Conscious, Conscientious

Deanna uncrossed her arms. Her untrained fists were clenched not for combat, but as a show of sheer determination.

“As I said, these people are my family,” she told Pyper. “They won’t let you take me so easily.”

Pyper spotted a few children poking their heads out of their tents in wonder.

“…Especially when most of this family are retired pros,” Deanna added.

Some of surrounding fighters inched a few steps closer.

“Neat. I used to be a pro, too,” said Pyper.

“Then you probably understand that the more success you find in the League, the louder and more intrusive it becomes. Many of our people found themselves here because they were trying to get away from that,” warned Deanna. “So consequently…several of the people facing you right now are Conscious Competition champions.”

Pyper briefly eyed the fighters within her range of vision.

“Are you sure you don’t want to see if my team succeeds?” she checked.

Howls continued to echo from the garden.

“You know why we have to do this now,” came Deanna’s resolution. “I’m…sorry for your circumstance. But this has become our best chance.”

Pyper waved a hand in polite dismissal. “No no, don’t be sorry,” she insisted. “If I were you, I would do the same thing.”

One of the closer fighters, towering at double Pyper’s height, raised a hand of caution at his leader.

“Please back away now, Deanna.”

She obliged, her thought-filled gaze never leaving Pyper as she backed towards the huts to allow the community field to become a battle zone.

“Listen, ma’am…you’re too hurt to put up a fight, and you’re extremely outnumbered as it is,” the front fighter cautioned Pyper. “This is your last chance to surrender.”

“I think I’m all set, thanks!” Pyper declined like they’d offer her a sample at a grocery store. “I guess it is what it is, you know?”

A vein protruded from his forehead. “Use your brain, lady.”

“I’m very good at that.”

The fighters exchanged bewildered glances. Then, resolutely, they sharpened and prepared to pounce.

“Hey, here’s a fun fact I learned the other day,” Pyper said to them. “The two natural gravitational forces where my base is located create an equilibrium that balances out the land mass, thus suspending it in the air. If the base were located any differently, or if that balance was disrupted, theoretically it would spiral out of control, much like a moon breaking from orbit.”

“…What the heck is she going on about…?” a fighter wondered midway through her brief lecture.

“She’s stalling. ATTACK!!”

All at once, the mob closed in on her.

~~~

“Right there. See them?”

Irma’s low whisper tickled Pang. She nodded, though she couldn’t feel herself doing so.

In the distance ahead, a cluster of five coyotes weaved between flowers and vines. They were circling in to begin their attack, unaware that these eyes had already spotted them.

Pang tried to step back out of instinct. But this body didn’t obey her command.

After all, it wasn’t hers to control.

“Okay. I see yours.”

Nothing was stranger than inhabiting someone else’s body and feeling their mouth move as they whispered through it. Irma’s Substitutor ability was certainly flawless, but Pang couldn’t wait for this swap to end.

“Then let’s go for it,” Pang tried to say. But her own body was too far to hear if she’d managed to make it speak.

Pang felt Irma’s belly rattle with laughter.

“What?!” Pang pressed.

“The way your mouth is moving…the way you said that…” Irma struggled out, “it makes me feel like I’m drunk or something!”

“Shut it! The whole point of doing it this way is to be quiet—”

Like fireflies, glimmering eyes appeared one by one: an even wider audience of coyotes now spotted her. But Pang only caught a glimpse of it, because Irma’s body was too busy keeling over in the fit of laughter that drew their attention.

Crap.

She could hear the coyotes’ feet rustling through the flowers as the whole pack barged directly for her—or rather, for Irma.

“Switch back!” Pang tried to make her distant body vocalize.

“Huh? Squid rack?” Irma’s still-laughing mouth let out.

Oh, good grief.

Abandoning all dependence, Pang reached for a sense of Irma’s powers. If she could manage to latch on, she could manipulate Irma’s Substitutor and attempt to undo the switch herself.

Thankfully, sensing her ability came even more instantly than usual—probably because she was in Irma’s senses. She prepared herself to attempt the move.

But then, she blinked.

With her own eyes.

The pattern of flowers had changed before her from pinks to blues. There were no coyotes sprinting her way—just the same three preoccupied wolves she’d spotted before they swapped perspectives.

She was back in her body a few paces across the garden. Irma had switched them back, after all.

But right now, Irma was probably not so delighted to find all of the coyotes she’d summoned towards her body while she was gone. Pang could only hope she wouldn’t be too startled to remember the next move.

“Switch: Illusionist!!”

There it was: Irma’s signal echoed from far behind, right on cue.

Pang smirked.

She’s sharper than she acts.

Pang let her powers search again, reaching much farther until she locked onto the distant Irma’s abilities once more.

This time, Illusionist powers filled her mind. And thanks to all of her time with Phillip, she had plenty of experience to take the reigns.

She placed a false image of Benton ahead of her, animating him to stroll through the grass near the unsuspecting wolves. He was missing the finer details, but it would prove more than enough: once they laid eyes on him, the largest wolf let out a howl.

Pang spotted the tallest bush she could find and dove to duck behind it. Recovering her view, she sent the fake Benton running her preplanned route: straight towards the coyotes she’d just seen through Irma’s eyes.

Their swap in perspective had given her just enough of an idea of that spot’s direction. If she could manage to do her job right, and if Irma did hers, this plan could actually work.

She watched undetected as the stampede of a dozen wolves hunted after the illusion, their paws thumping past her. For a moment, this scheme suddenly felt arduous—like she was better off waiting it out and accepting failure. But the wolves’ toxic effect of apathy passed her by as fleetingly as it came, and her resolve recovered.

The coast was clear. Pang sprung to her feet and trailed the chase to keep her illusion intact. Only two more steps remained—she just had to hope her other teammates would prove as reliable.

“…and so I went ahead and started ramblin’ to her about the time I had to help my ol’ boss’s horse give birth. I dunno, Aoi…was I bein’ too obvious?”

Aoi shrugged.

“I mean, she was smilin’. Thing is, Aoi, at my age you gotta take the chances you get. Know what I mean?”

Aoi shook her head politely.

“Ah, well, you’re a young gal still. Anyways, the problem’s that when I get ramblin’ like that, ladies get bored ‘cuz I can’t tell when to shut up. You know…?”

Silence.

“…Aoi?”

Benton broke his focus on the uneventful garden before them and checked on his wordless teammate.

Something else had won her attention: her hooded head was turned to stare behind them, gazing towards the now-distant village.

“Huh? Somethin’ wrong back there?” Benton wondered.

“Guys, look alive!”

They jolted at Irma’s sudden whisper. She’d arrived beside them so speedily, she may have well materialized in place.

“Pang’s gonna be all aggro if you’re not paying attention.”

“True. But shouldn’t you be herdin’ the coyotes?”

“I am. If I stay too close, they’ll make me forget. Come on—we hit the jackpot.”

Pang sped up to leap above a cluster of weeds—then slowed down again when she felt a hint of apathy threaten her mind.

Not too close…

At the very least, she was gaining a stronger sense for when the wolves’ influence was taking effect. She wished she could meet back up and alert the others, but that was a role only Irma could fulfill.

While Pang’s Illusionist skills were strong for a Manipulator, she wasn’t advanced enough to automate an illusion she couldn’t see like Irma could. This false Benton bait needed to remain in her range of vision.

She’d have to stay near the pack right up until the very last moment for this to work. And that meant there was only one way out—a way totally out of her control.

The wolves’ howls began again. But this time, a chorus of higher-pitched howls replied from ahead.

It was happening.

The same coyotes Pang had seen through Irma’s eyes appeared from behind overgrown patches, closing in on an illusion of Irma.

At least, Pang hoped it was an illusion. It was far too lifelike to tell, but regardless, it was time to find out.

Pang aimed her false Benton at the potential projection. With beasts behind both, they ran straight into each other.

And as planned, her fake teammates vanished.

Adrenaline shot through Pang: they’d done it. If this Irma was an illusion, it meant the true one followed the strategy and located the others.

The garden filled with growls. With their baits gone, the enemy species now found themselves paw-to-paw with each other instead. As Pang had suspected, they immediately broke into battle.

Though Pang attempted to maintain her distance, the crowd spread wide almost immediately. A few wolves at the back took notice of her at last, and with a few more arriving late, she found herself caught within the outskirts of the mess.

That’s fine, she knew. I just have to wait for it…

A few wolves began circling her, threatening her with snarls.

Uh…wait for it…

For some reason, ‘it’ wasn’t happening. And Pang could already feel the effects seeping in. It was too risky to run away if she’d quickly lose motivation. Pang needed to act.

Hey! Where the heck are those losers?!

Apparently, not far: Pang sensed Benton’s Withstander power off to the side, and it was growing closer. She latched on immediately and activated it.

Her decision proved vital, because one of the wolves closed in. Its claw only caught Pang’s shin, but she couldn’t feel a thing: her borrowed ability numbed the pain.

But it could only go so far to protect her—especially when Pang lacked the capacity to protect herself: perhaps it was the sheer amount of wolves and coyotes around her, but before she knew it, the effects fully claimed her mind.

She wouldn’t sidestep another attack. All at once, she felt no need. She was standing amidst a beastly war, but had no idea how she got here.

And now, it appeared some of these beasts decided she was lunch.

But that was fine.

Four of the wolves charged, and all Pang knew to do was watch them and innocently wait.

But sometime before the start and end of a blink, she found herself in another location.

“Aoi, warp her here quick!” boomed Benton.

“Too late, she already did.”

Pang gasped as the relief hit her all at once. Her hand brushed the side of a long sleeve, and she found herself standing close beside a calm Aoi.

“You really got Aoi out of her shell a bit, huh, Pang?” Benton greeted. “Looks like I didn’t even need to tell ‘er.”

“You alright?” Irma checked. “It took us a second to get in position.”

Pang gave a cool thumbs-up. Though the plan got a little messy, they’d succeeded thus far. Plus, Irma’s position of choice was more than ideal: a safe pace away from the ongoing quarrel, up on a hill sheltered by long grass. The wolves and coyotes fought ruthlessly, too far to affect their minds but close enough to observe with ease.

“Let’s go for it,” declared Pang. “Aoi, you’re up.”

Aoi turned her hidden face to her, but did nothing.

“Remember? The next step,” Pang tried. “The forcefield!”

This time Aoi stirred. She faced the battle, her focus nonchalant yet unrelenting. Pang and the others peered forward to watch the show.

In one smooth scoop, the swarm of coyotes and wolves found themselves floating up into the air.

“Look at ‘em go!” laughed Benton.

They attempted to sprint and swim to no avail, each hovering in unique directions. Soon, Pang realized the pattern: Aoi was moving all the coyotes into one cluster, and all the wolves into another.

Like playing God, she was organizing.

Man, Aoi really took my words literally, Pang beheld.

Beforehand, all she’d suggested was to try keeping them from killing each other off, since Deanna seemed worried about that. Clearly, Aoi took the instruction and ran with it.

The animals all plopped back into the garden. Most immediately attempted retreat, but they found themselves pressing up against air in all directions.

“You did it, Aoi!” Irma beamed.

The invisible fences’ shapes became clear as the beasts lined the walls. They were two perfectly circular forcefields, and neither wavered to the fierceness they contained.

Just like that, several dozen wolves and coyotes were trapped.

Aoi gave Pang a sleeve-covered thumbs-up.

Benton reached forward and shook Aoi’s shoulders in a congratulatory embrace.

“Hey, it worked! We did it!” laughed Irma.

Smoothly, Pang turned to them with raised hands, her smirk snarky as she received their high-fives.

“Obviously it worked,” she said. “The best consciousness pros are the smartest ones. Come on; there’s plenty more of these guys running around.”

She calmly adjusted the collar of her jean jacket. Then she led the way with a smug strut, hands on her hips.

But on the inside, Pang was giddy.

Not only did this plan work on the first try, it revealed something infinitely more exhilarating:

This team’s potential was boundless.

Pang had just manipulated two expert types—almost a third—within a span of minutes, all without having to fish for an opponent’s powers. Her teammates’ many types were a readily-available toolkit to her—especially now that their communication for switching types was improving.

On top of that, Aoi, Irma, and Benton all eclipsed championship fighters.

With the right planning, and a little practice, they could do anything.

Sure, Irma could get bored or unserious. Sure, Benton could get distracted, and Aoi needed constant guidance.

But as this goofy mission revealed, those weren’t her teammates’ faults. They were their luxuries.

They were simply so powerful, they could afford to be themselves at all times.

Maybe that was why Pang hadn’t stopped smiling yet: working with this team was perhaps more fun than she’d ever had.

The next couple canine-wranglings only brought more success. As long as they retreated back for a while and picked out a new area, they were able to yield almost as many wolves and coyotes as the first time. The animals’ disdain for each other proved to be the perfect trap.

The team’s efforts grew smoother each time, as well. With Benton remaining in his role of defense, he realized he could use a slight dose of his Hypnotizer type to snap Pang or Irma out of it if they felt the animals’ effects. Then, he’d switch back to Withstander again for Pang to manipulate, allowing protection until Aoi got the signal to warp her to safety.

Not a hole remained in their strategy. If this was a fight, Pang didn’t care who their opponent was: they would dominate.

Pyper was right about them.

“I think that might be it,” Irma noticed. “And no—I’m not just saying that ‘cuz this is getting old.”

“Is it bad I was ‘bouta ask?” Benton chuckled.

But it seemed Irma was correct: near-silence had returned now that the wolves and coyotes were trapped in a series of Aoi’s forcefields throughout the garden.

The team stood before gigantic, luminous green pedals. Some mother wolves and their cubs were safely contained a few steps away. Given this flower’s resemblance, it was likely the counterpart to the plant the coyotes inhabited—the second of the two Deanna needed to access.

“Welp, guess we can head back and give ‘em the good news!” declared Benton with a stretch. “Y’know, Pang…this was actually real fun.”

“Told you. Now I don’t have to deal with you guys going home all guilty about those villagers,” Pang said. “Just trust me, and we can do stuff our way. Alright?”

For once, Benton and Irma were without words. Their warm gazes made Pang’s cheeks flush.

“D—Don’t get all mushy, though…” she mumbled. “Come on, let’s—”

“Hey, where’s Aoi?”

Pang paused at Irma’s question, especially considering it was something they never had to wonder about. Glancing around, they spotted their teammate a few steps away, staring off towards the commune.

“She’s doin’ that again,” noticed Benton.

“Again?” worried Irma. “Why is she—wait, do you guys hear that?”

It was unnoticeable under their conversation. But now, Pang picked it up: distant shouts, clangs, and what seemed to be blasts blended together into a drone of noise. It rang out precisely from the direction transfixing Aoi.

Something had unfolded in the commune.

An attack.

“Crap—Pyper!” Pang exclaimed. “They ganged up on her!”

Pang’s sprint left a spray of mud and pedals in her wake.

“Come on!”

Somehow, Aoi was the quickest to catch on this time as she soared into the air behind her. Pang only spotted Benton and Irma trailing after she’d already cleared much of the garden.

I know we can win against those bums, Pang complained to herself, but don’t take your sweet time! Pyper’s alone AND injured!

Her heart skipped a beat.

She’s our ticket out of this. She knows stuff. If she’s dead, it’s back to square one, Pang reminded herself.

But that wasn’t why her heart was racing. And she knew it, because those weren’t her first thoughts when she realized Pyper was under attack.

It was her scrunch-nosed smile, and the time she called Pang ‘sweet,’ full-well knowing Pang’s history. It was how she casually intimidated Gage—her own teammate—into cancelling his training early.

Simply, Pang liked her. She didn’t want her to die. That was all the reason she needed.

Pyper was a part of this weird family now.

Pang lunged through the final row of weeds and raced through the much-shorter grass of the commune. The ongoing beat-down was much louder, now.

Her Manipulator senses lit up with readings: all kinds of types were present and currently active, and many were masterful. There were so many powers in use, and in the same spot, that she could hardly pick any out from the blend.

Clearly, the entire group of fighters struck as one.

Second-strongest in Proscious or not, Pang knew, that can’t be good. These guys are way tougher than I thought.

Up ahead, Pang could see the first row of tents and huts. She clenched her fists: it was time.

But someone crashed down amongst those tents. Then another fell.

Like hail, people repeatedly rained from above.

“Huh?”

Pang peered up into the air, but what waited there made her slide to a muddy stop.

She lost her breath.

Instantly, she knew: she stood not a single chance.

A shadow floated just above the heart of the commune. No—it was a silhouette. With the skylight against this figure, its fluid movements were entrancing—even as they brought about pure violence.

All who approached this dark angel’s form fell instantly to its graceful movements. Some were launched backwards like twigs in a hurricane, despite hardly being touched.

But as Pang gawked at the sky, she realized the figure wasn’t quite floating: it danced atop what appeared to be subtle, grayish-purple clouds. They were hardly visible, and they shimmered under the dark angel’s steps. Their sound alone was captivating, canceling out the curses and desperate shouts all around. Their low song came gently, and a bit muffled, like underwater bells.

This being was horrifically perfect.

Terror paralyzed Pang.

Still, every single fighter failed to lay a single attack on it. Even spears and projectiles evaporated around its form. Imaginers took to summoning towering monsters, then lightning strikes, then sound barrier-breaking planes.

They all toppled just the same.

There was no way Pang could take on this god. Nobody could.

Wait...

WAIT A SECOND.

“Oh—here’s another neat fact I learned!” the dark angel recalled with a subtle lisp. “Theoretically, initiating a transfer of low-anomalous power—around five to ten percent—immediately after a highly anomalous power should increase the rate of both transfers.”

That’s…PYPER?

The silhouette had undoubtedly matched her form. By now, Pang’s adjusted eyes could even see her sweater and green braid clearly. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to process the obvious until she heard Pyper’s voice.

The sheer display of power had encapsulated her every thought, distracting her from comprehending anything else.

Pyper delivered her unprompted factoid even as fighters continued to pound at her with all kinds of attacks, each one only growing in intensity. But still, she deflected and dodged every single one.

In fact—her ability seemed to improve while she recited her tidbit of information.

Then she’s a Brainstorm type, Pang identified. No, wait…

If that was the case, what else was she sensing?

Recovering awareness of her surroundings, Pang realized Aoi was standing right beside her. She probably had been the whole time.

“Hey, what’s with this dork…?” Pang asked her.

Aoi simply stared on at the spectacle.

Echoing again from above, Pyper recited yet another piece of research for her two-dozen failing opponents.

“Stop!! What are you TALKING about?!”

“Shut up! We don’t care!”

The villagers’ protests came in huffs of defeated, hopeless gasps. They pressed on slower, and in lesser numbers, by the second.

“It’s Brainstorm,” Pang confirmed, “but…I sense something like Memorizer, too…?”

“More like a blend a’ both, I’d say.”

Pang turned to find Benton and Irma approaching from the garden at last. They simply walked up to join her, not a trace of urgency in their knowing steps.

“You should, like, see her when she’s not hurt,” Irma said. “Totally unfair.”

They all fell silent, beholding their interim leader.

“Brainstorm and Memorizer…I guess that makes a lot of sense,” Pang decided. “I get why Proscious would pump those two into somebody.”

“They didn’t,” Irma denied. “That’s how she was born. They found her that way.”

“Are you serious?!”

“Talk about ‘anomalous powers,’ well—she’s a goldmine,” remarked Benton. “I heard they copied her powers into Aoi real quick. Basically, her Brainstorm type lets ‘er turn all her knowledge into pure energy, right? And, since she’s got Memorizer in her—”

“She remembers everything she’s ever learned…perfectly,” Pang finished for him. Her legs quaked at the reality of the matter. “Which means…with those two combined, she has an insane amount of energy…all the time.”

Pang had finished piecing it together the moment she’d sensed both abilities—the potential for sheer, infinite domination.

Pyper wasn’t a ‘prosciousness’ after all, and she was more than a consciousness.

Just like Aoi, she was a goddess amongst men.

“Oh—you guys can probably give it up if you want. It looks like my friends are done,” came Pyper’s voice.

Once the mob realized she wasn’t lying, their scrambling quelled to a stop all around the commune. Groans filled the air and noncombatants hurried in to aid the fallen.

As far as Pang could tell, not a single fighter lay deceased. They were all injured and shaken to varying degrees, but Pyper seemed to have spared them all.

A pale Deanna appeared amongst the crowd. Her eyes went even wider as she beheld the team with their heads held high.

But Pang hardly paid any more mind. Her focus was drawn back to the sky.

A breeze brushed through Pyper’s hair. Her smile was expectant as she looked down on the team from above and waved her fingers.

“Welcome back, ducklings,” she greeted. “Nice work.”