Part 1 - Fires of Revolution

Chapter 7 - Upgrades

Miles was lying on his top bunk. Down below, Ganke, and one of Ganke's friends, were playing a card game. Miles had blocked out the sound of their constant arguing over who had won the round with his headphones, turning up his favourite song, Sunflower, to nearly full volume. Somehow it relaxed him, no matter the situation. Suddenly, Ganke went silent. He had just heard a noise, like a crackling sound, but also like being underwater.

"Did you hear that?" He asked his friend.

"Hear what?"

"I must be going mental."

"You already are!"

Ganke laughed, but then went silent. There it was again. And this time his friend heard it too. A split second later, there was a bang. A multi-coloured ring of bubbles appeared in the middle of the room. A figure emerged from it. Green bolts of energy crackled from them. The bang had been so loud that even Miles heard it. He sat up quickly as the bubbles disappeared and the green energy stopped. Ganke and his friend backed up against the window. Miles' jaw dropped when he saw who it was.

"Gwen! What...how..."

"There's no time to explain. We have to go. Now." She replied abruptly

Miles leapt off his bunk.

"What's happening?"

"We're running."

"From what?"

"Conall. I think he's gonna kill us.."

"What makes..."

"No time! Just grab your suit and let's go!"

"Where?"

"Aunt May's house."

Miles reached down the crack behind his bed and pulled out his suit. He quickly chucked it on over his clothes and gave Gwen a thumbs up.

"Do you have your dimension watch?"

"Yeah."

Miles patted his wrist. It was stuffed underneath the suit.

"Come on! We can't stay in one place for long."

Gwen threw open the window above the desk in the room, since Ganke and his friend were blocking the other. She jumped out. Miles followed her, giving a shrug to Ganke and his friend. He followed Gwen down the street; she was clearly in quite the hurry. He just managed to catch up.

"What's happening?"

"Conall killed Ock."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Ock was disarmed, completely. He questioned her, then killed her because he was done with her. I think he's going to do the same to us to save him the hassle of setting us up every Sunday."

Miles stared at her, letting what she had said sink in. The logic was sound.

"Then how did you get here?"

"I figured out the problem with the watches is that that they don't have enough power to tear a hole between dimensions. I used a hit from the energy I got from the Ethereal Plate."

"And why are we going to May's?"

"Because she might be able to help us upgrade the watches so they can do it without an Ethereal kick."

"Makes sense."

Miles fired a web to swing a little closer to Gwen. She noticed and smiled.

Twenty minutes later, the pair arrived outside May's house. Gwen leapt up the stairs and rang the door bell frantically. Miles placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, Gwen."

"How can I relax? There's some immortal mad man coming to kill is!"

"You have the power of an Ethereal. And apparently you can summon swords and daggers and stuff."

"I'm useless at the latter, and the former isn't nearly powerful enough to even dent him. It isn't just his strength, but his brains as well which make him deadly. He defeated Ock's last arm by letting it choke him before cutting it off. The look on his face when he hurled the sword...it was almost joy."

The door clicked and opened a little.

"Who is it at this late hour? It's half-past ten."

May looked round and recognised Miles and Gwen immediately.

"You two. Come in."

She opened the door fully and beckoned them inside. When it was shut, she turned to them.

"Are you alright? And what are you doing in this dimension, Gwen?"

"We don't have much time. We're on the run." Started Gwen.

"From who?"

"Some guy who controls the multiverse. He can find us anywhere. In fact he's bound to be watching us now."

"If he controls the multiverse, where can you hide?"

"I'm guessing we run until we can't run any longer." Replied Miles.

"Exactly." Gwen agreed.

"Then why come here? There must be something I can do?"

"We need your help to increase the power in a couple of watches. Surely there's something we can use in the shed?"

"Are these the watches Miguel gave you both?"

Miles nodded, pulling his off from under his suit.

"I believe there is something. Peni dropped by a few months back with some upgrades she said to give to any spider people passing by."

"How was she?" Asked Miles.

"Miles! Focus!" Gwen interrupted.

May smiled at them, although her eyes spoke only worry.

"Follow me."

Ten minutes later, a machine was welding a number of attachments to Gwen's watch. She was currently wearing Miles' to stop her glitching. May had disappeared upstairs to fetch some refreshments. Miles was looking at the suits on display. Suddenly, both his spidey sense and normal senses told him Gwen was nearby. He looked to his right. She looked extremely upset, or perhaps anxious.

"Gwen? Are you OK?"

"Miles, I'm not sure how long we'll last. Whether he was going to or not before now, we've done exactly what Conall tried to stop us from doing. We're his enemies now."

"Maybe he'll forgive us?"

"He's ruthless. Anything that stands in his way either stands aside or he goes through it. He won't."

Miles looked at the ground for a moment, then up again.

"Well..."

He didn't get a chance to finish the sentence. The next thing he knew, their lips met. For a second he hesitated, unsure whether to pull away or not because it had taken him by surprise. But then he settled into it and wrapped his arms around the person he loved more than anyone in any world. The kiss lasted for almost half a minute before Gwen took a step back.

"I love you, Miles."

"I love you too."

Miles knew she meant it. It wasn't the first time she had said it to him, nor he to her. But somehow, this time, it felt like those three words would be powerful enough to tear even Conall down. Miles made the move this time, wrapping his arms around her neck and pressing his lips to her's. This time, it only lasted for about ten seconds before they were brought back to their senses.

"Am I interrupting something?" Asked May.

Miles and Gwen broke apart quickly, suddenly embarrassed. Miles had a sudden urge to turn invisible, but he was Spiderman. The words of his mother rang through his head:

"Our family doesn't run from things..."

This time he had to run, not from the embarrassment, but from a power beyond the comprehension of most. May placed a tray, with three cups and a teapot, on a small table. The machine welding Gwen's watch gave a beep to indicate its task was finished. May handed Gwen the device. Gwen removed Miles' and put her's back on. May placed Miles' watch in the machine and set it back to work.

"Shall I leave you two alone again?" She asked with a smile and a twinkle in her eye.

"No...I think...we're done." Mile replied.

Gwen gave him a sheepish grin.

Half-an-hour and a cup of tea later, Miles and Gwen walked down the steps outside May's house with their upgraded watches.

"So, where to?" Miles asked.

"No idea. Maybe we should set an objective first before going to random places?"

"What about finding an Ethereal plate? We can recharge you constantly that way."

"I think we have to prove to Conall that catching us won't be easy, first."

"Then let's go to 9257. I feel like we might find something to take us away from planet Earth there. It should be far enough in the future for commercial space travel."

"A space ship?"

"It's worth a shot."

"He'd blast us into space."

"Not if it's anything like Star Trek."

Gwen stopped walking and looked at Miles.

"So, you've watched Star Trek but not Star Wars?"

"Actually I've watched both now. I mean, only the original three Star Wars, but still."

She caught up with him again.

"9257 it is, then."

They set their watches to their destination.

"Ready?" Asked Gwen.

"See you on the other side."

At almost the exact same moment, they hit the buttons and warped to their destination.

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Star Trek
- Star Wars
Just mentioning both, though.