Beyond The Impossible

Super City, Heaven

The portal opens inside a familiar room, looking almost exactly like the Operations Room of the New York Null Tower.

Noriko Null pays little attention to it: she’s more surprised by her own appearance.

Her body proportions are much more similar to what should be her real physique, but she’s completely changed style. Her green leather jacket has been changed to a green lab coat, and the rest of her clothes have been replaced by an extremely skin-tight grey bodysuit with her white Ø symbol on the chest.

She closes the lab coat to cover herself, deciding the costume leaves too little to the imagination.

<I look ridiculous.> she complains.

<I think you look fine.> Leiko replies, remaining unchanged by the portal.

<Easy for you to say, you’re still wearing actual clothes.>

Quantum then gets between mother and daughter, asking:

<What’s the problem, Doc? Still thinking that taking your mother to Earth-Q was a good idea?>

She stares at Quantum, who looks more or less the same as she remembers. He’s a bit more muscular and he’s wearing a red costume with a cape, but she clearly feels he has a soul: there’s no doubt in her mind that this is the real Quantum, even if he doesn’t recall.

<Max, listen to me, this is important.>

<Come on Doc, it’s Captain Quantum when we’re in costume! You wouldn’t want to expose my secret identity, wouldn’t you?>

<We’re indoors at the top floor of a skyscraper, who’s going to hear me?> Noriko points out, gesturing towards the window.

<You never know. Any villain with super-hearing?> he shrugs.

<We don’t have time for your fixation on secret identities. We have to talk about…> she tries to keep him on track, but she’s interrupted.

Two people materialize in the room, converting their bodies from energy into flesh exactly like Quantum would. She does recognize the woman as Kayla Black, Quantum’s sister: she’s wearing her costume as Blue Star, an identity she hasn’t used in years.

The man next to her and wearing a similar but green costume, however, doesn’t seem familiar.

<Doctor. It’s good to see you again, we’re going to need all the help we can get.> he says, extending his hand to shake hers.

She stares at him: his domino mask doesn’t do much to hide his features, but the resemblance to Quantum is unmistakable. Even without the use of the Nexus, she deduces his identity.

<You’re Alexander Black, Max’s older brother. You’re supposed to be dead.>

<Oh, that was just an alternate reality version of me. I thought Captain Quantum told you. And I’d rather you call me Hyperman, Doctor.>

<I know I’m going to regret this, but why does everyone keep calling me “Doctor”?>

<Because it’s your superhero name? Hey don’t blame me, I told you to choose a better one!> Quantum replies.

<Alright, enough of this. Let’s talk in private.> Noriko says, grabbing his cape and dragging him away from everyone else.

<Hey, don’t tug at the cape!>

<Max, listen to me. None of this is real, okay? We’re actually trapped in another dimension that shapes itself in accordance to our phantasies, like your desire to be a superhero.>

<I don’t follow. You’re saying I’m not a superhero?>

<Yes you are, but it’s…>

<Guys, can you two wait? The rest of the team’s here.> Blue Star calls them out, just in time for another two people to appear through different portals.

Kari Zel is wearing a purple costume with her own cape, while Torn sports a black mask in addition to his regular brown duster.

<Sorry I’m late! I just finished saving Earth-M after Talas Khanos escaped from prison.>

<Again? It’s a monthly thing at this point. What about you Torn, everything okay on Earth-H?> Quantum asks.

<Yes.> the Demon replies. Apparently his laconic attitude doesn’t go against Quantum’s wishes.

<Now that we’re all here, let’s go over the mission.> “Hyperman” says, projecting from his hand a green three-dimensional hologram of a group of people who Noriko doesn’t look forward meeting.

Demeter, Eris, Hephaestus, Artemis, Nephthys, Apollo and Ares are all standing behind a person wearing the Winter Armor.

<The Ice Empress has assembled the Evil Brotherhood of Villains again. They have re-built the Talos-Eden Collective and they’re planning to unleash them against all our worlds to conquer the Multiverse. They’re going to…>

Hyperman’s voice is cut off. When he tries to complain no sound comes out of his mouth, and the rest of the people present are similarly unable to talk.

They all turn towards Noriko, who is wearing a Sound Nullifier in her hand, taken from her coat.

<At least something works like it should in this dimension. Now you have to listen to me and stop interrupting! Whatever you’re going to suggest us to do, that would just be a complete waste of time. There is absolutely no point in fighting these guys, trust me.> she says, disabling the Sound Nullifier to allow the others to talk.

<Why not? They’re bad guys! Why shouldn’t we try to stop them?> Quantum asks.

Noriko is tempted to answer “because I’ve already killed all those gods and Leiko doesn’t even have the Winter Armor anymore”, but it would be futile… none of these people are real, and Quantum seems to be more attuned with his section of Heaven than she was with hers.

Her answer has to follow the logic of this world.

<We’ve already tried fighting them and we lost. I know because I’m from the future and I’ve traveled back in time to fix things.> she improvises.

<Noriko?> Leiko says, confused by all this. She might lack her full memories, but she knows her daughter is talking nonsense.

<Just go with it.> Noriko whispers to her.

<I don’t know… should we really try changing history?> Quantum wonders.

<Who in this room is a super-genius who built her own time machine?> she asks.

<Fair enough. What do you suggest we do?>

<I know you and I are the only ones who can defeat this… what did you call them? Brotherhood?>

<Evil Brotherhood of Villains.> Blue Star answers.

<Right. So here’s the plan: everyone else goes to a different Earth, while “Captain Quantum” and I go directly to the Ice Empress base.>

<How? We don’t have a portal for the Ice Dimension.> Kari points out.

<Again: super-genius here.>

<Wait.> Torn objects, walking closer to her. She’s impressed by how precise Heaven’s creations can be: she can even feel Torn attempting to analyze her soul, despite not having one himself.

<If you’re from the future, how do you lack the knowledge of so many details? You act like you have never met any of us before. You didn’t even remember the name of the Evil Brotherhood, despite your super-memory.>

<Well, uhm, time is complicated. Going back into my own past messes with my super-brain.>

For a moment, Noriko is worried she’s going to be exposed as foreign to this sector of Heaven; she’d had trouble fighting the rest of the Vanguard if she had the Nexus and her technology, let alone in these conditions. Fortunately, she won’t have to.

<Sounds legit.> Torn agrees, stepping aside.

<Well, it’s a crazy plan, but you’ve never given me any reason to doubt you. Come on Vanguard, let’s scramble!> Quantum incites the team, and one after the other they all leave on separate portals.

In the meantime Noriko analyzes what she keeps in the pockets of her lab coat. She finds the Genius Gun and the N-Phone, but the rest are gadgets to complex for her to comprehend without the Nexus. Certainly nothing to free Quantum from his state of mind.

<What about your mother, Doc? How’s she going to help us fight the Ice Empress?> he asks.

<Nevermind that. I need some details from you, in order to figure out how to reach this “Ice Dimension” okay? Just to brainstorm, even if it’s stuff I already know.>

<Okay. Shoot.>

<How did you get your powers, and how did we meet?>

<This alien rock shaped like a baseball dropped from the sky, giving me and my siblings our powers. Then you showed up, asking me to help you save Earth-N from the Ice Empress.>

<This rock. Must be the Heart Of The Universe. Do you still have it?>

<Of course! It’s in the Fortress of Midgard, my secret base in Antarctica.>

<I need to see it.>

<Sure thing.> Quantum answers, disappearing for literally the blink of an eye and then re-appearing an instant later, holding the Heart Of The Universe in his hands.

<You’ve never been able to use it, though.> he reminds her.

<You’re going to be the one to do it. Sorry for having to do this, by the way.> she says, placing her hands above his so that both are touching the Heart at the same time.

<Doing what?>

<SOUL RESONANCE!> she shouts.

A bolt of electricity emanates from the Drylon device, surging through both of their bodies. It’s not painful in a physical sense, although the contact between their souls is definitely uncomfortable.

But Quantum seems more than a little shaken when it’s over, touching his head with a painful expression on his face as he leans against the window.

<Everything okay, Max?>

<My brother is dead. Has been for years.>

<Yes. I’m sorry for making you recall it.>

<He’s the one who taught me how to be a hero and didn’t live long enough to see me become one… and I couldn’t even come up with a better name than “Hyperman”!!!>

<That’s rough.> Noriko deadpans, not wanting to make fun of his priorities.

<And this world? Where we just fight bad guys and things aren’t complicated? It’s all in my mind, isn’t it?>

<Not exactly. We’re on an artificial dimension that shapes itself according to our thoughts. Do you remember everything from our world?> she asks.

<I think so. It’s so weird, I also remember my life on Earth-Q as well. We have to make the others remember who they are!>

<I know, but it’s complicated. None of the people in this “world” of yours are real, except me.>

<What about her?> he asks, pointing at Leiko.

<I think I’m half real and half not. Still trying to come to terms with it.> she admits.

<I don’t get it.> Quantum says.

<She’s part of the real Leiko. The part who is not a raging psychopath.>

<Oh, so she’s like her own version of Abyss, but good?>

<Kinda.>

<What’s an Abyss?> Leiko asks.

<You don’t want to know.> both Noriko and Quantum answer at the same time.

<I’ll take your word for it.>

<So… what’s the plan for finding the others?>

<Still working on it. We’re all in separate sections of Heaven, and I think you’re the only one capable of moving between them. Probably because your powers are linked to the Heart, which was used to bring us all here. You were able to come to my section, so hopefully you’ll find them.>

<But you said the Kari and Torn that were here were not the real ones.>

<That’s right. I couldn’t sense their souls. The “Captain Quantum” of your world has the power to move between dimensions right? Maybe it’s how we find the others.>

<I only know of this world’s Leiko, the “Ice Empress”. Roxiana should also be around here somewhere, isn’t it?>

<Yes, along with Torn’s father and… hmmm. This is the second time Vesta is the only Vanguard missing from a section of Heaven. It might be significant, but I don’t know how yet.> Noriko thinks out loud, looking at the Heart Of The Universe in her hand.

<We could try using the Heart to locate Leiko, the real one. She also shares a relationship with it.>

<I don’t know, Nori, do you really want to use that thing again?>

<I’m not thrilled by the idea. Last time I unlocked it I did destroy the Guild, but I also created Viper.> Noriko says.

<Should I even ask what that is?> Leiko sighs.