Beyond The Impossible

Takama, 45,000 light-years from Earth

With the fate of the galaxy on the line, a battle between two of the smartest beings who ever lived has degenerated into a brawl. Two nearly identical young women are engaged in a fight, their superhuman intelligence temporarily negated.

Viper throws a right hook, which Noriko easily blocks, then pushes with a left punch which Noriko barely escapes by taking a step back. Then Noriko goes on the offensive, trying the exact tactic and being thwarted in exactly the same way.

<Getting tired? Time to switch to a new model maybe> Viper taunts her, trying to hit her with a sidekick. Noriko does the same move, blocking her clone’s leg in the process and answering.

<Nobody asked for a replacement.>

<Are you sure? You’ve let down a lot of people> Viper continues, reaching for her belt to extract a very small knife: Noriko has disabled all of their high tech weaponry, so she shouldn’t have any defense for it. And yet, when Viper attacks, Noriko responds by taking out a very similar pocket knife that she keeps in exactly the same place, and uses it to cut her clone’s arm.

It’s a rather deep cut, down to the bone, to the point of making Viper’s hand pretty much useless.

<You’re quite a letdown as well. What happened to “I bleed genius”? I thought that was your catchphrase> Noriko says, using the sleeve of her leather jacket to clean the blood off the knife.

<I guess we’re even now> Viper concedes: since she’s amputated Noriko’s artificial hand, both fighters are now stuck with using only one.

<No, we aren’t, not by a long shot. Even without my genius, I have something you don’t.>

<A terrible taste in boyfriends?>

<Conviction> Noriko answers, throwing herself back into the fight.

 

The Takama star

Vesta can’t remember the last time her flames burned so hot. Even the star at the center of this solar system pales in comparison to the 30 million degrees of the plasma that surrounds her body, and even that feels weak against the energy output of the weapon she’s carrying in her hands: the Kusanagi, the sword she just stole from Amaterasu.

<This is quite a weapon. I can see how you killed Helios with it; this would be very dangerous to any god who isn’t completely invulnerable against heat> she gloats.

She wouldn’t normally act like this, but unleashing her power to its fullest is very intoxicating.

She’s talking to the young goddess Amaterasu, who is holding her stomach after being stabbed; there’s energy leaking from her wound and tears coming down her cheeks.

<What did you do to me!? I don’t like it!!!>

<It’s called pain. You’ve never been injured before, have you? I know, it can be quite a shock to experience it for the first time.>

<But… but I shouldn’t feel pain! I’m a goddess!>

<It’s nothing compared to the pain you and Viper have caused to mortals.>

<I… I didn’t know pain felt this bad. Mother said it doesn’t matter if mortals get hurt!>

<Your “mother” Viper is a mortal, isn’t she?>

<I asked her if she was. She yelled at me and told me I was stupid. She does that a lot.>

<I can’t imagine why> Vesta comments, then she looks at the sword in her hands.

Her blood is boiling, pushing her to put Amaterasu out of her misery… in her current state and with the help of the Kusanagi, she could do it.

“Even if she has the power of a Class-2 goddess, nobody has thought her how to use it… I can definitely defeat her” Vesta thinks, looking at Amaterasu’s innocent and clueless stare.

<I don’t want to fight anymore. Are you going to hit me again?> the young goddess asks fearfully.

<Not if you surrender.>

<I should ask my mother first. Can I…>

<No. Your mother needs to be stopped. She’s evil.>

<She’ NOT!!!> Amaterasu protests, flying towards Vesta to punch her. Vesta moves out of her way fast enough to avoid her, even when she tries again.

<No fair! Stay still so I can hit you!>

<You’re physically stronger than me and probably faster, but you don’t have any experience flying this close to the gravitational field of a star. If I keep my distance, you can’t hurt me. Now, do you surrender or not?>

<I’m not surrendering! I’m not! I’m going to hurt you and my mother will be proud of me and she will love me and everything will be fine again!!!> Amaterasu cries, throwing a tantrum as her body emits almost as much solar energy as the star itself.

<I’m sorry it had to come to this. I know a thing or two about trying your best to gain the approval of a family that will never love you> Vesta answers, putting down the sword.

<Shut up! Shut up! My mother loves me, she does!> Amaterasu complains, releasing a massive amount of energy towards Vesta.

Luckily for the survival of this solar system, the energy isn’t directed towards the star or any inhabited planet. Unfortunately, the only thing it hits is Vesta… unfortunately for Amaterasu.

Because Vesta is slowly approaching her, basking inside the energy that blows past her like wind.

<Solar energy. You know what you’re basically throwing at me? Radiation capable of producing heat. With enough intensity, it can destroy a planet or even a god. Unfortunately for you, I’m the only Class-3 god who literally cannot be hurt this way.>

<I’ll just blow up the sun then!!!>

<Sure, go ahead, that will probably kill me. But it will definitely kill your mother.>

<It… it will?> Amaterasu asks, ceasing her attack.

It’s the opening that Vesta was waiting for: she flies towards her, punching her in the face with all the strength she’s got. In their earlier fight she couldn’t hurt her… but unlike Amaterasu, Vesta knows how a god’s power works: they’re as powerful as they think they are.

Amaterasu was raised to believe that she was unstoppable, and now she’s fighting someone who is immune to the most destructive application of her power. While Vesta knows she hasn’t been this strong in a very, very long time. So when every punch lands on Amaterasu with enough strength to shake continents, the younger goddess simply forgets she only has to think she’s stronger in order to actually be stronger than Vesta.

<I tried to be gentle with you> Vesta reminds her, holding the Kusanagi with both hands before striking her enemy.

Seen from the planet, the light this event generates is five times brighter than the star.

It doesn’t last long: when Vesta pulls the sword out of Amaterasu’s chest, the younger goddess faints into Vesta’s arms.

 

The Divine Palace

To say that Quantum is not comfortable working with Eris would be an understatement: the goddess is responsible for a lot of deaths, both on Earth and other planets. But the situation is desperate enough to try: all the mental energies unleashed in the battle between Null and Viper are blocking his powers, and this is still a hostile planet.

<Hurry up! Amaterasu could be back at any moment!> Eris reprimands him, floating a few inches off the ground.

<I really should walk to places more often, I’m getting out of shape> he sighs.

They’re back to where he started his attempt to escape the palace: the throne room, where he can see Null and Viper fighting. It degenerated very quickly: the two have already punched and stabbed each other more than once, as it can be seen by their cuts and bruises. They’re fighting beneath a floating mass of electricity, a source of light shaped like the symbol for infinity.

His first instinct is to separate them, but Eris quickly stops him.

<That’s not part of Null’s plan. We go this way> she says.

<What are you talking about, that doesn’t sound like her idea at all!>

<She wants to defeat Viper all by herself.>

<Okay, that does sound like Null, but it doesn’t make it a good idea!>

<Suit yourself. I’ll keep the god-making machine all to myself> Eris shrugs, flying past the dueling women and straight towards the adjacent room.

<Wait, the what machine?> Quantum asks, following her.

Eris has gone straight for a strange device that includes a large tube large enough to contain a person; Eris temporarily transforms her body into a dark cloud and goes inside it.

<This is what Viper used to infuse Amaterasu’s body with Tiamat’s energy. When I told Null about it during our telepathic conversation, she theorized it could be used to steal her power… that clever little mortal was just playing dumb when Viper was explaining what this was.>

<There’s no way she’d want you to have more power!> Quantum complains.

<We have a deal… I get the power, and in return I’ll leave Earth and the Mortal Republic alone. I can’t activate this device on my own: Hephaestus didn’t want other gods to use it, so it’s programmed to function only if a mortal or a robot activates it. I can set up the procedure from inside the machine, but you’ll have to turn it on.>

<You’re crazy if you think I’ll go along with this! Noriko would never…> Quantum answers, before stopping himself to think:

“I don’t believe for a second Noriko would trust Eris. Could she be lying? What if they never even spoke in the first place? Though she did help me and Loki get inside the palace…”

<Come on, hurry! Don’t you want to save your friends?> Eris pushes him.

“Wait. She’s been on this planet for what, weeks? Months? If all she needed was to get anyone activating the machine, why wait now? She’s good at manipulating others, couldn’t she have tricked somebody else? But if she is telling the truth, is she smart enough to trick Null? Or maybe…” he thinks, waiting for what feels like an eternity before pushing the button that activates the device.

<…or maybe Null is smarter than Eris thinks> he concludes, speaking out loud.

The machine hums an unearthly tune; the body of the goddess inside it seems to phase in and out of existence for a few seconds, showing the dark silhouette beneath it. Considering how much she’s screaming, this is definitely not what she wanted.

<Yep, just as I thought. We just scammed the goddess of scams> he notes proudly.

The Throne Room

The knife fight between Noriko and Viper has become even fiercer: both have reached their physical limit, focusing all their concentration into each other’s strategy. The slightest distraction could be fatal… a distraction like the goddess of discord screaming in pain.

<What the…> Viper says, looking towards the laboratory for an instant.

Noriko cracks half a smile. Instead of using the opportunity to strike, she says one word.

<Gotcha.>

Viper recovers quickly, ready to take advantage of Noriko’s hesitation to strike. But she feels something sharp hitting the back of her head, and before she knows she’s unable to move her muscles. She stays frozen like a statue, watching Noriko throw away her knife and wipe the sweat from her forehead.

<Hold on. I need to catch my breath for a second before explaining how you just lost> Noriko tells her calmly, walking around the room to recover her severed artificial hand.

<Don’t bother trying to move. I re-wired your nervous system while we were fighting: your brain doesn’t know how to send the correct signals to your muscles anymore. Did you really think I give a s#it about proving I’m better than you? I’m Noriko freakin’ Null! Of course I’m better than you: I just needed to keep you distracted for a while I was busy figuring out how to use our mental connection as a backdoor into your brain. Let me guess: you’re thinking “how did you do that after shutting down the Nexus”? Well, about that…> she says, getting in front of Viper and staring her while her turn back to silver.

<I lied. I turned it down so much that you couldn’t leech enough brainpower from me, but I kept just enough to outsmart you. And as for my hand, two words: modular design> she continues, reattaching the hand to the arm. The damaged caused by Viper quickly repairs itself.

Despite the paralysis, there is indescribable hatred in the clone’s eyes.

<I could’ve beaten you ten minutes ago. But I wanted to teach you two lessons: number one, you couldn’t even beat me with one hand behind my back. Number two, you’re about to find out what happens when I stop playing fair. Update> she says, placing her human hand on Viper’s forehead.

There’s a spark of electricity flowing into Noriko. It’s just the beginning: she raises the same hand towards the mass of pure lighting floating above them.

When Quantum returns to the throne room, he sees Noriko absorbing the energy back into her body through a lightning strike. He can feel there’s actually a lot more behind it: she’s drawing energy from the outside as well, draining the electrical storm that covers the planet’s capital.

<So, uh, what just happened?> Quantum asks, scratching his head.

<We won. Which means we now have full control over Viper’s entire arsenal.>