Part 9 - All Things Must Die

Chapter 149 - Only One Gwen Stacy

Hours passed after the battle. It was nearly three in the morning by the time Charlotte managed to catch a break from helping people who had been caught in the blast. She reached the shattered ground floor of the skyscraper where her parent's penthouse was and made her way towards the stairs, knowing it was likely the elevators would be unsafe. As she was about to enter the stairwell, she noticed something out the corner of her eye. When she turned to investigate, she felt something between joy and even more misery. She'd barely had time to get control of herself before dragging herself away from her brother's broken body to help civilians. Curled up against the wall was a girl who looked about twenty-three. She were glitching like crazy, which meant she'd either been transported between dimensions incorrectly or was a bi-product of the TVA's attempt to prune this reality. Given who it was, Charlotte figured the latter was the more likely. Grace pulled herself to her feet, clearly in a lot of pain from the glitching. She couldn't know about Max, could she? And how had she come back to life? Charlotte ran over to her and put her hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes.

"How?" Was all she asked.

"I…don't know. I have to talk to Max. He might be able to fix me."

"Max is dead. Or not dead dead, but he blew himself up to kill Khahrahk. He's recharging."

Grace seemed to lose the will to keep going and sank back down to the floor.

"It hurts so much." She groaned.

Charlotte nodded, sitting next to her.

"I'm sorry."

Miles was looking for civilians in an area not far from the epicentre of the blast. The building was entirely demolished, and he hoped its occupants had obeyed the order to evacuate in time. Suddenly, his spidey sense alerted him to something behind him. He prepared for a fight, expecting a stray Kate, but he couldn't see anything. He returned to his task, only to be alerted to the same thing again a few seconds later. This time, he was just in time to leap out the way of a black and purple motorbike that came crashing past him, exploding in the rubble and sending glitching fragments in all directions. He pulled his mask on and turned invisible. Suddenly, he felt a metal hand close around the back of his neck. A venom strike was enough to free him and he leapt forwards, landing in a ready position facing his opponent. No…this wasn't possible. A glitching Prowler tore towards him, his hand held back to deliver a deadly strike that would likely kill the spider if it hit. Miles ducked and threw a heavy punch which knocked his opponent off balance allowing him to use a 'surprise attack' to knock him down.

"Uncle Aaron! Please! It's Miles!"

The spider pulled his mask off, hoping his uncle would stop. It worked for now as Prowler removed his mask as well. Miles pulled him onto his feet.

"Miles? But how? I was dead. Am I still dead?"

"No, you're alive, just…glitching."

"It hurts man, it hurts."

"Yeah. Come on; we'll find someone who can help."

Gwen was doing much the same as Miles had been, but in a slightly different part of the city and working with buildings still standing but on the verge of collapse. That was when she sensed and heard it: a sound like glitching. Looking around she came face to face with herself with a far more pronounced scar over her left eyebrow. A magenta cape flowed from behind her and she held two deadly katanas ready to strike. Both Gwens frowned, trying to figure out what was happening.

"Who are you?" Asked the glitching one.

"I'm you, I think. A nicer version of you too by the looks of things."

"I'm you? Really? If anything, you're me. As for the nicer part, nobody cares. There can only be one Gwen Stacy."

"I don't like where this is going."

Glitching Gwen sheathed one of her katanas and it disappeared as she readied the other one.

"You should probably know I'm a month pregnant." Normal Gwen warned, backing off slowly.

"Good. Two in one. Spider people were the bane of my life."

With her blade held back, glitching Gwen charged. Normal Gwen leapt out of the way, but the move was somewhat anticipated and the sword struck her arm creating a deep gash that started bleeding. She hit the ground heavily, knocked off balance by the impact. When she reached for her pocket and pulled out her phone, a web ripped it from her hands. She scurried back as her glitching counterpart advanced, discarding the device in the rubble. Normal Gwen found her back against a piece of debris from which was sticking out a broken metal pole. She wrenched it clear and hit out at the katana blade that was inching ever closer to her. Glitching Gwen snarled and fought back, but the initial blow had given normal Gwen enough time to get back on her feet. The two swiped at each other, but it was obvious who the victor was going to be so normal Gwen made a final swipe and kicked her counterpart's feet out from under her before firing a web and swinging towards the penthouse. She'd barely swung a hundred metres when a magenta ball of flames smashed down on top of her, driving her into the ground. The impact winded her and would likely cause quite a few bruises, but that wasn't what she was worried about. She put her hand on her tummy, hoping the child was OK.

"Stop! Please!" She begged glitching Gwen who had her katana out again and was approaching to deliver the overdue killing blow.

"Why should I stop? There's only one Gwen Stacy."

"Clearly there's more. Anyway, what does killing me achieve?"

"Maybe I'll take your Miles in place of mine who died."

"Is that what this is about? Miles? If you lay a finger on any version of me it'll be you who's dead."

"Hmm. Perhaps you are of more use alive."

The katana was pressed right up against normal Gwen's throat now. Her sweat felt cold as she waited to find out her opponent's decision. After nearly a minute of silence, she asked in a small voice:

"Please can I go?"

"No. You're coming with me."

It was better than being dead, wasn't it? Of course the real question was why it was always her being kidnapped not Miles for a change, but that wouldn't help her as she was hauled to her feet and dragged through a wreath of magenta flames.

Miles frowned when he saw Charlotte sitting in the penthouse with a girl who was glitching just as much as his uncle.

"Hey, do I recognise you from somewhere?" He asked the girl.

She shrugged.

"Depends what you remember. I'm Grace, Max's fiancé. I don't know how I'm alive before you ask."

Charlotte stood up.

"I think it had something to do with the explosion. It might have destabilised time even more than it is already and now we're witnessing parallel futures."

"I thought there was a whole different system for alternate timelines?" Said Miles.

"Not completely different; just adding decimal points after the dimension number. It's complicated, though. Who have you brought?"

"This is my Uncle Aaron."

"Oh, so my great uncle. As if the family didn't have enough villains."

"Has Gwen come back yet?"

"I haven't seen her."

Miles sighed.

"I'll phone her in a minute."

"You do that."

Once a couple of rooms were set up for Aaron and Grace, Miles pulled out his phone and dialled Gwen. He was paranoid about her getting hurt now she was carrying their child. Of course, he'd always been worried before but he'd been confident she could take care of herself. The phone rang and rang but she didn't pick up. He tried a second time a minute later, but still nothing. He went to the 'Find My Friends' app and looked where she was. She was still working her way round the same area, so he figured he may as well help out. He leapt over the railing on the balcony and went out after her.

Everything seemed very quiet when Miles arrived where her phone said she was. Strangely, she hadn't moved in five minutes. Was she trapped under rubble?

"Gwen! Where are you?" He shouted.

No reply. He tried calling her phone and heard the familiar ringtone not far away. It took only a few seconds to find the device. The glass was shattered so it was hard to see the screen, but he could tell the left side of it was broken. The touch screen didn't respond either. However, the condition of her phone was secondary to her's. Where was she? He shouted her name again, his voice slightly more shaky this time as his mind started racing with all the horrible things that might have happened. What if a surviving Kate had killed her? No, there would be blood. But there was blood, on closer inspection. However, there didn't seem to be enough for if it had been a Kate, which was a little relief. She wasn't trapped under rubble or her phone wouldn't look like it had been thrown. He swung around the ruins of the surrounding blocks but didn't find anything other than a rat. He shouted her name a few more times, but nothing. Now he was really beginning to panic as he set off back to the penthouse as fast as he could swing.

Charlotte had never seen her father in such a panic, even when she was growing up. She didn't like either of her parents much, but he was preferable to her mother so she was a little more inclined to care.

"What's up?"

"Gwen is gone. I can't find her. There was blood round her phone and it's all smashed up."

"Wow. People got crushed by a falling building and there's blood. Proves nothing."

"Her phone, though?"

"Maybe she dropped it?"

Miles put it down on the table.

"Does that look dropped?"

"No, it looks like someone hit it with a hammer."

"We have to find her."

"Do we, though?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"You really don't care about her, do you?"

"I thought I'd made that perfectly clear."

"You just care about yourself."

"I care about my brother and my friends. My parents are assholes, so why care about them?"

"I thought you wanted to be a hero? Isn't being a hero about saving people?"

"Exceptions can be made."

"What would Max say if he heard you say that? He prefers Gwen over me, so what would he think of this?"

Charlotte closed her eyes and shook her head slowly.

"Oh you…you had to say that. Fine. I will help you find Gwen. But I'm doing this for my brother, not for you or her or anyone else."

"That's good enough for me."

The spiders returned to the scene looking for any clues to where Gwen had been taken, but there was nothing. Eventually, Teresa showed up.

"You two have been walking in circles here for almost an hour. Are you trying to save a colony of ants?"

"Gwen is missing." Miles replied.

She sighed and pulled out her phone which looked quite a lot more advanced than either of the spiders'. After a few taps, an egg shaped object flew down from the clouds and started scouring the ground. Miles and Charlotte moved out its way. After a minute, it stopped in front of Teresa letting out a series of clicks and beeps. She nodded and tapped her phone one last time, sending it away, as she turned to the spiders who watched her expectantly.

"There's evidence of a fight."

"We worked that out." Charlotte replied bluntly, clearly wanting to get this over and done with.

"There's also temporal energy residue emitted by the Mind Ethereal Plate. I believe you had a very brief encounter with Empress Gwen?"

"Sorta. She wrecked the big crocodile thing." Miles replied.

"682. I'd imagine 'wrecked' is an overstatement?"

"She appeared, tore a chunk out it giving it a gory water cannon then disappeared."

"Glitching, which explains the temporal distortions left behind. In theory, to find your Gwen, all we have to do is track that distortion and the traces of the magenta Plate."

"Can you do it?"

"The Quintari would be better equipped. Let's go and see where the High Aether is."

A few minutes later, Teresa, Miles and Charlotte were standing in a dark room aboard a Quintari ship in orbit. The High Aether sat in a chair staring out into the void of space.

"I understand you require the aid of my people."

"Very observant." Charlotte mused.

"We need to find Gwen. She was kidnapped and we think we can track her down, but we don't have the tech." Miles explained.

Teresa went into more detail about the situation. The High Aether beckoned to another of his race in the shadows once she had finished. The guard, judging by their attire, approached and their leader gave them some orders. They left the room leaving the spiders, Teresa and High Aether alone.

"Please, sit. It may take some time to do what you ask."

Charlotte was the only one hesitant. She knew her brother strongly disliked the High Aether, but she figured she'd see what lies he had to tell today. He sat forward, leaning on his staff and closing his eyes.

"Your distrust for my people is well-placed. But you must remember we hid facts to keep your species safe. When all was brought to the light, look at became of the omniverse."

Clearly he could see her thoughts.

"Try and justify it all you want. I follow my brother's lead, not the occasional wise quip from a mouldy old ET."

"I would not treat Dei Volente as a role model. He is volatile. His power is too much for his mortal mind."

"There we go again. Max isn't volatile. He does what's best for everyone."

"My people do the same, do they not? Perhaps we fail to see eye to eye on what is for the best?"

"You think? Anyway, I trust Max's vision more than yours. He sees everything; you just see some random version of the future. Isn't it better to make a decision with the bigger picture?"

"Indeed it is, and perhaps the Quintari cannot see wide enough to make the correct decision at all times. But it is clear: Dei Volente cannot cope with the responsibility on his shoulders. He is not a true High Elder God."

"You're a total asshole, aren't you? If you think that, then maybe you'd drop in and help out every now and again instead of watching everything burn until you're all that's left? In his own words, piss off."

She stood up and walked out angrily. Teresa and Miles exchanged looks, then the latter stood up.

"Imma go talk to her."

Charlotte had found a small area near the front of the ship, staring out with the Earth taking up half the view and the void of the space the rest. She knew Miles was there well before he announced his presence.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"To talk."

"About what?"

"About the whole deal with you. What's up with you and everyone? What's the deal between you and Max?"

"If by everyone, you mean you and Gwen, I'll put it simply. You were the worst parents anyone could have ever had. The hate she attracted and your neglect were a lethal combination. I hate her because she's the reason people hate me. I hate you because you left me and Max to fend for ourselves once she was gone. You were too busy with the Ethereal Legion, and you'd never let us take any risks or help anyone. 'Let the Legion sort it', you would say. Is that simple enough, or do I need to tell you like you belong in kindergarten?"

Miles shook his head.

"I get it, but we aren't the same Miles and Gwen as those two."

"Aren't you? What's to say you won't just found another Legion if you fail to save her today? What's to say she won't take up that old banner and slaughter people in their millions again?"

"I…can't make promises for her. If she's got something going on, I only know what she tells me. But me: I couldn't do that nowadays. People haven't grown used to one big order ruling everything like they had in your timeline."

"I suppose so."

"What about Max?"

She sighed and buried her face in her hands.

"After our mother died and you became caught up with the Legion, I realised how neglectful you were being. We barely saw you. I swore I'd do everything I could for my brother. From that point on, every major decision I made I thought about how it would affect Max. For example: there was a time some 'friends' tried to pressure me into trying drugs. I had the damn thing in my hand, then I thought about what would happen to Max if I became addicted. Who would look after him? Plus, isn't a spider person's job to help people, not support local drug dealers? Back to Max: I did everything to protect him, although I failed a few major times. But that's why it hurt so much seeing him dead, even though I know he'll be back in a few days or weeks. After all these years, so much time, so much experience, I completely failed."

Miles nodded sadly, thinking about what she'd just told him.

"Max made the decision to sacrifice himself to stop the Scarlet King coming back for good. I could be wrong, but I think at some point you have to step back and say 'I've done my part: his life is his'. You can't protect him forever, just like I won't be able to be Spiderman forever, and there'll be a time when mine and Gwen's kid is old enough that I have to let them go their own way."

Charlotte stood up and looked him in the eyes. Her expression read too many emotions to identify any of them.

"Maybe you're right, but for now he asked us to complete a mission, and we have another right now. Let's go find this timeline's Gwen Stacy."

Crossovers in this Chapter

- SCP Foundation