The Stygian Galaxy, 2.7 million light-years from Earth
When he decided to help Noriko Null’s cause, the demigod Asclepius hoped to find new challenges for his immortal life.
Now that he’s guarding the cryogenic casket holding Null’s dead body, while also keeping his eye on the recovery of the cyborg Vector, he’s somewhat disappointed in how little exciting things have happened during his journey.
<You brought this limp-d##ked doctor to MY galaxy? Seriously!?> Persephone complains as she’s escorted to the room serving as the ship’s impromptu infirmary.
Asclepius jumps to his feet as he hears her unmistakable voice: he was looking for a little adventure, but even the so-called god of medicine doesn’t want to risk her wrath.
<Queen Persephone! I wasn’t told you were on the ship!>
<Is there a problem, your majesty?> Kylon asks, positioning himself between the two.
There’s way too many civilians on the ship at the moment, and Persephone is exceedingly easy to offend: the Lar hopes to have enough diplomatic skills to calm her down.
<You can bet your icy d#ck there is! This f#cktard worked for my mother, that old c#nt; I discovered he dropped fertility drugs into my food!!!> she shouts, her body ominously glowing green as she keeps on her fingertips enough destructive energy to reduce the ship to ashes.
<Please try to understand, Queen Persephone, Demeter threatened to kill all of my patients if you failed to conceive a grandchild for her.>
<Did you just call me a failure!? Do you know who the f#ck I am!?>
<Persephone, please, this is hardly the time! Null was the one to kill Demeter and Ares, both of which you were eager to murder yourself. Doesn’t she deserve your help?> Kylon asks her, opening his arms to shield Asclepius.
Persephone’s glowing green eyes stare at the Lar, who for a second or two is convinced he’s about to die. Until she just shrugs and stops glowing.
<Alright, Ice D#ck, you’ve got a point there. I suppose I owe one to the Skullf##ker of Gods.> she admits, gesturing towards the casket.
It’s made of heavy-duty steel alloys, but they are blasted away at a molecular scale when exposed to a microscopic fraction of her personal energy.
“I wonder how powerful she really is” Kylon thinks “Even Null’s database is unclear on that”.
Null’s body fluctuates in the air, kept afloat by Persephone’s telekinesis. Dressed in a skintight suit full to the brim of medical sensors, she has lost quite some body mass… already petite on her own, she looks really malnourished now. Her extreme pallor drives home the idea that her body is dead.
<Careful. Try to avoid sudden movements.> Asclepius warns her.
<She’s dead, what the f#ck are you worried about!?> the goddess dismisses him.
She leans closer to Null, inspecting her status. She keeps silent for an unusually long time.
<Well? Do you think you can help her?> Kylon pressures her.
<I’ve seen worse. It’s not my area of expertise, but you don’t hang around in the Underworld without recognizing death. I guess my husband might be able to resurrect her.> she answers.
Her tone is suddenly serious: Kylon didn’t fail to notice that this is the first time she didn’t swear.
<That’s fantastic! Null won’t forget your help, Persephone.>
<She better not. Hades f#cking hates resurrecting people. I should be able to convince him, if you’re willing to pay the price.>
<Yes, Charon mentioned it. We don’t have a golden coin right now, but…>
<Only that bony c##ksucker cares about gold! I’m talking about the price that Hades will ask in order to resurrect your girl.>
<What kind of price? Does he want Null to kill a particular god, or…>
<My husband is a f#cking Class 1 god, he doesn’t need help to kill anyone. No, he’s going to ask for the regular price: he will resurrect her only if someone else willingly gives up his own life.>
Themiscyra, 90,000 light-years from Earth
Ganos Lal adjusts the skirt of her chiton, a little too short for her tastes. Technically speaking the Amazons don’t really need clothes, and the planet’s weather is always kept at a paradisiac temperature, so they are not shy of exposing quite a bit of skin.
Still, despite the casual attire of the Amazons next to her, she can’t forget that they are still a military force. They have led her to the entrance of a large arena, and one Amazon stationed in front of the fortified entrance door instructs her.
<You are not allowed to leave the arena unsupervised. Any attempt to escape will be met with extreme violence.>
<Am I a prisoner?> the Supreme Pontiff of the Church of Null asks.
<You are a permanent involuntary guest.>
Ganos Lal is unceremoniously shoved into the arena, where she expects to see the worst indulgences of a dictatorial regime.
She has experienced something similar on Myridia: sometimes the Oracles organized tournaments between Myridian duplicates, for their own amusement. She expects to find a pool of sand stained by the blood of a thousand sacrifices.
She couldn’t possibly be more wrong.
<Lal? What the Hades are you doing here!?> Kari Zel exclaims as soon as she sees her.
Prior to her arrival, the Myridian member of the Vanguard was chilling on a lounger, next to a table with a pitcher of wine and some grapes, sunbathing under Themiscyra’s sun.
<Zel, what are… what did they do to you?> Ganos Lal wonders. She can’t see any sign of battle damage on Kari’s body, something easy to check as she’s wearing considerably less clothing.
A bunch of other Karis take notice of the new arrival and gather around her. There are a couple dozen of them, most of which were busy sparring or meditating.
<You’re not a prisoner!?> Ganos realizes.
<Slow down! First of all, how did you get here? Is the Vanguard here too?>
<I was captured with Quantum. Zel, you were kidnapped months ago, I thought you had been enslaved! They didn’t mistreat you?>
<No, what makes you think that? It’s an exchange program: I’ve been teaching them Myridian fighting techniques and studying their society, while the Amazons have been giving me some pointers about their own martial arts and their tech. I guess Null didn’t tell you?>
<Null didn’t do anything of the sort! Have you actually met her after the fight with Ares?>
<Of course I… uhm… wait a second.> Kari winces, as she re-absorbs her duplicates and tries her hardest to gather her thoughts.
<That’s odd. I don’t recall the last time we met. It must’ve been… how long have I been here?> she wonders, looking around as if she just woke up.
<Quantum suspects the Null impostor has mind control technology at her disposal, it’s reasonable it came from the Amazons.>
<“Null impostor”? What are you talking about? Nevermind, I’d rather hear it from Quantum. You said you were captured with him, where is he?>
<He’s on Themiscyra’s moon. Are the other hostages here?> Ganos Lal wonders, looking around.
<What hostages? I’m the only one here, along with my other duplicates.>
<Then what about your husband and your daughters?>
<They’re on Myridia with my original body. Why? Did something happen to them!?>
<Zel, you and your entire family disappeared from Myridia immediately after the Ares attack; Quantum believes the Ice Queen had something to do with it. You must’ve been brought here by…>
<Wait a second. Are you telling me… my original body is on this planet? Along with my kids!?> Kari wonders, walking at a fast pace towards the same gate from which Ganos Lal entered.
<Hey! Let me talk to your boss!> Kari says, pounding her fist on the gate.
No answer.
<I said let me talk!> she says, activating her 10K Rise: when she strikes again, her punch is ten thousand times stronger than a regular human’s.
No answer. The gate doesn’t even budge.
<They’re probably using your original body to run experiments. They took my original too.> Ganos Lal tells her.
<But why take my kids then? They’re too young to duplicate for more than a few seconds!>
<I’m sorry, I have no idea. If only Null were here to guide us!>
<She’s not here, but she left me something that could be useful: my original body has a Soul Relay device in her head. If Quantum is in this solar system, he’s probably in range.>
<Do you have this device inside the body of your duplicates too?>
<No, only the original has it. But I’ve been doing more than just learning martial arts and getting a tan during my stay here.> Kari says, creating two new duplicates.
The three Kari hold hands and close their eyes, beginning to talk in unison.
<The Soul Relay is able to connect two users, sharing their souls, but all of my bodies already share one. Torn taught me the basics of Soul Resonance years ago, and I think I’m getting the hang of it.>
<You’re sharing information between duplicates without absorbing them.> Ganos Lal realizes.
<If I transmit my thoughts to the original, Torn might be able to pick up the signal from her Soul Relay. Let’s hope this doesn’t fry my brain: SOUL RESONANCE!>
The three duplicates seem to pop in and out of existence for a few seconds, and it’s clear from their facial expression that this is taking a lot of effort on their part.
<Is it working?> Ganos Lal wonders.
When a pentagram of fire appears in the arena, she regrets asking the question.
The joy of success doesn’t last long, as the body of an Amazon with metallic red skin is violently thrown through the portal. It’s soon followed by a topless Torn, who is holding two Blood swords in his hands, Quantum whose body is glowing with energy, and a somewhat disoriented Kiros Zel who soon finds himself on the receiving end of an enthusiastic hug.
<Kiros! Oh Gaea I was so worried!!!> Kari tells him, wasting no time to kiss her husband.
<Later. We have urgent business.> Torn informs her, trying to trap the Amazon warrior he brought here inside a cage composed by Blood halberds.
<Quick summary?> Kari asks, raising an eyebrow.
<Super-strong Amazon prototype. Best warrior they’ve ever built.> Quantum answers.
<So on a scale of 1 to 10… how bad?>
The Amazon breaks apart her Blood prison, and her body glows: she’s powering up.
<I dunno. I’m not back to 100% and Torn’s pretty tired, so… maybe a 6.> Quantum shrugs.
<We may have time to escape if we create a distraction.> Kiros suggests.
<Seriously? Honey, you’ve got half of the Vanguard here. Max, Torn, can you soften her up for me? 10K Rise!!!> Kari orders, her body glowing once more as she gathers her strength.
The Amazon is running towards them, ready to continue the battle.
<Cut of a thousand deaths!> Torn shouts, creating a stream of Blood daggers that attack the android from all sides.
<Megawatt Blast!> Quantum adds, shooting electricity from his hands: it bounces off the daggers, trapping the android into a new prison. Meanwhile Kari has run towards the enemy, ten thousand times faster than her natural speed; then she transfer the power to three separate bodies.
<3K Split! Hit me, boys!> one of the duplicates says. One is used to punch the Amazon, the other to trip her, and the third one jumps on her back holding up her hands as if she was carrying a sword… which appears in her hands once Torn says:
<Demon Sword!>
<I didn’t think of a name for this!> Quantum adds, instead of yelling a name for his next move.
When Kari re-absorbs her duplicates and plunges the sword into the Amazon’s back with the strength of ten thousand women, Quantum redirects the energy he had previously released.
The supposedly invincible warrior is electrocuted from the inside, and she falls down.
<Χολγ σχητ!> Kiros exclaims with his jaw dropped: it’s not often that he gets to witness the Vanguard’s handiwork.
<Wow, you really are not at 100%, Max. That was a 5 out of 10, tops!> Kari says.
<The Amazons are really going to get angry at this, aren’t they?> Ganos Lal asks.
Just then, the entire sky turns red as a loud alarm resonates on the entire planet.
<INVASION ALERT. THREE MALES IDENTIFIED ON THE PLANET. ALL AMAZONS CONVERGE TO THEIR LOCATION. PROCEED WITH EXTERMINATION.> is the booming voice that every single android on Themiscyra hears.
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