Beyond The Impossible

Atlantis, 2.5 million light-years from Earth

At the edge of the sector, a black pyramid approaches the space river that connects all inhabited planets of this Galaxy.

Warnings are sent to the Sirens in charge of security, and dozens of ships are dispatched to ride the stream of water to intercept the invader.

To their surprise, the pyramid disassembles itself into a swarm of creatures. Individually they are too small to be seen with the naked eye, but they are so numerous that they appear as dark clouds.

Infected by the creatures, the ships plunge into the stellar ocean that surrounds the artificial planet and don’t slow down until they hit the surface of the Outer Ring.

But that time, they are no longer ships.

The Sirens swimming towards the crash site witness a frightening sight: a cybernetic figure, half god and half jackal, emerging from one of the swarms of necrobots.

Anubis stands proudly before them, the water around his fangs boiling by the energy building up within his body.

The Sirens are ready to fight for the honor of Poseidon, until the necrobots finish their job: the ships they infected have been transmuted into a horde of metallic jackal skeletons, and the dead bodies of the original crews have been twisted into a battalion of cyborg zombies.

<I am Anubis, son of Nephthys, Ruler of the Naqada Galaxy, Lord of the Dead. By my authority, you are granted reprieve from the burden of living.>

The Sirens don’t hesitate before rushing towards the undead army, even if their sonic attacks fail to do any damage. And Anubis wags his tail at the thought of how many people will die today.

 

Themiscyra, 1 million light-years from Earth

The planet of the Amazons doesn’t take kindly to invaders. They’re used to protect themselves from attacks coming from orbit, although that happened only once after Null relocated their planet to the intergalactic space beyond the borders of the Olympian Empire.

Someone opening a portal right in their throne room is less frequent: few civilizations have access to them, and none are technologically advanced enough to get around their portal disruptors.

If they knew this particular portal was created by using technology stolen from Ilium Incorporated, the Amazons would be impressed.

Instead the two women emerging from the portal find themselves facing a dozen Amazons pointing their laser lances at them, under the supervision of Queen Autonomia watching from her throne.

<You bear the visage of Empress Null, stranger, but you must be a fool if you thought you could set foot on Themiscyra uninvited.> the Queen tells her.

<Told you we should have teleported a bomb first.> General Zel comments. For someone facing armed Amazons, the woman is remarkably chill.

<Have care at how you speak to me, Amazon. You stand in the presence of royalty.> the other intruder replies. The Queen’s internal sensors have already scanned her: she looks like Noriko Null and has her exact genetic structure, not even showing the telltale signs of a clone. Even if there is a strange quantum signature that eludes her sensors, she is certain this is not Noriko.

<And what title would you hold exactly, human?> she decides to humor the intruder.

<I am Rei Null. Queen of the Amazons and absolute ruler of Themiscyra.>

Even if Amazons are programmed to act like humans, their strict society doesn’t allow them to show much humanity. But the situation is so ludicrous that Autonomia can’t help herself, and she bursts into laughter. Rei just stands there waiting for her to stop, calmly keeping her hands in her pockets.

<I did not know Null employed a royal jester! This is a joke, right? To make such a ludicrous claim right in front of the Queen of the Amazons herself!>

<You might notice I’m not laughing.> Rei says in her deadpan voice. Something in her pocket beeps as she presses a button.

A quick jolt of electricity flows through the bodies of all Amazons present. Rei walks past the guards and all the way to the throne, where Autonomia is sitting staring into nothingness.

<Relinquish your title to me.> she orders.

<I hereby nominate Rei Null as my successor and renounce my title and access codes.> Autonomia says, leaving the throne to leave it to Rei.

Immediately after she sits on it, the Amazon guards stand to attention.

<All hail Queen Rei of Themiscyra.> they declare in unison, without any emotion in their voices.

<Well that was anticlimactic. I was hoping for some action.> General Zel comments, taking one of the laser lances and looking closely at one of the Amazons.

Rei doesn’t pay much attention to her, already busy reworking the core programming of the Amazons now that she has full access to their internal network.

<Don’t damage the fighting units, they’re my soldiers now. Find yourself a concubine from the ceremonial units if you need to get it out of their system. But be ready to report for duty tomorrow.>

<Uhm, boss, far from me to criticize you, but… you just took over the most technologically advanced planet in the Galaxy in two minutes flat. Shouldn’t you… celebrate or something?>

<General Zel, do you think my ambitions only extend to ruling a single planet? I was denied a realm before. I will have my empire soon.> Rei proclaims, her silver eyes shining.

 

Atlantis, 2.5 million light-years from Earth

With Anubis launching his attack, there was little reason for Athena keeping her own ship out of the system for too long.

She teleports into the Outer Ring with Enyo and Amaterasu, with the latter shocked to find herself immersed in water and flailing around as if she was drowning.

<You know you don’t have to breathe, right?> Enyo asks her.

<Oh. Right. I guess I forgot.> Amaterasu admits, giggling to cover up her embarrassment.

Athena doesn’t have time for the antics of the young goddess, and is already analyzing the situation.

<He was fast. He’s already taken care of the Sirens and he’s headed straight for the throne.>

<How do you know?> Amaterasu asks.

Athena just points at the trail of blood that poisoned the water, streaming towards the center of the artificial planet.

<Then we have our target. The element of surprise may be gone, but we still have a war to win!> Enyo proclaims, swimming away fast enough to disappear in the blink of an eye.

<She’s… enthusiastic.> Amaterasu observes.

<She’s a fool. You don’t defeat a god like Poseidon with brute force. Our goal is to stall him until Null arrives, and then join forces with her.> Athena instructs her.

<What’s taking her so long?>

<Her detour to the Stygian Galaxy… or what’s left of it… took her precious time, even with the Ragnarok. Her reluctance to rely on the Portal Generator might doom us all.>

<I’m sure she’ll come up with something. Aunt Noriko is our friend and our Empress, we have to believe in her right?> Amaterasu asks.

Athena stares at her in disbelief.

<Sometimes I forget you are a child.> she admits.

 

Olympus, 28,000 light-years from Earth

After withstanding the first wave of attacks, the former capital of the Olympian Empire has been abandoned by mortals.

Thanks to this, there’s nobody around the main palace to be exposed to the lethal doses of radiation emitted by an extremely angry Persephone as she lands.

<Where the f##k did you take him!?> she screams, opening the entrance gate with enough force to trigger a small earthquake.

She flies through the countless deserted hallways almost at the speed of sound, tracing the faint traces of divine energy left behind by a god bleeding power.

This leads her to a room she grew to hate: the throne room where the twelve ruling Olympians used to gather when Zeus was in charge.

The thrones are still there, but the place has been converted into a sort of infirmary: her husband Hades is sitting on one of the thrones, being attended by Vesta on one side and Charon on the other.

<You a##holes have one f##king second to explain yourselves before I burn this f##king place to the ground!!!> she shouts. She has good reasons for being more enraged than usual.

Not only her husband is badly wounded, but the arms that Inanna ripped from her body have not regrown yet: when she’s pointing her finger at the other gods, her arms are just bones surrounded by green energy.

<Calm down. They are not your enemies.> Thanatos calmly tells her. She didn’t even notice his presence until he spoke, but he’s suddenly standing right behind her.

Acting by instinct she turns around with the intent to blast him, but Thanatos just grabs her skeletal wrist and blocks her power.

<Are you on their side now?>

<The Underworld is no more, Persephone. There are no sides anymore.>

<Like f##k there aren’t!!! I’m still the Motherf##king Queen Of The Underworld and…>

<My love.> Hades calls her. His voice is a whisper, but she can hear him clearly over her bombastic shouting. She rushes towards him, pushing away Charon.

<It was that s##tc#nt of Inanna, wasn’t it? Don’t worry dear, we’ll skullf##k her until…>

<Persephone, for once in your divine life don’t think through your rage. The war is lost and our kingdom is no more.>

<It’s not over as long as we’re together. We’ll make a new Underworld and Inanna will pay for what she dared do to you!>

<It wasn’t just Inanna, my love. It was my attempt to use the Final Abyss: I hoped to take the power of the Slayer of Gods for us. I could recover from my fight with Inanna, but the damage I did to myself… my divinity is crippled forever, Persephone. I’m half the god I used to be.>

<That still makes you twice the god of anyone I’ve ever met.>

<And god enough to admit my mistakes. You must join forces with Null’s alliance and put an end to Poseidon and Ereshkigal’s foolish war.>

<Are you sure about this, Hades?>

<As sure as I was when I asked you to marry me.>

Persephone looks at her husband in the eye for a few seconds. Then steps back, standing there pondering her next move; Vesta can feel the radioactive energy she’s emitting becoming less intense, and even the thunderous beat of her heart is slowing down.

<Vesta. I want you give me your word that when Null kills Inanna, I will be there to witness it.>

<We’re not at war with Inanna, she doesn’t want to kill her.> Vesta reminds her.

<She is the Slayer of Gods. It’s her destiny to at least try.>

<She’s not wrong.> Thanatos comments, raising an eyebrow.

Vesta isn’t sure about this… her niece is wildly unpredictable, and a wildcard is the last thing the universe needs at this time… but she’s also a powerful ally, and the wife of a brother Vesta loves.

<Alright. You have my word.>

<B##ching. Now, Charon: bring us to Atlantis. We’re going to f##k up my uncle.>

<My Former Queen, if I may. As our kingdom no longer exists, I am no longer under legal obligation to provide my services for free. I think it’s only fair to say that my standard fares apply, wouldn’t you agree?> Charon innocently asks.

Confronted by the sight of the glowing green eyes of Persephone, the flaming eyes of Vesta and of Thanatos subtly shaking his head, he reconsiders. Quickly.

<Then again, a one-time-only promotional giveaway is perhaps in order.> Charon admits.