Chapter 2: The Mindscape Reveals All
Brent felt a familiar feeling. It felt like a tingling in his mind. He knew this feeling very well since he has experienced it so often. Madame Web has begun to probe his mind. He began to think of all the times when his mind had been invaded. Usually it felt like someone had driven a hot poker through his head or just rather uncomfortable. He guessed this was usually because his powers did everything they could to try and prevent the invasion. Brent closed his eyes as his perception of things around him changed. He is no longer in the blank room with Elias and Madame Web. He opens his eyes and sees a meadow. There appears to be a massive hurricane with whipping winds, torrential rainfall, thunder and lightning. Brent looked up at the sky and saw massive tears and different images. Some of the images looked familiar and others looked entirely foreign.
"So this is your mind?" Madame Web asked. "It's rather miserable."
"Well, it usually does not look like this." Brent replied. "It is usually a lot more peaceful."
"Well this is your mind, why did you make it look this way?" Madame Web asked.
"You are the one with telepathy; you decide how it looks." Brent said.
"That may be true, but I am only projecting what you envision your mind to be." Madame Web replied. "So I ask again, why this scene?"
"Well, being tied to the Earth and the Elements so strongly, weather influences my symbolism to a certain degree." Brent began. "This bond I have is emotional and I guess my emotions are reflected through that type of weather. Since I am confused, ashamed, guilty, disappointed, angry and just plain overwhelmed, my mind is reflecting all of them via this hurricane. It's chaotic and destructive with no real rhyme or reason."
"It's interesting that you have such a vivid interpretation of your mind." Madame Web said. "Now why are you feeling this way?"
"I messed up." Brent said simply. "I messed up being a leader, being a good teammate, protecting my team, being a good person, controlling my powers, you name it and I have messed it up."
"At least you are able to admit that much." Madame Web said. "Now the first thing we need to do is clear your mind of everything that does not belong."
"What do you mean?" Brent asked.
"As I sift through your mind, there are memories on top of memories which I assume are indicated by the rips in the sky." Madame Web said pointing.
"Yea, when I was having problems with Josh, Professor Xavier manipulated my memories in order for us to get along." Brent explained. "However, I began to remember some of the memories he locked away. I guess I thought they were just memories that belonged and my mind integrated them."
"It appears that when you started to remember more, your mind partitioned all of your memories which created these rips in your mindscape." Madame Web said as a huge screen appeared before them.
"What is this?" Brent asked.
"This is the entry way to your memories." Madame Web said. "We must sort out this part before we do anything else. After you..."
"Well here goes…" Brent said as he walked through the screen.
Brent felt himself being pulled deeper and deeper into a vortex. Images flooded passed him as he fell deeper into his mind. He kept seeing images of him and Josh hanging out, joking around, and being friends. Then there were images of Brent being malicious and vindictive towards Josh.
"There appears to be a central focus around this one individual." Madame Web said as an image of Joshua appeared.
"Yea that is Joshua Essex, my half-uncle." Brent said.
"Half-Uncle?" Madame Web asked.
"Yea, he is the son of Madelyne Pryor and Mr. Sinister." Brent explained. "It's weird that we're related and I don't think he has any idea."
"Well this person seems to be a part of the central problem, so what seems to be the issue?" Madame Web inquired.
"Well before I found out that we were related, he and I were best friends at the institute." Brent began. "Living in Kenya most of my life, I had never really had friends my own age. I mean, we had Grey family reunions and things like that, but they were every so often. So when I got to the institute and Josh accepted me into his group of friends, I finally felt like I belonged."
"That doesn't sound too awful." Madame Web said as images of Joshua began to disappear.
"It wasn't really; Joshua was just different than what my parents taught me and what Xavier stressed on us. He believed that we should use our powers for our own benefit and exploit our abilities as much as we wanted." Brent said. "It was little things at first; reading other people's minds without permission, mind controlling people for our own benefit. It was wrong and I knew it."
"But…" Madame Web pressed.
"But… it was fun." Brent finally said. "I enjoyed doing that, using my powers freely and without constraint. I had a great time hanging out with their group and doing whatever I wanted."
"I am assuming that this idea changed." Madame Web said.
"It did when the riot happened." Brent began as the scenery changed. "Josh finally thought that we should expand our message… his dream as he called it."
Suddenly Brent and Madame Web are looking over a younger Brent and Joshua talking in a hallway. The hall appears to be dark as the boys whisper.
"Brent, it is finally time to act!" Josh said excitedly.
"What are you suggesting?" Brent asked.
"We take down the X-men and Xavier." Joshua said.
"What? Are you mad?" Brent asked loudly.
"Shush… Look, we're just going to host a riot to show that this little reservation they have us on isn't as safe as they would like to think." Joshua said. "They need to know that we need to be proactive."
"Josh this is insane." Brent said. "Look I don't think you've thought about this clearly."
"Brent this is the first time that I've been thinking clearly in a long time." Josh said. "You don't think that they aren't in our minds dictating what we should do with our powers and how we should act."
"No, the professors wouldn't allow that to happen." Brent said.
"Brent, think about it, Xavier is the world's most powerful telepath." Josh said. "He can do whatever he wants. If the staff doesn't agree with him, then he just makes them. We have to fight this injustice."
"But what about everybody else that's here? Someone could get hurt." Brent said.
"We'll make sure no one gets hurt, but I can't make any promises." Josh said. "Remember no matter what side, we are fighting a war."
"I can't… this is really wrong." Brent said.
"Brent, you're a bright and powerful kid." Josh said. "We need your help to get this done."
"I can't and I don't think you should do this." Brent said.
"If you are not with us, than you are against us." Josh said.
"Josh, I will tell everyone to make sure this does not happen." Brent said as his eyes began to glow red.
"No" Joshua said as his eyes glowed as well
The scene begins to fade out as Madame Web looked over to Brent.
"So what did he do to you?" Madame Web asked.
"He used his mental amnesia to make me forget everything about the riot." Brent said. "Then he used his mind control to have me fight the professors that were chasing him during the riot. Something went wrong and I experienced everything that terrified my professors and my mother. That was the worst day of my life, which was where the anger began."
"So why are you angry, violent even?" Madame Web asked.
"Because he violated my mind!" Brent yelled incredulously. "He took advantage of something that I hold very sacred."
"Well didn't you do the same? To all those thoughts you read and minds you controlled." Madame Web said. "Why was this any different? What is the real reason you were violently angry at Joshua?"
"I… I felt powerless…" Brent said. "He made me feel like I was a weak, powerless child. I wanted him to feel that way. I wanted him to feel as weak and helpless as I felt. I knew his powers and I knew how they worked. I wanted to attack that same person that started the riot, that same manipulative person."
"But…" Madame said.
"He wasn't the same when he came back." Brent said. "He was different, more mature and ready to accept responsibility for what he did. I hated him for it; I hated the fact that I could not get my revenge. So I pushed him and tried to bring back the old Josh, but it didn't happen until I thought he was responsible for the death of Luke Moonstar. That was all the fuel I needed."
Suddenly, all of the false images of Joshua disappeared from his mind all together and the meadow became less turbulent. The rain began to fall more steadily, less torrential. Flashes of lightning became less frequent while thunder gently rumbled. The wind was still gale force but not as much as before.
"You have finally come to accept the true motivations of why you were enemies with Joshua." Madame Web said. "The mind is a very complex thing and becomes increasingly more complex when powers come into play, especially Psionics. Unresolved issues tend to build up and can literally take over when you repress things."
"It does feel good to finally admit my true motivations, but that makes me a terrible person." Brent said.
"The feelings of vengeance and revenge are never good, but it is good to tell people of these feeling so they can help you work through them." Madame Web said. "Now the weather may have gotten better back there, but there is still much we have to work through. Now these two girls seem to be coming up a lot."
Suddenly in front of Brent and Madame Web appeared two people. On the right was a girl with short black hair, wearing a scarlet costume. On the left was a girl with longer brownish black hair wearing a black X-men suit. Both girls were the same height and looked very familiar to Brent. His face looked shocked as the two girls came into full view.
"Jen… Maria…" Brent said as he looked from left to right.
"From your voice I would say that these girls meant a lot to you." Madame Web said.
"I loved both of them and I messed up with both of them." Brent said. "I killed Maria, it was the first time I had ever taken another life."
The image of Maria walked over to Brent. She grabbed his hand and held it in hers.
"Brent, was it really so wrong of you to kill me?" Maria asked.
"Yes, I murdered you." Brent said with his eyes misting. "I took away any chance that you had to be rehabilitated; any chance of you living out your life."
"Don't you see, my life ended when I went too far with my revenge." Maria said. "I wanted to make everyone pay for my problems; the X-men, Joshua, the Avengers, everyone."
"We could've helped you." Brent said resting his head on her shoulder. "I could've thought of something that would've helped… something other than killing you."
"There was nothing you could've done." Maria said. "I was already too far gone in my own quest for power. I was ready to kill you both in that throne room. Part of me was merely toying with you while the other part of me wanted you to stop me while I stalled myself from killing you. I hoped that you would stop me."
"Maria… I…" Brent said.
"Shhh, shhh, don't apologize to me Brent." Maria said. "It is not your fault. You did what you thought was right. It's better that you killed to stop me than let me kill Joshua."
"Are you sure I did the right thing?" Brent asked.
"Brent, look at me." Maria said as Brent lifted his head up. "If you were out of control and were going to kill someone you love and care for, would you have wanted me to kill you to stop you if there was no other way?"
"…yes, I would hope that you would do that." Brent said after a while.
"I am glad." Maria said.
"I still feel guilty." Brent said.
"It will get better… it will get better." Maria said as she started to fade.
"Maria, wait… Maria!" Brent yelled.
"Goodbye Brent" Maria said as she disappeared.
Madame Web came over to Brent and placed a hand on his shoulder. He jerked it away and looked at Madame with fury blazing in his eyes.
"What the hell kind of tricks are you playing?" Brent yelled.
"What do you mean?" Madame Web asked.
"Maria is dead; there is no way I could've communicated with her just now unless you used your telepathy to make this all up!" Brent yelled.
"My dear boy, I am not going to lie to you." Madame began calmly. "I used my telepathy, however not in the way that you think. There was a fragment of Maria's mind in yours; hidden. As you began to slip deeper into chaos, you completely missed it. I assume it was from when you went into her mind to return the world back to the way it was."
"That was why I kept seeing her face." Brent said with realization. "I am sorry Madame Web."
"It's quite alright; this is a rather traumatic time right now." Madame Web said as Jen walked forward. "This is another person with whom you have problems."
"Jennifer…" Brent said as she faded away.
"There seem to be memories which are the same with the only exception being that they are different points of view." Madame Web said.
"Yea" Brent said guiltily. "That is my fault; yet another one of my failures."
"What happened?" Madame Web asked.
"I loved Jen; in fact I still love Jen." Brent began. "I have probably hurt her more than anyone else could have. I never let her in, never exposed my emotions to her. I did not want her to get hurt."
"And yet again, here we are Brent." Madame Web said. "Haven't you learned that not everything you do is as selfless as you might think."
"Fine, I was scared!" Brent said. "I was scared of her leaving me, I was scared of her hurting me, and I was scared of losing control of my powers because of exposing my emotions… I was just plain scared."
"That's the key; fear was your motivation to repress yourself around Jennifer." Madame Web said. "You were not worried about her well being, you were worried about your own insecurities."
"Yes I get it; I am an awful person and treated her terribly." Brent said. "Is that what you want to hear?"
"No, I want to hear that you are human and a teenager." Madame retorted. "What teenager isn't insecure about them self in some way, shape, or form? That is what causes mistakes to happen."
"But I took her memories of me." Brent said. "I completely wiped my existence from her mind."
"Why did you do that?" Madame Webb asked.
"She was going to stop me from taking my revenge out on Joshua." Brent said. "I needed her out of the way."
"So then why not telepathically influence her or something of that sort?" Madame Web asked.
"To some degree, I did not want to take away her free will. I wanted her to live her life without me because all I do is hurt her and I want her to finally be happy." Brent said.
"I think that was the only time that you have been sincere and honest." Madame Web said. "But did you really give her free will? You took away her choice when you took away yourself as an option."
"She doesn't need me as an option." Brent said.
"Isn't that her decision to make?" Madame Web asked as all of Jen's memories went into a small box that appeared in front of her. "I am collecting all of the memories you took from her in this box. I am sure after this journey you will know what to do."
The box began to fill up with images and memories until there were none left. The box closed and suddenly disappeared. The meadow reappeared with the sky being overcast with gray clouds. The rain had stopped and the winds are flowing gently. There are no longer rips in the sky. Overall the weather has started to look like the beginnings of a miserable day.
"Well we've gotten through many of the issues that you've had with people, but one more still remains." Madame Web said as the scenery changed to the inside of a laboratory. "So what have we here?"
"This is… it can't be…" Brent said.
"What?" Madame Web asked.
"This is probably the biggest mistake I have ever made." Brent said as he looked at Charles floating in a tube.
"I humiliated him; I used my telepathy to trick him into thinking that Amy wanted to go to the dance with him." Brent began. "And then to cover for my actions, I telepathically showed him his worst fear at that moment. He ran out and I didn't care. That's when he was captured. That is when he was turned into this."
"Why did you humiliate him?" Madame Web asked.
"I don't know." Brent replied.
"Brent, don't regress now." Madame Web said. "I know why you did that, because I can read your mind."
"Then why does it need to be said." Brent said.
"You know why it needs to be said." Madame Web said. "It has been the whole point of this."
"I wanted to take him down a peg." Brent said. "He gets so arrogant because Logan is his father and he has a healing factor. I wanted to show him that he is not as untouchable as he thinks."
"You wanted to prove something?" Madame Web asked.
"I wanted to just show him that there are some wounds you just can't heal from." Brent said. "I wanted to assert my power and just really test the extent of my abilities. He has resistance because we are related and I just wanted to test how far that went."
"And then this happened?" Madam Web asked.
"Yea and I didn't make any attempt to figure this out until I was forced to read his mind." Brent said. "It's my fault that he got captured. If none of that happened…"
"Brent, we can spend our entire lives thinking about what could've happened." Madame Web said. "If he had not been captured there, he would've been captured at some other point. There is something I will reveal to you, this "mistake" is one that will not last as long as the others."
"What?" Brent said confused.
"In time you will see." Madame Web said.
The landscape of the meadow returned. The sky looked fully repaired as the clouds began to break and sunlight peered down at them. The wind has calmed to a gentle breeze. Everything looks just about the way that it used to.
"We've gone through a lot since we have been in here and you faced a lot of your own personal demons." Madame Web began. "There is only one left, one that has nothing to do with anyone else…"
A man appeared before Brent. His shape started to phase in slowly but Brent knew right off the bat who it was.
"Classic psychology, facing yourself after everything else." Brent said as an image of himself appeared.
"Yes and No." Madame Web said.
This "Brent" walked over to Brent. He was dressed in the uniform that Scott and Emma made for him.
"I'm Psychic Storm." Psychic Storm said as he held out his hand.
"What game are you playing?" Brent asked.
"It's your mind and this is a mental image of Psychic Storm." Madame Web said. "Interact with it."
"Okay, I'm Brent." Brent said as he shook hands with Psychic Storm. "Who are you?"
"I am master of the elements and psionics." Psychic Storm said. "I am field leader of the Young X-men team and I fight against any and all evil."
"What defines you?" Brent asked.
"Well, my powerful control over the elements, my powerful Psionic abilities, my strong moral judgment, and my leadership skills." Psychic Storm replied.
"How do you know if someone is evil?" Brent asked.
"It's simple, they aren't good." Psychic Storm said simply. "They commit atrocities and fight against those that are trying to do good."
"But what if they were once evil and have reformed?" Brent inquires.
"There is no such thing as reform for evil." Psychic Storm replied. "If they have "reformed", they are probably doing it to get something out of it and will betray you the first chance they get."
"But what if they are good and turn over to evil?" Brent asked.
"Then I fight tooth and nail to bring them back." Psychic Storm answered.
"Why is there a standard?" Brent asked.
"There is no standard, good has just fallen off the path and evil can never escape its path." Psychic Storm said.
"So where does being a teenager come into play?" Brent asked.
"What do you mean?" Psychic Storm looked at Brent confused.
"You know, hanging out, having fun, dating… Where does this all come in?" Brent asked.
"It doesn't, there is no time for leisure when there are threats out there." Psychic Storm said. "All these relationships you have inhibit your ability to think clearly and make you vulnerable."
"So what about even having emotions?" Brent asked.
"They must be disciplined like the mind in order to be put to their greatest use." Psychic Storm said. "Now I have a question for you."
"Go ahead." Brent said.
"Who do you want to be?" Psychic Storm asked.
"I don't know…" Brent replied. "I can agree with some of the things that you are saying but other things sound very narrow minded and self-righteous."
"Well I am an extension of you." Psychic Storm said. "So you don't know who you want to be, who are you now?"
"Confused" Brent answered truthfully. "What I do know is that I am no longer Psychic Storm."
"Then you better figure it out." Psychic Storm said as he began to fade away. "Just remember, you are a team leader first. Nothing comes before the team including you."
As he faded away into the reaches of Brent's mind the sky cleared completely. All of a sudden, a citadel appeared emanating Psionic energy.
"I can't believe that was me." Brent said. "Or maybe still is me."
"Brent, you have the power to discover your own path." Madame Web said as she walked over to the citadel. "Now this is interesting, what is it?"
"It is an area of my mind that stores Psionic energy." Brent said. "When I perform some pretty amazing feats, I am able to draw off of that."
"Incredible, it looks as if it were completely unaffected by Elias' spell." Madame Web said. "And every time I try to penetrate it, I feel as if it is a black hole trying to suck me in, never allowing me to escape."
"Yea, my dad tried to investigate it, but he felt the same thing so he just left it alone." Brent said.
"Do you feel better?" Madame Web asked.
"I feel more at peace with myself." Brent said. "But I still have some unanswered questions that I think I need to look for on my own."
"Very well." Madam Web said.
The meadow soon disappeared as the blank room appeared. Brent opened his eyes as Elias walked back into the room.
"Is everything okay?" Elias asked.
"Yea, everything is fine." Madame Web said. "And if you could be so kind as to return me home."
"Is that it?" Elias asked.
"Yea I am back in control and the threat is gone." Brent said calmly.
"Very well" Elias said gathering energy. "Thank you Madame Web"
"Yes, thank you." Brent said.
"The pleasure was all mine, just remember Brent, it is up to you and you alone to discover who you are and define yourself." Madame Web said as she disappeared.
"So what are you going to do now?" Elias asked.
"I don't know." Brent replied. "I feel like I resolved all of my mental issues, but I feel as though my bond with the elements is not the same."
"Hmmm, I think I know someone who might be able to help." Elias said.
"Who?" Brent asked.
"Gaea" Elias replied.
"As in the Earth mother, the goddess?" Brent asked. "Isn't she just a myth?"
"Oh no, she is very much real." Elias said. "Since she is the embodiment of Earth, maybe she can resolve those issues."
"I am willing to try anything at this point." Brent said. "So where is this Gaea?"
"Avalon, another dimension." Elias said.
"How am I going to get there?" Brent asked.
"Well I have enough power to get you there and I am kind of hoping Gaea will bring you back." Elias said.
"What do you mean hoping?" Brent asked.
"Well, there is no definite… but since you are an avatar of the elements and essentially here on Earth, she should be fine with visiting." Elias said.
"Okay, thanks Elias for all of this." Brent said "I owe you a favor of anything. Whatever you need I will do my best to help you get."
"I'll hold you to that." Elias said as he gathered magical energy.
"Forces of nature, your avatar is here,
Transport him to a place which his powers hold dear.
Use his connection to the Earth from the Sun,
Take Brent now the dimension Avalon."
Green energy gathered around Brent as he soon disappeared in cloud of green smoke.
"Goodbye and good luck friend." Elias said as he closed the door to the blank room.