Terrified, Jason stood completely still, hoping beyond belief and reason that the being in the shadows couldn't see him. "Oh come on, don't be a party pooper."  

   The eyes stared unblinkingly from the shadows, insane, unbridled glee dancing in the pupils. "After all, you've done me a very large favor. I am merely trying to express my undying gratitude." 

   A long hand made of darkness -sporting deadly, razor-sharp claws- stretched out from the being's hiding place, reaching out towards him. "Come on Jason, shake my hand. It's only polite."  The claws waited expectantly, wisps of smoke peeling off of the jet black, almost transparent skin and dissipating in the cool, evening air.

   Jason didn't respond, he couldn't, he was both too terrified to speak; and too suspicious to trust this stranger who was trapped in the abandoned building for some -probably very good- reason. At his hesitation, the hand dropped, and the glowing green eyes narrowed into angry slits. "Isn't that rude. Is that how you treat your friends? I would think you'd have recognized me by now, since I have been hanging out with you and your sister for the past three days."  

   He didn't reply, and the being made several steps towards him. It seemed that the entire wall of midnight-blackness followed him as he approached, veiling his appearance from Jason's view. The being's white maw curled upwards into a smile, showing off the jagged black fangs that framed it so perfectly. "Well then, I tried to be nice. But some people are just begging to be smeared all over the walls."

   Jason tried to run, but he was frozen in place as the clawed hand shot out towards his neck with the intent to kill. The talons were inches away from tearing open his flesh, and Jason braced himself for the end, but a bright white beam of light tore through the wall to his left; and the claws were knocked aside. A high pitched, blood-chilling, banshee-worthy scream ripped through the room, and the darkness retreated to a corner; leaving a trail of acid-green blood behind it. Jason did not have time to figure out where the random laser came from, as another man entered the room; carrying a large pipe that was probably torn straight out of the plumbing system. Optic stood in front of Jason, facing the wall where the shadows were licking their wounds, nursing a hand that was no longer there. "Leave."

   Cowering at the entrance of a greater threat, the cloud of night dissipated before Jason's eyes. A final, deranged giggle bade them adieu, "Don't worry about me, my friend, we will meet again. Very soon in fact. This is only a minor setback, and soon I'll have full control."  

Once he was sure that the shadows were completely and totally gone, Optic turned to face Jason; an eternal fire of rage in his eyes. "Outside. Now."

   Jason might as well have been a sack of potatoes, because Optic slung him over his shoulder and threw him out the same window they had entered through. "Who was that?!" 

   "No one important." Throwing his broken pipe to the ground, Optic dusted his hands off as if nothing had happened. "Now, before I do something I might regret, would you please do me a favor and get out of my head." Optic seethed down at Jason, blue eyes narrowed into a death-glare.

   "What is going to happen if I don't?" Jason challenged, hoping to get more answers out of him.

   Wasting no time, Optic snapped his fingers, and the space around Jason shapeshifted. Now, instead of the bricks of the plaza, he was sitting on a small, metal island; floating in the center of a lava lake. "This is my mind. I can do whatever I want to you. I could disintegrate your little raft and leave your conscious to burn alive. Now that you know, I will repeat my demands. Get. Out. Of. My. Head." Floating several feet above the boiling magma, he readied his fingers for another snap, one that would send Jason's mind-projected body into the melted rock below.

    Panicked, Jason tried to balance himself on the floating platform, but the floor kept moving beneath him, and his ankle kept shooting pain up his leg. "Alright! I'll leave, just...give me a second to disconnect."

   Nodding, Optic waited, but kept his fingers in the snapping position just in case. "I will not be awake when you return to the rooftop, I have some things to take care of here first. Expect me to wake up by daybreak."

   Absentmindedly agreeing, he was too focused on what he was trying to do to pay much attention. Connecting with someone's mind was easy, disconnecting was a different matter. He had to untangle the two consciousnesses without breaking, damaging, or otherwise harming either of their sanities. Like detangling Christmas lights, or earbud chords. It took time.

   After a few minutes of fretful untying and precarious balance, he finished weaving the last bit of mental energy out of the knot, leaving the mindscape at last and waking up back on the rooftop. Groggy, Kamille was struggling to keep her eyes open, repeatedly dropping her head then startling awake again a few seconds later. "Hey." He rasped, voice hoarse from disuse. 

   Instantly, Kamille was on her feet, "I'm up! Who's there! Stay back, I have fire!" Yelling, her hands ignited into balls of flame on instinct.

   Wishing he had recorded it, Jason laughed out loud at her reaction and sat up slowly. "Glad to see you're awake." He coughed out between giggles, briefly noticing that his ankle did not hurt anymore, compliments of Optics mind. 

   Embarrassed, Kamille huffed and crossed her arms, forgetting they were on fire and scorching the fabric of her suit. Though she could not be burned, the sudden heat was certainly a surprise, and it resulted in a cute little squeak that she would never acknowledge. Struggling to regain composure, her glare found its way to Jason, who was trying (and failing) to contain his laughter. "Not a word." She commanded her tomato-faced, pufferfish-cheeked brother. 

   Laughing like there was no tomorrow (which is a pretty bad analogy, as that is a very sad circumstance), Jason wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled at the seething Kamille. "Sorry, sis. But that was too funny." 

   "Yeah, yeah, I'm hilarious. Now gimme the good stuff, what did you see in there?" Bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, she switched from deadpan teenager to excited freshman in a nanosecond. 

   "It's...a lot to explain...I don't really understand it myself to be honest." he shrugged and sighed, racking his brain for information. The plaza seemed so long ago, even if it was only a few hours prior. "Where to start..." 

   Tapping her foot anxiously, Kamille grew impatient quickly. "The beginning would be nice." 

   As if on cue, Jason found the information he was looking for, "Right. So when I entered, I found myself in a large plaza surrounded by multi-colored buildings..."