Inconceivable Ch. 20 (Invincible AU) (Patreon)

(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Maya and Argan meet properly at long last.

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“Sir, as you already know this is my daughter Maya. Maya, this is Argan, my direct superior.”

They’d already met once before of course, but that had been in the heat of battle against the Flaxans. This was something else entirely. Argan regards the half-human daughter that the Great Nolan has sired as she stands before him desperately trying not to fidget.

Truth be told, if he had it his way he would not lie to the young female. She might be a hybrid, but she was still Viltrumite first and foremost in his eyes. He would tell her the truth if he didn’t know that they were being constantly watched by the humans they had allied with.

Admittedly, the temptation to just destroy the humans’ surveillance and tell them to stop it was strong… but Argan preferred the spies he knew about over the spies he might not know about. And from talking to Nolan he had gotten the impression that it was all but impossible for humans to leave things alone. They were an inherently curious species that needed to stick their noses in just about everything.

… Telling Maya the truth about their people and revealing her true importance to their species would have to wait until they could take her off world, far out of range of the humans’ greatest methods of surveillance. For now…

“It is a pleasure to meet you properly, Maya. You have my gratitude.”

The young woman is clearly flustered by his very presence, no doubt a combination of their first encounter combined with whatever Nolan might have already said about their people or him in particular. Regardless, Argan’s words seem to snap her out of her fugue state for a moment, causing her to blink in confusion.

“Wha- what do you mean? I’m the one who should be thanking you… you saved my life the other day against the Flaxans!”

Nolan looks a little pained at her bringing that up. Argan isn’t sure why. Certainly if he was judging Maya purely by the harsher standards his father had always espoused for their race, she would not be worthy of the name Viltrumite. And indeed, many of their kind would have allowed the Flaxan to kill her… or killed her themselves for being so weak as to wind up in such a situation in the first place.

Argan, of course, was more pragmatic than that. He wasn’t about to let the most successful example of a hybrid that they’d ever seen die without showing her full potential. Nor would he kill her simply for perceived weakness. Not when she’d proven herself to have the heart of a fighter when she’d risen from the ground and returned to the battle. Sure, some Viltrumites would consider that the bare minimum… but Argan was intrigued enough to want to see more.

“It was unfortunate that they were able to overpower you as they did. But your father has informed me of how little time has passed since you came into your heritage. You spent the vast majority of your life believing yourself to be an ordinary human, did you not?”

Biting her lower lip, Maya slowly nods her head.

“I… y-yes. I thought… well, we thought for the longest time that I wasn’t going to get any powers at all. That I was just… a human through and through.”

Impossible, at least in Argan’s opinion. Viltrumite DNA always bred true, at least in some way. It was simply a matter of… compatibility. The handful of hybrid experiments a thousand years ago back in the wake of the Scourge Virus while he’d still been growing up had only been deemed failures because the hybrids they produced hadn’t been strong enough for his father’s tastes.

Well, Argan wasn’t quite so picky. He would rather have a billion of Maya than be stuck with just over forty remaining Viltrumites for the rest of eternity. Besides, Maya might still surprise them all… who could say?

“Clearly you were not. You are a Viltrumite. That makes you one of the strongest beings in the galaxy simply by your nature. However, if you want to truly prove yourself worthy of your heritage… you will have to work hard.”

Maya nods her head rapidly, her eyes wide as her hands close into fists at her sides and her jaw clenches in determination.

“I-I’m ready to put in the work, sir! I really am! I’ll do whatever it takes to prove myself!”

Good. So long as she continued to have that drive, they were off to a good start.

“Very good. Let us begin then.”

And with that, they start the training session. Truth be told, it’s as much of an assessment as it is training. Even if Argan is already prepared for Maya to be weaker than the average Viltrumite, it’s important to his plans to know just how much weaker she is.

The answer, as it turns out, is ‘pretty damn weak’. Oh, she certainly tries her best… but it’s impossible for Maya to keep up and that’s with both Argan and Nolan pulling their punches and reserving quite large portions of their strength. He can tell that she is indeed exceptionally weak for a Viltrumite of her age… but then to be fair, most Viltrumites, even those recorded hybrids, come into their heritage when they’re still in the low single digits.

Indeed, by the same token, Maya is actually quite exceptional for only having her heritage unlocked for a few weeks. She’s not the disappointment that her father seems to fear she will be.

Yes, Argan is not blind to Nolan’s worrying. The other warrior tries to hide it of course, but he fails time and time again. His micro-expressions, mostly focused on his eyes and the minute twitches that betray aborted flinches, make it clear that Nolan thinks Argan might decide to terminate his daughter at any moment.

Argan would be more offended if it wasn’t for the fact that as far as Nolan was concerned, that was how Viltrumite society had operated for thousands upon thousands of years. If Thragg were here in Argan’s place, would Maya still be drawing breath? Extremely debatable… but the truth remained that Argan was not his father.

Besides, Argan has very, very good eyesight. As such, he can see what perhaps even Nolan cannot perceive… Maya’s improvement. It is minor, of course, barely even noticeable over the period of time that they train together for. Even as Argan and Nolan bring the young female to her physical limits again and again… she doesn’t succumb. Indeed, he can quite literally see her improving in real time, the Viltrumite cells within her body assimilating non-Viltrumite cells.

She’s regenerating torn muscles and strained ligaments just like any other Viltrumite would be able to. She’s growing stronger with the focus that he and her father are giving her. Not by much… not enough to satisfy most Viltrumites, even. But Argan is not most Viltrumites.

More than anything, it is Maya’s personality that Argan approves of the most. She has a drive to succeed that, while largely influenced by her innate need to impress him, is nevertheless impressive. She pushes herself past her own limits time and time again, until even Nolan looks like he wants to call a stop to the training session.

… He doesn’t say a word though, more afraid of what Argan might do if he tries. In the end, Argan is the one to raise a hand.

“Enough.”

Maya blinks as Nolan comes to a stop, both daughter and father looking to him carefully.

“I can… I can keep g-going…”

“She can, Argan. She’s more than capable of toughing this out. There’s no need to…”

Nolan trails off like he doesn’t quite know what he’s going to say. Or maybe that’s the problem… maybe he knows exactly what he would say if it weren’t within his daughter’s ear shot… or the ears of the humans spying on them even now.

“There’s no need to keep going. I’ve seen enough.”

Maya’s shoulders slump and Nolan tenses up. Argan has to resist the urge to roll his eyes at both of them. Were they really so bad at reading his mood?

“I am impressed.”

Nolan’s eyes widen in disbelief while Maya’s breath hitches, her head coming up and her own gaze hopeful. Argan simply arches a brow.

“You have a long way to go before you can be called a Viltrumite Warrior, Maya. As it currently stands, you have the strength of a newborn.”

Even as Maya slumps again (truly she’s an expressive creature) Argan continues on, making sure to stress the meaning behind his words.

“But that’s just it… you are a newborn in terms of Viltrumite Strength. When compared to the records we have of those like you, you are not at all disappointing… in fact, I believe you have the potential to be impressive.”

Rapidly blinking at the emotional whiplash he seems to be subjecting her to; Maya bites her lower lip again.

“Y-You truly think so?”

In an instant, Argan is in front of her. He moves so fast that she nearly jumps out of her skin, while her father takes a full step forward before realizing Argan’s arms are at his sides and his stance is not one of hostility… physically at least.

“Stand up straight and square your shoulders! Cease your stuttering and dispel this incessant self-doubt you labor under! You are a Viltrumite, no matter what anyone else might say. Do not ask me to tell you whether you are worthy or not… demand it! Grab hold of this opportunity with both hands and make yourself worthy!”

Eyes wide, Maya does as she’s told, her back and spine snapping straight and her shoulders squaring. She swallows hard and for a second Argan is concerned she might cry. Carl was one thing but…

“Yes sir! I understand! I swear I won’t let you or the Viltrumite Empire down! I’m going to prove myself worthy! I’m going to show that I’m just as capable of protecting Earth as all of you are!”

Her hands curled into fists at her sides, Maya shouts with her full chest, her eyes burning with determination. Argan… smiles and reaches out, placing a hand on her shoulder that nearly seems to undo her newfound courage. But after wavering for a moment, she recovers.

“I believe you, Maya. You will do your father, me, and our people proud. I’m sure of it.”

Her face begins to redden and before she can truly come undone, Argan pulls his hand away and steps back.

“You are dismissed for now, young acolyte. Do not quit training, however. So long as you don’t give up, you will be a worthy warrior of Viltrum one day.”

Maya nods sharply, stealing one last glance towards her father before departing. Nolan, meanwhile, watches her go for a moment before looking back to Argan, still rather… flummoxed. Rather than speak, Argan just nods his head towards the sky and begins to rise into the air. Nolan is quick to follow the nonverbal command.

Together, they arrive in space within moments, far away from the recording devices of the humans who had been spying on them. Once they are floating over the Earth, Argan crosses his arms over his chest and gives Nolan a meaningful look. One that Nolan responds to be bowing his head.

… Apologies Grand Regent. My behavior was unacceptable.

Argan is tempted to ask ‘what part’… but in the end, he simply strikes at the heart of the matter as he is prone to do.

You see me as my father even now, Nolan. I am not my father. I will not kill a promising young woman just because she does not meet my standards yet.

Nolan considers that for a moment before responding.

And if she never meets your standards, Grand Regent?

If not for the vacuum of space, Argan would huff.

You underestimate your own progeny, Nolan. She grows even now. And I suspect she will continue to grow for some time to come. So long as she does not stop struggling to achieve parity with us, she will not remain behind forever. I am sure of it.

There’s another pause… and then Nolan lets relief wash over his face as he bows his head towards Argan.

If you believe it, Grand Regent, then I shall bow to your wisdom.

Argan considers that for a moment… and then blurs forward, planting his fist in Nolan’s gut before the other Viltrumite can even react. Nolan doubles over his arm, much of his oxygen expelled from his lungs as his mouth is forced open in a silent shout of pain.

It’s not enough to put the elite warrior in any real danger, of course. Not when there is atmosphere and breathable air on the planet right beneath them. Still…

That is for doubting me, Nolan. And for doubting your daughter. You will cease thinking about what my father would do and start considering what I have done and what I aim to do. It should be my grand designs that light your path and guide your day to day actions now… not my fathers’. Do I make myself clear?

Slowly, Nolan uncurls as Argan withdraws his fist, their eyes meeting. The other Viltrumite finally nods after a long moment.

… Yes, Grand Regent. Apologies, Grand Regent.

Argan holds Nolan’s gaze for a moment longer before jerking his head.

You are dismissed.

With that, Nolan departs and Argan is left alone floating over his people’s new home. Looking down at the Earth below, he lets out a silent, expensive sigh, precious air flowing from his lungs into the vacuum of space.

Truthfully, part of him was wondering even now why he was being so… gentle with Nolan’s daughter. After all, she did have potential… the same potential that he’d had when he was just a babe. By all rights, he should consider subjecting her to the same training regimen that his own father put him through, just to see if she was capable of becoming anything close to him in strength.

And yet… he finds himself turning away from the thought. Why? Argan can’t quite say. He disagreed with his father on a lot of things but how to become strong and the necessary sacrifices for such strength… that wasn’t one of them… right?

But when he thinks of tearing into Maya, when he thinks of bringing her to the edge of life and death again and again, leaving her nearly drowning in her own blood day after day just to toughen her up… Argan shakes his head.

It wasn’t necessary. That’s what he tells himself, anyways. They are hiding now. They don’t need the next generation, of which Maya is the first, to be as strong as possible as fast as possible. They have time… all the time in the world.

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A/N: This is a narrative device known as foreshadowing, wink.

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Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-uchETXprLbv1hb2vOpNQ2C8x8waoUJbKnirIujICxA/edit?tab=t.0