Part 2 - 'Til Death do us Part

Chapter 50 - Name for a Name

It seemed the gaps between Helltreader's appearances was shortening. After a one week gap between 6119 and 9633, it had only taken four days for him to reappear, or so the spiders believed. Gwen was finally back in action, and she seemed to relieved to be able to do something again. They had been ordered to Edward's office instead of the briefing room which confused them. When they entered, it was just the admiral. He smiled and beckoned for them to take a seat. When they were comfortable, he took a deep breath and began.

"There may be a way we can end this using a pretty cursed object."

"Another Plate?" Enquired Gwen.

One was bad enough for her.

"No. Something arguably far worse. The Plates have all been used for destructive purposes, but they can create as we see because we're all alive. What I'm talking about can only kill, and it can kill with just two things: your name and your face."

"That's...terrifying." Breathed Miles.

"Yes. It's called a Death Note. The clue is in the name. Someone writes a name in it, imagining that person's face, and they'll die. If you're skilled enough you can use it to control someone before they die."

"Oh crap..."

"So, your mission is to seek out the most infamous user of one: Light Yagami. He lives in 9923. Do not give him your full names: your firsts will be fine. Nobody in his dimension knows he has it, so try not to muck that up."

"I doubt he'll hand it over lightly." Said Gwen.

"No, he won't. That's why you're to get him on our side. In exchange, we'll give him the detective, L's, real name. He's the only one who poses a threat to Light's plan, and Light knows it."

"A name for a name. So, when do we leave?"

"This mission has to be discreet. I doubt any of the others will approve. I contemplated sending Teresa for her experience with special ops, but she's too irritable. The Doctor will take you."

"Presumably Doctor Who, not the guy in the medical room." Joked Miles.

"Indeed. Meet him in the storage room in ten minutes. Be careful."

The Doctor was standing by the TARDIS as expected. What the spiders didn't expect was a completely different face.

"Oh...did you have a good regeneration, Doctor?" Asked Gwen.

"Ah yes! It's only been two hundred years since I last saw you two. I've regenerated twice!" The Doctor replied in a thick, Scottish accent.

"I'm pretty sure it's only been a few months..." Said Miles.

"But that's time travel, you see. Great, isn't it."

"Complicated."

"Well let's go. The sooner we have the Death Note, the better. I'll just park you up in an alley, you can do the talking."

"Thrown under the bus again." Muttered Gwen.

The TARDIS materialised in an alley, just like the Doctor had said. The spiders left it behind, bracing the heavy rain long enough to climb up a wall and in an open window. The bedroom was empty at the moment, but they could hear voices downstairs.

"I'll go invisible and block the door. You freak him out at his desk." Said Miles, disappearing from Gwen's sight.

A few minutes later, a young man walked in with a bag of potato chips. He closed the door and stopped, eyeing Gwen worriedly.

"Hello, Light. Take a seat. We're going to have a little talk."

Light sat down on the bed in silence. Suddenly, Miles turned visible again, but he didn't seem to care.

"I take it you aren't here to rob me."

"No. We're not. We need your help."

"And how could I help you? It looks like you have all that you need, dressed up like that."

"We almost do, we just need you to come with us to write a name in your Death Note."

Light's eyes narrowed.

"How do you know about that?"

"We aren't from this world." Said Miles.

"And what do I get in return for your help?"

"L's real name."

"And how do I know this isn't a trick?"

"Because we're getting pretty desperate with what we need you to do." Replied Gwen.

Light considered for a moment.

"How long will I be away for?"

"A couple of days, max."

"Then you have a deal."

Within an hour of their return, a briefing was held in the old resistance headquarters in the world between worlds. The collider had been modified to bring Helltreader back. Flux Force, the Doctor, Light and Edward were gathered, ready for a battle to decide the fate of countless trillions. If they brought Helltreader back and failed to kill him, it was over for them all. Edward took a couple of slow, deep breaths to calm himself.

"I'll try and keep this short because the longer we wait the worse it gets on the nerves. Here's the plan: the collider will be activated with reversed polarity which will pull Helltreader out of his state of flux. As soon as he's stable, Light will write down his name and the clock starts ticking. We stay alive for forty seconds and we've done it; we can go home and live our lives. If we fail...well...you won't be going home, and most likely wouldn't have one to go home to anyway. Any questions?"

"Yes. Why are you saying 'we'?" Asked Teresa.

"Because I'll be joining you as Venom. There's no point being a 'pussy' when there's nothing left to be scared of. Anything else?"

Nobody said a word so Edward turned to look at Light.

"Have you got a working pen?"

"And three spare."

"Then we're ready. Positions, people. We're go in five minutes."

Miles and Gwen swung into the collider chamber. The enormous machine was almost online, parts of it were spinning at crazy speeds. The spiders slid down to the bottom and morphed their masks off.

"However this goes, I love you." Said Miles.

"I know. I love you too."

They kissed until Venom towered over them, laughing.

"How sweet."

A voice boomed throughout the chamber.

"OK, everyone. This is control. All systems are go. Beginning stabilisation sequence now. Stabilisation in T-minus ten seconds."

So began the countdown, one second for every two beats of Gwen's heart. She focused on breathing as the familiar beams of energy clashed in the centre of the room.

"T-minus five."

She noticed a figure had begun to form where the beams met.

"T-minus two."

Helltreader's features were almost visible.

"T-minus zero."

There was an explosion which created a shockwave that shattered the collider and hurled much of the panelling off the walls. That was her secret back-up plan gone: Helltreader couldn't be put back in flux now. She jumped up, leaping between falling pieces of debris. She could sense Miles and Venom close behind. Helltreader watched her coming and drew two blazing swords. Gwen drew her own katanas.

"This is control: death sequence has begun, T-minus forty seconds."

The black and white spider collided with Helltreader at the same time Teresa's projection bit into the immortal. Helltreader ignored it and focused on Gwen. Miles shot past, hurling a venom web, but that was ignored as well. Gwen struck out at her enemy as hard as she could, putting every fibre of her being behind each swing. Helltreader ducked one and headbutted her in the stomach, knocking one of her katanas away. The next instant, Gwen felt almost powerless. She looked down to see the Ethereal Plate was gone. No...it was falling. She was going to die. A blue shockwave slammed into her, the immortal and the projection as Miles swung underneath them and caught the tumbling Plate. Gwen was knocked away, and the Projection disappeared. Helltreader fired a beam of energy in Darian's direction, but it missed. He was too distracted by the black and red blur which pummelled him with venom strike after Ethereal punch. He grabbed Miles by the throat and dived towards the ground as another projection leapt at him, but missed due to the sudden movement.

"T-minus twenty seconds."

Miles found himself in amongst a pile of debris, fighting for his life. He covered his face with his arms as Venom jumped on Helltreader, but was blasted away with a swing of the immortals arm. Helltreader began to chuckle as he drew a knife from thin air. Miles went to grab his own weapon, but was stopped by a single word:

"Gwen."

Helltreader tore upwards where another blue shockwave struck him, followed by a panel which shattered in his face.

"T-minus ten."

An invisible blade cut Peter's webs and he tumbled to the ground, only to be caught by Venom who grabbed a metal beam and launched up at the immortal. Helltreader fired a weak beam that drove the symbiote and admiral back to the ground. Teresa's projection ripped away at his skin again. He grabbed it and drove a fist through it.

"T-minus five."

Gwen slammed into him with both feet and wrapped her legs around his neck, making to snap it in attempt to kill him before the Death Note. The immortal blasted her off.

"T-minus zero."

The immortal clutched at his heart, breathless. He dropped towards the ground. Suddenly, a black katana shot through his neck, severing his head from his body. The two pieces hit the ground with a sickening series of cracks. His body began to break apart until three objects lay in its place: the Ethereal Plates. Gwen landed next to them. The monster was slain at last. Revenge for her son, for Ganke, and the countless billions before them. She looked around at the others, unsure what she felt, or what she was supposed to be feeling. She did a double take.

"Where's Miles? And Teresa?"

The team looked around. There was a shout from amongst the debris, a female shout. Teresa was OK. Gwen swung up to her, followed by Peter.

"We did it." Said the former to the commander.

"Yeah...I...Gwen...I'm sorry." Teresa replied.

"What?"

She looked to where her friend pointed. Peter swung past.

"Oh no."

Gwen sprinted over and collapsed to her knees. Miles lay on motionless, so still that not even his chest rose as he breathed. Was he breathing? She hurled the Void Plate away and used his hand to morph the mask away.

"Miles? Miles! Say something!"

She shook him. Peter knelt down and pointed to his younger friend's chest. A knife was driven straight through his heart. Gwen shook her head and shook Miles' body again.

"No. No, you're alive. I know you are. Teresa!"

The commander appeared.

"Gwen..."

"CPR. Do it. Now."

"Gwen...CPR is supposed to try and restart the heart. If the heart is destroyed...it won't work."

"Then where's the doctor?"

"Right here!"

The doctor from Arachnid sprinted over the debris with a few other medics. He knelt down and began to scan Miles. After a few moments, he folded the device and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. He's gone."

"No, no, no! There has to be a way. You fixed me when I was stabbed by 096. You can fix this!"

"Fixing intestines, bones and skin tissue is one thing. Fixing a heart is another. His brain function has ceased. I'm sorry, he's gone."

Gwen collapsed completely so that she was lying down. She began to cry harder than she had ever cried before. After a few seconds she let out a horrible sound somewhere between a scream and a growl. It was one that made Peter shiver, a sound of inconsolable grief. He removed his mask; he didn't cry, but it hurt seeing a friend in such a state. Gwen would never be the same person again, and as his mind sought something to take his mind off his other friend who lay dead in front of him, he wondered what sort of person would come out the other side.

He wasn't there. That was all Gwen thought as the coffin was lowered into the grave. She, and a number of other people, were attending the funeral in 9559, Edward's home. With both Miles' and her home dimensions gone, it was the next place on the list. The thing she wondered most was...if he wasn't there, then where was he? There had to be an afterlife somewhere in the multiverse, right? She would find it, and she would bring him back. No matter the cost.

Two days passed. Edward dropped the device he held on the front desk of the Valour's briefing room. Flux Force, the Doctor and a number of Sol admirals stared back at him.

"This question is aimed primarily at members of Flux Force, but someone else may be able to answer as well. Did Gwen say where she was going before she left?"

His voice was hard, angry and intimidating to even the strongest in the room. But nobody had an answer. The Grand Admiral sighed and collapsed into the chair.

"Well then, if you haven't been listening to the rumours, let me fill you all in. The day after Miles' funeral, Gwen disappeared. That's common knowledge. However, what has been kept under wraps, and I expect it to remain this way, is that she took the Mind Plate with her."

There was some muttering.

"Isn't there a tracker in her suit?" Asked one of the admirals.

"Yes, but it went offline when she disappeared."

The Doctor raised his hand.

"Gallifrey was found yesterday. I went and checked: the Subtle Knife was gone and the Citadel was in ruins."

Edward sat forward.

"And why didn't you tell me this as soon as you found out?"

"Because not everything concerns you. Unfortunately, it seems this might."

"Does anyone else have anything they're keeping secret?"

Nobody in the room dared to move a muscle.

"Alright then. If you find anything out, report it directly to me. Any questions? Good. Dismissed."

The admirals stood up and saluted before filing out in an orderly fashion.

Teresa stopped as she was walking down the hallway aboard the Arachnid. She looked over her shoulder at the door to what had been Miles and Gwen's quarters. An idea struck her, although Gwen didn't seem the type for leaving notes. But it was worth a try. She walked backwards to the door and tapped the console. Nothing happened, clearly because she didn't have clearance. Time for plan B. She took a step back and knelt down, slamming her fist into the ground. An extremely muscular, but otherwise normal version of herself appeared. The projection dug its fingers between the two sides of the door and forced it open. Teresa stood up again and it vanished. The room was dark, the bed was made neatly. She looked around and her eyes fell on a a sheet of paper: bingo. She picked it up and looked. It was blank...or was it?

"Computer. Light. Ultraviolet."

The room was lit up in a deep bluish-purple. Teresa bit her lip as she read the message which had been revealed:

"He isn't gone. He's out there. I will find him. Do not follow me, it will only get people hurt."

The commander turned and sprinted to the transfer room where she teleported to the Valour. Edward was on the bridge, speaking to his tactical officer. He looked round when she entered.

"Merry Christmas. This was in Gwen's quarters."

She handed him the piece of paper.

"It's blank?"

"Computer. Lights. Ultraviolet."

The message appeared.

"But it doesn't help us. We don't know where she is."

"Anyone got a black light? Cos I'm guessing the lights don't do it."

"They do. Computer. Lights. Black light."

They changed again, plunging the room into darkness. Random glowing patches were visible on the wall, but that wasn't what Edward was interested in. He read the newly exposed message and looked at Teresa who watched hopefully.

"She's just written one word. It's hard to read because of the fingerprints, might be a name, but I've never heard it."

"Maybe Darian will know? He knows a lot about the multiverse."

"Maybe."

'Mystery Man' walked onto the bridge and saluted Edward. Peter followed since they had been talking.

"Darian, does this word mean anything to you?"

The admiral turned the sheet of paper so his subordinate could read it. He nodded.

"Oh yes...it means something to me."

Gwen stumbled through snow at the top of a mountain. She stopped, panting for breath and exhausted, but intent on not giving up. What did it matter? She was at the top now. Something swooped down and landed atop a rock.

"I know what you seek. Laas mindin dinok. This path brings only pain."

"Then so be it."

She pulled the magenta Plate from its slot and drew the Subtle Knife from its small sheath. Her hands shook as she put the tip of the blade to the plate. A strange noise rang out, but she ignored it and drove the knife through the glass-like object. Two things happened at once: magenta energy ran into her like a seething river, and an enormous tear appeared just above the mountain. From the tear emerged something similar to the creature which had spoken to her, but this one was completely black and had glowing red eyes. It landed in front of her, watching as the magenta energy began to fade leaving Gwen with the knife and the shattered pieces of the plate. She sheathed the knife. The beast sneered at her.

"Who are you to bring me from the abyss?"

"Good evening to you too, Alduin."

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Death Note
- Venom
- Doctor Who
- His Dark Materials
- Skyrim (that's the secret one by the way)

Note

So, Miles is dead. Gwen has merged with a Plate again. What price is she willing to pay to bring back the person she loves? And will it all be in vain? Check out part three to find out...