Beyond The Impossible

New Atlantis, 2.5 million light-years from Earth

Vesta has been meditating for hours, trying to rid herself of the curse that transmuted her body into stone. Her body is floating in a steam-filled room: it used to be water, but the flame surrounding it has evaporated it entirely.

She knows that, like all gods, she’s innately able to have any appearance she desires. But she has never felt the need to truly explore this aspect of her divinity, and catching up to a million years of slacking is far from easy.

She’s taken out of her meditation by a sound in her head, a beeping that signals the Soul Relay installed into her ear canal is ready for transmission.

<Vesta here. Go ahead.> she says out loud, even if she wouldn’t need to speak to respond; in fact, she hears the voice of Noriko Null in her mind.

<I have a plan to take down Skorpios and Medusa. Do you feel up to it?>

<If you need me, I’m in.>

<I don’t need bravado, Vesta. You don’t need to prove yourself to me: if you’re not ready for a fight, I can adjust the plan.>

<I can still fight and I still control my fire. That’s more than Medusa’s victims can say; I have no right to sit this one out.>

<Sometimes I worry you’re too good to be in this line of work, Vesta. I’ll send someone to pick up.>

<You can’t use the Portal Generator?>

<That’s not necessary. You’re going to Hell with me.>

 

Hell, 163,000 light-years from Earth

The planet gets human visitors so often these days that a new accommodation has been set up: a special conference room with air conditioning.

Even when it’s working at full power, it’s still hot enough for Noriko to ditch her trademark green leather jacket and just keep her black T-shirt with a Ø logo.

<That’s an improvement, but can’t you guys set up a beach or something?> Kari Zel jokes, fanning herself with her hand.

<They probably have those made of boiling water. Couldn’t we take this meeting on Earth?> Quantum complains.

<I prefer to do this on neutral ground. Can you bring in Vesta, Torn?> Noriko asks.

<Aether is more than a delivery service, Null. We should not use its power too callously.> the Demon warns her.

<It’s an untraceable way to move across intergalactic distances, we don’t run the risk of someone like Rei to track our moves. And if I understand correctly, you have enough of a connection with Vesta’s soul to lock on to her.>

<I do. But we should discuss limits on Aether use.> Torn warns her, creating a triangle-shaped portal of intermixing black and white energy.

Vesta steps out of it, waving at her teammates before taking her seat at the conference table. She doesn’t take it personally when Kari and Quantum stare at her.

<Alright. Just so everyone is up to speed: Skorpios and Medusa have basically taken over the Aegian Galaxy in days, and we know by experience that traditional tactics aren’t going to work against them. So I had to think outside the box.> Noriko explains, opening the only door leading to this room.

Roxiana walks in, followed by Gilgamesh who has been guarding her closely.

<Oh good. Because striking a deal with our enemies has worked out soooo well in the past for us.> Quantum comments, rolling his eyes.

<Without my help, Noriko would not have rebuilt the Genesis Armor and defeated Athena. And even earlier than that, she would not have been able to return to life after her death at the hands of Hades without my guidance.> Roxiana reminds him.

<Debatable, but besides the point. Roxiana has inside knowledge of how Skorpios operates, and it’s in her interest to help us. And she’s not dumb enough to double cross me again… she’s on thin ice and she knows it.>

<And Hell is too hot for ice. It will melt quickly.> Torn tells Roxiana, in a threatening tone.

<I can see why you need my assistance if this is the intellectual level of the people you surround yourself with, Noriko.> Roxiana snarks.

<Knock it off, this isn’t the time to be petty. Here’s our problem, guys: we can’t get too close to Medusa. She has shown the ability to turn into stone mortals, gods and all kinds of energy, including the Blood. We need a ranged attack… but then Skorpios becomes the problem.>

<The Manifold gives her near complete control over space and attunes her to any sudden variation in the spacetime continuum.> Roxiana adds.

<Even something faster than light?> Quantum asks.

<Anything that travels faster than light needs to warp space itself. Even teleportation, including the Portal Generator, is just a very localized distortion.> Roxiana explains.

<What about tachyons? I can turn into those.>

<I know. That is why when we worked together, I trained her to sense their subtle interactions with space. I knew what level of threat you would become once you started using your brain.>

<Did you also train her to sense the Blood?> Torn asks.

<Actually, Ulysses did that. Anything that you’ve used in a fight before? He taught her how to counter it, whether thanks to the Manifold or the myriads of other cybernetic implants she has.>

<If she’s so though, why did she take orders from him? Or from you?> Kari asks.

<You are all significantly stronger than Noriko. Why is she your leader?>

<Good point.> Kari admits.

<Knowing Ulysses, he wouldn’t have trusted Skorpios so much if he didn’t have a way to stop her if she got out of control.> Noriko notes.

<Then you should have asked him what it was before killing him, because he took it to his grave.>

<But we do have an ace up our sleeve: something neither Ulysses or Skorpios have ever needed to deal with before.> Noriko adds.

<You are not wearing sleeves.> Torn comments.

<You mean me?> Gilgamesh intervenes.

<Well, uhm, no Gil. I was talking about Torn.>

<I do wear sleeves.> the Demon nods.

<I was referring to Aether, Torn. Skorpios has never seen it, and from what I understand about the way you have described it to me, it should be different enough to take her by surprise.> Noriko explains, followed by Roxiana:

<I can vouch for that. Ulysses taught her the same Soul Control techniques that I learned: she can sense the way the Blood interacts with the soul. But I can’t sense Aether, and have decades more experience than Skorpios.>

<That’s awesome! Just drop me right in front of her: I’ll turn into a magnetic field strong enough to deactivate her Drylon device, and she’ll be out of commission.> Quantum suggests.

<Her other implants protect her from such a standard Drylon weakness.> Roxiana informs him.

<Dammit. I knew it couldn’t be that simple.>

<But that will give us an opening. Torn will open two portals: Kari and Vesta, you will distract and hopefully subdue Medusa. At worst she will petrify some duplicates and, well…>

<I’m already made of stone.> Vesta completes the sentence for her.

<Right. Medusa is not the main target here: the priority is separating her from Skorpios, we can deal with her later. Quantum and Roxiana, you will be the ones to attack Skorpios directly.>

<Didn’t you just say my powers won’t work on her?> Quantum asks.

<That’s the point: she will initially believe the plan failed. She can’t hurt you once you transform into neutrinos, and Roxiana has the Absolute Defense device to protect her.>

<Okay, but what are we distracting her for? Your finishing blow?> Quantum wonders.

<As much as I’d enjoy that… mortals aren’t as susceptible to the Final Abyss as gods, especially one who knows how to protect her soul. And all the other mental attacks I’ve developed would take too long. No, we’re going to surprise her with the last thing she would expect me to do… which is also the reason why this meeting couldn’t take place on Earth.> Noriko explains, pressing a button on her N-Watch to send a signal.

A whirlwind of sand appears next to her, enough to make most of the people present shield their eyes. When they uncover them, there’s a stunningly beautiful Egyptian woman with wings growing out of her arms standing right next to Noriko.

<Isis!!!> Vesta shouts, ready to fly towards the goddess. Kari powers up her 10K Rise and Quantum prepares to shoot her with lasers… but they stop when two Blood swords appear in front of the Egyptian.

<She was invited.> Torn clarifies.

<I thought gods were not allowed to set foot on Hell!> Gilgamesh recalls.

<As Regent of Hell, I gave her special permission. If she behaves.> Noriko says.

<I have given my word that no harm will come to this planet or to your allies.> Isis confirms.

<And how good is her word?> Kari asks.

<Had I not given it, you would have been incinerated for questioning my sincerity.> Isis replies.

<We’re making pacts with gods now? That’s exactly what put us in the whole Athena business!> Quantum points out.

<It’s not the same thing. In exchange for her help defeating Skorpios and Medusa, Isis has agreed to a non-aggression pact towards both the Olympian and Aegian galaxies.>

<And I assume she’s doing this out of the goodness of her heart.> Kari comments.

<Hardly. Null has demonstrated she can be reasoned with, and that she won’t attack if unprovoked. The two new scourges have not. All I asked is your assistance in taking down a common enemy… along with proof that Rei has aided the creation of this new threat. Proof that I will be able to present to the Universal Council when I ask her to be removed from our alliance.> Isis explains.

<You’re scared.> Gilgamesh comments.

<Do I have to turn you into a bird again, Sumerian?> Isis asks, clearly irritated by his words.

<You’re a Class-1 goddess, absolute ruler of your own galaxy. You wouldn’t sully your hands to defeat a mortal and a minor goddess without a good reason.>

<If I wanted to do this myself, halfling, I could have destroyed the Aegian Galaxy on my own, now that it is no longer protected by a Class-1 god.>

<But it is protected by a Class-1 mortal, so don’t get any ideas.> Noriko reminds her.

<We share a common enemy. If I can work with the Slayer of Gods who killed by sister Nephthys, you can accept my help.> Isis argues.

<Ugh, fine. I still don’t like it.> Kari pouts, crossing her arms.

<Looks like you have the plan ready. Other than springing this surprise on us, was there another reason to call the meeting?> Quantum asks.

<Actually, there is one last part to discuss. I don’t want Isis fighting Skorpios anywhere near planets. We’re taking the fight out of the universe.> Noriko says.

<The Null Zone?> Vesta suggests.

<No, Skorpios already knows how to escape that. We’re taking her to the Empyrean, the remnant of Heaven left behind after its destruction… we have the only access point to the place. The hard part will be finding a way to trick Skorpios into going through with it.>

<We need bait.> Roxiana points out.

<Exactly. We need something Skorpios won’t resist but that can be expendable if things go…>

Something dark feels the air with a smell of decay, and a hexagram-shaped portal delivers a very angry green-hair goddess.

<Can any of you Demon f##kers open up a portal to the house of this mortal w##re that needs someone to rip her a new a##hole!?> Persephone shouts.

<That’ll do.> Noriko acknowledges with half a smile.