#Also sasha nein is here say hi to Sasha

[friendlyengie]

I haven’t posted any art in a hot second because I’ve been thinking about psychonauts and it’s been having a war with tf2 in my brain. They’ve come to a stalemate and are now merging into a singular entity (I’ve been designing a tf2 psychonauts au)

If I ever complete this collection of designs and shit I’ll elaborate on what any of this means. But I’m not going to now because if I start talking I won’t stop

[themanicmuse]

Broken Souls| Mollymauk Tealeaf x femReader

Word count: 2262

Summary: During their stay in Zadash the three men of The Mighty Nein have a boy's night where a certain purple Teifling meets an interesting young woman

Warnings: casual alcohol use, mentions of arranged marriage, consensual sex work

a/n: This was originally posted on my ao3 in 2020 as an OC one-shot. I have converted and polished it into my 1st y/n style xreader. Let me know what you think

The warm Zadash air was bustling with the usual energy of a Friday night in the large city. A band of three tipsy men walked through the busy streets, each distinct in their own varieties of strange. One hunched and shuffling, one tall and proud and the third overly confident and swaggering, leading the group. The cocky leader raises a purple hand in front of his companions with a mild flourish, bringing them to a halt.

“Gentlemen, what do you say to us stopping here for a few drinks?” The other two men follow the purple man’s eyes to the sign above the large building.

“Belle’s Boudoir?” The red-headed man said, confusion clear through his noticeable Zamnian accent.

“Just for a drink, right?” The tallest of them states while somehow also questions. The purple man nods lightly, the chains adorning his horns and neck jingle lightly. With a moment of reluctance from the half-orc, the trio enter the establishment.

Two of the men find a seat, bewildered by the numerous scantily clad yet heavily made up women around them as their teifling friend saunters over to the bar. He leans against the countertop, drumming his heavily ringed fingers while waiting to be noticed by the barmaid. After a few minutes of waiting, an attractive but ageing brunette Half-Elf woman makes her way down the bar towards the ostentatiously dressed man.

“Well good evening, handsome,” the woman greets with a flirtatious voice and a bat of her long eyelashes “What can I do you for?” she asks as she gently strokes her thumb over the teifling’s lavender hand.

“Well... well, first tell me your name. I’m sure your name is just as beautiful as your lovely self.” The teifling asks as he places a soft hand on the woman’s.

“Well aren’t you a charming one.” The half-elf answers with a mild blush “My name is Sasha, and yours?”

“Mollymaulk Tealeaf, but my friends call me Molly as shall you now as we are now friends.” Molly replies with a wide fang toothed grin. “So my dear, I would firstly like three ales for myself and my friends over there, and put on a tab under nein, the Zamnian spelling.” Molly nods his head towards the human reading a large book and the handsome half-orc awkwardly trying to reject one of the working girl’s propositions, causing the teifling to wince in second hand embarrassment. The Half-elf hands over three flagons of ale with a small chuckle.

“Anything else I can do for you?”

“Well actually I would like some... private company.” Molly says with a knowing smile and a wink.

“Why of course, Molly, do you have any preference? We have the largest and finest variety in all of Zadash.” Sasha replies, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her long ear.

“If you truly do have the largest selection, and I do fully believe you I do, how about you show me something amazing, something that takes my breath away, something... That I’ve never experienced before.” On the last word Molly lightly taps the counter with the tip of his index finger and a cheerful smirk on his face.

“And what have you seen?”

“I was in the circus game sweetheart, that’s a long fucking list I assure you.”

With a wildly disappointed sigh Sasha leaves to a back room before returning to the teifling. She hands him a key with a small tag with a number on it and instructs Molly to use that room when he has made his choice. With a parting wink the man takes his drinks to the table to join his friends.

“Took ya long enough.” The half-orc said in his strange southern accent quickly taking his drink as Molly shooed away the annoyed working woman as he took the seat she was occupying.

“Yeah sorry, I was doing a little recon on the local customs of this city.” Molly answers with a shrug. As the three men make idle chatter about adventures, magical weapons and spells, the teifling’s eyes scanned the room for a companion worthy of his standards. Eventually his eyes are drawn to a beautiful (h/c) haired girl, adorned in a dress of silky deep greens, almost hiding in the far corner. Molly thanks his wizard friend as he receives a fresh drink, his eyes not leaving the girl for a single second. After realising just observing wasn’t enough for him, Molly abruptly leaves the table and hastily makes his way back to the bar.

“That girl in the corner is she one of yours?’ Molly asks the second he makes eye contact with the barkeep.

“Oh her, yeah she came to us only a few days ago. Is she definitely the one you want?” In response the horned man nods his head vigorously causing his many chains to rattle. “Ok... I’m afraid I can’t tell you how good her services will be since you’re the first to request her. If you’re truly sure, go to the room and I’ll send her up with some ale and food.” Molly replies with a quick nod of thanks before jogging up the stairs.

After removing his boots and heavily embroidered coat, the teifling paced the floor waiting impatiently. When a knock sounds on the door Molly rushed over, quickly composing himself before opening the door. His burning red eyes scanned the form of the girl as she walked in and placed the tray of food on the small table. After closing the door Molly sat on the edge of the bed studying the girl before him.

“My name is Mollymauk Tealeaf, but please just call me Molly.” He greets reaching his hand out towards the girl. He watched as the girl glanced between her face and hand, failing to mask the fear and discomfort in her eyes. Eventually She reaches her shaky hand out to meet Molly’s purple one, gasping with shock as she feels the raised remains of many old scars on the teifling’s strong hand.

“Oh don’t worry yourself about them.” Molly says softly as he gently caresses the girl's (s/c) hand. “So, What’s your name beautiful?”

“(y)... I mean. What would you like it to be,” She replied, with a shudder and a tear threatening to escape her (e/c), pupil-less eyes. “S-sexy?”

“Your real name, please.”

“Um... (y/n).” She replied while fiddling with some of her (h/l) (h/c) hair.

“Well that’s a name truly worthy of your beauty. Please, sit down, eat, drink, make yourself more comfortable.” Molly offers with a small smile before getting to his feet. A few seconds later he hears the shuffling of fabric, Molly instinctively turns around to see (y/n) hesitantly slipping her green silk dress off of her body, once the material reached her waist a full pair of wings sprung up and ruffled out. Speckled light brown feathers covered the top while deep grey covered the bottom. Shaking himself out of his shock Molly quickly grabs his coat and hands it to (y/n), trying but failing to avert his eyes, catching a glimpse of the curves of her body and the speckled white of her inner wings.

“I have no intention of doing any of that with you, please cover back up.” Molly says softly as he wraps the coat around her rigid body from behind before guiding her to sit on the bed before turning to face the wall. “I don’t want to see you like that.”

“Oh. I understand.” The soft voice answers behind him. Molly listens with confusion as he hears the soft thud of his coat hitting the bed followed by a rustling of fabric causing him to spin back around.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Molly questioned causing the girl to freeze holding her dress most the way up her body.

“Y-you weren’t pleased with me so I’m going to request someone more suitable for you.” (y/n) answers with a look of both sadness and relief as she walks to the door, her dress now back in place.

“No!” Molly shouts quickly grabbing the girl's delicate wrist with his strong scarred hand stopping her movement “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean Mollymauk?” (y/n) askes, her large (e/c) eyes meeting Molly’s red ones for the first time, filled with caution and confusion.

“When I saw you in the bar,” Molly started with a sigh as he led the confused girl to sit down on the bed next to him. “I knew you didn’t belong here. So I decided to hire you in order to rescue you from that discomfort. So please, eat, drink, nap, whatever you wish to do.” With those words Molly twice taps (y/n)’s hand softly before standing and heading to the door.

“Stay. I want you to, just for a little while.” A voice speaks with confidence for the first time causing a small, soft smile to form on Molly’s lavender lips. The teifling silently sits on the opposite side of the bed, removes his loose shirt, handing it over to (y/n) before laying down with his hands behind his head. Sensing (y/n)’s new found confusion at the new item in her hands.

“I know that dress isn’t comfortable on your wings, that should be big enough to cover you and give your wings some more space.” Molly answers without even opening his eyes.

”Aren’t you going to...”

“Oh please, honey, you are not the first aasimar I’ve met. You are however the first one with feathers so there is that. Anyway just put the shirt on, I promise I won’t peek.” Just as (y/n)  slipped Molly’s large shirt over her shapely body, the room door silently opens.

Back downstairs, after realising that their friend hasn’t been seen for a while, The half-orc warlock Fjord and Caleb the human wizard decide to split up and search the establishment. Caleb quickly climbed the stairs as the handsome Fjord was swarmed by women the moment he’s alone. After checking numerous empty, and some not so empty, rooms he quietly opens the door to room number nine. His eyes are met with the sight of a shirtless Mollymauk laid out on the double bed and a beautiful human-looking girl sitting next to him wearing nothing but Molly’s long white shirt.

“Oh, I-I am so very sorry Molly und your lady company. I did not know, um. I will... I will leave you be. See you later. Ja, good, good bye. Ja, bye.” Caleb apologises as he stumbles over both himself and his words. Spinning around on his heels and walking into the doorframe before finally finding the wide open door somehow remembering to close it behind him. Brushing a mildly charred and calloused hand through his mess of ginger hair as he waits for the horde of women crowding Fjord to disperse.

"Did ya find Molly?" Fjord asked over the heads of the numerus women circling them.

"Oh Ja I did."

"Then where is he?"

"Upstairs being Molly"

Back upstairs (y/n) sits on the bed, her face bright red, hands covering her embarrassment.

“I’m truly so sorry about him my dear. Caleb is impressively unskilled in the social graces.” Molly laughed as he rolled to his feet and picked his coat up from the floor. As if seeing the future, Molly wraps his coat around (y/n) as she shivers “So why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

“I don’t...”

“I just want to get to know you a little, beautiful.” With that final word a strange warmth floods the aasimar’s body as she feels her trust in the handsome purple devil grows. She looks into Molly’s blood red eyes with a deep sigh as though opening up to an old friend.

“It’s a classic tale I’m afraid. I was promised to a vile old lord. The night before my marriage I realised that I wanted more from my life. I took all the jewels I could carry, spent it all on ship passage to Wildemount. I only discovered that I’d been conned when Sasha took me in in exchange for work. Of course I didn’t know this was the work she meant. So now I’m stuck here until I save up enough gold to start my dream.”

“And what dream would that be?” Molly asks as he takes (y/n)’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, bringing her eyes to meet his and leans in closer.

“I want... I want what you have.” With a hesitant yet strangely confident hand, (y/n) gently traces some of the scars on Mollymauk’s bare chest. “Adventure.” Molly looks deep into the girl's beautiful eyes full of hope and wonder for her future. A large smile spreads over the teifling’s face, his tail swinging absentmindedly happy. He stands to his feet, puts his boots on and swaggers to the door.

“Molly, where are you going?”

Molly doesn’t answer, he only flashes her a kind fanged smile.

“I still have your things.”

“You can just give them back to me tomorrow, don’t worry.”

“Tomorrow?”

“I’m hiring you for the whole day my dear. I’m going to give you some training, show you the ropes, that kind of thing” Molly instructs as he throws a decently sized bag of gold on the bed. “That’s for the whole night, you can stay here. I’ll be back to get you in the morning.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“I’ve always been a sucker for broken souls.”

[that-60s-jazz-song]

i think that chloe (the whispering rock space kiddo) is very sweet and cute and smart and also has big autism vibes, and everyone already knows sasha has autism vibes from here to the moon, and they both adore space and aliens, so some awesome platonic stuff with sasha being like a dad to chloe would be awesome!

maybe like, him being the only one to take her seriously about the alien stuff, maybe sasha (while watching Very Closely because Expensive Tools) lets chloe use one of his telescopes? maybe chloe talks about alien biology (probably speculative alien biology but shhh let her have her dreams) with sasha and he asks her questions about creatures from her "home planet?"

we have so much dadness with sasha nein and raz, and not enough people appreciate chloe, i feel like, so something about sasha getting to be a nerd dad with a kid who's a little more stereotypically booksmart would be lovely c:

!!! HI HELLO!!!

yes yes i love that.

definitely reads her books about space, CONSTANTLY talking about aliens

she will ramble to her new dad about EVERYTHING SPACE RELATED.

"do you think the moon landing was fake?"

"uh..."

they do math problems together. it is their favorite activity

made their own rocket ship out of a cardboard box

i imagine he lets her start the rambles, he adds on to what she has to say

will correct her if she gets something wrong when she's talking about space, but gently

she appreciates it

they are besties.

[medicalunprofessional]

I just saw that insane Sasha Nein art you did, where he’s smoking and his mom is in it. I have to say that was some of the COOLEST ART I HAVE EVER SEEN ON THIS SITE, EVER. And I saw that you said you draw on your phone?!?! I’m actually begging you to tell me what app you use pLEASE (also I have always wanted to know how to render but I don’t even know how to start is there any in progress shots you can show so I have something to go on ;U; ty)

GYAHHHHH THANKSS YOUI wwhhh… I had written more in response to this but… Tumblr crashed and deleted it so… Im trying to remember all the points i went over haha… But… Yes… I do draw on the phone with my fingers. The key? Ibispaint… Its really good. You just gotta believe in yourself…. Its rlly not that hard :)

But… On rendering, i feel like everyone renders differently… It really depends on yout artstyle… But i will gladly go over my process (again(thanks tumblr)). Ill be using a different piece as an example (the one of sasha? I didnt render that in my normal way. Just kinda Drew Shapes) -

So i always.. sketch it out. Roughly. Get the details down, yes, but this part will pretty much be invisible, so it doesnt have to be perfect. (yees there was gonna be red string but i didnt like it so. Goodbye red strintg.. Sorry boyd) In this piece (and some others) i redid the sketch a few times to get everything placed and sized how i like it…

After this..? I just put in the colors under the sketch. Here, id like to get them relatively like how i want them to be (though sometimes ill just put in a single color and choose the colors WHILE im rendering)… Its Good To Keep Them Messy I Think

And then… I put all the layers into a folder and render it all on a new layer…. Its that simple… Some people will do it on a bunch of layers to keep all the different elements separate, but i feel its confusing and youll get tripped up in all the layers… I simply use one. Sometimes ill make a new layer if im not feeling confident about a detail, but, usually, its just one. The colors i laid down? im simply colorpicking those and making them more defined, usually blockier.. And dont worry! Its easy to move things around, having to repaint some stuff isnt as bad as you think (ESPECIALLY if you dont use lineart. I hate lineart sometimes😌)

And its done after i get alll the details i want in (sometimes, you dont need to detail everything. Focus on whats important! If you like..). Well, the drawing part is, atleast. I usually run it over with some special brushes i made to make it look more scratched up and dirty. Then i do some chromatic abberation shenanigans! And some noise. Then… Its done :)

Though… if there is one thing i must say…… You can wiggle around the hue and saturation a little while rendering it makes it more interesting and flavorful… You can wiggle it around ALOT to make things look holographic…. Oh! and keep it simple… And also desaturating colors a lot combined with the context of other colors around them can do some crazy stuff… I can make orange look like green 🕴️ (Okay that was . More than one thing. And?)

But really..:: Do what YOU want. Its your art :) I cant tell you what to do! Do all of these things. Do none of these things. Just do what YOU want to. Nothing I or ANYONE says dictates what you must do or what is correct in your expressions.

Yay!

[tinyinvadr]

Alright, here we go, Rhombus of Ruin time! This is gonna be a shorter fic since it’s a shorter game, and after this it’s Psychonauts 2!

Psychoborrower in the Rhombus of Ruin

Chapter 1

This was it. The moment where all of my training was about to pay off. Against all odds, I did it. I conquered my fears, foiled an evil plot for world domination, and became a Psychonaut.

But that was only the beginning of my story.

I was heading out on my first official mission: to rescue Truman Zanotto, Grand Head of the Psychonauts. And for a mission like that, I couldn’t ask for a better team.

Piloting the jet were agents Sasha Nein and Milla Vodello. Camp counselors by day, super psychic agents by… well, it was still daytime, so I guess it’s more of a “when they’re needed” thing. Getting to go on a mission with them became a dream of mine from the moment I met them. They were so cool, and I learned so much from them.

Also with us was Grand Head Zanotto’s daughter, Lili. To people who don’t know her, she seems like an ordinary girl on the surface. But there’s a fire within her. Literally. She is… really good at burning things, it’s a little scary.

Stationed in the bathroom was Coach Oleander. Sure, he may have stolen a bunch of kids’ brains with the intention of putting them in armored death tanks only the day before, but after we helped him work out his issues, he was a changed man. Well… mentally, anyway. Not much we can do about the constipation. Poor guy had to have been on the toilet for an hour, at least.

And of course, where would I be without my best friend, my partner in crime fighting, and the guy who made all this possible?

In a short time, I’d come to have a very high opinion of Raz, especially considering how much I resented him at first. I found myself frustrated at his optimism, and I hated the advantage he had against me with him being a human. But it turned out that we had a lot more in common than I originally thought, and when I made the choice to reveal myself to him, he didn’t think any less of me.

I tried not to verbalize that too much, though. He already had a big enough head, he really didn’t need the extra ego boost.

Unfortunately, we weren’t making much progress on the mission at hand. Sasha managed to get in contact with HQ, but they dismissed him, assuming it was just something about camp. Which meant it was up to our little team to carry out this rescue mission without any assistance from the rest of the organization.

While Sasha and Milla worked on trying to track down Truman, the rest of us were left sitting around.

I felt really bad for Lili. She expressed that she’d been kind of cold towards her father recently, feeling embarrassed when he would visit her at camp, and her previous feelings of doubt that the Psychonauts were even needed anymore.

I wanted to reassure her, but I wasn’t sure what to say. Even though we’d both been going to camp together for several years, I kept my distance from the other kids, so we didn’t really know each other all that well. But hey, if I was able to form a strong bond with Raz in such a short time, I could easily do the same with her.

“Hey… We’ll find him.”

Lili sniffled. She’d been crying, but she might’ve still been getting over that cold she had. With everything Raz and I went through, I didn’t really stop to think about things from her perspective. The past couple days were really rough for her, too. She got kidnapped, and then the next morning, the same thing happened to her dad.

I noticed Raz had gotten quiet, which was weird for him. I would’ve thought it would be hard to get him to shut up. He was practically living his dream. Well, so was I, but I’m not nearly as chatty as him.

My question was answered when I heard his voice echo in my head.

Hey, Flint.

Huh?

I’m practicing Clairvoyance. Trying to see things from other peoples’ perspectives, y’know?

Yeah, sure, but I’m just sitting on your shoulder right now. The only change in perspective you’re getting is shifting an inch to the right.

I guess… Hey, wait, look at me for a second.

I turned my head slightly so I was looking at Raz’s face. His eyes were shut tight, and he was deeply concentrating, his consciousness residing in my head instead of his own.

Whoa, I look huge!

Heh… yep.

Man, no wonder you were scared of me.

Please, as if I could be scared of you. You’re just a big goofball.

To be perfectly honest, I was terrified of Raz the first time I interacted with him in person. Especially since I was under the impression he was trying to sabotage me in the mental world, which turned out to just be my own paranoia. It wasn’t something I liked to think about, but it was the truth of how I felt at the time. Unfortunately, you can’t exactly hide your thoughts when you’ve got a guest in your mind.

It’s okay if you were scared. I get it. And I know we didn’t get off to the best start.

Hey, don’t worry about it. I was being stupid.

No, no, it makes perfect sense why you acted the way you did.

This could go on for a while. We both had a habit of being overly apologetic.

Let’s just agree that all of that is behind us.

You’ve got it, buddy. So, you excited for our first official mission?

Yeah… Wait, why are we still talking in my head? I’m right next to you.

Oh, right, sorry. My sister and I used to do this all the time, so I’m just used to it.

You have a sister?

Four siblings, actually.

Makes sense, considering your dad-

Nope, we’re done talking about this!

Heh… he’s too easy.

In a desperate attempt to kill boredom, Raz practiced PSI-Blasting at stuff in the jet. In doing that, he noticed one of the overhead compartments was locked, and marked with the Grand Head’s seal. He blasted it open, but all that was in there was a music box.

It toppled out of the compartment, and Lili caught it, a look a relief on her face.

“My Dad’s music box! What’s this doing here?”

Her first instinct was to try and form a connection with her father by using Clairvoyance on the music box, but she wasn’t able to reach him. Raz offered to try it for her, and it seemed to be working somewhat, but he described a strange interference that was blocking him out.

At that, Sasha instructed all of us to focus our thoughts on Raz and Truman in order to strengthen the connection. I contributed as much as I possibly could, but I didn’t really feel like I was much help. I’d seen Truman before when he would visit Lili at camp, but I didn’t know him on a personal level. Still, I focused to the best of my ability.

We were able to strengthen the connection enough to where Raz could see the lab where Truman was being held captive, but he wasn’t sure where exactly it was.

After digging around for clues, the situation became increasingly concerning. First of all, Truman was unconscious, with a Psychoisolation Bonnet over his head. As for the power source, it was a mineral Milla identified as Psilirium.

She and Sasha went on to explain that Psilirium is a rare and incredibly dangerous mineral that can cause psychics to hallucinate. Even just using Clairvoyance on someone who was standing near it was enough to make Raz dizzy.

He continued his search, and from there, we narrowed down the location of the lab. It was an abandoned Psychonauts facility located deep in the ocean, in a place called the Rhombus of Ruin.

There were plenty of legends about the place, mainly spread around by the Psychonauts themselves. After all, few were brave enough to venture to a place where people supposedly go missing, so it was the easiest way to keep the general public away from their research facilities.

We set a course for the Rhombus of Ruin. It would take a while to get there, and Raz was completely drained from the Psilirium exposure, so he was knocked out for most of the trip.

Lili was in better spirits since we had a location on her dad. She wound up the music box, letting its tune play.

“Don’t worry, Dad. We’re almost there.”

A couple hours later, we were finally approaching the Rhombus, and Raz also woke up around that time.

Sasha assured us that everything would be fine, but I had my doubts. Even with proper protective gear on, Psilirium sounded like serious business. On top of that, the last thing Raz heard before he came back to us was a warning straight from Truman’s mind, begging Lili to stay away because it’s too dangerous.

Just as we were flying over the Rhombus, something strange happened. The jet’s controls had been compromised somehow, and we were set to crash right into the ocean.

I held onto Raz as tightly as I could, but I lost my grip on his shirt as the plane took a nosedive. Everyone else had seatbelts on, but Coach and I weren’t so lucky. We both went flying towards the front of the plane. Thankfully, he caught me before I could crash into anything.

“Hold tight, Flint! We’re going do-!”

The impact knocked me out. What happened after that, I think I’m better off not knowing. I don’t wanna think about how long we were underwater, or how close I was to drowning. Let’s just say it’s a miracle I made it, and it’s a good thing Coach caught me when he did.

All I know for sure is that when I woke up, I had ended up in the heart of the Rhombus of Ruin.

[bcdrawsandwrites]

[ID: A Bad Things Happen Bingo card. Various prompts are marked with a half-brain (prompt requested but not filled) or full-brain (prompt requested and finished) symbol, while the “Who Did This to You?” prompt specifically is marked with a full brain symbol. /end ID]

OKAY! It’s been a while, but here’s my third fic for my @badthingshappenbingo​ challenge!

I am currently NO LONGER OPEN FOR REQUESTS. I have enough to work on to get a bingo! I MAY decide to reopen prompts later if I want to keep going after finishing these fics, but for now, requests are closed!

This request comes from @i-am-but-a-beta-fish​! I spun it a bit different from the original prompt but I hope you enjoy! Thanks to @jaywings​ and @of-science-and-stars​ for beta-reading!

Also a quick note--this fic takes place in the same ‘verse as most of my other fics. You don’t need to have read those to understand this, though (just know that Loboto’s hanging around the Motherlobe for reasons).

[ID: A Psychonauts fanfic banner on a black-to-gray gradient background. On the left in white text it says “Prompt #3: Who Did This to You?” On the right are two animated figments overlapping each other: a gray-blue broken chunk of a stone wall, and a red blood splatter in front of it, the blood appearing to besplattered on the side and on the “floor” in front of the chunk. /end ID]

Prompt: Who Did This to You? Characters: Razputin Aquato and Linda the Hideous Hulking Lungfish of Lake Oblongata (and also Mr. Pokeylope, Sheegor, Ford Cruller, Sasha Nein, Milla Vodello, Caligosto Loboto, Otto Mentallis, and (briefly) Hollis Forsythe.) Warnings: Blood, injury, (SPOILERS: broken bones, implied animal abuse, amputation)

---~~~---

It started with a scream from Sasha's lab.

Raz, who had been on his way to check in on Loboto's progress for that day, took an abrupt turn toward the agent wing instead, barreling into the lab on his lev ball. Apparently Milla had had the same idea, as she was there as well, both she and Sasha hovering over a very distressed Sheegor. Papers were scattered across the floor around where the lab assistant stood, and she was covering her face in her oversized gloves, sobbing uncontrollably into them.

"Miss Delucca, please calm down and tell us what's going on," Sasha demanded.

"It will be all right, Penelope," Milla said, crouching closer to her and placing a comforting hand on her back. "Please tell us what's wrong, darling."

"What's going on?" Raz asked, dismissing his lev ball as he approached the group. Is Sheegor okay? he added to Sasha.

She just started screaming, Sasha replied with a concerned frown. We've yet to determine the cause.

Putting a hand to his chin, Raz pondered what might cause Sheegor to act like this when a thought struck him. "Sheegor, is it Mr. Pokeylope?"

Sheegor lifted her head, giving a tiny nod before she broke out into another wail, burying her face into her hands once more.

"What’s wrong?" Raz edged in closer next to her. "Is he hurt?"

"It's—it's not him," Sheegor finally gasped, pulling her hands away. "H-he's scared, but he's... it's...!" And once again she broke down into sobs.

"Scared?" Raz's brows knit in consternation. "I don't think I've ever seen him get scared. He's the one who took down Loboto the first time!"

Sasha and Milla exchanged glances. "It must be serious, then," Milla said, and Sasha nodded.

"Is there something dangerous at the camp?"

"I—I—I think there w-was..." Sheegor replied.

"A security breach," Sasha said, and he and Milla immediately began marching out of the lab. "We'll see to this immediately."

Raz nearly turned to follow them when a soft voice stopped them all in their tracks:

"No."

Turning around, he saw Sheegor staring directly at him. Though tear stains marred her face, her eyes were clear. Without warning, she lunged forward, grabbing Raz's hands.

"She wants you."

With a terrible yank, they were gone.

—~~~---

Raz gasped, stumbling in the sudden cold and darkness. The wind whipped at his trench coat, and cold water crashed against the sand, illuminated by the moonlight above. Whipping his head around, he spotted Sheegor next to him, and just past where the stood was the ruins of Thorney Towers.

He had barely a moment to register just where he was when a burning psychic blast struck him square in the chest, knocking him off his feet. "Oof!" he grunted, crashing backwards into the sand. "What the—"

Seeing another psi-blast aimed straight for him, he rolled to the side, while Sheegor gasped in horror.

"Hang on, Sheegor, I'll take care of—"

"MR. POKEYLOPE!" she shrieked, charging further down the shoreline.

Jumping to his feet and keeping a hand against his chest, Raz followed her to find the turtle in question standing by the water, feet braced against the sand and eyes shut tight. The only indication that he was aware of his surroundings was the green psychic energy that formed in front of his forehead, preparing to shape into yet another psi-blast. Before it could manifest, Sheegor scooped him up into her arms, and he gave a start.

"B-baby...?" he stammered, finally opening his eyes.

"Mr. Pokeylope, it's me!" Sheegor cried, tears stinging at her eyes. "We came as soon as we could!"

It was hard to read an animal's face to begin with, let alone a tiny snapping turtle's face in the moonlight, but Raz swore he could sense a faint smile from Mr. Pokeylope. "W-what took you so long, honey?"

"Okay, this is very touching, but seriously, what are we doing here?" Raz demanded, stomping up to the turtle. Sheegor pulled him away protectively. "You said there was danger. What's going on?"

Mr. Pokeylope drew his head back, his normally-smooth voice shaky and thick. "I-it's Linda."

The words Sheegor had said before teleporting Raz struck him, and he charged past Sheegor further down the shoreline. "Where is she?! Linda, where are—"

Raz darted around a huge chunk of rubble, possibly a former wall of the old asylum, and skidded to a halt.

Lying halfway on water and halfway on land was an enormous, lumpy mass, heaving in shallow gasps. A shiny trail of dark liquid in the sand led up to it, and it took a few moments for the shock of the sight to give way to horror as Raz realized just what that trail was.

"...Linda?" he gasped, his legs feeling numb as he willed himself closer to her.

The mass turned slightly, and a gleaming yellow eye, half-open, stared back at Raz. Come closer, Razputin, she said, her lungs heaving all the while.

Raz stepped around to face her from the front, and his stomach twisted at the sight of an enormous chunk of debris immediately next to the mutant lungfish, pressing against her head and pinning her right arm. With a horrified gasp, Raz put one hand on his temple and stretched his other hand outward, manifesting a TK hand that grasped the chunk of rock. It was heavy, which was to be expected, and he clenched his teeth, eyes narrow and hand trembling as he finally lifted the rock off of Linda's arm.

Linda's whole body gave a jerk, her eyes bulging before shutting tightly, and a low moan emanated from deep within her. Thank you, she gasped, though even her mental voice was strained.

Meanwhile, Raz tossed the debris into the water and away from the fish. "How are you feeling now?"

I am in pain.

The simple statement hit him hard in the gut, and he wrapped his arms around himself.

A high-pitched gasp made him turn his head, and he saw Sheegor covering her mouth, glancing between him and Linda and looking like she might burst into tears all over again. Feeling something nudge his foot, he looked down to see Mr. Pokeylope staring up at him pleadingly.

"Can you help?"

Raz faced Linda again, looking her over: two nasty-looking gashes marred her side closer to the beach, probably the cause of the blood trails, while her right arm... He had to move slightly into the water to see it, but when he did, he immediately looked away, nausea surging through him. Though her limbs had never looked natural, even in the moonlight he could see that her arm was bent at multiple very unnatural angles.

Turning back to Pokeylope, he shook his head and put his hands on the sides of his helmet. "I-I can't do anything about this but..." He thought of sending for Compton—he was good with animals, but how well could he handle the stress of this situation? But then if not Compton, then who…

A thought struck him, but he hesitated; getting him involved in something like this could end badly, and Raz had grown a bit more hesitant to speak to him as of late. Could there be someone else…?

As he thought it over, the ground trembled beneath him as a deep moan rumbled within Linda’s throat. Mr. Pokeylope nudged his foot again, his eyes darting between him and the dark blood on the shore.

Raz steeled himself, and he looked at Sheegor. "Ford Cruller," he said. "Can you bring Agent Cruller here?"

Sheegor perked up and gave a serious nod. The beach seemed to flash around her as though illuminated by distant lightning, and without another word she disappeared.

While Sheegor left, Raz took another moment to look Linda over, and then inspected parts of the beach again. He spotted the two chunks of cement that had caused the gashes on her head, thanks to the dark stains upon them. "You guys probably shouldn't be hanging around this place," he remarked. "It doesn't really seem all that safe."

Mr. Pokeylope stomped one of his feet into the shallow water with an indignant splash. "This wasn't an accident."

A bolt ran up Raz's spine. "It... wasn't?"

Before the turtle could answer, there was another flash, and suddenly Sheegor and a very bewildered Ford Cruller were standing on the beach, the former grasping the latter's arms. Ford, while in his Psychonaut uniform, was also wearing a pair of slippers, indicating that he hadn't exactly been on-duty when Sheegor had summoned him. He blinked once, twice, looked at the ruins before them, then shot an accusing glare at Sheegor.

"What in sam hill am I doin' out here?!" he cried, yanking his arms away and looking about ready to smack her. "I already came out here with Lucy, and I wasn't plannin' on goin' on a retreat with some other woman!"

"I'm sorry, Ford," Raz said, stepping toward him, and Ford snapped his head in his direction, his bushy brows raised. "I couldn't think of who else to ask for help. And we really, really need it right now..."

When Raz looked back at Linda, Ford followed his gaze, and Raz could feel the anger that radiated from his old mentor slowly fade.

"...I see," he said, arms falling to his sides. "Been a hot minute since I've had ranger duty—or camp nurse duty, for that matter—but I'll see if I can't sort this out. Let's see what I still have in the cabin." With that, he popped out of existence in a rush of green psychic energy and a brief scattering of sand. Raz and Sheegor watched the spot he'd stood in, occasionally looking back at Linda every so often to see how she was doing; her eyes were still shut, and her breathing still shaky.

It was only a moment before Ford popped back onto the beach, now carrying multiple first-aid kits and, bizarrely, wearing a nurse's cap. Noting their stares, he shot the others a look. "What? If I'm gonna act as a nurse again, I gotta look the part."

"So long as you do something!" Sheegor cried, and Ford rolled his eyes.

"Was thinkin' of just hangin' out back at the lodge," he muttered, striding up to Linda and frowning. "Can you hear me, Lumpy?"

It is Linda. She opened one eye a fraction to give him a look.

"Right. Just gonna be lookin' this over." As he opened one of the first aid kits, Ford hovered up into the air until he was level with the top of Linda's head. "If you're good, you'll get a psi-pop when I'm done."

Wonderful. With a deep sigh, Linda shut her eye again.

At first Raz watched Ford get to work, but when he started cleaning the wound, Raz winced and crouched down closer to Linda's face. "Don't worry, Ford's gonna take care of you." I hope, he added in a silent, guarded thought.

"He'd better!" Mr. Pokeylope snapped. It was strange to see him so aggravated, especially when he'd been calm and silent on the night Loboto had tried to make soup out of him.

"Shhh, Mr. Pokeylope." Sheegor scooped him up, even as he continued to glare at Ford. "Let him work! These people are nice. Not like the doctor."

Any other time Raz might've pointed out that Loboto was starting to do better now, but this was neither the time nor the audience for it. Thankfully Linda took them off the subject: I... I am grateful for your help, Razputin.

"Yeah, and not for the help of the old man actually cleanin' your wounds," Ford muttered, and Linda let out a tired rumble in response.

"This... really wasn't an accident?" Raz asked, dreading the answer. Up above, Ford stopped muttering, one of his eyes briefly skewing toward them.

Slowly her eyes opened to slits, both of them trained on Raz. No.

Flinching, Raz sat back on the beach, a sickness stirring in his stomach before it began to burn, the heat making his way to his face and his hands, which clenched at his side. He stood up, looking her in the eye.

"Who did this to you?"

"A trespasser!" Mr. Pokeylope cried, squirming in Sheegor's grip. "A low-down fool—!"

"Trespasser?" Ford finally turned his full attention to the people standing below. "Who? How?"

Linda drew in a deep breath and let it out in a groan. A young human... older than Razputin, yet not fully grown... He came here from the other side of Lake Oblongata, on a boat...

"A... teenager?" Raz said, brow furrowing, while Ford hummed in thought.

He tried to make it to the camp, but stopped first at the ruins... there, Sam and I intercepted him.

"We wouldn't let 'im pass," Mr. Pokeylope said as Sheegor patted his shell.

We did not wish to hurt him... only for him to leave. But... Linda paused, drawing in another deep, hissing breath.

Mr. Pokeylope was hissing as well, his eyes narrow. "He attacked us."

Sheegor let out a soft gasp, hugging the turtle.

He attacked me, Linda said, looking at Mr. Pokeylope for a moment. He did not see you.

"He... he made the debris fall on you?" Raz frowned up at the ruins. "How did he—?"

He was psychic, like you and I.

"So that's it," Ford said, perking up. "It was one of them dang hooligans! They think just 'cause they came here as a kid, they can just stroll on up to the campgrounds to cause mischief or relive nostalgia. Hmph!" With a grunt, he went back to his work, now cleaning the other wound on Linda's head. "Only the counselors are allowed to do that."

"So it was... a former camper," Raz said, then shook his head. "They came here and did... this to you?!"

"Told you, I like this guy, baby," Mr. Pokeylope muttered to Sheegor with a grin.

Razputin. Linda opened her eyes a fraction wider, focusing on Raz and bathing him in the yellow glow. Did you not do the same to me, when we first met?

Raz gave a start as the memories of the air bubble and the fight in Shaky Claim came rushing back. Meanwhile, a series of short snaps erupted behind him as Mr. Pokeylope abruptly changed his tune, chomping his beak in Raz's direction. He looked back at the turtle, then at the lungfish, holding up his hands and giving them apologetic looks. "I—I'm sorry, Linda, I shouldn't have—"

I was under the control of Kochamara at the time. I do not fault you for defending yourself.

"Yeah, but this guy wasn't defending himself!" Raz cried, gesturing out toward the blood-splattered chunks of debris. "You weren't gonna hurt him!"

No. But I do not fault him for defending himself, either.

"What—?!" Sheegor cried, nearly dropping Pokeylope. "B-but he—!"

Meanwhile the anger drained from the turtle, who looked at Linda with shock and sadness. "Linda...?"

"What do you mean you don't fault him?" Raz demanded, stomping his foot into the sand. "He tried to kill you!"

It is dark here, and I am a frightening sight. Slowly Linda shut her eyes. He is not to blame for acting in fear.

"But... but he shouldn't have been trespassing!" Raz held his hands out imploringly. "You can blame him for that, right?"

"Maybe," Ford spoke up, glancing over his shoulder, "but you ain't one to talk about that, mister circus runaway."

"Huh? But—oh." Wrapping his arms around himself, Raz looked away. "Yeah, but... I... I wasn't trying to cause trouble, at least. But he—!"

It is done, Razputin. There is no need for anger now.

"Well you're free to think that, honey," Mr. Pokeylope said, squirming until Sheegor finally set him down. He marched up to where the lungfish lay, his movements short and furious. "But if I see 'im I'm gonna bite 'im a new—"

Without opening her eyes, Linda raised up her good arm and flattened him into the sand with her fin.

Pokeylope grumbled, but relaxed, nuzzling into her hand. "I'm sorry, Linda," he sighed. "This got me all worked up."

Raz couldn't deny that he felt much the same; in spite of Linda's words, he still shook with emotion. "But it's... it's not fair."

"Yeah?" Ford eyed him. "When's life ever been that way?"

"Huh?" Raz looked up at him in bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

"I..." Sheegor stepped forward, tugging at one of her gloves. "I think Agent Cruller means that things really aren't fair, most of the time." She wandered up to where Mr. Pokeylope sat beneath Linda's fin, and crouched near them, putting her own hand over Linda's. "But that's... that's why we should care about others. For when it's not fair." Hesitantly she glanced back up at Ford. "Right?"

Ford shrugged. "More or less. Somethin' around that, anyway."

"Oh, yay!" Sheegor clapped her gloved hands together before placing one back on Linda's fin again.

Raz looked around at the others before heaving a shaky sigh. "I think I get it," he said, sitting beside Linda's good fin as well and placing his hand on it. He rubbed the slimy appendage, trying not to wince at the slime that got on his glove. "But... I hope you'll be okay, Linda."

Finally she opened her eyes, giving him a look full of a warmth that he wouldn't have thought her capable of. ...And I as well, Razputin.

After exchanging a worried look with Sheegor, Raz turned his gaze upward. "How's it looking, Ford?"

"Well she's got more lumps than Otto puts in his tea," Ford grunted. "Makes the stitching harder than it should be. But she should be all right once that's done."

The tension dropped so quickly from Raz' shoulders that he nearly fell over backwards. "That's a relief!" he cried, only to pause. "...Wait, what about her arm?"

Ford paused in his work. "Arm?" Frowning, he hovered over Linda's head to peek over at her other side. "Now you're telling me she's also got a—ohhh."

As quickly as the relief had come, it vanished, leaving a chill in Raz's chest. Shakily he rose to his feet, walking over to Linda's other side. Ford was standing in the shallow water, staring at her mangled arm. "There... there was another rock that had crushed it," Raz explained, keeping his gaze on Ford and fighting to avoid looking at the arm again. "I got it off her, but..."

After taking a few moments to walk around the limb and shine a flashlight on it, Ford reached down to try grabbing it. When Linda let out a deep, pained grunt, he straightened his back, shaking his head. "I'm a jack-of-all-trades, but this one's a bit beyond my abilities."

"No!" Raz cried. His stomach dropped and tears stung at his eyes as he ran up to Ford and grabbed his sleeve."Please, Ford, you've gotta do something, you can't leave her like this!"

"Why do I gotta do everything?" Ford snapped, yanking his hand away.

Before Raz could get over his shock, the sound of sand rapidly being slapped at with tiny feet preceded Mr. Pokeylope charging out from under Linda's fin and up to Ford, chomping on one of his soggy slippers. "Thath' why!" the turtle grunted, beak firmly latched onto the fluffy rabbit head.

"Hey!" Ford kicked off the slipper, sending Mr. Pokeylope flying.

With a horrified shriek, Sheegor caught the turtle, then shot Ford a glare to rival the ones she gave Loboto. "Don't you dare be mean to Mr. Pokeylope and Linda, you, you—"

"Would y'all stop and listen?" Stomping a soggy sock into the shallow water, Ford gave each of them a look. "If you want her to get better, we gotta move her."

"Wait—move her?" Raz looked quickly between Linda and Ford. It took a moment for the gears to click into place. "Y-you mean... take her back to the Motherlobe?"

I am in no condition to swim, Linda protested, eyeing Ford.

"Good thing that ain't what I'm askin' you to do." Heading back onto the dry land, Ford approached Sheegor and, without looking away, yanked his missing slipper away from Mr. Pokeylope and slid it back onto his foot. "You. Gonna need your help with this."

"M-me?" Sheegor stammered. "What do I have to do?"

Ford fixed her with a hard gaze. "You gotta think real hard, because if we screw this up, things are gonna get real messy."

Swallowing, Sheegor hugged Mr. Pokeylope close to herself. She looked to Raz, then Linda, then down at Mr. Pokeylope, who nodded to her. "...Okay. What do I have to think about?"

"Tell me," Ford went on. "What part of the Motherlobe do you know best?"

Raz had already guessed what she would answer before her face lit up.

—-~~~---

There was a brief, ear-splitting shriek; several surprised shouts; a frantic snapping; a deep, guttural croak; and a shockingly loud thud-SPLAT as everyone abruptly found themselves in the middle of Sasha's lab. Raz was clinging to Ford's leg for dear life, Mr. Pokeylope was snapping his beak and scrambling his legs as he tried to stay atop Sheegor's hump, and Sheegor and Ford stood with their hands on either side of Linda, who now lay in the middle of the floor, dripping slime, mud, and lake water.

Sasha, Milla, and Hollis, who had apparently been in the middle of a heated discussion, all stared at them. A cigarette fell from Sasha's lips, the color draining from his face.

Silence hung over the room.

Ford put a gentle hand on Raz's shoulder, and he gave a start, letting go and stepping back. With a casual hum of approval, Ford nodded to the other agents in the room. "Well, that's that. I'll leave you to it," he said, and strode toward the exit, his bunny slippers slapping wetly against the pristine floor and leaving mud tracks behind. "I'm goin' to bed."

All eyes were on Ford, but he said nothing more, and the door slid shut behind him. Everyone's gazes turned to Linda, and then, slowly, to Raz.

"...Agent Aquato," Hollis said, with a practiced, slow calmness that held back a burning exasperation and anger. "What is the meaning of this?"

Raz held up a finger. "Right. So... I can explain."

—-~~~---

"To start, move your left arm, please," Otto said, glancing up from his clipboard.

A low grumble filled the lab as Linda raised her left arm. After a moment, she subtly scratched at the large stitches that now adorned her head—as subtly as a giant mutant lungfish could do so, anyway.

"Uh-uh, Linda, the nurses said not to touch those," Raz said, crossing his arms.

...You are correct, Razputin, Linda said, drawing her fin away.

Linda still sat in the middle of the lab, which had been scrubbed as clean as it could while housing a giant, mucus-covered fish. Otto stood directly before her, while Raz sat off to the side on the exam table to watch, his feet kicking over the edge. Sheegor sat beside him, holding Mr. Pokeylope in her lap, who watched eagerly. Sasha was nowhere to be found, having decided for a "change of scenery" by switching spaces with Agent Mentallis during Linda's recovery.

The lab wasn't the most ideal place for it, but moving the giant lungfish wasn't an easy task, and with her multiple injuries it was ruled that it would be best for her to stay here for the time being. It had been a long few weeks as some of the healers at the Motherlobe treated Linda's wounds and performed some alarmingly necessary surgeries, while Sheegor and Mr. Pokeylope brought her food and water every day. All the while, Otto had been taking measurements and preparing a new invention, which they were now, finally, testing out.

"Very good!" Otto said, smiling as he checked something on his clipboard. "You can lower that now."

With another low grumble, Linda lowered her arm, resting it on the floor.

"Good job, baby," Mr. Pokeylope said, cocking his head. "You're a natural."

Waving the turtle off, Linda let out a low chuckle.

"Now... can you raise your right arm?"

Linda hesitated.

"Take your time."

Linda's gaze turned to Raz, who gave her an encouraging nod. Shutting her eyes, she concentrated... and with a series of mechanical whirs, her prosthetic limb raised up from where it had been resting at her side. The leather strap that attached it to her tugged gently at her body, while the shiny gray casing reflected the multicolored lights of the nearby consoles as it moved upward.

"It worked!" Raz cheered, jumping up from his seat, and Sheegor let out a high pitched woo! next to him, holding Mr. Pokeylope up in the air.

"Wonderful!" Otto cheered, grinning as he stepped closer to the limb. "Fantastic work!"

It feels... strange...

"Oh, that's perfectly normal! It's not exactly made of the same stuff as your old limb, after all." Reaching out, Otto knocked his bony knuckles against the casing. "It's metal—stainless, of course—with some rubber between your fingers there. Try wiggling them!"

Opening her right eye, Linda stared at her right hand, where a transparent rubber was stretched over the metal claws, forming a fin. After taking a moment, she twitched each finger once before slowly wiggling them, watching the clear material stretch between the digits.

"Good. And how about the other fin?"

Like her left arm, her right bore a smaller fin on one side of it, this one equipped with rubber webbing as well. With a bit of concentration, she managed to flex it.

"Excellent! You're well on your way to mastering your new limb."

Linda flexed her fin and claws a few more times before lowering her arm, sighing. It is... very different, she admitted. But... Her eyes gleamed. Perhaps I can... explore the waters outside soon.

"Don't go too fast," Raz said, walking over to her right side to look the limb over. "You'll still want some practice with that."

She turned to him, and he could hear the amused smile in her voice. I do not think I shall drown, Razputin.

"Uhhh... yeah, good point." Raz scratched the back of his neck. "It really does look like you'll get the hang of this soon, though."

"Absolutely," Otto agreed, patting the side of the mechanical limb. "With practice, it'll perform better than your old one!"

With a quiet rumble, Linda jerked her prosthetic limb away. She held her right fin with her left, staring down at it and feeling the artificial webbing.

Frowning, Raz rubbed his chin, then perked up. "Oh! Hey, Agent Mentallis, I know you wanted to just keep things simple today, but... since there really shouldn't be too much danger, how about we take things for a test drive?"

Linda looked up, and Otto gave a hum. "I like the idea, though I haven't alerted Ford yet. Not to mention, is our dear lab assistant up to the task—?"

"Woah!" Mr. Pokeylope scrambled his limbs to stay on the examination table as Sheegor abruptly disappeared. He looked around, then let out a chuckle. "There's your answer."

A few moments later, Sheegor re-appeared in a flash of light, holding Ford in front of her, as though she'd just grabbed him from behind. This time he was wearing an old suit, and appeared to have been in the process of straightening a bowtie when he'd been snagged. He stood still, eyes wide.

"Ah, good to see you, Ford," Otto said with a raised brow. "I hope we didn't interrupt anything important."

Ford shot a glare at Otto. "I got a date with Lucy tonight!"

"Good, so it wasn't anything too dire."

Raz covered his face to hide his laughter.

Before Ford could protest, Otto went on, "We're moving ahead with... well, moving our subject. Would you mind...?"

Looking back at Linda, Ford heaved a sigh. "All right. But does that other young lady got the spot figured out?"

"Sure do!" Sheegor, who was still holding Ford, chimed in. "I can show you!"

"Now wait—"

The two disappeared with another flash of light.

Otto chuckled. "He is going to be ranting about this tonight."

With another flash, the two returned, Ford looking even more frazzled than before. "All right!" he cried, waving Sheegor off. "All right! Let's get this over with." As Sheegor stepped away, he pointed a finger in her face. "And never do this to me again, you hear?"

"Okay!" Sheegor nodded cheerfully.

"Do... we have to teleport with you?" Raz asked as Sheegor and Ford went to either side of Linda.

"Nope! You can meet us outside," Sheegor said. She pressed her gloves against Linda's right side, while Ford pressed his hands against her left.

"Got it. C'mon, guys!" With that, Raz hurried toward the Otto B.O.N., TKing Mr. Pokeylope into his messenger bag as he did so, and Otto followed directly behind. Moments later, they emerged out in front of the Motherlobe. "Where'd they go...?" Raz squinted in the evening sun, gazing out over the flooded quarry.

"Oh, Sheegor and I picked out a real nice place," Mr. Pokeylope said, popping out of Raz's messenger bag, his front feet hanging over the side. He pointed the toe of one of his boots out over the quarry. "Should be right over..."

"EEK!"

"AAAGH!"

Thud-SPLAT.

"...there."

On the tiny nearby island, a few startled goats fled from the two people and the giant lungfish that had abruptly appeared where they'd been grazing. Sheegor quickly recovered, and while Ford looked somewhat shaken, he stepped back, patted Linda on the side, then shook the slime off his hands. "All right, enough of that," Ford snapped. "If you wanna move Miss Lumpy again here, find someone else skilled in teleportation."

Raz, meanwhile, hurried over to the island. “Thanks, Ford.”

"Don't mention it," Ford shot back. "If you do, I'm teleporting you straight into the lake." With that, he disappeared.

You humans are very kind, Linda remarked. ...If abrasive.

"Well, that's Ford for you," Otto said with a chuckle as he stood at the edge of the Motherlobe’s platform.

"And now you're outside!" Sheegor exclaimed as she pulled Mr. Pokeylope out of Raz's bag and hugged him. "Isn't it nice?"

With a quiet rumble, Linda reached out with her left fin to touch the surface of the water, and shut her eyes. It is not Lake Oblongata... but I am glad to be near the water once more.

"Would you like to take a swim, then?" Otto asked.

With a start, Linda pulled her arm away, and looked over at her prosthetic fin, turning it this way and that.

"I did test that in the water, and it won't rust. It'll propel you just like your old arm did, hypothetically. Why not try it out?"

Linda took a few steps closer to the water, then hesitated, glancing over at Raz. He patted her side. "You'll be okay, Linda. You said you can't drown, right?"

That is not what I fear, but... you are right. Shutting her eyes, Linda stepped into the water, dipping just beneath the surface.

Raz, Sheegor, and Otto all watched eagerly, while Mr. Pokeylope urged Sheegor to set him down. He marched over to the surface of the water, looking down into it and tilting his head. "You doin' all right there, baby?"

After a few moments, Linda emerged again, grasping one of the large rocks on the island with her good fin. It is... quite different...

"Have you had any trouble moving?" Otto asked. "If there's anything wrong, I can take it back to the lab or to my workshop to fix it."

No... I believe it will merely take... getting used to.

"Ah. That's how it is, or so I'm told."

"You've just gotta practice," Raz said. He sat cross-legged at the water's edge, and placed a hand to his temple in concentration. A hand rose up out of the water, giving Linda a thumbs-up before descending again. "I've been doing that with my hydrokinesis, too. It took me a while to get the hang of it."

I see... Linda looked down at the water, then over at her mechanical fin, rumbling softly in thought.

"If you're up for it, let's see some more!" Otto said, waving Linda toward the water. "Go on and give it another go."

Linda said nothing, but after a moment complied, dipping back into the water. Mr. Pokeylope joined her this time, diving in and swimming alongside her.

Raz watched them from the shore, moving to lay on his stomach and rest his chin on his arms. It was a bit difficult to see them with the water distortion, but her swimming looked a lot jerkier than he remembered. Granted, he remembered watching her swim several months ago, and he'd been more focused on not dying at the time. "Well, she's... definitely swimming in there."

"Yep! Mr. Pokeylope looks like he's having fun, too." Sheegor stared down into the water, smiling fondly, only to give a start. "Oh—! Mr. Mentallis, since Linda's out of the lab now, does that mean—?"

Otto perked up. "Ah, yes! I should be able to swap with Sasha to get my workshop back. I'm sure he'll be happy to have his old lab back again."

"Oh no! I'll need to go clean that up!" Sheegor wrung her hands, looking anxiously between Otto and the water. "T-tell Mr. Pokeylope I'll just be back inside!" With that, Sheegor disappeared in a flash of light.

Frowning, Raz looked back at Otto. "Is it okay to switch places again, though? What if this needs more work?"

"I can easily do any necessary adjustments back at my workshop! The trouble was just moving Linda out of Sasha's lab. As that problem has passed, there should be no issue with resuming our usual stations."

"So..." Raz looked back down at the water. "Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"No, not especially," Otto replied with a shrug. "But that's why we're testing it. Already though it's been doing quite well."

"What's been doing quite well?" a new voice piped up from a short distance off.

Raz jumped up from where he'd been sitting to find Loboto storming out from the Motherlobe. "Loboto! I didn't think you'd be coming out here—"

"There you are! I've been looking for you!" Loboto cried as he approached, only to balk before coming closer to Otto. "Well, not you, but I've been looking for my son!"

"Daughter," Raz corrected, deadpan. "And she's not really your daughter."

"Oh, phtttbbt." Loboto waved a claw, sticking out his tongue. "She's my kid and I'll call her what I want! But the problem is, she's not anywhere! Or... not in the lab, anyway."

"How do you know that?" Otto asked with a raised brow. "Weren't you strictly forbidden from the lab for the time being?"

"No."

Raz winced, looking between Loboto and the water. "I'm pretty sure you were—"

"Nope, not anymore!" Loboto strode closer to the edge of the platform, still keeping his distance from Otto.

"Oh? Did someone give you permission to go there?"

"Yes." Frowning (as much as he could frown), Loboto put his hands on his hips. "I did!"

"I... didn't think that was how that worked," Raz remarked.

"It does when you have kids!"

"But you don't—"

"Where is she, anyway? You'd think a lungfish that large would be easy to spot."

As if on cue, Linda broke through the surface of the water, holding her prosthesis in her left fin. It is still a strange feeling, she remarked, but perhaps I will— She looked up, locking eyes with Loboto. Oh.

Loboto's loupes twitched this way and that as he took in Linda's appearance before he gave a gasp of horror. "Linda!" he cried. "What happened?!" Stumbling forward, he fell off the platform and crashed headfirst into the water, only to scramble back up onto the island that Raz occupied. Linda and Mr. Pokeylope both glared at him from the water.

"It's okay, Cali," Raz said hurriedly, holding up his hands. "She's fine! Otto and Sheegor and I have been keeping an eye on her and she's doing okay, now."

This didn't stop Loboto from stepping as close to the water's edge as he dared, staring at Linda's prosthetic limb before looking down at his own. "I see," he murmured before his face brightened. "She's becoming just like her old man!"

A number of bubbles appeared around Linda's partially-submerged face as her eyes narrowed further. Without a word, she spun around and dipped into the lake, only for her tail to surface and slap down against the water, creating a wave that struck Loboto directly, knocking him off his feet with an undignified squawk.

"Teenagers," Loboto coughed, pushing himself up on his arms, while Raz hurried up to his side.

"Sorry, Cali," Raz whispered as he helped Loboto to his feet. "Now's not... really a good time."

"It's fine, it's fine, she'll come around," he muttered, brushing some of the water off himself. Sighing, he made his way back toward the Motherlobe. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find Morris so I can borrow his blow-drier again..."

As Loboto left, Raz looked back into the water. It was harder to see Linda as the sky grew darker, but at the moment, he got the impression that she didn't want to be found.

—~~~---

When Linda failed to surface again some time afterward, Otto decided they'd done enough testing for the day anyway, and retired to his workshop to inform Sasha that they'd be switching back. Raz waited a bit longer before heading back to the Questionable Area to where his family was stationed. Even after dinner, though, he couldn't help but wonder about how Linda was doing, and so later that night he found himself hopping through the nearest Otto B.O.N. and out in front of the Motherlobe.

He did not see Linda's lumpy silhouette against the quarry, but he did spot something else distinctly out of place: a long, tube-like object sitting on the shore of the nearby island. Actually, no, it seemed to be two tubes jointed in the middle, with a long strap, and... fins...

Heart jumping into his throat, Raz charged out toward the island, landing on it roughly and kneeling down to get a closer look. It was absolutely Linda's prosthetic limb, though now it bore a few scratches in the metal. His mind raced, trying to conjure up what on earth could have caused that. Was it piranhas? Were there piranhas in the quarry? He hadn't seen them before, but then, he'd never swum in the quarry before, or... anywhere, ever. What if piranhas had chewed on Linda's arm? What if they'd attacked her? What if she was a prey animal to predators in this environment? What if they'd eaten her?! What if her arm was all there was left, and they'd spit it up onto shore, and, and—?!

Razputin.

Raz gave a start, realizing only when he scrubbed at his face that he'd been crying. Looking around, he spotted Linda sitting on one of the nearby logs, her eyes glowing at him from the darkness, her tail wrapped around her side and dangling into the water. He wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there, whether he'd just failed to notice her or if she'd only just surfaced, but he dismissed his earlier panicked thoughts and leaped over to the log.

"Linda! I'm glad you're..." He trailed off when he realized she was now staring out at nothing. At her side he could see the scars from where her arm had once been, and looked back at the prosthetic limb sitting across from them. "...Did it fall off?" he asked. "I can help you put it back on, and we can tell Otto tomorrow so he can—"

No.

Frowning, Raz waited for her to continue. When she remained silent, he heaved a sigh, sitting next to her. Now that he was a bit closer, he could hear the tiny snores of Mr. Pokeylope sleeping at her side.

As they sat, Linda raised up her hand near the stitches on her head. Raz thought she might scratch at them, but instead she simply felt around them with the smooth side of one of her claws. It took him a moment to realize that they weren't the scars from her injury, but from where the metal plate on her head had been removed.

"Does it still hurt?"

...Yes. Linda's eyes closed. In many ways.

Raz wrapped his arms around himself, biting his lip in thought as mulled something over. He took a breath. “You forgave me, and that guy that hurt you,” he said slowly. “But not—?”

You and he acted out of self-defense. Linda opened her eyes again, their yellow glow reflecting against the dark water below. He acted out of self-interest, and malice.

Well, he couldn’t argue with that, but… He kicked his feet as they dangled over the edge. "He's different now, you know."

Yet I remain unchanged.

Though she did not move her mouth, her words were biting.

Raz winced. "I'm sorry, Linda—"

You have nothing to apologize for, Razputin. But his change in behavior does not change my circumstances. And I do not wish to be reminded of my connection to him.

Realization dawned on him as he looked back out at the island and remembered what Loboto had said earlier. "Ohhhh." His eyebrows raised, then furrowed in thought, and something struck him. "Y'know, I get it. When someone does something that... changes you, it doesn't really stop hurting even when they change."

Linda hummed in quiet agreement.

"But you don't have to stop doing things that... can help you."

Her humming stopped, and the yellow reflections in the water shifted to the side as she glanced away.

Raz put his hands on his knees, gripping them. "Ford... he did something that changed me, and my entire family. But... he also taught me a lot, like telekinesis." Straightening his back, he turned to face Linda. "That stuff reminds me of him, but... without that, I wouldn't have been able to help you."

The quarry was silent save for the ever-present crickets and the lapping of water. Linda drew in a breath and released it in an enormous sigh. ...Perhaps you are right, Razputin. Her tail swished in the water, the waves distorting her reflection. I do not wish to be like him... but I do not wish to sabotage myself, either.

Raz thought of bringing up the fact that perhaps Loboto could make things up for Linda, but held himself back; there would be time for that another day. They all had enough to deal with as it was.

"You'll get it figured out," he said instead. After a moment, he reached out and placed a hand on Linda's side, careful to avoid the scars.

...You are a true friend, Razputin.

With an embarrassed laugh, Raz shook his head. "I'm just doing what a Psychonaut would do."

Linda let out a deep, rumbling chuckle. That too.

[ashes-and-static]

He landed delicately, heel-toe-heel-toe, precise in his movements in a way only a lifelong acrobat could be. A pair of shaskas manifested in his hands - psychic manifestations like the hands he'd created during his brief stint at Whispering Rocks Summer Camp, but decidedly sharper.

The two intruders that had drawn his ire froze under his goggled gaze, letting him take in their unmasked faces.

Recognizing them, he released his psychic blades, allowing himself to relax into a slouch. "Agents Nein and Vodello. I'm surprised it took you this long to find us," he rumbled, a touch of telekinesis sweeping his goggles back up his forehead.

"Razputin?!" Sasha's voice was a crack of lightning across his ears.

---

Many agents across the entire Psychonauts organization would tell you they knew, or knew of, the rising star of the most recent graduates. Lightning quick, a wisecrack, confident almost to the brink of arrogance- the descriptors went on and on, describing a star agent who often tried to carry the entire world with a smile. "Such a shame," they would whisper, shaking their heads. "Burned himself out."

Agents Nein and Vodello would tell a different tale. They'd been allowed behind the curtains, privy to the backstage of the grand performance that had been their favorite pupil's day-to-day. If asked in confidence, they'd reveal that the arrogance was an act, meant to put people at ease. The jokes were honest enough, but born out of anxiety rather than simple observation; the reality behind the smoke and mirrors was an anxious, traumatized boy who felt that everything he did had to be beyond scrutiny. Above reproach.

"He was always trying to make up for the fact that what he did was, well. His doing, instead of someone who he felt deserved the recognition." Agent Vodello would say, a soft frown gracing her face.

"Crippling anxiety. He never really grew out of it, even when we tried to impress on him that perfection was not expected, even in critical missions. Even when he accepted that the rest of us were only human, were allowed to make mistakes, he always held himself to a higher standard. To an impossible standard, even. I cannot tell you how many times I tried to bring that standard down, even to the point of offering to do for him what he did for many others and do a walkthrough of his mindscape." Agent Nein would cough, before shaking his head. "He always made excuses to keep me out of his mind, and that is not a boundary I was willing to risk crossing."

The agent who knew that rising star best, though... she vanished alongside him. Grand Head Zanotto would not speak on the disappearance of his daughter and his star junior agent; Second Head Forsythe would also refuse comment, beyond saying "Where our agents are, and what their status is, is known to those who need to know."

---

Razputin Aquato regarded his two former-mentors warily, his thumbs hooked in his belt-loops. Behind the two superstar agents, the Pelican was settled and quiet - they'd landed with the intent to stay, it seemed.

"Razputin, darling, have you been here this entire time?" Milla asked, glancing at the landscape behind him. "Everyone has been in a tizzy for the past two years, you vanished so suddenly!"

"Here and there." Raz answered noncommittally, "Helping with the traveling circus during peak season, doing stuff during the off-season. Keeping safe."

He felt more than heard the vegetation behind him ripple. Lili was listening in, curious if she needed to intervene. "Forgive my... lack of hospitality, agents, but you really shouldn't be here. This place is hard to find for a reason, I'd really rather not deal with Deluginaries flooding this place, in a literal or figurative sense. If you insist on staying, I'm afraid you're gonna be stuck here a while."

Teleportation was... slippery, to grasp. The sense of being here, then gone, was more like a magic trick than even his other psychic abilities. With a turn, a blink, Raz stepped from the beach where the Pelican was landed to the facility that the former residents of Thorney Towers, as well as his friends from Whispering Rock, had helped him build. Lilli met him, as he stepped off the main teleportation pad, and he hugged her tightly in greeting.

"Are they gonna stay or go, do you think?" Lili asked, eyeing him once he pulled away.

"Stay, probably. They're both of them curious to a fault, and this is as good a time as any to bring them into the proverbial fold." Raz shrugged. "Hollis has been hinting for months that they've been really worried about us, and the kids would probably benefit from having some of their heroes around; god knows I did." Turning slightly, he lifted his chin so he could project his voice better. Hey, someone get a couple guest rooms ready, would ya?"

"Whatever you say, Professor X," Phoebe replied.

"I really wish she wouldn't call me that. I'm not running a school." Raz lamented.

"You kind of are, nerdbrain." Lili teased. "You're a mix of Professor X and Batman, maybe. You legalese your way into scooping up 'mutant' kids left and right and give them a new home with the best support you can give them."

"...alright, I can't really argue with that. But it's Hollis and your dad

[complete-idiot-inc]

(this post contains outdated information, may not 100% be in the finished work.)

As a belated birthday gift for Psychonauts 2, here are the central characters of the Vodello Family AU (in no particular order except for mentors coming after mentees)

Razputin "Raz" Vodello: a surprisingly strong psychic despite his age still, now he's a constantly curious, energetic, and maybe a bit too determined kid.

Cassie O'Pia: Raz’s mentor/general teacher, calm and wise. Her archetypes adore Raz to various degrees. (Liberian seems to be hiding something, however)

Dion Vodello: almost the exact opposite from canon, now a supportive, and encouraging older brother to his siblings. Also a little more musically inclined due to his mentor.

Helmut Fullbear: he may be a little longer in the tooth, but he’s still the Helmet we know and love. His mental world is now a bit less of a dissonant harmony however.

Frazie Vodello: again similar to canon but without her coming out as psychic woes, in their place however is mild middle child syndrome and a love for messing with her brothers with her cryokinetic GF.

Hollis Forsythe: the "homeroom teacher" of the interns/junior agents and Frazie's mentor, honestly deserves a vacation with what she gets put up with.

Lizzie Natividad: Frazie's GF and one of Raz's cool big sisters. besides that nothing new.

Compton Boole: a LOT less paranoid and self-defeating, patient as a saint and takes the interns on a bi-monthly bowling trip. His mental world is also more of a "cooking with" show.

Norma Natividad: She’s the responsible (Re: buzzkill) of the group, and has a mild rivalry with Raz due to her better education but his psychic proficiency makes her jealous.

Sasha Nein: carbon copy of canon character. Father figure to the Vodello siblings.

Gisu Nerumen: The cool big sister to Raz and Dion’s girlfriend. Enjoys using her devices to have some fun on occasion.

Otto Mentallis: seems a bit more wary about giving his inventions to the interns in this AU. Also seems sullen if talking to just the Vodello kids.

Morris Martinez: tries to be the cool guy, results vary.

Milla Vodello: exact same as in canon, but now raises the siblings.

Samantha “Sam” Boole: weird, but knows what she’s doing (usually). Raz reminds her of Dogen a lot.

Coach Oleander: gruff on the outside but with a soft center.

Adam Joseph-Gette: the kind hearted big brother mentor to Raz and de-facto leader of the interns.

Truman Zanotto: the grand head of the psychonauts is the trope “Reasonable Authority Figure” personified. Plus objectively the greatest dad.

Lili Zanotto: like father unlike daughter. She’s seen the whole “psychic super spies” thing since birth and has become desensitized to the wonder of it all. (Good thing Raz & his siblings make things interesting.)

Robert “Bob” Zanotto: a definite step up from canon. No longer a complete alcoholic due to his husband never dying. Tries his absolute best to hone Lili’s herbaphony.

Spoiler Character: I’ll just say this, they’re the reason the psychic 6 are so secretive, and why some of the 6 keep away from the Vodello siblings.

Ford Cruller: while he never fractured his mind like in canon, due the events during and after Grulovia he tends to just keep away from people that remind him of Lucy or the spoiler character.

[presidentstalkeyes]

Stalkeyes’ Big Bumper Post of Assorted Psychonauts 2 Headcanons

Because I’ve been slow to fully embrace this hyperfixation so I’m just gonna dump as many things as possible here - in convenient bulletpoint form! Again, BIG SPOILERS for Psychonauts 2 (probably).

Lizzie and Norma:

You’ll already know this if you’ve read Fire on Ice, but their surname is Difficulty, because dumb puns.

They grew up in a rural town, surrounded by woods - since Liz seems to enjoy hunting in the wilderness and calls Raz a ‘poor city kid’. The town’s chief point of interest is the outlet mall just next-door. Their father, Harding Difficulty, is the town judge (hence Norma’s ‘when my parents hear about this!’ threat).

Lizzie knew of her powers from an early age and took pride in them, thinking being a psychic was really cool (pun intended). As kids, she used to enjoy spooking everyone by playing into the ‘creepy psychic twins’ angle. By contrast, the straitlaced, academically-minded Norma discovered her powers much later and tried to hide them, embarrassed by her sister’s antics; she always wanted to fit in and ‘be normal’ (appropriately enough).

Norma’s pyrokinesis had a habit of growing out of control when she’s understimulated. She learned this the hard way when, one Christmas when she was 8, she got bored waiting in line for a Santa’s Grotto and accidentally torched the place to the ground. Her own father sentenced her to spend that Christmas in juvie, and even now he can’t stop guilting her over it. She later attended Whispering Rock in the hopes that they could teach her psycho-safety, and Lizzie insisted on coming with - to their surprise, the counselors really sold them on the idea of becoming Psychonauts, and Norma stopped hiding her powers, becoming much more confident, driven and competitive. She and her sister effectively (and ironically) swapped roles, with Norma impulsively thinking up schemes to get ahead of the competition, while Lizzie, rebel extraordinaire, was the one telling her to slow down and chill (again, pun intended).

Yes, they like puns. Not that they’d ever admit that.

Norma was a big fan of Sasha Nein in particular, and was overjoyed at becoming his intern after attending Whispering Rock for years. Needless to say, she was kinda peeved when they’d barely even gotten started before Nein began raving over the psychic airwaves about this kid he met at camp, and then said kid showed up to the Motherlobe - not only being accepted into the intern program after only two days, if that, BUT he’d even been on a real mission to rescue the Grand Head of the Psychonauts, accomplishing in days what the other interns couldn’t do in years. Needless to say, she wasn’t exactly unbiased when she concluded that Razputin must be the mole.

Meanwhile, Lizzie could tell her sister was just jealous but was too laid-back to press the issue, knowing Norma well enough that she’d have no success anyway (when she said about Raz ‘I just think he doesn’t want us to see him cry’, she was thinking of her). Liz was content with just teasing the poor kid.

Lizzie didn’t hate her mentor, far from it, but found him kinda frustrating - they seemed to hit it off at first, but apparently she said the wrong thing or just talked too loudly because soon Agent Boole was oddly eager to send her away. She did make an effort to get him to come out of his shell, but eventually gave up, lest she be reassigned to another mentor who was less hands-off.

Gisu:

Her full name is Gisu Karmakar Tripe. She’s of mixed American, Indian and Persian/Iranian ancestry. This is based mostly on Gisu being a Persian word, while her VA’s name is Poonam Basu, which are apparently both names of Indian origin (I say this without knowing if they’re actually Indian, just to be clear). Also, the shawl Gisu wears reminds me of an Indian Dupatta, especially the way it hangs loosely and doesn’t always cover her head.

She’s the older sister of Vernon from the first game. Unlike Sam Boole, she doesn’t like to advertise this fact, sometimes even omitting the ‘Tripe’ part of her name when introducing herself. This is based solely on three things: 1, their physical features are kinda similar, 2, I love the idea of the energetic skateboarder being related to the world’s most boring kid, and 3, I like Vernon. :V

She enjoys hip-hop music, and before joining the Psychonauts she wanted to be a rapper. Morris ‘hired’ her onto K-LOBE because her gadgeteering expertise began with tinkering with radio equipment and DJ decks. Sometimes she records people talking (usually her brother) and makes them into backing samples.

She enjoyed skateboarding even before discovering her psychic powers, though she never wanted to go pro - the sports life wasn’t for her. In fact, she discovered her powers when she tried pulling a 360 Karma Chameleon over a tug boat and would have collided with a drunken sailor had it not been for levitation kicking in.

She was quietly freaking out when Raz seemed to disappear from the base during the third act, thinking he might have been injured or even killed by the Psychoseismometers she sent him off to vent. After making sure Raz was safe, she felt a sudden urge to talk to Vernon.

She thinks Dion is kind of a dork, and after dispelling his misconceptions about psychics finds them more funny than anything else, while appreciating that he was willing to change his views. She also encourages him to go easier on Raz, still kinda shaken from thinking she might have accidentally gotten him killed (the fact that Raz saved her brother’s brain certainly helped).

The Aquato Family:

Dion is in fact Raz’s half-brother - Augustus is his step-dad. This one’s a little complicated. It’s repeatedly stated that the Deluge of Grulovia happened 20 years before the story, and Augustus at that time appears to be around Raz’s age - 12 at the very oldest - yet he has a 16/15-year-old son. Assuming he was 12 back then, that means he himself was 17/16 when Dion was born, which, while barely over the age of consent in the US, still seemed a bit too quick to make that commitment to me. Thus, Donatella was 3 or 4 years older than Gus, and when they first met, she already had a baby son she’d gotten from a previous relationship about a year earlier (she doesn’t remember who the father is, probably a brief fling while the circus had stopped by the city). This gave them a few years to bond - Gus wowing Dona with all the stories of the prestigious Aquato Family Circus back in Grulovia - before they had their first child together, Frazie (aged 13 in the present - she grew fast). This also explains why Dion is the only one of the Aquato children without psychic powers (except possibly Mirtala, though I imagine she might have dormant abilities), since everyone else got them from Augustus.

Speaking of Augustus, if he was 12 after the Deluge, then he’d be 32 in the present, even though he looks and sounds old enough to be in his 40s. This can be attributed to his choice of hairstyle, and the stress of traveling circus life and acrobatic training taking its toll on him; his eyes have dark circles from lack of sleep, while his voice is gravelly from an old smoking habit his Nona got him into (and eventually quit for the sake of the children).

The Psychic Six:

Continuing from the age thing, the Six were of varying ages back when they first formed - the oldest members were Ford and Lucrecia, since Ford was the founder and both look positively ancient in the present, probably in their 70s or even 80s, meaning they would have been in their 50s or 60s at the time of the Deluge (to me, memories of Lucrecia appeared older than the memory of Maligula, since they were more accurate representations of her as a person, while the image of Maligula was a dramatized anthropomorphic personification of what she turned into. The fact that she had pink skin when Nona doesn’t probably sealed it :V).

Meanwhile, the youngest member was Bob, since he generally came off as the most youthful, both in appearance and outlook. He appears much older than he is in the present because his lifetime of alcoholism finally caught up with him.

Compton may have had some bad experiences with teenagers when he was younger - I imagine he was always kinda socially withdrawn even before the incident at the animal shelter, relating better with animals than with people (ironically, this meant he got on well with Bob, though not to the same extent as Cassie). This meant he was a target for mean older kids - just like his grandson Dogen would eventually become - an experience that stuck with him. He was reluctant to interact with Lizzie for partly this reason (plus, he’d heard stories of how older kids picked on Dogen, too), and Lizzie’s brash, devil-may-care attitude clashing with Compton’s insistence on quiet and tidiness certainly didn’t help. After Raz helped Compton overcome his self-confidence issues, he and Lizzie met up again and apologized to each other (because that sort of thing is my jam).

Cassie started writing again after the events of the story; her big comeback was The Maligula Within Us, essentially a memoir of what really happened during and after the Deluge and a treatise on how to keep one’s own personal Maligula in check (with contributions from Raz and Adam Joseph Gette, budding historian that he is).

The Zanotto Family:

If Bob Zanotto is Truman’s uncle, he must have had a sibling, yes? He did have a brother - Truman’s father and Lili’s grandpa - but he wasn’t psychic. It’s for this reason he never really got involved with the Psychonauts. Ironically enough, Truman took more after him than he did with Bob, since his dad was a businessman who emphasized the importance of making social connections, helping Truman in his development as a keen social observer, intelligence gatherer and manager, that lead to him becoming the Grand Head (notably, he was the only person in the base who noticed anything off with ‘Nick Johnsmith’). Somewhat to everyone’s surprise, too; no-one suspected a Zanotto would ascend to the position. While not heartless, he always tended to be too business-oriented for his uncle’s tastes, and never really got along well with plants, abandoning his development of herbaphony in favour of other skills.

Conversely, Lili’s mom got along well with Bob and seemed to share some of Bob’s sentiments about Truman, which lead to them getting divorced when she decided he was too much of a workaholic (she didn’t really agree with Truman’s decision to fire him, either). Lili stayed with her dad because she preferred being around fellow psychics, even if she took more after her mom and was disillusioned with the Psychonauts, inheriting her mom’s belief that they’d strayed from their goal of helping people. She almost developed her herbaphony as a display of rebellion against her father, emulating the great uncle she never met (well, maybe she had met him as a baby, but still). Truman became all too aware of this and made an effort to connect with his daughter more, but only succeeded in embarassing her. Needless to say, this all contributed to Lili’s belief that she’d been a terrible daughter.

Miscellaneous:

The world that Psychonauts takes place in is a lightly fictionalized and cartoony version of our Earth - close enough to our world that real countries like Germany, Brazil, France and Russia exist, along with historical figures like Washington, Nostradamus and Napoleon Bonaparte, but also different enough that there are people with naturally blue skin wandering around and wacky fictional countries like Grulovia also exist (plus whatever country the Lady Luctopus was in - probably Monaco or a Monaco-esque area, since they were speaking a language that was like French but not quite). I feel it hearkens back to the zany cartoons of the 60s and the 90s, which featured similar Earth-but-different settings.

[fruitytrollroll]

Some additional thoughts from an anon re: Sasha Nein, Bad Role Model, if you like? I feel like another big factor to consider here is how extremely compressed the timeframe is- both in terms the amount of time the three games cover, but also of Raz's professional trajectory. As far as Sasha knows, he has this kid until the end of this camp session or 'til his parents pick him up, whichever is sooner. (Continued 1/?)

Maybe he convinces his folks to let him come back, maybe he just practices extremely hard at home, and then maybe in several years late-teen Raz applies to the intern program and Sasha can put in a good word for him. 'Ten year old prodigy speedruns psychic education process in a handful of days, bypasses almost all formal training, saves the day twice and gets accepted into the Motherlobe' is probably not a possibility he'd give any serious consideration. (ctd 2)

And then once that actually happens, Sasha is busy rushing off on a mission, getting de-brained, rushing off on another mission, interrogating Loboto, and then rushing off on the casino mission. Even if Sasha doesn't have kind of a blind spot for what unintended lessons he's teaching (and I agree that he probably does), he spends much of the rest of the timeline getting swept along by one event after another. (ctd)

He hasn't really had much time to think about the outsized impact he's had on Raz or what that could do to a kid, let alone recognize the mistakes he's made and to try to course correct. The contradiction is easy for us to see, but between Sasha's general temperament and all of the everything going on, it feels entirely realistic to me that he fails to make that connection. (/end)

oh my god this slaps

all these points are so reasonable and smart and i'm! going to kiss you! on the mouth!!

we've had 16 years to get attached to sasha and build up his dynamic with raz in our heads, but the fact remains that they've only known each other for maybe a week, tops?

raz might idolize sasha, but that is, as we say, a parasocial relationship! and while it's tempting to interpret their relationship exclusively from raz's point of view since he's the protagonist, raz knows a lot more about the senior agents than any of them know about him, and he's eager to do whatever they ask of him, desperate to over-achieve, and naturally talented enough to actually succeed at it.

like, the average camper would give up, or get distracted. and it's a common refrain to promise kids privileges provided they accomplish an improbable task. this way you can brush off complaints and nagging by setting the bar so high that there's no possible outcome where you'll have to make good on that promise. you can say no without brooking any argument, all while making it sound like you're saying yes!

but then raz just like. does that. and everyone around him is just like. holy shit. and at that point they might rationalize making good on the promise they made because well, he DID work really hard to accomplish this unreasonable demand... i should throw him a bone... and also at this point i am curious to see what he CAN'T do!

raz is so anomalously exceptional that people forget to hold him to like. normal human child standards lmao. (and also the suspension of disbelief was greater in the first game, but we can apply logic to the narrative that emerges as a consequence of that if we want to, as a treat)

anyway!!! that's really really smart!!! thank you for sharing!!!

[transmogrified-in-the-void]

please explain pyschonauts to me im incredibly interested now

Okay this is gonna be long

so psychonauts is about this 10 year old circus kid razputin "raz" aquato who is psychic. his family doesn't like psychics because a long time ago a psychic cursed the entire family to die in water. he loves to read this magazine abt psychic agents called the psychonauts called true psychic tales, and one day some dude gives him this flyer for this psychic camp called whispering rock. his dad finds it and destroys it. so raz runs away on a pony then hitches a ride and gets there.

whispering rock is actually a secret government camp for future psychonauts or psychic children of psychonauts. it's run by coach oleander, who is short and has a head to body proportion of 80% to 20%, camilla "milla" vodelo, the representation of the right side of the brain who thinks and lives the 80s and calls everyone darling and has probably done every drug known to man recreationally but who knows, and sasha nein, the left brain rep who is tall and green and a scientist/inventor and his brain is actually a cube.

there's also ford cruller, who is seen around camp doing like every job bc he can teleport but he doesn't remember bc his brain is fractured and he needs to be near the psitanium deposits to stay mentally together.

after breaking in during a speech by coach oleander, raz's parents are called but they wont be there for a few days, so he can stay and do stuff. he does coach's "basic braining" which is the tutorial level and it's full of like war stuff. by going through mental vaults (which hold memories), it turns out he was rejected from every military everything (including cook!) bc he's too short.

also there's this kid called bobby zilch who does this funky dance and song thing bc he thinks he's better than raz and when raz absolutely kills it in the level he takes bobby's taunt and it's so fucking funny.

anyways! sasha sees raz doing so good and is like "here's a button. go to my secret lab :)" and raz does but also you can make him talk to the kids and he'll straight up ask if they know where it is like i love him

you go and he has this thing called the brain tumbler where it goes into raz's mind which is the caravan he was born in and it's all dark and as he goes through it there's all these vines and stuff, eventually coming to this huge tower that raz has never seen, and when he looks in he sees this evil dentist dude in a shower cap who's doctor loboto, unlicensed dentist and ameature brain surgeon, with this kid named dogen (another camper), and threatens to make him sneeze his brain out.

raz is pulled out of the brain tumbler and he runs to dogen and looks in his ears and turns out he's brainless! so he gets his oarsman badge and goes to milla's brain to learn levitation (its a ball you can run on and a balloon that floats down slowly). i love her brain though because it's literally just an 80s party. also she has hidden trauma aka she went to get groceries and the orphanage she took care of burned and she heard all the children screaming for her :)))) you also go to sasha's mind to learn psi blast, and his brain is a literal cube and you fight censors (an enemy). raz is 10 so he puts the lever up to danger the moment sasha leaves, releasing so many censors and also parts of sasha's brain comes out of the cube. there's this giant censor and sasha returns at that point and says something like "you're my own creation i command you to stop!!!" also turns out that sahsa's mom died when he was young and he used psychic powers to learn abt her from his dad's brain thoughts on her. he ran away bc his dad was thinking abt sexy times eventually and he was scarred.

SO raz goes back into the brain tumblr and sees dogen sneeze his brain out, he follows it and ends up in coach oleander's mind again and sees plans for an evil brain tank before being forced out bc sasha turned off the brain tumbler and runs off for psychonauts business. he leaves behind a door called a psycho portal that can take raz into ppls brains.

he meets this girl named lili (who wants to make out with him real bad??? and he's just like :) hi im raz abt it its so funny he kisses her twice but its weird idk man it was 2005), and they think that coach is going to take over the world by stealing the brains of the campers and turning them into brain tanks or whatever. before they can even do anything lili is taken by this thing called a lungfish only this one is huge and raz is forced to take this thing called the bathysphere that's just a waterproof tank to save her

he and the lungfish fight under an air bubble and when he beats the lungfish he goes into her brain and it's just a kaiju movie sort of thing and frees the lungfish of oleander's control. once she's free, the lungfish takes raz to the asylum and when raz asks what her name is she says her name is linda, gives raz a thing to call her, and leaves.

raz goes into this dude boyd's brain to get into the asylum, and enters one of the best levels in the game: the milkman conspiracy. apparently it's based off the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic, but god is it so cool!!! i can't even- it's just so good and i love it and it has so many good lines. anyways once you fix up boyd's brain by reminding him that he is the milkman and he can throw milk Molotov's, you go into three people's brains.

gloria von gouton is an actress who has a horrible and very evil inner critic, and after literally beating him up and turning him tiny she feels much better and walks around the garden outside. edgar teglee is a painter and ex-wrestler who was cheated on by his girlfriend the day of like finals i think and he's haunted by both of those things, and by killing the mental image of his ex and the guy she cheated on him with while also portraying the inhumanity of bullfighting, you're able to let him finish a painting of dr. loboto. also there's fred bonapart who's suffering from a mental version of napoleon bonapart who's his ancestor and that world is like catan but way cooler.

you need to get this dude named crispin to think you're dr. loboto and you do bc he can't see very well by holding a claw while wearing a straight jacket and teglee's painting. by going up the asylum you can get the camper's brains (which raz kisses as he gets them in true 10 year old fashion), and you find this lady named sheegor who is being forced to help dr. loboto bc he's holding her turtle mr. pokeylope captive.

once you get mr pokeylope (who sounds like a full ass adult man its so funny), you use his brain to throw dr. loboto off the side of the tower (he lives) and rebrain sasha and milla, who are in a separate room with lili but were brainless.

oleander shows up and tries to beat them but sasha and milla are too good and also ford shows up with psitanium on his back and sneezing powder which makes coach sneeze out his brain. then boyd blows up the asylum and everyone in there leaves. meanwhile in the courtyard, everyone but raz thinks its over but coach is actually in the big brain tank and survived the explosion and he knocks everyone but raz out bc he has a bone to pick w him and they fight. raz wins but sneezes his brain out which he then telekenises into the tank with coach and their brain worlds merge into another absolutely amazing level: the meat circus

raz sees a young oleander who's trying to protect a bunny from his dad. after looking at some memories (oleander's dad killed the bunnies in front of him) you fight his dad and defeat him but then raz's version of his dad shows up and needs to prove that he's still an aquato by acrobatting his way up and away from rising water while brain dad is throwing explosive bowling pins at him.

also this entire time something's been saying 'razputin' and after fighting both dad's at once and they fall into a meat mincer raz's actual dad appears and is like 'hey wait you think that's me??? raz im also psychic i just wanted to protect you bc i thought that by showing you were psychic ppl might try and hurt you :(( but i understand now that this is who u are and i support you'

and then this horrible mix of raz brain dad and oleander dad appears and raz's real dad turns him into a big psychic version of raz who beats up the brain dads and then he wakes up with his brain in his body and oleander apologizes for trying to take over the world.

and then it before everyone leaves and raz is making the decision of staying in the psychonauts (ford made him a psychonaut!!!) or going back to the circus turns out the leader of the psychonauts, lili's dad, is kidnapped and they need to leave, and that's psychonauts 1

[omeleta-omelete]

Why do you think the interns were paired up with the specific mentors they were? (Adam with Truman, etc.)

Hi there, and thank you very much for asking! Basically, my guess is that each mentor was assigned according to how similar their personalities are in comparison to each intern, but also according to what they could teach them! So, individually saying:

Gisu - my guess is that she was assigned to Otto due the obvious parallel between her love for machines and his ability with creating them. So he could teach her lots of psychic-related technology (maybe the Psychonauts have an engineering / mechanicas department?) and some dubious science ethics 🤣

Sam - being honest? I have no fucking clue why she was assigned to be his intern! 😅 it could be because they both have very chaotic personalities...

Norma - she is a very curious girl, whose talents for investigating stuff and collecting data in general are surely noticible even though she easily becomes lost by her own conspiracy theories and need to prove she's right no matter what. Both qualities essential to a spy for sure, but also very characteristic traits of Sasha's personality! I mean, who would be better to teach her how to research things from a scientifical point of view than our science guy, Sasha Nein? Exaclty, nobody!

Lizzie - Comptom and her don't have anything in common, as far as I can tell... but he has all the patience, calm and self control she seems to be lacking. Yes, he has some essential traits every agent needs... even though Sam surely could use some of his knowledge about how to properly deal with animals. Actually, she and Comptom probably weren't assigned together because such mentoring relationship between them could lead to strong suspicious / complaints related to nepotism issues (more than what would happen in the current setting) + they both probably wouldn't feel comfortable in that position. I also like to think that Comptom could develop some self-steam by Lizzie's influence, and maybe learn with her how to impose his opinions in a more effective way.

Morris - he's already specialized in levitation, so why not assign him the best levitator in the world? Milla is probably the only one who can actually help him improve his abilities... and they both are music lovers, babe! 💃 though I can see Norma needing some emphaty lessons from Milla, she probably wouldn't know how to deal with a pyrokinetic psychic, due feeling very unconfortable around that much fire!

Adam - according to the Wikia, his mentors are both Hollis and Truman. Now, the grand-head of the Psychonauts mentoring someone sounds very unlikely... even if there's the possibility he indeed was Adam's mentor, but had to be substituted by Hollis due the Rhombus incident. So let's just consider Hollis his mentor! 😅 That set, just like her, he's seems to be a very punctual, tidy and resposible dude, always willing to learn about the Psychonauts' history or another kinds of random psychic knowledge. Adam has a leader profile, and no one is better for teaching leadership than Hollis Forsythe! I mean, she's not the grand-head of the Psychonauts, I know that... but she seems to, in practice, rule the organization way more than Truman himself.

I considered also rambling about why Raz was assigned to Nick, but I guess he isn't considered an intern by most of you guys??? Well, whatever it be, there's this post here in Tumblr about how Nick, despite all the plot circunstances, could have teached him two things that are useful not only for agent life, but essential for everyday life too: patience and organization.

I hope that was a satisfatory answer! Any questions left? Any rambles you wish to hear about whatever else related to Psychonauts? My ask box is open, so ask it all away! 😊

See you next time!! ❤️

[britishsass]

Want some angst? “You’ll make things worse if you interfere.” Would make a good fight scene for the Razdad AU

I've had an idea for this, I've just been lazy about writing it. Sorry for the long wait there, anon. Just a warning, this is a bit OOC for Sasha in my opinion.

To say that this was a good idea in the first place would be a complete lie on Sasha's part. It was rare there was any allowance to visit the mind of someone so young, and even by "parental permission," it rarely meant that he'd have to chaperone an adult around.

That alone made this mission complicated.

"So, might I ask what this is?" Augustus interrupted Sasha's thoughts, and he sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"That is a piece of emotional baggage."

"Hm. What should we do with it?"

"Leave it for now. If you find a tag for it, then that'll fit." Sasha barely looked his way, walking across the grass outside of the caravan and tents. "For now, stay close, and let me work. You'll make things worse if you interfere."

Augustus noticeably bristled. "Interfere? Agent Nein. This is my son's mind. He might have specifically requested your help, but he also requested mine."

"I am aware. My point is, you've never been inside of a mind except for one time when you solely assisted Razputin with the brain tank incident. You must understand that you are not the one who knows what to do here. If you interfere in my work, it could harm your son--"

"I'm not going to interfere. I'm here to help."

Sasha narrowed his eyes, and Augustus crossed his arms.

"I'm not an idiot, Agent Nein. I know my son well enough. I'm here to assist, and that is final."

"...Fine. But follow my lead."

[tinyinvadr]

Back with another chapter! Not much g/t in this one, but we’ll get there!

Psychoborrower

Chapter 2

I didn’t end up finishing the course. But just as I feared, Raz did. And to add insult to injury, Sasha approached him afterward to recruit him for some sort of advanced training.

Naturally, I had to go snoop.

Sasha had set up a new experiment called the Brain Tumbler. It was a big machine that allowed the user to venture into their own subconscious. If it weren’t for the fact that I never showed myself in the physical world, I’m certain he would’ve chosen me to test it out first. Obviously.

I observed in secret from my hidden space I’d set up for myself in the lab back when I first arrived at camp. Well, there wasn’t much to actually see. Just Raz standing in front of the tumbler and describing what he was seeing.

I listened intently, hoping that some sort of weakness would be uncovered that would reveal he’s unfit for the Psychonauts. Instead, I learned of a strange and distressing pattern.

After he described entering his family’s caravan, he encountered a “bunny-like animal”.

Of course, Sasha had no knowledge of the bunnies in Oleander’s mind, so this didn’t raise any concern to him. But to me, the connection was obvious.

There were no bunnies before Raz showed up. Then, suddenly, they appeared after he arrived. And if he was also seeing them in his own mind, then that means the ones we saw in Basic Braining must have been conjured by him somehow.

But… why?

A horrifying thought came to me. He was doing this on purpose. He knew. He had to. He must’ve somehow saw into my thoughts without me knowing, found out what I am, learned about my fears, and was using them against me. It was the only explanation.

Unfortunately for him, he picked the wrong borrower to mess with. Now that I knew what he was doing, I would make him pay for it.

And the perfect opportunity arose when Sasha had to pull him out of the tumbler. He started freaking out over some sort of monster, and he agreed to start Marksmanship training. The ultimate battlefield.

Of course, he had to go off and get a learner’s permit first, but that gave me plenty of time to mentally prepare. I couldn’t just rush right in there and start shooting at him, especially not with Sasha present. I had to play my cards carefully.

Later on, Raz returned to the lab, and Sasha opened the portal for him, so I projected myself in as well.

They were surprised to see me, to say the least.

“Flint, how many times have I told you not to enter my mind unannounced? Razputin was just about to start his Marksmanship training.”

“I’m sorry for barging in. I just thought I could give the newbie some tips.”

Raz looked at me skeptically. He could already tell I was planning something. He had to know I was onto him.

As for Sasha, he looked like he had a plan of his own.

“That won’t be necessary. Though, perhaps there is something more you can learn here today.”

I should’ve known he would have something lined up for me just in case I decided to show up. But I could work around it.

“With all due respect, Agent Nein, I think I already have Marksmanship covered. Wouldn’t the next step be for me to impart my wisdom on this young and inexperienced PSI Cadet?”

I could see Raz giving me the stink eye, while Sasha just smirked.

“On the contrary, I’d like you to follow Razputin’s lead in this exercise.”

“WHAT?!”

Thankfully he wasn’t offended by my sudden outburst. He simply placed a hand on my shoulder.

In all the time I spent at camp, entering different minds, there was something about human contact that never stopped feeling otherworldly to me. It was probably because this kind of interaction wasn’t possible in the physical world, so it always felt strange to exist in a space where I’m also human, in a sense.

“Flint, you have already proven time and time again to have excellent control over your own psychic abilities. Your independence is one of your greatest strengths. However, if you truly want to be a part of the Psychonauts one day, you must learn to work with others. And the first step is to observe the differences in how another learns and adapts to their powers. Every psychic’s experience is different, and it’s important to understand how your teammates work in order to properly cooperate. Now then… Razputin, you may begin practicing your PSI-Blast on these Censors. Remember: take it slow. And Flint… just watch.”

Just watch… What a joke.

After Sasha left, Raz started shooting at the Censors, shrugging off my presence. He was still trying to act natural, as if I didn’t know what was going on.

“Hey, he’s gone now. You can cut the act.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know you’re trying to sabotage my chances of becoming a Psychonaut. But I’ve gotta say, if you feel that threatened by me, it must make you pretty weak. The fact that you feel the need to tear me down just proves to me that you never had it in you to begin with. You don’t stand a chance here. Consider what I’m about to do as an act of mercy.”

I hit him right in the head with a psychic blast, and he stumbled back in pain.

“Ow! Hey! What was that about? I’m not trying to sabotage you!”

“Then explain the bunnies! Why are you plaguing this camp with bunnies!?”

He stared at me in confusion.

“Did you hit your head or something?”

I blasted him again.

“Ah! Stop that! Look, I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m not gonna let you get in the way of my super important Psychonauts training.”

He ran over to the lever in the center of the cube and flipped it to a higher intensity, releasing more Censors.

“Whoa, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Speeding things up. I don’t have a lot of time before my Dad gets here.”

Oh, this kid was worse than I thought.

“Are you insane!? This is Sasha’s mind! You can’t-”

“Hey, you heard what Agent Nein said: I train, you watch. It sounds a lot like you’re getting involved right now.”

I let out a sigh. Either way, this would hopefully take care of my problem. Hopefully.

“Fine. Your funeral, kid.”

He kept flipping the switch, more Censors spawning each time. It reached the point where they were starting to ambush me instead of him. I forgot how intense Marksmanship training can get.

“Raz, that’s enough! If I can’t handle this, you definitely can’t!”

“Watch me!”

He pulled the lever all the way to the end, and it stopped on the skull setting with a snap. Why such a setting would exist, I still don’t understand.

Suddenly, the cube began to shake as a gigantic baby crib popped out of one side. At that, Sasha returned.

“You two! What is the meaning of this?”

“He did it.” I said, pointing to Raz.

“We’ll talk more about this later. Right now, I need you both to disable the censor valves that just emerged while I regain control. Preferably without killing each other.”

We were left alone once again, begrudgingly working together to contain the Censors. I mainly held off the hoard while Raz took out the valves.

After a while, it really started to feel like a chore. We’d shut down one leak, and another would open up. It felt like it would just go on forever. All the while, Sasha’s most personal thoughts and memories were out in the open. Memories that he never intended for anyone to see. I felt guilty just being there.

We finally cut off all the leaks, and Sasha returned once again.

“I hope you boys have learned something from all this.”

I nodded. “Yes. Never let Raz do anything.”

“No! I meant that when you lose control over a mind, it can be very hard to get back. And I expected better from you, Flint. The ultimate goal of the Psychonauts is to help people work through their problems, not antagonize them.”

“But he-”

“Flint, do you have any solid evidence that Razputin has done anything to you?”

I sighed. He was right. The reoccurring bunnies were definitely weird, but they didn’t necessarily have anything to do with Raz. I just wanted a reason to hate him.

There wasn’t any time to process that further, as realization set in that we might’ve done too good a job at stopping the leaks, causing a buildup that spawned a Mega Censor.

Raz was able to get out of the way fast enough, but Sasha and I were caught under his stamp.

It took longer than I would’ve liked, but he did eventually beat the thing and save us. Being repeatedly smashed against the floor by a stamp isn’t something I’d wish on my worst enemies.

By that point, Sasha was desperate to get us out of his mind, and we were back in the lab.

I peeked out to watch as Raz was given his Marksmanship merit badge, and with that, he returned to the Brain Tumbler.

He was in there for what felt like an even shorter amount of time than his first attempt. It turns out he didn’t even know basic levitation.

To my surprise, after pulling Raz out of the tumbler once again, he addressed me.

“Flint, I don’t know if you’re still in the room, but if you are, I’d like for you to attend Agent Vodello’s levitation course along with Razputin. And please, try to get along this time.”

Great. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go into another mind with him, but after that stunt, Agent Nein was for sure convinced that I had some deep unresolved issues. Obviously that wasn’t the case. I was simply acting in self defense. The implication that any of this was fueled by petty jealousy was ridiculous.

Nope. I was fine. Everything was fine.

[my-makeshift-masquerade]

Riva Remembers

(A cheesy title for a fic I wrote while in the midst of an emotional breakdown, haha… I figured I’d post it on here because people seem to like my artwork of this OC so far. This is my first time writing these characters. Also I am on mobile and super duper tired from the aforementioned breakdown, so please pardon the long post. I have no idea how to put the read more thing on this… Regardless I hope someone enjoys this, I guess.)

“Agent Cruller, it’s me! Raz! I need to talk to you—“

“Sorry, senior staff only!” The old man in the mailroom office replied coldly, turning back to sorting the piles of letters with telekinesis.

“Don’t you know who I am?!” Nick’s voice came from farther into the mailroom, “I’m telling my dad!”

Razputin suddenly got an idea… He raced down to find his mentor standing there, eyes looking off in two separate directions. Another figure he recognized was on the verge of a nervous breakdown right next to him… Actually she looked like she had already been through multiple breakdowns before he even got here.

“Mr. Johnsmith?! Come on! It’s me! N-nick?!” The teen ran pale hands through her short brown hair, “Th-this is terrible! I am dead for sure!”

“Postage stamps…are scratch and sniff…” The pot-bellied man mumbled nonsensically beside her.

“Whoa, whoa, Riva…” The ten year old’s expression softened, “I was the one who found his brainless body… What do you mean you’re dead?”

“N-norma…she… t-told everyone I…”

“She thinks YOU’RE the mole?!” The child was taken aback, slightly angered even, “Why?!”

“I-I don’t know…M-maybe it’s because I didn’t notice the body before you…?” Riva sniffled, “It doesn’t matter… Agent Foresythe is going to have me detained…o-once she hears about this…”

“What?! No way!” He looked at her with determined eyes, “Don’t worry! I have a plan! I am going to get a new brain for Nick’s body, so he can let me into the mailroom office! Once I get there, I will be one step closer to proving you’re innocent!”

“Y-you really think… I-I’m innocent…?” Her tear filled blue eyes looked at him as if confused by his faith in her.

“I know you are!” He nodded, “Hey! Can you watch Ford for me until I get back? Make sure he doesn’t go anywhere!”

“F-ford…?” The other intern’s eyes narrowed at that name, as if she were squinting to see through a thick fog, “Ford…why does… Oh! Ford Cruller, right… He’s one of the psychic 6…” She shook her head, “Sorry, I am just…all over the place… These panic attacks take a lot out of me…”

“It’s all going to be okay.” The younger of the two gently took the other’s hand, waving to Nick before walking up to the office room, “Agent Cruller! This is my friend! She works in the mailroom—!”

“If she isn’t senior staff, that door ain’t openin’!” Ford declared before the boy could finish.

“Oh, I know!” Raz nodded, “This is Riva. She is having a hard time right now, and I don’t want to leave her alone. Maybe you two could talk or something?”

“Eh?! Oh, sure…sure thing…” The senior sounded slightly jostled for a moment, before returning to his distant demeanor, “Chit chat makes the sortin go faster…”

“Great!” The boy smiled at Riva before racing up to the exit of the mailroom, “I’ll be back as soon as possible!”

Soon after the sound of footsteps and levitation bubbles faded, the remaining intern heard the door creak open.

“Riva…” Cruller’s voice sounded slightly shaken, “I… Is it really you…?”

“S-sir…?” She frowned, “I-I don’t think we’ve met before…”

“Ah… I shoulda known you would’ve repressed it all…” He looked at the floor grimly, “They feared what you could become if you knew…”

“…W-what…?” The teen stepped away as the agent stepped closer, reaching a hand out to her. Eventually, she was against a wall.

“You…really were damaged by the feedback…weren’t you, kid…?” His bushy eyebrows furrowed in concern, “Back at Whisperin Rock… you remember that place, right…?”

Oh, that summer camp she got kicked out of only mere days in because she wasn’t even a real psychic?

“Yes, that’s the one.” Cruller answered her thoughts telepathically, “Except… you are psychic, Riva… Always have been… They just wanted you to believe you weren’t…so they could let you go back to society…”

Go…back…? Why wouldn’t she have been allowed to be in society if she was psychic? Isn’t that what the psychonauts are all about?

“You had potential, unlike what Nein Vodello and myself had ever seen from such a young mind… until Raz showed up, of course, but he was slightly older than you were…” He finally grabbed both of her hands, encasing them in his own, “You had such a gift with clairvoyance… it was beyond what the psychonauts ever thought was possible…”

“W-Wait…” She blinked, “You know Raz then? Why didn’t you just let him in the office…?”

“He’s not ready to learn the dark truths I’ve got tucked away in this old noggin…” The old man sighed, “I-I’m not ready for em, either… but… you are. You need to know the truth about yourself… You need to stop disregarding me when I say this: You ARE psychic…”

“B-BUT I’M NOT!” Riva tried to pull her hands away from him, to which he gently released them from their hold, “T-THAT CAMP WAS THE WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME! I THOUGHT I WOULD FIND SOMEWHERE I BELONGED, THAT I WAS GOOD FOR SOMETHING! B-but… I wasn’t… I-I was so full of myself to think I was special! M-My brains just BROKEN—“

“Stop it right there.” His voice became firmer, “Listen to me, before someone comes! Your potent clairvoyance meant we didn’t need any altering technology to convince you of a lie… You are so in tune with other people’s viewpoints and perspectives… you don’t even know what your reality is anymore… Other people tell you who you are, what you do, where you go. No more playin pretend, Riva.”

“I-I…b-but…”

“You were a psychic of high potential even at age 7, with budding specialities in clairvoyance, and hydrokinesis….” He smiled, “You… you made friends with every single piece of me, kid… I took you under my wing to teach you what I knew… but hydrokinesis… was a feared ability due to…well… another incident... When that secret spilled…”

“N-no… I-I can’t be… I-I don’t remember any of this!“

“Nein feared that your age, your diagnosis of autism, both combined with your psychic potential could result in you developing powerful abilities beyond even your own control…” Ford shook his head, “Headquarters wanted to lock ya up for observation in a psychoisolation facility for life… but, Sasha found a loophole. By having someone tell you that their biased perspective was reality, your brain would doubt its own perception, and start to believe them. That’s how we managed to let you leave that campsite with your family…”

By this point Riva was speechless, as countless memories she thought she had selfishly dreamed about returned to her. She fell to her knees, staring at nothing as she was flooded with all that she had forgotten. The ruthless bullying at camp, and their sabotaging of her efforts to learn to use her powers… That time they tried to drown her in the lake and she washed them all ashore on accident… the horror on everyone’s faces… It all actually happened?!

There were some happy things hidden in the mess, though… The time she’d spend drawing the wildlife out there, the cool places to explore… and the single friend she made at camp… That’s right, the cook was always there to comfort her after the other kids picked on her… No, wait, it was the ranger… But then why’d she remember a janitor, and a man watching over the canoes…? Why did they all look the same, identical even…? Then there was one more in a psychonauts uniform…

“There ya go. Now you’re getting it…” His frail hand grabbed one of hers, helping her up with a chuckle. “I should look more familiar to ya now, eh?”

She made eye contact again, and felt so stupid for not noticing this before. Riva always had an interest in the psychonauts, because they seemed like they could tolerate different minds. If her family could afford it, she would even read True Psychic Tales, mainly because she admired the illustrations. How could she not realize she knew Ford “The Founder Of This Whole Place” Cruller until now?!

Yet, at the same time, she felt her eyes water. It was nice to know she had a friend back then, even if he was old enough to be her grandpa. She didn’t say a word, and extended her free arm as an invitation…for something she definitely needed and wouldn’t want to get from Nick. The agent understood, and they hugged for a brief moment. She felt like this had happened before.

“I-I… I’m glad to see you, Mr. Cruller, b-but…” She quickly shifted back to worrying, “I-I am not in the best situation to do much of anything regarding the truth right now… I know Norma is telling Hollis I am the spy in the psychonauts… I-I am going to get locked up in the end anyway… T-they didn’t believe me before… Why would they believe me now—?”

He was gone.

The intercom sounded, with Hollis’ sharp voice ringing out, “Would Riva Beckons please come to the main area IMMEDIATELY!”

[sxrrandomfanfics]

Aquato Interactions (Family Swap AU)

[First post] [Second post] [Third post] [Fourth post] [Fifth post] [Sixth post] [Seventh post] [Eighth post]

Practically screaming at how excited I am with this. The Aquato family are all Psychics (though Donatella is a weaker, "non-legacy" psychic) and they are in charge of the Motherlobe. How couldn't they be? Lucrecia Mux and her second husband, Ford, were original parts of the Psychic Six!

The Aquatos are also doing their best to live up to the name.

Frazie Aquato: I've already talked about her interactions with Lili as an intern, but here's a little bit more if you decide to interact with her when she's around her family instead of her peers. Frazie is slightly paranoid around Lili. I mean, a non-legacy psychic who is good at herbaphony and herbokinesis? When they're trying to fight someone who's bringing back Hellebore? Very suspicious. Frazie can be seen sometimes whispering to the other Aquatos when they're not around Raz, but she's able to save face and tell Lili a simple lie: "Family Business. We're trying to figure out Raz's next birthday present, since he usually tries to get things he wants before other people can give it to him."

Donatella Aquato: Oh the matriarch of the Aquato family. She still has some issue with Raz being the runaway son. The one who's usually going around the Motherlobe and helping Otto Mentallis or Sasha Nein. She wishes that he would take his training as a Psychonaut a little more seriously, but becomes lenient during the time that Augustus is out of commission. She is very wary of this new kid, but her darling "Pootie" has a crush on her and she supposedly helped rescue Augustus from the Rhombus of Ruin. Donatella gives her a little bit of special treatment and tells Hollis that she has a new intern. Lili is very intimidated by her and has trouble talking to her, or Raz when Dona is trying to cheer him up.

Dion Aquato: Normally, Dion (the good big brother he is) is with Razputin or Mirtala and Queepie. They need someone to comfort them while his mother's pulling double-duty and father is... asleep. His interactions with Lili are quite wholesome before he talks to Frazie. He brightens up and asks: "Is this the Lili Zanotto? You know, we overheard him telling our dad about you on the call. Looks like all the Aquatos have a type!" And he's ready to accept her the same way the other Aquatos accepted the older kids girlfriends. Of course... as the story goes on and Lili's shiftiness is caught on by the other agents Dion becomes much colder to her. The final words that Dion says to her before Lili goes into Green Needle Gulch is: "Stay away from Razputin."

Raz Aquato: Raz is a lot less isolated than canon!Lili is. He's usually with family, either doing tricks or helping them cope as they are left without their father. So Lili can't really interact with Raz as confidently as she could in the previous installments. It fills her with loneliness because she doesn't have her family with her, she ran away from her family to join the Psychics.

Mirtala Aquato: Mirtala is smitten with Lili. She thinks Lili looks cool and wishes she would hang around more. When she sees Lili grow some vines to climb to get to an area in the lower quarry, Mirtala mentions that plants need water to survive. Lili merely shrugs and states sometimes a helping hand is all someone needs, and it comes in many forms. There are some side quests that Mirtala gives to Lili that are usually just excuses to get something from her.

Queepie Aquato: Queepie's way too tied up with his family to really care about Lili. He's worried about his dad and wants to be near him, and he usually clings to his other siblings because of it. He doesn't know Lili as well as he knows Gisu or Norma.

Lucrecia Mux Aquato: Lucrecia... She is a woman who was too dangerous to be around her own family. But she's such a loving woman. When Lili first finds Lucrecia, Lucy quickly wraps Lili up in a blanket and urges her to get warm and dry by the fire. The rapids must have gotten Lili wet. Lucy and Lili take on a very quick grandmother and granddaughter dynamic, and thanks to Lucy's kindness and hydrokinesis Lili let's out a few tears and tries to tell her what's going on. But once Lucy hears, she has none of it and tries to throw Lili out. Of course... some water plants and water itself is able to take the Psi-Portal and help Lili get into Lucy's mind