Part 1 - Fires of Revolution

Chapter 5 - Ethereal Plates

Miles pulled a seat over next to Gwen's bed. It had been three days since the incident that had left her like this, and she still didn't seem any closer to waking. Conall had managed to source her a proper bed from somewhere within the dimensional abyss. He had also managed to get a new monitor for his computer as the screen from the old one had been smashed. Miles slipped his hand in Gwen's.

"I know you probably can't hear me, but I miss you, Gwen. Seeing you like this is painful, even more than my ribs. Come back to me."

She didn't stir. He squeezed her hand and turned to Conall.

"Is there nothing else you can do? She must be starving by now."

"Miles, did you know the human body can survive without food for up to forty days? If she's out for a week I'll start working on a way to give her food. For now, water seems to be keeping her alive."

"But she needs to be more than alive. She needs to be awake."

"Miles, I'm trying, alright? Give me a break. There's an Ethereal Plate out there in someone's hands and I don't know who. And that can't be good. On top of that I get about twenty emails a minute from all the temporal ambassadors who have issues they need advice about or help with. Give me a damn break."

Miles was taken aback. It wasn't the frustration in his voice that surprised him, but the hint that Conall was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"You alright, man?"

"I'm fine."

Miles wasn't convinced, but decided to leave it. Pursuing the subject may only lead to Conall actually breaking down, or getting angry, something he wasn't equipped to deal with.

"You keep mentioning Ethereal Plates. But you never explained them even though you said you would."

Conall shrugged and kept typing.

"If they're going to keep appearing I should probably know what they are."

Conall sat back on his chair and looked at Miles.

"You're right. Bring your chair over and I'll explain."

Miles used his legs to wheel the chair over to the desk.

"So?"

"Where to start…where to start…"

Conall stared into space, pondering for a moment before turning back to Miles.

"You said in our conversation after you came back from Strange that Strange mentioned there being multiple start points."

"Yeah. I never quite got that."

"OK, so maybe the conveyor analogy starts to break down a little, so let's move on to rivers."

"Oh?"

"We'll say the rivers are the conveyors, like I mentioned before."

"So they still have the alternate bits that split off?"

"Yes they do. It's all a bit confusing in words. Anyway, there are ten temporal rivers. Each one has a start point, and is constantly carving its way through time. Apart from one which we'll come to later."

"OK."

"This is where my number system comes in. The first digit tells you the river it is in. For example, 9633: it belongs in river nine. The next few digits tell you which number it is. Once the numbers get really big, such as 0,95,000,000,256, I'd just call that 0256 because I haven't got time to say all that. After that there are the decimals, which tell you the variant of the dimension, but I tend to drop them as well. No decimals is the base dimension, with decimals is what happens when you don't press the button at the traffic light when you did somewhere else."

"Oh…OK then. But how does that have anything to do with Ethereal Plates?"

"We're getting to that. So, ten rivers. Each river's workings, mappings, tides, whatever, are all controlled by a single object in each."

"The Plates?"

"Exactly. But there's more to it than that."

"Oh no."

"In some rivers, the plates are broken up into fragments. You've met one: the Time Stone. These fragments have little power on their own compared to the plate. Touching them will do nothing, hence Stark, Strange and Noir all held it and didn't end up like Gwen. However, if all combined they would form their plate. Touching that…well…there's the result." Conall nodded towards Gwen.

"How could Doc Ock touch it then?"

"She didn't. Her claws did, presumably."

"How did they get it in the bank?"

"I don't know. I don't spend my life watching that dimension."

"So in some rivers the plate is intact?"

"Yes. One such river is that exception I mentioned: the Dark Dimension. There, only Dormammu dwells. He's a pain in my neck. But what makes it an exception is its lack of time. Dr Strange used that to defeat Dormammu once. Then someone in 9633 turned it into a film."

"People from other dimensions seem to come up with ideas identical to things in other dimensions a lot."

"Everything like that exists somewhere in the labyrinth. 9633 has a film about your fight with Kingpin too. There's a sequel due out soon."

"Will it have all this in it?"

"I hope not. I'd prefer not to be a film."

"What else has 9633 got?"

"Video games, such as stuff in river six."

"Wow; 9633 really are dreamers."

"They have no superheroes. Nothing fun yet. Oh well, a few hundreds years from now they should discover FTL drive."

"A world without superheroes? Must be dangerous."

"So, so. They seem to be pretty good at keeping their world in one piece. Although not so much at peace. Instead of super villains they have super weapons. Atomic bombs and all that."

"They're only theoretical in my dimension."

"Yep. And I hope they remain so or there might not be much left for Spiderman to protect."

Suddenly, there was a groan from Gwen. Both looked over at her.

"Gwen! You're awake!" Exclaimed Miles, ignoring his ribs and rushing over to her side.

"I'm starving. And I feel…weird."

"What sort of weird?"

"Sort of…invincible."

"You're far from it. But I'd get used to it. You just got quite the upgrade to your powers. Bit of a change to just sticking to things." Said Conall.

"Huh?" Pressed Miles.

Conall had never explained how he had saved Gwen.

"I'll explain later. Enjoy the moment."

Miles hugged Gwen gently, being careful not to hurt her.

"Never touch any glowing plates again." Whispered Miles.

"I think I've…learnt that lesson. How long was I out for?"

"Three and a half days."

"I have to go and see my dad. He'll be worried sick."

Gwen gently pushed Miles off. Every inch of her body ached, and she felt heavy. She sat up slowly and tried to rub some life back into her arms. Her hand found the cut in her suit.

"How did that happen?" She asked.

"Again; I'll explain later. Are you going home or what?" Replied Conall.

"Yeah, home. My dad."

"If you want to know he's fine." Said Conall.

"Did you talk to him?"

"No, just gave him a glance in a spare moment."

Gwen stood up and looked around for her mask. She picked it up and put it on. Conall opened a gateway.

"Miles, if you're able, go with her."

"Yeah, I was hoping I'd be allowed."

The pair walked through the gateway leaving Conall alone in his office. For the first time he began to feel lonely. He shook his head.

"Stop it, brain."

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Avengers