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bcdrawsandwrites · 2 years

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[ID: A Psychonauts fanfic cover. Most of the picture is in grayscale in addition to three colors. Loboto stands on the left side of the cover with his back to the viewer, the view over his right shoulder, a threatening smile on his face as he holds out his claw. Bright green and red lights shine down from his loupes and down onto Raz and Oleander, who are huddled together close to the center of the image. They are both looking up at Loboto and appear very small compared to him. Raz’s goggles are on, and he looks scared and apologetic, holding his hands up in defense. Oleander stands behind Raz, grabbing him by the shoulders and holding him in front of himself as he looks up at Loboto in terror. The red and green lights are reflected off of them. Circling in the air around them and held up by purple telekinetic psychic powers are a number of tools. Counterclockwise starting from the bottom left are a rusty syringe with a bent needle, a hooked dental pick, an ice pick, a hammer, and a strange-looking drill (similar to the one Loboto has in his lab). Loboto and the tools’ shadows are cast over Raz and Oleander, though their faces are illuminated by the light from Loboto’s eyes. The rest of the room around them is very dark. The fic’s title “Psychics Ruin EVERYTHING” is in light text on the top right. /end ID]

Fandom: Psychonauts

Rating: K+

Genre: Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort

Characters: Razputin Aquato, Caligosto Loboto, Morceau Oleander, Truman Zanotto, Otto Mentallis, Sasha Nein, Milla Vodello (and briefly Morris and Queepie). (The fic mostly involves the first three!)

Warnings: References to canonical child abuse and medical abuse in future chapters (more warnings to be added later)

Description: A few days after the whirlwind of events of Psychonauts 2, Razputin receives his first mission as a Junior Psychonaut: go into the mind of the recently-re-captured Caligosto Loboto and make sure he’s ready to be released... and if not, well... go from there. But it shouldn’t be that hard, right? Loboto’s all better now that his moral compass is back... isn’t he?

Beta Readers: @jaywings and @of-science-and-stars and Pinky G. Rocket

Notes: FINALLY. I started this fic back in August last year and I have been dying to post it since. This will be multiple chapters (looking like about 7 at the moment) and I’m going to try to post a chapter a week. (Most of the fic is already complete!) Also, this fic will make references to some of my previous fics, BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE READ THEM TO UNDERSTAND THIS! This can be read on its own!

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Chapter 1: First Assignment

Summary: In which Raz feels uneasy about his new title... until he receives his first mission.

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“...and so it's, um, still a lot to think about, you know? Since it just happened uh…” Raz paused, flicking his fingers up and down, counting out the digits. “...yesterday? Yesterday.”

“Understandable,” Morris replied.

Raz shifted in his seat. “On second thought, maybe we should have waited a week or something for this to settle before—”

Morris shuffled his notes, the fwip of paper against paper drowning out Raz. "So, now that you're an official Junior Psychonaut—"

"Hey, you are, t—"

Morris cleared his throat and gave Raz a glance. "Now that you're an official Junior Psychonaut, what are your plans?"

"Well, obviously I'm gonna...." Raz blinked and leaned away from the mic on the back legs of his chair.

Morris leaned forward on his wheelchair and waved Raz forward with one hand. "Yes?"

"Now that we—er, now that I'm officially a Psychonaut... I'm not sure what to do. I haven't exactly been given any missions yet, other than to familiarize myself with the Motherlobe, the quarry, and..." He gestured with raised palms, even though the less than half-a-dozen people listening to the station couldn't see them. "...other stuff. ...Am I really going to be going on missions?"

"You say that like you've never been on one!" Morris said, raising a single eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, but this is for real. Really real. Really official. Not as an intern! And without, y'know, messing with—"

Dude, Morris rang out inside Raz’s head. Raz darted his eyes to the side; Morris stared back with a grimace, while waving a flat palm beside his throat.

"—um, stuff," Raz finished. “You don't want to mess up as an official Psychonaut! Now that you've got an official job and everything... wow. You know, this sounds a lot more stressful when I put it that way—”

"AND that's all the time we have for today!” Morris called into the mic while pulling it away from Raz. Raz jumped in his chair at the volume of Morris’ voice, nearly tipping over. “Thanks for listening to K-L.O.B.”

Morris set the mic back down on the table and tweaked a few knobs on the radio. Then, he turned to look at Raz, staring at him with a slightly squinted stare.

"Wow," Queepie commented from the corner. "You're really bad at this."

"My thoughts exactly," Morris said, leaning back in his chair. "Our listeners probably tuned out halfway through."

"Hey, it's just been a lot to think about!" Raz tossed up his hands over his head. "This only happened, what, yesterday?"

"Two days ago."

“Two days?” Raz blinked and looked at his fingers again. I’m not that bad at math, am I?

"Mom says you slept eighteen hours," Queepie added.

"Oh." Raz scratched the back of his head. "I guess that's why I feel so... off."

"Really though, you haven't thought about going on missions?"

"I mean, growing up, yeah."

"...Aren't you like, ten?"

"Yeah, but... I read every True Psychic Tales issue I could get my hands on, and imagined myself going on missions like that... But I'm not so sure those tales are as 'true' as they say anymore." He rested his chin against his hand, then gave a start. "What am I saying?! I know they're not! The issue about Maligula was a bunch of baloney!" Raz found himself pacing around the little treehouse. "They painted Lucy as some kind of... of irredeemable monster, and everyone else as these heroes who never did anything wrong... And they said Helmut was dead!" He paused, rubbing a finger against his chin and glancing aside. "And they misspelled his name with two 't's, come to think of it. Should've been my first clue that something wasn't right."

Turning away from his brother and his fellow intern—er, junior agent—Raz looked through the doorway and out into the quarry, its waters a blinding orange as the sun set over them. "But after spending time with these people, and... going on real missions myself... I know these things aren’t always as heroic and fun and cool as they sounded."

Memories of bad mental connections in Hollis's mind, Sasha and Milla dazed with psilirium sickness, and the office construct being overtaken by mountains of teeth and gums and tongues filled his mind.

"They're... messy."

Morris quirked one of his eyebrows. "Man, I should have left the mic on." He shook his head. "Really though, what are you trying to say?"

Finally, Raz turned back. "I'm saying I... don't know what I'll be doing now that I'm a Psychonaut. I have no idea what to expect."

Queepie and Morris exchanged glances. "Well... that's the point, isn't it?" Morris asked with a shrug. "We're secret agents. Every mission's gonna be different."

"Yeah... I guess so."

"Well, one thing that's predictable... is the cafeteria's schedule!" Without warning, Morris zoomed past Raz and out the doorway. "I'm getting dinner. Hold down the fort for me, will you Queepie?"

"Got it!" Queepie pushed his seat over to the radio, which began to blast “Welcome to My Mind” for the eightieth time that day.

Giving the kid a thumbs-up, Morris began hopping his chair down the path out of the treehouse. "You coming, Raz?"

"Oh, yeah! I'll... be right there!" Raz called back, and wrapped his arms around himself. "Maybe, anyway."

"You're not going?" Queepie asked as he bounced around in his seat.

"I dunno. I'm still... thinking about stuff." He turned back to his younger brother. "Do you really think I'll be going on a real mission soon?"

Without stopping his dance, Queepie only shrugged. "How should I know? I dunno anything about your weird job."

"Guess not." Sighing, Raz made his way out of the treehouse. "See you around."

"If you're gonna get food, could you get me a soda?"

"Nah, I think you're good without the sugar."

Leaping off the platform, Raz grabbed a thought bubble and gently floated down to the ground. After a few more acrobatic-slash-psychic stunts, he arrived at the entrance to the Motherlobe. Many agents were casting long shadows across the stone floor as they entered and exited the building, either heading home for the day or arriving for an evening shift. Everything felt at ease; no one gave him a second glance, and he only heard the barest mentions of the events of two days ago other than comments on the updated mural and remarks about the "wild storm." He passed the receptionist, who earlier that day had indicated she hadn't realized anything out of the ordinary had happened.

Was this just... normal?

A ThinkerPrint scan and quick levitation-lift ride later, Raz found himself in the Atrium, still as full of people as it had been earlier, though many of them were heading to the Noodle Bowl. They were just fellow agents going about their day, like he would be, too, now. But in spite of all his exploration, everything was still so... new to him. Not the parts like the Atrium and Nerve Center and other wings—he still felt a thrill run through him as he remembered that he was really here—but there were still parts he hadn’t seen, not labeled on the tourist map he’d been given. On top of that, his mind still reeled at the thought that he would be expected to be here every day. And all these people... even though he could pick out the names of agents and workers around him via natural mind-reading, he didn't really know them.

He didn't know what he was doing, either.

Change like this shouldn’t have felt so weird, should it? He was a circus performer—he’d been traveling his whole life, seeing new places, new people… but it was always the same shows. Occasionally there were new acts, and occasionally they’d partner with different circuses, but what was expected of him was a constant.

Now it was the complete opposite—he would be in the same place, but his missions might be wildly different each time. But this was what he’d wanted, wasn’t it?

So… why was the thought of it making his stomach tie itself in knots?

The doors to Astral Lanes swished open, and a couple stumbled out, leaning against each other as they talked and laughed. Raz watched them go, feeling a tug within him—he was an agent too, just like them. Why couldn't he be that happy? (Well... other than the fact that he wasn't going to be consuming alcohol for another ten years or so at least.) Maybe he should talk to...

A moment later he found himself walking through the long hallway into the bowling alley, hurrying around the shoe rental. "Sash—uh, Agent Nein—"

He skidded to a halt to stop himself from bumping into another agent, who laughed, adjusting his tie. "Wow! I didn't know I looked that tall."

"Ugh, sorry." Raz looked around the bar area, his heart sinking when he saw no sign of Sasha or Milla. "Hey, um, have you seen Agents Nein and Vodello, by any chance?" Remembering something they'd said earlier, his heart raced. "They haven't left for camp yet, have they?!"

The man's brow furrowed. "Uh... man, I dunno, kid. They're probably too busy to sign autographs though—"

"They got called up Truman's office," the bartender called from across the room. "Sounded like something came up."

"Oh no...!" Raz's heart was pounding in his throat as he bolted out of the bowling alley and to the nearest Otto B.O.N., only to growl in frustration when it refused to open. "What now?"

"Apparently there was an issue with the hatches," a nearby janitor said, mopping the floor by Raz's feet and prompting him to move away. "They're shut down for now."

Groaning, Raz hopped onto his levitation ball, barreling toward the Nerve Center to take the long way to Truman's office. His mind raced during a ThinkerPrint scan that felt like it took an age. Had Gristol escaped? Had something gone wrong with the Astralathe? Had something happened to Ford or Nona or—?!

The doors slid open, and Raz barreled through. He had to carefully swerve around workers in the huge room, at one point bouncing over the head of one who nearly walked into him. Several people were abuzz about something, but he didn't have time to stop and listen, instead heading straight up to Truman's office.

Maybe Truman wasn't okay after all, maybe something had happened to him! Was Lili—what the heck was so loud?

Raz stopped just before the stepping stones that led up to the office. Now that he'd been broken out of his thoughts, he could hear what sounded pretty close to a wild animal snarling just around the corner, the voices of Sasha and Truman and a few others barely audible above it.

"Psychic wolverines!" Raz cried. "I knew it!"

After a few hops across the rocks (ignoring the now-friendly watery hand that waved as he passed), Raz dismissed his lev ball and struck a psychic pose atop the stairs. "Don't worry Truman, I—"

Raz faltered.

Standing before him was Sasha, Milla, Oleander, Truman, and Otto, who all stared at him in surprise. And hovering in the midst of them was a figure he was not expecting to see again anytime soon.

Doctor Loboto, held in place by a psychic fist, swiveled his mechanical eyes down to stare at him. "Say, you look familiar."

"Uh."

"Agent Aquato," Sasha said, and Raz stood taller, unable to stop himself from smiling. "Your presence is... unexpected, but at least you've gotten our captive to quiet down."

His smile fell. "Uh, sorry, I just wanted to catch you before..."

"We're a bit preoccupied at the moment, darling," Milla said.

"Yes!" Otto raised his hand and, with it, the psychic fist holding the doctor. "I found this fellow wandering lost through my Otto B.O.N. system. Seems he escaped from the lab when no one was looking."

Raz stiffened, shuffling his feet and looking away. "Oh. Uh... weird how that happened."

"I wouldn't be lost if you told me how to leave!" Loboto grunted, struggling in the fist. "I have to get back to camp!"

"What, did you leave your car keys there?" Oleander remarked with a smirk.

"No, I left the keys to the spare brain tank," Loboto shot back.

Oleander's eyes widened as he broke into a grin. "There's still a spare—?!" Sensing the stares around the room, he took a step back, hands on his hips. "I mean, uh... I'll... have to dismantle that when I get back."

"That man is absolutely not leaving this place!" Truman cried, swiping his hand as he stepped toward Loboto. "He was an accomplice to the man who stole my brain!"

"Yes, it took a while to pry Nick Johnsmith's name out of him," Sasha remarked, and Loboto froze.

"Wait, hold on..." Raz held up a hand. "We got the information we needed from him, right?"

"Maybe so, but Truman is right." Sasha turned his gaze to Loboto, who had gone a shade paler and was muttering faintly to himself. "Even though Gristol Malik has been detained, Loboto could still be a danger to others. We cannot let him leave."

"I have to!" Loboto wailed, kicking out his feet. "My kid's still at camp!"

Sasha, Milla, and Oleander exchanged bewildered glances (or Raz figured Sasha must have looked bewildered behind his goggles), and Raz joined them, looking from Loboto to the counselors a few times. He couldn't help but feel relieved that they were as lost as he was. "So uh, did he really have a...?"

"If he had a kid," Oleander began, eyeing the doctor, "he didn't mention it to me when we were planning—" He faltered. "Uh, when, um, we infiltrated his mind."

"What?" Loboto's eyes darted toward Oleander, his brows furrowed.

"Caligosto," Milla said gently, "none of the children that attended camp last week share the same last name as you. Unless your spouse has a different last name—"

"Spouse?" Loboto's optics pulled back. "I don't have one!"

"Then why would your child—"

"I never said he was one of those kids! Unless you started accepting lungfish at your weird psychic—"

"Linda?!" Raz blurted out. Immediately he started cracking up, bending over as he gripped his sides. "Your kid is Linda?!"

"Who's Linda?!" Loboto snarled.

"The lungfish you experimented on?" Raz raised his head, still giggling, only to realize everyone was staring at him. Quickly he straightened, his giggle turning into a nervous chuckle. "She... uh... told me that was her name."

"Huh." Oleander rubbed a knuckle against his chin. "Didn't know it had a name."

"She, he, Linda, Larry, whatever, I need to get back to her!" Loboto hung his head. "I left her all alone in that cold, cruel lake..."

"Uh... pretty sure she's fine. I sorted out everything in her mental world and she was doing pretty good when I left." Raz turned to the others. "Did you know that her boyfriend's a turtle?"

"...Turtle?” Loboto squeaked, shuddering.

"Well, now that that's settled, it doesn't look like you've got any reason to leave here anytime soon," Otto remarked, tugging Loboto slightly closer. "Like I was saying earlier, if you let me pop out his brain, I could—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!"

Everyone flinched back, Truman and Oleander rolling their eyes while Raz covered the sides of his helmet, for all the good it would do.

Sasha let out a tremendous sigh. "Just when I thought we'd gotten past this..."

"Now, now," Otto said, turning Loboto to face him. "If you let me have a peek at your brain it would certainly—"

If it were possible, the doctor began screaming louder, struggling even harder to get away.

Around the pain in his head from the noise, Raz glanced in annoyance between Loboto and Otto. Couldn't he see he was just aggravating—

Raz gave a start. "Wait!"

Mercifully Loboto stopped screaming as everyone turned to Raz once more. The doctor's mechanical eyes darted between Otto and Raz, brows creasing as he looked at the latter.

Initially Raz thought to bring up what he'd seen in Loboto's memory vault several days ago, but faltered. He certainly wouldn't want anyone bringing up his memory vaults out of the blue, so maybe... "Uhh... Agent Nein already used a bunch of devices on his brain the other day," Raz said, looking between Sasha and Otto. "Right?"

"Of course, but there's still plenty more I could do without—"

"Maybe you'd get, um, better results if you gave his brain a break from machines for a while," Raz proposed.

Sasha and Otto exchanged glances. "Well... he's not wrong," Sasha admitted. "It would yield more accurate results if he were given time to rest. I did have to use quite a lot of different devices to uncover what he was hiding."

"...I suppose you're right," Otto said, and Raz couldn't help noticing the way he slumped as he spoke.

Loboto heaved a sigh of relief, his terror quickly replaced by annoyance. "Right, and I'd be able to rest well if you let me get back to—"

"However," Otto went on, "Malik did do a number on him—more than could normally be expected from a non-psychic. I do think that brain would be quite interesting to study in the future, so we can better understand what—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"No testing!" Truman cried, waving his hands. "Not if it means we'll have to deal with that screaming!" Once the doctor shut up again, he stepped back, a hand to his head. "Ooof, a migraine's the last thing I need right now, after everything else my brain's been through..."

"Not to mention the poor thing's scared enough as it is," Milla said. She took a step closer to Loboto. "What he really needs is a look into his head—"

"AAA—"

Milla gently tapped him on the tip of the nose, shutting him up. "In your mind, darling, no brain-removal or machines involved."

"Oh," Loboto said dully. "I knew that!"

"Who has time for that though?" Oleander asked. "We've got camp again in less than a week, and some of us have some things to wrap up before then."

Sasha nodded. "Yes, I still have Malik to attend to."

"Yes, Sasha, and you'll need help with that," Milla added, though Raz got the feeling that "help" probably involved more of keeping Sasha in-line.

"Ah, astral projection without the use of additional machines isn't quite my forte," Otto admitted. "Besides, I've research to do to figure out how to get Helmut's body out of the ice."

"I've still got things to catch up on, and Hollis will be out for two weeks..." Truman shook his head. "Most of our other senior agents are out on missions right now, too."

Missions...

Raz looked around at the agents in the room, then at Loboto. "Hey," he said, eyes going wide. "I don't have a mission assigned right now! I could work with Doctor Loboto!"

Immediately the adults turned their attention to him, including Loboto, whose eyes swiveled as he looked Raz over. "You'd be a bit short for an assistant."

"Ra—" Sasha caught himself. "Agent Aquato, you must remember that you are a junior agent. It is highly unorthodox for junior agents to perform a mission entirely solo."

"How come?" Raz crossed his arms. "I've done it before."

"That is true, darling," Milla said, turning to Sasha. "He was the one that rescued you and I a few days ago, when we'd been captured."

"And at the Rhombus, too." Oleander rubbed his chin.

"Not to mention all the others he's helped over the past few days." Otto nodded to Raz, smiling. "He's done wonders to help some of our friends."

"Though it has been such a short time after the last... incident." Milla tipped her head toward Raz. "Agent Aquato, are you sure you'd be ready to take on a new mission so soon?"

Before walking into this room, Raz's answer would have been "no"—he hadn't felt ready at all to begin his real life as a Psychonaut. Going on a full-fledged mission seemed like a lot, especially after everything he'd just gone through. But looking Loboto over, he felt an odd sort of... relief.

"Yes," he said, nodding firmly. "I've dealt with this guy before, anyway. What's one more time?"

"You never scheduled an appointment," Loboto grumbled, drumming his claws soundlessly against the psychic fist.

"This is the young man who saved my brain, but... ohh... I don't know about this," Truman muttered. "If Hollis were here, I'm not sure she'd approve. This man is highly dangerous—"

"Hmm, not so much, now. To the non-psychic world, or when collaborating with another dangerous individual, yes, but not to us, while he’s alone." Sasha nodded to the doctor. “I managed to break through the hypnotism he received, so his withholding information should no longer be an issue. He's been thoroughly searched and his prosthetic no longer has any trace of sneezing powder components. As well, he has no psychic powers of his own."

Raz almost argued against that, but thought better of it.

"Yeah, so long as you're not surrounded by psilirium, he's no match for a psychic," Oleander said, crossing his arms. "He's no threat to any of us."

"Oh, you didn't seem to think so during our first meeting," Loboto said, grinning down at Oleander. "I can still remember you s—" Another psychic hand muffled him.

"Can it, Cal!" Oleander hissed through grit teeth.

"Very well, that settles it, I suppose." Giving Loboto a wide berth, Truman approached Razputin. "Agent Aquato, for your first mission as a junior agent, I am assigning you to the case of Caligosto Loboto. Your mission is to explore his mind and help uncover anything that would aid in this man's... um..." He cast an uncertain glance back at the doctor. "...recovery."

Muffled, angry sounds came from the doctor, and Oleander finally dismissed the psychic hand he'd called. "Recovery?!" Loboto blurted, eyes flashing. "From what? Listening to you bozos yammer all day?"

"Yes, sir!" Raz said, puffing out his chest, fighting the urge to geek out in front of the Grand Head. "I accept this mission!"

"Good. I'll get some paperwork sorted out for you later."

"Don't forget his dental insurance," Loboto muttered, rolling his optics.

Truman pointedly ignored the doctor. "For now, though, get him out to your office and keep him secured."

Raz paused. "...I have an office?"

"Oh." Truman rubbed his head. "I knew I was forgetting something..."

"He can borrow mine for now," Oleander said, "so long as he keeps that mad doctor out of my things. I've got some business to take care of elsewhere."

"But Morry, don't you think my office would be more comfortable for them?" Milla asked. "Your office is..."

"My office is fine, Vodello.” Oleander’s voice dropped to a mutter as he went on, “Or so Hollis tells me..."

"Seems to be settled, then," Otto said, finally tugging Loboto away from the rest of the group and heading toward the exit. "We'll take him to Morry's office and go from there."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Loboto whined, optics swiveling as he was carried.

"Great!" Raz practically leaped after him, only to stop and turn back to Truman. "Don't worry, Grand Head Zanotto, I won't let you down!"

Truman smiled back at him. "Good luck, Agent Aquato."

Milla waved to him. "And don't be afraid to call on any of us for help, darling."

"I'll be okay. Good luck with your own missions, fellow agents!" Raz called back, hurrying to catch up with Otto. He'd hovered gracefully over the stepping stones, while Raz hopped from one to the other. Upon touching down on the other side, he jumped in surprise when Oleander landed abruptly next to him, apparently having bounced over the water via levitation—not something Raz had seen him do before. The Coach mumbled something about "fancy offices" before following Otto out of the room, and Raz rushed after them.

Once he was keeping pace with Oleander, Raz turned to him. "I haven't seen your office yet, Coach."

"Don't expect anything fancy like what you saw from Nein and Vodello," Oleander said. "I think Truman and Forsythe like to play favorites."

"I did search for it, though," Raz went on, then looked down, his brow furrowing. "I saw a plaque with your name on it, but I think someone put it up as a joke. Agent Forsythe had it on a list of 'mission-critical assets' for me to obtain, and when I took it down, the door said 'supply closet' underneath!"

The Coach winced. "Oh.”

Switching gears, Raz fiddled with his gloves. "So, uh, have you been on a mission like this before?"

"Not in a while, but sure," Oleander said, relaxing at the change of topic. "It's pretty common for when we've apprehended troublemakers." Leaning closer to Raz, he lowered his voice. "All you're doing is pokin' around his mind to make sure he doesn't have any thoughts of hurting anyone or causing harm. If he does, we'll have to keep him longer until we get him straightened out, if not just turn 'im over to the authorities."

Turning his gaze back to Loboto, Raz grimaced. "...Oh." That seemed a bit of a tall order, but... Loboto had had a change of heart, hadn't he?

Glancing around uneasily, Oleander cleared his throat. His voice entered Raz’s mind: I’ve also… had a bit of personal experience from the other side of that, recently.

Wait, when did—oh, right. Raz attempted a grin. Well, you must’ve done pretty well, since you didn’t get arrested!

Hmph.

It didn't take them long to reach the Agent wing of the building past the aquarium. There were a lot of offices here Raz hadn't been to—while exploring the Motherlobe had been a top priority, he wasn't about to barge into random agents' offices... except Milla's and Sasha's. They seemed okay with visits.

They passed the smaller offices, and Raz found himself looking around eagerly, wondering where Oleander's office was and how he'd overlooked it. However, Oleander and Otto were approaching the supply closet door, and Raz's brow furrowed. "What are we stopping here for?" Suddenly he perked up. "Oh, is there something we can grab that'll keep keep Loboto subdued—"

"Oh, no, this is our destination," Otto said, frowning at the door. "I see they've yet to fix that label on it."

"Forsythe's had other things on her plate," Oleander grumbled, looking away. "No time to fix a door, I guess."

"Putting me in a closet for solitary confinement, eh?" Loboto raised a brow. "They've tried that. It doesn't work!"

Raz looked between Loboto and the other adults, raising a finger. "Uh...?"

Either neither of them found anything concerning about that remark, or they’d missed it entirely, as Oleander unlocked the door to the "office" and Otto carried Loboto inside.

Oleander hadn't been kidding when he'd said it was "nothing fancy." While the room wasn't as small as Raz had expected (they make supply closets this big? he wondered), it still felt tiny compared to Milla's comfy office and Sasha's spacious lab. In fact, it was slightly smaller than the office within Sasha’s lab. A portion of it was dedicated to a large wooden desk with a rolling chair cranked up to its full height, and a couple other chairs sitting off to the side of that. A large metal cabinet took up another significant chunk of the space, as did a short bookshelf lined with books on mechanics, military tactics, and psychic techniques (Raz recognized a copy of Mindswarm that stuck awkwardly out from the other books), as well as a few out-of-place looking rabbit figurines. The walls were covered in posters for different military branches, and several medals hung above the desk.

No, it wasn't big or fancy, but it was definitely Coach Oleander's office.

It did feel a bit more cramped than Raz would have liked, and the fact that there were no windows did not help. For a moment he wondered if it was too late to take Milla up on her offer to use her office instead, but he didn't want to upset the Coach.

"You're free to interrogate our captive to your heart's content here," Oleander said, waving his hand out. "Just don't let him touch my stuff."

One of Loboto's optics extended toward the medals on the wall. "No need to worry about that. I don't have much need for plastic."

"Don't worry, Morry," Otto said over Oleander's growls. Lifting Loboto with his psychic fist, he gently sat him down on one of the chairs. "I think your craftsmanship looks very convincing."

"Thanks." Oleander looked at Otto askance before facing Raz again. "You know how to keep an enemy restrained, right, soldier?"

"Uhh..." Raz looked at the fist holding Loboto. "I've never done that before. I can pick people up, kinda, but not... restrain them." His stomach gave a sudden twist at the realization that he was unprepared for such a basic part of the mission.

"No need to worry!" Otto said, eyes lighting up in excitement as he fished something out of his pocket. "I grabbed this just in case before carrying this strange fellow out of my lab." He held the object out eagerly.

Raz found himself looking down at what appeared to be a large wad of tightly-wound cables with a red light mounted to the top. Frowning, he looked back up at Otto. "But I thought Sasha said no machines?"

"None that will affect his mind. Here!" He placed the device in Raz's palm. "This is a device I made specifically to use when dealing with non-psychics. There's a switch in it that can only be activated with telekinesis! So hold it out to our friend there, and go ahead and activate it."

"Okay..." Raz held up the device flat in his palm, the light facing him, the other side facing Loboto, who was starting to look slightly unnerved, his optics twitching to look in different directions around the room. "Here goes!" Reaching out with telekinesis, he felt the switch within the device, and activated it. Otto let go of Loboto the second the device sprang out of Raz's hand. Multiple cables rapidly uncoiled and immediately latched onto Loboto, who yelped. The cables effectively tied Loboto to the chair, rendering him immobile, and the red light (now in front of Loboto's chest) turned green with a cheery ding!

It was very hard to maintain a professional air after seeing actual Psychonauts spy-gear at work, and Raz couldn't help but let slip a wowed "cool."

Loboto looked significantly less impressed as he stared down at the device keeping him still. "You know a dental chair would have worked better. They've got restraints and everything."

"There! Works like a charm," Otto said, beaming. "You won't have to worry about maintaining a telekinetic grip on him now, so you can keep your psychic abilities focused on the mission at hand."

"You'll want to work on some better telekinesis later, soldier, but tools like this can help you in a pinch," Oleander remarked. "You ready to begin your mission?"

With a confident grin, Raz nodded to his senior agents. "Yes, absolutely! Thank you Agents Oleander, Mentallis!" He hopped onto the desk chair.

"Call me if you need backup!" Oleander said as he turned to leave. "That guy's craftier than he looks."

"Good luck!" Otto turned to leave as well. "Bring that back when you're done, and be sure to give me some feedback on it as well. I'm still testing it."

"Uh—"

The door shut behind them, leaving Raz and Loboto alone in the office.

#caligosto loboto #razputin aquato #morceau oleander #psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #psychonauts 2 spoilers #truman zanotto #otto mentallis #sasha nein #milla vodello #morris martinez #queepie aquato #my writing #my art #fanfic #psychics ruin everything

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razputin-vodello-au-archive · 5 months

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[Promt suggestion] Milla walks in on raz and lili making out and she gives a very embarrassing talk with raz.

Timeline: Near future. Raz and Lili are both 15 years old.

It was a pretty quiet Saturday afternoon in the Vodello-Nein household. Sasha was in his office, fixing up some overdue paperwork and Milla hummed a song as she went around the house picking up laundry as she went. She hadn’t heard her son in almost an hour now. Last she saw him, he ran past her saying something about his plans, but since she was busy and a bit distracted, the only thing she managed to pick up was ‘-with Lili in-‘. So she figured he was hanging out with his girlfriend, and perhaps any of the Junior Agents – whom were not too far away from being promoted to fulltime Agents - too.

As she passed her son’s room, she noticed a pair of socks – among other items of discarded yesterday’s clothing - laying in front of his door. Milla let out a sigh, and with a flick of her wrist the clothes levitated into her laundry basket. “Why did I even bother giving that boy his own laundry bin he begged for last week?”

A familiar scratch in the back of her head tickled her, making her smile as she recognized her husband’s mental touch.. ‘Because he’s longing for more independence from ‘overbearing parents’, as would any 15-year old teenager his age?’

Milla giggled. “Back to your papers, husband, for they won’t fill in themselves.”

A hearty chuckle resonated in her head. “Unfortunately….” She soon felt the connection break away again, leaving Milla with her own thoughts.

Milla looked at Razputin’s door, letting out a heavy breath. Knowing Razputin, his room would be littered with clothes. Such a shame, certainly because he was so much like her when it came to fashion and wellbeing of his clothes when he was younger. So fussy about keeping them as fabulous as possible, as long as possible. But alas, little ducklings grow up into hormonal teenagers as well and will look to tear themselves away from mama duck, looking for their own place in this big blue pond that is the world.

Milla smiled. Not that Raz really tried, though. He was often mentioning about being ‘too big for that, mom’ a lot, but still he would snuggle up to her whenever they’d watch a movie together. He’d always be her little boy, no matter how much he tried to act mature.

She shook away her thoughts and walked over to his room. She’d normally let Raz’s room alone – trying to teach Raz some responsibilities about tidying his own room. But if he was insisted on leaving his dirty laundry around, she’d clean now and give a lecture later.

She opened the door …and froze at the sigh before her. Her teenage son was in his bed, his equally teenage girlfriend Lili on top of him, her shirt seemingly halfway on it’s way to be taken off. The two teens let out a startled yelp, with Lili quickly rolling off Razputin, scrambling up while she tried to fix her outfit.

Raz sat him, giving his mom a venomous look. “Damnit mom, haven’t you ever heard of knocking?!” He asked, his voice a bit too harsh.

Milla dropped her laundry basket, her lips two thin lines on her face. A silence fell over the room. Raz, realizing what he just did, turned bright red.

“Uh …so-“

“Lili, darling, I think it’s time you go home, don’t you think?” Milla asked calmly, her expression neutral despite the overly sweet tone in her voice – which brought shivers down the two teenagers’ backs.

Lili quickly grabbed her jacket, giving Raz a quick wave. “Yes, Milla. Sorry about that Milla. I’m going now Milla. Please don’t kill my boyfriend, Milla.” She turned to Raz. “If you survive, give me a call, okay?”

“Now, Lili.”

Lili squeaked. “Gone! Bye!” She quickly ran out of the room, running into a side table by the sound of it. They heard the front door open and slam shut.

Only Raz and Milla were left in the room. Milla took a deep breath and walked over to her son, who shrunk further in himself with every step she took. By the time Milla had reached his bed and sat down, he was holding his breath.

Milla sighed, her gaze fixed on the wall in front of her. “Razputin, I do not appreciate you raising your voice against me.”

Raz gulped. “Mom, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“And I certainly do not like it that you used profanity at me, too.”

Raz shrunk. “That …was an accident. It came out before I realized it.” He explained in a tiny, soft voice. “I mean, you startled me and Lili – NOT that I’m blaming you are anything, but-“

“And what were you and Lili doing?” Milla asked, snapping her gaze at her son.

Raz let out a squeak. “Okay, okay, I don’t know what you think it it looked like, but-“

“I think it looked like you and Lili were making out quite passionately, Razputin.”

“O-kay …so, you do know what it looked like, but-but-but I can explain. Me and Lili were just hanging out here, watching movies and such, just minding our own business and I commented on how nice Lili’s hair looked today and good she smelled and w-well …one thing let to the other. I mean, she’s my girlfriend, right? It’s not like we never-“

“Raz, you are not in trouble for …making out with your girlfriend.” Milla stated, her expression slightly amused for a second before it sterned again. “I’m not a naïve person, darling. I do realize you and Lili are very close, and you two act on it, in the same way you have seen me and Sasha express our love for one another. You’re a passionate person, Razputin. You’re a Vodello, after all.”

“So …I’m not in trouble?”

“I’m not finished.” Milla stated. “I do, however, would like to ask you one thing: if I hadn’t stepped into your room just now, how far would you two have gone?”

Raz tilted his head, his expression confused. “How far would-“ His eyes turned wide and he quickly waved his hand in a frantic dismissive manner. “Oh, oh, mom, no! Me and Lili weren’t gonna- I mean, I wasn’t going to …just kissing, not …the other thing.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear you two never had such intentions, but two hormonal teenagers in love in a room alone could potentially end up in those types of situations. You and Lili are getting older and your bodies are undergoing constant changes, which make you look at one another in different ways then when you were younger.”

Raz groaned. “Mom, I had ‘The Talk’ with dad last year.”

“And now I’m having my say as well, querido.” Milla stated, a teasing smile spreading on her lips. She noticed how Raz visibly relaxed at this sight.

She placed a hand on his cheek and smiled warmly at him. “Razputin, I just want to implore you that you and Lili act responsibly. Not only for your sake, but especially for Lili’s. I realize that, if the two of you ever decided to take the next step-“ She grabbed Raz by his chin, giving it a light squeeze. “-that the two of you wait until you’re both old enough!” She pulled him closer, looking him dead in the eyes. “You understand me, Razputin?”

“Loud and clear, mom.” Raz squeaked.

Milla released him with a smile. “Good. Glad to hear you take this seriously.” She pulled him into a hug, which he promptly returned.

“I’m really sorry I yelled at you, mom.” Raz stated as he pulled away from the hug.

“And I am sorry for not knocking first.” Milla said. She booped her son on the nose. “Seems we both learned a few lessons today, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna need a lock for my door, for instance.” Raz joked.

“Never gonna happen, darling.” Milla patted Raz on the head and stood up. The laundry basket levitated off the ground, into her arms. She stopped in the doorway and looked over her shoulder. “Oh, and please clean your room, darling. It’s like a pigsty in here.”

Raz let out a groan. “Yes, mom…”

“Good boy.”

Milla walked out the room, closing the door behind her. She let out a heavy sigh and smiled. “Teenagers... no-one said motherhood would be easy.”

#psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #razputin vodello au #fic prompt

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devastator1775 · 2 months

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I like to think for the interns, babysitting raz was one of their first missions.

Sasha and milla say on paper it's to teach them responsibility, keeping people of interest within their sights among other spy reasons but the interns try to read through it as wanting a free babysitter

While there is some level of truth to that, it's moreso that they acknowledge raz can't rely on Lillie as his only friend at the motherlobe. Plus a psychic child with little to do outside of homework is going to get restless.

The interns get to test themselves with their abilities chasing raz and he gets to play

Razputin certainly didn't make it easy for them. He certainly made some memorable moments with them. Like him and Lizzie drawing tattoos on each other with permanent marker. Convincing Gisu to let him stay up late way past his bedtime. The kitchen incident with Sam. Things like that.

I can certainly agree that Milla would see the benefit of having some older kids in his circle of friends. They all taught him some things. Lizzie helped him with standing up for himself. Gisu helped him with balancing tricks whenever he had a basophobia panic attack. Adam showed him responsibility and leadership. Sam made him realize that being weird isn't a bad thing. Morris and him have a shared love for music. And with Norma he learned d how to be a little brother.

But, Milla also considered the other way around. Like you said: learning responsibility and safety. But she knew that certain Interns could benefit from Raz as well, by being a little brother to the group and having a friendship with him.

Like Norma, who's past personalty and behavior caused her to have a low self image and a small bit of self-hatred. Being a sister to Raz helped her heal and accept herself, becoming the warm, loving person she is in my AU.

I could write pages on how Raz and the Interns' mutual relationship helped each other, but most of that is in the blog already.

#Razputin vodello AU #psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #the author speaks

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idioticsky · 11 months

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Hey, hey @doodle88 I may or may not have made another story using future raz and the fam-

"Lili you look perfect, like always-" Raz said while putting a hand on Lili's cheek,trying to calm her down. "I'm sure the school announcement will go great."

"Yeah.. yeah you're right, I'm over thinking it." Lili said while meeting Raz's eyes.

Today was a big day for the family, it took a while but the intern program was finally revisited and upgraded to a training academy for psychics! And Lili, the new grand head of the psychonauts, was presenting the idea to the public today as a little bit of promotion, it was going to be broadcasted and everything. Raz was going with her as support (of course).

"Alright, the babysitter should be here soon." Lili said while looking at the clock.

"Wait, babysitter? Momma I thought me and Dim were going with you guys!" Cecil said, still holding onto his dad's leg.

"Well, something came up buddy. So the event is now no kids." The twin's father said while fixing his hair one last time.

"But!" Dmitry yelled.

"No exceptions even for kids of the grand head." Their father snapped while looking back at them in the mirror.

"This is so unfair! Why do you and Papa get to do but we can't!" Cecil yelled as he sat on his parents bed, his brother climbing up to sit right beside him.

"Yeah! You guys talked about this like we were gonna go to!" Dmitry yelled right after his brother, almost like they had rehearsed this before.

"Look, we can't risk you two getting into trouble-" Lili said while going to get the door. "We have to go, be nice to the babysitter and each other." Lili finished while dragging Raz out the door.

--------------------------------

It had only been 10 minutes since the babysitter got there, and they already fell asleep on the couch. Once the twins noticed, Cecil quickly shared an idea with Dmitry.

"Are you crazy Cece?! Momma and Papa would ground us forever!" Dmitry said while accidentally stabbing his colored pencil through the paper.

"Come on! The event isn't too far from here and the babysitter won't know! If we sneak out, watch the announcement thingy then come back before Momma and Papa do, no one will know!"

"But what if we get into trouble?!"

Cecil saw the babysitter twitch on the couch.

"Shhhhh!.. they'll wake up.." Cecil said while dragging his brother to the other room. "Look, you wanna see Momma and Papa present this just as much as I do! Right?"

Dmitry hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Then let's go!" Cecil started packing a backpack with everything two 7 year olds would need to sneak into a private event.

--------------------------------

The streets were busy that day. The sidewalks crowded and the roads filled with cars and traffic. Cecil and Dmitry found it rather easy to slip through people though, after all, being small has its perks.

Cecil looked back at a note (Raz wrote down on a paper incase he forgot where the event was, but instead of forgetting the address, he forgot to put the paper where tiny hands couldn't reach) then at the building coming up in front of the twins.

"This is it..." Cecil took in a deep breath.

Dmitry gulped.

"No turning back now..."

--------------------------------

Cecil and Dmitry got in with ease thanks to their parents training them ever so often. They hide behind everything they could while slowly making their way back stage. They saw a few... odd people, while everyone else looked professional, one or two people looked to be under dressed compared to all the others.

"We did it Dim!" Cecil whisper-yelled to his brother while dancing around a little.

"Y-Yeah.. yeah! We did!" His brother whispered back.

Before the twins could continue celebrating, they heard someone coming and hide behind a few boxes.

"Alright, we're on in 3 Lili-" Razputin said while walking up to the stage with his wife. "Ready?"

Lili nodded while sweating bullets.

"Let's hope this works.." She mumbled while walking onto the stage, Raz staying back so he wouldn't be seen.

--------------------------------

"Hello everyone! I would like to thank you for coming out today, we has a special announcement planned today that will help with the development of the psychonauts and non-psychics alike." Lili said while messing with her sleeve, in a way that looked like a signal. Dmitry quickly picked up on this and glanced around, but only saw the two under dressed people get up and leave? Confusing. As the announcement continued, the signals did as well, also confusing. Not even 15 minutes onto the announcement, the roof blew open?! Was this planned?! The twins were starting to panic. Dmitry grabbed his brother and hid in one of the boxes they were behind, covering their mouths so they would keep quiet.

"Just as we expected, Helen. Come to mind control more of our agents?" Lili said while preparing a psy blast, Raz doing the same.

"Oh please, you think just two of you can stop me and my army of psychics?" Helen said with a laugh.

Cecil poked his head out of the box, but Dmitry quickly pulled him back down

"What are you thinking Cece?!-" Dmitry whispered while hitting his brother in the arm. "We don't wanna get caught and hurt!"

Just as Cecil was about to respond the twins were picks up by the back of their shirt, one of Helen's henchmen found them. They were screwed.

"Hey boss! We found some kids!" The henchmen yelled. Helen smirked.

"Awww, how cute. They look just like their father."

Raz quickly realized what happened and looked behind him to see his two children there. He was in shock, as was Lili when she realized what was going on. Raz lowered his psy blast and his guard, then he was hit in the head, knocking him to the ground.

"PAPA!" The twins yelled but were quickly shut up by another henchmen covering their mouths with tape. After the tape, the henchmen squeezed the twins so they couldn't wiggle their way out of his grip.

"It hurts.." the Cecil said to his brother, telepathically of course.

"It's hard to breathe with the tape..." Dmitry responded.

Just as things started to go down, the two under dressed people from before came back.

"Looks like we're just in time." Sasha said while aiming a psy blast at Helen.

"It really seems like it darling." Milla said while quickly getting the twins away from the henchmen, so fast that the henchmen didn't notice for a moment before looking back at Milla.

"Ha! Four of you is nothing compared to twenty soldiers!" Helen yelled while sending a psy blast at Raz. Lili quickly deflected it back at her as Sasha sent a blast at her as well.

"Let's get you two darlings out of here." Milla said, trying to calm the twins down as she took them out to a safe place.

--------------------------------

The fight lasted about 3 hours, but the psychonauts won. But now there was a new problem for the twins, angry parents.

"What were you two thinking?! You could've been hurt or even killed!" Raz yelled, which was unusual for him, he was normally the one to stop Lili from going off on the twins.

This went on for 5 minutes before Lili stepped in.

"Raz, that's enough-" Lili said while putting her hand on his shoulder. "Look at the twin, they've been through enough and learned their lesson." She finished while sitting next to the twins.

The twins had a few cuts on their arms (most likely from the poorly made boxes), bruises on their sides from being squeezed, and we're scared from watching their dad get hurt. Once Raz took a good looks at the twins, his anger turned into a bit of worry and a tiny bit of guilt from yelling. He sat next to his wife and kids, putting Dmitry on his lap, Lili doing the same with Cecil.

"We're sorry that you couldn't come, but we had to set up a trap to win against Helen somehow." Lili said while stroking Cecil's hair.

"A trap?.." Dmitry said while looking up at his dad. He nodded.

"We got news that Helen was around here and staged the whole announcement as trap to catch her." Raz said while keeping Dmitry close to himself.

"But what about the psychic school thingy? Is that not happening?" Cecil asked.

"No that's still happening, but the actual announcement will be next month." The twin's mother said while making her way to the car, still holding her son. Raz followed her with the other twin in hand.

The twins got buckled into their seats as Raz got into the driver's.

"Can we go to that school momma?" Dmitry said while watching his mom get into the passenger's seat.

"When the school is finished, yes-" Lili said while looking back to the twins. "But for now, you two are grounded till the end of the summer." She finished with a smile as Raz started driving home.

"But momm!" The twins tried to protest.

"No trying to argue with your mother, you know she'll win" Raz said with a little laugh.

The twins were mad, but knew that if they tried to argue, they would just be grounded for longer.

"Momma and Papa are mean sometimes.." Cecil said telepathically to his brother.

"Yeah." Dmitry replied.

"You know I can here you two right?" Raz said while budding into the twins conversation.

"Papa! Stop!" The twins said with a giggle.

"Alright alright." He said with a little laugh.

#psychonauts #razputin aquato #lili zanotto #aquato family #milla vodello #sasha nien #this took forever #but im happy with the product

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psi-polls · 1 year

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#psychonauts #lucrecia mux

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ihaveatheoryonthat · 2 years

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Power Trick

Based pretty directly* off of the Subnauts AU by @venusianpeach

*If I continue in any notable way, however, it will diverge a fair amount.

---

| Baton Pass |

Hollis had made a number of mistakes over the past few weeks, but, arguably, the first of them was sending the agents Motif off on a wild goose chase.

It wouldn’t do any harm; on the job, they were as efficient as could be, and whatever mess they might get themselves into, they could reasonably extract themselves from. So long as they were offsite, there was no way they could worsen the headache that was the Psychonauts’ financial situation, in the exact same way they wouldn’t help her by hovering.

If Emmet had reminded her about one more meeting, she’d been planning to tangle him in web of thought so convoluted that even Ingo’s patience would’ve run out before he was free. Really, in sending them a continent over, she was doing everyone a favor.

Or so she’d thought.

She’d enjoyed exactly thirty hours of peace before the news of Truman’s kidnapping broke.

It would have been incredibly convenient to have them onsite and let them deal with Razputin.

It would have saved everyone some trouble if the heads of transportation had been available to perform their foremost duties.

And it would have made all the difference in the world to have a hydrokinetic on their side when faced with The Deluge of Grulovia.

But Hollis had played a bad hand, and--

Ahem.

Hollis’s plan hadn’t accounted for all of the variables, no matter how unlikely they were to factor in; fortunately, nobody had been seriously hurt and the water damage had mostly been confined to Green Needle Gulch. Whatever else cropped up in the aftermath, she’d been blissfully unaware of it for the past two weeks.

But all vacations had to come to an end sometime, and, now that she’d had a chance to decompress, Hollis was ready to tackle the responsibilities of the Second Head. There was plenty to focus on, already lined up on her desk when she returned to her office, but her attention was drawn to the neatly-stacked mission report and the unrelated forms lined up beneath it.

She picked the first up and skimmed it over; it was labeled with both Motifs’ names, as was standard for them, but the slant of the writing suggested Ingo had been the one to pen it this time.

The subject has been secured. The report promised, followed shortly by, Though perhaps the esteemed Second Head might tell certain agents to allow her breathing room next time, instead of finding busywork to keep them occupied.

Hollis wasn’t surprised on either front. If those men were on a mission, then by god they were going to see it through, whether or not it was actually feasible. She was grateful Ingo had humored her, at least, and not called her on her crap where Emmet could hear.

If the past couple of weeks had taught her anything, it was that she’d really needed the break. It was nice to know that someone else had seen it.

Her eyes flickered down to the second set of papers. They were, in fact, a color-coded series of forms from the transportation department, some fields filled in an opposite slant, others left very pointedly blank. As she flipped through them, she found backdated requisition forms, incident reports and repair requests, each ramping up in passive-aggression until she reached the last one, which had been helpfully filled out in her name, pertaining to the jet’s use. She could actually feel the echo of annoyance radiating off of it.

Despite herself, she felt a smirk tugging at her lips.

Not as much fun when other agents didn’t stay in their lane, was it Motif?

She set both sets of papers aside-- the first to be tastefully redacted and then filed, the second to be completed. Both were slightly more familiar in tone than she’d tolerate from most, but she was in a good mood, and they were funnier than they were insolent; besides, they confirmed that the pair was back on base, which she was willing to consider a positive thing, today.

Hollis Forsythe did not have favorites among her agents, but the twins were certainly up there.

The tug at her lips faded as she laid eyes on the foremost pile of papers. On top-- meaning most recently submitted-- she saw Razputin’s name, and took an anticipatory breath as something very important occurred to her.

Two of her problems had-- how would they put it? ‘Returned to station’?

And she had one newly-arrived problem without a destination.

Surely a couple of conductors could help with that.

#ihaveatheoryonthat pkmn #ihaveatheoryonthat psychonauts #submas #psychonauts #crossover #au #fanfic #power trick

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rosesmith18 · 2 years

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Razputin’s Getaway

My current obsession has been Psychonauts, and I thought since I haven't posted in a long time-sorry about that-I'd share some scenes I wrote dealing with Razputin's fears and anxieties before the events of the first game.

Did I have a death wish? But, dad was forgiving, you’ll be fine. If you beg enou-NO. I didn’t do anything wrong. Tala’s crown was falling, I was just trying to help. I didn’t even think about it. Okay, so MAYBE I took the opportunity to joke around, but I really did do what I did to help her. If that thing had hit the ground it would have been a goner, and she loved that flea market tricket more than anything. It would have broken her little heart to replace it; let alone break it. I was being a good older brother, a good hero, a psychonaut. I was using my gift for good, because it WAS a gift. No matter what everyone else said. Tala didn’t seem to see it that way. You should explain yours-

“Pssh-” It was tall, shaped like an upside down pear, and dressed all in black; the figure that called out to me. My gaze slowly trailed up its body, catching a glimpse of a long, slender mustache before a rectangular pamphlet stole my attention. It was held in the person’s outstretched arm; Cover on full display for me to see. I pressed an eyebrow down against my brow, slight frown on my lips as I nervously read the cover. It was a brochure of sorts for a…Psychic Summer Camp?! No, it couldn’t be. I must be seeing things. I snatched the folded paper from the person’s rubbery hand, and reread the cover over and over and over again, the same five words appearing before my eyes every time;

‘Whispering Rock’s Psychic Summer Camp’ It really was true. I had to know more. I snapped my head up, about to ramble question after question, but the person had vanished. Leaving me with the pamphlet.

I settled into the nightly practice routine soon after with the rest of my family. I took the pamphlet with me. I needed to read the rest. Balancing a set of 90 and 70 pound dumbbells on the soles of my covered feet, I pulled out the brochure, and began to read-ignoring the twisting of my stomach;

‘To soar across the astral plane! To wage psychic warfare against the enemies of free thought!’ I read the slogan on the cover, it sounded like a call to action, a call to adventure; a line right out of True Psychic Tales. It made my heart race in a good way, in the way that took my mind away from dark and terrible thoughts. My attention was focused, and I wasn’t sure anything could take it away. Not even the familiarly stern eyes staring into my back.

I read on with a new found vigor into the inside of the pamphlet;

‘You were born with a special gift. But, the people around you, treat it like a curse. Your mother is afraid of you, and your father looks at you with shame in his eyes. Come to Whispering Rock’s Psychic Summer Camp, and you can show them all. Back home your powers make you a loner, an outcast, a circus freak. But in this dojo, in this psychic dojo, they make you a HERO.’ It was everything I ever dreamed of, ever wanted, written down on paper for all to see. I felt alive, and free, and okay for the first time in a while. I memorized the address for minutes on end until nightly practice was good and done.

I could hear Mom telling Queepie and Tala that it was time for bed, could hear Dion and Frazie bickering about their practice, could hear my Dad huffing behind me. I didn’t want to answer, not now, not tonight. This night had turned out so wonderful, and he was going to ruin it. You can’t keep it a secret forever, or long for that matter, and secrets always end up hurting someone. It’s going to hurt you, so face it like a man already. Those were both fine points even if that fact made me even more reluctant. My reply to Dad was meek as I turned to face him.

“Yes, Dad?” I answered, staring up at his hulking form, folded arms straight against his front.

“Let me see what you have there, son” He put an open palm in my face, and I almost pleaded with him not to take it, but I steeled myself. I handed it to him as if I trusted him to do nothing more than look at it, though the likelihood of that was extremely low unless I really was just super lucky tonight.

“It’s just something a customer gave me.” I explained before he could read the cover, it was my fear talking, fear that something bad would happen if I took ownership over my gratitude for that brochure.

“‘Whispering Rock’s PSYCHIC Summer Camp’” His voice was burning with venom as he read the words aloud. Everyone; Mom, Dion, Frazie, Tala, Queepie, looked at Dad as if waiting for him to make his comment on such a ridiculous thing. “Razputin, what is the meaning of this-this WITCHCRAFT?” His words stung me, the way they punctured my already barely beating heart. I was determined and frightful at the same time, and I pressed the pads of my fingers together as I muttered;

“It’s a summer camp, Dad.” He raised an incredulous eyebrow at my statement that somehow only furthered my stance on the matter, and I spoke plainly the second time around; “And, I think it sounds like fun.” There eyes were on me, every one of those twelve eyes, on me; it was just like my nightmares, and a shiver so fierce ran up my spine.

“You think curses sound like FUN, Razputin?” Spite’s Dad, and I all but crumble under the weight of that word. NO. Curses aren’t fun. They’re terrifying, and make it hard to breathe when you take a drink of water, and make you afraid of your own children; the last thing you think curses are is FUN. So, why did he have to use THAT word. The one word you can’t argue with? I can’t find the words to say fast enough, and I watch, as dad rips all my dreams to shreds before my very eyes. I lash a shaky hand out hoping he’ll see it, and maybe, just maybe, he’ll think about how much it hurts me. “Well, curses aren’t FUN, Razputin, and you’ll learn that one day.” But, all he thinks about is how to use THAT word, to HURT ME.

I race back to my caravan with a single desire blazing in my veins; Freedom, I’m going to get my freedom tonight. Free from this circus, free from this curse, and free from this family. You know father didn’t mean to hurt you. He’s just worried about you, about the family. Try to be more understanding. Not tonight, or tomorrow, or ever again. I understand enough, I understand that this is for the best. It’s a perfect night to run away, to be free. It’s dark, no moonlight I could have read these stubborn emotions away with. Mom took most of my comics away anyway; Hidden under broken, rotting wood were all the ones that remained-only five or so of the sixty volumes I had originally managed to collect on our travels. One she had even used to dress the floor of the horses caravan, volume one of all the volumes. I’d get to see it one last time tonight; not in the greatest condition, of course, filthy for all manner of reasons you’d expect. It brought back many pleasant memories, however, and a courage I needed tonight more than ever.

Riding the World's Smallest Pony down a forgien dirt road was an adventure all on its own in this darkness, and as Frazie’s pony hoofed it down the path, I turned and watched the Aquatodome get smaller and smaller. That tent felt so big when you were standing under it as crowds of ten or twenty or sometimes even twenty-five filled the stands, but as I rushed out of the clearing into the dense forest of oak trees; I momentarily thought that no more than twenty-five people could fit in a tent so small. My caravan was even smaller though, barely visible between the branches of trees or over the tops of bushes as the train tracks outside the forest came into view in front of me. The world was about to become so much bigger for me. I was overwhelmed, but excited. If I became a psychonaut, it would be the greatest trick I’d ever pulled.

I jumped down from the stacked logs as the light from the truck's headlights illuminated the large wood sign I’ve been looking for. The bald lumberjack eyes me with shock when I land in front of their passenger door window, and I wave them a sort of thanks for the lift. They’re hesitant for a moment, but they eventually wave back before driving off into the dark streets ahead. I stumble with my things as I walk up to the rickety old painted sign;

‘Whispering Rock’ It reads, and I feel a giddiness rise up in my chest. So much opportunity is waiting for me behind this fence gate; but how to get in? This isn't right. You should go home. That’s enough adventure for one night, Razputin. I’m not letting you get to me. I can see a campfire glow from past the trees. I’m so close. I’ll just hop the rock pillars of the fence gate, and I’ll be sitting right where I belong. With people just like me, with gifts and dreams to be psychonauts. No more fear, anxiety or shame. Go ahead coward, just run away. Betray your family for a bunch of fortune tellers. They wouldn’t expect any less from the likes of YOU. You can’t make me feel guilty anymore. I’m not being selfish. I’m doing them a favor. They don’t want me, they don’t have to have me. I’m taking care of the hard part for them. Like a psychonaut, like a hero, like a good son.

#psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #razputin aquato #scene #aquato family

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doodle17 · 1 year

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Psychonauts Future Fanfic chapter 1

(I am by no means a professional writer, and this was made entirely for fun. But as a warning, chapters may be heavily edited or even deleted and re-uploaded in the future, as I am very self conscious about my writing.)

Raz looked down at the newspapers set on the table by Sasha. He let out a defeated sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'm stumped. I don't know what to do..."

"Of course you don't..." Sasha grumbled. Raz looked back to the papers. He tried to examine them closer, seeing if maybe there was at least a small bit of evidence that could lead them to what their criminal was planning. Of course, he found nothing.

The papers were the same old thing. Research facilities and laboratories destroyed and ruined, robbed of everything valuable. The same old headline was on everyone. "Local Research stolen by mysterious strangers." Of course, the Psychonauts knew who it was. But unfortunately, they didn't know why they were stealing hazardous amounts of chemicals and Psi-lirium. And they didn't know where they were taking it.

Raz sifted through the papers before once again looking to Sasha. He tried to give him a reassuring smile. "Ah, c'mon Sasha, well find out! Eventually." Sasha lowered his glasses and raised an eyebrow. Raz looked around the room awkwardly before clearing his throat.

"Well, Agent Forsythe needs us to meet in her office. She says she has a plan." Sasha said with a doubtful tone. He stood up from his chair and waved his hand, gesturing for Raz to follow him. Raz glanced at the papers one more time. He picked one up, quickly folded it and put it in the pocket of his coat, then quickly caught up with Sasha.

As the two of them walked down the hallway, Raz glanced at Sasha. He remembered when he was a kid he would have to look up in order to make eye contact, but now he was almost as tall as him. Maybe even a few inches taller! He definitely changed in the past 9 years. Everyone had. Especially his family. Queepie was going to start his first week at camp soon.

Wow. How time flies... Raz thought to himself. It only felt like his first day at camp was a few weeks ago. I can't believe I'm already 19 years old. Man, time really flies by...He softly chuckled to himself. I remember when I was younger, I couldn't wait to go on crazy missions like this. Too bad I didn't know there was a LOT more boring investigating than kicking "bad guy" ass.

"Something on your mind, Razputin?" Sasha said, breaking the silence and snapping Raz out of his train of thought. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Just thinking about how much things have changed," He gestured to himself. "Including me." He grinned. Sasha shook his head but smiled slightly. "I don't think you've changed as much as you think. Maybe height wise."

"Oh yeah! I'm almost taller than you!" He hovered his hand above Sashas' head playfully. "Ugh, don't remind me. Every day I see you, it just makes me feel older." Raz laughed. "Hey, do you remember that old helmet?"

"Now Razutin, that's a very rude thing to say about Agent Fullbear-"

"No, no, the one I used to wear. The aviators helmet. With the goggles? Remember when Milla got me these glasses because they looked like my goggles?" He pointed the glasses with red tinted lenses resting on his head. Sasha squinted, thinking for a moment. "Ah! Yes, I remember now." He nodded. "Yes, I do remember that helmet. You used to wear it everywhere. I think I've only seen you without a few times before you stopped wearing it."

"Yeah!" Raz said. I used to wear that thing to bed sometimes. I wonder if it's still lying around somewhere... I wonder if it still fits...

"Agents."

The two of them turned to see an exhausted Norma holding a large mug of coffee and folders. Her eyes looked like it was taking all of her strength to hold them up, with dark bags underneath them. She heavily sighed. "Agent Forsythe is expecting you, and there was something else..." She tried to flip through the folders and papers. "Hey Norma, you doin' alright?" Raz asked. She heavily sighed again.

"Honestly, no. The damned receptionist skipped work again this week, so guess who's covering for her." She said with a forced, miserable smile. She proceeded to walk past the two of them as if she didn't stop to talk to them in the first place. "You'd better hurry, Forsythe is getting anxious. You know how she gets."

"Is that the life of the party, Razputin, I see?" Said Milla happily as the two men walked into Hollis' office. "In the flesh, baby!" Raz said with finger guns. Milla laughed. "Oh, it feels like every time I look at you, I'm expecting to see a small little boy only to be met with a handsome young man. You're turning my hair gray Agent Aquato!" She said with a playful smile. Raz blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "D'aw, well I dunno about handsome -"

"Agents Nein, Vodello, and Aquato..." Hollis looked up from her papers and raised an eyebrow. Raz didn't even notice she was there. He was definitely startled when he heard her voice. She definitely sounded as tired as everyone else working on the current mission. Her desk was full of papers and empty cups of coffee. She lifted her reading classes and rested them her head. "Please, Agents, take a seat. I believe I've got a solution to our situation regarding the recent robberies."

She gestured for the three of them to take one of the seats at the front of her desk. "I believe I've found a way for all of us to figure out what our good friends at the Mandela corporation plan to do with all of the important stuff they've stolen." She said as she reached for a few papers that were resting underneath an empty coffee cup. She tapped them on her desk before sliding them toward the three Agents."There is one for each of you." She said, leaning back in her chair. Raz examined the paper. It had a picture of him, with a fake name and a bunch of other stuff. It looked like a resume of some sort. "Fake personas?" Raz asked, looking from his paper and pushing his glasses into place. Hollis nodded. "Yes, I have a feeling we won't get any farther if all we do is wait for them to attempt another scheme and hope we can get there on time to stop them. But if we can get inside..." She leaned in.

"But, isn't the place guarded by, like, a MILLION guards and security systems?" Raz asked. "Not to worry, Aquato, the two of you will be acting as interns. Milla and Sasha will be acting as your mentors. Otto has made sure that your fake work IDs are fool-proof." Intern, huh? That brings back memories. Raz then remembered being locked in the old closet in nothing but his underwear. He shuddered. Not very good memories.

"This may actually work!" Milla said, admiring her paper. But, who's going to be joining us?" That's right. Raz noticed she was holding a fourth paper. "Yeah, didn't you mention another agent to be the second intern with me?" Raz wondered who it could be.

Maybe Lizzie, or Dogen, maybe Adam! Oh, I hope it's Adam and not Norma. PLEASE, don't let it be Norma... Before Forsythe could answer, someone spoke. "It's mine."

Raz's heart stopped for a moment before it immediately started to beat a million miles a minute. He turned around quickly, almost getting out of his chair. Was it really?

"L-Lili?!" He sputtered.

(And end of chapter! Thanks for reading! Comments or tips are greatly appreciated as I want future chapters to be exceptional.)

#Psychonauts #Psychonauts Future #Doodle88 #psychonauts fanfiction #razputin aquato #hollis forsythe #milla vodello #sasha nein #norma natividad #lili zanotto #Razili

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