Part 5 - Blood of the King
Chapter 91 - Destiny
Teresa wondered what SCP-999 could be doing that was abnormal. It was just an orange blob that ran around making people happy and eating sweets all day. When she arrived in 9001 where the 'Tickle Monster' was held, her eyes widened in shock. Gwen warped in beside her and was equally shocked.
"That...wasn't there before." She muttered.
"Nope."
The small orange blob was still orange with black dots for eyes, but was most certainly not a blob anymore. 999 towered over the facility; Gwen guessed it was about the size of the Scarlet King in his fifth phase and was still growing slowly. It had taken a humanoid form as well. An Ares was floating around its head with its ramp lowered. Teresa spied someone on it, possibly talking to it but 999 didn't appear to be responding. Gwen fired a web and pulled herself up onto the jet, sticking to the bottom of it, as Teresa decided to go and find somebody who could explain this. 999 gave Gwen a pleasant smile. She climbed onto the ramp and found the person talking to it was Max.
"What's happening?" She asked.
"999 got bigger and now has telepathic abilities. I was just chatting."
"Hello there." Said a friendly voice in Gwen's head.
"Woah. How can you hear over the noise this jet makes?" She asked.
"I can hear anything I want to hear. It's quite fun, actually."
A sense of calm swept through Gwen, one she hadn't felt since the war with Conall all those years ago.
"So...you're big now?"
"From the moment I was conceived, I was destined to fight my father."
"You're one of Khahrahk's children?"
"Me and many others."
"Yeah...I fall under that category as well."
"You must have been the seventh of your line."
"I guess. I never met Mum."
"None of us ever do."
"What makes us special?"
999 paused, thinking silently.
"I believe it all goes back to the birth of the original seven, of which me, my brothers and sisters are the reincarnations of. Allow me to quote the Lālā Raja. 'The seventh bride was A'habbat. She was the smallest and weakest of the seven, but she was not broken utterly by the King, and was horrified by her state. Her children walked on two legs, and were mighty hunters and heroes: she taught them in secret, hoping that they might destroy the children of her sisters and overthrow the King.'"
Robert stood up from his seat in the cabin of the Ares.
"So the Lālā Raja is true..."
"What's the Lālā Raja?" Asked Max.
"The holy book of the Children of the Scarlet King. My god...we know everything."
"Robert, what is it?"
"I need a..."
Suddenly, the atmosphere turned tense. 999 seemed upset by something and it was wearing off on the rest of them.
"My father is coming. He senses me." It said out loud.
"Can you defeat him? You're our only fighting chance." Asked Gwen.
"As long as there are descendants of the seventh, there is a chance. We must leave this place."
A great orange crack appeared in reality through which 999 walked. The Ares followed and 999 closed the portal, smiling again.
"'The King and his armies approach the Taproots, the center worlds, in all his wrath, and all his hate, and all his spite. He reaches out to corrupt and consume and destroy. Even now his presence is felt. Time slips away. The Brass Goddess is broken, the Serpent has fled. The heroes are gone. The children of A'habbat have been slaughtered to the last. The King's servants are already here, making straight the path for his arrival. With this arrival the Tree shall die, and all creation shall die with it. High above, the Brothers of Death watch the war unfold, hovering over the depths. As they always have. They know the outcome of the war, for they are the end of all things, but they do not speak of it.'" Robert quoted.
999 closed its eyes, or at least made some attempt to do so by lowering a layer of transparent orange goo over them much like a human eyelid.
"The words of the Lālā Raja are not set in concrete. What has passed has passed, but what is yet to may still be changed."
"I hope you're right."
"I want to read this thing. It sounds like it has a lot of answers to a lot of questions." Said Max.
"We don't have a complete copy, just stuff recovered from archaeological digs and raids on the many Children's hideouts."
"My father is still coming. He brings his army."
Max bit his lip.
"We're still in 9001. What could he want here that he needs an entire army?"
Gwen climbed out on top of the Ares and confirmed what her spider sense had told her.
"'With this arrival the Tree shall die...'" She muttered before whirling round to face 999. "You brought us to the gates of his final target?"
"I did not. That is not the true Garden of Eden. What do the Quintari call it...Zaltoxir? It has remained locked for a trillion years. My father doesn't know the truth."
"We need reinforcements! Now!" Gwen shouted into the cabin, partially ignoring 999's response.
999 sighed and walked towards the gate. SCP-001, the Gate Guardian, began to shift its position, seeming to bow its flaming head.
"Uriel, he is here."
A red crack appeared, wider than any other Max had seen. From it marched an army. Thousands of 'Kates' appeared, flanked by SCP-682 and a metal creature with eyes that seemed to be nothing more than a void. Finally, bringing up the rear, was the Scarlet King himself. The lone Ares turned to face the army. The Gate Guardian, Uriel, reared up to its full height brandishing its great flaming sword. 999 faced down his father who was twice the size of him. Max and Gwen felt utterly useless as they stood at Uriel's fiery feet. The Guardian seemed to be eyeing them warily as it stepped aside. From the gate to False Eden emerged ranks of animals of all shapes and sizes. Gwen and Max exchanged looks, feeling a little less out of place.
"This won't do it." Said Gwen, speaking Max's thoughts.
"Let's just hope Teresa has the sense to call for back-up."
"Teresa has more sense than everyone else combined. Never take her advice, but trust her decisions."
"I'll remember that."
The pair went silent as 999 and Khahrahk began to speak to each other.
"This isn't the way, father. These people do not deserve this suffering."
"You are a child, my greatest mistake."
"Let the dead rest. The Darkness Below will never fully consume Bastria."
"The Bastion of the Dead will fall, and you with it. They have no defence."
"Why are you doing this? What ancient curse was put on you? It can be broken."
"Existence is the only curse. All reality shall burn."
Suddenly, a golden flash appeared between the armies.
"I forgot about him." Gwen muttered.
"Where has he been?" Asked Max.
"No idea."
Conall seemed furious.
"You realise how much of a temporal mess you've made, right? Seven dimensions gone in two days; you've pissed off just about everyone there is to piss off. The Republic is coming, so is the Ethereal Legion. The Quintari aren't, but they're in full-on war machine mode."
"This day was written since the dawn of time, something you would not remember. You cannot stop it." Khahrahk snarled in response.
"No, but I'll tell you something: the Scarlet King's reign will become just another speck. Once you're gone, time will keep ticking on forever and ever and your trillion will look like a noob number."
The Scarlet King chuckled to himself.
"I will tell you something: every word you just said was a lie."
"Let's see what the cavalry have to say about it."
A few seconds passed; nothing happened. Conall facepalmed.
"Where's Hollywood level timing when you need it?"
On cue, a squadron of Ares jets appeared, pulling a sharp manoeuvre to stop alongside the first. 682 began to laugh hysterically.
"That's all you brought?" Asked the oversized reptile.
"Nope."
Conall received his perfect timing now. Dark grey and white ships burst out of normal space warp, joined by a hundred more from temporal warps. They were joined by countless Ares and Phantom jets. On the ground, soldiers in varying uniforms appeared, joined by something Max wasn't expecting to see rolled out so soon: twenty metal Velociraptors were warped in as well as a much larger dinosaur which carried a rider. The Velociraptors let out their distinctive pack-hunting call that he still thought sounded like a dog barking through its nose.
When the temporal warps finally ceased, Conall flew down to the spiders and Teresa who had just joined them. The former commander gave him an angry look.
"Where the hell have you been?"
"Searching."
"For what?"
"I'll explain later."
"There might not be a later."
"Not with that attitude."
999 gave his father a final look and warning:
"This doesn't have to end this way. You can't win."
"But I cannot lose. A'habbat sentenced you when she chose her path."
"Then so be it."
The once adorable blob stepped forward. Uriel raised its sword, pointing the tip at the Scarlet King; the army charged.
Gwen, Max and Teresa held back, the first two waiting for something to swing on and the latter preferring to use her projections. Conall, on the other hand, decided to go straight for SCP-682. The 'Hard-to-Destroy Reptile' saw him coming from half-a-mile out and turned to face him. The immortal shot straight down 682's throat and out the other side, just as he had done in Noladis.
"So, are you another pattern screamer cos the real thing's too scared?"
"I'm as real as you deserve."
"That clears nothing up."
682 reared up on its hind legs, snapping at Conall as its wounds healed. The immortal rolled out the way and let loose a golden jet of energy which peeled off enormous chunks of flesh. Soon all that remained were bones, but 682 was still very much alive. It grabbed Conall's leg and hurled him into the ground, lunging on top of him to finish the job. At the last second, a black metal T-Rex crashed into the skeleton. Conall seized his chance and leapt to his feet, spreading his wings and grabbing 682 by one of its ribs. As he flew higher and higher, he caught a glimpse of 999 sweeping away Kates like they were little more than insects. Uriel was locked in a vicious duel with the metal monster. When the immortal was sure they were high enough, he charged an Ethereal punch and sent 682 hurtling towards the ground. When it had a sufficient lead, he dived. There was a series of thirty sonic booms in quick succession followed by an explosion of dust and debris as he drove the skeleton down through the Earth's crust and into the mantle.
The fighting paused for the most part, at least on the ground, as fighters on both sides picked themselves up from the shockwave created by the impact. Gwen had already killed plenty of Kates, weakening them with electric charge from her suit then finishing them off with her katanas. Now she found herself caught between Uriel and the metal monster. The giants were about the same size, about a quarter the height of Khahrahk. Even so, the metal monster seemed to be faring better than the Gate Guardian. Gwen decided it was time to intervene; Uriel was too strong to be lost to whatever this thing was. She fired a web at the monster's leg and hauled herself up, swinging in circles around it until she reached its head. It didn't seem to notice her, but Uriel did, lowering its blows with its flaming sword a little closer to the ground to avoid hitting her. She stared down, wondering what she could possibly do to help out. She remembered the fight with Khahrahk in 7610 and got her answer: go for the legs. She leapt off its shoulder, extending her glide suit a little and narrowly avoiding the clashing swords of the giants. When she was at the metal monster's waist level, she folded the suit again and fired a web to swing round its knees again and again. After ten rounds, she cut the web and fired another onto a passing Phantom. It pulled her along at high speed for a few seconds before she dropped off and streaked towards the neck of the monster. With a katana held out in front of her, she slammed into it. The blade didn't go through, but the monster tripped on her webs and tumbled. Uriel's flames seemed to blaze fiercer as it drove its own weapon through the skull of its adversary. The metal armour began to collapse in on itself until all that was left was a large ball of scrap. Gwen took a deep breath, looking up at the flaming Gate Guardian who she could have sworn gave her a nod of thanks.
Max was in a tight situation. Two Kates circled him, their tentacles weaving an impenetrable net. He sprinted at one, leaping and planting a foot in its beaked face. A tentacle wrapped itself around his neck, choking him to death slowly but surely. Suddenly, there was a mighty roar. Even the Kates turned to see what it was. One didn't see what sent it to the abyss, but the other did: a black metal T-Rex with red lights in true Legion fashion. The dinosaur's rider yelled in triumph as their pet ripped the other to shreds. They looked down at Max who was lying on the ground, trying to get his breath back. The rider pulled up their visor.
"Hey Max!"
"Jacob?! What the..."
"The Legion called and said they needed someone to trial their new dinosaur pack and since it was my idea, they wanted me. The battle they didn't tell me about until lights started flashing and stuff."
"Yeah...we weren't exactly ready for it."
"Oh well. Hop on, man. There's plenty of room and you're just a snack down there."
"I couldn't agree more."
Teresa had seen the T-Rex rip the Kates apart and was quite amused by how stupid the whole concept was. Suddenly, her amusement was dampened by a snarling. She sighed and turned to face her aggressor. A Kate was prowling, but it was different from the others wielding ten tentacles and slightly bigger. So this was one of the things Miles had given his life to destroy. Teresa tensed up her arm and a blade morphed into her hand. Electricity crackled down its length, obviously irritating the Kate. The former commander twirled the weapon and charged. The tentacles came for her; she dropped down on her back and slid under them before slicing her weapon along the Kate's belly and getting back to her feet on the other side. As far as she could tell, all she had done was piss it off. Instead of using its tentacles, it ran at her letting out a horrific screech. Teresa tensed her arm again and the weapon disappeared. Before it was even fully retracted, she was down on one knee and her white and blue projection was wrestling with the savage beast. Out of nowhere, a golden blur dropped down from sky and crushed both of them. Teresa was back on her feet again as Conall folded his wings. He was caked in dust and blood but he didn't seem to care. He still didn't care as the Kate melted into a horrible puddle of pale liquid around his feet. All that Teresa knew was he was livid.
"Care to explain where you've been, now?"
"Searching for pieces to a very large jigsaw. I will discuss it with the directors later."
Gwen dropped down from a lift she was taking on an Ares. Jacob, Max and the T-Rex pulled up a few moments later. Max slid off and patted the T-Rex's leg. He looked up to where the ultimate fight was about to take place. 999 had grown to three quarters the size of Khahrahk now and was still getting bigger.
"Good work with 682, Conall." Said Gwen.
"Whatever. What's the plan, Max?"
Max looked at Conall, slightly confused, but soon came up with something.
"We take the Crucible back and let 999 do its thing."
"Sounds good."
The immortal spread his wings and tore off.
"We're in trouble with Conall, I think." Teresa muttered.
"Oh great."
999 stopped, staring Khahrahk down with bodies at its feet.
"You can't win, father."
"If that is what you believe, you are a fool. The Scarlet King's reign is eternal."
"How can you reign over something when there's nothing left?"
"These concepts are beyond you."
Khahrahk reached for the Scarlet Crucible slung on his back. He made to swing the mighty weapon, but a web caught it and held it back. The King looked on his shoulder to see Max pulling with all his strength. With a breath, the spider was sent hurtling off. Max coughed, wondering how long it had been since Khahrahk had brushed his teeth, or even had a mint. He swung back up, joined by Gwen, as Conall went straight for the King's hand. The immortal strained, trying to prise the King's fingers open. The spiders went to help as 999 saw its opportunity and grabbed its father's shoulder. Gwen wondered if it was about to say 'hey', but the orange humanoid remained silent. As for Khahrahk, a smile spread across his face; not one of full of malice, but a kind one. The Scarlet King began to laugh hysterically, his grip on the Crucible loosening allowing Conall to pull the weapon free. He struggled to hold it until it had shrunk down to his size. The spiders and immortal returned to the ground with Teresa who made to take the weapon from Conall, but he kept it out of reach whilst maintaining his foul mood. By this time, the Scarlet King was a howling wreck, seemingly laughing like someone had just told the funniest joke in the history of humour. But it was not to last: there was an ear splitting crack then 999 went still, his hand falling back to his side. Khahrahk snapped back to himself, spotting the Crucible in Conall's hand. His clenched fist fell like a hammer; the group scattered but in the confusion, Conall dropped the ultimate weapon. The Scarlet King took up his sword and slashed it clean through 999's neck as a cloud of black birds flew overhead.
"No!" Gwen yelled as the orange giant crumbled, its head hitting the ground a short distance away.
Uriel blazed furiously as it struck out at the new aggressor, but Khahrahk brought his sword down through the flames. Every soldier on the battlefield stared at the scene, taking in this newcomer. They appeared to be around the height of Khahrahk when Gwen and Teresa had first fought him twenty-five years ago for the Animator, but their power seemed to sap all knowledge and life from the everyone and everything. An eerie silence fell and the black birds, which Gwen saw to be crows, landed on this half-decayed corpse and began pecking away. The spider walked around to get a better look as the corpse bowed before the Scarlet King. She noted she was the only one not affected by its presence and decided it was probably to do with her ancestry. Khahrahk slung the Crucible on his back once more.
"Your timing was perfect, Hastur."
Hastur stood up again and replied in sign language.
"This battle is won."
"There is still much to be done. Burn this False Eden, let the Ethereal Legion cower back into its hole, and watch the Republic collapse into chaos."
"It will be done, my King."
Hastur took hold of Uriel's flaming sword and traipsed towards the gate, dragging the weapon so it ignited the grass. When the corpse reached the gate, it hurled it like a javelin into the false Eden. Flames erupted from the two trees at the top of the hill. Khahrahk smiled.
"This is but a taste of what is still to come, Gwendolyn."
Gwen stared up, even more terrified now the King had called her by her name. There was another ear-splitting crack and a gaping red hole appeared in the sky. Hastur marched through, followed by the surviving Kates with Khahrahk bringing up the rear. As soon as it was sealed, life returned to the battlefield. Gwen fell to her knees as she watched the Garden burning. Sure, it wasn't the real thing, but it was a place where she had once found peace when her life was nothing but turmoil. Robert began to talk behind her, presumably to the others.
"That thing matches the description of the Hanged King. I was never put on the project, but we discovered something called a Jeser Gate in the Tower of London, I believe."
"Then we have to deal with this...Hanged King. I presume you mean in 9001, the Tower of London?" Replied Teresa.
"Yes."
"Then that's our next stop."
"Is it hell." Snarled Conall. "I want all of the directors and the High Aether back at headquarters right now. We need to talk."
"The High Aether won't listen to you." Said Teresa.
"He better."
Max felt slightly scared as he sat down with the other directors, the High Aether and Gwen huddled in the corner. Conall wasn't here yet, but he would be soon. Only an hour had passed after the battle and the spider felt terrible. Every muscle in his body ached and the adrenaline made him shaky. He was beginning to wonder how he could keep going with this sort of thing. Then his thoughts turned to Jacob, Ganke and his friend Grace. He had hardly spoken to Grace other than some texts since Charlotte's death, but he had plans to meet up with her whenever he got a free moment; he just hoped the Scarlet King hadn't sent someone to hurt her. After all, getting in people's heads seemed to be Khahrahk's speciality. The door to the meeting room hissed open and Conall walked in with a paper McDonalds bag. He placed it down on the table; Max wondered if the immortal had brought them all a Big Mac, but it made a sound like stones knocking against each other instead of cardboard boxes. Conall pulled a seat up at the other end of the table and glared at the three directors and High Aether, but not at Max or Gwen.
"For two-and-a-half thousand years, I've slaughtered people for breaking rules which I plainly laid out for them. Now I've been dead for almost thirty in this time so I have no jurisdiction, but I would have thought all of you would have a bit of common sense when it comes to safeguarding the multiverse. As we know, there are things out there with the power to wipe out dimensions. What if those somehow got their hands on something that made them a thousand times stronger; say, an Ethereal Plate?"
He put his hand in the bag and pulled out the golden Ethereal Plate before slamming it down on the table. Gwen groaned from the corner, reduced to a cowering wreck by the sight of it.
"Suck it up. Plate of Power." Conall reached in and pulled out a white Plate before continuing to do the same another eight times. "Reflection, Infinity, Void, Wisdom, Matter, Imagination, Trust, Time, Eden. I went hunting for these to make sure the Scarlet King hadn't taken them. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered this Legion had them all kept neatly locked away in the most predictable places possible behind little more than three feet of concrete and some guns. You had collected them for anyone who decided to go galivanting across the multiverse destroying everything; it's just Ikea for weapons of mass destruction. Any explanations?"
Teresa rolled her eyes.
"How thick are you? We are protecting the Plates. Nobody else has knowledge of them other than level fours and above. The general population had their memories wiped of them. It was Miles' first act when the Legion was founded."
"Miles Morales was suffering from the loss of a loved one and should not have had that much power under the circumstances. And the Plates protect themselves. They were better off lost. Protect the ones you had, but forget the ones you don't. If nobody knows where they are, they are not a threat."
"Look at Helltreader."
"You have shown yourselves fully capable of dealing with that sort of situation. So, any better explanations? No? Well, oh so High Aether; why the hell did you not warn them?"
"The idea was reasonable and appeared less dangerous than leaving the Plates in the open." The Quintari answered.
"In Max's words, 'piss off'. And at the same time, you can explain this:"
Conall picked up the red Plate of Time, the one Max liked the colour of the most, and pressed it together with the white Plate of Reflection. The Plates sparked and hissed before merging together into an oblong shape. The High Aether narrowed his eyes as Conall added each of the others until they were left with what looked like some sort of orb with a small spike at the top. The immortal place it on the desk again and everyone stared in awe, including Gwen. Only the High Aether didn't seem entranced.
"It is not your place to re-unite the Ethereal Plates. They are sacred."
"Why isn't it my place? Who's place is it? Yours? Why not the Pritari, or the Duotari, Tritari or Quadtari?"
All eyes turned to the immortal and Quintari leader.
"How do you know about them?"
"Your species aren't the only bastards from the worlds between worlds. And yes, worlds between worlds; every multiverse has one."
"You are human. Why would they come anywhere near you?"
"Why would I come anywhere near you? Now, what else are you lying about, you Quintari pig?"
The High Aether slowly rose to his feet.
"I am sure you can figure that out yourself."
"What about the Lālā Raja, the original copy? What's that doing on Ardveer?"
"That book is dangerous."
"And the only damn chance we have! You know how Khahrahk's goons whipped 999's head clean off! We don't have another 999! So what secret weapon do you have? When will you wait to allow Quintari blood to be spilled beside your own creation which you brandish in everyone else's faces? Or are your people just cowards, too scared to stand up to what you were always going to have to fight?"
"How dare you!"
"I dare. Do you?"
Lisa stood up between the Quintari and immortal.
"Enough, both of you. Please. There are other things to talk about. Fighting won't help anything."
The High Aether took a deep breath and sat.
"Forgive me."
Conall turned to Gwen.
"Now you...you need to sort yourself out."
Max stood up, staring the immortal down.
"Leave her alone." He said through gritted teeth.
"You know, kid, I was beginning to like you. You're the only one in this room who hasn't done something stupid and/or terrible. Stay out of my way and keep your record clean."
"I don't care about my record, Conall. Just leave my mum alone."
A katana blade was lowered between them. Gwen had her head bowed and her eyes closed. She was obviously freaked out, but mad at the same time.
"I don't care if the Quintari are keeping a dusty old book, or hiding the fact the Plates can be turned into a flashy potato. I'm sick and tired of listening to us all fighting like a bunch of kids; it's exactly what Khahrahk wants. Right now, we're sitting on enough power to wipe out the multiverse. Break the Plates up, put them back in Legion control. He will come for them because I doubt he'll destroy every dimension one at a time. We have an opportunity to take the fight to him; to strike a blow that might actually mean something."
"You're mentally insane. We should use this power against the bastard." Said Conall.
"That's what he wants. Then, once he's killed the wielder, he'll take all ten Plates and wipe out Premis before moving on to Noladis or somewhere else. No, we put these somewhere safe and far away from each other then go through the Jeser Gate and kill Hastur. Since everyone else is turned into a corpse when he's nearby, I'll kill him. And I'll do it properly this time."
Crossovers in this Chapter
- SCP Foundation