Once Elka Doom, Vernon Tripe, and myself entered Boyd's mind, we saw that the interior of his own house was coated in scribblings and drawings, which he immediately noticed us come in, but he seemed to know... that we weren't threats?
"It's beautiful, isn't it? Almost perfection," Boyd said, me looking at the drawings with confusion.
"Um... yeah, sure," I said, needing to know more to figure it out... but then, I saw something. A trail of... white bubbles? Mental Connections?
"It's almost finished... just a few missing pieces!... Ah, if only you could see what I can, it'd make more sense to all of you... aha! I got it! I have something in the fridge that can help. One for you and each of your friends. Share and share alike, just to find out the location of the milkman," Boyd said, me then going to the fridge... and afterwards, I found, get this, a total of 25 copies of Clairvoiyance! AKA, one for every single camper!
"Did you... did you KNOW how many of us there were?" I asked him.
"I could see it in your eyes. You want to help me. I may not be sharp, and I may have everyone out to get me, but I can see a friendly face anywhere. Just gotta look 'em in the eye," Boyd said... did he... was he also a Psychic?
"Okay... let me see what you do... and when you finish looking at the stuff, could you then look at us?" I asked, him nodding as our trio then used Clairvoyance on Boyd, making us see that the entire scribbling made sense to him. Where he stated that someone was definitely out to get him... it was something involving fish, the army, the number 3 almost everywhere, and, of course, the Milkman being dead, but only announced as such. He then looked right at us and I saw that he saw us as... little siblings? Except for me. he saw me as a guy who wanted to help, me looking oddly like I came from his family tree... wait... family tree?
"Boyd?... Is that your real name? Or do you have another?" I asked him.
"Sharp, aren't you? I always knew you would be, Lucas... it's been ages since I last saw you, but I didn't recognize it until you spoke to me... the fires followed me to this world, same with everyone else. But the Milkman is here, somewhere... and he needs to be found. Go dig him up in the cemetery... if you pull this off, I will tell you my true name. But be mindful of the watchers, the squirts, and the redhead. Each of them more deadly than the last," he said, the rest of the group not getting it one bit.
"Uh... is this guy right in the head? He seems a bit untrustworthy," Elka said with concern.
"I think we should trust him... we need to find out where the milkman is... and if possible, destroy every remnant of him. Let's move out," I said, the duo of Elka and Vernon following me out the now-open door. And when we did, we then saw the sight of the freakiest world in the series.
"Oooooh my... this could be the basis for one hell of a scary story... dystopian nightmare of the mind," Vernon gawked as we then proceeded to have me gather all the figments (again) and then gather all the tags (again) as well as find the first member of the G-men that was working at the road that was broken into bits.
"Halt! This road is being worked on. Only roadcrew workers allowed," he said with as monotone a voice as expected.
"Hey, we need to get through though. Where else could we go?" Vernon asked. And when he did, the G-Man looked at him with complete confusion.
"Are you a part of our society? Tell me, what do you know of the Milkman?" the G-Man asked as his head then opened up to reveal a tommy gun.
"Uh... I think he's in hiding. Supposedly dead and buried... or maybe enjoying a nice picnic? Oh the stories I could tell," Vernon said, the G-man then simply giving Vernon something that I was shocked at. A mental disguise to look like the G-men of the level!
"You'll need to acquire tools in order to move through the mind and fit in with the other G-men. And what of your two mystery friends? They are trustworthy?" he asked.
"Oh yes, very trustworthy. They are my best friends. We're on a secret mission," Vernon said as he got into the disguise and I gawked at this. Was this REALLY happening?! It was insane to think that the G-men could be fooled if they had someone just as deadpan as Vernon to speak with!
"I'll pass the word to the other G-men, then. But you'll still need supplies to get through the place. Your little friends can use this if they do not have a prop to work with," the G-man said as he handed us a special device, it being a hat for both me and Elka that could not only allow us to turn completely invisible, but it also hid our minds AND our heat signatures!
"One word. Impossible," Elka gawked.
"Ah, but impossibilities are never there. You just need to know where to weed them out," Vernon smiled as we then proceeded to find the stop sign prop, which Vernon then used to lead us into the road crew area, which our hats automatically hid me and Elka from sight and Vernon was able to go through perfectly!
"I work on the road crew. I have a red sign. It says stop, so you need to as well," Vernon said as deadpanned as possible, which was basically him speaking normally! And we could hear a couple thoughts on the outside of the mind.
"How is Vernon even doing this so easily? If it were me in that mind, I'd be shot by now!" Quentin gawked.
"Only way to beat a robot is to be a robot yourself, I guess," Frazie giggled outside as we then proceeded to get the hedge clippers next, followed by making our way to the garden, and then, upon arrival, we then used Clairvoyance on the crow and, when we did, we entered the gate on one side to open the way for us to get to the flowers for grieving. And after doing so, we decided to split up.
"I'll go with Elka to the police station. You go to the cemetery and do some digging. Look for a tomb that has anything to do with milk on it," I spoke to him in thought, him nodding.
"You got it, Luke. I am in the zone," he smiled back as Elka and I then went to the police station and we happened to see a Rainbow Squirt that was whispering things into a communicator. And when she did, I decided to listen in while Elka went to trip the alarm. After she did, she then hid from the G-man coming out of the building and used Clairvoyance on him. As for the Squirt's dialogue?
"I'm telling you, mother, that a certain G-Man is going from place to place surprisingly fast. He's also as tall as us squirts... you don't think one of our troupe switched sides, do you?" she asked, me keeping invisible with the hat as she continued to talk. "No, no, I haven't engaged yet. They don't know the location of the Milkman as of yet. But I think they might be getting close... dangerously close... wait a second..." the Squirt said before she looked behind her and looked around in confusion. "Is someone there? I can hear you breathing," she said, me then gawking at that. SHIT! "Come out right now, or I'm blowing both of us up right now!" she shouted, me immediately taking the hat off in response.
"No no no, no need to blow us up, I'll cooperate," I said, her then looking ready to scream before I shushed her by moving her hand to her mouth intentionally. "Shh! You and I have the same interests, kid. Not to protect the milkman. But to destroy him," I said, knowing that much by looking into her mind for long enough.
"D-Destroy the milkman?" she asked.
"Yes, destroy milkman. He's causing nothing but trouble for this mind, I'm sure of it. None of this gets repeated to the mother, understand?" I said, her then nodding.
"Know this. Milk can expire, and so can the Milkman. Do you know how to accelerate growth super-fast?" the squirt asked, me knowing the technique in question. Time Bubble for sure... but that was one thing I couldn't do yet!
"I can," said none other than Tia, her then appearing in the mind right next to me, which I could tell surprised the squirt in response. "Shh, I can accelerate growth of milk, man, and milkman. I can even decelerate if I so choose. Only reason I don't do it too often is because it can be quite dangerous... but to get rid of the milkman, I need to use this danger," she smirked, me seeing her mind version looked a lot like she used to back home, about 12 years old in age, but the only difference was that she had the sleeping hat on her head and she had light blue skin.
"Okay, I'll give you this, too," she said, me then gawking at how she gave us the item we needed, that being the telephone! "Use that to reach the mother's house. Just be careful when wording it to her. She's very feisty and dedicated to protecting the milk," she said, me nodding at her as I then proceeded to hide the phone in my mental storage as Elka arrived with a plunger, luckily, it was brand new and had no spots or stains on it.
"You can thank me later. You're lucky this isn't a used one," she complained as I then checked in with Vernon from afar.
"Vernon, where is your location as of current?" I asked him.
"I've found an interesting thing at the tomb and have sneaked out undetected. It's from a book depository... what about you?" he asked.
"I have a reliable source that knows where the moo cow is located. Meet up at sewer grate," I said, him then agreeing as our group then proceeded over there, but I also found both of the mental vaults, me gawking at how the second one was right by said sewer grate, which I then saw was being levitated by none other than Tia!
"I've had just as long to practice my skills, Luke. The only difference is that my mom had to teach me everything... my dad? Well... we'll find him soon," she said, me gawking at that. "Yes, the crazy dentist. But sadly, he won't even recognize my own face... botched lobotomies will do that to someone," she frowned.
"Right," I frowned as Vernon then met up and he then took the plunger and me and Elka put on our hats to blend in.
"Hey, what about me?" Tia asked in concern.
"Don't worry, I have it covered," I smirked as I used mental storage on her as we then jumped into the sewers... and then were spewed out at a new location! And so far, no nightmare bosses... so weird. I then gave Vernon the phone that I got from the squirt and he then smiled at the telephone pole.
"Ah, gotcha," he smirked as he approached the telephone pole. "I am a skilled phone repairman... I work the landlines if they are busted. The wires are my friends," he said, me smiling at this. At this point, he was just doing it on purpose to show off. Elka and I followed him and, only after going down the amazing ride of the telephone wire rails did I let Tia out of my mental storage, her gawking at the feeling.
"Whoa... mental storage within a mental world... far out," she gawked as we then approached the door for the Rainbow squirts and Vernon finally took off the silly disguise. All of us then went invisible and knocked on the door, resulting in the Rainbow Squirt coming out to check and, when she was fooled, we pooled into the house and then let down invisibility, where we saw that we were surrounded on all sides, 15 to 4!
"Aw, hello there! You came to pay for the Rainbow treats, didn't you, loves?" asked the Den mother, me knowing I had to be very careful when wording it to her.
"That, and we also wanted to ask a small, kind of touchy question?" I asked, the mother then looking surprised.
"It depends on if the question has anything to do with a white creamy texture," she frowned. The next question was asked by Elka.
"What if it involved making that substance curdle until it got so moldy that no one would even dare drink it? And then making it burn until it exploded?" she asked.
"Wha? You think it that easy?! You really think you can defeat the undefeatable?! If he's released, the streets will run white with his rage!" she gawked at us, her temper now boiling. And it was then that Tia did something... that shocked all of us. She used the time bubble ability on Elka... and made her turn into a fully fledged adult! And Elka was shocked by this, absolutely.
"W-What the?! What did you do to me?... I look... I look... HAWT!" she gawked at her reflection in the mirror.
"Wa... Wha... You can make him age to dust?" the mother asked... and it was then that I heard the sounds of car engines revving... followed by a fleet of censors.
"We need to be quick! They're onto us! We don't have much time!" I said, her then nodding as Tia then regressed Elka back to normal age.
"Okay, come with me! You are clearly ready for the milk!" she said, her then revealing the gateway to the basement, us then going down it as the squirts instinctively rushed outside for the battle of their little lives.
After going down the elevator in the wall, we then were next to both the Den Mother and the capsule that contained the man behind the milk. But... something about his appearance looked... off. He didn't look anything like Boyd did and he had a nametag on his milky white suit. And when I read it, I gasped, as did Tia when she saw it too.
"It can't be..." she gawked.
"Yes! Now finish him off!" Den Mother shouted. And when she did, me and Tia started to panic. Why, you may ask?
"We can't kill our own father!" I gawked. And on cue, the Milkman started to stir.
"Do it quick! He's getting up!" Den Mother shouted. I responded by looking at Tia and speaking to her.
"Tia, can you freeze time all around us? I have an idea, but that needs to happen in order to work!" I shouted. And the response was Elka Doom using a different Time Bubble that engulfed everyone except for us outsiders of the mind.
"Hurry! Whatever plan you have, I can only hold it like this for 5 minutes!" Elka shouted, me then focusing hard on dad's vision until I hit paydirt and was inside a mind WHILE INSIDE A MIND!
"Dad? DAD?! It's me, Luke, remember?" I asked into a large room of black and white before a giant Milkman appeared from the ground, me gawking at him and how he was in complete control!
You want your dad? You will only get him back when the final delivery is made!" the milkman shouted, me then responding my flying up to his bulbous face and smacking it with my Wrecking Ball Levitation move, which knocked the palooka down and for 4 different thought bubbles to appear from his hat!
"Milk, Cheese, Arson, and Favorite?... I got it!" I smirked as I quickly hopped into Milk and relinked it from Arson to Cheese, and then linked both of them to Favorite.
"Milk... and cheese... I remember now! Milk and cheese is my favorite combination of a hearty breakfast!... Wait, why did I forget that?" I heard my dad say within the mind of the Milkman!
After this, the Milkman then rose again and proceeded to try and slam me with giant milk cartons, me dodging them before grabbing one and hurling it at the Milkman's head, getting him conked out again for 5 bubbles to appear, these being labeled as Factory, Guard, Hate, Love, and Conspiracy.
I immediately separated Guard, Hate, and Conspiracy into basic thoughts before then connecting Factory, Guard, and Love together, another thing that described dad. "Ah, yes, yes, I remember! I used to be the nightguard for the pillow factory! I loved the job and was so good at it, I got multiple raises and even offered a manager promotion!... Then the fire hit and-" he was about to finish before the Milkman came back.
"You're making me mad, boy! I didn't want to do this, but you've left me with no choice! Taste flaming milk molotovs!" he shouted as he showered the arena with milk bottles that exploded into fiery bombs! I dodged every single one, even though some booms were very dangerous! And the last boom bottle I grabbed and tossed it at the Milkman, conking him out a third time and for 6 thought bubbles to appear!
Consisting of Squirts, Invisible, Family, Reality, Milkman, and Father, I immediately disconnected the former three and Milkman before I reconnected Reality, Family, and Father together. And that was the breaking point as the mind started to tremble.
"I remember now! I have a real family! I'm the father of three beautiful daughters and one handsome son! I was sent into this mind after the previous shattered! My name isn't Boyd Cooper! I am Titus Zelinsky! And this! Is! MY! MIND!" dad shouted with the same passion as he always had before the Milkman then started to boil and bubble all over! And then, with only 5 seconds to spare, dad busted through the visage of the dairy demon and the Milkman evaporated into nothingness!
After that happened, all three of my group got booted from the mind as Boyd's personality shifted. He looked around for a bit before then looking behind him.
"Is it... is it really you, Lucas?... And Tia, too?" he asked, both of us smiling at him.
"Yes, dad. Come here," I smiled, me, him, and Tia then having a much-needed tearful reunion!
"I ask this for all of us. What in the hell is going on?... And could you make me 18 again? I wanna look hawt when Nils sees me later," Elka smiled, me smiling at my Aquato siblings' reaction.
"Eww, you're ruining the moment," Frazie said while Queepie and Mirtala made fake gagging noises.
"It's simple as can be. Boyd was the guard who had gone insane with a shattered mind... and this guy is Luke and Tia's dad from a previous life. Trust me, I saw the whole fight. It. Was. Awesome," Vernon smiled.
"You're here on a rescue mission, right, kids? Well, let me open the gate for you all," dad smiled as he then opened the gate, but not before throwing all the milk molotovs into the water. "So you know, the ones in charge run a tight shift. Only someone looking like Loboto can get to the upper levels. To do that, you'll need a disguise. And each of my asylum friends can contribute to that," dad smiled.
"Why can't we just fly up there?" Phoebe pointed out.
"Won't do any good. Psychic cameras dot all over the outside walls. If they see you cheating on the outside, the alarms will go off, and they'll clear out with all the evidence. And, if they see I'm not controlled anymore, they'll blow this place up with the gas well running underneath," dad explained.
"So we either play fair and help other inmates battle their disorders... or we all blow up. We should definitely contact Cruller about this," Mirtala said as I then put the bacon to my ear and Cruller came out.
"There's that smell again!" he smirked.
"Agent Cruller, we have an update on the mission, and it is a doozy," I sighed. We then proceeded to explain everything to him, which he listened to as we moved forward and happened to find three different brains, them consisting of JT, Sydney, and Franke. And after finding them, I then gave him the update of that AND us finding some Psi Cards, Psi Challenge Markers, and a part of the Scavenger hunt at the front entry as well.
"Really? That's also quite shocking. But now that ya got a brain, now yer heads won't be whistling when the wind picks up," Cruller said, which Quentin frowned at.
"Tasteless joke, Ford. We need to get some of our group back to base to rebrain the three. And then ask how things are going with Agent 33 and the others," he asked.
"Well, 33 is currently undergoing some probing from the Brain Tumbler, but it's not going quite well. Anytime they get anywhere in there, the goal gets moved deeper. And as for the others back at camp, I'm going to bring two of you back and give you others in the meanwhile. Connie and the cheerleaders have been wanting to join in for a bit," Cruller said, me smiling and nodding as we then went through the process of switching places. Of the lot, my Aquato siblings decided to go back to base for a break and with the brains of the three we'd found already while Clem, Crystal, and Connie were warped to our location with smiles.
"Yes! I've been wanting in on the action for a bit!" Clem smiled.
"We need to do it to make it up to you, Luke," Crystal smiled just as well.
"Well, alrighty, then. You and Clem will join me if we need to go into another mind, and we'll be going in it alongside Phoebe," I smiled.
"Okay, I'm in," Phoebe smiled as we then went to the side area (the front door was locked up tight) and we saw the sight of a woman that was coated in grime and her lower portion of her dress had tons of moss and grass growing on it.
"Oh, thank you, thank you! You're all so kind! You make a girl feel so loved," she bowed to a bunch of potted plants with faces, which I looked at the woman's mind... and saw that, as expected, she had bipolar. One side was very happy and cheery, the other dark, nasty, and homicidal. And it all depended on if we happened to touch her trophy.
"Excuse me, miss?" I asked, her looking at me in surprise.
"Oh my, such a large group of children! You all look so adorable," she smiled before then looking at Crystal and then gasping. "Oh, you poor thing... you-" she was about to finish before I saw it. Her bipolar kicked in. "You're supposed to be dead! RARGH!" she shouted as she grabbed the trophy and came after us, Crystal screaming in fear and hiding outside of the place in concern.
"W-Why did she suddenly attack us? And when she saw me, specifically?" Crystal asked in fear.
"I can only say this much. Bipolar disorder," Elka frowned as she looked at Gloria from a distance. "When she saw you, it reminded her of a horrid past invovling beatings and a suicide from her mother..." And the Snagrash was very scared upon hearing that.
"Oh god... what would happen if... n-nevermind..." Crystal said with concern as I held her hand.
"Only one way to solve this thing. Mental battlefield time," Quentin smirked.
"Good point, Quentin. We need to help this girl... her name is Gloria, apparently and she sees us as two things. Some of us are audience members, the others look like old hags... probably a bad person from her past," Phoebe frowned as I then went to Gloria and immediately sent her to sleep with some hypnosis, her then falling to sleep in the spotlight as I sent the Psi Portal to her forehead. It was time to go to the most embarrassing level in the game... and had to hope that I could stomach the acting alongside Pheebs, Clem, and Crystal.