Inconceivable Ch. 42 (Invincible AU) (Patreon)

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

A/N: Maya is doing great!

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Maya was on top of the world. Training with Argan had been a dream come true, but it was feeling the effects of it all once they were back on Earth that really drove home how valuable the time with him had been. Forget Eve’s lurid thoughts for a moment, Maya had Argan’s single-minded focus for eight months and all he cared about was one thing… improving her in every possible way he could.

She was so fast now that the GDA obstacle course couldn’t really challenge her anymore, even with Eve taking pot shots. She’d handily won their little contest and extracted a few concessions from Eve that she fully intended to take advantage of at a later date.

Meanwhile, she’d also gotten back out there and on patrol, stopping crimes and taking down bad guys wherever she found them. Sometimes Eve and the GDA called her in, sometimes she was left to her own devices. Either way, she was kicking ass and taking names and all around just proving to be a better her than she’d ever thought possible.

Really, the only sour spot to everything… was that she had yet to get another training session in with Argan. Maya knew she couldn’t be too upset about that. It had only been a week or so since their first one, after all. However, considering that first training session had literally taken place within a single ten minute window back on Earth… well, she was jonesing for the next hit. Like she was an addict or something.

Though, perhaps she wasn’t that addicted… because she had yet to work up the courage to ask Argan for another trip to Flaxa. It should have been easy, right? It was pretty much on the same level as asking Eve if she wanted to workout and Maya managed to do that all the time!

Only, it was both more and less of a commitment than that, wasn’t it? It was a short time period here on Earth, sure, but it was also a lot of time over on Flaxa. And as much as Maya was happy that she and Argan had gotten to spend eight months doing nothing but training… she also recognized how much of a commitment it was.

Eight months without her parents or friends. Eight months on an alien planet. Eight months with only the man who had gone and saved her life as company. Yes, she and Argan hadn’t done anything… sexual together in all that time… but Maya would be lying if she said she didn’t want to.

If she went to Flaxa with Argan again, she was worried she might make a fool of herself. And then-

“Maya Grayson.”

Blinking, Maya is pulled out of her thoughts rather abruptly by a female voice practically next to her. Which is a little bit surprising considering she’s flying through the air high above the cloud layer. She’d become so distracted that someone had managed to sneak up on her!

With a yelp, Maya whips around… and stares at the woman who comes to a stop and floats in front of her with arms crossed over her chest. No, not ‘the woman’… but rather the female Viltrumite.

Tilting her head to the side, Anissa arches her brow.

“Do you know who I am?”

Gulping, Maya slowly nods.

“Uh… y-yeah. Dad told me about you. Anissa, right? You’re the strongest female Viltrumite a- b-by far.”

She’d almost said ‘alive’, but obviously this wasn’t a safe place to say that sort of thing. Maya wasn’t sure if GDA surveillance was quite as powerful as Argan sometimes seemed to think it was, but he’d given her orders to hold her tongue all the same and better to be safe than sorry. She definitely wasn’t going to fuck up, not after he’d trusted her.

Anissa hums, regarding Maya cooly even now.

“Hm. Indeed. And do you know what I am to Argan?”

… What? Maya blinks, easily picking up the insinuation in Anissa’s tone. Was the other Viltrumite really saying what she thought she was saying?

“Um. You’re…”

She trails off, not wanting to say it. In the end, Anissa bulldozes right on through, uncaring of Maya’s feelings.

“I am Argan’s mate… and the mother to his unborn child.”

Her arms uncross so one of her hands can slide down to her stomach. Maya can’t quite stop her eyes from following… and now that Anissa has mentioned it, she sees the light bulge in the other Viltrumite’s abdomen. It would look like a bit of a paunch on anyone else… but that’s the thing, Viltrumites didn’t have paunch. They didn’t get pudgy either. Not without a very good reason.

In Anissa’s case, that very good reason was apparently a pregnancy. She was pregnant. With Argan’s child. Maya’s mouth opens and closes as she stares, feeling incredibly foolish. All this time she’d… well, she’d let Eve’s teasing get to her a little bit, maybe. She’d begun to wonder if she had a chance with Argan, or something.

But now… now she knew better.

“I… I’m sorry if you f-felt threatened by me. I don’t-!”

Anissa is suddenly right in front of her, moving so fast Maya can barely keep up. She still does register the other Viltrumite’s speed though, thanks to Argan’s training. Still, registering is not the same as being able to actually react and respond to it. Fortunately for Maya, Anissa is not attacking her… she’s merely invading her personal space.

“Threatened? You think I feel threatened by you? That’s as insulting as it is amusing.”

Maya blanches a little bit.

“T-That’s not what I meant! I know you’re stronger than me, I more meant in a romantic sense!”

When Anissa continues to look at her strangely from way too close, Maya continues to try to explain.

“Argan has been a perfect gentleman! He hasn’t done a single thing to betray your trust or your love for him. I p-promise, we’ve had a completely platonic relationship so far!”

There’s a long pause at that and Maya worries that Anissa won’t believe her. Finally though…

“What are you talking about? What is this prattling about a ‘perfect gentleman’ and my ‘trust and love’ for Argan? Is this Earth nonsense I’m supposed to understand?”

Maya opens her mouth… and then shuts it as she stares at Anissa, a little befuddled. In response, Anissa scoffs at her, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest again.

“You enjoy Argan’s company. So do I. This is unsurprising… he is the finest Viltrumite male to have ever existed.”

Maya swallows and nods.

“I d-don’t disagree… but I haven’t enjoyed his company like you have. I swear it. He hasn’t cheated on you.”

Anissa just scowls, her face scrunching up in frustration.

“That is exactly the problem, Maya Grayson. Argan has yet to take you to bed when it is obvious you are willing. At this point, I suspect there to be something wrong with you.”

Wait… what? Maya blinks rapidly, completely and utterly taken off guard.

“Um… sorry? What are you talking about?”

Anissa sniffs haughtily.

“It is simple. You and I both know why we came to this planet.”

The meaningful way she says that makes it clear Anissa knows that Maya knows the truth. But of course, they have to beat around the bush just in case. Maya nods wordlessly all the same. Anissa just glares at her.

“Argan, as the strongest of us, should frankly have taken as many human women as he possibly could, in order to spread his blood far and wide. However, he has standards… and I will admit that I appreciate his standards far too much to complain.”

Parsing what Anissa was saying… she was basically saying Argan could have already impregnated hundreds if not thousands of women if he really wanted to. If he didn’t care about who exactly he was knocking up.

Admittedly, Maya agreed with that assessment. While it was true that Argan’s superhero persona was developing a bit of a destructive reputation in his actions to protect people and save the planet… women loved a bad boy.

Anissa, it seems, doesn’t mind that Argan is being choosy, however. In fact, she quite likes it.

“At this point in time, he has only lain with me and the one you call ‘War Woman’. Other candidates have proven… limited or lacking so far.”

Hold on, Argan had slept with and knocked up War Woman?! Maya’s eyes bulge out of her skull at that particular piece of juicy gossip. The internet was convinced that War Woman was gay, after all.

Not that Anissa seems to care that she’s dropped a bombshell on Maya or anything like that.

“You, as the daughter of the Great Nolan and the most successful hybrid our species has ever seen, seem like an obvious choice for Argan to bed. However, so far he has… ‘dragged his feet’ as you humans like to say. He says that he sees your potential. He tells me that he believes you have what it takes to be glorious.”

Wait, Argan really said all that? Maya finds herself puffing up a bit, pride filling her chest at Anissa’s words. And then…

“But I’m not sure I see it. Now that I have you in front of me… I wonder if you are truly worthy of Argan’s attention.”

… O-Oh. Maya visibly deflates for a moment… but only a moment. She quickly bounces back, eyes narrowing and jaw setting in determination.

“I’m worthy! And even if I’m not yet, I swear I can become worthy!”

And yes, part of her knows she’s literally arguing for the opportunity to become Argan’s broodmare. Another part of her even acknowledges that she’s likely being played here, at least a little bit. Anissa has Argan’s ear… she doesn’t need to come here and tell Maya to her face that she’s not worthy. Not unless what she really wants…

“Heh, prove it.”

Yeah, that. Maya flushes a bit as Anissa grins ferally and throws down that ultimatum at her feet. The female Viltrumite isn’t exactly being subtle about it… she wants Maya to show her something good. She wants Maya to fight to become part of Argan’s harem.

Maya understands this. Really, she does. But at the same time… she wants to impress Argan. And as an extension of that, she now finds that she wants to impress Anissa as well. Of course…

“How? Um… I really don’t want to spar with you. I know you’re still much faster and stronger than me, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable fighting someone who’s pregnant…”

Anissa blinks at that and then barks out a laugh.

“Cute. But no… you’re still beneath me, girl. This world has challenges aplenty for you though, does it not? And you certainly have shown yourself intent on facing them.”

Picking up what Anissa is putting down, Maya slowly nods.

“You want to… shadow me while I fight crime and help people? That seems fine to me.”

Arching a brow, Anissa hums.

“… Quite. To be clear, I was not asking. I would have done so regardless of whether you deigned to give me permission or not. Know that you are being watched, Nolan’s daughter. You are being judged, measured, and considered. Do try and impress me.”

Well… so she was a bit of a bitch. Then again, Maya was starting to understand her people a little bit better through interactions with Argan and now Anissa. Eight months with Argan had taught her that he was incredibly direct and no-nonsense, but Maya had thought that was just him, especially seeing as her father had always been more… human.

But that was clearly the influence of her mother talking, because Anissa was a hell of a lot more like Argan than Nolan. And that sort of directness… Maya could appreciate it, even if Anissa was a little bit stuck up from the look of things.

Nodding seriously, she looks down at the clouds below.

“Alright then… I’ll go ahead and get started. Feel free to follow.”

“I will. You will not detect my presence most of the time.”

Maya opens her mouth… but then closes it, thinking better of responding. Instead, she just dives back down through the clouds and gets closer to the city, looking for something to get involved in.

True to Anissa’s word, when she looks back after a bit, she can’t find the other woman anywhere. It seems like she’s all alone… but Maya knows it only seems like that. In reality… well, she’s definitely being watched. And like Anissa had said, she’s being judged.

Maya tries not to let the pressure get to her… and mostly fails as she scans the city below, flying over it looking for trouble. She just needs to show Anissa that she’s not some weakling. That she’s a capable and strong warrior in her own right. She just needs to-

Hang on… had someone seriously painted most of her name on a rooftop in yellow paint? It only read ‘NVINCBL’ but it was pretty damn eye-catching all the same… as well as obvious who they were trying to get the attention of.

Well… maybe this would be interesting enough for Anissa to take notice?

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A/N: I’m sure nothing bad will happen here whatsoever.

Throw me a comment if you can but please leave a Like if you don’t want to, it’s the main metric I use to track whether a story is doing well or not!

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Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vMQVcAIoRhLDK5zjEEWA-6TokX4gJDdYtUVPZhLRCd8/edit?tab=t.0