The trail leading to the mansion felt both longer and shorter than it appeared. As strange as it was, the stones beneath my feet grew longer and the path grew more twists and turns as soon as I started looking around.

There were people all over the beach. Human looking people, though I got the distinct impression that, much like in the Lakeside Estate, most of the folks wandering around had been anything but human in life.

It was hard to tell at first, if you didn't know what you were looking for, but the little details soon jumped out as soon as you began paying attention.

Like the way some of the people moving about in swimsuits were wearing two or three pairs of trunks over each other. Or how some of them would move their head towards us, only for their eyes to never meet my own. Or how some did meet my eyes, but only whilst opening them to ridiculous degrees. Like Serpent-Tongue was so often fond of doing.

Then there were the specimens who kept their very human-looking hands close to their chests. Not as if to cover their torsos, but as if they were carrying themselves in the posture of rodents or praying mantises who happened to be walking upright.

It was more or less the same in my own realm of Pandemonium. Only, the people there were better dressed. Suits and ties all around, with all my minions wearing their Sunday best. As if they were all up and about for a stroll through the sunny meadows outside their own homes. The lake of black, shiny water always in view.

In here, it appeared as though each and every Intruder was on their way to a party. Or actively participating in one.

Booze flowed like water and fell on the sands by the bucketful. The Intruders mingling and dancing and hooting and playing beach volleyball all over the place. Cans of beer or glass jars filled with vibrant-looking cocktails always nearby or simply on-hand.

No matter where my eyes landed, I always found Intruders acting as humans, mingling with those I was fairly sure had been human, once upon a time. All of them having the time of their lives. Hips and arms and legs swaying to different kinds of music as the sun beat down on them.

On occasion, the sea would come in with a wave that was larger than the rest and it brought a whole host of revelers down on their rear ends. They laughed all the way down and then ran head-first into the beach. Drinks still in hand.

My eyes then went over to the trail once more and I found that I was now walking a lot faster than before. Passing the sandy beach and making my way to the rows upon rows of bars. All of them filled to bursting with the same kind of clientele that was frolicking across the beaches. A few were eating from dishes far too full for any human to finish. A few were downing drink after drink, or just holding entire kegs to their faces. More were either chatting merrily, watching sports on TVs, or simply making out.

Once in a while, as couple would walk off to the side of a bar, and a trail would appear before them. Seemingly teleporting them elsewhere before my very eyes.

"Well, they look like they're having fun." I admitted.

"You doubted it?" My host asked me. His feet still as he waited for me to catch up.

"I mean, yeah. Kinda." I scratched my head. "The first alternate me I met had basically turned his realm into his own personal time-machine where he went back and forth. Simulating a different life where he wasn't… um… himself. The second was Silent Sully and I'm not sure I'll ever get rid of the nightmares his memories gave me."

"It was your choice to try and steal the power dude. I don't think you can blame that on him."

"No, but I would still qualify that as a less-than-ideal experience."

"Yeah. I guess I can agree on that." He allowed. "But I wouldn't consider that as the norm my dude. Most of us are more like you than you think."

I nodded absentmindedly.

"I would like to take you at your word. Dude." I spoke softly. "But there's the problem that I don't know how much of what you're telling me is true and how much of my impression is coming from your influence."

He laughed in my face.

"Dude, chill. If I wanted you to do anything, you wouldn't even realize I was messing with your mind. That's kinda the lesson I want you to take from your little trip here my guy. You have it all backwards."

He shook his head sadly. Shrugging his shoulder in an exaggerated manner.

"You're thinking that [Domination] is where it's at. Because it's the strongest ability you've always had. But it wasn't like that for me. Sure, it was the strongest for me too, but I soon learned that taking the easy way and flat-out telling people what to do didn't result in any kind of satisfaction on my part."

"What do you mean?" I asked him. Suddenly concerned. "I always go out of my way to not use [Domination] if I can help it."

"Yeah dude. But you're still holding that as the last ace in the back of your mind. You're not letting go of that mindset where, if it all goes to shit, you can just man up and tell someone what you want and tell them to get to it pronto."

He held up a finger and moved it from side to side.

"Point is, you're underusing a lot of your repertoire because you think [Domination] and our little Tall Man friend are all the Telepathy you need. Well, them and the boosts, but you get my meaning. You need to stop and consider how being subtle would suit you better. Think about it. When you first unlocked [Alluring Presence] back in Dusty's world, what did you think?"

"That I was going to have a great time going forwards." I admitted. "That I had unlocked talk-no-jutsu and that I'd be able to convince people without dominating them from then on. But then I realized that it was all manipulation of a different sort. That it could be used for all kinds of nasty stuff. Ryan going on and mind-controlling Jane was just the nail in the coffin."

I shuddered as I recalled the incident.

"If he could manage that with a few Tier 1 abilities working in concert, I couldn't even begin to imagine what I'd be able to do with prolonged exposure. Heck, even giving people a boost back in my home world made them have that opinion of me. And they only got my [Presence] for a little while."

"Yeah dude." He agreed. "But you did it all blunt-like. What were you expecting? It's like…"

He crossed his arms. Not noticing the way his cocktail dropped to the sandy trail bellow.

"It's like this see. You're getting water to a bunch of people out in the dessert. But you're throwing an entire ocean on their heads. So what happens? A lot of them start drowning."

He nodded and I felt myself nodding along, despite myself.

"So ya see. What you need to do is…" He grabbed another drink out of thin air. He downed it in one go and flung the glass backwards without a second glance. "Take it slow. Drip feed your Psy. Muffle the ability somewhat, but not enough to snuff it out completely. Make it so that you're giving the desert a few rivers instead of a biblical flood."

"I… guess that makes sen…" I shook my head violently from side to side. "Wait a second! No it doesn't you asshole! You're still manipulating the ever-living shit out of people!"

He bonked his own head. In the same way a cartoon character might have.

"Yeah! You caught me! I guess I'm evil because I'm the only one who has ever showered people with his [Presence] and, oh wait! What is this? Another me who has also done that!"

"Only when giving away boosts. And even then, not for a long period of time. Maybe half a second. Maybe less."

"Oh?" He inclined his head. "And you're telling me that no one got that affected? That you don't need to worry about people making statues of you and then licking the statues' toes?"

"Why the toes?"

"Never-mind that! Just answer the question!"

"I mean, yeah. The whole [Presence] thing gets people a little bothered sometimes." I admitted. "But that's just the way the cookie crumbles. I can't help how they react to the little blast I'm giving them. And I'm already giving them as little as I possibly can. You say I should muffle my own Psy, but I couldn't possibly muffle it any further while giving out boosts and I do need to give out boosts to catch up to the gnomes or the Kenari. I need to make sure humanity is at an even playing field or else I may as well set the Earths on fire myself."

I heaved a sigh.

"Not to mention the fact that a lot of people will be generally terrible to each other unless I interfere a little bit. I know what effect I have on people. And I hate it. But like I told Charlie and Henry and everyone else who asks, I'm choosing the lesser of many, many evils. I can't bring myself to sit idly by when I know people are suffering. Not just because I feel what they feel, but because I'm not that kind of person. I have to help if I can, because I wouldn't be myself if I did anything else."

"But you're not seeing this the right way." My alternate self chided. "You have a gift. The gift to make everyone get along anytime you want. The gift to bring about a literal utopia with the flick of a finger. With a single thought. Dude, you're thinking that you're out here having to begrudgingly show people the real you through Psy, when you should be out and proud with it."

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He nodded sagely.

"I say shower people in your [Presence]! All day every day! It's like a high that never goes away and it never fades! A high that has no downsides and only serves to bring people together! Why would you keep that to yourself?"

"Because you're still getting people high! You ass! That's not real freedom! That's not real life! You're taking away people's choices! Their capacity to live the kinds of lives they want to live! Taking away their pain and their existential dread isn't the right thing to do if all you're going to do is replace it with a Sully-shaped hole in their lives that can only be filled with you! That's… that's…"

I struggled to find the right words.

"It's no different than slavery!" I protested. "It's immoral!"

He rolled his eyes.

"I would argue that [Domination] was where slavery was. But whatever I guess."

"No. You're wrong." I pressed. "Just because there's a sliver of freedom doesn't mean that it's any less evil to do this kind of stuff. You're flooding people with addiction and then telling me they can always crawl out of their own free will if they really wanted to. It isn't right! It's… It's…"

I calmed myself and took a deep breath.

"It is immoral." I spoke resolutely.

"So you say." He shrugged off the accusation. "And yet I was able to lead humanity through this period of turmoil without having to lift a single finger in aggression."

He pointed towards himself.

"I never had to go around destroying Kenari infrastructure or slashing the tires of dignitaries. I never had to fight a single Savant throughout my travels. Not Randall, not the Drake. Not Hazimon. I never even had to pick a fight with Anezka." He gave me a sly smile.

"Come to think of it, I never really had to fight anyone as far as I recall. And I'd also like to point out that nobody died in my Tutorial." He paused. "Well, not on my Instance anyway. That guy what's-his-name still tried to kill dad and mom and take Puffin and Luigi as slaves, hahaha!"

I stopped. Dead in my tracks. Watching this Surfer Sully laugh out loud.

For the first time since meeting him, my hair stood on end and my [Instincts] shrieked in naked terror.

He was smiling, laughing even. But that jovial nature did not reach his eyes.

Indeed, his eyes were much like mine. Three blue chips of dirty ice. One on his forehead and two in the usual spots. But his were colder somehow. Unfeeling. As if they belonged to a wraith that was looking out from behind a mask.

"And as I'm sure you'll appreciate, I can be very laid back, but I'm also a bit possessive. At least when it comes to the people I love."

That smile of his never dropped, but I couldn't shake the feeling from earlier. The sense that I was a mouse under the gaze of a hawk.

"Never mind that though!" He waved himself off suddenly. Appearing as if he truly did find the issue funny. "Mom and dad were rescued safe and sound and most of what's-his-name's people saw the light at the end of the tunnel. By which I mean me. They're all exemplary citizens now! And they've made better lives for themselves under the influence of my [Presence]."

He turned again and kept moving up the trail.

"It's okay if you don't believe me right away my dimmer self. Just come up with me to my humble abode and all will be revealed."

I frowned and looked around once again. Noting how the revelries never seemed to end no matter where my eyes landed.

Again, back in my realm, one could see Intruders in their own houses, frolicking around on the meadows, reading books, flying overhead, fishing my lake, swimming in the lake or simply resting in shady patches of grassland. One could see them partying yes, but one could also see them minding their own business and at rest or exploring their own interests.

Sure, they went absolutely wild when they saw me coming but…

I stopped. My body freezing solid as the realization set in.

Back in my own realm, the mere sight of me would have been enough to start a riot. Intruders trampling each other just for the chance to see me in person with their own false eyes.

Here, my counterpart had simply waltzed up and down the beach without much incident. His Intruders noticed him, us, but they kept doing their own thing. As if proximity to his own person wouldn't make any sort of difference.

'Come to think of it, of course he is going around dousing them in his [Presence]. Even more than what is normal for Intruders in Pandemonium. He flat out admitted to affecting me as well. But for them to be so nonchalant about it…'

I shook my head.

'Whatever. So he decided to go ahead and influence everyone around him all the time instead of just using it during the boost. Yeah he's some kind of degenerate. But whatever. He's not Fuhrer Sully. He's not Leatherface Sully. He didn't genocide anyone as far as I can tell. And he achieved some kind of peace with Hazimon and co. Good for him. Don't think about it Sully. Just get what you can from him and move on.'

"Ouch." His voice came from further on ahead. "Like, I get that you're judging me dude. No hard feelings here. But could you at least see what I've done and think about it?"

He sighed in exasperation.

"Let's agree on maybe not using our powers on regular folks. Fine. I can get on board with that at least. What's your excuse for not using your stuff on Hazimon?"

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Remember your convo with the Drake dummy." Surfer me chided. "[Presence] abilities are so powerful because it is very hard to know when you're being influenced by one. Look at you. Maybe the strongest mortal Telepath right now in terms of sheer, raw power, if not levels and total combined abilities, and I managed to play you like a fiddle from the moment you got here. Sure, I didn't get you to do anything outrageous. Only trust me a little bit when you'd otherwise be on your guard. But you'd be amazed how far you can push it if you're subtle about it. Even with folks like Hazimon. The dude is normally outright immune to Telepath abilities cause he can't be mind-read under normal circumstances, but [Presence] abilities don't require a connection. Part of why Silent was able to kill him so easily. The synergies just sped it up, but Hazimon was dead the second he set foot in there."

He thumbed himself.

"Same here. Hazimon came over because he was suspicious about me. What with the whole being a Savant thing." He paused. "Also I may have scammed Granny Golden out of everything she had, but that's beside the point."

"Wait, what?"

"I said that's beside the point!" He insisted. "The point is that I started out getting threatened all over the place and by the time I was done, Hazimon and I were best buds. He left our third meeting with a smile on his face and a song in his heart. And I didn't even need to bring up killing the Drake as a due or anything. He gave me all his Enhancer powers for FREE! I didn't even ask! The second he found out about the boosts he wanted to bring me up to Tier 10 in Enhancer! None of this do-it-yourself nonsense he wanted to pull with you!"

He shook his head.

"Though I guess with you he was always going to stab you in the back. Honestly Sully, you can't be this stupid and still expect things to go your way. People are easy in general and [Presence] is like cheating. Just nod along as they're talking and leak out your Psy into the air. Then you let them talk while agreeing with them and actively listening to what they're trying to tell you. Say their words back to them in a different way and say that you agree and keep that up until you can up the ante of Psy you're letting out. Then bring up their own ideas as your own. Again, with different words being used, and you'll have them thinking you completely trust them in no time. It isn't that hard man."

I didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"Isn't that just manipulation?"

"Well, yeah." He admitted. "Of course it is. But that's my point. Telepathy is all about being connected to other minds. Other people. Manipulation isn't just an easier way of doing things compared to [Domination]. It's downright optimal. You are quite literally handicapping yourself when you don't do it. And they're stronger than you, so you don't even have the excuse of being gentle with regular people. You actively need to exploit your betters right now in order to survive tomorrow. That's the way it is."

I sucked in a breath. Then another. Then another still.

"Okay." I said finally. "I suppose you have a point." I allowed.

"Also, you mentioned something about having the Dragon's Enhancer abilities?"

"Oh yeah." He smiled. "I guess I did say that didn't I?"

He turned around and kept walking up the trail.

"Maybe if you manage to impress me, I'll let you have a couple as a farewell gift."

The inside of the mansion was filled with the sounds of festivities. Music blaring so loudly that it almost hurt my ears.

'No. It's not that.' I realized. 'My eardrums are so tough nothing short of an attack by another Esper are going to do much damage. Rather, I think it's just that the music is downright bad.'

I entered through the door, following my counterpart and was soon greeted by a terrible rendition of my favorite song.

"Making my way downtown! Walking fast! Faces pass and I'm homebound! Toorooo!"

The music rose in pitch and the crowd roared in appreciation.

"And I need you!" Everyone stomped their feet.

"And I miss you!" Everyone did it again.

"And now I woooonndeeerrr!" Everyone began to sing along.

I, for my part, did my best to dissociate from the experience. Merely moving through the crowd whilst trying to keep an eye on my counterpart.

When I found him, he was sitting prettily on a fine leather couch. His tanned chest still exposed.

On his lap was Dusty. His Dusty, I guessed. Pouring a bottle of rum down his gullet and laughing at some joke he'd made.

When I approached, her eyes opened wide with surprise. Before she then slapped his arm in a playful manner.

"Sully, what is this? Are you out here experimenting with your Shifter powers again? How many times have I told you that I don't like it when you bring out the clones?"

"I would never go against your wishes honeybuns." He assured her. Half choking on rum as he tried to speak. "But this here is no clone my lovely gal. He's me, from the past."

She eyed me. Raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"He looks exactly like you Sully." She protested. Then she slapped his arm again. "I think you're just messing with me again."

"You think wrongly my lady. And you wound me on top of that." He leapt up and hugged her. Kissing her cheek as she blushed and then making his way to his lips.

She embraced him before long and they stayed like that for what must have been a full minute. Entangled in each other's arms.

It might have felt uncomfortable under normal circumstances, but I couldn't even bring myself to feel jealousy. Instead, all I was thinking about was that this version of me had no problem spamming his own [Presence] around people. Even if he controlled it, how much would this version of Dusty have received? How much would have been enough to completely overwhelm her when she'd first come to the Labyrinth. Back when she was at her most vulnerable?

He noticed my gaze and broke off.

"Sorry honeybuns. I have somewhere to be right now. I'll come find you in a bit."

She pouted. Turned in my direction and shot me a venomous glare.

"Sully, this clone doesn't feel like you, now that I look more closely. Is this someone trying to take your shape?"

"If only." He complained. "Might have been fun if that was the case. I could pretend to be someone else and we could have made a game of it. But no. Sadly, my new friend here is his own person and he'll have his own struggles to tend to before long. I just brought him to see something."

She left with a pout and as she did so, I noticed her brother Slab by a dart set. Throwing pointed metal needles at a gnome that had been strapped to the board on the wall.

Next to him were Charlie and Boris. Both looking like they were having the time of their lives.

For once, I wasn't bothered by what was going on in here. Even I had to admit that looked super fun.

"Now now, my gloomy counterpart." Surfer Sully chided. "Don't get too distracted on me. We're here for a lesson after all."

I nodded and re-focused.

"Right. Of course. So, what is the lesson exactly?"

He smiled and spread his arms.

"The power of [Presence] of course!" He spoke through a beaming smile. "And the proper way to use it. None of this goody-two-shoes oh-I'm-so-much-better-than-you stuff Sully. We're playing for keeps today."

He leaned back in his leather chair. Smiling a predatory smile.

"The rules are simple, as I see them. I've boosted everyone you see here at least to the 7th Tier. After the Tutorial of course. They've been with me for a long, long time. And I've come to trust their judgement."

He nodded with self-satisfaction.

"Moreover, they've been eating away at the Psy I leak out for pretty much the majority of their existences. Even before they became Intruders. So they're pretty accustomed to the way I do things and will notice anything off about the way you approach them if it is in any way different."

He clapped.

"So, my challenge is simple. I want you to prove you can actually pull off some proper negotiations and I want you to level that power while you do so. In order to prove you've got the chops, I want you to convince at least 10 of our mutual friends that you are their ally and I want you to make them vouch for you in front of me."

I nodded.

"Okay. That seems straightforward enough." I admitted. "I guess I can do that."

"Splendid my dude." He waved me off. "Then best of luck to you! Go out there and make more friends! Mingle! Make yourself a star!"

He winked.

"Live up to my reputation as the life of the party!"

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