"I kind of already knew that, dad," Sereen smiled. "You hid it really well, but there were a bunch of times when I noticed something was off. Do you remember that explosion in the mines near Alka about five years ago?"
"I do." nodded. He remembered it well enough. He and Sereen just happened to be passing through when a bunch of workers thought it was a good idea to use explosives within a mine shaft. It was not, in fact, a good idea. The explosion they used ignited some form of volatile gas within the mine, causing an explosion that not only collapsed the entirety of the mine shaft, but also killed every single worker inside. They checked. For three grueling days, the people of Alka expended just about every measure to try and dig through the fallen stones to search for anyone who might've survived. Thragg joined that search. He did not dig, but he did help with the transportation of equipment. But, that was it. He was rather certain of the fact that he'd hidden his true strength well enough. "What of it?"
"Well, dad, you might not have noticed at the time, but I did – and I'm still pretty shocked that no one else did. One of the equipment you'd hauled was an oxygen supplier; it's small, but deceptively heavy." Sereen explained. "It's so heavy, in fact, that it needs a vehicle to transport it from one place to another. How heavy is it? Well, the lightest model is about two tons. The heaviest one, which you brought along like it weighed nothing, was five tons. No human being could lift that much. But, I suppose it all happened so fast that no one noticed; I did. I noticed. And I... it took me a very long time to understand I saw... to make sense of it. Finally, I came to the conclusion that my father was, in fact, not human."
Huh, he recalled the device she spoke of. But it was a small thing, about the size of a toolbox. But, looking back, he'd taken it right out of a transport platform; he simply never thought much of it. One ton felt the same as five – or ten, or fifty. Thragg could lift fifty tons on one hand and a single kilogram on the other and he'd feel no real difference. And, evidently, his own strength worked against him. There was only so much fine control he could exert to ensure things he held didn't break with the slightest pressure from himself, before everything felt like soft gelatin in his grasp, before everything became light and fragile, and mountains weighed about as much as a mug.
"But, I just kind of kept it to myself, dad." Sereen finished. "I never saw the need to bring it up and, frankly, having a dad as strong as you was exciting. So, you're not human, dad; what are you? I mean, you definitelylookhuman, but people don't fly and they certainly can't lift as much as you do. I'm sure the story's going to be absolutely crazy, yeah?"
"It's quite crazy, I suppose." Thragg breathed in. Only one other knew of his story, only one other soul understood and accepted him. But this was Sereen. This was his daughter. If he didn't trust his own family, then who could he trust? "I suppose we should start at the beginning."
"I am a Viltrumite, from the planet Viltrum," Thragg began, speaking the same words he'd once spoken to Nareena, all those years ago, when he bared himself to her and showed her who he truly was, the man he'd once been, the monster, the conqueror, the Grand Regent. "My people are... not like yours. As you might've guessed, we are stronger, faster, and vastly more resilient. And, yes, we're all born with the ability to fly."
And so, he told her... everything. He told her the history of his people, the wars they fought, the blood civil war that culled most of their population, the Scourge Virus that nearly wiped them out, the bloody conquests, the domination of thousands of worlds, the destruction his people brought to the universe, the billions of lives he'd destroyed, the time he'd spent as the Grand Regent, his ultimate defeat, and then... his death. And then he awoke here, on this planet, lost and alone, without a purpose. It had been during this time that he'd meet the love of his life, Nareena, his heart. He'd had plenty of wives and thousands and thousands of children, but Thragg... the man he'd once been, knew little of love... or empathy. He cared for nothing and no one, carrying only the vague remnants of the values of the Old Viltrumite Empire; he was a butcher, a destroyer, a god, and a monster.
Hours passed. Sereen listened intently, never once asking questions or interfering. She sat still and listened to Thragg's story. Though, every once in a while, she'd hold up a hand and walk right out to deal with some mess that'd arisen in her absence, before walking right back inside, having dealt with the mob of survivors right outside. It was only at the end that she spoke, "Do you know how you got here, dad?"
"I'd wondered that for a long time," Thragg answered. And, it was true. He didn't just magically appear out of thin air, after he burned to a crisp on the surface of a star. There was no way he could've survived that, first of all. And, even if he somehow achieved the impossible and became the first Viltrumite to live through the flames of a star, that did not explain the lack of scars and, once again, how he came to be on this planet. "And I've not found a sufficient answer. It seems like... something plucked me from death and put me here – for what reason, I don't think I'll ever know."
Sereen nodded, accepting his answer. After that, she stayed quiet for... a while, nearly an hour, before she finally spoke again. "Well, dad, I don't think it matters as much as you might think. I'm... still not entirely sure that I believe your story; it's too fantastical, even for me. But I can't deny that you're definitely not human. But, if what you said was true, then... I don't know. You've been a good father to me... a good husband to mother; I can't fault you for anything, dad, even if you claim to be a monster."
"Hah," Thragg smiled. His heart lightened. And he released the breath he'd hadn't known he'd been holding. His daughter accepted him. She might've been disturbed by his past as any sane person would've been, but she did not judge him – at least, not to his face. "Your mother said something similar."
"Well, I'm her daughter, after all," Sereen smiled back. "But, dad. What really matters is what you choose to do now. If you're not looking into getting back into the world-conquering business, what do you want to do?"
"For now, I'll settle with avenging your mother's death," He answered. That wasn't a hard thing to think about, honestly. No matter what happened, Nareena would be avenged, even if he had to fly to another galaxy to do it. "I've learned quite a bit about the aliens that attacked this world. And I believe I know how to defeat them. I've taken a... monolithic device from their vessel and I'm hoping it'll shed some light as to the location of their homeworld."
"What did you learn, dad?"
"All of them," Thragg said. "Every single Rangdan entity, from the lowliest slave to the highest warrior, is little more than adrones for a creature that believes itself divine, a creature that thinks itself immortal and everlasting, a delusional god. It calls itself Rangdan – every entity that serves it is itself, akin to a Hive Mind, but greater, perhaps – a single being, spread across trillions of bodies."
"That's... I don't even know what to say about something that. I honestly don't want to think about it at all, really." Sereen shook her head, before shrugging. "Honestly, dad, I'm not sure who you should be talking to for this; so, I'm sorry, but I can't really help there."
"No need," Thragg shook his head. "Your brother's wondrous talent for technology will surely unravel something of use from that thing I took from the alien wreckage. If not, then I suppose I can still take revenge through the longer and more arduous way; I will wage war against the Rangdan,until I find that thing, their puny little god, and toss it into a star. Only then will I be satisfied."
Sereen nodded. And, they both stood up. His daughter smiled. But Thragg saw the exhaustion in her eyes, that fervent need for rest that lingered upon and over the shoulder of many a warrior. Hopefully, his daughter would find some rest soon – when she can. After all, it was woefully easy to forget, at times, that Sereen, for all her talent, was a...normal human being, unlike Argall, whom Thragg wasn't entirely certain was human to begin with. "I hope I'll see Argall again soon. Maybe, we can both act like real siblings for once in our lives. The whole world's gone to shit, dad; It'd be nice to still have my family – most of them, at least."
Thragg smiled. "I'll be sure to send your regards to him when I meet him."
They walked out of the tent together. It was around midday by then, Thragg figured. And the survivors had settled down to an extent, most of them asleep or enjoying another bowl of soup and porridge. The mayor was nowhere to be seen and, considering Sereen didn't look to be in a patient mood, perhaps that was for the best. Because he'd honestly prefer if Sereen never had to shoulder the mental and emotional burden of having to kill her own kind. Thragg knew that she'd likely inherited her mother's strength and rationality, and – more than likely – she wouldn't be too burdened by it, but such a thing was a scar that weighed upon the soul. Thragg himself could not count how many of his fellow Viltrumites, brothers and sisters, he'd slain with his bare hands.
The Iron Men were gone too.
"See you, dad." Sereen yawned, before turning towards the ragged people in the ragged tents. Thragg smiled, a flood of pride filling his chest. This was his daughter. Look how much she'd grown. "And good luck with... whatever it is you plan on doing."
"I'll see you soon, Sereen. Stay safe." Thragg said, before he flew up and over the camp. He went straight for the Monolith, a lone black structure that stood and looked out of place at the outskirts of the ruined city; its presence was death, surrounded as it was by thousands and thousands of alien and human corpses, most of them Rangdan Slaves. The monolith now, the symbols on its dark surface glowed ominously. Thragg noted the withered and petrified grass around it, a small patch of death and decay that very clearly emanated from the monolith itself. Fascinating. Dangerous. Was this the power of the Rangdan God or was it simply some form of chemical contamination? Hopefully, it was just the latter. Either way, this place was in the middle of nowhere and the land was already dry and harsh to begin with. Eyes narrowed, Thragg shrugged and hoisted the monolith over his shoulders, before turning his course to Alka, where his son awaited.
Alka was not particularly difficult to find, but it had clearly lost the features that'd once made it unique, leveled and ruined as it was. What truly caught his attention, however, was the large number of Iron Men that patrolled it. There was a camp just beyond the corpse of Alka. Thragg saw his son immediately. And with him was an Iron Man, one that looked different from all the rest – a skeletal machine, dressed in complex robes and garments.
What was going on?