A/N: The train of inspiration is back in the station. Choo, choo
Replaying Psychonauts is a great way to keep the creativity flowing, but I'd forgotten how quickly paced it is. Half the campers kidnapped before dinnertime, Raz's parents arriving in just a day... I'm still working out the timeframe this fic's gonna work under, but I'm predicting it'll stretch out a bit more than that.
Frazie sat in the shade of one of the camp's many trees, the Psy Portal resting in her hands. She turned it over and over, inspecting it.
It felt like something far too important for the counselors to just 'forget', especially with its failsafes down. Then again, almost getting your brain popped had a way of making things slip your mind.
Whatever the case, Frazie wasn't about to go up to them and ask what the deal was. She didn't plan on going jumping into kids' heads willy-nilly, but this still felt like something worth keeping around. It might come in handy if another emergency sprung up, and turning it in wouldn't do anything but net her good girl points.
Hey, it was a risk. But taking risks was just what acrobats did.
What next, though? The campers had dispersed again now that the situation was clear. The cheery campers were up on the lodge roof now, whispering amongst themselves. Frazie could've swore she caught a glimpse of a shy girl eying the boy in the sailor hat before vanishing as he passed by. Some kid in an astronaut helmet was dashing off into the trees carrying a bunch of weird gadgets in her arms.
Maybe she could go find Lili. She felt kind of bad having to leave the girl behind when she'd clearly wanted to come along, even if she had no choice. Frazie could tell her all about her adventure - Lili seemed like the kinda gal who'd love to hear how she beat fire to a pulp.
But before she could get up and go searching, fate had something else in store for her.
From behind her, specifically.
"Hey."
Frazie jumped, quickly trying to sandwich the Psy Portal between her hands in case it was a counselor. Instead, one of the kids had snuck up on her, a green girl with thick headphones wrapped tight around her ears. Frazie recalled she was one of the two campers that'd been jamming out with drums onstage during breakfast.
"Uhhhhh... hey," Frazie replied with a forced smile. "You didn't see a door just now. It waaaaaas... a really flat pinecone."
The girl just laughed. "Relax, relaaaax, I'm not gonna tell anyone." She offered Frazie a hand. "Name's Phoebe. Phoebe Love."
Phew. Frazie accepted the handshake with her free hand. "And I'm... well, you probably already know after the campfire thing and dealing with Dogen and yadda yadda..."
"Yeah, I think the whole camp knows your name by now. That big mess just minutes ago is actually what I wanted to talk to you about," Phoebe said when she took her hand back. "Quentin and I, we've been talking about blowing minds with our music. We just didn't expect someone to try and blow ours, first. Hoo..." She rubbed her head, right behind her earphones. "You're a lifesaver!"
Frazie couldn't help but grin, but simply shrugged. "You don't gotta thank me. What else was I going to do? Let everyone explode?"
"Don't downplay it, girl," Phoebe replied. "We all owe you one. Which is why I'm here."
Frazie's brow furrowed. "Huh?"
"I saw you getting a little hotheaded while practicing pyrokinesis earlier."
The older girl's cheeks reddened shamefully. "If you say you owe me, any chance you can just forget that ever happened?"
"I can do you one better." Phoebe jerked a thumb at herself. "How would you like to be taught by a pyrokinetic pro?"
Frazie looked a bit doubtful - she didn't think any of the kids here could really call themselves pros. Phoebe caught her glance and cleared her throat. "Well, I have a bad flare up now and then, but I'm still the best firestarter in camp. That's even gonna be the name of our band!" Wherever he was, Quentin suddenly had a huge urge to scream about the Levitators.
Speaking of screaming, this just shrieked bad idea. Frazie didn't doubt Phoebe had skill, but would that really make her that much different from Lili? Frazie pulled her ponytail around front and stroked it, not ready to risk losing it again so soon. "I doooon't think that's a good idea."
"Relaaaaaaax," Phoebe soothed with her hands. "I know a place I can teach you where both of us will be safe."
"What'd you have in mind?" Frazie asked, skeptical.
With a smirk, Phoebe simply tapped the middle of her forehead.
Frazie blinked, then glanced down at the Psy Portal still clasped in her grip. "You mean...?"
"I mean literally in mind. Think about it... something burns up in the mental world, who cares? It's not foolproof, but it's a heckuva lot safer than training out here."
Phoebe had a point. Frazie recalled how Bonfear's blaze had scorched her but she was a-okay back in reality. A safe psychic training ground with a sorta-pro... it was a good deal. And Frazie did need something to work on.
Well, it wasn't an emergency... but it was a pretty smart use for the portal. She'd go find Lili first thing after the lesson and show off her pyrokinetic progress. "Alright, sounds like a plan... but if anything starts exploding, I'm leaving."
Phoebe tilted her head. "Huh?"
"Never mind." Frazie held up the door between two fingers, brow raised. "You sure about this?"
"Totally. Slap it on me, sister."
With a nod, Frazie reached out and stuck it to Phoebe's forehead. The now-familiar sight of the door clicking open and pouring white light played out. Phoebe shut her eyes and took a breath. "Come on in... and wipe your feet, first."
With a quick scrape of her heels, Frazie stood up and concentrated. She fell into a trance of her own as she once more felt her consciousness soar through the aether and into the frame.
Now entering:
Phoebe's Fire Mix Tape
As Frazie descended to the ground, a gust of warm air blew over her. When she landed, she could see she was in a strange little canyon - the sky was dark and the area around her was rocky, a few glowing cracks in the ground spitting soft puffs of steam.
She had no idea where she was, but it was already an improvement. "No dark rooms. Nothing blowing up in my face. Off to a good start."
Before she could set off to find Phoebe, Phoebe found her first. The girl popped out from behind an arch up ahead, waving. "Yo! You made it."
"Come on, you really think I'd somehow get lost in the five second entry?" Frazie put a hand on her hip, gesturing around. "Not gonna lie, I didn't expect a place so... volcanic." At least it was just pleasantly warm and not actually an oven.
"Oooooh, this is just the entryway." Phoebe beckoned her guest ahead. "You ain't seen nothin' yet."
Frazie hummed curiously, following the kid through the rocky gate... and gasping when she saw what lay beyond.
Spotlights and neon signs. Purple walls and smooth brick. A dance club sat amidst the stone, looking out of place as heck and yet fitting completely naturally all the same. Outside, a line of living instruments hopped down the red carpet, a tough looking conga drum serving as the bouncer. Phoebe boldly walked up to it, and it bowed before her. "Welcome back to the club, miss."
Shooting him with a finger gun, Phoebe walked by to undo the velvet rope blocking the way. "Welcome to the hottest place around!" she called to Frazie. "And here, we're the VIPs."
Frazie still had her mouth open in awe, taking it all in. She'd never really seen anything so bright and urban, her family usually sticking to the rural areas and the nearby forests even when they got close to town. She'd followed her parents into the city now and then, but she'd never seen anything from the nightlife. Still, she knew enough to know kids typically didn't go to dance clubs, let alone own them. "Aren't you too young to be in a place like this?"
"Girl, I run this place. I can do whatever I want! Now come on, let me show you around."
...Well, Frazie wasn't going to argue with that logic. She shot the bouncer a cautious glance as she followed Phoebe inside.
The club was hopping, even if everyone was a flute or a tuba or a cello. Phoebe swiped a glass of brown liquid off a passing trumpet waiter's plate, the tool hardly noticing as it tried to balance more drinks on its handle. "Come on, have some!" she insisted, offering it up to Frazie.
Frazie wrinkled her nose. She may not have been an adult yet, but she was still supposed to be the responsible one. "C'mon, Phoebe, this is out of li-... glp!"
Phoebe had just rolled her eyes and telekinetically shoved the glass to her lips. Frazie took a sip and smacked her lips. "Mmm... is that soda?"
"Duh." Phoebe handed her the cup of pop to let her keep sipping complacently while she guided them around full tables and various instruments. Up front, a dance floor was bustling with all sorts of musical guests hopping to the tunes. Onstage, a bunch of instruments played themselves, a smooth and steady groove keeping the club pumping.
Phoebe walked Frazie out into the middle of the dance floor and took her empty glass from her. "Wait here," she instructed, slipping back into the crowd. Off the floor and off to the side, she dropped the glass onto a random table before climbing up the short staircase to the stage. "Heeeeey, fellas! Music got you fired up tonight?"
The instruments roared and bleated with approval, a cacophony of sound all around Frazie. Seemed Phoebe was a big deal around here... which was kinda a no-brainer, it being her own mind. "Well it's about to get hotter! If you guys don't mind?" she asked the band.
They didn't mind one bit. They evacuated immediately, the drum even handing off its own sticks to her. "Cool, cool..." Phoebe stepped up to the center and held her arms high, a stick in each one.
Before the crowd's (lack of) eyes, a drum set materialized in front of her, a non-living one by the looks of it. She thumped out a quick beat on it and the crowd went wild. "We've got a special event tonight! We'll get this party started right... if you could all do me a favor and make way for the guest of honor."
All around Frazie, instruments backed away, leaving a big gap in the crowd with her in the center of it. Feeling a bit self-conscious, she glanced around, waving a little. "Uh... hey. Nice strings you got there. Love your brass."
After a few more drum hits, Phoebe pointed a stick out towards her. "Here's how it's gonna go down. I'll play, and notes will fly. You're gonna burn those suckers to the ground. Take it slow. Relax. Rushing it when you're starting out is just gonna cause a flare up. Feel that fire in your soul, and push it out through your hands. Harness the burn in your brain!"
She spun the sticks in her grip and slammed them down on the cymbals. As if by magic, the sharp crashes materialized in the form of clefs and quavers, shiny glowing notes floating up over the dance floor.
Impressed, Frazie took up a stance. "Alright. Here goes nothing...!" Concentrating extra hard, she jabbed her fingers into both sides of her forehead and tried to gather the warm thoughts from her mind. Like last time, she felt that heat simmer to a dangerously high level. Thankfully, a drum splashed a glass of water over her head. "Agh! This isn't going to be a thing, is it?"
"If it has to be," Phoebe called.
Groaning, Frazie shook her hair dry and tried again. Eager to not get soaked, she tried to take it down a notch. She felt the warmth build to the brim again and refused to let it go any higher. Instead, she directed that heat into her fingers and felt the tips of them singe. Up above, the closest note seemed to shudder and smoke as the mental energy condensed around it.
Fwoosh! The tip of it lit up and started to spread. A weak start, but a start. Frazie let out a cheer as the symbol burned out of existence.
"Not bad!" Phoebe praised as the crowd hollered and whooped. "But we're just getting started. When you can roast every note in a number, then we're cooking!"
Phoebe played again, a bit faster, conjuring up more targets. A couple saxophones joined in on her sides, pumping up the volume and the flow of targets at the same time. Now that Frazie had done it once, redirecting her energy was a lot easier. Her burns started weak and slow, but with the audience's support and all the time she needed, she was getting the hang of it.
Soon, notes combusted entirely one after another. It was hard keeping up, but by now lighting them up was becoming child's play. The crowd went wild, spurring her on, and Frazie really started feeling the beat.
"Aw yeah!" She spun, pointing up at another symbol that immediately turned to ash. "I'm getting the hang of it! I should get a support drummer for all my exercises."
Phoebe laughed, pounding out a few more notes. "Now you're getting it! But maaaaybe cut it back a notch," she cautioned. "You don't want to overdo it."
"I can handle it! See, watch..."
With each jab of her finger, another target lit up. Another, another, another - she was on a roll. Phoebe had slowed her playing to try and get her to chill a little, but that just made Frazie pour more energy into the few notes that were there.
One of them floated high up, suddenly combusting into her tallest flame yet. Before the fire could die out, though, it tickled some of the wiring flooding the club with light...
And jumped to them.
Both the music and Frazie stopped instantly as flames crackled to life and starting traveling both ways along the powerlines. Phoebe's face grew taut as she pointed a stick right up at it. "Stop it! Put it out, now!
The dance floor became a chaotic crescendo as instruments hopped around, grabbing glasses and throwing their contents up at the ceiling. One even tried ripping the sink out and throwing that. But with the fire out of reach and spreading in multiple directions, it was a lost cause.
The fire spread to the lights, making them pop and spark... and those sparks just started up some smaller blazes on the floor. Phoebe yelped as a spotlight starting shaking loose up above and jumped out of the way as it crashed down to the stage, which immediately ignited. "It's no good! Everyone, run!"
Instruments stampeded for the exit, Phoebe and Frazie panting as they chased after. All the while, the flames chased after, spreading like wildfire with the naturally warm environment aiding it on.
Outside, the crowd reconverged, a worried hubbub filling the air as they all watched the club become consumed. Crackling and crashing echoed all about as the building slowly caved in on itself, falling apart bit by bit with a groan.
Pulse racing and heart sinking, Frazie drummed her fingers together sheepishly. "Well... like you said... if something burns up in the mental world, who cares, right?"
Normally, that'd be right. But Phoebe just held a hand up to her head, looking worried. "Something's wrong."
"Huh? What do you mea-" Before she could finish, Frazie felt a sudden push as Phoebe forcibly ejected her flailing from her mind. "Whoooooooa...!"
Frazie's eyes snapped open. Before she could properly refocus, Phoebe was already running away towards the main lodge.
"Wait!" Frazie chased after, throwing the doors open long after Phoebe had already done the same. The hall was empty aside from Chef Ford doing his usual thing of the moment... and Phoebe, who'd immediately jumped onstage to her real drum set.
She grabbed her sticks and started to play...
CRASH bang boom bop bang bang CRAAAAAASH boop boop BANG
Frazie covered her ears. It was a mess - not a thing like how she'd played before. Behind her drums, Phoebe let out an exasperated cry, slamming her head onto the drum with a loud thump. "I can't do it! My rhythm... it's gone!"
Uh oh.
"What the heck?!" Frazie called, running up onstage to shake her shoulder. "You said it's fine if something burns down in your brain!"
"Well I've never heard of someone destroying so much at once!" Phoebe moaned. "Toast a censor, fine! Burn some bushes or cobwebs, fine! Burn down the main focus of the brain... clearly not fine!"
Phoebe hung her head in her hands, on the verge of despair. "What the heck, Frazie? How could you save my life just to ruin it afterwards?"
"I-it's not like I planned to!" she protested. Oooooh, this was bad. Somehow, she'd completely wiped Phoebe's talent away... and that was already bad enough without considering that Phoebe was just trying to help her. Frazie bit her lip, brain racing a mile a minute clamoring for solutions. "...I'm gonna fix this."
Phoebe looked up at her in disbelief, her eyes brimming with tears. "Now how the heck are you gonna do that?"
"I have no idea." Frazie pulled out the Psy Portal again, shaking it. "But things can't get any worse. Right?"
"Yes, yes they freakin' can!"
Frazie winced. "Look... I know I messed up. But if there's any chance at all of undoing this... I'm going to need to go back inside."
Phoebe sniffed, then hung her head again. "Whatever. Just... just be careful."
"I promise." Carefully, Frazie gently pressed the door to the side of her head and jumped back in the second it was open. Reality slipped away, the last sound she heard being a choked sob.
Now entering:
Phoebe's Frosty Funk
The first thing Frazie felt when she returned:
Cold.
When her feet hit the ground, they landed in snow. It was that segment of Coach's brain all over again... but worse. Wild winds whipped around her, the snow pushing up to her ankles and flakes stinging her eyes. She hugged herself tight and shivered, teeth chattering. "W-what's g-g-going on...?!"
She'd be an ice cube in no time if she didn't do something. "W-warm thoughts, w-warm t-thoughts..." she repeated to herself, desperately rubbing her arms. The heat welled up inside her again, and this time, she clung onto it, keeping it at a safe level, urging it to pour throughout her whole body.
After a few moments, her shaking died down. She was still chilly, but her internal heat was protecting her. She finally unfurled, letting out a sigh. Well, that was one problem down...
...But what the heck was she going to do now? She couldn't see a thing in this blizzard. Nothing except... a light, barely visible in the storm.
With nowhere else to go, Frazie kept the heat flowing as she stomped through the snow, pushing against the wind and following the glow in the distance.
Until she tripped on something, landing face first in the slush. Growling, she flipped around to look at what'd hit her foot.
Her stomach fell. A trumpet, frozen solid with a plate and some glasses stuck with it.
"...Sorry," Frazie mumbled meekly, rising to her feet again and trudging towards the light once more. Watching her footing this time, she finally arrived safely.
The glow belonged to a small campfire, flanked by a couple frost-covered logs. On one of them sat Phoebe, the poor girl shivering and stuttering as she huddled under a blanket and leaned close to the flames.
"Phoebe!" Frazie ran up to her and threw her arms around her shoulders. "What happened here?! I left for like five minutes!"
Focusing intently on the fire, Phoebe's teeth chattered as she responded. "E-ever have a tune suddenly pop in your head and refuse to leave? Get a headache for no reason, or f-forget something on the tip of your tongue? Things can happen quickly in your head... like one second you have a club, and the next, s-someone burns it down."
Ouch. They were in a snowstorm and somehow that jab was colder than the freezing winds raging around them. Frazie glanced away, then looked back with a fiery determination in her eyes. "I could apologize again and again... but that's not gonna do anything. So tell me, do you have any idea how I can fix this?"
Phoebe shook her head. "N-not a clue. Except..." She turned her head around long enough to glance off into the distance. There, a few more specks of light spread out into the distance, a line of torches lighting the way through the storm. "I t-think there's a path over there. It's as good a place to start as any..."
Nodding, Frazie tugged the blanket closer around the girl and stood up. "Think warm thoughts, Phoebe. I'll be back."
Frazie was reluctant to leave her alone in the cold dark, but she didn't have a choice. Shielding her eyes against the storm, she trudged off into the distance, the crunch of her steps following her as she left stark footprints in her wake.
A new adventure, a new world, a new power, a new problem to solve... this one a little self-created. Let me know what y'all think!
