Part 2 - 'Til Death do us Part

Chapter 38 - Round Two

Gwen emerged in a wasteland which had once been New York in 7065. She stared up at the crumpled remains of a Reaper. Images flashed through her mind. She collapsed to her knees, but only for a few seconds before her spider sense lit up like she imagined the Dark Dimension had when the missile went off. A deep laugh echoed from nearby. She turned, double tapping the side of her head to create her mask and hood while raising her fists in case there was a fight. And a fight there was, just not immediately. Helltreader slowly stood up from his perch on a block of shattered concrete.

"We meet again, Gwendolyn."

"I don't know what you want. You've already taken my son. What else can you take?"

"Your husband, perhaps? Or maybe that suit; it looks very expensive. Programmable matter? What a waste it would be."

Gwen spotted a movement out the bottom of her eye. She looked down at her body to see scores of red laser dots. Glancing around, she saw people emerging from buildings with guns of all sorts drawn. What did it matter? Her suit absorbed bullets.

"A little outmatched, spider. I wonder...what are you? Are you Spiderwoman, or is the suit? Shall we see?"

Gwen felt like she was being crushed as Helltreader raised a fist. Her suit began to tear and crack around her until it fell away. She became extremely conscious of what she didn't have: a mask or a way home.

"Start running, girl."

She realised this was good advice and began to sprint towards Helltreader who raised a hand in readiness. However, instead of striking him, she leapt upwards, firing a web at the side of the Reaper. Bullets ricocheted as she darted from side to side. She prayed for a miracle, and she got one. The clattering began to fade away. She wondered why until she darted to the side just in time as a black and red shape slammed into the side of the Reaper and stuck with her. Miles double tapped the side of his head, still climbing with her. Black energy crackled in his eyes making his pupils look bigger than they were.

"They're the survivors." Was all he said.

"Survivors of what?"

"Here."

They ducked behind the doors that used to cover the enormous weapon that could cripple any ship. Miles gripped her hand. She was too out of breath for a few seconds to realise that he had just webbed the Plate to it. When she realised, she tried to tear it off.

"No! Please, no! I can't!"

"Gwen! You have to!"

A ball of flames rose up to them, dissipating to reveal Helltreader.

"So the suit is Spiderwoman. I guess that means the beloved hero is dead. Just like your lover will be."

Miles grabbed his throat, clawing at an invisible hand. Gwen stared in horror for a second before drawing a black katana. Helltreader ducked out of the way as she leapt at him. The blade missed, but she fired a web and swung back to the side of the Reaper, hitting it with a clang before climbing faster than she ever had before. Helltreader fired a beam of energy at her. It missed as well; he was too busy choking Miles. Gwen hurled her weapon at her enemy, then threw herself. Helltreader caught the blade and discarded it away, but Gwen was on him a moment later, wrapping her legs around his neck and punching his head as hard as she could. Black bolts of energy exploded in every direction with each strike. After a few seconds, Helltreader's body began to glow and heat up until it was too hot touch. Yet still she clung on, fighting the pain. She had known hurt her whole life. What was a little heat? Her body didn't agree. Soon, she began to feel faint; her vision began to darken and she fell towards the ground over a mile below. Miles leapt as well, firing a web to catch her. It wasn't fast enough, she was going to hit the sloped edge of the Reaper before it caught her. Suddenly, a blaze of golden flames rocketed past, driving her upwards and grabbing him in the process. Conall flung the pair back into the alcove and turned to his oldest enemy. Golden wings spread behind him, arching upwards until their tips met high above his head. Helltreader laughed.

"Back from the dead?"

Conall smirked.

"Just like old times, the wolf and the overcooked toast."

The immortals collided sending out a shockwave so powerful the Reaper began to fall apart. As Miles caught Gwen and stuck onto the side of a ruined skyscraper, he wondered if it had been intentional. Dust rose up and he began to cough, watching the fight above. Energy beams split off in all directions from their colliding point between the two, tearing apart anything they touched. The skyscraper began to collapse, and another shockwave sped it up. Miles managed to land with Gwen a little more gracefully and jumped further down until he found the ground. Except it wasn't the ground of 7065's New York. On the ground side of the dimensional rift, an enormous military base stretched out around him, surrounded by skyscrapers and mountains. The military base was buzzing with activity as aircraft surged into the air, propelled by enormous rotors in their wings and afterburners in their tails. They shot through the rift and circled the fight. Conall spotted this but paid no attention. He dodged a sword from Helltreader and barrelled into him, driving him downwards and downwards, then along the remains of a street and through the base of another Reaper. On the other side he spun round quickly, slamming a golden fist into Helltreader's chest, able to completely ignore the temperature which melted the concrete on the ground below where his enemy now lay. Helltreader was up in an instant, his skin peeling from his own power. Conall belched another jet of energy at the other immortal. Helltreader fired back, bending more beams of energy in every direction and shredding apart the fabric between dimensions. A Borg drone wandered through but was dissected by another stray beam. Conall knew fine well he wasn't winning this stand-off. Helltreader had three Plates and countless stars powering him, all he had was a small portion of sanity and a single Plate. But it was the Plate of Power, the Plate which granted immortality and strength designed for fights. He drifted down the ground and leapt to the side, letting Helltreader's beam shoot past, blasting apart a planet on the other side of a rift. Miles saw an opportunity to help and webbed a chunk of rock, but it was too big for him to handle and he ended up lying on top of it as more crumbled around him. A smaller chunk presented itself, which he webbed and threw at Helltreader. Helltreader raised a hand and caught it with telekinesis. Conall was pressing on his other arm with a sword. The former smashed the rock into the latter, slamming him into the floor. Helltreader drew a sword and brought it crashing down towards Conall. Miles closed his eyes, paying silent respects to an old enemy and saviour. However, a sound reached his ears which he didn't expect: swords clashing. Conall was still on the ground. A black katana wrestled with Helltreader's multi-coloured blade. Helltreader chuckled and stepped back from Gwen. The numerous aircraft from the first rift descended and opened fire on him. A bubble of energy burst from the immortal which sent them spiralling like spinning tops into the ground. Gwen was thrown away but aced the landing. Miles swung down next to her. She cut the Plate from her hand and webbed it to her chest before creating a pair of black daggers which she handed to him. Miles twirled them, admiring how light they were. Conall was back on his feet again. He stopped in front of them.

"Nice save. Miles: me and Gwen will keep smoky bacon distracted. You get behind him and butcher him."

"Like a pig being slaughtered." Joked Gwen.

"I'm pretty sure they..."

Conall didn't finish the sentence. Instead, he whirled round and parried a series of super heated blows. Gwen drew a second katana and ducked around him, striking at Helltreader. Meanwhile, Miles vanished from sight and sprinted behind their enemy. He was only a few metres away. The smell was almost unbearable: a mixture of burning flesh, melted metal and concrete, something burning in the aircraft along with the stench of human sweat. The heat was equally bad. But he was Spiderman: his nose and a bad sun burn weren't going to stop him. He did notice that it was getting cooler by the second. Clearly Helltreader had realised heat wasn't doing anything. Miles leapt on him, turning visible again and stabbing the daggers repeatedly. How much could Helltreader take? The immortal roared and hurled him off into a pool of quickly solidifying concrete. With a final explosion of energy, which hurled Gwen and Conall, Helltreader disappeared. Gwen was up in an instant but Miles was struggling a little.

"Err...help?"

Gwen carefully approached and tried to drag him out but couldn't. Conall chuckled and raised a hand. The concrete around Miles cracked and Gwen pulled again, this time succeeding.

"So you can stab the most powerful being in the multiverse but are defeated by some building materials?" Joked Conall, getting to his feet uncertainly.

The fight had sapped his energy. Miles turned to Gwen, brushing as much of the concrete off as he could.

"Never run away like that again." He said, throwing his arms around her.

She pulled away a little and kissed his lips. Conall rolled his eyes.

"Bloody lovers." He muttered.

At that moment, a Sol Galactic Command fleet burst out of temporal warp, blocking out the sun. Conall walked over to one of the rifts that had been created and pinched its edge, running his hand down until it disappeared. After a few minutes, all but one was closed. The one left open was the first. It was oblong instead of just a slit. He peered down into it as Edward and a large security squad teleported in behind him. Edward looked into the rift as well.

"That should probably be closed before it messes up space-time." He said.

Conall shook his head.

"The continuum is as wrecked as your chances of peeling those two apart." The immortal replied, nodding at Miles and Gwen who had tried to pull apart only to find they were stuck by more concrete, so had decided to continue kissing. Edward bit his lip, glancing at the pair then back at the rift.

"What do we do about it?"

"Nothing. It's too big to be closed. But we can make an ally. I believe this is dimension 9578, possibly the city of Geneva, Switzerland. 'The Neutral City', is what they call it. This Earth is controlled by two mega corporations."

A black limousine pulled up beneath them, along with an extensive escort. At the same time, there was a crack behind the pair. Edward looked round to see Miles and Gwen had managed to free themselves. The spiders came up beside him and watched curiously. From the limousine emerged a woman with brown hair, dotted with grey strands. One of the escorts spoke to her, clutching a heavy rifle of some kind. She waved them away and looked up.

"This is quite the mess. And you have a lot of explaining to do as to why this is over a military base."

"It was an accident." Replied Conall.

The woman glared at him.

"Well, Conall. You better clear this accident up since we aren't allowed to travel between dimensions."

Conall opened his mouth to answer but Edward stepped on front of him.

"This Conall is from the past, five years ago. The one from the present day is dead, killed by her." He nodded at Gwen.

The woman clicked her tongue, thinking it over.

"So...what does that mean for cross-dimensional travel?"

"Go for it. He's a scam anyway. Some Ancient Greek philosopher. I'm Admiral Edward Melbourne, Commander in Chief of Sol Galactic Command. That's some of my fleet up there."

The woman glanced up at the star ships.

"Helen Chelsea, CEO of Serenity. Or president if you want to go that way. I believe we could learn something from each other, Admiral."

Three days passed following the second fight with Helltreader. Miles and Gwen were given command of a small encampment at the edge of the rift to 9578. The camp mainly housed scientists studying the anomaly, but a handful of soldiers were posted there as well in case things turned sour. Diplomacy seemed to be going well between the two sides. The spiders were sitting on chairs overlooking the rift. A few people traipsed back and forth between a landed SGC corvette and the military base on the other side. A make-shift staircase between the worlds had been created using a set of stairs designed for boarding an aircraft. Miles glanced over at Gwen. She was fiddling with the ball of her new suit. It hadn't taken long to create since it was an exact replica of the old one, but she seemed to feel like it wasn't quite the same. Suddenly, the sun was blocked out by a shadow. He looked up to see a Serenity soldier saluting. One of the SGC soldiers appeared but kept their distance. The Serenity soldier began to speak:

"President Chelsea sends her kindest regards and requests that you join her and Admiral Melbourne at a dinner tonight in the presidential palace."

Gwen looked at Miles for a second.

"Tell her that we would love to but have no idea where the palace is or how to get to it."

"If you agree to attend, transport shall be arranged for 5:30PM."

Miles nodded at Gwen to say he was fine with going. She turned back to the soldier.

"Give the president our respects and tell her we're happy to attend."

"Yes, sir and ma'am. Dress is formal if you are able. A Phantom will be standing by to depart from Geneva base at 5:30PM. Head down the ramp at that time."

"Thank you."

The soldier saluted again and marched away swiftly.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to people saluting us." Miles commented.

"Me neither. Edward says it's a choice thing with the Sol guys. Respect for killing Conall."

"So they're saluting you, not me."

"No, they're saluting both of us. I took down Conall, you took down me."

"Shall we make it a bit more simple and just say they're saluting our ability to wield the Ethereal Plates?"

"Fine with me."

"Where's the Void Plate, by the way?"

Gwen reached down and picked up a small handbag. She reached inside and pulled the Plate out.

"Handbags aren't my style. But it's more discreet than a big box or something."

That evening, the spiders left the camp and descended the steps. At the bottom was a small group of two soldiers and someone who's attire made Gwen think they were a pilot. All three saluted.

"Good evening. I'll be flying you to the presidential palace today." Said the pilot, lowering their hand.

"How long is the ride?" Asked Miles.

"The flight from Geneva to Selfoss, Iceland, is twenty minutes."

Gwen raised her eyebrows.

"That's fast."

"One of the many wonders of technology. If you would please follow me."

The pilot turned and led them towards an aircraft a short distance away. The soldiers brought up the flank. Now that they weren't in the thick of battle, Gwen managed to get a better look at the machine. It was definitely the same model: sporting delta wings which came to a flat edge instead of a point, and an extremely sleek body. The interior was lit brightly and clearly outfitted for passenger comfort. The spiders sat down in luxurious seats while the pilot disappeared into the cockpit and the soldiers sat down in jump seats. The ramp closed, sealing them in. The aircraft gave a whining sound which slowly became louder as the wing rotors spun faster and faster. After a few seconds there was a light bump and the machine rose into the sky, turning as it did so. Gwen knew this was going to be a flight to remember.

The machine touched down gracefully in front of a modern looking building in Iceland. The spiders could see a large town on the other side of the fence, presumably Selfoss since that was the name the pilot had mentioned. The ramp lowered and they disembarked. A butler was waiting at the bottom, dressed up smartly in a suit and bow tie.

"Good evening, sir and ma'am. I hope your flight was pleasant." They said with a small bow and a strong English accent.

"It was the fastest flight I've ever been on. But really smooth." Replied Miles, admiring the machine behind them.

"Yes it is, sir. I do not mean to be hasty, but the president is waiting for you inside."

"Of course. Let's go."

They followed the butler up a path and into the mansion. The corridors were a stark contrast to the exterior. The walls and floors were two different types of wood, the floor adorned with a red carpet. It looked old rather than bordering futuristic. The butler stopped and turned to them, raising a hand to indicate for them to enter the room to the side.

"Have a good evening, sir and ma'am."

"Thank you."

Edward and Helen were seated at a round table in the middle of the room. It was bigger than the others which were dotted around, but not by much. A maid pulled out the spiders' chairs for them. When they were seated, the maid curtseyed and left. Edward smiled, Helen spoke:

"I'm glad you could make it. Edward has been telling me a lot about you."

"I hope he hasn't been hyping us up too much." Replied Gwen, trying to sound as polite as she could.

Helen picked up on this like an owl spotting a mouse. She smiled.

"Relax. The dinner is informal. Anyway, I'm a CEO, not a queen. Don't worry. He hasn't told me too much."

"Oh, that's good."

Two waiters entered and began laying out knives, forks and plates. When they had left, Helen continued.

"As informal as this is, there are some things that need discussed in a formal manner. Once we're done with dessert, I've asked my military advisor to come along. This Helltreader still has troops in 7065 which have to be dealt with or they pose a severe risk to Serenity, which isn't something we can afford being at constant war."

"Constant war?" Miles queried.

Who could Serenity be at constant war with?

"I'll explain it all later. It's quite complex."

Crossovers in this Chapter

None that I put in...