Spiderman in DC

LOOTING DC #32. Web of Life

Jake hit the ground like a dropped phone: hard, sideways, and somehow covered in stickiness.

The ground beneath him was soft, elastic, slightly warm - like he'd fallen onto a trampoline made of webbing and static electricity. He peeled his face off it with a groan.

"...Gross," he muttered, pushing himself up - and immediately noticed something was wrong.

"Where the hell-?"

He spun around.

It was like standing inside a spider's nervous system.

Endless threads stretched out in every direction - glistening, glowing, woven into paths and platforms, archways and walls. Some looked like they were made of light. Others pulsed like veins. The place wasn't empty - it was alive, somehow humming with power he didn't understand.

Jake turned in place.

No Artemis.

No Damian.

No Lian.

No Roy...

Not even the Lasso of Truth.

Where had everyone gone?

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Okay, don't panic - but we're not in Gotham, Oolong, or even reality anymore."

Jake blinked.

"Did I just hear my own instincts talk to me?"

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Technically, I've always been talking. You just finally stopped running your mouth long enough to notice."

"Good news? you're alive. Bad news: so is whatever this place is."

Jake narrowed his eyes.

"Okay. Hallucination or psychic maturity, we're not skipping over this - where the hell am I, and where are the people I was with?"

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Short answer: You're in the Web of Life. Long answer: Let's take a walk."

Jake scanned the webbed space around him again. No one else was in eyesight, but for him.

He muttered, "And since when do you talk?"

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Since you touched the wrong magic baby and unlocked premium instincts."

"Now, if you're done staring like a tourist - move it. There's something cool ahead."

Jake didn't get the chance to argue.

He shot a web line and swung forward...

On instinct.

The line latched onto something impossibly high above, and the moment he let go, the air around him shifted. Everything buzzed - like reality was a spider's web, and he was the one plucking it.

He landed on a platform with barely a sound.

And that's when he looked up.

And around.

And down.

His breath caught.

The space surrounding him was massive - a webbed dimension suspended in all directions. The floor beneath his feet was a grid of thick, silk-like threads, springy and faintly glowing. Structures - spirals, bridges, chambers - stretched outward like roots and constellations, all suspended in midair. Layers of glowing lines in black, white, and gold threaded into infinity.

Jake turned in a slow circle.

"…Okay. Either I'm dead, dreaming, or Spider-Man finally got his own Fortress of Solitude."

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Again: not dead. This is real. You're inside the Web of Life - literal, not symbolic. Dimensional core. Central weave of connected fate. You've been tethered into it."

Jake blinked. "That doesn't answer anything."

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Okay, genius - you want answers? Where do you want to start? The Wall? Throne Room? Or… ooh, want to see your suits?"

"What?" Jake barely processed the question - his brain short-circuiting somewhere between 'suits' and 'what do you mean my suits?'

But his Spider-Sense didn't wait for him to catch up.

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Suits it is!"

A web shot from his wrist.

Jake yelped. "Hey-!"

Too late.

He was already swinging, feet leaving the platform, the Web guiding him like a rail system with attitude.

Jake landed on a glowing thread-bridge that sloped into a chamber lined with soft light and slung silk.

Sleek mannequins stood like silent guardians - each in its own cocooned bay. Most were empty. Others flickered with faint outlines of suits not yet real.

But one wasn't shy.

Front and center stood a mannequin displaying his current armor.

SUIT: MK I

ORIGIN: BatCave

STATUS: STORED

It looked like the exact one he was wearing - only without the tears and the smell. Not to mention, the dead tech?

"Wow," Jake admired, a small grin tugging at his mouth. "If I knew this was a thing, I wouldn't have risked my ass raiding the BatCave."

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"It's because you made it that it's stored here. The Web can't create what doesn't already exists."

"Does the tech in it work?" Jake wondered.

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Why don't we give it a try?"

Jake stepped closer, noting the detail in the silk-tag label - like the Web had filed the suit's entire history.

"Graphene-infused polymer composites," Jake read. "It is my suit."

Other platforms were labeled, but empty:

Crawler Suit // LOCKED

Full-Weave Rig // LOCKED

Anti-Venom Armor // LOCKED

Jake raised a brow at the last one. "Venom?"

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Prototypes based on suits you've thought about. The Web takes notes."

Jake squinted up at the ceiling. "I don't remember thinking about a Venom suit."

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Subconscious fear counts. Now quit stalling - suit up. We've got more rooms to crash."

Jake rolled his eyes and reached for the displayed suit.

"You were way better when you didn't talk."

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"You were way slower."

He grabbed the suit and started changing.

The fabric shifted with him - tightening in some places, flexing in others, like it knew what kind of day he was about to have. By the time the mask locked into place, the buzz in his head returned.

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Alright. Suit's on. Next stop - the Wall."

He followed the pull from his Spider-sense again - this time on foot.

As he moved through the Web, a massive curved wall came into view - towering above him like a cinema screen made of silk. Threads flowed across its surface in layered grids, shifting and weaving in real time.

Then one of the threads locked into focus - and the Wall came to life.

A glowing image expanded into motion: Wonder Woman, captured mid-air, swinging her blade. Her lasso snapped with golden light, catching onto a webline mid-arc.

Below the footage, data spun into place, threading itself into a stylized display:

🕸️🧬🕸️

W-O-L Combat Profile

Name: Diana Prince

Alias: Wonder Woman

Skills: Superior Hand-to-Hand Combatant, Tactical Precision

Weapons & Equipment: Lasso of Truth, Indestructible Bracers, Sword and Shield

Special Abilities: Flight, Superhuman Strength

🕸️🧬🕸️

Jake raised a brow.

"This feels familiar..."

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"You haven't seen it - you've felt it. During fights. It's webbed into your reflexes. Every major encounter you've had - and will have - gets stored here to sharpen your combat judgment."

He glanced up. Other threads hovered nearby - more profiles forming in the background.

Robin. The Team. Batman. Cheshire. Artemis. Superman.

Each glowing outline had a strand linking back to one central name, pulsing steady and bright:

THREADBEARER: JACOB CROSS

Jake smirked.

"So this is what my instincts have been hoarding."

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Combat profiles. Thread links. Tactical data. Everyone you've touched, fought, pissed off, or impressed."

"Think of it as your loadout screen - but smarter."

Jake stepped closer to the wall, watching new clips begin to form.

"Okay. This... is actually kind of awesome."

He cracked his neck.

"What's next? The gym?"

"Didn't you mention something about a Throne?"

The next couple of stops were... Not particularly awe-striking.

The gym - or what looked like one - was empty. No equipment, no weights, not even a sparring mat. Just silk-wrapped floors and blank space.

The workshop? Same deal. A few spider-legged benches. No tools. No parts.

The armory had promise - rows of display racks, reinforced vault slots - but everything was empty.

Jake's excitement dipped with each stop.

Even the living quarters brought a flicker of hope. But the room was bare. No bed. No shower. Not even a chair.

Just walls.

The message was pretty clear:

The Web couldn't replicate what didn't exist.

It was waiting for him to build it. Fill it. Earn it.

No pressure or anything.

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Personal responsibility. Feels gross, right?"

Jake sighed and turned back toward the center of the Web.

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"One more visit before we make our final stop."

His Spider-sense redirected him.

He followed the main threads upward - a raised spiral platform sitting dead center of the entire layout.

All the way to... The Throne Room.

The throne was ridiculous.

Black silksteel. Crimson trim. Engraved spider-leg patterns wrapped around the arms. Arcane glyphs spiraled down the legs like silk runes. It looked like something you'd find at the end of a mythic dungeon raid - final boss included.

Jake approached, brows raised, feeling cautious... And something like reverence.

"Looks cool. Little overkill."

He reached out to touch it-

The Web snapped back.

Not violently. Just a pulse. A firm, invisible push of powerful magic.

Then a message lit up in the air:

USER: INVALID

THRONE OCCUPANT: DESIGNATED - THE QUEEN

STATUS: UNREGISTERED

Jake raised a brow.

"...Okay. That's weirdly romantic."

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Every spider needs a queen. It's thematic. Don't overthink it."

"Not overthinking it. Just deeply uncomfortable."

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Still better than the gym."

Jake shrugged.

Then came the nudge - that familiar spark at the base of his skull.

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"So… who do you prefer? Artemis? Raven? Something tells me you've got a soft spot for Cheshire…"

"Hey!" Jake snapped at the air. "Boundaries. Please."

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"I am you, remember?"

"Which means I'm not sure either."

"Artemis seemed obvious… but Raven scrambles our internal wiring."

"We haven't even met yet," Jake argued before remembering he was defending against himself.

He waved it off. "Okay, okay. We're done with the dating commentary."

He glanced back at the throne, then at the rest of the Web - empty halls, silent rooms, potential waiting to be earned.

"This place is a lot. But I need to find the others and complete the mission. How do I get out of here?"

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Exit's just ahead. Let's walk."

He followed his instinct.

To the exit.

It wasn't a room. It was a breach.

A suspended ring of woven silk hovered midair, swirling with threads of crimson and gold. The center spiraled like a vortex, pulsing every few seconds - like it had a heartbeat.

Jake stepped toward it without needing to ask.

It was a portal. His way out.

The buzz in his skull spiked before he could cross the threshold.

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Whoa! Hold it there, cowboy."

Jake stopped mid-step. The buzz wasn't danger - not exactly. More like a reminder.

"Isn't this the exit?" he asked, confused.

[SPIDER-SENSE]

"Absolutely. But where it takes you? That depends on your next move."

"You might be a Spider-Totem, but even you can't jump in or out of the Web without a conduit."

"A conduit?" Jake repeated, frowning-

-just as something shimmered gold at the base of the gate.

His eyes locked onto it instantly.

He recognized it the moment it surfaced.

If you felt this. I think it's time you joined the Spiderverse:

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