Beyond The Impossible

Babylon Galaxy, 500 million light-years from Earth

Compared to the Greek and Egyptian pantheons, the Sumerians tend to be more drama-free.

While they believe this is due to their superior wisdom, it’s more of a result for how old the pantheon is.

Being the first to establish a formal divine hierarchy, their wars for dominance are the oldest in recorded history; but they were also the first to tire of the endless struggle of conquest.

Ever since Marduk dethroned the previous generation of gods a billion and a half years ago, the only real opposition he ever faced was the brief (for divine standards) domination by Kronos.

Events of the past few years have forced Babylon to look beyond its borders, and today marks a special occasion: Marduk has summoned his inner circle to discuss events of other galaxies.

The room is meant to resemble the Throne of The Universe, with Marduk obviously taking the most lavishly decorated throne for himself.

Three other gods stand before him, representing the other major powers of the Babylon Galaxy.

Marduk’s own son Nabu, God of wisdom and writing. Ishkur, God of storms and thunder. Shamash, God of the sun and of justice.

They all take the form of the bronze-skinned Ur, the only humanoid species inhabiting this galaxy.

The last one: all the others have been slowly drawn to extinction.

<There are now three realms without divine rule: the Olympian, Aegian and Naqada galaxies. This is against the natural order of things: something should be done about it.> Nabu argues.

<The Dark Galaxy is also lawless, following the death of Baal. It should be under Sumerian rule once more.> Ishkur adds.

<We have no business meddling with other realms. Babylon has kept the peace since the fall of Kronos; let’s leave war to the hands of Inanna and Ereshkigal.> Shamash disagrees.

<War against gods is inevitable in the age of Null.> Marduk reflects.

<For the immature Greek and the indecisive Egyptians, perhaps. We have always been above their petty squabbles.> Shamash says.

<Inanna personally destroyed the Stygian Galaxy.> Nabu reminds him.

<Irrelevant. If it happens outside our borders, it is no concern of ours.> Shamash insists.

<Other pantheons have been undoubtedly weakened by Null and Medusa. If we don’t act now, Inanna and Ereshkigal will make some foolish move first; we must anticipate their actions.> Marduk reasons.

<I agree, father. It is time for Sumer to take the initiative: our pantheon has been too complacent over the eons. We need new blood.> Nabu argues.

<I agree.> a female voice adds, taking the gods by surprise: there isn’t supposed to be a goddess in attendance today.

There is one now, suddenly appearing out of a highly localize wormhole.

Nabu and Marduk are smart enough to avert their eyes, and Ishkur is quick enough to summon a lightning bolt to incinerate her. But not enough to avoid being turned into stone the moment the snakes on Medusa’s head hiss in his direction.

The powerful thunderbolt disappears into a portal, to re-emerge directly in front of the statue that used to be Shamash a moment ago.

<You DARE to invade my realm!?> Marduk yells, summoning enough energy to lay waste to half this galaxy. A power that remains untapped when Medusa is teleported right to his face.

<Of course I do. I am the Second Slayer.> Skorpios boasts, turning towards the last living god in this room.

Nabu watches the statue of his father being toppled and fall to the ground, all while wondering why his efforts to teleport himself away from this world are completely in vain.

<Nobody but me controls space in my presence.> Skorpios reminds him, right before Nabu is also petrified.

The woman and the goddess look around, waiting for inevitable second assault of vassals and servants… which does not come.

<That… that’s it?> Medusa herself wonders.

<Looks like it. Our benefactor’s intelligence was staggeringly correct: Marduk left himself wide open for a direct attack.> Skorpios shrugs, moving towards Marduk’s throne to examine it.

<This feels wrong. It shouldn’t have been this easy.> Medusa insists.

<The Sumerian are relics. That’s what happens when you go unchallenged for so long. Can you believe this thing has no connection to the planet’s infrastructure?> Skorpios says, giving a light tap on the throne with her foot.

<Solid gold and marble. Not a single piece of technology in sight. Can you believe it? Just a useless piece of junk, given power by fear and ignorance.> she adds.

<So how do we locate the other gods of this galaxy? You said you have limited intelligence on this part of the universe.>

<I have access to what Ulysses discovered over the centuries, which isn’t much. Even he didn’t dare going this far. Not even Null did. If I believed in destiny, Medusa, I would say that we are meant to put an end to the era of gods. Permanently.>

<This is going too fast. We can’t risk becoming complacent like them.> Medusa points out, staring at the statues of gods laying on the floor.

<You and I have spent too much time being victims to think ourselves invincible, Medusa… even though we might as well be. Now let’s throw this relic of a planet into the nearest black hole and see how this backwater galaxy welcomes its liberation.>

<Shouldn’t we wait until we are sure there are no leads to the location of the other gods?>

<We don’t need any of that. Our benefactor has provided us with all we need.>

<The benefactor whose name you refuse to share with me.> Medusa says, raising an eyebrow; more than one of her snakes tilts its head.

<It was part of the agreement. I can’t share the name until we have completed the mission.> Skorpios dismisses her doubts, concentrating her thoughts on her Drylon device to displace the entire planet.

Medusa doesn’t like this development, but she’s painfully aware that she wouldn’t have been able to take Marduk and his entourage by surprise without her help.

But she will definitely keep a closer eye on her ally from now on.

 

Null Tower, Midgard City, Earth

Major Davis slowly opens his eyes. His vision is a bit blurry at first, but he can definitely see Noriko Null staring back at him.

<It worked. I can see again.> he acknowledges.

<Of course you do. Cellular regeneration isn’t all that difficult once you have access to molecular bioengineering and medical nanites.> she shrugs, handing over a hand mirror.

Major Davis can see his own reflection now, including piercingly bright blue eyes.

<They should return to their natural color in a few days. A side effect on tissue reconstruction being based off Lampyrian DNA.> she adds.

<That would be the least of my concerns. What about my crew, is everyone alright?>

<Everyone else was still made of stone during Quantum’s photon attack, so you were the only one to get his retinas burned to a crisp. I can’t say they’re too happy about having been turned into stone, but there doesn’t appear to be any side effects from the transmutation.>

<That’s a relief. Listen, miss Null, not that I want to sound ungrateful but… why are you bothering with me? Surely someone else would’ve been able to administer the cure, and you definitely have higher priorities than my eyes.> Major Davis notes.

<You would think so, but I need your eyes… metaphorically speaking. You were able to observe Skorpios and Medusa up close.>

<I have a hard time imagining what sort of tactical intelligence I could provide that you have not already gathered from other sources.>

<I need a read on these two, Major. Roxiana has given me her perspective but, well, she’s not someone I would classify as a stable person. And she has only seen Skorpios in the way that she wants to present herself, not as she truly is.>

<You want to know what kind of vibe I got of them? What makes them tick?>

<Yeah.>

<They’re both angry at the world. It made them suffer and they want retribution… but they also want to feel important. They wanted me to be their prophet; that’s not something you look for if your only objective is obliterating the universe.> is his analysis.

<So you think they have a god complex?>

<Not a stretch when you’re on a kill streak against other gods. Has… something like that happened to you as well?> he asks.

<Of course not.> she instinctively answers.

A couple of seconds of silence pass.

<I had similar thoughts once or twice. You know about Abyss, right? Everyone in the damn galaxy knows, thanks to Athena exposing my failures to everyone. One of the reasons I created her was dumping all my delusions of grandeur into the darkest corners of my mind.>

<You do have reasons for thinking highly of yourself. You’re Noriko Null.> Major Davis says.

<I’m not as great as my followers think I am.>

<You literally just cured the blind.>

<Technology is the easy part; the Nexus practically does the job for me. It’s dealing with the responsibility of what I am… that’s the part I can’t stop messing up.> she admits.

<I don’t want to get out of line, miss Null, but… you’re taking this Medusa business very personally, aren’t you?>

<Why shouldn’t I? She should be a minor threat, and her only ally is someone I’ve already defeated more than once! There is absolutely no reason why I should allow her to get this far!> she says, raising her voice in anger. At herself.

<Allow her? You don’t seriously think…>

<That I’m sabotaging myself because deep down I feel like I should be the one killing gods left and right? That the goddamn Slayer of Gods shouldn’t have let herself be dethroned by a goddess that everyone knew was out to get me? From my point of view, Major Davis, that’s the only way to rationalize how I’ve bumbled myself into this mess!>

<I, uhm, I wasn’t intending to go that far.> he awkwardly defends himself.

<Yeah. Sorry. I guess I’m too used to be at war with my own thoughts.> Noriko acknowledges, recomposing herself and stepping away; she didn’t even realize it at first, but she got uncomfortably close to the Major. In more than one sense.

<That’s one of the two differences I’ve seen between you and Skorpios. We haven’t known each other for long, miss Null, but…>

<Just Noriko, please.>

<You seem to be constantly second-guessing yourself. Skorpios is unflinching in believing she’s correct, and I think her sense of infallibility has infected Medusa.>

<Hm. That would be consistent with other long-term users of Drylon tech, like my mother. What’s the other difference?>

<Skorpios only wants to kill gods; she doesn’t care about who gets in the way. You do… that’s the real reason why you never tried what she’s been doing, isn’t it?>

<I’ve had… plans for direct and unprovoked attacks against sovereign gods. None of them feasible without a high probability of unacceptable innocent victims.>

<Skorpios doesn’t care about that. She is obsessed by victory at any cost.>

<So… a potential high-risk high-reward objective would be irresistible to her?>

<Without a doubt. But she already has one… what could be more dangerous and rewarding than dethroning all gods?> Major Davis wonders.

<Leave that to me, Major. When it comes to suicidally high-stakes plans, I’m an expert.>