Time passed after that day. It wasn't even a week. Such an insignificant amount of time should mean nothing to the viltrum empire, where every citizen lived for thousands of years. Yet, this short amount of time was more impactful to the empire than its several millennium of existence combined
The 8 days that followed were nothing short of hell. The plage, dubbed the "scorge virus" was a disaster unlike anything Viltrum had ever seen.
It was airborne,waterborne, highly contagious through touch as well, and the moment a viltrumite caught, they had anywhere from a few minutes, to 2 days to live. Death was almost guaranteed if you caught it.
Before long, the streets of Viltrum no longer carried any sounds. Millions upon millions of bodies were piled up on the streets of every city and settlement.
The original population of Viltrum, numbering around 10.3 billion was rapidly dropping. If it kept going like this, it was estimated that viltrumites as a whole would go extinct by the end of the next week. And there was only one day left for the end of viltrums 9 days-long week.
In short, it was over. The Viltrum empire was fucked.
Originally, the carriers were quarantined, but as the death toll went higher and higher, it switched. Now the survivors had to confine themselves.
At first it truly did not make sense how fast the virus was spreading, but as time passed, it started to make sense.
Viltrum's constant killing of "weak" Viltrumites, especially the great purge, had achieved its purpose by leaving only strong viltrumites, but it had also greatly limited it's genetic diversity.
Any time a baby with "weak" Or "inferior" genetics was born, they were just disposed of.
There was very minor variation in the populations genes, and all the viltrumites were too genetically similar. Killing one viltrumite ultimately meant it could kill all of them.
Who would have thought? The ultimate enemy of the viltrumites was, in the end, their own need for 'strength'.
Eventually, the remaining viltrumites, numbering somewhere in the hundreds, knew they were looking at their extinction.
(Jaxon POV)
I looked around my surroundings with dull, life less eyes. I knew the viltrumite race was done.
There really was no hope.
Dead bodies, dead bodies and more dead bodies, as far as the eye could see.
The corpses were piled up so high that they created actual mountains.
Mechanical, hovering trucks floated through the sky, dumping bodies onto the ground.
In a way, it was beautiful. In a sick, twisted way...
Of course, only a murderer of the highest caliber could see beauty in this.
The sight of the corpses falling from the sky, from the heavens, onto the hellish ground of death, decay and sickness. And they weren't just viltrumite corpses.
The slave races ran in fear, tears dripping down their face.
Grand regent thragg had ordered for the extermination of all non-viltrumite species on the planet.
I too had been ordered to do so, but I did not. I watched the slave before me scramble in fear, trying to crawl away from me, but I did nothing. Who was going to tell me otherwise? Almost all my superiors were dead, and the living were hiding away in space because they didn't want to contract the virus.
I coughed, and bits of flesh and blood flew out of my mouth. Indeed, I too had contracted the virus 2 days ago.
I had had surprising strength even with the virus. Most viltrumites either fell into a coma and died in their sleep of were so weak they couldn't move beyond a few twitches. There were some who could move even when infected, but they just died far quicker.
And speak of the devil...
A woman dropped from the sky onto the pitiful slave from above, flattening him, before she vomited a bucket full of blood and collapsed.
After a few seconds of twitching, she lay completely still. Her heart had stopped.
A hollow chuckle escaped. He slowly ascended into the sky and took in what was left of the planet.
"Well, whatever. Not like we haven't done worse to others. " I said.
"Don't let anyone catch you saying that. " A voice responded from behind me.
My eyes widened and I whipped my head back. My eyes lit up with life, and I ran into my mother, hugging her.
"Mom! Y-you're back!? How are you? Did you really get better? Are you okay? "
I frantically asked her question after question.
The mother before me was vastly different from the mother I knew six days ago.
Immediately after we had discovered the chaos of the virus, my mother had fallen sick and was taken away to be treated with the first batch of patients. The entire 6 days I hadn't heard from her at all, I couldn't even find which medical centre she had been taken to out of the millions opened all over the planet.
She was gaunt, her skin pale and blood stains ran down the side of her mouth. Her eyes were red and glistening with tears.
"I am alright, jaxon. Yes, I am... fine" She said weakly.
"What is it?" I asked with worry. "Are in pain? "
She doesn't answer my question, just staring of into the distance before gesturing for me to follow.
I stand there confused for a bit, before obliging and flying after her.
And the trip highlighted just how weak the virus had left her. Her usual casual cruise speed of 30 times the speed of sound had slowed to a simple 9 times the speed of sound. I myself was heavily weakened, but not to that extent.
After 9 minutes, we crossed the continent and made it to what looked like some kind of launch pad in one of the cities. A viltrumite light starship was docked to the side.
"Mom, what...? "
"We're leaving. " She said firmly.
I froze, and my mouth fell open as I gawked at her.
"What? Leaving? As in, leaving viltrum? "
"Yes"
"Is it... for a mission? But there couldn't possibly be a mission when the planet is in this sta-"
"No, not for a mission. " She cut me off. "We're leaving viltrum for good. And the empire as well. There's no one to stop us now. The viltrumite race is practically extinct.
And when all those species and planets we enslaved realize we are weakened to this extent, they will turn on us. The lantern corps will hunt us down and extinguish us.
We must leave before that. "
I stood there, processing her words for a second, before nodding and stepping forward.
"O-ok. So, are we just fleeing or do we have some sort of place to take refuge in? " I asked after a pause.
As I'm getting on the ship, my mother responds from behind.
"It's a small planet in sector 2814. It's ruling species is relatively new and not that strong, and it's seems like a safe space for you to hide for the time being. "
"Alright... Wait what do you mean 'you'-!? "
The lowered door to the ship instantly slamed shut, and pipes extended from the sides of control room, releasing an odourless grey gas. I tried to cover my nose and mouth but it was too late. My vision started getting fussy as I strained my advanced hearing to listen to my mother's voice.
"Ordinarily, such sedatives would be a joke to us. But in our weakened state due to the scourge virus, it can now show it's effects. "
"Mother... Why...? "
I felt the faint vibrations of her touching the door.
"I'm sorry my child. Please forgive me. I lied. "
"Wh... at? "
"I'm not cured. I'm still infected, and my end is near. I can only hope in my heart that you survive the virus yourself, since you are half-thanagarian and possess argall's blood. "
'What? Argall's blood? What is she talking about? '
"Farewell, my son. Please... find the happiness that I could not give you here. "
'No... mo... '
I slowly drifted into unconsciousness, and the light ship took off on autopilot towards it's destination, towards a new chapter of my life.
(Vara POV)
I watch as my son ascend's into the sky, higher and higher. He slowly becomes a black dot and fades into the evening sky.
I try, I truly try to remain as stoic as possible, but my eyes betray me. Tears fall from my chin and wet the ground under my feet. And slowly, these tears become blood red.
I begin to bleed from every orifice on my face. As the seconds passed, the ground was covered in enough blood to fill a bucket
Any ordinary being would have fallen unconscious and keeled over long ago from blood loss, but I remained standing. Because I wanted to see my son off as he left, until the very end. And it was not because of my strength as a viltrumite nor my training.
I had long since excepted that my love as a mother for my child...
"My son... please... -"
... Had given me strength surpassing anything I had accumulated in my life.
"-stay... s-safe. "
And with those last words, I collapsed onto the pool of blood under me.
My vision grew darker and darker, yet I did not actually feel the darkness. For my mind felt clearer and brighter than ever before.
It was hence, that I took my last breath.