Gotham Arc #10.
Jake's spider-sense hummed. The clowns weren't rushing him yet. No orders yet.
"I'll make this fast and painless," Harley continued, voice dropping to something almost reasonable. Almost. "You give me back my mallet, I let you keep your kneecaps. Fair trade, yeah?"
"Can't do that," Jake said.
"CAN'T?" Her voice cracked into a shriek. "Or WON'T?"
"Both."
Her grin vanished. The manic light in her eyes went cold. Predatory.
"Boys," she said quietly. "Get him."
The goons charged.
Jake jumped as crowbars swung where his feet had been. He web-lined to the next container, but three clowns were already climbing it. He kicked one off -- the man fell laughing -- and webbed another's face.
A bottle shattered against the container beside his head. Molotov cocktail. Flames spread across rusted metal, cutting off his route.
"Surround him!" Harley commanded. "I want him gift-wrapped!"
Jake swung wide, firing webs rapidly. One clown went down, webbed to the ground. Another got stuck to a crane. But more kept coming. They didn't care about getting hurt. Didn't care about the danger.
One jumped from a container above, chainsaw screaming. Jake barely dodged, the blade scoring the metal where he'd been standing. Sparks flew.
His spider-sense spiked. He twisted. A clown with a bat swung for his head.
Jake caught the bat mid-swing. Yanked it free. Used it to block a crowbar strike from another angle.
Too many. Too close.
He needed space.
Jake fired a wide web spray -- caught four goons at once, gluing them together in a sticky mass. They toppled like a cartoon pile-up.
But Harley was already moving. She vaulted onto his container with gymnastic precision, landing in a crouch twenty feet away.
"Just you and me now, Spider." She pulled something from her jacket. Small. Round. Painted like a cartoon bomb.
Jake's eyes widened. "You're joking."
"Do I look like I'm jokin'?" She pulled the pin with her teeth. "This pier's seen worse!"
She threw.
Jake web-yanked himself sideways as the explosive hit where he'd been standing. The blast was smaller than expected -- more flash than force -- but it scattered his balance.
He landed hard on another container. His ankle rolled. Pain shot up his leg.
Harley was already there, bat raised. She swung for his ribs.
Jake rolled, feeling the wind of the miss. He kicked out, catching her knee.
She stumbled but didn't fall. Laughed instead. "That all you got?"
"Warming up," Jake gasped.
His body was failing him. The electrocution. The tournament. The chase. Everything compounding. His punches would still hit like a truck, but his defense was compromised. And Harley was fresh. Angry. Focused.
She swung again. Jake blocked with his forearm. The impact rattled his bones. She was hitting harder than before, fueled by rage and loss.
"My mallet!" she screamed, swinging wildly. "You took my mallet! Do you know what that means to me?! Do you know what we've been through?!"
Each word punctuated with a swing. Jake dodged, blocked, retreated. The container's edge was coming up fast.
"It was just a hammer!" Jake shot back, knowing it would bait her.
"JUST A--" Her face went crimson. She charged, bat raised overhead for a killing blow.
Jake waited. Let her commit. Then stepped inside her range.
His fist drove into her solar plexus -- pulled, controlled, but still enhanced-strength.
Harley's eyes went wide. All the air exploded from her lungs in a choked gasp. The bat fell from nerveless fingers.
She collapsed to her knees, gasping, trying to breathe.
Jake webbed her hands behind her back. Then her feet. Then wrapped her torso until she looked like a very angry, very colorful mummy.
"Sorry," he said quietly. "But you wouldn't stop."
She glared up at him, still unable to speak, eyes promising murder.
Below, the remaining goons saw their boss down. Some ran. Others charged. Jake webbed the container opening, creating a barrier. They'd have to climb -- and he'd be gone before they managed it.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Getting closer.
Jake pulled out the cane, fingers finding a button he hoped was the right one. The tip glowed. He aimed it at the night sky and pressed.
A brilliant green flare shot upward, exploding into a question mark that hung against the darkness.
The signal would draw attention. GCPD. Maybe Batman. Someone who could collect Harley properly.
He looked down at her one last time.
"For what it's worth," he said, "the mallet was impressive. You're... impressive. Under different circumstances--"
"Fuck. You," Harley wheezed, finally finding her voice.
Jake nodded. Fair enough.
He grabbed the totems and swung into Gotham's night, leaving Harley Quinn webbed and furious for the GCPD to find.
🕸️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕸️
The swing back to the motel took twice as long as it should have.
Jake's body moved on autopilot -- web-line, swing, release, repeat -- but his mind was fog. Every muscle screamed. His shoulders felt like they'd been filled with broken glass.
He varied his route instinctively. Doubled back through the Narrows. Cut through an alley behind a shuttered factory. Swung wide around Robinson Park before circling back toward the East End. Anyone trying to track him would need to untangle a web of false starts and dead ends.
The motel's rusted sign flickered into view. OASIS MOTOR INN -- half the letters dark, the 'S' buzzing like an angry hornet.
Jake dropped into the narrow gap between the building and a chain-link fence. Checked the shadows. Nothing. His spider-sense was quiet.
He climbed the exterior wall, fingers finding purchase in crumbling brick. Third floor. Window left unlocked. He slipped inside and collapsed.
His back hit the mattress. Springs groaned. The ceiling stared down at him, water-stained and cracked.
He lay there. Breathing. Existing.
The totems pressed against his ribs through the suit's fabric. Heavy. Real. Proof he'd survived.
His hand trembled as he pulled up the interface.
🕷️
Time Bank: 00:11:17
🕸️
Eleven hours. Less than half a day.
The number stared back at him like a countdown to execution. What happened when it hit zero? He still didn't know. Didn't want to find out.
Jake forced himself upright. His body protested every movement, but the clock didn't care about exhaustion.
He pulled out Riddler's cane first.
Sleek. Green. Heavier than it looked. The question mark handle was cold metal, precisely machined. Jake turned it over in his hands, studying the craftsmanship.
There -- along the shaft. Seams. Buttons disguised as decorative ridges.
He pressed one experimentally.
A compartment snapped open near the handle. Inside, a coil of thin wire. Garrote? Probably. Jake closed it carefully.
Another button. The tip telescoped outward with a mechanical click, extending the cane's reach by six inches. Combat functionality.
A third. Nothing visible, but Jake's spider-sense tingled faintly. He aimed the tip at the wall and pressed harder.
ZZZT.
Electricity arced from the tip, scorching the wallpaper black. The smell of ozone filled the room.
Jake's hand jerked back. His heart hammered. For a second he was back in the cage, twenty kilovolts tearing through him, muscles locking, vision going white--
He breathed. Counted to five. The memory faded.
"Useful," he muttered. "For Riddler."
Most of the mechanisms required finesse he didn't have. Precision timing. Showmanship. This wasn't his weapon. It was Edward Nigma's ego wrapped in green metal.
But it was still a totem.
Jake held the cane before him. "T. Finder, register totem."
🕷️
[Totem collected!]
Category: Uncommon
Reward: +48h to your Time Bank
Redeem totem to receive reward? (Y/N)
🕸️
"Redeem."
The cane glowed -- not the harsh electric blue of its shock function, but something warmer. Golden-green light spread from handle to tip, consuming the metal in radiant fire.
The weight disappeared from Jake's hands. The light fractured into thousands of tiny specks that drifted toward him like fireflies, sinking into his chest, his arms, his core.
Warmth. Satisfaction. Safety.
The interface updated.
🕷️
[Progress Tab]
Completion: 2.0%
Totems redeemed: 2
Time Bank: 00:59:14
🕸️
Fifty-nine hours. Two and a half days. Breathing room.
Jake released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. His chest loosened. The weight crushing him eased just slightly.
It hadn't all been for nothing.
The notification appeared.
🕷️
[Totem redeemed!]
Select one Bonus Reward:
1. Bundle of Cash - a little something to keep you going during this time crunch.
2. Totem Icon - for your navigation needs and a chance to collect your next totem faster.
3. Mystery Reward
🕸️
Jake stared at the options. His stomach growled, answering for him.
The Mystery Reward had given him the suit. Useful, but cosmetic. The Totem Icon would save time, lead him straight to the next target. Smart. Efficient.
But he was broke. The five dollars he'd shorted the baker was his last cash. He couldn't eat webs. Couldn't pay rent with spider-powers.
Two million dollars. Catwoman had it now. Somewhere in Gotham, probably laughing.
"Bundle of Cash," Jake said.
The reward materialized on the bed beside him. Not a duffel bag. Not a briefcase. Just a simple brown envelope, unsealed.
Jake opened it.
Bills. Twenties and fifties, neatly stacked. He counted quickly.
Eight hundred dollars.
Not two million. Not even close. But enough to eat for a month. Enough to extend his stay at the Oasis. Enough to survive while he figured out his next move.
Jake set the envelope on the nightstand and pulled out Penguin's umbrella.
It was heavier than the cane. Solid construction, weighted for combat. The handle was polished wood, carved to fit a hand smaller than Jake's. Silver accents ran along the shaft. The fabric was black, pristine despite everything it had been through.
Jake turned it slowly. There had to be--
His thumb brushed something near the handle. A small button, flush with the wood.
Click.
The umbrella tip snapped open with a mechanical CHUNK. Three curved blades extended like talons, each edge gleaming razor-sharp.
Jake froze. One wrong move and he'd open an artery.
He pressed the button again. The blades retracted with the same decisive CHUNK.
"Okay," Jake breathed. "Noted."
He found another mechanism. A panel along the shaft slid aside, revealing a chamber. Empty now, but designed to hold something. Gas canister? Explosive? With Penguin, both were possible.
Jake's fingers explored further, finding triggers, releases, catches. The umbrella was a weapon disguised as an accessory -- or maybe the other way around. Every inch was functional. Dangerous.
Fascinating.
His pulse quickened. Not from fear. From something else.
The thrill.
The Riddler's tournament. The electrified cage. Harley's goons surrounding him. Catwoman moving through the dark. Every second had been survival balanced on a knife's edge.
And he'd loved it.
The realization hit him like cold water. When had that happened? When had danger stopped being something to avoid and started being something to chase?
His hand trembled slightly as he pressed another button.
A small dart fired from the umbrella's tip, embedding itself in the opposite wall.
Jake's heart hammered. The shock snapped him back -- electrocution, cage, Harley's bat whistling past his head. Real danger. Real consequences.
He'd wasted too much time already. The swinging. The riddles. The tournament. All of it could have been avoided with a Totem Icon pointing him straight to the next target.
Not that he regretted it. The electrocution was seared into his muscle memory. He'd carry that for a long time.
But that moment with Catwoman. Suspended in the laser grid, their paths intersecting. His hand catching her waist. Her eyes meeting his through the goggles.
That had felt real.
Her betrayal had stung. Stolen the briefcase while he was distracted. Risked his mission for her own gain.
But he couldn't stop wondering if they'd meet again.
Jake shook his head. Focus.
He held up the umbrella. "T. Finder, register totem."
🕷️
[Totem collected!]
Category: Uncommon
Reward: +48h to your Time Bank
Redeem totem to receive reward? (Y/N)
🕸️
His eyes drifted to the wall across from the bed. The drawing board he'd made two nights before. Most of the webbing had dissolved, letting paper scraps fall to the floor.
But one piece still clung. Stubborn.
A clipped magazine image of the Batmobile.
Jake's chest tightened. Fear? Adrenaline? He didn't bother confirming.
If raiding the Batcave was his next move, he was better off with a Totem Icon. Trade efficiency for safety. Hope the navigator pointed him toward something simpler than facing Batman in his own fortress.
"Redeem totem," Jake said.
The umbrella dissolved the same way the cane had. Golden light, drifting specks, warmth sinking into his core.
🕷️
[Progress Tab]
Completion: 3.0%
Totems redeemed: 3
Time Bank: 01:47:09
🕸️
One hundred seven hours. Four and a half days. Real safety.
The notification appeared.
🕷️
[Totem redeemed!]
Select one Bonus Reward:
1. Bundle of Cash - a little something to keep you going during this time crunch.
2. Totem Icon - for your navigation needs and a chance to collect your next totem faster.
3. Mystery Reward
🕸️
"Totem Icon," Jake said without hesitation.
The Object Tab snapped into focus. The question mark that had been sitting there -- generic, placeholder -- began to shift.
The lines twisted, reformed, resolved into something specific.
A ring.
Golden. Simple band. No gemstone, no ornamentation. Just a smooth circle of precious metal that gleamed in the interface's light.
Jake frowned. What was that?
He searched his memory -- comic panels, animated episodes, forum deep-dives. Nothing clicked. The ring looked valuable but unremarkable. Not iconic. Not tied to any villain or hero he recognized.
But he didn't have to wonder.
The Navigation Tab pulsed. The red strand that had been flickering aimlessly now locked into place, pointing with absolute certainty.
Jake pulled up the full navigator. The spider-web field glowed gold-white, intense and focused. The red strand cut through it like a compass needle, unwavering.
Close. Maybe a mile. Maybe less.
That was all he needed.
Read ahead. 18 chapters atp, 2 more in the editing phase, two entire arcs in the works (The Laughing Spider + The Spider Assassin). Support me in Patreon.com/MimicLord as I burn the midnight oil to make faster releases.