First Intergalactic Emperor: Starting With The Ancient Goddess

”What did you do?” Dominic shouted, voice booming across the room as he grabbed Xavier by the collar.

Xavier just blinked. ”Me? I didn’t do anything.”

He didn’t even try to resist. Instead, he tilted his head toward Maximilian, who was still holding the gun, hands trembling.

”Maybe you should ask the guy with the weapon.”

Dominic’s eyes flicked to the gun.

”I was just watching them play a game,” Xavier added, deadpan.

Then, slowly, his eyes met Dominic’s, and the tone in his voice dropped. ”Now let me go.”

Dominic hesitated... then released his grip.

He turned to Maximilian. ”Is this some prank? Are you messing with me right now?”

Maximilian didn’t answer. He just stood there. Still. Lost.

Dominic cursed under his breath and crouched next to Leonardo’s body, took out his scanner and ran a quick read. A red beep.

[STATUS: DECEASED]

He closed his eyes for a second. ”What the fuck happened here?”

Maximilian still couldn’t speak.

So Xavier did.

”Alright, alright. I’ll tell you. Everything,” Xavier said, stretching his arms before clasping them behind his back like some drama school reject. ”So. From the top.”

He began pacing, acting it out like a stage performer. ”Since dear Max here got suspended, I figured, you know what? Let’s be the bigger man. Let’s squash the beef, bury the hatchet, all that peace-loving shit.”

Dominic glared at him. Xavier didn’t flinch.

”I thought, hey, why not come over and help him with the lectures he’s missing? After all, you already did your little three-task redemption arc, right? So I thought we’re good now.”

He paused for effect, then grinned. ”I even thought of befriending him.”

Dominic’s jaw tensed, but he stayed quiet.

”But you see, I didn’t wanna come alone. Never been to Max’s place. So I thought—who better to show me around than his lovely, loyal, totally not slutty girlfriend?”

Maximilian’s fists clenched.

”Cindy agreed right away,” Xavier continued, pretending to be surprised by that fact. ”Said she missed me. What a sweetheart.”

Xavier spun on his heel and faced Dominic again. ”I even messaged Max, told him I was with Cindy. Told him we’d be having fun. Full transparency.”

No response.

”But he wasn’t here. And Cindy had access. So, we waited in his room. Got bored. And, well...”

He let the sentence hang.

Dominic clenched his fists now. ”Keep talking.”

”So yeah. We had some fun. Didn’t want Max to feel left out, so I sent him the videos. Full HD. Premium content.”

Xavier smirked.

”And then when he came home...” Xavier faked confusion. ”I don’t know why, but he was mad. He glanced over at Cindy, who was sleeping on the bed with a satisfied look on her face.”

”Maybe he was jealous since he couldn’t do the same... even if he tried? Dunno. But I figured, hey, maybe he needs to cool off. So I took a shower. When I came out, boom—he pointed the gun at me.”

Dominic looked back and forth between them, his suspicion growing.

”Lucky for me,” Xavier added with a grin, ”your call came right on time. Saved my life, cop.”

Dominic’s brow furrowed. He was clearly trying to connect dots that Xavier had purposefully scattered all over the place.

”And him?” Dominic pointed to Leonardo’s body. ”How the hell did that happen?”

”Oh that.” Xavier chuckled. ”Well, you see, Max here started bragging about how good he is at shooting. Gold medalist and all. I thought, ’Wow, that’s amazing.’ So I gave him a little challenge.”

He paused dramatically. ”Shoot a mug off Leo’s head.”

Dominic looked like he’d just heard the dumbest thing ever.

”But oops...” Xavier let out a laugh, loud and obnoxious. ”He missed. Like, totally missed. Straight to the skull. Leo just dropped like a sack of meat. Fucking hilarious.”

He walked over, crouched next to Leonardo’s body, tapped his chest lightly. ”No hard feelings, right?”

Dominic looked like he was about to explode.

”And you know what?” Xavier turned to them, laughing again. ”If someone uploads this whole scene to the net, it’d go so viral. Just imagine the title: ’Elite Academy Student Shoots Best Friend in Dumbest Game Ever.’”

He snorted. ”People would laugh their asses off.”

Maximilian couldn’t move.

Dominic was done listening. His silence was deadly.

Xavier leaned back on the couch again and kicked his legs up like nothing happened. ”So, uh... we eating dinner or nah?”

Dominic snapped.

”What the fuck are you planning, Xavier?! Why the hell are you doing all this when everything was already solved?!”

Xavier tilted his head slightly and blinked. ”Huh? What’re you talking about?”

”Don’t play dumb with me!” Dominic barked, voice hard. ”Why’d you get Leonardo killed when his father had already paid your fucking share of that ten million?!”

Xavier blinked again, slower this time, letting his mouth hang open like a confused child. ”Wait... got him killed? What are you talking about?” He glanced around, as if genuinely baffled. ”I didn’t do anything. Max pulled the trigger. If anything, he killed Leonardo. Accident or not.”

Dominic’s teeth clenched. ”Don’t fuck with me. I’m a cop, kid. It’s obvious as hell—you forced him.”

Xavier scoffed. ”I asked him to shoot a mug. That’s it. I didn’t force anyone. What, now asking your friend to prove he’s not full of shit is murder?”

”You manipulated him,” Dominic growled.

”Got proof?” Xavier shot back, voice cutting now. He leaned back and waved his hand lazily. ”Go ahead. Check your little security logs. I mean, this is your house, right? Sensors, cams—should be everywhere.”

Dominic’s lips parted, but nothing came out. His brain was scrambling for a counter, but there was none. Not immediately.

Xavier looked at him, then at Maximilian, and then let out a light laugh through his nose. ”What, nothing? Thought so.”

He stood, stretching his arms, and then tapped on the side of his glasses. ”Don’t worry though, I figured it might take a while for you to check all that... so let me help speed things up.”

”What...?”