Beyond The Impossible

Honolulu, Hawaii

The situation couldn’t be worse. Abyss has taken control of the whole island, and her power will soon extend to the rest of the world. Noriko is surrounded by thousands of mind-controlled and hostile citizens. Not only she’s unarmed, she has nobody to help her: Vesta and Quantum are busy fighting Armageddon, Abyss’ personal giant robot. Torn, Kari and Black Knight are taking on Abyss herself, who is surprisingly kicking their butts despite being outnumbered and physically weaker than each of them.

<Guys? A little help here?> Noriko says desperately. Something lifts her up and saves her from the hostile mob, landing on the roof of a nearby building.

<You’re heavier than you look> Lysia comments, breathing heavily. Wide blue wings protrude from the alien’s back. Noriko has met a Lampyrian before; the voice isn’t the same, there is very little physical difference between them. Noriko also doesn’t recognize the young girl with red skin standing next to her, but Kari Zel is right besides her.

<Kari, am I glad to see you> Noriko says, coming closer to hug her friend.

<Stay where you are. What did you do to Noriko?> Kari retorts sternly.

<What? Oh, I see. I was so busy trying to stay alive I almost forgot what I look like. I’m Noriko.>

Judging from Kari’s look, she’s not buying it. She doesn’t see her friend, she sees her mother Leiko.

<Prove it. What color did I dye my hair when I was fourteen?>

<Blue, like your mother’s. You tried to convince me to do the same when we were on Myridia.>

<It’s her. There’s no way in Hades Leiko found out about it> Kari concedes.

<So this is Null, the Slayer of Gods? She doesn’t look so tough to me> Laceration comments, studying her disapprovingly from head to toe. Kari introduces her:

<This is Laceration, Torn’s daughter. That’s Lysia from the Mortal Liberation Front. We…>

<Wait. You’re Torn’s daughter?> Noriko says, holding Laceration by both shoulders.

<I am.>

<I saw your father cut through lightning once. Can you do the same for me?>

Laceration raises her right forearm, creating a red energy whip of barbed wire wrapped around it.

<I’m a Demon. Just tell me what you need.>

 

Armageddon punches Vesta into the ground. The fight has been moved to Diamond Head, the volcanic crater just outside the city; a programmed necessity because, had the fight taken place in Honolulu, the earthquake generated by the robot’s punches would have been too dangerous for Abyss. Vesta is trying to keep a cool head and assess the situation. She’s a pacifist goddess and doesn’t like to resort to violence, but there’s a limit to how much she can take before she loses her patience.

<Enough> she orders, blocking a punch. The robot’s hand is larger than her upper body, but she’s not budging. Armageddon fires a plasma ray against her, hot enough to vaporize titanium.

<Oh please. Goddess of fire, remember? I can do this all day. Your ability to absorb energy is impressive; do you have an upper limit? Because I never found mine> she boasts, her whole body catching fire. The ground beneath her is melting.

Armageddon withstands the heat, but its options are limited. Brute force is not enough and weapons are ineffective: the only option is to exhaust Vesta absorbing all the heat she can generate.

Meanwhile, Quantum is trying to penetrate the armor by turning his body into various kinds of energy. He gets through once he becomes X-rays, but he notices something worrying:

<There’s a person inside this thing!!!>

<Can you get him out?> Vesta asks.

A fist smashes through Armageddon’s chest, from the inside out. Slowly and with tremendous effort, Kayla Black manages to break free from her prison. She has absorbed enough of Vesta’s fire to be hotter than the Earth’s inner core: everything she touches is instantly vaporized.

Armageddon melts into a puddle of molten metal. Quantum and Vesta approach the naked African-American woman standing on it, with the goddess re-absorbing her own heat.

<Where. Is. Abyss!?> Kayla punctuates in anger.

 

The Demon Sword and the Sword of Nightmares are pressed against each other, generating an endless stream of sparkles. Considering that Torn can lift several tons and Abyss weighs less than a hundred pounds, to keep up with him she needs to draw a tremendous amount of power.

<Yeld> he orders, grinning his teeth.

<Never> she retorts, unleashing a wave of destructive energy against him. It hits like a tornado, but he’s not thrown away by the blast by anchoring himself to the ground using his sword.

Just as Abyss is ready to attack, she’s taken by surprise with a kick in the face. Abyss leans on the sword, using it as a cane; she makes a strange sound, something between a grunt and a roar.

She’s running on pure force of will. Kari Zel is in front of her, bouncing on her feet like she’s ready for a boxing match.

<C’mon, you crazy βιτcη, you want a piece of me? Let’s dance!>

By all accounts, after defeating Torn this should be an easy victory for Abyss. Kari is unarmed, can’t use her duplicates to hurt Abyss because they dissipate in contact with her dark aura, and she’s far below Torn in terms of strength, speed and reflexes.

What Kari does have are twenty-five years of life on Myridia. She was trained to survive hand-to-hand combat with people who could literally kill her with a thought. Keep the enemy guessing where the next punch will come from, never let them time to concentrate, find a weak spot and exploit it. Abyss is losing her temper. Kari is always a step ahead: Abyss can’t land a single hit, while Kari’s already kicked and punched her more than once.

<Stand still you fu##ing monkey!!!>

<You think too much. Your thoughts are racing faster than your body can react. You’ve pushed yourself beyond your limits and now your body betrays you> Kari taunts her.

<F##k limits!!! NIGHTMARE MODE!!!> she shouts, raising the sword in the air.

The sky is torn asunder once more, ready to grant its power to Abyss again. But this time she’s not the only one eagerly awaiting the next lightning strike.

<NOW!!!> Noriko Null orders, from the roof of a nearby building.

A black bolt descends from the sky, but it’s cut in half by a red energy whip. The energy travels towards the building, striking Noriko and starting a very painful process.

<Oh no you don’t> – Abyss says, using the Sword of Nightmares sever the energy stream that now connects Noriko to the massive dark clouds above the city.

She doesn’t keep the sword for long. Kari first kicks it out of her hand, and before Abyss can say anything she punches her in the stomach. Abyss bends in pain, only to receive another hit when Kari’s knee breaks her nose. Abyss immediately tries to get the sword back, but can only scream in pain when Kari steps on her hand as hard as she can.

<Stay. Down> Kari orders her. She has no desire to cripple Noriko’s body.

<You…you are…YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME!!!>

It’s like being at the center of an explosion. A telekinetic blast is radiating from Abyss, blowing away everything and everyone. The Nexus inside her head is glowing through her skull, feeding off the dark cloud illuminated by red lightning. Her body won’t survive for long in these conditions, but it’s clear that her mind is already gone.

<I AM THE ABYSS! NIGHTMARE OF THE UNIVERSE! LOOK UPON ME AND DESPAIR!!!>

<Alright, you’re nuts, we get it> Quantum comments, helping Noriko get back on her feet.

<What…is that thing? What am I doing here?> she asks, visible disoriented.

<I dunno, I figured you had some sort of…wait. You’re not Noriko.>

<Of course I’m not, you imbecile> Leiko retorts, rudely pushing Quantum away in disgust.

She sees a blue alien, a red alien, and her daughter a few steps away from destroying mankind.

<I have to admit, American: when you lose, you lose spectacularly.>

<Wait, if this one isn’t Null anymore, where is she?> Lysia asks.

Then there’s thunder. A sound like the world has never heard before, loud enough to make the whole island shake in fear.

<WHY WON’T YOU DIE!?!?> Abyss screams.

The sky answers with a dozen bolts of white lightning, all converging into a single spot and coalescing into a single form. A young woman made of pure electricity.

<You have the power of all the darkness of mankind. You drown in all of its hate and malice. The Nexus does not belong to you. It is mine and mine alone.>

<Why!? You don’t deserve it!!! You’ve done nothing to earn it!!!>

<You’re wrong. I refused to give up to fear. I dared to believe in humanity. But by ignoring you, I only made you stronger. I’m not afraid of you anymore. And without fear, you are nothing.>

As the two women talk, “Noriko” is walking closer and closer. Quantum and Vesta are considering intervening… but they have no idea of what’s going on. Kari is on her knees, with both hands up; her lips are moving, repeating Myridian words.

<What is she doing?> he asks.

<Praying to her goddess> Vesta answers, and from her voice it’s clear she doesn’t mean herself.

Abyss walks away, visibly terrified when Noriko is within touching distance.

<You can’t do this to me!!! I am the Abyss!!!>

<Yes, you are. I’ve seen into your darkness, and you blinked.>

The electricity pours inside Abyss, filling her brain as she screams. The sky is shattered one last time, delivering more information than can be gathered in a thousand lifetimes. It’s painful, more than can be described with words. Pain that can shred a lesser soul. Pain that turns a primal scream of terror into a powerful shout of defiance to the universe.

<I!! AM!!! NULL!!!> she boasts, blowing out the dark clouds that suffocated the island.

She shakes her fist in the air, triumphant. The blackness in her veins is rapidly expelled, and when she opens her eyes their silver light is brighter than a thousand suns.

After this metaphysical fight, the silence is almost deafening. Null wipes the sweat off her forehead, breathing heavily and erratically.

<Let’s never do this again> she says before fainting.

 

Luckily for her, Null misses the chaos that follows. Abyss may have been defeated, but there are thousands of people in shock for being mind-controlled for hours. There are millions of dollars of damage, even without considering the economic impact of blocking the entire state for so long.

And as far as the world knows it, Artemis is still at large.

Right now, none of this matters to Kayla Black. She’s sitting on the roof of the hospital where they took Noriko, wearing borrowed clothes that don’t really fit her.

<What a day, uh?> her brother Max asks rhetorically. He’s not wearing his Quantum mask, as he sits next to her to eat his sandwich.

<What the hell was that thing?> she asks.

<Abyss? I’m not sure> he lies. He hates to do this to his sister, but he can’t betray Null’s trust.

<Artemis said she was a goddess. So did Eris. Are they?>

<Why do you ask me? Just because I hang out with Null doesn’t mean I know everything.>

<You’re a terrible liar. You blew your secret identity with me in one day, remember?>

<I seem to recall you hating the idea of being a superhero. Then I find out you work for the government…I mean, have you ever seen a comic book where that works?>

<Some hero I turned out to be. I lost to Artemis, I lost to Eris, I lost to Abyss…actually I don’t think I ever won a fight. It’s time for Blue Star to retire.>

<What!? You can’t do that! You have powers! And with great power…>

<I wouldn’t call it “great” anymore. I threw everything I had at Abyss: I can barely power a lightbulb now. You think Null can use a security guard?>

<You can ask her when she wakes up. For all that’s worth, sis, I’m proud of what you did.>

<That makes one of us> she answers. She won’t say anything else for a long time.