[Kamar Taj]

  The A One had been expeg me for further training, especially after my... "i" with the Mirror Dimension st time. Although I ope before, it was unstable.

  "You're te," the A One's voice echoed from behind me.

  I turned, only to fianding calmly on the edge of a cliff overlooking the mountains surrounding Kamar Taj. Her usual serene smile was in pce, but I could tell she wasn't impressed by my tardiness.

  "Yeah, I know. Sot... caught up with something," I said, scratg the bay neo way I was telling her what exactly I'd been up to with Michelle.

  Her smile deepened as if she knew anyway. "Time is a fluid cept here. What matters is how you use it."

  She stepped forward, motioning for me to follow her. We walked in silence for a few moments until we reached a training chamber—one I hadn't been in before. The A One didn't give me much to go on with her cryptic phrases, but that art of her charm. Or annoyance, depending on the day. Today, I felt the tter. My mind was still reeling from the intense session with Michelle. Spider-enhanced or not, she knew how to leave an impression.

  The chamber we entered was vast and open, almost like a void in space. The walls shimmered slightly. The energy in the room was suffog, almost as if reality itself was bending uhe pressure. I had experiehis sensation before but not on this scale.

  "Today, we are fog on the Mirror Dimension ohe A One began, her voice calm yet anding. "You've accessed it, Peter, but you've barely scratched the surface. There's much more to learn if you hope to trol it properly."

  The A One swiped her right arm in the air, and instantly, the air around us seemed to ripple. Slowly, the chamber began to transform, walls expanding and curving inwards. The floor beh me shifted, swirling like a whirlpool. It was like being in a dream—where nothing made se felt entirely natural.

  "You must learn to bend the Mirror Dimension to your will. It is a refle of the real world, but it obeys different rules," she expined, her eyes glowing faintly with power.

  I watched as the room tio shift, the ws of physics being mere suggestions. It's always exg to see this pce. The A Oepped onto what looked like a vertical wall and walked as if it were a ft pne. Everything was kinda shiny around the pce just like I remembered from my st time here. Meanwhile, I struggled just to keep my feet from sliding on the floor. With my spider power, I should be able to stick to the surface, but for some reason, it was difficult to do so.

  "Follow me," She began to walk forward.

  As soon as I took a step, the ground under me vanished. I was falling—or at least I thought I was. There was ion of wind rushing past me, no stomach-ing drop. It's a weird feeling. Like you are falling, yet you aren't. I was falling or floating, I don't know. Everything around me was while ay... Way too empty... Am I breathing?! Feels so sleepy...

  Fuck! What was that just now?! I shook my head.

  "Focus," her voice echoed arouhough I couldn't see her anymore. "The Mirror Dimension responds to i. You must believe you are in trol. Only then will the enviro yield to you."

  Yeah, easier said than done. Something just tried to do something funny with my head.

  Ok. Clear unnecessary thought. Closing my eyes, I tried to steady my breathing. Focus is my forte. Although this isn't a great pce to focus and the fact that I 't feel anything... Still, gotta do it. This was all just an illusiht? A refle of reality. If I wao stop falling, I just had to will it. I pictured myself standing on solid ground, my feet pnted firmly, the world arouill and calm.

  Slowly, the sensation of falling began to ease.

  I opened my eyes and found myself standing on a ptform in the middle of the swirling, distorted space. The chamber was still shifting, slowly stabilizing around me. And it took the shape of that room we entered, but much bigger.

  "Good," the A One said with a nod as she reappeared beside me. "You're starting to uand. The Mirror Dimension is a refle of your mind. If your thoughts are chaotic, so too will the world around you be."

  I nodded, feeling a bit more fident than before. This was different from the physical battles I was used to. It was more cerebral, more about trolling my own mind than trolling my body. I ha.

  Hmnn... Now that I think of it, back then it was really reckless of me to ehe mirror dimension.

  "Now," the A One tinued, "we will move to the phase."

  With a flick of her wrist, the world around us ged again. The serene, floating ptform I had been standing on shattered into a thousand pieces, and I found myself standing in what looked like a twisted, upside-down version of New York City. Skyscrapers jutted out at impossible angles, some hanging from the sky like stactites, while others rose from the ground only to bend in on themselves.

  It was dizzying, disorienting, and utterly bizarre.

  "Your task is simple," she said, her voice calm as ever. "Find a way out."

  I bli her. "That's it? Just... find a way out?"

  She smiled. "That's it. But remember, the Mirror Dimension is not bound by the same rules as the real world. What works in one pce may not work here. Think outside the box."

  With that, she vanished, leaving me alone in this twisted version of the city.

  Great. Just great.

  I took a deep breath and looked around. The city was both familiar and alien at the same time. The streets were empty, but I could hear distant echoes—like the city itself was alive and watg me. There was no clear path forward. Everything was a maze of distorted buildings and ed streets.

  "Okay, Peter, think," I muttered to myself. "How do you get out of a pce that doesn't follow the rules?"

  I took a careful step forward, testing the grouh me. It held firm, but I khat could ge at any moment. I o think of this pce like a puzzle, ohat respoo my thoughts and as.

  "trol your fear, trol the dimension," I repeated to myself, recalling the line from one of the books I once read. Easier said than done, but I had to try. I trolled it once before, I just gotta get back that feeling.

  I extended my arm forward and imagined a bridge f from one side of the street to the other. Sure enough, the air rippled as a shimmering bridge appeared, stretg out over the gap. It was like magic. I stepped onto the bridge and took another cautious step. It held steady, despite being suspended in mid-air. I 't believe it. I'm really doing this.

  With a grin, I started to run across the bridge. As I moved, the world shifted arouhe buildings twisted and turned, f new pathways and shortcuts. It was like a living byrinth, always ging to match my desires. I was just thinking and it was taking shape right before my eyes almost instantly.

  I felt like I could do this forever. But I wasn't here to py around. I had a task to plete.

  I stopped and tried to open a portal out of the pce. But... it didn't work. No portal opened up. I feel my magic, but it isn't w the normal way. So, how about trying something abnormal?

  "Focus, Parker... You are the one in trol," Closing my eyes once more, I pictured the city arouurning to normal. I focused on the feeling of standing on solid ground, on the sound of cars honking in the distance, and on the smell of hot dogs from a nearby vendor. I extended my harm forward and did the reverse of what I usually do while opening a portal. Slowly, I began to feel the world around me shift.

  When I opened my eyes again, the city had returo something resembling normalcy. The buildings were upright, the streets were straight, and the sky was a normal shade of blue. I was standing on the rooftop of a building with a giant clock. The space around me rippled for a moment like shards of broken mirrors but soon stabilized.

  "Well dohe A One's voice echoed behind me.

  I turo see her standing there, her serene smile in pce.

  "That was faster than Stephen's first time. You're catg up quickly," she said with a nod.

  I smiled at the praise. "Thanks. But I still have a long way to go."

  She nodded. "Indeed, but you have already e a long way."

  This was just the start, but I knew I was on the right path. With more training, I could master the Mirror Dimension—and who knew what else I could achieve?

  For now, though, I had a lot more work to do.

  ---

  [3rd Person POV]

  [Meanwhile] [Manhattan] [Alley]

  A bck SUV blocked the alleyway.

  "Let her go," Emma Frost said, her voice cold as ice. "And I might just make it a little less painful."

  "Why? 't you get into my head and trol my as?" The man holding Chat at gunpoint sneered. He was wearing a helmet, desigo block psychic attacks.

  "Or maybe try to use your telekinesis." A familiar voice came to Emma's ears as the door of the SUV opened.

  "Shaw! Figures," Emma replied, rolling her eyes.

  "How are you feeling, Emma?" Shaw asked in an amused tone.

  Emma narrowed her eyes at him, then turned back to the man holding her daughter hostage.

  "She has nothing to do with it. Let her go," She repeated herself.

  Shaw gave a nod to the man holding Chat. He let her go. Chat quickly ran to Emma and hid behind her.

  "What do you want?" Emma asked, cutting to the chase.

  "You," Shaw said, pointing at Emma. "I want you. You see, I don't want you to suffer. So, thought I'll give you an offer."

  A wisp of wind passed by Shaw as he froze in his steps. He felt an arm around his ned heard an unfamiliar voice. "You 't be serious. Are you seriously sant that you think you take her from me?"

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