Part 2 - 'Til Death do us Part

Chapter 41 - Horrors of War

Miles was released from the medical room not long after the new ship had picked them up. By now, it had returned to its holding with the rest of the Sol fleet. He quickly discovered the ship had no expenses spared. He entered his last room to explore, the rec room. It was the largest on the ship and featured everything from a collection of dinner tables to game tables. He twirled one of the poles of a foosball table and glanced around again. Then he noticed her: Teresa was pressed up in the corner of the room, staring out at the fleet. He approached her cautiously, wary of how she had been acting only an hour earlier. She heard him approach and turned. There were still hints of anger in her eyes; her expression was hard like a brick wall. Miles hoped she wouldn't tear him apart.

"Are you OK?" He asked slowly.

She shrugged and looked back out the window.

"Shouldn't you be with your wife?"

"She's being treated for a concussion."

"And you?"

"Dislocated elbow."

She sighed.

"And what about damage to the multiverse. Where did Helltreader last attack?"

"In 7065, as far as we're aware."

"Before that. Say, just over a week?"

Miles cast his mind back. A week ago, he had been at Helltreader's base and just found out his one year old son had been murdered. As for attacks on dimensions, he didn't know. He told Teresa that; she rolled her eyes.

"And I thought, from my research, you were smart."

She turned away from the window and sat on a seat, glaring at Miles. He sat in one opposite.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean your son was killed a week ago. How did Helltreader get him without raiding a dimension? Have you been home since that?"

"No. What are...oh no."

"There you go, stupid idiot. All brawn and no brain."

The truth hit Miles piece by piece. Helltreader hadn't just kidnapped his friend and son: he had laid waste to the entire planet, maybe the whole star system.

"Why...what makes you bring this up?" He asked, a little scared of the truth.

"Because the woman we rescued was taken hostage and used as a slave. The scream we heard: some piece of shit was hitting her. I killed them, and I enjoyed every press of the trigger."

She was breathing heavily, her face livid. She continued.

"I asked the woman how long she had been there: just over a week. I put pieces together. I may be wrong, but it's unlikely. Helltreader has taken so many more people like her. Whether I'm right or wrong, we have to find and free them. Will you help me? Or do I need to put a bullet through your head as well to do it?"

Miles was horrified. Even in five years of being Spiderman, he had never seen anything like this. He found himself barely able to process it.

"I'll help. I'll speak to Gwen and Edward as well."

"Edward?"

"Admiral Melbourne."

"Good."

There was silence. After half a minute, Teresa stood up.

"Call me when you need my help, which going off today is gonna be more often than not."

She dropped a small piece of what looked like glass into Miles' hands. When he looked at it, a phone number appeared.

"I will. We may be taking on Helltreader again before we can help with the hostage situation but I'll help wherever I can."

"I'll do some scouting, see if I can find him."

She walked away leaving Miles alone. He stared out at the fleet, still struggling to fully comprehend what Teresa had said. His home dimension was gone. All his friends, neighbours, enemies, everyone. He turned his thoughts to Gwen and began to worry about her. She had lost her home before, and now again. Maybe it wouldn't hit as hard this time since she hadn't done it.

Gwen was released a couple of hours later, having been treated for her concussion. She smiled at Miles, he didn't smile back. Instead, he took her hand and led her to the quarters that had been assigned to them. When the door closed, he let her hand go and turned to look her in the eyes. He couldn't. What was going on?

"Miles?"

"Helltreader did more than just kidnap Ganke and Peter."

"What?"

"We should have seen it before. We're idiots. Teresa connected the dots before us. Gwen, Helltreader destroyed my home dimension, our home dimension."

She looked into his yellow-gold eyes and sighed. Much to her surprise, she didn't feel the tsunami of depression drawing ever closer. Instead, she just felt numb.

"I...I think we expected he would have done something like that. It's sad, but there's nothing we could have done."

"That isn't all he did, though. Some people survived, but death might have been better."

"Oh no."

"Helltreader enslaved them, somewhere between a few dozen to a few thousand. There are no rules on how they're treated, they're just left to work until they die."

Gwen's eyes widened in horror.

"I...we have to help them!"

"We don't know where they are. Teresa left to do some searching, but it could take forever. I think our best bet will be to get rid of Helltreader. That might make some people flee and help protect those he took a little more."

"Or do the opposite. The people run and take prisoners with them. We'll never be able to find them all of that happens."

"We have to try something. We can't free thousands of people with Helltreader around."

Gwen turned away, clenching her fist. She growled, angered at how Helltreader allowed these people to be treated. She had been hoping Helltreader held some kind of moral values, even though he had murdered a one year old child. But it seemed that hope was misplaced. Miles sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

"I know this might not be the time, but I think Teresa was taking it all really personally." He said quietly.

Gwen turned to him, wearing her concerned face.

"What do you mean?"

"It was like she thought it was all an attack against her, even though that's her first fight with Helltreader's side, unless you count 7065 although I think Helltreader had ditched those people."

"She acts strange. And she's always so angry. I can imagine it being a rainy day and her screaming abuse at the sky. I wish we could help her, I really do."

"I promised her we'd help rescue the prisoners. It might melt some of the ice she throws at people."

"Are you talking about something I missed while in medical? Or are you talking about the way she looks at people?"

"The second one, but she'd probably do the first if you gave her reason to."

"There's nothing we can do but follow orders at the moment. We're technically part of Sol, now we're part of a ship's crew."

"Does that mean we have to salute Edward?"

"I hope not. I can't salute to save my life."

Suddenly, the com badge Miles was wearing began to beep. He tapped it quickly.

"Miles speaking."

"This is Captain Lucille. I need you and Gwen to come to the bridge immediately."

"Yes, Captain."

The bridge of the Arachnid was similar to that of the Valour, but much smaller. Captain Lucille stood up as the spiders entered. They recognised her, and it didn't take long for Miles to realise she was the captain of the transporter which had taken him and Gwen to the resistance for the first time, three years ago. The pair did their best to stand at attention.

"Welcome aboard. You're now officially acting special forces commanders. However, I'm still your superior officer. You will refer to me as 'Captain' unless it is an informal situation. Is that understood?"

"Yes Captain." They replied in unison.

"Good. This is my first major command, and I don't intend to have it wrecked by two sticky freaks. Stay..."

"Warning. Capital ship signature detected." Blurted out a console.

"Helm, I told you to mute that damn thing."

"I tried, Captain. But it's a new system. I'm not sure where the settings tab is." Replied the helm officer.

"Then work it out. There's an instruction manual somewhere."

"Yes, Captain."

"Commanders, you are to report to Admiral Melbourne immediately. Any questions?"

"No captain."

"Dismissed."

Miles and Gwen transferred to the Valour.

"She was cheery." Commented Miles as they made their way to the bridge where they had been told Edward was.

"Edward is probably watching her like a hawk. Stress."

"Yeah."

They entered the bridge of the Valour. Edward grinned and nodded for them to follow him to his office. When they were inside, he sat at his desk.

"Your friend Teresa told me the situation with the hostages, and your dimension. I sent a couple of ships to confirm it, and she was right. I'm sorry for your loss."

"We've talked about it. It's a blow, but we'll be fine. Unfortunately the prisoners won't."

"No. Which is why I'm sending you both on an assignment. We need to know where Helltreader is which might help us track them down. Stanley and Lisa have created a tracking device capable of withstanding the temperatures Helltreader creates. Your task is to find and shoot him with this."

Edward slid a small case onto the desk and opened it revealing a normal looking pistol. However, next to the pistol was a bullet painted black.

"It needs fired by someone wielding the Plate, or the bullet won't break through enough. It uses the Ethereal energy to burrow into Helltreader, before melting and letting the tracker loose. Any questions?"

"Neither of us has really fired a gun before." Said Gwen.

Edward nodded.

"I know. The barrel has a gimbal. It can change the firing direction by a few degrees. Aim it at Helltreader and it should hit. There's a whole clip of these bullets, fourteen in total. So don't feel too much pressure."

"That's...reassuring."

The admiral smiled and looked up at them.

"What did you think of Captain Lucille?" He asked.

"Grumpy." Gwen replied.

"She can be with new people. Show her your worth and she'll warm up to you. I wish the same could be said for your friend Teresa, but to each their own."

"Sadly, I don't think she's interested in being friends." Replied Miles.

Edward stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"On reflection, I think quite the opposite. She's gone through something which has left her with scars which will never heal. But..."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"No. As far as I can tell it's a forbidden subject unless you want to have your insides ripped out or your brain splattered on a wall. But I think she's warming up to you two very slowly. Do what you can to gain her trust and one day she might open up. I think you especially, Gwen. You've done the whole 'no friends' thing so have something in common."

"I'll try." Said Gwen.

"Good luck with her. Now I have some other things to attend to. Take the gun, grab the Plate and go put a bullet through Helltreader."

"You haven't told us where to find him." Said Miles.

"Oops. That might have been a costly mistake. He's in 8721 according to the intel from yesterday, although we're not sure where which is why we need to hit him with a tracker. Now go, the faster you shoot him, the faster we can hit him with the collider and the faster this will be over."

Gwen and Miles stood in the transfer room a few minutes later, the Void Plate and pistol attached to Gwen's suit. They typed in 8721 on the small panels on their wrists before double tapping the sides of their heads to put their masks on. Miles gave Gwen a nod to say he was ready.

"Let's go."

In a burst of colour, they warped to their destination.

The spiders looked around, confused. Helltreader was nowhere in sight. Instead, they were standing outside a tall, barbed fence.

"Another foot to the right and I would have been stuck in this thing." Said Miles.

Gwen grinned back.

"This place gives me the creeps."

Ten minutes later, the spiders were staring up at a metal gate. Both felt sick, realising exactly what this place was.

"Maybe it's after the war?" Asked Miles, raising his wrist to look at the dimension's date on his suit.

"No. 1943. It still has two years before the Soviets reach it."

"I've never left the USA in my home dimension. All the other Earths are so different."

"Then why does it have to be these places that are always the same? Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick."

Miles took a deep breath.

"We need to find Helltreader, then we can leave."

"How do we know he hasn't had plastic surgery and literally turned himself into Hitler?" Gwen replied.

"He would just melt it. I think he's here. My spidey sense says that, at least."

Suddenly, the gate screeched open and a small squad of soldiers ran out, their weapons raised and pointed at the spiders. All of them wore a red arm band bearing a swastika. One of them barked something in German, but Miles and Gwen's suits translated it.

"Who are you?"

Miles spoke quickly before Gwen could, worrying that her New York accent would get them in trouble, although his wasn't much better.

"We're out walking, but we took a wrong turn." He replied to the soldier.

His suit translated it into German. The soldiers tensed up.

"Take off your masks."

That was exactly what the spiders didn't want to hear.

"We would rather not. Can you point us on our way and we'll be off?"

"Take off your masks! Or we'll put you with the rest of those rats!"

The spiders exchanged looks. Neither was an expert on history, so they weren't exactly sure who else was put in Auschwitz besides Jewish people. Since Hitler's track record was of killing ethnic and religious groups which weren't like him, or that he just didn't like, it was possible the colour of Miles' skin would get him locked away with however many others were currently behind the fence. In that case, Gwen would be put inside as well for aiding him. Both knew this and it scared them. Gwen took a chance and pulled her mask off instead of morphing it, so as not to give the Nazis anymore reason to suspect them of anything. The soldiers turned to Miles expectantly. He had no choice. He pulled his own off. The soldiers looked at their commander for orders. The commander put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a notebook. He flicked through some pages then lifted it up and compared something on the paper to the spiders. He put it away.

"Take them to the commandant." He snapped at the other soldiers.

The soldiers surrounded them. One prodded Miles hard in the back, causing him to stumble. Another went to take the gun from Gwen's pocket. However, on contact with her suit, black bolts of energy blazed through their body, killing them in an instant. Almost before either knew what was happening, a bullet buried itself in Gwen's shoulder. She cried out and collapsed, clutching the wound. The commander barked at Miles like a rabid dog:

"Carry her!"

Miles saw no other choice. He scooped her up in his arms and stared into her eyes. He heard one of the soldiers talking with the commander.

"...of plans. They're going straight into the camp. The commandant can pull them aside once they're inside."

Miles' blood ran cold, and even colder as the gate crashed shut. He had just been sentenced to a fate worse than death. But he kept a single fact at the front of his mind: he was more fortunate than most in here. He would be with the woman he loved.

An hour later, Miles and Gwen had been stripped of everything they had and given the standard set of blue and white striped clothes. Miles had had his hair shaved off. The soldiers had tried to do the same to Gwen but she hit back so much they had to give up. Her wound had been lightly patched up, Miles guessed only so she would survive for it to get infected and suffer more. Now they were sitting in the mud, holding each other, waiting for a visit from the commandant. A soldier watched them through the fence. Suddenly, they turned and snapped to attention as a familiar face approached wearing a Nazi uniform. Helltreader signalled for the soldier to leave them. When they were alone, he burst into a fit of laughter, ending with a sigh.

"Defeated me in 7065, laid waste to my citadel, only to die in a gas chamber. I will watch as you are marched in there with guns to your heads and I will sleep easy at last. And I'll enjoy watching that wound fester in the meantime. Also, thank you for the Void Plate. It will make a fine addition to my collection. And one last thing, look out for any familiar faces. Those last survivors of your home are here as well. Goodbye, Miles and Gwendolyn. It was certainly not a pleasure."

He turned and strode away. Gwen began to cry into Miles' shoulder. He started to cry as well. But it didn't last long as a soldier dragged them to their feet and set them to work constructing a building with hundreds of others.

Over a week passed. Hunger gnawed at their stomachs, every part of their bodies ached. They were cuddled up on a hard bed together. It was early morning. Any minute now a soldier would come in and start yelling for everyone to wake up and return to work. There they were, but no. It was a different shout this time. Was it rescue? Miles looked up. His heart sank even lower than it was already when he saw it was a Nazi, the same one as usual. What was it with the different shout? Was it his and Gwen's turn? Most likely Helltreader had made sure their hut was higher up the list. Miles shook Gwen awake. Her wound had become extremely badly infected, but at least her suffering would be over soon. It was the only comfort as they and the other people in their hut were marched towards a building. He dared to look around at those he would die with: innocents. Most, if not all of these people had never done anything wrong in their lives. If they had, at most it was a crime which would usually end with a prison sentence, not death. Miles' gaze landed on Helltreader who was thoroughly enjoying himself. A gun in the back and a shout made the spider look forward again.

The walk was only a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. The prisoners were marched into a building. Miles wondered if it was worse knowing what was going to happen, or if the fear of not knowing was worse. As they were marched into the actual gas chamber, Miles heard a gunshot. It was hardly a rare sound. People were shot for trying to escape or other things far too often. But no, this time was different. The atmosphere became more tense. The soldiers began to shove prisoners inside hastily. Surely it wasn't the Allies? Maybe things were different in this dimension? There was a thundering clang as the steel door was closed and locked. Gwen collapsed, the last of her will to live drained. Miles sank down next to her and kissed her lips one last time. He waited for the tell-tale hiss of gas, but he couldn't hear it. Was it silent? Suddenly, there was a sound. Not hissing, but the chattering of machine guns. A distant roar, followed by a series of thundering booms, announced an aircraft. But wait...there weren't any jet aircraft in 1943. Then again, it was a different dimension, anything was possible. Suddenly, there were shouts from outside the chamber followed by more gun shots. There was a thump as someone hit the wall on the other side, then the sound of the steel door being opened. The prisoners cowered away from those that entered, terrified of being shot. Miles stood up to try and get a view of who it was. There was a crackling of a radio and one of the soldiers spoke into it.

"Chamber one secure, commander. The people are alive in here. I guess we got here in the nick of time."

There was a quiet reply. Miles managed to reach the front. He recognised the soldiers' insignias. There were two different uniforms, one bearing the SGC logo and another proudly bearing Serenity. Suddenly, there was a livid roar from outside the chamber. The soldiers turned, raising their guns, as Helltreader tore straight towards Miles, heat scorching everyone in the room. Shots rang out but the troops were killed with little more than an Ethereal powered touch. Miles tried to charge a venom strike. It was extremely weak, but it repelled Helltreader for just long enough for help to arrive. A blue, white and slightly transparent person appeared, leaping on Helltreader and tearing at his skin. The immortal roared, trying to kill this thing. Suddenly, it disappeared and a last shot rang out. He yelped like a wounded dog and disappeared through a gateway. Another projection of Teresa, although in normal human colours, stood holding a pistol...the modified pistol. Miles realised she was clutching the Void Plate in her other hand. She stuffed it away and pocketed the weapon, relaxing her face as much as she could.

"You're all free. I won't hurt you."

She stepped outside and beckoned for the prisoners to follow. Some did and the rest followed. Gwen and Miles lagged behind a little until they were the last out. Real Teresa was standing by the door holding the modified pistol and eyeing the Void Plate as Sol and Serenity troops handed out food and other aid to the liberated people. The spiders stopped in front of her. She looked them up and down, not recognising them through the bruises and dirt at first. When she did, she spotted Gwen's wound.

"Oh jeez." She muttered, moving closer to get a better look. "Medic!"

A soldier, with a red cross on their arm, ran over. They saw the wound, and after a quick inspection, shook their head.

"I can't help. She needs hospital treatment. The 1940s could only offer amputation on this. We need to take her to a ship, or Serenity."

"They're going to a ship anyway. Grab me a couple of dimensional watches."

The medic sprinted away and returned a moment later with two of the devices.

"The fleet moved to stream three. Go."

Miles followed the instruction, but Gwen was in too much pain. He pressed the button on her watch and positioned her other hand over the warp button. Teresa warped first, Miles waited to make sure Gwen went after, then went himself.

The SGC Valour was buzzing with activity. As soon as the trio arrived, Teresa snapped orders to waiting medics who helped Gwen onto a stretcher and sprinted away. Miles sat down on the transfer pad steps. Teresa watched him for a moment, then sat as well. She said nothing, clearly wanting to make a remark about how she told Miles he would be needing help again, but deciding he had had a horrific experience and nearly suffered a mortifying fate which so many millions had in the distant past of her dimension.

"Thank you." He said after a few moments.

"When you didn't return, most people thought you were dead. I asked Edward what 9721 was like, and I decided I had to at least look for you. Your memories deserved that."

"I need to wash, eat and sleep for an eternity."

"And grow your hair back. Why didn't they cut Gwen's?"

"They tried. She broke the cutters."

"I'll let you get sorted. Edward will want to see you. I'll let him know the news, and apologise for staging a small coup to get Sol troops involved."

"You really went that far for us?"

Teresa pursed her lips, thinking about how to respond.

"I view you both as good people, who've done a lot of good things for the multiverse. You deserve to survive, to live your lives to their fullest. As does everyone else who was in that camp with you."

"So, you wouldn't consider me and Gwen friends?"

"I consider nobody a friend. You're both just a bit more trustworthy than the majority of people. Now go and get sorted before they have to call a decontamination squad in to get rid of the bacteria you've brought with you."

Miles stood up slowly and left. Teresa took a deep breath. Friends...admittedly she found herself warming up to the spiders, but could she trust them enough to call them that? No, they were just another pair of humans who she might become attached to and they would promptly die, or they would just betray her.

Crossovers in this Chapter

There weren't any.

Note

I've changed this chapter a little, as well as the last, to try and make it a little less horrible. There'll be some changes in later chapters too. If there's anything that doesn't quite make sense, I've probably just missed it.