Just so you know, I hate you all.

Did...you hear that? (Blog for Psychonauts RP at http://whisperingrockpsychicsummercamp.tumblr.com/)

[ghostymedium]

Wilbert sort of eyeballs Fritz when he walks in. He doesn’t really know the other boy too well and right now his head hurts. Right now the only thing circulating though his mind is the determination that absolutely nothing is wrong with him. He’s not sure where this exactly this determination came from, but he’s hardly in the right state of mind to question it. However, he does accept the cheese, eating it as if he expects that act to be undeniable proof that he is completely and utterly sane

[psychicstimuli]

Nico materializes a short distance away from the group, having returned from his own important personal business of consorting with terrorists. Noticing the small crowd gathered around Wilbert, he decides to assert his authority as an honorary counselor. 

"What seems to be our problem here?" He asks to the general clump of fellow campers, making his presence known and straightening his dorky little tie.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

"Wilbert is being difficult," Nina says absently, straightening up with a sigh. She looks over at Nico briefly before looking back at Wilbert. "Come on, the sooner you let us help you, the sooner it'll be over! And then there'll be one less person going nuts here," she adds, scowling a little at Wilbert. Why does he have to be so weird about this? She feels kind of bad for scowling at him though, so she settles for just looking at him with faint annoyance.

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad sighed. “All of us are far from fine, kid. We’ll still have to process everyone eventually, you included.” He thought that maybe that was a bit too harsh, and that maybe the stress was getting to him. Again. “Listen, we’re trying to help,” he adds feebly.

[ghostymedium]

"NO!" While Wilbert isn’t quite shouting, he’s speaking so much louder than he normally does that he might as well be. "I told you, I’m fine! I’m fine! I’m fine!” 

[telepathic-lass-blog]

"You don’t sound fine. You sound a little hysterical, actually,” Nina says matter-of-factly. “Like Mister McCarthy said, we’re gonna help everyone at some point. It’s a little silly to try and delay people who just want to help!”

[inquisitivejuvenile-blog]

Nadia quickly opens her eyes, looking around— did she fall asleep? She stretches her arms out, and when she spots the trio sort of arguing, she jumps to her feet and enthusiastically walks over. She feels a lot better than she did earlier, did she just need some sleep? She notes that she doesn’t hear the voices anymore, and shoves the thought out of her mind; she doesn’t need to give them an invitation to come back, after all.

Brushing her hands through her messy hair, she stops next to them and grins. “Hey, guys, what’s goin’ on? A party?” She shakes her head, recalling the parts of the conversation she heard when sleepily eavesdropping. “Nah, just joking. But I heard that the plan was to explore Mister Wilbert’s mind over here?” She tilts her head, looking at Wilbert. “Hey, Wilbert, it’ll be all cool! When we get in there and see that you’re fine, then we’ll come right back out. That’ll be okay, right?”

[ghostymedium]

"N-no! There’s no reason to anyways because I’m fine! So it would just be a waste! A w-waste of t-t-ti-" Wilbert cuts himself off into sobs.

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

"Uh, there, there," Conrad says, digging through his pockets for a tissue. He finds half a packet and just hands Wilbert the entire thing. "We can postpone it for a while if that would make you feel better, but we’ll have to see how your actual condition… eh…." He trails off into silence as it occurs to him that this was coming dangerously close to breaching the borders of illegality. But this was an emergency situation, and Wilbert’s parents did sign a waiver, after all.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina glances over at Nadia. "Oh, hello Nadia," she says absently. "We can't get Wilbert to let us go into his mind," why is Wilbert being so difficult? Nina gives a sigh, crossing her arms. "Wilbert," she says sternly. "If you don't let us into your mind, all of the nightmares in there are going to multiply," she leans in closer to Wilbert as she says this, looking very serious. "And they're going to run around in your mind until everything is covered in nightmares. Everything. And THEN, you'll go crazy and will be too far gone for us to help you, so you'll have to go to a mental hospital and live there forever eating bread and water and wondering 'Why oh why didn't I let those guys go into my mind?' Except you won't because you'll be crazy and won't remember us," Nina frowns at Wilbert, putting her hands on her hips. "And all of this is completely true, believe me! I mean, I should know, I've read books."

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad sits up, rubbing his clammy arms. “That seems… advisable.” He was still a bit shaky, his throat was still feeling a bit tight, and he had been planning to take a break soon, but he supposed that this came first. Wilbert looked pretty messed-up. “Although— Nina, do you know if he’s just… always like this?”

[ghostymedium]

"N-no!" Wilbert cries out. “I mean I’m fine! There’s nothing to worry about. B-because I’m fine! See!" He forces his expression into a smile, which fails to reach his eyes. 

[telepathic-lass-blog]

"Uh, well, I don’t actually know him well enough to say, but—" Nina stares at Wilbert, an eyebrow raised. That was a loud denial. "Are you sure?" She asks skeptically.

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad sighed. “All of us are far from fine, kid. We’ll still have to process everyone eventually, you included.” He thought that maybe that was a bit too harsh, and that maybe the stress was getting to him. Again. “Listen, we’re trying to help,” he adds feebly.

[ghostymedium]

"NO!" While Wilbert isn’t quite shouting, he’s speaking so much louder than he normally does that he might as well be. "I told you, I’m fine! I’m fine! I’m fine!” 

[telepathic-lass-blog]

"You don't sound fine. You sound a little hysterical, actually," Nina says matter-of-factly. "Like Mister McCarthy said, we're gonna help everyone at some point. It's a little silly to try and delay people who just want to help!"

[ghostymedium]

Wilbert barely reacts to Nina’s insult. He winces a little, but it’s as if he’s already heard -or convinced himself he’s heard- it a thousand times before. “I… I’m sorry." except that its dumb for him to apologize because why is he even here right now wasting ninas time shut up shut up and youre not even making any sense and stop apologizing because he needs to stop being so weak and useless and he needs to help somehow but he can’t and Suddenly a change seems to come over Wilbert, as if he’s finally made some sort of decision. He looks tense, but his hands lay still in his lap where they were formerly twisting at the fabric of his shirt, and Wilbert forces himself to meet Nina’s eyes. “I- I really am fine!" he declares, nodding again for extra emphasis. He seems almost too sure of himself. 

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina frowns, but shrugs and says “Alright, then." WIlbert’s acting kind of weird, but at least he seems to be a little more confident now. “So uh…" Darn, what do they have to talk about now? Nina had just wanted to make sure Wilbert wasn’t going to freak out or something. She winces a little at a spike of noise in her head. Is that coming from Wilbert? The spike in noise has been going on and off since they got back, and it’s driving her nuts. “Are… are you sure you’re feeling alright? Maybe we should— hey Mister McCarthy, should we help Wilbert next?" Nina turns to look at the others with a slight frown.

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad sits up, rubbing his clammy arms. “That seems… advisable." He was still a bit shaky, his throat was still feeling a bit tight, and he had been planning to take a break soon, but he supposed that this came first. Wilbert looked pretty messed-up. “Although— Nina, do you know if he’s just… always like this?"

[ghostymedium]

"N-no!" Wilbert cries out. “I mean I’m fine! There’s nothing to worry about. B-because I’m fine! See!" He forces his expression into a smile, which fails to reach his eyes. 

[telepathic-lass-blog]

"Uh, well, I don't actually know him well enough to say, but--" Nina stares at Wilbert, an eyebrow raised. That was a loud denial. "Are you sure?" She asks skeptically.

[ghostymedium]

Wilbert is left reeling after being forced out of Junior’s mind so suddenly, with no idea of what just happened. That’s why the realization takes him a moment. But when he sees everyone else waking up- they’re all okay, even Junior! Junior got better! That’s when it clicks. Wilbert was useless. Completely and utterly useless. He’d contributed absolutely nothing and only served to slow things down. Everybody in this room probably hated him for that! Junior probably hated him for that! "of course they do. of course he does" Wilbert’s nightmares agree.

He clenches his fists, digging his fingernails into his hands as he forces himself to control his breathing because he needs to stop being so weak and wimpy but he’s too weak and wimpy to even not cry about how terrible he is at everything. Finally he manages to force himself to calm down and look around at at his surroundings. 

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina looks around wearily. She hears a particular group of nightmares that are louder than the rest, and after scanning the room, decides that they’re probably coming from Wilbert. Should she like… comfort him or something? She slides off the couch slowly, walking over to Wilbert. “Er, hey Wilbert," Nina says awkwardly. “You okay?" She can’t quite make out what his nightmares are saying through the din of the rest, but he seems upset. 

[ghostymedium]

Wilbert’s eyes widen at Nina’s words and he freezes like a deer caught in headlights. He’s even less prepared to deal with talking to somebody than he usually is and its not like he should even be interacting with anybody anyways not ever all he ever is is a burden. He lets out a hiccupy little gasp and forces himself to nod his head. He doesn’t have any right to do otherwise. Not when everyone else has been so much more useful than him. That’s exactly what Nina is thinking right now, he realizes suddenly. She probably wanted to tell him just that. “I- I’ll leave now if you want. I’m sorry!"

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina looks confused. “What? What’re you talking about?" She squints at Wilbert, wondering if it was something she’d said? All she’d said was ‘Hey Wilbert, you okay?’ What was wrong with that? “You can’t leave, stupid— erm, I mean," Wilbert looks pretty upset, and she feels kind of bad for calling him stupid. “What I mean is er— you can’t leave, because there are nightmares out there."

[ghostymedium]

Wilbert barely reacts to Nina’s insult. He winces a little, but it’s as if he’s already heard -or convinced himself he’s heard- it a thousand times before. “I… I’m sorry." except that its dumb for him to apologize because why is he even here right now wasting ninas time shut up shut up and youre not even making any sense and stop apologizing because he needs to stop being so weak and useless and he needs to help somehow but he can’t and Suddenly a change seems to come over Wilbert, as if he’s finally made some sort of decision. He looks tense, but his hands lay still in his lap where they were formerly twisting at the fabric of his shirt, and Wilbert forces himself to meet Nina’s eyes. “I- I really am fine!" he declares, nodding again for extra emphasis. He seems almost too sure of himself. 

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina frowns, but shrugs and says “Alright, then." WIlbert’s acting kind of weird, but at least he seems to be a little more confident now. “So uh…" Darn, what do they have to talk about now? Nina had just wanted to make sure Wilbert wasn’t going to freak out or something. She winces a little at a spike of noise in her head. Is that coming from Wilbert? The spike in noise has been going on and off since they got back, and it's driving her nuts. "Are... are you sure you're feeling alright? Maybe we should-- hey Mister McCarthy, should we help Wilbert next?" Nina turns to look at the others with a slight frown.

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

"Ohhhh no. You do NOT get to call him Jacky! Only I get to! He’s MY Ja— I, uh." Junior stammers for a second, then quickly regains his posture. “Only I get to call him that. He doesn’t like it when other people say it."

[telepathic-lass-blog]

"He's your Jacky? That's sooo cute," Nina stifles more giggling, grinning with gleeful malice at Junior. "Does he have a cutesy name for you too? Like Juju?" She almost fell off the couch laughing at her own joke. Real mature, Nina.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina sits on one of the couches, eyes shut. It’s pretty obvious that she isn’t asleep from how she keeps fidgeting and adjusting her position, and even sometimes cracking an eye open to look around. Everyone seems to be doing… whatever. Boooring. …At least it’s better than being chased around by huge nightmare monsters.

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior remains in his seat on the other couch, his blanket still wrapped around him like a majestic cloak. His brow is furrowed and his bottom lip is stuck in a pout, as he discovered that Jack is no longer in the main lodge.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Looking around the room, Nina notices Junior pouting. Figuring that she has nothing better to do, she slides off the couch and walks over to the one Junior is sitting on, plopping herself down on it. “What’s wrong, Junior?" Nina asks, looking for a way to alleviate her boredom (and those stupid voices). “No more nightmares in your head or anything, right?"

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior glances over at Nina and squints. “No. Not like you helped or anything." He crosses his arms and huffs. “Jacky isn’t here. I dunno where he is."

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina is about to argue that yes she did help when Junior brings up Jack. She wrinkles her nose. “Don’t worry, your boooooooyfriend will probably be fine." She resists the urge to make some goofy kissing noises to go along with ‘boooooooyfriend’.

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior’s cheeks turn a dark shade of purple and he glares at Nina. “Don’t you have a lemon to suck on or something?" he hisses.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina sticks out her tongue. "Gee, I was just trying to reassure you," she says airily. She can't help but giggle when Junior blushes. "How's Jacky been doing, anyways? I've been so busy, I haven't seen him around."

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina sits on one of the couches, eyes shut. It’s pretty obvious that she isn’t asleep from how she keeps fidgeting and adjusting her position, and even sometimes cracking an eye open to look around. Everyone seems to be doing… whatever. Boooring. …At least it’s better than being chased around by huge nightmare monsters.

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior remains in his seat on the other couch, his blanket still wrapped around him like a majestic cloak. His brow is furrowed and his bottom lip is stuck in a pout, as he discovered that Jack is no longer in the main lodge.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Looking around the room, Nina notices Junior pouting. Figuring that she has nothing better to do, she slides off the couch and walks over to the one Junior is sitting on, plopping herself down on it. “What’s wrong, Junior?" Nina asks, looking for a way to alleviate her boredom (and those stupid voices). “No more nightmares in your head or anything, right?"

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior glances over at Nina and squints. “No. Not like you helped or anything." He crosses his arms and huffs. “Jacky isn’t here. I dunno where he is."

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina is about to argue that yes she did help when Junior brings up Jack. She wrinkles her nose. "Don't worry, your boooooooyfriend will probably be fine." She resists the urge to make some goofy kissing noises to go along with 'boooooooyfriend'.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina sits on one of the couches, eyes shut. It’s pretty obvious that she isn’t asleep from how she keeps fidgeting and adjusting her position, and even sometimes cracking an eye open to look around. Everyone seems to be doing… whatever. Boooring. …At least it’s better than being chased around by huge nightmare monsters.

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior remains in his seat on the other couch, his blanket still wrapped around him like a majestic cloak. His brow is furrowed and his bottom lip is stuck in a pout, as he discovered that Jack is no longer in the main lodge.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Looking around the room, Nina notices Junior pouting. Figuring that she has nothing better to do, she slides off the couch and walks over to the one Junior is sitting on, plopping herself down on it. "What's wrong, Junior?" Nina asks, looking for a way to alleviate her boredom (and those stupid voices). "No more nightmares in your head or anything, right?"

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina sits on one of the couches, eyes shut. It's pretty obvious that she isn't asleep from how she keeps fidgeting and adjusting her position, and even sometimes cracking an eye open to look around. Everyone seems to be doing... whatever. Boooring. ...At least it's better than being chased around by huge nightmare monsters.

[ghostymedium]

Wilbert is left reeling after being forced out of Junior’s mind so suddenly, with no idea of what just happened. That’s why the realization takes him a moment. But when he sees everyone else waking up- they’re all okay, even Junior! Junior got better! That’s when it clicks. Wilbert was useless. Completely and utterly useless. He’d contributed absolutely nothing and only served to slow things down. Everybody in this room probably hated him for that! Junior probably hated him for that! "of course they do. of course he does" Wilbert’s nightmares agree.

He clenches his fists, digging his fingernails into his hands as he forces himself to control his breathing because he needs to stop being so weak and wimpy but he’s too weak and wimpy to even not cry about how terrible he is at everything. Finally he manages to force himself to calm down and look around at at his surroundings. 

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina looks around wearily. She hears a particular group of nightmares that are louder than the rest, and after scanning the room, decides that they’re probably coming from Wilbert. Should she like… comfort him or something? She slides off the couch slowly, walking over to Wilbert. “Er, hey Wilbert," Nina says awkwardly. “You okay?" She can’t quite make out what his nightmares are saying through the din of the rest, but he seems upset. 

[ghostymedium]

Wilbert’s eyes widen at Nina’s words and he freezes like a deer caught in headlights. He’s even less prepared to deal with talking to somebody than he usually is and its not like he should even be interacting with anybody anyways not ever all he ever is is a burden. He lets out a hiccupy little gasp and forces himself to nod his head. He doesn’t have any right to do otherwise. Not when everyone else has been so much more useful than him. That’s exactly what Nina is thinking right now, he realizes suddenly. She probably wanted to tell him just that. “I- I’ll leave now if you want. I’m sorry!"

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina looks confused. "What? What're you talking about?" She squints at Wilbert, wondering if it was something she'd said? All she'd said was 'Hey Wilbert, you okay?' What was wrong with that? "You can't leave, stupid-- erm, I mean," Wilbert looks pretty upset, and she feels kind of bad for calling him stupid. "What I mean is er-- you can't leave, because there are nightmares out there."

[ghostymedium]

Wilbert is left reeling after being forced out of Junior’s mind so suddenly, with no idea of what just happened. That’s why the realization takes him a moment. But when he sees everyone else waking up- they’re all okay, even Junior! Junior got better! That’s when it clicks. Wilbert was useless. Completely and utterly useless. He’d contributed absolutely nothing and only served to slow things down. Everybody in this room probably hated him for that! Junior probably hated him for that! "of course they do. of course he does" Wilbert’s nightmares agree.

He clenches his fists, digging his fingernails into his hands as he forces himself to control his breathing because he needs to stop being so weak and wimpy but he’s too weak and wimpy to even not cry about how terrible he is at everything. Finally he manages to force himself to calm down and look around at at his surroundings. 

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina looks around wearily. She hears a particular group of nightmares that are louder than the rest, and after scanning the room, decides that they're probably coming from Wilbert. Should she like… comfort him or something? She slides off the couch slowly, walking over to Wilbert. "Er, hey Wilbert," Nina says awkwardly. "You okay?" She can't quite make out what his nightmares are saying through the din of the rest, but he seems upset. 

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Le Cauchemar

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad crumples to the floor and just lies face-down on the ground for a while, too confused to move and too winded to focus on anything but his own shallow, labored breathing. Eventually, he tries to move his arm to check if his glasses were okay, but it hurt to move, so… he didn’t. Everything hurt. He struggles to get back up, but only manages to raise himself a few inches off the ground before slumping back down again. Guess that wasn’t happening either.

Well, Nina, he thinks. I’ve finally done it. I’m in so much discomfort that it’s starting to drown out the background discomfort of my everyday existence.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

“Yeah, Junior! It’s your nightmare, you think of a way to defeat it!” Nina places her hands on her hips, looking exasperated. Her attention is diverted from Junior and Le Cauchemar at the sound of her name, and she turns to Conrad drops onto a crouch by him. “I’m sorry to hear that, sir,” she says politely. “Do you need any assistance?”

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior glares over his shoulder at Nico, letting his arrogance get to him. “With what it is?? It’s a nightmare, you idiot!”

He turns back to his corner to brood, when he glances up at the wall. The portrait’s location was a study; there was a desk, a shelf, some decorations, one of them being something Junior hadn’t thought about before. It was a sword mounted on the wall.

He grabs the sword and throws it over in Nina’s and Conrad’s direction. “Here! Use this!”

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

“Do not throw swords,” Conrad mumbles from the floor.

[psychicstimuli]

”Damn you, Junior! It’s more than THAT, you fool! It’s a culmination of your fears, your insecurities, and your…” Nico pauses.

He looks at the sword. Had that been there the whole time?

“…Your doubt.”

Perhaps he was looking at this the wrong way. Maybe the final piece of this puzzle wasn’t Junior letting go of the would be sister’s memory - what if her role had already been served? Maybe Nico had been wrong - perhaps all they needed to do with the girl was keep her safe. Junior’s memory in and of itself wasn’t particularly harmful, after all. There’s nothing wrong with holding onto the memory of a lost loved one, even if it was one that, in this instance, was lost by never coming to be.

The issue was simply the way he dodged confronting it.

This was a nightmare of a much different nature than Mary’s had been. Le Cauchemar hounded Junior only when his fears grew intense, as they had in the library, but it still reeled from attacks. Facing it directly was still harming it.

Nico drew his pen and sunk it deep into the tendril keeping him suspended in the air.

“Junior!” Nico shouted, putting on the same intimidating tone he had taken with with the boy back during their standoff in the library. “Are you so cowardly that you’ll toss us about like a ragdoll when we bring the truth of your mind’s secrets to light for you, but not attack the personification of that dark truth itself? Are you so drowned in narcissism that you can’t even gather the strength to cut off the most grotesque, ugly, vile portion of your being? Is THIS the extent of your vanity? Your hubris? Do you value yourself too much to do away with even the part of you that’s KILLING you? Do you know why you look the way you do right now? Because this thing represents a hideous part of you, and if you don’t have the power to face it, it will eat you alive! It will become all that your are! WE can’t do this for you!”

He jammed the pen into the tendril repeatedly, emphasizing each blow with an increasingly deranged shout. “YOU! PATHETIC! RUNT! YOU! YIELD! YOUR! OWN! DAMNED! SWORD!”

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina falls backwards in an attempt to avoid the sword about to hit her. "Disregarding the fact that I’m not entirely sure Nico is alright, I’m gonna have to agree with him!" She yells back at Junior, scrambling to her feet. She picks up the sword and tosses it back at him with an ‘oof’. "You kill the stupid thing!"

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior nervously glances at the sword and back up at Le Cauchemar. He slowly picks up the sword…

- -

Everyone wakes up on the floor of the tv room of the Main Lodge. Junior slowly regains consciousness, the color returning to his cheeks. He turns his head and squints at everyone. “We will never speak of what just happened again," he hisses.

[psychicstimuli]

Nico works his way to his feet and scoops his notebook up into his hands.

"Very well," he says with a nod. “We hope this was a valuable learning experience."

Confident in his achievement, Nico vanishes without another word.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina sits up, groaning. "Whatever," she grumbles in response to Junior, rolling her eyes. She gets to her feet and walks over to a couch, sitting herself down on it. …And there are the voices again. Nina sighs annoyedly, shutting her eyes and leaning back on the couch. Despite the fact that she'll get another break from all the nightmares if she goes into the next mind, Nina's feeling kind of worn out already. "I'm just gonna sit here for a while," she mumbles, more to herself than to anyone else. 

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Le Cauchemar

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad crumples to the floor and just lies face-down on the ground for a while, too confused to move and too winded to focus on anything but his own shallow, labored breathing. Eventually, he tries to move his arm to check if his glasses were okay, but it hurt to move, so… he didn’t. Everything hurt. He struggles to get back up, but only manages to raise himself a few inches off the ground before slumping back down again. Guess that wasn’t happening either.

Well, Nina, he thinks. I’ve finally done it. I’m in so much discomfort that it’s starting to drown out the background discomfort of my everyday existence.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

“Yeah, Junior! It’s your nightmare, you think of a way to defeat it!” Nina places her hands on her hips, looking exasperated. Her attention is diverted from Junior and Le Cauchemar at the sound of her name, and she turns to Conrad drops onto a crouch by him. “I’m sorry to hear that, sir,” she says politely. “Do you need any assistance?”

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior glares over his shoulder at Nico, letting his arrogance get to him. “With what it is?? It’s a nightmare, you idiot!”

He turns back to his corner to brood, when he glances up at the wall. The portrait’s location was a study; there was a desk, a shelf, some decorations, one of them being something Junior hadn’t thought about before. It was a sword mounted on the wall.

He grabs the sword and throws it over in Nina’s and Conrad’s direction. “Here! Use this!”

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

“Do not throw swords,” Conrad mumbles from the floor.

[psychicstimuli]

”Damn you, Junior! It’s more than THAT, you fool! It’s a culmination of your fears, your insecurities, and your…” Nico pauses.

He looks at the sword. Had that been there the whole time?

“…Your doubt.”

Perhaps he was looking at this the wrong way. Maybe the final piece of this puzzle wasn’t Junior letting go of the would be sister’s memory - what if her role had already been served? Maybe Nico had been wrong - perhaps all they needed to do with the girl was keep her safe. Junior’s memory in and of itself wasn’t particularly harmful, after all. There’s nothing wrong with holding onto the memory of a lost loved one, even if it was one that, in this instance, was lost by never coming to be.

The issue was simply the way he dodged confronting it.

This was a nightmare of a much different nature than Mary’s had been. Le Cauchemar hounded Junior only when his fears grew intense, as they had in the library, but it still reeled from attacks. Facing it directly was still harming it.

Nico drew his pen and sunk it deep into the tendril keeping him suspended in the air.

“Junior!” Nico shouted, putting on the same intimidating tone he had taken with with the boy back during their standoff in the library. “Are you so cowardly that you’ll toss us about like a ragdoll when we bring the truth of your mind’s secrets to light for you, but not attack the personification of that dark truth itself? Are you so drowned in narcissism that you can’t even gather the strength to cut off the most grotesque, ugly, vile portion of your being? Is THIS the extent of your vanity? Your hubris? Do you value yourself too much to do away with even the part of you that’s KILLING you? Do you know why you look the way you do right now? Because this thing represents a hideous part of you, and if you don’t have the power to face it, it will eat you alive! It will become all that your are! WE can’t do this for you!”

He jammed the pen into the tendril repeatedly, emphasizing each blow with an increasingly deranged shout. “YOU! PATHETIC! RUNT! YOU! YIELD! YOUR! OWN! DAMNED! SWORD!”

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina falls backwards in an attempt to avoid the sword about to hit her. "Disregarding the fact that I’m not entirely sure Nico is alright, I’m gonna have to agree with him!" She yells back at Junior, scrambling to her feet. She picks up the sword and tosses it back at him with an ‘oof’. "You kill the stupid thing!"

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Le Cauchemar

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad could barely see anything at this point. He figures he had to do something to fight back while he still could, so he summons up all his willpower to form a psi-blast and— ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive— god dammit. He tries again and almost feels the energy condense when— ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin aliiiiive.

 God dammit! Okay, third time’s the charm, he thinks, trying to coalesce his desperation into his powers and Stay Alive for real, even while the city was breaking and everyone was shaking and he’d been kicked around since he was born but now it’s alright it’s okay OH GOD DAMMIT.

He feels himself incoherently yelling something that trailed off into mumbling about the New York Times effect on man, and he realizes that he had finally mustered up a wild shot to Le Cauchemar’s torso, the only target he felt was large enough for him to have any hope of hitting.

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

“I don’t either.”

The psiblast ends up going piercing Le Cauchemar’s chest, causing him to let out a screech, dropping Conrad to the floor. Junior glances over his shoulder and raises his eyebrows. “I guess do what he just did. I didn’t see.”

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina, however, had glanced back at Le Cauchemar for a moment, trying to think of something, anything. She looks at Junior for a moment to scowl at him, then runs over to Conrad and Le Cauchemar. Trying to copy Conrad, she sends her own weak psi-blast at Le Cauchemar’s chest.

[psychicstimuli]

“Junior!” Nico shouts, still being suspended by the monster. “I highly doubt that shooting this thing to death is a permanent solution to ridding your mind of your greatest nightmare.”

He struggles to break free as the nightmare recoils in pain. “You need to come to grips with what this thing IS! I’ve got a feeling that little girl is, somehow, the key to putting a permanent stop to this beast but…”

Nico pounds as hard as he can against the beast, but fails to break its grip on him. “Conrad left her somewhere safe with Wilbert, and we’re stuck in here at the moment. Unless you can find a temporary out, we’re in a tough spot. THINK, LeBeau.”

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad crumples to the floor and just lies face-down on the ground for a while, too confused to move and too winded to focus on anything but his own shallow, labored breathing. Eventually, he tries to move his arm to check if his glasses were okay, but it hurt to move, so… he didn’t. Everything hurt. He struggles to get back up, but only manages to raise himself a few inches off the ground before slumping back down again. Guess that wasn’t happening either.

Well, Nina, he thinks. I’ve finally done it. I’m in so much discomfort that it’s starting to drown out the background discomfort of my everyday existence.

[telepathic-lass-blog]

"Yeah, Junior! It's your nightmare, you think of a way to defeat it!" Nina places her hands on her hips, looking exasperated. Her attention is diverted from Junior and Le Cauchemar at the sound of her name, and she turns to Conrad drops onto a crouch by him. "I'm sorry to hear that, sir," she says politely. "Do you need any assistance?"

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Le Cauchemar

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad continued to be violently thrashed against the floor in the background.

Also, for some reason, the hit Bee Gees song ‘Stayin’ Alive’ was stuck in his head.

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior turns away from the others, crossing his arms. “If I knew a way, I wouldn’t be here. I’m trapped, and now y’all are trapped here with me,” he says bitterly. “We’re doomed. I ain’t ever gonna see Jacky again…”

[telepathic-lass-blog]

“Oh come on, there’s got to be some way out of here!”Nina huffs, crossing her arms. She looks around, trying not to seem nervous. But… what if Junior was right? “Junior… uh…” She scratches the back of her head. “Do you know anything? Anything??” She lowers her voice to keep the others from hearing. “Because I— I don’t know what to do.”

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad could barely see anything at this point. He figures he had to do something to fight back while he still could, so he summons up all his willpower to form a psi-blast and— ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive— god dammit. He tries again and almost feels the energy condense when— ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin aliiiiive.  God dammit! Okay, third time’s the charm, he thinks, trying to coalesce his desperation into his powers and Stay Alive for real, even while the city was breaking and everyone was shaking and he’d been kicked around since he was born but now it’s alright it’s okay OH GOD DAMMIT.

He feels himself incoherently yelling something that trailed off into mumbling about the New York Times effect on man, and he realizes that he had finally mustered up a wild shot to Le Cauchemar’s torso, the only target he felt was large enough for him to have any hope of hitting.

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

“I don’t either.”

The psiblast ends up going piercing Le Cauchemar’s chest, causing him to let out a screech, dropping Conrad to the floor. Junior glances over his shoulder and raises his eyebrows. “I guess do what he just did. I didn’t see.”

[telepathic-lass-blog]

Nina, however, had glanced back at Le Cauchemar for a moment, trying to think of something, anything. She looks at Junior for a moment to scowl at him, then runs over to Conrad and Le Cauchemar. Trying to copy Conrad, she sends her own weak psi-blast at Le Cauchemar's chest.

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Le Cauchemar

[mrduckandcover-deactivated20151]

Conrad continued to be violently thrashed against the floor in the background.

Also, for some reason, the hit Bee Gees song ‘Stayin’ Alive’ was stuck in his head.

[theoldarchiveofjuniorb]

Junior turns away from the others, crossing his arms. “If I knew a way, I wouldn’t be here. I’m trapped, and now y’all are trapped here with me,” he says bitterly. “We’re doomed. I ain’t ever gonna see Jacky again…”

[telepathic-lass-blog]

"Oh come on, there’s got to be some way out of here!” Nina huffs, crossing her arms. She looks around, trying not to seem nervous. But… what if Junior was right? "Junior… uh…" She scratches the back of her head. "Do you know anything? Anything??" She lowers her voice to keep the others from hearing. "Because I-- I don't know what to do."