Part 9 - All Things Must Die

Chapter 145 - Teeth and Torture

Miles had left his wife and kids back at the penthouse. Right now he was on normal Spiderman patrol. It seemed to be a quiet night in terms of crime, but he was certain things couldn't stay that way. He almost wished for something to happen to stave off his boredom. Unfortunately, he was soon going to learn it's good to be careful what he wished for. His spidey sense went off, alerting him to a hold-up at a corner shop. He dropped down and pushed open the door which let out a cheery ring from the bell attached to it. The shop owner was trying to empty their cash register into a plastic bag whilst being held at gunpoint.

"Want to use guns? Go join the army." Miles quipped as he fired a web and pulled the gun away.

The robber backed off, looking for a new weapon, but Miles swept them off their feet and webbed them down as a police car pulled up. The shop owner looked delighted.

"Thank you, Spiderman. How can I ever repay you?"

"Any chance I can get a discount on a Koca-Soda?"

"Take it for free."

"Thanks, man."

"No, thank you!"

As Miles casually walked away from the scene drinking his world's version of Coca Cola, his spidey sense went off again.

"It's really kicking off now." He thought as he drained the last drops and discarded the bottle into a bin.

He swung up, hearing the sound of screaming from down the street. There was a bank in that general direction, so it was likely someone was trying an evening heist which was about to go very wrong for them. As he rounded the corner, he could see a cloud of dust slowly settling. Smoke was billowing from the bank entrance and he could hear the fire alarms wailing. He picked up the pace, doing a flip before he landed to check this out. The smoke smelt acrid like with the occasional electrical fires he had to save people from. However, there was another horrible smell mixed in. He also became aware red glow of the flames inside wasn't moving, but that was the least of his concerns as a slow, deep laugh echoed from the interior.

"What is there to like about humanity? It is…repugnant."

The red glow was blocked out by a shadow and the smoke parted to reveal first an enormous snout lined with deadly teeth, then six dark eyes. The oversized crocodile's body looked as if it could take a direct hit from one of the battleships that had destroyed Haze and still function perfectly well. Miles backed away as a pair of police cars raced round the corner. From one emerged the spider's father.

"Where'd you find this thing, Spiderman?" He asked.

Jeff knew his son was Spiderman, but maybe it helped if he didn't think that his son was putting himself in danger on a daily basis? Either way, Miles knew there was no way four police officers and a spider person could take this crocodile on. The beast smelt the air, possibly catching the scent of fear.

"You cannot stop this. The Scarlet King's reign is eternal."

"Yeah, well this King of yours ain't exactly the nicest guy so excuse me if we just start a revolution." Miles replied.

He took a running jump and the officers opened fire as the oversized reptile charged. It reared up, just catching Miles' foot in its jaws and hurling him back to the ground where he narrowly managed to roll out of the way of a monstrous foot. It tried again, this time crushing Miles' arm. It laughed, ignoring the bullets that pelted it.

"Where is Dei Volente when you need him? Where is your God now?"

Miles charged a mega venom strike in his good arm and punched its scaly nose. It did absolutely nothing but annoy it. The beast snapped him up and thrashed him around like an angry dog with a chew toy.

"Miles!" His father yelled.

The monster hurled Miles down.

"So much fear. The Scarlet King will save all worlds from it."

Jeff threw his gun away and picked up Miles' broken body, but he was still alive.

"Miles, look at me. Look at me." Jeff said, reaching for his radio. "Dispatch, I need EMT and backup."

"Copy. Medical and backup is enroute."

There was an explosion which knocked the officers down. Jeff held his son as more police cars came screaming round the corner. Miles gritted his teeth and managed to pull his mask off. He could feel just about every bone in his body was broken, and he could feel stab wounds where the crocodile's teeth had sunk into him.

"I love you, Miles."

He only grunted in response.

"Come on. You need to say it back."

An ambulance raced round the corner and paramedics lifted him onto a stretcher. Jeff watched his son be driven away then reached for his gun as the monster ripped through some of his fellow officers.

"Aim for the eyes!" He yelled as he opened fire.

He would avenge his son. It was at that moment there was a flash followed by a high pitched scream as a jet of magenta energy tore down from the sky and began to peal chunks of flesh off the monster. Jeff looked back to see a figure dressed a lot like his son's wife, but they were glitching like crazy just like the crocodile. Just a few seconds after they appeared, they seemed to glitch out of existence and the beam ceased. Part of the beast had been pealed away leaving a jet of blood pouring from its side. The crocodile turned sideways, using its own blood as some sort of gory short-range water cannon. Those caught in the blast were hurled to the floor, and some of them began to vomit from disgust. Jeff picked himself up, wiping the sticky liquid from his eyes and continuing to fire. The flow of blood eased off as the missing chunk of flesh quickly restored itself. The hard-to-destroy reptile bounded towards Jeff, opening its jaws wide to swallow him whole. He braced for death, but it never came. Instead, he peeked through his eyes to see the monster, which he suddenly knew to be called SCP-682, pinned to the floor by a sword. It fought viciously to break free, but the blade wasn't planning on budging anytime soon. The sound of webs signalled the arrival of spider reinforcements, and Jeff was certain he'd never been more relieved to see a spider person in his life. Two of them arrived, but he realised neither was Gwen. One he knew to be Max, she and Miles' strange son from another timeline, but he didn't recognise the other with the dark pink suit. Max walked round to the side of 682's head and stared into the beast's eyes.

"How's your dad? You just sent mine to A&E, and I don't like that."

"You will burn, Dei Volente."

"Oh sure. I burnt when that bitch sister of yours dumped a tank of gasoline on my head and set it alight. Now, does this hurt or are you past giving a damn about bullets in the eyes?"

Max stuck his finger in one of 682's eye sockets, but it felt like a cold stone and the crocodile couldn't care less. It slammed its eyelids shut, almost trapping his hand, and laughed. It wasn't laughing, however, when Charlotte ripped Furore Mortale from its snout and slashed it across so that part of its top jaw fell off. She drove the blade back into the lower half through its tongue, pinning it down again. The beast roared in agony, unable to speak. Max raised his eyebrows at Charlotte.

"Nobody's ever touched my sword and not been dusted or something."

"Don't take that sentence out of context."

"Sounds like good advice. Now, what do you think we should do with a massive crocodile?"

"I hear crocodile skin is a luxury in some parts of the world. Rugs and stuff."

"Alright. Let's put this guy in a warehouse somewhere and skin him every day then sell it."

"Sounds like a successful business venture."

"Charlo's Croc Carpets."

"I'm getting the profits? Even better."

"My business is crashing stock markets and buying my parents expensive apartments."

"Obviously."

The siblings stood over their prize triumphantly as their mother arrived. Charlotte's mood immediately went to one of irritation. Jeff joined the conversation, trying to wipe some of the dried blood off himself.

"You did a number on that thing, Gwen." He said.

She frowned, pulling her mask off.

"Miles told me to stay out of this stuff because I'm pregnant, so I've only just arrived."

"I was certain I saw you. You were flying, had a purple cape, fired some laser at it then disappeared."

Gwen just frowned more, but Max suddenly went tense.

"You saw Empress Gwen." He said.

All he received were blank looks, except from Charlotte who narrowed her eyes.

"The Gwen Stacy that started the Empire with the devil then switched sides and helped to bring about its downfall."

"But…she's dead, right?" Normal Gwen asked, looking worried.

"I think that time bomb brought back more than just the Scarlet King. I need to go and do some investigating. Please don't kill each other while I'm gone and Dad's in hospital."

He turned to 682 which was snarling angrily now. He pulled Furore Mortale free again, walked up the beast's snout ignoring the thrashing, and drove it down through its skull. Lightning ravaged the carcass for nearly half-a-minute leaving a smouldering wreck of the beast. Max wiped the blood and gore off his sword then held it out to Charlotte.

"I shouldn't need it. You won't be able to use any of its powers, but it should still be able to kill anything."

She clasped the hilt and nodded.

"Maybe we'll live to see you when you come back."

He hugged her.

"I'll be watching in case the guy himself makes a move. And I should only be gone about a week. Good luck."

He broke down into a cloud of smoke that faded away. Charlotte, Gwen and Jeff exchanged looks, then Charlotte started twirling her brother's sword around.

"Please be careful." Said Gwen.

"Why? I'm the one with the pointy God Stick."

"For the record, nobody else has tried to touch it because they saw what happened to the bad guys that tried."

"Well I plan to keep my brother's weapon very safe, so don't get any ideas."

"Whatever you say."

"Exactly. Whatever I say. Not whatever your genocidal ass wants."

Miles healed incredibly fast with help from the combined medical knowledge of dimensions 9578 and 9559. He was surprised Max had left, but was glad 682 was dead. Now he really understood why his son wanted all these creatures dead instead of even giving them a chance. Hatred and death were all they knew and ever would know. Miles was resting on the couch watching TV. He'd tried to go out and do Spiderman stuff, but the doctors and Gwen had ordered he rested. Truthfully he was glad to be relieved of the pressure for a couple of days.

Crossovers in this Chapter

- SCP Foundation