Part 9 - All Things Must Die
Chapter 156 - Reduced to Null
Edward, Miles, Miguel, Charlotte and Harold, a military advisor from 9578 who Miles had a very vague memory of, were gathered in Edward's office aboard Sol Galactic Command's orbital headquarters. It was a much larger office than the one on the Nighthawk, predictably, and a variety of maps and charts covered the walls. Edward drummed his fingers on his desk, then looked up as the last person to arrive walked in. Nick Fury stopped at the door and looked around at the group. The admiral stood up and offered his hand which Fury shook firmly.
"Thank you for offering your assistance."
"I know a hopeless case when I see one, and my team may be able to make it less hopeless."
"I don't get what's so helpless." Harold started. "All we need to do is go to Null's narrative and relieve him of his head."
Edward beckoned for Fury to take a seat and returned to his desk before answering.
"I wish it was that easy, but Null still has control over what happens while we are in narratives below his. If one of our heads explodes in this meeting, we know who's to blame."
"I guess that means he knows we're coming. Invisibility won't be much use." Said Miles.
"We're forgetting something: Null stole various technologies from our narratives. Liam never gave us a full inventory, but it will make him dangerous." Added Edward.
"Do we have to kill him?" Asked Miles.
"What did you have in mind?" Asked Miguel.
"Let's talk to him before we start shooting. We might be able to save some lives on both sides."
"Bitch please. The man set a temporal terrorist organisation on us. If he wanted to talk, he would have." Fury replied.
"That's you told." Charlotte commented with a sly smile.
"I propose we wait until Maximilian returns and we set him on Null like a hunting dog to a fox." Said Harold.
"Max has been away for the best part of two months. The chances of him returning soon are looking slimmer and slimmer." Said Edward.
"I don't recall him taking so long to return the last time he killed the Scarlet King, and then he collapsed the majority of the omniverse on himself."
Charlotte shook her head and sighed.
"When it happened before, it was the power of the collapsing omniverse that killed Khahrahk. This time, every bit of energy came from Max. Khahrahk made up an eighth of Death's total power as a High Elder God. Max had to destroy that permanently, regain it then rebuild his physical body atom by atom."
"'High' is a perfect description for that kid." Harold replied.
Charlotte's face hardened and Miles tensed up in case she broke the advisor's neck. Nobody seemed to have a clue what had upset her, but she explained:
"Max loved almost every form of joke, except for any about drugs. Those were always over the line for him, and should be for everyone."
"What makes him so sensitive to those?"
"That's on a need-to-know basis, and if you pursue the subject further with me, any of his friends, or him, I will not hesitate to cut your voice box and tongue out."
Miles frowned, trying to remember what had happened, but couldn't. Out of fear of suffering a similar or worse fate than Harold, he pushed the subject out his mind and brought everyone's attention back to Null:
"The point is, we need to act now."
"So let's gather our people and kill this motherfucker." Replied Fury.
"I agree. The longer we wait, the longer he has to prepare." Said Edward.
"Then let's do this."
Miles stopped at the penthouse to say goodbye to Gwen and explain what was happening. They broke apart after a long kiss.
"Go get him. I love you."
"I love you more."
"You know that's impossible."
"It's nice to know it's still true."
"It never won't be."
Miles kissed her again then glanced down at the baby bump.
"I dunno how long we'll be gone. We might have a kid when I get back."
"I was gonna wait to tell you, but since you're going now…it's a girl."
"I hope she'll be just like her mum."
"And I hope she doesn't turn into Charlotte."
"There is literally no way we could go that far wrong again."
"You never know. All we can do is wait, then do our best."
They leaned their foreheads against each other's.
"Will you be OK?" He asked.
"I'll survive a few months. I'll be waiting when you get back; I promise."
"I'll come back OK, and that's a promise too."
Mile's watch buzzed and he looked to see a message telling him to hurry up.
"I have to go."
"Stay alive."
"I will."
The team was much bigger than Miles had thought. As well as all the spiders, minus Gwen of course, most of the Avengers were there: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Falcon, Bruce Banner, Black Widow, Vision and the Winter Soldier. Edward approached them.
"The ship will warp into orbit around Null's Earth to drop you off, then come home. Find him, kill him, retrieve any copies of his infamous fan-fiction and get home alive. You've all been issued devices to make breathing easier, so the sulphur won't be an issue. I wish you all the best of luck."
"Thanks, Edward." Replied Miguel.
The admiral nodded and left again. The team gathered round in a circle. Captain America started a quick last briefing:
"We know our mission. Tony, Sam: you'll use your equipment to find our target. The rest of us will join you at his location and finish the job. Be ready for anything: we know very little about the environment we're going into, and we know almost nothing about what Null is capable of. Keep your heads, work together, and we can end this before he causes anymore lasting damage to our reality."
The intercom crackled to life:
"Attention all personnel: the narrative jump sequence has begun. Secure all payloads and report to jump stations immediately. Jump will occur in T-minus two minutes."
The skies of Earth, narrative Minus Zero, were perpetually dark. The only light came from the bolts of lightning created by the dense clouds of volcanic ash. Suddenly, for a brief moment, there was another flash of light somewhere over the rim of a crater. Only one person knew for certain what it was, and only one person knew how it was supposed to end. Null took a swig of precious water and looked at the sky, hoping any ashfall would hold off until he'd finished what the TVA had failed to do. Now he would avenge all those billions that had died; now he would take back the life that had been stolen from him by what had started as a pet project.
Despite the breathing devices, the stench of rotten eggs still filled the team's nostrils. Iron Man and Falcon took-off in the direction of a crater. The others followed on foot except Vision who floated above their heads. Peter caught up with Miles.
"How you holding up, buddy?"
"If it wasn't for the sulphur, the slightly terrifying red glow from erupting volcanoes, and the unborn child I might never see, I'd be great."
"MJ isn't happy about me being away from home so much either, but she and Gwen know we do what has to be done."
"I don't want to kill Null. If there's a chance to take him prisoner and spare his life, we have to take it."
"It isn't fair, but if this guy does anything rash it's gonna be a lot more people dead than one."
Noir joined the pair.
"I don't think all of us will make it out alive."
"We just have to get as many of us home as possible."
The team crouched down and peered over the rim of a crater. Down below was a small group of metal cubes, little more than portacabins and shipping containers. Some people were moving around.
"Miles, you know what this guy looks like better than the rest of us; do you see him?" Asked Captain America.
"No. Wait…yeah, he just came out that hut in the middle. What's he wearing? And what's that glowy thing on his chest?"
"He has an arc reactor." Remarked Tony from his Iron Man suit.
"Looks like he's wearing some kind of sports kit." Added Falcon.
Null had stopped with his back to them. The sound of a chuckle rose up to them, turning into a fit of laughter, then followed by words that were very clearly aimed at them.
"A group of web slinging assholes, who should be at Comic Con, and 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes'. Who knew that comic artists and film directors would be the ones to end the world?" Null turned to face them. "I suppose part of it was my own fault. A few crossovers too many or something. Maybe I should have just quit after the Empire fell? But that wouldn't make for a good ending. There was never supposed to be a good ending: Gwen was supposed to be trapped in Liam's narrative and fade out of existence after she discovered how her dear husband and kids burned in the Scarlet King's victory. What really happened to change that, I'll never know; maybe the prick upstairs is rolling around laughing at how petty everyone is. Either way, I'm going to end this once and for all. I'll kill all of you, I'll annihilate your reality and everyone in it. I tell you now: what's about to happen…I'll enjoy this. So come on; come and get me."
Iron Man stood up.
"You stole my tech."
"I say you stole it from me, therefore it is."
Stark tore down the crater edge and touched down in front of Null who double tapped the arc reactor on his chest. Metal seemed to crawl over his body, covering it in a dark grey and orange version of the billionaire's suit.
"That's a lawsuit right there."
"Try it."
Null raised his hand and fired a repulsor shot at Stark who was knocked over but managed to avoid the hand coming to tear his suit off him. The pair exchanged shots for a short time until a blue, white and red shield slammed into Null. Captain America caught it and charged. His enemy raised an arm, which blocked Stark's next shot, and used his free hand to grab the underside of the shield and flip Cap on his back. A blade emerged from Null's wrist which glanced off the shield, but it was just a distraction and Cap's greatest defence was ripped away and hurled at Stark who was still pelting Null with repulsor shots that now seemed to glance off. The blade came back round and was driven through Captain America's heart.
"No!" Stark yelled.
He flew down to avenge his friend, only to have his arc reactor torn from his chest. He went stiff as Null dropped it and repositioned the shield in his hand.
"Which of you fuck-wads is next?"
In response, a bolt of lightning ravaged his suit leaving some heavy burn marks but nothing substantial. Mjolnir itself flattened Null to the ground and pinned him. Thor, Falcon and the Winter Soldier moved in for the kill.
"Default, make me worthy." Null ordered someone.
A very synthetic voice replied:
"Yes sir."
{§Default edit 1: nullWorthy = true§}
Null reached for Mjolnir's handle and picked it up with a grin he knew his enemies couldn't see. Thor's eyes widened in shock as his own hammer struck him across the head. Falcon swooped down, firing with two guns in his hands. Mjolnir returned to Null's hand and he held it high, bringing it down so that lightning tore into his attacker. Falcon crashed down near Captain America's corpse, smoke rising from his own. Thor and the Winter Soldier grabbed Null's arms and Mjolnir smashed him in the chest as it came back. Thor grabbed the handle and swung the hammer, hurling him through the wall of one of the huts. A second later, two tiny bullets shot out from the wreckage, one pierced the Winter Soldier's heart and the other glanced off Thor's armour. Now, enraged by the deaths of three of his friends, Hulk entered the fight, roaring like mad. Null picked himself up and looked at his new opponent.
"Oh no…"
Black Widow and Vision entered the fight as well. The spiders stood ready in case the last of the Avengers failed, but Null looked more than a little panicked at this point. Hulk picked up one of the huts and hurled it at him; he sprinted at the green monster and dropped to the ground to slide underneath it at the last moment. However, instead of attacking the aggressor, he fired another of the tiny bullets at Black Widow who dodged it and ran at him. Mjolnir smashed him into the ground and a second later, Natasha stabbed one of her electric batons into the arc reactor on his chest. It flickered and went dark leaving Null more than a little helpless.
"I'll admit this isn't how I imagined this going, but I've got plenty of contingencies. As Maximilian would say, 'then the Winged Hussars arrived'."
For a moment nothing happened, then a shockwave blasted Black Widow into the crater wall. Another smashed into Hulk and a third into Thor. Vision turned transparent for a moment and the one meant for him passed straight through him. However, the damage was done: Null had Mjolnir and had almost decapitated Natasha with Captain America's shield. He hurled it into the air, as Hulk charged, and threw the hammer at it. A shockwave flattened the green beast into the ground giving Null ample time to dodge Thor's punches and cave the god's skull in with his own weapon. Vision fired an orange beam as he flew at him, but Hulk got there first and grabbed Null, thrashing him around like a rattle. Suddenly, more shockwaves blasted the green beast down again letting Null free. Looking injured, and with his suit trashed, he dragged himself away and broke the metal carcass off with a manual release. Vision landed in front of him as he dragged himself to his feet.
"I do not wish to kill you, but your lust for blood is unforgiveable."
"Sentiment will get you nowhere in the real world. Nobody cares what anybody really thinks. Nobody will listen to facts and logic; they're too caught up with their precious freedoms and protocols. I fight for whatever's left of the good in my narrative and every other one. Tell me, Vision, do you think this will end here? People from my narrative will rise up against the one above because they must have their free will and God's plan is all the guide they need. If I prove my strength now, maybe they'll rally behind me and I can save more lives."
"Your mind is in the right place, but your heart is dark. You wish only for revenge, and I must stop that."
"Pity. I could have used a walking super computer. I must say I'm in a bit of a pickle, though. No suit, just the fifty killer drones that all have their guns pointed at you."
Vision turned around to take a shockwave straight to the face, the edge of which clipped Null and he stumbled. Dirty-grey machines opened fire with bullets that burst with blue as they struck Vision. His circuitry started to spark and eventually gave out; his body turning grey. Null reached out his hand and Mjolnir flew into it. It turned out to be five drones keeping Hulk down, but now it was Mjolnir that was placed on its chest.
"One of the things I asked Liam for was something to kill the 'Incredible' Hulk; I got the recipe for some sort of acid. Not something the military ever considered since it's a little difficult to administer in the heat of battle."
Another drone appeared with a tray on its back. Null cautiously picked up a metal bottle which he uncorked.
"This stuff couldn't kill an overgrown crocodile, but it might kill you."
He poured the liquid on Hulk's head. The roars of agony told their own story, and by the time the bottle was empty a large hole had been burnt through the monster's face and brain. Null tossed the bottle away and turned to face the spiders who looked terrified, except for Charlotte who seemed raring to have a piece of him.
"That leaves you web-slinging freaks, the ones that started it all. I told the truth to Vision; sentiments won't get you anywhere. Sparing my life won't end this. If you win, I'll greet death with open arms; it's better than this volcanic hell you left my world as."
"This isn't a fair fight." Said Noir.
"Oh, the drones? They're not worth much in a direct fight, but I'll show you what is."
Null held his arm out behind him. Mjolnir flew into it and he sighed.
"That wasn't what I meant, but I suppose it's worth seeing the shock on your faces when the other thing get's here. Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you figure out your strategy."
The spiders took the opportunity.
"We kill him, agreed?" Started Miguel.
All of them agreed, although Miles was a little hesitant.
"We have to take him all at once or he'll slaughter us." Said Noir.
"It's already a slaughter." Said Peter.
"Hot dogs for days!" Joked Spiderham.
He received some angry looks.
"I'll go invisible and venom strike him from behind, then you guys rip him up. Look out for that shockwave thing he did with Hulk." Said Miles.
"And the drones?" Asked Charlotte.
"I might be able to hack them." Suggested Peni.
"Do it."
"Ding ding ding! Time's up!" Null yelled.
"He's really insane." Peni muttered
"You only just realised?" Answered Peter.
Null threw Mjolnir up and caught it, assuming a ready position with Captain America's shield in his other hand. Miles disappeared and he sighed.
"That's gonna sting."
He threw the shield up and Mjolnir a second later to hit it. Miguel yanked the shield away with a web, but Null caught Mjolnir again and swung it back to hit Miles. Whether by luck or instinct, it was a heavy hit and Miles turned visible again, stumbling back and tripping. Miguel hurled the shield at Null who took it to the face and was knocked flat with a bleeding nose. Peter caught it and leapt up, but Null threw Mjolnir which struck the shield creating the same shockwave as before. All the spiders were knocked down, except Peter and Peni. Their enemy was up on his feet again almost instantly. Peni threw a heavy punch with her robot which hit Null across the jaw. Its other hand began spinning to likely relieve him of his head, but Mjolnir came back and smashed through the glass roof. Peter collided with him, before he could catch the hammer again, and laid into him with punch after punch. Now Null decided was probably a good time to call in the drones' help; three shockwaves blasted Peter off him, but Charlotte was on him a second later. She too took a shockwave, and the other spiders caught on quickly that if they tried again the drones would deal with them in the same way. They'd formed a ring around the base of the crater, trapping the spiders in with their enemy. Null dragged himself to his feet, very clearly exhausted and with a few broken ribs at least. He held his hand out for Mjolnir and ripped the shield from Peter's seemingly unconscious hands. However, he grabbed it and pulled Null in, putting him in a choke lock.
"Slick…mother…fucker…"
A revolver shot echoed out in the darkness and a wet patch formed over Null's heart. Peter let him go and pushed the corpse off. The spider stood up and looked between the others and their enemy's corpse.
"Is it really over?" Asked Charlotte, a hand on her hip in a way that looked like she was trying to act chilled out but was actually clutching an injury.
"There's no way. This has to be a trick. It can't be that easy; he had all that time and technology." Miguel replied.
"You know, I think it's really done." Replied Peni.
She looked upset, and it took the other's a second to realise she wasn't in her robot. It was lying in a twisted heap a few metres away, clearly totalled.
"I'm sorry about your robot." Said Noir.
"It's OK. I should probably use something stronger for the dome."
"Yes you should."
Everyone looked at Miles, thinking he'd said it since it sounded like him, and thinking it was a little rude. He frowned and looked behind him since he hadn't said anything. The voice continued, phasing between each of the spiders' voices and moving around constantly as if it was circling them.
"Glass is very fragile. Do you know what else is very fragile? The human mind. Even the infamous spider sense can't detect a trick, an illusion. Miguel was right; I had all that time, all that technology. You really think I'd just create a shitty tin can? I must admit it lasted far longer than I expected, and so did its wearer. In the words of the Mad Titan: 'reality is often disappointing. But now, reality can be whatever I want.'"
A magenta haze began to lift. Null's corpse disappeared, and the camp turned from shipping containers into a group of humvees and a truck with nobody in sight. The drones became larger and stocked with more heavier weapons. The only thing that remained the same were the collection of dead bodies and the crater walls, as well as Mjolnir and Captain America's shield. The talking continued, its source still hidden but its voice now Nulls:
"All that time, all those bad memories of Ethereal Plates. Not once did even a single person in your entire narrative think: 'what happened to Empress Gwen's glitchy old Mind Plate?' I'll admit magenta isn't my colour, but the Plate's power is exactly what I both wanted and needed. And now you are exactly where I want you."
The spiders' spider senses went off as one last burst of magenta flared up, revealing the true Null in another metal suit. This one was entirely black except a magenta glow where the arc reactor had been on its predecessor. It looked much more buffed up as well.
"The Hulk had the Hulk Buster armour; I predicted a confrontation with Dei Volente would arise, so I created the God Buster armour. It could kill your estranged son, Miles. How much of a fight can the butter put up against this knife?"
Peter picked up the shield.
"A lot."
"We'll see."
He charged in, but as Null's fist made contact with the shield, the spider's new weapon seemed to be twisted and thrown away, before the other fist caught his throat.
"Peter!" Miles yelled, about to rush in to help when a blue wall of energy appeared between them.
There was a sickening crunch and Null discarded Peter's corpse at the spiders' feet.
"'No resurrections this time.'"
The spiders stared in horror. Miguel grabbed Miles as he grit his teeth and took his first stride forward.
"If you do that, you'll just end up like Peter. What about Gwen?"
"Yes Miles, what about Gwen? Wouldn't she want you to avenge your friend? 'No matter how many times you get hit, can you always get back up?' That's a hit; will you get up and fight or will you make your dear wife disappointed in the man she chose?" Null taunted.
"She'd want me to survive."
"'Why don't you just start running so I can stab you in the back?'"
Miles tensed up, readying a venom strike. Charlotte sprinted forward, screaming angrily. Null glanced at her and a slot opened on his shoulder. From it fired one of the tiny bullets which she sensed and narrowly dodged before driving her fist into the side of Null's head. Her screams turned to agony and Null started laughing.
"You thought you could punch through a steel-titanium-tungsten alloy? You're a joke. You never served a purpose other than to motivate your precious little brother into becoming a High Elder God."
The robotic voice spoke up from Null's suit:
"Incoming."
Null's hand shot up and he caught Miles'. Electricity coursed through the former's suit and a tiny bump on the top of his head went up in a puff of smoke and sparks.
"Short-range scanners offline. Radar offline." The assistant announced.
Null turned his head to look at Miles.
"Very smart. Smarter than your daughter, anyway. Tell you what, I'll spare the two of you and we'll see what sort of fish I catch with a God's father and sister as bait."
The other shoulder opened up, and from it were fired what looked like two electric elastic bands. One hit Charlotte and she seized up, a black belt around her neck. The other hit Miles and the same happened to him.
"As for the rest of you, I have no use for a talking pig, some weeaboo's wet dream, a James Bond knock-off and a random prick with enough technology to rival me but he never uses it. Default, kill them."
"Yes sir."
The gun barrels on the drones began to spin. The four spiders left standing made to try and escape, but even with fancy leaps and tricks the sheer number of bullets in the air had killed them all in seconds. Null sighed, clicking his fingers. He picked Miles and Charlotte up by the collars of their torn and burnt spider suits, taking them to one of the Humvees.
"And now we wait."
Crossovers in this Chapter
- Loki
- Avengers
Null isn't very nice, is he? Seriously, world governments: don't enlist me or anyone into the INTF if it ever forms!