Under her Blue Star mask, Kayla Black is keeping her eyes closed. She’s holding tight to Noriko Null, even though the teenage genius is ten years younger and much shorter than the African-American superhero. But Noriko is the one driving the Phoenix NX-1, the motorbike crossing Colorado faster than the speed of sound: superscience or not, Kayla feels the need to hold to something.

<We’re almost there> Noriko says through the Neural Transmitter, her thoughts transformed into radio waves.

<The situation must be pretty bad if General Anderson agreed to tell you the location of Project Silver> Kayla notes.

<Someone infiltrated one of the most well protected military installations on the planet and stole two alien weapons with unimaginable destructive power. “Pretty bad” is quite the understatement.>

<I understand the robot, but are you sure the Heart of the Universe is a weapon?>

<The Many used it to disintegrate your brother Max, and she barely tapped into its power.>

<What do you mean “my brother”?>

<Oh please. Project Silver used the Heart to give you super-powers because they stole the idea from my notes, “Blue Star”. I know you’re actually Kayla Black, Quantum’s sister.>

<Crap. I made fun of Max’s idea to keep a secret identity, and I blow mine on my first mission.>

<If it makes you feel any better, I also find his fixation on this concept very childish.>

<Thanks, I guess. I have to say, you’re taking this better than I expected. I mean, you know Project Silver was essentially created to engineer weapons to defend America against you, right?>

<I would’ve done the same thing. Except, of course, I would’ve built better weapons.>

<Of course you would have> Kayla answers, rolling her eyes without opening them.

 

Stygia, 50.000 light-years away

The Necropolis covers the entire planet. Thousands of years ago it was under the rule of Demeter and home of the proud Stygian culture, renown throughout the Galaxy for its beautiful gardens.

Now it’s a worldwide cemetery. Nothing but endless lines of tombstones, as far as the eye can see.

Two goddesses are walking past the graves. One of them is old enough to remember dinosaurs. She has long purple hair, red eyes, and her black form-fitting robe leaves very little to the imagination.

<We love what you’ve done with the place, Persephone.>

The other goddess chuckles. She’s a hundred times older than writing, but she looks like she just passed her teenage years. She has green hair, a sign that she’s the daughter of Demeter, and she wears a weird combination of leather and metal lingerie.

<Can you believe the Old C#nt wanted me to grow fu##ing flowers here? F##k that gardening s#it. Now, what the fu## are you doing here, Hekate?>

<Athena killed one of our three bodies. We need all of the Triple Goddess in this war.>

<Will you drop that fu##ing “royal we” s#it? It’s annoying as fu##. Almost as much as you.>

<We are your guest, Persephone. As we respect your authority, you should respect us.>

<Fu## respect. You want my help because I’m the motherfu##ing Queen of the Dead and you want a resurrection. Well fu## you; do you know how much it takes to raise a fu##ing goddess from the dead?>

<Is that why you haven’t resurrected your mother?>

<No, I haven’t because I hated the Old C#nt. And I don’t give two fu##s about that co##sucker Hephaestus and his s##tty robots. How many go##amn sectors do you own, six? My husband owns a fu##ing galaxy!!! Why should I bust my #ss for you?>

<Why indeed> someone else answers.

A ghost phases through the graves, perching on a tombstone. Her blue skin and the bat-like wings on her back identify her as a member of the Lampyrian species, and despite the new cybernetic implants Hekate recognizes her.

<Elytra, one of the pets of Artemis. What do you want from us?>

<I have a message from Hephaestus> Elytra says, flying towards Hekate. The goddess doesn’t flinch, because she knows that no mortal can even come close to harm her. But Elytra’s body suddenly becomes intangible, allowing her to stab Hekate’s heart from within.

Hekate screams in pain, falling on her knees and trying to contain the blood spilling from her generous cleavage. Persephone just smiles.

<Well. This is going to be fu##ing interesting, isn’t it?>

 

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado Springs

It didn’t take long for the Army to respond to the alarm. They have isolated the access to the mountain, and they are preparing to face whatever comes out. Or so they think.

The Talos is withstanding everything they’re throwing at it: bullets, RPGs, mines, nothing even scratches the black and white body of the robot.

Without saying a word, the Talos raises a hand and releases a blast of incandescent plasma… hot enough to vaporize titanium. But it doesn’t hit the soldiers, because the Phoenix NX-1 comes to a screeching halt right on the beam’s path.

The same forcefield that made possible the sudden deceleration withstands the hit, but judging from the sparks flying from the field emitters it probably won’t do as well a second time.

<Do you really think this is going to work?> Blue Star asks, releasing electricity from her left hand and microwaves from the right one. None of these attacks have any effect whatsoever on the Talos, but it gives Noriko the time to activate her N-Phone.

<It worked just fine the first time. Just watch> she boasts, activating the holographic projection.

A rapid stream of equations appear in front of the Talos. The robot seems surprised by the move, but only for a few moments. Then its red eyes light up.

<NICE TRY. LET’S GO. ANOTHER ROUND. SWEETHEART> it says with a booming metallic voice, releasing laser beams from its eyes.

<Look out!!!> Blue Star shouts, pushing Noriko out of harm’s way. The beams penetrate Blue Star’s uniform, but their energy is absorbed by her skin.

<THIS THING. CAN’T AIM. FOR S##IT> the Talos adds, walking again. Noriko shoots her Genius Gun at it, but with no success: there seems to be no way to penetrate the armor.

The Talos lifts the Phoenix NX-1 with one hand, ready to smash it against the two women.

Then something orange swings by, saving Noriko and Blue Star just in time to save them from being killed. Now that there’s no one else in the way, the army can unleash everything they have against the Talos…for the good that it makes.

 

On the mountain itself

It takes a moment to recover from the sudden acceleration; it’s not as severe as a car crash, but it’s just as disorienting. Even for Null.

<Sorry it took so long. Are you alright?> Vesta asks.

<I think so> Blue Star answers, investigating the hole on her uniform suddenly exposing her belly: the laser burned through the fabric and the bulletproof vest underneath it, but the skin wasn’t even bruised. She didn’t know her powers worked that way, but she doesn’t want to think about it now.

<Aren’t we going to help them?> she asks, pointing at the soldiers attempting to restrain the Talos.

<No use> Torn says.

Still dizzy from Vesta’s rescue, she didn’t notice he was standing next to her until he talked.

<Come on, we’re the Vanguard! That’s what we do, right?> Kari asks, in her Legion skintight armor; Vesta must have brought them with her.

<You don’t understand: the Talos are undefeatable. I’ve seen worlds far more advanced than this one waste all of their firepower to destroy one, only to be reduced to ashes in retaliation.>

<I defeated one once, destroying its mind> Null boasts.

<Which raises an interesting…oh crap> Blue Star says, taking a step back when she sees the Talos flying towards their location using some kind of jets integrated into its boots.

<Cut of a thousand deaths!!!> Torn shouts, releasing a stream of energy daggers. Vesta and Blue Star try to help, adding a fierce flame and a lightning bolt to the attack, but the Talos continues its course until it lands loudly on the mountain.

<HELLO. SWEET NORIKO. I AM YOUR BIGGEST. FAN> the robot says.

<Judging by the stilted speech, I presume I’m not talking to the Talos right now> Noriko deduces, holstering the Genius Gun: it’s obviously not going to work this time.

<YOU’RE A SMART. COOKIE. COME INSIDE. WE SHOULD. TALK.>

<Really. Considering your actions today, you don’t strike me as the diplomatic type.>

<I HAVE THE HEART. OF THE UNIVERSE. BUT IT’S NOT WHAT. I SEEK. IF YOU WANT TO TRADE. WE MUST TALK FACE. TO FACE.>

<One condition. You won’t kill me or anyone I take with me. This is not negotiable> Noriko answers, her silver eyes flashing and keeping contact with the robot’s stare.

<DEAL. TAKE WHOEVER. YOU WANT. BUT NOT HER> the Talos says, pointing its finger at Vesta, who asks:

<Me? Why?>

<BECAUSE WE. NEED SOME. GIRL TALK.>

The Talos punches Vesta in the face so hard the entire mountain shades. Noriko loses her balance; two duplicates of Kari catch her before she can roll of the mountain.

<Should we help her?> Kari asks.

The Talos tries to smash Vesta with both hands; she manages to grab its fists and hold them, but the robot counterattacks by releasing a white hot flame from its mouth.

<I’m not sure we can. This place will be scorched earth soon> Noriko answers, looking at the sky where fighter jets are already patrolling the mountain.

 

Stygia, 50.000 light-years away

Persephone is enjoying the show from a makeshift throne of skulls, eating a pomegranate. The battle between Elytra and Hekate seems locked in an endless loop: the goddess transmutes the tombstones into thousands of vicious stone dogs, but the Lampyrian uses the claws of indestructible neutral matter to rip them open; she pushes her luck trying to attack Hekate direcly, but she’s forced to become immaterial again when serpentine dragons of violet energy swallow her alive.

-This is fu##ing pathetic, Hekate. She’s just a fu##ing mortal.

<Enough!!! We will not be patronized by the spawn of Zeus!!!>

Hekate’s grasp on reality has been questionable for millions of years, but this is the last straw. Not only she lost a body to Athena, now another daughter of Zeus is mocking her…and for the second time in untold millennia, a mortal is escaping her wrath. She concentrates her power on Elytra’s position…one single blow of energy.

The result could easily be mistaken for a nuclear explosion. Tons of debris are heated to scorching temperatures and rise into the air, giving birth to a mushroom cloud that can be seen across the horizon. Nothing withstands the blast pressure and the heat: mausoleums and statues of Persephone, as big as a skyscraper and the Statue of Liberty respectively, have been utterly obliterated.

Hekate shakes the fallout from her hair. This took a lot out of her…she’s using only one body.

<Was that good enough for you, Persephone?>

The Queen of the Dead is still sitting on her throne, chewing her pomegranate, protected by a green force field. The explosion didn’t even ruffle her hair.

<Not unless you kill her, you stupid c#nt.>

Elytra takes advantage of the cloud of destruction to phase through Hekate’s telekinetic defenses and slices her throat. The goddess tries to push her away, but she’s used up too much energy to be effective…and collapses on the dirt, exhausted.

<S#it, I am genuinely impressed. What do you say we go a couple of rounds, fu##face?>

Still intangible thanks to the Drylon technology in her body, Elytra stands her ground and wipes divine blood from her talons. She’s ready to draw some more.



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