Part 8 - Gods and Wolves

Chapter 135 - Brooklyn Brawl

Gwen landed on top of a building on Earth-1610. Miles was crouched on the other side, wearing his spider suit and staring down at the building on the other side of the street. She crouched on the edge as well.

"You called?"

"Yeah. Something's not right here."

Gwen looked down at the place he was talking about: Visions Academy.

"What sort of not right? You sad cos you graduated a few months ago?"

"I mean…sure but that's not what I meant. And it's not just here; I went past Brooklyn Middle and got the same vibes."

"I can't help if you don't tell me what these vibes are telling you."

"I'm not sure. It's just a sense of something's not right."

Gwen sighed and sat down, dangling her legs over the edge.

"What you gonna do about it?"

"I'm going in."

She pulled her mask off and raised her eyebrows, wondering if she'd misheard.

"You're what?"

"I'm going in."

"Nobody's gonna let you just walk in, even if you're Spiderman. And you can't go in without your suit or you'll be recognised, and the security guys hate you cos you kept sneaking out."

"Watch and learn."

He leapt off the side and turned invisible. Gwen stayed put, knowing there wasn't much she could do.

"Of all the people in the multiverse, why'd you choose to marry that one?" She asked herself.

Miles peeked through the crack in the front doors to check nobody was inside, then cautiously pushed them open. When he'd been here, there were always people sitting on the steps, but it seemed his hunch was right: the school was deserted. He kept looking around, trying to find anyone but didn't find a single soul. He glanced through the window of a classroom door, but paper had been stuck over it. He couldn't go in or he'd be busted. Realising there was nothing he could find out like this, he went back to the front door just as the bell rang. He leapt onto the wall and waited. After a few seconds, students walked out the classrooms in orderly lines. Not a word was muttered between them and they seemed in a daze as they proceeded down the halls to the school dinner hall. Miles crawled along the roof, following them there. Inside, the kitchen staff piled plates high with what looked like a standard school lunch: a small salad or piece of fruit, a bread roll with butter of some sort and a carton of juice to top it all off. There was an optional extra of a slice of chicken or cheese, which seemed slightly pathetic in Miles' eyes, but that didn't catch his attention. What did catch his attention was that nobody said anything as they ate. It was eerie, and he worried he'd be heard if he even breathed. Then again, the students seemed in such a trance they'd probably never notice. Maybe this was his chance to get in a classroom and find out what was going on inside? Back out the dinner hall, along the corridor and into a classroom he went. He recognised it as the classroom where he had first met Gwen, and where he'd invented his Einstein joke. However, instead of just plain old desks, each one had a computer sitting on it. Every one of them just showed the Visions Academy logo. Miles tried to wiggle the mouse on one to try and wake it up, but nothing happened so he tried another just in case that one had crashed: nothing. He stepped back and sighed.

"Why is everything always so weird?" He muttered.

Miles became sure there was nothing else to discover, headed back towards the entrance and left the school. Outside, he swung back up to Gwen. He told her what he had seen. When he asked what she thought, she shrugged.

"I don't know what there is we can do. Unless we know what's causing it, obviously."

"I guess we're stuck, then."

They sat down on the edge of the building again, thinking things through. Just as Miles was about to give up, there was a strange noise behind them. It sounded like something grating, or maybe someone winding up an enormous wind-up toy. The wind whistled a little as the pair stood up, putting their masks on and looking around. There was an echoing boom, and they stared in confusion at the blue police telephone box.

"Can we agree that wasn't there before?" Miles asked.

"Yep."

The door opened and out stepped a man in a long brown jacket.

"Hello strangers!" He said.

"Err…hi? Who are you?" Gwen asked.

"I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

"I'm Spiderman, this is Spiderwoman."

"So original. Well, what we got here then? What could two young scallywags like yourselves be up to on top of a building overlooking a school?"

Neither of the spiders answered for a moment then Miles blurted out:

"Oh! I think I remember you now. Doctor Who, with the TARDIS and stuff. Why'd you come all the way out here?"

"I picked up a message from this dimension asking for my help, and I have to respond. That's the Doctor's way."

"What did it say?" Asked Gwen.

"Exactly what I just said. Now, what's going on in that school? It's very quiet."

Miles told the Doctor everything, as well as their real names.

"I'd tell you my real name, but your brain might explode. So, children in trances, too many computers…sounds like something I was dealing with not long ago."

"What was that?" Asked Miles.

"The Skasis Paradigm."

"That's…not even English."

"Of course not. You think the entire multiverse speaks English?"

"I guess. What is the…Skasis Paradigm?"

"The 'God Maker', the universal theory. If you can crack it you have control of everything; time, space, matter, it's all yours."

"I can see why it's called the God Maker. Gwen, imagine if we solved it! But then…why bother when your own son is some sort of edgy spider Jesus?" Asked Miles.

"You forgot thalassaphobic."

"Oh yeah."

"Whoever is trying to crack the Paradigm needs to be stopped. Nobody should have that much power." Said the Doctor.

"Our son has that much power. I wonder if he's solved it yet?" Replied Miles.

The Doctor turned on Miles.

"Is all of this your doing?"

"No. I've got better things to do."

"Good. Then let's stop some aliens. Alons-y!"

The two spiders and the Doctor kicked open the doors to Visions Academy. This time, the room wasn't deserted. In its centre stood someone Miles and Gwen had been hoping wouldn't pop up anytime soon. Wolf Spider laughed under his metal mask.

"At last I have the final piece! I'll just borrow your brain for a moment, Doctor. Then I will be a god, and you will all fear my wrath!"

Miles and Gwen stepped forward to block Wolf's path to the Time Lord.

"Pathetic! Now is the time I kill you, just as I killed my world's Miles Morales!"

Miles managed to dodge the first spider leg that came at him, but the second wrapped him up tightly and started to squeeze the life out of him. Gwen leapt up, kicking Wolf in the face. He dropped Miles who lay on the ground gasping for breath. Gwen did her best to fight now. She managed to dodge all four spider legs as they struck out at her, but was shot and pinned down by a web grenade. She struggled to get up, but the more she squirmed the more tangled she became. She watched as Wolf advanced on Miles. Suddenly, there was a bang above and part of the roof broke. Water poured down on Wolf's head. The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver and activated it, forcing Wolf back with an invisible force. The evil spider dug his legs into the ground and fired another web grenade which dealt with the Doctor. Miles was back on his feet now and charged a venom strike. Dodging the spider legs, he scored a hit and sent Wolf flying. It gave him some precious seconds to pull Gwen free before he had to get stuck back in. He lay in punches, but they seemed to do very little. Wolf Spider grabbed his foot as he tried a kick, spinning him round and hurling him into the concrete steps. Gwen wrapped her legs around Wolf's neck but he jerked forward throwing her off. She rolled from side to side as the spider legs smashed through the concrete around her. She would have lost one of her arms if Miles hadn't scored another venom strike. He pulled her up and they readied for round three.

"Is he getting tired?" He asked her.

"I don't know, but I am."

"Yeah. You alright? You never fight sluggishly."

"I'll be fine. Let's just beat this guy, stop him from cracking the Paradigm and then we can ask that."

"Do you have an answer?"

"Not at the moment."

Gwen flipped, kicking another web grenade back at Wolf. It exploded in his face, pinning him down.

"That's him beaten, I think. Wanna talk?" Miles asked.

"I don't have an answer, Miles. Unless…it might have been the beer I was half-way through drinking when you called."

"I didn't think you drink."

"I don't usually. It was a cousin's birthday and I figured I might as well try it."

"Sure."

"Care to get me out of this?" Asked the Doctor.

"Sorry!"

The trio left Wolf Spider stuck down by his own weapon. As they worked their way round the school, trying to find some sort of circuit board which they could use to shut down all the computers, Miles asked the Doctor a question Gwen was thinking about asking:

"Why did Wolf Spider need your brain? And why does he need the students?"

"He needs the students because the God Maker needs imagination to crack it. As for my brain, I'm guessing these kids aren't smart enough to figure it out without the added intelligence of a Time Lord."

"It's a private school. You kinda gotta be smart to get in." Miles replied.

"But Time Lords are smarter than any human, and have a lot more time to think things through."

"Makes sense."

The circuit board was in a janitor's cupboard, just as would be expected. Miles was about to charge a venom strike, but the Doctor zapped it with his sonic screwdriver and the building went dark. A second later, the room was filled with light as Gwen turned her phone's torch on.

"Problem solved!" The Doctor announced.

"I'm not sure it is. I got the same vibes from Brooklyn Middle, and a couple of others I passed." Miles replied.

The Doctor's shoulders slumped.

"It would have been much better if you told me this earlier."

They exited the cupboard to find students lined up in the corridors. Gwen shone her torch over them, but they just stared back with blank faces.

"The last time this happened there was oil in the food they were eating that increased their brain power. It should wear off in a day." The Doctor explained.

"I hope so. Otherwise somebody's gonna miss their kids." Said Gwen.

The trio pushed through the crowds to the main entrance where they discovered Wolf Spider had escaped.

"Let's be honest; we should have expected it." Gwen said to Miles who looked disheartened by it.

"What's he got against me? That's what I want to know."

"Don't ask me. I'm ever so slightly not sober."

"You're nowhere near drunk."

"I know. Want to come along once this is all tidied up? I don't think my cousin will mind me bringing my fiancé."

Miles seemed to freeze. Gwen stopped walking and turned back to him.

"What's up?"

"I just realised we're getting married. It didn't really click until you called me your fiancé."

"It took a bit for me too."

"You sure it completely clicked? I mean…we're gonna spend the rest of our lives together. We'll be living together, maybe have a family, grow old and eventually be buried together."

Gwen pulled her mask up a little so it didn't show her entire face, just her mouth. Miles did the same and they kissed.

"There's nobody else I'd want to do all that with." She whispered.

"Me neither. It's just scary. I'm not ready to be a dad."

"Looks like you already are. If some pathetic loser versions of us could do it, you and me can."

He chuckled.

"Loser or no loser, I'm sure that Miles had his doubts too."

"Come on, Spiderman. We've got a multiverse to save then we can talk about all this later."

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Doctor Who

I really didn't give this crossover much attention in the first couple parts, so hopefully this is better.