Schemes

"All Hail Emperor Nolan!"

The cheer sounded across the capital city of Viltrum, Argall, named so after the greatest of Viltrum's rulers. Now, his son and heir, Nolan had ascended to the throne and with him, was a child.

The people of Viltrum were happy, no they were overjoyed.

Not only was the son of Argall now on the throne but the line of succession was secured. But that didn't really bother me at all, no I was more focused upon the child itself, Mark as I had come to learn his name was.

He was young, I'd say no more than a year old, maybe two at a push. But I knew for a fact that the child Nolan had brought with him would later grow up to become the Invincible, the titular character of the Invincible comics, a Viltrum-Human halfbreed and one of the strongest characters in the comics.

But what was more surprising was the fact that he wasn't from Earth. He was in fact from a planet called Gaea which was inhabited by a humanoid looking species.

It did answer a few questions but also raised a few more as well.

At least this way I could infer that hero teams like the Avengers, X-Men, Justice League and so on won't be on the same planet. Earth in of itself was going to be very difficult to conquer, all the contrasting cultures and religions would mean constant rebellions. Rebellions that could spark wider ones all across my empire.

Look at Superman and when he took control of Earth through force during the Injustice series. It was pretty much five years of constant battles till he was eventually defeated. If I tried to take it by force, I would be facing similar problems.

To have all those heroes on top of that, well that was a recipe for disaster so I was relieved that was no longer the case.

It just meant there could be more than one Earth-like planet out there which would cause me more resistance and therefore require more imaginative solutions to take. I had no intention of letting anything out of my sight slip from my fingers.

Anything that I desired from planets to wealth, to women, to power, so long as I desired it I'd stop at nothing till it was mine. I'm fully aware that it will cause me a number of problems that perhaps I shouldn't really have to face, but I'm aware of that flaw of mine. I was powerless when I was young and trapped in that burning house, never even getting to live my life to its fullest.

Again, in the early years of my second life, I was forced into a comma and experimented on. When I was released I underwent brutal and harsh training before being forced into the Military Guild, thrust into battles. All the while being under heavy scrutiny from various factions meaning escape was impossible.

But now I was free.

I could finally do what I wanted, live my life to its fullest and no one would stop me. No matter how strong or smart they were, I'd find a way to win even if it cost me everything. It didn't matter if it did, I'd just rebuild it all again.

Nothing would stop me now.

Nothing could stop me now.

Nothing.

-X- Line Break -X-

Pushing open the door to his father's old study, Nolan paused as he looked around at the room. His presence had always been kept a secret, Argall having always suspected his former friend and aid, Thaedus of treachery. All the people of Viltrum had known was that Argall had a son, none had known what he looked like or who he was.

Not even Thaedus.

It was why he had been able to blend into Viltrum Society so seamlessly. None had known him as anything other than Nolan, they never knew or suspected that he was the son of Argall and therefore, the rightful ruler of Viltrum. Nor had Nolan had any desire to claim his birthright.

'But now I have no choice.' Nolan reminded himself, walking across the room and pulling out the chair behind the desk, General Kregg following in behind him. 'Yet Viltrum now also serve the Kryptonian, Tah-Zod, or Rao as he calls himself now.'

"Can we trust him?" Nolan asked and Kregg didn't answer right away.

"I am uncertain." He replied. "He seems to not care about our past 'transgressions' but I don't think he fully trusts us either. I think that if he could, Tah might have forced us into servitude like the Vrangs, but couldn't due to the strength we possess. However, I'm not certain, he is a difficult man to read."

Nolan nodded his head but noticed something else in Kregg's countenance which rose some concerns. "What is it?"

"I do not think Tah-Rao truly understands or possibly doesn't care about the power the Green Lanterns hold. Certainly, they are unable to stop bigger empires, but smaller ones like ours, we cannot stop them should they choose to destroy us. Not even Thragg could have stopped them and Tah is not much stronger than he is." Kregg answered.

"He intends to go beyond the Citadel?" Nolan questioned in disbelief.

Tah was quite lucky to have made his entry on the bigger stage as he had. Whether that was by design or purely coincidence was unknown to either of them. But the Vrangs had after the Kryptonians defeat declared war upon the Viltrums and then the Citadel.

The only reason the Green Lanterns didn't interfere was that success was impossible. The Vrangs had miscalculated their strength and therefore would be bound to fail.

Thragg, by the time Tah had conquered the Vrangs, had already gained permission for the Guardians to go beyond their borders and end the war. So had the Citadellians no doubt. Therefore, Tah as the new Emperor of the Vrangs could act as the defender of his new empire and go to war against the two invading forces with impunity.

The Green Lanterns had their hands tied by the very politics they enforced and could not interfere.

Simply taking over the Viltrum and Citadel sectors of space would give a vast empire. Not quite on the scale of the Kree and others, but still a sizeable empire. Enough that one could live comfortably and not have to worry about a thing.

So the two Viltrums struggled to understand why he didn't stop there. Why did he continue to push for more when it would mean more and more enemies?

"He won't get a chance." Kregg eventually said. "I've already dispatched Thula to the Vega System. There's an unorthodox Green Lantern there, one who doesn't follow the rules properly. Unlike the Guardians and the rest of the Corps, who may not be able to do anything until after the Citadel has fallen. This Green Lantern on the other hand won't care and will stop Tah anyway."

"We won't have to do anything?"

"Not at all."

-X- Line Break -X-

Stepping onto the bridge of my new flagship, I looked out across the empty abyss of space with a smile upon my face. Things after so long were beginning to fall into place and soon I could begin expanding further beyond that.

The Vrangs, the Viltrumites and then the Citadel.

They alone were quite useful, some more so than others. But what they presented was a greater opportunity. The Citadel opened up avenues that most other sectors didn't have. After all, the Vega System had a ban imposed upon it by the Guardians for reasons unknown to me which had allowed the Citadellians to conquer twenty-one of the twenty-two worlds within said system.

I would come over, taking all twenty-two.

But the moment I expanded beyond that, I knew I'd be in violation of the Guardians code. Which meant I needed to find a proper casus belli that meant the Green Lanterns couldn't interfere.

It was a far more irritating procedure than I would have liked, but as a Kryptonian time was a relative concept. So long as I was exposed to sunlight I could live indefinitely.

Either way, I could get my hands upon the twenty-two worlds, including the prized jewel of the Vega System, Tamaran. "Emperor, Tah, we have an unknown individual flying towards our fleet." One of my aids called and I marched towards the monitor to see a green-clad figure flying towards us.

"A Green Lantern?" Conquest murmured quietly, just as confused as I was.

Why was a Green Lantern flying towards us? As far as I was aware, we weren't in any violation of the rules put in place by the Guardians. Not to mention that we had already entered the Vega System and therefore were out of the jurisdiction of the Green Lantern Corps.

Did he simply come to determine our course of action?

I received the answer to my questions moments later when dozens of constructs shot out and smashed into my fleet, tearing it apart. 'I'm being attacked? By the Green Lanterns?' I had no idea how to respond to that thought as I was suddenly thrust into the vacuum of space.

That's when I was struck from behind by a powerful blow that launched me for miles till I finally manage to come to a stop. At that point though I suddenly found four figures floating in the space above me.

The Green Lantern, a furred tiger-like figure one who if I recalled correctly was the Tamarean who was one of the original seven Green Lanterns created to fight against Volthoom.

Tyran'r the Mighty.

And with him, Conquest, Lucan and Anissa.

None of us moved, each staring at one another and after a few moments, I couldn't help it. I laughed, it was silent, no sound travelling but I laughed all the same. This was funny to me, didn't you find it funny?

After all this time, after all my recent success, I had finally being betrayed for the second time. It was a curse really, to be betrayed but at least this time I had never believed them to be loyal. I had always suspected rebellions, I just hadn't expected it to be so soon.

At least now though I knew how much freedom to give the Viltrumites in the future.

This was obviously an attempt to get rid of me before I could go any further. Perhaps it was in response to the threat I gave Conquest and Kregg back in our meeting? Who knows, all that mattered now was that I needed to win.

And as more Viltrumites, the number just over a dozen took their positions behind my opponents I knew that victory was not going to be easy. But my life had never been easy so this would be no different.

Shifting into a stance, I prepared myself for the battle to come as my lips twisted into a cocky smirk. I wouldn't lose here, not now and not ever.

This universe was mine to conquer.

It was my playground within which I was God and I could do anything I wanted.

Why else would I be given a second chance at life?