Part 9 - All Things Must Die

Chapter 146 - Blood and Steel

Charlotte Morales climbed back up to Miles and Gwen's penthouse sporting Furore Mortale on her back. It had been four days since her brother had left and she hadn't parted with the blade for even a minute. Now, however, she had an idea to strike the Scarlet King where it would hurt. Max hated the King and it hurt him more than anything, so she would take charge of this lousy war effort and make an offensive move. She had just visited the world between worlds where she hadn't found the Ethereal Legion headquarters, or whatever else it had been throughout the years. Instead she had discovered an enormous cube containing all the information from those old organisations. From it she had downloaded information on the Scarlet King's industrial might, and about a building referred to by the names SCP-001 and 'The Factory'. She would get revenge for what the King had done to her little brother. Miles and Gwen were sitting on the balcony. A bump was appearing on the latter's waist now and it was obvious she was getting hesitant about doing her job as Spiderwoman, although at times she tried to make excuses to go. Charlotte plugged the USB drive she had the information on into a laptop and sat it down on the table in front of her parents. She pulled up the information on SCP-001 and turned it so they could see it.

"We're taking this thing down. Call the alliance and tell them to send reinforcements." She instructed.

Miles raised his eyebrows.

"Not even 'hello, Mum and Dad, how are you'?"

"No. Get over it. Make the call and let's do this."

"I can't help." Said Gwen.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm pregnant!"

"You never cared that people were pregnant when you slaughtered them, so why should you be shown the same respect?"

"Because then you're the better person."

"You're coming whether you like it or not."

"You can't make me."

Charlotte pulled Furore Mortale off her back; its blade glistened in the moonlight. Gwen stood up.

"Would Max forgive you for spilling my blood with his weapon?"

"Probably not, but mine and his relationship is secondary to him being safe."

"Alright. I'll go."

"Good. Now, Miles, make the call."

Miles reached for his phone and did as he was told, deciding getting on his estranged daughter's bad side wasn't worth another trip to the hospital.

Teresa shook her head at the idea.

"I remember the raid on The Factory in the last war; it was a slaughter. Kates killed all but three of the strike force: a Quintari soldier, Gwen and Max."

"What about me?" Asked Miles.

"You were already dead. You'd blown every biological version of a fuse that you had trying to kill a Kate Sergeant with a Factory sticker slapped on it."

"I think I remember that." Gwen muttered.

"That's nice. How do we hit it?" Charlotte pressed.

"It's likely Khahrahk won't have left the structure unguarded. Anything going near it will be obliterated." Said Edward, staring at the map of the building which had been converted into a hologram.

"Then we go in on foot with C4. Any questions?"

"Yes. Who made you queen?" Teresa asked.

"Nobody. But this place has to fall."

"And how many people will go down making that happen?"

"As many as necessary."

"Alright, Stalin. All hail the meat grinder."

Charlotte glared and reached for the hilt of Furore Mortale, but her brother's voice in her head told her to chill out a little. She wasn't sure if it was actually him, or just a figment of her imagination, but she decided listening to it was for the best. Teresa gave a little nod of satisfaction and bent over the map.

"There's only one entrance so a stealthy assault may be the best option. We move in, plant the explosives on each of the structural supports, clear the structure and blow it. Job done, and hopefully Khahrahk won't notice while we're inside. Any questions?"

"Who's going?" Asked Gwen.

"I will. Charlotte should come as well. The Quintari can send forces, and my squad will aid them. Anyone else who volunteers is welcome."

"I'll go." Said Miles.

The rest of the Spider Gang volunteered as well, except Gwen which Charlotte relented over after Teresa went livid.

"That will be enough. The Quintari will take the left flank, my squad will go down the centre and the 'Spider Gang' can take the right. Good luck."

The three separate groups warped into dimension 9001, only to come face to face with something they weren't expecting. A metal monster rose up to about the height of a twenty-storey building. It seemed humanoid, but the slots in its armour for its eyes were complete darkness.

"Anyone know what that is?" Miles asked.

"If I were to take a guess, another of Khahrahk's leviathans." Teresa mused.

"What do we do?"

"We kill it." Snapped Charlotte.

The others turned to Teresa expecting an objection, but just got:

"You heard her."

Miles was about to ask what the plan was, but Charlotte had already jumped in. The metal monster brought its sword up to meet her and sent her crashing back into the ground. She only survived because she blocked a direct impact using her brother's sword. A Quintari hauled her to her feet. Teresa took charge:

"Spiders, wrap up its legs; the rest of us will keep it distracted. Once it's tangled, kick it to the ground and Charlotte can finish it off."

The monster covered its face with its arm as bullets started to pelt it. Miles led the spiders in dizzying circles, wrapping webs round and round its legs. When they were confident it would hold, they swung up to the back of its head and kicked it forwards so that it stumbled and tripped on the webbing. They leapt clear as it hit the ground heavily. Charlotte drove Furore Mortale into the back of its head. There was an ear-piercing scream, then the armour began to implode until it was nothing more than a large ball of scrap metal.

"That was way too easy." One of the Quintari commented.

"Let's move out. I hate the look of this place." Ordered Teresa.

As the three teams made their way towards the enormous doors into The Factory, Miles made his way to Teresa's side.

"Any idea how many more kids the Scarlet King has?"

"One, maybe two. If it's two, we should still only have to worry about one."

"Which one's that?"

"The Heart of Darkness. SCP-058, I think."

"I'm guessing it's not very nice with a name like 'Heart of Darkness'."

"You guess correctly. From what I remember, it was indestructible. It tore through fleets of star ships like paper and was only killed when Dei Volente arrived at the final battle. Do you really not remember this?"

"I remember a tall guy with a double-bladed sword and mind control. And I remember the King, maybe the Tree."

"Then you remember enough."

The inside of The Factory was dull and smelt horrible.

"What died in here?" Commented one of Teresa's squad.

"Plenty of things, I'm sure. Split up." The commander ordered.

The spiders headed to the right, listening to the distant clanking of machines and screeches of Kates. As they arrived in the first room with a structural support, Noir set about placing the explosive. Miles climbed onto a catwalk next to a tank from which steam was rising. Peering inside, he saw a pale liquid that was slowly taking the form of a Kate. Peter came up behind him, making him jump when he saw him out the corner of his eye.

"I don't like this place."

"It's cleaner than your favourite restaurant that shut down." Miles replied.

"Something tells me it won't stay that way."

A Kate screeched from somewhere up ahead.

"The charge is set." Noir announced.

Charlotte stormed ahead, clutching her brother's weapon.

"She's going to get herself killed." Peter remarked as they followed her.

"I'm not sure that's not what she wants." Said Miles.

"She should see a therapist." Suggested Spiderham.

"I'll sort that out when we're out of this place."

It took only minutes for the team to run into trouble. Kates blocked all exits just as Noir finished planting the eighth charge. The spiders stood back to back.

"Would now be a good time to run?" Asked Peni.

"Yeah." Replied Miles.

He made a bolt for one of the entrances to this room, but a Kate snatched him with its tentacles and started to squeeze the life out of him. Peni leapt in with her new robot, using one of its arms to cut the tentacles to let Miles free. He retreated and the Kates moved closer.

"Time for some divine intervention." Said Charlotte, taking a a few steps forward and slashing at the tentacles which came for her.

The Kates screamed in agony, but this only attracted more. Very soon, there was a sea of them surrounding the spiders who were fighting desperately. Miles and Charlotte racked up the highest kill streaks, but they were beginning to wonder whether they would live to tell the tale. Charlotte began pressing buttons, on her dimension hopping watch, between swipes with Furore Mortale. The other spiders did the same and they warped away into the streets of New York outside the skyscraper where Miles' penthouse was. A Kate had managed to follow them through having latched on to Noir. However, a yellow taxi slammed into it at high speed. Miles pulled the driver free and to safety as the vehicle flipped on its back and exploded in flames, incinerating what was left of the Kate.

"That could have gone better." Said Peter.

Just like the first strike on The Factory during the previous war with the Scarlet King, the mission was a failure. The Quintari were wiped out and only Teresa and one of her soldiers had the sense to warp to safety instead of just running. Charlotte growled angrily, wondering what her brother was thinking of her right now. Gwen came to her daughter's side, leaning on the balcony railing.

"More people made it out this time than the last. It was good thinking to use your watch to escape. We never thought of that last time."

"Don't try and exploit my emotional weakness to try and get in my head or I'll kill you."

"I don't think Max would want that, and you care about what he thinks."

"Yeah. Because you and Miles were such lousy parents I always had to be there for him."

Charlotte climbed over the railing and swung away. Gwen stared after her sadly.

Crossovers in this Chapter

- SCP Foundation