Chapter 217: The Spider-Society's Total Defeat
Ethan's hand returned to the joystick.
"Ready — go!"
The crimson energy expanded off the Killbus Spider form again, deeper than before, filling the space around him like a tide coming in.
"Again?!" The Amazing Bag-Man stared at the building energy and felt something cold move through him. He remembered the last time that color had filled the room. He'd survived it on sheer physical toughness and he was not confident the margin was there for a second pass.
"I refuse to go down in one hit," the Iron Spider said. Fear or no fear, the voice was steady. He summoned his giant spider mech — the full frame, enormous, stepping into position between Ethan and the group. If sheer mass meant anything, he was going to find out.
The Scarlet Spider looked at Miguel. "We need something. Now."
Miguel was already running the numbers. Nothing good was coming back.
The Superior Spider-Man spoke first. "Everyone — silk. All of it. Combine into a defensive cocoon. It's the only option with the time we have."
Nobody had a better idea. The Feudal Spider-Man didn't stop firing webbing while she said so. Ghost-Spider followed without a word.
"Will this actually work?" the Feudal Spider-Man asked, not stopping.
"Do you have something else?" Ghost-Spider's voice was flat.
No answer. The silk kept coming.
They poured everything into it — every remaining reserve, collectively, the kind of output that came from multiple Spider-Men operating at capacity simultaneously. The Iron Spider contributed his mech's frame to the structure. What emerged was something genuinely impressive: a reinforced cocoon that looked, from the outside, like it could take almost anything.
The Feudal Spider-Man surveyed it with satisfaction. "That should hold."
Ethan watched them build it and let them finish.
"Nobody knows Spider-Man better than I do," he said quietly.
He leaped.
"Killbus Spider — Finish!"
The four crimson spear-lances materialized behind him — but this time they didn't spread. They converged, compressing together, hardening, the separate points collapsing into a single rotating drill of red energy. Ethan's right foot aligned with it as he descended, the drill and the kick becoming one thing.
He hit the cocoon.
Inside, the Spider-Men felt the impact before they heard it — a shockwave through silk and steel that rattled through every surface, every person. The Feudal Spider-Man's satisfaction lasted approximately two seconds before the first crack appeared.
"Patch it—"
Silk sprayed toward the fracture. It didn't matter. The crack widened, then split, then the whole structure came apart at once.
The blast threw Spider-Men in every direction. The floor gave. The walls cracked from foundation to ceiling. The entire operations hub of the Spider-Society — the nerve center of a multiverse-spanning organization — began to come apart around them.
Smoke and rubble and silence.
On the other side of the dimensional gate, Miles hit the ground running.
Tobey-Peter and Garfield-Peter were with him, and Gwen had the route. They found the Spot, they ended the Spot, and then Miles was back in his universe with his father alive and the canonical clockwork dismantled.
Jefferson Davis didn't die that day.
Miles stayed close. He wasn't leaving his father's side until he was absolutely certain. Tobey-Peter and Garfield-Peter stayed with him long enough to make sure, then relayed his thanks back through channels — if Mr. Cross hadn't held the line, none of this happens.
The System delivered its notifications to an Ethan who was currently standing in the wreckage of the Spider-Society headquarters:
「DING!」「Congratulations, Host! Miles Morales's Friendship Level has risen to ★2!」「Attribute Gained: Venom Strike!」「Congratulations, Host! Miles Morales's Friendship Level has risen to ★3!」「…」「Congratulations, Host! Miles Morales's Friendship Level has risen to ★★★★★★!」「Congratulations, Host! Miles Morales has become Family!」「Host currently has 22/25 Family members.」
Ethan didn't see any of it. He'd deal with the notifications later.
Gwen brought Tobey-Peter and Garfield-Peter back through the dimensional gate and stepped out into the corridor leading to Spider-Society HQ.
She was already talking before the portal closed. "Do you think Mr. Cross is okay? What if Spider-Man 2099 decides to take it out on—"
"He's fine," Tobey-Peter said, without hesitation. The confidence was total, the way it always was when he was talking about his master.
Gwen was not reassured. Her worry had too much evidence behind it.
Garfield-Peter read the room. "If you're that concerned, we could move faster. Extra hands can't hurt."
They moved faster.
The elevator opened onto the main floor.
They stepped out and stopped.
The Spider-Society headquarters — which had been, when they left it, a functioning operational hub with hundreds of Spider-Men and a complete structural ceiling — was a ruin. Rubble, dust, settling smoke. The walls had lost arguments with something. The floor was in pieces. The scale of the destruction occupied a register somewhere between "significant battle" and "small architectural disaster."
The three of them stood at the entrance and looked at it.
Garfield-Peter raised one hand slowly and pointed at the wreckage.
"Did we... take a wrong turn? This can't be the right place."
A beat.
"We were gone for maybe an hour," he said. "Did someone rob the building while we were out?"
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you