten percent more power and I'll break your leg."

DIRECTING 80% POWER

My grip tightened around his calf and his bone broke with a loud snap. The scream that came from the alien's lips was ear-splitting. A massive fist came down on top of my head.

        Commotion broke out behind me as my companions fought off others.

           Monster and Hobi were squaring off against a towering octopus like alien. It snapped its tentacles at lightening fast speed trying to sweep their legs out from under them. Monster produced a lethal looking spear and sliced off a tentacle that had wrapped around his foot. The alien's scream was garbled as if it was underwater and it's useless limb wiggled on the ground.

"Ten percent more power and your bone will shatter."

DIRECTING 90% POWER

Then I constricted even more and I heard popping as I crushed his bone into sand. He furiously hit the top of my head and blood trickled into my eye. Blood wetted my arms were I had a vice grip around his leg.

         The human in me cried out in agony. My muscles coiled unnaturally and excruciating pain flared up.

            Mingi and Yunho were at work trying to subdue the cat beast. It hissed at them and was clearly agitated. With a flash it's claws whistled through the air. Yunho expertly avoided a barrage of attacks, his intense expression never leaving the beast's. Mingi used the distraction to get close to it and struck it in the face. His blows landed in quick succession and the beast finally backed down. It retreated out of the hole I had created in the fence.

"Ten percent more power and I will sever your leg completely."

DIRECTING 100% POWER

           His flesh turned to pulp in my arms as I split clean through it. Blood cascaded over me and covered me from head to toe. The alien toppled over and landed on the ground in a thunderous crash.

          The human in me was in shock. Everything was numb and the voices of my companions were dull to my ears. I stumbled forward and fell to my knees.

            The crowd itself was in absolute chaos as humans and aliens trampled over each other trying to escape. I scanned the mass and spotted multiple hostile targets. I locked on them and poised myself to begin my next assault. I could feel myself slowly slipping away.

"Please stop Ten!" I could hear Yunho beg from somewhere behind me.

        Suddenly there was a blast and the ring was shrouded in a cloud of blue smoke. I lost sight of my targets and tried switching to infrared mode. The distraction gave them enough time for me to lose sight of them.

          As I slowly stood I could barely make out a figure. He was dressed in all black and smoke swirled around him as he made his way in front of me. Silver chains crisscrossed over his mask and obstructed his face from view but the second he spoke I knew who it was instantly.

"That's enough Ten." Said the Star King. He looked at me with his unusual eyes and reached out for me.

At his voice I felt myself power down and crumple into his arms.
                                              ***

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**
So this chapter definitely took a dark turn. I really enjoyed writing it though! I have a really special dedication for this chapter... So far I've been writing this story mainly on the Wattpad app on my phone because the laptop that I have access to is on it's last leg... A friend of mine that has been reading the story found out about it and has graciously purchased a laptop for me. It's just mind blowing and validating to know that someone believes in me enough to show me that level of support. So this chapter is for you you know who you are. ;-) And as always thanks to those who continue to support me by reading and hopefully voting on each chapter. This book wouldn't happen without you guys reading it! Please comment and let me know if you loved or hated anything about this chapter. I love you all and have a wonderful day! Part six will be out soon!❤️