Beyond The Impossible

Calvary Cemetery, New York City

The dead are rising from the grave, and they’re armed to the teeth.

Reanimated by the black Ichor now flowing inside their bones, three million deceased New Yorkers who are now brandishing weapons of dark energy are charging towards the Vanguard and their allies. It’s easy to be overwhelmed, even for seasoned fighters.

Quantum and the former Oracle Shaina have it relatively easy: the blindingly bright lasers they can emit seem to be among the very few things capable of breaking Ichor weapons.

Even so, the sheer number of enemies and the fact they can’t unleash their full power without vaporizing their allies limits their efficacy.

Ganos Lal and Agent Wu are the ones feeling the most out of their depth. The former is not a fighter, and while the Genius Gun in her hands is doing all the work by aiming and firing on its on accord, she’s still terrified by the whole situation.

The FBI agent is only armed with a regular gun, and the forcefield emitter of the bracelet that Null gifted him is the only thing that could potentially keep him alive if he were hit.

Noriko Null is in the middle of the chaos, as she often is, firing her other Genius Gun at any undead that makes the mistake of getting too close. It’s just to keep herself busy while she continues doing what she does best: thinking.

Then something clicks in her mind, and she stops firing altogether.

<Ran out of bullets?> Agent Wu asks her, while firing his own gun.

<Never. This thing fires pure kinetic energy.> she says, tapping a nail against the Genius Gun.

<Then use it! I don’t think we’ll be able to hold much longer!>

<We’re not in any danger. We’re done here.> Noriko declares, holstering her weapon.

<Are you nuts!? We’re surrounded by zombies!> Quantum protests.

<Everyone, just stop fighting. Trust me.> she says.

All the other living people around her have their doubts, but they reluctantly stop attacking the reanimated corpses… who, in return, stop rushing towards them.

Instead they move to throwing their Ichor weapons at Agent Wu and him alone; without the complication of protecting the others, Quantum and Shaina are able to weave an intricate dome of lasers around him. Every weapon touching it is destroyed, and the zombies don’t make any effort to get closer or to attack anyone else.

<I knew it. Everything finally makes sense now.> Noriko tells herself, after which she puts her hand on Ganos Lal’s shoulders.

<Lal, I’m going to use your mind to send a message to every single one of your duplicate bodies currently on Earth, okay?>

<It would be my greatest honor.> the Supreme Pontiff admits sincerely.

<Don’t make this any weirder than it needs to be. To every single duplicate hearing this: disintegrate yourself. I’ll explain later to the real one.> Noriko says, her silver eyes shining as she projects the information through the various duplicates. And immediately after that, the duplicate of Ganos Lal in front of her wills herself out of existence.

<Has she always been able to do this?> Shaina whispers to Quantum.

<I dunno, she never tells me anything.> he shrugs.

<Anyone cares to tell me what the f##k is going on!?> Agent Wu asks; being surrounded by deadly lasers tends to make people anxious.

<In a moment. Kari, Vesta, this is a priority message.> Noriko communicates through the Soul Relay installed her brain, with her teammates hearing her from across the city.

<I thought you didn’t need us on the mission.> Kari replies through the same method.

<Change of plans. Kari, the original Ganos Lal is in Null Tower: keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t create duplicates. Knock her out if necessary.>

<That would be my genuine pleasure, Nori.>

<Vesta, there’s a Lal duplicate in the Imperial Palace in Midgard City. I’ve already ordered a full lockdown: fly there and burn her to a crisp.>

<You want me to murder her!?>

<She’s not the real Ganos Lal. Trust me, I’ll explain later, now go!>

<Nori, seriously, what’s going on!?> Quantum asks, having reached his limit of being kept in the dark about too many things at once.

<You might as well give up now. I’ve figured out your plan.> Noriko shouts into the darkness.

The dead completely stop fighting now, collapsing to the ground as they return being dead.

A man steps out of the shadows. If Ganos Lal was still here, she’d recognize him as the Myridian who attacked her in St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

<Who told you?> he asks.

<Simple deduction. Guys, this is the would-be assassin we were looking for, and the one who was using Ichor to reanimate the dead.>

<Okay I’m more confused than before.> Quantum admits.

<As long as I have the Vial of Destiny on me, Ichor can’t hurt me. But I needed something more to see how far Ereshkigal was willing to take this. The zombies weren’t trying to hurt Shaina, because she works for the Olympian government, or Quantum, because he works for me. That only left Agent Wu and Ganos Lal: two regular civilians. And since they were only targeting Wu, it stood to reason that they had different plans for Ganos. Like I said, a simple deduction.>

<Didn’t they already try to kill her earlier?> Shaina asks, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

<A cover-up for implanting Ichor into her body. We thought she was able to beat it, but we didn’t consider one of her duplicates was also infected. The Ichor has likely been controlling that duplicate since the assassination attempt, isn’t that right mister…?>

<Rot. Klevin Rot. She told us you would be cunning.> the would-be Myridian assassin reluctantly acknowledges.

<You really asked me to come along just to use me as bait!?> Agent Wu protests, recovering a pair of handcuffs but unsure of it’s safe to get close enough to the assassin now.

<I also needed someone without powers to do something for me.> Noriko explains, unlatching the chocker securing the Vial of Destiny to her neck and handing it over to the FBI agent.

<Null, what are you doing!?> Shaina protests.

<That trinket is the only thing protecting you from Ichor. Give it up and I promise you will pay for your sins.> the Myridian man threatens her.

<If you try anything funny…> Quantum replies, but he’s stopped by Noriko gesturing at him.

<No, he has Ichor inside him. Hit him and he’ll release that stuff into the air, turning it lethally toxic. This requires a different approach.> she says as she cautiously walks towards the man, raising her hands to show she’s unarmed.

<She’s using you, Klevin. I’ve learned what kind of people Ereshkigal recruited against me: those who have been left behind by society without being at fault for anything. You won’t find closure following her.>

<I could cut your head off, right now. No amount of words will convince me the galaxy wouldn’t be a better place with your death.>

<I disagree. In fact, I can do that with just two words. Soul Resonance!>

If Torn were here, he could see Noriko’s soul expand outwards to engulf that of her adversary.

Instead, her teammates see both of them collapsing. Nobody lifts a finger for Klevin Rot, while both Quantum and Shaina move at the speed of light to catch Noriko before she can hit the ground.

<What did she just do!?> Shaina asks, rushing to check her pulse.

<Knowing her, something very dangerous that could easily kill her.> Quantum replies, checking her eyes. Her pupils are fully dilated, and the silver iris is flickering rapidly.

 

Imperial Palace, Midgard City

Kylon is in Noriko’s personal residence, busy reading reports coming from his homeworld of Boreas, when the sound of a siren forcibly gets his attention.

The alarm is then replaced by a synthesized voice that is being hear throughout the building.

<Please remain calm. By imperial order, the palace is now in lockdown mode and isolated from the rest of the city. There will be more information coming. Please remain calm. By imperial order…>

<This is bad. What’s going on?> the Lar wonders, checking his holographic laptop: the wireless connection is just gone.

Looking outside the window, he can see a forcefield enveloping the Imperial Palace. Before he can wonder who would be foolish enough to attack the seat of power of the Olympian Galaxy, he can hear something bump against the door that leads to the apartment.

There’s a second field that should stop anyone from getting inside, but Kylon doesn’t entirely trust the building’s defenses. Fortunately, Noriko didn’t object to him keeping his plasma gun in the house, and he rushes to recover it.

A black sword cuts through the forcefield and the security door made of four inches of solid steel-titanium alloy. Kylon raises the gun towards the invader, but he’s too surprised by her identity to fire immediately.

<Ganos Lal!?> he exclaims.

<Not anymore.> she replies; a spear of Ichor energy appears in her hand, and she throws it.

Kylon manages to fire a shot before being impaled to the wall. The spear cut through his shoulder, but he doesn’t bleed as much as a human since Lar blood has the consistency of motor oil.

Even under pressure, he’s a good shot: Ganos Lal’s duplicate disappears after being hit in the chest by the tiny plasma bullet.

A second duplicate replaces her instantly, swatting away the gun from his hand.

<Why are you doing this?> Kylon asks, trying to pull away the spear; just touching the Ichor is even more painful than the wound, making his skin burn through the worst allergic reaction anyone could experience.

<To teach a mortal a lesson. Nobody escapes death forever.> she replies, creating an Ichor sword and preparing to cut Kylon’s head.

She stops when something shakes the ground. Something that is making a lot of noise several floors below, but which is getting closer fast.

Then a pillar of fire emerges between the two, as Vesta crashes through the floor. She pushes Ganos Lal away with enough strength to throw her across the room, but not enough to make the duplicate disappear.

<Are you alright?> she asks Kylon, while creating a cage of flames around Ganos Lal.

<Hurts like crazy.> he admits.

<Try not to move. By experience, pulling this thing out would make more harm than good.> she tries to reassure him, trying to sound more certain of this than she actually is: she has seen her fair share of mortals mortally wounded by similar weapons, but none made of Ichor.

<Don’t interfere!> a new duplicate threatens her, appearing right next to Vesta brandishing an Ichor sword. Vesta casually interrupts her attack by grabbing her wrist.

<I’m sorry, I know you’re not in control of your actions. I’ll try making this painless.>

She could easily vaporize the woman. Instead, the goddess decides to increase the temperature of the air around her so suddenly that the mortal has no choice but to lose consciousness; since she didn’t physically injure her, the duplicate doesn’t disappear.

Without a living organism to act as a conduit, the Ichor spear vanishes into nothingness; Kylon has to lean against Vesta to stand up. Lar physiology is remarkably more resilient than a human’s, but he did just get impaled.

<Was wrecking the palace really necessary?> he questions, looking at the hole in the floor.

<I didn’t know if I’d be strong enough to pass through the forcefield, and asking permission would’ve taken too much time. I’m sure Noriko will agree that some damage was a decent price for keeping you alive.>

<What about Noriko? Is she safe?> he asks.

<Let’s get you to a hospital.> she says, completely skipping the question.

 

In darkness

Noriko Null has touched and destroyed the minds of gods. She has explored the memories of the Eden and of previous Nexus hosts. She has even commuted with the power of Hell itself.

But communicating with the Ichor is something else entirely. She can feel its malignant tendrils trying to break through her mental barriers, as she perceives the reality around her as an endless field of skulls and broken bones under a perpetually eclipsed sun.

But the ocean of blackness around her pales in comparison to the colossal figure of a goddess sitting on her dark throne. Compared to her, Ereshkigal appears with the size of a mountain and a wicked smile on her face.

<If you’re able to explain to me why exactly did you think this was a good idea, I just might let you live a little longer.> the Goddess of Death says.