Inconceivable Ch. 35 (Invincible AU) (Patreon)

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

A/N: Argan and Maya have their talk.

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Ensuring that the human’s space shuttle makes it safely back to Earth is much simpler than hunting down every sequid on Mars had been. Not to say even that was particularly complex work. It was just… tedious. Still, it had to be done. Argan’s only other option would have been to destroy the planet itself, but that risked destabilizing Earth’s own orbit and doing damage to his people’s new home.

No, that wasn’t an acceptable outcome for obvious reasons, so he’d gone ahead and done what had to be done. Millions of sequids had bred across Mars’ surface, both atop it and beneath it, but Argan had dealt with all of them… and with only some damage to the Martians’ civilization as well.

They could repair a few broken walls and pipes though. Argan wasn’t too worried about it.

Regardless, as he and Maya float in the space above Earth, the humans and their ship re-entering Earth’s atmosphere slowly but surely, Argan turns to Maya knowing full well that it’s time to have a very specific conversation with her.

Consume the rest of the oxygen in your tank and then discard both it and your helmet, Maya. This next conversation is not for anyone but the two of us.

Maya’s brow furrows, prompting Argan’s own brow to arch. Her eyes widen as she realizes what he’s implying… namely that the gear provided by the GDA is probably riddled with surveillance, just as Argan assumes the space shuttle was. Regardless, after a moment she nods and begins sucking in a huge lungful of air.

Their training in space before this trip was such that Maya could at least manage to hold her breath for an hour or so… which was more than enough time for what they needed to do. Once she’s ready, Maya takes off her helmet and the oxygen tank and lets them float away from her, before following him as he leads her to the surface of the Moon.

Call it paranoia, but Argan makes sure their conversation takes place on the far side of the Moon facing away from Earth. Once they’re there, he sits down on a sizable rock and watches as she takes a place beside him. Looking at him, Maya concentrates, trying to use the thought-transmission device for the first time.

What do you want to talk about, Argan? Oh god, I hope it’s not anything embarrassing…

Argan gives Maya a look at that.

Focus. You are broadcasting more than you intend.

Maya’s eyes widen and her face goes a bit red despite the vacuum of space. She ducks her head sheepishly.

Ah… sorry.

Shaking his own head, Argan focuses on the matter at hand.

It is fine. As for why we’re here… it is time for you to learn the truth about our people, Maya. We have not been entirely honest with you.

Going still beside him, the young hybrid watches him carefully.

What… what does that mean? What haven’t you or my dad told me yet?

Hm… how best to approach this? In the end, is there really any other way but to just say it? Argan does not see a path forward in which being vague and slow in revealing things is helpful in the long run. And so, with an internal shrug he turns and looks Maya right in the eye.

The Viltrumite Empire is no more. I and the Viltrumites I have brought with me to Earth in your father’s wake are not some expedition as we have presented ourselves. Rather, we all are the last Viltrumites in the entire universe.

There’s a pause as Maya processes his ‘words’. And then her eyes widen and she’s projecting at him uncontrollably again.

WHAT THE FUCK?! How the fuck is that possible? He can’t be serious! That’s insane! He must be pulling my leg! Oh my god, the Empire is GONE?! What does that even mean? What does that mean for-?

Control yourself, Maya!

In an instant, Argan looms over Maya, pressing her back into the Moon rock and slamming his palm down into the rock’s surface beside her head. He has no intention of harming her or anything… he simply needs to get her attention. Fortunately it works well. She freezes, her thoughts suddenly going quiet as she stares up into his eyes, her own eyes as wide as can be.

So handsome…

Argan blinks… and then leans back, sitting up and pretending like he didn’t hear that last bit.

I know you have questions, Maya. Focus on asking them in an orderly and organized manner and I shall answer in the same fashion.

Slowly sitting back up as well, Maya bites her lower lip, grimacing. Finally thought…

Can you… explain what you mean when you say the Viltrumite Empire is ‘no more’?

Argan nods sharply.

Indeed. It is as I say. The Viltrumite Empire, once thousands of planets strong and home to dozens upon dozens of species, has been disbanded. With only forty-three Viltrumites remaining, we could no longer maintain it. We were simply stretched too thin despite our personal strength and speed.

Maya shakes her head in return.

But… how? How are there so few Viltrumites left alive?

Looking out into space, Argan considers how to answer that for a moment. Because… he’s not intending to tell Maya everything. She doesn’t need to know what the Empire’s reputation was like. She doesn’t need to know what their people were like. That could come later, once they were fully integrated and she understood that she was Viltrumite first and human a distant second.

And yet… it still behooved him to make her understand that they had enemies, didn’t it? She needed to know why she couldn’t just go around telling every space-faring being who arrived on Earth what she was.

… Our enemies. They struck at us in a most treacherous manner. We were too powerful for them. Too strong by far. And so they resorted to despicable, underhanded methods to destroy us.

Turning his head, he looks at Maya.

It was called the Scourge Virus… and it wiped out three billion Viltrumites in less than a year.

Maya’s eyes widen, her horror palpable as she gapes at him for a moment before remembering to close her mouth and conserve her limited oxygen.

No…

Argan nods, vaguely pleased that her thought is tinged with such sorrow and grief for their people.

Indeed. I will not lie… it was before my time. But I have heard enough accounts to know it was truly awful. Your own father was almost as young as you when they launched their cowardly attack. He witnessed it firsthand… he survived it firsthand.

Dad…

Maya looks even sadder for a moment… before twitching and looking at Argan curiously.

Wait… but you said back at dinner that dad was over a thousand years old. Are you saying the Scourge Virus took place over a thousand years ago?!

Confused, Argan slowly nods.

Yes?

So the Viltrumite Empire hasn’t existed in over a thousand years?!

Ah, now Argan sees where Maya’s confusion stems from.

No… it is only just before we made the journey to Earth that the Empire came to an end. I ended it as one of my first acts as Grand Regent after… succeeding my father.

Maya looks at him blankly.

… So you’re saying forty-three Viltrumites held together your entire Empire for a thousand years?

Tilting his head to the side, Argan considers how to answer that.

There were approximately fifty Viltrumites left after the Scourge Virus ravaged our people. My mother died giving birth to me, so I replaced her among the survivors. In the thousand years since, six more Viltrumites fell as well, resulting in there only being forty-three left now… forty-four counting you. But yes Maya. We did maintain the Empire for the past thousand years on my father’s orders… to our own detriment.

Maya furrows her brow again, pursing her lips.

I… I don’t understand.

Here, Argan decides to tell a bit more of the truth. At the very least, it felt wrong to lie about what his father was like.

My father, Grand Regent Thragg, did not believe in showing weakness Maya. He did not want our enemies to know they had succeeded in bringing us low. He did not even want to acknowledge that we had been brought low. Rather than searching for a solution, he focused all of our efforts on maintaining the status quo so that those who had struck us did not learn how weak we had become.

Letting the corner of his mouth quirk up, Argan shrugs at Maya’s gobsmacked expression.

For a thousand years, we kept our people’s plight a secret from the universe at large. None of our enemies ever learned how few of us remaining. We lost no territory… but we also gained no territory. And as previously mentioned, we lost seven of us in the intervening millennium.

Maya looks thoughtful for a second before slowly shaking her head again.

That sounds… untenable.

Warmth spreads through Argan’s chest. She understands. She actually understands!

Yes! It was untenable! My father, for all his strength, was too shortsighted to see that he was leading us towards a slow yet inexorable end!

Nodding along with him, Maya smiles slightly.

And so when he passed and you inherited his position, you saw an opportunity to take your people in a different direction?

Our people, Maya.

R-Right. Our people!

Even thought-to-thought Maya still struggles with viewing the Viltrumites as her species. That is something they will have to work on. Still, the way she described it… as Thragg ‘passing’… Argan could have corrected her. He could have told her that he killed his father and took the position of Grand Regent by force.

… But he doesn’t.

You’re right though, yes. When I became Grand Regent, I enacted my own vision of our people’s future. I did not believe we needed to resign ourselves to an ignoble end fighting to defend a decaying Empire. I recalled every remaining Viltrumite including your father so I could explain my plans to them and we could plot our next steps.

He offers Maya a smile at that.

I did not know about Earth or your father’s mission when I did so, admittedly. When he arrived and told me of his success in siring you… well, it became obvious what our next steps had to be. Earth was where we would find our salvation… in the form of the humans.

Maya takes another moment to process all of this, giving his words deep consideration. Finally…

But… what about the rest of the Empire? All those planets and species relying on us for protection? We just… abandoned them?

Hm. On the one hand, Argan approves of her using words like ‘us’ and ‘we’. On the other hand…

It was either that or face inevitable extinction. By retreating for now, we hide ourselves from our enemies while we use Earth to rebuild. Eventually, in a day far into the future, we will be able to expand once more and reclaim former territory, bringing those once under our banner back into the fold. But until then… sacrifices had to be made.

Maya doesn’t look happy about it. But then, from what Argan had been told, her father had taught her that Viltrumites were protectors and guardians rather than conquerors. Ironically, the vast majority of former Viltrumite Territory would rejoice in the collapse of the Empire. Of course, they would do so rather foolishly and they would likely bemoan their fates once they realized what the structure and protection of being part of the Empire provided them.

There was another problem though with eventually reclaiming their lost Empire. While Argan certainly wanted to do so eventually… he couldn’t risk something like the Scourge Virus happening again. And they never had found out where the Scourge Virus came from.

… Their people would have to learn subterfuge from the humans, Argan suspected. Only through such underhanded methods would they be able to uncover the true nature of their enemies and annihilate them once and for all. And once the threat of something like the Scourge Virus was completely neutralized… well then, they could do what they were born to do and bring the entire galaxy under their control. All was theirs, after all.

I guess… I guess I understand.

Pulled from his own inner thoughts, Argan looks to Maya and finds her looking back at him with sadness but also comprehension in her eyes.

It's triage, right? I mean, you can’t save everyone… especially not if you don’t even bother to save yourself. We need to rebuild… and we’ll be able to here on Earth, like you said. And thanks to how long we live… even if it takes centuries, eventually we’ll be ready to get back out there and remind the galaxy that Viltrumites are not to be underestimated!

Argan grins, approving of Maya’s words. Though he also sees an opportunity to get to the heart of the matter as well.

Until then… you can no longer introduce us as Viltrumites to every alien you come across, Maya.

Looking caught off guard, Maya blinks.

What? Why? Oh…

Argan just arches a brow at her again and nods as he can tell she’s gotten it.

Yes. If our enemies find out where we have gone before we are ready to face them, the Earth and every human on it will be in grave danger. We must remain hidden for the time being. Fortunately, the Martians do not seem to have ever left this star system, so it should be fine. But if we encounter anyone from outside of your solar system…

They might spread word that Viltrumites are on Earth.

Argan inclines his head towards Maya as she finishes his thought for him.

Indeed.

She looks a little stricken for a moment, clearly upset by the idea that she’d nearly risked everyone by going and blabbing about them to the Martian Emperor. And then Argan watches something truly wondrous as Maya’s facial expression transforms into something… determined.

I promise I won’t let that happen Argan. And… I want to train harder. I want to get stronger and faster and prove I can be a reliable partner. Will you help me?

Argan is pleased, obviously. At the same time…

I will see what I can do, yes. However, the GDA is making use of my prowess for missions like today’s so I cannot promise as much of my time as I might wish to.

Maya leans forward, not accepting that.

What about the Flaxan Dimension? What if we went there? Isn’t an hour on Earth like… years on Flaxa or something? We could train for a year straight and only have ten minutes pass here!

Caught off guard, Argan considers Maya for a moment.

… You would be willing to spend so much relative time away from your mother and father?

Maya crosses her arms over her chest.

I’m an adult woman, Argan. I don’t need my parents at my beck and call twenty-four-seven. And for Viltrum? For Viltrum, I’m willing to do anything.

Ah… while Argan appreciates her sudden zeal, he can’t help but wince a little bit. The destruction of their home planet was the only thing they hadn’t gotten to yet.

Viltrum is gone, Maya. Lost to us. It…

But before he can elaborate, Maya shakes her head and cuts him off.

Viltrum isn’t a place, Argan. It’s an ideal and a people. Viltrum is wherever we set down roots. Its Earth. Its Flaxa. And one day… one day, we’ll spread that ideal of Viltrum to the rest of the galaxy as well. But first, I need to be stronger. And you’re the strongest Viltrumite I know so… please. Train me.

Well now. Argan’s lips slowly curl into a wide grin. He even bares his teeth, unconcerned about letting air slip out through the gaps into space.

Gladly.

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A/N: Maya – “We’ll spread the ideals of Viltrum to the entire galaxy one day!”The rest of the galaxy – “The fuck you will!”

Argan – “Did she stutter?”

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Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pXB1Dfrvgbinc9q1HxBpEoSw6i9_qzt7DmN7LTyRtis/edit?tab=t.0