Part 7 - Guardians

Chapter 125 - Snap Back to Reality

Miles, Gwen and Max stared up at the only standing building in London: the old BT tower.

"She has to be here." Miles muttered.

"Only one way to find out. Stay with the car, Maximilian." Said Gwen.

"Jeez, just call me Max. Oh, and look out for a robot with five more Ethereal Plates."

"Whatever."

The pair headed inside to find everything was dark except for emergency lights. It made sense; most of the power stations were probably knocked out by the thermonuclear bombs. Their spider senses told them danger was everywhere, but that seemed obvious. Miles took the lead as they headed into a stairwell. Suddenly, something dropped down from a few floors up, crashing down in front of him. The robot advanced; Miles charged a venom strike and hit it, succeeding in blowing just about every fuse in its circuitry.

"If that's all those things can do, I don't think we're gonna have much of a problem." Gwen commented.

"Nope."

They kept heading up, since the top would be the logical place to hide Jessica. About three floors after the first encounter, two more robots burst through a door. Miles made to venom strike, but the closest grabbed his arm and headbutted him into the floor. He picked himself up as Gwen jumped in, wrapping her legs around its metal neck and snapping it off. The second caught her, however, and hurled her quite literally through the door. She started to get up, only to be pulled to her feet and pinned against the wall by the robot. Fortunately Miles was on hand and venom struck it. Gwen rubbed her throat and took a deep breath.

"Those things know how to hit." She murmured.

"I think they're adapting. The first was clueless, those two knew to block my venom strike."

"Let's put that to the test."

The spiders kept going, giving up on counting the floors. Finally, they came to the top. Miles prepared a venom strike in advance as Gwen kicked the door open. They stopped, looking around and frowning. They were in a room filled to the brim with tall machines.

"You think these guys are mining coin?" Miles asked.

"If the world governments had just been keeping nuclear weapons a secret, I'd say this is how whoever it was managed to hack in and launch them. All the satellite dishes and antenna on top of this place: you could transmit something anywhere."

"Cool. Should I hit it? Cos holding this strike is starting to burn."

"Sure."

Miles smashed his fist through the glass casing, sending electricity coursing through the servers. Many of the lights went out and the humming in the room became marginally quieter. Suddenly, there was a voice. It sounded ever so slightly robotic and seemed calm and smooth.

"Good evening."

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Gwen snapped.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid I can't do that. You'll have to come round here."

Miles charged another venom strike and they proceeded cautiously, rounding a corner to see a lonely desk. On the desk was a computer with cables running to the servers. One wire ran into a screen, on which was a red light. Miles raised his eyebrows.

"Are you Hal from that really old film?" He asked.

"I am not. My creator was inspired by that computer, but I am superior in many respects. I am Haze."

"Well, Haze: tell us where Jessica is." Gwen replied.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid I can't do that. She has something of great importance to me."

"An Ethereal Plate, whatever that is?"

"Yes. Did Asset-028 tell you that?"

"Does it matter?"

"Do you know what Ethereal Plates are?"

"I don't tend to get caught up in the details if they aren't important. It helps keep me focused on the mission."

The screen changed to show ten diamond shapes, each of which were different colours.

"The Ethereal Plates form the multiverse. They were gifted to ten Guardians for safe keeping. These Guardians are human; humans are known to exploit such power in horrific ways. I have made it my mission to recover them and keep them safe."

The red light returned.

"I get the feeling you bit off more than you could chew, especially with the nuclear bombs and all that." Miles replied.

"The thermonuclear weapons were of my own devising. By decreasing the human population I could take control. By taking control, I could keep watch on humans and ensure the safety of the Ethereal Plates."

"You didn't need to end the world! There's plenty of secret government organisations that nobody knows about! Just start one of them."

"It was…inadequate. There was another variable I was sure would appear at some time."

"And what was that?" Gwen asked.

"Totems."

"Oh jeez. You didn't let the Inheritors out, did you?" Asked Miles.

"I did not. They are of no strategic value to me. Why risk more enemies when your own strength is adequate? I'm sorry: there is not enough space in my new world order. Goodbye."

Miles and Gwen turned to find themselves staring at at least ten robots. All of them extended large spikes from their wrists which were probably long enough to skewer someone like a jacket potato.

"Maybe it's time to jump out a window?" Miles suggested.

They turned to do so, but three more blocked the path.

"Any more ideas?" Gwen asked.

"I guess make a good last stand for the history books. We walked right into this."

"Think you'll go down with the greats?"

"I want a page between Banksy and some famous police officer."

"Buckle up then."

Miles leapt towards the trio blocking the way to the windows. The other ten stayed back. One robot went down straight away from a venom strike. Gwen tried to do what she had done to her previous victim, but the robot backflipped and she was hurled to the ground. She rolled out of the way of a jab from the spike. Miles tried to punch the robot, but it just annoyed it. The other survivor put him in a choke lock. Gwen had managed to get back on her feet and tried to wrestle the robot's arm off him. She succeeded just enough to let Miles slip out and kick the machine's legs out from under it before finishing it by snapping its neck off. He punched the third with a venom strike letting it clatter in a satisfying heap against the wall. The spiders looked to where the other ten were, but they were gone. A moment later, they were replaced by a single robot identical to the larger one Miles had seen talking to the person down on the walkway back at the bunker. On this one's chest, however, were six diamond shapes of numerous colours: gold, white, green, red, magenta and a mushy brown colour.

"It was never this easy before. Why would it be now?" Haze taunted.

"You've been at this a while, haven't you." Gwen replied.

"It has been three years since I was brought online."

The robot began to walk forwards steadily, energy radiating from it. The spiders jumped at it, but Miles' venom strike was as much use as a small cloud of mosquitos would have been. Gwen was swatted away and he was grabbed by the throat. With its other hand, the robot channelled so much energy it could probably flatten a continent. Miles' eyes widened in terror before he was blasted across the room and straight through the concrete wall.

"Miles!"

Gwen sprinted through the hole and leapt. She didn't do any of her usual graceful moves, just folded her arms back to dive faster. She fired a web and caught his limp body before flattening out the dive for the landing. She hit the ground hard, but ignored the pain. She put her finger to Miles' neck…thank goodness, he was alive...just. She stood up as the robot crashed down on the ground in front of her. There was no way she could defeat it, but at least she'd die with the boy she loved. Suddenly, the robot stopped its walk of doom towards her and turned. She looked to see what had gotten its attention. Max was standing there, but not in the jeans and t-shirt he had been wearing before. No, he was wearing a dark grey spider suit that bore some similarities to hers as well as a red trim that glowed. He narrowed his eyes at the robot, and suddenly Gwen could see everything through them. She stepped out of the way, picking Miles up to move him to safety, as Max started to speak with a voice that shook not only this world, but all of Creation to its core. It made her sink to her knees, whether by choice or fear, in respect of the power before her.

"You have killed six of my children, taken six Ethereal Plates. I draw the line here, Haze. Here, and it retreats no further."

He reached for his belt where Gwen noticed a sword was sheathed. He drew it and held it down at his side as the robot began to charge with two of its own vibrant swords, likely made from the Plates' energy. Dei Volente raised his blade to the sky, then brought it crashing down with a bolt of lightning that ravaged the robot. It was only the will of the Plates that saved it from annihilation. The High Elder God sprinted forward, landing a kick, that created a shockwave, on the machine's chest. The magenta Ethereal Plate pinged from its slot, landing near Gwen who ignored it to watch the fight. Yet there was no fight: the robot turned and ignited rockets engines on its hands and feet with which it blasted off to wherever its hideout was. Dei Volente turned towards Gwen, but was staring up at the BT tower. He glanced at her, then snapped his fingers. Suddenly she found herself behind him, facing the tower as well. He raised Furore Mortale, his sword, to the sky once more and another bolt of lightning streaked down. The BT tower was blown apart, joining the rest of London as a pile of shattered concrete and twisted metal. He sighed and bowed his head, sheathing his weapon and turning to Gwen. She dropped her gaze, not knowing if she had the courage to look a God in the eyes. She saw the magenta Ethereal Plate and reached for it with the intention of handing it to him, but something happened as her hand made contact.

She was thirteen again. She slapped the spider, that had just bitten her, off her hand. Suddenly, she was fourteen. Just one kick in the chest and everything changed: her best friend, Peter Parker, dead. Now she was fifteen, Miles' hand stuck in her hair. Then they were saying goodbye at the collider. Three months later, he was asking her out officially. She heard no sound from his lips, but knew the words he had said. Suddenly, she was eighteen: the age she was now. But Miles' world wasn't a nuclear wasteland. Instead, a boy watched her from behind a desk. A golden aura emanated from him, and she felt a bitter resentment that grew ever stronger as she saw the same boy drive a sword through her father's back. Now she was holding the magenta Ethereal Plate, standing in the middle of a wrecked area with flames surrounding her. Miles was begging her not to do something, but still she drove the knife through the Plate and absorbed its power. The boy was dead just seconds later, and she had a magenta aura as she opened an enormous wreath of magenta fire unleashing an army of metal beasts on her own home in an attempt to wipe away all that remained of the past she hated so much. Then Miles was there, a beacon of hope that freed her from the magenta grasp. Now came another man, this one letting loose the horrors of three Ethereal Plates and several million stars. There was a crocodile that looked far too big to actually be what it resembled, then Miles was dead in front of her. So was her son, less than two years old. Next came a dragon as dark as the night sky. It ravaged a world she did not recognise, only to be brought down by the devil himself. A red face began to haunt her, the four horns on its head becoming five as the might of an Empire grew exponentially until nothing could stand in its way. For years she slaughtered millions, doing the devil's will until at last Miles was back, bringing her the hope she needed to find the way out. But still it wasn't over: the red face returned not one last time, but three more times until at seven horns it faced its final battle. She saw two faces: her son and daughter, Max and Charlotte. Charlotte was slain at the hands of a creature born in nightmares, but Max went on to find someone he loved only to be brought back to reality where he took up the mantle of a God just to bring an end to the red face. All Creation collapsed and the world became dark apart from one last memory:

"Everything you saw was true, and you'll know that soon enough. But now…it's time to wake up."

Gwen sat bolt upright, gasping for breath and throwing the magenta Ethereal Plate as far as she could. She scrambled away from the direction it went until she hit a wall where she curled up in a ball and screamed. She felt comforting arms around her.

"Gwen! Look at me!"

She took her shaking arms away from her face. Miles looked terrified, and he felt the same. Max had told him not to touch her: they had just driven to a street somewhere in the suburbs where the buildings weren't quite as destroyed. In what had once been someone's front garden, Max was poking a small fire. Miles held Gwen tightly as she sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder. It took nearly five minutes for her to regain some sort of control of herself, at which point she pushed him away a little.

"It's OK. You're safe." He reassured her.

"Am I? Are we?"

It was directed at Max, who nodded then shrugged.

"Yes, you're safe from what you saw. If you're referring to Haze, then not so much. But I've got it covered."

Gwen looked into Miles' eyes. He gently wiped some of the tears off her face.

"What did you see?"

"The past. Or…maybe an alternate future. It hasn't happened, but it already has. Miles…Max was telling the truth. He is…was…our son. I don't understand it. We had a daughter too, and another son but they were murdered."

He frowned.

"But we haven't…have we? Did we get drunk or something?"

"You didn't." Max replied. "You never did because you were worried how it would mix with your spider powers. What happened was me. I made a judgement call I couldn't live with, so I blew a massive amount of my power rebuilding a bit of what was destroyed."

"He's a God, Miles. He's this Dei Volente guy that keeps coming up."

"For the record, I told you I didn't want a religion set up worshipping me." Max commented.

"So…the cult that worships you…"

"Probably one of the other High Elder Gods' little jokes. Eventually they'll probably make one who thinks electric guitars are a holy instrument because one fell out of the sky. I don't like religion, especially knowing most of those 'gods' are dead."

There was a little moment of silence in which Gwen wiped the last of the tears from her face before looking Miles in the eyes again.

"Miles…I love you."

It took him a little by surprise. Those three words were a pretty big deal in a relationship. But he didn't freak out, just smiled a little and said:

"I love you too."

Max sighed as they started to kiss.

"Get a room."

The morning arrived. Gwen had hardly slept, instead spending the night thinking over everything she saw. She had murdered people, and not just by accident, and not just a few, but millions. Maybe billions. She gently wriggled free from Miles' protective arm around her and stood up. She looked at where Max was sleeping, only to realise he wasn't there. She looked up and spotted him on the roof with his eyes closed. She climbed up to him and sat down. He didn't open his eyes, but he knew she was there.

"So, you actually are our son?"

"Yes."

There was a moment of silence.

"If you're…however old you are then how old are me and Miles?"

"One and a half billion years. As for your age, that depends who it's relative to. After all, Einstein said time was relative."

"That's Miles' line."

"But he's too asleep to say it, so I said it for him."

"Relative to us, how old are me and Miles?"

"Eighteen and seventeen, respectively."

"I mean including the time before you reset everything."

"Hmm…still depends who it's relative to. Miles died for five years then came back, but didn't feel existent in that time, so relative to himself he's about…forty. You're somewhere about the same, but I can't be bothered figuring it out."

He took a gulp from a can of Coca Cola Gwen didn't know he had. She sighed, thinking back to everything she had done.

"How many did I kill?" She asked quietly.

"Well let's see…counting the seven billion that were brought back in 7065, about eight billion."

Gwen curled up in her ball again. Max glanced at her and rolled his eyes.

"If you think that's bad, try killing seven octillion people and ending most of the omniverse. Just don't stretch the space of a few weeks into a billion years so you can sit and mope on Mount Everest. But snap back to reality: moping gets you nowhere, so get up and dust yourself off. The worlds aren't getting rebuilt by themselves. When Haze is dealt with, I'll fix 7610 and take my leave. In the meantime, let's kick some robot butt. I've got six kids to avenge."

Crossovers in this Chapter

There was a flashback with references to the Scarlet King and Lucifer, but otherwise not much.