Part 11 - We Could Burn It All Down
Chapter 191 - No Enemies, No Allies
Miles and Gwen from the current time were just settling down for the night, cuddled up on the roof of a skyscraper high above the hustle and bustle of post-Empire New York, 7065. Future Miles, Jacob and Conall had left a few hours earlier, and the pair had hit a brick wall for ideas about who they should tell.
"Miles…do you ever feel like this is all just too much?"
"You mean the Empire and stuff? Yeah."
"That. And this stuff about the Scarlet King."
"I dunno what's happening anymore. Everyone wants everyone dead nowadays."
"Do you believe the other Miles that he came from the future?"
"There isn't another explanation. How can there be two of me?"
"There's two of a lot of people."
"Another me with the same spider powers, though?"
"I guess."
They lay in silence for a few moments, then Gwen broke it:
"Miles?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think you can live the rest of your life like this? Being hunted?"
"If it means I get to spend it with you, then yeah. You?"
"I'm beginning to wonder if I should just hand myself over."
"You've been wanted before."
"Back then it was different: it was just the police looking for me. Everyone else liked me because I looked out for the city. And the only person who knew my identity was my dad. Now my face is on every lamp post, every bill board, every bit of graffiti."
Miles didn't have an answer to that. She was right. Whether fortunately of unfortunately, however, there was no need for him to come up with an answer. A loud howling sound filled the air and the roof was flooded with bright spot lights. A SWAT team rappelled down and brought their guns to bear on the spiders who were on their by feet now.
"On behalf of the Sol Republic, you are under arrest, Gwendolyn Stacy! Put your hands up and come quietly or we will open fire!"
Gwen raised her hands slowly and the SWAT team approached cautiously. Miles backed away, also with his hands up, as she was pushed to the ground and handcuffed. He stared into her eyes, not sure what to say or do. But she had an answer.
"Warn the SCP Foundation! The Ki…"
She was cut off as a bag was put over her head. One of the Phantom jets descended with its ramp open and she was dragged aboard. Miles turned and ran, leaping to the next building over then the next until he came to the last buildings overlooking the Hudson. There, he looked at his dimensional watch and typed in the number for the dimension where he knew the SCP Foundation was based.
Future Miles sighed as Gwen fell silent.
"Any idea what happened next?"
"The Foundation could tell you."
"They won't tell me a thing for another ten years. If this was my timeline, anyway."
"I could tell you." Said the guard standing at the door on Miles' side of the window.
The spiders looked at them and noticed they wore the insignia of the SCP Foundation.
"You knew and didn't tell me?" Gwen enquired.
"Why the fuck would I tell you? You murdered my best fucking friend. But you, Morales, I'll tell. It's common knowledge in the Foundation, but the O5 want it kept quiet."
"Let's hear it."
Miles from the current time warped into the home dimension of the SCP Foundation. By sheer luck he arrived inside a compound clearly marked as being Foundation owned. Without a second thought, he ran towards the only building. The door was unlocked, likely meaning someone was home. Inside was a ramp that spiralled down underground which he set off down. At the bottom of the ramp was a heavily reinforced door that was open just large enough for someone to get through. It made Miles wonder if there'd been a containment breach. However, there was no evidence of one on the other side. What there was evidence of, however, was something extremely powerful. To the left was an area containing a CIWS gun that should really belong on a ship to shoot down missiles. To the right was another containment door. This one was fully open, and people were inside. One wore a business suit with a black and white mask, a couple wore lab coats, and the rest were in heavy combat gear with assault rifles. When one of the guards spotted Miles, every weapon in the facility was trained on him.
"Woah! Don't shoot! I just need to talk to someone!" He yelped, putting his hands up.
The person in the business suit and mask stepped towards the spider a little.
"Miles Morales…I wondered if I'd ever meet you. What do you want to talk about? You shouldn't be here."
"It's about the Scarlet King."
"What about him?"
"He's preparing for war, and he's gonna destroy everything."
"Really? Last I checked he was on our side. I never saw you as much of a meaningless warmonger, but I suppose I was wrong."
"Warmonger? You think I want to fight another war? Man, I've been doing that half my life and I'm sick of it. Everyone is. So why would I make this up?"
The person just looked at Miles for a few moments, presumably thinking this over.
"Fair enough. But have you any evidence?"
"A version of me came from the future and tried to stop the King getting the Crucible. Apparently it happened to him about twenty years in the future and they nearly lost."
"Yes, we've heard about your time travelling counterpart and his antics."
"I guess it's your field of expertise. The point of this is we have to prepare. I don't know if you have the authority or if you're just a site director or something, but you have to tell your managers…O5s, I think they're called."
"That we do, and you're very lucky you came to me. I'm O5-7, one of the thirteen O5 council member. Just call me Seven."
"Cool. When're you gonna start preparing?"
"As soon as I leave. I'm currently checking in here before an experiment goes ahead on SCP-076. Stand down, task-force."
The guards lowered their weapons and Miles put his hands down cautiously.
"076?"
"Come and I'll show you, so long as you don't tell anyone."
"I'm pretty sure future me knows all this stuff, but I won't tell."
Seven walked back into the room behind the containment doors and Miles followed him inside. At the centre of the room was a black cube with a small window in the front. There was something inside, but he couldn't tell what.
"SCP-076, or Able as we call him, is one of the most dangerous SCPs. Technically there's two 076s: 076-1 and 076-2. Dash one is the box, dash two is the man inside."
"What makes it so dangerous? It's a box and a guy."
"He's impervious to most forms of injury, has extreme speed that makes people like you look like a tortoise dragging a semi-truck. His most lethal feature is his ability to summon swords and other blades from a small rift in space behind his back."
"Scary. But why're you telling me this?"
"Because we are trying to find a way to tame 076-2 to fight other SCPs, such as the Scarlet King."
"Cool…I think? But why tame him when…"
Suddenly, there was a sound like a lock clicking from the direction of the black box. The guards had their guns up in an instant, trained on the door.
"Director Jones, tell me what's happening." Seven demanded.
One of the people in the lab coats was typing frantically on a computer.
"I'm not sure. I think it's…waking up!"
The black cube's door swung open revealing a coffin inside. The lid on the coffin exploded and a man climbed out of it. Strange tattoos covered his body, and he began walking towards Seven who was the closest person to it. One of the guards stepped in front of O5 member and Able turned a little to walk towards them. Miles could feel his heart pounding, but curiosity wouldn't let him leave. Suddenly, Able reached the guard and in a lightning move had snapped their neck. A second later, he reached for his back and hurled two knives at the other guards before decapitating Seven in a swift movement with a sword. Gunfire began pelting the SCP, but despite the damage he didn't seem to care. In a flash, Able had rammed his sword through another guard, then another and another. Three more had run to the CIWS turret at the end of the corridor, but Miles seemed shocked and was standing in the way. Able eyed the spider curiously.
"What do you want, Plate Wielder?"
"To kill the Scarlet King. If you agree to that I won't fight you."
"We must all find our place. Mine is being cast down so I can rise once more. You should find yours. There are no enemies, no allies…only those about to die."
Miles barely dodged the strike that came for him. He charged a venom strike and punched Able as hard as he could, but to little avail. It caused the SCP to stumble, but did nothing else.
"You will never know your place."
Miles managed to catch Able's wrist, but he could feel the tip of the blade pressing against his body.
"You are stronger than most, Plate Wielder. Do you have one now?"
"No…I…don't."
"Pity."
Miles' strength was sapped from him as the blade went through his body and out the other side, embedding itself in the wall.
"They are out there, and I will find them. I will bring the new Flood, and all will perish."
The spider stared into his killer's eyes as the life slowly drained from his body. Able left the sword embedded in the wall through Miles' chest and turned to kill the last three guard. Suddenly, a burst of CIWS fire struck him in the head and he was dead. His body seemed to decompose and the door to the black box slammed and locked itself shut. One of the guards ran to Miles hoping they could help him, but he'd lost too much blood. Instead, he removed the hand of his suit and held it out.
"Take…the ring. Give it to…Gwen."
The guard nodded and removed the silver wedding ring. As it left his finger, Miles lost consciousness.
Gwen was struggling to fight back the tears as she pictured the scene. Future Miles watched her sadly. Even though this wasn't his Gwen, seeing her upset like this still hurt. He turned back to the Foundation guard.
"Thanks for telling us."
"You're welcome. I should probably add SCP-076 broke containment and escaped about ten hours after the incident."
Miles' eyes narrowed.
"I'm assuming the Foundation knows."
"No shit, Sherlock. They've put out an alert on that Earth, but I get the feeling he's not on that world anymore."
"Do me a favour and keep an ear out. Contact Sol Galactic Command if you hear anything."
"You mean Sol Temporal Command? It was renamed, remember?"
"Whatever. Just listen out."
Miles turned back to Gwen who looked afraid.
"You good?"
"They're going to execute me. I know it."
"In my timeline Teresa changed that ruling and you were exiled to Ardveer for five years. That was where Charlotte was born, and Max was born a few months after we came back to Earth."
"Tell me about them. You talk about Max a lot."
"Yeah. He was a good guy at heart, but did some pretty cold stuff sometimes. The Inheritors came back and he slaughtered them."
"Is that really so bad?"
"I dunno. But he went through more than anyone ever should. My biggest regret is I wasn't there for him when he needed me most."
"What happened?"
"I don't wanna say. It's horrible. I just wish he didn't have to lose the last of his childhood and become a God. He never got to live his life."
"And Charlotte?"
"She was protective of her brother, sometimes excessively. And she was the moodiest person you'll ever meet. But she was a good person, I think."
"Any regrets with her?"
"Nothing I could've fixed."
Gwen nodded slowly.
"I guess it's a shame neither of them will ever be born in this timeline. The Scarlet King will kill us all first."
"Sadly I think you're right. But maybe I should go and see if I can fix that. You never know; maybe there'll be another Dei Volente?"
"You?"
"Definitely not. Too much responsibility."
"Too much 'great power'.'"
"Something like that. Good luck with the trial. I have faith in justice. Sorta."
"OK. See you in Hell."
Crossovers in this Chapter
- SCP Foundation