Beyond The Impossible

Ekron, Dark Galaxy, 10 billion light-years from Earth

The Primordial God Baal looms so large over the planet that his terrifying appearance occupies the entire sky.

Swarms of black flies leave his body to form colossal dark clouds, and from the remains of the Palace of Darkness a mortal looks up in disbelief.

<It should have worked.> Noriko Null mutters, looking at the emerald sword in her hands.

<What are we going to do?> Vesta asks her.

<I hit him with the same attack that killed Tiamat. Why didn’t it work?>

<Noriko! Come on, snap out of it!> Vesta tells her, raising her voice and shaking her friend.

<I need to think. Buy me some time.>

<You got it.> Vesta agrees, with her body catching fire before she flies towards the sky.

Prometheus might be blind, but he feels the heat of the goddess on his skin and he hears Noriko’s footsteps as she walks towards the unconscious Zeus laying on the floor, against the rubble.

<Is he alive?> she asks, placing two fingers against the god’s neck to check for a pulse. Just because she doesn’t find it, doesn’t mean the god is dead.

<He is Zeus.> Prometheus answers.

<Can you wake him up?>

<That’s not my specialty. Baal’s power must have overwhelmed his mind; their battle took place at a level that even I don’t comprehend.>

<But you know Baal. How did he survive the Heaven Slayer?> Noriko asks.

<I would first need to know how that attack works.>

<I used the sword as a resonator to beam all the pain carried through the planet’s Ichor directly into Baal’s soul. It should have obliterated him: I did the same thing with Tiamat, and just forcing her to experience my own personal physical and emotional pain was enough… how did Baal survive something exponentially more powerful!?>

<If I had to guess… Tiamat was the Primordial Goddess of Destruction; your attack was likely the first time she experienced pain. Baal, on the other hand, is one with the very concept of pain… he wasn’t just prepared to experience it, he might have enjoyed it just enough to give him what he needed to defeat Zeus.> Prometheus hypothesizes.

<Zeus did warn me that Baal is impossible to kill, but I didn’t think… wait. What do you mean by “one with the very concept of pain”?> she asks.

Prometheus can’t see it, but her silver eyes just shined.

<Baal’s power spreads to anywhere where pain can be felt.>

<And you didn’t think to mention it until now!?>

<Why would that matter?>

<Because I just figured out how to defeat him, if we work together.> Noriko tells him, then activating her Soul Relay to give a signal to the rest of the team.

<Everyone, listen up. Here’s what we’re gonna do…>

 

Above the planet’s atmosphere

Vesta burns through the swarms of flies that intercept her flight, closing the distance from Baal’s skull. Even burning at a million degrees, she can’t illuminate the shadow cast by his hood.

<Your pantheon has always overestimated its power. You may be an outcast from your family, but you are no different.> he taunts her.

<You have no idea what I am capable of. Infernal Resonance!> Vesta shouts, her soul surging with power as she draws upon Hell’s power to vastly multiply hers.

<Oh, I know exactly what you are.>

<HELLFIRE INFERNO!!!>

Vesta unleashes her most powerful attack at close range: it’s the equivalent of a supernova.

Baal’s skeletal hand catches her in his fist, with her light being unable to escape from his grip.

<You are a million years of suffering. All your life I’ve drawn strength from every tear you have cried. As my thanks, you shall cry them again.>

Vesta immediately realizes he’s not bluffing. As soon as her attack fizzles out, all the pain she has suffered in her immortal life… not just the physical one, but also the pain of witnessing tragedy after tragedy unfolding, of watching your loved ones grow old and die… hits her all at once.

If Baal had lips, he would be smiling at the concept of watching her consciousness being obliterated by this torture. But once he opens his hand, Vesta is still defiantly alive.

<Is… that… all you have?> she asks, her voice and her limbs trembling.

<How are you not broken!?>

<Pain is an old friend. You have nothing to threaten me except for more of my life.>

<If your own suffering won’t crush you, watching me kill your friends will!!!> Baal shouts, losing his temper as he throws the goddess back towards the planet.

Vesta’s impact with the ground creates a massive crater, as before she loses consciousness she has four words of defiance against the primordial god:

<Good luck with that.>

 

Ekron’s north pole

Torn watches the god above the clouds, reflecting on his options while wielding a sword of Aether.

His father Reaper, now without an arm and without access to Ichor, is perplexed by his actions; or rather, his lack of actions.

<Why are you not killing me?>

<I’m busy.> Torn dismisses him.

<You swore you would kill me. Are you too weak to honor your word?>

<You swore you would stand by your wife and family. And yet you allowed my sister to kill my mother and you abandoned Hell in your search for glory.> Torn reminds him.

<I swore allegiance to Hell’s glory. Ekron is everything that our civilization once was, Torn. With us in charge, Demons could rule whole galaxies… if you follow my lead, together we can make Hell great again.>

Torn stares at his father for a few seconds. The centuries has been kind to his body; he’s still the towering figure he remembers. But his soul is a withered shadow of itself.

<You talk too much. You won’t die until you have witnessed what Demons and other mortals can achieve together.> Torn tells him, opening an Aether portal.

 

Darkness Valley

Hermes and Quantum emerge from the giant canyon, with the god looking extremely worried.

<This is madness! If Baal can take down Zeus, no amount of planning can save us!>

<You can either run back home and hide under a rock, or you can try being useful for once. Try to keep up.> Quantum chastises him, before shooting himself as a laser towards Baal.

Hermes gives one last look at the god in sky, weighs his options for a moment, and runs to the other side of the planet.

 

Above the planet’s atmosphere

Baal looms over Ekron, staring blankly at the Aether swords and energy blasts rising towards him.

<Empyrean Bloodshed!>

<Antimatter Barrage!>

Both attacks are devastating, but they might as well be a gentle breeze against Baal. The god grabs both members of the Vanguard, one in each hand, and he sighs.

<This is getting tiresome. Since you bonded over your emotional pain, perhaps something more traditional is in order.>

Baal pumps so much pain directly into their nervous systems to completely obliterate them.

And yet, to the god’s utmost disdain, they don’t seem to be feeling much of anything.

<How!? Neither of you has ever suffered so much!> Baal complains.

<You’re only attacking my brain. My soul is one with Aether now: you can’t touch it.> Torn says.

<Dude, I can still think when my entire body is made of subatomic particles, you think I can’t mess around with electrical signals in my brain?> Quantum mocks him.

<Why won’t any of you break!?> Baal laments, doubling his efforts with no results.

 

A nameless city

Gilgamesh jumps out of the giant robot that Siduri adopted as her form; his body is finally back to its original muscular frame, now that he’s regained his confidence and Baal is otherwise occupied.

He’s thankful for the arrival of unexpected guests: Hermes has used his speed to bring here Noriko, Prometheus and Kari, while Aphrodite is now leaving a portal made of rose petals right next to Utnapishtim and his wife.

<Noriko! I prayed to Enki you survived!> Gilgamesh exclaims, running towards her expecting an embrace; instead, she walks right past him to say:

<Siduri! Gimme the other gods, quick!> she orders.

The celestial being returns to her humanoid-sized form, handing over the transmuted forms of Dionysus and Persephone… currently stuck as a glass of water and a potted plant.

<They will not be much help, yes?> Siduri asks.

<They’re about to be. Hermes, you know what to do.> Noriko says, passing him the objects.

<You truly are the most unhinged mortal in the universe. I think I love you, Sunshine.>

<Yeah, well, get in line. C’mere you.> she tells Gilgamesh, pulling him towards him for a kiss.

<You chose a weird time to get romantic.> Kari comments, raising an eyebrow.

<Of all the times to send me in an away mission, she chooses this? She must hate me.> Hermes shrugs, running away at the speed of light.

 

Above the planet’s atmosphere

Baal has lost interest in the attempt to break Torn and Quantum’s mind, tossing them away like toys he no longer wants to play with. An unusual surge of power has captured his attention.

He sees Null kissing Gilgamesh, but that’s not it. Nor it’s Utnapishtim doing the same with his wife, or Kari getting handsy with one of her duplicates… it’s the goddess in front of them.

Aphrodite grows in power and size, becoming a giant rising towards the sky. Baal chuckles to himself at the thought of a childish Class-3 goddess presuming to fight him, but he realizes that wasn’t the only power surge he sensed.

Right beneath him, Hermes has just thrown a glass of water into the ocean… after transmuting less than a liter of seawater into wine. A microsecond later, the god of speed tosses a potted plant into an active volcano on the opposite side of the continent.

<Clever mortal.> he concedes, before three forces of nature convey towards him.

An entire ocean converted into wine. Sexual energy of a whole planet. Unbridled rage made flesh.

<Alcoholic Tsunami!> Dionysus shouts, drinking most of the wine during the attack.

<Infinity Climax!> Aphrodite moans.

<JUST F###KING DIE!!!> a reforged Persephone screams.

All the pain gathered by Baal is completely unable to withstand the convergence of the three forces.

 

On the ground

A multicolored explosion replaces Baal’s form, even if it’s not something that Prometheus can see.

<That was an… unusual tactic.> he comments to Noriko, who also missed the visual spectacle while making out with Gilgamesh.

<A pleasurable one, but… what just happened?> the demigod wanders.

<Zeus proved that Baal couldn’t be overwhelmed by power. I figured that Baal isn’t just powered by pain, he can extend his influence to any place where there’s anything that can feel pain… that’s how he was able to access the Empyrean, because Kari was there at the time.> Noriko explains.

<Wait, I’m missing something. How did Dionysus, Aphrodite and Persephone manage to kill Baal if ZEUS couldn’t!?> Kari wonders.

<Divine battles at this scale are less about brute force and more about contrasts of domains. Dionysus can soothe pain, and Aphrodite’s pleasure is its polar opposite.> Prometheus realizes.

<Exactly. With Persephone attacking with enough strength to at least make Baal put up a minimum level of defense, I was counting on this assault locking Baal in one place… he won’t be able to move to any other source of pain, at least not before it’s too late for him.> Noriko continues.

<Isn’t it already too late? I thought we just killed him.> Gilgamesh says.

<The plan wasn’t to kill him, it was to make him killable.> Noriko reveals.

<ENOUGH!!!>

A swarm of flies converges in front of the team, recreating Baal’s skeletal body. The aura of darkness around him is crackling with power, pushing the air away from him and causing the planet to shake uncontrollably.

It’s like standing in front of a hurricane in the middle of a powerful earthquake. The ground cracks, with multiple building crumbling; the unfathomable power behind Baal is making mortals, gods and demigods shiver… except Noriko Null, who stands proud and immovable.

<I have never been more insulted in my entire immortal life! If you refuse to break, if you refuse to accept your doom, I will destroy this entire galaxy before your eyes!!!> Baal rants.

<Do it.> Noriko says to his face, her silver eyes shining brightly.

<Noriko! Don’t taunt the supergod!> Kari shouts.

<I will no longer stand by your mockery! I will destroy your world, your galaxy, your…>

<C’mon, just do it. I’m just a mortal, I don’t have any weapon or defense worth a damn, and we both know that you can end me with a thought. You have no reason to keep me alive!> Noriko insists, even going as far as walking towards Baal… who takes a step back.

<You think this is a ruse? I can kill anything I desire!>

<No, you can’t. I’ve figured you out, Baal: I know you can’t kill me. In fact you can’t kill anything, period… it’s against your programming.>

<Programming? Has the pain finally broken your mind? I am the Primordial God of Domination!>

<You’re a god, yes, and I’ve long known that all Primordials were created directly by the Drylon to serve a specific function. Which made sense to me for Tiamat and Gaea… I could see how the Drylon would need something capable of destruction or generation of life on a galactic scale. But psychological domination and physical pain? Why would a species as proud and powerful as the Drylon ever need anything like that? That never made sense to me, until I realized that was just a function you gave yourself. Until I remembered that pain has only one biological function. You’re not the god of pain, Baal… you’re the god of preservation of biological life, aren’t you?>

<I may not be able to kill you, but there is no limit to how much I can make you suffer!> Baal retorts, raising a hand towards her: she should be kneeling by overwhelming pain.

Instead, she smiles.

<I had a hunch when I learned that you were respecting the decree of the Sumerian gods to never hurt Utnapishtim: you’re more powerful than their Pantheon and you’re independent from them, why would you obey? You didn’t… you were just covering your weakness. The confirmation was how Persephone’s power managed to affect you: as the Goddess of Spring, her link to vegetation gives her an edge over you. So with a little help from Dionysus and Aphrodite, your connection to Ichor and to pain itself has been severed.>

<Clever mortal. You might have trapped me on this planet for the moment, but…>

<You don’t get it, do you? You’re trapped on this planet with me, Baal. And now it’s my turn to hurt you.> Noriko says, and her silver eyes are no longer shining… they’re now pitch black.