My Bad Boy Werewolf Quadrillionaire Space Lord

Do a Barrel Roll

This battle was legitimately unsporting.

Isabella the space pirate captain was, by any objective measure, a magnificent pilot. In the space of a few minutes, she had mastered these go kart planes, to the point where she was flying circles around the dozens of school -children who, despite having now been set on the same team against her, still had yet to land a single dart on the hull of her toy B-17.

And flying circles was, as Luca would discover, a rather literal accomplishment for this dashing pilot who still apparently had trouble with the zipper of her absurdly tight flight suit.

"Hang on, I'm going to do a barrel roll!" Isabella called out from the front seat.

Now, Luca was ready to admit that he wasn't much of a gamer. Dark Souls 22 had sent him into an apoplectic fit that ended with dropping the entire gaming rig, screen and all, out an airlock and then torpedoed just for his own satisfaction. But even someone who only occasionally dabbled was familiar with what a barrel roll was.

Which meant that when Isabella banked to the left, and slowing turned the plane upside down and slightly higher into the air, as if she were flying just around a massive barrel, Luca was completely unprepared.

But he enjoyed surprises, particularly from virile young women. He started laughing as the manoeuvre put the pursuit planes directly below them, and well within Luca's firing range.

Luca aimed down the sights, and let loose with a comical 'rat-a-tat-a-tat'. The noise had been recorded from the champion class from last year's quidditch competition, and made Luca laugh every time he heard it.

But his aim was true, and the dozens of darts his gun fired passed within inches of his first target until finally the handicap protocol relented and let a few of them bash against the wing of the toy Spitfire he was firing at. A cloud of steam poured out of the back of the plane, and the autopilot landing protocol took the plane into a slow dive.

Luca turned his sights onto the other plane, which was already turning away and beginning to dive. Luca fired a long burst, and after half a hundred darts passed through the air harmlessly, a few struck the plane and one managed to fall into the cockpit of the toy Zero.

Steam billowed from the diving plane, just as Isabella began to turn the plane back and finish this strange turn of hers. When they levelled out, Luca called out, "I thought you were going to do a barrel roll?"

"That was a barrel roll! Stop learning your aviation terms from Star Fox!" Isabella bit back, as she began a wide turn through the air. Her head was pointed towards the rest of the arena, looking for another target.

Luca followed her example, but started his search back on the runway, where a wing of five world war one biplanes were just beginning to take off. The centre plane was a prized mock-up version of the legendary Red Baron's fighter, painted blood-red and with the authentic Imperial German cross.

It looked like someone in that New Zealand school class had a sense for theatrics, and knew their history.

A sense for theatrics, knowledge of history, fond of a blood-red colour scheme...

"The vampire's joining the fight!" Luca called out, pointing with his gun towards the runway where the wing of planes were just beginning to take to the air.

"How do you know? I'm pretty sure you can't see their faces from all the way up here," Isabella replied, but she put the plane into a slow climb, and kept her eyes on the rising wing of planes.

"I'll put my yacht up against the wreck you left on my planet that he's in there," Luca retorted.

"No bet," Isabella conceded. "But it doesn't look like he's flying!"