Part 1 - Fires of Revolution

Chapter 2 - Sandpaper

Miles and Gwen stared in awe at the machine that lay before them. They were in a long tunnel that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. It reminded Miles of the pictures he had seen of the Large Hadron Collider in Europe. In front of them was a ball of blue light, surrounded by a reinforced glass bubble. Around the bubble spun metal rings. Where the rings were attached to the bubble, beams of light seemed to enter the strange device, fired from a long tube that spanned however long the tunnel was. The pair were standing on a metal maintenance platform. With a hiss, the gateway disappeared leaving them and Conall seemingly alone.

"This place is massive. About fifty miles either way. You two probably swing that far in a normal day's work. Even so, I'll meet you back here tomorrow at the same time. If you aren't here, I'll assume you're both dead, which is highly probable."

"What do you want us to do between now and then?" Asked Miles.

"Look for a button, or a control centre. If you find one, say the words 'pro terras' and I will come to you. Stick together, and look out for each other. But not literally; one big target is easier to hit than two."

With that, Conall leapt over the railing. The two spider people sprinted to the edge, expecting to see him hit the ground. Instead, they saw a golden ball of flames go tearing away down the corridor.

"Well then...I guess we're going this way." Said Gwen.

"I guess."

They both fired webs at the roof of the tunnel and began to swing, looking left and right to find any sign of an off switch.

"Is it just me or are you getting serious deja vu?" Miles asked, glancing at Gwen.

"It reminds me of Kingpin's collider."

"That's what I was thinking. At least Doc Ock or anyone else isn't here this time."

"Yeah."

Miles' thoughts began to drift towards his Uncle Aaron who had been Prowler, a deadly pawn in Kingpin's game. Gwen could tell what he was thinking about and sighed.

"Miles, remember what Spiderham said. You can't save everybody."

"Yeah, I know. I know."

"For now you have to focus. Use your grief to drive you towards your goal. If you fail, their sacrifice means nothing."

Miles looked at Gwen and smiled.

"Been Spiderman for almost two and a half years now and you're still teaching me. Or not cos you've used that one like ten times now."

Gwen grinned back.

The pair swung for almost an hour unhindered. However, as they stopped for a rest, their spidey senses erupted in activity. Looking around, they spotted the danger: a group of heavily armed soldiers had emerged from a door in the side of the tube. They looked around for their targets and spotted the two spider people easily.

"Fire!" One yelled.

Bullets zipped past them as they dodged and weaved, coming ever closer to their assailants with each swing. Gwen reached them first; she slammed into the nearest target before gracefully swinging her leg up into the crotch of another one. Miles struck a split second later, pummelling his chosen target into the ground. The soldiers guns were of little use at such short range. Each threw the weapons away before pulling out large knives. They circled the two spiders, watching cautiously. Miles moved first, feinting left before pulling himself right with a web on the wall. He dived on his target who desperately tried to swing their weapon at him. However, their reflexes were simply not fast enough to hit him. Miles slammed his fist into his enemy's chin, knocking them clean out. At this point Gwen had also made her move, going straight at her target, firing a web to stick their weapon to their body before planting her foot in their face. Miles wrapped another opponent up in webs and hurled them at the metal tube which fired the beams so far back. Gwen dragged two more soldiers straight into each other with her webs, knocking them out and ending the fight. With a fist bump they climbed onto the top of the tube and sat down, taking their masks off to catch their breath a little easier.

"I bet Conall couldn't do that." Joked Miles.

"Something tells me he could probably flatten an army in less time and effort than that. He looks like that type." Replied Gwen.

"You're probably right."

"Come on. Or he'll probably kill us for not completing the mission."

"I get the feeling he won't need to."

Gwen chuckled, putting her mask back on. Miles followed suit and they continued on their way.

For many more hours the pair went unchallenged. Because of this, they reached the end of the tunnel around six after leaving Conall. They stopped and gazed at the scene. Countless pipes and wires ran into the metal tube, feeding liquids and power into it.

"What is this thing?" Murmured Miles.

"Sandpaper, is what Conall compared it to."

"I know but...it's so...crazy. And it's the largest sheet of sandpaper I've ever seen."

"Beats Kingpin's collider any day. I think I see a window over there. And where there's a window..."

"There may be a control centre."

The pair swung over to a metal door next to a blacked out window. Miles placed his hand on the handle and was about to turn it when his spidey sense burst into action. He looked around to see Gwen also looking at what he saw: a red machine with a bright, red light hovered in mid-air. Missiles and guns bristled from compartments inside it.

"Halt!" It said in a commanding robotic voice.

"This should be easy." Gwen muttered.

She fired a web. The machine darted out the way and the web hit the tube harmlessly.

"Not so easy."

The barrels on the drone began to spin rapidly and a deadly stream of bullets poured themselves out at the spiders. They dived over the edge of the railing. Miles tumbled down the wall, whilst Gwen landed a little more gracefully. They ducked down behind two concrete barriers near each other.

"What is that thing?" Yelled Miles over the sound of the guns and chipping concrete.

"No idea!"

"Should we call Conall?"

"It might be wise!"

Miles took a deep breath.

"Pro terras!" He yelled at the top of his voice.

For a moment nothing happened except the machine continuing to rain down lead on the pair. Then a golden gateway appeared. The drone ceased fire, unsure what it was looking at. Conall appeared as it hissed shut. Flames blazed from the sides of his eyes and a golden cape swirled behind him.

"Where did he get that thing?" Thought Miles.

"Halt!" The machine yelled again.

"Sorry; I don't take orders from tin cans."

The barrels began to spin again, but before the bullets could start flying, Conall raised his hand. With a flick of his wrist, the red machine was sent hurtling into the wall where it was crushed into pieces and slid down next to Miles. Conall closed his eyes for a second and took a breath. When he opened them, his cape seemed to disappear into itself and the flames from his eyes stopped burning.

"Good job, you two. Let's see what this place is."

Miles and Gwen exchanged looks, surprised at just how easily Conall had defeated the machine. They stood up and followed him back up the metal stairs to the door. Conall seemed to clench his teeth and the flames appeared again from his eyes. He formed an X shape with his arms and faint golden bubble appeared in front of him.

"This might get messy."

He pushed the handle down with his elbow, then kicked the door open. In the same movement he ducked down. The spiders did the same, expecting bullets to come flying out. Instead, they were met by silence.

"This is far too easy."

Conall stood up again and walked inside. He looked around. Computer screens displayed graphs and various numbers. At desks, people sat staring at him in terror.

"I'm going to assume that drone was their security detail. Sheesh! Budget cuts."

Miles shrugged his shoulders at Gwen, who raised her eyebrows and shook her head. Both understood the short exchange meant:

"Is this guy crazy?"

"I have no idea."

They followed him inside and looked at the gawping faces. Conall cleared his throat.

"Hello all you surprisingly peaceful people. Would anybody be so kind as to tell me where the off switch is?"

One scientist stood up.

"W...w...we were told y...you w...would never f...f...find this place." They stammered.

"Clearly 'they' got their facts wrong. But it does explain the lack lustre security. I would have thought these two would be dead by now."

"Hey! We could do what you just did easily!" Miles protested.

Conall turned his head to him.

"If you could, why didn't you?"

"Well..."

"Miles, leave it." Warned Gwen with a serious expression, grabbing Miles' wrist. Miles nodded, and slid his hand up to hold Gwen's.

"Precisely." Conall muttered before turning back to the scientists. "Now, the off switch."

"The...there...isn't one." The scientist stuttered.

"In that case I had better start snipping wires until the antimatter in that container is released setting of an explosion large enough to blast the planet apart."

"F...fine. That red one there."

The scientist pointed to the closest desk to the window. On it was a red button with a yellow panel.

"Ah, a classic big red button; just what I like. You two." He turned back to Miles and Gwen. "Your job here is done. You've proven yourselves worthy of me giving up my time to set you both up on weekly dates. How about Sundays, 9AM? I believe that's the usual time?"

Miles and Gwen nodded quickly before he changed his mind.

"That's settled then. Tally ho, I'll see you, or if I have a job for you before then."

"It's tomorrow." Pointed out Miles.

"You never know what might come up. Toodles!"

Conall opened two gateways, one to Miles' dimension and another to Gwen's. The two looked at each other.

"See you tomorrow, Spiderman."

"Yeah, see yah."

With that they disappeared home. Conall closed the gates then walked over to the big red button and pressed it, saying:

"Hasta la vista, suckers."

Crossovers in this Chapter

There weren't any...