Experimental (Peter Parker x reader)

Chapter 5 - Mindscape

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Tears dripped down my face as I carefully flicked my eyes open, fearing the catastrophic mess that I would be met with. I frowned upon seeing the stark white ground my hands were firmly pressed against. Slowly lifting my head to take in my surroundings only made my confusion grow further. Everything was the same stark white colour, I couldn't tell where the floor ended and walls began.

A sudden footstep caught my attention, my eyes darted to the side cautiously gauging how close my potential captor was to me. The person made another step closer to me and I swiftly shoved myself up off the ground and spun around to face them, only for my vision to blur. I swayed, my knees colliding back down onto the hard ground. I blinked and held the side of my head, willing my eyes to focus on the fuzzy figure in front of me.

"Take it easy, you've spent a lot of energy." The person spoke in a calm voice, that seemed to make me calm as well. I let out a pent up breath as my eyes finally cleared again. I was looking up at a bald man in entirely black clothes standing a few feet from my keeling position on the floor.

"I didn't mean to." I admitted meekly, casting my gaze back down to the plain ground.

"I know." He told me simply, making me frown. He knew? How?

"What happened?" I asked a different question than I was thinking. I couldn't barrage the man with questions, for all I know he's just some construct of my own imagination. I was exhausted enough that it could be plausible.

"You were about to destroy the lab. I brought you here." He answered, cryptically.

"And where exactly is here?" I asked, a slight hint of irritation edging into my voice unintentionally. I watched the man carefully as he brought his hand up to his temple and tapped it lightly.

"Your head." He answered, a small, almost nostalgic, smile crossing his face. My eyes fluttered before I squeezed them shut. That wasn't possible, no one could get in my head.

"You're lying." I gritted through my teeth. "No one can get in here." I said glumly, matching his previous action and tapping my own temple.

"Maybe in your universe, little one. But I've known you for a long enough time to be able to get in here." His words baffled me. I have no idea who this man is, I didn't even recognise him in the slightest.

"I don't know you." I mumbled, sounding unsure of myself. I was racking my brain to see a glimpse of the man in front of me, even in passing on the street but there was nothing. No sight or memory of him. "Who are you? And how do you know me?"

"You knew me here." He told me calmly, like he could sense I was having a hard time processing. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier, I took you in when your parents passed." I couldn't help the scoff that emanated from me. They were crushed into goo.

"That's a nice way to put it." I grumbled. Slowly and as carefully as I could, I pushed myself up so I was standing opposite him. "What about Tony Stark?" I asked, quirking my brow. He simply shook his head in response, making me get the picture that he was nowhere in the picture. "And you knew this would work because-"

"We've done this before." He cut me off, finishing my sentence for me.

"Right, of course." I muttered, redirecting my eyes down to the floor. There was a question that was sitting in my mind since we had that little confrontation with the pizza man. I'd brushed it off then, but if anyone knew what happened to me it would be the man who raised me since I was five. "I'm dead here." I said, not daring to look up and see his reaction. "What happened to me? How'd it happen?" I looked back up at the man, his waterline shining with tears but that didn't make me regret asking him.