A/N: Alriiiiight, got that project done and was too excited about diving into new content with this fic to let it sit for long!


Now that their early morning traumatization was out of the way, it was time for breakfast.

Frazie followed Lili down the long rope bridge that led into the camp's main area, wondering who the heck designed this place along the way. Who was putting cabins across gorges and classrooms up in trees? An architect with a grudge, she assumed.

Apparently, there was one last adult lingering around camp. Frazie spotted him once they'd reached the other side. A tall old man, equipped with a ranger outfit and a thousand-yard stare. He kept to the side of the path, pupils bouncing along with each kid while he kept count.

When the two of them passed, the man glanced at Frazie a moment. "None of the other sprouts are nearly as tall as you. Newcomer, eh? Welcome aboard. Main lodge, straight ahead."

Indeed, the rickety wood of the biggest building in camp was nearby, a few kids already heading inside. "Thanks," Frazie said with a wave, moving along.

He kept watching them as they left, before finally cupping his mouth. "And the wilderness is off-limits!" he shouted after them.

"Everyone goes there anyway," Lili whispered at her side. Frazie just laughed.


Inside the lodge was pretty cozy. Rows of picnic tables, some already filled with kids digging in to their first meal of the day. It was a well-known cliché that camp food was always terrible, but Frazie was relieved when pleasant smells tickled her nose.

The two of them got in line, Frazie second. After Lili got her grub, the older girl stepped up...

And ended up face to face with the old man again.

The same guy, now donning an apron and chef's hat while he tended the grill. "Wha-" Frazie glanced between him and the door, pointing back and forth between the two spots she'd seen him. "Weren't you just outside?"

"Eh?" The man looked just as confused as she did. "I've been here cooking since I got up, missy. You think this food just comes outta thin air?"

"No, but..." A twin? Some sort of psychic trick? It was too early in the morning for Frazie to have a headache. "Who are you?"

The man scratched his mustache. "Name's Ford, resident chef and camp store runner. Now are you gonna keep gawking, or are you gonna grab a plate?"

Frazie raised a finger to retort... but dropped it, deciding food was more important than her confusion at the moment. "Plate, plate works..." she mumbled, sweeping one off the stack. "I'll have some pancakes and eggs... annnnnd..." She sniffed. "Is that bacon?"

A pause. Slowly, Ford looked up from the grill and turned to face her, his spaced-out pupils focusing directly on her. "Nope. No bacon here."

"But I can smell it. Heck, you practically reek of it."

"No. Bacon. Here." He pointed his spatula straight at her. "There's never been any bacon here. Bacon's just a myth."

"That doesn't even-"

He cut her off, swiping something off the kitchen shelves and offering it to her. "Look, I'll give you this here Dream Fluff for free if ya stop asking about it."

There was a small pink candy in his palm. Frazie flicked her eyes between the treat and Ford. "But I'd rather have bacon..."

"Would you rather have no bacon and no Dream Fluff?" he snapped. "Trust me, thing's delicious. Best kept for when you really need a kick of mental energy, though."

"...Fine. Deal." Well, bacon was clearly off-limits for whatever reason, but at least she had a snack for later. Pocketing the candy, she took her plate and let Ford get back to grilling as she left to go sit with Lili.

Surprisingly, dining around these parts was pretty pleasant. Ford was strange and arguably crazy, but he made good food. Meanwhile, a couple of the campers had taken the stage in the back, playing a bit of music on some drums and a DJ table.

Of course, the hall was still full of children. Frazie paused midbite to watch as a milk carton suddenly arced up from one of the tables, crashing down on a lone boy across the room.

"Poor Maloof. See why I don't hang out with these guys?" Lili muttered. Frazie had to agree, shooting the milk soaked kid a sympathetic look.

Quickly changing the subject, Lili pointed her fork her way. "Hey, once we're done here, we should work on that training you promised me!"

"Uh, hello, you said we were trading training?" Frazie corrected her.

"Fiiiiine, we'll do yours first. But don't forget mine! Imagine me being a Psychonaut that can take out bad guys with my mind and cool tricks."

"Imagine that." Frazie grinned - it was actually kind of nice getting along with one of the campers here. It reminded her of hanging out with one of her younger siblings.

That thought left a pang of guilt in her gut. She quickly buried it under another forkful of eggs.


Campers filtered out of the main lodge bit by bit once they were done eating, Frazie and Lili eventually joining them when they were done. Many of them spread out around the main area to do their own thing - make friendship bracelets, or play tag, or look for some unsuspecting kid to mess with.

Oh, and Ford was out here now raking leaves.

He'd also changed into a blue janitor suit in the blink of an eye. Frazie stared at him in open-mouthed shock, and he caught her looking. "You're gonna catch some flies in yer mouth if you keep gawking like that, miss."

She manually pushed her jaw back up into place. When the two had passed him, Frazie gestured wildly back towards him. "What is up with that guy? He's everywhere at once!"

"Who, Ford?" Lili scoffed. "He's harmless. And weird. But mostly harmless. He single-handedly keeps most of the camp running... and that's a good thing, because no one would survive Oleander in the kitchen."

Frazie wasn't convinced. "You guys are just okay with some old guy teleporting all over camp?"

"We just kinda deal with it. Plus, he makes reeeeally good pancakes."

"But how does he...?"

Lili just looked up at her blankly before lifting her hands in a shrug.

"..." Alright. If Lili said it wasn't a problem, she'd trust her. She'd just try to ignore the latent paranoia that Ford might be lurking around every corner she turned. "You know what? Forget it. Time for training, right?"

"Right!" The two girls found a nice open spot to start their mutual training trade behind the lodge, near some neatly stacked hay bales. Lili turned to look up at her new pupil, cocking a brow. "Alright... you said you were good at telekinesis. How good is good?"

"How good am I? Just watch." For the first time since she arrived, Frazie felt like a pro when she spotted a cluster of rocks nearby and tugged them out of the ground with her mind. She pulled them over and started juggling them hands free, arms behind her back as stone circled around stone. "Pfffff, this is nothing! I've been chucking pinecones at my brothers for ages."

Lili snorted back a laugh. "Alright. Then the next thing you should learn is something low-ranking. One of my favorites..." She held her palm up, and before Frazie's eyes, a spark of flame crackled and vanished. "Pyrokinesis. Making fire with your mind."

"Sounds dangerous."

"I know! Isn't it cool?"

"Isn't fire the opposite of cool?"

"Shut up. Now watch..."

The younger girl turned her head to the side and placed her fingers on her temple. The poor, innocent haybales stayed stationary under her gaze.

At first, the straw smoldered. Before long, the frontmost bale suddenly ignited, the hay blackening and curling inward as it burned away. Despite being surrounded by more bundles, the fire refused to spread, incinerating its target alone as Lili smiled proudly.

Now it was Frazie's turn. "Just try not to burn any of the plants around here. They have feelings, too." Lili pointed to the couple non-smoldering bundles of straw remaining. "Try it!"

Well, it was definitely going to be a challenge starting fires in a forest without actually burning anything. This would be a good test for controlling a wilder new power.

Frazie took a deep breath. "Alright. So what do I do?" she asked, mirroring Lili's pose head-on.

"Think of fire."

"No, really?"

"...And heat. Hot things. A boiling kettle. The summertime beach. The sun! ...Two suns!"

Hot stuff, huh? Immediately Frazie's mind drifted to summertimes back at the circus. They never had any air conditioning, and sometimes, the tent would entrap the heat instead of shading them from it. Some chalk on the hands thankfully prevented any sweaty slipping, but drawn-out performances could end up feeling like the inside of an oven by the time it was over.

Remembering those times, she held her hand out towards the hay, concentrating harder and harder.

"Think of the hottest thing you know," Lili urged her on. "Feel the heat build within your mind, then expel it. Push it towards the hay!" Frazie squinted even harder, pushing her fingers outward... but while the targets remained unphased, Lili looked up to spot a little smoke rising from her head. "...Expel it, I said expel it!"

Too late.

Frazie's concentration broke when she felt little licks of flame crackling along the far ends of her hair. "AH!" She batted at them, swung her head, anything to put it out.

She dropped and rolled, keeping the fire from spreading at the very least. Thankfully, her coach had come prepared. The fire was messily extinguished when Lili telekinetically dumped a huge bucket of water on her head.

Perhaps a little too much water.

For a moment, it was like Frazie was in another world. Surrounded by darkness and dampness, the very breath being pulled from her lungs as something swam through the inky black. Thin fingers made of water swam close, flexed in front of her, just an inch from her face. Taunting her.

The Hand of Golochio.

And as soon as it began, it was over.

When Frazie could focus again, she was holding her throat in front of a very confused Lili. She coughed, sucking in a breath. "Uggggh... if you ever have to do that again, can you throw less water? ...Or use dirt?"

"Do you think we just keep buckets of dirt lying around?"

Frazie coughed again, feeling like water was clogging her throat even when none got in her mouth. "I dunno... I've already seen weirder around here."

Lili helped her up, patting her back. "Anyway... good try? Not really? Well, it is only your first day here. It's an easy trick, but a risky one. We can try something less dangerous next time."

Thumping her chest with a fist, Frazie finally felt the lingering remnants of the curse fade for the moment. "Hf... alright. Maybe we should work on acrobatics first after all."


Teaching Lili some acrobatic basics was much more relaxing... and much less likely to leave Frazie bald. Her hair was thankfully undamaged, and she planned to keep it that way for now.

Plus, she was in her element. It wasn't the first time she'd had to help someone learn, what with three younger circus siblings.

"This is easy!" Lili cheered, walking across the dirt path on her hands. Behind her, Frazie gingerly held her feet, keeping her balanced as her student wobbled forward.

Frazie snickered. "Want me to let go, then?" she asked slyly.

"No! Not yet."

"You got it." While they went, Frazie took the chance to glance around and see what everyone else was up to. The two cheery campers had somehow managed to get up on an intercom and were talking amongst themselves, feet swinging off the platform. A kid in a large hat prowled through the bushes, hunting something. A few others were chattering near the parking lot, checking out the front gate and likely wondering how the heck Frazie had gotten in.

Off in the corner, though, it looked like trouble was brewing.

One of the smallest, strangest campers was surrounded by squirrels. A little green boy wearing footie pajamas and a tinfoil hat, muttering to the critters. The squirrels weren't the problem, though.

The two troublemakers approaching him were.

Bobby stomped up to him along his large-eared purple partner, Benny. It was two against one, and the boy didn't look all that tough to begin with. "Hey, Dorken! You haven't paid your protection fee," Bobby snapped with an open hand. "One Psitanium arrowhead."

The squirrels scampered off, leaving the boy alone drumming his fingers together. "Uhm... it's Dogen. And I never keep any of those on me. They make my head hurt."

The two bullies shared a glance. "Well we're going to make it hurt a lot worse if you don't pay up somehow!" Bobby suddenly threatened, lifting the boy up by his pajamas.

Now Frazie definitely wasn't the type to stand by and watch a couple jerks shake someone down. Even if she sometimes teased and picked on her siblings, she'd stand up for them if need be. This kid might not be family, but he still needed help. So she dropped Lili's feet and marched over.

"Whoa!" Lili yelped, starting to wobble forward much faster. "I said don't let go!"

Oh, right. "Sorry," Frazie whispered, managing to catch her with telekinesis before she flopped over. Lili sat up and shot her a look, but Frazie was already approaching the other kids.

"Hey!" She towered over the three of them, an imposing sight even for a couple miniature thugs. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Business!" Bobby retorted, waving her off.

His partner stood between him and Frazie, arms crossed. "And it's none of your business."

"It is now," Frazie grumbled, easily stepping around him to pull Dogen out of Bobby's grasp. "I am going to noogie you so hard if you don't buzz off."

Undeterred, the bully just made a face at her. "What do you care about some runt with a stupid hat? You know..." Swiftly, the bully reached out and ripped the clump of tinfoil off Dogen's head. "This one, specifically!"

Dogen's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he felt where his hat had been, finding nothing but a small tuft of reddish-brown hair. "Nooooooo!" Bobby kept Dogen away effortlessly with one hand while the kid swatted at him. "You can't do that! I need it! Really need it! If I don't wear it, I... I... I...!" He made one more grab for the cap...

And that's when all hell broke loose.

Frazie felt a sudden prickling in her skull. Judging from the way everyone suddenly jumped, they all felt it too. That prickling quickly grew into a pressure, and that pressure grew into pain.

Soon, all the campers in a large radius around Dogen were on their knees, clasping their heads and screaming. It was like someone had wrapped their brains in vices and were squeezing, squeezing, squeezing so hard they could pop at any moment.

And in the middle of it all stood Dogen, the boy screaming loudest of all as wave after wave of psychic energy roiled from his unhindered brain.

Frazie's teeth ground together as she tried to push back, but it was no use. Was this really how she was going to die? Getting her head popped like a pimple by a little kid on day one? Her family would definitely hate psychics if even the tiniest one could tear their daughter from them so easily. She had to keep fighting, she had to... but she was losing.

Right as the pressure hit a boiling point, it stopped. Frazie collapsed forward, sucking in breath after breath, feeling the grass tickle underneath her and realizing she was still alive. All the kids had quieted down into moans, but Dogen still kept writhing and shouting, his eyes aglow as the three counselors surrounded him on every side.

Each of them were focused intently on the boy, their own energy trying to keep his locked down. "Which one of you took his power-limiting cap off?!" Sasha shouted, his face strained as he poured all his power into keeping Dogen restrained.

Bobby looked up from the ground, eyes shifting left and right. "He did it," he accused, pointing out Maloof.

"Hey!"

"A good attempt, Bobby," Milla tried to say calmly through grit teeth. "But this is serious! Dogen has so much raw psychic potential, but he can't control it yet! Taking off his hat is extremely dangerous."

"No duh!" Oleander grunted, fingers jabbed hard into his temples. "Well it's too late for oopsies and sorries, 'cause we've got a ticking time bomb on our hands! This kid's dynamite, and I don't know how long we can hold him back!"

As Dogen flailed, the counselors used what little spare brain power they had to figure out what to do. Sasha finally spoke up. "We have no choice. Someone needs to head into the boy's mind and stop him."

"We can't go into his mind, Sasha!" Milla protested. "Even if we wanted to. The Young Minds Protection Act, remember? Every Psy Portal has a built-in safeguard to prevent use on anyone under eighteen!"

"I'm well aware," he replied. "But we don't have much of a choice at the moment! We three need to stay here to keep him under control, so someone else has to go in! You two, keep him restrained a moment..."

Sasha fished into his coat pocket and pulled out a red and blue checkered Psy Portal. While the other two amped up their concentration, he dropped his long enough to fiddle with the device with his mind. The door seemed to glow and shift as he plied it, collapsing in on itself, rearranging, finally returning to its normal form with a click. "I've removed the block."

"But who's going in?" Milla called out. "Oooooh, I don't like this..."

"None of us do." Sasha quickly surveyed the group of amassed campers... and pointed to Bobby and Benny. "You two! You put us into this mess, it's up to you to get us out!"

"What?!" Bobby whined. "Ew, I don't want to go into that psychofreak's head!"

Even with his glasses blocking his eyes, the glare Sasha shot them was enough to freeze them more than cryokinesis ever could. Expecting no further complaints, the man suddenly whipped the door Frazie's way. "Frazie, you're the oldest, you need to go in and guide them! Your powers might be underdeveloped, but you need to protect them while they do their thing. Assist them if you can!"

She caught it between her hands. "Me?!" This was way too much for her to process at the moment. But, honestly, she'd much rather be in his mind than outside it in head-popping range at the moment. Clutching the portal to her chest, she nodded. "Alright! You can trust me."

"And me!" Lili piped up, waving her hand.

But Sasha turned her down. "You stay. This is a highly volatile situation, and your father would never approve of us getting you involved. You can evacuate the campers back to the cabins and get them to safety."

Lili threw her hands up, griping, but the counselor would not be swayed. With that, Sasha returned to trying to keep Dogen's energy low. All he could do was give one last bit of advice. "Get in there and get him to calm down! Soothe him, knock him out, whatever it takes to keep our minds unsplattered!"

"We're counting on you, cadets!" Coach grunted. "Because if we don't get him under control, it won't just be squirrel heads exploding."

Gulp. "Thanks for not putting the pressure on us or anything," Frazie snarked, stepping up to Dogen. She didn't really have any idea how the little door worked, so she simply held his head steady and pressed it into the back of it. As if that undid the lock somehow, the door clicked open, once more glowing from within.

Though they griped and whined, Bobby and Benny joined Frazie by her side. "Ready?" she asked them.

"No!"

"This is stupid!"

"Too bad." Frazie jerked their heads towards the door and they grumbled, letting the trance overtake them. Once they'd gone limp in her grip, she let them go and followed after, her projection soaring up and down into the poor boy's rampaging psyche.

Now entering:

Dogen's Saturday Morning Kaboom


When the world stopped spinning, the three of them were in a dark room once again.

Deja vu. This time, though, it was a lot bigger and homier. It looked like a living room, lit by the glow of an old-timey television. Family photos adorned the walls, and a couch was propped up facing the screen.

And on that couch, Dogen sat.

Well, a representation of him anyway. This version of him wasn't looking too good either, though he was much less distressed than he was in the real world. The boy held his head and groaned, wobbling in place. "Can you guys come back later? I've got a headache..."

"You heard him," Bobby said with a sneer. Frazie promptly flicked him on the forehead. "Ow!"

Figuring talking with the brain's owner was a good place to start, Frazie leaned down to speak with Dogen. "Heeeey, we won't bother you for long. Promise. Could you just tell us what made your head hurt?"

"I dunno..." Dogen gestured loosely towards the television. "I was just watching my shows when everything got all staticy and loud for no reason. I turned it down, but it still makes my head throb..."

"Mmmmhm. No reason." Frazie glared over at the two other kids, who were playing innocent. She left Dogen behind to pace towards the little box. "Let me take a look at it for you."

Whatever it was playing was masked behind layers of interference, static buzzing loudly across the screen even with the volume set low. She played with the antennas on top, but it didn't do a thing. Smacking the television gave it brief bits of focus, but it never lasted long.

She hadn't been expecting to play mental repairwoman, but this was better than Coach's mind at least. "Hmmmm." She crouched in front of the box and peered into it, thinking. And that's when she noticed something.

The television didn't have a screen.

"...What?" Slowly, she extended her hand towards where the glass should've been. Her fingers brushed open air, the hairs on her arm standing on end as the static danced around it.

She wasn't a technician, but she was preeeetty sure that wasn't supposed to happen. It made absolutely no sense to her, but she had a hunch what their next step was. "Guess we gotta think inside the box if we want to fix it," she murmured, sticking her head into the frame.

Cautiously, Frazie stooped down to crawl through the screen, motioning for the other two to follow. It was a tight fit, but thankfully it was like climbing through an open window. When she hit static, she swept it aside like vines, the jagged lines making her feel fuzzy but leaving her unharmed. Before long, they were all fully inside the television.

And inside that box was a whole new world.

It was like someone had taken reality and slapped brighter colors on it, then squished and rearranged it to their liking. Bright buildings of pink, orange, and more jutted at weird angles over sidewalks gleaming yellow. They were in some kind of town square, and all its citizens were a sight to see. Goofy looking animals in suits, street lamps and trash cans with eyes, and cars that drove by making over-the-top awoogah noises.

Off in the distance, a large microphone stood reporting into a smaller one while his cameraman filmed with his own head. "Breaking news! A fire's broken out at in an apartment downtown and over a dozen are trapped inside. Will the local firefighters be able to stop them in time? Find out after this commercial break."

Frazie drank it all in in awe. "...What the hell?" she mouthed.


razie forgot to hit rank 10 before using pyrokinesis, smh.

I wanted new minds to delve into and realized there were tons we never got to look at... because we weren't allowed to. Hopefully I can do the idea justice. Let me know what you think about our first sneak peek at a new mental world!

Also, I might need to look into getting a beta reader soon if I'm actually gonna be getting in-depth with this.