Plans & Arriving On Earth

I hunched over a console, plotting my course to Earth and thinking about how I was gonna make a good thing out of a bad situation.

Number one, I was betraying the Empire no matter what. They've done nothing for me but give me horrible traumas I'll have to work through over my nigh-immortal lifespan. They're, ironically, a scourge of epic proportions and will only make the universe a worse place if they're allowed to do what they want. Now, how do I betray the Empire without being brutally murdered? I have a few options. Get stronger is a simple and straight forward one but also one that will require more time than I actually have. Get help is a simpler and easier one which requires meeting Allen so I can get in contact with the Coalition and more importantly Thaedus.

And finally, get proof that Nolan and Mark are the royal heirs of Argall. That would break the Viltrumites in half as a functioning attack force. Some would still follow Thragg but a lot of them would come over to Nolan's side.

So the plan hinges on Nolan breaking off from the Empire. Shit. Okay, I can work with that...but it took a while for that to happen originally. Took him nearly killing his son, losing his wife and a bunch of other events to push him to betraying them. Which means I'd have to focus more on Mark for starters. He was pretty useless the first times he went up against true Viltrumites, so helping him would help my plans.

Get stronger, get help, get proof and help Mark become a better fighter.

The skeleton of an actual plan but even such a little amount helps put my mind at a little at ease. I've got a basic time frame to work with. Even after I make my betrayal known, I'll have a while before Conquest or Anissa arrive. It depends when I arrive on Earth and what time period we're looking at.

"Fucking documents not giving the local year of the planet..." I whispered to myself as I tapped in the coordinates and the time frame with which I needed to reach Earth. I had three weeks to get there, which wasn't urgent by Viltrumite standards but they obviously wanted me there sooner rather than later.

Pressing the finalize button on the console, I plugged my universal map into the port and downloaded the information before pulling it out and looking at the route.

A week and half of straight flying before stopping off on an exoplanet with habitable conditions. Food, water, mild weather but no intelligent life. Once there I could rest for a day before heading toward the inner center area of the milky way galaxy where the Sol System orbited. Looking at the direction where I needed to head, I memorized it and placed the small device down my collar where it was kept secure by the skin-tight W.C.C suit. The white and grey suit all Viltrumites wore, whether conquering or training.

Knowing it was better to leave now rather than later, I headed toward a clear area where most Viltrumites took off from. It was a clear area that other Viltrumites were banned from flying over to avoid mid-flight collisions.

As I made my way over, I felt someone trying to touch my shoulder and my hand shot up to grab the wrist of my 'assailant'. The relatively dainty wrist compared to my own belonged to a slim but muscular arm and I already knew who it was, "Anissa," I frowned as I looked to the grey-eyed Viltrumite who was standing just behind me. I'd barely even known she was there until she made her move. Thousands of years of combat experience and she used it to sneak up on her juniors who she treated like playthings.

"Ezekiel," she smiled as she tugged her hand free, "Your senses are as keen as always." She smiled like a predator as she prowled around me and stood in my way, "Leaving without saying goodbye? I'm hurt," she teased and my frown twisted further down my face, eyes hardening as I wondered what she was playing at.

"I have things to do. Goodbye," I sidestepped her and walked but she followed by my side. Fucking bitch in heat, is what she is. We walked for a few seconds before my annoyance at her being near me got too much and I spoke, "What do you want?"

She tried to look innocent but the smirk tugging at her lips betrayed her act, "I just want to wish you good luck on your first infiltration mission. They can get quite tedious." I didn't respond and just sped up my walking speed, taking longer strides to try and outpace her. In the end she just floated to the side of me, "Have I done something to anger you, Ezekiel? I can't remember doing anything of the sort, personally, but maybe you've perceived a slight I didn't mean to make," she continued smirking as she spoke.

Anissa knew how annoying I found her. As per her sadism obsessed mind, she loved pissing people off. Most Viltrumites knew not to give her reactions but sometimes I just couldn't help it. She was just...infuriating to be around.

"Between the constant advances and offers for procreation, not to mention your terrible personality, I'd rather not have any contact with you unless absolutely necessary," I neutrally numbered off the things that annoyed me but like water on a duck, it just slid off Anissa who hummed in response and continued floating beside me. "What do you get from annoying me so, Anissa? Don't you have missions to complete?" I asked with an ember of anger in my tone.

She laughed and it took a considerable amount of self-control to not swing for her. Anissa would've been gorgeous if it weren't for the sick twisted light easily seen in her eyes and her smile when she looked at me like I was her personal plaything. "I do it because you look so cute while you're angry, Ezekiel," she reached to pinch my cheek but I slapped her hand away, "And you look so delectable when you fight back. Almost makes me want to take you here and now," she admitted in a husky tone.

I huffed and stopped walking, looking down at her with a frown that bared my teeth, "Try it, Anissa. I'll put you down into the dirt where you belong."

Fuck this. I pulled on my ability to fly, the smart atoms that made up my body growing excited enough to vibrate and create a unique energy that severed the ties gravity held over my body. My own body's gravity pulled ahead of me and up, pulling me off the ground and with a command that was both mental and physical, I shot through the air with a bang similar to an artillery shell being fired.

Anissa could've followed me but even she followed the one rule of Viltrum. Unless you were on a mission, all Viltrumites had to stay on planet in case of attack by enemy forces. The punishment for breaking that? Being designated a traitor and hunted down for execution.

She was a stupid bitch who thought with her lower brain and sadism too much but even she wasn't stupid enough to break that rule. There are plenty Viltrumites out there who'd love the chance to hunt her down and Anissa knows it. So, as I cut through the atmosphere like a knife, I did so alone. One massive breath later and I was in the empty expanse of space. No sound, no atmosphere to cushion the heat of the sun--nothing but me, my thoughts and the long journey ahead of me.

Out of the atmosphere, I could finally pull on my full power and I shot away from Viltrum in the direction of the exoplanet that would be my halfway rest stop.

Space warped around me as my speed continuously, breaking through limit after limit until I was shooting through space at speeds equal to or even greater than the speed of light. I weaved around planets and crashed through asteroids like a bullet through cardboard. I pushed my speed even further and ate up ground even quicker than before.

I shut off my mind, only remembering to move out of the way of planets when they appeared in my path. This was how Viltrumites were taught. Being completely conscious throughout a multi-week journey would be boring as hell, after all.

The journey ahead had just started and I knew it'd only get more complicated from here.

. . .

Sitting on the rocky ground, I would've sighed in relief at the sight in front of me if I wasn't on the moon. Earth. It'd been a while since I'd seen anything about it, let alone get to be so close to it. Unlike Viltrum which was covered in high-tech metropolises and factories, Earth still had green areas opposed to the blues and grays of Viltrum. Neither did it have a ring of dead corpses around it. Nostalgia aside, Earth was many times more beautiful than Viltrum and it always would be.

But it was far from unique. I'd been to a few planets like it. Yet none of them held such sentimentality for me - I used to live on Earth. Not this one, of course, but I lived on a Earth nonetheless.

I didn't let my sentiment get in the way, however, of seeing this world for the clusterfuck it was. Superheroes, supervillains, mad scientists and soon to be the target of an assault from the Viltrum Empire the likes of which this planet has never experienced before. I could almost imagine it. The white and grey uniformed Viltrumites as they charged through buildings regardless of the innocents inside, the vanguards crushing the world's armies under their heels and all of them taking the best of the weapons humanity could produce and shrugging them off.

I shuddered at the images in my head and decided I'd done enough thinking for now, so I stood up and zoomed away from the moon and arrived near the north pole within a few seconds. Reentry burned off any grime or sweat that had built up over the latter half of the trip here, so when I arrived on the snowy plains of ice that were the north pole, I was as clean as could be.

Though, having missed bathing, I forcibly sent myself through the ice and into the cold water below beginning a long overdue bath as I scrubbed myself for a solid ten minutes.

Once that was over and done with I burst through the ice once more and sat down on a place I hadn't just burst through. And I waited. Nolan should've been alerted to my arrival and my PDA should've sent out a beacon to his when I entered the atmosphere. He'd be here soon enough. While I waited, I heard approaching footsteps and turned to see a polar bear and some cubs. The mom, I assume, looked at me with curiosity before nudging the cubs the other way and wandering off while looking back at me every now and then.

I had the urge to try and pet them but shrugged the idea off in the end. It'd only end in the mom trying to kill me and getting injured - not because I'd attack back or anything but simply because the claws would be too brittle and would more than likely just snap if they went up against my skin. No need to screw over an animal just to sate my curiosity at how their fur felt.

A distant sonic boom echoed in the distance and the polar bears got scared and bolted away. The wind next to me went wild for a moment before settling down, "They're called polar bears. They class as apex predators on this planet," a deep and fatherly voice explained as he saw where my gaze was pointed at. The voice sounded vaguely familiar and I knew why.

I turned to see a tall man, around 6'2", with a muscular build and a face that would've meant he was middle-aged if he were a human. His hair was pitch black on the top of his head but gray on the sides and his thick mustache was similarly colored to the top of his head. He was wearing a caped body suit that was a mix or reds and whites, the symbol of the front of his chest looking similar to the symbol of Viltrum but with one white line instead of three. Standing, I greeted the man with a neutral expression, "Nolan."

"Ezekiel, right?" he asked and I gave a nod in response. He was holding something in his hand - a book - which he held out toward me, "A book on the local customs, slang and common sense. Read it on the way back."

I took the book and flipped it open. It was exactly what he'd said it was. How Earth worked, the continents, the prominent powers, things to say, things not to say, etc, etc. "What is my backstory?" I asked while I made an effort to read through the book. I knew how to act on my Earth which should partly translate to this one but it wouldn't hurt to make sure.

"Your backstory is that you're my nephew, who's come to Earth to learn under me. I've told everyone who needs to know that our people are the universe's charity workers. We help out the lesser developed species once we come of age - remember that," Nolan warned seriously. I didn't have to know any foreknowledge to realize how much his life here meant to him, even if he himself hadn't realized the impact it'd had on him. "You'll be living with my family and I for a short while to keep up the ruse that you're an ignorant newcomer and need help assimilating. After a month or two, you can pick a country and live there instead. Understood?" his no-nonsense tone brokered no argument.

"Yes sir," I replied indifferently, still flicking through the book before stopping and looking to Nolan, "You have a wife and son, no?"

He narrowed his eyes, "What of it?" he defensively replied.

"They expect my arrival?" I acted oblivious despite the obvious implication that they knew. The less Nolan suspected me going rogue, the better. And who'd suspect the newbie who can't discern anything?

"It might not be a ruse after all..." Nolan muttered under his breath before nodding, "Yes, I've informed them. Now come on, let's get going. I assume you haven't had anything to eat for a while?" he asked.

I genuinely smiled at the thought of food, "No, I haven't. Is the food here any good?"

"Some of the best," Nolan smirked before bursting off the ground and shooting away with a sonic boom. A test, huh? Alright, old man, I'll bite.

I too burst into motion, the ground cracking below me as I zoomed after Nolan, the air around me whipping out of the way chaotically even despite me trying to make myself as aerodynamic as possible. Humanoid shapes have terrible air resistance, but I brute forced my way through and soon caught up to Nolan who seemed surprised at my speed considering my age but soon got over it as we cut south and soon passed the UK before crossing the channel and entering France.

We continued on like that for a moment before curving east and ending up where I presume Italy was. I looked through the book and saw a few different pages on maps of the world and a few that went more into details about specific countries.

Hovering above the city I knew was Rome, I could see the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and in the distance the Colosseum.

"Come, we can eat something now and eat some more back at my house," Nolan said before floating down to a restaurant. I followed and when we landed, people all around began pointing at Nolan and taking pictures, some of which even came up to him to ask for pictures. He spoke in fluent Italian and put on a winning smile as he took a few pictures with fans before seeming to explain why he was here and they gave him a wide berth out of respect.

A few gave curious looks to me but I ignored them and walked next to Nolan, "I assume you're one of these 'heroes' then," I held up the book as a gesture to where I'd learnt the word.

Nolan gave a somewhat stiff smile, "A way to pass the time, I assure you," he said in a hushed tone. It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than me.

"Hm," I gave an understanding expression, "Maybe I'll do that too*. Are the villains here strong?" I wondered, genuinely curious.

(*A/n - He's not being a hero out of the goodness of his own heart. Whether he likes to admit it or not, he is a bit of a battle maniac and he'd be crawling the walls if he didn't have a good fight every now and then.)

"Some are," he gave a 'meh' gesture with his hand, "But most of them are narcissistic madmen who think themselves Gods without knowing the meaning of the word. If you are going to don a suit and be a hero, you'll need to get some basic training on how to do it. Things don't work like on Viltrum. Everything here is...brittle, easy to destroy--there are some real fights to be had here but for all the other ones you'll have to hold back a lot."

I shrugged at first before responding, "I'm used to training, Nolan. I think I can deal with training to hold back," I dismissively replied before looking to him, "I would also like to request combat training with you. I've heard you're a seasoned fighter with many years of experience - I'd like to hear your advice on what I can do better."

Nolan thought on that for a few seconds while we waited in line before nodding, "That can be arranged. We'll need to take the fight off planet to avoid alerting anyone, however."

"That's fine," I agreed and knew I was a step closer to being able to prepare myself for the future.

I would end up fighting Nolan properly, one way or another, so it's best to know how he fights before that. I could bring his heritage into the light, tell him how he was the rightful heir to the throne but that would do nothing but have him cemented even further with the Viltrumites. Sadly, he needed to betray Earth so he could realize what he lost by doing so. Which would pit us against each other eventually because while this Earth wasn't my own and I was no longer Human, I'd at least like to think I'm a good enough person to stop them from being enslaved.

Regardless, for now, I had to get stronger and wait for Allen to arrive on behalf of the Coalition. Then I could really go about changing things for the better...or at least better for me. I'd have to get in contact with Cecil and the G.D.A at some point as well but I'd have to time it just right. Too soon and they'd jump the gun, ruining everything, and too late and they'd think I was just trying to get on their good side so they didn't pursue me as an ally to Nolan.

While Nolan made our order and we continued to get gawked at, I thought about all of this. Ignorance truly is bliss at times. Sometimes I thought it'd just be easier if I didn't have my memories, if I'd just been a clean slate when I was reborn. It would have certainly made all this a lot less stressful.

The owner of the restaurant came out the back and shook Nolan's hand, thanking him for something, and my Viltrumite brain was quickly picking up on the language through a combination of tone and body language assigning meaning to certain words.

But I paid little attention to that detail of my biology and just waited.

Thankfully, after the owner came out, our order was pushed to the top and came out in the form of four bags stocked full of stuff that smelled absolutely delicious. Nolan said his goodbyes and you'd think I was a ghost because apart from a few cursory glances I got nothing which I guess I should've expected but damn. I'm a 6'5" and with shoulders broad enough that I could basically cover someone like a blanket if I hugged them - I'm not exactly built very subtly. Then again, I'm partly glad I'm not getting any attention, bruised ego aside. I'd rather not be remembered as Omni-Man's plus one.

"Here," Nolan reached into one of the bags as we exited the store and pulled out a tupperware container filled with what looked like lasagna. He passed me a plastic fork soon after I took the container.

"What is it?" I played dumb and held the container closer to my eyes to look like I was trying to get a better look at it.

"Lasagna," Nolan chuckled and gave me a thumbs-up, "It's good. Eat that and we'll head to America."

Popping the container open after moving it away from my face, I took the fork and stabbed into the meal, cutting out a square of lasagna before stuffing it into my face. And I don't know whether it's because this is a world that runs off of comic book logic (or animated show logic, for that matter) or if it's because I haven't eaten anything but nutrient blocks for the past seventeen years...but this was some good fucking food.

"It's good," I said in between bites as I devoured the tasty dish, "Really good."

"I told you," Nolan laughed as we walked a bit away from the shop before floating up into the sky above Rome, "Sure as hell beats nutrient blocks, doesn't it?" he joked a little, having not warmed up to me but definitely being more at ease around me after he realized I wasn't one of the weird Viltrumites like Anissa.

Either way, it was my turn to laugh, "I was just thinking that. It actually tastes of something, for one."

...Man, all the stress aside, I'm glad to be back on Earth. Or at least 'a' Earth.