Disclaimer: Psychonauts and all related characters are owned by Tim Schaefer, Double Fine and XBOX Game Studios.
This story takes place after the end of Psychonauts 2, so MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!
Opening memory vault:
THE NEW SHOW
PHASE 1: Infiltration
"You've got to come see this show! It's been two weeks and they're still going strong! They haven't been this good since the fall of Grulovia! They've even got their diving boards back!"
That was what that brown man with the yo-yo had told him, a statement that the noble Gladmir Roboskovicz had trouble believing. He had never heard of the Aquato family circus back when his father was chief of the Grulovian secret police, so it obviously can't be that good. It could be great by peasant standards, he thought, but he was used to propaganda shows with higher production quality. Being a favored servant of the Malik dynasty certainly had its perks.
So, he told them he had better things to spend his money on, and they seemed to understand. That's when they offered him a free ticket, and the best seat in the Aquatodome, and he figured he might as well give it a try.
When he arrived, he was pleasantly surprised. He was expecting a single patchwork tent, but it seemed like he'd stumbled on a miniature fairground. Food carts and souvenir stalls flanked the entrance to the main tent, as well as little carnival games including horseshoes and miniature bowling.
But what stuck out to him was how…familiar everything was. The food carts served Grulovain cuisine (although the stressed expressions on the nearby birds made him suspect the Grulovian Drowned Eggs weren't entirely authentic), almost making him regret filling his stomach beforehand (so he wouldn't have to taste peasant food). There were little ice sculptures of figures he recognized from Grulovian history, as well as little Grulovian-style dolls. A phonogram was playing old Grulovian ballads, with records being sold by a kid in a wheelchair. Even the plants that surrounded the main tent (labeled Grown by LZ) looked exactly like the description his beloved friend the Gzesarevich gave of his old palace garden.
It was almost like they were going out of their way to make him, and him in particular, feel welcome.
"Peasants who know their place," he thought, "I could get used to this."
In fact, he felt so welcome, they caught him by surprise when they announced the show was about to start. So, he rushed to his seat, hid the doll he swiped with a cautious glance, and watched as the show began.
The lights grew dark. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" announced a booming voice, "It is my great pleasure to announce our main event, the most incredible acrobatic family this side of the known world, the high-flying, death-defying, not-so-ironically-named anymore, AQUATO FAMILY CIRCUS!"
Spotlights flipped on, drawing the audience's attention to the ceiling. The performers arrived, swinging from ropes hidden in the upper folds of the tent, and landed on top of each other as the announcer shouted their names:
"Augustus!", who landed on the platform at the center of the ring.
"Donatella!", who landed on Augustus' shoulders.
"Dion!", who landed on Augustus' right shoulder and grabbed his mother's hand for balance.
"Frazie!", who did the same, except on the left.
"Mirtala!" who landed on Donatella's right shoulder.
"And last but not least, little baby Queepie!" who landed on Donatella's left shoulder.
At a musical queue, the entire family bowed as one, whilst maintaining their stacked formation. At the display of strength and balance, the audience clapped and cheered.
Even Gladmir was moved to a slow clap. "Impressive, I'll admit," he said to nobody.
"But," he mused as he put his fingers to his chin, "the poster showed there were seven acrobats in the show, but there are only six in the ring."
"Yeah, shame about that."
Gladmir jumped in surprise at hearing someone respond to his idle musings. He looked around, but could only find a purple-skinned girl in a yellow dress, carrying a tray of concessions.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," the girl said with a smirk. "It's just that, the seventh member is sick today, so he had to sit the show out. We sure hope you enjoy the show regardless."
With that, she offered him a bag of popcorn. "Want some? It's fresh," she said as she palmed the bottom of the bag. Gladmir could swear he heard the corns popping in her hand. 'Maybe a little too fresh,' he thought.
"No thanks, I'm full."
"That's just fine," she said, and she walked towards the next member of the audience…
…pausing along the way to project her thoughts outward: "Canary to Eggbeater, the egg is in the nest. Repeat, the egg is in the nest."
"Roger that, Canary. I'm moving into position."
Norma cringed at how he insisted on her using that nickname, but it was too late to complain now. So, she continued heating the popcorn with her Pyrokinesis and acted like an ordinary circus worker.
"Well, at least I was able to talk him out of 'Golden Snitch'" she thought to herself.
"Let's start the evening off with something spicy, shall we?" she heard Adam's voice announce, "I'm told Mama Donatella calls this one 'The Devil's Firehose'!"
The music turned up an octave, and everyone's attention was on the show. That meant they were less likely to hear someone crawling beneath their feet, and Razputin Aquato made his move, down the tunnel they dug under the tent.
In truth, he was far from sick. He was pulling double duty: he was both an acrobat, and a Junior Psychonaut on an undercover mission to identify and track down the remaining Deluginists.
There were several factors that went into using the Aquato circus as a front for the operation. Knowing that the Gzesarevich Gristol Malik was a devoted follower of (an inaccurate memory of) Maligula, it was logical to assume that other figures in the old Grulovian monarchy might have connections to the terrorist cult as well; therefore, it could be assumed that they would be lured out into the open with displays of Grulovian culture. The Junior Psychonauts were a recent addition to the team, yet to be mentioned in True Psychic Tales magazine, and thus would have an easier time getting close to an organization that actively opposes the Psychonauts. Since Raz was already an established member of the Aquato circus, it made a convenient excuse for him to be present in odd locales.
But for Raz's family, the most important factor was that they would help him make peace with both sides of his person: the acrobat that he was raised to be, and the psychic hero he aspired to be.
It did take some convincing to get the Aquatos to collaborate with and employ psychics in their circus, but the fact they were all Raz's friends certainly helped. Plus, the fact that the Psychonauts paid for their travel expenses meant they could afford to put on even greater shows than they were used to.
And so, with Sam Boole and her animals helping with food, Morris on music, Norma on concessions, Adam on advertising and announcing, Lizzie helping out with her Cryokinesis, Gisu helping out with the show (per Dion's insistence, much to Donatella's irritation), and Lili on 'decoration' with her psychically-sensitive plants, the Aquato circus was back in business.
They practiced two versions of their routines, one with Raz and one without. That way, if a Person-Of-Interest was in the audience, Raz could sneak away and do his thing without hurting the show, and everyone else could claim he was sick.
And today, that POI was Gladmir Roboskovicz. The son of the Borun Roboskovicz, chief of Grulovian Secret Police under Gzar Theodore, and known bitter exile after the post-Maligula coup.
Per Norma's report, he was in the special seat with the concealed trapdoor behind it, so Raz could approach the unsuspecting target and 'read their fortune', as his family still called it.
"Potato Masher, what do the plants say?" he asked his girlfriend/co-agent via telepathy.
"They're fully grown, able to absorb all of our psychic signals," came Lili's reply. "Even that casino's stupid PSI-Spotters wouldn't know what's going on. This tent is basically a Psycho-isolation chamber now."
"Nicely done, Potato Masher. Remind me to treat you to something nice after the show."
Lili's response wasn't verbal, but Raz could feel a mixture of anticipation and embarrassment through the empathic link they developed since hooking up. He smiled to himself.
His train of thought was interrupted by Gisu's scolding voice: "Focus, Eggbeater. You're on point this mission, so if you screw up it all falls apart."
What Raz wanted to say in response was "This from the girl making goo-goo eyes at my older brother.", but he kept that to himself.
Instead, he climbed to the top of the ladder at the end of the tunnel, and set his hands on the latch of the trapdoor.
"OK, I'm in position. Big Deal, waiting on your signal."
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" rang out Adam's voice, "After seeing such wondrous feats of acrobatic excellence, performed in perfect synchronicity, you'd think that nothing could tear this awesome family apart!"
Just then, the spotlight shrank until only Donatella and Dion were visible.
"But what's this?" said Adam in mock surprise, "It looks like some family drama is coming up!"
"Oh, Dion!" sobbed Donatella in a voice filtered through fake tears, "What are you doing out so late?"
"I promised I'd meet this girl down by the river, and-"
Donatella gasped. "A girl? The river? No, my boy, I forbid it!"
"But Mom-"
"No buts! You are to stay away from the water, and that's final!"
And with that Donatella stormed off into the darkness, leaving Dion alone with a melancholy sigh…until he turned to the audience, smirking, and stage-whispered: "Stay away from the water, she said…but she never said anything about the ice!"
On cue, a pool of water that Lizzie had frozen backstage with her Cryokinesis entered the ring, pulled by an assortment of animals (and assisted by the Junior Psychonauts' telekinesis).
Dion put on some ice skates, hopped onto the massive pool, and waited for his dancing partner.
Soon, Gisu stepped into the spotlight, and the two stared into each other's eyes in a manner both genuinely heartfelt and exaggerated for the audience's benefit.
Gisu threw off her outer clothes, revealing a slick ice-skater's leotard, and jumped onto the frozen pool with Dion. Slow, romantic music began to play, and the two launched into a complex ice dancing routine. Dion was a natural, while Gisu had to assist herself with strategically-placed levitation balls, but no one except them were any wiser.
The audience was enchanted. But one member of the audience, Gladmir, got a stronger effect than most. The pattern on Gisu's leotard, the movements, the music; "It's just like that Grulovian ballet he took me to…"
As he began to cry from the sad weight of nostalgia, Razputin opened the trapdoor and popped out behind him.
"Mood music in full blast," he heard Morris think, "and given those waterworks his mental defenses should be like wet paper."
"Roger that, DJ. I'm going in."
With a flick of his wrist, Raz placed the Psi-portal on Gladmir's head, and began focusing his astral projection through it, into his mind…
What will he find? Stay tuned (Follow, or just wait a few days) to find out!