Beyond The Impossible

Samos, Heaven

Vesta takes flight, kicking into the air a large amount of sand that obscures the sight from her teammates.

They are all immobilized by strange high-tech handcuffs, under the close supervision of a couple of robots and of a woman wearing a black military uniform and a mask.

<You are so going to get your butt kicked.> Kari tells her.

The soldier only acknowledges the situation by talking to her wrist-mounted communicator:

<General Zel to Godbuster Unit 247. Extreme prejudice is authorized.>

<If Vesta has her powers back, why don’t we?> Quantum wonders, trying to remove his handcuffs as he still can’t transform into energy.

<It’s these handcuffs… they must be locking our quantum state even as Vesta’s subconscious is transforming her portion of Heaven. They remind me of the God Restrain I built to stop Eris from jumping from body to body… just way more advanced.> Noriko Null admits.

<I’m sure she’ll appreciate the compliment. Let’s go.> General Zel orders; a portal appears next to her, and the robots unceremoniously gather the prisoners for transport.

<What, you don’t want to see how the fight is going?> Kari asks her, trying to get a reaction from the General. She immediately recognized her as a variant of the real Kari Zel; if she has enough of her competitiveness in her, she might be tricked.

<That’s not in my orders. Besides, once you’ve seen a god being beaten into a bloody pulp, you’ve seen them all.> General Zel quickly dismisses her, disappearing into the portal.

 

The skies above Samos

Considering they have the exact design of the Nullbots, Vesta thought this could be a quick fight. But the five robots surrounding her quickly prove to be much tougher: not only they can fly, but punching them with enough strength to crush granite does next to no damage.

Vesta is still wearing her humble peplos, but her old body has rejuvenated back into her eternally young self. The fire burning in her eyes is a clear signal that she hates this.

<One moment. I just let myself have one moment of happiness! But the craziness just can’t ever leave me alone, isn’t it!?> she says, unleashing her fire against the robots.

To her surprise they don’t flee. She amps up the temperature: a Nullbot would have been melted in half a second, but even ten thousand degrees are nothing to their metal.

<Neutral matter? Bad news for you boys: you caught me on a bad day!> she threatens, preparing to increase the temperature into the hundreds of millions of degrees necessary to melt Neutral Matter. Only now the robots fly away, dispersing in different directions.

<Oh no you don’t! We have a score to…> she stops, distracted by the thunderous sound of the truly gigantic robot approaching her from behind.

<Forgot you for a second. You’ll do for a much better punching bag.> she says.

<Extreme prejudice allowed. Assessing threat level.> the robot replies.

<Assess this!!!> she yells, putting all he strength into a punch directed at the robot’s chest.

The small island shakes, as a result of the earthquake that has just been unleashed by the rage of a goddess. Buildings from the 6th century BC were certainly not built to withstand something like this, and they crumble as fast as all the trees on the island are stripped of their leaves.

The giant robot remains unmoved. The reactor inside its torso hums slightly louder.

<Threat level: insignificant. Increasing reactor power to 0.01%>

The robot raises its hand, which would be large enough to crush Vesta within its fist, and from its palm releases an energy blast that hits her at point blank range.

Whatever Vesta expected to face, this machine is something else entirely.

Once she realizes she’s been hit, she’s already been pushed back into the ground with enough force to create a crater that extends a hundred feet below sea level.

<Not bad. What is that thing!?> she wonders, needing a couple of moments to get her bearings.

Flying around the crater, she identifies the house where she left her friends and Heaven’s recreation of her husband; the building is just a pile of debris, but she can’t see any mortals anywhere.

<Recalibrating threat level: negligible. Increasing reactor power to 1%>

<They must’ve left, somehow. And since nobody else here is real, that means I don’t have civilians to take care of.> Vesta realizes, increasing her temperature and flying towards the giant robot.

Her plan is to fly behind its back and attack it at full power, but she didn’t anticipate something of that size would be able to match her speed with its reaction.

This time she does feel the hit of the robot’s blast. The heat it generates can’t hurt her, but she instantly recognizes the other part of the attack: sheer kinetic energy, in astronomical amounts.

She can’t tell for how long she loses consciousness. She regains her senses only when she’s hit by the water pouring into the crater that was formed.

Stumbling on her feet, she flies upwards to see the damage… and her heart skips a bit when she understands that what is now a giant crater used to be Greece.

Even worse, amid the mist of a vaporized sub-continent, the giant robot is raising two palms of its hands towards her.

<Recalibrating threat level: low. Increasing reactor power to 10%>

<Take your best shot. Soul Fusion!!!> Vesta shouts, allowing the power of the Blood to resonate with her own divine energies.

The robot holds its attack. A stream of plasma hot enough to destroy Neutral Matter is slipping on the invisible force field protecting the robot, as Earth’s atmosphere catches fire.

<Recalibrating threat level: minor. Increasing reactor power to 30%>

<You think this is minor!? HELLFIRE INFERNO!!!>

The full power of an enraged goddess, equal to the fury of an exploding star, is entirely channeled against the robot.

The fact that this attack utterly vaporizes the entire planet is just a by-product.

Even for a goddess, seeing anything is simply impossible in this situation. Her anger subsides long enough for her to take a much-needed long breath, and giant metal hands grab her.

<Recalibrating threat level: moderate. Increasing reactor power to 50%>

Trapped between two converging blast of unimaginable power, Vesta has no chance but to endure the pain. The giant robot remains immobile, its forcefield still operating at its peak.

Then something not foreseen by its programming happens: the world around it reforms itself, as Heaven resets its parameters to fit Vesta’s inner desires.

But when the robot lets go of its grip, the goddess lays in its giant hands, badly bruised.

<Threat eliminated. Godbuster Unit 247 requests extraction.> it transmits.

 

Edo, Heaven

The megalopolis extending from the former Tokyo covers the entire island of Honshu, Japan’s largest island. Futuristic buildings cover every inch of Edo, but the streets are noticeably empty: obtaining a formal permit to your designated living quarters is hard to get, and all public transit to the state factories are heavily monitored.

The Imperial Palace dominates the skyline, a Japanese style castle the size of a skyscraper surrounded on all sides by four Godbuster Units that always guard it.

Inside the castle, General Zel creates enough duplicates to transfer the prisoners to different areas of the building. One of them, followed by two robots, is personally escorting Noriko and Leiko through the luxurious hallways of the inner sanctum.

It’s a gruesome journey that tells a story of its own. First through the paintings hanging on the walls: they depict the Emperor of Japan kneeling before the legs of a woman in heels, a mushroom cloud rising over New York City, a skeleton sitting on the throne of Zeus, robots raining atomic fire on the surface of Hell.

Then two parallel rows of gruesome war trophies, guiding any visitor towards the center of the castle. First the armors, which Noriko recognize as belonging to the Winter King, Hephaestus, Ares and Enyo. Then the cloak of Hades and the pink veil of Aphrodite, both badly burned. Then the rainbow of the severed scalps: blue from Hera, green from Demeter, blond from Athena, purple from Eris. And finally, in front of the large black gate with the silver Ꙩ symbol, a man in traditional samurai armor stands guard.

<She is expecting you.> Shinobu Tanaka says, opening the gate with his hands.

As he does this, General Zel removes her black mask. She looks exactly like Kari, except her purple hair has been shaven to a military buzz cut.

The robots stay out of the throne room, while the General escorts Noriko and Leiko inside.

The room is dominated by the skull of a dragon; two thrones are mounted on its remains.

Bob Null, wearing a kimono, sits on the right side of the Throne Of The Universe: but it’s not Kronos sitting on it, it’s a woman wearing an elaborate black dress complete with evening gloves.

General Zel and her newly created duplicate kick both guests on the legs, forcing them to kneel.

<Kneel in front of the Empress Of The Universe, Queen of the Kings Of Gods, Lord Regnant of the Ten Galaxies… Her Divine Majesty, Empress Leiko The Great.> the General introduces her.

<Hi mom. You look awful in that dress.> Noriko mocks her.

<I can’t believe. She was right.> the Empress admits, standing up from her throne.

<Well of course. Rei’s always right, isn’t she?> Bob adds.

<So this is your ideal world, uh? Can’t say I’m surprised by much of it. Although it is kind of pathetic that you still think my father would ever care for you.> Noriko continues.

The Empress ignores her, going instead towards the Leiko that has journeyed from other parts of Heaven. Her hand, protected by a black evening glove, caresses the cheek of her counterpart.

<Fascinating. She is me, but just a pale imitation. I have to admit, I thought Rei was exaggerating about how different the other realities could be.>

<Who is this “Rei”?> the other Leiko asks.

<Don’t you have a daughter in your reality?>

<You… you don’t know none of this is real, don’t you?> the other Leiko realizes.

<Wait, let me get this straight. In your ideal world, you named your daughter Rei? As in Rei Null? You know, I might just find that offensive.> Noriko comments.

<Why, what’s so weird about it?> Leiko asks.

<Rei is Japanese for zero and Null is German for zero, so… she basically named me “Zero Zero”.>

<As amusing as this novelty is, my love, do you have any use for them?> Bob wonders.

<No, I really don’t. Perhaps I shall keep them as pets.> the Empress suggests.

<My most humble apologies, Your Divine Majesty, but Rei requested them to be brought to her to be used in her experiments. With your blessing, of course.> General Zel says.

<Hm. Very well. Take them to Rei, but remind my daughter she promised me I would rule the next universe… I don’t want her to destroy it like the last one.>

<I shall deliver the message, Your Divine Majesty.> General Zel agrees, using her duplicates to drag away the prisoners.

 

Deep beneath the Imperial Palace

Beneath all the luxury of the Empress and the pageantry of the castle, the laboratories are a sterile dungeon of pure science.

Noriko and Leiko are taken to its central hub, to be locked in transparent cages that are already occupied by the other prisoners… Quantum, Kari, Torn, Reaper and Theodoros, now joined by an unconscious and badly bruised Vesta. With the exception of the goddess, they are all locked in their human non-powered forms.

But Noriko is not concentrating on them. Her attention is on the being inside the glass cage at the center of the laboratory: it holds a dark cloud of vaguely feminine shape, that is screaming in pain at the top of her lungs. It’s a harrowing sound, and Noriko recognizes that voice.

<Abyss?> she calls. She never thought she’d ever feel pity for that monster.

Oblivious to those cries of pain, there’s a woman operating the controls that direct the torture.

She has long black hair, round sunglasses covering her eyes, and wears a green leather trench coat.

<Rei, I presume? Listen, this is going to sound weird but…> Noriko starts to explain.

<This reality should not exist.> the woman interrupts her.

<Y-yes. You know you are not real?>

The woman doesn’t speak. For several seconds, the only sound are the screams of Abyss.

<Fascinating question. I recall conquering Earth when I was five, burning Olympus when I was twelve, killing the lord of the dead for my eighteenth birthday, exterminating the last gods in the universe two years ago. I recall a life spent being what my mother wished me to be: her weapon. If I can recall my past, does that not make me real?>

<If you know, you must let us leave. The longer we stay here, the faster this reality will break.>

<I know more than you think, fragment. I know how to break the barriers between the sections of Heaven.> the woman explains, turning towards Noriko and taking off her sunglasses.

Her eyes are pitch black, except a bright silver Ꙩ replacing the iris.

<I know how to break Heaven. You will help me become real, fragment. And I shall become greater than what my mother ever imagined.>