Brazil – São Paulo – 7:00 PM...
Inside an apartment far from the city, two young men could be seen laughing and drinking expensive wine—one was Léo and the other, his best friend Jhon. They were in such a state of amusement because they had just pulled off a multimillion-dollar scam against one of the biggest companies in São Paulo. They had taken more than 18 million reais from those rich bastards, all right under their noses, and probably, they would never be discovered—and even if they were, what would it matter in six months or a year? Most likely, the two of them, along with their families, would already be on another continent, enjoying women and money. At least, that's what Léo thought—but what happened next was not in his plans.
"Léo, you've always been like a brother to me," Jhon said, breaking the cheerful mood that had filled the room, then continued: "That's why I know you understand me more than anyone else. You and I are the same—we're apathetic toward other human beings. We don't care if they're in misery or living well. All that matters to us is our own well-being."
Léo nodded in agreement, not denying what Jhon had said, but he didn't understand where Jhon was going with this and quickly said: "Cut the crap, Jhon. Where are you going with this?"
"Of course, of course, I hate stalling too... Where I'm going with this is that you're no longer useful to me, Léo."
Jhon put his hand behind his back, pulling out a knife with his gloved hand. The handle of the knife was also wrapped in a glove.
Léo, who didn't expect this, stood up quickly—but unfortunately for him, Jhon wasn't going to stand still and wait for him to retaliate. Swiftly, Jhon used his years of experience wielding knives to land a precise strike on Léo's throat.
Not that Léo wasn't good with his fists or didn't know how to defend against a knife—he simply couldn't react because he was relaxed and heavily intoxicated. Apparently, Jhon had been planning this for a long time. Léo had just realized it—Jhon had brought two bottles of wine, probably one spiked and his own not, and he was wearing gloves, with the knife handle wrapped in gloves too, to avoid fingerprints. Unfortunately for Léo, he only noticed this after one of his neck arteries had been severed.
"Léo, I don't even need to explain why I did this, right?" Jhon sat down and continued his speech: "I did this precisely because we think alike and are the same. You're as smart as I am, you're as ambitious as I am, and that's why you would eventually become a threat to me. Because we are so similar, we are variants of each other." Jhon finished his speech, and slowly, Léo closed his eyes. An endless darkness overcame him—he was in a state completely submerged in something he couldn't explain. He felt strange.
But even in that state, he still had consciousness and thought to himself: "Damn you, Jhonatan. That bastard just discarded me like that!" In that state, nothing could be felt or moved, but probably, if this were the real world, we would see Léo's teeth cracking in sheer fury. "I swear, I'll tear that bastard to pieces when I get the chance."
"Hm... Look what we have here—a little being full of rage." A pitch-black entity spoke in that void, its expression amused, as if that tiny being reminded it of its past self.
That dark entity could not be seen, for the place was also dark. But its purpose there wasn't to be seen—it was something else. It then muttered a few strange words and then said: "Reincarnate, boy. In the future, you'll owe me a great favor."
Those words, Léo was able to hear—and at first, he was startled, for in that darkness, the voice of that entity echoed like madness in his mind. But soon, he calmed himself and noticed he was seeing something like a light—many might call it the light at the end of the tunnel.
'Damn it, what the hell is going to happen thi—'
Léo didn't have much time to express his indignation when he realized he could now open his eyes. The first thing he saw after opening them was a strange being—this being looked like a human but with some different characteristics. After being moved a few times, what left him most astonished was a tail swinging behind that being.
"Look, wife, our little one didn't cry when he was born. Surely, he'll be a great warrior in the future!" The tailed being expressed his joy to his wife, who was lying on something that might be called a bed.
"Let me see him, husband." The woman, with a slightly hoarse voice, gestured toward her husband, indicating she wanted to see the baby.
Upon holding the baby, the woman weakly said: "Our son is beautiful, husband... it's a shame he doesn't have your eyes—my Viltrumite genes completely overshadowed yours..."
"Don't worry, Andressa. The more he looks like you, the more handsome he'll be—and look, he even has a tail, just like mine." The man spoke, overjoyed.
But suddenly, his expression turned grim, and he said what his wife tried not to remember: "But Andressa, if the empire finds us, I believe they'll kill us for you abandoning your mission—and they'll kill our son for being considered an inferior species. If only he hadn't been born with a tail, maybe he'd be spared, and only we would be killed..."
"Don't worry, Marcos. We've been hunted for a while, but it will take some time before we're discovered again. Maybe we'll have enough time to send him secretly to another planet." Andressa spoke with her hoarse voice, now tinged with sadness, and in that same sorrowful tone, she continued: "Unfortunately, I wasn't born a high-ranking Viltrumite, so I don't have enough strength to protect us."
Marcos, seeing his wife saddened, approached and gave her a warm hug, making her feel better.
"Marcos, will these Barateans manage to build a flight machine before the empire arrives?" Andressa lightly gripped the blanket covering her, speaking with a trembling voice.
"Of course. Even though their race recently suffered a massive war, they still have advanced space technology. Since your seventh month of pregnancy, I've made them build it." He picked up his son from Andressa's arms and played with him while continuing to speak: "Don't worry, Andressa. Everything will be fine for our son. By the way, what do you think of the name Léo!?"
"I think it's a great name, husband!" Andressa turned her face slightly as she said it.
Meanwhile, from Léo's point of view, he was completely stunned by everything he had just heard. 'Viltrumites? Pursuit? Damn, I ended up in the Invincible universe—and above all, I'm a Viltrumite!?'
'Damn, from the conversation those two are having, our situation isn't good. We're being hunted because my mother abandoned her mission—she probably fell in love with my father during it. I can't believe she pulled a Nolan.'
A lightbulb lit up in Léo's head. 'There was never a Viltrumite named Andressa or Léo in Invincible. Shit, there are only two possibilities—one, I get killed by the empire along with Andressa and Marcos; two, I manage to escape in that ship and live in hiding.' He then sighed deeply and continued thinking: 'Between those two cases, I prefer the second—it has the higher survival rate. Not that the first has many chances...'
Four months later...
In a room, Baratean women were caring for a baby. This baby looked like an 8-month-old—it was none other than Léo himself. Apparently, his abnormal growth was due to his father's species—the warrior race known as the Macaidins. Their race can reach up to 3 meters in height. Probably, in a few years, Léo would stop growing, as his Viltrumite genes would completely dominate his father's race—but for now, there was no sign his rapid growth would stop. In Léo's opinion, that was a good thing—because the faster he grew, the better.
In this brief four-month period, Léo had gotten a small idea of what had happened to his parents and how they ended up here. He had overheard conversations from some Barateans and even his parents. It all started about four years ago—Andressa was ordered to conquer the Macaidins' planet. There, she met his father Marcos and they fell in love. After some years, Andressa discovered she was pregnant and told Marcos. The two decided to flee, but the empire pursued them relentlessly—until, after seven months of pursuit, they managed to mask their trail, making it harder for the Viltrumite Empire to track them.
His parents ended up finding this small planet in the midst of a civil war and decided to hide here while controlling everything from the shadows. A planet in chaos was a great place to hide—there wouldn't be many beings willing to visit and possibly recognize a Macaidin or Viltrumite and report them to the empire.
Since Andressa's seventh month of pregnancy, Marcos had forced this race to build, with their most advanced space technology, a ship capable of traveling entire star systems. He was only able to command this small race because of his power and Andressa's presence—after all, no race would take orders without fearing the strength of the other party.
Two months later...
'Two months have passed. I'm currently six months old. I can already walk and look like a one-year-old child, but I haven't shown any ability to speak or demonstrate intelligence. It would be a pain to have to communicate with these people.' Léo shifted in his crib, trying to find a better position, and continued thinking: 'Apparently, it won't be long before the ship is completed. Maybe today or in three days I'll be departing. I hope it's soon—I feel a chill down my spine just thinking about being killed again.'
A few days later...
"Baratean, bring my son here—the ship is finally ready." After saying this, Marcos ran a quick scan of the ship while the Baratean woman went to fetch his son. He couldn't risk those beings trying something with his son. After a few minutes, a Baratean woman brought his son Léo.
"Husband, I hope our son survives until he reaches the target planet. I don't trust sending one of these beings with him." Andressa spoke in a sad, serious tone.
"It'll be alright, Andressa. Let's say goodbye to our son and leave him with some supplies in the ship..." After that, Léo, who was already able to walk, was placed in the ship by his father, with enough food for many months—or even years—of travel. Léo, who hadn't demonstrated any speech abilities, didn't need to fake anything—he just put on a theatrical sad face as he departed.
Don't get it wrong—Léo doesn't hate his parents. He just doesn't like them. Léo once had a family, and that family stayed in his original world. He wouldn't trade his real family for these people—he's not someone who tries to drown his sorrows by clinging to others for comfort. Léo couldn't care less if these people live or die.
After this brief farewell, the ship took off. If Léo could see what would happen shortly after his departure, even he would drop his jaw in disbelief.
"Husband, he's gone. It's time to implement our plan. We can't let those beings open their mouths about our son," Andressa said, holding Marcos's hand.
Marcos squeezed her hand and replied, "You're right... but after this, you know the Viltrumites will find us, right?"
"Yes, I know. But our son's safety comes first!"
With those words, Marcos and Andressa rose into the air and began a true massacre.
Andressa destroyed entire buildings—bridges, towers, dams... Anything in her path was torn apart. Marcos, not as strong, only managed to take down smaller structures, kill thousands of Barateans, or dismantle their internal systems. The Barateans barely reacted, as they were already fighting among themselves. After the couple's attack, it marked the beginning of the end for that species, which was annihilated in just six days.
After those six days, only two people were left flying above that planet; nothing stood anymore. The scene was utterly hellish—bodies and blood covered the ground across the entire world, a complete carnage.
"So this is where little Andressa was hiding..." a Viltrumite man said from the sky, floating. Behind him, two more Viltrumites.
"Adress'h... Seems you've abandoned your real name and taken on your mission name," the Viltrumite woman with them said, continuing, "And to make things worse, mating with this Macaidin... such an inferior species!"
"Looks like she destroyed this planet hoping to offer it to the Empire... Hahaha, did she think that would lessen her sentence?" the third Viltrumite laughed loudly.
"No way. We're going to kill this Macaidin and take you in to face your execution."
The first Viltrumite to arrive was also the first to act. He lunged at Andressa and punched her in the face. She tried to block by raising her forearms, but she was too slow compared to him and was sent flying hundreds of meters away. The second Viltrumite then swept in and kicked her leg, shattering it and exposing a fractured bone.
As for the one assigned to Marcos, it wasn't even a challenge. He simply dashed in like a fighter jet and pierced through Marcos's head.
Andressa, who was struggling with two opponents, saw it—but could do nothing. She was furious, but powerless. Rage is only useful when you have the strength to wield it—otherwise, it just rots you from the inside.
After losing her grip on reason, Andressa was beaten for some time. She managed to dislocate the first Viltrumite's arm, but after that, she couldn't do anything else.
She was captured, and for now, her fate remains unknown...