Part 7 - Guardians

Chapter 129 - Battleships

Gwen kicked her world's version of Kingpin in the face.

"Give up, Murdoch. This won't work."

"Try and stop me!"

"I already did."

A van parked a few metres away burst into flame. Murdoch's eyes widened in horror.

"No! The jewels!"

Gwen landed behind him as a police car screeched to a halt at the end of the alley. Two officers sprinted down with their guns up.

"Hands in the air! Both of you!"

Gwen leapt up and made a quick escape. She was still wanted for the murder of her world's Peter Parker. It was an accident, of course, but the law didn't care about that. She had almost been caught once by her own father: he had been going to shoot her but she revealed her secret identity and he didn't go through with it. After that, he quit working on her case. Gwen landed on top of a tower and crouched on the edge, watching the cars roll by. Her thoughts strayed to Miles: she felt terrible about leaving him like that. She had no idea what came over her. He needed someone to lean on and she'd just walked away. Would he ever forgive her for that? She snapped back to reality as she heard a voice that sounded familiar.

"Hello, Spiderwoman."

Gwen stood up and whirled round with her fists ready. Doc Ock, from Miles' dimension, was standing there. Her suit still had a helmet like it had when they had last met.

"What do you want, Octavius?"

"To talk."

"What do we have to talk about? Haven't you got my ex to try and kill?"

"Your ex? That's sad. No, actually. I have a PHD in quantum physics, not murder."

"You still tried to kill us all before. You worked for Kingpin."

"That was a drawback to my employment. I'm a scientist. Do you know how hard it is to get people to believe there's a multiverse? When Mr Fisk asked, I had to say yes."

"And what about back in New York?"

"Well, I figured you would attack me first so I had a go and failed. For old times' sake, you know?"

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"About your…ex's world. My home."

"What about it? It's a wasteland."

"Exactly, but I know all about Haze. I know what it's capable of, I know its plans. Everything."

"Explain."

"Back in New York, my New York I mean, two years ago, I escaped into the multiverse. I found myself in a dimension numbered 9578. Their most recent invention was interdimensional travel. I, of course, was offered a job instantly and I set to work trying to perfect these portal devices."

"What's this got to do with Haze?"

"I'm getting there. At the place I was working, there was another project: sentient artificial intelligence. Haze was their pride and joy, perfect in every way. Then I got to talking to them and discovered an old version of it had escaped into a dimension referred to as 7610. I quickly worked out they meant Earth-1610, so I did some research. Did you know that this part of the multiverse is looked at as the slums? They don't care about us here."

"I wonder why."

"Anyway, I discovered this old version of Haze was crazy, and I mean really crazy. It tried to blow up some bomb they called the Oppenheimer and nearly ended the world. When it was stopped in time, it stole a military vehicle called a Maritime Juggernaut. It's ocean based and massive, but it can fly and its capabilities are endless. I believe it's using this Juggernaut as a base, and it managed to replicate the nuclear warheads they carry."

"So, Haze didn't just launch the thermonuclear bombs, it built them?"

"Exactly. Now it wants control, because why stop at the mass extinction of humanity?"

"Miles will have figured all that out by now, but tell me about this Maritime Juggernaut."

"Its combat capabilities are unmatched. It can shoot down any missile or guided weapon we have, so all that can hurt it are unguided weapons."

"Cool; we can get the air force to drop some bombs or something."

"That would take too long, and the aircraft would be shot down. The Juggernaut's only weakness is an outdated technology: naval artillery."

"Every naval ship in the world has guns."

"You're not getting it. Big guns; battleships."

"Why?"

"It was designed to counter futuristic weapons, not armour piercing cannon rounds."

Gwen sighed and shrugged.

"There's barely any battleships around. If they aren't scrapped or falling apart, they're museums."

"It's the only chance to save Earth-1610. And actually the Russian Navy have some old cruisers with big guns still in service."

"Doc Ock, I never thought I'd say this, but thanks. Maybe Miles will give me another chance if I tell him this."

"Don't forget it was my idea."

"Don't count on that small detail slipping my mind."

Miles was playing chess with a random person back at the underground city.

"Checkmate." The person declared, sitting back and admiring their handiwork.

Miles' pieces were absolutely decimated. Clearly this person had some experience. The spider offered his hand.

"Good game."

"Gimme a ring if you want to lose again, Spiderman."

"I'm pretty sick of losing at the moment, but I'll keep it in mind."

Miles sat back and stared at the board as if it would bring Gwen back. Whether it was actually what brought her back or something else was a matter for debate, but either way she sat down where his opponent had just been sitting. He stared into her eyes, unsure if it actually was her or he was dreaming.

"Gwen?"

"Miles, I have a plan. We need to talk to Zumerwalt."

"Don't you and me need to talk?"

"That can wait. Come on."

The professor listened intently to Gwen's plan, then clapped his hands together.

"It is a good plan, but you forget there are no active battleships. The only ships in active service of that description are in the Russian Navy who are unlikely to lend their assistance to two American teenagers."

"Well, what can we do about all those museum ships?" Gwen pressed.

"I will have a look into it, but I can make no promises."

"That's all we need."

Max chuckled from a shadowy corner.

"The Russians will help; I'll make them. Anyone will do anything for enough money. The museum ships I can pull a few strings with as well."

"Every gun helps." Gwen replied.

"Great, us three spiders need a talk. Go do some sciency stuff, Zumerwalt."

The professor raised his eyebrows but nodded and left to do some 'sciency stuff'. Miles and Gwen looked at Max with raised eyebrows.

"What's there to talk about?" Miles asked.

"You two have some stuff to talk about and I'll chip on when it's needed."

"There's time for that later."

"Au contraire, mon père. You might die in the upcoming battle and you wouldn't want to be confined to Bastria knowing you left the love of your life with a broken heart, would you?"

"She left me. I doubt she's heart broken."

"It was a bad judgement call, Miles. I don't know why I did it. I feel terrible." Gwen interrupted.

Max sat back to watch this unfold, a box of popcorn appearing in his lap.

"Yeah? Well how do you think it made me feel? You had spider stuff to do to keep you distracted. I had eight days on a boat and a small skirmish in the middle to switch things up. I needed you, Gwen, and you left."

"And I hate myself for it."

"But how do I know you won't do it again if we get back together?"

"It was a bad judgement call, Miles. Please."

"Just because it was bad doesn't mean you won't do it again. People get locked up for robbery, then get out and do it again. So what reassurance can you actually give me that you won't just walk out again when I need you the most?"

Gwen tried to fight her tears but they broke through.

"I love you, Miles."

"You said that before and then walked out."

"It was a bad call. I've learnt from it."

"Again…"

Max coughed to get their attention.

"This is the bit I'll chip in. You remember, Dad, I said I had a thought?"

"Yes?"

"Turns out I was right. You handled those tests well, so I was thinking about why Mum walked out. Then it clicked: the same scheming douchebag who created the Church of Dei Volente."

"It was you, wasn't it."

Miles started storming towards Max, charging a mega venom strike. Max stood up as he swung his fist and caught the punch perfectly. The electricity discharged, completely blowing the lights. Max twisted Miles' arm, then kicked his feet out from under him and kept going as if nothing had happened.

"No, actually. It was Dea Judicium, the second High Elder God. She likes messing up everything in between passing judgement on everyone. So, it wasn't Mum's call: it was Dea's."

Miles groaned, rubbing his back. Gwen offered her hand and pulled him up. They stared into each other's eyes, then Miles pulled her into a hug.

"I love you." He whispered in her ear.

She just hugged tighter. Max sat down again and waited until they broke apart. Still they weren't done: they started kissing.

"Jeez…get a room while I go bribe some Russian admirals out their ships."

There was a flash and they were in their room.

"Now we've got a room." Miles joked.

"I hope he's happy. And not watching."

"Let's make sure he's really disturbed if he is."

"Gladly."

In the space of two weeks, two Russian cruisers arrived at a rendezvous with an enormous naval taskforce formed primarily of NATO ships. However, the Americans had brought with them a few relics from a time long gone: USS Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin. Japan had also brought along a ship that seemed to have changed the course of its history in this dimension: IJN Yamato. The plan was very simple: the outdated battleships, as well as the Russian cruisers, would nail the Maritime Juggernaut alongside the rest of the fleet with their guns. Once it was disabled a boarding party would be sent over to recover the five Ethereal Plates and three people Zumerwalt had insisted would be there. He hadn't offered an explanation, but Gwen and Miles were pretty sure they knew what was going on. Now, however, they stood ready on the bridge of the USS Missouri. The Maritime Juggernaut reared out of the water, ready to face its countless enemies. The captain of the Missouri, a veteran of the ship, came up to the spiders.

"You might want to cover your ears."

"We'll be fine."

"If you say so."

There was a series of resounding booms that may as well have been the world splitting in two. The guns of the battleships opened fire, but the Juggernaut didn't react to them. It took thirty-nine naval artillery rounds straight in the armour. A sizeable chunk was blown clean off, but the fleet did not stop. Aircraft tore overhead, dropping bombs to keep it busy. The Juggernaut fought back aggressively now, but it seemed its fate was sealed. The Russian cruisers opened fire, adding more salt to the wound. Miles' ears were ringing after Missouri let off another volley. He covered them as Yamato unleashed another as well. By now the front ships of the fleet were in range with their much smaller guns and started pelting the target. Torpedoes were loosed and rockets arced into the air as the Juggernaut retaliated, but all of them were blown up for seemingly no reason. The sky went dark, then a bolt of lightning carved it in two. Another enormous ball of metal was thrown off, crashing down in the sea and sinking. Now it was obvious Haze's core was exposed and the Juggernaut was crippled. Miles and Gwen dropped down into a motor boat that was being lowered with a small group of soldiers. At the front was someone that surprised them: Max waved happily.

"What are you doing here? Thought you'd just be watching the fireworks like before?" Asked Miles.

"I'm putting myself on the frontline. Anyway, if that Plate robot isn't taken down this will be a massacre and we'll owe a lot of money to quite a few museums for losing their ships. And I like big boats. If I had an eighteen inch gun in my pocket like Yamato has, my sister would still be alive."

"The school might be flattened, but sure."

"Question: where'd Yamato actually come from? It was sunk in my world." Said Gwen.

"Good question. Any ideas, Max?"

"My advice is forget the differences. In most worlds the Second World War ended after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuked. Also, Yamato and Musashi were sunk in most worlds."

The motor boat powered towards the Juggernaut, weaving between destroyers, battleships and aircraft carriers.

It took nearly five minutes for the boarding party to reach the Juggernaut, but eventually it pulled up alongside.

"Get ready to get your feet wet." Said one of he soldiers as they jumped overboard, landing on a bit of metal that was about a foot underwater.

"Is this a good time to say I'm scared of deep water?" Asked Miles.

"You'll be fine. Follow my lead. And don't look down." Replied the soldier.

Miles slid off the side and into the water. He seemed to freeze up a little like people did when they were scared of heights. Gwen jumped down next to him.

"Come on, Miles. It's just some water. There's no sea monsters or anything waiting to eat you."

"Maybe it's not the sea monsters I'm scared of…"

"He's scared of the water. It's Thalassaphobia; pretty common, and it looks like I've inherited it." Said Max.

"Edgy spider Jesus is scared of water? Now we'll have to call you edgy thalassaphobic spider Jesus." Gwen replied.

"Yippee!"

The team headed forward. Gwen ended up holding Miles' hand because he was terrified of taking a wrong step and falling into the pitch black of the Atlantic Ocean. As the team got closer to the main hull of the Juggernaut, they really got a sense of how big this thing was. They came to a stop where one of the Wisconsin's shells had busted an enormous hole.

"Watch your footing on this metal. If you slip, it'll gut you like a fish." Said one of the soldiers.

They started to climb the sharp, twisted mess. Max floated to the top then helped the others up.

"OK: split into two teams. One will look for Zumerwalt's people and the other will hunt down these Plates."

"Me and Gwen will find the people." Said Miles.

"I'll help with the Plates." Said Max.

"Good. Move out."

Miles and Gwen set off into the depths of the slowly flooding ship. It was starting to become clear this was going to be a race against time before the Juggernaut sank completely. Miles shivered at the thought. Gwen worked out what he was thinking and stopped, putting her hands on his shoulders and shaking him.

"What happened to Miles that faced his fears whatever the cost?"

"Since I haven't swam back to one of the coalition ships, I'd say you're looking at him."

"Good point. Let's go. My spider sense says this way."

"Mine says 'holy crap, deep water'. And it says 'robots'."

In response, one of the machines jumped down from somewhere up above. Gwen countered its punch while Miles hit it with a venom strike.

"Easy."

"Let's hope it stays that way."

After a short while, the spiders came to a room lit only by and enormous red light. It moved across the wall as if to look down at them.

"Good afternoon, spiders." Said Haze in its scarily calm voice.

"Where are the prisoners?" Gwen demanded.

"Let them go." Miles added.

"Of course. I have no use for them anymore. I see now my efforts to save humanity have been in vain."

"Save? You killed billions!" Miles yelled.

"It was a necessary loss."

"How do you count that as necessary!? I lost some of my best friends!"

A door had started to open on the wall. Gwen went to investigate as Miles kept arguing.

"I had to. It was necessary to draw the Guardians to places of sanctuary. It is why I took Zumerwalt's family to give me some blackmail. For years I planned."

"I guess the explosion at the tower was you as well?"

"When the Seventh Guardian refused to give up her Plate, it was necessary to move her to a location where she could be…convinced otherwise."

Miles leapt up, charging a venom strike and smashing it through the screen which made up Haze's eye. The machine grunted.

"I cannot see."

"You don't deserve to see. Not after everything you've done."

"Miles, help me over here!" Gwen called.

He ran to her. A woman and two children lay on trays of some sort which had come out of the wall behind the doors. Gwen put her fingers to the woman's neck.

"They're still alive, but freezing cold. I'm guessing cryostasis."

"I thought that stuff was sci-fi?"

"This Juggernaut came from another dimension, and so did Haze. Who knows what they have? We need to get them to a medical facility."

Gwen slung the woman over her shoulders and Miles took the children. They ran as fast as they could, but suddenly found their way blocked by another robot. This was no normal robot: five Ethereal Plates glowed in its chest. The spiders put down Zumerwalt's family and prepared to fight a battle they knew would likely be their last unless Max arrived. The robot eyed them curiously, then made for Miles. He charged a mega venom strike, hoping to at least delay the inevitable. Gwen tried to kick the machine, but was knocked down into the floor. Miles punched it, but his hand was caught in the robot's hand. He tried to fight the pain as it crushed it. He could feel the bones in his hand being stretched, then break. Finally he let out a scream of agony. The robot grabbed his throat and slammed him down. He was unconscious now. Gwen dragged herself over to him. The robot made to strike a finishing blow, but she threw herself over him taking the brunt. She was knocked out, her spine breaking under the impact. The Ethereal robot produced a long spike in its hands place and was about to kill them both when machine gun fire began to pelt it. Something blue, white and slightly transparent leapt on it and started tearing at its internal circuitry. At this moment, Max and the rest of the coalition team arrived from the opposite side as the transparent thing was killed.

"Hey, metal man! Leave my mum and dad alone!"

The robot turned just in time to take Furore Mortale straight down its centre. Both halves clattered to the ground. Max turned his attention to the other team and sighed.

"So, 9578 sent their best to take back what is theirs. Took them long enough."

"You want to go, kid?" Asked a girl who was probably a couple of years older than Gwen at most.

"Not really, Teresa, but your world can do this one a favour."

"You know me?"

"I know everyone, but you I knew a little better. Now that favour since you really screwed this all up."

"What?"

"Fix my parents up. This world can't properly fix up broken spines, and broken hands can take a long time as well. Yours, however, is a different story."

"And why should we do that?"

Max advanced; Teresa bent down on one knee and summoned a blue and white projection which snarled at him. He slashed it aside and put his sword to her throat.

"Don't defy Gods if you know what's good for you."

"Gods can go fuck themselves. They don't care."

"Oh, I quite agree with that for most of them. But this one does."

Teresa stood up slowly, her squad ready to shoot if necessary.

"I'm inclined to agree from what I can remember. I know that mask from somewhere, and it reminds me of Gods. I'll have it done."

Max sheathed Furore Mortale and double tapped the side of his head to remove his mask and hood.

"Now we see eye to eye."

Crossovers in this Chapter

None, technically. Although I may or may not have recently watched the movie Battleship. But the Juggernaut was planned from the start.