Beyond The Impossible

Nowhere

Kari Zel is five years old. A scrawny little thing, malnourished after weeks of surviving with whatever she could find on her own. She’s trying to run, but there’s so little energy into her young body that she collapses. A shadow approaches her, under the light of three of the six suns of Myridia. It’s a man wearing elaborate clothes; he has a jewel embedded in his throat.

<You must be the thief> he says, gesturing towards the little girl. Kari is telekinetically lifted from the ground, too tired to struggle, too exhausted to cry.

<Have you no respect for Our Lady Demeter, child? She gives us life, and you repay her by stealing her sacred bread?>

<I was hungry. Why do Oracles bake for her if she never comes to eat? Demeter is mean.>

<You are a shame to Myridia. No wonder your parents didn’t have the strength to live.>

The Oracle takes a whip from the inside of his robe, animating it with his mind. Kari shakes in fear: her father was whipped to death before her eyes just a few months ago.

<You are too young to bear children and too weak to fight. By the power bestowed upon my by Our Lady Demeter, I sentence you to death.>

Kari Zel will never forget how painful the first strike was… or how much she wanted to die before the next one.

 

Nowhere

Max Black is eight years old. A young African-American running through the streets of Chicago, pushing people out of his way to run faster. He hides in an alley, resting his back against the wall as he catches his breath. He takes something from under his T-shirt: a comic book.

<Cool> he says, opening the first page; but before he can read anything, someone takes the book from his hands. Another African-American, a good seven years older and much taller.

<Lemme guess: you didn’t pay for this? Again?>

<C’mon Alex, give it back!> Max complains, trying to recover the book but failing due to the different height. The older boy looks at him disapprovingly:

<You know this won’t convince Dad that comic books aren’t a bad influence on you, right?>

<If he’d buy them for me I wouldn’t have to steal them> Max answers, pouting.

<Yeah, I’m sure that argument will convince him. I mean, c’mon, didn’t you learn anything reading this stuff? Would Spider-Man steal his own comic book?> Alex asks, shaking the comic book as if it helped making his case.

<Don’t be stupid, it’s just a comic book. Superheroes ain’t real, y’know.>

<So? Doesn’t mean what they say ain’t…>

His sentence is interrupted by someone kicking a door open. It’s a man in a hoodie, holding a paper bag in one hand and a gun in the other. He looks around, wild-eyed: he’s either panicking, on drugs, or probably both. He starts running the other way, and Max takes a sigh of relief: he’s safe.

<Where do you think you’re going?> Alex asks the robber, jumping on him from behind.

It’s only a few seconds, but they last an eternity. Alex and the robber struggle, each one trying to subdue the other. But one has a gun, whose sound Max will never forget.

Max is on top of the robber, and he looks down. He sees blood, but he smiles.

<Is that all you’ve got?> he asks the robber; despite being shot in the stomach, he knocks out the man with a single punch.

Max’s older brother dies in his arms, spilling blood on the sidewalk and on the comic book cover.

 

Nowhere

Torn is thirty years old, but no human would even guess his age: he looks barely above seven. But a human would also wonder how this red skinned child is able to hold above his head a boulder the size of a small house, or more importantly why would anyone subject him to this. Not only he’s trying to avoid being crushed to death, but the entire weight is standing on the metal spikes under his feet. And yet Torn doesn’t utter a single word.

Neither does the man watching him. An older Demon, wearing a trench coat and crossing his arms.

<It hurts> someone complains. The Demon looks up and shakes his head. He creates a spiral staircase of red energy, which under closer inspection is entirely made of intertwined swords.

He does it to watch eye to eye the little girl who’s standing on top of the boulder that Torn is holding; she does the same, effectively making Torn support twice the weight she’s carrying.

<Indeed it does> the older Demon agrees.

<Why does it have to hurt?> the girl complains.

<This is Hell. Only the strong survive.>

<I’m stronger than Torn, father. Why do I have to carry less weight?>

<We are only as strong as the weakest among us, Pain. Your brother will become stronger or he will die; there is no place in Hell for the weak.>

<No> Torn retorts, creating energy lances to support the boulder long enough to jump out before being crushed. Without missing a beat, he conjures two swords and charges at the older Demon.

<Interesting> he comments. His arms are still crossed, but now a red energy scythe has appeared in front of him. It moves on its own, parrying Torn’s attack; at the same time, an energy chain appears out of nowhere and grabs Torn by the ankle, throwing him with great force against the rocks.

<I’ve already told you to choose your battles carefully, Torn: never start a fight you can’t win.>

<I know> Torn answers, helping himself standing up by leaning against a sword as big as him.

<I may be your father, but I am also Reaper, General Of The Army Of Hell. You are not strong enough to defeat me.>

<Not alone. Cut Of A Hundred Deaths!!!> Torn shouts, releasing a flurry of energy daggers.

Reaper’s scythe rotates to shield him, but at the same time a girl jumps at him screaming:

<Massacre Chainsaw!!!>

<Cute> Reaper comments, holding the scythe. He deviates his daughter’s attack, cutting right through her energy construct as if it was nothing; moving faster than the eye can track, he grabs her and uses her body as a shield to block Torn’s daggers.

Torn stops his attack, giving Reaper a free shot that he doesn’t hesitate to take. Before Torn can realize what’s happened, his father is holding him down with his foot and he’s ready to cut off his head with his scythe at any moment.

<Torn. What have you learned today?>

<Never hesitate. The mission is more important than anything. Even family> the boy recites.

<It’s not fair. I could’ve won if Torn wasn’t a spikeless boy> Pain complains, standing up; there are energy knives poking out of her back, but other than that she’s completely fine.

<Be nice to your brother, Pain. His strategy was… flawed, but original.>

<You’re playing favorites again! Aren’t we supposed to be neutral?> Pain asks.

Reaper doesn’t answer immediately. He looks at the distance: under the raging fire that covers the sky, the red mountains of Hell are swept by a sandstorm.

<Neutrality has its limits, children. You must fight for what you want.>

<Y’know, my dad used to say stuff like that too. Small universe, uh?>

The last thing Torn would expect to see is a half-Japanese girl, barely twelve years old, prancing around under Hell’s fire clouds. Her sudden appearance leaves him more speechless than usual.

<Whoa. Look at this place! Is this really where you grew up? No wonder you’re so grumpy.>

The girl approaches Reaper, looking him very closely. Both him and Pain are suddenly completely motionless; not only that, but Torn now realizes he’s back to his 139 year old body.

<Is this your dad? He really looks like you.>

<You’re one of Null’s alternate personalities.>

<Well, yeah. I’m, like, her innocence or something. Call me Eve, ‘kay?>

<I need to talk to Null. Or even Void.>

<I know, but Void doesn’t want to talk to you. She says your thoughts are, like, too chaotic for I told you to leave him out of this But I’m too scared to stay here alone I want to fight him You always want to fight You’re always scared Stop arguing, he is staring at us What?>

Torn is indeed staring at “Eve”, whose voice keeps alternating between personalities.

<Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind>

<Maybe I can help you with that. Give me your hand, and focus on the rhythm of my hearts.>

Eve obliges, taking Torn’s hand. She looks around nervously: the frozen Demons with dead expressions on their faces aren’t helping.

<Uh, you realize neither of us is really here, right? This is all, like,  in our minds and stuff.>

<Not our minds. SOUL RESONANCE!>

Once again, reality ceases to make sense in a blinding flash of redness.

 

Nowhere

Feeling the burn of the wounds on her skin, Kari Zel is just about ready to abandon hope. Ready to accept Demeter’s doctrine: that mortal exist to obey and please the gods. Nothing more.

<What kind of goddess needs to frighten a child to feel powerful?>

This is the one moment Kari will never forget: Old Man Vor showing up to save her life, an elderly man easily taking out an Oracle by removing the God Stone from his throat. This time it’s different… the hands strangling the Oracle are red. Kari falls to the ground, no longer kept floating by the telekinetic powers of the Oracle, but when she lands she’s an adult again.

<Torn!? What are you doing here!?>

<Abyss is forcing us to live our worst memories. Unfortunately for her, her mind is still fundamentally human: she wasn’t prepared to deal with how a Demon thinks.>

<I can see how even your own mind wouldn’t understand you, Torn.>

<This isn’t the time for compliments. SOUL RESONANCE!>

 

Nowhere

The transition is sudden and unexpected, although Kari is starting to get accustomed to it. They’re back on Earth, judging by the single Sun in the sky. There’s a dead body on the sidewalk, covered by a white sheet; cops and people are swarming around, with blank expressions on their faces.

<Hey guys. Took you long enough> a young African-American boy greets them; he’s leaning against the alley, reading a comic book.

<Max? Is this one of your memories? What happened here?> Kari asks him.

<My brother Alex was shot when he tried to stop a robber, right in front of me.>

<You never said you had a brother…>

<You pulled yourself out of the illusion? Even I couldn’t do that, and I can feel my soul> Torn says, and his voice lets through that he’s genuinely impressed.

<What was I supposed to do, stay here and cry? Alex wouldn’t have liked that. Not when there’s someone who needs saving> Max explains, showing the others the cover of the comic book.

It’s a drawing of Abyss strangling Null, whose hand is reaching towards the reader for help.

<I think Noriko is trying to tell us something, but this thing doesn’t make any sense> Max says.

<Can I see?> Eve asks; she was either hiding behind Torn the whole time, or she just appeared.

She flips through the pages, tilting them and making faces.

<I don’t get it. It just says: Config:sys\NULL1.7\autocheck \goto:safemode.>

<LOADING SAFE MODE.>

Eve disappears into pixelated dust and reality fizzles out. It’s blindingly fast, much less than the blink of an eye. Chicago has vanished, replaced by a featureless white room. Noriko Null is sitting on a chair: the top of her head is missing, and there are dozens of cables connecting her brain to a very antiquated PC. There’s a single word, blinking in green on the screen: “HELP ME”.

<Is it just me, or things just got weird?> Kari asks.

<Things started weird> Max corrects her.