To enter another ones mind without the aid of a Psycho-portal is an advanced feat for a psychic mind. Raz had never done it before, but he was going to right now. It was a good a time as any to learn. Because suddenly, the most important thing in the world to him was to get inside that twisted, green freak and unwind his sick mind. His mind was set on it. He was angry. He was determined. He reached out psychically and spend to Nawrocki's mind.

Nawrocki saw it coming and countered with his own stream of psychic energy. For a moment, there was an intense struggle of power, each one trying to get into the other's mind whill keeping him out of his. The energy became visible, and got brighter and brighter until everything was so white he had to close his eyes, and it was still white. Then suddenly it was pitch dark and he was lying on his back. He opened his eyes and he was outside, looking up at a gray sky.

"Is this your mind?" he asked out loud, knowing that Nawrocki was nearby.

"No..." Nawrocki said, seeming as confused as he was. "It isn't yours?"

"No..." Raz sat up and looked around. It was a small, cute turn-of-the-century Americana small town setting, capped with a fairy tale castle. "Whose mind is it?"

"a-HEM."

Raz looked behind him and saw Allie, standing on the curb of the street with her arms crossed, flanked by two censors wearing mouse ears. One of them was brandishing a knife, and the other was waving a severed head in a coonskin cap at them.

"This is my mind," she said sternly, "and I'll thank you to stay out of it. I have some very private things in here that I don't want to share."

Raz squinted at the censors. "Is that one holding the severed head of Davy Crockett?"

"I said private things!"

"Okay, whatever."

The censor gestured to Allie. She leaned over and he whispered something in Japanese to her.

"Oh, I know," she said to him, "but he's mad anyway so it doesn't matter."

Raz rolled his eyes.

Nawrocki bowed graciously. "I'd be glad to leave your mental sanctuary, ma'am. I'll just step out into the mind of grand old Razputin here--"

"Oh, no you won't!" Raz argued. He blasted aggression in Nawrocki's direction. Nawrocki dodged swiftly, and instead the beam hit an authentically crafted lamppost.

"Hey, be careful!" Allie shouted.

Nawrocki swiped the ground with a thorny vine under Raz's feet. Raz jumped and landed on his Levitation wrecking ball. He rolled up onto the curb and down the alkway, taking out a mailbox, a bench, and several lampposts.

"Dammit!" shouted Allie. "Rosco! Bosco! Ditch the head and get them to knock it off!"

"No no no!" The censors tossed aside the head and sword and waddled off after Raz and Nawrocki, still battling.

Raz blasted Rosco twice, and those blasts bounced off him and hit Bosco, exploding them both. Then he hit Nawrocki twice with his fists, but before he could go for a combo, Nawrocki threw a confusion grenade and it went off on them both.

As they were trying to shake off the fog of confusion, the ground rumbled as giant footsteps sounded off. A dark, looming figure appeared over them.

"I told you to get out," said Allie in a singsong voice.

A deep, throaty, gravelly voice spoke from above them, "So what's with these freaks? The characters from your stupid little obsession? Goddamn it, this is a pain. When are you going to get these freaks out of your mind and fill it with something other than candy-ass retard characters? God, no wonder you suck so bad at college if you cram your mind full of this shit at home."

The confusion lifted, and Raz and Nawrocki looked up slowly. A large, film-negative version of Allie stood towering over them. Her eyes were blood-red and evil, and she had claws and fangs. Allie was standing next to the beast, about knee-high.

"Raz, Nawrocki," she said politely, "I'd like you to meet the source of my depression. I call her Big Nasty. Big Nasty, this is Raz and Nawrocki."

"I know who they are," snapped Big Nasty. "Jeeze, they float around this cobwebbed trash hole of a brain you've been sattled with. Although they certainly don't act anything like they should. Couldn't expect more, given what a godawful author you are. Those 'special-needs' retards you used to go to school with could cobble together better than--"

"Shut up, Big Nasty," grumbled Allie, glaring at her.

"Don't tell me to shut up. You're the one too dumb to ever say anything anyone wants to listen to. Though that doesn't stop you from talking nonstop day in and day out--"

"Hey, you're the one who won't shut up!" Raz snapped.

Big Nasty glared daggers at Raz, and then lifted her fist over his head. "You know what?" she said lightly. "I'm going to smash you like a spider. Like the little one is too much of a big fat chicken to do."

Raz looked up at her fist. "You know what?" he squeaked, "I think I'm gonna go."

"Yes, I as well feel I should be going," added Nawrocki.

"That would be best." Allie nodded.

Nawrocki turned around and jumped into Raz. Raz jumped- Nawrocki certainly could think quickly. Raz turned around and jumped into himself, into his own mind.

In Raz's mind, Nawrocki was already looking around. He frowned. "This is your mind?" he asked lazily. "Pretty cluttered, isn't it?"

Raz lookd around. It was certainly a hub of activity. More so than he remembered, actually. The whole place was buzzing with activity. Or, maybe it was just buzzing. Vibrating. It was off, whatever it was. Off kilter. Bizarre.

"Totally trashed, is what it is. You've let it unravel and now it's falling apart." Nawrocki looked up, up, up, so far he was leaning backwards looking at Raz upside down. "I've seen it before. You'll end up so insane you can't even remember anyone you love."

Raz sneered.

"Let's fight," said Nawrocki.

"Kay."

They fought again some more. Nawrocki prefered ranged attacks, standing from afar and hurling blasts and grenades. He also reached out to pick Raz up at first, but his circus upbringing left Raz too nimble for Nawrocki's clunky psychic hand. Raz jumped back on his wrecking ball and tried to ram Nawrocki once, and then never again- Nawrocki stopped the ball and Raz went flying.

Scenery jumped out of the way whenever Raz got close. They were in a sort of bubble of nothing, as if everything in his mind was a fuzzy backdrop. Their battle carried them around, but it was as if they never moded at all.

"You're looking at the background," said Nawrocki.

"So what?" Raz let off two blasts of aggression which hit Nawrocki spot on. He skidded backwards and flipped onto his leaf-hands.

"So, you know what's wrong with it, don't you?" Nawrocki said. He was laughing without making a sound- making those little shaking, heaving movements the body does when it's laughing, but without the acutal auditory laughs.

"Shut up," said Raz. He was more annoyed than angry, but getting there.

"You're completely unraveled."

Raz grabbed a confusion grenade and hurled it at Nawrocki. Nawrocki jumped from his leaves back to his roots, but not far enough away from the confusion gas. Then Raz reached into the air and opened a door. He shoved the door at Nawrocki and slammed it shut. Nawrocki was out of his mind. Then he frowned and opened the door again.

"Way to go, Razputin!"

Raz closed the door and turned around slowly, facing the image of Ford Cruller in his mind. Good old Ford, with his official Psychonauts uniform clashing with his pink fuzzy slippers. Crazy old Ford, with his big old man nose and wild hair.

"You fight like a real Psychonaut. I knew letting you in was a good idea." He was beaming with pride.

Raz felt his eyes tearing up and looked down. "You're not real," he whispered through the lump in his throat.

Cruller looked confused. "What? I'm pretty sure I'm real, last I checked."

Raz shook his head. "No, you're not."

"You been listening to Sasha Nein again? I know he's a smart one, but he has a way of looking at things. Good old logical Sasha can't see things he doesn't understand. But you understand, don't you Raz? Course you do. That's why I made you a Psychonaut."

Raz was listening. He wanted to believe. He listened, because listening would make it true. It had to.

"Come on over here," said Ford, gesturing. "You've been doing great, but your grenade arm is a little sloppy. Let me show you how I used to do it back when I did field combat."

Raz took a step forward, and the surrounding area took the one step with him- but Ford stayed the same. One pace closer to him. Raz took another step, and the same thing happened.

He was isolated in his own mind. He couldn't get close to anything except for Ford.

And Nawrocki was right. He was a jerk, but he was right.

"What's the matter?" asked Ford. "You know you can trust me, don't you? What's wrong?"

Raz wiped his eyes and put his goggles back over his eyes. "I'm sorry, Ford," he said quietly.

"Sorry for what? Raz, what are you--"

Raz blasted Ford.

He looked up, and the space was empty. He was alone in his mind.

Raz threw the door open and jumped through into Nawrocki's mind.

Nawrocki's mind was a combination between a bank vault and a jungle. Raz landed cleanly on his feet and looked around. The ground was covered in gold and underbrush, and the steel walls wre covered with ivy. Nawrocki was clinging to one of the upper corners, looking down at Raz. It was his big eyes that gave him away.

"You really won't stop, will you?" he asked.

"Not until you let go of Sasha," said Raz menacingly.

Nawrocki glanced around. In his own mind he was in his element, but then again there was more damage that Raz could do here.

Raz picked up a big sack with a dollar sign on it, the kind bank robbers in cartoons always carry. "This is what it's all about, isn't it?" he said. "You're just trying to get rich... that's all."

"Yeah," said Nawrocki tensely. "That's all."

Raz nodded. "It really makes you think," he said, slowly and significantly. He paused. Then he blasted the cartoon money bag and it disappeared.

"Hey, don't do that!" Nawrocki shouted. He dropped to the ground.

"Don't do what?" asked Raz innocently. "This?" and he blasted that one away, too.

Nawrocki scurried over to Raz. "You cut that out!" he shouted angrily.

Then, suddenly everything went white and Raz was pulled out of Nawrocki's mind. Raz had distracted Nawrocki enough so that his grip on Sasha loosened. After that, he and Lili had the upper hand. When Raz shook off his dizzy shock at being pulled out so quickly, he saw that they had won. Lili and Sasha had Nawrocki restrained.

"Let's take him in," said Lili.

"Come here," said Sasha. "I'll help you out of here."

"And I'll help you," Lili said to Allie.

"Thanks much," Allie said.

"Yeah," said Raz, looking back at the empty sanctuary. "Yeah, let's go."

He turned back, fully aware that he would probably never see the sanctuary again. At least, he hoped he never would.