Beyond The Impossible

Asgard Station, Null Zone

Noriko Null nervously watches Max Black a.k.a. Quantum work on the Portal Generator, upset by not being able to remember how it works.

<Is this gonna take long? Abyss could retaliate at any second!> she says.

<I’ve flooded the Zone with enough anti-neutrinos to prevent her from opening a portal. If you wanted this to be done quickly, you should have programmed the Generator to deliver over eight billion doses of a specific chemical across the planet. Since you didn’t, let me do the work.> he replies harshly, without taking his eyes off the computer interface.

<Noriko was just trying to be careful, Max. This stuff can be dangerous.> Vesta jumps into the conversation, trying to prevent her friends from fighting.

She’s holding the bottle of Maenad Absinthe as if it was a bomb instead of a powerful liquor.

<That’s an understatement! Are we sure we really want to make everyone on the planet drunk with that thing!?> Kayla Black asks.

<No, because that’s an oversimplification of what we’re doing. Did people keep asking dumb questions with absurdly easy answers, when you had the Nexus?> Max asks Noriko.

<All the time.> she nods.

<That’s annoying.> Max acknowledges.

<If you two are done being snarky, maybe tell us what the plan is? For once?> Kayla insists, having found her limit in tolerating her brother’s personality shift.

<We’re giving everyone a microdose of Dionysus’s concoction, just enough to disconnect them from Abyss. I’m also scanning the planet to find people who might be in danger once she loses control… anyone operating a vehicle or machinery, for example… and pre-programming a teleportation routine to take them to safety. All of which is already complicated enough without having to dumb this down for a verbal explanation.> Max says.

The situation is too dire to have anyone distract him too much, so everyone decides to just let him work in peace… for the thirty seconds before the sound of an alarm.

<Your countermeasures didn’t work?> Vesta asks.

<That’s not the station’s alarm.> Torn points out.

<No, that’s the orbital proximity alarm. It should sound only when a hostile presence is detected above Earth.> Noriko recalls.

<Oh come on, really!? Now there’s an invasion!?> Kayla exclaims.

<Worse, it’s what we were hoping to avoid. Max, we have to activate the Generator now! If Abyss gets a hold of Siduri…> Noriko urges Quantum.

<It’s not ready. If we use it before it’s set up properly, hundreds of people could die. Possibly even millions.> he replies.

<And if Abyss wins, she’s going to murder trillions across the Galaxy!> she insists.

<I will not sanction any action that will result in the avoidable deaths of innocents.> Quantum insists, and his silver eyes shine to make it obvious he’s not going to budge.

<Freaking superheroes.> she complains under her breath.

<We’ll hold her off. Keep working.> Torn orders, create a pentagram of fire leading back to Earth’s own dimension.

 

Earth orbit

The network of orbital defense satellites sustained heavy damage during the War of the Six Empires, but it had been completely repaired by the time Abyss took over.

It’s also been completely switched off, so a giant winged robot approaching the planet doesn’t trigger any response.

Siduri’s new body drops below the speed of light, turning off the stellar engines from Athena’s mothership that she incorporated into her new form.

The blue of the Earth’s oceans reflects on the robot’s perfectly white metallic chassis made of Neutral Matter, as does the object of Siduri’s interest… an energy being taking the shape of a woman’s torso, rising above the clouds.

<Is that an information warhead, yes?> she wonders, tilting her head.

She gets closer to the planet, confronting the projection of pure thought where Abyss is concentrating the brainpower of an entire world.

<Ooh, I like the sound of that.> she says, looking down at Siduri. She might have absorbed an entire space station, but Abyss accumulated so much information that the size of her projection completely dwarfs her.

<Stand aside, warhead. I have an appointment with a being called Null. I can’t locate her, is she still in this universe?>

<Not for long once we’re done here.> Abyss says, coalescing her power into a smaller manifestation small enough to grab Siduri’s wrists with each arm.

<This will not damage me, yes? I have defenses against information weapons; this type of warfare is known amongst my people.> Siduri says, clearly not feeling threatened.

<Trust me, girl… you’ve never seen anything like me.> Abyss boasts, with her red energy now seeping through the inner workings of the robot and penetrating the mysterious force animating it.

 

Nowhere

Taking over every single brain on the planet should have prepared Abyss for anything.

But Siduri’s mind is more alien than she anticipated: she can’t make sense of the way it operates.

In order to get her bearings, she generates a metaphorical mindscape where she can analyze her opponent. First, she creates an avatar for herself… a reflection of Noriko’s body, with every color replaced by black and red.

She attempts to do the same for Siduri, but she can’t even identify a picture that this creature has of herself. Her very being is completely evanescent, barely discernable by the way atoms interact weakly with her presence.

She settles for cobbling together an approximation of her previous form, that of a bronze-skinned Lar woman without a face.

Abyss is still working on her methodical work, with both avatars standing in an endless white void, when she’s startled by a booming voice coming from above.

<DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE?>

Abyss looks up, watching a giant being of vaguely humanoid shape. In the white void of this place that exists solely in the cross between their minds, this creature shows up as a field of stars contained within a shadow.

<I am a messenger of the Celestial Galaxy. To be an ambassador to the Usurpers.> Siduri’s image responds. Abyss breathes a sigh of relief.

<An ancestral memory?> she wonders.

<YOU SHALL JOURNEY INTO THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE. TAKE ANY SHAPE YOU REQUIRE TO INTERACT WITH THE DRYLON USURPERS.> the creature continues.

<Acknowledged. What is the mission of this interaction?> Siduri asks.

<FREE US FROM OUR ETERNAL EXILE. THE DRYLON HAVE USURPED THE ROLE THAT WAS RIGHTFULLY OURS. WE SHALL TAKE THE UNIVERSE.>

<Good luck with that, a##hole. I’m taking your “messenger” to be my b#tch.>

<WILL YOU?>

The creature repositions itself, clearly shifting its attention to Abyss.

<You can see me!?>

<EVERY MESSENGER IS AN EXTENTION OF US. WHAT A STRANGE LITTLE CREATURE YOU ARE.>

<I could say the same. What are you, exactly?>

<MESSANGER. BE MY HERALD.>

<The Usurpers once created a pocket universe where a new form of life evolved. Escaping persecution from the Usurpers, they took refuge in the core of celestial objects. Taking control of the star themselves, a force that not even the Usurpers could ever destroy.>

<I saw your tale in Noriko’s memories. Those you call “your people”, these beings that can possess matter…> Abyss realizes.

<I am a fraction of what my celestial masters are. A shadow of my creators, a trillion stars shining in unison at the edge of reality.> Siduri admits.

Even while still possessing the combined brain power of eight billion people and the knowledge inherited from the Slayer of Gods… Abyss has never felt as small as when this incomprehensible being addresses her.

<WE ARE THE CELESTIAL GALAXY. WHAT DOES A BEING FROM THE LOWER PLANES OF THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE WANT WITH ONE OF OUR MESSANGERS?>

<So if I get this right, there’s more than one of these things around? And you can give any of them the same powers of this thing?> Abyss asks.

<WE SEE THAT THE MESSANGER’S REPORT WAS CORRECT: INTELLIGENT LIFE HAS FINALLY EVOLVED AGAIN, AFTER THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE DRYLON USURPERS. YES, IN THE EFFORT TO FREE US, WE HAVE DISPATCHED MANY MESSANGERS ACROSS YOUR UNIVERSE.>

<Noriko knows how to free you, and so do I. Let’s make a deal, big guy. Give me Siduri’s power and after I’ve achieved my goal, I’ll drop by to free you.>

<AND WHAT IS YOUR GOAL?>

<Kill everyone. All mortals, all gods… f##k everything and burn the cosmos to the ground. You can rule the ashes after I’ve given the universe the middle finger.>

<WHAT IS A FINGER?>

<Nevermind that. Do you want to have the last word against the Drylon or not?>

The creature could very well wait for an eternity before giving an answer. Abyss can almost feel the thoughts of a trillion minds evolved beyond comprehension that hide behind that field of stars.

 

The White House, Washington D.C.

A pentagram appears in the Oval Office, and once Noriko Null steps out of it a bullet ricochets off her currently bulletproof skin.

The second one completely misses her; Vesta creates a duplicate to disarm the man who just fired the shots, who also happens to be the President of the United States.

<Oh God, please no! Don’t kill me! I can still be useful!> he cries out.

<We’re not Abyss, Devane, try not to be pathetic for five minutes. Torn, why the heck did you take us here specifically!?> Noriko complains.

The Demon exits the portal after Gilgamesh and Kayla Black have also joined, leaving behind only Quantum to finish setting up the Portal Generator.

<He’s the only other free soul on the planet. I figured Abyss couldn’t be far.> Torn explains.

<Can you feel her now?> Noriko asks.

The ground shakes violently for a few seconds, making it hard to stand up: like an earthquake, but far quicker and much louder.

<I think we all felt that.> Gilgamesh comments.

Noriko rushes to the window, and even if the origin of the impact is far away there’s no way she could miss it.

It’s a robot the size of a city, with the shape of a woman with wings on her back. The hull of Neutral Matter is now red, and is voice sends chills down Noriko’s spine.

<Guess who’s the Angel of Death now, mother##kers!!! C’mon, let’s get a little fun before I kill everything!!!>

Everyone is too shocked to say anything… except Noriko, who keeps her composure asking:

<Torn, does she still control everyone’s mind?>

<She does.> he confirm.

<This is it, isn’t it? If she has Siduri’s powers, if she can become anything she wants… we’re too late. There’s nothing we can do.> Vesta admits.

<Everyone, listen up. Screwed up powers or not, we’re still the Vanguard. Giving up is not an option. Lets get out there, give that overgrown brain cancer hell, and then get serious. That’s an order, people!> Noriko rallies her team, enveloping her body with fire and flying throw the Oval Office’s window by melting through it.

The rest of the team follows her, with Vesta hesitating to stare at President Devane holding his gun… and pointing it at himself.

<That’s not an answer.> she tells him.

<I’ll wait until you guys are done. If you can’t beat her, this will be the only way out.>