"I want to know, why do you think so?" Xavier asked.
Peter rubbed his forehead. "It's very complicated. When I got the ability, I didn't want to be a hero, but there was a part of me that was forcing me to become a hero. When Peter·Parker, another part of me was forcing me to be the best version of myself. But what about now? I have nothing left. Spider-Man is shattered and dead to the world. Peter·Parker's greatest achievement, working at Baxter Building, was also blown to pieces. So I'm thinking, what on earth am I supposed to do?"
Xavier smiled, "Peter, you missed one thing. No one asked you to be a hero, that is your own choice. People will not do something just because they 'have to', unless someone forces them. It is you who choose to be Spider-Man, you choose to be a scientist. Maybe now you should ask yourself: Are you really satisfied with yourself as a person?"
Peter thought about it seriously and had to admit that he was right. Xavier couldn't see the whole picture and didn't know who he really was - but maybe, he could help.
He raised his head. "Charles, I want to ask you to see my memory."
Xavier was stunned for a moment. "What?"
"There is an area in my brain that is locked. I tried reading it when Qin first awakened her ability, but she couldn't open it. I don't know why. I want you to try it, and I want to explain it all to you." Peter looked directly at him, "Please."
Xavier was silent for a moment, and finally sighed, "Okay, Peter. If you insist." He slid in front of Peter and pressed his fingers on his temples, "Relax. You won't feel anything."
Peter closed his eyes and put down all his thoughts. Suddenly, a familiar touch penetrated his mind. He heard Xavier's voice. "I've come in, Peter. Do you want to follow up and take a look?"
He thought nonchalantly: Okay, if you can get in.
"Wait a moment."
After the words fell, Peter's eyelids suddenly sank.
He found himself floating in a pink void. Things gradually appeared under his feet, and the pink color rolled inward, and he landed in the middle of a city. The streets and buildings all looked familiar - a bit like New York, but extremely compressed: Baxter Building was next to Midtown High School; next to the tower of Avengers was the library he often visited, and the hospital where he stayed for a month when he broke his arm.
"Where am I?" Peter blurted out. When he lowered his head, he saw that he was no longer wearing casual clothes. He had put on a red and black battle uniform at some point.
"This is your consciousness, Peter." Xavier appeared next to him.
"Ah!" Peter jumped back in fright, 'How could you scare me in my head?! This is so unfair!'
"It's really unfair." Xavier smiled slightly and looked around, "Interesting. You have built your subconscious into such a city - a variant of the memory palace, using space and architecture to anchor memories. It's an excellent design."
Peter looked down at the red and black uniform on his body, and then looked at the compressed version of New York at his feet. Baxter Building was next to Midtown High School, and next to Avengers Tower was the hospital where he had been injured for a month. He scratched his head. "Actually, I didn't deliberately design it, it grew like this on its own."
"That's why it's real."
Xavier gently hit the Snap, and the two of them rose above the city. Peter introduced along the way where the data core was and where he stored a lot of knowledge. A black tower stood on the edge of the city, standing alone outside the border. The tower was pitch black and the spire pierced into the void, giving people an indescribable sense of oppression.
"That should be what you want me to see." Xavier said.
"Probably so."
Peter brought Xavier close to the tower. He stretched out his hand and touched it, and a door roared open in the tower wall. There were thousands of Crystal balls floating inside, each of which was playing pictures - movies he had watched, knowledge he had read, and fragments of his previous life. Just as Xavier was about to step in, the alarm suddenly sounded, so sharp that it pierced the eardrums.
"--!"
The two of them covered their ears at the same time, and the sound seemed to penetrate directly into the depths of their consciousness. When the alarm subsided, Xavier looked at the door again, his expression becoming solemn. Peter tried again, and as soon as he got closer, the alarm went off again.
"This is... a defense mechanism." Xavier took two steps back, "What you want to say to me, it doesn't allow."
"No wonder Qin couldn't read it back then." Peter Just finished speaking, the alarm sounded again. He sighed, "Fuck."
The next moment, the pink void rolled around and he was bounced back to reality.
Xavier suddenly retracted his hand, as if he had been burned. He took a few quick breaths and stared at Peter with shock in his eyes. "What is that?"
"... I don't know."
"The thing I felt has never been encountered in my life." Xavier pressed his forehead, "Peter, the thing hidden in your mind cannot be broken open by any Mind Stone sensor on the earth. It is like a black hole. What are you protecting?"
"It's the memory of my previous life -" Peter blurted out, but all that fell into Xavier's ears was a string of garbled characters.
Xavier frowned. "What did you say?"
"I said, it's the memory of my previous life..." Peter tried again, but it was still a string of meaningless syllables, "Why--why can't you even say it?"
Xavier was silent for a moment and said slowly, "I can only draw one conclusion. No matter what is hidden in that tower, there is a very powerful force preventing others from getting close. It doesn't even allow you to tell that information yourself."
"So, I thought I was talking, but actually I was just gibbering."
"That's right."
Peter looked down at his hands. He originally wanted to ask more questions, but a thought suddenly flashed through his mind - he tried to speak, "You need to pay attention, God -" the following syllables immediately turned into a series of hoarse strange sounds.
"Fuck!" he cursed.
Xavier looked at him in surprise. "What did you want to say just now?"
"I want to remind you, God..." failed again. Peter rubbed his temples. "Damn, I can't even say this word? Why am I so useless."
"Peter, you are not useless at all." Xavier's voice was gentle but firm, "Maybe I can't give you the answer you want, but the answer must be in your own heart. Maybe this weekend, you can temporarily put aside Spider-Man's responsibilities and Peter·Parker's expectations, and think about who you really want to be."
Peter was silent for a while, then stood up. "... Okay, thank you, professor."
He walked out of the study and closed the door gently. One clue was broken, but at least he could stay here for two days.
Peter wandered along the corridor, looking for someone to take him to the guest room. He turned on his paranormal hearing and searched around, but did not hear a heartbeat. Instead, he caught a dull roar coming from downstairs. He followed the sound and found a hidden elevator entrance - the mechanism was hidden behind a suit of armor.
The elevator goes down, and when the door opens, it is a metal corridor full of technology. The sound comes from a door on the left. Peter presses the control button, and the door slides open, revealing the full view of Danger Room.
The wide field was filled with high-speed lasers, machine guns and moving mechanical obstacles. Several teenagers were shuttled inside. Kitty almost easily passed through various deadly traps and ran very fast; Kurt and Rogue were chasing, but it was obviously difficult. At the end of the field, Qin and Scott stood next to the finish line.
"Kitty is first again!" Rogue jumped over a railing, got under the laser, and took second place.
Kurt Third. He, a guy who can teleport, actually runs the slowest, probably because all the markers must be triggered in order.
"Kurt, you successfully encountered all fifteen marks, which is very impressive." Scott commented, "Rogue, you still need to practice gymnastics. Kitty seems to have designed a new course specifically for you."
"It's useless to design any course! She will just walk through it!" Kurt wailed.
Kitty snorted proudly, "This is really unconvincing coming from the mouth of a person who can teleport."
"No matter how much I teleport, there is a distance limit! Can't you have an upper limit like me?"
Scott and Qin looked at each other and were about to speak when a voice came from the door, "Maybe I can help."
Peter put the duffel bag at the door, walked into Danger Room, looked around, and said, "It's really nice. If I had a room like this... forget it, I would probably change it into a private entertainment room."
Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. "How did you get in?"
"I'm pretty good at finding directions." Peter shrugged, "What's the name of this place? Gym No. 1?"
"This is Danger Room." Qin greeted him with a smile, "Peter, do you want to try a trip?"
"How will you know if you don't try it." Peter glanced at the track and said, "It shouldn't be that difficult."
"Hmph, that's not a bad tone." Rogue sneered, "Do you know what superpower training is?"
"Just reminds me that I also have super powers." Peter grinned and paused, "I'm very handsome."
Everyone rolled their eyes at the same time. Kurt laughed so hard that she couldn't stand up straight, "Sister Qin, where did you pick this person up?"
"Let's do this," Rogue crossed his hands across his chest, "If you can pass this track, I will wear a pink tutu for the next week."
"Seriously?" Peter raised his eyebrows.
"Of course, sweetheart, I always keep my word."
"Then don't regret it." Peter took off his coat and threw it aside, waving to Qin, "Qin, help me start a new track."
Scott frowned. "Qin..."
"Don't worry, it's okay." Qin smiled and walked to the console to enter the command. The whole room was reset with a rumble, the mechanisms were reset, and the track was reset. "You can start when you are ready."
Peter moved his wrists and ankles, looked at the first obstacle, took a deep breath, and rushed out.
"He rushed out." Rogue curled his lips, but before he finished speaking, a roadblock rose from the ground in front of Peter's feet.
"It's not over yet, ballet kid!" Peter shouted, leaping over the barricade, bouncing off the wall, and rolling past the hidden laser beam. He bent down to avoid a high-speed rotating chainsaw, jumped over the second barricade, and rolled to the other side before the giant hammer fell.
Kitty exclaimed.
"The fun has just begun!" Peter shouted loudly and jumped over a row of mechanical clamping arms. After landing, he was about to continue running when a steel pillar suddenly popped out of the wall and hit him in the head.
Spider-Sense exploded almost at the same time. He lowered his head sharply, and the steel pillar passed by his hair. He rolled forward, crossed the last metal obstacle, and landed firmly on the finish line. There was only a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. "How long did it take me?"
Qin glanced at the timer. "Six minutes and thirty seconds... one minute faster than Rogue."
"I don't want to wear a tutu!" Rogue exploded.
"You clearly said that!" Kurt immediately broke the news.
Rogue glared at him fiercely, turned around and left. Kitty chased after him with a cry.
Peter put on his coat and walked to Qin: "Tell me... about her?"
Qin smiled bitterly, "Her abilities are very different."
"What's the difference?"
"She can't touch anyone," Kurt said, "Whoever she touches will die."