A/N: Well, everything outside seems terrible right now, for reasons I'm quite sure I don't have to explain.

I feel like making something terrible into something a bit nice.

"But Wolf!" I hear you say. "Doing that, in this particular fandom!?"

And to that, all I can say is, I do this precisely because it is this particular fandom. May the Queen Administrator of Grimdark forgive me my sin.

This is but a taste. Hope you enjoy.

Gestation 1.1

Prologue

"...YOU HAVE MADE YOUR CHOICE?"

"Yep. I think she'll do."

"THERE WILL BE NO MORE CHANCES TO INTERFERE IF YOU CHOSE POORLY."

"Hey, trust me. You showed me what would have happened if she'd been left by her lonesome. I know the stakes."

"YOU SEE, BUT YOU DO NOT COMPREHEND. WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO DO WILL ALTER HER WORLD FOREVER."

"As long as it's altered for the better. Given everything she's already gone through, I don't expect that her personality will be irrevocably changed by this. She's a hell of a lot stronger in her convictions than I was at her age."

"INDEED. SUCH WILLPOWER IN THE FACE OF SUFFERING IS RARE AMONG MORTALS."

"Aww, that may be the nicest thing you've ever said."

"YOU JEST, BUT WE ARE NOT PRONE TO EXAGGERATION. HER WORLD IS A CRUEL, MISERABLE PLACE, WHERE EVEN THE HEROES CAN BE THE WORST SORT OF VILLAINS. IT NEEDS SOMEONE WITH HER STRENGTH OF CHARACTER, WITH THE ABILITIES TO MATCH."

"I'll say. As awful as my world can sometimes be, I wouldn't swap it for hers if you gave me a million bucks. Quick question though. Of all the powers my world has at its disposal, why pick mine? You don't think someone like Iron Man could have done a better job? Hell, I'd even have picked that moron Magneto for something like this, I'm sure there's some reality where he's screwed up badly enough to facilitate it."

"YOU ARE MISTAKEN IF YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE THE FIRST WE HAVE APPROACHED. IN THIS CASE, HOWEVER, IT IS NOT SIMPLY YOUR ABILITIES THAT SHE WILL NEED. SHE NEEDS YOUR MIND."

"...Not, you know, literally, right?"

"THE GIFT YOU ENGINEERED WILL DO MORE THAN STRENGTHEN HER MUSCLES AND QUICKEN HER SENSES. IT WILL DEEPEN HER KNOWLEDGE AND EXPAND HER SKILL FASTER THAN WOULD OTHERWISE BE POSSIBLE."

"...Damn, you didn't skimp at all on this plan, did you?"

"SHE WILL NEED ALL THE HELP WE CAN PROVIDE. ON THAT NOTE, TELL US MORE OF THIS CREATURE YOU HAVE CREATED."

"Okay. I needed to do quite a bit of work to bring this whole thing together. I took DNA samples from myself, Miles, Jessica, Cindy, anyone I could reach who would be willing to help. It took Reed, Bruce and I weeks to sort through everything, but we did it. Venom blasts, pheromone control, camouflage, the works. Once she's bitten by this, she'll be as strong as I ever was in my prime, with room to grow."

"IMPRESSIVE."

"Why thank you. Though I must admit, if anyone had told me that I would be giving this to a total stranger, I would have called them crazy... if you hadn't shown me what she's been through, and what might have been."

"...YOU HESITATE?"

"...No. It's too late for that now. I just hope that this gift will be enough. Once things get started, she'll have no shortage of enemies."

"AS IT SHOULD BE. WHEN ONE FIGHTS FOR GOOD, ENEMIES ARE A GIVEN, AS YOU VERY WELL KNOW."

"Fair point. Then again, not everything in that world is driven by mere human emotion, and she's bound to pick a fight with them sooner or later."

"WE ARE COUNTING ON IT. THE PUPPETS ARE THE MOST OBVIOUS THREAT, BUT THE TRUE ENEMY IS FAR MORE MONSTROUS. THE WORMS ARE AN AFFRONT TO THE HARMONY OF THE MULTIVERSE, AND WE WILL SEE THEM ANNIHILATED BY OUR CHAMPIONS IN EVERY REALITY THEY RESIDE IN."

"...No small task for one little mortal."

"SHE IS NO ORDINARY MORTAL. YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THAT."

A look passed between the cosmic entity and the mortal man as they stood together, united in their purpose.

And far away, lying in bed, Taylor Hebert dreamed, as a spider spun its web.

A/N: ...In case you haven't noticed, I've been reading a lot of Worm fanfics lately.

This idea sort of spawned after I re-read The Spider, by I'mjusttryingtofindmyway, which is honestly such a delight that I kinda figured I should do something similar. But of course, it's effing WORM, so any attempt to make things too lighthearted would be doomed to failure from the get-go. So we'll see. Maybe it'll turn out okay.

That being said, I am not in a good mood about a great number of things, some of which may occasionally bleed over into my writing. Quarantine, math tests, SJWs, Fucks News. Screw them all, with an antimatter dildo.

...Rant over. Lemme know what you think.

Wolf out.