Unbridled Vengeance

An ominous robotic voice echoed from beneath the cloak.

"Do not mistake our tolerance for weakness… You cannot comprehend the powers you are facing!"

A discomforting aura of crimson energy surrounded this veil figure, suffocating the air around it with a sense of dread and despair.

Just as Athena was about to frown…

A portal creaked open beside her, and out stepped Grandmama Tai Sui, her eyes piercing like a sharpened blade.

The Empress Dowager strode forward, each footstep mid-air echoed in energy waves that spoke of the weight of her authority and power.

Athena could feel the temperature drop as Grandmama Tai Sui's cold voice cut through the air like a knife.

"Hmph! Geno's dogs snuck in I see, I smelt your foul stench all the way from Aion…. Now, tell me… what are these unimaginable powers you speak of."

"We are…."

The cloaked cyborg's robotic voice echoed…

Grandmama Tai Sui merely smirked and clenched her outstretched hand, and the cloaked cyborg crumpled like a paper doll, his power utterly obliterated.

The overbearing presence that was the cloaked cyborg was immediately crushed into a smooth metal ball.

"Not interested…."

Grandmama Tai Sui scoffed as she turned her gaze toward Emperor Technia.

"Consider clearly where your allegiances lie Technia, you may have made contact with Genos or even Vorta herself, but this is still Tertius!"

Grandmama Tai Sui's voice was like a storm, lashing out at Emperor Technia with ferocity.

Emperor Technia bowed politely, still perceptibly wide-eyed in shock at how easily the Empress Dowager crushed whom he thought to be inexplicably powerful.

"M..My respects... Emp.. Empress Dowager, a lot remains out of my control such as the assassination attempt on the Prince… I…"

Emperor Technia said, his body trembling under the Empress Dowager's unyielding gaze.

"I require no excuses,"

Grandmama Tai Sui's voice boomed, her imposing figure looming over the Cyborg Emperor.

"You have challenged the Astrals and must now repay your debt. While I am burdened with sealed powers. Fear not, for I can easily eradicate Technia, even if the cost may be my own exile."

Grandmama Tai Sui lifted her hand, her fingers curling around an invisible source of power.

With a sudden burst, a black hole materialized in her palm.

The dark vortex threatened to consume everything around it, its edges shimmering with a hypnotic light that pulled at all light that came in its proximity.

Unfazed, Grandmama Tai Sui wielded the black hole with ease, shaping it as though it were a mere trinket.

Emperor Technia trembled with fear, his metallic frame quivering as he asked,

"What... is the price?"

Grandmama Tai Sui snickered, dissipating the black hole with a flick of her wrist.

"Hand over the DNSuit you received from Genos, and your impudence shall be forgiven."

"What is…. "

Before Emperor Technia could finish his sentence, he was pummeled into the ground below.

"DO NOT TEST ME, BOY!!"

Grandmama Tai Sui warned, her voice like thunder, reverberating with the force of her fury.

"Be grateful for my mercy. You know better than most the consequences of provoking an Astral."

The battered and bruised Emperor Technia struggled to his feet, glaring up at Grandmama Tai Sui with hatred and resentment.

But he knew better than to push his luck any further.

With a resigned sigh, he lowered his head and bowed deeply.

"As you wish, Empress Dowager," he muttered.

The disheveled Technian cyborg emperor then tossed an iridescent cube toward Grandmama Tai Sui.

She caught the cube in mid-air, and inspected it closely.

It was intricately crafted, with shimmering metallic surfaces that seemed to shift and change with the light.

She pocketed it and turned to leave, her flowing robes rustling behind her.

"Remember your place, cyborg boy," she said, her voice cold and cutting.

"The next time you overstep your bounds, the Empire of Technia will cease to exist!"

Turning to Athena, Grandmama Tai Sui nodded and said softly,

"Let's go home…"

But Athena paid her no attention.

Her forehead and navel began to glow with an ominous deep purple light as she floated upward, her eyes fixed on the forcefield.

"Our Empress Dowager may have forgiven your impudence, BUT I HAVEN'T!!"

With fierce determination, she gripped her spear and concentrated all her energy into it, the tip glowing with a deep, otherworldly purple light.

Athena let out a guttural roar as she hurled the spear toward the forcefield.

The sheer force of her attack caused the air to ripple and warp around her.

As the spear approached the forcefield, it suddenly disappeared from view, only to reappear behind it a split second later.

It struck one of the fifteen cyborg leaders in its way, leaving a gaping hole in its torso.

The spear continued on its trajectory, piercing through the air before striking straight into the heart of the City of Zukun.

*BOOOOOM*

The impact was catastrophic.

Buildings crumbled and debris flew in every direction, the shockwave of the blast spreading outwards in a deadly radius.

The once-futuristic city center of Zukun was now a scene of destruction and chaos, fires burning bright and smoke filling the air.

Metallic limbs flew through the air like autumn leaves, and the sound of circuits short-circuiting echoed through the city like mournful melodies.

Athena's overbearing personality and ferocity were on full display as she scoffed at the destruction she had caused.

"Hmph! Take this as interest for having the audacity to target my lil brother!"

She bellowed, the winds carrying her words throughout the ruined city.

With a final signal to the Astral Guardians, she commanded them to return home with her, leaving destruction and chaos in her wake.

Zukun was no ordinary city, it was a futuristic cyborg society where citizens had given up the sanctity of being a natural being.

They pursued the Way of Machina and believed that the symbiosis between the living and technology was the future.

Cyborgs of all shapes and sizes, their metallic limbs and glowing circuitry blending seamlessly with the flesh and blood of their human counterparts, roamed the streets.

Some were enhanced with incredible strength and agility, their bodies bristling with high-tech weaponry and armor.

Others were more subtle, their cybernetic implants giving them enhanced senses or cognitive abilities far beyond.

In Athena's eyes, the inhabitants of Zukun were nothing but mere puppets, their metallic limbs and glowing circuitry a mere façade for their lack of humanity.

She saw their pursuit of the Way of Machina as a tragic deviation from the natural order, a futile attempt to replace the beauty of life with cold, heartless machinery.

But in this instance, her convictions held no weight.

It didn't matter if they were man or machine.

It didn't matter the beliefs they held.

In the eyes of an Astral, ill will toward their blood evokes only one reaction -

Unbridled Vengeance.

For No One Messes With an Astral.