Beyond The Impossible

Tokyo, Japan

Leiko Tanaka reaches the lobby of the building, which used to be the headquarters of Scion Corporation before the takeover by Null Technologies. Leiko is accustomed to the sight of dozens of people greeting her arrival, but it’s been replaced by horror: everyone on the floor is dead. The murderers are still there: her daughter’s humanoid robots.

Leiko runs to the elevator, catching her breath: she’s been running for what feels like forever. Abyss is approaching with a brisk pace, and for the first time since childhood Leiko finds herself praying.

The elevator doors finally open. Leiko practically jumps inside, pressing nervously the button for the top floor. Nothing happens; Abyss keeps coming. She’s armed and grinning maniacally.

<Come on, come on> Leiko keeps saying, pushing the button again and again.

When Abyss finally arrives, Leiko keeps her distance. The elevator doesn’t leave her much room to do so. Only when Abyss is within breathing distance, the door closes and the elevator begins rising.

<You’re shorter than last time> Abyss says. She’s uncomfortably close.

<I’m not wearing heels> Leiko answers, finding the absurdity of smalltalk almost funny.

<Ah, yes. Noriko hates them too.>

<You’re not Noriko?> Leiko asks. She knows this is her daughter…the voice is altered, the hair is turning white and the veins on her face are now black and visible on the surface…but despite everything that makes her clearly inhuman, this must be Noriko.

<I am Abyss. There’s a difference> she says, drawing the Genius Gun and caressing it.

<You’re here to kill me.>

<This is a beautiful weapon. Transforms electrical energy into pure kinetic force…it turns thoughts into lethal force. And I have a lot of thoughts about you.>

<You should know that I have powerful allies…both on this planet and beyond.>

<I have killed gods before.>

<You mean Noriko has. I thought you weren’t the same person.>

<We’re not. She would’ve used the Genius Gun.> Abyss says, suddenly pushing the emergency button. The elevator comes to a halt between floors, and she holsters the Genius Gun. Leiko briefly considers overpowering her…whatever turned Noriko into Abyss, she’s in terrible physical shape.

Then Leiko feels a sharp pain in her abdomen. She’s been stabbed. Abyss takes out the bloody knife, grabs Leiko by her hair, and stabs her again. And again a third time.

Abyss is breathing more and more rapidly, enjoying every moment of this. She takes the knife to Leiko’s throat…and she hesitates. Her hand is shaking.

“Stop it! We’re not like her! We are better than her!!!” a voice inside her mind screams.

<I told you once. You’re nothing. You’ll always be nothing> Leiko manages to say.

Abyss reacts by punching Leiko. Her eyes shine bright red for a second.

<From this moment on, your every breath is a gift. From me.>

Abyss punches the emergency button, storming angrily out of the elevator while giving orders through the Neural Transmitter installed in her head.

<Voidbots, take her to a hospital. Excess, Overkill, get the Valkyrie ship to my position, we’re leaving in five minutes.>

Something flies right to her face: a floating metal sphere, with a scarily deep voice: the Core.

<You are interfering with the plans of my keeper. I will not allow this. Unless you want to measure your pitiful intellect against five billion years of Drylon technology, you will surrender to me.>

<Make it ten minutes, guys.>,

 

The Null Zone

Torn is holding the Demon Sword with both hands. He’s wearing his duster again, and the light of the energy sword is reflecting on his red skin.

<Are you sure this is a good idea?> Kari asks while she puts on the helmet, the last piece of the skintight Legion armor that now covers her head to toe.

<No. But the armor gives you a chance to survive.>

<Wait, we don’t have armor. We’re not gonna die, are we?> Bob Null asks; he’s holding tight Tiffany, his latest lover, who is understandably nervous about being stranded in another dimension.

<I’m not. But you probably are.>

<Am I the only one who’s worried about trusting the guy who just pulled a giant red sword out of nowhere!?> Tiffany asks.

<I may be able to protect them from what’s on the other side, but you need to tell me what we’re up against Torn> Vesta points out.

<I can’t. I am already committing treason of the highest order by taking you with me. Just do what you can to protect the humans from the environment.>

<Shouldn’t be a problem, right?> Quantum says, putting his hand on Vesta’s shoulder <The first time we met, we survived a point blank explosion thanks to her!>

<I’m not sure I want to know what you’re talking about> Todd comments.

Everyone gathers around Torn. Quantum has turned into energy, Vesta is holding hands with everybody. The only thing they take with them is the Heart of the Universe.

<STAIRWAY…TO HELL!!!>- Torn shouts, planting his sword into the floor with the last word.

The floor collapses, leading to everyone falling to the lower floor…which shouldn’t be possible, considering there is no gravity in the Null Zone.

What’s more impossible is that they’re not on the lower floor. They have landed in a completely different location.

<That’s it? It wasn’t so bad> Kari says, looking around. They’re in some kind of warehouse.

<Something’s wrong. We’re not in Hell> Torn notes.

<That’s a bad thing!?> Bob exclaims.

An alarm goes off, while an obviously registered voice says:

<Ιντρθδερ αλερτ. Σεcθριτυ το cαργο βαυ τηρεε.>

<I don’t like the sound of that. What did it say?> Quantum asks to Vesta.

<“Intruder alert, security to cargo bay three”> We’re on a spaceship.

 

Beijing, China

The path of destruction cuts right through the city. The People’s Liberation Army Ground Force  didn’t spare any effort to defend the capital; it was a valiant effort, but with no success.

Artemis has walked right through anything from bullets to rocket launchers to mines to bombs, and her clothes aren’t even dirty. She has shown herself to be completely invulnerable to any kind of weapon short of nuclear ones; and since Beijing is one of the most populated cities in the world, that’s not an option. Not yet, at least.

She is facing a platoon of soldiers, with thousands of bullets ricocheting on her skin. She aims her golden bow, conjuring seven arrows of light and firing all of them at once.

Every single soldier dies instantly…all except one, the only female, left standing among dead fellow warriors. Artemis flies towards her, too fast to give the soldier enough time to pull the trigger. When Artemis squeezes the assault rifle out of shape, the soldier takes out her gun and shoots Artemis in the eye, at point blank.

The goddess doesn’t blink. The bullet ricochets on her eyeball and the soldier injures her own hand.

<I have a question for you, child. What is this fortress you are defending?>

<The Forbidden City> the soldier answers, ignoring the pain of the right hand and pulling out a military knife with her left.

<Thank you> Artemis says holding the soldier’s hand and crushing it, together with the knife.

<It looks decent enough. I think I’ll take it.>

 

Tokyo, Japan

Excess flies to the top of the building, while Overkill is busy keeping the helicopters away. They have taken down enough jet fighters to discourage the air force, but they won’t be able to keep up much longer…they’re essentially keeping the city hostage.

<Abyss, we have to go now!!!> she orders.

<I’m almost done> her boss answers. She’s sitting on the roof and is busy re-assembling some kind of metal sphere the size of a baseball. Excess grabs her arm; when Abyss looks at her, Excess screams. The black eyes are bleeding, her veins are pulsating, and there’s a faint light visible through her skull.

<What the hell happened to you!?!?>

<I’m about to make some room in my head. You might want to step back> she suggests. Excess looks up: suddenly there are dark clouds above her.

“What are you doing!?” Noriko screams from inside her mind.

“Upgrading myself. The Nexus has been running at maximum power since I took control and the stress is destroying our body. There’s not enough space inside our head for the both of us”

“You can’t kill me. Not without killing yourself in the process”

“I don’t need to kill you. I just have to download your mind somewhere else…and I knew that our mother owned the only thing in the world with enough room” – Abyss explains, basically to herself.

She stands up, holding the Core in her hands. The clouds are gathering with a sound of thunder.

“The Core is Drylon technology! You know how dangerous it is…I can’t let you do that!” Noriko answers, and Abyss finds herself pointing the Genius Gun at her own head.

–Impressive! You still have some level of control. But how far are you willing to go to stop me?

“Far enough” Noriko says, but still doesn’t pull the trigger.

“Tough talk for a scared little girl who’s afraid of her own potential. You’ve been the smartest person in history for a full year! You could’ve turned this planet into a paradise, but you’re too scared to get your hands dirty. Deep down inside, you know you don’t deserve your gift!”

“Maybe I don’t. But I sure as hell deserve it more than you do”

<Goodbye, Noriko. I could say I’ll miss you, but the truth is I really hate your guts.>

Lightning strikes Abyss, a black stream of electricity that she channels through the Core.

Throughout the city, people hear the scream of pain and despair of a woman. It pounds through their minds like a jackhammer, before disappearing like a terrible nightmare.

It’s a terrifying experience, and not the ideal conditions for flying. Overkill lands on the roof thanks to his suit’s autopilot, but the helicopters he was chasing off crash into the near buildings.

<What the f#ck was that?!?!?> he shouts to his sister Excess, who is also having trouble recovering from the terrible experience. Then they both see her.

Abyss is standing triumphantly, with the Core in her right hand glowing red.

<My birth. Can you hear it?> she asks with a new voice, almost unrecognizable from Noriko’s.

<I don’t hear anything> Overkill admits.

<Exactly. She’s not talking anymore. Let’s go celebrate…I’m buying> she says, tossing the Core off the building.

As the metal sphere falls to the ground, nobody can hear the scream of terror of the mind trapped inside it.

 

The Forbidden City

The imperial palace is usually crowded with tourists and security personnel, but in light of the attack it’s been rapidly abandoned.

Artemis sits on the throne in the Hall of Preserving Harmony, crossing her legs. She reasons that this must be the capital of Null’s reign; after all, to her eyes the local Chinese population looks too much like the half-Japanese Noriko for this to be a coincidence.

<Now all I have to do is wait for her to come back home> she says, snapping her fingers.

An impenetrable energy barrier appears over the Forbidden City, finally giving the goddess some privacy after causing the death of tens of thousands of people since her arrival.