Beyond The Impossible

For most people, defeating a goddess in hand-to-hand combat and being the second mortal to ever reach the quarter-finals of the Strongest Under The Heavens tournament would be enough.

Fortunately for Kari Zel, she’s far from being “most people”. When the Egyptian God Thoth looks at her, as she stretches before fighting Artemis, he finds her enthusiasm very interesting.

<You already expressed the wish you desire to fulfill. Do you intend to change it?> he asks.

<No, I’m still fine with killing Ares> Artemis answers.

<Actually yes, I’ll change mine. I wish to kill this a##hole> Kari says.

<That wish is invalid. You can wish for the death of Artemis, not of a specific part of her anatomy.>

<You know what I mean. If I win the tournament, I’ll wish for the death of Artemis.>

<How cute. I may keep you as a pet for a decade or two, before killing you.>

<The stakes are decided, until defeat or death. Kari Zel versus Artemis. FIGHT!!!>

Neither contestant wastes time: Artemis immediately creates a bow of red Blood energy, while Kari tenses all of her muscles.

<10K Rise!!!> she shouts, with her hair becoming neon pink and her voice acquiring a weird echo.

With her speed and reflexes boosted by a factor of ten thousand, the Myridian girl is easily able to dodge the energy arrow; even if Artemis has the rate of fire of a machine gun, she keeps missing.

<I don’t get it, isn’t Artemis supersonic or something? Why can’t she hit anything?> Quantum wonders, with Vesta providing an answer:

<She’s not really a fighter, she prefers preys weaker than her. I don’t think she has much experience with enemies that can move at this speed.>

<Or she’s still playing with her> Ulysses suggests.

After keeping her distance from the endless barrage of arrows, Kari finally finds an opening and leaps towards Artemis powering up her Shotgun Bracelet for a knockout punch.

And indeed, when her punch lands on the goddess it releases a powerful shockwave. But it didn’t connect with her face, as Kari intended: Artemis intercepted it with her hand.

<Baby, that only works if you catch a goddess by surprise> Artemis explains, as Kari takes a step back and massages her hand: even with the 10K Rise, she nearly broke it.

<And I always study my prey before the hunt> Artemis continues, readying her bow for another arrow. Kari looks her right in the eye and smiles defiantly.

<Seriously? I dodged like a million of these, is your plan to keep shooting until I trip or something?>

<I can assure you, baby, that I haven’t missed a single shot> Artemis explains: all the energy arrows that she previously fired rise from the ground, surrounding Kari from every angle.

<Dodge this. ARROW STORM!!!> Artemis shouts, shooting the arrow: all its copies imitate its trajectory, flying towards Kari. She concentrates all the strength of the 10K Rise on her legs, making a superhuman jump that take her out of the path of the arrows. It’s not over, though, since the arrows collectively move like a swarm and follow her into the air.

Since Kari can’t fly, she doesn’t have a way of escape: thousands of energy arrows hit her body from every angle. Like those that hit Vesta they don’t pierce her skin, but judging by her screams they hurt just like real arrows, if not something more.

Artemis catches her before she can hit the ground, kissing Kari quite energetically despite the latter’s attempt to stop her. It’s such a long kiss that not only Kari seems to have trouble breathing, but the glow in her hair disappears, indicating that the 10K Rise is no longer in effect.

Finally Artemis lets her fall, licking her lips voluptuously.

<That was hot. We should definitely do it again sometimes> she comments, passing her hand through her very short white hair: it turns neon pink for a second or two, then returns to normal.

<Kari Zel is no longer able to fight. The winner is Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt.>

Quantum almost doesn’t wait for Thoth’s declaration before appearing in the arena to check on Kari: he knows this is just a duplicate of the real one, but in his eyes she’s still a human being.

<Are you alright?> he asks; she leans on him trying to stand up, finding her legs are too weak for it.

<I’m drained. Like I did a thousand marathons and then had sex for a year straight; doing the 10K Rise for a few minutes is probably as far as I can take it> Kari answers, letting Quantum carry her towards the audience carrying her in his arms.

<See you in the semifinals, mortal> Artemis tells him, giving him a stern look.

<Let us proceed to the last fight in the quarter-finals. The final contestants, Noriko Null the Slayer of Gods and Adrestia the Goddess of Revenge, may approach the arena> Thoth proceeds, without missing a beat.

While most of the gods have shown little interest in the previous fights, when the daughter of Ares rises from her seat to fly into the arena pretty much every immortal present pays attention.

She’s certainly different from the other gods, with her black military uniform, but she’s not the one they’re worried about. There is a strange silence as everyone waits for the other fighter to appear.

<Well, where is she?> Tyche wonders out loud.

<Verily, the small mortal maiden doth seem conspicuously absent> Herakles adds.

<Ha! The so-called Slayer of Gods is clearly afraid of my son’s trusted general!> Hera says, laughing. In contrast, Adrestia has a completely blank expression on her face.

<Noriko Null, the Slayer of Gods, shall now approach the arena> Thoth continues, and it’s very clear from the god’s tone that the invitation will not be repeated.

<This is bad. Can she be eliminated if she’s late?> Kari wonders.

<There is no cause for concern> Ulysses reassures her.

<What makes you say that?> she asks; he doesn’t answer, just pointing at the sky. There are clouds gathering above the arena for the first time since the start of the tournament.

<Wait, is she going to… wχοα!!!> Kari exclaims in Myridian once a lightning bolt strikes the amphitheater, signaling Noriko’s arrival: the electricity lands on the palm in her hand, and once she’s absorbed it through the skin her silver eyes shine like a thousand flashlights. In the midst of all this, few notice that she’s uncharacteristically zipped up her green leather jacket.

<She certainly knows how to make an entrance> Ulysses comments.

<So… did she just absorb some kind of information? I thought she could do the lightning thing only on Earth> Kari wonders.

<I’m pretty sure it’s just for show, but it’s Noriko we’re talking about> Vesta shrugs.

Noriko takes her time to reach the center of the arena. Once she’s there she looks at Adrestia; the blond goddess practically towers above her.

<You already expressed the wish you desire to fulfill. Do you intend to change it?> Thoth asks.

<Negative. I have the order to wish for the death of Athena> Adrestia answers.

<So you do everything you’re told? You must be so proud> Noriko mocks her, seemingly without creating the emotional response she wanted to get.

“She seems colder than the rest of her family. I wonder if it’s just a mask” she thinks.

<Noriko Null. You have not answered: to you intend to change your wish?> Thoth reminds her.

<Not yet> she replies, hoping to keep the gods on their toes. And she’s not entirely lying: keeping her original wish to kill Leiko is still tempting.

<The stakes are decided, until defeat or death. Null versus Adrestia. FIGHT!!!>

Noriko immediately gives herself some distance from the goddess: her Gravity Gloves make her fly several feet backwards, while she holds two Genius Guns.

<Rapid fire. Maximum power> she orders; the guns obey her voice, releasing a series of powerful blasts of pure kinetic energy. While technically invisible, they cause the air to catch fire in their way, creating a visible trail that travels in a straight line towards Adrestia.

<So you control gravity too> she notes, keeping her position. She doesn’t seem to do anything, but the light around her becomes heavily distorted. Instead of hitting her, the trajectory of the shots fired by Noriko changes: they completely miss Adrestia, connecting instead with the ground behind her. As testament to the power of the Genius Gun, they hit with enough energy to level a city block.

<Impressive. It took me a century to figure out how to do it> she compliments Noriko, while doing her first move: lifting her arm and pointing her finger vaguely towards Noriko’s position.

This is hardly unexpected, so the Gravity Gloves are ready to negate the sudden increase of gravity; Noriko lands abruptly but safely.

<Warning. Gravitational acceleration 3000% above survivable levels> the gloves communicate to her through her Neural Transmitter, as they struggle to negate Adrestia’s power.

<I know, I know> she complains, moving as fast she can to first holster the guns to free her hands and removing her left glove.

Adrestia calmly floats towards her, keeping her hands behind her back until she reaches her target.

<No hard feelings. I’m just following orders> she says, almost sounding sorry when she shows the palm of her hand to release a massive gravitational wave from it.

At the very last moment, Noriko throws her left glove at her: it morphs to fit around Adrestia’s hand, then it suddenly glows.

Much to Adrestia’s surprise, once she orders gravity to increase around Noriko’s body she instead finds the gravitons to concentrate on the Gravity Glove she’s now wearing.

<What have you done!?> she asks, straining with all of might to lift the glove: it’s suddenly far too heavy for her, and she awkwardly kneels once her hand hits the ground.

<Come on, don’t tell me you’ve never thought of this trick in all those centuries?> Noriko asks, her silver eyes shining.

Adrestia is stuck: all of her divine strength is barely enough to avoid having the glove collapsing straight into the ground. And trying to negate its weight only has the exact opposite effect.

<I’ve programmed the glove to feed into your own power and convert anything you throw at it into a localized gravitational effect: basically, the hardest you try to lift it, the heavier it becomes. If you’d done your homework, Adrestia, you would’ve known I’ve done something like this before, when I helped Vesta to lift the entire island of Manhattan. And she wasn’t using gravity, so you’ve actually made things easier for me> Noriko gloats, pulling up the sleeve to uncover her left arm.

The prosthetic limb shifts into a different form, with glowing circuitry becoming visible underneath the fake skin; the wrist turns unnaturally, revealing the barrel of a very unusual weapon.

<Last chance. It doesn’t have to be this way> Noriko tells Adrestia; her silver eyes are practically bursting with electricity, with the arm drawing power directly from her brain.

<Of course it does. I’ve been waiting for this moment> the goddess says, moving her free hand to take something out of a pocket on her uniform. This doesn’t leave much choice to Noriko.

<GOD ERASER!!!> she shouts, as the weapon contained in her arm releases all the raw information she’s generating into a beam of electricity inside Adrestia’s brain.

It’s not as easy as it looks: she used the weapon too recently, and her nervous system is in serious danger. She can sustain this for just a few seconds; once the stream ends, Noriko stands back to catch her breath. Strangely enough, her head is still glowing: the electricity has disappeared, but there’s a web of glowing energy that surrounds her brain, with the light visible under the skin.

<I can’t believe it. She actually survived using it> Lily comments with astonishment.

<What? What did she do?> Quantum asks.

<Remember the freezing device we built to fight the Winter King? I helped her install a smaller version directly into her brain> she reveals.

<What!? Why would she do that!?>

<The Nexus overheats when she uses the God Eraser; this is supposed to control that, but having a freezing ray inside your head is exactly as dangerous as it sounds> she explains.

<Well, Thoth, aren’t you gonna call this?> Noriko asks the Egyptian god.

<Not quite> Adrestia responds.

There’s an audible gasp coming from the audience, both from mortals and gods, as the Goddess of Revenge tries to step up: the arm wearing the Gravity Glove is still too heavy for her, but she’s alive despite the God Eraser.

<This isn’t… no no no no> Noriko repeats, fiddling with the God Eraser trying to make it work a second time. Adrestia, on the other hand, starts laughing.

<You should see the look on your face!> she says, slurring her words a little; she throws something at Noriko, which she dodges. But that’s not a weapon… it’s a flask. With the symbol of Dionysus.

<Why would that… oh no> Noriko suddenly realizes, becoming visibly paler.

<I’m so fu##ing high right now!!!> Adrestia shouts, holding the hand wearing the Gravity Glove: at first it looks like she’s trying to take it off, when instead she simply breaks her own wrist and brutally detaches her own hand from the rest of the arm.

The severed hand falls to the ground, now weighing as much as a mountain range, with the goddess gleefully watching her blood spraying everywhere.

<Look everyone, no hands!!! Tee hee!>

She’s too intoxicated for the God Eraser to have any effect: not matter what kind of information is pushed into her brain, it can’t damage her mind if she can’t understand it.

At least Adrestia seems to have completely lost focus, allowing Noriko to try a last desperate attempt to reconfigure the God Eraser into firing at higher efficiency.

<No fair! Only one hand each!> Adrestia complains, using her last remaining hand to grab Noriko’s arm and crush it like it was made of paper.

Noriko tries to push her aside, but she’s at her mercy: she looks at the young goddess, and she realizes something terrifying… she doesn’t have any weapon that can hurt her.

“You’re gonna die here” she hears Abyss say in her mind, looking at Adrestia straight in the eye.

<I don’t… I don’t feel so good> the goddess admits, letting go of Noriko and taking a step back; she’s so drunk that is enough to make her trip and ungraciously fall on the ground.

She doesn’t stand up. Noriko watches her pass out, realizing that she’s still alive only because her enemy couldn’t stay conscious for a few more seconds.

<Adrestia is no longer able to fight. The winner is Noriko Null, the Slayer of Gods> Thoth announces. But even if she’s just won, Noriko doesn’t feel like this is a victory… quite the opposite.

The God Eraser is destroyed, and she doesn’t have the resources needed to rebuild it before the end of the tournament. And most importantly, the gods have learned something destined to have a very big impact on the Galaxy: there is a way to survive the Slayer of Gods.

<The quarter finals are over. The following shall participate in the semifinals: Quantum, Noriko Null, Enyo and Artemis. The tournament shall proceed tomorrow to select the last two contestant who will battle to proclaim the Strongest Under The Heavens.>