Part 5 - Blood of the King

Chapter 108 - The Final Battle (Part One)

The ranks of mortals and immortals alike stood facing the army of the Scarlet King. Gwen slipped her hand into Miles' as the Kates finished forming neat lines.

"I feel like we've said this a lot over the years, but whatever happens, I love you." She said.

"I love you too, Gwen. I've a feeling we'll both be in Bastria at the end of this, so we won't be saying goodbye for a long time."

"I hope so. I mean the not saying goodbye part I hope for. The dying bit I'm not so keen on."

"You won't feel any pain once you're in the afterlife. It's scary at first, but better than being a ghost."

Gwen morphed her mask and hood down and Miles did the same. They kissed, knowing that this battle would decide how long they would have together: an eternity should they win, or maybe as little as a few days if they lost. Suddenly, there was a cough behind them. They broke apart and tensed up, ready to strike should Helltreader make any move against them.

"Stay away from us." Gwen snarled, feeling anger stored for years welling up.

"I merely wished to say 'good luck'." Replied the immortal.

"We don't want your luck. If you wanted to wish us 'good luck' then you wouldn't have killed our son all those years ago. I dare you to even look at Max."

"He would not exist if it weren't for me. Nor would the Empire's replacement: the Republic."

"Where did you pull that from?"

"Think about it. I killed your husband, you went on a rampage and started the Empire which became the Republic. At the same time, you would not have slain the Scarlet King's fourth form. Where would we be if it were not for me?"

Gwen punched the star eater, causing a stir amongst the ranks. Helltreader chuckled and prepared to throw a punch in return. However, as his fist flew, it was caught by a red and dark grey hand. Max pushed the immortal and his mother apart; Miles put a hand on the latter's shoulder to calm her.

"That's enough. Go and stand with 343, Helltreader."

The lesser immortal bowed his head a little.

"As you wish."

He slinked off to stand next to the SCP that called itself 'God'.

"Slimy bastard." Gwen snarled.

"Save it for the Kates, Mum. We need Helltreader's help. He might not have Ethereal Plates, but he still has a lot of solar energy."

"I'd sooner marry the devil than fight beside him."

Max double tapped the side of his head. Gwen's eyes widened in shock as they made contact with Max's.

In front of her was a dark world that became completely black. Other pin pricks appeared in its wake, but they too withered and died. Only one remained, and in its light she saw hundreds of Kates tearing at the flesh of the dead. Behind them, Khahrahk had a blindingly bright aura around him. A voice echoed in the darkness as that image withered as well:

"I do not know what part Helltreader will play in the coming battle, but he is there beside us. Take all the revenge you want, but only when all is said and done."

Gwen stumbled backwards as Max morphed his mask and hood back up. Miles caught her and held her tight. She breathed heavily, staring at her son's back as he stood at the front of the army awaiting Khahrahk.

"Hey. Look at me." Miles said, shaking her.

She took slower, deeper breaths as she made eye contact with Miles.

"We have to win this." She said when she had calmed down.

"We will."

At that moment, there was a booming voice. At first, Miles thought it was Max talking but the sound was raspy. He realised it was Khahrahk.

"You have fought as gods and warriors. But there can be only one who survives: the Scarlet King's reign, my reign, is eternal."

An enormous red crack formed behind the ranks of Kates. Khahrahk emerged wearing not his usual black and red robes, but scarlet battle armour.

"Throughout all of time, all of Creation, I have felt its pain. Existence is pain; it must be destroyed. All worlds, all species, all multiverses shall burn as it was always meant to be."

Another voice boomed out across the world, shaking all of Creation to its core.

"Your reign has been long enough, Khahrahk. My brothers and sisters have watched idly for too long."

"I have slain many gods who had lived longer lives than you. You will die as mortal."

The King raised the Scarlet Crucible high, then lowered it so its tip pointed at the Tree and its defenders. Max drew Furore Mortale and aimed its tip at Khahrahk's heart. The Tree's defenders surged forwards, as did the opposing army. Storm clouds gathered, but no rain fell as the battle to decide all began. As the opposing armies came ever closer, Max launched into the air with lightning in his wake, driving Furore Mortale home towards Khahrahk's heart.

It was obvious to Teresa that Max hadn't managed to kill Khahrahk with his first swipe, which didn't surprise her but did disappoint. The commander tore into Kates as dragons and eagles soared overhead to face down what little remained of the Meatball Demons. She slid beneath a Kate Sergeant, stabbing up into its heart with all her might. The sword she had held became embedded in the creature's chest but it battled on, striking out with all ten tentacles. As she became concerned she was going to die a second time, she heard the three words that had brought her a little hope so many years ago:

"Fus ro dah!"

The Sergeant was sent hurtling away as Darian charged in, leaping on top of it and forcing Teresa's sword home into its heart. When he was confident it was dead, he threw the blade back to her.

"Long time, no see." He said cheerily.

"Was it you that shouted when the portal first opened?"

"The one from Bastria? Yes. And those Viking fellows I was with were my fellow Nords. Sovngarde will sing of this battle for years to come."

Paarthuurnax landed heavily beside the Dragonborn and commander. The dragon let out a belch of flames at a Kate, then turned its head towards them.

"Greetings, Dovahkiin."

"How are things in Skyrim, Paarthuurnax?"

"I do not know, for I chose a path of isolation long ago."

"I wish I did the same."

Conall wrestled a Kate off himself and decapitated it before looking up to see how the most important fight was going. Max appeared to be holding his own against the Scarlet King, but not making any headway. He turned back to the fight at hand and spotted Venom fighting what looked a little like a floating stack of mud with ice cream on top. The immortal sprinted forward, making sure not to break his line of sight with SCP-055, the anti-meme. He leapt up and crashed down on top of it…or so he thought. Instead, he somehow crashed into Max. The pair slammed into the ground.

"What the hell, Conall!?"

"I don't know what happened. I think it was something not round."

Max thrust his arm up, creating a bubble of energy which the Scarlet Crucible bounced off.

"Then go and make that something not round even less round."

"Righto." He looked around. "I don't see it."

"Not my problem."

Conall took-off again and spotted a floating stack of mud with ice cream on top. He raced forward, making sure not to break his line of sight with SCP-055. At the last second, he flipped onto his back and dived, crashing down on top of it…or so he thought. Instead, he somehow crashed into a Spiderman wearing a black and white suit. For a moment, the immortal thought it was Venom but realised his mistake. The Spiderman pushed him off and groaned.

"My back!"

Conall hauled them to their feet.

"Sorry. It was something not round."

He spotted 'something not round' a short distance off and sprinted forward. Venom wrapped SCP-055 in symbiote before Conall Ethereal punched it. The floating mud ice cream began to twist, turning into a shadow and escaping Venom's grasp. The shadow skittered along the ground until it came to the Spiderman where it returned to its normal form, knocking the spider off their feet again. They got back up and narrowed their eyes.

"I'm gonna put some dirt in your eye."

The spider punched 055 towards Venom who headbutted it to Conall who smashed it over the cream stuff he thought must be its head. It bounced back to the spider who fly-kicked it back to Venom who licked it like an ice cream then grabbed it and hurled it back to Conall. The immortal pulled a sword and slashed it, sending it spinning once more towards the spider. However, before it could reach them, a beam of pure solar energy turned it to dust. The spider pulled their mask up a little and spat on the ashes.

"See ya, chumps."

They disappeared into the crowds leaving Conall, Venom and Helltreader in the middle of a circle they couldn't explain. The trio went their separate ways without a word.

Gwen and Miles hadn't left each other's side since the battle began. The pair were taking a slightly different approach to fighting this battle: they searched for people on their side who were about to be killed by Kates and killed the abominations, as opposed to just killing every Kate they saw. Saving people was what they were supposed to do with their powers, and this was it. Miles venom struck a Kate about to bite off a man's head. Gwen sliced her katana through the abominations head and landed gracefully. Miles helped the man, dressed up like a bat, to their feet.

"Somehow I didn't realise DC was real. Is Superman here?"

Batman ignored the question and returned to the fight.

"Are you betraying Marvel?" Asked Gwen.

"Never. You know, I haven't seen you this not miserable in years."

"Whatever Max did when he looked me in the eyes, it worked. I feel more like myself than I have in years."

"I'm glad you're back."

They morphed their masks down and kissed. Venom bounded past.

"Bleugh. Lovers."

The spiders broke apart and got back to work. Sadly this battle wouldn't win itself. They came to a Kate Sergeant battling a Roman and a Quintari. The Roman had their neck snapped before the spiders could reach them and it certainly made their job no easier. The now free tentacles raced towards the pair, four going for each of them while the remaining two battled the Quintari. Gwen dropped to the ground and slid in the mud, driving her katana into its heart. However, the blade didn't puncture the skin. As she was dragged out by four tentacles, she spotted a sticker with the words 'The Factory' on it. Miles charged his mega venom strike and tried to take the abomination out, but it only staggered before slamming him back to the ground by the throat. The Quintari was dead by this point and the two spare tentacles went to work trying to speed up the killing process. Gwen reached for Miles' hand, having given up trying to wrestle them off her throat. She knew she was going to die, but felt a lot calmer about it. Miles gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, realising this too. He mouthed 'I love you', unable to speak. Her eyes closed and her body went limp. He charged another mega venom strike and managed to get free before he too choked to death. He wondered if he could actually die again, and what would happen if he did. Would he just pop up again in Bastria? He wasn't planning on finding out, so set to work trying to save himself from all ten tentacles. He was wrapped up again, but his saviour came in the form of an arrow that seemed to explode with the light of the Sun; the Kate was incinerated. Initially, Miles thought it was Helltreader but looking behind him he saw someone he didn't recognise sporting gold battle armour and a gold bow. They didn't say a word, just walked past to continue the fight.

As the day went on, it became clear the battle was going well. As the crowd of Kates thinned out, people looked to the sky to see the Scarlet King and Dei Volente still fighting. The war would only end when the former fell, but there was little anyone could do to help. In all honesty, Max was getting quite bored with this. He was finding all sorts of powers he hadn't yet discovered, but none seemed to make any headway. Eventually, both he and Khahrahk stopped. The Sun was starting to set and neither had the strength to continue with this through the night. One would break in the end, but not right now.

"You impress me, Dei Volente."

"You'd have thought I'd figure out some trick to blast you apart, but it isn't working."

"I have devoured many gods and many worlds. You are new to your power. Your failure is predictable."

"I haven't failed yet."

"Tell me, Dei Volente: do you not see time?"

"Sometimes, if you'll excuse the pun."

"Then you will know it is pointless to resist. Surrender, and I shall leave the High Elder Gods in peace."

"I'm not striking a deal with you. I'll go down fighting, and so will they."

"Then so be it."

The King and God turned their separate ways for now. The two armies broke apart, stopping only a short distance from each other. Conall flew down to Max who took a seat on a stone.

"You'll kick his butt tomorrow." Said the former.

"Hopefully. Is there anything to report on the ground?"

"We destroyed something that we all agree isn't round."

"Well done."

"Other than that, just a blood bath for all sides. Oh, and your mother is dead now."

"Right. But she's just like all the other dead. Alive but not."

"Exactly. Death really isn't something to be feared now."

"No. But I'm too tired for this. I need some food and a nice long sleep."

"Classic teenager."

"You try fighting him all day."

"I plan to. He has no other useful pieces on the board. You have me, Helltreader, a bunch of people with superpowers and stuff. There's no way we can lose."

"Tomorrow, Conall. Let me sleep."

"Alright. Stay here; I'll get you some food."

Crossovers in this Chapter

- SCP Foundation
- Skyrim