Part 2 - 'Til Death do us Part

Chapter 48 - Normality

Peter took another bite out of the slice of pizza he was holding as he stopped in front of Miles and Gwen's quarters. Gwen had been released from the medical room, having sustained her injuries two weeks ago now, but was still bed ridden. Being skewered wasn't something which healed overnight, even for a spider person. Peter tapped the panel beside their door and heard Miles tell him to come in. The door hissed open and Peter waved. Miles was sitting with his back against the side of the bed while Gwen was fast asleep on top of it.

"How you doing, buddy?"

"Still breathing. Careful you don't eat too much of that, you don't want to get another 'dimensional warping' problem."

"Yeah, whatever. It's some of the best pizza I've ever had. Anyway, the captain asked me to fetch you. Looks like the war's still going."

"It always will. I'm worried we'll never kill Helltreader permanently."

"When did you become a pessimist?"

Miles shrugged and stood up. He shook Gwen's shoulder to tell her where he was going, to which he only got a grunt before she fell asleep again.

Much to Peter and Miles' surprise, Edward was sitting at the head of the table looking quite relaxed. Teresa still hadn't arrived which didn't surprise either of the spiders. She seemed to have confined herself to quarters for whatever reason. However, she showed up a few minutes later, giving Darian an angry look. Lucille was nowhere to be seen. Edward took a deep breath.

"Before I brief you on the mission, I thought I'd tell you I've assumed command of the Arachnid, and Flux Force. Captain Lucille had showed herself to be more worried about her ship than crew, which isn't something we want from someone in charge of the elite fighting force. Any questions? No? Good. Your mission today is in some vaguely familiar territory, and much more normal: 9633. No superheroes, no villains, no bone breaking sculptures, no dragons. Just...normality. Helltreader has popped up in London, UK. Your task is the same as usual: kick him back into non-existence. Any questions?"

Teresa raised her hand briefly.

"Will Darian be pulling another sicky?"

Darian shook his head.

"I apologise about that, but I couldn't return to the hands of the Foundation."

The commander narrowed her eyes. Edward looked at the spiders.

"You two got anything? No? OK, Miles stay behind, the rest of you are dismissed. Get suited up, we're jumping in one hour."

The other three members of Flux Force left Miles and the admiral alone. Miles looked out the window as Edward talked:

"I just want to check you're doing OK, psychologically I mean. You and...G...keep getting thrashed and it must be getting pretty wearing by now."

"I'm alright. Maybe tired, and sick of being wrecked. But it's what spider people do: when things get tough we get over it."

"And get yourself killed in the process."

"If getting killed means saving more lives then so be it. I'm worried about her, though. She's never handled these sorts of things well."

"Yes, I quite agree. You've both been through a lot: concentration camps, time travel, the Foundation. I'm gonna come clean and say I've put her on a watchlist."

"What sort of watchlist?"

"The sort for people who are mentally unstable. She's OK at the moment, but the more that hits her the worse it gets. If I'm really honest, if the worst happens to you I think she'll break."

"In what way? As in try to take her own life or..."

"Unable to finish the grieving process, wanting to find a way to get you back. But you know her best, keep an eye on her and let me know if you think she's going to try something rash."

"I will. And thanks...for keeping an eye out for both of us."

The admiral gave him a nod as the spider left.

Miles wasn't a fan of 9633. It was where Gwen had merged with the magenta Ethereal Plate and turned into a psychopath. That being said, they were on the other side of the world. London was quite different to New York, although there were some similarities too. To start with, there weren't nearly as many skyscrapers. Flux Force didn't pay much attention to it, though. Their objective was to get to Helltreader. Currently, they were riding the underground in civilian clothes to Piccadilly Circus which had been the glitching immortal's last known location. The train came to a screeching halt in Piccadilly Circus station and the four made their way to the surface.

"That was way better than the New York subway." Said Peter.

"Whatever. Focus." Miles replied under his breath.

His spidey sense guided them through the crowds to a small podium near the fountain where people were watching someone in awe. They were standing with their arms raised and glitching like crazy. The audience seemed to think it was a crazy magic trick and some were putting money in a hat in front of him. The team spread out through the crowd. Darian pushed his way to the front and moved as if to put money in the hat. Just as he bent down to put the coins in, he snapped his head up and yelled the three words which always had such a dramatic effect. Helltreader was hurled backwards into the fountain which began to boil and hiss. People screamed and began to run as a blue and white Teresa began ripping into the immortal's skin. However, after a few seconds, a shockwave rattled out which flattened everyone to the ground except Miles and Peter who stood strong, Peter having pulled off his jacket to reveal his suit, and Miles having morphed his around him; the Void Plate sat snugly in its slot. The immortal rose up out the water and clenched his fist, balling the liquid into a sphere which he clumped around Peter. Miles leapt at Helltreader, planting his foot in his face allowing Peter to get free before he drowned. However, Helltreader grabbed Miles' ankle and hurled him away. Miles slammed into a massive billboard and stuck on, suddenly finding himself staring into a familiar face. He frowned and looked at it, realising it was his own. The image changed to display 'Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse 3'.

"That's gonna get annoying." He thought.

He swung down to re-join the fight. Darian and Teresa had the immortal engaged at the moment so Miles landed next to Peter who was dripping wet.

"We only ever killed him before with stuff from those dimensions. There's nothing here." Said the latter.

"What about a bus?"

"It might do the trick if you can get him without him noticing. Also, don't wreck the fountain. I hear the British are really protective of their monuments."

"Aren't we all?"

Peter spoke a little too late. Darian blasted Helltreader with another shockwave, but the excess of the wave crashed through the fountain, tearing apart the old stone work.

"RIP." Said Peter with a sheepish grin.

Miles rolled his eyes and leapt up into the jet of water from the fountain by which he was boosted further up. He webbed a sizeable piece of stone and hurled it at his enemy. Helltreader roared and swept Darian away, turning to Miles who drew a black longsword. Peter watched, amused, as Miles began to lay into him with the blade. The immortal parried with his own weapon. Miles swung his knee up into the immortal's groin, but it had as little effect as punching someone in the hand. Helltreader chuckled.

"Nice one. Tell me, how's Gwen?"

For a second, Miles froze up at the sound of her name, and in that instant realised why Helltreader had hit him with a weapon which did something so specific. He was thrown backwards into the pile of debris and grunted as he felt the impact jarring through his body. Peter sprinted at the immortal, swinging up and pummelling him as Darian re-joined the fight from behind. Now it was a fight on two fronts again, one which Miles knew was going to be lost if he didn't help. He picked up his weapon and charged in. Helltreader smirked.

"Gwen!"

Miles' legs crumbled beneath him and he growled angrily. Peter didn't like this one bit. It made him angry to see Miles reduced to dead weight by a single word, and none other than the name of the person he was closest to. He picked up the fight, grabbing Helltreader by the throat instead of throwing a punch. As Miles got up again, Helltreader made to yell 'Gwen' again, but had his mouth stuffed with a blue and white fist. Miles drove his sword into the glitch's heart. There was a bang, and the team was thrown back as it disappeared. Miles was up in an instant. He glanced at Peter, who he saw was watching the billboard curiously. He jumped up, boosted on the fountain and hurled a rock into the screen, shattering it and making it turn dark, before he landed next to his old spider friend.

"That was like that when we got here."

Peter laughed and got up. Teresa marched over as police cars screamed to a halt all around them.

"Me and Darian might need a lift out of here. They'll never get a chopper down." She said as 'Mystery Man' came up behind her.

"I can't. I've got the Plate." Replied Miles.

"Looks like it's on me, then." Sighed the other spider.

Suddenly, there was an extremely loud noise as a helicopter appeared over the buildings. Miles had a thought:

"Maybe they don't need to land."

"Yeah they do. I can't fly."

"Don't need to."

He latched a web onto the side of the vehicle and pulled himself up before hauling the two non-spiders up with webs. Peter swung in the other side and the helicopter turned sharply. The team sank into the seats, but were rudely interrupted from their rest by a bang. Teresa sighed and looked out.

"Typhoons, four of them."

"Typhoons?" Darian enquired.

"Fighter jets. Hit 'em with your shouty thing."

'Mystery Man' moved to the door and hauled it open again, letting out another powerful shockwave which knocked one of the aircraft from the sky.

"There's still another three."

"Then you'd better start shooting because I have to recharge after I do that."

Teresa sighed and opened fire with her pistol. Miles and Peter didn't like this, as it could kill someone. Peter hauled the other door open and climbed onto the side of the helicopter. He unstuck himself and was thrown backwards from the machine, landing on one of the Typhoons where he ripped the canopy off and pulled the pilot's ejection seat.

"Bon voyage!" He yelled as the parachute burst open.

Miles had fired a venom web at another of the fighter jets, disabling it. It began to plummet to the ground because of its lack of computer control keeping it stable. Peter leapt onto it and opened the canopy as the pilot ejected. One...nope, zero left. Darian had finished it off and another parachute burst open. Peter swung back into the helicopter and sat down.

"That's gonna cost a lot of money to replace." Sighed Teresa.

"Teresa, how do you know about all these old military things?" Asked Darian.

"I like history, and this dimension is very like mine."

"That might come in useful some day."

"It just did."

For once, the debrief happened with the same number of team members as the initial briefing. At the end, Miles stayed behind to speak to Edward again, but by his choice rather than the admiral's. He sat forward in his chair.

"We have to get this thing with me and Gw...Gw..."

He growled at his inability.

"I know it's annoying. The doctor's working on it."

"The doctor has so many other things to do. Why can't we get someone else on it, like Stanley and Lisa?"

"I'm sure they'd be extremely happy to try, but it isn't their area of expertise. Look, Miles, it doesn't inhibit your ability to fight."

"Except it does. Helltreader used it on me twice."

The admiral sighed.

"Right. I'll speak to them and see if they can try. But for now, are you OK? You're really snappy."

"Sorry. Adrenaline."

"Adrenaline's a dangerous thing, despite its evolutionary benefit. But we aren't monkeys anymore, and having a shaky hand doesn't help you pull a trigger."

"That came out of nowhere."

"Just thinking out loud. If you're OK then go and get some rest."

"Yes sir..." Miles replied sarcastically.

A week later, Gwen returned to their quarters from a check-up with the doctor.

"How's things?" Asked Miles.

She sighed.

"Not good, but not bad. Somewhere in between. I have to stay active now, but not strain myself."

"So you're still out of action."

"Yes. I don't think I could do much anyway. I feel so stiff, especially around the hip. And the intestines hurt."

"What's wrong with them?"

Gwen glared at him.

"I was turned into a Spider-Gwen cocktail. Sure, it's better than taking it through the chest, but your intestines are still pretty important."

"Oh right, yeah."

Miles was trying to decide if he should tell Gwen about her being on a watchlist, but eventually came to the conclusion he shouldn't. Instead, he asked:

"So, you're fine outside, but what about inside?"

"What?"

"I mean...mentally."

She took a deep breath as she sat down opposite him.

"I'm sick of being beaten over and over. Every time we get involved in this temporal stuff it happens. Conall wrecked us over and over again, now Helltreader keeps dragging us into situations where we nearly get killed."

"It's almost as if he wants us to die..."

"It's beginning to make me kinda angry. Edward doesn't see it's beyond us, nobody else says anything to him that hints at it. One of these days I'm gonna punch him."

"Make sure you don't have the Plate on when you do it. He's a nice guy."

"I don't want to kill him, nor anyone. I just want to knock some sense into him."

Miles nodded. He understood where she was coming from, but from what he could tell, Edward knew what he was asking of them fine well. That was why he had ordered the formation of Flux Force: so that they had people to work with to cover their weaknesses.

Crossovers in this Chapter

A little fourth wall break but no crossovers today!