"Perhaps now, I am truly your opponent."
The voice that came from beneath the mask sounded strange, as if it were a mixture of three different tones.
Let's rewind time to the moment when the British Spider-Man was calling out to Peter Parker.
At that very moment, Bruce made his decision.
Although Bruce didn't understand why these people were hunting Spider-Man, or why they needed those three specific items, the best choice was simply not to let them succeed.
Bruce re-entered the prison within his mind.
This time, he truly needed help from the one imprisoned inside his mental prison.
He walked to the cell of the Red Death. Inside, the Red Death had already slowly stood up and was now standing across from Bruce.
"Finally realized that there are times when you simply can't do it alone?" The Red Death spoke with clear sarcasm toward Bruce, who had only now come to seek him out.
But Bruce ignored the mocking tone. He just stared into the Red Death's eyes, unblinking.
Until he caught a glimpse of the golden light flickering in the Red Death's gaze.
Only now did Bruce become completely certain that he could release the Red Death.
Without saying a word, Bruce opened the door to the Red Death's cell.
The Red Death had been waiting for this very moment. In a flash, he emerged, grabbed Bruce by the throat, and slammed him against the wall of the prison.
"If I kill you here, does this world become mine afterward?" The Red Death brought his face close to Bruce's, speaking in a low, threatening voice.
But Bruce didn't feel the slightest discomfort. In this place, the Red Death couldn't actually harm him.
"You know you can't kill me here." Bruce didn't even try to struggle. He simply stared back into the Red Death's eyes and spoke calmly.
"But I can throw you back into the cell." The Red Death knew full well that he couldn't kill Bruce—after all, doing so would mean the destruction of this mental prison, erasing it completely.
"Your prison has no effect on me." Bruce's calm tone only fueled the Red Death's rage.
Despite being in a life-or-death situation, this guy could still talk so calmly.
The Red Death's grip tightened around Bruce's neck, but just like before, he still couldn't do any real harm.
"No, no, no~" A different voice suddenly came from the Red Death's mouth.
It was Barry Allen's voice. The voice of the Flash.
Clearly, the Flash—now fused with the Red Death—strongly opposed the idea of the two Bruces turning on each other.
Or rather, he didn't want to see any Bruce become a killer.
But the Red Death completely ignored Barry Allen's protest. He continued to glare at Bruce.
"I believe you know what kind of reckoning the world will face once I'm set free."
The Red Death slowly let go of Bruce.
Black and red bats began to rise from his body.
He could barely contain his excitement to finally feel the real world—he had only ever observed it through Bruce's eyes, a world so vastly different from what he had known.
But now, observing would no longer be enough.
Still, he understood that just like when Bruce let the LEGO Batman out, it had only worked because the LEGO Batman had emerged under Bruce's control. For him to leave the prison, he would also need Bruce's help.
The Red Death placed his hand on Bruce's shoulder, and the two began walking forward.
Just as they were about to reach the wall of mental energy, Bruce suddenly spoke.
"What happens when one body holds three consciousnesses?"
Barry Allen reacted first, instantly engaging the Red Death in a struggle for control of the body.
At that moment, Bruce yanked the Red Death into the energy wall.
Ever since the incident with LEGO Batman, Bruce had been thinking.
If these bat entities could manifest in the outside world by channeling through his body, then perhaps his own consciousness could also control the bodies that had gained bat powers.
Dragging the Red Death out like this was definitely a risky move—but the situation outside had already become dire.
When the crimson armor appeared on Bruce's body—
The Red Death had arrived in the real world.
But he wasn't purely the Red Death anymore, because now, in his mind, there wasn't just Barry Allen—Bruce was there too.
This time, it wasn't the Red Death in control, but a shared consciousness between Bruce and Barry Allen.
The Red Death was being completely suppressed.
He had previously been able to dominate the body by relying on the sheer willpower of the bats.
But Bruce's willpower was even stronger than his.
Now, combined with the willpower of the Flash, the two easily overpowered the Red Death.
The Red Death could only rage within the subconscious, but neither Barry Allen nor Bruce paid him any mind.
"To be honest, even though this isn't my first time fighting side by side with Batman, this feeling—of two people sharing one body—is just amazing." Barry Allen was overjoyed. After being suppressed by the Red Death for so long, finally taking control felt like liberation.
He could barely contain his excitement.
Though perhaps Bruce's powerful will was the reason the outer form still appeared as the Red Death dominated by bat imagery—rather than a lightning-powered Flash version led by Barry Allen.
"By the way, should I tell you later how to use the Speed Force and which of our attacks work with it?" Barry Allen was honestly a bit worried that Bruce might not be able to fully adapt to the Speed Force coursing through his body.
But before Barry could even finish his sentence, Bruce had already taken control of the body and dashed out.
Crimson-red bats fluttered wildly behind Bruce as he moved.
Clearly, Bruce was far more adept at using the Speed Force than Barry had anticipated.
Once he fully tapped into it, Bruce felt like everything around him had begun to slow down dramatically—even the scene of Solus draining the life energy from Cosmic Captain Spider-Man appeared completely frozen to his eyes.
Bruce could even see the cosmic particles flowing in real time.
He simply rushed in front of Solus and effortlessly pulled Cosmic Captain Spider-Man out of his grasp.
And everything that happened afterward was what Solus had seen for himself.
"I don't know what kind of creature you are, but your totem is bitter and reeks of foul stench," Solus said, able to smell the essence of Bruce's totem.
It gave him no pleasure—after all, who would want to consume something that seemed utterly unpalatable?
Bruce was clearly that unappetizing presence.
"But it seems you're determined to stop me from devouring the Spider's totem… So I'll just have to kill you first," Solus growled, speaking to Bruce with a cruel grin.
Then, just as he had charged at Cosmic Captain Spider-Man, Solus lunged straight toward Bruce.
In an instant, blood-red bats wrapped around Bruce's body—he had once again entered the Speed Force state.
But to Bruce's eyes, Solus's charging speed was unbearably slow.
It was like watching an ultra-slow PowerPoint presentation.
In a flash, Bruce had already whisked Cosmic Captain Spider-Man away from the battlefield.
"You do realize you could've shattered his body doing that," Barry Allen was still explaining to Bruce, warning him that it's best not to touch anyone while in Speed Force mode.
After all, speed is power.
At such extreme velocity, even a light touch could pierce through someone's body.
Let alone Bruce literally picking someone up and sprinting with them.
"He's the embodiment of this universe's power—he won't die that easily," Bruce replied to Barry mid-sprint.
Both Bruce and Barry were right in their own way.
If Bruce had been carrying any other Spider-Man, they might've been torn to shreds from the sheer speed.
But he was holding Cosmic Captain Spider-Man.
As the embodiment of the universe's force, his body was far tougher than that of a regular Spider-Man, and even at such speed, he remained unharmed.
Not to mention, Bruce was actively trying to shield him with the Speed Force.
And that's when Bruce noticed something else.
Morlun was silently sneaking up behind Mayday Parker.
Clearly, his target wasn't Mayday herself—
It was the baby in her arms—the child referred to as the Heir.
Bruce instantly appeared in front of Morlun, lifting one foot and lightly tapping it against his chest.
As soon as Morlun's body began to recoil backward, Bruce had already stopped beside Mayday Parker.
And as Bruce halted, the world snapped back to normal speed.
Solus, who had leapt high into the air, smashed both fists into the ground.
BOOM!
Dust exploded everywhere. Solus had only created a massive crater—but the target of his attack had vanished, even taking Cosmic Captain Spider-Man with him.
Solus turned his head and saw that Bruce had already brought the Captain to the side of the other Spider-People.
And as the world returned to normal speed, Morlun was struck by a tremendous, mysterious force and sent flying.
His body carved a deep trench across Central Park's ground.
"Your mission is to protect the Heir and the Bride," Bruce said, glancing at the now slightly recovered Cosmic Captain Spider-Man. "Don't engage those guys in close combat."
Cosmic Captain Spider-Man, though unsure who exactly this person was, looked at the lightning-split bat symbol and had a good guess.
This was the pitch-black Batman from earlier.
"Solus is mine."
(End of Chapter)
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