Chapter 49: In Susan's Mind

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In Baxter Building, inside the infirmary, Susan, aka the Invisible Woman, was laying down, her face pale, and the blood washed off her face.

Sitting next to her was Edward, and the other three members of the team were standing by the door, looking at Susan worriedly.

Edward advised the three "Are you really sure you want to stay here? Things will most likely get… messy."

The three weren't dissuaded though and remained firm, so with a small sigh Edward lowered himself to Susan's level and placed his hands on both sides of her temples.

Then, aligning his forehead with hers, he closed his eyes and entered her mind.

As he left his body, Edward felt himself arrive in a new place. He did not find himself in the usual void he would find himself in when he entered his own mind though, but rather in front of a house, the door opened.

Edward didn't hesitate to enter as he heard people shout inside, and a baby crying. With firm steps, he walked toward the noise, and arrived in a kitchen. There, he saw a middle aged couple, yelling at each other.

Meanwhile, on the side a baby was crying, and a little blond girl was trying to calm him. What was interesting here though was that Edward couldn't actually understand what the adults were saying, he knew they were arguing, but he couldn't understand about what.

His gaze zeroed in on the little girl, who was the only one who seemed capable of seeing him, and was starring at him with fear in her gaze.

Edward tried to approach, but an invisible wall appeared in the way. He hesitated for a second, before clenching his fist and punching the wall. It crumbled like paper, opening the path, but before Edward could take another step, the world around him crumbled down, and he found himself somewhere else.

They were now outside, and there were many more people here. All of them were dressed in black, and with a glance Edward recognized this as a cemetery. The people here were surrounding a coffin, upon which was the picture of the woman arguing earlier.

He also saw the man, probably her husband, crying and looking drunk, as well as the little girl, crying herself too. The priest was talking, but once again his words were incoherent and did not make any sense. Edward was sure they weren't speaking in another language either as he knew all of Earth's languages.

This time, it took the girl a few seconds to spot Edward, but the moment she did the world instantly crumbled down, taking them to yet another scene.

Now, Edward was back in a house, a much bigger one than earlier though. He saw an older lady, with young people of varying age, the youngest not even teens and the oldest in their twenties. This looked like a boarding house.

This time, Edward did not see the man, who seemed to be the father, but once again saw the little girl, who had now turned into a teen, probably around 16. He also recognized a young boy, who was the baby crying earlier and absent at the funeral, the future Human Torch.

And Edward also saw, much to his surprise, a young version of Mr Fantastic too, although he didn't seem to know Susan, the blond teen, she was looking at him with starstruck eyes.

Edward was able to get close to her this time, and as she saw him and panicked, he grabbed her shoulder before she could destroy this world and said "That's enough."

The teen struggled and tried to get out, making the world around them start to crumble, but Edward started releasing a pressure as the world suddenly stopped, and turned black and white.

Amidst the frozen world, only Edward and the teen Invisible Girl were still capable of moving. Edward looked straight into her eyes and said "Wake up, I'm not sure you want me to see your private life."

His words seemed to trigger something in the teen as the look of fear in her eyes changed to confusion.

Edward took his hand off her shoulder, and took back his Royal Will, allowing the world to go back to crumbling. However, this time, they weren't sent to another scene, but remained floating in the void, facing each other.

The teen began maturing before his very eyes, her clothes changing alongside her age as she transformed into the Invisible Girl of today.

Finally, she looked at Edward and questioned "Who are you? And where are we?"

Susan did not recognize him as Edward was standing in normal clothes in front of her, not with his armor.

He could have done so to protect his identity, but he was intruding in her privacy, and doing so masked felt wrong. Moreover, it wasn't very good for building trust.

Still, as she asked, his suit appeared over his body for a second before he turned back into his normal clothes as he responded "I am called Serenity, or Edward. And we are inside you."

Susan looked a little relieved when she saw his suit, but hearing the last part her eyes widened as she asked "Inside me? Do you mean in my mind?"

"Yes. Do you remember what happened before you fell unconscious?"

"I was in Central Park, when I was attacked, and Reed, Johnny and Ben joined me, but we were losing the fight. I fought against Super Skrull, and was losing… How are the others?"

"Don't worry, they are doing fine, they are simply worrying about you."

"Worrying about me?"

"Yes, you pushed yourself too hard and fell unconscious. That's why I'm here."

Doubt flashed on Susan's face as she said "Didn't I just fall unconscious? Won't some sleep resolve it?"

Edward smiled at her question, and asked her "Haven't you ever found your powers to be strange?"

Susan tilted her head, obviously curious about what he meant as she replied "Of course, but so are the others."

Edward shook his head at that and added "Your brother can turn into fire. The Thing has an extremely strong modified body. Mr Fantastic has an elastic body. And you can turn invisible."

"And I can create forcefields!"

Edward crossed his arms and continued "Yes, and you can create forcefields. Tell me, does creating a forcefield have anything to have with turning invisible? Do any of the others grow weak if they use their power? Do you have the same limitations over growing invisible than creating forcefields?"

Susan finally understood what Edward meant, and she too started feeling it was a little strange. After a few seconds of ponder, she guessed "I have two separate kinds of powers?"

Edward nodded at that, but this obviously troubled Susan as she doubted "Are you saying I am a mutant then?"

Edward refuted her "No, you are not. At least, neither of those powers are from a mutation."

Susan frowned "How do you know so much about me?"

Edward specified "I don't know what happened to you four to get your powers, but I know what it did to your bodies. I can sense it."

Susan clearly had many more questions, but Edward stopped her "I know I sound cryptic, but here isn't the place to answer your questions. I am here to wake you up, and it's what we are going to do. But before that, how about we take care of your problem?"

Susan interrogated him "What problem?"

Edward pointed at his head and said "When you live traumatic experiences, a trauma may be left behind. For the average person, this can create fears and hesitation. However, because of your speciality, your traumas have taken form."

A small version of himself appeared in his palm before he continued "Somewhere in your mind, a copy of your spirit has been created, and has been infused with your negative emotions. Until now, it was mostly a bad point because having a form made it stronger, but it also created a weakness, as it can be broken."

Susan asked "Won't it affect me if we break it?"

Edward replied "Of course it will affect you, but in a good way. Once we destroy it, you will not be plagued by doubt and fear as much as you used to do, and you will find life is much better than you used to think."

Susan's face wasn't looking very good though, so he explained "I know it sounds scary, but rest assured, this will not change your personality. You will still be able to feel fear, doubt and other negative emotions, you just won't be as easily influenced by them anymore."

Susan looked a little relieved, but she still asked "What if we don't touch it?"

Edward let out a teasing smile as he replied "Everytime you feel a negative emotion, your trauma will feed on it, growing stronger, and thus making it's influence greater on you, meaning you will feel negative emotions more easily. This will form a vicious circle that will only end when your trauma has either been destroyed, or takes your mind over and turn you into some kind of mindless demon."

Susan looked at him in shock, and Edward waved his hand as he reassured her "Don't worry, I'm not leaving until I've destroyed it. And it's more of a theory of mine than actual facts. But we are doing it."

Susan gulped, but she was obviously still scared of what Edward told her. To hammer the metal while it was still hot, Edward said "Normally, people heal from their traumas by themselves, even if they have taken form, but yours has advanced too much to be destroyed by your subconscious, so you need my help."

Susan was finally convinced in the end as she nodded and inquired "So, how do we find this trauma of mine?"

Edward smirked and replied "Leave that to me."

Edward once again released his Royal Will as his body began growing bigger and bigger. He was here with his spirit, and projecting his spirit inside Susan's mind was about the same as Astral Projection, which he had mastered after using it for so long.

So he was able to control his form with great accuracy, which was why he could change his clothes instantly despite not wearing the Armor of the Ancients for real. In the same manner, he was able to make himself grow bigger.

As his size reached more than ten meters, he saw Susan's spirit take several steps back as her faced paled a little. This time, his Royal Will was focused on suppressing her. To enhance the effect, Edward turned his giant hand completely black, and made the motion of grabbing her, slowly.

Seeing the giant dark hand coming, combined with the overwhelming pressure from the Royal Will, Susan couldn't help herself but feel fear.

Right before Edward could grab Susan though, another figure appeared near them. Edward instantly turned back into his normal form as his Royal Will disappeared, and he looked at the newcomer with… interest.

She looked like Susan, who was next to him, but her clothes were a bit more exotic. Black leather barely covered her skin, showing her great curves and a lot of skin. Only her head was covered properly, with a spiky helmet.

She looked like the Invisible Girl, but dressed as a dominatrix. A hot one.