Part 4 - Resurgence

Chapter 67 - Bane of the Emperor

Gwen knew Miles, Edward, Teresa and Miguel O'Hara wouldn't like her proposition. They were the governing body of the rebellion, from which she had been excluded, understandably, for being too volatile. Miles had been picked for obvious reasons, Edward for his skill at command, Teresa for her tactical knowledge and Miguel for his experience directing a spider army before. Nine years ago, Miguel had led the spider army in a war against the Inheritors. Without his leadership, it was likely the war would have been lost. He had also given Gwen and Miles their first dimensional watches, allowing them to start dating. Now he shared the same scepticism as the other three.

"It's far too risky. If we lose you, we've lost the war before it's even started." Said Edward.

"But we can't let Lucifer keep a hold of the Animator. Its powers are beyond bringing back single people." Gwen argued.

"And how would you know that, given it took five years just to figure out how to bring your beloved husband back?" Asked Teresa, her hatred for the former Empress quite obvious.

"We weren't just trying to get Miles back. We were trying to uncover all of its secrets."

"Who's 'we'?" Enquired Miguel.

"Stanley and Lisa, the same scientists who designed mine and Miles' suits."

"They're still alive?" Exclaimed Edward.

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"I thought you had them killed."

"No. I blocked Lucifer's move to try and do it. I can try and get them out as well."

Edward seemed quite a lot happier now. Miguel and Teresa still weren't convinced and Miles hadn't said a word.

"How can we be sure you won't just use it again to create a Miles who agrees with your imperial sentiments? For all we know, you could just be pretending to be on our side so you can kill us all." Challenged Teresa.

"I hate Lucifer. He hit me a lot, he made me slave around doing all the dirty work. You know what that's like."

"Don't try and get personal with me."

"What would be the point? You're too stubborn to agree to anything I suggest."

Miguel raised a hand to silence the two before they started brawling.

"On further thought, I think it's worth it. If we have the Animator, nobody is dead forever. Lucifer kills someone and we bring them back. That's two in your favour, Gwen. The decision is yours Miles: should we let her go to the palace alone to retrieve the Animator and maybe two scientists?"

Miles looked Gwen in the eyes. If she was caught, he would lose everything he had left. If she succeeded, he could bring back everything he had lost.

"Why does it just have to be you? I could come along, invisible."

"Because there are thermal cameras all over the place, and you can't hide your heat signature. You'd be just as visible as anyone else."

"And why can't someone else go in your place?"

"Because I'm the only one who knows where in the palace the Animator, Stanley and Lisa are held."

He took a deep breath.

"It's not a gamble I want to take, but it's one I'm willing to."

Gwen smiled at him. Edward gave her a thumbs up.

"Well then, off you go and retrieve the Animator." Said Miguel.

The imperial palace was enormous. Its largest room was the throne room which could comfortably hold over a thousand people, and it was where the front door led. However, Gwen had no intention of using the front door; Lucifer would most likely just be sitting on his throne, waiting to gloat about how dead she was about to be. Instead, she climbed up the back wall and kicked in a window. She was in the servant's quarters, or slaves would be a more apt description despite her objections to Lucifer. She would gladly kill the devil when the time came, although she had to survive first and that prospect didn't seem too likely. Especially as she had just broken in on two of the servants kissing. They stared at her, wide-eyed, fearing what she would do to them. She shook her head.

"You don't tell, I won't tell. Have fun."

They continued to stare at her as she left, scrambling up a wall and onto the roof so she was out of camera shot. It was hard to believe this had ever been her home with how miserable it was. Suddenly she stopped, feeling a pair of eyes watching her. She looked down and groaned. It was one of Lucifer's closest friends: a demon from the depths of Hell. She dropped down, ready to fight. The demon smiled, showing a set of sickly white teeth. Their power was nothing compared to Lucifer's; in fact they were basically just an ultra-durable human who could possess others. They couldn't be harmed by swipes from a sword, only a strike straight into the heart. The demon sprinted towards her; Gwen drew a magenta short sword instead of her standard katana, a weapon better suited for stabbing than the ancient Japanese style of blade. She grabbed the demon by the throat, channelling energy down her arm in the hopes of frying their nervous system enough to stop them from fighting back. She hadn't expected it to work, but it seemed to. The demon went limp and Gwen drove the sword through their heart. She began to run, knowing that now one of his best friends was dead, Lucifer would be on the hunt.

Gwen found the stairs to the palace dungeons exactly where they had been before. She sprinted down, two at a time, as an alarm began to sound that told her the demon's body had been found. The dungeons had two floors: the first for holding prisoners and the second was a vault. Gwen looked in each cell as she passed, suddenly realising it was highly likely Lucifer had had Stanley and Lisa executed as soon as she had betrayed him. But it seemed the scientists' luck had held as she found them cowering in a cell at the very end of the corridor. She punched the door down making the pair recoil. The Ethereal spider knelt down, offering her hand.

"I'm here to get you out of here."

"I swear! We told you everything about the Animator!" Begged Lisa.

Gwen closed her eyes, recalling how badly she had treated them.

"I guess you haven't been told. There's a rebellion against the Empire. I'm taking you to them."

"How do we know you aren't just taking us to the guillotine?" Asked Stanley.

"Because I'd have spared you the walk and just killed you here. Now do you want to get out of here and see Edward, Miles and a whole load of other people or will you stay here to rot and have rats nibble at your corpses?"

"Edward is alive?"

"Somehow, with all the alcohol he's consumed."

The scientists brightened up. Gwen pulled them to their feet and removed two dimensional watches from her wrists.

"9559, your home. I need to get the Animator."

In a flash of colour, they were gone leaving Gwen alone with the muffled alarm, dripping water and squeaking of rats somewhere, probably in the walls. She kicked open the door down to the lowest level and descended into the ever darker depths. At the base of the stairs was the vault door, into which she typed the code hoping it hadn't been changed. Clearly Lucifer hadn't expected her to try and infiltrate the palace, as the keypad turned green and the door swung open. This was too easy...there had to be a catch. She came to the chamber housing the Animator; the brass cube was still on its pedestal. She picked it up, suddenly aware of how much power was in her hands. She could bring back anyone...No, she couldn't let herself be tempted. She clutched the cube and opened a gate back to 9559.

Miles was waiting for her. He took the cube from her hand, taking in every detail of it.

"This brought me back? It's quite underwhelming."

Gwen chuckled.

"It's more than it looks."

"I hope so."

Plans had been laid out as soon as Gwen's idea was cleared. There was no way the Animator could be used in Edward's house so the rebellion needed a new headquarters. The plan was to retake the resistance headquarters from the days of the war with Conall. From its position in the world between worlds, it was a little more complex to get to than a regular jump between dimensions. On top of that, it had nearly limitless space for ships to park and experimentation. Miles and Gwen jumped in first, expecting to find the place filled with people. Instead, it seemed quite dark apart from emergency lighting. They looked either way down the corridor but there was nothing. Miles forced a door open and looked out the window. It was definitely the right place; he recognised the world between worlds. Gwen sighed.

"I always thought this place was a Reaper hive, but I guess not."

"Maybe Lucifer had them moved?"

"That's likely."

The pair patrolled the station, checking every room they passed for people but found nobody. Eventually they came to the elevator. Gwen pressed the button and the door squeaked open.

"Command centre." Said Miles when they were inside.

"Please identify and give authorisation."

"Miles Morales. Authorisation Mike-Oscar-Romeo-932."

The lift was silent for a moment.

"Welcome back, Commander Morales."

The door clanged shut and a whirring sound started.

"Would you like some music?"

Gwen chuckled, remembering how terrible the elevator was at choosing decent music.

"Sure."

"Playing...playing...playing..."

The voice kept repeating the word over and over until it suddenly stopped, only to be replaced by a deep, raspy voice.

"Throughout all of time, I have sought to destroy reality. Instead, reality destroyed me. I will avenge my suffering. The Scarlet King's reign is...eternal."

The lights went completely dark. Gwen created a ball of magenta energy in her hand, casting a strange light in the elevator that had gone silent. Miles looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Should we find a way out of here?"

Gwen nodded; Miles tried to pull the elevator doors open. It was stopped between two floors, both completely dark.

"I feel like I'm in a horror movie." He muttered.

"Don't do anything stupid, then."

Miles climbed out onto the higher of the two floors. He pulled Gwen up and stared into the darkness.

"I recognise this corridor. I ran down it when we lured Helltreader here."

"Don't remind me of him."

They followed it the short distance to a door which Miles broke down with a venom strike and stopped with his eyes wide.

"Is that..."

"The Scarlet King. He's bigger than I remember, and he hasn't got a crown or sword."

The King was almost the height of the collider chamber.

"We have to warn the others."

Miles punched 9559 into her watch and hit jump; it beeped twice and the word 'error' appeared. Gwen tried to open a portal but couldn't. The Scarlet King opened his mouth and began to speak in his voice that seemed to come from all directions.

"It was you who destroyed my first form. I will destroy you."

Miles scrambled onto the wall of the collider chamber.

"Look, perhaps we could come to an agreement? From the stories I've heard, she only stabbed your eyes out. The person who poured the acid in your face is dead; killed by Lucifer with your weapon. Maybe we can work together?"

"I do not bargain with mortals."

An enormous red fist flew towards Miles. Gwen leapt in front of him, forming an X with her arms and taking the hit. The Scarlet King chuckled.

"He has a point, you know." She said.

"And what point is that?"

Another fist knocked her from the sky. Her wings disappeared and she rolled down the wall towards the King's feet. Miles fired a web and pulled her back up.

"Lucifer has your sword. If you help us kill him, we will give you your sword back." He argued.

"I could kill the snake with my eyes closed."

"He has your sword, and he wields it! He'll kill you in a single hit!"

Miles was getting desperate now. There was no way he and Gwen could take the King on by themselves.

"You are in possession of the Animator."

"We need that for now, but as soon as Lucifer is dead you can have it."

"Perhaps you have yourself a deal, mortal."

Things were awkwardly quiet for a few seconds as Gwen regained her strength and stuck herself to the wall.

"Err...can we get the lights back?" Miles asked.

Every light in the station switched itself on.

"Were you the one who cleared this place?" Asked Gwen.

"I am, mortal."

"Oh..."

"For the record, this is test number nine-hundred and thirty-three of the Animator." Said Stanley through a microphone.

The Scarlet King watched curiously as the Animator burst open on its newly installed pedestal in the middle of the collider chamber. The test was to bring Peter B Parker back, although the King seemed to find it quite an amusing prospect. A blue beam burst from the gem inside it, just as had happened when Gwen brought Miles back. A human form began to appear at a point in mid-air where it stopped. Miles watched hopefully from the viewing point. After nearly a minute, Peter was clearly visible in is spidey suit. The beam ceased; Peter was alive...or not. He crumbled on the floor. Miles slid down the wall and knelt next to his friend.

"Peter? Peter!"

The Scarlet King began to chuckle, but it soon became full-on laughter. Miles stared at it angrily.

"You think this is funny?"

"I do. I thought someone revived by the Animator would know that it cannot bring back those slain by the Scarlet Crucible. Nothing can."

Miles closed his eyes, struggling to suppress tears. One of his closest friends was dead and there was nothing he could do about it. At the time it hadn't struck him; the roar of the crowd, the adrenaline. It had just all seemed like a bad dream that, at the back of his mind, he thought there might be a way to fix. Now he knew he was wrong, and Peter was gone forever. The tears broke through and he began to sob. Lucifer would pay for what he had done.

Miles was woken up early the next day. He had fixed up some quarters for himself in his and Gwen's old room from the days of the war with Conall. It was strange to see no rows upon rows of ships ready for war. Miles missed the wielder of the gold Ethereal plate. He may have been crazy, and had killed his parents, but the spider could see now that he had a point about keeping everything in its place. As soon as people were allowed a little more freedom they abused it beyond imagination. Yet it was better that people were free like this; sure there were the odd renegades such as Helltreader, but most people just wanted to get on with things. There was a pair of beeps from the door that brought Miles out of his dopey thoughts. He rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"Come in?"

The door hissed open to reveal Edward.

"Sorry to wake you, but Stanley and Lisa insisted you come and see their latest invention."

"Right...right. Just...a couple more minutes."

The spider pulled his covers up and closed his eyes again, falling asleep quickly. Edward sighed and walked over to the replicator.

"Cold water."

A glass of water appeared with a couple of ice cubes floating on top. The ex-admiral picked it up, walked over to Miles' bed and poured it on the spider's head. Miles sat bolt up, gasping and shaking himself awake.

"Hey!"

"Get up, lazy. If you aren't at R&D eight in ten minutes, I'll bring a bucket."

Teresa laughed at Edward's short account of him waking Miles up. Miguel was also there but hadn't done anything but yawn. Miles arrived at last, his hair still wet.

"Keep your door locked tonight or you might get an early wake-up call, Edward."

Teresa laughed again before turning to Stanley and Lisa who were waiting patiently.

"What have you got for us?"

"A way to kill Reapers...possibly." Said Lisa.

Miles noticed they weren't their bouncy selves that they had been during the wars with Conall and Helltreader. That was predictable, given that they had spent five years in a dungeon.

"We've designed a device capable of emitting an electro-magnetic pulse that has a wide enough targeting cone to knock out every system on the things." Explained Stanley.

"And half a city." Added Edward.

"Only if badly aimed. Our idea is to fire them upwards so they hit only the Reaper and don't fry any buildings."

"No collateral damage. It was the thinking behind biothermic warheads and they turned out to be some of the most horrific weapons in history." Muttered Teresa.

Miles shrugged his shoulders.

"Even if it did miss, what's a few skyscrapers when you can bring down a Reaper?"

"You're forgetting the most important factor." Interrupted Miguel.

All eyes turned to him.

"Gravity. If you take a Reaper out, it falls to the ground. In my dimension we have what are known as 'Rods From God'. On paper they look harmless: twenty feet of solid tungsten. However, dropping them from a satellite in orbit has as much potential energy as a small nuclear warhead. Now imagine dropping a Reaper: over a kilometre of solid metal. It would flatten anything, anywhere."

"That's where project Grim Reaper comes in useful." Said Stanley, his excitement breaking through a little.

"Project Grim Reaper is a drone swarm, invented from old Liblian technology we had access to during the fight with Alduin. It creates a sort of cushion that is launched behind the electromagnetic pulse. The drones split into two groups: one controls the descent, the other the direction. The swarm locates a suitable landing site and puts the Reaper down there before completely stripping it down to nothing." Lisa explained.

"You created a mobile Reaper farm?" Asked Teresa with her eyebrows raised.

"In so many words."

"Then what the hell are we waiting for? We need to start designing ships as well or we'll have a stockpile of Reaper tech."

Edward sighed.

"Those in favour of going ahead with this?"

All four members of the council raised their hands, as well as Stanley and Lisa.

"Well then, shall we pick a target?"

Following the incident, not so many people were attending arena fights in 7065. Because of this, it was the perfect spot for a test of project Grim Reaper in case it went wrong. Equally it was good because if it went well, people would go and tell their friends and families. The Empire would become even more unstable and riots may break out. Gwen kept her distance from all the equipment, choosing instead to sit on top of a crumbled skyscraper over a mile away. She would be in the blast zone if it wasn't enough, most likely to Teresa's joy. But if it went right, she'd have quite the view. The plan was simple: drag a Reaper into the dimension and kill it. It seemed the first step had gone well as an enormous display of colour signalled the Reaper's arrival. She wondered how many people had had seizures from looking at a dimensional warp. The pulse went up, followed closely by the drones. As the pulse tore across the hull of the mechanical menace, it seemed to go limp like someone had just shot an octopus. It began to fall, pitching forwards as it did. However, the drones caught and righted it, slowing the descent significantly and drifting it across the sky to land right outside an arena where a fight was currently happening. Gwen spread her magenta wings and flew up to get a better view, watching the drones shift around to avoid being crushed before flying up to the top of the behemoth and working down methodically. Behind the swarm, not a trace was left of the Reaper. After a minute had passed, all that remained were four enormous piles of metal, and the drones flew back to their hives.

The scientists and four council members, along with a number of spider people and the Avengers, all applauded the work. Edward shook the scientists' hands.

"I don't know where you find all the time and knowledge to make this stuff, but you've never disappointed. Congratulations."

Grim Reaper had worked quite perfectly. It seemed word was spreading to other dimensions, although nobody dared rise up yet. It looked like another demonstration was necessary. In 9559, a Reaper was brought down over a former Sol Galactic Command base that had been converted into an imperial airbase. Two birds with one stone, Miles thought as he watched the hundreds of Phantoms being crushed beneath the wreck. The same was done in 9578, Teresa's home, and it had resounding effects. Almost immediately, the two dimensions were plunged into chaos as civilians tore down imperial flags. Miles saw people spray-painting the symbol he had created on the Sol headquarters in the place of one. He stopped, much to their surprise.

"Hey! That's my thing!" He joked.

Teresa decided to take a more hands-on approach to the rioting. It took her only a few minutes to slaughter those who owned the mine in which she had been enslaved, freeing hundreds of people. As soon as the slaves were free, she took down a Phantom, that had come to investigate, and used the fire to burn the facility to the ground.

Lucifer slammed his fist on his dinner table, rattling the plates and cutlery and surprising his demon friends who were keeping him company.

"Why...is Morales not dead yet?" He snarled at his military advisor who had been employed after Gwen left.

"In my defence, it was not Morales who invented the..."

The Emperor stood up, clenching his fist. The advisor doubled over, clutching their belly. With a flick of his wrist, their stomach and intestines were ripped out. The demons laughed, but were silenced by a glare.

"There are no excuses! Morales is the ringleader, the one they look to. It is time to take matters into our own hands, my friends."

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Lucifer
- Mass Effect
- SCP Foundation