Conscious, Conscientious

Cracking his knuckles, Benton broke into a charge. Deon braced himself; he could feel the massive fighter’s steps shaking the stone path.

But they were slow.

Right: Hiroko’s notes…Deon revisited.

Hiroko had fought Benton the most during their near-deadly courtyard squabble, so their preparations for this matchup came mostly from her analysis.

“He moves slower than even an average consciousness pro—but he puts everything into muscle to make up for it,” she’d said.

“Defense One!”

Out of habit, Deon’s body moved to follow Skrili’s call. Once Benton neared, the duo pounced backward and created an equal distance from him as before. Their opponent came to a stop, too slow to attempt a strike.

“Defense One, huh? Does that mean we’re going for that idea, then?” Deon checked under his breath.

Skrili eyed their narrow battleground. Only a set of railings on each side of the wall protected them from plummeting all the way down onto either the city streets or the outer field. And Deon had already put a hole in part of it.

“It’s the only one that will work in a place like this,” she said.

“Then here we go.”

Again, Benton broke into a run. Deon and Skrili waited until he was nearly in range, and then darted backwards once more. Benton’s fist missed by a long shot.

But he didn’t hesitate this time, anticipating their next move. He charged after them with larger steps and then took to the air with a pounding leap—just as they’d seen him jump from the balcony in their first encounter.

Crap…he can do that, Deon remembered.

“Keep moving!” Skrili warned as the beast of a man descended down towards them. They turned and ran, and the path shook as Benton’s fist plowed into it just behind them.

After a moment, Deon and Skrili came to a stop and turned. Benton seemed unperturbed as he stood before a small, newly formed crater in the path. For now, his pursuit halted.

Just keep this up as long as we can…Deon remembered from their brainstorm with Hiroko. Wear him out, then weaken him, and then move in for the finish…

…And watch out for raining fists of death falling from the sky…he added with a gulp.

“Ah, y’all are fighting with a clear, preplanned strategy,” Benton noticed. “You two ain’t rookies to the League, then. Let’s see…callin’ out a defensive formation…whisperin’ to each other…I’d say you’re pretty freshly certified. And let me guess: y’all just finished up Legend Training, right?”

Deon’s eyes widened, giving away the answer to Benton’s assumptions.

He figured all of that out perfectly, just from a few moves? he observed.

Benton laughed. “That’s right, I may still look pretty as a peach, but I’ve been around. Y’see, I know a thing or two ‘bout the League. In fact, I know more about pro consciousness teams than anyone here, guaranteed. Boy, do I know…”

He trailed off, but continued staring at them.

“…Yesiree…I’m mighty acquainted with that League of yours…”

Deon and Skrili’s eyes found each other again.

“Yeah, we heard you,” Skrili said.

“That’s…cool?” shrugged Deon.

Benton sighed. “Come on—aren’t y’all dyin’ to know why?”

“Not really.”

“Well I used to be in the League, alright?! There, I toldya anyways,” Benton boomed. “Bottom line is, I’ve seen this before. I know exactly what y’all are attempting, and trust me—it ain’t gonna work.”

“Trust the shirtless guy who kidnaps minors…yeah okay,” Skrili muttered only loud enough for Deon to hear.

Despite everything, Deon couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Great…they’re bein’ all cute and flirty again…” Benton assumed in a whine.

With fewer steps and lesser forewarning than before, he shot back into the air towards them. Deon and Skrili reacted as one, simultaneously pouncing backward.

The chase resumed. Benton came for them once more, hunting them further down the wall’s long, curving path. He gained no ground with each forceful jump, but neither did Deon and Skrili create more distance.

“Nobody knows…” sang Benton upon landing and missing a punch.

“…the trouble I’ve seen…” he continued with the next, leaving another crater in his trail.

“Nobody cares, either,” Skrili added under her breath. She nudged Deon between dodges. “Can you imagine right now?”

Deon pictured a rock floating behind them to hide its view from Benton. He felt it emerge into existence and then dismissed it just as quickly.

“Yeah. You think it’s already time?”

Skrili’s reply had to wait, as Benton leaped and rained down on them once more. Clearly, Hiroko was right: his style required close combat—otherwise he would have tried anything else by now. His attempt proved just as futile as Deon and Skrili rushed back.

“Look at him,” Skrili said.

Benton cracked his neck and let out an easy sigh.

He’s not winded at all, Deon thought, noticing his own heavy breath from their evasion. We haven’t even started wearing him out.

“Should we just move to the next phase?” he asked his teammate.

“We don’t have a choice.”

Deon focused on his attacker—now his target.

The fact that he could imagine right now meant Benton wasn’t using Dampening powers. So currently, he was either a Withstander or a Hypnotizer. And he was very much over the hypnosis technique now, leaving Withstander as his most likely type.

That was perfect for their plan.

Yesterday, Deon had assumed there was no point in attacking a Withstander; after all, they could completely turn off the ability to feel it. But the more experienced consciousnesses of his ensemble—namely, all four of them—stressed that was far from the case. While a Withstander couldn’t feel the damage, they still received it.

So, as Hiroko and Skrili had pieced together, attacking Benton while he was in Withstander mode could gradually break him down. They just needed to stay out of his range and attack from a distance.

And if his powers followed the same laws as Irma’s, that approach would be simple: Benton couldn’t use Dampener powers while he was on Withstander. So Deon could attack by imagining projectiles.

Deon opted for rocks this time instead of his default mini-Twitchys: they weren’t as resilient or controllable, but their hard surface would do more damage.

He imagined a swarm of them in the air all around Benton, and then fired them down while he and Skrili continued backing away. To Deon’s shock, Benton managed to catch the first two bare-fisted—but the others collided against him all around. Their shards crumbled on impact before disappearing.

“Wait…they cracked against him?” Deon worried. “But they were rocks!”

“Don’t slow down!” Skrili warned.

Benton paid absolutely no attention to the remaining stoning, as if it weren’t happening at all. He’d already begun crouching down to jump after them again. Deon called off the rest of his offensive and turned to focus on getting away.

The boom against the wall’s path signified Benton had landed, and thankfully, they’d avoided him once more. Deon and Skrili slid to a stop.

Then alarm spiked through as Deon as he returned sight to their enemy.

From what Deon and Skrili could see, there was nothing more than a few minor scratches all around his skin. Not only had his body shattered the rocks, but it barely took any damage from them.

It was obvious his Withstander powers were in play from his lack of reaction, but there was something far more unusual than that going on.

Benton simply laughed—not antagonistically, but rather, as if he were an old friend revealing a secret talent.

“Yup…if you’re gonna use imagining attacks on me, you’re gonna wanna fortify ‘em to be a lot more resilient than that,” he explained. “These muscles ain’t for show—I built this body up so it wouldn’t break down. Like I said, I know what you’re tryna do. Your little team plan won’t work.”

“It will. We just have to go bigger,” Skrili whispered to Deon. “Give him everything you can. If that doesn’t work, power me up and send me in.”

“I’m not letting you get close to that freak,” Deon refused immediately. “I’m not watching you fall off this wall a second time.”

“Then it’s all on your imagining,” Skrili concluded. “Keeping distance is the most important—”

An explosion rattled their bones. The low blast nearly deafened them—but not so much that they couldn’t tell it came from behind.

Still remaining wary of Benton, Deon and Skrili turned to find the source.

In all of their dodging and retreating backwards, they hadn’t realized how far they’d moved—or in which direction.

Dark smoke rose a couple minutes’ run from where they stood. Though that entire section of the monumental structure was destroyed, they still recognized what it once was: the front gate to the city.

“Crap—we moved that far back?!” Deon whispered to his teammate.

Skrili’s gaze was up into the sky. “Kotono,” she noticed.

Glowing red and gold, the timid champion hovered behind the worst of the billowing smoke and dust. Deon couldn’t make out her expression from here, but she kept her hands pointed towards the space before her in clear aim.

Then, a blast of red energy lit up the morning sky as it beamed from her hands.

“If she’s still shooting at Wei,” Skrili analyzed quickly, “that means the surprise attack didn’t fully contain him. He must be trying to break out.”

“Then Kotono and Hiroko are still fighting to buy us time,” Deon realized, his heartbeat speeding. “Crap—if Wei gets out…”

Skrili’s mangled body intruded his thoughts again.

“Now there’s an ideal consciousness team,” came Benton’s words from behind. They returned their focus to find him observing the smoke just the same. “No need for callin’ out formations…they just know, and they go. That’s experience.”

Another blast interrupted him.

In that moment, Skrili drew close to Deon again.

“We need to stop falling back this way. If this guy gets too close to Wei, he can help him break free,” she whispered.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

They stared down their towering opponent. It was time to face him head-on.

“Y’know, it’s a shame those girls have to fight Wei,” added Benton as the booming echo faded. “They were a real treat. The Multiverse is gonna miss ‘em.”

Deon grit his teeth. In one fluid motion, he and Skrili burst forward.

All we have to do is get past him, Deon told himself.

Skrili sped ahead slightly and positioned her run directly in front of him.

Defense thirteen, Deon recognized instantly. It was the formation he’d assumed they would take. Without the need to speak it, they were already on the same page.

This guy thinks he knows everything. We’ll prove just how much he underestimated us.

They’d drilled this time and time again with Skip: once Skrili neared the opponent they planned to skirt, Deon would aim from behind and imagine a plank of wood in her path. She’d step on it and he would jolt it upwards as a spring, launching her straight over their threat to land on the other side.

Meanwhile, when the opponent was occupied with the airborne Skrili, Deon would slide under their legs.

It was the precise move for this situation, and Deon’s assurance strengthened when Skrili’s movements indicated she thought the same.

But it didn’t work.

“SKRILI! DAMPENING!!” he warned.

She caught on barely in time, breaking into a desperate roll to avoid Benton’s deadly fist. Skrili stumbled from a crawl back to a run, turning in back in horror.

“DEON!”

It was too late. Deon knew he shouldn’t have attempted imagining again once he felt his powers fail to function. He tried to sidestep, but his forward momentum betrayed him. Barely able to change course, Deon took a pounding swat to the shoulder.

Perhaps it was his failure to tense before the blow that protected him. Deon spun, the hit reversing him backwards, and crashed against the stone path. But as he hurried back to his feet, everything seemed intact.

Acknowledging the pain would have to wait.

“Now we’re talkin,’” Benton uttered.

He towered over Deon, blocking the sunlight. Now very much in-range, Deon was in the most dangerous spot possible.

Benton’s fists came like swarming boulders. Deon felt the air blow by his face as he narrowly dodged several punches, his improved reflexes from Legend Training keeping him alive.

On instinct, Deon kept trying to imagine defenses and counter-attacks. But with Benton’s dampening activated, he knew there was no chance. Dodging was his only hope, and that was failing quickly.

Benton let out a chuckle as a dull thud came against his back. From behind, Skrili desperately unleashed her best kicks.

Crap—she just put herself in his range, too! Deon worried. While he appreciated the protectiveness, at this point she was only adding herself to the possible casualties.

Again, Benton laughed dismissively at Skrili’s continued efforts. “What happened to that big ‘ole kick last time we met? This hurts and all, but it ain’t nothin’ like that. You must depend on power-ups.”

Against you, she does, Deon agreed to himself. But they had no hope of creating one—without consciousness abilities, there was no way to trigger her Power Rebound.

Just as Deon was approaching a loss for any way out of this, he noticed his dodge had come easier than all the others.

The next did, as well. He’d begun avoiding each fist by a wider margin.

He caught another glimpse of Skrili’s relentless kicks. They were calculated, aimed in a precise pattern against Benton’s body.

While they weren’t yielding much damage, that wasn’t their purpose.

She’s slowing him down! Deon realized. She’s giving me a better chance to break away!

Emboldened, Deon jumped even farther back with the next dodge. Setting his footing just right, he broke into a run. In the same moment, Skrili pulled back and darted the other way.

Benton watched both of them with a blink. “Ah…guess that was smart,” he admitted.

Deon’s heart raced. I know she was just trying to save my butt…but this could be our chance!

“Skrili, throw it!” he shouted back.

“You’re too close!” she protested.

“THROW IT!!”

“Throw it?” wondered Benton.

Trustingly, Deon dove and closed his eyes. But as the POP resounded right behind him and tossed him through the air even further, he could still see the quick flash of gold energy.

He toppled to a stop. Crumbling stone rumbled behind him, but the path where he landed remained secure. Deeming it safe to stand, Deon lifted himself and turned to look.

His idea to unveil their first Emovert Bomb had proved even riskier than he’d imagined. Paces away, Benton lay atop a newly-formed island: the explosion had caused a partial collapse of the wall on both sides of him. Deon couldn’t see how far down it ran. But judging by its brief sound, the blast wasn’t enough to dismantle the full structure.

Nonetheless, Benton was now trapped, surrounded by a deadly drop at all angles.

Though to Deon’s dismay, he’d already begun moving again. Lingering smoke rose from Benton’s charring skin as he climbed to his feet.

“Emovert energy, huh?” he huffed. “Y’all are real tricksters. Felt that one for a second.”

While his body moved slowly, drooping to one side with shallow burns all over, his face showed no grimace.

It didn’t take him out—but it forced him to switch back to Withstander to ignore the pain, Deon noted.

Wait a second…

On the opposite side of the concrete island, Skrili stood ready. There was a glimmer in her eyes as they caught Deon’s.

She removed another Emovert bomb from the waist of her tights.

Deon’s mind sparked. With her look alone, he understood her new idea.

Originally, considering Proscious had at least one more Dampener in their ranks, Deon and Skrili had hoped to save their Emovert bombs as long as possible. Of the eight functioning ones Deon and Kotono had created, they only claimed two; they decided Phillip needed them most as the only solo fighter in their plan.

And since Skrili had less long-distance attack options than Deon, she carried them both.

But now, already clutching their second and final Emovert bomb in her hand, Deon knew what Skrili aimed to achieve.

Benton was weakened from the first blast. Now, it was time for him to play their game.

“Got another one of them things?” Benton observed as he watched Skrili warily. “Lucky for me, I’ve got a mean catch. And it won’t hurt this time.”

Deon smirked. “Don’t get too sure of yourself,” he warned.

His powers once again awake, Deon summoned a medium-sized Twitchy beside himself, matching Benton’s height and brawn. With the right movements, this monster could shove Benton straight off of his tiny platform.

Head spinning back to Deon, Benton seemed to get the implication. He blinked hard. Quickly, he cancelled Deon’s powers back out. Medium Twitchy vanished.

“You sure you can take this without Withstander?” Skrili threatened, raising the Emovert Bomb higher.

Again, Benton turned. His head swung back and forth.

Deon and Skrili’s smirking eyes caught each other.

Got him.

If he wanted to catch and contain the Emovert bomb, he’d need Withstander to resist the pain. But switching off from Dampener would allow Deon’s powers to work, and Deon could defeat him just as swiftly.

Either way, he was pinned.

“Give up now. It’s a long fall down,” Skrili demanded.

“Man…” uttered Benton. “So y’all figured out I have more than one type, and you even went and figured out which ones. Alright, not bad…”

Then, he laughed.

Now what?! steamed Deon.

Skrili doubled down, holding the Emovert bomb tighter. “Give up,” she repeated.

“No need,” Benton dismissed. “I’ll let you in on somethin’: I’m a little different than my buddies. I may not have as many types as Irma, or have ‘em all mastered as good as her, but…I’m pretty special in my own way.”

Crouching forward, Benton flexed every muscle in his body. One pant leg ripped from the pressure.

“Don’t know how this’ll go…but I guess I gotta do it,” he grumbled. “Guess I need my trump card!”

He broke into a roar, still flexing with increasing intensity. Then, the red markings on his face and head began spreading. They emerged on his neck, and then spread down all across his skin in a series of raised, jagged lines.

Whatever was happening, it appeared as unnatural as it did painful.

Alarmed, Skrili took a step and threw the Emovert bomb.

Even as his transformation continued, Benton lifted a hand and caught the cubed stone. He squeezed it tightly in his palm. The golden energy illuminated through his hand and the weapon burst—but it was muffled.

Its shards trickled out from the mangled remains of what no longer resembled a hand. Yet Benton didn’t flinch at the obliteration—he felt nothing of it.

“Stop him!” Skrili cried.

Deon didn’t even know what they might be stopping, and yet, he fully agreed.

“Power up!” he shouted back to her.

He hoped the rushed heads-up would prove sufficient as he imagined a plank beneath Skrili feet to fling her into the air. His two orange-padded springs appeared, and she got swept up into a blurry bounce between them.

But his heart skipped when he felt his powers fading once more.

In a panic, Deon rushed to complete the technique, transforming one of the pads into a pillow to drop Skrili safely back to her feet. His imagined creations disappeared faster than a blink.

Had he let it go one a second longer, Skrili would have flown straight off the wall to her death.

He already switched back to Dampener again?! Deon worried.

But Benton stood tall once more, harsh red lines now all over his body and veins bulging over his gray skin. And despite his new severe injury, he didn’t bat an eye.

No…he’s still…thought Deon. Does that mean he can use…

…Both??

After recovering from a brief bout of dizziness, Skrili shook her head and focused forward. Drawing from her new, albeit minor Power Rebound, she charged at Benton.

“WAIT, SKRILI!!” screamed Deon.

The attack he’d initiated for her was already in motion. Skrili leaped, clearing the destroyed gap in the wall, and landed to confront Benton head-on.

But she landed unevenly, catching herself with a tired gasp.

“What…?” she uttered.

Benton’s punch was nearly direct—but even while weakened, Skrili managed to sidestep its full force, taking a swipe to her side and tumbling near the edge of the path.

“Cool, ain’t it?” Benton said. “It’s experimental and takes a toll on your body—that’s why most everyone else Proscious tried it on croaked.”

He kicked Skrili, but she rolled just enough out of the way to avoid being knocked into a freefall. She winced as her body shook.

“But I guess it’s the way I’m built; I can handle it for a little,” continued Benton. “That is, I can use two consciousness types at once.”

Deon didn’t know what else to do—they had no powers, Skrili had no Emovert bombs left, and they had no more plans.

He simply ran to her.

“Power Rebound, is it? Your guy gave you one a’ them?” Benton deciphered. “Sorry. Just dampened it.”

He reached down and snatched Skrili by the neck with his remaining hand, lifting her off the ground with ease.

“NO!!” Deon belted.

He didn’t dare look down when he reached the gap in the path. Shouting, he lunged through the air and tumbled onto the island with Benton and Skrili. Wasting no time, he lunged forward and punched at Benton with all his might.

“Didn’t y’hear me? I won’t feel none of that,” Benton said. “Now, listen: I am tryna get that bonus pay outta this mission. So nothing personal, but…”

Ignoring Deon’s fruitless efforts, Benton held Skrili above the open air.

“Wei really wants you to join Proscious,” he calmly explained. “Just say you’ll do it, alright? If not, I’m gonna have to drop the girlie.”

Deon froze.

“I swear I don’t want to kill her. ‘Could really use that bonus, is all.”

Deon tried to meet Skrili’s eyes, but she deflected and looked away, choking to breathe.

He couldn’t let her die—her or Lammy.

In the end, was this the only way?

The next words Deon heard, uncharacteristically silly as they were, proved that was not the case.

They had just one more tool at their disposal.

Just one.

“This is…a hairy situation…” Skrili forced out.

Benton’s eyebrows furrowed. “Huh? I don’t get it.”

“I do,” said Deon. “And it was bad.”

He jumped up, not at Benton, but at Skrili. Reading it as an attempt to free her, Benton shifted his hand to the side.

But that wasn’t Deon’s target.

Stretching even higher, Deon slipped his fingers into Skrili’s hair and yanked out her Shfi hair tie. He landed with a spin to aim his fire, pulled back the traditional weapon, and released it at Benton’s wrist.

The slap shook his whole arm. Regardless of his inability to feel the blow, it stunned his muscles and Skrili slipped from his grasp.

It all happened in a moment: Deon reached out to pull Skrili to a safe landing. She tumbled and caught her hair tie before it even touched the ground. Then, with an aim much crisper than Deon’s, she fired it at Benton’s still-bewildered face.

The tie smacked directly between his eyes, blinding them, and Skrili was already onto her next attack: kicking him squarely in the back of his knee.

Deon wasted no time reading the opportunity. He pounced forward and capitalized on Benton’s slight balance shift, shoving him back. The monstrous fighter fell over the edge of the damaged wall.

Panic almost set in as Deon realized this man was about to die by their hands. But he felt an odd, reluctant relief when Benton’s burly fingers caught the very corner of the cliff.

Skrili stepped over to his trembling, desperate fingers and stood above him, so Deon joined her.

“It’s over,” she said down to their enemy.

Still squinting from the hairtie’s sting, Benton tried to peer down into his impending death. Somehow, he managed one more laugh—this one empty.

“I used to be like you. One mistake, and I lost it all…” he reflected. “Hit one pro just a little too hard few years back, killed’m. Lost my career…my wife…can’t see my baby girls.”

He paused when another of Kotono’s explosions erupted in the background.

“Their mom ain’t gonna provide for them—she can’t work,” Benton continued. “It’s all on me. And pro fightin’s all I knew. But nobody would give me a chance after that screwup…nobody but Proscious.”

Benton looked up and met Deon and Skrili’s eyes.

“I didn’t wanna hurt your friends. I had to,” he said. “I gotta give my girls a life…even if I can never see ‘em a—”

“Nobody asked.”

Shock froze Deon as he watched Skrili press her foot against Benton’s fingers. He began to lose grip.

“Skrili! Don’t—”

“Turn off your dampening,” Skrili commanded Benton.

“Alright, alright! It’s off!!”

“SKRILI!” Deon yelled.

“Catch him,” she instructed calmly.

Deon noticed the area beneath Benton, and relief swept over him as he understood: Benton was hanging above the broken part of the wall. The damage continued down only partway before evening out onto a jagged surface that survived the blast.

Benton’s fingers lost hold and he fell with a shout. But as promised, Deon’s imagining returned. He placed a pillow at the base of the indentation, and Benton sunk into it.

Deon imagined it away, leaving Benton atop the stone. That far down on the destroyed wall, there was no way to climb back up in either direction—especially given all the damage he’d sustained from the Emovert bombs.

He was stuck to sit there.

Skrili peered down to him with one last glare, her purple eyes cutting.

“Stop fishing for pity from us. Everyone has a reason for the people they hurt,” she told him. “But circumstances and choices are two different things.”

Deon watched in silence as she turned and picked up her hairtie. She didn’t notice his stare until she’d finish wrapping her hair back up.

“What?” she asked.

He simply stepped close to his teammate gave a light shove.

“Stop almost dying,” he reminded her.

Skrili shrugged.

Their eyes found the Azvaylen castle in the distance. Kotono’s blast rumbled from behind like an approaching thunderstorm: time was running out.

“Let’s go.”