Inconceivable Ch. 43 (Invincible AU) (Patreon)

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

A/N: Argan being a little shit. Scratch that, Argan doesn’t do anything ‘little’. This is Argan being a BIG shit, lol.

-x-X-x-

“The President isn’t happy, Argan.”

Sitting in Cecil’s office, Argan arches a brow.

“Am I supposed to care?”

The Director of the GDA throws him a look at that.

“Yes, you’re supposed to care. He’s the President of the United States and the goddamn leader of the free world. He’s the one who signed off on you and your people being given proper identities and papers so you could hide here on Earth. And while we both know that it would be a big mistake if he tried to rescind those papers, he might still do it if he gets his nose tweaked one too many times.”

Argan hums at that, still not overly concerned. After all, while human politics were still quite labyrinthian to him, he understood enough to know that Cecil held far more power and influence than he liked to let on. It was precisely why Thula had ultimately been drawn to him and chosen him as her mate.

So, in the event that this ‘President’ chose to do something as foolish as Cecil was proposing, Argan knew that Cecil would not let such a decision actually take effect. The GDA Director would step in and do whatever proved necessary to ensure that the Viltrumite Expedition remained on Earth at this point… they were too effective for him not to.

“… I really don’t see what reason he has to complain. I stopped this latest monster and slew it before it could do too much harm to the surrounding civilian population. Considering that it had attacked your nation’s capital, one would think its swift dispatch would be lauded.”

Cecil just stares at him for a moment before covering his face with his palm and groaning. Once he’s done, he growls at Argan.

“You ripped the Washington Monument out of the ground and used it to spear the fucking kaiju in the eye before slamming it down the entire length of the Reflection Pool and through the Lincoln Memorial.”

Argan blinks. Slowly.

“It was a rather large creature. It required a larger weapon. How was I supposed to know the phallic, pointed shape was a monument and not put there in case of kaiju attacks? Your world suffers from them quite frequently, after all.”

Eyes narrowing into slits, Cecil scoffs.

“Don’t play stupid with me, Argan. You’ve been on Earth for months now, I know just how much you’ve picked up. Especially about our cuisine.”

Hm… fair. Argan had certainly taken a liking to trying out different Earth foods. Korean BBQ continued to hold a special place in his heart, but he’d had very few bad experiences so far. It was all just so delicious and entirely new to him…

Still.

“I don’t see what that has to do with the success of today’s mission. I eliminated the threat in record time. If your superiors are upset by how I handled things, they can tell me to my face, no? After all… we both know that you yourself are not unhappy with my conduct.”

Cecil pauses at that, glaring at him for a moment longer before dropping into his own chair behind his desk with a heavy sigh.

“… If I don’t know any better, I’d say you had some sort of grudge against our monuments and statues, Argan. I swear, a new one gets destroyed every time you get near them.”

Argan… very carefully doesn’t react to that. Because Cecil is definitely on to something there. After all, while it wasn’t as though the Viltrumite Empire could go around putting up statues of Emperor Argall all over the place without signaling to the rest of the galaxy where they had gone… that didn’t mean he had to suffer monuments to lesser beings.

Not that he venerated Emperor Argall nearly as much as his father did. Still, in much the same way Argan had forced what little remained of their people to leave their past in the past… so to did he intend for the humans to eventually put their history behind them as well.

In the coming years, decades, and centuries, life on Earth was going to change dramatically… and remembering these old leaders and their doings would become irrelevant.

Of course, Cecil didn’t know that yes, much of Argan’s destruction was purposeful. So he shrugs instead.

“If you wished for your monuments to stand the test of time… and other things, then you should have made them out of tougher materials. What even was that at the top? Aluminum of all things?”

Cecil sighs and shakes his head.

“Aluminum was one of the world’s rarest metals, back when the Monument was built. It was a testament to the country’s wealth at the time.”

Argan just grunts derisively, showing how little he thinks of that. And finally… Cecil moves on.

“… War Woman is certainly moving fast with her latest business venture. She’s ruffling quite a few feathers utilizing the assistance you’ve rendered her.”

This brings a smile to Argan’s face. Indeed, his ‘arrangement’ with the human woman had been going quite well so far. She was already pregnant with his child, and in exchange she’d been given access to certain Viltrumite Technologies… access that she’d gone ahead and ran with.

Argan didn’t fully understand the details of everything she’d done, mostly because it involved quite a lot of humanity’s inane focus on economics and ‘capitalism’, but essentially, Holly had not only exited her old company, but she’d also scooped them at the same time, releasing her last project under their name for free on the human internet.

It would have probably gotten her into more trouble if she wasn’t who she was, but she’d ultimately gotten away with it and then started her new company, where he and his people had been able to introduce certain choice pieces of technology into human society earlier… albeit with some modifications from Holly herself.

Apparently the world wasn’t necessarily ready for thought-transmission devices installed directly in their brains yet. But they did like the idea of an unobtrusive headset that could do the same thing. Likewise, Holly had made a new ‘Operating System’ based on their technology that was quickly taking humankind by storm and even outpacing her own old work.

All in all, she was achieving her goals of making the world a better place for all of humanity… with their help. And Argan fully intended to keep helping her, because the more united humanity was, the easier it was for the Viltrumites to assimilate properly.

Of course, Cecil clearly doesn’t agree.

“Why are you telling me this, Cecil? If you’re upset with her, why not tell her yourself?”

Cecil narrows his eyes again, frowning. His hands clasp in front of him, one over the other curled into a fist and his knuckles are visibly white.

“… You could rein her in. Tell her to slow down. Refrain from letting her move quite this fast. She’s upturning decades if not centuries of tradition… it’s not good for the status quo for things to move this quickly, Argan.”

Hmph. Call him biased if you wish, but Argan disagreed. Maybe it was because he’d watched his father try to maintain the ‘status quo’ for a thousand years, disregarding half-hearted attempts like Nolan’s secret mission, but the status quo was the last thing Argan wanted to support here. He liked new things. He liked new experiences. And he liked that they were already changing humanity for the better.

“I will not.”

When Cecil just frowns, Argan shrugs and elaborates.

“I find it all rather disgusting, the more I learn about you humans and your economic posturing. The inefficiency, the wastefulness… all for the sake of meaningless points in a digital database. Truth be told, it angers me quite a bit.”

That causes Cecil to tense up as Argan lets said anger leak into his voice and his posture. He’s not trying to scare the other man or anything like that though… he’s merely trying to get his point across.

“In reality, I want to see War Woman upend this backwards barbaric system of yours. If she doesn’t do it, I might feel compelled to do it myself… and you and I both know I won’t have the patience to do it from the inside as she is.”

Cecil’s lips purse into a thin line.

“Is that a threat, Argan?”

Smiling back at him, Argan doesn’t bother answering the question properly. Instead…

“Besides. Can you truly complain about what we’ve given to War Woman when you yourself have benefited so greatly from what Thula has given you?”

That makes Cecil stiffen, his back going ramrod straight. And yet… the proof is right in front of Argan’s eyes. Cecil Stedman is no longer the aging, balding human he was when Argan and his people first arrived on this planet. Instead, the GDA Director has an entirely new lease on life. His hair has regained its original blond color, he’s lost at least thirty years of age, and on top of all of that, he’s several times as strong and fast as the average human now.

And all for the low, low price of selling himself to Thula. A trade that, from what little Argan knew, they were both quite happy with.

Not that Cecil wants to admit it, of course.

“I’m not interested in talking about Thula with you, Argan.”

And then he goes on the attack.

“Instead let’s talk about your insistence on monopolizing the beneficial effects of the Flaxan Dimension.”

Argan can’t help but arch a brow. He hadn’t thought Cecil would go here to be honest, but from the look of things… this might be the subject that the other man was building up to all along.

“I know you took Maya Grayson to Flaxa for eight months while only ten minutes passed here on Earth. That was two weeks ago and she improved in leaps and bounds thanks to your… personal attention.”

Humming, Argan nods. He sees no reason to try and deny it… if he hadn’t wanted Cecil to find out about this, he’d have done a better job of hiding it in the first place. But while there were secrets Argan was keeping from the human man, this was not one of them.

“And?”

Cecil scowls at Argan’s casual response.

“And… we could do a lot with access to the Flaxan Dimension. Even a single GDA research facility over there could result in decades if not centuries of human progress happening in the span of a year or two. To say nothing of how having a GDA training facility on Flaxa would allow us to train up some of our own heroes that benefit from such things.”

Then, pausing, Cecil purses his lips.

“Except… despite being deeply apologetic over trying to invade our planet and more than willing to pay reparations and rebuild what they destroyed, the Flaxans are refusing to allow us to do so. Citing concerns over what the time dilation might do to us in their universe, given how much damage it did to them in ours.”

Argan shrugs again.

“It is a legitimate concern, is it not? The first Flaxans to invade Earth nearly died because of the rapid aging they underwent.”

“You Viltrumites don’t seem to have any issue transitioning between the two universes.”

Here, Argan lets himself smile.

“Time does not effect Viltrumites in the same way it effects humans and Flaxans.”

Scoffing, Cecil rolls his eyes.

“Right. You’re ‘built different’. Still, my scientists have been researching the issue extensively… and they are convinced that actually, there’s no danger to us spending time in the Flaxan Dimension at all. Rather, someone from our universe going over there were actually age slower, allowing for a human to spend hundreds of years there while barely aging at all. So in actuality, there’s no reason for you to continue to restrict access!”

Hah. Well… two could play at this game, now couldn’t they? And if Cecil didn’t want Argan playing games like this, he shouldn’t have led by example.

“Actually, there’s something that I’ve been meaning to ask you. Now that we’re making the lifespan extensions and other biological enhancements available to you and yours… when do you intend to grant the one you call Donald Ferguson a new body?”

Cecil freezes in place, his eyes widening and his face actually going pale. It’s the biggest reaction Argan has gotten from him yet.

“… Excuse me?”

Arching an amused brow, Argan shrugs.

“You didn’t think we wouldn’t notice, did you? Every Viltrumite has been able to tell that your second is more machine than man since we arrived on this planet. The only question now is… why is he still like that?”

Before he can formulate a response to that, the GDA Director is suddenly cut off by a chirping from his computer. Immediately, Cecil’s eyes are on his monitor and he begins to type away at his keyboard.

Minutes pass and Argan raises both brows as Cecil begins to mumble under his breath, his brow furrowing in consternation. Curious at what would possibly take his attention away from this meeting but also assuming that he’s actually just trying to get out of answering that last query, Argan eventually rolls his eyes and leans forward.

“What is it? What’s happening?”

“… A superpowered fight. Something is happening at Machine Head’s Tower.”

Argan blinks.

“Who?”

Cecil spares him a single exasperated glance.

“He’s the crime lord of Chicago. I suppose he’s a bit too ‘small potatoes’ for you to have heard of.”

A ‘crime lord’… ugh, another example of the humans’ inefficiency. Still, Cecil is right… it’s beneath Argan’s notice.

At least, until Cecil suddenly curses and rises to his feet.

“Shit!”

He looks to Argan then… and says the only words that could possibly move him to action.

“Apparently Maya’s involved… and so is another one of yours. Anissa.”

… What?

-x-X-x-

A/N: Next chapter back to Maya’s POV~

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!

-x-X-x-

Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U_hzKvUXV_McjJu9VgLrjH0UMjcZmvki9aaRi-H8U6I/edit?tab=t.0