Argos, 100 light-years from Earth
Selene is not happy. This planet should be hers by now: she made short work of its fleet, and the rest of its military is far from a match for the power of a Titan.
But since Null showed up, her army of statues is having a hard time. The Talaria spaceship withstood their power and it’s still hovering above the city, and even her colossal statue was defeated by Null’s lieutenants. One of them, called Quantum, materializes in front of her; maddeningly enough, he’s ignoring Selene to talk to the mortals.
<Is everything okay?> he asks to one of Kari Zel’s duplicates, who is guarding the leader of the provisional government, Alexer Syzar.
<Yeah, I’m fine. Kick her ass, Max, but Khanos is mine> Kari answers: her hatred for Selene’s right hand man is readily apparent.
<These mortals seem to have faith in you. Are you a god?> Selene asks Quantum.
<Oh no, I’m not falling for that again> he answers, firing lasers from his eyes. Normally he wouldn’t try anything like this on a human being, but as Selene’s perfectly white skin demonstrates she’s far from human. And the lasers, which are hot enough to melt steel, ricochet off her skin.
<Selene!> a voice calls from above: Vesta is descending rapidly, and her arrival is facilitated by the fact that Selene completely wrecked the Senate’s roof.
<I recognize you: Hestia, the lesser sister of Zeus. Do you claim this world as yours?>
<This world doesn’t want a goddess like you, Selene. I suggest you leave, now.>
<You have no say in the matter, Hestia. This world will perish under my wrath.>
<Okay, no more playing nice with you> Vesta declares, before throwing the first punch.
It’s like being next to a hurricane. The wind alone is enough to send everyone present against the nearest wall, and the sound would’ve crashed every window in the city if Selene’s first attack didn’t already accomplish that. Quantum rubs his head, feeling like he was nearly knocked out by a punch in the face instead of being several feet away from the real thing.
But there’s little reason to rest: Vesta aimed for Selene’s face, but it was intercepted by her hand. Vesta is trying to break free, but Selene’s hand is holding her fist so thigh that Vesta is grimacing in obvious pain; even using the other hand, she can’t free herself. And Selene is perfectly calm.
<That… was uncalled for> Selene complains, throwing Vesta into the air with alarming speed.
Vesta can fly, but she has to overcome the extreme acceleration to slow down. She doesn’t have enough time to do it before she hits the shields of the Talaria, bouncing off it but managing to make the entire starship wobble as it desperately tries to stay afloat.
On the bridge, the goddess Tyche is frustrated. The daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite is largely unknown in the galaxy, and positioning herself as the savior of the Alliance was supposed to put her on the map. Unfortunately for her, Selene is significantly tougher than she imagined.
<Shields at 20%, ma’am. We can’t take another hit like that> the helmsman informs her.
Tyche keeps her cool, but the halo of fire above her head rapidly increases in temperature reflecting her mood. Is it possible she overestimated the so-called Slayer of Gods.
<Null, I don’t know what’s going on inside that big brain of yours, but you better hurry.>
Inside the cargo bay, Kari Zel is thinking the same thing. She’s holding Noriko in her arms: the moment she finished working on her later invention, she collapsed.
<Nori, what’s going on? Talk to me> Kari says, touching Noriko’s forehead. She’s running a fever.
<I’m okay. I just need another hit> Noriko answers, reaching for the inside pocket of her green leather jacket and recovering a small plastic container. Which is empty.
<Not now, dammit, not now> she complains, trying to search for another pocket. She frantically tries to check for other places on herself, but she’s clearly not finding what she’s looking for.
<No no no NO! Where did I put them!?> she shouts angrily, rummaging through the components scattered on the floor, until Kari grabs her hands.
<Keep it together, Nori! You can do this, okay? You can do this!>
<I can… do this> Noriko nods, her silver eyes flashing as she recomposes; she looks embarrassed to have exposed her breakdown to Kari.
>Right. Now, what are we doing, exactly? What is this stuff?? Kari asks, pointing at the oversized gauntlets that Noriko assembled. The Earth girl puts them on, and they start to glow green.
>That depends. Are you the real Kari, or one of her duplicates??
>I’m a duplicate, why??
>Then we’re doing this together. Tyche, I’m ready, you can open the cargo bay doors.?
>Should I get the Callisto?> Kari asks, increasingly confused.
>We don’t need a ship. Let’s fly> Noriko says, grabbing Kari’s arm with her left hand and activating the gauntlet on the right one.
Gravity changes direction by 90 degrees, as both girls fall horizontally towards the door. They shoot off the spaceship, finding themselves thousands of feet above the ground… and not falling.
<What the φουcκ is going on!?> Kari shouts. Noriko is still holding her, but her right hand is sustaining the weight of both while seemingly holding onto something invisible.
<Hold tight. I’m gonna need both hands for this> Noriko informs her.
<This is so unnecessary> Kari complains, awkwardly moving to hold Noriko’s waist.
Gravity returns to normal. Both girls plummet towards the ground, accompanied by Kari’s scream of terror and Noriko’s genuine laughter. Kari closes her eyes as the ground approaches, until she suddenly feels weightless. When she opens them again, they’re both floating less than three feet above Prometheus Square. It lasts a few seconds, before their feet touch the ground.
<The Gravity Gauntlets worked perfectly, Kari. You can let me go now.>
The Myridian girl slowly takes her hands off Noriko, and even more slowly she regains the color in her cheeks after becoming pale as a ghost.
<Let’s never do that again> she deadpans.
<C’mon, Kari, I thought you were a thrill-seeker. It was fun> Noriko winks at her.
<What is wrong with you!? One minute you’re spacing out, then you’re about to cry, and now you pull a stunt like this!?>
<It worked, didn’t it?> Noriko shrugs, before spreading her arms and adding softly:
<Update.>
Just a single word, and the sky obliges. Lightning appears out of nowhere, going straight for Noriko like a human lightning rod. Kari has seen her do this in the past, but only recently the reaction has changed from extreme pain to a composed moan of satisfaction.
<I thought you could do that only on Earth… so you know everything from this planet, now?>
<No, it doesn’t work like that, it’s just a quick recharge. And a signal.>
<A signal for what!?>
<For battle. This part of the city has been abandoned, I can fight Selene here.>
<No, you really can’t. I’m not going to let you fight a goddess in this state> Kari objects, trying to restrain Noriko. The latter notices it in time to evade her.
<What are you talking about? I’ve never felt better!>
<Noriko, you’re clearly mentally unstable.>
<Yeah, tell me something I don’t know. C’MON, SELENE! COME AND GET ME!> Noriko shouts, activating the gauntlets to push away a few tons of rubble, repelled by an antigravity wave.
<That’s just great: on top of everything else, I have to deal with Noriko going nuts> Kari sighs.
While one Kari duplicate thinks how to prevent Noriko from killing herself, another one is just trying to stay alive. Talas Khanos shouldn’t be a problem for her: she trained all her life to fight people with the same telekinetic power he possesses. He still thinks of Kari as a single target with a single mind, and continuously shifting his attention from one duplicate to another is rather easy.
But Selene complicates things, even if she’s not doing anything. She seems to be enjoying showing Quantum that she can withstand anything he can throw at her, with the added problem that he can’t cut loose without killing everyone within a ten mile radius. So not only Kari has to evade the attacks of someone who can kill her with his mind and use anything as a projectile, but she also must avoid being hit by the Quantum’s energy ricocheting off Selene.
At least Syzar had the good sense to take advantage of the situation to run away, and luckily for their patience he also dragged away Ganos Lal and her pseudo-religious nonsense.
<I think we need a new plan> Quantum says, just when lightning strikes Prometheus Square.
<She’s here> Selene realizes, losing interest in the fight and flying away.
<Right, here’s the plan: you go after her, I take out this son of a βητχ> Kari proposes.
<Though words, from the daughter of a slave and a w##re> Khanos taunts her back.
Max has known Kari for a couple of years now, and he can count the amount of times he’s seen her legitimately angry on one hand. This is the first time he’s seen her absolutely furious.
<Max. Stay out of this: he’s mine.>
<Seriously? You think a girl can defeat an Oracle of the->
Khanos doesn’t finish his sentence, too busy to put up a telekinetic barrier to stop Kari’s sword from cutting off his throat. He didn’t even see her draw it: the bracelet she’s wearing seemingly teleported it into her hand. The two of them start a very elaborate dance, or to be precise, Khanos and the shards of glass and bricks he’s moving telekinetically are trying to catch up with the several dozen Kari that are moving all over the place.
Not all of them manage to evade his attacks, of course: there isn’t enough space for that. But when one duplicate is hit and disappears, another one draws attention to herself. Khanos has trained for decades to use his power, but he’s just one man. Kari Zel is an entire army.
And just as Old Man Vor taught her, Oracles have two major weaknesses. Their kinetic barriers are not forcefields: they must concentrate on what they must block. Two, the source of their power is the Godstone embedded on their throat.
Moving so fast that even Quantum has trouble following the fight, one of Kari’s duplicates jumps on the back of another one to leap above the kinetic barrier, and hitting Khanos with a roundhouse kick right on the throat. The Oracle is taken by surprise, especially since two other Kari kick him in the stomach at the same time. Another Kari breaks his nose punching him from the right, another one breaks his jaw punching from the left, another two break his knees, and by the time Khanos has realized what happened he’s laying on the ground, with Kari holding her foot on his throat.
She’s breathing heavily: she has more stamina than a normal human, but this was quite a rush. She reabsorbs all the other duplicates, pointing her sword towards her opponent’s heart.
<You want to know if I can defeat an Oracle, Khanos?>
She moves her sword, and for a second Quantum is afraid she’ll cut her opponent’s head off. Instead, she stabs Khanos in the groin, creating three duplicates just to push the sword completely through his body and stick it into the floor.
<Yeah, I think I nailed it.>
Vesta shakes her head: Selene really packs a punch. She’s never faced a Titan before, but she knows their reputation. Vesta floats above the crater created by her landing and looks up: Selene is flying towards the city.
<Max, I have a visual, let’s try to get her to follow us> Vesta says.
<No. Focus on rescuing civilians> Null orders through the Neural Transmitter.
<Are you nuts? She’s coming to your position!> Max answers her.
<I said no. You have your orders: do not engage Selene.>
<Don’t overdo it, Nori: her army wasn’t all that great, but she’s very powerful> Vesta insists.
<I know what I’m doing. Trust me on this one, guys.>
<Why? What do you have in mind?>
<I am going to kill Selene.>
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