Hell, 163,000 light-years from Earth
Most of the population of Hell lives in underground caves, organized in many small towns connected by a network of underground tunnels that span entire continents.
Two young Demon girls are running down one of those tunnels; one of them seems to be in her teens and the other looks like she’s twelve. The younger one stops running to look behind her.
<Lesion! We have to move!> the older sister yells.
<I heard something. Someone’s following us.>
<That’s why we have to run.> Laceration replies, trying to grab her sister’s hand; she stops right before a red energy dagger can cut her.
<I don’t want to run! I want to fight!>
<Mom said to get to safety. Don’t throw one of your tantrums.>
<I want to throw something else.> Lesion replies, creating three daggers per each hand and then awkwardly dropping half of them when the ground shakes.
<That’s not fair! I wasn’t ready!> she complains.
<Quiet.> Laceration shushes her, creating two whips of barbed wire and getting into a battle stance.
There’s absolute silence for a few seconds. Lesion slowly gets closer to her sister.
Then a pentagram of fire appears above them, and a Demon emerges from it. But that’s no ordinary citizen of Hell: he has cybernetic parts all over his body, and he’s dead.
Laceration’s whip decapitates him with a swift motion, giving her the time she needs to protect herself from the second Demon cyborg that emerges from a second pentagram.
The process repeats itself half a dozen times, at the end of which the two sisters are surrounded by Demon body parts that slowly crawl on the ground in an attempt to reassemble themselves.
<Hey! No backsies!> Lesion yells, kicking one of the detached cyborg heads.
<Let’s go. There are more of…> Laceration tells her, then pauses: she can see dozens of Demon cyborgs coming towards them, from both ends of the tunnel.
<Stand behind me.> she tells her sister, then proceeds to arm herself with two more whips.
She prepares herself for the battle of her life, and she has no illusions about her chances to win it.
Then she sees something cutting through the cyborgs in front of her, decimating them with ease and showing no sign of slowing down. The red scythe obliterates the attackers, disappears into a pentagram in front of the girls only to reappear from a pentagram behind them, and makes minced meat of the second group of cyborgs that was following them.
Finally the scythe flies back to the girls, stopping when it reaches the hand of a Demon in a duster.
<Daddy!> Lesion shouts as she hugs Torn.
<I could’ve taken them, Dad.> Laceration complains, rolling her eyes.
<You may get your chance. We are at war with Anubis.> Torn tells her.
<Yay!> Lesion excitedly yells.
Null Tower, New York City
In her career, Dr. Catherine Kalama has seen quite a few fatal wounds; and while her moral code doesn’t want her to lose hope to save a life, there have been times when she’s been forced to admit that she was going to lose a patient. Today the same thing should be happening, if things were ever that simple working for Noriko Null.
<How is she still alive?> she asks looking at the elderly Demon woman on the operating table.
<Redundant organs. One of her three hearts is still beating and at least two lungs haven’t been punctured, but I’m worried about the internal bleeding.> Noriko says, thinking out loud.
<I’ll do what I can; I hope her internal anatomy is close enough to a human to operate. I don’t suppose we can use human blood for a transfusion?>
<Not a chance. I’ve analyzed Demon blood before, it contains both iron and sulfur and it has sixty-six different kinds of white cells; it would take forever to synthesize. Unless we take a shortcut.>
<I don’t like the sound of that…>
<We can inject some Molecular Assemblers into her bone marrow. I’ve proven that they can replicate entire limbs, surely a few liters of blood won’t be a problem.>
<Noriko, that’s insane. This is an alien, okay? We know almost nothing of her biology, she’s on the brink of death, and you want to inject her with bioengineered self-replicating cells? What if her body rejects them?>
<All Demons are universal donors to other Demons, and five of her kidneys are still working, so…>
<You won’t inject anything inside her, Noriko. Not as long as she’s my patient.>
<Alright, I’ll see what I can do to replicate her blood independently. What about Amaterasu?>
<That’s way out my league. At least a Demon has some kind of biology; gods make no sense to me, honestly. I’ve seen Vesta recover from worse wounds in minutes, but Amaterasu is not healing.>
<Dammit. I wanted to join the rest of the team, but there’s too much work to do here. They’ll have to take care of Hell on their own.>
Hell, 163,000 light-years from Earth
<And I thought this place looked bad before.> Quantum says, standing on a promontory overlooking one of the many systems of caves. They used to be underground, but they’ve been exposed to the surface by colossal chasms that reach the horizon.
<Anubis was looking for something.> Kari tells him, her body glowing from her 10K Rise state: the same power that increases her strength and speed by ten thousand is also keeping her alive in the harsh climate of Hell.
<The Silver Key Of Heaven.> Torn tells them, appearing out of a pentagram in the air; he drops to the ground together with several Demon body parts, mixed with cybernetic parts.
<Dude, you didn’t need to kill them!> Quantum protests.
<They went after my family.>
<But these guys are possessed or something! We could’ve tried to help them!>
<I did help them. To die.>
<What if they possessed your family? You would’ve killed them too?>
<Yes.> Torn replies without hesitation. Even he notices that Quantum is taken aback by his answer.
<It’s the Demon way. I don’t expect you to understand, or to approve.>
<Well good, because I’m not going to help you kill other Demons!>
<This is my planet. You don’t get to decide how we save it.>
<Quiet.> Kari tells both of them.
<Strange. I’m not used to being told that.> Torn comments.
<Something’s off. 2K Symmetry!> Kary says, creating four duplicates and sharing the power of the 10K Rise between five bodies.
Which is just in time to react to a swarm of cybernetic Demons emerging from a dozen different portals and immediately attacking them. With each of the Kari duplicates now two thousand times faster than a human, they’re able to dodge even the Demon attacks; their punches are devastating blows, especially with her knowledge of their weak spots.
<Just as I thought. They’re regrouping.> she says once the last cyborg has been knocked out, but it doesn’t last for long: they’re back on their feet in a few seconds. And worse, it’s just the beginning: the air starts to fill with many, many more pentagrams.
<Now I remember why I hate this place. No offense.> Quantum says, transforming into electricity and electrocuting the small army of cyborgs that just showed up; the Kari duplicates cover their eyes during the blindingly bright light show, and when she opens them Quantum has returned to human form in the middle of a large group of convulsing Demons.
<None taken. But that won’t stop them.> Torn replies, preparing himself to restart the fight: as expected, it was just a momentary setback for their adversary.
Fortunately for them, they’re protected from the cyborgs by a wall of fire that suddenly surrounds them. There’s no doubt of its origin once a red-haired goddess lands in front of them.
<Sorry it took so long. I helped secure a few cities; the cyborgs seem to be drawn to your position and are now avoiding the population.>
<So the good news is we don’t have to protect the civilians anymore, and the bad news is we’re about to be swarmed by Gods know how many of these things.> Kari summarizes.
<What exactly are they? Cyborg Demons?> Quantum asks.
<Anubis can command the dead to rise again.> Torn replies.
<Zombie cyborg Demons, gotcha. Can he turn us into one of them?>
<Only if he kills us.>
<Now that’s a reassuring thought…> one Kari comments.
<You said they’re after the Key. Where do you keep it?> another one asks Torn.
<The First Circle, deep below the surface. Its exact position changes depending on the magma currents; there’s no indication of where it could be now.> he answers.
<I think Anubis left us a clue.> Vesta notes, pointing at the wall of flames: it expands, pushing away the cyborgs that are still trying to attack them and creating an opening. Vesta’s finger is not pointing at the large chasm opened in the ground, apparently carved by enormous claws, which are now spewing lava into the surface.
Null Tower, New York City
A robotic assistant wipes the sweat off the forehead of Doctor Kalama, allowing her to continue the operation. She doesn’t like Noriko’s idea to introduce robots into the operating room, but they’re proving useful. While she’s wearing a surgical mask, once Noriko enters the room she notices she’s simply wearing her regular clothes.
<You’re not getting closer without wearing protection.> she chastises her.
<Relax, I’ve activated my environmental forcefield; why do you think I never get sick when I visit another planet? Besides, considering the Demon immune system, she’d be fine if I had the plague.>
<She is getting a little better, especially considering her age and that we put sulfur and cyanide in her IV bag. Once you’re done replicating her blood, be sure to label it correctly: you wouldn’t want this stuff to end up in your veins.>
<Sure. Demon physiology is fascinating, isn’t it?> Noriko asks rhetorically, getting close enough to watch the doctor work: not a pleasant sight, but her scientific curiosity has the better of her.
<It’s… weird. It’s like someone took a human and put inside as many redundant organs as they could. Three hearts, six kidneys, three stomachs, even some stuff I don’t recognize, like this thing beneath the central heart.> the doctor explains, with her scalpel almost touching the black organ.
As if a switch had just been flipped, the patient suddenly stands up and roars.
The doctor screams; Noriko pushes her away just in time to avoid a red energy dagger. The glowing blade is deflected by her forcefield, but just barely: it still manages to cut her left arm.
<Sedate her! Now!> Noriko orders the robots: she doesn’t have any weapons on her.
Vice allows the needles to hit her: if they have any effect, it’s masked by the metallic tendrils emerging from her chest to stitch together the wounds. A second later, two glowing red swords cut the robots in half. The doctor is still screaming in terror.
<Don’t worry. I’ve got this.> Noriko tries to reassure her, as Vice’s body is surrounded by a dozen more weapons of different design but one thing in common: they’re all deadly.
When she throws them, Catherine Kalama closes her eyes and prays.
Then nothing happens. She reluctantly opens her eyes again: the blades are frozen in the air. Noriko has closed her fists, the muscles in her body are tense, and her golden eyes are crackling electricity.
<Enough.> she says, walking towards Vice: the blades evaporate as they touch her body. The Demon seems almost as shocked as the doctor as Null grabs her by the collar of the hospital gown and pulls her closer.
<What does Anubis want from Hell?> she asks, a couple inches from Vice’s face.
<Sol…diers…> the elderly Demon answers with a guttural sound.
<He doesn’t need an army, he already rules an entire Galaxy. Why does he need Demon soldiers?>
<He…is…Los…ing…the war…against…E…Ede…>
<Eden. He’s fighting Eden, and he’s losing.> Noriko realizes, letting Vice go. The Demon takes advantage of this and makes an attempt to strangle her. Doctor Kalama wants to yell “look out”, but before she can do it Vice has already been frozen in place.
<Yes doctor, thank you, but this is not just a power boost: I can still see with golden eyes. As for you, Lady Of All Demons, while we’re not exactly friends, I prefer your normal self. Awaken!> Null says, tapping her finger on Vice’s forehead.
The Demon falls back on the bed, and the mechanical tendrils dissolve into dust. Doctor Kalama watches her calmly scoop up some of the dust in her hands, and finally she decides to speak.
<What the fu## just happened!?>
<She was infected with a nanotech virus, which I just deactivated. It’s probably how Anubis is able to raise the dead. I’m going to study what’s left of it and find a way to defend against it, after I’ve fixed this wound.> she answers, placing the dust in her pocket and covering the cut on her arm.
<What about Vice? Is she… is she still alive?>
<For the moment. You might want to check on her; don’t let her die, okay? She’s one of the few leaders who are not usually trying to kill me. I’ve done most of the work anyway.> Noriko tells her, nonchalantly walking out of the operating room.
Doctor Catherine Kalama is left alone, with two robots cut to pieces and an unconscious patient, after a rare glimpse into the most dangerous side of Noriko’s life.
<Right. After I’ve changed my pants.>
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