Gamer systems are super broken, so they'd be crazy useful to him, but they can break stories with their power creep. Fun if you like that, though.
Stupid Jumpers, ruining his off the cuff plans with their fourth wall breaking bullshit.
The Atelier series of games has a cool magic system, and a nice power curve too, if you are familiar with them. Otherwise, you could throw him in the deep end with Worm, or Warhammer fantasy.
I'm familiar with Ar Tonelico which is made by the same people as Atelier and has its own style of alchemic crafting. I'd need to do some research on Atelier though.
I think it might be a bit too early for any of the deep end stuff, at least if he didn't have a reason to go. Worm could probably give him an Anti-master power but I can't think of a good reason to go to Warhammer fantasy
Crazy thought, B5 has some pretty nifty things.
Like the Minbari Crysalis made with the triluminary, that was used to hybridize Sinclair into Valen, and Delenn into a hybrid form. You also have things like PPGs and other energy weapons. Then there is the drug Dust that can enhance Psi abilities.
And the Psi abilities themselves, telepathy usable at intrastellar distances, amazingly strong TK.
And while they are the antagonist faction, Shadow Biotech is very strong.
And considering how Joshua keeps growing through conflict, he is unintentionally showing thier philosophy has merit. And helping him might annoy the Vorlons, as an added bonus. Since I doubt the Vorlons would approve of him after thier Thirdspace misadventures..
Crazy thought, B5 has some pretty nifty things.
Like the Minbari Crysalis made with the triluminary, that was used to hybridize Sinclair into Valen, and Delenn into a hybrid form. You also have things like PPGs and other energy weapons. Then there is the drug Dust that can enhance Psi abilities.
And the Psi abilities themselves, telepathy usable at intrastellar distances, amazingly strong TK.
And while they are the antagonist faction, Shadow Biotech is very strong.
And considering how Joshua keeps growing through conflict, he is unintentionally showing thier philosophy has merit. And helping him might annoy the Vorlons, as an added bonus. Since I doubt the Vorlons would approve of him after thier Thirdspace misadventures..
I haven't watched Babylon 5 so it would be a big time investment if it was to be the next jump, but I could see a jump to it in the future if people were interested.
Though Joshua doesn't have true psionics yet, so maybe it should also wait until after earthbound or some other psionic setting.
Ah, I wasn't thinking of a reason to go, I was kind of considering he just ends up somewhere because of how he escaped. Maybe roll a randomizer for the world?
Ah, I wasn't thinking of a reason to go, I was kind of considering he just ends up somewhere because of how he escaped. Maybe roll a randomizer for the world?
He can vaguely choose themes. He just can't specifically chose worlds.
It's only a 25% chance for him to go to a world that's entirely random.
First is a coin flip
-If heads, he goes to his primary choice of theme (IE: In the most recent world the theme was Harry potter) then I roll 1d8 for which world in that theme he goes to.
-If tails, another coin is flipped.
--If this one gets head then he goes to his secondary choice of theme (IE: This has been the "Psychic" collection of worlds for the last few jumps since earthbound was suggested). Then roll 1d8 for which world in this theme is visited
--If this one gets tails too, he visits a completly random setting (A "Random theme" is made by grabbing 8 worlds at random, this is what happened back in the Alchemy war arc and a 1d8 is used to select which of the worlds in this random theme are selected)
Those are the rules for the jumpchain challenge this story is based on. Roughly. There are ways to boost the chance on the coin flips, but Joshua doesn't know about them yet.
Ah, now I reach the problem of indecision, I want to write another chapter of this story, but have no idea what the target themes should be yet.
Let's collect together all the suggestions so far;
Nasuverse
Chronicles of darkness
Gamer jumps
Earthbound (Theme: psionics)
Atelier (Theme... IDK? Gust-made games? I can only think of four jumps that fit that theme. Atelier Arland, Atelier Ryza, Ar Tonlico and Ar Nosruge)
Babylon 5 (Theme: Psionic sci-fi? Space Fantasy? Something like that?)
Worm (Theme: Worm, it has enough jumps on its own)
Warhammer Fantasy (Theme: Warhammer)
Okay, so what's the primary target and what's the secondary target. Good arguments keep being made for Earthbound but the psionics theme feels strange to be the primary target. Let's just leave it as the secondary target. So, which gets the first?
What could each world give, both IC for Joshua and OOC for him.
Theme
IC
OOC
Nasuverse
Rule Breaker, other forms of Anti-magic
A chance for him to come face-to-face with Artoria which could give him an interesting reaction after the prologue's encounter with a different one
Chronicles of darkness
Mage powers, Fae powers. Basically just "Strange esoteric powers that mess with contracts."
It's a "deep end" sort of jump, he'd probably come face to face with threats he legitimately doesn't have an answer for, seeing how he responds to those might be interesting.
Gamer
A gamer system, really powerful and could help him figure out methods to free people on his own
...Not much, really. If anything it make it trickier by giving him a power that can solve so many problems. That said he is somewhat weak right now and could do with powers that raise him properly to the "Heroic" level
Worm
Hopefully he could get some anti-master powers
It's a deep end jump, same sort of thoughts as CoD. It has a side note though that I'm writing another Worm fic over on SB. Maybe going here could exite me again about Worm as that story has been slowly losing my interest.
Warhammer
...Nothing comes to mind
It's a deep end jump?
Gust-made games
...Nothing really? I mean alchemy in their games is incredibly versatile but he likely wouldn't think about these games off the top of his head.
Gust games are fun
Okay, so what does that all say? Warhammer and Gust-made games are right out as primary destinations. Chronicles of darkness stands out but I'm not sure it stands out enough to overshadow the others. Nasuverse has interesting drama, Gamer has the power that Joshua is looking for (Though it might be too much)
The latest Lt Ouroumov's Worm CYOA V17 is a beast and has incredible options from magic, to psychic, physical, and straight up game breaking powers. You can even get gamer powers from that CYOA. Does it count as a jumpchain though?
The latest Lt Ouroumov's Worm CYOA V17 is a beast and has incredible options from magic, to psychic, physical, and straight up game breaking powers. You can even get gamer powers from that CYOA. Does it count as a jumpchain though?
There's an edge case where it can fit in but I'm saving that edge case for a later jump.
(There is a "Generic CYOA jump" I'm saving it for a later "arc" of this story though. I probably will be using that Worm CYOA when the time comes though as I agree it's great)
Yeah, I was able to make a world hopping mage who could learn the magic of any world he went to, and still afford the points to make Bet much, much, much less of a hellhole.
Edit: A jump that might be fun to write would be Skyrim, or another Elder Scrolls jump. A nice variety of magics, things like water breathing, poison and disease resistances, and hell you could go for the big guns and get Dragonborn.
Yeah, I was able to make a world hopping mage who could learn the magic of any world he went to, and still afford the points to make Bet much, much, much less of a hellhole.
Edit: A jump that might be fun to write would be Skyrim, or another Elder Scrolls jump. A nice variety of magics, things like water breathing, poison and disease resistances, and hell you could go for the big guns and get Dragonborn.
Maybe, but nothing obvious to work against Joshua's current problem. OOC it's interesting but IC it could currently only show up as a random world if the coin flips fail.
You know what? Screw it. Rolling Now. I might not write this in the coming day, but I'll do the first chapter by the normal time at least.
Chronicles of darkness as primary, Psychic as secondary.
Huh. Really? Someone even mentioned this setting earlier. I'll keep it as a surprise but... well. I now have a choice. follow the canon events of this setting and make this the shortest jump so far or make my own story. That sounds more interesting to me.
Falling and flying through the void, Joshua looked around. In an impulsive decision he'd decided to look for the world of darkness in hopes of gaining power. Hopefully by being a mage, as that would synergise wonderfully with his other magic…
That was, if Wizarding world magic worked in other realities. He didn't know for sure if it would.
With that sort of power, he might finally have what he needed to save his world. He could just picture it, showing back up in the park and using mental magic to free Saber from the mind control he presumed she had been under, then he could try casting a massive spell to free everyone in england.
…Hmm. He might need to be quite strong for that, and would Paradox be an issue in other worlds too?
Due to his thoughts, he failed to notice the "wind" change. The steam of glowing particles had grown faster. Once again it was becoming a storm.
The flow became a torrent, a thread of power that tangled up into a storm of potential. He was dragged off his flight path by the tempest that roared around him. A deluge of those embers spun around him and disoriented the lack-of-a-world around him. Up became down, left became right, forward and backwards swapped places and Joshua was lost amidst the maelstrom.
It was like the storm before, a force that pulled him faster than he could move on his own. Even so he struggled against the trapping waves, the riptide that tore him from his intended destination.
It did little good, but eventually he managed to get himself chuckled out of the multidimensional storm. His energy was tapped. He'd just need to settle with the world he'd ended up nearby.
If this world was deadly, he'd have no escape. Well, no escape for a while at least. He'd need to take a week or two to recover his strength. Luckily there didn't seem to be a monster around here…
Oh, no, there was something. A lone tendril. It wasn't a local thing, but it was extending from somewhere nearby. It was impossibly vast but not fast moving. It would probably be safe as long as he didn't leave the tear open.
So yes, he would be trapped in the world at least long enough for the world to heal its outer shell so he didn't inflict a permanent wound.
Two weeks, take it or leave it. Leaving it would mean dying out here in the void though so Joshua sucked in a breath and approached the unknown sphere. It was a simple sphere with the normal core. Nothing really that fancy.
Looking at its core though, he got the idea of "Psychic" off it. That meant possible mind readers or mind control.
For goodness' sake, could he not go one world without some kind of mind control being possible? Could he not go to Kirby or something?
…Bad example, Kirby did have mind control in it. It also had eldritch monsters that Joshua didn't stand a chance against.
With a sigh, Joshua cut in. The emptiness spun. Colour and light, all those things that the outside lacked spilled out like a plughole. Even so, Joshua stepped through the gap and sealed it behind himself.
He landed on a patch of grass, not soft grass though. The ground felt hard below him. The sun was shining down, warm air around him. At first he thought it might be somewhere tropical but the trees and plants still looked European.
Was he now in some future version of England where climate change got even more out of hand than he was used to?
Hmm. Wooden struts held cables above head level. Probably power cables. There was also a footpath nearby.
…Before really investigating though, he should first confirm that the expanded case still worked. Heading into some overgrowth, he plopped his case down and opened it. The staircase was still there so…
Heading inside, he locked the case behind him with his wand that had been left on the stairs, that still worked at least. Though if it would work for locks in general was still a question.
As he headed inside though, he realised his shoulder still ached from where he'd been hit by a spell in that last battle. He tried alchemy but that didn't seem to improve it at all.
Heading through the door at the bottom of the stairs, he pulled his shirt off in the artificial sunlight.
Hmm. There was a burn on his shoulder. Alchemic healing didn't seem to work. If he tried to make his body go through the normal healing process for the wound, it just didn't. It was a wound that wasn't healing.
He'd seen the spell the girl had used. He didn't fully understand how spells were made but it had inflicted a minor cursed wound that resisted normal methods of healing.
The hopping pot had been working on a healing potion though right? Or some kind of potion at least. He couldn't quite remember even though it hadn't been all that long. That storm had tossed his thoughts asunder.
Heading over to the cottage, he found the hopping pot working happily. Or happily as far as Joshua could tell. It didn't really emote while it was preparing potions. The first set of potion was done and it seemed the pot had started on another.
The glass bottle read "Wiggenweld Potion, cures enchanted sleep and repairs injuries."
Did that mean it would work on curses too?
"Pot," Joshua looked over to it "Does Wiggenweld work on cursed injuries."
After a moment the pot bobbed itself. Was that a yes then? It's inability to answer questions in more detail left problems but even if it was a "Yes, but." it wasn't serious enough for the pot to be more worried.
Joshua looked at the bottle again, how should he take it?
Ah, here. It was an ingested potion. It had dosage notes and Joshua went to fetch a spoon from the kitchen. He took the recommended dose for healing normal injuries and that did reduce the pain but the wound hadn't really budged.
Trusting the pot that this wouldn't hurt him, he continued to take spoonfuls at a time until the wound started to slough off the old skin. It left scarring but alchemy was able to clean that up.
Let's see then. If Joshua was going to explore, what should he take with him? Not his broom, that would draw too much attention. It kind of depended how the psionics of this world worked. His wand (to act as a key to the case) and… the potion. There. That should be enough.
He pocketed the potion and his wand before heading out. He could always summon his sparkblade in an emergency too.
Back outside on the dirt footpath, he had to pick a direction. He decided to follow the path east as he saw something that might possibly be a sign of civilisation in that direction.
It was a nice walk, eventually he came across a pile of chopped wood, though no one was around. After that he found a house that seemed to be alone out here in the wild. It didn't look to be currently inhabited though.
The footpath continued on and Joshua followed poles that were either power cables or phone cables. Something like one of the two at least.
After about half an hour of walking, he came to a place with more buildings. There also seemed to be a small car park. Or at least a patch of dirt and dust where multiple vehicles were parked.
It wasn't any sort of real settlement, maybe just a family's… no that doesn't explain the number of cars. Had he been walking along through a park? That might explain it but he wasn't sure.
He kept going though as he didn't see any actual people yet. No, yep. This was definitely a town. Or a village? Was there a term for a tiny village? He found more buildings ahead and finally caught sight of some people.
They… weren't human. Or rather they didn't look like humans he was familiar with. Oversized heads and a general… cartoony look? Sort of like those anime character heads you see in memes. Only they were actually alive.
Joshua hid, not wanting to draw their attention. If these were what everyone in this world look liked, he'd stand out like a sore thumb. Somehow he'd need to work around this. He'd need to live here for two weeks after all.
Bigger problem: He didn't know the language. It sounded European but it wasn't English, French or German. Some bits sounded vaguely German but not quite.
Well, that was a larger problem then. He didn't have the ability to translate it easily. This would require some thought. He'd now stand out in two ways, not knowing the language along with not having an oversized head.
As he thought that though, his stomach rumbled. He was hungry, he hadn't eaten in a while… not since the night before the heist. That was over a day ago at this point. He could make some bread with alchemy though…
He missed meat already.
Hiding his case in plants again, he headed inside and locked up. He'd eat berries with his pokemon.
They all gathered around, having worked together to collect a haul for him to share with them. They were great friends for him on this long journey.
Alakazam glanced curiously at Joshua and the door. Maybe he too sensed the psionic nature of this world?
Starting a fire, Joshua cooked some of the berries they'd collected in a non-living pot. While that was on the stove (Alakazam working to prevent any burning) he collected some grasses and made alchemist's bread for himself.
The really cheap quality jam (Really just allowing the berries to go a little jammy) was spread on the bread and Joshua enjoyed it while sitting at the table with his pokemon.
Now then… how should he start trying to figure out this world?
As he pondered, his shardblade began to glow. That was quick. The light led Joshua upstairs to the bedroom where a cupboard had been added to. There was now a bundle of fabric in there with a wide brimmed hat on top of it.
Pulling it all out revealed a new outfit. A dirty and dusty robe, torn at the bottom. It did have underclothes though that could keep Joshua warm when in cooler climates. The robe also had a hood and a scarf which collectively covered most of Joshua's face when worn up. Lastly was the wide hat.
Putting it all on, he left the expanded case again. The hat got caught a little while coming out but Joshua held it to his head as he stepped out and resealed the case, popping it away in his ripped pocket.
The new disguise made him a lot less noticeable. People wouldn't even see his head was sized differently. The outfit was also comfortable, though just a little bit too warm in this heat.
Pretending to limp, he headed into the parish and leaned against a wall before sitting down. The idea was he'd look like a homeless wanderer. No one noticed the homeless after all. This would give him a chance to casually examine the people he'd found and maybe, hopefully, glean at least a little bit of the language.
Some people may notice him, though precious few did thankfully. Most of the time it was just a glance before they headed off. He wasn't even begging so they didn't have any reason to interact with him.
He heard chatter, as planned. It wasn't very helpful though.
He must have spent most of a day there in the end, and what did he have to show for it? Very little at all.
Maybe he should keep wandering while looking for a larger settlement?
Here we are. Can you guess which world this is? You've only been given one, maybe two clues if you squint. Joshua will get his first psychic power in the next chapter though. A bit of added context here: Joshua has heard of this setting, and seen bits and pieces of its first entry but hasn't seen anything else in it. It'll take some time for him to recognise anything. People's appearances would have tipped him off if he was more familiar. I'll throw one more clue in then, this arc's title. (Which I decided on after writing the chapter)
Hmm. I don't know, and it will likely be super obvious next chapter. I'll just have to wait and see next chapter! Good to know the spell wasn't Mad Eye Moody scars level dark magic, for sure.
Hmm. I don't know, and it will likely be super obvious next chapter. I'll just have to wait and see next chapter! Good to know the spell wasn't Mad Eye Moody scars level dark magic, for sure.
If I were to describe it in D&D terms, it would be the cantrip level of cursed injuries the sort of things that baby dark wizards learn. It basically just reads "Natural healing isn't enough, healing magic is slightly less effective." but only for that single wound. I invented the spell because Mary hadn't had the chance to learn any powerful dark magic yet but I wanted to give her something dark.
Hmm. When he finally is able to shop at a supermarket, what food should he get? Those were the thoughts going through Joshua's mind as he walked beside the larger road. Well, it was more of a small highway.
He'd been walking this way since yesterday. Most of his meals had basically been the same sort of thing. Berries, alchemist's bread and sometimes some nuts. His little case would keep growing new food and besides, he also had the every flavour beans and his old infinitely refilling lunch box that he'd had for lunch today.
It had been years since he'd done proper cooking thanks to his travels. Most of what had gone into him was travel rations, food from the lunch box or whatever he could get from houses he stopped at.
He could cook, but he should probably find a recipe book or something like that before he started baking. That could go very wrong if he got the ratios wrong.
Or he could just make pancakes when trying to make something else, he'd managed to do that once before. They hadn't been good pancakes though.
That memory, hitting him so suddenly gave him a pang of homesickness. The home he'd lost was far away now, across time and dimensions.
His reminiscence brought him back to the end of his world and he scowled before shaking his head to clear it.
He had bigger problems, such as possible mind readers or mind controllers in this world's psionics. Psychic powers didn't always work the same in different settings, were they powers of the mind? Were they sci-fi magic? Those sorts of things varied for different systems.
How could he stop them if they came after him, how could he block them out? He'd shown some minor resistance to mind control powers back in the magic war but he wasn't even sure that had been any sort of power anymore than it was just supernatural charisma.
So his best plan for mind control currently was just trying to block it out. That wasn't the best plan…
Okay, what about mind readers? Well, skill based Occlumency maybe? He'd never learned the magic for it after all. Could he defend himself by putting up a wall? Maybe fields of numbers?
Oh, maybe he could use the twisting forms of spells as his wall, No one but him in this world would have any idea how to get past those!
Hmm. It was a start at least. The problem would be trying to keep them up the whole time. When he tried to practise, he'd keep getting distracted by some other concept.
As the cars drove past him, he saw a city up ahead. It took a few more hours to reach it and by then the sun was setting. He continued into town, walking beneath a bridge and into an industrial area.
From here… how best could he figure out where he was?
…Find a train station. They should have some sort of name up on a display board.
He walked from block to block as the night set in, before he rested for the night though, he'd find some sort of marker for where he was.
He found a bridge with train tracks on it and followed it back towards its station. He actually went the wrong way at first and followed the tracks out of town but he doubled back and eventually found the station.
The only problem was they weren't using the latin alphabet on the sign, but the greek one. Joshua couldn't read greek. Well, even assuming it was cyrillic instead of greek didn't really make it much better as he couldn't read russian either, or any other language that used cyrillic.
He was sure that if he heard someone talking, it would do him just as much good as before, this country spoke and wrote in a language he simply didn't know.
Maybe if he could find a train map though, he could see which country he was in at least? The station was still open this late so Joshua was able to go in and grab a map. Of course he couldn't read the labelling on the map itself but he was able to tell he was in eastern europe. Not Russia, but close to it.
…Hmm.
Well then, his best bet in finding someone he could talk to would be in travelling west. That said…
It might just be his imagination but he never seemed to arrive somewhere without a reason. Near Pallet town in Pokemon, the empire's capital in Final Fantasy or, most obviously, the Hog's Head in the wizarding world.
Given all of that… Why had he shown up here, in the East of Europe? This place must somehow be important to this world, but how? There were no obvious signs of psychics here. Maybe this was the sort of world where there was a secret psychic conspiracy behind the scenes?
If so… he should probably try and get away from here. However, he got a sense that it wouldn't be easy to just run and hide. Something, maybe his sparkblade, was giving him that sense.
He'd just have to lay low and try to figure out what's going on over these weeks he had to stay here.
He headed into an alley to spend the night. He'd just go into his briefcase and lock it for the night.
His cottage was actually really nice for that sort of thing. The hearthfire could be kept burning with some of his Pokemon watching over it. They were able to put it out if needed and they quite liked the heat too.
As Joshua thought about that though, he heard a strange sound from the mouth of the alley he'd entered.
There was a figure there, silhouetted against light pouring in from the street. A man wearing rags of his own and muttering in the language that Joshua didn't know.
Well, he couldn't know that for sure, maybe it was random noises. He wouldn't be able to tell either way.
"Hold on, I've no quarrel with you." Joshua called, he doubted the man would understand either but the tone of his voice might at least stop him.
It had the opposite effect though and the gibbering man drew a knife from inside his torn overcoat.
Oh.
Joshua was backed into a corner, the man was ahead of him and ready to stab him. Why did it always become like this? Why did people always back him into corners and force him to do something drastic?
He had to survive, he had to do whatever it took to survive. Once he won and was through it, he could heal the man.
Joshua drew the sparkblade. The mad man's eyes went to the blade and ogled it. It must look precious to him, a thing to steal or something like that. He wasn't even seeing it as a weapon!
Not really anyway.
As the man rushed in, Joshua stepped to the side. Combat reflexes from his times saving worlds and fighting in wars took over and he grabbed the wrist the man was holding his weapon in.
The man flailed though and broke Joshua's grip, cutting across his chest and drawing blood. The wound wasn't deep but crimson stains bloomed across Joshua's robe.
In that moment as the pain bloomed though, Joshua jabbed his sparkblade into the man's chest too. The heart wasn't damaged but the blood spill was just as large.
Joshua stumbled against a wall as he saw the damage he'd done. His life blood was dripping away and he needed that to stop quickly.
He clapped and lightning flared out, the man gurgled a scream as Joshua touched his chest and closed the wound. Then he rushed over to the man who was still gurgling.
Was that blood in his lungs? Joshua needed to help him. He touched the man and let more alchemy flow. Close the wounds and syphon out what shouldn't be there. It was long and tiring work but finally he stopped.
The man was now freaking out a lot and Joshua needed to move from leaning over him to just about sitting (or rather, kneeling) on his back to keep him still.
What was wrong with him? What madness had overtaken this man? As Joshua reached for his head, he felt a strange resonance. Like an echo there, a response to something in him. Nothing really happened though.
He tried again, reaching for the man's head and again feeling the same resonance. There was something resisting him though. A chaotic thing that resisted him even as he tried to reach for it.
The man's mind? Was that what it was that Joshua was feeling? It was as if he could peak at it. Not as in mind reading, but more "seeing how his mind worked."
In the man's mind… he caught a flash. This small alley was paved in gold, the backs of rubbish were treasure chests and there was an ornate bed at the back near where Joshua had been standing when the man had entered the alley.
The man kicked up as Joshua was distracted. Joshua's body had been starting to go limp as he was looking at another's mind.
The madman runs off, raving something in the language that Joshua didn't know. With a start, Joshua jumped to his own feet too.
He did hear something the man said though, well, not exactly but he thought the man might have said something like "Majar." He'd yelled the word several times as he ran at least so it would have some sort of meaning.
Majar? Magic? Maybe? That was a guess but the man had seen him heal a stab wound with lightning, it was easy to see why he might be yelling about magic after that.
Joshua thought about calling for him to stop as the man screamed away but before he had the chance he felt the resonance again and the man screamed louder. He didn't see the world from the man's perspective again though.
Magic, huh? Assuming he wasn't mishearing of course. The man's mind had jumped to yelling about magic rather than psionics. It probably was secret then, or something like that at least. Secret enough that the common people didn't know at least.
Well then… What was he going to do now…? The most important thing to do was to find someone who knew English (Or French, or German) who he could ask questions of. If he knew this country's name, he might be able to remember where he'd heard it before. Or if it was just a real country… well. It would give him information at least.
Where would be a place that spoke a lot of other languages? A hotel maybe? Somewhere like that would get a lot of travellers, plus they might still be open this late. Some lower scale hotel where you wouldn't need to book in advance. He wouldn't be booking but he'd need to play up that he might be to get into a conversation and he doubted high class hotels would look at him favourably with his current appearance.
That said, his current appearance was blood soaked.
Joshua took some water and washed and dried the clothes using alchemy. After that he took off to find a hotel.
The dark streets were kind of eerie but he'd been through much worse.
He couldn't really tell what was a hotel by sight though, not when he couldn't read signs.
At least until he caught one out of the corner of his eye.
"Hotel-" there was a second word there but he didn't know it. It was as good a place to try as any though.
Stepping inside it wasn't the largest building. It was quite small actually. At the desk, a man was dozing, leaning against the desk with one arm to keep standing.
Best to try starting with German. Joshua went to grab the phrase book so he could compose some things to ask but as he was leaving to do that, he caught sight of a policeman walking down the street.
The man looked angry and when he saw Joshua he began approaching him. Joshua started at that and turned away as the policeman called out at him in the unknown language.
Joshua had to be sure not to corner himself as he ran but he drew his broomstick out of a pocket. The policeman gawped as he watched Joshua fly into the sky and as he recovered he started yelling something about "Majar" too.
Well then, Joshua would be going quite far from here before he settled down again. Whatever rumour this was causing would put him in someone's crosshairs. Of that he was sure.
He settled down a few miles west of there and just rested for the night inside his briefcase.
Apologies for this coming out a little late today, I've been playing the trails series all day before starting to write this chapter. I'll only give one comment, and it can technically apply to most of the games in the series: "No body, no death. I just don't buy it."
Anyway, onto the chapter itself. Joshua uses two psychic abilities in this chapter, one of them should give away what world this is. It may not though. I tried to add extra context but… Well, we'll see. He'll experiment with his powers next chapter and you'll figure it out for sure if you haven't already.
Back to walking it was. Joshua had done so much long-distance walking over the last few years that he was in much better health than he had once been back on his homeworld. It wasn't perfect though, for example it did little for his immune system.
He really wished he had tissues for the snotty nose he'd developed. Seriously, this was the first time he'd gotten ill? He'd spent more than a year in Final Fantasy and nothing, but a day or two here and he was getting ill?
What Joshua didn't know is that he was a bit of a typhoid mary. His body was carrying diseases across worlds to people with worse immune systems. A while after he left the Pokemon world there'd been a flu outbreak. Final Fantasy had suffered an outright plague because of him that was lost amistad the chaos of the destruction of the world of balance. During the world war his training with medical alchemy inadvertently let him help people coming down with flu there. It had been the wizarding world where it had really caught up with him. The cold he had now was as a result of a bug he'd picked up there.
Regardless, he kept walking and eventually came to a large city. It looked somewhere between a wonder and a ruin. Tall skyscrapers that looked to be newer constructions compared to lower buildings that seemed to be rotting. Well, not "rotting" as such but… Damaged? They had been damaged a long time ago and never repaired.
It was through one such ruined district that he entered the city. The buildings looked completely uninhabited. This wasn't even a ghetto, it was a place that was no longer inhabited. Everyone had moved to the more modern area of the city.
Joshua entered what looked like an apartment building with its door broken off its hinges. Up the stairs and through another door was roof access. Up there he sat and looked around the city.
He had to think. He'd seen a little bit of psychic power before when he'd used it. The ability to peer into someone else's mind was the thing that stood out.
How had it worked? He'd touched the man and… poured himself in? That was kind of it. His mind leaning into the man's. So some kind of invasive mind reading.
…He didn't like that he had that power, but at least it wasn't mind control.
It does mean that figuring out the limits of the ability would require a test subject. He couldn't just randomly grab someone off the street and experiment on them though. That was really unethical.
Or… or he could try it on his Pokemon. They might be intelligent enough for it to work. Actually even if they weren't, testing if the power worked on animals was important.
Opening his case on the roof, he quickly headed down to the fields. He headed to each Pokemon in turn and tried the power. It didn't really work on any of them but he was able to get some sort of fuzzy reading off most of them.
So it was less a matter of it not working and more of it just being "Incompatible" with them. Now if that was because they were Pokemon or because they had the minds of animals… it was impossible to know at this point of the investigation.
Once more he gave it a go, he'd got the best reading off Alakazam, the fellow psychic, so he tried it again.
He put his hand on Alakazam's head and pushed. Not physically, but mentally. There was some give there and he leaned further into it. Alakazam wasn't actively resisting but…
The feed started coming in, all Joshua could see though was static. After trying to get it to clear up a few times, Joshua sat back. He was mentally exhausted after that.
"Sorry Alakazam." Joshua admitted quietly "For wasting your time, mostly."
Alakazam understood at least. He helped Joshua into the house so he could sit in an armchair while he recovered.
As he sat there, he pondered, snot gumming up his nose and distracting him. The Hopping pot delivered a potion that seemed to cure the illness and Joshua got back to thinking.
He needed a human test subject, apparently. Deeply unethical. Additionally, it would give him away. The people of this country distrusted the supernatural so it wasn't like he could just hire any of them.
So he couldn't be obvious about it… then there was just the ethical question in general. This was mind reading, an invasion of privacy at least. He'd never want someone poking around in his head. Well… maybe if he gave permission? Like if there was some sort of parasite in there or something. Anyway! It wasn't that ethical of a power, and that was before getting on to the thorny subject that was "Human testing." He didn't want to hurt anyone after all. At least, not people that haven't done any wrong.
Additionally he couldn't directly see how it would be helpful to freeing his world. Information gathering maybe? Finding where people had been taken?
That said, it was a power he'd gained. Maybe he could use it to get some sort of combat ability out of all of this? Pyrokinesis, telekinesis, something like that. That would make it worth it to have come here.
To get that far though, he'd need to experiment. On who though?
Having rested and recovered (Mostly) he left the case and closed it up, carrying it with him as he wandered from this old district towards the more modern districts of the city.
The best way he could describe the construction was probably "Inspired by." Compared to the design of the old city, it looked like this area took bits and pieces from a lot of different places.
As he was walking between the sections, he began to spot a few small signs of life at the edges of the old city, mostly things like graffiti. Things like waves and grasping hands. Hopefully this wasn't gang territory.
Ducking through a back alley to reach a newer area of the city, someone stepped out in front of him
…Joshua should really learn not to go through back alleys if he didn't want to be attacked by thugs.
This man though looked a lot more put together than the previous madman. He was pointing a small gun at Joshua and glancing around.
He spoke in that european language but Joshua shook his head as he raised his arms.
"I'm sorry, I don't speak your language."
The man grunted something that sounded like "Givno" then actually did switch to English.
"You, hat-man, give your case."
…It wasn't great English but it was English. So this was a robbery, huh? Joshua obviously wouldn't give up his case, but at the same time there was a gun pointed at him.
Joshua may be skilled but he wasn't truly superhuman. He couldn't dodge bullets and healing them was still a pain.
Okay, what was the best way out of here? If he could just stow his case away in a pocket space… no, not in this man's line of sight. Escape may be an option, but he'd need to distract the man somehow first. Best to get him to calm down..
With his hands still raised, Joshua spoke.
"I don't want a fight, please- leave me alone."
The man stepped forward, brandishing the pistol.
"No, you give da case. Then you go."
"Why do you want the case?" Joshua asked, eyes darting to look at his case. It didn't really look that unusual, just a normal suitcase.
"Just give it." The man repeated, stepping forward.
An idea struck Joshua there as the man approached. He could test his psychic powers now. What would be the point though? Just seeing inside this man's mind… well, maybe it would help him talk the man out of it? Maybe?
But ethically speaking… If your life is at risk, you're allowed to fight in self-defence. Would this be seen as fighting? Invasion of privacy as a method of figuring out how to safely end the situation for everyone involved?
…Was this just confirmation bias? Was he trying to sell himself on how it was alright? Or was this actually moral?
Argh- fine!
As the thief stepped into range, Joshua took the chance to step into range too. He might not be truly superhuman but his reflexes were very good after all of his experience. He grabbed the pistol and pointed it at the floor while reaching for the man's forehead with his other hand.
And- Push!
He felt resistance, but the mind wasn't full of static this time. Behind his eyes, Joshua could sense a door- no, an opening. A crack in a wall. A hole that wasn't meant to exist. Through there he glimpsed another world.
A walled city, chains attached to the thief's leg. It wasn't clear though so Joshua pushed harder. The wall wasn't giving way, it wasn't letting him see any more.
Not yet, Joshua wasn't done yet. The sparkblade glowed as he pushed harder and harder until-
"Woah!" He slipped out of his own body. His body fell atop the thief, also stunned by whatever was going on. It was like he was some sort of ghost, a psychic ghost? Something was tickling at the back of his mind, something like… Astral projection? And if this was that then-
He pushed deeper into the opening, his phantasmal form letting him flit through the crack, a crack too small for most. And who were the most in this case? He'd started to figure it out.
He landed within the man's mental world. Just before he landed face-first onto the hard street paving stones, he shoved his hands down and front flipped. He was nowhere neat that agile in the real world!
Landing on his feet after the flip, he looked around. In the thief's mental world was a recreation of the old city, though it had a solid steel wall around the outside that stretched high above the buildings. It was also raining here, it trickled in small streams to storm grates that were mostly blocked by rubbish. It was safely draining away though, even with the blockages.
He knew where he was now. He knew what this world was, by extension he knew what this "world" was that he had entered. He'd even been referring to it with the right name unintentionally. A "Mental World." Accessed through astral projection but notably without a Psycho-portal. How he'd done it was unclear, but what was clear was where he was.
Psychonauts. That old game. It had also had a VR game and a sequel out but Joshua only knew the series from the time he'd watched a friend play the original and a few mentions of it in videos he'd watched while bored on the internet. He knew about the basics though. Entering people's heads and fixing them. It was like Persona 5 in a way.
…Or at least that's how he remembered it.
So how would he… do this? He needed the man to not want to rob him anymore. If this was Psychonauts then that should be possible. Right?
He'd heard that think about a milkman and how the main character had freed him or something like that by interacting with the mind. Would it be the same here?
…Or would that just be mind control?
As he pondered, he saw a small orb of what looked like light floating above him, on instinct he reached out for it and-
Snap, a line shot from his hand to the light, instead of pulling the light down to him though, he shot up towards it.
What was this, some sort of psychic grappling hook? Looking for more orbs of light, he was able to climb to the top of a building to take a look at the scenery.
So, mind control. It was abhorrent to Joshua, the idea of using it was disgusting after everything he'd been through back on his homeworld. Those few minutes when everyone around him had been bent to another's will. The same fear returning when the Jumper influenced all the soldiers in their first meeting.
…What was the alternative? If he wasn't going to use mind control, what would he do instead? When he returned to reality, The thief may try to shoot him for all of this. If he was shot in the head, that was it, the end.
So kill in self-defence? Use his sparkblade to end the thief's life? That wasn't that palatable either.
A memory floated into his head, a Star Wars quote.
"You don't want to sell me death sticks."
"I don't want to sell you death sticks."
"You want to go home and rethink your life."
"I want to go home and rethink my life."
…Yes, that would be more palatable. He didn't know if it was possible to make a change that small but if it was a change just for the better, if he could convince the thief there was better things to do without large-scale restructuring…
He… he wouldn't be controlling the thief, merely pointing out to him that a life of crime was bad. Right? Right?
He looked up into the rainy sky.
"This is moral, right?"
He wasn't really asking anyone in particular. He wasn't religious. He just wanted an answer.
The clouds rumbled, thunder which sounded like laughter.
With a heart hanging as heavy as the storm above, Joshua moved through the city. Occasionally these strange monsters which looked like men in business suits who held massive stamps showed up. They just yelled "No" over and over and Joshua had to dispatch them with his sparkblade. At the same time he continued to worry.
Would doing this damage something about the thief? Was this just going to go wrong?
More monsters came as he moved towards the place his instincts told him was where he'd find the thief's thoughts.
Finally he reached it. A ruined looking house that was quiet, despite the rain. In there, there was a large open room, like a noble's entrance hall. It was far bigger than the house looked from the outside.
Inside this room floated thought bubbles, some of them linked to each other and some of them sat apart.
The ones at the forefront were about what was going on.
[Thievery] connected to [Money], [Money] to [Debt], [Debt] to [Trapped]. There were other links coming of too, in many directions. This was a web of thoughts, the mind's network.
He sensed his psychic grappling hook could be used to connect them, and his sparkblade could split them apart.
So what was the problem here? The man was trapped by debt and to pay it off was willing to steal? Okay then… how would Joshua be able to make him rethink his life, doing as little damage as possible. Maybe… maybe he could find another line of work instead of thievery.
What does the thief like to do, what are his hobbies? A link told him that he enjoyed maths and statistics. No, working statistics didn't feel good in this case. He didn't want to send the man down a route that might lead to bad luck doing him in.
He had promised himself to do as little damage to this man as possible and that sort of thing was included. Given that…
Ah, here, he was interested in travelling the world. That connected back to [Trapped] though. If he wants to travel the world though… maybe he could find work as a translator? Tracing from the thought of travel, Joshua found [Foreign Languages] it was already connected to [Enjoyment] so no need to change that. How to make him think of being a translator though?
He just spoke aloud "Hey, have you ever thought of becoming a translator?"
There, as he spoke, a new thought appeared, [Translator]. Connect that to [Foreign Languages] and to [Money]. And then track down [Thievery] again and cut away the links he used to reason that it was the only way, more monsters showed up, slimy purple creatures and more of those suited naysayers.
There… Hopefully… Hopefully this wasn't wrong?
He left, tracing back to where he had started. Now he needed to figure out how to leave.
Joshua searched around and was able to find that tiny crack from before, somehow he was able to squeeze out of it and back into reality where he instantly flew back into his body.
Head groggy, Joshua fell over. The thief was panting too. After a few moments, the thief sat up. Joshua and he climbed to their feet at the same sort of time and Joshua looked at the man worriedly. The man looked frightened too.
"You… you are a psychic?" The man asked with a worried tone. Joshua hesitated and then… nodded. The man paled and stepped away.
"I'm sorry, sorry about all of this-"
With that, he turned and ran away.
Joshua was left in the afternoon sun, wondering what on earth he would do next.
Wow, very long chapter. Either way, it's now been revealed. Joshua is now in Psychonauts. While not specifically mentioned, I will point out he is currently in Grulovia. And yes, Joshua is entirely unaware of what goes on in Psychonauts 2.
…Mental connection is a dangerous ability. Joshua wasn't really using it that well. Hopefully it won't badly hurt the man though.
I'll change the thread's title next time though to allow readers to get surprised by the reveal of Psychonauts in this chapter.
Psychonauts! Thats rad. The world seemed weird enough in the parts of the game I've seen, and the power was a very cool one. So many people in stories need therapy, and this is shortcut 101 for that.
Psychonauts! Thats rad. The world seemed weird enough in the parts of the game I've seen, and the power was a very cool one. So many people in stories need therapy, and this is shortcut 101 for that.
True, but Psychonauts are not really doing therapy in a normal way. Or even Ethical, depending on how you look at it.
Especially mental connection which is one of Joshua's only real ways of interacting with minds so far.
AKA: There will be quite a few times where Joshua has to debate with himself over "Is invading this person's mind to rearrange their thoughts more ethical than the alternative."
That said, it will probably come up a few times when it isn't just "There is someone broken who needs help" but instead "There is someone who wants and is asking for help."
Joshua headed to the top of a ruined building again to ponder. Looking out onto the city from here helped him think.
So, he was in Psychonauts, what did that actually mean? He'd never actually played the first game and knew next-to-nothing about the second game or that VR game. He hadn't even really finished watching a playthrough of the first game.
So then, how was this eastern european country important? Psychonauts did like its spy aesthetics from what he could recall. Was this the generic "Evil Country." Like Russia was in a lot of western spy fiction?
Well, at least the psionics weren't as bad as they could be. Let's see, what could he remember being possible? Astral Projection, obviously. Though he didn't need a portal to use it for some reason. At least that wasn't too dangerous, others probably still did need those doors so he should be safe from people prying around his mind.
What next… telepathy? Wait, that might actually explain the first madman's running away from him all the faster when Joshua was only thinking about calling out to him.
Next… the psychic gun ability, what was it called? Psi-blast? Well, Joshua didn't seem to have any reflexes for that unfortunately and he couldn't remember enough of the game to walk himself through some sort of training for it right now.
Then there was levitation, for the psychic glider or orb that allowed for quick movement. No idea how to use those either.
Anything else…? There was pyrokinesis right? Something about that felt like it was from the setting.
After that his mind was blank. It also didn't help explain the strange grappling hook ability. It seemed to be completely useless in the real world unfortunately, nothing to grapple onto that he could see.
Was that from one of the other games then? Maybe the VR game used it for point teleportation, that would make sense.
As he was thinking, he realised he was getting hungry. He stopped in his briefcase for another quick "Berry and Alchemist's bread sandwich." He was actually getting quite good at alchemist's bread. He could make it in various styles now. From rolls to loaves to wraps and other flat breads.
Okay, once he was done there, he headed back out into the city. If this was Psychonauts, it was probably safer if he was outside of any center for psychic power. So, no going to America and no staying here.
…So he was going to England again. All roads lead to England, apparently.
How though? Could he fly there? He'd probably be detected crossing the channel. Okay, so he'd need to travel as normal people do- the ferry.
As he was thinking about that though, he glanced back. He saw a shadow following him. That… wasn't good. Darkness was soon approaching and from what he could tell as he turned corners to try and lose them, there was more than one pursuer.
His astral projection trick to mind… blegh. Mind control. He shivered again, it might have been the peaceful way out but he still wasn't comfortable with it. Regardless, he could only apply it to one person at a time, not a group.
Okay, he went down the list of options.
First, he could just leave the world, he was rested, the only question was if the world could take it. The answer to that was "Likely not." He wouldn't be shocked to learn there was a lovecraftian monster that he'd let in if he tried to cut through so soon. Not in this kind of setting at least.
Okay, could he fight them off with magic? Maybe use his broom to escape as he had done before? Theoretically possible, but at this point they knew his face, he'd probably be targeted until he could get over the border and he'd probably need to stop before getting to England.
…Yeah, that was probably the best option, even with the drawbacks to it. It did raise the question of if it was his magic that was drawing his attention. As in, had the cop who'd seen Joshua leave on the broom reported him as using levitation or something like that?
Okay, he'd need to buy time to get his broom. That meant finding a good back alley where they wouldn't be able to cut him off.
As he searched, he eventually found one that was "Good enough." Even as the suited figures approached from around him, he ducked into the alley. It ran between buildings and formed a small maze that he could get lost in to buy him time to get out his broomstick.
However, they were already there.
"How?" Joshua muttered as he took another corner in the maze to avoid one of them. How had they got in there first, they would have had to predict his moves in advance for that. The man hadn't been too careful though, he would have seen Joshua had he been paying more attention.
Right now he could just hear yelling in whatever the local language was, probably the people outside informing those inside that Joshua had come in. Had they been leading him here intentionally and were now just trying to close the trap?
Joshua scowled, he hit a dead end in his searching. At the same time, a pair of agents was coming from behind him.
Joshua grabbed his wand out of a pocket space quickly. It seems he'd been backed into a corner and forced to choose fight over flight.
That said, one of the agents held their hand up and spoke in heavily accented English.
"Wait, friend, we have job offer for you."
…What?
"Explain yourselves." Joshua spoke, still keeping his wand ready to use as the man nodded.
"Our seer, she is seeing you coming, yes? She says you are prime candidate for job offer."
A Seer? As in magic? This was Psychonauts wasn't it? There was no magic…
Wait, didn't the main character have that strange water curse? Joshua couldn't remember the name of the family he'd said had cursed his family but could they be connected to the group these agents were from?
Even said, a Seer had seen Joshua coming? Joshua had never dealt with precognition much in the previous worlds. He'd employed his own foreknowledge to help stack the deck for the wizarding world but that wasn't technically precognition, it was a "History book and time travel" situation.
One in the past who sees the future is very different than one in the future who comes to the past.
As far as he knew, no one in the Wizarding world had seen him coming, but that might just be because he didn't interact with any Seers. It was a strange concept, to know that his visitations could be predicted in advance.
"Okay?" Joshua asked carefully "What's the job?"
"Kidnapping." One of the agents explained "You'll work with other operatives to capture and detain a certain man."
…In some ways it was simple, but that didn't help with what it actually meant. Compared to the theft he'd done before simply because it was the best way, kidnapping was a whole lot worse.
Joshua was going to shake his head, but he sighed. A cold shill shot up his leg from the pocket his sparkblade was currently kept in but he barely noticed it.
"Who, and why?"
"You'll learn who when you accept job, why isn't notable, though we should be clear; his body won't be harmed. He won't be hostage or tortured. We'll even let him go when job is done."
If this were an item, you could debatably say it wasn't even theft, just borrowing without asking. A person was not a possession though to be so easily taken and given back.
"And his mind?" Joshua pressed "Will it be unharmed too." They had said no torture but this was Psychonauts. Joshua needed to be sure whoever it was wouldn't be driven insane or something like that.
The agents hesitated and muttered something between themselves. Finally the one giving this offer looked back at Joshua.
"Honesty, his mind may be harmed-" He held up a hand "-But, it should all be recoverable given time. No permanent damage."
…They were trying to be fair and give him all the information it seemed. They weren't hiding something to trick him.
That said… could he go along with this?
The coldness grew and Joshua nodded very slightly.
"What do I get in return, what is my payment?"
"Peace and safety, place to stay where you won't be bothered." The agent answered simply "Along with that, money and food. As much time as you need to rest."
Tempting, it would allow him to fully stock his briefcase. That sort of thing… It could be very useful in the days to come.
There was a pang of something else too. He'd been running for around two years at this point… he deserved a break right?
His blade was cold.
Just a little break, not long. Not more than a month or so. He could wait, it would give this world's walls a chance to heal more too. It was a win-win.
"Why make this offer?" Joshua asked.
The agent shrugged "Seer said you would be receptive to it, offer is truthful though."
Argh…
His blade was cold.
"Okay then." Joshua nodded "I accept."
The agents nodded and led him out of the maze of back alleys. The Seer actually explained his earlier question of how they knew he was going to go there. The Seer must just have seen it.
They all got in one of the agent's cars and drove somewhere.
Their base was a small facility outside of the city. It was just like an office block had been built in the middle of an empty field. Stepping out of the car, Joshua glanced over at the sign.
…It was written in Cyrlilic of course but luckily there was a bit written in English underneath.
"Grulovian Cultural Preservation Committee."
Grulovian… So was the country Grulovia then? Not that it really tickled Joshua's memory at all.
Heading inside, the entrance hall was decorated ornately. The most stand-out thing though were collections of… what was the proper term again? Fabergé eggs? Weren't they meant to be Russian instead of… whatever Grulovia was meant to represent.
It might just be different in this world.
The agents led Joshua to an elevator they all took down into the basement, there the style changed. While the entrance hall had been done up in a modern-like style, this place was… well occult seemed the most sensible word.
Symbols decorated the walls and Joshua even saw tapestries that depicted an ominous purple figure surrounded by water.
Joshua was shown into a meeting room, one that was empty at the time he entered.
Eventually some cloaked figures entered. They really seemed to be playing up the mystical aspect.
"Greetings." The leader of the trio spoke, it was a woman whose eyes were hidden behind a veil "I knew that you'd do the job." Her English was good and Joshua nodded while the others walked past her to surround Joshua.
Joshua glanced back at the other two before looking ahead at the one talking "So, who am I actually speaking to?"
"I am Recepte Malocchio." The woman said "Seer and high priestess of the Deluginists."
…That sounds like "Deluded" and Joshua wasn't about to doubt that Psychonauts would be the kind of series where things had puns for names so now he was a little worried.
She gestured to the two behind Joshua.
"To your left is Karote." A man with a tough-looking face.
"To your right is Sērs." A woman with a too-bright smile and goggles on.
"They are my fellow priest and priestess of this sect."
Joshua glanced towards them again and turned back to Recepte "And what is it that you're all worshipping?"
"The great one." Recepte murmured reverently, she glanced at one of the tapestries. Joshua missed the context but knew these guys didn't really fit the science spy story he thought psychonauts to be.
Karote stepped forward but Joshua missed the moment. His sparkblade was growing colder and in the distraction he missed the moment Karote tried to enter his mind.
This distraction… it's not something he should have been able to miss. His mental defences were strong enough to repel the attack but he didn't even notice it happening.
His sparkblade was glowing softly. But not in its normal colour. It was glowing black, sucking a little light from the space around his pocket.
This power prevented him from seeing the attack and what would come later.
"Then let me ask a different question." Joshua noted "Why me? Why ask for my help?"
Recepte nodded "That's because you provide an invaluable key to this kidnapping mission. It needs to be a psychic with incredibly strong mental reserves. Strong enough at least, to use this-"
Sērs stepped forward and offered Joshua a small box made of a dark metal. The box was quite weighty and had a safety latch on it.
"That is our ace in the hole, a small fragment of a crystal called Psilirium. Open it up and see."
Joshua remembered something about a purple crystal that enhanced psychic powers, he couldn't remember the name though, was this it? He unclipped the safety and opened the box.
At that moment, he felt his stomach drop. He felt like throwing up as the yellow light poured out of the box. Even the three Deluginists took a step back from the box.
Joshua's head spun, his focus slipping. As Sērs began to explain how the mineral would disrupt the psychic powers of the target, Karote winced and stepped forward again. He forcefully projected himself into Joshua's mind now that the Psilirium had disrupted his mental defences a little.
As Joshua looked at the yellow crystal, Recepte continued to talk. They'd need to kidnap a Psychonaut and this Psilirium would disorient his powers making him easier to take.
How did Joshua feel about this?
Joshua really did need the time to refresh and to sort out supplies.
Joshua really wasn't ready to fight some sort of psychic goddess on his own. The times he'd fought them before he'd had allies of the same sort of level and he had nothing of the sort this time.
So… he would have to help. This was the best outcome.
Kidnapping a man for safety w̴̡̰̣͔̄͊̓a̶̡̩̠̎̈̔ş̵̛̼̠̱̘̅́ ̴͓̂͊̊͠r̴̜̯͜͝ȩ̸̛̺̟͓̙̄̄̀͠å̸̳͔̟̠͖͚͌́l̸̢̦͂̒͜l̵̛͙y̴̡͕͓̟̹̒̃̈͘ ̸̪̥̝̤͊̈t̶̖̲̆̃̈́̈́̒͠h̴͚̓͋͒͐̅͘e̷̢̺͍̲͚͔̕ ̸̢̟̠̘̫͆͗̅̍̾̉ǫ̸̜̠̜̙̝̿n̵̹̗̹̦̳̓̑̽͑l̸͍̦͍͙̱͔̐́̏y̶͎̞̖̹̎̂̀̏ ̵̜̙̠͈̈́̂v̸̗̈́a̴͙̝͖̍͋̉l̶͕̽ḭ̶̛̭͉͊̎̿d̸̟̰̈́͐̎̆ ̷̧̱̻̜̤̻͌͛̆͂̍͌o̶͓͉͓̱̪͛̚ͅp̷̖̊͘͝t̶̡͑͌į̴̡̯̗̥̺̓̏̆ō̶͎̭̐̅̆͜n̴̰̅̆
Right?
Right?
His Sparkblade drank in the light.
Oof. And again Joshua is mind controlled into helping the bad guys. Those who have played Psychonauts probably know where this story is going by now so I'll update the title at last.
Either way: What was going on with the sparkblade? I might have mentioned this before but Joshua only earns points for taking drawbacks. Typically I chose world drawbacks as they don't affect Joshua in any way. In this case though I had to take at least a little bit of the same drawback I took in FF6. Joshua will be serving the villains. Not for long though. Hopefully. The sparkblade drawing in light is a sign that it's penalising Joshua in some way, applying a "Jumper-targeted" drawback to him.
Just in case the Zalgo (Glitchy) text is too hard to read, here is a tool to remove it: Just copy and paste it in: Zalgo remover
