Part 4 - Resurgence
Chapter 65 - Hit Hard
Gwen looked at herself in the mirror mounted on the wall of her bedroom in the imperial palace. What a mess. She was wearing her spider suit, although the spray paint had peeled off when she had changed it back into its black, white, magenta and teal ball of programmable matter. Why did she even bother wearing it? She didn't deserve the title of Spiderwoman, or Spider-Gwen, or whatever people wanted to call her. But still, she had a job to do that wasn't sticking a sword through some innocent person. No, she had an immortal, oversized crocodile to reduce to atoms for the second time. Technically it was her third time fighting SCP-682, but the first she hadn't been merged with the Plate. Gwen turned away from her reflection, clenching her fist and raising it in front of her. As she pushed it forwards, she opened it and a wreath of magenta flames appeared, leading to 9634.
It didn't take an encounter with 682 to know the beast had been here, or something similar at least. Entire buildings lay in smouldering ruins, shredded bodies littered the streets. It was times like these that Gwen was glad she had merged with the Plate, although she wished she could use her spider sense now to find her enemy. But it didn't take long, flying up on magenta wings. The crumbling tower not far away told the whole story. She folded her wings back into a delta shape, booming through the sound barrier in split seconds. 682 was just how she remembered at first glance, although a second showed the monster had sprouted two more rows of spikes either side of its original set along its spine. Civilians ran, screaming, in all directions; the military was trying to hold back the oversized crocodile but to no avail. Gwen heard a roaring like a jet engine, then the signature 'brrrrrt' sound of one of the pre-Empire time's most iconic aircraft unleashing a deadly barrage. At least, deadly to something like a tank; 682 shrugged off the A-10 Warthog's barrage like a mosquito. Gwen raced up the street as the beast thundered towards the military; slamming straight into the underside of its jaw on the verge of three times the speed of sound. She was surprised to find she had gone straight through its skull and out the other side, now covered in sticky 682 blood. The 'Hard-to-Kill Reptile' had been thrown onto its back, but recovered quickly with the hole in its mouth filling in just as fast. The soldiers snapped to attention as Gwen landed.
"All hail the Empress!" Yelled the sergeant.
"Stop saluting me, you idiots, and get people out of here." The spider snapped, letting the Plate slowly take control of her mind to numb any fear she felt about facing her enemy.
"You heard her! Let's go!"
The soldiers started picking up wounded civilians, of which there were plenty. But soon it was just Gwen and SCP-682.
"I thought I killed you."
"You think you will triumph over me again and again, but I will always return." The monster replied in a deep voice.
"This time I will destroy your permanently, then I'll do the same to your father."
Gwen made to draw a katana but thought better of it. She leapt onto the side of an intact building and webbed a hefty piece of debris, throwing it up before bringing it arcing down on 682's head. 682 roared, charging at the building before standing up on its hind legs. The last time she had faced it, 682 couldn't do this so she wasn't ready. The beast snapped her up in its jaws, trying to swallow her. Gwen managed to stay in its now closed mouth with a web. She stood on its tongue and began to push the two parts of its jaw apart. In her entire life, she had never had to exert so much force and she was surprised her super strength could even go this far. But it was exhausting: when 682's jaw was wide enough, the monster shook its head wildly, throwing her out. She rolled along the ground then lay still for a few moments trying to catch her breath and get her energy back. 682 laughed: a short, haunting sound.
"You cannot defeat me. I will evolve."
Gwen forced herself back onto her feet. Her arms and legs felt like jelly, but she had a fight to win. The Plate seemed to have retreated, leaving just her alone with her fear. She felt adrenaline coursing through her veins and she struggled to think straight. She charged Ethereal energy around her before sending an enormous beam of it straight at 682. The monster roared angrily, but she couldn't keep it up. She collapsed to her knees, helpless and weak. The reptile closed in for the most powerful snack it had ever eaten.
"You are mortal. I...am immortal."
"Not if I have anything to say about it, you oversized son of a bitch!" Yelled a familiar voice.
Gwen looked round, and 682 looked up in time to receive a yellow taxi straight down the throat. The next moment, Miles swung down and grabbed Gwen, pulling her to relative safety on top of a much taller building. He pulled his mask up and grinned.
"I didn't expect to see you here."
"Lucifer probably wanted 682 to kill me."
"Yeah...err...looks like our oversized alligator is angry."
682 was barrelling towards the ground floor of the building.
"Probably because you called its sister a bitch!" Gwen shouted back as they swung to another building.
Miles frowned.
"Technically I called its mother a bitch."
"Its mother is technically its sister."
"How?"
"The Scarlet King slept with a goddess seven times and had seven children. Then he slept with each of them and 682 was one of its kids."
"Oh great. You never told me the King was from Alabama."
"Alabama isn't the only incest capital of the multiverse."
They moved to a third building as 682 smashed the second down.
"So, what's the plan?" Miles asked.
"I 'terminated' it before by blasting its body apart with Plate energy. It seems to still work, judging by that gash. I just can't hold the beam long enough."
"Why?"
"I had to use a lot of physical strength to get out of its mouth."
"You catch your breath. I'll keep it occupied until you're ready. What's the ETA?"
"A couple of minutes."
"Cool!"
Miles dived off the tower, charging a mega venom strike as he fell. 682 opened its jaws to catch him, but he pulled himself out of the way in time to slam his fist down on its snout, smashing its head into the ground. The spider stuck himself onto its back and fired a series of webs at a car, keeping hold of the threads as he fired the next. When he was confident it would hold, he pulled the wreck up and threw it across 682's nose, narrowly avoiding contact with the beast. The webs slid into its mouth, Miles cut the other ends as the car flew over his head, grabbing them and pulling both sides tight.
"Let's go, Alabama-gator! No, not into the building...thanks for that. No, I don't want to build an IKEA desk...oh the box is empty. Just turn around you stupid thing!"
Gwen laughed, watching Miles try to ride 682 like a horse. However, her short burst of joy lasted just a few seconds as 682 flipped itself head-first onto its back throwing him clear. The behemoth spat out the web reins, snarling at him.
"You insult me, insect."
Miles struggled back to his feet, clutching his side but still looking as determined as ever.
"Maybe that's the idea? How's your mother...sorry, your sister? Oh...crap."
He was only saved by a magenta blur driving itself into 682's spine, causing it to cave in, before leaping down between him and the floored behemoth. Gwen let out her stream of energy, tearing away chunks of flesh from it.
Nearly a full minute later, 682 was nothing but a lake of blood and flesh. Gwen relented, stumbling and gasping for breath. Miles caught her, but she quickly righted herself.
"You did it!" He exclaimed.
"Yes. I did."
She slammed an Ethereal fist into his chest, blasting him away into the rubble before opening a gate back to the palace.
Edward was waiting for Miles when he arrived at the McDonalds in 9633. The ex-admiral frowned at the state of him.
"What have you been up to?"
"Fighting SCP-682."
"I thought Gwen killed it?"
"Nope. But I hope it's dead now. She certainly made it look dead."
"You saw her?"
"We fought the thing together."
"How cute."
"Then she punched me."
"Are you still going to your little meeting with her at 8?"
"Might as well. She might explain why she did it."
"Oh well. I got most people on our side."
"So that must be about...thirty?"
"Yes. How did you do?"
"I got everyone as well."
"That brings it to near fifty."
"Fifty...it won't be enough to bring the Empire down, but it'll be enough to hurt."
"Hurting can bring you down, eventually."
"True, but the quicker the better. I've got to go. Peter's dimension is half-an-hour ahead of this one."
Edward looked down at his watch.
"Alright. Briefing is tomorrow at 1100 hours, my house."
"You sure you can get everyone in?"
"I'll figure it out. I'll let your everyone know since I only just came up with that there."
"Riiiiight."
Gwen had a horrible feeling in her stomach when she reached her and Miles' meeting spot and he wasn't there. Why would he come? She had punched him earlier for seemingly no reason. He had a rebellion to run as well. Suddenly, a 'phwip' sound of web shooters announced his arrival. He pulled his mask off showing an expression somewhere between joy and fear.
"I'm sorry about the punch. I had to." She said.
"Why?"
"Lucifer has cameras everywhere. If he saw I didn't do anything, he'd think I was helping you. Which of course I am, but he's not supposed to know that. I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"You caught me off guard, but I'm fine."
Gwen pulled off her own mask and sat down, staring out across New York.
"I miss times like this. Remember ten years ago? When we'd sit on top of the Empire State Building eating ice cream, maybe take out the odd criminal. Times before Conall, before Helltreader, before...me."
Miles sat next to her.
"Hey, if you think you're anywhere near as bad as even Conall, you really need to look in the mirror better. I kind of miss Conall, to be honest. He was weird, and a maniac, but times were simpler."
"We should find the Doctor. Maybe he'd take us back?"
"I doubt it. He walked away from waging wars after Helltreader, according to Peter."
"Yeah."
Gwen turned to him, staring into his eyes. She caught him off guard again as she pressed her lips to his. For a second he went with it, then pushed her away, shaking his head and standing up. It saddened him to see the hurt expression on her face.
"I'm sorry. I can't."
"Why?"
"You said it yourself: Lucifer has cameras everywhere."
"So what? I can make something up."
"And being in charge of the rebellion, I can't be seen making out with the Empress."
"Nobody can see us up here."
"They can through the cameras. Gwen, I...I just feel the Plate, not you. I feel like I'm kissing a weird crystal, not the person I love. When we find a way to split you and it, we can do it for hours on end. But not now."
She stared down the side of the skyscraper; Miles wondered what was going through her mind. She stood up, pulling something out of a slot in the wrist of her suit and holding it out to him.
"You'll be needing this."
As soon as he took it, she leapt off the side of the building and swung away without an explanation. He sighed, turning the item over and over in his hand, trying to work out what it was. It was seemed to be some sort of USB drive. He wondered what secrets it held.
"You saw Morales again today."
Gwen nodded.
"He saved me from 682."
"Have you ever considered he didn't save you for your benefit, but for his own? If he's seen sparing his enemy, it's propaganda for his side."
"There is no 'his side'. I don't know where you get half of these ideas from."
"He went to 2095 and four other dimensions recruiting spider people and the Avengers. Melbourne went to another thirty. And how can you be so sure there isn't one?"
"The same way you can be sure there is: speculation. What can a group of spider people do to a Reaper, anyway?"
"You saw him again later on."
"I went to say thank you."
"And you somehow knew he would be at that place at that time?"
"He'd turn up there sometime, his spider sense would tell him I was there."
"You kissed him and he pushed you away."
"OK, that's just ridiculous."
"He doesn't love you, Gwendolyn. He loves Chelsea."
Gwen felt anger burning somewhere deep inside her like a volcano waiting to erupt.
"He doesn't love Teresa. She's crazy."
"I wouldn't be so sure. Maybe you should do something about her...just in case?"
Gwen looked at the knife Lucifer subtly pushed towards her, wondering whether the devil was right. It would explain a lot.
Crossovers in this Chapter
- Lucifer
- SCP Foundation