Part 11 - We Could Burn It All Down

Chapter 198 - It Doesn't Matter Anymore

Edward gave Teresa a thumbs up.

"Good news at last."

"It depends how hard it is to get to it. It's one hell of a rock climb."

"At least the ancients had the sense to protect things as powerful as Ethereal Plates."

At that moment, the office door slid open. Miles, Gwen, Conall and Jacob entered carrying the eight Ethereal Plates that Khahrahk had taken.

"Even more good news, I see."

"I'm almost starting to think we're going to survive this." Said Teresa.

"Able told us to take them to SCP-173." Said Jacob while the others deposited the Plates on the couch.

"Do you think 173 is Koitern?" Asked Edward.

"Able said so." Said Gwen.

"Interesting. Didn't you hit it with the Mind Plate a few years back?"

Gwen nodded.

"Nothing happened."

"That's what makes it interesting. Anyway, we've found the last Plate. The problem is it's at the top of a temple and we need people to climb up."

"Can't we just teleport?" Asked Jacob.

"Unfortunately not. There's magnetic properties in the rocks which make it impossible." Teresa explained.

"Me and Miles can go. We need some time." Gwen volunteered.

Miles didn't seem phased about being thrown under the bus.

"I insist you take a squad of soldiers with you."

"Because you don't trust me?"

"Your history with Plates isn't exactly pristine. I'm sure you understand."

"She does. She also knows I'll venom strike her into the ground if she tries to do something stupid." Said Miles.

"I would continue to argue my case, but I know stubbornness when I see it."

"Give us the location."

Edward pushed a futuristic iPad towards Miles who picked it up and entered the location on the display into his watch.

"Good luck."

"That's…a big temple." Gwen commented as she and Miles stared up at the immense structure.

It was shaped in the same way as the Plates.

"Let's get this over with." Miles said quietly, taking a small leap onto the side and starting to climb.

Gwen caught up.

"So…I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What?"

"About us."

"What 'us'? There's no us. Your Miles is dead, my Gwen is dead."

"There could be an 'us'."

"What's the point? Khahrahk'll kill us in a few days."

"Why are you so sure we won't find a way?"

"Why are you so sure me and you would work?"

"We don't know until we've tried."

Miles didn't respond, so Gwen took a deep breath and said:

"Miles; I think I love you."

There was silence for a few seconds except the moan of the wind and the sound of the spiders' hands and feet on the rock. Eventually Miles responded:

"I love you too, but it doesn't matter anymore. We can't stop Khahrahk."

"You've really completely given up?"

"I've accepted my fate. We're just delaying the inevitable."

Gwen could have sworn she felt her heart starting to break. She may have only known this Miles for a few weeks, but at heart he was the same as the one she'd loved before. But beyond the core, he was miserable and she had a thing for ending up with, and occasionally fixing, the most broken people.

"You don't think Koitern will change things?"

"Sure it can kill the Leviathans, but it can't kill Khahrahk. He's a High Elder God now."

"Even they must be beatable."

"Sure. If you're a High Elder God. You've no idea how powerful they are. They can tear the omniverse apart and put it back together again while playing a game of Scrabble. There's nothing we can do to stop him now."

The spiders reached a small plateau at the top of the structure many hours later, in the centre of which was an altar. Gwen ran to it, but Miles didn't bother. He could see, and sense, the Plate wasn't there.

"But…Teresa said it was here."

"Like I said: there's nothing we can do. Khahrahk took it."

"Fortunately that is where you are wrong."

The spiders whirled round to see something that was almost a ghost, but with glowing eyes.

"What do you want, Watcher?" Miles asked impatiently.

"To talk. Come with me."

The spiders were surrounded by an orange sphere and the world outside it seemed to fade out of existence. It was replaced by some sort of crystal chamber, and as the orange bubble disappeared they found themselves face-to-face with a man who looked somewhat familiar, although neither could put a name to the face. The Watcher phased into reality holding something that glowed red in his hands.

"Where are we?" Gwen asked.

"A dimension in Noladis. Or what's left of one. Like you, Miles, I have experience meddling with time." Replied the man.

"This is Doctor Stephen Strange. This version destroyed his world for…" The Watcher started.

"It doesn't matter. We need to talk to you about what you've done."

"Both of us?" Gwen asked.

"No; just Miles. It would have been good to speak to Jacob as well, but we must act with caution. If the Scarlet King learns that I am interfering, he will destroy me." The Watcher explained.

"What do you want then?" Miles asked.

"When you travelled back in time, you caused irreparable damage to the space-time continuum." Said Dr Strange.

"By trying to stop Khahrahk? I noticed."

"You must understand using the power of the High Elder Gods freely is extremely dangerous. However, you must also know that we still remember everything that happened in that future. To us, time is a straight line. There is no going back, only forward."

"Why are you telling me this? We need to get the Plate to 173."

"Because while the mortal George Jefferson Maximilian Morales-Stacy may no longer exist, it is impossible to destroy his God part."

"Max is alive? Wait but…why hasn't he come to help?"

"As I explained: Khahrahk sees everything, but does not understand the relativity of time to a High Elder God. If he knew that Dei Volente was alive, we would lose the crippling blow to his morale that will be achieved when Dei Volente arrives.

"The Scarlet King fears him above all others because he has seen his defeat at his hands through your eyes." Strange concluded.

"Can I see him?" Miles asked.

Gwen was almost certain she hadn't seen him this eager to do anything even once in the few weeks she'd known him.

"Only briefly. The power required to send you to a place where he can manifest himself is great enough it will attract the King's attention. When you return, you must take the Plate and leave."

"I will fight him to make him believe it was me creating that energy, but it will likely kill me. Just tell us when you're ready, and we'll do it." Said Strange.

Miles glanced at Gwen to see what her reaction was to all this, then asked:

"Does he know I'm coming?"

"Yes." Replied the Watcher.

"How long will I have?"

"Five minutes at most." Replied Strange.

He took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts and deciding which of his many questions were the most important to ask.

"I'm ready."

Miles phased out of reality in the same way the Watcher usually would, leaving Strange, the Watcher and Gwen in the crystal sphere.

"What happened to this place?" Gwen asked.

"It's a long story." Said Strange.

Miles found himself standing on the branch of an enormous tree. He wondered if it was the Tree of Knowledge in Zaltoxir, but that made little sense since that would surely attract Khahrahk's attention. Max was chilling on a much smaller branch, watching his father curiously while munching away at an extremely shiny apple.

"Max? It's really you?"

"Yep. Well, the God bit anyway. You made short work of normal me."

"In the future?"

"By coming back and changing the future. Tell Jake to stop abusing that dictionary I gave him."

Miles clambered over to his son, sat down next to him, and pulled him into a tight hug. Max returned it briefly, then pushed him away.

"I'd love to sit and do that for the rest of time but we don't have long. I think Quantüyþ explained?"

"Quantüyþ?"

"Sorry, that's his Fusis Þinutir name. The Watcher."

"Yeah, he explained."

"Great. You have loads of questions so fire away."

"If Jacob could bring us back in time, why didn't you?"

"Because I knew you'd try and change the past and make things worse. And oh look: that's exactly what happened. But it doesn't matter anymore, just like you and Mum apparently."

"You've been watching?"

"Duh. What else was I gonna do?"

"So how are you alive? Jacob killed you with the Sword Perilous, and now I've changed history so you shouldn't have been born."

"Umm…this is the tricky bit to explain. Basically time is relative. HEGs are outside of what you see as the flow of time, so when you go back in time we're still going forward."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Yeah…it's complicated."

"What about the Sword? If time is just a straight line for you, why aren't you and all the others dead?"

"Because the Sword doesn't exactly kill us. It stops us from exerting our will on reality from that point on which is kinda boring unless you're the Watcher. Kinda like some sort of weird purgatory."

"I think I get it. What you gonna do now?"

"Make Khahrahk piss himself when I pop up with an army in Zaltoxir."

"Army of what?"

"No idea. Maybe some Winged Hussars, dovahhe, Caroleans. Or how about the Eagles from Lord of the Rings?"

"I never saw them. Max, Khahrahk absorbed Anonymous."

"I know. It actually killed him too. Hermaeus is having a fit and everyone else is panicking."

"What about you?"

"I'm…I'll get back to you on that. All I know is I have to kill Khahrahk or he'll kill everything. Talking of him, he's found Strange. You have to go."

Miles' vision began to darken.

"I love you, Max."

"See you in Zaltoxir, Dad."

As soon as Miles was back in the crystal sphere, the Watcher handed the Ethereal Plate of Time to Miles and phased out of reality. Dr Strange opened a portal.

"Go! Now!"

The spiders leapt through as a red tear in reality appeared. Gwen just had time to catch a glimpse of Atanti-ql-Paneu before it created a black hole that killed Strange and closed the portal. She turned to Miles who had a determined look on his face.

"Let's go. There might be a chance."

"You've changed. Max really meant a lot to you."

"He still does."

"Did you change your mind about us?"

"Let's kill Khahrahk, then we can talk about us."

Crossovers in this Chapter

- Marvel Cinematic Universe
- SCP Foundation