Beyond The Impossible

The Vulcan Forge, 2300 light-years from Earth

Hermes is used to holding all the cards. If he can’t get his way with his strength, his speed or his cunning, he can always cheat. But this time he faces his step-brother Hephaestus, who he can’t beat in a fight, his step-sister Persephone, who has locked him in a green forcefield to prevent his escape, and Athena’s latest protégé Noriko, the smartest mortal in the galaxy.

He could have taken control of the God Eraser, but Persephone has just destroyed Noriko’s main weapon…which doesn’t seem to be what Hephaestus wanted out of his alliance with Persephone.

<<What is the meaning behind this action, Persephone? We had a deal>>.

<Why the fu## would I get into an alliance with you, Hephaestus? Your only military advantage was your robot army, but the Little B##ch took care of that. And Hermes is of strategic importance only thanks to his speed, but now that I have a functioning Drylon portal…>

<<He lost his edge. And you are about to lose much, much more than that>> – Hephaestus boasts, lifting his indestructible war hammer.

<For the God of Technology, you can be really fu##ing stupid. Let’s go, Khanos.>

The Drylon portal is activated, teleporting Persephone out of sight before Hephaestus can do anything about it. She takes Hermes and Talas Khanos with her, leaving behind only Noriko and her allies to face a really, really angry Hephaestus. The neutron star itself shakes.

<<You think this is the end, spawn of Demeter!? Hephaestus shall have his revenge!!!>>

<You wanted to talk some sense into him? Now’s your chance> Noriko whispers to Vesta.

<Hephaestus… let’s not make things any worse. We should talk.>

<<Hestia. There is so much I have to tell you about what happened over the last millennia>> – the god says, coming closer to Vesta and gently stroking her red hair.

<<I have been alone for so long. Shunned by mortals and by our family>>

<Maybe that’s because you keep murdering people and building killer robots> Quantum comments, earning an angry look from an already temperamental god.

<I’m just sayin’> Quantum adds, shrugging.

<<Are those the kind of worshippers you chose over your own people, Hestia?>>

<My name is Vesta now. And I have seen with my own eyes the destruction brought by your creations. The way you torture and violate mortals for your own goals> she says, pointing at Elytra. Now that the image isn’t altered by the close proximity to a star, she can fully appreciate the extent of her cybernetic implants… and the dead, lifeless stare that has replaced her vibrant eyes.

<<Everything can be upgraded. Surely you must agree that mortals are infinitely inferior to us>>

<In many ways, they are not. If you ever bothered to crawl out of your forge to do anything but kill innocent beings, you’d see it for yourself.>

<<As always, you are as naïve and caring as you are beautiful. Mortals are an abomination in the face of perfection. Hephaestus will not rest until they are ALL wiped out of existence. In the name of our past together, I give you one last chance to join my->>

Hephaestus doesn’t finish his sentence. A blast of pure concentrated kinetic energy takes him by surprise, throwing him at the other side of the room.

<I’m sorry, did I interrupt your evil speech?> Quantum mocks him.

<Keep him distracted! I have a plan> Noriko says, running towards the debris of the God Eraser.

<I think I can send a signal to the Supreme Scorpion> Lysia adds, starting her work on the closest command station. Hephaestus barely needs a second to recover; his roar of anger makes the entire complex shake uncontrollably.

<How are we supposed to distract him!?> Vesta worries.

<<Like this>> – Elytra answers with an electronic voice, disappearing into the floor.

 

Hephaestus is furious. No matter how much his family tormented him over his inability to control his power, he always had a way out: his mind. No other god of his generation, save perhaps Athena, could match his sheer intelligence. But now…

A mortal girl has built a weapon more dangerous than anything Hephaestus ever created. His plans have been thwarted by a foul mouthed witch. He lost his army, his mistress, and his long lost lover prefers the company of mortals to his scorching touch.

It’s enough to drive a god crazy. And Hephaestus was not particularly sane to begin with.

The armor is barely enough to contain the scorching heat he’s emitting. Elytra emerges through the ground, immaterial thanks to the Drylon device inside her, phases through his armor and tries to hurt him from inside with her metal talons.

He’s too insane with rage to understand what she’s trying to do, and attempts to strangle her even in her ghost form. She gets away, with Hephaestus not losing a single drop of blood.

<<His heart…like molten lava…>> – she is shocked to discover: every other god she’s faced so far had a relatively human body, but Hephaestus doesn’t share this weakness.

<We have to keep him away from Noriko> Quantum orders, shooting pure concentrated energy from his hands; Hephaestus seems to struggle to resist it, but he’s still advancing.

<Nori, whatever you have in mind, make it quick!>– Vesta echoes his thoughts, flying towards the god and trying to hold him back. But even if she has the physical strength to lift a mountain, it’s not nearly enough to oppose a furious Hephaestus.

<<I trusted you, Hestia! You will burn in Tartarus for all eternity for opposing me!!!>>

<Geez, what’d you do to this guy!?>– Quantum wonders.

<We used to date> Vesta answers through her teeth.

 

While this is going on, Lysia is busy working on one of the few command stations to remain functional after Persephone’s outburst. Her attention bounces from the rapidly approaching god to the young girl next to her, busy building something out of the remains of the God Eraser.

<I got the message to the Supreme Scorpion, they’ll be in orbit in a couple of minutes.>

<Z equals cosθ_wW₃ minus sinθ_wB> Noriko mumbles to herself. Her silver eyes are shining and her hands are moving too fast for Lysia to understand what she’s doing.

<Can you fix that?> she asks.

<In about fifteen minutes. Hephaestus will kill us in two> Noriko answers, not even bothering looking up from her work.

Her estimation proves to be too conservative, as Hephaestus hits Vesta with his hammer. Quantum escapes his wrath only for a few seconds: the hammer emits an energy field too alien for him to adapt quickly enough, and he’s pushed aside as well.

Elytra stands alone before him, spreading her wings to create a sort of wall.

<<Stay where you are! You may have turned me into a monster, but I won’t let you kill the only person who can save my people!>>

<<Then you shall die>> the god simply replies. Her Drylon device makes her untouchable, but he doesn’t need to touch her to kill her: a small charge goes off inside her brain, killing her instantly and mercilessly.

 

Hephaestus arrives at less than two feet away from Noriko, as she furiously continues her work.

<<You think your primitive technology can defeat hundreds of thousands of years of genius!?>>

<My tech may not be as advanced as yours, Hephaestus. But I’m a fast learner.>

There’s a bright flash of blue light emanating from the remains of the God Eraser. Hephaestus expects it to be some sort of attack, but his armor is not affected by it.

But Lysia, standing right next to Noriko, vanishes. So do Vesta and Quantum a second later.

<<What…what is this trickery!?>>

<Your teleportation device. I hacked into it> Noriko answers, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

<<Why would you do something like that?>>

<I beamed everyone back to the Supreme Scorpion. I don’t need anyone else to beat you.>

The god lifts his indestructible hammer, ready to smash the girl with one swift blow.

<<You are impressive for a mortal, child, Hephaestus shall admit that. But ask yourself, are you really smarter than the God of Technology himself?>>

The hammer falls, but misses Noriko completely. Hephaestus doesn’t move one inch after that.

<Yeah. I am.>

Noriko slowly gets back on her feet, holding her injuries. Hephaestus is completely immobilized.

<<What… what did you do, witch!?>>

<A little slow on the uptake, Hephaestus? I can explain how I just beat you, if you’re not smart enough to figure it out by yourself.>

The god roars in anger, with the sound of an erupting volcano. His red eyes, the only part of him visible through the armor, are literally on fire.

<<I WILL MELT THROUGH THIS WORTHLESS METAL AND CRUSH YOU!!!>>

<No you won’t. This neutral matter of yours… really impressive stuff.  I wondered why you would build your Forge on a neutron star, but then I got it: you found a way to extract material from the star and make it solid, cold and most importantly… weightless.>

The fire in his eyes wades out, replaced by something that’s rarely seen: a god’s terror.

<<You… cannot possibly… >>

<I admit I still don’t get how you did it. But I did find a way to destabilize part of your process. A teaspoon of matter from a neutron star has a mass of a thousand tons. That hammer of yours? Now it weights at least five quadrillion tons. Since your entire armor is made of neutral matter and it’s very bulky, you are now wearing the equivalent of several continents.>

<<HEPHAESTUS IS A GOD! HIS STRENGHT KNOWS NO LIMITS!>>

<Even a god can’t punch his way out of science, genius.>

 

Noriko walks towards Elytra’s lifeless body. She knows enough about Lampyrian physiology to be sure she’s dead. A pointless death… unless she finds a way to make her sacrifice mean something.

Elytra’s stomach glows. Something phases through her blue skin and floats… something grey, the size of an apple, vaguely shaped like an hourglass.

The Ghost Maker, the Drylon device that gave her intangibility. Final proof of her death.

<She came to you to help her people and you used her. She will get her payback.>

<<You can’t use another Drylon device. You already have one inside your brain>>

<I’m not the one who’s going to use it. Goodbye, Hephaestus: I don’t believe there’s an afterlife, but if I’m wrong I hope you rot in Hell.>

Noriko Null disappears in a flash of blue light, teleported inside the spaceship orbiting the Forge.

<<Yes, flee, mortal. I have hundreds of thousands of robots stationed in all corners of the galaxy; it’s only a matter of time before one of them rescues me. Hephaestus has all the time in the…>>

Another flash of light. The Ghost Maker has reappeared, this time attached to his armor.

<<She had the other Lampyrian initialize the device with the Infinity Key. Null, you are one clever bi->>

The Ghost Maker activates, phasing the body of Hephaestus through his armor. And through the floor. And through the surface of the neutron star.

Nobody can hear his screams of anger now.

Even without the additional mass of his armor, it doesn’t take much for Hephaestus to reach the core of the neutron star. The Ghost Maker keeps him intangible only through part of the journey: it wasn’t designed to withstand the temperature and the pressure of the star’s core.

Neither was Hephaetus. His energy is released in a single shot, amplified a billion times by the Ghost Maker. The neutron star’s temperature increases exponentially; with the additional mass of entire continents, it can’t remain a neutron star for much longer.

Everything happens quickly. The star’s gravity increases beyond its ability to exist: its core collapses into a black hole, devouring everything in its path.

That’s how Hephaestus dies, his empire and legacy annihilated by a black hole and a mortal girl.