"How many years have I been coming here and I have never even noticed a cool flower like this before?"

Lili's words went in Raz's right ear and out his left. Only when he heard a loud, inhuman roar behind him that he realized Lili had been snatched up, and that the culprit was a giant, hulking, mutated lungfish. That was the moment Raz finally stopped thinking about kissing.

"Lili!"

The lungfish swiped at Raz, but he easily jumped out of its reach. From the corner of his eyes, he spotted a jagged piece of driftwood that had washed ashore, and he knew what to do. One hand to his forehead and the other to the driftwood, the piece of debris lifted off the ground, and flew towards the lungfish.

Bullseye. The wood cut it just below its grotesque eyes. It shrieked in pain, Lili slipping out of its grasp, dropping to the sand. The lungfish shrieked again, the ground shaking as it waddled away on deformed legs towards the lake.

Raz was beside Lili's prone form within seconds.

"Lili! Are you-?"

"I knew it!" Lili shot to her feet like a bolt of lightning. She pointed a finger at the retreating lungfish, a fire burning in her eyes. "You're not getting away from me!"

Lili took off sprinting. Nothing could stop her - not Raz, not the lungfish disappearing into the lake, not even the shoreline. She charged through the water, unfazed by her clothes getting soaked, took a deep breath, and dived beneath the surface. Raz blinked, then blinked again, then realized that crap, he should be helping her.

Raz didn't get far before skidding to a halt. Already, he's seeing ethereal hands gathering at the water's edge. The curse. The goddamn curse.

"Lili! Lili!"

Like a miracle, his call was answered. Bubbles rose not far from the shore, and Lili soon emerged, panting, her pigtails come undone. She swam back to shore, but you don't have to be psychic to tell that she wasn't happy about it.

"It was too fast," she coughed, walking up the shore, shivering. "I couldn't keep up. I let it slip away."

"Lili…" Raz's first instinct was to place a hand on her shoulder, but he stopped. He wasn't sure if she's comfortable with that yet. He settled for a look of concern. "You shouldn't have dived after it in the first place. Who knows what could've happened to you? And when you're having a cold, too. God, you're shivering."

Lili shook her head, refusing to meet his gaze. "This is… m-more important… th-than a dumb c-cold…"

Raz blew a breath. She's a handful. Only one thing he could do now. He took off his jacket and draped it around Lili's shivering form.

"There. You need that more than I do."

For a moment, Lili froze, and Raz was worried he somehow made things worse. "This isn't necessary," she claimed, but he saw how she clutched the jacket tighter. "But… th-thanks…"

Raz stepped back. A natural calm fell around the two. A tranquil moment after the sudden burst of events, where the only thing to be heard were the rippling waters, the branches creaking in the wind, and Lili's shaky breaths. Raz was by no means some kind of social expert, but this seemed like a good time as any to continue the conversation.

Raz cleared his throat. "So, uh, about what you said-"

"The bathysphere!"

"Huh?"

"We can use the bathysphere to follow that monster!" Lili took his hand in hers and didn't give him a chance to resist. "Let's go!"

The bathysphere. A giant-sized diving helmet situated at the end of the pier. Large enough to comfortably fit about four campers and a counselor. Usually used for exploration of the sunken town beneath the lake. And now, Raz was going to step into it, to chase down the terrible lake monster. Underwater.

Raz breathed deep. He's fine. He's fine. If this was what it took to save the world, he'll gladly do it. He'll do it ten times over if he had to. Plus, Lili's standing right there. He couldn't back down in front of her.

So, Raz stepped inside, and definitely didn't gulp when the hatch swung to a shut with a ringing clang.

The entire contraption lurched, lowered, then fell. With a muffled splash, they submerged, into the world beneath the waves. Raz, again, didn't gulp.

"Keep your eyes peeled," Lili warned, peering way, way too close to the glass. "That thing can attack anytime, anywhere."

"Mhm."

"Try to look for psychic disturbances. A creature like that must have an easily recognizable signature."

"Mhm."

Lili paused, and looked over her shoulder. Why was she suddenly giving him a weird look? "Raz? Are you okay?"

"Mhm. Never better." Raz nodded, in a smooth, non-stiff way. Lili continued to look at him weirdly, for some reason.

"Pro tip when dealing with psychics, Raz." She placed a hand on her hip, cocked her head, and narrowed her eyes. "It's best you don't lie around them."

Raz opened his mouth. Another excuse, another lie, made it to the back of his throat, and stopped there. His mouth closed as he sighed. He never was all that great at lying.

"My family's cursed. There's a… hand. That tries to drown us if we get near large bodies of water." Raz gestured to everything around him. "And now, look where I am."

"Raz, you… ugh." Lili took a step closer and bopped him on the shoulder. Ow? "Dummy. You didn't think to say that earlier?"

Raz rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, yeah, sorry. You were just- so excited to go off and fight evil and stuff." He shot her a sheepish look and shrugged. "And the world is at stake here, so."

Lili went silent. For way too long. "Wait," she said. "You came along… because of me?"

"A-and the world! Don't forget the world!" Raz quickly added, before devolving into a chuckling mess. Why did he do either of those things? "Also, you do still have my jacket."

"And I still have your jacket. Good to know where your priorities are." Lili crossed her arms, pouted, and threw her gaze away. Lucky for Raz, the pout didn't last long.

Lili's eyes went wide, as a gasp escaped her lips and she stepped closer to the hatch. Raz did the same, when he too saw the cause. The underwater sunken town of Shaky Claim, except it wasn't quite underwater anymore. Giant bubbles of air had formed around large sections of it, granting the ruined buildings reprieve from the waters of the lake after god knows how long. Judging from Lili's reaction, the sight was new, even for her.

"The lungfish!" Lili suddenly exclaimed. "It must have mutated to gain psychic powers, and now it's using it to make those air bubbles!"

Before today, Raz would have said something about how ludicrous that sounds, but after a long afternoon of fighting off psychic bears and pyrokinetic pumas, that sounded more like a regular day in Whispering Rock.

Lili gasped, turning to face Raz, eyes wide in panic. "And if the air bubbles are up now, that means the lungfish has to be somewhere in-!"

A sudden lurch. Something big and powerful must have struck the bathysphere. It spun, out of control, towards the air bubble. The only reason both Raz and Lili weren't reduced to a bloody pulp being thrown around inside the metal ball was Raz's quick reflexes. He wrapped Lili in his arms, hooked an arm to the grates of the hatch, and held on with an iron grip.

When the bathysphere breached the bubble, Raz felt it. The weightlessness of water gave way to merciless gravity. The bathysphere plummeted faster than it had ever been, and crashed hard against the buildings. As it bounced and bounced and bounced like a giant metal pinball, the hatch broke off of its hinges, and with it, Raz and Lili came flying out.

Raz was completely unprepared. The ground came faster than he expected. He tried to land with a roll, but failed, and his back took the brunt of the impact. He laid there, in pain, eyes growing heavy, darkness creeping at the edges of his vision…

Until Lili entered his vision.

"Raz! God, please be okay."

Raz blinked. He could barely believe what he saw. There was real, genuine fear in Lili's eyes.

"I'm-I'll be fine," he forced himself to say, between coughs. Somehow, her presence drove him to hold on. "Just gimme a minute."

The ground shook. Lili looked ahead, her brows etched into a glare. Something told Raz he won't have his minute.

"Raz, you gotta stand up."

"Would love if I could, believe me."

"Raz, that lungfish isn't stopping." Lili rose to her full height, two fingers on his forehead.

"Can't imagine why it would."

Lili shot him a glare from the corner of her eyes. "Less sass, more ass-off-the-ground."

Raz coughed out a chuckle. He'd never imagine hearing a line like that from Lili. But he did his best. He tried to push off the ground, at least to a sitting position. He finally caught a glimpse of the threat, the hulking lungfish slowly lumbering towards them. But, try as he might, he just couldn't get his feet under him.

"Dammit!" Raz fell down again. The pain was just too much. "I'm trying-! I swear, I'm trying…"

Lili bit her lip. Her eyes darted back and forth between Raz's prone form and the advancing lungfish. One hell of a pickle she found herself in. Her first real mission, and it was already a trainwreck. But Lili shook her head and steeled her nerves. That was no way for a Psychonaut agent to be conducting herself.

Focus. Observe her surroundings. Find something she could use to her advantage.

The first thing that she noticed was the field of broken wood and steel from the bathysphere's crash. Which could be useful. Which is useful. Yes. She knew exactly what to do.

"Raz, cover your eyebrows."

"Huh?"

Lili raised a closed fist to the air. Pyrokinetic power surged forth, charging, coalescing together at her point of focus. Finally, at this very second, a moment she'd always dreamed of came true.

Lili slammed her fist to the ground. And released.

The temperature soared. In a wave, the pieces of wood and steel were set alight in a brilliant blaze, one by one, like a fire flower in bloom. The lungfish shrieked, surprised. It raised its arms to shield itself, backing away in fear of the flames. Lili grinned. Now, for the coup de grâce. She placed a hand against her forehead, placed her focus on the flaming debris, and crumpled to her knees.

Crap. That move drained her more than she thought. The lungfish won't be spooked by the fire forever. One strike. She just needed this one strike.

Raz saw, and felt, the flames raging around him. He'd never been more in awe of anyone in his life. But when he saw Lili falling to her knees, he didn't need to read her mind to know something was wrong.

"Lili…?"

"One hit…" she wheezed. "Just need one hit…"

Raz stared ahead at the lungfish. It was already recovering from the surprise. He realized what she intended to do. What he now must do.

His entire body screamed as he forced it to move. He screamed too, to shut them up. He rose, first to a sitting position, then to his knees, and finally, barely, to his feet. His eyes clenched shut, focused on the flaming field of debris, and with everything he's got, he willed them all to rise. And rise they did.

His eyes snapped open. He screamed. He swung his fist. The debris flew forth like a flock of phoenixes.

The lungfish didn't stand a chance. Its slow, clumsy movements made it an easy target. Every strike, every blow, drew more and more shrieks of pain from the monster. It quickly proved too much. The lungfish moved to flee, retreating from the air bubble and into the water. Raz, despite himself, cracked a smile.

Lili was speechless. She intended to throw one. She had asked for just one strike. No regular psychic would be capable of a barrage like that. Just who the hell is this Razputin Aquato?

She was taken out of her stupor when a hand entered her vision. Raz's hand. She gladly took it. Stick with him long enough, and her questions would be answered in time.

But the duo had little time to recover. The lungfish was down, not out. From the murky darkness, they could still hear it moving about, hear its rumbling moans and growls. Lili stood with her back to Raz, watching the abyss for signs of the beast. Raz, without saying a word, followed her lead.

"Looks like neither of us could do this on our own."

"Looks like it."

Over their shoulders, their eyes met.

"Together?"

"Together."

This fic was commissioned by my good friend cartoonfumes over on Tumblr, who wanted an AU where Lili doesn't get kidnapped and proceeds to kick ass along with Raz. I probably (definitely) got some Psychonauts facts wrong. It's been so long since I actually played the game. Feel free to yell at me if I did.

Anyway, that's my very first batch of commissions done! Gonna switch focus to my own stuff now. If I open commissions again, it would probably be sometime in July. Thanks a ton again for everyone who commissioned me! Hope you all enjoyed it. And stay safe out there, folks.