The Spider With Prep-Time

Epilogue of Chapter 1

White.

The first thing I noticed was the white. Endless, blinding. A void that stretched in every direction with no beginning or end. There was no pain here, no sense of time. Just... nothing. It felt like I was floating, weightless, detached from everything that had come before.

I blinked, disoriented, trying to make sense of it all. My last memory was the battlefield—Darkseid, the portal, my body collapsing to the ground. I had felt the life leaving me, the cold darkness seeping in, and now...

"Bruce."

A voice—familiar—cut through the void, soft yet full of authority. I turned, my breath catching in my throat. Standing before me, impossibly real in this sea of white, was my father.

"Father...?" I whispered, my voice wavering as disbelief washed over me. Thomas Wayne stood there, looking exactly as I remembered him. The gray streaks in his hair, the same warm but stern eyes. Everything about him felt... real.

He smiled, the kind of smile I hadn't seen since I was a boy. "Yes, Bruce. It's me."

I took a hesitant step forward, my heart racing in my chest. The emotions I had long buried surfaced, crashing into me with the force of a tidal wave. I had spent so many years trying to live up to his memory, trying to be the protector he would have wanted me to be. And now... here he was.

But something felt wrong.

I stopped, my instincts—the detective in me—screaming that this wasn't real. This wasn't my father.

"I'm sorry..." I said softly, the weight of it settling on me. "You're not him."

The smile faded from Thomas Wayne's face, his features shifting, distorting. Slowly, like smoke unraveling in the air, the image of my father dissipated, revealing the figure beneath—the Specter.

He stood there, cloaked in green, his presence both chilling and commanding. His eyes, glowing with an eerie light, fixed on me with an intensity that felt almost... divine.

"You are correct, Bruce Wayne," the Specter's voice was deep, otherworldly, resonating through the void. "I am not your father. I am the embodiment of vengeance, the spirit of justice. I am the Specter."

I took a breath, steadying myself. "Why are you here? What is this place?"

The Specter's gaze never wavered. "You are dead, Bruce. Your time in the world you knew has come to an end."

Dead. The word echoed in my mind, cold and final. I had known it, of course—felt it as I fell on that battlefield. But hearing it spoken aloud brought a weight I hadn't anticipated.

"So that's it, then?" I asked, my voice low. "I can't go back."

The Specter's expression was unreadable, his voice as calm as the void around us. "No. You cannot return to the world you once knew. That life is over. But..." He paused, his glowing eyes narrowing. "There is another path before you. A choice."

I frowned. "What kind of choice?"

The Specter's gaze grew darker, more ominous, as if he was weighing every word. "The world from which you came was not the only one in danger. In another universe, a symbol of hope—a boy—was meant to rise. But he was taken from his world too soon, denied his destiny before it could be fulfilled."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "What does that have to do with me?"

The Specter took a step closer, his presence looming. "This world—this new world—was denied its hero, its symbol of hope. It was left vulnerable, adrift in the balance of forces that even now threaten to consume it. You, Bruce Wayne, have the chance to take his place."

I stood there, the weight of his words settling in. A new world, a new life—reincarnation. But there was more he wasn't telling me. I could feel it, the way his words hung in the air, cryptic, carefully chosen.

"And if I refuse?" I asked, my voice steady despite the uncertainty creeping in.

The Specter's expression remained impassive. "Then your soul will find its final rest. There will be no return."

Silence filled the void, heavy and suffocating. I could feel the weight of the decision pressing down on me, the choice between oblivion and a new life—one that came with unknown consequences.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "And what aren't you telling me? What's the catch?"

The Specter's lips curled into the faintest hint of a smile, but it was cold, almost predatory. "The details of your reincarnation are not mine to reveal. But know this—you will not be as you were. The world you are to inherit will be fraught with danger, and your path will be uncertain."

His words lingered, vague but ominous, leaving more questions than answers. But there was something else—a pull. A deep, instinctive sense that this was more than just a choice. This was fate.

I took a deep breath. "I'll do it."

The Specter nodded slowly, his glowing eyes flickering with a strange, unreadable light. "So be it."

The white void around me began to dissolve, the world shifting, changing. As my consciousness faded from the plane of existence, I caught a final glimpse of the Specter's towering form, watching me with that cold, distant gaze.

Somewhere Beyond the Void

In a realm beyond time and space, where the threads of fate and destiny intertwined, two figures stood in the darkness.

The Specter, the spirit of vengeance, floated in the air, his cloak billowing like tendrils of mist. Beside him, another presence materialized—a shimmering, ethereal figure with the grace and beauty of an ancient deity.

It was the Spider Goddess, a being as old as the Marvel Universe itself, her form woven from threads of shimmering silver and gold. Her eyes glowed with the light of a thousand stars, and her voice, when she spoke, was soft yet filled with unimaginable power.

"So... you have chosen him," the Spider Goddess said, her voice echoing through the cosmic realm.

The Specter nodded, his voice low and foreboding. "He is the only one capable of bearing the weight of this world's destiny."

The Spider Goddess tilted her head, her gaze thoughtful. "He carries the burden of two lives now—one of vengeance, one of hope. Do you truly believe he will fulfill the role my world requires?"

The Specter's eyes glowed brighter. "He is not a man to be underestimated. He has faced gods and monsters, darkness and light. And now... he will be reborn, a new champion for your world."

The Spider Goddess smiled faintly, her eyes shimmering. "Then let us see what the rebirth of my newest champion will bring to Earth Z616."