A/N: I just wanted to give a shout-out to whoever's updating the TvTropes page, it's always fun to go and check it out after a chapter! And all the analyses under World of Symbolism are intriguing to read, as well as pretty spot on. If anyone's into that site I highly recommend giving it a peek.

Now then... it's time for the biggest chapter yet. I might've gone a liiiiittle too hard on this one. Hopefully it pays off? And once again, thanks to SandrC and DiLithiumDragon for helping me tie this huge chapter together!


Two versus two dozen... yeah, those were pretty crappy odds. But those were the cards they'd been dealt, and it was time to play them.

The gang closed in around them, sneering, jeering, taking their sweet time pouncing on their prey. Frazie had taken down some incredible threats yesterday, but never so many at once. Hopefully, Sasha's training would really come in handy.

"Come on!" Frazie taunted, her energy welling up as they approached. She made the first move, unloading on the closest censor with psi blasts until it popped.

Her opening fire was their cue to return the favor. Frazie threw up her shield as the bullets started flying, pinging off her barrier in a nonstop rhythm.

Lili might not have had a shield of her own... but she could still make one, in a way. A Heavy Censor stomped close, fists raised high to crush her into the ground - Lili didn't even try to move, standing firm, confident. Its arms dropped like sledgehammers, and at the last moment, she kicked off to the side, narrowly avoiding getting planted in the floor.

While her foe tried to recover from missing, she slipped around its side, jumping up on its back with a huff. "Gotcha!" Her tiny arms didn't do a thing as she wrapped them around its neck, but it kept her latched on when it reached back to try and peel her off.

The beefy lawyer spun, trying in vain to swing her off and ending up batting a smaller censor into dust. "Haha!" Lili whooped, holding on for dear life as it jerked and blocked any bullets heading her way. She was on a wild ride atop her bucking bronco, and knocking out cannon fodder in the process. "J.T. would be jealous!"

At least Lili was safe for now, but Frazie knew those gunmen were the biggest threat here. She had to deal with them first.

Dropping her shield and scooping up a charging censor, she hurled it at the nearest gangster. "What the...?" her target murmured just in time to catch a wailing gremlin to the gut. Its gun clattered to the floor as it fell over with an oof.

Frazie quickly flipped over, somersaulting to the side as the rest of the firing squad opened up. She tossed another censor with her mind, but the goon saw this one coming and cruelly batted its own teammate down to the ground to get back to shooting.

She needed to close the distance. Throwing up another shield, Frazie rushed forward, intent on getting up close and personal.

"I think not."

"What the-?" Mikhail's representation shoved itself in front of her, making her crash into him with an 'oof'. Before she could skirt around him, he pulled an arm back and lashed out with his knuckledusters - hard.

Frazie might not have felt a thing, but that didn't mean it had no effect. The sheer force of his blow sent her flying backwards across the room, though she was able to tuck into a roll and land on her feet at the least. She glared at the brute, expecting him to at least have broken his hand from the blow, much like Clem's dad had hurt himself on her shield... but no, all he did was shake his fingers off and start coming for her again.

"What are you?" Frazie breathed.

"Strong."

Or at least, Maloof saw him that way. The big, tough, invincible Mikhail that no one in camp wanted to deal with... and this form of him was as durable as everyone else thought he was.

Frazie's shield was running out, and the bullets kept coming. But not for much longer.

Off in the distance, one of the mobsters felt their gun click and looked down at it, slapping it. "Stupid, cheap piece of- AHH!" He let it go, the weapon clattering to the floor and starting to melt. "What the hell?! Freakin' thing is burnin'!"

"Wha?" his partner called, still firing away - and then the stock of his own tommy lit up in flame. Before he could let the trigger go, his weapon exploded in his hands.

Both the goons evaporated into nothing while a laughing Lili kept a grip on her frustrated mount. "You're clear, Frazie!"

The gunmen were gone now, leaving only censors both light and heavy and a steadily approaching Mikhail. "Good one!" Frazie called, leaping back out of the way of another punch.

She willed her psi bullets back up again, but they thudded against the man fruitlessly, not even slowing him down. When he took a running swing at her, she gave up and dropped down, throwing out a kick to trip him up instead.

To her relief, he toppled over. Sure, he was already getting back up, but at least he wasn't completely unstoppable.

In the meantime, Frazie turned her focus to the censors. At least they could be dispatched with a couple psychic strikes. Reeling a leg back, Frazie punted one at one of its bigger brethren, then took the startled heavyweight by surprise by shoving a foot in his face as soon as it'd recovered.

Its head snapped back - and then it grabbed her leg and slammed her to the ground. "Ack!"

It was no Mikhail, but these upgraded censors didn't have all those muscles for show. Rolling out of the way of its follow-up punch, she tilted her head up and launched sharpened psi blasts directly into its face.

Its glasses snapped, the man bellowed, and promptly disintegrated back into energy. Another one rushed her way and Frazie lit it on fire, dodging out of the way as it panicked and ran past her with its pants blazing. The burning brute took out some more of its fellows before collapsing into a smoldering heap.

Two dozen had become around ten by now. Mostly little censors, steadily getting picked off one by one as they tried to leap onto Lili and were promptly pummeled by her flailing steed.

Mikhail's representation paused in its pursuit, glancing around, taking a head count of its remaining allies. "Weak," he grunted. Changing course, he stomped his way over to Lili's wild ride. Pulling back, he slammed her mount in the face hard enough to send it flying - and Lili with it.

"AHHHHH!" She fell on her back as her unwilling assistant evaporated with just one hit. As she sat up, groaning, she spotted Mikhail looming closer and closer, clearly having no qualms with hitting a little girl.

He raised an arm to attack... only for his head to jerk forward as a censor slammed into the back of it. "Hey!" Frazie called, unloading psi blast after psi blast into his back. "Some tough guy, picking on a kid!"

Lili would resent being talked down to like that if Frazie's distraction wasn't saving her from becoming a smear on the floor. Instead of pummeling her into a pulp, Mikhail just grunted, lifted her by her head, sending hurtling like a missile towards Frazie. "You talk too much."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lili spun in midair, plowing into Frazie's waiting arms and bowling them over. A rough landing, but a safe one. Dazed, but fine, Frazie set her aside to get back up.

Across from them, Mikhail was scanning the arena, humming with disappointment. From two dozen, to ten, to about four; only a few smaller censors remained, cautiously circling around the arena, still deciding if they wanted a part in this brawl after watching all their brethren get demolished.

Annoyed, he clenched his hands, his weapons gleaming across his knuckles. "Relying on guns and stamps over might... is why they fail. Cowards. I told boss I could handle this myself, and now look." He suddenly raised a foot high. "No more. Will end now!"

He stomped, crashing his heel to the floor... and making the entire room quake.

Around them, the arena shifted. The walls slid into the ground, slowly unveiling a new enclosure underneath that made Frazie grit her teeth.

Thousands, millions, even billions of neurons, all thickly meshed together in a constantly buzzing current of signal-sending sparks. An all-encompassing cage of pain.

Mikhail was pretty good at throwing them around like ragdolls... but if he got his hands on them now, one toss would fry them like a mosquito to a bug zapper. "Lili," Frazie instructed sternly, "go deal with the small fries. I'll keep him busy."

Keen to not get launched again, Lili gave her a salute and sprinted off, making the censors wail in terror. Turning back to Maloof's right hand man, Frazie strode towards him, and he mirrored her approach.

He moved to make the first attack again - and that was fine with Frazie. If he planned to knock them into the neurons, well, the answer was simple:

Don't get hit.

The air whooshed by her head as she ducked and weaved around each powerful blow, dodging every grab. Her pulse pounded to the beat of his fists, but she stayed focused, using all her agility to duck under his haymaker and jut to the side as he followed up by bringing his arm down like a sledgehammer.

She readied herself for his next punch, dancing on her feet, eying his upper body intensely... and then she let out a choked cry as his boot connected with her stomach.

Oh, right. He had legs, too.

Pain exploded in her gut. The force of his kick sent her flying back, rolling over and over until she landed on her side, groaning. She pushed herself up, trying to wobble to her feet... only to feel two massive mitts wrap around her midsection.

"H-hey!" She struggled helplessly as Mikhail lifted her up over his head, dangling her sideways. "Let me go!" she demanded, punching down at him with psychic fists.

His hat bobbed a bit with each strike, his invisible head shifting with each impact, but he didn't seem to notice as he shrugged. "Very well."

He turned her and pulled her back, aiming for the outside of the arena.

"Wait...!" Frazie's cries fell on deaf ears as he flung her like a javelin. She soared through the air, hollering all the way. Betrayed by her own incredibly aerodynamic physique.

The wall of pure electricity rushed towards her, and she finally just shut her eyes, accepting her fate.

At least until she jerked to a stop in midair.

Frazie popped her eyes open again, face to face with the pulsing wires. The buzz of static tickled her ears, made her hair stand on end. That was too close. Swallowing nervously, she glanced back to see Lili straining, her telekinetic hand lifting her up by her skirt.

The censors were gone, and Frazie's partner was finally free to halt her momentum and lower her to the ground. Never so relieved to touch the floor again, Frazie promptly took a biiiig step away from the edge. "I owe you one, Lil!"

Now completely alone, Mikhail looked between them, grunting. "Good. Better this way. Less chaotic."

He was right. It was less chaotic... which meant they could focus all their efforts on him.

But what did they do? Psi blasts didn't faze him, punches glanced off, and fat chance they could levitate him off the ground. They could try pyrokinesis...

Or they could get creative. The sharp crackle of a stray bolt behind her gave Frazie a better idea.

"Lili!" Frazie called across the pit. "Follow my lead!"

She started running right at Mikhail, and Lili looked at her like she was crazy, but she trusted her friend to not be leading her to her doom. "Okay!" she yelled back, rushing at his other side.

Mikhail braced himself, stance wide and scoffing. "You think you can touch me?" he taunted, seeing Frazie coming a mile away.

And then he didn't see her at all. Taken off guard, he whipped his neck back and forth - only to jerk forward as an ethereal fist slammed into his back.

Frazie whaled on him, the man merely grunting as he turned and swung. She vanished back out of sight again, though, only to surprise him with an uppercut.

He stumbled back a step, chuckling. "Does not hurt. You waste time."

"Am I?" Frazie asked. While he focused on her, another fist suddenly materialized in front of him as an invisible Lili punched him full force.

Before he could push her off, Frazie joined in, shouting a battle cry as she returned the favor from earlier with a psychic kick to the stomach. The girls bobbed and weaved around him, popping in and out of existence only to reappear and shove him back a bit more before he could retaliate.

It was impossible to see them coming, impossible to brace for impact. They might not be hurting him, but they were pushing him back again and again, their combined force steadily overpowering the bulky man. He swung wildly, trying to fight them off, only to hit air and get kicked back another few steps as Frazie materialized above him and jabbed her heel into his shoulder.

Another few steps closer to the neurons.

By the time Mikhail realized what was going on, it was too late. With one final cry, the girls popped out of invisibility in unison, plowing their fists straight into his chest for a powerful finishing blow.

"No-!" Unable to keep his balance, Mikhail's representation tripped backwards, the sentient clothes toppling into the intense wall of energy.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

Frazie and Lili winced when he hit the wall and sparks flew. Mikhail spasmed wildly, arms and legs kicking to and fro, smoke starting to rise up from his hat as a small fire sparked up on its peak.

At last, the goliath finally broke free from the current, collapsing to his knees with a cough and a gasp. "Not... bad..." he admitted, right before toppling forward.

He landed with a loud thud, still twitching occasionally. Lili looked down at him and grimaced. "Is he dead?"

Cautiously, Frazie nudged him with her toes. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or terrified that his fingers flexed in and out even after taking millions of volts all at once. "Nah, just stunned."

Checking for herself, Lili gave him a swift kick. He groaned. "Looks like it."

"Thanks for the second opinion, doc."

But Lili didn't hear her wisecrack. She was too busy bouncing in place, giggling with giddy glee. "AHHHH! This is the most fun I've had at camp in years! Forget telekinetic basket weaving and running Coach's course for the umpteenth time, this is what it means to be a Psychonaut!"

Frazie rubbed her still-aching stomach, forcing a lopsided smile. "Well, at least someone's having fun."

"You're not?"

The acrobat took a moment to think it over. "I mean... outside of the headaches and the blunt force trauma, I'm seeing things I couldn't even imagine. Who else can say they kicked an invincible guy into an electric fence? Sooooo, upsides, downsides."

"Well, keep practicing, and soon, you won't be getting hurt at all. Then it's all upsides!"

Frazie didn't think even the best Psychonaut ever would be completely untouchable, but Lili's faith in her was refreshing. And the idea of helping people out, seeing these wild worlds and learning so much about herself and others... it did have a certain charm to it.

The ache in her gut, less so, but hopefully that'd fade once they got their loot and got out of here. Speaking of...

"Come on, let's get what we came here for before the big palooka gets back up," Frazie said, turning away.

"What's a palooka?" asked, following after.

"I have no idea."

The formerly full arena now lay bare, with all the gangsters having poofed away. It made finding the memory vault a breeze - the poor thing was off to the side, knocked open, no doubt caught in the crossfire as it lay dazed in the corner.

Frazie didn't feel too bad for it after it got them into this mess in the first place, but she was admittedly glad she didn't need to clobber it herself. Approaching the downed critter, she groaned and ignored the sharp stab in her abdomen as she knelt down to rifle through it.

Jackpot. Grinning widely, Frazie fished out another stack of photos and fanned them out in front of the two of them. They scanned them intently, Frazie shuffling through them steadily.

Her shuffling slowed. "...Wait a second."

Frazie went over the photos again, leaning in, staring intently. The more her eyes scanned them, the wider they got. "These aren't the right photos! This vault's a dud!"


Son of the Mob

"Crybaby, crybaby, eyes wet and lips shaky!"

"Maloof the doof!"

"What a loser!"

Maloof sobbed over the remains of his sand castle, all while a few of the neighborhood kids pointed and jeered. He didn't want to cry. Really, he didn't, but he'd worked on it for an hour! Then they'd come by and he'd offered to let them join, and then they got too close and...

And stuff like this ALWAYS happened.

He didn't get it. He just wanted to play with others. To make friends. But for some reason, everyone's first instinct was to hurt him, one way or another. Was it his face? His aura? He was just lucky it wasn't physical pain this time.

He was tired of being pushed around. It just wasn't fair.

He wasn't the only one tired of seeing him get pushed around, either.

Off in a nearby alley, a shadowy figure scoffed, the ember of their cigarette falling to the ground. Crushing it underfoot, they stepped out of the darkness, adjusting their necktie.

The trio of tormentors finally looked up from their victim when they spotted the newcomer headed right their way. Wiping his eyes, Maloof followed their gaze. A tall, thin man, hair slicked back with far too much grease and garbed in a snazzy red suit. One of the guys his dad talked with often - Maloof wasn't sure what his real name was, but he liked to go by 'Weasel'.

"Ha! Is that your dad?" one bully laughed as the man stopped and glowered down at them.

"Nah. I just work for 'im. And you little runts are damn lucky he isn't here, because he'd do so much worse to ya." The man stooped down to their level, a cruel gleam in his eyes. "You don't buzz off, and I'll happily twist some pinkies so you snots can't play with yer toys without cryin' in pain anymore. His pops, though? You wouldn't be found eeeever again."

The kids giggled a little more, but the longer they met his stern glare, they realized he wasn't joking. The biggest of the trio swallowed nervously. "W-why not?"

"How the hell would I know? I ain't him. But if I had to guess..." He leaned in, his sneer growing wider and wider. "Maybe he'd tie ya to the front of a train and send ya cross-country. Maybe start a nice car backfire with you in the trunk." He leaned right up into their faces, the kids holding each other and trembling as the smoke on his breath washed over them. "Or maybe... he miiiiight even... BOO!"

The kids shrieked as he jumped at them, darting off in all directions.

"Now scram, ya little cockroaches! And don't ever bother Maloof again!" Weasel waved them off, spitting on the sand as he straightened back up. "That'll learn 'em."

Sniff. The gangster's face softened when he heard the sound, glancing down to see Maloof still crying quietly.

"Aw, geez..." Threatening people? Easy. Soothing kids? Not really his thing. But he'd try. "I wasn't kiddin' about that finger breakin' thing, ya know. They bug you again, just let me know, eh?"

Maloof just shook his head solemnly. "I don't think they're going to bully me anymore... but they're not going to be my friends, either. No one is." He hiccupped, his destroyed sandcastle just a reminder that no one could ever just let him be happy. "I don't get what I'm doing wrong! I'm trying my best, but everyone just wants to pick on me...!"

"..." Sighing, Weasel tugged a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and offered it to him. "Come with me, kid, let's have a lil' talk. Man to man."


It was a ridiculous sight, a little boy and a pinstripe-sporting thug sharing a seesaw, but if you said it aloud you likely wouldn't live to tell the tale.

Maloof finally had someone to play with, but it didn't make him feel much better. It just made it sting all the more that no one his age would look his way. Would Weasel even care if he didn't work for Maloof's family?

Plus, Weasel kinda sucked at seesaw. He bent his knees low, but was still too tall to push Maloof up all that high. But the toy wasn't the focus here. Weasel caught him continuing to look down, face twisted with barely repressed tears, and sighed.

"Lemme ask ya somethin', Maloof..." he finally said, drawing his attention. "Why do ya need friends so badly?"

"...Huh?" It was like he'd asked Maloof why he needed to breathe. "Doesn't everyone?"

"Frick no!" Weasel exclaimed, toning down his language. Last thing he needed was his boss' wrath for teaching his son a swear. "Your father definitely hasn't made many friends getting where he is. But he still gets whateeever he wants. He's got the city in the palm of his hands. And you know why?"

Maloof's face scrunched up, with thought instead of tears this time. "Because he's really smart?"

That got a good laugh out of Weasel. "Well, he is, but no. It's because he's strong. He does the things no one else has the guts to. He carved a niche in the world for himself with his own hands... and made sure no one would dare complain about it."

"So let me ask ya again..." Weasel got them moving again, a strange dichotomy between riding a seesaw and espousing the virtues of fear. "Who needs friendship when ya got loyalty? When ya runnin' the whole shebang with an iron fist? Your pops, he's a good man... and by good, I mean tough. The kind that don't take no sass from any uppity mooks."

Weasel chuckled, gesturing to the boy. "And you might not be strong now... but you will be. I can feel it. Just like your dad. So don't let anyone give you any disrespect, capiche?"

He said it with certainty, like it was something he should be proud of... but was it? Maloof wasn't sure.

His father was good to him, one of the best dads you could ever ask for. He was busy a lot, but he always praised him, encouraged him, gave him anything he wanted. But did that mean he was a good person? Many times Maloof would see people come crying or disheveled from his office. Sometimes people had to be carried out. Sometimes people didn't come out at all.

He didn't quite understand what it all meant... but it made him uneasy.

Almost as much as the idea that he'd be the one with the room people didn't leave one day.

Weasel's mouth quirked when he saw Maloof still lost in thought. Well, at least he wasn't crying anymore, that was a start. Halting their ride, he swung a leg off and made a new offer.

"Now how's about I getcha some ice cream?"

The idea that he had to get respect through force instead of being himself was one that couldn't really be made better with some ice cream. ...It sure helped a lot, though. Wiping his nose, Maloof nodded.

Chuckling, Weasel reached over and ruffled the boy's hair. "Attaboy. You're gonna be a real big shot like yer papa some day, I know it."

Maloof didn't know if that thought was exciting or terrifying.


Frazie wasn't sure if she wanted to give Maloof a hug or wring the little twerp's neck for this fake-out. The latter was starting to win out. "All that work for nothing!" Frazie moaned, tossing the useless memories back where they came from.

Lili was definitely in the throttle camp, her fingers curled into aggravated claws. "Come on! I got thrown across the room for this! When I see that guy again, I'm gonna...! I'm gonna...!"

"You're going to what?"

A voice called out from behind them. Twisting around, the girls' eyes popped open as a portal materialized. Maloof stepped out, his shoes clacking on the floor.

Then another portal opened. Then another. And another. Another, another, anotheranotheranother...

Hundreds of little breaches in reality slid wide, each one spitting out a gun-wielding goon. Both girls quickly threw their hands up when they found themselves held at gunpoint by an entire mental firing squad.

A bead of sweat rolled down Frazie's face. "Where's Lefty?"

"You mean this guy?" Maloof snapped his fingers, and another portal opened up. Suddenly, Lefty was roughly booted out of it with a cry, landing on his back in front of his boss.

The suit moved to sit up, only for Maloof to kick him back down. "I'll be having a little talk with him later. A looooong talk. I wouldn't worry about him if I were you."

Lili grit her teeth. "Where's the real memory?!" she snapped, promptly shutting up when her attitude earned her a load of weapons aimed her way.

"I had a little hunch you two would be stopping by, so I did a little switcheroo. Oldest trick in the book," Maloof drawled with a wave of his hand. "Though I didn't expect you'd be able to survive the ambush, I admit. Surprise me once, shame on me."

With a snap of his fingers, the air was filled with the clicks of weaponry as the crowd of thugs readied their guns. "I won't let you surprise me twice."

Frazie gulped. They didn't stand a chance against this army. Her shield wouldn't hold them off that long, and they'd be in a world of hurt the second it dropped. It pained her to admit it, but right now, her smelling salts seemed like the only sensible option.

Reluctantly, she resigned to their failure, preparing to make a grab for her capsule. But just as she was reaching for their escape plan, she froze as a loud, meaty sound rang out.

Thwack!

Halted in place, Frazie's eyes flicked to and fro ahead of her, unable to process what she was seeing. Maloof was on the floor and Lefty was the one standing, fist raised... but something was different.

Maloof had just been punched out by... Maloof?

Maloof was in the white suit now, and also the black? Twins, one rubbing their aching cheek and the other glaring down at them with righteous fury.

Frazie slowly pushed her jaw back into place. You know what? She was gonna stand back and watch this play out - and it seemed all the gunmen agreed, lowering their weapons as they glanced back and forth between the two Maloofs. Ugh. She was just going to keep calling him Lefty until this was sorted out.

"I've had enough!" Lefty shouted.

Down on the floor, the old Maloof glared at him, trying to soothe the bruise on his face. "Pffff. Where was that attitude when Bobby was tying fish to your head with your own underwear? You're pitiful. As soon as I came in with promises to make things better around here, you rolled over like a dog."

'Lefty' looked down, guilt etched into his eyes... but when he glanced back up, they were steeled with newfound resolve. "I know I didn't stand up for myself then... but I'm standing up for myself now."

"Standing up against what? The guy who's finally gonna get you the respect you're owed? Because a couple morons got snagged out on the lake?"

"You're really going to let people get kidnapped and possibly KILLED just because they gave you some wedgies?!" Lefty gestured wildly to Frazie and Lili. "They just want you to share one tiny bit of info, no cost to yourself, and you can't even do that?! What is wrong with you?!"

"Just wedgies?!" Maloof snapped back. "They've ruined camp, they've ruined my trust in others, and they don't care one bit! They're a bunch of cads! Jerks, freaks, and morons! They're rotten, all of them, and the ones that stood by and let it happen are the worst of all. They deserve it!"

"Well you deserved THAT," Lefty spat, brushing off his knuckles. "The kids might've been jerks, but at the end of the day, they're just bullies. You're worse than a bully. You're a monster."

"I'm you, you idiot!"

"No." Lefty spoke assuredly as he gave all his attention to his other half. " I don't have to be you. I don't want to be you. I know I need to be stronger..." He glanced Frazie and Lili's way. "But I don't want to give up on people to do so. And thanks to them, I know it's possible."

Maloof scoffed, getting off the floor and dusting himself off. "This is ridiculous. I think it's about time we ended this little charade..." He snapped his fingers once more, the loud crack echoing around the chamber. "Mikhail! Get over here!"

Frazie's body tensed up at the sound of a familiar voice groaning and pushing itself up off the ground. The gangsters stepped aside and made a path for the right hand man to return, tugging his hat back into place.

"There you are," Maloof snapped, giving him a dirty look. "You failed to defend the vault... but I'll forgive you. If..." He pointed to his clone and the girls. "You make them sorry."

Mikhail stared down at him, silent. Then, he stepped past him... and stopped by Lefty's side. "No."

"Good, make them-..." Maloof's eyes shot wide. "Wait, what?!"

Mikhail's representation crossed his arms, even as Lefty looked up at him in surprised awe. "I join Maloof to make him strong. So no one can hurt him again, to put bullies in place, not so he can hurt innocents. I value strength above all else... and you are not strong. You are baby hiding behind men. He... he is strong one."

The power shift happened instantly. The gun-toting goons shared a confused look, shrugged, and adjusted their aim towards their former boss. Maloof threw his hands up, sweating bullets.

"W-what?" He turned slowly, all coldness lost from his face and replaced with panic. "Please! You don't know what you're doing! They're setting you up to make a fool out of you, to let people walk all over you again!"

Chuckling, Lefty shook his head. "I'd rather people walk on me than grind them under my heel. But don't worry... neither's gonna happen. Now then..." He lifted a hand, and snapped his own fingers this time. "Let's make this new management official."

Before everyone's eyes, the old Maloof's body began fading away. He looked down at his slowly fading hands, a choked cry in his throat as his visibility slowly drained away. A moment later, he was nothing but a black suit, like Lefty had been before.

"That's better." Lefty turned away from him, head held high. "Fellas, hook my friend up here with a nice pair of cement shoes."

The suit's former lackeys were quick to converge on him, a couple grabbing onto his arms and dragging him off through a new portal. "Noooooo...!" he wailed, kicking all the way.

And then, he was gone. Hopefully a couple days in the stone sneakers of shame would mellow Maloof's dark side out a bit.

Maloof - the one and only white-suited Maloof, now - stepped away from his gang to approach the girls, Mikhail following behind loyally. "My apologies for the scene," he said.

"Uhhhhh..." Frazie tilted her head. "It's alright? But... I don't think I fully understand."

"Make that WE don't fully understand," Lili tossed in with finger raised.

Maloof nodded, face solemn. "I'll explain briefly. I was the Maloof in charge around here for a long time. Then Mikhail showed up and brought that new one with him." He looked up at his right hand man, who offered a shrug. "That other Maloof promised to make things better, and foolishly, I believed him. I didn't know he only planned to make things better for himself, treating everyone like tools to make the people who wronged us suffer." The little boss sighed. "He wasn't entirely wrong... I need to be tougher. And I'll try my best. But I won't let myself become him again."

That made a bit more sense. Nodding slowly, Frazie offered him a smile. "Well, I'm glad to see control back where it belongs... buuuuut, what about that vault?"

"Ah, yes." With another snap, another portal popped open by his side. A new safe waddled out of it, grunting softly as it stopped next to him.

"Handing this over is the least I can do after stopping me from sinking even further." The girls watched as he bent over and started twisting the knob on the creature's face. The vault didn't seem to mind, even making a happy noise as its true owner popped it open and pulled out the photos within.

Tidying them into a neat stack, Maloof reached up to offer it to her. "For you."

"Thanks, Lefty. Er... Maloof?" Malefty? Ah, forget it. Frazie took them and once again spread them out for her and Lili to analyze. This was the right memory, alright, calling back to yesterday at the lake... but its contents provided more questions than answers.


Now You See Them...

"A little bit faster, Mikhail. I want to feel the wind."

"Will do. Is good practice, too."

Their canoe picked up the pace, and Maloof sighed contently. Things had really started looking up after Mikhail had stepped in for him... Bobby and Benny were avoiding him, he had someone to cruise him across the lake in style, and they even had plans to get a little protection racket going.

Yep. Things were gonna change around here.

But as much as some things changed, some things stayed the same. Like other campers being annoying kissy-faced dweebs.

Maloof turned his head back, glaring at Milka and Elton smooching in the canoe behind them. Back of the pack, and they couldn't care less. Maloof stuck his tongue out, gagging. What was so cool about locking lips, anyway? What'd ever happened to cooties?

He made his look even dirtier, but the two were in their own little world. Rolling his eyes, he made to turn around...

And almost missed an unbelievable sight. Heck, he saw it and still almost didn't believe it.

One second, they were floating behind them. The next, a big dark spot rapidly grew under their boat. And then... the water exploded. It all happened in the span of a second. Some large, misshapen object burst from the lake, its maw spread wide. The kids didn't even get a chance to scream before the thing swallowed them whole, canoe and all.

Alright, that was a little TOO much change for Maloof.

He hadn't gotten a great look at it, but he knew it was time to get out of there. Now. In a panic, he tripped over himself crawling to the front of the canoe and grabbed Mikhail's sleeve. "Mikhail! We need to get out of here! Go faster!"

His associate just gave him a confused look. "But I'm already going faster."

"EVEN FASTER!" Maloof pleaded. "There's something back there!" He took a deep breath, willing himself to stop shaking. "Get us back to shore NOW."

Mikhail peeked past him, the waters completely still. As far as he was aware, he'd never noticed anyone or anything back there. Still... Maloof was the one making the shots around here. He just shrugged, pressing his fingers deeper into his temples. "As you wish, boss."

On edge, Maloof took his seat again, constantly glancing behind them, but whatever he'd seen was gone. Milka and Elton were gone with it.

It'd been so fast, so surreal, he almost thought he'd imagined it. But he never saw the two campers the rest of the day, or the next. At first, it bugged him. The more he dwelled on it, though, the more he rationalized it to himself.

Who cared? Not him. Weird stuff happened at this camp all the time, and for once, it wasn't happening to him. They'd never lifted a finger to help him out, and he didn't feel inclined to do it himself. They'd be fine on their own.

And if they weren't... well, that wasn't his problem, now was it?


When they'd stopped looking it over, they could see Maloof wringing his hands. "I should've told someone. But even if I did, who would listen? I'm not even sure what I saw."

Frazie and Lili weren't sure either. Whatever they'd seen was big, it was scary, but they couldn't exactly tell the counselors there was a giant man-eating blur in the lake.

It might be enough to get them moving at least. Then again, they were pretty adamant that everything was a-okay. For all she knew they would claim they'd made a false memory just to get them to go on a wild goose chase. And could Frazie blame them? They were going to have to convince them there was some kind of giant monster in the lake, and that sounded ridiculous even to her. Even when she'd just seen it with her own eyes.

No, she wasn't going to bother Sasha and Milla until she was 100% sure they wouldn't brush her concerns off.

Which meant they were going to need more evidence.

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Frazie offered him, soothingly. "What matters is you did the right thing in the end." They just had to break into his head and overthrow his new power-hungry outlook in the process.

That last bit went unsaid, of course, and Maloof forced a small smile. "I guess so. I guess that means you're leaving, now...?"

The girls nodded. "Yeah. We need to look into this and try and get Milka and Elton's brains back," Frazie admitted.

"I thought as much. At least allow me the honor of sending you off."

The girls nodded, and a second later, Maloof sent them up on their merry way out of the city and out of his mind. Waving farewell, side by side with his memory vault and Mikhail, he called up after them. "Good luck, ladies! And don't worry! Things are gonna change around here... for the better!"


Frazie breathed a soft sigh of relief once they were out of the big mental metropolis and back in nature. This was more her element. Definitely an exciting trip, though. It might be fun to take another visit to a big city... in the real world, where the scariest thing she'd have to worry about was getting overcharged for a hot dog.

Lili stirred beside her, and she reached over to give the girl a grateful pat on the shoulder. "I couldn't have done it without you."

Taking her praise to heart, Lili beamed up at her... then paused, eyes drifting off to the corner. "Thanks, but... I can't help but feel we're forgetting something."

Thunk.

Both girls jolted. "What was that?" Lili asked.

It'd come from inside the cabin. Where the Psy Portal was and where it'd detach after use with no one to stop it and oooooh crap.

Wincing, Frazie listened in as a soft 'huh?' came from within. A second later, Maloof peeked out over their heads, a sour look on his face and her doorway in his hand. "Drop something?"

Lili suddenly found the ground very interesting while Frazie twiddled her thumbs. "Noooooo...?"

He wasn't amused. "Get in here."

Like hell. "So you can have Mikhail put us in the Telekiliminator?"

Maloof rolled his eyes, giving her trinket a shake. "I just want to talk. And if you want this back, you need to come get it anyway."

Frazie and Lili gave each other a look while Maloof went to unblock the door. "Think he's telling the truth?" Frazie asked quietly.

"Dunno. But if he's not, I'll go for Mikhail's shins."

Frazie had no plans to jump a kid no matter how strong that kid was... but she definitely had her shield prepared, juuuust in case. Leading the way, she took a deep breath and guided them around to the front door.

When they stepped in, the first thing they noticed was Mikhail kneeling over his finished project, a sloppily constructed desk made by jamming some headboards into the underside of Bobby's mattress.

It lasted about five seconds before one of the legs slid out of place and the whole thing flopped over. Mikhail simply let out a disappointed hum. "I am bodyguard, not carpenter."

Maloof didn't seem to mind that much, more focused on the two girls that'd just raided his mind without his knowledge. Pacing back and forth in front of them, he shook his head while Frazie and Lili stood tensed.

"I oughta sic Mikhail on you two for disrespecting me like that," he snapped, and Frazie immediately readied herself to fight off a telekinetic Russian kid. To her surprise, though, his face softened as he turned to face them. "But... honestly... I feel a lot better."

The girls shared a glance. "You do?" Frazie asked.

"I do." He dropped his head, looking ashamed. "The kids here have hurt me, but if I just let them be kidnapped and hurt even worse... I'd be no better than them. Heck, I'd be worse than them. Which is why I'm generously lowering the Psitanium price... to fifty-thousand arrowheads."

"You WHAT?!"

Maloof laughed, tossing the Psy Portal to her. "Hey, I've earned one joke after your uninvited intrusion. I'd tell you what you need to know, but I have a hunch you already figured it out."

That they had. Chuckling with relief, Frazie caught the door, nodded, and pocketed it. Pleased, Lili stepped up and lightly bumped the boy's shoulder.

"You know, Maloof, you're alright. Maybe you're not so extremely punchable after all."

He rubbed his arm, brow raised. "Excuse me?"

Lili smacked her cheeks. "That's not what I meant! Sorry, it's just people look at you and... ugh, never mind." She dropped her hands and gave him an apologetic look. "If anyone else gives you trouble and Mikhail's not enough to handle it, let me know and I'll knock some skulls around, 'kay?"

His natural bullyableness aside, her offer made his lips curl up into a smile. "I'll keep it in mind. Now if you'll excuse me..."

Giving their failed construction project a glance, he shrugged it off and stepped past them to the door. "C'mon, Mikhail, let's do something more interesting. How about we try and sneak some ice cream from the lodge kitchen?"

Puzzled, but intrigued, Mikhail got up and followed after. "Is delicious idea... but dangerous. Ford is old and brittle, but he threaten to throw me in oven when I asked him for fight. Have hunch it's not empty threat."

"Ahhhh, he's all talk. And when we're done with that, maybe we can go looking for that big hairless bear you keep talking about."

That got a grin out of Mikhail. "Is good plan, boss."

"C'mon. You can call me Maloof, you know."

He stopped at the threshold, then paused, one last thing on his mind. "Frazie?"

"Yeah?"

Maloof reached into his pocket, pulling out a little purple patch. He placed it in her hand - the real Invisibility merit badge. "Here, you can have it. I don't plan on doing any hiding anymore, anyway."

Grateful, she pinned it to her shawl with the rest of them. Bidding them farewell, the two boys finally departed, leaving one very mangled bed behind.

Frazie grimaced at it. Bobby wasn't going to be happy, but hey, it wasn't like he didn't deserve a little humbling. Ignoring it, she looked down at Lili instead. "Alright... so there's a monster in the lake."

Stroking her chin, Lili hummed with thought. "You don't think there could really be... a Hideous Hulking Lungfish of Lake Oblongata?" she asked, fingers curved into talons.

"Do you have to say it like that?"

"Yes."

"Well... there's no way to know for sure. How are we going to find out?"

Lili put her hands on her hips, chewing on her lip. "Hmmmmm... I might just have an idea. We have an old bathysphere down on the pier. We could use it to go down and look around, couldn't we?"

Just the very suggestion made the older girl shiver. "Is it really a good idea to go underwater when there's some sort of giant kidnapping thing in the lake?" Not to mention the idea of heading under the surface was already making her skin crawl. No doubt Galochio was already rubbing its grubby, watery palms together in anticipation.

"Is it the best idea?" Lili answered. "Probably not. But we need to figure out what we're dealing with, and there might be a clue down there. We won't go that far out! And besides, we just took down the mental mafia!" she boasted, throwing her hands up. "We can handle whatever it may be."

Frazie absolutely hated where this was going. But finally, she just sighed and nodded. "I hope you're right."

She was in absolutely no rush to go lake diving, but Lili was, and so she had to start jogging when the kid ran out of the cabin. "Let's go!" Lili called, leading the charge back to the main area.

Frazie couldn't help but feel unsettled, spotting that the bridge guards had vanished. Kitty and Franke had just gotten bored and wandered off, right? Surely whatever lurked in the lake couldn't leave the lake. The kids hadn't been snagged while they were dealing with Maloof... right?

Trying to ignore that possibility, Frazie shook it off and crossed the bridge back to camp with Lili.

Unseen to either of them, a column of large, webbed handprints sat ignored against the canyon wall.


Did you know writing a fight scene with 25+ participants is really freakin' hard? Because it is. Let me know if anything was confusing, we put a lot of work into trying to make it all as coherent as possible!