46 - Illusory World//Lea

Lea leapt away from the console and wrenched the studio door open, just as the studio disappeared around them. Even though it had all fallen away, her song was still playing.

The music was swirling around them, going through it's vocal break. The singer was waiting for his next turn, holding the red Noiz in his hands as if it were his own.

She felt her surprise give way to an intense anger.

"Mr. Foley," Lea said.

"Lea," the mayor responded with a casual sigh, pausing the music.

-WELCOME_MICK-

It was a formless space, and they were standing on nothing, but Lea could tell that they weren't in Paradox City anymore.

It was a place beyond the world itself, a place no person was meant to see. A prison for those who truly couldn't be reformed.

Lea had never paid much attention to politics in Paradox City, but she had seen Mr. Foley on TV a few times. A mature adult with dark skin and hair that was starting to grey. She'd only started paying attention to him when he'd gotten involved with their Phantom business, when he'd transformed into the Byzantine Phantom.

That wasn't the Mr. Foley before her now. His maturity seemed an illusion, hidden under smooth skin and a refined jawline. His curly black hair stood on top of his head in a tall afro that was shaved off on the sides.

It was adorned with a purple headband that sparkled with magical energy. He was wearing his Byzantine phantom outfit, topped off with a shimmering silver coat that clung to his muscles.

Even though he was dressed like a character out of a 90s musical, he still commanded respect.

"This is embarrassing," Mr. Foley began with a laugh. He let her Noiz go, letting it drift into a lazy circle with the rest. "I'd just gotten used to reading your mind, too."

Lea said nothing, leaving him to stare at her curiously.

"When the illusion magic stopped working," he explained. "I lost the ability to peer into your thoughts."

"The note said she'd seen many people come in here," he continued. "None of them could break illusion magic."

"People have come in here?" Lea said. "How?"

"Have you never heard of the Mysterious Hole of Paradox Park?" Mr. Foley said. "It's one of our top 7 Urban Legends!"

"Mr. Foley," Lea said. "You're not making any sense."

"Where's Cree?" she asked.

"Gone," he said, holding up his hand. A few leaves of paper appeared in the palm of his hands. With a snap of his fingers, a pair of sensible reading glasses adorned with a lightning bolt on each side of the frame appeared on his face.

"She tired of this place, gave up on this world," he explained without a care. "Turns out she gave up in the nick of time!"

"What does that mean?" Lea said "Cree is gone?"

"I must keep up with the times, to see how those Goidelic idiots who trapped me here are doing out there," Mr. Foley read.

"There are a whole lot of people she trapped in here, that stupid Witch. I've been going through them all; the teenagers, the married couples. There's even two archeologists in here, so she definitely gave up at an inopportune time!"

"Nora's parents!" Lea shouted.

"Don't worry, they're not dead. They're in stasis...somewhere in here" Mr Foley said, making a show of looking around. "I've been so bored in here since I couldn't figure out a song to control the Noiz."

"Now, Lea," he said. "All you need to do is give me the song."

"Why did you need to do all that stuff if that's all you wanted?" Lea asked.

"No reason," Mr. Foley said. "I just wanted to put you in a comfortable environment. Always thinking about the citizens of my city, after all."

Going by the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes, Lea wasn't sure even he thought she would buy his excuse.

"If the witch is gone, then we should just stop all of this," Lea said. "Lock this place up with the Noiz inside it."

"Come on now, Lea," Mr. Foley said. "That wouldn't help anyone."

"In fact, don't you owe me for all those times your friends broke into my artifact collection?"

Lea could see Mr. Foley's eyes shift from her to the Noiz spinning between them, and she gasped when she realized why.

They were spinning in a wider and wider circle, as if being pulled by two opposing magnets.

"I guess the nice approach didn't work," Mr. Foley said, snapping his fingers so the music started up again. "So we'll move on to the next part of the game. I might have lost my illusion, but I can still get in that stubborn little head of yours."

Lea didn't mind his rushed, violent tone. She could feel the magic flowing through her, and she knew it wasn't something he could stop.

It was her song, after all.

She quickly grabbed the Red Noiz out of the circle, readying herself for the fight.

Suddenly her song stopped playing. All of the instruments coming to a combined, foreboding stop. In the middle of the six Noiz that were still spinning, a new gem appeared. Darker than night itself, it began to pull at the world around them.

"You fool!" Mr. Foley said. "Look what you've done now!"

Lea's angry response was caught in her throat as a deafening boom roared in her ears.

Then everything went black.