A/N: Thank you all so much for the kind words and reviews! I read and enjoy every one of them, even if I don't always reply. People seemed to like the mental world idea, so let's continue on with exploring Dogen's explosive psyche...
Frazie wasn't sure what to process first - the scenery that looked like a paint palette threw up, the variety of wild and wacky caricatures walking around like all was normal, or the fact the bench next to them was staring at her.
Well, if they wanted to keep their fellow campers' heads intact, that news snippet they'd overheard seemed like a good place to start.
Frazie slid behind a gazebo in the center of the town square, the boys following. Thankfully, it was one of the few things in the area not alive. Peering out from behind it, she listened as the report continued.
"Mere moments ago, a roaring blaze erupted downtown. There's been no indication of the source, but firefighters are already on the scene. It's one heck of an inferno, though! They're having trouble fighting it back, and all the folks stuck inside remain in danger. Things are looking grim, citizens. Will anyone be able to rescue them? Can anyone rescue them?"
Moments ago... that was around the time Dogen's hat was ripped off. Whatever had caused the fire must've had something to do with that. Frazie tapped her cheek, pondering. "Maybe we can figure things out if we go find that fire?"
But the broadcast wasn't over yet. The living microphone adjusted his bowtie. "In other news... suspicious individuals have been spotted in the area! Worry not, our unique brand of law enforcement has been dispatched to deal with them. Stay safe and stay vigilant, citizens!"
At the report's conclusion, circular red symbols started materializing in the air along the sidewalk. Frazie watched from behind cover while each one popped open, ejecting a little suited man wielding a stamp and police cap.
"No!" one cried.
"No?" another replied.
"NO!"
"No..."
With that, they split up, waddling in every direction as they began to patrol the square. Frazie's brow furrowed. "Usually a buncha little clowns don't pop out of nowhere unless there's a tiny car involved. I didn't think this place could get any weirder," she whispered.
"Pffffft!" Bobby looked at her like she was a buffoon. "Those guys are in every stable mind, stupid! They're censors. They stamp out any thoughts that don't belong."
"Like us," Benny chimed in. "Technically."
They didn't look all that threatening. Frazie was probably tall enough to punt one down the block if she had to. But in a world where microphones talked and televisions were portals, she wasn't about to jump to conclusions. "Are they dangerous?"
Bobby scoffed. "Chyeah. What, you think our mind would let these guys protect it if they were weak? Those stamps pack a punch." He sneered, flexing one of his scrawny arms. "But so do I!"
"...Riiiiight," Frazie drolled, unimpressed. "So, avoid them. Got it. Hmmmm..." Their hiding place wouldn't be safe much longer with the little guys walking around. Going out in the open was a bad idea too, and even if they got away they had no idea where they were going.
But when you're an acrobat, finding creative routes and high points was just what you did.
Frazie had an idea when she looked towards the corner and spotted a high fence. "Follow me, dorklings!" she whispered to the two bullies, quickly crossing across the road while they followed.
As much as these punks deserved to be left behind, Frazie needed them to explain things and they needed her for guidance. So when she reached the fence, she dived into a roll, landing on her back and putting her feet up. "Hop on!"
Both the boys tilted their head at her. "Uh... hop on what?"
Right. Non-acrobats. "Jump on my legs and I'll push you up like a springboard. Trust me, it's easy. Unless you're afraid of heights?"
"Sounds kinda dangerous..." Benny said, scratching his head.
"Any more dangerous than a buncha little weirdos punching you in the face with stamps?"
They couldn't argue with that logic. "Me first!" Bobby snapped, shoving Benny aside as he crouched low and jumped. "Hup!"
True to her word, she caught him, giving him a second to balance before she reeled her legs in and kicked. "Aiiiiiieeeee!" Bobby screamed, flailing all the way up and over the fence.
It definitely wasn't the quietest escape. Frazie tilted her head back enough to see some of the little goons perking up and coming to investigate. "Hurry up!" she hissed at Benny. He didn't need to be told twice.
Once he'd been launched, she rolled forward and latched onto the fence, scaling it as easily as if it were a ladder. She rejoined them on the other side, landing gracefully with arms raised... as they pulled themselves out of the dumpster they'd landed in.
"You did that on purpose!" Bobby groaned, pulling a banana peel from his afro.
"You needed cushioning! So only, like, fifty percent on purpose."
"Well I'm fifty percent gonna kick your butt!"
He waved a fist at her, and she laughed. "Oh, I'm shaking." She crossed her arms, just waiting for him to make a move... and then yelped when a boot he'd telekinetically pulled from the trash sneakily hit her from behind. She rubbed her rear, fuming. "Ohhhh, you are asking for it, snaggletooth!"
"Uh, guys?" The two looked away from their incoming brawl to see Benny jerking a thumb over his shoulder, pointing out the censors getting dangerously close.
"Right, right, right," both of them mumbled, calling a truce as they all sprinted down the alley.
Their side route led back out into the streets, and from there, they ducked under an arch and into a wide open park. Barely wooded, with a large pond and some flower patches, with nothing around but a few animal citizens walking their dogs. ...Frazie tried not to think about how that one worked.
"I think we can take a breather here," she said, peering around. They still had no idea where they were going, and this was as good a place as any to fix that.
But before they could do anything about it, Frazie felt something nudging her leg. She glanced down to see a fuzzy little critter tugging at her stockings. "Squirrels?" A few of them, it seemed.
The regular critters in this world were extra adorable, the squirrels crawling forward on fuzzy paws, looking up with adorably puffy cheeks and big ol' eyes. "Awwwww~..." Frazie knelt down to scratch one of their chins, the creature clucking appreciatively. "...Does anyone else hear ticking?"
BANG!
The squirrel promptly exploded into confetti and cartoony giblets under her fingertips. Frazie was left stunned, blinking through ash-smeared eyes.
"Why is everything always exploding?!" she screamed, quickly crawling backwards away from the remaining critters. Not a moment too soon, as they started detonating one by one. Coach and Dogen's minds were not giving her good first impressions.
As if that wasn't bad enough, she'd fallen on her butt facing the lake. Even though the water was oversaturated and unrealistic, a familiar hand slowly slithered up out of it and waggled its fingers hello.
Frazie groaned. "Great. You're here too."
"Who's here?" Bobby asked.
"Uh... no one."
"You're nuts." Right on cue, a few acorns from the detonated squirrels finally started raining down, thunking him on his noggin. "Ow! Ow!"
Frazie snickered, but neither got the chance to laugh at each other's misfortune for long because as it turned out, things could get even worse. With all the commotion, more symbols started to appear in the air and angry little lawyer/cop hybrids burst forth.
"Uggggh..." Frazie picked herself off the ground and wiped her face off, the trio finding themselves surrounded in no time. "What's the point of slipping by if they're just gonna pop up in our face?!"
This time, there was nowhere to hide. The way forward was blocked, and there was only one way to get through.
By force.
The censors charged first, and the three campers were forced to defend themselves. Much like she'd sidestepped Benny before, they weren't very hard to dodge. She hopped aside, backstepped, chuckled a little as the stumpy men slammed the ground with their stamps, dotting the grass in little red circles.
But they had numbers, determination, and most importantly, intelligence. While Frazie danced around a few of them, another snuck up from behind and slammed its stamp right into her back.
"GAH!" Who knew a bit of rubber could hurt that much? It was like the thing was charged with electricity, making her whole body jolt with pain, like it was trying to phase her out of existence. And technically, that was their goal.
Her body buzzed, and she gripped her arm to try and make it stop. Winded, but not out, she returned fire to the culprit with a psychic kick to the face. Then another to the censor by her side. It wasn't too unlike fighting the cutouts in Coach's mind, except now her targets were mobile and on the offensive.
At least this time, she wasn't stuck using basic attacks. Thanks to Basic Braining, she could consistently empower her kicks and chops with waves of psychic energy. Her powers still weren't as strong as the other two, but it didn't take much to send censors flying. Bobby was living it up, jeering and insulting every little man he punched into oblivion. And Benny...
Well, Benny just kinda ran around in a panic, sometimes bowling over a baddie with his energy while trying to get away. It was pretty clear why Bobby was the leader of the duo.
They were many, but they were dealt with fast, never taking more than a few hits. Their numbers were waning, but that didn't mean there wasn't still a bunch of them. They all approached at once, stamps raised... and Frazie knew just how to take them down.
One of her common routines back at the circus was the Big 'Top', where she'd spin on her hands with legs extended, sometimes even letting her family stand on top of her heels to add a bit of style to their combined moves. Usually it drew in crowds, but here, it was going to clear one out.
Dashing forward, Frazie leaped and rolled, landing on her palms and twisting with the momentum. Like a propeller, she spun, her mentally enhanced legs whacking censors aside with the force of baseball bats. With each crack and cry, the little men flew backward and evaporated into puffs of smoke.
She spun and spun until she was certain there were no survivors. Flipping back up, Frazie stopped to catch her breath. "If someone had told me being a Psychonaut meant walking into minefields and getting jumped by lawyers, I don't think I would've come."
She wanted out of this park ASAP, before she had another run-in with the squirrels, the censors, or Golochio. Making sure the boys were uninjured, she guided them out the other side. As they left the park, though, she remembered they still didn't know where they were going.
A quick glance upwards gave her an idea. "Wait here," she told the two kids, running at the nearest lamppost. Once more her acrobatic prowess came in handy as she shimmied up it with ease.
Though, usually, poles don't have eyes on top of them. "Do you mind?" the light spat at her.
"Yeep!" Before things could get any more awkward, Frazie leapt off onto a nearby fire escape - thankfully a bit less alive - and ran up it to the roof.
She could see it all from up here. With the rainbow of colors around, it was like she was sitting at the top of the world's biggest paint palette. Even the clouds looked like someone had painted them up on the sky.
But the view was flawed. Because off in the distance, a plume of smoke rose up from somewhere out of sight.
"Bingo."
A quick descent and an awkward apology to a lamppost later, Frazie rejoined the kids. "It's not too far away. A little stroll through a couple buildings and we're basically there. You two ready?"
"Are you?" Bobby snarked.
"Nope. Let's do this." This sunny, funny world had already put her nerves on edge, but how much could happen between here and the next several blocks?
She led them in a sprint, slowing down enough to keep up with their smaller legs. What looked like a long hotel was in the way, and she yanked open the door to let them through.
As they jogged through the lobby, though, something seemed off. "Where is everyone?" Frazie noted.
Outside, as it turned out. The trio were halfway across the building when a voice suddenly blurted over a megaphone from somewhere beyond the walls. "Alright, building is clear! We're free to proceed with demolition!"
All three of their eyes jolted open in unison. "Wait!" Frazie shouted. "We're still in-"
BOOM!
Their cries fell on deaf ears as the initial charges went off, making their ears deaf. In front and behind them, the exits were blocked off as rubble rained down on the doorways.
Coughing and sputtering, Frazie tried to think of a new plan while waving dust from her face. "We need to go up!" she ordered, dragging the two bullies towards the staircase.
By the time they hit floor two, the next wave of explosions were ready to go off. "IhatethisIhatethisIhatethis," Frazie repeated like a mantra as chunks of floor cracked below them, doors flew past them, and the entire foundation threatened to collapse on them at any moment.
No luck on that floor, either. Frazie dragged them yet higher, her hopes falling lower. But as luck would have it, there was an open window at the far end of the hall...
...And another wave of explosions going off.
By now the building was on its last legs. Walls creaked and groaned around them as splinters flew and the floor threatened to fall out from under them. "Hold on!" she demanded, scooping the other two up despite their protests and booking it down the hall.
Figuring out how to land was a problem for later Frazie, because current Frazie wasn't about to become a mental pile of ash. Ducking under falling support beams and leaping over pits, she hit the final stretch and launched the three of them out the frame with seconds to spare.
Safe. From blowing up, at least. Falling three stories was an entirely different matter.
"Ahhhhh...!" They probably didn't deserve it, but Frazie held the two kids close, ready to take the brunt of the fall for them. She ignored her innate instincts and rolled to face up, ready to fall on her back for their sakes...
...Any second now. Annnny second.
When she finally dared open an eye, she spotted Benny holding a thought bubble, straining with the effort as they slowly descended. "G-good thing I've been working on my levitation. Ghhhh, you guys are heavy!"
"Ha!" Bobby laughed, partly with relief and partly because he was a jerk. "Hey, look, Dumbo really can fly!"
"Shut up!"
"Whoa." Frazie wasn't sure how she'd gone from terrified to impressed, but whatever Benny was doing was amazing. A trick like that could revolutionize their circus routines... and be a lifesaver for the rare occasion you end up leaping out of an exploding building. She had to remember that one.
"...Whoooooa!" It was a shortlived trick, though, especially given how heavy the load it was bearing was. After a few seconds, the bubble violently popped, sending them freefalling the rest of the way.
The good news: Their landing was softened.
The bad news: It was softened by mud.
They landed with a splatter. After a moment of stillness, Frazie peeled her head out of the muck, blinking dirt from her eyes. Over in the distance, a bunch of hardhat wearing hammers and bulldogs celebrated as the rest of the building caved in. None of them noticed the rude gesture Frazie sent them.
"Uggggh..." Bobby spit some out of his mouth like a fountain. While he tried to stand up, a creature that'd been playing in the muck before they'd arrived rubbed up on him. "Get off me, bozo!"
"...What is that?" Frazie asked. It was piglike, that checked out with where they found it, but it was green and metallic. When it turned enough for Frazie to get a good look at it, it looked like a... walking safe?
Bobby's mouth twitched with disgust as he shook dirt off his shirt. "You really don't know anything, do ya? I bet your mental world is empty!" He dropped a hand on the thing's head and knocked a couple times. "It's a memory vault. They hold onto people's suppressed memories. And if you wanna get to them, you need a speeecial touch..."
Bobby leered ominously at the poor creature. The vault finally realized he was not, in fact, a fellow mud-dweller and quickly moved to escape, but it was too late. Bobby quickly chopped it straight on the head and it flopped over, its vault spitting out a bunch of photographs as its tongue lolled across the ground.
Frazie caught the pictures and arranged them while Bobby flexed, leaving Benny to pick himself up without help. Curious, she shuffled through them one by one.
A Visit with Grandpa
A younger Dogen's pajama-padded feet treaded across the small bridge. The room they were in was almost as small, just a compact dome with just enough room for a circular path around a glass booth. It almost looked like a jail, with just enough accommodations inside it to live comfortably, but the person who was in it was there by choice.
He was flanked by his parents, two faceless folks whose arms bore the same greenish hue. Though they each held one of his hands, their stance was straight and serious.
A metal door separated them from the room's occupant, and his mother knocked on it. After a few seconds, a slot in the steel slid open to reveal a pair of skittish eyes hopping between them, their owner sighing wearily.
"Three... I told them no more than one at a time..." the small man groaned. "Though I suppose a visit from family is always a delight. What's the occasion, mm?"
"Good evening, Compton," Dogen's mother greeted. "We're here because Dogen had an... accident."
"Yeegads, why on Earth are you telling me this?!"
"Because it was the kind of accident that makes the neighbor's cat 'disappear'."
"...Oh," the small man murmured quietly. "I see. I was hoping I'd never have to have this talk, but if things ever went my way, I wouldn't need to be in this Psychoisolation Chamber..."
Dogen didn't understand, his young mind at a loss. "I dun geddit," he said, trying to look up into the peephole. "I thought bein' psychic was a gift?"
Compton's eyes brimmed with sadness as he shook his head down at him. "No, no, boy, not for people at my... our, level. Being a psychic is a gift, yes... in moderation," he cautioned. "But for us... forever buried under the buzz of mouthless voices... where just one stray thought can make your friends and family disappear. Yes, just one! This kind of power is to be feared, Dogen. It's a huge responsibility... one you'll need to handle whether you like it or not."
Dogen was shaking. He didn't fully understand, but his grandpa made it all sound extremely dangerous. Just one wrong thought could have horrible consequences. One thing stuck out to him: Be afraid.
After a moment of thought, Compton peered out at them again. "...Tinfoil. Yes, tinfoil should work. Attach it firmly! Cut enough to circle his dome, and that should reduce it to manageable levels for the time being. He'll likely need an upgrade when he's older," the man instructed, reaching up to tap his shiny metal bowler for emphasis. "...I wish I'd known all this when I was younger."
Dogen's parents conversed amongst each other briefly. "Sam wasn't anything like this," his father pointed out.
"Yes, well, I suppose that's the luck of the draw... or the misfortune, rather."
Each parent gave Dogen's hand a squeeze, but his trembling didn't stifle much. "Thanks for the tip. We'll get him some right away."
"You're very welcome," Compton said as he started sliding the panel shut. "Now please, stay away... or come one at a time in the future."
The smaller campers were looking at the memories behind Frazie's back, her brow furrowed as she delved into Dogen's past. "Poor kid..." she mumbled, heart heavy.
Bobby was a bit less morose. "Ha! Dorken had an accident!"
"...Did you stop paying attention after the first five seconds?" Frazie asked, shooting him a look.
"Yeah, pretty much."
"I should've guessed the only thing smaller than your brain was your attention span," Frazie sighed, throwing the photos back into the vault. "We've wasted enough time. We're almost there!"
Dusting themselves off, they broke into a sprint, following the scent of smoke on the air. Around a couple more corners and there it was... the inferno.
A wide apartment building simmered and cracked as flames leapt behind its windows. The firemen - a bunch of Dalmatians - were already there, but even though they assaulted it with hoses and buckets, they weren't making a dent.
All the residents were still trapped inside, flailing and calling out. Frazie squinted to get a closer look and saw...
...Herself?
All the 'occupants' were just poorly drawn cardboard cut-outs of all the Whispering Rock campers. Though they cried for help and wiggled, their limbs didn't move, each one just leaning out the window like someone had propped them on the ledge.
Frazie ran a hand down her face. "Are you for real? Do we really need to save them? They're made of wood."
"How could you talk about innocent civilians like that?!" a passing firedog barked at her with a stern look. "Ma'am, this is a highly dangerous situation! If you're not here to help evacuate the building, you need to leave."
She exchanged looks with Bobby and Benny. They shrugged. "Well, you heard them... let's get to work."
For a crowd of firefighters, the task was risky. For a trio of psychics with telekinetic powers, pulling people from their apartments was a breeze. Especially for Frazie, whose prior experience had her yanking cut-outs down at twice the speed.
Each 'civilian' was lifted up by ethereal hands and pulled down one by one. The campers were soon joined by drawings of Sasha, Lili, Milla, and even themselves as they cleared the building. Benny stood beside his own cutout and grumbled, its cardboard ears twice as big as its head. "As if I really look like this."
"Yeah... yours are bigger!" Bobby taunted, laughing. "Gottem!"
Frazie rolled her eyes as she pulled the last person out, a standee of Oleander that promptly flopped forward as soon as it was on the ground.
Once the building was clear, one of the Dalmatians shouted above the crackling blaze. "The building's clear! No more holding back! Turn the hoses up to max, give it everything we've got!"
Torrents of water flew from all directions while the ground forces passed buckets along in a steady formation. What started as a raging inferno dimmed to a blaze, then dimmed to cinders and finally went out with a deep sigh of smoke.
Cheers went up all around from the dogs and the cardboard. Even the three psychics couldn't help but get in on it, proud of a (strange) job well done.
The celebration didn't last long, though. As the celebration was dying down, the firetruck's radio crackled loud enough for all to hear.
"Danger!" it blared, voice crackling. "The fire's out, but there's a bomb in the building! I repeat! Bomb, in, the building!"
Silence.
Then, everyone lost their minds. The cut-outs all tried wobbling away while the firefighters ditched their trucks and ran for it, no one concerned with saving the building anymore.
Soon, it was just the three campers left. They would've ran, too, but Frazie had halted them. Something didn't sit right with her. She slowly crept up to one of the windows and peered in, finally able to see inside without all the smog and flames.
Inside the apartments wasn't a room, but a dark void.
And a path.
Now that was worth investigating. "You two stay here," Frazie ordered, climbing inside. The road was thick and seemed to be made of rope. She nudged it with her toe before following it. "I'm going to check this out."
The coil of rope was big, but not very long. After a brief little walk, she reached the other end, where the path seemed to connect to a large black mound. Curious, Frazie hiked up it, peering around. Nothing. She glanced back to the window and looked up the path.
Her eyes went wide. There was a wall of fire blazing at the end of it, steadily growing closer.
Now, that alone was concerning. But then Frazie started to piece things together as she looked down at the mass...
Big, black sphere. Rope at the top. The rope was lit.
She was standing on a giant cartoon bomb.
"Crap!" The way back was blocked by the oncoming fuse's flame, but the boys were still close enough to hear. "Fill up some buckets and put this thing out, now!" she called through cupped hands.
The boys might be jerks, but this scenario was too insane for even them to fool around. They jumped to it, using the abandoned trucks and hydrants to fill up some pails and started telekinetically dumping them onto the fuse.
It took some work, but the sparks soon started to hiss, finally simmering down to nothing. Frazie let out the deepest sigh of relief she'd ever had, wiping her brow. "I am so done with this." With the situation handled, she finally let herself relax. "Do you think that's enough to-"
The fuse sparked back to life.
"What!?" Frazie shook a fist at the rope, furious. "You can't do that!"
But it could. It did. And it did it for a reason.
The flames had slowed, but they still burned brightly, brighter, brighter, growing until they outright spat a chunk of fire over onto the bomb.
Frazie jumped back, confused... and then that fire started to stand up.
The small clump of flames grew and grew until it'd formed a sort of humanoid giant, its whole body ablaze and its hair a simple wisp of flame. Its face was carved out of fire, its eyes and mouth glowing orange as it grinned at a frightened Frazie. "Well, well, well, lookey what we have here!"
Her legs felt weak. Whatever this thing was, it was three times her size. Swallowing her nerves, she dared voice what was on her mind. "W-who are you?"
"Who am I?" The elemental cackled. "Who am I?! I'm every niggling little doubt the runt's had in da back of his head, eeeevery little jolt of panic he has when he thinks a bit too hard! I'm da boss around here that keeps him on his toes, and I'm tired of being restrained!"
Reeling back, the monster roared high to the sky, the fuse once more progressing down the path as its body burned bright. The void seemed to shake as it shouted to the sky.
"I...
am...
Bonfear!"
Frazie gulped. She had a hunch this guy was going to be just a liiiiittle harder to take down than the censors had been.
[Insert boss battle theme of choice here]
