Part 5 - Blood of the King

Chapter 95 - Death

Gwen was on her usual patrol around her original home: 7065. She hated the dimension nowadays, it brought back too many memories. However, her trip down memory lane was interrupted by a yell from somewhere down below. Her spider sense went ballistic. She dropped down to the ground to see what the problem was. Her blood ran cold with fear...anger...regret. But she overcame it and drew both her katanas, tapping her Legion insignia as she did so.

"Stacy to command. We've got a situation. I need a lot of back-up."

She circled this person that brought on so many emotions, watching their every move. They smiled, glancing at the katanas.

"Gwendolyn...we both know that won't do anything."

"Maybe I'm just holding them to scare you. They might be Scarlet for all you know. Single hit and you're dead. For good."

"If only it were so easy for you. But I'm here on orders from my brother."

"I thought you hated your brother?"

"The other brother. The one that actually made me, not that sorry excuse for a dad."

A temporal warp appeared through which came Max. He did a double take.

"Err...Mum...is that..."

"Lucifer Morningstar, or Satan, or the devil, or the Emperor. Or just sleazy piece of garbage."

More warps appeared, bringing soldiers and a number of Ares jets. Lucifer sighed.

"Surprisingly I'm not here to restart my Empire."

"Then why are you here? And how? Teresa shot you." Gwen snapped.

"I'm a Brother of Death. You can't kill me permanently. As for why, my brother wishes to speak to you."

"You mean Death?"

"Of course."

Gwen and Max exchanged looks.

"Why should we trust you?" Asked the latter.

Lucifer frowned, then smiled.

"You must be Mini Miles. Your father was quite the pain in my ass."

Gwen stepped between her son and the devil.

"If you even think about laying a finger on him, I will kill you over and over again until you give up coming back."

"Now now, Gwendolyn. I wasn't going anywhere near Mini Miles."

Max frowned.

"Is 'Mini Miles' a compliment?"

"It doesn't matter." Gwen replied.

"Oh whatever." Breathed Lucifer. "The point is, my brother would like to speak to you in Arachnia."

"Where's Arachnia?"

"Bastria. I can take you to Hell where you can go straight there, or there's a portal in the Amazon rainforest, 8207."

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Then so be it. Enjoy the ride."

Lucifer spread white, feathered wings and seemed to plunge into the ground. Gwen and Max exchanged looks.

"Are we really going?" Max asked.

"If Death wants to talk to us, I'm happy to go. But not with Lucifer."

"So, how do we get there?"

"Go to 8207, find the portal and take the Ares through."

"Who do we take?"

"Nobody, really. You, me, Conall, Teresa."

"This is gonna be fun..."

Things over 8207 were extraordinarily quiet, at least in South America in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. Over in Europe, the Soviet Union had capitulated and Operation Sealion was in full swing. It didn't matter; the only thing that did was meeting Death. Gwen had already come up with an extensive list of questions. The modified Ares jet opened fire on trees around the portal. When an area large enough for it was cleared, it glided down and through the hole to Bastria.

Arachnia was the strangest afterlife Gwen had ever seen. It seemed to be a bright night as it had been in Sovngarde, but there were no dragons, walls of fog or mountains. There did, however, seem to be an excessive amount of webs. The jet landed gently, piloted by Teresa who was slightly concerned about bringing possibly the most valuable Legion asset to the land of the dead. The ramp opened and Gwen was first off. She looked around slowly, taking in this strange place. Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder. She turned to see a person wearing a black suit. Peter B Parker smiled at her.

"Oh...Arachnia...Spiderman's afterlife. That makes sense." She muttered.

Peter chuckled.

"Welcome, I guess. It's not too bad here. Is that your son?"

Gwen ignored the question. If Peter was here, was Miles? Peter seemed to read her mind.

"Yes, Miles is here. It's sad when someone new arrives. Charlotte is here too."

"Where are they?"

"With Death. It's a short walk away."

"What are we waiting for?"

Death didn't seem to have a body. Instead, it floated around like a thin veil of mist. The four living humans walked into a ring around the edge of which were gathered ranks of spider people who had died at some point. Gwen dropped her head as she saw some she had killed during her time as Empress. The mist seemed to smile.

"Welcome to Bastria. I thank you for coming, even at the invitation of Lucifer." It said in a voice like a whisper in the air.

"Yeah. Couldn't you have sent someone else?" Gwen asked.

"Khahrahk's forces pound at the gates. My other Brothers must hold their ground. It is because of this I have asked you to come. I wish to speak only to Gwen and Max for now. Teresa and Conall, please leave us. I shall speak with you separately."

The two pairs gave each other nods before parting ways. When Conall and Teresa had left, Death continued to speak.

"It is important you know what is at stake. Should Khahrahk break down these ancient walls, the way to Zaltoxir will open. When the way is open, the war will reach its peak. Millions will perish, billions of shots will be fired. Worlds will burn, reality itself will be brought to its knees. Should the Tree burn, all worlds outside of Bastria and Noladis shall burn. Khahrahk will have won. Each of you will have a task. Gwen; the Author looks to your coming. Max; the Elders await you. Only by their hands can the omniverse survive."

"I don't get it? What do we have to do?" Asked Max.

"Patience. Your path will become clear. Gwen: you are Ghostspider for like a ghost in the dark, many will feel the result of your actions but none shall see the lengths you go to. Max: you are Dei Volente, for what you do is the will of the Elders."

"Cool! I get a nickname."

"This is a bit off topic, but why don't people who are brought back by the Animator go to Hell or something?" Asked Gwen.

"Time."

"Just...time?"

"It flows differently for the dead."

"That doesn't help at all but OK."

"My turn: are you the Creator Khahrahk wants to destroy?" Asked Max.

"I am. I buried the bodies of his kin. In doing so, I planted the Tree."

"How come he get's a straight answer?" Gwen enquired.

"His question is simpler."

"Classic wise guy: answer the easy questions and forget the harder ones."

"Perhaps I do not know myself?"

"Since you created everything, I doubt that."

"You think in three dimensions. It is difficult for you to understand. Now, there are people who you wish to see."

Gwen abandoned all her questions and looked Miles straight in the eyes as he emerged from the ranks of spider people. Charlotte appeared next to him. Max ran forward and hugged his sister. Gwen and Miles met in the middle.

"Hey." He said quietly.

The other spider people had disappeared, somehow including Max and Charlotte. Gwen hugged him tightly, guessing he was dead so probably didn't need to breathe. When they finally broke apart a little Miles kissed her forehead.

"You know, people always go on about the dead watching. Can you see what's happening?" Gwen asked.

"Some of it. It's like watching the TV; you gotta give other people a turn sometimes. If you're worried about the GOC thing, I'm not judging. It probably saved lives."

Gwen pressed her lips to his, wishing this could last forever. Obviously it couldn't; Death had said she had a task. Part of her wanted to forget about everything, to just die so she could be with Miles forever. But the selfless part of her knew she couldn't do that. There were a lot of lives at risk, and she had the power to save them. But for now, she was with the person she loved more than anyone else and she was going to make the most of it.

Max and Charlotte were just walking. He didn't know where, but he was happy to be talking to his sister.

"So Mums a psycho, huh?" She asked.

"Yep. I mean, she's not so bad. If you don't do anything to make her mad, she's just as human as the rest of us."

"What about Rachel? Is she alright?"

"I've not seen her. I was too busy being senior director of the Legion."

"Wow...I'm almost glad I died before that happened to me."

"It would have turned you into Mum, I think."

"Ouch."

"I've got to say, I'm not sure how we can defeat Khahrahk. He's too powerful."

"I guess Death has a plan. Follow your path or something."

"Some path. It's so overgrown with prickly stuff you can't see it and every step makes the bleeding worse."

"That's dark. What has the Legion done to Mad Max?"

"Killed him. Maybe when it's all done I can get back to my life? Pulling pranks, eavesdropping to find out all the teachers' chat."

"Or not. I'm sure Mum would love to not have to go to every parents night and hear stories of how disruptive you are."

Max stopped walking and took a deep breath.

"I'm scared."

"You'd be mad if you weren't."

"Not just scared. I'm confused, tired, angry. I want to go home. I'm just some stupid prankster, not a warrior."

Charlotte pulled her younger brother into a hug. She was glad she didn't have to do everything he had, but she felt guilty that because she had died it had all been dumped on him. But there was nothing she could do; she was dead, and since she was in Bastria, she wasn't coming back.

"You might be a master prankster, but it takes brains to be that. You're the smartest person I know, Max. If anyone can figure this out, you can."

"I'm not ready."

"Nobody's ready for anything."

"They might be if they scheduled it."

"I meant the unexpected 'anything'. There'll be choices you have to make along the way, but you're Mum's son. Some might be horrific, but you'll have your reasons."

"Are you saying I have to go and start an empire with the devil?"

"Of course not; that's a bad example. The GOC thing is better: she killed a lot of people to save more. I have faith in you, Max."

"Whatever you say, Charlo."

Max was first back to the jet. He didn't know how long had passed, but he didn't really care. So long as there was a Premis to return to, it didn't matter. Conall and Teresa were back a few minutes later, followed by Gwen shortly after. She looked a mess. Teresa chuckled to herself.

"What?" Asked Max.

"Gwen likes dead people."

"Yuck..."

Gwen raised her eyebrows.

"Technically he's alive, just sorta dead. It doesn't count."

"As long as you don't start kissing dead bodies, I don't care. Sadly that seems like the sort of thing a serial killer would do."

"I'm not a serial killer."

"Yet."

"Careful, Teresa. You might end up her first target." Joked Conall.

Crossovers in this Chapter

- SCP Foundation