A/N: Here we go, folks! The final segment of Dogen's Saturday Morning Kaboom. Will Frazie withstand the heat, or will her hopes burn up? Read on and find out.
Trailing her eyes up the hulking fiend of flame and fear, Frazie was starting to regret a looooot of the decisions she'd made in the last couple days.
But regret wasn't going to help her get out of this one.
Knowing full well it held the advantage, Bonfear taunted her with a 'bring it' gesture, just begging her to make the first move. "C'mon, girly... let's see whatcha got."
What did she have? Not too much, yet. Her repertoire was still pretty much telekinesis, psychic assaults, and self-immolating pyrokinesis. And she definitely didn't need to try fighting fire with fire, here.
Her options were limited, but she had to try. Taking a shot, she stepped in and threw a psychic punch...
...Only to reel her hand back in in pain, blowing on her burning fist. Her psychic projection gave her a bit of reach and protection, but attacking him was still basically the equivalent of punching fire. AKA: Not a good idea.
The monster cackled, bent over with laughter. "Dat's a riot!" It wiped a lick of flame from its eye... then leaned in. It clenched its fist, the fire in its arms building in its palm until a huge sphere of flame roiled in its grip. "Now let me show you how it's done."
Woosh! Frazie only barely managed to duck before a searing shot flew right past where her head had been. That was her cue to run.
"Ahhhhhh! I've already had my hair almost burned once today!" she protested, taking off and ducking under another projectile.
"Bald would be a good look for ya, dame!" Bonfear taunted as he gave chase. "Or better yet, melted!"
She expected to reach the edge of the bomb and be kinda screwed, but to her surprise, she stuck to it even as she crossed its horizon, like it had its own gravitational pull. The universe's most explosive planetoid. At least she could flee as much as she wanted while she thought up a plan... but her pursuer wasn't going to make it easy.
Frazie glanced back just in time to spot the demon slamming its hands into the ground, shooting out waves of flame that spread all across the ground. Yelping, she leapt high just in time to keep her legs from being incinerated out from under her.
"Catch, stupid!"
"Oof!" Something metal knocked the wind out of her as it launched into her chest on the way down. It was a bucket, water sloshing back and forth in it from its telekinetic launch. Over by the entrance, Bobby and Benny shot her a thumbs up before running off to get some more from the firetruck.
Welp... Frazie never thought she'd see the day where water would save her life instead of ending it.
Regaining her footing, she acted quickly. Using telekinesis for extra range and power, she whipped its contents behind her, sloshing it all across Bonfear's torso.
"Gggggggh...!" Like acid, it hit his skin and doused it, blowing clouds of steam up into his face as he hissed. One little splash wasn't going to do much, though, as more fire quickly fanned out to cover up the area she'd struck. "Oh, using water against fire? Yer a real genius, ain'tcha?
"But so am I!" By now the boys had returned with a couple more buckets... and the monster was well aware of it. It faced the window back to reality and spewed fire from its mouth, making them yelp and back off. "Cut da water from its source! Easy as one, two..."
Thunk. "T-tree..." With his back turned, Frazie was free to fire the empty bucket at the back of his head.
"Yeah, real smart!" she shot back. Where fists failed, adapting was king.
Bonfear rubbed the back of his skull, growling. Now it had a threat on both ends - the boys supplying its weakness, and the girl who could use it against him. Annnnd was eager to bash his head in.
Alright, new plan. If the girl was dead, she couldn't use water against him.
Going on the offensive, Bonfear lashed out, every stomp sending out waves of fire traveling across the surface, its mouth spewing heat like a dragon as Frazie yelped and booked it.
As terrifying as things were, Frazie's agility kept her on her toes. Jumping waves was nothing. Sidestepping fireballs, easy. Leaping through rings of fire? She did that at the circus for fun.
But the demon was smarter than he looked. He spun on his heel and fastballed some fire off into the distance. While Frazie wondered why he was attacking the wrong direction, the gravitational pull of the bomb brought it all the way around and slammed it into her back. She screamed out.
As one could imagine... it hurt. Her back burned, the blow enough to leave her mind scrambled. She thought quickly enough to use her newest bucket of water to douse the blow. Glancing back at her scorched back, she whined. "This is my only good shirt, you jerk!"
"I'll make sure yer buried in it!" Another bucketful of aqua to the face. "ACK! Phhbtbt!"
Their fight continued, this cat and mouse game of chasing and dodging and dousing when she could. She'd telekinetically catch what the boys threw, and whip it right at the fiend when she had an opening. With every splash, her foe seemed to shrink as she washed away bit after bit of him... but he wasn't any weaker. If anything her determination encouraged him to get crafty, winging more sneak attacks at her from all directions until she started having to slide under entire walls of flame hurled at once.
He wasn't going down quick enough. She couldn't do this forever. She was having close calls more and more often as her stamina wore down, and his seemed endless. The occasional smackdown with a bucket left him stunned and made sure the boys stayed safe, but her energy was running out.
What's worse, her flow of water was slowing, the buckets coming less and less frequently. She knew the boys were thugs, but they wouldn't just leave her here... would they?
But, it turned out, there was a good reason why.
"I got it, boss!" Benny called from out of sight.
"About time, slugbrain! Bring it here!" Bobby barked, beckoning him over to the window.
By now, Frazie was relentlessly pounding Bonfear with her latest bucket, but he just laughed through the blows - it wasn't lethal if it wasn't water, and he knew he had her on her last legs. Cupping his hands together, he gathered all his energy for a decisive gout of heat. "Game over, gally!"
Frazie panted, letting the bucket go and bending over with exhaustion. Her eyes snuck a glance behind the fiend and, despite everything, she smirked. "Yeah... for you."
"Hit it!"
Benny had slowly tugged the hose over from the truck and taken the time to figure out how to turn it on. With his back turned, Bonfear was a sitting duck just waiting to get hosed down.
Like a sniper shot, a thin and powerful blast of water pierced right through his chest. Both bullies held the weapon as steady as they could as they rained down on him, carving a path down his body, sending up screaming clouds of steam.
"WAIT! STOP!" the demon pleaded, but the boys just laughed as they chased him with the stream.
Bonfear didn't look nearly as threatening running in circles trying to avoid getting hosed down. It became downright comical the smaller he got. Frazie started giggling around the time he was her height.
Before long, the elemental had shrunk to the point he wasn't much taller than Frazie anymore. Snatching up one last bucket with her mind, she let out a triumphant shout as she ran up and jumped to slam dunk its contents right on top of the fiend's flickering face. "Soak your head!"
"AGGGGGGGH!" Droplets rained down on his shoulders and washed away what little remained. By now he didn't even have the strength to tug the bucket off of him, try as he might. Bonfear shrunk and shrunk and shrunk until he seemed to outright disappear under the pail.
Victorious, Frazie walked up to the bucket and nudged it over with her foot. Underneath, the world's tiniest boss sat shaking, wringing its hands. "W-we, ah... we appear to have had a simple misundastandin', ma'am. Eheh..."
"Mhm." She inhaled sharply and blew, sending Bonfear tumbling head over heels. The little spark backed away as she approached again, crawling backwards on its tiny hands... until it bumped into something. Letting out a pitiful whimper, it looked up.
Somehow, some way, Dogen had arrived. And he didn't look happy.
Frazie chalked up that his teleportation was just some mind shenanigans... and she also chalked up that she should let him handle this. This time Bonfear was backing away towards her, as if she'd protect him from the bigger threat.
Fat chance. Frazie kept her distance and watched as the boy stomped towards the little demon. "You! You're the one who won't let me control myself!"
"E-eheh, eheh... t-technically..." the fire sputtered, "you're da one who's afraid, I'm just da representation of it!"
"Well you've held me down for long enough." Dogen marched closer, and Bonfear tried to hide his face while his host glared him down. "I was afraid because I couldn't control my powers, and I couldn't control my powers because I was afraid!" Dogen lifted his foot, its shadow eclipsing the lingering spark. "But I'm not afraid anymore."
The little demon let out a high-pitched shriek, but it was no use. Dogen stomped down, and with a final sizzle, Bonfear was no more.
After which, the boy sighed with relief and rubbed the side of his head. "Muuuuuch better."
In the distance, the fuse still burned dangerously close to the bomb. But with its guardian defeated, it promptly sputtered out like a candle in the wind. The city was safe. Dogen was safe.
All the campers were safe.
And Frazie needed a break. Was it over? "How're you feeling...?" she asked Dogen, reaching back to cautiously trace the spot she'd been hit with her fingers.
"Better than ever!" He wiggled in place, looking happy as could be. "Especially since we're just in time!"
"Time? For what?"
In answer, the world seemed to fall out from under her. And yet as if it'd only been a tiny fall, she promptly landed softly on her feet back in Dogen's living room with Bobby and Benny by her side.
While the bullies looked around startled, Dogen settled back into his couch, shifting back and forth before releasing a deep sigh. "Ahhhhh... everything's as it should be. And just in time for my favorite show!"
The television was clear now, with nothing but crisp visuals inside the box. He flicked through channel after channel... endless possibilities lied before him. Finally, he landed on a strange show - a view of the campgrounds, through his own eyes. Back in the real world, he seemed to be calming down, his head drooping and the air around him growing still.
That was a mission complete in Frazie's book. "We'll leave you to it," she said, giving a small smile.
"Goodbye!" Back in control, Dogen waved farewell before pushing them up and out of his mind, ejecting them willingly back to reality. "And thank you!"
Frazie blinked, the sun on her skin and the wind in her hair. Reality, sweet reality. She was back where she'd first left, and the first thing she did was reach back to touch her wound. It was gone, only applicable in the mental world, her shirt intact... though her spine still slightly ached and burned at her touch. She'd be fine, though.
The second the counselors sensed Dogen calming down, they dropped to their knees with a gasp, desperate for a breather. When the boy's eyes returned to normal, he glanced around blankly, looking lost.
"...Why's everyone on the ground?" he mumbled, confused.
"They... they did it," Sasha mumbled in part relief, part awe. Rubbing his head, he forced his gaze up off the ground to look at his compatriots. "Should we get Dogen to the Geodesic Psychoisolation Chamber?"
The boy answered for himself. "No, no, I... I think I'm feeling okay. Better than I've felt in a long time, actually!" He reached up to his bare head, feeling his tuft of hair, unable to stop smiling when he realized he was hatless and nothing was blowing up in his face.
Milla held a hand to her heart, elated even through exhaustion. "That's wonderful!"
"And improbable." Sasha pushed himself off the ground, adjusting his glasses as he eyed the trio. "What happened in there, exactly?"
Frazie opened her mouth to speak, but Bobby roughly shoved his way ahead of her. "It was crazy! But thanks to me, we managed to get through everything and take out the guy making Dorken freak out."
"Is that so?" Sasha asked, holding his fingers to his forehead. "Because according to the instant replay I'm viewing in your mind, Frazie did all the hard work. You just threw buckets."
"H-hey! Those buckets were heavy! And the censors...!"
"Yes, yes, you did help. I suppose you've made up for your mistake. Your reward shall be not getting punished for throwing us into this catastrophe in the first place."
Bobby grumbled under his breath, but it was a pretty good deal if a bit of a let-down.
Still, Frazie appreciated their brief partnership. Benny could be a good kid, and Bobby could be... a kid. "For what it's worth," she said, offering the proverbial peace branch, "I couldn't have done it without you guys."
"Really?" There was a hint of red in Benny's purple cheeks, the boy rubbing the back of his head with a goofy grin. "Awwww... shucks."
Bobby? Bobby's response was a swift heel to her foot.
"ACK!" Frazie hopped back on forth on her good leg, hissing through her teeth and swearing under her breath. "You're lucky I'm still working on pyrokinesis, you little...!"
"Eh, eh-heh! Eh, eh, eh-eh!" Bobby mocked, waving his hand back and forth and laughing as he sprinted away.
Sasha's gaze trailed after him, the man shaking his head. "Don't worry, I'll have a talk with him about that later. And speaking of rewards... I believe I have a couple for you."
"Me?" Frazie hadn't expected anything, given she still wasn't an official camper... but she sure as heck wasn't going to turn it down. "Like what?"
"Firstly, this." He reached into his coat pocket, retrieving something to show to her. A yellow felt diamond, featuring a box and an arrow.
Frazie felt the corners of her lips curve upwards. "This is..."
"A Telekinesis merit badge," Milla filled in for her. "We can see you used it extraordinarily while helping calm Dogen down. You've more than earned it! Go ahead, darling."
Brimming with pride, Frazie took her second patch and affixed it to her shawl right next to the first. She hadn't even been here half a day and she'd already gotten a couple of these bad boys. She might still be a rookie, but it was starting to make her feel like maybe, just maybe, there was hope for her as a psychic.
"And on that note," Sasha continued, "I think we can all agree it wouldn't be right to keep you off the roster after helping keep everyone safe. We will waive your parent's permission... though, of course, we can't waive that they're still on their way. But until they arrive, you are free to join us in our learning exercises."
Frazie couldn't help it. She threw her hands up and pumped them with enthusiasm. "Yes!" She still had a time limit, but she was a full-fledged camper now. She just had to make the best use of the days she had left.
"Congratulations," Milla praised with a clap of her hands. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll inform the campers that activities will be postponed for awhile while we have a bit of a rest. And tend to these headaches..." Milla took Dogen by the hand, leading him away. "Come on, darling, let's get you back to the cabins and make sure you're not hurt."
Benny went with. Dogen glanced over his shoulder as they walked away, tossing a grateful wave. Frazie waved back.
Meanwhile, the shortest counselor was trudging off on his own. "I need a nap..." Oleander grumbled. "Told you he was a time bomb, Nein! Good thing we had a bomb squad on hand." He shot Frazie a quick look. "Good work, cadet. Keep working that brain. Might be big things ahead for someone like you..."
With him gone, it was just Frazie and Sasha now. She was planning to excuse herself, until he spoke up off-handedly. "Hmmmm. Perhaps I underestimated you."
Frazie looked his way. "How's that?"
"A plethora of reasons. Very few succeed an excavation into the mind on their first few tries, let alone their very first. Nor do they acquire two merit badges on day one. Completing Oleander's course... defusing Dogen... I believe there is potential in you, Ms. Aquato."
Now that was a confidence booster. "Oh, uh... thanks?" she said, grinning just slightly.
But he wasn't done there. Fishing into his other pocket, he retrieved another object. "I'd like to extend an offer. Come to my lab at the big dome out in the woods. I cannot make you show up, but if you do, I can provide you some advanced training. It doesn't have to be today, or tomorrow... but consider it."
He placed the thing into her hands. She opened it up to see... "...A red button? What am I supposed to do with this?"
Sasha just turned away silently, telekinetically pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lifting it to his mouth. "When the time comes, you'll know," he replied cryptically as he departed.
Puzzled, Frazie held the button up to her arm. Well, this was her good outfit, so she didn't need to use it to make any repairs. She'd figure it out later. She didn't plan to visit his lab just yet... but maybe soon. For now, she pocketed it and made to leave.
Her foot nudged something on the ground. Her eye was drawn to something left behind in the grass. Frazie stooped down to pick it up.
She turned it up to face her. Inside her palm, the altered Psy Portal gleamed up at her.
And so marks the end of the first new mental world... and another new one coming up. What'd y'all think? I've already got a few more minds planned, but I'm curious, what other campers do you hope to see?
