153. Signals in the Web. (Patreon)

The anomaly flared for less than five seconds.

In the vast data cathedral of the Spider Society’s hub, alarms didn’t scream they whispered.

Thin crimson lines rippled across the holographic map of the Multiverse, converging at two points: Earth-42 and Earth-1610.

Miguel O’Hara’s eyes narrowed behind the red glow of his mask.

His taloned fingers danced across the air, expanding the hologram until it bathed his face in scarlet light.

“Dimensional interference from two separate coordinates.” Lyla reported, her tone brisk but tinged with concern. “Both events registered synchronized energy signatures. Quantum siphon-type patterns… again.”

“Cross-referencing,” Miguel said. “Give me the timestamp.”

“Three minutes ago. Source origin : Unknown. But the energy match aligns with data we collected from Earth-65M during Jessica Drew’s last transmission.”

Miguel froze. The hum of the command deck faded around him, replaced by a slow, cold pressure in his chest.

“Jessica…” He murmured.

He opened a private channel. Silence.

No static, no interference... just absence. The kind that wasn’t accidental.

He clenched his jaw and his mask receded, the edge of his fang-like teeth glinting in the crimson light.

“Run a trace again.”

“Already did.” Lyla said softly. “Her beacon’s still there… but it’s been locked out. Someone overrode the dimensional access protocols. It’s sealed.”

“By who?”

“That’s the scary part,” Lyla said, materializing beside him as a flickering hologram. “The encryption is identical to her own watch but rewritten. Clean. Precise. Not brute-forced. Like someone who knew her code rebuilt it from inside.”

Miguel exhaled slowly. His talons clicked against the console as his eyes narrowed.

“Peter.”

The name left his lips like a curse and a prayer at the same time.

Across the observation platform, the Spider Society was already mobilizing. Hundreds of spider-people, technicians and operatives prepared their dimensional travel watches. The air thrummed with motion, holograms flickering, mechanical arms distributing web fluids to Spider people.

Aña Corazón stepped up beside him.

“We’re going after them again?”

Miguel didn’t answer at first. He was staring at the two glowing points. 42 and 1610 , pulsing like open wounds on the Web of Life and Destiny.

“They’ve built something.” He said finally. “Something powerful enough to distort dimensional threads in real time. That’s not possible without multiple quantum reactors or one vacuum reactor.”

Lyla nodded.

“Three, at least. Probably powered by a siphon network or… Just one of those impossible machine that spits on the law of conversion by harvesting energy from the heat death of alternate universes.”

“...with Stark’s technology,” Miguel finished grimly. “And that means Banner and Pym are involved.”

He turned sharply, cape slicing through the light.

“Get me tactical projection. If Parker’s working with those three, he’s built more than a weapon. He’s building a containment system.”

“Containment for what?” Aña Corazón asked.

Miguel’s gaze darkened.

“For The Spot.”

A quiet settled over the command deck. The name still carried weight, the ghost of nearly collapsed dimensions echoing behind it.

He exhaled sharply through his nose.

“Jessica was the first to go dark after scouting Earth-65M. If she’s alive, she’s being held. If she’s dead…”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

He didn’t have to.

His hand tightened into a fist.

“Parker’s drawing a line between us. He’s convinced himself he can rewrite the rules of the Web, like the canon itself is just a code to patch.”

Lyla tilted her head.

“You sound… almost impressed.”

Miguel’s lips curved into a humorless smirk.

“I am. That’s what makes him dangerous.”

He turned to the gathered commanders.

“Prep the strike teams. We move the moment we triangulate 65M. I want Jessica’s signal prioritized and I want a trace on every quantum fluctuation from 42 to 1610. Parker thinks he’s unpredictable but even chaos leaves footprints.”

“And if he’s right?” Aña Corazón asked quietly.

Miguel looked out through the observation glass, at the endless lattice of glowing universes webbed across the hologram.

“Then we make sure he never finishes what he started.”

Behind him, the portals began to open. Dozens of circular gateways spiraling with crimson light, casting the command deck in waves of brilliance and shadow.

For a moment, Miguel hesitated, his reflection mirrored in the portal glass, the faint echo of Jessica Drew’s laughter, sharing the good news of her marriage, her pregnancy replaying somewhere deep in his memory.

“Jessica…” He whispered again, softer this time. “Where are you?”

Then he stepped forward, the hum of the portal swallowing his words, his figure dissolving into the light.

And somewhere, far across the multiverse, the Web shivered as two forces prepared to collide.