Prospects

It was the start of another solar cycle in the world the natives designated as 'Earth'. The Homo Sapiens that live in this world, or locally accepted as 'humanity', is a race almost nearly similar to Viltrum's own. Just considerably weaker by quite a large margin, and similarly primitive in terms of civilization and technology. Based on all the data their infiltrator, Noh-lan had shown them, they were a ripe species that could prove to be a boon to the Viltrum Empire, if only because of their near-perfect similarities and compatibility with their DNA.

Rebuilding the loss of the Empire would prove easy with humanity in the picture.

More so when the biology and chemistry alone supported it, with the offspring showing adaptation into the Viltrum gene, making them practically full-blooded if you outright ignore the lingering trace DNA of humanity.

So, it was a perfect basket planet, worth looking into, with one of their finest soldiers, Noh-lan being tasked to have it be part of the Empire as much as possible, even if the more 'peaceful' methods were to be used.

And then, Noh-lan reported back, bearing ill, potentially game-breaking news.

Of Humanity's defenders. Of the individuals of impossible power that are unlike anything before in the cosmos or in Viltrum's history. From cutting-edge nearly fantastical technology produced by one, with impossible durability and strength by the other, and one particular individual of the three, that transcended what the word 'power' meant.

This gravely re-evaluated the purpose of Earth under the Viltrum Empire's eyes.

Anissa, who was one of the honor guards of the Grand Regent, one of Viltrum's best could not believe it at first, but given the Regent's trust in Noh-lan, she and Vidor were tasked to return with Noh-lan to Earth. To see it first-hand and if possible, allow them to study, understand, and bring these individuals to see the light of Viltrum's way.

Anissa had been confident at first, blindingly so, against the individual of interest assigned to her due to her physical, appealing appearance to other species. Noh-lan told her that the people of Earth would find her attractive beyond measure and it would make seducing the males of the population quite easy.

Due to this, she had gone forth to find the third individual of this 'Triumvirate'. The one with the impossible abilities and truth be told…

After the utter, nightmarish, humiliation she had gone through, Anissa was left questioning her place in existence.

Her self-worth was in shambles.

Her pride as one of the Honor Guards of the Grand Regent, gone, like cosmic dust in the void.

It's like the very strength, power, and image that she was so proud of, honed through centuries, almost millennia of service was utterly useless against a being that most primitive lifeforms would consider calling a 'god'.

Anissa herself was born in an age where belief in something abstract, or divine per se, was already ruled out for rationality and strength through conquest. Yet at the same time, the powers, the abilities that echoed through her vast memory which gave her nightmares each night told her of a different story.

One of an eldritch kind. One that had her staring at her own hands, kneeling in place as she tried to parse her emotions from the humiliating defeat, of which she remembered several. No… not even a hundred, or a thousand forms of humiliation were thrown at her lap.

Some horrific to the point of her being gored and ripped into shreds.

Some psychedelics to the point that her honed emotions, and disciplined, well-fortified psyche had been thrown into the gutter of pure madness.

And lastly, some to the point that she could barely remember them, only for how cosmic, how mind-shatteringly abstract and conceptual some of her more creative demises were.

They were all distilled into a horrifying package of trauma that every now and then, resurfaced like bits and pieces of timelines across multiple universes. Memories, what-ifs, that she can remember with raw feeling and emotion.

The being had done something to her across all of those untold possibilities.

Could she even call him human?

Could she even judge the human race as something beneath her when potential like this, far beyond even at the height of the Viltrum Empire, nor even the likes of Argall or Thragg could hope to defeat, even to a standstill.

Her worldview had been shattered to the point of no return. For she now felt small.

Small in the likes that she felt like she had no place in her people no longer, nor even in the universe. Her entire life's purpose, simply turned to nothing as she stared listlessly in the room provided to her by her captor. Free to do as he wanted. Free to use her as he saw fit.

Her instincts as a Viltrumite woman weren't even there anymore.

The humiliation was so severe that her instinct to procreate, to be submissive, and to bear the child of the male who beat her was no longer there. She felt like a slave. Like one of those pleasure carrion that her people would do when frustrated or when in heat against planets they subjugated or enslaved.

She just felt beaten. In that sort of perspective, the irony wasn't lost on her.

Now she was feeling what those creatures, those other species used for their inane purposes felt at this very moment.

Anissa felt herself sigh as she continued to kneel upon the closed door of her room.

Worse, she felt her humiliation bear down on her even more when after she woke up, her captor treated her like nothing happened between them in their clash. It was like he treated her as an equal still, an individual, not a slave or beaten inferior lifeform.

He treated her like a person. It was like the man had two different sides to himself. A being of average look and personality, and a flying, emissary of death and destruction in the other.

Honestly, he scared her even more because of that.

The unpredictability. The sheer gulf, perhaps the cosmic distance between them in terms of power, and yet he treated her like she was just a female of his species that he just met.

It was haunting her. The dread of not knowing what came next overtaking most of her senses. The fear of incurring the existence-ending wrath of a being that far eclipsed her own species scared her to the core.

It was all self-preservation now. Even if part of her still cared for the Viltrum Empire, she was too scared to even aggravate the being that she was now owned by. His odd, kindly mannerisms were a veil of torture that nagged at her psyche each time they spoke to each other.

It was like an apex predator pretending to be prey.

In time he would find the truth in her, if he didn't know already given his abilities, of the Viltrum Empire's real state and her race, much as her once proud and loyal self once had cherished, had its fate now hanging in the balance. With her being the tipping point, the basis of where this being would form an opinion to sanction any sort of direct action against her people.

She didn't even know if she had the ability to, at all, with how humiliated she was.

She didn't even know if she had the strength to convince this human, this being, to even spare her or them for even a flick of emotion from him would result in the possible destruction of everything.

She didn't even know if this being was even attracted to her in the first place, her sole primary reason for being sent here may not apply or be helpful given-

The sound of the door opening made Anissa nearly collapse into herself in fear. Thankfully, she was able to recover enough to make her prostrating as respectful and submissive as possible. She feared what happened next, for he might be reading her mind, anticipating this very moment, or had seen or felt her through the walls with the monstrous number of abilities he had…

She heard him sigh, it was almost a ritual at this point given how common it had been these past few days. "Hey… uh, I told you that you really don't have to do this."

Anissa didn't move in her spot. Terrified out of her mind.

"Damn it." She heard him say, Anissa suddenly felt terrified and was about to speak out to apologize given the level of frustration behind it but he suddenly put out his hand. He then leveled with her, as awkward and unsure as he looked as he carefully placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I know our cultures might differ but I think treating guests as… guests is still the most respectful and important thing to do…"

"…f-forgive me Great One for not seeing it like- she started saying in panic, almost close to being in tears until the similarly panicking and awkward David stopped her by patting her sides. Given that he too was not used to much interaction outside of professional matters or with his own friends.

But the small gesture of comfort, awkward as it was for David, had Anissa calm down, even for a bit. "Again… I think we both got onto a wrong start and… I don't really think we were both in the right mindset to have this little interaction work..."

He then offered her his other hand. One that Anissa stared at.

"…but I'm willing to start over again. If only for just a little breakfast. I'm kinda rusty at cooking myself, but I think it'll smooth things over if you're willing to join me."

"Break… fast? What is that, my Lord?" Anissa asked.

David chuckled with a bit of shyness while scratching the back of his head. "I forgot that you're not from here, but it's essentially the first meal of the day. I don't know what your people consider as food, but my friend once said that it's a good thing to start a day with one. It'll make things for the rest of the day easier, at least according to him."

"Y-You are offering me a meal, Lord?"

He nodded. "Yes, if you'll have me."

"A-Alright." She said, similarly shy herself, and ideally, if 'Taylor' were to see these events transpire, she would see two awkward idiots, both with relatively poor social skills, mirroring each other, while hoping to please or calm the other. Yet in some sense, they were still failing.

However, David's push, feeble as it may seem, to start over was genuine and it made the Viltrumite woman take his hand and accept his offer.

Eventually, they now stood in front of each other face to face. David hoped to smile to calm her down, but Anissa's submissive stance held true. This bothered him still, but given that she was a guest, and someone that his friends deemed as 'important' to learn more about their visitors and for him to be more 'confident' with himself (mostly 'Taylor's idea), he had to make sure that he could make this work.

Confidence without his mask, while measly compared to his friends, David at the very least knew a few things to be competent enough when dealing with the PR back in their days with the Protectorate. But that was when his reputation as Eidolon was a large thing. Respect was part of the job, it was automatic in his case, but nobody truly knew Eidolon without the mask.

Nobody knew David, for in reality, there was nothing really worth talking about when it came to him. Especially now, when their new home, their new Earth was as peaceful as it was, with little need for him to be the paragon-like figure of strength that everyone looked up to, he was struggling trying be normal.

Normal sort of never existed for David as his useless, previous life before he had gotten his powers was something that he wished to forget, given all of the trauma and depression they erred, even during his tenure as Eidolon.

Now that things were more simple, more normal… David felt a sense of emptiness, an emptiness that he wanted to soothe by trying, genuinely trying to find a replacement to fill up that void. It wasn't just because of his 'niece', who mostly convinced him of it alongside his two best friends, but that he wanted to find meaning again.

If making friends outside of the people he cherished was the answer, then he would do it.

David was stubborn after all. Socially awkward for the most part, yes, but he had the drive to see it done. Just as his narrow, almost single-minded view of saving the world back then moved him to be the hero Eidolon that everyone knew.

"Oh! I almost forgot. I hope you don't mind wearing my clothes for the moment… I couldn't really save anything left of the ones you wore…" then he stopped, realizing that he might say something offensive, given the Viltrumite woman's nudity when their 'conflict' stopped.

"No… my lord. They are fine. T-They are quite comfortable really." Anissa said, hoping to appease him, even though in part, it was true.

"…Right, but I promise that I wasn't the one that changed you, it was actually-

"DAD! What the hell is taking you two so long up there?! My toast is already getting cold." A young voice said in the other room. The sudden intrusion perked both of them, especially Anissa who didn't know what was happening.

"…her. So, we should probably hurry along to join her. She gets antsy when I don't do what she wants." David said with a sigh as Anissa looked at him, anxious.

"Who is, her, my Lord? Your offspring?"

"Daughter… actually. Rude little thing, but she keeps me… sane when I'm at home. Last night she just arrived after a little trip with her friends outside of town." David said, the latter half of his sentence a bit strained.

To Anissa, this was a shock. She was starting to think about the implications of David having an offspring as equally as powerful as him. She then wondered who his owner's mate was, if he had such a thing, to bear a child for him. Could… could he do the same? To ensure her own survival?

"Anyway… I'm sorry if I nearly forgot, but what was your name again? Annie or something? It kinda got lost in the tussle and all of that." He ashamedly said.

"Anissa, my Lord." Anissa shyly replied.

"Anissa… that's a unique name." he then offered his hand again. "David. Please call me David."

"David. It's a powerful name, My Lord." Anissa said, allowing a small smile to bloom. Mostly to appease him. It worked somewhat, much to Anissa's elation, even if her fear for him was still present. "If you wish to call me… A-Annie was it? That would be fine if you wish it so."

"Only if you stop calling me Lord or anything of that."

"Really?"

He nodded as she eventually took his hand. Shaking it, a gesture of goodwill, much to Noh-lan's intel of basic Earth customs. Anissa felt glad that she had at the very least managed to make him smile.

"Alright. D-David."

Anissa looked at the blonde-haired little girl sitting across from her. She sported a serene, beautiful smile that would make even Viltrumites pleased. By her people's estimate, her age would be that of a culver still and certainly already thrown into the hardships and culture of their training, with hopes of weeding out the weakness of their flesh. Yet on Earth it was different.

Just as different as seeing that peaceful little girl looking at her with intent that Anissa could not tell in the slightest. The smile was too perfect. It was almost as if she was reading her mind.

The subtle eyebrow wiggling from the little girl, her captor's progeny, confirmed that much to her fear and slight annoyance. Especially now when her stares started to make her skin crawl in such a way that she never felt before when dealing with children.

"So, dad… you didn't tell me you got that lucky with your little date." The girl said as her father, who had been keeping quiet to himself mostly the moment they all sat together quietly at the table, all but nearly choked on his glass of water by his daughter's words.

"Agh, damn it Sam…" her captor said as he started wiping the wet stains that hit his shirt. "And for the record, nothing happened. She just lost her clothes that's all."

"Yeah… losing clothes from a date. Gotcha." The girl, now named Sam said with a hint of mischief in her voice as she placed both her elbows on the table. A gesture that Anissa observed, David had been annoyed by aside from her teasing.

"Nothing happened… and we talked about putting your elbows on the table young lady."

Sam continued to pester her father with a grin that made David sigh, powerless.

The interaction made Anissa confused. For she knew, at least in most cultures in the universe, that the strong always had powers against the weak, and in family, the males were mostly the strongest. The patriarch showed discipline and force to those lower than him.

To see her captor act like he was powerless to even force his progeny to heed his order was… strange above all else. Probably the strangest thing she had ever seen since coming to this world aside from her captor's horrible brevity of powers.

"Sure… nothing happened Dad, nothing happened," Sam said as she started giggling while Anissa saw David roll his eyes. "But really, good on you for getting the eye of someone like her. You two would do well together."

Anissa blinked. Did she actually hear that? She saw the little girl wink at her and for a moment she thought that her eyes were glowing gold.

"Sam. She's a guest. Don't be like that." David said but the girl continued to giggle softly.

Anissa then turned her gaze over to David who seemed to smile at her in an exasperated sense. She hoped dearly that her presence was still pleasing. Because as the girl, Sam, continued to stare at her with that grin, her already unsettled feeling just kept escalating.

"Forgive her… growing up with just me being in her life just turned her into… well, this," David said as she heard Sam chuckle.

"I don't m-mind… David." She meekly said as she used the tool on her plate to eat more of the meal offered to her freely. She clearly tasted better food, and better meals throughout the centuries, but strangely enough, there was a 'homey' feeling about the meal that she couldn't quite place.

Or perhaps it was the subtle gestures of power that either David or his progeny Sam had, in order for her to feel more relaxed and she just couldn't sense or feel it.

[It probably is…]

"Uh… I forgot to ask, but I hope I didn't bore you with my cooking. I admit to being dull at it." He sheepishly said, almost looking away to break eye contact with her by sipping his beverage.

"It's good. Very good." She quickly said.

This seemed to make him widen his eyes a bit as if he didn't expect her to say that. Which was impossible… right? Nevertheless, she felt herself happy to genuinely make him react like that.

"Oh… I, uh… I appreciate the compliment, even if I don't think it is deserve-

"Take the compliment, Dad. Jesus." Sam said as she rolled her eyes. He reacted back at her daughter with a frown, much to Anissa's slowly building curiosity and interest in their dynamic.

"But you know… if you're so concerned about raising me alone you can always man up and-

"We're not having this conversation." David immediately interrupted.

"But I wasn't even finished?" Sam innocently demanded.

"Your aunt and uncle are always a car ride away if need be. I don't need help. At least for now."

"But Dad…"

"I said not now, Sam, and quite frankly, I don't want Annie here to feel more uncomfortable than she already is." He told her as the girl's grin returned.

"Oh, we're calling her by a more casual name now huh?"

"Ugh." David reacted with a following heavy sigh after. Then, Anissa felt her hand being tapped by the girl as she moved her seat, by levitating it and plopping it down just a few inches away from her own.

"Hi! I'm Samantha by the way! Nice to meet'cha." The girl said with her smaller hand offered towards her, the gesture that her captor had done earlier. She took it without issue, before immediately reacting with a cold, almost gripping fear when she felt the little girl's hand exert strength that was higher than even her own. It was like her skin and muscles were made out of Viltrum's heavily dense core.

Worst of all, the girl seemingly sensed this and grinned further.

Anissa prayed dearly, to any deity there was that existed even if she didn't believe before, that she wouldn't fumble or aggravate the beings near her in any capacity.

So, she smiled, hoping to be friendly as she shook the girl's hand, as the local Earth custom did, and said, "I'm… Aniss- I mean, Annie, yes. Annie."

She saw the girl's almost ethereal-looking grin proliferate. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of Anissa's face, but she kept her façade, even if the girl could see through it.

"It's nice to meet you too."

Sam then leaned her face upwards to hers, much to Anissa's discomfort.

It only seemed to make the girl's golden, sparking eyes twinkle like stars. For a moment, Anissa even swore that she might have seen an apparition of multiple wings flapping happily behind the young girl's back.

"Wow… you're very pretty, Miss Annie. You're… perfect." She said, nearly a whisper.

Perfect for what?

"Samantha, lay off her," David said with a frown as the girl replied back by blowing a raspberry in his direction. "Kids…" Anissa heard David whisper with frustration as Sam's focus returned to her.

"Anyway, you've ever had experience at being a mom yet?"

"Sam!"

"What?! I'm just asking." Sam dramatically said as Anissa continually became confused about the two most dangerous beings she had ever met thus far in her century's worth of life. One with the power to destroy worlds, perhaps more to an unknown, worrying extent, was either tormenting her by acting like a merciful captor or…

"I'm sorry again, for her," David said with exasperation in his voice.

…or he was testing her, hoping to gauge if she was worth keeping alive.

"But seriously though, Dad… I'm just looking out for you, and if it means that I get to play cupid on making sure the prettiest woman you ever got into date becomes your bride, then I'll do it!" she said with a fist hitting the table, comically making all of the utensils and plates jump a bit into the air, but also landing perfectly back into their places as if nothing happened.

"Ugh." David groaned in defeat as he now massaged his temples.

The other being, the smaller one who Anissa had no knowledge of also worried her deeply, if only for the uncertainty belying her true motives. More so now, when apparently, the little girl wanted her to be her father's mate.

How did humans treat their mates? And if Sam was his progeny wouldn't that mean that he already had a female that he tended to and cared for? Perhaps captured in this sick sort of humiliation she was also placed into?

Who knew? And Anissa, now in survival mode, wished to do her best to better please the two, if only for her continued existence.

"So, Annie, d'you have any experience being a mom?" the girl said in quick succession as if her early rage had disappeared entirely, and she was now back to her mundane, innocent self.

[Heh, innocent… sure.]

[~Action Designation: "Child-Acting" 100% Success~]

"I sired a few children back when I was younger, but sadly not anymore after that." She replied with honesty as Sam's interest in her seemingly only added more fuel to the fire with that reponse.

"You must have been a great mom, then." David suddenly said, with Anissa unsure of what to say given the reality of what Viltrum's customs are with children. Especially when compared to Earth's. Yet she also knew that lying would not help her here one bit.

"To my p-people's eyes, yes." She said, being honest even if she hoped they wouldn't ask the context of it. "I am proud of them, my two sons. But they have grown out of bosom and have inevitably left my arms and to duty their hearts went too. T-They are with the ages now, amongst my ancestors." She said with sadness in her voice, as suddenly, a flicker of regret, longing, and pain from emotions pushed back through the centuries now resurfaced.

Looking back at it, with her new perspective on weakness. She had been… a neglectful mother. One that she knew her current captors would take offense at. One that she was now starting to learn to regret for not being able to comfort or be there for their deaths.

"Annie… we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." David suddenly said. Knowing that look on her face, the same face he made when his own friend died. When Hero die-

"Hey, Dad… you're phone's ringing," Sam said as she chewed on some of her bacon.

True to fact, there was a ringing sound just now much to Anissa's notice. David quickly fumbled trying to get it as he eventually found, what she assumed to be a communication device, and sheepishly looked at her. "Excuse me for a moment, I'll just take this."

"G-Go ahead, David." She quickly replied hoping to not deter him from doing what he needed to do as he nodded in appreciation before leaving to go into the other room.

"Tell Auntie Becca congratulations for me!" Sam shouted out as the door to the room that David went into closed shut.

Now she was alone with the unsettling child. Anissa wasn't sure if her captor leaving the room was better than being left with this child.

This child, who was now edging her seat closer to hers to the point that they were now nearly shoulder to shoulder with each other.

"You're curious, aren't you? What my dad is, and what I am, right?" the girl suddenly said. The joyful look looked precious at a glance but the tone and atmosphere on the other hand…

"…how does it feel, Viltrumite? Being… weak?"

…had changed drastically, like all the air around her had been sucked into a vacuum.

"I…" Now she wished David had stayed because for some reason, his daughter started to look more sinister and horrible than he was. "I… I don't know w-what to say?" she tried out.

She then flashed a pleased smile, the kind that she knew from Regent Thragg when he was plotting something malicious against an enemy. It didn't reassure her at all.

"That's fine, especially when a higher lifeform such as I and my father must educate those that are ignorant of the realities of the universe!" Sam proudly said, her tone bouncing back to playful again as she dramatically posed, before levitating herself on the top of the table and placing both her hands on her hips, smiling confidently at Anissa.

"You see, Viltrumite. Had your race not been as barbaric and warlike as it currently is, evolution could have pushed your race further, not just into the stars, but to greatness! Greatness that I and my brethren are now ready to share for this universe."

She then leaned forward, as if resting on a proverbial cloud before pointing at her.

"Greatness that we shall now share with you. The lucky candidate. The perfect woman to pair my father with." She proclaimed with fervor and energy that not even the great Grand Regent could match. "Greatness of being your race's key figure in enlightening the cosmos!"

"M-me? But surely there are different females worth more than m-

With speeds that would beat even the fastest of her race, a finger was placed on her lips, silencing her quickly. The enthusiasm of the young child reached dangerous levels as she looked at her like a prize.

"Hush… dear prospective mother. I, being the child of my father have already decided it so that no one is as worthy as you. Barbaric and stupid your race might be, but that doesn't mean you should be lagging behind like the rest of the fools in the cosmos."

"But… w-why me? Is your own mother not more worthy given that he had sired you with her?" Anissa asked, curious but also fearful of the implications of how 'David' treated his mates.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about her." the girl playfully said. "She doesn't exist."

Anissa blanched. Didn't exist? Did that mean that like many Viltrumites, if the female was no longer as strong after bearing their young, they would be cast away and-

"No, you dummy! Nothing like that. Don't even think about that in the first place!" Sam suddenly said, holding both of her sides. "It means that he created me. By his own hands… or… if you want to be technical, he birthed me through his unlimited imagination."

She stared at the girl wide-eyed as she digested the surreal fact given to her.

"I'm nearly perfect myself…" Sam continued explaining with a huff but she then looked at her a second later with some seriousness in her eyes. "…but a man like my father can create as many beautiful things of grandeur and power as he can, but he can never have an equal, per se."

Anissa didn't doubt that.

"That's where you come in." her eyes grew wide at her words and how much the little girl seemed to push for the idea of giving her the blessing to be her father's mate. A strange proposition that she couldn't make heads and tails with.

"I am hardly someone of equal merit, worth, or even power, Sam. Your father has shown me, that not even the full might of Viltrum at its peak can beat him. If nothing else, I thought having a mate or such is a concept beyond him." She then looked at her with a frown of honesty and frustration.

"What would he need to have such things, when he has it all?"

"And that's your answer right there. Anissa of the Viltrum Empire." Sam calling her by her birth name wasn't a surprise anymore to her, but her words surprised her. "My father is still human at the end. One with dreams. One with emotions. One with a perspective of loneliness and emptiness despite all of his great power. He loves me and looks at me like his daughter, but sadly… I'm just a creation just like how any scientist creates technology. They will be proud of it, they will be happy of it, and they will cherish that memory and grace for all time…"

Anissa felt Sam take her hands and squeeze her with warmth that was not present there before when they first touched each other. "…but they will not see it deeply as something natural. Something real."

There was a bit of silence, with David's words in the other room escalating from simple muffled sounds to faint mentions of an 'impromptu baby shower with the Graysons', whatever that meant. But to Anissa and Sam, who were together in the dining room, the atmosphere was tense, but an understanding was cast between them.

Sam sat on the table in front of her, with an almost sad expression on her face before it morphed into something resembling hope. A foreign concept that Anissa had little to know about but was slowly understanding now.

"Don't misinterpret me. My Dad loves me. That's not something that he nor you should question."

"I thought of no such thing, Sam."

"But he really is lonely, and I think someone giving him that purpose outside of his power, happiness perhaps, and trust in someone else, can allow him to feel whole."

Anissa nodded at the young girl, understanding her father's plight.

"Though really, you are very lucky to be chosen, per se for this. Because as it stands, you will represent a new age for Humanity and Viltrumites alike." Sam then grinned like a child. "By every metric possible, we are making cosmic history. You may very well be one of the greatest Viltrumites alive, savior of your people, and pioneer of the future."

She imagined that really, her heart blossoming with glee and pride, especially if by right she would become empress of the Empire, alongside her mate. It was a fantasy, possibly a reality now with the choice thrown on her lap, loyalty to the Grand Regent be damned.

But can she, do it? She was still uncertain. Yet she knew that the offer given to her had only one answer in mind. There was one question that boggled her mind, however, of this wonderful possibility of the future and she wished to ask it.

"How will I be an equal to your father, Sam? I am weak, by his standards. I am unsure if I can fulfill such a large responsibility. Even the Grand Regent of Viltrum would still kill me even if I did my best. Your… father may not appreciate my weakness."

"Oh? Is that really all you're concerned about?" Sam asked with a giggle. "Why don't you look deeply inside yourself right now? Perhaps… a feeling, a different feeling from a myriad of sensations after you woke up."

The girl was right, she had… visions before she lost consciousness. They were of stars and multicolored lights across the cosmos and even now, she felt as if she had a certain energy inside of her, boundless in form, but untapped.

It was then, that Anissa realized that she had been gifted.

She had… evolved just like these humans were.

She nearly stood up as the implications started to dawn on her. But… what was her power? What was now this untapped thing that would be the boon of her future?

"See? You literally cannot decline this little deal my dear Dad gave you. In time you will be in essence, as powerful as him, maybe more in the eyes of races across the universe. If my Dad is the almighty destroyer, you are the creator, giver of blessings."

"M-Me?" Anissa said in shock.

"Your ability is a unique one. Something that a previous user misused for the most asinine of reasons. Simply put, there is a concept in Earth in the culture of Germanic tribes where a rune, known as an Othal, or an Othala. It's a concept of sharing, of legacy and lasting values."

Anissa didn't miss the implications of the connection. How Viltrum strived for the same ideals all the same, but she thought about it again, sharing, giving a legacy? Giving blessings? Then that meant that she now had the power to be something close to David in form.

But in a more intimate sense.

"You now possess it. It is pleased by you, and my Dad and I believe you can mold it to be as powerful as it possibly can be. There will be no restrictions as the previous user had, only potential."

In a sense, these evolved humans were like Viltrumites, distributing power to those worthy of it, and even though Anissa didn't feel like she was at the moment, she now had confidence and hope of what she could be.

"So! You're up to be my Mom, now? And my Dad's wife?" Sam suddenly said, her child-like glee returning. Anissa could only nod with determination.

"Yes… and I will do everything in my power to do so," she said with her own fists curling in agreement.

"Great! What we need to do now… mind you, is to make it official by actually having my Dad accept you as his wife, his partner, whatever. And me, the great and intelligent Samantha shall be your guide!" she dramatically and childishly posed to emphasize her point.

"I will endeavor to learn then, Sam."

"You better… because you know that failing means the extinction of everything you know and love," Sam said with a sudden sinister tone as her face turned angelic but uncannily unsettling.

Anissa nearly backed away in fear, but the threat was something that she knew from the start. Sam's overprotectiveness of her father was something she expected, but not so much that she threatened her like this.

Yet despite it all, given the gravity of what was at stake, Anissa stood her ground.

"I will not fail. I promise you." She firmly said as Sam smiled.

"That's all I needed to hear." She said as she levitated back to her seat and with a snap of her finger the table that was messy due to her actions earlier had returned to normal, as if nothing happened. The casual display of power was something that Anissa still needed time to get used to, but she hoped that she could in the future, seeing that she was one of them now.

"Anyway, once Dad comes back from his call, we're gonna be going to the mall."

"What is a mall?" Anissa asked, curious about the term.

"It's a place where we're going shopping… and you dear Annie are going to be dressing up courtesy of moi so that you'll seduce my Dad with certainty."

Anissa for some reason found herself being excited for that.

Just as they finished talking, David eventually came back, looking a little frustrated but also happy about something from the phone call. Almost like he was proud of something, but he now turned to the two women at the table and noticed that they smiled at him, like they finally got along.

"What did I miss?" he asked.

The skies of Velkara-9 were no longer blue. They churned in a maelstrom of cosmic fire and radioactive storms, turning the once-thriving garden world into an inferno of molten ruin. The land, once home to towering emerald forests and oceans so clear they mirrored the stars, was now unrecognizable—drowned in liquid rock, upheaved by relentless seismic fury. The world was dying, swallowed in its own rebirth, an agonizing echo of the Paleogenesis that forged the terrestrial worlds of old.

Above this cataclysm, three figures streaked through the air like vengeful gods—Thula, Lucan, and an unnamed Viltrumite warrior. Their suits mostly burned away as they cut through the superheated winds, eyes locked on the abomination responsible.

A Behemoth. A one-eyed horrible thing that had nearly wiped out all of the conquered inhabitants of this planet in less than a day.

The creature moved like a living apocalypse, a titan of indomitable mass whose every step shattered continents and ruptured the planet's crust, birthing oceans of magma in its wake. Blacker than the void, its body exuded an aura of sheer atomic devastation, its very presence distorting the world around it. With every movement, the beast emitted bursts of geothermal energy, each more violent than the last, searing the very air, collapsing the sky into screaming gales of fire and ionized ash.

The Viltrumites struck.

Thula led the charge, her fists impacting Behemoth's hide with enough force to crater moons. Lucan followed, a blur of destruction, his blows turning mountains to dust in their wake. The third warrior drove into the behemoth's side, his hands clawing into the monstrous flesh, each strike fueled by the rage and desperation of a conqueror refusing to surrender his dominion.

But it did not bleed.

It did not falter.

The creature absorbed their assault like the unyielding weight of a dying star. Each devastating strike met only with the empty echo of futility. Then, it answered.

A tremor erupted from its core, sending waves of radioactive force pulsing through the shattered planet. Behemoth's limbs, great slabs of destruction, moved with terrifying speed. A single backhand caught Lucan mid-dodge, sending him spiraling across the dying landscape, carving a trench a hundred miles long through the molten wasteland. His scream was lost in the deafening roar of exploding tectonic plates.

Thula dodged low, but the sheer force of the shockwave ruptured something inside her, a sharp agony bursting through her ribs. She forced herself forward, roaring in defiance, but she knew. She knew.

This planet was lost. And this monster…

This thing… would not die.

The unnamed Viltrumite, his face twisted with fury, took the gamble. He rocketed forward with enough speed to shatter the sound barrier a thousand times over, his arms locking around Behemoth's neck. His plan was clear—drag it off-world, hurl it into the abyss before it could consume everything.

For a moment, he moved it.

Then, something changed. His grip faltered, not from physical strain, but from within. A creeping, searing agony slithered into his bones. His organs twisted, liquefied, and ruptured as his body was bathed in a sudden, crushing radiation. His veins boiled, his muscles spasmed uncontrollably.

His mouth opened to scream, but only blood came—boiling, vaporizing upon exposure. His eyes widened in sheer, uncomprehending terror as his form began to crack apart at the seams, his very cells combusting from the inside out. His final moments were a hellscape of agony as his body burst like a dying star, an explosion of radiation and atomic fire so bright it burned shadows into the molten rock below.

The Behemoth did not react.

Thula watched, her breath ragged, her mind racing through possible strategies and finding none. She turned to see Lucan staggering back into the fray, his wounds already piling up. This was not a battle.

This was extinction.

And it had only begun.

AN: I hope you loved Goofy Simmy being Goofy Gurl that's basically a reverse of 'Taylor' is in this fic. More loud. More expressive given she now has a meat puppet to essentially be 'The Winged One' but as a human.