Chapter 15
When we left Truman's office, we happened to see that Lili was waiting for us and that she looked a bit down, me going to her and speaking with my mind.
"Lili, private mind talk. We need to tell you about... something very important," I said, her looking at me with surprise and then going into mine, Jenna's, Gloria's, and Raz's minds to speak.
"D-Did the guy finally talk?!" she asked, Gloria responding to her.
"He did, and he actually revealed something that shocked us. Apparently, Mitsy wasn't the only victim of Naraku," Gloria said, which made her gasp.
"Yeah, we found out just now from the man himself. Turns out, the one inside of Truman's body is Gristol Malik, who was suddenly sent to his mind by Naraku 5 days ago, most likely as a bit of revenge when he realized we were about to kill him. And he actually knows that bringing Maligula back will be bad and wants us to stop it. He's been keeping to himself and not sharing anything because he doesn't want to risk awakening her too soon," Raz said, which made Lili tear up, but this time, out of relief.
"And you were right, Truman's brain is inside of the box, as I sensed that much... but not even Gristol knows how to get through the psychic fingerprint locking it up. So, we need to get the Psychic 6 reunited for another reason, to figure out how to release Truman's brain from the box. And we will still get those mushrooms so you can try to talk to your dad... and we also convinced Gristol to speak to you one-on-one, since you're both victims," I said, her smiling at me.
"I-It won't be the same... but I'm forever grateful. Thank you!" Lili cried as she then rushed to me and hugged all four of us, which we then hugged her back before it hit noon, which made her sigh. "Now it's time for your dad to take control... dammit... can we please go meet with him before we go to lunch, mister D?" she asked, me smiling at that. She promised me that she'd never reveal my family's embarrassing last name.
But then... something happened. Out of nowhere, I suddenly thought of one thing... about how time had really flown by and how I'd basically turned 32 despite still being stuck in a 10-year-old... and when I thought of how I was still looking 22, something shocking happened to both Lili and Raz. And right in front of everyone that was in the room we were in.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Raz asked when he realized it first. I mean, how couldn't he realize that he'd grown to be the size and age of a 22-year-old! And Lili gasped when it also happened to her!
"Oh God! What did you do, Rose?! Fix it! Fix it now!" she shouted in shock, me then thinking about 10, 10, 10 years old for her and Raz! And after doing so, we then returned to normal, us sighing in relief.
"W-Was... Was that... the Time Bubble ability?" asked none other than Otto Mentallis, who looked to be in the doorway when he saw us.
"Time Bubble?" I asked with a gulp.
"Yes! The ability of a Psychic to control time for oneself or their surroundings! And it looks like you managed to age your host, Raz, and young Lili to the age of adulthood! How very perplexing... the only man I've ever seen who knew how to do that was Helmut!" he smirked, me looking at Lili and her at me.
"Maybe... Maybe it's not too late for Helmut..." Zeke suggested from Lili's mind.
"What are you talking about?" Jenna asked.
"Maybe that Time Bubble was able to activate not from Rose's own doing, but because of Helmut's influence? Quick, Otto, you're the inventor here, do we have any items around that stores brains after the bodies have perished?" Zeke asked, which made him think before a ding happened in his head.
"Of course! The Hall of Brains! There are over 30 thousand brains in that thing, at least one of them might be Helmut's!... But how would that happen? Didn't his whole body get frozen in ice?" he asked as I said something.
"I'll answer that question with another question. Did anyone from the Psychic 6 happen to know teleportation?" I asked, him then thinking before nodding.
"Yes, that was Ford!... Ford must've saved his brain via teleportation!... But why didn't he do anything other than hide it in a jar?" he asked in confusion.
"My guess, he probably hid it in the jar during the battle, but then, when they finally defeated Maligula, his mind shattered, making it impossible for him to remember where he put it."
"That does seem to be the most logical thing that'd happen," said none other than Fred Bonaparte, who I saw had been given the duty of security guard of the cameras. "After all, in the art of war, the generals are the ones to make all the decisions. He probably had greater plans for Helmut since they couldn't find his body, but since Helmut's mind was the only thing Ford could grab before he got consumed by the ice, they needed to try and find another body for him... but then, his mind shattered, much like mine when I lost 28 games of Waterloo in a row," he said, which made me then think of Crispin.
"Hey, speaking of, has anyone given any updates as to how Crispin's doing?" I asked.
"Mitsy told me to give him some much-needed eye surgery, and it was an astounding success. He's currently back at my lab. He needs about 3 more hours of rest before we can take the bandages off," he said, me nodding at that.
"Got it... and do you know where the other members of the Psychic 6 might be?" Jenna asked.
"I think that I know that each of them is within this area here within walking distance, but the only ones I know of exact locations are Compton, Ford, and Bob," he said.
"Uncle Bob?! You know where he's at?" Lili asked while looking at herself in her mirror to make sure her clothes weren't ruined. They were fine.
"I only know because I have heard it from the plants I work with at the lab. He lives in the forbidden area of Green Needle Gulch, at the top of a mountain covered in vines. The plants are concerned for his well-being, as he's become a recluse and a hermit, feeling completely alone. He needs help, but it's impossible to teleport to the gulch because of the Psychic interference there... and I would say what the interference was caused by, but it's strictly Psychic 6 information and no one else must know," he said, me sighing.
"Understood. We still need to get him back, though. And I'm sure he's in desperate need of a haircut, more than anyone else," I said, him nodding.
"And a bath. And new clothes. If he's been living out there since dad kicked him out when I was 2, he's sure to be a wreck in every aspect," Lili said with a frown.
"Well, for now, we go to the lab. Hopefully I can talk to the other asylum mates and see how they've been faring," I smirked as Otto then led Raz and my female friends forward, me then connecting to Edgar and seeing that his position as of current was at the classroom and he was assisting in teaching the kids something that wasn't psychic.
"Edgar... is teaching the kids how to paint?" I asked.
"From what I heard, the kids needed some recreational time, so Mitsy hired him as the art teacher. The only rule she gave the kids was that they couldn't use psychic powers to paint. You have to use your hands and your imagination to make your canvas reflect your mind. It's basically combining recreation with mental control training, which is ingenious," Otto smirked, me then looking for Bonita and I saw that her new job was the janitor, which was shocking to me, but I soon learned she was good at it and cleaning the floors was fun for her.
"Huh... Bonita likes the job of janitor? Not complaining, means she's not afraid to get dirty," I smirked before then sensing for Boyd... and shock of the century, he'd been appointed to be in charge of accepting the packages outside of the facility to send them to the mail room. And as ridiculous as that was, almost as ridiculous as giving him the job of security guard, he was actually quite good! He managed to see the packages from within with the invisible vision I taught him and that helped him to know if there could be any contraband in the packages before sending them down. And so far, he'd gotten three different bombs that he removed from the packages and alerted to security quietly and calmly, me being surprised at how maturely he was handling the situation. He had become a completely different man than what he was in the base of the adventure!
"I never would've thought that Boyd would be so calm from handling packages that had those things in them," Raz said, knowing well enough to not say the word in the middle of the atrium.
"From what I've seen from afar, your Boyd friend is good at what he does, but he has issues when it comes to talking to any of the higher-ups. That's why Mitsy always has him arrive with another of your asylum friends so he won't be afraid," Otto smirked, me smiling at that.
"She sure is different than when we last saw her in our world, Mitsy that is," Jenna admitted.
"Yes, yes, she's already told me that she deeply regrets the prank with the tar and feathers. But even without her Psychic powers or her previous fake nature, she is even more widely liked as the second in command," Otto smiled as we then finally got out to the quarry, where we used some special platforms that formed from the water to jump our way to Otto's lab, where we saw that the interior was just as cool and technologically advanced as in the game!
"Wow... look at all the amazing stuff in here! It's like an inventor's paradise in here!" I smirked.
"Inventions are not just that, they are also dreams in the making. I make some when I'm scared, I make some from anger, and even some from hunger. And each one has a purpose," Otto smiled as he showed the machine with the hamburger and poked a button, me being surprised at how the burger produced a small pheromone that immediately made me feel full.
"Oof, that's got a kick to it!" Raz smirked at the scent as we then moved forward, and we saw that Crispin was laying on a gurney next to the Hall of Brains and he had some headphones on his head.
"So... what's he listening to?" I asked.
"I simply noticed that your mind had a lot of songs in it that sounded good, especially to Crispin, so those special earphones are picking up on your brain's memories of music specifically. And it switches to one new song each time, only the good ones," he smiled as Crispin then started to sing a bit with the music currently in his head.
"~Yoouuu... don't wanna be just like you... but what I'm sayin' is-
This is the Anthem, throw all your hands up-
Yooouu... don't wanna be you~," he sung, me smirking at that. He knew the lyrics to the chorus of one of my favorite band songs, that being The Anthem by Good Charlotte.
"Well, good taste," I smirked as Otto then showed us the Hall of Brains and looked at them with a smile.
"Okay, one of these has got to be Helmut's, so use that amazing mind of yours to find out which one it is," Otto smirked as I then looked at all the minds, one at a time... and of all the ones stored within, I only sensed one that was alive and still conscious, me then getting it. It was the one that Otto made the name up for in the secret brain stash, me then getting it from inside and holding the jar in hand.
"So, this is Helmut's brian, huh? Funny, we have his brain, but we do not know where his body is," Raz frowned.
"From what the Psychic Issue said, he was buried so far under the ice, not even the Psychic 6 could find him," I said.
"We dug for three days when the fight ended, and we couldn't reach him. The Hyperhyglaciator worked in freezing Maligula solid and managed to trap her long enough for Ford to deliver the final blow, managing to bring Lucrecia back to her senses... but then, something else happened and it caused his mind to shatter. None of us in the six know what he did or where Lucrecia went to afterwards," Otto frowned as Raz then took out the Psycho Portal and was about to put it on the brain before I halted him.
"No, Raz. Let me handle this on my lonesome," I said as I then went into the brain through the jar and into the brain, me managing to reach the empty void within. And after doing so, I spoke.
"Hello? Olly-olly-Oxen free! Looking for whoever's in charge in here?" I asked, me then getting the response in the form of the ball of light.
"Who are you? Where are you? Is this absolute nothingness? Or the start of everything? What time is it right now?" he asked as I then spoke.
"Uh, in the order asked, I'm Rosie, I'm right in front of you, we're in your mind, this is the start of me trying to get you to remember who you are, and the time is 12:12 PM," I smiled, him then sighing in relief.
"Hey, how come I can hear you, but nothing else? And barely, too," the ball of light asked as I smiled.
"It's hard to explain, but your mind has been sitting still doing nothing for almost 20 years, so you've got a lot of sensory deprivation. First order of business, getting you into a body. And when we do that, we need to refamiliarize you with your surroundings and senses," I smiled him speaking at that.
"Okay, that sounds good. You promise that you'll help out when we do that, right?" he asked, me nodding.
"Of course. Now, I should probably-" I was about to say before I heard another voice from nearby.
"You probably shouldn't think of doing much to this little mind, little lady!" said a voice that I knew very well, hated a whole lot, was super shocked at how he was around in this mind, and feared his power.
"Dorito Chip Boy," I frowned as I sensed for his presence and found it right next to me, me then shielding myself with a mixture of my shield and conjured unicorn hair. Otherwise, he would've blasted me and the ball of light to kingdom come!
"HUH?! How come that didn't do a damn thing?!" asked the dorito man as he then appeared, me frowning at him. He was in 2D, not 3D, meaning he was just visiting the brain.
"And I must ask the same thing to you, Bill. How come the memory gun didn't do a damn thing to you? I thought for sure that you died when Ford's mind did," I frowned as he then spoke.
"Remember what I said? I'm number one since 3 trillion BA, Before Always! Anytime anyone even THINKS about me, I reform myself in a random set of another universe! So, I simply warped myself here when I got an invite from a certain someone you killed, hehehe!" Bill smile as he then showed the memory in his giant eye on his triangle body, showing the one in question was Naraku, me frowning at that.
"And that officially makes Naraku one of the dumbest villains in history... me, however?" I smirked as I then grabbed him with a shield and coated it in unicorn hair. And he was trapped!
"HUH?! Hey! Why can't I warp out! I can see everything! HOW ARE YOU-?!" he was about to shout before I then conjured some hairspray and sprayed it into his eye from outside the shield. "GAUGH! Not again! Why is it always hairspray?! Every time!" he growled.
"One would think that a giant weakspot like that would be well protected, but nope," I smiled as I then teleported something to my hands from the world he originated from. One that, when he saw it, he quivered in fear. "N-No... No! Don't you dare!"
"Oh, I'd dare," I smirked as I then zapped him and only him with the memory gun that was his demise in Ford's world, him gasping as it started to happen. He started to forget everything about who he was.
"NO! I can't forget all the fun I had! All the lives I've destrbbpptt! Stop it! I'll give you the entire multiverse! Knowledge of space and ti-ti-ti-time! Don't do this!" he shouted as I then spoke one more thing before I could feel his mind completely go blank.
"You should've thought about that before you killed even one person," I said, him then finally going blank in the head and falling to the ground as a 2-D triangle with no knowledge of who he was any longer.
"Oogh... w-where am I?... Why is it so... dark?" he asked as I simply spoke.
"You are... a very rare creature called a Psychic Triangle," I said, him looking at me in confusion.
"Psychic Triangle?" he asked.
"Yes. And you were attacked by a nasty thought, so I healed you from death's door... so, in exchange, I want to offer you to come under my wing as a student," I said, him looking at me in surprise.
"A student... of what?" he asked.
"A student in the Psychic arts. I can show you how to use your powers to help save the world from a great danger. I can sense tons of it within you, but it looks like you have complete memory loss," I said before then warping the memory gun back to the world it came from.
"Uh, what's going on?" the ball of light asked.
"Apparently I'm going to be taught good things in how to be a Psychic?" Bill asked as I then took his hand, as it wasn't blue and flaming, and I had us leave the mind of Helmut and right in front of Raz and Otto in the lab, the latter two being shocked by who I'd managed to bring back.
"Whoa! What is that... uh... triangle?" Raz asked when he saw Bill. And right now, he was in a Pyshical, 3-Dimensional form, but it looked like this world was practically made to accomodate his immense psychic magic.
"This? This is a Psychic Triangle, a very rare creature from another dimension that I found in Helmut's nearly blank mind. He'd been injured from something else, but he doesn't know what because of complete memory loss. I can sense tons of latent Psychic strength within him, so I've offered to teach him how to control it for good, learn responsibility, that stuff," I smirked.
Raz looked impressed, but Otto looked at Bill in confusion and skepticality, looking him all over with his mind and then speaking.
"Yes, he does have amazing Psychic power locked within him, some that even I have never seen before. But as you said, he also has complete memory loss... does he have any knowledge of anything?" he asked.
"Nothing that the little lady hasn't said to me," Bill said, me seeing that, despite being an eye, when he was without all memories of who he used to be, he was capable of feeling emotion.
"For now, I think I'm going to lead us to the Motherlobe. We need to get to giving Helmut's mind a new body and Nick's is ripe for the taking," I smiled.
"Who's Nick?" Bill asked.
"He's the mailman, but his body is without a brain. We need to give him one in order to reach our friend, who has a mind that's completely fractured," Gloria said as well, me smiling at how she looked baffled and concerned in her mind when seeing Bill himself, but knew not to say a word, same with Jenna.
"So... can I get a name?" he asked, me smiling at him.
"Your name, as I will decide, is Solomon, meaning Peace," I smiled.
"I like that, it sounds like it suits me," Bill smirked. Good, it looked like my plan worked. I just had to hope it stayed that way, since he was actually the most dangerous villain in ANY media I'd ever seen.