Part 1 - Fires of Revolution

Chapter 29 - The Storm

Miles was up even more punctual than usual. He strode into the High Council chamber, ready to go. He was the first there, so did some last minute practice with his new power. A few moments later, the Doctor entered. He gave Miles a thumbs up.

"However the battle in the sky goes, I wish you good luck for your own fight."

"Thank you, Doctor. The same to you."

The High Aether entered next, clutching his staff with two limbs. He sat down in his seat and turned to Miles.

"This will not be easy, Miles. I am far from envious of you. Fighting someone you love takes everything from even the best of us."

"That isn't the person I love. The person I love is trapped inside. Your majesty, I have one last question. If Conall injected Gwen with his blood and it gave her some of his power, how does that work?"

"It is the founding principle of our belief that the Plates fuse with a person's DNA. It is why I am sceptical."

Thanos entered and sat in his much larger chair, saying nothing.

A few minutes passed, and Edward finally arrived. He took a seat, giving Miles a nod.

"Council in session. Right, we all know the drill. I trust you read my report from the recon job yesterday. I did some more research into the Reapers. I was asked what their foot soldiers are like. The answer is this: they don't really have any as far as I can tell. When your primary mission is to kill all living things, why would you bother creating a soldier when you can have a space ship that can singlehandedly level a city in a matter of minutes? That means the only fight on the ground will be yours, Miles. It's up to the rest of us to keep the Reapers occupied while the resident Spiderman does his job. They're a hard batch: their only weak spot is when they are charging their attack: directly in the red ball of energy. Or anywhere else on them if you have hours to sit and hammer away. We don't, although a Quintari cluster attack may thin their numbers out a little. Is everyone clear on that?"

"Yes." The council members replied.

"Good. I've asked Tony Stark to look into a way to hack into them and tear their programming apart, but there's no guarantee. You hit hard, hit fast. Protect your allies, slaughter your enemy's. Unless there is anything else, this council is adjourned. Be ready to go at 0930 hours."

Thanos coughed to draw attention.

"We need a better plan."

"General Thanos, as I said before the only weak spot on the Reaper's is their weapon when it is charging to fire. That weapon is only located at the front. We attack head-on. There's nothing else for it."

"And what about getting Miles down there?"

"I can get there easily." Miles replied, raising his watch.

"Anything else?" Asked Edward, pushing his chair back.

Nobody spoke or coughed.

"Council adjourned. 0930, every ship. Every soldier. No excuses."

The council left, except Edward who looked around the room, taking in the details.

"I'm going to miss this place, I think. Dead or alive." He muttered to himself, leaving it behind.

Half-past-nine was almost upon them. Miles checked himself over and did a few stretches to make sure he didn't sprain anything. He had ensured the Ethereal Plate was returned to the high security storage room whenever he wasn't using it so it couldn't tempt him. Now, he placed it in its slot on his suit and stretched one last time as Edward hurried through the doors.

"I don't have much time, obviously, so I'll get to the point. It was good knowing you Miles. You've saved a lot of lives. If I don't make it out of this one I'll make sure to save you the nicest spot in the afterlife."

Miles laughed and held out his hand. Edward went to take it but stopped and nodded at Miles' chest. Miles pulled the Plate out and offered his hand again. Edward grasped it firmly.

"Good luck. Give it your all, and bring Gwen back."

"I'll try my best. Thank you for everything you've done for me and her, and everyone else."

Miles tensed himself and tried to salute, just as he had done when they had first met. Instead of laughing, Edward simply smiled and stood straight, returning the salute.

"Goodbye, my friend."

"See you around."

Miles placed the Plate back in its slot as the admiral left. The gold on his suit lit up. His watch beeped at him: it was time.

Dimension 7065 was a war-torn mess. Fires burned from the tops of buildings, most of which lay in ruins. The skies were filled with Reapers, their primary weapons hidden by armoured doors. Suddenly, the sky was filled with a new sight, one that brought hope into the hearts of the few survivors in New York. An enormous fleet of ships appeared in hundreds of displays of multi-coloured temporal warp bubbles. The Quintari flagship pulled to the front of the resistance fleet. Its front tube glowed and a blue projectile hurtled from it, striking a Reaper in amongst the crowd. It exploded, throwing anti-matter in all directions. Explosion after explosion shattered the sky, tearing apart a number of Reapers. Most survived with little damage other than severe dents in their armour. They opened their doors and their primary weapons began to charge. Immediately, the resistance fleet opened fire, targeting the red balls of energy. Reapers began to explode again. Some managed to get shots away which obliterated the ships they struck, ignoring their shields. Many surged forwards to latch on to the resistance fleet. In response, the resistance fell back behind the hexagonal Quintari shield which pushed forwards. The Reapers made attempts to break through, but their weapons were of little use against it.

Miles warped into 7065 and looked around. The battle in the sky seemed to be going well for the resistance. In that case, all that was left was his part. He fired a web at the crippled ruins of a Reaper and began to swing between them and the buildings, looking in all directions for the creature which posed as the girl he loved so dearly. Suddenly, his spidey sense lit up. He just managed to get out of the way as a large slab of concrete hurtled past. Remnants of webs trailed behind it. He landed and turned to face the creature. Possessed Gwen landed as well, magenta flames burning ferociously from her eyes.

"So, you brought your precious resistance for me to kill."

"No, I came to find something I lost."

"Either way, you die. Pick a story."

She leapt at him, drawing a magenta katana from the sheath on her back. Miles reached for his own weapon of choice and drew a golden longsword. It may not be as nimble as a katana, but was much heavier hitting. That was what he needed. The two blades collided causing sparks to fly as they scraped along each other. The pair broke apart and began to strike at each other, their weapons clashing viciously. This wasn't going anywhere. Miles looked around. He removed one hand from his sword handle and webbed a car behind Gwen, pulling it at her. She jumped out of the way, and Miles flipped over it. He smashed the blade down against Gwen's katana. Both blades snapped under the pressure. Gwen drew her second and swung at him. He ducked under it, charging the most powerful venom strike he had ever mustered. Gold energy crackled with the slightly more orange of his mega venom strike. His hand struck Gwen in the stomach. There was a massive discharge of energy and she was hurled backwards, trails of smoke coming from the point of contact, shown clearly by a scorch on her suit. Miles summoned another longsword and held it ready. Gwen had dropped her second katana when he had struck her. She made to summon another, but was clearly injured and only managed to get something more resembling a sickle than the elegant weapon she wanted. Miles fired a venom web at her. Blue electricity crackled down its length. It missed her by inches, striking a street light. The light flickered on and off, powered by the webs. Miles pulled it towards him. Gwen ducked and sneered at him through her mask. Suddenly, there was a threatening rumbling and screeching above them. They looked up to see the flaming carcass of a Reaper tumbling towards them. Gwen saw her chance and fired a web at it, sticking herself to its side. Miles stuck himself on a little further down, bracing as the robotic behemoth struck the ground. Gwen looked down at him.

"You're a pain."

"I like to be that to people I don't like."

"I thought you did like me."

"I like Gwen, not your cheap knock off."

"And how do you hope to get her back? I control her body. She is nothing."

"Who's I? The Plate?"

"Perhaps."

The Reaper was collapsing, falling on its side. Gwen pushed off from it, diving towards the ground. Miles jumped after her. The street grew closer and closer. Was she going to hit it? No, a magenta dimensional gate appeared. The pair crashed through it, striking the ground hard on the other side. They were in a building.

"This is familiar." Thought Miles, recognising the entrance hall to Visions Academy in his own dimension.

This time he almost wanted to get his hand caught in Gwen's hair; it might give him an advantage. People gawped at the two Ethereal spiders. The pair stared each other down. Miles sprinted at Gwen, pulling his fist back. She ducked and slammed her foot into him, causing him to stumble. He regained his balance in time to parry a series of blows. He brought his knee up, pushing her back a little so he could catch a small breath. She was back on him in an instant, tackling him to the ground and punching him again and again. She paused for a split second, charging an Ethereal punch. Miles charged his own mixed with a venom strike. The gold and blue went quite well together, he thought. The two hits collided. There was an incredible explosion which threw them apart, knocked everyone standing in the room off their feet and shattered every window around. Miles was up first. Gwen stayed on the floor, catching her breath.

"Clearly you haven't done much research through her mind into what it takes to be a spider person. It means that no matter how much you get hit, you always get up. Gwen told me that."

Possessed Gwen stood up in response. She fired a web at a person and hurled them at Miles. Miles caught them and put them back on the ground safely. The next projectile was a stack of lockers. Miles rolled under it and hurled it back. Gwen drew a katana as she cartwheeled over. Miles summoned a longsword and leapt onto a wall, then onto the roof. Gwen fired a web either side of him and pulled herself up, readying to stab him. He cut the webs and she tumbled back to the floor. He was winning this, he was sure. Suddenly, she summoned another gateway and ran through. Miles was almost through as well when it closed, trapping his foot. Gwen laughed hauntingly as she circled him. Miles took a moment to look around, mainly searching for a weapon. He was in the world between worlds, but on solid ground. Headquarters was nowhere in sight. This must be a different part of it, or a different one altogether if that existed. He could see the ruins of a city nearby. Most of the structures still stood, despite most likely being billions of years old. They had to be ancient Quintari. However, within reach, there was nothing. Gwen brought her sword down at his face. He managed to block it with his own. She pressed harder and harder, bringing his own blade ever closer to his throat.

"Gwen! I know you're in there somewhere!" He shouted.

"Save your breath. I might like the hiss it makes when I crush your lungs."

"Gwen, remember me! Miles! You love me, I love you. We were going to have a family one day, grow old together. Remember the child. If you let this thing inside you kill me it will never happen."

Possessed Gwen suddenly stopped and took a step back, her eyes narrowed.

"You stay exactly where you are." She sneered.

Miles wasn't sure if she was talking to him. Suddenly, she grasped her head and began to thrash around wildly. The flames in her eyes flickered. The gateway opened slightly, just enough for Miles to get his foot free. He scrambled to his feet and sprinted at her. With a leap, his foot landed square in her face. She fell to the floor and began to drag herself away, screeching and screaming as if something were clawing at her brain. Miles pinned her down and lay punch after punch into her. He heard a number of sickening cracks, but finally she went unconscious. He rolled off her and lay down, closing his eyes as a small transport ship appeared above him, the Sol Galactic Command insignia clearly visible. At the moment he felt Quintari hands picking him up, he passed out from a mixture of exhaustion and the injuries he had sustained, mostly during the dive into his school.

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Mass Effect
- Doctor Who
- Avengers