After collecting a figment, all of them drew right to me, same with collecting a single emotional baggage tag, but we soon found a Lungfish that didn't run from me or Mirtala, him speaking directly to us.
"Shadezilla! Pretzra! Down here!" he shouted, Mirtala speaking to him.
"Hey, can you tell us-" she was about to say, which the guy then shouted in response.
"GAGH! Oh, my ears!" he shouted, me then hushing Mirtala and speaking with my mind.
"Sorry, is this better?" I asked with my mind, him groaning after.
"YES IT IS!" he shouted, me now knowing he was now deaf after that.
"Sorry about that, he's got sensitive senses," another resistance member said. "We need your help to defeat Caviar Tower as well as Caviara herself," the member said, me nodding at him, but surprised that Caviore was a female.
"Okay, what's our first plan of attack?" I asked with my mind.
"First, we need to get through to the prison ahead so we can get a mode of transport to get you over the dam. But the place is filled with electrical defenses! And we need you to rescue our other resistance members in this prison as well," they said, me then responding by literally ripping the walls off of the building, which the prisoners then escaped, all of them being resistance.
"Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!" they shouted out loud as we then proceeded to have them climb onto us so we could have them move faster. And after collecting some Emotional Baggage and a couple of Mental Cobwebs, Mirtala and I moved to the zapping tunnel before a newscast started to come on the horn.
"FLASH! Our beloved Lungfishopolis is under attack by a duo of hideous hulking brutes who go by the names of Shadezilla and Pretzra!" the voice said... and for once, I had no freaking clue who it was! I did not recognize the voice whatsoever, and I'd even played through Rhombus of Ruin! "The navy has decided to pull out some anti-monster tanks AND some laser defense mechanisms in order to give those brutes what for!... (Do not get caught stealing children)" the voice said after, me frowning at that.
"Who was that?" I asked Mirtala in thought, so as not to hurt the ears of a certain fish that was on her head.
"I don't know," she thought back as we then reached the tunnel after destroying a whole ton of tanks, us trying our hardest to not destroy any buildings or innocent civilians in the process. And after entering the zappy tunnel, I went first and, as the electricity was charging up, I put up the shield around me and my fish allies, resulting in the tunnel being completely moot from here on out! We then moved through the wall and, after accidentally opening up the mental vault of Lungfishopolis being attacked, I actually saw the sight of Caviara herself, it being... a female that was dressed in Kochamera gear, but her being slim, tall, and having a big bust. But again, I didn't recognize her one bit!
"Who is that?" I asked in thought as Pretzra broke out the other prisoners in the Maximum Secruity sector, which he then spoke.
"Freedom! So, these are the new recruits, are they? They don't really look like much," he said, me frowning at that.
"Sorry, about that, we are, after all, still children," I frowned in thought.
"You, not so much. I can tell," he spoke in annoyance.
"Sorry if he sounds rude, but he's the only pilot in the resistance. We'll commandeer this blimp while you two take out the defenses at the dam. When the coast is clear, we'll come in for a route to the top," the leader said, us then going out and then hearing the sounds of Caviara in our heads again.
"Well, it appears that we've uncovered some information that the titanic terrors attacking our fair city are nothing but common thugs! They just broke out some of their criminal buddies for a night out on the town of graffiti and soliciting call girls. But not to worry, for the navy has decided to pull out the anti-monster defense cannons, which they have stated, for the record, are 100 percent monster proof! (When stealing children, do not digest)," the voice said, me still wondering who in the heck it might be. But then, I thought of ONE idea. Seeing her if she appeared in the mind as her own self would be the best bet.
Regardless, after Mirtala and I defeated the monster-proof defense cannon, the blimp then came through and docked itself on the ground.
"Okay, here's the plan. In order to get over the dam, you'll need to jump on top of the blimp and catch the overhanging crane that's above us! Do it one at a time, or the crane might give way," said the one who was deaf, me nodding as Mirtala and I then jumped onto the bouncy airship, and we took turns going across the wire. I let Tala go first, as chivalry wasn't dead, and when she got over, I then jumped up while she got the hatbox its tag. And then came the part with the split in the road. One went to the west, the other across a whole slew of bridges.
"I'll go over the bridges, as I'm lighter than you are, big bro. You handle the west, but be careful of the tanks," she said in thought, me nodding as we then split ways. After taking care of all the tanks and after finding the memory vault for the Lungfish being transformed, I gawked at how, again, Masked Caviar was hiding so well, I couldn't see her face! She was actually cloaked and her face had a mask on it. One in the form of a golden fish head, with two eyes poking out of it. And the eyes in question? They were blue. And that was all I could see.
"I see that something is going on here," I frowned as we then moved forward once again, me seeing that Mirtala had already taken care of all the airplanes and that, afterwards, the resistance managed to get ahold of numerous ships. And good thing, as Mirtala couldn't swim in the deep waters. She was also aware that the curse was fake, as I told her and Queepie about it on the way to camp, but they still needed to learn how to swim, as they never got the chance to learn.
"FREEDOM!" the resistance shouted as we got across the channel and to the island, where we heard the voice of Caviara speaking.
"It's sad to admit that the navy has all but sunk! Given the impeding situation of the giant monsters heading to Caviar Tower, Caviara herself is going to take out the frightful monsters that have demolished our delightful city. Once they are dealt with, Caviara expects a huge parade thrown in her honor. If the parade is big enough, she promises NOT to destroy the city!... (Steal children when it's most convenient, not when there's a large group) the voice said, me frowning at that as we then reached the base of the tower and we then heard some of the Lungfish citizens shout.
"Look! It's Caviara! We're saved!" And after that, we saw the sight of Caviara appear, me then immediately locking eyes with her as she landed in front of me and Pretzra. And while she proceeded to show off her skills and that she was actually just as psychic as we were, I saw that, in her mind, she was actually not only a secret agent for Gristol Malik... she was also, get this, Agent 33! SHE WAS THE MOLE IN THE PSYCHONAUTS! And not only that, she was actually in hiding somewhere in camp, close to the hidden area of the jet!
"You will not be leaving this place alive, you stupid brats! Once I kick you out, I'm having the Lungfish cough up Loboto's kid and then eat both of you, all your little friends, and then DIGEST THE LOT OF YOU!" she shouted, me then responding by grabbing her with telekinesis and her then gasping at how I was doing it so effortlessly. "ACK! Hey! Stop that! How are you doing this? I'm a hulking BEAST in this mind!" she shouted.
"I've had years of practice, 10 to be exact. And now, to silence the lambs," I smirked as I then forced her entire body into the tower's base, slamming her into it at least five times at high speed until the tower let out a devastating blast, knocking the Psychonauts' mole right next to us!
"Augh... dammit... you win... but you're never going to find me. I'm a master of invsibility!" she snarled, me frowning at her.
"You're going to be found, believe it. But until then, tell me your real name," I frowned.
"And why should I tell that to you, brat?" she growled.
"Name's Lucas, this is my sister, Mirtala. Now, who are you?" I frowned.
"I am never going to tell," she growled, me frowning as she then disappeared and, after that, me and Mirtala escaped the mind and went back to our bodies, where we saw that the lungfish regained her senses and immediately coughed up Tia, who immediately went into the water and proceeded to fully submerge herself for five seconds before then coming back to us.
"So gross... disgusting... yuck..." she groaned.
"What all happened in there, Lucas?" Elka asked.
"We found the source of the mind control and defeated it, as well as a surprise newcomer in the leage of super evil. Before that, I need to ask a question. We need to split up into two groups for a small amount of time," I said, which they were surprised at.
"Why?" Clem asked.
"Because the villain is a master of invisibility and she's in hiding somewhere at the campgrounds," I said, the teenagers and younger gawking at that. "I sensed in the mind she was currently in hiding by the secret storage area for the Psychonaut agent's personal jet. Lili, you and Connie are in charge of taking a small group to find out where she is. Her title is Agent 33," I said, Lili gawking at that.
"Agent 33? She's one of the best spies in the Psychonauts... I can't believe she had a hand in this! I can find her easily, just need to consult the plants as I go to the main lodge. I'll take myself, Connie, Clem, Crystal, and Dogen with me," Lili said.
"Okay, then that means us Aquatos, Elka, Phoebe, Quentin, Dartia, and Vernon are going to the asylum... miss Lungfish, where exactly is the asylum on the lake?" I asked, her then speaking after, right before Tia could retort to the nickname.
"The asylum where the wicked ones plan to usurp the Psychonauts head lies in the very center of Oblongata. You must travel out by roughly 1.2 miles by boat to reach the southern shores, which holds the only entryway," she said.
"Can you just call me Tia from now on, not Dartia? It's very awkward for me," my original sister asked.
"Gotcha, just Tia from now on, understood," I smiled. I then looked at the boat shack and proceeded to take the canoe that Cruller was looking after, him being shocked at me doing so as I then had our group pile into it (no holes, thank god) and we proceeded to mentally row our way out to the center of the lake.
"This is kinda creepy, isn't it, guys? Going out super far on the lake at nighttime? What if there are still crazy people there?" Elka asked with concern.
"Sounds like the perfect thing to make a story out of. But due to the current circumstances, I'll refrain from telling any until the deed is done," Vernon said with seriousness, though still the same amount of monotone voice.
"Highly appreciated, Vernon, for all of us," Phoebe smirked as we then got a message from Milla in my mind.
"Luke, darling! Lili managed to track down and detain none other than Agent 33! What is the meaning of that?" Milla asked me.
"She's a part of the plan to switch Truman's brain with Nick Johnsmith, and she was the one we had to fight in a mutated Lungfish's mind. She took the form of Caviara and she DEFINITELY has connections to Masked Caviar. She is to be taken into custody and probed for information. Have Lili and Connie assist with Sasha in the Brain Tumbler, and make sure she does not escape," I said.
"Very well, I saw that all of your words were truthful. Just stay careful at the asylum. And if you happen to find any brains in jars, immediately pocket them and send others back to Cruller's Sanctuary so they can get rebrained," mom said with concern.
"Yeah... oh, and by the way, we found my sister, Tia... and she's in the body of a boy called D'artagnan," I said, momma Milla being shocked at that.
"Tia... she's here too?" she asked, which Tia then perked her head up when she heard Milla's voice, as, when she spoke to me specifically, she used her true voice, and was doing the same to Tia as well.
"M-Mommy? Is that you?" she asked, her then sniffing after. "I didn't know you were in this world! And for this long, too? I can't wait to see you again! The last we saw each other, I was only 6 in my previous life," Tia smiled happily.
We ended up rowing out for a good 5 minutes before we finally saw the top of the asylum come into our vision, which was clouded in a mist of darkened fog. And upon arrival, we then found something on the ground that I was shocked at. It was none other than Truman's music box, which, when I opened it, I saw that it had a picture of him alongside his uncle when he was old, his wife (who happened to look a bit familiar to me, but I couldn't place it), Truman's parents, Otto Mentalis, Compton Boole, Cassie O'Pia, and a much younger Hollis Forsythe, me smiling at how some of the Psychic 7 still remained at the Motherlobe to be there for Truman's wedding, even after the issues of Grulovia... but I did see that Compton, Cassie, and Bob were all forcing the smiles and looked to be battling their mental trauma already.
"Is that a music box? Why is it all the way out here?" Queepie asked me.
"I believe this belonged to Truman... hmm... maybe we can try something. Anyone here know Clairvoyance?" I asked, the hand to be raised being Phoebe, her then focusing on the music box and her gasping at something.
"I see something! I can see where Truman's brain is at! Ah! I can hear him talking, too! He says he's currently inside of a secret safe... tied to whoever is inside of his current body... it's made of Psitanium, so it's impenetrable to Psiblasts or weaponry... the only way to get in is via a combination lock, but he says the only one who would know is the one known as Masked Caviar..." Phoebe said before a couple of the plants on the island caught fire and withered a bit. "Almost... he says... Agent 33 is... Masked Caviar's... life? Strife? Oh, Wife!" she shouted before then gasping and about to drop the music box before I caught it in mid-flight with telekinesis, me then sighing in relief at how it didn't break. I then quickly put it in mental storage so it wouldn't get lost.
"That was incredible, Phoebe! And look, only a few charred plants, none of us got hurt at all," Quentin smiled widely.
"Huh... yeah, I guess you're right! I think we found my new calling. Not starting fires but seeing the world from other people and objects... sweet!" she smirked as we then went to the upper levels of the asylum, where we then saw a guardsman at the door with a whole slew of scribbling all over the wall.
"Huh?! Is someone there?!" Boyd asked as he looked at our large group of kids in surprise. "Who are you? What agency do you work for?" he asked, me then looking at the kids and then at him.
"Um, we're just kids. Kids with psychic powers, but kids nonetheless," I spoke honestly, since we weren't actually Psychonauts yet.
"No agency at all?... What about federation? FCC? Dairy industry? It better not be the FDA!" he said while spasming his head a couple times.
"Sheesh, what's got this guy's undies in a knot?" Elka asked in confusion.
"I'll say this much. He's most definitely been at this asylum for a while... but I see something going on in his mind... something involving a milkman... everyone out to get him... and he thinks we're here to attack... I think he's been put under some kind of hypnosis," Frazie gawked.
"Well, looks like we need to go into his brain and help the poor guy out. But, as he is a bit more... or in this case, a bit less sane than the others we've come across, we need to choose a team to go inside the mind and another team to watch out in case of a sneak attack," I said.
"Of all of us, you should lead the charge, Luke. We'll await out here, just choose two of us. But not the circus siblings, please? Give us some pointers in the mind, we could use them," Vernon said with a deadpan smile.
"Eh, that's fine with us, we can use a break from delving into minds," Queepie smirked.
"Alright, I'll take Vernon and Elka into the mind this time. And if we find anymore, I'll have others join me in the mind as we proceed, taking turns," I smirked.
"Be careful in there. From what I saw, it's almost like an endless void of insanity. No one sight is safe," Frazie said, me then nodding as I then simply used my own hypnosis on Boyd and put him to sleep, him lying on the ground with his head on his hands. I then placed the Psi Portal on his forehead and had me, Vernon, and Elka go into his mind...
Now, next chapter, stay tuned for the wildest and most infamous mind in the entire Psychonauts series!