The room chamber shimmered eerily, walls lined with pulsing quantum arrays flickering like tormented spirits. There were large consoles in the room giving various readings and monitoring, and sending video feeds of different locations. Angstrom Levy stood encircled by a cluster of Invincible variants, each restless, eyes reflecting impatience and growing mistrust.
"Just a little longer," Angstrom implored, raising his hands defensively, voice strained. "I assure you, when the attack begins, it will be swift and decisive. But timing, timing is essential."
A Mark variant with the dark supersuit and a dark goatee scoffed, stepping forward. "Your promises grow thin, Levy! How long do you intend to keep us shackled in this…limbo? Each moment wasted gives the enemy more time to prepare. The last outing just proved your incompetence."
Another Invincible variant, with a scar running jaggedly down his cheek, laughed harshly. "He's stalling—probably doesn't have a clue what he's doing. Just like last time, remember?"
Levy flinched internally, annoyance rippling beneath his calm façade. "I am not stalling," he said, voice icy, "I am merely ensuring success. A premature attack is suicide. Trust me—"
"Trust you?" laughed Mohawk Mark bitterly. "The man who dragged us across dimensions? We're losing patience!" He immediately dived at Angstrom to grab him by the throat but was sent through a portal which reopened in the room, sending him crashing against heavy machinery.
"Next time--" Mohawak Mark said, spitting out blood.
More voices rose, mocking, accusing. The chamber grew dense with hostility until Levy raised his voice sharply. "Silence! Patience breeds victory. Soon, everything I've promised—vengeance, glory, freedom—will be yours. But not until I say so. Understand?"
Grumbles filled the room, reluctant nods exchanged like grudging treaties. Levy exhaled deeply, knowing he'd bought only a little more time.
'Fucking Viltrumites!' Levy thought to himself.
Back on Viltrum, the academy buzzed with palpable energy—divided, changed. Anissa's careful arrangement to fracture Selena's growing faction over the previous lessons resulted to no avail, but coming to class this week to teach left her with a surprise. The once united half-bloods split between two charismatic leaders: Selena and Flora, in an unexpected fashion.
Flora's sudden rise shocked even the most vigilant observers. The quiet girl who'd once hidden behind others now commanded respect, loyalty, and outright fear. Fear? Fear of what? Good grades? Minding one's own business? It was startling to see as a teacher who already understood the power dynamics of this class. This wasn't Earth, where power changed hands frequently. In Viltrum, one could remain the strongest for a very, very long time and undisputed at that. The students chose sides—most still gravitating toward Selena, though their allegiance was quietly uncertain, wavering as Flora's newfound confidence blossomed like wildfire amongst the staff.
In the Grand Regent's throne room,
Lira knelt humbly before Thragg, head bowed respectfully, voice clear and unwavering. "Grand Regent, this week's reports at the academy are as follows: the division between the established factions grows wider each day. Selena holds numbers, but Flora—Flora's group surpasses them dramatically in academic performance and advanced tactical simulated scenarios."
Thragg leaned forward, eyes glittering with intrigue. "And this Selena, she has done nothing to retaliate or confront Flora?"
"Nothing, Grand Regent," Lira confirmed hesitantly. "Should I intervene, impose discipline?"
"No," Thragg said decisively, voice quiet yet firm. "Leave them be. Allow them their natural progression. Ignore Viltrum law unless their lives or staff are endangered. I want them to develop in a natural way, be it a newfound or strange and uncontrolled method, but such is the thesis behind the academy."
"As you wish," Lira bowed deeper, floating gracefully out of the throne room.
Thragg leaned back, tapping a finger thoughtfully against his chin. "Mutations appearing now, at this stage? Shouldn't such mutations even be wiped out? Interesting."
Beside him, General Kregg shifted cautiously. "We've always known they were mutated, Grand Regent. Mia's fiery red hair, Katya's reptilian eyes and hardened skin, Rose's berserker madness, ugh, Freya's tail, Rita's additional limbs. We assumed these traits would diminish under the superiority of our genes."
Thragg's eyes darkened, voice dropping to a whisper of awe and menace. "Yet they persist. And now another mutation manifests—this girl, Flora, able to plunge minds into unspeakable horror. Fascinating. Perhaps strength alone is not the sole criterion for dominance." Thragg shuddered at the thought of that mutation. He may be the strongest Viltrumite, but was he the strongest mentally?
General Kregg cleared his throat carefully, "That girl, what was her name? Flora was it? Her high marks are impressive, and she is a potential candidate to lead subjugated forces into targeted planets set for Viltrum liberation. She has impressive potential despite glaring physical weakness."
"Weakness is a temporary condition," Thragg said, a cruel smile flickering briefly. "Something we can easily amend. Truthfully, Kregg, I'm delighted I stayed my hand from executing these half-bloods."
Thragg rose slowly, cape flowing elegantly, eyes reflecting a ruthless intellect as he hovered out of the throne room. "Between us, I must confess—I spared them initially to understand the heart of this mass betrayal. What makes one cling desperately to heritage when everything else is stripped away? After all, if you take away everything from a person, what more do they have to lose?"
The ruthlessness of his leader's train of thought made him swallow hard, but he agreed with it too. If everything he cared about was indeed taken away from him, what more did he have to lose? He would be empty.
"Thus, I gave the traitors something to hold on to while questioning them personally and executing them soon after. The academy and the reason for the academy, I give credit to the traitors. If they hadn't done what they did, I would never have thought of this, and if they hadn't sired children with different intelligent lifeforms, would we have what we have today? Thragg asked and paused, waiting for an answer from Kregg, his voice hypnotic with hidden excitement.
"Eh.... have... what, exactly, Grand Regent? I apologise for not having the capacity to understand what you mean." General Kregg said, almost lost for words, with a hint of trembling in his voice. He couldn't fathom any other use for the weaker halfbloods now. He feared what might come next from his Grand Regent.
"A new variant of Viltrumites!" Thragg said proudly, smiling with his brows and eyes, but his mouth remained stoic as he turned to his General. "We have before us the first generation of Viltrumites trained in the art of advanced tactical entry with special mutative powers that we can soon modify, edit and selectively breed! A monstrosity the universe is yet to behold! Imagine a platoon of conquered races commanded by not just any Viltrumite, though weaker than prime Viltrumites, they come with a nasty venom called mutations!" Thragg said as he grabbed his general by the shoulders as if sharing the secret to life.
"We will finally have elite troops in our division! Kregg! Elite disposable troops! With selective breeding, we can have a nonstop supply of endless possibilities of mutations and elites ready to spread the name of Viltrum to every corner of the Universe!" Thragg said, finally slowing down his excitement.
"Not only will this preserve Viltrum's lives. The coalition of planets are already afraid of us. Just think what will happen when we unleash these abominations on them!" Thragg said as he cracked his knuckles, creating a sharp sound that made his General flinch.
'Not even war pieces... but abominations? So be it. He doesn't even see them as living beings anymore. They have become war pieces of abominations on his war table. Those kids never stood a chance from the beginning. The moment they fell into Thragg's hands, their lives were already planned.' General Kregg thought as he looked at the towering, muscled back of his Grand Regent. He never cared much for them, but they still had Viltrum blood in them, and that made him fear for their future. They were only given a chance to live as a means to an end, but now that their purpose had been redefined, he couldn't help but look at his Grand Regent as someone who would do anything for the advancement of Viltrumites and that made him afraid and proud. He could only watch now and see how Thragg's plans came to fruition.
Hold your popcorn steady, this arc is amazing and long.
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