Chapter 13
Upon going back to class, we then went into Hollis's mind with everyone else, which is when she and the others were surprised at the other members of our minds joining, particularly the ones in Lili, Mirtala, and Frazie.
"Uh, who are these jokers? And how come you look normal now instead of ghostly?" Sam asked as I simply smiled.
"My family, all of them sent by Naraku's influence, all of them trapped in Lili, Mirtala, and Frazie's minds. That's another thing we wanted to try and figure out. How to get them to be their own forces instead of being stuck in the mind," I smiled at them.
"Gotta admit, I wasn't really expecting this," Hollis said.
"We usually don't like to talk too much during the morning, so we talk in shifts. Mirtala and Frazie handle the morning, we handle the afternoon and evenings. Same with Lili, but she pulls three shifts," mom said with a smile, though it was still very soft and shy, as I expected.
"You sound pretty shy... are you Rose's grandma?" Lizzie asked, me smirking at that.
"No, mother. And as for my age, since you might be interested, it's 32," I said, which made Adam surprised.
"32?! That's my age! Why are you so small?" he asked in shock.
"Two reasons. Cancer and our grandma's short genes. She was the only one in the family to get them," Susan said with a smirk.
"That's surprising, but now onto the lesson," Hollis said, changing the subject to teach us. "In the mindscape, you may see these things that look like shiny thought bubbles, such as these," Hollis said as she showed the images of Sushi and Tasty, as opposed to what was in the game. "If you can focus your mind in the right way, you can connect to them with ease. We call this, mental connection. Does anyone want to try it out?" Hollis asked, the one to volunteer being Sabrina... aka, the smaller version of her, who could only be seen in the mental world.
"I'd like to try it, please?" Smallbrina asked, which made Morris surprised.
"Uh... a younger version of the regular Sabrina? Shockingly, that's not the weirdest thing I've seen today," he admitted, me smirking at how he remembered her name.
"Okay then. What's your name?" Hollis asked.
"My name is also Sabrina... but since I'm smaller, Master Rose calls me Smallbrina," she said as Sabrina smirked.
"She's the embodiment of my loneliness... back in our world of Pokemon, she was almost always in control, and routinely shrunk people and turned them into dolls... though luckily, such things aren't possible in this world," Sabrina said as Smallbrina then went ahead and zapped herself into the mind bubble and then connected them, causing Hollis's mind to speak.
"I don't care what anyone says! Sushi is the most delicious thing in the world! If only it wasn't so expensive..." Hollis's mind said, her smirking at that.
"Impressive," she smirked as a trail then emerged, which was of numerous smaller thoughts. "However, there are also smaller trails of thoughts that can be linked to so long as they are close enough. We call these interconnected thoughts. But a fair warning, you must never try to alter someone's mental connections, lest they lose their minds and become incapable of finding out who they were prior," she said, me smiling at that as a vault then appeared, us seeing the sight within, which consisted of Hollis's mistake with her nasty teacher, Doctor Potts.
"That's... kind of scary," Squeepie admitted.
"I've seen it happen before, but in my world, it was more long-term. It's called psychological conditioning, something that usually happens in cults or abusive environments. They get manipulated by horrible people until they follow blindly. And that's why we need to find out more about what the deluginists are doing with Nick Johnsmith, Truman Zanotto, and what the connection is with the Lady Luctopus casino. I don't want to end up having to live in that kind of hell again," I sighed.
"You mean you had to deal with something similar?" Norma asked as I frowned.
"No, I didn't... but tons of innocent people did where I come from. Cultists separating families by kidnapping children, sickos capturing children as slaves for... certain means... and, as mentioned prior to my personal allies, Hitler," I said, which made Sam gulp.
"You mean... sex?" she asked, me nodding. "How disgusting! Please tell me that people get the death sentence for something that horrid!" Sam gagged.
"What's sex?" Squeepie asked.
"Something that you need to wait until puberty to be told about... let's just say, it's something that is very painful for anyone underage, especially when forced to do so by sick adults. And, sadly, when it's in the slave means, it's hard to find the higher-ups because of how easy it is for them to hide among the population. So the most that happens is accusations to many people, including those of high positions of power, such as the head of a popular tv show, the head of an entire religion, and even presidential candidates being among those sickos," I said, which made Hollis disgusted as two more bubbles appeared above her, which I saw consisted of Disgust and criminals. I then attempted to connect them, as they were already connected, but Hollis booted me out before I could do so.
"Stop, stop, that's enough. I don't want the younger students to hear what I'd say in that regard... too many bad words," Hollis frowned.
"I can handle it!" Pinoko said.
"I was referring to Squeepie, Mirtala, and Smallbrina."
"Oh... never mind!" Pinoko smirked as the class then concluded after we got our pins, and we then left Hollis's mind and we then left the classroom, only for Lizzie to speak to me by stopping me.
"Hey, I know I shouldn't say this, but my sis thinks that you and Raz are the moles. So be careful, okay?" she said, me smirking at that.
"Don't worry about it, Liz. I've handled more dangerous people than your sister... but which is the younger of you two?" I asked.
"Me, actually. I'm 18, she's 19. Our family comes from two backgrounds of pyrokinesis and cryokinesis. I handle the ice while she handles the fire. Sounds dumb, huh?" she asked.
"No, not really. I think it's kind of cool that your family is full of Psychics, kind of like Raz's family. Though in his case, the eldest, Dion, is the only one that isn't Psychic, since their mom isn't from Psychic background," I smiled.
"Still, 4 out of 5 isn't too bad," Adam smiled as he arrived next and I noted that Hollis was going to stay behind with the normal students.
"You better get going before the jet leaves without you, young ones. Wouldn't want the checks to bounce," Hollis said, me feeling something funny at that and looking at her mind... and when I did, I saw something surprising. She actually looked so deep in my mind that she actually saw the sights of what WOULD have happened had I not changed stuff drastically! Specifically, the level Hollis's Hotstreak! "And don't worry, just for protecting me from something so dangerous, I'll keep your secrets. Just keep your mind blocked, Rose," Hollis said, me stiffening at that and the thought she showed me when she realized I was reading her mind!
"Eep!" I yiped shortly after.
"What's wrong?" Raz asked.
"She probably saw something she didn't expect. Let's get going, we're in last place!" Jenna said, me nodding at my new friend as we rushed after the others before then cheating and teleporting directly to the ship, which is when we got slammed into by Gisu on her skateboard, sending us to the ground.
"Oof! You cheated!" Gisu frowned.
"As I said before, if you could do it too, you'd do it all the time," Morris smiled.
"You mean you can also teleport, Morris?" Raz asked.
"Short distances for short bursts, but yes. I don't do it too often though, since I can't take the chair with me... my mind came at the cost of my legs, you see. I can't walk, so I just float," he admitted.
"Well, at least that makes you an awesome paraplegic," I smiled.
"Paralewhat? What's that?" Pinoko asked.
"It's a fancy way of saying cripple without sounding like an insult," Morris smirked.
"Better way of putting it than I would've. I would've said awesome wheelchair person," Sam smirked.
"Actually, that sounds even better," I smirked, us then having a good laugh as we went into the jet and proceeded to the area we had to go to, me seeing it'd take roughly 45 minutes to get there. But when we started... we saw that we had forgotten one thing on the ship because of our excitement and because he was still asleep!
"Bobby? Ugh, I can't believe we forgot about him!" Raz groaned at him and for Sasha to smile.
"So does this mean that someone has to keep an eye on him?" he asked as I smiled at that.
"I guess so. Which of us will do so?" I asked.
"Maybe I could, but before we do so, we need to go over the plan when we get to the casino," Ford said, me smirking at how he was in charge instead of Hollis, which made the others surprised at how he was sane instead of fractured. You could tell by looking at their minds.
"Amazing... I get to actually talk to the founder... when he's sane? It must be Christmas!" thought Norma, which made me smirk at how she thought of him highly.
"I never thought that Ford would ever come back to the Motherlobe, let alone sane. Last I heard, he went insane from that fight in Psychonauts issue number 42," Adam said in his mind, me smirking at how he knew of it.
"Ahem, if you're done gawking over my presence, young minds, then I can talk of the plan?" Ford asked, which made the kids nod and break from their trances. "First, we'll need to have someone to take out the security without alerting the workers. The reason is that casinos hate psychics, mainly because they think we're too smart and can cheat them with knowledge of how to win. As such, they have tons of psycho-sensors and psionic security cameras all over the casino. So, as such, we'll need to cut the power in a smart way so that the guards on the cameras don't get suspicious," Ford explained.
"That's the Agent Cruller I know!" I smirked.
"Then I think I know a good plan," Oleander said. "Sasha will go through the vents in order to input a code into a computer that will get rid of the Psychic sensors' abilities while still leaving them on. Meanwhile, Milla will contact the security camera operators and tell them that you're there to inspect the security of the slot machines, allowing you access to the cameras by proxy. You'll then pause all cameras from recording while we get the rest of the team to assist Raz and his mental mates to get to the penthouse for the key that was on Nick's body," Oleander said, me smirking at that.
"We actually get to help on the mission?! Sweet!" Gisu smirked widely as Norma frowned.
"Why do Raz and his female friends go to the suite alone?" she asked.
"I can assist them, if that makes you feel any better, Norma Natvidad," Kanna said with calmness, which I could tell sent a chill to Norma's spine.
"You're still scared of her, sis?" Lizzie smirked.
"Demons are scary," Norma admitted.
"No, I'm not really that scary... Naraku was. He created me as nothing but a puppet on a string... lying to me and saying I had no heart when I had one the whole time, just hidden... I don't know why my heart was in me when we were sent to this world, though," Kanna sighed.
"Probably because nothing in this world can survive without a heart? And that you and he were the only true demons?" Gisu asked, which made her smile.
"Okay, is the plan set, then?" I smirked as I cracked my knuckles, creating a small circuit of electricity afterwards.
"Yes, now we just need to look at the map of the place to deduce the perfect place to set up shop at before heading out with special nicknames," Ford smirked.
"Can I come up with the nicknames?" I smirked.
"Why?" Lizzie asked.
"Just because I have some smart ones for each of us! I promise that it'll be fun," I smirked.
"Fine, go ahead, commander," Oleander said, which made Norma gawk.
"Coach Oleander considers YOU as a commander?!" she asked.
"Yes he does, Flames," I smirked, which made her smirk.
"Flames?" she smirked.
"Sounds cool!" Sam smiled.
"And your codename is Zaboo," I smirked.
"Zaboo?... You mean like Zaboomafoo?" she asked.
"How'd you know about that show?" I smirked.
"I've been watching it ever since it came on a year ago," she smiled.
"Huh. In my world, it didn't start until the mid-1990s... sweet!" I smiled.
"And what's your codename?" Adam asked us with a smirk.
"Double," I smiled.
"Smart, but dumb," Norma frowned.
"Sounds like someone wants her codename changed?" I smirked, her shutting up at that. "Yeah, thought so. Now for the others."
...
After giving the codenames to everyone else on the mission aside from Ford and Bobby, we then got into the fun part of actually arriving, which we did so in one of the uninhabited penthouses that had the doors unlocked. We then went out to our different areas and got a rollcall.
"Okay, rollcall. Silence, what's the status?" Oleander asked into our psychic minds.
"The sensors are offline," Sasha smirked.
"Chara Okie?"
"The cameras are paused all over, but there are some that aren't able to go offline, so be careful," Milla said.
"That's okay. Double and Haunt, the way is clear enough, time to go there, but be quick, we don't know how long it'll take until the higher-ups catch on," Oleander said to me, Raz, and Kanna, which I nodded at.
"Roger that, Sarge, meeting up with High Roller to find a route," I smirked as we then went forward and then got the grind rail provided by her.
"High Roller here with a mode of transport! Roll on, over!" Gisu smirked as she used Psychic strength to send the rails to us, which we then rode on along with Kanna, her giggling slightly at the feeling as the next on the list came on.
"Parade Float here, looks like we need some extra pep to fly high! I'm helping out," Morris smirked as he provided the trampolines for us, which we then bounced on.
"Greatly appreciated, Parade Float!" I smirked as we then bounced into the next part, which was where we encountered Lizzie and Norma.
"Flames and Freeze here, time to unlock the hatch with some special magic," Norma smiled as she then used her powers of fire with her sister's ice to completely rust and melt the door, allowing us to fall into the sky hatch and into the next part, where we met a lot of security cameras.
"Okay, time to move past using a special skill," Kanna smirked as she then did something that made me surprised. She turned herself completely intangible and, when she touched Raz, she did the same with both of us! We then moved forward without alerting the cameras until we reached the next room, where we saw that Adam and Sam were there, them showing the doorway ahead of us was blocked by some more cameras.
"Don't worry, Zaboo and Yo-yo Dawg are here to assist with getting rid of the final bits of security," Adam smiled as he then rolled his eyes slightly at my codename I gave him. He did like it, he just hated the final word's spelling. Sam then controlled a woodpecker to go to the cameras and destroy their lenses, causing them to fall down! Adam then used his Psychic yo-yo to destroy the sensors on each of the cameras without alerting them, leaving the way cleared for our group to go through and then into the elevator to go to the penthouse, which is when we put the key into the slot on the elevator to send us to said room. And after waiting for 30 seconds, we emerged to a smell that was so rancid, that even Kanna gagged when she smelled it.
"Gaugh! What the hell is this?!" she asked in shock.
"Come in, Double and Haunt! What's the issue?" Oleander asked as I looked around the room to see that the place was completely coated in disgusting bugs, filth, grime, and the worst part.
"One of the worst crimes you can ever commit! An entire room filled with fermented and expired caviar!" I gagged.
"YUCK! Try to find something important there, we only have at most two minutes until the guards will turn the cameras back on," Milla said, me nodding as we then went forward and we managed to find the hidden pathway through a picture, where we soon found the shrine for Maligula.
"Holy crapsickles!" I gawked.
"What's the issue, Double?" Ford asked.
"Well, it seems that whoever owned this suite was a big Maligula fan! Like, morbid obsession! It looks like what Boyd's scrawling on the asylum looked like, but they make more sense!... Wait..." Raz said before finding something other than the books on the table. A picture of none other than Nick Johnsmith next to a very shadowy figure that looked like Naraku! We also found the books mentioned prior, the picture of Lili on the big wall of Maligula, and another photo of something even more shocking, that being a silhouette photo of a 'woman in dreams'. It was stated her name started with R, she could see the future, and she would come to thwart Naraku and Maligula if nothing happened!
"How did he have dreams of me?... Is Nick actually a Psychic?" I asked.
"Maybe it was Naraku? He was able to manipulate Mitsy's mind effortlessly, he probably showed Nick some images while he slept... we should warp everyone back to the jet, since we only have 10 seconds left," Kanna said, me nodding and doing that, but not before I found one final thing and pocketed it, that being none other than a birth certificate! And it was for someone called Gristol Malik! We then got back to the ship with everyone, and they then proceeded to cheer happily at the mission success.
"We did it! YAHOO! That was the most awesome thing I've ever done!" Lizzie shouted in glee as we then boarded the ship and we showed our findings, minus the pictures of Lili and me.
"Hmm... so we have numerous evidence that points to Nick as being concerned about Maligula... and then a birth certificate for a man called Gristol Malik? Who is this guy?" Oleander asked, which is when Ford gasped.
"The former prince..." he gawked.
"What is it, Ford?" Sasha asked.
"Gristol Malik... he was the former prince of Grulovia! The same Grulovia that was destroyed by Maligula 20 years ago! Could it be that Nick has been Gristol this whole time?!" he gasped.
"Easy, Ford, sit down," Bobby said as he had finally woken up. "Now what all happened while I was napping, boss?" Bobby asked me.
"Uh, quite a bit, Bobby... I'll explain to you in thought while I speak in voice to the others about the other things we saw," I said as I then did just that. "When we were in there, we also found a years' supply of caviar that was fermented and expired, which created a smell so nasty, it managed to make even Kanna disgusted from it. And she's got a high tolerance for bad smells," I smirked.
"It's true. Demons like me have higher senses than normal humans... that smell was horrid, even for me..." she sighed.
"It makes sense, since Gristol's favorite food was Grulovian Caviar. He probably ditched the hotel when the caviar went bad," Ford frowned.
"But we also found a bunch of books talking of necromancy, how Maligula was actually a hero, and even a photo of Gristol as a younger man next to the shadowy form of Naraku!" I said, which made Milla gasp as she went to look at the picture and I could see the sweat coming from her head.
"Wait... I know that face! He's the one who burned down the orphanage! I... I can't believe it!" Milla gasped in shock as she then sat down and started to cry before I then consoled her with a telekinetic hand and spoke to her.
"Milla, it's okay. Keep in mind, we killed him, destroying every bit of his essence. The kids are probably partying in heaven knowing that their killer was brought to justice," I said, her sniffing and smiling at that.
"You're right... I just can't believe this at all..." Milla said with tears coming down her face.
"So that means that Nick really IS the culprit?! Then how do we deal with that?" Norma asked as I looked in her thought and saw that she no longer suspected me and Raz. "I can't believe I thought those two were the moles! All of this evidence clearly points to Nick as the culprit! But I never would have guessed it! He always seemed so nice!"
"Here's how we deal with it. We don't," I said, which made everyone look at me in either shock, anger, or confusion.
"WHAT?! Whaddaya mean?!" Oleander asked in shock.
"Think, coach. If Gristol's mind is really in control of Truman Zanotto, then saying anything more than what we found out here to Truman would just end up ruining everything. Instead, we might need a bit more firepower in case the manure hits the fan," Raz said.
"Huh... that actually makes sense, as much as I don't like it. But how do we do that?" Gisu asked.
"We need to do something that hasn't been done for 20 years. We need to reunite the Psychic 6!" I smirked, which made Ford gasp.
"Are you crazy?! I'm already risking everything by being in the Motherlobe as is! If the Psytanium on my back runs out of juice before we repair my fractured mind, then it could be more harmful than helpful," Ford said.
"Peh, okay then. Sit down in this chair with your back to me and Raz," I said, him being confused and doing that as I looked at the others. "If we're not out of his mind before we get back, simply carry our bodies with telekinesis along with him. Do not use smelling salts, got it?" I asked.
"Yes ma'am!" Lizzie and Sam smirked.
"Okay, I guess? At least tell me what it's like when you're done?" Norma asked, me nodding.
"Only if I get an apology when we come back," I said, her sighing.
"Fine, I'm sorry, okay!" she shouted.
"I'm sure that she meant a sincere apology," Sasha said, me ignoring it as Raz placed the portal on Ford's head and we then went inside the mind of Ford. AKA, the most varied mind in the entire game.