Crystal Catawnee (Earth-616)

Dream-Spider
Name	Crystal Catawnee
Current Alias	Dream-Spider
Aliases	Captain Crystal, Captain Catawnee
Affiliation and Relationships
Relatives	Grandparents: Unnamed grandfather Parents: Unnamed mother Other Relatives: Bird Catawnee (maternal uncle)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Female
Eyes	Irises: Brown
Hair	Brown
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human Mutate
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	American, Sioux
Education	Empire State University
Base of Operations	Pasadena, California
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Taboo, B. Earl, Juan Ferreyra
First	Deadly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 (October, 2022)
First	Deadly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1 (October, 2022)

Shhhhh. ...Sweet dreams everyone.

—Dream-Spider[source]

History

Early Life

When she was young, Crystal Catawnee used to listen to stories of her grandfather and Uncle Bird. She was particularly fascinated with the stories of the Coyote, Iktomi and Iya, and of Coyote, the five wolves and the Big Dipper. Thanks to her gifted intellect, she studied in Empire State University and became educated in the scientific field.

The Demon Bear Incident

One day, Crystal came into contact with a like-minded individual, Peter Parker, who had arrived to California to get away for a while from New York City, and the two began working together on experiments that aimed to destroy sick cells with frequency and water with superconductors. As they worked, the two became fast friends, and Crystal even got to know Peter's friends, Randy Robertson and Janice Lincoln, while she introduced to him her uncle Bird. Unknowingly, those frequencies disturbed the entity known as the Demon Bear, which led to their nightmares to start poisoning the Dream Dimension before bleeding to their reality.

At first, Crystal didn't notice any of this, but as Peter told her about his vivid nightmares, she soon began seeing that things weren't as they seemed to be. Still they continued with their work, and slowly Peter began opening up to her, though he was reluctant to reveal to Crystal his true identity as Spider-Man. Nearly three days after accidentally awakening the Demon Bear, Crystal, Peter, Randy and Janice decided to go on a trip together, but midway through Joshua Tree reality warped around them, freezing everyone in place except for Peter.

As his time was up, the Demon Bear attacked Peter, but during the battle Crystal was able to free herself and joined Spider-Man's side. Peter admitted the truth to her and explained to her his dreams. Remembering the stories she was told as a child, Crystal urged Spider-Man to use his connection to the Dreamworld to raise the ground and reach the sky. However, Randy and Janice were transformed into nightmarish monsters who chased after them, but they were able to escape by breaking through the sky and reaching the Dream Dimension. There Spider-Man battled nightmare versions of various heroes, only to loose himself and start killing them which caused him to subtly be corrupted into a nightmare himself. Crystal brought Peter to his senses, and the two swang atop a building where he revealed to her the Demon Bear's rock-like heart fused to his chest. Analyzing the symbols on the rock, Crystal came to the conclusion that it contained the maze Spider-Man needed to access in order to fix the Dream Dimension. He reached into it and opened a portal to a space where Peter was confronted by the nightmarish manifestation of his spider essence.

Peter fought the manifestation, only for it to impale him with one of its spider legs. This didn't stop Peter as he reached to the creature's head which he ripped it off, revealing his own face beneath it. After Peter destroyed his dream construct, Crystal was hit by its fragments thrown on all directions. The fragments then began fusing with her, transforming her into the Dream-Spider. The Demon Bear soon arrived to finish them at last, forcing Spider-Man and Dream-Spider to find a way to banish it. They managed to travel to their lab in the Empire State University where Dream-Spider began working to reverse the frequency that had brought the Demon Bear to their world, while Spider-Man kept the monster busy. She was successful in banishing the Demon Bear and fixing the Dream Dimension, but became scared that Peter could've be taken by the monster when she didn't see him emerging from the pool. Thankfully, he came out just fine, and with threat now extinguished both of them decided to abandon the project and help the world in their own way. The next day, Crystal and Bird bid Peter farewell as he had to return to New York, though she promised to keep in contact with him.

As Dream-Spider

In the months following Peter's departure, her uncle Bird revealed to Crystal that he was the mystical crow that had guided Peter through the journey, and offered to teach her using her newfound powers. Under his guidance, Dream-Spider learned how to better manage her powers, and began operating as a hero by vanquishing supernatural threats plaguing the dreams of people. One such threat was the Ruckus which had attached itself to the insecurities of a young child named Archie with the purpose of devouring his soul. Dream-Spider entered Archie's nightmare and convinced him to fight back against the Ruckus by thinking about joyful things. This empowered Dream-Spider enough to destroy the Ruckus, and with her job finished she wished Archie sweet dreams.

Attributes

Powers

After being hit by the fragments of Peter Parker's dream construct, Crystal gained powers relative to dreams:

Dream Dimension Access: Crystal is capable of accessing the Dream Dimension, a world composed of dreams and nightmares, she can access it through any reflective surface such as a mirror or water, in this world, she has the following abilities:

• Dream Manipulation: When in the Dream Dimension, Crystal is able to manipulate the environment and summon and control whatever entity she wants, however, she cannot banish super powerful beings such as the Demon Bear.
• Sympathetic Teleportation: Dream-Spider could enter the Dream Dimension only through reflective surfaces like mirrors or water, but when exiting the dimension she would emerge in another nearby place with a reflection.
• Spider-Sense: Like Peter, Dream-Spider has a "spider-sense" that warns her of imminent danger.
• Faith Empowerment: Crystal gets stronger if a nearby person has faith in her.

Trivia

• Dream-Spider is likely based on the dreamcatcher, a Native American handcrafted item with a woven web which serves to keep away bad dreams and is tied to the spider gods Iktomi or the Spider Grandmother.

See Also

• 7 appearance(s) of Crystal Catawnee (Earth-616)
• 5 image(s) of Crystal Catawnee (Earth-616)
• 1 quotation(s) by or about Crystal Catawnee (Earth-616)