Part 2 - 'Til Death do us Part

Chapter 45 - How it Works

As Gwen approached the light, she could make out buildings. But as she got closer, she heard a horrible screech from above. Her spider sense warned her to duck, which she did so just in time. A blue creature with glowing green eyes swooped down, narrowly missing her. It flew up again, circling overhead letting out its horrible sound. Gwen hurled her katana at it, scoring a direct hit and killing it. Her weapon disappeared with it, much to her surprise and fear as another zombie-like creature took a swing at her and caught her across the face. She punched it back, causing it to flicker red and giving her a moment to draw another katana which she stabbed into the creature's body. It went up with a puff of smoke. She looked around as one of the green creatures hissed; she sliced at it, but before her blade hit, it exploded, hurling her backwards, narrowly missing a cactus. She failed to land well, twisting her ankle and skinning her hand on the coarse sand. She sucked in breath, winded by the blast; this world offered no rest. Another blue creature swooped down, slashing her arm with a talon. Blood began to run from it, dripping onto the ground and attracting more of the zombies. Gwen stood up and began to run towards the buildings. She threw open the door to one, slamming it behind her as she landed in grass. A mooing sound made her jump, but it was just some cube cow. The spider clutched her arm: blood continued to seep out between her fingers, making her realise it was even worse than it felt and she had to patch it up or she'd bleed out. She looked around the barn. All she could see to use was grass and a couple of hay bales. She went to grab some strands of hay from the closest bale, but black dots just appeared on it...another block with no visible use. Gwen lay on her back and listened to the growling of the creatures outside. The the sun had risen but the zombies were still there, unlike their blue and green counterparts. Suddenly, they began to growl more angrily. There were a few sickening cracks, then silence. She stood up dizzily and opened the door: a creature as big as the Warden was standing nearby, but it was white with strange vines growing on it; she approached it cautiously. It began to turn to her. When it had turned all the way, it just stared down at her.

"Err...thanks, I guess?"

The creature just stared at her for a few more seconds before thumping off.

"OK..."

The spider noticed there were some vaguely human looking things walking around. She approached one.

"Hi."

It hummed at her.

"I wonder if you can help?"

She raised her arm, wiping the blood on her hand on her leg. From what she could see the bleeding was slowing, but not quickly enough that she wouldn't pass out first. The villager hummed again.

"Right...not helping."

She walked around a little more and found something she could use for the wound in a chest which she hoped the villagers wouldn't miss. It was a couple of sheets of paper, nothing special, but they'd do to keep the wound covered. She returned to the barn and sat down inside, wrapping the sheets around the gash and tucking the edges under her suit. She leaned back against the bales of hay. The air was scorching hot. How did the villagers cope? Maybe they just didn't feel it.

In the heat, Gwen fell asleep. She woke up suddenly. It was night time again, and she didn't know how long she'd been asleep for. She glanced at her wound: it had stopped bleeding and was healing. She got up, shaking the drowsiness from her head. She had to get back to the ship...but where was it? She drew a black katana, deciding that if she left now she might be able to get back to the ship by morning. As she opened the door, she morphed her mask and hood into place and held her weapon at her side. A creature, which she had decided to name a 'Husk' because of the texture of it skin, ambled towards her with its arms raised. She sliced it apart and set off in the direction she hoped was the right way.

As the sun rose, it became clear she wasn't going in the right direction. She'd been walking along a stony mountain and only now realised it was a sheer cliff into an ocean. She sighed, feeling disheartened, weak and thirsty. Hunger also gnawed at her stomach. There was a small pool of water embedded a couple of blocks into the ground. She scooped up some of the liquid and drank. It tasted metallic, but it helped. Now food was the next thing she had to worry about. There was a lonely cow wandering nearby. Gwen approached it. It didn't seem to care. She hit it with her katana. It mooed and went up with a puff of smoke, leaving behind some meat and leather. Gwen bent down to pick it up, but it popped into her hand. The leather also seemed to pop into her, but didn't appear in her hand. She sheathed the katana; it was time to work out how this all worked. She made a motion with her hand that she had seen Darian make before another item appeared. The first time it didn't work, but the second it did. She moved it in the other direction and the meat reappeared in the leather's place. She moved it again and her hand was left empty.

"This is the strangest thing I've ever seen." She muttered.

Now she had to cook the meat. She punched a block of a tree's trunk and ran back as it broke, expecting the rest of the tree to come crashing down; it just hovered there. She broke the rest of the trunk and sat down to work out how to make a crafting table to make a pickaxe for stone, then turn the stone into a furnace. She dropped one of the blocks of tree trunk. It floated in front of her, doing nothing. She picked it up again and squeezed it. Suddenly, four blocks of planks burst from it, destroying the block. Gwen smiled at her handiwork. She pressed the four planks together and they merged to create a crafting table.

A minute later, Gwen had mined some stone and created a furnace with which she was burning some wood to cook her steak. It tasted slightly charred, but she didn't care. She was ravenous, and if she had survived Husks and 'Phantoms', she could survive hunger. When she was full, she picked up her furnace and crafting table and left the site behind. She found herself realising she might be able to get used to life like this.

Three more in-world days passed. She came to another village in a tundra biome where she picked up some bread from a chest. Now, however, she was staring at a strange structure. It was a nearly complete rectangle of black blocks. There was a chest next to it which she opened to find two pieces of obsidian, a small blob of gold and a flint and steel. She looked up at the rectangle and at the obsidian. This had to be some sort of Nether portal. She placed one of her obsidian in the hole and struck the flint and steel. Purple swirls filled the gap.

"Well...here goes nothing. What could go wrong?" She thought, dumping most of her stuff in the chest apart from the bread and a couple of glass bottles filled with water.

The Nether was horrible. That was the first thing Gwen thought when she lay eyes on the wasteland. A lava lake stretched out on one side, a strange red forest on the other. She glanced at her co-ordinates device and noticed for the first time that it had the co-ordinates where Helltreader was supposed to be. She looked up and saw a roof. On the far side of the lava lake was where the device pointed her. She pocketed it and fired a web at the roof. Over the lake of molten rock was even hotter than she thought. It reminded her of dimension 01, and it made her sweat just as much. But she couldn't take her mask off because the heat stung her eyes otherwise and she'd become blind. She moved quickly, leaping from web to web like a monkey in a tree, except these trees came from her wrists. Finally, she landed on the far side and looked around. She was almost right on top of the co-ordinates. Unless the Nether wasn't naturally like this, there was no sign of him. She sighed and took her mask off, closing her eyes to stop them from burning up. Her spidey sense told her to look up. She braved the burning for a moment and did so, spotting a structure built from dark red bricks. She pulled her mask on and leapt onto one of the pillars, climbing up and over the barricade. A yellow creature was floating nearby. She drew a katana and approached it.

"Hello?"

The creature burst into flames and hurled three balls of fire at her. She ducked the first, leapt over the second, and the third was badly aimed. Gwen hit it a few times; it went up in a puff of smoke.

"OK, that was easy. Just stay this easy, 6834. No more Wardens."

She picked up an orange rod it had dropped. It had to be a blaze rod, which made that creature a Blaze. She might be able to get to the final dimension without her team. What did it matter? Even if she could get there, how would she deal with Helltreader, then get home?

Gwen wandered the Nether for almost five days of 6834's time. She gathered more blaze rods, and managed to get lost but eventually found her way back to the portal. As she re-emerged in the Overworld, she morphed her mask and hood off, gasping in the cool coastal air. Tired as she was, there was no rest for the weary. She pulled up the blaze rods and crafted them into blaze powder. Now all she had to do was find ender pearls and a portal. The only place she'd find those was during the night; she'd have to face the terrors of the dark again. Oh well, if she died then it didn't matter all that much. Miles was so broken by the poison on the knife he'd probably be glad not to have to listen to her name. She sat down and ate the last of her bread, waiting for darkness.

Gwen fought hard for nearly a week in 6834's time. She still saw now signs of a search party, and she didn't much care. She was becoming quite accustomed to this blocky life style. Now she held twenty Eyes of Ender. She didn't entirely know how they worked, but she'd find it out soon enough. Either Teresa or Darian had said to throw them in the air and they'd lead her to a stronghold. She threw one up: it drifted off a little then fell again. She followed their path until they stopped drifting when she threw them. A number had imploded but she still had plenty. Now that she was standing where the stronghold should be; she gazed around.

"Alright, 6834. Where is this thing?"

There didn't seem to be anything. She looked up at the sky: nothing. She looked down at the ground...her shoulders slumped as she realised what she had to do.

"I am so dead." She muttered as she began to dig straight down.

A few moments later, she fell in a crumpled heap on the top of a spiral staircase. It was dark, as would be expected. She flicked her hand to some torches she had created and placed one on the wall. No Wardens...yet. She decided not to bother with descending the normal way and instead jumped down the hole between the slabs which created the steps. As she neared the bottom she stuck her hand onto one of the steps, then dropped down the last couple of blocks. A zombie growled from somewhere in the darkness. Gwen slashed it with little care. She'd fought so many of them now they were just becoming annoying rather than threatening. She put another torch down and found herself face-to-face with one of the green exploding things. She leapt at it and swiped. It hissed and began to expand so she kicked off it and landed back at the base of the stairs as it exploded, revealing an enormous cave down below. She picked up some of the rotten flesh the zombie had dropped and threw it down. A few seconds later, she heard the sound of skulk sensors.

"I'll pass on that." She thought as she climbed up on the wall and crawled around the drop.

The stronghold was hardly a challenge to fight through: the odd zombie, spider, skeleton and creeper wandered its halls but she took them out like they were nothing more than insects. After killing a spider, she began to wonder whether she had just killed a long-lost sibling or something stupid. Was she going mad? She'd only been alone for less than a day in her own time. Then again, it felt like an eternity, and her body clock was thrown off by the strangely short daylight cycle. When she reached the portal room, she cast the chain of thought aside and gazed at the strange structure, trying to work out how it worked. Surely she didn't jump in the pool of lava in the middle? There was a strange hiss which made her turn to see a small, spikey grey creature. The creature bit at her foot. Gwen slashed it, then noticed a black cage-like block inside which another one of them was spinning. She pulled out her pickaxe and hacked away at it until it burst, leaving her to ponder the portal again. She looked at the Eyes of Ender, then noticed there were already a couple of them in some of the pieces of frame. How it worked clicked in her mind. She put another ten in their slots and a black, starry sheet appeared in the middle with a sound like thunder. Moment of truth...what would this last dimension be like? Knowing her luck, it would be infested with Wardens. She jumped through.

Gwen breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it wasn't filled with Wardens, but just Endermen, as she had come to know them. At least...just Endermen and their overlord. She sank to her knees as she spotted an enormous black dragon swooping overhead.

"You have to be kidding me..."

It dived down at her. In an instant, she fired a web at one of the strange obsidian pillars, pulling herself up onto its side. How could she kill a dragon? Unless she just made a run for Helltreader? She looked around at her surroundings. In the middle of the ring of pillars was a strange structure. But outside the ring was practically nothing. Some strange coloured stone extended out a short distance then ended abruptly with a drop into a void. There was a rumble nearby and she leapt off the pillar just in time as the dragon swooped past, striking where she had just been with its wing. She fired a web at the top of the pillar. It caught just before she hit the ground and sprung her up to the top. She was met by a strange purple crystal. It was almost enchanting...begging her to touch it. Suddenly, her fingers met it; there was an explosion which blasted her off the edge of the pillar and knocked her out cold.

Peter was following the other two members of Flux Force. They had gone to get the obsidian while Gwen spoke to the doctor, only to return to find she was gone. After nearly an hour of searching, they decided all they could do was get on with the mission. The SGC Arachnid would be able to launch and hunt for her once the mission was completed, Lucille wouldn't allow it otherwise. They were making their way along a dark corridor lit only by Teresa's pistol flashlight. Peter hated this almost as much as the Deep Dark. At least this was a structure so he had some faith it wouldn't cave in. That being said, it reminded him a little of a horror movie. Who knew what beast would emerge from the darkness beyond Teresa's light? Darian holding his sword constantly ready didn't help how he felt either. Why had he agreed to join this Flux Force? Maybe just the chance to see Miles and Gwen again properly. They had had brief run-ins throughout the past five years but only briefly. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on in the bigger picture, either. All he knew was that some war had been fought three years ago, in which he had helped out for a couple of missions, and now because the war was won, some lunatic was killing everyone. Suddenly, he walked into Teresa's back.

"Watch it." She snapped.

This room was lit up by a pool of lava above which was a portal frame. Darian pulled out the Eyes of Ender and slotted them in. With a crack like thunder, the portal activated. The 'Mystery Man', as Peter had decided to call him for the lack of information he shared about his power, stepped inside. Teresa followed. Peter sighed and jumped in. He felt a sensation like he was buried under six feet of dirt, then he was standing on an obsidian platform next to a massive floating island made of some strange coloured stone. He leapt over the gap, followed by the other two, and climbed a small cliff only to see an enormous black dragon circling overhead. Its eyes glowed purple, and it had grey on its wings. Darian pulled his round shield off his back began to approach the centre of a ring of obsidian pillars. Peter's spider sense began to tingle...just like when another spider was nearby. He looked to his right.

"Gwen?"

She was lying in a broken heap at the foot of one of the pillars. When Teresa heard him say her friend's name, she glanced at him, then in the direction he was looking.

"Oh shit." She muttered, running over to the spider's side.

The commander went to pull Gwen's mask off, but spotted the Ethereal Plate in her chest. A shout echoed across the island, which she glanced in the direction of in time to see the dragon hurled against one of the pillars by a blue shockwave. A beam of energy shot to it from a purple crystal on top of the pillar. Teresa pulled her pistol out again and fired a shot, knowing it probably wouldn't hit. However, much to her surprise, it did; the crystal exploded. She turned to Peter.

"I think I know what happened. I need you to climb up this one and see if the crystal is still there. If it isn't she was blown off and knocked out by the blast."

Peter nodded and scrambled up the side. The crystal was gone. He leapt down again.

"It's gone. What do we do?"

"We can't do anything unless you want to be fried. We need to get Miles. He's the only other person who can touch an Ethereal Plate. If he does that, we can get her back to the ship."

"I can go back. Or I could if I knew how."

"We have to kill the dragon, I think."

"Oh great. I doubt kicking it will do much."

"No. Stay out the way. Me and Darian will sort it."

She shifted into a kneeling position and slammed her fist into the ground. It hurt, since she was punching stone, but she was used to the pain. Holding projections for a long time hurt more, but it wasn't half as bad as getting the devices implanted. She chose her blue and white variant which snarled at Peter before jumping onto a third pillar and scrambling up it. At the top, it leapt into the crystal and was blown up. Teresa punched the ground again, sending yet another blue and white projection on a suicide mission.

Five more times Teresa did this until all the crystals were destroyed. As the last exploded, another blue shockwave rattled out from Darian. Teresa stood up and Peter stood beside her. They watched as Darian slashed at the beast with his sword. About every minute, perhaps less, he hurled another blue shockwave. Peter tried to work out what he was saying. It sounded like two words, maybe three although the last two he said as if they were one. He wondered what language it was, and from which dimension it originated. Although, being honest with himself, he didn't care all that much. All that mattered was it was wrecking havoc with the dragon.

After a few minutes, the dragon went still and began to rise into the air. It grew slowly brighter and soon was hard to look at. Then there was a boom and it disappeared. Darian strode over to the spider and commander. He saw Gwen on the ground and sighed, covering his face with a hand. Teresa turned to Peter.

"Go and check if there's another portal in the middle now. If there is, go back to Arachnid and get Miles."

"I know." Sighed Peter, walking towards the bedrock structure.

The same starry black material filled it. He gave Teresa a wave and jumped through. There was the sensation of being buried again, then he popped up right next to Arachnid.

The doctor was his moody self when Peter arrived in the medical room.

"What's wrong with you? Runny nose?"

"No. We need Miles. Gwen's been injured badly but we can't touch her because of the Ethereal Plate."

"How about using a robot to get it out?"

"I can't haul a robot to another dimension."

"Miles needs to be kept under supervision. I've worked out he was poisoned with a neurotoxin. It may leave permanent scars."

"If we don't get him then Gwen might die, and her's are injuries you can treat. Staring at him won't help anyone, but letting him go will."

The doctor rolled his eyes.

"You can take him, but if he is hurt anymore when he returns I may have to break my Hippocratic oath on someone."

"Thank you, doc."

Peter entered Miles' ward. He was propped up with some cushions and seemed to be counting his fingers, raising and lowering them at random and mouthing the number still raised. When his old friend walked in, his face lit up.

"P...Peter! H...how are you?"

"Not bad, buddy. We need your help."

"Oh g...good. Am...am I g...getting out of h...here?"

"Yes. Gwen..."

Miles seized up, gritting his teeth against the pain he clearly felt.

"D...don't say h...her name."

"Sorry. Well...you-know-who is hurt and we have to get the Plate off her before we can bring her here to be treated. Can you help?"

"Yeah. I m...might not b...be ab...ble to say h...her name b...but I still l...love h...her."

"Alright buddy. Come on."

Miles climbed out of his bed and stretched, almost falling over for a second before Peter caught him.

"You sure you can do this?"

"I'm sure."

Peter didn't like going underground again one bit, and Miles clearly didn't enjoy it either. He was extremely confused by his surroundings when he first exited the ship, but had decided Gwen's life was more valuable than his curiosity. They jumped through the portal. Teresa and Darian were sitting against the obsidian pillar, keeping their heads down so that the Endermen wouldn't get angry.

"Took a while. How do you feel, Miles?" Asked Teresa.

"C...crap. Y...you?"

"So, so. We just need you to take the Plate out; we can handle the rest."

Miles knelt down next to the woman he loved and pulled the Plate from her chest, putting it down next to her. The black energy faded and Teresa made to check Gwen's pulse. She had one, which was a relief. Miles was looking around and glanced at an Enderman. Peter pushed his head down.

"Ow!"

"They get really pissed off when you look at them." Darian explained, getting to his feet.

He offered Miles his hand.

"I'm Darian."

"She m...mentioned you in p...passing."

Miles shook his hand and looked at Gwen again. Peter scooped her up.

"Come on, me and you can take her back to Arachnid. Bring the plate."

That left Teresa and Darian to deal with Helltreader. Teresa pulled out a co-ordinate device the same as the one Gwen had and looked around.

"It's that direction, but a long way in that direction. I don't suppose you can fly, can you?"

"No."

"Well...this mission is screwed."

"Maybe not. Look up there."

Teresa looked where Darian pointed. There was some sort of floating bedrock structure inside which was a black sheet of stars, almost identical to that in the portal.

"Got anymore of those pearls?"

"Yes."

Darian handed her one. She placed it on the ground then created a blue and white projection which picked up the orb and scrambled up the pillar nearest the structure. When it was just above it, it leapt onto it and threw the pearl inside. A second later, it disappeared. A few seconds after that, Teresa stood up again.

"That worked. And I could see Helltreader. Got anymore?"

"Yes, but not many."

She took another. Darian piled up blocks to the portal and looked down, wondering how the commander would get up. He threw some blocks down and she copied what he had done.

On the other side, the pair were greeted by a hideous sight. Some form of Helltreader was drifting aimlessly in circles. It was glitching constantly.

"That must really hurt." Breathed Darian.

"If you're feeling sympathy for him I'll shoot you."

"Absolutely not. You got the mini collider?"

Teresa pulled out the device from a pocket that looked far too small for it.

"How does that work?" He asked.

"Science. Bigger on the inside."

She flicked a switch and a small part at the front began to spin rapidly. Glitching Helltreader stopped floating and touched down.

"If you do that, you'll be helping me. This really quite hurts."

Teresa hesitated.

"Shall we let him feel it a little longer?"

"No."

Helltreader swept a glitching arm across, hurling Teresa to the edge of the island. The collider hurtled out of her hands and down the cliff, landing on a single block. She turned in time to see Helltreader tearing up the ground towards her. Suddenly, there was a crash and the immortal recoiled. Darian had almost seemed to teleport between him and the commander, striking his enemy with his shield. Helltreader laughed.

"Really? A sword and shield?"

Darian opened his mouth and belched out his three words. Teresa had concluded it was three, and the way he said it this time confirmed it. A blue shockwave caught Helltreader off guard, hurling him over the edge. Teresa created her blue and white projection which leapt on him, tearing at his burning skin and forcing him closer and closer to the void. Thirty seconds later, Darian blasted the immortal one last time into the void. There was a blinding light followed by an explosion which shook the island. When 'Mystery Man' regained his balance, his glitching enemy was nowhere to be seen. He turned to Teresa and shrugged.

"He's gone. Maybe killing him does the same thing as the mini collider?"

"I hope so, because the shaking just dropped it into the void."

Darian looked over the edge. The collider was nowhere in sight. He groaned.

"The captain is going to kill us."

"Just shout at her. Worked on a dragon and a glitchy old man, I'm sure it would shut her up."

"I might. It's time we got back to Arachnid anyway. I've had enough of 6834 anyway."

"Same here."

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Minecraft
And of course the mysterious crossover...