Part 7 - Guardians
Chapter 126 - Holding Back
Max snapped his fingers and suddenly the spiders and their stolen Jeep were back in the garage at the bunker. The God led the way as they came to the entrance level where things seemed a little crazy. Miles stopped someone:
"What's happening?"
"Apparently there's a robot army coming north. Professor Zumerwalt doesn't think we'll last the night. He said to grab whatever weapons we can and be ready by nightfall."
Miles gave Gwen and Max a look of concern which Gwen returned, but Max just shrugged.
"I'm going to the bar. If Scots are half as brave as history says, Haze will be the one not lasting the night."
The God disappeared, his spider suit casually changing back into jeans and a t-shirt and his sword disappearing. Gwen sighed.
"I guess I'm still not worshipping him. He just doesn't care."
"I think he cares, but his power's made him cold and lonely."
"He said he had a fiancé. Should we congratulate him and attend his wedding?"
"I don't know. He's our son, but the way I understand it he's a different us's son."
"Maybe. Let's go and find Zumerwalt."
The professor was fussing in his office, his face twisted in fear. He looked up when they entered and half smiled.
"You have no idea how good it is to see you. When the report came in that you had left, the morale went down faster than one of Elon Musk's Starships."
"We tried to find Jessica. She's dead, and Haze has the Ethereal Plate." Gwen replied.
"Then all is truly lost. Haze will cut through us like butter."
"Maybe not. Turns out it's managed to upset a God. Sadly that God seems to like spending his time in a bar." Miles replied.
The professor perked up a little.
"Then I was right. It brought on the wrath of Dei Volente. It has doomed itself. Come, my spider friends. We must prepare a defence of our fortress."
"Before we do that, are there any robots left in the lower levels?" Asked Gwen.
"No, they were all dispatched. The last one to leave delivered Haze's ultimatum."
"Right."
Nightfall came with an army of robots. From a small balcony, that was usually locked, Miles watched them coming through a pair of binoculars.
"I really hope Max stops draining the bar's stocks and helps us out."
"He will if it get's bad. Man, he's turning into a pig."
"Still, at least we've got each other, right?"
"Yeah. I love you, Miles."
He put down the binoculars and wrapped his arms around her neck.
"I love you more."
They started kissing, but were rudely interrupted by the pinging of bullets striking the rock behind them. They ducked under cover and back into the bunker where they put on their masks on and Gwen put her hood up. They sprinted down stairs to the main entrance which was already being hit with some modern equivalent of a battering ram, whatever that was. A few security guards were crouched down behind concrete barricades including the one they had kidnapped for their key card. Miles gave them a nod.
"Sorry about…you know."
"All good, Spiderman and…Spiderlady?"
The vault door groaned under the intense pressure. Dust fell from the roof. Gwen squeezed Miles' hand for some reassurance as what she had once considered the strongest door in history came crashing off its hinges. The robots opened fire and the security guards attempted to return it, but the sheer amount incoming kept them pinned down. Neither of the spiders dared to break cover. Very quickly, the robots had overrun the entrance room and most of the security detail was lost or wounded. Miles and Gwen narrowly avoided death as they too retreated. Miles ducked behind a wall by the entrance to the room they had come from. He charged a mega venom strike, and as the first robot came crashing through the door he swung his fist into its chest. It was thrown backwards, knocking out a number of its comrades although they were quickly replaced with new ones so that Gwen had to dive on Miles to push him out of the way of the gunfire. The bunker was built around a central area with an enormous drop to the bottom of the civilian access floors. Now that openness proved its use as guns erupted from multiple floors on the constant flow of machines. The crossfire was intense, and the spiders started to feel a little useless. Miles looked around for something he could throw and his eyes fell on a plant. He broke his cover and webbed it, spinning it around and throwing it through the busted door. Gwen pulled him back again.
"I'm beginning to think you want to die." She said.
"By the looks of it, we're going to anyway. May as well get it over with, right?"
"That's a concerning chain of thought." Her spider sense alerted her to danger and she looked around the pillar to see a robot aiming a rocket their direction. "RPG!" She yelled as it was launched, blowing the cover apart.
She and Miles leapt off the edge and swung round a bit. Miles webbed a chunk of concrete and threw it, wedging the doorway closed. He admired his handiwork for a second before it was smashed apart and the waves continued. Still, it had bought people a few more seconds although he wondered if that was a blessing or curse at this point. The robots pressed outwards, overrunning the bottleneck and seizing control of the entrance floor. Now they spread both upwards and down. Neither was a greater priority than the other, since both had living quarters. However, the lower floors were larger than the upper due to the shape of the mountain so the spiders dived a couple of floors and set about trying to help hold the line. Gwen swung in and crushed a robot against the wall with her foot before ripping its arm off and repurposing its machine gun for their side. It didn't matter that she'd never fired a weapon, never mind a high calibre rifle, because there were so many targets it was hard to miss. Miles, on the other hand, tried to stay true to old Spiderman tactics by throwing whatever projectiles he could. He gave up as another rocket blew apart another pillar almost burying him in concrete. The roof of the chamber groaned and he decided to get out of the way. He found himself next to a man in proper military gear. The soldier gave a nod and ducked a stream of bullets coming their way.
"Any ideas, Spiderman?" They asked in a thick Scottish accent.
"Err…keep shooting?"
"The fuck do you think I'm doing?"
"You asked."
"Aye, but I was hoping for something a bit less futile."
"Fair enough. Maybe the God a few floors down will get a move on and help out?"
"That'll be the day."
The fighting only intensified throughout the night. In that time, Gwen took a bullet to the shoulder and retreated to seek medical attention despite her objections. Miles kept going, even though Zumerwalt tried to insist he take a rest. Now the fighting had spread to an enormous conference hall in which Miles found Max casually watching as the robots mowed people down. The spider waved frantically at him for help and the God sighed, standing up.
"Then the Winged Hussars arrived."
In an instant, three ranks deep of heavily armoured horsemen appeared wearing white and red wings on their backs. The robots hesitated, wondering if they had faulty eyes. Max was clad in his spider suit and drew Furore Mortale. He held it high, then levelled it in front of him. The Winged Hussars charged, spears ready. No amount of gunfire could stop them, and the bunker's defenders ducked out of the way for fear of being trampled. Yet the horses leapt overhead and collided with their enemy. Very quickly the tables turned and the robots were the ones battling for their lives. As the conference hall cleared, the bunker's defenders going after their saviours, Miles and Max were the only ones left. The God turned away and sat down again.
"I've always wanted to do that." He muttered.
"You're a real piece of work, you know." Said Miles.
Max nodded.
"I know I am. If I was normal I'd be much more reasonable. But here I am: the edgy spider Jesus."
"Nah, Jesus would have helped out a lot earlier."
"Actually he wouldn't. I met the guy, and his abilities to manipulate reality were limited to consumables. That and coming back to life, but Satan did just as good job at that. Now they're all dead."
"Did you stand by and let them die like you did with the hundreds dead now? Gwen, apparently your mother, was shot, and you're doing nothing about it."
Max stood up slowly.
"This is very difficult to explain. Sitting out the start of battles and making an epic entrance is my thing. If I lose my thing, then what's left of the Maximilian Morales-Stacy, that used to be a somewhat normal kid, is gone."
"If you were mine and Gwen's son, you would have stepped in. If you were, you would be a spider person, and spider people save lives whatever the cost to themselves."
"You're a little out of your depth, Miles."
"Probably, but someone had to hit you with the truth some time."
"Hmph."
"One of these days you'll become a villain."
"That logic is terrible. I could have watched you get slaughtered in here, but nope."
"Why? Why is hanging back your thing? Why can't being the first line be your thing?"
There was a look in Max's eyes that made Miles' legs feel weak, but he stood his ground.
"I'll be back. Have fun fighting on your own."
Just like that, his body seemed to turn into a puff of smoke that faded out of existence. The strength in Miles' legs returned and he went to find out what the situation was.
Crossovers in this Chapter
Nothing really, except Max's love for Sabaton.