Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

Chapter 99: Time's Collapse

The warehouse was alive with tension. The air felt thick with the weight of what was at stake. Every move Peter and Harry made was calculated, every web shot or swing measured, as if time itself were watching them, pressing down on their every action. Mister Negative's dark energy surrounded them like a storm, but they refused to back down.

Peter's breath was ragged, his body aching from the earlier assault, but there was a fire in his chest that wouldn't go out. He had fought many enemies before, but none with the kind of power Mister Negative wielded. The villain wasn't just controlling shadows; he was controlling reality itself, and that made him far more dangerous than any simple criminal.

"Harry!" Peter called out, his voice strained as he fired another web at the swirling darkness. "We need to stop him now—before this place… before everything falls apart!"

Harry nodded, gripping a metal rod he had found earlier, his knuckles white. The warehouse around them continued to warp and shift, the walls undulating as though alive, as though the very building itself was being pulled apart by an invisible force.

"I'm trying, Peter," Harry grunted, swinging the metal rod at the dark energy that threatened to close in on them. "But this… this is unlike anything I've ever seen. How do we fight something that controls time itself?"

Peter's eyes flicked to the center of the room, where Mister Negative stood, his dark aura swirling with raw power. The villain's eyes glowed with an eerie, unnatural light, and he seemed to be absorbing the very essence of the space around them.

"You don't," Mister Negative said softly, his voice echoing as if from a distant plane of existence. "You never could. Time isn't something you can fight, Spider-Man. It's something you bow to… or it breaks you."

The words sent a chill down Peter's spine. Mister Negative wasn't just toying with them—he was actively manipulating the very fabric of the world around them. Time, space, reality—they were all at his mercy.

Suddenly, the shadows around them surged forward, faster than before. Peter's spider-sense blared, but it was too late. The tendrils wrapped around his arms, his legs, holding him in place, constricting him like a vice. He gritted his teeth, struggling against the force, but it was like trying to move through molasses.

"Peter!" Harry shouted, lunging toward his friend, but the shadows lashed out at him too, knocking him back with a force that sent him sprawling to the ground.

Peter's heart pounded as the darkness closed in, surrounding him completely. His vision was fading, and his senses were slipping. Time was slowing down… or was it speeding up? He couldn't tell. Everything felt wrong.

No… not like this, Peter thought desperately. I can't… I can't let him win. I won't let him win.

The shadows seemed to swirl around him, pressing closer and closer, but then something inside Peter stirred. A spark—a flicker of resistance. It was faint at first, like the faintest glimmer of light in an endless night. But it was there. His will was still intact.

He gritted his teeth. His fingers twitched, and despite the darkness constricting him, he focused on the one thing that could break him free: his webs. If he could just…

With a surge of effort, Peter forced himself to concentrate, his mind clearing for the first time in what felt like forever. He shot webs—webs that pulsed with energy, webs that shimmered with light as they tore through the dark tendrils holding him captive. The webs cut through the shadows like a blade through silk, and for the first time in what seemed like ages, Peter felt free.

"Harry! I need you to hit him now!" Peter shouted, his voice louder and clearer than before.

Harry, still shaken but determined, scrambled to his feet. He saw his friend breaking free from the grasp of Mister Negative's shadows, and that was all the motivation he needed. With a roar, he charged forward, swinging the metal rod toward Mister Negative's exposed form.

The blow landed, striking Mister Negative square in the chest. The villain staggered back, his face twisting in a snarl. But it wasn't enough to defeat him—not yet. His aura flared, and the shadows around him grew more intense, swirling faster and faster.

Peter quickly joined the fray, using his agility to launch himself at Mister Negative. He wasn't just fighting the man anymore. He was fighting the very essence of reality, of time itself, and with each move, he could feel the weight of the universe pressing down on him.

Mister Negative laughed, the sound almost maddening. "You think you can stop this? You think you can control time? You are nothing! I am the master of the universe's threads. You are but a puppet!"

But as he spoke, something unexpected happened.

The ground beneath them began to crack, as though reality itself was starting to break apart. The shadows around Mister Negative grew erratic, unstable. It was as if even his power couldn't hold everything together.

Peter's heart raced. He could feel it now—a crack in the foundation of the world. Time wasn't just bending anymore. It was breaking.

"Harry, get back!" Peter shouted, but it was too late. The cracks in reality spread outwards, and in a burst of dark energy, the warehouse began to collapse, pulling everything with it. Peter barely managed to leap out of the way as the walls crumbled and the floor buckled beneath them.

Mister Negative screamed, his dark form disintegrating into swirling shadows, his power spiraling out of control. The ground shattered around him, pieces of the very fabric of reality tearing apart as if it were paper.

Peter's body ached, his senses overwhelmed by the chaos around him. Time was no longer just a force—it was an enemy, one that was collapsing under the strain of Mister Negative's power.

"Peter! We need to go!" Harry shouted, his voice strained as he struggled to hold onto the crumbling floor beneath him.

Peter turned to his friend, barely able to hear him over the growing roar of destruction around them. He looked back at Mister Negative, whose form was fading, dissolving into nothingness. This wasn't a victory. This was a battle on the edge of oblivion.

Without another word, Peter grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him toward the shattered exit. They didn't have time to think. They didn't have time to question what was happening. All that mattered was escaping.

The warehouse collapsed behind them as they sprinted into the night, the air around them shaking with the remnants of the destruction. The ground beneath their feet trembled as if reality itself was trying to reset, and they barely managed to keep their footing as the world around them shifted.

As they reached a safe distance, Peter stopped, panting, his mind racing. He could feel the pull of the collapsing time warp behind them. Was it over? he wondered. Had they truly stopped Mister Negative?

But as he looked at Harry, he knew there was no time to rest. No time to mourn. The battle was far from over.

They had won this round, but the war… the war had only just begun.

End of Chapter 99