159. Shadows Over New York. (Patreon)

The skyline of Earth-1610 burned faintly orange in the dusk, the setting sun bleeding across glass and steel. From the perch atop an abandoned half finished skyscraper, Miguel O’Hara stood motionless, his sharp red eyes scanning the horizon as if he could will the answer to appear.

His jaw was tight, his fangs bared in silent frustration. They had been searching for hours. Every frequency, every spectrum and still, nothing. The Dimensional Energy Siphon was nowhere. Not a single trace of the machine.

“LYLA." Miguel growled, voice low but dangerous, “Rerun the scans. Triangulate every last quantum fluctuation within a 200-mile radius. We’re missing something.”

The AI materialized at his shoulder, flickering in yellow holographic pixels her usual cheer dimmed. “I’ve rerun it six times, boss. Nada. Whatever Peter’s hiding it’s buried deep. My sensors can’t even pick up a power echo.”

Miguel’s fist slammed into the concrete wall beside him. The wall dented under his enhanced strength, the sound sharp against the distant hum of the city. “He’s mocking us. I know it.”

Behind him, Julia Carpenter crossed her arms, her golden hair glinting faintly under the waking neon haze. “Miguel, maybe it’s time to regroup. We’ve swept the entire grid. Queens, Brooklyn, Midtown. If the Siphon’s anywhere near, it’s cloaked under something big.”

“Big like a sky scraper?” Spider-Wolf rumbled, crouched nearby. His voice was deep, animalistic, his eyes flickering with irritation.

“No.” Malala Windsor interrupted, tapping her watch. “I checked the residual fields around every tower. Clean. Whatever energy signature it’s giving off it’s contained. And… muted.”

“Like a dead frequency.” Spider-Canada muttered from the edge of the platform, his accent thick as he polished his web shooters. “Guy’s running circles around us, eh? Feels like he’s three moves ahead.”

Miguel turned sharply. “He is ahead.” He hissed. “He knew we’d come here. He knew what we’d do.”

A faint chittering came from behind them. Spider-Monkey was hanging upside down from a girder, his fur slick with sweat. “Maybe we shouldn’t have listened to the multiverse’s biggest control freak, huh? I told you, man, this smells like a setup.”

Before Miguel could retort, LYLA’s voice cut through the static, sharper than glass.

“Miguel. I’m detecting a dimensional surge—unstable energy, 12 kilometers east, abandoned subway station!”

Miguel’s head snapped up. “Source?”

LYLA’s tone grew grave. “It’s… the Spot.”

The blood in Miguel’s veins ran cold. “No.”

A ripple tore across the clouds above the city, warping the very light that touched it. Reality folded inward, and for an instant, the skyline of New York shimmered like a reflection on broken water. Then, a portal. huge, unstable, chaotic and black burst open over the city.

From it descended the dark form of overcharged Spot. His inky skin swirling with white portals. Then the portal disappeared.

Suddenly another portal opened in another direction. It was white with fractals of colors.

From its maw descended two silhouettes, pitch black and silent. AV-49 Wraith variant gunships, fast and armed to the teeth. They cut through the clouds like blades, vanishing as quickly as they’d appeared.

“LYLA, track them!” Miguel barked.

“I’m trying! But they...wait...” her digital eyes widened. “They just… vanished into the upper atmosphere.”

Spider-Canada cursed. “What the hell kinda ship just disappears like that?”

“A Wraith-class one. We had some intels on these models. Probably intentionally leaked by Peter.” Miguel snarled. His claws flexed unconsciously. “Stealth refractors, dimensional dampeners… Parker’s tech.”

Then LYLA’s holographic face flickered again. “Oh… oh no.”

Miguel spun. “What?”

She pointed toward the heavens, where faint distortions shimmered like heat waves. “You’re not gonna like this.”

Miguel’s eyes adjusted, his genetically enhanced vision cutting through the sky’s veil and what he saw made his blood boil.

Suspended high above the city invisible, phased with Quantum cloaking was the silhouette of a Helicarrier. But not S.H.I.E.L.D.’s. This one was covered in glowing, faintly pulsating nodes of cyan-blue energy. The front was like a gaping circular maw.

The Dimensional Energy Siphon or rather, a modified version one that doubled as a Dimensional Dampener emitter cage as well as a Helicarrier.

Miguel’s voice dropped to a furious whisper. “He turned a Helicarrier into a dimensional siphon…”

Julia stepped forward, jaw slack. “My god. That's the reason we couldn't find it. It was never on the ground. It was up in the sky, beyond the range of the scanners of our watches. That’s… brilliant.”

“Brilliant?” Spider-Wolf growled. “It’s madness. You can’t hide something that big above a city. It’d tear open the atmosphere!”

“Not if it’s phased between layers of quantum space.” Malala said softly. “He’s keeping it anchored by counterbalancing the mass displacement through negative energy vents. It’s risky but possible.”

Miguel turned to her, eyes glowing red. “Don’t admire him.”

Malala flinched.

Then, LYLA spoke again, hesitant this time. “Miguel… there’s more. You might wanna sit down for this.”

He ignored her. “Report.”

“I just tried contacting Ben Reilly and Team One on Earth-65M. There’s no signal. Comms are dead. Their transponders are offline.”

The words hit him like a physical blow.

Miguel’s claws extended slowly. His breathing quickened. “No signal?”

“None.”

He clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles cracked and then blood began to drip from his palms where his own claws had dug in.

Julia stepped closer. “Miguel—hey—”

He shook her off, voice trembling with fury. “He knew. Peter saw the kidnapping coming. He—he—anticipated me!”

Spider-Monkey gave a low whistle. “So what now, boss? We call retreat before this whole dimension folds in half? I mean that kid doesn't think like a Spider-Man....”

"He thinks like a paranoid general." Finished Malala.

Miguel didn’t answer. His crimson eyes locked on the invisible Helicarrier above, his expression a mix of rage, awe and desperation.

“No…” He whispered. “We end this. Today.”

Spider-Wolf growled low. “And what if he’s waiting for us up there?”

Miguel turned, his face half-lit by the glow of his suit, his fangs catching the light.

“Then,” he said coldly, “we’ll make him regret facing against us.”

The team exchanged uneasy glances.

Julia finally spoke, her voice quiet but sharp. “Miguel… what if he’s right? What if we’ve been wrong about him. About the canon, the collapses?”

Miguel’s jaw tightened. “Then I’ll bear that sin alone.”

He turned his back to them, cape fluttering in the rising wind, and looked to the sky where the shimmer of the invisible Helicarrier pulsed faintly, like the heartbeat of a sleeping giant.

“LYLA,” He said. “Prepare a trajectory. We’re breaching that Helicarrier.”

“Understood,” She replied softly. “But Miguel… this time, you might not come back. Also we need a plane.”

He didn’t even blink. “I never planned to.”

The hum of the city fell silent and above, unseen by the eyes, the war for the web of worlds finally began to stir.