Spider-X: A Spider-Man Story

Chapter 21: America Chavez

Avengers Compound. The realization makes a pang of homesickness hit. Not just homesick, longing, grief. He'll never be back here again. He isn't even sure if it's still operating, or who exactly stays here. Tony's gone, Cap's gone, Black Widow's gone, Vision's gone, Thor hasn't been seen since Thanos, Hawkeye's retired...

But he can remember weekends spent in upstate New York, training with the Avengers and working on new suits with Tony. In fact... Peter walks over to the living room and checks behind the loveseat. Even in his dreams, the burn mark from Vision's laser beam is still there.

"I've spent a lot of time here," a voice says from behind him.

Peter spins around, his muscles tensing automatically at the sight of Wanda. Her eyebrows crease when she sees he's on edge and she sighs, sitting down on the arm of the couch. Her whole body slumps, and her face is thin, pale, like she hasn't slept in days.

"Why am I here?" Peter asks.

"I need to talk to you, Spider-Man."

Peter looks down and sees his hands are covered with his suit. He's wearing his Spider-Man suit. Of course, because Wanda doesn't know Peter Parker anymore. No one does. They only know Spider-Man. Another pang hits his heart. No time for that now. Wanda obviously needs help. Hell, he needs help, and Wanda's the only one that knows what's going on.

"Why did you send me through the multiverse, Wanda?"

"Because I didn't want to kill you," she snaps, her Sokovian accent slipping through, truly showing her stress, "and I can't save this world on my own. He's too strong."

Peter steps closer, "who?"

"His name is Mesmero," she says softly. She glances around, like she's afraid he'll appear any second. "A powerful mutant who can control minds."

"But you-"

"-He came in my dreams," she cut him off, "he took advantage of my grief over Vision and used it to take over. By the time I realized my thoughts were not my own, it was too late. Now I am a prisoner in my own powers." Her face falls and Peter can see the weight of what she's done on her shoulders. "I can only do so much while he maintains control. Even this is a strain," she gestures to the Avengers Compound, "but I come here for refuge when I sleep."

"Wanda..." Peter doesn't know what to say.

She straightens up, struck with a sense of duty fit for an Avenger. "I can't break his hold on me," she starts, "but I brought you here to stop him. You must save the girl and stop him before-" her head snaps to the side and she crosses to grab his hands. Hers are cold, "we don't have much time. Mesmero is a radical mutant, Spider-Man. He believes in the superiority of mutants and he is on a mission to eradicate people without powers." She looks to the side, her wide with fear. Her grip is slipping, like she's losing her hold in this mental world. "He wants to... to...," she groans and squeezes Peter's hands as hard as she can, "he wants to eradicate roughly half the population, and he's trying to bring... here... stop... him...can't...again..." her form flickers, and her voice cuts in and out.

"Wanda, I don't-I don't understand-"

Wanda lets out a growl and finally slams the palm of her hand into Peter's head. His vision goes back and it feels like vertigo. Like he's spinning out of control.

And then he stops. He's still. He opens his eyes. He's in a basement of some sort. Stone walls, no windows, damp air. Then he notices the girl in the corner. She's young, younger than Peter, and curled into a ball, shivering. Her hair is black and stringy and she's wearing a jean jacket and worn out Converse.

A door behind Peter opens and the man with the tattoos, Mesmero, walks in. The girl shakes harder the closer Mesmero gets to her. "Time to bring our Scarlet Witch over."

The girl shakes her head, "no, I don't want to, I don't-" her voice cuts out.

Mesmero touches her temple and she whines, squeezing her eyes shut. She lets out a strangled cough and the wall beside her splinters with a silver light. Peter walks around to see through it. On the other side is a whole different world. Wanda stands on the other side. When she spots Mesmero, her eyes glow red, but he's faster, cutting a hand and her power fizzles out. Her body goes slack, her eyes glazed over.

He's taken over, Peter realizes. He can control Wanda just like he's controlling the girl.

Once Wanda steps through the portal, it closes behind her, leaving the regular cell wall. The girl groans and falls to the side, barely conscious. She can create portals, Peter thinks, portals across the multiverse, and Mesmero forces her to do it by maintaining his mental control over her.

"Welcome, Wanda," Mesmero says with a smile. Wanda's eyes flash with anger, but that's all. "Now, let's see about sending a message." She follows him out of the cell.

Peter rushes to the girl's side, her eyes barely open. He knows he can't really do anything, he's corporeal. Whatever power Wanda exerted to send him here, she just wants him to watch. She didn't have time to explain everything, so she brought him into one of her memories instead. Well, he isn't sure if this is a memory or happening in real time. He'll ask Wanda if she comes to his dreams again.

He places one of his ghost hands on the girl's arm but gasps when her eyes snap open, first with fear, then confusion, like she can see Peter. "Who," she whispers.

"Peter," he answers softly. If she can see him, he doesn't want Mesmero to know he's here, "Spider-Man. I'm looking for you. I'm coming for you."

"Spider-Man...," she mutters, "help. Before his message..." she trails off.

"Who are you?" Peter pulls his sweatshirt over his head and places it over her. He's not sure how much of this she can see and feel, but it seems to comfort her. Her shivering almost stops.

"America," she whispers. "Help me, Spider-Man... I don't want to bring him here..."

"I know," Peter says, "I'm coming. I just need to find you."

Her eyes flutter closed, but she points at the opposite wall before drifting off, exhausted from being forced to use her powers. Her breaths even out, letting Peter know she's asleep. He gets up and walks to the wall she pointed at, running his hands over it, looking for any clues as to where she's being kept.

A shiver goes through him, and when he looks down, his body is flickering in and out. He's running out of time. He's being sent back to his body. No, he thinks, he needs something, anything. He can't leave America here without something that will help him find her. Pressure builds in his chest and Peter is actively fighting to stay.

Finally, he finds something. An etching. Faded, hidden by the moisture and age of the walls, and a logo he never would have found if he wasn't looking. If he hadn't seen it before. But he has. Or, at least he's seen pictures and heard stories.

Hydra.

He's pulled back to his body. He wakes in a cold sweat.