Part 10 - The Greatest Sin

Chapter 172 - A Warning that Came Too Late

Null had just finished a bowl of tomato soup. He was sick to death of the stuff, although more just the sick bit. He wheeled his wheelchair over to a water pump and cleaned the bowl out. Someone waved to him, and he waved back. People had forgiven him for the destruction of Canary Wharf, but he still felt some guilt. What he felt the most guilt about was what he'd done to Miles' world, or worlds. He half expected him and Max to arrive and kill him for it. Since he'd stopped writing now, things happened on their own terms. Suddenly, just as he reached his tent, a bright light pierced the eternal darkness of his world. Null threw his bowl down and turned to see what was happening. He groaned.

"I was literally just thinking about you two. Kill me, already."

"We aren't gonna kill you." Miles replied.

"Sadly." Max remarked.

"For what it's worth, I've got a lot of regrets."

"Yeah, well regrets won't bring my dead sister back." Max snarled, storming towards Null with his hand on the hilt of Furore Mortale.

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill her; I was aiming for you."

"Oh how comforting."

"Max, chill. We're here to talk to him." Said Miles.

Max turned back to his father, then sighed and nodded.

"Right. I'm sure I'll come back and finish the job later."

Null gave a half-smile.

"That seems to be your way. Nice bracers."

"They're more than just something to make me look pretty."

"No, I'd imagine you wouldn't need it with the number of people fighting for your affection. Anyway, you came to talk. What about?"

"About the Sword Perilous." Replied Miles.

"Trying to kill yourself, Max? We might hate each other but I don't like suicide. I'm here if you need someone to talk to."

"No. We need it for Dad. Dea Judicium controls the world and we need to talk to her." Max replied in a fed-up tone.

"Ah. Makes sense. Well I don't really know how I can help you."

"Any idea if it survived?" Asked Miles.

"My gut tells me yes. And now I've acknowledged it, it's true. So yes it survived, I guess."

"But where?"

"I've literally got no idea what your world looks like now. I stopped writing after our final fight."

Max sighed.

"Any ideas, Dad?"

"Paarthurnax might know something."

"Try a museum." Null suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Said Miles.

"If I may also ask a question: what happened to you seeing everything, Max?" Asked Null.

"I can sort of see everything, but it's blurry like someone put a dirty contact lens in my eye or something."

"Should have gone to Specsavers."

"If you can find a Specsavers in this new world, then I will."

"Don't search. I will be your guide." Said a voice.

Miles looked around.

"Err…is that the Watcher?"

"Yes. I am the Watcher. I come with a warning: Dea Judicium is coming. Hermaeus Mora is angry and is coming too."

"You guys mind keeping your High Elder bullshittery to your own narrative?" Asked Null.

"That's a proposal I'll get behind." Replied Max.

Null's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh…you're bigger than I thought you'd be."

"Err…thanks?" Max replied, confused.

"What? Not you. Let Grace make those kinds of remarks. I meant the Watcher."

Miles and Max looked to where Null was looking. An enormous humanoid, about as large as the Scarlet King's fifth phase, and with an abnormally large head, was watching them through glowing eyes. What was different about him this time compared to usual was the gold and purple battle armour he wore. Max began to float up to head-height with the Watcher.

"Why are you here?"

"I came with a warning, and I have delivered it."

"Right. Come on, let's go Dad." Max replied, floating back down to his father and Null.

"You're gonna leave me with your fellow super-Jesus's?" Asked the latter.

"You kicked my ass once. Do it to them."

"There's nothing left of the God Buster armour."

"Then these matters remain between us, Dei Volente." Said a woman.

Miles and Max turned again to see a woman clad in heavy battle armour and holding a staff.

"There will be no judging here, Dea Judicium." Replied the Watcher.

"Be silent! There is nothing more you can do to me. You cannot interfere, and it will remain that way."

"No. I can interfere if the fate of a High Elder God is at stake."

"And why should Dei Volente be allowed to live, Watcher?" Asked the mass of slimy tentacles and eyes that had just appeared in a dopey voice.

"You hate me too, Hermaeus?" Max asked, stepping forward to join the circle of High Elder Gods.

Hermaeus Mora's voice became a growl:

"You have abused your power. You have mocked my authority. You…"

"I kept reality safe. Until this prick came along, that is." Max replied with a nod at Null.

"Then we agree that Dei Volente is not fit to be a High Elder God." Said Dea Judicium.

"We do. But we have feuds of our own." Replied Hermaeus in his normal voice.

"Let's kill Dei Volente, then we can settle them as we see fit."

Dea Judicium began to advance; Max reached for his arms and quickly tore the knots holding the bracers to his arms. He pushed them into Miles' hands and drew Furore Mortale.

"Get out of here, find the Sword. If I don't survive this, tell Mum and Grace I love them. And tell Jacob I died with a lot of regrets."

"Max…"

"No! Go! You too, Null! Help him, Dad!"

A beam of intense energy struck Furore Mortale's blade. The world around seemed to echo with a high pitched squeal. Miles shook his head, but Null grabbed his arm.

"Come on, dimwit! Move!"

Miles dropped the bracers in Null's lap and began to run, pushing the wheelchair.

"I wish this thing had a seatbelt." Null remarked.

Suddenly, the spider skidded to a halt, bringing the chair to a stop too. Hermaeus Mora blocked their path.

"You have destroyed the reality we called home. And you, Miles Morales, have aided him." The God growled.

A tentacle shot towards Miles who found himself completely paralysed. However, the tentacle never hit; it was blocked by an orange and white wall of power.

"You will not harm them, Daedra!" The Watcher roared.

Hermaeus was pushed back through he dark void and soon disappeared, clearing the way for Miles and Null. The former started running with the wheelchair again, glancing back to see if his son was still alive.

Dei Volente pushed forward against the beam fired by Dea Judicium's staff. She screamed in rage, clenching her grip on it so the beam intensified. It only slowed him down, and soon he threw the hardest punch he'd ever thrown. The shockwave was visible, and Dea Judicium's human form was blasted back through the front of a building. Energy coursed through Dei Volente's veins as he charged to finish the job. As he brought Furore Mortale round to deliver the killing blow, the staff came up and the two relics were blasted away by the opposing power flowing through them. Dei Volente knew he had the upper hand now; he was far more experienced at fighting in the human body than Dea Judicium. She lunged at him, but he punched her down again. She clenched her fists and there was an enormous crack. Dei Volente looked up to see the entire skyscraper starting to topple. The distraction cost him and Dea Judicium was back on her feet. She screamed and the world screamed with her. Glass shattered all round the globe and began to rain on the battle of the Gods. People screamed as the shards tore through their skin. Hearing this suffering, Dei Volente brought a bolt of lightning crashing down on Dea Judicium. She harnessed its power and redirected it at him, but he absorbed it and spat it back. She ducked it and a veil of energy consumed her. Dei Volente shrouded himself in it too and the Gods began to battle not in mortal bodies on a planet, but throughout all of this world at the exact same time. Each blow caused the tears in reality to multiply, and these allowed Hermaeus Mora to return and wrap the Watcher up tentacles. The collapsing skyscraper began to hit the ground back in London, but the pieces that hit Dei Volente and Dea Judicium were transported to random locations around the world. Fiery concrete blasted the last remnants of human civilisation. Dea Judicium screamed once more, reaching her hands out and throwing entire planets at Dei Volente. He absorbed the energy from each impact and unleashed it in an untamed beam. With a livid roar, the transcendent part of the battle came to an end and the mortal immortals began to duel as humans once more. The world around began to crumble into islands which Dei Volente leapt between until he found Dea Judicium. She slammed her reclaimed staff into the ground and a beam of energy struck him, knocking him the ground and leaving a burning feeling in his chest. Even so, he reached out his hands and pulled the broken world back into one piece again, bringing the few remaining towers crumbling on top of his enemy. She was buried beneath the debris momentarily. But a few seconds later, it rose up into the air and each piece was returned. To Dei Volente's relief, an orange shield appeared and the pieces shattered on it. The Watcher held one arm out creating that shield, and using the other had Hermaeus Mora confined to his void. Dei Volente reached out his hand and Furore Mortale flew into it. Suddenly, the orange wall faltered and he barely had a chance to duck out the way of the last pieces of debris. Dea Judicium laughed as the Watcher was pushed to his knees by a second group of tentacles. Dei Volente leapt up, slicing Furore Mortale through them. Hermaeus Mora's cry of agony began to tear the world apart again, but the once mortal God pulled it all together again. He'd caused enough pain to its residents, and he would save them from as much more as he could. When it was done, he turned to face his enemies again only to find they were gone. The Watcher looked nearly broken, but Dea Judicium and Hermaeus Mora were gone. Max collapsed to his knees, exhausted beyond belief.

A few minutes went by, then there was a shout from nearby.

"Max!"

He wasn't sure how delusional he was, having taken numerous hits to the head, but his mother knelt down beside him.

"You're OK. It's over."

"No. It's not over. It's far from over. This was just the opening act."

Gwen's face twisted a little as his body tried to heal the concussion. Through it, he realised it was Miles. However, seeing Gwen's face turned his mind away from the most immediate issue to something a little more personal:

"The soul stones…"

"Ninety-seven survived."

"Only ninety-seven? What about the one that didn't?"

"Err…happy accident?"

A twisted version of Miles walked into Max's vision.

"Wait…I know you're real Dad, but who are you? I've got a concussion right now and…I am not going to sleep tonight."

"It's Gwen, your mother. I'm confused, more than a little scared, and would really like an explanation."

"Right. Right. Big headed purple cape guy there is the Watcher. He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good so be good, for goodness sake."

"The Christmas songs aren't helping, Max." Replied Miles, now in his actual voice instead of Gwen's.

"Oh. Wow. I need help."

"Yeah. Let's go home and find a hospital." Said Gwen.

"Wait. Null…"

"He didn't make it. I tried to save him, but he let go." Miles replied sadly.

"I'm getting mixed feelings."

Gwen approached the Watcher, who was still on his knees, while Miles helped Max up.

"Do you need help?"

"No. My body is not mortal and not so easily broken. I just require rest."

"OK. Let us know if you need anything."

She returned to Miles and Max.

"Let's go home."

"There is no home." Said Max.

"Sure there is."

Miles programmed his narrative watch and activated the jump, dragging Max and Gwen after him.

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Skyrim

This chapter was another classic example of "the fight looked good in my head, but not so great on paper".