Conscious, Conscientious

“Alright. Let’s review,” Hiroko said decidedly.

She stood tall before Deon, Skrili, Kotono, and Phillip, who all sat between their tent setup listening closely.

“Review?” repeated Deon. “Why do I feel like I’m back in the schoolhouse all the sudden?”

Looking beside him, he noticed Skrili open up a notepad and click a pen.

“You’re the one who didn’t go to school!” he pointed out.

“If we don’t consider everything we know about Proscious, we could miss out on the best strategy,” she argued evenly.

“Exactly, so listen up,” Hiroko confirmed. “Thanks for being the minute-taker, Skrili.”

Skrili shot her hero a starry-eyed thumbs-up.

“Now, let’s start with the member we know the most about: that woman, Irma.”

“She cheap-shot me and Skrili…” Deon grumbled.

“That’s called ‘being fast,’” chimed in Phillip.

“I didn’t ask you, Doom-and-Gloom!”

Hiroko stepped closer to cut off their bickering. “It’s true, she’s both tough and smart. Not to mention all of her powers. But lucky for us, she flat-out told us what they are.”

Skrili readied her empty page.

“Irma has four consciousness types—though I have no idea how,” Hiroko recalled. “She’s an Illusionist, a Substitutor, a Dampener, and a Thoughtfeeder.”

“Sh—she shares a type with Phillip,” Kotono emphasized.

“Exactly. That’s the first thing to keep in mind,” agreed Hiroko, pointing at her teammate.

Deon recognized two of the other types from past experiences: the Conscious Competition used Dampeners to protect the audience from potential hazards—though their ability folded against Kotono’s fullest energy outburst. And Skip mentioned his former type was a Substitutor: he could swap perspectives with someone else, trading all senses.

Thoughtfeeder was the only type fresh to him, though he’d skimmed past it a few times in the Types Pocket List on his TeamTrack. But now he’d also seen it in action. Just before Irma attacked them with enhanced speed and strength, he felt like something was sucking on his mind. Clearly, she drew strength similar to a Power Rebound from other people’s thoughts.

“The Thoughtfeeder part will be impossible to avoid, unless any of us are literally stupid,” Hiroko admitted.

“Deon should fight her,” Skrili said immediately.

Phillip chuckled as Deon elbowed her on the side.

“The same goes for the Dampener side of her. There’s a good chance we’ll need strong fighting skills without powers,” Hiroko pondered aloud. “But as for a proper matchup, let’s focus on Illusionist and Substitutor. If we can get her to think she needs those two types the most, we can find an open door towards an advantage.”

Skrili’s pen continued to scribble across the page.

“Anyone got anything else on her?” prompted Hiroko.

Phillip raised his hand.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Right. While I fought Irma one-on-one, I observed something significant,” he said. “She may have four types, but unlike Deon whose powers blend two, she can only use one at a time.”

“Her eye colors...” Kotono reflected. “They change with her type.”

Phillip nodded. “She talked about being ‘stuck’ blocking my illusions,” he said. “So she can’t do that while using another ability.”

“Yes! That’s huge! And I think that might go for the big shirtless guy, too,” Hiroko exclaimed. “Which leads us to him.”

Skrili turned the page.

“Benton,” Kotono remembered. “I a—almost blew his arm off,” she added timidly.

“I kinda wish you did,” Hiroko shrugged. “We know a lot less about him: he’s huge, and he used Withstander to turn off pain…but if he has any other abilities, we don’t know about them.”

“Actually…” muttered Skrili, “we might.”

All heads turned to her.

Deon tried rummaging his memory for anything he may have noticed during the fight, but he was certain: Benton only used Withstander the whole time. He fended off Hiroko’s punishing blows with hardly a wince until Kotono’s blast came his way, but he never pulled out any more tricks.

“When he first showed up, he joked with Irma about her using Illusionist to block Phillip’s illusions instead of Dampener,” Skrili shared. “He said: ‘I guess you don’t look up to me anymore.’”

“That’s right…” Hiroko realized. “So he must be a Dampener, too.”

“You remembered that?!” Deon exclaimed to his companion.

Skrili shrugged, busy with her note-keeping. “I pay attention.”

“Great: then we know two of his types,” established Hiroko. “But considering Irma has four, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more. We’ll have to be careful against him.”

“Then that leaves one more…” Kotono shuddered.

Everyone fell silent. When he arrived, he passively ceased the entire battle. He crushed Skrili in a matter of seconds, and then took it further just to see Deon’s reaction. Nobody could move besides Deon, when at the peak of his powers, he managed only a single step before everything went to black.

Deon, Skrili, Kotono, Hiroko, and Phillip…

None of them even remotely approached his strength.

Deon remembered his unbothered, perfect smile.

“Wei,” he uttered.

“Their leader,” said Hiroko pensively. “You’re the only one who came close to fighting him, Deon. Any thoughts?”

Deon stood, clenching his fists tight. “Yeah, just a few,” he growled. “He’s a monster, he almost killed Skrili, he’s holding Lammy hostage, and I’m gonna crush him for that no matter what it takes.”

Heat filled his eyes. He expected one of the fighters to try calming him down, but right now, this rage was all he could be.

Instead, Hiroko stepped up to him. “We all will,” she affirmed.

“How did he even do all of that?” Kotono wondered. “What could his type be?”

“The way he was able to influence Deon’s imagining points to Imaginer,” said Phillip. “I would also suggest Manipulator, but the sheer magnitude of his ability seemed independent from Deon’s.”

“Yeah…it was probably imagining,” Deon confirmed. “It was like my powerup…but constant. He didn’t need emotions. It was…”

“Perfect,” Hiroko finished.

Deon was grateful he didn’t need to say it.

As a fighter, Wei seemed to be the perfect version of him.

Suddenly, the Azvaylen skyline over the horizon felt like a weight pressing down on them all.

“With the nature of our powers…” stammered Kotono hesitantly, “should…Deon and I face him?”

“No. There’s nothing we can do but avoid him,” muttered Phillip. “We can’t beat him in a fight.”

“We can, and there’s only one way,” Hiroko declared. “Kotono, you’re onto something: you and Deon should collaborate. But only as the fists.”

“Only as the…huh?” wondered Deon.

“Skrili: you and I will be the feet,” Hiroko continued, “and Phillip: we need you to be the brain. Here’s the only way we can beat Wei. We get him alone, and we take him on as one cohesive unit—all five of us, versus him.”

Everyone exchanged glances, before all nodding in agreement.

“Which means we need to take out Irma and Benton first,” Skrili realized.

“That’s right,” Hiroko said. She reached out her hand. “Alright, Skrili. Let’s look over those notes. It’s time to start putting together our attack plan.”

~

Deon glanced over his shoulder. Farther down the plain field, Skrili and Phillip practiced countless hand-to-hand combat techniques, avoiding any real contact.

Skrili briefly turned and met his gaze. She nodded, and returned to her drills.

Returning his focus, Deon looked down uncertainly at the cubical stone object floating above his hands.

“Uh…is this what you wanted me to imagine?” he checked.

Hiroko stood not far away, counseling Kotono as she focused on her own task. She eyed Deon’s progress.

“Yeah, something like that,” she confirmed.

The vagueness only heightened Deon’s doubts. “You sure this will work?” he asked.

Instead of answering, Hiroko simply gestured to Kotono to proceed.

“Um…shouldn’t you guys s—step away…?” wondered Kotono warningly.

“You got this. We trust you,” Hiroko said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to feel everything at once. These are your emotions. They’re real, but they belong to you—not the other way around. Remember: you’ve done it in training before.”

“Like once…” Kotono mumbled. “Well, here I go…”

Tensing, she bit her lip and pressed her eyes shut. A red glow illuminated around her form, with gold flickering throughout. She winced, and the energy abruptly heightened.

Hiroko lifted her hand from Kotono quickly as if she’d touched fire. She shook it for a moment, careful to avoid an exclamation so Kotono wouldn’t notice.

Deon took a startled step back.

“Think about why we’re here: what we’re here to do,” Hiroko coached her patiently. “Picture how it’s gonna turn out in the end. Envision us coming home with all of them. We’ll take them back to safety.”

It seemed Kotono was listening, as the energy calmed and lessened itself gradually. Deon marveled as the gold overtook the red as the dominant color.

“Now just…focus,” Hiroko said.

“Focus,” repeated Kotono.

Keeping her eyes closed, she raised both hands out in front of her. Still wincing a bit, allowing herself to accept the feelings, she let out a long breath.

The energy slowly began disappearing from her body. No—it was moving. Migrating from all over to the tips of her outspread fingers, the energy exited.

Then, with a light flick of her fingers, it floated forward into the air like a leaf in the light breeze. The fluttering energy fascinated Deon: it acted in the complete opposite to its usual nature as a force of rapid, catastrophic destruction.

Kotono opened her eyes, and the energy came to a stop between her and Deon.

“Perfect, Kotono! You’re amazing!” Hiroko beamed. “Just hold it there for now. Deon: you’re up.”

Deon readied himself. He wasn’t quite sure what one false move around Kotono’s powers might trigger. Carefully, he used his mind to move the cube-shaped stone towards the small concentration of energy.

The stone lacked one of its sides, creating a hole meant to encase the glowing light. Realizing he’d imagined it a bit too small, Deon expanded its size while Hiroko and Kotono watched closely.

“Go for it,” insisted Hiroko.

Deon inched the floating cage towards the energy steadily. Soon the light was trapped within it.

“Alright, here it goes…” he uttered.

He imagined another piece of stone: the final wall to fully enclose the case. But the measurements didn’t quite fit, so he attempted to reshape it. The wall briefly scraped up against the rest of the case, nudging it off-center.

“Crap!” he exclaimed.

“Wait—what’s wrong?!” worried Kotono.

Suddenly, a red explosion decimated Deon’s creation with a pop. The three consciousnesses dove to the ground.

After a moment, they peered back up. Kotono’s energy had detonated, leaving no trace of Deon’s creation behind.

Skrili and Phillip ceased their training for a moment, eyeing the spectacle with concern.

“We’re good!” Hiroko called over.

“Like I said…” Deon started as they all stood, “are you really sure this will work? Won’t Kotono’s energy automatically explode?”

“Not necessarily…if I can get myself together…” Kotono said sheepishly.

“Once Kotono’s able to stabilize it and separate it from herself, it won’t explode unless it’s agitated,” Hiroko said. “And it can continue existing, even when it’s separated from her—kind of like Imaginers when they make permanent creations.”

Like what I do with my clothes, Deon connected. Finally, Hiroko’s plan was starting to make sense.

This trick up their sleeves could actually work.

“It exploded this time because your concern startled Kotono. The energy was still tied to her to a degree, so it responded,” Hiroko said. “Try to trust each other’s skill. You’ll get it!”

Back in the Conscious Competition, Deon never would have guessed he’d be training alongside Kotono like teammates. But even if he’d known, her sheer humility and imperfection was far more prevalent than he’d expect from a Champion—especially considering how bigheaded he’d been as the best fighter in Tailpiece.

But she was human and made mistakes, just like everyone else.

Hiroko stood behind Kotono and massaged her shoulders. “Don’t worry: first tries are never perfect,” she said.

Without Hiroko, Deon doubted Kotono would have ever gotten this far. But if they were to all act as a team now, he knew he’d need to channel everything he’d learned and pitch in, too.

“You pretty much brought Skrili and I back from the dead,” he said to her. “Figuring this out will be a breeze for you! Besides, I was sloppy. We’ll get it down!”

Taking in Deon and Hiroko’s words, Kotono managed a still timid, yet genuine smile. “Thanks,” she uttered. “We...we can do this. Let’s keep trying.”

Their efforts continued on with their next several attempts ultimately leading to similar results. Whether it was poor aim on Deon’s side or overthinking on Kotono’s, each try ended in a small energy explosion. Eventually Skrili and Phillip stopped checking on them from afar.

But while progress was slow, it was obvious: they were getting closer every time. Deon was sure to incorporate the reinforcing communication he and Skrili developed during their Legend Training, and Kotono reciprocated. At this rate, they knew they would get this down.

If this worked, Proscious would have no idea what was coming.

“You know, your cousin Lammy’s a remarkable kid,” Hiroko said.

She sat in the grass, effortlessly performing sit-ups as she overlooked Deon’s progress. Kotono had shyly dismissed herself to the tents to workshop a part of the process on her own, leaving Deon the sole subject under Hiroko’s sagacious eyes.

“Heck yeah he is,” Deon affirmed. “One of the best people I know.”

“And you two are nothing alike,” Hiroko pointed out.

“Huh?! What the heck’s that supposed to mean?!”

Hiroko laughed without pausing her sit-ups. “That came out wrong,” she chuckled. “I just mean your personalities. And while he seems pretty strategic and cognitive, you’re all punching and powering through.”

Deon shrugged as he reviewed the shape and size of the stone case he just imagined. “Yeah…I guess you’re not wrong.”

“It’s a good thing: both of those are important qualities,” Hiroko stressed. “But what I find most interesting from meeting you two, is that when you strip all of that away, it’s no surprise you and Lammy are cousins. At the core, you’re exactly the same.”

“Alright, which one is it?!” wondered Deon.

Hiroko simply continued. “We kept in touch with Zayza and Lammy after the Conscious Competition with magic, while we were trying to guide them to you. I could see Lammy’s eyes,” she said. “And right now, I feel like I’m looking at those same orange eyes. I see the exact same passion…fire…protectiveness. I’m not really sure what it is—you two just don’t give up when you care about someone.”

Deon thought of his cousin, as he had been since their mission began. While Lammy was kind and smart, he never quite exemplified back in Tailpiece what Hiroko was describing now.

It seemed after falling into the Multiverse, he was awakening.

“I guess it’s just…where we come from, how we were raised,” Deon figured. “Our moms always had a lot to say about love, and looking out for each other.”

“Back in that place nobody else in the Multiverse has ever heard of,” Hiroko emphasized.

“Yeah…there’s that.”

Hiroko rose up from one last sit-up, and came to a stop. She watched Deon closely as he continued tweaking his stone case design.

“My home tribe is very religious—sometimes to a fault. We have a lot of ancient traditions, customs, and philosophical beliefs,” she shared. “One of the biggest ones is destiny.”

Deon paused his work to listen more closely. “Destiny?”

“I don’t buy into all of that stuff anymore, but…honestly, I think it’s a blessing that Lammy happened to be the person who found Zayza first,” she said. “Maybe…this is the kind of thing you and Lammy are meant to do. Maybe you’re meant to help us save Zayza.”

Deon looked over to the distant castle and towers within Azvaylen.

“I don’t know, I’m pretty sure I just tripped and fell into this place,” he shrugged off. “You really think that’s true?”

“Who knows? My tribe could be full of baloney,” said Hiroko simply. “All I know is that after hearing about Lammy outdoing professional assassins, and after seeing your power almost challenge Wei’s, we can win.”

“Right…my power…” Deon said lowly. He stared at his hands. “But I still have no control over it. It’s only rage.”

“Anger has a purpose. It can be just. Sometimes, it’s exactly the right thing to feel,” Hiroko said. “At a time like this, don’t run from it. That’s why you have a teammate. She wants to help you.”

“I’ll hurt her,” countered Deon immediately. He turned to watch Skrili spar with Phillip. She expertly ducked, spun, and kicked, her motions lively as ever.

She’d promised multiple times now to help him figure this out. And he knew she meant it. But he still couldn’t ignore what felt inevitable.

“These powers will hurt her,” he repeated.

“Yeah, probably.”

Hiroko didn’t even hesitate, or blink, as she replied.

“Wait—then why is it worth trying?” questioned Deon.

Hiroko smiled. “The press tends to ask Kotono and I repetitive questions in interviews,” she said. “They always want to know why I’m the only one who can help Kotono control her powers—though apparently, Skrili’s done it now, too. We make up some bogus answer about technique every time.”

“So…what’s the real reason, then?” asked Deon. “Because you’re so close?”

“Almost,” said Hiroko. “That’s where it starts. But the truth is, it’s actually all Kotono. It’s because she understands: in order to really open up to someone and let them get close, you have to accept that you’ll hurt them. And they’ll hurt you. Even if neither of you wants to. It’s the cost of love.”

Deon remembered Hiroko lifting her hand off of Kotono’s igniting shoulder earlier. Now he noticed a small burn mark on her palm.

“Skrili understands the risk, but she’s committed. That’s the last hurdle you have to get over,” Hiroko told him.

They heard a light shuffling in the grass. Kotono approached with a knowing, teasing glare.

“Is she getting all profound on you?” she asked Deon as if to shield him from more.

Deon laughed. “A little.”

“Sorry. But take it as a compliment,” Kotono insisted, rejoining them for further attempts. “It just means she likes you—and that’s saying a lot.”

“He’s Skrili’s teammate. I have to look out for my girl,” Hiroko defended. “Anyway, let’s get back to it.”

Deon and Kotono faced each other and exchanged nods. With the start of another attempt, they continued their preparation for the fight of their lives.

Less than a day remained.

~~~

Footsteps echoed.

Lammy stiffened.

He turned his head from the projections of Zayza, Layla, and Raznizu towards the cell door.

A silvery shadow passed by, a sheathed light sword reflecting the torch-lit hall.

“Just a guard,” Lammy told the others. He could feel them ease up a bit in response.

“They’ve still yet to return,” Raznizu noted.

“Is there a reason?” pondered Zayza.

Layla nodded, her focus on her own cell door. “They must be playing a game, just as we are. Time will tell what that is. For now, it seems the spell will dictate what comes first: Proscious’s next move, or—”

A light, metallic jingle on Lammy’s gate sent his heart for a massive leap. By their widened eyes, he could tell everyone else heard it, too:

The locks released.

Layla shifted decidedly. “Ours,” she finished.