Jennifer Walters woke up to nothing but white.
"What the hell?!" She sat up with a start, on a surface that was most certainly not her bed, in a white room that was not her apartment where she had gone to sleep. Looking down, she found that she wasn't even in her sleepwear anymore, instead finding herself in her She-Hulk costume. That's when she noticed she wasn't alone in the room.
To her left she could see a short, thin man with neatly combed hair and a pencil-thin moustache, dressed in a business suit, and judging by his terrified look, he was just as out of place here as she was. And for some reason, he seemed vaguely familiar. To her right...
It couldn't be.
"Steve?!"
There was no mistaking Steve Rogers for anyone else, still dressed in his Captain America uniform with the hood pulled back, showing off his familiar blonde hair. He looked awfully healthy for a dead man.
"Jen? Is that you?" He sounded just as confused as she felt. Scrabbling to her feet, she rushed over and threw her arms around him.
"Yes! Steve, how?! How are you here! You were... you were dead!"
Reluctantly pulling back, she looked him up and down, still not believing her eyes. He certainly felt alive, his skin was warm, she could even feel his heartbeat. Did Johan do this? Why wouldn't he have told her about it? And... that still wouldn't explain where she was.
Steve blinked, looking around. "I'm not. Dead, I mean. I don't think I ever actually died."
"Steve...what are you talking about? We saw you die, we all did! There was a huge funeral-"
He shook his head "I remember the court steps, I remember the shot, but then it's like I was...somewhere else. I think I'm still there now, somehow. I can't really explain it."
"Okay, but even if you're right, why are you here now? And for that matter, where IS here?"
"That's what I'd very much like to know as well!" A british-accented voice interupted them, drawing their attention to the well-dressed man who had finally regained enough of his senses to question their situation and began walking over to them. "Last thing I remember I was asleep in my own home, and all of a sudden I wake up here with... I'm sorry for stating the obvious, but I'm guessing you're She-Hulk?" He gave Steve a distrustful look "And last I heard, YOU were dead."
Steve gave an apologetic smile "I'm afraid I can't give you any clearer information myself, mr..?"
"Sir Jim Jaspers, of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's government" The man said in a haughty voice, correcting his tie as he spoke. "And I warn you, if this is some sort of kidnapping situation, I'll-"
Jen rolled her eyes "Calm down, Mr Bean, we're just as much in the dark here as you are."
"I say-"
"Sir Jaspers, please!" Steve, ever the mediator, stepped in "We really don't know any more than you do, so starting a fight amongst ourselves really isnt in any of our best interest. What's the last either of you remember?"
Jaspers harrumphed but kept talking "As I said, I was asleep at home, I have no memory of anything else."
Jen nodded "Same here, just bed then creepy Twilight Zone white room."
Steve nodded and began walking around the room, feeling along the walls for any sign of a door or a hatch, but the walls remained completely featureless. "If this IS a kidnapping, I find it hard to understand the goal. If it was just me and Jen, or just Sir Jaspers, but all three of us?"
"Not to mention they had to snatch you up from wherever you're being "dead but also not-dead", which I really feel like we should discuss further" Jen added.
Steve finished his futile inspection of the room, and turned back towards the others "Sir Jaspers, do you have ANY idea what could be going on? Anything at all?"
Jaspers scoffed "Hardly, captain. This sort of nonsense is superhero rubbish, I'm just a politican. If any of my enemies decided to kidnap me, they wouldn't limit themselves to throwing me in a featureless cell, I can tell you that much. Murder, maybe torture or hold me for ransom, but not just this... whatever this is."
Jen was starting to feel very uneasy "Then why are we here at all? It doesn't make any sense!"
"Dreams seldom do, She-Hulk." A gravelly voice said, seemingly out of nowhere. Before any of them could react, a hole seemed to open up in the ceiling and through the portal came one of the most bizarre creatures Jen had seen, even in her rather varied career. The creature was dressed in a long purple cloak and hood, leaving only it's face uncovered, which was pale yellow and looked almost featureless, with the exception of it's mouth and a pair of glowing red eyes. Jaspers gasped in shock and nearly tripped over his own feet backing away as the creature landed in front of them.
Jen gritted her teeth and prepared to fight "Alright mister, I don't know what's going on here, but if you have something to do with getting us locked in here I suggest you hurry up and get us out or-" she was cut off as Steve raised his hand.
"Hold on, Jen. I recognize him. You're Sleepwalker, aren't you?"
The creature bowed slightly "That's the name I was given by my host on Earth, yes. I'm sorry for alarming you, I am part of a race that exists to protect the Mindscape, the collective subconscious of all living beings, and that's where you're currently being imprisoned. I'm here to help you escape."
Jen looked at him suspiciously "What are you saying, exactly? How did we end up in this Mindscape?"
"None of you are here in a physical sense, but your minds have been drawn into the Mindscape while you slept. Or, in Captain Rogers case, while his spirit was lost somewhere else."
"I'm sorry, are you trying to tell us we're just dreaming?!" Jen said in disbelief.
Sleepwalker looked at her blankly "Essentially, yes."
"It's a dream, of course! It's all a dream, I'll wake up in my own bed any time now! Away from this loonacy! With no monsters or heroes or...Hulks!" Jaspers babbled to himself. Jen ignored him.
"That can't be all that's going on, this kind of thing would happen constantly if it was that easy to just randomly get pulled into the Mindscape and share dreams with other people!"
Sleepwalker nodded "You are correct, She-Hulk, but I'm afraid all three of you share an unusual circumstance, which is being taken advantage of by very dangerous forces. You are all part of someone elses dream. Someone very powerful."
Jen froze "You don't mean... Johan? I mean, Ginnungagap?"
Jaspers head snapped up at the name "Ginnungagap?! That bloody mutant that's been on the news for weeks?!"
Steve just looked confused "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I'm not familiar..."
Jen shook her head "You've been gone a long time, Steve. A lot of things have been happening back home, but one of the biggest things is a new mutant named Ginnungagap, a VERY powerful mutant, showed up a while back. He's a reality warper, he can change things just by wanting to, but he's done a lot of good-"
"Yes, destabilized the whole international political scene and recreated a danger to national security, the man is a virtual Mother Theresa!" Jaspers muttered bitterly, but Jen just shot him an annoyed glare.
"Long story short is, we've been working together to undo the damage Stark caused, he asked me for help because he didn't just want to use his powers to force everyone to do what he wanted them to, he wanted to expose all the corruption Stark engaged in to get his way."
Steve nodded slowly "Alright, I suppose that would explain why he's dreaming of you... but why me? I haven't even heard of him before!"
"Or me!" Jaspers cut in "I've certainly never met the man, nor do I have any desire to do so. Why on Earth would he be dreaming about me? And for that matter, why would that be enough to get us pulled here no matter how powerful he is?"
"The sleeping mind cycles through countless images and ideas through it's slumber. A force, a very evil force, managed to connect to the mutants mind at just the right moment, when he dreamed of the mind the force wanted to kidnap, and manipulated him into pulling you in here. As for WHY-"
"Oh, do let me explain this one, it's my favorite part!" Another british voice, but with an unsettling giddiness to it, like a sadistic child, said. The group turned towards the sudden newcomer in the room. The man was dressed in a horrendously gaudy suit, a yellow-and-black checkered jacket and pants, combined with a polka-dotted vest and a red hat. On anyone else, it would just have looked comical, but somehow, combined with the deranged grin on the mans face, it just came off as incredibly disturbing.
"W-who are you?" Sir Jim Jaspers said, as he stared at the twisted reflection in front of him.
"Why, my dear fellow" Mad Jim Jaspers said with a toothy grin "I'm you!"