“He was not a god,”

  Detective Ruiz muttered, barely above a whisper.

  Archie froze.

  The air in the room shifted.

  He lifted his head slowly, the calmness peeling away like cracked porcelain.

  

  “What… did you say?”

  Ruiz blinked. “Peter Parker. He was a student. A victim. Not a—”

  Archie slammed his fists against the table, chains rattling, eyes wide with fury.

  

  “You dare.

  You dare reduce him to that? A student? A victim?”

  His voice cracked, spittle flying.

  “He ascended! He suffered in silence while the world mocked him, ignored him, spat on him!

  And when he became more—when he was reborn—you looked away!”

  The guards moved quickly.

  

  “One day,” Archie growled as they wrestled him to the door,

  “All of you will know the one true god!

  And when your bones crack beneath the weight of revelation,

  you will beg me for the way to salvation!”

  The door slammed.

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  His screams echoed down the corridor like a hymn gone wrong.

  BEHIND THE GLASS

  Detective Rosa exhaled slowly, rubbing her temples.

  “I’ve been on this job for twenty years,” she said. “Thought I’d seen everything.

  But that man? That’s a lost soul if I’ve ever seen one.”

  Beside her, Sergeant Dalca stared through the one-way mirror.

  His expression unreadable.

  Another officer entered, holding a thin file.

  He looked nervous.

  

  “Ma’am. There’s… another one.

  A kid from Midtown Tech. Been missing since yesterday.”

  Rosa turned sharply.

  “Jesus. You sure?”

  He nodded. “Parents got a note. Same style. Same language. All spider metaphors.”

  He hesitated. “But the timing’s off. Archie’s been in custody for over 48 hours.”

  Dalca’s eyes narrowed.

  “Copycat?”

  “Or,” the younger officer said, “he’s not the Spider Maker at all.

  Just a lunatic who believed he was.”

  OUTSIDE THE PRECINCT

  The sun was low.

  Orange bled across the city skyline.

  Captain George Stacy stood alone beneath the steps.

  A cigarette dangled from his lips, unlit.

  The lighter clicked twice before the flame caught.

  He took a drag and stared ahead.

  Peter Parker.

  Bright.

  Kind.

  Quiet.

  A kid who loved science.

  A kid who never hurt a soul.

  And now his name was tangled in death, in madness, in myth.

  George clenched his jaw.

  Why?

  Why did Peter have to suffer like that?

  Why did someone so good, so gentle, have to become… that?

  Was he a god?

  Or was he just another sacrifice the world demanded and forgot?

  The smoke curled into the air like a question left unanswered.

  Then something caught his eye.

  A twitch.

  On the railing beside him, a spider had begun weaving its web.

  Methodical.

  Precise.

  Beautiful, in a quiet, haunting way.

  A gnat flew too close.

  Snap.

  It was gone.

  George stared at the web for a long while, the last of the sunlight melting behind him.

  [End of Chapter 6]